memeorandum: Former RNC Chair: Trump Will Be The Republican Nominee (Andrew Kaczynski/BuzzFeed)

5:45 PM ET, January 16, 2016

Top Items:

UPDATES: Jason Rezaian and 3 Other US Inmates Freed by Iran — TEHRAN (FNA)- 4 Iranian-American nationals who were held for various charges in Iran have been freed under a prisoners swap deal, Tehran's prosecutor announced Saturday afternoon. — “Based on an approval of the Supreme National …

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, New York Times, Taylor Marsh, Liberty Unyielding, The Iran Primer, Slantpoint, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, The Daily Caller, Townhall.com, The Iran Project and The Week

Washington Post:

Iran to free Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, 3 others, Iranian reports say — VIENNA — Iran will release Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and three other detained Iranian Americans on Saturday in exchange for seven people imprisoned or charged in the United States …

Discussion: Fox News, Daily Wire, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Business Insider, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, PoliticusUSA, Allen B. West, Outside the Beltway, Religion News Service, The Last Tradition, The Daily Caller, neo-neocon, Liberty Unyielding and rubber hose

New York Times:

Iran Says It Has Released Four People in a Prisoner Swap — Iran's judiciary said Saturday that that it had released four Iranian-American nationals as part of a prisoner swap with the United States. The Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was among the prisoners freed, Iranian media reported.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, irna.ir, Associated Press, Washington Post, addictinginfo.org, MSNBC and The Last Tradition

Zeke J Miller / TIME:

Marco Rubio Condemns Prisoner Swap for Post Journalist — An exchange would incentivize “people to take Americans hostage and prisoner” — (Johnston, Iowa) — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Saturday morning he was not aware of the specifics of the release of four Americans held prisoner in Iran …

Discussion: alan.com, Bloomberg Business, The Hill, Guardian, Bloomberg.com, Raw Story and Mediaite

Jonathan Tirone / Bloomberg Business:
Iran Has Met Terms of International Nuclear Agreement, IAEA Says

Discussion: The Week

BBC:
Jason Rezaian and three other US prisoners freed in Iran

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Outside the Beltway

Carol Morello / Washington Post:
Post reporter Jason Rezaian and others to be freed in prisoner swap, according to Iranian media

Discussion: Vox, 89.3 KPCC, NBC News, American Spectator, Slantpoint, Weasel Zippers, Refinery29, alan.com, The Right Scoop, The Iran Project and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
5 Americans released by Iran, 4 as part of prisoner swap, official says

Discussion: NBC News, addictinginfo.org, WTVR-TV, National Review, Hot Air, FOX2now.com and The Last Tradition

Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:
Iran releases Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian in prisoner swap with US

Discussion: Slantpoint, Hot Air and Mashable

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Ted Cruz taunts Donald Trump over his slipping lead and Twitter habits — MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—Hours before Ted Cruz and Donald Trump were slated to appear here at a tea party gathering, Cruz unloaded on Trump, taunting him over his poll numbers and ratcheting up attacks on his conservative credibility.

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Former RNC Chair: Trump Will Be The Republican Nominee — No one can stop the Trump train he says. — Mark Wilson / Getty Images — w.soundcloud.com — Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele says he believes Donald Trump will be the Republican Party's nominee in the general election.

David Atkins / Washington Monthly:

Why We Should Celebrate The Trump-Cruz Ascendancy — As we enter the third week of January—just two short weeks away from the Iowa caucuses—it is beginning to dawn even on the most stolid political media figures that Donald Trump is the likeliest bet to win the Republican presidential nomination.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, New York Times and Balloon Juice

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Republicans now see a Trump-Cruz race, with time for a shift running out — As the presidential primary moves into a more urgent and combative phase, there is growing acceptance among Republicans, including the Washington and financial elite, that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the two candidates …

Discussion: RedState, The Mahablog and The Resurgent

Will Rahn / The Daily Beast:
Face It: It's a Two-Man Race for the GOP Nomination Now

Discussion: BarbWire.com, Washington Post, Rush Limbaugh and Wall Street Journal

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
Rubio's last-minute theatrics make it a three-man GOP race

Discussion: Fox News, Townhall.com, Weekly Standard, Marco Rubio and American Spectator

Sasha Goldstein / New York Daily News:

Third teacher from same Louisiana school busted for sex with student after female teen fesses up — A Louisiana teacher faces charges for a year-long relationship with a 16-year-old female student, police in St. Charles Parish said. — Kimberly Naquin, 26, is a teacher at Destrehan High …

Washington Post:

District leaders furious Walmart breaking promise to build stores in poor neighborhoods — Walmart abruptly announced Friday that it was abandoning a promise to build stores in Washington's poorest neighborhoods, an agreement that had been key to the deal allowing the retailer to begin operating in the nation's capital.

Discussion: Forbes and news.walmart.com

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Obama unveils plan to reform unemployment insurance — President Obama on Saturday unveiled an unemployment insurance plan that he says will provide stability and opportunity to workers in a rapidly changing economy. — The president's three-pronged plan includes wage insurance of up to $10,000 …

Discussion: The Week

Moira Weigel / New York Times:

5 fast facts: Taiwan's first female president Tsai Ing-wen — Is a new “female leadership style” on the rise in Southeast Asia? The opposition candidate for the elections in Taiwan says so — On Saturday, Taiwan elected its first female president. Like almost every female political leader …

Discussion: PinkNews and Joe.My.God.

BBC: Tsai Ing-wen elected Taiwan's first female president

Austin Ramzy / New York Times:
Tsai Ing-wen Elected President of Taiwan, First Woman to Hold Office

Discussion: CNN, The National Interest and The Week

Kristen East / Politico:

Sanders calls on Michigan Gov. Snyder to resign over Flint water crisis — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday called on Rick Snyder to resign, charging that the Republican Michigan governor knowingly allowed a lead-poisoning crisis in Flint to continue. — “There are no excuses,” Sanders said in a campaign release.

Discussion: Mediaite, Bloomberg.com, New York Times and MLive.com

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

Iran: ‘American Sailors Started Crying After Arrest’ — A senior Iranian military commander in charge of the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that the 10 U.S. sailors who were recently captured and subsequently released by the Islamic Republic “started crying after [their] arrest …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Last Tradition, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and BizPac Review

Maryam Usman / The Express TribuneThe Express Tribune:

Bill aiming to ban child marriages shot down — ISLAMABAD: — Another move to ban child marriages in Pakistan has fallen at the first hurdle. The bill to prohibit underage marriages has been withdrawn after the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) declared it un-Islamic.

Discussion: Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop