WorldReutersSex seminar model who claimed Trump secrets deported from Thailand
A model from Belarus who was arrested during a "sex training seminar" in Thailand and then claimed to have evidence of Russian interference in U.S. President Donald Trump's election was deported on Thursday. Thai authorities said Anastasia Vashukevich, 27, two other Belarussians and five Russians were being sent to their home countries two days after they pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and soliciting. Vashukevich drew world attention last February when she said she had hours of audio recordings that could shed light on links between Russian officials and Trump's election in 2016.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
'We're going to electrify the F-Series,' Ford exec says
Ford Motor Co. has confirmed plans to build a fully electric F-Series pickup, which industry observers called an unexpected move that protects the truck franchise against Tesla and other competitors. We're going to be electrifying the F-Series — battery electric and hybrid,” Jim Farley, Ford president of global markets, said this week during a presentation at the Deutsche Bank Global Automotive Conference in Detroit. In framing the company's redesign, Farley said a move toward all-electric and hybrid would “futureproof” the billion-dollar F-Series franchise, which he called a “global juggernaut.
- NewsAccuWeather
Powerful California storms prompt flooding, mudslides and avalanches warnings
Blizzard conditions blanketed the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, prompting a blizzard warning for much of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe on Wednesday night. Heavy snowfall, multiple spin-outs and a jack-knifed big rig led to the closure of a major Northern California freeway in the Sierra Nevada, AP News reports. The heavy snowfall also prompted an avalanche warning in the Sierra Nevada on Wednesday.
NewsAssociated PressComplaint in Closs case could be road map for prosecution
The criminal complaint charging a Wisconsin man with abducting 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents laid out the case in detail and offered a possible road map for how prosecutors will seek a conviction in the girl's 88-day ordeal. The 12-page complaint against Jake Thomas Patterson focused almost entirely on Jayme's abduction and her escape , without lingering on her time in captivity. The decision to leave out a description of what happened in the remote cabin where Jayme was held for almost three months was probably intended to spare her more trauma, said Chris Madel, a prominent defense attorney in Minneapolis.
- WorldThe Independent
New migrant caravan travelling to US from Honduras adding to tensions over border
Yet another migrant caravan is making the long and dangerous journey to the United States, with the situation on the US-Mexico border having already contributed to the longest government shutdown in American history. Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Nelly Jerez said that between 800 and 1,000 people were travelling together and headed towards the Agua Caliente border crossing into Guatemala. Hundreds of Honduran refugees and migrants also left a bus station in the northern city of San Pedro Sula and moved along to join the caravan.
- PoliticsTime
Former Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Paid to Have a Twitter Account Praise Him As a 'Sex Symbol'
Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison in December after pleading guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and making false financial statements. According to a Thursday report in the Wall Street Journal, Cohen not only hired RedFinch Solutions — a small IT firm owned by Liberty University chief information officer John Gauger — to rig online polls in Trump's favor ahead of his presidential campaign, but also paid Gauger to enlist a female friend to create and run the Twitter account @WomenForCohen. The purpose of the account, which is still active as of Thursday, was to paint Cohen as a “sex symbol” and “pit bull” by posting tweets that “praised his looks and character, and promoted his appearances and statements boosting Mr. Trump's Candidacy,” the Journal reports.
- BusinessBloomberg
Ocasio-Cortez Poised to Join Panel Overseeing Wall Street
The New York lawmaker, who has become a sensation among progressives, will almost certainly join the House Financial Services Committee after a group of fellow Democrats on the party's steering committee voted to recommend her for the panel on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter. Two other recently elected progressive Democrats, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Katie Porter of California, are also likely to join the panel, said the people said, who requested anonymity because the names of the new members have not yet been announced. Tulsi Gabbard, a lawmaker from Hawaii who says she plans to run for president in 2020, is also poised to join, the people said.
WorldAFPVenezuela's parliament tries to lure military into disavowing Maduro
Venezuela's opposition-controlled but powerless National Assembly stepped up its battle with President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday by offering an amnesty to anyone from the military who joins it in disavowing the socialist leader. The "amnesty law" would extend also to civilian government officials who collaborate "in the restitution of constitutional order," parliament said. The row between the legislature and Maduro has intensified since the socialist leader was sworn in last week for a second term of office in the crisis-hit country, after he won snap elections in May that were boycotted by the opposition and dismissed by the United States, European Union and Organization of American States as a fraud.
- WorldReuters
Brexit deal defeat makes 'softer, later' exit more likely: Goldman Sachs
A vote in Britain's parliament on Tuesday crushing Prime Minister May's deal to leave the European Union has made a softer, later Brexit, or even no Brexit at all, slightly more likely, Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday. quot;We think the prospect of a disorderly 'no deal' Brexit has faded further," Goldman Sachs' European economist Adrian Paul wrote in a note. The bank maintains its base case scenario that "a close variant" of the current Brexit deal will ultimately command a majority in the House of Commons.
PoliticsYahoo NewsSteve King faces increasing pressure to resign after 'white supremacy' remarks
Rep. Steve King's base of support, including in his home state of Iowa, continues to erode after comments he made appearing to praise white supremacy were published in the New York Times. The latest salvo came as the Sioux City Journal, a conservative newspaper in Iowa's Fourth District that had previously endorsed the Republican congressman, called on him to resign. “It's hard for us to summon words that will properly convey how repugnant we view that remark,” said the paper in response to King asking, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” earlier this month.
BusinessUSA TODAYFord protects crown jewels in its careful alliance with Volkswagen
Ford's alliance with Volkswagen appears to be carefully crafted to protect and potentially promote the U.S. automaker's strengths and limit risk. There's no sign of any immediate impact on Ford's U.S. employment or manufacturing, but no likelihood of a hollowing out of Ford's core capabilities. Perhaps most important, Ford Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Hackett protected the crown jewels: VW and Ford are not merging, today or probably ever, and the F-150 pickup remains solely and 100 percent a Ford.
PoliticsFOX News VideosWhite House hosts Democrats to discuss shutdown as Pelosi targets State of the Union
President Trump and Democrats at impasse as shutdown continues; reaction and analysis from the 'Special Report' All-Stars.
WorldAssociated PressDrug trafficker tells of bribe to ex-president of Mexico
A Colombian drug trafficker testified Tuesday that Mexican cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman boasted about paying a $100 million bribe to the former president of Mexico to call off a manhunt for the notorious kingpin. Alex Cifuentes spoke about the alleged bribe to former President Enrique Pena Nieto while being cross-examined at Guzman's murder and drug conspiracy trial in New York. A spokesman for Pena Nieto, who left office last year, called the bribery claim "false and defamatory" when it first came up earlier in the trial.
- SportsThe Independent
Enes Kanter: Turkey 'seeking arrest' of New York Knicks player
Turkish prosecutors are seeking the arrest and extradition of New York Knicks enter Enes Kanter, accusing him pf being a member of an "armed terrorist group". Mr Kanter is accused of ties to Fethullah Gulen, who Turkish authorities allege is behind the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, the Daily Sabah reported. Mr Gulen has repeatedly denied any involved in the failed coup.
NewsReutersIn third year, U.S. women's marches turn to 2020 elections
Millions of people took part in the women's marches in Washington and other cities in the United States and abroad on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after the Republican president was sworn in. Vanessa Wruble, a co-founder of the original Women's March on Washington who left to start March On, a separate grassroots coalition, said the movement has evolved from being a reaction to Trump's presidency. Women's March, a national nonprofit organization that evolved from the initial Washington march, is using its #WomensWave marches in Washington and elsewhere on Saturday to roll out a 10-part policy platform that includes raising the federal minimum wage and protecting reproductive rights.
- EntertainmentCar and Driver
See the New 2019 McLaren 600LT Spider in Photos
All the better to listen to its top-exit exhaust pipes. From Car and Driver
- PoliticsBloomberg
Barr Could Block Mueller Report Release But Would Risk Backlash
Attorney General nominee William Barr could prevent Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report from being shared directly with Congress or the public, but that would probably fuel political turmoil and court challenges, according to current and former Justice Department officials. Under the current regulations, the special counsel report is confidential,” Barr, President Donald Trump's nominee, told the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing Tuesday. The report that goes public would be a report by the attorney general.
- BusinessThe National Review
Procter & Gamble's Toxic Sanctimony
Recognized around the world as a symbol of manly civility for more than a century, Gillette will now be remembered as the company that did itself in by sacrificing a massive consumer base at the altar of progressivism. In case you hadn't seen or heard: Parent company Procter & Gamble launched a Gillette ad campaign blanket-demonizing men as ogres and bullies. At home and at work, in the boardroom, on the playground, and even while barbecuing in the backyard, Gillette sees nothing but testosterone-driven trouble.
WorldReutersU.S. eyes Taiwan risk as China's military capabilities grow
The senior U.S. defense intelligence official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, did not predict that China's military, known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA), would take such a step but said such a possibility was the top worry as China expands and modernizes its military capabilities. "The biggest concern is that ... they are getting to a point where the PLA leadership may actually tell Xi Jinping that they are confident in their capabilities," the official said, referring to China's president. Pressed on whether the official was referring to Chinese confidence in its capabilities to be able to successfully win a battle with Taiwan, the official said, "Well, specifically that would be the most concerning to me." Taiwan is only one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, including a trade war between the countries, U.S. sanctions on the Chinese military, and China's increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea.
BusinessUSA TODAYSouthwest Airlines flights canceled, delayed due to computer issue in Baltimore
A four-hour Southwest Airlines computer glitch on Tuesday caused delays and cancellations for passengers traveling to and from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The exact number of delayed and canceled flights isn't clear, though 37 Southwest flights were canceled leaving the airport Tuesday out of 174 scheduled. It's also not yet clear what caused the four-hour glitch between 10 a.m.
HealthAFPLentils with a side of rice: the save-the-world diet?
Coming to dining tables everywhere by 2050: porridge for breakfast, rice for lunch, a dinner of lentils and vegetables, and a single hamburger every few weeks, as a treat. Here is a rundown of the daily meal plan that dozens of health and environment experts are urging the world to adopt in order to sustain a global population of 10 billion by mid-century, while reining in climate change and preventing millions of premature deaths each year. Meat is (almost) out - The team behind a landmark food study published Thursday in The Lancet say intake of some foods such as meat and sugar needs to fall by half by 2050 to reduce the global burden posed by the three billion people on Earth who are eit...
- BusinessCar and Driver
A Look at the 2020 BMW 7-series
The BMW flagship sedan also gets revised engines and plenty of new tech. From Car and Driver
- U.S.WTVD – Raleigh/Durham
California mother charged in stabbing death of 2-year-old son
A Covina woman has been charged with stabbing her own 2-year-old son to death, officials said Wednesday.
SportsReutersTurkish prosecutor seeks extradition of NBA's Kanter over Gulen links: Anadolu
Turkish prosecutors are seeking the extradition of New York Knicks center Enes Kanter over his links to the U.S.-based cleric accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, state-owned Anadolu news agency said. Kanter, a vocal critic of President Tayyip Erdogan, was indicted by a Turkish court last year over alleged membership of an "armed terrorist group" after being contacted repeatedly by people close to Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen. Anadolu said on Tuesday prosecutors had sought the issue of a "red notice" for Kanter, an Interpol request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition.
NewsAssociated PressCalifornia storms kill at least 5 as flooding fears rise
Heavy rain, snow and wind pummeled much of California Thursday, causing at least five deaths, leaving thousands without power and forcing wildfire victims threatened by floods to flee their homes. Southern California authorities concerned with rising streams and excessive runoff ordered evacuations in parts of Malibu and other areas scarred by wildfires. In harder hit Northern California, authorities warned of imminent floods and debris flows in the wildfire-ravished city of Paradise and the surrounding region denuded of protective trees and vegetation, telling residents to prepare to flee their homes on a moment's notice.
