U.S. and world news for Jan. 31

Iran’s newest threat: An Iranian news agency reports this morning that Iran’s U.N. Ambassador has warned that if the U.S. attacks Iran in retaliation for recent attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan there will be a strong Iranian response. Ambassador Amir Saeid Irvani also denied that Iran and the U.S. have been exchanging messages. On Monday, Irvani sent a letter to the president of the U.N. Security Council denying that Iran has anything to do with recent attacks on U.S. troops.

Impeaching Mayorkas: The Republican-controlled House Security Committee has voted to recommend two articles of impeachment to remove from office Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. They allege that Mayorkas hasn’t done enough to control migrants at the U.S. border with Mexico. The Democrat-controlled Senate is unlikely to convict and remove Mayorkas. The articles of impeachment come at the same time that House Republicans are opposing a bipartisan deal crafted in the Senate by conservative Republican senators working with Democrats that would solve the border issues. Donald Trump has been pressuring Republicans to kill the deal so he can continue using immigration as a campaign issue.

Musk’s $55B payout: A state judge in Delaware has ruled that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not entitled to $55 billion in compensation that was given to him by Tesla’s Board of Directors. The ruling came in a lawsuit that was filed by some Tesla stockholders. The stockholders argued that Musk controlled the board and had dictated terms of the compensation package. They also alleged that shareholders were given wrong information about Musk’s compensation in documents the company sent out seeking shareholder approval of Musk’s deal.

Syphilis cases increase: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that cases of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis increased 80% in the U.S. between 2018 and 2022. The CDC says that more than 207,000 cases were reported in 2022. The number of syphilis cases has been increasing for the past 10 years. If untreated, syphilis can seriously damage the heart and brain and can cause blindness, deafness, and paralysis. The CDC said that the Covid-19 pandemic may have interfered with people taking actions to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases.

Social media testimony: Today was the day for the Senate Judiciary Committee to hear from chief executives of social media companies about the influence their operations have on young people. The CEOs of Meta, which controls Facebook, along with executives from TikTok, Snap, Discord and X, which used to be called Twitter, were going to have their feet held to the fire according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. The CEOs viewed the committee hearing as an opportunity to defend their actions to institute safety measures that they say protect young users of their social media sites.

Chita Rivera: Broadway star Chita Rivera has died at age 91. Rivera received 10 Tony nominations and won two of the awards and a special award for lifetime achievement. She appeared in a number of movies including “Sweet Charity” and “Chicago.” On Broadway, Rivera appeared in “Guys and Dollars,” “West Side Story,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and dozens of other shows. Rivera also received a Kennedy Center honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Cover photo by PhilipRomanoPhoto / Wikimedia Commons