WorldAFPPolish PM nixes trip to Israel after Netanyahu Holocaust 'comment': govt
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has cancelled a visit to Israel for a high-level summit, a government spokesperson told AFP on Sunday, after uproar in Poland over reported comments by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu about the Poles and the Holocaust. Netanyahu -- who was initially quoted in Haaretz newspaper as saying that "The Poles collaborated with the Nazis" -- has been condemned in Poland for appearing to accuse all Polish people of cooperating with Germany during World War II. Warsaw has long been at pains to point out that Poland, which was occupied by Nazi Germany, could not have and did not collaborate in the Holocaust although individual Poles may have done so.
WorldUSA TODAYHere's why Donald Trump threatened Venezuela's military leaders during a speech in Florida
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is delivering a stern warning to Venezuela's military leaders in a speech about the leadership and humanitarian crisis gripping the oil-rich country. In unusually blunt language, Trump is expected to put Venezuela's military leaders on notice Monday they and their families will lose everything if they don't “work toward democracy. Trump also will say the U.S. knows where the Latin American country's military leaders and their families have money hidden throughout the world, a threat intended to pressure the military to abandon embattled President Nicolas Maduro.
- NewsThe Independent
Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner to register as sex offender after prison release
Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner has been released from federal prison after being convicted of having illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl in 2017. He will have to register as a sex-offender and spend three years on supervised release under the terms of his sentence. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website shows the 54-year-old New York Democrat is currently in the custody of its Residential Re-entry Management office in Brooklyn, New York.
- BusinessTime
Here's What's Open and Closed on President's Day 2019
Remember that day in February that isn't Valentine's and isn't Groundhog Day? Many places throughout the country will observe this President's Day by closing their doors so people can enjoy a 3-day weekend honoring our the birthday of nation's first President, George Washington. Here's what's open and closed on President's Day 2019.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The New Ford Focus ST Looks Awesome and Makes 276 Horsepower
Ford newest hot hatch, the Focus ST, has officially arrived-unfortunately only for the European market. Based on the new-generation Focus compact car, the new Focus ST has a turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine with 276 horsepower that mates with either a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic transmission. Enthusiasts will be bummed that Ford has no plans to bring any version of the new Focus to America, as the company has killed off all car nameplates in its U.S. lineup save for the Mustang.
- WorldBloomberg
Who Are the Seven U.K. Lawmakers in the Independent Group?
Seven members of Parliament have resigned from the U.K. Labour Party in protest at the party's position on Brexit and ongoing allegations of antisemitism within party ranks. Unveiling a new independent grouping at a London event on Monday, the seven had harsh words for Labour, its leader Jeremy Corbyn, and British politics in general. Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger said the party was “institutionally antisemitic,” while her colleague Chuka Umunna described Brexit as a “national catastrophe” and said “we want no part in facilitating the disaster.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Jihadi bride Shamima Begum gives birth and says 'people should have sympathy for me'
Shamima Begum, 19, went to Syria in 2015 and was discovered there in a refugee camp last week, heavily pregnant and insisting she wanted to go home. The birth of her child over the weekend prompted calls for the baby to be subject to care proceedings should Begum be able to return from Syria, as it emerged that the Family Division of the High Court had presided over cases involving at least 150 children deemed at risk of radicalisation in the last five years. In an interview with Sky News recorded at the Kurdish-controlled camp to which she fled from the last pocket of Isil-controlled territory, Begum said there was “no evidence” she had done anything wrong and she could not see “any reason”...
- HealthUSA TODAY
How many push-ups can you do? Study finds men who can do 40 have lower risk of heart disease
Those who could do more than 40 push-ups during a timed test at a preliminary examination were 96 percent less likely to have developed a cardiovascular problem compared to those who could do no more than 10 push-ups, according to the report published Friday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. Nearly half of U.S. adults deal with some form of cardiovascular disease as of 2016, according to the American Heart Association.The study's authors believe push-ups may be an easy way to test men's risk for heart disease.
WorldReutersMacau police investigate suspected murder at Sands casino resort: media
Police in the world's biggest gambling hub of Macau are investigating what they suspect is a rare murder in a five-star casino resort after a Chinese man was found stabbed in his bed, broadcaster TDM reported on Monday. Murder cases have been rare in the Chinese territory since Portugal ceded control of what had been a colonial backwater on the heel of China's southern coast 20 years ago. The suspected murder took place in Sands China's Conrad Macau hotel, TDM reported, citing police.
WorldAFPIran arrests 3 'terrorists' over suicide bomb attack
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said Monday it has arrested three "terrorists" involved in last week's deadly suicide bomb attack on security forces in a region bordering Pakistan. "Safe houses in (the cities of) Saravan and Khash were identified and eliminated, and the terrorists based in them were arrested," the force said on its official Sepah news agency. "Three of the terrorists were arrested and 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of explosives and 600 kilograms of explosive materials as well as weapons and ammunition were confiscated," it said.
WorldAssociated PressPolish PM cancels Israel visit amid new Holocaust tensions
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki canceled his plans to attend a meeting of central European leaders in Israel starting Monday amid new tensions over how Polish behavior during the Holocaust is remembered and characterized. Morawiecki informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's of his decision by phone Sunday, Michal Dworczyk, who heads the prime minister's chancellery, said. Poland's foreign minister, Jacek Czaputowicz, plans to attend instead, he said.
- NewsThe Independent
Man awarded £120m in compensation from Ford after being paralysed in car accident
An Alabama jury has awarded $151.8m (£117.4m) to a young man paralyzed in a 2015 rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, Ford and lawyers in the case said on Sunday. The jury awarded $100m in punitive damages and the rest in compensatory damages after finding that the 1998 Ford Explorer did not meet the company's own safety guidelines, according to a court document seen by Reuters and lawyers for plaintiff Travaris “Tre” Smith. The document, released on Friday, said Ford “acted wantonly” in designing the vehicle.
- BusinessTime
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Celebrated Amazon Pulling Out of New York––But the Governor Says It Cost the City 25,000 Jobs
The dispute between the two Democrats lays bare a divide over the plan to offer $2.8 billion in tax breaks for Amazon to establish a major presence in New York City. On one side, old hands like Cuomo; on the other, the newly insurgent, left-leaning wing represented by Ocasio-Cortez. Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation and the power of the richest man in the world,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter.
BusinessAFP Relax NewsGMC Acadia souped up with new engine, trim, and tech
GMC has unveiled the refreshed Acadia for the 2020 model year complete with a new trim, a fresh look, and the latest GMC infotainment system. GMC announced on Monday that the Acadia has gotten its midcycle refresh, and now, the lineup looks more like a group of Sierra pickups from the front than mid-size SUVs. In addition to its new exterior styling, the Acadia has a new powertrain option and an assortment of new technologies including an enhanced infotainment system and heads-up display.
- WorldBloomberg
Trump Demands End to Maduro Regime in Broad Attack on Socialism
Donald Trump called on the Venezuelan military to drop its support for Nicolas Maduro in a Miami speech critical of socialists worldwide, previewing attacks he may deploy against Democrats in his re-election campaign. The Venezuelan people have spoken and the world has heard their beautiful voice. They are turning the page on socialism, turning the page on dictatorship, and there will be no going back,” Trump said at Florida International University in the heart of Miami's immigrant community.
- EntertainmentWTVD – Raleigh/Durham
Husband accidentally runs over and kills wife on Valentine's Day in Pennsylvania
A husband is reeling from a tragic incident after police say he accidentally ran over his wife.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Southwest Airlines under FAA investigation for aircraft weight, balance calculations
The investigation, disclosed for the first time Monday by the Wall Street Journal, began in February 2018, FAA spokesman Gregory Martin confirmed to USA TODAY. There have been no fines nor enforcement action from the investigation to date. "Since that time, the FAA has directed the development of a comprehensive solution to the methods and processes used by Southwest Airlines to determine this (weight and balance) performance data,'' he said in a statement.
NewsAFPInvestigation into alleged attack on US actor has 'shifted': police
An investigation into an alleged attack on an openly gay black actor has "shifted" and police are now seeking a follow-up interview with the "Empire" cast member, a spokesman said Sunday. Jussie Smollett, 36, reported to police on January 29 that two men beat him, yelled racial and homophobic slurs, poured bleach on him and tied a rope around his neck while he walked downtown in the third-largest American city. "The information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation," Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
WorldReutersIS 'caliphate' on brink of defeat in Syria as Trump urges Europe to do more
Jiya Furat said the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had cornered the remaining militants in a neighborhood of Baghouz village near the Iraqi border, under fire from all sides. "In the coming few days, in a very short time, we will spread the good tidings to the world of the military end of Daesh," he said, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Trump on Saturday said the caliphate was "ready to fall and that the United States was asking European allies to take back more than 800 Islamic State fighters captured in Syria and put them on trial.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Nine killed as Indian security forces battle Kashmir militants after suicide bombing
Nine people including five troops died in a fire fight in India's disputed Kashmir region on Monday, days after a suicide bomber killed 42 paramilitary force members in the insurgency-ridden state. As the forces launched search operations in the village, they came under heavy gunfire from militants hiding in a house. An Indian Army major, three other soldiers, a policeman, three suspected militants and a civilian were killed in the shootout. Police said the two militants killed in the attack were involved in last Thursday's bombing of the paramilitary convoy in nearby Awantipora, the deadliest single attack on the Indian security forces in nearly 30 years in Kashmir.
TechnologyAssociated PressPotential privacy lapse found in Americans' 2010 census data
An internal team at the Census Bureau found that basic personal information collected from more than 100 million Americans during the 2010 head count could be reconstructed from obscured data, but with lots of mistakes, a top agency official disclosed Saturday. The Census Bureau is now scrapping its old data shielding technique for a state-of-the-art method that Abowd claimed is far better than Google's or Apple's. Some former agency chiefs fear the potential privacy problem will add to the worries that people will avoid answering or lie on the once-every-10-year survey because of the Trump administration's attempt to add a much-debated citizenship question.
- TechnologyThe National Interest
This Is the Airpower Theorist the Air Force Needs (And Already Has)
If one's main text on airpower is Douhet's Command of the Air, as it appears to be at the Naval War College, then it is no wonder that one feels the need to call for a Corbett of airpower. James Holmes recently argued that airpower needs a theorist with the heft of Clausewitz. This, he insists, would help us to steer clear of tiresome, never-ending debates about whether the Air Force needs to invest more in A-10s, F-35s, or light-attack aircraft.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
No more A380s? Why Airbus' bet on 'superjumbo' jets failed
It marked a bold and ambitious project for Airbus, which bet airlines would want a giant plane that could fly more passengers into busy airports with no capacity for new flights. Around the same time, Boeing made a contrary bet. Instead of a double-decked behemoth, the U.S. jetmaker figured its airline customers would be better served by a smaller widebody jet with low operating costs that could instead make frequent flights between cities.
PoliticsAssociated PressWhite House indicates Trump to veto disapproval of emergency
President Donald Trump is prepared to issue the first veto of his term if Congress votes to disapprove his declaration of a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border, a top White House adviser said on Sunday. White House senior adviser Stephen Miller told "Fox News Sunday" that "the president is going to protect his national emergency declaration." Asked if that meant Trump was ready to veto a resolution of disapproval, Miller added, "He's going to protect his national emergency declaration, guaranteed."
BusinessBloombergGlobal Slowdown Leaves Growth Weakest Since Financial Crisis
The global economy's loss of momentum has left expansion now looking like its weakest since the global financial crisis, a development that's already sparked a dramatic shift among central banks. A UBS model suggests world growth slowed to a 2.1 percent annualized pace at the end of 2018, which it says would be the weakest since 2008-2009. An early reading for this quarter shows a slight improvement, but the numbers still mean there'll need to be a dramatic improvement to reach the 3.2 percent pace UBS has forecast for the three months as a whole.
