Top Stories Today – April 15, 2019
Top Stories Today – April 15, 2019
Ivanka Trump honors Ethiopian airline victims
Ivanka Trump met with religious leaders Monday in Addis Ababa at Holy Trinity Cathedral, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church. The U.S. president’s daughter also laid a wreath at the cathedral to honor the victims of last month’s Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board.
Trump arrived in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Sunday for a summit on African women’s economic inclusion and empowerment. Trump, who is a senior advisor to her father, visited a coffee shop and textile company in the capital Sunday. She is in the East African country to promote a $50 million initiative enacted by her father in February that is aimed at encouraging women’s employment in developing countries. The Voice of America
Police working to safeguard Omar after Trump tweet
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that the US Capitol Police and the House sergeant-at-arms “are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Congresswoman [Ilhan] Omar, her family and her staff” after a tweet by President Donald Trump.
Trump on Friday shared an edited video of Omar superimposed over images of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “We will never forget,” the president wrote on Twitter. Trump’s tweet followed remarks by the Minnesota Democrat that seemed to play down the attack. Republicans and conservatives commentators lashed out at Omar over the incident. Politico
Trump campaign raises $30 million in first quarter
President Donald Trump’s campaign raked in $30 million in the first quarter of 2019 and had more than $40 million cash on hand, far outpacing the field of Democratic candidates heading into the 2020 race, according to the campaign. Combined with $46 million raised by the Republican National Committee, the full Trump re-election effort is expected to have a grand total of $82 million in the bank, with the campaign doubling what it had at the end of last year.
Trump’s total is more than the top two Democratic candidates combined — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who pulled in $18.2 million for the quarter and California Sen. Kamala Harris, who took in $12 million. NBC News
Tiger Woods wins first major championship since 2008
Tiger Woods won his fifth green jacket on Sunday, capturing the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Woods emerged from an incredibly close field, beating three other players — Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffle, and Brooks Koepka — by just one stroke. Four more players finished two strikes behind.
The win serves as the culmination of Woods’ comeback tour after more than a decade marred by off-the-course scandals and injury. It is his 15th major championship victory in a storied career, but just his first since 2008. Woods now trails only Jack Nicklaus, who has six green jackets, in careers Masters wins. CBS Sports, ESPN via The Week
Japan begins removing fuel at Fukushima nuclear plant
The operator of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant began removing fuel rods Monday from one of three reactors that melted down in 2011. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said workers started removing the first of the used and unused fuel units from a cooling pool at reactor 3.
The operation was more than four years behind schedule, and had a short further delay Monday afternoon, after a problem with the equipment, but resumed after the mishap was addressed. TEPCO has estimated that it will take up to two years to remove 566 of nuclear fuel rods from that reactor. The work is being managed remotely from a control room about 500 meters away, because of high radiation level still present inside the building of Unit 3. The Voice of America
Buttigieg announces 2020 Presidential run
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has become the latest Democrat to formally enter the crowded field of presidential candidates seeking to unseat Donald Trump in the 2020 election. The 37-year-old, who announced a presidential exploratory committee in January, made it official at a rally in South Bend on Sunday.
The Harvard and Oxford graduate and Afghanistan war veteran has gone from being virtually unknown on the national political landscape to surging in recent polls, placing third behind behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The Voice of America