Pope issues new child abuse legislation for Vatican City

Pope Francis issued stringent child abuse legislation for Vatican City employees on Friday, as part of the Church's bid to address a wave of sex abuse allegations against priests. The legislation requires officials and employees in the Vatican City State as well the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church, to immediately report any abuse against minors and vulnerable people or face fines or a prison sentence. Francis said in a letter released with his "motu proprio" decree that it was the duty of everyone "to generously welcome children and vulnerable persons, and to create a safe environment for them".

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Chance of UK 'no-deal' Brexit has risen 'sharply', says France

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Friday the risk of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal had risen "very sharply" following parliament's rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement for a third time. "France is well prepared (for no deal) and will accelerate its preparations for such a scenario," the Elysee said in a statement. It said it was now up to Britain to present an alternative plan in the coming days -- whether new elections, a second referendum, or a proposal for a customs union -- otherwise the country would leave the EU with no deal.

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Investigators believe anti-stall system activated in Ethiopia crash: WSJ

Investigators probing the fatal crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia have reached a preliminary conclusion that a suspect anti-stall system activated shortly before it nose-dived to the ground, the WSJ reported Friday citing people familiar with the matter. The findings were based on flight recorder data and represented the strongest indication yet that the system, known as MCAS, malfunctioned in both the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 and the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last year, the Wall Street Journal said. US government experts have been analyzing details gathered by their Ethiopian counterparts for the past few days, the newspaper added, and the emerging consensus was relayed at a high-level briefing of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday.

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O'Rourke to rally in his native Texas, where tough 2020 presidential primary awaits

O'Rourke's campaign hopes the former congressman's personal ties to delegate-rich Texas give him a critical early boost in the large Democratic field fighting for the party's nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump. In the unexpectedly close race against incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz that earned O'Rourke national prominence last year, he was the lone Democrat competing against a Republican figure reviled by Democrats nationally. Now, O'Rourke, 46, faces a diverse slate of accomplished and well-funded rivals hunting for the same votes, especially among the state's African-American and Hispanic communities.

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Attorney General Barr says Mueller report to be released 'by mid-April'

We are preparing the report for release,” Barr wrote.

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UK's May under pressure to rule out long Brexit delay

British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a new push by members of her Conservative Party to lead Britain out of the European Union in the next few months, even if it means a potentially damaging no-deal Brexit. Conservative lawmakers urged May against a long extension of the Brexit process in a letter sent after her exit deal was rejected for a third time by the House of Commons on Friday, a lawmaker said. The Sun newspaper said the letter was signed by 170 of the 314 Conservative lawmakers in parliament, including 10 cabinet ministers, heaping more pressure on May, who has offered to resign if she can get her Brexit deal through parliament.

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Four killed as thousands protest at border, but Gaza-Israel truce holds

Five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, prompting Israeli tanks to respond by firing on Hamas military posts early Sunday, hours after a massive Palestinian protest along the border between Israel and Gaza. The rocket attack and Israeli response did not cause any casualties, according to the Israeli army and witnesses in Gaza.

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UPDATE 4-Mueller report on Trump and Russia to be made public by mid-April -Barr

U.S. Attorney General William Barr plans to make public a redacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's nearly 400-page investigative report into Russian interference in the 2016 election by mid-April, "if not sooner," he said in a letter to lawmakers on Friday. "Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own," Barr wrote in the letter to the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Judiciary committees. On March 22, Mueller completed his 22-month probe and Barr on Sunday sent a four-page letter to Congress that outlined the main findings.

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'That's unacceptable': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stops person who insulted Republican

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shut down an audience member at an MSNBC town hall after someone called former Rep. Bob Inglis a "moron."

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The War Between Trump and Schiff is Just Starting

A proponent of Trump-Russia collusion theories, Rep. Adam Schiff has been enveloped by fallout from the conclusions of Mueller's investigation.

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Israeli troops wound Palestinians, anniversary rally approaches

Around 200 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli fire at the protests, Gaza medics say, as the demonstrations turned into an often deadly standoff between Gazans hurling rocks and petrol bombs and Israel troops on the other side of the fence. Israel defends its use of lethal force, saying that its troops are defending the border and Israelis living near it. With security already featuring prominently as an issue in Israeli elections due on April 9, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of Gaza will be a key issue as he seeks a fifth term in office.

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Moon to Meet Trump in Bid to Revive North Korea Nuclear Talks

Moon, a long-time advocate of reconciliation with North Korea, will meet Trump at the White House on April 11, one of his spokesman said Friday. It will be Moon’s first meeting with Trump since the U.S. president abruptly halted his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 28, setting back diplomacy to end Pyongyang’s atomic ambitions.

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Joe Biden accused of kissing former Nevada lawmaker, an allegation he doesn't recall

Joe Biden’s spokesman said Friday that the former vice president does not recall kissing Nevada political candidate Lucy Flores on the back of her head during a 2014 event.

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U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez 'encouraged' despite Senate rejecting 'Green New Deal'

The non-binding resolution, which proposes to eliminate U.S. greenhouse gas emissions within a decade, lost 57-0 in the Senate, with 43 Democrats voting "present." "You had the Republicans voting 'no' and you had virtually the entire Democratic caucus voting 'present,' even those in tough states," Ocasio-Cortez said on Friday. "That is an extraordinary amount of unity within the Senate to actually vote in that cohesive of a bloc, so I'm very encouraged." The Green New Deal, unveiled last month by Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Senator Edward Markey, marks the first formal attempt by lawmakers to define potential legislation to create government-led investments in clean energy and infrastructure to transition the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels. The plan's name is an homage to the New Deal of the 1930s, a series of government-led programs and projects that President Franklin Roosevelt implemented to aid Americans during the Great Depression.

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'Pitch up, pitch up': Final moments of Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max jet before crash

A pilot on the Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed three weeks ago was heard saying “pitch up, pitch up” just moments before the disaster, the Wall St Journal has reported.  The conversation happened when the plane was just 450ft (137m) off the ground as the aircraft begun to point downwards, according to the paper.  The plane's radio reportedly died moments after the comment was captured. All 157 people on board were killed when the Boeing 737 Max crashed.  The plane’s anti-stalling system, which sees its direction automatically righted if a sensor picks up the aircraft is tilting up too far, has been blamed for the disaster.  The investigation is on-going and no official cause for the crash has been made public.  Forensic experts work at the crash site of an Ethiopian airways operated by a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft Credit: TONY KARUMBA / AFP The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that investigators have determined that the flight-control system on an Ethiopian Airlines jet automatically activated before the aircraft plunged into the ground on March 10. The preliminary conclusion was based on information from the aircraft's data and voice recorders and indicates a link between that accident and an earlier Lion Air crash in Indonesia, the newspaper said. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment on the report. Also on Friday, The New York Times reported that the Ethiopian jet's data recorder yielded evidence that a sensor incorrectly triggered the anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS.  Once activated, the MCAS forced the plane into a dive and ultimately a crash that killed everyone on board, the newspaper said. Boeing is facing mounting pressure to roll out a software update on its best-selling plane in time for airlines to use the jets during the peak summer travel season. Kebebew Legesse, the mother of Ethiopian Airlines cabin crew Ayantu Girmay mourns at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner Company engineers and test pilots are working to fix anti-stall technology on the Boeing 737 Max that is suspected to have played a role in two deadly crashes in the last six months. Boeing is also seeing its own expenses rise, although it would not disclose how much it is costing the company to make the software fix and also train pilots how to use it. Cowen Research analysts say a "very rough guess" is that Boeing will pay about $2 billion after insurance to fix the plane, pay crash victims' families and compensate airlines that had to cancel flights. Most Wall Street analysts are betting that the planes will be flying again in less than three months, while noting that it could take longer in countries that plan to conduct their own reviews of Boeing's upgrade instead of taking the word of the U.S. regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.

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Pope requires sex abuse claims be reported in Vatican City

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for the Vatican City State and Vatican diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of allegations to Vatican prosecutors, as he seeks to create a model policy for the Catholic Church.

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Attorney General Barr says Mueller report to be released 'by mid-April'

We are preparing the report for release,” Barr wrote.

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O'Rourke holds rally near Mexican border that Trump threatens to shut

O'Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso, kicked off a series of three rallies in Texas in his bid to become the Democratic nominee a day after Republican Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico as soon as next week. Speaking in El Paso, a few hundred yards from the border with Mexico, O'Rourke decried the Trump administration's immigration policies and the president's call for a border wall. "We'll find security not through walls," he declared to cheers from several hundred supporters as he officially launched his presidential campaign.

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Redacted Mueller report expected to be released by mid-April

WASHINGTON (AP) — A redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation will be sent to Congress by mid-April and will not be shared with the White House beforehand, Attorney General William Barr said Friday.

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Hamas backs Egypt proposal for calm on Israel border: officials

The Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas have backed an Egyptian proposal to foster calm on the Israel border ahead of major expected protests, two Hamas officials said Friday. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side on the potential agreement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are expected to gather Saturday for the first anniversary of the often violent protests along the border, which Hamas has strongly backed.

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Parents in College Scandal Face Judge and Tough Plea Deals

Now they’re on the road again, this time appearing in federal court in Boston on Friday as the clock ticks down on plea bargains for their alleged role in the biggest college admissions scam the U.S. has ever prosecuted. “The government’s being very aggressive," said Patric Hooper, who is representing oncologist Greg Colburn and his wife, Amy. The first wave of parents, 15 of them, began to appear at noon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Page Kelley, who set bail and addressed other preliminary issues.

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Trump threatens to shut border with Mexico next week

The president returns to a familiar threat as Democrats continue to deny him funding for construction of a border wall.

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The Latest: Police standoff on Atlanta-area freeway ends

ATLANTA (AP) — The Latest on a freeway standoff outside Atlanta (all times local):

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Cruise Around Town In Style With This 1984 Dodge D150 Prospector

With just 31,389 miles on the odometer, this 1984 Dodge D150 Prospector still has a lot of miles to go ahead of it.

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Taipei's goes dark for Earth Hour

Taiwan's tallest building joined cities around the world to mark Earth Hour by turning off its lights on Saturday in a call for global action on climate change. (March 30)

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Trump threatens closure of U.S.-Mexico border next week to stem asylum surge

"There's a very good likelihood that I'll be closing the border next week, and that will be just fine with me," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump has repeatedly said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico during his two years in office and has not followed through. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials warned that traffic with Mexico could slow as the agency shifts 750 border personnel from ports of entry to help process asylum seekers who are turning up between official crossing points.

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Four killed as thousands protest at border, but Gaza-Israel truce holds

Five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, prompting Israeli tanks to respond by firing on Hamas military posts early Sunday, hours after a massive Palestinian protest along the border between Israel and Gaza. The rocket attack and Israeli response did not cause any casualties, according to the Israeli army and witnesses in Gaza.

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Pound Slides as Parliament Fails to End Brexit Impasse Once More

The failure of May’s last-ditch effort to get her deal through Parliament leaves the U.K. with the choice between crashing out of the European Union without a deal in two weeks and seeking a long extension of its departure date. The British parliament will vote Monday on various alternatives to May’s agreement. Implied volatility on two-week pound-dollar options, which cover the current April 12 deadline for the U.K.’s exit, have surged to the highest level since the immediate aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum amid increased anxiety about a no-deal outcome.

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Trump: Pulitzers awarded to NYT, Washington Post should be revoked for 'fake' Russia coverage

President Donald Trump called for the Pulitzer Board to revoke the prizes awarded to the New York Times and Washington Post.

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Separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine divides young voters

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Five years after a deadly separatist conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine, the front line between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has become a de-facto border, cutting off a generation of first-time voters from Sunday's presidential election.

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Chance of UK 'no-deal' Brexit has risen 'sharply', says France

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Friday the risk of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal had risen "very sharply" following parliament's rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement for a third time. "France is well prepared (for no deal) and will accelerate its preparations for such a scenario," the Elysee said in a statement. It said it was now up to Britain to present an alternative plan in the coming days -- whether new elections, a second referendum, or a proposal for a customs union -- otherwise the country would leave the EU with no deal.

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Her Brexit strategy in tatters, British PM's days are numbered

After losing yet another vote on her Brexit deal on Friday and accused on all sides of plunging Britain into chaos, Prime Minister Theresa May's leadership is hanging by a thread. The politician who portrayed herself as a safe pair of hands when she rose to power in 2016 in the aftermath of Brexit has all but lost control after mishandling every twist and turn of the process.

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AP Exclusive: Captain feared death in migrant hijack at sea

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — African migrants who hijacked an oil tanker after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea seized metal objects and began smashing the ship and threatening crew members after they realized they were being returned to Libya, the ship's captain said Friday.

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AG William Barr plans to release Mueller report by mid-April. 'Everyone will soon be able to read it.'

Attorney General William Barr told Congress on Friday he plans to release special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia and the Trump campaign.

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Ukraine Goes to the Polls on Sunday. Can Its Next President End the Frozen War With Russia?

As Ukraine’s presidential elections approach on March 31, ending the conflict and improving relations with Russia are key concerns

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UK's May should quit as prime minister soon: Telegraph

British Prime Minister Theresa May should step down immediately after negotiating a temporary extension to Britain's European Union membership, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said in its Saturday edition. Lawmakers rejected May's Brexit plans for a third time on Friday, leaving Britain's withdrawal from the EU in turmoil on the very day it had been supposed to quit the bloc. "She must now see - or must be told - that while she can meet with the EU to negotiate an extension for Brexit, that is the natural end of the road.

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Boeing MCAS anti-stall system was activated in Ethiopia crash: source

Boeing's MCAS anti-stall system, which was implicated in the October crash of a 737 MAX 8 in Indonesia, was also activated shortly before a recent accident in Ethiopia, a source with knowledge of the investigation said Friday. The information is part of preliminary findings from the analysis of black boxes from Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, which crashed southeast of Addis Ababa killing 157 people on March 10, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. The information was presented Thursday to US authorities, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the source said.

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Gaza, Israel brace for mass border demos

Palestinians in Gaza are expected to gather in huge numbers along the barrier separating them from Israel on Saturday, testing a fragile ceasefire only days after a major flareup. The demonstrations mark the first anniversary of deadly protests on the border with Israel. Days of negotiations have raised hopes that the bloodshed seen in previous mass protests, particularly those against the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem last May, can be avoided.

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Mueller report on Trump and Russia to be made public by mid-April: Barr

"Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own," Barr wrote in the letter to the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Judiciary committees. On March 22, Mueller completed his 22-month probe and Barr on Sunday sent a four-page letter to Congress that outlined the main findings. Barr told lawmakers that the investigation did not establish that members of the election campaign of President Donald Trump conspired with Russia.

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Palestinians mass at Gaza border to mark protest anniversary

Israeli forces had massed the other side of the fortified frontier, with tensions already high after a rocket attack from Gaza and Israeli air strikes earlier in the week. Four Palestinians were killed on Saturday, Gaza medical officials said. Three were 17-year-olds shot dead by Israeli troops while protesting, they said, adding another person was killed at an overnight protest hours before the main rally.

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Investigators believe Boeing anti-stall system was activated in Ethiopian crash: Report

In a preliminary finding, officials investigating the crash of an Ethiopian airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 believe that a flight control feature designed to prevent a stall was activated before the plane nose-dived and crashed, The Wall Street Journal reports.

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Is This The Perfect Chevrolet Corvette C2 Restomod?

The C2 generation of the 1960s Chevrolet Corvette has to be one of the most charismatic incarnations of America’s favorite sports car. This custom 1967 model heading to auction with Barrett-Jackson blends old and new together.

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Red Cross ready to aid Venezuela, warns against politics

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Friday that it is poised to deliver aid to Venezuela, warning that it will not accept any interference from President Nicolas Maduro or opposition leader Juan Guaido.

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U.K. Edges Closer to Election After May's Brexit Deal Defeat

Speaking after the result of the vote was announced Friday afternoon, the prime minister gave a veiled warning that an election could be necessary to end the stalemate in the House of Commons, which has failed to back a Brexit plan after months of trying. May said the defeat of her strategy had “grave” implications for the country, while the European Commission said an economically damaging no-deal split is now “a likely scenario.” EU leaders will meet for an emergency summit on April 10 to seek a way forward.

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How to Use an HSA to Save for Retirement

Millions of Americans either have or are eligible for health savings accounts, but many fail to understand their benefits. Only a quarter of workers say funding their account is a financial priority, according to the 2018 Health Accounts Employee Attitudes Survey from Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory and solutions firm. "The HSA was created when high-deductible (insurance) plans came about," explains Joseph Conroy, author of "Decades & Decisions: Financial Planning at Any Age," and a financial advisor with advisory firm Synergy Financial Group in Towson, Maryland.

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Trump out for blood in looming 2020 fight as legal perils far from over

The president celebrated victory with the Mueller report – but then his latest effort to invalidate Obamacare left some feeling he ‘stepped all over that message’ Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 28 March. Photograph: Cory Morse/AP It felt like a victory lap. At a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday night, surrounded by a sea of red Make America Great Again hats, a defiant Donald Trump held the podium before a raucous crowd. “After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead,” the president declared in a 90-minute speech. Basking after the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which clouded the first two years of his presidency, Trump falsely claimed “total exoneration”. He vowed retaliation against some of his sharpest critics and suggested consequences for the media were in order. He spoke of doing away with Barack Obama’s healthcare law. And he threatened to shut down the US-Mexico border as early as next week. It was a stark reminder of how Trump views his executive authority and a glimpse of his looming fight for re-election. He is much more likely to be re-elected today than he seemed at the end of last week Michael Steele “He is much more likely to be re-elected today than he seemed at the end of last week,” said Michael Steel, a Republican operative who was an aide to former House speaker John Boehner. “I think that Democratic oversight activities will continue, but this definitely took the wind out of their sails.” However, Trump’s legal perils are far from over. According to a short letter to Congress by attorney general William Barr, the special counsel’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election did not clear Trump of wrongdoing. Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, specifically stating that his report “does not exonerate” the president. Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between Trump aides and Moscow, which the president said supported his longstanding claim of “no collusion”. Left unclear was what the special counsel had to say of repeated contacts between Trump associates and Russian nationals, and lies to prosecutors about such communications. On Friday, Barr said that by mid-April he would make public a redacted version of the Mueller report, which is nearly 400 pages long. The attorney general faced criticism after drawing his own conclusion, in his letter to Congress, that Mueller did not have sufficient evidence to charge Trump with obstruction of justice. In a second letter released on Friday, Barr said his initial assessment was not intended to be a summary of the Mueller report and that the American public “would soon be able to read it on their own”. Trump nonetheless seized on Barr’s rendering of the Mueller report. “There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, some bad things, I would say some treasonous things against our country,” Trump told reporters last Sunday. “And hopefully people that have done such harm to our country – we’ve gone through a period of really bad things happening – those people will certainly be looked at. I’ve been looking at them for a long time.” On Fox News, Trump’s most prominent boosters chimed in. “This must be a day of reckoning for the media, for the deep state, for people who abuse power, and they did it so blatantly in this country,” said Sean Hannity, who ranks among Trump’s closest allies. It could be a reset but it’s not going to be, because the president is congenially incapable of resetting Rick Tyler “If we do not get this right, if we do not hold these people accountable, I promise you, with all the love I can muster for this country and our future for our kids and grandkids, we will lose the greatest country God has ever given man. We will lose it.” Initial polls showed little change in public perception of the Mueller investigation or potential wrongdoing by Trump. A CNN survey found nearly 60% of Americans believed Congress should continue to investigate, while 56% said they did not believe Trump had been exonerated of collusion, even though Barr’s letter said the special counsel could not establish a criminal conspiracy. Perhaps most tellingly, 86% said the findings would not affect their vote in 2020. “The political divide is virtually the same,” said Rick Tyler, a former aide to Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign. “If you didn’t like Trump before, you don’t like him anymore now. If you like Trump, you still like him.” “It could be a reset but it’s not going to be, because the president is congenially incapable of resetting.” ‘The party of healthcare’ Indeed, in the immediate wake of what some called the best week of his presidency, Trump returned to the impulsive style of governing that has prompted disorder and left his own party flatfooted. In a major shift, the administration announced on Wednesday it would back a legal effort to fully invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, a move that would threaten healthcare coverage for millions of Americans, an issue which proved central to November’s midterm elections, in which Democrats regained the House. At his Michigan rally Trump renewed his call to toss out the ACA, insisting Republicans would come to be known as the ‘party of healthcare’. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP Trump’s move came over the objections of Barr and Alex Azar, his health secretary. The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, reportedly told Trump the move made no sense, given Republicans do not have a plan to replace the ACA and would be unable to move legislation. “Members feel like [the Mueller report announcement] was great and Trump stepped all over that message with the Obamacare lawsuit announcement,” a House GOP aide told Axios. Tyler said: “While I can argue lots of different structures that would be better than Obamacare, that would be like overthrowing a foreign government with no replacement government. The result would be chaos.” Undaunted, at his Michigan rally Trump renewed his call to toss out the ACA, insisting Republicans would come to be known as the “party of healthcare”. And he didn’t stop there. Trump also vowed to shut down the Mexico border “next week”, a move that would do significant damage to the US economy. Mexico is a vital trading partner but Trump complained it was not doing enough to stop illegal immigration. Trump received familiar support from Fox. But other Republicans warned Trump not to jeopardize an otherwise positive moment. “I think it’s a good thing for America that a detailed and thorough investigation concluded that the president of the United States is not a witting or unwitting agent of a foreign power,” said Steel. “I do think there’s some danger that in the hubris of his response, the president makes mistakes.”

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Mueller Did the Right Thing

It seems that “13 hardened Democrats” or “angry Democrats” did not deliver a politically motivated, illegitimate hit job after all. Based on what we know so far, the special counsel’s office reported that it did not find evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. This is a fabulous vindication of the integrity of the system.No one is noticing that. Instead, the Trump team is gorging on schadenfreude, and the anti-Trump team is choking on bile.It’s fair to say that those who spent hour upon cable-TV hour lovingly anticipating that President Trump would be frog-marched from the White House in handcuffs after the delivery of this report have egg on their faces. It isn’t clear which hurts more, the disappointment about being wrong or the worry about drooping ratings.But there’s plenty of egg to go around. Team Trump spent nearly two years denouncing the Mueller investigation as a “rigged witch hunt.” By one count, the president used the term “witch hunt” more than 1,100 times. He mercilessly eviscerated his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for the sin of following Justice Department guidelines instead of corruptly abusing his office to shield Mr. Trump from scrutiny. At various times, the president has also suggested that the inquiry was a sinister plot of the “deep state”; a ploy by supporters of “crooked” Hillary Clinton to extract revenge (while also suggesting that the real collusion was between Democrats and the Russians); and an “illegal hoax” perpetrated by the “fake news” media. President Trump claimed that the Mueller probe was staffed by “very bad and conflicted people” and that the investigation was a “disgrace to our nation.”The battle space was thus prepared for a Mueller report that would be devastating to the president. His supporters would disbelieve anything that reflected badly on Trump because the investigation itself, along with the law-enforcement bodies tasked with carrying out their responsibilities in an impartial fashion, had been discredited.Yet, when it turned out that the investigators did not invent or plant evidence, did not default to process crimes such as lying to investigators, did not spring a perjury trap, and, above all, did not permit their own feelings or political preferences to taint the administration of justice, there has been no embarrassment from Team Trump. On a dime, they have reversed themselves completely. A totally corrupt witch hunt has become a total vindication. (It wasn’t that. Even Attorney General William Barr’s letter acknowledged that the report did not “exonerate” the president on the charge of obstruction of justice.) But even if it had been a clean bill of health, how can they trust the Mueller people? Weren’t they thoroughly corrupt? A disgrace?President Trump has a long history of impugning anyone or anything he perceives as a threat to his own interests and flattering anyone he thinks can help him. When he feared he would lose an election, he denounced the voting as “rigged.” Judge Curiel became a “Mexican” judge when Trump feared he might rule against him in the Trump University case. Gold-star parents, deceased heroic senators, Charles Krauthammer, S. E. Cupp, Jeff Bezos, and an endless list of others have joined the ranks of the slighted. On the other hand, if you repent and join the Trump fan club -- as pretty much the entire invertebrate Republican party has done -- then you are swiftly forgiven and elevated. Lindsey Graham went from “nasty” and “dumb mouthpiece” to favorite golfing buddy in a trice.This transparently solipsistic approach to the world would be of little interest if it were just a quirk of a New York businessman. But when Trump employs the tactic to undermine confidence in institutions such as the justice system, he does lasting damage.The “witch hunt” was nothing of the kind. Honorable people did the right thing. Politics did not taint a criminal investigation. But that reality is buried under an avalanche of bad faith.© 2019 Creators.com

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Anti-stall system active before Ethiopian 737 MAX crash: sources

Data pulled from the Ethiopian Airlines flight recorder suggests the so-called MCAS system, which pushes the nose of the jet downwards, had been activated before the jet ploughed into a field outside Addis Ababa on March 10, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an interim official report. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment on the data, first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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The Trump economy: Are there signs of a slowdown heading into 2020?

The president is hoping to make his economic record a cornerstone of his re-election campaign, but is a bond market recession coming? White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow reacts on 'Journal Editorial Report.'

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Pope signs law to prevent child abuse in Vatican and its embassies

Although the city state within Rome is tiny, and very few children live there, the sweeping legal changes reflect a desire to show that the Catholic Church is finally acting against clerical child abuse after decades of scandals around the world. It is the first time a unified and detailed policy for the protection of children has been compiled for the Vatican and its embassies and universities outside the city state. The law sets up procedures for reporting suspected abuse, imposes more screening of prospective employees, and sets strict guidelines for adult interaction with children and the use of social media.

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