| The Latest: Trump says he hasn't called Russia 'in 10 years' Posted: 27 Feb 2017 08:44 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):
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| Egypt annoyed as Britain continues suspension of flights Posted: 25 Feb 2017 11:33 PM PST ![Egypt annoyed as Britain continues suspension of flights]( "Egypt annoyed as Britain continues suspension of flights") Egypt expressed frustration on Saturday at Britain's refusal to lift a suspension of flights from the United Kingdom to the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, imposed after Islamic State brought down a Russian airliner in 2015. The issue of airline security came up in talks involving visiting British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry. Johnson praised Egypt as a longstanding friend of Britain and said they were strong allies against terrorism and extremist ideas, according to a British statement.
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| India demands 'strongest action' from US after Kansas killing Posted: 26 Feb 2017 05:52 AM PST  India demanded the "strongest action" from the US government Sunday after an Indian expatriate was killed and another wounded in a suspected hate crime in the midwestern state of Kansas. The two men, who had been living in the US for the last few years, were targeted at a bar in Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City, late Wednesday. American President and people of America, they should come out openly to condemn such actions... and then take strongest action," Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying.
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| Here's How To Watch Ring Of Fire Eclipse Sunday Morning Posted: 26 Feb 2017 03:20 AM PST  The eclipse will be most visible at 8:16 a.m.
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| Philippine offensive continues amid threat to behead German Posted: 26 Feb 2017 03:59 AM PST ![Philippine offensive continues amid threat to behead German]( "Philippine offensive continues amid threat to behead German") MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops will not get distracted by a threat from Abu Sayyaf militants to behead a German hostage if a ransom was not paid by Sunday and will press assaults to crush the brutal group, military officials said.
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| Huawei seeks to exploit Samsung gap with new smartphone Posted: 26 Feb 2017 05:54 AM PST ![Huawei seeks to exploit Samsung gap with new smartphone]( "Huawei seeks to exploit Samsung gap with new smartphone") Huawei is introducing a mass-market version of its premium business phone, to take advantage of a gap created by the withdrawal of Samsung's flagship Galaxy Note 7 after a crisis with its batteries catching fire. Huawei has aggressively expanded its mid- to high-end phones and is going head to head in Asia and Europe with Apple and Samsung in the premium phone market. Huawei's new P10 line is expected to be cheaper than the business-oriented Mate 9, with new features including facial detection that can tell whether a user is taking a selfie or a picture with more people and select its camera mode accordingly.
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| The Latest: Suspect in custody in New Orleans parade crash Posted: 25 Feb 2017 09:49 PM PST  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on a vehicle plowing into a parade crowd in New Orleans (all times local):
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| The Five Biggest Hurdles for Republicans Replacing Obamacare Posted: 27 Feb 2017 01:00 AM PST  Several critical policy question remain unanswered about the emerging GOP plan: How much will it cost? How will they pay for it? How many people will be covered? And what will happen to the parts of the current law that people like the most?
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| Jerk alligator steals a huge fish off a little boy's line Posted: 26 Feb 2017 07:07 AM PST  Today, a little boy named Connor learned the brutal lesson that Mother Nature has no manners. In a clip posted to the Bass Masters And Fish Experts Facebook Page, a thieving alligator had an easy lunch thanks to some humans fishing off a pier. In the clip, a young boy hooks a pretty sizable fish, and as one man encourages the boy to reel in the fish all on his own, another spots an alligator lurking near the pier. The man tries to distract the gator by hitting the side of the pier with his arm, but the reptile was determined to get its eats. "You need to cut your line," one the of the men tells the little boy as the gator swims away with his catch. Although it's unclear where the incident occurred, many commenters insisted it happened in Florida. [h/t: UPI] BONUS: Giant nets harvest fog to solve water crisis in Morocco
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| Iran's 'The Salesman' wins Oscar as Farhadi boycotts Posted: 26 Feb 2017 09:44 PM PST  Iranian film "The Salesman" on Sunday won the Oscar for best foreign language film, but director Asghar Farhadi skipped the Hollywood gala in protest at a travel ban by US President Donald Trump. Farhadi initially said he would head to Hollywood for Oscars night, where his film -- the story of two actors whose relationship turns sour during a performance of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" -- earned a statuette.
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| North Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, U.N. says Posted: 26 Feb 2017 03:22 PM PST ![North Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, U.N. says]( "North Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, U.N. says") It is in Kuala Lumpur's "Little India" neighborhood, behind an unmarked door on the second floor of a rundown building, where a military equipment company called Glocom says it has its office. Glocom is a front company run by North Korean intelligence agents that sells battlefield radio equipment in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to a United Nations report drafted for the Security Council seen by Reuters. Reuters found that Glocom advertises over 30 radio systems for "military and paramilitary" organizations on its Malaysian website, glocom.com.my.
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| Pelosi: President Trump 'has nothing to show' for first month in office except 'fear' Posted: 26 Feb 2017 05:49 AM PST  The House Democratic leader is interviewed exclusively on "This Week."
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| South Korea special prosecutors to decide on charges Posted: 26 Feb 2017 11:17 PM PST  Special prosecutors investigating South Korea's swirling corruption scandal said they would decide Tuesday whether to indict the heir to the Samsung empire, after losing a bid to extend their inquiry. The team was appointed by parliament in December to look into the scandal that has seen President Park Geun-Hye impeached and embroiled a host of major companies. The prosecutors have been probing a wide range of allegations, including claims that Samsung bribed Park's confidante Choi Soon-Sil to win state approval for a controversial merger of two of its units.
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| Officials to stop California dam's outflow to clear debris Posted: 26 Feb 2017 06:02 PM PST  OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — California water authorities will stop the outflow from the Oroville Dam's crippled spillway to allow workers to remove debris blocking a hydroelectric plant from working, officials said Sunday.
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| Brazil's Carnival 2017: A week-long celebration of parades and street parties Posted: 27 Feb 2017 06:12 AM PST ![Brazil's Carnival 2017: A week-long celebration of parades and street parties]( "Brazil's Carnival 2017: A week-long celebration of parades and street parties") Revelers all over Brazil are gearing up for parades, balls and street parties during Carnival week celebrations. Rio de Janeiro's Carnival parade is world famous for the samba dancing, costumes that leave little to the imagination and the magnificent floats that roll down Avenida Marques de Sapucai, also known as the "sambadrome." Sao Paulo will also have its main samba schools taking their floats to their sambadrome. Brazilians living through two years of steep recession and nearly 13 percent unemployment have grasped this year's carnival as a chance to let off steam.
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| Watch LG's MWC 2017 Press Conference, G6 Smartphone Details Revealed Posted: 26 Feb 2017 12:30 AM PST ![Watch LG's MWC 2017 Press Conference, G6 Smartphone Details Revealed]( "Watch LG's MWC 2017 Press Conference, G6 Smartphone Details Revealed") LG will officially announce its new G6 smartphone at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona.
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| Nearly 10 anti-migrant attacks a day in Germany: data Posted: 26 Feb 2017 10:50 AM PST  Germany recorded more than 3,500 attacks against refugees and asylum shelters last year, according to new interior ministry figures, amounting to an average of nearly 10 acts of anti-migrant violence a day. "People who have fled their home country and seek protection in Germany have the right to expect safe shelter," it read. A total of 2,545 attacks against individual refugees were reported in 2016, the ministry wrote, citing police statistics.
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| School seminar near Chicago sparks civil rights, race debate Posted: 26 Feb 2017 08:53 AM PST  WINNETKA, Ill. (AP) — When a largely white public school nestled in Chicago's wealthiest suburbs planned a daylong civil rights seminar, it drafted two National Book Award winners as keynote speakers and crafted a syllabus that would be the envy of most liberal arts colleges.
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| Democrats pick Perez to lead party against Trump Posted: 25 Feb 2017 02:36 PM PST ![Democrats pick Perez to lead party against Trump]( "Democrats pick Perez to lead party against Trump") U.S. Democrats elected former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as chairman on Saturday, choosing a veteran of the Obama administration to lead the daunting task of rebuilding the party and heading the opposition to Republican President Donald Trump. Members of the Democratic National Committee, the administrative and fundraising arm of the party, picked Perez on the second round of voting over U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, a liberal from Minnesota. Following one of the most crowded and competitive party leadership elections in decades, Perez faces a challenge in unifying and rejuvenating a party still reeling from the Nov. 8 loss of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
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| Guy quits his crappy job in the best way possible Posted: 26 Feb 2017 10:44 AM PST  Sometimes, you need to go out with a bang. Or a flush. Giving two weeks is a pretty standard practice when employees move on from their current job. It allows the company a short amount of time to search for a replacement, and gives the employee an opportunity to leave on good standing. You never know when you may need that reference — or worse, when you may need your old job back. While most people quickly Google "two-week notice letter" and follow a pretty standard form, this guy decided on a different method. SEE ALSO: Lucky woman wins lottery days after quitting her job According to his wife, Redditor Girlofgodsbadday, this dude decided to quit his job by writing his two-week notice on a few sheets of toilet paper. "I have chosen this type of paper for my 2 week resignation as a symbol of how I feel this company has treated me, and ironically, how it is disposed of is where I feel the company is going," the letter reads. Just in case the message wasn't clear, he drew a toilet next to where he signed his name. While he didn't use the term "ironically" properly, we're going to give him a pass because handing that over to any boss takes some serious guts. BONUS: A new way to take selfies — and six other features the iPhone 8 might have
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| One dead after man drives into crowd in Germany, no sign of terrorism: authorities Posted: 25 Feb 2017 01:42 PM PST  By Andreas Burger HEIDELBERG, Germany (Reuters) - A man died and two other people were injured after a 35-year-old German man drove into a crowd standing near a bakery in the southwestern town of Heidelberg on Saturday, but the authorities said there were no indications that it was a terrorist attack. The two other people injured, a 32-year-old Austrian man and a 29-year-old woman from Bosnia and Herzegovina, also received hospital treatment but were then discharged, police and prosecutors said in a statement. Regional newspaper Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung said the suspect was not fit to be questioned.
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| Air strike kills key Afghan Taliban commander Posted: 27 Feb 2017 03:28 AM PST  An air strike has killed an Afghan Taliban commander who twice oversaw the capture of a strategic northern city, officials said Monday, in a major blow to the insurgent group. Mullah Abdul Salam Akhund, the Taliban shadow governor in Kunduz province, was killed on Sunday when he was holding a meeting in the volatile Dasht-e-Archi district. "He was killed with five others in the house," said provincial governor Asadullah Amarkhil.
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| Large sewage spill in Tijuana, Mexico, flows north of border Posted: 25 Feb 2017 12:31 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials in Southern California are crying foul after more than 140 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Tijuana River in Mexico and flowed north of the border for more than two weeks, according to a report.
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| Muhammad Ali's son asked, 'Are you Muslim?' by border agents Posted: 25 Feb 2017 11:08 PM PST  Muhammad Ali's son, who bears the boxing great's name, was detained by immigration officials at a Florida airport and questioned about his ancestry and religion in what amounted to unconstitutional profiling, a family friend said Saturday.
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| The Cutest Couples From the 2017 Oscars Posted: 27 Feb 2017 04:33 AM PST  Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are couple goals on The Oscars red carpet. Check out all of our favorite couples looking hopelessly in love at Hollywood's biggest night.
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| LG G6 Revealed: How it Compares With The Samsung Galaxy S8 And Apple's iPhone 7 Posted: 26 Feb 2017 10:31 AM PST  LG has introduced it flagship phone, the G6, here's how it compares with Apple's current iPhone 7 and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8.
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| Top US commander for Mideast visits SDF in Syria Posted: 25 Feb 2017 02:20 PM PST  The top US military commander for the Middle East made a secret trip to northern Syria on Friday to meet a US-backed alliance fighting the Islamic State group, officials said. General Joseph Votel, who heads US Central Command (Centcom), met with leaders from the Syrian Democratic Forces. The trip, unannounced for security reasons, was first such visit under the new US administration, but the third in a series of meetings with the SDF.
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| No evidence yet of Trump team, Russia contacts: key lawmaker Posted: 27 Feb 2017 09:41 AM PST ![No evidence yet of Trump team, Russia contacts: key lawmaker]( "No evidence yet of Trump team, Russia contacts: key lawmaker") By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating possible ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government downplayed claims on Monday that the White House had tried to influence reporting on the matter and insisted there was no need for a special prosecutor. "What are we going to appoint a special prosecutor to do, exactly?" Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, asked at a news conference. Potential contact between Trump's campaign and Russia, and possible Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election, are politically charged issues that have left Democrats calling for a select committee or special prosecutor to carry out a full investigation.
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| Saudi king visits Malaysia as he begins Asia tour Posted: 26 Feb 2017 05:53 AM PST  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Saudi King Salman arrived in Malaysia on Sunday to kick off a multi-nation tour aimed at boosting economic ties with Asia.
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| Photos of the day - February 26, 2017 Posted: 26 Feb 2017 11:43 AM PST ![Photos of the day - February 26, 2017]( "Photos of the day - February 26, 2017") Somali migrants cross the U.S. border into Canada; figure skating Gold medalist Choi Da-bin of South Korea, performs during the closing ceremony of the Asian Winter Games; Portland Timbers midfielder David Guzman and Los Angeles Galaxy forward Giovani dos Santos vie for the ball. See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr.
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| Le Pen blames media as Macron jumps in French polls Posted: 26 Feb 2017 12:06 PM PST  French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday accused the media of "campaigning hysterically" in favour of Emmanuel Macron, her centrist rival for the presidency, as polls showed him enjoying a jump in support. Le Pen, speaking at a rally in the western city of Nantes, launched a series of attacks on the 39-year-old independent who has emerged as a frontrunner to become France's next leader. In an attack that recalled US President Donald Trump's confrontation with journalists, she added: "The media have chosen their candidate.
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| Latest: Donations top $1M for Kansas bar attack victims Posted: 25 Feb 2017 03:10 PM PST  OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly shooting at a Kansas bar that some witnesses said was racially motivated (all times local):
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| Pakistan airline says investigating report of overloaded flight Posted: 27 Feb 2017 07:24 AM PST ![Pakistan airline says investigating report of overloaded flight]( "Pakistan airline says investigating report of overloaded flight") By Saad Sayeed ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan International Airlines said on Monday that it was investigating reports that more passengers than the maximum allowed had traveled on an international flight, adding it launched disciplinary measures against the crew. "It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight," Danyal Gillani. PIA is committed to ensure the safety of the passengers and cannot allow any incident to happen which compromises safety," Gillani said.
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| Huawei P10 and P10 Plus: Everything you need to know Posted: 26 Feb 2017 05:52 AM PST 
This morning's unveiling of the LG G6 was a great way to kick off MWC 2017 if you were looking for excitement, but there is one big problem with LG going first on press day in Barcelona: it's all down hill from here. The LG G6 is a gorgeous new flagship smartphone that will be in a league of its own once it hits store shelves next month, and you can read all about it in our LG G6 hands-on preview. Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ weren't ready in time for Mobile World Congress this year, so LG's biggest rival is a no-show as far as smartphones go. In fact, the only company to announce flagship phones that might be able to give the G6 a run for its money was Huawei, which just took the wraps off the brand new P10 and P10 Plus. The Huawei P9 was once of the hottest flagship Android phones of the year in 2016, but if you're in the United States the odds are quite good that you've never even seen one in person. Let's hope that changes with the next-generation Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus smartphones, because they're beyond impressive. Huawei's new flagship phones are made entirely of glass and metal. They look like a cross between Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 5 — the P10 and P10 Plus designs aren't exactly original, but if there are any phones a vendor should take inspiration from when designing a flagship device, those are two outstanding choices. The Huawei P10 features a 5.1-inch 1080p display and Huawei's own Kirin 960 processor, which has proven to be quite powerful according to leaked early benchmark tests. The phone includes 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage and microSDXC support, as well as a large 3,200 mAh battery. The handset also sports a Leica-branded dual-lens rear camera setup that marries a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor with a 12-megapixel main sensor. And yes, Huawei has aped the Portrait Mode feature from Apple's iPhone 7 Plus to create a bokeh effect on portraits that's similar to what you would get from a DSLR. Huawei's larger P10 Plus features many of the same specs as the smaller model, but it includes a 5.5-inch WQHD display, a bigger 3,750 mAh battery, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, and the rear cameras have a wider f/1.8 aperture compared to the f/2.2 aperture on the P10. The Huawei P10 and P10 Plus will be released in March in several markets including Europe, Malaysia, Mexico, Australia and more, and they'll be available in a number of sleek and unique colors. The P10 will be priced at €649 (about $685) and the larger P10 Plus will cost just €50 more at €699 euros (about $738). Unfortunately, there's no word from Huawei regarding US availability.
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| Will The SLS' Debut Flight Carry Astronauts? Posted: 27 Feb 2017 12:26 AM PST  NASA has begun a feasibility study to consider the risks associated with adding crew to the first integrated launch of the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft.
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| Israeli planes hit Gaza after rocket attack Posted: 27 Feb 2017 06:45 AM PST  Israeli aircraft hit targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday, hours after a rocket fired from the Palestinian territory slammed into southern Israel. "Three bombs were dropped by the air force on a Hamas military base east of Nusseirat refugee camp," south of Gaza city, a Palestinian security source said. The planes also made two raids against Hamas lookout posts along the border with Israel, east of Khan Yunis, and on a base of Islamic Jihad's military wing in the north of the strip, the source said.
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| Father of dead Navy SEAL refused to meet Trump at ceremony Posted: 26 Feb 2017 08:15 AM PST ![Father of dead Navy SEAL refused to meet Trump at ceremony]( "Father of dead Navy SEAL refused to meet Trump at ceremony") FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The father of a Navy SEAL killed during an anti-terrorism raid in Yemen is demanding an investigation into its planning and criticized the Trump administration for its timing.
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| Nokia sees growth opportunities in networks market Posted: 26 Feb 2017 06:24 AM PST ![Nokia sees growth opportunities in networks market]( "Nokia sees growth opportunities in networks market") By Eric Auchard BARCELONA (Reuters) - Nokia sees demand for higher speed 4G network equipment starting to recover this year, led by Japan, the company's chief executive Rajeev Suri said on Sunday as he announced a series of contracts with telecom operators. Speaking at a news conference ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Suri also predicted a new wave of industry consolidation among telecom operators in the U.S. and Indian markets in the course of 2017. The pent-up demand for action is there," Suri said.
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| ‘Pokémon GO’ Performance Update Rolling Out Soon Amid Gen 2 Update Complaints Posted: 26 Feb 2017 01:14 AM PST  The team behind Niantic Labs' "Pokémon GO" app just announced on Twitter that a new update is coming soon to fix some performance issues found in the Gen 2 Update.
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| Police say more than 100 Jewish cemetery headstones damaged Posted: 26 Feb 2017 05:08 PM PST  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — More than 100 headstones have been vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, damage discovered less than a week after similar vandalism in Missouri, authorities said.
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| Huawei's P10 Might Be 2017's Biggest Smartphone Tease Posted: 27 Feb 2017 06:00 AM PST  Huawei sells a lot of great phones in the U.S., with the Chinese phone maker's U.S.-bound devices include the Mate 9, Honor 8 and Honor 6X, among others. However, its next flagship phone, the Huawei P10, won't be on that list because Huawei isn't bringing it over.
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| Syrian warplanes pound rebel-held area in central city Posted: 26 Feb 2017 10:07 AM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Government warplanes pounded a rebel-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs on Sunday, killing at least three and wounding dozens, Syrian opposition activists said, and President Bashar Assad's forces pushed ahead in Syria's offensive on the historic town of Palmyra held by the Islamic State group.
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| Palestinian president urges protection of two-state solution Posted: 27 Feb 2017 04:03 AM PST ![Palestinian president urges protection of two-state solution]( "Palestinian president urges protection of two-state solution") GENEVA (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday urged the international community to protect the two-state solution, in a message aimed at Israel and the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump.
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| Nokia 3310 hands-on: not the retro featurephone you’re looking for Posted: 26 Feb 2017 10:35 AM PST  On Sunday afternoon, Nokia's new Finnish overlord, HMD Global, confirmed what many rumors said before the kickstart of this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The iconic Nokia 3310 is being revived this year, under HMD Global's version of Nokia. Unfortunately, it looks less like Nokia's big comeback, and more like a phone that just plain sucks. Yes, it's true, there's a new Nokia 3310 in town, one that's so special to HMD Global that it was unveiled only at the end of an otherwise great press conference that showed us a brand new, bold version of Nokia. Nokia's "one more thing" moment on Sunday was, for better or worse, a great albeit unoriginal marketing trick. What better way to fire up the dormant Nokia fans out there than by reviving an iconic phone that became the go-to device for instant communications for millions of people around the world?  The first phone that I ever used, at the insistence of my parents, was a Nokia 3310. I've probably used it for a couple of years before passing it along to my family. The device exists to this day, and it probably still works. But would I buy or use the new Nokia 3310? I can't see that happening in a million years. The new handset has a cleaner design, a bigger display, more colors (Dark Blue, Grey, Warm Red, Yellow), better battery life (22-hour talk-time and one-month standby), and what feels like a smaller footprint. At the same time, it feels light and cheap (it'll actually cost €49 when it launches globally later this year), the kind of phone you'd buy only if you absolutely had to have a cellular phone at hand. Don't get me wrong, the new Nokia 3310 is probably the kind of phones that millions of people will touch for the first time, well before buying a smartphone. But the minute I tried to press the screen to make a certain thing happen — in this case, I was looking to activate a good old game of Snake — I realized that for me and everyone like them, there's no going back.  The smartphone is the way forward. Sure, the screen might disappear in the future, just as voice assistants and other types of reality (think virtual and alternative) get more advanced. And the smartphone of the future might get as small as the Nokia 3310. But for the time being, the Nokia 3310 is really not the phone you should consider buying as your primary talk/text device. No matter how old you are, and no matter how much you may appreciate Nokia and its creations, do yourself a favor and buy anything else for the emerging company. It's got three amazing "pure" Android handsets waiting for you to discover them, including the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6, that will offer you the modern app-filled phone experience that actually makes your life better. The Nokia 3310 (2017 edition) is just the marketing trick that will get you to discover the exciting new Nokia. And, as you can see, it works. I've just told you the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6 are phones you shouldn't miss out on this year if budget is a huge factor.
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| In Puerto Rico, pensions' decline pits retirees against lenders Posted: 26 Feb 2017 08:55 AM PST ![In Puerto Rico, pensions' decline pits retirees against lenders]( "In Puerto Rico, pensions' decline pits retirees against lenders") The U.S. territory is doing all it can to present itself as a reliable place to invest, but resolving the pensions issue will require a careful balance. Benefit structures are widely seen as unsustainable, but draconian cuts to pensioners could deepen the population's reliance on government subsidies and compound rampant emigration. "Many of our retirees are already under the poverty line," Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello told Reuters in an interview this past week, saying any pension cuts would attempt to protect the poorest beneficiaries.
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| Bethlehem fetes Palestinian Arab Idol singing hero Posted: 26 Feb 2017 03:06 AM PST  Hundreds of Palestinians celebrated in Bethlehem after a young singer from the occupied West Bank city became the second Palestinian to win the Arab Idol television song contest. Yacoub Shaheen, the 23-year-old son of a Syriac Christian carpenter, on Saturday night won the pan-Arab singing competition, defeating a fellow Palestinian and a Yemeni in the finals filmed in Lebanon. Hundreds of people including the town mayor gathered in front of a large screen in Bethlehem's Manger Square to watch Shaheen sing in the final of the popular television show.
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| Mardi Gras crash suspect's alcohol level 3 times legal limit Posted: 26 Feb 2017 04:39 PM PST  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The man who allegedly plowed into a crowd enjoying a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, police said Sunday.
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