| As Trump blames Democrats for Cabinet delays, GOP senators look to White House for paperwork Posted: 03 Mar 2017 08:48 AM PST  Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, left, and former U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta. While President Trump continues to attack Democrats for delays in his Cabinet confirmations, Republicans in the Senate point to the White House as the source of the problem. "So, if the Democrats who have – all you have to do is look at where they are right now," said Trump in a February press conference.
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| Russian foreign minister echoes Trump, calls Sessions scandal ‘a witch hunt’ Posted: 03 Mar 2017 06:47 AM PST  Sergey Lavrov, left, and President Trump characterized the Jeff Sessions scandal the same way. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov weighed in Friday amid reports of contacts between members of the Trump campaign-turned-administration and Moscow, using a phrase that mimicked Trump's response to the simmering scandal. "All this looks very much like a witch hunt," Lavrov said, according to the RIA news agency.
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| Philippines' Duterte will pay price for drugs killings, detained senator says Posted: 03 Mar 2017 05:45 AM PST ![Philippines' Duterte will pay price for drugs killings, detained senator says]( "Philippines' Duterte will pay price for drugs killings, detained senator says") A senator and detained critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has warned he and his "blind followers" will pay for ignoring alleged extrajudicial killings, and should stop trying to fool the world their crackdown was above board. Leila de Lima, who last year led a Senate probe into alleged summary killings during Duterte's anti-drugs campaign, was arrested last week and has been remanded in police detention on drug charges. "In due time, your president and those who blindly enforce his illegal orders to kill, fabricate evidence and concoct lies will be held accountable," De Lima said in a handwritten note posted on her official Facebook page on Friday.
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| UN Security Council shines light on Lake Chad crisis Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:59 AM PST  Yaoundé (AFP) - UN Security Council envoys on Friday vowed to turn the spotlight on a "neglected crisis" as they began a mission to the Lake Chad region, where hunger, poverty and a Boko Haram insurgency have triggered a major humanitarian emergency. Straddling Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, the region's problems are also exacerbated by poor governance and climate change. The 15 ambassadors from the UN's top decision-making body began their mission in Cameroon, seeking to draw global attention to the emergency affecting 21 million people.
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| 2nd suspect arrested in case of missing Georgia teacher Posted: 03 Mar 2017 02:29 PM PST  FITZGERALD, Ga. (AP) — A second man was arrested Friday in connection with the slaying of Georgia high school teacher who vanished nearly 12 years ago, with warrants saying the new suspect helped the woman's killer dispose of her body.
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| Trump to students at Florida Catholic school: ‘We’re going to make you famous’ Posted: 03 Mar 2017 02:01 PM PST  On Friday, March 3, President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos met with students at a Florida Catholic School. He took photos with two students and said, "We're going to make you famous."
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| What We Know About Mexican Immigration Posted: 03 Mar 2017 01:00 AM PST  The number of unauthorized Mexican immigrants in the U.S. has fallen by 1 million since 2007 to 5.8 million.
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| Libya naval forces rescue 115 illegal migrants, 25 missing Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:25 AM PST ![Libya naval forces rescue 115 illegal migrants, 25 missing]( "Libya naval forces rescue 115 illegal migrants, 25 missing") Libyan naval forces have rescued 115 illegal migrants after their overloaded rubber boat sank off the coastline, and 25 more were still missing, a spokesman said on Friday. The vessel went down around 3 a.m. on Friday, 3 miles (5 km) off Tajoura, just east of Tripoli, because it was overloaded and taking on water, Tripoli naval forces spokesman Ayoub Qassem told Reuters. "Our coastguards carried out a search operation in that area off Tajoura in attempting to find the missing ones but no one was found." Last month, the bodies of 74 migrants were found washed up on a beach in western Libya after the engine of their vessel was stolen.
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| Appeals court hands oil companies victory in coastal lawsuit Posted: 03 Mar 2017 05:14 PM PST ![Appeals court hands oil companies victory in coastal lawsuit]( "Appeals court hands oil companies victory in coastal lawsuit") NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court Friday refused to revive a Louisiana levee board's lawsuit blaming dozens of oil and gas companies for damage to the state's fragile coast, a major victory for energy companies and their political supporters who cast the suit as an attack on a vital state industry.
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| Bali gears up for Saudi king's extravagant visit Posted: 03 Mar 2017 12:26 AM PST  Luxury hotels have been booked out and security forces deployed across Bali as the resort island geared up Friday for the arrival of Saudi King Salman on the latest leg of his extravagant Indonesian tour. Hundreds of top-end cars and SUVs are ready to transport the king, who arrives Saturday, and his vast entourage, while 396 tons of equipment have been flown in to the popular holiday island for the visit. After disembarking from his plane on a escalator, he was whisked in a convoy past cheering crowds and greeted at a presidential palace by a 21-gun salute and marching band.
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| Body of Indianapolis Woman Found Near River After She Was Reported Missing Posted: 04 Mar 2017 01:11 PM PST  Police have not ruled the case a homicide yet.
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| Amnesty Denmark regrets translating advice to US protesters Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:58 AM PST  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The head of the Danish chapter of Amnesty International says it was "a terrible mistake" to print a guide in its magazine on how to tackle tear gas, one's basic rights when arrested and how to dress for protests and confrontation with police.
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| Russia Tested NATO Aircraft Four Times In Same Day Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:03 AM PST  The U.S Air Force's top general in Europe and Africa said Russia gave little information on why the encounters occurred.
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| Banksy has opened a hotel in the West Bank and just look at the pictures Posted: 03 Mar 2017 08:09 AM PST  Banksy is back and more thought-provoking than ever. The British graffiti artist has decorated a Palestinian guest house in the West Bank city of Bethlehem with his artwork, aimed at bringing Israelis and Palestinians together. SEE ALSO: Banksy artwork at migrant camp reminds us Steve Jobs' father was Syrian People pass by the "The Walled Off Hotel" and the Israeli security barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock Named "The Walled Off Hotel," the establishment features 10 rooms with — as Banksy billed it — "the worst view in the world" as they overlook the West Bank separation barrier erected by Israel. A doorman stands at the entrance of the hotel. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock The restaurant area. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock A wall decorated with models of drones and a painting of Jesus with a sniper's dot on his forehead. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock The West Bank barrier is decorated by many street artists, including Banksy himself. The hotel features a presidential suite, a museum with the artist's work, a themed bar and interactive exhibits. A wall is decorated with security cameras and slingshots in the bar area. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock It has been decorated to resemble an English gentleman's club from colonial times and also reenacts the writing of the Balfour Declaration, which set the beginning for the state of Israel 100 years ago. Gavin Grindon of the University of Essex, who co-curated with Banksy the museum inside "The Walled Off Hotel", stands by the reenactment of the writing of the year 1917 Balfour declaration. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock The presidential suite. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock The bar area. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock Israeli citizens are barred by law from visiting Bethlehem, but the hotel is situated in an area outside the town which is under Israeli control. The highlight is room number three, known as "Banksy's Room," where guests sleep in a king-size bed underneath Banksy's artwork showing a Palestinian and an Israeli in a pillow fight. The hotel will officially open March 11. The Associated Press contributed reporting. BONUS: Behold Dismaland: Inside Banksy's Disneyland-inspired theme park
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| Exclusive: Trump administration considering separating women, children at Mexico border Posted: 03 Mar 2017 05:28 PM PST ![Exclusive: Trump administration considering separating women, children at Mexico border]( "Exclusive: Trump administration considering separating women, children at Mexico border") By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women and children crossing together illegally into the United States could be separated by U.S. authorities under a proposal being considered by the Department of Homeland Security, according to three government officials. Part of the reason for the proposal is to deter mothers from migrating to the United States with their children, said the officials, who have been briefed on the proposal. Children would be put into protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services, in the "least restrictive setting" until they can be taken into the care of a U.S. relative or state-sponsored guardian.
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| Elephant All-Nighters? Giant Beasts Sleep Only 2 Hours Posted: 04 Mar 2017 06:20 AM PST  A sample size of two is small, but if the two matriarchs are representative of their species, African elephants may be the shortest-sleeping mammals on Earth, the researchers said. "Elephants really don't sleep all that much, and this appears to be related to their large size," said study lead researcher Paul Manger, a professor in the School of Anatomical Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Previous studies have described elephant sleep, but many of those studies have flaws — either using captive elephants, which have different sleep schedules than wild elephants, or failing to consistently distinguish between rest and sleep, Manger said.
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| Trump’s Promises to Defeat ISIS ‘Quickly’ Run Into Syria Buzzsaw Posted: 03 Mar 2017 02:39 PM PST  The agonizing decision whether to arm the Kurds to beat ISIS, or defer to Turkey's sensibilities, is Trump's first big test.
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| Third Jewish cemetery damaged in surge of US anti-Semitic acts Posted: 03 Mar 2017 08:05 AM PST  Vandals tumbled and defaced headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Rochester, New York, local officials confirmed Friday, the third such cemetery in the United States to suffer damage in a surge in apparent anti-Semitic acts. Meredith Dragon, chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, said local police were not yet ready to determine whether the toppling of a dozen or more headstones in the Stone Road or Waad Hakolel Cemetery overnight Wednesday was an act of petty vandalism or a targeted hate crime. Nationally, a total of three cemeteries -- the others in St Louis, Missouri and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- have now seen large numbers of overturned and broken headstones, and hundreds of bomb threats have been phoned in to Jewish community centers and day schools.
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| Uber used secret tool to deceive authorities: NY Times Posted: 03 Mar 2017 01:19 PM PST ![Uber used secret tool to deceive authorities: NY Times]( "Uber used secret tool to deceive authorities: NY Times") (Reuters) - Ride hailing company Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] has for years used a secret tool to deceive the authorities in markets where its service faced resistance by law enforcement or was banned, the New York Times reported, citing sources. An Uber tool called Greyball used data collected from the Uber app and other methods to find and circumvent officials, the NYT reported on Friday.
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| Woman who streamed Minnesota shooting charged in assault Posted: 03 Mar 2017 05:12 PM PST  ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A woman who livestreamed the fatal police shooting of her boyfriend during a traffic stop in Minnesota last year was charged Friday in a reported assault.
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| Google exec hints that Google Assistant is coming to the iPhone Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:47 AM PST 
When it comes to making money, Google has one mission and one mission alone: get its free apps and services in as many hands as possible. That's the very reason why Android was such a brilliant move on Google's part. By building a top-notch iOS rival and giving it away for free to any device maker that wants it, Google has created a scenario where well over a billion people access its apps and services constantly each day. The more they use their phones, the more data Google is able to collect. And the more data Google collects, the better it can target ads. As we discussed in an old article titled "The truth about Google and evil," Google does so much to help people, but it's an advertising company first and foremost. That brings us to Google Assistant, the company's answer Apple's Siri assistant and Amazon's Alexa. Google Assistant is already viewed by many as being more capable and more helpful than Siri, and just this week Google began rolling it out to Android phones running Android 6.0 or later. Google's mission to get its new AI assistant in as many hands as possible won't end with Android, of course, and now we have our strongest indication yet that Assistant is on its way to the iPhone. With the commotion at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain winding down, Dutch blog Geekster managed to catch up with Gummi Hafsteinsson, a Product Management Director at Google who is in charge of the Google Assistant project. Hafsteinsson had a lot to say about Google's hot new AI assistant, of course, but there was one portion of the interview that was of particular interest. When asked about the possibility of Google Assistant coming to iOS and Apple's iPhone, the exec gave a textbook non-answer that, for anyone who knows the industry, is pretty much an answer. "I do not think we have anything to announce at this point," Hafsteinsson said. "But I think the general philosophy is that we would like to have the Assistant available to as many people as possible." So there you have it, iPhone users. Google has nothing to announce at this point, but if you're a gambler, the smart money is on yes, Google Assistant will make its way to iOS in the future.
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| The Devastating Way Woolly Mammoths Went Extinct Posted: 03 Mar 2017 08:57 AM PST  Evolution: Examining why woolly mammoths went extinct holds lessons for protecting endangered species today. Can we bring mammoths back?
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| To Save the State Department, Rex Tillerson May Have to Break It Posted: 03 Mar 2017 06:30 AM PST  Bad habits and stale thinking have subordinated Foggy Bottom to the Pentagon and NSC. Here's what needs to change.
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| An anniversary for the Missouri controversial compromise Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:55 AM PST  On March 3, 1820, Congress approved the Missouri compromise, a law that maintained a balance in the Senate between free and slave states. The pact only lasted 24 years, and its elimination was one of the contributing factors that led to the Civil War.
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| 100 Years of Women in Politics: How They've Served Posted: 04 Mar 2017 05:37 AM PST  One-hundred years ago today, on March 4, 1917, Rep. Jeannette Rankin, R-Mt., became the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. "I may be the first woman member of Congress," she said following her election in 1916, according to the History, Art & Archives of the U.S. House of Representatives. Rankin's prediction came true: She certainly wasn't the last woman to serve in Congress.
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| The Trump presidency on March 3 at 2:50 p.m. ET Posted: 03 Mar 2017 12:06 PM PST ![The Trump presidency on March 3 at 2:50 p.m. ET]( "The Trump presidency on March 3 at 2:50 p.m. ET") (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Friday: RUSSIA Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal calls for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to be questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee over his failure to disclose meetings with Russia's ambassador during last year's presidential campaign. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the U.S. political scandal over contacts between the Russian ambassador and members of Trump's administration looks like "a witch hunt." Less than five weeks after Trump took office, the chances of a thaw in relations between Washington and Moscow – once buoyed by an apparent "bromance" between Trump and President Vladimir Putin – are much dimmer, U.S. officials say.
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| Turkey claims Berlin working against Erdogan powers referendum Posted: 03 Mar 2017 08:37 AM PST  Ankara and Berlin were locked in acrimony Friday after several German towns scrapped rallies courting support from Turkish expatriates for a constitutional change that will expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers. German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected Turkey's bitter accusations that her government had had a hand in scrapping the rallies. Turks vote on April 16 on whether to create a presidential system -- a change that the government says will ensure political stability, but which critics say will herald one-man rule by Erdogan.
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| Blake Lively’s Incredible Style Evolution Posted: 03 Mar 2017 06:28 PM PST  Check out Blake Lively's amazing style transformation through the years.
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| The Latest: 2nd man arrested in Georgia missing teacher case Posted: 03 Mar 2017 10:54 AM PST ![The Latest: 2nd man arrested in Georgia missing teacher case]( "The Latest: 2nd man arrested in Georgia missing teacher case") OCILLA, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on the murder case involving a Georgia teacher who went missing in 2005. (all times local):
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| I met the company that’s reimagining multitouch Posted: 03 Mar 2017 11:20 AM PST 
We're all expecting the computing future envisioned by Minority Report to actually happen, and I'm mostly talking about the fantastic user interface from the movie, although a system that can predict crime might also come in handy. Tom Cruise's character uses a sophisticated computer that can interpret spatial gestures and provide instant responses. The entire room becomes a huge 3D screen where any type of gesture can be recognized. Well, we're not quite there yet. But a company called Qeexo is reinventing multitouch so that it feels more natural to the user, and I got to see it in action at Mobile World Congress. Touching a display or touchpad is now the norm when it comes to interacting with devices, whether they're smartphones, tablets, or PCs. And these devices can recognize a variety of touch patterns as long as you remember what those patterns are. But what if you could touch the screen in a more intuitive way, one that would come naturally without having to remember what a three-finger swipe to the left does? That's how Qeexo CEO Sang Won Lee explained the company's TouchTools software to me. Pretend you're picking up an eraser while touching the screen, and an eraser will magically appear. Move your hand around while maintaining contact with the screen and you'll erase everything the eraser touches. Want to write? Use your finger and a pen will appear on the screen. Want to change colors or settings for your pen? Just imagine you're rotating a dial that brings up extra menus, and one will appear. Swipe up with a hand just as you would with a real ruler on a piece of paper, and the ruler will appear and stay on the screen so that you can draw a straight line with your other hand. The software can simulate a camera as well, or a tape measure (that actually lets you measure on-screen elements), and they're all enabled by touch. These tools disappear from the screen the moment you lift your finger, freeing up as much space as possible for content. Here's a video demo of Qeexo's tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWWzi5y6LC0 The best part about it is that the technology can be used on any device that accepts touch. It can be a big screen TV — that's the kind of device I tried it on — but also something smaller like a car's infotainment system. It can run Android, like the huge screen above, but it can also work on an iPad or anything else. Do we really need it? Imagine being able to control the volume in your car by reaching to the touchscreen and performing a motion that's similar to what you'd do with an actual physical volume knob. All that would happen without having to take your eyes off the road — and without having to remember a special gesture. Imagine using the tech in a classroom instead of the regular chalk and blackboard. It would eliminate wasted time, and you would not have to physically clean the blackboard or dive through menus looking for a certain feature on a conventional digital device. I was even shown an iOS version of the app that simulates mouse interaction, complete with buttons and scroll wheel that actually work. All that might be available in the future on a wide range of devices. The only thing Qeexo could tell me at the show is that it's aiming for a 2017 launch of a version of what I had seen on the show floor. Did I also mention that there's on-device machine learning involved in all of this? Yes, the future does look interesting, even if we're not quite where Minority Report was. Until we get to see TouchTools in commercial products, you can try a version of it on Huawei phones like the P10, or some of last year's handsets. The tech is called FingerSense, and uses many of the same solutions. The phone knows how you touch the screen, whether you use a finger or a knuckle, whether you draw a line or a letter, and it responds accordingly. It also works as soon as the display is turned on. Here's a demo of FingerSense in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAb37ykYD1I
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| Yelp Makes It Possible To Find Businesses With Gender Neutral Bathrooms Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:31 AM PST  Yelp is rolling out a new fature that will allow users to search for businesses that offer gender neutral and trans-friendly bathrooms.
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| Guest lecturer calls protesting students 'seriously scary' Posted: 03 Mar 2017 03:45 PM PST  MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (AP) — A libertarian author who has been called a white nationalist said college students who protested his guest lecture this week were "scary."
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| Daisy the dog gets a second chance at motherhood after losing her puppies Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:26 AM PST  Meet Daisy Woodruff—this adorable, happy dog from Roseburg, Oregon: IT ME DAISY THE DOG HELLO HI! Image: Daisy Woodruff/Facebook According to Daisy's mom, Jessica Woodruff, Daisy unfortunately lost all seven of her puppies in a barn fire on Feb. 20. "We had a nice bed made for Daisy to have her pups inside but she found her own spot down at the barn. We noticed the fire and it was too late," Woodruff stated. They also lost four goats, one pig and the entire barn in the fire. SEE ALSO: Fun dad allows family dog to get a very unfortunate haircut After she lost her puppies, Daisy just wasn't the same. "Daisy wondered [ sic] the 80+ acres lost, sad and confused," she said. "As a mother, I couldn't fathom her loss." Image: Jacque Barnett In order to help Daisy recover from her loss, the search was on to get her foster puppies for Daisy to take care of. So, Woodruff's sister, Jacque Barnett, posted a note on a local Facebook page, searching for anyone who could help. Once the post was up, a local radio host saw it, and took the story to air. After hearing the story air on the radio, KPIC, a local news station, met with Woodruff and Daisy to cover their story on TV. And from there, an owner of eight orphaned puppies contacted Woodruff, and brought the pups over the next day. 8 happy little pups Image: Jacque Barnett Daisy nursing her new foster pups. Image: Jacque Barnett Ever since she's gotten a second chance at motherhood, Daisy got back to her old self again, much to the delight of her owner. "Daisy was in heaven!," Woodruff said. "It was so amazing to see the change. She had purpose again. She laid down to feed them, cleaned them, and even protects them." Image: Daisy woodruff/facebook Although the arrangement's temporary, Daisy will care for the pups until they are weaned. They'll then be returned home. "We aren't keeping any of the pups to live at the ranch but we are keeping the runt and gifting him to our Grandmother and Grandfather," said Woodruff. Daisy, fostering puppies. Image: jacque barnett "With out [ sic] a doubt, these foster pups have helped her," Woodruff said. "We have our Daisy dog back." Such pride. Image: Daisy woodruff/Facebook BONUS: Play fetch and crawl through tunnels in this dog-inspired bootcamp
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| U.S. State Dept criticized over quiet release of human rights report Posted: 03 Mar 2017 03:34 PM PST ![U.S. State Dept criticized over quiet release of human rights report]( "U.S. State Dept criticized over quiet release of human rights report") By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department released its annual report on human rights around the world on Friday but the release was overshadowed by criticism that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave the report little of the traditional attention or fanfare. Tillerson declined to unveil the report in person, breaking with precedent established during both Democratic and Republican administrations. "The report speaks for itself," the official said in response to a question about why Tillerson did not unveil it.
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| Dire Measures to Combat Hunger in Venezuela Posted: 03 Mar 2017 08:57 AM PST  Prominent priest calls on Venezuelans to label trash that contains food for the hungry.
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| US targets Al-Qaeda in second day of Yemen strikes Posted: 03 Mar 2017 12:22 PM PST  US warplanes pounded Al-Qaeda targets in Yemen for a second straight day Friday, killing eight militants, security and tribal sources said, as Washington steps up its air war against the jihadists. The Pentagon said the past two days had seen it carry out "somewhere over 30" strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), conducted in partnership with the Yemeni government. "This is part of a plan to go after this very real threat and ensure that they are defeated and denied the opportunity to plot and carry out terrorist attacks from ungoverned spaces," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said, noting America would continue to attack AQAP.
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| 2016 Range Rover Td6 Diesel Posted: 03 Mar 2017 11:35 AM PST  A winter wonder but an electronic misanthrope.
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| Check out stunning 360-degree views of NYC straight from your browser Posted: 04 Mar 2017 12:15 PM PST 
We all spend plenty of time complaining about whatever wireless carrier we shell out money to every month to keep us connected while on the go, but rarely do wireless customers ever consider how difficult it actually is to provide coverage in any specific area. New York City is one particularly challenging location when it comes to mobile connectivity, and AT&T just launched a pretty cool web experience to explain just why that's the case and what they're doing to make the network stronger.
"In NYC, coverage, quality and capacity is the name of the game," AT&T explains in a blog post for its new Connecting New York City experience. "This means our engineers had to create a living, breathing network that is able to cover both full-time city-dwellers and commuters that depend on connectivity in the bridges, tunnels, and trains. And whether our customers live in Manhattan full time or commute in for work, the need to stay connected is something all New Yorkers have in common." The company filmed high resolution 360-degree video in several iconic locations around New York City including Central Park, 30 Rockefeller Center, and the Brooklyn Bridge. The video — which can be viewed via a VR headset or simply panned around right in your web browser — serves as a backdrop for AT&T to explain the changes and improvements they're making to their hardware around the city in order to improve connectivity. Some of the more interesting tidbits include the difficulty of improving wireless coverage in the heart of central park due to the ban on installing infrastructure — leading AT&T to build cell sites right into the existing light poles, which is apparently totally fine — and the task of improving underground signals by actually building cell sites below the surface of the city.
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| Green River Alarms Small Spanish Town Posted: 03 Mar 2017 07:51 AM PST  The river flows down the Pyrenees Mountains into Andorra and then into Spain.
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| Survivor of Kansas bar shooting released from hospital Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:16 AM PST  KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man who survived an apparently racially motivated shooting at a suburban Kansas City restaurant and bar is out of the hospital and has already visited the scene of the attack.
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| Moon missions continue Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk's rocket-measuring contest Posted: 03 Mar 2017 11:16 AM PST  Another day, another unhinged-sounding plan to fly to the moon announced by an eccentric billionaire. According to a report from the Washington Post, Blue Origin — the spaceflight company founded by Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos — is planning to set up an "Amazon-like" service to send cargo to the moon in the hopes that people will eventually settle there. The first "Blue Moon" mission — conducted with NASA's help — could launch as early as July 2020, according to the report. SEE ALSO: Jeff Bezos-backed rocket landed safely back on Earth after flying to space The Blue Origin news hits just days after SpaceX's Elon Musk announced that his spaceflight company plans to send two unnamed people on a trip around the moon at the end of next year. Is this yet another case of rocket-measuring by Musk and Bezos? Maybe. While these two plans are distinct and Blue Origin's was a case of a news organization breaking a story, rather than a specific announcement by a company, it is a good example of Bezos and Musk following one another around the solar system. Instead of NASA chasing the Soviets during the original space race, we now have billionaires trying to one-up each other, pushing them farther into space. The two billionaires are known for publicly sniping at each other over their respective space plans and accomplishments. In November 2015, for example, Blue Origin announced that its New Shepard rocket made its first trip to suborbital space and then landed back on Earth. This accomplishment came before SpaceX successfully landed its first orbital rocket back on the ground after launching a payload to space, but well after SpaceX launched its suborbital Grasshopper rocket and brought it back to the ground. Musk wasn't happy that Bezos was insinuating that this Blue Origin test flight was a "first" for reusability, and he made it known... publicly. On Twitter. @JeffBezos Not quite "rarest". SpaceX Grasshopper rocket did 6 suborbital flights 3 years ago & is still around. pic.twitter.com/6j9ERKCNZl — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015 But credit for 1st reusable suborbital rocket goes to X-15 https://t.co/LSb0f8FLJdAnd Burt Rutan for commercialhttps://t.co/TGWlNjsyQz — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015 Jeff maybe unaware SpaceX suborbital VTOL flight began 2013. Orbital water landing 2014. Orbital land landing next. https://t.co/S6WMRnEFY5 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015 More recently, however, the billionaires seem to have mellowed. "Great industries are usually built by not just one or two or three companies, but usually by dozens of companies. There can be many winners," Bezos said in April 2016, a sentiment he has echoed many times since. "From my point of view, the more the merrier. I want Virgin Galactic to succeed. I want SpaceX to succeed. I want United Launch Alliance to succeed. I want Arianespace to succeed, and of course I want Blue Origin to succeed. And I think they all can." Although Bezos's plan is not in direct competition with Musk's, the timing of the two announcements is still pretty funny. And oddly enough, it all may have something to do with President Donald Trump. A Trump connection Rumors were swirling in the space industry early this week that Trump would make some kind of announcement about human spaceflight during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. However, that big space moment didn't come to pass. According to a report by Politico, Trump was expected to include more about his vision for America's future in space, but most of that got cut at the last minute. Instead, Trump's only reference to space in his hour-long speech was the line: "American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream." President Donald Trump, Elon Musk (center) and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on Feb. 3, 2017. Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock It's not clear whether Trump's expected speech was the tipping point for SpaceX and Blue Origin, but either way, we know that Bezos and Musk have had time to speak with the new president. Bezos seemed to make nice with Trump at a tech summit held in December 2016. Musk was also in attendance at that meeting, sitting on the exact opposite side of the table from Bezos. Musk is also part of Trump's economic advisory council. Space industry insiders seem to be betting that the U.S. is now on a path back to the moon after former president Barack Obama scrapped the Bush-era plans to send crewed missions back to the lunar surface before heading on to Mars. For now, however, NASA doesn't yet have a new administrator and Trump has said little about the future of the space agency under his administration. However, congressional Republicans, who now hold the majority in both the House and Senate, are eager to see greater participation by private companies in space exploration. BONUS: Relive SpaceX's incredible daytime rocket landing with this video
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| U.S. suspends fast processing of high-tech visa applications Posted: 04 Mar 2017 10:10 AM PST ![U.S. suspends fast processing of high-tech visa applications]( "U.S. suspends fast processing of high-tech visa applications") Foreigners aiming for temporary jobs at high-tech U.S. companies will undergo a longer visa approval process after the Trump administration announced it will temporarily suspend expedited applications for H-1B visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Friday that starting April 3 it will suspend "premium processing" for up to six months. Under this expedited procedure, applicants can be eligible for visa approvals within 15 days, instead of a regular review period that can last for up to a few months.
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| GOP, Dem foes of health care bill in scavenger hunt for copy Posted: 02 Mar 2017 10:30 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Where's the Republicans' embryonic health care bill?
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| Financial risks hang over China legislature meeting Posted: 02 Mar 2017 10:10 PM PST  China's rubber-stamp legislature convenes this weekend with the script focused on containing worrisome economic risks while President Xi Jinping consolidates power ahead of a pivotal Communist Party meeting later this year. The gathering of 3,000 National People's Congress (NPC) delegates at Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People is staged annually by the all-powerful party to portray a facade of popular rule. It typically has little actual bearing on politics but will be scrutinised this year for clues ahead of this autumn's far more consequential Communist Party Congress, an event held only every five years.
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| 2017 Honda Civic Si Sedan: Four Doors, Medium Spice Level Posted: 03 Mar 2017 09:13 AM PST  Turbo power mated exclusively with a six-speed manual.
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| VP Pence shoots down any comparison between his email scandal and Hillary Clinton’s Posted: 03 Mar 2017 01:03 PM PST  On Friday, the Indianapolis Star reported that Vice President Mike Pence, when he was governor of Indiana, used a private email account that was hacked. Pence said there was no comparison between his use of a private account during that time and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.
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