- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump news - LIVE: House prepares to vote on national emergency resolution as new attack launched on abortion access
House Democrats have filed their “resolution of disapproval” challenging Donald Trump's decision to call a national emergency in order to build a wall on the US southern border with Mexico. While the president has claimed there is a "crisis" of illegal immigration in the United States, Democrats have questioned his motives — and noted that Mr Trump himself has suggested that he did not need to declare the emergency. The president on Wednesday touted the contributions of African Americans during an event to honour Black History Month.
- NewsAssociated Press
Girl's death haunted police until arrest made 45 years later
Investigators searched for decades for the killer of an 11-year-old girl who disappeared while walking home from summer school in a case that gripped a California seaside community. A photo of a smiling Linda O'Keefe has hung for years on the wall of the police department in Newport Beach, reminding investigators to keep pressing forward on cold cases like hers. More than four decades later, authorities in Southern California said Wednesday that a Colorado man has been arrested and charged with killing her in 1973.
WorldReutersOperation to end last IS Syria pocket hits evacuation snag
The operation to destroy Islamic State's final vestige of rule in Iraq and Syria hit a temporary snag on Thursday, as an expected evacuation of the remaining civilians from its last enclave in eastern Syria did not go ahead. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has steadily driven the jihadists down the Euphrates, has surrounded them at Baghouz near the Iraqi border, but does not want to mount a final attack until all civilians are out. Iraqi sources said the SDF handed over more then 150 Iraqi and other foreign jihadists to Iraq on Thursday, under a deal involving a total of 502.
WorldAFPCanada looks to reunite Syrian family after fire claims seven kids
Canada is looking to quickly bring over siblings of a Syrian refugee distraught over the loss of her seven children in a Halifax house fire, the prime minister said Thursday. "The immigration minister is seized with this particular case," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said when asked if Ottawa would fast-track the immigration or asylum process to bring the woman's brothers to Canada in order to provide her with family support. The family was among tens of thousands of Syrian refugees welcomed by Canada over the past four years.
BusinessUSA TODAYSouthwest Airlines flights temporarily grounded due to computer outage
Southwest Airlines suffered a computer outage early Friday that temporarily grounded flights across the country, adding to a string of flight woes at the airline this week. Southwest had some issues with a computer system that automatically uploads flight plans to the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said. Southwest said in a statement that it suspended operations for about 50 minutes early Friday to "ensure performance'' of software systems that were upgraded overnight.
WorldAFPUS Venezuela envoy departs for Colombia on aid flight
US special representative Elliott Abrams departed the US on Friday for the Colombian city of Cucuta on a plane carrying American humanitarian aid for crisis-hit Venezuela. The US Air Force C-17 cargo plane left Homestead, south of Miami, and was to arrive in Cucuta later on Friday, a day before the deadline set by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido for the entry of humanitarian assistance that President Nicolas Maduro is seeking to prohibit. Abrams told reporters at the military base the United States was sending medical supplies and enough food to feed 2,000 people for a month.
WorldReutersChina's desire for close Iran ties unchanged, Xi says ahead of Saudi prince's visit
China's desire to develop close ties with Iran will remain unchanged, regardless of the international situation, President Xi Jinping told the speaker of Iran's parliament, ahead of Thursday's visit to Beijing by Saudi Arabia's crown prince. China has traditionally played little role in Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite relying on the region for oil, with Iran its fourth largest supplier last year, but has been trying to raise its profile, especially in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia's King Salman visited Beijing in 2017, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives on Thursday for a two-day visit.
NewsAssociated PressFuneral held for youngest victim of factory shooting
A small funeral home was packed with hundreds of mourners for a 21-year-old college student who was killed on the first day of his internship when a worker opened fire inside an Illinois manufacturing facility. Trevor Wehner was among five people killed in the Friday shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora. During a brief religious service Wednesday in the Village of Sheridan, Wehner was remembered as family-oriented, someone who could change the atmosphere of a room just by walking in and who liked to tease and play jokes.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump panel to examine whether global warming affects national security will include climate change denier
President Donald Trump is preparing to establish a panel to examine whether climate change affects national security, despite existing reports from his own government showing that global warming is a growing threat. According to a White House memo dated 14 February, Mr Trump's staff members have drafted an executive order to create a 12-member committee, which will include a White House adviser, William Happer, whose views are at odds with the established scientific consensus that carbon dioxide pollution is dangerous for the planet.
NewsAssociated PressGory details emerge about missing woman's suspected demise
After months of mostly silence from authorities investigating the disappearance of a Colorado mother on Thanksgiving Day, grim details about her suspected demise emerged this week, including accusations that the woman's fiance beat her to death with a baseball bat while their baby was in the next room. Testimony from investigators at a court hearing Tuesday also revealed that Patrick Frazee had repeatedly asked an Idaho woman with whom he was having an affair to kill Kelsey Berreth, the mother of Frazee's 1-year-old daughter. When she refused, he did it himself, authorities said.
WorldReutersIndia presses for Pakistan to stay on terrorism financing list
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body created to counter terrorism financing and money laundering, has been meeting in Paris this week and Pakistan has been hoping to get off a "grey list" of nations with inadequate controls over such activities. A third Indian official said details relating to the militant group's operations were provided to the FATF. The officials declined to be named as the talks were still underway in Paris Pakistan has been on the grey list since June, making it harder for it to access international markets at a time when its economy is stumbling.
U.S.FOX News VideosAttorney for Nicholas Sandmann says the Washington Post gave online bullies a megaphone to tarnish his client
Lin Wood explains the Covington Catholic High School student's $250 million lawsuit against the Washington Post.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Johnson & Johnson stock price falls after federal subpoena on alleged asbestos in baby powder
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Johnson & Johnson over concerns the company's baby powder may have contained asbestos. The agencies subpoenaed the health care product maker in the wake of several jury awards to plaintiffs who claimed the company's talc products were tainted with asbestos and caused their cancers. The agencies seek documents about those matters and other suits Johnson & Johnson faces filed by shareholders and pension holders over the situation.
WorldAFPJapan wants frictionless UK-EU trade after Brexit: ambassador
Japan wants Britain to have frictionless trade with the European Union after Brexit, its ambassador said Thursday, insisting a damaging no-deal scenario should be avoided. Japanese companies are looking to expand their investment in Britain but are holding back due to uncertainty over Brexit, Koji Tsuruoka said during a talk in London. However, he insisted Japanese carmaker Honda's decision this week to close its plant in Britain had nothing to do with Brexit.
- BusinessBloomberg
Southwest Air Drops on $60 Million Hit From U.S. Shutdown
Southwest Airlines Co. slid after warning that the U.S. government shutdown hit sales harder than previously estimated. The political stalemate that ended last month will reduce first-quarter revenue by $60 million as the aftereffects lingered on, Southwest said in a regulatory filing Wednesday. When the discounter reported earnings last month, it estimated the impact would be $10 million to $15 million for Jan. 1 through Jan. 23.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, warns Emmanuel Macron
France is to recognise anti-Zionism, the denial of the state of Israel, as a form of anti-Semitismin response to a surge in acts against Jews not seen “since the Second World War”. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, also promised new legislation in May to fight hate speech on the Internet, which could see platforms such as Facebook and Twitter fined for every minute they fail to take down racist or violent content. While stopping short of calling for new legislation, the President said the working definition of anti-Semitism drawn up by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance would help guide police forces, magistrates and teachers in their daily work.
WorldReutersIn U.S., pope's summit on sex abuse seen as too little, too late
In the study of his home outside Washington, victims' advocate Tom Doyle searched a shelf packed with books to find the thick report that led him to stop practicing as a priest and devote himself to helping those who had been sexually abused by clergymen. The 1985 report was one of the first exposes in a sexual abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has called senior bishops to meet for four days starting on Thursday to discuss how to tackle the worsening crisis.
- NewsAssociated Press
IRS employee charged in leak of Trump attorney records
U.S. prosecutors have charged an IRS employee with leaking banking records of President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that flagged suspicious activity, the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco said Thursday. John C. Fry, an investigative analyst for the IRS, acknowledged releasing information to attorney Michael Avenatti, according to the affidavit by Linda Cieslak, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Treasury. Avenatti represents adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump that he denies.
- U.S.KTRK – Houston
Parents dead in murder-suicide at Sugar Land home as 16-year-old daughter slept inside
Their family says they were involved in volunteering and believed in giving back before they died.
- WorldThe Independent
Venezuela shooting: At least one dead after troops fire on indigenous people near Brazil border
The mayor said members of the Pemon indigenous group clashed with the Venezuela National Guard and the army, who were moving tanks to the border. Mr Gonzalez claimed the soldiers fired rubber bullets and teargas. Some members of the area's indigenous community have expressed their support for the opposition's plans to bring in foreign aid over the border this weekend, despite the objection of President Nicolas Maduro.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Every Photo From Our EV Battle Between the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric
But wait. Maybe don't cancel that Tesla Model 3 reservation just yet. From Car and Driver
- NewsUSA TODAY
American and British ISIS brides Hoda Muthana and Shamima Begum plead to go home
An American woman and a British teenager who fled to Syria to marry Islamic State group fighters pleaded to be allowed to return home. Hoda Muthana, 24, left Alabama four years ago for Islamic-State-held territory in Syria. She was found living with her 18-month-old son in the same refugee camp in northern Syria where Shamima Begum, 19, from London, gave birth to a baby boy over the weekend, according to British media reports and Begum's lawyer.
- WorldTime
Saudi Sisters Stranded for Months in Hong Kong After Fleeing the Kingdom, Rights Group Says
Two Saudi Arabian sisters have spent almost six months hiding in Hong Kong after authorities reportedly foiled an attempt to flee the conservative kingdom, a human rights group says. Using aliases to protect their identities, non-profit Justice Centre Hong Kong said in a statement that Reem, 20, and Rawan, 18, arrived in the city on Sept. 6, 2018, after escaping during a family holiday in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. The pair had booked a connecting flight to Melbourne Australia, where they planned to seek asylum, but they were intercepted upon landing and told their flight had been cancelled.
WorldAFPPakistan bans groups linked to Mumbai attack suspects
Pakistan on Thursday banned two groups believed to be fronts for the group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, amid heightened pressure on Islamabad to act against militants. Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation were designated "proscribed organisations", the interior ministry said in a statement, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered officials to accelerate action against banned groups. JuD and FIF are considered by the UN to be fronts for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group accused by Washington and New Delhi of carrying out the Mumbai attack, which killed 166 people and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
