WorldReutersPalestinian president rejects tax money from Israel
The Palestinian Authority PA will no longer accept tax revenues collected on its behalf by Israel following its decision to trim the sum over the PA's financial support of militants' families, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said. The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, an interim self-government body set up following the 1993 Oslo peace accords, has suffered a series of financial blows in the past year. Under interim peace deals, Israel collects taxes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip and makes monthly payments to the PA, which says it receives around $222 million each month.
- NewsTime
An 11-Year-Old Student Was Arrested in Florida After Refusing to Stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
A sixth grade student at a Florida school was arrested for disruption and resisting arrest after a confrontation with a teacher in which he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, reportedly saying the flag was racist and the pledge was offensive to black people. Spectrum Bay News 9 reports that the 11-year-old was removed from class on Feb. 4, suspended for three days, arrested shortly after and taken to a juvenile detention center. The dispute ensued after a substitute teacher at Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland asked him to stand up, reportedly unaware of that the school does not require participation during the pledge.
WorldAssociated PressVenezuela shuts sea, air links to Dutch islands amid turmoil
Venezuelan officials said Tuesday that the country is banning air and sea trips to and from three Dutch Caribbean islands — a region that has been linked to efforts to undermine President Nicolas Maduro by sending emergency aid to the South American nation. The indefinite shutdown of the "maritime border" applies to commercial and fishing boats between Venezuela and the islands of Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire, said Falcon state's civil protection director, Gregorio Jose Montano. Airspace in the border region was also indefinitely closed to private and commercial flights, said Gen. Miguel Morales Miranda, assistant commander of the Comprehensive Defense Operations Zone.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionPence and Biden in Munich: Stark contrast shows how Trump is ruining relations with Europe
Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke for many former American officials in both parties who believe that the Trump administration has needlessly weakened our ties to Europe. The normally quiet and polite Merkel came out swinging against President Donald Trump's America First policy, charging the United States with unfair sanctions and criticism over Europe's continued participation in the Iran nuclear deal. She lamented Trump's recent decisions to back away from U.S. military commitments in Syria and Afghanistan and his aggressive trade policies toward the European Union.
- NewsUSA TODAY
A tax service turned away a gay couple. Both sides claim discrimination
Bailey Brazzel and her wife Samantha weren't trying to make a political statement last week. "I went in there to have my taxes done, not push my beliefs on her," said Brazzel, 25. Nancy Fivecoate, owner of Carter Tax Service in Russiaville, Indiana, said she's been harassed and abused after Brazzel spoke to media and posted on Facebook about her experience.
- BusinessCar and Driver
See Photos of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz SL Grand Edition
The current SL reminds us of Benzes bygone, so it's leaving the scene with exclusive colors and body trim. From Car and Driver
WorldFOX News VideosFarrakhan to Omar: Don't apologize for Israel comments
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan defends Minnesota congresswoman.
WorldAFPGroup sees 'disconnect' between pope's words, actions on sex abuse
A US-based group that compiles data on sexual abuse by Catholic clerics and bishops accused of covering it up fears that a bid by Pope Francis to tackle the scandals is a case of too little, too late. Speaking ahead of a Vatican summit of bishops this week to discuss the crisis, Anne Barret Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, complained of a "disconnect" between the pontiff's strong statements and his actions. The non-governmental organisation is taking part in a counter-summit of victims running alongside the Vatican event.
WorldReutersHuawei founder says Huawei CFO arrest was politically motivated - BBC
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said on Monday that the arrest of his daughter, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, was politically motivated. "Firstly, I object to what the U.S. has done. This kind of politically motivated act is not acceptable," Ren told the BBC in an interview.
- NewsYahoo News
Conspiracy theorists are claiming Ruth Bader Ginsburg is dead. She isn't.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the Supreme Court bench Tuesday to hear oral arguments for the first time since undergoing cancer surgery in December. According to Supreme Court reporters, Ginsburg smiled as she arrived with her fellow justices at court, taking her seat unassisted at 10 a.m. ET. Ginsburg's public appearance came four days after former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka questioned whether 85-year-old associate justice was still alive, advancing a conspiracy theory that has been circulating in fringe circles since news of her cancer surgery broke.
- NewsThe Independent
Aurora shooting victim sent one last heartbreaking text to wife before dying: 'I love you'
A victim of the shooting in Aurora, Illinois, shooting managed to send one last heartbreaking text message to his wife before becoming one of the latest victims to gun violence in the US. Just a day after Valentine's Day, Terra Pinkard says she received what would be the last text she ever received from her husband, Josh. “I love you, I've been shot at work,” the text read.
PoliticsAssociated PressO'Rourke won't rule out being vice presidential candidate
Beto O'Rourke said Tuesday that he hasn't ruled out being a 2020 vice presidential candidate — even as he plans to decide in the next 10 days if he'll seek the presidency. Answering a question in Spanish about the possibility of being another candidate's running mate, the Democratic former Texas congressman answered in Spanish: "I'm going to consider every way to serve this country. O'Rourke, who became a political star by nearly upsetting Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in November, was honored at a luncheon in his native El Paso, a U.S.-Mexico border city, as the 2018 El Pasoan of the Year.
- WorldBloomberg
Sanctions, Rock Concerts and Still Maduro May Not Go So Soon
Trump's speech in Miami on Monday was the latest push by the U.S. and several allies who recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. The response to Trump's statements was that Maduro and his generals dug in deeper and are showing no intention of giving up. Crucial struggles for power lie ahead in coming days, with Guaido pledging to open the country to humanitarian aid on Feb. 23 and Maduro and Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson hosting rival benefit concerts.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Southwest apologizes to travelers for spike in cancellations and delays, blames union
Southwest Airlines, alarmed by a spike in flight cancellations and delays in the past several days due to reported maintenance issues, has taken the unusual step of publicly apologizing to customers and blaming the mess on its mechanics' union. In a statement late Tuesday, Southwest Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven said the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which has been in contract talks with Southwest since 2012, has a history of work disruptions and that Southwest will be investigating the "current disruption and exploring all possible remedies.'' He noted that Southwest also has two outstanding lawsuits against the AMFA. "We apologize to our customers who have been inconvenienced by this disruption,'' Van de Ven said.
WorldAFPAfter IS, ammunition among the IV drips at Syria clinic
At a clinic in eastern Syria, the Islamic State group have fled leaving a floor strewn with medical supplies -- but also explosives and a foreign passport. US-backed fighters took the three-storey building in the village of Baghouz in recent days, and now use its roof to survey the frontline against the jihadists. After a months-long campaign, the last IS fighters are pinned down in their last scrap of territory just hundreds of metres down the road in the same village.
- WorldNational Review
Farrakhan Praises Omar's Anti-Semitic Remarks: 'Shake Up That Corrupt House'
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on Sunday praised Representative Ilhan Omar's (D., Minn.) recent endorsement of an anti-Semitic trope and urged the freshman lawmaker not to bow to pressure from critics. “Ms. Omar from Somalia – she started talking about 'the Benjamins' and they are trying to make her apologize. You sure are using it to shake the government up, but you have nothing to apologize for,” Farrakhan said during his annual Saviour's Day address in Chicago, in comments first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Buckle up and hunker down: Coast-to-coast storm to bring weather misery to 200 million
A powerful storm that began its journey Sunday in California will roar across the country over the next two to three days, spreading heavy snow, torrential rain and crippling ice to more than 200 million Americans. By Tuesday, the storm will spread heavy snow and strong winds into the central U.S., the National Weather Service said. Late Tuesday and into Wednesday, the threat for heavy snow, ice and dangerous travel will expand across the Midwest, Ohio Valley, Mid Atlantic and the Northeast.
- WorldTime
Huawei Founder Says There's No Stopping China's Tech Giant, Despite U.S. Pressure
In an interview with the BBC, Ren Zhengfei spoke confidently about the company's fate despite mounting pressure from Washington. The U.S. has accused the company of circumventing sanctions against Iran and stealing trade secrets. The U.S. has leveled 23 charges against Huawei and Ren's daughter and Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested at Washington's request in Vancouver, where she is currently under house arrest awaiting possible extradition.
WorldReutersThree UK Conservatives quit party in protest at 'disastrous Brexit'
The lawmakers, who support a second EU referendum and have long said May's Brexit strategy is being led by Conservative eurosceptics, said they would join a new independent group in parliament set up by seven former opposition Labour politicians. The resignations put May in an even weaker position in parliament, where her Brexit deal was crushed by lawmakers last month when both eurosceptics and EU supporters voted against an agreement they say offers the worst of all worlds. While the three were almost certain to vote against any deal, the hardening of their positions undermines May's negotiating position in Brussels, where she heads later to try to secure an opening for further work on revising the agreement.
WorldReutersAbuse victims demand to see pope, call for bishops to be fired
Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy demanded on Wednesday to meet Pope Francis to press their call for the Church to apply a zero tolerance policy including the dismissal of bishops who covered up such offences. The 12 victims met with five Vatican officials a day before the start of an unprecedented conference on clerical abuse that aims to guide senior bishops on how best to tackle a problem that has decimated the Church's credibility. All the survivors of abuse who took part in the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, said they were disappointed the pope did not attend, even though he was not scheduled to be there.
CelebrityAssociated PressObama joined by Curry to tell minority boys 'you matter'
Former President Barack Obama and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry told a roomful of minority boys on Tuesday that they matter and urged them to make the world a better place. Obama was in Oakland, California, to mark the fifth anniversary of My Brother's Keeper, an initiative he launched after the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The initiative was a call to communities to close opportunity gaps for minority boys, especially African-American, Latino and Native American boys, Obama said to roughly 100 boys attending the alliance's first national gathering.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Bernie Sanders formally launches his 2020 campaign
Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont and the runner-up in the 2016 Democratic primary, has officially launched his 2020 presidential campaign. “I am writing to let you know I have decided to run for president of the United States,” announced Sanders in an email to supporters Tuesday morning. In the statement, Sanders says that the campaign is not just about winning the nomination and presidency but “is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.
- BusinessCar 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
WorldAFPPakistan accuses Indian on death row of 'terrorism' at UN court
An Indian man on death row in Pakistan for alleged spying committed "terrorist acts" including targeted killings and kidnappings on New Delhi's orders "to create anarchy", Islamabad's lawyers told the UN's top court on Tuesday. On the second day of hearings at the International Court of Justice, Islamabad's lawyers urged judges to dismiss India's case to save Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav from execution, accusing New Delhi of "political theatre". The tense legal standoff between India and Pakistan at The Hague-based ICJ coincide with a sharp spike in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after a suicide bombing in restive Kashmir last week and renewed fighting on Monday.
WorldBloombergChina's Silicon Valley Blueprint Has Plenty of Holes
Late Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency released details of the State Council's Greater Bay Area plan – a project to knit together Hong Kong and Macau with nine mainland cities into a global innovation hub to rival California's Silicon Valley. The trouble is, there's little new on how authorities plan to make this grand vision into a reality. Announced by Premier Li Keqiang in March 2017, the Greater Bay Area forms part of China's push for supremacy in technology, while also binding the former European colonies more tightly into the country.
