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Mueller files report with attorney general — with no details made public

Special counsel Robert Mueller submitted a confidential report on the Russia investigation to Attorney General William Barr late Friday afternoon. The Justice Department provided no details on Mueller’s findings or conclusions.

China factory blast death toll jumps to 64, man rescued after 40 hours

The death toll in a chemical plant explosion in China rose to 64 Saturday but rescuers found a survivor among more than two dozen still missing in the debris of one of the country's worst industrial accidents in recent years. Thursday's explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng injured hundreds and flattened an industrial park. The local fire brigade pulled a man in his 40s from the rubble of the destroyed chemical plant around dawn on Saturday, according to a statement on the city government's official Weibo account.

Twin bombing at Afghan ceremony kills 4, including official

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A twin bombing at a public ceremony in southern Afghanistan on Saturday killed at least four people, including a provincial official, and wounded more than 30, officials said.

IRS Loosens Tax Penalty for Millions

The IRS said today that because of changes and confusion caused by the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it will penalize fewer taxpayers who didn't withhold enough federal taxes in 2018. Before the rul...

JetBlue pilots who drugged and raped flight attendants continued working for airline without repercussion, lawsuit says

Three female flight attendants claim they were drugged and two of them raped by two JetBlue pilots during a layover in Puerto Rico, a new lawsuit filed this week in New York federal court has claimed. At least one of the female flight attendants said she was forced to work with one of the accused pilots after the alleged rape. After making their way to a beach in Puerto Rico near the hotel they were staying during their layover in May of last year, the women were offered sips from one of the flight attendant’s alcoholic beverages.

'A gift sent from the heavens': Nebraska pals find fridge full of beer during flood cleanup

Kyle Simpson and Gayland Stouffer had spent the day cleaning up from flooding in Nebraska when a fridge appeared in the distance. It was full of beer.

`I am Not a Monster`: Indiana Teacher Accused of Injuring Student Defends Herself

A teacher at Tindley Summit Academy says she spent days in jail despite the fact that she`s innocent, and now prosecutors are declining to press charges.

Bringing the Sting: The U.S. Navy Is Getting New F/A-18E/F Super Hornets

The Super Hornets would be the first new-build examples of the Block III variant of the F/A-18E/F. The Block III flies farther and carries more weapons than an older F/A-18E/F can do and also is stealthier than earlier Super Hornet models are.

2020 Vision: Is Biden-Abrams the ticket for Democrats?

As the former vice president bides his time, current Democratic candidates stake out policy positions.

FEMA Released Personal Info of 2.3 Million Hurricane and Wildfire Survivors, Watchdog Says

Potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud and theft

School shooting survivor stricken by 'survivor's guilt' takes own life

A teenager who survived the Parkland school shooting in Florida has killed herself while struggling with survivors' guilt, local media reported Friday. Sydney Aiello, 19, was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas last February 14 when a former student opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon, killing 14 students and three staff members. Among the dead were two of Aiello's best friends, Meadow Pollack and Joaquin Oliver.

Trump says Islamic State no longer holds any territory in Syria

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that U.S.-backed forces had dislodged the Islamic State militant group from its last holdout in Syria. Congratulations," Trump said. "I think it's about time." The president has previously displayed a map illustrating the diminution of Islamic State.

Midwest flooding costs increasing, with $1.6B damage in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Friday that recent flooding in the state has caused an estimated $1.6 billion in damage, pushing the total costs from the devastating Midwest flooding to at least $3 billion.

Economic gloom hits world stock markets

New York (AFP) - Worries about economic growth prospects hit global stock markets on Friday, causing sharp price drops on both sides of the Atlantic.

Tax refunds are $3 smaller on average versus last year after seventh week of filing season

After three weeks of rising tax refunds, the average tax refund is $3 less than a year ago.

Democratic Socialists of America back Bernie: 'The best chance to beat Trump'

The group helped leftwing candidates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib win long-shot elections to Congress in 2018Bernie Sanders waves to workers at a rally at the University of California Los Angeles, on Wednesday 20 March 2019. Photograph: Richard Vogel/APThe Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has officially endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, with the organization throwing its growing political clout behind the Vermont senator ahead of the 2020 election.The DSA’s National Political Committee leadership team voted to back Sanders during a meeting on Thursday night, after the rank-and-file membership had earlier overwhelmingly pledged their support.The backing of the DSA will provide a further fillip to Sanders, who quickly outraised most of his rivals for the Democratic nomination. The DSA endorsed Sanders in 2016 and helped the leftwing candidates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib win long-shot elections to Congress in 2018.“He has the best possible chance of the Democratic field to beat Trump,” said Jeremy Gong, a member of the NPC who voted to endorse Sanders.“Specifically because he has a working-class political agenda, as opposed to an elite, or moderate, or corporate-friendly agenda that is not exciting to anyone electorally – except a very small number of either Democratic party diehards or upper middle class or wealthy people.”Sanders announced his run for president on 19 February and raised $5.9m in the first 24 hours of his campaign, second only to Texas’s Beto O’Rourke among Democratic candidates. Sanders is running second, behind Joe Biden, in most polling of Democratic candidates – although the pair are probably benefitting from superior name recognition at this point in the election cycle.The DSA has seen a dramatic increase in membership since the 2016 election, rising from 5,000 members to more than 55,000. Ocasio-Cortez is the highest-profile beneficiary of the DSA’s political heft, her victory in New York’s 14th congressional district aided by the wealth of volunteers DSA can offer access to.Gong said the DSA was still working on its strategy to support Sanders, who is advocating for Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage and a Green New Deal climate policy. There are more than 100 chapters in the US and each will decide how to promote Sanders. But Gong said the DSA was looking beyond just electing Sanders as president.“Sanders alone, once in office, is not capable of pushing through these reforms,” Gong said.“We need to have a mass movement of ordinary people building organizations like the DSA, building their union, going on strike, demonstrating in the streets, pushing for his radical reform agenda.”The DSA also aims to elect progressive candidates to local government across the country. Six democratic socialists are running for election to the Chicago city council this year, and despite Republicans seeking to use the term “democratic socialist” to denigrate Democrats, the DSA is continuing to grow.Sanders, 77, has been criticized in some quarters for entering what promises to be the most diverse race for the Democratic nomination in history, but Gong pointed to some polling which shows Sanders is popular among black and Latino voters, and said there is “not a deep bench” of candidates who have the politics and reach of the veteran senator.“It’d be better and preferable if Sanders was not an old white man, and that there be someone who has the same track record, and the same politics and the same potential to transform our society that Sanders does,” Gong said.“[But] there is no one else who is advancing the Sanders agenda and building a movement in the way that Sanders is who could also be elected president.”

Women All Over New Zealand Wore Headscarves in Solidarity With the Christchurch Victims

Women across New Zealand are wearing headscarves on in a show of support for the Muslim community after shootings at two mosques left 50 dead.

Kamala Harris Calls for U.S. Spending Hike to Boost Teacher Pay

The California senator will tell the Texas Southern University College Democrats in Houston that she’d seek to fully close the pay gap for public school teachers in her first term as president, according to a campaign aide who wasn’t authorized to discuss the plan publicly. Harris’s campaign cited a study by the progressive-leaning Economic Policy Institute that found that elementary, middle, and secondary public school teachers earn 11.1 percent less than similar college graduates, even after accounting for benefits, according to 2017 data. The candidate’s call comes amid a flurry of policy ideas from a large Democratic presidential field aimed at mitigating rising inequality and expanding the safety net.

Mike Huckabee: Republicans made a big mistake by trying to go after Bill Clinton relentlessly

Former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee says Democrats have ‘egg on their face’ after Special Counsel Robert Mueller does not recommend any further indictments in the Trump-Russia probe.

Some remains of Guatemala volcano victims unidentified: official

Guatemalan investigators have been unable to identify about 110 pieces of remains from victims of a volcanic eruption that killed 202 people and left 229 missing last June, a forensic official said Saturday. After months of testing, which included sending some samples abroad, about 110 remains cannot be identified, said the head of the National Forensic Sciences Office, Fanuel Garcia. "We have all of them and we are holding on to them, awaiting a time to carry out a collective burial," he said of the unidentified remains.

Markets Right Now: Stocks, yields drop on growth worries

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on developments in financial markets (all times local):

Missouri River flooding forces evacuation of 7,500 from waterfront city

Record floodwaters that submerged vast stretches of Nebraska and Iowa farmland along America's longest river reached a new crest on Friday at the waterfront city of St. Joseph, Missouri, forcing chaotic evacuations of thousands from low-lying areas. With emergency sirens blaring as the Missouri River rose to the top of the three-story-high levee wall in St. Joseph, about 55 miles (88 km) north of Kansas City, Missouri, sheriff's deputies rushed door-to-door urging residents to flee to higher ground.

Trump halts new North Korea sanctions despite lack of progress in talks

The president reverses a decision by the Treasury Department to impose additional sanctions on North Korea.

The fight is not over, but Daesh no longer has land to call their own

On Saturday we marked a turning point in our fight against the Daesh fanatics with the liberation of the last vestiges of land held under their brutal rule. At one point these barbaric extremists controlled territory roughly the size of the United Kingdom and had advanced to within a few miles of the gates of Baghdad. But in the last few days they have been rooted out of their last enclave along the Euphrates and their so-called caliphate destroyed. I pay tribute to all our Armed Forces and allies who have helped fight Daesh. They have hunted down this nihilistic death-cult night and day. Our RAF Tornados, Typhoons, and Reaper have struck almost 2,000 times – eliminating terrorists, overwhelming their headquarters and cutting off their supplies. It is fitting that Tornado is ending its illustrious career with this achievement. There is the work of others which should not go unrecognised. The crews who tirelessly flew our Reaper drones. Last month I announced they will now receive the Operation Shader medal, without clasp. This is the first time our Reaper crews have received such recognition. Our troops on the ground have – as part of the Coalition – also helped train some 90,000 Iraqis in everything from bridge-building to defusing bombs. We also pay tribute to the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Peshmerga and the Iraqi security forces who sustained heavy casualties to liberate 7.7 million people from Daesh’s tyranny. Those British nationals who turned their back on our country to fight for Daesh made a fatal mistake. They should expect to bear the full force of the law for their actions in the country where they have committed crimes. So today we mark a major milestone but we also count the cost. Mercifully, there have been very few deaths of British and allied personnel and hostages. But we feel each one of those very keenly. Our sympathies go to their families and friends for their loss. They did not die in vain. Their bravery is to be commended for ensuring the UK’s national security by tackling this threat. No-one will ever forget the damage and destruction wrought by Daesh’s barbarism. Their frenzy of violence has left behind a trail of destruction: innocents sold into slavery, thousands dead, millions displaced and some of the world’s greatest cultural treasures sacked. It was imperative that we acted. But we cannot say this fight is over. The terrorists are as much an evil ideology as a geographical entity. We’ve always known that cutting off one head of the snake could lead to others springing up elsewhere. We’re painfully aware of the threat these extremists still pose whether to Iraq, the wider region or to our own shores. That’s why the next phase of our campaign is well underway. The UK is helping the Iraqis rebuild their homeland so they can remain free from Daesh. It is continuing to provide vital humanitarian aid in Syria where we have already committed more than £2.7 billion. And it is continuing to champion a political settlement which, ultimately, will be the only way to achieve lasting peace in the region But, above all, it means continuing to do everything in our power, alongside the Global Coalition against Daesh, to check the spread of insurgency and draw the sting from its poisonous ideology. As I said to RUSI recently, a Global Britain must to be ready to intervene, using all the hard power at our disposal to defend the international rules-based system. And we are well placed to do that. Our Armed Forces will remain deployed in the region, to provide continuing assistance to the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Iraqi security forces against any attempt by Daesh to re-establish an active presence.  We have world-class F35 stealth fighters, we have an aircraft carrier that is the most powerful surface vessel ever to leave our shores and new sophisticated equipment coming into play. Not only will we fight this evil ideology on land but in the cyber sphere where the UK heads the Global Coalition Communications Cell, working to reduce the impact of Daesh’s ability to use propaganda to recruit, inspire and incite supporters.  None of this will be easy. Daesh is the evil of our generation and we must be prepared to stay the course. In the past five years, our Armed Forces, alongside our allies have turned the tide. Daesh no longer has land to call their own. But we will not rest until the danger they pose to our people is ended once and for all.

Ex-cop says he thought he saw a gun when he shot black teen

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A white former police officer said Thursday he thought a weapon was pointed at him when he shot and killed an unarmed black teenager outside Pittsburgh last summer.

More Misconceptions about College

Now that we’ve all had a good airing of grievances about elite colleges and their attendant injustices, let’s get some perspective.While the numbers of high-school graduates heading off to college have increased in recent years, the percentages graduating with a four-year degree have not increased much. Many students, especially those who are the first in their families to attend college, drop out before receiving a degree. (They cannot drop out of student-loan payments, though.)Data from the Lumina Foundation show that among Americans aged 25–64, 52.4 percent have no more than a high-school diploma (though 15.4 percent of them attended college for a while). An additional 5.2 percent received a certificate of some kind, and 9.2 percent obtained an associate’s degree. What most people think of when you say “college” is a four-year institution. Only 21.1 percent received bachelor’s degrees, and another 12.2 percent also earned graduate degrees. Adding the last two categories brings the fraction of Americans with college or graduate degrees to just over one-third.While most of the conversation in the past week has focused on highly selective colleges such as Yale and Penn, it’s important to remember that only a small number of America’s colleges are selective. As FiveThirtyEight has reported, more than 75 percent of undergrads attend colleges that accept at least half of all applicants. The number who attend selective colleges -- i.e., schools that accept 25 percent or fewer — is just 4 percent. And the number who attend schools in the very top tier, colleges that reject 90 percent or more, can be counted on your fingers and toes. You can probably guess most of them. (Though not all. On this U.S. News list, Pomona College came in at No. 11, and the Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute came in first.) Less than 1 percent of college students attend these elite schools.Most students attend commuter schools, which tend to be community colleges. Even among those at four-year institutions, almost 25 percent attend part-time. Half of college students are also working, not getting plastered at frat parties.There’s a healthy debate in policy circles about whether our current cultural preoccupation with college for all is a good thing. Some people who are funneled toward college might be a better fit for vocational training, apprenticeships, or other life paths; and while there is no doubt about the association between college completion and higher income, there is uncertainty about the causal relationship.Rather than gnash our collective teeth about whether Jason or Jessica can get into MIT, we might want to focus on all students, those who are headed for college and those who are not. Every student in elementary and high school should be learning about the “success sequence.” The phrase was introduced by Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution and has lately been reinforced with a study by W. Bradford Wilcox and Wendy Wang of the Institute for Family Studies.What they’ve found is that students have it within their power to virtually guarantee a middle- or upper-class income if they follow three steps. Those three basics are 1) finish high school, 2) get a full-time job, and 3) get married before having children. Young people who follow all three steps have only a 3 percent likelihood of living in poverty when they reach young adulthood. Eighty-six percent of Millennials who put marriage first had incomes in the middle or upper third, compared with 53 percent who had children before marriage. The success sequence works for those born into poverty, too. Seventy-one percent of Millennials who grew up in the bottom third of the income distribution were in the middle or upper third by young adulthood if they followed the three steps. Among African Americans, 76 percent who followed the success sequence achieved the middle class or above, and among Hispanics, the percentage was 81 percent.With all of the emphasis on a tiny sliver of the top 1 percent of students, most young people can get the impression that they are doomed to a lesser life. In fact, avoiding a few pitfalls like dropping out of high school, having a baby out of wedlock, and failing to find employment is a ticket to success.There’s a bias among writer types to pay attention to Princeton and Columbia. But that’s not really where the action is in helping most Americans.© 2019 Creators.com

Indonesia's Garuda says to cancel 49-jet Boeing 737 deal after crashes

Indonesia's national carrier Garuda has told Boeing it will cancel a multi-billion-dollar order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after the model was involved in two fatal crashes. The move could spark more cancellations from other major carriers, an aviation analyst said, as Boeing and US federal regulators get set to face their first public grilling by Congress since the deadly incidents. "We have sent a letter to Boeing requesting that the order be cancelled," Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said.

Nobody knows if NASA’s OSIRIS-REx can pull off its daring asteroid-sampling maneuver

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft first arrived at the large space rock known as Bennu late last year, and it's spent the first few months of 2019 observing its new space companion and teaching NASA more about the rock's surface. Unfortunately for NASA engineers, the asteroid's surface is nothing like what they assumed it would be, and that poses a serious challenge going forward.The OSIRIS-REx mission includes multiple objectives, with the first being the successful insertion of the spacecraft into orbit around the rock itself. NASA nailed it and things seemed to be great, or at least until scientists got a good look at Bennu's surface. As Sky & Telescope reports, it has complicated matters greatly.With limited capability to observe the asteroid from Earth or in-flight towards the rock, scientists believed the asteroid would be fairly smooth. A smooth surface would make the spacecraft's final maneuver -- and up-close-and-personal sample retrieval -- a lot less risky, but that's not what Bennu had in store.Bennu is, to put it simply, an absolute mess. The asteroid is covered in debris of all sizes, ranging from dust and small rocks to massive boulders and everything in between. This poses a massive challenge for sample collection since the spacecraft will have to avoid obstacles as it inches its way towards the space rock's surface.The plan has always been for OSIRIS-REx to remain in orbit around Bennu for around a year, making observations of its surface and relaying data and images back to its handlers on Earth. However, with its rubble-covered surface now posing a threat to its most anticipated action, NASA will need to work diligently to find a safe place on the asteroid for the spacecraft to gather a sample before leaving Bennu and returning home. It they can pull it off, it'll be a monumental achievement.

Flooding impairs drinking water treatment for Kansas City

Flooding along the Missouri River has impaired treatment of drinking supplies in Kansas City, raising health risks for infants, the elderly and others.

Stranded Norway cruise ship passengers evacuated from MV Viking Sky

The Viking Sky issued a mayday call as bad weather hit Saturday and engine problems caused it to start drifting toward the rocky shore

Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation may have concluded but Trump cannot breathe a sigh of relief just yet

After two years, more than 30 indictments or guilty pleas and close to 200 individual charges – special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is expected to be wound up within a few more days. It is up to Mr Barr as to what Congress, and by extension the US public, see of the report. Mr Barr has pledged transparency over a report that at least one US official is said to have called “comprehensive”.

UN chief visits mosque, stresses sanctity of religious sites

NEW YORK (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres went to the first mosque built in New York City on Friday to show solidarity with the Muslim community, urging people everywhere "to reaffirm the sanctity of all places of worship and the safety of all worshippers."

North Korea quits liaison office in setback for South after new U.S. sanctions

North Korea said it was quitting the joint liaison office set up in September in the border city of Kaesong after a historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in early last year. "The North's side pulled out after conveying to us that they are doing so on the instructions from a higher level, during a liaison officials' contact this morning," South Korea's Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung told a briefing. South Korea regrets the decision and urged a swift normalisation of the arrangement, Chun said, adding the South would continue to staff the office, set up as a regular channel of communication to ease hostility between the rivals, which technically remain at war.

New Zealand prays, falls silent, a week after mosque massacres

The Muslim call to prayer rang out across New Zealand on Friday followed by two minutes of nationwide silence to mark a week since a white supremacist gunned down 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch. As the call was broadcast around the country, thousands -- including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and wounded survivors -- stood in a park opposite the mosque where the killing began, as the nation of 4.5 million came to a standstill. New Zealand is still in shock following the killings by alleged shooter Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian national who had hoped to foment an ethnic war with his attacks.

Ram Rebel TRX Pickup Spied, Likely to Get the Supercharged Hellcat V-8

Looks like the Ford F-150 Raptor isn't going to have the sandbox to itself anymore.

Who was Renty? The story of the slave whose racist photos have triggered a lawsuit against Harvard

The photos of Renty and his daughter Delia, taken in nude in 1850 against their will for a Harvard University professor, are now the subject of a lawsuit that Tamara Lanier has filed this week.

Apple's Tim Cook urges China to continue to open up its economy

Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Saturday urged China to keep opening up its economy as local rivals bit into the profits of the US tech giant caught in the crosshairs of a trade spat between Beijing and Washington. "We have seen China continue to change and evolve... We encourage China to continue to open up," he said during a speech at the annual China Development Forum in Beijing on Saturday. Apple in January revealed that it took a hit in the "Greater China" region, where revenue plunged almost 27 percent in the most recent quarter.

2019 BMW X7 Is Luxurious, Large, and In Charge

The new 2019 BMW X7 is the German automaker’s first large three-row luxury SUV. Until now, the only BMW that offered three rows was the X5, which has a very small optional seat that's barely fit ...

Subpoenas, sentencings and Stone: What will become of the special counsel’s unfinished business?

The Mueller probe’s formal end leaves questions about several ongoing legal proceedings, including the prosecution of Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Donald Trump.

Missouri governor declares state of emergency amid flooding

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency Thursday following flooding that left several people stranded and continues to cause damage and strain levees in several Midwest states.

Factbox: Smoke or fire? Contacts between Trump campaign and Russia

Trump and Moscow have denied any collusion. Mueller handed in the keenly awaited report on his probe, the Justice Department said on Friday. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Russia interfered in the presidential election with a campaign of hacking and propaganda to sow discord in the United States and damage the Republican Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Two US soldiers killed in Afghanistan: NATO

Two US service members were killed in Afghanistan Friday, NATO said, in the latest casualties to hit the international coalition amid ongoing peace talks between Washington and the Taliban. NATO's Resolute Support mission would not immediately release any details about the soldiers but said they had been killed during an unspecified "operation" in the country. "In accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the name of the service members killed in action are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete," said NATO.

It Looks Like the Dodge Charger Is Getting a Widebody Variant

Dodge shows off a "concept" version of its muscle sedan with a widebody setup like its Challenger sibling.