- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump rages about Electoral College reform and lowering voter age to 16 in midnight Twitter tirade
The president's outburst came after Elizabeth Warren, a leading Democratic contender for 2020, called for a popular vote to replace the complex Electoral College system, in which a president is selected by “electors” that people in each state vote for. Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke, two other leading Democratic candidates, have also expressed similar approval for voting reform. "Come a general election, presidential candidates don't come to places like Mississippi, they also don't come to places like California or Massachusetts, because we're not the battleground states," Ms Warren said at a Mississippi town hall on Monday.
- WorldThe Telegraph
New Zealand holds first funerals for victims of Christchurch massacre
A father and son who fled the civil war in Syria for "the safest country in the world" were buried before hundreds of mourners on Wednesday. The funerals of Khalid Mustafa, 44, and Hamza Mustafa, 15, came five days after a white supremacist methodically gunned down 50 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch - a massacre that he broadcast live on Facebook. Hamza's high school principal described the student as compassionate and hardworking, and said he was an excellent horse rider who aspired to be a veterinarian.
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Minnesota to help Nebraska flood fight
The order came after Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts requested Minnesota Army National Guard helicopter support. Minnesota sent one CH-47 Chinook helicopter with 10 personnel to support flood response operations in Nebraska on Wednesday morning. Minnesota Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen says in a statement that the emergency executive order will remain in effect until the emergency flood conditions in Nebraska ease.
CelebrityUSA TODAYWhat we know about Olivia Jade, Lori Loughlin's daughter caught up in admissions scandal
Before March 12, Olivia Jade Giannulli was a powerful social media influencer still on the rise as a YouTube and Instagram star. But Tuesday's stunning announcement of a federal investigation into a college-admission fraud scheme has dramatically changed the narrative for the 19-year-old freshman at the University of Southern California — who goes by her social media name "Olivia Jade." Olivia Jade's parents, "Fuller House" star Lori Loughlin and designer Mossimo Giannulli, whose Mossimo label has been featured at Target stores, have both been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
BusinessAFPGlyphosate under fire from San Francisco to Sri Lanka
Glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup, is the subject of fierce controversy across the globe and is classified by the World Health Organization as "probably" being carcinogenic. After the second US cancer victim in a year won a surprise court victory against Monsanto over the weedkiller on Tuesday, here is the state of play regarding lawsuits and restrictions on the use of glyphosate around the world: - United States - A California court on Tuesday found that Roundup was a "substantial factor" in Edwin Hardeman, 70, getting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after spraying the weedkiller on his garden for decades.
WorldReutersU.N. rights boss decries Venezuela crackdown; says sanctions may worsen crisis
The country was plunged into a political crisis in January when Juan Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled congress, invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Nicolas Maduro's 2018 re-election was not legitimate. Bachelet told the U.N. Human Rights Council that she had information, without elaborating, that the National Police's Special Actions Force (FAES) had executed 37 people in January in Caracas in illegal house raids in poor areas supporting the opposition. "... my office documented numerous human rights violations and abuses by security forces and pro-government armed groups, including excessive use of force, killings, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment in detention, and threats and intimidation," she said.
WorldBloombergThese Are the World's Happiest (and Most Miserable) Countries
According to the report published on Wednesday, Finland has witnessed modest but steady gains since 2014, and the country is now “significantly ahead” of other countries in the top 10, the researchers said. The data “offer the world's governments and individuals the opportunity to rethink public policies as well as individual life choices, to raise happiness and well-being,” said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Punctuation Marks
Sculptural side tables in bold hues or luxe materials add that functional finishing touch
PoliticsFOX News VideosSamantha Bee skewers Democratic 2020 hopefuls on late-night talk show
Late-night TV host Samantha Bee ripped into the growing field of Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls Wednesday night. The 'Full Frontal' host commented on everything from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign slogan, to former Vice President Joe Biden not making a decision on his third potential presidential run. The TBS star also went after former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
- NewsNational Review
Border Patrol Releases Migrants, Citing Lack of Space in Detention Centers
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Tuesday released 50 migrants recently detained at the border near Mcallen, Texas due to a lack of space in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers they would otherwise be sent to while awaiting their asylum hearings. CPB officials told the Los Angeles Times that the migrants released Tuesday represent just the first wave of a group of hundreds whom they will be forced to release in the coming days due to a lack of resources. Border Patrol spokesman Carlos Diaz said the 50 migrants were given notices to appear in court and released to local charities after their processing center in McAllen was overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving each day.
WorldReutersBullet-riddled New Zealand mosque to reopen for Friday prayers; more victims buried
The bullet-riddled Al Noor mosque in Christchurch was being repaired, painted and cleaned ahead of Friday prayers, as grieving families buried more victims of New Zealand's worst mass shooting. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that Friday's call to prayers for Muslims will be broadcast nationally and there will be a two minute silence. Armed police have been guarding mosques around New Zealand after 50 people were killed last Friday by a lone gunman who attacked worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch.
- TechnologyBGR News
Apple's $79 AirPods wireless charging case is finally here – buy this $19 case instead
Good news, Apple's Wireless Charging Case for AirPods is finally here! You can buy it right now on Apple's website for $79… but you definitely shouldn't. Because the NeotrixQI Wireless Charging Cover for Apple AirPods slides right over the AirPods case you already have, and it adds wireless charging for just $19. 【WIRELESS CHARGING】: Enjoy Wireless Charging for your AirPods! Place your AirPods into wireless charging case and put it on Qi wireless charger for wireless charging experience.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Justice Clarence Thomas breaks three-year silence in Mississippi case about racial bias in jury selection
WASHINGTON – When Clarence Thomas speaks, people listen. The current Supreme Court's longest-serving justice did just that Wednesday, asking two pointed questions near the end of an hour-long oral argument about a Mississippi prosecutor's persistent refusal to seat African-American jurors. Most of the questioning to that point had been detrimental to the state's case against Curtis Flowers, who's been tried six times for the 1996 murders of four people inside a Winona, Mississippi, furniture store.
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.
- PoliticsTime
The Supreme Court Ruled That Immigrants With a Criminal Past Can Be Detained Years After Serving Time
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the government can detain immigrants with past criminal records even after they have completed their prison terms, issuing a narrow verdict that sided with the Trump Administration's pursuit of hardline immigration policies. The 5-4 decision was led by the court's conservative justices and dissented by its liberal wing. The ruling reverses a determination by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which stated that migrants can only be put in immigration detention within 24 hours of their release from criminal custody, as opposed to months, or even years later.
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Forecasters: 'historic' flooding could hit South
Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say flooding could reach unprecedented levels in parts of the U.S. later this spring, as winter snow melts and swollen rivers rise. NOAA spokeswoman Lauren Gaches said during a conference call Thursday that existing flooding along the Mississippi River and other waterways is expected to get worse, possibly even worse than historic floods in 1993 and 2011. Forecasters have said that rapidly melting snow in the upper Midwest is contributing to flooding that will eventually make its way downstream to the Gulf Coast.
- 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.
- NewsPopular 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.
PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump changes his mind on Electoral College, now wants to keep it
After Barack Obama in 2012 won reelection, Trump declared his win “a total sham and a travesty” and called for a revolution and march on Washington. “The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation,” he wrote in deleted tweets, and then added, “[Obama] lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. Obama actually won the popular vote over Republican Mitt Romney by 5 million votes, and carried the Electoral College, 332 to 206.
NewsReutersHarvard sued by descendant of U.S. slave photographed in 19th century
The photos, depicting a black man named Renty and his daughter Delia, were taken as part of a study by Harvard Professor Louis Agassiz and are among the earliest known photos of American slaves. A representative for Harvard declined to comment and said the university had not yet been served with the complaint. Tamara Lanier of Norwich, Connecticut, who claims to be the great-great-great-granddaughter of Renty, accused Harvard of celebrating its former professor who studied "racist pseudoscience" and profiting from photos that were taken without Renty and his daughter's consent.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Danish MP told her baby not welcome in parliament
A Danish MP said on Tuesday she was ordered to remove her infant daughter from parliament's chamber, sparking surprise in a country often hailed as a pioneer in women's rights. "You are not welcome with your baby in the parliament's chamber," speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, an outspoken former leader of the far-right Danish People's Party, allegedly told MP Mette Abildgaard. "I didn't ask for permission to bring her since I had previously seen another colleague bring a child into the chamber without any problems," Ms Abildgaard, whose Conservative party is part of the ruling centre-right coalition, wrote on Facebook.
WorldUSA TODAY'We just want the guns back': New Zealand announces immediate ban of assault rifles
New Zealand is banning all assault rifles, high-capacity magazines and military-style semi-automatic rifles in response to the nation's deadliest massacre in history, the country's prime minister announced Thursday. Jacinda Ardern said the ban goes into effect immediately and would be followed by legislation next month. New Zealand's citizens should make arrangements to turn in weapons banned under the new laws, Ardern told the nation in a live television announcement.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Robert Kraft's plea deal offer for prostitution charges hinders real progress on sex trafficking
Almost 300 people were charged last month with soliciting prostitution in conjunction with a massive human sex trafficking investigation in Florida. The Palm Beach State Attorney's Office said this week that it offered New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and 24 other men a standard diversion program traditionally given to first-time offenders. The program requires the men concede their guilt, attend a class about prostitution, perform 100 hours of community service, and pay a fine of $5,000 per count.
- BusinessCar and Driver
View Photos of the 2019 BMW X7
Refined, modern, and enormous, BMW's biggest SUV yet is finally here-even if the jury is still out on its dynamics. From Car and Driver
PoliticsAFPIn Jerusalem, Pompeo takes a jab at US Democrats on anti-Semitism
Top US diplomat Mike Pompeo issued a thinly veiled jab at US Democrats over anti-Semitism on Wednesday, following controversial comments by a Muslim congresswoman over American support for Israel. Speaking from Jerusalem during a Middle East tour largely focused on countering Iran, Pompeo told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "All nations, especially those in the West, must go to the barricades against bigotry." He noted the "dark wave of anti-Semitism" in Europe and the US.
