memeorandum: Rihanna Is Pregnant, Rep Confirms Following Super Bowl Halftime Show (Mesfin Fekadu/The Hollywood Reporter)

10:45 PM ET, February 12, 2023

Top Items:

CNN:

US fighter jet shoots down airborne object over Lake Huron on Sunday — A US F-16 fighter jet shot down another airborne object over Lake Huron on Sunday afternoon at the direction of President Joe Biden, the Pentagon said. — Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the object …

New York Times:

After Shooting Down Flying Objects, U.S. and Canada Have More Theories Than Answers — The U.S. and Canada are investigating three unidentified flying objects shot down over North America in the past three days. Militaries have adjusted radars to try to spot more incursions.

Discussion: NBC News, The Hill, Mediaite, Fox News, RedState, Denver Post, Washington Times, HotAir, abc7NY, Forbes, National Review, Deseret News, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Reuters, New York Daily News and Bloomberg

ABC News:

Military shoots down another high-altitude object, over Lake Huron, officials say — It's the latest in a string of such incidents. — Another high-altitude object was shot down on Sunday afternoon, this one over Lake Huron, three U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News, marking

Discussion: RedState, Breitbart, The Liberty Loft, Metro.co.uk, NewsNation, Vox, CNBC, MLive.com, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News and TheBlaze

Wall Street Journal:

Latest Flying Objects Shot Down Over North America Were Balloons, Schumer Says — F-16 fighter jet shoots down the object over Canadian airspace above Lake Huron — WASHINGTON—The U.S. shot down a fourth flying object Sunday afternoon over Canadian airspace above Lake Huron, a Congressman said in a tweet.

Discussion: NBC News, Daily Mail, National Review, The Daily Caller, Reuters, Bloomberg, Axios, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, The Debrief, Forbes, TheBlaze, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Politico, NewsNation, CNN, The Hill, The Western Journal and The Guardian

Associated Press:

‘Unidentified object’ downed over Lake Huron, 3rd this week — 1 of 9 — An “unidentified object” was shot down Sunday for the third time in as many days, this time over Lake Huron, after earlier ones in Alaska and Canada, U.S. officials said. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., tweeted that …

Wendy Wu / South China Morning Post:

China spots mystery object over waters near northern port city — An unidentified flying object was detected over waters near a northern Chinese port city close to the Bohai Sea, with local authorities saying they were ready to shoot it down, mainland media reported on Sunday.

Discussion: Bloomberg and The Western Journal

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
New unidentified ‘cylindrical’ object shot down over Canada

Discussion: The Western Journal, Task & Purpose, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Vanity Fair, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Forbes, PoliticusUSA, Trending Politics Conservative, TASS, Chicks On The Right, Rolling Stone, TheBlaze and NPR

New York Times:

Jack Smith, Special Counsel for Trump Inquiries, Steps Up the Pace — Named less than three months ago to oversee investigations into Donald J. Trump's efforts to hold onto power and his handling of classified documents, the special counsel is moving aggressively.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, CNN, Politico and Washington Post

David Edwards / Raw Story:

Special counsel ‘moving aggressively’ with ‘sprawling’ probe of Trump: report — Special counsel Jack Smith is reportedly stepping up the pace of his investigation into former President Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified information.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and CNN

NBC News:
Trump lawyers expected to fight Pence subpoena on executive privilege grounds

Discussion: Raw Story

Mitra Assadi / All Access:

Our commitment to AP African American Studies, the scholars, and the field — Our commitment to AP African American Studies is unwavering. This will be the most rigorous, cohesive immersion that high school students have ever had in this discipline. Many more students than ever …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone and Mother Jones

Joe Hernandez / NPR:
The College Board slams Florida for what it calls ‘slander’ of AP Black history course

Discussion: Insider

Jeffrey S. Solochek / Tampa Bay Times: College Board accuses Florida of political motivations in AP course dispute

Mesfin Fekadu / The Hollywood Reporter:

Rihanna Is Pregnant, Rep Confirms Following Super Bowl Halftime Show — A representative for Rihanna confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the singer is pregnant following her explosive performance Sunday. … Rihanna sang and danced to a number of her hits at the State Farm Arena in Glendale …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, The Hill, New York Times, Variety, Vanity Fair, UPI, Washington Examiner, CBS News, PinkNews, Page Six, MLive.com and New York Post

New York Times:

A Yale Professor Suggested Mass Suicide for Old People in Japan. What Did He Mean? — Yusuke Narita says he is mainly addressing a growing effort to revamp Japan's age-based hierarchies. Still, he has pushed the country's hottest button. — Reporting from Tokyo — His pronouncements could hardly sound more drastic.

Discussion: HotAir and Althouse

New York Times:

DeSantis's Challenge: When, and How, to Counterattack Trump — As the former president lobs insults and calls him “Ron DeSanctimonious,” Gov. Ron DeSantis is carefully avoiding conflict. But if he runs for president as expected, a clash is inevitable. — Gov. Ron DeSantis …

Discussion: Mediaite

David Edwards / Raw Story:

ABC host busts GOP Oversight chair: Will you be investigating Jared Kushner too? — ABC host George Stephanopoulos asked Republican House Oversight Chair James Comer (KY) if he would investigate Saudi funds provided to former President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Discussion: Insider, Fox News, Newsbusters, Rolling Stone, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Political Wire and Washington Post

Kathrin Hille / Financial Times:

Taiwan reveals Chinese military balloons fly ‘very frequently’ into its airspace — Country has observed dozens of surveillance aircraft collecting data in preparation for possible invasion — Taiwan has observed dozens of Chinese military balloon flights in its airspace in recent years …

Discussion: Fox News, Forbes and Washington Post

Wall Street Journal:

Crypto Firm Paxos Faces SEC Lawsuit Over Binance USD Token — The agency has been intensifying its enforcement of major crypto players — The Securities and Exchange Commission has told crypto firm Paxos Trust Co. that it plans to sue the company for violating investor protection laws …

Discussion: CoinDesk, more at Techmeme »

Susie Blann / Associated Press:

Russia continues to shell Ukraine amid grinding push in east — 1 of 2 — Russian forces over the weekend continued to shell Ukrainian cities amid a grinding push to seize more land in the east of the country, with Ukrainian officials saying that Moscow is having trouble launching its much-anticipated large-scale offensive there.

Discussion: BBC, Institute for the Study of War, New York Times, Associated Press, The Hill and TASS

Phillips P. OBrien / Phillips's Newsletter: Weekend Update #15 — Russia's Massive Offensive and Signs of Military Learning — Russia's Massive Offensive

Michael Schwirtz / New York Times:
They Are Russians Fighting Against Their Homeland. Here's Why.

Discussion: Breitbart