10 things you need to know today: January 27, 2019

(Image credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

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1. Pompeo urges U.N. Security Council to back Venezuelan opposition leader
2. Osaka, Djokovic win Australian Open titles
3. Roger Stone mocks Mueller charges as 'nothingburger'
4. Death toll climbs in Brazil dam collapse
5. Date of State of the Union still uncertain after shutdown ends
6. Louisiana manhunt under way for man accused of killing 5, including his parents
7. Venezuelan military attache in U.S. breaks with Maduro
8. Taliban negotiators say they've reached draft peace deal with U.S.
9. Bombs kill at least 20 in Mass at cathedral in Philippines
10. British newspaper apologizes to Melania Trump

published 27 January 2019

1. Pompeo urges U.N. Security Council to back Venezuelan opposition leader

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday called on members of the United Nations Security Council to back opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president, and reject the "illegitimate mafia state" of President Nicolás Maduro. "Pick a side," he said in an emergency meeting called by the U.S. "No more delays, no more games." Pompeo added: "Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you're in league with Maduro and his mayhem." There was no chance of action by the council because Russia and China are allies of Maduro's socialist government and both have veto power. Moscow's envoy, Vasily Nebenzya, accused the U.S. of trying "to engineer a coup d'etat." Pompeo accused Russia and China of "propping up a failed regime."

Japan's Naomi Osaka beat Czech player Petra Kvitova 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the Australian Open's women's singles final Saturday, securing her second consecutive Grand Slam title and a No. 1 ranking. She became the first player in 18 years to win two Grand Slams in a row — she upset Serena Williams in September’s U.S. Open. Osaka also became the first Japanese player to win any Grand Slam, and the first Asian player to secure a top worldwide tennis ranking. On the men's side, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic crushed No. 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, to take his record seventh Australian Open title. Before the win, Djokovic was tied at six titles in Melbourne with Roger Federer and Roy Emerson.

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Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to President Trump, mocked Special Counsel Robert Mueller's charges against him in an Instagram post on Saturday. The post stated, "Here's what Mueller has on me #nothingburger," along with a doctored image depicting Mueller dressed as a waiter serving an empty burger bun on a silver platter. Stone was arrested early Friday after being indicted on charges that he lied to Congress about his pursuit of Russia-hacked Democratic emails obtained by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. The indictment provided an unprecedented glimpse at investigators' understanding of the Trump campaign's effort to get information about WikiLeaks' plans to release emails potentially damaging to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign.

The death toll from the collapse of a dam in Brazil rose to at least 34 people on Saturday, with another 300 unaccounted for. More than 260 employees of the Vale mining company, which owns the dam, were among the missing, a spokesperson for the southeastern state of Minas Gerais said. Vale is the South American country's largest mining company. Many of the victims were eating in a nearby restaurant Friday when the dam burst, releasing a torrent of mining waste and mud that buried the restaurant and much of the surrounding community. As of Saturday, 189 people had been rescued, and 23 people were hospitalized, according to Minas Gerais state's Civil Defense and The Associated Press.

President Trump still will not be delivering his State of the Union address in the House on Jan. 29, even though the partial federal government shutdown has ended, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Saturday. After Trump announced Friday that Republicans and Democrats had reached a deal to reopen the government, Pelosi told reporters that congressional leaders and Trump still had to work out a date, but "the state of the union is not planned now." "What I said to the president is when the government is opened we will discuss a mutually agreeable date," Pelosi said, adding she looks forward to welcoming Trump in the House chambers once a date is set.

Louisiana police are searching for a 21-year-old man, Dakota Theriot, suspected in a Saturday killing spree that left five people dead, including his parents. Investigators believe Theriot first fatally shot a woman believed to be his girlfriend, 20-year-old Summer Ernest, along with her father and brother at their Livingston Parish home. He then allegedly took the truck of Ernest's father and drove to Ascension Parish to kill his mother and father. "We do not have a motive," Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said, adding that investigators had spoken to Summer Ernest's mother and were told there were "no red flags, there was no sign of anything." Theriot's father, Keith, gave police information pointing to his son before dying of his wounds.

Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's military attaché in the U.S., Col. José Luis Silva, on Saturday broke with the regime and urged fellow high-ranking members of the armed forces to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the South American nation's legitimate interim president. "As the Venezuelan defense attaché in the United States, I do not recognize Mr. Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela," Silva told Miami's el Nuevo Herald Spanish language newspaper by telephone. "My message to all armed forces members, to everyone who carries a gun, is to please let's not attack the people." Maduro has recalled Venezuela's diplomats and ordered their U.S. counterparts to leave Venezuela; Guaidó, who is backed by the U.S. and other nations, has told everyone to stay put.

Taliban officials said Saturday that U.S. negotiators in Qatar had agreed on a draft peace pact that would include the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months. Taliban sources gave details of the draft to Reuters after six days of talks with U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. The two sides did not issue a joint declaration, but Khalilzad tweeted that they had made "significant progress" and agreed to further discussions. He tweeted ahead of his Sunday arrival in Kabul for consultations with Afghan officials that "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed," including a "comprehensive ceasefire." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that Khalilzad had sent "encouraging news," adding that the U.S. is "serious about pursuing peace" and preventing terrorism.

Two bombs exploded Sunday during Mass in a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island, killing at least 20 people and wounding 111 others. The first blast sent churchgoers, some of them wounded, rushing out the main door as soldiers and police hurried inside. Then a second bomb, possibly attached to a parked motorcycle, exploded near the main entrance, killing and injuring more victims. The dead included 15 civilians and five soldiers. Troops in armored carriers sealed the main road to the church, which is on an island where Islamist extremist Abu Sayyaf militants are active. "We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars," the office of President Rodrigo Duterte said in Manila. "The law will give them no mercy."

A British newspaper, The Telegraph, published a three-page apology to first lady Melania Trump on Saturday and agreed to pay damages for what it called false statements about her early modeling career. The paper last week published an article in its magazine that said Melania Trump's modeling career was struggling before she met Donald Trump, and only improved with his help. The paper now says that was false, and it apologized "unreservedly." The article was an excerpt from the book The Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of Trump's Women. The author, journalist Nina Burleigh, stood by her reporting, noting that U.S. publications have published excerpts "without a peep of objection" since her book came out in October. Britain has tighter libel laws.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.