| After Florida, is the tide finally turning on gun control? Posted: 15 Feb 2018 07:38 PM PST  From Governor Rick Scott's suggestion that guns should be kept from the mentally ill to a Florida vigil where chants of "no more guns" erupted, there are signs America may be ready for action.
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| Trump Visits Shooting Victims, Local Police En Route To Mar-a-Lago For Long Weekend Posted: 16 Feb 2018 05:22 PM PST  President Donald Trump said he called on victims of Wednesday's high school shooting in Florida, which left 17 dead, on a hospital visit Friday evening.
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| Money trail key to tracking Russian troll operation Posted: 16 Feb 2018 01:01 PM PST  Clint Watts, former FBI special agent, talks with Rachel Maddow about his early description of the Russian campaign to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election that has now been borne out by Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russians.
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| American Airlines agent saves 2 teenage girls from human trafficking scheme Posted: 16 Feb 2018 07:35 AM PST  Law enforcement officials say that a quick-thinking airline employee, aptly named Denice Miracle, likely saved two teenage girls from a human trafficking plot.
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| Shepard Smith Is Fed Up After Florida Shooting: 'Forget Your Political Arguments' Posted: 15 Feb 2018 05:42 PM PST  Shepard Smith showed his frustration Thursday on Fox News when he discussed the mass shooting at a Florida high school on Wednesday that left 17 students and adults dead.
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| Read Mueller's full indictment against 13 Russians charged with election meddling Posted: 16 Feb 2018 11:10 AM PST  The U.S. Department of Justice announced charges on Friday against 13 Russians and three Russian entities for allegedly carrying out an elaborate plot to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
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| Bulletproof backpacks for children reflect a new reality in America Posted: 16 Feb 2018 11:20 AM PST  In the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were murdered, parents are taking additional measures to keep their children safe. One of these safety measures, which reflect a new reality in America, are bulletproof backpacks created for children, which can hold school supplies as well as stop a bullet. According to Sarah Pampillonia, a mum and fifth-grade teacher, who spoke to The Cut, she considered buying one for her four-year-old after seeing a Facebook ad for the backpacks.
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| Coach Feis was 'like a father,' former student says Posted: 16 Feb 2018 04:10 AM PST  Kaden Culpepper, who graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2012, remembers Coach Aaron Feis as a man who went above and beyond for his students and treated them 'like his sons.'
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| Lawmakers Will Work To Demolish Site Of Horrific Florida Shooting Posted: 16 Feb 2018 03:36 PM PST  Florida lawmakers are hoping the students and teachers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will never again have to set foot in the building where a gunman killed 17 of their own.
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| New Manafort fraud allegation could be product of flipped witness Posted: 16 Feb 2018 11:58 AM PST  Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about the possibility of new allegations of bank fraud against Paul Manafort could be a sign of cooperation by Rick Gates or Robert Mueller.
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| Needed in Syria: Disengagement Posted: 17 Feb 2018 09:40 AM PST ![Needed in Syria: Disengagement]( "Needed in Syria: Disengagement") One is the outbreak of another war between Israel and its neighbors. A reminder of this danger has come from events that began when Israel said it shot down an Iranian drone that had entered its airspace. Israeli F-16s then attacked a command center in Syria, during which Syrian air defenses downed one of the Israeli warplanes (a rare event for Israel). Israel subsequently launched a much more widespread set of aerial attacks within Syria. The Israelis have conducted scores of attacks in Syria over the last five years, but this most recent assault may have been the largest Israeli attack there since the 1980s. A new war involving Israel would surely also involve Lebanese Hezbollah. There is no indication that Hezbollah seeks such a war. The group has incurred significant costs by participating in fighting within Syria and has many wounds to lick. Its leaders still have regrets about the brinksmanship that last got Hezbollah entangled in a war with Israel. Even though it could get in some hits with cross-border rocket fire, the group's leaders know that in a new clash it would get badly bloodied by its militarily more capable foe.
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| The Flu Shot Doesn’t Live Up To Expectations — And That Keeps Many People Away Posted: 16 Feb 2018 11:30 AM PST  More people are dying of the flu than medical professionals would expect at this time of the year.
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| After Florida shooting, students spurred to act against guns Posted: 17 Feb 2018 09:39 AM PST  When the gunshots rang out at her Florida high school, Lorena Sanabria hid in a classroom with friends, forced to listen to the blood-curdling screams of victims as they waited for help and prayed they wouldn't be next. Now Lorena, 16, is among a new wave of survivors determined to add their uniquely powerful voices to the cause of gun control, which has failed to make headway despite the alarming frequency of such attacks in the United States. Seventeen perished and more than a dozen were wounded in the hail of bullets at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the latest mass shooting to devastate a small US community and renew calls for gun control.
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| Florida shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz willing to plead guilty to avoid death penalty, attorney Howard Finkelstein says Posted: 17 Feb 2018 12:33 PM PST  The suspect in a Florida school shooting may plead guilty in an effort to avoid the death penalty and allow a traumatised community to avert a protracted trial and move on, his attorney said. "This is an opportunity to put the criminal case behind and help the victims' families begin to try and pick up pieces of their lives for our community to heal and to figure out how we stop these things from ever happening again," Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein told CNN. Accused shooter Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after a massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
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| Zimbabwe arrest over Grace Mugabe's 'fake' PhD Posted: 16 Feb 2018 11:25 AM PST  Zimbabwean anti-corruption investigators said Friday they had arrested a university professor over the suspected fraudulent awarding of a doctorate to former first lady Grace Mugabe. Levi Nyagura, the vice chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission following an investigation into the PhD. It emerged that Grace was awarded the degree by the university in 2014 after just months of study.
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| The Latest: Hundreds at vigil mourn school shooting victims Posted: 15 Feb 2018 08:13 PM PST  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly school shooting at a Florida high school (all times local):
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| Thirteen Russians charged with US election meddling as shocking detail of allegations is laid bare Posted: 16 Feb 2018 07:10 PM PST  The full scale of alleged Russian election meddling has been revealed as 13 people were charged and their alleged crimes recounted in remarkable detail. The Russians worked for the Internet Research Agency, a pro-Kremlin troll factory in St Petersburg, and were accused of using social media to undermine the 2016 American election. A 37-page indictment produced by the team of Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation, gives the fullest ever account of alleged Russian interference. It describes how Russian agents created hundreds of social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to influence the election. Some accounts were created through US internet servers and made to look like they were run by American political activists rather than Russians, according to US prosecutors. Inside Russia's 'troll factory': The agency accused of interfering in the US election Posts were allegedly used to systematically undermine Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, and support Donald Trump, then the Republican candidate, as well as Bernie Sanders, Mrs Clinton's Democratic rival. So effective were the accounts that some Americans were taken in and convinced to hold up anti-Clinton signs at rallies by the Russians, it is claimed. Robert Mueller is heading the investigation Credit: AP The Russians were also able to stage pro-Trump rallies by promoting them on social media, offering to pay attendees and buying adverts, according to US prosecutors. Rod Rosenstein, the US deputy attorney general, said that there was no suggestion the Americans targeted by the Russians knew who they were. Mr Rosenstein also said the activity did not sway the outcome of the election, which saw Mr Trump narrowly beat Ms Clinton. However he said that Russians had attempted to sow "discord" before the vote and warned that people "are not who they always appear to be on the internet". Mr Trump offered his response on Twitter. Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2018 The Internet Research Agency, which has changed its title and address several times, is the name most often used to refer to the pro-Kremlin troll factory in St Petersburg. The indictment against the 13 Russians and three Russian entities reveals the full scale of the alleged election meddling by the agency. The agency had 80 employees targeting America and a monthly budget of $1.25 million just before the vote, according to US prosecutors. Russians allegedly used false names and stole real American social security numbers to interfere, creating fake identification cards. Read more | Russia investigation Involvement in US politics started as early as 2014, according to US prosecutors, but came to a head as the November 2016 election approached. Russians controlling social media account were allegedly told to create "political intensity through supporting radical groups, users dissatisfied with [the] social and economic situation and oppositional social movements". US prosecutors said the accounts posted messages including the hashtags #Trump2016 #TrumpTrain #MAGA #IWontProtectHillary and #Hillary4Prison. They also claims Russians organised rallies such as "March for Trump" in June 25 2016, "Down With Hillary" in July 23 2016 and "Florida Goes Trump" in August 20 2016. Some of these allegedly involved offering to pay Americans to attend, paying advertising and liaising with unwitting Trump campaign local staff. Rod Rosenstein announces that grand jury has charged 13 Russian nationals Credit: AP One Russia-controlled Twitter account pretending to be for Tennessee Republicans - @TEN_GOP - got more than 100,000 followers. Some Russian trolls allegedly "began to encourage US minority groups not to vote … or to vote for a third-party" before the election. US prosecutors said the Russians "engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump." Some Russian trolls were allegedly told off when they did not post enough information criticising Ms Clinton in the run-up to the election. At one point an American was successfully convinced to hold up a poster at a rally of Clinton saying "I think Sharia Law will be a powerful new direction of freedom", the indictment said. Besides the Internet Research Agency, the federal grand jury also indicted its believed patron Yevgeny Prigozhin, a catering magnate close to the Russian president who is known as "Putin's chef" and has catered the president's birthday parties. Meet 'Putin's chef' He was sanctioned in 2016 by the US over Russia's election interference. Leaked emails in 2014 revealed that Mr Prigozhin's Concord catering company, which is also listed in the indictment, had approved payments to the Internet Research Agency. A representative of Mr Prigozhin said last year that that his companies "were in no way connected to activities directed at interfering in the American election". Many of the other names in the indictment are believed to be high-ranking employees of the troll factory. Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman, responded: "There were 13 of them, according to the US Department of Justice. Thirteen people interfered with the US elections? "Thirteen against the billion-dollar budgets of the security services? Against espionage and counter-espionage, against new developments and technologies? Absurd? Yes." A Facebook ad linked to a Russian effort to disrupt the American political process Credit: AP Mr Prigozhin reportedly denied election tampering. "The Americans are very impressionable people, they see what they want to see," he was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Ria Novosti on Friday. "I have great respect for them. I'm not at all upset that I'm on this list. If they want to see the devil, let them see him." In a statement released by the White House, Mr Trump said: "It is more important than ever before to come together as Americans. We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion, discord, and rancor to be successful. "It's time we stop the outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories, which only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions. We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections." Separately it was announced that an American, Richard Pinedo, 28, has pleaded guilty to identify fraud. He admitted to selling bank account numbers. The announcement was made by Mr Mueller's team.
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| How woman convicted in fiance's kayak death looks to rebuild her life: Part 6 Posted: 16 Feb 2018 04:04 PM PST  In her first interview since release, Graswald talks about the kayak incident and her future.
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| Trump again emphasizes 'mental health' over gun control after Florida shooting Posted: 15 Feb 2018 11:24 PM PST  It has been observed that there are two Donald Trumps: Twitter Trump and Teleprompter Trump. Early on Thursday, Twitter Trump came dangerously close to blaming the victims of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
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| Florida shooting: Student says suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz spared his life Posted: 16 Feb 2018 11:49 AM PST  Fifteen-year-old Chris McKenna told a local paper that he came across suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz in the hallway just minutes before he allegedly started his rampage. "You'd better get out of here," Mr Cruz said, according to Chris. Chris froze for a minute, he told the Sun-Sentinel, and then ran.
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| Chloe Kim Is Proof There’s No Definable Way To Be Asian-American Posted: 16 Feb 2018 03:09 PM PST  A gold medalist and now everyone's golden girl to boot, Korean-American Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim has, all at once, become a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
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| Russian mercenaries, a discrete weapon in Syria Posted: 17 Feb 2018 02:39 AM PST  The death of Russian citizens in Syria from a US coalition strike last week, which has been played down by both Moscow and Washington, has exposed the role of Russian mercenaries in the multi-front conflict. The incident followed a steady trickle of reports about Russians dying in battle in Syria while employed as guns for hire in a privately-owned outfit whose role may be securing oilfields for President Bashar al-Assad. Russia on Thursday has finally recognised that five Russian citizens, not officially affiliated with the Russian military, were likely killed in the strikes in eastern Syria, in the first admission of non-military combat casualties.
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| Alleged Florida Shooter Nikolas Cruz Willing to Plead Guilty to Avoid Death Penalty: Report Posted: 17 Feb 2018 11:38 AM PST  Prosecutors said they haven't made a decision on the matter.
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| Anchor Invites Her 4-Year-Old 'Mini Me' On Show To Celebrate Natural Hair Posted: 16 Feb 2018 04:07 PM PST  North Texas traffic anchor Demetria Obilor gets up in the early hours of the morning to deliver a traffic report for WFAA-TV, rocking her gorgeous natural hair all the while.
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| Top German diplomat: 'We no longer recognize our America' Posted: 17 Feb 2018 06:55 AM PST  MUNICH (AP) — Germany's foreign minister slammed the "America first" approach of President Donald Trump's administration Saturday, saying that close U.S. ties with a strong European Union are as much in Washington's interest as they are in Europe's.
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| Lindsey Jacobellis Suffers Winter Olympics Heartbreak -- Again Posted: 16 Feb 2018 05:23 AM PST  Team USA snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis on Friday just barely missed the chance to take a place at the podium during her fourth Winter Olympics.
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| NRA contributions: how much money is spent on lawmakers? Posted: 16 Feb 2018 07:16 AM PST  A protester holds a sign that reads, 'NRA Stop Killing Our Kids', outside the court-room where Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was having a bond hearing. In the minutes and hours after a teenage gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, politicians began what has become something of a grim ritual following mass shootings: they offered "thoughts and prayers" to the victims and their families.
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| ‘Lost’ ancient Mexican city had as many buildings as Manhattan, laser map shows Posted: 16 Feb 2018 02:00 PM PST  A "lost" Mexican city built by rivals to the Aztecs has as many buildings as Manhattan and was home to around 100,000 people, according to new research. The sprawling urban centre of Angamuco which was part of the Purépecha empire that peaked in the 16th century was detected by an aerial laser mapping technique called the Lidar system. An aircraft beamed out laser pulses and experts later examined the signals that bounced back from the ground, which helped them pull together a 3D map of the city near modern day Morelia in the state of Michoacan in western Mexico.
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| S. Korea's Moon says 'too early' for Pyongyang summit Posted: 17 Feb 2018 02:14 AM PST  South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Saturday said it was too early to think about a summit with North Korea despite the Olympic-driven rapprochement with its nuclear-armed neighbour. Moon last week received an invitation from the North's leader Kim Jong Un for a summit in Pyongyang. The invitation was extended by his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, who visited as part of a high-level delegation to attend the Winter Games in the South.
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| Pakistan child killer handed four death sentences Posted: 17 Feb 2018 05:33 AM PST  A Pakistani court Saturday handed four death sentences to a man charged with raping and murdering a six-year-old girl, in a case that shocked the country and sparked major riots in his home district. Imran Ali, 24, was on trial for killing Zainab Fatima Ameen in the eastern city of Kasur last month. Ali was handed four separate death sentences after being convicted of the rape and murder of Zainab, as well as terrorism charges, prosecutor general of Punjab province Ihtesham Qadir said after a special anti-terrorism court passed its judgement.
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| EPA Says Scott Pruitt Flies First Class Because Angry People Yell At Him Too Much Posted: 15 Feb 2018 08:55 PM PST  Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt frequently flies in first and business class because he's regularly confronted by angry members of the public during his travels, according to a report in Politico on Thursday.
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| Puerto Rico to reduce power generation amid cash shortfall Posted: 16 Feb 2018 03:22 PM PST  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's electricity utility said Friday it will dial down the power generation starting this weekend as a federal control board urgently seeks a $300 million loan for the troubled utility after a judge rejected a previous $1 billion loan request.
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| Florida shooting: Mother makes impassioned plea for 'action' from Donald Trump as funerals for victims begin - as it happened Posted: 16 Feb 2018 05:53 AM PST  New details are emerging about Nikolas Cruz, 19, the teenager suspected of carrying out America's latest deadly mass shooting as the country once more finds itself reeling in horror from another eruption of gun violence.
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| People Went All Out For The 'Black Panther' Premiere And It Was Glorious Posted: 16 Feb 2018 11:25 AM PST  To say the opening of "Black Panther" was an event is an understatement.
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| Exposed: Why China Would Lose a War against America Posted: 16 Feb 2018 07:07 AM PST  When it comes to a war with the U.S. how well would Beijing be able to use all that stuff? The real question seems pretty simple: yes, China is certainly developing all the military and technology goodies to field a potent force. Sure, Beijing is certainly developing a world-class military, but can its soldiers operate all that equipment competently?
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| GOP Votes To Roll Back The Americans With Disabilities Act Posted: 16 Feb 2018 12:53 PM PST  Disability advocates, some in wheelchairs, were dragged from the Capitol Building after a bill that would roll back the ADA was passed in the House.
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| Mike Pence's Beliefs Are Clear: Same-Sex Marriage Leads To 'Societal Collapse' Posted: 16 Feb 2018 12:09 PM PST  A debate has again ensued in recent days over whether or not Vice President Mike Pence supports conversion therapy ― something that's come up time and again in the past.
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| French serial killer 'admits' cold case murder of British girl Posted: 16 Feb 2018 01:18 PM PST  Serial killer Michel Fourniret has finally "confessed" to murdering British language student Joanna Parrish in France nearly three decades ago, the family lawyer told AFP on Friday. "It's a new development, a resolution of the affair, it seems, in a remarkable way," he added.
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| Israel slams Polish PM for WWII 'Jewish perpetrators' remark Posted: 17 Feb 2018 01:45 PM PST  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli politicians accused Poland's prime minister of anti-Semitism Saturday for equating the Polish perpetrators in the Holocaust to its supposed "Jewish perpetrators," setting off a new chapter in an angry dispute over Poland's new bill criminalizing the mention of Polish complicity in the Nazi-led genocide.
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