PoliticsAssociated PressBernie Sanders' opening argument: I am electable. Really.
His strategists argue he's best positioned to win over voters in the three Rust Belt states that Democrat Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in 2016. Trump, the campaign argues, won Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, the keys to his Electoral College victory, by offering a version of Sanders' populist economic message. What Trump was offering "was faux-Bernie Sanders in order to beat Hillary Clinton," Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said, adding that Sanders plans to focus on the three states even as he fights off a crowded field of Democrats vying for the nomination in states with early primary contests.
WorldReutersNew Zealand bans semi-automatic and assault rifles after mass shooting
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that military style semi-automatics and assault rifles will be banned under stronger new gun laws following the killing of 50 people in the country's worst mass shooting. Ardern said she expects the new law to be in place by April 11 and buy-back scheme will be established for banned weapons. quot;Now, six days after this attack, we are announcing a ban on all military style semi-automatics (MSSA) and assault rifles in New Zealand," Ardern said.
NewsAFPCatholic Church in US state failed to disclose 200 accused clergy: law firm
The Catholic Church has failed to disclose more than 200 names of clergy accused of abuse in the US state of Illinois, a law firm claimed Wednesday. The firm Jeff Anderson & Associates has previously released names of accused clergy in other parts of the country based on information it compiled from public sources such as lawsuits. Its latest report outlined 395 Catholic clergy and laypersons in Illinois who have been accused of sexually assaulting children.
PoliticsUSA TODAYDevin Nunes sued a Twitter account dedicated to a cow. Now it has more followers than he does
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., filed a $250 million lawsuit earlier this week against Twitter and a number of parody accounts that poked fun at the congressman, a fierce defender of President Donald Trump. Two days after the lawsuit was filed Monday, @DevinCow, which had less than 2,000 followers, now boasts a following of nearly half a million on Twitter.
NewsReutersPence arrives in Nebraska as U.S. Midwest reels from historic floods
Vice President Mike Pence in Nebraska on Tuesday took stock of the devastation unleashed across the U.S. Midwest by floods that have killed four people, left one missing and caused more than a billion dollars in damage to crops, livestock and roads. The way communities come together and people volunteer to put themselves in harm's way to help others," Pence said Tuesday in Omaha, according to an official statement. Pence also said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is working to expedite a request from Nebraska's governor for a federal emergency declaration, which will provide more aid to the state.
- BusinessPopular Mechanics
Lion Air Pilots Were Checking the 737 Max 8's Handbook Right Before the Plane Crashed
Moments before Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea killing all 189 people onboard last October, pilots of the plane searched through a handbook looking for guidance on how to rescue the aircraft from its downward trajectory, Reuters reports. Three sources familiar with the investigation of the Boeing 737 Max 8's flight data recorders gave a visceral play-by-play of what ensued inside the cockpit, when a faulty sensor on the plane's fuselage triggered an automated anti-stall system that sent the plane into a nosedive. Boeing's 737 Max 8 aircraft have been grounded by aviation authorities across the world after two catastrophic crashes in five months.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Supreme Court will decide if convicted sniper in 2002 District of Columbia-area killings can get new sentence
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether life-without-parole sentences for the primary gunman in a series of murders that terrorized the Washington region in 2002 must be reconsidered. The justices will hear the state of Virginia's appeal of a federal appeals court ruling that Lee Boyd Malvo should be resentenced because he was a teenager at the time of the crimes. Malvo was 17 during the shooting spree that killed 10 people in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
WorldAFP Relax NewsCORRECTED: Germany launches 5G auction amid row with US over Huawei
CORRECTS WORDING IN SECOND PARA ON INFORMATION SHARING, ADDS 'ACCORDING TO MEDIA REPORTS' IN 12TH PARA] Germany launches its auction Tuesday for the construction of an ultra-fast 5G mobile network as a transatlantic dispute rages over security concerns surrounding giant Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei. The United States has warned it could scale back the sharing of sensitive information with Berlin if it does not exclude hardware made by Huawei from the infrastructure, arguing that Chinese equipment could help Beijing spy on Western companies and governments.
NewsThe IndependentFox News contributor called 'complete moron' for falsely saying US was first to end slavery
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich attempted to counter Senator Elizabeth Warren's call to discuss the injustices of slavery, and its lasting systemic impact on generations of African-Americans, by claiming that the United States does not get “enough credit” for ending slavery. While discussing reparations to descendents of enslaved people on Fox News' "Outnumbered" on Tuesday, Ms Pavlich claimed that the US was the first country to abolish slavery. They keep blaming America for the sin of slavery but the truth is, throughout human history, slavery existed, and America came along as the first country to end it within 150 years,” she said.
PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump is 'looking into' Facebook 'bias' as aide melts down over suspension
President Trump threatened an investigation into Facebook over perceived bias after a White House staffer was temporarily banned from posting comments on the site. Trump's social media director, Dan Scavino, complained Monday that Facebook had banned him from posting comments. “Dear Facebook,” wrote Scavino, posting a screengrab of the blocking notice he received, “AMAZING.
NewsAssociated PressCorrection: Mob Shooting story
A corrected version of the story is below: Suspect arrested in murder of reputed mob boss New York police say a man is in custody in the shooting death of the reputed Gambino crime family boss NEW YORK (AP) — A 24-year-old man was arrested Saturday in the shooting death of the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family, New York City police said. Anthony Comello was arrested in New Jersey in the death of Francesco Cali on Wednesday in front of his Staten Island home, said Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea, who stressed that the investigation is in its early stages. "There are multiple, multiple angles that we are exploring," Shea said at a news conference at police headquarters.
WorldAFPChristchurch Muslims protected as they pray following mass haka
Muslims praying in front of the one of the Christchurch mosques attacked by a white supremacist were protected on Wednesday evening by locals, moments after hundreds performed a mass haka. The touching display was the latest act of solidarity shown by inhabitants of a city still reeling from the worst attack on Muslims in the West in recent times. Throughout the last five days small groups of Muslims have defiantly held evening prayers in front of the Al Noor mosque, the first of two to be assaulted last Friday by a lone gunman in an attack that killed 50 people.
BusinessReutersJury finding upends Bayer's Roundup defense strategy: experts
Bayer shares tumbled more than 12 percent on Wednesday after a unanimous jury in San Francisco federal court found Roundup to be a "substantial factor" in causing California resident Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The jury decision was a blow to Bayer after the judge in the Hardeman case, at the company's request, had split the trial, severely limiting evidence plaintiffs could present in the first phase. Tuesday's defeat on terms considered advantageous to Bayer sets up the second phase to be even tougher and limits the grounds on which the company could appeal any final verdict, the experts said.
LifestyleUSA TODAYI got into 39 colleges without cheating: What applying to schools looks like in 2019
Jordan Nixon has received 39 college acceptance letters so far, all without celebrity parents or $500,000 bribes. It just took years of planning, a private college adviser, 50-plus applications and the unwavering support of family. As the nation's largest-ever college admissions scandal surfaces this week, with celebrity parents and rich CEOs accused of cheating to get their children into prestigious schools, the Nixons are navigating college admissions like the rest of us.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Punctuation Marks
Sculptural side tables in bold hues or luxe materials add that functional finishing touch
- PoliticsNational Review
Could the Twitter Primary Cost Democrats the Oval Office?
In my lifetime, I've never seen more presidential candidates advocate breaking more American constitutional, economic, and policy norms than I've seen from the Democratic field so far in 2019. Elizabeth Warren is for it, and Beto O'Rourke says there's “a lot of wisdom” in her proposal. Pack the Supreme Court? Warren, Beto, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand are open to the idea.
- BusinessKTLA - Los Angeles
Mid-Air Fight on Flight to LA Forces Plane to Return to Hawaii
Two `unruly passengers` forced a Hawaiian Airlines flight headed for Los Angeles to return back to Honolulu on Tuesday.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Beto O'Rourke campaign: Bernie Sanders' supporters fuel misinformation about Texas Democrat's record-breaking fundraising haul
Beto O'Rourke's record-breaking fundraising haul has appeared to upset supporters of Bernie Sanders, who began spreading misinformation about how the Texas Democrat's campaign managed to top that of the Vermont senator's in its first 24 hours. A tweet claiming the former congressman's 2020 campaign was part of a supposed financial kickback with the Texas Democratic Party went viral after Mr O'Rourke released his fundraising figures from his first day on the campaign trail earlier this week. That tweet was posted by Xavier Perez, a member of the Democratic county committee in Bronx, New York and a former volunteer for Mr Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
The bread crumb papers: Why Cohen document dump should worry Donald Trump and others
While the case against former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is over, the search warrants and other documents unsealed Tuesday contain a series of bread crumbs telling us what may lie ahead in investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller and others. The bulk of the redactions appear in a section called "The Illegal Campaign Contribution Scheme.” Among the crimes to which Cohen pleaded guilty was a scheme involving payments to suppress allegations of Trump's relationships with women to prevent the stories from influencing the 2016 presidential election. Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws by causing a corporate contribution and making an excess contribution.
- NewsMashable
Aggressive Instagramming is ruining Southern California's super bloom
Fields of fiery "super bloom" poppies are lighting up the hills of Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore, a city about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. Thanks to uncommonly heavy rains this winter, much of Southern California is seeing a massive burst of wildflower blooms across the state. The poppies in Walker Canyon are so lush, they can be seen from space.
WorldAFPNZ returns first shooting dead after delay angers families
The bodies of six of the Christchurch massacre victims have been released to their families, New Zealand police said Tuesday, but they warned only a fraction of the 50 people killed had been fully identified, with the delay angering anguished relatives. Muslims whose loved ones were gunned down by an Australian white supremacist at two mosques last Friday have had their grief compounded by the failure of the authorities to return bodies to families in time for a speedy burial, as required under Islamic custom. Police in Christchurch said only 12 of the 50 victims had been identified, and appeared to warn next of kin to brace for further delays.
WorldAssociated PressChristchurch harbored white supremacists before massacre
It also has highlighted apparent failings by security and intelligence services to view white supremacists as a real threat or to take seriously warnings from Muslim groups of a rise in Islamophobic and xenophobic incidents in recent years. Tarrant planned his attack on two mosques meticulously and had resolved two years earlier to kill Muslims, according to a manifesto he published moments before the massacre. He actively planned the Christchurch shootings for the past three months, he said in the manifesto posted online and emailed to the office of New Zealand's prime minister minutes before driving to his first target, the golden-domed Al Noor mosque.
BusinessReutersAT&T CEO says China's Huawei hinders carriers from shifting suppliers for 5G
AT&T Inc Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said Wednesday that China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is making it very difficult for European carriers to drop the company from its supply chain for next-generation 5G wireless service. quot;If you have deployed Huawei as your 4G network, Huawei is not allowing interoperability to 5G -- meaning if you are 4G, you are stuck with Huawei for 5G," said Stephenson at a speech in Washington. quot;When the Europeans say we got a problem -- that's their problem.
WorldAFP'Generation Nazarbayev' jokes, hopes after Kazakh leader resigns
People under 30 in Kazakhstan have only known one leader -- Nursultan Nazarbayev, who announced his resignation this week after shepherding the country from the Soviet era. His stage-managed departure -- he will keep key posts and significant political influence -- has left Kazakh millennials wondering what will come next. "The word 'Nazarbayev' means something like the word 'parent'," said 18-year-old film student Madi Makanov, who lives in the country's largest city Almaty.
WorldReutersIslamic State loses big part of enclave, SDF sees defeat 'very soon'
DEIR AL-ZOR PROVINCE, Syria (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Syrian forces said they were close to defeating Islamic State in its final scrap of territory at Baghouz in eastern Syria after seizing an encampment from the jihadists on Tuesday, though the battle was not over yet. Hardened militant fighters holed up in the encampment had been mounting a last-stand defense of the Baghouz enclave, all that is left of Islamic State's self-proclaimed "caliphate" that once spanned a third of both Syria and Iraq. "This is not a victory announcement, but a significant progress in the fight against Daesh," said Mustafa Bali, a media official with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Twitter, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
