- WorldBloomberg
Islamic State Says Its Fighters Carried Out Sri Lanka Attacks
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deadly terrorist blasts in Sri Lanka, as investigations intensified into Sunday's coordinated attacks that killed 321 people in churches and high-end hotels. "Those who carried out the attack that targeted citizens belonging to the alliance countries and Christians in Sri Lanka are fighters with the Islamic State," according to a statement on IS news agency Amaq carried by SITE, which tracks jihadist groups. Alliance countries' refers to those involved in the U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State in Syria, which includes 79 nations from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, although Sri Lanka is not among them.
NewsReutersSelf-styled citizen border patrol abandons New Mexico camp: police
SUNLAND PARK, N.M./TAOS, N.M. (Reuters) - An armed group that has been stopping migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border honored a request to leave their camp in New Mexico on Tuesday and appeared to be heading home, the local police chief said. The group's leader Larry Hopkins appeared in court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Monday to face firearms charges following his arrest on Saturday by the FBI. Sunland Park, New Mexico, Police Chief Javier Guerra said the group left their campsite outside the town following a request by the Union Pacific Railroad, which said they had trespassed on its land.
PoliticsAssociated PressThe Latest: Buttigieg: It's clear Trump deserves impeachment
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate was asked about the call from some people in his party for Trump's impeachment following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted report looking into connections between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign as well as obstruction of justice. Mueller found no evidence of conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign but reached no verdict on obstruction.
- BusinessThe Guardian
Demoted and sidelined: Google walkout organizers say company retaliated
Now two Google employees, Meredith Whittaker and Claire Stapleton, are alleging that Google is retaliating against them and other employee activists. “Google has a culture of retaliation, which too often works to silence women, people of color, and gender minorities,” reads a letter from Whittaker, Stapleton and 10 other employees that was published internally on Monday and seen by the Guardian. Stapleton, a nearly 12-year veteran at Google, wrote that two months after the walkout, she was demoted, had a previously approved project cancelled, and was “told to go on medical leave, even though I'm not sick”.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Washington poised to become first state to allow eco-friendly 'human composting'
Washington is expected to become the first state to legalize an environmentally-friendly burial alternative that turns bodies into soil within weeks. A bill allowing “natural organic reduction," sometimes called "human composting," has passed the legislature and is headed to Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee's desk. Inslee, who has staked his 2020 presidential campaign on climate change, is reviewing the bill.
WorldAFPWhite House economist sees no impact on oil prices from Iran sanctions
The decision to tighten sanctions on Iran will have "no material impact" on oil prices given the large US supply of petroleum, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Tuesday. "We are a country awash with oil and gas," Kudlow said. World oil prices struck fresh 2019 highs on Tuesday after the US cracked down on Iranian oil exports.
- ScienceThe Telegraph
'Marsquake' detected for first time, Nasa says
Nasa has detected a probable "Marsquake" for the first time. The suspected seismic event on the Red Planet was recorded using silicon sensors developed in the UK. A dome-shaped apparatus known as Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure [SEIS] landed on Mars last year equipped with the sensors, which were built with £4 million in funding from the UK Space Agency Nasa said the measuring of the quake, which occurred on April 6, marked the "birth of a new discipline - Martian seismology".
BusinessReutersGoogle, Facebook, Twitter have to do more to fight fake news: EU
The monthly reports follow a pledge made by the tech giants and advertising trade bodies in October last year to combat the spread of fake news and avoid more heavy-handed regulations. The EU has warned of foreign interference during campaigning for the European Parliament elections and national elections in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine in recent and coming months. "Further technical improvements as well as sharing of methodology and data sets for fake accounts are necessary to allow third-party experts, fact-checkers and researchers to carry out independent evaluation," the EU executive said.
- BusinessCar and Driver
How Does the Geely Geometry A Measure Up to the Tesla Model 3?
Major Chinese automaker Geely has launched a sub-brand it's calling Geometry. The electric Geometry A is the first production model, and Geely says it's got the Tesla Model 3 in its sights. Tesla might be struggling with bringing the long-promised $35,000 version of the Model 3 to market, but Chinese automaker Geely is suffering from no such problems with the Geometry A, the first production car from what is set to be a wider EV sub-brand.
- WorldBloomberg
Libya PM Says Foreigners Are Arming Strongman's Tripoli Push
The leader of Libya's internationally recognized government said foreign backers have been arming strongman Khalifa Haftar since he launched an offensive to take the capital, Tripoli, and warned of a proxy war. Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj declined to identify the countries. But states including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia have provided weapons in the past to the leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army, the country's largest and most organized force.
- BusinessCar and Driver
View Photos of the 2019 Lexus LS500h Hybrid
Lexus's big LS500h sedan is both a flagship and a hybrid. We're not convinced it can serve both masters. From Car and Driver
PoliticsYahoo NewsHillary Clinton: Russian interference 'certainly had an impact' on the 2016 election
Special counsel Robert Mueller's two-year investigation concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election “in sweeping and systemic fashion” in an effort to boost Donald Trump's presidential campaign — and to disparage Clinton. A redacted version of Mueller's report, released last week, found no conspiracy with Trump's campaign, and drew no conclusions about charging Trump with obstruction. Clinton said Congress needs to see the full, unredacted version.
NewsUSA TODAYFormer Texas tennis coach expected to plead guilty in court in college admissions scandal
BOSTON – Michael Center, the former men's tennis coach at the University of Texas who prosecutors say took a $100,000 bribe in the college admissions scandal, is expected to plead guilty in federal court Wednesday afternoon. Center signed an agreement with federal prosecutors this month admitting guilt to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. He now heads to federal court in Boston before U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns, who will decide whether to accept the agreement.
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: Man recalls death of daughter, wife in blast
A man whose Australian wife and only child died in a bomb blast in a Sri Lanka church said he walked out ahead of his family moments before the explosion. Sudesh Kolonne told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that he saw his 10-year-old daughter Alexendria dead on the floor of St. Sebastian Catholic Church. Kolonne said the family moved from the Australian city of Melbourne in 2014 to Sri Lanka, where his wife started a consultancy business.
BusinessAFPOil prices jump as Trump cracks down on Iranian exports
Oil prices jumped to near six-month highs on Monday as the Trump administration cracked down on Iranian oil exports, announcing it would no longer grant waivers from US sanctions. The announcement came on an otherwise quiet day for global stock markets, with European bourses on holiday and Wall Street trading sideways ahead of major earnings releases later in the week. The White House announced it was calling an end to six-month waivers that had exempted countries from unilateral US sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
- U.S.WXIN - Indianapolis
Indiana Police Release New Sketch, Additional Information in Indiana Murder Investigation
Indiana State Police released new information in the 2017 murders of Abby Williams and Libby German in Delphi, Indiana.
- BusinessReuters
UPDATE 2-PG&E get approval to pay employees $350 mln to meet safety goals after wildfires
PG&E Corp can pay employees up to $350 million in bonuses this year to spur them to help meet the bankrupt California power provider's safety goals to prevent wildfires, a judge said on Tuesday. PG&E's management has said the company needs to implement the bonus plan to carry out tasks such as clearing trees and branches around power lines to avert contact that triggers wildfires. While the maximum cost of the plan is $350 million, PG&E has said it expects the likely cost will be around $235 million.
- WorldThe National Interest
Check Out This Picture: You Are Looking at the Greatest Aircraft Carrier Ever
The latter USS Enterprise served for fifty years, before decommissioning in 2012. Another USS Enterprise, CVN-80, is scheduled for completion by 2025. In May 1938, the U.S. Navy commissioned the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the seventh ship to bear the name in American service.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Kamala Harris Vows to Impose New Gun Limits by Executive Action
Senator Kamala Harris vowed to use executive actions to tighten rules on firearms sales if she's elected president and Congress fails to act on gun control in her first 100 days in office. The California Democrat's proposals to bypass Congress with actions that include expanding requirements for background checks and revoking licenses for gun manufactures and dealers found to have broken the law would almost certainly face legal challenges. But they represent her attempt to lean into a cause that has gained strong support in the Democratic Party following a wave of mass shootings over the past several years.
- WorldThe Telegraph
British father whose entire family were wiped out in Sri Lanka attack tells of his 'catastrophic' loss
A British father whose entire family were killed in the suspected terror attack in Sri Lanka has paid tribute to his "talented and thoughtful" children and his "brilliant, loving" wife. Ben Nicholson said his wife Anita, 42, son Alex, 14, and daughter Annabel, 11, had been killed as they sat at a table for breakfast in the Shangri-la Hotel in Colombo on Easter Sunday. "Mercifully, all three of them died instantly and with no pain or suffering," Mr Nicholson said.
PoliticsYahoo NewsJared Kushner: Russia investigations 'more harmful' than 'a couple of Facebook ads'
Jared Kushner on Tuesday said he believes the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election have been “way more harmful to our democracy” than the interference itself. “If you look at what Russia did, you know, buying some Facebook ads to try to sow dissent, it's a terrible thing,” Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser, said during the inaugural Time 100 summit here.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Two more defendants agree to plead guilty in college admissions bribery case
On two occasions three years apart, federal prosecutors say, MacFarlane made payments totaling at least $200,000 to the ringleader of the cheating scheme, Rick Singer, to get his daughter and later his son into USC. Janke has admitted to creating fake sports profiles for the children as college athletic recruits to get them into school.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The 2020 Jaguar XE in Photos
Updates to its interior and elsewhere make the XE a better luxury sports sedan. From Car and Driver
WorldAFPUkraine defies anti-Semitic past with Zelensky victory
Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky's election will see Ukraine led for the first time by a president of Jewish descent, in a landmark for a country with a long history of anti-Semitism. The 41-year-old actor won a landslide victory against incumbent Petro Poroshenko on Sunday. Ukraine already has a Jewish prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, also 41, and who is to remain in office pending parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
BusinessReutersFactbox: Elon Musk on Tesla's self-driving capabilities
Following are the comments made by Musk and Tesla related to the topic in the past few years, including during Monday's event: 2019 April 22 - Musk predicts that Tesla will have autonomous robotaxis without drivers in some U.S. markets in 2020. April 22 - Musk predicts that "probably two years from now we'll make a car with no steering wheels or pedals." April 22 - Musk says that in 2020, Tesla will have "over a million cars with full self-driving, software, everything."
