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?
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Court records say 2 knew man wanted fiancee dead
At least two people knew a man was pressuring his girlfriend to kill his fiancee before that woman's sudden disappearance. According to court records, two friends were told by Krystal Jean Lee Kenney in October that Frazee wanted her to kill Berreth. The women were later interviewed by police investigating Berreth's Nov. 22 disappearance.
- NewsThe Independent
MAGA hat student sues Washington Post for $250m over coverage of confrontation with Native American man
A student involved in a viral confrontation with a Native American man is suing the Washington Post for $250m (£191m) over its coverage of the incident. The defamation lawsuit, filed by Covington Catholic High School pupil Nick Sandmann, claims the newspaper “wrongfully targeted and bullied” him due to its “biased agenda” against Donald Trump. The 16-year-old was wearing one of the president's signature Make America Great Again hats when he attended an anti-abortion rally in Washington in January along with classmates from his Kentucky school.
WorldReutersNetanyahu makes deal with far-right party ahead of Israeli election
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forged an election alliance with a far-right party on Wednesday that could give followers of the late anti-Arab rabbi, Meir Kahane, a stronger voice in Israeli politics. The deal, announced by Netanyahu's Likud and the ultranationalist Jewish Home party, was aimed at solidifying a potential right-wing coalition after the April 9 parliamentary election. Opinion polls predict Netanyahu's Likud will win the most parliamentary seats and will be in a position to form a governing coalition of rightist and religious parties similar to the one he now heads.
NewsAFPCanada 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.
- WorldBloomberg
With Top Investor in Jail, Putin Hits at Business Climate
Russian President Vladimir Putin said honest business people shouldn't have to live under “constant fear of criminal prosecution,” days after the arrest of one of the country's top foreign investors. Echoing previous exhortations to officials and law-enforcement to stop harassing business, which have produced few results, Putin said Wednesday in his annual state-of-the-nation address that “detention is often extended without good reason” and almost half of cases “don't even make it to court. But he didn't mention Baring Vostok Capital Partners Founder Michael Calvey, the American private equity investor who's in pre-trial detention as the latest prominent business figure to face prosecution.
- WorldNational Review
Pope Francis Lays Out Plan to Combat Sex Abuse in Church
On Thursday, the opening day of a Vatican summit addressing the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy, Pope Francis laid out a 21-point plan to combat the crisis battering the Church in almost all corners of the world. “We hear the cry of the little ones asking for justice,” Francis said. “We sense the weight of the pastoral and ecclesial responsibility that obliges us to discuss together, in a synodal, frank, and in-depth manner, how to confront this evil afflicting the Church and humanity.
PoliticsUSA TODAYCarbon dioxide in our atmosphere may soar to levels not seen in 56 million years
Emissions of carbon dioxide – the greenhouse gas most responsible for global warming – could soar to levels not seen in 56 million years by the middle of next century, scientists warned in a study Wednesday. Though it won't happen in our lifetimes, it could very well happen in the lives of our grandchildren or great-grandchildren. "You and I won't be here in 2159, but that's only about four generations away," said study author Philip Gingerich, a University of Michigan paleoclimate researcher.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Meet the 'New' F-21 Fighter: An F-16 On Steroids (With F-22 and F-35 DNA)?
In fact, the F-21 is an F-16 that Lockheed has upgraded with new cockpit displays, conformal fuel tanks, a larger airframe spine that can accommodate additional electronics, fittings for towed radar decoys, a new infrared sensor and a refueling probe that's compatible with India's Russian-made aerial tankers.
PoliticsYahoo NewsNYT publisher: Trump 'retreating from a distinctly American principle'
New York Times publisher Arthur “A.G.” Sulzberger responded to what he called “President Trump's continued attacks on a free press” Wednesday, hours after Trump lashed out at the paper as a “true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Sulzberger wrote that Trump's “demonizing the free press as the enemy, simply for performing its role of asking difficult questions and bringing uncomfortable information to light, President Trump is retreating from a distinctly American principle. The latest standoff between the Times and the White House followed the paper's Tuesday publication of an in-depth examination of Trump's efforts to discredit and derail multiple investigations into his presidential campaign and action...
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: 2nd person sought in California boy's 1990 death
The Latest on cold-case arrests in the separate killings of a boy and girl in California (all times local): 5 p.m. Authorities say a man charged with killing an 11-year-old Inglewood boy in 1990 didn't act alone. At a Wednesday news conference, the police chief of the Los Angeles suburb and the brother of victim William Tillett asked anyone who might have information on the killing to come forward.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Shamima Begum: What could happen to the Isil bride?
The Home Office has stripped jihadi bride Shamima Begum of her British citizenship, but the ongoing saga of what will happen next to her and her days-old son remains up in the air. International law forbids nations from making people stateless by revoking their only citizenship, prompting speculation that Begum held dual citizenship through her Bangladeshi parents. On Wednesday morning, Begum's lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said his client does not have dual nationality, but the Home Office told The Telegraph laws in Bangladesh means the teenager automatically retains dual citizenship until she is 21.
- 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.
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.
PoliticsFOX News VideosWhat do Millennials think about Bernie Sanders and the direction of the Democratic Party?
Nathan Rubin, Malia Fisher, Joseph Pinion and Allison Lee Pillinger Choi weigh in on whether or not Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has a chance to win the 2020 Democratic nomination.
- WorldBloomberg
France Says Internet Platforms Could Be Fined for Racist Content
Internet platforms such as Facebook and Twitter could be fined for not taking down racist or violent content fast enough under a law that France might propose later this year, Digital Minister Mounir Mahjoubi said on Thursday. President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday night told the annual meeting of France's largest Jewish organization that a law could be presented in May in response to a recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents. There will be an obligation for results: if the content is not taken down then there will be a fine, and a large fine,” Mahjoubi said on France Info radio.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Southwest apologizes to travelers for spike in cancellations and delays, blames union
Southwest Airlines, alarmed by a spike in flight cancellations and delays in the past several days due to reported maintenance issues, has taken the unusual step of publicly apologizing to customers and blaming the mess on its mechanics' union. In a statement late Tuesday, Southwest Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven said the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which has been in contract talks with Southwest since 2012, has a history of work disruptions and that Southwest will be investigating the "current disruption and exploring all possible remedies.'' He noted that Southwest also has two outstanding lawsuits against the AMFA. "We apologize to our customers who have been inconvenienced by this disruption,'' Van de Ven said.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Every Photo From Our EV Battle Between the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric
But wait. Maybe don't cancel that Tesla Model 3 reservation just yet. From Car and Driver
- BusinessThe National Interest
You're Dead: The F-35 Is Crushing Enemy Fighter Jets in Air War Simulations
As enemy fighters closed in on a US Air Force 4th Generation fighter aircraft, blinding the jet with electronic warfare attacks, an experienced pilot faced unseen life-threatening attackers closing in -- during an air-combat Red Flag exercise closely replicating actual warfare scenarios. The 5th-Gen, multi-role stealth fighter then used its long-range sensors and weapons to “kill” the enemy aircraft, according to an Air Force news report. Air Force Col. Joshua Wood, 388th Operations Group Commander was part of the exercise.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
20 Affordable Indoor Planters We Love
Instant upgrades for your home's green scheme
WorldReutersStatue of Polish Solidarity priest accused of pedophilia removed
A statue of a priest who was leading figure in the movement that toppled Communism in Poland was removed by protesters, who accused the Catholic Church of neglecting accusations that he sexually abused minors. The statue of Henryk Jankowski in central Gdansk - the birthplace of the Solidarity movement - was lifted from its plinth overnight by three men who then handed themselves in to police, Gdansk police spokeswoman Karina Kaminska said on Thursday. Their actions came hours before Pope Francis opened a meeting he convened in Rome to address sex abuse scandals that have ravaged the Church's credibility in Poland and elsewhere over the last three decades.
SportsAssociated PressObama joined by Curry to tell minority boys 'you matter'
Former President Barack Obama and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry told a roomful of minority boys on Tuesday that they matter and urged them to make the world a better place. Obama was in Oakland, California, to mark the fifth anniversary of My Brother's Keeper, an initiative he launched after the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The initiative was a call to communities to close opportunity gaps for minority boys, especially African-American, Latino and Native American boys, Obama said to roughly 100 boys attending the alliance's first national gathering.
- 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.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Sanders campaign says it raised nearly $6 million on 1st day
Sen. Bernie Sanders's campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination raised nearly $6 million in its first 24 hours, per information provided by the campaign. The independent senator from Vermont launched his campaign early Tuesday morning with an email blast, earning $5.9 million in donations from just under 225,000 people with an average donation of $27, according to a Sanders campaign release. As a comparison, Sen. Kamala Harris of California raised $1.5 million from 38,000 donors in the first 24 hours of her campaign following a January launch, her team said.
- BusinessU.S.News & World Report
Working While Receiving Social Security Disability
To become eligible for Social Security disability benefits, you must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. "It is possible to qualify for Social Security disability benefits and still work in a limited capacity," says Nick Ortiz, a board-certified Social Security disability attorney and owner of Ortiz Law Firm in Pensacola, Florida. Read on for a look at what's involved with Social Security disability benefits, as well as the rules related to working while receiving benefits.
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