Washington - US President Barack Obama will participate in a ceremony honoring the Righteous Among the Nations – non-Jews who helped rescue Jews during the Holocaust – at a special event scheduled to be held in Israel’s embassy on Wednesday, The New York Times reported on Friday. The ceremony, held in cooperation with Yad Vashem, will posthumously recognize two Polish citizens – Valeri...

New York - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump retweeted an account called "@WhiteGenocideTM" on Friday, prompting a backlash on social media over the real estate billionaire's sharing of an apparent neo-Nazi's depiction of rival candidate Jeb Bush. Trump, who is campaigning for the first contests on Feb. 1 in Iowa and Feb. 9 in New Hampshire, is known for attacking other...

Washington - U.S. intelligence agencies investigating the kidnapping of three Americans in Baghdad, Iraq last week are focusing their probe on three militant Islamic groups closely affiliated with Iran, U.S. government sources said on Thursday. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Hezbollah and the Badr Organization are the principle focus of the investigation into the armed kidnapping of the three...

New York - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said one person died and about a dozen others were sickened from a listeria outbreak linked to packaged salads made at a Dole processing facility. The salads were made in Springfield, Ohio, the CDC said. Those infected were spread in six states: Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The CDC said the...

Paris - France's government is putting out a call for a standardized computer keyboard to replace the multitude of AZERTY models now on the market, saying the current options make it "nearly impossible to write French correctly with a keyboard sold in France." The French Culture Ministry noted that there are no standardized keys for accents, quote marks or certain letters — like those that...

Newark, NJ - Police at Newark Liberty Airport say a FedEx employee has been arrested for stealing several iPhones. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police spokesman Joe Pentangelo says 21-year-old DeAndre Camacho was arrested Thursday and charged with theft and criminal mischief. He was released and is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 4. Pentangelo said FedEx personnel called...

Des Moines, IA - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is out with his first political attack ad aimed squarely at rival Ted Cruz. The ad, entitled "Clear Difference," paints the Texas senator as a "flip-flopping" politician who once supported allowing the millions of people living in the country illegally to remain. It features footage of Cruz stumbling on his words when asked about...

San Francisco - Google Inc paid Apple Inc $1 billion in 2014 to keep its search bar on the iPhone, Bloomberg reported, citing a transcript of court proceedings related to a copyright lawsuit filed by Oracle Corp against the search giant. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, gives Apple a percentage of the revenue it generates through the iPhone but details of the arrangement have never been made...

Washington - The snowstorm forecast from meteorologists was dead-on and is about to turn into a nightmare for some 50 million people in the East Coast. The forecasters are calling for snowfall that will be measured in feet, gale force winds, coastal flooding and white-out conditions. The feared snowstorm sloshed from the Ohio Valley into Virginia on Friday morning and was approaching...

New York - There are several simple ways to clean your engagement rings. Try some of them and adopt the method that works best for you. This guide is only for rings that contain diamonds, sapphire, rubies, synthetic stones and other hard stones. Emeralds and other softer stones need to be cleaned with warm water and soap, and will get damaged if cleaned with chemicals or hot water. Using soapy...

New York - There's no denying buttons are an important clothing item, but can they rise to the level of art? A new exhibition at a Manhattan gallery proves they can. In the hands of 11 artists, the everyday, mundane objects are used to create sculptures, portraits and amazing wearable art — some political, personal or whimsical. Each artist is "pushing buttons" beyond their normal use and...

Denmark - A Danish city has ordered pork to be mandatory on municipal menus, including for schools and daycare centers, with politicians insisting the move is necessary for preserving the country's food traditions and is not an attack on Muslims. Frank Noergaard, a member of the council in Randers that narrowly approved the decision earlier this week, says it was made to ensure that pork...

London - World stock market losses are approaching $8 trillion so far this year and investors last week poured the most money into government bond funds in a year, suggesting they fear the global economy could tip into recession, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday. The bank's U.S. economists also said on Friday that the likelihood of the world's largest economy entering a recession...

Gaza - The African tiger at the zoo in southern Gaza Strip was emaciated, its belly shrunken and its striped coat hanging loose. It strode nervously up and down its cage. "I swear to God the tiger has not eaten for four or five days," said Mohammed Ouida, the owner of South Jungle Zoo. "It needs 100 shekels (about $20) of food a day." Once bustling with families bringing their children to...

Washington - A blizzard menacing the Eastern United States started dumping snow in Virginia, Tennessee and other parts of the South on Friday as millions of people in the storm's path prepared for icy roads, possible power outages and other treacherous conditions. Snowfall as heavy as 1 to 3 inches an hour could last for 24 hours or more in some areas, said meteorologist Paul Kocin with the...