An article mentioning "NATO's Eastern Front" in a headline got Germany's Die Welt newspaper in hot water, with furious readers accusing it of warmongering. The term Eastern Front is associated with the 1941 Nazi invasion of USSR.

Entitled 'The Bundeswehr lacks winter clothing for NATO's Eastern Front', the article was first published by the German DPA news agency and then reprinted by other German media outlets, including Die Welt, which eventually bore the brunt of the headline wording. The piece tells of shortages of winter uniforms and basic equipment required by Germany's military to lead the bloc's rapid deployment force known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).

The VJTF is officially described as a "spearhead force" within the Alliance's Response Force. It was designed to be able to "move immediately, following the first warnings and indicators of potential threats, before a crisis begins, to act as a potential deterrent to further escalation."

President Donald Trump hosted governors from around the country at the White House Monday for an open conversation on gun policy.

Trump has proposed arming up to 20 percent of the nation's teachers in recent days. Some governors, specifically Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, argued against Trump's proposal for arming teachers.

However, two governors stood up and proudly defended their state's policy of allowing teachers to carry a weapon.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave a heartfelt explanation as to why his state allows teachers to carry firearms. Abbott said that 100 school districts in Texas allow teachers to carry and that some schools put "warning signs out front" to scare would-be shooters. Abbott said:

In the latest bombshell report about the life and background of Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old school shooter who murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and wounded more than a dozen more, the Florida Sun Sentinel describes how 5-year-old Cruz found his adoptive father's dead body, and other traumas he and his younger brother Zachary experienced as children growing up in and around Broward County.

The expansive report was compiled from police and school records, as well as interviews with people who knew Cruz.

Cruz was seemingly troubled from the beginning. By the age of 3, he had been diagnosed with developmental delays. By the time he was 6, he'd suffered the trauma of witnessing his father's death. By the time he was 16, he had become preoccupied with wars, death and killing, school records reveal. And of course, as he sits in the Broward County main jail, having confessed to 117 premeditated murders, there's a strong possibility he might face the death penalty.

The Cruzes - Nikolas Cruz's adoptive parents - married late in life. Lynda Cruz, who succumbed suddenly to pneumonia in November, was 49. Richard was 61. They arranged the adoption of Nikolas through a private attorney, insisting that his birth mother pass drug tests and make regular doctors visits. Soon after Nikolas was born, the same woman got pregnant again with a different man. The Cruzes then took in Nikolas's half-brother, Zachary. After they adopted the boys, they moved from Long Island to Parkland, where they build their home, which neighbors described as "a beautiful house"

Nikolas Cruz threatened classmates, posted photos of himself holding guns, made violent statements online and was repeatedly described to authorities as a potential "school shooter."

His troubling behavior gave law enforcement plenty of opportunities to investigate and arrest him - and even take away his guns - long before he shot up Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland last week, according to interviews with former South Florida prosecutors and legal experts.

In recent years, South Florida police detectives have arrested a slew of young men in unrelated cases who exhibited similar, troubling behavior on a variety of charges. Cops took them seriously.

It never happened with Cruz.

As President Donald Trump prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week, a group of U.S. intelligence veterans offers corrections to a number of false accusations that have been leveled against Iran.

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: War With Iran

Introduction

In our December 21st Memorandum to you, we cautioned that the claim that Iran is currently the world's top sponsor of terrorism is unsupported by hard evidence. Meanwhile, other false accusations against Iran have intensified. Thus, we feel obliged to alert you to the virtually inevitable consequences of war with Iran, just as we warned President George W. Bush six weeks before the U.S. attack on Iraq 15 years ago.

In our first Memorandum in this genre we told then-President Bush that we saw "no compelling reason" to attack Iraq, and warned "the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic." The consequences will be far worse, should the U.S. become drawn into war with Iran. We fear that you are not getting the straight story on this from your intelligence and national security officials.

After choosing "War With Iran" for the subject line of this Memo, we were reminded that we had used it before, namely, for a Memorandum to President Obama on August 3, 2010 in similar circumstances. You may wish to ask your staff to give you that one to read and ponder. It included a startling quote from then-Chairman of President Bush Jr.'s Intelligence Advisory Board (and former national security adviser to Bush Sr.) Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who told the Financial Times on October 14, 2004 that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had George W. Bush "mesmerized;" that "Sharon just has him wrapped around his little finger." We wanted to remind you of that history, as you prepare to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week.

At least five students were arrested Friday as hundreds of others from several Stockton high schools walked out of classes in protest of gun violence after last week's deadly shooting at a Florida high school.

Students at Stagg, Edison, Chavez, Lincoln and Village Oak high schools were walking along streets, creating traffic problems in the area as streets were blocked off.

Stockton police said some students threw rocks and damaged both police and citizen vehicles.

Five arrests were made, including charges of battery on an officer, resisting arrest, taking an officer's baton and vandalizing vehicles, including patrol vehicles, Stockton police said.

A transgender model who branded white people "racist" has been chosen as Labour's new equalities adviser. The party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, has selected Munroe Bergdorf to work with its LGBT+ advisory group.

The 30-year-old model, from east London, revealed the news on Twitter. Posing next to Corbyn, she wrote: "Thrilled to announce that I've been asked to be part of an LGBT+ advisory board for The Labour Party - To advise Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, Dawn Butler MP, on issues affecting the LGBT+ community, to help form and push through fairer and more effective policy change."


Bergdorf came to prominence when she became L'Oréal's first trans model. Her stint for the cosmetics company was short lived, however, as she was fired only days after joining when critics unearthed comments she made in response to the far-right march in Charlottesville, US.

The Pentagon will pump millions into a State Department center created to fight propaganda and disinformation campaigns waged by foreign nations, as it wants to be "on the offensive" and respond "aggressively" to attacks.

The State Department announced on Monday that it had signed a memorandum with the US Department of Defense to transfer $40 million to the State's Global Engagement Center (GEC), so it could up its game in countering malicious content online.

Part of these funds will be distributed between various civil rights groups, creators of media content, non-governmental organizations, as well as state-funded and private research entities.

The grants would be awarded to those presenting the best ways to combat propaganda and disinformation. An Information Access Fund, to be set up for this purpose, will "support public and private partners working to expose and counter propaganda and disinformation from foreign nations."

Ankara has sent police special forces units to the northern Syrian region of Afrin in anticipation of a new phase of its campaign against the Kurdish militias. It also says the UN-backed ceasefire does not affect its operation.

The special forces units crossed into Syrian territory from the southern Turkish provinces of Kilis and Hatay, local media reported. The new forces are expected to hold villages taken by Turkish troops from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as well as to take part in urban combat as Turkey's Operation Olive Branch apparently moves from the countryside to the major settlements.

"Deploying special forces is part of the preparation for a new fight that is approaching," Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag told Turkish NTV. "The fight will shift to places where there are civilians, as the area (of fighting) narrows," he said, adding that the special forces units have experience in fighting militants in residential areas.

Even though the Turkish operation has entered its sixth week, most of the larger towns in the Kurdish-held enclave, including the city of Afrin itself, remain in the hands of the YPG. Still, Turkish forces drove the Kurdish militias from all areas bordering Turkey, local media report. On February 20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the troops would lay siege to Afrin "in the coming days."

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a Russia-tabled draft that will see a technical extension of sanctions against Yemen. It comes after Russia vetoed a rival resolution that blamed Iran for fueling the conflict there.

All 15 UNSC members voted in favor of the draft resolution on Yemen, put forward by Russia as a compromise after it vetoed a rival, "antagonizing" draft submitted by the UK, that also drew criticism from China. The UK had proposed to include a provision that would call out Iran for allegedly violating an arms embargo on Yemen, imposed at the onset of its civil war in 2015. However, that draft gained only 11 votes in support, with Russia and Bolivia voting against and China and Kazakhstan abstaining.

Having said that Russia "fully endorses the majority of the provisions" set forth in the UK-sponsored resolution, Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia noted ahead of the vote that Moscow "cannot concur with uncorroborated conclusions and evidence which requires verification and discussions within the Sanctions Committee."