Severe weather expected across Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson counties

Reuters
Portugal's far-right Chega hit by allegations against three members
Three senior members of Portugal's far-right Chega party have in the past two weeks faced accusations of committing a crime, threatening the "law-and-order" image that helped Chega become the third-largest force in parliament. Chega leader Andre Ventura has distanced himself from all three and pledged zero tolerance for crime in a party whose slogan is "Clean Up Portugal". Chega has been the third-largest force in the NATO and European Union member state's parliament since 2022 and quadrupled its representation in the assembly in an election last March, when it won 50 of the 230 seats.
The Conversation
Presidential greatness is rarely fixed in stone – changing attitudes on racial injustice and leadership qualities lead to dramatic shifts
While some Republicans want to put Donald Trump onto Mt. Rushmore, historians often change their views of presidents over time.
Associated Press
South Carolina sets next execution date as inmate questions lethal injection doses
The South Carolina Supreme Court has set a March 7 date for the latest execution in the state's suddenly busy death chamber. The justices on Friday rejected a request from Brad Sigmon's lawyers to delay setting a date for his death until they get autopsy results from the inmate killed in last week's lethal injection, the third prisoner put to death since September. Sigmon's attorney said they wanted to find out if Marion Bowman was given two doses of pentobarbital at his execution on Jan. 31 and have time to look over his autopsy report so Sigmon can decide how he wants to die — with a lethal injection, in the electric chair or by a firing squad.
Associated Press
A mother pleads for Britain’s help in freeing son from Egyptian prison, one day of hunger at a time
Laila Soueif is a mathematician, a university professor, a political activist. Sacrificing her very self is the only way Soueif sees to focus attention on what she says is unjust imprisonment of her son, Alaa Abd el-Fattah. One of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, Abd el-Fattah has spent most of the past 14 years behind bars since taking part in the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic former President Hosni Mubarak.
AFP
US envoy says Hezbollah 'defeated', must not be in Lebanon government
A senior US official visiting Beirut warned on Friday against any Hezbollah presence in Lebanon's new government, saying the Iran-backed group was "defeated" in its war with Israel.A handful of angry supporters gathered near Beirut airport on Friday, waving the Iran-backed group's yellow flag and burning tyres, an AFP photographer said.
Reuters
Canada could face long-term political challenges with US, says Trudeau
Canada could face long-term political challenges with the United States even if it manages to avert U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday. Trump on Monday said he would delay the imposition of tariffs on Canadian exports by 30 days in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement, in particular cracking down on fentanyl smuggling. Trudeau said Ottawa's immediate challenge was to persuade Washington that Canada was doing all it could to combat the flow of fentanyl.
Yahoo Finance
Big Tech is a pawn in US-China trade war. Here's why some will feel the heat more than others.
Big Tech is the key piece of the US-China trade war. And some companies are going to feel the heat far more than others.
Associated Press
The slash-and-burn tactics Musk brings to Washington often backfired at Twitter
When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he laid off thousands of employees, stopped paying rent and auctioned off coffee makers and office chairs in hopes of a big turnaround. Now the world’s richest man has brought the same slash-and-burn strategy to the federal government, and some people who experienced Musk's takeover at Twitter have a warning: Expect chaos, cuts driven by ideology as much as by cost concerns, intimidation and plenty of lawsuits. Since assuming leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has consolidated control over large swaths of the government with President Donald Trump ’s blessing, sidelined career officials, gained access to sensitive databases and invited a constitutional clash over the limits of presidential authority.
Politico
The era of big-time job gains may be drawing to a close
A striking percentage of job growth has consisted of immigrant workers — with one bank estimating they accounted for as much as two-thirds of the net gains over the last year.
USA TODAY
'Massive manhunt' in Florida ends with suspect's death after shooting rampage
The suspect began his rampage with a gas station robbery, officials in Florida said early Friday.
AFP
Hamas and Israel set for next Gaza truce exchange
Israel and Hamas are due to exchange more hostages and prisoners Saturday, but the backlash over President Donald Trump's proposal for a US Gaza takeover has cast doubt over the fragile truce's future.- Backlash - For the fifth swap, neither side has yet disclosed how many hostages Hamas will release or how many prisoners Israel will free in return.
AFP
UN rights council launches probe of abuses in east DRC
The UN Human Rights Council launched an investigation Friday into alleged violations and abuses committed in the deadly clashes gripping the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.The resolution called for a "fact-finding mission on the serious human rights violations and abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law" in Kivu.
AFP
Italy Church abuse group highlights toll on families
An Italian support group for victims of clerical sex abuse launched a network Friday to help affected families, whom it said were often shunned by their communities in the mainly Catholic country."For families, it's hard to explain that a crime of abuse creates a victim but also [affects] so many other people close to them," she said.
Yahoo News
Santorini in state of emergency after hundreds of earthquakes shake Greek island for days, sending residents fleeing
Since last week, thousands of residents have left the island by plane and ferry, as hundreds of earthquakes continue to shake the region.
Yahoo Finance
Consumers might finally be accepting higher-for-longer mortgage rates
As average 30-year mortgage rates have stayed stuck around 7%, the net share of consumers who believe they’ll fall in the next 12 months declined sharply in Fannie Mae’s latest survey on housing market attitudes.
NBC News
Judge to rule whether racial bias tainted jury selection in Black man's death row case
A North Carolina judge is expected to rule Friday on whether a Black defendant’s capital trial was undermined by allegations of racial bias during jury selection, potentially opening the door to death row inmates throughout the state getting resentenced.
Time
Why Trump’s Threats to Canada Will Continue to Backfire
After threatening Canada with tariffs and urging it to become America's 51st state, Trump's attacks have spurred a wave of Canadian pride.
Associated Press
The Latest: Iran's supreme leader criticizes proposed nuclear talks with US
Iran's supreme leader says negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable,” after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he wants nuclear talks with Tehran despite reimposing his “ maximum pressure ” approach to Iran. The remarks on Friday by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei upend months of signals from Tehran to the United States that it wanted to negotiate over its rapidly advancing nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of crushing economic sanctions worth billions of dollars.
CNN
New York temporarily shuts down live bird markets in several counties after bird flu detected in poultry
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the state is temporarily shutting down all live bird markets in New York City and Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties through February 14 after inspectors discovered seven cases of bird flu in poultry.
AFP
US sees slower January job growth, below expectations
The United States added fewer jobs than expected in January although hiring remained healthy, government data showed Friday, marking resilience in the labor market heading into President Donald Trump's new term.The data indicate the US economy remained in good shape heading into Trump's second presidential term, which began on January 20, analysts noted.

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