COLU @ CONCEPTS

As U.S. and China find common ground on North Korea, is Russia the wild card? FILE PHOTO: The Friendship and the Broken bridges over the Yalu River connecting the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China's Liaoning province, April 16, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo More By James Pearson and Alexei Chernyshev SEOUL/VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent Lunar New Year greetings this year, the first card went to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of leaders from China and other allies of the isolated country, according to its official news agency. Some academics who study North Korea argue Kim could be looking for Russia to ease any pain if China, which accounts for about 90 percent of North Korea's trade, steps up sanctions against the isolated country as part of moves to deter its nuclear and missile programs. U.S. President Donald Trump lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping last week for Beijing...

Boko Haram leader Shekau 'injured in air strike' Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram's shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured in an air strike, reports said (AFP Photo/HO, HO, HO) More Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured and one of his deputies killed in an air strike in northeast Nigeria, civilian and security sources told AFP on Wednesday. Two Nigerian Air Force jets bombarded fighters who had gathered for prayers in Balla village, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Damboa, on the edge of the Sambisa Forest, last Friday. "Shekau was wounded in the bombings and is believed to be receiving treatment near the Nigerian border with Cameroon around Kolofata," said one source with contacts within Boko Haram. "His deputy, Abba Mustapha, alias Malam Abba, was killed in the attack along with another key lieutenant, Abubakar Gashua, alias Abu Aisha," he added. Babakura Kolo, a m...

Wildlife-rich lagoon in Florida threatened by building boom ON THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON, Fla. (AP) — The most biologically diverse waterway in America is seriously ill. The Indian River Lagoon is repeatedly being choked with oxygen-robbing algae, its surface increasingly dotted with thousands of dead fish, manatees, birds and other creatures. The culprits: farm runoff and a huge influx of people that has sent lawn fertilizer and other pollutants into the lagoon, which runs 156 miles along Florida's Atlantic Coast, almost to Palm Beach, and includes the Cape Canaveral area. The most biologically diverse waterway in America is seriously ill. Florida’s Indian River Lagoon is repeatedly being choked with oxygen-robbing algae. And its surface is increasingly dotted with dead fish, manatees, birds and other creatures. (May 4) "It's the death by a thousand cuts," said Bob Knight, an environmental scientist with the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institu...

Rumors surround Justice Kennedy exit, but he's not talking WASHINGTON (AP) — As one justice settles into his new job at the Supreme Court, is another about to leave? Eighty-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy is so far refusing to comment on speculation that he may soon retire after 29 years on the court. But that hasn't stopped President Donald Trump and, obliquely, the Republican senator in charge of high court confirmation hearings from weighing in on the prospect that Kennedy could step down as soon as this spring or summer. If not this year, several former law clerks said they would not be surprised to see the justice retire in 2018. "I've heard the same rumors that a lot of people have heard. And I have a lot of respect for that gentleman, a lot," Trump told The Washington Times in an interview published Sunday. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters last month, "I would expect a resignation...

Trump to meet Australian PM on 1st presidential trip to NYC WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will aim to move past the rocky start to their working relationship when they meet for the first time and commemorate the 75th anniversary of an important World War II naval battle. Trump and Turnbull were meeting Thursday in New York City, a trip that will also mark Trump's visit home since he left in January to be sworn in as president. Trump's homecoming was expected to be unfriendly, however, with multiple protests planned against the Republican president in the heavily Democratic metropolis. North Korea's aggressive testing of ballistic missiles, security and economic issues are expected to be on the agenda for the leaders' talks, as well as an agreement Turnbull struck with then-President Barack Obama to take up to 1,250 mostly Muslim refugees off of Australia's hands and resettle them in the Unite...

Abbas says talks with Trump positive, if short on specifics RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said his first meeting with President Donald Trump left him hopeful, even though they did not discuss specifics about how to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Abbas said he believes the Trump administration can play an important role as a mediator. "What is needed is to bring the two parties together, to bring them closer and then to facilitate things between them," he told reporters late Wednesday, after his White House meeting. Trump also struck an optimistic note Wednesday, saying he believes an Israeli-Palestinian deal can be reached. He did not explain what type of solution he envisions. The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Abbas reiterated the demand as he stood next to Trump at the White House. However, there ha...

                            Trump targeting IRS rule on churches WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order further weakening already-sparse enforcement of an IRS rule threatening the loss of tax-exempt status for religious organizations that endorse political candidates. The order, which also affects non-profits, promises "regulatory relief" for groups with religious objections to the preventive services requirement in the Affordable Care Act, according to a White House official. Those requirements include covering birth control and the move could apply to religious groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, who have moral objections to paying for contraception. Trump will sign the order as he marks the National Day of Prayer at the White House Thursday. He was hosting members of his evangelical advisory board and planned to meet Roman Catholic leaders in the Oval O...