| Monday's Morning Email: Bruno Mars Wasn't The Only Big Winner At The Grammys Posted: 29 Jan 2018 04:35 AM PST  TOP STORIES (And want to get The Morning Email each weekday?
|
| Pelosi's 'make America white again' dig at Trump draws rebuke from fellow Democrat Posted: 28 Jan 2018 11:06 AM PST  Nancy Pelosi said the immigration plan holds the Dreamers 'hostage to a hateful anti-immigrant scheme'. The West Virginia senator Joe Manchin on Sunday criticized House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi for dismissing a new White House immigration plan as a way to "make America white again".
|
| Finland re-elects pragmatic president Niinisto to ease Russia worries Posted: 28 Jan 2018 01:09 PM PST  Finns on Sunday re-elected their popular and cautious president Sauli Niinisto, who is credited with maintaining a balanced relationship with the nation's powerful neighbour Russia at a time of simmering relations between Moscow and the West. "I am surprised and touched by this big support," Niinisto told reporters in Helsinki, who secured over 62 percent of the vote, significantly ahead the seven other candidates, with all the ballots counted. Finland's most popular president in more than three decades, the 69-year-old politician avoided a need for a second-round of voting, a first since Finland introduced a two-round presidential election by popular vote in 1994.
|
| Ruff Night! Grammys Hand Out 'Consolation Puppies' To Losers Posted: 28 Jan 2018 07:31 PM PST  There's no denying that award show trophies are becoming increasingly less relevant, so why don't we give them up altogether... and just hand out puppies? That's what happened to some nominees for Best Comedy Album at the 60th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
|
| UN, African Union leaders praise international cooperation Posted: 28 Jan 2018 03:05 PM PST  ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The leaders of the United Nations and the African Union urged stronger international cooperation at the opening Sunday of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
|
| Thai activist flees royal insult charge for posting BBC article Posted: 28 Jan 2018 08:29 AM PST ![Thai activist flees royal insult charge for posting BBC article]( "Thai activist flees royal insult charge for posting BBC article") A Thai pro-democracy activist said on Sunday she had fled Thailand after learning she would be prosecuted for defaming the monarchy for sharing on Facebook a 2016 BBC article deemed offensive to Thailand's king. Chanoknan Ruamsap said in a post on her Facebook account on Sunday that she received a summons earlier this month to hear a royal insult charge under Article 112 for posting a profile of the king from the BBC's Thai-language service, which some deemed offensive. Reuters could not immediately reach the Thai authorities or the BBC for comment.
|
| 13 Genius Ways To Use Ground Lamb Posted: 29 Jan 2018 10:33 AM PST |
| Trump hits back at Jay-Z after rapper dismissed his claims about black unemployment Posted: 28 Jan 2018 07:57 AM PST  President Trump fired back at Jay-Z on Sunday morning after the hip-hop star dismissed his taking credit for a record low number of unemployed African-Americans.
|
| These 24 Tweets Are An Accurate Representation Of Married Life Posted: 29 Jan 2018 11:03 AM PST  Marriage may be an important commitment, but that doesn't mean it has to be taken seriously all the time.
|
| Puerto Rico Is A Man-Made Disaster Posted: 29 Jan 2018 02:46 AM PST  Months after hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, what should have been an example of how one of the most powerful nations in the world could rebuild a territory is instead an example of a man-made catastrophe now moving to the mainland.
|
| Watch a Man Allegedly Kidnap a Young Girl off the Street in Broad Daylight Posted: 28 Jan 2018 01:30 PM PST  He has since been arrested.
|
| Northrop Grumman Is Getting Ready for Great Power War (That Means Russia or China) Posted: 29 Jan 2018 07:48 AM PST  With the U.S. defense budget set to expand in the coming years as the great power competition between Russia, China and the United States heats up, Northrop Grumman—like other defense contractors—is starting to invest in the future after a prolonged slump. "We foresee just given the nature of the threat environment that we observe around the globe today and the number of dimensions in that threat environment that are evident, we foresee a period of time here in front of us, a rather significant period of time in front of us, where our nation and our allies are going to need to invest in their national security to deal with this," Wes Bush, chairman and chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman told investors.
|
| Audio emerges of Netanyahu's wife raging over media story Posted: 28 Jan 2018 09:52 AM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — A recording of Benjamin Netanyahu's wife raging at an aide surfaced on Sunday creating a new headache for Israel's embattled premier.
|
| White House wants the media's 'Russia fever' to end Posted: 29 Jan 2018 12:16 PM PST  During Monday's press briefing, press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that she hopes once the Russia investigation concludes, the media will get "Russia fever" out of their systems for good.
|
| Teen's Body Found 2 Weeks After Sudden Disappearance Posted: 29 Jan 2018 11:10 AM PST  The body of a teenage girl who police had labeled a runaway when she vanished two weeks ago has been found near her home in a Virginia suburb of Washington.
|
| Kremlin calls U.S. sanctions move attempt to influence Russian elections Posted: 29 Jan 2018 02:47 AM PST ![Kremlin calls U.S. sanctions move attempt to influence Russian elections]( "Kremlin calls U.S. sanctions move attempt to influence Russian elections") The Kremlin said on Monday that a new U.S. sanctions report expected to be released imminently was an attempt to influence Russia's presidential election in March, but predicted it would fail to impact the vote. The United States could release reports as early as Monday detailing the possibilities for expanding sanctions against Russia, including a list of oligarchs and potential restrictions on the holding of Russian government debt. Moscow and Washington remain at odds over U.S. allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, something Russia denies, as well as over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
|
| I Just Had The Most Surreal -- And Profound -- Flight Attendant Experience In My Life Posted: 28 Jan 2018 09:06 AM PST  One of my closest friends is fighting a particularly mean and supposedly merciless kind of cancer, and I have begun to make the trek from my home in Brooklyn to her home just outside Boston as often as I can.
|
| Blue Ivy Tells Beyoncé And Jay-Z To Quiet Down At The Grammys Posted: 29 Jan 2018 02:36 AM PST  Beyoncé and Jay-Z have reached dizzying heights of fame, but they're not too big to be brought down a notch or two by their daughter, Blue Ivy.
|
| 'You join the military because you have no other options': California teacher under fire after disparaging military Posted: 29 Jan 2018 01:34 PM PST  A California teacher has come under fire after videos emerged of him disparaging members of the military as the "lowest of our low" and urging his students to reject military service. In the videos, the voice identified as Mr Salcido's uses a derogatory term to refer to members of the military and says it is comprised low achievers.
|
| 'America First' Is a Hard Sell on Rex Tillerson's Europe Tour Posted: 28 Jan 2018 11:40 PM PST  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited London and Paris to defuse tensions and drum up support for new measures against Iran
|
| Kentucky: 2 school shooting victims mourned at funerals Posted: 28 Jan 2018 03:09 PM PST  BENTON, Ky. (AP) — Friends and relatives of the two 15-year-old students gunned down at a western Kentucky high school have mourned their deaths at separate funeral services.
|
| Nine dead in Mexico shooting: official Posted: 28 Jan 2018 11:49 AM PST  Authorities investigating the slaying of nine men at a house in Monterrey, Mexico said Sunday small local drug-trafficking groups appeared to be involved but not major drug cartels. The men were watching a football match on television on Saturday when armed attackers burst into the house, herded women into the bathroom and then opened fire on the men, the attorney general of the state of Nuevo Leon, Bernardo Gonzalez, said. Seven men were killed on the spot and two others died of their wounds after being taken to local hospitals, he said.
|
| 5 Reasons to Reconsider a Cruise for Your Next Vacation Posted: 29 Jan 2018 08:00 AM PST ![5 Reasons to Reconsider a Cruise for Your Next Vacation]( "5 Reasons to Reconsider a Cruise for Your Next Vacation") When you picture a cruise vacation, compact cabins, lackluster onboard cuisine and jampacked port towns may come to mind. While there's no one-size-fits-all cruise that's ideal for everyone, with today's innovative onboard amenities, diverse dining options, wellness offerings, high-tech services and exciting, far-flung itineraries, chances are, the widespread misconceptions and myths you've heard are outdated. After all, today's cruise lines cater to diverse travel styles, ages and budgets.
|
| Package thief slips right into some instant karma Posted: 29 Jan 2018 11:55 AM PST  A woman attempting to steal some freshly delivered packages from UPS walked right into some instant karma. Security footage from a home in Snohomish County, Washington, on Friday shows a UPS delivery person dropping off some packages on the front porch. Just a few short moments later, a car stops in front of the home, and a woman gets out of the passenger side of the vehicle, and approaches the front door. After scooping up three packages, the woman attempts to run back to the car, but slips on the grass, injuring her ankle in the process. It's unclear the extent of the woman's injuries but she's clearly in pain. The driver of the vehicle eventually comes to the woman's aid, and returns to snag the packages. According to local news outlet Q13 Fox, homeowner Lizeth Ababneh says she found the clip comical, but one of the packages contained medication for her husband. An investigation into the theft has been opened with the Snohomish County Sheriff's office.
|
| President says Poland did not take part in the Holocaust Posted: 29 Jan 2018 01:27 PM PST  WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's president said Monday that there was no institutionalized participation by Poland or its people in the Holocaust, but acknowledges that individual Poles took "wicked" actions against Jewish neighbors.
|
| Joy Villa Trumps Last Year's Grammy Dress With Anti-Abortion Gown Posted: 28 Jan 2018 04:50 PM PST  Joy Villa made a political fashion statement on the Grammys red carpet ― again.
|
| Musicians Sing 'Tears In Heaven' In Grammy Tribute To Las Vegas Shooting Victims Posted: 28 Jan 2018 07:03 PM PST  A group of performers delivered a truly touching performance of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" at the 2018 Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
|
| Beyoncé's Grammys glam is all under $30 (seriously) Posted: 29 Jan 2018 01:20 PM PST  Who could forget when Beyoncé made headlines for wearing a $12 million necklace to last year's Grammy Awards?
|
| Q&A: Why Afghanistan suffers unrelenting attacks Posted: 28 Jan 2018 06:32 AM PST  ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan has endured a month of relentless attacks claimed by the Taliban and a rival Islamic State affiliate, capped by Saturday's assault, in which a Taliban suicide bomber driving an ambulance filled with explosives struck in the heart of Kabul, killing more than 100 people.
|
| Turpin children must be allowed to see parents in prison if they are to start new lives, says kidnap survivor Posted: 29 Jan 2018 08:02 AM PST  A woman who was kidnapped and locked in a cellar for eight years, has said that the 13 Turpin children must be allowed to see the parents who allegedly kept them captive. Ms Kampusch was 10-years-old when she was kidnapped from her home in the Austrian capital Vienna and taken to the nearby town of Strasshof an der Nordbahn by Wolfgang Priklopil. Taking advantage of an increasing amount of freedom he granted her, Ms Kampusch escaped in 2006, aged 18.
|
| Most Americans Can't Afford A Minor Emergency Posted: 29 Jan 2018 02:46 AM PST  James DeVolid, 54, put in so many hours between his two jobs at Tyson Foods and Walmart that his wife, Susan, often joked that he worked "eight days a week."
|
| IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad dead at age 91 Posted: 28 Jan 2018 08:10 AM PST  Ingvar Kamprad, founder of the world's largest furniture retailer, IKEA, died at his home in Smaland, Sweden, on Saturday. He was 91 years old. The company shared news of Kamprad's death on Sunday morning via an online statement, calling him "one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century." The founder of IKEA and one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Ingvar Kamprad, has passed away at the age of 91. A post shared by IKEA Today (@ikeatoday) on Jan 28, 2018 at 2:26am PST SEE ALSO: Ikea wants you to try a Swedish sleep trend that could save your relationship "We are deeply saddened by Ingvar's passing. We will remember his dedication and commitment to always side with the many people. To never give up, always try to become better and lead by example," CEO and President of Inter IKEA Group, Torbjörn Lööf, said in a statement. Kamprad was born in 1926 and founded the home furnishings company at just 17 years old. The company described him as a hardworking, dedicated man "with a lot of warmth and a playful twinkle in his eye." Despite his lack of operational role within the company after 1988, IKEA noted, Kamprad served as a senior adviser in the years that followed, offering many contributions to employees during the span of his career. Over the years IKEA has earned a special place in pop culture, thanks to innovations like an AR app, snazzy pet furniture, and that weird pregnancy test ad. It's also been the site of some beautiful viral moments, like the video of that dude who annoyed his girlfriend with furniture puns and the beloved stylish IKEA monkey. At the time of his death, Kamprad ranked eighth on Bloomberg's Billionaire Index list, and is said to have had an estimated worth of $58.7 billion. WATCH: This Ikea magazine ad is also a pregnancy test
|
| Turkey detains over 300 for 'terror propaganda' against Syria operation Posted: 29 Jan 2018 01:03 AM PST  Turkish authorities have detained 311 people suspected of disseminating "terror propaganda" over Ankara's offensive against a Kurdish militia in Syria, the interior ministry said on Monday. The suspects have been taken into custody since the operation against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia began on January 20. Ankara views the YPG as a "terrorist" offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.
|
| US, Qatar reach agreement on subsidy spat with airlines Posted: 29 Jan 2018 01:51 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Qatar have reached a deal to resolve a years-old quarrel over alleged airline subsidies, seven individuals familiar with the deal said Monday, as Qatar's government works to defuse tensions with the Trump administration.
|
| 'Fox And Friends' Host Goes Anti-Vaxxer Amid Deadly Flu Epidemic Posted: 29 Jan 2018 07:37 AM PST  Watch the latest video at foxnews.com "Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade is spreading misinformation about vaccines as this year's particularly deadly flu epidemic spreads across the United States.
|
| 7-year-old boy handcuffed after allegedly attacking teacher Posted: 29 Jan 2018 01:50 PM PST  A 7-year-old boy in Miami was taken to a hospital in handcuffs after he allegedly attacked his teacher.
|
| Moscow is out-manoeuvring the West and becoming a real threat to our stability Posted: 27 Jan 2018 10:00 PM PST  In a bid to persuade the Treasury to cough up more for his department, Gavin Williamson, the new Secretary for Defence, painted a nightmare scenario last week. As our world leaders gathered in Davos, he asserted that Russia was in a position to launch an attack on our critical national infrastructure (CNI) that could claim many thousands of British lives. Mr. Williamson correctly identified that Russia is back with a vengeance on the global strategic stage. Indeed, Moscow has all but eclipsed the West in Syria and he is undoubtedly right in assuming that Russian has the capability of attacking our CNI – that is the networked structures which underpins our utilities, telecoms, transport and financial systems. Yet the minister does not fully grasp Russia's strategic priorities in Europe. Russia doesn't seek to kill the golden goose – it wants to see it fat, indolent and weak. In essence, Russia wants to see Europe and the UK's dependency on its oil and gas grow. It currently supplies a third of the EU's gas and oil imports, including a growing proportion of Britain's. Moscow is determined to push through this economic priority in Europe despite the extensive financial and commercial sanctions which the EU and the US imposed since the Ukrainian crisis began in 2014. It knows very well that Germany and Italy are especially dependent on Russian energy and their business communities are continuing to push for a relaxation of sanctions. So, by holding his nerve, Mr. Putin can relax and enjoy how the world looks through the windows of the Kremlin. Certainly, neither he nor his most senior colleagues felt it necessary to join the cavalcade of presidents and prime ministers making their way up the Magic Mountain in Davos. And why would they? Russia is confidently dictating the course of European and Middle Eastern geopolitics. At every turn, Moscow is out-manoeuvring the West and becoming a real threat to our stability. Yet remarkably, it is doing this despite a lamentably weak economy. In 2017 the Russian economy was a tenth of the size of the US economy and only half that of Britain's. And Russia's defence budget is six times smaller than the US's and a tenth of NATO's. Its GDP has declined astonishingly from $2.1 trillion in 2013 to $1.1 trillion last year. Yet for all this, its global and military influence is rising inexorably. How has this happened? When I was researching McMafia, my book about the globalization of organised crime, I visited Moscow and St. Petersburg several times from 2004 to 2006. I noticed that officials, whether policemen, customs officials or FSB personnel, had regained some of the swagger that I knew well from Soviet times. In their eyes, individuals, whether foreigners or locals, were inferior entities whose role was to obey the state not to question it. The global crime thriller McMafia, which is taken from the book researched and written by Misha Glenny Putin's determination to restore a degree of authoritarianism in Russia was not unpopular. The 1990s had seen the economic certainties of the Soviet system replaced by the volatile and violent roller coaster of gangster capitalism. At the time, oligarchs like the late Boris Berezovsky and organized crime groups effectively controlled the then President, Boris Yeltsin. The newly formed FSB was a pale shadow of its predecessor, the KGB, while ordinary Russians became deeply impoverished. In order to restore the authority of the FSB, Putin flipped all this on its head. In a series of carefully choreographed moves, the state re-established its authority of the oligarchs and the gangsters. They would now do Putin and the FSB's bidding – not the other way around. This strategy involved building on anti-Western sentiment. In the popular mind, gangster capitalism had been promoted and sponsored by the West. If the 1990s had left the Russian military in an atrocious state; humiliated in Chechnya, riddled with corruption and criminality, and ill-suited to the strategic challenges of the new century, the past decade has been one of renewed strength and sense of power and purpose. Russian defence planners have not been idle. In a landmark assessment of Russia's capability last year, the US Defense Intelligence Agency noted how the Ukraine conflict in 2014 made NATO sit up and think. 'The operation gave the world its first look at a military that appeared surprisingly disciplined and well-equipped…Ukrainian forces have stressed the capabilities of the Russian units, especially with respect to command and control, artillery firepower and air defense.' Ukrainian army soldiers ride a tank on a road near where pro-Russian separatists fired heavy artillery A year earlier, Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, had formulated what became known as the Gerasimov doctrine. The commander was frank that Russia could not maintain parity in conventional weapons or indeed in AI and robotics with the West. Somehow Russia had to compensate for the imbalance. "The role of non-military means…has exceeded the power of the force of weapons" he wrote, adding that Russia would now have to focus on "military means of a concealed character, including the implementation of informational conflict." Gerasimov identified the vulnerabilities in Western defences. But these were political and not military. So, for relatively little investment, Russia supported movements which could potentially destabilise the West - either – either through hacking groups like Fancy Bears, responsible for breaking into the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta's email account; or through bot nets supporting the populism movements; or, in the case of France's FN, by loaning them money. This has all contributed to a sense of chaos and confusion of politics in the US and across the European Union, at very little cost to themselves. The last thing Putin and his friends need is to make the journey to Switzerland merely to hear lectures from the West about Russia's perfidious behaviour. At a glance | Sanctions against Russia Instead, the Kremlin is letting others talk, while Russia continues to fashion Syria's future on the ground. President Bashar Al-Assad is now closing in on victory thanks to sustained Russian military assistance. Meanwhile, the weakness of the United States and its allies are repeatedly exposed. Last week witnessed a particularly humiliating episode. Washington's NATO ally, Turkey, launched an offensive into Syrian territory with the aim of throttling the YPG, the Syrian Kurdish force that, in coordination with the US military, had played such an important role in defeating ISIS. Washington, unwilling to break with Istanbul, looked away and muttered something under its breath as the Kurds felt the full force of what they consider American betrayal. Moscow, by contrast, offered vocal support to President Erdogan, driving the wedge between Istanbul and Washington still further. Vladimir Putin may be a ruthless KGB officer who uses the full might of the Russian state to remain in power. But as a practitioner of global statecraft, he has no equal these days. Even Angela Merkel who understands Putin like no other western leader is struggling to stay afloat politically. And it is the West's political divisions that are key to Russia's success, critically weakening its ability to develop coherent coordinated policies both in Ukraine and the Middle East. The KGB/FSB has been building its file on Trump since he first visited Moscow in 1987 The KGB/FSB has been building its file on Trump since he first visited Moscow in 1987 and Special Council, Robert Mueller's probe will reveal the extent to which Russian Organised Crime may have used his properties to launder money. But whether Trump is able or willing to lift sanctions against Russia is in some respects unimportant (the sanctions regime is driven by Congress rather than the President). It is the disruption to Western power from within, leading to the collapse of any strategic vision on the part of NATO from which Russia is now deriving its strength. And the Kremlin's recent embrace of China means that if the West is unable to extract itself from its current internal chaos, it is Beijing and Moscow who will shape the post-Cold War world, not the Western victors in that conflict. While the Russians said that Gavin Williamson had lost his 'grasp on reason' over his claim of an attack threat, he was right in saying that they have the power to influence the world in an entirely novel way. And they know what they are doing.
|
| The 'Law And Order' Party Has Unleashed An Extraordinary Attack On Law Enforcement Posted: 27 Jan 2018 08:59 PM PST  WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump called himself the "law and order" candidate.
|
| Rescuers in Pakistan call off efforts to save Polish climber Posted: 28 Jan 2018 02:14 PM PST  ISLAMABAD (AP) — Volunteers rescued a French mountaineer from a Himalayan peak but called off efforts to retrieve a Polish climber who was declared dead after the dramatic and treacherous rescue effort.
|
| Japan raps Coincheck, orders broader checks after $530 million cryptocurrency theft Posted: 29 Jan 2018 07:06 AM PST ![Japan raps Coincheck, orders broader checks after $530 million cryptocurrency theft]( "Japan raps Coincheck, orders broader checks after $530 million cryptocurrency theft") Japanese authorities said on Monday they would investigate all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country for security gaps and ordered Coincheck to raise its standards after hackers stole $530 million of digital money from the Tokyo-based exchange. The theft - one of the world's biggest cyberheists - highlights the vulnerabilities in trading an asset that policymakers are struggling to regulate, as well as the broader risks for Japan as it aims to leverage the fintech industry to stimulate economic growth. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) on Monday ordered improvements to operations at Coincheck, which on Friday suspended trading in all cryptocurrencies except bitcoin after hackers stole 58 billion yen ($534 million) of NEM coins, among the most popular digital currencies in the world.
|
| Kendrick Lamar, U2, Dave Chappelle Send Powerful Message About Racism At Grammys Posted: 28 Jan 2018 05:44 PM PST  Kendrick Lamar gave one hell of a performance when he kicked off the 2018 Grammys with U2 and Dave Chappelle on Sunday. K Dot, who had already won three awards by the time he hit the stage and won one more right after, commenced his performance with his verse on Rich The Kid's "New Freezer" followed by "King's Den" from the "Black Panther" soundtrack.
|
| Poland president to review Holocaust bill after Israeli concern Posted: 28 Jan 2018 02:11 PM PST  Poland's president on Sunday promised to review a new bill regarding the Holocaust and the definition of Nazi death camps, after the measure sparked a diplomatic row with Israel. Poland's rightwing-dominated parliament on Friday adopted legislation that sets fines or a maximum three-year jail term for anyone who refers to Nazi German death camps as being Polish. The measure, intended to apply to both Poles and foreigners, must still pass the Polish Senate before being signed by President Andrzej Duda.
|
| Dead Sea Scroll Remains a Puzzle After Scientists Crack its Code Posted: 29 Jan 2018 09:11 AM PST  Scholars have deciphered a Dead Sea Scroll written in a Hebrew code, finding that it contains part of a 364-day calendar of holy days. Scholars still aren't sure why this scroll, along with a few other Dead Sea Scrolls, were written in code. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 12 caves near the site of Qumran in the West Bank.
|
