WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: Maduro says Trump sounds almost Nazi-like
Venezuela's embattled president, Nicolas Maduro, is rejecting President Donald Trump's call for a new day in Venezuela and comparing the tone of the American president's speech in Miami to that of a Nazi. Trump said Monday that the U.S. stands behind opposition leader Juan Guaido and condemns Maduro and his government's socialist policies. Trump pleaded with Venezuela's military to support Guaido and warned of dire consequences for standing with Maduro.
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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.
NewsUSA TODAYTrevor Noah talks Jussie Smollett: 'Either this guy is telling the truth or he deserves an Emmy'
Trevor Noah brought up recent developments into the investigation of January's attack on actor Jussie Smollett on his nightly program Monday. As of Sunday, Chicago police were pursuing "additional detective work" amid suspicion that the attack may have been faked. Two brothers told investigators they were paid by the "Empire" actor to stage the attack, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.
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.
- 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.
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.
WorldFOX News VideosFarrakhan to Omar: Don't apologize for Israel comments
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan defends Minnesota congresswoman.
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New York's Amazon rejection exposes US opportunity gap and Democrats' political disconnect
Most localities would crawl through broken glass to land that prize, and 238 did as they bid for Amazon's second headquarters. Activists in Queens didn't want it, and Amazon wasn't about to fight for it. The reason 238 cities and regions bid for the Amazon headquarters is that most of America is hungry for opportunity while enough of Queens and New York City is not.
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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.
- NewsThe Independent
MAGA hat student sues Washington Post for $250m over coverage of confrontation with Native American man
A student involved in a viral confrontation with a Native American man is suing the Washington Post for $250m (£191m) over its coverage of the incident. The defamation lawsuit, filed by Covington Catholic High School pupil Nick Sandmann, claims the newspaper “wrongfully targeted and bullied” him due to its “biased agenda” against Donald Trump. The 16-year-old was wearing one of the president's signature Make America Great Again hats when he attended an anti-abortion rally in Washington in January along with classmates from his Kentucky school.
- 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
WorldAssociated PressUS says Alabama woman who joined Islamic State can't return
An Alabama woman who left home to join the Islamic State group in Syria is not a U.S. citizen and will not be allowed to return to the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. In a brief statement that gave no details as to how the determination was reached, Pompeo said Hoda Muthana, who says she made a mistake in joining the group and now wants to return with her 18-month-old son, has no "legal basis" to claim American citizenship. "Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States," Pompeo said.
NewsReutersSnow, sleet threaten U.S. East Coast, hinder hundreds of flights
A winter storm bore down on the U.S. East Coast on Wednesday, threatening to snarl New York City's evening commute after hindering air travel along the East Coast and prompting the shutdown of federal offices in Washington. Snow turning to sleet slickened roadways in the New York metropolitan area by the early afternoon and was blamed for a rash of fender benders and traffic jams. The widespread weather system piled as much as 6 inches (15 cm) of snow across the Washington area before turning to sleet, said meteorologist Bryan Jackson of the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
- 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.
WorldAFPCardinals blame 'homosexual agenda' for abuse crisis
Two cardinals criticised on Wednesday Pope Francis's approach to the clerical paedophilia crisis, saying "abuse of power" was not to blame but homosexuality. "We turn to you with deep distress! The Catholic world is adrift," US Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke and German Cardinal Walter Brandmueller said in an open letter to the heads of the bishops' conferences. "Sexual abuse is blamed on clericalism.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Vladimir Putin says Russia will target US if it places missiles in Europe
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will target the US with new nuclear weapons if it deploys missiles to Europe following the demise of a major arms control treaty. In an annual speech to the federal assembly, the Russian leader on Wednesday accused Washington of planning to deploy intermediate-range missiles to the continent following its withdrawal from a bilateral agreement banning those weapons. This would put the missiles within a 10-minute flight from Moscow, creating a serious threat to Russia and compelling it to consider “symmetrical and asymmetrical actions” in response, he said.
- 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.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Southwest Airlines under FAA investigation for aircraft weight, balance calculations
The investigation, disclosed for the first time Monday by the Wall Street Journal, began in February 2018, FAA spokesman Gregory Martin confirmed to USA TODAY. There have been no fines nor enforcement action from the investigation to date. "Since that time, the FAA has directed the development of a comprehensive solution to the methods and processes used by Southwest Airlines to determine this (weight and balance) performance data,'' he said in a statement.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
Trump v California: president wants to get billions in rail funding back
Governor calls move to cancel $929m in federal grant funds 'political retribution' for national emergency lawsuit The US Department of Transportation has announced plans to cancel $929m in federal grant funds for California's high-speed rail project, in a move the state's governor called “political retribution” for its lawsuit against Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency. The announcement came a day after California led a coalition of 16 states to sue the Trump administration over the president's decision to declare a national emergency to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.
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.
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.
NewsUSA TODAYAirlines begin waiving change fees for new winter storm
TUESDAY UPDATE: Airlines are canceling flights and expanding their rebooking waivers ahead of a new winter storm that looks increasingly likely to disrupt flights at airports from the Great Plains into the Northeast. Full story: Airlines already canceling Wednesday flights for new winter storm PREVIOUS UPDATE: Air travelers faced disruptions this week from a new round of wintry weather. A developing storm system was expected to spread a mix of snow, rain and icy weather across a large swath of the United States this week.
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.
WorldReutersIndian journalist condemns Twitter for blocking account after abuse online
Dutt said some people had posted and circulated her phone number on Twitter, enabling the harassment, which she said included threats of rape and images of genitalia being sent to her phone. Dutt tweeted some of the threats and images on Monday, and she included phone numbers and names of the men who allegedly threatened her, after which her account was suspended. "I would like to place on record my absolute horror and disgust at Twitter's encouragement of sexual abuse and gender inequality," said Dutt, a former managing editor at news channel NDTV and a regular columnist with the Washington Post.
WorldAFPDozens of civilians, fighters quit Syria jihadist holdout: SDF
US-backed forces said several jihadists and dozens of civilians quit the Islamic State group's last patch of territory in Syria Tuesday, and warned remaining fighters should surrender or face death. Backed by air strikes by the US-led coalition, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have trapped the jihadists in a segment of Baghhouz village that is less than half a square kilometre (a fifth of a square mile). "Dozens of civilians and some fighters have handed themselves over", SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin told reporters at the nearby Al-Omar oil field.
