| ‘He wanted more than gossip’: NYT reporter on Russian ambassador’s talks with Trump associates Posted: 03 Mar 2017 01:04 PM PST  A Friday New York Times profile of Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, illuminates the longtime diplomat as not only socially savvy and eager to network, but also unwavering in his dedication to his home country and its president, Vladimir Putin. Peter Baker, the New York Times' chief White House correspondent and co-author of the profile, joined Yahoo News Now on Friday to discuss Kislyak, who has been in the spotlight following revelations of his communications with various members of the Trump campaign and administration. Both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn have come under withering criticism for not disclosing their conversations with Kislyak.
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| 2nd suspect arrested in case of missing Georgia teacher Posted: 03 Mar 2017 02:29 PM PST  FITZGERALD, Ga. (AP) — A second man was arrested Friday in connection with the slaying of Georgia high school teacher who vanished nearly 12 years ago, with warrants saying the new suspect helped the woman's killer dispose of her body.
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| Russian, Syrian regime convoys enter northern Syria city Posted: 03 Mar 2017 02:26 PM PST  Russia and Syrian regime forces are moving "humanitarian" convoys carrying military equipment into the former Islamic State group's bastion of Manbij in northern Syria, the US Defense Department said Friday. The move would likely make it more difficult for Turkish troops to strike Syrian Kurdish forces if they did not withdraw from Manbij. "We have noticed and observed and are aware of the fact that these humanitarian convoys sponsored by the regime (of President Bashar al-Assad) and Russia have been moving into Manbij and that they have some armored equipment with them," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.
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| Philippines' Duterte will pay price for drugs killings, detained senator says Posted: 03 Mar 2017 05:45 AM PST ![Philippines' Duterte will pay price for drugs killings, detained senator says]( "Philippines' Duterte will pay price for drugs killings, detained senator says") A senator and detained critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has warned he and his "blind followers" will pay for ignoring alleged extrajudicial killings, and should stop trying to fool the world their crackdown was above board. Leila de Lima, who last year led a Senate probe into alleged summary killings during Duterte's anti-drugs campaign, was arrested last week and has been remanded in police detention on drug charges. "In due time, your president and those who blindly enforce his illegal orders to kill, fabricate evidence and concoct lies will be held accountable," De Lima said in a handwritten note posted on her official Facebook page on Friday.
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| Mexican sewage spill flares US noses and tempers Posted: 03 Mar 2017 03:09 PM PST  IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (AP) — For more than two weeks, a stench of feces, ammonium and laundry detergent wafted through the air in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. Residents who contacted government offices got no answers.
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| Photos of the day - March 3, 2017 Posted: 03 Mar 2017 01:16 PM PST ![Photos of the day - March 3, 2017]( "Photos of the day - March 3, 2017") Bus ushers take selfies on an empty street adjacent to the Great Hall of the People; Germany's Eric Frenzel competes in the men's nordic combined team sprint; European Parliament members cast their votes.
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| Former Egyptian President Mubarak Acquitted of Killing Arab Spring Protesters Posted: 02 Mar 2017 10:57 AM PST  And that's that for the Arab Spring.
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| Sen. Cortez Masto says Jeff Sessions should resign to protect Justice Dept.’s ‘integrity’ Posted: 02 Mar 2017 02:18 PM PST  Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is calling for Jeff Sessions to resign as attorney general. "He's been the attorney general now for less than a month, and we're questioning whether the top law enforcement official in the country … has committed a crime," Cortez Masto told Yahoo News on Thursday afternoon. Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also called for Sessions to resign Thursday.
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| Mom Gets 50 Years for Giving Son, 5, Fatal Dose of Pills and Setting His Body on Fire Posted: 02 Mar 2017 11:04 AM PST  Narges Shafeirad pleaded guilty last year to feeding her 5-year-old son, Daniel Dana, a fatal dose of antihistamines.
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| Birth defects jump twentyfold in Zika-hit mothers: study Posted: 03 Mar 2017 02:04 AM PST  Pregnant women infected with the Zika virus last year were 20 times more likely to bear children with birth defects than those who gave birth prior to the epidemic, US health officials said Thursday. Researchers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared birth outcomes prior to the Zika epidemic's outbreak in 2015 -- using data from three US state registries -- to those of mothers infected by the virus in 2016. The defects included microcephaly -- a crippling deformation that leads to babies having very small brains and heads -- as well as poor cranial development, neural tube defects and other brain or eye abnormalities.
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| Trump's EPA budget proposal targets climate, lead cleanup programs Posted: 02 Mar 2017 03:44 PM PST ![Trump's EPA budget proposal targets climate, lead cleanup programs]( "Trump's EPA budget proposal targets climate, lead cleanup programs") By Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is proposing to slash a quarter of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's budget, targeting climate-change programs and those designed to prevent air and water pollution like lead contamination, a source with direct knowledge of the proposal said on Thursday. President Donald Trump has long signaled his intention to reverse former Democratic President Barack Obama's climate-change initiatives. The 23-page 2018 budget proposal, which aims to slice the environmental regulator's overall budget by 25 percent to $6.1 billion and staffing by 20 percent to 12,400 as part of a broader effort to fund increased military spending, would cut deeply into programs like climate protection, environmental justice and enforcement.
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| Blake Lively’s Incredible Style Evolution Posted: 03 Mar 2017 06:28 PM PST  Check out Blake Lively's amazing style transformation through the years.
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| Rachel Dolezal, activist who identified as black, changes name Posted: 02 Mar 2017 12:49 PM PST ![Rachel Dolezal, activist who identified as black, changes name]( "Rachel Dolezal, activist who identified as black, changes name") Diallo, 39, was profiled in a story last week by British newspaper The Guardian that mentioned she had changed her name on legal documents. Court records posted online by Spokane County, in Washington state, indicated that Dolezal petitioned to change her name to Diallo, which has African roots, and that a judge granted the request last Oct. 7. Dolezal resigned in 2015 as president of the Spokane chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, following an uproar when media reports disclosed her parents were white.
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| Russia Tested NATO Aircraft Four Times In Same Day Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:03 AM PST  The U.S Air Force's top general in Europe and Africa said Russia gave little information on why the encounters occurred.
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| I met the company that’s reimagining multitouch Posted: 03 Mar 2017 11:20 AM PST 
We're all expecting the computing future envisioned by Minority Report to actually happen, and I'm mostly talking about the fantastic user interface from the movie, although a system that can predict crime might also come in handy. Tom Cruise's character uses a sophisticated computer that can interpret spatial gestures and provide instant responses. The entire room becomes a huge 3D screen where any type of gesture can be recognized. Well, we're not quite there yet. But a company called Qeexo is reinventing multitouch so that it feels more natural to the user, and I got to see it in action at Mobile World Congress. Touching a display or touchpad is now the norm when it comes to interacting with devices, whether they're smartphones, tablets, or PCs. And these devices can recognize a variety of touch patterns as long as you remember what those patterns are. But what if you could touch the screen in a more intuitive way, one that would come naturally without having to remember what a three-finger swipe to the left does? That's how Qeexo CEO Sang Won Lee explained the company's TouchTools software to me. Pretend you're picking up an eraser while touching the screen, and an eraser will magically appear. Move your hand around while maintaining contact with the screen and you'll erase everything the eraser touches. Want to write? Use your finger and a pen will appear on the screen. Want to change colors or settings for your pen? Just imagine you're rotating a dial that brings up extra menus, and one will appear. Swipe up with a hand just as you would with a real ruler on a piece of paper, and the ruler will appear and stay on the screen so that you can draw a straight line with your other hand. The software can simulate a camera as well, or a tape measure (that actually lets you measure on-screen elements), and they're all enabled by touch. These tools disappear from the screen the moment you lift your finger, freeing up as much space as possible for content. Here's a video demo of Qeexo's tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWWzi5y6LC0 The best part about it is that the technology can be used on any device that accepts touch. It can be a big screen TV — that's the kind of device I tried it on — but also something smaller like a car's infotainment system. It can run Android, like the huge screen above, but it can also work on an iPad or anything else. Do we really need it? Imagine being able to control the volume in your car by reaching to the touchscreen and performing a motion that's similar to what you'd do with an actual physical volume knob. All that would happen without having to take your eyes off the road — and without having to remember a special gesture. Imagine using the tech in a classroom instead of the regular chalk and blackboard. It would eliminate wasted time, and you would not have to physically clean the blackboard or dive through menus looking for a certain feature on a conventional digital device. I was even shown an iOS version of the app that simulates mouse interaction, complete with buttons and scroll wheel that actually work. All that might be available in the future on a wide range of devices. The only thing Qeexo could tell me at the show is that it's aiming for a 2017 launch of a version of what I had seen on the show floor. Did I also mention that there's on-device machine learning involved in all of this? Yes, the future does look interesting, even if we're not quite where Minority Report was. Until we get to see TouchTools in commercial products, you can try a version of it on Huawei phones like the P10, or some of last year's handsets. The tech is called FingerSense, and uses many of the same solutions. The phone knows how you touch the screen, whether you use a finger or a knuckle, whether you draw a line or a letter, and it responds accordingly. It also works as soon as the display is turned on. Here's a demo of FingerSense in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAb37ykYD1I
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| Some Republicans call for Sessions' recusal Posted: 02 Mar 2017 11:21 AM PST  Attorney General Jeff Sessions is facing mounting calls from Republican lawmakers to recuse himself from the Department of Justice's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election following a report he met twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States while he was a U.S. senator and an adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump. Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, was among the first to call for Sessions' recusal. "Jeff Sessions is a former colleague and a friend," Portman said Thursday.
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| Brussels police hold man as gas canisters found in car Posted: 02 Mar 2017 11:59 AM PST  Belgian police and soldiers on Thursday sealed off part of central Brussels after finding gas canisters in a car driven by a man known to have been radicalised, officials said. Belgium remains on high alert as it prepares to mark the first anniversary of last year's Islamic State-inspired attacks on the Brussels metro and airport which killed 32 people. Reports said he had previously gone to Syria but officials did not confirm that.
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| U.S. State Department criticized over quiet release of human rights report Posted: 03 Mar 2017 04:04 PM PST  By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department released its annual report on human rights around the world on Friday but the release was overshadowed by criticism that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave the report little of the traditional attention or fanfare. Tillerson declined to unveil the report in person, breaking with precedent established during both Democratic and Republican administrations. "The report speaks for itself," the official said in response to a question about why Tillerson did not unveil it.
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| Experts find mass grave at ex-Catholic orphanage in Ireland Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:16 AM PST  DUBLIN (AP) — A mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children has been discovered at a former Catholic orphanage in Ireland, government-appointed investigators announced Friday in a finding that offered the first conclusive proof following a historian's efforts to trace the fates of nearly 800 children who perished there.
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| Mercedes-Benz recalls 354,000 vehicles due to fire risk Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:41 AM PST  Mercedes-Benz has issued a massive recall affecting more than 354,000 vehicles from the 2015, 2016, and 2017 model years. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some of those cars may be at risk of catching fire. The problem with the vehicles is electrical in nature and is rooted in the starting current limiter, manufactured by Gruner AG. Like most limiters, this one is designed to manage electrical currents, protecting other components from being damaged and preventing fuse overloads. ALSO SEE: Utah is about to lower its drunk-driving limit, is your state next? Unfortunately in this case, it's the protector that needs protecting. NHTSA's defect bulletin explains that the limiter in these Mercedes-Benz vehicles isn't designed to handle the heavy current draw that may occur when an engine or transmission is damaged, preventing the car from starting: "In the event the starter is blocked due to engine/transmission damage (e.g. hydro locked engine), a very high electric current would flow through the starting current limiter during the subsequent start attempt. Should the driver attempt to start the engine repeatedly despite the engine not cranking, the very high electric current draw might lead to overheating of the starting current limiter." That overheating can cause nearby components to melt, and in worst-case scenarios, could result in a fire. The list of vehicles included in the recall is long and, thanks to Mercedes-Benz's naming system, a little complicated. We've done our best to alphabetize it: 2015-2017 C300 2017 C300 Cabrio 2017 C300 Coupe 2015-2017 C300 4Matic 2017 C300 4Matic Cabrio 2017 C300 4Matic Coupe 2016 C350e 2016-2017 C450 4Matic AMG Sport 2015-2017 CLA250 2015-2017 CLA250 4Matic 2015-2017 CLA45 AMG 2017 E300 2017 E300 4Matic 2017 E400 4Matic Wagon 2017 E43 AMG 4Matic 2017 GLA250 2017 GLA250 4Matic 2017 GLC300 4Matic Coupe 2016 GLC300 2016 GLC300 4Matic All told, there are 354,434 of those vehicles registered in the U.S. READ: First ride: 2018 Volkswagen Atlas prototype Sadly, none of those vehicles can be repaired yet, because Mercedes-Benz doesn't have an ample supply of parts. Owners will receive interim recall notices in late March, which will alert them to the problem. The automaker expects to have parts on hand in July 2017 and will mail a second recall notice then. That second notice will include instructions for scheduling service with Mercedes-Benz dealerships. NHTSA says that dealers will install an extra fuse in the electrical line to the starter, which will resolve the issue. If you own one of these vehicles and have further questions, you're encouraged to contact Mercedes-Benz customer service at 1-800-367-6372. Or, if you prefer, you can call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 and ask about safety campaign #17V114000.
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| 95-year-old comes out as gay and melts all our hearts Posted: 02 Mar 2017 02:43 PM PST  It's never too late to accept yourself. In his latest video, popular Youtuber Davey Wavey sat down with 96-year-old Roman, who shares his beautiful coming out story — that took place only one year before. SEE ALSO: 'Beauty and the Beast' director reveals Disney's first openly gay character Roman explains that at 95 years old — after being married to his wife for 67 years and having two children and five grandchildren — he finally felt ready to show the world a part of himself he had known since he was only 5 years old: his sexuality. "Certain things I want the world to know," Roman told Wavey in the touching video, "I was born and was all my life gay." The pair met through Roman's grandson, Brandon Gross, who is currently making a story called "On My Way Out" based on his grandfather's late-in-life reveal. "I think there's a lot to take from this video," Wavey told The Huffington Post. "There's a sense of history in understanding how far we've come, and the struggles that this man must have experienced." "There's gratitude for the LGBT people who marched and rallied and bleed and sweat so that today's world is different ― and that fewer people feel compelled to live in the shadows or closets," he continued. "Whether you are queer or not, listening to Roman stirs something in all of us," the Youtube star explained. "And at a time when the world often feels divisive and divided, it's good to be reminded of our common humanity." "I want to go to sleep [and] have somebody close to me," Roman sweetly revealed in the video. "Not for any other reason but to be sure that someone cares." What? No, you're crying. Watch the full heartwarming interview above. BONUS: At 98 years old, this has to be the world's oldest yoga teacher
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| 10 of the Smallest Details That Have the Highest Impact on Performance Posted: 02 Mar 2017 10:06 AM PST |
| Uber Used 'Greyball' Tool To Operate Illegally: Report Posted: 03 Mar 2017 12:59 PM PST  A New York Times report says Uber used a number of data collection tools to help evade authorities and operate in cities it had been banned in.
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| Trump says wants defense buildup to project U.S. power abroad Posted: 02 Mar 2017 01:16 PM PST ![Trump says wants defense buildup to project U.S. power abroad]( "Trump says wants defense buildup to project U.S. power abroad") By Ayesha Rascoe NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants a U.S. military buildup of more ships and planes to "project American power in distant lands," making his case for a proposed $54 billion increase in defense spending that has U.S. lawmakers squabbling. Wearing an olive military jacket and hat aboard a new aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, in Newport News, Virginia, Trump said he wanted the U.S. military to have the finest equipment in the world. Trump this week proposed a $54 billion increase over last year in defense spending, boosting the Pentagon budget to $603 billion, and said he wanted to launch the biggest military buildup in American history to make up for what he called a depleted armed forces.
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| Indian in US for snowshoe contest is accused of sex abuse Posted: 02 Mar 2017 10:11 AM PST ![Indian in US for snowshoe contest is accused of sex abuse]( "Indian in US for snowshoe contest is accused of sex abuse") SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (AP) — A snowshoe racer from India who competed last weekend at the World Snowshoe Championships in New York after initially struggling to obtain a visa is accused of sexually abusing a local girl.
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| US strikes pound AQAP targets in Yemen Posted: 02 Mar 2017 12:44 PM PST  US forces on Thursday struck a series of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula targets in Yemen, the Pentagon announced, part of a broader increase in attacks against the civil-war-torn nation's jihadists. Local officials said at least 12 AQAP members were killed in the strikes, which came barely one month after a botched US commando raid against the group left multiple civilians and a Navy SEAL dead. "More than 20 strikes targeted AQAP militants, equipment and infrastructure in the Yemeni governorates of Abyan, Baida and Shabwa," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said in a statement.
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| Google exec hints that Google Assistant is coming to the iPhone Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:47 AM PST 
When it comes to making money, Google has one mission and one mission alone: get its free apps and services in as many hands as possible. That's the very reason why Android was such a brilliant move on Google's part. By building a top-notch iOS rival and giving it away for free to any device maker that wants it, Google has created a scenario where well over a billion people access its apps and services constantly each day. The more they use their phones, the more data Google is able to collect. And the more data Google collects, the better it can target ads. As we discussed in an old article titled "The truth about Google and evil," Google does so much to help people, but it's an advertising company first and foremost. That brings us to Google Assistant, the company's answer Apple's Siri assistant and Amazon's Alexa. Google Assistant is already viewed by many as being more capable and more helpful than Siri, and just this week Google began rolling it out to Android phones running Android 6.0 or later. Google's mission to get its new AI assistant in as many hands as possible won't end with Android, of course, and now we have our strongest indication yet that Assistant is on its way to the iPhone. With the commotion at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain winding down, Dutch blog Geekster managed to catch up with Gummi Hafsteinsson, a Product Management Director at Google who is in charge of the Google Assistant project. Hafsteinsson had a lot to say about Google's hot new AI assistant, of course, but there was one portion of the interview that was of particular interest. When asked about the possibility of Google Assistant coming to iOS and Apple's iPhone, the exec gave a textbook non-answer that, for anyone who knows the industry, is pretty much an answer. "I do not think we have anything to announce at this point," Hafsteinsson said. "But I think the general philosophy is that we would like to have the Assistant available to as many people as possible." So there you have it, iPhone users. Google has nothing to announce at this point, but if you're a gambler, the smart money is on yes, Google Assistant will make its way to iOS in the future.
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| Partisanship rift continues in House panel probing Russia Posted: 02 Mar 2017 02:48 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Republican and Democrat on the House intelligence committee had conflicting messages Thursday when they emerged from a 31/2-hour closed-door briefing with FBI Director James Comey on Russian activities during the presidential election.
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| Relationship Expert Weighs In on Romance Between Joe Biden's Son and Other Son's Widow Posted: 02 Mar 2017 01:26 PM PST  The former vice president and his wife have given their approval of the relationship.
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| U.S. judge orders Florida nightclub shooter's widow to remain in jail Posted: 02 Mar 2017 05:03 PM PST ![U.S. judge orders Florida nightclub shooter's widow to remain in jail]( "U.S. judge orders Florida nightclub shooter's widow to remain in jail") The federal judge in Florida stayed another judge's order issued on Wednesday that would have released Noor Salman, 30, from a California jail. Salman was arrested in California in January on federal charges she knew before the June 2016 shootings in Orlando that her husband, Omar Mateen, was planning the attack and concocted a cover story for him.
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| Key Large Hadron Collider Experiment Gets A New ‘Heart’ Posted: 04 Mar 2017 12:11 AM PST  Engineers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research have successfully installed a new "pixel tracker" in the CMS detector, increasing the odds of discovering signs of "new physics."
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| Dire Measures to Combat Hunger in Venezuela Posted: 03 Mar 2017 08:57 AM PST  Prominent priest calls on Venezuelans to label trash that contains food for the hungry.
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| College students protest speaker branded white nationalist Posted: 02 Mar 2017 06:50 PM PST  MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (AP) — Hundreds of college students on Thursday protested a lecture by a writer some called a white nationalist, forcing the college to move his talk to an undisclosed campus location from which it was live-streamed to the original venue but couldn't be heard above protesters' chants, feet stamping and occasional smoke alarms.
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| The Predator Drone Is Going Into Retirement Posted: 02 Mar 2017 12:13 PM PST  The unmanned aerial vehicle that changed warfare retires this summer.
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| GOP, Dem foes of health care bill in scavenger hunt for copy Posted: 02 Mar 2017 10:30 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Where's the Republicans' embryonic health care bill?
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| Daisy the dog gets a second chance at motherhood after losing her puppies Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:26 AM PST  Meet Daisy Woodruff—this adorable, happy dog from Roseburg, Oregon: IT ME DAISY THE DOG HELLO HI! Image: Daisy Woodruff/Facebook According to Daisy's mom, Jessica Woodruff, Daisy unfortunately lost all seven of her puppies in a barn fire on Feb. 20. "We had a nice bed made for Daisy to have her pups inside but she found her own spot down at the barn. We noticed the fire and it was too late," Woodruff stated. They also lost four goats, one pig and the entire barn in the fire. SEE ALSO: Fun dad allows family dog to get a very unfortunate haircut After she lost her puppies, Daisy just wasn't the same. "Daisy wondered [ sic] the 80+ acres lost, sad and confused," she said. "As a mother, I couldn't fathom her loss." Image: Jacque Barnett In order to help Daisy recover from her loss, the search was on to get her foster puppies for Daisy to take care of. So, Woodruff's sister, Jacque Barnett, posted a note on a local Facebook page, searching for anyone who could help. Once the post was up, a local radio host saw it, and took the story to air. After hearing the story air on the radio, KPIC, a local news station, met with Woodruff and Daisy to cover their story on TV. And from there, an owner of eight orphaned puppies contacted Woodruff, and brought the pups over the next day. 8 happy little pups Image: Jacque Barnett Daisy nursing her new foster pups. Image: Jacque Barnett Ever since she's gotten a second chance at motherhood, Daisy got back to her old self again, much to the delight of her owner. "Daisy was in heaven!," Woodruff said. "It was so amazing to see the change. She had purpose again. She laid down to feed them, cleaned them, and even protects them." Image: Daisy woodruff/facebook Although the arrangement's temporary, Daisy will care for the pups until they are weaned. They'll then be returned home. "We aren't keeping any of the pups to live at the ranch but we are keeping the runt and gifting him to our Grandmother and Grandfather," said Woodruff. Daisy, fostering puppies. Image: jacque barnett "With out [ sic] a doubt, these foster pups have helped her," Woodruff said. "We have our Daisy dog back." Such pride. Image: Daisy woodruff/Facebook BONUS: Play fetch and crawl through tunnels in this dog-inspired bootcamp
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| Justin Trudeau is Our New Political Crush Posted: 02 Mar 2017 03:12 PM PST  Check out all the reasons why we love Justin Trudeau.
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| Ukraine tax chief falls ill as police close in over $75 million graft Posted: 03 Mar 2017 04:04 AM PST ![Ukraine tax chief falls ill as police close in over $75 million graft]( "Ukraine tax chief falls ill as police close in over $75 million graft") By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian state agencies sought to detain the head of the tax and customs service on Friday over the alleged embezzlement of around $75 million - a potentially landmark case after patchy anti-graft efforts from the Western-backed authorities. Television footage showed an apparently unconscious Roman Nasirov being stretchered into an ambulance and taken to Kiev's Feofania hospital late on Thursday. Anti-corruption prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky said investigators believe 38-year-old Nasirov helped exiled lawmaker Oleksandr Onishchenko deprive the state of 2 billion hryvnias ($75 million) in tax revenue linked to a gas deal.
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| Green River Alarms Small Spanish Town Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:51 AM PST  The river flows down the Pyrenees Mountains into Andorra and then into Spain.
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| U.S. State Dept criticized over quiet release of human rights report Posted: 03 Mar 2017 03:34 PM PST ![U.S. State Dept criticized over quiet release of human rights report]( "U.S. State Dept criticized over quiet release of human rights report") By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department released its annual report on human rights around the world on Friday but the release was overshadowed by criticism that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave the report little of the traditional attention or fanfare. Tillerson declined to unveil the report in person, breaking with precedent established during both Democratic and Republican administrations. "The report speaks for itself," the official said in response to a question about why Tillerson did not unveil it.
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| The Latest: Suspect in multistate crimes charged in Kansas Posted: 02 Mar 2017 04:40 PM PST  WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the capture of Alex Deaton, suspected of killing two people in Mississippi and shooting others in New Mexico and Kansas before he was captured (all times local):
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| China defence spending to rise 'around 7%': official Posted: 04 Mar 2017 08:35 AM PST  China will raise defence spending "around seven percent" this year as it guards against "outside meddling" in its disputed regional territorial claims, a top official said Saturday, in an apparent reference to Washington. Just days after US President Donald Trump outlined plans to raise American military spending by around 10 percent, a spokeswoman for China's parliament told reporters that future Chinese expenditures will depend on US actions in the region. Fu did not specify what "meddling" she was referring to, but Beijing's increasingly assertive stance towards its claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea have stirred alarm in the region and prompted criticism from Washington.
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| Central European nations present plan for stronger EU Posted: 02 Mar 2017 10:13 AM PST  WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Four Central European nations have hammered out proposals for the European Union that are intended to strengthen the voice of member nations and avoid divisions, Poland's prime minister said Thursday.
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