PoliticsUSA TODAYGOP uses Beto O'Rourke's 1998 mug shot in St. Paddy's Day Twitter attack
The Republican Party celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Sunday by taking a swing at Beto O'Rourke. Below O'Rourke's doctored photo, the GOP tweeted, “On this St. Paddy's Day, a special message from noted Irishman Robert Francis O'Rourke." His nickname of "Beto," a common Mexican nickname for people with his first name, has stuck since childhood. An hour later, the GOP's official account called O'Rourke “a failed Member of Congress,” pointing to his voting record in support of Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker, and his vote against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which, according to the GOP, “added 362,200 jobs to his home state,” among other things.
WorldReutersAccounts emerge of heroism in New Zealand mosques; bodies to be released
Accounts emerged on Sunday of heroic attempts to tackle a gunman who slaughtered 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand, as authorities prepared to begin releasing the bodies of victims to their families for burial. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with murder on Saturday. Tarrant was remanded without a plea and is due back in court on April 5 where police said he was likely to face more charges.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The Mercedes-Maybach GLS Will Be the Most Expensive Car Built in America
Mercedes-Benz USA's CEO confirmed the Mercedes-Maybach GLS to Automotive News. It will be built at the same Vance, Alabama, plant as the regular GLS, making it the most expensive passenger vehicle built in the States. The regular Mercedes-Benz GLS-class is set to make its debut within the next few months.
PoliticsAssociated PressWarren embraces underdog role as she faces 2020 challenges
With the 69-year-old Democrat in the middle of the pack in early polling, her Boston-based senior advisers are implementing an aggressive — if risky — strategy that calls on Warren to forgo traditional high-dollar fundraising events and devote the saved time to interactions with rank-and-file voters. Advisers say she'll also focus on seizing opportunities to stake bold new policy positions in real time, as she did recently by calling for the breakup of big technology companies like Amazon, which allow her to shape the debate and showcase her policy bona fides.
NewsAFPParts of US Midwest deluged in historic deadly floods
The US Midwest struggled Monday with historic flooding that claimed at least three lives, displaced residents and damaged hundreds of homes and businesses. Swollen waters hit much of Nebraska, as well as parts of Iowa and Wisconsin. All were under states of emergency after a major storm last week dumped snow and rain, even as melting snow was already raising the levels of area waterways.
- WorldThe National Interest
Navy vs. Nukes: U.S. Navy Plans to Test Missile Defenses Against ICBM
The Pentagon plans a “first-of-its-kind” test of an unprecedented weapons capability to intercept and destroy an enemy Intercontinental Ballistic Missile "ICBM" -- from a Navy ship at sea using a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA. The concept, as articulated by Pentagon officials and cited briefly in this years' DoD “Missile Defense Review,” would be to use an advanced SM-3 IIA to “underlay” and assist existing Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI), adding new dimensions to the current US missile defense posture.
BusinessReutersBrotherly love at Reliance? India's Mukesh Ambani provides 'support' to brother Anil as debt paid off
India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, who controls oil-to-telecoms powerhouse Reliance Industries that is now worth many times the troubled business group run by his younger brother Anil, appears to have offered some kind of support to ensure Anil paid off a 5.5 billion rupees ($80 million) debt. If Anil didn't pay the debt, then he had been threatened by India's Supreme Court with a prison term. The nature of the backing and how it was delivered is unclear, but in a statement Anil Ambani thanked his billionaire brother "for standing by me during these trying times, and demonstrating the importance of staying true to our strong family values by extending this timely support".
- BusinessCar and Driver
Photos of the 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8
It gives up four cylinders and some power to the W-12 but still promises to be plenty quick. From Car and Driver
WorldAFPThe New Zealand mosque massacres revive old wounds in the Balkans
As the gunman drove to the two New Zealand mosques where he carried out his mass killings, a Serb nationalist song was heard playing in the background of the haunting video he broadcast live on Facebook. The mass shooter's weapons also bore the names of several historical Serb nationalist figures, revealing an unexpected interest in Balkan conflicts that stirred bad blood in a region fractured by war. Hours after 50 people were gunned down in two mosques by the Australian right-wing extremist in Christchurch, Bosnia's ambassador went on local television to express concern about the song heard in the suspected killer's video that went on to show him murder victim after victim.
- WorldBloomberg
South Korea Says It's Considering Holding Talks With North Korea
South Korea said it's considering holding talks with North Korea in efforts to help improve relations between the latter and the U.S. since their summit fell apart in Vietnam last month. South Korea's Blue House presidential office confirmed a Yonhap News Agency report that it's mulling a meeting with its reclusive neighbor. Both the U.S. and North Korea “absolutely don't want” to revert to the situation before 2017 when there was conflict and confrontation, Yonhap cited an unidentified high-level official at the Blue House as saying.
NewsUSA TODAYFelicity Huffman's 'Desperate Housewives' character paid $15K to get kids into private school
In the fifth episode of Season 1 of the ABC comedy-drama, Huffman's character Lynette Scavo and her husband Tom (Doug Savant) "donate" thousands of dollars to get their twin sons into an elite private school. And it's the amount of money that has heads turning – Lynette paid $15,000 to get her sons into the school, the exact amount of money Huffman is accused of having paid to a made-up charitable organization that then helped her daughter cheat on the SATs. The episode shows Lynette and Tom meeting with the school's headmaster, who remarks, "Your children's educational background is a bit more common than we would prefer."
- WorldThe Telegraph
New Zealand shooting: Jacinda Ardern to announce gun law reforms within 10 days
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, said on Monday gun law reforms would be announced in 10 days, after meeting her cabinet for the first time since the massacre in Christchurch. The shock of the attacks, in which 50 people were killed and dozens wounded at two mosques, has led to calls for an immediate tightening of laws to restrict access to some firearms, particularly semi-automatic weapons. Ms Ardern said on Monday that her cabinet had made in principle decisions around the reform of gun laws following the mass shooting in Christchurch "I intend to give further details of these decisions to the media and the public before cabinet meets again next Monday," she said at a press co...
U.S.FOX News VideosKansas City Chiefs star Tyreek Hill was reportedly being investigated for incidents of battery against his 3-year-old
Kansas City Chiefs star Tyreek Hill was reportedly being investigated for incidents of battery against his 3-year-old son. The investigation reportedly comes after Hill's fiancee, Crystal Espinal, filed multiple police reports where their three-year-old son was listed as the victim.
WorldAssociated PressColombia: 1,000 Venezuelan forces crossed border since Feb.
About 1,000 members of the Venezuelan security forces have fled to Colombia since last month, giving up weapons and uniforms as they abandoned the government of President Nicolas Maduro, Colombian authorities said Monday. Colombia's foreign ministry released the updated number of Venezuelan police and soldiers who crossed the border, many around the time of a Feb. 23 attempt by opposition leader Juan Guaido to deliver U.S.-provided humanitarian aid to Venezuela. The attempt failed because Venezuelan forces blocked trucks trying to cross from Colombia into Venezuela.
WorldReutersIsrael's top court disqualifies far-rightist, approves Arab party for ballot
Israel's top court disqualified on Sunday a far-right Jewish politician from next month's national election and approved the candidacy of a disputed Arab party, overturning March 6 decisions by the election board, a court statement said. The Supreme Court rulings were widely expected and unlikely to shake Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to craft a rightist alliance that might secure him a record fifth term. But they deepened the vitriol of a campaign in which his camp has cast itself as the victim of judicial over-reach and media bias, and has in turn been accused by center-left rivals of race-baiting and fear-mongering.
BusinessAFPBlack boxes show 'clear similarities' with Indonesia crash, Ethiopia says
Black box data recovered from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed last week show "clear similarities" with a recent crash in Indonesia of the same type of aircraft, Ethiopia's transport minister said on Sunday. The announcement came a week after Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 plummeted into a field southeast of Addis Ababa minutes into its flight to Nairobi, killing all 157 people onboard. The disaster caused the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft involved after aviation regulators noticed similarities with the October crash of an Indonesian Lion Air 737 MAX 8 that killed all 189 passengers and crew.
- NewsYahoo Noticias
Ambientalista construye una casa ecológica por solo 1,500 dólares
La iniciativa es tan amigable para el planeta como para el bolsillo. Reutilizando materiales e invirtiendo solamente 1,500 dólares, Rob Greenfield fabricó su nuevo hogar en Orlando, Florida. Su intención es demostrar que es posible vivir bien, sin contaminar el medio ambiente ni consumir grandes cantidades de recursos.
WorldTime'You Are a Good Egg.' Fundraiser for Australian Teen Who Egged Senator Raises Over $30,000
A fundraiser for the Melbourne teenager who egged a controversial Queensland senator over the weekend has raised over $30,000. Will Connolly, 17, rose to fame when a video of him throwing an egg at the back of Queensland Senator Fraser Anning's head while talking to reporters Saturday went viral. Anning sparked outrage when he blamed shootings in two New Zealand mosques on Friday that left 50 people dead and 36 people hospitalized on immigration.
- NewsU.S.News & World Report
3 Things Students Should Know About AP Registration Changes
The College Board, the not-for-profit organization that oversees the Advanced Placement program, recently announced its plans to alter AP registration policies. Since this decision directly affects students who are considering enrolling in AP courses, you must know exactly which changes will take place, as well as when. -- AP exam registration will now take place in November.
BusinessUSA TODAYSouthwest Airlines launches Hawaii service from Oakland to Honolulu with new snacks, in-flight hula dancing
Southwest Airlines' Hawaii service debuted Sunday, finally giving the nation's largest domestic carrier a footprint in the vacation hot spot. Southwest Flight 6808, a 5 1/2-hour nonstop flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, landed at 2 p.m. local time. It was met by Hawaii Governor David Ige and Southwest Airlines President Tom Nealon. Passengers on the inaugural flight were treated to leis and in-flight hula dancing and were the first to sample the expanded snack pack that will be served on the no-frills airline's Hawaii flights.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The Porsche Taycan EV Is Coming into Clearer Focus
Sketches and photos give us additional glimpses of what the electric Porsche will look like in its final form. From Car and Driver
WorldAFPDutch police arrest tram attack suspect after huge manhunt
Dutch police on Monday arrested a Turkish-born suspect over a possible terror attack on a tram in the city of Utrecht that left three people dead and five wounded. Heavily armed officers later surrounded a building following the bloodshed in the Netherlands' fourth largest city and his arrest was dramatically announced at the end of a news conference. Dutch authorities said they were still investigating a likely terrorist motive for the attack but said they "cannot exclude" other motives, including a family dispute.
- WorldBloomberg
Trump Official Sees New Zealand, U.S. Attacks as Racial Terror
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen connected Friday's New Zealand mosque attacks with acts of racist violence in the U.S., calling the perpetrators “domestic terrorists” and saying they're an increasing concern for her agency. Nielsen drew a line on Monday between the New Zealand attacks, in a which a gunman who espoused hatred of Muslims killed 50 people at two mosques, and three attacks in the U.S. that authorities have blamed on racism or bigotry. We, too, have seen the face of such evil with attacks in places such as Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, and Charleston,” Nielsen said in a speech at George Washington University in Washington.
- U.S.KTRK – Houston
Las Vegas Casino robbery suspect dies after shootout with police
Investigators say the suspected robbed the packed casino and was confronted by an officer while trying to carjack a vehicle.
WorldReutersBattle rages for last Islamic State Syria enclave
Nearly half of them were surrendering Islamic State supporters, mostly family members of jihadist fighters, though 5,000 armed militants also gave themselves up, said SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel. Another 34,000 civilians were evacuated. Former residents from the region say many of the civilians who left the Baghouz area in recent weeks were Iraqi Sunnis with close tribal ties on the other side of the border in Deir al-Zor, a Sunni heartland.
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