Stranger Than Fiction

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TOP NEWS

• The E.U. is mulling sanctions over Iran’s intention to break the 2015 nuclear deal

• Russian military hackers gained access to Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company, potentially to seek damaging information on Joe Biden.

• U.S. ends its designation of China as a currency manipulator ahead of the signing of the first phase of a trade deal.

• Visa acquired fintech startup Plaid for $5.3 billion

• Trump wants to divert $7.2 billion in Pentagon funds to pay for a border wall

• Giuliani associate Lev Parnas turned over thousands of documents to impeachment investigators.

THE ELECTION

• The final debate before the Iowa caucuses will take place tonight

• Warren says Sanders told her a woman could not win the Presidency

• Cory Booker ended his Presidential campaign

THE COMMENT

“The Islamic State has been weakened considerably since its peak in 2015, when it controlled a territory the size of Britain, but the Trump administration’s targeted killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani may have poised the group for a comeback. Just as the misguided American invasion of Iraq in 2003 revitalized Al Qaeda, some 17 years later, a return to chaos in the same country may yet do the same for the Islamic State.” - Former FBI special agent Ali Soufan

THE STRANGEST

• Supreme Court refuses to hear case of woman arrested for practicing yoga in public while topless

THE AV ROOM

• JACK BLACK SINGS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

• TARANTINO JOINS THE REWATCHABLES FOR “UNSTOPPABLE”

• EARLY STEVE CARELL COMMERCIAL