Louisville

How a hero in New Zealand mosque attack used cat-and-mouse chase, shooter's own gun to save lives

The death toll of Friday's terrorist attacks in New Zealand that killed 50 might have been much greater if not for the actions of a man they say is a hero.

The Latest: French protesters slam Macron's 'empty words'

PARIS (AP) — The Latest on yellow vest protests in France (all times local):

Hero charged attacker during New Zealand mosque massacre: witness

A survivor of the Christchurch massacre has described how a heroic worshipper at one of the targeted mosques seized an empty rifle discarded by alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant and then used it to chase their attacker away. Alabi Lateef said he was praying with others inside Linwood Masjid, the second mosque attacked on Friday by self-confessed white supremacist Tarrant, when he heard the sound of gunfire. Alabi said he told worshippers to duck down and then described how he and a "brother" decided to confront the attacker during a lull in the gunfire.

Senator Gillibrand formally launches presidential campaign

Gillibrand, who launched an exploratory committee earlier this year as a precursor, joins more than a dozen other Democrats who have already formally entered the contest to win the nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. Someone who isn’t afraid of progress," Gillibrand says in a video released Sunday morning to formalize her entry into the campaign. Gillibrand opted to use a video instead of a speech at a rally, the traditional method, to formally launch her campaign.

Attempted robbery at Bellagio casino in Las Vegas turns into shoot-out with police

An attempted robbery at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas turned into a shoot-out with police.

Are universities the victims here? What colleges have to do right now to clean up admissions after largest-ever cheating scandal

We're victims, universities said, after they were caught in largest college admissions scandal ever. Here's why no college has offered sweeping change.

737 MAX disaster pushes Boeing into crisis mode

After a second air disaster involving the 737 MAX 8, aviation giant Boeing swung into crisis mode, losing $25 billion of market capitalization and suffering a severe hit to its reputation. The tragedy of the Ethiopian Airlines flight on Sunday, in which all 157 people on board perished, renewed fears about the safety of the plane, and led to it being grounded worldwide -- although the US decision was not made for three days. "It's been a rough week for them," said Matt Yemma, a crisis communication specialist at Peaks Strategies, based in Connecticut.

New Zealand's biggest online classifieds site bans sale of semi-automatic guns

In the aftermath of the Christchurch terrorist attack, New Zealand is looking to step up on gun control.It's led to the country's biggest online marketplace, Trade Me, stopping the sale of semi-automatic firearms until it receives further instruction from the government.SEE ALSO: Facebook has removed 1.5 million videos of the New Zealand shooting, but questions remain"We have listened to public sentiment following Friday's terrorist attack in Christchurch and decided to remove all semi-automatic firearms sales and parts associated with those weapons today," Trade Me's statement reads.The company said it would aim to remove listings for semi-automatic firearms by the end of Monday. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pledged that the country's gun laws "will change" following the tragedy, and said on Monday she would start discussing the issue within the government."Rightly ... people are asking the question 'why is it that someone with a firearms licence in New Zealand can obtain a military-style semi-automatic weapon?'" Ardern told Radio NZ.The New Zealand Police Association has backed the action on the country's gun laws."Jacinda Ardern has said emphatically that New Zealand's gun laws will change and that now is the time for that change," Police Association president Chris Cahill said in a statement online."I absolutely agree with her and I believe many New Zealanders will be aghast that in our country someone can amass a cache of weapons like that discovered in this Christchurch tragedy."Unlike neighbouring Australia, whose famously strong gun policy resulted in a ban on semi-automatic firearms, New Zealand allows private possession, as long as the owner is approved by police and licensed. As per Gunpolicy.org, New Zealand has double the guns per person than Australia, and the number of privately-owned guns is estimated to be at 1.5 million. There have also been calls for a gun register, which isn't required in New Zealand for most firearms, according to the BBC. WATCH: Delete Facebook says WhatsApp co-founder

Students look to love at New Zealand school hit by tragedy

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — Three students from Cashmere High School were at the Al Noor Mosque for Friday prayers when a gunman started shooting. When classes resume Monday, none will be there.

Unrest returns to Paris with worst yellow vest violence in weeks

Anti-government protesters hurled rocks and paving slabs at police, looted boutiques, smashed up a luxury restaurant on Paris’s famed Champs-Elysées and set a bank on fire on Saturday. A mother and her baby trapped on the second floor of the building, as flames surged up from the bank branch on the ground floor, were rescued by firefighters. The bank offices were gutted and 11 people were slightly injured, including two police officers. Smoke and tear gas shrouded the Champs-Elysées and at least 109 people were arrested in the worst outbreak of violence on the fringes of a “yellow vest” demonstration in Paris for several weeks. President Emmanuel Macron has cut short his skiing holiday to return to Paris to chair an emergency meeting over what the authorities are describing as "intolerable violence and damage".   Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, tweeted that those who set the bank on fire “are neither demonstrators nor troublemakers: they are killers.”  Grinning “yellow vest” protesters posed for photographs in front of the shattered facade of Le Fouquet’s, a restaurant that earned Nicolas Sarkozy the nickname of “President Bling-bling” when he celebrated his 2007 election victory there.  A Yellow Vest protester gestures in front of a newsagent set alight during clashes with riot police Credit:  ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI/ AFP A Yellow Vest protester destroys a shop window during clashes with riot police forces on the Champs-Elysees Credit: AFP Much of the violence on the 18th consecutive Saturday of protests against President Macron’s economic reforms was blamed on anarchists, far-Right and ultra-leftist agitators rather than the “yellow vests” themselves.  Police estimated the number of demonstrators at about 32,000 across France. About 5,000 police officers were deployed in Paris alone. The numbers of protesters have dwindled since the “yellow vest” movement began in November, amid growing anger over income inequality and a lack of public services in rural areas and small towns.  Fouquet’s was the favoured status restaurant of Nicolas Sarkozy. Was. GiletsJaunespic.twitter.com/LUXGoKy7yW— Peter Allen (@peterallenparis) March 16, 2019 More took to the streets on Saturday compared with recent weeks, following social media calls for a strong turnout to mark the four-month anniversary of the movement’s launch. President Macron wrapped up a “great debate” consultation exercise on Friday to allow people to vent their grievances, which has helped him to regain some of the popularity lost since his election. Some “yellow vests” have dismissed the exercise as a campaign ploy ahead of European elections in May. The Yellow Vest protests About 30,000 people took part in a separate, peaceful demonstration to demand urgent government action to combat climate change

Venezuela's Maduro plans 'deep restructuring' of government: VP

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is planning a "deep restructuring" of his government, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday, as the country recovers from a prolonged blackout amid a power struggle with the opposition. "President @NicolasMaduro has asked the entire executive Cabinet to put their roles up for review in a deep restructuring of the methods and functions of the Bolivarian government, to protect the fatherland of Bolivar and Chavez from any threat," Rodriguez wrote on Twitter, referring to independence leader Simon Bolivar and former President Hugo Chavez.

Diane Kruger, 42, flaunts abs four months after giving birth: 'The female body is AMAZING'

Diane Kruger proudly flaunted her chiseled abs on Instagram Saturday, four months after giving birth to her daughter with actor Norman Reedus.

Joe Biden (almost) announces he is running for president

The vice president indicated he was "running" before correcting himself and saying, "I didn't mean it!"

The New Zealand mosque massacres revive old wounds in the Balkans

As the gunman drove to the two New Zealand mosques where he carried out his mass killings, a Serb nationalist song was heard playing in the background of the haunting video he broadcast live on Facebook. The mass shooter's weapons also bore the names of several historical Serb nationalist figures, revealing an unexpected interest in Balkan conflicts that stirred bad blood in a region fractured by war. Hours after 50 people were gunned down in two mosques by the Australian right-wing extremist in Christchurch, Bosnia's ambassador went on local television to express concern about the song heard in the suspected killer's video that went on to show him murder victim after victim.

What we know about Olivia Jade, Lori Loughlin's daughter caught up in admissions scandal

Lori Loughlin's USC student daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli, has been swept up in the college admission scandal. Here's what you need to know.

BlackRock Sees Emerging Stocks Almost Recouping Last Year's Loss

In the face of slowing global growth, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise rates this year, causing the dollar to weaken and improving the flows into emerging markets, said Fraser, global emerging-market equities fund manager. “Markets should recoup most, if not all, of their losses from last year,” Fraser, who is based in Hong Kong and helped manage the firm’s approximately $40 billion of active EM equities as of the end of 2018, said in a phone interview.

The Latest: Up to 500 homes damaged in 1 Nebraska county

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):

Rep. Doug Collins: Loretta Lynch has some explaining to do

Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins says that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch told former FBI Director James Comey to consider Hillary Clinton email scandal a ‘matter’ not an investigation.

In July 1950, North Korea Defeated the United States Army. What You Need To Know.

Could it happen again?

Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

From Boeing crashes to the New Zealand shooter, here's what to know.

Trump downplays white nationalism threat after massacre

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump played down any threat posed by white nationalism after the gunman accused of the New Zealand mosque massacre called the president "a symbol of renewed white identity."

'Clear similarities' between Boeing crashes in Ethiopia, Indonesia

Flight recorder data recovered from the wreckage of Boeing 737 MAX planes that crashed in Ethiopia and Indonesia shows "clear similarities," Addis Ababa said Sunday as the US maker announced it was finalizing a software update for its under fire anti-stall system. Pressure was mounting meanwhile on the US Federal Aviation Administration, which insisted it had followed standard procedures in certifying the plane model, even as it was reported to have come under investigation by the Department of Transport. "The 737 MAX certification program followed the FAA's standard certification process," the agency said in an email to AFP.

Putin to mark five years of annexation in Crimea

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Crimea on Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine, condemned by the West but celebrated by most Russians. A Kremlin statement on Sunday said Putin would visit the peninsula and its largest city Sevastopol to attend celebrations marking five years since Crimea "rejoined" Russia. On March 18, 2014, Putin signed a treaty with representatives from Crimea to make it part of Russia, two days after a referendum that was not recognised by the international community.

New Zealand shooting: Jacinda Ardern to announce gun law reforms within 10 days

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, said on Monday gun law reforms would be announced in 10 days, after meeting her cabinet for the first time since the massacre in Christchurch. The shock of the attacks, in which 50  people were killed and dozens wounded at two mosques, has led to calls for an immediate tightening of laws to restrict access to some firearms, particularly semi-automatic weapons. Ms Ardern said on Monday that her cabinet had made in principle decisions around the reform of gun laws following the mass shooting in Christchurch "I intend to give further details of these decisions to the media and the public before cabinet meets again next Monday," she said at a press conference. "This ultimately means that within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer." Terror in New Zealand | Read more She said an inquiry would look at the lead up to attack and what might have been done differently. The owner of a New Zealand gun store said on Monday the man charged with murder in Christchurch's mass shooting had bought firearms and ammunition online from the store, but it did not sell him the high-powered weapon used in the mosque shootings. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with murder on Saturday. Tarrant was remanded without a plea and is due back in court on April 5 where police said he was likely to face more charges. Gun City owner David Tipple said the alleged gunman bought four weapons and ammunition between December 2017 and March 2018. "The MSSA, military-style automatic, reportedly used by the alleged gunman was not purchased from Gun City. Gun City did not sell him an MSSA, only A-category firearms," Mr Tipple told a news conference in Christchurch. Gun City owner David Tipple gestures during a press conference in Christchurch Credit: AP Under New Zealand gun laws, A-category weapons can be semi-automatic but limited to seven shots. Video of a gunman in one mosque showed a semi-automatic with a large magazine round. Mr Tipple said the online purchases followed a police-verified online mail-order process and A-category firearms were bought in three or four purchases. "We detected nothing extraordinary about the licence holder. He was a brand new purchaser, with a brand new licence," he said. Tightening New Zealand's gun laws was at the top of Ms Ardern's agenda for the Cabinet meeting on Monday. "What the public rightly are asking right now is why is it and how is it that you are currently able to buy military style semi-automatic weapons in New Zealand, and that's the right question to ask," Ms Ardern told TVNZ earlier on Monday. "There are ways we can bring in effective regulation of firearms that actually target those we need to target and that is our focus." Mr Tipple said he supported Ardern's call for gun law reforms as the Christchurch shootings had raised legitimate concerns. New Zealand, a country of only 5 million people, has an estimated 1.5 million firearms. The minimum age for a gun license is 16, and 18 to own a semi-automatic weapon. A Radio New Zealand report, based on police data secured through an Official Information Act request, said more than 99 percent of people who applied for a firearms licence in 2017 were successful. A New Zealand standard A-category firearm licence is issued after a police and background check. No licence is required to buy a large round magazine, which can be illegally modified for use in such a weapon. Only firearm owners are licensed, not weapons, so there is no monitoring of how many weapons a person may possess. The plans for gun control measures came as Tarrant's court-appointed lawyer said the suspect intended to represent himself.  Duty lawyer Richard Peters, who represented Tarrant during the preliminary court hearing, told AFP the 28-year-old "indicated he does not want a lawyer". "He wants to be self-represented in this case," said Mr Peters, who played down suggestions that Tarrant may not be fit for trial. "The way he presented was rational and someone who was not suffering any mental disability. That's how he appeared. He seemed to understand what was going on," Mr Peters said. New Zealand mosque massacre - In pictures Ms Ardern was the first signatory of a national condolence book for the country's worst mass killing that she opened in the capital Wellington on Monday. "On behalf of all New Zealanders, we grieve together. We are one. They are us," she wrote in the book. Frustration was building among the families of victims as under Islam it is custom to conduct burials within 24 hours, but bodies will not be released until post mortems are carried out. Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha said the first body was approved for release on Sunday night, but the family was yet to take the body because another relative was also killed and they wanted to collect them together. He said there would be no burials on Monday. "We’ve been working fairly hard through the night to ensure the process of returning the deceased to their loved ones is taking place expediently," he said. The burial process, which usually involves washing with three kinds of water, salving wounds and scrubbing skin, would be complicated, volunteers in Christchurch said. Muslims embrace after overseeing the excavating of graves at a Muslim cemetery in Christchurch, New Zealand Credit: AP Mo, a volunteer who had flown in from Brisbane to wash the bodies, said the people who died in the mosques were classified as martyrs. That meant there were different views as to whether they would be washed or not because he said Islamic jurisprudence said martyrs are not to be washed as their blood was witness to their martyrdom. "But some people have said because it was not a battlefield it is okay to wash the body. But it is at the discretion of the family," said Mo. He asked to be identified by just one name. The two mosques involved in the shootings have been closed since the massacre, but are expected to reopen by Friday prayers after cleansing blessings were carried out, said Haumaha. "This morning we conducted two important blessings at the Deans Avenue mosques and the Linwood mosque," he said. "This blessing this morning gave them (the Muslim community) huge confidence...We hope to have those premises in place by the end of the week to allow our Muslim community to go back and undertake prayer." Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.

Southwest Airlines launches Hawaii service from Oakland to Honolulu with new snacks, in-flight hula dancing

Southwest's first Hawaii flight was Flight 6808 from Oakland to Honolulu. The airline initially is offering daily service from Oakland and San Jose, California.

Lyft to launch road show for up to $2 billion IPO - sources

Lyft will be seeking to convince investors to make large commitments to its IPO, rather than hold out for its larger rival Uber Technologies Inc, which is planning to launch its own public offering next month, the sources said. Lyft will meet with investors across the United States before pricing the IPO and listing on the Nasdaq at the end of the month, the sources said. Uber is seeking a valuation as high as $120 billion at its IPO, although some analysts have pegged it closer to $100 billion based on selected financial figures it has disclosed.

Stacey Abrams considers 2020 presidential campaign on race and voter suppression as Democratic field grows

Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost her bid to become governor of Georgia last autumn, has a series of decisions to make. Losing campaigns are not the normal launching pad for a run for the White House. Ms Abrams, who was the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, sat down last week with Steven Ginsberg, The Washington Post's national editor, and talked about the choices, the timetable and what kind of presidential campaign she would run.

Saudi crown prince approved 'intervention' against dissidents: report

More than a year before the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved a secret campaign to silence dissenters, The New York Times reported on Sunday. American officials referred to it as the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group, the Times said. At least some of the clandestine missions were carried out by members of the team that killed and dismembered Khashoggi in October at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, suggesting his murder was part of a wider campaign against dissidents, the report said, citing the US officials and associates of some Saudi victims.

The U.S. Navy Had a Weird, Hand-Cranked Grenade Launcher

But the old-school design set the stage for weapons still in use today.

Buy a Purple mattress and get some sheets for free

Mattresses in a box have exploded in popularity in the past few years. They give you the fresh feeling of a new bed without the hassle of getting it home from the store. Purple is one of these boxed bedding companies, but their mattresses stand out -- rather than foam or springs, Purple uses Smart Comfort Grid technology for its sleepers.SEE ALSO: These are the best mattresses of 2019The grid design is optimized when covered with Purple sheets that are stretchy enough to flex with the mattress. Now until March 25, Purple is actually giving away free sets of sheets when you purchase a mattress. That's a value of up to $129.Purple mattresses are designed for comfort as they are specially engineered to relieve pressure and keep you cool while you sleep. The grid design adjusts to your body's movements and pressure points and leaves room for air to flow through the mattress.Check out their promo video below:Purple sheets are made from a bamboo-based material making them soft, stretchy, and breathable. Plus the fitted sheets are made with a heavy-duty elastic so you don't have to put up a fight trying to keep them in place.Purple sheets come in four colors: White, slate, sand, and purple (obviously) and range in size from twin to split king. Image: purple Get a free pair of sheets when you purchase a mattress from Purple See Details

MS-13 members accused of stabbing 16-year-old 100 times

MS-13 members have been arrested and accused of stabbing a 16-year-old boy 100 times and setting the body on fire.

New Zealand mosque shooter 'acted alone'; sent manifesto to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Police in New Zealand said on Sunday that the right-wing terrorist behind a massacre at two mosques in Christchurch was acting alone, as it emerged the killer's manifesto had been sent to the country's prime minister minutes before the tragedy unfolded. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, sent a racist, rambling manifesto to prime minister Jacinda Ardern in which he denied being linked to any organisations and said he was acting on his own. The document, which praised President Donald Trump and Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, was emailed to Ms Ardern's office just 9 minutes before the attack began. However, a senior White House official said it was unfair to cast the shooter as a supporter of President Trump based on one reference to him in the manifesto.  Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told "Fox News Sunday" that the shooter was a "disturbed individual" and an "evil person." Mr Mulvaney said attempts to tie the shooter to any American politician "probably ignores some of the deeper difficulties that this sort of activity exposes." It came as a man whose wife was killed in the attack as she rushed back into a mosque to rescue him said he harbours no hatred toward the gunman, insisting forgiveness is the best path forward. "I would say to him 'I love him as a person'," said Farid Ahmad, whose wife Husna Ahmad, 44, was killed at the Al Noor mosque - the first of two targeted by the gunman. "I could not accept what he did. What he did was a wrong thing," he added. A man reacts following the attacks on Friday. Asked if he forgave the 28-year-old white supremacist suspect, he said: "Of course. The best thing is forgiveness, generosity, loving and caring, positivity." Tarrant has also broadcast the massacre live on social media, using a head-mounted camera, which sparked an outcry across the world as platforms such as Facebook were slow to take down the grisly footage. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter had scrambled to take down duplicates of the video at the request of the New Zealand police. The footage showed worshippers being sprayed with bullets, with some trying to crawl away, as Tarrant moved through Al Noor Mosque. A spokesman for Facebook said it had blocked or removed 1.5m copies of the video after the original was streamed online. Traditional media outlets were also criticised for broadcasting lengthy segments of the 16-minute video clip. Sky New Zealand removed Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky News Australia from broadcasts after the channel repeatedly screened extracts of the footage. “We made the decision on Friday with Sky News Australia to replace their live news with sport,” Sky New Zealand tweeted on Friday evening. The call was made “to ensure coverage doesn’t compromise ongoing investigations in NZ”. On Sunday, Ms Ardern said the bodies of those who died were beginning to be returned to their families as of that evening. She said it was expected all would be returned by Wednesday. Two days after the massacre, Dunedin woman Jackie Lawton, 34, said she was "still just overwhelmed and so sad” thinking about the lives lost. She went to a vigil with hundreds of others, held outside Dunedin’s Al Huda Mosque on Sunday afternoon. The last time Ms Lawton attended a vigil was in December, to honour slain British backpacker Grace Millane. “When Grace Millane was murdered the whole country mourned, deeply, for weeks. We felt like we knew her, even though she’d been here for such a short time,” she said. “This is 50 people though – each one as loved and needed as Grace. This is Grace times 50 and I don’t know if we can even process that.” Flowers, candles, and messages of solidarity had been placed in front of the mosque and a group sang hymns before performing a haka. Vigils have been held the length of the country over the weekend. Christchurch local James Tawhiti, 41, had driven down to Dunedin on Saturday “because it was too tense and sad and awful." “We’ve all already been through the earthquakes, that screwed a lot of people up,” he said. “But this is somehow worse because it’s a man-made tragedy. Natural disasters aren’t evil like this and it just feels like we’ve lost something, maybe our innocence.” Three students from Cashmere High School were at the Al Noor Mosque for Friday prayers when the attacker burst in. Two of the students are presumed dead and the third is in the hospital with gunshot wounds. The father of Sayyad Milne, 14, told the New Zealand Herald that his son was last seen lying on the bloody floor of the mosque bleeding from his lower body. "I've lost my little boy. He's just turned 14," he told the newspaper. "I remember him as my baby who I nearly lost when he was born. Such a struggle he's had throughout all his life. He's been unfairly treated but he's risen above that and he's very brave. A brave little soldier. It's so hard ... to see him just gunned down by someone who didn't care about anyone or anything," Milne said. "I know where he is. I know he's at peace." Current students weren't the only ones caught in Friday's mass shootings, the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's modern history. A former Cashmere High School student is also believed to have been killed, as was the father of another student. Outside the school on Sunday, students came in a trickle to lean bouquets of flowers up against a construction barricade, evidence of the ongoing rebuilding from Christchurch's 2011 earthquake. Principal Mark Wilson said counselors and trauma specialists will be on hand when classes resume at the diverse school of more than 2,000. "I'm very confident in our staff; I'm very confident in our school community. It's made up of awesome people," Wilson said. "It's still going to be hard. There's going to be a lot of grief. There's going to be a lot of sadness. I think we've also got to be very patient with each other." Wilson declined to talk about the boys believed to have been killed, but confirmed three students were at the mosque on Friday and said one remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds to the leg. The principal noted that schools can often be a safe place for children coping with trauma. He is also encouraging students to take up their own acts of love to counteract the tragedy.

Israel's top court disqualifies far-rightist, approves Arab party for ballot

The Supreme Court rulings were widely expected and unlikely to shake Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to craft a rightist alliance that might secure him a record fifth term. The court found in favor of appellants who argued that Michael Ben-Ari of the Jewish Power party had displayed anti-Arab racism. Other members of Jewish Power, a small faction that is part of an ultra-nationalist list which last month forged an election alliance with Netanyahu's Likud party, remain eligible to run.

Newborns, elderly among St. Patrick's Day crowds in Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Born just 3 months ago, Caroline Homans looked as if she might sleep through her first St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday, cradled in her grandfather's arms as he held a beer in his free hand. A couple of blocks away, 83-year-old Hugh Helmly sat in a chair by the sidewalk with a large magnifying glass to help him view the Savannah's Irish-themed procession.

Assault on IS jihadist redoubt in Syria grinds on

A shroud of black smoke covered the Islamic State group's last Syria redoubt on Monday as US-backed forces battled holdout jihadists after a night of shelling and heavy air strikes. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic forces have been closing in on IS fighters holed up in a small sliver of territory in the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria since January. A cluster of rudimentary tents and vehicles is all that remains of the once-sprawling "caliphate" declared across large swaths of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.

NASA administrator Bridenstine wants everyone to know he still has faith in the SLS

Well, that certainly didn't take long! Just a day after NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine alluded to the possibility of flying the new Orion crew capsule's first experimental trip around the Moon using a pair of commercial rockets instead of NASA's own Space Launch System which is still in development, he's issued a new statement assuring everyone that the SLS is still a major part of NASA's future.In a new memo sent to all NASA employees and contractors, Bridenstine clarifies his statement and reassures everyone that NASA still very much anticipates the SLS rocket platform to be its next big thing.The original plan was for NASA to have both the Orion spacecraft and the SLS rocket system ready to test by mid 2020. The two would pair up for Orion's first test flight around the Moon with no crew on board. It's become clear in recent months that while Orion will likely meet its launch window, the SLS is falling behind.A potential solution, Bridenstine said earlier this week, would be to use a pair of commercial rockets to send Orion into Earth orbit and then around the Moon. This left some questioning what the first run of the SLS hardware might be used for once it's completed."Our goal would be to test Orion in lunar orbit in 2020 and free up the first SLS for the launch of habitation or other hardware in 2021," the administrator explained in the memo. "This would get us back on schedule for a crewed lunar orbital mission in 2022 with the added bonus of a lunar destination for our astronauts."None of this is set in stone yet, of course, and NASA says it's going to take around two weeks to study the feasibility of shifting the timeline and using commercial rockets in place of the first SLS rocket hardware. We'll know whether NASA intends to move forward with the new plan soon.

Legend: This Is Plane That Started the Stealth Revolution

Meet the F-117.

Gambino murder sparks Mafia rumor mill: ‘A couple of guys got to get killed now’

Gambino boss Frank Cali, killed Wednesday, was the first made man in the crime family to be whacked in decades.

New Zealand prepares to bury victims of terror attack on its Muslim community

The stricken Muslim community of Christchurch was preparing to bury its dead after the far right terrorist attack on two mosques which stunned New Zealand. Graves for the victims of the worst mass shooting in the country’s history were being dug on Saturday, in anticipation of their bodies being released by the authorities. Workmen using diggers carefully prepared the ground in a quiet corner of Memorial Park Cemetery, with colleagues erecting a cloth over a fence to preserve the dignity of their work on part of the site set aside for Muslim burials, the graves facing Mecca. A few hours earlier Brenton Tarrant, the Australian national accused of the rampage, appeared in court in Christchurch, where he made a white supremacist gesture with his hand while flanked by two police officers. The 28-year-old was charged with one initial count of murder but more are expected to follow and he was remanded in custody until April 5. Christchurch residents outside the Al Noor mosque, where 41 worshippers were shot dead Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters Police believe Tarrant was responsible for both the attack on the Al Noor mosque and the shooting at the Linwood Islamic Centre a short drive away. Fifty people were killed. A further 36, mostly men, are being treated for injuries at the city’s main hospital, the youngest a boy of two. Two people remain in a critical condition, including a four-year-old girl who was taken to Auckland’s Starship Hospital. Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, said yesterday the country’s gun laws would be tightened, with regulations around semi-automatic weapons, such as the ones allegedly used by Tarrant, "one of the issues" the government would consider. Minister David Parker confirmed that Semi Automatic weapons will be banned in New Zealand. pic.twitter.com/zVOAuyalZk— Kenny Williams (@Ohheykenny) March 16, 2019 Praising the bravery of two rural police officers who detained Tarrant at gunpoint as he allegedly tried to flee from the scene of the shootings, Ardern said he would have gone on target more victims. "It was absolutely was his intention to continue with his attack,” she said. Among Tarrant’s alleged victims were children, the elderly, recently arrived refugees and long settled migrants who had built a new life in a country one of them had described as "a slice of paradise". Daoud Nabi, a 71-year-old retired engineer who migrated from Afghanistan to New Zealand following the Soviet invasion, was the first to die on what Ardern would later call the country’s “darkest day.” In the grisly video allegedly filmed by Tarrant and streamed live online during the attack, the pensioner can be heard saying “hello brother” as he approached the gunman at the entrance to the Al Noor mosque. How Tarrant's hate spread across social media There were reports that Mr Nabi stepped in front of someone else to confront Tarrant, taking the bullets for himself. His son Omar, 43, said that was completely in character for his father, who had believed New Zealand to be a "slice of paradise." “Just helping people is his main thing. It makes me feel like he wanted other people to live,” he said. “To die in the masjid, in the mosque, if something like this happens the golden gates open for you.” At just three-years-old Mucad Ibrahim is thought to have been the youngest victim of the massacre. He had gone to the Al Noor mosque with his father and older brother Abdi, but was lost in the melee when the firing started. Abdi described his little brother as "energetic, playful and liked to smile and laugh a lot", confessing he felt nothing but “hatred” for his killer. Barely a year older than Mucad was Abdullahi Dirie, who was photographed cradled in a man’s arms outside the mosque after being fatally shot. His father and four siblings survived the attack. Abdullahi’s family had made their home in New Zealand after fleeing Somalia in the mid-1990s as refugees. His uncle Abdulrahman Hashi, 60, a preacher at Dar Al Hijrah Mosque in Minneapolis, said: “You cannot imagine how I feel. He was the youngest in the family. This is a problem of extremism. Some people think the Muslims in their country are part of that, but these are innocent people.” The family of Khaled Mustafa thought they had found safety in New Zealand after fleeing the bloody chaos of Syria only a few months ago. But he too became a victim of hatred when he was shot dead while praying with his two sons, Hamza, who is now missing feared dead and Zaid, 13, who is recovering from a six-hour operation on his wounds. Ali Akil, a spokesman for Syrian Solidarity New Zealand, said Mr Mustafa's wife and daughter, who were not at the mosque on Friday, were in "total shock, devastation and horror". He added: “They survived atrocities and arrived here in a safe haven only to be killed in the most atrocious way.." Among those also feared killed was a sports loving teenager described by his family as "a regular, typical, Kiwi kid." Sayyad Milne, who had dreams of playing football professionally, had gone to the Al Noor mosque with his mother Noraini. She managed to flee but Sayyad was cut down as the terrorist made his way through the building. Brydie Henry, Sayyad's half sister, said she was "devastated" by the attack. "They were good people, just living good lives. It's just awful," she added. Hosne Ara Parvin, 42, who moved to New Zealand from Bangladesh, is reported to have taken the full force of the bullets after leaping in front of the gunman to shield her husband Farid Uddin, who was in a wheelchair. Naeem Rashid, a Pakistani-born teacher, also tried to rush the gunman, but died later of his wounds. His son, 22-year-old Talha Naeem, a civil engineering graduate, was among those killed. Mr Rashid’s wife and Naeem’s mother Ambreen said: “I still can't understand or believe why and how this happened. But, I know that my husband is a hero. He always helped people and even in his last moments, he did what he could to help others." Khaja Mohiuddin, a chef, described how a fellow worshipper saved people by tackling the gunman while he and about 15 others hid at the Linwood mosque. He said: “The guy was there with us and said ‘we have to do something”, so he ran and just pulled the gun down.” One of Mr Mohiuddin's friends was killed, shot through the head. Two others are seriously injured, one with a collarbone “ripped off”, the other shot in the shoulder. New Zealand mosque massacre - In pictures While Prime Minister Ardern has vowed to change New Zealand’s gun laws, for Mr Mohiuddin it is too late. “That doesn’t return our loved ones. I know I have lost someone about whom I care, and my two other friends, I do not know for how many months they will be on a bed," he said. "It will not return their time nor my mate’s life back.," he said. Others feared killed were Mohammad Atta Alayan, Palestinian refugee who helped raise funds to build the mosque and Haroon Mahmood, a PhD student from Pakistan, who had two young children. Khaled Mustafa, Syrian refugee who fled Isil, was shot while praying. New Zealand futsal goalkeeper Atta Elayyan, 33, was also killed, as was retired engineer Ali Elmadani, who migrated from the United Arab Emirates in 1998. His daughter Maha Elmadani said: "My Dad always told us to be strong and patient so that's what we are all trying to do. For his sake. He considered New Zealand home and never thought something like this would happen here." The city of Christchurch once again bears the hallmarks of compassion that residents leaned on to help them through the dark months after the earthquake of February 2011 that claimed 185 lives. Opposite the hospital a row of traffic cones was adorned with flowers, while a nearby safety barrier was littered with bouquets. Terror in New Zealand | Read more A poster adorned with angels, butterflies and flowers read: “In loveing (sic) memory of all the beautiful Muslims who had their whole beautiful lives ripped away. We love you all and we know you are in a better place now. We will always walk with you side by side.” Lianne Dalziel, the Mayor of Christchurch said the killings were an “act of cowardice” by a “terrorist” who came to the city with “hate in his heart”. She added: “I want us not to be divided by what has happened, because hate divides. I want us to be united, and that’s what love and compassion and kindness are all about. “I believe that we can, because of our previous experience, recover from this. We can recover in a way that we will be stronger than we were before.” New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said this morning that the death toll has risen to 50 after investigators found another body at one of the mosques.  "Security around mosques will continue until Police believe there is no threat," he said. Two other people, a man and a woman, arrested soon after the shootings were not linked to the gunman. The woman had been released without charge, the man has been charged with firearm offences.    A list of those killed in the shootings had now been compiled and families had been advised. Mr Bush said the bodies have not yet been returned to the families as police need to determine the cause of death for each one.   "We have been working pathologist and coroners, and the chief coroner, on that and we have to be clear on cause of death and the identity before we can do that. "We are so aware of the cultural and religious needs so we are doing that as quickly and sensitively as possible," Mr Bush added. The Police chief also said that it was "obvious" that a modified weapon had been used.

UK's Labour will force confidence motion if May's deal fails: Corbyn

Britain's opposition Labour Party would force a confidence vote in Theresa May's government if the prime minister loses another vote on her Brexit withdrawal deal, leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday. May is expected to put her divorce deal with the European Union before parliament for a third time this week, after lawmakers crushed it twice before. "We've had one confidence vote already," Corbyn told Sky News.

The Latest: Downstream Missouri River prepares for flooding

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):