US And World News (13)

Syria cessation of hostilities agreement comes into effect
Female genital 'nicks' should be legal: gynecologists
One area where the Pentagon is playing catchup with Russia and China
Trump's obsession with WW2 generals strikes sour note with historians
Why Russia and China may cheer for a President Donald Trump
Trump's march stirs growing sense of dread among Republicans
China says its warships to join major U.S.-hosted naval drills
When it comes to Russia, it’s Munich all over again – again
US, Russia-brokered cease-fire goes into effect across Syria
The billion-dollar question: With Trump’s surge, will Bloomberg run?
America needs a Sanders-Trump-Bloomberg-Johnson race

From their own party, on offer is a candidate who "just about runs the table on the seven deadly sins;" is fiercely opposed by respected religious and political conservatives; and has embraced positions anathema to the average Republican, like funding Planned Parenthood and the ObamaCare individual mandate. That a third of Republicans support Trump means two out of three prefer someone else — in fact, despite his impressive showing on Tuesday night, he is second only to Jeb Bush in unfavorability among GOP voters. ...... by November, Republicans may be feeling the need to become Johnson customers as well as voters

Nepal's insistence to exclude Madhesi issue led to no Indo-Nepal joint statement
Google PlaNet Can Look at a Photo, Tell You Where it Was Taken
Humble sea sponge may be the common ancestor of all animal life
How a Bloomberg Presidential Run Could Set Off a Constitutional Crisis
Bloomberg weighs his chances in unpredictable presidential race
Nepal’s police in Madhesi-hunting spree

The Asian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) partner organization the Terai Human Rights Defenders (THRD) Alliance have secured information that the Nepal police have started arresting Madhesi protesters in different cases, mostly related toevents that occurred during the 5 month long protests and blockade in the southern plains. This is a systematic trend of charging with false cases against frontline Madhesi demonstrators at district levels following the end of strikes in Nepal’s Terai on 8 February 2016. The trend is serious in a way that these local leaders who were active during the five month long protests have now been facing legal hassles, and they are now compelled to face intimidation from the state security agencies. There is no moral and legal support for them. ....... No doubt, killings of security personnel should be investigated and perpetrators should be booked. However, the recent actions are against Madhesi demonstrators only. The government authorities have not taken any action against the killing of 41 persons (of which 22 were bystanders). Neither has the State’s constitutional body, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), made its investigation report public, nor have any publicly visible actions against those involved in the killings of demonstrators and bystanders been taken.

Mysterious 'Fast Radio Burst' Pinpointed for First Time
Supermassive Black Holes Transport Matter into Cosmic Voids, Astronomers Say

Cosmic voids — vast underdense regions, forming an essential feature of the cosmic web and occupying most of the volume of the Universe — could contain as much as 20% of the ‘normal’ matter (i.e. the matter that makes up stars, planets, gas and dust) in the cosmos ..... the black holes at the center of every galaxy are helping to send matter into the loneliest places in the Universe

‘Satyamev Jayate’: PM Narendra Modi tweets link to Smriti Irani’s spirited speech in Lok Sabha
Signs grow of new Western urgency to stop Islamic State in Libya

"When you see an ISIL training camp and we see them doing push-ups and calisthenics every day, they're not there to lose weight," Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the international coalition fighting Islamic State ...... "They're there to train for something, and we're not going to let them do that."

IMF report urges G20 to prepare global economic stimulus plan
What makes just 16 missiles such a deadly threat in the South China Sea
Bloomberg
PM Narendra Modi​ tweets Smriti Irani's speech in Parliament, says 'Satyamev Jayate'
Watch: a 15-year-old Swedish girl explains why she joined ISIS — and why she regrets it
Are Republicans finally coming up with a plan to beat Donald Trump? (+video)

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul called Trump “a delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag,” in an appearance in January on Comedy Central’s “Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore." “A speck of dirt is way more qualified to be president,” Senator Paul added for good measure. Within days, he was out of the race, too. ...... With Trump, aggressive language shows he’s a fighter – a quality that voters are looking for at a time of economic and international insecurity. ...... “Mitt was a numbers guy, so he was caricatured as a cruel Scrooge. But Trump is a salesman: That’s been a big part of his campaign’s success. And how do you flip a salesman’s brand? You persuade people that he’s a con artist, and they’re his marks.” .....

Trump’s business history is fertile territory for arguments against him.

..... Her favored argument against Trump: that he’s a “conservative of convenience,” who supports government-mandated health care, tax hikes, and Planned Parenthood. ... To Trump, this is all just the Republican “establishment” trying to take him down and protect its turf.