- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Mueller report: Why so many of President Donald Trump's aides lied to protect him in Russia investigations
The exchange was the start of a remarkable succession of lies over nearly two years by some of Trump's closest political associates, told to federal agents, Congress and the public that distanced the president and his campaign from an investigation into whether his campaign participated in Russian efforts to disrupt the election that put him in office. Whatever else special counsel Robert Mueller's now-concluded investigation may reveal, it has devoted considerable attention to the Trump associates whose lies to lawmakers and investigators deflected attention from connections between Russia and the president's campaign, and to a central question hanging over many of the charges Mueller has f...
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: New Zealanders to observe Muslim call to prayer
People across New Zealand will listen to the Muslim call to prayer on Friday as the nation marks one week since a gunman attacked two mosques and killed 50 people. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and thousands of other people plan to congregate in Hagley Park opposite the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch to observe the call to prayer at 1:30 p.m. Many radio and television stations plan to broadcast the event live. At least 42 people died at the Al Noor mosque and at least seven at the nearby Linwood mosque in last Friday's attack.
- BusinessThe Telegraph
Crashed Boeing jets lacked two safety features that would have cost extra
Two Boeing jets that crashed in Ethiopia and Indonesia each lacked a pair of cockpit safety features that the plane manufacturer charged extra for. Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in October killing 189 people, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 went down on March 10, shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, with the loss of 157 lives. Both Boeing 737 Max aircraft were new but did not have an angle of attack indicator, which shows how much the nose is tilted.
NewsReutersMissouri River flooding forces evacuation of 7,500 from waterfront city
Record floodwaters that submerged vast stretches of Nebraska and Iowa farmland along America's longest river reached a new crest on Friday at the waterfront city of St. Joseph, Missouri, forcing chaotic evacuations of thousands from low-lying areas. With emergency sirens blaring as the Missouri River rose to the top of the three-story-high levee wall in St. Joseph, about 55 miles (88 km) north of Kansas City, Missouri, sheriff's deputies rushed door-to-door urging residents to flee to higher ground. The abrupt evacuation, coming as the river rose about 9 feet above flood stage, appeared to take authorities and residents by surprise.
- BusinessConsumer Reports
IRS Loosens Tax Penalty for Millions
In more typical tax years, most taxpayers must pay at least 90 percent of their federal taxes for a given year, or 100 percent of what they owed the year before, in order to avoid an underpayment penalty. The change comes in response to public outcry. As the tax season progressed this year, reports of taxpayer outrage at lower refunds and higher-than-expected tax bills suggested far more people than expected were caught unawares.
- BusinessCar and Driver
See Photos of the New 2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
Porsche joins competitors Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz with a coupe version of its Cayenne SUV at a modest price premium over the standard Cayenne and Cayenne Turbo. From Car and Driver
- BusinessThe National Interest
Bringing the Sting: The U.S. Navy Is Getting New F/A-18E/F Super Hornets
David Axe Security, The Super Hornets would be the first new-build examples of the Block III variant of the F/A-18E/F. The Block III flies farther and carries more weapons than an older F/A-18E/F can do and also is stealthier than earlier Super Hornet models are. The U.S. Navy in mid-March 2019 awarded Chicago plane-maker Boeing a $4-billion contract to build 78 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for the U.S. Navy. The Super Hornets would be the first new-build examples of the Block III variant of the F/A-18E/F. The Block III flies farther and carries more weapons than an older F/A-18E/F can do and also is stealthier than earlier Super Hornet models are.
NewsAFPSchool shooting survivor stricken by 'survivor's guilt' takes own life
A teenager who survived the Parkland school shooting in Florida has killed herself while struggling with survivors' guilt, local media reported Friday. Sydney Aiello, 19, was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas last February 14 when a former student opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon, killing 14 students and three staff members. Among the dead were two of Aiello's best friends, Meadow Pollack and Joaquin Oliver.
WorldBloombergBrexit End Likely to Be Based on a Customs Union, JPMorgan Says
The realities of the Brexit situation indicate that the U.K. is going to end up with “something that's founded on a customs union” with the European Union, according to Karen Ward, chief market strategist for Europe, Middle East and Africa at JPMorgan Asset Management. There are two realities to Brexit,” Ward said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday. One is: there is a border between northern and southern Ireland.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Mueller report: Special counsel finishes Russia-Trump probe and submits findings to attorney general
Special counsel Robert Mueller did not recommend any further charges as he submitted his long-awaited report on his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election. The findings, which remain confidential, were delivered to attorney general William Barr, via the office of his deputy Rod Rosenstein who has been overseeing the inquiry. Mr Barr, who was chosen for the role by Donald Trump last year, will decide how much of it to share with Congress.
NewsAssociated PressEx-cop says he thought he saw a gun when he shot black teen
A white former police officer said Thursday he thought a weapon was pointed at him when he shot and killed an unarmed black teenager outside Pittsburgh last summer. Former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld took the stand at his homicide trial and insisted he was in fear for his life when he gunned down 17-year-old Antwon Rose II. Rosfeld, 30, got choked up and dabbed away tears as he recounted finding the mortally wounded Rose on the ground.
- NewsUSA TODAY
JetBlue lawsuit claims pilots drugged three crew members and raped two
Two JetBlue pilots allegedly drugged three crew members, with one pilot raping two of the women during a Puerto Rico layover, a new lawsuit claims. The lawsuit, filed by two of the crew members referred to as Jane Doe, alleges that pilot Eric Johnson, along with fellow pilot Dan Watson, passed three of their JetBlue colleagues an open beer on the beach outside the Intercontinental Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 9, 2018. The plaintiffs contend the beer contained a date rape drug.
NewsReutersAmid U.S. Midwest flooding, residents in Missouri, Kansas rush to fill sandbags
Floodwaters that devastated swaths of Nebraska and Iowa rolled downstream along America's longest river on Thursday, swamping more Midwestern farmland as waterfront communities in Missouri and Kansas hurried to shore up strained levees. Flooding of the Missouri River triggered by last week's so-called "bomb cyclone" storm has already inflicted damage estimated at nearly $1.5 billion in Nebraska, killed at least four people in Nebraska and Iowa and left a man missing below Nebraska's collapsed Spencer Dam. Missouri Governor Mike Parson declared a state of emergency for his state as high water forced evacuations of several small farm communities.
BusinessAFPAfter crashes, Boeing rolls out safety feature previously sold as option
Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft will be outfitted with a warning light for malfunctions in the anti-stall system suspected in October's fatal crash in Indonesia, an industry source told AFP Thursday, standardizing a feature previously sold as an optional extra. The development comes as the manufacturer struggles to cope with the fallout from both the Indonesia crash and another in Ethiopia this month, which have cast a spotlight on the safety certification process and shaken confidence in a plane that is crucial to its future plans. Known as a "disagree light," this safety feature will become standard and is among the modifications the company will present to US authorities and clients in the coming days, the source said on condition of anonymity.
- BusinessU.S.News & World Report
Strengthen Your Retirement Security in 7 Steps
Retirement security is the ability to live a comfortable retirement without the burden of financial stress. Early planning is the best way to ensure a financially secure retirement, but not everyone has the luxury of time to prepare. The financial decisions you make in the years approaching retirement will have a significant impact on your retirement security.
SportsFOX News VideosCNN takes over a week to report Covington lawsuit
What happened to 'facts first'? Reaction from former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino.
CelebrityUSA TODAY'A gift sent from the heavens': Nebraska pals find fridge full of beer during flood cleanup
After a long day of flood cleanup, two guys in Nebraska got an unexpected but welcomed "gift sent from the heavens": free, cold beer. Friends Kyle Simpson and Gayland Stouffer had spent Sunday cleaning mud from Simpson's property after massive flooding across the Midwest left large swaths of land swamped and levees overwhelmed. In Linwood, Simpson and Stouffer, clad in chest waders and tired from the day of work, were heading back to Simpson's car when they noticed what looked like a refrigerator in the distance, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
- WorldNational Review
May Now Open to No-Deal Brexit If Parliament Rejects Her Deal
British prime minister Theresa May, after repeatedly warning the public of the dangers associated with a so-called no-deal Brexit — in which the country leaves the European Union absent a formal agreement with the EU — is now reportedly open to that option if Parliament continues to reject the deal she has negotiated with Brussels. After announcing Wednesday that she had formally requested that the EU extend the Brexit deadline from March 29 to June 30, May came to accept the possibility that the U.K. will crash out of the body if Parliament refuses to approve the terms of her deal, The Financial Times reported. The EU convened in Brussels on Thursday to discuss May's deadline-extension request, which she was forced to resort to after parliament twice rejected the deal she negotiated with EU leaders.
- PoliticsThe Telegraph
Robert Mueller recommends no new criminal charges as he ends Russia probe into Donald Trump
Robert Mueller, the special counsel, has finished his report into whether Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia. A US justice department official said Mr Mueller, in his report, had not recommended any further criminal charges. Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump's lawyer, said he was "confident there is no finding of collusion by the president" and Mr Trump had done "nothing wrong".
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: DA disagrees with verdict, respects process
The district attorney in Pittsburgh says he disagrees with a jury's decision to acquit a former police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager as he ran from a car involved just minutes earlier in a drive-by shooting. A jury deliberated fewer than four hours Friday before clearing ex-East Pittsburgh Officer Michael Rosfeld of homicide in the shooting of Antwon Rose II last year. Rosfeld's lawyer called him "a good man." During the trial he said the officer feared for his life and had to make a split-second decision.
- BusinessCar and Driver
Ram Rebel TRX Pickup Spied, Likely to Get the Supercharged Hellcat V-8
The eagerly awaited Ram Rebel TRX pickup truck has been spotted testing on Detroit-area streets. The new pickup, first shown as a concept in 2016, will be the most potent version of the Ram 1500 and a tough competitor to the Ford F-150 Raptor. The Ram Rebel TRX mule exhibited a telltale supercharged V-8 whine similar to that of the Hellcat V-8, which is likely to power the new truck.
WorldAFPUS team seeks to provide water, hygiene in cyclone-hit Mozambique
The United States said Thursday it had sent a team to cyclone-hit Mozambique to provide safe drinking water and other necessities after the region's biggest storm in decades. Aimee Lauer, who is heading the response for the US Agency for International Development, said that an initially light 15-member team was en route to Mozambique with a potential expansion planned once the scope of the disaster becomes clear. The group will provide chlorine tabs for safe water and hygiene kits to help stem the spread of water-borne diseases after Cyclone Idai smashed into the coast of Mozambique, she said.
- BusinessReuters
WRAPUP 3-Indonesian airline cancels Boeing order, citing passenger fear
JAKARTA/OSLO, March 22 (Reuters) - Indonesian airline Garuda plans to cancel a $6 billion order for Boeing 737 MAX jets, it said on Friday, saying some passengers would be frightened to board the plane after two fatal crashes, although analysts said the deal had long been in doubt. The news came as another 737 MAX customer, Norwegian Air , played down the significance of a move by Boeing to make a previously optional cockpit warning light compulsory. Norwegian said that, according to Boeing, the warning light would not have been able to prevent erroneous signals that Lion Air pilots received before their new 737 MAX plane crashed off Indonesia in October, killing 189 people.
BusinessUSA TODAYHome loan applications rise as wealthier shoppers hunt for more expensive houses
Mortgage interest rates are now decidedly lower than a year ago, and home shoppers are buying in, but most are wealthier consumers purchasing more expensive homes. Total mortgage application volume rose 2.3 percent last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index. Falling rates were likely behind a sizable jump in loan applications to purchase a home.
WorldAssociated PressPompeo at odds with Lebanese officials over Hezbollah
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday called on the Lebanese people to stand up to Hezbollah's "criminality, terror and threats," and claimed U.S. sanctions on Iran and its Lebanese Shiite ally were working and that more pressure on them was forthcoming. His comments in Beirut were in strong contrast to those of his host, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil who minutes earlier, while standing next to Pompeo, insisted that Hezbollah is "a Lebanese group that is not a terrorist organization and was elected by the people." Pompeo, however, warned that "the Lebanese people face a choice: Bravely move forward or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hezbollah to dictate your future."
