At least 49 killed in mosque shootings in one of New Zealand’s ‘darkest days’

At least 49 people were killed in mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand where worshippers had gathered for Friday prayers. It was the worst act of violence the country has seen in nearly three decades. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the atrocities, in the city of Christchurch, as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.” Four people have been detained, but police warned locals to stay indoors and asked mosques to close. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said he believed other suspects could be involved and that police are not assuming that the incident was contained to the city. “Let’s not presume the danger is gone,” he said, adding that police had also defused a number of improvised explosive devices found on vehicles after the shootings.



CLOSE


New Zealand Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern says 40 people were killed in shootings in two mosques in Christchurch. Police say three men and a woman are in custody. (March 15)
AP

Kids hit the streets for climate-change protest 

On Friday a climate-change protest spearheaded by a 16-year-old Swede up for a Nobel Peace Prize unfolds, with tens of thousands of young people hitting the streets in 112 countries. Greta Thunberg, nominated this week for the Nobel, tweeted Thursday that the “School Strike For Climate” protest will take place in over 1,700 locations worldwide. The teen has encouraged students to skip school to join protests demanding faster action on climate change. In the U.S. alone, some 100,000 are expected to participate in at least 400 separate protests in all 50 states.

Players Championship: Can Tiger keep pace with leaders in Round 2?

One of the biggest events of the PGA Tour season is underway at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. But the big story Thursday coming out of what many call golf’s unofficial “fifth major” had little to do with golf. Phil Mickelson — who shot two over par in Round 1 — acknowledged that he worked with the company at the center of an alleged multi-million dollar admissions bribery scheme. On the course, Keegan Bradley and Tommy Fleetwood are tied atop the leaderboard at seven-under par. Tiger Woods, meanwhile, had a strong back nine to finish to Round 1 at two under par. Live television coverage of Round 2 starts at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on the Golf Channel. 

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Israel says it struck Hamas targets after rocket attack

Israel said its warplanes struck 100 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday in response to a rare rocket attack on the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv. The late-night attack on Israel’s densely-populated commercial and cultural capital marked a dramatic escalation in hostilities — it was the first time the city had been targeted since a 2014 war between Israel and Gaza militants. Hamas denied responsibility for the initial rocket attack, saying it went against Palestinian interests. Following the Israeli airstrike, several additional rounds of rocket fire were launched into Israel. The military said several rockets were intercepted by its air defense systems, and there were no reports of injuries. 

Is ‘Arrested Development’ still funny? 

Netflix releases the final half of the current season of “Arrested Development” on Friday. It could be the swan song for the cult comedy whose title describes its broadcast history as well. Canceled by Fox in 2006 after three seasons, it was revived — seven long years later — by Netflix. No new episodes after that season came to the streaming service until five more years had passed. Now only in its fifth season after all these years, our reviewer finds the show about the oddball Bluth family seems to have lasted far too long and not long enough.

Contributing: Associated Press

Read or Share this story: https://ift.tt/2JdxDhD