PoliticsAssociated PressEx-Massachusetts Gov. Weld to challenge Trump for GOP nod
Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, little-known on the national stage but well-respected among veterans in the GOP establishment, announced an exploratory committee for president on Friday, becoming the first Republican to move toward a serious primary challenge against President Donald Trump. There are new signs he won't be the last. Immediately after the 73-year-old Weld's announcement at a breakfast event in New Hampshire, a senior aide for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich indicated Kasich is likely to launch a primary challenge as well.
NewsReutersIllinois factory gunman killed victims after being fired
Gary Martin, 45, armed himself with a .40 caliber handgun, which he owned illegally, before reporting for a meeting where he was told he was fired, Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman told a news conference. Most of the workers killed in the shooting on Friday at the Henry Pratt Company plant, 40 miles (65 km) west of Chicago, were in the room where Martin was terminated, Ziman said. Five police officers were wounded by gunfire before Martin was killed in a shootout with police.
WorldAFPIndia vows 'heavy price' after deadly Kashmir attack
India and Pakistan's troubled ties risked taking a dangerous new turn on Friday as New Delhi accused Islamabad of harbouring militants behind one of the deadliest attacks in three decades of bloodshed in Indian-administered Kashmir. At least 41 paramilitary troops were killed on Thursday as explosives packed in a van ripped through a convoy bringing 2,500 troopers back from leave not far from the main city Srinagar, police said. Local media reported that the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist group claimed responsibility, with the vehicle driven by a known local militant, Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando.
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.
- 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
Mike Pence claims Iran is planning a 'new Holocaust' to destroy Israel
Iran is planning a “new Holocaust” to destroy Israel, US vice president Mike Pence claimed at a summit on peace and security in the Middle East. “The Iranian regime openly advocates another Holocaust and seeks the means to achieve it,” he told delegates at the conference, which was co-hosted by the US and Poland in Warsaw. Mr Pence used his speech to encourage sceptical allies into joining an anti-Iran alliance, which includes Israel and Arabian Peninsula monarchies.
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.
WorldReutersExclusive: McCarrick defrocking shows 'bishops not above the law' - top Vatican investigator
The defrocking of former U.S. cardinal Theodore McCarrick is a "very important signal" to the Catholic Church hierarchy that no one is above the law, the Vatican's top sexual crimes investigator said on Saturday. McCarrick was expelled from the priesthood after being found guilty of sexual crimes against minors and adults. He is the highest profile figure to be dismissed from the Church in modern times, as it continues to struggle with a decades-long sexual abuse crisis.
NewsAssociated PressStudents track fatal child shootings since Parkland killings
A student journalism project has concluded that at least 1,149 children and teenagers died from a shooting in the year since the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Around 200 teenage reporters from across the country worked to document the stories of the children up to age 18 who died from gun violence in the year since 17 people died in a mass shooting at the Parkland, Florida, school. The "Since Parkland" report released Thursday on the first anniversary of the massacre said children died in school shootings, domestic violence cases, drug homicides and by stray bullets.
- PoliticsNational Review
Sasse Warns Trump That National Emergency Could Set Dangerous Precedent
Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) on Friday warned President Trump that his national emergency declaration may set a dangerous precedent that will be exploited by a future Democratic administration. In a statement provided to National Review, Sasse endorsed President Trump's claim that a lack of attention to security has created a “crisis” at the southern border, but warned that resolving the issue through a national-emergency declaration would prove counterproductive for conservatives in the future. “We absolutely have a crisis at the border, but as a Constitutional conservative I don't want a future Democratic President unilaterally rewriting gun laws or climate policy,” Sasse said in the statement.
- BusinessCar and Driver
Honda Ridgeline Recalled for Carwash Sensitivity
More than 106,000 2017–2019 Honda Ridgeline pickups will be recalled for potential fire risk. Acids in carwash soap could cause the fuel pump feed port to crack and leak, the recall notice says. Car and Driver's long-term Ridgeline is one of the affected vehicles.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
NewsAssociated PressVirginia governor asks lawmakers to focus on budget 'equity'
Embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam asked lawmakers Thursday to pass a state budget that has a "greater focus on issues of equity" as he tries to move past a blackface scandal that nearly ended his governorship. Northam met with a group of state legislators to discuss the budget and sent them a letter outlining his priorities as the GOP-led General Assembly puts the final touches on its state spending plan. Top among them, Northam said, are increased funding for struggling schools and more spending to decrease the number of evictions.
- 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.
NewsReuters'Forever haunted' Parkland mourns a year after shooting
School buses brought only a handful of students to a shortened class day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a former student with an assault gun killed 17 people on Feb. 14, 2018. "As men and women of faith, we stand with you Parkland, painful Parkland, profound Parkland, powerful Parkland," said David Hughes, the lead pastor at Church by the Glades in Coral Springs. "In the name of a living God, we say together never, never, never, never again." Leaders of March for Our Lives, a national student movement formed in the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy to fight gun violence, were not in the spotlight, having noted they would "go dark" or cease most communications during the anniversary.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Our Favorite Eco-friendly Finds Put Sustainable Materials to Stylish Use
- PoliticsThe Independent
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to introduce bill blocking Trump's 'fake national emergency'
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joaquin Castro have announced new legislation they intend to introduce as part of an effort to block Donald Trump's national emergency declaration over the US-Mexico border. The Democratic politicians pointed to the National Emergencies Act that provides Congress the ability to “terminate the President's emergency declaration”, according to Mr Castro. In a tweet following the announcement, Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive freshman representative from New York City, wrote: “@JoaquinCastrotx and I aren't going to let the President declare a fake national emergency without a fight.
- NewsThe Telegraph
Suspects in alleged attack on 'Empire' actor released
Suspects arrested in connection with an alleged racist and homophobic assault on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago were released on Friday, police said. "Due to new evidence as a result of today's interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete," the Chicago Police Department said in a email to Reuters. A spokesman for the department on Friday night declined to confirm whether the individuals released were the two Nigerian brothers police said they arrested on Wednesday at Chicago O'Hare Airport in connection to the attack.
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.
WorldAssociated PressUS-backed fighters squeezing IS gunmen in eastern Syria
A U.S.-backed force in Syria is closing in on Islamic State militants in a tiny area less than a square kilometer (square mile) in eastern Syria, and will soon declare the defeat of the militant group, a commander with the group said Saturday. The capture of the last pocket still held by IS fighters in the village of Baghouz would mark the end of a devastating four-year global campaign to end the extremist group's hold on territory in Syria and Iraq — their so-called "caliphate" that at the height of the group's power in 2014 controlled nearly a third of both Iraq and Syria. "We will very soon bring good news to the whole world," said Ciya Furat, a commander with the Kurdish-led force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, speaking at a news conference at the al-Omar Oil Field Base in the Deir el-Zour province.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The 2019 Bentley Bentayga Speed Is Faster but Cannot Crush the Lamborghini Urus
The new Bentley Bentayga Speed is claimed to be the world's "fastest production SUV," matching the top speed of the Lamborghini Urus. For now, we settle for 190 mph, a 3-mph bump from the Bentayga's base trim. At 3.9 seconds, Bentley claims a two-tenth improvement to the company's claimed zero-to-62-mph time, although we've already run a regular Bentayga to 60 in just 3.5 seconds.
- WorldBloomberg
May Scrambles for Brexit Compromise With Two Weeks to Save Deal
British Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to compromise with the European Union over the future of Ireland's border, with just two weeks left to save her Brexit deal. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay privately told the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, on Monday the U.K. doesn't need to reopen the divorce agreement and would accept other ways to address British concerns, a person familiar with the talks said. On Thursday, members of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Conservatives inflicted another embarrassing parliamentary defeat on the premier after they refused to endorse her approach to resolving the deadlock.
- CelebrityAOL.com
Alaska Airlines is selling BOGO flights for one day only
Happy Bae Day! Whether you're single or partnered up, Valentine's Day can have you craving a romantic getaway or just a getaway, period, so that you can make a quick escape from all the lovey-dovey energy in the air (that's us! While most couples will agree that 'two is better than one' when it comes to matters of the heart on Valentine's Day, those who aren't in a relationship would probably agree to disagree — except for this year, thanks Alaska Airlines.
