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Chapter 1: What are the implications of the partial government shutdown?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. It's the third day of the partial government shutdown after funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed. Democrats in Congress are demanding reforms to immigration enforcement as part of a funding package, but lawmakers are now on a 10-day break.
TSA officers are required to stay on the job without pay, but experts say mass flight cancellations like those seen during last year's government shutdown are less likely because air traffic controllers are still getting paid. As Marlon Hyde from member station WABE in Atlanta reports, Congress is in recess until February 23rd.
It has only been a few months since the record 43-day shutdown last fall, and now TSA employees must work without a paycheck again. Tom Smith is an economist at Emory University.
What we saw in the past was you'll get an increase in number of people who are calling out sick.
Chapter 2: How is California preparing for severe weather conditions?
People will have to pick up second jobs in order to pay their bills.
Smith says that could lead to delays and major inconveniences for passengers. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 47,000 transportation security officers, has not responded to a request for comment. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hod in Atlanta.
Chapter 3: What accusations is Viktor Orban making against Ukraine?
California is bracing for thunderstorms, strong winds and heavy mountain snow. The National Weather Service is urging people to take precautions in the coming days. Winter storm warnings are in place from southwest Oregon to the southern California border. State emergency officials are deploying rescue resources for flooding and debris flows.
The nationalist pro-Kremlin prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, is accusing Ukraine of trying to interfere with Hungarian elections this April. NPR's Joanna Kakisis reports that Orban, who is close to President Trump, made the remarks during a visit with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Hungarian capital Budapest.
Rubio praised Orban's success and said it's also the Trump administration's success.
Because this relationship we have here in Central Europe through you is so essential and vital for our national interests in the years to come.
The authoritarian leader has run Hungary for the last 14 years. He is trailing in public opinion polls. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this weekend that Orban is, quote, more interested in growing his belly than protecting Europe from Russia. Through an interpreter, Orban said Zelensky and Ukraine want to involve themselves in Hungary's election.
And we have to prevail against them too. That is our reality.
Orban opposes European aid to Ukraine and the country's bid to join the European Union. Joanna Kakisis, NPR News.
Iran's top diplomat held talks with the UN nuclear watchdog in Geneva today, a day before a second round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. President Trump recently ordered a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Former President Barack Obama is clarifying comments he made about alien life on a podcast over the weekend.
He says he did not see evidence during his presidency that aliens have made contact with humans. During the podcast, Obama said aliens were real, but that they were not being kept in Area 51. Brazil's president and a local samba school could be facing legal troubles after a tribute to the South American leader in this year's carnival celebration.
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Chapter 4: What clarification did Barack Obama provide about alien life?
Political opponents say the Samba school's homage to the Brazilian leader violates campaigning rules. From Rio de Janeiro, NPR's Carrie Khan reports.
Official campaigning doesn't start until August. But opponents of President Luiz InƔcio Lula da Silva say the tribute to the leftist leader was unfair early campaigning, something illegal for the school to do since it receives public funding. The 80-year-old Lula was in Rio's VIP box Sunday night until nearly dawn watching Carnaval.
The Niteroibe Samba School chronicled his life from a childhood in poverty to three times being elected president. One float pitted a figure of him against a clown, a reference to former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Polls show this year's election will be tight, especially if Lula faces Bolsonaro's son Flavio, who has his father's endorsement. Carrie Conn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.
An injured seabird sought help by pecking on a German hospital's emergency room door. The black cormorant had a triple fishing hook stuck in its beak. Medical staff removed the hook and treated the wound. Then they released the bird in a hospital park.
Chapter 5: What legal challenges is Brazil's president facing during Carnaval?
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