| | | | | It's a day of heavy news around the world, so let's get straight to the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. | | | We may have grown numb to the daily drumbeat of horror coming out of Syria's civil war. We see yet another picture of a bombed-out building and just divert our attention. But you can't look away from this. You can't look away from the suffering of children -- victims of a suspected chemical attack in Idlib that killed at least 70 people. Activists in the area say the Syrian regime is responsible for all of this suffering after it dropped a chemical bomb. Russia blames a Syrian airstrike on a "terrorist" ammunition storehouse. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's military denies using chemical weapons. | | | Time's up. Now what? Everyone is asking that question after the White House issued a rather ominous warning about North Korea. A senior official said, "The clock has now run out and all options are on the table." OK, but what the heck does that even mean? Does it mean President Trump intends to pursue a go-it-alone strategy to stop North Korea's nuke program without China? Does it mean even more economic sanctions, or is the US now seriously considering military action? Almost on cue, North Korea early this morning lobbed a ballistic missile into the sea. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's statement on that was equally head scratching. In a nutshell, he said, no comment. | | | Susan Rice pushed back against allegations she "unmasked" the names of Donald Trump's associates from intelligence reports for political purposes. Rice, who was President Obama's national security adviser, said, yes, asking for more info about names in intel was a routine part of her job, but, no, she didn't leak the names of people from Trump's camp in intelligence reports to the media. Trump's supporters say all this validates the President's baseless claim that he was spied on by the Obama administration. CNN's Chris Cillizza says it's just another Trump smokescreen on the (never-ending) Russia questions. | | | The GOP health care bill may not be dead after all. Talk of resurrection swirled through Washington as word spread that VP Mike Pence met with moderate Republican House members and the conservative Freedom Caucus. It was the Freedom Caucus' lack of support that essentially killed the bill a few weeks ago. House Speaker Paul Ryan said a new deal isn't imminent -- they're just talking. But some details are spilling out, like how the new version of the bill could be bad for folks with pre-existing conditions. That's because this new proposal may let states opt out of forcing insurers to cover certain essential health benefits and barring insurers from charging consumers based on their medical history or gender. | | | A federal appeals court ruling that the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against LGBT employees could be a game-changer. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a woman who sued a community college, saying it violated the landmark 1964 law's Title VII when it denied her employment. The court agreed, but the ruling conflicts with one last month from the 11th Circuit Court, which said Title VII doesn't bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. It means the Supreme Court would have to settle this one. | | | People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. | | Pop flop
In a new ad, Kendall Jenner joins a street protest and offers a cop a Pepsi. Social media, and Black Lives Matter, were not amused. | | Big league
A New Jersey teen has a big decision to make, after she got accepted to all eight Ivy League schools. | | 'Doomsday' library
First there was a vault to protect humanity's seeds. Now there's one to protect humanity's data. But wait, isn't that what the cloud is for? | | Give me a beat
A Syrian-American woman celebrates Muslim Women's Day with, you guessed it, a rap video. | | 21
The number of companies that have pulled ads from Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" after reports about settlements with women who alleged sexual harassment or verbal abuse by host Bill O'Reilly. | | | | | | | |
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