| Poland Demands Israeli Response Over ‘Racist’ Holocaust Comments Posted: 18 Feb 2019 04:37 AM PST  Morawiecki canceled sending a delegation to Jerusalem, where he was slated to meet his counterparts from the Visegrad Group of eastern European nations Monday, after Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu was reported as saying last week that the Polish nation cooperated with Nazi occupiers during World War II. While Israel clarified that Netanyahu had been talking about "individuals, and not the whole nation" collaborating with the Nazis, the comments drew swift reaction from the government in Warsaw, which has passed laws criminalizing the act of blaming Poland or its people for wartime crimes committed against Jews and other minorities.
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| U.S.-backed Syria force seeks help with Islamic State prisoner 'time bomb' Posted: 18 Feb 2019 07:18 AM PST  The fate of foreign fighters who joined Islamic State, as well as of their wives and children, has become more pressing in recent days as U.S.-backed fighters plan an assault to capture the last enclave of the group's self-styled Caliphate. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday European countries must do more to take them back or "we will be forced to release them". It's not clear to me how all that can be guaranteed." Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of foreign relations in the region held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, said authorities there were holding some 800 foreign fighters.
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| Aurora shooting victim Josh Pinkard texted love to his wife as he lay dying Posted: 18 Feb 2019 12:54 PM PST  One of the victims of a gunman's rampage in Illinois texted love to his wife as he lay dying: "I received a text at 1:24 from my precious husband."
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| Aurora warehouse where 5 killed won't reopen until next week Posted: 18 Feb 2019 12:07 PM PST  AURORA, Ill. (AP) — The suburban Chicago manufacturing warehouse where five people were fatally shot won't reopen until next week, but its doors will be open to support workers, company officials said Monday.
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| Amazon announces plans to make half of shipments carbon neutral by 2030 Posted: 18 Feb 2019 11:47 AM PST  Online retail giant Amazon has announced plans to make alf if its shipments carbon neutral by the year 2030. The company, which ships millions of packages a year to shoppers, said that it will achieve that goal by switching to renewable energy sources and by asking suppliers to reimagine their packaging. "It won't be easy to achieve this goal, but it's worth being focused and stubborn on this vision and we're committed to seeing it through," Dave Clark, Amazon senior vice president of worldwide operations, said.
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| The New Ford Focus ST Looks Awesome and Makes 276 Horsepower Posted: 18 Feb 2019 01:00 PM PST  It's not too late for Ford to change its mind about bringing this hot hatch to America, is it?
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| India, Pakistan 'spy' row heads for UN top court amid tensions Posted: 18 Feb 2019 12:35 AM PST  India will on Monday renew its bid to persuade international judges to take an alleged spy off death row in Pakistan, in a controversial court case as fresh bloodshed in Kashmir sends tensions between the neighbours soaring. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, a former Indian navy officer, was arrested in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan in March 2016 on charges of espionage and sentenced to death by a military court. India insists Jadhav was not a spy and that he was kidnapped in Pakistan.
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| Florida inmates use criminal skills to rescue baby from car Posted: 18 Feb 2019 12:09 PM PST  A group of prisoners in Florida put their criminal skills to good use on Valentine's Day – breaking into a car, to free a baby locked inside. The prisoners, on work-release, were repairing parking meters in Pasco County, north of Tampa, when they spotted the family in distress. The one-year-old child was trapped inside the car, with the keys inside. The family was unable to afford a locksmith and so, in the 56 degree Fahrenheit heat, the father was preparing to break the window. That is when the prisoners, in their black and white uniforms, offered to help, and worked in a team to pry open the front door just enough for one inmate to use a coat hanger to push a button that unlocked the 4x4's door. In a video, which has gone viral, police are heard telling the father to "pop his head in the window" so "strange faces" would not scare the baby. Another person in the video, filmed by the baby's mother Shadow Lantry, can be heard commenting on the "hilarious situation," with police watching the crew unlock the car. The whole endeavour took about two minutes, and ended with the group cheering. Ms Lantry said the child was "just sitting there happy" throughout the ordeal. The parents thanked the crew, deputies and firefighters for their help.
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| Here’s What’s Open and Closed on President’s Day 2019 Posted: 17 Feb 2019 06:23 AM PST  Find out if banks, schools and the post office are open on President's day
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| The Latest: US Jewish group asks Poland, Israel to stay calm Posted: 18 Feb 2019 06:19 AM PST  WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Latest on the dispute between Poland and Israel (all times local):
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| Trump Wanted Russia in Memo Firing Comey, Former FBI Leader Says Posted: 17 Feb 2019 05:31 PM PST  McCabe said in a pre-recorded interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" broadcast on Sunday that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein didn't want to include a reference to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in the memo he wrote citing reasons why Comey should be fired, but that Trump insisted. Rosenstein "explained to the president that he did not need Russia in his memo.
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| Gisele Bundchen flaunts bikini bod, Tom Brady during family vacation Posted: 18 Feb 2019 05:17 AM PST  Gisele Bundchen flaunts bikini bod and husband Tom Brady during a family vacation to Costa Rica.
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| Sex abuse survivors to meet with Vatican summit organizers Posted: 18 Feb 2019 05:29 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (AP) — The organizers of Pope Francis' summit on preventing clergy sex abuse will meet this week with a dozen abuse victims who have descended on Rome to protest the Catholic Church's response to the crisis and demand an end to decades of cover-up by church leaders, officials said Monday.
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| Politicians squabble over who is to blame for Amazon decision to ditch New York Posted: 17 Feb 2019 02:22 PM PST ![Politicians squabble over who is to blame for Amazon decision to ditch New York]( "Politicians squabble over who is to blame for Amazon decision to ditch New York") Politicians bickered Sunday over who is to blame after Amazon canceled second headquarters in New York.
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| GMC Acadia souped up with new engine, trim, and tech Posted: 18 Feb 2019 07:53 AM PST  GMC has unveiled the refreshed Acadia for the 2020 model year complete with a new trim, a fresh look, and the latest GMC infotainment system. GMC announced on Monday that the Acadia has gotten its midcycle refresh, and now, the lineup looks more like a group of Sierra pickups from the front than mid-size SUVs. In addition to its new exterior styling, the Acadia has a new powertrain option and an assortment of new technologies including an enhanced infotainment system and heads-up display.
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| Macau police investigate suspected murder at Sands casino resort: media Posted: 17 Feb 2019 10:02 PM PST  Police in the world's biggest gambling hub of Macau are investigating what they suspect is a rare murder in a five-star casino resort after a Chinese man was found stabbed in his bed, broadcaster TDM reported on Monday. Murder cases have been rare in the Chinese territory since Portugal ceded control of what had been a colonial backwater on the heel of China's southern coast 20 years ago. The suspected murder took place in Sands China's Conrad Macau hotel, TDM reported, citing police.
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| Shamima Begum is 'traumatised', says her lawyer as he likens Isil bride to a First World War soldier Posted: 18 Feb 2019 07:25 AM PST  The Isil bride who travelled to Syria to marry a terrorist is "traumatised", according to her lawyer, who likened his client to a First World War soldier. Shamima Begum, 19, flew to the Middle East four years ago to join the terror group. There, she married a Dutch-born fighter with whom she had three children. Her two eldest children have died, but she gave birth at a refugee camp in northeastern Syria on the weekend and now wants to return to Britain. In an interview over the weekend, Begum said that people should be feeling sympathy for her, and her lawyer Tasnime Akunjee defended her attitude. He told ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday: "I think it's difficult to take what she's saying in the current circumstances and try to draw from the lack of emotion that she has. "She's a traumatised person. She finds herself in a camp and was clearly quite attached to her husband, it would seem, and suddenly he's not by her side." When confronted with the fact Begum does not seem traumatised and instead appeared to be composed, Mr Akunjee said: "You might've said the same thing about a World War One soldier in the middle of shellshock." Presenter Richard Madeley said this comparison was "a bit of a stretch", to which Mr Akumjee responded: "It's a warzone. They're both warzones." Lawyer Tasnime Akunjee Credit: Emrah Gurel/AP The teenager, who gave birth to a baby boy on the weekend, appeared to defend the Manchester Arena bombing as tit-for-tat retaliation for air strikes in Syria. In an interview with the BBC, she said the deaths of 22 innocent people in the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 were akin to the "women and children" being bombed in Isil territory in Baghuz. She told the broadcaster: "I do feel that it's wrong that innocent people did get killed. It's one thing to kill a soldier that is fighting you, it's self-defence, but to kill the people like women and children... "Just people like the women and children in Baghuz that are being killed right now unjustly, the bombings. It's a two-way thing really. "Because women and children are being killed back in the Islamic State right now and it's kind of retaliation. Like, their justification was that it was retaliation so I thought 'OK, that is a fair justification'." She was partly inspired by videos of fighters beheading hostages and partly by other propaganda films showing the "good life" IS could offer. The Begum's family lawyer, Mr Akunjee, said he understood some of the responses to her pleas for sympathy. He told BBC Breakfast: "The family have gone out of their way from day one to try to get her away from the Isil narrative and the context which she finds herself in. "She's been there for four years and we would be surprised if she hadn't been further damaged beyond the degree she had already been groomed into. "The family are concerned, as they have been for the last four years, not just to get her away, but, as of yesterday, to make sure that their grandchild - her child - is not influenced by that sort of thinking." Mr Akunjee said he anticipated that Begum would probably face criminal proceedings upon any return to the UK, but said it was the family's hope that she would be given professional help following her experience in Syria. Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK for Syria in February 2015. Ms Sultana was reported to have been killed in an air strike in 2016, while the other two are reported to still be alive. 'Show me some sympathy', says Isil bride after giving birth The British schoolgirl who ran away to join Isil has appealed for public sympathy following the birth of her son, as a row intensifies over whether she should be allowed to return to the UK. Shamima Begum, 19, went to Syria in 2015 and was discovered there in a refugee camp last week, heavily pregnant and insisting she wanted to go home. The birth of her child over the weekend prompted calls for the baby to be subject to care proceedings should Begum be able to return from Syria, as it emerged that the Family Division of the High Court had presided over cases involving at least 150 children deemed at risk of radicalisation in the last five years. In an interview with Sky News recorded at the Kurdish-controlled camp to which she fled from the last pocket of Isil-controlled territory, Begum said there was "no evidence" she had done anything wrong and she could not see "any reason" why her child should be taken from her when she had simply been living as a housewife. Speaking just hours after giving birth, her baby at her side, she said she had no regrets about fleeing the family home in Bethnal Green, east London, to support Isil, claiming the experience had made her "stronger, tougher". Shamima Begum's Dutch-born husband Yago Riedjik She said she could see a future for herself and her son, whom she has named Jarah after one of the two children she lost to malnutrition and disease in the last three months, "if the UK are willing to take me back and help me start a new life again and try and move on from everything that's happened in the last four years". She added: "I wouldn't have found someone like my husband [Yago Riedijk, 26, a Muslim convert from the Netherlands] in the UK. I had my kids, I had a good time there." Her other children, Jarah and Surayah, a daughter, died aged 18 months and nine months. Asked how she felt about the debate over whether she should be allowed to return home, Begum said: "I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I've been through. "I didn't know what I was getting into when I left, I just was hoping that maybe for the sake of me and my child they let me come back. "I can't live in this camp forever. It's not really possible." In the interview, Begum apologised for the first time to her family for running away, and said that though she knew it was "like a big slap in the face" for her to ask after she had previously rejected their calls for her to return, "I really need their help". Tim Loughton, deputy chairman of the home affairs select committee, said he thought it "extraordinary" that Begum was asking to come back while showing "not a scintilla of regret". The Conservative MP added: "My own feeling is in line with most others, that she has made her bed and should lie in it. But the law must prevail and we are probably going to have to let her back" "However, I think her child should be subjected to care proceedings due to the threat of radicalisation." He said a forthcoming report by the Henry Jackson Society disclosed that the Family Division of the High Court had presided over cases involving at least 150 children deemed at risk of radicalisation in the last five years. Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, said last week that he would "not hesitate" to prevent the return of anyone who supported terrorist organisations abroad. He reiterated his stance in a Sunday newspaper article, expressing compassion for any child born or brought into a conflict zone, but stating that the safety and security of children living in this country had to be the priority. Isil schoolgirls' journey into Syria Jeremy Wright, the Culture Secretary and former Attorney General, said Britain was "obliged" to take back British citizens. However, he added: "That doesn't mean that we can't put in place the necessary security measures to monitor their activities. It doesn't mean either that we can't seek to hold them to account for their behaviour thus far." He said the nationality of Begum's baby was a "difficult question", but the pair's health was the most pressing matter. "In the end she will have to answer for her actions," he added. "So I think it is right that if she's able to come back to the UK that she does so on the understanding that we can hold her to account for her behaviour thus far." Ms Begum said she was attracted to Isil by videos that she had seen online, which she said showed "how they'll take care of you". She said she knew that the group carried out beheadings, but that she "was OK with it at first. I started becoming religious just before I left and from what I heard Islamically that is all allowed". "At first it was nice," she said of life in the so-called Islamic State. "It was how they showed it in the videos, you know, you come, make a family together, but then things got harder. "We had to keep moving and moving and moving. The situation got fraught." Begum acknowledged that it would be "really hard" to be rehabilitated after everything she had been through. "I'm still in that mentality of planes over my head, emergency backpacks, starving... it would be a big shock to go back to the UK and start again," she said. Isil bride Shamima Begum | Read more Writing in The Sunday Times, Mr Javid said that decisions about what to do with potential returnees had to be made on a case-by-case basis, based on the "facts of each case, the law and the threat to national security". He added: "I think about the children that could in future get caught up in dangerous groups if we don't take a firm stance against those who support them… And that means sending a message to those who have backed terrorism: there will be consequences." His comments were described as "sick" by Ms Begum's lawyer on Sunday. Mr Akunje told Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "We are talking about a newborn baby who poses no risk or threat to anybody, [who is] not even cognitive, and yet he's speaking about a child who's a British citizen in terms of a security threat." Mr Akunje suggested that the birth of Begum's child increased pressure on the British authorities to allow her to return home. He also revealed that Begum's family has struggled to make direct contact with her and is now considering the possibility of getting out to Syria themselves. Her family has indicated that if she is jailed for supporting a terrorist group, they want to step in and raise her son themselves. Begum names boy after Islamic warlord, historian says Quoting Sunday's Telegraph story on Twitter, leading historian Tom Holland accused Begum of having "the moral self-awareness of a brick". He said that the Isil bride's baby boy has been named after Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah - a general from the early days of the Arab conquests chiefly famed for beating infedels. Begum said she named the boy after one of her other two children who have since died in Syria. But Mr Holland said it was the name her husband took after converting to Islam, insisting it was a deliberate glorification of Islamic brutality. If she'd wanted to signal that she was returning to Britain in peace, she might have considered naming her baby after someone other than Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, a general from the early days of the Arab conquests chiefly famed for beating the crap out of infidels.— Tom Holland (@holland_tom) February 17, 2019 Cressida Dick hits back at claims Met failed The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has hit back at claims that officers failed to stop another runaway schoolgirl on the same flight as a 15-year-old arrested as she attempted to flee the UK to join Islamic State (IS). Cressida Dick said it was "incredibly complicated" and difficult to know about somebody's intentions, and claimed the schoolgirls - Sharmeena Begum and another unnamed passenger - were in fact on separate flights as the latter was pulled from the runway at Heathrow in December 2014 when she sought to get to Syria. The Times newspaper said the 15-year-old was arrested but not prosecuted, despite officers finding extremist material on her devices. Asked about the flight to Istanbul, on which both Sharmeena Begum and the unnamed 15-year-old were said to have been passengers en route to Syria, Ms Dick told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "I think it was actually a different flight and I think the question that's being asked is whether we were able to pass on sufficient information and understand well enough what these three girls were intending. "The truth of the matter is it's incredibly hard to know what somebody's intending. "The moment we informed the school about the girl who came off the flight, we did not know these girls were intending that, they were merely witnesses and we were talking to them as witnesses. These things are incredibly complicated. "We try to stop people from travelling when we knew they were travelling with ill-intent." 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| 7 Lawmakers Quit U.K.'s Labour Party Over Brexit and Anti-Semitism Posted: 18 Feb 2019 04:41 AM PST  Seven U.K. lawmakers resigned in an act of protest against the party's Brexit policy and persistent allegations of anti-Semitism.
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| Trade War Heats Up as EU Vows to Retaliate on U.S. Auto Tariffs Posted: 18 Feb 2019 07:35 AM PST  If European exports are hit by U.S. actions, the EU will "react in a swift and adequate manner," Margaritis Schinas, a spokesman for the European Commission, told reporters in Brussels on Monday -- a day after President Donald Trump received a report on the national-security implications posed by auto imports. The EU has prepared tariffs on a total of 20 billion euros ($23 billion) in U.S. goods should Trump follow through on his threat, which would chiefly hit Germany.
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| UK's May to speak to every EU head in bid for Brexit deal changes Posted: 17 Feb 2019 06:17 AM PST  In her talks with EU leaders and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker she will be seeking to change the Irish backstop, one of the most contentious parts of the withdrawal agreement she agreed in November, her office said. May has told EU leaders she could pass her deal with concessions primarily around the backstop - a guarantee that there can be no return to border controls between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland. The backstop has become one of the main points of contention ahead of Britain's planned departure from the EU next month after 45 years.
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| Joe Biden tells Europeans that America is 'an embarrassment' Posted: 16 Feb 2019 09:46 PM PST  Former Vice President Joe Biden says the America he sees values basic human decency, not snatching children from their parents or turning our backs on refugees at the border.
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| Will Procter & Gamble stock split again soon? Posted: 18 Feb 2019 06:44 AM PST ![Will Procter & Gamble stock split again soon?]( "Will Procter & Gamble stock split again soon?") Since 1970, P&G stock has usually traded for several weeks or a few months above $100 before shares split.
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| Venezuela state internet provider blocks volunteer aid page Posted: 18 Feb 2019 07:39 AM PST  Venezuela's state internet provider CANTV has blocked a webpage where volunteers sign up to answer National Assembly president Juan Guaido's call to help bring in desperately needed humanitarian aid, the opposition said on Monday. Guaido says he wants one million volunteers by Saturday, the deadline day he has set to bring in the aid piling up at the border with Colombia and aiming to alleviate food and medicine shortages. Last week the opposition hit out at CANTV for redirecting the volunteers webpage to another almost identical looking site to prevent more people from signing up to self-declared acting president Guaido's cause.
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| Thousands brave freezing cold in vigil for Illinois shooting victims Posted: 17 Feb 2019 02:54 PM PST  Solemn mourners stood before five white crosses with the names of the dead that became a shrine to the victims bearing pictures and hand-written remembrances outside the factory where the shooting took place in Aurora, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Chicago. "My heart is broken again for the family members of the victims," said Mary Kay Mace, mother of the late Ryanne Mace, who was killed 11 years ago in a mass shooting at Northern Illinois University. It's a hard, difficult trek but it can be done," said Mace, 55, who drove three hours from Petersburg, Illinois, and wore a university pin to honor shooting victim Trevor Wehner, a 21-year-old intern from NIU who was on his first day on the job.
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| N Carolina elections head says ballots handled illegally Posted: 18 Feb 2019 04:47 PM PST  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Republican operative conducted an illegal and well-funded ballot-harvesting operation, North Carolina's elections director said Monday, but the first session of a days-long hearing produced scant evidence that the GOP congressional candidate he worked for knew about it or even benefited.
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| Southwest Airlines under FAA investigation for aircraft weight, balance calculations Posted: 18 Feb 2019 01:51 PM PST ![Southwest Airlines under FAA investigation for aircraft weight, balance calculations]( "Southwest Airlines under FAA investigation for aircraft weight, balance calculations") The investigation began in February 2018, and there have been no fines nor enforcement action from the investigation to date.
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| New York's Amazon rejection exposes US opportunity gap and Democrats' political disconnect Posted: 18 Feb 2019 02:05 PM PST  Democrats should consider this a wake-up call for 2020 when they must win states that don't have dynamic urban economies like New York or California.
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| Trump Receives Report on U.S. Security Threat of Car Imports Posted: 18 Feb 2019 04:11 AM PST  Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has submitted his recommendations to Trump, the department said in a statement on Sunday in Washington, without offering any insights into the findings. Trump has 90 days to decide whether to act on the findings. Trump has threatened levies of as much as 25 percent on foreign-made vehicles.
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| This Is the Airpower Theorist the Air Force Needs (And Already Has) Posted: 17 Feb 2019 01:22 AM PST  There is no need to borrow from seapower theory to think soundly about airpower theory.
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| Indian authorities detain 23 after deadly Kashmir attack Posted: 17 Feb 2019 11:06 AM PST  Indian forces have detained 23 men suspected of links to the Pakistan-based militant group that masterminded the bombing of an Indian security convoy that killed 44 paramilitary police, a top police official said on Sunday. The 23 men included members and sympathisers of Jaish-e-Mohammad, the militant group that claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack, the deadliest on Indian security forces in decades. The attack has fuelled tensions between India and Pakistan. India has demanded Pakistan close down Jaish-e-Mohammad and other Islamist militant groups that operate from its soil, while Islamabad has rejected suggestions it was linked to the attack. Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility, is claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan, but is ruled in part by both south Asian countries. Representatives of India's National Investigating Agency questioned the suspects about the bombing on Sunday, two security officials said. "They are trying to reach out to the top commanders of Jaish-e-Mohammad, including its Kashmir Chief," one of the sources said. Mohammed Umair, the commander of the group in Kashmir who is believed to have plotted the attack, is suspected to be hiding in the region where the attacks took place, the officials said. The officials say Mr Umair had "radicalized and motivated" the Kashmiri school dropout who rammed a car laden with explosives into the convoy on Thursday. Mr Umair is thought to have entered Indian Kashmir from Pakistan in September to head the Jaish in the region. Security forces suspect he is in hiding in southern Kashmir, according to the officials, who could not be named as a matter of policy. Indian officials say Mr Umair is a nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammad's chief, Masood Azhar, who is believed to be in Pakistan. Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, has promised a strong response to the attack and says he has given the military a free hand to tackle cross-border militancy.
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| This Week: Walmart results, Fed minutes, US home sales Posted: 17 Feb 2019 09:05 PM PST ![This Week: Walmart results, Fed minutes, US home sales]( "This Week: Walmart results, Fed minutes, US home sales") A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
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| Thousands attend vigil for Aurora shooting victims Posted: 17 Feb 2019 03:20 PM PST  More than 2,000 people braved sub-freezing temperatures Sunday for a vigil honoring those killed by a factory worker who opened fire after losing his job.
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| Alabama man awarded $151M in Ford Explorer rollover lawsuit Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:36 AM PST ![Alabama man awarded $151M in Ford Explorer rollover lawsuit]( "Alabama man awarded $151M in Ford Explorer rollover lawsuit") Jury finds company failed to meet safety guidelines and destroyed testing data.
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| No more A380s? Why Airbus' bet on 'superjumbo' jets failed Posted: 18 Feb 2019 12:28 PM PST ![No more A380s? Why Airbus' bet on 'superjumbo' jets failed]( "No more A380s? Why Airbus' bet on 'superjumbo' jets failed") It's official: Airbus will pull the plug on its A380 double-decker jet. The latest A380 is now expected to roll off the assembly line in 2021.
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| Israel trims funds to Palestinians over militant stipends Posted: 17 Feb 2019 10:09 AM PST ![Israel trims funds to Palestinians over militant stipends]( "Israel trims funds to Palestinians over militant stipends") Under interim peace deals, Israel collects taxes on behalf the Palestinians, who put the current sums at $222 million a month. With negotiations stalled since 2014, Israel has at times withheld money as a measure of protest or pressure. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, though facing steep aid cuts by Donald Trump's administration that he has boycotted over perceived bias, has held to paying stipends to the families of Palestinians jailed as security offenders or killed by Israel.
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| Lawmakers Expect Vote to Block Trump's Order, Then Face a Veto Posted: 17 Feb 2019 09:25 AM PST  Trump on Friday issued the emergency to divert certain military funding for wall construction, after Congress approved only $1.375 billion of the $5.7 billion he sought in a bipartisan budget bill to avoid a second partial government shutdown. House Democrats may soon pass a resolution opposing the declaration, and Democrats in the Senate, while in the minority, could force a vote on it. Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio both said on ABC's "This Week" that they expect a resolution in Congress opposing Trump's order to have enough votes to pass their respective chambers by simple majorities.
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| Australia's major political parties hacked by 'state actor' ahead of elections Posted: 18 Feb 2019 12:15 AM PST  A "sophisticated state actor" was behind a cyberattack on the Australian Parliament's computing network that also affected the network of major political parties, the prime minister said on Monday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not identify the state behind what he described as a "malicious intrusion" on Feb 8. A joint statement from House of Representatives speaker Tony Smith and Senate president Scott Ryan said at the time there was no evidence that data had been accessed in the breach. But lawmakers were advised to change passwords. Morrison revealed Monday that the computer networks of the government parties - the Liberal Party and the Nationals - as well as the opposition Labor Party had also been affected. Australia's security agencies were securing those systems and protecting users, he said. "Our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity," Morrison told reporters. "Let me be clear, though - there is no evidence of any electoral interference. We have put in place a number of measures to ensure the integrity of our electoral system," he added. The Australian Cyber Security Center, the government's main cyber security agency, had briefed federal and state election authorities, Morrison said. New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, will hold elections on March 23. A federal election will be held on a date to be set in May. Duncan Lewis, director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation's main spy agency, would not comment on how deeply the attack had penetrated the computer networks. "The electoral machinery which we have in this country, that's the Australian Electoral Commission and the various state electoral commissions that work with the federal system - there is no evidence that they have been compromised," Lewis told a Senate committee. He would not say whether the attack had been neutralized, saying it was "being managed." Although Australian officials have not blamed any country, in 2011 it was reported that China was suspected of accessing the email system used by lawmakers and parliamentary staff. Election interference has been high on the international agenda ever since America's 2016 presidential election, in which Russian hackers stole and published more than 150,000 emails from various Democratic targets in what U.S. spymasters and senior lawmakers have described as a wide-ranging effort to help elect Donald Trump.
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| Trump 'united the opposition and divided' GOP with emergency move: Matthew Dowd Posted: 17 Feb 2019 08:42 AM PST  The "This Week" Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics, including the president's national emergency declaration and the 2020 election.
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| Belgian Jewish museum trial interrupted as juror questioned Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:08 AM PST  The trial of a Frenchman accused of shooting dead four people at the Jewish museum of Belgium was briefly interrupted on Monday as police were summoned to question a juror. "We cannot start the closing arguments under these conditions," judge Laurence Massart said, after recusing the juror for having communicated with outside parties. "This is probably a person in search of attention," said Sebastien Courtoy, the lawyer for the accused Mehdi Nemmouche, referring to the juror's work colleague.
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| Trial over Delaware prison riot ends with no convictions Posted: 18 Feb 2019 01:04 PM PST ![Trial over Delaware prison riot ends with no convictions]( "Trial over Delaware prison riot ends with no convictions") WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The trial for four inmates charged with murder in a 2017 Delaware prison riot ended Monday with no convictions.
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| Here are 3 small steps to grow savings of thousands of dollars in a 401(k) Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:46 AM PST ![Here are 3 small steps to grow savings of thousands of dollars in a 401(k)]( "Here are 3 small steps to grow savings of thousands of dollars in a 401(k)") Most people don't amass big savings overnight. Start small in a 401(k) and keep building with bonuses, remembering the power of dollar-cost averaging.
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| Emails show how fake university set up by ICE lured foreign students Posted: 18 Feb 2019 01:03 PM PST  Emails obtained by the Detroit Free Press offer a glimpse into how a fake university in Detroit may have convinced students it was real.
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| Iran's Zarif accuses Israel, U.S. of seeking war Posted: 17 Feb 2019 04:29 AM PST  Addressing the Munich Security Conference, Mohammad Javad Zarif, also criticized the U.S. administration after Vice President Mike Pence this week called on European powers to pullout of the nuclear deal with Iran. Zarif urged France, Germany and Britain to do more to save that accord. "Certainly, some people are looking for war ... Israel," Zarif said.
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| Six More Killed in Kashmir as India-Pakistan Tensions Rise Posted: 18 Feb 2019 01:43 AM PST  The soldiers, including one major, were killed during a search operation in Pulwama district, near the summer state capital of Srinagar, an Indian Army spokesman said in New Delhi. Earlier on Monday, Pakistan called back its envoy from New Delhi for consultations reciprocating a similar move by India last week. Combined with rising crude prices, heightened Kashmir tensions -- with Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledging a "befitting reply" last week -- have weighed on India's currency.
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| Take a look inside Ivanka Trump's daily diet Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:01 PM PST  Whereas her father may be known for his affinity for Diet Coke and fast food-- a habit Melania Trump has reportedly been trying to get him to kick --Ivanka Trump's diet couldn't be more different
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| Facebook 'digital gangsters' who spread fake news: British MPs Posted: 18 Feb 2019 08:29 AM PST  A scathing British parliamentary report on Monday branded Facebook "digital gangsters" who failed to fight the spread of fake news and violated data privacy. Lawmakers' 18-month investigation into technology companies and disinformation also accused the world's largest social media platform of trying to hide the extent of Russian interference in foreign elections. Facebook is coming under attack over its response to Russia's suspected use of misleading stories and targeted ads to sway the 2016 US presidential election and a series of European votes.
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