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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Ex-diplomat says US signed to pay N.Korea for prisoner, should honor deal

A former diplomat confirmed Monday that the United States agreed to pay $2 million to North Korea to release an American student who had fallen into a coma after alleged torture -- and said Washington should honor the commitment. Joseph Yun, a veteran US diplomat who had flown to Pyongyang in 2017 to bring back 22-year-old Otto Warmbier, said that North Korea presented him with a $2 million bill for his medical expenses. Tillerson "got back to me very quickly thereafter to say, yes, go ahead and sign," Yun, who has since left government, told CNN.

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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 Trump family argues that such subpoenas—part of an extensive House Judiciary Committee investigation into public corruption and obstruction of justice—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.” The suit also contends that, on April 17, 2019, attorneys for Deutsche Bank issued a written statement that said the subpoenas seek “‘records and/ or information related to banking activities, including information regarding accounts, financings, and related financial information’ for all named Plaintiffs.’” 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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Number of measles cases in the U.S. reach 704, the highest point this century

The CDC reports 704 confirmed cases of measles. The figure is the highest number of cases since measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

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The Latest: Islamic State leader says attack was revenge

AMPARA, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Latest on the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka (all times local):

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Joe Biden Is Running Against a Myth About Trump

Democratic voters said they liked elected officials who would compromise with opponents. Republican voters said they preferred officials who wouldn’t compromise. Among Democrats, 69 percent said they liked officials who compromised.

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From Heisei to Reiwa: how Japan changed under Emperor Akihito

Japan marks the end of an era with Tuesday's abdication of Emperor Akihito, and the outgoing monarch leaves behind a much-changed country. Crown Prince Naruhito will inherit a Japan vastly different from that of the start of his father's reign, when the country was in the grip of an economic bubble and on the verge of a tech revolution. Japan's shrinking population is among the country's most pressing social and economic issues.

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Barr's testimony to House on Mueller in doubt amid dispute

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has informed the House Judiciary Committee that Attorney General William Barr may skip a Thursday hearing on special counsel Robert Mueller's report if committee lawyers seek to question him.

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Seven people killed in string of rural Tennessee homicides, authorities confirm

Sunday morning law enforcement was still blocking two roads near where the bodies of five victims were found Saturday.

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Trump, Pelosi to meet on infrastructure as tensions escalate over Mueller report

Trump will meet with Democrats about the nation's infrastructure, but they'll first have to swerve around special counsel Robert Mueller's report.

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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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Whoa there Democrats – Joe Biden isn't as electable as you think

The idea that the presidential candidate has a lock on white rust-belt voters is wrong in so many ways Joe Biden. ‘The assumption that white rust-belt voters can only be won over by white candidates does not stack up to recent history.’ Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Joe Biden has many strengths as a presidential candidate: experience, policy smarts, respect for the rule of law, an ability to do something more than watch cable news. Even a Sleepy Joe is a significant upgrade on a Dumbass Donald. But what Biden doesn’t possess, no matter how many times lazy reporters and pundits say it, is a steel-like grip on the rust belt states that could decide the general election. No matter what you think of his politics or personality, the electability debate is – as the candidate might say himself – a bunch of malarkey. Yes, Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his family stories about his father’s economic hardship are powerful and endearing. Yes, his Finnegan relatives in Scranton voted for Trump and may give him some insights into how to win such voters back. But Team Biden should draw some profound lessons from the last time their candidate ran a presidential campaign, all of 12 years ago. Biden may be the instant frontrunner in national polls this time around, but his single-digit lead is trailing the double-digit margins that Hillary Clinton enjoyed at the same time in 2007. Even in Pennsylvania, where Biden holds a double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders today, he pales in comparison to Clinton’s 20-point and even 30-point distance ahead of Barack Obama in 2007. Those poll leads evaporated nationally when Obama won the Iowa caucuses. Even in Pennsylvania, Clinton’s commanding position collapsed as Obama started to win more and more primaries. Frontrunner status and polling leads are delusional foundations for a presidential campaign. As their poll leads were melting away, the Clinton campaign and the national media extensively litigated the electability debate through the course of 2008. In fact, the long Pennsylvania primary of April 2008 was the time and place where every possible angle was explored. Obama couldn’t connect with blue-collar votes because he was so intellectual. He couldn’t connect with the party machine because he was such an upstart. He couldn’t connect with white voters because he was so black. He couldn’t connect with black voters because he was so white. Hell, he couldn’t even get a respectable score at the bowling alley. What a loser. If all that coverage sounds far-fetched, well, it was, and nobody but the Obama campaign seemed to mind. In any case, they had other problems. One was that the candidate appeared to dismiss small town voters by suggesting they were embittered by job losses, and were clinging to God, guns and racism as a result. The other was his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, whose fiery sermons weren’t exactly an appeal to white Pennsylvania voters. It was easy to find such voters saying they didn’t think much of that Obama guy. Sure enough, Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary by 9 points and everyone could feel good about the electability coverage. But it was still deeply wrong. Obama went on to win the next primary in North Carolina and only narrowly lost in Indiana. The whole set of sweeping assumptions underlying the white working-class voter theory should have been buried at that stage. But they weren’t, and they still stalk the political landscape like zombies. If white working-class voters can only connect with candidates who share their white working-class experience, then how exactly did Obama win Pennsylvania by a 10-point margin in the general election in 2008? How on earth did he even win Indiana on the same night? For those who want to argue that Obama’s success was all down to the financial crisis, you might want to remember that Obama won Pennsylvania again, four years later, by a 5-point margin. This recent history does not mean that life is easy for candidates of color. If the Trump years have taught us anything, it is that overt racism can be a powerful driver of identity politics for a highly motivated minority of voters. Demonizing and abusing immigrants has helped Donald Trump lock down his support among Republican voters. His language about a supposed invasion at the border has seeped into mainstream coverage, unchallenged, despite all the data that clearly shows that immigration is far from its historic highs. But beyond Trump’s torch-wielding nativists, what basis is there for thinking that rust-belt voters need a white face in the White House? There are some ugly and stupid assumptions masquerading as political analysis here. The first is that white working-class voters have different concerns from their African-American or Latino co-workers. As if they don’t share the same daily struggles over low wages, expensive healthcare, and poor schools. The second assumption is worse: that white rust-belt voters are somehow more important or more representatively American than any other type of voter. Thus the endless stories about how Trump country views all of Trump’s troubles (spoiler alert: they don’t care). The third assumption is that if Trump fears Biden’s ability to steal his voters, then there must be something real going on. As if Trump’s fears and sense of reality are in any way connected to anything beyond what’s currently airing on Fox News. This isn’t an argument for ignoring the needs of white rust-belt voters, or writing them off as lost to all Democrats. That would also be stupid: Democrats need to peel away some of those voters to win. But the assumption that such voters can only be won over by white candidates does not stack up to recent history. Clinton was supposed to have a lock on Pennsylvania compared to Obama, but he won the state twice in two general elections and she lost it. Make no mistake: Biden is a formidable candidate in the Democratic primaries. His insights into how to appeal to traditional working voters – of all classes and colors – will fuel a heated debate with Sanders. They just won’t give him a lock on the rust belt. Trump may or may not be so vulnerable that he has convinced every sentient, sane Democrat that they can beat him handily. The Trump of 2020 is not the same Trump of 2016 who promised rust belt voters that he would bring back manufacturing jobs and drain the swamp in Washington. Biden himself likes to say – among many other pithy aphorisms – that we shouldn’t compare him to the almighty; that we should compare him to the alternative. That is also true of every other Democratic candidate. Compared to the alternative, Joe from Scranton has no more advantage than Kamala from Oakland or Cory from Newark. • Richard Wolffe is a columnist for the Guardian US. He is the author of Renegade: The Making of a President

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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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Tenn. police investigating whether suspect knew 7 victims

WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (AP) — Police on Sunday raised the death toll at two homes in rural Tennessee to seven and said they are investigating whether a suspect captured after an hourslong manhunt knew the victims.

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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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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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'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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Ocasio-Cortez fires back at Kellyanne Conway for slamming her response to Sri Lanka attacks

Ocasio-Cortez called the series of bombings in Sri Lanka, which death toll has risen to 290, “horrifying.” “The Sri Lanka massacre was horrifying.

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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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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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Are we ready for the end of the world? NASA conducts drill for potential asteroid strike

NASA is conducting a drill this week to see how we'd prepare if a giant asteroid was hurtling toward the Earth.

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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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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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Deadly Seattle crane collapse was likely caused by human error, experts say

Human error may be to blame for the Seattle crane collapse on Saturday that killed four people and injured another four, experts said based on videos.

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From Heisei to Reiwa: how Japan changed under Emperor Akihito

Japan marks the end of an era with Tuesday's abdication of Emperor Akihito, and the outgoing monarch leaves behind a much-changed country. Crown Prince Naruhito will inherit a Japan vastly different from that of the start of his father's reign, when the country was in the grip of an economic bubble and on the verge of a tech revolution. Japan's shrinking population is among the country's most pressing social and economic issues.

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Sri Lanka resorts face uncertain future after suicide blasts

The cancellations started before the dust had settled on the hotels and churches hit by suicide bombers in Sri Lanka as tourists and operators pressed the panic button. Sanath Ukwatte, chairman of the colonial-era Mount Lavinia hotel in Colombo, said he lost about 30 percent of his bookings within days of the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 253 people. The United States, Britain, Australia, India and Israel have all warned their nationals against visiting, while the Netherlands is organising a special flight to evacuate hundreds of Dutch tourists.

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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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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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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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Meet the Army veteran and off-duty Border Patrol agent who chased the San Diego synagogue shooter

Jonathan Morales and Oscar Stewart aided in efforts to stop a suspected gunman who opened fire at Chabad of Poway near San Deigo on Saturday.

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Beluga whale wearing harness may have been trained by Russian Navy, marine experts say

The whale had a harness that says "Equipment St. Petersburg," prompting speculation it may have come from a Russian military facility.

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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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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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