| Trump receives plan for ramped-up ISIS war Posted: 27 Feb 2017 02:09 PM PST  WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday received a package of options for escalating or transforming the war on ISIS, setting in motion a process that could lead him to expand the presence of American forces fighting the terrorist army on the ground. Defense Secretary James Mattis briefed top national security officials at the White House on the Pentagon-led proposal, which includes military recommendations but also proposals for how to starve the so-called Islamic State of funds and combat the group online, where it has recruited and radicalized perpetrators of attacks in Europe and the United States. It's not clear when Trump will put his stamp on the undeclared war he inherited from his predecessor, a campaign that has rolled back the rampaging death cult in Iraq but has posted less significant gains in neighboring Syria.
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| Donald Trump has tweeted about the Oscars a lot Posted: 26 Feb 2017 07:17 PM PST  Donald Trump wasn't watching the Oscars on Sunday night. Instead, the president hosted the Governors' Dinner at the White House, the first major social gathering of his administration since the inaugural galas.
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| Seoul: 4 N. Korean spies involved in Kim killing in Malaysia Posted: 27 Feb 2017 05:21 AM PST  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's intelligence service told lawmakers Monday that four North Korean government spies were involved in the killing of the estranged half brother of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un.
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| George W. Bush: A free press checks the ‘addictive’ power of the presidency Posted: 27 Feb 2017 06:19 AM PST  Former President George W. Bush said that the power of the presidency can be addictive and that an independent media is necessary to keep things in check. "I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy," Bush said in a "Today" show interview Monday morning. "We need an independent media to hold people like me to account."
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| Indians mourn Kansas shooting victim in home-town funeral Posted: 28 Feb 2017 01:19 AM PST ![Indians mourn Kansas shooting victim in home-town funeral]( "Indians mourn Kansas shooting victim in home-town funeral") Dozens of people gathered in the Indian city of Hyderabad on Tuesday for the funeral of an engineer shot dead in the United States last week, an attack that has raised fears for the safety of Indians abroad. A white U.S. Navy veteran has been charged with the murder of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, in a case that U.S. authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime, the official term for crimes motivated by bias or prejudice. Friends stood around Kuchibhotla's body which was garlanded with flowers ahead of his last rites, while some relatives wiped away tears, television footage showed.
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| 3 dead, 2 injured in plane that hits houses in California Posted: 27 Feb 2017 10:54 PM PST  RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Three people died and two were injured when a small plane carrying them home from a cheerleading competition crashed into two Southern California homes and sparked a major fire Monday, authorities said.
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| Brave dude tries to use Windows 98 for his daily life, gets a big surprise Posted: 28 Feb 2017 12:33 PM PST  Anyone old enough to remember using Windows 98 when it was still current can attest to the fact that it was a really fantastic operating system. It made big improvements over Windows 95 in almost every area that mattered, and at the time it actually looked extremely sleek and clean. Today, of course, it's absolutely ancient, but one brave man took it upon himself to see if it's still possible to use a Windows 98 system as your primary computer today, and the results are actually quite astounding. Not wanting to cheat by installing Windows 98 on current PC hardware, the intrepid retro software adventurer Oldtech81 decided to use a machine from the same period. He settled on a Compaq Armada e500 laptop, which looks like a massive chunk of flagstone. After some issues getting the computer to actually boot up properly — no surprises there — he was able to run the outdated OS just fine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA58zWmQfC4 Then came the big test: using the computer for day-to-day work and leisure. Against all odds, the extremely old Compaq and Windows 98 were able to offer a pretty respectable experience. Listening to music and watching movies was still as easy as it was back in 1998, and basic apps like Word and Excel still worked fine, which isn't really much of a surprise. The real challenge, of course, was attempting to browse the web, and that's where things got a bit hairy. Once KernelEx was installed for expanded compatibility, the machine was able to run Opera 11, giving it some decent web browsing chops. However, Gmail and YouTube still didn't load up correctly, which is a bit of a bummer, but using YouTube download sites like KeepVid allowed him to save the videos right to the computer and then play them locally. On top of that, many sites like Reddit and various forums were perfectly usable. Just for fun, Oldtech81 even booted up some old PC games like Duke Nukem, Grand Theft Auto, and Carmageddon, all of which looked just like we remember them. It's a really interesting look back, and a reminder of just how impressive Windows 98 was a couple of decades ago. Give it a watch if you feel like going on a nostalgia trip.
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| Resistance Report: Democratic guests at Trump speech a rebuke to his policies Posted: 28 Feb 2017 10:21 AM PST  The president and members of Congress are picking guests who highlight their policy views for tonight's presidential address to a joint session of Congress, reports Yahoo News' Chris Wilson: "The White House announced that six guests would be joining first lady Melania Trump at the address. Half of that group have lost family members in killings by undocumented immigrants." Meanwhile, "Many Democrats have invited guests who benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the proposed DREAM Act to draw a contrast to the president's messaging and policies." And Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), invited Tom Perez, the former labor secretary, who just beat him out for the post of chair of the Democratic National Committee. Democratic women will wear white at the Trump speech tonight, to highlight their disputes with the administration on women's issues and situate themselves in the history of women's political activism.
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| Trump supporters rip Hollywood, gleefully celebrate #Oscarfail Posted: 27 Feb 2017 08:55 AM PST  Hours before the Academy Awards were presented Sunday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee compared watching the Oscars telecast and its expected political speeches from Hollywood stars to getting a colonoscopy. Nah," Huckabee tweeted. "Think I'd rather have a colonoscopy.
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| Japan emperor's Vietnam visit a sign of improved ties Posted: 26 Feb 2017 09:59 PM PST  HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — When Nguyen Thi Xuan said goodbye to her Japanese husband in 1954, she thought he was going off for a year or two on another long assignment. She never imagined it would be more than half a century before she'd see him again.
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| DNC Chair Perez defends Rep. Keith Ellison’s past statements about Israel Posted: 28 Feb 2017 01:19 PM PST  On Feb. 28, ahead of President Trump's first joint address to Congress, new DNC Chair Tom Perez spoke to Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric. Perez defended Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who has been dogged by his past associations with the Nation of Islam and his past defense of its founder, Louis Farrakhan, who had made anti-Semitic comments. Ellison was the runner-up to Perez in DNC chair balloting and will be bringing Perez to Trump's joint address to Congress as his guest.
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| ISIS Straps Explosives on Puppy, Sends It To Iraqi Militia Posted: 27 Feb 2017 10:48 PM PST  The pup survived the attack after being spotted by Iraqi militia members.
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| Mom of 2-Year-Old Twins Who Died in House Fire as They Were Home Alone Pleads Guilty Posted: 27 Feb 2017 02:52 PM PST  She reportedly went out to buy marijuana.
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| Israel evicts settlers in West Bank Posted: 28 Feb 2017 07:07 AM PST ![Israel evicts settlers in West Bank]( "Israel evicts settlers in West Bank") Israeli forces began evacuating nine homes in the West Bank settlement of Ofra, following a Supreme Court decision that ruled they were built on private Palestinian land. Dozens of settlers and their supporters were protesting on the rooftops as military and police forces handed the evacuation orders to settler leaders and asked them to cooperate peacefully and avoid confrontation. >>> Read more about the settler evacuation at the AP. See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr
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| California dam spillway water shut off to clear debris Posted: 27 Feb 2017 05:55 PM PST  OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — California water authorities stopped the flow of water down the Oroville Dam's crippled spillway Monday, allowing workers to start clearing out massive debris that's blocking a hydroelectric plant from working.
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| North Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, U.N. says Posted: 27 Feb 2017 02:51 AM PST ![North Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, U.N. says]( "North Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, U.N. says") It is in Kuala Lumpur's "Little India" neighborhood, behind an unmarked door on the second floor of a rundown building, where a military equipment company called Glocom says it has its office. Glocom is a front company run by North Korean intelligence agents that sells battlefield radio equipment in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to a United Nations report submitted to the Security Council seen by Reuters. Reuters found that Glocom advertises over 30 radio systems for "military and paramilitary" organizations on its Malaysian website, glocom.com.my.
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| GOP intelligence panel chair: Flynn did U.S. a ‘big favor’ Posted: 27 Feb 2017 02:16 PM PST  House Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said today that Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the national security adviser fired by President Trump, may have done the country a "big favor" if he signaled to the Russian ambassador that sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama after the Russian cyberattack on Democratic Party officials would be lifted once President Trump took office. The comments by Nunes, a vocal defender of the Trump White House, seemed to be the strongest indication to date that Flynn may have sought to undercut Obama's actions, giving private assurances to Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, that punitive measures just imposed by the then-president would go away under Trump.
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| Russian vetoes of UN resolutions on Syria Posted: 28 Feb 2017 10:04 AM PST  Russia has now blocked seven UN resolutions regarding Syria since unrest erupted there in 2011, almost always with support from China. Moscow is an unconditional supporter of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Damascus, and its latest veto adds to the six previous ones listed below. Six months after the Syrian conflict begins, Russia and China on October 4, 2011 block a proposed UN resolution to impose "targeted measures" against Assad's regime.
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| Plane crashes into southern California neighborhood Posted: 28 Feb 2017 02:17 AM PST  At least 3 people are dead and two others are injured after a small plane crashed into homes, sparking a massive fire.
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| Voluntary police program at heart of Trump immigration policy Posted: 27 Feb 2017 08:15 AM PST  In one executive order from January and in separate DHS guidelines published last week, the Trump administration is counting on local police officers to act as immigration agents. But will these efforts gain traction in a contentious environment?
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| Did Casey Anthony Accidentally Kill Caylee? Posted: 27 Feb 2017 02:16 PM PST  Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over Anthony's 2011 criminal trial, told an Orlando blog recently he thought the Florida mother may have used chloroform on her daughter.
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| German automakers top U.S. magazine brand rankings Posted: 28 Feb 2017 09:51 AM PST ![German automakers top U.S. magazine brand rankings]( "German automakers top U.S. magazine brand rankings") By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - German automakers dominated Consumer Reports' annual ranking of automotive brands released on Tuesday, with Volkswagen AG's Audi leading the pack, while U.S. brands continued to lag despite gains for many. Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at the magazine, said German automakers rose largely due to improvements in reliability. "Building one or two great vehicles is achievable, but making a whole lineup of excellent ones is much more difficult," Fisher said.
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| FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Takes Aim At Net Neutrality At MWC, Calls Protections "A Mistake" Posted: 28 Feb 2017 10:15 AM PST  Is net neutrality dead? The protections appear more in doubt than ever following a speech by FCC chairman Ajit Pai at Mobile World Congress 2017, in which he called Title II protections "a mistake."
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| Latest: Plane crash survivor burned on 90 percent of body Posted: 28 Feb 2017 02:57 PM PST RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on a small plane that crashed into homes in California (all times local):
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| Amazon’s AWS storage crashed in the middle of an AWSome conference Posted: 28 Feb 2017 01:19 PM PST 
Amazon loves to talk about how great its products and services are – just like any other massive company — so the fact that it holds frequent conferences celebrating and educating people about Amazon Web Services (AWS) isn't particularly odd. But for one of those events to land on the exact same day that AWS's storage services bites the dust and takes a huge chunk of the internet down with it? Now that's some serious bad luck.
Amazon's AWSome Day conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, started like any other, with speakers and tutorials and lots and lots of bragging about how extremely reliable and sturdy Amazon's internet services are. Then, as though AWS had made a deal with the devil and beelzebub had finally returned to claim its life, everything fell apart. AWS's Simple Storage Service (S3) bit the dust, sending countless sites into endless reloads and blank pages, and as of this writing the company is still trying to hammer out the kinks. Here's the latest from Amazon: Update at 12:52 PM PST: We are seeing recovery for S3 object retrievals, listing and deletions. We continue to work on recovery for adding new objects to S3 and expect to start seeing improved error rates within the hour. Update at 11:35 AM PST: We have now repaired the ability to update the service health dashboard. The service updates are below. We continue to experience high error rates with S3 in US-EAST-1, which is impacting various AWS services. We are working hard at repairing S3, believe we understand root cause, and are working on implementing what we believe will remediate the issue.
As you can imagine, the unfortunate timing has put quite the damper on the AWSome day event. One video, captured by an audience member during a presentation utilizing the S3 service, perfectly captures the mood: https://twitter.com/ian_surewould/status/836645989972918272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw "Awkward" doesn't even begin to describe it.
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| Germany sees "alarmingly high" number of anti-migrant crimes Posted: 27 Feb 2017 09:11 AM PST  BERLIN (AP) — Migrants and their homes in Germany faced more than 3,500 attacks in 2016, a number that is "alarmingly high and cause for concern," a German official said Monday, while adding that the crimes are being aggressively prosecuted and the numbers of such attacks are now falling.
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| White House condemns 'racially motivated' attack on Indians Posted: 28 Feb 2017 04:53 PM PST  After criticism that Donald Trump had not spoken about the attack -- which happened a week ago -- the White House said president did indeed condemn the attack. "As more facts come to light and it begins to look like this was an act of racially motivated hatred, I want to reiterate the president condemns these or any other racially or religiously motivated attacks in the strongest terms" said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. The comments came as grieving family and friends in Hyderabad mourned 32-year-old engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead by a US Navy veteran.
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| Bright lava lights up Sicilian sky as Mount Etna erupts Posted: 28 Feb 2017 06:47 AM PST ![Bright lava lights up Sicilian sky as Mount Etna erupts]( "Bright lava lights up Sicilian sky as Mount Etna erupts") ROME (Reuters) - Bright lava lit up the night sky on the Italian island of Sicily on Monday as Mount Etna erupted for the first time this year. The volcano, one of the most active in the world, has been largely dormant for the last two years, but it sprung to life with bright orange lava spewing out high over the Mediterranean Island, eventually easing off by Tuesday morning. Catania airport, situated within 50 km (31 miles) of the volcano, remained open, but authorities were tracking the movements of the ash cloud. ...
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| U.N. to vote Tuesday on Syria sanctions despite Russia veto pledge Posted: 27 Feb 2017 12:54 PM PST ![U.N. to vote Tuesday on Syria sanctions despite Russia veto pledge]( "U.N. to vote Tuesday on Syria sanctions despite Russia veto pledge") By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on Tuesday on a bid by Western powers to ban the supply of helicopters to the Syrian government and to blacklist Syrian military commanders over accusations of toxic gas attacks, despite a pledge by Russia to veto the move. The Security Council showdown - pitting Syrian ally Russia against the United States, France, Britain and others - comes amid U.N.-led peace talks between the warring Syrian parties in Geneva, which began last week. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted.
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| Samsung Galaxy S8 To Have Virtual Buttons Instead Of Physical Ones Posted: 28 Feb 2017 03:38 AM PST ![Samsung Galaxy S8 To Have Virtual Buttons Instead Of Physical Ones]( "Samsung Galaxy S8 To Have Virtual Buttons Instead Of Physical Ones") After Apple's iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 is also expected to ditch physical buttons, including the volume rocker and the power button.
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| Thousands of French people want Barack Obama to be their next president Posted: 28 Feb 2017 05:08 AM PST  More than 40,000 people have signed a spoof petition calling for Barack Obama to be the next president of France. SEE ALSO: Obama and Richard Branson fought over kitesurfing and we're never getting him back As France prepares for its general election in May, an unofficial campaign has been launched to "bring France out of its apathy" and elect Barack Obama as France's new president. "We would like to make a big splash in electing a foreign president as head of our beautiful country," reads the campaign's manifesto."Barack Obama completed his second presidential term as POTUS on the 21 January, why not hire him as president of France?" the manifesto says. The campaign is hoping for 1 million pledges to vote for the former POTUS in order to convince Obama to stand in the next election. Oui on peut ... (?) #obama2017 #streetsofparis pic.twitter.com/v6ptl9DSJB — Romuald COUSTRE (@rcoustre) February 21, 2017 The reasons listed on the campaign site explain why Obama is perfect for the role. According to the manifesto, he has the best CV in the world for the job."Because it's still possible to vote for a president and not against a candidate. Because at a time when France is getting ready for a massive vote in favour of the far right, we can still give a lesson in democracy to the planet in electing a foreign French president," the manifesto continues. The group behind the campaign describe themselves as "four thirty-something Parisians" but they have not identified themselves. They explained their objectives to Mashable FR. "We've had enough of voting against candidates rather than voting for a president," they explained. "We found ourselves dreaming about what could happen if the world of politics could offer us a figure we admire and who makes us feel calm when we look to the future," they continued. They say they decided to put those thoughts into action by launching the campaign, which has since garnered the support of thousands of people. "We just wanted to make voters think, to piss off our politicians and to make everyone dream," they continued. Another Obama presidency, anyone?! BONUS: The Obamas got real emotional at the president's farewell address
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| The Peugeot Instinct is headed to Geneva Posted: 27 Feb 2017 06:02 AM PST  At the Geneva Motor Show from March 9, Peugeot will be offering a glimpse into the future of mobility with its 'Instinct' concept car, a unique Shooting Brake which offers the option of fully autonomous driving or driver control. Given a sneak peek Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona before the official showing at the Swiss show, this handsome, sleek concept is powered by a hybrid plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) power train offering a mighty 300PS. The Instinct is programmed with four distinct driving settings.
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| Report: Uber exec out after failing to disclose allegation Posted: 27 Feb 2017 04:54 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — A top engineering executive at Uber, Amit Singhal, is out five weeks after his hire was announced. According to a report in the tech blog Recode, Singhal failed to disclose that he'd left his previous job at Google because of a sexual harassment allegation.
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| Bill Gates just solved the very first Apple vs. Microsoft fanboy debate Posted: 28 Feb 2017 09:38 AM PST 
Back before iOS and Android were even a glimmer in anyone's eye, there was another fanboy rivalry that, at times, was even more heated than the bizarre debates over smartphone allegiance we see today. It's crazy to think that any fanboy arguments could be more intense than the clashes seen all over the web between Android addicts and iPhone lovers, but it's true. Apple and Microsoft each played a key role in the proliferation of personal computers, and both brands formed very loyal fan bases that constantly bickered about which company was superior. They argued over nearly every topic you can imagine, but the very first Apple vs. Microsoft fanboy debate focused on one question in particular: When it comes to the companies' very first graphical user interfaces, who copied whom? Well, after decades of back and forth, we finally have an answer — and it comes straight from the horse's mouth. On Monday, Microsoft cofounder, renowned philanthropist and all-around awesome guy Bill Gates conducted his fifth "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, where he has become something of a hero. For those somehow unaware of Reddit's popular AMA series, these threads are conducted by a person or group, typically in the public eye, and they encourage users on the site to ask any questions they want. Gates's fifth AMA was wildly popular, of course, and more than 17,000 comments were ultimately posted in the thread. We could spend weeks talking about all of the great answers Gates provided, but one was of particular interest in the context of this site. Reddit user HalesOwnShrek asked this brief question: "Did you copy Steve Jobs or did he copy you?" The question was brief indeed, but it's based on decades of back and forth between Apple and Microsoft fans. Gates took the time to respond, and his response puts an end to the debate once and for all. "The main 'copying' that went on relative to Steve and me is that we both benefited from the work that Xerox Parc did in creating graphical interface - it wasn't just them but they did the best work," Gates wrote on Reddit. "Steve hired Bob Belville, I hired Charles Simonyi. We didn't violate any IP rights Xerox had but their work showed the way that led to the Mac and Windows." So there you have it, fanboys. The debate is over. When it comes to the companies' original GUIs, Microsoft didn't copy Apple and Apple didn't copy Microsoft. They both copied Xerox.
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| Study finds peculiar tie between warm climate, slow snowmelt Posted: 27 Feb 2017 03:23 PM PST  DENVER (AP) — Global warming could mean that mountain snow melts at a slower pace, researchers said Monday, a peculiar finding that might be bad news for the West and other regions that depend on snow for water.
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| Twitter loses it over photo of Kellyanne Conway with feet on couch in Oval Office Posted: 28 Feb 2017 09:25 AM PST  Twitter lit up with comments over a photo of President Trump's senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, with her feet tucked under her on the couch in the Oval Office. Some Twitter users have said it's "disrespectful" while others have called the controversy "dumb."
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| Trump concerned about attacks on Jewish cemeteries: White House Posted: 27 Feb 2017 11:27 AM PST ![Trump concerned about attacks on Jewish cemeteries: White House]( "Trump concerned about attacks on Jewish cemeteries: White House") U.S. President Donald Trump is concerned about vandalism at Jewish cemeteries and condemns anti-Semitic and other hateful acts, the White House said on Monday. "The president continues to be deeply disappointed and concerned by the reports of further vandalism at ... Jewish cemeteries," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a daily news briefing. "The president continues to condemn these and any other forms of anti-Semitic and hateful acts in the strongest terms," he said, referring to a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia that was vandalized and other acts.
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| UK government spokesman: Scotland should not hold new independence referendum Posted: 27 Feb 2017 03:28 AM PST ![UK government spokesman: Scotland should not hold new independence referendum]( "UK government spokesman: Scotland should not hold new independence referendum") The threat of a new Scottish independence referendum is creating unnecessary uncertainty and division, a British government spokesman said on Monday, reiterating Prime Minister Theresa May's view that there was no need for another vote on the issue. The comments came in response to media reports that Scottish nationalists were preparing to demand a fresh vote, possibly as early as next month to coincide with May's plan to formally trigger Britain's exit from the European Union. "The threat of one is creating unnecessary uncertainty and division." Scots rejected independence by a 10-point margin in a 2014 referendum, but the issue has resurfaced following the vote last June to leave the EU.
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| Detained Philippine senator asks court to nullify arrest Posted: 27 Feb 2017 04:54 AM PST  MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine senator and leading critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly crackdown on illegal drugs petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday to nullify an arrest warrant for her on drug charges and release her from jail.
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| Cars With Confusing or Dangerous Shifters Posted: 28 Feb 2017 10:32 AM PST  Consumer Reports is now deducting points from the Overall Score of any vehicle we determine has a shifter that is difficult to operate or that can be confused for other controls. We are deducting...
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