PoliticsReutersRussia probe findings offer re-election weapon for Trump
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's conclusion that Donald Trump did not collude with Russia to win the presidency in 2016 gives the president a powerful weapon to use against his Democratic opponents and a potential boost to what is shaping up to be a tough bid for re-election in 2020. Mueller's conclusion that neither Trump nor his aides conspired with Russia in 2016 takes away a central charge that Democrats have flung at Trump for two years - that he did not win the presidency fairly or cleanly. The allegations have played out on an endless loop on cable TV news shows, overshadowing Trump's presidency from day one.
PoliticsAssociated PressText of letter summarizing special counsel's report
As a supplement to the notification provided on Friday, March 22, 2019, I am writing today to advise you of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and to inform you about the status of my initial review of the report he has prepared. On Friday, the Special Counsel submitted to me a "confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions" he has reached, as required by 28 C.F.R. 600.8(c). This report is entitled "Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election." Although my review is ongoing, I believe that it is in the public interest to describe the report and to summarize the principal conclusions reached by the Special Counsel and the results of his investigation.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The Ford Bronco Will Have a Removable Roof and Doors and Will Go on Sale in Late 2020
The new Ford Bronco SUV will come with either two or four removable doors and have a removable hardtop. The Bronco will go on sale in late 2020, according to Automotive News. According to Automotive News, which gleaned info from dealers who attended a Ford event last month where future products were shown, the Bronco will hit dealer lots in late 2020.
BusinessUSA TODAYNo, that iOS 12.2 update did not just give 5G to your AT&T iPhone
The new update, released Monday, brings a host of new features including Apple News+, new Animoji and support for the new AirPods hitting store shelves this week. Prominently featured in TV and online ads, the rebranding is all part of a bid to make people think AT&T has a massive headstart on 5G over rivals Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. Unlike real, faster 5G – which AT&T is actually rolling out across the country and will require new devices with the proper hardware inside – 5G E is no different from the 4G LTE service you were getting in the same location yesterday.
BusinessAFPEthiopian Airlines 'believes in' Boeing despite crash: CEO
Ethiopian Airlines "believes in" Boeing despite the crash of its 737 MAX 8 plane that killed all 157 people on board and led to the model's grounding, the carrier's CEO said on Monday. "Let me be clear: Ethiopian Airlines believes in Boeing. "We will work with investigators in Ethiopia, in the US and elsewhere to figure out what went wrong," he added.
WorldReutersNorth Korean officials return to inter-Korean liaison office: South Korea
North Korea sent back its officials to an inter-Korean liaison office in the North's border city of Kaesong on Monday, reversing a decision two days ago to withdraw the officials, South Korea's Unification Ministry said. A group of four to five officials showed up at the office earlier in the morning saying they came to work "as usual," the ministry said in a statement. Though the presence of the North's head of the office was not confirmed, the two sides held a consultation and will "continue to operate the office as usual," the ministry said.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Children of Isil's caliphate left to toil in squalid refugee camps
“I get about 2,000 lira for putting up one tent,” he said, using the popular term here for Syrian pounds. Hamed is one of about 41,000 children in al-Hol, the largest of three sprawling camps in north eastern Syria that houses former members, children, and prisoners of the Islamic State terrorist group. The fate of the children who emerged from Isil's doomed caliphate is a matter of humanitarian urgency and critical to international security.
- NewsThe Independent
Second survivor of Parkland shooting dies in 'apparent suicide', reports say
A second survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting has died, police have confirmed. The Coral Springs Police Department was quoted in US media as saying the student had died in an “apparent suicide” on Saturday. The case is being investigated further and officers did not release the student's age or cause of death.
- WorldWPVI – Philadelphia
South Jersey couple rescued after Norwegian cruise turns into nightmare
More than a 1,000 people, including a South Jersey couple, were on a cruise ship that got stranded off Norway's western coast in bad weather over the weekend.
- WorldBloomberg
Israel Launches Strikes Across Gaza After Day of Rocket Fire
Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday evening, following a tense day that began with a rocket attack on a home in central Israel and a counterstrike that reduced the office of Hamas's leader to ruins. Amid the escalation, both sides made preparations for the possibility of a broader confrontation. Israel moved troops closer to its southern border and declared closed military zones near Gaza.
WorldReutersThailand's pro-army party leads in election; results delayed
A pro-military party was leading in Thailand's first election since a 2014 coup, with the unofficial result delayed until Monday afternoon likely to indicate whether junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha can gain enough seats to remain prime minister. The Election Commission had been scheduled to announce the unofficial results Sunday night for the 500-seat lower House of Representatives but later said it was delayed until Monday, without giving a reason. But with Prayuth's Palang Pracharat party all but guaranteed the support of the junta-appointed upper house, the Senate, under new electoral rules the junta drafted, it looked in a good position to keep Prayuth in office five years after he...
- BusinessCar and Driver
View Photos of the Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato
Renderings give a tantalizing glimpse of the car with which Aston is celebrating its 100th anniversary. From Car and Driver
BusinessUSA TODAYAmerican Airlines to cancel 90 flights every day through most of April
American Airlines will cancel 90 flights a day through most of April as a result of the Federal Aviation Administration's decision this month to ground all Boeing 737 Max aircraft. This follows the Boeing 737 Max 8 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people aboard. "In an effort to provide more certainty and avoid last minute flight disruptions, American has extended cancellations through April 24," the airline said in a statement.
WorldAFPErdogan moots renaming Istanbul's Hagia Sophia a mosque
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday mooted the possibility of renaming Istanbul's Hagia Sofia museum as a mosque, in comments during a television interview. Erdogan, who is a former mayor of Istanbul, is campaigning for votes for his Justice and Development Party (AKP) ahead of municipal elections on March 31. The former church and mosque, now a museum, often sparks tensions between Christians and Muslims over Islamic activities held there including the reading of verses from the Koran or collective prayers.
WorldReutersFrance seals multi-billion dollar deals with China, but questions Belt and Road project
France and China signed deals worth billions of euros on Monday, including a huge Airbus plane order, during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite Paris pushing back against Beijing's "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative. President Emmanuel Macron wants to forge a united European front to confront Chinese advances in trade and technology. Xi's visit also provided a stage for protesters seeking more European action over the alleged mistreatment of minorities in China.
- BusinessBGR News
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was carrying an iPhone when she was arrested last year
The tech industry certainly has its share of scandals, but the drama surrounding Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou certainly takes things to the next level. This past December, Wanzhou was arrested in Canada (at the behest of the United States) on charges of wire fraud and improper business dealings with Iran. Wanzhou may ultimately be extradited to the U.S. as China, not surprisingly, has vehemently denied the allegations on Wanzhou's behalf.
LifestyleAFP Relax NewsAll black everything: Ford offers Black Appearance Package for 2019 Ford Rangers
Ford has announced the new Black Appearance Package available for the 2019 Ford Ranger lineup. Since the 2019 Ford Ranger pickup went on sale in January of this year, over half of the models have been outfitted in either the Sport Appearance Package or the Chrome Appearance Package. As of Monday, another option is now available: the Black Appearance Package.
WorldAssociated PressWhat Next? UK lawmakers torn on fate of Brexit, and May
Britain has just a few weeks to break its Brexit impasse, with the fate of the country's departure from the European Union and that of Prime Minister Theresa May both hanging in the balance. Here's a look at what might happen next: DEAL OR NO DEAL With British politicians deadlocked, EU leaders last week granted Britain a two-stage "flextension" to Brexit, which had been due to take place on March 29. Under the new plan, if U.K. lawmakers approve the divorce deal agreed upon between Britain and the bloc, the country will leave the EU on May 22.
- PoliticsBloomberg
How Republicans Are Reacting to Barr's Mueller Report Summary
President Trump led a victory parade of Republican lawmakers and White House insiders after a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation released on Sunday showed no evidence of collusion with Russia. An hour after the four-page letter from Attorney General William Barr was released, Trump claimed “total exoneration” on Twitter. Boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, the president called Mueller's probe an “illegal takedown that failed.
BusinessReutersApple News+, at $10 a month, could deliver more content than multiple subscriptions
Conde Nast - publisher of the New Yorker, Vogue and Wired magazines - will include the full load of stories from each print issue of its titles, plus other curated content on Apple News+. The annual price of a $100 digital subscription to the New Yorker plus a $20 annual subscription for Vanity Fair alone would equal the $120 annual cost of Apple News+, which will also include hundreds of other publications. Conde Nast said it believes its current subscribers will continue to pay for the archives and digital content, which is not included in Apple News+.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
The Ferrari P80/C Is a Two-in-One Track Car and Garage Beauty, and There's Only One
Commissioned in 2015, the P80/C is the first Ferrari one-off track car. Fun fact: Dropping millions on this Ferrari P80/C bought one collector access to the company's secret design studio and its board of directors for four years, plus a complimentary short film produced by the dealership. Ferrari says it's the first dedicated track car it has ever created as a one-off, although the P80/C does not reach the same extremes as the FXX K.
- BusinessPopular Mechanics
FAA 'Tentatively' Approves Software Fix to Get the 737 Max 8 Flying Again
The worldwide grounding of Boeing's 737 Max 8 and 9 airliners has upended the aviation business, with American Airlines canceling up to 90 flights a day because of a dwindling fleet. The Federal Aviation Administration is reportedly on the cusp of approving a safety update that could make the seemingly disaster-prone aircraft viable again, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The embattled manufacturer promised a software update in the immediate aftermath of the Ethiopian Airlines crash earlier this month, meant to rectify an issue with the aircraft's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which tilts the plane's nose downward to avert stalling.
- WorldKFSN – Fresno
New Zealand attack note left at fire at California mosque
Authorities are investigating a fire at a Southern California mosque as possible arson.
WorldAFPUS will not 'stand idly' on Russian role in Venezuela: Pompeo
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Russia Monday the United States will not "stand idly by" as Moscow inserts military personnel into Venezuela to support the regime of President Nicolas Maduro. In a phone call with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pompeo denounced the growing Russian military reinforcements as prolonging the political crisis in the South American country. Pompeo told Lavrov "the United States and regional countries will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela," the State Department said in a statement.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Homebuyers to get springtime boost from lower-than-expected mortgage rates
Less than six months ago, mortgage rates marched above 5 percent – the first time in seven years – and for weeks showed no signs of abating. “It was somewhat of a surprise to see the degree and intensity of the pullback,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders. Enter Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who in December promised patience on further interest rate hikes and, on Wednesday, predicted that rates wouldn't budge for the rest of the year.
