The Brief

Sean Penn and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, the recently recaptured Mexican drug lord, are shown in this composite image.
Penn: Jordan Strauss—Invision/AP; Guzmán Loera: Rebecca Blackwell—AP

Sean Penn Interviewed 'El Chapo'

The Oscar-winning actor secretly met with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera following an escape from a Mexican prison last year to conduct an interview for Rolling Stone. Mexican officials said the interview helped them find and capture the fugitive

Host Arlen speaks as the winning Powerball numbers are shown as they are being drawn

Powerball Jackpot Grows to $1.3 Billion

No ticket matched all six Powerball numbers following the drawing for a record jackpot of nearly $950 million, lottery officials said, boosting the expected payout for the next drawing to a whopping $1.3 billion

Wheaton Provost Called Prof's Muslim Remark 'Innocuous'

A provost overseeing an expulsion trial at Illinois' Wheaton College against a tenured professor who said Christians and Muslims worship the same God wrote in a private email seen by TIME that her comments were “innocuous”

Premiere Of Walt Disney Pictures And Lucasfilm's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" - Arrivals

Harrison Ford Becomes Highest-Grossing Actor

The 73-year-old Star Wars: The Force Awakens star has become the highest grossing actor in U.S. box office history, with his movies taking in $4.71 billion. He passed Samuel L. Jackson, who starred in all three prequels

Democratic president candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton debate at Saint Anselm College Dec. 19, 2015 in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Clinton and Sanders Deadlocked in Early Voting States

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck and neck in early voting states, a new poll has found. Clinton is slightly ahead among likely Democratic voters in Iowa, while Sanders leads in New Hampshire. Both leads are within the poll’s margins of error

Terrence O'Shaughnessy, Lee Wang-geun

U.S. Bomber Flies Over South Korea in Show of Force

A powerful U.S. B-52 bomber flew low over South Korea, a clear show of force from the United States as a Cold War-style standoff deepened between its ally Seoul and North Korea following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test

OR: Armed Men Show Support For Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Occupiers

Oregon Militia's Cause Gains Support in GOP Circles

Republicans have widely condemned the efforts by a group of armed ranchers to reclaim federal land in eastern Oregon, but the ranchers' goal of taking back some of Washington's vast holdings in the West has gained traction in the GOP

Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at a campaign stop on Jan. 7 in Humboldt, Iowa.

Ted Cruz Slams Trump's 'Deportation Force'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said that he does not support the “deportation force” proposed by Donald Trump to kick out 11 million undocumented immigrants, saying the idea doesn't line up with how American law is enforced

Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos Meets With Angela Merkel

Germany Talks Tighter Migrant Laws After Assaults

Chancellor Angela Merkel's party on proposed stricter laws regulating asylum seekers after a string of New Year's Eve sexual assaults and robberies in Cologne blamed largely on foreigners. The proposal would help deport "serial offenders"

Police Chokehold Death

Cop Faces Punishment Over Eric Garner Death

A sergeant has been stripped of her gun and badge and charged internally in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, the first official accusation of wrongdoing in the case that helped spark a national movement on the role of race in policing

Residents look for survivors in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria

At Least 39 Dead in Airstrike on Syrian al-Qaida Jail

Activists are reporting that an airstrike on a prison run by al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria has killed at least 39, including many fighters from the Nusra Front as well as detainees in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Wall Street Had a Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

The U.S. stock market closed out its worst week since 2011, rattled by concerns over a slowdown in China's economy and plunging oil prices. Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners again on Friday as the price of oil sank