US and Chinese envoys are holding a second day of trade talks after the top economic adviser to President Donald Trump said he has yet to decide whether to go ahead with a March 2 tariff increase on imports from China.
Business groups and economists say the two days of negotiations due to run through Friday are too brief to resolve a sprawling dispute over Beijing's technology ambitions. They say China's goal is to persuade Trump to push back the March 2 deadline.
Trump's economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told reporters in Washington the "vibe is good" in the talks, but he said Trump has made no decision on whether to escalate the dispute by letting the March 2 tariff hike go ahead.  Both sides have expressed optimism without releasing details.

US, China hold 2nd day of talks with no tariff decision

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied suggestions of going along with Holocaust historical revisionism in Poland.
Netanyahu was asked Thursday in Warsaw about the issue by a reporter and replied: "Here I am saying Poles cooperated with the Nazis. I know the history and I don't whitewash it. I bring it up."
Last year Poland and Israel were embroiled in a bitter dispute over a Polish law that made it a crime to blame the Polish nation for Holocaust crimes.
Israel saw it as an attempt by Poland to suppress discussion into the killing of Jews by Poles during the wartime German occupation.
The dispute was resolved when Poland softened the law and Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart agreed on a joint declaration stressing Polish involvement in helping Jews.

Israel's Netanyahu denies agreeing to Holocaust distortion

Betty Ballantine, half of a ground breaking husband-and-wife publishing team that helped invent the modern paperback and vastly expand the market for science fiction and other genres through such blockbusters as "The Hobbit" and "Fahrenheit 451", has died.
Ballantine died Tuesday at her home in Bearsville, New York, granddaughter Katharyn Ballantine told The Associated Press. She was 99 and had been in declining health.
Ballantine was just 20 and attending school in England, in 1939, when she met and married 23-year-old Ian Ballantine, an American at the London School of Economics.
Using a USD 500 wedding gift from Betty's father, the Ballantines started out as importers of Penguin paperbacks from England and founded two enduring imprints: Bantam Books and Ballantine Books, both now part of Penguin Random House.
"We mourn the passing of Betty Ballantine, who with her husband Ian was a trailblazing contributor to the growth and development of book publishing and to the careers of ...

Paperback pioneer Betty Ballantine dead at 99

Turkey's state-run news agency is quoting a police report suggesting that the Turkish fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have escaped being a second victim of the killing.
Citing an annual report by Istanbul police on Thursday, Anadolu says Khashoggi's killers were most likely not informed that his fiancee Hatice Cengiz was waiting for him outside the Saudi Consulate, where he was killed on October 2.
Cengiz had alerted Turkish authorities over his disappearance. The report also suggests that the journalist's dismembered body may have been disposed of in a cooking furnace on the grounds of the Saudi consul's residence, Anadolu reported. Khashoggi's remains have not been found.
The Washington Post columnist had written critically about Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
Turkey has called for an international inquiry.

Report: Khashoggi's fiancee could also have been a victim

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort intentionally lied to investigators and a federal grand jury in the special counsel's Russia probe, a judge ruled Wednesday.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson's decision was another loss for Manafort, a once-wealthy political consultant who rose to lead Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and now faces years in prison in two criminal cases brought in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
The four-page ruling hurts Manafort's chance of receiving a reduced sentence, though Jackson said she would decide the exact impact during his sentencing next month.
It also resolves a dispute that had provided new insight into how Mueller views Manafort's actions as part of the broader probe of Russian election interference and any possible coordination with Trump associates.
Prosecutors have made clear that they remain deeply interested in Manafort's interactions with a man the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence.
But it's unclear exactly what 

Judge finds Manafort lied to investigators in Russia probe

A New York Times report says seven women have claimed singer-songwriter Ryan Adams offered to help them with their music careers but then turned things sexual, and he sometimes became emotional and verbally abusive.
In the story published Wednesday, a 20-year-old female musician said Adams, 44, had inappropriate conversations with her while she was 15 and 16. Identified by her middle name Ava, she said that Adams exposed himself during a video call.
Adams' ex-wife, actress and singer Mandy Moore, said Adams was psychologically abusive toward her throughout their marriage. Their divorce was official in 2016.
The Times said the accounts have been corroborated by family members or friends who were present at the time. Adams' lawyer denied the claims to the Times.
After the article was published, Adams tweeted Wednesday that "I am not a perfect man and I have made many mistakes."
"To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly," he wrote.
"But the 

Report: 7 women claim singer Ryan Adams was inappropriate

Thirteen same-sex couples are filing Japan's first lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the country's rejection of same-sex marriage.
The Valentine Day lawsuits to be filed in Tokyo and in other courts around the country on Thursday argue that the law violates same-sex couples' constitutional rights to equality.
They want the government to follow the example of many other nations in guaranteeing marital freedom.
Ten Japanese municipalities have enacted "partnership" ordinances for same-sex couples to make it easier for them to rent apartments together, among other things, but they are not legally binding. Many LGBT people hide their sexuality, fearing prejudice at home, school or work.
The obstacles are worse for transgender people, who face extra difficulties including a requirement they be sterilized to marry someone of the same birth sex.

Japanese same-sex couples sue for equal marital rights

Banking officials are urging Congress to fully open the doors of the US bank system to the legal marijuana industry.
Most Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form. But most banks don't want anything to do with pot money for fear it could expose them to legal trouble from the federal government, which still considers marijuana illegal.
That conflict forces many businesses to operate only in cash, making them targets for crime and creating problems with paying taxes.
A proposal in Congress would allow pot businesses to access banking services, while sheltering banks from prosecution for handling pot money.
Some banking officials urged lawmakers at a House committee hearing Wednesday to pass the measure. Others say it wouldn't work because pot remains illegal at the federal level.

Congress urged to fully open banks to marijuana industry

A Kenyan police official says a small plane has crashed in the country's west killing all five people on board, including three Americans.
Kericho County Commander James Mugera said Wednesday the Cessna plane crashed at Kamwingi area in Londiani in western Kenya. Photographs of the crash site show a single engine plane.
He said the names of the dead are not being released until their families are informed.
Mugera said the plane was heading to Lodwar town in the country's north with the pilot and four tourists. Police said the pilot was Kenyan and the nationality of one of the passengers on board has not yet been established.  Small plane crashes have become more frequent in Kenya, but many are not fatal.

Kenya police: 5 dead including 3 Americans in plane crash

The Vatican says it is teaming up with Microsoft on an academic prize to promote ethics in artificial intelligence.
Pope Francis met privately on Wednesday with Microsoft President Brad Smith and the head of a Vatican scientific office that promotes Catholic Church positions on human life.
The Vatican said Smith and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia of the Pontifical Academy for Life told Francis about the international prize for an individual who has successfully defended a dissertation on ethical issues involving artificial intelligence.
The winner will receive 6,000 euros ($6,900) and an invitation to Microsoft's Seattle headquarters.
The Vatican says Smith discussed artificial intelligence "at the service of the common good" during the papal meeting.
The theme of the Pontifical Academy' of Life's s 2020 plenary assembly is AI.

Vatican, Microsoft team up on artificial intelligence ethics

Four malnourished children are in foster care after authorities found two of them locked in a dog cage and two more smeared with excrement in a North Texas barn.
A Texas Department of Family and Protective Services official says the children were released from a hospital Tuesday night. Law enforcement found the children earlier in the day on the property near Rhome, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Fort Worth.
Spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales says the three boys, ages 5, 3 and 1, and a 4-year-old girl, are "doing OK," but declined to share details.  Paige Isabow Harkings and Andrew Joseph Fabila, who are both 24, have each been charged with four counts of criminal child endangerment.
Harkings, the children's mother, and was also charged with aggravated assault.

Texas children found in dog cage placed in foster care

A former US Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran has been charged with revealing classified information as well as research about her former colleagues to representatives of the Tehran government, prosecutors said Wednesday.
A Justice Department indictment charges Monica Elfriede Witt, who defected in 2013 and is currently at-large, along with four Iranian hackers who, prosecutors say, used the information she provided to target former colleagues in the US intelligence community.
The indictment says the four Iranians were acting on behalf of the government-linked Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. All four remain at large.
"It is a sad day for American when one of its citizens betrays our country," said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the head of the Justice Department's national security division.
Jay Tabb, the FBI's top national security official, said the FBI had warned Witt before her defection that she was a vulnerable target for recruitment by ...

Ex-US intelligence officer charged in Iran espionage case

A state-run news agency in Iran is reporting a suicide bombing in the country's southeast has killed at least 20 elite Revolutionary Guard personnel and wounded 20.
The IRNA news agency reported the toll in the bombing Wednesday in Sistan and Baluchistan province.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The province, which lies on a major opium trafficking route, has seen occasional clashes between Iranian forces and Baluch separatists, as well as drug traffickers.

Report: At least 20 Guard personnel killed in Iran bombing

Ford is recalling nearly 1.5 million pickup trucks in North America because the transmissions can suddenly downshift into first gear.
The recall covers F-150 trucks from the 2011 through 2013 model years with six-speed automatic transmissions.
The company says a glitch in sending a signal from the transmission speed sensor is the cause. Ford has five reports of accidents including one that caused a whiplash injury from a sudden downshift.
Owners will be notified by letter starting March 4. Dealers will update the powertrain control software to fix the problem.
Ford's F-Series pickup is the top-selling vehicle in the United States.

Ford recalls 1.5M pickups that can downshift without warning

The award-winning head of a Philippine online news site that has aggressively covered President Rodrigo Duterte's administration was arrested Wednesday by government agents in a libel case.
Maria Ressa, who was selected by Time magazine as one of its Persons of the Year last year, was arrested over a libel complaint from a businessman which Amnesty International condemned as "brazenly politically motivated."
Duterte's government said the arrest was a normal step in response to the complaint.
Duterte has openly lambasted journalists who write unfavorable stories about him, including his anti-drug campaign that has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead.
Rappler Inc, the news site which Ressa heads, said National Bureau of Investigation agents served the warrant late Wednesday afternoon, making it difficult for Ressa to apply for bail, and escorted her from the Rappler office to NBI headquarters.
"We are not intimidated. No amount of legal cases, black propaganda, and lies can ...

Philippine agents arrest journalist critical of president

A senior Russian diplomat says that because America "completely failed" in Afghanistan, this has opened the way for Moscow to expand its clout in the country.
Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin's envoy for Afghanistan, says many Afghans now view Russia as an impartial mediator that could help advance political process despite the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Kabulov told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday that the US has "completely failed" in Afghanistan. He argued that it's in the US interests to withdraw its troops as quickly as possible and focus on financial assistance to the Afghan government to help the post-war recovery.
Last week, a meeting in Moscow brought together Afghan former officials, opposition igures and the Taliban but sidelined President Ashraf Ghani's government.

Envoy says Russia's clout in Afghanistan rises

Iran's supreme leader said Wednesday that any negotiations with the US would "bring nothing but material and spiritual harm" in remarks before an American-led meeting on the Mideast in Warsaw.
The comments from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were part of a seven-page statement read word-for-word on Iranian state television and heavily promoted in the run-up to its release.
They also come two days after Iran marked the 40th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.
"About the United States, the resolution of any issues is not imaginable and negotiations with it will bring nothing but material and spiritual harm," Khamenei said.
The supreme leader went on to describe any negotiations as an "unforgiveable mistake."
He also said negotiations would be like "going on your knees before the enemy and kissing the claws of the wolf."
That tone is a long way from 2015, when Khamenei approved of talks between Iran and the United States that ...

Iran's supreme leader says any talks with US can only 'harm'

Catalan separatist and right-wing lawmakers in the Spanish parliament's lower house rejected Wednesday the ruling Socialist government's 2019 budget plan, likely paving the way for a call of early elections by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
The 191-158 vote, with one abstention, opens a new crisis in Spanish politics. Members of the cabinet had signaled that a defeat in parliament would lead to a general election.
The only other time that a Spanish government lost a budget vote, in 1995, the Socialists were forced to dissolve the parliament and call an election.
Opposition leader Pablo Casado, head of the conservative People's Party, said Wednesday's vote was "a de facto confidence vote against Pedro Sanchez."
Catalan deputies from pro-independence parties had demanded to open talks on the northeastern region's self-determination in exchange for supporting Sanchez's spending proposal, but the center-left minority government had rejected that.
The socialist party holds only 84 seats in .

Budget defeat puts Spain's center-left government on ropes

Iran's supreme leader said Wednesday that negotiations with the US "will bring nothing but material and spiritual harm" in remarks just ahead of an American-led meeting on the Mideast in Warsaw that's expected to largely focus on the Islamic Republic.
The comments from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were part of a seven-page statement read out word-for-word on Iranian state television and heavily promoted in the run-up to its release. They also come two days after Iran marked the 40th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.
"About the United States, the resolution of any issues is not imaginable and negotiations with it will bring nothing but material and spiritual harm," Khamenei said.
The supreme leader went on to describe any negotiations as an "unforgiveable mistake." He also said negotiations would be like "going on your knees before the enemy and kissing the claws of the wolf."
That tone is a long way from 2015, when Khamenei ...

Iran's supreme leader says talks with US can only 'harm'

Egypt's Parliament has begun deliberations over constitutional amendments that could allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in office till 2034  12 more years after his current, second term expires in 2022.
The discussions are to lead to a vote later in the day or on Thursday, after which the text of the amendments would be finalized by a special legislative committee for a final decision within two months.
Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Al opened Wednesday's session, according to a statement sent to the media.
The 596-seat assembly has already given its preliminary approval to the changes last week. The amendments are near certain to be overwhelmingly approved by the legislature, packed with el-Sissi's supporters, but will also need to be put to a national referendum to become law.

Egypt's Parliament to vote on extending president's term

China says the US and other countries have not presented any conclusive evidence that Chinese telecoms gear maker Huawei threatens their national security.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday that critics of Huawei Technologies were fabricating threats and misusing state power to "suppress the legitimate development rights and interests of Chinese enterprises" and are "using political means to intervene in the economy."
Hua's comments at a daily briefing were some of the sharpest yet in a feud over Washington's drive to convince other nations to shut Huawei out of their markets due to national security concerns.
The company insists that it is independent and poses no threat to the security of others.

AP

AP

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