PoliticsYahoo 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.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Manafort Judge Finds His Lies Violated Mueller Plea Deal
Paul Manafort broke his plea deal by repeatedly lying to prosecutors after he agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a judge ruled Wednesday. His misrepresentations touched on areas of central interest to Mueller's prosecutors. Manafort lied about his contacts with a Russian translator, Konstantin Kilimnik, who Mueller says has ties to Russian intelligence services, the judge concluded.
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.
- WorldThe Independent
Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido tries to seize control of country's oil production
The self-declared leader of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, is attempting to wrest control of the nation's massive oil revenues. The country's congress, controlled by the opposition, has appointed a transitional board of directors for Venezuela's state oil firm. Embattled socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, lashed out at congress leader Mr Guaido, saying he would face the courts “sooner or later” for violating the constitution.
- 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.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Our Favorite Eco-friendly Finds Put Sustainable Materials to Stylish Use
CelebrityAssociated PressClub: Mardi Gras tradition is not the same as blackface
New Orleans' widely recognized Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club says its tradition of using black makeup for its Mardi Gras float riders is not the same as "blackface," a controversy that has embroiled officials nationwide. The club Wednesday distributed a statement in an effort to head off any criticism of its long-standing custom of parade riders blackening their faces. The statement says Zulu parade costumes bear no resemblance to those worn by "blackface" minstrel performers at the turn of the century.
WorldReutersUK PM May to continue seeking changes to Brexit deal: spokesman
British Prime Minister Theresa May will continue to seek changes to her Brexit deal, a spokesman for her office said, after she suffered a symbolic defeat in parliament on her strategy. quot;The government will continue to pursue this with the EU to ensure we leave on time on 29th March," the spokesman said. The spokesman said May believed her Conservative lawmakers still wanted her to renegotiate the deal, but had voted against her on Thursday because they were concerned about the prospect of taking a 'no deal' off the table at this stage.
- 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.
WorldAFP37 killed in Indian Kashmir attack
At least 37 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in one the deadliest attacks on government forces there, police said. The suicide bombing outside Srinagar claimed by an Islamist group is likely to ratchet up tensions between nuclear-armed arch rivals India and Pakistan, with New Delhi long accusing Islamabad of supporting militants. "The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain," Indian Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, calling the attack "despicable".
- PoliticsBloomberg
The Ocasio-Cortez Party Turns Amazon's NYC Plans Into HQ0
Just a few months ago, the deal seemed like an unalloyed coup for the world's richest man and New York's top political power players. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio—two Democrats who rarely agree on anything—brokered a truce to put together a $3 billion tax break for Amazon.com Inc. that helped secure one half of a second headquarters.
- 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.
- NewsThe Independent
Parkland shooting: How the NRA is more vulnerable than ever after a year of protests and a wave election
One year after gunfire began in the freshman building of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the movement those bullets sparked has swept through the US and opened a new chapter on guns in America. Guns have come to dominate political debate this past year in way unseen previously in the US, with massive protests from March for Our Lives attracting headlines and major news coverage — and virtually all Democrat presidential candidates supporting stricter gun control. Meanwhile, dozens of states have moved to pass new gun control laws in an historic effort, as communities across America continue to be scarred by gun violence.
- 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.
WorldAFPDutch to set up Venezuela aid hub on Curacao: minister
The Netherlands will set up a hub for humanitarian aid for Venezuela in the Caribbean island of Curacao, off the coast of the troubled South American country, the government said. Dutch authorities would work with the United States and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on the measure, Foreign Minister Stef Blok tweeted late Wednesday. The Venezuelan opposition and western nations have been demanding that President Nicolas Maduro allows in US aid shipments to the oil-rich country, whose economy is in meltdown.
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
NewsAssociated PressPublic school strikes revive clash with Teach for America
Young teachers are caught up in a possible strike in Oakland, California, that's giving new life to the long-simmering tension between traditional public schools and the education reform program Teach for America. The push by career educators for better pay and conditions in the classroom is clashing with the influx of temporary teachers who lack formal training but promise new energy and innovation. While supporters tout Teach for America for infusing new ideas in struggling U.S. schools, veteran teachers say their experience is indispensable.
WorldReutersAhead of EU polls, Facebook voids accounts targeting Moldovan election
Facebook said it dismantled scores of pages and accounts designed to look like independent opinion pages and to impersonate a local fact-checking organization ahead of Moldova's elections later this month. "So they created this feedback loop," Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, told reporters in Brussels. "We did assess that there were links between some of that activity and individuals associated with the Moldovan government." The government said it welcomed any initiative to combat "fake news", saying it did not check the private accounts of its more than 200,000 state employees.
- WorldUSA TODAY
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's side project: Bashing Iran, in Poland
WARSAW, Poland – President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told USA TODAY on the sidelines of a rally here organized by an exiled Iranian opposition group that the central problem in the Middle East is Iran. "If we don't have a peaceful, democratic Iran then no matter what we do we'll have turmoil, difficulties, problems in the Middle East. Everyone agrees that Iran is the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism in the world.
BusinessAFP Relax NewsBentley Bentayga Speed: an SUV as luxurious as it is powerful
On Thursday Bentley unveiled the Bentayga Speed, an SUV with a top speed of 190 mph and 0- 62mph acceleration time of 3.9 seconds. Bentley celebrated its Valentine's Day by announcing what it calls the "world's fastest, most luxurious SUV:" the Bentayga Speed. Naturally, the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 engine is the star of this Speed-styled Bentayga; this model brings the top speed up to 190 mph from the standard Bentayga's 187 mph -- now just barely faster than the Lamborghini Urus by 0.5 mph -- while producing 626 hp and 662 lb.
- WorldThe Telegraph
How Shamima Begum and two other schoolgirls from Bethnal Green became jihadi brides living under a deadly regime
According to her older sister Sahima, Shamima Begum was like any other 15-year-old girl, with the same hobbies, the same worries and infatuations which preoccupy the minds of most British teens. Four months before she was due to sit her GCSEs, Shamima — the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, by all accounts a “sensible girl” and a “talented and dynamic” student at the high-flying Bethnal Green Academy — was secretly planning to leave her family and the only home she had ever known in London's East End, and travel to Syria to become a jihadi bride. Two of her school friends, Kadiza Sultana, then 16, and Amira Abase, 15, planned to accompany her, with the girls aiming to join another friend, Sharmeena Begum (no relation of Shamima), who had successfully travelled to Syria the year before.
WorldBloombergRush to Disband Princess-Backed Party Evokes Thai Bloodshed
The Constitutional Court on Thursday accepted a case calling for the party, Thai Raksa Chart, to be dissolved for hostility toward the constitutional monarchy. The accusation reached the court five days after King Maha Vajiralongkorn sunk the party's shock bid to make his sister a candidate for prime minister. "If parties linked to Thaksin keep being disbanded, the conflict will never end, and will intensify," said Punchada Sirivunnabood, an associate professor at Mahidol University's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities near Bangkok.
- 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.
CelebrityAFPPost-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.
WorldFOX News VideosUSS Hornet has been found on the floor of the South Pacific, 76 years after it was sunk by the Japanese
Tim Gray interviewed the last surviving pilot from the 1942 Doolittle Raid that took off for Japan from the USS Hornet.
