Everything you need to know about the world this morning, curated by VICE.US Senator Cory Booker to Testify Against Trump's AG Pick
Cory Booker has vowed to testify against fellow senator Jeff Sessions this week as Sessions seeks to become the next attorney general. Booker said he would break with tradition—no sitting senator is believed to have ever testified against a fellow senator seeking cabinet confirmation—because, he says, Sessions's regressive record on voting rights and criminal justice represents "a real danger to our country."—NBC NewsTrump Son-in-Law to Be Senior Advisor
President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, a real estate developer, will be a "senior advisor" in the new White House, according to transition officials. Kushner's lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, said they've been consulting with the Office of Government Ethics to prevent any conflicts of interest over Kushner's myriad business interests. Gorelick also claimed a federal anti-nepotism law "does not apply to the White House."—VICE/NBC News/AP
US News
Cory Booker has vowed to testify against fellow senator Jeff Sessions this week as Sessions seeks to become the next attorney general. Booker said he would break with tradition—no sitting senator is believed to have ever testified against a fellow senator seeking cabinet confirmation—because, he says, Sessions's regressive record on voting rights and criminal justice represents "a real danger to our country."—NBC NewsTrump Son-in-Law to Be Senior Advisor
President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, a real estate developer, will be a "senior advisor" in the new White House, according to transition officials. Kushner's lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, said they've been consulting with the Office of Government Ethics to prevent any conflicts of interest over Kushner's myriad business interests. Gorelick also claimed a federal anti-nepotism law "does not apply to the White House."—VICE/NBC News/AP
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US Special Forces Launch Ground Operation in Syria
Troops from US Special Operations conducted a ground raid against ISIS in the Deir al Zour area of eastern Syria Sunday. At least 25 ISIS fighters were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, but the US military has not confirmed the number of deaths. US defense officials said Monday that fighting broke out when special forces tried to capture a wanted ISIS militant.—The Washington Post / Al JazeeraFlorida Police Conduct Manhunt for Shooting Suspect
Florida police were searching Tuesday for a man suspected of shooting a police officer dead outside a Walmart in Orlando. A second police officer was killed when his motorcycle crashed into another vehicle during the hunt for 41-year-old suspect, Markeith Loyd. "We will track him down to the ends of the Earth to find him," said Orlando police chief John Mina.—CNNThousands Line the Streets to Mourn Former Iranian President
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets in Tehran on Tuesday to mourn the death of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was present at the funeral ceremony for Rafsanjani, something of a political moderate who died over the weekend at age 82.—APThousands of Rohingya Leave Myanmar in a Week
More than 20,000 people from the Rohingya minority group have fled Myanmar in the past week alone, according to a UN report. It brings the number of Rohingya now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh to about 65,000. A UN envoy has begun a 12-day visit to Myanmar to investigate reports of human rights abuses by the Myanmar army against the Rohingya in the northern state of Rakhine.—Al Jazeera
Troops from US Special Operations conducted a ground raid against ISIS in the Deir al Zour area of eastern Syria Sunday. At least 25 ISIS fighters were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, but the US military has not confirmed the number of deaths. US defense officials said Monday that fighting broke out when special forces tried to capture a wanted ISIS militant.—The Washington Post / Al JazeeraFlorida Police Conduct Manhunt for Shooting Suspect
Florida police were searching Tuesday for a man suspected of shooting a police officer dead outside a Walmart in Orlando. A second police officer was killed when his motorcycle crashed into another vehicle during the hunt for 41-year-old suspect, Markeith Loyd. "We will track him down to the ends of the Earth to find him," said Orlando police chief John Mina.—CNN
International News
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets in Tehran on Tuesday to mourn the death of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was present at the funeral ceremony for Rafsanjani, something of a political moderate who died over the weekend at age 82.—APThousands of Rohingya Leave Myanmar in a Week
More than 20,000 people from the Rohingya minority group have fled Myanmar in the past week alone, according to a UN report. It brings the number of Rohingya now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh to about 65,000. A UN envoy has begun a 12-day visit to Myanmar to investigate reports of human rights abuses by the Myanmar army against the Rohingya in the northern state of Rakhine.—Al Jazeera
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Norway to Appeal Anders Breivik Human Rights Decision
The Norwegian government is appealing a court ruling that the human rights of killer Anders Behring Breivik, who murdered 77 people in 2011, were violated when he was kept in isolation. Government lawyers will argue keeping Breivik locked in a cell for 22 to 23 hours a day was justified and did not break the European Convention on Human Rights.—ReutersFamilies in Pakistan Fear for Four Missing Activists
Several left-wing social media activists have gone missing in the past week in Pakistan, raising the specter of some kind of crackdown on dissent. Asim Saeed, for one, was taken "forcefully" from his home in Lahore, according to his father. A group of opposition MPs called the disappearances "highly concerning" in a parliamentary resolution.—The Guardian'Hollyweed' Sign Prankster Turns Himself In
Zachary Cole Fernandez, a 30-year-old artist, has been arrested in LA on suspicion of trespassing and changing the "Hollywood" sign to read "Hollyweed" on New Year's Day. Fernandez previously revealed to VICE that he was responsible for the pran and has now reportedly turned himself in.—Los Angeles TimesMoby Turns Down Chance to DJ at Trump Inauguration
Moby has revealed on Instagram that he apparently rejected a booking agent who approached him about playing a Donald Trump inauguration ball. "I'm still laughing," he wrote. "So #trump what do you think, I DJ for you and you release your tax returns?"—Rolling StoneJapanese Scientists Claim to Find Earth's 'Missing' Element
Experiments by Japanese scientists point toward silicon being the previously unknown element in the Earth's innermost core. Lead researcher Eiji Ohtani from the University of Tohoku believes silicon makes up 5 percent of the core alongside iron and nickel.—BBC NewsFrank Ocean and Solange to Headline Panorama
Frank Ocean, Solange, Tame Impala, and A Tribe Called Quest will headline the second annual Panorama festival at Randall's Island Park in New York. Other top performers for the three-day June festival include Alt-J, Nine Inch Nails, and MGMT.—NoiseyYahoo Would Change Name Under Verizon Deal
Yahoo will change its name to Altaba Inc. if the proposed $4.8 billion sale of its digital services to Verizon is approved. Verizon wants to buy Yahoo's websites, apps, email, and advertising services.—Motherboard'Twin Peaks' Season Premiere Announced for May
The new Twin Peaks season will debut on Showtime on Sunday, May 21, the network has announced. The third season will begin with a two-hour special followed by two more episodes made available On Demand immediately after.—VICE
The Norwegian government is appealing a court ruling that the human rights of killer Anders Behring Breivik, who murdered 77 people in 2011, were violated when he was kept in isolation. Government lawyers will argue keeping Breivik locked in a cell for 22 to 23 hours a day was justified and did not break the European Convention on Human Rights.—ReutersFamilies in Pakistan Fear for Four Missing Activists
Several left-wing social media activists have gone missing in the past week in Pakistan, raising the specter of some kind of crackdown on dissent. Asim Saeed, for one, was taken "forcefully" from his home in Lahore, according to his father. A group of opposition MPs called the disappearances "highly concerning" in a parliamentary resolution.—The Guardian
Everything Else
Zachary Cole Fernandez, a 30-year-old artist, has been arrested in LA on suspicion of trespassing and changing the "Hollywood" sign to read "Hollyweed" on New Year's Day. Fernandez previously revealed to VICE that he was responsible for the pran and has now reportedly turned himself in.—Los Angeles TimesMoby Turns Down Chance to DJ at Trump Inauguration
Moby has revealed on Instagram that he apparently rejected a booking agent who approached him about playing a Donald Trump inauguration ball. "I'm still laughing," he wrote. "So #trump what do you think, I DJ for you and you release your tax returns?"—Rolling StoneJapanese Scientists Claim to Find Earth's 'Missing' Element
Experiments by Japanese scientists point toward silicon being the previously unknown element in the Earth's innermost core. Lead researcher Eiji Ohtani from the University of Tohoku believes silicon makes up 5 percent of the core alongside iron and nickel.—BBC NewsFrank Ocean and Solange to Headline Panorama
Frank Ocean, Solange, Tame Impala, and A Tribe Called Quest will headline the second annual Panorama festival at Randall's Island Park in New York. Other top performers for the three-day June festival include Alt-J, Nine Inch Nails, and MGMT.—NoiseyYahoo Would Change Name Under Verizon Deal
Yahoo will change its name to Altaba Inc. if the proposed $4.8 billion sale of its digital services to Verizon is approved. Verizon wants to buy Yahoo's websites, apps, email, and advertising services.—Motherboard'Twin Peaks' Season Premiere Announced for May
The new Twin Peaks season will debut on Showtime on Sunday, May 21, the network has announced. The third season will begin with a two-hour special followed by two more episodes made available On Demand immediately after.—VICE