- U.S.Olivier KnoxDefying critics, Obama nominates Cuba ambassador
Secretary of State John Kerry, right, is greeted on the tarmac by Jeffrey DeLaurentis at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Aug. 14, 2015. Facing down congressional opponents of his historic outreach to Cuba, President Obama announced Tuesday that he has chosen highly respected career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Havana in 55 years. DeLaurentis is currently the top official at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba.
- PoliticsLiz GoodwinClinton: Trump ‘bragged’ about not paying taxes
“He actually bragged about gaming the system to get out of paying his fair share of taxes,” Clinton told the crowd of roughly 1,500 at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh. “I think there’s a strong possibility he hasn’t paid federal taxes a lot of years, and this is a man who goes around calling our military a disaster, who goes around criticizing every institution from health care to education, our vets,” Clinton said. During the debate, Clinton brought up that the last tax returns Trump turned over to the public — from the 1970s — show that he paid nothing in federal income tax for several years.
- U.S.Inside EditionTeacher Invited 2 Students to Her Home for Sex: Cops
A substitute teacher was arrested last week after police say she had sexual encounters with students she invited to her Georgia home. While Cherokee County Sheriff's Office officials said the students were at the age of consent for the state, it was 38-year-old Laura Rich's position of authority that makes her alleged deeds a crime. Rich is accused of starting a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old shortly after she began substitute teaching in early 2015, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jay Baker said.
- BusinessThe DriveHere's Our First Look at Mercedes-Benz's Futuristic Electric Concept Car
Automakers across the board are filling more and more of their lineups with utopian people-movers for the 21st Century, and Mercedes-Benz is no exception. To tease its new electric concept car before its full reveal at the Paris Motor Show this week, Mercedes-Benz released a short clip of the vehicle showing off a few details and hinting at other clues on the new car. Previously, The Drive reported on how Daimler, Mercedes-Benz's parent company, has been looking to start up its own electric car sub-brand to rival Tesla.
- LifestyleYahoo News PhotoWildfire in California's Santa Cruz Mountains
Firefighters worked to control a wildfire on Tuesday in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco Bay area that has forced hundreds of residents to evacuate, despite its relatively small size, officials said. The so-called Loma Fire broke out on Monday afternoon and has scorched more than 1,000 acres (405 hectares) about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the town of Morgan Hill, fire officials said. Firefighters have built containment lines around 5 percent of the blaze.
- U.S.Christian Science MonitorWhy did an Ohio cop drive a man 100 miles to his sister's funeral?
A man rushing to meet up with his family after the sudden death of his 15-year-old sister was shown some kindness from an Ohio state police officer who sympathized with him, offering to escort him on the 100-mile journey back home. “Everybody knows how much I dislike Cops but I am truly Greatful for this Guy,” Mark Ross wrote in a Facebook post Sunday. In a time when tensions between white police officers and the black community run high, the heartwarming story was a breath of fresh air for many, quickly becoming a viral Facebook post that was shared nearly 100,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon.
WorldAFPMH17 probe 'biased', Moscow 'disappointed': foreign ministryMoscow on Wednesday described as "biased" and "politically motivated" the Dutch-led inquiry into the downing of Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, which concluded the plane was shot down by a missile transported from Russia. "Russia is disappointed that the situation around the investigation of the Boeing catastrophe is not changing," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. "The conclusions of Dutch prosecutors confirm that the investigation is biased and politically motivated," she said.
U.S.Reuters'Bridgegate' witness says Governor Christie knew of lane closuresBy Joseph Ax NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was aware of a politically motivated scheme to close lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 as it was unfolding, a key prosecution witness testified on Tuesday at the criminal trial of two former Christie associates. David Wildstein, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who masterminded the plot, told jurors in Newark federal court that he and Bill Baroni, another Port Authority executive, discussed the lane closure with Christie before a memorial service marking the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center. The testimony marked the first specific evidence federal prosecutors have presented to back their contention that the Republican governor knew at the time about the scandal known as "Bridgegate," despite his repeated denials.
- WorldForeign Policy MagazineSitRep: Russia Implicated in Airline Shoot Down; U.S. Strike in Afghanistan Under Investigation
Russia shot down airliner. A Dutch-led investigation to be released Wednesday has concluded that a Russian surface-to-air missile system shot down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine two years ago, killing all 298 on board.
- EntertainmentABC News VideosFirst Look at Starliner Capsule
Astronaut Bob Behnken gives us a first look at the Starliner capsule. Lima Bob bank and I am an astronaut at the Johnson Space Center and one of four astronauts identified as the commercial crew cadre. Doug Hurley Eric both Sonny Williams and myself Bob Franken are all assigned to work with those basics and mowing the develop the next vehicles that we'll take astronauts of the International Space Station.
- PoliticsThe DriveTrump's Claim That Ford Is Shedding Thousands of Jobs Is News to Ford
It came off as one of Donald Trump’s strongest moments in this Super Bowl of presidential debates: chiding Hilary Clinton for favoring trade agreements that Trump blamed for an exodus of jobs to Mexico, including auto jobs in Detroit. “So Ford is leaving.
U.S.Associated PressThe Latest: Friend: Starbucks victim was naturalized citizenThe man killed in a shooting at a Starbucks coffee shop in Las Vegas was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Tblisi, Georgia, where he served in the military and learned not to back away from conflict. The defendant in the slaying case, 34-year-old Pedro Jose Garcia, made an initial court appearance Wednesday on murder and other charges in the Sunday slaying.
WorldAFPIsrael mourns after death of founding father PeresIsrael and global leaders mourned the death of ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres on Wednesday as the country prepared for a funeral expected to be attended by major world figures. Peres, who was 93, held nearly every major office in the country, serving twice as prime minister and also as president, a mostly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014. Peres died Wednesday around 3:00 am (0000 GMT), Rafi Walden, who was Peres's personal doctor and also his son-in-law, told AFP.
U.S.ReutersIowa city flood prevention system holds back Cedar RiverPublic Works Director Jen Winter said that the Cedar River, which winds its way through the city, had crested at just over 22 feet (7 m) on Tuesday morning and was receding. Mayor Ron Corbett said that he felt confident the worst of the flood danger had passed with minimal impact, though he cautioned there was still some risk until the river reached its normal level again, which is expected later this week. "Tomorrow we'll wake up on the winning side," Corbett told residents and members of the media on Tuesday.
- WorldChristian Science MonitorDoes the US owe blacks reparations? Yes, says UN panel
Can reparations reconcile some of the damage done by centuries of slavery, segregation, and discrimination? The topic has always highlighted deep divides, and a recent United Nations report that called the slave trade a crime against humanity and urged the US to pay reparations has reignited the issue. “Past injustices and crimes against African Americans need to be addressed with reparatory justice,” the report said.
WorldAFPTough anti-corruption law takes effect in S. KoreaA tough new anti-graft law came into force in South Korea Wednesday with many hailing it as a milestone to help root out widespread low-level corruption. Dubbed the Kim Young-Ran law after the former supreme court judge who drafted it, the sweeping legislation covers some four million public servants and employees of education institutions in the country of 50 million. The law targets teachers bribed by parents to give better grades, journalists paid to give favourable publicity and officials bought off by businessmen to speed up bureaucratic processes.
HealthAlice BirdThe world’s first three-parent baby has been bornThe five-month-old boy has the DNA from both his mum and dad as well as a third bit of genetic code from an outside donor. In the breakthrough method, U.S. doctors broke conventional techniques in order to ensure the baby would be free from a genetic condition passed on from his Jordanian mother.
- WorldReutersKremlin: Rebel rocket did not down MH17 airliner over Ukraine
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that radar data showed that Malaysian airliner MH17 was definitely not brought down by a rocket fired from territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters that data obtained by the Russian military had already made it clear that the rocket had not been fired from rebel territory, but from elsewhere. "The data are clear-cut...there is no rocket.
- BusinessThe DriveDJI's New Mavic Pro Drone Is Compact, Capable, and Can Fly Itself
With up to 27 minutes of flight time on a single charge, pilots can use the Mavic Pro's three-axis gimbal to take photos and record video from a stable aerial platform—making it ideal for aerial selfies or live-streaming video.
- BusinessThe DriveThe Bugatti Type 35 by Pur Sang Is the Only Real Replica
The problem with history’s greatest automobiles is that there simply aren’t many of them around. Some are one-off, coach-built wonders like the Mercedes SSK Count Trossi, combining sublime beauty with simple rarity, and leading to a priceless work of
PoliticsAssociated PressAP FACT CHECK: Trump, Clinton deny their own words in debateFor all of his occasional restraint, Donald Trump offered debate viewers a greatest-hits collection from his history of mangled facts, with some new ones thrown in. For all of her policy sobriety, Hillary Clinton was far from flawless. People who had somehow avoided the campaign until the opening presidential debate heard with fresh ears Trump's bogus claims that he opposed the Iraq war before it started and that he never branded climate change a made-in-China hoax.
WorldAFPMorocco signs deal for major Boeing hubMorocco signed an agreement with Boeing on Tuesday to build a new hub for the US aerospace giant that officials hope will create thousands of skilled jobs. King Mohammed VI oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding in the northern port city of Tangiers to establish an industrial zone where up to 120 Boeing suppliers and sub-contractors could operate. "This is a very important strategic project as we move into a new aeronautical era in Morocco," Industry Minister Moulay Hafi Elalamy told AFP.
- U.S.Yahoo News PhotoDeadly house explosion in the Bronx
A battalion chief who had been considered a rising star in the New York Fire Department was killed Tuesday when a row house exploded as he was supervising an evacuation following the report of a gas leak. Authorities are looking into whether the building
- U.S.ABC News VideosTour the Revolution Messaging Offices
ABC News' MaryAlice Parks gets an inside look at the offices of the company founded by former White House campaign staffers. You were at the first White House photographer. Right the idea that like a bunch of witty year olds aren't sitting around the conference you know concocting plans Melanie Ailes is ridiculous and a lot of the success of Bernie Sanders program comes from the back and when he was built.
U.S.ReutersFamilies of black victims killed by Ohio police want federal probesThe families of two black males fatally shot by Columbus, Ohio, police called on Tuesday for independent investigations by federal officials of the separate incidents. The police shootings of 13-year-old Tyre King on Sept. 14 and Henry Green, 23, on June 6 in Columbus, along with recent fatal police shootings in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, have added to the broad debate on race relations and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. "Enough is enough," a sobbing Adrienne Hood, Green's mother, said at a news conference in Columbus attended by family members and friends of both victims.
