| North Korea's Kim begins long train trip to Vietnam for summit with Trump: report Posted: 23 Feb 2019 10:14 PM PST ![North Korea's Kim begins long train trip to Vietnam for summit with Trump: report]( "North Korea's Kim begins long train trip to Vietnam for summit with Trump: report") The reports of Kim's departure from North Korea came after Vietnam announced that Kim would make an official visit in "coming days", as the Southeast Asian country prepares to host the summit with Trump on Wednesday and Thursday. Trump and Kim will meet in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore in June - the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader - at which they pledged to work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The Trump administration has pressed North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, which threatens the United States, before it can expect any concessions.
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| 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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| Top cardinal tells Vatican summit that some sex abuse documents destroyed Posted: 23 Feb 2019 07:06 AM PST  Germany's Reinhard Marx says church must redefine confidentiality or face charges of cover-up.
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| Prayers, holy water as Venezuelan Curacao aid shipment delayed Posted: 23 Feb 2019 02:30 PM PST  Willemstad, Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles) (AFP) - Venezuelan opposition supporters rallied in Curacao's port Saturday, pushing for their own shipment to join in a dangerous aid effort for their country, but the vessel's captain declined to sail yet for security reasons. While in Venezuela border clashes and military desertions raised tensions, on the sleepy Caribbean island of Curacao a handful of expatriates applied pressure on a separate front, waving flags and singing. Standing near one of the red trucks carrying the containers of aid at the entrance to a cargo port, Venezuelan priest Julio Gonzalez, 33, blessed the cargo and sprinkled holy water on the excited crowd.
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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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| Security men and metal detectors: Vietnam prepares for Trump-Kim summit Posted: 24 Feb 2019 12:51 PM PST  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on a commitment they made at their first meeting, in Singapore in June, to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear bombs. Vietnam has confirmed that Kim will arrive for an official goodwill visit as well as the summit with Trump, but has released no further details regarding the location of meetings. A Reuters witness saw Vietnamese soldiers in camouflaged fatigues sweeping the area around the Metropole with a metal detector.
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| A stern memo about Manafort says he 'brazenly violated' law Posted: 23 Feb 2019 09:20 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort committed crimes that cut to "the heart of the criminal justice system" and over the years deceived everyone from bookkeepers and banks to federal prosecutors and his own lawyers, according to a sentencing memo filed by special counsel Robert Mueller's office.
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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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| 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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| Rising anti-US sentiment on Okinawa ahead of military base referendum Posted: 23 Feb 2019 10:05 AM PST  When Chiemi Yonashiro was told an object from a United States military helicopter appeared to have fallen onto the nursery where she had dropped off her three-year-old daughter Mimaru just hours earlier, she burst into tears. Her daughter – and around 70 other children playing at the nursery at the time – were unhurt, but for Mrs Yonashiro, 46, the incident confirmed her conviction that her family was not safe living in southern Japan's Okinawa region for one uncomfortable reason: the heavy presence of US military. "Every day we fear that our lives are at risk," the mother-of-two told the Sunday Telegraph. "I do not want to let my daughter or other children to experiences such strong fears. I don't want anyone to suffer this way anymore." Mrs Chiemi is one of tens of thousands of Okinawa residents who will on Sunday be offered the opportunity to express their views on the longstanding presence of US military in the region in a historic referendum. Voters will be asked whether they agree with a deeply controversial plan to relocate a US military base from the crowded residential Futenma region to a more remote part of the island – with early polls indicating that as many as 70 per cent will vote no. Chiemi Yonashiro and children in Okinawa Credit: Danielle Demetriou The result of the referendum is legally non-binding and unlikely to stop the government from pushing ahead with relocating, with reclamation work already underway. However, a "no" result is likely to be viewed as a powerful symbol of local opposition to US military. Okinawa, a subtropical archipelago closer to Taipei than Tokyo, has long been of enormous strategic importance to the US, with the main island hosting more than half of the 47,000 American military personnel based in Japan, despite accounting for less than one per cent of the country's total land area. Tensions between the US military and locals have soared in recent years, with a steady stream of complaints over noise, accidents by military aircraft and crimes committed by military personnel and civilian employees. Momentum to local resistance to US military presence has escalated since last September when Denny Tamaki came to power as Okinawa Governor after campaigning heavily against the relocation plans. Photo taken from a drone shows the relocation site for US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the Henoko coastal district of Nago, Okinawa Credit: Splash News Critics of the relocation say it will damage the island's delicate marine eco-system and potentially increase aircraft accidents, with many calling for the base to be closed down completely or moved to another part of Japan. The fact the referendum is taking place at all is likely to cause a major headache for Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, who is intent on keeping relations smooth with his key ally US president Donald Trump. The timing of the referendum is also sensitive, in the light of preparations underway for the US-North Korea summit in Vietnam next week and discussions over plans for Mr Trump to visit Japan in May and June. The controversial relocation plan has been a potential thorn in Washington-Tokyo relations since it was first proposed more than two decades ago, with one former Japanese PM resigning over the issue. For Mrs Yonashiro, the falling aircraft part at Midorigaoka Nursery in December 2017 was one of a string of incidents that crystalised her deep-rooted opposition to the presence of US military in the region. During the same month, a large object resembling a window frame also reportedly fell from another US military helicopter into the grounds of a nearby elementary school, causing a stone to lightly injure a child. Children playing at Midorigaoka Nursery where the December 2017 incident took place Credit: Danielle Demetriou "Parents here have felt a sense of crisis since these objects fell into schools, one after another," says Futenma-born Mrs Yonashiro, who also has an eight-year-old son Tamaru. "Children in Okinawa have a right to live a peaceful life but they are living with danger. As long as US military aircraft are flying over Okinawa, the danger will not go away. I strongly feel this is the time to change Okinawa. It's not just a matter of military bases, it's about children's lives." Takehiro Kamiya, the head of Midorigaoka Nursery, was no less outspoken in his opposition to US military forces in Okinawa in the run-up to the referendum, highlighting how military aircraft fly over the building on a daily basis. "We do not need the military bases anymore," he told the Sunday Telegraph. "There have been accidents of military aircraft crashing, falling objects and crash-landings, as well as murder, rape, theft, traffic accident, drunk driving. The US military still fly over our communities as if nothing has happened. Would such a thing be allowed in Tokyo or in the UK?" He added: "We demand that military bases not be relocated, but closed or demolished."
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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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| 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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| Lawyer says R. Kelly to stay jailed until Monday or Tuesday Posted: 24 Feb 2019 04:48 PM PST  CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, won't get out of jail until Monday or Tuesday as confidants scramble to arrange to pay the $100,000 bail needed to free him as he awaits trial for aggravated sexual abuse, his lawyer said Sunday.
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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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| 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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| 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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| Venezuela troops fire tear gas on demo at Colombia border Posted: 23 Feb 2019 05:51 AM PST  Ureña (Venezuela) (AFP) - Venezuelan forces on Saturday fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up a crowd demanding to cross a closed border bridge to Colombia, AFP journalists reported. "We want to work!" they chanted while facing the Venezuelan National Guard riot police who were blocking the crossing in Urena, a town in Tachira state. Late on Friday, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the closure of all four bridges linking Tachira to Colombia.
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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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| 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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| 'It's very sad': Trump reacts to Patriots owner Robert Kraft's soliciting prostitution charges Posted: 22 Feb 2019 09:51 PM PST  President Donald Trump said he was surprised by the news of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft being charged with soliciting prostitution.
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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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| AP source: Bears release embattled kicker Cody Parkey Posted: 22 Feb 2019 06:28 PM PST  LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears signed kicker Cody Parkey to a four-year contract in March hoping he would give them the consistency they have lacked ever since they let Robbie Gould go.
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| Tunnels, civilians slow capture of Islamic State's last Syria pocket Posted: 24 Feb 2019 05:51 AM PST  The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia has surrounded the militants at the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border and is trying to complete an evacuation of civilians from the tiny area before storming it or forcing a surrender. Throughout its steady advance across the Syrian stretch of Islamic State's self-declared caliphate, the SDF has been slowed by the group's extensive use of tunnels and human shields - tactics it says are still being deployed in Baghouz. "It is expected that there are still undiscovered tunnels, even rooms underground," said Mustafa Bali, an SDF spokesman.
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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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| Donald Trump delays increase in tariffs on Chinese goods citing progress in trade talks Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:48 PM PST  President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would delay an increase in US tariffs on Chinese goods scheduled for later this week thanks to progress in trade talks and said if progress continued, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would seal a deal. Trump had planned to increase tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the United States if a deal were not reached by Friday between the world's two largest economies. The president said in a tweet that progress had been made on a host of divisive areas including intellectual property protection, technology transfers, agriculture, services and currency. As a result of the talks, he said: "I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for US & China!" Mar-a-Lago is the president's property in Florida, where the two men have met before. I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues. As a result of these very......— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 ....productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 The delay in tariffs was the clearest sign yet of a breakthrough the two sides have sought since calling a 90-day truce in a trade war last year. It will likely be cheered by markets as a sign of an end to the dispute that has disrupted commerce worth hundreds of billions of dollars of goods and slowed global economic growth. During talks that extended into the weekend, US and Chinese negotiators were discussing on Sunday the thorny issue of how to enforce a potential trade deal after making progress on other structural issues, according to a source familiar with the talks. The two sides were discussing tariffs on Sunday as well as commodities, the source said. US officials said on Friday that talks would extend into the weekend after negotiators produced a deal on currency during talks last week. Negotiators were seeking to iron out differences on changes to China's treatment of state-owned enterprises, subsidies, forced technology transfers and cyber theft. Trade | Read more from The Telegraph The two sides have been negotiating an enforcement mechanism. Washington wants a strong mechanism to ensure that Chinese reform commitments were followed through to completion, while Beijing insisted on what it called a "fair and objective" process. Another source briefed on the talks said that enforcement remained a major sticking point as of Saturday. Trump said on Friday there was a "good chance" a deal would emerge, and foreshadowed that he might extend the March 1 deadline and move forward with a meeting with Xi.
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| Robert Kraft 'categorically' denies soliciting sex at spa after police said he was filmed twice in the act Posted: 23 Feb 2019 09:57 AM PST  New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has "categorically" denied soliciting sex at a spa in Florida after police said he was filmed doing so twice. Mr Kraft, 77, faces two counts of soliciting sex from a prostitute. The billionaire is one of two dozen men who were arrested for allegedly paying $59 (£45) for a half-hour and $79 (£60) for an hour of sex at Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida.
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| Facebook threatens the economy, health and democracy Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:00 AM PST  Transparency and technocratic reforms will not be a sufficient response to this challenge – at the end of the day, what's at stake is far more important than a few likes 'It has been a wild 15 years.' Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters
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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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| 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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| These are the 10 best cars, SUVs and pickups of 2019, according to Consumer Reports Posted: 24 Feb 2019 03:34 PM PST  Consumer Reports reveals its Top 10 picks for the best vehicles of 2019. It's an influential annual list that serves as a guide for many car shoppers.
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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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| Novartis gene therapy would be cost effective up to $900,000: U.S. group Posted: 22 Feb 2019 06:12 PM PST ![Novartis gene therapy would be cost effective up to $900,000: U.S. group]( "Novartis gene therapy would be cost effective up to $900,000: U.S. group") The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) made the determination using a commonly cited cost-effectiveness threshold that values each "quality-adjusted life year" (QALY) gained at $100,000 to $150,000. If each QALY gained were assessed at $500,000, ICER found the gene therapy, Zolgensma, would be cost effective at just over $5 million. Novartis has said the price will be determined in negotiations with health plans, but it believes the gene therapy would be cost effective at $4 million to $5 million as a one-time treatment.
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| Alaska senator says she's likely to back Trump disapproval Posted: 22 Feb 2019 07:29 PM PST  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she is likely to support a resolution of disapproval over President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to secure more money for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
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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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