WorldAFPIsrael to withhold $138 mln from Palestinians over prisoner payments
Israel said its security cabinet on Sunday decided to withhold $138 million (122 million euros) in tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority over its payments to prisoners jailed for attacks on Israelis. A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the withheld cash would be equal to that paid by the PA last year to "terrorists imprisoned in Israel, to their families and to released prisoners". Israel alleges the payments encourage further violence.
- NewsTime
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Celebrated Amazon Pulling Out of New York––But the Governor Says It Cost the City 25,000 Jobs
The dispute between the two Democrats lays bare a divide over the plan to offer $2.8 billion in tax breaks for Amazon to establish a major presence in New York City. On one side, old hands like Cuomo; on the other, the newly insurgent, left-leaning wing represented by Ocasio-Cortez. Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation and the power of the richest man in the world,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter.
WorldAssociated PressThousands in Iran attend funeral for slain Guard members
Dozens of comrades circled caskets on the back of trucks on Saturday as thousands of mourners attended a mass funeral for 27 elite Revolutionary Guard soldiers killed in a suicide car bombing this week in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan province. Shouts of "Death to America," and "Death to Zionism" could be heard from the crowd gathered in Bozorgmehr Square in the central city of Isfahan, where the soldiers were based. The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, threatened to retaliate against neighboring Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates over the attack.
- NewsThe Telegraph
Employee being fired fatally shoots 5 co-workers with 'laser-sighted pistol' in Illinois
A 15-year employee being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company opened fire with a laser-sighted pistol on Friday, killing five co-workers and wounding five police officers before he was killed by police, authorities said. Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman said 45-year-old Gary Martin "was being terminated" before he started shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. - which makes valves for industrial purposes - in the city about 40 miles west of Chicago. She told a news conference that in addition to the five employees killed, a sixth worker was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.
- BusinessBloomberg
U.K. Lawmakers Recommend Harsher Penalties For Tech Companies
Damian Collins, the policy maker who spearheaded the inquiry, called for Parliament to create new laws to help a proposed regulator oversee the industry, with fines for companies to be calculated based on their revenue. “Companies like Facebook exercise massive market power which enables them to make money by bullying the smaller technology companies and developers who rely on this platform to reach their customers,” Collins said in a statement Monday.
WorldReutersVenezuela denies EU lawmakers entry given 'conspiratorial motives'
Venezuela denied a group of European Parliament deputies entry into the country on Sunday, arguing they had "conspiratorial motives" for flying to Caracas in the throes of a political crisis. The European Parliament last month joined a slew of Western nations in recognizing Venezuelan opposition chief Juan Guaido as interim head of state after President Nicolas Maduro won a second term in an election last year that critics denounced as a sham. The four deputies from the center-right European People's Party (EPP) were traveling to Venezuela to meet with Guaido, one of them said in a video distributed via social media.
NewsAssociated PressAurora shooting victims included plant manager, intern
The victims of an employee who started shooting after hearing he was being fired at a suburban Chicago industrial warehouse were co-workers that included a plant manager whose wife says he texted her "I love you, I've been shot at work," and an intern in his first day on the job. A look at the victims: JOSH PINKARD Terra Pinkard says it all started with a text from her husband, Josh: "I love you, I've been shot at work." The Chicago Tribune reported that she later learned he was among the five victims of Friday's shooting at Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora.
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.
BusinessReutersMerck, Pfizer drug combo extends kidney cancer survival: study
A combination of Merck & Co's immunotherapy Keytruda and Pfizer Inc's Inlyta helped patients with advanced kidney cancer live longer than those receiving and older Pfizer standalone therapy, according to data from a late-stage study presented on Saturday. Nearly 90 percent of patients who received the combination therapy were still alive after 12 months compared with about 78 percent of patients who were alive after a year when treated with the older drug Sutent, data showed. Merck on Monday released interim data from the trial, saying the combination reduced the risk of death by 47 percent compared with Sutent.
PoliticsUSA TODAY'I didn't need to do this.' Critics say Trump quote undercuts national emergency for border wall
WASHINGTON – Thirty minutes into an off-the-cuff defense of his decision to declare a national emergency to help build his border wall, President Donald Trump made an admission that may have handed ammunition to legal opponents of the move. Trump, who has long described the situation on the Southwest border as a "crisis" and an "invasion," appeared to suggest his administration had all the time it needed to build the hundreds of miles of border barrier he has demanded for months. "I could do the wall over a longer period of time.
- BusinessThe Independent
Amazon pays zero federal taxes for second year in succession despite doubling profits, says new report
Amazon has paid zero federal taxes for the second year in succession, despite a doubling of its profits, according to a new report. Although the tech giant founded by Jeff Bezos saw its profits grow from $5.6bn (£4.3bn) in 2017 to $11.2bn (£8.7bn) in 2018, it will actually receive a tax rebate of $129m (£100m). “The company's newest corporate filing reveals that, far from paying the statutory 21 per cent income tax rate on its US income in 2018, Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate of $129m,” said the report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which describes itself as a “non-partisan, non-profit think tank”, based in Washington DC.
- BusinessTime
Here's What's Open and Closed on President's Day 2019
Remember that day in February that isn't Valentine's and isn't Groundhog Day? Many places throughout the country will observe this President's Day by closing their doors so people can enjoy a 3-day weekend honoring our the birthday of nation's first President, George Washington. Here's what's open and closed on President's Day 2019.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman heads to Pakistan on Asian diplomatic offensive
Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman flew to Pakistan at the start of a three nation diplomatic tour designed to repair the kingdom's reputation and bolster ties with key regional allies. The crown prince's visit could be overshadowed by dangerously spiraling tensions between Pakistan and India. New Delhi has accused Pakistan of having a hand in Thursday's attack and vowed to punish Islamabad, which denies involvement.
WorldFOX News VideosTheodore McCarrick is the first US cardinal to be defrocked
Pope Francis expels Theodore McCarrick from priesthood after being found guilty of multiple sex crimes by Vatican officials; Bryan Llenas reports.
WorldReutersU.S. adviser Bolton promises India support after Kashmir attack
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton spoke to his Indian counterpart promising support to bring those responsible for a deadly car bombing in disputed Kashmir to justice, the Indian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. A Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, has claimed responsibility for the attack on a military convoy in which 44 paramilitary police were killed, raising tensions with India. Bolton told Ajit Doval in a telephone conversation that the United States supported India's right to self-defense against cross-border terrorism, the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
TechnologyAssociated PressPotential privacy lapse found in Americans' 2010 census data
An internal team at the Census Bureau found that basic personal information collected from more than 100 million Americans during the 2010 head count could be reconstructed from obscured data, but with lots of mistakes, a top agency official disclosed Saturday. The Census Bureau is now scrapping its old data shielding technique for a state-of-the-art method that Abowd claimed is far better than Google's or Apple's. Some former agency chiefs fear the potential privacy problem will add to the worries that people will avoid answering or lie on the once-every-10-year survey because of the Trump administration's attempt to add a much-debated citizenship question.
BusinessAFPHong Kong economy stalls amid trade dispute: finance chief
Hong Kong's economy stalled last year as the ongoing China-US trade dispute and retail woes dragged down local business, the city's financial chief said Sunday. "The impact of China-US trade frictions on Hong Kong's exports has clearly emerged at the end of last year," said finance secretary Paul Chan. Economic growth in the semi-autonomous Chinese city for the last quarter of 2018 was less than 1.5 percent -- the weakest since the first quarter of 2016 and a "significant slowdown" from the average growth rate of 3.7 percent in the first three quarters, Chan wrote on his official blog.
- NewsThe Independent
Jussie Smollett attack: Two Nigerian men arrested over attack on Empire actor released without charge
Chicago police released without charges two Nigerian brothers arrested on suspicion of assaulting "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett and said they have new evidence to investigate as a result of questioning them. "The individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete," Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a brief statement late Friday. Mr Smollett, who is black and gay, has said two masked men shouting racial and anti-gay slurs and "This is MAGA country!" beat him and looped a rope around his neck early on 29 January before running away.
- Jussie Smollett attack: Brothers tell police that Jussie Smollett paid them to stage attack, official says; new evidence 'shifted the trajectory' of investigation after brothers cooperate, police sayWLS – Chicago
- Chicago police seek follow-up interview with 'Empire' actor Jussie SmollettThe Telegraph
- WorldBloomberg
U.S. Appeal for NATO Personnel in Syria Brushed Off by Spain
A U.S. appeal for NATO allies to fill the void left by its imminent withdrawal from Syria was dismissed by Spain's foreign minister, still bristling at Donald Trump's unilateral decision to bring his troops home. Vice President Mike Pence told reporters at the Munich Security Conference that the U.S. is asking NATO members and other partners to provide "the resources and the support and the personnel" required to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State once U.S. operations conclude. "Requests between countries aren't made in press releases or conference comments," Spain's Josep Borrell said at a briefing in Munich on Saturday.
ScienceMashableNASA posts image of ghostly blue objects, deep in the cosmos
NASA's long-lived Hubble Space Telescope captured vivid bright clumps moving through the cosmos at some 1,000 light years from Earth. Seen as the vivid blue, ephemeral clumps in the top center of the new image below, these are telltale signs of an energy-rich gas, or plasma, colliding with a huge collection of dust and gas in deep space. NASA doesn't identify the new star itself, called SVS 13, perhaps because it's obscured by thick clouds of cosmic matter.
- BusinessThe National Interest
How the 'Block' 4 F-35 Stealth Fighter Could Become A Navy Killer (And Much More)
After years of expensive development, the first fully combat-capable Block IIIF F-35 stealth fighter are due to enter service in 2019. Here, we'll look at the new weapon systems due to be integrated in the Block 4 that will significantly expand the F-35's maritime strike, air-to-ground capabilities and air-to-air lethality. One major addition is the GBU-54/B Stormbreaker, also known as the Small Diameter Bomb II. Like the GPS-guided GBU-39 SDB I already integrated on the F-35, the 208-pound Stormbreaker is only six to seven inches in diameter, allowing eight to be stowed in the F-35's confined internal weapon bays.
WorldReutersNetanyahu's main rival in Israeli election voices agreement with him on Iran
Former general Benny Gantz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strongest challenger in an election scheduled for April, voiced support on Sunday for the right-wing leader's tough policy toward Iran. quot;I am standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the fight against Iran's aggression," Gantz, a former chief of Israel's armed forces and a centrist candidate, told the Munich Security Conference. Polls predict that Netanyahu's Likud party will win the April 9 election, taking about 30 of parliament's 120 seats - enough to form a coalition of right-wing and religious factions similar to one he now heads.
- LifestyleThe Telegraph
Potato rösti
This potato rösti is the perfect way to use up that last bit of cheese in the fridge. SERVES Two INGREDIENTS 500g potatoes, ideally a nice waxy chip potato 1 small onion, finely sliced 1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped Pinch of dried chilli 50g butter 120g mixed grated cheese such as cheddar, gruyere or comté (a great opportunity to use up leftovers) Large pinch of fresh or dried sage METHOD Peel the potatoes and coarsely grate them into a bowl. Add the onion, garlic and chilli and season well.
- WorldReuters
Yemen's warring parties agree on initial redeployment: U.N
Yemeni government and Houthi representatives have reached an agreement on the first phase of their redeployment of forces under a U.N.-sponsored deal for the warring armies to leave the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the United Nations said on Sunday. "The parties reached an agreement on Phase 1 of the mutual redeployment of forces," a statement by the U.N. spokesman's office said without giving details of exactly what the Iranian-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed government agreed. The United Nations is trying to implement a truce and troop-withdrawal accord in Hodeidah, the main entry point for most of Yemen's imports, as part of efforts to end a war that has killed tens of thousands and left millions on the brink of starvation.
WorldAssociated PressSex abuse survivors say Vatican summit must deliver action
Roman Catholics who were sexually abused by clergy are insisting that decisive actions to confront the decades-long problem of pedophile priests and church cover-ups must come out of an upcoming Vatican summit. A founding member of the advocacy group Ending Clergy Abuse, Peter Isely, contended Sunday that Pope Francis is "facing resistance" from top Vatican officials as he prepares to convene bishops from around the world. "Let me tell you what it was like to try and have to resist that priest when I was a boy who was sexually assaulting me," Isely said.
