Sometimes that pulp-free, store-bought orange juice just doesn’t cut it on those rough mornings. In dire times like these, fresh-squeezed juice can be the key to energizing you and getting you out the door. You may be thinking that sounds like too much work, and it probably would be if you didn’t have a great juicer to aid you.
The Mueller Austria Ultra-Juicer is just the thing you need to achieve that dream, and it’s also discounted on Amazon at the moment. Save $50 as well as an extra 5% off with a limited-time coupon.
This juicer isn’t only limited to oranges and breakfast beverages — you can get a lot more creative than that. Apples, carrots, kiwis, and much more make great fuel for this machine to give you nutrition throughout your entire day. Don’t let the sleek look of this juicer fool you — it has a super powerful motor that can create a 16-ounce cup of juice in just eight seconds. It has two speeds, one for softer items like tomatoes, and a faster option for harder stuff like celery and beets. The auto-shutdown function prevents accidents from happening if the juicer overheats, and the icing on the cake is that it's a breeze to clean and prepare it for your next juicing session. Read more...
We are now entering the time of the year when the sun starts shining more frequently, and rain clouds don't dominate the skyline every single day. That might be wishful thinking, but a little bit of sun will do that to you.
It's in these sunnier times that we often look to switch up our diet, too. We turn our backs on heavy casseroles and meaty pies, and start eyeing up the fruit and salads. OK, this might be a bit of a stretch, but you've got to admit that a refreshing fruit smoothie sounds better than porridge on a hot morning.
The Ninja Nutri personal blender is the perfect device to help you switch to a fresher diet. Promising smooth results thanks to the unique pre-set blending patterns, it has never been easier to create great-tasting cool drinks and smoothies in seconds. It's time to put the oats to the back of the cupboard. You can now buy the Ninja Nutri personal blender for £94.99. This is down from £129.99 — saving you £35. Read more...
You know that Amazon’s Alexa can answer your questions, control smart devices, and queue your music, but did you know that Alexa is also a kid-friendly DJ, comedian, and storyteller? That’s how Amazon describes its Echo Dot Kids Edition, equipped with a kid-friendly Alexa assistant.
Your kids can ask Alexa to play music, answer questions, read stories, tell jokes, and more, and every response will have younger ears in mind. So, you can rest easy knowing your children won’t be exposed to adult content. Read more...
There are laptops, and then there are gaming laptops. These bad boys have the image quality, processor speed, and storage to handle everything that you can throw at them.
The ASUS ROG Strix gaming laptop is one such device that's equipped to handle everything and anything that's required of it. The Intel Core 2 Quad processor posts speeds of 2.80GHz, which should be able to cope with even the most demanding of games. The 15.6-inch screen combined with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics card means that you'll see all the action in great detail, too.
The storage and memory of a device is often an afterthought, but that's not the case with this 8GB gaming laptop. The Solid-State Hybrid Drive storage coupled with a hard drive capacity of 1TB ensures that you won't run out of space anytime soon. Read more...
Words aren't always sufficient when you're feeling low. Sometimes, humor can be the best medicine for a case of The Sads.
We're all well aware of the internet's potential to be a little dumpster fire-adjacent at times. But at this point we can't just click away — many of us frequently use our social media spheres as tools for coping with everything from mental health struggles to the never-ending nonsense that is the political news cycle.
But even the most well-intentioned use of internet culture for mood lifting can be fraught with bad vibes. While there are tons of self-deprecating and depression-related memes circulating the net, we think you deserve something a bit more uplifting. Read more...
There's no better way to celebrate warm weather than by going outdoors and enjoying it. And while nothing quite matches the intrinsic glory of nature, we can safely say Beyoncé makes everything better. Listen to your favorite tunes outside with this ultra-durable, compact VAVA Voom 23 IPX6 Rugged Portable Speaker.
Unlike other portable speakers that might be on the delicate side, or putter out after a measly 3-4 hours of use, this powerful speaker features a 5,200mAh rechargeable battery and can stream audio for up to 24 consecutive hours at an 80 percent volume level. That means you can take it with you to fuel long hikes, set the perfect ambiance at a backyard barbecue, perch it in the sand for a day at the beach — your limit is only your imagination. Read more...
It will come as no surprise to anyone, but I was not cool in high school. Not even a little bit.
Now that I'm a 30-year-old human masquerading as a grownup, I had hoped I'd put my desires to be part of the cool crowd to bed long ago. But years after this angst-ridden festival of self-consciousness, I have become uncomfortably reacquainted with the feeling of being on the outside of the clique.
Over a decade since I put high school well and truly behind me, I now inhabit a virtual one. And I'd be lying if I said that I don't feel a pang of those teenage feelings — of thinking I'm on the outskirts of Cool Town — anytime I scroll through my Twitter feed. Read more...
Back in the olden days — and by olden days, we mean 20 years ago — you'd have to make a trip to the library and flip open a huge encyclopedia to research a topic. And if you really wanted to take a deep dive on something, you'd have to enroll in classes and show up on time to get your money's worth.
But now, learning is far more accessible, thanks to the wonder that is the internet. If you're looking to pick up a skill or two, below are discounted subscriptions to e-learning libraries you can use to learn anything to your heart's content. The best part? You don't even have to leave the house. Read more...
Spring is the best time of the year, and we're not listening to anyone arguing for summer. Don't even try and go there with autumn or winter.
The temperatures are on the up, but not yet uncomfortable. Flowers are blossoming, and the earth is not yet scorched by the sun. The days are getting longer, and they will continue to do so for a few months. All is well with spring.
Probably the only real downside to spring is that some sadistic individuals have tried to tie the season to cleaning. We all know about spring cleaning, and it's just something that we have to accept at this point.
It doesn't have to be all hard work though. Not with a robotic vacuum anyway. You can sit back and enjoy all the wonders of spring whilst your little robot helper handles your floors. You can also save up to £68 in the eufy spring sale, just in time for spring cleaning. Read more...
In this deals round-up we have tracked down the best offers on speakers, headphones, and a wide range of technology for you and the home.
You can save on Apple iPhones, Beats headphones, Logitech gaming headsets, MyHeritage DNA test kits, and more. All the hottest brands are included, and all the best and latest technology is covered too.
These are the best deals from across the internet for March 25.
Best of the best
Everything you could imagine, from vacuum cleaners to DNA test kits. You can find chances to save on brands like Apple, Shark, Ninja, and more.
Speakers
Save on Bluetooth speakers, wireless speakers, portable speakers, and speaker systems for the home. Choose from brands like Bose, Sony, Ultimate Ears, and more. Read more...
Pliant Energy Systems has spent the last two years developing a drone named Velox. The robot, which was initially meant to be a generator that could harness the flow of water, is now more of a sleek-looking surveillance drone with potential to one day even help deliver medical supplies and ammo in combat. We spoke to the founder and CEO of Pliant about the evolution of his company. We also wanted to see the robot in person because it's really cool. Read more...
Spring is here, and it's time to clean up the yard, break out the grill, call a few friends over and have yourself a barbecue. If you don't want your guests sitting in the dirt, Home Depot is offering up to 25% off patio furniture. Sets range from full outdoor dining sets to folding picnic tables.
While you're at it why not throw in this Intex PureSpa four-person inflatable portable hot tub. For only $349.00 (listed at $638.99) you and your guests can relax after a long day of socializing.
With the 2020 presidential race already heating up for Democrats, one of the most perplexing questions has been how to pronounce the name of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Butt-i-gig? Beyoo-tee-geeg? It's a tricky one but thankfully there's now a helpful guide to getting it right and it's in song form.
The ditty is courtesy of Aaron Nemo, a writer at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where Buttigieg has actually already made an appearance. It's nice to see things come full circle.
A longshot when he entered the race, Buttigieg has since generated a lot of buzz with profiles from the Washington Post, CNN, NBC, and plenty of other places. Not that an early buzz is an indication of a future nomination; just ask Ben Carson. Read more...
Almost every advert in the world is, to some extent, a little bit unbelievable.
It could be that the people in the ad are smiling a little too much, or that everything just looks that tiny bit too perfect.
Or it could be that the accessories the company in question has chosen to jazz up their product are so ridiculous that the whole thing falls apart on closer inspection.
Enter bath trays. As pianist Sharon Su perfectly illustrated in a Twitter thread this weekend, they may be the worst offenders of all.
Here's Su's thread, in all its glory.
The people who manufacture bathtub trays seem to have no idea what women actually do in the bath and I find that strangely comforting pic.twitter.com/wHWCRteSYO
If you've ever had to pretend to have a boyfriend or husband to get out of an uncomfortable or threatening situation, then you'll know that it can be a terrifying and isolating experience.
But, you're not alone and these responses to Jameela Jamil's tweets are proof of that.
The star of The Good Place tweeted that she was shopping with a friend when a man made advances at her. She told him she had a boyfriend and thanked him, but the situation quickly escalated into one of harassment.
Was out at the shops with my friend. Man ogles me. Man then approaches me to give me his number. I explain I have a boyfriend but thank him for the offer. Man then threatens my career, saying I better remember that I rejected him. And then Shouts at me that I’m low class... 🤷🏽♀️
Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke played a game of Know Your Role during the London press junket for Us.
Jordan Peele's new film has been hailed as a horror masterpiece that explores duality and doppelgängers. But how much do its stars actually know about horror movies? Read more...
You know Mean Tweets? Well, this is sort of the opposite.
In the compilation above from The Graham Norton Show, the likes of Chris Pine and Matt Damon are confronted with a range of inventively thirsty tweets about them — from Pine's full-frontal nude scene in Outlaw King to Matt Damon's temporary ponytail (to which there were many, many creative responses).
It's not all thirsty stuff, either — there are some reactions to meeting Taylor Swift, for instance, that are simply excitable in the extreme, as well as a selection of the most brutal James Blunt comebacks.
March Mindfulness is our new series that examines the explosive growth in mindfulness and meditation technology — culminating in Mashable's groundbreaking competitive meditation bracket contest. Because March shouldn't be all madness.
The Sunday Scaries suck, but Mondays often suck more. After a weekend of friends, family, and ideally, naps, you're thrusted into deadlines, meetings, and spreadsheets. That's one way to look at it, at least; another is to think of Mondays as a day to start fresh.
The DeStress Monday initiative uses that mentality to encourage users to press the refresh button with simple tools that will help them unwind every week. In doing so, they hope to help people start their Mondays in a positive way and then reduce stress throughout the rest of the week. Read more...
Of course, it's a publicity stunt, which Apple seems to favor more and more in recent times (remember Tim Cook's fake DM fail ahead of the 2018 iPhone launch event?), but this one's far more elaborate than anything we've seen before.
At first, the stream appears to just be showing the insides of the empty Steve Jobs Theater, where the event is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. ET Monday, from several angles. But look closely, and things start happening: Some innocuous, like a guard inspecting the place with a flashlight, and some odd, like the curtain being raised and a chat conversation being shown on the theater's screen. Read more...
It's been 13 years since the first episode of Hannah Montana landed on the Disney Channel, and Miley Cyrus has marked the occasion with a sweet Twitter tribute.
The 26-year-old pop icon shared a photograph of her younger self, with a caption noting the significant date for the beloved series.
"It's the 13th anniversary of the first HM episode to air," she wrote. The pilot episode of Hannah Montana, titled "Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?" premiered on March 24, 2006.
According to Billboard, the image shows Cyrus at the Nashville airport, ready to fly to Los Angeles to the Hannah Montana set. So, she did hop off the plane at LAX, but we see no cardigan. Read more...
New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski has announced his retirement from the NFL, prompting heartfelt social media posts from his teammates, other players, and fans.
The star 29-year-old tight end heralded his decision on Sunday with a lengthy post on Instagram, marking the end of a sparkling nine-year career.
"It all started at 20 years old on stage at the NFL draft when my dream came true, and now here I am about to turn 30 in a few months with a decision I feel is the biggest of my life so far. I will be retiring from the game of football today," he wrote. Read more...
Those old-school SUVs and four-wheel-drive adventure cars are great — except for all the waste-emitting gasoline needed to fuel them on camping trips and scenic drives through nature.
That's where Australian startup Jaunt comes in, converting old vehicles like the 1971 Land Rover Series 2a into electric road trippers. That's the first car the company has raised enough money to revamp. The car should be available in time for the Australian spring and summer.
The company so far only has the Land Rover, named Juniper, but it wants to convert more vehicles to set up for rentals for pre-planned "jaunts" around Australia. So far an Indiegogo campaign has raised more than $10,000 (over A$14,000). Ultimately the startup hopes to receive $50,000 to provide more trips and cars. Read more...
Amazon is already more than dominant in the online shopping space, but add a shot or three of tequila and that Amazon Prime free two-day shipping looks even more appealing.
Tech and business newsletter The Hustle surveyed more than 2,000 alcohol-drinking adults about their online shopping behavior after imbibing and found that on average, shoppers spent more than $400 per year on items bought while intoxicated. If you apply that number beyond the respondents to include America's legal alcohol-drinkers, you get roughly $48 billion on drunken purchases every year.
Dr. Dre wrote that his daughter Truly was accepted to the University of Southern California "all on her own" on Saturday. Given the college admissions scandal that's still making headlines, this was a strange brag — the school literally has a building named after him.
"My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!!!" Dre wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. Presumably, it was deleted because people quickly pointed out a $70 million donation he made to the school with executive Jimmy Iovine in 2013, which funded the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. (Dr. Dre's legal name is Andre Young.) Read more...
The Tesla electric car community is talking about an Autopilot over-the-air update version 2019.8.3 that showed up on Saturday. Now the semi-autonomous system can warn drivers about traffic lights.
The Autosteer feature, which uses cameras and sensors to keep the car in its lane and navigate tight turns, can now alert drivers about an upcoming red light. If the car is about to run the light, the new system will alert the driver.
Called "Autosteer Stop Light Warning," the update gives drivers using Autopilot a visual and audio warning that they need to take over. Read more...
True crime dramas are frequently engaging but don’t necessarily make for the easiest viewing experience. Shock, grief, and anger usually get involved as you watch the story unravel.
All of these feelings are escalated in Netflix’s Delhi Crime. The seven-episode first season (which is mostly in English, with subtitled scenes in Hindi) is based on a real-life incident that took place in 2012 in India's capital of New Delhi – the horrific gang-rape of a physiotherapy intern on a moving city bus.
With Delhi Crime, it's the shock at the heinousness of the crime that comes first. The starting point of the series is the discovery of the naked, injured bodies of Deepika and Akash (names changed for the show). Akash, who has sustained bruises but is stable, tells the officers they were robbed and beaten in a bus by several men, including the driver. They proceeded to sexually and violently assault Deepika, who is now hanging on for her life. Read more...
UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi, who went viral back in January for her electrifying floor routine, is back for more.
Ohashi debuted a new floor routine Saturday at the PAC-12 women's gymnastics championship in West Valley City, Utah. The routine features music from only female artists, including Tina Turner and Janet Jackson — both of whom were featured in her original viral routine — and Beyoncé. (Though music from Michael Jackson appeared in her previous routine, Ohashi chose not to include any here in the wake of Leaving Neverland.)
Unsurprisingly, Ohashi is as joyous and as awe-inspiring to watch as ever. She scored a perfect 10, and UCLA came out on top. Read more...
Microsoft's Edge browser is coming out soon with a Google Chromium-powered revamp and an online leak showed all the features.
The Verge reported the leak Sunday on various online forums and sharing sites. A public preview is expected soon, but so far only media outlets have gotten a look at the Edge's new open source-powered browser.
Chrome extension support, eventual compatibility on Mac, and even dark mode (although that feature is only in testing) are some of the features users are excited about for the Windows browser. The Verge confirmed favorites syncing and other interface customization. Read more...
Perhaps your phone has delivered your weekly Screen Time report and you know, in your heart, that it's time to take a break from social media. This is good. A little break is nice every now and then.
But you don't need to embark on a full 30-day screen-free detox every time you overdo it on Twitter. Instead, consider a weeklong break. Yes, just seven days. Will it irrevocably change your habits? Probably not. But a valuable break doesn't have to.
Crucially, you do not have to announce that you are taking a weeklong break from social media. A week is not long enough for anyone to get mad that you have not liked their photo from the farmers market or responded to their DM about someone from high school's baby. This makes the weeklong break easy to do on the fly. Read more...
Threats from long-range guided missiles, surface ship fire-power, submarine-launched torpedo attacks and incoming air assaults all inform the Navy's vigorous push to further weaponize its fleet of aircraft carriers - while assessing its plan to expand its number of carriers up to 12.
The service is putting carrier-development and weapons modernization on the fast-track, indicating confidence in the carrier-platform's combat survivability in coming decades as it shifts focus to blue-water warfare against technologically sophisticated adversaries.
The Navy approach is defined by two interwoven trajectories; the service is performing "sea-based developmental testing" of carrier-based offensive and defensive weapons -- while also hoping to speed up acquisition of Ford-class carriers through two-ship buys and long-term fleet goals. In short, the Navy wants more weapons on carriers and may simply want more carriers - faster. The hope, according to formal Navy studies as of 2016, is to grow the fleet to 12 aircraft carriers, moving beyond its current size of 11.
WNU Editor: If Congress continues to allocate money for 12 carriers, it will happen even if the Pentagon has other ideas .... The Navy Wants to Shrink Its Aircraft Carrier Fleet (J. Bachman & D. Merrill, Bloomberg).
* Democrats seeking the presidency are skipping a prominent pro-Israel policy conference after coming under pressure from the left to boycott it * Democrats from Bernie Sanders, whose Jewish, to Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Julian Castro and Beto O'Rourke are dodging AIPAC * Trump isn't speaking but VP Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are * President told DailyMail.com as he left the White House: 'The Democrats have very much proven to be anti-Israel. There's no question about that' * 'I don't what happened to them,' he said. 'Frankly I think they're anti-Jewish' * Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Trump on Monday and Tuesday in Washington, D.C. in advance of AIPAC conference * Netanyahu faces near-certain indictment on corruption charges as he prepares to stand for re-election on April 9
President Donald Trump said Friday as he left for Florida that Democrats skipping a prominent pro-Israel, policy conference are 'anti-Israel' and their conduct is disgraceful.
He told DailyMail.com on the South Lawn of the White House: 'The Democrats have very much proven to be anti-Israel. There's no question about that. And it's a disgrace.
Trump said they are also 'anti-Jewish,' as far as he's concerned. 'I don't know what happened to them. Frankly, I think they're anti-Jewish.'
Leading Democratic presidential candidates from Kamala Harris to Elizabeth Warren and Beto O'Rourke have said they won't go.
he world's most wanted man who has so far eluded capture, Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has seen his "caliphate" crumble and its last shred of territory in Syria evaporate on Saturday.
After declaring himself caliph in 2014, Baghdadi held sway over seven million people across swathes of Syria and Iraq, where IS implemented its brutal version of Islamic law.
But that land has been whittled down to disjointed sleeper cells by years of fighting, including a ferocious bombing campaign by the US-led coalition.
Reclusive even when IS was at the peak of its power, the 47-year-old Iraqi, who suffers from diabetes, has been rumoured to have been wounded or killed several times in the past. And his whereabouts have never been confirmed.
So, with his proto-state gone and a $25-million US bounty on his head, where is Baghdadi?
The long delayed flight is a big accomplishment for team Defiant and marks a new stage in the fight to own the Army's future helicopter order book.
The SB>1 Defiant has taken to the skies for the very first time. The coaxial rotor compound helicopter design took off from Sikorsky's West Palm Beach facility at 7:47 AM today and flew for roughly half an hour, performing slow-speed handling tests. It did not engage its pusher propeller during the inaugural flight. The event is a triumph for the Sikorsky-Boeing team that hopes the SB>1 will eventually get put into production to fulfill portions of the Army's Future Vertical Lift requirement and more.
"We cannot say that ISIS is finished. It is true that they are finished on the ground as a standing army. But the ISIS threat remains around the globe," said Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces https://t.co/xh2sqH8WLB
A group of gunmen who disguised themselves as traditional hunters have surrounded a Mali village and killed at least 134 Fulani herders, with pregnant women and children among the dead.
It was the deadliest such attack of recent times in a region reeling from worsening ethnic and jihadist violence.
Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass, said armed men, dressed as traditional Donzo hunters, encircled and attacked Ogossagou.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Two Russian air force planes landed at Venezuela's main airport on Saturday carrying a Russian defense official and nearly 100 troops, according to media reports, amid strengthening ties between Caracas and Moscow.
A flight-tracking website showed that two planes left from a Russian military airport bound for Caracas on Friday, and another flight-tracking site showed that one plane left Caracas on Sunday.
That comes three months after the two nations held military exercises on Venezuelan soil that President Nicolas Maduro called a sign of strengthening relations, but which Washington criticized as Russian encroachment in the region.
Reporter Javier Mayorca wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the first plane carried Vasily Tonkoshkurov, chief of staff of the ground forces, adding the second was a cargo plane carrying 35 tonnes of material.
WNU Editor: There are already a large number of Russian military contractors in Venezuela .... Reuters Is Reporting That Russian Military Contractors Have Been Sent To Venezuela To Protect President Maduro (January 25, 2019). IMHO this public deployment is being done to reassure Venezuelan President Maduro and those who support him that Russia will protect them. I personally think this is a terrible mistake. It will only cement the impression that Maduro is in power because of Russia and Cuba, and they are only doing this to protect their economic interests and investments in the country's oil industry. It also is an indication to me that Russian intelligence has made a conclusion that the situation in Venezuela is going to get worse, and that the military is no longer a reliable force to protect the Maduro government.
More News On Russia Deploying Soldiers To Venezuela
Germany's government has refused to disclose the number of attempts by the Iranian regime to obtain illicit nuclear weapons and rocket technology, Fox News has learned. The failure to reveal the information comes amid the Islamic Republic supreme leader's Thursday announcement promising to boost the country's ballistic missile program in defiance of U.S warnings.
"A statistic in the field of foreign trade is not kept at the [German] customs criminal office," in connection with the Iranian regime's efforts to secure the technology, a German Foreign Ministry letter obtained by Fox News stated.
Niels Annen, a minister of state in the ministry, who celebrated the Islamic Republic of Iran's revolution in February at Tehran's Berlin embassy, wrote the March 18 letter.
Moscow (CNN)The Kremlin has yet to respond to the conclusions from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but the gloating has already begun in Moscow.
Attorney General William Barr said Sunday the special counsel's investigation did not find President Donald Trump's campaign or associates conspired with Russia.
"In short, Russia did not elect Trump," said Evgeny Popov, the co-host of a pro-Kremlin political talk show, on Twitter. "Mueller did not find evidence of collusion between Trump's team with Russia. The US Attorney General submitted a 4-page report on the special prosecutor's investigation report to Congress. D is for Disappointment."
Added Popov: "And what about sanctions for 'election interference?' Hello, Mueller!"
Alexey Pushkov, a prominent Russian senator, also did not mince words.
WNU Editor: I give it another day or two before we get the official Kremlin reaction. As to what do I expect. The Russian media pundits will gloat, but the important long game for the Kremlin is to lay the groundwork for U.S. sanctions to be removed. They are going to praise the Mueller report, and they are going to express their hope that this will improve U.S. - Russian relations.
The trickle of information, the drip, drip, drip has led not to a death by a thousand cuts but to a desensitization.
In what might be the most anti-climactic grand finale since The Sopranos, Robert Mueller found no evidence that President Trump his team colluded with Russia in the run-up to the 2016 elections.
That is, at least, according to the summary report issued by Attorney General William Barr on Sunday.
Democrats are seizing on Attorney General William Barr's decision to conclude there was no obstruction of justice by President Trump in the Russia investigation, arguing that special counsel Robert Mueller's report must be made public.
Barr said Mueller did not reach a conclusion on obstruction of justice but that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made that determination after reviewing the report.
"After reviewing the Special Counsel's final report on these issues; consulting with Department officials, including the Office of Legal Counsel; and applying the principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decisions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense," Barr wrote.
WNU Editor: The Democrat base has been told for two years that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 Presidential election from Hillary Clinton. I expect this narrative will continue, and there will be a shift away from the findings of the Mueller report, to other investigations of President Trump.
More News And Reaction From Democrats On U.S. Attorney General Barr's Summary Of The Mueller Investigation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the federal probe into whether his presidential campaign worked with Russia to sway the 2016 election, and encouraged a look at "the other side," after the Justice Department said on Sunday that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion.
"It's a shame that our country had to go through this," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from Florida. "This was an illegal takedown that failed. And hopefully, somebody's going to be looking at the other side."
* President Donald Trump's campaign did not collude with Russia in the 2016 election, Robert Mueller found in his long-awaited report * Trump claimed a 'complete exoneration' in the investigation * 'There was no collusion with Russia, there was no obstruction and none whatsoever and it was a complete and total exoneration,' he said * The special counsel did not draw a conclusion 'one way or the other' as to whether the president obstructed justice * Mueller's findings were announced in a letter from Attorney General William Barr * Mueller left it up to Barr as to whether to charge Trump with obstruction * Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the joint decision not to * 'The investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense,' Barr wrote * Democrats are demanding Mueller's full report and its underlying documentation and evidence be made public
A joyous Donald Trump returned to the White House Sunday, hours after his campaign was cleared of allegations of Russia collusion, and told a crush of waiting reporters – twice – that 'America is the greatest place on earth.'
The president had already boasted that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 22-month Russia probe ended with a 'complete exoneration,' slamming the entire operation as 'an illegal takedown that failed' and saying he hopes 'somebody is going to be looking at the other side.'
'There was no collusion with Russia, there was no obstruction and none whatsoever and it was a complete and total exoneration. It's a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this,' Trump said in West Palm Beach, Florida before he boarded Air Force One to return to Washington D.C.
For President Trump .... this is the best possible outcome for him. On the question of Russian collusion, and the primary focus of this investigation, he has been completely vindicated.
Police in Germany have arrested 10 people on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack.
The arrests were made after some 200 police officers carried out raids in the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate.
The men had plotted to "kill as many 'non-believers' as possible" using a vehicle and guns, prosecutors said.
A 21-year-old man from Offenbach, near Frankfurt, and two 31-year-old brothers from Wiesbaden are the main suspects.
"They had already made contact with different arms dealers, rented a large vehicle and collected financial assets to use for the purchase of guns and the execution of the planned murders," a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said.
The suspects are aged between 20 and 42 and several are German nationals, the spokeswoman added.
The CPEC project is around three thousand kilometer long and Pakistan has already deployed 17,000 of its troops for the security of CPEC.
According to a report of Indian intelligence agencies, China has deployed its troops in Sindh region of Pakistan to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The report noted that China has deployed the troops of People Liberation Army (PLA) for the security of coal mines in Sindh's Thar region. Located in Tharparkar district of Pakistan, Thar region is only 90 kilometers away from Indo-Pak border. Several Chinese projects are going on in Sindh and most of these projects are facing stiff resistance from local people. It seems that China has decided to deploy its troops for securing the CPEC fearing such protests.
WNU Editor: Apparently the reason for this Chinese military deployment is due to unrest from Pakistani locals to a Chinese development project associated to CPEC, and the inability of Pakistan's security forces to provide protection. If this report is true, this will be the first time that I know of where Pakistan has permitted a large contingent of foreign military forces to be deployed inside their own country to protect an economic project.
A civilian passenger was accidentally ejected from a twin-seat Rafale B fighter jet as the aircraft was taking off.
The fighter jet was taking off from Saint-Dizier 113 air base for a training mission, on March 20, 2019. The pilot managed to land shortly after the incident. His hands were slightly injured by broken glass from the canopy.
The passenger, a man in his sixties, was hospitalized. His back was reportedly injured as he fell on the runway. He is now in a stable condition. "His health condition is not a cause for concern," said Colonel Cyrille Duvivier, spokesman for the French Air Force.
BRUSSELS must fightback against French efforts to "politicise" and reform EU markets after Britain quits the bloc, according to the Danish prime minister.
DONALD Trump has branded allegations of Russian collusion an "illegal takedown" after triumphantly heralding the the Mueller Report "a complete and total exoneration".
DONALD Trump and his campaign team did not knowingly conspire with Russia during the 2016 US election, Robert Mueller's long-awaited report has revealed.
THREE US states have been battered by record flooding as the Missouri River burst its banks. Here is the latest as the floodwaters force thousands of people to be evacuated.
BRITISH hospitals and universities should be banned from working with Chinese transplant centres amid fears the centres are harvesting organs from the vulnerable.
Cyclone Idai struck the southeast of Africa last week, causing more than 600 deaths in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi as severe flooding ravaged all three nations. An estimated 1.7 million were in the path of the cyclone, prompting the U.N. to call it potentially “one of the worst climate-related disasters to hit Southern Africa.”
The storm made landfall in the Mozambique port city of Beira on March 14, producing a storm surge that destroyed 90% of the area before continuing west towards Zimbabwe and Malawi. Damage has rendered large parts of the affected areas inaccessible, hampering aid efforts from humanitarian groups.
With water and sanitation systems destroyed, waterborne diseases present a growing concern. A center to respond to cholera has been set up in Beira as workers brace for the spread of the virus.
The death toll is feared to rise significantly as rescue efforts continue and water levels recede. Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi said in a nationwide address that “everything indicates that we can have a record of more than 1,000 dead,” according to CNN.
In the wake of the disaster, here is a list of charities providing relief to the affected region:
United Nations World Food Program (WFP)
WFP, the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger, is calling for funds to support the delivery of food to victims of the cyclone. According to the agency, at least 500,000 people are in need of emergency food.
Humanity & Inclusion
Independent organization Humanity & Inclusion has been working in Mozambique since 1986. In the wake of the storm, the group is clearing access points in Beira to enable the transportation of food, water and other essentials to victims, as well as providing food aid and hygiene kits to families.
Oxfam is working to provide access to clean water through the delivery of hygiene kits and water purification tablets to half a million victims. The organization will also run hygiene promotion sessions to advise people how to store and treat water, as well as ensure access to adequate toilet and washing facilities.
Save the Children
Save the Children is providing support for vulnerable children and families in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Critical supplies including hygiene kits, water jugs and tents are being delivered, and Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit, which assesses damage to health facilities and makes sure children have access to lifesaving healthcare, has also been deployed.
(KFAR SABA, Israel) — An early morning rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a house in central Israel on Monday, wounding seven people and prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a trip to Washington. The developments set the stage for a potential major conflagration, shortly before Israel’s upcoming elections.
The rocket attack destroyed a residential home in the community of Mishmeret, north of the city of Kfar Saba, wounding six members of the family. The Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people overall, including two women who were moderately wounded. The others, including two children and an infant, had minor wounds.
The sounds of air raid sirens jolted residents of the Sharon area, northeast of Tel Aviv, from their sleep shortly after 5 a.m., sending them scurrying to bomb shelters. A strong sound of an explosion followed. The Israeli military said it identified the rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.
The strike left a family home in Mishmeret in ruins, tiles and debris scattered all about. The family dog was killed in the explosion.
Netanyahu, in Washington to meet President Donald Trump, held emergency consultations with military officials back in Israel and decided to cut his visit short, cancelling a planned address to the AIPAC conference and meetings with congressional leaders.
“There has been a criminal attack on the State of Israel and we will respond forcefully,” he said, “In a few hours I will meet with President Trump. I will return to Israel immediately afterward.”
Anticipating a strong Israeli response, Gaza’s Hamas leaders have apparently gone underground. Witnesses reported seeing Hamas evacuating its personnel from government premises. Hamas also announced that its Gaza chief, Yehiya Sinwar, had cancelled a scheduled public speech. Israel also shut down its main cargo crossing into Gaza.
Monday’s attack came 10 days after rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel’s densely populated commercial capital of Tel Aviv. The Israeli military at the time struck back and the sides appeared to be hurtling toward another confrontation. But Gaza’s Hamas leaders said the rocket was fired accidently and calm was quickly restored.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack, but it would seem to be much harder to dismiss the latest incident as another misfire.
Gaza is controlled by Hamas, an Islamic militant Palestinian group that seeks Israel’s destruction and possesses a large arsenal of rockets and missiles capable of striking deep inside Israel. The territory is home to other Palestinian militant groups, including Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed armed organization that also has a formidable rocket arsenal.
Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies and have fought three wars since the group seized power in the strip in 2007. Smaller flare-ups have occurred sporadically since Israel and Hamas fought their last war in 2014; Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for all fire coming out of the coastal territory.
The outburst comes at a sensitive time for both sides. Israel is holding national elections in 15 days. Netanyahu, who also served as defense minister, is locked in a tight fight for re-election and has faced heavy criticism from his opponents for what they say has been an ineffective response to Gaza militants.
“The reality in which Hamas turned Israel into a hostage is unprecedented and unfathomable,” his chief challenger, Benny Gantz, wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Netanyahu has also come under attack from his own nationalistic camp.
“Israel’s deterrence has collapsed, and it has to be said in all honesty Netanyahu has failed against Hamas,” said Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Yamin HeHadash faction in Netanyahu’s coalition. “Netanyahu is a good prime minister but a failed defense minister.”
In Gaza, Hamas has come under rare public criticism for the harsh conditions in the territory. An Israel-Egyptian blockade, combined with sanctions by the rival Palestinian Authority and mismanagement by the Hamas government have fueled an economic crisis. The territory’s residents have little desire for another war with Israel.
Instead of a full-fledged conflict, Hamas has tried to end the blockade through a violent weekly protest movement along the Israel-Gaza border fence that it launched a year ago. It too has largely failed. About 190 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have been killed during the weekly rallies.
Egypt, Qatar and United Nations are trying to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas but that effort has yet to bring about an agreement. At the same time, there has been an uptick in violence in the West Bank over the past week, with a stabbing and shooting attack that left two Israelis dead near a West Bank settlement and Israel’s killing of two Palestinians it said attacked troops
(WELLINGTON, New Zealand) — New Zealand will hold a top-level inquiry into the massacre of 50 people at two Christchurch mosques that will look into what roles semi-automatic guns, social media and intelligence agencies had preceding the attacks.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday it would hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry, the country’s highest form of investigation.
“While New Zealanders and Muslim communities around the world are both grieving and showing compassion for one another, they are also quite rightly asking questions on how this terror attack was able to happen here,” Ardern said.
Her Cabinet had previously agreed on holding an inquiry, but had not decided what level of investigation. She said royal commissions are usually reserved for matters of the gravest public importance and that was clearly appropriate in this case. She said the exact terms of the inquiry, including its duration, would be finalized over the next two weeks.
“In short, the inquiry will look at what could have or should have been done to prevent the attack,” Ardern said. “It will inquire into the individual and his activities before the terrorist attack, including, of course, a look at agencies.”
A royal commission is run independently from the government and is chaired by a high court judge. It has the power to compel witnesses to testify and organizations to hand over documents. But it remains up to the courts or government to follow through on any recommendations or findings.
Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 28, has been charged with murder for the March 15 attacks. He is next due in court on April 5.
Some people have already criticized New Zealand’s intelligence agencies for focusing too much on perceived threats from Muslim extremists and leftwing radicals but too little on the possible threats from nationalist groups and white supremacists.
“There will be a focus on whether our intelligence community was concentrating its resources appropriately and whether there were any reports that could, or should, have alerted them to this attack,” Ardern said. “It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how this act of terrorism occurred and what, if any, opportunities we had to stop it.”
(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates) — A Kenyan teacher from a remote village who gave away most of his earnings to the poor won a $1 million prize on Sunday for his work teaching in a government-run school that has just one computer and shoddy Internet access.
The annual Global Teacher Prize was awarded to Peter Tabichi in the opulent Atlantis Hotel in Dubai in a ceremony hosted by actor Hugh Jackman.
Tabichi said the farthest he’d traveled before this was to Uganda. Coming to Dubai marked his first time on an airplane.
“I feel great. I can’t believe it. I feel so happy to be among the best teachers in the world, being the best in the world,” he told The Associated Press after his win.
Tabichi teaches science to high schoolers in the semi-arid village of Pwani where almost a third of children are orphans or have only one parent. Drought and famine are common.
He said the school has no library and no laboratory. He plans to use the million dollars from his win to improve the school and feed the poor.
Despite the obstacles Tabichi’s students face, he’s credited with helping many stay in school, qualify for international competitions in science and engineering and go on to college.
“At times, whenever I reflect on the challenges they face, I shed tears,” he said of his students, adding that his win will help give them confidence.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement that Tabichi’s story “is the story of Africa” and of hope for future generations.
As a member of the Roman Catholic brotherhood, Tabichi wore a plain floor-length brown robe to receive the award presented by Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The prize is awarded by the Varkey Foundation, whose founder, Sunny Varkey, established the for-profit GEMS Education company that runs 55 schools in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar.
In his acceptance speech, Tabichi said his mother died when he was just 11 years old, leaving his father, a primary school teacher, with the job of raising him and his siblings alone.
Tabichi thanked his father for instilling Christian values in him, then pointed to his father in the audience, invited him up on stage and handed him the award to hold as the room erupted in applause and cheers.
“I found tonight to be incredibly emotional, very moving,” Jackman told the AP after hosting the ceremony and performing musical numbers from his film The Greatest Showman.
“It was a great honor, a thrill to be here and I just thought the whole evening was just filled with a really pure spirit,” he added.
Now in its fifth year, the prize is the largest of its kind. It’s quickly become one of the most coveted and prestigious for teachers. Tabichi selected out of out 10,000 applicants.
The winner is selected by committees comprised of teachers, journalists, officials, entrepreneurs, business leaders and scientists.
Last year, a British art teacher was awarded for her work in one of the most ethnically diverse places in the country. Her work was credited with helping students feel welcome and safe in a borough with high murder rates.
Other winners include a Canadian teacher for her work with indigenous students in an isolated Arctic village where suicide rates are high, and a Palestinian teacher for her work in helping West Bank refugee children traumatized by violence.
The 2015 inaugural winner was a teacher from Maine who founded a nonprofit demonstration school created for the purpose of developing and disseminating teaching methods.
The number of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 1,000 in the second-worst outbreak in history, with daily rates on the rise as response workers continue to face violence.
This past week saw 58 new cases, the highest number in a week in 2019, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
The number of people who have contracted #Ebola since the outbreak was declared in Democratic Republic of Congo in August has hit 1,000. This tragic milestone is a reminder that this outbreak is not yet under control & to make progress more must be done. https://t.co/rDA9SJbxCP
The World Health Organization said 610 deaths have been reported since the outbreak was declared last August in the DRC’s northeastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.
“We are already almost seven months into this outbreak and at this stage we should be seeing the case rate declining, not on the rise,” said Tariq Riebl, IRC’s Emergency Response Director in the DRC.
“With mistrust and security issues, cases are likely to be going unreported and the true figure could be even higher,” he added.
Violence in the DRC has forced Ebola treatment facilities to shut, making response efforts difficult by contributing to the spread of the highly contagious virus. Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) suspended operations in the area on Feb. 28. The closure followed a spate of arson attacks on clinics, which killed at least one person and left the whereabouts of several patients who fled unknown.
U.S. government employees were also pulled out of the DRC last summer, and have not been a major part of the response effort since.
Last week, an Ebola death was confirmed in Bunia, a major city with a population of close to 1 million people in Ituri province.
The outbreak is the second worst in history after the 2014 West Africa epidemic, which killed more than 11,000 people, the IRC said in November 2018.
“With an optimistic outlook this outbreak is predicted to last another six months — but realistically we could be looking towards another year of fighting this disease,” Riebl said.
(DUNEDIN, New Zealand) — New Zealanders are debating the limits of free speech after their chief censor banned a 74-page manifesto written by the man accused of slaughtering 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
The ban, issued Saturday, means anybody caught with the document on their computer could face up to 10 years in prison, while anyone caught sending it could face 14 years. Some say the ban goes too far and risks lending both the document and the gunman mystique.
At the same time, many local media organizations are debating whether to even name the Australian man charged with murder in the March 15 attacks, 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed she would never mention him by name.
In some ways, Tarrant’s manifesto provides the greatest insight into his character and thinking, with neighbors and those he met in a gym in the sleepy seaside town of Dunedin recalling nothing particularly remarkable about him.
Chief Censor David Shanks said Tarrant’s manifesto contains justifications for acts of tremendous cruelty like killing children and encourages acts of terrorism, even outlining specific places to target and methods to carry out attacks.
He said that in banning the document, he and his staff worried about drawing more attention to it. But in the end, he said, they decided they needed to treat it the same way as propaganda from groups like the Islamic State, which they have also banned.
Shanks had earlier placed a similar ban on the 17-minute livestream video the killer filmed from a camera mounted on his helmet during the shootings. He said researchers and journalists could apply for exemptions from both bans.
But while free speech advocates haven’t questioned banning the graphic video, they said banning the manifesto is a step too far.
“People are more confident of each other and their leaders when there is no room left for conspiracy theories, when nothing is hidden,” said Stephen Franks, a constitutional lawyer and spokesman for the Free Speech Coalition. “The damage and risks are greater from suppressing these things than they are from trusting people to form their own conclusions and to see evil or madness for what it is.”
Franks said he had no interest in reading the manifesto until it was banned. He now is curious because it is “forbidden fruit,” he said, and he worries others may feel the same way. He said the ban makes no sense when New Zealanders remain free to read Adolf Hitler’s autobiography, “Mein Kampf.”
Ardern told Parliament last week that she wouldn’t give the gunman anything he wanted.
“He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety,” she said. “And that is why you will never hear me mention his name.”
She said people should instead remember the names of the victims.
Some media organizations appear to be taking up her call. News website Stuff on Saturday published an 1,800-word profile on Tarrant without once naming him.
“Our view at the moment is that we’re dialing back on naming him, unless it’s pertinent or important,” said Mark Stevens, the editorial director at Stuff.
The New Zealand Herald also published a profile on Tarrant with an accompanying editorial that mentions Ardern’s stance. The editorial says, “Our piece keeps the mention of his name to a minimum.”
News organizations fear Tarrant will use his trial as a soapbox to promote his white nationalist views, especially after he fired his lawyer and said he’d represent himself.
But Danish journalist Claus Blok Thomsen, who works for the Politiken newspaper and covered the trial of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, said there are dangers in censoring Tarrant. He said that during the Breivik trial, many media outlets, including his own, were careful to report only what happened in court without discussing Breivik’s far-right ideology.
He said it was an approach favored by intellectuals and so-called experts, but when he interviewed the families of the victims, he found many of them were angry.
“They said when we start to censor ourselves, we just make him into a martyr,” Thomsen said. “We are not able to learn how mad this guy was, what his thinking was, until everything is out in the light.”
In his manifesto, Tarrant describes himself as being born into a working-class family and not being interested in university. He says he made some money investing, although in other internet posts he talks about getting an inheritance when his father died.
In Dunedin, about a five-hour drive south of Christchurch, Tarrant lived in a modest pale-green wooden apartment. His neighbors said they’d see him out running sometimes, but that he mostly kept to himself. At the Anytime Fitness gym, those who knew him described him as polite and interested mainly in pumping weights that build upper-body strength.
Tarrant was also a member of the Bruce Rifle Club, which has a shooting range down a dusty forest road that’s used mostly by hunters and loggers, about a 45-minute drive southwest of Dunedin near the rural town of Milton.
Dozens of boxes of bowling pins stacked in teetering towers and a few fluorescent vests are all there is inside a simple hut at the range. The club closed indefinitely last week after it emerged that Tarrant was a member.
But like much of his life in Dunedin, Tarrant was something of a ghost at the club. Polite, low-key, helpful, normal. Club vice president Scott Williams told the Otago Daily Times that Tarrant seemed “as normal as anyone else” and never mentioned anything about his white supremacist beliefs.
“I think we’re feeling a bit stunned and shocked and a bit betrayed, perhaps, that we’ve had this person in our club who has ended up doing these horrible things,” he told the newspaper.
Williams said Tarrant was always helping out around the club, including setting up and packing down the range. He said Tarrant used a hunting rifle and an AR-15, which wasn’t unusual.
One of the few people who has publicly said he had concerns about Tarrant before the attacks is hunting guide Pete Breidahl. He said he complained in 2017 to a local police officer who monitors gun licenses about the disturbing behavior of some members of the rifle club.
In a Facebook video and comments posted online, Breidahl said some club members had Confederate flags, wore camouflage clothing with rank insignia, vilified Muslims and had homicidal fantasies. He claimed to have met Tarrant, calling him “not right.” Police said they had no record of a complaint but were looking into Breidahl’s claims.
In his manifesto, Tarrant claims he got approval for his attack from Breivik, who killed 77 people in Oslo and a nearby island in 2011. Breivik’s lawyer has said that’s very unlikely because his client has limited contact with the outside world from his prison cell.
Thomsen, the journalist, said the biggest fear he and other reporters had when they were covering Breivik was that he would inspire a copycat killer. Now he’s traveled to Christchurch to learn more about what happened there.
“I think it’s safe to say that this is what we feared,” he said.
(BEIRA, Mozambique) — Cyclone Idai’s death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday.
In Mozambique the number of dead has risen to 446 while there are 259 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi for a three-nation total of 761.
All numbers for deaths are still preliminary, warned Mozambique’s Environment Minister Celso Correia. As flood waters recede and more bodies are discovered, the final death toll in Mozambique alone could be above the early estimate of 1,000 made by the country’s president a few days after the cyclone hit, said aid workers.
Nearly 110,000 people are now in camps more than a week after Cyclone Idai hit, said Correia, the government’s emergency coordinator. As efforts to rescue people trapped by the floods wind down, aid workers across the vast region are bracing for the spread of disease.
“We’ll have cholera for sure,” Correia said at a press briefing, saying a center to respond to cholera has been set up in Beira though no cases have yet been confirmed.
Beira is working to return basic services, he said. Electricity has been restored to water pumping and treatment stations by the government water agency, so Beira and the nearby city of Dondo are getting clean water, he said. Electricity has been restored to part of Beira and the port and railway line have re-opened, he said.
Repairs and bypasses are being built to the main road, EN6, which links Beira to the rest of Mozambique and the road should open Monday, said Correia. The restored road connection will allow larger deliveries of food, medicines and other essential supplies to be to be brought to Beira and to flooded areas like Nhamatanda, west of the city.
“People are already going,” the environment minister said of the newly accessible road.
Malaria is another looming health problem that the minister said was “unavoidable” because large expanses of standing water encourage the spread of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
Asked about his country’s current corruption scandal and whether the diversion of money has hurt the rescue efforts, Correia bristled, saying the government’s focus now is on saving lives.
“We are doing everything to fight corruption,” he said. “It’s systematic, up to the top,” he said of the anti-graft drive.
Two large field hospitals and water purification systems were on the way, joining a wide-ranging effort that includes drones to scout out areas in need across the landscape of central Mozambique, said Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, deputy director of the U.N. Humanitarian operation.
The scale of the devastation is “extraordinary” not only because of the cyclone and flooding but because the land had already had been saturated by earlier rains, he said.
A huge number of aid assets are now in Mozambique, Stampa said: “No government in the world can respond alone in these circumstances.”
(CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand) — Thousands of people gathered in the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Sunday to listen to prayers, songs and speeches at a vigil to remember the 50 people killed in a terrorist attack on two mosques.
One of those watching from a wheelchair was 21-year-old Mustafa Boztas, who was shot in the leg and liver during the March 15 attack at the Al Noor mosque.
“It’s beautiful to see what the community has put together to show they care about us, and to show that we are all one,” Boztas said.
He said he was recovering well and hoped to be walking normally soon.
Officials estimate up to 40,000 people attended the event on a sunny evening at Hagley Park. It was held on a stage that had been set up for a concert by Canadian singer Bryan Adams that was cancelled after the attacks.
The names of each of the 50 people killed were read out.
Okirano Tilaia, the head boy at Cashmere High School, which lost two students in the attack, cited Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech, saying he conquered people with love, peace and solidarity.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can,” Tilaia said. “And hatred cannot drive out hatred. Only love can.”
New Zealand has been holding a series of memorials since the attacks. On Friday, people across the nation observed the Muslim call to prayer one week after the attacks. Next Friday, a national remembrance is scheduled.
Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, has been charged with murder in the attacks and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on April 5.
(BANGKOK) — A military-backed party has taken the lead in Thailand’s first election since a 2014 coup, preliminary results showed, suggesting junta leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha could stay in power, helped by an electoral system tilted in the military’s favor.
With 93 percent of votes counted late Sunday, the Palang Pracharat party was first with nearly 7.6 million votes, according to the Election Commission. Its vote total falls short of the numbers needed for an outright majority in parliament. Pheu Thai, which was the governing party ousted by the coup, was next with 7.1 million votes.
The country likely faces several weeks of bargaining among political parties before a potentially unstable coalition government is formed in May or June. Thais voted for a 500-member parliament, which along with a 250-member junta-appointed Senate will decide the next prime minister.
A new party, Future Forward, which was anti-junta and popular with young voters, scooped up 5.2 million votes. But voters deserted the Democrat Party, the country’s oldest political party, in its Bangkok and southern strongholds. Its leader, former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, resigned. Another party, Phumjai Thai, which experts say could support the junta, picked up 3.2 million votes.
“It looks unlikely that a sizeable enough anti-junta majority will form in the House to put pressure on the military to back away,” said Peter Mumford, an analyst at Eurasia Group, which advises international companies on political risks.
That combined with the role of junta-appointed senators in helping to pick the next prime minister means Prayuth “remains in pole position for now,” he said in a post-election analysis.
“There will be uncertainty created by post-election coalition negotiations, potential recounts, disqualifications and constituency race reruns, and concerns over the legitimacy of the election,” Mumford said.
The election was the latest chapter in a nearly two-decade struggle pitching conservative forces including the military against the political machine of Thaksin Shinawatra, a tycoon who upended tradition-bound Thailand’s politics with a populist political revolution.
Thaksin was ousted as prime minister in a 2006 military coup and now lives in exile abroad to avoid a prison term, but parties allied with him have won every election since 2001. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who led the Pheu Thai government that was ousted in 2014, also fled the country after what supporters said was a politically motivated prosecution.
The blunt-speaking Prayuth, who as army chief led the 2014 coup, was hoping to extend his hold on power after engineering a new political system that aims to stifle the influence of big political parties not aligned with Palang Pracharat and the military.
Nearly 6 percent of votes were disqualified, according to the Election Commission, which said it would provide an update on counting Monday.
Pheu Thai’s secretary general, Phumtham Wechayachai, said the party was waiting for official results but believes there were irregularities. The party wants to inspect disqualified and spoiled ballots, he said.
“Even the reported numbers from the Election Commission and each media outlet are different. We have our own number too. The Election Commission report even paused for a while. It will be clearer once the official result is announced,” Phumtham said.
About 51 million Thais were eligible to vote. Leaders of political parties opposed to military rule urged a high turnout as the only way to derail Prayuth’s plans, but the 66 percent turnout fell short of their hopes.
A statement from Prayuth’s office said he thanked people for voting and officials for holding the election in an orderly fashion.
“What is now interesting is how Palang Pracharat can bring together a coalition,” said Kevin Hewison, a Thai politics expert who is a University of North Carolina emeritus professor.
“It looks like it needs at least two other parties but will probably cobble together more than that in the hope of creating a more stable government,” he said.
Thailand’s powerful King Maha Vajiralongkorn had issued a statement on the eve of the election that said the role of leaders is to stop “bad people” from gaining power and causing chaos. It was also broadcast on Thai television stations minutes before voting started.
Invoking a speech by his father, the revered monarch who died in 2016 after reigning for seven decades, Vajiralongkorn said not all citizens can be transformed into good people, so leaders must be given support in ruling to create a peaceful nation.
He urged government officials, soldiers and civil servants to look after national security.
It was the king’s second notable intervention in politics recently. Last month, he demanded his sister Princess Ubolratana Mahidol withdraw as a prime ministerial candidate for a small Thaksin-allied party within 24 hours of her announcement.
When it seized power in 2014, the military said it was to end political unrest that had periodically turned violent and disrupted daily life and the economy. The claim has been a selling point for Prayuth, who according to critics has overseen a period of growing inequality and economic hardship in Thailand.
After the coup, political party gatherings were banned and pro-democracy activists and other dissenters were regularly arrested, interrogated and imprisoned. Just days before Sunday’s election, Pheu Thai said the houses of party officials and its campaign canvassers in some provinces were searched by military personnel in an act of intimidation.
(STAVANGER, Norway) — Viking Sky cruise ship passenger Rodney Horgen can pinpoint the moment when he thought he was facing the end: when a huge wave crashed through the ship’s glass doors and swept his wife 30 feet across the floor.
Horgen, 62, of Minnesota, was visiting Norway on a dream pilgrimage to his ancestral homeland when the luxury cruise trip quickly turned into a nightmare.
The Viking Sky was carrying 1,373 passengers and crew, going from Norway’s Arctic north to the southern city of Stavanger when it had engine trouble along Norway’s rough, frigid western coast. Struggling in heavy seas to avoid being dashed on the rocky coast, the ship issued mayday call Saturday afternoon.
Horgan said he knew something was badly amiss Saturday when the guests on the heaving ship were all summoned to the ship’s muster points.
“When the windows and door flew open and the 2 meters (6 feet) of water swept people and tables 20 to 30 feet, that was the breaker. I said to myself, ‘This is it,'” Horgen told The Associated Press. “I grabbed my wife but I couldn’t hold on. And she was thrown across the room. And then she got thrown back again by the wave coming back.”
Photos posted on social media showed the ship listing from side to side and furniture smashing violently into the ship’s walls. The hands and faces of fellow passengers were cut and bleeding from the shattered glass, he said.
An experienced fisherman, Horgen said he had never experienced such rough boating conditions.
“I did not have a lot of hope. I knew how cold that water was and where we were and the waves and everything. You would not last very long,” he said. “That was very, very frightening.”
And yet, the most frightening part of the trip was yet to come.
That would be when passengers like Horgen were winched off the heaving ship by helicopter, one-by-one as winds howled around them in the dark of night, by rescue workers trying to evacuate everyone on board.
Coast guard official Emil Heggelund estimated to the VG newspaper that the ship was only 100 meters (328 feet) from striking rocks under the water and 900 meters (2,950 feet) from shore when it stopped and anchored in Hustadvika Bay so passengers could be evacuated.
Yet waves up to 26 feet (8 meters) high were smacking into the ship, making it impossible to evacuate anyone by boat.
Norway’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center stepped up, sending five helicopters in. Passenger Alexus Sheppard told the AP that people with injuries or disabilities were winched off the cruise ship first.
“It was frightening at first. And when the general alarm sounded it became VERY real,” she wrote in a text.
Janet Jacob, among the first group of passengers evacuated to the nearby town of Molde, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the winds felt “like a tornado” and prompted her to start praying for everyone on the ship.
“I was afraid. I’ve never experienced anything so scary,” she said.
“We saw two people taken off by stretcher,” passenger Dereck Brown told Norwegian newspaper Romsdal Budstikke. “People were alarmed. Many were frightened but they were calm.”
Viking Ocean Cruises, the company that owns and operates the ship, said 20 people were injured “as a result of this incident, and they are all receiving care at the relevant medical centers in Norway, with some already having been discharged.”
The airlift evacuation went all through the night and into Sunday morning, slowing for a bit when two of the five rescue helicopters had to be diverted to save nine crewmembers from a nearby ailing cargo ship.
In all, 479 passengers were airlifted to land by helicopters, leaving 436 passengers and 458 crew members onboard, the company said, when the Viking Sky’s captain decided on a new plan, the company said.
Einar Knudsen from Norway’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center said the airlift was halted when the Viking Sky’s captain decided before noon Sunday to try to bring the cruise ship to the nearby port of Molde on its own engines.
“The conditions were good enough for the captain to have no more evacuations,” Knudsen told the AP.
Three of the ship’s four engines were working as of Sunday morning, the center said, so a tug boat and two other vessels assisted the Viking Sky as it slowly headed to Molde under its own power. It finally arrived at the port late Sunday afternoon and its remaining passengers and crew were taken off.
The Viking Sky was a relatively new ship, delivered in 2017 to operator Viking Ocean Cruises.
It had been visiting the Norwegian towns and cities of Narvik, Alta, Tromso, Bodo before its scheduled arrival Tuesday in the British port of Tilbury on the River Thames. The passengers mostly were an English-speaking mix of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian citizens.
Viking Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen praised the rescue operation by Norwegian authorities and the actions of the vessel’s crew.
He told Norway’s VG newspaper that the events surrounding the Viking Sky were “some of the worst I have been involved in, but now it looks like it’s going well in the end and that we’ve been lucky.”
Shipping tycoon Hagen is one of Norway’s richest men and the founder of the Switzerland-based Viking Cruises, which that operates river and ocean cruises under two business units.
“I’m very proud of our crew,” Hagen told VG.
When asked why the cruise ship ventured into an area known for its rough waters in the middle of a storm that had been forecast by meteorologists, Knudsen, from Norway’s rescue service, said it was the captain’s decision to proceed with the cruise.
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