| Clumsy Kamala Posted: 23 Feb 2019 01:30 AM PST  No Democrat running for president has had a better 2019 than Kamala Harris. The numbers tell the tale. The California senator was in the low single digits in polls conducted before her official launch on January 28. She is now in the low double digits, running third behind Joe Biden, who enjoys cosmic name recognition, and Bernie Sanders, whose devoted supporters brought him a second-place finish last time. But polls do not tell the whole story.Harris raised $1.5 million in the day after declaring her candidacy. That number, impressive for a senator not even a third of the way through her first term, has been bested only by Sanders, a socialist who has a venture capitalist's talent for raising money. He brought in $5.9 million in the first 24 hours of his campaign. Harris, however, has something Sanders does not.She is a fresh face of middle age (54 years) and of diverse background (her father is Jamaican, her mother Indian) whose chief rivals at the moment are two geriatric white men. As Democrats search for someone new to lead them against President Trump, Harris has distinguished herself from the field. Her CNN town hall drew record ratings, while Amy Klobuchar's flopped. And Harris leads the 2020 Democrats in social-media interactions, according to an Axios/Newswhip study. She's had a good launch. But there's a caveat.David Axelrod has described presidential campaigns as MRIs for the soul. He means that a candidate is subjected to pressures strong enough to reveal his or her true character. What voters get at the end of the process is a fuller picture of the men and women they choose to inhabit the White House. In these early weeks of what is certain to be a seemingly endless and certainly vitriolic campaign, Harris has demonstrated both strengths and weaknesses. Her strength is that she seems a perfect fit for the current shape of the Democratic party. Her weakness is a blithe and insouciant manner that is sure to cause her trouble. In fact it already has. Consider three recent slipups.The first took place during that CNN special. An audience member asked Senator Harris for her "solution to ensure that people have access to quality health care at an affordable price," and "does that solution involve cutting insurance companies as we know them out of the equation?" You bet it does, was Harris's answer. "We need to have Medicare-for-all. That's just the bottom line." Following up, Jake Tapper mentioned that Harris has co-sponsored a bill that would end employer-based insurance, which covers some 180 million Americans. "So," Tapper asked, "for people out there who like their insurance, they don't get to keep it?"Harris seemed not to understand the magnitude of the change she supports. She mentioned the "process of going through an insurance company," how "going through all of that paperwork" has caused delays and headaches for many. "Let's eliminate all of that," she said. "Let's move on."Actually, let's stay still for now, and ask the following questions. Harris promises to end the health coverage of millions without providing a satisfactory rationale for, or explanation of, her position. Does she really believe there won't be paperwork in government-run health care? Paperwork is government's specialty. And if the Obamacare mandate was unpopular, how will voters greet President Harris's mandate to "eliminate" the status quo that covers the vast majority? The substance of her answer was obvious catnip for Republicans always eager to "pounce," and the style was no less harmful. Harris did not give the impression that she took either the question or the implications of her answer all too seriously. This is something that happens often.Moment two: On January 29, after Jussie Smollett claimed he had been attacked in a hate crime by two white Trump fans in the middle of a wintry Chicago night, Harris tweeted her support for the actor. "This was an attempted modern day lynching," she said. "No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate." What Harris did not mention were the curious details of the story — details that the Chicago Police Department investigated and finally debunked. It turns out Smollett was attacked not by white supremacists but by two Nigerian immigrants whom he had put up to the job. The "modern day lynching" was a bogus, disgusting, and exploitative affront to the real victims of hatred. A prepared candidate would have expressed regret at her tweet and familiarity with the case. Harris was not prepared.During a visit to New Hampshire last weekend, a reporter asked Harris if she would like to revisit her words about Smollett. Harris clearly had no idea what the reporter was talking about. "Which tweet? What tweet?" she said. The reporter read the tweet back to Harris. Who stood there, agog, looking to her aides for help. And who finally answered, "I think that the facts are still unfolding, and, um, I'm very, um concerned about obviously, the initial, um, allegation that he made about what might have happened." Except it didn't happen. Nor is it clear if Harris actually wrote the tweet in support of Smollett. She might hold positions, including on health care, the details of which she is unaware. Which is a problem.Anecdote three is a family matter. On February 11, Harris appeared on the Breakfast Club podcast. One of the hosts wanted to know if she was against legalizing marijuana. "That's not true," she said. "Look, I joke about it, I have joked about it. Half my family is from Jamaica, are you kidding me?" She's smoked weed herself. "I have. And I inhaled. I did inhale. It was a long time ago, but yes. I just broke news." She went on to explain that she smoked a joint, not a blunt. And that marijuana "gives people joy." Her father felt no joy, however, at Harris's answer.In a statement released to the website Jamaica Global Online, Donald Harris, an economist, wrote: "My dear departed grandmothers (whose extraordinary legacy I described in a recent essay on this website), as well as my deceased parents, must be turning in their grave right now to their family's name, reputation, and proud Jamaican identity being connected, in any way, jokingly or not with the fraudulent stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker and in the pursuit of identity politics. Speaking for myself and my immediate Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from this controversy." Father's Day should be interesting.What trips up Kamala Harris is an evident desire to please her audience. She wants no enemies to her left, no identity politics left untouched. She can't run as a prosecutor — crime fighting is so 1990s — but she can run as brash, bold, and woke. Her verbal miscues are possible evidence that this latest political fashion doesn't quite fit. She has made a habit of making unforced errors, and the game is only in its first month. Harris's Democratic opponents may be too blinkered or bashful to exploit this weakness. That will not be a problem for her Republican opponent.This article was originally published in the Washington Free Beacon.
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| 'They shot at us,' say injured Venezuela protesters Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:33 AM PST  Ureña (Venezuela) (AFP) - Edinson Cisneros gasped and wheezed as he tried to talk -- he was one of the protesters struck by rubber buckshot fired by Venezuelan security forces breaking up border demos demanding the entry of emergency aid from Colombia. The main crossing points on the Colombian border became flashpoints for unrest Saturday as Venezuelan security struggled with twin tasks: keeping Venezuelans from leaving to get aid stockpiled in Colombia, and stopping people crossing the border with aid packages. Cisneros, 24, was in a large crowd that tried to reach the Francisco de Paula Santander border bridge, the crossing point that links Urena, Venezuela with Cucuta, Colombia.
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| Pope compares child sex abuse to human sacrifice as he promises to combat 'with the wrath of God' Posted: 24 Feb 2019 02:36 AM PST  Pope Francis wrapped up a landmark Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse on Sunday pledging to bring the "wrath of God" upon clergy who abuse children, and likening paedophilia to "human sacrifice". "We must deliver justice to whoever did this and never try to cover up any case," Pope Francis told the 190 cardinals, bishops and participants gathered for the unprecedented four-day Vatican summit on the clerical sexual abuse crisis that has dogged the Roman Catholic Church for decades. "The echo of the silent cry of the little ones, who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides, encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and power." Support groups for the victims of clerical sexual abuse, however, said Pope Francis had lost a unique, high-profile opportunity for momentous change, instead opting for empty promises and "meaningless" reflection points. His references to the devil and emphasis on the fact that the Church was not the only place children were abused particularly rankled. Describing predatory priests as "tools of Satan", the Pope said paedophilia was "a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies". "I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings - frequently children - in pagan rites," he said. "Honestly it's a pastoral 'blabla', saying it's the fault of the devil," Swiss victim Jean-Marie Furbringer said. The summit concluded with the celebration of a mass, during which Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Mark Coleridge urged the swift implementation of change. "A mission stretches before us - a mission demanding not just words but real concrete action," Archbishop Coleridge said. In his concluding remarks after mass, the 82-year-old Argentine pontiff called for a full-scale battle against the scourge of sexual abuse. This would include the development of guidelines, task forces and legislation within the church focused on eight key points: prevention, conduct, training, purification, protocols for informing authorities, fighting against sexual tourism and online abuse, accompaniment for the abused and, above all, protecting minors from predators in the Church. Vatican officials also confirmed he is considering changes to Canon Law to raise the current definition of minor from 14 to 18. He urged the "great majority of priests" who are not abusers and who feel dishonoured by the crimes of others to embrace an institutional change in mentality. Summit participants heard shocking revelations from the Church hierarchy about destruction of evidence, failure to report crimes and cover ups of the scandals in countries across the globe, including Chile, Germany, Ireland, Australia and the US. Victims' advocacy and survivor support groups said they were disappointed by the pontiff's failure to announce any concrete measures. More guidelines were by and large irrelevant, said Peter Saunders, a British victim who stepped down from a special commission on child protection out of frustration with the lack of progress and support. "The pope had a unique opportunity with the eyes of the world on him, to write into Canon Law that any priest or clergy who has been convicted or credibly accused must be removed from the priestly state forever. Likewise, any bishop, cardinal or church official who covers up from these crimes must be removed. Otherwise the church is still failing children across the world as we speak in a catastrophic way," Mr. Saunders told the Telegraph. Mr Saunders was among the dozens of abuse survivors who rallied outside the summit on Saturday, as inside others gave harrowing accounts of their abuse. One woman said she was forced to have three abortions after being sexually and physically tormented by a priest. Nigerian nun Veronica Openibo scolded the cardinals and bishops for inaction, asking the question echoing endlessly through the Vatican halls: "Why did we keep silent so long?"
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| UK PM May considers plan to delay Brexit by two months: The Telegraph Posted: 24 Feb 2019 02:22 PM PST  British Prime Minister Theresa May is considering a plan under which Britain's exit from the European Union would be delayed for up to two months, the Telegraph reported https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/24/exclusive-brexit-will-delayed-two-months-plans-considered-theresa on Sunday. UK government officials have drawn up a series of options, which were circulated at the weekend, in a bid to avoid resignations by ministers determined to support a backbench bid to take a "no deal" Brexit off the table this week, according to the Telegraph.
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| Suspected Bangladesh plane hijacker shot dead: army Posted: 24 Feb 2019 09:03 AM PST  Bangladesh commandos stormed a passenger jet in the country's southeast Sunday and shot dead an armed man who allegedly tried to hijack the Dubai-bound flight, an army official said. The suspect, described by officials as a Bangladeshi man in his mid 20s, was shot as special forces rushed the Boeing 737-800 plane after it landed safely in Chittagong. The 134 passengers and 14 crew aboard the Bangladesh Biman flight BG147 were all rescued unharmed, officials said.
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| U.S.-backed SDF hands over 280 Iraqi, foreign detainees to Iraq Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:34 PM PST ![U.S.-backed SDF hands over 280 Iraqi, foreign detainees to Iraq]( "U.S.-backed SDF hands over 280 Iraqi, foreign detainees to Iraq") An Iraqi military colonel confirmed to Reuters that 130 people were transferred on Sunday, adding to the 150 transferred on Thursday. There are meant to be more such handovers under an agreement to transfer a group of some 500 detainees held by the SDF in Syria, Iraqi military sources said. Among the 280 were as many as 14 French citizens and six Arabs of unspecific nationality, according to one military source close to the handover process who commands troops near the Syrian border.
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| Warren Buffett's Message to Washington: Bipartisanship Works Posted: 23 Feb 2019 06:39 AM PST  "Our country's almost unbelievable prosperity has been gained in a bipartisan manner," he wrote in his annual letter to shareholders as he traced the growth of U.S. economy over the last 230 years. The billionaire investor's annual letter, which ran 13 pages this year and quoted Abraham Lincoln and Christopher Wren, typically goes beyond Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s results to discuss investing principles and his and business partner Charlie Munger's thoughts on a wide range of topics. Buffett has taken a careful approach to the political conversation since the 2016 election.
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| 'Vaccines Cause Adults': Pediatric staff's response to anti-vaxxers after measles outbreak Posted: 24 Feb 2019 04:01 PM PST  Staff at a New York pediatric office sought to be "as loud" as anti-vaxxers and make headlines with the slogan "Vaccines Cause Adults." They did.
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| Storm dumps record-breaking snow in Arizona on way to Texas Posted: 22 Feb 2019 08:05 PM PST  FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A winter storm dumped record-breaking amounts of snow in Arizona and forced the closure Friday of roads, schools and government offices across the Southwest.
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| Pompeo confident Maduro's 'days are numbered' in Venezuela Posted: 24 Feb 2019 07:15 AM PST  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed confidence Sunday that embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's "days are numbered," amid a violent impasse over humanitarian aid. Pompeo's remarks came a day after a US-supported, opposition-led effort to bring humanitarian supplies into the country was repelled by Venezuelan border troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
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| Cargo jet with three on board crashes near Houston airport Posted: 23 Feb 2019 02:07 PM PST  A Boeing 767 cargo jetliner heading to Houston with three people aboard disintegrated after crashing Saturday into a bay east of the city, according to a Texas sheriff. Witnesses told emergency personnel that the twin-engine plane "went in nose first," leaving a debris field three-quarters of a mile long in Trinity Bay, Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said. "It's probably a crash that nobody would survive," he said, referring to the scene as "total devastation." Witnesses said they heard the plane's engines surging and that the craft turned sharply before falling into a nosedive, Hawthorne said. Aerial footage shows emergency personnel walking along a spit of marshland flecked by debris that extends into the water. The remnants of the jet The sheriff said recovering pieces of the plane, its black box containing flight data records and any remains of the people on board will be difficult in muddy marshland that extends to about 5 feet deep in the area. Air boats are needed to access the area. The plane had departed from Miami and was likely only minutes away from landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert after officials lost radar and radio contact with Atlas Air Flight 3591 when it was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of the airport, FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said. The Coast Guard dispatched boats and at least one helicopter to assist in the search for survivors. A dive team with the Texas Department of Public Safety will be tasked with finding the black box, Hawthorne said. Trinity Bay is just north of Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. FAA investigators are traveling to the scene as are authorities with the National Transportation Safety Board, which will lead the investigation.
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| Cardinal admits Church files on paedophile priests 'destroyed' Posted: 23 Feb 2019 10:56 AM PST  A top Catholic cardinal admitted Saturday that Church files on priests accused of sexually abusing children were destroyed or never even drawn up in a move which allowed paedophiles to prey on others. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx was speaking on the third day of an unprecedented summit of the world's top bishops convened by Pope Francis in a bid to tackle the crisis over paedophilia within the clergy. "Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created," Marx told the landmark Vatican summit on a problem that has dogged the Roman Catholic Church for decades.
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| More than 100 separatists detained in Kashmir in pre-election crackdown Posted: 23 Feb 2019 07:50 AM PST  On Saturday there were increasing signs that the military clampdown in Indian-controlled Kashmir and the government's threats against Pakistan were prompting panic buying of fuel, medicines and food. Mohammad Amin Rather, owner of A-Z grocery Store in the Rajagh area of Srinagar, said: "People are buying rice, edible oil, pulses, eggs and other essentials in bulk. "People in the valley, especially the cities and towns, are taking everything said or done as a sign that some big trouble is just around the corner," said Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir.
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| British Steel May Face $130 Million Hit From Brexit Carbon Hitch Posted: 24 Feb 2019 06:39 AM PST ![British Steel May Face $130 Million Hit From Brexit Carbon Hitch]( "British Steel May Face $130 Million Hit From Brexit Carbon Hitch") The costs relate to the private equity-owned steelmaker's carbon pollution bill for 2018, which is due by March 15, according to the people, who declined to be identified discussing a commercially sensitive matter. British Steel is the most prominent name on an official analysis detailing U.K. companies affected by a European Union decision to freeze the allocation of free carbon permits that can be used to comply with the rules. The steelmaker's financial headache highlights the difficulties that Brexit uncertainty is causing British industry.
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| Judge Dismisses Charges Against Water Park Owner Over Boy`s Death on Slide Posted: 22 Feb 2019 08:05 PM PST  On Friday a judge tossed out the case against Schlitterbahn`s co-owner and employees accused in the death of a 10-year-old boy on a water slide in 2016.
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| Trump and Kim Jong Un impersonators detained in Vietnam ahead of nuclear summit Posted: 23 Feb 2019 09:02 AM PST  Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un impersonators have said they were detained by the authorities in Vietnam ahead of next week's summit between the world leaders in the capital Hanoi. Kim lookalike Howard X claimed 15 officers had questioned him and Trump lookalike Russell White for almost three hours, warning them to drop their imitation act. The pair have been making public appearances in Hanoi over the past few days, talking to media and taking pictures with amused onlookers.
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| South Africa's Ramaphosa appoints graft tribunal Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:57 AM PST  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a tribunal to fast-track legal proceedings from graft investigations by the country's Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the presidency said on Sunday. The tribunal will adjudicate over any civil proceedings brought before it by the SIU, which investigates malpractice in state institutions, state assets and public money, the presidency said in a statement.
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| Turkish President Erdogan lashes out at Sisi over Egypt executions Posted: 23 Feb 2019 09:19 PM PST  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticised his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after the recent execution of nine people in Egypt, saying he refused to talk to "someone like him". This is not something we can accept," Erdogan said Saturday in an interview with Turkish TV channels CNN-Turk and Kanal D, referring to the execution Wednesday of nine men sentenced for the murder of the Egyptian prosecutor general in 2015. There is an authoritarian system, even totalitarian," Erdogan added.
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| How did police catch 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett? Lots and lots of cameras Posted: 23 Feb 2019 08:44 PM PST  Dozens of security cameras played a key role in helping police unravel "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett's alleged hoax attack, authorities say.
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| Iran launches cruise missile from submarine during drill Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:01 AM PST ![Iran launches cruise missile from submarine during drill]( "Iran launches cruise missile from submarine during drill") TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran launched a cruise missile from a submarine for the first time during an ongoing annual military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, local media reported Sunday.
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| The Latest: Vatican City to get a child protection policy Posted: 24 Feb 2019 05:00 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Latest on Pope Francis' summit at the Vatican on preventing clergy sex abuse (all times local):
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| Harry and Meghan meet Moroccan girls during official tour Posted: 24 Feb 2019 11:47 AM PST  The British royals' trip, their last official foreign tour before becoming parents, was set to focus on initiatives promoting girls' education, women's empowerment and the inclusion of people with disabilities. A heavily pregnant Meghan, with henna on one hand, accepted flowers from one of the girls in Asni while she and Harry chatted outside to a group from the programme Education For All Morocco. The organisation runs free boarding houses to give girls aged 12 to 18 from the High Atlas region access to education, working with 185 teenagers in 2017.
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| In a shift, Buffett says focus on Berkshire's stock price Posted: 23 Feb 2019 10:10 AM PST  The shift is something of a retreat from the 88-year-old Buffett's decades of preaching patience and long-term thinking for investors and Berkshire shareholders, the antithesis of what stock prices often represent. Buffett's business acumen has helped make him the world's third-richest person, worth $82.9 billion according to Forbes magazine, and transformed Berkshire from a failing textile company into a $496 billion behemoth.
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| US senator argues with school children about climate change policy Posted: 23 Feb 2019 03:53 PM PST  Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein got into a heated exchange with primary-age school children over the Green New Deal, firmly stating that she will not support the renewable energy plan. A group of schoolchildren stopped by the California senator's San Francisco office on Friday to call on her to support the scheme, spearheaded by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that calls for net-zero greenhouse emissions and 100 per cent renewable energy in the US by 2030. In the video the California Democrat tells the children she could not support the Green New Deal because "there's no way to pay for it".
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| Planes and armoured trains: the Kims' foreign trips Posted: 23 Feb 2019 07:00 AM PST  The first sign that Kim Jong Un was potentially on his way to meet US President Donald Trump for a second summit was the reported appearance of an armoured train in China. If that train trundles all the way to Hanoi carrying the North Korean leader, it'll mean a nearly 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile), 60-hour journey on board for Kim. On that occasion, in January, he travelled to Beijing with his entourage in an olive-green train emblazoned with a yellow stripe.
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| U.S. team lowers expectations for second summit with North Korea's Kim Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:43 PM PST  It's unclear how far either side is willing to go, but officials in Washington and Seoul say discussions have included allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor and opening U.S.-North Korea liaison offices. Declaring an end to a technical state of hostilities that has existed since the 1950s, and allowing some inter-Korean projects like opening a tourism zone in North Korea are other possibilities. "Over the last few months, the U.S. position has shifted considerably, putting in play a range of incentives that had been considered out of bounds, even by previous administrations," said Adam Mount, defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists.
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| Mom Allegedly Pulled Three Kids from School for Fake Appointment Before Shooting Them, Herself Posted: 22 Feb 2019 08:27 PM PST  The mother who shot her three children in a wooded area in Kent County unexpectedly picked them up from school the day of their deaths, investigators say.
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| Sheriff: 2 bodies recovered from Texas plane crash site Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:29 PM PST  ANAHUAC, Texas (AP) — A southeast Texas sheriff said Sunday that two bodies have been recovered at the site where a Boeing 767 cargo plane crashed into a coastal bay. All three people aboard the Flight 3591 died, according to the plane's owner.
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| Labour Eyes New Referendum as May Heads to Egypt: Brexit Update Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:57 AM PST  Environment Secretary and leading Brexiteer Michael Gove struck a conciliatory tone towards three members of the Cabinet who are threatening to vote against the government this week, saying all voices in the party should be listened to.
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| Saudi Arabia names first woman envoy to Washington at critical time Posted: 23 Feb 2019 05:21 PM PST  Saudi Arabia on Saturday named a princess as its first woman ambassador to the United States, a key appointment as the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder tests relations between the allies. Princess Rima bint Bandar replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of the powerful crown prince who was appointed vice defence minister in a flurry of late-night royal decrees announced on state media. The reshuffle comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to quell an international outcry over Khashoggi's murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which strained relations with its key ally Washington.
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| Journalist, 12, faces off with police officer who threatened to arrest her Posted: 23 Feb 2019 11:00 PM PST  Hilde Lysiak films her interaction with Arizona law enforcement. Hilde's scoop became a bigger story than the murder. Now Hilde is making headlines of her own once again, after she filmed an Arizona town marshal, Joseph Patterson, threatening her.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivers impassioned response to critics: 'I'm the boss. How about that?' Posted: 24 Feb 2019 07:57 AM PST  Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused critics of "not trying" to tackle climate change following opposition to her ambitious Green New Deal programme. Ms Ocasio-Cortez addressed criticism she has faced from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress at a New York Hall of Science event. "I just introduced the Green New Deal two weeks ago and it's creating all of this conversation, why?
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| Buffett appears to fault Trump in annual Berkshire letter Posted: 23 Feb 2019 12:23 PM PST  In his annual letter, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman on Saturday suggested that the president takes too much credit for the nation's economic growth.
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| NASA greenlights SpaceX crew capsule test to ISS Posted: 22 Feb 2019 10:56 PM PST  NASA on Friday gave SpaceX the green light to test a new crew capsule by first sending an unmanned craft with a life-sized mannequin to the International Space Station. "We're go for launch, we're go for docking," said William Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator with NASA Human Exploration and Operations. A Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX is scheduled to lift off, weather permitting, on March 2 to take the Crew Dragon test capsule to the ISS.
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| North Korea warns U.S. skeptics as Kim heads for summit with Trump Posted: 24 Feb 2019 10:34 AM PST  The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The North's KCNA state news agency said such opposition was aimed at derailing the talks. "If the present U.S. administration reads others' faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity," the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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| Blizzard to dump nearly 2 feet of snow over central US Posted: 23 Feb 2019 08:28 AM PST  Locations from the Central Plains to the Upper Midwest could receive 6-12 inches of snow.
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| Will Google, Amazon and Facebook fix the affordable housing crisis? Posted: 24 Feb 2019 04:46 AM PST  The housing crisis must be addressed by a careful collaboration between politicians, advocacy groups and corporate entities, activists says.
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| Syrian state news: Mine left by Islamic State group kills 20 Posted: 24 Feb 2019 07:27 AM PST  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A land mine left by the Islamic State group struck a van packed with workers in eastern Syria, killing more than 20 of them, Syria's state news agency said on Sunday. The agency earlier reported that 24 people were killed.
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| Nigerian Rivals Claim Successes as They Await Vote Outcome Posted: 24 Feb 2019 10:31 AM PST  As many as 73 million people were eligible to vote Saturday in a tight race between Buhari, 76, an ex-general who campaigned on an anti-graft platform, and Abubakar, a 72-year-old businessman and former vice president. The National Independent Electoral Commission will start announcing results Monday from 11 a.m., its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said at the opening of the national collation center in the capital, Abuja.
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| Singer R. Kelly, facing sex abuse charges, gets $1 million bail Posted: 23 Feb 2019 03:28 PM PST  A US judge set $1 million bail for R&B superstar R. Kelly on Saturday after prosecutors laid out graphic details of charges that he sexually abused four victims, three of them minors. Kelly, known for hits like "I Believe I Can Fly," surrendered to police late Friday after decades of allegations of sexual abuse, especially of underage girls, led to the first sexual assault charges against him. Kelly was acquitted in a child porn trial more than a decade ago, and had maintained a steady fan base and continued to perform.
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| Pentagon chief: Broader approach to border security needed Posted: 23 Feb 2019 04:02 PM PST  EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border that the government needs a broader, more effective approach to border control. He suggested the Pentagon might contribute with its expertise in surveillance and monitoring.
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| Southwest Airlines flights temporarily grounded due to computer outage Posted: 24 Feb 2019 05:17 PM PST  Southwest temporarily grounded flights early Friday due to a computer glitch. The airline has been plagued by flight cancellations this week.
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| Britain's next Brexit flashpoint: What happens in parliament on February 26-27? Posted: 24 Feb 2019 12:53 AM PST  If May cannot bring a deal back this week, she has promised to make a statement to parliament on her progress on Feb. 26, and then to allow lawmakers to debate the issue on Feb. 27. This will not involve a vote on whether to approve or reject a Brexit deal. Lawmakers will debate a government statement.
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| Virgin Galactic takes crew of three to altitude of 55 miles Posted: 23 Feb 2019 09:38 AM PST  Virgin Galactic's spacecraft reached an altitude of more than 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) on Friday, carrying for the first time a passenger in addition to its two pilots. SpaceShipTwo, built by British billionaire Richard Branson to carry tourists into space, launched from California's Mojave desert and flew to an altitude of 55.87 miles (89.9 kms), the company said. The US definition of space is anything over an altitude of 50 miles.
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