Upping the ante

Tuesday, April 18, 2017 View this email in your browser Today is Tax Day, so if you've procrastinated on filing with the IRS, well, you've got work to do. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. By Doug Criss 1. North Korea A North Korean UN official warned of nuclear war breaking out if tensions don't ease between his country and the US. Now, we're used to war rhetoric of all kinds from the North Koreans, but the Trump administration's recent moves -- saying it was ending the policy of "strategic patience" and sending an aircraft carrier-led strike group to the Korean peninsula -- has caused the North to up the ante in its tough talk. Meanwhile, Trump seems to be dangling a carrot of better trade terms in front of China in an effort to coax the Chinese to exert more influence on North Korea. That's raising eyebrows because it represents a break from US-China policy; past administrations have kept trade and North Korea separate in dealing with China.  2. Facebook killing The search for Steve Stephens has expanded. Police across the nation are looking for Stephens, who's accused of shooting to death an elderly man and then posting the killing on Facebook. Relatives of the victim, Robert Godwin Sr., said they forgive the alleged shooter because that's what Godwin would have wanted. The horrific footage of Godwin being shot down on a Cleveland sidewalk was up on Facebook for hours before it was taken down, causing many to wonder why it takes the social media giant so long to remove violent material. A Facebook VP says the company knows it needs "to do better." 3. Donald Trump travel His veep is in Asia. His secretary of state just got back from Russia. His national security adviser is in Afghanistan. Even his son-in-law/senior adviser has been to the Middle East. But the one member of the Trump administration who hasn't been abroad yet -- is Trump himself. The President has split his time between the White House and his Mar-a-Lago resort since his inauguration, with just a handful of domestic stops for rallies and such. At this point in their terms, most presidents have at least taken a trip to visit our allies north or south of the border. But Trump plans to keep his foreign excursions to a minimum, reportedly to not distract his focus on domestic issues. Next month, however, he will go to Brussels for a NATO meeting and to Italy for a Group of 7 confab. 4. Arkansas executions Arkansas didn't execute an inmate last night because the US Supreme Court didn't override a stay of execution. The inmate, Don Davis, had even been given his last meal, but he's escaped death -- for now. Davis and another inmate, Bruce Ward, were both granted stays by the Arkansas Supreme Court. They are among eight Arkansas inmates due to be executed this month -- just before a key lethal injection drug expires. A federal judge had stopped all the executions, but an appeals court over the weekend overturned that ruling. So what happens now? The attorney for Davis and Ward requested the stays until the US Supreme Court rules on inmate access to independent mental health experts. Arguments in that case are set for next week. 5. Syria bombing A human rights group is accusing the US of dropping bombs on a mosque in northern Syria, killing dozens of worshippers. A new report from Human Rights Watch claims the US airstrike in Aleppo last month killed at least 40 people. But the military says what it actually hit was a meeting of al Qaeda terrorists in a building 50 feet away from the mosque. The United States has targeted al Qaeda fighters in Syria in past strikes. The Pentagon said 10 al Qaeda operatives were killed in February near Idlib.  Tweet Forward Breakfast Browse People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. Doomsday digs What's your housing plan for the apocalypse? An underground cellar in the backyard? That's cute. Here's how the 1% plans to ride out the end of time. No. 261 Fifty years ago, she became the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon. Yesterday, she crossed the finish line wearing the same bib number. Snap decision When the bomb exploded, this photographer in Syria took action instead of taking photos. What's old is new Say hello to the world's new oldest woman, Violet-Mosse Brown of Jamaica. Her secret? Don't drink rum. $2.8 billion That's how much Uber lost last year. Yeah, that's billion with "b." And finally ... The King of Twirl When your middle-aged neighbor pulls a stake out of a fence and puts on a baton-twirling clinic. It's why cell phone cameras were made. 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