World News

It was March 2018, nearly 10 months into his Russia investigation, when special counsel Robert Mueller III, a man of few words, raised the stakes dramatically in a meeting with Donald Trump's lawyers: If the president did not sit down voluntarily for an interview, he could face a subpoena.In the months that followed, Mr Mueller never explicitly threatened to issue a subpoena as his office pursued a presidential interview, a sit-down for which the special counsel was pushing as late as December.But with that prospect hanging over them, Mr Trump's legal team conducted a quiet, multi-pronged pressure campaign to avert such an action and keep the president from coming face-to-face with federal investigators - fearful he would perjure himself.At one point last summer, when a lull in talks had the president's attorneys worried that Mr Mueller was seriously contemplating a subpoena, White House lawyer Emmet Flood wrote a memo laying out the legal arguments for protecting the presi

A pilot on the Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed three weeks ago was heard saying “pitch up, pitch up” just moments before the disaster, the Wall St Journal has reported.  The conversation happened when the plane was just 450ft (137m) off the ground as the aircraft begun to point downwards, according to the paper.  The plane's radio reportedly died moments after the comment was captured. All 157 people on board were killed when the Boeing 737 Max crashed.  The plane’s anti-stalling system, which sees its direction automatically righted if a sensor picks up the aircraft is tilting up too far, has been blamed for the disaster.  The investigation is on-going and no official cause for the crash has been made public.  Forensic experts work at the crash site of an Ethiopian airways operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft Credit: TONY KARUMBA / AFP The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that investigators have determined that the flight-control system on an Ethiopian Airlines jet

British Prime Minister Theresa May is under growing pressure from within her Conservative Party to lead Britain out of the European Union in the next few months, even if it means a no-deal Brexit, The Sun newspaper reported. A letter signed by 170 of the 314 Conservative lawmakers in parliament, including 10 cabinet ministers, was sent to May after her Brexit deal was rejected for a third time by the House of Commons on Friday, the newspaper reported. The vote left Britain's withdrawal from the EU in turmoil on the day that the country was originally due to leave the bloc. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2OAGhpA

Even after Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the New World and back, some naysayers surely clung to their shattered superstitions like life preservers after a shipwreck. “Who cares what Columbus says?” they likely whined. “The Earth IS flat. Columbus must have turned around and come home before he fell over the edge.”Today’s Democrats resemble those 15th-century bitter-enders. No matter what, many insist that Donald Trump and Russia colluded to win the White House. Even after special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation finally repudiated their destructive myth, they still scream: “Collusion!”House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) is the spiritual leader of the Congressional Collusion Caucus. He told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday: “I did say that there is ample evidence, and indeed there is, of collusion of people in the Trump campaign with the Russians.” Schiff told the Washington Post, “Undoubtedly there is collusion.” He added: “We will continue t

Pope Francis issued stringent child abuse legislation for Vatican City employees on Friday, as part of the Church's bid to address a wave of sex abuse allegations against priests. The legislation requires officials and employees in the Vatican City State as well the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church, to immediately report any abuse against minors and vulnerable people or face fines or a prison sentence. Francis said in a letter released with his "motu proprio" decree that it was the duty of everyone "to generously welcome children and vulnerable persons, and to create a safe environment for them". from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FAn6bo

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shut down an audience member at an MSNBC town hall after someone called former Rep. Bob Inglis a "moron." from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2U3CgA1

Saying it is time to "put aside partisan interests," Gabbard celebrated Mueller's findings. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2U4aaoe

The Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas have backed an Egyptian proposal to foster calm on the Israel border ahead of major expected protests, two Hamas officials said Friday. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side on the potential agreement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are expected to gather Saturday for the first anniversary of the often violent protests along the border, which Hamas has strongly backed. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2TEpxyE

ATLANTA (AP) — The Latest on a freeway standoff outside Atlanta (all times local): from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2OBdgKc

Data pulled from the Ethiopian Airlines flight recorder suggests the so-called MCAS system, which pushes the nose of the jet downwards, had been activated before the jet ploughed into a field outside Addis Ababa on March 10, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an interim official report. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment on the data, first reported by the Wall Street Journal. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2JQLaMA

In a preliminary finding, officials investigating the crash of an Ethiopian airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 believe that a flight control feature designed to prevent a stall was activated before the plane nose-dived and crashed, The Wall Street Journal reports. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2JOjoQC

The United States on Friday welcomed a Red Cross announcement that it would distribute aid in Venezuela and said it may send assistance through the international organization after Washington's own forceful bid failed. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent said it would impartially distribute badly needed assistance in the economically battered country in two weeks, initially reaching 650,000 people. Elliott Abrams, the envoy heading the US effort to oust President Nicolas Maduro, praised the Red Cross initiative and credited appeals by Juan Guaido, the opposition leader considered interim president by the United States and some 50 other countries. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2JOVogd

BEIJING (AP) — A rights group has urged New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to raise concerns about reported Chinese government abuses of Muslims during her upcoming visit to Beijing that was shortened after the killing of 50 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2OzEEbQ

Boeing 737 Max Grounding: Your Rights If Your Flight Gets Canceled The worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 Max is causing hundreds of U.S. flights to be canceled every day, scrambling the trav... from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2WybKM0

President Donald Trump called for the Pulitzer Board to revoke the prizes awarded to the New York Times and Washington Post. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2YFVIBF

We are preparing the report for release,” Barr wrote. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Ozec23

Joe Biden, who is leading polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, on Friday faced a misconduct accusation by a Nevada ex-lawmaker claiming the then-vice president inappropriately kissed her before a campaign event. Lucy Flores, the state's Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014, said she was beside the stage awaiting her turn to address a rally when Biden put his hands on her shoulders from behind, then leaned in and smelled her hair. "I was mortified," Flores, 39, recounted in New York magazine. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2I1t73y

Although the city state within Rome is tiny, and very few children live there, the sweeping legal changes reflect a desire to show that the Catholic Church is finally acting against clerical child abuse after decades of scandals around the world. It is the first time a unified and detailed policy for the protection of children has been compiled for the Vatican and its embassies and universities outside the city state. The law sets up procedures for reporting suspected abuse, imposes more screening of prospective employees, and sets strict guidelines for adult interaction with children and the use of social media. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2I1xaNi

The 2020 field has become crowded in recent weeks. Here's a look at who has announced their candidacy or opened an exploratory committee in the hunt for the presidency. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2U6iGmx

May’s team says she’s going to keep fighting to get a deal done quickly enough to avoid a long extension that would require the U.K. to take part in European elections -- but it’s far from clear the EU will agree. April 1: Lawmakers to vote on alternatives to May’s Brexit deal. By now the U.K. has to decide if it’s holding European Parliament elections. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2HNMkXs

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was leaving Saturday on an official visit to Israel, where he was expected to decide whether he will move the Brazilian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2TJbLLh

Boeing's MCAS anti-stall system, which was implicated in the October crash of a 737 MAX 8 in Indonesia, was also activated shortly before a recent accident in Ethiopia, a source with knowledge of the investigation said Friday. The information is part of preliminary findings from the analysis of black boxes from Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, which crashed southeast of Addis Ababa killing 157 people on March 10, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. The information was presented Thursday to US authorities, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the source said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2HMakKo

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Friday the risk of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal had risen "very sharply" following parliament's rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement for a third time. "France is well prepared (for no deal) and will accelerate its preparations for such a scenario," the Elysee said in a statement. It said it was now up to Britain to present an alternative plan in the coming days -- whether new elections, a second referendum, or a proposal for a customs union -- otherwise the country would leave the EU with no deal. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2WC0wGh

It seems that “13 hardened Democrats” or “angry Democrats” did not deliver a politically motivated, illegitimate hit job after all. Based on what we know so far, the special counsel’s office reported that it did not find evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. This is a fabulous vindication of the integrity of the system.No one is noticing that. Instead, the Trump team is gorging on schadenfreude, and the anti-Trump team is choking on bile.It’s fair to say that those who spent hour upon cable-TV hour lovingly anticipating that President Trump would be frog-marched from the White House in handcuffs after the delivery of this report have egg on their faces. It isn’t clear which hurts more, the disappointment about being wrong or the worry about drooping ratings.But there’s plenty of egg to go around. Team Trump spent nearly two years denouncing the Mueller investigation as a “rigged witch hunt.” By one count, the president used the term “witch hunt” m

The recent tragic crash of a second 737 MAX aircraft prompted airlines around the globe to halt any and all passenger flights using Boeing's popular jet. Now, new details from a preliminary investigation reveal that software designed to keep the plane from crashing may have been to blame.A software feature called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) appears to have been triggered shortly before the plane dove towards the Earth. The system is supposed to activate when sensors on the plane tell it that the aircraft is moving too slowly or climbing at too steep of an angle, preventing a stall that could result in a crash.When a plane is at risk of stalling the easiest way to get more air flowing through the engines is to dip the nose down to gain speed. That's what the system is supposed to do if the plane is at risk of a stall, but in this case it's possible the system triggered erroneously, possibly causing the plane to dive downward even if everything

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election (all times local): from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2TLsFsl

Taiwan's tallest building joined cities around the world to mark Earth Hour by turning off its lights on Saturday in a call for global action on climate change. (March 30) from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2WzUnKu

O'Rourke's campaign hopes the former congressman's personal ties to delegate-rich Texas give him a critical early boost in the large Democratic field fighting for the party's nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump. In the unexpectedly close race against incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz that earned O'Rourke national prominence last year, he was the lone Democrat competing against a Republican figure reviled by Democrats nationally. Now, O'Rourke, 46, faces a diverse slate of accomplished and well-funded rivals hunting for the same votes, especially among the state's African-American and Hispanic communities. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2CJ9tWS

The failure of May’s last-ditch effort to get her deal through Parliament leaves the U.K. with the choice between crashing out of the European Union without a deal in two weeks and seeking a long extension of its departure date. The British parliament will vote Monday on various alternatives to May’s agreement. Implied volatility on two-week pound-dollar options, which cover the current April 12 deadline for the U.K.’s exit, have surged to the highest level since the immediate aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum amid increased anxiety about a no-deal outcome. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FMRbFW

Students and teachers both suffer from a "one-size-fits-all approach" to education, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said Friday.DeVos joined National Review's Jay Nordlinger at the National Review Institute 2019 Ideas Summit to discuss the Trump administration's progress on school choice, an issue the secretary has made her top priority."What I really want to see is that every child have a great opportunity, an equal opportunity to get a great education in K–12," DeVos said. "Far too many kids are achieving at not the levels that they could, that they're stuck in schools that don't work for them."Last month, the Education Department proposed $5 billion a year in federal tax credits for scholarships to private schools as well as apprenticeship and other educational programs. DeVos said the plan would not siphon money from the public-school system, which is a concern raised by critics of school choice, who worry that public schools in poor

Tunisia will coordinate with fellow Arab countries to contain any fallout from the U.S. decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said on Friday. "We will work with fellow Arab countries and the international community to contain the expected repercussions of this decision in the various regional and international forums," Jhinaoui told the meeting in Tunis. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2TK7yH9

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is holding local elections on Sunday that are seen as a test of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's popularity amid a sharp economic downturn. Erdogan, who has not lost a vote since his party came to power in 2002, has cast the elections as a "matter of national survival" and has been campaigning for a strong mandate that he says would come as slap to Turkey's enemies. If his party sweeps municipal seats, Erdogan's dominance would be further solidified with his grip on the presidency, parliament and local administration. But a loss in major cities could signal a crack in his party's long hold on power.  from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2TJR8hR

Pope Francis issued stringent child abuse legislation for Vatican City employees on Friday, as part of the Church's bid to address a wave of sex abuse allegations against priests. The legislation requires officials and employees in the Vatican City State as well the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church, to immediately report any abuse against minors and vulnerable people or face fines or a prison sentence. Francis said in a letter released with his "motu proprio" decree that it was the duty of everyone "to generously welcome children and vulnerable persons, and to create a safe environment for them". from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FAn6bo

The airline says it is removing its Boeing 737 Max 8 from its flight schedule through May, up from April 20 previously. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2I0UWcm

What’s in the attorney general’s summary of the Trump-Russia investigation? And will the report be made public? Full four-page letter of Barr’s summaryFollow the latest US politics news William Barr sent his summary of the Muller report to Congress on Sunday Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images Barr is still reviewing Muller’s report William Barr: Although my review is ongoing, I believe that it is in the public interest to describe the report and to summarize the principal conclusions reached by the Special Counsel and the results of his investigation. Barr immediately makes clear that his letter will only be a summary of the top-line conclusions from Robert Mueller’s 22-month investigation. At just four pages long, the letter makes no claim to outline the full substance of the special counsel’s findings, nor does it detail the evidence Mueller has amassed or the legal reasoning behind his decision making. Instead, we have the bare bones. Mueller had handed the full report to the

On the day that their talks in Hanoi collapsed last month, U.S. President Donald Trump handed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a piece of paper that included a blunt call for the transfer of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States, according to the document seen by Reuters. Michelle Hennessy reports. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2CJNe2U

A former US National Security Agency contractor, portrayed as an eccentric hoarder by his lawyers, pleaded guilty on Thursday to stealing classified documents in a deal likely to put him in prison for nine years. Harold Martin, 54, who worked for several private firms and had clearances to access top secret information, was arrested over two years ago for what may have been the biggest breach of classified information in history. When Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided his home south of Baltimore in 2016 they found stacks of documents and electronic storage devices amounting to 50 terabytes of files, including classified ones, prosecutors said. US Department of Justice prosecutors said in a statement that Mr Martin's actions risked the disclosure of top secret information to America's "enemies." One of their allegations was that Mr Martin talked online with people in Russian and other languages but they never found proof he shared stolen information with an

The president celebrated victory with the Mueller report – but then his latest effort to invalidate Obamacare left some feeling he ‘stepped all over that message’ Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 28 March. Photograph: Cory Morse/AP It felt like a victory lap. At a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday night, surrounded by a sea of red Make America Great Again hats, a defiant Donald Trump held the podium before a raucous crowd. “After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead,” the president declared in a 90-minute speech. Basking after the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which clouded the first two years of his presidency, Trump falsely claimed “total exoneration”. He vowed retaliation against some of his sharpest critics and suggested consequences for the media were in order. He spoke of doing away with Barack Obama’s healthcare law. And he threatened to shut down the US-Mexico border as

With the UK parliament rejecting Britain's EU divorce deal for a third time Friday, the country is faced with the prospect of breaking ties with its closest trading partner without a deal on April 12 -- unless EU leaders agree on an alternative. Here are the main ways Britain would be affected in case of a "no-deal" ending to the 46-year partnership. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FKknNI

Denizens of the $15.8 trillion Treasury market probably see where this is going. Traders are pricing in at least one Fed cut by the end of the year, which, if that happens, would leave bill buyers reinvesting at lower interest rates. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2JTguu8

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shut down an audience member at an MSNBC town hall after someone called former Rep. Bob Inglis a "moron." from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2U3CgA1

It was March 2018, nearly 10 months into his Russia investigation, when special counsel Robert Mueller III, a man of few words, raised the stakes dramatically in a meeting with Donald Trump's lawyers: If the president did not sit down voluntarily for an interview, he could face a subpoena.In the months that followed, Mr Mueller never explicitly threatened to issue a subpoena as his office pursued a presidential interview, a sit-down for which the special counsel was pushing as late as December.But with that prospect hanging over them, Mr Trump's legal team conducted a quiet, multi-pronged pressure campaign to avert such an action and keep the president from coming face-to-face with federal investigators - fearful he would perjure himself.At one point last summer, when a lull in talks had the president's attorneys worried that Mr Mueller was seriously contemplating a subpoena, White House lawyer Emmet Flood wrote a memo laying out the legal arguments for protecting the presi