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• U.S.-backed forces capture Syria suspects tied to American deaths: sources

  The bombing killed Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan Farmer, Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician Shannon Kent and Scott Wirtz from the Defense Intelligence Agency. It also killed Ghadir Taher, a naturalized U.S. citizen working as a civilian interpreter for a U.S. contractor. "The investigation is ongoing as are efforts to bring all of those terrorists responsible to justice." The attack was the worst single incident involving U.S. personnel in Syria since they deployed on the ground there in 2015 and took place at a cafe in the town of Manbij, which was controlled by a militia allied to U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

  
  

• USC to deny students connected to cheating scheme class registration, transcripts as their status is frozen

  USC says it won't let students currently at the school who may be connected to the nation's college admissions bribery scandal to register for class.

  
  

• New Zealand holds first funerals for victims of Christchurch massacre

  A father and son who fled the civil war in Syria for "the safest country in the world" were buried before hundreds of mourners on Wednesday. The funerals of Khalid Mustafa, 44, and Hamza Mustafa, 15, came five days after a white supremacist methodically gunned down 50 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch - a massacre that he broadcast live on Facebook. Hamza’s high school principal described the student as compassionate and hardworking, and said he was an excellent horse rider who aspired to be a veterinarian. Those present included Hamza’s younger brother, 13-year-old Zaed, who was wounded in an arm and a leg during the attack. The boy tried to stand during the ceremony but had to sit back in his wheelchair, one mourner said. "We tried to not shake his hand, and not touch his hand or his foot, but he refused, he wanted to shake everybody’s hand, he wanted to show everyone that he appreciated them. And that’s amazing," said Jamil El-Biza, who travelled from Australia to attend the funeral. Female mourners attend the funeral of two victims of the Christchurch terrorist attack at Memorial Park Cemetery Credit: Getty The Mustafas had moved to New Zealand last year, after spending six years as refugees in Jordan. Mustafa’s wife, Salwa, told Radio New Zealand that when the family asked about New Zealand they were told "it’s the safest country in the world, the most wonderful country you can go ... you will start a very wonderful life there." She added, "But it wasn’t." Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the family should have been safe. "I cannot tell you how gutting it is to know that a family came here for safety and for refuge," she said. Families of those killed had been anxiously awaiting word on when they could bury their loved ones. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police have now formally identified and released the remains of 21 of those killed. Islamic tradition calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible. The burials began soon after Ms Ardern renewed her call for people to speak of the victims rather than the man who killed them. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern receives a hug from a student during her visit to Cashmere High School which lost two students during a mass shooting  Also on Wednesday, a man accused of sharing video footage of Friday’s massacre was jailed by a judge until his next court appearance in mid-April. And Mr Bush said he believes police officers stopped the gunman on his way to a third attack. Ms Ardern’s plea against giving the accused gunman notoriety followed his move to represent himself in court, raising concerns he would attempt to use the trial as a platform for airing his racist views. During a visit on Wednesday to the high school Hamza and another victim attended, Ms Ardern revisited that thought and asked students not to say the attacker’s name or dwell on him. "Look after one another, but also let New Zealand be a place where there is no tolerance for racism," she told students at Cashmere High School. "That’s something we can all do." Another Cashmere student, 14-year-old Sayyad Milne, also died in the attack. About 30 people wounded in the attacks remained in hospital as of Tuesday evening. About 10 of them were in critical condition, including a four-year-old girl. Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian man, has been charged with murder and is next scheduled to appear in court on April 5. Police have said they are certain Tarrant was the only gunman but are still investigating whether he had support from others. Ardern previously has said reforms of New Zealand’s gun laws would be announced next week and she said an inquiry would be convened to look into the intelligence and security services’ failures to detect the risk from the attacker or his plans. New Zealand’s international spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau, confirmed it had not received any relevant information or intelligence before the shootings. Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly, of Sydney, travelled to Christchurch to attend or lead some of the funerals. Through a translator, he said he felt compelled to support the grieving. A nationwide lockdown on mosques was imposed until Monday, which Hilaly said had upset Muslims whom he had visited in Auckland. Police continue to guard mosques across the country. Philip Arps, 44, appeared in a Christchurch court on Wednesday on two charges of distributing the killer’s livestream video of the attack on the Al Noor mosque, the first mosque that was attacked, a violation of the country’s objectionable publications law. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Arps, heavily tattooed and dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, hasn’t entered a plea. He remained expressionless during the hearing, his hands clasped behind his back. Judge Stephen O’Driscoll denied him bail. Charging documents accuse Arps of distributing the video on Saturday, one day after the massacre. Bush said they believe they know where the gunman was going for a third attack when officers rammed his car off the road but won’t say more because it’s an active investigation. In a 74-page manifesto he released before the attack, Tarrant said he was going to attack two mosques in Christchurch and then one in the town of Ashburton if he made it that far.

  
  

• 88 Pounds of Plastic Were Found Inside a Dead Whale in the Philippines

  A whale that washed ashore in a coastal Philippines province was revealed to have 88 pounds of plastic trash inside its body, New York Times reports.

  
  

• Parts of US Midwest deluged in historic deadly floods

  The US Midwest struggled Monday with historic flooding that claimed at least three lives, displaced residents and damaged hundreds of homes and businesses. Swollen waters hit much of Nebraska, as well as parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, after a major storm last week dumped snow and rain, even as melting snow was already raising the levels of area waterways. Neighboring states could also be affected as floodwaters drain, officials said.

  
  

• The Latest: Warren supports elimination of electoral college

  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Latest on Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren (all times local):

  
  

• What Happens Next in Brexit? Two Cliff-Edges and a Summit

  (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. 

  
  

• California poppies: City declares public safety crisis after 'super bloom apocalypse'

  Officials in the California city of Lake Elisnore have previously had large crowds come and see the wildflowers that burst into a vibrant blaze of gorgeous colour as spring gets underway. “The city has expended all available resources to address the #SuperBloom,” they wrote on the the city’s Instagram page. Residents have complained about traffic jams, as visitors have arrived as early as 5.30am to visit the wildflowers, whose burst of growth was triggered by recent record-breaking rainfall.

  
  

• View Every Angle of the 2019 Volvo XC40 T4 in Photos

  
  

• Democrat O'Rourke presidential bid draws $6.1 million in first 24 hours

  Beto O'Rourke raised more than $6.1 million within 24 hours of announcing his candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, his campaign said on Monday, highlighting his fundraising prowess in a crowded field. The former three-term Texas congressman's haul put him at the top of a Democratic pack of more than a dozen candidates so far including Bernie Sanders, the independent U.S. senator who sought the party's nomination in 2016. Sanders raised $5.9 million in the first 24 hours of his 2020 campaign.

  
  

• I got into 39 colleges without cheating: What applying to schools looks like in 2019

  Jordan Nixon got into 39 colleges without any celebrity parents or $500,000 bribes. But that doesn't mean it wasn't "stressful to say the least."

  
  

• Stop Politicizing the Christchurch Killings

  As the families of the 50 Muslims gunned down at two New Zealand Mosques on Friday mourned, Senator Fraser Anning of Queensland put out a widely condemned statement that effectively blamed the victims:> I don’t think I have ever seen a statement like this from an elected official after a terrorist attack: pic.twitter.com/83RCLcM7Mg> > -- Seema (@LATSeema) March 15, 2019Later, as Anning was being interviewed by media, a teenage boy smashed an egg on his head. Anning responded by throwing punches at the young man.All this was caught on camera, of course, much as the massacre itself had been livestreamed on Facebook. Media and social media have undoubtedly exacerbated this tragedy. National Review’s Theodore Kupfer has noted the fascistic murderer’s “sh**posting” (online trolling which blurs the line between jokes about violence and actual violence) and his sadistic sense of irony, suggesting that he “wanted to deepen existing conflicts in a way that will prompt a cycle of overreach and radicalization.”If that was his wish, some people seem to be granting it.Whatever one thinks about the political “lessons to be learned” from this incident — guns, immigration, technology — the first response should surely be to console the grieving and to bury the dead. Instead, politicians and journalists have been scrambling to win another battle in the culture wars.Senator Anning tried to score points for his radical agenda with a heartless, knee-jerk response. In the U.K., Guardian journalist Nesrine Malik got to work on Twitter, juxtaposing commentators’ past moderate criticisms of Islam with their statements of sympathy for the Christchurch victims, arguing that they were in some way to blame for what happened. In the U.S., Chelsea Clinton was confronted by a protester who shouted that her criticisms of Representative Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic comments were to blame for the attacks. Everywhere, the politically active seemed to be losing their minds.It was hardly surprising, then, when a teenager soon joined in. You could not make this up: Eggboy was the top trending topic on Twitter on Saturday. His smashing an egg against Anning’s head while filming it for the purposes of social media was an expression of adolescent rage — inappropriate, yes but more excusable than Anning’s response. It was all a perfect microcosm of the wider cultural response to the shooting.Readers may recall Heath Ledger’s terrifying Joker in The Dark Knight. As well as a sadistic sense of humor and bloodlust, he had a disturbingly accurate understanding of human psychology. He knew how to bring out the absolute worst in people, to create chaos and sow hatred. In doing so he would rob people not only of their lives, but of their humanity.To be clear, it would be a grave mistake to attribute either cunning or sophistication to the bigoted thug behind the New Zealand attacks. But if it took neither cunning nor sophistication to produce such a shabby response from our politicians and pundits, what does that say about them?Before it became unfashionable, people used to offer prayers in times of tragedy. Whether or not they meant the gesture literally, it signaled a somber thoughtfulness and a hope for the future that are both sorely needed now. Of course, prayer won’t bring back the dead, it is no substitute for policy, and when used as a type of virtue signaling it can be irritating. But in the immediate aftermath of violence, it can — if nothing else — serve to remind us of a civilizing force.That is especially true in this case, where the slaughtered themselves were murdered while at prayer, cut down in the middle of a sacred communal ritual by an alienated, nihilistic, savage gunman. In the immediate aftermath of such horror, the least we can do is honor their memory.

  
  

• Man suspected of killing Gambino crime boss appears in court with 'MAGA forever' and 'QAnon' on his hand

  The man charged with killing the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family wrote pro-Donald Trump slogans on his hand and flashed them to journalists before a court hearing Monday. Anthony Comello, 24, was arrested Saturday in New Jersey in connection with the death of Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali last week in front of his Staten Island home. While waiting for a court hearing to begin in Toms River, New Jersey, in which he agreed to be extradited to New York, Comello held up his left hand. On it were scrawled pro-Trump slogans including "MAGA Forever," an abbreviation of Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again." It also read "United We Stand MAGA" and "Patriots In Charge." In the center of his palm he had drawn a large circle. It was not immediately clear why he had done so. Comello's lawyer, Brian Neary, would not discuss the writing on his client's hand, nor would he say whether Comello maintains his innocence. Asked by reporters after the hearing what was on Comello's hand, Neary replied, "Handcuffs." Anthony Comello displays 'MAGA forever' and 'QAnon', a Trump-related conspiracy theory Credit: Seth Wenig/ AP He referred all other questions to Comello's Manhattan lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, who said in an emailed statement his client has been placed in protective custody due to "serious threats" that had been made against him, but gave no details of them. Ocean County officials could not immediately be reached after hours on Monday. "Mr Comello's family and friends simply cannot believe what they have been told," Gottlieb said. "There is something very wrong here and we will get to the truth about what happened as quickly as possible." The statement did not address the writing on Comello's hand, and a lawyer from Gottlieb's firm declined to comment further Monday evening. Comello sat with a slight smile in the jury box of the courtroom Monday afternoon as dozens of reporters and photographers filed into the room. When they were in place, Comello held up his left hand to display the writings as the click and whirr of camera lenses filled the room with sound. During the hearing, Comello did not speak other than to say, "Yes, sir" to the judge to respond to several procedural questions. Frank Cali in February 7, 2008, after his arrest in Italy Credit: AFP Cali, 53, was shot to death last Wednesday by a gunman who may have crashed his truck into Cali's car to lure him outside. Police said Cali was shot 10 times. Federal prosecutors referred to Cali in court filings in 2014 as the underboss of the Mafia's Gambino family, once one of the country's most powerful crime organisations. News accounts since 2015 said Cali had ascended to the top spot, though he was never charged with leading the gang. His only mob-related conviction came a decade ago, when he was sentenced to 16 months in prison in an extortion scheme involving a failed attempt to build a NASCAR track on Staten Island. He was released in 2009 and hasn't been in legal trouble since then. Police have not yet said whether they believe Cali's murder was a mob hit or whether he was killed for some other motive. The last Mafia boss to be rubbed out in New York City was Gambino don "Big Paul" Castellano, who was assassinated in 1985.

  
  

• Dutch police arrest suspect after three shot dead on tram

  Dutch police on Monday arrested a Turkish-born suspect over a shooting on a tram in Utrecht that left three people dead in what officials said was a possible terror attack. Police had earlier launched a huge manhunt for Gokmen Tanis, 37, issuing a picture of the suspected gunman and warning the public not to approach him following the attack, in which five other people were wounded. Mosques and schools were closed across the Netherlands' fourth-largest city following the bloodshed, before heavily armed officers surrounded a building and arrested him.

  
  

• The Latest: Russia defense minister meets with Syria's Assad

  BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):

  
  

• Three dead, one missing in devastating floods across U.S. Midwest

  As floodwaters began to recede in much of the area inundated by the aftermath of a storm dubbed a "bomb cyclone," Nebraska officials were taking in the damage in a state where 64 of the 93 counties have declared emergencies. "This is clearly the most widespread disaster we have had in our state's history," in terms of sheer size, Governor Pete Ricketts told reporters on an afternoon briefing call. State officials said on the call that 290 people had been rescued by the Nebraska State Patrol, National Guard troops, and urban search and rescue teams.

  
  

• Never-Trumpers assess his mental health: 'His condition is getting worse'

  The president's 29-tweet Sunday raises eyebrows.

  
  

• 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.

  
  

• Murdoch's new Fox debuts on Nasdaq, names ex-Speaker Paul Ryan to board

  Fox Corp debuted on the Nasdaq on Tuesday, marking a new phase for billionaire Rupert Murdoch's media business after the $71 billion sale of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's film and television assets to Walt Disney Co. The company also appointed former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of Formula One Group Chase Carey and two others to its board. Carey was president and chief operating officer at Twenty-First Century Fox from 2009 to 2015. The newly spun-off media company, which will house assets including Fox News Channel and Fox Broadcast Network, is expected to bring in around $10 billion in annual revenue.

  
  

• Reagan's daughter says he'd be ‘heartbroken’ over state of the country and GOP

  “Through Her Eyes” is a weekly half-hour show hosted by human rights activist Zainab Salbi that explores contemporary issues from a female perspective. An author and the daughter of the late President Ronald Reagan, Patti Davis is not one to mince words — especially when it comes to the legacy of her father and the political party that reveres him. “How about the crickets when Trump keeps assaulting the constitution,” she continued.

  
  

• Jump-seat pilot reportedly saved Boeing Max jet one day before Lion Air crash

  Day before a Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed off of Indonesia last year, killing all 189 people aboard, pilots struggled for control of the same aircraft.

  
  

• Outrage over Pope's decision to reject resignation of archbishop convicted of protecting predator priest

  Catholic campaigners condemned as “shocking” a decision by Pope Francis not to accept the resignation of a French archbishop who was given a suspended prison sentence this month for failing to report the sexual abuse of boy scouts by a known predatory priest.   Tuesday's surprise decision came just a month after the Vatican convened an unprecedented conference of cardinals in which it pledged to get tough on priests who abuse children and the bishops who cover up for them. French cardinal Philippe Barbarin travelled to Rome on Monday and offered his resignation to Pope Francis. But on Tuesday the Vatican announced that the Argentinian pontiff had decided to reject the resignation. While the Vatican offered no explanation, it seems likely that the Pope wants to wait to see the outcome of an appeal that the 68-year-old archbishop intends to launch against his six-month sentence. But the decision was condemned by groups representing survivors of clerical sex abuse from around the world. Pope Francis receives Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, at the Vatican Credit: Reuters “I’m stunned by this decision. It is shocking and depressing,” Anne Barrett Doyle, the head of the US-based organisation Bishop Accountability, told The Telegraph. “It reveals the Pope’s very narrow concept of accountability. It is a reminder to bishops that they have nothing to fear from this Pope. It is a profound and disastrous misreading of what is required to address this crisis.” Just last month, during a four-day conference at the Vatican attended by bishops and archbishops from around the world, the Pope said that “no abuse must ever be covered up, as has happened in the past". In a statement, Barbarin, the most senior French Catholic to have been swept up in the Church’s sex abuse scandal, said: “On Monday I handed over my mission to the Holy Father. He spoke of the presumption of innocence and did not accept this resignation." Barbarin said that he would step back from his role as archbishop of Lyon "for a little while", allowing his deputy to stand in for him. Even the Bishops' Conference of France – the country’s most senior Catholic body - said it was surprised by the decision, which it described as "unheard of". Barbarin was convicted earlier this month of failing to act against Bernard Preynat, a priest who has confessed to abusing boy scouts in the 1980s and 1990s. Preynat is expected to be put on trial later this year. Barbarin became archbishop of Lyon in 2002 and learned of Preynat’s abuse of boys but let him remain in ministry until 2015, said Bishop Accountability. French victims of clerical abuse also reacted with outrage to the papal decision. "I think that man (the Pope) is going to manage to kill off the church. It's a mistake too many,” said Francois Devaux, a co-founder of a victims' organisation. Faith in the Catholic Church has plunged as a result of its failure over two decades to address sex abuse perpetrated by clergy. Last week George Pell, the Australian cardinal who was once the third most powerful figure in the Vatican, was sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of abusing two altar boys in Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s. He also intends to appeal and remains a cardinal, despite being behind bars. Campaign groups were profoundly disappointed when last month’s Vatican conference on combating sexual abuse failed to come up with any new, concrete initiatives to address the crisis.

  
  

• Danish telecom group shuns China's Huawei for 5G rollout

  Denmark's biggest telecom group TDC has chosen Swedish firm Ericsson over existing provider Huawei to roll out its ultra-fast 5G mobile network across the country, as a debate rages over security concerns surrounding the Chinese giant. The US and several other Western nations have shut Huawei out of tenders for the development of fifth-generation, or 5G, networks, because of the company's close ties to the Chinese government. "TDC has chosen Ericsson to build and deploy its 5G network," TDC CEO Allison Kirkby said in a statement released on Monday night.

  
  

• View Photos of the 2019 BMW X7

  
  

• Colleges weigh fate of students with tainted applications

  BOSTON (AP) — In the wake of a massive college bribery scheme, the schools caught in the middle have been left facing a thorny question: What to do about the students who may have been admitted through fraud?

  
  

• Trump's likely pick for Pentagon job makes 'trains run on time.' Can he do much more?

  Some observers credit Shanahan’s business experience as an asset in the Pentagon.

  
  

• Flooding will continue into next week in storm-ravaged Midwest

  Floods driven by rain and melting snow have affected several states, with four people killed and one missing after storms.

  
  

• Brotherly love at Reliance? India's Mukesh Ambani provides 'support' to brother Anil as debt paid off

  India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, who controls oil-to-telecoms powerhouse Reliance Industries that is now worth many times the troubled business group run by his younger brother Anil, appears to have offered some kind of support to ensure Anil paid off a 5.5 billion rupees ($80 million) debt. If Anil didn't pay the debt, then he had been threatened by India's Supreme Court with a prison term. The nature of the backing and how it was delivered is unclear, but in a statement Anil Ambani thanked his billionaire brother "for standing by me during these trying times, and demonstrating the importance of staying true to our strong family values by extending this timely support".

  
  

• Fox News hires Donna Brazile as political contributor

  NEW YORK (AP) — Former Democratic National Committee chief Donna Brazile, who was fired by CNN for tipping off the Hillary Clinton campaign about debate topics in 2016, has joined Fox News Channel as a political commentator.

  
  

• Biggest obstacle to passage of Green New Deal? Democratic lawmakers

  Democrats agree that climate change needs to be addressed. Pronto. But they're divided on if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' Green New Deal is the answer.

  
  

• Millennials more stressed than the average person: report

  A new study shows many millennial stressors center around smartphones. Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer reacts to the generation's 'participation trophy mentality.'

  
  

• Danish MP told her baby not welcome in parliament

  A Danish MP said on Tuesday she was ordered to remove her infant daughter from parliament's chamber, sparking surprise in a country often hailed as a pioneer in women's rights. "You are not welcome with your baby in the parliament's chamber," speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, an outspoken former leader of the far-right Danish People's Party, allegedly told MP Mette Abildgaard. "I didn't ask for permission to bring her since I had previously seen another colleague bring a child into the chamber without any problems," Ms Abildgaard, whose Conservative party is part of the ruling centre-right coalition, wrote on Facebook. Ms Abildgaard, who is in her 30s, said she found herself in an exceptional situation with her five-month-old daughter, and had never brought her into the chamber before. But she said the infant was "in a good mood and had a pacifier in her mouth." Mette Abildgaard responded to the incident on Facebook Ms Kjaersgaard passed the message to an assistant, who then asked Ms Abildgaard to remove the baby from the room. Ms Abildgaard handed the child to an assistant and returned to the chamber to vote. "MPs should be in the chamber, not babies or children," insisted Ms Kjaersgaard when questioned by news agency Ritzau. She said clear rules would be issued on the subject. The Scandinavian country is often held up as a champion of gender equality and women's rights, and as a child and family-centred nation with generous parental leave. Ms Abildgaard noted that she was entitled to a year's maternity leave with full pay, but that she had chosen to return to work. Her Facebook post garnered more than 600 comments within the space of a few hours. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds her baby after speaking at the UN General Assembly Credit: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri "A chamber that represents mothers, fathers and babies ought to be open to mothers, fathers and babies," one person wrote. In 2016, an Icelandic lawmaker made headlines after breastfeeding her infant while speaking at the podium in parliament. And in September, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern became a symbol for working mothers when she brought her baby to the UN General Assembly in New York.

  
  

• Christchurch Muslims protected as they pray following mass haka

  Muslims praying in front of the one of the Christchurch mosques attacked by a white supremacist were protected on Wednesday evening by locals, moments after hundreds performed a mass haka. As men, women and children prayed and prostrated, dozens of locals silently stood behind them, their arms interlinked. Moments earlier a crowd of hundreds thumped their chests, stomped their feet and stuck out their tongues for a haka dance, their Maori cries echoing across the park towards the bloodstained mosque.

  
  

• Businessman pleads not guilty in slaying of brother's family

  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey businessman accused of killing his brother, his brother's wife and two children pleaded not guilty Monday to felony murder and other charges, the same day his defense lawyers withdrew from the case due to recently discovered conflicts of interest.

  
  

• Trump is 'looking into' Facebook 'bias' as aide melts down over suspension

  A Facebook spokesperson told Yahoo News that a system intended to stop bots had temporarily halted Dan Scavino’s ability to post comments, and that the company had apologized and restored his account.

  
  

• Pence arrives in Nebraska as U.S. Midwest reels from historic floods

  The floodwaters have inundated a large swath of farm states Iowa and Nebraska along the Missouri River, North America's longest river, prompting half of Iowa's 99 counties to declare states of emergency."Touched down in Omaha, Nebraska to survey flood damage & thank volunteers & emergency personnel," Pence said on Twitter, in a post that included photos of him meeting with the governors of both states and lawmakers. Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin have all declared states of emergency in the floods, which stem from a powerful winter hurricane known as a "bomb cyclone" that slammed into the U.S. Farm Belt last week, killing untold numbers of livestock, destroying grains and soybeans in storage, and cutting off access to farms because of road and rail damage. The latest confirmed death was identified by the sheriff in Fremont County, Iowa, as 55-year-old Aleido Rojas Galan, who was pulled from floodwaters along with another man on Friday and later succumbed to injuries.

  
  

• Novartis Probe Finds No Trace of Payoffs to Greek Officials

  Greece is investigating reports of payoffs by Novartis in a high-profile case that implicates two of the country’s former prime ministers and a European Union commissioner. Novartis didn’t receive preferential pricing from the Greek state and to date has been unable to identify any “inappropriate payments” to government officials, a local spokesperson said in an email.

  
  

• The Latest: CEO says Boeing working to ensure 737s are safe

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Ethiopian Airlines crash (all times local):

  
  

• Russia decides to deploy nuclear-capable strategic bombers to Crimea: RIA

  Russia has decided to deploy nuclear-capable Tupolev Tu-22M3 strategic bombers to the Crimean peninsula in response to the U.S. rolling out missile defense systems in Romania, the RIA news agency cited a senior Russian lawmaker as saying on Monday. Russia plans to station the bombers at the Gvardeyskoye air base in Crimea, Viktor Bondarev, head of the upper house of parliament's defense and security committee, was quoted as saying. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and President Vladimir Putin flew into the Black Sea peninsula on Monday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the annexation.

  
  

• Every New Compact Crossover and SUV Ranked from Worst to Best

  
  

• Here is what happens when you try to open a plane door mid-flight

  The possibility of opening a plane door depends on the air pressure as the plane's elevation changes.

  
  

• NZ premier Ardern vows mosque gunman will face 'full force of law'

  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised on Tuesday that the man responsible for last week's deadly mosque massacres would face "the full force of the law", as she vowed never to utter his name. "He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety -- that is why you will never hear me mention his name," Ardern said in an emotional address to a special meeting of parliament, which she opened with the Arabic greeting "as salaam aleikum" -- 'peace be upon you'. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, was captured by police and has been charged with one count of murder, but Ardern assured parliament other charges would follow.

  
  

• Pope nixes French cardinal resignation after cover-up

  VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has declined to accept the resignation of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin as archbishop of Lyon after he was convicted of failing to report a known predator priest to police, the Vatican said Tuesday.

  
  

• #Unfiltered week of 3/18: Paris Hilton throws star-studded birthday

  Stars were far from shy this week on Instagram

  
  

• 'I am your mother now': New Zealand mosque shootings hit tight-knit Bangladesh community hard

  Waiting to meet her was Farid, the man she would marry in a few hours, as their families had agreed. A quarter of a century later, the life they had built together was torn apart when a gunman walked into the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch and began firing on worshippers at Friday prayers. Husna encountered the gunman on his way out of the mosque.

  
  

• Biden Has Started Telling Supporters He Plans to Run for President, Source Says

  Former Vice President Joe Biden has told some supporters that he’s making plans to jump into the race, joining a diverse field of candidates vying to challenge President Donald Trump, a person familiar with the conversations said. Biden, 76, has led in early polls of primary voters, and could capture significant support from major Democratic donors, many of whom have held off from backing other candidates while awaiting his decision. A spokesman for Biden, Bill Russo, declined to comment.

  
  

• New British Airways business class seat features door and lie-flat beds

  British Airways has pulled back the curtain on its new business class seat which features a sliding door for privacy, flat-bed seats, vanity and increased storage space. 

  
  

• Trump gets a U.S. Supreme Court victory on immigration detention

  The Supreme Court on Tuesday endorsed the U.S. government's authority to detain immigrants awaiting deportation anytime - potentially even years - after they have completed prison terms for criminal convictions, handing President Donald Trump a victory as he pursues hardline immigration policies. The court ruled 5-4 along ideological lines, with its conservative justices in the majority and its liberal justices dissenting, that federal authorities could place such immigrants into indefinite detention anytime without the possibility of bail, not just immediately after they finish prison sentences. The ruling, authored by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, left open the possibility that some immigrants could challenge their detention.

  
  

• 'Generation Nazarbayev' jokes, hopes after Kazakh leader resigns

  People under 30 in Kazakhstan have only known one leader -- Nursultan Nazarbayev, who announced his resignation this week after shepherding the country from the Soviet era. "The word 'Nazarbayev' means something like the word 'parent'," said 18-year-old film student Madi Makanov, who lives in the country's largest city Almaty. Kazakhstan has a young population, with around 40 percent of people under 24, according to estimates based on UN figures.

  
  

• Surveillance Appears to Show Person Carrying Rifle Wandering California Elementary School

  Investigators say a northern California elementary school staff member called police after watching surveillance footage of an armed person scoping out the school.