| Pence: Europe must withdraw from Iran nuclear deal Posted: 14 Feb 2019 06:16 AM PST  Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took the White House's anti-Iran message to a Middle East summit in Poland.
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| New York law gives child sex abuse victims more time to sue Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:50 PM PST  The governor of New York state on Thursday signed a law extending the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sex abuse, a move that could trigger a torrent of new complaints. The law known as the Child Victims Act -- which the Catholic Church fought against for years -- will allow alleged victims until age 55 to file civil cases and 28 for criminal suits, compared to a limit of 23 under the old rule. The new law, which will go into effect in six months, also establishes a one-year litigation window for any victim, regardless of age, to take civil action.
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| Venezuela opens investigation into opposition-appointed PDVSA directors: prosecutor Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:44 AM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's chief state prosecutor said on Thursday an investigation had been opened into directors of state-run oil firm PDVSA, and its U.S. refiner Citgo, that the opposition-controlled congress appointed on Wednesday. Prosecutor Tarek Saab, in comments broadcast on state television, announced "the opening of an investigation against people designated illegally as directors of PDVSA and Citgo." Saab also said they would investigate foreign ambassadors named by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who on Jan 23 invoked constitutional provisions to assume an interim presidency. ...
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| U.K. Spy Warns Against Triumphalism Over Islamic State Collapse Posted: 15 Feb 2019 05:00 AM PST ![U.K. Spy Warns Against Triumphalism Over Islamic State Collapse]( "U.K. Spy Warns Against Triumphalism Over Islamic State Collapse") "We are not triumphant because I think from triumphant you get to hubris," MI6 Chief Alex Younger told reporters in Munich on Friday. Younger said Islamic States's so-called caliphate was now in its "end game," with the extremist militants clinging to the last square mile of land they hold in the village of Baghuz in eastern Syria. Meanwhile the U.K. is debating the case of Shamima Begum, a 19-year-old from east London who wants to come home despite expressing no regrets over becoming a so-called jihadi bride with Islamic State in Syria at the age of 15.
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| Why This 'Atmospheric River' Could Cause Mudslides and 'Roofalanches' in California Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:13 AM PST  Californians are experiencing some unusually nasty winter weather this week as an "atmospheric river" passes through most of the state, bringing howling winds and heavy rain.The storm arrived on Tuesday night (Feb. 12) in Northern California and continued into Wednesday (Feb. 13), leading the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue warnings of flash flooding, mudslides and high winds in the region. It is forecast to bring "excessive rainfall" to Southern California on Thursday (Feb. 14), according to the NWS.[Weirdo Weather: 7 Rare Weather Events]Atmospheric rivers are huge "rivers in the sky" that cause moisture from the tropics to flow north, from California to Canada. These huge weather systems can carry many times the freshwater that flows through the mighty Mississippi River, local news outlet KQED reported."They're the biggest freshwater rivers on Earth," F. Martin Ralph, the director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes in La Jolla, California, told KQED.These atmospheric rivers of condensed water vapor can easily be 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) long and 300 miles (482 km) wide, Ralph said. When an atmospheric river brings moisture from Hawaii to the Western U.S. -- as is the case with the current storm -- it's known as the Pineapple Express.Atmospheric rivers can bring much-needed rain -- or wreak havoc by dumping heavy rain or snow when they make landfall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). California has recently experienced storms, meaning the current downpour is falling on waterlogged soil. Summer wildfires also scorched the earth in several areas of California, and burn scars can be more prone to flash flooding and debris as well, according to the NWS.On Wednesday morning, 24-hour rainfall totals were as high as 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in some parts of the Northern Bay Area, with San Francisco receiving about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) of rain, according to the NWS. Residents along the Bay Area coast and hills may face high winds from 25 to 35 mph (40 to 56 km/h) with gusts up to 60 mph (97 km/h), according to the NWS. Social media was abuzz with reports of downed trees and flash flooding. In the Sierras, the NWS warned that the atmospheric river could cause "roofalanches," or the sudden release of snow from already snow-packed roofs, which can pose a serious hazard.Earlier this month, Ralph and his colleagues developed a new scale to describe the strength of atmospheric rivers. The scale, which was described in the February issue of the journal Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, ranks these weather events using categories "1 to 5," with Category 1 indicating a "weak" storm and Category 5 indicating an "exceptional" one. The ranking is based on the amount of water vapor the storm carries, and how long it dumps moisture on a given area, according to a statement. The scale also indicates the extent to which the storm is likely to be beneficial -- by bringing much-needed rain to replenish reservoirs after a drought, for example -- or hazardous, leading to flooding and mudslides. The current storm is a "Category 3," according to local news outlet CBS San Francisco.Tia Ghose contributed reporting. * 9 Tips for Exercising in Winter Weather * Fishy Rain to Fire Whirlwinds: The World's Weirdest Weather * 10 Surprising Ways Weather Has Changed HistoryOriginally published on Live Science.
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| Gay couples in Japan join together on Valentine's Day to sue government over same-sex marriage ban Posted: 14 Feb 2019 04:00 AM PST  Thirteen gay couples filed Japan's first lawsuit challenging the country's rejection of same-sex marriage on Valentine's Day, arguing the denial violates their constitutional right to equality. Six couples holding banners saying "Marriage For All Japan" walked into Tokyo District Court to file their cases against the government, with similar cases filed by three couples in Osaka, one couple in Nagoya and three couples in Sapporo. Plaintiff Kenji Aiba, standing next to his partner Ken Kozumi, told reporters he would "fight this war together with sexual minorities all around Japan." Mr Aiba and Mr Kozumi have held onto a marriage certificate they signed at their wedding party in 2013, anticipating Japan would emulate other advanced nations and legalise same-sex unions. That day has yet to come, and legally they are just friends even though they've lived as a married couple for more than five years. So they decided to act rather than waiting. "Right now we are both in good health and able to work, but what if either of us has an accident or becomes ill? We are not allowed to be each other's guarantors for medical treatment, or to be each other's heir," Mr Kozumi, a 45-year-old office worker, said in a recent interview with his partner Mr Aiba, 40. "Progress in Japan has been too slow." Politician Mizuho Fukushima has spoken out in favour of gay rights in Japan Credit: AP Photo/Mari Yamaguchi Ten Japanese municipalities have enacted "partnership" ordinances for same-sex couples to make it easier for them to rent apartments together, among other things, but they are not legally binding. Japanese laws are currently interpreted as allowing marriage only between a man and a woman. In a society where pressure for conformity is strong, many gay people hide their sexuality, fearing prejudice at home, school or work. The obstacles are even higher for transgender people in the highly gender-specific society. The Supreme Court last month upheld a law that effectively requires transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their gender changed on official documents. The LGBT equal rights movement has lagged behind in Japan because people who are silently not conforming to conventional notions of sexuality have been so marginalized that the issue hasn't been considered a human rights problem, experts say. "Many people don't even think of a possibility that their neighbors, colleagues or classmates may be sexual minorities," said Mizuho Fukushima, a lawyer-turned-politician and an expert on gender and human rights issues. "And the pressure to follow a conservative family model, in which heterosexual couples are supposed to marry and have children, is still strong." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ultra-conservative supporters have campaigned to restore a paternalistic society based on heterosexual marriages. The government has restarted moral education class at schools to teach children family values and good deeds. "Whether to allow same-sex marriage is an issue that affects the foundation of how families should be in Japan, which requires an extremely careful examination," Mr Abe said in a statement last year.
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| El Chapo likely headed to 'Alcatraz of the Rockies' Posted: 14 Feb 2019 10:10 AM PST  Described as a hell on earth, the prison was built in 1994 and is located outside Florence, an old mining town about two hours south of Denver. It houses some of America's most notorious criminals including "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. According to a 2014 Amnesty International report, inmates spend a minimum of 12 months in solitary confinement before their detention conditions are reevaluated.
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| Parkland shooting: How the NRA is more vulnerable than ever after a year of protests and a wave election Posted: 14 Feb 2019 09:56 AM PST  One year after gunfire began in the freshman building of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the movement those bullets sparked has swept through the US and opened a new chapter on guns in America. Guns have come to dominate political debate this past year in way unseen previously in the US, with massive protests from March for Our Lives attracting headlines and major news coverage — and virtually all Democrat presidential candidates supporting stricter gun control. Meanwhile, dozens of states have moved to pass new gun control laws in an historic effort, as communities across America continue to be scarred by gun violence.
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| Sources: Jussie Smollett staged attack with help of others, allegedly being written off 'Empire' Posted: 14 Feb 2019 04:19 PM PST  Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of "Empire."
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| 10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:30 AM PST  Congress is set to resolve its clattering brawl with President Donald Trump in uncommonly bipartisan fashion as lawmakers prepare to pass a border security compromise. European plane manufacturer Airbus says it will stop making its superjumbo A380 in 2021 for lack of customers.
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| 5 Delta passengers injured in severe turbulence, flight made emergency landing in Reno Posted: 14 Feb 2019 07:59 AM PST  Three of the five injured passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight were taken to a local hospital.
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| Catholic dioceses in New Jersey release names of accused priests Posted: 13 Feb 2019 07:14 PM PST  The disclosure was the result of an internal investigation of archdiocese records and all of the priests and deacons listed have previously been reported to law enforcement and none remain in the ministry, Newark Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said in a statement. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal formed a task force in September to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy in his state, along with any efforts to cover up such abuse. "I am pleased to see that our task force's grand jury investigation has prompted the dioceses to finally take some measures to hold predator priests accountable," Grewal said in a statement on Wednesday.
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| Putin, Erdogan Spar Over Syria Militants Amid Split on Safe Zone Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:42 AM PST  While Putin urged Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at a summit on Thursday to work out ways to "completely destroy the terrorist hotbed" in the Idlib region, a joint statement after the talks referred only to the need for "concrete steps" to restore a September truce shattered by the Islamist takeover last month. Erdogan said he'd "relayed our expectations" to Putin and Rouhani for Syrian government forces to "abide by the cease-fire" agreed in September, and for Russia and Iran to support Turkey's demand for a buffer zone inside northern Syria to counter U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in the region.
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| February's Nintendo Direct touches on 31 upcoming and updated games Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:50 AM PST  As with several of the Nintendo Switch's successes, "Super Mario Maker 2" brings one of its predecessor's best games to a bigger and more enthusiastic audience. "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe," "Splatoon 2" and "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" are all related to earlier Wii U games and in this respect "Super Mario Maker 2" is no different. Like 2015's "Super Mario Maker," June 2019 release "Super Mario Maker 2" allows players to create 2D Mario game levels, play them, and share them.
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| Father of Isil bride says the girls are 'no threat' to Britain as he pleads with Government to allow them to return Posted: 14 Feb 2019 03:40 AM PST  The father of one of the three Bethnal Green girls who ran away to join Islamic State has urged the British Government to allow her back into the country, saying she represents "no threat" to the UK. Hussen Abase, the father of Amira Abase, said his daughter - who left Britain with Shamima Begum and Kadiza Sultana at the age of 15 - needed to be re-educated not punished for her actions. Mr Abase told The Telegraph on Thursday that he had not heard from his daughter since she left Britain with her two friends to travel to Syria to join the terror group, but he welcomed the news that Shamima is alive and living in a refugee camp. Speaking after an interview with Shamima was published in the Times, in which she said she wanted to return to the UK, Mr Abase said: "As a father I would say to the British government please let the girls back into the country and give them some kind of teaching. "They were just teenagers when they left. They should be allowed to learn from their mistakes. They are no threat to us." Amira Abase Mr Abase, who came to Britain as a refugee from Ethiopia in 1999, and now lives in Stepney, east London, where he works as a security guard, added: "I'm very happy the British government gave me refuge here. I hope they will let my daughter back in if she is still alive. It's been very hard these past few years without her." But questions remain over Mr Abase's own role in his daughter's radicalisation. After Amira disappeared it emerged he had attended a protest outside the Saudi embassy in London, in 2013, said to have been organised by the Islamic extremist group Al-Muhajiroun, founded by the extremist cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed. Mr Abase also admitted having taken her to a demonstration outside the US Embassy, at the age of 12, at which an American flag was burnt. An American flag is burned outside the US Embassy Credit: EyeVine/David Gould Also at the rally were the jailed extremist preacher Anjem Choudary and Michael Adebowale, one of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby. Mr Abase, 52, later said he took Amira to the protest because did not want to leave her at home alone. The father of three maintained on Thursday that he had no idea how his daughter had become radicalised and so determined to leave Britain to join IS, suggesting only that she may have wanted to help those caught up in the Syrian conflict. He said: "She was always a good daughter and a good student. She was also very charitable and soft when she someone in need or saw something on the news. But I was shocked when she left. "I last saw her in 2015 when she went to school and then she just texted me from somewhere. I've not heard from her since and I have no idea where she is. "Nowadays parents don't know what their children are thinking or doing because they spent so much time on their gadgets and phones. We don't know what they are thinking." Close to tears, he added: "As a father of course I want her to come home. I think about her every day. I remember her as a little girl who loved sport, loved running and made us all laugh. For me she is still my little girl. "I would say to her: 'Think of us, think of your brother and your sister. They miss you. Please come home'."
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| Airbus A380, the Concorde: technical feats, commercial flops Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:45 AM PST  The scratching of the superjumbo jet Airbus A380 echoes the sad fate of the supersonic Concorde, another feat of aviation technology that turned out to be a commercial flop. The inaugural commercial flight on January 21, 1976 of Concorde, the world's first supersonic passenger plane, promised a revolution in aviation. It was the first computer-controlled commercial aircraft in history and also innovated with a weight-saving aluminium body and triangular delta wings.
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| Trump Venezuela envoy interrogated by Ilhan Omar over his role in Iran-Contra scandal Posted: 14 Feb 2019 06:20 AM PST  Donald Trump's envoy to Venezuela was left flustered and visibly angry following an interrogation by Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar over his controversial political past. Elliot Abrams was appointed special envoy to Venezuela last month to help lead the US response to the political crisis in the South American country, which is seeing widespread hunger and violence following the collapse of its economy. On Wednesday, Mr Abrams, who served in the Reagan administration, testified in front of the House foreign affairs select committee, where he was subjected to a fierce line of questioning by Ms Omar.
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| Photos of the New 2019 Subaru Ascent Touring Posted: 14 Feb 2019 09:09 AM PST |
| Trump enters obese range, but still in 'good health,' exam findings show Posted: 14 Feb 2019 03:00 PM PST  President Trump has put on a few pounds over the past year and is now in the obese range, although he remains in "very good health overall."
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| More rain, snow expected in storm-battered California, following days of mudslides and floods Posted: 15 Feb 2019 11:47 AM PST  Californians were in clean-up mode Friday as the state slowly recovers from an onslaught of rain, wind and snow, which brought widespread flooding and mudslides.
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| PR push for white officer accused of killing armed black man Posted: 14 Feb 2019 03:59 PM PST ![PR push for white officer accused of killing armed black man]( "PR push for white officer accused of killing armed black man") NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The attorney for a white police officer charged with fatally shooting an armed black man in Tennessee is calling for legal discovery documents to be sealed from members of the public.
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| Anti-Amazon Backlash Rose From Grassroots to Stymie Bezos Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:03 PM PST  Amazon.com Inc. expected some public outcry over its choice to expand in a redeveloped Queens industrial area along New York City's East River. Among the fatal errors: Three-term Governor Andrew Cuomo and two-term New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, underestimated how an anti-corporate message from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in office less than two months, would take root so deeply and so quickly. "Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world," Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democratic Socialist, said on Twitter.
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| There’s Not Much Performance in Denver Schools’ ‘Pay for Performance’ System Posted: 14 Feb 2019 03:30 AM PST  On Monday, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) went on strike, the latest in a series of teacher strikes that have erupted across the country over the past year. While Denver teachers have voiced concerns about class sizes, support staff, and starting salaries, the consensus is that the issue at the heart of the strike is teacher frustration with Denver's once-celebrated ProComp pay system, which was jointly developed by the DCTA and Denver Public Schools in 2005.Back then, ProComp was heralded as a pioneering step forward on pay-for-performance/merit pay, and that framing has colored coverage of the strike. Even before the strike started, education outlet Chalkbeat ran an explainer headlined, "How a once-promising merit pay system led Denver teachers to the brink of a strike." This week, the Washington Post reported "Denver teachers strike in bid to dismantle pay-for-performance system." The New York Times account was headlined, "Denver Teachers' Strike Puts Performance-Based Pay to the Test."The only problem? This narrative is bunk. For all the talk about "merit" and "performance," ProComp is almost wholly devoid of any links between pay and teacher performance.As Denver Public Schools' compensation chart illustrates, ProComp allows teachers to earn an annual $3,851 pay bump for obtaining an advanced degree or license; a $2,738 boost for working in a "hard to staff" field or a "hard to serve" school; $1,540 for working in a "ProComp Title I" school, which is different than a "hard to serve" school; $855 for completing the requisite "professional development units"; and between $800 and $5,000 for filling designated leadership roles. There is also a yearly bonus for teachers based on students' state-wide-exam results.None of these bonuses, save perhaps for the last one, are performance-based. The only other component of ProComp resembling anything even remotely close to a performance-based incentive for individual teachers is the $855 they can receive for a satisfactory evaluation on a paper-driven performance rubric — and that figure falls by half for longtime educators. (Just how modest is such a sum in context? Average teacher pay in Denver before incentives is about $51,000, and the district has already offered teachers a 10 percent raise.)A couple points here merit note. First, contra the coverage of the strike, the Denver pay system which has sparked so much backlash is not actually rewarding performance. Rather, ProComp is mostly designed to reward the usual credentialism and to steer teachers to work in certain schools or fields. That's all fine, and some of it makes good sense, but it's a misnomer to characterize it as constituting a "pay-for-performance" scheme.Second, to the extent that ProComp seeks to reward performance in any fashion, it has opted for school-wide bonuses to schools that make large gains on math and reading scores (what the district euphemistically terms "top performing-high growth" schools). Reading and math scores matter, a lot. But education reform's fascination with paying for test points is troubling on several counts. It is bizarrely detached from the instruction that most teachers (including those who teach science, foreign languages, music, or history) are asked to focus on and has encouraged corner-cutting and outright cheating. It also has parents concerned about narrow curricula and soulless instruction, and teachers feeling like insurance salesmen.Performance pay is always tricky, but a raft of for-profit and non-profit organizers have muddled through in pretty sensible ways — tapping human judgment, seeking to assess the full contribution that an employee makes, and relying more upon promotions and raises than one-time bonuses.Denver's situation is so noteworthy because Denver is no laggard. Indeed, for many years, it has been celebrated as a "model" district by reformers. So it's disheartening how little progress the city has actually made. Reformers wound up being so focused on finding ways to pay teachers to switch schools or raise test scores that they missed what might have been a larger opportunity to reshape the teaching profession by reimagining how teachers' job descriptions, pay structures, and responsibilities could work. Indeed, given the limited dollar amounts involved (a 1–2 percent bonus if a teacher aces his personal evaluation), it's hard to imagine why anyone ever expected ProComp to be a game-changer.As teacher strikes continue apace and efforts to improve schooling move on from the enthusiasm of the Bush and Obama years, there may emerge new opportunities to rethink teacher pay. If they do, reformers should seize them by focusing more intently on how well teachers do their jobs, and less on where they work or how many boxes they check.Frederick M. Hess is the director of education-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Brendan Bell is the education-program manager at AEI.
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| Isil bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK, head of MI6 says Posted: 15 Feb 2019 06:45 AM PST  The British Islamic State (Isil) bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK the Head of MI6 has said. The Director General of MI6 has said that British citizens have a right to return home from Syria, even though they may still present a threat to national security. Alex Younger, the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service - better known as MI6 - said he was "very concerned" about returning British nationals that had fought for or supported the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). Speaking ahead of the Munich Security Conference which started on Friday, Mr Younger said: "All experience tells us that once someone's put themselves in that sort of position they are likely to have acquired both the skills and connections that make them potentially very dangerous. "Anyone who has put themselves in this situation can expect to be questioned and investigated and potentially prosecuted if they return to our jurisdiction." When asked about the case of Ms Begum, the heavily pregnant 19-year-old Londoner who travelled to Syria four years ago to become an Isil bride and who now wants to return to the UK to have her baby, Mr Younger said: "British nationals have a right to come to the UK." Kadiza Sultana, left, Shamima Begum, center, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport Credit: Metropolitan Police Britain's intelligence chief cautioned about showing triumphalism at the demise of Isil, saying such an approach led to hubris. "The military defeat of the caliphate does not represent the end of the terrorist threat that we face," he said. "You can't use military force to kill and idea." Mr Younger warned that Isil was already in the process of trying to grow elsewhere around the world, even as its fighters are defeated in Syria, and that the threat from al-Qaeda had not been completely extinguished. He said: "Daesh [Isil] is a resilient organisation and it is reorganising, returning to its natural state as an asymmetric transnational terrorist organisation. We see it morphing, spreading out. "Al-Qaeda...has undergone a certain resurgence as a result of the degradation of Daesh and it is a force that should also be taken seriously. It is definitely not done out, and is something we should remain focused on." Mr Younger was keen to stress the "strength and unconditional nature of the UK security offer" and said Brexit would not harm enduring partnerships. "Britain's commitment to the security of the European continent is unconditional," he said. "Our aim is to strengthen our security partnerships in Europe, alongside our other intelligence partnerships across the globe, because that is the inescapable logic of a world of increasingly international hybrid threats." The ability to "operationalise" partnerships with other intelligence organisations was critical in preserving our way of life, he said, and was used to great effect after the nerve-agent attack in Salisbury last year. Referring to the intelligence sharing relationships with France and Germany he said: "There are people alive in our three countries today because of terrorist attack plans that we have successfully disrupted, showing the value and importance of cooperation to all sides. This is not a one-way street." "Even in the past year...people's lives have been saved in all of our countries as a result of this cooperation. The counter terrorist machine is working as it should. Bombs haven't gone off as a result of our capacity to exchange data with each other. "Brexit doesn't fundamentally alter those relationships."
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| Senator Bob Menendez reportedly threatens to call police on Daily Caller reporter Henry Rodgers about the Green New Deal Posted: 14 Feb 2019 05:16 AM PST  Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) reportedly threatens to call police on Daily Caller reporter Henry Rodgers who asked the Senator about the Green New Deal.
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| 37 killed in Indian Kashmir attack Posted: 14 Feb 2019 02:11 PM PST  At least 37 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in one the deadliest attacks on government forces there, police said. The suicide bombing outside Srinagar claimed by an Islamist group is likely to ratchet up tensions between nuclear-armed arch rivals India and Pakistan, with New Delhi long accusing Islamabad of supporting militants. "The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Indian Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, calling the attack "despicable".
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| It Looks Like the Land Rover Discovery SVX Is Dead Posted: 15 Feb 2019 02:54 PM PST  This looks like another miss from Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations.
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| Global stocks surge on hopeful signs from US-China trade talks Posted: 15 Feb 2019 05:24 PM PST  New York (AFP) - European and US stock markets leapt on Friday as positive signs emerged from US-China trade talks aimed at averting an escalation of a tariff war between the world's top two economies.
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| During a school lockdown, 7-year-old writes note on her arm in case she dies Posted: 15 Feb 2019 10:11 AM PST  A second-grader wrote a chilling note to her parents on her arm during school lockdown.
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| FBI releases 16 drawings prolific serial killer Samuel Little made of his victims Posted: 14 Feb 2019 11:07 AM PST  The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released more than a dozen drawingsmade by a prolific serial killer in hopes the public may be able to identifysome of his victims
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| Mike Pence claims Iran is planning a ‘new Holocaust’ to destroy Israel Posted: 15 Feb 2019 06:02 AM PST  Iran is planning a "new Holocaust" to destroy Israel, US vice president Mike Pence claimed at a summit on peace and security in the Middle East. "The Iranian regime openly advocates another Holocaust and seeks the means to achieve it," he told delegates at the conference, which was co-hosted by the US and Poland in Warsaw. Mr Pence used his speech to encourage sceptical allies into joining an anti-Iran alliance, which includes Israel and Arabian Peninsula monarchies.
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| Denver teachers, school district reach deal to end strike Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:03 AM PST  The walkout, the first teachers' strike in Colorado's largest city since 1994, began on Monday after 15 months of contract talks broke down.
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| Our Favorite Eco-friendly Finds Put Sustainable Materials to Stylish Use Posted: 15 Feb 2019 05:00 AM PST |
| Netanyahu leaves Poland after plane mishap delayed departure Posted: 15 Feb 2019 03:37 AM PST  WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to spend an extra night in Warsaw after his plane was damaged following an airport mishap shortly before departure. He departed around noon Friday, marking an inauspicious ending to a turbulent visit.
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| The U.S. Navy Just Bought Four Giant, Robot Submarines from Boeing Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:00 PM PST  Orca could help to fill a yawning gap in the American submarine fleet. In December 2016, the U.S. Navy announced it needed 66 nuclear-powered attack subs, or SSNs, to meet regional commanders' needs.
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| The 20 Most Powerful Crossovers and SUVs You Can Buy in 2019 Posted: 15 Feb 2019 11:35 AM PST |
| USS Hornet has been found on the floor of the South Pacific, 76 years after it was sunk by the Japanese Posted: 14 Feb 2019 07:39 AM PST  Tim Gray interviewed the last surviving pilot from the 1942 Doolittle Raid that took off for Japan from the USS Hornet.
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| Amazon drops New York headquarters plan amid protests Posted: 14 Feb 2019 01:38 PM PST  Amazon abandoned plans for a new headquarters in New York City on Thursday, blaming opposition from community leaders angry at the huge subsidies being offered to one of the world's most successful companies. The online retail giant had promised the sprawling complex in the borough of Queens would create 25,000 jobs in exchange for nearly $3 billion in state and city incentives -- which had riled some New Yorkers. "While polls show that 70 percent of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project," Amazon said in a statement.
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| ICE: Suspect in death of woman whose body was stuffed into suitcase was in the US illegally Posted: 13 Feb 2019 08:12 PM PST  Javier Da Silva, a citizen of Portugal, entered the U.S. through the Visa Waiver Program, ICE said. He is accused of kidnapping resulting in a death.
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| Donald Trump will 'declare national emergency' to build Mexico border wall Posted: 14 Feb 2019 06:04 PM PST  Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to find extra funds to build his Mexico border wall, the most senior Republican in the US Senate announced on Thursday, setting up the prospect of a new court battle. Mitch McConnell, the Senate leader, said Mr Trump had pledged to sign a compromise deal that would provide more than $1 billion for barriers along the border but would also go one step further. "He also will be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. I indicated to him I'm going to support the national emergency declaration," Mr McConnell said. The announcement, made on the floor of the Senate as Mr McConnell was seeking to secure votes for the compromise package, came as a surprise and triggered a backlash from Democrats, civil rights activists and even some Republicans. "Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that President Trump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Credit: AFP Mr Trump had long floated the idea of declaring a national emergency, which would give him extra powers to unilaterally move around funds, as a way of circumventing Congress and ensuring he could deliver his campaign promise to build a Mexico border wall. However the prospect of a lengthy battle in America's courts – a legal challenge is all but inevitable – and vocal opposition from scores of Republican senators was thought to have convinced Mr Trump not to go down that path. Even Mr McConnell had criticised the idea publicly, saying last month: "I don't think much of that idea." But Mr Trump had come under criticism from leading right-wing US figures over a compromise deal that had been struck between Republican and Democrat congressmen this week. The US president had demanded $5.7 billion for more than 200 miles of wall along the US-Mexico border. That demand had led to a 35-day government shutdown, the longest in US history, before it reopened for three weeks of talks. Construction continues on a new, taller version of the border structure in Calexico, Calif Credit: AP But the new agreement included just $1.375 billion for 55 miles of new border barriers. Furthermore the barrier would be fencing rather than a concrete wall, as Mr Trump had once envisioned. Sean Hannity, the Fox News presenter who is close to the president, had dubbed the agreement a "garbage compromise". Mark Meadows, the Republican congressman who leads the influential Freedom Caucus, had also been critical. The US Senate overwhelmingly passed the compromise spending bill on Thursday before the House of Representatives followed suit later in the day, with a vote of 300 to 128. Mr Trump must sign the bill by midnight on Friday to avoid yet another government shutdown. By signing the bill and declaring a national emergency, Mr Trump would both avoid another shutdown – which he risked getting the blame for – and be able to show his supporters that he is still building the border wall. I'm speaking with reporters live from the Capitol ahead of the House's vote on the deal to KeepGovernmentOpen. https://t.co/cc3TgjzOoC— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 14, 2019 Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat House speaker, said she may launch a legal challenge and warned the move would create "great unease and dismay" among her party. "It is not an emergency, what is happening at the border," Ms Pelosi said, calling the claim an "illusion". She insisted that the constitution gave the "power of the purse" to Congress, appearing to question whether Mr Trump was overstepping his powers. Mr Trump has repeatedly stated he will look to other federal sources to fund his wall, noting on Wednesday that the administration has access to "a lot of money" being repurposed from existing federal funds to cover unmet wall construction costs. But some Republicans have been warning that an emergency declaration would set a potentially problematic precedent. "I have concerns about the precedent that could be set with the use of emergency action to re-appropriate funds," veteran Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said in a statement. "Accordingly, I will study the president's declaration closely." Sen. Mitch McConnell: "I've indicated to him that ... I'm going to support the national emergency declaration" https://t.co/WNYYsHmOtJpic.twitter.com/Wg2ez7WoJE— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 14, 2019 National emergencies have been declared 58 times since the laws were reformed in 1976, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, but none of those occasions was over spending which Congress would not grant. The move theoretically opens up at least 123 different powers that a US president could use, according to experts. But each one has a tight legal definition which Mr Trump would have to meet. There has been speculation that the Trump administration has been looking at two particular powers linked to military construction. But in both cases the government would have to be prove why the border wall is needed for national defence. Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator and close confidante of the president, said: "He has all the legal authority in the world to do this and I will stand behind him." Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said "we're very prepared" when asked about the possibility of a legal challenge but added that she did not expect one.
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| UK's Prince Harry visits marines in the Arctic on Valentine's Day Posted: 14 Feb 2019 06:11 AM PST  Britain's Prince Harry flew up to the Arctic on Valentine's Day to meet the Royal Marines and learn about special freezing-weather helicopter commando exercises. Harry, who is Captain General of the Royal Marines, visited northern Norway where he reviewed the Commando Helicopter Force which operates in temperatures as low as minus 30 Celsius. "This is the first time His Royal Highness has visited Joint Helicopter Command since becoming Captain General and it is great that he is doing the visit while we're in Norway," said Warrant Officer 1st Class Adrian Shepherd, who has served with force for 27 years.
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| Bentley Bentayga Speed: an SUV as luxurious as it is powerful Posted: 15 Feb 2019 06:40 AM PST  On Thursday Bentley unveiled the Bentayga Speed, an SUV with a top speed of 190 mph and 0- 62mph acceleration time of 3.9 seconds. Bentley celebrated its Valentine's Day by announcing what it calls the "world's fastest, most luxurious SUV:" the Bentayga Speed.
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| Thai party that nominated princess faces court decision Posted: 14 Feb 2019 03:40 AM PST  BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court said Thursday that it will decide whether to dissolve a political party that broke tradition by nominating a member of the royal family as its candidate for prime minister in next month's general election.
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| Russia, Turkey, Iran hail US Syria withdrawal Posted: 14 Feb 2019 08:43 AM PST  The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran hailed the planned US withdrawal from Syria as they met for talks Thursday on how to work more closely together in the country's long-running conflict. Hosting his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in the southern city of Sochi, President Vladimir Putin said the three welcomed the expected US pull-out from northeastern Syria. Russia and Iran -- who both back the regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad -- and rebel supporter Turkey have positioned themselves as key foreign players in Syria's long-running war.
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| BofA Says a ‘Real’ Trade Deal Could Vault S&P 500 to Record High Posted: 15 Feb 2019 10:23 AM PST  The firm's model on corporate earnings and equity valuations suggests that the market has priced in "a partial deal," one where only some of the issues get resolved in favor of corporate America, according to strategists led by Savita Subramanian. In a best-case scenario, the S&P 500 could climb 5 percent to 10 percent when a "real deal" is struck. Companies from 3M Co. to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. have slashed their guidance this year, citing either trade tensions or weakening demand in China.
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| Watch a space harpoon impale a piece of space debris Posted: 15 Feb 2019 08:52 AM PST  The U.S. government tracks 500,000 chunks and bits of space junk as they hurtle around Earth. Some 20,000 of these objects are larger than a softball.To clean up the growing mess, scientists at the University of Surrey have previously tested a net to catch chunks of debris. Now, they've successfully tested out a harpoon.The video below, released Friday by the university's space center, shows a test of the experimental RemoveDEBRIS satellite as it unleashes a harpoon at a piece of solar panel, held out on a 1.5-meter boom.The harpoon clearly impales its target. "This is RemoveDEBRIS' most demanding experiment and the fact that it was a success is testament to all involved," Guglielmo Aglietti, director of the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, said in a statement. Next, the RemoveDEBRIS team -- made up of a group of international collaborators -- is planning its final experiment: responsibly destroying the satellite.In March, the RemoveDEBRIS satellite will "inflate a sail that will drag the satellite into Earth's atmosphere where it will be destroyed," the university said a statement. This is how the group intends to vaporize the future dangerous debris it catches. SEE ALSO: Trump fails to block NASA's carbon sleuth from going to spaceHuman space debris hurtles around Earth faster than a speeding bullet, with debris often traveling at 17,500 mph, or faster. The threat of collisions is always present, though in some orbits the odds of an impact are significantly lower than others. The International Space Station, for instance, is in a relatively debris-free orbit, but even here there is the threat of "natural debris" -- micrometeors -- pummeling the space station.Other orbits have considerably more debris spinning around Earth. In 2009, a derelict Russian satellite slammed into a functional Iridium telecommunication satellite at 26,000 mph, resulting in an estimated 200,000 bits of debris. In 2007, the Chinese launched a missile at an old weather satellite, spraying shrapnel into Earth's orbit.This risk amplifies as more satellites are rocketed into space. SpaceX now has government-approved plans to launch thousands of its Starlink satellites into orbit -- perhaps by the mid-2020's, should they amass money for the pricey program. This would double or triple the number of satellites in orbit."It is unprecedented," said Kessler, NASA's former senior scientist for orbital debris research told Mashable. "The sheer number, that's the problem."Kessler has long warned about the potential of catastrophic chain reactions in Earth's orbit, wherein one collision creates enough weaponized debris to create a cycle of destruction. Designs to harpoon dangerous chunks of debris are just being tested in space today, but the technology could prove critical as Earth's orbit grows increasingly trafficked with large, metallic satellites. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?
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| Nothing says 'I love you' like heart-shaped ravioli stuffed with goat cheese Posted: 14 Feb 2019 06:50 AM PST  Welcome to Best Bites, a twice-weekly video series that aims to satisfy yournever-ending craving for food content through quick, beautiful videos for theat-home foodie
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| White supremacist gets life for killing black man to start a race war Posted: 14 Feb 2019 01:56 AM PST  James Jackson, 30, a former U.S. Army specialist, had hoped to start a race war when he attacked Timothy Caughman with a sword.
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| William Barr: Senate confirms Trump pick as new attorney general Posted: 14 Feb 2019 12:36 PM PST  Three months following the ousting of Jeff Sessions, the Senate voted to confirm William Barr for his second stint as attorney general. The Senate confirmation on Thursday will grant Mr Barr, a hardline Republican, the power to supervise the Department of Justice's ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia and its interference with the 2016 presidential election. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 54-45 in favour of President Donald Trump's nominee for the post.
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| Airlines to begin adding new gender option for 'non-binary' flyers Posted: 15 Feb 2019 01:03 PM PST ![Airlines to begin adding new gender option for 'non-binary' flyers]( "Airlines to begin adding new gender option for 'non-binary' flyers") Some U.S. airlines are on track to add a new gender option for "non-binary" passengers amid evolving best-practices suggestions for the industry.
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