News Headlines - 25 January 2019

▽Trump Signs Bill Reopening Government for 3 Weeks in Surprise Retreat From Wall - The New York Times

President Trump agreed on Friday to reopen the federal government for three weeks while negotiations continued over how to secure the nation’s southwestern border, backing down after a monthlong standoff failed to force Democrats to give him billions of dollars for his long-promised wall... The plan includes none of the money for the wall that Mr. Trump had demanded and was essentially the same approach that he rejected at the end of December and that Democrats have advocated since, meaning he won nothing concrete during the impasse.

▽End Brexit feud, Queen tells warring politicians | The Times

The Queen has urged the country to “seek out the common ground” in a sign of royal nervousness over the divisions caused by Brexit.
Delivering a rebuke to warring politicians, she urged them to respect, not attack, one another while “never losing sight of the bigger picture”.
Her intervention came 64 days before Britain is due to leave the European Union, with no settled plan on how it will be achieved.

▽Vodafone 'pauses' use of Huawei equipment over security concerns | The Guardian

Vodafone has decided to “pause” the use of Huawei equipment in its core networks across Europe because of the debate about security concerns involving the Chinese telecoms giant.
Nick Read, chief executive of Vodafone, said the company would continue to buy equipment from Huawei to build its 4G and 5G networks but would halt using the Chinese supplier in its core network, where data is concentrated and security concerns are highest. Huawei has denied allegations its kit could be used by the Chinese government to spy on users.

▽Apple drops trademark hint that the next iPod Touch could be a games console

THE next iPod touch could be geared towards gaming after Apple filed to have the music player's trademark changed to specifically let it cover games consoles too... The update to the iPod Touch trademark, filed earlier this month, means that the iPod Touch trademark now covers "hand-held units for playing electronic games" and "Handheld game consoles".

▽50 killed in Sudan demonstrations to date: Former PM

At least 50 people have been killed in Sudan since the country was engulfed by popular protests in mid-December, Sadiq al-Mahdi, an opposition politician and former prime minister, said Friday.
Addressing thousands of supporters in Khartoum, al-Mahdi called on the Sudanese security forces to stop using deadly force to disperse unarmed demonstrators.
He also called for the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir.