The VICE Morning Bulletin

Everything you need to know about the world this morning, curated by VICE.

US News

Parkland Survivors Confront Lawmakers on Gun Control
Fred Guttenberg, the father of a girl killed in the Parkland high school shooting, told Senator Marco Rubio at a CNN-hosted town hall event that his response to the massacre—along with President Trump's—had been “pathetically weak." Meanwhile, during a White House listening session with surviving students and parents, Trump suggested arming teachers with concealed weapons.—CNN / VICE News

Florida County Deputies to Carry Rifles on School Grounds
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who has jurisdiction over Parkland, Florida, said “trained and qualified” deputies would carry the weapons on campuses in the area. Some of the deputies were expected to carry AR-15 rifles, similar to the weapon used by the teenager accused of the massacre, Nikolas Cruz.—CBS News

Right-Wing Pundits Angry After Twitter Nixes Fake Accounts
The social media giant suspended thousands of accounts suspected to be run by bots. Twitter said it had asked some accounts to provide a phone number to “confirm a human is behind” the profiles. Conservative and far-right commentators were outraged about losing followers in what some claimed to be a politically-motivated “purge.”—The Washington Post

Meryl Streep Attacks ‘Pathetic’ Legal Move by Harvey Weinstein
The disgraced mogul’s legal team urged a federal court to axe a class-action sexual misconduct lawsuit raised by six women, and used an ostensibly supportive statement by the Oscar-winning actress in his defense. Streep said using her statement out of context “as evidence that he was not abusive with many OTHER women is pathetic and exploitive.”—AP

International News

Amnesty International Report Paints a Dark Picture
A new report by the human rights group points the finger at the political rulers of Egypt, the Philippines, Venezuela, Russia, the US, and China for introducing repressive measures and failing to protect basic human rights. Salil Shetty, the NGO’s secretary-general, said “el-Sisi, Duterte, Maduro, Putin, Trump, and Xi are callously undermining the rights of millions.”—Al Jazeera

Russian Opposition Figurehead Arrested
Alexei Navalny, the protest leader banned from running in next month’s presidential election, was detained by police in Moscow Thursday. Navalny said officials presented him with a document explaining the arrest was related to his role in organizing prohibited demonstrations. He was later released.—The Independent

North Korea Sends Controversial Figure to Closing Ceremony
Kim Yong Chol, the head of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, was slated to be among the top officials representing Pyongyang at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics. The South Koreans have in the past said Kim Yong Chol’s unit was responsible for sinking one of their navy vessels in 2010, killing 46 people.—Reuters

Explosion at US Embassy in Montenegro
A man tried to toss an explosive device at the American embassy in the capital Podgorica Thursday night, killing himself in the process. The government of Montenegro government said the device was “most probably” a hand grenade. There did not appear to be other injuries.—CNN

Everything Else

Former Presidents Pay Tribute to Billy Graham
Barack Obama said the evangelical preacher, who died at home Wednesday at age 99, had given “hope and guidance to generations of Americans.” George W. Bush said Graham “inspired people,” while Jimmy Carter described him as “broad-minded, forgiving, and humble.”—Sky News

Amy Poehler Tells NRA to ‘Fuck Off’
The creator of Parks and Recreation, Michael Schur, urged the NRA to remove a GIF of Poehler's character used to commend a pro-gun pundit’s performance on CNN. He said Poehler texted him to say: “Can you tweet the NRA for me and tell them I said fuck off?”—AV Club

Kendrick Lamar Among BRIT Awards Winners
The rapper won best international male artist and performed at last night’s ceremony in London. Dua Lipa won best British female artist, while Stormzy won best British male artist and best British album.—Noisey

US Women’s Hockey Team Takes Gold
The US beat Canada 3-2 in an overtime shootout at the Winter Olympics women’s hockey final in South Korea Wednesday night. It's the first time the US team has won gold since the 1998 games in Japan.—The New York Times

Elon Musk Quitting as Chair of AI Research Body He Just Started
The business mogul and inventor is on the way out from his role as chairman of the nonprofit OpenAI. “As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon,” a statement explained.—Motherboard

Tiffany Haddish Starring as a Toucan in Netflix Show
The team behind Bojack Horseman is bringing a new animated show to Netflix called Tuca & Bertie. Haddish will apparently play a toucan in the series about “two 30-year-old bird women who live in the same apartment building.”—VICE

Make sure to check out the latest episode of VICE's daily podcast. Today we’re talking to filmmaker Craig Renaud about his new VICE documentary, SHELTER, exploring the volatile lives of homeless youth in New Orleans.

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