- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Donald Trump, GOP look to settle score with Democrats, media over Mueller investigation
WASHINGTON – Emboldened by special counsel Robert Mueller's finding that there was no collusion with Russia in the 2016 election, President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are going on offense over the issue as he heads into next year's campaign. After Attorney General William Barr's summary of Mueller's conclusions exonerated Trump on the question of collusion, White House aides and Trump surrogates came out swinging in an effort to discredit Democratic critics, the media and the Justice Department over the now-completed 22-month probe. Trump described Mueller's probe as an "illegal take-down that failed" and urged "somebody" to look into the origins of the collusion allegations.
NewsYahoo NewsAvenatti arrested and charged with extortion, embezzlement, bank and tax fraud
Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, the subject of two separate criminal investigations, was arrested Monday in New York, where federal prosecutors in the Southern District charged him with attempting to extort more than $20 million from Nike. In an unrelated case, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles charged him with embezzlement, bank and tax fraud. Avenatti, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against President Trump that sought to free her from a nondisclosure agreement, faces a maximum sentence of 47 years in prison for the charges filed in New York, and another 50 years for those filed in California.
- WorldReuters
Israel, Hamas trade blows as Gaza tensions simmer
Gaza militants fired rockets into southern Israel and Israeli aircraft carried out strikes in the Hamas-ruled territory overnight Tuesday, though the level of violence appeared to abate after Palestinians said a ceasefire had been reached. After a day of intense cross-border fighting, Palestinian officials said Egypt had mediated a truce late on Monday. The respite didn't last long, however.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The Ford Bronco Will Have a Removable Roof and Doors and Will Go on Sale in Late 2020
The new Ford Bronco SUV will come with either two or four removable doors and have a removable hardtop. The Bronco will go on sale in late 2020, according to Automotive News. According to Automotive News, which gleaned info from dealers who attended a Ford event last month where future products were shown, the Bronco will hit dealer lots in late 2020.
WorldBloombergXi Jinping and Huawei Are a Serious Threat to European Unity
It is going to become a 2 square kilometer test bed for a new 5G mobile network from Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment maker. The deal has been promoted by Monaco as an attempt to build a “smart nation,” and China is happy no doubt to have a display window in the heart of Europe. China's president Xi Jinping visited the principality this week, on his way to see Emmanuel Macron and other leaders in Paris.
BusinessAFPBoeing holds test flights for 737 MAX fix: sources
Boeing has flown test flights of its 737 MAX to evaluate a fix for the system targeted as a potential cause of two deadly plane crashes, two sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The aviation giant, which has been under fire and its flagship narrow-body planes grounded since March 13, tested the system upgrade on Monday, two days after pilots from American Airlines did simulation flights in Renton, Washington, the sources said. Boeing needs authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration before the MAX can return to service.
WorldUSA TODAYCruise ship from Norway reaches port with remaining passengers after mayday, air rescues
The Viking Sky ship airlifted more than half its 900 passengers to safety before authorities opted Sunday to allow the ship to limp into the nearby port of Molde with the aid of a towboat. "All passengers and crew are safe, and passengers will be flying home starting tonight," the cruise line said in a statement on its website Sunday. "Throughout all of this, our first priority was for the safety and well-being of our passengers and our crew.
- CelebrityThe Telegraph
Royal baby 2019: The Duchess of Sussex's due date, possible names, and all the latest news
The baby will have three cousins: Prince George (a future king), Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis - all of whom are further up the line of succession. It is a safe bet that the throne will stay on the Cambridge side of the family. The baby will bump Harry's uncle, the Duke of York, into eighth place in the line of succession.
PoliticsAssociated PressWhere the investigations related to President Trump stand
The Justice Department says that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not find evidence that Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller also investigated whether Trump obstructed justice but did not come to a definitive answer. In a four-page letter to Congress, Attorney General William Barr quoted Mueller's report as stating it "does not exonerate" the president on obstruction.
NewsYahoo NewsFather of Sandy Hook victim found dead in apparent suicide, Newtown police say
The father of one of the children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings was found dead Monday of an apparent suicide in Newtown, Conn., police there said. The body of 49-year-old Jeremy Richman, the father of Avielle Richman, was found inside Edmond Town Hall early Monday. Police responded to a report of a suicide around 7 a.m. ET. According to the Newtown Bee, he was reportedly found in the stage area of the building, which was undergoing renovations.
WorldReutersU.S. calls Russia deployment of planes to Venezuela 'reckless escalation'
The Russian planes and military personnel arrived outside the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Saturday, according to local media reports, two months after the Trump administration disavowed President Nicolas Maduro. Washington has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate president and demands that Maduro leave power, which Russia has described as a U.S.-backed coup against the socialist government. "The United States condemns Russia's deployment of military aircraft and personnel to Caracas, which is another contradiction of both Nicolas Maduro's and Russia's calls for non-intervention in Venezuela and is a reckless escalation of the situation," a State Department spokesman said.
- WorldUSA TODAY
German family, stakeholders in Krispy Kreme, Panera Bread, to donate $11M over Nazi past
The German family that owns a company controlling Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Panera Bread and Keurig Dr. Pepper will donate $11 million to charity after learning that its ancestors supported Adolf Hitler and used forced laborers under the Nazis. Albert Reimann Sr. and son Albert Reimann Jr., donated to Hitler's SS and used Russian civilians and French prisoners of war as forced laborers, according to a report in German newspaper the Bild.
PoliticsReutersHouse Armed Services chairman denies $1 billion transfer for Trump wall
The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Tuesday denied the Pentagon's plan to shift $1 billion to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, a move that while largely symbolic, highlights the concern lawmakers have about using the defense budget to pay for the wall. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan announced on Monday that the Department of Defense had shifted $1 billion from other military construction projects to build part of the barrier along the southern border. Democratic Representative Adam Smith, the committee's chairman, said the panel did not approve the proposed use of Pentagon funds.
BusinessAFPEthiopian Airlines 'believes in' Boeing despite crash: CEO
Ethiopian Airlines "believes in" Boeing despite the crash of its 737 MAX 8 plane that killed all 157 people on board and led to the model's grounding, the carrier's CEO said on Monday. "Let me be clear: Ethiopian Airlines believes in Boeing. "We will work with investigators in Ethiopia, in the US and elsewhere to figure out what went wrong," he added.
- NewsThe Guardian
Parkland students mourn the deaths of two more after apparent suicides
Students of a Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last year are mourning the deaths of what they consider two more victims of the tragedy – teenagers who apparently died in suicides one week apart. Friday saw the funeral of former student Sydney Aiello, 19, whose family said she was suffering from “survivor's guilt” and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Community and school leaders were stepping up the provision of mental health and suicide-prevention services, including the opening on Monday of a wellness and counselling center in Parkland specifically designed for students and their families.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
How We'd Spec It: The Mercedes-Benz A-class Sedan That's a Fitting Baby Benz
Looking to get Mercedes-Benz's coveted three-pointed-star badge in your life on the cheap? The new A-class sedan is your ticket, replacing the CLA-class as the least expensive new Benz you can buy today. We've driven the A-class and found it to be a convincing offering in the entry-luxury class, what with its sharp handling and rich interior trimmings-but that was a fully loaded model, and the A-class starts to look like less of a value when its sticker crests $50,000.
- U.S.KTLA - Los Angeles
Missing 15-Year-Old Girl Found Dead in Southern California
A death investigation is underway after the body of a missing 15-year-old girl was found with a "traumatic" injury in an industrial part of Compton on Monday, authorities said.
- PoliticsBloomberg
It's a New Day for Trump as Mueller Disappoints Democrats
Democrats who had long hoped Mueller's report would provide enough ammunition to politically handicap the president, if not impeach him, face new questions about their own credibility after years of insinuations and conspiracy-mongering. The opposition party must recalibrate not only its approach to the Russia investigation, but also its messaging on a host of fresh investigations House Democrats have launched into the Trump administration and the financial affairs of the president and his family.
WorldAFPGerman prosecutors say probing submarine sales to Israel
German prosecutors confirmed Tuesday they are investigating the 2017 sale of three submarines to Israel, a potential corruption scandal implicating allies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "An evaluation of the (international) press coverage has given cause for a preliminary investigation," a spokesman for Bochum's prosecutors office, which specialises in financial corruption cases, told AFP without giving more details. On Monday, business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that German authorities are investigating the large military contract concerning the sale of German-built submarines, at the request of authorities in Israel who have been investigating the matter since 2016.
WorldAssociated PressIS attack on US-backed fighters kills 7 in northern Syria
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a checkpoint of U.S.-backed forces in the northern Syrian town on Manbij that killed seven fighters on Tuesday. The attack indicates that IS can still launch deadly insurgent strikes and is far from being completely defeated, despite losing all the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria. Islamic State militants were blamed for several attacks in recent months in and around Manbij, which was declared liberated in 2016.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Exclusive: Crew member recounts what happened on that stranded, storm-tossed Viking Sky cruise ship
Forced to evacuate hundreds of terrified passengers by helicopter in pitch dark. According to one of the crew members of the Viking Sky cruise ship, one of the newest ships of the vaunted luxury line, Viking Ocean Cruises, the last 48 hours on board will not soon be forgotten by any of the 1,373 passengers and crew. "Everything was broken: plates, glasses, furniture," the crew member said, describing scenes in the ship's restaurants and lounges.
PoliticsYahoo NewsMike Pence lashes out at Ilhan Omar, 2020 Dems in AIPAC speech
Vice President Mike Pence used his speech at the annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, on Monday morning to sharply criticize Democrats he charged with being insufficiently loyal to the Jewish state. Pence, a conservative Christian, took direct aim at Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the first two Muslim women in Congress. The vice president, who did not mention Omar by name, lamented that a House newcomer had “trafficked in repeated anti-Semitic tropes,” listing a number of Omar's more incendiary assertions.
- BusinessReuters
UPDATE 1-Norwegian to lease planes, postpone sales after grounding of Boeing MAX
Norwegian Air will lease planes and postpone the sale of older models in its fleet following the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the airline said on Monday. The budget carrier will also use some of its bigger Boeing 787 Dreamliners to offset the effects of the grounding of its 18 MAX jets - about 11 percent of its fleet. "In addition to continuing combining flights and reallocating aircraft, the company has decided to delay potential sales of six Boeing 737-800 aircraft and use available 787 Dreamliner capacity on high-volume routes, which will add flexibility," Norwegian said in a statement.
