US may withhold $255 million Pakistan aid over handling of terror groups

The Trump administration may withhold $225 million in government aid to Pakistan over frustration with the country's handling of terror groups within its borders.

As per a The New York Times report,  US was strongly considering whether to withhold the aid according to American officials. This is apparently in a show of dissatisfaction over Pakistan’s attitude in confronting the terrorist networks that operate on their soil.

A final decision is expected to come in the next few weeks, officials said. They did not detail what conditions Pakistan would have to meet to receive the aid.

Senior administration officials met in December 2017, to decide what to do about the money, the report further said.

Raising pressure on Pakistan, US President Donald Trump in August 2017, unveiled a new US strategy for the war in Afghanistan aimed at defeating the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network, an affiliated group that operates in Pakistan.

Trump at the time had said Pakistan "gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror" and vowed the administration would be tougher on the country.

The US President again singled out Pakistan for criticism when he announced his national security strategy in December 2017. "We make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help," he had said.

Vice President Mike Pence had also reinforced that message in a visit to Afghanistan just before Christmas, telling cheering American troops that "President Trump has put Pakistan on notice".

In July 2017, Defence Secretary James Mattis had previously stalled a $50 million aid package to Pakistan by withholding a certification that Pakistan had done enough to fight the Haqqani Network.

The certification is required by Congress for the yearly military grant made to Pakistan, a nation classified as a major non-NATO US ally.

Pakistan "did not take substantial action against the Afghan Taliban or (the Haqqani Network) or substantially limit their ability to threaten US interests in Afghanistan," an annual State Department report on terrorism had stated.

A State Department official said Pakistan's actions will ultimately determine the course of "security assistance in the future". 

Donald Trump's tweets 'do not accord with facts': China on allegations of illegal oil sale to North Korea

China on Friday hit back at allegations that it is illegally selling oil to North Korea, claiming there was no basis to the accusations. While the Chinese Foreign Ministry took a more circumspect tone in its response, media houses run by the government took direct aim at US President Donald Trump for his tweet on the issue.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that Beijing had immediately investigated the tanker that had in October allegedly made a ship-to-ship sale of oil to North Korea, after the reports emerged.

She claimed that the ship, though of Chinese origin, had not docked at a Chinese port since August. "The relevant reports do not accord with facts… China has always comprehensively and strictly implemented the UN Security Council's resolutions and carried out its due international obligations," Hua said.

 "If there is solid evidence proving that there is on the Chinese side any violation of the Security Council resolutions, China will surely deal with it in accordance with laws and regulations," she added.

The issue had blown up, especially after a tweet from Trump, that read, "Caught RED HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!"

However, Chinese state-run media had no diplomatic balancing acts to perform. They were more direct in taking on the issue.

"This is not how a US president should behave," declared Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times, in an editorial.

"Some radicals from the US and South Korea do not speak in a responsible manner, but we hope President Trump has a broader vision... It is hoped Trump and his team will not be hijacked by irrational opinions and add fuel to the flames," it added.

Both Hua and the Global Times editorial attempted to paint China as a country that dutifully implements resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council, and carries out its international obligations.

However, China has a patchy record when it comes to compliance with a rules-based international order, as it showed with its refusal to respect an international tribunal ruling against its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Germany has ordered Amazon to stop taking advantage of people who can’t spell “Birkenstock”

Germany is saving consumers from their own poor spelling.

A German court has barred Amazon from drawing in online shoppers who misspell iconic German sandal maker Birkenstock in their Google searches, Reuters reports. Amazon reportedly won business for common Birkenstock misspellings by booking variants like “Brikenstock,” “Bierkenstock,” and “Birkenstok” in Google AdWords, so that they produced search results for shoes sold on Amazon.com.

According to Reuters, Birkenstock turned to the court because it feared shoppers might unwittingly buy shoddy counterfeits, which could damage its brand reputation. “For us, Amazon is complicit,” Birkenstock chief Oliver Reichert told German magazine Der Spiegel, according to Reuters.

Birkenstock first walked away from Amazon.com in July 2016. Besieged by counterfeits and rogue merchants, the company said it would no longer supply products to Amazon for US customers starting Jan. 1, 2017. “The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an ‘open market,’ creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand,” David Kahan, Birkenstock’s CEO for the Americas, wrote in a memo at the time.

A year later, Kahan denounced Amazon in a lengthy memo for attempting to get Birkenstock retailers to sell it their inventory, even though the company had explicitly removed its sandals from Amazon.com in the US. “I share in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Kahan wrote. “[A]ny Authorized retailer who may do this for even a single pair will be closed FOREVER.”

Amazon is a tough internet giant to foil. Its Zappos subsidiary sells a wide array of its offerings, and a search for “Birkenstock” from the US still returns plenty of results on its website, though many of the shoes are also out of stock. Earlier this month, Birkenstock also pulled its merchandise from Amazon in Europe over the online shopping company’s alleged failure to stamp out counterfeits.

NASA helps American Girl to create aspiring astronaut doll

NASA said it is collaborating with American Girl, a doll and book company, to inspire children to dream big and reach for the stars.

The focus of the collaboration is the "Girl of the Year" doll for 2018, an 11-year-old aspiring astronaut named Luciana who wants to be the first person to put boots on Mars, the US space agency said on Thursday.

"It is so important to find exciting new ways to inspire our next generation of space explorers," said NASA astronaut Megan McArthur.

"I always want to encourage girls and boys to pursue their dreams, no matter how big, and I think it helps to show how those dreams can become reality for any kid," McArthur said.

The doll is set to go on sale from January 1, 2018.

The US space agency said it partnered with the company to share the excitement of space with the public, and in particular, inspire young girls to learn about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

NASA provided the company subject matter experts for their advisory board, provided input for an upcoming book series.

To ensure authenticity and adherence to agency graphic and media usage standards, it also reviewed merchandise as it was developed for the STEM-inspired character.

In addition to technical advice, NASA said it provided imagery and content for a new American Girl app and educational website aimed at offering children space simulations, educational quizzes, challenges, and more. 

Utah teacher fired after showing students classical paintings which contained nudity

A Utah art teacher was fired amid complaints that images of classical paintings containing nudity were passed out in a classroom and seen by sixth-graders, a newspaper reported.

Mateo Rueda said he wasn't aware that a set of educational postcards from the elementary school library contained a few works depicting nudity when he handed them out during a lesson, the Herald Journal newspaper said Thursday.

He removed the cards when they made students uncomfortable, the paper reported .

"This is not material at all that I would use. I had no idea," Rueda said.

He said he has requested a hearing and plans to appeal his termination to clear his reputation.

A few days after the Dec. 4 lesson, police went to Lincoln Elementary School in Hyrum, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City, to investigate a complaint that Rudea was showing pornography to students.

Cache County deputies found Principal Jeni Buist shredding postcards — at the request of the school district — that contained nudity, said Sheriff Chad Jensen.

Deputies showed some of the images to prosecutors, who decided they were not pornography, Jenson said.

The Cache County School District declined to comment, saying it's a personnel matter.

The two images seen by students were the Impressionist-era portrait "Iris Tree" by Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani and the Rococo-style partial nude "Odalisque" by 18th-century artist Francois Boucher, the teacher said.

Parent Venessa Rose Pixton said she's upset because Rueda's handling of the situation belittled students, including her 11-year-old son.

"He said Mr. Mateo even told the class 'There's nothing wrong with female nipples. You guys need to grow up and be mature about this,'" Pixton said.

Rueda denied making that statement and said he simply explained the human body is often portrayed in art displayed in museums.

Some parents are supporting Rueda.

Kamee Jensen wrote a letter to the Herald Journal defending him and said her daughter wasn't offended by the pictures.

"She was just very upset that her teacher was in trouble," Jensen said.

Police release ‘swatting’ call, video of man shot to death

Wichita police say a man who was fatally shot by an officer Thursday evening was unarmed but had put his hands by his waistband multiple times during commands to raise them.

On Friday afternoon, Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston went through a timeline of events and released audio of the 911 call and what dispatchers relayed to officers.

The shooting happened at 1033 W. McCormick.

In the 911 call, a man told dispatchers he had shot his father and was holding his mother and sibling hostage. Livingston said the call was a “swatting” hoax. 

Swatting happens when someone makes a call to a police department with a false story of an ongoing crime – often with killing or hostages involved – in an attempt to draw a large number of police officers to a particular address.

Swatting has gained traction across the country with online gamers. Those who try to cause the swatting incident will use caller ID spoofing or other techniques to disguise their number as being local. Or they call local non-emergency numbers instead of 911, according to 911.gov.

The call

At 6:18 p.m., an officer working at City Hall received a call from an unknown man who said there was a disturbance with his father. When dispatchers spoke with the caller, he said he got into an argument with his mother and shot his father.

“They were arguing and I shot him in the head, and he’s not breathing anymore,” the caller said.

Asked if he had any weapons on him, the caller said, “Yeah I do.”

He then said he was standing by his mother’s closet holding a black handgun.

“I’m just pointing the gun at them, making sure they stay in the closet,” the caller said.

When the dispatcher asked if he could put the gun down, he said no. He then made further threats.

“I already poured gasoline all over the house, I might just set it on fire,” he told the dispatcher. “Do you have my address correct?”

He then described a one-story house and again said his father wasn’t breathing.  

“It’s giving me anxiety, making me paranoid,” he said.

When the dispatcher asked if the man was white, black, Asian or Hispanic, heavy breathing could be heard. Then the call disconnected.  

Officers arrive

As officers arrived to 1033 W. McCormick, Livingston said they were prepared for a hostage situation and were posted on the east, west and north sides of the house.

However, there was no hostage situation and family members of the man shot — identified by family as Andrew “Andy” Finch — said he doesn’t play video games.

His mother, Lisa Finch, said Finch saw police lights outside, and opened the door to see what happened. She heard him scream, then said she heard one shot fired.

Livingston provided this account of what happened when Finch opened the door:

“Officers gave him several verbal commands to put his hands up and walk towards them. The male complied for a very short time and then put his hands back down to his waist. The officers continued to give him verbal commands to put his hands up, and he lowered them again.

“The male then turned towards the officers on the east side of the residence, lowered his hands to the waistband again, then suddenly pulled them back up towards those officers at the east.

“The officers on the north side of the street feared the male pulled a weapon from his waistband, retrieved a gun and was in the process of pointing it at the officers to the east. Fearing for those officers’ safety, the officer on the north side fired one round.”

Officers removed four people from the house and then searched it. They discovered there were no hostages or deceased people, Livingston said. Emergency medical crews were standing nearby, he said.

“They can’t go in and treat somebody until the house is cleared and made safe,” he said. “An individual was shot at 6:47 and was at the hospital in about 17 minutes.” 

“Tragic and senseless”

The shooting was a tragic and senseless act, Livingston said.

“The irresponsible acts of a prankster put people’s lives at risk,” he said. “The incident is a nightmare for everyone involved, including the family and our police department. Due to the action of a prankster, we have an innocent victim. If the false police call had not been made, we would not have been there.”

Wichita police are working with federal authorities to locate the person who made the 911 phone call, he said. He declined to comment on where the caller might live.

Officers have been following up on leads found through social media, he said.

On Twitter, more than a dozen people who identified themselves as being in the gaming community told The Eagle that a feud between two “Call of Duty” players sparked one to initiate a “swatting” call.

After news began to spread about what happened Thursday night, the people in the gaming community, through Twitter posts, pointed at two gamers.

“I DIDNT GET ANYONE KILLED BECAUSE I DIDNT DISCHARGE A WEAPON AND BEING A SWAT MEMBER ISNT MY PROFESSION,” said one gamer, who others said made the swatting call. His account was suspended overnight.

According to posts on Twitter, two gamers were arguing when one threatened to target the other with a swatting call. The person who was the target of the swatting gave the other gamer a false address, which sent police to a nearby home instead of his own, according to Twitter posts.

The person who was to be the target of the swatting sent a Tweet saying, “Someone tried to swat me and got an innocent man killed.”

Dexerto, a online news service focused on gaming and the “Call of Duty” game, reported the argument began over a $1 or $2 wager over the game.

This is, Livingston said, the first time in his memory that Wichita police have dealt with a “swatting” call. If they have happened before, Livingston said, they didn’t rise to this level.

“This prank phone call, we don’t see it as a prank,” he said. “It only heightened the awareness of the officers, which we think led to this deadly encounter.”

Maldives Beach Looks Like Starry Night Sky

This glistening beach is not part of a magical Disney or Pixar sequence – it’s actually a perfectly natural occurrence. These glistening dots of light, captured on a beach in the Maldives by Taiwanese photographer William Ho, are caused by microscopic organisms called bioluminescent phytoplankton, or Lingulodinium polyedrum for the scientifically inclined.

These plankton are part of a red tide, which is when the population of phytoplankton like these explodes in a certain location, coloring the water a dull orange-red. Some of the organisms that form red tides are directly toxic to marine wildlife and humans, while others simply produce toxins that accrue in shellfish, making them unsafe to eat.

At night, however, the red waters take on a completely different hue. These organisms react to changes in water tension and to acidity by giving off light, so every wave break and paddle causes them to give off light. Surfers who surf a red tide at night leave a trail of shining water, and steps taken in soaked sand leave shimmering imprints. Boats traveling through bioluminescent red tides leave especially impressive light trails.