Apr 6, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Twitter files lawsuit to protect identity of anti-Trump account

Richard Drew / AP File Photo

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to fight off a request for information about an anti-Trump account claiming to be run by US immigration officials. @ALT_USCIS, which already has 34,000 followers, and has been tweeting against President Trump's policies since January. Twitter declined to comment beyond the court document.

First Amendment: Twitter is invoking the First Amendment's free speech protection in its complaint. Twitter also claims the Customs and Border Protection agency is misusing a law meant only for cases of potentially illegal merchandise imports to get the account's information, though it's clear to the company that it has other motives.

Twitter has fought multiple government requests for information in the past, as well as gag orders preventing it from disclosing the requests themselves.

Twitter and Trump: Twitter is finding itself caught in the middle of Trump and his opponents. The president has been regularly using the service to broadcast his thoughts and to rally his supporters, so opponents have also taken to using the service.

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Rebecca Falconer
Updated 13 mins ago - World

China says U.S. is "endangering peace" with high-level visit to Taiwan

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during a June briefing in Washington, DC. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Tuesday night he will lead a delegation to Taiwan "in the coming days."

Why it matters: It's the highest-level visit by a U.S. cabinet official to Taiwan since 1979. Azar is also the first U.S. Cabinet member to visit the island state in six years. The visit has angered China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. Chinese officials accused the U.S. early Wednesday of "endangering peace" with the visit, AFP reports.

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Axios
Updated 57 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 18,543,662 — Total deaths: 700,714 — Total recoveries — 11,143,031— Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 a.m. ET: 4,771,236 — Total deaths: 156,807 — Total recoveries: 1,528,979 — Total tests: 57,543,852 — Map.
  3. States: New York City health commissioner resigns in protest of De Blasio's coronavirus response — Local governments go to war over schools.
  4. Public health: 59% of Americans support nationwide 2-week stay-at-home order in NPR poll.
  5. Politics: Trump's national security adviser returns to work after coronavirus recovery — Republicans push to expand small business loan program.
  6. Sports: Indy 500 to be held without fans — Rafael Nadal opts out of U.S. Open.
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Dave Lawler
Updated 2 hours ago - World

At least 100 killed, 4,000 injured after massive explosion rocks Beirut

Photo: Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

A major explosion has slammed central Beirut, Lebanon, damaging buildings as far as several miles away and injuring scores of people.

Driving the news: At least 100 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured in the blast — and the death toll is likely to rise, the Lebanese Red Cross said, per AP. Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the explosions occurred at a warehouse that had been storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for the past six years.

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