Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Who Defied Him

WASHINGTON — President Trump fired his acting attorney general on Monday night, removing her as the nation’s top law enforcement officer after she defiantly refused to defend his executive order closing the nation’s borders to refugees and people from predominantly Muslim countries.

In an escalating crisis for his 10-day-old administration, the president declared in a statement that Sally Q. Yates, who had served as deputy attorney general under President Barack Obama, had betrayed the administration by announcing that Justice Department lawyers would not defend Mr. Trump’s order against legal challenges.

Kim Jong Un May Order Mid-Range Missile Launch

North Korea's Kim Jong Un will most likely order the launch of a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) instead of a long-range one, South Korean military officials said Monday. The news comes hours after U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn vowed to strengthen their defenses to combat North Korea's nuclear threat.

"There are no signs of an imminent test firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by North Korea. But we are closely monitoring any new military activities in the country as it could launch an IRBM at any time if leader Kim Jong Un gives the order," an official at the South Korean defense ministry said, according to Yonhap News Agency. 

Holocaust Memorial selfie-takers apologize to Israeli shamer

BERLIN (Reuters) - German-Israeli satirist Shahak Shapira, who set up a website shaming selfie-takers at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial, says he has halted the project for now after a dozen people apologized for their disrespect.

His "Yolocaust.de" website had combined selfies, often with the participants grinning or striking poses, taken at the memorial with graphic images from Nazi concentration camps, including piles of bodies.

"I'm watching you. Stop doing it," Shapira told Reuters Television.

The Knights of Malta-Vatican feud: a tale of chivalry and sovereignty

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - On the afternoon of Jan. 24, a black BMW pulled out of a 16th century palace in Rome, crossed the Tiber River and headed for the Vatican, a short trip to end a brazen challenge to the authority of Pope Francis.

Inside the car was 67-year-old Englishman Matthew Festing, the head of an ancient Catholic order of knights which is now a worldwide charity with a unique diplomatic status.

Festing was about to resign, the first leader in several centuries of the Order of Malta, which was founded in 1048 to provide medical aid for pilgrims in the Holy Land, to step down instead of ruling for life.

Deadly attack on Quebec City mosque

A shooting at a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers left six people dead in an attack that Canada’s prime minister called an act of terrorism. Police arrested two suspects, including one who called 911 to say he was armed but ready to give himself up.

More than 50 people were at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre when the shooting erupted Sunday night. In addition to the six who died, five were in critical condition and 12 others suffered minor injuries, University of Quebec Hospital Centre spokeswoman Genevieve Dupuis said Monday. The dead ranged in age from 35 to 65.

No reason for alarm over Greek debt: ESM

Brussels (AFP) - There's no need for alarm over Greece's debt levels, a spokesman for the EU's rescue fund body told AFP Saturday, the day after a leaked IMF report described the problem as "explosive".

"We see no reason for an alarmist assessment of Greece's debt situation," said the spokesman for the Luxembourg-based European Stability Mechanism, or ESM.

2018 Mercedes-Benz E-class Cabriolet

The sun lies low on the desert horizon, the trees and cactuses are throwing long shadows, and the landscape is doused with warm light. In less than 20 seconds, the softtop disappears behind the rear seats, and the engine—barely perceptible—springs to life. The beginning of a relaxed and indulgent drive into the Sonoran Desert?

Survivor of WWII secret escape from Nazis dies in Oregon

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Harold Hayes, an Army medic and the last survivor of a group of medics and nurses who spent nine weeks evading capture in Nazi-occupied Albania during World War II, has died. He was 94.

All 30 men and women in the group eventually made it out, but it was kept secret to protect partisan fighters who helped them.

Poland puts Auschwitz staff database online

Kraków (Poland) (AFP) - Poland on Monday published the first online database with the names and other personal details of nearly 10,000 staff who ran the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi German death camp.

The database, which the IPN says contains 9,686 names "is just the beginning of a wide-ranging project" that will cover the staff of other death and concentration camps that Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland, IPN chairman Jaroslaw Szarek told reporters in Krakow.

Around 25,000 names have already been gathered so far.

Trump defends travel ban amid fierce backlash

President Trump lashed out on Sunday over those challenging his controversial executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

“America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and border,” Trump said in a statement issued late Sunday afternoon. “America has always been the land of the free and home of the brave. We will keep it free and keep it safe, as the media knows, but refuses to say.”

Trump signs executive order to slash regulations

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an order on Monday that will seek to dramatically pare back federal regulations by requiring agencies to cut two existing regulations for every new rule introduced.

"This will be the biggest such act that our country has ever seen. There will be regulation, there will be control, but it will be normalized control," Trump said as he signed the order in the Oval Office, surrounded by a group of small business owners.