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Seattle (CNN)Pilots from the three American carriers that fly Boeing 737 MAX planes tested software changes developed by Boeing to a key stabilization system on Saturday, a person briefed on the tests said.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/24/politics/boeing-software-737-max/index.html

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/24/middleeast/jacinda-ardern-burj-khalifa-scli-intl/index.html

A stricken luxury cruise ship that set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew on board has arrived at the port, after it narrowly escaped a major disaster when its engines failed during a storm. 

The Viking Sky sent out a mayday signal on Saturday as it drifted in rough, shallow waters in the Norwegian Sea to within 100 metres from rocks.

Rescue services airlifted 479 people, including many senior citizens, hoisting them one-by-one on to helicopters, before the weather subsided on Sunday and a tow could begin. 


A total of 1,373 people had started the voyage and about 900 people were still on board as the ship arrived on Sunday afternoon at the port of Molde on Norway’s west coast. 

“It was very nearly a disaster. The ship drifted to within 100 metres of running aground before they were able to restart one of the engines,” police chief Hans Vik, who heads the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told the TV2 broadcaster. 

“If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster.”

Some 20 injured passengers had been taken to hospital, Viking Cruises said, while others had only minor injuries.

“Many have also been traumatised by the experience and need care when they arrive on shore,” the Norwegian Red Cross said.

“I have never seen anything so frightening,” said Janet Jacob, who was rescued.

“I started to pray. I prayed for the safety of everyone on board,” she told the NRK television channel.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg expressed her gratitude to those who responded to what she called a “dramatic day”.

“Thank you to the talented rescuers, volunteers and others who have made an invaluable effort in demanding conditions,” she wrote on Twitter.

Window panes were broken and water came in’ 

Stormy weather conditions had improved by Sunday afternoon, with winds halved to 12 metres per second, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

Images and video posted by passengers on social media showed furniture sliding around and panels falling from the ceiling as the vessel drifted in waves of up to eight metres.

“We were having lunch when it began to shake,” John Curry, a passenger from the United States, told public broadcaster NRK.

“Window panes were broken and water came in. It was just chaos. The trip on the helicopter, I would rather forget. It was not fun.” 

British passenger Derek Brown told newspaper Romsdal Budstikke: “I was a bit alarmed saying help, what’s going to happen to the boat? What’s going to happen to all of our possessions … is the boat liable to capsize, sink or what? We didn’t know so we were quite frightened.”

Torstein Hagen, the founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, met some of those who had been airlifted.

“We all want to know how this could have happened,” the Norwegian billionaire said.

“I’m sure there will be plenty of time to point fingers at what could and should have been done, but that’s for later.”

“Something like this shouldn’t happen, but it has.”

The stretch of water known as Hustadvika and surrounding areas are known for fierce weather and shallow waters dotted with reefs.


Source Article from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/viking-sky-arrives-norway-port-disaster-190324171006752.html

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Washington (CNN)Robert Mueller is done.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/22/politics/robert-mueller-report/index.html

    Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign concluded with the final report submitted to the Justice Department this past Friday. In a letter released Sunday, Attorney General William Barr publicly revealed the “principal conclusions” and more about the under-wraps investigation.

    Just months after President Trump was inaugurated into office, Mueller was appointed to the special counsel’s office on May, 17 2017. In total, it lasted close to two years — 675 days, or one year, 10 months and six days, to be exact.

    READ THE MUELLER REPORT FINDINGS

    The intent of the investigation was to determine whether Trump and his campaign illegally worked with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election. The special counsel’s office determined that it “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia.”

    The president on Sunday responded to Mueller’s report in two different ways. Speaking to reporters, Trump called the investigation “an illegal takedown that failed.”

    He also tweeted: “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!” It was Trump’s 78th tweet regarding the probe, excluding retweets.

    In total, 19 attorneys worked with the special counsel’s office at some point during the nearly two-year-long probe, which, between May 2017 and September 2018, spent $25.2 million. Of that, $12.3 million was direct spending, while $12.9 million was spent on “indirect” component expenses for the Justice Department.

    The special counsel’s office has said that the indirect expenses don’t amount to additional taxpayer expenditures since those resources — especially personnel, such as employees of the FBI or other agencies — would have been devoted to other cases had there been no special-counsel investigation.

    During the investigation, at least 42 people were interviewed by Mueller or his team or testified before a grand jury, and 34 people — in addition to 3 companies — either have been indicted or have pleaded guilty in connection to the probe.

    Of the 34, 6 were former advisers or associates of Trump, while 2 were not considered Trump advisers or associates. Additionally, 26 Russians have been charged.

    Mueller’s office worked with a team of “approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff” during the investigation.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Ultimately, the special counsel’s office “issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses,” according to Barr’s letter.

    On Friday evening, Mueller submitted his report to Barr, marking the end of the politically explosive probe and the beginning of a new battle over its contents and implications.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/robert-mueller-russia-investigation-by-the-numbers

    For months, the president and his lawyers have waged as much of a public-relations campaign as a legal one — trying to discredit the Mueller investigation to keep public opinion from swaying lawmakers to move against Mr. Trump.

    The Justice Department regulations governing the Mueller inquiry only required the special counsel to give a succinct, confidential report to the attorney general explaining his decisions to either seek — or decline to seek — further criminal charges. Mr. Mueller operated under tighter restrictions than similar past inquiries, notably the investigation of President Clinton by Ken Starr, who ended up delivering a 445-page report in 1998 that contained lascivious details about an affair the president had with a White House intern.

    Mr. Mueller was still given a wide mandate — to investigate not only Russian election interference but “any matters that may arise directly from that investigation.” Mr. Mueller has farmed out numerous aspects of his inquiry to several United States attorneys’ offices, and those investigations continue.

    Mr. Mueller will not recommend new indictments, a senior Justice Department official said on Friday, ending speculation that he might charge some of Mr. Trump’s aides in the future. The Justice Department’s general practice is not to identify the targets of its investigations if prosecutors decide not to bring charges, so as not to tarnish their reputations. Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, emphasized this point in a speech last month.

    “It’s important,” Mr. Rosenstein said, “for government officials to refrain from making allegations of wrongdoing when they’re not backed by charges that we aren’t prepared to prove in court.”

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/24/us/politics/mueller-report-summary.html

    A cruise ship reached the Norwegian port of Molde on Sunday a day after the crew issued a mayday call that led to hundreds of passengers being airlifted to safety.

    The Viking Sky limped into the port on Sunday accompanied by tug boats after the harrowing ordeal that sent furniture in the vessel smashing into walls, glass flying, pieces of the ceiling crashing down as passengers and crewmembers held on while the ship rocked side to side.

    The ship was carrying 1,373 passengers and crew members when it had engine trouble in an unpredictable area of Norway’s western coast known for rough, frigid waters. The crew issued a mayday call Saturday afternoon.

    ROYAL CARIBBEAN PASSENGER SUING FOR $10 MILLION AFTER BREAKING PELVIS DURING 20-FOOT TRAMPOLINE FALL

    Rescuers couldn’t use lifeboats or other vessels to evacuate the passengers due to the conditions that included wind gusts at 43 mph and waves reaching over 26 feet high. Five helicopters were deployed and worked through the night to take passengers from the vessel to land. Helicopters were stopped removing passengers by Sunday morning when the ship was ready to sail to the shore.

    Passengers on board the Viking Sky, were waiting to be evacuated after the vessel encountered bad conditions off the coast of Norway on Saturday.
    (AP)

    Viking Ocean Cruises, the company that owns and operates the ship, said 479 passengers were airlifted to land, leaving 436 passengers and 458 crew members onboard by the time the ship made its journey to the port.

    “We understand 20 people suffered injuries as a result of this incident, and they are all receiving care at the relevant medical centers in Norway, with some already having been discharged,” the company said.

    Passengers said they suffered cuts on their hands and faces from flying glass. Rodney Horgen, a Minnesota native who was on the cruise, recalled to The Associated Press how his wife was “thrown across the room.”

    Passengers are helped from a rescue helicopter in Fraena, Norway, Sunday.
    (AP)

    “When the windows and door flew open and the 2 meters of water swept people and tables 20 to 30 feet, that was the breaker. I said to myself, ‘This is it,'” Horgen said. “I grabbed my wife but I couldn’t hold on. And she was thrown across the room. And then she got thrown back again by the wave coming back.

    NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE TO PAY $2 MILLION TO PASSENGER WHO SUFFERED HEART ATTACK

    “I did not have a lot of hope. I knew how cold that water was and where we were and the waves and everything. You would not last very long. That was very, very frightening,” he added.

    Carolyn Savikas, from Pennsylvania, recalled a “really huge wave” crashing into the cruise ship’s restaurant and shattering a door.

    “We were in the restaurant when a really huge wave came and shattered a door and flooded the entire restaurant,” Savikas told Norwegian publication VG newspaper. “All I saw were bones, arms, water and tables. It was like the Titanic – just like the pictures you have seen from the Titanic.”

    The cruise ship Viking Sky arrives at port off Molde, Norway on Sunday.
    (AP)

    Viking Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen praised Norwegian authorities and the ship’s crew for the rescue operation.

    “I’m very proud of our crew,” Hagen told VG.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    The ship was visiting the Norwegian towns and cities of Narvik, Alta, Tromso, Bodo and Stavanger before its scheduled arrival Tuesday in the British port of Tilbury on the River Thames. The passengers mostly were a mix of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian citizens.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/travel/cruise-ship-stranded-off-norways-coast-reaches-port-after-harrowing-helicopter-rescues

    Parkland is feeling more pain.

    A week after the suicide of a former student, a Marjory Stoneman High School student has taken his life, Coral Springs police confirmed Sunday.

    The news of the double tragedy comes just as students are out of school this week for spring break.

    Investigators told the Miami Herald that the male student died in “an apparent suicide” on Saturday night. He was a sophomore and attended Stoneman Douglas last year at the time of the Feb. 14 shooting that claimed 17 lives on campus.

    It isn’t known whether his death can be linked to the school shooting, police said. They did not release his name.

    The death follows the suicide of a recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduate, Sydney Aiello, who took her life after being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office told NBC News that Aiello died from a gunshot wound to the head.

    “How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government / school district to do anything? Rip 17 + 2,” former Stoneman Douglas student and gun-control activist David Hogg said Sunday on Twitter.

    If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

    Ryan Petty, father of Alaina Petty, a 14-year-old freshman who was one of 17 people murdered on Feb. 14. 2018, told the Miami Herald the student who died Saturday also died from a gunshot wound to the head.

    Petty founded a suicide prevention foundation called the Walk Up Foundation after his daughter’s death. He said “the issue of suicide needs to be talked about.”

    “This is another tragic example,” Petty said, who has partnered with Columbia University for his Foundation.

    Since the Valentine’s Day shooting that killed 17 and traumatized an entire student body, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School regularly report to trauma counselors after breaking down in tears. They panic when fire alarms drag on even moments too long. Reports of widespread absences are common.

    But with news emerging of two suicides in the past week involving a sophomore boy and a recent graduate, just as students leave campus for spring break, faculty at the Parkland school worry that their students may not be receiving the help they need away from campus. They also are concerned that recent changes at the school may be negatively affecting kids.

    Grief therapists working with Parkland families are mobilizing on Sunday to figure out the best way to provide help. They also are concerned that students will be off this week.

    “I’m afraid there will be more [suicides] to come,” said Greg Pittman, an American History teacher at MSD. “I’m just kind of concerned that they’re away from their support to a degree.”

    He said the reassignment of the high school’s three assistant principals and a security specialist, administrators who were with the school during the mass shooting, has affected the mental health of the students who need help the most.

    “The kids need help and many of them that do need help are not getting any,” Pittman said Sunday. “They want to talk to people that were there.”

    Pittman, who taught Sydney Aiello, said he has spoken with students directly about their concerns over the changing structure of their school. He said more mental health resources may be needed.

    “Many of them think that they don’t need help,” he said. “That only their friends who were there understand. More resources probably would help, but also the resources that knew them [are] leaving.”

    During a meeting Friday between the district and the faculty, Pittman said Broward Chief Officer of School Performance and Accountability Valerie Wanza acknowledged it was a mistake to remove the administrators students had grown accustomed to seeing.

    “I thought it was a mistake then and even more so now,” he said.

    He said his students are under “tremendous pressure,” some having seen their friends die or seeing their bodies on the floor after the shooting.

    Pittman, who was at the school during the shooting, regularly sees a therapist and takes medication for emotional distress.

    “I didn’t witness it, but many of these kids had to witness their friends dying,” he said. “What they have seen, I’m concerned we’re gonna see more.”

    On Twitter Sunday, Ryan Petty posted “17 + 2” with a breaking heart emoji, a somber reminder of the growing tally of the massacre.

    “I’m afraid that Sydney did it, and now this other kid has done it…” Pittman said. “I don’t know how long it will take but we need more help.”

    This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

    Superintendent Robert W. Runcie will hold a press conference to provide a progress report on recommendations for school districts outlined in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission’s initial report

    Source Article from https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article228350134.html

    <!– –>

    The Powerball jackpot just won’t quit.

    After no one hit all winning numbers in Saturday night’s drawing, the top prize has jumped to a whopping $750 million. And while players daydream about what they’d do with such a windfall, they should remember they wouldn’t really end up with the advertised amount.

    Whether you take the prize as an annuity spread out over three decades or as an immediate, reduced lump sum, 24 percent of your win is withheld for federal taxes. Yet the top marginal tax rate of 37 percent means you’d owe a lot more at tax time. And state taxes typically are due as well.

    “The big impact on winnings is taxes,” said certified financial planner Dan Routh, a wealth advisor at Exencial Wealth Advisors in Oklahoma City. “If you win, just realize how big the tax bill can be and make sure you’re ready to handle it.”

    The Powerball jackpot, which now marks the fourth-largest U.S. lottery prize ever, has been climbing since late December with twice-weekly drawings yielding no top-prize winner. It’s little wonder — your chance of matching all six numbers is about 1 in 292 million.

    For Wednesday night’s drawing, the cash option — which most winners go with — is $465.5 million. The 24 percent federal withholding would reduce that amount by $111.7 million.

    Assuming you had no reduction to your taxable income, another 13 percent, or $60.5 million, would be due to the IRS. That’s $172.2 million in all going to Uncle Sam.

    After federal taxes, you’d be left with $293.3 million. Then there are state taxes, which range from zero to more than 8 percent depending on where the ticket was purchased and where the winner lives.

    In other words, you could end up paying more than 45 percent in taxes.

    Given the sheer size of the jackpot, experts say it would be crucial to assemble a team of experienced professionals to help navigate the windfall: an attorney, a tax advisor and a financial advisor.

    “There’s a big responsibility that goes with having such a large sum of money,” Routh said. “It would be important to surround yourself with a quality team that’s working in your best interest.”

    More from Advisor Insight:
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    Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/24/if-you-hit-the-750-million-powerball-jackpot-heres-your-tax-bill.html

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    (CNN)As Robert Mueller exits stage left, the Justice Department will continue to pursue a handful of investigations—and potentially more prosecutions — that began with or were bolstered by the special counsel’s work. And a significant group of them still focus around President Donald Trump.

      Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/24/politics/ongoing-investigations-manafort-gates-cohen/index.html




      HELSINKI — A cruise ship with engine problems sent a mayday call off Norway’s western coast on Saturday, then began evacuating its 1,300 passengers and crew amid stormy seas and heavy winds in a high-risk helicopter rescue operation.

      The Norwegian newspaper VG said the Viking Sky cruise ship ran into propulsion problems as bad weather hit Norway’s coastal regions on Saturday and started drifting toward land. Police in the western county of Moere og Romsdal said the ship’s crew, fearing it would run aground, managed to drop anchor in Hustadvika Bay, between the western Norwegian cities of Alesund and Trondheim, so the evacuations could take place.

      Rescue teams with helicopters and boats were sent to evacuate the cruise ship under extremely difficult circumstances.

      The ship was visiting the Norwegian towns and cities of Narvik, Alta, Tromso, Bodo and Stavanger before its scheduled arrival Tuesday in the British port of Tilbury on the River Thames. The passengers mostly were a mix of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian citizens.

      The airlifts continued at a steady pace Sunday morning, as the vessel was being prepared for towing by two tugboats to the nearby town of Molde, according to Per Fjerd at the Joint Rescue Coordination Center.

      The helicopters stopped taking people off the ship when the ship was ready for the trip to shore, and 463 passengers had been evacuated by that time, the Joint Rescue center said. Three of the ship’s four engines were working as of Sunday morning, the center said.


      Source Article from https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2019/03/23/cruise-ship-off-norway-evacuates-passengers-helicopter/yjdGjiHuEUehktp7GFuDWM/story.html

      As a series of Brexit votes loom following a weekend that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets of London demanding a second referendum, British Prime Minister Theresa May received the backing of several ministers who dismissed reports of a “coup” against the embattled leader.

      Chancellor Philip Hammond called any talk of a leadership change “self-indulgent” and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the PM “is in charge,” according to BBC News, while David Lidington, who has been touted as a replacement for May, said, “I am 100 percent behind the prime minister.”

      Still, British newspapers are reporting that behind the scenes, several cabinet members are plotting a coup against May and making plans to replace her with a caretaker leader until a proper election can take place later this year. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg tweeted that there was “serious maneuvering” going on.

      HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS PROTEST IN LONDON TO DEMAND A SECOND BREXIT VOTE

      Britain had been set to leave the European Union on March 29 without a deal after May’s negotiated agreement was voted down by lawmakers. That vote last week was May’s second Brexit defeat in parliament. However, May received a lifeline last week when EU leaders agreed to a short-term Brexit extension.

      Throngs of protesters filled the streets of London on Saturday demanding a second referendum. The original Brexit vote, which critics have since said was influenced by Russia-backed disinformation and outright lies about what leaving the EU would mean, passed by 1.3 million votes.

      A puppet character depicting British Prime Minister Theresa May is brandished among Anti-Brexit campaigners, during the People’s Vote March in London, Saturday March 23, 2019. Protesters are gathering in central London before what is widely predicted to be a massive march in favour of a second Brexit referendum. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

      In the coming days, a range of different scenarios could play out, depending on how British lawmakers vote. They include, according to BBC News: Revoking Article 50 and canceling Brexit altogether, setting up a second referendum, May’s deal plus a customs union, May’s deal plus a customs union and single-market access, a Canada-style free trade deal, or leaving the EU without a deal.

      POPE FRANCIS PRAYS FOR PEACEFUL END TO NICARAGUA CRISIS

      Hammond told BBC News that he would remove revoking Article 50 and a no-deal Brexit from the list, saying “both of those would have very serious and negative consequences for our country.”

      In terms of a second referendum, Hammond said: “It is a coherent proposition and deserves to be considered, along with the other proposals.”

      Although this coming Friday is the day that Britain was set to leave the EU, the earliest that could now happen is April 12.

      Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/world/as-crucial-brexit-votes-loom-theresa-may-urged-to-quit-to-help-deal-pass

      Separate estimates, including one by the United Nations in February, put the group’s strength even higher. James F. Jeffrey, the American special envoy for Syria, said this month that there are 15,000 to 20,000 armed Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, “although many are in sleeper cells.”

      American officials said that the Pentagon was concerned about Islamic State fighters returning from the front lines to stoke violence in their hometowns across Iraq and Syria. The United States will continue its bombing campaign against the extremist group and to assist local forces in both countries who are the first line of defense against Islamic State fighters.

      “ISIS’s post-caliphate insurgency in Iraq is accelerating faster than efforts to prevent it by the U.S.,” concluded an analysis this month by the Institute for the Study of War.

      The United States now has 5,200 troops in Iraq, mostly spread between two main bases, including Al Asad in western Anbar Province, which Mr. Trump visited in December. In Syria, Mr. Trump has ordered all but a residual American force of 400 troops to withdraw. Armed drones and warplanes will continue to provide air support.

      Legislation pending in Iraq’s Parliament could limit United States military operations in the country by reducing the number of American troops there, restricting their movements or even demanding a full withdrawal by a certain, if yet unspecified, date.

      Mr. Jeffrey made clear that the liberation of the declared caliphate — an area that nearly five years ago stretched to the size of Britain — did not eradicate the Islamic State’s potency.

      “There is a great concern,” he said.

      Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/24/us/politics/us-isis-fight.html

      The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines is dismissing the need for optional safety equipment that was not installed on the Boeing 737 Max aircraft involved in a crash earlier this month that killed 157 people.

      “A Toyota is imported with all the necessary equipment to drive, like the engine and the wheels, but with air conditioning and the radio optional,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told Reuters. “When Boeing supplies aircraft, there are items which are mandatory for safety and then there are optional items.”

      Boeing has faced criticism because its 737 Max jets involved in the Ethiopian Airlines crash and a deadly Lion Air crash last October did not have “angle of attack” indicators or disagree lights.

      The angle of attack sensors detect how much a plane’s nose is pointing up or down relative to oncoming air. The optional safety features may have been able to help the pilots in the two deadly crashes regain control of the flight, experts have said.

      But Tewolde rejected that criticism, according to Reuters.

      “The angle of attack indicator was on the optional list along with the inflight entertainment system,” he said.

      Boeing, however, will now make the disagree light a standard feature on 737 Max planes instead of charging for it as an upgrade, according to media reports.

      Source Article from https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/435466-ethiopian-airlines-ceo-dismisses-need-for-optional-safety-equipment

      WASHINGTON — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler Sunday warned President Donald Trump against attempting to assert executive privilege to block the release of portions of the Mueller report.

      Appearing on “Meet the Press” two days after special counsel Robert Mueller turned in his final report on Russian interference in the 2016 election to the Justice Department, Nadler argued that the White House won’t be able to hide behind the power of the presidency if there are damaging findings in the report.

      “It’s critical that everything in that report and the underlying evidence be public, be open to the American people,” said Nadler, D-N.Y. “That transparency is key. America needs answers as to what’s been going on.

      “As we learned from the Nixon tapes case, executive privilege cannot be used to hide wrongdoing.”

      A battle over executive privilege, the right presidents often claim to shield certain information, could be the next flashpoint in the battle surrounding the Mueller probe.

      All eyes are now on Attorney General William Barr, who is tasked with analyzing the report and deciding what portions of it can be shared with Congress and ultimately the public. He’s expected to deliver those characterizations as soon as Sunday.

      Democrats have made clear that they want the entire report, as well as the underlying documents that support it, to be made public.

      And while he’s been critical of the special counsel’s probe and Mueller’s entire team for months, Trump said last week he wants the report to be made public.

      But executive privilege has been a major source of contention between the White House and Congress in past administrations. So it’s possible that the Trump administration could try to block the release of some portion of the report.

      Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., agreed with the broad call for transparency on Sunday.

      He argued that while some intelligence information would obviously need to be redacted, his message to Trump is to “lean toward transparency” in order to to help the country move forward after the report’s release. And he added that transparency would also help the public understand the legal rationale for starting the investigation in the first place.

      “Let’s put all of that out there as well so we can pass judgment about how the investigation was conducted, or at least a predicate for the investigation was conducted during the Obama years,” Rubio said on “Meet the Press.”

      Much of Mueller’s work has already played out somewhat in the public sphere, with the investigation triggering the indictments of 34 people, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn; former lawyer Michael Cohen; as well as a handful of Russians Mueller says interfered with the 2016 election.

      Nadler pointed to the information contained in those indictments to argue Mueller had already found evidence of wrongdoing by Trump allies during his investigation.

      “We know that he fired the FBI director for not giving him the personal loyalty that he demanded and for not dropping those investigations,” he said.

      “We know that many of the president’s closest associates, his national security adviser, campaign manager, et cetera, have been convicted of various crimes. And we know that he’s waged a relentless two-year campaign to attack law enforcement institutions.”

      Democrats are also warning that the report is just one piece of the oversight over Trump, whose administration, campaign and business dealings are still being investigated by Congressional committees.

      Nader’s Judiciary Committee is in the midst of a broad investigation into obstruction of justice, public corruption and abuse of power, for which he subpoenaed 81 individuals and entities related to Trump.

      There are active investigations in the House Oversight Committee, as well as in the House and Senate Intelligence Committee and in state attorneys general offices.

      Another question facing Democrats is whether they should call Mueller or Barr to testify about the report. Nadler said Sunday that he doesn’t believe it would be necessary to call Mueller to testify as long as his report was straightforward.

      “He gave us a report, he speaks through that report. If that report answers all our questions, there will be no need to call him,” Nadler said.

      “If that report is not public, if large parts of it are not made public, or if it leaves a lot of questions, then we have a necessity to call him.”

      Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/nadler-executive-privilege-can-t-be-used-hide-wrongdoing-mueller-n986696

      China has big ambitions for the EU — and the bloc seems rattled.

      The EU is trying to hammer out a coherent policy to deal with China, while Beijing has been actively courting relationships with individual EU countries.

      Experts say this could be part of China’s playbook to pit EU states against each other, to avoid the bloc — its biggest trading partner — from formulating trade practices that could harm Beijing.

      President Xi Jinping is currently spending six days in Europe, visiting Italy, Monaco, and France, where he plans to meet with leaders and undertake trade negotiations.

      In Rome on Saturday Xi oversaw Italy’s signing a memorandum of understanding to join the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s flagship trade project aimed to connect the world via infrastructure.

      The two nations also signed ten additional deals in sectors including port management, energy, steel, and gas, that could be worth up to 20 billion euros ($22.62 billion), Reuters reported.

      Read more: Xi Jinping’s dream to connect the entire world with Chinese-built infrastructure just claimed one of its biggest victories yet

      Li Keqiang, China’s premier, is also set to visit Brussels for an EU-China summit on April 9 before going to Croatia to meet with the 16+1, a consortium of 11 EU member states in central and eastern Europe,and five Balkan countries that Beijing devised as part of its push into Europe.

      Xi with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe after signing trade agreements at Villa Madama in Rome on March 23, 2019.
      Yara Nardi/Reuters

      Is China trying to divide the EU?

      Robert Cooper, a EU foreign policy adviser, told the Financial Times last week: “China has discovered it can pick off different EU members and stop the EU having a China policy.”

      Teresa Coratella, program manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Rome, told Business Insider: “I think that China would definitely prefer to have 27 different policies instead of one united one, because this would leave more space for maneuvering and for pushing for its own primary interests. But this would be the case of any partner of the EU.”

      She said, however, that China wasn’t trying to divide the EU — rather, the act of pitting EU countries against one another for Beijing’s benefit was “simple politics and policymaking.”

      “China is pushing for its own strategic interests,” she said. “The final objective is to go back to China with the best outcome that one could get.”

      “It’s not in the interests of anyone to show a divided Europe, but again whatever would have China have the most of it, China will do it. It’s just simple politics and policymaking.”

      The Chinese embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider for this story.

      German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron at a meeting for EU leaders in Berlin i June 2017. Germany and France have been concerned with China’s economic policies with the EU.
      Steffi Loos-Pool/Getty Images

      Europe’s muddled policy on China

      The EU has so far been split over its attitude to China’s economic influence.

      Some EU leaders have recently been trying to intensify the bloc’s efforts to formulate a coordinated and aggressive approach toward China, particularly in terms of trade, while other countries like Italy have sought closer relations with Beijing, seeing it as a new source of investment for Europe.

      Countries like Germany and France have been concerned with what they consider unfair subsidies affecting the price of Chinese imports into the EU, and state involvement in the economy.

      The two countries have pushed for more stringent screening measures on foreign investment in what appears to be an effort to restrict China’s access to the EU, Reuters noted.

      “The period of European naivety is over,” French President Emmanuel Macron told an EU conference on Friday, referring to the EU’s relationship with China.

      “China is a partner, but it is at the same time a competitor. It’s crucial that there be fair trade conditions,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz added at the same meeting.

      A staff member of Huawei uses her mobile phone at a conference in Shenzhen, in March 2019. The telecom company has at the center of global security concerns.
      WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images

      The EU has also been a bulwark against the US in terms of cybersecurity fears. The Trump administration has been pressuring the EU to ban Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, from its 5G network. It even warned Germany that if it adopted Huawei’s technology, it would risk losing access to US intelligence sharing.

      The bloc has appeared unwilling to impose a blanket ban on Huawei, however.

      According to a Politico report, Ulrik Trolle Smed, chief cybersecurity adviser to European Security Commissioner Julian King, said last month: “A complete ban, I don’t think that’s the European way.”

      Read more: Huawei’s CTO for Germany dismisses spying claims as absurd and ‘technically impossible’

      Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on March 21, 2019.
      Yara Nardi/Reuters

      ‘The perfect time’ for China to visit Europe

      Xi and Li’s visits are strategically timed because the EU is distracted with internal politics, and is therefore more susceptible to foreign influences in their policymaking, Coratella said.

      “All the member states are now totally involved in political campaigning or EU elections [from May 23 to 25],” she said. They are also preoccupied with Brexit negotiations, she said.

      “Traditional parties and governments are fighting to regain some of the consensus that they lost, and on the other side, you have new political movements, new political parties gaining much consensus.”

      “The moment is perfect for an external actor,” she said.

      Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-china-playbook-to-pit-eu-countries-against-each-other-2019-3

      A top Senate Democrat on the Judiciary Committee conceded in a conference call with reporters Saturday that when the special counsel’s principal findings are released by Attorney General William Barr, there may well be cause for celebration among President Trump’s supporters — many of whom have stood by the president for more than two years amid a torrent of unproven allegations that the Trump campaign illegally conspired with Russia in the 2016 election.

      “It’s the end of the beginning but it’s not the beginning of the end,” Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons said, echoing his party’s strategy of moving forward on to other investigations, including probes into Trump’s financial dealings. “Once we get the principal conclusions of the report,” he added later, “I think it’s entirely possible that that will be a good day for the president and his core supporters.”

      The timing of that potentially good day now seems to be shifting toward Sunday, after sources said a Saturday disclosure of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s primary conclusions in his now-concluded Russia investigation wasn’t expected. A personal lawyer for President Trump told Fox News that Barr’s report on Mueller’s findings was now expected about noon Sunday, though it had earlier been expected on Saturday and the timing remains fluid.

      Mueller is not recommending any further indictments as part of his inquiry, which effectively ended Friday, according to a senior Justice Department official.

      In a show of confidence, for his part, President Trump waved and flashed two thumbs up to supporters as he returned to his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday. The entertainer Kid Rock later uploaded a photograph of his golf outing with Trump earlier in the day.

      “Another great day on the links!” Kid Rock wrote. “Thank you to POTUS for having me and to EVERYONE at Trump International for being so wonderful. What a great man, so down to earth and so fun to be with!! KEEP AMERICA GREAT!! -Kid Rock.”

      Trump himself remained off Twitter into Saturday evening — an unusual move that prompted speculation in various news outlets and on social media.

      Fox News is told that Barr may run the conclusions past White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Emmett Flood, who were in Mar-a-Lago along with Trump, before they are released. It will likely take longer for the facts supporting the conclusions to come out, Fox News is told, because there may be materials that are either classified, or subject to executive privilege in the factual material.

      WATCH THE MEDIA MELTDOWN: RACHEL MADDOW BECOMES VISIBLY EMOTIONAL AFTER MUELLER REPORT DROPPED, WITH NO NEW INDICTMENTS

      House Democrats planned meetings by phone on Saturday to share what they know about the probe and to discuss how to move forward. Some prominent Democrats are floating the idea of issuing a subpoena to Mueller himself if his report is not made public.

      People with signs supporting President Trump are seen from the media van in the motorcade accompanying the president in West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

      Fox News is told that although impeachment was not mentioned on the Democrats’ conference call, a primary purpose of the discussion among top Democrat committee members was to signal that just because the Mueller probe is over, that doesn’t mean that the House’s work is over.

      EXCLUSIVE: INTERNAL FBI TEXT MESSAGES SHOW DOJ BATTLED WITH FBI OVER ‘BIASED’ SOURCE USED IN WARRANT TO SURVEIL TRUMP AIDE, KICKSTARTING RUSSIA SAGA

      Democrats also discussed Congress’ oversight role given that a sitting president, under DOJ guidelines, cannot be indicted.

      Both parties have pushed the Justice Department to allow lawmakers to publicly discuss the report’s conclusions, once lawmakers have received them from Barr.

      The conclusion of Mueller’s probe comes as House Democrats have launched several of their own into Trump and his personal and political dealings.

      Supporters of President Donald Trump are seen from the media van in the motorcade accompanying the president in West Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, March 23, 2019, en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

      JEROME CORSI CELEBRATES END OF RUSSIA PROBE, SAYS HE’S VINDICATED IN DECISION TO RESIST MUELLER BULLYING

      “It’s the end of the beginning but it’s not the beginning of the end.”

      — Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons

      Democrats have said they have to see the full report from Mueller, including underlying evidence, before they can assess it. Those demands for information are setting up a potential tussle between Congress and the Trump administration that federal judges might eventually have to referee.

      Six Democratic committee chairmen wrote in a letter to Barr on Friday that if Mueller has any reason to believe that Trump “has engaged in criminal or other serious misconduct,” then the Justice Department should not conceal it.

      “The president is not above the law and the need for public faith in our democratic institutions and the rule of law must be the priority,” the chairmen wrote.

      Attorney General William Barr leaves his home in McLean, Va., on Saturday morning, March 23, 2019. Special counsel Robert Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation with no new charges, ending the probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump’s presidency. (AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz)

      It’s unclear what Mueller has found related to the president, if anything. In his investigation of whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the 2016 election, Mueller has brought charges against 34 people, including six aides and advisers to the president, and three companies.

      But Mueller did not charge any Americans with illegally conspiring with Russians on any matter, including election interference — a foundational reason for the launch of his high-profile probe nearly two years ago.

      Supporters of President Donald Trump are seen from the media van in the motorcade accompanying the president in West Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, March 23, 2019, en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

      Barr testified at his confirmation hearings that he wants to release as much information as he can about the inquiry.

      CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

      But anything less than the full report won’t be enough for Democrats — who on Saturday warned that they may soon set their sights on Mueller.

      “If the AG plays any games, we will subpoena the report, ask Mr. Mueller to testify, and take it all to court if necessary,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y. “The people deserve to know.”

      Fox News’ Ed Henry, Mike Emanuel, Brooke Singman, Chad Pergram, Jake Gibson, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

      Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-conference-call-grapples-with-mueller-reports-unknowns

      The police have now said the first 479 passengers have been successfully evacuated, where 20 have been sent to the hospital, three of them with serious injuries.

      In a press release at 11am GMT, Viking Ocean Cruises said: “The 479 passengers who were evacuated by helicopters have been taken care of.

      “Work is being done to organise transport to get the passengers home.

      “The first passengers are already travelling today.

      “We have been informed that 20 people have been injured.

      “They are receiving medical supervision and care at local hospitals.

      “Some have already left the hospital.”

      The evacuation process started at approximately 3pm on Saturday.

      Henning Flusund, a skipper of the trawler “Remøy” who is in the area, said he believes it may take about four hours for Viking Sky to reach the Norwegian city of Molde.

      The vessel will by this estimation reach land around 1pm GMT.

      Source Article from https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1104344/norway-cruise-ship-Viking-Sky-evacuation

      Media captionKurdish TV showed the SDF raising a yellow flag on top of buildings seized from IS in Baghuz

      US President Donald Trump welcomed the fall of the Islamic State group’s five-year “caliphate”, but warned that the terror group remained a threat.

      Mr Trump’s remarks came after Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) raised victory flags in the Syrian town of Baghuz, IS’s last stronghold.

      He said the US would “remain vigilant until [IS] is finally defeated”.

      Despite losing territory in Syria and Iraq, IS remains active in countries from Nigeria to the Philippines.

      At its height, the group controlled 88,000 sq km (34,000 sq miles) across Syria and Iraq.

      After five years of fierce battle, though, local forces backed by world powers left IS with all but a few hundred square metres near Syria’s border with Iraq.

      On Saturday, the long-awaited announcement came from the SDF that it had seized that last IS territory. Western leaders hailed the announcement but emphasised that IS was still a danger.

      “We will remain vigilant… until it is finally defeated wherever it operates,” Mr Trump said in a statement.

      French President Emmanuel Macron said “the threat remains and the fight against terrorist groups must continue”.

      UK Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed the “historic milestone” but said her government remained “committed to eradicating [IS’s] poisonous ideology”.

      Media captionBBC Arabic’s Feras Kilani says that losing their last stronghold is unlikely to be the end of Islamic State.

      Trump statement

      In a statement released by the White House on Saturday, Mr Trump said the US would “continue to work with our partners and allies… to fight [IS] until it is finally defeated.”

      “The United States will defend American interests whenever and wherever necessary,” the statement read.

      Mr Trump described IS’s loss of territory as “evidence of its false narrative”, adding: “They have lost all prestige and power.”

      He also appealed to “all of the young people on the internet believing in [IS] propaganda”, saying: “Think instead about having a great life.”

      Media captionIS ‘remains a threat’, US envoy warns

      How did the final battle unfold?

      The SDF alliance began its final assault on IS at the start of March, with the remaining militants holed up in the village of Baghuz in eastern Syria.

      The alliance was forced to slow its offensive after it emerged that a large number of civilians were also there, sheltering in buildings, tents and tunnels.

      Thousands of women and children, foreign nationals among them, fled the fighting and severe shortages to make their way to SDF-run camps for displaced persons.

      Many IS fighters have also abandoned Baghuz, but those who stayed put up fierce resistance, deploying suicide bombers and car bombs.

      Why are there still concerns about IS?

      IS grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

      It joined the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. By 2014 it had seized swathes of land in both countries and proclaimed a “caliphate”.

      IS once imposed its rule on almost eight million people, and generated billions of dollars from oil, extortion, robbery and kidnapping, using its territory as a platform to launch foreign attacks.

      The fall of Baghuz is a major moment in the campaign against IS. The Iraqi government declared victory against the militants in 2017.

      But the group is far from defeated. US officials believe IS may have 15,000 to 20,000 armed adherents active in the region, many of them in sleeper cells, and that it will return to its insurgent roots while attempting to rebuild.

      Even as its defeat in Baghuz was imminent, IS released a defiant audio recording purportedly from its spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, asserting that the caliphate was not finished.

      The location of the group’s overall leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is not known. But he has avoided being captured or killed, despite having fewer places to hide.

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      Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47682160

      U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar faced hundreds of protesters Saturday outside a Southern California fundraising event for the local chapter of a major advocacy group representing Muslim-Americans.

      “Burn the Quran!,” “Ilhan Omar, go to hell!” and “Shame on you, terrorists!” were among some of the messages shouted outside a Woodland Hills hotel where the Minnesota Democrat spoke at a fundraiser for the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of Greater Los Angeles, according to a report. The town is about 25 miles northwest of downtown L.A.

      The protesters lined a sidewalk area, where they waved Israeli flags and denounced the freshman congresswoman over recent remarks that some have described as anti-Semitic, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The atmosphere was a mix of dancing and music mixed with the vitriolic comments against Omar, the report said.

      REP. ILHAN OMAR’S ‘ANTI-SEMITIC TROPES’ PROMPT JEWISH NEW YORK DEM TO APOLOGIZE TO CONSTITUENTS

      Omar, a 37-year-old immigrant from Somalia who came to the U.S. with her family in 1995, has faced a storm of criticism from pro-Israel politicians and groups after her February tweet that said “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” in reference to the support that some U.S. lawmakers have offered to Israel.

      FARRAKHAN TELLS ‘SWEETHEART’ REP. OMAR NOT TO APOLOGIZE FOR ISRAEL COMMENTS

      The freshman Democrat drew scorn from Republicans and some in her own party. She later apologized and clarified her criticism of the Israeli government.

      “Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes,” she wrote on Twitter.

      “Being opposed to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the occupation is not the same as being anti-Semitic,” she continued. “I am grateful to the many Jewish allies who have spoken out and said the same.”

      2020 DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES CIRCLING WAGONS AROUND ILHAN OMAR AFTER ISRAEL COMMENT UPROAR

      A handful of counterprotesters also appeared outside the event to voice support for Omar.

      The event at the fourth annual Valley Banquet, titled “Advancing Justice: Empowering Valley Muslims,” was sold out and closed to the public. The Los Angeles Police Department told City News Service that it had an unspecified number of officers working the event.

      “We don’t disclose the numbers,” Officer Sal Ramirez told City News Service.

      Omar’s visit to Southern California is expected to continue Sunday, as she is scheduled to attend a private meet-and-greet in Irvine, according to a flyer for the event.

      Her appearance was one of two political events in the region Saturday. In Los Angeles, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, visited a mosque to commemorate the victims of the March 15 mass shooting in New Zealand, the Los Angeles Times reported.

      CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

      “Your background is different than mine,” Sanders told about 200 Muslims at the Islamic Center of Southern California. “What a joy it is to share that.”

      Later in the day, he spoke to an estimated 12,000 people at a downtown Los Angeles rally.

      “As president of the United States, I will not have kind words to say about authoritarian leaders around the world who espouse bigotry and hatred,” Sanders told the crowd. “Together we will make the United States the leader in the world in the fight for democracy and human rights.”

      Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hundreds-of-protestors-gather-against-rep-ilhan-omar-during-southern-californian-speaking-engagement

      Amid the shambolic fracas in the British government and Parliament over how and when Brexit should take place, it’s important to step back and remember the why.

      The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union is not ultimately about trade or regulations. It’s about something more fundamental: the natural right of people to form and control their government. At its core, Brexit is about democracy and self-rule. Britons wanted their government, parliament, and courts to once again be the final authorities in the land.

      The flow of power out of Britain and into Brussels isn’t some theoretical concern. The way the European Union has worked has imposed on British law, laws passed in Brussels by European parliamentarians. The Germans and the Italians, in effect, can tell the Brits what their law is, even over the objections of the Brits. So much for the consent of the governed.

      The European Court of Justice is a perfect example of this corruption. In the landmark case of Marleasing SA v. La Commercial, for example, the ECJ ruled that national courts must interpret national laws in a way that fits them to European directives.

      Put another way, a national court must stretch its own parliament’s will in order to serve the European Union’s will.

      Isn’t this a problem?

      Brussels says no. It claims that the supremacy of one supranational authority over 28 different national authorities has made the law more fair, just, and beneficial for all. And EU supporters say that by ensuring no one nation’s parliament can act against the community of nations, the EU has made the European continent safer, happier, and more respecting of individual rights.

      This happy talk covers up illiberal thinking that cuts against the Enlightenment and against the roots of modern democracy.

      The real reason Europe has remained at continental peace for nearly 80 years now isn’t that EU parliamentarians can share a common beer at a common bar in Strasbourg. We should attribute European peace to the realization that many self-ruling nations each benefit from liberalized international trade and travel. Enlightened national interest can breed international cooperation and peace.

      But the virtues of free trade and cultural intermixing don’t in turn call for the abolition of self-rule and its replacement with a multinational government.

      By taking power further and further away from the governed, the “European Project” is essentially an undemocratic project.

      Brexit, as we write, is in shambles. That fact shouldn’t distract from it’s deeper meaning.

      Brexit was and remains about reversing this undemocratic project, and thus preserving the idea of a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

      Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/brexit-is-at-bottom-about-self-rule