The US Federal Aviation Administration is facing mounting criticism for backing the airworthiness of Boeing's 737 Max jets as the number of countries that have grounded the aircraft grows in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash over the weekend.
The rest of the world typically takes it cues from the FAA, long considered the world's gold standard for aircraft safety. Yet other aviation safety regulators, including the European Union, China, Australia and the United Kingdom, have decided not to wait for the FAA to act. The Ethiopian disaster came just five months after the deadly crash of another new Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air in Indonesia.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that he's concerned that international aviation regulators are providing more certainty to the flying public than the FAA.
"In the coming days, it is absolutely critical that we get answers as to what caused ...

Criticism of FAA mounts as other nations ground Boeing jets

PTI Automatic

The wife and child of an arrested Islamic militant who was plotting attacks in the Indonesian capital have died in an explosion during a siege of their home in North Sumatra, the national police chief said Wednesday.
The woman is believed to have blown herself up hours after throwing a home-made bomb that injured an officer as police tried to search the house in Sibologa district on Tuesday, Dedi Prasetyo, the police chief, told The Associated Press that the .
Police officers at the location said there were two explosions and smoke at the house about 1:30 a.m., Prasetyo said.
"Police are now still conducting sterilization at the crime scene and finding a safe way to evacuate the bodies of the woman and her child," he said.
Prasetyo said the woman's husband, known as Husein, was arrested on Tuesday after the interrogation of another suspected militant, Rinto Sugiharto, who was apprehended in Lampung on Saturday, uncovered plans for attacks in Jakarta Both men were members of Jemaah ...

Police: Wife and child of arrested militant die in explosion

An Afghan official says a journalist who has long been threatened has been wounded in a bomb blast in southern Helmand province.
Omar Zwak, spokesman for the Helmand governor, says TV and radio journalist Nesar Ahmad Ahmadi was wounded by a sticky bomb that exploded as he was heading to the office in his vehicle. It happened in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, on Tuesday.
Zwak said Ahmadi had a leg wound and was transferred to Kabul for further treatment.
He is the director for Sabahoon radio and also a reporter for Sabahoon television broadcaster in Helmand.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban insurgents are active in southern Afghanistan especially in Helmand.
The Taliban have been carrying out near-daily attacks across Afghanistan.

Official: Threatened Afghan journalist wounded by bomb blast

It was a tough day for seeded players at the BNP Paribas Open, with Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka, the world's top-ranked players, ushered out in the desert.
Djokovic and Philipp Kohlschreiber resumed their third-round match that was suspended because of rain a night earlier. The unseeded German knocked off the five-time tournament champion 6-4, 6-4.
Osaka lost to Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-1 in just over an hour in the fourth round of the first title defense of her career.
"She sort of came out there really aggressive," Osaka said. "She sort of knew what she wanted to do more than me."
Since Osaka won the title at Indian Wells a year ago, she won the U.S and Australian opens. Her triumph in Australia made her No. 1 for the first time, but her time at the top has been rocky. Osaka fired her coach and lost in the first round in Dubai before taking on a new coach, Jermaine Jenkins, who came on court during the match.
"It's always a bit tricky whenever you change someone in the team, but I ..

Bad day for No. 1s: Djokovic, Osaka upset at Indian Wells

China says attempts by Taiwan's government to block its goal of bringing the self-governing island under Beijing's control are like "stretching out an arm to block a car."
The new rhetorical broadside was launched late Tuesday against Taiwanese President Tsai Ying-wen following her announcement of guidelines to counter China's "one country, two systems" framework for political unification with the island.
The statement from the spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, An Fengshan, accused Tsai of harming relations between the sides and using the welfare of the Taiwanese people as a "poker chip" for the sake of electoral gains.
China says Taiwan is a part of its territory that must be brought under its control by force if necessary.
Tsai was elected in 2016 and faces re-election next year.

China launches new rhetorical broadside against Taiwan

Cristiano Ronaldo made a mockery of Atletico Madrid's vaunted defense, and then mocked its coach as well.
Ronaldo scored a hat trick against the normally resilient Spanish side to send Juventus into the Champions League quarterfinals with a 3-0 win as the Bianconeri fought back from a two-goal first-leg defeat.
The former Real Madrid player outjumped Atletico's defenders to score a header in each half and then converted a late penalty for his first hat trick since joining Juventus in the summer  and just when they needed it most.
He celebrated at the final whistle by mimicking the obscene gesture Atletico coach Diego Simeone made after the Spanish side's second goal in the first leg  having the final say against a rival he so often defeated as a Real Madrid player.
Simeone was fined 20,000 euros ($22,500) by UEFA for improper conduct and it remains to be seen whether Ronaldo will face a similar punishment.
It was Ronaldo's eighth hat trick in the Champions League, moving him level ...

Ronaldo nets hat trick to send Juventus into CL quarters

The new US ambassador to Australia says he's concerned about the way China lends money to developing Pacific nations in what he describes as "payday loan diplomacy."
Arthur Culvahouse Jr. told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday that it was up to U.S. allies and Western liberal democracies to educate people about the dangers of such loans.
US Vice President Mike Pence previously warned of China deploying "debt traps" against developing Pacific nations. Culvahouse says he would use stronger language by calling the practice payday loan diplomacy.
Culvahouse says the money looks attractive upfront "but you better read the fine print." Long affiliated with Republican officeholders, Culvahouse oversaw the vetting process for President Donald Trump's running mate in 2016.
Before Culvahouse arrived, the ambassador post had been vacant since 2016.

New US ambassador warns of China's 'payday loan diplomacy'

Oman and the United Arab Emirates barred flights by Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on Tuesday following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jetliner, closing down two key markets for the airplane on the Arabian Peninsula.
The decision by Oman came first as the neighbouring United Arab Emirates initially just said it had joined US authorities and Boeing Co. "to investigate and collect data" to help solve what happened in Sunday's crash in Ethiopia that killed all 157 people on board. Late Tuesday, it announced Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft had been grounded.
Oman's Public Authority for Civil Aviation made the sultanate's announcement, without elaborating on its reasoning.
The state-owned Oman Air, which operates five Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, said flights operated by those planes "will be suspended as soon as possible."
"We are in the process of making the necessary rescheduling and will advise our guests of any flight cancellations," the airline said.
Oman, ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said .

Oman, UAE grounds Boeing 737 MAXs after Ethiopia crash

When it comes to political power, women are totally outnumbered by men, accounting for less than 7 per cent of the world's leaders and only 24 per cent of lawmakers, according to the latest statistics.
UN General Assembly President Mara Fernanda Espinosa told delegates to the Commission on the Status of Women on Tuesday that there has been a "serious regression" in the political power of women across the world in recent years.
According to statistics from the Inter-Parliamentary Union released last week, the percentage of female elected heads of state dropped from 7.2 per cent to 6.6 per cent  10 out of 153  from 2017 to 2018. The percentage of female heads of government dropped from 5.7 per cent to 5.2 per cent  10 out of 193  in the same period.
"Despite some positive movement, the overwhelming majority of government leaders remain male," said Gabriela Cuevas Barron, head of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
In parliaments, the global share of women increased by nearly one percentage ..

Women greatly outnumbered by men in political power

Former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn is not ready to be sentenced yet because "there may be additional cooperation" he can offer as he tries to reduce his potential punishment, according to a court filing Tuesday night.
Flynn has been cooperating with prosecutors in Virginia in an ongoing case against two former business associates accused of illegally lobbying for Turkey. That case is scheduled for trial in July, and because of Flynn's continued cooperation, his lawyers asked in a court filing Tuesday to be able to submit another status report in 90 days.
In the same filing, prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller's office took no position on Flynn's request for a continuance but said they viewed his cooperation as "otherwise complete."
Flynn, President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, was supposed to be sentenced last December for lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. But after 

Former Trump adviser Flynn asks for further sentencing delay

The Homeland Security Department is moving toward closing immigration services offices outside the United States, saying it is expected to free up millions of dollars a year to better address a backlog in domestic locations.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman Jessica Collins said Tuesday that the agency is in preliminary discussions to close offices in 20 countries outside the United States. There are about 70 employees in Great Britain, Mexico, South Africa, Italy, India, the Philippines, China and other countries.
Collins says the agency will work closely with the State Department to avoid any interruptions to services overseas.
Organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights First criticized the move saying that closing international offices would mean fewer services for refugees. The agency says refugee processing won't be affected.

US immigration agency moves to close international offices

An Australian judge has sentenced the most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse to 6 years in prison for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral more than 20 years ago.
Victoria state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd on Wednesday ordered Cardinal George Pell to serve a minimum of 3 years and 8 months before he is eligible for parole.
Pope Francis' former finance minister was convicted in December of orally raping a 13-year-old choirboy and indecently dealing with the boy and the boy's 13-year-old friend in the late 1990s.
The assaults happened just months after Pell became archbishop of Melbourne. A court order had suppressed media reporting the news until last month.
The 77-year-old denies the allegations and will appeal his convictions in June.

Australian cardinal sentenced to prison for child sex abuse

Japan has agreed to provide a loan to build Sri Lanka's first light railway system aimed at easing traffic congestion in the capital city of Colombo, the island nation's finance ministry said Tuesday.
The loan will be granted in six stages until 2024 for the USD 1.8 billion project that will begin this year, the ministry said.
An agreement to release the first instalment of USD 260 million was signed Monday between the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which coordinates official development assistance, and Sri Lanka's finance ministry.
The proposed rail line will have 16 stations and run for 16 kilometres on elevated viaducts to minimize land acquisition.
The Japanese agency said the proposed railway system will connect Colombo's commercial hub with the administrative capital and "significantly reduce travel time in the most congested transport corridor in the country, and the only major corridor currently not supported by railway."
The agency said the financing is being ...

Japan agrees to provide loan for Sri Lanka's light-rail line

A man who "wanted to ambush" police was killed Tuesday inside a plasma donation centre in southwestern Michigan during a shootout that injured an officer, authorities said.
A Kalamazoo officer was shot in the torso, but his injury wasn't life-threatening due to a bulletproof vest, said Karianne Thomas, the city's public safety chief.
Another officer fired multiple shots and killed the suspect, Thomas said. The dead man's name wasn't immediately released.
Lisa Walterhouse, an employee at the downtown plasma center, says police responded after the man entered the building and fired shots. She said he urged staff to call 911.
He "wanted to ambush officers. ... The suspect was waiting by the door for officers to arrive," Thomas said. "They encountered gunfire and returned gunfire."
No other injuries were reported. Thomas said the officer who repeatedly shot the suspect has been with the department for less than a year.
"We are not immune to workplace violence or violence directed at our ..

Man killed after trying to 'ambush' police in Kalamazoo

President Donald Trump lamented the complexity of modern airplanes Tuesday in the wake of two deadly crashes in the past five months, appearing to speculate on the cause of the disasters before aviation experts from the United States and elsewhere complete their investigations.
The president commented as several countries announced that they were grounding their fleets of the Boeing 737 Max 8 model involved in both crashes, or closing their airspace to the planes.
Trump tweeted that "airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly." He did not specifically mention the crashes, but his comments come just two days after an Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people aboard and as a cascade of countries worldwide began suspending use of the plane.
"Split second decisions are needed, and the complexity creates danger," Trump tweeted. "All of this for great cost yet very little gain. I don't know about you, but I don't want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying ...

Trump laments complexity of modern airlines in wake of crash

Authorities say a police officer has been shot while responding to a shooting at a plasma donation centre in southwestern Michigan.
Kalamazoo police say the officer's injuries aren't life-threatening. Lisa Walterhouse, an employee at the downtown plasma center, tells the Kalamazoo Gazette that police responded Tuesday after a former employee entered the building and fired shots.
Walterhouse says the gunman told people to call 911. She says, "Then we ran."
Police say there's "no active threat" to the public. The statement didn't mention anything about the gunman. A late afternoon news conference is planned.

Officer shot, injured while responding to Kalamazoo shooting

The top US trade negotiator suggests that the US and China are nearing an agreement that would end their trade conflict, but wouldn't commit to a specific time frame.
"Our hope is that we are in the final weeks of having an agreement," US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday.
But there are still major issues that need to be resolved, he said.
"I can't predict success at this point."
Lighthizer also said the agreement would have to include an enforcement provision that would enable the US to restore tariffs on Chinese imports if it violated provisions of the pact. That is seen as a major sticking point for Chinese officials.
"We are going to have an enforceable agreement, or the president won't agree to the agreement," Lighthizer said.
There have been conflicting signals from the administration about progress in the negotiations.
President Trump said Friday he was confident that US could reach a deal with China, which would presumably remove .

WH official: US, China in 'final weeks' of trade talks

Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau says "all options are on the table" with regard to the country's fleet of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft but says the government currently has no plans to order the grounding of the plane.
Garneau's comments came minutes after announcements from Britain, Germany, France and Ireland that they were grounding or closing airspace to the new Boeing plane involved in the Ethiopian Airlines disaster.
He later tweeted that he has canceled all his meetings and public events on Tuesday to meet with his Civil Aviation Expert Panel and will consider all potential actions.
Canada is working with the US Federal Aviation Authority to determine if action is required.
No US airlines have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 models that they fly, but at least one group representing flight attendants at a major carrier says it does not want to put its members on the plane until further investigations are completed.
After the second deadly crash involving the model in five ...

Canada says considering all options on Boeing

Sir John Richardson, the eminent historian and critic whose multivolume series on Pablo Picasso drew upon his personal and aesthetic affinity for the Spanish painter and was widely praised as a work of art in its own right, has died. He was 95.
Nicholas Latimer, a vice president and senior director of publicity at Alfred A. Knopf, said Richardson died Tuesday morning at his Manhattan home.
The London-born Richardson's first Picasso book, "A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy, 1881-1906" came out in 1991, and was followed by editions covering 1907-1916 and 1917-1932.
Latimer said that Richardson had been well into a fourth volume, in the works for over a decade. But he did not immediately know the title, what years it would cover or when it would be published.
Art lovers had looked forward to Richardson's Picasso writings the way readers of politics have anticipated Robert Caro's Lyndon Johnson series.
Like Leon Edel's five-volume epic on Henry James and Richard Ellmann's "James Joyce," ...

John Richardson, critic and Picasso biographer, dies at 95

At the ripe old age of 30 and with half the globe using it, the World Wide Web is facing growing pains with issues like hate speech, privacy concerns and state-sponsored hacking, its creator says, trumpeting a call to make it better for humanity.
Tim Berners-Lee on Tuesday joined a celebration of the Web and reminisced about his invention at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, starting with a proposal published on March 12, 1989.
It opened the way to a technological revolution that has transformed the way people buy goods, share ideas, get information and much more.
It's also become a place where tech titans scoop up personal data, rival governments spy and seek to scuttle elections, and hate speech and vitriol have thrived  taking the Web far from its roots as a space for progress-oriented minds to collaborate.
As of late 2018, half of the world was online, with the other half often struggling to secure access.
Speaking at a "Web@30" conference at CERN, Berners-Lee .

At age 30, World Wide Web is 'not the web we wanted'

China says heavily guarded internment camps for Muslims which it calls vocational training centers will "gradually disappear" if there comes a day that "society does not need" them.
The camps in the far-west Xinjiang region have elicited an international outcry, with former inmates describing harsh conditions where Muslim minorities are subject to political indoctrination and psychological torture.
Human rights groups, researchers and the US government estimate that around 1 million people from the predominantly Muslim Uighur and Kazakh ethnic groups are held in the vast network of compounds.
Xinjiang Gov Shohrat Zakir declined at a news conference Tuesday to disclose the number of what he called "trainees."
However, he said the figure is far less than 1 million.
Zakir said religious activities are banned in the camps.

AP

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