| Joy Behar Challenges Kirsten Gillibrand: Why'd You Push Out Al Franken? Posted: 29 Jan 2018 02:58 PM PST  Joy Behar kicked off an interview with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Monday by confronting the lawmaker for calling on Sen. Al Franken to resign after being publicly accused of sexual misconduct.
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| India's 'Unwanted' Girls Number In The Millions, New Report Finds Posted: 30 Jan 2018 01:17 PM PST  Indian families' traditional preference for sons over daughters has led to the existence of millions of "unwanted" girls in the country, a new government report estimates.
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| Rep. Swalwell warns Trump admin over McCabe departure Posted: 29 Jan 2018 02:30 AM PST  Rep. Eric Swalwell joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the news that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is stepping down and warns that if his departure is in any way connected to the Russia investigation, it will cause problems for the Trump administration.
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| Wife of Taiwan activist jailed in China barred from visiting Posted: 30 Jan 2018 01:48 AM PST  The wife of a Taiwanese democracy activist who was jailed in China in a case which further strained relations was Tuesday barred from boarding a flight to visit him in prison. Human rights and democracy activists have been targeted in Chinese President Xi Jinping's crackdown on dissent since he took power in 2012. Taipei had called Lee's jailing "unacceptable" and a serious blow to cross-strait relations, while his wife Lee Ching-yu called his trial a "political show".
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| Gold! Treasure lost at sea in 1857 shipwreck goes on display Posted: 29 Jan 2018 08:36 AM PST  SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — More than $50 million worth of gold bars, coins and dust that's been described as the greatest lost treasure in U.S. history is about to make its public debut in California after sitting at the bottom of the ocean for more than 150 years.
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| Shaky start to Syria peace talks in Russia as opposition delegates refuse to leave Sochi airport Posted: 30 Jan 2018 05:13 AM PST  A Russian-organised peace conference aimed at ending the war in Syria had a shambolic start on Tuesday, after dozens of opposition delegates refused to leave the airport in Sochi and others backed out at the last minute. Moscow, a staunch Assad ally, is hosting what it has called a Syrian Congress of National Dialogue in the Black Sea resort that it hopes will launch negotiations on drafting a new constitution for Syria after almost seven years of war. But the conference, which is running in parallel to the United Nations-negotiated talks, looked in jeopardy after more than 70 rebel delegates refused to leave the airport until all logos and emblems representing the government were removed. A rebel source told the Telegraph Russia had promised to change or remove the symbol of the congress, which read "Peace to the People of Syria" but only featured the regime flag, only to be greeted by them at the arrivals gate. Sochi conference logo (w/only regime flag) causing problems. Apparently a group of opposition members refused to board one of the buses with it at the airport. They sat at the terminal until other transport was arranged. pic.twitter.com/hjSVlH0uR1— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) January 30, 2018 The Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC), the country's main opposition group, meanwhile said following two days of UN-led talks in Vienna last week that it would not attend the Sochi congress. Turkey, which backs the opposition and is co-sponsoring the talks with Iran, which supports Bashar al-Assad's government, said it would represent the rebels. Lt. Col. Ahmad al-Saud of Idlib's Free Syrian Army claimed the opposition delegation was mistreated by Russian authorities at the airport, where he was detained for several hours Credit: Twitter/CombatChris1 Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, was heckled during his opening statement, with several delegates accusing Moscow of killing civilians in Syria with its air strikes. "In Russia, it's polite to say 'please' first," Mr Lavrov responded, saying they would have a chance to speak later. The conference was initially billed as a two-day event but was cut down to one. Observers noted that much of Tuesday's programme was taken up with a long lunch and dinner, leaving little time for discussion. Attendees shout slogans prior to a plenary session at the Congress of Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi Credit: AFP Britain, the US and France did not send any official delegates because of what they say is the government's refusal to properly engage. Western powers support the UN process, which is now in its ninth round but has so far failed to make any major headway. The conference was also also boycotted by Kurdish delegates over Turkey's offensive on the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Afrin, a northern Syrian enclave on the border with Turkey. A few Kurdish officials attended in a personal capacity and reportedly met in private with Russian counterparts on the sidelines of the conference. The main aim of the Sochi talks is to establish a committee to create a post-war constitution for Syria with UN backing, according to a draft statement. However, any deal agreed without he Kurds, which control some 25 per cent of territory in Syria, will unlikely succeed. The poor start is a blow to Russia, which has been positioning itself a Middle East peace broker and trying to consolidate influence in the region as the US increasingly takes a step back from the Syrian crisis under President Donald Trump. "The whole point of the congress was to have a serious negotiation with the Kurds, or at least the Higher Negotiating Committee (the most relevant opposition body)," Neil Hauer, s security analyst focused on Russia-Syria relations, told the Telegraph from Sochi. "Neither of them are here, and as such there's not much that can be discussed. Nor will anything announced here have much legitimacy. It will be very difficult for the Russians to spin this as a win." The opposition has accused Russia of not being an honest broker after failing to uphold a deal made in previous round of talks in Kazakhstan. Both sides agreed to so-called de-escalation zones across Syria, which government forces have since violated. Hours before the the congress got underway, nearly a dozen civilians were killed in a pro-government air strike on the largest market in rebel-held Idlib province. The government is now focused on the northwestern province of Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaeda-linked militants and home to more than 2.6 million people, nearly half of whom have fled from other areas. It appears to have stepped up its bombing campaign in Idlib in recent days. The Observatory reported 90 airstrikes in Idlib on Monday alone.
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| Victims' families: Jealousy drove car wash shooting suspect Posted: 29 Jan 2018 01:14 AM PST  A man suspected of gunning down four people at a Pennsylvania car wash was driven by jealousy, according to family members of the shooting victims.
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| 7 Glass Mosaics Around the World That Take Design to New Heights (Literally) Posted: 30 Jan 2018 03:35 PM PST |
| Russian fighter jet flies within 5ft of US Navy surveillance aircraft Posted: 30 Jan 2018 04:58 AM PST  A Russian fighter jet came within 5ft of a US surveillance plane as it flew over the Black Sea, in what the US called an "unsafe interaction". The flight path of the Russian jet forced the US Navy aircraft, which was flying in international airspace, to end its mission prematurely, a US official said. "This is but the latest example of Russian military activities disregarding international norms and agreements," the US State Department said in a separate statement.
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| Everything you need to know about tomorrow's super blue blood moon Posted: 30 Jan 2018 11:51 AM PST  A rare celestial phenomenon will take place January 31, when a super moon, blue moon and total lunar eclipse take place at the same time.
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| Trial starts for woman charged with killing her twin Posted: 29 Jan 2018 07:01 PM PST  WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — A murder trial began Monday for a woman accused of deliberately driving off a cliff in Hawaii and killing her identical twin sister.
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| Taiwan holds live-fire drills as tensions with China mount Posted: 29 Jan 2018 11:35 PM PST  Taiwanese troops Tuesday staged live-fire exercises simulating a response to an invasion, as China steppeds up pressure on the island's President Tsai Ing-wen and a row over airline routes escalated. The ministry did not specify that the annual drill simulated an invasion by China but said it was intended to "show determination to safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait and national security". Tsai last month warned against what she called Beijing's "military expansion" -- the increase in Chinese air and naval drills around the island since she came to power in May 2016.
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| ICE Deports Palestinian Man Living In The U.S. For Almost 40 Years Despite Outcry Posted: 30 Jan 2018 02:05 AM PST  Weeks of confusion and inconsistencies from immigration officials ended on Monday after authorities deported a Palestinian man who had been living in the U.S. for nearly 40 years.
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| Cleveland Indians to Remove Chief Wahoo Logo Posted: 29 Jan 2018 07:57 AM PST  The team will no longer wear the logo or display signs or banners with the image beginning in 2019.
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| Tom Brady Has This Wish For Radio Host Who Insulted His 5-Year-Old Daughter Posted: 30 Jan 2018 03:27 AM PST  New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said Monday night that he doesn't want radio station WEEI to sack the host who called his 5-year-old daughter Vivian "an annoying little pissant."
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| North Korea has stepped up executions, says top US commander Posted: 30 Jan 2018 04:31 AM PST  North Korea has stepped up its executions, the top commander of US troops on the Korean Peninsula said on Monday, amid increasing strain on the its military from international economic sanctions. "We're seeing some increase in executions, mostly against political officers who are in military units, for corruption," General Vincent K Brooks, the top US commander in South Korea told the Wall Street Journal. He added that the actions "are really about trying to clamp down on as much as possible on something that might be deteriorating and keeping it from deteriorating too quickly." In recent months the South Korean press has reported the possible execution of Park In-young, the official in charge of Pyongyang's nuclear test facilities, and former military chief, General Hwang Pyong-so, who was accused of allegedly taking bribes. General Brooks also noted a recent shift in the pattern of defections from the North. "We're seeing defections happening in areas where we don't generally see them, for example crossing the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone on the border)," he said. Meanwhile, North Korea has been cutting back on its winter military drills as harsh sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programme begin to bite, say analysts. The military exercises, which usually run from December to March, got started late and aren't as extensive as before, the Journal reported. The United Nations has placed major restrictions on imports of oil and refined petroleum products to North Korea, which may have led to a reduction in military activities to save fuel. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting the State Academy of Sciences at an undisclosed location Credit: AFP "Where this will have an effect in on ground-force readiness," Joseph Bermudez, a military analyst for 38 North, a website run by Johns Hopkins University's US-Korea Institute, told the paper. "Military units have to train to maintain their proficiency." North Korean workers overseas, previously a big source of foreign currency for the regime, are also now being sent home from their host countries after strict new sanctions imposed by the UN in August, following Pyongyang's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. On Tuesday it emerged that Angola was the latest country to terminate all of its contracts with North Korean construction company, Mansudae, and had asked its employees to leave.
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| Nunes memo: What is this 'secret' Republican report and what 'incriminating' information does it contain? Posted: 30 Jan 2018 08:34 AM PST  Despite objections from the Justice Department, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have voted to release the so-called "Nunes memo", which alleges misconduct by FBI officials investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. President Donald Trump, who has insisted there was no collusion, now has five days to accept or object to the committee's request. What is the Nunes memo?
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| Police look at phone records for clues in jealousy shooting Posted: 29 Jan 2018 04:17 PM PST  Police on Monday were focusing on phone records to try to piece together how a group of friends wound up at a Pennsylvania self-serve car wash, where a gunman lying in wait in the early morning hours killed four of them and injured one who managed to hide.
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| Toronto landscaper killed five people and buried them on clients' land – police Posted: 29 Jan 2018 05:58 PM PST  'The city of Toronto has never seen anything like this,' a police spokesman said. Police in Canada have accused a Toronto landscaper of murdering at least five people and burying their remains in large flower planters on his clients' properties, in a case that has sparked an "unprecedented" investigation. "The city of Toronto has never seen anything like this," Hank Idsinga of the Toronto police told reporters on Monday.
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| China denies report it hacked African Union headquarters Posted: 30 Jan 2018 01:56 AM PST ![China denies report it hacked African Union headquarters]( "China denies report it hacked African Union headquarters") By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - China and the African Union dismissed on Monday a report in French newspaper Le Monde that Beijing had bugged the regional bloc's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital. An article published Friday in Le Monde, quoting anonymous AU sources, reported that data from computers in the Chinese-built building had been transferred nightly to Chinese servers for five years. After the massive hack was discovered a year ago, the building's IT system including servers was changed, according to Le Monde.
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| Iran's Relationship With Qatar Could Be Crumbling Posted: 29 Jan 2018 04:29 PM PST  Qatar has sought to enjoy the benefits of maintaining a membership in the GCC and close relations with Iran. Tensions between the Gulf states and Qatar developed into an outright feud last June as a result of Qatar's drift toward Iran, which led the Saudis and their partners to impose a boycott and cut off air, sea, and land routes to Qatar. Instead of responding positively to a demand that it cut ties with Tehran, Qatar defiantly restored full diplomatic relations with Iran.
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| Iran eases restrictions on reformist Mousavi Posted: 29 Jan 2018 07:36 AM PST  Iranian authorities have granted limited visiting rights to reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, under house arrest following protests sparked by a contested 2009 election, two media outlets reported Monday. Mousavi, 75, his wife Zahra Rahnavard and fellow reformist Mehdi Karroubi were placed under house arrest in 2011 over their role in the millions-strong Green Movement protests.
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| Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Orders Investigation Into Karolyi Ranch Allegations Posted: 30 Jan 2018 12:27 PM PST  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has ordered additional law enforcement to investigate allegations of sexual assault at Walker County's Karolyi Ranch, the former training facility for USA Gymnastics athletes.
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| Rep. Joe Kennedy To Bring Trans Soldier To Trump's State Of The Union Posted: 29 Jan 2018 08:11 AM PST  Rep. Joe Kennedy III is bringing a transgender soldier as his guest to Tuesday's State of the Union address to protest the transgender military ban supported by the Trump administration.
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| Blue moon, supermoon, total lunar eclipse rolled into one Posted: 29 Jan 2018 07:47 PM PST  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The moon is providing a rare triple treat this week.
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| Prosecutors: Reputed mob boss orchestrated insurance fraud Posted: 30 Jan 2018 01:36 PM PST  NEW YORK (AP) — A reputed Philadelphia mob boss who reinvented himself as a restaurateur relapsed into a life of crime by orchestrating a health care fraud that made a fortune for an East Coast crime syndicate, a prosecutor said Tuesday in opening arguments at his federal trial.
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| US Air Force sergeant removed from post after expletive-filled Facebook rant about ‘black females’ Posted: 30 Jan 2018 08:09 AM PST  An Air Force sergeant is under investigation after a profanity-laced Facebook tirade in which she denigrated "black females" who are of lower rank than her. Tech Sgt Geraldine Lovely has been "removed from her supervisory role" after the Facebook post went viral over the weekend, officials at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas have said. "It pisses me the f*** off that they have no respect and constantly have attitude," Ms Lovely says in the video.
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| U.N. employees in Gaza demonstrate against U.S. aid cut Posted: 29 Jan 2018 12:51 PM PST ![U.N. employees in Gaza demonstrate against U.S. aid cut]( "U.N. employees in Gaza demonstrate against U.S. aid cut") By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Schools, clinics and food distribution centers in the Gaza Strip were closed most of Monday by a demonstration by thousands of employees of the United Nations agency that serves Palestinian refugees. Palestinians have been angered by a U.S. decision to cut aid to the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA), saying it will cause worse hardship in Gaza. More than half the enclave's two million residents depend on support from UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies.
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| Elon Musk Says He's Sold 10,000 Flamethrowers Through His Boring Co. Website Posted: 29 Jan 2018 09:47 PM PST  Entrepreneur Elon Musk has captured the world's imagination with his electric cars, space rockets and renewable energy systems, and now the billionaire is looking to corner the market in a slightly less benevolent area: flamethrowers.
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| Aly Raisman Thinks 175 Years For Larry Nassar Is ‘Not Enough’ Posted: 30 Jan 2018 08:29 AM PST  Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman said she's not satisfied with the 40- to 175-year prison sentence for former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University team doctor Larry Nassar, who has been accused of sexually abusing more than 150 girls.
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| Hong Kong democracy candidate cleared to run in fraught vote Posted: 29 Jan 2018 02:58 AM PST  A Hong Kong pro-democracy candidate has been given last-minute clearance to stand for election after public anger at government meddling in vote nominations, as Beijing increases pressure on the city's activists. The decision to approve the nomination of Edward Yiu on Monday, hours before the deadline, came two days after fellow pro-democracy candidate Agnes Chow, 21, was barred from standing because her party supports self-determination for Hong Kong. Around 2,000 people gathered outside government headquarters Sunday night to protest at Chow's disqualification.
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| Amazon, eBay Remove 'Chinese Boy' Costumes Featuring Racist 'Slant-Eye' Images Posted: 30 Jan 2018 03:31 PM PST  Amazon UK and eBay UK have received immense backlash after social media users recently noticed "Chinese Boy Fancy Dress Costumes" for sale through the e-commerce sites.
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| Correction: Ex-Stanford Swimmer Rape story Posted: 30 Jan 2018 08:55 AM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a story Jan. 29 about a sexual assault victim deciding not to participate in the creation of a plaque marking where she was attacked on the Stanford University campus, The Associated Press reported erroneously when her assaulter was sentenced. Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Brock Turner in June 2016, not in January 2016.
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| Fearing Democratic wave, Koch network to spend big on U.S. midterm elections Posted: 29 Jan 2018 03:00 PM PST ![Fearing Democratic wave, Koch network to spend big on U.S. midterm elections]( "Fearing Democratic wave, Koch network to spend big on U.S. midterm elections") By James Oliphant INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (Reuters) - The conservative Koch network spent its annual donor conference celebrating policy victories under President Donald Trump such as the tax overhaul, but the elation was tinged with anxiety over November's congressional elections that could pose a risk to its agenda. To that end, the network plans to spend what would be unprecedented sums for the Kochs to maintain Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, while trying to sell voters on the benefits of the newly passed tax package, according to network officials who briefed reporters on their strategy during the conference this weekend in Indian Wells, California. Historically, the party in power loses seats in congressional elections after a new president's election.
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| Brentley Gore death: Stepfather charged with murder of three-year-old boy weeps in court Posted: 30 Jan 2018 04:09 AM PST  Prosecutors claim Richards used a belt to beat his stepson while his mother, who has not been named, slept in the next room of their home in Hickory Falls, Georgia. Richards denies killing his stepson and investigators said he told them that he dropped the child by accident. Richards, the son of Carollton Police Chief Joel Richards, was originally charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, cruelty to children in the first degree and possession of marijuana.
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| 90,000 flee Philippine volcano stretching relief camps Posted: 29 Jan 2018 03:15 AM PST  The number of Filipinos fleeing from the erupting Mayon volcano to safe zones has swelled to nearly 90,000, officials said Monday, worsening a sanitation crisis in the already stretched relief camps. President Rodrigo Duterte flew to the central city of Legazpi on Monday to assess the disaster zone, some two weeks after the country's most active volcano began belching spectacular but potentially lethal ash columns, lava and rocks. Al Francis Bichara, the governor of Albay province, said authorities expect the evacuees will need to stay at the camps for at least a month.
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| The Latest: Russia calls for evacuation from Damascus suburb Posted: 29 Jan 2018 10:25 AM PST  BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):
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