| President Trump fires back at Mitt Romney after critical op-ed: 'I won big and he didn't' Posted: 02 Jan 2019 07:15 AM PST  "Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful," Trump said after Romney's op-ed published
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| Saudi prosecutor seeks death sentences as Khashoggi murder trial opens Posted: 03 Jan 2019 03:32 PM PST  Saudi prosecutors sought the death penalty for five of 11 defendants charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as their high-profile trial opened in Riyadh on Thursday. The prosecution also said it was awaiting a response to two formal letters requesting evidence from Turkey, where Khashoggi was murdered inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2 in a case that shocked the world. All 11 accused were present with their lawyers at the first session of the trial, it said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, without revealing their names or their alleged roles in the crime.
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| Two Migrants Were Discovered Inside Mattresses Trying to Cross the Spanish Border Posted: 01 Jan 2019 07:18 PM PST  Police found the two young African men at a border crossing from Morocco to Melilla
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| US fires tear gas across Mexico border to stop migrants Posted: 01 Jan 2019 10:50 PM PST  TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried to breach the border fence in Tijuana.
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| Scientists think they know where the early universe’s dark matter has been hiding Posted: 02 Jan 2019 02:54 PM PST ![Scientists think they know where the early universe's dark matter has been hiding]( "Scientists think they know where the early universe's dark matter has been hiding") Most of the mass in the universe is made up of a kind of matter that none of us have ever seen. It's called "dark matter" and, despite being incredibly abundant, it's also extremely difficult to study. Decades-old calculations suggested that there is more dark matter around younger galaxies than the ancient ones from the early days of the universe, but then where did the dark matter we see today come from? A new study offers the answer. Past research suggested that galaxies we see nearby have more dark matter than those that are very distant. The farther away a galaxy is the farther back in time we're effectively looking, and scientists believed that those ancient galaxies didn't have all that much dark matter around them. As it turns out, that isn't the case. After studying some 1,500 galaxies, researchers led by Alfred Tiley of Durham University have determined that the amount of dark matter surrounding these huge collections of stars and planets is about the same as it ever was. Detecting dark matter around a galaxy can be tricky but it's made easier by calculating the gravitation effect that the matter has on its surroundings. We can't see dark matter in space because it doesn't reflect light, but it still exerts a gravitational pull, just like "normal" matter. By accounting for the size of a galaxy and the speed at which stars on its edges are moving, scientists can calculate how much dark matter is lurking on the fringes. This latest round of research, applied that same formula to many hundred galaxies both young and old. The scientists now believe that there's not much of a difference between the amount of dark matter around ancient galaxies when compared to much younger ones. However, as Live Science reports, the astronomy community isn't entirely on board with this new finding. The model that Tiley and his team used has been called into question, especially as it relates to measurements of distant high-mass galaxies which have been studied by others searching for dark matter. We'll have to wait and see how this all pans out but the results are certainly interesting and will no doubt further the conversation about where the universe's dark matter lies.
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| New Horizons isn’t done yet, and NASA is searching for its next target Posted: 03 Jan 2019 11:02 AM PST ![New Horizons isn't done yet, and NASA is searching for its next target]( "New Horizons isn't done yet, and NASA is searching for its next target") New Horizons gave NASA an amazing New Year's gift when it sent back gorgeous images of the distant Solar System object Ultima Thule, which we now know is the very first contact binary every visited by man-made spacecraft. It's been a fantastic few days for the New Horizons team, but the spacecraft is far from finished. Now, even as NASA scientists prepare to download a massive collection of data collected during the Ultima Thule flyby, the spacecraft's handlers are busy searching for its next target. The probe still has plenty of fuel to play with, and there's no shortage of interesting objects in the Kuiper Belt, which is packed with debris of varying sizes. As Space News explains, deciding on Ultima Thule took a lot of time and effort, as well as some help from the powerful Hubble Space Telescope. When picking Ultima Thule, the team weighed many different factors, including how interesting the object itself might be and the probability of making a safe pass. The good news is that New Horizons is equipped with an instrument designed specifically to spot objects that are far away. The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager helped the New Horizons team aim the spacecraft in the ideal direction for a close flyby, but sending back those images take a long time. A new software change could allow the spacecraft to snap many different images, combine them, and then send them back as one, which would save time, but that system is still in its conceptual stage and not ready for prime time. NASA will continue to search for new objects that would be crossing near the current path of the spacecraft at the right time, but at the moment the future is still shrouded in mystery. For the time being, the New Horizons team will sift through the Ultima Thule data that will continue to trickle in for the next two years or so, but once they have decided on a new object to visit the hype will begin building once again.
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| Romney, laying down a marker against Trump, may have boxed himself in Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:43 PM PST  Mitt Romney's op-ed criticizing Trump's character and behavior in office fostered speculation it was the opening salvo for a 2020 campaign, but a lot would have to happen before he mounts a real challenge.
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| A first class gaffe: Cathay to honour cheap ticket error Posted: 03 Jan 2019 01:59 AM PST  Scores of savvy travellers will be sipping heavily discounted champagne in first class recliners on Cathay Pacific flights this year after the airline agreed to honour tickets that were mistakenly sold at a fraction of their value. Airline and travel blogs went into overdrive on New Year's Eve after eagle-eyed shoppers noticed the carrier was offering first and business class tickets on its website from Vietnam to the United States and Canada for as little as $670. It took two days for Cathay to publicly acknowledge the error with the airline on Wednesday saying it would indeed honour the cheap fares.
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| Florida McDonald's employee punches back in viral fight that started over straw ban Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:14 PM PST ![Florida McDonald's employee punches back in viral fight that started over straw ban]( "Florida McDonald's employee punches back in viral fight that started over straw ban") A man who grabbed a St. Petersburg, Florida, McDonald's employee was arrested, police said. Video of the incident has over 2 million views on Facebook.
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| 'Assad will stay for a while, thanks to Russian support', says Jeremy Hunt Posted: 03 Jan 2019 06:14 AM PST  Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Minister, has conceded that President Bashar al-Assad will remain in place for "a while", reversing Britain's long-held position to reflect the new reality on the ground in Syria. "The British long-standing position is that we won't have lasting peace in Syria with that (Assad-led) regime," Mr Hunt said. "But regretfully we do think he's going to be around for a while and that is because of the support that he's had from Russia. "Russia may think that it's gained a sphere of influence. What we would say to them is: Yes - and you've also gained a responsibility," the Foreign Minister told Sky News. Moscow, which intervened in the war in 2015 on behalf of the Syrian government, helped swing it in Assad's favour. Russian military gives a press tour of destroyed parts of Aleppo, Syria. Credit: Alec Luhn for the Telegraph While Russia's relationship with Damascus, which dates back to the Soviet era, may not be new, its dominance in the civil war helped elevated it to a position of power broker in the region. Britain, the US and its allies meanwhile backed the opposition, though its lack of real commitment allowed President Vladimir Putin to gain the upper hand. The UK broke off diplomatic contact with the regime in 2012 after peaceful protests were met with a brutal crackdown. Its position since has been that Assad must go and there must be a transition of power through a democratic election. This stipulation is also a precondition to the UK providing the country with reconstruction aid, which Damascus greatly needs to rebuild its flattened cities. However, with Assad claiming a victory and showing no signs of any intention to step aside, the UK must decide how it now wishes to engage. Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, meets with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir in Damascus, Syria, Credit: Sana "If you're going to be involved in Syria then you need to make sure that there really is peace in Syria," Mr Hunt said. "And that means making sure that President Assad does not use chemical weapons on his own people." The British admission also raises doubt that the Syrian leader and his inner circle will ever face trial for alleged war crimes, including sarin attacks which left more than 1,200 dead. In December, the United Nations acknowledged it had failed to persuade Moscow, a veto-wielding member, to agree to form a sufficiently diverse body to prepare a constitution and elections in Syria. This meant the indefinite delay of any UN-supervised elections. The president had for years been an international pariah, but in recent months relations with the Arab world have begun to thaw. Last week, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus, marking a diplomatic boost for Assad from a US-allied Arab state that once backed rebels fighting him. Egypt and other Arab League members have also hinted that Damascus could soon be invited back into the group it was expelled from in 2011.
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| Every Photo of the One-Off BMW M850i Night Sky Posted: 03 Jan 2019 01:13 PM PST |
| US new-vehicle sales in 2018 rise slightly to 17.27 million [UPDATE] Posted: 03 Jan 2019 05:30 AM PST ![US new-vehicle sales in 2018 rise slightly to 17.27 million [UPDATE]](http://l2.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/BojaGuDsXtCBov2RiDwz1w--/YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b247aD04Njt3PTEzMDs-/https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims3/GLOB/crop/5184x2918+0+272/resize/800x450!/format/jpg/quality/85/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-images/2019-01/3863dca0-0f5b-11e9-befd-43dbcbea9cdd "US new-vehicle sales in 2018 rise slightly to 17.27 million [UPDATE]") Every brand is seeing rapidly declining sedan sales
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| Danish train crash toll up to 8 after more bodies found Posted: 03 Jan 2019 02:51 AM PST  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Two more bodies have been found in the wreckage of a crashed train on a Danish bridge, raising the death toll to eight in Denmark's deadliest train accident in 30 years, police said Thursday.
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| Where do the investigations related to Trump stand? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:28 PM PST  A look at where the investigations related to President Donald Trump stand and what may lie ahead for him:
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| A real roasting: Coffee startup Luckin set to overtake Starbucks in China Posted: 03 Jan 2019 03:14 AM PST  After only a year in business, startup Luckin Coffee said Thursday it will open 2,500 stores this year to dislodge Starbucks and become China's largest coffee chain. The company said it plans to have more than 4,500 stores in China by the end of 2019, taking it past the US coffee giant, which has over 3,600 stores across the country. China is Starbucks' second biggest market after the United States.
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| Pompeo, Brazil's new government target Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:43 AM PST  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed supporting a return to democracy in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua with Brazil's new right-wing government on Wednesday, in a joint effort against what he called authoritarian regimes in Latin America. Pompeo and Brazil's Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo considered deepening cooperation in the region at a meeting in Brasilia following Tuesday's inauguration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
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| Giuliani calls for Mueller to be investigated for destruction of FBI evidence Posted: 02 Jan 2019 07:27 PM PST  President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani weighs in on the latest Mueller investigation developments.
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| Ohio Doctor Fired for Tweeting She'd Give Jewish People 'All the Wrong Meds' Posted: 02 Jan 2019 06:20 PM PST  The hospital said that no patients have reported being harmed by her work
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| USA TODAY preview: The hottest new cruise ships of 2019 Posted: 02 Jan 2019 06:02 AM PST ![USA TODAY preview: The hottest new cruise ships of 2019]( "USA TODAY preview: The hottest new cruise ships of 2019") With the peak period for cruise bookings – aka Wave Season – just getting underway, USA TODAY Cruises offers a guide to the year's hottest new ships.
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| Polish Central Bank Chief Is Questioned in Watchdog Scandal Posted: 03 Jan 2019 07:12 AM PST  The latest in a string of central bankers from emerging Europe becoming involved in legal probes, Glapinski has rebuffed calls to step down from opposition parties that are demanding a parliamentary investigation into bribery allegations against the former head of the Financial Supervisory Commission. In November, Latvia's anti-corruption bureau said it was carrying out a criminal probe involving central bank governor Ilmars Rimsevics.
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| As shutdown impasse drags on, DACA protections-for-border-wall deal resurfaces Posted: 02 Jan 2019 06:24 PM PST  As congressional leaders left the White House on Wednesday with little progress on ending the government shutdown, some lawmakers appeared ready to try to resurrect a deal that would secure billions for the construction of a border wall in exchange for protections for children of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally.
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| Taiwan-China relations since 1949 Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:27 AM PST  Mao Zedong's communists take power in Beijing in October 1949 after defeating Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists in a civil war. The KMT flee to the island of Taiwan and form their own government in Taipei in December, cutting off contacts with mainland China. In 1950 Taiwan becomes an ally of the United States, which is at war with Communist China in Korea.
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| The Latest: 3 killed in police car chase identified Posted: 02 Jan 2019 04:22 PM PST ![The Latest: 3 killed in police car chase identified]( "The Latest: 3 killed in police car chase identified") MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Latest on a Milwaukee police pursuit that ended with a vehicle crashing into a river, killing its three occupants (all times local):
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| Kurdish fighters pull out of flashpoint town: Syria's defense ministry Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:20 AM PST ![Kurdish fighters pull out of flashpoint town: Syria's defense ministry]( "Kurdish fighters pull out of flashpoint town: Syria's defense ministry") A convoy of Syrian Kurdish fighters has pulled out of the flashpoint area of Manbij in northern Syria, close to territory controlled by Turkey, Syria's defense ministry said on Wednesday. Some 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, the town occupies a critical spot on the map of the Syrian conflict, near the junction of three separate blocks of territory that form spheres of Russian, Turkish and - for now - U.S. influence. "According to information, approximately 400 Kurdish fighters have left Manbij so far," the Syrian defense ministry said.
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| The 25 Best-Selling Cars, Trucks, and SUVs of 2018 Posted: 03 Jan 2019 11:43 AM PST |
| Husband surprises wife of 67 years with new engagement ring Posted: 03 Jan 2019 09:27 AM PST  After 67 years, it is still nice to know that you can still surprise someone
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| PETA responds to Tiffany Haddish's vow to wear fur till 'police stop killing black people' Posted: 03 Jan 2019 07:01 AM PST  PETA responded to Tiffany Haddish after the comedian said she wold wear animal fur every day until "the police stop killing black people."
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| Trump’s Shutdown Is Irrational Posted: 02 Jan 2019 03:30 AM PST  It has never made sense for President Donald Trump to force a shutdown over funding for his border wall. What Trump has been doing so far is, as political scientist Dave Hopkins points out, following the lead of the House Freedom Caucus. What they care about is proving that they're True Conservatives by differentiating themselves from mainstream Republicans.
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| UK minister queries Channel migrants' asylum claims Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:01 AM PST  Britain's interior minister on Wednesday questioned if asylum seekers increasingly using small boats to cross the Channel from France were genuinely fleeing persecution -- drawing immediate criticism from asylum advocates. During a visit to the southeastern English port town of Dover, where unauthorised arrivals have spiked in recent months, Home Secretary Sajid Javid questioned why people had not already claimed asylum in continental Europe. "A question has to be asked: if you are a genuine asylum seeker, why have you not sought asylum in the first safe country that you arrived in?" he said.
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| Injured UK cop: 'Instinct took over' during terror attack Posted: 02 Jan 2019 10:12 AM PST  LONDON (AP) — The British police officer stabbed while subduing a suspect on New Year's Eve said Wednesday that "instinct took over" when he heard people screaming at a Manchester train station.
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| For Shanahan, a very public debut in Trump's cabinet Posted: 03 Jan 2019 12:18 AM PST ![For Shanahan, a very public debut in Trump's cabinet]( "For Shanahan, a very public debut in Trump's cabinet") Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, sat silently at Trump's side, often expressionless, as television cameras rolled. Trump suggested that former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis - who abruptly resigned last month over policy differences with Trump - had been essentially fired and that Mattis had failed in Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents are becoming increasingly confident of ending the 17-year-old war on terms favorable to them. "I'm not happy with what he's done in Afghanistan and I shouldn't be happy," Trump said.
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| Now is time to cash in that $1.5B Mega Millions lottery ticket; mystery surrounds winner Posted: 02 Jan 2019 12:02 PM PST  The winning ticket for the Mega Millions drawing Oct. 23 was sold in Simpsonville, South Carolina. The winner has until April 20 to claim the money.
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| Decade-old flaw in Twitter allows hackers to spread ISIS propaganda using old accounts, report claims Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:33 AM PST  Terrorists are allegedly exploiting a decade-old vulnerability in Twitter's systems to hijack dormant accounts and spread propaganda online. According to TechCrunch, there has been a resurgence in the number of accounts being hacked in recent weeks, many of which had been inactive for years. The hackers are reportedly using the fact that, prior to this summer, those opening an account with Twitter did not need to confirm their email addresses, meaning there are a number of accounts on the platform not linked to real email addresses or expired addresses. This allows hackers to then create the email address, and so gain access to the attached account. Security experts said this issue was "all too well known", but that it was hard for Twitter to manage the problem. "Twitter could expire accounts after a certain period of dormancy, but legacy accounts that were created without real associated emails will be vulnerable to this sort of hijack," said Robert Pritchard, the former cyber-security researcher at GCHQ and founder of The Cyber Security Expert. Alan Woodward, a computer scientist from the University of Surrey, agreed that "there has been some evidence of this before but it's difficult to see how you stop it unless you disable any Twitter account that has been inactive for more than a certain period". "When the accounts are set up with common email services they can be effectively taken over." Monthly active users TechCrunch said it had been alerted to a number of the hijacked accounts by a security researcher known as WauchulaGhost. The site said those accounts had been spreading propaganda, including videos of Islamic State fighters and messages supporting violence, such as one said to have read: "With your cars, let's go pack, you bomb, go with a bomb, you go in any way." Many of the accounts have since been deleted, it added. WauchulaGhost said: "A lot of these older dormant accounts never created the email they have listed on the account. All someone has to do is create it and take over the account. At the moment Islamic State is using this flaw to spread their propaganda." Technology intelligence - newsletter promo - RHS Twitter had signalled it was aware of the issue in June, introducing the requirement for new accounts to be confirmed with either email addresses or phone numbers. "This is an important change to defend against people who try to take advantage of our openness," Twitter had said at the time. Between January and June, it had suspended a total of 205,156 accounts which had violated its policy prohibiting the promotion of terrorism. Following the report on Wednesday, a spokesman for Twitter said: "Reusing email addresses in this manner is not a new issue for Twitter or other online services. For our part, our teams are aware and are working to identify solutions that can help keep Twitter accounts safe and secure."
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| PHOTOS: How many animals live at the London Zoo? Posted: 03 Jan 2019 06:28 AM PST  The yearly stock-taking sees staff at the Zoological Society of London facility work through all the herds and packs and flocks, from tigers and penguins to jellyfish.
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| $425M Mega Millions ticket sold on Long Island Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:21 AM PST  Jay Huang, the owner of Brookville Auto Service Shop in Long Island, where the winning ticket for the $425 million jackpot was sold, says he's very happy for his shop selling the winning ticket. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
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| Pull-out from Syria changes nothing in US support for Israel: Pompeo Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:19 AM PST  Brasília (AFP) - President Donald Trump's decision to pull American troops out of Syria "in no way changes anything" in terms of US support and protection of Israel, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday. Pompeo gave the assurance as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks in Brasilia on the sidelines of the inauguration of Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro. "The decision the president made on Syria in no way changes anything that this administration is working on alongside Israel," Pompeo said.
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| Ocasio-Cortez Breaks With Pelosi in Key Early Vote for Democrats Posted: 02 Jan 2019 11:38 AM PST  The rules measure, set for a vote on Thursday when the new Congress convenes, will reimpose a "pay as you go" requirement that would allow challenges to legislation that adds to the deficit. The rules were negotiated by likely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to satisfy concerns among members of the new the 235-member majority representing more conservative areas of the country. Ocasio-Cortez, a 29-year-old representative-elect from New York City, said on Twitter Wednesday that the system referred to as paygo "isn't only bad economics," but is "also a dark political maneuver designed to hamstring progress on healthcare+other leg.
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| Hindu hardliners clash with police over women at shrine Posted: 03 Jan 2019 10:18 AM PST  NEW DELHI (AP) — Hindu hardliners vandalized shops, shut businesses and clashed with police in a southern state Thursday to protest the entry of two women in one of India's largest Hindu pilgrimage sites, police said.
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| GM hit 200,000 U.S. electric vehicles sold in 2018 Posted: 02 Jan 2019 10:45 AM PST  The credit for GM EVs falls to $3,750 in April.
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