🇳🇿 **Christchurch Shooting 49 Are Dead After 2 Mosques Are Hit**
*NY Times* - <https://archive.fo/lgNnD>

Forty-nine people were killed in shootings at two mosques in central Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, in a terrorist attack that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”

Officials said that one man in his late 20s had been charged with murder, and that two explosive devices were found attached to a vehicle that they had stopped.

A Muslim leader in New Zealand said the attack was especially shocking as it took place around Friday prayers. The police urged people to stay away from the mosques until further notice.

A video and manifesto that appeared to be by a gunman involved in the shooting were posted online on the day of the attack.

The country’s police commissioner, Mike Bush, said in an evening news conference that 41 people had been killed at Al Noor Mosque and seven at Linwood Mosque, and that a further victim had died at Christchurch Hospital.

The police said that four people, including three men and one woman, had been taken into custody. Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia said that one of them was Australian
----------------

🇺🇸 **Alan Greenspan: Social Security solvency may require benefit cuts**
*Fox Business* - <https://archive.is/z73Iv#0%>

Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday that the potential for a slowdown in the U.S. economy could stem from an overloading of entitlement programs that aren’t being funded, and that the goal should be to resolve the basic Social Security system.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve said earlier this week that it estimates real GDP growth a key figure for measuring the pace of economic activity – for the first quarter of 2019 is just 0.4 percent (seasonally adjusted annual rate). The data comes from its GDPNow forecasting model, which it says provides a “nowcast” of the official estimate before its release by estimating GDP growth using an approach similar to that of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Opens a New Window. .

“We’re creating an odd imbalance in the system,” Greenspan said during an interview on “Mornings with Maria.” The best way to solve this problem is to fund our benefits, get a balanced budget, and the system will work.”

The former Fed chair, who served in the position from 1987 to 2006, added that “the actuaries of the Social Insurance system say that in order to be actuarially solvent through the life of the programs, we would have to cut benefits by 25 percent right now and extending into the future.”

He called the issue a “fascinating problem” and noted that officials should “come to grips” with it because “the end of the road is very serious trouble,” while adding that defined benefits have been a big problem.

“Sweden had very much the same problems we did,” Greenspan said. “What they did first to resolve them is go from a defined benefit program, which is what we have now, to a defined contribution. What we have is 401(k). 401(k)s cannot go broke – you can only spend what you get.”
-----------------

🇺🇸 **James Gunn: Disney rehires sacked Guardians of the Galaxy director**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/Ibugl>

It comes after famous cast members from the Marvel series signed an open letter pleading for Gunn's return.

In a tweet he thanked Disney and his supporters and said he is "excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all".

He was fired last July over the tweets that Disney called "indefensible".

Stars from the first two films in the franchise had openly supported Gunn after his dismissal, including Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista.

The Guardians of the Galaxy series has grossed over $1.6bn (£1.2bn) worldwide, with the sequel surpassing the earnings seen by the first film.

According to Deadline, the decision was made by Disney executives months ago after he publicly apologised in July and took blame for the incident.

He will reportedly begin production of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after he completes Suicide Squad 2, which is being produced by Marvel rival DC, Deadline reports.

Before his dismissal, he confirmed that he had written the script for a third Guardians movie.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Gillibrand makes it official, launching her 2020 White House campaign**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/HdA0a>

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is officially running for president, formally declaring her candidacy Sunday morning.

“We need a leader who makes big, bold, brave choices. Someone who isn’t afraid of progress. That’s why I’m running for president. And it’s why I’m asking you for your support,” the New York Democrat says in a video announcing the official launch of her campaign.

The move comes two months after Gillibrand set up a presidential exploratory committee -- which allowed her to raise money and build a campaign structure -- and began introducing herself to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – three of the four states that kick off the primary and caucus calendar - as well as California and Texas, which hold contests immediately after the early voting states.

In her video – titled "Brave Wins" – the senator uses "The Star-Spangled Banner" to say that bravery has been a constant choice in the nation’s history, and so many Americans have chosen to be brave.

Gillibrand also takes aim at President Trump, claiming the Republican has promoted an “agenda of cowardice, hate and fear.”

“Brave doesn’t pit people against each other. Brave doesn’t put money over lives. Brave doesn’t spread hate. Cloud truth.

"Build a wall. That’s what fear does,” she charges in the video.

Gillibrand says that if America could land astronauts on the moon, “we can definitely achieve universal health care. We can provide paid family leave for all, end gun violence, pass a Green New Deal, get money out of politics and take back our democracy.”
---------------

🇳🇿 ** Facebook removed 1.5 million videos of New Zealand attack within 24 hours **
*USA Today* - <https://archive.fo/0iW6x>

Facebook said Sunday that it removed or blocked from the social media site 1.5 million videos of a gunman's rampage on two New Zealand mosques that killed 50 people and wounded dozens more.

Mia Garlick, spokeswoman for Facebook New Zealand, said that about 300,000 videos were removed within the first 24 hours of the terrorist attack Friday. More than 1.2 million were blocked at upload, she said.

"Out of respect for the people affected by this tragedy and the concerns of local authorities, we're also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content," Garlick said in a tweet.

Garlick said that Facebook was using technology and people "around the clock" to remove content that violates its violence policy.

Minutes before the attack, the alleged shooter posted a 74-page manifesto on Twitter and sent it to numerous officials and media outlets in New Zealand. The gunman also livestreamed the rampage via helmet-cam on Facebook and Twitter.

Footage of the massacre circulated for hours after the shooting, despite efforts by Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Reddit to take it down as quickly as possible. Twitter and YouTube said they were continuously monitoring and removing any content depicting the tragedy.

"Our hearts are broken over today’s terrible tragedy in New Zealand," YouTube tweeted within hours of the attack. "Please know we are working vigilantly to remove any violent footage."
---------------

🇳🇿 **Man Arrested for Distributing New Zealand Mosque Attack Video Online**
*NewsWeek* - <https://archive.fo/nz1C4>

A 22-year-old from New Zealand has been arrested and charged in connection with circulating a graphic video of the mass shootings that took place at two mosques in Christchurch on Friday.

The man, who has not been named by authorities, has been formally charged under New Zealand’s Films Videos and Publications Classification Act and is expected to appear in court on Monday, ABC News reported Sunday.

Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian national, allegedly carried out the Friday attacks, which left at least 50 people dead and 50 others injured, while he shared a livestream of the mass shootings to Facebook. Although the social media platform responded quickly to remove the video, others continued to re-upload the clip.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and local police have repeatedly called on individuals and media organizations to restrain from sharing the graphic footage. Police also said that they are not charging the 22-year-old for being directly involved with the attack.

“We would like to remind people that it is an offense to distribute or possess an objectionable publication (under the Films Videos and Publications Classifications Act 1993), which carries a penalty of imprisonment," local police said in a statement, according to ABC News. "The live stream video of the shootings in Christchurch has been classified by the Chief Censor’s Office as objectionable," it continued.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Family says Obama's top economic adviser killed himself**
*Washington Examiner* - <https://archive.fo/u8r2l>

The family of a Princeton University economist and former top economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, has said he committed suicide.

Alan Krueger, 58, died on Saturday, according to a university announcement. His family said in a statement: "It is with tremendous sadness we share that Professor Alan B. Krueger, beloved husband, father, son, brother, and Princeton professor of economics, took his own life over the weekend.

"The family requests the time and space to grieve and remember him. In lieu of flowers, we encourage those wishing to honor Alan to make a contribution to the charity of their choice."

Princeton had not provided a cause of death. The university said in its statement: "In addition to his scholarship, Alan’s life exemplified a commitment to public service. He was married with two children.

Krueger was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Obama from 2011 to 2013. In that role, he sought to draw attention to the problem of inequality and promote ways of increasing economic mobility.

He also served in the Clinton administration as an economist for the Labor Department.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Spaceflight is activating herpes in astronauts**
*Fox 59/CNN* - <https://archive.fo/u8r2l>

The longer astronauts spend in space, the more likely they are to have viruses like herpes, chickenpox and shingles reactivate, according to new NASA research. The reason may be the same for viral reactivation on Earth: stress.

Samples of blood, urine and saliva were collected from astronauts before, during and after short space shuttle flights and long-term International Space Station missions. Herpes viruses reactivated in more than half of the astronauts. The study published last week in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

“To date, 47 out of 89 (53%) astronauts on short space shuttle flights, and 14 out of 23 (61%) on longer ISS missions shed herpes viruses in their saliva or urine samples,” said lead study author Satish K. Mehta at Johnson Space Center. “These frequencies — as well as the quantity — of viral shedding are markedly higher than in samples from before or after flight, or from matched healthy controls.”

Shedding is when a virus successfully reactivates.

On both short and long-term spaceflight missions, astronauts undergo exposure to zero gravity, cosmic radiation and extreme G forces during take-off and re-entry. Added to this is confinement in small spaces, social separation from family and friends and an altered sleep cycle, the researchers said.

Spaceflight creates a stressful environment for the astronauts, awakening dormant viruses.

Four of the eight human herpes viruses were detected, including oral and genital herpes, chickenpox and shingles. Because the herpes viruses take up residence in nerve and immune cells, they’re never really gone, so they can “wake up.”
---------------

🇺🇸 **Three dead in record flooding in US Midwestern states**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/bC0U1>

Three people have died, including a man who officials say was trying to rescue strangers from freezing flood waters.

Record-breaking flooding in at least five states has led to emergency declarations. Several communities have been cut off from outside help.

It follows a powerful winter storm that slammed the US last week.

A hurricane-like weather phenomenon that scientists call a "bomb cyclone" hit the western Rocky Mountains and US Central Plains last week, showering snow and freezing rains on millions of Americans in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota.

In a statement, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said "warm temperatures and rain the last few days have caused much of the heavy snowpack and ice to melt resulting in flooding, ice jams, and rivers and creeks to rise".

The Missouri River has reached record high levels in several locations, including in Iowa and Nebraska, which have been hit hardest by the flooding.

Residents in the towns of Bartlett and Thurman were ordered to evacuate on Sunday as levees were breached.

Three people have been killed, and two other men have been missing for days.
----------------

🇳🇿 **Christchurch shooting: gun owners begin to hand in their weapons**
*The Guardian* - <https://archive.fo/WmyPF>

New Zealanders have begun handing in their firearms to police in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting in Christchurch which resulted in the deaths of at least 50 people.

New Zealand police said that, as of Tuesday night, at least 37 firearms had been handed in to police officers around the country.

The prime minister is expected to announce changes to gun laws in the coming days, including measures such as a ban on semi-automatic rifles, a plan that was flagged by her attorney general, David Parker, one day after the massacre.

She emerged from a long cabinet meeting on Monday, Jacinda Ardern said her team would take the rest of the week to work out the details after agreeing to make changes “in principle”, adding: “These aren’t simple areas of law. So that’s simply what we’ll be taking the time to get right.”

Ardern encouraged people to surrender their firearms to police and advised anyone considering buying a gun to wait a few days to get some certainty on the laws before investing.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Supreme Court Disregards Due Process, Allows ICE to Detain Certain Immigrants Indefinitely**
*Slate* - <https://archive.fo/VoT93>

The Supreme Court delivered a brutal blow to immigrants’ rights on Tuesday morning, ruling that the Trump administration may detain unauthorized immigrants indefinitely once they have been taken into criminal custody. Its 5–4 decision permits the government to arrest and imprison undocumented individuals who were released from custody years, even decades ago. Even immigrants convicted in the distant past of a minor crime, like possession of a stolen bus transfer, may now be apprehended and detained without bond. To reach this result, the court’s conservative justices manipulated the plain text of a federal statute and ignored basic principles of due process. Their decision hands Immigration and Customs Enforcement even more power to terrorize immigrant communities, suspending due process for certain unauthorized immigrants snatched up by ICE.

Tuesday’s ruling in Nielsen v. Preap revolves around a 1996 law designed to crack down on unauthorized immigration. One section of the statute compels the Department of Homeland Security to detain certain non-citizens without a bond hearing as the government awaits permission to deport them. This provision states that immigration officials “shall take into custody” any unauthorized immigrant who has committed a certain criminal offense “when the alien is released” from jail. Officials may not release these individuals prior to deportation unless they are participating in witness protection. ICE interprets this statute to permit it agents to arrest and detain any unauthorized immigrant who was convicted of a crime, then hold him without a bond hearing. It doesn’t matter if the immigrant was convicted a half-century ago and has fully rejoined his community; according to ICE, he remains subject to indefinite detention.
---------------

🇳🇱 **Forum big winner in provincial elections, set to take 12 senate seats**
*Dutch News* - <https://archive.fo/3mKeo>

With most of the votes counted in Wednesday’s provincial elections, Thierry Baudet’s right-wing nationalist Forum voor Democratie appears to have won most votes and will take 12 seats in the senate in May.

Forum, which is pro Nexit and does not believe in climate change, campaigned on national issues and did not draw up policies for any of the 12 provinces it will now be represented in.

‘Arrogance and stupidity have been punished,’ Baudet said in his victory speech. ‘We are being ruined by the people who should be protecting us,’ he said. ‘We are being undermined by universities and journalists, by the people who design our buildings.’

Senate
The four coalition parties will now control 31 of the 75 seats in the senate and will need the support of a fifth party to pass controversial legislation. Forum, Labour and Groenlinks, which almost doubled its support, could all fulfill that role.

Big losers of the night were Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration PVV which is on target to lose four of its nine senate seats, and the Socialists which will sink from nine to four.

Wilders, whose support has been declining for years and has fallen 40% in the provinces, described his party’s losses as ‘limited’. ‘Six parties is not nothing,’ he said, adding that that the ‘unique PVV voice’ will continue to heard in the senate.

Turnout was up sharply on the last provincial vote, with some 56% of people casting their vote. It was highest (60%) in Zeeland and Utrecht.
----------------

🇺🇸 🇮🇱 **Trump says it's time for US to recognize 'Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights'**
*CNN* - <https://archive.fo/VoT93>

President Donald Trump on Thursday overturned longstanding US policy regarding the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, announcing "it is time" for the US to "fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty" over the region.

"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability," Trump tweeted.

The announcement hands Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a significant foreign policy victory, less than three weeks before Israelis head to the polls to decide whether he should remain in power. The move comes just days before Netanyahu is set to join Trump at the White House and follows weeks during which Netanyahu has renewed his push for the US to recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967 and formally annexed the territory in 1981. But that annexation has not been recognized by the international community, which has regarded the Golan Heights as occupied territory and Israeli settlements there as illegal under international law. The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, recently reiterated that position.

"The Security Council is very clear that the Golan is Syrian territory, and the first aspect of (Resolution) 2254 is of course the territorial integrity of Syria," he said in a news briefing in late February.
---------------

🇬🇧 🇪🇺 **May gets two-week Brexit reprieve from impatient EU**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/VZ5io>

European Union leaders have given Prime Minister Theresa May two weeks’ reprieve, until April 12, before Britain could lurch out of the EU if she fails to persuade lawmakers to back the withdrawal treaty she concluded with Brussels.

But after seven hours of summit brainstorming on Thursday, her 27 peers kept a host of options open, ramping up pressure on parliament to support May, giving Britain an outside chance of staying in for much longer - but also preparing to deflect blame for the chaos of any no-deal Brexit.

May had wanted to be able to delay Britain’s departure until June 30 to tie up legislative loose ends, and tried to reassure the EU that she could overturn two heavy defeats to clinch a last-gasp parliamentary ratification of her deal next week, so allowing a status-quo transition period to come into effect.

EU leaders had planned to endorse a shorter extension, to May 22, the eve of EU parliamentary elections, and leave any discussion of how to deal with May losing until next week. But diplomats said the prime minister singularly failed to reassure them she could win. Some sensed she did not believe it herself.

After May left the room, and with French President Emmanuel Macron pitching a surprise ultimatum for Britain to be out, deal or no deal, by May 7 — the eve of a summit on the EU’s post-Brexit future — the meeting plunged into frantic debate.

The outcome, with which May declared herself satisfied, was that the May 22 date will apply if parliament rallies behind her next week. If it does not, Britain will have until April 12 to offer a new plan or choose to quit without a treaty.
---------------

🇮🇱🇩🇪🇺🇸 **Germany rejects Trump's call to recognize Golan Heights as Israeli**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/r8emd>

The Golan Heights is Syrian territory occupied by Israel, a German government spokeswoman said on Friday when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the strategic territory.

“If national borders should be changed it must be done through peaceful means between all those involved,” spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

“The government rejects unilateral steps.”
---------------

🇮🇱🇫🇷🇺🇸 **Responding to Trump, France says Israeli sovereignty over Golan breaks international law**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/oMs7d>

France does not recognize the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights and its recognition - as called for by U.S. President Donald Trump - is contrary to international law, its foreign ministry said on Friday.

“The Golan is a territory occupied by Israel since 1967. France does not recognize the Israeli annexation of 1981,” the ministry said in a daily briefing, adding that U.N. Security Council resolutions had recognized the annexation as null and void.

“The recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, occupied territory, would be contrary to international law, in particular the obligation for states not to recognize an illegal situation,” the ministry also said.
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🇮🇱🇷🇺🇺🇸 **Russia: Golan Heights status change would violate U.N. decisions - RIA**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.is/WDGbS>

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a change in the status of the Golan Heights would be a direct violation of United Nations decisions, RIA news agency said in a report citing ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

She was commenting on a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, who tweeted on Thursday it was time to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights that Israel seized from Syria in 1967.
---------------

🇮🇱🇪🇺🇺🇸 **EU holds position on Golan Heights despite Trump: Tusk**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.is/q0ZLL>

European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday the EU was holding its line on the Golan Heights despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory seized in war.

“The EU’s position is well know and has not changed,” Tusk told a news conference when asked to comment on Trump’s comments. The European Union does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area.
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🇺🇸 **Trump signs executive order to promote free speech on college campuses**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/OlMlp>

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to promote free speech on college campuses by threatening colleges with the loss of federal research funding if they do not protect those rights.

"We’re here to take historic action to defend American students and American values," Trump said, surrounded by conservative student activists at the signing ceremony. "They’ve been under siege."

"Under the guise of speech codes, safe spaces and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shut down the voices of great young Americans like those here today," he said.

A senior administration official said the order directs 12 grant-making agencies to use their authority in coordination with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure institutions that receive federal research or education grants promote free speech and free inquiry. White House officials have said it will apply to more than $35 billion in grants.

Public universities seeking funding would have to certify they comply with the First Amendment, which already applies to them. Private universities, which have more flexibility in limiting speech, would need to commit to their own institutional rules.

"Even as universities have received billions and billions of dollars from taxpayers, many have become increasingly hostile to free speech and the First Amendment," Trump said.
---------------

🇵🇱 **Poland likely to bar Holocaust denier, foreign minister says**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/XthPb>

Warsaw is likely to refuse Holocaust denier David Irving entry to Poland later this year, the foreign minister said on Friday, citing local legislation that bans denying the genocide.

Israel had urged Poland to deny Irving entry after reports that he planned to lead a tour of Nazi concentration camps in the country. The author of several books, Irving has denied that the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War Two.

Irving confirmed to Reuters by email that he had planned to visit Poland later this year, as he has in the past.

“Negation of the Holocaust is not allowed by Polish law, therefore he will not be welcome here in Poland if he wants to come and present his opinions,” Jacek Czaputowicz told reporters at a press conference.

Irving sued an American historian, Deborah Lipstadt, for libel in 1996 after she described him as a Holocaust denier. But Lipstadt won, in a case that became the film “Denial”, released in 2016.

Poland’s right-wing government introduced legislation last year that would have made the use of phrases such as “Polish death camps” punishable by up to three years in prison.

After pressure from the United States and an outcry in Israel, Poland watered down the legislation, scrapping the prison sentences.
---------------

🇺🇸 **COMEY LEAKED MEMOS IN ORDER TO SPARK MUELLER PROBE. NOW HE SAYS HE DOESN’T CARE WHAT INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS**
*The Daily Caller* - <https://archive.is/DzosT>

James Comey claimed in an op-ed Thursday that he does not care one way or the other whether special counsel Robert Mueller finds evidence that President Donald Trump conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election or obstructed the FBI’s collusion probe.

Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017 that he leaked memos he wrote after conversations with Trump in order to force the appointment of a special counsel. Comey’s ploy worked, as Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel May 17, 2017.

Though Comey clearly pushed for the special counsel’s probe, he now claims that he has no preference as to what Mueller will write in a report of the 22-month-long investigation.
“Even though I believe Mr. Trump is morally unfit to be president of the United States, I’m not rooting for Mr. Mueller to demonstrate that he is a criminal,” Comey wrote in his op-ed.
---------------

🇺🇸 **As Layoffs Arrive, Disney and Fox Staff Voice Frustrations**
*Hollywood Reporter* - <http://archive.is/d2Mn4>

At Walt Disney's shareholder meeting two weeks ago, CEO Bob Iger spoke of the "long-term value" inherent in the company's pending acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox. "We will hit the ground running as soon as the deal closes," he told attendees.

Nary a public word was spoken about layoffs, but less than two days after the $71.3 billion deal officially closed at two minutes past midnight ET on Wednesday, it was clear that hitting the ground running means, at least initially, lots of lost jobs.

"Today I hate everybody," said one nervous employee who worries for his job. "I hate Disney for buying Fox, I hate Fox for selling, I hate the politicians for allowing it to happen."
Part of the frustration, multiple employees tell The Hollywood Reporter, is that Disney has been less than forthcoming about who will be let go and when. Regarding severance, employees have been told they will get two weeks for every year served, capped at two years.
Says one Disney employee: "We feel like we're the ones who have been acquired because the people at Fox know what their severance packages are, if they are going to get let go, and nobody at Disney knows anything. People are panicking — and rightfully so — because nobody is telling them anything."
---------------

🇺🇸 **Head of Southern Poverty Law Center, Richard Cohen, announces resignation amid internal upheaval**
*LA Times* - <https://archive.fo/XfWnA>

The president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Richard Cohen, announced his resignation Friday, the latest in a series of high-profile departures at the anti-hate organization amid allegations of misconduct and workplace discrimination of female and black employees.

Cohen had been with the organization since 1986 and had been one of its most prominent figures in the public eye. His departure comes one week after he fired his longtime partner, Morris Dees — the center’s co-founder, chief trial counsel and its biggest public face for nearly half a century — for undisclosed misconduct.

At 5:03 p.m. Friday, Cohen sent a message to staff, with the subject line “Stepping Down,” announcing that he, too, would be leaving the organization that he and Dees had turned into a research and fundraising juggernaut.

“Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen wrote, while asking the staff to avoid jumping to conclusions before the board completes an internal review of the Montgomery, Ala., organization’s work culture. Earlier this week, the board of directors announced that it had appointed Tina Tchen, the former chief of staff for Michelle Obama, to lead the inquiry.

Cohen told staff that he had asked the center’s board of directors in October to start searching for a new president, citing a need for a transition to a new generation of leadership. But “in light of recent events, I’ve asked the board to immediately launch a search for an interim president in order to give the organization the best chance to heal,” Cohen wrote.

A spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center declined to comment.

Cohen’s resignation comes the same day as a resignation by the organization’s legal director, Rhonda Brownstein, who did not give a reason for her departure in a brief email to her colleagues. Brownstein did not respond to requests for comment via email and LinkedIn.

---------------

🇲🇽 **Over 100 Central American migrants detained in northern Mexico**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.is/wjwoU>

Mexican police and federal officials on Saturday detained 107 Central American migrants seeking to enter the United States in the border city of Reynosa, the government of the northeastern state of Tamaulipas said.

Following a tip-off, state police intercepted a group of migrants who had been taken out of trucks in a western part of the city, which lies across the border from McAllen, Texas.

At the scene, unidentified gunmen began shooting at police, and one of the attackers was killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, the Tamaulipas government said in a statement.

The statement said police seized a firearm and cartridges but did not provide details on whether any gunmen were arrested or who they were.

Separately, police discovered a group of Central American men and women on the edge of a highway in Reynosa. They called in federal migration officials, who are now reviewing the legal status of the Central Americans detained, the government said.

The National Migration Institute counted 51 Guatemalans, 47 Hondurans and 9 Salvadorans detained in total, it added.

Mexico’s new government has pledged to regulate and stem the flows of people moving from Central America to its northern border as it seeks to reduce tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump over illegal immigration into the United States.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Mueller finds no Trump-Russia conspiracy but some questions left unresolved**
*reuters* - <https://archive.fo/sZstn>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, but left unresolved the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice by undermining the investigations that have dogged his presidency.

Even though Mueller’s findings on obstruction of justice were inconclusive, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a summary released on Sunday that Mueller’s team had not found enough proof to warrant bringing charges against Trump.

It marked a political victory for Trump. He quickly claimed “complete and total exoneration” while his Democratic opponents expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome and vowed to continue congressional probes into his business and personal dealings.

Mueller’s 22-month investigation ended with a finding that no one in Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government,” according to Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s confidential report.

The long-awaited report into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russian efforts to help him defeat his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, marked a major milestone of his presidency as he prepares for his 2020 re-election battle.

Trump describes the Mueller probe as a “witch hunt”, saying there was no collusion with Russia and denying he obstructed justice. He is certain to use the report to attack his Democratic opponents in the 2020 race.

Mueller himself did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump broke the law, but he presented his evidence to Barr to make a determination.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Avenatti arrested for allegedly trying to extort $20 million from Nike**
*Politico* - <https://archive.fo/pf6v3>

Michael Avenatti, the attorney who shot to national fame for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her case against President Donald Trump, was arrested Monday in two separate cases of alleged financial crimes on both coasts.

New York prosecutors accused Avenatti of attempting to extract more than $20 million from Nike Inc. by threatening to inflict financial and reputational harm on the company. Avenatti, a frequent attacker of Trump who flirted with a 2020 presidential bid, is also facing separate bank and wire fraud charges in Los Angeles, authorities said.

The California lawyer received national attention while representing Daniels in two lawsuits against Trump related to hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors on Monday said Avenatti used his newfound fame to intimidate Nike for money.

According to the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Avenatti allegedly threatened to hold a press conference to announce allegations of employee misconduct at the athletic-wear company unless Nike hired Avenatti and an unnamed co-conspirator to conduct an “internal investigation” of the company for somewhere between $15 million and $25 million.
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🇺🇸 **DOJ, FBI stonewalled House GOP request for McCabe texts, sources say**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/umKID>

Republican investigators on the House Intelligence Committee formally requested former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s work-related text messages as part of their surveillance abuse inquiry last March, but they were denied, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The sources questioned whether the rejection amounted to an obstruction of congressional oversight, after Fox News on Friday published previously unseen texts between then-FBI Deputy Director McCabe and FBI lawyer Lisa Page discussing numerous Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) matters.

An attorney for McCabe, the FBI, and the DOJ did not respond to Fox News' requests for comment following the publication of the texts on Friday.

In their document request, dated March 23, 2018, House investigators demanded the DOJ and FBI promptly turn over "all documents and communications, including emails and text messages" in which Page, McCabe, and seven others "discussed, referenced, or undertook work regarding [British ex-spy] Christopher Steele, the Steele dossier, related FISA applications and the application process."

Other individuals included in the House GOP's request for information were former FBI Director James Comey, then-Special Agent Peter Strzok, and senior DOJ official Bruce Ohr -- who became a back channel between Steele and the FBI, after Steele was fired by the bureau on the eve of the 2016 presidential election over his contacts with the media.
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🇺🇸 **Pentagon chief says $1 billion of funding shifted to border wall**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/JwEUo>

The U.S. Department of Defense shifted $1 billion to plan and build a 57-mile section of “pedestrian fencing”, roads and lighting along the border between the United States and Mexico, the Pentagon chief said on Monday.

Last week, the Pentagon gave Congress a list that included $12.8 billion of construction projects for which it said funds could be redirected for construction along the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency last month in a bid to fund his promised border wall without congressional approval.

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said in a memo to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen that the Department of Defense had the authority to support counter-narcotics activities near international boundaries.

Shanahan authorized the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to begin planning and executing the project that would involve building 57 miles of 18-foot-high fencing, constructing and improving roads, and installing lighting within the Yuma and El Paso sections of the U.S.-Mexico border.
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🇺🇸 **Jussie Smollett Charges Dropped; ‘His Record Has Been Wiped Clean’**
*CBS Chicago* - <https://archive.fo/CoJBp>

Less than two weeks after “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police about a hate crime, prosecutors have dropped charges in the case.

Cook County prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Smollett at an unscheduled hearing in the case Tuesday morning. Smollett will forfeit the $10,000 bail he posted after his arrest.

“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,” the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office stated in an email.

Sources tell CBS 2 that CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson is furious and that he received no notification about the charges being dropped. CBS 2 is told that he will speak after the police graduation taking place.

Smollett’s spokesperson said his record would be “fully expunged.”

“Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him. Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgement,” spokeswoman Anne Kavanaugh stated in an email.
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🇺🇸 **Lawyer for Michael Jackson, Jussie Smollett named as Avenatti co-conspirator**
*NY Post* - <https://archive.fo/GVlAw>

One of the alleged co-conspirators in the Michael Avenatti extortion case is a California lawyer and longtime CNN analyst “known for representation of celebrity and public figure clients” — including Colin Kaepernick, Michael Jackson and Jussie Smollett, a report says.

Attorney Mark Geragos, 61, was not actually named in the criminal complaint against Avenatti, but two sources familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal that he is the “CC-1” that prosecutors referred to in the document.

According to his website, Geragos has represented “some of the most prominent figures in the world” over the last 30 years. His client list includes rap moguls Suge Knight and Sean “Diddy” Combs, actress Winona Ryder, boxer Mike Tyson, singer Chris Brown and convicted murderer Scott Peterson.

In the early 2000s, Geragos helped the late King of Pop secure an acquittal on child molestation charges in California. He had been trying to get Smollett, the former “Empire” star, out of his legal troubles before Avenatti’s arrest Monday.

The actor has been charged with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly staging his own hate crime. Geragos defended him in a statement to CNN earlier this month while still serving as a network contributor.

“This redundant and vindictive indictment is nothing more than a desperate attempt to make headlines,” Geragos said.

CNN issued a statement on Monday after word got out about Geragos’ involvement in the Avenatti case, saying he was “no longer” an analyst.

Geragos’ website bio describes him as “the only lawyer besides Johnnie Cochran ever named ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in both Criminal and Civil arenas.”
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🇺🇸 **Nolte: Dying CNN Lost Almost 30% of Primetime Audience Week of March18th**
*Breitbart* - <https://archive.fo/Iipfd>

During the week of March 18, the far-left CNN lost almost 30 percent of an audience that is already minuscule.
In the arenas of credibility and viewership, CNN is a dying brand. Over the last week, the news has been especially bad for the far-left outlet.

On the credibility front, CNN chief Jeff Zucker tried to excuse his network’s two-year deliberate deception about Trump colluding with the Russians by admitting on Tuesday that no one at CNN does investigative work. Like we didn’t already know that.

“We are not investigators,” he told the far-left New York Times. “We are journalists, and our role is to report the facts as we know them, which is exactly what we did.”

For the week of March 18, meaning prior to the release of the Mueller Report exonerating Trump from the Russia Collusion Hoax, CNN lost a jaw-dropping 24 percent of its total day viewers and 27 percent of its primetime viewers, when compared to this same week last year.
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🇺🇸 **Facebook to ban white nationalism and separatism**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/Q1N1S>

Facebook has said it will block "praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism" on Facebook and Instagram from next week.

The social media giant also pledged to improve its ability to identify and block material from terrorist groups.

Facebook users searching for offending terms will be directed to a charity which combats far-right extremism.

The social network has come under pressure after a man livestreamed an attack on two mosques in New Zealand.

Facebook had previously allowed some white nationalist content it did not view as racist - including permission for users to call for the creation of white ethno-states.

The company said it had deemed white nationalism an acceptable form of expression on a par with "things like American pride and Basque separatism, which are an important part of people's identity".

But in a blog post on Wednesday it said that after three months of consultation with "members of civil society and academics", it found that white nationalism could not be "meaningfully separated" from white supremacy and organised hate groups.
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🇺🇸 **Federal judge BLOCKS California's move to ban high-capacity ammunition**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.fo/UGND2>

A federal judge declared California’s ban on high-capacity gun magazines over 10 rounds as unconstitutional on Friday, following a lawsuit by the state's arm of the National Rifle Association.

On Friday San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez ruled the law against high-capacity gun magazines was unconstitutional, blocking the state from enforcing the voter-approved ban outlined California’s Proposition 63.

The proposition was made to prevent the use of such magazines, which are often used in mass shootings and got passed on the November 8, 2016 ballot.

California law has prohibited buying or selling of magazines with over 10 rounds since 2000, but those who had them before then were allowed to keep them.

In 2016, the Legislature and voters approved a law removing that provision.

The California arm of the National Rifle Association then sued and Benitez sided with the group's argument that banning the magazines infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
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🇺🇸🇬🇹🇭🇳🇸🇻**Donald Trump cuts financial assistance to Northern Triangle countries Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala and claims 'they haven't done a thing for us'**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.fo/5ZSYA>

Donald Trump has announced that he is cutting financial assistance to the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Trump hinted at the cuts on Friday, as a Mexican minister claimed that the 'mother of all caravans' with more than 20,000 people was being organized by Honduras.

ABC reported Trump as saying: 'I’ve ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras, and to El Salvador. No money goes there anymore.

Trump said the funds totaled $500 million, but it wasn’t clear if that figure was accurate.

The State Department announced in December that the U.S. would mobilize $5.8 billion in public and private american investment to the three countries.

But Trump claimed those financial aid programs would end saying: 'We’re not paying them anymore because they haven’t done a thing for us.' Most migrants from the three countries come to the U.S.
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🇺🇸🇮🇱 **'It's not about the Benjamins,' Netanyahu says of U.S. support for Israel**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/0vMKN>

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “it’s not about the Benjamins” as he hit back on Tuesday against any suggestion that U.S. politicians are paid to support Israel.

A tweet in February by Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, a freshman legislator from Minnesota, was widely seen as echoing an anti-Semitic slur that Jews influence governments through money.

“It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” Omar wrote, using a slang term for $100 bills. She subsequently apologized, saying she was grateful for “Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history” of anti-Semitic references.

Netanyahu, addressing a Washington convention of the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC, said via satellite from Tel Aviv: “Some people will just never get it. They’ll never understand why the vast majority of Americans - Jews and non-Jews alike - support Israel.”

He did not mention Omar by name.

“Take it from this Benjamin: it’s not about the Benjamins,” Netanyahu said. “The reason the people of America support Israel is not because they want our money, it’s because they share our values.”
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🇮🇳 **Modi hails India as military space power after anti-satellite missile test**
*Reuters* - <http://archive.fo/lMsny>

India shot down one of its own satellites in low-Earth orbit with a ground-to-space missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, hailing his country’s first test of such weaponry as a breakthrough establishing it as a military space power.

India would be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China, according to Modi, who heads into general elections next month.

“Our scientists shot down a live satellite 300 kilometers away in space, in low-Earth orbit,” Modi said in a television broadcast.

“India has made an unprecedented achievement today,” he added, speaking in Hindi. “India registered its name as a space power.”

Anti-satellite weapons permit attacks on enemy satellites, blinding them or disrupting communications, as well as providing a technology base for intercepting ballistic missiles.

Such capabilities have raised fears of the weaponization of space and setting off a race between rivals.
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🇹🇷 **Turkey local elections: Setback for Erdogan in big cities**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/adLdm>

The party of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lost control of the capital, Ankara, in local elections, in a blow to his 16-year rule.

The main opposition is also slightly ahead in the contest for mayor of Istanbul, figures published by the state-run Anadolu news agency suggest.

But the president's AKP party is challenging the result in both cities.

Municipal elections were held across the nation on Sunday and an AKP-led alliance won more than 51% of the vote.

The elections, considered a verdict on Mr Erdogan's rule, have been taking place during an economic downturn.

The currency, the lira, has been losing value recently and the economy went into recession in the last three months of 2018.

**What are the results?**
More than 57 million people in the country were registered to vote for mayors and councillors. Turnout was high at just under 85%.

The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Mansur Yavas won in Ankara, officials said. With almost all votes counted, he was on nearly 51% and the AKP's Mehmet Ozhaseki had won the support of just over 47%.

Both CHP and the AKP claim victory in Istanbul, which has been in the hands of parties linked to Mr Erdogan since 1994, when he was elected the city's mayor.

The election commission said the CHP's Ekrem Imamoglu was leading there by less than 0.5%, but that the results of more than 80 ballot boxes were being challenged. Results carried by Anadolu put the margin even narrower, at less than 0.25%.
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🇺🇸 **‘Beyond Sketchy’: Facebook Demanding Some New Users’ Email Passwords**
*The Daily Beast* - <https://archive.fo/FOAgV>

Just two weeks after admitting it stored hundreds of millions of its users’ own passwords insecurely, Facebook is demanding some users fork over the password for their outside email account as the price of admission to the social network.

Facebook users are being interrupted by an interstitial demanding they provide the password for the email account they gave to Facebook when signing up. “To continue using Facebook, you’ll need to confirm your email,” the message demands. “Since you signed up with [email address], you can do that automatically …”

A form below the message asked for the users’ “email password.”

“That’s beyond sketchy,” security consultant Jake Williams told the Daily Beast. “They should not be taking your password or handling your password in the background. If that’s what’s required to sign up with Facebook, you’re better off not being on Facebook.”

In a statement emailed to The Daily Beast after this story published, Facebook reiterated its claim it doesn’t store the email passwords. But the company also announced it will end the practice altogether.

“We understand the password verification option isn’t the best way to go about this, so we are going to stop offering it,” Facebook wrote.
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🇺🇸🇨🇳 **Yujing Zhang: Woman with Chinese passports, malware inside Mar-a-Lago facing federal charges**
*NBC WPTV West Palm Beach* - <https://archive.fo/feVTJ>

A woman carrying two Republic of China passports, four cellphones, a laptop, a hard drive and a thumb drive with malware on it made her way past an initial security checkpoint at Mar-a-Lago when President Trump was in town on March 30, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

The woman, identified as Yujing Zhang, said she was there to "go to the pool," when first approached by a Secret Service agent, an affidavit said.

Mar-a-Lago security could not find her on the access list so security contacted the manager of the Beach Club who said Zhang is the last name of a member of the private club, the report said.

Based on her responses the Secret Service determined there was probable cause to charge Zhang with making false statements toward federal law enforcement agents and unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds.

The first charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The second charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Zhang had an initial court appearance Monday morning before federal Magistrate Judge William Matthewman. A detention
hearing is set for April 8.
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