Hello! Here’s what’s happening on Thursday.
1. Both President Donald Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller reportedly want to speak to each other about the Russia investigation. But Trump’s attorneys reportedly fear the president could risk further legal exposure if he talks.
2. UK government officials are considering allowing for free movement of EU citizens at the UK border to continue in the case of a no-deal Brexit. Border Force officials met in January to discuss contingency plans for different Brexit outcomes.
3. The US slapped sanctions on two top Turkish government officials. The sanctions involve a long-standing dispute over Turkey’s detention of an American pastor and his alleged role in a failed military coup.
4. Google plans to build a censored search engine in China. Google previously pulled its search service out of China around 2010 because it didn't want to censor results.
5. Iran is preparing to launch a major military exercise in the Persian Gulf. Iran has been threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, a major sea passage in the Persian Gulf that sees 30% of the world's oil supply.
6. Hackers accessed private messages and other information of early users on Reddit. The hack affected people who used Reddit between 2005, when the site was created, to 2007.
7. Facebook is losing its security chief Alex Stamos. The news comes one day after Stamos played a key role in Facebook's public disclosure of a targeted political influence campaign.
8. At least three people have died in Zimbabwe after opposition protesters claimed the elections were rigged. Zimbabwe's electoral commission said Wednesday evening it will release the presidential election results "sometime tomorrow."
9. An Australian politician is suing her opponent over sexually charged comments. A crowdfunding campaign was set up for Sarah Hanson-Young to help pay for legal proceedings.
10. NASA is about to name the first astronauts ever to fly commercial spaceships. Both SpaceX and Boeing built new spaceships for NASA to fly astronauts into orbit.
And finally ...