RT

Russian airstrikes have accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers and injured 11 others in northern Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed.

A Russian warplane hit a building housing Turkish soldiers in Al-Bab at 8:40 am local time, the Hurriyet Daily reports citing Ankara’s statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed condolences over the accidental loss of life in the airstrike, in a phone call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti.   Continue reading “3 Turkish soldiers accidentally killed in Russian airstrike in Syria, Moscow confirms”

Bloomberg – by Jennifer A Dlouhy and Margaret Talev

A group of prominent Republicans and business leaders pitched a tax on carbon dioxide to top White House aides Wednesday, selling the plan as an economic win that could drive job growth and yield environmental dividends too.

Former Secretary of State James Baker and other members of the new “Climate Leadership Council” pressed the case in a 45-minute meeting in the Roosevelt Room that included President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior aide Kellyanne Conway.   Continue reading “Prominent Republicans Pitch Carbon-Tax Plan to Top Trump Aides”

New York Daily News – by David Boroff

A murderous couple remains on the loose after killing three women and critically wounding another in two states over the last week, authorities say.

A multistate search enters its second week for William “Billy” Boyette, 44, and 37-year-old Mary Rice, who cops say most recently shot a young mother during a home invasion in Florida on Monday. Kayla Crocker, 28, of Pensacola was hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Pensacola News Journal.   Continue reading “Authorities in frantic search as couple kills three women, critically wounds another in Florida and Alabama”

The Hill – by Devin Henry

After a week of aggressively working to strip Obama administration rules off the books, House Republicans are lining up even more votes on regulations in the days ahead.

The House on Monday will begin the process of ending a Bureau of Land Management planning rule instituted in the closing days of Obama’s presidency.    Continue reading “Congress to vote on repealing BLM’s planning rule”

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Borderland Beat – by Javier

It was a night of terror for a small town (330 inhabitants) in Guerrero this week when at least 40 armed men kidnapped seven people, peppered homes with machine gun fire and robbed some residents of cash and belongings.   Continue reading “Guerrero, Mexico: Police ignore calls for help as 50 sicarios terrorize town”

Reuters

NEW YORK/SINGAPORE Feb 3 Oil majors and trading houses are set to ship an unprecedented volume of U.S. crude oil to Asia in coming weeks, boosting already high flows to the region due to higher prices from OPEC production cuts.

Traders have estimated that some 700,000 to 900,000 barrels per day is set to leave the United States in February, with the majority of the cargoes headed to Asia.   Continue reading “Record volume of US crude to head for Asia in coming weeks”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court denied early Sunday the Justice Department’s request for an immediate reinstatement of President Donald Trump’s ban on accepting certain travelers and all refugees.

The Trump administration appealed a temporary order restraining the ban nationwide, saying late Saturday night that the federal judge in Seattle overreached by “second-guessing” the president on a matter of national security.   Continue reading “Court denies Trump request to immediately restore travel ban”

Reuters

A veteran CIA clandestine service officer who ran one of the agency’s “black site” prisons set up after the 9/11 attacks was named deputy director of the U.S. spy agency on Thursday by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Gina Haspel, who will serve under new Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, was the first woman spy to reach the CIA’s second-highest position, and her selection won applause inside the agency’s Virginia headquarters and from many longtime U.S. intelligence professionals.   Continue reading “Trump names former ‘black site’ prison operator CIA deputy chief”

Yahoo News

President Donald Trump will halt an Obama administration regulation, hated by the financial industry, that requires retirement advisers to work in the best interests of their clients, while the new administration reviews the rule.

The president also will order a review of Dodd-Frank Act rules enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis, a White House official said. Trump is scheduled to issue the directives at a signing ceremony around noon on Friday following a meeting of more than a dozen top corporate executives led by Blackstone Group LP Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman.   Continue reading “Trump to Halt Obama Fiduciary Rule, Order Review of Dodd-Frank”

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US News – by David Oliver

High school is forever, the saying goes. And for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, it’s proving particularly true today.

Gorsuch both created and headed the “Fascism Forever Club” at Georgetown Preparatory School, which he graduated from in 1985, The Daily Mail reports. The school is a selective all-boys Jesuit prep school, and now reportedly costs day students $30,000 annually and boarding students $50,000.

Continue reading “Neil Gorsuch Founded ‘Fascism Forever Club,’ Report Says”

Syracuse

NEW YORK — Fights broke out Thursday night at a protest at New York University amid an appearance by a conservative speaker, who school officials said was hit by pepper spray.

Gavin McInnes was invited to speak on campus by the NYU College Republicans. McInnes is an actor, comedian and co-founder of Vice Media.   Continue reading “NYU protest turns violent; conservative speaker Gavin McInnes hit with pepper spray”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled Congress on Thursday scrapped Obama-era rules on the environment and guns, counting on a new ally in the White House to help reverse years of what the GOP calls excessive regulation.

The Senate gave final approval to a measure eliminating a rule to prevent coal mining debris from being dumped into nearby streams, while the House backed a separate resolution doing away with extended background checks for gun purchases by some Social Security recipients with mental disabilities.   Continue reading “Congress scraps Obama rules on coal mining, guns”

ABC News

As Jewish settlers and protesters were removed from an illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank overnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build the first new settlement in nearly two decades.

As the sun rose Thursday morning in Amona, the outpost’s synagogue contained activists chained to tires, making it difficult for police to extract them. All day Wednesday, the images of struggle — including burning tires and stone-throwing protesters — were broadcast on Israeli TV.   Continue reading “As Illegal Outpost Cleared, Israeli PM Netanyahu Announces New West Bank Settlement”

NBC News

A scheduled speech by controversial Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, Berkeley led to violent protests that caused the event to be called off, the university said.

The university said fires were set, including one caused by a firebomb that ignited a generator-powered spotlight, and commercial-grade fireworks were thrown at police. NBC Bay Area showed a group of people grab a metal barricade and smash it against a door.  Continue reading “Protests, Violence Prompt UC Berkeley to Cancel Milo Yiannopoulos Event”

NBC News – by Steve Benen

Towards the end of the White House press briefing yesterday, a reporter brought a question that may have seemed strange: “The president has previously indicated that he would encourage the targeting of families of terror suspects. Is that still his current position?”

Press Secretary Sean Spicer, responded, “When did he say that?”   Continue reading “A mission in Yemen in which ‘almost everything went wrong’”