| Wary calm as Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ends fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:05 AM PDT  A wary calm returned to Gaza and southern Israel on Tuesday after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire brought an end to hours of intense fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas. Israeli jets struck targets throughout Gaza on Monday night, including the offices of the Islamist group's leader, while Hamas and other Palestinian factions fired rockets at Israeli towns and cities. No fatalities were reported on either side although several people were injured in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The escalation was sparked by Hamas firing a rocket that wounded several members of a British-Israeli family on Monday morning. At around 10pm on Monday, Egyptian mediators managed to broker a ceasefire between the two sides, as they have done during several other flare-ups of violence in recent months. The ceasefire took several hours to take hold and airstrikes and rocket fire continued in the early hours of Tuesday. Millions of civilians on both sides spent the night in fear as the fighting continued. Palestinians sit with their belongings in a street outside their destroyed house after an Israeli missile targeted a nearby Hamas site, in Gaza City Credit: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem However, by mid-morning the situation was tense but calm. Palestinian children went to school in Gaza as usual but school was cancelled for Israeli children in several districts in the country's south. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, cut short a trip to Washington to return to Israel to manage the situation. Mr Netanyahu, who is also Israel's defence minister, was due to arrive in Israel in the afternoon and hold meetings with security chiefs. "We have responded very, very forcefully," Mr Netanyahu said before departing Washington. "Hamas needs to know that we will not hesitate to go in and take all necessary steps – regardless of anything, any date, other than Israel's security needs." The Israeli leader is seeking re-election for a fifth term in office when Israelis go to the polls on April 9. He is under pressure from political opponents on both the Centre and the Right to strike forcefully against Hamas. Hamas hailed Monday night's violence as a victory for its cause. "Gaza and the resistance in Gaza are unbreakable. The will of Gaza will always defeat the occupation; Gaza will break the siege and live free and in dignity," a spokesman said. Hamas is under intense pressure within Gaza to raise living standards and deal with horrendous economic conditions in the strip, where unemployment is at around 50 per cent. Anti-Hamas protesters took to the streets last week under the slogan "We Want To Live". Hamas responded with a major crackdown and arrested dozens of people. Egypt and the UN have been trying to broker a long-term deal which would see Hamas promise to stop attacks on Israel in return for Israel lifting its crushing 12-year blockade on Gaza. However, the negotiations have yielded few results and Hamas is believed to be trying to inject fresh urgency into the talks by firing rockets while at the same time avoiding a full-blown war.
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| Avenatti arrested and charged with extortion, embezzlement, bank and tax fraud Posted: 25 Mar 2019 12:35 PM PDT  The lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels faces the prosepect of spending the rest of his life behind bars.
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| Widespread computer outage briefly affects passengers on American, Alaska and JetBlue airlines Posted: 26 Mar 2019 01:05 PM PDT  The troubles, which lasted about 30 minutes, were due to a technical glitch at Sabre, a major airline reservations system.
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| Erdogan proposal to make Hagia Sophia a mosque irks Greece Posted: 25 Mar 2019 09:33 AM PDT  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Greek government voiced opposition Monday to the suggestion from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Istanbul's Hagia Sophia — a Byzantine-era cathedral that now serves as a museum — could be reconverted into a mosque.
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| No more indictments from Robert Mueller, but Russia is a habit Trump won't break in 2020 Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:59 AM PDT  Trump knew he and Russia were aiming for the same goal. So he fawned over Putin, undercut US foreign policy and sold out his own intelligence agencies.
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| Anti-stall system likely activated in crash: Ethiopian Airlines CEO Posted: 25 Mar 2019 08:24 AM PDT  An anti-stall system believed to have caused a fatal October jet crash in Indonesia was probably also involved in this month's crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed all 157 people onboard, the carrier's CEO said on Monday. Tewolde GebreMariam told The Wall Street Journal an automatic anti-stalling system specific to the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was "to the best of our knowledge" activated on the fatal March 10 crash of Flight ET 302 minutes into its journey to Nairobi. Although he is not a part of the official crash probe and gave no details on how he knew of the system's activation, Tewolde's comment adds pressure on Boeing to fix the popular aircraft model, which was grounded worldwide after the disaster.
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| Bahrain to use Huawei in 5G rollout despite U.S. warnings Posted: 26 Mar 2019 06:23 AM PDT  Washington has warned countries against using Chinese technology, saying Huawei could be used by Beijing to spy on the West. China and Huawei have strongly rejected the allegations. VIVA Bahrain, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian state-controlled telecoms firm STC, last month signed an agreement to use Huawei products in its 5G network, one of several Gulf telecoms companies working with the Chinese company.
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| US weather: States reel from historic floods as fresh snow threatens parts of the midwest Posted: 25 Mar 2019 08:33 AM PDT  Record floods that submerged parts of three Midwestern states have started retreating, but more inclement weather continues to threaten Montana and the Dakotas for weeks to come. High flood waters have already returned in the western Dakotas, northwest Nebraska and central and eastern Montana, along smaller rivers that feed into the Missouri. Once the weather warms up, river ice breaks up into giant chunks, which float down the river stream and can cause a jam, which in turn induces flooding, David Roth, a meteorologist with the NWS's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, told Reuters on Monday.
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| IS attack on US-backed fighters kills 7 in northern Syria Posted: 26 Mar 2019 09:44 AM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a checkpoint of U.S.-backed forces in the northern Syrian town on Manbij that killed seven fighters on Tuesday.
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| Socialism seen as biggest threat to Israel at AIPAC Posted: 25 Mar 2019 08:17 AM PDT  The first evening of the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, was punctuated by a rousing address from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who like several other speakers sharply criticized the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
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| Father of Sandy Hook victim found dead in apparent suicide, Newtown police say Posted: 25 Mar 2019 09:14 AM PDT  Jeremy Richman's death follows the apparent suicides in the last week of two survivors of the 2018 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
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| Where the investigations related to President Trump stand Posted: 25 Mar 2019 05:33 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — A look at where investigations related to President Donald Trump stand and what may lie ahead for him:
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| British Airways flight ends up in wrong city Posted: 25 Mar 2019 08:19 AM PDT  A British Airways plane flew by mistake from London to Edinburgh instead of Dusseldorf in Germany on Monday. Passengers only found out about the mishap when the pilot said the plane was coming in to land in Edinburgh, which is around 500 miles (800 kilometres) from Dusseldorf. After the crew realised the mistake, the plane was refuelled and flown to Dusseldorf, landing in Germany with a delay of more than three and a half hours.
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| Xi Jinping and Huawei Are a Serious Threat to European Unity Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:30 AM PDT  It is going to become a 2 square kilometer test bed for a new 5G mobile network from Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment maker. The deal has been promoted by Monaco as an attempt to build a "smart nation," and China is happy no doubt to have a display window in the heart of Europe. China's president Xi Jinping visited the principality this week, on his way to see Emmanuel Macron and other leaders in Paris.
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| Kosovo PM fires deputy minister over comments about NATO Posted: 25 Mar 2019 05:37 AM PDT  Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has fired the country's ethnic Serb deputy justice minister after she called NATO's 1999 bombing campaign against Serbia a "planned genocide". Deputy minister Vesna Mikic comes from Kosovo's Serb minority which accounts for about 5 percent of the country's population of 1.8 million.
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| Norway opens probe into why cruise ship ventured into storm Posted: 25 Mar 2019 11:23 AM PDT  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian officials have opened an investigation into why a cruise ship carrying more than 1,370 people set sail along the country's often wild western coast despite storm warnings, forcing a major evacuation by helicopter.
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| German family, stakeholders in Krispy Kreme, Panera Bread, to donate $11M over Nazi past Posted: 25 Mar 2019 08:34 AM PDT  The Reimann family, whose JAB Holding Co. controls Krispy Kreme and Panera Bread, will donate $11 million after learning of its ancestors' Nazi past.
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| Bannon: With Mueller probe over, Trump ‘is going to go full animal’ Posted: 25 Mar 2019 12:47 PM PDT  And despite "the gauntlet" of investigations that Trump faces, he believes the anemic Mueller report will deflate them—and simultaneously inflate the president. He believes most investigations into Trump are effectively dead in the water.
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| Russian military aircraft land in Venezuela Posted: 25 Mar 2019 09:01 AM PDT  Two Russian aircraft carrying military officials arrived in Venezuela over the weekend as part of the ongoing military cooperation between the two countries, Russian media has reported. A diplomatic source told RIA Novosti that Russia and Venezuela have a number of ongoing contracts signed a few years ago, including ones in technical military cooperation, and the military personnel arrived to take part in bilateral consultations. "There is nothing mysterious" about the visit, the unnamed source was quoted as saying. According to popular flight-tracking website Flightradar24, Russian Ilyushin IL-62 passenger jet and Antonov AN-124 military cargo plane left on Friday from Russian military airport Chkalovsky, stopping on its way in Syria before landing in Caracas. Javier Mayorca, a Venezuelan journalist, wrote on Twitter on Saturday that about 100 troops and 35 tonnes of cargo was offloaded from the Russian planes, one of which was carrying chief of staff of the ground forces, Vasily Tonkoshkurov. The two planes with Russian flags and a group of men in military uniform were photographed at the airport. The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on the reports. The planes arrive three months after the two long-time allies held joint military exercises in Venezuela. Moscow and Caracas have strengthened ties in recent months as the Kremlin continues to support President Nicolás Maduro and criticizes Western nations for backing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in January. Last week, US and Russian officials held talks on Venezuela's crisis which ended with the two sides failing to narrow their positions. Russian officials say they are concerned that Washington is considering a military solution in Venezuela. While the US continues to impose sanctions against the oil-rich country, President Maduro's government is becoming more and more dependent on its few remaining supporters – Russia and China. Venezuelan senior officials have come frequent visitors in Moscow, and this month Venezuela announced its plan to move state oil company PDVSA's office to Moscow from Lisbon. Mr Maduro on Wednesday said Russia was planning to send medical aid this week. He said that last month Moscow had sent some 300 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, which has been experiencing severe shortages of food.
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| Oklahoma top court clears way for Purdue, J&J, Teva to face opioid trial Posted: 25 Mar 2019 01:54 PM PDT  The Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision was a win for the state's attorney general, whose case is set to be the first to face trial of roughly 2,000 lawsuits nationally seeking to hold opioid manufacturers responsible for contributing to the epidemic. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter's 2017 lawsuit accuses Purdue, Johnson & Johnson & Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd of engaging in deceptive marketing that downplayed the risks of addiction associated with opioid pain drugs while overstating their benefits. The trial delay bid came as Purdue, owned by members of the wealthy Sackler family, was exploring filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to address potential liabilities stemming from the lawsuits, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.
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| 30+ Healthy Ways To Eat Eggs—And Keep Your Breakfast From Ever Getting Boring Posted: 25 Mar 2019 01:45 PM PDT |
| HTC unveils a new VR headset for workplace use that ships next month for $799 Posted: 26 Mar 2019 03:50 AM PDT  HTC Vive used the occasion of its annual Vive Ecosystem Conference in Shenzhen on Monday to unveil a new workplace-focused VR headset -- the VIVE Focus Plus, which promises a slew of features for enterprise customers like enhanced optics and upgraded lenses in the head-mounted display. And all of it, in a package that costs $799 and will be available starting April 15 from Vive's website.Among the new headset's specs, HTC says it sports new 'fresnel' lenses that offer a sharper visual and create a more true-to-life effect for users. The headset also comes with newly added six-degrees-of-freedom controllers, paving the way for more comfortable extended VR sessions that enterprise customers who may use this for more than cursory experiences will no doubt appreciate.Additionally, in most markets the headset will include an enterprise license at no additional cost."With the unveiling of these enhancements for Vive Focus Plus, the VR industry is taking a big step forward with this new generation of full-fidelity standalone VR devices enabling total freedom of interaction and freedom of connection," said HTC's China president Alvin Wang Graylin, in a release about the device. "We're thrilled so many developers and partners are supporting this product with exciting experiences across a wide range of use cases, showcasing the incredible opportunity for VR/AR to enter all facets of our lives"https://twitter.com/htcvive/status/1110358205266157569The headset includes a 3K AMOLED display, and it's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor. Users will enjoy a 110-degree field of view, and the headset also comes with a 4,000 mAh battery.Among other features, users will have access to almost 250 Vive Wave applications at launch that run natively on the headset, and a "Viveport Infinity Wave" subscription program for the headset will include more than 70 premium VR application titles. The headset also has a multi-mode capability, which will let users access existing content across a range of devices. Thanks to this capability, the headset is compatible with everything from PCs and laptops to smartphones, game consoles, 2D video streaming devices, live 360 camera streaming and more.
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| May Says No-Deal Won't Occur Without Commons Vote: Brexit Update Posted: 25 Mar 2019 11:24 AM PDT  Theresa May said she doesn't yet have enough support to put her Brexit deal to a vote in Parliament but will continue to try to convince MPs to back it. David Lidington, May's effective deputy, tried to win MPs over by promising that the government will set aside a day this week for votes on Brexit options -- if Parliament rejects tonight the so-called Letwin-Grieve amendment (see 5:50 p.m.) which seeks to give Parliament control of the process. When asked by Oliver Letwin himself if it would match the strategy laid out in his amendment, Lidington said he couldn't commit to the details.
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| Malian leader vows security as massacre toll hits 160 Posted: 25 Mar 2019 02:46 PM PDT  Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita vowed Monday to beef up security as he visited a village where more some 160 people were killed by suspected militiamen from a rival ethnic group. "We need security here -- this is your mission," Keita said, giving a public order to military chief General Aboulaye Coulibaly, who was abruptly appointed on Sunday after the massacre. The deadly raid took place on Saturday in the village of Ogassogou, home to the Fulani herding community, near the town of Mopti in central Mali.
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| After Viking cruise ship rescue, passengers concerned about cruising safety Posted: 25 Mar 2019 01:01 PM PDT  Although cruising is one of the 'safest forms of travel,' passengers are concerned after this weekend's Viking Sky rescue.
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| The Latest: Trump claims vindication, goes on attack Posted: 24 Mar 2019 08:29 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's response to the special counsel's findings (all times local):
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| UPDATE 1-Qatar Airways backs Boeing despite MAX crash crisis Posted: 25 Mar 2019 04:01 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Qatar Airways backs Boeing despite MAX crash crisis]( "UPDATE 1-Qatar Airways backs Boeing despite MAX crash crisis") Qatar Airways threw its support behind Boeing on Monday as the U.S. planemaker faces its biggest crisis in years after deadly crashes of its flagship 737 MAX jet. Regulators grounded the worldwide MAX fleet after an Ethiopian Airlines MAX crash killed all 157 people on board this month, wiping nearly 15 percent off shares in the world's biggest planemaker. "We have confidence in the Boeing airplanes and we are sure they will find the issue they had which is still under investigation," Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker told reporters in Muscat.
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| Sen. Kamala Harris releases details for plans to raise average teacher pay by $13,500 Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:20 AM PDT  Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she would use federal resources to close the pay gap between the average teacher salary and other college graduates.
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| UPDATE 1-Airbus close to signing aircraft deal with China - sources Posted: 25 Mar 2019 09:33 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Airbus close to signing aircraft deal with China - sources]( "UPDATE 1-Airbus close to signing aircraft deal with China - sources") European planemaker Airbus is close to signing a deal worth billions of dollars with China following a delay of more than a year in the negotiations, industry sources said on Monday. The deal is part of a package of trade deals coinciding with a visit to Europe by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Airbus declined to comment.
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| Dead gray whale washes up in Malibu Posted: 25 Mar 2019 05:33 AM PDT  A dead gray whale the size of a semi-truck washed up in Malibu over the weekend.
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| Syria's Kurds call for international court to try IS jihadists Posted: 25 Mar 2019 09:57 AM PDT  Syria's Kurds on Monday called for an international court to be set up in the country to try suspected Islamic State group jihadists following the announced fall of their "caliphate". IS imposed its brutal interpretation of Islam on millions living in the proto-state that it declared across a large swathe of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014. "We call on the international community to establish a special international tribunal in northeast Syria to prosecute terrorists," the Syria Kurdish administration said.
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| 2019 Ford Ranger truck buyers want custom design, sexy 'black package' Posted: 26 Mar 2019 08:42 AM PDT  In response to demand from its new 2019 Ford Ranger buyers, Ford Motor Co. has introduced an all-new "Black Appearance Package."
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| Democrats refuse to retreat on Trump legal issues despite Mueller disappointment Posted: 25 Mar 2019 04:22 PM PDT  House committee chairs call on attorney general William Barr to send them full Mueller report by 2 April * Follow the latest US politics newsJerrold Nadler, the House judiciary committee chairman, has has announced he will summon the attorney general, William Barr, to testify. Photograph: Craig Ruttle/APAs Donald Trump declared victory following the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, Democrats showed no signs of backing down from the numerous legal questions encircling the president and his associates.The completion of the highly anticipated Mueller report prompted an intense debate in Washington over how to proceed as Democrats said a summary of its findings by the attorney general, William Barr, "raises as many questions as it answers", even though it probably laid the issue of collusion with Russia firmly to rest.Since taking control of the House of Representatives in January, Democrats have launched an onslaught of investigations into the president, his administration and his family business. It thus came as an undeniable blow to Democrats that Mueller's report did not find that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to swing the 2016 election, or produce a more definitive conclusion on whether the president himself engaged in any criminal activity.But as Trump and his allies seized on the account to falsely claim "total exoneration", Democrats signaled the legal and political battle lines were far from settled, especially when it came to Barr's decision not to pursue the obstruction of justice issue.Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, announced he would summon Barr, who was confirmed as Trump's attorney general earlier this year, to testify on Capitol Hill as Democrats seek more answers from the conclusion of the nearly two-year federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.> In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before @HouseJudiciary in the near future.> > — (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) March 24, 2019In a four-page letter to Congress, Barr said Mueller's report did not find criminal collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow during the 2016 presidential election but was inconclusive on the question of whether the president obstructed justice."It's a shame that our country has had to go through this," a defiant Trump said Sunday. "To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this."Democrats nonetheless demanded the release of the full Mueller report, while suggesting Barr's summary could not be trusted given his prior criticisms of the special counsel investigation."The fact that Special Counsel Mueller's report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report and underlying documentation be made public without any further delay," the Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi said in a statement."Given Mr Barr's public record of bias against the special counsel's inquiry, he is not a neutral observer and is not in a position to make objective determinations about the report."Democrats took particular issue with the claim by Barr and Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, that Mueller's evidence was insufficient to prove Trump had obstructed justice.The special counsel examined several actions by Trump in considering the question of obstruction, including his firing of the former FBI director James Comey, public and private attempts to pressure the former attorney general Jeff Sessions, and role in misleading the public about a meeting between his campaign and a Russian lawyer during the campaign.In a joint statement, the Democratic chairmen of the House intelligence, judiciary and oversight committees called for the complete release of Mueller's report and "all underlying documents"."It is unacceptable that, after Special Counsel Mueller spent 22 months meticulously uncovering this evidence, Attorney General Barr made a decision not to charge the president in under 48 hours," the chairmen said."The special counsel's report should be allowed to speak for itself," they added.On Monday evening, six Democratic House committee chairs, including the chairmen of the intelligence and judiciary subcommittees, sent a letter to Barr requesting that he send them the full Mueller report by 2 April. They also asked Barr to start transmitting the evidence underlying the report to the relevant committees.Barr has not made clear how much of the report he intends to make public, teeing up a potentially major dispute that may ultimately be settled in the courts. By a tally of 420-0, the House voted overwhelmingly last month in favor of making the Mueller report public.But even as they seek a full accounting of Mueller's investigation, Democrats have sought to temper expectations of impeachment – a subject that has polarized the American public.The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has on multiple occasions thrown cold water on what several Democrats refer to as "the I-word", leaving it to voters at the 2020 ballot box to determine Trump's fate.Some strategists said the initial read of the Mueller report may have lifted the burden of impeachment from Democrats' shoulders, enabling them to focus instead on drawing a policy contrast to Trump as he seeks re-election next year."I think Democrats need to allow the investigations to continue while focusing on the rest of their legislative agenda," said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who served as an aide to the former Senate majority leader Harry Reid."It's pretty clear impeachment is not in the cards, at least not right now."To impeach Trump, Democrats would need not just a majority in the House but also a two-thirds vote in the Republican-led Senate to convict – an outcome as unlikely as ever before given the widespread support Trump enjoys from members of his own party.Polling has found Americans largely split on whether Trump should be impeached.There are countless other legal perils looming over Trump's presidency, however, that remain unresolved and which Democrats are likely to focus on.Among them are hush money payments to women claiming affairs with Trump and attempts by the president and his allies to cover them up.In public testimony on Capitol Hill last month, Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen directly implicated the president in the hush money payments – a violation of US campaign finance law – while also accusing Trump of various other criminal acts.Those allegations are being investigated by prosecutors of the southern district of New York and increasingly a subject of the inquiries launched by House Democrats."Reading the coverage today one would assume that the release of the Mueller report ended the criminal investigations into Trump his inauguration, his business, and his foundation," Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama, tweeted."It didn't. He still has more criminal exposure than all the other presidents combined."
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| Easter 2019: Forbidden eggs, Eostre and how the date is decided Posted: 26 Mar 2019 02:06 AM PDT  Easter weekend is fast approaching with all the fondant-filled Creme Eggs, sticky hot cross buns and sugar-coated Mini Eggs our stretchiest waistbands can withstand. Of course, the Christian festival is far more than its associated confectionery. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ who, according to the New Testament, died on the cross on Good Friday and came back to life three days later. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Sunday, which also marks the end of Lent's 40-day period of fasting. From the origins of the Easter bunny to the celebrations' ever-changing dates, here is your essential guide to the holiday. Jump to it, bunny: Your complete guide to Easter decorations When is Easter 2019? This year, Good Friday falls on April 19, Easter Sunday on April 21 and Easter Monday on April 22 - three weeks later than they did last year. While the holiday is a movable feast, it always falls somewhere between March 21 and April 25 every year. It is calculated as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the first day of spring. The full moon is known as the Paschal (Passover) Full Moon. Methods for calculating Easter are fiendishly complicated and a uniquely baffling synthesis of mathematics, astronomy and theology. As Christians believe Jesus was crucified during the Jewish Passover festival, Easter is celebrated around the same time. Nonetheless, different Christian groups were already marking it on separate dates by the end of the 2nd Century. Q&A; | Maundy Thursday These date-led disagreements even set the course of history for the British Isles at the Synod of Whitby in 664AD when the preferred date of the Roman - rather than the Celtic - church became the standard. The decision is said to have catapulted Britain into the European sphere of influence. Though disputes over Easter's exact timing have been used as proxies for deeper power struggles for centuries, most now accept that it falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox - which the Church approximated as March 21. This year, Easter Sunday falls on April 21, the longest stretch following March 21's full moon – which falls on a Sunday. In 2016, the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested Easter should fall on the same Sunday every year and the Most Rev Justin Welby said Anglican leaders would join discussions with other church leaders to fix the date for the first time, theoretically putting an end to almost 2,000 years of controversy. The 10 best destinations for Easter sun What do eggs have to do with Easter? Eggs illustrate new life, just as Jesus began his new life on Easter Sunday after the miracle of his resurrection. When eggs are cracked open they are said to symbolise an empty tomb. Originally, eating eggs was forbidden in the week leading up to Easter (known as Holy Week). They were saved and decorated in the run-up to the celebration and given to children as gifts. Sometimes they were coloured red, in recognition of the blood sacrificed by Jesus when he was crucified. Green was also used to symbolise spring re-growth after the winter. The first chocolate eggs appeared in France and Germany during the 19th century. As chocolate-making techniques improved, the Easter egg as we know it was popularised. Where does the Easter Bunny fit in to all of this? Rabbits and hares have been associated with spring for hundreds of years. It is thought that the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring, Eostre – who many believe the Christian event is named after – had a hare as her companion, symbolising fertility and rebirth. It's hardly surprising that rabbits and hares have become associated with fertility as they are both prolific breeders and regularly give birth to large litters in early spring. The legend of the Easter Bunny is thought to have originated among German Lutherans, where the 'Easter Hare' judged whether children had been good or bad in the run-up to Easter. Easter bunnies and eggs are symbols of spring and fertility. Over time it has been incorporated into Christian celebrations, becoming especially popular in Britain during the 19th century. Many children believe that the Easter Bunny lays and hides baskets of coloured eggs, sweets and toys in their homes or around the garden the night before Easter Sunday – much like Father Christmas delivering gifts on Christmas Eve. This has given rise to the tradition of the Easter egg hunt which is still popular among children today. Why do we eat hot cross buns? A hot cross bun is a spiced, sweet bun marked with a cross on top. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday as the cross represents the crucifixion of Jesus, while the spices are said to remind Christians of the spices put on his body. Hot cross buns appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1733 but they are believed to have existed long before. Enriched, sweetened bread dough dates back to the Romans. Long before Christianity, loaves and buns were baked with symbols on them, one of which was a cross. Small, spiced cakes were also baked to honour the Saxon goddess Eoestre and celebrate spring, but it was the Tudors who began to link the spiced currant buns we know today with feast days, celebrations and - eventually - Lent. Delicious recipes to cook this Easter Wild garlic and parsley soup Jose Pizarro's roast rack of lamb with braised peas and lemon-thyme salsa Hot cross bun panna cotta Paul Hollywood's Easter simnel cake How is Easter celebrated around the world? In many central and eastern European countries decorating eggs with beautiful patterns is especially popular. In Switzerland, Easter eggs are delivered by a cuckoo and, in some areas of Germany, a fox. The egg-giving tradition arrived in the United States in the 18th century via protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area. Traditional Easter foods from around the world On Easter Monday, the President of the United States holds an annual Easter egg roll on the lawn of the White House for young children. In the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland it is a day of remembrance for the men and women who died in the Easter Rising which began on Easter Monday 1916.
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| Congo Ebola epidemic exceeds 1,000 cases - health ministry Posted: 25 Mar 2019 05:35 AM PDT ![Congo Ebola epidemic exceeds 1,000 cases - health ministry]( "Congo Ebola epidemic exceeds 1,000 cases - health ministry") Congo's Ebola epidemic has now exceeded 1,000 cases, the Health Ministry said on Monday, with a death toll of 629 in the world's second worst ever outbreak. Health workers have been better prepared than ever for this latest epidemic of the hemorrhagic fever, which causes severe vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding, and kills more than half those it infects. New technologies like a trial vaccine, experimental treatments and futuristic cube-shaped mobile units for treating patients have helped curb the spread of the virus.
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| The 5 most important announcements from Apple’s big event Posted: 25 Mar 2019 11:47 AM PDT  For Apple fans, today's big "It's Show Time" event wasn't exactly the most hotly anticipated Apple press conference in recent history. In fact, it might not even crack the top 10. But for Apple, today's event carries a tremendous amount of weight. For the past decade, Apple has made the lion's share of its money selling hardware products. Specifically, the iPhone line and its sky-high profit margins are the reason Apple is the most profitable consumer electronics company in history. But as we've seen in recent years, iPhone growth simply isn't sustainable — big smartphone markets are already saturated and people are keeping their phones longer than ever because it's so expensive to upgrade these days. That's a big part of the reason that Apple is turning to services as the company explores new ways to foster growth. Today we got our first look at the new services Apple hopes will carry the company's media efforts into the future. We can't say anything Apple announced during Monday's press conference came as much of a surprise considering all of the leaks and reports from the past few weeks. That said, we finally know all of the particulars regarding Apple's upcoming new streaming entertainment and news services, and there's plenty to unpack. In this post, however, we'll unpack it all as we cover the five most important announcements from the Steve Jobs theater in Cupertino, California on Monday. Apple News+Apple on Monday announced a huge revamp to the Apple News product. What was once merely a news aggregator app is now evolving into a one-stop shop for all sorts of journalism called Apple News+. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im5c5WR9vMQ First, Apple is adding magazines and digital subscriptions to Apple News. Time, Vogue, People, National Geographic, Popular Science, Billboard, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and New York Magazine are just some of the popular magazines that will be featured in the new Apple News+ hub. New issues of subscribed magazines and newspapers are downloaded automatically in the background, and more than 300 magazines will be included in the service at launch, as well as newspapers like The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times. Apple News+ costs $9.99 per month, which includes unlimited content sources and family sharing. The new service is available beginning immediately. Apple CardApple's second big announcement during today's show is a brand new service called Apple Card, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and Mastercard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAZiE9NtRfs The company says it has completely rethought the credit card with its new Apple Card product. It's a credit card, but you can sign up in the Wallet app on your iPhone and get your card virtually right away. Balance information and payment details are all accessible in the Wallet app, and Apple even provides Apple Card customer support through the Messages app. Apple Card uses machine learning and Apple Maps to translate conventional vendor transaction details to actual business names that are more recognizable. There are a number of tools included as well that are aimed at helping users track their spending. As for rewards, Apple has introduced a new "Daily Cash" feature that gives users cash back on a daily basis. Money is added to an Apple Cash card in the wallet app automatically, and the cash back rate is 2% for all purchases except for purchases made from Apple, which earn 3% cash back. Apple Card in the Wallet app offers several tools designed to reduce the amount of interest you pay, such as a real cost calculator and multiple payments per month. There are also no fees with the Apple Card, including no late fees and no over limit fees. Each Apple Card customer will also get a physical titanium card for locations where Apple Pay isn't accepted. Purchases made with the physical card only get 1% cash back. The Apple Card will launch in the US sometime this summer. Apple ArcadeRumors suggested Apple would be announcing a new gaming service during its event on Monday, and indeed it did. The new service is called Apple Arcade, and it's a new way to deliver video games to users. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95FuVib8mcY Apple Arcade offers financial backing to studios for the development of games that will be exclusive to Apple Arcade, and they'll be playable on mobile devices, computers, and on Apple TV. Apple Arcade subscriptions offer unlimited access to all games in the library, and it will launch with more than 100 titles available from day one. A new Arcade tab in the App Store will provide access to Apple Arcade, and all games will work on iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers, as well as on the Apple TV. No games will be permitted to display any ads, and no games will be allowed to include in-app purchases. Apple Arcade will launch in more than 150 countries this fall, and pricing for the subscription hasn't yet been announced. Apple TV ChannelsThe biggest news from today's press conference is a new a la carte TV subscription service that lets you pay only for the channels you want to watch. Apple TV Channels will live inside the Apple TV app, and users only pay for the channels to which they would like to subscribe. All content is also available on demand, of course, and the redesigned Apple TV app will also be home to streaming TV services from cable providers and similar offerings like PlayStation Vue. The redesigned Apple TV app will also provide live scores from sporting events, and it'll be a portal for movies and TV shows you purchase in iTunes. A unified "Up Next" section in the app shows new episodes of all your favorite TV shows as they become available, to ensure you never miss a show. Hulu and Prime Video content is also available through the new Apple TV app. It's designed as a one-stop shop for all of the streaming entertainment you watch. The new Apple TV app will available on Apple TV boxes, iPad, and iPhone beginning in May, and it'll come as part of an iOS update. It'll also be made available on macOS beginning this fall, and there will be a version made available for smart TVs (including Samsung, Sony, and Vizio), Roku devices, and Fire TV devices. Apple TV+In addition to the new Apple TV Channels product, Apple finally announced its original programming initiative. Dubbed Apple TV+, Apple is dumping some serious cash into original shows and movies created by and starring some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Brie Larson, Bill Murray, Steven Spielberg, J. J. Abrams, Octavia Spencer, Steve Carell, M. Night Shyamalan, Jennifer Aniston, Ron Howard, and Reese Witherspoon are just some of the big names involved with projects that are currently in production. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrdbT4hpwBk Steven Spielberg will be rebooting Amazing Stories for Apple TV+, an anthology series from the mid 1980s. Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, and Reese Witherspoon will star in The Morning Show, a show that analyzes the inner workings of a fictitious morning new show. Jason Momoa will star in a new show called See, a show about a world where only a few million survivors lived through a cataclysmic event, and they were all blind. Kumail Nanjiani is making a series called Little America, a collection of immigrant stories in the United States based on true events. J. J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles are joining to create a series called Romantic Voice, a show about a young woman trying to make it in the New York music scene. There's also a new preschool show about using coding (yes, coding!) to solve problems. It's called Helpsters and it features characters from Sesame Street. There's also one more personality you may have heard of who's on board to create two documentaries and a new Book Club interview series for Apple TV+: Oprah. Apple TV+ will be available in the new Apple TV app beginning this fall. It will be an ad-free subscription service, but pricing hasn't yet been announced.
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| Tame your spaghetti monster with this easy garlicky dish Posted: 25 Mar 2019 08:43 AM PDT  The late-night spaghetti monster will be tamed with this flavor-packed pasta that comes together quickly from pantry ingredients. The key here is making the most of the garlic.
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| U.S. calls Russia deployment of planes to Venezuela 'reckless escalation' Posted: 26 Mar 2019 04:01 AM PDT ![U.S. calls Russia deployment of planes to Venezuela 'reckless escalation']( "U.S. calls Russia deployment of planes to Venezuela 'reckless escalation'") The Russian planes and military personnel arrived outside the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Saturday, according to local media reports, two months after the Trump administration disavowed President Nicolas Maduro. Washington has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate president and demands that Maduro leave power, which Russia has described as a U.S.-backed coup against the socialist government. "The United States condemns Russia's deployment of military aircraft and personnel to Caracas, which is another contradiction of both Nicolas Maduro's and Russia's calls for non-intervention in Venezuela and is a reckless escalation of the situation," a State Department spokesman said.
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| Suicide bombers, rockets: the last days of the IS 'caliphate' Posted: 25 Mar 2019 02:57 AM PDT  Suicide bombers, snipers, rockets -- Islamic State group fighters did everything they could to defend their last scrap of territory in eastern Syria, but their diminished resources were not enough. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday declared victory over the jihadists in the remote village of Baghouz, after reducing their once terrifying proto-state to a ghostly riverside camp.
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| Fewer first-time home buyers likely to qualify for mortgages under tougher FHA standards Posted: 25 Mar 2019 02:48 PM PDT ![Fewer first-time home buyers likely to qualify for mortgages under tougher FHA standards]( "Fewer first-time home buyers likely to qualify for mortgages under tougher FHA standards") Fewer first-time and lower-income homebuyers are likely to get mortgages under tougher standards adopted by the Federal Housing Administration
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| Trump ‘to go full animal’ on his opponents after Mueller report, former aide Steve Bannon says Posted: 26 Mar 2019 07:10 AM PDT  Donald Trump's former chief adviser has warned the US president is "going to go full animal" after he was partially exonerated by Robert Mueller's investigation. Steve Bannon, who left the White House in 2017, predicted Mr Trump would "come off the chains" and use the special counsel's findings to "bludgeon" his opponents and ignore congressional oversight requests for documents. William Barr, the attorney general, sent a four-page letter to Congress outlining Mr Mueller's conclusions following the sprawling 22-month probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia or Mr Trump obstructed justice.
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