President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro is "making a terrible mistake" by blocking US humanitarian aid.
Trump said it was "sad" that the oil-rich Latin American country is in "turmoil" and said Washington has still not ruled out sending troops to the region.
"We look at all options," he said.
"You'll see," he said when asked if thousands of US troops could deploy.
Trump was meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque at the White House to discuss the crisis in Venezuela.
Maduro accuses the United States of using the blocked aid shipments as part of a plot to overthrow his government.
But Duque, whose country has taken in large numbers of Venezuelan refugees, said "obstructing the access of humanitarian aid is a crime against humanity.

Maduro makes 'terrible mistake' in blocking Venezuela aid: Trump

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The Taliban said Wednesday that its negotiators would meet US envoys for talks this month in Islamabad, and also sit down with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to discuss Afghanistan.
The announcement, not immediately confirmed by Washington or Islamabad, comes as America's chief negotiator tours the globe shoring up support for a peace process to end its longest war.
Zalmay Khalilzad, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, held extensive talks with the militants last month in Qatar, where the Taliban have an office. More talks are slated for later in February.
But a Taliban statement issued Wednesday said separate meetings would be held first on February 18 in Islamabad "by the formal invitation of the government of Pakistan".
Talks in Doha would follow a week later on February 25, the statement said.
Khalilzad is heading a large delegation on a tour of Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Qatar, Afghanistan and Pakistan to boost the peace process and bring all Afghan parties to the table.
He ...

Taliban announce talks with US in Islamabad: spokesman

A suicide attack Wednesday on a Revolutionary Guards bus in southeastern Iran killed at least 20 people and left 20 more wounded, the official news agency IRNA reported.
"The suicide attack on an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps personnel bus happened on the Khash-Zahedan road," IRNA said.
"This terrorist act happened a short time ago and according to reports at least 20 have been martyred and 20 have been wounded," an informed source told IRNA.
A picture released by the Fars news agency showed a hulk of twisted metal lying by the side of a road, unrecognisable as a bus.  The Guards issued a statement confirming the attack. It said the troops were returning from the border.
"In this suicide attack a car filled with explosives blew up besides a bus carrying a unit of the Guards ground forces causing the martyrdom and wounding of a number of the protectors of our Islamic homeland's border."
The attack took place in the volatile southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan which has a ..

Suicide attack on Iran Revolutionary Guards bus kills 20

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

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday claimed that India has failed to diplomatically isolate Islamabad, according to a media report.
Briefing Parliament, the minister claimed India on multiple occasions tried to harm Pakistan's diplomatic ties with other countries.
Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived following a spate of terror attacks on Indian military bases by Pakistan-based terror groups since January 2016.
Following the strikes, India announced it will not engage in talks with Pakistan, saying terror and talks cannot go hand-in-hand.
India in September cancelled the proposed meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York citing the brutal killing of security personnel by Pakistan-based entities.
"India's failure to isolate Islamabad diplomatically is a win for the country," Qureshi was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.
He reiterated to strengthen Pakistan's position in the ...

Qureshi claims India failed to isolate Pakistan

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

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will sign at least eight MoUs during Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's visit to the country,
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday.
The Prince is scheduled to arrive on in Pakistan on Saturday on a two-day trip.
Qureshi addressing media in Islamabad said that the two sides had done proper homework ahead of the visit, which will probably be the biggest trip by a Saudi royal, in terms of composition and number of entourage, in the history of relations between the two countries.
"We hope that at least eight MoUs will be signed during the high-powered visit," he said.
Saudi Arabia is our close and trustworthy friend and the relations with the visit of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman will be improved further, he said.
He said that back-to-back visits of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia also helped to improve the bilateral relations.

Pak, Saudi to sign 8 MoUs during Prince Salman's visit

UEFA on Wednesday announced that disciplinary proceedings had begun against both Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain after numerous incidents involving their supporters during Tuesday's Champions League clash at Old Trafford.
Both sides face charges that their fans threw objects during the last 16, first leg, which PSG won 2-0. PSG's former United winger Angel di Maria was photographed holding a bottle that had been thrown towards him from the crowd.
In addition, PSG face charges after fireworks were lit by their supporters, as well as for "acts of damages" and "crowd disturbance".
The Premier League side also face charges that their fans blocked stairways during the game, going against the safety and security regulations of European football's governing body.
UEFA said their Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body will deal with the case on February 28.
The second leg of the tie will be played in Paris on March 6.
PSG had one end of their Parc des Princes stadium closed for their 

Man Utd, PSG face UEFA investigation after fan incidents

Mauro Icardi has been stripped of the Inter Milan captaincy in favour of goalkeeper Samir Handanovic amid speculation the Argentina forward is set to leave the club, the Italian outfit announced on Wednesday.
"The club can confirm that Samir Handanovic is the new captain of the team," the Serie A outfit tweeted.
The switch comes as Icardi, 25, has yet to sign a new contract amid protracted negotiations between the club and his wife Wanda Nara, who also acts as his agent.
The Argentine has been left out of the team's Europa League round of 32, first-leg game at Rapid Vienna on Thursday.
Icardi, valued at 100 million euros ($113 million), has been linked with a move away from Italy to Spanish giants Real Madrid or Chelsea in England.
The forward -- joint top scorer in Serie A last season with 29 goals -- has scored 15 this season in all competitions, but has gone seven Serie A games without a goal.
"Nobody on the team puts him in a position to play well," complained Nara recently.
"The .

Icardi stripped of Inter Milan captaincy amid exit speculation

Pakistan plans to launch a "massive" crackdown targeting hate speech and extremism on social media, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday as he boasted arrests have already been made.
"A mechanism to this effect (launching a crackdown) has been prepared in consultations with the security agenciesIn the next few weeks we will launch a massive crackdown," he said while addressing a seminar here.
Chaudhry regretted that certain elements through fake accounts on social media are resorting to hate speeches and issuing edicts. He said these elements will be brought to book.
"This week we have made some important arrests on the basis that they used social media to issue fatwas and advance their extremist narratives and threats," he said, adding that the state will not allow extremists to dictate their narrative by use of force.
"Only the state has the power to use force or violence. Any individual cannot be allowed to the same," he said.
He said enforcement of relevant laws ..

Pakistan plans 'massive' social media crackdown

The US Justice Department charged a former air force intelligence officer Wednesday with spying for Iran, saying she eposed a US agent and helped the Revolutionary Guard develop cyber targets in the US military.
US officials said Monica Witt, who worked for years in US Air Force counterintelligence, had an "ideological" turn against her country and exposed US intelligence operations against Tehran.

US charges former Air Force intel officer with spying for Iran

A Spanish public prosecutor on Wednesday accused Catalan separatist leaders of trying to use "human shields" to block police during their failed secession bid in 2017.
On the second day of the separatist leaders' trial, Supreme Court prosecutor Fidel Cadena also rejected arguments by defence lawyers who said the trial was politically motivated, saying "anyone can have the ideas they want".
"What is penalised... is behaviour carried out over time which aimed... at the subversion and rupture of the constitutional order, calling for violent methods through the use of the masses as human shields" against police, he said.
Twelve Catalan separatist politicians and activists face years behind bars if they are convicted of rebellion or other charges for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017, in defiance of a court ban, and a brief declaration of independence.
Under Spanish law, rebellion is defined as "rising up in a violent and public manner". But the key, divisive question is ..

Spain prosecutor accuses Catalan separatists of using 'human shields'

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Wednesday that Iran can proceed with a bid to recover billions of dollars in frozen assets the United States says must go to victims of attacks blamed on Tehran.
Judges of the UN's top court rejected US claims that the case should be thrown out because Iran had "unclean hands" due to alleged links to terrorism, and that the tribunal in The Hague did not have jurisdiction in the lawsuit.
The court will hold further hearings to decide whether Iran can get back USD 2 billion frozen by the US Supreme Court in 2016.
Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, the chief judge at the ICJ, said the court "unanimously rejects the preliminary objections to admissibility raised by the United States of America".
The court also "finds that it has jurisdiction" to rule on the case, which was filed by Iran in 2016, Yusuf said at the end of an hour-long reading of the judgment.
Iran said the freezing of the funds breached the 1955 Treaty of Amity with the United States, an ..

Iran bid to recover funds frozen in US can proceed: world court

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

Pakistan planned elaborate security measures for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's maiden visit to Islamabad on Saturday during which a number of agreements worth billions of dollars investment would be signed between the two countries.
Mohammad, who is also the Gulf Kingdom's vice president of the council of ministers and defence minister, will arrive here on February 16 on his first state visit to Pakistan since his elevation to the position of the crown prince in April 2017, the Foreign Office said.
An interior ministry official told PTI that a four-tier security arrangements have been made for the crown prince, colloquially known as MBS.
The outer most tier will be manned by police, the second by paramilitary Ranger, the third by the army and the fourth and inner most by the royal guards of the prince.
About 10 bullet proof vehicles have already been transported to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia which will be used by the prince and his aides.
Security officials said that ...

Pak plans elaborate security measures for MBS visit on Feb 16

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 French court has ordered Google to remove "abusive" clauses from the service conditions it requires consumers to accept to the internet giant's services, a consumer group said Wednesday.
The group UFC-Que Choisir, which has waged a five-year legal battle against Google for "abusive" practices in its service conditions, also won 30,000 euros (USD 34,000) in damages, according to a copy of the ruling obtained by AFP.
The ruling by the Paris district level court can be appealed.
Google said the ruling concerned its Google+ social media service, which is being shut down in April, and that it is striving to improve the clarity and simplicity of its user terms.
It said it would take its time to examine the decision and evaluate its options.
UFC-Que Choisir said the judges ordered Google to rework its terms and conditions to obtain clear consent from users on how it collects and shares their personal information. This includes the constant monitoring of users' location.
The ruling also ...

French court orders Google to remove 'abusive' clauses

Renault said Wednesday that its board has decided not to pay out the equivalent of two years of salary to ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn which would have been due to him under a non-compete clause in his contract.
After a meeting on Wednesday, the board also said that he was not eligible for millions of euros' in stock options which were "subject to his presence within Renault".
Company sources, speaking to AFP ahead of the meeting, said the loss of the non-compete pay and stock options amounted to about 10 million euros (USD 11.3 million) for Ghosn, who remains in jail awaiting trial in Japan.
The former auto boss, once considered the most powerful man in the industry, resigned his position at Renault last month after being arrested on financial misconduct charges in Tokyo in November.
He is accused of under-reporting millions of dollars in salary as head of Nissan, Renault's partner in an alliance Ghosn built up into the world's top-selling auto group.
The French state, which is a major ...

Renault board blocks payouts to Ghosn worth 10 million euros

An Indian national arrested for possible links to an alleged plot to assassinate Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena was on Wednesday further remanded in custody until February 27.
Marceli Thomas was arrested in October following a complaint by Namal Kumara, a police informant, who had alleged a plot to assassinate Sirisena and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the former top defence ministry bureaucrat and brother of ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Kumara also claimed that the senior police officer in charge of the police's counter terrorism division Nalaka Silva had masterminded the plot. Silva has since been interdicted and questioned extensively by the police CID.
The police maintained although no details had emerged on the alleged plot to kill Sirisena, Silva had been arrested for plotting the murder of a police officer.
Thomas, said to be from Kerala,  appeared before a court on Wednesday.
Sirisena in late October sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe triggering an unprecedented ..

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