WorldReutersAfter Auschwitz visit, Pence accuses Iran of Nazi-like anti-Semitism
After visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, Pence said the Nazi death camp had made him more determined to confront Tehran, saying it was "breathing out murderous threats, with the same vile anti-Semitic hatred that animated the Nazis in Europe." Iran's ancient Jewish community has slumped to an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 from 85,000 at the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but is believed to be the biggest in the Middle East outside Israel. Pence, who said he was deeply moved by his Auschwitz visit, cited Iran's stated desire to destroy Israel as justification for singling out the country, rather than focusing on anti-Semitism across the Middle East. Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in January Iran's strategy was to wipe "the Zionist regime" (Israel) off the political map, Iran's state TV reported.
PoliticsAssociated PressCourt filing: Manafort faces more than 19 years in prison
Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, could spend more than 19 years in prison on tax and bank fraud charges, prosecutors said Friday. Court documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller's office reveal that Manafort faces possibly the lengthiest prison term in the Russia investigation. The 69-year-old Manafort is also at serious risk of spending the rest of his life in prison if a federal judge imposes a sentence within federal guidelines.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Modi says Pakistan will pay 'huge price' for Kashmir bombing
India's prime minister yesterday accused Pakistan of involvement in the suicide bombing that killed 44 paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, and warned of a dire response. Narendra Modi said the neighbouring country had made a "huge mistake" for which it will pay a "huge price". Speaking after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, Mr Modi declared that India's security forces had been given "full freedom" to respond to the attack.
WorldAFPNorth Koreans pay tribute to Kim's father in freezing cold
The Day of the Shining Star dawned bitterly cold in Pyongyang. Kim, the son of the isolated North's founder Kim Il Sung and the father and predecessor of current leader Kim Jong Un, was born on February 16. According to Pyongyang's orthodoxy, he came into the world in 1942, in a snow-covered hut at a secret camp on the slopes of Mount Paektu, the spiritual birthplace of the Korean people, where his father was fighting occupying Japanese forces.
WorldAssociated PressFamily of IS teen appeals to UK to help bring her home
The family of a pregnant British teenager who ran away to join the Islamic State group urged the government Friday to help bring her home. Shamima Begum's family issued a statement appealing for government assistance "as a matter of urgency." Begum, now 19, resurfaced this week at a refugee camp in Syria where she gave an interview to the Times of London saying she didn't regret her decision, but wanted to come home. "Given Shamima's four-year ordeal, we are concerned that her mental health has been affected by everything that she has seen and endured," the family said in a statement to Britain's ITV, describing her words as those of child who had been groomed by IS recruiters.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The 20 Most Powerful Crossovers and SUVs You Can Buy in 2019
Is 400 horsepower not enough for your people- and cargo-hauler in 2019? How does 500, 600, or 700 horsepower sound? From Car and Driver
- 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.
- ScienceMashable
Watch a space harpoon impale a piece of space debris
To clean up the growing mess, scientists at the University of Surrey have previously tested a net to catch chunks of debris. Now, they've successfully tested out a harpoon. The video below, released Friday by the university's space center, shows a test of the experimental RemoveDEBRIS satellite as it unleashes a harpoon at a piece of solar panel, held out on a 1.5-meter boom.
U.S.KTRK – HoustonJussie Smollett investigation: What we know about the alleged hate crime
Here's the latest on what we know about the Jussie Smollett attack in Chicago.
WorldReutersU.S. and Iceland boost trade ties, discuss Arctic security
The United States and Iceland have agreed to set up formal economic channels to boost trade and business investment, the countries' top diplomats said on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the NATO ally in the north Atlantic on Friday, also to discuss security relations and China and Russia's growing presence in the Arctic. quot;We have now established an economic dialogue between our two nations which I think will bear fruit quickly," Pompeo said at a press conference.
NewsReuters5 killed as gunman opens fire at Illinois warehouse
A gunman opened fire in an industrial warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was slain, law enforcement officials said. Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said the gunman, identified as Gary Martin, 45, was an employee at the industrial complex. Please avoid the area," the Aurora Police Department said in a tweet shortly after 2 p.m. CST, adding that additional details would be forthcoming.
- PoliticsYahoo News
A national emergency has been declared. Now what?
On Friday morning, President Trump declared a national emergency in order to secure funding for a border wall, triggering what will likely be a long legal battle before anything is built. Trump's statement outlined a scenario that would likely end at the Supreme Court, where he expects to prevail. “I didn't need to do this,” said Trump who compromised on the border deal Thursday, effectively averting another government shutdown.
WorldAFPUS military to ship Venezuela aid to Colombia
The US military will transport some 200 tons of humanitarian aid to Colombia to help relieve the crisis in neighboring Venezuela, a US defense official said Friday. Venezuela is plagued by hyperinflation and major shortages of basic goods, with opposition leader Juan Guaido and President Nicolas Maduro vying for control of the country. Tensions have risen since the US first sent humanitarian aid to Colombia, only for the Venezuelan authorities to block a bridge to prevent its entry into Venezuela.
NewsAssociated PressAurora shooting victims ranged from intern to plant manager
The victims of a disgruntled employee who opened fire at a suburban Chicago industrial warehouse were co-workers ranging from an intern to the plant manager. A look at the victims: TREVOR WEHNER The 21-year-old Northern Illinois University student was on his first day as an intern in human resources at Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora and attended the fateful meeting where the gunman was fired and then started shooting. Jay Wehner said his nephew grew up about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Aurora in Sheridan and was expected to graduate from Northern Illinois University in May with a degree in human resource management.
- WorldThe Independent
Top US cardinal expelled from Catholic priesthood over allegations he abused teenager and solicited sex during confession
A disgraced former US cardinal has been expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood over allegations he abused a teenage boy and solicited sex during confession. The Vatican announced the defrocking of Theodore McCarrick on Saturday days before the Pope is to lead an extraordinary gathering of bishops from around the world over the sex abuse crisis engulfing the church. McCarrick, a once-powerful prelate and former Archbishop of Washington, is the highest profile church figure to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times.
- BusinessUSA 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.
- BusinessCar and Driver
It Looks Like the Land Rover Discovery SVX Is Dead
Land Rover showed a V-8–powered Discovery SVX concept in 2017, but U.K. media are reporting it's not going to reach production. The SVX name may still be used later, the sources report. UPDATE 2/15/19: Land Rover confirmed that the Discovery SVX concept will not reach production, at least not with the planned V-8 powertrain.
- BusinessTime
Amazon's New York City Deal Was Killed By a Cocktail of Hubris and Miscalculations
After facing local opposition to its plan to open a large corporate office in New York, Amazon said on Thursday that it was dropping the idea altogether, along with a pledge to hire up to 25,000 for its new location over a period of years. Whether Amazon's pullout is good or bad for New York City will be debated tirelessly by politicians and urban residents for months. It is a clear loss for Amazon and a wake-up call for all tech companies.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Isil bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK, head of MI6 says
The British Islamic State (Isil) bride Shamima Begum has a legal right to return to the UK the Head of MI6 has said. The Director General of MI6 has said that British citizens have a right to return home from Syria, even though they may still present a threat to national security. Alex Younger, the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service - better known as MI6 - said he was "very concerned" about returning British nationals that had fought for or supported the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Our Favorite Eco-friendly Finds Put Sustainable Materials to Stylish Use
- 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.
BusinessAFPGlobal stocks surge on hopeful signs from US-China trade talks
European and US stock markets leapt on Friday as positive signs emerged from US-China trade talks aimed at averting an escalation of a tariff war between the world's top two economies. US President Donald Trump said the negotiations in Beijing were going "extremely well" and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping announced the talks would continue in Washington next week. Trump also said there was a "possibility" he would extend a March 1 deadline for a sharp rise in tariffs on $200 billion Chinese goods to go into effect.
NewsAssociated PressMake El Chapo pay for a border wall? Don't count on it
After El Chapo's conviction in a drug-trafficking trial that included florid testimony of jewel-encrusted guns, a fleet of cash-laden jets and a personal zoo with roaming big cats, some Americans have floated an idea they see as poetic justice: Why not take some of the Mexican drug lord's billions in ill-gotten gains and make him pay for a border wall? For now, the U.S. Department of Justice says it will be seeking forfeiture of a fortune that Guzman's indictment valued at $14 billion. With Guzman, who faces life in prison for smuggling tons of heroin, meth, fentanyl and marijuana into the U.S., authorities know their forfeiture estimate is partly symbolic, to send a message to other traffickers that a conviction could cost them their fortune as well as their freedom, said Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor who specialized in forfeiture.
- U.S.KTXL - Sacramento
`Going Away Party` for School Shutting Down Because of Student`s Death Causes Controversy
Some parents are outraged a California school for kids with special needs is holding a "going away party" after one of its own students died after being restrained by staff.
- 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.
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