Top News Stories for Today – Mar 18, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – Mar 18, 2019
Russia marks 5th anniversary of Crimea annexation
Russia on Monday marked the fifth anniversary of its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, a move condemned by Kiev and its Western allies but celebrated by most Russians. President Vladimir Putin was to take part in celebrations in the Black Sea peninsula, launching a power station and meeting members of the public, the Kremlin said.
Moscow took over Crimea in March 2014 after months of tensions with Kiev following the ouster of a pro-Russian leader. The Voice of America
New Zealand to unveil new gun law
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has said she will announce detailed gun law reforms within days, after an attack on two mosques left 50 people dead. Ardern said her cabinet had backed gun law changes “in principle”. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a self-described white supremacist, has been charged with murder. Police say the killer used military-style assault weapons modified to make them more deadly for the attack – all of which is legal under current laws. No specific details were given by the prime minister at her press conference on Monday, but she said they would made clear soon.
“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,” she said. Ardern was appearing alongside her coalition partner and Deputy PM Winston Peters, who has previously opposed changes. BBC
Gunman opens fire inside Dutch tram
A gunman has opened fire inside a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht. Several people have been injured and one is feared to have died in the shooting at about 10:45 local time (09:45 GMT) near the 24 Oktoberplein junction, reports say.
Police say the gunman is still at large. The area has been cordoned off, trams stopped and schools have been asked to keep their doors closed. Counter-terror police reportedly say it has all the marks of a terror attack. The Dutch anti-terrorism co-ordinator is in touch with local authorities and says the threat level has been temporarily raised to its highest point in Utrecht. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was “deeply concerned” and cancelled his weekly coalition talks. BBC
Beto O’Rourke campaign raises $6.1 in 24 hours
Former congressman Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign says it raised $6.1 million in its first 24 hours, more than any other 2020 Democratic candidate has reported. O’Rourke’s 24 hour total surpasses that of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who reported having raised $5.9 million in the first 24 hours of his campaign. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) reported $1.5 million raised in her campaign’s first day.
O’Rourke, who previously broke fundraising records during his 2018 Senate campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said in a statement that “Americans across this country came together to prove that it is possible to run a true grassroots campaign for president.” The New York Times, The Washington Post via The Week
US Transportation Department investigates Boeing
Federal prosecutors and Department of Transportation officials are investigating the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes, according to people familiar with the matter, unusual inquiries that come amid probes of regulators’ safety approvals of the new plane.
The probe is looking at an anti-stall safety system suspected of playing a role in the October crash of Lion Air Flight 610, which killed 189 people. Investigators are working to determine if this same system was behind last week’s crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa; that accident left 157 people dead. The Wall Street Journal
Cyclone kills more than 150 in Africa
More than 150 people were killed and hundreds more were missing Sunday after Cyclone Idai swept through southeastern Africa, with the Mozambican city of Beira hardest hit. A team of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) aid workers reached the devastated city Sunday to assess the situation, the organization said in a statement Monday. Jamie LeSueur, who is leading the team said after an aerial assessment that “the situation is terrible. The scale of devastation is enormous. It seems that 90 per cent of the area is completely destroyed.”
The United Nations estimates more than 1.5 million people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe were affected by the storm. Tens of thousands have been cut off from roads and telephones in mainly poor, rural areas. The cyclone made landfall Thursday near the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, with winds of nearly 200 kph. The storm then moved west into Malawi and Zimbabwe. The Voice of America