How much have you missed?

Here’s a recap of this week. Just click the story to read on!

Gif source

Politics

• The partial government shutdown is now the second-longest government shutdown on record. If it last until Saturday, it will reach 22 days and will become the longest in history.
• Trump says he is likely to declare a national emergency if Congress does not satisfy his demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding.
• With almost all D.C. tourist attractions closed due to the partial government shutdown, the clocktower of the Old Post Office building, which is leased by the Trump International Hotel, remains open and staffed. This is raising red flags of a possible violation of anti-corruption clauses by Trump.
• Trump walked out of a meeting with Democrats about the shutdown and then tweeted that it was a “total waste of time.”
• We now know that Trump’s campaign had 101 meetings and connections with Russia. Here they all are.

Pop culture

• The 2019 Golden Globes were this week. Here are some highlights.
• Pete Davidson was spotted chatting and cuddling with actress Kate Beckinsale for the majority of the night at a Golden Globes after party.
• Cole Sprouse and KJ Apa are on vacation together in New Zealand, which is very important to us.
• Lady Gaga posted an apology on her social media channels for her 2013 collaboration on “Do What U Want (With My Body)” with R. Kelly, who is facing a number of sexual misconduct allegations, saying she believes the women accusing him.
• The Bachelor premiered this week, and here are some of the weirdest moments from the episode.

Humanity

• A woman who had been in a coma for years gave birth last month, and now police are gathering DNA samples from men who work at the woman’s care facility in Arizona.
• The Taliban launched a series of attacks this week, killing 32 members of Afghan security forces and militias.
• TSA agents are calling in sick and quitting as a result of the government shutdown, which poses a potential threat to travel safety.
• The US fertility rate is below the level needed for the population to replace itself.
• A Virginia study showed that school bullying rates are higher in areas that voted for Trump.

Science says...

• The FDA is postponing some food inspections as a result of the partial government shutdown, which puts food safety at risk.
• Modern medicine doesn’t actually make you live longer, according to studies.
• A second burst of radio waves has been detected in outer space, beyond the Milky Way. They’re a total mystery.
• The FDA is warning that Bauer’s Candies products may be contaminated with hepatitis A.
• A rare, expensive blue pigment was found in a medieval skeleton’s teeth, and it’s actually kind of a significant discovery.