| Iraqi lawmakers criticize Trump visit as blow to Iraqi sovereignty Posted: 26 Dec 2018 03:58 PM PST  Iraqi political and militia leaders condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty, and lawmakers said a meeting between Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi was canceled due to a disagreement over venue. Sabah al Saadi, the leader of the Islah parliamentary bloc, called for an emergency session of parliament "to discuss this blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty and to stop these aggressive actions by Trump who should know his limits: The U.S. occupation of Iraq is over." The Bina bloc, Islah's rival in parliament and led by Iran-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, also objected to Trump's trip to Iraq.
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| The Latest: Pope's Christmas wish is "fraternity" Posted: 25 Dec 2018 03:31 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Latest on Pope Francis' Christmas celebrations (all times local):
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| US lawsuit blames Lion Air crash on Boeing's 'dangerous' airplane Posted: 26 Dec 2018 10:56 AM PST  A lawsuit filed in Chicago blames Boeing for the deadly Lion Air crash off the coast of Indonesia that killed all onboard, claiming the manufacturer's airplane was "unreasonably dangerous," a US law firm announced Wednesday. The suit, filed Monday in the Midwestern city where Boeing is based, alleges the two-month-old plane's safety system improperly engaged and pilots were not adequately instructed by the plane manufacturer on how to respond. Lion Air Flight 610 vanished from radar 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta on October 29, crashing into waters off the north coast of Indonesia's Java Island and killing all 189 people onboard.
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| North, South Korea Open Rail Project Despite Sanctions Barrier Posted: 25 Dec 2018 11:13 PM PST ![North, South Korea Open Rail Project Despite Sanctions Barrier]( "North, South Korea Open Rail Project Despite Sanctions Barrier") Long-stalled plans to restore rail links severed by the Korean War were revived in historic summits by North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this year. While South Korea said the Security Council granted an exemption to United Nations sanctions Tuesday to allow the ceremony to proceed, additional relief would be needed to start construction. "The result of the North and South Korean railway and road project depends on our nation's mental strength and will.
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| 8 Ways to Earn Miles Without an Airline Credit Card Posted: 26 Dec 2018 11:44 AM PST ![8 Ways to Earn Miles Without an Airline Credit Card]( "8 Ways to Earn Miles Without an Airline Credit Card") Airline credit cards are a great way to earn miles with your favorite frequent flyer program. You can get miles if you provide your frequent flyer number when you book your trip and pay out of pocket. Each airline has a different rate for which you'll earn miles, and how much you earn can depend on your status with the airline, the type of fare, the ticketing airline and the operating airline.
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| The Latest: CBP to do health check on all minors after death Posted: 26 Dec 2018 01:35 AM PST  HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on the death of an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala who U.S. officials say has died in government custody (all times local):
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| Tokyo stocks plunge in Christmas rout Posted: 25 Dec 2018 01:35 AM PST  Tokyo stocks plunged on Tuesday as the few Asian markets open on Christmas suffered a holiday rout on fears about the US economy and a government shutdown in Washington. Tokyo markets, which were closed on Monday for a national holiday, plummeted at the open on Tuesday, with the Nikkei closing down five percent -- over 1,000 points. It was the worst finish since April 2017 and followed a brutal holiday-shortened session on Wall Street that saw US stocks sink for a fourth straight session.
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| Shutdown stories: Federal employees share anxiety via Twitter Posted: 25 Dec 2018 09:50 PM PST  Federal employees and others have taken to Twitter to share their experiences via #ShutdownStories.
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| Bar employees out of jail after being charged in connection with crash that killed young mom Posted: 26 Dec 2018 03:45 AM PST  The employees are all charged with various Class A misdemeanor liquor violations.
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| Steady, Not Strong as Southeast Asia Faces Growth Risks in 2019 Posted: 25 Dec 2018 01:00 PM PST  The Federal Reserve is set to keep everyone on edge as it navigates an even trickier interest-rate path in 2019, while the trade war between the U.S. and China is already hurting exports in the region. The Philippines might eke out a small gain in growth in 2019, if their bets that inflation will diminish come to fruition. "Asean growth and inflation look set to soften in 2019," said Tamara Henderson at Bloomberg Economics.
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| How Student Loan Debt is Different From Other Types of Debt Posted: 26 Dec 2018 06:00 AM PST ![How Student Loan Debt is Different From Other Types of Debt]( "How Student Loan Debt is Different From Other Types of Debt") Ignoring student loan debt does not make it go away. Student loans, like all consumer debt, are taken out with the expectation that the borrower will pay them back. All consumer debt can be broken down into two main types, either secured or unsecured.
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| 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country vs. 2019 Ford F-150 Limited vs. 2019 Ram 1500 Limited Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:15 AM PST |
| Israeli official confirms Syria airstrikes as Russia objects Posted: 26 Dec 2018 02:40 PM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli security official on Wednesday confirmed responsibility for overnight airstrikes in Syria, saying the air force had hit a series of targets involved in Iranian arms transfers to the Hezbollah militant group.
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| Alleged victim of Spacey sexual assault filmed part of incident Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:13 PM PST  A young man who accused Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting him at a seaside restaurant near Boston in 2016 filmed part of the incident, according to court filings obtained by AFP. If found guilty, Spacey could face up to five years in jail. Spacey then allegedly invited him back to his place, along with some other friends.
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| Amazon’s Alexa suffers outages on Christmas Day as device appeared to cope with onslaught of new users Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:11 AM PST  Amazon's Alexa suffered outages on Christmas Day as the smart devices appeared to struggle with the onslaught of new users. Owners took to social media to vent frustration at their malfunctioning gadgets, reporting the unsatisfactory responses they had been getting from Alexa. These included the virtual assistant, which can play music, make calls, answer questions and control smart home devices, saying that she was "having trouble understanding" and asking users to "please try a little later". Amazon's customer services channels, which were inundated with messages from disappointed customers about the Alexa breakdown, explained yesterday morning that problems were an "ongoing issue" which could take 12-24 hours to resolve. The tech giant did not state what had led to the mass breakdown, but customers speculated that the service was struggling to cope with thousands of new users who were given either Alexa or Amazon's Echo Dot 2, the wireless smart speaker, as a Christmas present. Dan Green wrote on Twitter: "[It] seems that your servers weren't ready for the massive influx of new Echo's being registered today. "When the waiting list for new Dot's is two months you'd have thought the geek squad would have been prepared" Others joked that "everybody deserves at least one day off" over Christmas, but "perhaps today was not the day" for the virtual home assistant to pick. By 12.50pm on Christmas Day, Amazon Help, the tech giant's customer services Twitter account, said: "Hi, over the past two hours some Echo devices in Europe have had intermittent connections." It added that the issues "have now been resolved and the Alexa Service is working normally". An Amazon spokesperson said: "For a short period [on Tuesday] morning we had an issue that intermittently impacted some Alexa customers' ability to interact with the service. The Alexa service is now operating normally."
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| U.S. Justice Ginsburg released from hospital after cancer surgery Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:35 AM PST  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, has been released from the hospital after undergoing cancer surgery, a court spokeswoman said on Wednesday. "Justice Ginsburg was discharged from the hospital yesterday and is recuperating at home," spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in a statement. The liberal justice underwent surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on Friday to remove two cancerous nodules in her left lung.
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| Shutdown Enters Fourth Day Amid Impasse Over Trump's Border Wall Posted: 25 Dec 2018 01:00 AM PST  "I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security," Trump wrote.Democrats said Monday they're having trouble negotiating with the Trump administration. "Different people from the same White House are saying different things about what the president would accept or not accept to end his Trump Shutdown, making it impossible to know where they stand at any given moment," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in joint statement.In a sign the president's strategy has sparked serious unease among Republicans, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas -- the only senator at the Capitol Monday -- suggested a compromise to reopen the government but without wall funding.
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| Woman chases down porch pirate, gets package back Posted: 26 Dec 2018 10:20 AM PST  A Colorado woman chased down a porch pirate and got her package back.
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| 7 Bond Market Trends to Watch in 2019 Posted: 26 Dec 2018 08:10 AM PST ![7 Bond Market Trends to Watch in 2019]( "7 Bond Market Trends to Watch in 2019") With interest rates on the rise, the relative safety of bonds is getting more appealing by the day for long-term investors. LPL Financial recently released its Outlook 2019 report, which includes an entire chapter on what investors can expect from the bond market next year. LPL says U.S. interest rates will continue to rise at a moderate pace in 2019, making high-quality bonds more attractive for long-term investors.
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| No One Wants to Spend Christmas Like Mom-to-Be Amy Schumer Did Posted: 26 Dec 2018 09:47 AM PST  Amy Schumer shared her miserable Christmas with followers on Instagram – including a video of her getting sick on the side of a road.
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| Mexico: Helicopter crash claims Puebla governor, ex-governor Posted: 24 Dec 2018 07:18 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A husband-and-wife political power couple who were the current and ex-governors of the central Mexican state of Puebla died in a Christmas Eve helicopter crash, officials announced.
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| Photos and DNA tests as Indonesians search for lost relatives Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:51 AM PST  Grief-stricken Indonesians queued with photos or waited on DNA tests Wednesday, to find out if their missing loved ones were among bodies being held in a hospital morgue after a devastating tsunami tore families apart. "I'm scared," said Tubagus Cecep, 63, as he waited nervously at a hospital in devastated Carita for test results on a body he fears could be that of his son.
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| Medical checks ordered for all kids held in US custody after death of 2nd immigrant child this month Posted: 26 Dec 2018 11:35 AM PST  U.S. Customs and Border Patrol orders medical exams for all children it holds in custody following the Christmas Eve death of a Guatemalan boy
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| Russia says the mysterious hole in its Soyuz rocket may have been sabotage Posted: 25 Dec 2018 10:42 AM PST  We already knew that Russia was in the midst of an incredibly deep investigation into the origins of a strange hole that was found in a part of its Soyuz space vehicle earlier this year. The part of the ship that was damaged is no more -- it was jettisoned during reentry and burned up -- but samples taken from the damaged area are now being studied by Russian authorities as they try to explain how such a thing happened. Sergei Prokopyev, one of the cosmonauts that rode back down to Earth last week aboard the Soyuz craft, told reporters at a new conference that the investigation is still ongoing. Samples gathered during a recent spacewalk should hopefully be the final piece to whatever puzzle officials are trying to piece together. Russia's handling of the investigation has the full support of NASA, but it's worth noting that the country's messaging hasn't exactly been consistent in the days, weeks, and months following the discovery of the hole. Initially thought to be damage sustained by a tiny space rock, once the hole was determined to be manmade a whole lot of finger pointing ensued. Russia's Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin seeded the idea that the hole was created while the spacecraft was docked to the ISS, hinting that it might have been the work of someone on board. Those theories were squashed rather quickly and, in the days after the crew found the leak, word out of Russia suggested a culprit may have already been found. Those unofficial threads never materialized into anything more concrete, and we've now been waiting months for Russia to announce what it has found during the lengthy investigation. Russia's early assertion that the hole was some kind of sabotage, perhaps during the manufacturing process, is an incredibly serious allegation. It's unclear what punishment one or more individuals might face if the country determines that someone intentionally tried to harm its cosmonaut crew (not to mention NASA astronauts), but now that ship itself is back on solid ground we might learn more before long.
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| Nissan's Kelly released on bail as Tokyo court rejects prosecutors' plea Posted: 25 Dec 2018 07:07 AM PST  Kelly and Carlos Ghosn, the automaker's ousted chairman, were detained upon arrival in Japan on Nov. 19 on suspicion of understating Ghosn's income in financial statements for several years. The arrests jolted the global car industry and strained Nissan's alliance with French car maker Renault SA. Ghosn remains in custody.
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| Turkey Plans Meeting on Possible Patriot Purchase, Official Says Posted: 26 Dec 2018 03:34 AM PST ![Turkey Plans Meeting on Possible Patriot Purchase, Official Says]( "Turkey Plans Meeting on Possible Patriot Purchase, Official Says") The Presidency of Defense Industries is expected to hold a preliminary discussion on a possible purchase of the American system, the official said, asking not to be identified because he wasn't authorized to disclose the meeting plans. Turkey's presidency confirmed the planned meeting but wouldn't say what was on the agenda. Although a detailed assessment is unlikely at such an early stage, the discussion itself reflects the rapid detente between Ankara and Washington that's currently underway after years of strain that culminated with since-lifted U.S. sanctions on Turkey.
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| 16 Famous Authors’ Houses Worth Seeing Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:00 AM PST |
| New Israeli law will enable medical cannabis export Posted: 26 Dec 2018 07:55 AM PST  Israeli lawmakers have given final approval to a law enabling farmers to export medical cannabis, parliament said Wednesday, a move expected to generate significant revenue for the state. The medical cannabis export market was expected to generate the state income of a billion shekels ($265 million, 234 million euros) per year. Yoav Kisch of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, who penned the law, noted its "huge economic potential" for the state and farmers, calling medical cannabis "a blessed product that eases the suffering of the sick".
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| Trump is third American president to visit Iraq Posted: 26 Dec 2018 11:43 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Wednesday to meet U.S. troops. It's the sixth time that a U.S. president has visited Iraq.
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| Tokyo stocks dive more than 5% on fears over US economy Posted: 24 Dec 2018 07:43 PM PST  Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged more than five percent in morning trade Tuesday amid rising doubts about the US economy and fears sparked by a US government funding crisis. At the midday break, the Nikkei index was down 5.05 percent or 1,018.74 points at 19,147.45, after dipping to as low as 19,138.88 -- the lowest level since April 2017. The dollar fetched 110.13 yen in midday Tokyo time, down from 110.43 yen in New York on Monday and 111.38 yen in Asian trade on Friday.
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| IS-claimed attack on Libya foreign ministry kills at least three Posted: 25 Dec 2018 04:39 PM PST  Suicide attackers stormed the Libyan foreign ministry in the capital Tripoli on Tuesday, killing at least three people including a senior civil servant in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. A car bomb exploded near the ministry, prompting security forces to rush to the scene, said special forces spokesman Tarak al-Dawass. A suicide bomber then blew himself up on the second floor of the building while a second attacker died when a suitcase he was carrying exploded, he said.
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| Don't miss these 5 astronomy events coming in 2019 Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:03 AM PST  The new year will bring several notable astronomy events that will be visible for many across the United States, including a rare celestial alignment that won't happen again until the 2030s.
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| Christmas revived in a village devastated by Islamic State Posted: 25 Dec 2018 05:07 PM PST  Tel Nasri was one of dozens of Assyrian Christian villages in northern Syria targeted by the jihadist group when it was near the peak of its power. Kurdish forces and local fighters seized the village a few months later, in May 2015, but nobody has returned. "I was born and raised in Tel Nasri, I'm still here and I'm staying," said Sargon Slio, 51, a farmer who stayed on with only his brother and two cousins.
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| Mega Millions drawing could deliver biggest Christmas lottery gift ever Posted: 25 Dec 2018 01:28 PM PST  Americans who included Mega Million tickets on their holiday shopping lists have a shot at winning more than $300 million in Tuesday's drawing, the largest Christmas Day jackpot in the history of the multi-state lottery. The grand prize has grown to $321 million after a nine-week spell without a winner. Combined with a $294 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs on Wednesday, the holiday week could deliver prizes worth more than $600 million.
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| 5 Fitness Deals To Help You Get in Shape in 2019 Posted: 26 Dec 2018 06:53 AM PST  Hit your New Year's fitness goals with these discounted workout tools and subscriptions.
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| How the new Honda NSX learned from Japan's original supercar Posted: 26 Dec 2018 05:48 AM PST  The new hybrid enhanced Honda NSX might appear far removed from its legendary ancestor, but driving the pair back-to-back reveals a shared DNA.
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| Christmas across the globe: Tradition and tensions amid turbulent times Posted: 25 Dec 2018 11:23 AM PST  At the Vatican, the pope called for unity. In the U.S., a federal government shutdown cast a pall. So dawned Christmas Day 2018.
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| Poroshenko announces end to martial law in Ukraine Posted: 26 Dec 2018 06:56 AM PST  Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday announced the end of a martial law in the country's border regions, which was introduced last month after Russia's seizure of three of Kiev's navy vessels in the Sea of Azov. "Today, right now, at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) the martial law ends," Poroshenko said during a live streamed National Security and Defence Council meeting in Kiev.
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| 'Cowards & traitors': Vandals deface Confederate monument in North Carolina Posted: 26 Dec 2018 07:33 AM PST  A Confederate monument in North Carolina has been vandalized again.
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| Venezuela calls U.S. comments on Guyana dispute 'interventionist' Posted: 25 Dec 2018 10:05 AM PST  Venezuela's foreign ministry on Tuesday described as "interventionist and disrespectful" U.S. comments on a weekend incident in which the country's navy stopped two ships exploring for oil for Exxon Mobil off Guyana's coast. In response to the event, the U.S. State Department said Venezuela had behaved "aggressively" and called on the country to "respect international law and the rights of its neighbors." "It is evident that the U.S. government is interfering in a matter that is not at all incumbent upon it, with the goal of promoting corporate interests closely linked to the Washington ruling elite," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of plotting to invade Venezuela and overthrow his government, while Washington has placed sanctions on Venezuela's debt and members of Maduro's government over accusations of corruption, human rights violations and election-rigging.
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| NASA gets ever-closer to its encounter with a distant world 1 billion miles past Pluto Posted: 26 Dec 2018 03:00 AM PST  It's getting bigger. Last week, NASA released photos of the space exploration craft New Horizons gradually approaching an ancient, little-known object in deep space, called Ultima Thule. Ultima orbits the sun one billion miles past Pluto, and NASA expects to swoop close to the far-off object soon after midnight, on January 1, 2019. It will be humanity's farthest-ever encounter with another world. "What will Ultima reveal? No one knows," Alan Stern, the NASA planetary scientist leading the deep space mission, wrote last week. Ultima Thule getting bigger, and brighter.Image: nasaNASA suspects Ultima is a type of icy mass formed some 4.5 billion years ago, during the inception of our solar system. But since then, hovering in the profoundly cold outer reaches of the solar system, Ultima is presumed to have been preserved largely in its pristine, primeval state — allowing scientists to see the distant past. "In effect, Ultima should be a valuable window into the early stages of planet formation and what the solar system was like over 4.5 billion years ago," said Stern. Ultima is formally classified as a "Kuiper Belt Object," which is a ring of icy worlds that encircles the solar system beyond the last major planet, Neptune. It is a "region of leftovers from the solar system's early history," says NASA. SEE ALSO: The secretive lab that built 'the bomb' now scours Mars for signs of life Ultima has already proven somewhat mysterious. From previous images, scientists learned that Ultima probably has a weird, non-spherical shape. But as New Horizons travels closer, the pattern of light reflecting off off of Ultima, or its light curve, is inconsistent. With most other objects, these light patterns repeat as the objects spin. "It's really a puzzle," said Stern in a statement. Other New Horizons scientists mused that a dust cloud or moons "tumbling" around Ultima might be producing the strange light curve. But, there is one thing that's almost certain. On December 15, Stern's team concluded there were no obstructions between New Horizons — a triangular spacecraft 7 feet long and 9 feet tall — and Ultima Thule. Images of Ultima Thule from Dec. 2, 2018.Image: nasaStern told NASA that the deep space probe is now "Go" to closely approach Ultima. In the summer of 2015, New Horizons flew by Pluto. It captured unprecedented detail of the dwarf planet, its mountains, cliffs, and icy plains. The exploration craft flew 7,000 miles from Pluto's surface. But it will get much closer to Ultima Thule, swooping 2,200 miles above the little-known object. The first images are expected back early on New Years Day, about 30 minutes after the ball drops in Times Square. "The Ultima Thule flyby is going to be fast, it's going to be challenging, and it's going to yield new knowledge," said Stern. "Being the most distant exploration of anything in history, it's also going to be historic." We'll be watching. To watch the images come in during Ultima's approach, tune into a livestream from NASA TV beginning around 12:15 a.m. ET, Jan. 1, 2019. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| Why pay $50 for Philips Hue’s smart LED bulbs when these $17 bulbs are just as good? Posted: 26 Dec 2018 04:46 AM PST  I have Philips Hue smart LED lighting all throughout my home and I love it. To be honest though, every time I expand my setup and add new bulbs in new places, I kick myself a little for having committed to such an expensive solution. If you want to add smart lighting features to your home but you don't want to spend $50 a bulb, we've got just the thing. MagicLight WiFi Smart Light Bulbs cost just $17 each and they have all the best features from Philips Hue bulbs, including support for voice commands with Alexa and Google Assistant. Here's more info from the product page: * ✔ Compatible with Alexa & Google Assistant: Voice Control your MagicLight WiFi light bulb with your Amazon Echo or Echo Dot and Google Home Assistant * ✔ Works with IFTTT: DIY Your WiFi Light Bulb Depending on Various Events by Connecting it to IFTTT * ✔ Works with iOS/Android: Personalize Your WiFI Smart Lights to Match Your Mood, Control Your Smart WiFi Lights Bulb Remotely When You are not at Home * ✔ Various Scene Modes: Color Palette, Group Control, Sunlight, Music Mode, Timer, Sunrise, Sunset, Dimmable, MIC Function, DIY Mode, Scene Mode, Energy Saving...... * ✔ Application: This is a WiFi enabled light bulb, no hub required. Multiple lighting patterns, suitable for a showcase, residential, office, hotel, shop, exhibition room, landscaping, indoor, home etc.
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