Japanese thank departing emperor whose era marked shift from 1980s boom

More than anything, people said they hoped peace would define the reign of Crown Prince Naruhito, who will become emperor on Wednesday, ushering in the Reiwa era. "Heisei had a lot of disasters and the economy stagnated," 47-year-old Kaori Hisatomi said in the capital Tokyo, where ceremonies were underway at the Imperial Palace. Now it's more, 'What can I do to survive?'" Japan is marking the transition to 59-year-old Naruhito, who will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne on Wednesday, with an unprecedented 10-day holiday.

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Follower of Sri Lanka bomber sought India attack: police

An alleged follower of Sri Lankan bombing leader Zahran Hashim is to appear in a southern Indian court Tuesday after admitting he wanted to carry out an attack in India's Kerala, investigators said. The accused, identified as Riyas A, alias Riyas Aboobacker, 29, was arrested Monday by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), which handles counter-terrorism cases. During interrogation, he allegedly "disclosed that he has been following speeches/videos of Zahran Hashim of Sri Lanka for more than a year", an NIA statement said.

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U.K. Conservatives Still Seeking Brexit Deal Before EU Election

Theresa May is still pursuing a Brexit deal that would get the U.K. out of the European Union before elections next month. With negotiations with the opposition Labour Party set to continue next week, there’s still time for Parliament to settle on a deal before the May 23 vote, Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis said in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.

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AJ Freund death: Parents of 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy appear in court Monday

The parents of slain 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy A.J. Freund appeared in court for a status hearing Monday morning.

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Trump flips on Fox News analyst after he calls president's actions 'criminal'

Dershowitz said on Fox News Saturday that he didn’t agree with Napolitano on whether Trump obstructed justice by interfering with the special counsel’s investigation.

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Sri Lanka suspends police chief over Easter attacks

Sri Lanka's president suspended the chief of police on Monday and appointed a new defence secretary in a shake-up of the shell-shocked country's security services following the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Intelligence warnings from abroad alerting to possible attacks by Islamist extremists were ignored ahead of the multiple bombings of churches and upscale hotels on April 21 that killed 253 people and injured nearly 500. Chief of police Pujith Jayasundara had refused to quit to clear the way for a shake-up of the 85,000-strong force, prompting President Maithripala Sirisena to suspend him on Monday.

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Funeral service for San Diego synagogue victim who shielded rabbi held Monday, and more updates

Lori Gilbert-Kaye was killed Saturday at a shooting at Chabad of Poway near San Diego. Her funeral was held Monday. Here's what you need to know.

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Officials declare measles outbreak in Pacific Northwest over

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A measles outbreak that sickened more than 70 people, mostly children, in the Pacific Northwest is finally over even as the total number of cases nationwide continues to spike to near-record levels , officials said Monday.

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US stocks tread water ahead of more earnings, Fed

Wall Street was flat but holding near record levels just after the open on Monday as investors awaited a fresh set of corporate earnings during week loaded with economic data. Markets were also absorbing an upbeat report on consumer spending for March, which showed a big jump at the end of the first quarter. The data come as the Federal Reserve is due to begin its latest-two day policy meeting on Tuesday but is overwhelmingly expected to leave interest rates untouched.

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Seattle crane collapse: 'Words can't describe what a good partner he was,' says widow of one of 4 killed

Among those who were killed in the Seattle crane collapse were two ironworkers and a student.

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End of an era: Japan's emperor kicks off abdication rites

Draped in ornate golden-brown robes and wearing a towering black hat, Japan's Emperor Akihito on Tuesday kicked off ceremonies for his abdication, the first in 200 years for the world's oldest monarchy. Akihito is handing over the Chrysanthemum Throne to his eldest son, 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, in a series of solemn rituals that also usher in the new imperial era named "Reiwa" -- meaning beautiful harmony -- that will last throughout the new monarch's reign. As crowds began to gather early Tuesday in drizzle outside the sumptuous Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, Akihito performed a ritual to "report" his abdication to his ancestors and the Shinto gods at several "sanctuaries".

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First swastikas, then synagogue attack: U.S. no safe haven for Israeli family

For one family caught up in the California synagogue shooting, a move from Israel to the United States in search of a safer life has been a journey "from fire to fire". Israel Dahan and three of his five children were at Sabbath services at Congregation Chabad in Poway, near San Diego, on Saturday when a gunman opened fire, killing a woman and wounding three others in what local authorities deemed a hate crime. Dahan, speaking on Israel Radio on Sunday, said his family was no stranger to violence, having lived in Israel in Sderot, a town on the Gaza border that has been a frequent target of Palestinian rocket attacks.

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Taiwan reports voyage of 2 US warships through Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Two U.S. warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait over the weekend, Taiwan's defense ministry said Monday, in a move that Beijing said threatened to hinder U.S.-China relations.

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Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein Recounts ‘Indescribable’ Moments of Terror at Poway Synagogue

Lyle Moran/For The Daily BeastPOWAY, California—One day after a gunman entered his synagogue and murdered one of his congregants on the final day of Passover, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein recounted the moments of terror as he returned to the Chabad of Poway to memorialize Lori Kaye, the 60-year-old woman who saved his life when she leapt between him and the shooter.Goldstein said he saw Kaye, whom he’d known for nearly 25 years and who had helped secure the loan for the synagogue decades ago, just a day before the attack. Saturday’s service was a memorial service for Kaye’s mother, who had recently passed away. Kaye had invited her only daughter, who drove in from Los Angeles where she’s a student at UCLA. On Saturday, he said, he walked into the synagogue’s banquet hall to wash his hands. “I walk two, three footsteps when I hear a loud bang, I thought Lori may have fell, or the table tipped over in the lobby right here,” he said. “I turn around and I see a sight that is indescribable. Here is a young man standing with a rifle, pointing right at me. I look at him. He has sunglasses on. I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t see his soul.”He froze for a few moments, then raised his hands in surrender—which is when he took the bullet that would eventually cause him to lose part of the index finger on his right hand. “I turned around and went to get the children that were playing in the banquet hall,” he said. “My granddaughter, four and a half years old, sees her grandpa with a bleeding hand, and she sees me screaming and shouting ‘get out, get out.’ She doesn’t deserve to see her grandfather like this.” “Miraculously,” the shooter’s gun jammed, he said—which gave a man Goldstein identified as off-duty border patrol agent Jonathan Morales a chance to jump up and pursue the shooter, who turned and fled. Police have said he was working as a security guard, but it was not completely clear on Sunday.“[The shooter] was standing right there in the lobby,” he said. “He was aiming at me in the banquet hall. He could have easily gone left and gone into the sanctuary where the seats were full for the memorial service and he could have used all the clips he had. It could have been such a bloodbath. I don’t even want to think about how that would be.” Once the shooter left the synagogue, Goldstein said, he went back to check on Kaye. He found her on the floor unconscious next to her husband, a doctor who tried in vain to resuscitate her before fainting from the trauma.  “He faints, and he’s lying on the floor next to his wife, and then their daughter Hannah comes out screaming ‘Daddy and Mommy let’s go,’” he said. “It’s the most heart-wrenching sight I could have seen. I was frozen in time.” Kaye died of her injuries hours later. “I grabbed a prayer shawl,” he added. “My congregation was standing out here, and and I said. ‘I got to do something.’ I got up on a chair right here, and I looked at our congregation, and I said we are a Jewish nation that will stand tall. We will not let anyone take us down. Terrorism will not take us down.”Goldstein urged all members of the Jewish faith to go to their local synagogues this coming Friday night and Saturday in a show of strength. “We need to fill up those rooms,” he said. “We need to show them that terrorism and evil will never prevail. Let’s fill up the synagogues. Let’s stand tall. Let’s dance together.”He said for those Jews who haven’t been to synagogue for a long time, now was the time to visit. “This is a personal request from myself as a rabbi asking you to come synagogue this weekend to show solidarity,” Goldstein said. “God will inspire you and bless you.”Goldstein later added that President Trump called him to express his condolences in the aftermath of the attack, and that in a 10- to 15-minute conversation, Trump “shared with me condolences on behalf of the United States of America,” and “spoke about his love of peace and Judaism and Israel.”“He was just so comforting,” Goldstein added. “I’m really grateful for our president for taking the time and making the effort to share with us his comfort and consolation.” Nineteen-year-old nursing student John T. Earnest was arrested minutes after the shooting, and charged Sunday with Kaye’s murder, as well as three other counts of attempted murder. Police say he’s the only suspect in the case. He will be arraigned on Wednesday.Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Latest: Japanese people mark end of Heisei era

TOKYO (AP) — The Latest on Emperor Akihito's abdication (all times local):

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Iran warns could shut Hormuz Strait if tensions grow

Iran's top general warned Sunday Tehran could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping route if it faces more "hostility", news agency ISNA said, as the US tightens up sanctions. "We are not after closing the Strait of Hormuz but if the hostility of enemies increase, we will be able to do so," armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri told semi-official ISNA. The statement came after Washington said on Monday it would start imposing sanctions on countries such as India, China and Turkey that buy Iranian oil.

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Police shoot man after five bodies discovered in two remote Tennessee homes

Police officers have shot and arrested a man suspected of killing five people in two homes in rural Tennessee.Michael Cummins, 25, became the subject of a mass manhunt after four bodies were found at a property near the town of Westmoreland and a fifth discovered at a second home nearby.A sixth person, who is believed to have called police, was also found suffering unspecified injuries at the first scene.Cummins himself was shot by at least one SWAT officer after he emerged from a wood holding several weapons, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.Police spokesman Josh DeVine told a press conference: “The community should hopefully be able to rest a little bit easier tonight, knowing that [Cummins] is in custody.”Authorities have not released any details about the victims and have not said exactly how they were killed.It is not clear if Cummins knew them.

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Impeachment Would Be a Redundant Judgment

The Mueller investigation was supposed to be a legal process concerned with crimes. Investigators identified no crimes to charge, and so it has, naturally, become something else: no longer a theory about a criminal conspiracy — only an irritable mood.An ordeal that had been conducted under the procedures of law in accordance with legal criteria is now an ordeal that is being conducted under the procedures of politics in accordance with political criteria — or, if you prefer, with moral criteria related to Donald Trump’s character. For those who want to see President Trump impeached and who think of impeachment as a fundamentally political process in spite of its mock-trial aspect, that’s just fine. They’ll take their pound of flesh, however it is had.The problem with this point of view is that the question of Donald Trump’s personal fitness for office already has been adjudicated as a political matter: That is what happened in the 2016 presidential election. Many critics, myself included, argued that Trump was unfit for the office, both morally and intellectually. We made our arguments, the voters consulted their own consciences, and, weighing these things however it is that voters weigh them, chose Trump. There wasn’t some occult intermediary step in there. That’s how things go in politics: The people behave just as if they had minds of their own! And, sometimes, they get to have their own way.In terms of Donald Trump’s character and habits, there is practically nothing in the Mueller report — or in the public record since 2016 — that voters did not already know when they elected him. And that is really the fundamental argument against impeaching President Trump: The political judgment called for in an impeachment at this point and in this context properly ought to be understood as beside the point, if we take seriously the democratic assumption that the judgment of the people, rendered in the election, is sovereign.There isn’t some shocking new thing, and, of course, some Democrats have been talking impeachment since before Trump was even sworn in. The Democrats do not propose to impeach Donald Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors, but simply for being Donald Trump. One may sympathize with that, but Donald Trump is the man the voters chose.And that goes to the real issue here: The Democrats cannot accept that they lost an election to Donald Trump. One sympathizes with that, too, but that is what actually happened, for several reasons: Trump focused on two issues — immigration and trade — that speak to a substantial bipartisan plurality with nationalistic and protectionist impulses rarely taken seriously by mainstream figures in either party; his opponent ran an inept campaign and has been questing after power for so long that both she and the voters are exhausted by it; the “elites” and Washingtonians against whom Trump & Co. inveigh were judged, not without some reason, to merit a trip to the woodshed; the so-called war on terror and the financial crisis of 2008–09 have destabilized formerly sturdy political coalitions. And, of course, it was Republicans’ turn.Which is to say: The Democrats’ talk of impeachment is partly about 2020, but it’s mainly about 2016, and their adolescent psychic need to believe that the presidential election that brought Donald Trump to the White House was illegitimate rather than an opportunity they simply blew. The theory that the election was thrown by Russian trolls posting dank memes on Twitter is hard to take seriously. If we had a list of every voter whose mind was changed in 2016 by an anonymous social-media account with a Cyrillic bio, then disenfranchising those voters would be a good start on improving things for 2020. Alas and alack, we don’t do that sort of thing. But the argument that bot-executed shenanigans nullified democracy in 2016 amounts to the Democrats protesting: “These trolls robbed us of the support of our natural base: morons!”There’s no quality control in social media — and less quality control in ordinary news media than there used to be. Lies, distortions, exaggerations, and pure inventions are going to be out there in the intellectual marketplace, whether they originate in Moscow or in Brooklyn. That’s a real problem, but it doesn’t invalidate the outcome of the 2016 election.There are many reasons to oppose an impeachment at this time: One is that no one has made a very persuasive case for one, all of the Democrats’ arguments up to this point having been transparently pretextual. Another is that the Republican majority in the Senate all but ensures that the process would be purely symbolic, an exercise in chaos for pleasure’s sake. A third is that it normalizes the invocation of a procedure that should be reserved for extraordinary circumstances in the service of ordinary short-term partisan interests. For comparison, consider that there was no serious impeachment talk when Barack Obama authorized the assassination of U.S. citizens without so much as a by-your-leave from Congress — or when he took executive actions that he himself had described as unconstitutional only months before. That suggests a pretty high standard — and if “I think that guy is a fink!” ends up being a common rationale for impeachment, then you’d better make your peace with anarchy, because Washington is going to be a ghost town.But the most important reason for forbearance here is that a political judgment already has been rendered on Donald Trump’s character — and, if you don’t like how that came out, there’s another chance right around the corner.

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'View' hosts welcome Joe Biden with open arms, Meghan McCain brings him to tears

Meghan McCain reminded Joe Biden of his last visit, when he comforted her amid her father John McCain's battle with brain cancer.

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U.S. measles outbreak triggers quarantine at two Los Angeles universities

A nationwide measles outbreak has led health officials to quarantine dozens of people at two Los Angeles universities, officials said on Thursday. The quarantine affects the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) and comes as the United States battles the highest number of measles cases since the country declared the virus eliminated in 2000.

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Links to Easter bombings put eastern Sri Lanka on edge

KALMUNAI, Sri Lanka (AP) — Suicide bombings at a militants' safe house have shaken the simple homes of this east Sri Lankan town as well as the rest of this idyllic coast, as the investigation into the Islamic State-claimed Easter bombings has spread here.

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This Isn't a Secret: F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighters Aren't Exactly Invisible

Is this really a problem? State-run Chinese media is claiming that the People’s Liberation Army has been able to track the U.S. Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighters over the East China Sea. While the Chinese report might be easily dismissed as propaganda—it is not beyond the realm of possibility. In fact—it’s very possible that China can track the Raptor. Stealth is not a cloak of invisibility, after all. Stealth technology simply delays detection and tracking.(This first appeared in 2016.)First off, if a Raptor is carrying external fuel tanks—as it often does during “ferry missions”—it is not in a stealth configuration. Moreover, the aircraft is often fitted with a Luneburg lens device on its ventral side during peacetime operations that enhances its cross section on radar.That being said, even combat-configured F-22s are not invisible to enemy radar, contrary to popular belief. Neither is any other tactical fighter-sized stealth aircraft with empennage surfaces such as tailfins—the F-35, PAK-FA, J-20 or J-31. That’s just basic physics.

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Trump, His Family Sue Deutsche Bank, Capital One to Stop Them From Answering Congressional Subpoenas

Kevin Lamarque/ReutersPresident Trump, members of his family and the Trump Organization have filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One to stop the banks from answering congressional subpoenas. According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York on Monday, the subpoenas—part of an extensive House Judiciary Committee investigation into public corruption and obstruction of justice—the Trump family argues that such subpoenas are meant to “ferret about for any material that might be used to cause [the president] political damage” and that “no grounds exist to establish any purpose other than a political one.” New of of the suit was first reported by the New York Times.“We filed this case to protect the privacy rights of the President, his family and their businesses,” Trump’s attorneys reportedly said in a statement on Monday. “The subpoenas issued to Deutsche Bank and Capital One by Chairpersons Schiff and Waters are unlawful and illegitimate. They seek information going back decades from anyone with even a tangential connection to the President, including children minors and spouses. “Every citizen should be concerned about this sweeping, lawless, invasion of privacy.” the statement continued We look forward to vindicating our clients’ rights in this matter.” A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman told the Times “we remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations and will abide by a court order regarding such investigations.”This story is developing.Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Barr's Mueller Report Testimony in Doubt Amid Dispute Over Questions

As tensions have escalated between House Democrats and the Trump administration

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Brexit Bulletin: Looming Defeats

Talks between Theresa May and the opposition Labour Party on breaking the Brexit impasse continue this week, with Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis saying Sunday that there’s still time for Parliament to settle on a deal before the U.K. participates in EU elections on May 23. For its part, Labour insists it’s not “dragging its heels” in the talks and that the government has refused to budge on any of its red lines, the party’s business spokeswoman Rebecca Long-Bailey said on Sky News on Sunday. Long-Bailey also hinted that Labour would be prepared to back a Brexit deal even if it comes without a commitment to a new public vote.

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Sri Lanka suspends police chief over Easter attacks

Sri Lanka's president suspended the chief of police on Monday and appointed a new defence secretary in a shake-up of the shell-shocked country's security services following the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Intelligence warnings from abroad alerting to possible attacks by Islamist extremists were ignored ahead of the multiple bombings of churches and upscale hotels on April 21 that killed 253 people and injured nearly 500. Chief of police Pujith Jayasundara had refused to quit to clear the way for a shake-up of the 85,000-strong force, prompting President Maithripala Sirisena to suspend him on Monday.

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Army Vet Hatched Domestic Terror Plot to Avenge New Zealand Shooting: Feds

REUTERSA U.S. Army veteran has been arrested for an attempted terror attack in “multiple” Los Angeles locations allegedly in “retribution” for the mosque mass shooting in New Zealand last month, federal prosecutors announced Monday.Mark Domingo, a 26-year-old former U.S. Army infantryman who served in Afghanistan, was charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists in his attempt to make an improvised explosive device (IED) “in order to commit mass murder,” according to an U.S. District court indictment filed over the weekend. The California man was arrested Friday night after receiving what he thought was a live bomb to carry out his attack but was, in fact, a fake explosive delivered by an undercover law-enforcement officer as part of an FBI investigation. According to the complaint, Domingo was outraged over the massacre at two New Zealand mosques that killed 50 people and injured dozens on March 14, and he boasted in online posts about purchasing supplies to make several bombs.“There were mosque shootings in New Zealand,” Domingo posted to a private online chat on March 14, according to federal prosecutors. “[T]here must be retribution.”He added: “I feel like I should make a christians life miserable tomorrow for our fallen bros n sis in [N]ew Zealand...maybe a jews life...they shed our blood...no Muslim should have to experience this, a message needs to be sent.”In various conversations with an FBI informant who was already in the private message group and an FBI “online covert employee” two days later, Domingo expressed support for a violent jihad, the indictment claimed.For six weeks, Domingo plotted with the informant about murdering several “enemies,” including Christians, Jews, white supremacists, LAPD police officers, even his next-door neighbor. He also allegedly discussed his desire to set off explosives on the Santa Monica Pier and on several Los Angeles freeways, and voiced support for ISIS—though he had trouble developing a concrete plan. In one exchange, the informant asked Domingo if he intended to get caught, to which he replied: “Martyrdom, bro,” Domingo said, according to the indictment.Finally, the 26-year-old “asked his confederate… to find a bomb-maker,” revealing he had “purchased several hundred nails to be used as shrapnel inside the IED.”“Domingo said he specifically bought three-inch nails because they would be long enough to penetrate the human body and puncture internal organs,” the complaint stated. Domingo also allegedly showed up to one meeting with the informant, armed with a rifle similar to an AK-47. The 26-year-old, who completed a four-month deployment to Afghanistan in Jan. 2013, was finally arrested after he told the informant of his plans to attack a “white-nationalist rally” in Huntington Beach on April 27.“This investigation successfully disrupted a very real threat posed by a trained combat soldier who repeatedly stated he wanted to cause the maximum number of casualties,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said on Monday in news conference announcing the “chilling terrorism plot.”Domingo, who has been in federal custody since his arrest, is expected to appear in court Monday afternoon.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

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UPDATE 2-Suspect caught after seven bodies found at two Tennessee homes

A suspect in the killings of seven people in rural Tennessee was shot and captured by police after an hours-long manhunt triggered by the discovery of the bodies in two separate homes, authorities said on Sunday. Dozens of people gathered to commemorate the victims on Sunday evening at a Methodist church in Westmoreland, a town in the area where the shootings occurred, according to Nashville television station FOX 17. The suspect, Michael Cummins, 25, was in custody after suffering non-life threatening injuries during his arrest on Saturday night, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

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The Latest: Retired city worker died in Seattle crane crash

SEATTLE (AP) — The Latest on a deadly crane collapse in Seattle (all times local):

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FAA considered grounding some Boeing 737 Max planes last year: source

US regulators considered grounding some Boeing 737 MAX planes last year after learning belatedly of a problem with a system that is now the main suspect in two deadly crashes, a source close to the matter said. Investigators in the Lion Air crash in October and the Ethiopia Airlines disaster in March have zeroed in on the planes' anti-stall system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. Last year, before the Lion crash, inspectors with the Federal Aviation Administration discovered that the manufacturer had de-activated a signal designed to advise the cockpit crew of a malfunctioning of the MCAS system, the source said.

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Spain election: Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wins as far-Right makes breakthrough

Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez earned his first general election win on Sunday, despite the emergence of a hard-Right party that capitalised on many Spaniards’ fury with the government’s attempt to find common ground with the breakaway region of Catalonia.   On high turnout of close to 76 per cent, the Socialist party (PSOE) claimed victory for the first time since 2008 with 123 seats out of 350, although a delicately hung parliament means that forming a government will involve complex negotiations with other forces from the Left and regional parties. With more than 98 per cent of the vote counted, the PSOE was declared winner by Spanish government spokeswoman Isabel Celaá. “We have sent a clear message to Europe and the world: you can beat authoritarianism and involution from the left,” Mr Sánchez said in reference to his victory over his conservative opponents including the anti-immigration, populist force Vox. Vox became the first hard-Right force to gain significant representation in Spain’s parliament since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 with 24 seats. Santiago Abascal, leader of far right party Vox, addresses supporters outside the party headquarters after the general election in Madrid Credit: AP With the vote on the Right side of the spectrum split three ways, the biggest loser of the night was the main conservative opposition Popular Party (PP), falling to 66 seats, less than half of the 137 seats it achieved when winning the previous election in 2016. The liberal Ciudadanos came close to pipping the PP to second place, with 58 seats. Vox came from a result of 0.2 per cent in 2016 to win 10 per cent, but it had the effect of cannibalising the Right-of-centre vote and helping Mr Sánchez to stretch out his lead. Together, the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox won 43 per cent, one point more than PSOE and Podemos combined. The PP, Ciudadanos were hoping to combine with Vox for a majority to eject Mr Sánchez from power in order to crack down on Catalonia’s separatist leaders by suspending the region’s autonomy. The three parties had accused Mr Sánchez of being a danger to Spanish unity after he used his 10-month-long spell in government before the election to seek a negotiated end to the impasse between Madrid and Catalonia’s regional government. But Vox’s secretary general, Javier Ortega, was exultant over the result. “This is just the beginning,” he told supporters in Madrid’s Margaret Thatcher square. “Every Vox member of Congress is going to be a whirlwind.”  The general secretary of VOX, Javier Ortega Smith, is seen during his speech at the Plaza Margaret Thatcher, where the party celebrates the electoral results  Credit: Getty Pablo Iglesias, the leader the hard-Left Podemos, offered his party’s 42 seats to “build a leftist government coalition”. But Mr Sánchez will also have to seek support from Basque nationalists and other minority forces, possibly including Catalan pro-independence parties in order to reach a majority. Divisions over how to deal with Catalonia’s bid for independence played out in an ill-tempered campaign with the trial of 10 imprisoned Catalan leaders over their role in the region’s unconstitutional referendum in 2017 rumbling on in the background. Mr Sánchez was described by Vox as “an enemy of the nation” for negotiating with Catalan forces, while PP leader Pablo Casado accused the prime minister of siding with “bloodstained hands” after the government received parliamentary support from Basque party Bildu, regarded as the successor to the political wing of terrorist group Eta. The party leaders clashed in fractious televised debates. Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera described Mr Sánchez as a “disgraceful” prime minister for kneeling before Catalan separatists, while the latter took his Right-wing opponents to task over their Andalucian government’s rollback of assistance for women victims of male violence.   Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.

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Extra abdication holidays pose dilemma for hardworking Japanese

For the Emperor's abdication on April 30, Japanese workers are enjoying an unprecedented 10-day holiday as a rash of special days off combine with the traditional "Golden Week" in May. "To be honest, I don't know how to spend the time when we are suddenly given 10 days of holidays," said 31-year-old finance worker Seishu Sato. On the contrary, we'll be super-busy," said Takeru Jo, a 46-year-old pizzeria worker.

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Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

Corey Ballentine, "Avengers: Endgame" and more of the weekend's top news.

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Spain's Socialists, short of majority, weigh partners for forming government

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces a choice between a complex alliance with fellow leftists Podemos or joining forces across the political divide with the center-right Ciudadanos. The Socialists won 123 seats in Sunday's election, up from 84 in the outgoing parliament as they saw off the challenge from the right, which was splintered by the rise of the far-right Vox. With nearly all the votes counted, the Socialists together with the far-left Podemos were 11 seats short of a majority in the 350-seat parliament.

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The Latest: Pence says Lugar was 'leader on the world stage'

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on the death of former Sen. Richard Lugar (all times local):

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Trump Lashes Out after Firefighters’ Union Endorses Biden

President Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden traded barbs on Monday after a firefighters' union endorsed Biden, becoming the first major labor group to back a candidate in the 2020 race.The International Association of Fire Fighters announced its decision in a video message that described Biden as an advocate for the middle class."Joe's a lot like our firefighters. He's a problem solver who cares deeply about America and committed to making our country better. He's one of the staunchest advocates for working families," said Harold Schaitberger, the IAFF's general president. "He knows that a strong middle class means a strong America, and we know, as president, he will stand up for all the patriotic Americans who want nothing more than to earn a decent wage, send their kids to college, have affordable health care and a decent and secure retirement."> BREAKING NEWS: The International Association of Fire Fighters endorses @joebiden for President of the United States. https://t.co/yewUm8wMGd> > -- IAFF (@IAFFNewsDesk) April 29, 2019Biden said on Twitter that he "couldn't be more proud" to have the union's backing. "Unions built the middle class in this country -- and as President, I'll fight to strengthen them and grow the backbone of this country," he wrote.Later Monday, Trump attacked Biden and the IAFF on Twitter, accusing the union of charging exorbitant dues and claiming that its members would rather support him than Biden.> I’ll never get the support of Dues Crazy union leadership, those people who rip-off their membership with ridiculously high dues, medical and other expenses while being paid a fortune. But the members love Trump. They look at our record economy, tax & reg cuts, military etc. WIN!> > -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2019Biden responded by tweeting that he is "sick" of Trump "badmouthing unions."> I'm sick of this President badmouthing unions. Labor built the middle class in this country. Minimum wage, overtime pay, the 40-hour week: they exist for all of us because unions fought for those rights. We need a President who honors them and their work.> > -- Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 29, 2019Biden has long had the support of organized labor and has strong ties to unions. He is formally launching his campaign Monday with a rally in Pittsburgh at the union hall of Teamsters Local 249.

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Video of Kraft at Spa Will Not Be Released Ahead of Trial

By JANE SMITH from NYT Sports https://nyti.ms/2Vui5ex
via

Impeach or investigate? Democrats see no reason to choose

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whatever happens next, don't call it impeachment.

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U.K. Conservatives Still Seeking Brexit Deal Before EU Election

Theresa May is still pursuing a Brexit deal that would get the U.K. out of the European Union before elections next month. With negotiations with the opposition Labour Party set to continue next week, there’s still time for Parliament to settle on a deal before the May 23 vote, Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis said in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.

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Police shoot man after five bodies discovered in two remote Tennessee homes

Police officers have shot and arrested a man suspected of killing five people in two homes in rural Tennessee.Michael Cummins, 25, became the subject of a mass manhunt after four bodies were found at a property near the town of Westmoreland and a fifth discovered at a second home nearby.A sixth person, who is believed to have called police, was also found suffering unspecified injuries at the first scene.Cummins himself was shot by at least one SWAT officer after he emerged from a wood holding several weapons, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.Police spokesman Josh DeVine told a press conference: “The community should hopefully be able to rest a little bit easier tonight, knowing that [Cummins] is in custody.”Authorities have not released any details about the victims and have not said exactly how they were killed.It is not clear if Cummins knew them.

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Spain's knife-edge election is a bellwether for the next European Parliament

According to Vox, Spain’s new hard-Right force, today’s general elections are about the survival of Spain as a national entity. Most European observers, however, will be looking to see how strongly Spain’s forces of moderation can survive the first real assault of Right-wing, anti-immigration and slightly Eurosceptical populism the country has experienced. With no elections due this year in any of Europe’s biggest nations, all eyes are today on Spain as a bellwether for next month’s European Parliament poll, in which populist movements are expected to make a bigger impact than ever. Spain, despite its political fragmentation that has brought about this, its third election in less than four years, has been making solid economic progress in the past half-decade, while also putting order in its public finances. With unemployment still close to 15 per cent, the economy might have been expected to feature prominently in the campaign. But instead Spaniards have been beaten around the head with the strategic importance of the country’s first general election since the Catalan regional government’s unconstitutional referendum and declaration of independence in 2017. Despite the fact that his Socialist party (PSOE) minority government fell because Catalan pro-independence parties withdrew their confidence and supply support, the incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been accused of betraying Spain for trying to launch a negotiation process with Catalonia’s leaders. The main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) and liberal Ciudadanos have been joined in rage at Mr Sánchez’s search for a Catalan compromise by Vox, which polled just 0.2 per cent in 2016, but is expected to surge into Congress today with around a tenth of the seats. Spanish politics has been split into two blocs by the Catalan issue, with Mr Sánchez and his PSOE’s only hope of a stable coalition partner lying in the hard-Left Podemos. Ciudadanos and PSOE have previously sought coalition deals together, but the polarisation over Catalonia is such that the liberal party’s leader, Albert Rivera, prefers to look to Vox for support. According to polling, it is very possible that neither bloc will make it over the line. The PSOE-Podemos alliance could seek to woo pragmatic Basque nationalists, but Mr Sánchez will hope not to have to rely on Catalan parties again. While a Left-wing government could serve to take the sting out of the Catalan independence movement, the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox have competed to take the strongest line against separatism. All three back a prolonged suspension of Catalonia’s autonomy, plus measures to either ban or limit the political freedom of pro-independence parties. A third scenario is political stasis from an impossible hung parliament. This may not be the last general election in Spain this year.

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Experts: Human error may be cause of Seattle crane collapse

SEATTLE (AP) — Human error may have caused a crane collapse that killed four people and injured four others in Seattle over the weekend, experts said Monday.

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End of an era: Japan's emperor kicks off abdication rites

Draped in ornate golden-brown robes and wearing a towering black hat, Japan's Emperor Akihito on Tuesday kicked off ceremonies for his abdication, the first in 200 years for the world's oldest monarchy. Akihito is handing over the Chrysanthemum Throne to his eldest son, 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, in a series of solemn rituals that also usher in the new imperial era named "Reiwa" -- meaning beautiful harmony -- that will last throughout the new monarch's reign. As crowds began to gather early Tuesday in drizzle outside the sumptuous Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, Akihito performed a ritual to "report" his abdication to his ancestors and the Shinto gods at several "sanctuaries".

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Biden takes aim at Trump during 2020 campaign kickoff rally in Pittsburgh

Biden looking to court vote of union workers; reaction and analysis from the 'Special Report' all-star panel.

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Historian Ron Chernow Used Past Presidents to Call for Civility at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

"Civility has been an essential lubricant in our democratic culture"

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Brexit Bulletin: Looming Defeats

Talks between Theresa May and the opposition Labour Party on breaking the Brexit impasse continue this week, with Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis saying Sunday that there’s still time for Parliament to settle on a deal before the U.K. participates in EU elections on May 23. For its part, Labour insists it’s not “dragging its heels” in the talks and that the government has refused to budge on any of its red lines, the party’s business spokeswoman Rebecca Long-Bailey said on Sky News on Sunday. Long-Bailey also hinted that Labour would be prepared to back a Brexit deal even if it comes without a commitment to a new public vote.

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U.S. measles outbreak hits 'completely avoidable' 25-year-high: officials

The number of measles cases in the United States has reached a 25-year peak, propelled by the spread of misinformation about the vaccine that can prevent the disease, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 704 cases as of April 26, a 1.3 percent increase since the most recent tally of 695 reported on Wednesday. The vast majority of cases have occurred in children who have not received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, which confers immunity to the disease, officials said.

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Richard Lugar, US foreign-policy luminary, dies at 87

Senator Richard Lugar, a leading US voice on foreign policy for decades and a onetime presidential candidate known for his civility and bipartisan ways, has died at a medical center in Falls Church, Virginia. Lugar died of chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, according to a statement from the Lugar Center in Washington, a global policy institute which he founded in 2013. A soft-spoken Republican moderate, Lugar was twice chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and built a reputation as one of Washington's most influential foreign-policy voices during the record six terms he represented Indiana in the Senate.

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FAA considered grounding some Boeing 737 Max planes last year: source

US regulators considered grounding some Boeing 737 MAX planes last year after learning of a problem with a system that is now the main suspect in two deadly crashes, a source close to the matter said. Investigators in the Lion Air crash in October off the coast of Indonesia and the Ethiopia Airlines disaster in March have zeroed in on the planes' anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. Last year, inspectors with the Federal Aviation Administration discovered Boeing de-activated a signal designed to advise the cockpit crew of a malfunctioning of the MCAS system, the source said.

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Beto O'Rourke unveils climate plan with Yosemite as backdrop

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke on Monday announced his first major policy initiative, a $5 trillion plan to combat climate change that he says will keep the Earth from sliding past the point of no return in less than a generation.

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