Trump vs. everybody. Apple vs. the FBI. Cops vs. a unicorn. It’s Friday, and here are the five things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
GOP DEBATE
Texas toasted: Last night’s Republican debate in Houston began as a civil celebration of our democracy, replete with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem. Then all hell broke loose:
— Marco Rubio, desperate to stay relevant in the race, hit front-runner Donald Trump on pretty much everything: immigration (wham!), health care (boom!) foreign policy (bam!).
— Ted Cruz, also facing a moment of truth on Super Tuesday, was all too happy to join in the fun, attacking Trump for his donations to Democrats and for not releasing his tax records. (Somewhere, Jeb Bush watched all of this and wondered, “what took these guys so long?”)
— The Donald swatted the attacks away with his trademark humor and crass cracks, but you could tell that fighting a two-front war with the senators got under his skin.
Despite the fiery skirmish, many wonder if this was a case of too little, too late for anyone not named Trump. Missed all the fun? Here’s a 90-second recap. And here’s what was true, and what wasn’t.
KANSAS SHOOTING
It’s happened agan: The terror of workplace violence reared its ugly head again yesterday in Kansas. A gunman killed three people and wounded 14 — 10 critically — at a lawn care equipment company. The shooter, who was an employee, was killed by police. Witnesses said the man, armed with two guns, got out of a truck, shot a person and then went inside a building where he shot folks at random. Don’t have a motive yet, but terrorism is being ruled out.
SYRIA
Giving peace a chance: Early tomorrow morning could be game-changer in Syria’s destructive civil war. That’s when a “cessation of hostilities” goes into effect. The Syrian regime and the opposition are supposed to stop fighting (Russia’s supposed to stop airstrikes too) and implement a U.N. “road map” for peace. Will it work? Well, it didn’t exactly get a ringing endorsement from the Obama administration, but the President did say if it improves one, single Syrian’s life, it would be worth it.
APPLE VS. FBI
You’re not the boss of me: That’s pretty much been Apple’s message to Uncle Sam lately. The tech behemoth’s war of words with the U.S. government landed in court yesterday. The FBI wants Apple to unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. In a court filing Apple said doing so violates its constitutional rights and would force the company to essentially create a “back door” to the iPhone that criminals could exploit. Not so fast Apple., the FBI says. We only want to do this for just this one phone, so slow your roll, cause it won’t create vulnerabilities for other iPhones.
TERRORISM
Unholy alliance: Well this is the last thing anybody needed. Terror groups Boko Haram and Al Shabaab are reportedly joining forces for training purposes, Somalia’s national security chief says. Boko Haram fighters travel from Nigeria to Al Shabaab training camps in Somalia to learn how to carry out suicide attacks, build weapons and engage in all other manner of evil. Both groups — responsible for thousands of deaths — want to impose a strict version of Sharia in their respective countries.