WorldAFPDying days of caliphate in Syria as IS fighters trapped
Jihadist fighters defending the last dreg of the Islamic State group's "caliphate" Saturday were holed up in half a square kilometre of a village in eastern Syria. President Donald Trump had announced that the fall of the IS proto-state would be declared Saturday, but a Syrian commander said his US-backed forces slowed down their advance to protect civilians. The jihadists declared a "caliphate" in large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, but have since lost all but a tiny patch of territory in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border.
NewsReuters5 killed as gunman opens fire at Illinois warehouse
A gunman opened fire in an industrial warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was slain, law enforcement officials said. Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said the gunman, identified as Gary Martin, 45, was an employee at the industrial complex. Please avoid the area," the Aurora Police Department said in a tweet shortly after 2 p.m. CST, adding that additional details would be forthcoming.
- WorldBloomberg
IMF Prepares for Maduro's Exit as Cash Shortage Bites
The International Monetary Fund expects Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela to fall before too long as a result of U.S. sanctions and its exclusion from global oil markets, according to an official familiar with the matter. The dynamic toward a transition under Juan Guaido, the U.S.-backed leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, should accelerate as Venezuela's cash dwindles with India the only remaining buyer for its oil, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The staying power and vested interests of the Venezuelan military, which is backing Maduro's government, remain a barrier to change, the official said.
BusinessAssociated PressBack in the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez says to keep up the fight
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez returned to her home district in the New York City borough of the Bronx on Saturday to encourage her supporters to keep up the kind of activism that resulted in Amazon rescinding its plan to build a campus in the city. The freshman Democratic lawmaker did not mention Amazon by name but said, "It's not just about any job, it's about dignified jobs in New York City. Ocasio-Cortez's district encompassing parts of the Bronx and Queens adjoins the Long Island City neighborhood where Amazon planned to build its campus, and she was one of the early politicians to voice opposition to the tech giant's plans.
WorldAFPNorth Koreans pay tribute to Kim's father in freezing cold
The Day of the Shining Star dawned bitterly cold in Pyongyang. Kim, the son of the isolated North's founder Kim Il Sung and the father and predecessor of current leader Kim Jong Un, was born on February 16. According to Pyongyang's orthodoxy, he came into the world in 1942, in a snow-covered hut at a secret camp on the slopes of Mount Paektu, the spiritual birthplace of the Korean people, where his father was fighting occupying Japanese forces.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The 20 Most Powerful Crossovers and SUVs You Can Buy in 2019
Is 400 horsepower not enough for your people- and cargo-hauler in 2019? How does 500, 600, or 700 horsepower sound? From Car and Driver
- NewsUSA TODAY
During a school lockdown, 7-year-old writes note on her arm in case she dies
WILMINGTON, Del. — A note that a Delaware student scrawled on her arm during a school lockdown is going viral online. Shelley Harrison Reed, the mother of the 7-year-old student, posted the haunting image on Facebook after her daughter came home following a lockdown at the Wilmington-area Odyssey Charter School on Feb. 7. Reed said it was the first school lockdown her daughter and 10-year-old son have ever experienced. She wrote they appeared to be fine once they got home.
- WorldThe Independent
Top US cardinal expelled from Catholic priesthood over allegations he abused teenager and solicited sex during confession
A disgraced former US cardinal has been expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood over allegations he abused a teenage boy and solicited sex during confession. The Vatican announced the defrocking of Theodore McCarrick on Saturday days before the Pope is to lead an extraordinary gathering of bishops from around the world over the sex abuse crisis engulfing the church. McCarrick, a once-powerful prelate and former Archbishop of Washington, is the highest profile church figure to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Isil bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK, head of MI6 says
The British Islamic State (Isil) bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK the Head of MI6 has said. The Director General of MI6 has said that British citizens have a right to return home from Syria, even though they may still present a threat to national security. Alex Younger, the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service - better known as MI6 - said he was "very concerned" about returning British nationals that had fought for or supported the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
- PoliticsYahoo News
2020 Vision: Buckle up, America! It's gonna be a long, crowded campaign
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., declares her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in Minneapolis on Sunday. Reminder: There are 362 days until the Iowa caucuses, and 633 days until the 2020 presidential election. Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, who ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016, has become the first Republican to announce a challenge to President Trump.
ScienceReutersNASA mulls buying new rides to space from Russia amid program delays
The U.S. space agency has since had to rely on Russia's Roscosmos program to ferry astronauts to the orbital space station at a cost of roughly $80 million per seat, NASA has said. After 2019 there are no seats available on the spacecraft for U.S. crew, and a NASA advisory panel recommended on Friday that the U.S. space program develop a contingency plan to guarantee access to the station in case technical problems delay Boeing and SpaceX any further. A NASA spokesman on Friday characterized a solicitation request NASA filed on Wednesday as a contingency plan.
- U.S.KDVR - Denver
'He Was Just Covered in Blood': Couple Speaks Out After Helping Man Who Killed Mountain Lion
After a northern Colorado man killed a mountain lion following an attack, a couple helped him get to a hospital.
NewsAssociated PressMake El Chapo pay for a border wall? Don't count on it
After El Chapo's conviction in a drug-trafficking trial that included florid testimony of jewel-encrusted guns, a fleet of cash-laden jets and a personal zoo with roaming big cats, some Americans have floated an idea they see as poetic justice: Why not take some of the Mexican drug lord's billions in ill-gotten gains and make him pay for a border wall? For now, the U.S. Department of Justice says it will be seeking forfeiture of a fortune that Guzman's indictment valued at $14 billion. With Guzman, who faces life in prison for smuggling tons of heroin, meth, fentanyl and marijuana into the U.S., authorities know their forfeiture estimate is partly symbolic, to send a message to other traffickers that a conviction could cost them their fortune as well as their freedom, said Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor who specialized in forfeiture.
WorldAFPIran general says Pakistan backs group behind suicide bomb
Iran's Revolutionary Guards accused "Pakistan's security forces" of supporting the perpetrators of a suicide bombing that killed 27 troops on Wednesday, in remarks state TV aired Saturday. "Pakistan's government, who has housed these anti-revolutionaries and threats to Islam, knows where they are and they are supported by Pakistan's security forces," said Revolutionary Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, referring to jihadist group Jaish al-Adl ("Army of Justice"). "If (the Pakistan government) does not punish them, we will retaliate against this anti-revolutionary force, and whatever Pakistan sees will be the consequence of its support for them," he warned.
- BusinessCar and Driver
It Looks Like the Land Rover Discovery SVX Is Dead
Land Rover showed a V-8–powered Discovery SVX concept in 2017, but U.K. media are reporting it's not going to reach production. The SVX name may still be used later, the sources report. UPDATE 2/15/19: Land Rover confirmed that the Discovery SVX concept will not reach production, at least not with the planned V-8 powertrain.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Honda's pickup trucks recalled because they can catch fire from car wash soap
Honda is recalling more than 100,000 Ridgeline trucks because they could catch fire after being washed. The pickup trucks from model years 2017, 2018 and 2019 are affected by an issue stemming from fuel pump feed ports, which can be corroded over time by acids found in products like car wash soaps, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Corrosion can lead to cracks that may allow gas to leak out, increasing the risk of fire.
BusinessBloombergBofA Says a 'Real' Trade Deal Could Vault S&P 500 to Record High
The firm's model on corporate earnings and equity valuations suggests that the market has priced in “a partial deal,” one where only some of the issues get resolved in favor of corporate America, according to strategists led by Savita Subramanian. In a best-case scenario, the S&P 500 could climb 5 percent to 10 percent when a “real deal” is struck. Companies from 3M Co. to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. have slashed their guidance this year, citing either trade tensions or weakening demand in China.
WorldReutersU.S. to deliver over 200 tons of aid to Venezuelan border
U.S. military aircraft are expected to deliver more than 200 tons of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, with the shipment likely to take place on Saturday, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. State Department planned to make an announcement about the shipment on Friday but provided no further details. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump doesn't let facts get in the way of declaring a national emergency
A U.S. Border Patrol agent listens from the front row as President Donald Trump declares a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border during remarks about border security in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., Feb. 15, 2019. President Trump's rambling declaration of a national emergency, the intent of which was to fund a barrier along hundreds of miles on the U.S. border with Mexico, was filled with factual inaccuracies, misleading statements and contradictions. In his Rose Garden remarks on Friday, Trump repeated many of the same disproven claims he has made over the last several weeks about drug smuggling, human trafficking and other crime at the border.
- ScienceMashable
Watch a space harpoon impale a piece of space debris
To clean up the growing mess, scientists at the University of Surrey have previously tested a net to catch chunks of debris. Now, they've successfully tested out a harpoon. The video below, released Friday by the university's space center, shows a test of the experimental RemoveDEBRIS satellite as it unleashes a harpoon at a piece of solar panel, held out on a 1.5-meter boom.
- NewsUSA TODAY
More rain, snow expected in storm-battered California, following days of mudslides and floods
Although the worst of the storm had moved well inland Friday, forecasters said some leftover showers and snow was still likely to fall across the state on Friday and Saturday. The higher elevations of the Sierra could see an additional 3 to 6 feet of snow over the next few days, on top of the 3 feet that fell Thursday, the National Weather Service said. So much snow has fallen in the area that cities are running out of places to put the snow, according to Kevin Cooper of Lake Tahoe TV In Southern California, officials said rain-drenched hillsides could still loosen and collapse, bringing down mud, boulders and debris.
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: Cardinal calls McCarrick punishment 'important'
Cardinal Sean O'Malley issued a statement Saturday after the announcement that McCarrick had been found guilty by the Vatican of sex abuse, including while hearing confession. O'Malley says church leaders "must enforce accountability for cardinals and bishops." O'Malley says his archdiocese is committed to taking reports of abuse seriously, saying it has a "moral responsibility" to be always vigilant.
WorldAFPPakistan gets ready to woo Saudi crown prince
Pakistan was rescheduling flights, blocking-off luxury hotels, and -- according to one report Friday -- collecting 3,500 pigeons and colourful balloons to release during a welcome ceremony for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Islamabad is hoping to sign a raft of investment deals and other agreements during the two-day visit, which begins Sunday and will include talks with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan and the powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The crown prince had originally been due to arrive on Saturday, but Friday the Pakistan foreign ministry released a statement saying the visit had been delayed by one day, with the programme unchanged.
WorldAFPArchaeologists discover Incan tomb in Peru
Peruvian archaeologists discovered an Incan tomb in the north of the country where an elite member of the pre-Columbian empire was buried, one of the investigators announced Friday. The discovery was made on the Mata Indio dig site in the northern Lambayeque region, archaeologist Luis Chero told state news agency Andina. Archaeologists believe the tomb belonged to a noble Inca based on the presence of "spondylus," a type of sea shell always present in the graves of important figures from the Incan period, which lasted from the 12th to the 16th centuries.
NewsAFP Relax NewsBentley Bentayga Speed: an SUV as luxurious as it is powerful
On Thursday Bentley unveiled the Bentayga Speed, an SUV with a top speed of 190 mph and 0- 62mph acceleration time of 3.9 seconds. Bentley celebrated its Valentine's Day by announcing what it calls the "world's fastest, most luxurious SUV:" the Bentayga Speed. Naturally, the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 engine is the star of this Speed-styled Bentayga; this model brings the top speed up to 190 mph from the standard Bentayga's 187 mph -- now just barely faster than the Lamborghini Urus by 0.5 mph -- while producing 626 hp and 662 lb.
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