Ocasio-Cortez – 'who actually worked for wages' - rebukes Ivanka Trump

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described her experience ‘as a person who actually worked for tips and hourly wages’. Without calling her out outright, the Democratic freshman congresswoman and Twitter wonder Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday rebuked the first daughter Ivanka Trump for sounding off on something she could never truly understand: working for a living wage. Describing her expertise “as a person who actually worked for tips and hourly wages”, Ocasio-Cortez essentially pointed out that Ivanka Trump has never had to work a minimum wage job in her life and that her comments on the Green New Deal jobs guarantee rang hollow.

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Q&A: What's at stake as India-Pakistan tensions rise?

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan face their worst tension in years over the disputed region of Kashmir, with Islamabad saying they shot down two Indian warplanes Wednesday and captured a pilot. Pakistan, which previously said it captured two pilots, immediately shut down its civilian airspace in response.

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Cardinal Pell behind bars in Australia after child sex conviction

Pell, a former top adviser to Pope Francis and the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted for child sex offences, was found guilty in December of five charges related to the abuse of the 13-year-old boys while he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. Pell's guilty verdict was revealed in Australia on Tuesday after a court suppression order was dropped. The 77-year-old Pell was back in court on Wednesday for his sentence plea hearing, where his bail was revoked and he was taken into custody ahead of his final sentence being determined.

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U.N. Security Council to vote on rival U.S., Russian proposals on Venezuela

The Russian draft text, seen by Reuters, expresses support for a political solution to the crisis and backs the Venezuelan government as the primary coordinator of international assistance efforts in the country. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, France, Britain or the United States to pass. Diplomats said the U.S. draft is likely to gain the minimum nine votes to force a likely Russian veto, while the Russian draft is expected to fail without the need for a U.S. veto.

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The Latest: Vatican investigates Pell after conviction

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest on Cardinal George Pell (all times local):

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Stick to Marx not 'ghosts and spirits', China warns party members

China's ruling Communist Party warned party members on Wednesday to stick to Marx and Lenin and not believe in "ghosts and spirits", in the latest effort to root out superstitious practices. China officially guarantees freedom of religion for major belief systems like Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, but party members are meant to be atheists and are especially banned from participating in what China calls superstitious practices like visiting soothsayers. There have been numerous scandals in recent years where senior party members have been accused of involvement in superstition.

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Pakistan 'captures Indian pilot after shooting down two jets in dogfight over Kashmir'

Two planes shot down over Kashmir border Pakistan claims to have two pilots held Sources: jets shot down in 'four-on-four' dogfight Both countries dispute each other's claims Analysis: Pakistan and India need help climbing down, or risk another war over Kashmir ​ Pakistan has claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and captured a pilot after a dogfight over Kashmir, igniting fears of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.  Tensions remain high on the Asian Subcontinent where tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the disputed Kashmir boundary. There are competing claims regarding the exact details of what has taken place, but Pakistan's Major General Asif Ghafoor said a pilot was in Army custody. Pakistan had earlier said it was holding two pilots. Ghafoor said the jets had been shot down after Pakistani planes earlier Wednesday flew across the Line of Control, the de facto border in disputed Kashmir, to the Indian side in a show of strength, hitting non-military targets including supply depots. Although this version of events is disputed by India, the Pakistani official said: "The Pakistan Air Force was ready, they took them on, there was an engagement. As a result both the Indian planes were shot down and the wreckage of one fell on our side while the wreckage of the other fell on their side." Pulwama suicide attack - Map Initially, the Indian Air Force (IAF) denied Pakistani claims, despite videos of the two pilots in Pakistani captivity being broadcast by state media. The IAF is also decried claims that two Indian fighter aircraft had been shot down. But later on Wednesday a foreign ministry official told a press conference in Delhi that there was an "aerial engagement", conceding just one Indian jet was shot down.  IAF sources said that there were four Pakistani F-16 fighters against four IAF MiG-21 Bison combat aircraft and the dogfight happened in a chase. The four Pakistani fighters are believed to have tried attacking an ammunition dump at Nowshera near the Line of Control in Kashmir, when they were chased by four Indian planes. India claims it has also shot down one of the Pakistani fighter jets.  The incident is the latest in a dangerous sequence of events between the two countries, whose ties have been under intense strain since a February 14 suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir that killed 40 troops. Islamabad insisted the latest move was in self defence and officials said strikes had been taken at non-military targets avoiding civilian casualties. Ghafoor said: "We do not want escalation, we do not want to go towards war," at a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, calling for talks with New Delhi. Pakistan closed its airspace Wednesday, "until further notice", the civil aviation authority and the military said. A military spokesman said the decision had been taken "due to the environment". How did we get here? The claim came a little over 24 hours after Delhi said it had struck a Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp near Balakot where it said militants were preparing for imminent terrorist attacks. Islamabad had denied any camp was struck, but on Tuesday warned India to prepare for a surprise and vowed a "befitting" response at a time and place of its choosing. In a statement headed "Pakistan strikes back", the foreign ministry said the action was not retaliation " to continued Indian belligerence". "Pakistan has therefore, taken strikes at non military target, avoiding human loss and collateral damage. Sole purpose being to demonstrate our right, will and capability for self defence.  Pakistani soldiers stand next to what Pakistan says is the wreckage of an Indian fighter jet shot down in Pakistan controled Kashmir at Somani area in Bhimbar district Credit: AFP A spokesman for Pakistan's military said that Indian jets had then crossed the line of control and the Pakistan air forces had gone on to shoot two of them down inside Pakistani airspace. "One of the aircraft fell inside Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while other fell inside Indian Occupied Kashmir. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area," said Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor. There was no immediate response from Delhi, but Indian media did report an Indian air force jet crashed in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday morning. Delhi said on Tuesday it had said it had struck a pre-emptive blow against the Pakistan-based militant group it blames for a suicide bomb that killed at least 40 paramilitary police in Kashmir earlier this month. The force of jets destroyed a hilltop training camp near Balakot where Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) jihadists were preparing an imminent attack, the country's foreign minister said. But Pakistan dismissed that claim as “fictitious” and “self-serving”, saying its own jets had intercepted the raiding force and seen it off. Pakistan's military said the Indian jets dropped their payload of bombs “in haste” as they fled and they caused no damage after landing in deserted forest. Indian soldiers gesture near the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district, outside Srinagar on February 27, 2019 Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Villagers near Balakot said they had been woken by jets and four blasts in an area close to a JeM madrassa. But they denied heavy casualties and said the damage was largely to trees. One person was wounded. "We saw trees fallen down and one house damaged and four craters where the bombs had fallen," said Mohammad Ajmal, a 25-year-old who visited the site told Reuters. Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said JeM ran a nearby Islamic school. An Indian attack had been widely predicted as Narendra Modi faced domestic outrage over the bomb attack in Pulwama blamed on JeM. A history of trouble Pakistan has long been accused of harbouring and supporting militant groups as tools of its foreign policy in India, Kashmir and Afghanistan. JeM is a primarily anti-India group that forged ties with al Qaeda and has been on a UN terrorist list since 2001. India says the JeM was also behind the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and on an Indian air force base in 2016. Pakistan denies any involvement in the Pulwama attack and has challenged Delhi to deliver actionable intelligence on who carried out the attack. Indian and Pakistan: timeline of a testy relationship Western diplomats now fear any counter retaliation by Pakistan could dangerously escalate the stand-off and trigger an international crisis. One diplomat said both sides must try to carefully measure their action to satisfy domestic nationalist fervour, while not provoking all out war. However with an Indian general election only weeks away, Mr Modi had come under intense pressure to act. As news channels on both sides of the border became increasingly bellicose, a Pakistani military spokesman even alluded to its nuclear arsenal, highlighting the escalation in hostile rhetoric. Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand near the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP The spokesman said a command and control authority meeting, which decides over the use of nuclear weapons, had been convened for Wednesday, adding: "You all know what that means." The Indian strike 30 miles from the frontier was thought to be the first strike inside its neighbour's territory since their 1971 war. Indian military sources said 12 French Mirage 2000 fighters crossed the line of control dividing the adversaries in Kashmir on their raid into Pakistani territory at around 3.15am local time. Accompanied by an airborne early warning and control aircraft and a mid-air re-fueller, the Mirages reportedly employed 1,000kg precision guided munitions to hit their targets in a mission that lasted a few minutes. Kashmir: why the tension?  The Kashmir dispute dates from 1947. The partition of the Indian sub-continent along religious lines led to the formation of India and Pakistan. However, there remained the problem of over 650 states, run by princes, existing within the two newly independent countries. In theory, these princely states had the option of deciding which country to join, or of remaining independent. In practice, the restive population of each province proved decisive. As a result, both India and Pakistan control parts of Kashmir, but claim it in its entirety and have fought two wars over Kashmir since Partition in 1947. Where do we go now? Pakistan have claimed the two pilots are being treated well, according to its state media.  One is in hospital and one has been arrested, but there are question marks over where this tit-for-tat will go next.  Islamabad has said it does not want to escalate the situation to a full-blown war - a sentiment echoed by those around the world.  China is renewing calls for Pakistan and India to take steps to avoid a further deterioration of ties following the latest flare-up. Indian army soldiers arrive near the wreckage of an Indian aircraft after it crashed in Budgam area Credit: Mukhtar Khan/AP Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a daily briefing on Wednesday that "both Pakistan and India are important countries in the subcontinent of South Asia." He added that China hopes "they will keep in mind the regional peace and stability, exercise restraint, take effective measures to strengthen dialogue, and maintain two sides' fundamental interests and the regional peace and stability." Lu also said: "We hope they will avoid deterioration of the situation." China is longstanding close ally and arms supplier to Pakistan, but has also sought better ties with its southern neighbor and Asian rival India. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also urged the two countries to exercise restraint and avoid escalation at any cost, and said in a statement he had spoken to foreign ministers from Indian and Pakistan to "encourage both ministers to prioritise direct communication and avoid further military activity."  Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.

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Michael Cohen testimony: Trump said black people were 'too stupid' to vote for him, former lawyer to claim in explosive racism allegations

Donald Trump is a racist whose prejudice is “even worse” in private than his public outbursts suggest, the president’s former lawyer Michael Cohen is due to say in explosive testimony before Congress. “Mr Trump is a racist.

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Lady Gaga calls Bradley Cooper 'a true friend' after sexy Oscars performance of 'Shallow'

Lady Gaga set the record straight following her steamy "Shallow" duet with co-star Bradley Cooper, calling him a "true friend" in an Instagram post after some observers wondered if they were closer than that.

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Trump has made North Korea nuclear threat worse, former White House expert says

Donald Trump dined with dictator Kim Jong Un on Wednesday night in Hanoi, Vietnam, painting a rosy picture for economic prosperity in North Korea after previously claiming the brutal regime is no longer a nuclear threat to the United States. There’s just one problem: intelligence experts say the North has only sought to advance its nuclear ambitions under Mr Trump, who has “undermined his negotiators routinely” throughout behind-the-scenes conversations ahead of this week’s summit. “North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities are more dangerous than when Trump took office and remain a strategic threat to America’s allies in the region,” Jon Wolfsthal, former senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council under Barack Obama, told The Independent.

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India builds bunkers to protect families along Pakistan border

On Tuesday evening, Pakistan used heavy caliber weapons to shell 12 to 15 places along the Indian side of the de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the disputed Kashmir region, a spokesman for the Indian defense forces said. The Indian army retaliated with its own shelling of the Pakistani side, he said. There have been frequent exchanges of fire along the actual and de facto borders in recent months, but Tuesday's firing marked a major escalation after India carried out an air strike on what it said was a training camp run by an Islamist militant group in Pakistan.

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Journalists detained for hours after showing Nicolas Maduro images of poverty in Venezuela

A crew from US-based television network Univision said it was detained for more than two hours in Venezuela after offending President Nicolas Maduro during an interview by asking questions about poverty and his legitimacy to govern. Maduro "disliked the questions in the interview and stopped the recording, confiscated the equipment and detained the six journalists," said Univision, one of the biggest Spanish-language TV networks in the United States. "The crew of six Univision Noticias journalists headed by Jorge Ramos was released after being held at the Miraflores Palace for nearly three hours on the orders of Nicolas Maduro," the network added. Ramos told Univision that the entire team had later arrived back at their hotel. The journalist said he had showed Maduro footage of children sifting through garbage for something to eat and that Maduro halted the interview and left. Jorge Ramos said Maduro 'disliked the questions' after he showed the president a video of people scavenging from the back of a rubbish truck "I had asked him if he was a president or a dictator, because millions of Venezuelans do not consider him the legitimate president," Ramos said. Ramos said he had brought up opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido's charges that Maduro has effectively usurped power because, Guaido argues, Maduro won re-election last year through fraud. "We were detained, there is no other word for it, for nearly three hours" at Maduro's presidential palace, Ramos told reporters. He said he and his team hope to get their equipment back and fly to Miami Tuesday. Guaido tweeted about the incident with Ramos, saying Maduro's "desperation is greater every day. He could not answer his questions." The US State Department earlier said it had been notified that Ramos and his team were being held against their will at the Miraflores. "We insist on their immediate release; the world is watching," it tweeted.

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U.S. Seeks UN Security Council Vote on New Venezuela Resolution

The resolution, which would likely face a Russian veto, stresses “the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela and to facilitate unhindered access and delivery of assistance to all in need,” according to a draft of the text obtained by Bloomberg. Violence has raged along Venezuela’s borders as National Assembly leader Juan Guaido and his supporters -- which include the U.S. and 50 other nations -- amassed supplies at entry points in Colombia and Brazil.

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Parts of human body found at cargo plane crash site

DALLAS (AP) — Texas authorities have found part of a human body at the site where a Boeing 767 cargo plane crashed Saturday, although it's unclear whether it belongs to the missing crew member.

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Trump says he walked from deal with North Korea's Kim over sanction demands

Trump said two days of talks in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi had made good progress in building relations and on the key issue of denuclearization, but it was important not to rush into a bad deal. "It was all about the sanctions," Trump said at a news conference after the talks were cut short. "Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that." The United Nations and the United States ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea when the reclusive state undertook a series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests in 2017, cutting off its main sources hard cash.

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India launches air strike in Pakistan; Islamabad denies militant camp hit

Pakistan said it would respond at a time and place of its choice, with a military spokesman even alluding to its nuclear arsenal, highlighting the escalation in hostile rhetoric from both two sides since a suicide bombing in Kashmir this month. The spokesman said a command and control authority meeting, which decides over the use of nuclear weapons, had been convened for Wednesday, adding: "You all know what that means." The air strike near Balakot, a town 50 km (30 miles) from the frontier, was the deepest cross-border raid launched by India since the last of its three wars with Pakistan in 1971 but there were competing claims about any damage caused. The Indian government, facing an election in the coming months, said the air strikes hit a training camp belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the group that claimed a suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Feb. 14.

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Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen ‘to offer new details' of president’s alleged racist language and collusion with Russia

Michael Cohen plans to tell US lawmakers that Donald Trump asked him several times about a proposed skyscraper project in Moscow long after he secured the Republican presidential nomination, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Mr Trump’s former personal lawyer said that Mr Trump was enquiring about the project as late as June 2016, which could suggest he remained personally interested in a business venture in Russia well into his candidacy. Cohen, scheduled to report to prison in May, has already said he briefed Mr Trump on the project in June 2016.

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Church sex abuse scandal: Vatican opens investigation into Cardinal George Pell

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's third-most powerful official, was remanded to prison in Australia for sexually abusing two choirboys.

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Jussie Smollett deserves punishment for hate crime hoax, but he also deserves compassion

Jussie Smollett is not Lex Luthor; he’s more like an inept shoplifter caught trying to steal a canned ham. We should consider feeling sorry for him.

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The Latest: Pittenger doesn't plan to run again for old seat

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on a new election being held for a North Carolina congressional seat after the state elections board reviewed evidence of ballot fraud (all times local):

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Abortion survivor reacts to Senate failing to pass bill protecting babies born alive in failed abortions

Abortion survivor Melissa Ohden expresses disappointment after Democrats block the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a measure requiring doctors to provide medical care to babies born alive after attempted abortions.

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The Next-Generation Porsche Macan Will Be Fully Electric

Due in 2021, the next Macan will ride on an electric platform shared with the second-gen Taycan.

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Key Asia-Europe Air Route Closed on India-Pakistan Tensions

Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s Europe-bound flights on Thursday will take off as planned, but will be re-routed to avoid the affected airspace, without any refueling stops, the carrier said in an email. After scrapping all 10 flights from Europe to Bangkok as well as those to Pakistan that were due to depart late Wednesday and early Thursday, Thai Airways International Pcl said it has resumed normal operations by skirting the South Asian country. Pakistan airspace is the primary route for Southeast Asia and Europe, with about 220 services connecting the regions daily, according to the International Air Transport Association.

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Cohen asks for protection from threats by Trump, because he used to make them all the time

Cohen testified that he did this regularly. “Fifty times?” asked Rep. Jackie Speier. “More” said Cohen. “A hundred times? Two hundred times?” asked Speier. When she got to 500, Cohen agreed, “Probably.”

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Ex-lawyer Cohen assails 'conman' Trump, gives no direct evidence of collusion

In a dramatic televised hearing in Congress on Wednesday, Cohen said Trump approved hush payments to cover up extra-marital sexual relationships in violation of campaign finance laws, and signed a personal check for $35,000 in 2017 to reimburse Cohen for at least one of those payments. Cohen, 52, was a close aide of Trump for years and his testimony could increase the legal and political pressure on the Republican president, but he did not appear to disclose a "smoking gun" that could sink his former boss. Cohen told a House of Representatives committee he had no direct evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with Moscow during the election campaign.

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Univision anchor Jorge Ramos deported from Venezuela after Maduro interview

Jorge Ramos arrives at the airport in Caracas. The Univision anchor Jorge Ramos and his five-person crew have been deported from Venezuela after they were detained in the presidential palace in Caracas during an interview with the embattled president, Nicolás Maduro.

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As Kim's car passes, North Korean defector cries and shouts

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A tearful North Korean defector shouted "Please, let me go back home!" as a black limousine carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un passed by her in Hanoi on Tuesday.

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Nuclear Nightmare: India and Pakistan are on the Brink

Whatever happens next rests in the fates of political decisionmakers in India.

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UK PM May proposes votes on no-deal exit and Brexit delay if her deal rejected: Telegraph

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May is proposing that parliament votes on whether to leave the European Union without a deal or delay Brexit if her exit deal fails to win parliamentary approval, a Daily Telegraph reporter said on Twitter. "The PM (Prime Minister) has said there will be a three line whip on an amendable motion tomorrow that will commit to two votes on March 12th in the event that her deal fails," Telegraph reporter Steven Swinford wrote, citing details of an ongoing cabinet meeting. ...

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Spike Lee dismisses Trump's 'racist hit' tweet

Spike Lee has responded to President Trump’s assertion that the director’s speech during the Academy Awards was a “racist hit.”

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Pennsylvania teen found alive after five family members murdered

A teen whose mother and twin 9-year-old sisters were among five family members killed in their Pennsylvania home was staying at a friend's house at the time of the murders and is safe, officials said on Tuesday. Joshua Campbell, 17, was not at home when his aunt Shana Decree, 45, and her daughter Dominique Decree, 19, are alleged to have murdered five relatives in their apartment in Morrisville, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Philadelphia, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said. After police found the bodies on Monday, relatives of the victims said they had begged authorities for weeks to check on Shana Decree due to concerns she might have fallen under the influence of a fringe religious group.

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Pakistan 'captures Indian pilot after shooting down two jets in dogfight over Kashmir'

Two planes shot down over Kashmir border Pakistan claims to have two pilots held Sources: jets shot down in 'four-on-four' dogfight Both countries dispute each other's claims Analysis: Pakistan and India need help climbing down, or risk another war over Kashmir ​ Pakistan has claimed to have shot down two Indian jets and captured a pilot after a dogfight over Kashmir, igniting fears of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.  Tensions remain high on the Asian Subcontinent where tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the disputed Kashmir boundary. There are competing claims regarding the exact details of what has taken place, but Pakistan's Major General Asif Ghafoor said a pilot was in Army custody. Pakistan had earlier said it was holding two pilots. Ghafoor said the jets had been shot down after Pakistani planes earlier Wednesday flew across the Line of Control, the de facto border in disputed Kashmir, to the Indian side in a show of strength, hitting non-military targets including supply depots. Although this version of events is disputed by India, the Pakistani official said: "The Pakistan Air Force was ready, they took them on, there was an engagement. As a result both the Indian planes were shot down and the wreckage of one fell on our side while the wreckage of the other fell on their side." Pulwama suicide attack - Map Initially, the Indian Air Force (IAF) denied Pakistani claims, despite videos of the two pilots in Pakistani captivity being broadcast by state media. The IAF is also decried claims that two Indian fighter aircraft had been shot down. But later on Wednesday a foreign ministry official told a press conference in Delhi that there was an "aerial engagement", conceding just one Indian jet was shot down.  IAF sources said that there were four Pakistani F-16 fighters against four IAF MiG-21 Bison combat aircraft and the dogfight happened in a chase. The four Pakistani fighters are believed to have tried attacking an ammunition dump at Nowshera near the Line of Control in Kashmir, when they were chased by four Indian planes. India claims it has also shot down one of the Pakistani fighter jets.  The incident is the latest in a dangerous sequence of events between the two countries, whose ties have been under intense strain since a February 14 suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir that killed 40 troops. Islamabad insisted the latest move was in self defence and officials said strikes had been taken at non-military targets avoiding civilian casualties. Ghafoor said: "We do not want escalation, we do not want to go towards war," at a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, calling for talks with New Delhi. Pakistan closed its airspace Wednesday, "until further notice", the civil aviation authority and the military said. A military spokesman said the decision had been taken "due to the environment". How did we get here? The claim came a little over 24 hours after Delhi said it had struck a Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp near Balakot where it said militants were preparing for imminent terrorist attacks. Islamabad had denied any camp was struck, but on Tuesday warned India to prepare for a surprise and vowed a "befitting" response at a time and place of its choosing. In a statement headed "Pakistan strikes back", the foreign ministry said the action was not retaliation " to continued Indian belligerence". "Pakistan has therefore, taken strikes at non military target, avoiding human loss and collateral damage. Sole purpose being to demonstrate our right, will and capability for self defence.  Pakistani soldiers stand next to what Pakistan says is the wreckage of an Indian fighter jet shot down in Pakistan controled Kashmir at Somani area in Bhimbar district Credit: AFP A spokesman for Pakistan's military said that Indian jets had then crossed the line of control and the Pakistan air forces had gone on to shoot two of them down inside Pakistani airspace. "One of the aircraft fell inside Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while other fell inside Indian Occupied Kashmir. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground while two in the area," said Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor. There was no immediate response from Delhi, but Indian media did report an Indian air force jet crashed in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday morning. Delhi said on Tuesday it had said it had struck a pre-emptive blow against the Pakistan-based militant group it blames for a suicide bomb that killed at least 40 paramilitary police in Kashmir earlier this month. The force of jets destroyed a hilltop training camp near Balakot where Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) jihadists were preparing an imminent attack, the country's foreign minister said. But Pakistan dismissed that claim as “fictitious” and “self-serving”, saying its own jets had intercepted the raiding force and seen it off. Pakistan's military said the Indian jets dropped their payload of bombs “in haste” as they fled and they caused no damage after landing in deserted forest. Indian soldiers gesture near the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district, outside Srinagar on February 27, 2019 Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Villagers near Balakot said they had been woken by jets and four blasts in an area close to a JeM madrassa. But they denied heavy casualties and said the damage was largely to trees. One person was wounded. "We saw trees fallen down and one house damaged and four craters where the bombs had fallen," said Mohammad Ajmal, a 25-year-old who visited the site told Reuters. Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said JeM ran a nearby Islamic school. An Indian attack had been widely predicted as Narendra Modi faced domestic outrage over the bomb attack in Pulwama blamed on JeM. A history of trouble Pakistan has long been accused of harbouring and supporting militant groups as tools of its foreign policy in India, Kashmir and Afghanistan. JeM is a primarily anti-India group that forged ties with al Qaeda and has been on a UN terrorist list since 2001. India says the JeM was also behind the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and on an Indian air force base in 2016. Pakistan denies any involvement in the Pulwama attack and has challenged Delhi to deliver actionable intelligence on who carried out the attack. Indian and Pakistan: timeline of a testy relationship Western diplomats now fear any counter retaliation by Pakistan could dangerously escalate the stand-off and trigger an international crisis. One diplomat said both sides must try to carefully measure their action to satisfy domestic nationalist fervour, while not provoking all out war. However with an Indian general election only weeks away, Mr Modi had come under intense pressure to act. As news channels on both sides of the border became increasingly bellicose, a Pakistani military spokesman even alluded to its nuclear arsenal, highlighting the escalation in hostile rhetoric. Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand near the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP The spokesman said a command and control authority meeting, which decides over the use of nuclear weapons, had been convened for Wednesday, adding: "You all know what that means." The Indian strike 30 miles from the frontier was thought to be the first strike inside its neighbour's territory since their 1971 war. Indian military sources said 12 French Mirage 2000 fighters crossed the line of control dividing the adversaries in Kashmir on their raid into Pakistani territory at around 3.15am local time. Accompanied by an airborne early warning and control aircraft and a mid-air re-fueller, the Mirages reportedly employed 1,000kg precision guided munitions to hit their targets in a mission that lasted a few minutes. Kashmir: why the tension?  The Kashmir dispute dates from 1947. The partition of the Indian sub-continent along religious lines led to the formation of India and Pakistan. However, there remained the problem of over 650 states, run by princes, existing within the two newly independent countries. In theory, these princely states had the option of deciding which country to join, or of remaining independent. In practice, the restive population of each province proved decisive. As a result, both India and Pakistan control parts of Kashmir, but claim it in its entirety and have fought two wars over Kashmir since Partition in 1947. Where do we go now? Pakistan have claimed the two pilots are being treated well, according to its state media.  One is in hospital and one has been arrested, but there are question marks over where this tit-for-tat will go next.  Islamabad has said it does not want to escalate the situation to a full-blown war - a sentiment echoed by those around the world.  China is renewing calls for Pakistan and India to take steps to avoid a further deterioration of ties following the latest flare-up. Indian army soldiers arrive near the wreckage of an Indian aircraft after it crashed in Budgam area Credit: Mukhtar Khan/AP Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a daily briefing on Wednesday that "both Pakistan and India are important countries in the subcontinent of South Asia." He added that China hopes "they will keep in mind the regional peace and stability, exercise restraint, take effective measures to strengthen dialogue, and maintain two sides' fundamental interests and the regional peace and stability." Lu also said: "We hope they will avoid deterioration of the situation." China is longstanding close ally and arms supplier to Pakistan, but has also sought better ties with its southern neighbor and Asian rival India. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also urged the two countries to exercise restraint and avoid escalation at any cost, and said in a statement he had spoken to foreign ministers from Indian and Pakistan to "encourage both ministers to prioritise direct communication and avoid further military activity."  Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.

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Southwest Airlines wing scrapes runway during aborted landing in Hartford

A Southwest flight from Orlando to Hartford, Connecticut, ended up diverting to Rhode Island after trying to land three times in high winds.

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Australian Cardinal Pell convicted of molesting 2 choirboys

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The most senior Catholic cleric ever charged with child sex abuse has been convicted of molesting two choirboys moments after celebrating Mass, dealing a new blow to the Catholic hierarchy's credibility after a year of global revelations of abuse and cover-up.

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U.N. Security Council to vote on rival U.S., Russian proposals on Venezuela

The Russian draft text, seen by Reuters, expresses support for a political solution to the crisis and backs the Venezuelan government as the primary coordinator of international assistance efforts in the country. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, France, Britain or the United States to pass. Diplomats said the U.S. draft is likely to gain the minimum nine votes to force a likely Russian veto, while the Russian draft is expected to fail without the need for a U.S. veto.

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Pakistan claims it shot down 2 Indian warplanes in disputed Kashmir province

Pakistan claims it shot down two Indian warplanes, capturing a pilot, in the nuclear-armed rivals' disputed province of Kashmir.

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Donald Trump has leverage going into Vietnam summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un

Full denuclearization is an implausible goal. US should pursue diplomacy, trade and normalcy with North Korea, and that seems to be Trump's plan.

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Church sex abuse scandal: Vatican opens investigation into Cardinal George Pell

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's third-most powerful official, was remanded to prison in Australia for sexually abusing two choirboys.

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The Latest: Election dates in US House race set next week

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the unresolved North Carolina congressional race (all times local):

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India launches air strike in Pakistan; Islamabad denies militant camp hit

Pakistan said it would respond at a time and place of its choice, with a military spokesman even alluding to its nuclear arsenal, highlighting the escalation in hostile rhetoric from both two sides since a suicide bombing in Kashmir this month. The spokesman said a command and control authority meeting, which decides over the use of nuclear weapons, had been convened for Wednesday, adding: "You all know what that means." The air strike near Balakot, a town 50 km (30 miles) from the frontier, was the deepest cross-border raid launched by India since the last of its three wars with Pakistan in 1971 but there were competing claims about any damage caused. The Indian government, facing an election in the coming months, said the air strikes hit a training camp belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the group that claimed a suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Feb. 14.

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Robert Kraft prostitution scandal exposes depth of modern slavery, sex trafficking industry

Sex trafficking won't stop until the costs are high enough to make rich, powerful men feel that buying Chinese girls from a local spa isn't worth it.

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Lamborghini Huracán Evo Spyder Offers Open-Air Fun and 202 MPH

This open-topped Lamborghini could be the world's fastest wedge-shaped tanning booth. It makes its debut at the Geneva auto show in March.

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Trump-Kim summit: North Korea leader arrives in Vietnam to red carpet reception ahead of talks

Kim Jong-un has rolled into Hanoi in an armoured limousine ahead of talks with Donald Trump in the Vietnamese capital. The North Korean leader had earlier received a red-carpet reception amid tight security following a 65-hour, 2,500-mile journey from Pyongyang in a bulletproof train. After disembarking at Dong Dang rail station, close to Vietnam’s border with China, he walked past a guard of honour before climbing into his personal Mercedes limousine on Tuesday morning.

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Guaido's Safety Is at Risk in Return to Venezuela, U.S. Envoy Warns

(Bloomberg) -- The safety of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is at risk as he prepares to return to his country and embattled President Nicolas Maduro remains in power, the top U.S. envoy for the crisis told the United Nations Security Council.

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Billy Porter speaks on Oscars gown and social media hate

NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Porter, speaking to Vogue before he walked the Oscars red carpet, knew what he was in for among some social media users:

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China expresses 'deep concern' over India-Pakistan conflict

A senior Chinese diplomat expressed "deep concern" over the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan on Wednesday, after the two countries said they shot down each other's fighter jets. State Councillor Wang Yi, the Chinese government's top diplomat made the comments in a telephone conversation with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, China's foreign ministry said in a statement on its website on Thursday. Qureshi telephoned Wang to inform him of the latest developments in the conflict and to express hope that China would continue to play a "constructive role" in easing tensions, the statement said.

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Manafort sentencing hearing rescheduled to March 7: court filing

A federal judge in Virginia rescheduled the sentencing hearing for Paul Manafort, the former chairman of U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, to March 7, according to a court filing on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear why the sentencing hearing was rescheduled from March 8. Manafort was convicted in August of eight charges of bank and tax fraud as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

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Rep. Ilhan Omar deletes the controversial tweets that drew charges of anti-Semitism

Rep. Ilhan Omar apologized for the tweets the next day.

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Senegal: The life of a 17-year-old in Dakar

We spend a day with Abdoulaye as he shows us what it's like being 17 in Dakar.

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Was the media biased against the Covington students?

Conservatives accuse media organizations of trafficking in stereotypes that Trump supporters are bigots. Two recent incidents have strengthened conservatives’ belief that liberal journalists are implacably opposed to Donald Trump and his supporters: the 18 January encounter between a group of Kentucky students and a Native American activist on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and the claims by Jussie Smollett that he had been attacked by hoodlums shouting racist and anti-gay slurs.

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Why Did Senate Democrats Refuse to Protect Infants?

A moral catastrophe unfolded on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Monday. Forty-four Democratic senators voted against legislation that would have required doctors to give the same care to infants who survive abortion procedures that they would give to any other infant.One after another, Democratic senators took to the floor to smear the bill as an attack on women’s health care, a baseless criticism that they failed to substantiate. In the process, they revealed their belief that allowing unwanted infants to perish after birth constitutes a form of women’s health care.Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) reintroduced his Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in direct response to Virginia governor Ralph Northam’s endorsement of permitting mothers and doctors to let infants die of neglect. “The infant would be delivered,” Northam said, explaining a hypothetical case in which a woman in labor wanted an abortion. “The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”This “discussion” is what Democrats voted on Monday to preserve — a discussion not about health-care options for women but about whether or not to extend health care of any kind to newborn infants. With their votes and their speeches, 44 U.S. senators embraced Ralph Northam’s position, which, despite attempting to clarify, he has never retracted.“I want to ask each and every one of my colleagues whether or not we’re okay with infanticide,” Sasse said at the start of floor debate on Monday. “This language is blunt. I recognize that. It is too blunt for many people in this body. But frankly, that is what we’re talking about here today. Infanticide is what [the bill] is actually about.”Though Sasse’s bill failed to pass, it succeeded in forcing Democrats to take a stance on infanticide, and though they refused to do so explicitly, the reality of their disgraceful position was abundantly clear.During floor debate, Senator Tina Smith (D., Minn.) said that the bill “puts Congress in the middle of the important medical decisions that patients and doctors should make together without political interference.”Democratic senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii said it represents the idea that “the moral judgment of right-wing politicians in Washington, D.C., should supersede a medical professional’s judgment and a woman’s decision.”“It makes no sense for Washington politicians who know nothing about these individual circumstances to say they know better than the doctors, patients, the family,” said Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). “The bill is solely meant to intimidate doctors and restrict patients’ access to care and has nothing, nothing, nothing to do with protecting children.”“This is how our medical system is supposed to work,” Smith added later in her remarks. “Physicians and patients making decisions together based on patients’ individual needs.”Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois labeled the bill an effort to “bully doctors out of giving reproductive care.” And Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) said the legislation “would interfere with the doctor–patient relationship and impose new obstacles to a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own decisions about her reproductive health.”“Conservative politicians should not be telling doctors how they should care for their patients,” Hirono said. “Instead, women, in consultation with their families and doctors, are in the best position to determine their best course of care.”All of these statements take as their premise a fundamental lie about the legislation. No part of the born-alive bill limits abortion access or regulates abortion methods in any way. It involves abortions only to the extent that the infants in question survived them. Nor does the bill mandate any particular kind of care for these infants; it merely requires that these nearly aborted newborns be afforded “the same degree” of care that “any other child born alive at the same gestational age” would receive.But these statements from Democrats are more than mere falsehoods. They expose a sinister reality: There is no daylight between their argument and that of Ralph Northam. They have admitted that they believe that denying medical care to infants can constitute legitimate women’s health care, classified under the untouchable umbrella of “reproductive rights.”That was the ultimate triumph of the attempt to pass the born-alive bill. Though Democrats managed to block the legislation, it forced the moral equivocators of the Democratic party to step out from behind their smokescreens. It demanded that they put their name to a vote permitting doctors to turn a blind eye to dying babies. It compelled them to defend Ralph Northam’s indefensible comments.This — and not because it would impede women’s “reproductive rights” — is why Democrats were so afraid of Ben Sasse’s bill. They knew that nothing in the text restricts access to abortion. But they knew, too, that it would expose them.To support the bill would betray a logical and philosophical inconsistency — Democrats would affirm the dignity and rights of a newborn infant, even as they dehumanize that same life, at the same stage of development, inside its mother’s womb. To oppose the bill would reveal the ghastly, consistent principle of the abortion-rights movement — that a child’s rights depend not on her size or location, but on whether she is wanted by her mother.The Democrats chose consistency, and consistency means infanticide.

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