- WorldReuters
UPDATE 1-U.S. air strikes kill a dozen Afghans, battle intensifies in Taliban strongholds
KUNDUZ/LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. air strikes in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz killed about a dozen civilians on Saturday, local officials said, as battle intensified there and in southern Helmand province. The air strikes killed 13 civilians, said Safiullah Amiri, a member of Kunduz provincial council. The bodies were brought into Kunduz city in the back of a truck as part of protests by dozens of civilians against the deaths.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Want to see the poppy super bloom in California? Brace yourself for large crowds, long lines
Poppy fever has returned to Lake Elsinore, California. After tens of thousands descended on the town last weekend and caused major traffic headaches, city officials and law enforcement responded with a plan to require all weekend Walker Canyon visitors to ride a $10 shuttle from the Nichols Road exit. Hundreds gathered inside a vacant store to wait for the shuttles, which started ferrying super bloom fanatics at 6:30 a.m. The parking lot was already starting to fill up around 8:15 a.m. as drivers searched for empty spaces.
PoliticsAssociated PressOversight or overreach? Democrats wrestle with Trump probes
For many Democrats, Robert Mueller's investigation has long stood as their best, last chance to take down President Donald Trump before the next election. The summary of Mueller's report released on Sunday not only lacked that punch, it now forces a moment of reckoning over how far to take the investigations ahead. It's a delicate issue heading into the 2020 election, where Democrats are balancing the wishes of the liberal, anti-Trump base and the threat of Republicans accusing them of ginning up political witch hunts.
- SportsThe Independent
Robert Kraft: New England Patriots owner apologises over prostitution case
For the first time since he was charged last month with two counts of soliciting prostitution in Jupiter, Florida, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, commented publicly on the matter, apologising in vague terms. I am truly sorry,” Kraft said in a statement released Saturday afternoon. I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard.
WorldAFPNorway airlifting 1,300 passengers off SOS cruise ship
Emergency services said on Saturday they had begun airlifting 1,300 passengers from a cruise ship in trouble off the Norwegian coast. The Viking Sky cruise ship sent an SOS message due to "engine problems in bad weather", southern Norway's rescue centre said on Twitter, while police reported the passengers would be evacuated by helicopter. "The boat only has one working engine and the winds are rather strong.
- 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.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Children of Isil's caliphate left to toil in squalid refugee camps
“I get about 2,000 lira for putting up one tent,” he said, using the popular term here for Syrian pounds. Hamed is one of about 41,000 children in al-Hol, the largest of three sprawling camps in north eastern Syria that houses former members, children, and prisoners of the Islamic State terrorist group. The fate of the children who emerged from Isil's doomed caliphate is a matter of humanitarian urgency and critical to international security.
- SportsCar and Driver
View Photos of the Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato
Renderings give a tantalizing glimpse of the car with which Aston is celebrating its 100th anniversary. From Car and Driver
- LifestyleBGR News
10 deals you don't want to miss on Sunday: Bose sound bar, Philips Hue bulbs, true wireless earbuds, more
We've got another great roundup of daily deals to help you enjoy what's left of your weekend, and the stars of the show are definitely white Philips Hue LED bulbs for $12 a piece and $15 off color Philips Hue LED bulbs. Other top deals on Sunday include a rare chance to save on 12-month PlayStation Plus membership codes, the best fast wireless charging pad we've ever tested for only $13.29, an extra 10% off a compact Bose sound bar that's already surprisingly affordable, all-time low prices on lightning-fast Samsung EVO microSD cards in two different sizes, Anker's best true-wireless earphones at their lowest price yet, $250 off a powerful Dell laptop when you buy a refurb, and more.
- WorldThe National Interest
A Retired Brigadier General's Lessons from the War in Afghanistan
For the last several months, U.S. special representative Zalmay Khalilzad has been deeply involved in a negotiation with the Taliban—an effort that may or may not lead to a comprehensive political resolution of the seventeen-year-long Afghan conflict. For the sake of peace in Afghanistan, we should all hope that Khalilzad—a man of eminent experience who has worked on the Afghan portfolio for decades—can pull a rabbit out of his hat and close the book on this latest bloody chapter in Afghanistan's history.
BusinessReutersBoeing to brief on 737 MAX updates as Ethiopian backs planemaker
ADDIS ABABA/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Boeing Co will brief more than 200 global airline pilots, technical experts and regulators this week on software and training updates for its 737 MAX aircraft, as Ethiopian Airlines expressed confidence in the planemaker despite a recent crash. Africa's biggest carrier will work with Boeing and other airlines to make air travel safer, its chief executive, Tewolde Gebremariam, said, after regulators this month grounded the worldwide fleet of the aircraft following the crash that killed 157 people. "Despite the tragedy, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to be linked well into the future," Tewolde said in a statement on Monday.
PoliticsAssociated PressBarr scours Trump-Russia report to see how much to open
Attorney General William Barr scoured special counsel Robert Mueller's confidential report on the Russia investigation with his advisers Saturday, deciding how much Congress and the American public will get to see about the two-year probe into President Donald Trump and Moscow's efforts to elect him. Barr was on pace to release his first summary of Mueller's findings on Sunday, people familiar with the process said. The attorney general's decision on what to finally disclose seems almost certain to set off a fight with congressional Democrats, who want access to all of Mueller's findings — and supporting evidence — on whether Trump's 2016 campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election and whether the president later sought to obstruct the investigation.
- NewsUSA TODAY
A dozen defendants head to court Monday in biggest-ever college admissions cheating scandal
BOSTON – Twelve people accused of crimes in the nation's largest-ever college admissions bribery case are set to make their initial federal court appearances in Boston on Monday. Twenty-three additional defendants are scheduled to appear in court Friday in the city, where the explosive nationwide case is being led. Monday's slate includes six college athletic coaches, one associate college athletics director, two ACT/SAT test administrators and two people who prosecutors say worked with William Rick Singer, the alleged ringleader of the cheating and bribery scheme.
WorldAFPSome remains of Guatemala volcano victims unidentified: official
Guatemalan investigators have been unable to identify about 110 pieces of remains from victims of a volcanic eruption that killed 202 people and left 229 missing last June, a forensic official said Saturday. After months of testing, which included sending some samples abroad, about 110 remains cannot be identified, said the head of the National Forensic Sciences Office, Fanuel Garcia. "We have all of them and we are holding on to them, awaiting a time to carry out a collective burial," he said of the unidentified remains.
NewsAssociated PressExperts warn Midwest flood risk may persist for months
Even as floodwaters receded in hard-hit places in in the Midwest, experts warned Saturday that with plenty of snow still left to melt in northern states, the relief may only be temporary. Rainfall and some snowmelt spurred flooding in recent weeks that's blamed in three deaths so far, with two men in Nebraska missing for more than a week. Thousands were forced from their homes in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, as water broke through or poured over levees in the region.
- CelebrityMashable
Women are sharing their experiences of receiving unsolicited advances from men
If you've ever had to pretend to have a boyfriend or husband to get out of an uncomfortable or threatening situation, then you'll know that it can be a terrifying and isolating experience. But, you're not alone and these responses to Jameela Jamil's tweets are proof of that. SEE ALSO: This code word will help you when you feel unsafe on a date The star of The Good Place tweeted that she was shopping with a friend when a man made advances at her.
- WorldWTVD – Raleigh/Durham
Stranded Viking Sky cruise ship returning to Norway port after air evacuations; nearly 900 aboard
The Viking Sky carried 1,373 passengers and crew when it had engine trouble in an unpredictable area known for rough, frigid waters.
- BusinessBloomberg
Billionaire Tshuva May Herald Next Step in Israel-Egypt Ties
Delek Drilling LP, the Israeli energy explorer controlled by billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva, is considering buying a stake in an Egyptian liquefied natural gas plant to broaden its export footprint. Acquiring a piece of either the Idku or Damietta facilities, operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Spain's Union Fenosa SA, respectively, is among the various routes possible for the Egyptian deal, the company said in its annual report on Sunday. Other options are buying capacity at the plants rather than equity stakes, or enrolling their gas liquefaction services.
- WorldThe National Interest
A Skeptics Guide to Managing the India-Pakistan Conflict
Thus, if the United States expects India to compete with or contain China, the current South Asian security crisis may encourage Washington to invest heavily in India's military modernization and replace its outworn military equipment with the technologically advanced American defense systems. This is going to be tough, as 58 percent of Indian defense systems are saturated with Russian military equipment, according to the 2019 report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Out of India's total defense imports of $11.3 billion in 2017, imports from the United States were worth only $758 million.
- BusinessReuters
UPDATE 2-Ethiopian Airlines commits to Boeing ties despite flight 302 crash questions
Ethiopian Airlines said on Monday it would keep close ties with U.S. planemaker Boeing even though questions remained about its 737 MAX 8 model, after a crash shortly after take off this month killed 157 people. CEO Tewolde Gebremariam also promised to work closely with an investigation into the March 10 incident, after reports that the probe was under strain because the Ethiopian authorities were not sharing information with international partners. Boeing has come under intense scrutiny since the crash, the second in five months involving its new 737 MAX 8 model.
PoliticsReutersMueller finds no Trump-Russia conspiracy but some questions left unresolved
The Kremlin said following the release of Barr's summary that President Vladimir Putin was ready to improve ties with the United States but was up to Washington to make the first move. It was given to Trump in Helsinki," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters on Monday, referring to a summit between Putin and Trump in the Finnish capital in July 2018. Mueller's 22-month investigation ended with a finding that no one in Trump's campaign "conspired or coordinated with the Russian government", according to Barr's four-page summary of the confidential report.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Powerball jackpot now $750M after no winning ticket drawn
Lottery officials say the Powerball jackpot has ballooned to $750 million after no ticket matched all six numbers in the most recent drawing. The numbers drawn Saturday night are 24, 25, 52, 60 and 66, with a Powerball of 5. The next drawing for what would be the fourth-largest jackpot in U.S. history is Wednesday.
- NewsThe Independent
Antwon Rose trial: White police officer acquitted of murder in fatal shooting of teenager
The mother of an unarmed black teenager fatally shot by a white police officer as he fled a traffic stop has expressed her anger and devastation over a jury's decision to acquit the officer. Former East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld was charged with homicide for shooting Antwon Rose II last June in one of the many high-profile killings of black people by white police officers. The deadly confrontation, captured on video, led to weeks of unrest and angry protests in the Pittsburgh last year, including a late-night march that shut down a major motorway.
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: US commander: IS fighters could 're-emerge'
The Latest on the battle against the Islamic State group in Syria (all times local): 10:25 p.m. The U.S.-led coalition in Syria and Iraq says the victory of the Syrian Democratic Forces over the Islamic State's self-declared caliphate does not mean that violent extremism is over. The 74-nation coalition said in a statement Saturday that since the beginning of operations in 2014, 7.7 million people have been liberated from IS control in an area measuring nearly 110,000 square kilometers (42,471 square miles).
WorldAFPAfrica cyclone death toll surges past 600, 'worst yet to come'
The UN, warning of more suffering, stepped up calls for help in Mozambique as aid agencies struggle to assist tens of thousands of people battered by one of southern Africa's most powerful cyclones. Situation will get worse' - A week after the storm lashed Mozambique with winds of nearly 200 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, survivors are struggling in desperate conditions -- some still trapped on roof tops and those saved needing food and facing the risk of outbreaks of disease such as cholera. "The situation will get worse before it gets better," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said Saturday.
