WorldAFPIsrael to withhold $138 mln from Palestinians over prisoner payments
Israel said its security cabinet on Sunday decided to withhold $138 million (122 million euros) in tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority over its payments to prisoners jailed for attacks on Israelis. A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the withheld cash would be equal to that paid by the PA last year to "terrorists imprisoned in Israel, to their families and to released prisoners". Israel alleges the payments encourage further violence.
WorldReutersIran summons Pakistan's envoy over deadly suicide bomb attack: Tasnim
Iran has summoned the Pakistani ambassador to protest about a suicide bombing that killed 27 of its elite Revolutionary Guards near the border earlier this week, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday. The Sunni group Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the ethnic minority Baluchis, claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday. Iran says militant groups operate from safe havens in Pakistan and have repeatedly called on the neighboring country to crack down on them.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Emails show how fake university set up by ICE lured foreign students
The email exchanges with Ali Milani – who is described in a LinkedIn profile as the president of the University of Farmington – show how the school in Farmington Hills, Michigan, may have lured students to enroll in a fake university set up by The Department of Homeland Security. Jan. 30: Feds set up fake university in Michigan to nab undocumented immigrants A federal indictment unsealed Jan. 30 said that the university was produced by federal agents with an investigative division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of DHS. Federal agents posed as university officials such as "Ali Milani" to trick the students, say attorneys.
NewsAssociated PressMore than 1,500 attend vigil for Aurora shooting victims
More than 1,500 people braved snow and freezing drizzle to attend a prayer vigil for five slain co-workers Sunday, two days after they were fatally shot at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant by a longtime employee who was fired moments earlier. The Rev. Dan Haas told those who gathered near five white crosses erected for the shooting victims outside Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora that Friday's "senseless killings" left their families brokenhearted in the city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago. Haas called on God to bring comfort to the families and Aurora.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Police: Gunman in shooting rampage had 6 prior arrests in Aurora, Illinois, including domestic battery charges
The gunman who shot and killed five co-workers and injured five police officers after he was fired from his job had his gun permit revoked five years ago after a background check turned up a prior felony conviction in Mississippi, police said Saturday. The gunman, Gary Martin, 45, was shot and killed by police after officers swarmed the scene Friday at the Henry Pratt Co. plant in Aurora. Henry Pratt is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mueller Water Products.
- BusinessTime
Here's What's Open and Closed on President's Day 2019
Remember that day in February that isn't Valentine's and isn't Groundhog Day? Many places throughout the country will observe this President's Day by closing their doors so people can enjoy a 3-day weekend honoring our the birthday of nation's first President, George Washington. Here's what's open and closed on President's Day 2019.
WorldReutersU.S. Senator Rubio, other officials visit site of Venezuelan aid
While Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is refusing to allow in the food, medicine and other supplies, opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido has vowed to move hundreds of tonnes of the aid into the country on Feb 23. Guaido, who argues that Maduro's 2018 re-election was a sham, invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself the country's leader last month. Most Western countries and many of Venezuela's neighbors have recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state, but Maduro retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions including the military.
- BusinessThe Independent
Amazon pays zero federal taxes for second year in succession despite doubling profits, says new report
Amazon has paid zero federal taxes for the second year in succession, despite a doubling of its profits, according to a new report. Although the tech giant founded by Jeff Bezos saw its profits grow from $5.6bn (£4.3bn) in 2017 to $11.2bn (£8.7bn) in 2018, it will actually receive a tax rebate of $129m (£100m). “The company's newest corporate filing reveals that, far from paying the statutory 21 per cent income tax rate on its US income in 2018, Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate of $129m,” said the report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which describes itself as a “non-partisan, non-profit think tank”, based in Washington DC.
ScienceMashableNASA posts image of ghostly blue objects, deep in the cosmos
NASA's long-lived Hubble Space Telescope captured vivid bright clumps moving through the cosmos at some 1,000 light years from Earth. Seen as the vivid blue, ephemeral clumps in the top center of the new image below, these are telltale signs of an energy-rich gas, or plasma, colliding with a huge collection of dust and gas in deep space. NASA doesn't identify the new star itself, called SVS 13, perhaps because it's obscured by thick clouds of cosmic matter.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Donald Trump demands Britain puts jihadists on trial as Isil makes desperate last stand
Donald Trump has demanded Britain and its continental neighbours repatriate their captured Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters and put them on trial - or face the terrorists being set free to "permeate Europe." In a strongly-worded message tweeted late on Saturday night, the US president warned he would have little choice but to release approximately 800 "jihadists" currently held by American-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. He said now was the time for the ant-Isil coalition partners to "step up" and take over ownership of its rogue citizens who threaten the safety of Europe.
WorldAFPPolish PM nixes trip to Israel after Netanyahu Holocaust 'comment': govt
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has cancelled a visit to Israel for a high-level summit, a government spokesperson told AFP on Sunday, after uproar in Poland over reported comments by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu about the Poles and the Holocaust. Netanyahu -- who was initially quoted in Haaretz newspaper as saying that "The Poles collaborated with the Nazis" -- has been condemned in Poland for appearing to accuse all Polish people of cooperating with Germany during World War II. Warsaw has long been at pains to point out that Poland, which was occupied by Nazi Germany, could not have and did not collaborate in the Holocaust although individual Poles may have done so.
WorldAFPPakistan to honour Saudi crown prince after $20bn deals
Pakistan will confer its highest civilian honour on the Saudi crown prince on Monday, a day after he signed investment deals worth $20 billion on the first stop of an Asian tour clouded by his alleged role in the grisly murder of a dissident journalist. President Arif Alvi will award Mohammad bin Salman the Nishan-e-Pakistan (Order of Pakistan), the foreign office said in a statement, before the crown prince leaves the country for his next stop, Islamabad's arch-rival India. Pakistan is facing a serious balance of payments crisis and hopes the huge deals signed over the two-day visit -- seven separate agreements and memorandums of understanding -- will boost its struggling economy.
- CelebrityWTVD – Raleigh/Durham
Husband accidentally runs over and kills wife on Valentine's Day in Pennsylvania
A husband is reeling from a tragic incident after police say he accidentally ran over his wife.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Alabama man awarded $151M in Ford Explorer rollover lawsuit
A Dallas County jury has awarded $151,791,000 to a Selma, Alabama man who was left paralyzed after a 1998 Ford Explorer rolled over, leaving him paralyzed. The jury found that Ford Motor Co. failed to meet its own safety guidelines for the Explorer's rollover resistance requirement and attempted to cover up the defective design. One of Smith's lawyers, Kendall Dunson of Montgomery-based Beasley Allen, said the decision will give him access to home care and assistance.
- WorldAssociated Press
Iranian president: US sanctions are 'economic war' on Iran
Iran's president on Monday described U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran as an economic war being waged on his country and stressed that "economic war is more difficult than military war." Hassan Rouhani spoke as he inaugurated the third and final phase of the sprawling Persian Gulf Star refinery built in the Persian Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas. Construction of the refinery began in 2006 and it now has the capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, which amounts to about 20 percent of Iran's 2.1 million barrels of daily refining capacity.
BusinessReutersMerck, Pfizer drug combo extends kidney cancer survival: study
A combination of Merck & Co's immunotherapy Keytruda and Pfizer Inc's Inlyta helped patients with advanced kidney cancer live longer than those receiving and older Pfizer standalone therapy, according to data from a late-stage study presented on Saturday. Nearly 90 percent of patients who received the combination therapy were still alive after 12 months compared with about 78 percent of patients who were alive after a year when treated with the older drug Sutent, data showed. Merck on Monday released interim data from the trial, saying the combination reduced the risk of death by 47 percent compared with Sutent.
BusinessAssociated PressGone in a New York minute: How the Amazon deal fell apart
Then Amazon made it official: It chose the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens to build a $2.5 billion campus that could house 25,000 workers, in addition to new offices planned for northern Virginia. Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Democrats who have been political adversaries for years, trumpeted the decision as a major coup after edging out more than 230 other proposals. But what they didn't expect was the protests, the hostile public hearings and the disparaging tweets that would come in the next three months, eventually leading to Amazon's dramatic Valentine's Day breakup with New York.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Will Procter & Gamble stock split again soon?
Procter & Gamble stock is near all-time highs as its turnaround efforts appear to be taking hold. Shares peaked just 30 cents below $100 last week, which begs a welcome question that investors haven't been able to ask in 15 years: When will P&G stock split next? Usually, when P&G stock crosses the century mark, the consumer products giant doubles the number of shares outstanding with two-for-one splits.
- WorldBloomberg
U.S. Appeal for NATO Personnel in Syria Brushed Off by Spain
A U.S. appeal for NATO allies to fill the void left by its imminent withdrawal from Syria was dismissed by Spain's foreign minister, still bristling at Donald Trump's unilateral decision to bring his troops home. Vice President Mike Pence told reporters at the Munich Security Conference that the U.S. is asking NATO members and other partners to provide "the resources and the support and the personnel" required to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State once U.S. operations conclude. "Requests between countries aren't made in press releases or conference comments," Spain's Josep Borrell said at a briefing in Munich on Saturday.
- WorldReuters
Yemen's warring parties agree on initial redeployment: U.N
Yemeni government and Houthi representatives have reached an agreement on the first phase of their redeployment of forces under a U.N.-sponsored deal for the warring armies to leave the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the United Nations said on Sunday. "The parties reached an agreement on Phase 1 of the mutual redeployment of forces," a statement by the U.N. spokesman's office said without giving details of exactly what the Iranian-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed government agreed. The United Nations is trying to implement a truce and troop-withdrawal accord in Hodeidah, the main entry point for most of Yemen's imports, as part of efforts to end a war that has killed tens of thousands and left millions on the brink of starvation.
BusinessAFPHong Kong economy stalls amid trade dispute: finance chief
Hong Kong's economy stalled last year as the ongoing China-US trade dispute and retail woes dragged down local business, the city's financial chief said Sunday. "The impact of China-US trade frictions on Hong Kong's exports has clearly emerged at the end of last year," said finance secretary Paul Chan. Economic growth in the semi-autonomous Chinese city for the last quarter of 2018 was less than 1.5 percent -- the weakest since the first quarter of 2016 and a "significant slowdown" from the average growth rate of 3.7 percent in the first three quarters, Chan wrote on his official blog.
WorldAFPSpanish victims of sex abuse priests speak out
A trickle of accusations of sexual abuse against priests in schools and seminaries is starting to erode the wall of silence in Catholic Spain, whose Church representatives are set to attend a major Vatican meeting on child protection. "This is only the tip of the iceberg," warned Miguel Hurtado, who recently made his case public. For 20 years, Hurtado stayed quiet, trying to come to terms with the abuse he suffered when he joined a boy scout troup at the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, which sits high up in jagged mountains northwest of Barcelona.
- LifestyleThe Telegraph
Potato rösti
This potato rösti is the perfect way to use up that last bit of cheese in the fridge. SERVES Two INGREDIENTS 500g potatoes, ideally a nice waxy chip potato 1 small onion, finely sliced 1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped Pinch of dried chilli 50g butter 120g mixed grated cheese such as cheddar, gruyere or comté (a great opportunity to use up leftovers) Large pinch of fresh or dried sage METHOD Peel the potatoes and coarsely grate them into a bowl. Add the onion, garlic and chilli and season well.
- WorldTime
Australia Blames a Foreign Government for the Cyberattack on Political Parties
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday accused a “sophisticated state actor” of carrying out a cyberattack that breached Parliament's network and also affected major political parties, Reuters reports. Morrison did not disclose which state he suspected of being behind the Feb. 8 attack, or reveal what, if any information was accessed. “Our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity,” Morrison told parliament.
WorldReutersNetanyahu's main rival in Israeli election voices agreement with him on Iran
Former general Benny Gantz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strongest challenger in an election scheduled for April, voiced support on Sunday for the right-wing leader's tough policy toward Iran. quot;I am standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the fight against Iran's aggression," Gantz, a former chief of Israel's armed forces and a centrist candidate, told the Munich Security Conference. Polls predict that Netanyahu's Likud party will win the April 9 election, taking about 30 of parliament's 120 seats - enough to form a coalition of right-wing and religious factions similar to one he now heads.
