WorldAFPUS weighing options on American IS sympathizer in Syria
The United States said Tuesday it wanted to ensure foreign jihadists remain off the battlefield as it weighed options on an American detained in Syria who says she wants to return home. The United States has urged European powers to take back hundreds of their citizens who fought with the Islamic State movement in Syria, but acknowledged the situation was complex in the rare case of an American jihadist. Hoda Muthana, a 24-year-old from Alabama who became a prominent online agitator for the extremists, said in an interview published Sunday with The Guardian that she had been brainwashed online and "deeply regrets" joining the movement.
- PoliticsReuters
Former Trump adviser Stone ordered to appear in court over Instagram posts
Roger Stone, a former political adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, was ordered on Tuesday to appear in court this week over Instagram posts that chastised and appeared to threaten the judge presiding over his criminal trial. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone would need to show cause at a hearing on Thursday as to why the posts did not violate a gag order in the case or the conditions of his release. Stone, who is free on a $250,000 bond and is free to travel to certain U.S. cities without the court's permission, has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
WorldUSA TODAYAs Vatican meets on sex abuse, Pope must defrock Guam's Apuron, groups say
HAGATNA, Guam –Two leading U.S. organizations protecting victims and documenting the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic priesthood have called on Pope Francis to sustain the guilty verdict on Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron in a case involving sexual abuse of minors, and to defrock or expel him from the priesthood. "It is wrong for Pope Francis to leave Guam Catholics twisting in the wind and waiting to discover the fate of Archbishop Apuron, especially since it has been nearly a full year since the archbishop was found guilty of abusing children," said Zach Hiner, executive director for the Missouri-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the world's largest and oldest survivors group for abuse victims.
WorldAssociated PressTensions rising after Kashmir attack as gunbattle kills 9
Tensions escalated after a suicide attack in disputed Kashmir, with nine people killed Monday in a gunbattle that broke out as Indian soldiers searched for militants. Government forces surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, security officials said. As troops began conducting searches, they came under heavy gunfire, leading to a clash that killed four soldiers, three suspected militants, a police official and a civilian.
- CelebrityTime
Barack Obama Manages to Work in a Michelle Obama Compliment in a Discussion About 'Being a Man'
Former President Barack Obama teamed up with Golden State Warrior star Stephen Curry to encourage the audience of young African-American men to focus on their own self-confidence as the path to true success in life. On Tuesday, the very dynamic duo spoke at an event to mark the fifth anniversary of the non-profit My Brother's Keeper Alliance in Oakland, California, which is funded in part by the Obama Foundation. Over the course of their conversation, Obama and Curry discussed the evolving role of men in society and cautioned against falling into old “stereotypes” of what being a man means.
- NewsUSA TODAY
A tax service turned away a gay couple. Both sides claim discrimination
Bailey Brazzel and her wife Samantha weren't trying to make a political statement last week. "I went in there to have my taxes done, not push my beliefs on her," said Brazzel, 25. Nancy Fivecoate, owner of Carter Tax Service in Russiaville, Indiana, said she's been harassed and abused after Brazzel spoke to media and posted on Facebook about her experience.
WorldBloombergChina's Silicon Valley Blueprint Has Plenty of Holes
Late Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency released details of the State Council's Greater Bay Area plan – a project to knit together Hong Kong and Macau with nine mainland cities into a global innovation hub to rival California's Silicon Valley. The trouble is, there's little new on how authorities plan to make this grand vision into a reality. Announced by Premier Li Keqiang in March 2017, the Greater Bay Area forms part of China's push for supremacy in technology, while also binding the former European colonies more tightly into the country.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Vladimir Putin says Russia will target US if it places missiles in Europe
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will target the US with new nuclear weapons if it deploys missiles to Europe following the demise of a major arms control treaty. In an annual speech to the federal assembly, the Russian leader on Wednesday accused Washington of planning to deploy intermediate-range missiles to the continent following its withdrawal from a bilateral agreement banning those weapons. This would put the missiles within a 10-minute flight from Moscow, creating a serious threat to Russia and compelling it to consider “symmetrical and asymmetrical actions” in response, he said.
WorldReutersHuawei founder says Huawei CFO arrest was politically motivated - BBC
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said on Monday that the arrest of his daughter, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, was politically motivated. "Firstly, I object to what the U.S. has done. This kind of politically motivated act is not acceptable," Ren told the BBC in an interview.
WorldAFPNorth Korea envoy separated from his daughter, says defector
A North Korean diplomat who reportedly defected from his embassy in Rome last year has been separated from his daughter after she was forcefully repatriated to Pyongyang, an ex-colleague who has now settled in the South said Tuesday. Jo Song Gil, who went into hiding with his wife and is reportedly seeking asylum, "could not manage to get his daughter to join them," said Thae Yong Ho, who also fled his post as the North's deputy ambassador to Britain in August 2016. Thae last month urged the Korean government to protect Jo and wrote an open letter asking him to come to the South so "they can work together to help the two Koreas reunify".
- BusinessCar and Driver
See Photos of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz SL Grand Edition
The current SL reminds us of Benzes bygone, so it's leaving the scene with exclusive colors and body trim. From Car and Driver
WorldReutersChilean nuns find 'relief' in Pope's recognition of Church abuse
Three former Chilean nuns who claim to have been sexually abused over two decades ago by priests in their religious order have hailed comments by Pope Francis earlier this month in which he recognized the abuse of nuns in the Catholic Church. The three nuns, who had been members of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan order in the Chilean city of Molina, 130 miles south of Santiago, told Reuters in an interview on Friday that they were embraced and fondled during the 1990s and 2000s by several priests who had since died. The three, Yolanda Tondreaux, Eliana Macias and Marcela Quitral, told Reuters TV they had reported the abuse to their mother superior but were told either that they were lying or had provoked the abuse and were threatened with being forced to leave the convent.
PoliticsAssociated PressAP source: FBI had backup plan to save Russia probe evidence
The FBI developed a backup plan to protect evidence in its Russia investigation soon after the firing of FBI Director James Comey in the event that other senior officials were dismissed as well, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. The plan was crafted in the chaotic days after Comey was fired, when the FBI began investigating whether President Donald Trump had obstructed justice and whether he might be, wittingly or not, in league with the Russians. The goal was to ensure that the information collected under the investigations, which included probes of Trump associates and possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, would survive the firings or reassignments of top law enforcement officials.
NewsUSA TODAYSnow, ice, torrential rain brings weather havoc to 39 states, 200 million people
A massive storm that marched across the nation Tuesday promises to bring heavy snow, crippling ice and torrential rain to more than 200 million Americans over the next couple of days. Parts of 39 of the 48 contiguous United States will be touched by the storm, including every state east of the Mississippi River, AccuWeather said. "The 'real feel' will be terrible and it will be everywhere,' AccuWeather meteorologist Elliot Abrams told USA TODAY.
- NewsTime
An 11-Year-Old Student Was Arrested in Florida After Refusing to Stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
A sixth grade student at a Florida school was arrested for disruption and resisting arrest after a confrontation with a teacher in which he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, reportedly saying the flag was racist and the pledge was offensive to black people. Spectrum Bay News 9 reports that the 11-year-old was removed from class on Feb. 4, suspended for three days, arrested shortly after and taken to a juvenile detention center. The dispute ensued after a substitute teacher at Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland asked him to stand up, reportedly unaware of that the school does not require participation during the pledge.
- BusinessU.S.News & World Report
7 Stocks Warren Buffett Just Bought or Sold
The biggest news from Buffett's filing is the disclosure that Berkshire sold shares of Apple in the fourth quarter. Buffett trimmed his stake in his largest holding from 253.4 million shares to 249.6 million shares, a 1.5 percent reduction. Apple investors knew the day would come at some point when Buffett would stop buying Apple, and it may have taken fears over a 2019 iPhone sales slowdown to finally reach that point.
- WorldBloomberg
Saudi Prince Pledges to Help India Fight Terror
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman vowed to fight terrorism alongside India after talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, days after New Delhi accused Pakistan of planning a major terror attack in Kashmir. Terrorism is a common concern and Saudi Arabia will cooperate with India in fighting it, including in matters like intelligence sharing,” Prince Mohammed said in a press statement alongside Modi in New Delhi. The comments were part of the Saudi royal's delicate diplomacy, as he visits both nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
WorldFOX News VideosFarrakhan to Omar: Don't apologize for Israel comments
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan defends Minnesota congresswoman.
WorldAFPAfter IS, ammunition among the IV drips at Syria clinic
At a clinic in eastern Syria, the Islamic State group have fled leaving a floor strewn with medical supplies -- but also explosives and a foreign passport. US-backed fighters took the three-storey building in the village of Baghouz in recent days, and now use its roof to survey the frontline against the jihadists. After a months-long campaign, the last IS fighters are pinned down in their last scrap of territory just hundreds of metres down the road in the same village.
WorldReutersVenezuela stages own concerts in response to Branson's Live Aid show
Venezuela's government will stage two concerts on the Colombian border this weekend to compete with a "Live Aid"-style show announced by British billionaire Richard Branson to raise funds for food and medicine for the South American country. Increasingly internationally isolated President Nicolas Maduro, who denies there is a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, says Western relief efforts coordinated by the opposition are part of a U.S.-orchestrated coup to overthrow him. Branson said last week he was organizing a concert on Feb. 22 to raise funds for aid for Venezuela in the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where donations provided by the United States and others are already being stockpiled.
- WorldTime
Huawei Founder Says There's No Stopping China's Tech Giant, Despite U.S. Pressure
In an interview with the BBC, Ren Zhengfei spoke confidently about the company's fate despite mounting pressure from Washington. The U.S. has accused the company of circumventing sanctions against Iran and stealing trade secrets. The U.S. has leveled 23 charges against Huawei and Ren's daughter and Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested at Washington's request in Vancouver, where she is currently under house arrest awaiting possible extradition.
EntertainmentUSA TODAYAlec Baldwin, Donald Trump Jr. exchange Twitter jabs over 'Saturday Night Live' skit
Alec Baldwin is taking on another Trump. After clashing with President Donald Trump over his "Saturday Night Live" portrayal, Baldwin took to Twitter to address criticism from another member of the family – Donald Trump Jr. Trump's eldest son, 41, slammed Baldwin after the actor reprised his Emmy award-winning impression of Trump on the NBC show Saturday. During the opening sketch, Baldwin, 60, poked fun at the president's national emergency declaration from the Rose Garden on Friday.
CelebrityAssociated PressObama joined by Curry to tell minority boys 'you matter'
Former President Barack Obama and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry told a roomful of minority boys on Tuesday that they matter and urged them to make the world a better place. Obama was in Oakland, California, to mark the fifth anniversary of My Brother's Keeper, an initiative he launched after the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The initiative was a call to communities to close opportunity gaps for minority boys, especially African-American, Latino and Native American boys, Obama said to roughly 100 boys attending the alliance's first national gathering.
NewsThe IndependentMan punches and throws hot coffee on Sikh 7-Eleven clerk because he 'hates Muslims'
A man has been charged with a hate crime after allegedly attacking a Sikh employee of a California 7-Eleven convenience store. The man can allegedly be seen on surveillance footage punching the employee, and throwing coffee on him after he attempted to leave without paying for coffee. The man, identified by police as John Crain, was arrested by the Marysville Police Department.
- NewsYahoo News
Alabama editor who called for lynchings by Klan should quit, senators say
Officials in Alabama are calling for a small-town newspaper editor to resign because of an editorial calling for the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize Washington, D.C. Goodloe Sutton, the editor and publisher of the Democrat-Reporter in Linden, Ala., wrote the editorial titled “Klan needs to ride again” that ran in the paper last week. “Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again,” read the Feb. 14 editorial.
