WorldAssociated PressMore than 150 IS militants handed over to Iraq from Syria
U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State group handed over more than 150 Iraqi members of the group to Iraq, an Iraqi security official said Thursday, marking the biggest repatriation from Syria of captured militants so far. The official said the IS militants were handed over to the Iraqi side late Wednesday, and that they were now in a "safe place" under investigation. The transfer comes as the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces is involved in a standoff over the final sliver of land held by IS in eastern Syria, close to the Iraqi border.
WorldAFPCardinal calls for global recognition of sex abuse in Catholic Church
A leading cardinal acknowledged the global scale of the child sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church on Friday, on the second day of a landmark summit at the Vatican on tackling paedophilia in the clergy. The refusal by some bishops -- notably in Asia and Africa -- to admit clerical paedophilia was an issue in their countries was unacceptable, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias told the extraordinary summit. The pope has been under sustained pressure to tackle abuse issues in the beleaguered institution after numerous stories of paedophilia emerged in countries across the world.
WorldReutersSaudi to free 850 Indian prisoners from its jails: India government
Saudi Arabia will release 850 Indians from its prisons after a request from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to New Delhi, India's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Saudi jails hold the greatest number of Indians incarcerated in any country abroad. As of January 2019, 2,224 Indians were jailed in the kingdom for crimes including murder, kidnapping, bribery, cheating, and offences related to drugs and alcohol, according Indian Foreign Ministry figures.
PoliticsUSA TODAYAndrew McCabe 'confident' top lawmakers understood FBI had launched probe into President Trump
Former acting-FBI Director Andrew McCabe said Thursday that top lawmakers "knew exactly" that the FBI had opened a counterintelligence inquiry into President Donald Trump when they were briefed on the status of the Russia investigation shortly after the 2017 firing of FBI Director James Comey. McCabe, in an interview with reporters linked to the continuing rollout of his new book, offered additional details surrounding the bureau's extraordinary action against the president and the secret briefing provided to Congress' Gang of Eight outlining the bureau's decision. "I am confident that everyone in the room knew exactly what we were doing," McCabe said, referring to the bipartisan group of lawmakers who are regularly briefed on classified intelligence matters.
WorldAFPCanada looks to reunite Syrian family after fire claims seven kids
Canada is looking to quickly bring over siblings of a Syrian refugee distraught over the loss of her seven children in a Halifax house fire, the prime minister said Thursday. "The immigration minister is seized with this particular case," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said when asked if Ottawa would fast-track the immigration or asylum process to bring the woman's brothers to Canada in order to provide her with family support. The family was among tens of thousands of Syrian refugees welcomed by Canada over the past four years.
NewsAssociated PressGirl's death haunted police until arrest made 45 years later
Investigators searched for decades for the killer of an 11-year-old girl who disappeared while walking home from summer school in a case that gripped a California seaside community. A photo of a smiling Linda O'Keefe has hung for years on the wall of the police department in Newport Beach, reminding investigators to keep pressing forward on cold cases like hers. More than four decades later, authorities in Southern California said Wednesday that a Colorado man has been arrested and charged with killing her in 1973.
- WorldThe Independent
Venezuela shooting: At least one dead after troops fire on indigenous people near Brazil border
The mayor said members of the Pemon indigenous group clashed with the Venezuela National Guard and the army, who were moving tanks to the border. Mr Gonzalez claimed the soldiers fired rubber bullets and tea gas. Some members of the area's indigenous community have expressed their support for the opposition's plans to bring in foreign aid over the border this weekend, despite the objection of President Nicolas Maduro.
- WorldReuters
Britain, EU closer to possible agreement on Brexit: EU diplomats
The European Union and Britain are moving towards a separate legal statement in which the bloc would again stress the temporary nature of the so-called Brexit backstop for the Irish border, diplomats in Brussels said. They spoke of a "parallel declaration" or "interpretative instrument" on the backstop, a day after British Prime Minister Theresa May and the head of the European Union's executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, met in Brussels to seek a way out of the Brexit deadlock. The backstop is an insurance policy designed to avoid border controls between EU member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland after Brexit.
- U.S.KTRK – Houston
Parents dead in murder-suicide at Sugar Land home as 16-year-old daughter slept inside
Their family says they were involved in volunteering and believed in giving back before they died.
- WorldAssociated Press
Pakistan PM authorizes military response if India attacks
Pakistan's prime minister on Thursday authorized the armed forces to "respond decisively and comprehensively to any aggression or misadventure" by neighboring India, as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals. India has vowed a "jaw-breaking response" to a suicide bombing in the disputed Kashmir region last week that killed 40 Indian soldiers. It was the worst attack on Indian forces since the start of the Kashmir insurgency in 1989.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Johnson & Johnson stock price falls after federal subpoena on alleged asbestos in baby powder
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Johnson & Johnson over concerns the company's baby powder may have contained asbestos. The agencies subpoenaed the health care product maker in the wake of several jury awards to plaintiffs who claimed the company's talc products were tainted with asbestos and caused their cancers. The agencies seek documents about those matters and other suits Johnson & Johnson faces filed by shareholders and pension holders over the situation.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
A 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback Is the Latest to Be Immortalized in Legos
This 1970s-era Ford Mustang kit is customizable; there's a supercharger, front and rear spoilers, tail or side pipes, and even a nitrous-oxide tank. A removable roof panel permits access to the attentively detailed interior. The kit will be available directly from Lego stores or online, starting March 1.
- WorldBloomberg
Saudi Crown Prince Set to Arrive in China as Asian Tour Rolls On
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is set to arrive in China on Thursday in the middle of a multi-country swing through Asia that may burnish his image abroad as ties with western leaders remain strained. The visit will include a meeting with President Xi Jinping and a high-level joint dialogue aimed at boosting relations after the nations agreed to promote a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016. He's expected to visit South Korea after that in the final leg of his tour after stops in Indonesia and Malaysia were postponed.
BusinessConsumer ReportsMercedes-Benz Recall | Automated System Problem
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Mercedes-Benz is recalling 6,200 S-Class sedans, coupes, and convertibles from the 2018 and 2019 model years because their automated steering functions, such as lane centering and lane keeping assist, may continue to work even when the driver's hands are off the wheel for a prolonged period of time.
- WorldAssociated Press
The Latest: Cardinal condemns how church handles sex abuse
A Colombian cardinal has warned fellow Roman Catholic bishops at a Vatican summit they could be imprisoned for covering up crimes if they don't properly deal with clergy sex abuse cases. In a remarkable speech at the abuse prevention summit, Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez on Thursday also denounced how bishops tend to believe priests over people reporting abuse allegations. Salazar proposed an obligatory code of conduct that outlines clear norms and penalties when bishops fall short in their handling of sexual abuse, an astonishing proposal from a cardinal of a country where the scandal hasn't erupted in full.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump panel to examine whether global warming affects national security will include climate change denier
President Donald Trump is preparing to establish a panel to examine whether climate change affects national security, despite existing reports from his own government showing that global warming is a growing threat. According to a White House memo dated 14 February, Mr Trump's staff members have drafted an executive order to create a 12-member committee, which will include a White House adviser, William Happer, whose views are at odds with the established scientific consensus that carbon dioxide pollution is dangerous for the planet.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
20 Affordable Indoor Planters We Love
Instant upgrades for your home's green scheme
WorldReutersFrench TV cuts Facebook live feed from Jewish cemetery after anti-Semitic abuse
A French TV channel said on Wednesday it had been forced to cut short a live Facebook broadcast from a desecrated Jewish cemetery in eastern France because of an onslaught of anti-Semitic commentary. "Our country is confronted with a resurgence of anti-Semitism undoubtedly without precedent since the Second World War," President Emmanuel Macron said later on Tuesday in an annual speech to Jewish leaders in France. France 3 television said it went live from the first cemetery in the village of Quatzenheim on Tuesday as President Emmanuel Macron was visiting to pay his respects after more than 90 graves were vandalised with swastikas and anti-Semitic abuse.
WorldAFPPakistan bans groups linked to Mumbai attack suspects
Pakistan on Thursday banned two groups believed to be fronts for the group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, amid heightened pressure on Islamabad to act against militants. Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation were designated "proscribed organisations", the interior ministry said in a statement, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered officials to accelerate action against banned groups. JuD and FIF are considered by the UN to be fronts for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group accused by Washington and New Delhi of carrying out the Mumbai attack, which killed 166 people and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
NewsUSA TODAYSouthwest Airlines cancels nearly 400 flights as maintenance woes, winter storms linger
Southwest Airlines' flight woes continue, with nearly 400 Thursday flights canceled due to maintenance issues and winter weather. Southwest, the nation's largest domestic carrier, had canceled 389 flights, or 9 percent of its schedule, as of 1:15 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. That is the highest number of cancellations by any carrier and accounts for 51 percent of flight cancellations within, into or out of the United States, according to FlightAware. Southwest attributed the high number of cancellations to weather challenges and continuing maintenance issues that have a pulled a higher-than-usual number of aircraft out of service.
NewsAssociated PressGory details emerge about missing woman's suspected demise
After months of mostly silence from authorities investigating the disappearance of a Colorado mother on Thanksgiving Day, grim details about her suspected demise emerged this week, including accusations that the woman's fiance beat her to death with a baseball bat while their baby was in the next room. Testimony from investigators at a court hearing Tuesday also revealed that Patrick Frazee had repeatedly asked an Idaho woman with whom he was having an affair to kill Kelsey Berreth, the mother of Frazee's 1-year-old daughter. When she refused, he did it himself, authorities said.
- NewsThe Guardian
Hoda Muthana: US bars Alabama woman who joined Isis from returning
Mike Pompeo says Muthana, 24, is not a US citizen but refusal to take her back likely to face legal challenge Podcast: What should happen to the Isis wives? US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said the state department will block an American-born woman who left Alabama to join Islamic State in 2014 from returning to the US. Hoda Muthana, 24, told the Guardian this week that she regretted leaving the US to join the terrorist group and wants to return from Syria with her 18-month-old son.
BusinessReutersTesla rolls out Model 3 in China ahead of schedule in sales push
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has started delivering Model 3 cars in China slightly ahead of schedule, as it looks to revive its sales that have been hit hard by Sino-U.S. trade tensions. The California-based firm has already adjusted prices and added a cheaper Model 3 variant to its line-up to make its U.S.-made cars more affordable in China amid high import tariffs. It had initially projected a March start for Model 3 deliveries in China - the world's biggest auto market where overall car sales contracted in 2018 for the first time in more than two decades.
NewsAssociated PressFuneral held for youngest victim of factory shooting
A small funeral home was packed with hundreds of mourners for a 21-year-old college student who was killed on the first day of his internship when a worker opened fire inside an Illinois manufacturing facility. Trevor Wehner was among five people killed in the Friday shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora. During a brief religious service Wednesday in the Village of Sheridan, Wehner was remembered as family-oriented, someone who could change the atmosphere of a room just by walking in and who liked to tease and play jokes.
PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump apparently not familiar with his administration's push for global decriminalization of homosexuality
President Trump reacted with surprise when asked Wednesday about reports that his administration was making a global push to decriminalize homosexuality. In an Oval Office exchange with reporters, Trump was asked about the plan, which was first reported by NBC News on Tuesday. “Mr. President, on your push to decriminalize homosexuality, are you going to do that?
