| Trump thanks Gary Cohn, envisions him returning to White House Posted: 08 Mar 2018 01:30 AM PST  During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, President Trump thanks his departing economic adviser Gary Cohn, adding, "He may be a globalist but I still like him."
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| Adam Rippon Is Changing His Tune On Mike Pence Meeting Posted: 07 Mar 2018 03:26 PM PST  Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon says now is the right time to meet with Vice President Mike Pence. "I agree with so many people that you don't get to make any sort of change if you don't try to at least reach across and have the opportunity to speak," Rippon said. Rippon had previously said that he has nothing personally to say to Pence, who has pushed an aggressive anti-LGBTQ agenda during his political career.
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| Ben Carson Removes Anti-Discrimination Language From HUD Mission Statement Posted: 06 Mar 2018 08:37 PM PST  WASHINGTON ― Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is changing the mission statement of his agency, removing promises of inclusive and discrimination-free communities. "An organization's mission is never static," Thompson wrote in the memo, which was shared with HuffPost by a HUD employee.
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| The Latest: Officers were sent to wrong house and then shot Posted: 07 Mar 2018 04:21 PM PST  CLINTON, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of three Missouri police officers (all times local):
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| U.S. destroyer McCain collision which killed 10 sailors caused by 'sudden turn': Singapore Posted: 07 Mar 2018 09:43 PM PST ![U.S. destroyer McCain collision which killed 10 sailors caused by 'sudden turn': Singapore]( "U.S. destroyer McCain collision which killed 10 sailors caused by 'sudden turn': Singapore") A U.S. guided missile destroyer's deadly collision with an oil tanker near Singapore in 2017 was caused by "a sudden turn" made by the warship that put it in the path of the commercial vessel, said a report by the Singapore government on Thursday. The collision on Aug. 21, which killed 10 sailors and was one of a handful of incidents in the Asia Pacific region involving U.S. Navy warships, raised questions about Navy training and led to the removal of a number of officers. "The collision between the USS John S McCain (JSM) and Alnic MC (AM) as they were transiting through the Singapore Strait happened because of a sudden turn to Port by JSM, which caused it to head into the path of AM," the report said.
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| Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade Pays Surprise Visit To Parkland High School Posted: 07 Mar 2018 11:33 AM PST  Miami Heat basketball star Dwyane Wade dropped by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday to thank students for their inspiring response to last month's mass shooting at their Parkland, Florida, campus. Students and school staff flooded social media with photos and videos from Wade's visit. The shooting guard, who has called for gun safety in the wake of the massacre, spoke as students excitedly crowded around him.
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| The U.S. Just Issued a Travel Warning for a Popular Mexican Resort Town Posted: 08 Mar 2018 08:28 AM PST  Following a ferry explosion last month that injured 26 people
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| The 2018 Pritzker Prize Is Awarded to Balkrishna Doshi Posted: 07 Mar 2018 08:52 AM PST  The Indian luminary, a seminal figure in the world of South Asian architecture, has been awarded the highest honor in architecture
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| 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 4500HD / 5500HD / 6500HD: Chassis Cab Flexin Posted: 08 Mar 2018 07:30 AM PST  The Silverado flexes its muscle as a work truck.
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| McGahn is White House lawyer, not Trump lawyer, Trump should know Posted: 07 Mar 2018 12:27 PM PST  Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney, talks with Ari Melber about the kind of legal jeopardy Donald Trump could be in based on new reporting from The New York Times, and the role of the White House legal counsel.
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| 7 Bold Buildings Designed by Women Posted: 08 Mar 2018 10:29 AM PST |
| Democratic Turnout Surged In Texas. Here's What That Could Mean For November. Posted: 07 Mar 2018 06:55 AM PST  Since President Donald Trump's inauguration, Democrats have performed better than expected in many special elections, turning out voters who didn't show up in past years and giving many in the party high hopes for this year's midterms. Recent polls give Democrats a generic ballot edge and the early advantage on voter enthusiasm.
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| Mystery Powerball winner to share winnings with charities Posted: 08 Mar 2018 07:19 AM PST  Lawyers for the New Hampshire woman who won $559.7 million Powerball jackpot announced her plans for major charitable donations, while fighting in court to keep her anonymous.
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| Sri Lanka blocks social media as anti-Muslim rioting flares Posted: 07 Mar 2018 05:15 AM PST  MULLEGAMA, Sri Lanka (AP) — Religious violence flared anew in the hills of central Sri Lanka on Wednesday despite a state of emergency, with Buddhist mobs sweeping through towns and villages, burning Muslim homes and businesses and leaving victims barricaded inside mosques.
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| Los Angeles DA Won't Prosecute Agent Who Allegedly Groped Terry Crews Posted: 07 Mar 2018 05:39 PM PST  The Hollywood agent accused of groping "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" cast member Terry Crews won't be prosecuted for the alleged crime. Both the Los Angeles city attorney and the Los Angeles County district attorney reportedly will not prosecute Adam Venit, who Crews accused of groping him at a Hollywood party in February 2016. TMZ is reporting that the district attorney rejected a felony filing and sent the case to the city attorney, who determined that the alleged misdemeanor couldn't be prosecuted after a one-year statute of limitations expired.
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| Israel's El Al seeks U.N. help in bid to fly through Saudi airspace Posted: 07 Mar 2018 09:22 AM PST  By Steven Scheer TEL AVIV (Reuters) - El Al Israel Airlines has appealed to the United Nations over a bid to reroute its services between Tel Aviv and India through Saudi Arabian airspace. Air India said on Wednesday it planned to begin thrice-weekly non-stop flights from Delhi to Tel Aviv this month via Saudi airspace. The Israeli flag carrier's CEO Gonen Usishkin said in a letter to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a U.N. body, it would be discriminatory for the Saudis to allow Air India to enter its airspace and not El Al. Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel and lifting the airspace ban for El Al would offer further evidence of what appears to be thawing of ties.
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| The Latest: Police: Russian ex-spy poisoned with nerve agent Posted: 07 Mar 2018 01:27 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — The Latest on the suspected poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal (all times local):
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| China urges North, South Korea to 'seize opportunity' Posted: 06 Mar 2018 06:15 PM PST  China has cautiously welcomed an agreement by North and South Korea to hold a historic summit, urging both sides to "seize the current opportunity" to promote the denuclearisation of the peninsula. The foreign ministry issued a statement late Tuesday praising the "positive outcomes" of a meeting between South Korean envoys and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. Pyongyang was also said to be ready to halt nuclear and missile tests, and consider the dramatic step of abandoning costly and controversial WMD programmes if the United States agrees not to attack or overthrow the regime.
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| Ted Cruz Makes It Too Easy To Point Out The Hypocrisy Of His Latest Campaign Ad Posted: 07 Mar 2018 04:05 PM PST  CNN's Chris Cuomo pressed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to explain on Wednesday why his campaign is attacking an opponent's nickname when Cruz uses one himself. Following the Texas primary race on Tuesday, Cruz's re-election campaign released a new ad mocking Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic challenger for Cruz's Senate seat, for his name. FIRST LISTEN: our new 60-second statewide radio ad introducing our liberal opponent, Congressman Robert O'Rourke, to Texas voters.
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| A 17-Year-Old Girl Has Been Killed in a Shooting at an Alabama School Posted: 07 Mar 2018 07:12 PM PST  The shooting is being investigated as an accident
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| 'Never before have we seen any behaviour like this': Appeals court overturns conviction after judge shocks defendant three times with stun belt Posted: 07 Mar 2018 11:46 AM PST  A judge administered multiple electric shocks to a defendant on trial as a "punishment" for not answering his questions properly, an appeals court has heard. Judge George Gallagher ordered Terry Lee Morris to be shocked three times during his 2014 trial in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was accused and subsequently convicted of soliciting sexual performance from a 15-year-old girl. The Texas Eight Court of Appeals in El Paso has overturned the judgement on the basis the shocks "violated" Morris' constitutional rights, the Texas Lawyer website reported.
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| Kushner faces uphill task to smooth Trump bust-ups with Mexico Posted: 07 Mar 2018 12:23 PM PST  By Dave Graham and Frank Jack Daniel MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Senior White House advisor Jared Kushner began a visit to Mexico on Wednesday to try to fix rifts over trade, drugs and immigration but many in the host country were skeptical he could repair the damaged relationship. Mexican diplomats and opposition leaders said that although Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, is seen in Mexico as dovish, tensions are running high. Kushner is also perceived in Mexico as having lost power in the White House after a dispute over U.S. government security clearance.
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| Manicurist accuses Steve Wynn of sexual misconduct suit Posted: 06 Mar 2018 07:04 PM PST  LAS VEGAS (AP) — A woman who says she regularly performed manicures on embattled casino mogul Steve Wynn on Tuesday filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct and the company he founded of endorsing his behavior.
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| Pritzker prize goes to Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi Posted: 07 Mar 2018 08:28 AM PST  Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi, a pioneer of low-cost housing design, won the prestigious Pritzker Prize on Wednesday, considered architecture's Nobel equivalent. The 90-year-old Doshi -- one of the last living architects to have apprenticed with the Franco-Swiss trailblazer Le Corbusier -- distinguished his work by committing to sustainable architecture and inexpensive housing, bringing modernist design to an India still rooted in traditionalism. "Balkrishna Doshi has always created an architecture that is serious, never flashy or a follower of trends," said the Pritzker jury, which said Doshi "has continually exhibited the objectives" of architecture's highest honor.
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| Man Went on Stabbing Attack in Vienna Because He Was in a Bad Mood, Police Say Posted: 07 Mar 2018 01:48 PM PST  "He could have stabbed me as well had I been there by chance"
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| Plane crashes through trees into Florida home Posted: 07 Mar 2018 04:30 AM PST  Brother and sister injured in plane crash.
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| Chrissy Teigen Says Her ‘Heart Aches’ After Loss Of Beloved Dog Puddy Posted: 07 Mar 2018 01:10 PM PST  Clearly, he was a very good boy.
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| Spy poisoning: Police Sergeant Nick Bailey named as officer injured with nerve agent Posted: 08 Mar 2018 09:31 AM PST  Police Sergeant Nick Bailey has been named as the officer who was injured with a nerve agent as he attended the scene where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned. He was hospitalised after attending to the pair and is now thought to be awake and engaging with medical staff, although he remains in a serious condition. Sgt Bailey was highly commended in 2016 for his work in putting a serial rapist behind bars. He worked tirelessly for two years in order to build a case against Arthur Bonner, who sexually assaulted multiple victims over four decades between the early 1970s and 2014. Sgt Bailey received the Chief Constable's Certificate of Excellence for his work at the time. Kier Pritchard, temporary chief constable of Wiltshire Police, said: "I did go and see Nick today and I met Nick and his wife at the hospital in the intensive care unit. "I've known Nick for many years, he's a great character, he's a huge presence in Wiltshire Police - well liked, well loved, a massively dedicated officer. He's clearly receiving high specialist treatment. "He's well, he's sat up. He is not the Nick that I know but of course he's receiving a high level of treatment. He's in the safe hands of the medical professionals working in Salisbury District so I'm very confident he's getting the best professional support that he can. "Of course he's very anxious, he's very concerned. He did his very best on that night. "All of our staff that attended the incident in Salisbury in the Maltings, they performed the role that police officers and police staff do every day up and down the country. Limited information, responded to try and protect people and safeguard people who we knew were ill. "I'm massively proud of what Nick did and all of my staff on that night, they did a first-class job." Sgt Bailey was one of the first to go to the aid of the Skripals, who were found slumped on a bench on Sunday afternoon. He is much-loved by colleagues, many of whom have paid tribute to their "courageous" friend. Thank you for the huge number of messages of support for our injured officer in hospital. We all wish for a full and speedy recovery #proud— Kier Pritchard (@wiltspoliceCC) March 8, 2018 This morning, Amber Rudd, Home Secretary, said he was "talking and engaging". She said: "I'm more optimistic for him, but it's too early to say. This is a nerve agent. "You know, we are still treating it as very serious." Part of a cemetery where the wife of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is buried has been cordoned off by police. Officers were guarding London Road cemetery in Salisbury, Wilts, on Tuesday morning, when it was partly closed to the public and seal off with police tape. The cordon around the spy's house, some two miles away, has also been widened. Questions have been raised about the deaths of both Col Skripal's wife, Luidmila, and his son, Alexander, following the attempted murder of the former double agent. Mrs Skripal died of cancer in 2012 aged 59. His son, who was 43, died in St Petersburg last July and is commemorated with a plaque at the cemetery. It has been reported that both Col Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, who are now both fighting for their lives in hospital, visited the site last week, leaving flowers to mark what would have been Mr Skripal's 44th birthday. A cemetery worker told The Mirror: "I recognised him. He regularly came to visit the grave and also his wife's grave. It's so sad." Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who are seriously ill in hospital, in a restaurant believed to be in Salisbury Meanwhile, Amber Rudd has promised to bring those behind the attempted murder of Col Skripal to justice "whoever they are and wherever they may be" as MPs accuse the Kremlin of a "brazen act of war". The Home Secretary described the poisoning of Col Skripal and his daughter as a "reckless" crime, adding that it was conducted in the "most cruel and public way". It came as former minister Sir Edward Leigh said the circumstantial evidence against Russia was "very strong", warning that if the Kremlin were implicated it would be an act of war aimed at "humiliating our country". Ms Rudd told MPs: "There will come a time for attribution and there will be, then, consequences and there will be further information that follows." "The use of a nerve agent on UK soil is a brazen and reckless act. This was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. People are right to want to know who to hold to account. "But if we are to be rigorous in this investigation, we must avoid speculation and allow the police to carry on their investigation. "We are committed to doing all we can to bring the perpetrators to justice, whoever they are and wherever they may be. "The investigation is moving at pace and this Government will act without hesitation as the facts become clearer." It comes after the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said Britain must put up a stronger front against Russian military aggression as he warned that "we are being pushed around" by the Kremlin. As suspicions deepen over Russia's potential involvement in the poisoning, Gavin Williamson said that Vladimir Putin's regime posed an "ever-greater threat". His warning comes after a police officer poisoned by a "very rare" nerve agent in Salisbury while going to the aid of Col Skripal and his daughter was said to be "talking and engaging" in hospital, according to the Home Secretary. The targets of the attempted murder - Col Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia - remain in a serious condition in intensive care. They are understood to both be in comas. He was among the first to go to the aid of the pair, who were found slumped on a bench on Sunday afternoon. The disclosure of the officer's poisoning will add to growing pressure on the Government to take a hardline approach against Russia if state involvement is confirmed. Emergency workers wear protective equipment in Salisbury at one of the scenes of investigation of the nerve agent attack Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/LNP Listing examples of Russian aggression in eastern Europe and its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, Mr Williamson added that there was an urgent need to counter the Kremlin's "increasingly aggressive stance". "Russia's changing the way they actually fight and raise the level of conflict," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "We are seeing this in the north Atlantic as well - the amount of submarines that are operating, there's a 10-fold increase in the last seven years. "Russia's being assertive, Russia's being more aggressive, and we have to change the way that we deal with it because we can't be in a situation in these areas of conflict where we are being pushed around by another nation." Investigators continue to work at ones of the scenes in Salisbury on Wednesday Credit: Paul Grover for The Telegraph While Mr Williamson refused to say if he held Russia responsible for the attack in Salisbury, he described the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter as "absolutely disgusting". Police on Wednesday said government scientists had identified the nerve agent used by would-be assassins at a shopping arcade in the Wiltshire city centre. The chemical used is "likely to be rarer than Sarin or VX nerve agents", a source told the BBC. Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain in a serious condition in intensive care after being poisoned in Salisbury Ms Rudd said more details about the nerve agent would not yet be made public, but told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it was "very rare". PM: Poisoning is appalling and reckless crime Downing Street said Theresa May was being kept updated by officials on developments in the Salisbury case. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "It's clear that this was an appalling and reckless crime and the public will rightly want those responsible to be identified and held to account. "But it is important that we avoid speculation and allow police and others to rigorously establish the full facts. "As the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary have made clear, our response to those found to be responsible will be robust." The spokesman said Mrs May sent her personal thanks to police and emergency workers for their courage in responding to the incident, and also wished to thank the people of Salisbury. Video: Amber Rudd gives update on poison victims Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, earlier described the events as "very troubling". He said: "If this does turn out to be in any way the result of hostile activity by another government, or directed, led, by another government, then the people of this country can be absolutely sure that the UK will respond robustly." Ms Rudd declined to say whether she regarded Russia as responsible for the Salisbury attack, but said the Government will put a plan in place to respond when the culprit is identified. Investigators outside the Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury, where the pair are believed to have dined before falling ill Credit: Eddie Mulholland For The Telegraph "When we have all the evidence of what took place, we will - if it is appropriate - attribute it to somebody," the Home Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "If that is the case then we will have a plan in place. We need to be very methodical, keep a cool head and be based on the facts, not rumour." Video: Sergei Skripal days before he was poisoned Ms Rudd added: "Let me be clear, we are absolutely robust about any crimes committed on these streets of the UK. There is nothing soft about the UK's response to any sort of state activity in this country. "You may not hear about it all, but when we do see that there is action to be taken, we will take it." Nerve agent 'rarer than Sarin or VX' Hundreds of detectives, forensic officers and analysts are working on the case, which has drawn comparisons to the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko on British soil in 2006. A key focus will be working to uncover the origin of the nerve agent. The BBC reported that a source familiar with the investigation said it was "likely to be rarer than Sarin or VX nerve agents". Nerve agents, which are chemical weapons, have been used in assassinations and attacks in war zones in recent years. Kim Jong-un's half-brother Kim Jong-nam was killed at an international airport in Malaysia last year in an attack using a nerve agent known as VX. Another well-known nerve agent, Sarin gas, killed more than 90 people in a rebel-held area in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, drawing international condemnation of the Bashar Assad regime. Deadly toxins Access to such toxins are tightly regulated, meaning the Salisbury plot would have taken considerable planning to execute. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commanding officer of Britain's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, told The Times: "This is not the stuff you can knock up in your back shed. "It is quite challenging to make. The inference is that this has probably come from a major laboratory, probably state-run." Police: Spy and daughter 'targeted specifically' Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the head of counter-terrorism policing, revealed on Wednesday that the incident was being treated as attempted murder and the pair had been "targeted specifically". He declined to specify the nerve agent or how it was administered. Mr Rowley said: "Having established that a nerve agent was the cause of the symptoms, leading us to treat this as attempted murder, I can also confirm that we believe the two people who originally became unwell were targeted specifically. "Our role now of course is to establish who is behind this and why they carried out this act." Video: Mark Rowley's statement outside Scotland Yard Mr Rowley reiterated his appeal for anyone who was in Salisbury city centre on Sunday to come forward to help with the "missing pieces" in the case. Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, said the incident posed a "low risk" to the public and advised that all the sites the pair were known to have visited had been "secured". Skripal poisoning - Salisbury map Russia denies responsibility for Salisbury attack Russia has denied responsibility for the attack, which comes seven years after Mr Skripal was released from the country as part of a spy swap with the US. He had been convicted in his home country in 2006 for passing state secrets to MI6. Sergei Skrpial profile The investigation has triggered a diplomatic row and prompted crisis talks in Whitehall, but Ms Rudd said police must respond to "evidence, not to rumour".
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| Women strike, protest as the world marks Int'l Women's Day Posted: 08 Mar 2018 08:00 AM PST  MADRID (AP) — Women across Europe and Asia shouted their demands for equality, respect and empowerment Thursday to mark International Women's Day, with protesters in Spain launching a 24-hour strike and crowds of demonstrators filling the streets of Manila, Seoul and New Delhi.
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| Wild Otter Attacks 77-Year-Old Woman Kayaking on Florida River Posted: 07 Mar 2018 10:00 AM PST  Sue Spector received stitches and is undergoing rabies treatment.
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| Afghanistan drone strike kills 20 Pakistani Taliban, officials say Posted: 08 Mar 2018 02:30 AM PST ![Afghanistan drone strike kills 20 Pakistani Taliban, officials say]( "Afghanistan drone strike kills 20 Pakistani Taliban, officials say") By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone strike on a training camp in an isolated part of Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar on Wednesday killed more than 20 Pakistani Taliban preparing to launch suicide attacks in Pakistan, officials said. Two Pakistani intelligence officials said the attack, carried out in a village called Saresha Sultan Shah, killed at least two senior figures in the movement, besides someone believed to be a trainer of suicide bombers. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is separate from the Afghan Taliban and combines a number of groups that fight the government of Pakistan.
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| Former Sikh militant sorry for Canada PM Trudeau embarrassment in India Posted: 08 Mar 2018 12:47 PM PST  A former Sikh militant apologized Thursday for causing embarrassment to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his trip to India. Jaspal Atwal, who was part of a movement that supported an independent Sikh nation in the 1980s and went to prison for the attempted murder of a visiting Indian minister in 1986, was invited to a dinner with Trudeau in New Delhi causing consternation among his hosts. Trudeau's visit to India had already been dogged by suspicions that Canada was soft on Sikh separatists.
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| A 17-Year-Old Girl Was Shot to Death at an Alabama High School Posted: 07 Mar 2018 07:12 PM PST  The shooting is being investigated as an accident
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| Hyundai unveils the ‘Le Fil Rouge (HDC-1)' concept in Geneva Posted: 08 Mar 2018 05:22 AM PST  At the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show, Hyundai unveiled its 'Le Fil Rouge (HDC-1)' concept, which the South Korean automaker says represents a new era for its design philosophy and provides a glimpse of what its future design cues will be. The name 'Le Fil Rouge' translates as 'common thread,' which the company claims is a reflection of its belief that the past, present and future designs of the brand are all intrinsically connected. This new concept revealed to the world in Geneva is therefore an introduction to Hyundai's latest approach to design, which gets the grandiose title of 'Sensuous Sportiness.' This new design theme will be adopted by all future Hyundai vehicles, including everything from compact hatches to sedans and SUVs.
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| Take A Virtual Disney Vacation With Stunning New Google Street View Maps Posted: 07 Mar 2018 02:07 AM PST  You can now stroll Main Street U.S.A. at both Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida without leaving home.
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| Russia and China Would Gun for America's Achilles Heel in a War: Satellites Posted: 07 Mar 2018 04:23 PM PST  Coats noted that both adversary nations are pressing for agreements on preventing the weaponization of space, however the United States intelligence community is suspicious. Russian and Chinese space capabilities are growing rapidly, but moreover, both powers are developing counter-space capabilities to blunt America's advantage in that domain. "Foreign countries—particularly China and Russia—will continue to expand their space-based reconnaissance, communications, and navigation systems in terms of the numbers of satellites, the breadth of their capability, and the applications for use," director of national intelligence Dan Coats said in his written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 6.
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| Cops: Man got girl out of school 10 times; now both missing Posted: 08 Mar 2018 12:30 PM PST  ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A 45-year-old man managed to sign a 16-year-old girl out of her school 10 times in the last few months, and now the two are missing, police said.
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| First polar bear born in Britain this century takes first steps outside Posted: 07 Mar 2018 02:35 AM PST  Britain's first polar bear cub for 25 years has been photographed for the first time after being born in December. In January The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) announced that resident female polar bear Victoria had given birth at the Highland Wildlife Park, in the Cairngorms National Park. Yet the little cub could not be seen because in the later stages of her pregnancy, Victoria dislodged the video camera in her den leaving only an audio feed to pick up the distinct high-pitched cries of a newborn. Today the RZSS released the first image of the cub with her mother after she emerged from her den at the weekend. Victoria and her cub's enclosure will remain closed to the public until late March to ensure privacy. Arktos can still be viewed in the enclosure he shares with Walker, the park's other male. The cub with mother Victoria Credit: Channel 4/STV Productions Una Richardson, head keeper responsible for carnivores, said: "Victoria had started to come outside by herself for short periods to eat, drink and roll around in the snow, so we knew her cub would soon follow her but we couldn't be sure when. "I was visiting Victoria on Sunday morning to check she had fresh water and to continue slowly reintroducing food to her diet, after four months during which she lived solely off the fat reserves she built up before she entered her den. "Suddenly I saw a small, fluffy bundle next to her and had to pinch myself to check I wasn't seeing things. It was a very special experience and one I'll never forget. "We also have motion-sensitive cameras safely positioned near Victoria's den and we were delighted to see we had captured her cub's first few steps outside. "Having only been able to hear sounds from inside the den before, we can now be certain Victoria has had one cub rather than two and we couldn't be happier as this is the moment we have been working towards and really looking forward to." Mother Victoria in her enclosure Credit: RZSSAlex Riddell Polar bear cubs are born blind, around 12in (30cm) long and weigh little more than a guinea pig. They only open their eyes when they are a month old and are entirely dependent on their mother, feeding on fat-rich milk to grow quickly, weighing between 22lb (10kg) and 26.5lb (12kg) by the time they leave their den. The last polar bear cubs born in the UK were twins at Flamingo Land in Yorkshire in December 1992. Victoria, who was born in Germany in 1996, previously gave birth at Aalborg Zoo in Denmark in 2008. She arrived at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park in March 2015 where keepers have been attempting to breed her with male Arktos. Usually the pair were allowed just one month of breeding each year but in 2017 they were kept together from March until the beginning of July after experts discovered that Victoria was still fertile in June. The cub is now the size of a Scottish terrier, having fed exclusively on Victoria's fat-rich milk over the past 12 weeks. Miss Richardson added: "Both mum and cub appear to be doing well, though this is still a sensitive time and they need as much peace and quiet as possible. "Our keeper activity at their enclosure will remain at a minimum for the next couple of weeks, after which visitors will be able to see Victoria and our wonderful new arrival. "In the coming weeks we'll also be able to find out if we have a little boy or girl and then we'll decide on a name." Polar bears Arktos and Victoria Credit: RZSS Gavrielle Kirk-Cohen Douglas Richardson, head of living collections at the park, said, "We are thrilled with the birth and rearing of a polar bear cub for the first time in the UK for a quarter of a century. "The birth goes a long way to confirming that our husbandry regime works, with polar bears managed in markedly different ways to many other zoos. This includes having very large, natural enclosures and keeping the sexes in separate parts of the park, which more closely mirrors what happens in the wild. "Some may wonder whether there is any point in breeding polar bears in zoos and the question deserves a serious answer. The change in the Arctic climate, specifically the shortening of the ice season, coupled with more direct human pressures, is having a noticeably detrimental effect on the species that is likely to result in many of the wild sub-populations disappearing. "If we do not develop and maintain a genetically and behaviourally robust captive polar bear population, we will not have the option, should we require it, to use them to support what is likely to be a diminished and fragmented wild population in the future." The cub's arrival has been welcomed by polar bear conservation charity Polar Bears International, whose executive director Krista Wright said, "We would like to congratulate Highland Wildlife Park on the successful birth of their polar bear cub. "With polar bears facing grave threats from sea ice loss in a warming climate, it is important for facilities like Highland Wildlife Park to help educate visitors and involve them in solutions. This cub will serve as an ambassador for its wild cousins, inspiring people to care."
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| Trump Charges His Campaign Top Dollar To Rent A Basically Empty Trump Tower Office Posted: 07 Mar 2018 11:18 AM PST  WASHINGTON ― Republican donors last year paid over a half-million dollars for Trump re-election campaign offices in Trump Tower ― a decision that personally benefited the president, but provided workspace for at most a handful of staff. According to a HuffPost analysis of Federal Election Commission filings, the monthly rent was more than what candidate Donald Trump had been charging from June 2015 to March 2016, back when he was largely self-funding his campaign and when there were, on average, several dozen employees in the midtown Manhattan office. Neither the campaign nor the Trump Organization would say how many square feet the campaign is currently leasing or what it is paying per square foot.
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| Turkey, Iraq to carry out joint operation against Kurdish militants in Iraq: Turkish formin Posted: 08 Mar 2018 03:20 AM PST  Turkey and Iraq's central government in Baghdad will carry out a joint operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying on Thursday. Cavusoglu's comments came as Turkey pushed ahead with a cross-border military operation against the Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria's Afrin region.
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| More than 500 doctors in Canada sign public letter in protest over own pay rises Posted: 07 Mar 2018 12:07 PM PST  More than 500 doctors and 150 medial students have signed a public letter in protest over their own pay rises. The group, known as Médecins Québécois pour le Régime Public (MQRP), from Canada, have raised concerns that they would receive an increase in their salaries while patients and nurses are struggling. Like the UK, Canada has a public health system which provides coverage to all who need it.
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| Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Visited Parkland. It Didn't Go Over Well With Students Posted: 07 Mar 2018 12:54 PM PST  "It was a publicity stunt, really. There was no point to it"
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| Boy, 14, Accused of Posing as Sheriff's Deputy in SUV With Emergency Lights Posted: 08 Mar 2018 05:45 AM PST  The boy allegedly had ona San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department uniform with a gun in a holster.
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| Iconic 'Star Wars' Composer John Williams Is Leaving The Series Posted: 08 Mar 2018 12:55 AM PST  "We know (director) J.J. Abrams is preparing one now that I will hopefully do next year for him," Williams told KUSC radio. "Doing the first film in 1977, none of us had any idea that there would be a second film," Williams said. Disney plans to make more "Star Wars" films featuring new storylines and characters, but it looks like it will have to do so without Williams, who has scored eight "Episode" movies.
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| Democrats head to runoff in primary for Texas governor Posted: 06 Mar 2018 09:31 PM PST  Andrew White and Lupe Valdez advance to a runoff in the Democratic primary for Texas governor after neither receive more than half of the votes to win. No reporter narration.
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