| Andy Puzder abruptly withdraws as labor secretary nominee Posted: 15 Feb 2017 12:01 PM PST  Andy Puzder departs after a meeting with President-elect Trump in November. Andy Puzder, President Trump's embattled nominee for secretary of labor, has withdrawn his name from consideration. "After careful consideration and discussions with my family, I am withdrawing my nomination for Secretary of Labor," Puzder said in a statement on Wednesday.
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| Top Asian News 4:18 a.m. GMT Posted: 15 Feb 2017 08:18 PM PST ![Top Asian News 4:18 a.m. GMT]( "Top Asian News 4:18 a.m. GMT") KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police have arrested two women in the death of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korea's leader who was reportedly poisoned this week by a pair of female assassins as he waited for a flight in Malaysia, police said Thursday. The women were picked up separately Wednesday and early Thursday and were identified using CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill Monday morning before he died on the way to the hospital. The woman arrested Thursday was holding an Indonesian passport that identified her as 25-year-old Siti Aishah, a Malaysian police statement said.
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| Friend to plead guilty to aiding San Bernardino gunman: prosecutors Posted: 14 Feb 2017 06:05 PM PST ![Friend to plead guilty to aiding San Bernardino gunman: prosecutors]( "Friend to plead guilty to aiding San Bernardino gunman: prosecutors") By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man accused of buying assault-style rifles used by a married couple to massacre 14 people at a government office in San Bernardino in 2015 has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Enrique Marquez Jr., 25, will plead guilty to conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook in 2011 and 2012 to attack a community college and commuters on a Southern California freeway, prosecutors said. Marquez, a friend and former neighbor of Farook, has also agreed to plead guilty to making false statements about his purchase of two assault rifles used in the 2015 shooting rampage at the San Bernardino Inland Regional Center.
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| Russian Spy Ship Not A ‘Direct Threat,’ Pentagon Says Posted: 15 Feb 2017 09:51 PM PST  Viktor Leonov was spotted off the U.S. eastern coast soon after Donald Trump's national security adviser resigned amid security concerns over his communications with Russia.
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| Sheriff lifts evacuation order for residents near California dam Posted: 14 Feb 2017 06:37 PM PST  A sheriff lifted a mandatory evacuation order in northern California, which had impacted nearly 200,000 people in an area under threat of catastrophic failure at the tallest dam in the United States. The Butte County Sheriff's Department announced it had reduced the evacuation order to a warning, allowing people in downstream communities from Oroville Dam -- 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Sacramento -- to return home.
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| The best cruises for first-timers, families and excursions in 2017 Posted: 15 Feb 2017 07:21 AM PST  Disney, Viking and Celebrity cruise ships have emerged the top-rated brands by cruisers around the world.
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| Displaced people of Syria's "beehive" villages dream of return Posted: 15 Feb 2017 11:09 PM PST ![Displaced people of Syria's "beehive" villages dream of return]( "Displaced people of Syria's \"beehive\" villages dream of return") By Angus McDowall ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - The sculpted mud domes of the villages southeast of Aleppo are collapsing from war damage and neglect after years on the front line between Syria's army and Islamic State militants, their inhabitants long since gone. It's our village, we can't leave it," said a lean man in his 40s, traditional headdress worn over a long robe, who identified himself as Abu Mohammed. Syria's "beehive villages", so-called for the distinctive conical shapes of their mud houses, have long attracted the attention of outsiders, but many have been deserted during the waves of conflict that have rolled across the country.
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| Nigeria’s struggling textile industry Posted: 16 Feb 2017 06:02 AM PST ![Nigeria's struggling textile industry]( "Nigeria's struggling textile industry") Talba Goni has been trying, without luck, to secure government funds or loans to restart a textile plant in Kaduna, the former industrial heartland in northern Nigeria, that he was running until it closed almost 15 years ago. President Muhammadu Buhari hopes to revive the once-flourishing textile and leather industries in northern Nigeria to end the country's dependence on oil exports and diversify Africa's biggest economy.
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| Americans are becoming more tolerant of many religious groups, survey finds Posted: 15 Feb 2017 10:49 AM PST ![Americans are becoming more tolerant of many religious groups, survey finds]( "Americans are becoming more tolerant of many religious groups, survey finds") According to a Pew Research study released Wednesday, Americans have been warming up to other religious groups across the United States, even compared to a relatively recent study released by the nonpartisan research center. The survey found that positive feelings had increased for almost all of the various religious groups studied in this year's survey, compared to the study from three years ago. The coolest overall ratings were fairly neutral on the scale – 48 and 50 toward Muslims and atheists, respectively – but were a significant step up from a 2014 survey that rated the groups at a chillier 40 and 41 degrees.
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| Are Fresh U.S. Sanctions the Start of a Tougher Venezuela Policy From Trump? Posted: 15 Feb 2017 08:59 AM PST  The sanctions had their origins in the Obama era, but could they signify a policy change in the time of Trump?
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| The Latest: Bodies are those of 2 missing Indiana girls Posted: 15 Feb 2017 01:47 PM PST  DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — The Latest on the investigation into the deaths of two Indiana girls (all times local):
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| Fast Food Manager Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter Over Bullied Teen Worker Who Killed Himself Posted: 15 Feb 2017 05:21 PM PST  Kenneth Suttner, 17, shot himself in the head a few days before Christmas after repeatedly being bullied by his boss and fellow students, cops said.
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| Shows ban White House representatives Posted: 16 Feb 2017 12:41 PM PST  Some are concerned that banning White House reps from television and radio shows could prevent an open dialogue on important issues and prevent information from getting to the public.
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| Mattis Tells NATO To Up Defense Spending Posted: 15 Feb 2017 08:11 AM PST  In his first meeting with the international alliance Wednesday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. could "moderate its commitment" to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
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| Prosecutors from 15 countries to meet on Brazil scandal Posted: 15 Feb 2017 01:05 PM PST  Brasília (AFP) - Prosecutors from 15 countries will meet Thursday and Friday in Brasilia to discuss a massive bribery scandal at Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht which has spread across Latin America. The meeting will be headed by Brazil's prosecutor general, Rodrigo Janot. Odebrecht, one of the region's biggest construction companies, was at the heart of a scheme to bribe Brazilian state oil company Petrobras in exchange for inflated contracts.
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| Pope appears to back native tribes in Dakota Pipeline conflict Posted: 15 Feb 2017 10:39 AM PST ![Pope appears to back native tribes in Dakota Pipeline conflict]( "Pope appears to back native tribes in Dakota Pipeline conflict") By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis appeared on Wednesday to back Native Americans seeking to halt part of the Dakota Access Pipeline, saying indigenous cultures have a right to defend "their ancestral relationship to the earth". The Latin American pope, who has often strongly defended indigenous rights since his election in 2013, made his comments on protection of native lands to representative of tribes attending the Indigenous Peoples Forum in Rome. While he did not name the pipeline, he used strong and clear language applicable to the conflict, saying development had to be reconciled with "the protection of the particular characteristics of indigenous peoples and their territories".
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| Kangaroos, Zebras Among Exotic Animals Left Behind During California Dam Evacuations Posted: 15 Feb 2017 05:46 AM PST  Authorities say evacuees left behind some rare creatures.
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| Philippine president asked to release bank account details Posted: 16 Feb 2017 08:45 AM PST  MANILA, Philippines (AP) — An opposition senator pressed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday to publicly release details of his bank accounts to disprove allegations that he had large sums of undeclared money.
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| Damaged Dam System Threatens Northern California Towns Posted: 15 Feb 2017 11:09 AM PST  The spillways of Oroville Dam, the nation's tallest, are on the brink of catastrophic failure.
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| Myanmar activists fight for child servant rights Posted: 15 Feb 2017 03:53 AM PST  Thi Thi Nwe waited three days until the girl was left unguarded in her hospital bed to approach her, the first step in a months-long process highlighting the challenges of protecting child servants. "We are not afraid," said her colleague Win Win Maw, who is also working on the case.
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| Man pleads guilty to buying rifles in San Bernardino attack Posted: 16 Feb 2017 04:51 PM PST  RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California man who bought high-powered rifles used in the San Bernardino terror attack pleaded guilty on Thursday as the father of one of the victims angrily denounced the plea deal as a "slap on the wrist."
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| Damaged dam threatens Northern California towns Posted: 16 Feb 2017 07:10 AM PST ![Damaged dam threatens Northern California towns]( "Damaged dam threatens Northern California towns") Californians who were ordered to evacuate due to a threat from erosion at the tallest dam in the United States can now return home after state crews working around the clock reinforced a drainage channel that was weakened by heavy rain.
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| Barack and Michelle Were the World’s Cutest Couple on Valentine’s Day Posted: 14 Feb 2017 08:45 PM PST  Whatever your relationship status this Valentine's Day, Barack Obama's message to Michelle is guaranteed to make your heart swell.
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| US used depleted uranium rounds in anti-IS air strikes: military Posted: 16 Feb 2017 02:14 PM PST  The United States used depleted uranium anti-tank rounds on two occasions in 2015 during devastating air strikes against convoys of Islamic State tanker trucks, the Pentagon said Thursday. The military prizes depleted uranium munitions for their armor-piercing capabilities as well as for protective armor for tanks and vehicles. A by-product of uranium enrichment, depleted uranium "is mildly radioactive, with about 60 percent of the activity of natural uranium," it says.
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| NY Times says Trump campaign had repeated contact with Russian intelligence Posted: 14 Feb 2017 07:42 PM PST ![NY Times says Trump campaign had repeated contact with Russian intelligence]( "NY Times says Trump campaign had repeated contact with Russian intelligence") (Reuters) - Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing four current and former U.S. officials. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee, three of the officials said, according to the Times. The intelligence agencies then sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election, the newspaper said.
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| Google CEO Responds To 7-Year-Old's Job Application Posted: 16 Feb 2017 02:26 AM PST  Chloe Bridgewater had written a letter to Google's CEO Sundar Pichai expressing her desire to work in the company.
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| Global stocks gain as Fed shows confidence in rate hikes Posted: 15 Feb 2017 04:22 AM PST  BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates as soon as next month, a sign of confidence in the strength of the world's largest economy.
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| Mexico hails big year for tourism in 2016 Posted: 15 Feb 2017 10:56 PM PST  Mexico enjoyed a banner year in 2016 for tourism, hitting "historic highs" in part due to a spike in the number of US travelers drawn in by the weakened peso, the government said Wednesday. A total of 35 million foreign visitors went to Mexico last year, up nine percent from 2015, the tourism ministry said. The government said the figures showed that the tourism sector was "one of the main driving forces" for the country's economy.
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| Indian Rocket Launch to Carry a Record-Breaking 104 Satellites to Orbit Posted: 15 Feb 2017 11:09 AM PST  Eighty-eight of those 104 satellites will help makeup the most extensive network of Earth-imaging sats ever deployed.
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| Woman chained in container says captor bragged about killing Posted: 15 Feb 2017 12:50 AM PST  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina woman who spent two months chained inside a large metal container says her captor raped her daily and bragged that he was good at killing, claiming that his victims tallied nearly 100.
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| Dominican journalists shot dead during live radio broadcast Posted: 15 Feb 2017 06:47 AM PST  Two journalists were shot dead during a live radio broadcast in the Dominican Republic, police and media said. Unidentified attackers burst into the 103.5 FM studio as presenter Luis Manuel Medina was reading the news on air on Tuesday and shot him dead, station employees were quoted as saying by local media. Moments before that the station's director Leonidas Martinez was killed in his office, they said.
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| Venezuela pulls Spanish-language CNN from air for 'distorting truth' Posted: 15 Feb 2017 07:29 PM PST ![Venezuela pulls Spanish-language CNN from air for 'distorting truth']( "Venezuela pulls Spanish-language CNN from air for 'distorting truth'") By Girish Gupta and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro's government ordered the suspension of CNN's Spanish-language service from Venezuela's airwaves on Wednesday, accusing it of distorting the truth in coverage. U.S.-based 'CNN en Espanol' became unavailable on Venezuela's major cable providers minutes after a statement by telecommunications regulator Conatel announcing the suspension. The network had irked the socialist government with various reports, including one alleging passports and visas were being sold illegally at Venezuela's embassy in Iraq.
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| Yahoo notifies users of sophisticated breach methods Posted: 15 Feb 2017 01:36 PM PST  Yahoo said Wednesday it was notifying some users that hackers may have been able to use a maneuver to break into their accounts without stealing passwords. The notification indicates the investigation into the attacks are in the final stage, according to a source familiar with the matter, noting that messages had been sent to "a reasonably final list" of Yahoo users. A Yahoo spokesman said the company was notifying all potentially affected users and that it had "invalidated" the forged cookies.
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| Older women reduce their endometrial cancer risk with weight loss Posted: 15 Feb 2017 01:13 PM PST ![Older women reduce their endometrial cancer risk with weight loss]( "Older women reduce their endometrial cancer risk with weight loss") By Shereen Lehman (Reuters Health) - Postmenopausal women who intentionally lost weight over the course of three years had a much lower risk of endometrial cancer up to 11 years later compared to women whose weight didn't change, a U.S. study finds. Overall, women who intentionally lost 5 percent or more of their body weight had 29 percent lower risk of developing endometrial cancer during the study period, and the effect was most pronounced for obese women, whose risk dropped by 66 percent with weight loss. "We decided to do the study because we realized that, although obesity increases the risk of endometrial cancer, research couldn't say if intentional weight loss, especially among older persons, could reduce that risk," lead author Juhua Luo, of the School of Public Health at Indiana University in Bloomington, told Reuters health in an email.
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| Melania Trump Channels Jackie O Posted: 15 Feb 2017 07:08 AM PST  Although Jackie Kennedy's time at the White House took place over thirty years ago, First Lady Melania Trump isn't letting the world forget about her fashion legacy.
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| Fashion Week's Crowning Natural-Hair Moments Posted: 15 Feb 2017 01:03 PM PST  Now, more than ever, diversity is becoming a forethought for many designers during New York Fashion Week. This season, natural hairstyles were spotted at many collections, suggesting that the industry is working to become more inclusive and acknowledging different ways one wears their hair.
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| Pagani raises the roof and raises the bar with the Huayra Roadster Posted: 15 Feb 2017 07:13 AM PST  The Geneva Motor Show may not be until March 9 but with the latest creation from Pagani -- the Huayra Roadster -- we could already be looking at this year's star car. Every hypercar from this boutique company would be equally at home on display at MoMA as it would lapping Monza, but for his latest creation company founder and chief designer Horacio Pagani may well have set a new benchmark for a car that's equal parts art and racing science. "This is the most complicated project we have ever undertaken," said Pagani.
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| Syria's Assad lashes out at France's Hollande ahead of polls Posted: 16 Feb 2017 02:42 AM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad lashed out at his French counterpart on Thursday, accusing Francois Hollande of sponsoring terror in Syria and encouraging Western nations to reset their relations with his pariah government, after six years of civil war.
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| 10 Things to Know for Wednesday Posted: 14 Feb 2017 06:10 PM PST  Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:
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| Deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan Posted: 15 Feb 2017 08:13 AM PST ![Deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan]( "Deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan") Two suicide bombings in northwestern Pakistan killed at least six people on Wednesday following an almost three-month-long lull in the volatile region. Three policemen and two passers-by died in that attack, which took place in the Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, or Freedom Movement, claimed the attack in a text message sent to The Associated Press.
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| Young man charged in shooting death of 11-year-old Chicago girl Posted: 15 Feb 2017 04:21 PM PST ![Young man charged in shooting death of 11-year-old Chicago girl]( "Young man charged in shooting death of 11-year-old Chicago girl") A 19-year-old Chicago man has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an 11-year-old girl, one of three children fatally shot in the city in recent days, Chicago police said on Wednesday. Antwan Jones, 19, was charged after turning himself into police late on Tuesday, Chicago Police Department Commander Brendan Deenihan told a news conference on Wednesday. Takiya Holmes, 11, was shot in the head on Saturday evening while sitting in the back seat of a van outside the Parkway Gardens housing complex on the city's South Side.
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| Thai cops search scandal-hit temple for wanted monk Posted: 16 Feb 2017 06:12 AM PST  Thai police left empty handed after a day-long search of a massive Buddhist temple for a monk wanted over a multi-million-dollar scam on Thursday, the latest twist in a saga highlighting a split over the nation's faith. The sweep of the powerful and ultra-rich Wat Dhammakaya temple on Bangkok's outskirts comes after Thailand's junta chief invoked special powers to put its sprawling 1,000-acre compound under military control. The former abbot is believed to be holed up inside the compound, which is famous for its space-age architecture, though he has not been seen in public for months.
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| Boeing workers in South Carolina reject union Posted: 15 Feb 2017 06:07 PM PST  Boeing workers in South Carolina voted down union representation, handing a victory to the aerospace giant in a US region historically hostile to organized labor. Boeing said in a news release that 74 percent of the 2,828 votes cast supported the company and rejected the overtures of representation by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. "We will continue to move forward as one team," said Joan Robinson-Berry, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina.
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| United Arab Emirates Plans To Build First City On Mars Posted: 15 Feb 2017 08:35 AM PST  The UAE planned for the "mini-city" to have a population of 600,000.
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| Almost 56,000 U.S. bridges structurally deficient: report Posted: 15 Feb 2017 10:00 AM PST ![Almost 56,000 U.S. bridges structurally deficient: report]( "Almost 56,000 U.S. bridges structurally deficient: report") Almost 56,000 U.S. bridges are structurally deficient, down slightly from a year ago, with underperforming spans including New York's landmark Brooklyn Bridge, accord to a construction industry report released on Wednesday. About 1,900 structurally deficient bridges are on interstate highways and vehicles cross underperforming U.S. spans 185 million times a day, the analysis of federal data by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association found.
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| 6 Tips for Managing Money With Your Significant Other Posted: 15 Feb 2017 07:06 AM PST ![6 Tips for Managing Money With Your Significant Other]( "6 Tips for Managing Money With Your Significant Other") Whether we don't have enough of it or don't know how to look after what we do have, it seems like many of us have difficult relationships with money. The money talk is rarely something couples look forward to, but it's vital to both healthy relationships and healthy finances. Fortunately, like so much else in our relationships, managing finances together can be tolerable, even pleasant, by learning to listen, empathize and share a little bit better.
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| US arrests Mexican immigrant 'dreamer' in Seattle Posted: 14 Feb 2017 10:02 PM PST  SEATTLE (AP) — A man who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation by President Barack Obama's administration has been taken into custody in the Seattle area in what could be the first case of its kind in the country.
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| Evacuation lifted for 200K Californians living below dam Posted: 14 Feb 2017 06:22 PM PST  OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Nearly 200,000 Northern Californians who live downstream of the country's tallest dam were allowed to return home Tuesday after two nights of uncertainty, but they were warned they may have to again flee to higher ground on a moment's notice if hastily made repairs to the battered structure don't hold.
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| Air raid kills eight women, child at Yemen funeral Posted: 16 Feb 2017 02:53 PM PST  An air strike killed eight women and a child at a funeral reception near the Yemeni capital, witnesses said Thursday, adding to the conflict's mounting civilian death toll. At least 10 other women were wounded in the overnight raid on the district of Arhab, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Sanaa, medics sent to the site told AFP. The United Nations gave the toll as at least six women and one girl killed, with Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN's special envoy to Yemen, branding such attacks on civilians as "unjustifiable".
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| 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Posted: 15 Feb 2017 11:00 AM PST  What's it take to be the second-best pickup? Hint: a lot.
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