USA

29 Feb 2020; MEMO: Two volleyball players from Brooklyn College showed solidarity with Palestinians by taking to their knees earlier this week during the playing of “Hatikvah”, Israel’s national anthem, before a match at Yeshiva University in New York.

SAN JOSE, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Attorney General's Office of Costa Rica directed on Friday ten simultaneous raids on areas that included the headquarters of the Costa Rican Presidency and the Ministry of National Planning.

The attorney general's office stated that President Carlos Alvarado, together with seven officials, were under investigation for their connection with the creation of the Presidential Data Analysis Unit (UPAD).

The investigation was initiated after the publication on Feb. 17 of a decree that sought to formalize the creation of UPAD.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The latest attacks in opposition-held northwest Syria marks "one of the most alarming moments" in the nearly 9-year-old conflict, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.

"The most pressing need is an immediate ceasefire before the situation gets entirely out of control," he said. "In all my contacts with those involved, I have had one simple message: step back from the edge of further escalation."

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend the signing of U.S.-Taliban agreement, which could be one step forward to ultimate U.S. troops withdrawal and lasting peace in Afghanistan.

The United States and Afghan Taliban are expected to sign a deal in the Qatari capital city of Doha on Saturday, which reportedly includes a timeline for a conditions-based and phased U.S. forces withdrawal, the commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations and the Taliban's commitment not to assist terrorists.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing acknowledged Friday it failed to conduct full and adequate software tests before the botched space debut of its astronaut capsule late last year.

A software error left the Starliner capsule in the wrong orbit in December and precluded a docking with the International Space Station. Another software flaw could have ended up destroying the capsule, if not fixed right before reentry.

BOSTON (AP) — Two women were charged Friday with beating a woman and her daughter, who say they were targeted for speaking Spanish in public, prosecutors in Boston said Friday.

Jenny Leigh Ennamorati and Stephanie Armstrong, both 25 and of Revere, Massachusetts, are charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, as well as felony counts of violating a person’s constitutional rights with bodily injury, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has informed Moscow that the U.S. is open to holding a summit with other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in hopes of pushing for three-way arms control pact with Russia and China, a senior administration official said Friday.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The man police say killed five co-workers at one of the nation’s largest breweries before killing himself was accused of pointing a gun at an SUV and punching a woman in the face in the early 1990s, court documents show.

Anthony Ferrill, a 51-year-old electrician at Moslon Coors’ sprawling brewery complex on Milwaukee’s west side, walked into one of the brewery’s buildings Wednesday and gunned down five co-workers before shooting himself, police said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday picked Rep. John Ratcliffe again to be the nation’s top intelligence official, just months after abruptly ending an earlier effort to install him amid bipartisan criticism that the Texas Republican was unqualified for the post.

Trump’s decision meant that once again the GOP-led Senate would have to decide whether to put the three-term lawmaker in charge of overseeing the 17 U.S. spy agencies that the president has repeatedly scorned.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A political advocacy group founded by Bernie Sanders entered into a nondisclosure agreement with an African American political consultant that bars her from discussing a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination at the organization and the Vermont senator’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The consultant, Tezlyn Figaro, confirmed the existence of the nondisclosure agreement to The Associated Press without providing additional details.