- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Poll: Half of Americans say Trump is victim of a 'witch hunt' as trust in Mueller erodes
WASHINGTON – Amid signs that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference may be near its conclusion, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds that trust in Mueller has eroded and half of Americans agree with President Donald Trump's contention that he has been the victim of a "witch hunt." Support for the House of Representatives to seriously consider impeaching the president has dropped since last October by 10 percentage points, to 28 percent. Despite that, the survey shows a nation that remains skeptical of Trump's honesty and deeply divided by his leadership.
NewsAFPIran rights lawyer won't appeal new jail ruling: husband
Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh will not appeal a 12-year prison sentence imposed on her last week for "encouraging corruption and debauchery", her husband said on Sunday. "She said she wouldn't want to appeal, and the reason is that the judicial process is unfair and such protests will do no good," Reza Khandan told AFP over telephone. "She does not want to undertake any judicial action since she does not agree with the judicial process.
- 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.
- WorldReuters
U.N. official condemns Hamas crackdown on Gaza protests
Cellular phone videos posted on social media showed Hamas security forces beating protesters with clubs, and gunshots could be heard. Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special coordinator for Middle East peace, said in a statement that "the long-suffering people Gaza" have a right to protest at "the dire economic situation" without fear of reprisal. "I strongly condemn the campaign of arrests and violence used by Hamas security forces against protesters, including women and children, in Gaza over the past three days," he said.
- NewsThe Independent
California poppies: City declares public safety crisis after 'super bloom apocalypse'
Officials in the California city of Lake Elisnore have previously had large crowds come and see the wildflowers that burst into a vibrant blaze of gorgeous colour as spring gets underway. It happens when it rains hard. But this spring, the poppies have been so abundant and so strikingly coloured – orange peel, marigold and burned copper – that the number of people coming to walk among them has simply been too many.
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Downstream Missouri River prepares for flooding
As rivers and creeks in flooded eastern Nebraska and western Iowa crest Saturday, officials have begun looking downstream at likely flooding further south along the Missouri River. The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports Missouri Gov. Mike Parson met with emergency management team members Friday to review and update flood-response plans. The Missouri Highway Patrol is preparing additional equipment, and swift water rescue personnel are on standby.
- 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.
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."
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".
NewsYahoo NewsPresident Trump urges Fox News to bring back Jeanine Pirro, 'keep fighting' for Tucker Carlson
President Trump, who attended church on Sunday, held his own sermon on Twitter in defense of controversial Fox News hosts Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson. “Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro,” he demanded of Fox News. Pirro, who's hosted “Justice With Judge Jeanine” since 2011.
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.
- WorldTime
Sorrow, Heroism and Near Misses: Survivors Recall the Terror of the Christchurch Mosque Massacres
Mohsan Ali had just finished his prayers when the bullets flew past. “I suddenly realized my pregnant wife was still inside in a separate prayer room,” the 37-year-old tells TIME outside Christchurch's Hagley Community College, where friends and relatives of New Zealand's worst ever mass shooting on Friday are receiving care and counseling. The death toll from Friday's terrorist attack at Christchurch's Al Noor and Linwood mosques has risen to 50, with 34 more being treated at Christchurch hospital, 11 in critical condition including several children.
WorldAFPSyria army vows to retake control of Kurdish areas
Syrian government forces will reclaim control of northeastern areas controlled by the US-backed Kurds, whether by force or through reconciliation, the defence minister warned Monday. Marginalised for decades, Syria's minority Kurds have carved out a de-facto autonomous region across some 30 percent of the nation's territory since the devastating war broke out in 2011. Backed by a US-led coalition, Kurdish forces have spearheaded an offensive in Syria against the Islamic State group.
- BusinessKFSN – Fresno
French aviation experts see clear links in Boeing crashes in Ethiopia, Indonesia
The French civil aviation investigation bureau BEA has concluded there were "clear similarities" between this month's crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane and a Lion Air plane crash last October.
- 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
PoliticsAssociated PressO'Rourke: Being white male doesn't put me at disadvantage
Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke said Saturday that being a white man in a 2020 Democratic field that's so deeply diverse won't be a hindrance because his gender and race have given him inherent advantages for years. While he'd spoken before about his gender and race, O'Rourke had largely dodged campaign-trail questions about whether his party would go for a white man in a year when a historic number of women and minorities are running to deny President Donald Trump a second term. "I would never begin by saying that it's a disadvantage at all," O'Rourke told reporters in a parking lot in Waterloo, after giving a speech at the campaign kickoff for state Senate candidate Eric Giddens.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
WorldReutersConvicted French cardinal meets pope after saying he would resign
Philippe Barbarin, the French Roman Catholic cardinal convicted this month of failing to report sexual abuse allegations, met Pope Francis on Monday after saying he planned to resign as archbishop of Lyon. Barbarin, 68, the highest-profile cleric to be caught up in the child sex abuse scandal inside the French Church, was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence on March 7. Barbarin is appealing against the verdict.
WorldAFPFrance scrambles for police response to 'yellow vest' violence
The French government's failure to keep Paris protests over the weekend from spiralling out of control has put a harsh spotlight on its law enforcement strategy, which makes avoiding injuries a priority even after hours of rampant destruction and looting. Business owners on the iconic Champs-Elysees avenue were fuming Monday as President Emmanuel Macron met with Interior Minister Christophe Castaner and Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet to weigh their response to an 18th consecutive Saturday of "yellow vest" demonstrations. For decades French authorities have usually preferred the opposite, putting down mass protests with tear gas and rubber bullets but avoiding physical clashes against large groups.
U.S.FOX News VideosErin Foster posts her father's joke about the college admissions scandal to Instagram
Erin Foster posts her father's joke about the college admissions scandal to Instagram, which says he'd be in prison if his daughter wanted to go to college.
- WorldThe Telegraph
New Zealand shooter to represent himself in court as former lawyer says he appears 'lucid'
The Australian terrorist who filmed himself slaughtering 50 worshipers at two mosques in New Zealand has asked to represent himself in court, prompting concerns the trial could become a platform to promote his far-Right ideology. Brenton Tarrant, a white supremacist who gunned down his victims with a semi-automatic rifle at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch, sacked his court-appointed lawyer so he could defend himself. His former lawyer, Richard Peters, told reporters that the attacker "indicated he does not want a lawyer" and that he "wants to be self-represented in this case."
WorldAssociated PressGrieving families given earth from Ethiopian crash site
Grieving family members of victims of the Ethiopian air disaster are being given sacks of earth to bury in place of the remains of their loved ones. Officials have begun delivering bags of earth to family members of the 157 victims of the crash instead of the remains of their loved ones because the identification process is going to take such a long time. Families are being given a 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) sack of scorched earth taken from the crash sites, members of two different families told The Associated Press.
