WorldAssociated PressPakistan says India using UN court for 'political theater'
Pakistan accused India on Tuesday of sponsoring terrorism and of using the United Nations' highest court for "political theater" as it urged judges to dismiss an Indian case seeking to save an alleged spy from execution. The International Court of Justice case centers on the fate of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was convicted of espionage and sabotage by a Pakistani military tribunal and sentenced to death in April 2017. Pakistan says it will put him on trial on terrorism charges if the U.N. court orders his convictions overturned.
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.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Mueller investigation: Trump Russia report 'could be delivered to Congress next week'
Special counsel Robert Mueller's report on his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election could be delivered to Congress as early as next week, CNN reports. The report would mark an end to the nearly two year investigation, which has been attacked with fervour by Donald Trump as a "witch hunt" and stirred repeated political controversy in Washington and around the world. Should Attorney General William Barr announce next week that the investigation has concluded, it is unlikely that the details would immediately be made public.
WorldFOX News VideosFarrakhan to Omar: Don't apologize for Israel comments
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan defends Minnesota congresswoman.
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
- NewsYahoo News
Alabama editor who called for lynchings by Klan should quit, senators say
Officials in Alabama are calling for a small-town newspaper editor to resign because of an editorial calling for the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize Washington, D.C. Goodloe Sutton, the editor and publisher of the Democrat-Reporter in Linden, Ala., wrote the editorial titled “Klan needs to ride again” that ran in the paper last week. “Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again,” read the Feb. 14 editorial.
- 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.
- ScienceThe Telegraph
How to see tonight's super Snow moon in the UK
Dust off those binoculars because space fans are in for a celestial treat tonight. February's Snow Moon will be the second super moon of 2019 to grace our skies, appearing bigger and brighter to the human eye than usual as it makes its closest approach to Earth in the lunar cycle. As one of 12 full moons to admire every year, February's moon was nicknamed the Snow Moon by early Native Americans to symbolise the country's heavy snowfall and challenging hunting conditions.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump sued by 16 states over use of emergency powers to build border wall
A coalition of 16 US states led by California sued President Donald Trump's administration on Monday over his decision to declare a national emergency to obtain funds for building a wall along the US-Mexico border. The lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California came just days after Mr Trump invoked emergency powers on Friday after Congress declined to fulfill his request for $5.7bn to help build the wall that was his signature 2016 campaign promise. His move aims to let him spend money appropriated by Congress for other purposes.
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.
BusinessUSA TODAYSome Americans face a costly surprise this tax season: tiny refunds or bigger bills
People who owe are pulling from savings, taking out a loan or signing up to pay off the IRS in installments. They plan to consult with tax pros, so they can avoid another money disaster next year. Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox "We're finding out that those with the biggest refund change are those that didn't do tax planning last year,” said Lynn Ebel, director of The Tax Institute at H&R Block.
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.
- 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
WorldUSA TODAYAs Vatican meets on sex abuse, Pope must defrock Guam's Apuron, groups say
HAGATNA, Guam –Two leading U.S. organizations protecting victims and documenting the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic priesthood have called on Pope Francis to sustain the guilty verdict on Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron in a case involving sexual abuse of minors, and to defrock or expel him from the priesthood. "It is wrong for Pope Francis to leave Guam Catholics twisting in the wind and waiting to discover the fate of Archbishop Apuron, especially since it has been nearly a full year since the archbishop was found guilty of abusing children," said Zach Hiner, executive director for the Missouri-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the world's largest and oldest survivors group for abuse victims.
WorldAFPNetanyahu-Putin meeting in Russia postponed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin have postponed a planned meeting Thursday in Moscow for talks on Iranian military activity in Syria, an Israeli official said. The two leaders would speak by phone on Thursday instead, the official said on condition of anonymity Wednesday, adding that a new date for the meeting would be set as soon as possible. The official gave no reason for the postponement, but Israeli media said it was related to Netanyahu's strategizing with allied right-wing parties for April 9 elections ahead of a Thursday deadline for electoral lists to be submitted.
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.
- 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
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.
WorldReutersTrump urges Venezuelan military to abandon Maduro or 'lose everything'
Speaking to a cheering crowd mostly of Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants in Miami, Trump said if the Venezuelan military continues supporting Maduro, "you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You'll lose everything.” Trump offered strong backing for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the United States, many of Venezuela's neighbors and most Western countries have recognized as interim president of Venezuela. Trump cautioned Venezuelan armed forces not to harm Guaido or other opposition politicians, urged them to accept the National Assembly leader's offer of amnesty and demanded that they allow in food, medicine and other supplies.
- 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.
CelebrityAssociated PressMariano Rivera calls child support allegations 'unfounded'
Just weeks after becoming baseball's first unanimous Hall of Fame selection, Mariano Rivera is defending himself from accusations in his native Panama that he has failed to support two children he had outside his marriage. "I have always acted ... as a good family father," the 49-year-old told local media. Rivera's comments came as he is being asked to appear before Panamanian judicial authorities to answer accusations that he has failed to fulfill his obligations to support the boy and girl, ages 11 and 15.
- 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.
