Oklahoma City

Trump attacks on press 'dangerous' and 'reckless': NYT publisher

US President Donald Trump's attacks on the press are "reckless" and "dangerous" and threaten to encourage violence against journalists at home and abroad, the publisher of The New York Times warned on Wednesday. "America's founders believed that a free press was essential to democracy because it is the foundation of an informed, engaged citizenry," A.G. Sulzberger said in a statement. Previous US presidents "had complaints about their coverage and at times took advantage of the freedom every American has to criticize journalists," Sulzberger said.

Obama joined by Curry to tell minority boys 'you matter'

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry told a roomful of minority boys on Tuesday that they matter and urged them to make the world a better place.

MAGA hat student sues Washington Post for $250m over coverage of confrontation with Native American man

A student involved in a viral confrontation with a Native American man is suing the Washington Post for $250m (£191m) over its coverage of the incident. The defamation lawsuit, filed by Covington Catholic High School pupil Nick Sandmann, claims the newspaper “wrongfully targeted and bullied” him due to its “biased agenda” against Donald Trump. The 16-year-old was wearing one of the president’s signature Make America Great Again hats when he attended an anti-abortion rally in Washington in January along with classmates from his Kentucky school.

Chicago police on Jussie Smollett arrest: Actor 'took advantage of the pain and anger of racism'

Jussie Smollett was taken into custody by police in Chicago early Thursday, three weeks after the 36-year-old “Empire” actor claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack.

Moscow ready to cut time for nuclear strike on U.S. if necessary: Putin

In Washington, the U.S. State Department dismissed Putin's comments as "propaganda designed to divert attention from what Washington alleges are Moscow's violations of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Putin said Russia was not seeking confrontation and would not take the first step to deploy missiles in response to Washington's decision this month to quit a landmark Cold War-era arms control treaty.

Canada looks to reunite Syrian family after fire claims seven kids

Canada is looking to quickly bring over siblings of a Syrian refugee distraught over the loss of her seven children in a Halifax house fire, the prime minister said Thursday. "The immigration minister is seized with this particular case," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said when asked if Ottawa would fast-track the immigration or asylum process to bring the woman's brothers to Canada in order to provide her with family support. The family was among tens of thousands of Syrian refugees welcomed by Canada over the past four years.

Winter storm brings rare snowfall to the Las Vegas Strip

The snow dusted casino marquees and prompted revelers to erect a snowman near the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign.

President Trump: ISIS wife Hoda Muthana won't be allowed to return to United States

Hoda Muthana was born in New Jersey. She wants to come home and face the U.S. justice system, her family's lawyer tells USA TODAY.

Pakistan PM authorizes military response if India attacks

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's prime minister on Thursday authorized the armed forces to "respond decisively and comprehensively to any aggression or misadventure" by neighboring India, as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Meet the 'New' F-21 Fighter: An F-16 On Steroids (With F-22 and F-35 DNA)?

Is this the fighter India needs?

'Hear the cry of the little ones': Pope Francis demands action from bishops as sex abuse summit opens

Pope Francis urged high-ranking church officials gathered at the Vatican to "hear the cry of the little ones" who are victims of sexual abuse.

With Top Investor in Jail, Putin Hits at Business Climate

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said honest business people shouldn’t have to live under “constant fear of criminal prosecution,” days after the arrest of one of the country’s top foreign investors.

Sanders campaign says it raised nearly $6 million on 1st day

The Vermont senator launched his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination early Tuesday morning and raised nearly $6 million in its first 24 hours.

Designer Karl Lagerfeld to be cremated without ceremony

Karl Lagerfeld will be cremated without ceremony and his ashes are likely to be scattered with those of his mother and lover, his label said Wednesday. "His wishes will be respected," a spokeswoman for his Karl Lagerfeld brand told AFP a day after the legendary designer died at the age of 85. Lagerfeld had previously said that his ashes would be mixed with those of his longtime lover, the French dandy Jacques de Bascher, who died of AIDS in 1989.

ACLU on border wall 'emergency': We'll see you in court, President Donald Trump

Donald Trump's emergency declaration is a blatant abuse of power in the service of his anti-immigrant agenda. No president has ever tried this before.

Deadly crackdown stokes fear among protesters in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Jhonny Godoy had taken to Twitter to proclaim his opposition to President Nicolas Maduro, posting a video that showed him running through the streets waving the national flag as protests erupted across Venezuela's capital.

Snow, sleet threaten U.S. East Coast, hinder hundreds of flights

A winter storm bore down on the U.S. East Coast on Wednesday, threatening to snarl New York City's evening commute after hindering air travel along the East Coast and prompting the shutdown of federal offices in Washington. Snow turning to sleet slickened roadways in the New York metropolitan area by the early afternoon and was blamed for a rash of fender benders and traffic jams. The widespread weather system piled as much as 6 inches (15 cm) of snow across the Washington area before turning to sleet, said meteorologist Bryan Jackson of the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Jussie Smollett investigation timeline: How the actor went from assault victim to suspect

Three weeks after Jussie Smollett said he'd been the victim of a hate crime, the "Empire" star was charged with filing a false police report.

Parents dead in murder-suicide at Sugar Land home as 16-year-old daughter slept inside

Their family says they were involved in volunteering and believed in giving back before they died.

Southwest Air Drops on $60 Million Hit From U.S. Shutdown

The political stalemate that ended last month will reduce first-quarter revenue by $60 million as the aftereffects lingered on, Southwest said in a regulatory filing Wednesday. “With more of first quarter under our belt now, and a higher percentage of March bookings in place, we feel like we are at the point where we can reasonably quantify the total impact from the shutdown,” Southwest said by email.

Sarah Isgur Flores: Former Trump aide hired as CNN political editor despite having no journalism experience

CNN has appointed a former Trump administration official with no journalism experience as a political editor, provoking consternation among the broadcaster’s staff and Democrat politicians. Sarah Isgur Flores, who served as chief spokeswoman and senior adviser for the US Department of Justice under attorney general Jeff Sessions, is to join the network to coordinate coverage of the 2020 presidential election. Ms Isgur Flores has previously been communications director for Republican National Committee and worked on the campaign teams of former presidential hopefuls Carly Fiorina and Ted Cruz.

Vatican envoys meet sex abuse victims ahead of conference

Vatican representatives met Wednesday with victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests a day ahead of a landmark conference on the protection of minors, the Holy See said. "The credibility of the Church, the Vatican and the pope are at an apocalyptic stage," Francois Devaux, co-founder of the victim's association "La parole liberee" (Freed speech), said afterwards. The Vatican's organising committee met "12 people, men and women, from different parts of the world who belong to various organizations," a Vatican statement said.

Trump apparently not familiar with his administration's push for global decriminalization of homosexuality

The president expresses confusion when asked about one of his administration's own policies.

More than 150 IS militants handed over to Iraq from Syria

OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State group handed over more than 150 Iraqi members of the group to Iraq, an Iraqi security official said Thursday, marking the biggest repatriation from Syria of captured militants so far.

Jussie Smollett case: FBI investigates whether actor had any role in threatening letter

The latest developments in the investigation into the alleged Jan. 29 attack on the "Empire" star: The FBI is checking into whether Smollett was involved in the threatening letter sent to Fox and the L.A. City Attorney's office say he posed as his brother during a 2007 DUI stop.

Israel should apologize to Poland in Holocaust row: U.S. ambassador to Warsaw

The row, initially sparked by media reports suggesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Poles of complicity in the Holocaust, deepened on Monday after the comment by his minister Israel Katz, who also labeled Poles anti-Semites. Katz's words led Poland to pull out of a planned summit of central European states in Israel. U.S. ambassador Georgette Mosbacher, asked if Katz should apologize, said the comment "warrants an apology".

Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders Have a Plan to Kill the Stock Market

Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Bernie Sanders of Vermont want to penalize “self-indulgent” corporations that buy back their own stock. In a recent article in the New York Times, they argued that when companies repurchase shares, not only do the vast majority of Americans not benefit, but income inequality is exacerbated since only wealthy shareholders and corporate management profit.Despite decades of extraordinary success that the United States has enjoyed and that we enjoy today, Schumer and Sanders believe that something sinister is taking place in the corporate world. They call buybacks a form of “corporate self-indulgence.” Why? Because> corporate boardrooms have become obsessed with maximizing only shareholder earnings to the detriment of workers and the long-term strength of their companies. . . . Companies, rather than investing in ways to make their businesses more resilient or their workers more productive, have been dedicating ever larger shares of their profits to dividends and corporate repurchases.Now even some Republicans are getting on board. Florida senator Marco Rubio has suggested changes in the tax law to discourage buybacks because he says they “inflate” the prices of stock “at the expense of future productivity & job creation.”These senators don’t seem to fully understand that the purpose of a business is to allocate resources in a way that maximizes per share results over the long run. To think that this can be achieved at the expense of workers, at the expense of investing in research, at the expense of developing new and better products, at the expense of investing in equipment to both lower the cost and increase the quality of production, etc. is sophomoric. This underscores their lack of knowledge about investing and financial markets.Companies have several options with regard to the use of excess cash. They can (1) retain the funds in the company, (2) invest in the capital needed to grow the company, (3) make acquisitions, (4) pay out the excess cash in the form of dividends, or (5) repurchase shares from existing shareholders.These senators see little value in share buybacks, but they should listen to Warren Buffett, who is unequivocally a long-term investor. His financial success is a result of making exceptional long-term investments in resilient companies. Unlike Schumer and Sanders, Buffett is an enthusiastic proponent of utilizing excess cash to repurchase shares when conditions are favorable (or opportune).Here is what he said in his 1984 annual report: “The companies in which we have our largest investments are all engaged in significant share repurchases at the times when a wide discrepancy exists between price and value.” He has made this point repeatedly throughout the years. These companies repurchase shares and continue to grow, continue to invest in research, in capital that will improve the quality and lower the cost of products. He has even bought back $1 billion of shares of his own company, Berkshire Hathaway, not because he is “self-indulgent” but because he thinks the firm is undervalued.Schumer and Sanders—and in some cases they are joined by Rubio—provide two main reasons we are in a stock buyback “crisis”:> First, stock buybacks don’t benefit the vast majority of Americans.> > Second, when corporations direct resources to buy back shares on this scale, they restrain their capacity to reinvest profits more meaningfully in the company in terms of R&D, equipment, higher wages, paid medical leave, retirement benefits and worker retraining.The first point is utter nonsense. More than 100 million average Americans own stock. Americans invest in mutual funds and index funds and buy and sell stock every day. Tens of millions more have 401K plans, and most union pension funds have hundreds of billions of dollars invested in stocks.The second point is equally absurd. A corporate board of directors is elected by shareholders, the owners of the company. When a board makes the decision to repurchase shares, it is a sign of confidence in the firm’s long-term profitability. It raises share values, which obviously benefits shareholders and puts firms in better financial shape — which also benefits the employees. Essentially, Schumer and Sanders believe, and Rubio seems to believe, that they have the right to tell the owners of a corporation the best way to allocate their profits.Studies show that firms that buy back their own shares have strong long-term growth.Consider Apple. It has become the most valuable company in the world. This exceptional success was achieved because of the enormous investments they made to develop revolutionary products. Companies cannot develop revolutionary products by underpaying talented workers or without investing billions of dollars in research, factories, and equipment. Not incidentally, Apple has repurchased billions of dollars of its own stock.The hyper-competitiveness and efficiency of U.S. companies is a major reason that unemployment is at a near 50-year low. Today, no company can survive if its workers are treated poorly. Walmart, which Schumer and Sanders attacked in their article, and many other companies recently raised their wage rates substantially, starting with entry-level positions.What is most disturbing about Schumer and Sanders’s proposal is their hubris in believing that they know how every company should handle its excess cash better than the CEOs, the boards of directors, and shareholders do. That is a rather all-encompassing statement. One would be hard-pressed to find a more vivid example of what Friedrich Hayek called “the fatal conceit,” the distorted notion that one knows more than is knowable. Would Buffett invest in a company if Schumer and Sanders were in charge of allocating its resources?We doubt it. Who in their right mind would?If approved, what Schumer and Sanders propose would not only hurt U.S. companies. It would harm the entire U.S. economy and financial system. It would raise the cost of capital for companies. What they advocate would tell domestic and foreign investors that our government is interfering with how companies allocate their resources.What is the difference between going after a large company with lots of shareholders and a small company with one owner? How long before Senators Schumer and Sanders tell the tire-shop owner that he has not paid his employees enough and that therefore he has withdrawn too much of the profit as an owner distribution?Every shareholder and business owner in America should rise up in loud protest against what these senators are proposing.Thomas A. Smith is the president of the Smith Foundation and ran a successful investment company for 40 years. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an economic consultant with FreedomWorks.

Saudi Prince Pledges to Help India Fight Terror

“Terrorism is a common concern and Saudi Arabia will cooperate with India in fighting it, including in matters like intelligence sharing,” Prince Mohammed said in a press statement alongside Modi in New Delhi. The comments were part of the Saudi royal’s delicate diplomacy, as he visits both nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors amid heightened geopolitical tensions.

Japan wants frictionless UK-EU trade after Brexit: ambassador

Japan wants Britain to have frictionless trade with the European Union after Brexit, its ambassador said Thursday, insisting a damaging no-deal scenario should be avoided. Japanese companies are looking to expand their investment in Britain but are holding back due to uncertainty over Brexit, Koji Tsuruoka said during a talk in London.

Iowa mom gets life in prison for death of baby found in maggot-infested diaper

An Iowa woman whose infant son's lifeless body was found in a baby swing has been imprisoned for life without possibility of parole.

Trump panel to examine whether global warming affects national security will include climate change denier

President Donald Trump is preparing to establish a panel to examine whether climate change affects national security, despite existing reports from his own government showing that global warming is a growing threat. According to a White House memo dated 14 February, Mr Trump’s staff members have drafted an executive order to create a 12-member committee, which will include a White House adviser, William Happer, whose views are at odds with the established scientific consensus that carbon dioxide pollution is dangerous for the planet.

The Latest: Court records say 2 knew man wanted fiancee dead

DENVER (AP) — The Latest on the criminal cases tied to a Colorado woman's death (all times local):

Abuse victims demand to see pope, call for bishops to be fired

The 12 victims met with five Vatican officials a day before the start of an unprecedented conference on clerical abuse that aims to guide senior bishops on how best to tackle a problem that has decimated the Church's credibility. All the survivors of abuse who took part in the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, said they were disappointed the pope did not attend, even though he was not scheduled to be there. "We need to have a discussion with the man who makes the rules and has the power in this institution, and that's Pope Francis," said Peter Isely, an American from Milwaukee who was abused when he was a boy by a priest.

American and British ISIS brides Hoda Muthana and Shamima Begum plead to go home

Hoda Muthana and Shamima Begum fled to Syria to marry Islamic State group fighters. Now they want to come home.

Saudi Crown Prince Set to Arrive in China as Asian Tour Rolls On

The visit will include a meeting with President Xi Jinping and a high-level joint dialogue aimed at boosting relations after the nations agreed to promote a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016. China overtook the U.S. as the kingdom’s biggest trading partner in 2013. The world’s most populous nation accounted for about 15 percent of all Saudi imports and exports last year compared with 8 percent a decade earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Pakistan bans groups linked to Mumbai attack suspects

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.

Funeral held for youngest victim of factory shooting

SHERIDAN, Ill. (AP) — A small funeral home was packed with hundreds of mourners for a 21-year-old college student who was killed on the first day of his internship when a worker opened fire inside an Illinois manufacturing facility.

Southwest Airlines cancels nearly 400 flights as maintenance woes, winter storms linger

The airline continues to have a higher-than-usual number of aircraft out of service due to maintenance and is dealing with snow in Las Vegas.

Fiat's Unloved 500L Tries Again with the 2019 Urbana Edition

The compact-crossover version of the Fiat 500 gets a cosmetic blackout treatment that doesn't make up for its many shortcomings.

Mercedes-Benz Recall | Automated System Problem

Mercedes-Benz Vehicles Recalled for Partially Automated Driving System Problem Mercedes-Benz is recalling 6,200 S-Class sedans, coupes, and convertibles from the 2018 and 2019 model years becaus...

Gory details emerge about missing woman's suspected demise

DENVER (AP) — After months of mostly silence from authorities investigating the disappearance of a Colorado mother on Thanksgiving Day, grim details about her suspected demise emerged this week, including accusations that the woman's fiance beat her to death with a baseball bat while their baby was in the next room.