- WorldThe Telegraph
Who was behind the Sri Lanka bombings? Everything we know so far about the Easter Sunday attacks
Easter Day bomb blasts at three Sri Lankan churches and four hotels killed 310 people and wounded around 500, following a lull in major attacks since the end of the civil war 10 years ago. The explosions, some of which officials said were suicide bomb attacks, led to an immediate clampdown, with the government declaring a curfew and blocking access to most major social media and messaging sites. The three hotels hit in the initial attacks were the Shangri-La Colombo, Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo and the Cinnamon Grand Colombo.
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.
- 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.
NewsUSA TODAYFormer Texas tennis coach pleads 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, pleaded 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. Center became the third college coach to admit guilt in court for their role in the largest-ever college admissions bribery and cheating scandal, joining former Yale women's soccer coach Rudy Meredith and former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer.
- TechnologyBGR News
Samsung's Galaxy Fold might already have a new release date – and that's awful news
Samsung's Galaxy Fold launch is now nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. Well, Samsung went far beyond giving consumers a bit of doubt — it showed us in the clearest possible light that the Galaxy Fold is a piece of junk. It was so high, in fact, that Samsung decided to cancel the phone's release this Friday so it can investigate the issues that have been causing the Galaxy Fold's display to break.
- 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
- 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”.
- PoliticsNational Review
Elizabeth Warren's College Plan Is a Dance with Elves
Elizabeth Warren may be the least jolly member of the Senate, but she is nonetheless offering up her best Santa Claus impersonation as she seeks the Democratic presidential nomination, complete with a trillion-dollar-a-decade student-loan giveaway — to be paid for by those on her naughty list. Senator Warren proposes to pay off Americans' student loans in a tiered fashion: Up to $50,000 in bailouts for those earning up to $100,000 a year, gradually phased out to $0.00 for those earning $250,000 a year or more. Lest this be taken as a warrant to go out and borrow big on the chance that there will be another round of debt forgiveness in the future, Senator Warren also proposes to make college free for all students, not only eliminating tuition costs but also radically expanding federal higher-education spending to cover books, student housing and living expenses, and child care — a parallel welfare state for undergraduates.
WorldAssociated PressIranian parliament labels entire US military as terrorist
Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that labels all U.S. military forces as terrorist, state TV reported, a day after Washington ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by announcing that no country would any longer be exempt from U.S. sanctions if it continues to buy Iranian oil. The bill is a step further from the one last week, when lawmakers approved labelling just U.S. troops in the Middle East as terrorist, in response to the U.S. terrorism designation for Iran's Revolutionary Guard earlier this month.
- WorldThe Telegraph
First picture of 'mastermind' behind Sri Lanka suicide bomb attacks as identity of UK student is revealed
This is the first image of Inshaf Ahamed Ibrahim, the Sri Lankan suicide bomber and alleged mastermind of the atrocity which killed 359 people. Ibrahim, 33, blew himself up at the Shangri-La Hotel at just before 9am local time in a third-floor restaurant. The hotel was full of tourists including British victims Anita Nicholson, 42, and her two children Alex, 14, and 11-year-old daughter Annabel.
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.
- EntertainmentMashable
Daenerys and Sansa's passive aggressive 'Game of Thrones' talk is now a meme
A lot of viewers are feeling an exaggerated smiley-squint from Daenerys during her heart-to-heart stand-off with Sansa in the most recent Game of Thrones episode. The Daenerys-Sansa exchange didn't get the same notice as, say, Brienne's knighthood or Daenerys' other big Stark one-on-one conversation, but it's pivotal all the same as it sets up a potential ongoing feud between the Mother of Dragons and, maybe, the Queen of the North. Provided they survive the upcoming Battle of Winterfell, of course.
BusinessUSA TODAYGlobal groundings of Boeing 737 Max lower company's profit, revenue in first quarter
Boeing hinted Wednesday at the financial jolt arising from the global grounding of its 737 Max following two deadly crashes, and while the aerospace giant said it was making "steady progress" on a fix, it didn't predict when the jets will return to the skies. The company reported a $1 billion increase in production costs connected to the 737 Max defect and warned that the crisis would force it to revise its earnings expectations for the full year. CEO Dennis Muilenburg said fixing the Max and having the changes recertified is the company's top goal.
- TechnologyUSA TODAY
Galaxy Fold review: Should you pay $2,000 for Samsung's delayed folding phone tablet?
Samsung's new $1,980 Galaxy Fold has been making waves over the last two weeks, not necessarily for all the right reasons. At Samsung's request, we are returning our review unit Tuesday, but USA TODAY's Ed Baig and Eli Blumenthal have been messing around with the device for the last week. The saga that led to the delay began after reviewers from CNBC, The Verge, Bloomberg as well as influential YouTuber Marques Brownlee, who (like USA TODAY) were among those given pre-release test units, reported screen damage that broke the Fold.
- NewsReuters
Parkland high school, scene of 2018 massacre, wins prize
Florida's Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, scene of one of the country's worst mass shootings, will receive a $150,000 boost to its prom this year as the winner of contest sponsored by a popular clothing line, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday. The Parkland, Florida high school, whose prom is scheduled for May 11, was the winner of this year's Prom X Hollister Contest grand prize, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said. The contest prize, sponsored by Hollister, a brand of fashions popular with teenagers, will enable the school to hire high-priced talent for its prom, which is to take place in Fort Lauderdale, the newspaper said, citing a company representative.
- 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.
- WorldBGR News
Watch the Easter Bunny throw punches in a street brawl, because Florida
That is, unless you're in Florida, where being in the holiday spirit and donning an Easter Bunny costume doesn't stop anyone from getting into a heated street brawl in Orlando. A video, which was first posted by Instagram user Workfth but subsequently removed due to a perceived “community guidelines” violation, shows a friendly Easter Bunny getting right in the middle of a physical altercation between two men on a busy street. Curses are yelled, punches are thrown, and our furry friend is right there in the thick of it all.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Growing U.S. Pressure is Emboldening Iranian Hardliners
Sina Toossi, Assal Rad Security, Middle East As the influence of Iranian hardliners increases, so does the likelihood that Iran will tap into its underused leverage to raise the costs for U.S. actions against it. The ingredients for a war with Iran are falling into place. The Trump administration's termination of oil waivers for importers of Iranian oil and designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran's state-run military, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) are dangerous acts of escalation.
- CelebrityThe Telegraph
Neo-Nazi linked to group who said Prince Harry was a race traitor for marrying Meghan pleads guilty
Two teenage neo-Nazis, linked to a group that called Prince Harry a "race traitor" for marrying Mehgan Markle, are facing jail after admitting terror charges. Polish national, Michal Szewczuk, 19, admitted two counts of encouraging terrorism and five of possessing documents that could be useful to a terrorist, when he appeared at the Old Bailey. The charges relate to a neo-Nazi group called the Sonnenkrieg Division, which posted extreme racist material on the GAB social media platform.
- EntertainmentThe Independent
Trump praises AOC about VA healthcare — before completely contradicting her
Donald Trump has praised Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter over comments she made last week about the Department of Veterans Affairs — while simultaneously undermining her stance on the issue of privatising health care for US veterans. The president claimed the agency “is doing great” thanks to his administration in a tweet, seemingly undermining the fundamental point the 29-year-old lawmaker was making during a town hall event in New York. Mr Trump supported at least a portion of the congresswoman's statements surrounding veterans' health care in America, writing Wednesday, “Rep.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Bernie Sanders Got It Right on CNN: Felons Ought to Be Allowed to Vote
In their CNN town halls Monday night, Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg disagreed on whether current prisoners should be able to vote. Sen. Kamala Harris refused to endorse a plan for expanding the franchise to incarcerated people, but supported voting rights for former prisoners. Sanders was specifically asked about Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and “those convicted of sexual assault.” What sane person would want them to vote?
- BusinessCar and Driver
View Photos of the 211-MPH Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante
Aston Martin has chopped the top off its DBS Superleggera, creating what it says is "the ultimate open-top experience." From Car and Driver
BusinessAssociated PressWalgreens to hike minimum age for store tobacco sales
Walgreens has decided to raise its minimum age for tobacco sales several weeks after a top federal official chastised the drugstore chain for violating laws restricting access to cigarettes and other tobacco products. Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said Tuesday that it will require customers to be at least 21 years old to purchase tobacco in any of its more than 9,500 stores nationwide. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said in March that Walgreens was a top violator of tobacco sales laws among pharmacies that sell those products.
WorldReutersExclusive: Sri Lanka warned of threat hours before suicide attacks - sources
Sri Lankan intelligence officials were tipped off about an imminent attack by Islamist militants hours before a series of suicide bombings killed more than 300 people on Easter Sunday, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Three churches and four hotels were hit by suicide bombers on Sunday morning, killing 321 people and wounding 500, sending shockwaves through an island state that has been relatively peaceful since a civil war ended a decade ago. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on Tuesday, without providing evidence of its involvement.
- 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.
