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Mr. Leahy scored a major coup in 1999 when JetBlue decided to launch with a fleet composed entirely of Airbus A320s. In the years that followed, more low-cost carriers around the world, like easyJet, placed big orders, too.

Airbus had pulled ahead of Boeing by 2005. “Boeing has struggled with the development work needed to take the company into the 21st century,” Tim Clark, president of Emirates, the Dubai airline, said that year. Airbus, he said, “has been braver, more brazen.”

In 2008, Airbus delivered 483 airplanes, while Boeing delivered just 375. Three years later at the Paris Air Show, Airbus took orders for 730 aircraft, worth some $72.2 billion, with its new fuel-efficient version dominating.

“Boeing was just completely arrogant in dismissing the viability of the A320,” said Scott Hamilton, managing director of the Leeham Company, an aviation consulting firm.

As American considered placing its largest-ever aircraft order exclusively with Airbus in the spring of 2011, executives at the carrier initially didn’t believe Boeing thought that the threat was real, according to a person involved with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Airbus had a team camped out in a suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas, near American’s headquarters. Mr. Leahy traveled to Dallas and dined with the American chief, Mr. Arpey, at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, a five-star hotel. Boeing visited less frequently, according to several people involved in the sales process.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/business/boeing-737-max-crash.html

Singer Kid Rock posted a photo Saturday on his social media accounts posing with President Trump at the president’s golf course in West Palm Beach. “Another great day on the links!” Kid Rock wrote.

Mr. Trump arrived in Palm Beach on Friday afternoon and met with leaders from Caribbean nations. But he had no events open to the press after special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to the Department of Justice. Mr. Trump spoke briefly at a Republican party dinner at Mar-a-Lago. 

Mr. Trump has not sent any tweets since Mueller submitted his report. Last weekend, he sent as many as 20 tweets and retweets on Saturday. 

On Friday, a senior Justice Department official told CBS News that Mueller is not recommending any further indictments, And on Saturday,  a senior Justice Department official confirmed Barr would not submit any of his principal conclusions to Congress that day. 

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-kid-rock-trump-international-golf-course-west-palm-beach-photo-today-2019-03-23/

A cruise ship with nearly 1,400 passengers and crew members lost engine power in heavy winds and waves near the coast of Norway on Saturday, injuring several people and prompting a painstaking, hourslong evacuation, the authorities said.

The evacuation of the ship, the Viking Sky, began around 2 p.m. local time and stretched into the darkness past midnight, at which point only 180 of the 1,373 people on board had been removed, said Per Fjeld, a spokesman for Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Southern Norway, which was conducting the operation.

When helicopters reached the ship, rescue personnel were lowered to remove passengers by winch one at a time. Filled with 10 to 15 people, the helicopters then returned to land.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/world/europe/viking-sky-cruise-ship-evacuation.html

An estimated $625 million jackpot is on the line in Saturday’s Powerball drawing. It would be the seventh-highest U.S. lottery jackpot ever. 

The estimated lump sum payout would be $380.6 million before taxes. The odds of winning are roughly 1 in 292.2 million.

No one has won the Powerball jackpot since the day after Christmas. Twenty-four drawings since then have failed to produce a winner, including the drawing on Wednesday.

The buyers of three tickets shared the country’s largest jackpot. It was a nearly $1.59 billion Powerball prize drawn on Jan. 13, 2016. A South Carolina purchaser won a $1.54 billion Mega Millions jackpot. That was the nation’s second-largest lottery prize ever.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/powerball-jackpot-jumps-to-625-million-drawing-today-2019-03-23/

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

ATLANTA (AP) – Atlanta’s mayor and police chief are leading a push to re-examine evidence from a string of murders that terrorized the city’s black community between 1979 and 1981.
 
As a result, authorities are being inundated with calls. Now, officials have set up a central hotline for anyone with information about the “Atlanta Child Murders” cases.
 
Atlanta police urged tipsters to call 404-546-2603 and, if no one answers, callers are encouraged to leave a message for follow-up.
 
At least 25 African-American children and several adults were killed in the late 70s and early 80s. Atlanta native Wayne Williams was convicted in the deaths of two adults in 1981. He’s been linked to the deaths of at least 22 of the children, but has never been tried. Williams maintains he never killed children.

Source Article from http://www.wbrz.com/news/atlanta-police-set-up-hotline-for-child-murders-case/

>> Read more trending news

Initial reports via Twitter suggested that there were gunshots in the park prompting a lockdown.

Several people may have been injured during the evacuation, according to digital news service Actu17.

France’s Interior Ministry later confirmed there was no ongoing threat to the public. 


Disneyland Paris, which was originally known as Euro Disney Resort, is located in Marne-la-Vallée, France, a town located 20 miles east of downtown Paris.

Please check back for updates.

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Source Article from https://www.ajc.com/news/national/disneyland-paris-lockdown-for-unknown-reason-reports/HJKW4Uf99EpSFqPuAf2xkN/


Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said it was her belief that the findings of the report should be unclassified, a consistent theme from Democrats. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats on Saturday she’ll rebuff any efforts by the Justice Department to reveal details of special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings in a highly classified setting — a tactic she warned could be employed to shield the report’s conclusions from the public.

Three sources who participated in a conference call among House Democrats said Pelosi (D-Calif.) told lawmakers she worried the Justice Department would seek to disclose Mueller’s conclusions to the so-called Gang of Eight — the top Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate — which handles the nation’s most sensitive secrets. The substance of Gang of Eight briefings are heavily guarded.

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“Everyone pounded the transparency drum continuously,” said a source who was on the Saturday afternoon call.

Pelosi said it was her belief that the findings of the report should be unclassified, a consistent theme from Democrats who said they wanted Attorney General William Barr to share virtually every scrap of paper connected to the Mueller report with Congress.

Democrats repeatedly compared their demands for transparency to Republican efforts to obtain intricate details of the FBI’s handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server. GOP lawmakers succeeded in obtaining thousands of FBI officials’ text messages connected to the Clinton probe, as well as agent notes, internal emails and thousands of files.

Internal Justice Department guidelines state that a sitting president cannot be indicted, and senior DOJ officials, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, have indicated that the department would not disclose damaging information about individuals who are not indicted. But Democrats have argued that Congress is entitled to such information as part of its own sweeping investigations into obstruction of justice and abuse of power on the part of President Donald Trump.

During the conference call, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) both cited the Clinton precedent as evidence to support their calls for complete transparency.

“Things kind of unfolded very, very quickly yesterday. The primary reason for the call was just to rally the troops,” Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), a member of the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, said in an interview Saturday. “While the special counsel’s work appears to be done, our work is not.”

Democrats conferred as they awaited a high-level summary of Mueller’s findings from the Justice Department, which top Democrats said they expected to be delivered to Congress on Sunday or Monday. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is likely to get the first indication from Barr when a summary is being delivered, said he would notify colleagues immediately.

Without details of Mueller’s conclusions about Trump associates’ contacts with Russians in 2016, the lawmakers leaned heavily into calls for the release of the full report — both to the public and to Congress.

During an earlier conference call with Judiciary Committee Democrats, Nadler said the committee would ask the Justice Department to preserve all documents from the special counsel’s investigation, according to a source familiar with the call.

Barr informed the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees on Friday evening that Mueller had completed his nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, potential collusion between Trump associates and Russians, and possible obstruction of justice by the president.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/23/pelosi-mueller-report-1233317

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.

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.

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.

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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.”

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.”

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

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 high 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.

Police in the western county of Moere og Romsdal said the ship managed to 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. 

Norwegian authorities said they were forced to divert two of five helicopters rescuing the crew and passengers to help another ship that experienced a seizure in the storm. They were diverted to assist the nine person crew of the Hagland Captain cargo vessel. Both boats are trying to avoid being dashed on the rocky coast.

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said the Viking Sky’s evacuation was likely to be a slow and dangerous process, as passengers needed to be hoisted from the cruise ship to the five available helicopters one by one. By 6 p.m. local time, some 100 people had been rescued. 

A cruise ship Viking Sky drifts towards land after an engine failure, Hustadvika, Norway March 23, 2019. 

Frank Einar Vatne/NTB Scanpix/via REUTERS


Authorities told NRK that a strong storm with high waves was preventing rescue workers from using life boats or other vessels in taking passengers ashore.

“It’s a demanding exercise, because they (passengers) have to hang in the air under a helicopter and there’s a very, very strong wind,” witness Odd Roar Lange told NRK at the site.

According to the cruisemapper.com website, the Viking Sky was on a 12-day trip that began March 14 in the western Norwegian city of Bergen. 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 Viking Sky, a vessel with gross tonnage of 47,800, was delivered in 2017 to operator Viking Ocean Cruises.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/norway-cruise-ship-viking-cruise-ship-sends-mayday-call-passengers-evacuated-by-helicopters-boats-today-2019-03-23/

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

US President Donald Trump has promised to “totally crush” remaining Islamic State group militants after its five-year “caliphate” came to an end.

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

He vowed to fight “until it is finally defeated wherever it operates”.

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) in the two countries.

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

What is Trump’s new strategy on IS?

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 reads.

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

On Saturday, more than a million people took to the streets of London to demand a second Brexit referendum — what they’re calling a “people’s vote.”

In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted 52 to 48 percent to leave the European Union. That incredibly close vote kicked off nearly two years of political and economic chaos in Britain that continue to this day, as the country tries to figure out how to break away from the EU without tanking its entire economy.

British Prime Minister Theresa May spent months negotiating a detailed Brexit deal with the EU, only to see it rejected not once, but twice by the UK Parliament. As Vox’s Jen Kirby explains, the country is “bitterly divided,” but “there’s one thing almost everyone in Britain agrees on: Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal is really bad.”

The inability to get a deal passed has brought the country to the brink of disaster: the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. In that scenario, the UK crashes out of the EU with no rules in place for how everything from trade to airline travel to immigration between the UK and EU countries will work. It would be an unprecedented economic catastrophe — and Brits are not amused by their leaders’ failure to come up with a solution to avert it.

That’s why hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom support staying in the EU, are now calling for a second Brexit referendum. People’s Vote UK, the grassroots group leading the charge, told Vox’s Kirby back in December that it wants to give UK voters a chance to choose between May’s deal or remaining in the EU.

The idea has been building for a while now, and only recently gained support from the opposition Labour Party. So the People’s Vote UK decided to call on British citizens to take to the streets for a mass demonstration Saturday to show the country’s leaders just how much support there really is for a second referendum.

And the people answered. Here are some of the most eye-opening — and cheeky — photos from Saturday’s people’s vote march in London.

Brits are fed up — and much of the anger is directed at Prime Minister Theresa May and her Cabinet


An effigy of British Prime Minister Theresa May passes by Downing Street during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo


Demonstrators defaced the doors of the UK’s Cabinet Office with anti-Brexit stickers during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images


A demonstrator holds a placard during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images


Demonstrators at the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Isabel Infantes/PA Images via Getty Images


Protesters sit next to a stroller with a sign reading “Theresa May is not on our side” at the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Tayfun Salci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

But people haven’t lost their senses of humor


A protester holds a sign during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Guy Smallman/Getty Images


Protesters pass a mock emergency box containing tea bags that reads “In Case of Hard Brexit Break Glass” during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Guy Smallman/Getty Images


A protester holds a placard at the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
John Keeble/Getty Images


A demonstrator wears a sticker on her forehead during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo


A demonstrator holds a placard during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

There’s also plenty of love for the European Union


A protester with “I [heart] EU” painted on her face takes part in the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
John Keeble/Getty Images


A young girl waves an EU flag during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
John Keeble/Getty Images


People with their faces painted in EU flag colors participate in the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Niklas Halle’n/AFP/Getty Images

And plenty of ire for former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, one of the main champions of Brexit


A demonstrator holds a placard during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Tim Ireland/AP Photo


A demonstrator holds a sign featuring the face of Nigel Farage (center) and others during the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

Farage actually held his own pro-Brexit rally Saturday — in the parking lot of a local pub. 200 people showed up.


Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage addresses March to Leave protesters in Nottingham on March 23, 2019.
Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images


Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage arrives at the Last Post pub during the March to Leave protest in Nottingham on March 23, 2019.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Sorry, Nigel


A demonstrator holds a sign at the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on March 23, 2019.
Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

Source Article from https://www.vox.com/world/2019/3/23/18278647/anti-brexit-march-photos-peoples-vote-protest-nigel-farage

WASHINGTON — The findings of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, will remain confidential for at least another day, a senior Justice Department official said on Saturday, as Attorney General William P. Barr continued to pore over the report to determine what to make public.

Mr. Mueller delivered his highly anticipated report to Mr. Barr on Friday, signaling the formal conclusion of a 22-month investigation into Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and any attempts by President Trump’s associates to aid them. Mr. Mueller also examined whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice to try to protect himself or his allies from investigators.

Mr. Barr and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller and oversaw much of his work, were cloistered inside the Justice Department on Saturday with their top advisers determining how much of the report will be given to Congress and the public, according to the senior Justice Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Mr. Mueller was not participating in the process.

Regulations governing the special counsel give Mr. Barr latitude to decide what, if anything, to share publicly. In a letter to Congress on Friday notifying members that he had the report, Mr. Barr said he planned to hand over to lawmakers “principal conclusions” of the report as soon as this weekend. He wrote that he “remained committed to as much transparency as possible.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/us/politics/mueller-report-russia-inquiry.html

Leaders from a number of countries are reacting to the announcement by US-backed forces that they have captured the last enclave held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) in Syria, eliminating the group’s so-called caliphate.

After weeks of heavy fighting and aerial bombardment, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday declared victory over ISIL, saying they had flushed the group’s fighters from their last remaining stronghold in the eastern town of Baghouz, on the banks of the Euphrates River.

“We announce today the destruction of the so-called Islamic State organisation and the end of its ground control in its last pocket in Baghouz,” Mazloum Abdi, SDF general commander, told a victory ceremony.



 

The SDF has been Washington’s partner on the ground in Syria, spearheading the fight against ISIL for the past five years.


The announcement marked the end of a brutal self-styled caliphate that ISIL – originally an offshoot of al-Qaeda – carved out in large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Yet the capture of Baghouz will likely not mark the end of ISIL as a force in the region, according to analysts.

Here’s the initial regional and international reaction to the news of the fall of ISIL’s last bastion.

Syria’s Kurds

The top military commander of the SDF urged the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to choose the path of dialogue after ISIL’s military defeat, as he announced a “new phase” in the conflict.

“We call on the central government in Damascus to prefer the process of dialogue,” Mazloum Kobane said in a statement.

He also called on Damascus to “start practical steps to reach a political solution based on the recognition” of autonomous institutions and of the SDF’s special status.

Commenting on the battle against ISIL, he said that a “new phase in the fight against terrorists” is beginning, adding that the target was now to eliminate the group’s “sleeper cells”.

United States

An envoy for the US-led coalition fighting ISIL hailed the demise of ISIL as a “critical milestone”. 


“We congratulate the Syrian people and particularly the Syrian Democratic Forces on the destruction of ISIS’s fraudulent caliphate,” said William Roebuck.

“While we have completed the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, we still have much work to do to achieve an enduring defeat of ISIS … ISIS remains a significant threat in the region, (to) the United States and our partners and allies,” he added. 

His remarks came a day after President Donald Trump declared that ISIL fighters were no longer in control of any territory in Syria.

“Here’s ISIS on Election Day,” he said, linking coalition gains since then to his presidency. He pointed to a swath of red signifying the group’s previous territorial hold, and then to one without any red: “Here’s ISIS right now.”

France

President Emmanuel Macron said a source of potential violence had been “eliminated” but warned that “the threat remains and the fight against terrorist groups must continue”. 

“Syrian Democratic Forces have announced that Daesh’s last stronghold has fallen. I pay homage to our partners and to the armies of the international coalition, of which France is part,” Macron said on Twitter. 

“They fought the terrorists with determination for our security.”

United Kingdom 

Prime Minister Theresa May called the bastion’s fall “a historic milestone” in the fight against ISIL, and said the British government remained “committed to eradicating their poisonous ideology”.

“The liberation of the last Daesh-held territory wouldn’t have been possible without the immense courage of UK military and our allies,” she said on Twitter, using the group’s acronym in Arabic.

“We will continue to do what is necessary to protect the British people, our Allies and partners from the threat Daesh poses.” 

Britain said its armed forces had nearly 1,400 personnel in the region providing support to local forces in addition to numerous air attacks carried out by the Royal Air Force.

Britain’s army has also helped train Iraqi security forces.

Germany

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas described the end of the caliphate as “an important step”.

He warned, however, that it was “clear” that ISIL “continues to represent a considerable threat”.

“We shall not underestimate that threat,” he said.


Source Article from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/world-reacts-fall-isil-bastion-190323140353285.html

The Latest on the Viking Sky cruise ship, which is having engine problems off the coast of Norway (all times local):

6 p.m.

Norwegian officials say rescue workers have managed to evacuate about 100 people so far from a cruise ship that ran into engine problems in heavy winds and seas and sent a mayday call off Norway’s western coast.

Authorities kicked off an evacuation on Saturday afternoon of the estimated 1,300 passengers and crew from the Viking Sky cruise ship. Rescue teams with helicopters and boats have been sent to help, and the evacuation process expected to take several hours.

Norwegian newspaper VG said the Viking Sky into propulsion problems as strong winds and heavy seas hit Norway’s coastal regions and had to moor in Hustadsvika Bay, between the western Norwegian cities of Alesund and Trondheim.

The Viking Sky was delivered in 2017 to operator Viking Ocean Cruises.

___

5:15 p.m.

Police say a cruise ship with engine problems has sent a mayday call off Norway’s western coast and is making plans to evacuate its 1,300 passengers and crew.

Norwegian newspaper VG said the Viking Sky cruise ship ran into propulsion problems as strong winds and heavy seas hit Norway’s coastal regions Saturday.

Police in the western county of Moere og Romsdal said Saturday the ship has managed to moor in Hustadsvika Bay, between the western Norwegian cities of Alesund and Trondheim.

Rescue teams with helicopters and boats have been sent to help and evacuate the vessel, a process expected to take several hours.

The Viking Sky was delivered in 2017 to operator Viking Ocean Cruises.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/world/the-latest-100-people-evacuated-from-cruise-ship-off-norway

There is no small complexity in the task of carrying hundreds of people through the sky at hundreds of miles an hour. More than 100,000 airliners take off and land each day, but two deadly air crashes in six months have shocked passengers, regulators, and industry alike.

Crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max in Indonesia and Ethiopia offer a window into all that complexity. Boeing and its CEO Dennis Muilenburg want the story to be simple: a software problem that can be fixed with a quick patch. But that doesn’t capture the mistakes made by Boeing and American aviation regulators in certifying the plane to carry passengers.

By now, you may well have heard of MCAS, software that automatically pitches 737 Maxes downward to avoid stalling in mid-air. It exists only because Boeing wanted to upgrade its 737 without changing it fundamentally—so it added new engines that made the aircraft more likely to stall, rather than starting from scratch. In the emerging picture of the two accidents, the software only failed because the mechanical sensor it depended on also malfunctioned.

But all that pales next to what will likely be the highlight of investigations into the incident: the training and user experience of the people in the cockpits. Pilots did not have sufficient training to understand how MCAS worked, and two vital safety features—a display showing what the sensor detected, and a light warning if other sensors disagreed—were optional extras (paywall).

Minimizing training and cockpit changes was an economic decision: The upgraded plane would be more attractive to potential purchasers if they did not have to spend expensive hours retraining their pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration determined Boeing’s training and safety plans were fine. Now, investigators want to know why. The answers could be costly for Boeing, and for America’s reputation as a leader in the safe deployment of aviation technology.

Software is easy to blame, because for many people computer science is a mystery. But these crashes emerged from an experience we’re all familiar with: the pressure to deliver on a tight timetable, the temptation to cut corners, and the hope that in a big, complex world, one little kludge won’t mess up the whole program.

Read more of Quartz’s coverage of the Boeing 737 Max crisis. This post was originally published in the weekend edition of the Quartz Daily Brief newsletter. Sign up for it here.

Source Article from https://qz.com/1577986/the-boeing-737-max-crisis-goes-way-beyond-software/

A Chicago police officer who had just finished his shift was shot and killed early Saturday in an apparently random attack, officials said.

Officer John Rivera, 23, and another victim were ambushed and shot about 3:30 a.m. local time while sitting in a vehicle in the Downtown section of the city, police brass said in a news conference Saturday morning. The two shooting victims and two other people, including another off-duty police officer, had just left a nightclub, officials said.

“It’s just a shame, this kid, 23 years old, had his whole life and career ahead of him, and he gets gunned down senselessly,” said Eddie Johnson, the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department at an afternoon news conference.

“Right now, I’m disgusted,” Johnson said.

Johnson said his son, also a police officer, served alongside Rivera.

“My heart aches for his entire family,” he added.

The other victim who was shot, an unidentified man who is not a police officer, was in critical condition and in surgery, officials said. He is expected to survive, police said.

Johnson and the other officer, who had just finished a “tour of duty,” had left the club with their two friends and returned to their vehicle, officials said. That’s when two men approached them, said First Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio.

“One of them pulled a gun and fired,” he said during the news conference.

Riccio said there were no words exchanged.

“It does appear to be random. They did not have any confrontations with anybody,” he added, referring to the police officers.

There was “no indication whatsoever” why the group was targeted, Johnson said.

Nothing was taken from the car, either, Riccio added.

The shooter is still at large, officials said, but detectives are interviewing a “person of interest.” The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered, Johnson said.

Detectives were looking for cameras that may have captured the shooting, Riccio said.

“There’s an abundance of video,” he said. “Detectives are combing through that video.”

Johnson made a pledge to catch the shooter and anyone else involved in the shooter.

“Mark my words,” he said, “we will find them.”

Rivera had been on the job for close to two years, Riccio said.

“He’s the kind of officer that we want in Chicago,” Johnson said.

He had handled paperwork on a killing that occurred Friday night, he added.

The Chicago Police Department tweeted photos showing a procession of police vehicles transferring the officer’s body to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A spokesman for the police department, Anthony Guglielmi, called the shooting a “devastating incident.”

Source Article from https://abc7chicago.com/off-duty-police-officer-shot-to-death-in-devastating-incident-officials/5213331/

As the floodwaters from Cyclone Idai have started to recede, the death toll has risen to more than 600 across southeastern Africa and is expected to continue rising.

Adrien Barbier/AFP/Getty Images


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Adrien Barbier/AFP/Getty Images

As the floodwaters from Cyclone Idai have started to recede, the death toll has risen to more than 600 across southeastern Africa and is expected to continue rising.

Adrien Barbier/AFP/Getty Images

As the floodwaters from Cyclone Idai have started to recede, the death toll has risen to more than 600 across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi and is expected to continue to grow.

The storm hit the southeastern region of Africa on March 14, causing extensive damage.

During a visit to Beira, Mozambique, Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, viewed the devastation from above, and said in a statement that “the scale of this crisis is staggering.”

“Tragically, we know that the full picture of this disaster is probably even worse than it seems now,” As Sy said. “The death toll will probably rise further as more and more areas are reached and as more and more bodies are recovered.”

A satellite image of of Beira, Mozambique, taken on March 13, before Cyclone Idai.

Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies


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Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies

A satellite image of of Beira, Mozambique, taken on March 13, before Cyclone Idai.

Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies

Satellite image of Beira, Mozambique, taken on March 22 revealing extensive damage to the city from Cyclone Idai.

Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies


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Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies

Satellite image of Beira, Mozambique, taken on March 22 revealing extensive damage to the city from Cyclone Idai.

Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies

There is also concern that the current conditions throughout the region will lead to the spread of waterborne diseases, including cholera, malaria and diarrhea.

The executive director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, said in a statement that an estimated 900,000 children were affected by Cyclone Idai and that as relief efforts continue, their physical and mental health is also a concern.

“We are particularly concerned about the safety and well-being of women and children who are still waiting to be rescued or are crammed in temporary shelters and at risk of violence and abuse,” Fore said. “We are also concerned about children who were orphaned by the cyclone or became separated from their parents in the chaos that followed.”

More than 18,000 houses were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from Cyclone Idai.

Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images


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More than 18,000 houses were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from Cyclone Idai.

Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

Aid has started to arrive to some of the areas that were hit hardest. Food, water and other essentials are meant to help the survivors, but as NPR’s Eyder Peralta reports, millions of people were in need of food before the cyclone hit due to a long drought.

More than 18,000 houses were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The total impact of the storm has yet to be determined.

The U.N. allocated $20 million to get aid to the area and on Thursday United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called for “far greater international support” to help the relief efforts.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/23/706160104/death-toll-from-cyclone-idai-climbs-to-more-than-600

The Southern District’s reputation for nonpartisanship — and history of autonomy from the Justice Department in Washington, giving it the nickname “Sovereign District” — may make it less vulnerable to attacks from the president and his allies. The president’s lead lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, led the office from 1983 to 1989 and later became New York’s mayor.

The Southern District’s role in Trump-related cases comes at a time of transition for the office, which is led by Geoffrey S. Berman, who was appointed in January 2018 by the Trump administration.

Mr. Berman notified Justice Department officials early last year of a possible appearance of a conflict of interest in the Cohen investigation, and officials concluded that he should be recused, for reasons that have not been disclosed.

In his stead, Mr. Berman’s handpicked deputy, Robert S. Khuzami, led the Cohen investigation. But on Friday, Mr. Berman announced that Mr. Khuzami will step down from his post next month to return home to Washington.

Mr. Berman named his senior counsel, Audrey Strauss, as Mr. Khuzami’s successor. Ms. Strauss, who had already been deeply involved in the Cohen investigation, will assume responsibility for any remaining aspects of the Cohen inquiry that were subject to Mr. Berman’s recusal.

Mr. Khuzami’s departure will not directly affect most of the other Trump-related investigations, which Mr. Berman has supervised. Mr. Berman’s name, for example, appeared on a February grand jury subpoena served on the president’s inaugural committee.

For the most part, the investigations surrounding the president and his associates have been assigned to career prosecutors in the office’s public corruption unit, which has a track record of convicting politicians on both sides of the aisle. Those prosecutors work on the eighth floor of the building, down the hall from Mr. Berman’s office.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/us/trump-investigations-new-york.html

A Chicago police officer who had just finished his shift was shot and killed early Saturday in an apparently random attack, officials said.

The off-duty officer and another victim were ambushed and shot about 3:30 a.m. local time while sitting in a vehicle in the Downtown section of the city, police brass said in a news conference Saturday morning. The two shooting victims and two other people, including another off-duty police officer, had just left a nightclub, officials said.

The other victim who was shot, an unidentified man who is not a police officer, was in critical condition and in surgery, officials said. He is expected to survive, police said.

The two police officers, who had just finished a “tour of duty,” and the two other people had left the club and returned to their vehicle, officials said. That’s when two men approached them, said First Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio.

“One of them pulled a gun and fired,” he said during the news conference.

Riccio said there were no words exchanged.

“It does appear to be random. They did not have any confrontations with anybody,” he added, referring to the police officers.

Nothing was taken from the car, either, Riccio added.

The shooter is still at large, officials said, but detectives are interviewing a “person of interest.”

Detectives were looking for cameras that may have captured the shooting, Riccio said.

“There’s an abundance of video,” he said. “Detectives are combing through that video.”

The officer who died was 23 years old and would have made two years on the job in May, Riccio said.

He had handled paperwork on a killing that occurred Friday night, he added.

The Chicago Police Department tweeted photos showing a procession of police vehicles transferring the officer’s body to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A spokesman for the police department, Anthony Guglielmi, called the shooting a “devastating incident.”

This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.

Source Article from https://abc7chicago.com/off-duty-police-officer-shot-in-devastating-incident-official/5213331/