Новости за 23.03.2016

An independent task force appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has concluded that blame for the Flint water crisis spans all levels of government, including local officials and the Environmental Protection Agency, though it placed the blame primarily on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the agency that monitors Flint's water supply.

The DNA of Brussels bomber Najim Laachraoui has linked him to the Paris attacks, The Washington Post reports. Laachraoui is believed to have been the bombmaker who created the weapons used in the Paris attacks; he is now thought to have blown himself up at the Brussels airport on Tuesday, according to Arab and European intelligence officials who spoke anonymously to The Washington Post. Previously, Laachraoui had been reported to be on the loose.

President Obama dismissed Sen. Ted Cruz's proposal to "patrol and secure" U.S. Muslim neighborhoods in the wake of the Brussels terrorist attacks as "un-American" and "counterproductive" during a press conference in Argentina Wednesday.

Basketball sneakers are a major business: Total sales are expected to be upwards of $20 billion annually. The biggest name in the industry, of course, is Nike, who has given sponsorships to players like Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant. However, there is a glaring absence on their roster: Stephen Curry.

A hastily written will by one of the suspected Brussels bombers has given some insight into the lives the extremists were living before their devastating attacks on Brussels' airport and a metro station on Tuesday, Newsweek reports.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) avoided naming any names as he bemoaned how American politics has devolved into a "battle of insults" in a Wednesday address to fellow Republicans. While Ryan did warn against politicians playing into voters' "anxieties" and resorting to insults, he kept his focus toward the future, pushing the GOP to avoid becoming "disheartened" and to rise above the petty drama and focus on policy ideas.

A super PAC called the 2016 Committee is still raising money for Ben Carson — even though he ended his campaign weeks ago.

Unlike the allegedly terrible Trump Steaks, Trump Wine is apparently pretty good. Donald Trump's signature winery in the Charlottesville, Virginia area is run by a respected winemaker, and it focuses on using only locally-grown grapes.

Unlike the allegedly terrible Trump Steaks, Trump Wine is apparently pretty good. Donald Trump's signature winery in the Charlottesville, Virginia, area is run by a respected winemaker, and it focuses on using only locally-grown grapes.

Sen. Ted Cruz took a break from quoting his favorite movie The Princess Bride on Wednesday to lift a line from another classic, The American President. Whether or not the Texas senator was aware, his retort to Donald Trump's recent attacks on his wife was almost identical to that of President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), who hits back against his prime political foe in defense of love interest Sydney Ellen Wade:

A Tribe Called Quest rapper Phife Dawg has died at the age of 45, The Telegraph reports based on news from the hip-hop community. Phife suffered from diabetes and had recently been in ill health, receiving a kidney transplant from his wife in 2008. The exact cause of death is not yet known.

A lot can change in 12 years. 2004's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason ended with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) proposing to Bridget (Rene Zellweger), setting the star-crossed lovers up for a lifetime of wedded bliss.

What's the Matter with Kansas? author Thomas Frank has turned his critical eye from Republican politics to those of his own party, the Democrats. In an interview with BillMoyers.com's Kathy Kiely, Frank slammed liberals for their educational meritocracy, which he claims has betrayed the working class. "One of the chronic failings of meritocracy is orthodoxy," Frank explained. "You get people who don't listen to voices outside their discipline."

Tuesday evening's hullabaloo centered around an incident at Georgia's Emory University, in which someone wrote "Trump 2016" in chalk all over the college campus. The ensuing panic among students became the subject of ridicule by everyone from Gawker ("these kids are extreme weenie babies") to New York ("College can be a stressful period").

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European stocks bounced back on Wednesday after falling Tuesday on security concerns stoked by the Brussels terrorist bombings. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by half a percent as all of its major markets showed improvement. The markets got a boost from better-than-expected indicators of business sentiment in the region. Travel-related shares were hit particularly hard after the explosions at the Brussels airport and a subway station, but they posted modest gains early Wednesday. Читать дальше...

Mitt Romney continued his campaign against Donald Trump at a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner Tuesday night. This time, the former Massachusetts governor didn't go after Trump's failed business ventures or his "third-grade theatrics," but his "several foreign wives":

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The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for bombings that killed at least 34 people at the Brussels airport and a subway station. Investigators identified two brothers — Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui — as the suicide bombers at the airport. A third man seen with the brothers in a security photo was identified as Najim Laachraoui, who reportedly fled the airport. Some Belgian media reported that he was arrested early Wednesday, but later retracted that report. Laachraoui... Читать дальше...

The "Stop Trump" movement could have just hit a major snag: It turns out that for John Kasich and Ted Cruz supporters, Donald Trump is an appealing second choice.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has never actually met Donald Trump, he told Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday's Kimmel Live. "And I didn't go to his wedding, either," he added, in a jab at Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton. Clinton attending Trump's third wedding "makes it feel like the whole thing is professional wrestling," Kimmel said. "It makes it feel like you've got the bad guy and the good guy, the good guy and the bad guy, whatever, and then behind the scenes everybody's watching each other shower." Sanders jumped in... Читать дальше...

UPDATE: The Belgian newspaper that reported Laachraoui's arrest, La Derniere Heure, now says that they misidentifed the man arrested in the Anderlecht district. Belgian police and prosecutors are expected to address the mixed reports at a news conference Wednesday. Our original story is below:

On Wednesday morning, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) received the endorsement of former GOP presidential rival Jeb Bush. "Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests," Bush said in a statement. "The only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential." Bush also... Читать дальше...

With Donald Trump's massive loss in Utah on Tuesday (with 85 percent of precincts reporting, the GOP's national frontrunner has a meager 14 percent of the vote, coming in a distant third to Ted Cruz and John Kasich), Trump has finally met his match — the force in the Republican Party that can stop his populist juggernaut in its tracks.

Terrorism is beginning to disfigure the face of Europe. Besides the price of the carnage itself, terrorism is changing the character of Europe's politics, threatening to make the arrangements of the EU look like utopianism, and leading to new restrictions and hassles for the lives of Europeans.

How do you tell the greatest political talent of his generation that he's lost his stuff? I'm not sure how, but somebody might want to deliver that news to Bill Clinton.

President Obama and his family arrived in Buenos Aires from Havana early Wednesday morning, for a two-day state visit aimed at establishing better relations with Argentina. Obama has been openly effusive about the recent change of leadership in Argentina, with President Mauricio Macri taking over in December from his more leftist, America-wary predecessor Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. "President Macri recognizes that we're in a new era, and we have to look forward," Obama said before landing in Buenos Aires. Читать дальше...