News Headlines - 22 February 2019

▽House Democrats move to block Trump's national emergency declaration

House Democrats challenged President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration Friday, setting up dramatic votes in Congress on whether to rein in the president's flex of executive power... The Democratic-held House plans to vote on the bill Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Friday. On the same call where Pelosi spoke, Castro told reporters that the measure has at least 226 co-sponsors, including one Republican, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan. The number tops the 218 votes the plan needs to pass the House.

▽Daimler. BMW Plan $1.1 Billion Car-Sharing Battle With Uber, Lyft - Bloomberg

Daimler AG and BMW AG are pouring more than 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) into their joint car-sharing and ride-hailing businesses to take on the likes of Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc.
The German venture, which is estimated to become the world’s largest car-sharing operator, will weigh purchases of startups or 30established players, along with collaborations, Daimler said.

▽Japan’s Hayabusa 2 successfully touches down on Ryugu asteroid | The Guardian

A Japanese spacecraft has successfully touched down on a speeding asteroid 300 million kilometres from the Earth as it attempts an audacious manoeuvre to collect samples and bring them back for scientists to study.
The Hayabusa 2 probe touched down on the asteroid Ryugu at around 11:30pm GMT on Thursday. Data from the probe showed changes in speed and direction, indicating it had reached the asteroid’s surface, according to officials from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

▽Maduro Closes Venezuela’s Border With Brazil to Block Aid - The New York Times

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela ordered its border with Brazil closed Thursday, part of his escalating effort to stop opponents from sending humanitarian aid into his poverty-stricken country.
Juan Guaidó, the parliamentary opposition leader who declared himself president of Venezuela last month, has vowed to bring tons of aid donated by the United States and others into Venezuela on Saturday. Mr. Maduro, who has called Mr. Guaidó an American lackey, has vowed not to let the aid in.
The Brazil-border closure, announced on television, followed a Venezuelan government announcement on Wednesday that it would block air and sea travel between Venezuela and three Caribbean islands where the opposition said it wished to stage relief supplies.

▽R Kelly charged with sexually abusing 4 victims, at least 3 of them minors

More than a decade after surviving a high-profile child pornography trial, R. Kelly on Friday was back in police custody - this time accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls.
The embattled R&B singer was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He is expected to appear in bond court Saturday - one day after Cook County prosecutors alleged in an explosive indictment that the abuse involved four victims, at least three of them minors, from 1998 to 2010. The minors were between 13 and 16, prosecutors said. Kelly is 52.