| The blame game: Should Democrats worry about Trump letting Obamacare fail? Posted: 10 Mar 2017 10:10 AM PST  President Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 10 during a meeting on health care. WASHINGTON — President Trump reportedly has a backup plan if congressional Republicans are unable to pass repeal-and-replace legislation for Obamacare: blame Democrats. In a closed-door meeting earlier this week with conservative lawmakers and groups who have raised objections to the controversial replace plan, Trump said that Democrats would take the blame if the GOP cannot reach an agreement on it and the bill fails, according to CNN.
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| Guatemala fire death toll rises to 36 amid calls for change Posted: 10 Mar 2017 12:50 PM PST  GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala's president called for a restructuring of his country's youth shelter system following a fire that killed at least 36 girls at an overcrowded government facility for children, sending a nation into shock and anger.
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| Twitter has a field day with Sean Spicer’s upside-down flag pin Posted: 10 Mar 2017 12:01 PM PST  White House press secretary Sean Spicer opened the daily briefing Friday sporting an upside-down American flag lapel pin, leading many to joke it was a "cry for help" from the president's most prominent spokesman.
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| Cruise ship crashes into one of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world Posted: 10 Mar 2017 05:31 PM PST  The dreamy beauty of a coral reef in Southeast Asia has been partially damaged by a massive, 4,290-ton cruise ship called the Caledonian Sky. On Saturday, the ship crashed into a popular diving site called Crossover Reef, which holds some of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world, located in West Papua province, environmental news outlet Mongabay reports. SEE ALSO: Royal Caribbean takes cruise passengers into rough seas forecast days before It reportedly managed to smash some 17,000 square feet of coral in an area previously pristine enough to be considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it's expected it'll take nearly 10 years for a full recovery from the incident. Now local officials want the British-owned cruise ship company to pay for the damage. The Caledonian Sky — operated by British tourism company Noble Caledonia — found itself caught in a low tide before plowing into the reefs located along the Indonesian island chain of Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is filled with colorful coral reefs like this. Image: Michael Rubenstein via flickr From there, a boat was brought in to help refloat the cruise ship, which actually just made things worse, according to Ricardo Tapilatu, head of the Research Center for Pacific Marine Resources at the University of Papua. Tapilatu helped investigate the incident to estimate damages. "A tugboat from Sorong city was deployed to help refloat the cruise ship, which is something that shouldn't have happened because it damaged the reef even worse," Tapilatu told Mongabay. "They should've waited for high tide." Other locals were also critical of the ship's inability to avoid damaging the reefs. Tourism group Stay Raja Ampat wrote a post on Facebook asking if there was a 12-year-old at the wheel, saying, "How can this happen?" The environmental damage affected eight different coral groups in an area that's known to have some of the richest biodiversity in the world, with 10 times as many coral species as in the Caribbean. And coral reefs in general are often thought to be the most biodiverse of any ecosystems on earth. After local authorities sent in a team to investigate, it was estimated the total damage runs anywhere from $1.28 million to $1.92 million, according to Tapilatu. Despite wreaking havoc on those precious reefs, the 102-passenger ship saw very minimal damage and was able to sail away with all its passengers and 79 crew members safe. Noble Caledonia expressed regret over the incident, saying in a statement the whole thing was "unfortunate." "Noble Caledonia is firmly committed to protection of the environment, which is why it is imperative that the reasons for it are fully investigated, understood and any lessons learned incorporated in operating procedures," the company wrote. WATCH: 'Ancient Earth' series brings rare and wonderful dinosaurs back to life
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| The Bible and the belt: Inside a camp for gay youth Posted: 10 Mar 2017 05:29 PM PST  In part two of our five-part series, ABC News' Brian Ross talks to Lucas Greenfield, a gay teen, who details a harrowing experience inside a camp for trouble youth.
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| January raid in Yemen killed 4 to 12 civilians: US Posted: 09 Mar 2017 06:44 PM PST  Up to a dozen civilians died during a controversial January raid against Al Qaeda in Yemen, but an investigation did not uncover "bad judgment" during the operation, the head of US forces in the Middle East said. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Joe Votel said "somewhere between four and 12 casualties" resulted from the US raid, which was authorized by US President Donald Trump a few days after his inauguration. The January 29 raid -- the first authorized by Trump -- saw US special operations forces enter the Yakla region of Baida province and target a compound occupied by Al-Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula (AQAP) operatives.
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| Silicon Valley Questions WikiLeaks Founder’s Russia Ties Posted: 10 Mar 2017 01:11 PM PST  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange offered to help tech companies on flaw detailed in hacked CIA documents, but Silicon Valley is more concerned about his ties to Russia.
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| Alexa May Soon Start Talking to You Out of Nowhere Posted: 10 Mar 2017 10:12 AM PST  Talking to Amazon's Alexa may soon seem a little less like a one-way conversation. Instead of you having to say "Alexa..." to start a dialogue, Amazon's voice assistant may initiate conversations itself. For example, Alexa could alert you when your laundry is done, or if your security camera spotted someone.
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| Asked about the ‘deep state,’ White House says Obama allies ‘burrowed into government’ to enact their own agenda Posted: 10 Mar 2017 12:29 PM PST  White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday that there's "no question" there are allies of former President Barack Obama who are "burrowed into government" and working to push a liberal "agenda." Spicer's comments came after Yahoo News asked if the White House believes there's a "deep state" that is actively working to undermine President Trump. "Well, I think that there's no question when you have eight years of one party in office that there are people who stay in government … and continue to espouse the agenda of the previous administration," Spicer said.
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| U.S. doctors in training to work longer hours under new guidelines Posted: 10 Mar 2017 06:07 AM PST ![U.S. doctors in training to work longer hours under new guidelines]( "U.S. doctors in training to work longer hours under new guidelines") Beginning July 1, doctors in their first year of training after medical school may once again care for patients for up to 24 hours at a time and work a total of 80 hours per week, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) announced on Friday. In 2011, the group restricted these first-year residents to 16 hours at a stretch over concerns that patient care could suffer if trainees were overly tired. Opponents at the time argued the restrictions did not protect patients and limited educational opportunities for trainees.
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| Watch Monkeys Tease Their Newest Addition at Zoo Posted: 10 Mar 2017 11:39 AM PST  Amidala was shown who's boss.
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| Five electric-car questions to worry about this year Posted: 10 Mar 2017 05:45 AM PST  It seems fair to say that the new presidential administration may have increased the generalized level of worry among many Americans, not to mention the rest of the world. Among the things to worry about are the future of incentives, infrastructure, and legislation encouraging the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, primarily electric cars. Yesterday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said carbon dioxide released by human activity is not a major cause of climate change, directly contradicting the scientific consensus.
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| Parents question school's slave auction poster assignment Posted: 10 Mar 2017 01:09 PM PST ![Parents question school's slave auction poster assignment]( "Parents question school's slave auction poster assignment") SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) — Posters by fifth-graders that advertised slave auctions have been removed from the wall of an elementary school hallway after some parents questioned the assignment.
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| Dutch polls campaign hits fever pitch amid row with Turkey Posted: 11 Mar 2017 08:41 AM PST  Dutch political leaders hit the campaign trail Saturday, criss-crossing the country to woo voters ahead of next week's elections now overshadowed by a bitter row with Turkey. On the final weekend before Wednesday's elections, the leaders of six of the top political parties were converging on the southern city of Eindhoven for a key televised debate. Notable by his absence was far-right MP Geert Wilders, whose Freedom Party (PVV) is within a whisker of topping the polls even though he has largely eschewed traditional campaign events.
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| Trump chooses Gottlieb to run FDA; Pharma breathes sigh of relief Posted: 10 Mar 2017 05:04 PM PST ![Trump chooses Gottlieb to run FDA; Pharma breathes sigh of relief]( "Trump chooses Gottlieb to run FDA; Pharma breathes sigh of relief") By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has chosen Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a conservative health policy expert with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the White House said on Friday. If confirmed by the Senate, Gottlieb would be in charge of implementing Trump's plan to dramatically cut regulations governing food, drugs, cosmetics, dietary supplements and tobacco. Gottlieb is well known on Capitol Hill, where he has testified multiple times on hot-button health issues, including complex drug pricing matters, and is viewed favorably by drug companies and pharmaceutical investors.
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| Photos of the day - March 10, 2017 Posted: 09 Mar 2017 10:29 PM PST ![Photos of the day - March 10, 2017]( "Photos of the day - March 10, 2017") A displaced Iraqi girl cries before entering Hamam al-Alil camp, as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants south of Mosul, Iraq; members of the Tibetan Youth Congress and supporters gather to mark the 58th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising while protesting against Chinese rule in Tibet on the eve of Tibetan Uprising Day, Bangalore, India; and the sun sets over the Maha-ThaKyarYanThi Buddhist Temple in Nyaypyitaw, Myanmar. These are some of the photos of the day. (AP/EPA/Getty/Reuters/Zuma)
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| .africa joins the internet Posted: 10 Mar 2017 08:59 AM PST  In the beginning was .com, followed by a host of other .somethings, but on Friday, 32 years after the world's first domain name was registered, the African Union has launched .africa for the continent. Africans who want to register a website will be able to apply for a .africa domain name in the coming months, which outgoing AU commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said would allow the continent's people and businesses to better reach the world.
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| Buried treasure: huge statue of Egyptian king unearthed in Cairo neighborhood Posted: 10 Mar 2017 11:51 AM PST ![Buried treasure: huge statue of Egyptian king unearthed in Cairo neighborhood]( "Buried treasure: huge statue of Egyptian king unearthed in Cairo neighborhood") A team of Egyptian and German archaeologists has discovered a towering 26-foot statue in a Cairo slum, a presumed depiction of Pharaoh Ramses II, Reuters reports on Thursday. The colossus found submerged in mud in where the ancient city of Heliopolis once stood is "one of the most important discoveries ever," according to the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry. The massive quartzite figure is "most probably Ramses II," Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani told Reuters on Thursday at the site of the statue's unveiling, adding that the identity would have to be later confirmed once more of the statue is uncovered.
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| Psychiatrists say mom understood she was killing kids in tub Posted: 10 Mar 2017 12:05 PM PST  PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman tried to be an "ideal Christian, loyal mother" but felt overwhelmed by her husband's desire for more children and his religious stance that they avoid birth control before she drowned their two youngest sons in a bathtub, a psychiatrist testified in her defense Friday.
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| Muhammad Ali Jr. Detained At Airport For Second Time Posted: 10 Mar 2017 12:51 PM PST  The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was previously detained by customs officials in February.
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| Rescued Sea Otter Settles Into New Home, Plays with Toys and Still Needs a Name Posted: 10 Mar 2017 09:32 AM PST  The otter traveled from California to Louisiana.
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| UN accuses Turkey of 'serious' abuses in Kurdish region Posted: 10 Mar 2017 07:20 AM PST  The UN on Friday accused Turkish security forces of committing serious abuses during operations against Kurdish militants in the southeast after a ceasefire collapsed in July 2015. "Government security operations" have targeted more than 30 towns and displaced 355,000 to half a million people, mostly Kurds, the report said. According to statistics given by Ankara to the UN, the unrest in the southeast has claimed some 2,000 lives over the last year and half.
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| Helicopter with business executives crashes in Istanbul, killing all aboard Posted: 10 Mar 2017 07:01 AM PST ![Helicopter with business executives crashes in Istanbul, killing all aboard]( "Helicopter with business executives crashes in Istanbul, killing all aboard") By Tuvan Gumrukcu ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying an executive of the Turkish Eczabicasi group and four Russians, including the firm's Russian operations chief, crashed in Istanbul on Friday, killing all seven people on board, the city's mayor was quoted as saying. Bulent Eczacibasi, chairman of the company with interests in pharmaceuticals and home products, and the governor of Istanbul had initially said five of the seven on board had been killed. Istanbul mayor Kadir Topbas was quoted by broadcaster NTV and other media as saying all five passengers and two crew had died.
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| Niger puts 1,000 'Boko Haram fighters' on trial Posted: 10 Mar 2017 06:03 AM PST ![Niger puts 1,000 'Boko Haram fighters' on trial]( "Niger puts 1,000 'Boko Haram fighters' on trial") Niger has begun the trials behind closed doors of about 1,000 suspected fighters from the Boko Haram jihadist movement, officials said Friday. Chief prosecutor Chaibou Samna told AFP that the trials, on charges of terrorist links, had begun on March 2. Some of the suspects were "captured during combat" in southern Niger across the border from Boko Haram's stronghold in Nigeria, a security source said.
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| Vandals target Seattle synagogue, spray-paint with graffiti Posted: 10 Mar 2017 05:09 PM PST ![Vandals target Seattle synagogue, spray-paint with graffiti]( "Vandals target Seattle synagogue, spray-paint with graffiti") SEATTLE (AP) — Police say a Seattle synagogue in the Capitol Hill neighborhood was vandalized with anti-Semitic Holocaust-denying graffiti.
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| Guatemala fire death toll rises to 37 amid calls for change Posted: 10 Mar 2017 07:20 PM PST GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Families buried some of the 37 girls killed in a fire at an overcrowded government-run youth shelter as Guatemalan authorities worked Friday to determine exactly what happened.
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| Obama Wiretapping Claims Only The Latest Conspiracy Theory From Trump Posted: 11 Mar 2017 06:10 AM PST  The president has embraced a number of conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact.
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| Scientists just proved an Earth vegetable can grow on Mars Posted: 10 Mar 2017 03:36 PM PST 
NASA scientists researching Mars with their fancy robots always snag the sexy headlines, but here on Earth some diligent researchers have been conducting experiments that are just as important (if not more so) to humanity's eventual visit to the red planet. It's not about ancient rocks, new robotic explorers or Martian lakebeds. It's about potatoes.
The International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, has been conducting an ongoing experiment for over a year in the quest to determine whether or not the hearty Earth veggie could grow in Martian soil. Using a specially designed enclosure that closely mimics the harsh climate of Mars, including the air pressure, oxygen levels, and even simulated say and night cycles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE3b7Oe_kys Surprisingly — or perhaps not, depending on how much you know about the stubborn will of potatoes — the team was able to successfully get the veggies to sprout, and they've been happily growing ever since. The center even set up a live webcam for interested parties to check in on their development, though since it's basically the same thing as watching grass grow, it's not exactly the most riveting streaming content on the web. The goal of the study wasn't just to prove that potatoes could grow on Mars. The team hopes to use its research to help grow food in areas that have been harshly impacted by climate change, and where the soil is simply not the greatest. But if the only thing you learned from this entire story is that a place called the International Potato Center exists, it's all been worth it.
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| In China, you can hire someone to persuade mistresses into ending affairs Posted: 10 Mar 2017 02:56 AM PST  People say that happiness is only real when shared. But what if your spouse wanted to share it with another person? Desperate spouses in China who are seeking an amicable end to their partners' transgressions are hiring "mistress hunters" — trained professionals that are sent undercover to "accidentally" meet and dissuade the third party in a marriage to put an end to an affair, The Paper reported (link in Chinese). SEE ALSO: Flame-throwing drones make for badass trash removers The "mistress hunters" — like those employed by Shanghai Weiqing Network Technology — can charge hourly rates from 800 to 1,000 yuan ($115.74 to $144.67), and they are private investigators and marriage counselors combined. The company's founder, 49-year-old former journalist Shu Xin, earns up to 3,000 yuan ($433.91) per hour. Cases that Shu Xin takes under his wing would typically cost upwards of 300,000 yuan ($43,391), while regular "solutions" will cost around 50,000 yuan ($7,231). Therapists evaluate the crises within the marriage and work out a way to maintain it, while "mistress hunters" — mostly women psychology, sociology or law graduates — use psychological methods to persuade third parties to end affairs. Shanghai Weiqing Network Technology has made it big in China, where it has filed to list its shares on China's over-the-counter stock market, the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ). The company claims to have salvaged 350,000 marriages, and separated 168,500 third parties, with a total revenue of 17.7 million yuan (about $2.6 million) in the first ten months of last year. "Weiqing" — which means "defending love" in Chinese — has 59 offices across China. "Mistress hunting" takes up nearly 87 percent of the company's revenue, according to documents it submitted to the NEEQ, which The Paper — a state-run news outlet — picked up on last month. Shanghai Weiqing's top five clients have paid up to to 3.6 million yuan ($520,697) to salvage their marriages, according to company filings. In an interview with AFP, Shu Xin said that his goal was to prevent divorce. "Mistresses are global. But specifically in China, they are kept women: the husbands, often rich, pay for luxury apartments, cars and luxury products," he said. "If we fail, then we repay the entire amount." Shanghai Weiqing's rise comes as divorce rates in China rose for 12 consecutive years — as Chinese couples increasingly use chat apps like WeChat and dating apps like Momo to seek an extramarital affair. Over 3 million couples divorced in 2015, according to the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs. WATCH: This might be the world's quietest library
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| Samsung Galaxy S7 And Galaxy S8 Price And Specs Comparison Posted: 10 Mar 2017 08:28 AM PST  Should you buy the Galaxy S7 or wait for the Galaxy S8? Here's a specs comparison to help your decision.
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| Boston St. Patrick's parade organizers deny banning gay marchers Posted: 10 Mar 2017 05:31 AM PST ![Boston St. Patrick's parade organizers deny banning gay marchers]( "Boston St. Patrick's parade organizers deny banning gay marchers") By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Organizers of Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade denied on Thursday that they told a gay veterans' group its members could not march openly in one of the largest U.S. celebrations of the holiday and accused the group of breaking parade rules. The veterans' group, OUTVETS, said late on Tuesday it had been informed by parade organizers it would be excluded from this year's parade, rekindling a decades-long fight over inclusion that had looked settled in 2015 when the group was first allowed to march. "OUTVETS has not been officially notified that they will not be allowed to march in the Parade," the Allied War Veterans Council, which organizes the 116-year-old event honoring Ireland's patron saint, said in a statement posted to its website on Thursday.
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| Two Ukrainian soldiers killed, 16 wounded in fresh fighting Posted: 11 Mar 2017 05:47 AM PST  Ukraine's army reported Saturday two soldiers killed in clashes with Russian-backed rebels, in a new uptick in violence across eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters that two servicemen were killed and another 16 wounded in the past 24 hours, accusing insurgents of using heavy weapons against government troops. The latest casualties along eastern Ukraine's volatile frontline come despite the warring sides announcing a truce deal in February that has failed to stop the violence entirely.
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| Photos of the day - March 11, 2017 Posted: 11 Mar 2017 01:53 PM PST ![Photos of the day - March 11, 2017]( "Photos of the day - March 11, 2017") Seppe Smits of Belgium competes during the Women's Slopestyle Final in the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships 2017, in Sierra Nevada, Spain; Katie McCloughlin lies with Topsy, her English setter, during the Crufts dog show in Birmingham, Britain; displaced Iraqi get on a truck to be carried to a safe place, as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq. These are some of the photos of the day. (AP/EPA/Getty/Reuters)
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| UN office urges Turkey to probe 2,000 reported killings Posted: 10 Mar 2017 05:05 AM PST  GENEVA (AP) — The Turkish government should investigate hundreds of alleged killings and other rights abuses in Turkey's southeast, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday, releasing a report on an upsurge in violence there over 18 months.
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| Orlando nightclub gunman's widow ordered to remain jailed Posted: 10 Mar 2017 03:14 PM PST ![Orlando nightclub gunman's widow ordered to remain jailed]( "Orlando nightclub gunman's widow ordered to remain jailed") U.S. District Judge Paul Byron of Orlando overruled a federal magistrate in Northern California who found earlier in March that Noor Salman, 30, posed no danger to the community or serious flight risk. In his order canceling Salman's release, Byron said that her mother and uncle own an apartment in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, governed by the Palestinian National Authority, where Salman has previously stayed.
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| Examining child marriage around the globe Posted: 11 Mar 2017 05:00 AM PST  The I Don't Project explored the issue of child marriage in Ethiopia, India and Brazil.
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| Pregnant Giraffe's Baby Kicks Inside Belly Posted: 10 Mar 2017 09:21 AM PST  The calf inside April, the pregnant giraffe, wanted to say, "hello," to all the viewers of the live cam from New York.
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| Boston St. Patrick's parade to allow gay veterans to return Posted: 10 Mar 2017 08:35 PM PST ![Boston St. Patrick's parade to allow gay veterans to return]( "Boston St. Patrick's parade to allow gay veterans to return") A group of gay veterans of the U.S. military can march in this year's Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade, parade organizers said on Friday after an earlier move to exclude them sparked outrage and boycott threats in the liberal city. The parade, one of the United States' largest honoring Irish-American heritage, had long excluded openly gay participants, saying that admitting them would conflict with organizers' Roman Catholic beliefs. In 2015 organizers agreed to allow the gay veterans' group, OUTVETS, to march in the face of pressure from city officials and sponsors who pulled their financing.
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| A US state speeds up executions, scheduling eight in 10 days Posted: 10 Mar 2017 12:12 PM PST  The US state of Arkansas is racing to execute eight death row inmates in 10 days next month to beat the expiration date on a hard-to-get drug used in lethal injections. Under a decree signed by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, the first two prisoners will be put to death on April 17, followed by two more on April 20, another two on April 24 and the last pair on April 27. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, an independent organization, no state has ever carried out eight executions in 10 days.
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| THAAD Deployment Will Affect Regional Stability, Russia Warns Posted: 09 Mar 2017 09:16 PM PST  Russia's foreign ministry said Thursday the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system will trigger a missile race in the Asia-Pacific region.
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| Putin hails Russia-Turkey ties as he hosts Syria talks Posted: 10 Mar 2017 10:01 AM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin hailed the close ties between the Russian and Turkey militaries on Friday as he hosted Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks about Syria.
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