WorldReutersIslamic State nears defeat in last Syrian enclave
Islamic State looked close to defeat in its last enclave in eastern Syria on Wednesday as civilians poured out and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the remaining jihadists wanted to fight to the death. More than 2,000 civilians left the village of Baghouz in a convoy of dozens of trucks. Coalition warplanes could be seen overhead and the sounds of intermittent gunbattles could be heard from the area, which is completely surrounded by the SDF.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
'Apology rings hollow': judge rebukes Roger Stone and slaps stricter gag order
Longtime Donald Trump ally was spared prison for posting an Instagram picture lambasting Judge Amy Berman Jackson His swagger gone and his humiliation complete, political operative Roger Stone took the witness stand on Thursday to deliver an abject apology for attacking the judge in his case on social media only to be told it “rings quite hollow” and warned he could have incited violence by his supporters. The longtime confidant of Donald Trump was spared prison for posting an Instagram picture lambasting Judge Amy Berman Jackson but he was slapped with an expanded gagging order that prevents him speaking publicly about his ongoing criminal case.
- WorldThe Independent
Venezuela shooting: At least one dead after troops fire on indigenous people near Brazil border
At least one person has been shot dead by Venezuelan security forces during a clash on the border with Brazil, according to local officials. Gran Sabana Mayor Emilio Gonzalez identified the woman shot dead Friday as Zoraida Rodriguez, a member of an indigenous community. The mayor said members of the Pemon indigenous group had clashed with the Venezuela National Guard and the army, who were moving tanks to the border.
- WorldWLS – Chicago
Vatican summit on Catholic Church sex abuse crisis begins
A historic event for the Catholic Church began Thursday. Bishops from around the world gathered at the Vatican to discuss the clergy sex abuse crisis.
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 cancels nearly 400 flights as maintenance woes, winter storms linger
Southwest Airlines' flight woes continue, with nearly 400 Thursday flights canceled due to maintenance issues and winter weather. Southwest, the nation's largest domestic carrier, had canceled 389 flights, or 9 percent of its schedule, as of 1:15 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. That is the highest number of cancellations by any carrier and accounts for 51 percent of flight cancellations within, into or out of the United States, according to FlightAware. Southwest attributed the high number of cancellations to weather challenges and continuing maintenance issues that have a pulled a higher-than-usual number of aircraft out of service.
NewsAssociated PressAlabama woman who joined Islamic State sues to return to US
The father of an Alabama woman who joined the Islamic State in Syria filed suit against the Trump administration Thursday in an effort to allow her return to the United States. Ahmed Ali Muthana argues in the suit filed in federal court in Washington that his 24-year-old daughter, Hoda Muthana, is an American citizen by birth and should be allowed to come back to the U.S. with her toddler son. Hoda Muthana is now in a Syrian refugee camp with the 18-month-old boy after fleeing the remnants of the Islamic State.
- 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.
- WorldReuters
Britain, EU closer to possible agreement on Brexit: EU diplomats
The European Union and Britain are moving towards a separate legal statement in which the bloc would again stress the temporary nature of the so-called Brexit backstop for the Irish border, diplomats in Brussels said. They spoke of a "parallel declaration" or "interpretative instrument" on the backstop, a day after British Prime Minister Theresa May and the head of the European Union's executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, met in Brussels to seek a way out of the Brexit deadlock. The backstop is an insurance policy designed to avoid border controls between EU member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland after Brexit.
- 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
PoliticsYahoo NewsNYT publisher: Trump 'retreating from a distinctly American principle'
New York Times publisher Arthur “A.G.” Sulzberger responded to what he called “President Trump's continued attacks on a free press” Wednesday, hours after Trump lashed out at the paper as a “true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Sulzberger wrote that Trump's “demonizing the free press as the enemy, simply for performing its role of asking difficult questions and bringing uncomfortable information to light, President Trump is retreating from a distinctly American principle. The latest standoff between the Times and the White House followed the paper's Tuesday publication of an in-depth examination of Trump's efforts to discredit and derail multiple investigations into his presidential campaign and action...
- WorldBloomberg
Serbia Lashes Out at U.S. After Diplomat's Warning on Venezuela
Serbia rejected a warning from the U.S. over its support for embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a week after Belgrade hosted a delegation from the Latin American state. U.S. Ambassador to Belgrade Kyle Scott tweeted that Serbia is “on the wrong side of history, noting that more than 50 countries have endorsed Maduro challenger Juan Guaido. Serbia's foreign minister responded by saying his country had “respect for international law and non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign countries.
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.
WorldAFPPakistan military warns India against 'misadventure'
Pakistan's military warned India on Friday against "misadventure", saying it was capable of responding to any threats as tensions simmer between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. "We hope you will not mess up with us," military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told a press briefing in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, the second such message Pakistan has sent to New Delhi in as many days. Tensions have risen in the days following a suicide attack in Kashmir that killed 41 Indian paramilitaries and was claimed by Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), based in Pakistan.
PoliticsUSA TODAYCarbon dioxide in our atmosphere may soar to levels not seen in 56 million years
Emissions of carbon dioxide – the greenhouse gas most responsible for global warming – could soar to levels not seen in 56 million years by the middle of next century, scientists warned in a study Wednesday. Though it won't happen in our lifetimes, it could very well happen in the lives of our grandchildren or great-grandchildren. "You and I won't be here in 2159, but that's only about four generations away," said study author Philip Gingerich, a University of Michigan paleoclimate researcher.
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.
- SportsThe Independent
Obama talks self-confidence with Steph Curry: 'If you're confident with your sexuality, you don't need 8 women twerking around you'
In a wide-ranging interview about what it means to be a man, Barack Obama said that you don't need women "twerking around you" if you are "very confident about your sexuality". During a town hall in Oakland, California as part of the former president's My Brother's Keeper programme, Mr Obama engaged in a candid conversation with Golden State Warriors basketball star Steph Curry. The two touched on a range of topics including the importance of male role models, music, and how police and minority communities interact.
- NewsAssociated Press
Gory 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.
BusinessConsumer ReportsConsumer Reports' Top Picks Quiz
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WorldReutersAs Trump and Kim prepare for summit, bars in Vietnam serve 'Peace Negroniations'
Bars in Vietnam's capital are cashing in on the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week with special concoctions to mark the high-stakes diplomacy. "This beer was inspired by the pure streams of Mount Paektu between North Korea and China," Nguyen Thi Huong Anh, manager of Hanoi's Standing Bar, said of the "Kim Jong Ale", brewed especially for the summit. The mountain is the highest on the Korean peninsula at about 2,750 meters (9,000 ft) and the official birthplace of the late North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.
- 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.
WorldReutersSaudi Arabia strikes $10 billion China deal, talks de-radicalisation with Xi
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman cemented a $10 billion deal for a refining and petrochemical complex in China on Friday, meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping who urged joint efforts to counter extremism and terror. The Saudi delegation, including top executives from state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, arrived on Thursday on an Asia tour that has already seen the kingdom pledge investment of $20 billion in Pakistan and seek to make additional investments in India's refining industry. Saudi Arabia signed 35 economic cooperation agreements with China worth a total of $28 billion at a joint investment forum during the visit, Saudi state news agency SPA said.
PoliticsAFPN. Carolina to hold new election in disputed US House race
North Carolina officials on Thursday ordered a new congressional election after the contest -- the last undecided race in the US House of Representatives -- was tainted by fraud accusations. The southeastern state's board of elections voted to hold a new House race in the 9th District after Republican candidate Mark Harris, who is accused of hiring an operative involved in an absentee ballot tampering scheme, dramatically reversed course and called for a new vote. In earlier testimony, Harris had maintained he was unaware of any absentee ballot tampering, and had suggested there was a Democratic plot afoot to deny him a seat in Congress.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Winter weather isn't just battering the eastern US. It's even snowing in Las Vegas
While winter weather has battered the eastern United States for the past couple days, the National Weather Service said up to 3 inches of snow will fall in the outskirts of the Las Vegas Valley. Rain may mix with snow in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, however, meaning much less — if any — will accumulate at the city's most distinguishable landmarks along The Strip. Although Wednesday marked the fourth day Las Vegas recorded a trace of snow this month, it did not break a record, the Las Vegas Forecast Office tweeted.
- NewsAssociated Press
Driver hurt by air bag shrapnel as investigation drags on
Nearly four years ago, the U.S. government's highway safety agency began investigating air bag inflators made by ARC Automotive of Tennessee when two people were hit by flying shrapnel after crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 8 million Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia and General Motors vehicles in the U.S. use the company's inflators. The investigation became more urgent in 2016 after a Canadian woman driving a Hyundai was killed by shrapnel from an ARC inflator.
