PoliticsAssociated PressCourt filing: Manafort faces more than 19 years in prison
Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, could spend more than 19 years in prison on tax and bank fraud charges, prosecutors said Friday. Court documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller's office reveal that Manafort faces possibly the lengthiest prison term in the Russia investigation. The 69-year-old Manafort is also at serious risk of spending the rest of his life in prison if a federal judge imposes a sentence within federal guidelines.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Shamima Begum: What could happen to the Isil bride?
The way the Government has dealt with those returning to the UK from the Middle East having been involved with terrorist groups has always been a scrutinised subject. The Shamima Begum case has prompted fresh discussions over how Britain manages those returning or attempting to come back from Syria, once gripped by the tyranny of Islamic State (Isil). Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls, along with Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, from Bethnal Green Academy who left the UK in February 2015.
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
- WorldBloomberg
Venezuela's Exit From U.S. Sanctions? Show Maduro the Door
The Treasury Department said Friday it would “consider lifting sanctions” on those who take concrete steps to “restore democratic order” in the country, as it imposed fresh penalties on five of Maduro's close associates, including Venezuelan Oil Minister and PDVSA Chairman Manuel Quevedo. The move is the latest in a series of steps the U.S. has taken to chip away at Maduro's inner circle. Offering a pathway back out of crippling sanctions and back into the U.S. financial markets marks a new and potentially effective strategy, according to Michael Dobson, a lawyer at Morrison Foerster in Washington who previously worked in Treasury's sanctions unit.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
United Airlines: Three new routes for fast-growing Denver hub
United Airlines will add three new domestic routes at its Denver hub. Daily flights to Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Syracuse, New York, will begin June 6 and will operate year-round. All three of the new routes will go head-to-head against service offered by Denver-based budget rival Frontier Airlines.
WorldAssociated PressFamily of IS teen appeals to UK to help bring her home
The family of a pregnant British teenager who ran away to join the Islamic State group urged the government Friday to help bring her home. Shamima Begum's family issued a statement appealing for government assistance "as a matter of urgency." Begum, now 19, resurfaced this week at a refugee camp in Syria where she gave an interview to the Times of London saying she didn't regret her decision, but wanted to come home. "Given Shamima's four-year ordeal, we are concerned that her mental health has been affected by everything that she has seen and endured," the family said in a statement to Britain's ITV, describing her words as those of child who had been groomed by IS recruiters.
PoliticsReutersTrump declares emergency for border wall, House panel launches probe
President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in a bid to fund his promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border without congressional approval, an action Democrats vowed to challenge as a violation of the U.S. Constitution. The Republican president's move to circumvent Congress represented an escalation in his efforts to make good on a 2016 presidential campaign pledge to build a wall to halt the flow into the country of illegal immigrants, who Trump says bring crime and drugs. Hours after Trump's announcement, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee said it had launched an investigation into the emergency declaration.
- NewsThe Independent
California braced for mudslides and torrential rain after devastating storm
Authorities have warned of the threat of mudslides after a damaging storm struck California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow which destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the US west coast into Wyoming and Colorado after walloping northern California and southern Oregon. The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 24cm over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.
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.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Stacey Abrams calls voter suppression 'the crisis of our day'
WASHINGTON — Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams said Friday that “voter suppression … has to be considered the crisis of our day.” She made the comments in front of a Washington, D.C., audience where she cautioned Democrats to pay less attention to President Trump's emergency declaration and to focus their energy on voting rights. Abrams, who became a national figure during her 2018 run for governor in Georgia, said that whether or not she runs for the U.S. Senate in 2020, she will use her current platform to elevate the issue of voting rights and obstacles to voting.
WorldAFPWorld bishops head to Vatican for sex abuse summit
Pope Francis gathers bishops from around the world at the Vatican this week for a hotly-awaited summit on tackling the wave of child sex abuse scandals assailing the Catholic Church. The heads of around 100 bishops' conferences from every continent will convene from Thursday to Sunday for the meeting, with victims' groups demanding that a concrete action plan on fighting paedophilia be drawn up. The pope, who asked the bishops to speak to victims of abuse in their respective countries before the Rome convention, has tried to dial down "inflated expectations" for a cure-all.
- U.S.KTXL - Sacramento
`Going Away Party` for School Shutting Down Because of Student`s Death Causes Controversy
Some parents are outraged a California school for kids with special needs is holding a "going away party" after one of its own students died after being restrained by staff.
- WorldBloomberg
U.S. Weighs New PDVSA Sanctions as Next Step Against Maduro
The move is one of several options the administration is considering to help the country through a “major” political transition, according to Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and two people familiar with the matter. “I know the White House and the Treasury Department are focused on the best path forward, but the main goal is to ensure that we preserve the assets and resources that rightfully belong to the Venezuelan people and block the Maduro regime from using them for personal gain and repression,” McCaul said in an emailed statement.
- 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.
- 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.
- WorldReuters
Explainer: Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan-based militants, at heart of tension with India
A Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, has taken responsibility for the deadliest attack on security forces in Indian Kashmir in 30 years of insurgency, ratcheting up tension between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors. India says the group and its leader, Masood Azhar, enjoy free rein in Pakistan, and demands that Pakistan acts to stop militant groups operating from its soil. Pakistan condemned the Thursday bomb attack that killed 44 paramilitary policemen but denied any complicity.
- 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.
NewsAssociated PressAurora shooting victims ranged from intern to plant manager
The victims of a disgruntled employee who opened fire at a suburban Chicago industrial warehouse were co-workers ranging from an intern to the plant manager. A look at the victims: TREVOR WEHNER The 21-year-old Northern Illinois University student was on his first day as an intern in human resources at Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora and attended the fateful meeting where the gunman was fired and then started shooting. Jay Wehner said his nephew grew up about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Aurora in Sheridan and was expected to graduate from Northern Illinois University in May with a degree in human resource management.
- 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).
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Our Favorite Eco-friendly Finds Put Sustainable Materials to Stylish Use
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Chicago police release men held in Smollett case
Chicago police say they have released two Nigerian brothers who had been arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of assaulting "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, saying that detectives have additional investigative work to complete. The men were picked up by police Wednesday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and their apartment was searched Thursday. Smollett says he was assaulted on Jan. 29 by two men who shouted racial slurs and put a rope around his neck.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Sanders Says Mueller's Office Interviewed Her in Russia Investigation
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said she was interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office, which is probing possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and the Kremlin in the 2016 election. The president urged me, like he has everyone in the administration, to fully cooperate with the special counsel,” Sanders said Friday in an email. I was happy to voluntarily sit down with them.
- 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.
BusinessAFPUS Facebook fine over privacy could be in billions: reports
A US investigation into privacy violations by Facebook could result in a record fine running to billions of dollars, media reports said Friday. The Federal Trade Commission is negotiating the terms of the penalty stemming from its investigation into whether Facebook violated a 2011 settlement with the regulator on protecting user data, the Washington Post and New York Times said, citing unnamed sources. The FTC reopened its investigation following revelations last year that personal data from tens of millions of Facebook users was hijacked by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica as it worked on Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
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