New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned stretch limos after a deadly crash. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a slew of new safety reforms for limos and large passenger vehicles, outright banning stretch limos and adding a number of regulatory reforms. These reforms come three months after a limo crash in upstate New York led to the death of the driver and 19 passengers. ABC

VOA VIEW: Cuomo has lost his mind - no, it is already lost.

Fast food company Supermac's hails the end of the "McBully" after winning the trademark case. An Irish fast food company has won a case against McDonald's to prevent it trademarking the terms "Big Mac" and "Mc" in some instances in Europe. The European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled McDonald's had not proven genuine use of "Big Mac" as a burger or restaurant name. Galway-based Supermac's said it opened the door to register its brand in Europe as a trademark. Supermac's managing director hailed the "end of the McBully". BBC

After MPs heavily defeat her Brexit deal, Theresa May says there will be time on Wednesday for the opposition to put a no confidence vote. She told the House of Commons that the 432 to 202 vote "tells us nothing about what it does support, nothing about how or even if it intends to honour the decision that people took in a referendum". The PM said the government will proceed with a "constructive spirit" and that the British people "want this issue settled". BBC

VOA VIEW: There is no confidence in May, but Conservatives don't want to give power to liberals.

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European allies have urged the U.S. to relax the sanctions, which they say threaten jobs. The Senate will vote Tuesday afternoon on whether to block a Treasury Department proposal that would lift sanctions on three Russian companies, including Rusal, the world's second-largest aluminum producer. The companies are all owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who became the subject of U.S. sanctions last Spring. CBS

The agency has been practically shuttered since Dec. 22 -- something that has never happened during tax season. The U.S. government is recalling 46,000 IRS workers to the office, without pay, to handle tax refunds, the Associated Press reports. The IRS has been operating with a skeleton staff since the shutdown began on Dec. 22, but it announced last week that it would issue tax refunds despite the closure. Earlier on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a Bloomberg News reporter he expects refunds to go out on time during the shutdown. CBS

United Continental Holdings, the parent of the airline, reported fourth-quarter earnings. United Continental Holdings posted stronger revenue and profits than Wall Street expected in the fourth-quarter, while issuing a sunny outlook for earnings growth in 2019. The company's shares jumped by about 6 percent after the markets closed Tuesday. CNBC

The U.S. will make major strides towards energy independence in the next two years as oil production and exports hit new highs. The U.S. will make major strides towards energy independence in the next two years as oil production and exports hit new highs, according to the Department of Energy. U.S. oil production, already at an all-time high this year, will increase by another 2 million barrels per day by 2020, the agency's statistics bureau projects. CNBC

VOA VIEW: Great!

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) spoke on the House floor in response to a resolution disapproving of his comments in a recent interview that appeared to lament that the term "white supremacist" is considered offensive. The U.S. will make major strides towards energy independence in the next two years as oil production and exports hit new highs, according to the Department of Energy. CNN

An art exhibit near the World Trade Center in New York will be removed after it received backlash for the inclusion of the Saudi Arabian flag near the 9/11 memorial site. An art exhibit near the World Trade Center in New York will be removed after it received backlash for the inclusion of the Saudi Arabian flag near the 9/11 memorial site. FOX News

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A U.S. federal narcotics agent known for his expensive tastes and high-profile drug seizures has been implicated in a multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy that involved the very cartel criminals he was charged with fighting in Colombia. A once standout Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Jose Irizarry is accused of conspiring with a longtime DEA informant to launder more than $7 million in illicit drug proceeds, sometimes using an underground network known as the black-market peso exchange, according to five current and former law enforcement officials. FOX News

Alex Cifuentes, a close associate of the cartel chief, testified that he told US authorities about the alleged bribe in 2016A witness at the US trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has testified that he told US authorities the accused Mexican drug lord once paid a $100m bribe to former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. Guardian

With the US government in partial shutdown, the president continues to demand funding for his Mexican border wall. Lauren Gambino, in Washington DC, and Bryan Mealer, in Texas, discuss how Trump’s central campaign promise has led to this point of paralysis. Plus, John Harris looks back to the optimism of 1989 Donald Trump has visited the southern US border in Texas after walking out of talks to resolve one of the country’s longest government shutdowns in history. Guardian

PG&E Corp's shares and bonds fell sharply for a second day on Tuesday, as a failure to make interest payments by the California power utility added to investor nerves following the company's plans to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Reuters

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Acknowledging “a long road ahead” on the United Nations ambitious agenda, Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed “the historic leadership of the state of Palestine” as the new Chair of the Group of 77’s (G77). “Palestine and its citizens have first-hand experience of some of the most challenging and dramatic global issues we face” said Mr. Guterres in his remarks at the annual ceremony for handover of the rotating Chairmanship of the G77. Egypt was the previous Chair of the bloc, a coalition of 134 developing countries, along with China. UN News

VOA VIEW: The UN is worthless.

Conditions in a makeshift Syrian camp near the border with Jordan are “increasingly desperate” and “have become a matter of life and death”, United Nations officials warned on Tuesday, after at least eight children died there from extreme cold and a lack of medical care. The development comes as the newly appointed UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, arrived in Damascus, for his first meeting with the Government, since taking over from veteran UN negotiator Staffan de Mistura. UN News

One of South Korea's oldest restaurants specializing in North Korean cold noodles could soon vanish from Seoul. Eulji Myeonok, which opened in 1985 and serves authentic Pyongyang-style cold noodles, may soon have to shutter for good, if final steps are reached in a city plan to demolish buildings in the area. The demolition, if it takes place, is part of the city's "rehabilitation promotion," Kyunghyang Shinmun reported Tuesday. UPI

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Special counsel Robert Mueller asked a federal judge to delay the sentencing of Rick Gates because he is cooperating with multiple investigations. Mueller's team requested to be allowed to provide a status update on March 15. "Defendant Gates continues to cooperate with respect to several ongoing investigations, and accordingly the parties do not believe it is appropriate to commence the sentencing process at this time," Tuesday's court filing said. UPI

VOA VIEW: This means that Mueller is not near to end its witch hunt.

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     Dems are hurting those who they seem to care about. Nearly 43,000 immigration hearings have already been canceled due to the government shutdown, bumping immigrants out of court dates that took years to secure, according to a new report. And tens of thousands more hearings will soon be in jeopardy if the shutdown continues. Attorneys say migrants may have to wait up to four years in some areas to have their hearings rescheduled after the government reopens.

     The partial government shutdown has closed most immigration courts, effectively cancelling 42,729 hearings from December 24 through January 11, according to the report from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Each additional week the government is shut down will cancel another 20,000 hearings. If the shutdown continues through all of January, that means more than 100,000 individuals will have had their hearings postponed, according to TRAC.

     Once the government reopens, those court appearances will get added to the immigration court's record-high 800,000-case backlog, which has grown by 49 percent since President Trump took office in January 2017, according to TRAC.