World News

Goldman Sachs nudged up its estimated probability of a "no-deal" Brexit on Wednesday after British lawmakers instructed Prime Minister Theresa May to reopen a Brexit treaty with the European Union to replace a controversial Irish border arrangement. Britain's parliament rejected a proposal to give parliament a path to prevent a potentially chaotic "no-deal" exit, but accepted two amendments - one seeking to replace the Irish backstop with alternative arrangements, and another rejecting the notion of a "no-deal" Brexit. Goldman Sachs analysts upped their "no-deal" Brexit probability to 15 percent from 10 percent, and cut their probability of Brexit not happening at all to 35 percent from 40 percent. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RUKhpG

A "record arctic air mass" is bringing dangerously low temperatures from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RsdEL0

One suspect accused of shooting four Houston Police officers suffered debilitating injuries for many years, his sister said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2DIEN91

The director of national intelligence's downbeat assessment, in testimony before a Senate committee, came just weeks ahead of a planned second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The annual Worldwide Threat Assessment from the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI), released by Coats, noted that North Korea had not conducted any nuclear or missile tests in over a year and had declared its support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang had also "reversibly dismantled" parts of its infrastructure for weapons of mass destruction, the report said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Wuf2jU

A retired Venezuelan colonel accused of being a leader of the explosives-laden drone "attack" on President Nicolas Maduro in August has been arrested, his wife said on Wednesday. "He was kidnapped," Sorbay Padilla said in a video sent to journalists and human rights activists. Garcia Palomo, 54, had been in exile in neighboring Colombia but was captured at the end of last week in western Venezuela after secretly returning to the country, local press reported. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2TmkDHh

Brrr! The polar vortex caused hordes of flights to be canceled across the country on Wednesday. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2BcIeDj

Five engineers, including two working for a German company, were arrested in Brazil Tuesday as part of a probe into a deadly dam collapse last week at a mine in the country's southeast, officials said. Three of the engineers work for Vale, the owner of the mine, and were directly involved in the process of the facility's operating licenses, the prosecutors' office in the state of Minas Gerais said. The other two worked for TUEV SUED, a German company that in September carried out the last safety inspection on the collapsed mine. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2MFX75g

The utility filed bankruptcy documents despite investigators determining last week that its equipment was not to blame for a 2017 fire that killed 22. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Wp0q5D

It is the second deadly mining disaster involving Vale in only about three years and the company has come under intense scrutiny since images of death and destruction began flooding the airwaves on Friday. While Vale has taken steps in recent years to shield itself from state intervention, the government is still indirectly the company’s largest shareholder through a Banco do Brasil pension fund, known as Previ. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Tl8r9w

The sweeping U.S. sanctions on oil firm PDVSA, announced on Monday, means the state-run company may not be able to fulfill contracts with North American buyers, the government of President Nicolas Maduro said. Aimed at driving Maduro from power, the sanctions were the strongest measures yet against the 56-year-old former union leader, who has overseen economic collapse and an exodus of millions of Venezuelans in recent years. The measures triggered higher global oil prices, angry responses from China and Russia and the first serious moves against Guaido since he challenged Maduro's claim on the presidency last week. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2TiyFcU

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday that failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams will deliver Democrats’ response to President Trump’s State of the Union address. Abrams, who lost a tight gubernatorial race to former Georgia secretary of state Brian Kemp in November, will return to the national spotlight on February 5 to address the nation immediately after Trump concludes his remarks. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2CNRsWg

Internet giant Alibaba saw its revenue growth slow in the final three months of last year, in quarterly results likely to stir up concerns over the weaker China market, recently signalled to by US tech giants.  Alibaba saw net income jump 33pc to 30.96bn yuan (£3.5bn) in the three months to the end of December, and revenue rose 41pc to 117.28bn yuan. However, shares dipped in New York trading, down 1.3pc, as investors took the results as a sign growth was waning, given Alibaba's revenue had grown more than 50pc for the 10 consecutive quarters prior to the most recent results.  The 41pc growth announced on Wednesday was the weakest Alibaba had recorded in three years.  The results follow a warning from Alibaba president Michael Evans earlier this month that China had "slowed down". Speaking at an event in New York, Mr Evans had said it was a market that "required patience", adding that there were some "troubling headwinds".  Last week, China posted figu

California rancher Chris Burgard teamed up with other border ranchers to invite Nancy Pelosi to view the crisis at the border firsthand, even offering to pay for her plane ticket. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Ure9GX

President Trump on Wednesday criticized his own intelligence chiefs a day after they broke with him in their assessments of the threats posed by North Korea, Iran and Syria. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2MHeGlv

Prosecutors say Guzmán became one of the largest smugglers and sellers of Colombian-produced narcotics to the United States in the 1980s and 1990s. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RsDgHE

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Winter's sharpest bite in years moved past painful into life-threatening territory Tuesday, prompting officials throughout the Midwest to take extraordinary measures to protect the homeless and other vulnerable people from the bitter cold, including turning some city buses into mobile warming shelters in Chicago. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2MEIjnI

Leaders of the U.S. intelligence community told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the nuclear threat from North Korea persisted and Iran was not taking steps toward making a nuclear bomb, conclusions that contrasted starkly with Trump's assessments of those countries. "The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2SdevDQ

There's a big difference between "climate" and "weather" from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2FXuVdT

Polar vortex expected to paralyze parts of U.S. with extreme cold, Roger Goodell talks state of the NFL and more things to start your Wednesday. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Bb4cpU

As brutally cold air invades the Midwest and Northeast this week, some areas could see AccuWeather RealFeel temperatures dip below minus 50 F. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2ME3bLI

Donald Trump has again appeared to fundamentally misunderstand climate change by suggesting extreme cold weather in the US is evidence global warming does not exist. “In the beautiful Midwest, wind chill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded,” Mr Trump tweeted late on Monday evening. It follows a number of recent tweets by the president expressing gleeful disregard for the scientific consensus that holds human carbon emissions responsible for recent global temperature increases. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2sRtUvc

Accused Mexican drug boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's repeated escapes from the law prove that he "knows he's guilty," a U.S. prosecutor told jurors in closing arguments at his trial on Wednesday, urging them not to let him escape again. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Goldbarg's description of Guzman's history of dramatic prison escapes capped off a day-long summation in federal court in Brooklyn in which she also attacked the defense argument that Guzman was a scapegoat. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2ToZpIz

From the polar vortex to Ted Bundy, here’s the news you’ll want to talk about today. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Rn2zuN

The court also said prosecutors could investigate Guaido, in apparent retaliation for sweeping U.S. sanctions on oil firm PDVSA, announced on Monday. The sanctions mean the state-run company may not be able to fulfill contracts with North American buyers, the government of President Nicolas Maduro said. Aimed at driving Maduro from power, the sanctions were the strongest measures yet against the 56-year-old former union leader, who has overseen economic collapse and an exodus of millions of Venezuelans in recent years. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2HCSAle

Retailers across the US are raising their game to celebrate the Year of the Pig. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2SlXF5W

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas accepted the resignation of his government Tuesday, in a reshuffle seen as a bid by the ageing leader to strengthen his position as a decade-old political split deepens. Analysts view replacing prime minister Rami Hamdallah after five years as part of Abbas's efforts to further isolate his political rivals Hamas, who run the Gaza Strip. Hamdallah's government will remain in place while a new administration is formed. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2UoVQ5i

Steven Fitschen, president of the National Legal Foundation, reacts to the president's tweet praising his effort to teach teach the Bible in public schools. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2TnRBXF

Police are investigating after receiving a report of a "possible racially-charged assault and battery" on "Empire" star Jussie Smollett. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2G0FGMh

A "record arctic air mass" is bringing dangerously low temperatures from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RsdEL0

The man and woman were killed after firing at Houston police, who were attempting to serve a warrant. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Rqrxtk

National security adviser John Bolton tweeted that traders should not deal in gold, oil or other commodities "being stolen" from the Venezuelan people, as opponents of Maduro's government worried that a Russian-operated plane had shipped gold out of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon. The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, by phone on Wednesday, reiterating support for his "fight to regain democracy." On one side of the tussle for control of Venezuela, an OPEC member that has the world's largest oil reserves but is in dire financial straits, Guaido and Western backers led by the United States are insisting on an immediate transition and fresh elections. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2UqaYiT

So much for "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night." The U.S. mail won't be delivered tomorrow in four states due to the crippling cold of the polar vortex. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2CRanjh

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday the Brexit deal is the "best agreement possible and is not renegotiable", as Britain's premier pushed to reopen talks with Brussels. Macron's comments during a summit in Cyprus came as Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to British lawmakers to give her a mandate to renegotiate, after parliament rejected an accord reached with the European Union. Macron urged the British government to "promptly" lay out to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier "the next steps that will prevent an exit without an agreement, which nobody wants but for which we must all prepare ourselves". from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2DJ2qyf

New York, Washington, D.C., Boston and Chicago are taking extra measures to protect homeless populations amid extreme cold, and experts recommend tips for how you can help if you see someone in need. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RscJKo

Is the Mueller probe fair? Is it being conducted ethically? Who should we believe when the president tells us we can’t trust law enforcement? from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2UqdA0e

The extradition hearing for a top Huawei executive at the center of a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Beijing was pushed back to March on Tuesday, after the US unveiled sweeping charges against her and the Chinese tech giant. Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, was indicted along with Huawei and two affiliates in a US case related to alleged Iran sanctions violations that has inflamed tensions with China. In Meng's first court appearance since being released, the judge moved the start of her extradition hearing to March 6, a month later than previously scheduled, in order to allow the defense time to review the evidence in the case. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Sfxk9t

The director of national intelligence's downbeat assessment, in testimony before a Senate committee, came just weeks ahead of a planned second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The annual Worldwide Threat Assessment from the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI), released by Coats, noted that North Korea had not conducted any nuclear or missile tests in over a year and had declared its support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang had also "reversibly dismantled" parts of its infrastructure for weapons of mass destruction, the report said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Wuf2jU

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on a major snowstorm and frigid weather in the Midwest (all times local): from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2MECSoJ

Winter weather and the general lull of the post-holiday season can leave just from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2sXku1c

Harley-Davidson has recalled 43,908 of its Street motorcycles for a brake issue that could cause a crash. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Um6YzO

Five engineers, including two working for a German company, were arrested in Brazil Tuesday as part of a probe into a deadly dam collapse last week at a mine in the country's southeast, officials said. Three of the engineers work for Vale, the owner of the mine, and were directly involved in the process of the facility's operating licenses, the prosecutors' office in the state of Minas Gerais said. The other two worked for TUEV SUED, a German company that in September carried out the last safety inspection on the collapsed mine. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2MFX75g

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz conceded Wednesday that he is surprised by the extreme Democratic backlash against his recently-floated independent presidential run, but suggested the outsized attention may ultimately help get his message out. “I must be doing something right to create so much interest and backlash from the Democratic Party. "I must be doing something right to create so much interest and backlash from the Democratic Party. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RYbwzY

“I’m not going to speculate about time but it’s certainly beyond weeks,” Goodale told reporters Tuesday after a cabinet meeting. Goodale said Canada will take the view of allies such as the U.S. into account when studying potential risks to national security, and will make its own decision in the end. China’s ambassador to Canada and Huawei officials have denied the company’s gear is used for spying. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Rq1PFg

Goldman Sachs nudged up its estimated probability of a "no-deal" Brexit on Wednesday after British lawmakers instructed Prime Minister Theresa May to reopen a Brexit treaty with the European Union to replace a controversial Irish border arrangement. Britain's parliament rejected a proposal to give parliament a path to prevent a potentially chaotic "no-deal" exit, but accepted two amendments - one seeking to replace the Irish backstop with alternative arrangements, and another rejecting the notion of a "no-deal" Brexit. Goldman Sachs analysts upped their "no-deal" Brexit probability to 15 percent from 10 percent, and cut their probability of Brexit not happening at all to 35 percent from 40 percent. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RUKhpG

US sanctions against Venezuela's national oil company risk raising crude prices owing to a drop in exports of so-called heavy crude on which the world depends. Washington's move against PDVSA on Monday is aimed at crippling embattled President Nicolas Maduro's power base. Although crude output by OPEC member Venezuela has slumped in recent years, its heavy oil is sought after by US refineries who mix it with lighter crudes to make petrol. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2WvpmZh

Jussie Smollett told police that the attackers wrapped a rope around his neck from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2sTLLBG

It wasn't a crime for the Trump campaign to be interested in what WikiLeaks had on Hillary, other Democrats. The collusion narrative is falling apart. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Uppbg4

“If the committee of Republicans and Democrats now meeting on Border Security is not discussing or contemplating a Wall or Physical Barrier, they are Wasting their time!” Trump said Wednesday on Twitter. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy lent credence to the possibility that Republicans could endorse that route when he told Fox News on Wednesday morning that distinctions between a wall and fencing were just semantics. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RtdnHz

The Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate judiciary panel on Wednesday requested a briefing from the FBI on the arrest of Roger Stone, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump, in an inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Senator Lindsey Graham said he was concerned about the number of agents involved, tactics employed and the timing of Stone's arrest on Friday in Florida. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating U.S. allegations that Russia meddled in the election and whether members of the campaign of then-Republican candidate Trump coordinated with Moscow officials. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2t0TPk1

The bitter cold that froze parts of the central and eastern U.S. this week will be a distant memory by the weekend. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2HEjWra

The utility filed bankruptcy documents despite investigators determining last week that its equipment was not to blame for a 2017 fire that killed 22. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Wp0q5D