TOP STORIES
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WHAT A 20 PERCENT IMPORT TAX WOULD MEAN White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday floated the idea of a 20 percent import tax on Mexican goods to pay for the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico ― and then appeared to walk it back. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto canceled his meeting next week with President Donald Trump over his plans for the wall. The Washington Post breaks down the winners and losers if such an import-based tax is levied. Your beers, cars and avocados could get a lot pricier. [Daniel Marans, HuffPost]
UNDERSTANDING THE DEMOCRATIC GROUNDSWELL THAT’S UNHAPPY WITH CURRENT LEADERSHIP “Newly minted activists want Democrats in Washington to actually fight against Trump — or get out of the way.” [Jennifer Bendery and Ryan Grim, HuffPost]
TRUMP HAS HALTED ALL ADS FOR OBAMACARE SIGN-UP Sign-ups typically surge in the final days of enrollment, and without this already-paid-for ad push, experts worry enrollment numbers will be down. [Jonathan Cohn, HuffPost]
TRUMP PERSONALLY ASKED THE HEAD OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO TURN OVER MORE PHOTOS OF THE INAUGURATION CROWD Which did not help prove that the crowd was larger. [Mollie Reilly, HuffPost]
DEFECTOR: NORTH KOREAN ELITE TURNING ON KIM JUNG UN “As more information trickles in” from the outside world. [Reuters]
SCIENTISTS WERE ABLE TO CREATE HUMAN-PIG EMBRYOS “The creations included human stem cells grown inside pig embryos, with the cells constituting only a small part of the embryos. The scientists’ hope is that such recombinations could be used to grow replacement organs for humans that wouldn’t be rejected by the recipient’s body.” [Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost]
WHAT’S BREWING
GIRLS START DOUBTING THEIR OWN INTELLIGENCE AS EARLY AS 6 “Young girls are less likely to think they’re ‘really, really smart’ compared to their male counterparts as early as the age of 6, according to a new study released Thursday. The paper, published in the journal Science, sheds new light on girls’ ability to defy stereotypes about fields traditionally dominated by men, particularly careers in math and the sciences, researchers say.” [HuffPost]
NOT TO ADD MORE FUEL TO THE PEDIALYTE LOVER FIRE But yes, a lot of people swear by it as a hangover cure. [NYT]
EVEN IF ‘WINDS OF WINTER’ DOESN’T COME OUT We’ll get at least one more George R.R. Martin tale this year. [Vulture]
IF NOT ZUCKERBERG... Could Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg be throwing her hat in the presidential ring? [Axios]
VANITY FAIR’S OSCAR SPREAD COULDN’T BE MORE BEAUTIFUL And Natalie Portman recreated the infamous Demi Moore pregnancy photo. [HuffPost]
BEFORE YOU GO
~ It’s been quite the news week. Have you been paying attention to the headlines? Take HuffPost’s Headline Quiz to find out.
~ Mandy Moore admits what all of us ‘90s kids know ― she totally fell for Shane West when filming “A Walk To Remember.”
~ Take a look “inside the world’s largest trek”: Chinese New Year.
~ Elton John is helping pen music for “A Devil Wears Prada” musical.
~ It’s official: The new Gerber baby couldn’t be cuter.
~ This awesome new NYC store serves raw cookie dough (and for some fun trivia, its owner used to babysit the author of The Morning Email!).
~ Apparently there’s a third Franco brother ― who knew?
~ GQ decided to full-on troll the new president.
~ Facebook’s new steps in the battle against fake news.
~ Listen to your mom ― we’re all too dependent on our phones if we’re getting “phantom phone alerts.”
~ Folks are losing it over this wedding “first look” ― where the bride surprises her groom by wearing a T-Rex costume.
~ The Mr. Clean Super Bowl ad takes sexy cleaning to a whole ‘nother level.