| Interior Department Denies Ryan Zinke Told Staff 'Diversity Isn't Important' Posted: 26 Mar 2018 12:56 PM PDT  The Interior Department is denying a CNN report published Monday that alleged
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| While others march, these teens shoot. At targets. Posted: 24 Mar 2018 06:36 PM PDT  Those at the D.C. rally had come to demand gun control. Those here in Eatonton, Ga., had come to do some shooting.
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| The Rest Of The World Showed Up To March For Our Lives Posted: 24 Mar 2018 09:05 PM PDT  As the March For Our Lives protests took over cities across America, allies
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| Parents Threw Hot Oil On Teen For Refusing Forced Marriage, Cops Say Posted: 26 Mar 2018 07:51 AM PDT  A teenager whose disappearance from her San Antonio, Texas, high school
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| White House responds to claims that Stormy Daniels was threatened Posted: 26 Mar 2018 01:03 PM PDT  During a press briefing at the White House on Monday, March 26, Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah responded to claims that Stormy Daniels was threatened.
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| The Latest: Names of 2 firefighters killed in wreck released Posted: 25 Mar 2018 12:39 PM PDT ![The Latest: Names of 2 firefighters killed in wreck released]( "The Latest: Names of 2 firefighters killed in wreck released") PRATT, W.Va. (AP) — The Latest on two firefighters who died in an accident while responding to an interstate wreck that killed three other people in West Virginia (all times local):
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| 'The Beginning of the End.' An Endangered Whales Species Comes Closer to Extinction Posted: 26 Mar 2018 02:38 PM PDT  Right whales have hit a reproductive drought
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| Emma Gonzalez: Picture of shooting survivor doctored to give her broader nose and show her ripping up US Constitution Posted: 26 Mar 2018 04:59 AM PDT  Doctored images showing Florida school shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez ripping up the US constitution are being shared on social media. The original image featured the teenager tearing up a poster of a gun target, like those used at a firing range. Taken for Teen Vogue and turned into a GIF, it showed Ms Gonzalez standing alongside three of her classmates.
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| Russia Promises Retaliation After Western Expulsions Posted: 26 Mar 2018 10:31 AM PDT  Moscow even turns to Twitter to ask which consulate to close.
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| Parent Close To Austin Bomber's Family Lashes Out At Portrayal Of Killer's Bible Study Group Posted: 26 Mar 2018 12:39 PM PDT  AUSTIN, Texas ― In the hours after Mark Anthony Conditt blew himself up,
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| 'Flagrant violations' of safety norms cited in Siberia inferno Posted: 26 Mar 2018 01:57 PM PDT  Russian authorities on Monday denounced what they called "flagrant violations" of safety norms that led to the deaths of 64 people, many of them children, in a fire at a busy shopping mall in an industrial city in Siberia. Investigators and witnesses said emergency exits were locked shut -- notably at a multiplex cinema where children were watching cartoons -- and alarm systems were not working at the Winter Cherry shopping centre in the Siberian city of Kemerovo. "Investigators have already obtained proof of the flagrant violations that led to such serious consequences," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
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| Mnuchin Touts Trump's Call For Unconstitutional Line-Item Veto Posted: 25 Mar 2018 09:06 AM PDT  WASHINGTON ― Congress should somehow reinstate the line-item veto even though
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| Utah Just Passed America’s First ‘Free-Range Parenting’ Law Posted: 26 Mar 2018 04:33 AM PDT  Utah has legalized a controversial child-rearing method known as "free-range
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| Mexico official: Iowa family died from water heater gas leak Posted: 26 Mar 2018 10:41 AM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A prosecutor in Mexico said Monday that a gas leak in a water heater is suspected in the death of an Iowa couple and their two children last week.
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| Saudis shoot down missiles fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen Posted: 26 Mar 2018 12:54 AM PDT  Houthi rebels in Yemen fired ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia overnight Sunday, claiming their first casualty in the capital city since the kingdom intervened in the conflict three years ago. Saudi Arabian forces said their air defences intercepted three missiles fired at Riyadh and four others at the southern cities of Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran. One Egyptian was killed and two of his countrymen were wounded by shrapnel that fell on a house in Riyadh, with residents reporting loud explosions and bright flashes in the sky shortly before midnight. Video taken by motorists showed the remains of a missile fuselage smoking in the middle of a highway in Riyadh. "This aggressive and hostile action by the Iran-backed Houthi group proves that the Iranian regime continues to support the armed group with military capabilities," Turki al-Malki, spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition, said. New angle suggests this is actually a spectacular failure of a #Saudi interceptor and not the missile fired at #Riyadhpic.twitter.com/TejVbA8fh3— Strategic Sentinel (@StratSentinel) March 25, 2018 "The firing of multiple ballistic missiles towards cities is a serious development." The war in Yemen has pitted the rebels and their Iranian allies against Yemeni factions aligned with a military coalition which includes Saudi, the US and Britain. While it is not the first such attack on the kingdom, Houthi ballistic missiles have increased in range over time. A November 4 launch previously targeted King Khalid International Airport in the capital, showing the missiles had a range of over 620 miles. Western analysts identified it as being based on the Qiam missile type, an Iranian variant of the Scud system. Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran in the past for supplying the rebels with weapons, a charge Tehran has denied. Unclear if this is the remains of the Saudi interceptor or the Houthi missile fired from Yemen: pic.twitter.com/t57vP12ADb— فيصل عيدروس (@faisaledroos) March 25, 2018 The November attack saw the Saudi-led coalition escalate its attacks in response as well as a tightening of a blockade on the country's ports and airports, aggravating an already dire humanitarian situation for millions. However, some experts raised questions over whether the missiles fired on Sunday were successfully intercepted and suggested the kingdom could have been overstating the capability of its missile defense system. A fighter from the separatist Southern Transitional Council gather on February 25, 2018, at the site of two suicide car bombings Credit: AFP One video appears to show a Patriot missile launch go rapidly wrong, with the missile changing course mid-air, crashing into a neighborhood in Riyadh and exploding. Another appears to detonate shortly after being launched. Saudi Arabia has faced criticism over its role in Yemen's civil war, with warnings that it was "orchestrating what will potentially become the worst famine in the last 50 years". Britain, which has sold billions of arms to Saudi since its bombing campaign began in 2015, has been criticised for its support of the ultra-conservative country. People check the damage created by debris, after ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi militia, fell at a house in Riyadh Credit: Reuters Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary, and Penny Mordaunt, International Development Secretary, said yesterday that Saudi Arabia has "the right to defend itself against security threats including missiles launched from Yemen". "If Iran is genuinely committed to supporting a political solution in Yemen - as it has publicly stated - then it should stop sending in weapons which prolong the conflict, fuel regional tensions, and pose threats to international peace and security," the two Cabinet ministers said in a joint statement. Amnesty International said the attack may be a war crime. "Launching indiscriminate attacks is prohibited by international humanitarian law and can constitute a war crime," a spokesperson for the human rights organisation said. "A high death toll may have been averted, possibly due to the missiles being intercepted, but that doesn't let the Houthi armed group off the hook for this reckless and unlawful act. "These missiles cannot be precisely targeted at such distances, so their use in this manner unlawfully endangers civilians."
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| Whistleblower questions Brexit result, says campaigners broke election law Posted: 26 Mar 2018 04:54 PM PDT  By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) - A whistleblower at the heart of a Facebook data scandal on Monday questioned the result of Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum as his lawyers presented evidence that they said showed the main campaign for leaving the EU had broken the law. With just a year until Britain is due to leave the European Union, two whistleblowers - one from the British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica and one from the Vote Leave group - have alleged that Brexit campaigners funded their campaign illegally. By doing so, they have pulled Brexit into a scandal that has forced Mark Zuckerberg to apologise for how Facebook handled users' data, and raised questions about how Donald Trump's 2016 campaign employed data.
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| 6.4 quake off eastern Indonesia, tsunami alert lifted: seismic monitors Posted: 25 Mar 2018 02:32 PM PDT  A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia in the early hours of Monday, triggering a brief tsunami alert that was swiftly lifted, according to seismic monitoring organisations. The quake struck deep at some 171 kilometres (106 miles) below the surface of the earth in the Banda Sea, the US Geological Survey said. A tsunami alert was initially triggered by the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS).
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| Russia fire: Tragedy as parents recall final words with children trapped in shopping mall Posted: 26 Mar 2018 03:11 PM PDT  The parents of three sisters have described receiving desperate phone calls from their trapped daughters just minutes before they died in a locked cinema as flames engulfed a Russian shopping centre. On Monday, a litany of fire safety violations were blamed for the death toll in the fire in the industrial Siberian city of Kemerovo reaching as high as 64. Investigators said fire exits were blocked and the fire alarm system was switched off by a security guard shortly after the fire broke out. Authorities launched a criminal investigation into the fire. Four people were arrested and questioned by police on Monday, including the head of the company responsible for servicing the fire alarm system and the technical director of the company that owned the shopping centre. "Our children burned while we just watched," said Olga Lillyevyali, who rushed to the shopping centre as the fire was underway, Russian news website Meduza reported. Her three daughters, twins aged 11 and their five-year-old sister, had been dropped off at the cinema by their father, Alexander Lillyevyali, to see children's film Sherlock Gnomes earlier that afternoon. A view of the smoldering shopping centre from above on Monday morning Credit: Kirill Kukhmar/ TASS When he got a phone call an hour later from one of his daughters to say she was stuck behind locked doors as the fire spread, he raced upstairs. Russian media reported local people saying that the cinemas in the shopping centre locked their doors to stop people entering without a ticket. "I started to crawl but I realised I had no strength," Mr Lillyevyali. "I had inhaled so much smoke that I was on the verge of fainting. My daughter was ringing and ringing me. I could only shout down the phone that she should try and get out of the cinema but I couldn't do anything – there were flames in front of me." Media reports suggested the initial blaze broke out on the fourth floor of the building, possibly at a trampolining centre, and spread rapidly, generating huge clouds of billowing black smoke. Eyewitnesses said that staff did not arrange for evacuation from the building, which was converted from a former confectionery factory in 2013. Some were quick to blame lax regulations on Russia's fire safety inspection authorities, who have been accused of taking bribes to turn a blind eye to breaches. The Winter Cherry shopping centre, in Kemerovo, engulfed in flames on Sunday Credit: Danil Aikin/TASS via Getty Opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny wrote on Monday: "the whole system of fire safety oversight has become a huge trough of corruption. It hasn't had any other goals for a long time." The Prosecutor General's Office on Monday ordered all shopping malls in Russia to be checked for fire safety features. President Vladimir Putin, re-elected last weekend, has yet to speak publicly about the tragedy, which has stirred deep anger in Kemerovo, a coal-producing region about 3,600 km (2,200 miles) east of Moscow. The Kremlin published a statement, saying Mr Putin "expressed his deep condolences to the relatives and loved ones of those who died." It was not immediately clear how many other children had died in the blaze, with authorities saying 8 of the 23 victims so far identified were kids, but the shopping centre was full of families enjoying the first weekend of the Easter school holidays. A young girl from the central Russian city of Kazan, Maya Yerokhina, believed to be among the victims, updated the status on her profile page on Russian social networking site Vkontakte during the fire to read: "this is the end." Video showed people jumping from windows to escape the flames Credit: Danil Aikin /TASS/Getty An eleven-year old boy was in intensive care on Monday after jumping from a third-floor window to escape the thick smoke during a dramatic escape caught on camera. Both his parents and a sibling were reported to have died. One piece of footage aired by state television showed people desperately trying to escape by battering down a closed door as flames crept closer. Eight children, mostly aged between 11 and 12, from the same school in the local village of Treschevsky perished in the blaze while on a trip marking the end of the school term. One of the girls from the group, 12-year old Viktoriya Pochankina, reportedly got through to her aunt from the burning cinema and asked her aunt to tell her mother she loved her. The ceilings of two cinema theaters in the mall reportedly collapsed Some 200 animals, including rabbits, turtles, pigs, goats are also believed to have died in the shopping centre's petting zoo. As Russia tried to process what had happened, an official period of mourning was declared and locals brought flowers and candles to the blackened remains of the shopping centre. One sign left at the site read: "Forgive us, children." Local hospitals reported an influx of people wanting to donate blood for the victims. Stories of feats of bravery also emerged. Local schoolteacher Tatyana Darsaliya, 36, reportedly led her own daughter to safety and then returned to the burning building to try and save other children. Darsaliya's daughter, Eleonora, wrote on Monday that her mother had "died like a hero." Flames lick a window frame at the shopping centre, where some witnesses said the fire alarm did not go off Credit: Danil Aikin/TASS/Barcroft Images Roof collapsed in two cinemas at shopping centre Preliminary findings of an inquiry said the fire started in one of the cinema halls and destroyed more than 10,700 square feet (1,000 square metres) of the centre, news agencies reported. "The roof collapsed in two theatres in the cinema," the Investigative Committee said. Hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze for hours Credit: Danil Aikin/TASS via Getty Around 120 people had been evacuated from the burning centre, rescuers said. "This shopping centre on several floors was packed with people mid-day Sunday," said Alexandre Eremeyev, an official with the local Russian emergency services ministry. Burnt debris outside the shopping centre Credit: Maxim Grigoryev /TASS/Getty He added: "No one knows exactly how many people there were inside when the fire broke out. "Where to look for people? How many are there? That has greatly complicated the work of the firefighters." Hundreds of firefighters spend hours tackling blaze Around 300 firefighters and rescue personnel rushed to the scene and tackled the blaze for more than 17 hours. Russia's minister of emergency services, Vladimir Putchkov has gone to Kemerovo, RIA Novosti said. Hundreds of firefighters were scrambled to the scene Credit: Danil Aikin /TASS/Getty Deadliest blaze in Russia for almost a decade The Winter Cherry shopping centre fire was the deadliest blaze in Russia in recent years: A shopping centre fire in March 2015 killed 11 people in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan some 500 miles east of Moscow. In April 2013, a fire ravaged a psychiatric hospital in the Moscow region, killing 38 people, most of them patients who were engulfed by flames as they slept behind barred windows. Just months later, in September 2013, 37 people were killed when a fire swept through a psychiatric hospital in the village of Luka in northwest Russia. In 2009, 156 were killed in a nightclub fire in the city of Perm, 745 miles east of Moscow in one of the deadliest accidents in Russia's modern history.
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| Monday's Morning Email: Stormy Daniels opens up about Trump Posted: 26 Mar 2018 04:38 AM PDT  ## TOP STORIES
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| At a relatively brisk 17 hours, Qantas debuts non-stop flight between Australia and UK Posted: 25 Mar 2018 08:48 PM PDT  Flying to the UK from Australia has always been an exceptionally long trip. Australian airline Qantas has made that trek less arduous with the debut of its non-stop Perth to London flight on Saturday — its travel time has been shaved down to a somewhat brisk 17 hours. SEE ALSO: You're more likely to get the flu from a sick flight attendant than a sick passenger: study It's the first time Europe and Australia have been connected with a direct commercial flight. A momentous occasion on the flight deck of #QF9#QantasDreamliner pic.twitter.com/dRTh79ZxUb — Qantas (@Qantas) March 24, 2018 Previously, flights stopped in Singapore or Dubai before continuing on. Qantas said it is able to reduce the time of the 9,000 mile (14,498km) flight by eliminating stopovers and picking paths based on the best winds for efficiency and speed. Flight QF9 flew over the Indian Ocean, where it traversed India's southern tip, then passed Oman, Iran, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Belgium before landing at London's Heathrow Airport. "This is a truly historic flight that opens up a new era of travel. For the first time, Australia and Europe have a direct air link," Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement. "The original Kangaroo Route from Australia to London was named for the seven stops it made over four days back in 1947. Now we can do it in a single leap." Carrying 236 passengers, the fuel efficient Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Qantas uses for the route has a smaller capacity than the 484 seats it has on the Airbus A380, a comparable aircraft. To boost passenger comfort, Qantas said it has designed a menu that includes "poke bowls as well as home style comfort food" which "helps the body cope better with jetlag." Boeing has also cut the cabin air pressure from the equivalent of 8,000 feet to 6,000 feet, meaning inside the plane it's "closer to conditions on the ground." OK, but what is it actually like flying for that long? Reviews appeared to be mostly positive, with passenger Mark Beasley telling to Traveller that he found the economy seat "very comfortable" despite his 188 centimetre (6 foot 1) frame. Expat Sarah Fry said the flight was "much better" than her usual route to London from Brisbane, which stopped over in Sydney then Dubai. Peter Robinson, a builder from the UK, told The Independent he found the food "ordinary," even if the flight was quicker than he expected. On Twitter, other passengers noted the issue-free flight, and the self-serve snack bar. #QF9 touchdown @londonheathrow direct from @PerthAirport after a great flight with no issues. The game has changed. Had the pleasure of sitting with @Qantas Chairman Leigh Clifford an old mining colleague pic.twitter.com/zs1ilJaujW — Rob Williamson (@RedRiverRob) March 25, 2018 Self Serve pantry by rear galley. A very popular inflight meeting place for all! #QF9 @Qantas pic.twitter.com/wNZg8PhAs9 — Wayne Kwong (@waynewykwong) March 25, 2018 Qantas said its Perth to London service is the third longest commercial flight in the world. For those who like long haul travel, Qatar Airways' 9,032 mile (14,535 kilometre) Auckland to Doha route will have you sitting around for 17 and half hours. WATCH: This iPhone case reminds you why the Game Boy will always be awesome
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| Iowa family died of gas asphyxiation at Mexican resort Posted: 25 Mar 2018 01:26 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Autopsies indicate an Iowa couple and their two children died from inhaling toxic gas at a rented condo on Mexico's Caribbean coast, but there was no sign of foul play or suicide, Mexican authorities said Saturday.
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| Turkey Prepares for a Pompeo Problem Posted: 24 Mar 2018 08:00 PM PDT  The sacking of Tillerson is likely to complicate efforts to resolve the crisis with Turkey. The tension between Turkey and the United States appeared to have diminished after the outgoing Secretary Rex Tillerson's visit to Turkey in February. The two countries had been at loggerheads over a number of issues, particularly U.S. support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, seen as terrorists by Turkey.
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| Russian shopping mall fire Posted: 26 Mar 2018 04:14 AM PDT ![Russian shopping mall fire]( "Russian shopping mall fire") A total of 64 people some of them children perished in a fire that ravaged a busy shopping mall in an industrial city in Siberia, as rescue teams Monday struggled through piles of charred rubble to recover bodies.
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| Sen. Marco Rubio Tells Students He Does Not Agree With The March For Our Lives Posted: 24 Mar 2018 06:54 PM PDT  On a day when hundreds of thousands of people marched in support of the
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| Are lonely hearts prone to cardiovascular disease? Posted: 26 Mar 2018 03:32 PM PDT  Feeling lonely contributes less to the risk of cardiovascular disease than recent research suggests, scientists said Tuesday, but social isolation really does up the odds of dying after a heart attack or stroke. The alleged link between loneliness and heart disease essentially disappears once other well-known risk factors -- smoking, drinking, poor diet, lack of exercise -- are factored in, according to a study that monitored nearly 480,000 men and women in Britain for seven years. "Social isolation, but not loneliness ... remained as an independent risk factor for mortality," the researchers, led by Christian Hakulinen, a professor at the University of Helsinki, concluded.
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| French police investigate possible anti-Semitic murder as elderly woman stabbed and burned Posted: 26 Mar 2018 12:43 PM PDT  French prosecutors on Monday said they were treating the murder of an 85-year-old Jewish woman stabbed and burned in her Paris home as an anti-Semitic attack. Mireille Knoll, a Holocaust survivor who escaped a mass roundup of Jews in Paris in the Second World War, was found dead last Friday in her flat in Paris' eastern 11th arrondissement, where she lived alone. She had been stabbed repeatedly before the apartment was set on fire, the autopsy revealed. Firemen managed to put out the blaze. Two men have been arrested over her killing. They face possible charges of "murder related to the victim's religion, real or imagined" as well as aggravated robbery and destruction of property, a judicial source confirmed. Both have been remanded in custody. "We are really in shock. I don't understand how someone could kill a woman who has no money and who lives in a social housing complex," her son added. The other suspect is a homeless man known to police, Le Parisien reported. Working definition | Anti-Semitism Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister who happened to be in Jerusalem on Monday, said it was "plausible" that Mrs Knoll was murdered because of her religion. France, he added, was engaged in a "fundamental and permanent" fight against anti-Semitism. The chief rabbi of Paris, Haim Korsia, wrote on Twitter that he was "horrified" by the killing. Investigators had not mentioned anti-Semitism on Sunday but added that they were "not excluding any hypothesis". The Protection Service for the Jewish Community, SPCJ, a body which keeps close watch an anti-Semitic acts in France, had earlier said: "The investigation does not reveal any anti-Semitic elements, however, this path has not been ruled out to date and needs to be further explored." Mrs Knoll had managed to evade the notorious 1942 roundup of more than 13,000 Jews in Paris by fleeing with her mother to Portugal thanks to her Brazilian passport. All but 100 or so of those seized at the so-called Vel d'Hiv cycling track and then sent to the Nazi death camps survived. Mrs Knoll had returned to Paris after the war and married a Holocaust survivor, who died in the early 2000s. Holocaust Survivors | The stories of those who escaped from Nazi clutches Anti-Semitic violence increased by 26 percent last year in France, which has Europe's biggest Jewish community, and criminal damage to Jewish places of worship and burials increased by 22 percent. Last month, a judge confirmed that the April 2017 murder of Sarah Halimi, a 65-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman who was beaten and thrown out of her window, was motivated by anti-Semitism. Amid shouts of "Allah Akbar", her attacker beat Halimi before throwing her out of the window. There had been an outcry when prosecutors had initially ruled out anti-Semitism. In January an eight-year-old boy wearing the Jewish skullcap was beaten up by two teenagers in the northern Paris suburb of Sarcelles in what prosecutors said appeared to be attack motivated by the child's religion. A record 7,900 French Jews emigrated to Israel in 2015 following the deadly jihadist shooting at a Parisian kosher supermarket two days after the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. That exodus has since slowed. The CRIF umbrella grouping of French Jewish organisations called for "the fullest transparency" over Mrs Knoll's murder, which it called a "barbaric crime". At an annual dinner organised by the group last month, President Emmanuel Macron slammed anti-Semitism as "France's dishonour" and pledged never to let up the fight against the phenomenon.
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| Woman injured after former boyfriend kills new boyfriend before killing himself Posted: 26 Mar 2018 09:53 AM PDT  Investigators say a woman's old boyfriend killed her new boyfriend before taking his own life inside a home in northwest Harris County.
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| Tiffany Haddish Extols Virtues Of Drinking Poisonous Turpentine Posted: 26 Mar 2018 10:25 AM PDT  Tiffany Haddish may be hilarious, but she's apparently not joking about a
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| As Uber bows out to Grab, drivers and riders bemoan loss of choice Posted: 26 Mar 2018 06:12 AM PDT  A mix of concern and disappointment met Uber Technologies Inc's deal to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, as drivers and users of the ride-hailing firms took in the prospect of sharply reduced competition. Grab said the Uber acquisition accelerated its path to profitability in its core transport business, as it would become the most cost-efficient Southeast Asian platform. Rennu Mahajan, who has driven a combined three-and-a-half years for both companies in Singapore, said some of her driver friends were concerned because now they would not be able to switch to the other app.
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| Portraits of Egypt's leader fill iconic Cairo Square Posted: 25 Mar 2018 07:18 AM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — Seven years ago, Cairo's Tahrir Square was filled with tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding change. Now it is plastered with portraits of the president, vowing continuity.
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| Toyota announces end of Avensis production Posted: 26 Mar 2018 08:10 AM PDT  It's a big decision for a vehicle manufacturer to call time on a longstanding model in its range, so Toyota's decision to end production of its British-built Avensis could have repercussions for other midsize sedan cars in Europe. Both in Europe and across the Atlantic in America, sedan cars from many brands are struggling to remain relevant in the face of the unrelenting sales onslaught from crossovers and SUVs. In North America the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200 have already bitten the dust, and the likes of the Ford Fusion could be next in the firing line.
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| Flat-Earther blasts off into California sky in home-made steam rocket Posted: 25 Mar 2018 06:47 AM PDT  A self-taught rocket scientist has blasted himself high into the California sky using a steam-powered contraption he built in his garage, the first step in his long-term aim of proving the Earth is flat. "Mad" Mike Hughes propelled himself 1,875 feet (571m) into the air above the vast Mojave desert in the homemade rocket before deploying his parachute and landing back to Earth with a bump. The madcap 61-year-old limo-driver-turned-daredevil was visibly dazed as he was carefully lifted from his seat and was checked over by paramedics as he lay exhausted on the ground following a hard landing which damaged the front of his rocket. "Am I glad I did it? Yeah. I guess," he told the Associated Press. "I'll feel it in the morning. I won't be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight." The Flat-Earther, who has spent around $20,000 (£14,000) pursuing his rocket dream since 2016, admitted he was "relieved" to have finally achieved his goal following several aborted attempts and ridicule from some quarters when his plan captured the attention of the world's media last year. "Mad" Mike Hughes' home-made rocket launches near Amboy, California Credit: Matt Hartman via AP "I'm tired of people saying I chickened out and didn't build a rocket. I'm tired of that stuff. I manned up and did it." Acknowledging how dangerous the mission was, he added: "This thing wants to kill you 10 different ways … This thing will kill you in a heartbeat." "Mad" Mike Hughes is carried on a stretcher after his home-made rocket launched and returned to the ground near Credit: Matt Hartman via AP Last year, the California native was forced to postpone a take off attempt from an abandoned runway in the ghost town of Amboy, located about 200 miles (321.85km) east of Los Angeles, due to his motorhome-slash-rocket launcher breaking down and problems getting a permit. Mr Hughes has the support of the flat-Earth community, who helped fund the mission, and eventually wants to build a "Rockoon," - a rocket that is carried into the atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon - to take him about 68 miles up so he can photograph the planet from space. The self-taught rocket scientist believes the Earth is flat Credit: Facebook "Do I believe the earth is shaped like a frisbee - or flat? I believe it is," he said last year. "I cannot disprove it after my months of research. Do I know for sure? No. That's why I want to go up into space 62 miles up to settle this thing once and for all for people who want to know." "My story really is incredible," Hughes reflected after his mission. "It's got a bunch of story lines - the garage-built thing. I'm an older guy. It's out in the middle of nowhere, plus the Flat Earth. The problem is it brings out all the nuts also, people questioning everything. It's the downside of all this."
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| Tearful Syrians leave rebel enclave in largest evacuation yet Posted: 25 Mar 2018 03:56 PM PDT  More than 5,000 Syrian rebels and civilians left a ravaged pocket of Eastern Ghouta on Sunday, in fresh evacuations that further emptied the former rebel bastion. Five weeks since the Syrian regime launched an all-out assault on Ghouta, it holds more than 90 percent of the onetime opposition stronghold on the edge of Damascus. To help it capture the rest, key backer Russia has held talks with various rebel groups to negotiate withdrawals from the three remaining pockets.
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| Parents beat teen daughter with broomsticks and poured cooking oil on her for refusing forced marriage, says Texas sheriff Posted: 26 Mar 2018 04:13 AM PDT  The parents of a girl who refused to enter into a forced marriage, have been arrested for allegedly pouring hot cooking oil over their daughter and beating her with broomsticks. Maarib Al Hishmawi, now 16, ran away from her home in San Antonio, Texas, after months of abuse in order to avoid marrying an adult man in another part of the state, Bexar County sheriff Javier Salazar said. "We became aware of the fact that mid-last year, mid-2017, there had been a marriage arrangement made between the family of this young lady and an adult male living in another city, whereby approximately $20,000 (£14,000) was going to exchange hands," Sheriff Salazar said.
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| Hero Dog Saves Man From Drowning in River Posted: 26 Mar 2018 08:36 AM PDT  The man had already been in the water for nearly an hour.
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| Sen. Claire McCaskill Chastises Hillary Clinton: Be 'More Careful' When Talking About Trump Voters Posted: 26 Mar 2018 02:37 AM PDT  Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has doubled down on her criticism of Hillary
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| Gunmaker Remington files for bankruptcy Posted: 25 Mar 2018 08:49 PM PDT  US gunmaker Remington filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, as the more than 200-year-old firearms manufacturer vies to restructure its massive debts. "Directors have determined that it is advisable and in the best interests of the Company that the Company file, or cause to be filed, a Voluntary Petition commencing the Chapter 11 Case," the bankruptcy filing says. Remington had announced it would file for bankruptcy in February, just two days before a shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school killed 17 people and reignited a national debate on gun control.
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| Family plans autopsy for black man shot by Sacramento police Posted: 26 Mar 2018 12:47 PM PDT  An independent autopsy is planned of the unarmed black man fatally shot by police officers in the backyard of his grandparents' house in Sacramento, California, the family's attorney said on Monday. Two officers, responding to a report of someone shattering car windows on Sunday night, shot Stephon Alonzo Clark 20 times. "We have the solemn obligation in preparing for an independent autopsy to go view Stephon's body," attorney Benjamin Crump told reporters on Monday.
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| Pastor Robert Jeffress shares a Palm Sunday message Posted: 25 Mar 2018 04:37 AM PDT  A message for Americans on Palm Sunday from the senior pastor at First Baptist Dallas.
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| BMW iX3 Concept Rumored For Beijing Debut In April Posted: 25 Mar 2018 04:27 PM PDT  The iX3 would be BMW's third offering under its electrified sub-brand.
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| 16 Totally New Ways To Make Egg Salad Posted: 25 Mar 2018 12:44 PM PDT |
| China in military drills to ‘prepare for war’ as British frigate due to sail through contested South China Sea Posted: 26 Mar 2018 01:26 AM PDT  China's air force and navy have announced drills in the South China Sea to help develop preparedness for war, military leaders said, after the British defence secretary indicated the UK would sail a warship through the disputed region. The Chinese military's latest fighters and bombers were involved in the exercises over the disputed region, as China continues to flex its muscles on the world stage. The drills come after Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, gave a nationalist speech last week when he warned of Beijing's willingness to fight a "bloody battle" against its enemies. They also come after Gavin Williamson, British Defence Secretary, said last month that the HMS Sutherland, an anti-submarine frigate, would sail through the South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation rights. The drills took place over the weekend Credit: Barcroft/Xinhua The warship was expected to make the patrol during March. However, Chinese military officials said its recently announced drills were not aimed towards any country. China's airforce carried out a "high-sea training mission" in the West Pacific and a joint combat patrol mission in the South China Sea, according to the airforce's social media account, which did not say when the drills took place. The exercises tested China's latest military hardware, such as its H-6K bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighters. Meanwhile, the PLA Navy also said last Friday it was planning to hold drills in the South China Sea to test the navy's "combat readiness". The Air Force said on its social media account that the exercises were "rehearsals for future wars and are the most direct preparation for combat." Meanwhile, Chen Liang, commander of a naval air force, said: "Pilots will all march ahead without fear, no matter how complicated the drill environments are and how unfamiliar the drill regions are. "They always maintain mentally prepared for wars," he told the Chinese language website of the Global Times newspaper. The exercises tested China's latest military hardware, such as its H-6K bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighters Credit: Barcroft/Xinhua China claims nearly all of the strategic South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims from Taiwan and several south-east Asian nations including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Observers say China is developing its military capabilities by fortifying and building infrastructure on what were previously reefs and partially-submerged islets in the sea, where more than $5 trillion (£3.8 trillion) of trade passes every year. The US Navy has conducted a series of freedom of navigation patrols in the region. The latest, last Friday, saw a US Navy destroyer come within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island China has built in the South China Sea, sparking anger from Beijing. Additional reporting by Christine Wei
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| Four things that make Symphony of the Seas a truly unique cruise ship Posted: 26 Mar 2018 05:14 AM PDT  Royal Caribbean's latest Oasis-class cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas, left France's Saint-Nazaire shipyard Saturday, March 24, for Spain, where it will homeport for sailing the Mediterranean this summer before heading to the Caribbean. Although the ship is yet to enter service, it already holds the title of world's largest cruise ship ... until another supersized vessel comes along, of course. As the world's largest cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas is obviously unique in size.
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| Gregg Popovich Rips Trump's 'Cowardice' For Ducking March For Our Lives Posted: 26 Mar 2018 06:06 AM PDT  NBA coach Gregg Popovich had more than basketball on his mind before his San
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