WorldReutersPolish PM cancels trip to Israel in wake of comments on Poles in Holocaust
Poland's prime minister has canceled a trip to Israel in the wake of reported remarks made by his Israeli counterpart suggesting Polish complicity during the Holocaust, an aide in his office told Polish media on Sunday. A government spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki would not attend the summit and would send Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz instead. Morawiecki informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his decision to cancel his visit in a telephone call on Sunday afternoon, spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska said.
WorldAFPVenezuela expels Europe lawmakers as aid showdown intensifies
Venezuela has expelled five visiting European lawmakers, an act opposition leader Juan Guaido branded "irrational" as his showdown with President Nicolas Maduro over the arrival of international aid intensifies. The members of the European Parliament were being tossed out with no explanation, said Spanish MEP Esteban Gonzalez Pons, who led the group. "We are being expelled from Venezuela.
- HealthUSA TODAY
How many push-ups can you do? Study finds men who can do 40 have lower risk of heart disease
Those who could do more than 40 push-ups during a timed test at a preliminary examination were 96 percent less likely to have developed a cardiovascular problem compared to those who could do no more than 10 push-ups, according to the report published Friday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. Nearly half of U.S. adults deal with some form of cardiovascular disease as of 2016, according to the American Heart Association.The study's authors believe push-ups may be an easy way to test men's risk for heart disease.
- NewsThe Independent
Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner to register as sex offender after prison release
Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner has been released from federal prison after being convicted of having illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl in 2017. He will have to register as a sex-offender and spend three years on supervised release under the terms of his sentence. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website shows the 54-year-old New York Democrat is currently in the custody of its Residential Re-entry Management office in Brooklyn, New York.
WorldAssociated PressFamily: UK teen who joined Islamic State has baby in Syria
The family of a British teenager who ran away to join the Islamic State group and now wants to return to the U.K. said Sunday she has given birth to a baby boy. The family's lawyer said 19-year-old Shamima Begum and the baby are in good health. News about Begum and her desire to go back to Britain have ignited a debate in the U.K. about how to deal with citizens who joined IS and want to leave Syria now that the extremist group is on the verge of collapse.
- U.S.WLS – Chicago
Aurora shooting: Victims of shooting at Henry Pratt Company remembered at vigil Sunday
A vigil will be held at Henry Pratt Company in Aurora Sunday at 2:30 p.m. to remember the victims of Friday's shooting and to show support for their families and survivors.
WorldBloombergTrump Receives Report on U.S. Security Threat of Car Imports
President Donald Trump has received the findings of a probe into whether imported vehicles pose a national security threat, which could lead the U.S. to impose tariffs. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has submitted his recommendations to Trump, the department said in a statement on Sunday in Washington, without offering any insights into the findings. Trump has 90 days to decide whether to act on the findings.
BusinessAFP Relax NewsGMC Acadia souped up with new engine, trim, and tech
GMC has unveiled the refreshed Acadia for the 2020 model year complete with a new trim, a fresh look, and the latest GMC infotainment system. GMC announced on Monday that the Acadia has gotten its midcycle refresh, and now, the lineup looks more like a group of Sierra pickups from the front than mid-size SUVs. In addition to its new exterior styling, the Acadia has a new powertrain option and an assortment of new technologies including an enhanced infotainment system and heads-up display.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Emails show how fake university set up by ICE lured foreign students
The email exchanges with Ali Milani – who is described in a LinkedIn profile as the president of the University of Farmington – show how the school in Farmington Hills, Michigan, may have lured students to enroll in a fake university set up by The Department of Homeland Security. Jan. 30: Feds set up fake university in Michigan to nab undocumented immigrants A federal indictment unsealed Jan. 30 said that the university was produced by federal agents with an investigative division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of DHS. Federal agents posed as university officials such as "Ali Milani" to trick the students, say attorneys.
WorldReutersIrish backstop can't be changed for Brexit deal: Estonian president
There can be no changes to the Irish "backstop", an arrangement to avoid a hard border between European Union member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland after Brexit, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid told Reuters. Many British lawmakers, especially in Prime Minister Theresa May's governing Conservative Party, fear the backstop will trap the UK in a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit. They are withholding support for the Brexit deal negotiated between May and the EU, raising the prospect Britain will leave the bloc on March 29 without an orderly transition arrangement in place - something that could disrupt trade and other ties.
WorldAFPYemen sides agree deal on first pullback: UN
Yemen's government and Huthi rebels have agreed on the first phase of a pullback of forces from the key city of Hodeida, in a deal the United Nations described Sunday as important progress. The redeployment from Hodeida is a critical part of a ceasefire deal reached in December in Sweden that calls on the government and Huthis to move forces away from ports and parts of city. The fragile truce deal marks the first step toward ending a devastating war that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
- 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
Pope's credibility 'on the line' as Vatican convenes global meeting on combating child abuse by clergy
Victims of clerical sex abuse have warned Pope Francis that his credibility is on the line as he confronts the biggest challenge of his papacy with a landmark conference on protecting children from rape and molestation. Nearly 200 bishops, archbishops, patriarchs and other senior Catholic figures from around the world will convene in Rome on Thursday for an unprecedented four-day conference that is supposed to tackle the scourge of child abuse by clergy. It is the biggest effort so far to address scandals that have eroded faith in the Catholic Church in the US, Ireland, Australia and elsewhere.
- NewsThe Independent
Man awarded £120m in compensation from Ford after being paralysed in car accident
An Alabama jury has awarded $151.8m (£117.4m) to a young man paralyzed in a 2015 rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, Ford and lawyers in the case said on Sunday. The jury awarded $100m in punitive damages and the rest in compensatory damages after finding that the 1998 Ford Explorer did not meet the company's own safety guidelines, according to a court document seen by Reuters and lawyers for plaintiff Travaris “Tre” Smith. The document, released on Friday, said Ford “acted wantonly” in designing the vehicle.
WorldAssociated PressPolish PM cancels Israel visit amid new Holocaust tensions
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki canceled his plans to attend a meeting of central European leaders in Israel starting Monday amid new tensions over how Polish behavior during the Holocaust is remembered and characterized. Morawiecki informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's of his decision by phone Sunday, Michal Dworczyk, who heads the prime minister's chancellery, said. Poland's foreign minister, Jacek Czaputowicz, plans to attend instead, he said.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Southwest Airlines under FAA investigation for aircraft weight, balance calculations
The investigation, disclosed for the first time Monday by the Wall Street Journal, began in February 2018, FAA spokesman Gregory Martin confirmed to USA TODAY. There have been no fines nor enforcement action from the investigation to date. "Since that time, the FAA has directed the development of a comprehensive solution to the methods and processes used by Southwest Airlines to determine this (weight and balance) performance data,'' he said in a statement.
BusinessBloombergGlobal Slowdown Leaves Growth Weakest Since Financial Crisis
The global economy's loss of momentum has left expansion now looking like its weakest since the global financial crisis, a development that's already sparked a dramatic shift among central banks. A UBS model suggests world growth slowed to a 2.1 percent annualized pace at the end of 2018, which it says would be the weakest since 2008-2009. An early reading for this quarter shows a slight improvement, but the numbers still mean there'll need to be a dramatic improvement to reach the 3.2 percent pace UBS has forecast for the three months as a whole.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Politicians squabble over who is to blame for Amazon decision to ditch New York
Politicians on the left and right continued sniping Sunday over who is to blame for Amazon's shocking decision last week to scuttle plans to build a second headquarters in New York City. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., castigated New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her repeated criticism of the deal. “If Joe Crowley was still a congressman, it wouldn't have happened,” King said in an interview that aired Sunday on AM 970 in New York, according to The Hill. Ocasio-Cortez defeated Crowley, a longtime Queens congressman, in a Democratic primary last year.
WorldReutersMore U.S. aid for Venezuela touches down amid distribution uncertainty
The shipment will be the second arrival of large-scale U.S. and international aid for Venezuelans, many of whom have scant access to food and medicine, since opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in defiance of socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Guaido, who argued Maduro's 2018 re-election was a sham and invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself the country's leader last month, has said aid will enter Venezuela on Feb. 23. Speaking in Caracas to supporters who had volunteered to help with the aid effort, Guaido said he would announce details on Monday about how he planned to get aid into the country from Colombia, Brazil and Curacao despite Maduro's opposition.
WorldAFPUK teen who joined IS gives birth in Syrian refugee camp
A teenager who joined the Islamic State group in Syria but now wants to return to Britain on Sunday gave birth in a refugee camp, as European governments grapple with what to do with returning jihadists ahead of a US troop pullout. Shamima Begum, whose fate has stirred controversy ever since she and two friends fled London to join the terror network in 2015 aged just 15, told Sky News she had delivered a boy. "I just gave birth so I'm really tired," the 19-year-old said as she made a renewed appeal to be allowed back to Britain with her newborn baby.
- TechnologyThe National Interest
This Is the Airpower Theorist the Air Force Needs (And Already Has)
If one's main text on airpower is Douhet's Command of the Air, as it appears to be at the Naval War College, then it is no wonder that one feels the need to call for a Corbett of airpower. James Holmes recently argued that airpower needs a theorist with the heft of Clausewitz. This, he insists, would help us to steer clear of tiresome, never-ending debates about whether the Air Force needs to invest more in A-10s, F-35s, or light-attack aircraft.
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: Cardinal calls McCarrick punishment 'important'
Cardinal Sean O'Malley issued a statement Saturday after the announcement that McCarrick had been found guilty by the Vatican of sex abuse, including while hearing confession. O'Malley says church leaders "must enforce accountability for cardinals and bishops." O'Malley says his archdiocese is committed to taking reports of abuse seriously, saying it has a "moral responsibility" to be always vigilant.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Let us raise our daughter's baby, say family of Bethnal Green Jihadi bride Shamima Begum
The family of Bethnal Green teenager Shamima Begum have urged the British government to give them custody of her unborn child while she faces the prospect of imprisonment for supporting Islamic State. The pregnant 19-year-old has said she fears her baby, due to be born anytime now, will be taken from her if she manages to return to Britain after leaving the country in 2015 to join the terror group in Syria. Now her family have said that if she were to face a custodial sentence for her support of a terrorist organisation they will step in to raise the child, rather than the taxpayer having to pick up the cost.
- WorldTime
7 Lawmakers Quit U.K.'s Labour Party Over Brexit and Anti-Semitism
Seven lawmakers resigned from the U.K.'s opposition Labour party on Monday morning, in what they described as an act of protest against the party's Brexit policy and persistent allegations of anti-Semitism, just 39 days before the country is set to leave the European Union. The lawmakers said they supported calls for a so-called “People's Vote,” or second Brexit referendum, which the Labour party leadership has so far refused to back. No deal has yet been struck between the U.K. and the E.U. over Brexit, with U.K. lawmakers rejecting May's deal and the bloc saying renegotiation is off the table.
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.
