| Trump calls India-Pakistan standoff 'very dangerous' Posted: 22 Feb 2019 01:30 PM PST  US President Donald Trump voiced alarm Friday at the "very dangerous situation" between India and Pakistan, warning that New Delhi was considering "very strong" action after an attack in Kashmir. "Right now there is a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what happened," he told reporters as he met a senior Chinese official in the Oval Office. Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed rivals since a suicide attack last week killed 41 soldiers on the Indian side of divided Kashmir, the deadliest attack in years.
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| Indigenous woman shot dead, a dozen injured, in border clashes with Venezuelan security forces Posted: 22 Feb 2019 07:36 AM PST  A high stakes bid by the Venezuelan opposition to transport aid into the country turned deadly on Friday as government forces opened fire on a group of indigenous volunteers, killing at least one woman and injuring 12. Members of the indigenous community in the southern town of Kumarakapay, bordering Brazil, on Friday night took the commander of the Venezuelan national guard prisoner in retaliation. Jose Miguel Montoya Rodriguez was being detained by members of the Pemon tribe, following the death of Zoraida Rodriguez in the clashes. The violence cast an ominous shadow over the massive aid delivery planned for Saturday, with hundreds of tonnes of medical supplies destined to be brought across the border from Brazil and Colombia. Juan Guaido, the self-declared "interim president" who has marshalled the hugely symbolic aid delivery, condemned the killing of Rodriguez, and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. On Friday night, following a fundraising concert on the border organised by Sir Richard Branson, thousands of volunteers were preparing to bring the aid into Venezuela, in spite of the threats from President Nicolas Maduro that he would not allow it to pass. Organisers of the show, held on the Tienditas bridge, worked through the night to clear the bridge ahead of the aid caravan. Mr Maduro promised a rival concert on the other side of the bridge, and was reportedly offering $7 million to artists to perform, but by Friday night there was no sign of the show and musician after musician issued statements confirming they had been approached to perform, but turned it down. A caravan of trucks fanned out across Venezuela this week, destined for the border with the intention of loading the aid for distribution at the border points. Four processions will be met on the Venezuelan side by four people appointed by Mr Guaido, whose identity he has kept secret for their own safety. Mr Guaido himself set out from Caracas on Thursday in a procession of lorries towards the border, ready to collect the aid. Gaby Arellano, a 33-year-old opposition MP leading one of the convoys of aid was on Friday defiant about the risks of violence as she prepared to cross the border from the Colombian town of Cucuta. "You know what really frightens me?" she told The Telegraph,. "The fact that my children will continue to suffer. That's far more terrifying a thought than anything that could happen on the bridge." Russia, which along with Cuba and China continues to provide a crutch to Mr Maduro's teetering regime, accused the United States on Friday of using the aid deliveries as a ploy to carry out military action against Mr Maduro's government. Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, said Mr Guaido's plans to try to bring the aid across the border are aimed at provoking clashes to provide "a convenient pretext for conducting military action". Cucuta has four bridges crossing into Venezuela, and the volunteers, told to dress in white, will set out at 9am (2pm GMT) – "not smugglers in the night," said Jose Manuel Olivares, a 33-year-old doctor-turned-politician, who will on Saturday lead one of the columns. "We will do it by the light of day, with full transparency, because we have nothing to hide." Freddy Superlano, a deputy for the Chavez family state of Barinas, added: "We've thought it all through, with the aid. It's much more than politics. It's the survival of the nation." Mr Guaido insisted that the aid must be allowed to pass, and issued another plea to the soldiers to allow its safe passage. "You must decide on which side you stand, at this decisive hour," he tweeted on Friday night. "To the soldiers, between tonight and tomorrow you must decide how you want to be remembered. We know you stand with the people. Tomorrow you must show it."
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| A global look at the Catholic Church's sex abuse problem Posted: 21 Feb 2019 11:35 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis' high-stakes sex abuse prevention summit is meant to call attention to the crisis as a global problem that requires a global response.
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| Vietnam announces traffic ban for possible Kim Jong Un summit arrival route Posted: 22 Feb 2019 10:35 AM PST  Vietnam has been preparing for Kim to arrive by train for the Feb. 27-28 summit in Hanoi, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning told Reuters on Wednesday. Kim's train will stop at the border station of Dong Dang where he will disembark and proceed 170 km (105 miles) to Hanoi by car, the sources said. Traffic on that route will be partially banned from 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 and fully banned from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 26, the ruling Communist Party's Nhan Dan paper reported, citing the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam.
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| North Carolina board votes to hold new House election over absentee ballot fraud Posted: 21 Feb 2019 01:37 PM PST  The North Carolina Board of Elections voted unanimously to hold a new election in the state's 9th District after overwhelming evidence of vote tampering.
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| Venezuela Army Trucks Block Guaido's Travels as Showdown Looms Posted: 21 Feb 2019 10:32 AM PST  Earlier today, three buses carrying about 40 lawmakers sympathetic to Guaido left Venezuela's capital heading for the frontier. The National Assembly president was traveling separately for security reasons and was unable to cross the tunnel, said Edward Rodriguez, his press team coordinator.
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| The Latest: Snow forces closure of Vegas to Phoenix route Posted: 21 Feb 2019 12:05 PM PST  LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on rare snowfall in the Las Vegas area (all times local):
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| Robert Mueller: Justice Department says special counsel won't finish report next week Posted: 22 Feb 2019 01:41 PM PST  The Justice Department said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller won't complete his Russia investigation next week, tamping down speculation
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| Girl banned from wearing MAGA hat claims school is violating her First Amendment rights Posted: 23 Feb 2019 04:31 AM PST  A California high school student who was banned from wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat on campus is challenging her school district for impinging on her First Amendment rights. Maddie Mueller, who attends Clovis North High School in Fresno, is a member of Valley Patriots. The conservative activist group asked its affiliates to wear the well-known hat bearing Donald Trump's campaign motto on Wednesday.
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| Rubio Predicts Maduro’s Troops Won’t Block Humanitarian Aid Posted: 21 Feb 2019 12:30 PM PST  Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) said Wednesday that Venezuelan troops have already begun to disobey orders and will likely refuse to block the thousands of volunteers who plan to escort a humanitarian-aid caravan across the country's border on Saturday."Saturday's a day when we're going to find a lot about the Maduro regime," Rubio told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. "I have reason to believe that rank-and-file military are not going to violently suppress aid workers."Opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who is officially recognized as the president of Venezuela by the Trump administration and 30 other nations, has urged the military to defect and refuse Maduro's orders to block aid shipments at the border."There's already significant resistance" by rank-and-file troops, causing military leaders to doubt "whether the people under their command are going to do what they're asking them to do," Rubio said.More than 600,000 Venezuelans have preemptively signed up to escort large shipments of much-needed food and medicine across the country's border with Colombia, according to Guaidó, who vowed the aid will enter the country "one way or another."The supplies have been accumulating at the border due to the Maduro regime's refusal to accept foreign aid intended to ease starvation and sickness. Maduro has repeatedly cast the foreign-aid efforts as a "political show," designed to serve as a pretext for invasion.
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| Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren reportedly say they support reparations for black Americans affected by slavery Posted: 22 Feb 2019 06:47 AM PST  Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren reportedly say they support reparations for black Americans affected by slavery.
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| At Pope's abuse summit, Church seeks to fix 'systematic failures' Posted: 22 Feb 2019 04:53 AM PST  Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago and Oswald Gracias of Mumbai spoke on the second day of a conference of some 200 senior Church officials convened by Pope Francis to confront what he has called the scourge of sexual abuse by the clergy. Various aspects of the sexual abuse crisis made 2018 the worst year for the pope since his election in 2013. Last week, Theodore McCarrick, once a powerful cardinal in the U.S. Church, was dismissed from the priesthood after the Vatican found him guilty of sexual abuse of minors and adults over decades.
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| Activists worry that Jussie Smollett arrest will discourage hate-crime reporting by real victims Posted: 21 Feb 2019 02:58 PM PST  The dramatic turn of events in the Jussie Smollett case was treated by Trump as a vindication, and disheartened gay rights and civil rights advocates who fear that it will discourage future victims of hate crimes from coming forward.
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| India to Stop Its Share of Water From Flowing Into Pakistan Posted: 22 Feb 2019 04:15 AM PST  On Friday, Pakistan's army spokesman said that the country did not want a war with India but warned that Islamabad would retaliate and "dominate the escalation ladder" if New Delhi authorized any military strikes. "Pakistan's armed forces shall never be surprised by you, but let me assure you we shall surprise you," Major General Asif Ghafoor said at a press conference in the garrison town of Rawalpindi on Friday.
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| Google moves to fix YouTube glitch exploited for child porn Posted: 21 Feb 2019 12:22 PM PST  Google-owned YouTube said Thursday it was taking action to close a loophole that enabled users to share comments and links on child pornography over the video-sharing service. The response came after a YouTube creator this week revealed what he called a "wormhole" that allowed comments and connections on child porn alongside innocuous videos. "Any content -- including comments -- that endangers minors is abhorrent and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube," a spokesman said in an email to AFP.
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| Palestinians bury teen killed by Israeli gunfire during border protests Posted: 23 Feb 2019 05:11 AM PST  Gaza health officials say the 15-year-old boy was shot by Israeli troops during a protest attended by thousands on the Gaza Strip border. Rough cut (no reporter narration)
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| Donald Trump: Russian Asset? Posted: 22 Feb 2019 11:45 AM PST  'I think it's possible" that President Donald Trump is a Russian asset, disgraced former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday. McCabe also said to The Atlantic that FBI brass felt "concern about the president and whether or not he posed a national-security threat that we should be investigating."On Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin addressed the Federal Assembly in Moscow. "Let me be loud and clear," he told lawmakers near the Kremlin. "If the U.S. really is going to deploy missiles on the European continent, it will exacerbate the international situation and create a genuine danger for Russia, as there will be missiles with a 10–12-minute flight time to Moscow." Putin lamented America's February 1 withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty and added: "We are ready for disarmament talks, but we are no longer going to knock on a closed door."McCabe's bizarre comments perfectly echo the Trump-hating Left's exhausted yet unsinkable theory that the president of the United States secretly works for Russia, Russia, Russia, and that he and Putin somehow swiped the White House from Hillary Clinton, who had waited her turn patiently to become America's commander-in-chief.But only a thoroughly rotten Russian asset would create genuine danger for the Kremlin and close doors to Moscow. Indeed, President Trump routinely gives Putin ulcers.A Russian asset worth his borscht would work quietly to erode America's military. Instead, Pentagon spending has soared from Obama's final $521 billion allocation to Trump's $634 billion in outlays for 2017 (up 21.7 percent) and another $716 billion last August (up 12.9 percent).Not satisfied simply to bolster the U.S. armed forces, Trump has pressured America's NATO allies to do the same. Some criticize Trump for supposedly abusing our European partners. Actually, he has lavished them with tough love."By the end of next year, NATO allies will add $100 billion extra toward defense," NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said January 27 on Fox News Sunday. "So we see some real money and some real results. And we see that the clear message from President Donald Trump is having an impact." Stoltenberg added: "NATO is united because we are able to adapt to deliver. North America and Europe are doing more together now than before."None of this makes Vladimir Putin smile.Putin must have groaned last October when President Trump persuaded German chancellor Angela Merkel to spend $576 million on a terminal to receive U.S. liquefied natural gas. The Wall Street Journal called this "a key concession to President Trump as he tries to loosen Russia's grip on Europe's largest energy market." This promises less revenue and leverage for Moscow and more profits and employment for American gas exporters.Adjacent to Russia, Trump restored Poland's purchase of U.S. Patriot air-defense missiles (which Obama canceled to appease Moscow). Trump also shipped Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.Last June, and in January 2017, Trump imposed financial sanctions and travel restrictions on Russian companies and oligarchs. This was payback for Moscow's invasions of Ukraine and Crimea and its interference in U.S. political campaigns. As Trump said: "We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections."If anyone behaved like a Russian asset, it was Obama. Trump's predecessor launched the soft-on-Moscow "Russian Reset." He was caught on a hot mic in March 2012 whispering to Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev: "This is my last election," Obama said at a conference in Seoul. "After my election I have more flexibility," especially on matters like anti-ballistic missiles in Europe, on which Russia frowned. "I understand," Medvedev replied. "I will transmit this information to Vladimir."As The Weekly Standard recalled, "the Obama administration removed a group of missile launchers from near the Russian border with Poland after Moscow objected to their placement." Obama refused to arm Ukraine's anti-Putin fighters. Obama's first secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said in March 2010: "Our goal is to help strengthen Russia." This apparently included encouraging Cisco Systems, Google, and Intel to open shop at Skolkovo, a sort of Russian Silicon Valley. The Pentagon and FBI eventually learned that the entire project was a giant technology-theft scam.Strengthening Russia also involved greenlighting Moscow's purchase of Uranium One Inc. and its 20 percent share of U.S. uranium reserves. This company's top investors donated $145 million to the Clinton Foundation. What a coincidence.Alas, fact-o-phobic Trump haters like Andrew McCabe consider him a pro-Moscow mole even as they wink at Obama's and Hillary's Russophilia.Michael Malarkey furnished research for this opinion piece.
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| Truckloads of civilians leave Islamic State enclave in Syria Posted: 22 Feb 2019 03:09 AM PST  Trucks loaded with civilians left the last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria on Friday, as U.S.-backed forces waited to inflict final defeat on the surrounded jihadists. Reporters near the front line at Baghouz saw dozens of trucks driving out with civilians inside them, but it was not clear if more remained in the tiny pocket. The village is all that remains for Islamic State in the Euphrates valley region that became its final populated stronghold in Iraq and Syria after it lost the major cities of Mosul and Raqqa in 2017.
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| Robert Kraft prostitution scandal exposes depth of modern slavery, sex trafficking industry Posted: 22 Feb 2019 03:15 PM PST  Sex trafficking won't stop until the costs are high enough to make rich, powerful men feel that buying Chinese girls from a local spa isn't worth it.
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| Manafort Faces March 8 Sentencing for Virginia Fraud Convictions Posted: 21 Feb 2019 10:58 AM PST  U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III set the date on Thursday, giving Manafort until March 1 to reply to Mueller's recommendation that he serve between 19.6 and 24.4 years in prison. Manafort, 69, was convicted by jurors last August of bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to file a foreign bank account report. Manafort, who was President Donald Trump's campaign chairman in 2016, also faces a March 13 sentencing in federal court in Washington.
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| Disabled greeter meets with Walmart about job; no resolution Posted: 22 Feb 2019 02:44 PM PST  A beloved, longtime Walmart greeter with cerebral palsy met with store management in Pennsylvania on Friday in a bid to keep his job but came away with no guarantees, and his family is girding for a fight.
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| View Photos of the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 2.7T Four-Cylinder Posted: 22 Feb 2019 08:09 AM PST |
| Johnson & Johnson stock price falls after federal subpoena on alleged asbestos in baby powder Posted: 21 Feb 2019 01:08 PM PST ![Johnson & Johnson stock price falls after federal subpoena on alleged asbestos in baby powder]( "Johnson & Johnson stock price falls after federal subpoena on alleged asbestos in baby powder") The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigate the alleged asbestos contamination of Johnson & Johnson's baby powder.
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| Venezuela troops fire tear gas on demo at Colombia border Posted: 23 Feb 2019 05:51 AM PST  Ureña (Venezuela) (AFP) - Venezuelan forces on Saturday fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up a crowd demanding to cross a closed border bridge to Colombia, AFP journalists reported. "We want to work!" they chanted while facing the Venezuelan National Guard riot police who were blocking the crossing in Urena, a town in Tachira state. Late on Friday, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the closure of all four bridges linking Tachira to Colombia.
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| Ford launches probe into actual emissions of its vehicles Posted: 22 Feb 2019 08:15 AM PST  Ford has launched an investigation into the actual emissions of its vehicles after employees reported errors in data given to authorities, the automaker said. "In September, a handful of employees raised a concern... regarding the analytical modeling that is part of our US fuel economy and emissions compliance process," Kim Pittel, an executive responsible for sustainability, environment and safety engineering, said in a statement released late Thursday. "We have hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation" into specifications used in testing and "applications to certify emissions and fuel economy," Pittel said.
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| Democrats file resolution to block Trump's 'unconstitutional power grab' Posted: 22 Feb 2019 10:40 AM PST  Texas congressman Joaquín Castro, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, is leading the effort. House Democrats will vote next week on a resolution to block the national emergency declaration issued by Donald Trump in order to access billions of dollars Congress refused to give him to build a wall along the border with Mexico. "The president's act is lawless and does violence to our constitution and therefore to our democracy," House speaker Nancy Pelosi said on a conference call, announcing that the chamber would vote on Tuesday.
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| 'Don't mess with Pakistan,' India is told amid Kashmir tension Posted: 22 Feb 2019 06:58 AM PST !['Don't mess with Pakistan,' India is told amid Kashmir tension]( "'Don't mess with Pakistan,' India is told amid Kashmir tension") Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor was speaking a week after a Pakistani-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary policemen in the Himalayan region disputed between India and Pakistan. Pakistan late on Friday announced a takeover of Jaish's headquarters in a southern Punjab province district bordering India. Jaish, an Islamist jihadi group that fights for the independence of the disputed Kashmir region from India, has offices and infrastructure in Pakistan where its chief Maulana Masood Azhar is based.
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| It's not just the Florida spa investigation allegedly tied to Robert Kraft. Sex trafficking is rampant across US Posted: 23 Feb 2019 08:37 AM PST  Sex trafficking accounted for 6,081 of over 8,500 reported cases of human trafficking in 2017, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
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| Sen. Kamala Harris Says She Is 'Disappointed' Over Jussie Smollett's Alleged Staged Attack Posted: 22 Feb 2019 05:50 AM PST  Sen. Kamala Harris said she is "sad, frustrated and disappointed" about the recent turn in the case of the actor Jussie Smollett.
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| Amazon lessons for voters, taxpayers, New York and the 237 other places that bid for HQ2 Posted: 21 Feb 2019 10:37 AM PST  Did Amazon stop needing New York, or did New York drive it away? As cities across America compete for jobs, the messy breakup is a cautionary tale.
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| China against forcefully sending aid to Venezuela Posted: 22 Feb 2019 01:52 AM PST  China said Friday it was against forcefully sending "so-called humanitarian assistance" to Venezuela, warning it could spark conflict in the crisis-torn country. China has loaned billions to Venezuela and has remained committed to President Nicolas Maduro even as the country has fallen deeper into economic crisis. Foreign aid mostly from the US has piled up on Venezuela's borders as the Maduro government refuses to let it into the country.
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| Trump's climate expert is wrong: The world's plants don't need more CO2 Posted: 21 Feb 2019 04:26 PM PST  Plants on Earth have flourished for hundreds of millions of years, yet President Donald Trump's pick to lead his new climate team insists that they need more carbon dioxide to thrive.Princeton physicist and carbon dioxide-advocate William Happer has been selected to head the brand new Presidential Committee on Climate Security, reports The Washington Post. The atomic scientist -- who achieved recognition for his work on atomic collisions and telescope optics, not climate science -- maintains that the planet's atmosphere needs significantly more CO2, the potent greenhouse gas that U.S. government scientists -- and a bevy of independent scientists -- have repeatedly underscored is stoking accelerating climate change.Because plants use carbon dioxide to live, Happer has said "more CO2 is actually a benefit to the Earth," asserted that Earth is experiencing a "CO2 famine," and concluded that "If plants could vote, they would vote for coal."Earth and plant scientists, however, find Happer's insistence that the plant kingdom would benefit from increased carbon dioxide wrong-headed and lacking evidence, at best. For reference, Earth's CO2 concentrations have skyrocketed in the last century, and are now at their highest levels in at least 800,000 years -- though other measurements show CO2 levels are higher than they've been in 15 million years. "The idea that increased CO2 is universally beneficial [to plants] is very misguided," Jill Anderson, an evolutionary ecologist specializing in plant populations at the University of Georgia, said in an interview. > Animation showing the evolution of global mean temperature vs. carbon dioxide concentration since 1850, now updated to include 2018. > > Though 2018 is a bit cooler than recent years, it still is one of the warmest years ever and lies close to the trend line of GlobalWarming. pic.twitter.com/eK7zvUqWyT> > -- Robert Rohde (@RARohde) February 10, 2019"It's a silly argument," added Britton Stephens, a senior scientist in the Earth Observing Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in an interview. Both independent academic institutions and government agencies around disparate parts of the globe have concluded more carbon dioxide will "bring many negative impacts" to plant environments, Stephens emphasized. "If someone is going to claim it's good, it's incumbent upon them to show evidence."Reached by email, Happer said he would like to chat about the benefits of carbon dioxide in the future, but such requests must now be sent through (and vetted) by the National Security Council (NSC). The NSC responded by saying that "At the moment, a discussion on this topic is not possible."If someone, like Happer, were to ignore uncomfortable realities like drought-ravaged crops, some of the deadliest wildfires on record, and the evaporating Colorado River, they could argue that some plants -- but not all plants -- could see growth benefits from amassing carbon dioxide concentrations. SEE ALSO: The Green New Deal: Historians weigh in on the immense scale required to pull it off"If we were to hold other environmental factors completely constant, some plants would do well, some plants would do worse, and some would outcompete other plants," said Anderson. But this is a reality that doesn't exist. "We know that CO2 isn't increasing in isolation," said Anderson. Eighteen of the last 19 years have been the warmest on record. Both wild plants and crops are experiencing increased flooding, heat waves, and pestilence."CO2 does "fertilize" plants and by itself causes plants to grow faster, but unchecked CO2 release into the atmosphere will lead to reduced yields and the consequences could be catastrophic," Thomas Sharkey, a plant biochemist at Michigan State University, said over email. > Baseball spring training starts this week. > > Predicting today whether CO2 in 2100 will be ~1000 ppm, or only half that, is like guessing who will play in the World Series in October. > > Nonetheless, the consequences of our CO2 emissions over the next few decades are profound. pic.twitter.com/pUf5VVlBAk> > -- Kris Karnauskas (@OceansClimateCU) February 19, 2019Sharkey noted that pollen production -- which is necessary for making seeds -- is sensitive to even small increases in the average temperature. "The negatives far outweigh the positives," added Stephens. As might be evident to anyone alive on the planet, plants flourish today and have flourished for hundreds of millions of years, so Happer's suggestion that the planet's vegetation is in need of more carbon dioxide is bizarre. "Obviously plants were doing just fine historically," said Anderson. "There's no indication plants are increasing their performance and doing better now than historically."A NASA graph showing skyrocketing CO2 levels.Image: nasaA recent NASA study found that Earth's overall greening over the last two decades -- which is to say the increase in area covered by green leaves -- is largely due to major tree planting programs and agricultural expansion in China and India. And some new regions of the planet are greening as the planet warms, like vast swaths of the northern tundra. But globally, the jury's still out on whether increased carbon dioxide is having a measurable influence on plant growth. "This is not a huge signal that everyone can see," said Stephens. There are extremely conspicuous climate signals, however, that everyone can see. One of the most widely-predicted consequences of a warming climate, stoked by historically-high carbon dioxide emissions, is increased fire weather. The California town of Paradise fell victim to profoundly dried-out vegetation and hot temperatures this past November. The forests had been turned to tinder, waiting to burn.Is more CO2 really good for plants?"Tell that to the trees in Paradise, California," said Stephens. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| India police arrest Kashmir activists amid rising tensions Posted: 23 Feb 2019 09:26 AM PST  SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police have arrested at least 300 activists seeking the end of Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, officials said Saturday, escalating fears among already wary residents that a sweeping crackdown could touch off renewed anti-India protests and clashes.
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| 'Hear the cry of the little ones': Pope Francis demands action from bishops as sex abuse summit opens Posted: 21 Feb 2019 02:36 PM PST  Pope Francis urged high-ranking church officials gathered at the Vatican to "hear the cry of the little ones" who are victims of sexual abuse.
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| Putin to U.S.: I'm ready for another Cuban Missile-style crisis if you want one Posted: 21 Feb 2019 01:33 PM PST  The Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in 1962 when Moscow responded to a U.S. missile deployment in Turkey by sending ballistic missiles to Cuba, sparking a standoff that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. More than five decades on, tensions are rising again over Russian fears that the United States might deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, as a landmark Cold War-era arms-control treaty unravels. Putin's comments, made to Russian media late on Wednesday, follow his warning that Moscow will match any U.S. move to deploy new missiles closer to Russia by stationing its own missiles closer to the United States or by deploying faster missiles or both.
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| Google improving Maps and Search to fight the opioid crisis Posted: 22 Feb 2019 04:09 AM PST  On Thursday Google announced that it is making it easier to locate drug disposal locations year-round with enhanced opioid-related query results. Since 2017, the opioid crisis has been officially a public health emergency with Google queries for "medication disposal near me" reaching an all-time high on the platform just last month. In response, the company has improved Maps and Search results of queries like "drug drop off near me" or "medication disposal near me" to display permanent disposal locations, typically pharmacies (like Walgreens or CVS Health), hospitals, or government buildings, where you can discard unused and unneeded medications.
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| Khloe Kardashian's sisters Kim and Kourtney speak out amid cheating scandal Posted: 21 Feb 2019 01:27 PM PST  Khloe Kardashian's sisters, Kim and Kourtney, came to her defense in verydifferent ways on Thursday amid allegations that Tristan Thompson cheated onher with Kylie Jenner's best friend, Jordyn Woods
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| Judge tightens gag order on ex-Trump adviser Stone, warning he could be jailed Posted: 21 Feb 2019 03:43 PM PST  In a tense court hearing on Thursday, U.S. Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said that Stone's apology and explanations for why he posted a photo of her next to the image of the crosshairs of a gun on his Instagram account were not credible. Jackson made her ruling after a highly unusual hearing in which Stone, who is charged with crimes related to Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, took the stand to testify about the posting. Stone's seemingly contradictory statements and at times foggy recollections about the post's origins during a cross-examination by the government frustrated Jackson, who later concluded he "could not even keep his story straight on the stand." Stone, a longtime Republican political operative, friend of Trump and self-proclaimed "dirty trickster," was arrested on Jan. 25.
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| Hate crime hoaxes, like Jussie Smollett's alleged attack, are more common than you think Posted: 22 Feb 2019 09:22 AM PST  In writing a book about hate crime hoaxes, I found more than 400. Such frauds damage good race relations.
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| Get the Insignia 8-Quart Multi-Function Pressure Cooker for less than $40 at Best Buy Posted: 22 Feb 2019 07:39 AM PST  When you get home from a long day, the last thing you want to do is spend an hour bent over a hot stove making dinner. Yeah you can pop something in a slow cooker before you leave for your day, but that takes advanced planning and sometimes you just don't have the time or energy for that. With a pressure cooker, you can just toss ingredients in like a slow cooker, but the food cooks in a fraction of the time. You've probably heard the craze about Instant Pots, but those can run a bit pricey. The Insignia 8-Quart Multi-Function Pressure Cooker does virtually the same thing as an Instant Pot at a lower price point. Right now you can snag the Insignia pressure cooker for $39.99 at Best Buy, a savings of $80.The multi-function cooker has 12 one-touch preset programs for easy operation. Some of these options include keep warm, slow cook, steak/meat, rice/risotto, cake, and more. You can cook almost anything in a multi-function cooker. If you're skeptical about jumping full throttle into the multi-cooker world, the Insignia is a good starter option because it has the same sort of functionality as the name-brand pricier models. You'll get similar features as the Instant Pot DUO Plus which will cost you $139.95 at Amazon. That's $100 more than you'll drop on the Insignia. Best Buy reviewer Websaver writes:Get the Insignia 8-Quart Multi-Function Pressure Cooker for $39.99 at Best Buy. Image: insignia Save $80 on the Insignia 8-Quart Multi-Function Pressure Cooker at Best Buy See Details
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| Worry about US-SKorea alliance grows before Trump-Kim summit Posted: 22 Feb 2019 12:52 PM PST  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — As President Donald Trump seeks a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week in Vietnam, some in Seoul are wondering if the fate of Washington's decades-long military alliance with South Korea could be at stake.
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| How long should it take to get my tax refund this year? Posted: 21 Feb 2019 06:05 PM PST  In general, the IRS expects most tax refunds to be issued in less than 21 days. Here's how to find out the status of your tax refund.
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