| Should Trump apologize? Paul: President 'hasn't helped his case' Posted: 13 Jan 2018 11:02 PM PST  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tells Chuck Todd that the debate over immigration shouldn't be dismissed over President Trump's vulgar comments, during an exclusive interview on Meet the Press
|
| Major Earthquake Strikes Southern Peru Posted: 14 Jan 2018 02:17 PM PST  A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck off the coast of southern Peru early Sunday morning, leaving at least one dead and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.
|
| Citing Court Order, Trump Administration Resumes Accepting DACA Renewal Applications Posted: 14 Jan 2018 12:19 AM PST  Days after a federal judge in California temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's efforts to pull the plug on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the federal government said on Saturday that it would ― "until further notice" ― resume accepting renewal applications for the program.
|
| Body of father found after California mudslides, raising death toll to 20 Posted: 14 Jan 2018 03:51 PM PST  The body of a 30-year-old father who had been missing since this week's mudslides in California has been found, increasing the death toll to 20. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office says Pinit Sutthithepa's body was found Saturday afternoon. Sutthithepa's 6-year-old son, Peerawat, and his father-in-law, 79-year-old Richard Loring Taylor, were also killed. His 2-year-old daughter, Lydia, is still missing. The list of those still missing in the mudslides has now shrunk to four. Pinit Sutthithepa was identified as the 20th victim of this week's deadly Montecito mudslides Credit: Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office/AP The search for survivors of the tragedy in parts of California's Santa Barbara County continued over the weekend, even as hopes dwindled to find anyone alive, officials said. "We're still in rescue mode and we still hope to find someone alive, although the chances of that are becoming slim," said Justin Cooper, a spokesperson for the multi-agency response team. Deadly California mudslides, in pictures Another 900 emergency personnel arrived Saturday to join the relief effort conducted by more than 2,100 personnel from local, state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the American Red Cross. The ramped-up rescue effort is in response to urgent requests for additional manpower made earlier in the week. Heavy rains on Tuesday soaked the area near Montecito, north of Los Angeles, where vegetation had been stripped away by the largest wildfire in California's history last month. Sodden hillsides gave way, unleashing a torrent of mud, water, uprooted trees and boulders onto the valley below and killing people aged 3 to 89. The destruction covered 30 square miles (78 square km), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and forced the partial closure of one of California's most celebrated coastal roads, the heavily used Highway 101. Santa Barbara County Fire Capt Adam Estabrook and Engineer Rick Pinal search through a debris pile Credit: Reuters Officials ordered residents in most of the southeastern corner of Montecito, which is east of Santa Barbara, to leave their homes for what was likely to be one or two weeks. Many fled to nearby Carpinteria, where local resident Tessa Nash said they were communicating via a Facebook page called Carpinteria Swap, which is usually focused on buying and selling secondhand goods. Mudslides | Where am I at risk? In the last few days, Nash said, it has been carrying information about community-led blood drives and transportation tips. "We're really joined together," she said. "We're affected here in Carpinteria in the sense that we're taking these people in and a lot of people are out of work because they can't travel. It's a trickle down effect." (Additional reporting and writing by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Louise Heavens asnd Jeffrey Benkoe)
|
| Stealth and Speed: America's SR-71 Blackbird Might Be Old (But Still the World's Fastest Plane) Posted: 15 Jan 2018 04:30 PM PST  The Blackbird's design reflected the fact that it was pushing the limits. The SR-71's J58 engines could only start through use of two vehicle-mounted V8 starter engines, and the triethylborane used in the fuel would belch green flames during ignition. The J58s would switch to a partial ramjet mode at high speeds, such that the SR-71 actually became more fuel efficient when it went faster.
|
| Chinese 'rainbow dinosaur' had iridescent feathers like hummingbirds Posted: 15 Jan 2018 02:22 AM PST ![Chinese 'rainbow dinosaur' had iridescent feathers like hummingbirds]( "Chinese 'rainbow dinosaur' had iridescent feathers like hummingbirds") Scientists on Monday announced the discovery of a crow-sized, bird-like dinosaur with colorful feathers from northeastern China that lived 161 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. Microscopic structures in the exquisitely preserved, nearly complete fossil unearthed in Hebei Province indicated that it boasted iridescent feathers, particularly on its head, neck and chest, with colors that shimmered and shifted in the light, like those of hummingbirds. The discovery "suggests a more colorful Jurassic World than we previously imagined," said evolutionary biologist Chad Eliason of the Field Museum in Chicago, one of the researchers in the study published in the journal Nature Communications.
|
| Car Flies Into Second Floor Of Building And Stays There Posted: 15 Jan 2018 03:41 AM PST  A cheesy action-film director couldn't have staged this any better.
|
| Philippine online news site critical of Duterte ordered shut Posted: 15 Jan 2018 06:29 AM PST ![Philippine online news site critical of Duterte ordered shut]( "Philippine online news site critical of Duterte ordered shut") MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine securities commission has revoked the registration of an online news outfit known for its critical reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte, a move media watchdogs said is an act to muzzle the free press.
|
| Hawaiians demand answers after missile alert sparks 38 minutes of panic Posted: 14 Jan 2018 09:28 AM PST  It took just three minutes for officials on Hawaii to realise that the text alert warning residents of an incoming missile strike had been sent in error. There was no missile. Yet it took another 35 minutes for panicking families – holed up in garages, cowering under tables or frantically saying their goodbyes - to be sent a second message with the comforting news that annihilation was no longer imminent. A day later the island chain's public officials say they have instituted a new system to reduce the risk of mistakes and to ensure errors can be more quickly corrected. But that still leaves a shaken population coming to terms with their 38 minutes of panic. "So this was the most terrifying few minutes of my LIFE!" Paul Wilson, a professor at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, wrote on on Twitter. "I just want to know why it took 38 minutes to announce it was a mistake?!?" The islands were just waking up on Saturday when they were bombarded with phone messages and warnings broadcast on TV and radio. "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL," it read. Hawaii was already on edge. It recently began conducting tests of its emergency nuclear sirens, something not done since the end of the Cold War, and holding "Are You Ready" drills. The state is first in line if North Korea follows through with threats to use its growing nuclear arsenal on the United States. To make matters worse, a handful of sirens sounded on Saturday morning even though they were not part of the emergency network triggered by an employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (Hema) during a routine test at 8:07am. Drivers abandoned cars on the highway north of Honolulu to huddle in a tunnel. Tourists thronged hotel lobbies unsure what to do. And families raced to their garages, the closest thing to a shelter on islands where basements are few and far between, or tucked children into storm drains. I woke up this morning in Hawaii with ten minutes to live. It was a false alarm, but a real psychic warning. If we allow this one-man Gomorrah and his corrupt Republican congress to continue alienating the world we are headed for suffering beyond all imagination. ;^\ pic.twitter.com/Kwca91IIy2— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) January 13, 2018 Those away from loved ones later spoke of the agonising decisions they were forced to make. A Washington Post journalist published a message he received from a friend who had just dropped one child at the airport when he received the missile warning. "I chose to go home to the two little ones – I figured it was the largest grouping of my family knowing I likely wouldn't make it home in time," he said. Meanwhile officials were desperately trying to recall the message. At 8.13am Hema cancelled the warning, meaning it would not be rebroadcast to phones that had not yet received it. After another 10 minutes, officials posted on Twitter and Facebook that the alert was false, according to their timeline of events. Yet it took until 8.45am for Hema to send a new message to phones cancelling the original alert. It took 38 minutes for phone messages to be sent telling residents there was no threat Credit: Splash Vern Miyagi, the agency's administrator, apologised and said officials had to wait for authorisation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency before issuing a retraction. He said an unnamed employee pushed a button sending the alert rather than the option for testing. When prompted by a safeguard asking whether they were sure they wanted to send it, the employee clicked the option for "yes". "I can't explain that. Like I said, it's a human error that we're going to fix," said Mr Miyagi. David Ige, governor of Hawaii, promised a full investigation into what went wrong. "Today is a day most of us will never forget," said David Ige, the state's governor, during a news conference at Diamond Head Bunker, the emergency command post from where the mistaken alert was sent. · Hawaii's nuclear alert shows perils of instant communication Officials promised to build a "cancellation template" to make it easier to correct mistakes and instituted a new system to ensure two people must sign off on future alerts Scott Saiki, the speaker of Hawaii's state legislature, said the system had failed miserably. "Clearly, government agencies are not prepared and lack the capacity to deal with emergency situations," he said in a statement.
|
| UAE accuses Qatar of 'intercepting' 2 passenger planes Posted: 15 Jan 2018 12:02 PM PST  The United Arab Emirates accused neighbouring Qatar of "intercepting" two Emirati passenger planes en route to Bahrain on Monday in the latest incident between the Gulf rivals. Qatar denied the allegations as "totally baseless" and hit back that they came "one day after a C-130 UAE military aircraft breached Qatari airspace". Tensions have escalated in the Gulf since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Saudi Arabia's arch-rival, Iran.
|
| Trump Attacks Wall Street Journal, Claiming Paper Lied About Single Word In Interview Posted: 15 Jan 2018 12:00 AM PST  An angry Donald Trump lashed out at The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, claiming the newspaper deliberately misquoted a single word in a 45-minute interview during its hunt for "fake news."
|
| Death toll from California mudslides rises to 19 Posted: 13 Jan 2018 09:40 PM PST  Authorities in southern California raised the death toll from mudslides that battered the region to 19 on Saturday as rescue workers continued the search for victims. "Crews continue to search buildings and debris flows for trapped victims. Terrifying wildfires in the area forced evacuations in December, and the mudslides struck just two weeks after people returned.
|
| A casino shuttle boat caught fire Sunday in Florida, forcing the evacuation of dozens of passengers Posted: 14 Jan 2018 04:33 PM PST  Officials said passengers were "lucky" the burning boat was close to shore.
|
| Saudi Prince Alwaleed in settlement talks with government: sources Posted: 14 Jan 2018 02:22 AM PST ![Saudi Prince Alwaleed in settlement talks with government: sources]( "Saudi Prince Alwaleed in settlement talks with government: sources") By Rania El Gamal and Stephen Kalin DUBAI/JEDDAH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, detained for over two months in an anti-corruption crackdown, is negotiating a possible settlement with authorities but so far has not agreed on terms, a senior Saudi official said. Prince Alwaleed, whose net worth has been estimated by Forbes magazine at $17 billion, is chairman and owner of international investment firm Kingdom Holding <4280.SE>, and one of the country's most prominent businessmen. A second source familiar with Prince Alwaleed's case told Reuters on Saturday that the price had offered to make a "donation" to the Saudi government, which would avoid any admission of wrongdoing, and to do so from assets of his own choosing.
|
| Passenger plane skids off runway in Turkey's Trabzon Airport Posted: 14 Jan 2018 09:47 AM PST ![Passenger plane skids off runway in Turkey's Trabzon Airport]( "Passenger plane skids off runway in Turkey's Trabzon Airport") A plane with 168 people aboard skidded off a runway onto a seaside cliff after landing at an airport in northern Turkey at the weekend, but no one was injured in what one passenger called a "miracle". The Pegasus Airlines flight had taken off smoothly from the capital Ankara bound for Trabzon, where the accident occurred as the plane was landing late Saturday. "There was panic, people shouting, screaming," one of the passengers, Fatma Gordu, told state-run Anadolu news agency.
|
| Car crashes into second floor dental practice in California Posted: 15 Jan 2018 12:26 PM PST  A man who had taken drugs before getting behind the wheel of his Nissan Sedan survived relatively unscathed after crashing his car in the second-floor of a house. Police in Santa Ana, California, say that the car, travelling at high speed, clipped the central reservation before launching into the air. It flew about 60 feet before smashing into the second floor of the building, which contained a dental practice. CCTV footage obtained by a local television station captured the moment, and showed the car flying through the air. Unbelievable new surveillance video shows a car hitting a median and launching into the second story of a Santa Ana dentist office. Driver and passenger transported with minor injuries. @NBCLA@ChristineNBCLApic.twitter.com/Yw4poZXUNR— Kenny Holmes (@KHOLMESlive) January 15, 2018 The crash, which happened at about 5.25am on Saturday, rattled guests in a motel next door but the dental practice was closed at the time. The Los Angeles County fire department used a specialized forklift and wrecker to remove the car, the police said. Two people in the vehicle, although both were rescued suffering only minor injuries One of the two people inside the vehicle was able to exit on his own, but emergency workers had to remove the other person. The driver had minor injuries and remains in hospital, but will likely be charged with driving under the influence.
|
| Protesters Trash South African H&M Stores Over Racist Ad Posted: 14 Jan 2018 01:10 PM PST  Clothing retail chain H&M temporarily closed several of its South African stores this weekend after protests erupted over a racist image on the Swedish company's website.
|
| Ford shows off new and original Bullitt Mustangs Posted: 15 Jan 2018 05:42 AM PST  Ask just about any Mustang enthusiasts what the "holy grail" of Mustangs is and the 1968 fastback driven by Steve McQueen in the movie "Bullitt" is going to be close to the top of the list. For a long time it was thought the original from the movie was lost forever, but it's now been found and has taken its rightful place alongside a new 2019 Bullitt Mustang Ford that has just unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The new car isn't just a current Mustang painted in Highland Green to pay homage to the movie original either.
|
| 12,000 flee as lava oozes from Philippine volcano Posted: 14 Jan 2018 11:30 PM PST  Thousands fled from their homes as lava oozed out of a rumbling Philippine volcano on Monday in what volcanologists described as a "quiet eruption", warning it could lead to a hazardous explosion within days. Lava was slowly flowing out of the Mayon volcano's crater along with a spectacular 1,000-metre (3,280-foot) ash plume rising into the sky, the nation's volcanology institute said. It may escalate into a hazardous eruption," Paul Alanis, science research specialist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), told AFP.
|
| British woman 'killed in murder-suicide' in Sydney Posted: 13 Jan 2018 09:11 PM PST  Police in Australia are investigating a suspected murder-suicide in which an English woman in her 20s was allegedly killed by her partner, a man in his 20s. The bodies were reportedly discovered by the couple's landlord in an apartment above a Persian restaurant on King Street in Newtown, a bustling road in the inner west of Sydney. "At this stage we suspect it is a possible murder-suicide," New South Wales Police Inspector Geoff Olsen told Sydney's Daily Telegraph. Police have appealed for information about the crime. "Investigators are still trying to piece together the last moments of those involved," a police spokesman told The Telegraph. The bodies were found inside their small apartment at about 5.30pm on Friday. Officials from the British embassy have been in contact with the woman's family. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are providing consular assistance to the family of a British national who has died in New South Wales, Australia, and our staff are in contact with the New South Wales police." The woman was planning to leave Australia, according to a report in The Daily Mail. The nationality and identify of the man have not been released, although he is understood to not be from the UK. Tenants of the Persian restaurant below, and of an adjoining Japanese restaurant, said they did not know the pair. Police would not confirm the identities or nationalities of the pair. The deaths are being investigated by officers from the local Newtown command and from the state's homicide squad.
|
| Philippines' president made call on China's sea research - spokesman Posted: 15 Jan 2018 04:34 AM PST ![Philippines' president made call on China's sea research - spokesman]( "Philippines' president made call on China's sea research - spokesman") Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte personally made a decision to let China conduct scientific research off the Philippines' Pacific coast, his spokesman said on Monday, despite concern among critics about threats to maritime sovereignty. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that as chief architect of foreign policy, Duterte allowed China to work with the University of the Philippines in Benham Rise, an area roughly the size of Greece and believed by some scientists to be rich in biodiversity and tuna.
|
| Platform Sofas Are the New Platform Beds Posted: 15 Jan 2018 05:00 AM PST  Sophisticated + obscenely comfy = a winning combination
|
| Egypt's leader seeks to defuse tension with Sudan, Ethiopia Posted: 15 Jan 2018 08:30 AM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president on Monday sought to defuse tensions with Ethiopia and Sudan, reassuring them that his country was not meddling in their internal affairs or planning to go to war against them.
|
| 2019 Ford Ranger: The Return of a Beloved Pickup Posted: 13 Jan 2018 09:01 PM PST  MIA no longer, the Ranger returns to reclaim its share of the mid-size-pickup market.
|
| Turkey's Erdogan warns US against forming 'terror army' on its border with Syria Posted: 15 Jan 2018 10:43 AM PST  Turkey has warned the US it was "playing with fire" over plans to set up a 30,000-strong force to police its border with Syria, saying it had tanks ready at the frontier. The US announced plans on Sunday for a "border security force" - made up of Kurdish and Arab fighters - to prevent a resurgence by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). The BSF will be tasked with securing the long sections of Syria's northern border with Turkey and eastern border with Iraq that are under the fighters' control, as well as parts of the Euphrates river valley, which effectively serves as the dividing line between them and Syrian pro-government forces. Ankara has repeatedly warned Washington over its support for the Syrian Kurdish People's Defence Units (YPG), which it sees as terrorist group over its links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) waging a bloody insurgency in southern Turkey. Kurdish and Arab fighters will make up the 30,000-strong border force Credit: AFP But reacting to the news on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could barely contain his rage. "A country we call an ally is insisting on forming a terror army on our borders," he said of the US in a speech in Ankara. "What can that terror army target but Turkey? Our mission is to strangle it before it's even born. "Don't stand between us and these herd of murderers. Otherwise, we won't be responsible for the unwanted incidents that may arise," he continued. He said that the Turkish army was ready to launch an operation against the YPG in the northern Syrian enclave Afrin in the coming days. The Turkish army had already positioned a convoy of tanks and was pounding the area yesterday with artillery from its positions inside Syria. The YPG was the backbone of the fight against Isil in Raqqa. Mr Erdogan tolerated the US's backing of Kurdish groups during the operation to liberate the city, in the hope Washington would abandon them after the city was liberated. Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces gesture the "V" sign in Raqqa, Syria Credit: Reuters But the latest plans hint at the US's longer-term plans for their involvement in the region and will concern Turkey, which fears the move is a step towards Syrian Kurds achieving a breakaway state. The threat could bring the two Nato allies, who once worked together to support rebel groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's government, into direct military confrontation. "The Kurdish people will rise up as a whole. It will be total warfare," Saleh Muslim, former head of the YPG's political wing, said in a warning to Turkey.
|
| Airbus to scrap A380 programme if no new orders Posted: 15 Jan 2018 01:32 AM PST  Airbus will have no other choice but to halt the A380 programe if Dubai's Emirates airline does not place another order, the European aerospace giant's sales director, John Leahy, told a news conference on Monday. Originally launched in 2007, the A380 is the world's largest passenger airliner. Orders from Emirates, the main customer of the superjumbo, have stalled over the past two years.
|
| Here's What The FBI Lovers' Secret Texts Actually Say About Trump, Clinton And Leaks Posted: 14 Jan 2018 05:16 PM PST  WASHINGTON ― Last week, a story by The Hill's John Solomon set off another firestorm in the conservative media about the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
|
| Today's Toilets Use Less Water and Make Less Noise Posted: 14 Jan 2018 03:00 AM PST  From space age–looking models to new technologies that greatly improve water efficiency, the latest toilets on display at the recent International Builders' Show featured all kinds of innovations...
|
| Iceland's incredible, ever-changing ice caves Posted: 14 Jan 2018 02:00 AM PST ![Iceland's incredible, ever-changing ice caves]( "Iceland's incredible, ever-changing ice caves") The photographer captured the amazing shots in the Vatnajokull National Park on the Breidamerkurjokull glacier tongue. Matej said: "One of the ice caves has been well known for few years already, but new ones appeared on east side of the glacier tongue this year.
|
| Chicago Police Officers Might Get 'Textalyzers' Posted: 12 Jan 2018 09:05 AM PST  Chicago police officers might soon have the technology to tell if drivers were using their smartphone before an accident.
|
| CAIR Exec: What American Muslims Can Do Today With Dr. King’s Lessons Posted: 15 Jan 2018 06:39 AM PST  Coordination is key
|
| Egypt: 2 presidential hopefuls take aim at el-Sissi's rule Posted: 14 Jan 2018 08:48 AM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Barely a week after authorities set a date for Egypt's presidential elections, two hopefuls have launched their campaigns with criticism of general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's rule, with one promising to end "repression" if elected and the other claiming the incumbent is establishing a dictatorship.
|
| Honda, Volvo, Ford scoop awards at Detroit auto show Posted: 15 Jan 2018 07:19 AM PST  The Detroit auto show handed out its self-proclaimed "Oscars of the auto industry" on Monday, rewarding Honda, Volvo and Ford amid a crowded slate of new truck, SUV and crossover unveilings.
|
| Brexit vote may be reversed, says British campaigner Farage Posted: 14 Jan 2018 01:20 AM PST ![Brexit vote may be reversed, says British campaigner Farage]( "Brexit vote may be reversed, says British campaigner Farage") Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said on Sunday he was increasingly concerned that a vote for Britain to leave the European Union could be overturned by a powerful group of the bloc's supporters. In an interview with Britain's Observer newspaper, Farage, former head of the euroskeptic UK Independence Party, said a well-organized and funded group of campaigners that wants to remain in the EU was drowning out those who want to leave.
|
| Talks in Myanmar to 'settle issues' on Rohingya return Posted: 15 Jan 2018 01:11 AM PST  Talks were held Monday to "settle issues" over the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, Bangladeshi officials told AFP, as doubts linger over how many of the 655,000 Muslim minority who fled violence are likely to return. Under diplomatic pressure, Myanmar has vowed to repatriate refugees driven into Bangladesh by an army crackdown last year, if they can verify they belong in western Rakhine state.
|
| Conan Heads To Haiti To Mercilessly Mock Donald Trump Posted: 15 Jan 2018 07:27 AM PST  Conan O'Brien is hitting the road again to hit back at President Donald Trump in a "Conan Without Borders" episode.
|
| 1 dead, 7 injured after crash on I-70 in Missouri Posted: 15 Jan 2018 09:41 AM PST  A fatal crash occurred on I-70 in Missouri Monday morning. The accident is causing traffic delays, with the eastbound lanes in the area shut down and one westbound lane closed.
|
| Alveda King's message for Rep. Lewis on MLK Day Posted: 15 Jan 2018 05:11 AM PST  Niece of Martin Luther King Jr. reacts to the congressman calling President Trump a racist.
|
| 'Sit down and shut up': The best of Chris Christie's 8 years Posted: 14 Jan 2018 09:42 AM PST  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie leaves center stage this week, but don't expect him to sit down and shut up any time soon.
|
| Japan PM Abe honors 'Japanese Schindler' in Lithuania Posted: 14 Jan 2018 08:34 AM PST ![Japan PM Abe honors 'Japanese Schindler' in Lithuania]( "Japan PM Abe honors 'Japanese Schindler' in Lithuania") By Andrius Sytas KAUNAS, Lithuania (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday honored a Japanese diplomat credited with saving an estimated 6,000 Jews from almost certain death in 1940 at a visit to the former Japanese consulate in Lithuania. Chiune Suhigara was serving as Japanese consul in Kaunas, then capital of Lithuania, when he disobeyed his superiors and issued Japanese visas to Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied Poland despite his country being a close ally of Nazi Germany. Abe's visit to Lithuania, the first by a Japanese prime minister, comes as Japan seeks greater cooperation with countries such as China, a former adversary in World War Two, in the face of rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
|
| Iran removes block on Telegram Posted: 14 Jan 2018 12:14 AM PST  Iran has lifted restrictions imposed during recent protests on the country's most popular social media app Telegram. "The information concerning the end of filtering on Telegram is correct," a spokesman for the telecoms ministry told AFP. Telegram, which counts some 25 million users in Iran, was blocked on mobile phones during the five days of unrest that hit dozens of cities over the new year.
|
| Chelsea Manning files to run as Democrat for US Senate in Maryland Posted: 13 Jan 2018 11:20 AM PST  Manning is a writer and activist, and has written for the Guardian. Chelsea Manning, the former US army private who was imprisoned for passing information to WikiLeaks, has filed to run for a seat in the US Senate. A federal election filing, made on Thursday, confirmed Manning's intention to run in the November elections as a Democrat.
|
| Selena Gomez's Mom Says She's 'Not Happy' Her Daughter Is Back With Justin Bieber Posted: 15 Jan 2018 12:42 PM PST  Selena Gomez's mother and former manager, Mandy Teefey, is "not happy" the singer has recently rekindled her romance with Justin Bieber, Teefey told celebrity site Gossip Cop.
|
| Volkswagen reports record global car sales in 2017 Posted: 14 Jan 2018 11:56 PM PST  Volkswagen said Sunday that its namesake brand sold more vehicles worldwide in 2017 than ever before, a sign it is recovering from a bruising emissions-cheating scandal three years ago. "We finished 2017 with the best performance ever for Volkswagen," Herbert Diess, chairman of the board of management of the Volkswagen passenger cars brand, said Sunday night at the Detroit Auto Show. Other countries with strong gains in terms of percentages included the United States, Russia and Brazil, although all of these countries are much smaller markets for VW than China.
|
