Six people were injured in a small Italian town on Saturday, after an Italian man set out with the motive "to shoot African migrants," the Daily Beast reports.
Why it matters: Per the Daily Beast, racial tensions are increasing as Italy nears its election in early March; "fear and anger are being fueled by the country's far-right parties who are all campaigning on anti-immigration platforms." Last week in Macerata, Italy, a Nigerian migrant was arrested for the murder and dismemberment of an 18-year-old woman, which fueled tensions even further.
The shooter, Luca Traini, ran for a political position with the far-right party in Italy, the Northern League, last year, per the Beast.
Local press reported that Traini loved the 18-year-old that was killed last week.
Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Canada would "walk away" from NAFTA negotiations if it isn't suitable, Politico reports. "We aren't going to take any old deal," he said. "Canada is willing to walk away from NAFTA if the United States proposes a bad deal. We won't be pushed around."
Why it matters: President Trump has spoken frequently about how he believes NAFTA to be unfair to the United States, and that he would be willing to begin the withdraw process from the agreement. Monday marked the end of the sixth round of negotiations, and the three leaders "indicated that they were seeing progress emerging," Politico reports.
President Trump feels vindicated by the release of the memo.
Why it matters: This tweet is further evidence that Trump hoped the memo would end Bob Mueller's investigation, in which Trump and his close associates are already involved.
Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review, officially released today, proposes the U.S. develop low-yield warheads for a submarine launched ballistic missile and a new submarine launched cruise missile, per Defense News.
Why it matters: The new strategy "will ensure Russia understands that any use of nuclear weapons, however limited, is unacceptable,” it says. It comes after concerns that current U.S. nuclear weapons are too big to appropriately respond to tactical nuclear threats from Russia. Greg Weaver, deputy director of strategic capabilities for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said "there are strong indications that our current...capabilities are perceived by the Russians as potentially inadequate to deter them."
K.T. McFarland, President Trump's former Deputy National Security Adviser, withdrew her nomination for U.S. Ambassador to Singapore.
Why it matters: McFarland's chances of being confirmed stalled after an email revealed she knew about Michael Flynn's contacts with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, despite testifying to the Senate that she knew nothing of their communications.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters that the Trump administration "would be hard-pressed to try to suppress the [Democrat's counter-memo], particularly since they claim they're releasing the GOP memo in the interest of transparency."
Why it matters: Schiff said that the minority memo is currently in the hands of the FBI and the Department of Justice, who are reviewing it for necessary redactions. If Trump decides to veto the Democrats' memo, which he has the power to do, it will further call into question the partisan (and possibly obstructive) nature of his decision-making.
The Wall Street Journal read through 7,000 text messages from FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who have been intensely criticized after it emerged they had exchanged anti-Trump texts while Strzok was investigating Hillary Clinton and later Donald Trump. WSJ concluded that the "texts critical of Mr. Trump represent a fraction of the roughly 7,000 messages, which stretch across 384 pages and show no evidence of a conspiracy against Mr. Trump."
Why it matters: President Trump has gone so far as to accuse the pair of "treason," heightening the tension between the White House and the FBI. This WSJ's findings follow the release of the controversial Nunes memo, which the White House claims shows wrongful action against Trump on the part of the FBI.
The memo by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes is out, but there are still some critical unanswered questions — like whether there was any actual wrong information in the application to begin electronic surveillance on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Here's what to keep in mind as you read the memo and the reactions to it.
The House Intelligence Committee has released, without redactions, the classified Nunes memo on alleged FISA abuses. The release was vehemently opposed by the intelligence community, with the FBI issuing a rare public statement to express its "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
What the memo alleges:
The dossier authored by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele was "an essential part" of the FBI and the Justice Department's justification for conducting electronic surveillance of Carter Page. It also notes the dossier was funded by the DNC and Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Steele said he was "desperate that Donald Trump not get elected."
This "clear evidence of Steele's bias" wasn't reflected in any of the applications to authorize the electronic surveillance.
The U.S. Treasury Department is sanctioning six people and seven companies with links to Iranian-backed Hezbollah. In a statement Secretary Steve Mnuchin called Hezbollah “Iran’s primary proxy used to undermine legitimate Arab governments across the Middle East.”
Why it matters: The U.S. is working to limit Iran’s influence in the region, per the AP. The U.S. estimates Iran funds Hezbollah with $700 million annually, the AP reports. “The Administration is determined to expose and disrupt Hizballah’s networks, including those across the Middle East and West Africa, used to fund their illicit operations,” Mnuchin said.
The State Department announced an arms embargo against South Sudan today in an effort to "stem the violence and to exert pressure on" both the South Sudanese government and rebels to abide by a ceasefire signed last December in the country's ongoing civil war, a State Department official told Axios.
Why it matters, per Reuters’ Lesley Wroughton, who exclusively reported on State’s move in advance of the announcement: “The unilateral move would signal that the Trump administration has lost patience with South Sudan’s warring sides after ceasefires have been repeatedly violated.”
At least 90 migrants are believed to have drowned off the coast of Libya after their boat capsized this morning, reports the International Organization for Migration. Ten bodies washed ashore near the Libyan town of Zuwara, while two survivors swam safely to land and one was rescued by a fishing boat, according to spokeswoman Olivia Headon.
Why it matters: About 6,624 migrants crossed the Mediterranean last month, a 10% increase from January 2017. At least 3,000 migrants have drowned each year dating back to 2014, according to the Missing Migrants Project.
Trump, who has vowed to rain down "fire and fury" over North Korea and wants to investi in new nuclear weapons programs, is changing the nuclear calculus on the world stage, TIME's W.J. Hennigan writes:
The big picture: It's "a provocative shift from the sober, almost mournful restraint that has characterized the U.S. posture toward [nuclear] weapons for decades," per Hennigan.
President Trump, who is expected to approve the release of the classified memo alleging FISA abuse by the U.S. intelligence agencies today, tweeted this morning that the FBI and Justice Department are biased against him.
Worth noting: FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who head both entities mentioned in Trump's tweet — were handpicked by the president himself.
White House aides recognize there could be a high cost to President Trump's decision to allow — with no redactions — release of that classified memo about the Russian investigation. The White House has notified the House Intelligence Committee to release the memo, Fox News first reported and Axios has confirmed.
The White House plans to dress up the decision by arguing that it's an action of "transparency." But this puts President Trump publicly crossways with both the intelligence community and the FBI — not a place you want to be.
