WorldReutersKremlin, after summit, says no offensive planned in Syria's Idlib
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia, Turkey and Iran had agreed to take unspecified extra steps to clear Syria's Idlib region of what he called "a hotbed of terrorists," but the Kremlin said there would be no military operation there. Putin, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's closest allies, was speaking after hosting a summit in southern Russia to weigh the future of Syria with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. All three countries have forces on the ground in Syria, where they have coordinated their efforts despite sometimes differing priorities and interests.
- NewsTime
Texas Mom Arrested After Kids Found Locked in Dog Cage and Covered in Feces
Four malnourished children who were discovered inside a North Texas barn on Tuesday — some covered in urine and feces, and others crammed inside a dog cage — have been placed in foster care, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services confirmed. The children — who authorities said were between the ages of 5 and 1 — were released from the hospital on Tuesday and are now safely in foster care, Marissa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the agency, tells TIME. Gonzalez said the children's case will go before a judge within the next two weeks to determine next steps.
PoliticsAssociated PressThe Latest: Bargainers complete bipartisan border compromise
The Latest on congressional border security negotiations and President Donald Trump (all times local): 12:30 a.m. Congressional bargainers have completed a bipartisan border security compromise that gives President Donald Trump less than a quarter of the $5.7 billion he wanted to build a wall with Mexico. Summaries of the legislation say that besides nearly $1.4 billion to build new barriers, there's over $1 billion for other border security programs.
WorldAssociated PressGuaido seeks to wrest control of Venezuela's oil company
Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly appointed a transitional board of directors for the state oil company Wednesday, in a bid by congress chief Juan Guaido to gain control of an industry that is the economic backbone of the country. Guaido, who declared himself interim president of Venezuela on Jan. 23 with the backing of the United States and most South American nations, said the new board will also oversee PDVSA's U.S. subsidiary, Houston-based refiner Citgo. "The rescue of our oil industry has begun.
- NewsUSA TODAY
During a school lockdown, 7-year-old writes note on her arm in case she dies
WILMINGTON, Del. — A note that a Delaware student scrawled on her arm during a school lockdown is going viral online. Shelley Harrison Reed, the mother of the 7-year-old student, posted the haunting image on Facebook after her daughter came home following a lockdown at the Wilmington-area Odyssey Charter School on Feb. 7. Reed said it was the first school lockdown her daughter and 10-year-old son have ever experienced. She wrote they appeared to be fine once they got home.
NewsYahoo NewsOcasio-Cortez takes a victory lap after Amazon scraps plans to build in New York
The freshman Democratic representative celebrated online retailer Amazon's decision Thursday to scrap its plans to build a new headquarters in her New York City district. “I think it's incredible,” Ocasio-Cortez responded when asked to comment on Amazon's about-face. Earlier Thursday, the company announced it was reversing the plan, announced in November, to build new East Coast headquarters buildings in New York City and in Arlington, Va. The Virginia part of the plan will go ahead.
- NewsThe Independent
California braced for mudslides and torrential rain after devastating storm
Authorities have warned of the threat of mudslides after a damaging storm struck California, trapping people in floodwaters, triggering a debris flow which destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. The powerful system swept in from the Pacific Ocean and unleashed rain, snow and wind across the US west coast into Wyoming and Colorado after walloping northern California and southern Oregon. The National Weather Service reported staggering rainfall amounts across California, including more than 24cm over 48 hours at one location in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.
BusinessAFPAirbus A380, the Concorde: technical feats, commercial flops
The scratching of the superjumbo jet Airbus A380 echoes the sad fate of the supersonic Concorde, another feat of aviation technology that turned out to be a commercial flop. Concorde, supersonic speeds - The inaugural commercial flight on January 21, 1976 of Concorde, the world's first supersonic passenger plane, promised a revolution in aviation. Distinctive for its long pointed nose which drooped downwards during take-off for better pilot visibility, the "great white bird" was designed, built and operated jointly by France and Britain.
U.S.FOX News VideosMigrants overwhelm New Mexico border post with thousands of illegal crossings
New Mexico border patrol resources stressed after more than 28 large migrant groups make illegal crossings since October
- WorldThe Telegraph
British schoolgirl Shamima Begum who joined Isil found in Syria and 'wants to come home'
A British schoolgirl who fled to Syria to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has said she does not regret it, but wants to return to the UK to give birth. Shamima Begum, 19, vanished from her home in Bethnal Green in London four years ago, along with two other teenage girls, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase. A girl who identified herself as Shamima Begum, was found in a refugee camp in Syria as the Isil caliphate collapsed, the Times reported.
NewsReutersFlorida governor calls for grand jury over Parkland school shooting
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday called for a state grand jury to investigate the 2018 school massacre in Parkland in which 17 people died, pledging accountability for any local failures that led to the deadliest U.S. high school shooting. DeSantis, a Republican elected last fall after campaigning on the issue, petitioned the Florida Supreme Court for the investigation the day before the first anniversary of the Valentine's Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. "They are going to have the power - subpoena and otherwise - to get to the facts and get to the truth," DeSantis said at a news conference, flanked by the parents of slain students.
- WorldBloomberg
May Scrambles for Brexit Compromise With Two Weeks to Save Deal
British Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to compromise with the European Union over the future of Ireland's border, with just two weeks left to save her Brexit deal. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay privately told the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, on Monday the U.K. doesn't need to reopen the divorce agreement and would accept other ways to address British concerns, a person familiar with the talks said. On Thursday, members of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Conservatives inflicted another embarrassing parliamentary defeat on the premier after they refused to endorse her approach to resolving the deadlock.
NewsAssociated PressVirginia governor asks lawmakers to focus on budget 'equity'
Embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam asked lawmakers Thursday to pass a state budget that has a "greater focus on issues of equity" as he tries to move past a blackface scandal that nearly ended his governorship. Northam met with a group of state legislators to discuss the budget and sent them a letter outlining his priorities as the GOP-led General Assembly puts the final touches on its state spending plan. Top among them, Northam said, are increased funding for struggling schools and more spending to decrease the number of evictions.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
United Airlines: Three new routes for fast-growing Denver hub
United Airlines will add three new domestic routes at its Denver hub. Daily flights to Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Syracuse, New York, will begin June 6 and will operate year-round. All three of the new routes will go head-to-head against service offered by Denver-based budget rival Frontier Airlines.
- WorldReuters
Explainer: Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan-based militants, at heart of tension with India
A Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, has taken responsibility for the deadliest attack on security forces in Indian Kashmir in 30 years of insurgency, ratcheting up tension between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors. India says the group and its leader, Masood Azhar, enjoy free rein in Pakistan, and demands that Pakistan acts to stop militant groups operating from its soil. Pakistan condemned the Thursday bomb attack that killed 44 paramilitary policemen but denied any complicity.
- NewsAOL.com
FBI releases 16 drawings prolific serial killer Samuel Little made of his victims
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released more than a dozen drawings made by a prolific serial killer in hopes the public may be able to identify some of his victims. Samuel Little, 78, was arrested at a Kentucky homeless shelter in September 2012 and extradited to California, where he was wanted on a narcotics charge. In 2014, Little was convicted on all three counts and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
LifestyleAFPPost-box love for lonely Britons on Valentine's Day
Big-hearted Britons have penned thousands of uplifting messages to be delivered to single seniors on Valentine's Day in a project aimed at alleviating loneliness. The letters and cards were written in recent weeks and left in ten models of old-fashioned red post-boxes set up in locations across London and several other cities. Red Letter Days, a gift experience company which came up with the idea, will dispatch the messages to needy elderly recipients in selected care homes during Thursday.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Our Favorite Eco-friendly Finds Put Sustainable Materials to Stylish Use
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump news: President begrudgingly signs border bill and declares national emergency at US-Mexico border
Donald Trump has declared a national emergency in a bid to fund his promised wall at the US-Mexico border without congressional approval, an action Democrats vowed to challenge as a violation of the US Constitution. The Republican president's move to circumvent Congress represented a new approach to making good on a 2016 presidential campaign pledge to halt the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country, whom the president says bring crime and drugs. He also later signed a bipartisan government spending bill Congress approved on Thursday that would prevent another partial government shutdown by funding several agencies that otherwise would have closed on Saturday.
- CelebrityThe Telegraph
Gay couples in Japan join together on Valentine's Day to sue government over same-sex marriage ban
Thirteen gay couples filed Japan's first lawsuit challenging the country's rejection of same-sex marriage on Valentine's Day, arguing the denial violates their constitutional right to equality. Six couples holding banners saying "Marriage For All Japan" walked into Tokyo District Court to file their cases against the government, with similar cases filed by three couples in Osaka, one couple in Nagoya and three couples in Sapporo. Plaintiff Kenji Aiba, standing next to his partner Ken Kozumi, told reporters he would "fight this war together with sexual minorities all around Japan."
- NewsThe National Review
There's Not Much Performance in Denver Schools' 'Pay for Performance' System
On Monday, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) went on strike, the latest in a series of teacher strikes that have erupted across the country over the past year. While Denver teachers have voiced concerns about class sizes, support staff, and starting salaries, the consensus is that the issue at the heart of the strike is teacher frustration with Denver's once-celebrated ProComp pay system, which was jointly developed by the DCTA and Denver Public Schools in 2005. Back then, ProComp was heralded as a pioneering step forward on pay-for-performance/merit pay, and that framing has colored coverage of the strike.
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Children sent to Mexico under US asylum policy
The Latest on a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. immigration courts (all times local): 5:30 p.m. A Mexican official tells The Associated Press that the first children have been returned to Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. immigration courts. All 13 children returned with their families.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Honda's pickup trucks recalled because they can catch fire from car wash soap
Honda is recalling more than 100,000 Ridgeline trucks because they could catch fire after being washed. The pickup trucks from model years 2017, 2018 and 2019 are affected by an issue stemming from fuel pump feed ports, which can be corroded over time by acids found in products like car wash soaps, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Corrosion can lead to cracks that may allow gas to leak out, increasing the risk of fire.
WorldReutersMore Brexit embarrassment for May as parliament defeats her again
While it will not deter May from trying to secure changes on the most contentious issue of the deal - the Irish "backstop" - the vote does show that her pro-Brexit lawmakers are a major obstacle to passing any agreement. May was absent from the House of Commons for the debate and the outcome of the vote, which deepened the sense of political crisis over Britain's departure, more than two years after voters opted to leave the bloc by a margin of 52 percent to 48. The crunch vote is now expected to come on Feb. 27, when May is due to return to parliament - and lawmakers who fear leaving without a deal could try to seize control of Britain's departure from the EU.
- NewsAssociated Press
PR push for white officer accused of killing armed black man
The attorney for a white police officer charged with fatally shooting an armed black man in Tennessee is calling for legal discovery documents to be sealed from members of the public. Meanwhile, a police union has launched a digital ad campaign seeking to defend the Nashville officer, Andrew Delke, and bolster his image in public. The officer shot 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick from behind during a foot chase last July and is charged with first-degree murder.
