| 37 killed in Indian Kashmir attack Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:11 PM PST  At least 37 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in one the deadliest attacks on government forces there, police said. The suicide bombing outside Srinagar claimed by an Islamist group is likely to ratchet up tensions between nuclear-armed arch rivals India and Pakistan, with New Delhi long accusing Islamabad of supporting militants. "The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Indian Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, calling the attack "despicable".
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| Parkland shooting victims are remembered in silence Posted: 14 Feb 2019 04:26 PM PST  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and other schools across the U.S. bowed their heads in a moment of silence and took part in volunteer projects Thursday to mark the anniversary of the shooting rampage that claimed 17 lives. But for many Parkland students, the tragedy was still so raw they couldn't bring themselves to set foot in the building.
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| Iran rejects anti-Semitism allegation by Pence Posted: 16 Feb 2019 07:15 AM PST  Iran on Saturday rejected accusations of anti-Semitism leveled against it by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, saying it respected Judaism but opposed Israel, which Tehran said was acting like a "killing machine against the Palestinians". Pence accused Iran of Nazi-like anti-Semitism on Friday after visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, maintaining his harsh rhetoric just a day after attacking European powers for trying to undermine U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic. "Iran's historic and cultural record of coexistence and respect for divine religions, particularly Judaism, is recorded in reliable historic documents of various nations," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
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| IS teen's wish to return stirs UK debate over jihadi brides Posted: 15 Feb 2019 09:51 AM PST  A pregnant London schoolgirl's wish to return home after joining the Islamic State group in Syria splintered Britain on Friday as reports emerged of more UK women fleeing the war zone. Shamima Begum's fate has prompted soul searching in Britain since she and two friends created international headlines by running away to join the terror network in 2015. Home Secretary Sajid Javid told The Times newspaper that people like Begum "were full of hate for our country".
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| Airlines to begin adding new gender option for 'non-binary' flyers Posted: 15 Feb 2019 01:03 PM PST ![Airlines to begin adding new gender option for 'non-binary' flyers]( "Airlines to begin adding new gender option for 'non-binary' flyers") Some U.S. airlines are on track to add a new gender option for "non-binary" passengers amid evolving best-practices suggestions for the industry.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to introduce bill blocking Trump’s ‘fake national emergency’ Posted: 15 Feb 2019 10:18 AM PST  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joaquin Castro have announced new legislation they intend to introduce as part of an effort to block Donald Trump's national emergency declaration over the US-Mexico border. The Democratic politicians pointed to the National Emergencies Act that provides Congress the ability to "terminate the President's emergency declaration", according to Mr Castro.
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| Amazon cancels plans for New York City HQ, deals blow to Gov. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio Posted: 14 Feb 2019 11:16 AM PST  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio had lobbied hard for Amazon headquarters; Laura Ingle reports.
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| The 20 Most Powerful Crossovers and SUVs You Can Buy in 2019 Posted: 15 Feb 2019 11:35 AM PST |
| North Koreans pay tribute to Kim's father in freezing cold Posted: 16 Feb 2019 01:00 AM PST  The Day of the Shining Star dawned bitterly cold in Pyongyang. Kim, the son of the isolated North's founder Kim Il Sung and the father and predecessor of current leader Kim Jong Un, was born on February 16. According to Pyongyang's orthodoxy, he came into the world in 1942, in a snow-covered hut at a secret camp on the slopes of Mount Paektu, the spiritual birthplace of the Korean people, where his father was fighting occupying Japanese forces.
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| U.S. envoy Abrams met secretly with Venezuela foreign minister: AP report Posted: 14 Feb 2019 05:54 PM PST ![U.S. envoy Abrams met secretly with Venezuela foreign minister: AP report]( "U.S. envoy Abrams met secretly with Venezuela foreign minister: AP report") The U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, met secretly with Venezuela's foreign minister as recently as this week, the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing President Nicolas Maduro and a senior Venezuelan official. Washington has disavowed Maduro's government and backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who last month invoked articles of the constitution to assume the presidency on promises to end a humanitarian crisis caused by an economic collapse. Venezuela's foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, met twice with Abrams in New York for several hours and invited him to come to Venezuela "privately, publicly or secretly," Maduro said in an interview.
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| During a school lockdown, 7-year-old writes note on her arm in case she dies Posted: 15 Feb 2019 10:11 AM PST  A second-grader wrote a chilling note to her parents on her arm during school lockdown.
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| Alaska Airlines is selling BOGO flights for one day only Posted: 14 Feb 2019 01:28 PM PST  On February 14 only, the airline is rolling out a 'Fly One, Get One' promotionbetween select destinations around the country
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| California braced for mudslides and torrential rain after devastating storm Posted: 15 Feb 2019 03:21 AM PST  Authorities have warned of the threat of mudslides after a damaging storm struck California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow which destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the US west coast into Wyoming and Colorado after walloping northern California and southern Oregon. The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 24cm over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.
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| Students track fatal child shootings since Parkland killings Posted: 14 Feb 2019 01:59 PM PST  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A student journalism project has concluded that at least 1,149 children and teenagers died from a shooting in the year since the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
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| Watch a space harpoon impale a piece of space debris Posted: 15 Feb 2019 08:52 AM PST  The U.S. government tracks 500,000 chunks and bits of space junk as they hurtle around Earth. Some 20,000 of these objects are larger than a softball.To clean up the growing mess, scientists at the University of Surrey have previously tested a net to catch chunks of debris. Now, they've successfully tested out a harpoon.The video below, released Friday by the university's space center, shows a test of the experimental RemoveDEBRIS satellite as it unleashes a harpoon at a piece of solar panel, held out on a 1.5-meter boom.The harpoon clearly impales its target. "This is RemoveDEBRIS' most demanding experiment and the fact that it was a success is testament to all involved," Guglielmo Aglietti, director of the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, said in a statement. Next, the RemoveDEBRIS team -- made up of a group of international collaborators -- is planning its final experiment: responsibly destroying the satellite.In March, the RemoveDEBRIS satellite will "inflate a sail that will drag the satellite into Earth's atmosphere where it will be destroyed," the university said a statement. This is how the group intends to vaporize the future dangerous debris it catches. SEE ALSO: Trump fails to block NASA's carbon sleuth from going to spaceHuman space debris hurtles around Earth faster than a speeding bullet, with debris often traveling at 17,500 mph, or faster. The threat of collisions is always present, though in some orbits the odds of an impact are significantly lower than others. The International Space Station, for instance, is in a relatively debris-free orbit, but even here there is the threat of "natural debris" -- micrometeors -- pummeling the space station.Other orbits have considerably more debris spinning around Earth. In 2009, a derelict Russian satellite slammed into a functional Iridium telecommunication satellite at 26,000 mph, resulting in an estimated 200,000 bits of debris. In 2007, the Chinese launched a missile at an old weather satellite, spraying shrapnel into Earth's orbit.This risk amplifies as more satellites are rocketed into space. SpaceX now has government-approved plans to launch thousands of its Starlink satellites into orbit -- perhaps by the mid-2020's, should they amass money for the pricey program. This would double or triple the number of satellites in orbit."It is unprecedented," said Kessler, NASA's former senior scientist for orbital debris research told Mashable. "The sheer number, that's the problem."Kessler has long warned about the potential of catastrophic chain reactions in Earth's orbit, wherein one collision creates enough weaponized debris to create a cycle of destruction. Designs to harpoon dangerous chunks of debris are just being tested in space today, but the technology could prove critical as Earth's orbit grows increasingly trafficked with large, metallic satellites. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| Isil bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK, head of MI6 says Posted: 15 Feb 2019 06:45 AM PST  The British Islamic State (Isil) bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK the Head of MI6 has said. The Director General of MI6 has said that British citizens have a right to return home from Syria, even though they may still present a threat to national security. Alex Younger, the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service - better known as MI6 - said he was "very concerned" about returning British nationals that had fought for or supported the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). Speaking ahead of the Munich Security Conference which started on Friday, Mr Younger said: "All experience tells us that once someone's put themselves in that sort of position they are likely to have acquired both the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous. "Anyone who has put themselves in this situation can expect to be questioned and investigated and potentially prosecuted if they return to our jurisdiction." When asked about the case of Ms Begum, the heavily pregnant 19-year-old Londoner who travelled to Syria four years ago to become an Isil bride and who now wants to return to the UK to have her baby, Mr Younger said: "British nationals have a right to come to the UK." Kadiza Sultana, left, Shamima Begum, center, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport Credit: Metropolitan Police Britain's intelligence chief cautioned about showing triumphalism at the demise of Isil, saying such an approach led to hubris. "The military defeat of the caliphate does not represent the end of the terrorist threat that we face," he said. "You can't use military force to kill and idea." Mr Younger warned that Isil was already in the process of trying to grow elsewhere around the world, even as its fighters are defeated in Syria, and that the threat from al-Qaeda had not been completely extinguished. He said: "Daesh [Isil] is a resilient organisation and it is reorganising, returning to its natural state as an asymmetric transnational terrorist organisation. We see it morphing, spreading out. "Al-Qaeda...has undergone a certain resurgence as a result of the degradation of Daesh and it is a force that should also be taken seriously. It is definitely not done out, and is something we should remain focused on." Mr Younger was keen to stress the "strength and unconditional nature of the UK security offer" and said Brexit would not harm enduring partnerships. "Britain's commitment to the security of the European continent is unconditional," he said. "Our aim is to strengthen our security partnerships in Europe, alongside our other intelligence partnerships across the globe, because that is the inescapable logic of a world of increasingly international hybrid threats." The ability to "operationalise" partnerships with other intelligence organisations was critical in preserving our way of life, he said, and was used to great effect after the nerve-agent attack in Salisbury last year. Referring to the intelligence sharing relationships with France and Germany he said: "There are people alive in our three countries today because of terrorist attack plans that we have successfully disrupted, showing the value and importance of cooperation to all sides. This is not a one-way street." "Even in the past year...people's lives have been saved in all of our countries as a result of this cooperation. The counter terrorist machine is working as it should. Bombs haven't gone off as a result of our capacity to exchange data with each other. "Brexit doesn't fundamentally alter those relationships."
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| Pence visits Auschwitz after saying Iran plotting 'new Holocaust' Posted: 15 Feb 2019 06:28 AM PST  US Vice President Mike Pence on Friday paid homage to victims of the Holocaust at the former Nazi German Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, a day after he accused Iranian authorities of plotting a "new Holocaust". More than a million European Jews perished at the site located in then German-occupied southern Polish town of Oswiecim during World War II. Pence passed through the Auschwitz camp's infamous wrought-iron "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free") gate before laying a wreath at the death wall where the Nazis executed thousands of people.
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| Eating scorpions, worms in Thai/US military drill Posted: 14 Feb 2019 11:59 AM PST  Thailand and the US hosted the opening ceremony for the annual Cobra Gold military exercise, the biggest activity of its type in the Asia-Pacific region with participants learning jungle survival skills. (Feb. 14)
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| U.S. court dismisses Energy Transfer Partners lawsuit against Greenpeace Posted: 14 Feb 2019 07:07 PM PST  ETP had sued https://reut.rs/2SASoIv Greenpeace and other environmental groups in 2017, accusing them of racketeering and defamation with the aim of blocking the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the lawsuit, ETP argued that the environmental groups' actions and negative publicity against it, its sister company Energy Transfer Equity LP and other firms caused billions of dollars in damages.
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| U.S. Weighs New PDVSA Sanctions as Next Step Against Maduro Posted: 15 Feb 2019 07:37 PM PST  The move is one of several options the administration is considering to help the country through a "major" political transition, according to Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and two people familiar with the matter. "I know the White House and the Treasury Department are focused on the best path forward, but the main goal is to ensure that we preserve the assets and resources that rightfully belong to the Venezuelan people and block the Maduro regime from using them for personal gain and repression," McCaul said in an emailed statement.
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| Global stocks surge on hopeful signs from US-China trade talks Posted: 15 Feb 2019 05:24 PM PST  New York (AFP) - European and US stock markets leapt on Friday as positive signs emerged from US-China trade talks aimed at averting an escalation of a tariff war between the world's top two economies.
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| FBI releases 16 drawings prolific serial killer Samuel Little made of his victims Posted: 14 Feb 2019 11:07 AM PST  The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released more than a dozen drawingsmade by a prolific serial killer in hopes the public may be able to identifysome of his victims
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| Our Favorite Eco-friendly Finds Put Sustainable Materials to Stylish Use Posted: 15 Feb 2019 05:00 AM PST |
| US-backed fighters squeezing IS gunmen in eastern Syria Posted: 16 Feb 2019 05:42 AM PST  BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — A U.S.-backed force in Syria is closing in on Islamic State militants in a tiny area less than a square kilometer (square mile) in eastern Syria, and will soon declare the defeat of the militant group, a commander with the group said Saturday.
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| Denver teachers back at work after winning deal with raises Posted: 14 Feb 2019 09:30 PM PST  DENVER (AP) — Denver teachers ended a three-day walkout and returned to their classrooms Thursday, greeted by hugs and high-fives, after their union reached a tentative deal raising their pay, the latest win in a national movement by educators to raise their wages and advocate for changes in schools.
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| NASA mulls buying new rides to space from Russia amid program delays Posted: 15 Feb 2019 11:00 AM PST  The U.S. space agency has since had to rely on Russia's Roscosmos program to ferry astronauts to the orbital space station at a cost of roughly $80 million per seat, NASA has said. After 2019 there are no seats available on the spacecraft for U.S. crew, and a NASA advisory panel recommended on Friday that the U.S. space program develop a contingency plan to guarantee access to the station in case technical problems delay Boeing and SpaceX any further. A NASA spokesman on Friday characterized a solicitation request NASA filed on Wednesday as a contingency plan.
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| Tax Refund Data Puts Mnuchin in Hot Seat to Explain GOP Law Posted: 14 Feb 2019 05:02 PM PST  The number of tax refunds issued so far this year -- in the first tax filings since the 2017 tax overhaul was enacted -- fell nearly 16 percent to 11.4 million, compared with 13.5 million at the same point in the filing season last year, according to Treasury data published on Thursday. The data, which reflects only the first two weeks of the filing season, has irritated taxpayers who discovered that their refund was smaller than last year's because the new law altered available deductions and credits and revised withholding tables. "Most people are seeing the benefits of the tax cut in larger paychecks throughout the year, instead of tax refunds that are the result of people overpaying the government," the Treasury said in a statement Thursday.
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| More rain, snow expected in storm-battered California, following days of mudslides and floods Posted: 15 Feb 2019 11:47 AM PST  Californians were in clean-up mode Friday as the state slowly recovers from an onslaught of rain, wind and snow, which brought widespread flooding and mudslides.
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| US Facebook fine over privacy could be in billions: reports Posted: 15 Feb 2019 08:03 AM PST  A US investigation into privacy violations by Facebook could result in a record fine running to billions of dollars, media reports said Friday. The Federal Trade Commission is negotiating the terms of the penalty stemming from its investigation into whether Facebook violated a 2011 settlement with the regulator on protecting user data, the Washington Post and New York Times said, citing unnamed sources. The FTC reopened its investigation following revelations last year that personal data from tens of millions of Facebook users was hijacked by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica as it worked on Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
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| Officials: Suspect caught in Illinois shooting Posted: 15 Feb 2019 01:33 PM PST  Police arrested a suspect in a shooting on Friday at a manufacturing plant in Aurora, Illinois, but the area remained under lockdown, officials said.
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| Honda Ridgeline Recalled for Carwash Sensitivity Posted: 15 Feb 2019 11:23 AM PST  The mid-size pickup truck's fuel pump could be damaged by carwash soap.
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| The Republican hypocrisy over Ilhan Omar's comment: Today's talker Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:48 PM PST ![The Republican hypocrisy over Ilhan Omar's comment: Today's talker]( "The Republican hypocrisy over Ilhan Omar's comment: Today's talker") Does a guy who enables Donald Trump have the right to condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar for making a rude comment? Asks columnist EJ Montini.
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| Iran general says Pakistan backs group behind suicide bomb Posted: 16 Feb 2019 01:00 AM PST  Iran's Revolutionary Guards accused "Pakistan's security forces" of supporting the perpetrators of a suicide bombing that killed 27 troops on Wednesday, in remarks state TV aired Saturday. "Pakistan's government, who has housed these anti-revolutionaries and threats to Islam, knows where they are and they are supported by Pakistan's security forces," said Revolutionary Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, referring to jihadist group Jaish al-Adl ("Army of Justice").
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| Denver teacher strike revealed US divide over bonus pay Posted: 14 Feb 2019 11:01 AM PST DENVER (AP) — Denver teachers went on strike to improve their pay, but the fight wasn't that simple.
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| Best Presidents Day TV Deals Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:46 PM PST  Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping consumers. When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission—100% of the fees w...
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| The Latest: Extremist attack in Nigeria kills 4 civilians Posted: 16 Feb 2019 09:11 AM PST  YOLA, Nigeria (AP) — The Latest on Nigeria's postponed presidential election (all times local):
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| BofA Says a ‘Real’ Trade Deal Could Vault S&P 500 to Record High Posted: 15 Feb 2019 10:23 AM PST  The firm's model on corporate earnings and equity valuations suggests that the market has priced in "a partial deal," one where only some of the issues get resolved in favor of corporate America, according to strategists led by Savita Subramanian. In a best-case scenario, the S&P 500 could climb 5 percent to 10 percent when a "real deal" is struck. Companies from 3M Co. to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. have slashed their guidance this year, citing either trade tensions or weakening demand in China.
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| `Going Away Party` for School Shutting Down Because of Student`s Death Causes Controversy Posted: 15 Feb 2019 08:00 PM PST  Some parents are outraged a California school for kids with special needs is holding a "going away party" after one of its own students died after being restrained by staff.
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| At least five dead in Aurora, Illinois, workplace shooting: Here's what we know now Posted: 15 Feb 2019 04:21 PM PST  Five people are dead including a gunman after a shooting at an industrial plant in Aurora, Illinois, authorities said. Here's what we know now.
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| XPO to close Verizon-contracted warehouse in Memphis Posted: 14 Feb 2019 10:36 AM PST ![XPO to close Verizon-contracted warehouse in Memphis]( "XPO to close Verizon-contracted warehouse in Memphis") "Our customer has made a business decision and as a result this facility will close in June," XPO said in a statement. XPO declined to name the customer, identified by workers and media reports as Verizon. A representative for Verizon Communications Inc did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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| Sasse Warns Trump That National Emergency Could Set Dangerous Precedent Posted: 15 Feb 2019 03:25 PM PST  Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) on Friday warned President Trump that his national emergency declaration may set a dangerous precedent that will be exploited by a future Democratic administration.In a statement provided to National Review, Sasse endorsed President Trump's claim that a lack of attention to security has created a "crisis" at the southern border, but warned that resolving the issue through a national-emergency declaration would prove counterproductive for conservatives in the future."We absolutely have a crisis at the border, but as a Constitutional conservative I don't want a future Democratic President unilaterally rewriting gun laws or climate policy," Sasse said in the statement. "If we get used to presidents just declaring an emergency any time they can't get what they want from Congress, it will be almost impossible to go back to a Constitutional system of checks and balances. Over the past decades, the legislative branch has given away too much power and the executive branch has taken too much power."On Thursday, Sasse joined ten fellow conservative senators in voting against the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, which provided just $1.375 billion for the construction of new barriers on the southern border, prompting Trump to declare a national emergency on Friday. In doing so, he moved to secure $3.6 billion in discretionary military funds to construct additional barriers but, as Trump acknowledged during his address, it is sure to be challenged in court.Asked after his address about conservative critics who have argued the national-emergency declaration cedes too much power to the executive and paves the way for constitutional abuses by future Democratic administrations, Trump argued that the scale of the crisis at the border should override any concern about future implications."We have an invasion of drugs and criminals coming in to our country," he said.
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| Every Photo of the 2019 Bentley Bentayga Speed Posted: 14 Feb 2019 11:18 AM PST |
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