Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 02:16 (about 3 hours ago)
China's desire to develop close ties with Iran will remain unchanged, regardless of the international situation, President Xi Jinping told the speaker of Iran's parliament, ahead of Thursday's visit to Beijing by Saudi Arabia's crown prince. China has traditionally played little role in Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite relying on the region for oil, with Iran its fourth largest supplier last year, but has been trying to raise its profile, especially in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia's King Salman visited Beijing in 2017, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives on Thursday for a two-day visit. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 02:16 (about 3 hours ago)
Pakistan on Thursday banned two groups believed to be fronts for the group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, amid heightened pressure on Islamabad to act against militants. Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation were designated "proscribed organisations", the interior ministry said in a statement, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered officials to accelerate action against banned groups. JuD and FIF are considered by the UN to be fronts for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group accused by Washington and New Delhi of carrying out the Mumbai attack, which killed 166 people and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 02:16 (about 3 hours ago)
The publisher of the paper admonished the president over his use of a familiar phrase. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 02:16 (about 3 hours ago)
Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett ? or at least his legal team ? met with prosecutors and detectives Wednesday. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 02:16 (about 3 hours ago)
Pinera, a center-right politician and steadfast opponent of the government of Nicolas Maduro, is gambling with his political capital, according to political scientist Patricio Navia. ?Pinera is investing in a Trump-controlled project,? Navia said in a phone interview. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 02:16 (about 3 hours ago)
Embattled Empire actor Jussie Smollett is now considered a ?suspect? for filing a false police report, evidence of which has been presented before a grand jury, a Chicago Police Department spokesman announced on Wednesday.> Case Update: Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony). Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury. pic.twitter.com/FhDcbBKsuU> > -- Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 20, 2019The announcement came after Smollett?s attorneys met with prosecutors and detectives on Wednesday. Smollett initially told police that he was attacked outside of a Subway restaurant at around 2 a.m. on January 29 by two masked men who allegedly beat him, poured an unknown chemical on him, and placed a noose around his neck. Smollett later added that the men had yelled, ?This is MAGA country? as they fled, a detail he reported only after TMZ claimed it had taken place.Chicago police announced last Friday that the focus of their investigation had ?shifted? after interviewing two Nigerian brothers, one of whom worked as an extra on Empire, and both of whom claimed that Smollett had paid them to stage the attack. The brothers also told police that Smollett was motivated to stage the attack after he sent himself a threatening a letter and did not receive the attention from co-workers and fans that he believed the letter warranted.?We are not racist. We are not homophobic and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens,? the brothers said in a statement provided to CBS Chicago on February 19.Smollett has repeatedly denied that he staged the attack and has maintained that he was the victim of a hate crime.Cook County state?s attorney Kim Foxx, Chicago?s top prosecutor, recused herself from the Smollett investigation on Tuesday, citing ?familiarity with potential witnesses.??Out of an abundance of caution, the decision to recuse herself was made to address potential questions of impartiality based upon familiarity with potential witnesses in the case,? spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.Filing a false police report is a class-four felony and typically results in a prison sentence of one to three years. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 00:46 (about 4 hours ago)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? The Latest on a hearing outlining a ballot fraud investigation in an undeclared North Carolina congressional race for which a winner hasn't been finalized (all times local): #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 00:46 (about 4 hours ago)
Francis convened Catholic leaders from around the world for the four-day meeting to address the scandal that has ravaged the Church's credibility in the United States - where it has paid billions of dollars in settlements - Ireland, Chile, Australia, and elsewhere over the last three decades. "Faced with the scourge of sexual abuse committed by men of the Church against minors, I wanted to reach out to you," Francis told the assembled bishops and heads of religious orders. Francis, opening the conference of nearly 200 participants in a Vatican auditorium, added that victims deserve "concrete and efficient measures" and not mere condemnations. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 00:46 (about 4 hours ago)
While winter weather has battered the east for the past couple days, the National Weather Service said up to 3 inches of snow will fall in the outskirts of the Las Vegas Valley. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 22nd February 2019 at 00:46 (about 4 hours ago)
An American TV actor was criminally charged Thursday for allegedly masterminding an elaborate "publicity stunt" that sought to exploit the "pain and anger of racism" with a staged assault on the streets of Chicago. It was the latest twist in a weeks-long saga that has seen 36-year-old Jussie Smollett, the gay, African-American actor who stars on Fox music industry drama "Empire," go from victim to suspect after he reported an assault late last month. In a sign of the national attention the case has drawn, President Donald Trump weighed in Thursday, taking issue with the fact Smollett claimed his assailants invoked the president's "Make America Great Again" slogan along with homophobic and racist slurs during the purported attack. #