| Gingrich: ‘They should abolish the Congressional Budget Office’ Posted: 14 Mar 2017 06:58 AM PDT  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called for the Congressional Budget Office to be abolished in the aftermath of a negative report about the proposed American Health Care Act legislation, the Republican plan to replace Obamacare. "They should abolish the Congressional Budget Office," said Gingrich in a Fox News interview Monday night. "It is corrupt, it is dishonest, it was totally wrong on Obamacare by huge, huge margins.
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| Exclusive Look at Trump's 2005 Tax Return Posted: 14 Mar 2017 11:22 AM PDT  MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and David Cay Johnston discuss how Johnston obtained the summary pages of President Donald Trump's 2005 tax returns and what they say about the president's tax burden. Maddow also reads a response from the White House.
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| GOP Rep. Barton tells man to ‘shut up’ in testy town hall Posted: 14 Mar 2017 12:46 PM PDT  A Texas congressman told a constituent to "shut up" in a heated moment caught on video. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, was holding a town hall last weekend in the city of Frost, the Dallas Morning News reported, when a man confronted him about his voting record pertaining to violence against women. "Given your voting record opposing protecting women from violence, will you make a commitment to us today — make a promise — that you will reach out to Congresswoman Jackie Speier and work with her to see this bill successfully through Congress?" the man asked, drawing applause from the crowd.
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| Conservative website only media on Tillerson plane to Asia Posted: 15 Mar 2017 10:42 AM PDT ![Conservative website only media on Tillerson plane to Asia]( "Conservative website only media on Tillerson plane to Asia") By Yeganeh Torbati SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flew to Asia accompanied by only one journalist on his aircraft, a reporter from a website founded by former Republican political operatives, in a departure from decades of practice. Tillerson, who became the top U.S. diplomat under Republican President Donald Trump in February, traveled to Mexico and Germany last month with a small contingent of journalists, including a "pool" reporter who informed colleagues of Tillerson's statements or actions. The journalist on Tillerson's plane that arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, Erin McPike of the Independent Journal Review (IJR), was not acting as a pool reporter.
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| North Korea Threatens ‘Merciless’ Attacks Over U.S. Military Drills Posted: 14 Mar 2017 03:44 PM PDT  Just as Sec. of State Tillerson is set to arrive in Japan, joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea have exacerbated tensions with North Korea.
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| Photos of the day - March 15, 2017 Posted: 15 Mar 2017 12:59 PM PDT ![Photos of the day - March 15, 2017]( "Photos of the day - March 15, 2017") Doctors and medical personnel scuffle with riot police during a march in front of the Finance Ministry in Athens, Greece; House Select Committee members speak to the media about the ongoing Russia investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; an ultra-Orthodox Jew gets hit by a police water cannon during a protest against Israeli army conscription, in Jerusalem. These are some of the photos of the day. (AP/EPA/Getty/Reuters/Zuma)
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| US Air Force Plane Crashes In New Mexico Posted: 14 Mar 2017 11:03 PM PDT  The crash occurred during a training exercise Tuesday evening and those on board are feared dead, according to local reports.
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| ‘I don’t even know where the satire begins’: Rep. Quigley bewildered by White House defense of wiretapping assertion Posted: 14 Mar 2017 07:14 AM PDT  Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., slammed White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday, comparing the daily media briefing and its defenses of President Trump to self-parody. The comment was in reference to Monday's press briefing, in which Spicer attempted to clarify Trump's evidence-free allegation that former President Barack Obama wiretapped the phones in Trump Tower prior to the election. Quigley, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, rejected this defense, saying, "These are extraordinarily serious allegations about the former president and our entire system.
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| Breitbart posts audio of Paul Ryan on pre-election call: ‘I am not going to defend Donald Trump – not now, not in the future’ Posted: 14 Mar 2017 06:47 AM PDT  House Speaker Paul Ryan has been defending Donald Trump ever since his formal endorsement of him two days before the November 2016 presidential election. Ryan's abandonment of Trump, which came in response to the publication of Trump's lewd remarks about women on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, had been reported at the time. "The world is well aware of this history," Brendan Buck, a spokesman for the House speaker, said Tuesday in a statement to Yahoo News.
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| Climate change is making people sick: US doctors Posted: 15 Mar 2017 08:47 AM PDT  From rising levels of air pollution to increased water contamination and a widening range for disease-carrying mosquitoes, climate change is making people sick, a coalition of 11 US medical groups said Wednesday. Known as the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, the group represents more than half of US doctors, and aims to help policy makers understand the health dangers of global warming, and what must be done to guard against it in the coming years. "Doctors in every part of our country see that climate change is making Americans sicker," said Mona Sarfaty, a physician and director of the new consortium.
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| 2-Year-Old Left Brain Dead After Alleged Brutal Beating From 17-Year-Old Babysitter Posted: 14 Mar 2017 11:36 AM PDT  Police said more charges are forthcoming.
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| EU headscarf ban ruling sparks faith group backlash Posted: 14 Mar 2017 10:15 AM PDT ![EU headscarf ban ruling sparks faith group backlash]( "EU headscarf ban ruling sparks faith group backlash") By Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Companies may ban staff from wearing Islamic headscarves and other visible religious symbols under certain conditions, the European Union's top court ruled on Tuesday, setting off a storm of complaint from rights groups and religious leaders. In its first ruling on an issue that has become highly charged across Europe, the Court of Justice (ECJ) found a Belgian firm which had a rule that employees who dealt with customers should not wear visible religious or political symbols may not have discriminated against a Muslim receptionist it dismissed for wearing a headscarf. French conservative candidate Francois Fillon hailed the ECJ ruling as "an immense relief" to companies and workers that would contribute to "social peace".
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| Apple rumored to have new iPad coming Posted: 15 Mar 2017 02:33 AM PDT  An online tech report says new iPad will have a 10.5 inch screen and higher resolution display.
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| Malaysia says Kim body embalmed to halt decomposition Posted: 14 Mar 2017 02:40 AM PDT  Malaysia said Tuesday that the body of Kim Jong-Nam has been embalmed to stop it decomposing, as it lies unclaimed in a Kuala Lumpur morgue a month after his assassination. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also announced the deportation of 50 North Korean workers in an apparent exception to a departure ban imposed after the killing of the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un.
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| Russia Denies Reports It Deployed Special Forces In Egypt Posted: 13 Mar 2017 11:05 PM PDT  Amid growing concerns of the U.S., Russia has reportedly made it clear that it will go to any extent to establish its role in the war-torn North African nation.
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| White House: Kellyanne Conway was joking when she talked about microwave surveillance Posted: 14 Mar 2017 01:05 PM PDT  With White House counselor Kellyanne Conway sitting nearby in the briefing room, press secretary Sean Spicer insisted she was joking when she made her infamous comment about microwave surveillance. Spicer was attempting to play off comments Conway had made in a Sunday interview with the Record, a New Jersey newspaper.
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| North Carolina ex-gov: LGBT law backlash hurting job search Posted: 14 Mar 2017 06:35 AM PDT ![North Carolina ex-gov: LGBT law backlash hurting job search]( "North Carolina ex-gov: LGBT law backlash hurting job search") RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's former governor says he's had trouble finding a job, even part-time teaching positions, because of backlash from legislation he signed involving transgender rights.
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| Democrats blast ‘Trumpcare’ after CBO finds GOP plan would leave millions without coverage Posted: 14 Mar 2017 08:50 AM PDT  Top congressional Democrats fiercely denounced the Republican-backed American Health Care Act (AHCA) on Tuesday, a day after the Congressional Budget Office predicted that the GOP plan would leave 14 million more Americans without health insurance by 2018 than under Obamacare, and by 2026, 24 million would be uninsured. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York speak to reporters about the Congressional Budget Office projection that 14 million people would lose health coverage under the House Republican bill dismantling former President Barack Obama's health care law, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March, 13, 2017.
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| U.S. Plains wildfires ravage ranches in three states Posted: 15 Mar 2017 07:38 AM PDT ![U.S. Plains wildfires ravage ranches in three states]( "U.S. Plains wildfires ravage ranches in three states") When the Schwerzenbach family saw a wildfire racing toward their remote ranch in Lipscomb, Texas, there was no time to run. "We had a minute or two and then it was over us," said 56-year-old Nancy Schwerzenbach. The fire, moving up to 70 miles per hour (112 kph), was one of several across more than 2 million acres (810,000 hectares) that hit the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas last week, causing millions of dollars of damage and killing thousands of livestock.
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| Police chasing 1,000s of tips in killing of 2 Indiana teens Posted: 14 Mar 2017 11:44 AM PDT  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A month after two teenage girls were found slain after vanishing during a northern Indiana hiking trip, investigators said Tuesday they continue following up on thousands of tips that have led officers to interview more 300 people for possible involvement in the case.
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| U.S. taxpayers procrastinate on filing returns this year Posted: 14 Mar 2017 04:12 AM PDT ![U.S. taxpayers procrastinate on filing returns this year]( "U.S. taxpayers procrastinate on filing returns this year") The number of people filing their taxes with the Internal Revenue Service is running well below last year. The tax deadline is April 18 instead of the traditional April 15, which falls on a Saturday this year. The most significant reason, however, and one cited by the IRS, is that a new regulation delayed refunds by taxpayers claiming an Earned Income Tax Credit or an Additional Child Tax Credit until Feb. 15.
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| The Galaxy S8 and Note 8 might not even be the best phones Samsung unveils this year Posted: 14 Mar 2017 08:17 AM PDT 
Samsung is reportedly working on a smartphone that will be a step above regular flagship handsets, a device that'll deliver "luxurious design and high-quality" beyond anything Samsung has done so far, including the unreleased Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8. That smartphone should be unveiled officially later this year, according to a new report, although it might not actually hit store shelves until some point in 2018. Samsung's unnamed smartphone was apparently showcased to a limited number of partners at MWC 2017, as the South Korean giant is trying to prevent leaks. What's so special about this device? The screen. According to ETNews' sources, this is the foldable Samsung handset we've heard about in recent rumors. Samsung seems committed to mass-producing a few thousands units this year, and the company apparently wants to release them to testers and partners in the third quarter. The trial run should help Samsung test the quality and performance of the phone, while simultaneously offering the company a way to test the market ahead of a wider release. Assuming the report is accurate and Samsung sticks to this schedule, we might see the device unveiled at IFA 2017 later this year. Mass-production should start in 2018 after Samsung gauges demand for such a device. It's unclear at this time what the first foldable smartphone from Samsung will have to offer other than the foldable OLED display itself. Pricing details also have not been mentioned. Samsung's prototype won't be the only foldable smartphone we'll see in the near future. Apparently, Samsung is in a race with various Chinese handset makers to become the first company in the world to release a handset with a foldable display. Lenovo, Oppo, and Vivo might be working on foldable phones, the report notes, with the help of local display makers including BOE, Visionox, and AUO. Samsung Display, meanwhile, will obviously provide flexible OLED screens to Samsung for the foldable phone. Notably absent from the report is Apple. Reports in late 2016 claimed that Apple is also interested in making foldable iPhones. The same ETNews said in mid-December that LG Display is looking to mass-produce foldable screens for a number of partners, including Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
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| Headphone batteries explode on flight to Australia Posted: 15 Mar 2017 01:12 AM PDT  A woman whose headphones caught fire on a plane suffered burns to her face and hands, Australian officials said Wednesday as they warned about the dangers of battery-operated devices in-flight. The passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed about two hours into the trip from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19 when there was a loud explosion. "As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face," she told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) which investigated the incident.
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| Police detained congressman who refused to leave ICE office Posted: 14 Mar 2017 09:47 AM PDT ![Police detained congressman who refused to leave ICE office]( "Police detained congressman who refused to leave ICE office") Police placed Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D) of Illinois in handcuffs briefly on Monday after he refused to leave a federal immigration office without getting answers about the fate of several detainees facing deportation. Mr. Gutiérrez says he met with the regional Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE, director at a Chicago immigration office. After receiving several warnings from officials, the congressman and other demonstrators were placed in plastic handcuffs and briefly detained.
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| US demands UN pull report accusing Israel of apartheid Posted: 15 Mar 2017 12:59 PM PDT  The United States on Wednesday demanded that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres withdraw a report by a UN body accusing Israel of imposing apartheid on the Palestinians. Guterres distanced himself from the report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) but US Ambassador Nikki Haley said it should be scrapped altogether.
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| Republicans condemn King’s incendiary comments on immigration Posted: 14 Mar 2017 08:18 AM PDT  The backlash to Rep. Steve King's incendiary comments about immigration continued Tuesday, hours after the Iowa Republican appeared to double down on a tweet critics said was his open endorsement of white nationalism. At the White House, press secretary Sean Spicer said King's comments were "not a point of view" that President Trump shares. King's sparked a firestorm on Sunday by suggesting that Western civilization is threatened by the influx of immigrants and refugees.
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| White House: Microwave is 'not a sound way of surveilling someone' Posted: 14 Mar 2017 12:38 PM PDT During Tuesday's White House press briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer said that a microwave is "not a sound way of surveilling someone" and that previous comment made by the White House suggesting otherwise was made "in jest."
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| Study: Stopping global warming only way to save coral reefs Posted: 15 Mar 2017 01:15 PM PDT  SYDNEY (AP) — Reducing pollution and curbing overfishing won't prevent the severe bleaching that is killing coral at catastrophic rates, according to a study of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. In the end, researchers say, the only way to save the world's coral from heat-induced bleaching is with a war on global warming.
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| Ethiopia trash dump death toll rises to 113 Posted: 15 Mar 2017 11:19 AM PDT ![Ethiopia trash dump death toll rises to 113]( "Ethiopia trash dump death toll rises to 113") By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The death toll from a landslide at a dump in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa has reached 113, officials said on Wednesday, as the government declared three days of national mourning. Flags flew at half mast to mark the disaster that occurred at the 50-year-old Reppi dump on Saturday evening. "The total number of dead has reached 113, of which 38 are male and 75 are female," said Dagmawit Moges, a spokeswoman for the city. "At least 80 other residents are missing," said Temesghen Abraham, a resident at the landfill.
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| Rethinking Your Career for a Better Retirement Posted: 15 Mar 2017 06:50 AM PDT ![Rethinking Your Career for a Better Retirement]( "Rethinking Your Career for a Better Retirement") No matter where you are in your career, it's never too late to make a change. While you might decide to move to an industry you simply like better, there are many other good reasons to switch jobs. If you find a position with better benefits, you might be able to set yourself up for a more comfortable retirement.
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| Veteran U.S. diplomat Patterson out of running for Pentagon post Posted: 14 Mar 2017 03:21 PM PDT ![Veteran U.S. diplomat Patterson out of running for Pentagon post]( "Veteran U.S. diplomat Patterson out of running for Pentagon post") Veteran U.S. diplomat Anne Patterson is out of the running to under secretary of defense for policy, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, depriving Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of his choice for his top policy adviser. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said Patterson ran into resistance on Capitol Hill that might have made it hard for her to win confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The Washington Post first reported that Patterson, who had previously served as the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East and as ambassador to Egypt, Pakistan, Colombia and El Salvador, was no longer a candidate.
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| US envoy makes 1st Asia trip as anxiety rises over NKorea Posted: 15 Mar 2017 07:09 AM PDT  TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday began a three-nation tour of Asia where anxiety is rising over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, along with questions over how the Trump administration will tackle one of its sternest national security challenges.
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| Taiwan Raises Concerns Over China's Actions In South China Sea Posted: 15 Mar 2017 05:40 AM PDT  On Tuesday, reports surfaced that Beijing has started fresh construction work in the disputed waters.
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| The rise of Europe's far right Posted: 14 Mar 2017 10:35 AM PDT ![The rise of Europe's far right]( "The rise of Europe's far right") A "who's who" of far-right politics in Europe, as parties ride a wave of success on anti-immigration and nationalist policies, and opposition to the increasing powers of the European Union.
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| Vietnam seizes 100 kgs of rhino horn from Kenya Posted: 14 Mar 2017 09:33 AM PDT  Vietnam police seized more than 100 kilograms of rhino horn smuggled into the country in suitcases from Kenya on Tuesday, the latest illegal haul in the wildlife trafficking hub. Vietnam is a hot market for rhino horn, believed to have medicinal properties and is in high demand among the communist nation's growing middle class. The country is a popular transit point for illegal animal products, which often move from Africa through Vietnam to other parts of Asia.
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| Humane Society Offers Nearly $50,000 for Arrest of Suspect Who Tortured Cat That Later Died Posted: 15 Mar 2017 07:33 AM PDT  The cat was missing for four days.
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| Family in Hilarious BBC Interview Speak Out About Viral Experience Posted: 14 Mar 2017 03:57 PM PDT "That never happened before, obviously," Prof. Robert Kelly said when explaining the moment his daughter waltzed into his office, as he analyzed South Korean politics live on the BBC.
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| iOS 11 lock screen gets re-imagined in brand new concept photos Posted: 15 Mar 2017 01:44 PM PDT 
These days, it's not uncommon to come across stunning and thought-provoking iOS 11 concepts that aren't necessarily feasible. Indeed, some designers, when putting together iOS 11 mockups, seem to focus on cobbling together fantastical features without ever stopping to contemplate whether or not their designs are practical or even doable. Imagining futuristic iOS 11 features can certainly be fun and entertaining, but sometimes we've got to take a step back and focus on iOS features Apple might actually implement.
Stepping up to the plate in this regard, Matt Birchler of Birchtree recently put together an interesting list of iOS 11 lockscreen ideas that not only seem doable, but might actually be extremely useful. As a quick example, Birchler envisions a scenario where Apple might put weather information onto the top corner of the lock screen. Birchler reasons that many people turn on their phones to get a quick weather update so putting that information in plan view would be extremely efficient. Now I'm not sure people check their weather that often during the day, but the mockup below illustrates just one way in which Apple could take advantage of the mostly empty real estate on the iOS lock screen. 
Another intriguing idea Birchler raises is threading Messages notifications on the lock screen. I'm not sure Apple will go down this route, but Birchler's idea could easily help clean up some notification clutter on the lock screen. Some other ideas Birchler puts forward include a smart notification system and the ability to add third-party apps to the lock screen itself, an intriguing idea to say the least. With Apple set to unveil iOS 11 in just about three months, we curiously still haven't heard much about what type of features Apple's next-gen mobile OS will bring to the table, save for a few rumblings about Dark Mode, enhanced Siri support, group FaceTime chat functionality and few other minor tweaks. The following iOS 11 concept video, this one from designer Jacek Zieba, encapsulates a few of these ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg7NNXyr3JY
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| Plowing through Hartford, CT Posted: 14 Mar 2017 06:19 AM PDT  ABC News' Adrienne Bankert hits the snow-covered streets with Ruben Olmeda, owner of DCJ Snow Removal, for a look at how snow plow drivers in Connecticut are dealing with Tuesday's nor'easter.
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| Syria a 'torture-chamber', U.N. says in call to free detainees Posted: 14 Mar 2017 12:34 PM PDT ![Syria a 'torture-chamber', U.N. says in call to free detainees]( "Syria a 'torture-chamber', U.N. says in call to free detainees") By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The top U.N. human rights official called on Tuesday for tens of thousands of detainees to be released from Syria's prisons and for torturers and executioners to be brought to justice as part of a lasting peace. Former Syrian detainees also testified before the U.N. Human Rights Council about their suffering and concern for men, women and children still in custody of the government or of extremist groups including al-Nusra and Islamic State.
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| 3 service men killed in military plane crash in New Mexico Posted: 15 Mar 2017 12:44 PM PDT  Three service members assigned to a special operations unit were killed after a single-engine reconnaissance and surveillance plane crashed in eastern New Mexico during a training flight, the Air Force said.
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| Trump will donate his salary 'by year's end' Posted: 13 Mar 2017 05:50 PM PDT  Donald Trump will donate his annual presidential salary of $400,000 to charity by year's end, spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday -- and he even wants the media he often criticizes to help him choose a worthwhile cause. "The president's intention is to donate his salary at the end of the year," Spicer told reporters at his daily briefing. "He kindly asked that you all help determine where that goes," he continued -- a rather unusual statement from a White House that has made hostile confrontation with the media a near-daily occurrence.
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| Iraqi troops seize main bridge, advance on mosque in battle for Mosul Posted: 15 Mar 2017 05:04 AM PDT ![Iraqi troops seize main bridge, advance on mosque in battle for Mosul]( "Iraqi troops seize main bridge, advance on mosque in battle for Mosul") By Patrick Markey and John Davison MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi government forces battling Islamic State for Mosul took control of a main bridge over the Tigris river on Wednesday and advanced towards the mosque where the group's leader declared a caliphate in 2014, federal police said. The seizure of the Iron Bridge, linking eastern Mosul with the militant-held Old City on the west side, means the government holds three of the five bridges over the Tigris and bolsters Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's assertion that the battle is reaching its final stages. The bridge, which was damaged in fighting late last year, was captured by federal police and Interior Ministry Rapid Response units, a police statement said.
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| Who wins, who loses in US Republican health care plan Posted: 14 Mar 2017 01:11 PM PDT The Republican plan to ditch "Obamacare" and implement new reforms to the US health care system would leave millions of Americans without insurance. Under the new plan, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the number of uninsured will grow by 14 million in 2018, and by 2026 to 24 million more than the number projected to be living without insurance under the current Affordable Care Act. "In the academic community, people were surprised at how high the figures were," Colleen Carey, an economics professor at Cornell University and an expert in health care regulation, told AFP.
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| Rescued orangutans airlifted to freedom in Borneo Posted: 14 Mar 2017 06:21 PM PDT  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Conservation groups in Indonesia have returned 17 critically endangered orangutans to their natural forest habitat in the past month, airlifting some by helicopter to a remote area of Borneo where they hope the rehabilitated great apes will be safe from human encroachment.
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