| Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner to register as sex offender after prison release Posted: 17 Feb 2019 12:37 PM PST  Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner has been released from federal prison after being convicted of having illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl in 2017. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website shows the 54-year-old New York Democrat is currently in the custody of its Residential Re-entry Management office in Brooklyn, New York. The prison bureau, federal prosecutors in New York and Weiner's lawyer didn't respond to emails seeking comment.
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| Donald Trump demands Britain puts jihadists on trial as Isil makes desperate last stand Posted: 17 Feb 2019 10:31 AM PST  Donald Trump has demanded Britain and its continental neighbours repatriate their captured Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters and put them on trial - or face the terrorists being set free to "permeate Europe." In a strongly-worded message tweeted late on Saturday night, the US president warned he would have little choice but to release approximately 800 "jihadists" currently held by American-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. He said now was the time for the ant-Isil coalition partners to "step up" and take over ownership of its rogue citizens who threaten the safety of Europe. Mr Trump's remarks came as the Sunday Telegraph exclusively revealed intense concern in Washington that "time is running out" to bring the terror group's fighters to justice as coalition forces prepare to declare victory within days. "The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial," he wrote. The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial. The Caliphate is ready to fall. The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them........— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019 "The Caliphate is ready to fall. The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them.." "The U.S. does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go. We do so much, and spend so much - Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. We are pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory!" Time is rapidly running out to establish a coherent strategy with Isil fighters now controlling a pocket of land just 700 metres square in eastern Syria. At its height, the terror group controlled an area the size of Britain. In a final gesture of defiance, surviving Isil militants on Sunday laid down roadblocks around their final redoubt to prevent an estimated 1,000 civilians trapped with them from leaving. Mr Trump predicted victory would come on Saturday, but commanders of the Syrian Democratic Forces commanders have slowed a push on the village of Baghouz with fears that civilians were being used as human shields. SDF fighters man a checkpoint on the road leading to Bagouz, the last village under Isil control Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images Europe On Saturday, the French army revealed a senior officer was facing punishment after publicly criticising coalition tactics. Colonel Francois-Regis Legrier said an emphasis on minimizing risk to coalition personnel resulted in unnecessary civilian deaths and destruction of infrastructure that could feed resentment leading to another insurgency in future. At least seven British Isil members, including two alleged members of the notorious 'Beatles' terror cell, are believed to have been captured and held in Syria. But an unknown number of others, including Shamima Begum, the 19-year-old child bride from Bethnal Green, are living in refugee camps and may also pose a threat to the UK. According to a statement released by Miss Begum's family on Sunday, the teenager has just given birth to a baby boy. Mr Trump's comments put pressure on the British government to rethink its reluctance to commit to taking back the individuals. The village of Bagouz, Isil's ;ast enclave, is seen from an SDF hilltop position on February 14 Credit: Getty Images Europe/Chris McGrath Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, insisted last week he would "not hesitate" to prevent the return of anyone who supported terrorist organisations abroad. But yesterday SUN General Lord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, said the UK had an obligation to accept its citizens. "Usually I disagree with Donald Trump, but on this occasion I think he's right. "If there are … a large number of foreign fighters in captivity in Syria who originate from countries like the UK, then they are our citizens and we have a responsibility to act responsibly towards them. That means they have got to come back to this country." And Jeremy Wright, the Culture Secretary, echoed those views. Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, he said: "It's clear, if you are dealing with a British citizen who wants to return to this country and they're not a dual citizen - so their only citizenship is British citizenship - then we are obliged, at some stage at least, to take them back." ENDS
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| Emails show how fake university set up by ICE lured foreign students Posted: 18 Feb 2019 03:18 AM PST  Emails obtained by the Detroit Free Press offer a glimpse into how a fake university in Detroit may have convinced students it was real.
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| Back in the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez says to keep up the fight Posted: 16 Feb 2019 03:36 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez returned to her home district in the New York City borough of the Bronx on Saturday to encourage her supporters to keep up the kind of activism that resulted in Amazon rescinding its plan to build a campus in the city.
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| Who Are the Seven U.K. Lawmakers in the Independent Group? Posted: 18 Feb 2019 04:04 AM PST  Unveiling a new independent grouping at a London event on Monday, the seven had harsh words for Labour, its leader Jeremy Corbyn, and British politics in general. Here's a quick rundown of who the seven Independent Group members are.
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| Here’s What’s Open and Closed on President’s Day 2019 Posted: 17 Feb 2019 06:23 AM PST  Find out if banks, schools and the post office are open on President's day
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| U.S. FAA investigates Southwest over baggage weight discrepancies: WSJ Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:22 AM PST  A Southwest spokesman told the Journal the company's dealings with the agency were part of a "routine dialogue" and "do not constitute findings of noncompliance," adding the agency had not imposed fines or taken any other formal enforcement action. The FAA and Southwest Airlines could not be immediately reached for comment.
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| Tariff uncertainty could hurt auto industry more than plant closures in 2019 Posted: 18 Feb 2019 06:46 AM PST  Broad U.S. import tariffs and trade restrictions could cost 366,000 jobs, nearly 100 times what's at stake in GM's controversial plant closings.
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| Aurora shooting victims: What we know about those killed in Henry Pratt warehouse shooting Posted: 17 Feb 2019 06:08 PM PST  Five employees were fatally shot when a gunman opened fire Friday inside a sprawling manufacturing warehouse in Aurora, Illinois.
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| Thousands of Venezuela volunteers begin preparing US aid entry Posted: 17 Feb 2019 03:29 AM PST  Thousands of volunteers in Venezuela will begin mobilizing on Sunday to bring American aid into their crisis-hit country despite a blockade by President Nicolas Maduro who claims the assistance could be cover for a US invasion. Once-wealthy Venezuela is gripped by a power struggle between socialist leader Maduro and Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly who proclaimed himself interim president last month and now has the backing of more than 50 countries.
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| In Syria's Baghouz, dying palms and a wilting IS 'caliphate' Posted: 17 Feb 2019 02:04 AM PST  The wilted palms and pomegranate trees at the entrance to Baghouz were struggling to survive, much like diehard Islamic State group fighters in the Syrian village. "The SDF were here," read a spray-painted Arabic message on a one-storey house. Atop a building captured by the SDF, a fighter peered out at columns of smoke from fresh bombardment.
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| Watch Mike Pence gasp when no one claps at his terrible applause line Posted: 17 Feb 2019 11:19 AM PST  Vice President Mike Pence isn't a complicated man. He likes Chili's, using his personal AOL account for official government business, and gay conversion therapy. And so, when he addressed attendees at the Middle East conference in Poland on Feb. 14, it's clear he believed that same down-home flavor that's treated him so well in Trump Country would garner rounds of applause from his European audience. That, dear reader, is where he went wrong.Speaking about the widely supported Iran nuclear deal, Pence told those in attendance that it was time to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. and withdraw. The response, or rather lack thereof, from the crowd appeared to shock the veep. SEE ALSO: Sure looks like Trump declared a 'national emergency' via the Notes app"The time has come for our European partners to stand with us and the Iranian people, to stand with our allies and friends in the region," he told the audience. "The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us as we bring the economic and diplomatic pressure necessary to give the Iranian people, the region, and the world, the peace, security, and freedom they deserve."The video pretty much says it all. > OMG -- Pence was visibly shook in Poland when he received absolutely no reaction to what was clearly supposed to be an applause line about how "the time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal." pic.twitter.com/biRxARZkcM> > -- Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 16, 2019Amazing, right? The people of the internet think so, too. > Surprised no one threw a shoe at him.> > -- Warren (@Rusty94582) February 17, 2019> His desperate gasp for breath is priceless!!!> > -- Craig Lapierre (@clspartan) February 17, 2019> Not sure what's more embarrassing: That he has so many beats for applause written into his script, or that the applause never came.> > -- Johnny Moonrock (@JohnnyMoonrock) February 17, 2019Notably, this has been happening to Pence a lot lately. On Feb. 15, he was speaking at the 55th annual Munich Security Conference, and told those gathered that Trump says hello."I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump."Deafening silence followed. Better luck next time. WATCH: Cardi B speaks out on government shutdown
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| The Latest: Smollett says no truth he played role in attack Posted: 17 Feb 2019 03:10 AM PST  CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the investigation of the attack on Jussie Smollett (all times local):
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| Man awarded £120m in compensation from Ford after being paralysed in car accident Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:02 AM PST  An Alabama jury has awarded $151.8m (£117.4m) to a young man paralyzed in a 2015 rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, Ford and lawyers in the case said on Sunday. The jury awarded $100m in punitive damages and the rest in compensatory damages after finding that the 1998 Ford Explorer did not meet the company's own safety guidelines, according to a court document seen by Reuters and lawyers for plaintiff Travaris "Tre" Smith. The document, released on Friday, said Ford "acted wantonly" in designing the vehicle.
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| Six More Killed in Kashmir as India-Pakistan Tensions Rise Posted: 18 Feb 2019 01:43 AM PST  The soldiers, including one major, were killed during a search operation in Pulwama district, near the summer state capital of Srinagar, an Indian Army spokesman said in New Delhi. Earlier on Monday, Pakistan called back its envoy from New Delhi for consultations reciprocating a similar move by India last week. Combined with rising crude prices, heightened Kashmir tensions -- with Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledging a "befitting reply" last week -- have weighed on India's currency.
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| Let us raise our daughter's baby, say family of Bethnal Green Jihadi bride Shamima Begum Posted: 16 Feb 2019 02:00 PM PST  The family of Bethnal Green teenager Shamima Begum have urged the British government to give them custody of her unborn child while she faces the prospect of imprisonment for supporting Islamic State. The pregnant 19-year-old has said she fears her baby, due to be born anytime now, will be taken from her if she manages to return to Britain after leaving the country in 2015 to join the terror group in Syria. Now her family have said that if she were to face a custodial sentence for her support of a terrorist organisation they will step in to raise the child, rather than the taxpayer having to pick up the cost. Muhammad Rahman, 36, whose brother is married to Shamima's elder sister Renu, told The Sunday Telegraph: "Her parents would want custody of the baby. They would want to look after their grandchild. "I don't think people, feeling the way many do about what Shamima has done, would want the state to pick up the burden of looking after the child." Once in Syria she was married off to Yago Riedijk, 26, a Muslim convert from the Netherlands and bore him two children Mr Rahman added: "It's in our culture for the rest of the family to step in and look after the children when there's a problem and would make Shamima feel better if she ends up serving a prison sentence and she knows her parents are looking after her baby. "Both her parents are alive and are capable of looking after the baby. Hopefully then Shamima can be reunited with her baby after she has been freed from any spell in custody." It comes after her family pleaded with the Government to treat the case as a "matter of urgency", as they said in a statement that the "welfare of Shamima's unborn baby is of paramount concern". Shamima's parents are now consulting their lawyer about the prospect of legal action against the British government to force it to allow the teenager back into the country. Ben Wallace, the Home Office minister in charge of security, last week rebuffed Shamima's plea to be rescued from the Syrian refugee camp where she is currently stranded, saying her "actions have consequences". At the same time Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, has said he would use all his available powers to prevent her return. But Shamima's family believe that flies in the face of both common humanity and the British state's responsibility towards one of its own citizens. Mr Rahman said: "Shamima's family are taking the advice of their solicitor as to what to do next and that might well involve legal action to force the Government to allow her to return to Britain. That is certainly one prospect." Family members say that while they recognise she may face prosecution and may have to undertake a period of intensive rehabilitation to ensure she presents no threat to the public, they also argue that Britain cannot simply 'dump' its problem citizens on another country. The schoolgirl who turned to Isil Her family are of Bangladeshi origin, but Shamima - who is nine months pregnant - was raised and schooled in London until falling under the spell of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). Once in Syria she was married off to Yago Riedijk, 26, a Muslim convert from the Netherlands and bore him two children, who both died while babies. She said in an interview with The Times on Saturday: "What do you think will happen to my child? Because I don't want it to be taken away from me, or at least if it is, to be given to my family." Mr Rahman, who works as an electrician, said: "I can understand why many people in Britain do not want Shamima to be allowed back into the country after what she has done. I know people are scared about what she might do if she came back, if she might still be dangerous, but she went as a 15-year-old and I don't know how a 15-year-old can make make such a decision with any responsibility. "She was a minor when she left and she has surely been brainwashed when she was out there. If there's any possibility of a good outcome being achieved, by helping her to return and go through some sort of rehabilitation, it should be tried." The 36-year-old family man, who lives in a house in east London previously occupied by Shamima's sister Renu, added: "They want to be reunited as a family again. She is their daughter. If she is remorseful and can be set back on the right path then perhaps we can be compassionate as a society and think the best of people. "Every family wants to think the best of their children and their close ones but they had no idea she was being led down the path she was otherwise they would have tried to stop her. They think the best of their daughter and whatever difficulties she comes back with they believe they can fix." Mr Rahman said Shamima's decision to leave Britain and travel to Syria in February 2015, aged just 15, with her two friends from Bethnal Green Academy, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, had stunned her family, who had always considered themselves hard working people trying to do their best for their children. "I first met her when she was a little girl, just 11, and she was just a normal little girl. When I heard that she had left the country to travel to Syria it was completely out of the blue, both for me and her family. There is no way they would have let her do that if they had known she was planning to leave like that." Tasnime Akunjee, solicitor for the three families of the Bethnal Green girls with Mayfair law firm Farooq Bajwa & Co, yesterday questioned whether the Home Secretary had the power to prevent Shamima returning to Britain. Writing on Twitter he said: "Sajid Javid the home secretary, does he understand UK laws?" Earlier Mr Akunjee stated: "It looks as if Mr Javid is trying to oppose that. I don't believe he has the legal grounds or tools to stop her coming back."
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| Will Procter & Gamble stock split again soon? Posted: 18 Feb 2019 06:44 AM PST ![Will Procter & Gamble stock split again soon?]( "Will Procter & Gamble stock split again soon?") Since 1970, P&G stock has usually traded for several weeks or a few months above $100 before shares split.
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| Poland pulls out of Israel summit in row over WW2 role Posted: 18 Feb 2019 06:42 AM PST  Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki branded the remarks "racist and unacceptable". The leaders of the other three 'Visegrad Group' nations - Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - all still planned to attend the talks, Israel said, but Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said they would instead consist of bilateral discussions and that the summit would be rescheduled for later in 2019. Poland's right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government has made what it sees as the defense of national honor over its wartime record a cornerstone of foreign policy since taking power in 2015.
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| Hong Kong economy stalls amid trade dispute: finance chief Posted: 17 Feb 2019 01:31 AM PST  Hong Kong's economy stalled last year as the ongoing China-US trade dispute and retail woes dragged down local business, the city's financial chief said Sunday. Beijing and Washington have already imposed duties on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, roiling global financial markets and weighing heavily on manufacturing output in both countries. "The impact of China-US trade frictions on Hong Kong's exports has clearly emerged at the end of last year," said finance secretary Paul Chan.
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| Family: UK teen who joined Islamic State has baby in Syria Posted: 17 Feb 2019 03:02 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — The family of a British teenager who ran away to join the Islamic State group and now wants to return to the U.K. said Sunday she has given birth to a baby boy.
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| Gisele Bundchen flaunts bikini bod, Tom Brady during family vacation Posted: 18 Feb 2019 05:17 AM PST  Gisele Bundchen flaunts bikini bod and husband Tom Brady during a family vacation to Costa Rica.
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| Polish NGO leaves to deliver sex abuse report to Pope Posted: 18 Feb 2019 04:50 AM PST  Representatives of a Polish NGO helping victims of child abuse committed by Catholic priests left Warsaw early on Monday hoping to deliver a report to Pope Francis in the Vatican about Polish bishops neglecting pedophilia cases. The "Have No Fear" organization, led by a former victim Marek Lisinski, hopes that the report, which accuses some bishops in devoutly Catholic Poland of failing to report crimes, will trigger resignations from top positions in the Church.
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| The Latest: NC official says US House race saw ballot scheme Posted: 18 Feb 2019 09:16 AM PST  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on an evidentiary hearing outlining a ballot fraud investigation in an undeclared North Carolina congressional race for which a winner hasn't been finalized (all times local):
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| Japan's Abe Declines to Say If He Backed Trump for Nobel Prize Posted: 18 Feb 2019 01:58 AM PST  Abe, who has worked hard to build a personal rapport with Trump, walked a fine line during a parliamentary committee meeting Monday when asked about Trump's claim from Friday that the Japanese leader had put his name forward for the prize. "I am not saying it's not true," he told an opposition lawmaker, adding that the Nobel committee doesn't reveal nominations and he would refrain from commenting. Abe praised Trump for his diplomacy with North Korea and helping to protect Japan, which relies on the U.S. military for its defense.
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| Indian authorities detain 23 after deadly Kashmir attack Posted: 17 Feb 2019 11:06 AM PST  Indian forces have detained 23 men suspected of links to the Pakistan-based militant group that masterminded the bombing of an Indian security convoy that killed 44 paramilitary police, a top police official said on Sunday. The 23 men included members and sympathisers of Jaish-e-Mohammad, the militant group that claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, the deadliest on Indian security forces in decades. The attack has fuelled tensions between India and Pakistan. India has demanded Pakistan close down Jaish-e-Mohammad and other Islamist militant groups that operate from its soil, while Islamabad has rejected suggestions it was linked to the attack. Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility, is claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan, but is ruled in part by both south Asian countries. Representatives of India's National Investigating Agency questioned the suspects about the bombing on Sunday, two security officials said. "They are trying to reach out to the top commanders of Jaish-e-Mohammad, including its Kashmir Chief," one of the sources said. Mohammed Umair, the commander of the group in Kashmir who is believed to have plotted the attack, is suspected to be hiding in the region where the attacks took place, the officials said. The officials say Mr Umair had "radicalized and motivated" the Kashmiri school dropout who rammed a car laden with explosives into the convoy on Thursday. Mr Umair is thought to have entered Indian Kashmir from Pakistan in September to head the Jaish in the region. Security forces suspect he is in hiding in southern Kashmir, according to the officials, who could not be named as a matter of policy. Indian officials say Mr Umair is a nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammad's chief, Masood Azhar, who is believed to be in Pakistan. Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, has promised a strong response to the attack and says he has given the military a free hand to tackle cross-border militancy.
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| Amazon pays zero federal taxes for second year in succession despite doubling profits, says new report Posted: 16 Feb 2019 12:49 PM PST  Amazon has paid zero federal taxes for the second year in succession, despite a doubling of its profits, according to a new report. Although the tech giant founded by Jeff Bezos saw its profits grow from $5.6bn (£4.3bn) in 2017 to $11.2bn (£8.7bn) in 2018, it will actually receive a tax rebate of $129m (£100m). "The company's newest corporate filing reveals that, far from paying the statutory 21 per cent income tax rate on its US income in 2018, Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate of $129m," said the report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which describes itself as a "non-partisan, non-profit think tank", based in Washington DC.
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| Russia's RT fumes after Facebook blocks 'wildly popular' page Posted: 18 Feb 2019 03:00 AM PST  Facebook has blocked a popular page run by Russian state TV channel RT, the channel's editor said Monday, criticising the move as an attack on media rights. The project was wildly popular -- 2.5 billion views and four million subscribers on Facebook alone!" RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said on her Telegram social network account. "We didn't violate any Facebook rules," she said.
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| Shamima Begum is 'traumatised', says her lawyer as he likens Isil bride to a First World War soldier Posted: 18 Feb 2019 07:25 AM PST  The Isil bride who travelled to Syria to marry a terrorist is "traumatised", according to her lawyer, who likened his client to a First World War soldier. Shamima Begum, 19, flew to the Middle East four years ago to join the terror group. There, she married a Dutch-born fighter with whom she had three children. Her two eldest children have died, but she gave birth at a refugee camp in northeastern Syria on the weekend and now wants to return to Britain. In an interview over the weekend, Begum said that people should be feeling sympathy for her, and her lawyer Tasnime Akunjee defended her attitude. He told ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday: "I think it's difficult to take what she's saying in the current circumstances and try to draw from the lack of emotion that she has. "She's a traumatised person. She finds herself in a camp and was clearly quite attached to her husband, it would seem, and suddenly he's not by her side." When confronted with the fact Begum does not seem traumatised and instead appeared to be composed, Mr Akunjee said: "You might've said the same thing about a World War One soldier in the middle of shellshock." Presenter Richard Madeley said this comparison was "a bit of a stretch", to which Mr Akumjee responded: "It's a warzone. They're both warzones." Lawyer Tasnime Akunjee Credit: Emrah Gurel/AP The teenager, who gave birth to a baby boy on the weekend, appeared to defend the Manchester Arena bombing as tit-for-tat retaliation for air strikes in Syria. In an interview with the BBC, she said the deaths of 22 innocent people in the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 were akin to the "women and children" being bombed in Isil territory in Baghuz. She told the broadcaster: "I do feel that it's wrong that innocent people did get killed. It's one thing to kill a soldier that is fighting you, it's self-defence, but to kill the people like women and children... "Just people like the women and children in Baghuz that are being killed right now unjustly, the bombings. It's a two-way thing really. "Because women and children are being killed back in the Islamic State right now and it's kind of retaliation. Like, their justification was that it was retaliation so I thought 'OK, that is a fair justification'." She was partly inspired by videos of fighters beheading hostages and partly by other propaganda films showing the "good life" IS could offer. The Begum's family lawyer, Mr Akunjee, said he understood some of the responses to her pleas for sympathy. He told BBC Breakfast: "The family have gone out of their way from day one to try to get her away from the Isil narrative and the context which she finds herself in. "She's been there for four years and we would be surprised if she hadn't been further damaged beyond the degree she had already been groomed into. "The family are concerned, as they have been for the last four years, not just to get her away, but, as of yesterday, to make sure that their grandchild - her child - is not influenced by that sort of thinking." Mr Akunjee said he anticipated that Begum would probably face criminal proceedings upon any return to the UK, but said it was the family's hope that she would be given professional help following her experience in Syria. Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK for Syria in February 2015. Ms Sultana was reported to have been killed in an air strike in 2016, while the other two are reported to still be alive. 'Show me some sympathy', says Isil bride after giving birth The British schoolgirl who ran away to join Isil has appealed for public sympathy following the birth of her son, as a row intensifies over whether she should be allowed to return to the UK. Shamima Begum, 19, went to Syria in 2015 and was discovered there in a refugee camp last week, heavily pregnant and insisting she wanted to go home. The birth of her child over the weekend prompted calls for the baby to be subject to care proceedings should Begum be able to return from Syria, as it emerged that the Family Division of the High Court had presided over cases involving at least 150 children deemed at risk of radicalisation in the last five years. In an interview with Sky News recorded at the Kurdish-controlled camp to which she fled from the last pocket of Isil-controlled territory, Begum said there was "no evidence" she had done anything wrong and she could not see "any reason" why her child should be taken from her when she had simply been living as a housewife. Speaking just hours after giving birth, her baby at her side, she said she had no regrets about fleeing the family home in Bethnal Green, east London, to support Isil, claiming the experience had made her "stronger, tougher". Shamima Begum's Dutch-born husband Yago Riedjik She said she could see a future for herself and her son, whom she has named Jarah after one of the two children she lost to malnutrition and disease in the last three months, "if the UK are willing to take me back and help me start a new life again and try and move on from everything that's happened in the last four years". She added: "I wouldn't have found someone like my husband [Yago Riedijk, 26, a Muslim convert from the Netherlands] in the UK. I had my kids, I had a good time there." Her other children, Jarah and Surayah, a daughter, died aged 18 months and nine months. Asked how she felt about the debate over whether she should be allowed to return home, Begum said: "I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I've been through. "I didn't know what I was getting into when I left, I just was hoping that maybe for the sake of me and my child they let me come back. "I can't live in this camp forever. It's not really possible." In the interview, Begum apologised for the first time to her family for running away, and said that though she knew it was "like a big slap in the face" for her to ask after she had previously rejected their calls for her to return, "I really need their help". Tim Loughton, deputy chairman of the home affairs select committee, said he thought it "extraordinary" that Begum was asking to come back while showing "not a scintilla of regret". The Conservative MP added: "My own feeling is in line with most others, that she has made her bed and should lie in it. But the law must prevail and we are probably going to have to let her back" "However, I think her child should be subjected to care proceedings due to the threat of radicalisation." He said a forthcoming report by the Henry Jackson Society disclosed that the Family Division of the High Court had presided over cases involving at least 150 children deemed at risk of radicalisation in the last five years. Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, said last week that he would "not hesitate" to prevent the return of anyone who supported terrorist organisations abroad. He reiterated his stance in a Sunday newspaper article, expressing compassion for any child born or brought into a conflict zone, but stating that the safety and security of children living in this country had to be the priority. Isil schoolgirls' journey into Syria Jeremy Wright, the Culture Secretary and former Attorney General, said Britain was "obliged" to take back British citizens. However, he added: "That doesn't mean that we can't put in place the necessary security measures to monitor their activities. It doesn't mean either that we can't seek to hold them to account for their behaviour thus far." He said the nationality of Begum's baby was a "difficult question", but the pair's health was the most pressing matter. "In the end she will have to answer for her actions," he added. "So I think it is right that if she's able to come back to the UK that she does so on the understanding that we can hold her to account for her behaviour thus far." Ms Begum said she was attracted to Isil by videos that she had seen online, which she said showed "how they'll take care of you". She said she knew that the group carried out beheadings, but that she "was OK with it at first. I started becoming religious just before I left and from what I heard Islamically that is all allowed". "At first it was nice," she said of life in the so-called Islamic State. "It was how they showed it in the videos, you know, you come, make a family together, but then things got harder. "We had to keep moving and moving and moving. The situation got fraught." Begum acknowledged that it would be "really hard" to be rehabilitated after everything she had been through. "I'm still in that mentality of planes over my head, emergency backpacks, starving... it would be a big shock to go back to the UK and start again," she said. Isil bride Shamima Begum | Read more Writing in The Sunday Times, Mr Javid said that decisions about what to do with potential returnees had to be made on a case-by-case basis, based on the "facts of each case, the law and the threat to national security". He added: "I think about the children that could in future get caught up in dangerous groups if we don't take a firm stance against those who support them… And that means sending a message to those who have backed terrorism: there will be consequences." His comments were described as "sick" by Ms Begum's lawyer on Sunday. Mr Akunje told Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "We are talking about a newborn baby who poses no risk or threat to anybody, [who is] not even cognitive, and yet he's speaking about a child who's a British citizen in terms of a security threat." Mr Akunje suggested that the birth of Begum's child increased pressure on the British authorities to allow her to return home. He also revealed that Begum's family has struggled to make direct contact with her and is now considering the possibility of getting out to Syria themselves. Her family has indicated that if she is jailed for supporting a terrorist group, they want to step in and raise her son themselves. Begum names boy after Islamic warlord, historian says Quoting Sunday's Telegraph story on Twitter, leading historian Tom Holland accused Begum of having "the moral self-awareness of a brick". He said that the Isil bride's baby boy has been named after Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah - a general from the early days of the Arab conquests chiefly famed for beating infedels. Begum said she named the boy after one of her other two children who have since died in Syria. But Mr Holland said it was the name her husband took after converting to Islam, insisting it was a deliberate glorification of Islamic brutality. If she'd wanted to signal that she was returning to Britain in peace, she might have considered naming her baby after someone other than Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, a general from the early days of the Arab conquests chiefly famed for beating the crap out of infidels.— Tom Holland (@holland_tom) February 17, 2019 Cressida Dick hits back at claims Met failed The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has hit back at claims that officers failed to stop another runaway schoolgirl on the same flight as a 15-year-old arrested as she attempted to flee the UK to join Islamic State (IS). Cressida Dick said it was "incredibly complicated" and difficult to know about somebody's intentions, and claimed the schoolgirls - Sharmeena Begum and another unnamed passenger - were in fact on separate flights as the latter was pulled from the runway at Heathrow in December 2014 when she sought to get to Syria. The Times newspaper said the 15-year-old was arrested but not prosecuted, despite officers finding extremist material on her devices. Asked about the flight to Istanbul, on which both Sharmeena Begum and the unnamed 15-year-old were said to have been passengers en route to Syria, Ms Dick told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "I think it was actually a different flight and I think the question that's being asked is whether we were able to pass on sufficient information and understand well enough what these three girls were intending. "The truth of the matter is it's incredibly hard to know what somebody's intending. "The moment we informed the school about the girl who came off the flight, we did not know these girls were intending that, they were merely witnesses and we were talking to them as witnesses. These things are incredibly complicated. "We try to stop people from travelling when we knew they were travelling with ill-intent." 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| Seven MPs Resign from Labour Party Posted: 18 Feb 2019 07:42 AM PST  Seven members of British Parliament -- Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, and Ann Coffey -- resigned from the Labour party Monday over concerns about Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, forming their own contingent, the Independent Group.Berger, Labour's most high-profile Jewish member, called the party "institutionally anti-Semitic" and accused it of "a culture of bullying, bigotry and, intimidation," saying she is now "embarrassed and ashamed" to be a member.Leslie said the party has been "hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left."In a statement, the group charged that Labour, "once committed to pursue a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect," has "changed beyond recognition," and lamented that, "Today, visceral hatreds of other people, views and opinions are common-place in and around" the party.Besides the party's struggles with anti-Semitism, the seven lawmakers cited Corbyn's weak handling of Brexit, policies damaging to Britain's national security and economy, and lack of action on humanitarian distress."The values we hold mean that, in all conscience, we can have no confidence in the party's collective leadership, competence or culture," the group's statement said. It stressed that more power should be delegated to local governments who have their finger on the pulse of their communities' needs. It also said that economic advancement should occur on the basis of merit, asserting that "everybody can and should make a contribution to society and that contribution should be recognized."Corbyn said he was "disappointed" in the members' decision."The Conservative Government is bungling Brexit," Corbyn said, "while Labour has set out a unifying and credible alternative plan."
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| Joe Biden says will decide soon whether to run for presidency Posted: 16 Feb 2019 12:47 PM PST  Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said on Saturday he had not yet decided whether to run for president in 2020 but would do so "in the near term". More than two dozen Democrats could ultimately opt to run for president, creating a crowded field hoping to challenge President Donald Trump. Biden, who served two terms as vice president after decades in the U.S. Senate, would have the advantage of name recognition should he enter the race.
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| From the 25th Amendment to Vladimir Putin: Five takeaways from Andrew McCabe's 60 Minutes interview Posted: 18 Feb 2019 06:47 AM PST  McCabe recounted his final months at the FBI, from the hours after James Comey was fired to his assertion that President Donald Trump may have an "inappropriate relationship" with Russia.
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| Bernie Sanders Records Campaign Announcement Video: Politico Posted: 16 Feb 2019 10:59 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders has recorded a campaign video in which he says he's running for president in 2020, Politico reports, citing two people familiar. It's unclear when, or whether, the video will be released, Politico says.
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| Here are 3 small steps to grow savings of thousands of dollars in a 401(k) Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:46 AM PST ![Here are 3 small steps to grow savings of thousands of dollars in a 401(k)]( "Here are 3 small steps to grow savings of thousands of dollars in a 401(k)") Most people don't amass big savings overnight. Start small in a 401(k) and keep building with bonuses, remembering the power of dollar-cost averaging.
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| Belgian Jewish museum trial interrupted as juror questioned Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:08 AM PST  The trial of a Frenchman accused of shooting dead four people at the Jewish museum of Belgium was briefly interrupted on Monday as police were summoned to question a juror. "We cannot start the closing arguments under these conditions," judge Laurence Massart said, after recusing the juror for having communicated with outside parties. "This is probably a person in search of attention," said Sebastien Courtoy, the lawyer for the accused Mehdi Nemmouche, referring to the juror's work colleague.
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| Iran summons Pakistan envoy over suicide bombing Posted: 16 Feb 2019 04:08 PM PST  Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the Pakistani ambassador after Tehran accused Islamabad of harbouring a jihadist group behind a deadly suicide attack on security forces. "The Islamic Republic of Iran expects Pakistan's government and army to seriously confront ... the terrorist groups active on its border with Iran," the foreign ministry said in a statement. An Iranian official at the ministry called on Pakistan to quickly take the necessary steps for the identification and arrest of the attack's perpetrators.
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| Alleged DUI crash: Parked cars smashed in LA, passenger thrown 80 feet Posted: 17 Feb 2019 07:31 PM PST  A chaotic crash was captured on video as a speeding car careened into multiple parked vehicles and sent a passenger flying 80 feet down the street.
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| Israeli leader pledges funds for museum for Jewish WWII vets Posted: 17 Feb 2019 04:10 AM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Sunday that his government would allocate the necessary funds to complete a long-promised museum honoring Jewish World War II veterans.
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| White House indicates Trump to veto disapproval of emergency Posted: 17 Feb 2019 11:17 PM PST  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump is prepared to issue the first veto of his term if Congress votes to disapprove his declaration of a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border, a top White House adviser said on Sunday.
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| Australia Blames a Foreign Government for the Cyberattack on Political Parties Posted: 18 Feb 2019 12:15 AM PST  A culprit was not named, but analysts suspect China, Russia or Iran
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| Japan's New F-3 Fighter: Why Not Just Buy More F-35s? Posted: 16 Feb 2019 05:00 PM PST  We have a look at what Tokyo is planning.
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| Spanish victims of sex abuse priests speak out Posted: 17 Feb 2019 07:26 PM PST  A trickle of accusations of sexual abuse against priests in schools and seminaries is starting to erode the wall of silence in Catholic Spain, whose Church representatives are set to attend a major Vatican meeting on child protection. "This is only the tip of the iceberg," warned Miguel Hurtado, who recently made his case public. For 20 years, Hurtado stayed quiet, trying to come to terms with the abuse he suffered when he joined a boy scout troup at the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, which sits high up in jagged mountains northwest of Barcelona.
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| IS 'caliphate' on brink of defeat in Syria as Trump urges Europe to do more Posted: 16 Feb 2019 09:03 PM PST  Jiya Furat said the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had cornered the remaining militants in a neighborhood of Baghouz village near the Iraqi border, under fire from all sides. "In the coming few days, in a very short time, we will spread the good tidings to the world of the military end of Daesh," he said, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Trump on Saturday said the caliphate was "ready to fall and that the United States was asking European allies to take back more than 800 Islamic State fighters captured in Syria and put them on trial.
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| UGG joins forces with Eckhaus Latta for fall 2019 Posted: 18 Feb 2019 03:07 AM PST  The UGG brand has announced the upcoming launch of a collaboration with American fashion brand Eckhaus Latta for the fall/winter 2019 season. This collection of footwear and coats was unveiled last week at New York Fashion Week. Collaborations continue for UGG, each time bringing something fresh to the brand's offering.
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| Iran takes aim at 'hateful' Pence comments Posted: 17 Feb 2019 03:15 AM PST  Iran's foreign minister on Sunday launched a blistering attack on US Vice President Mike Pence, saying his allegations that Tehran was plotting a "new Holocaust" were "hateful" and "ignorant". Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Munich Security Conference that Pence's demands for the EU to follow the US in abandoning the 2015 Iran nuclear deal amounted to asking Europe to undermine its own security.
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| This Week: Walmart results, Fed minutes, US home sales Posted: 17 Feb 2019 09:05 PM PST ![This Week: Walmart results, Fed minutes, US home sales]( "This Week: Walmart results, Fed minutes, US home sales") A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
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