WASHINGTON: Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller’s report does not clearly state whether Trump had tried to intervene in justice by undermining investigations that have dogged his presidency.

Even though the report brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting, said Attorney General William Barr Sunday.

Trump cheered the outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration.

However, his Democratic opponents are dissatisfied with the outcome of the long-awaited report and vowed to keep up their political assault against him.

Meanwhile, many of Trump’s opponents had accused the president of obstructing the Russia probe when he fired former FBI Director James Comey in 2017.

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the massive killing of 134 civilians in a Malian village.

“The secretary-general is shocked and outraged by reports that at least 134 civilians, including women and children, have been killed and at least 55 have been injured following an attack this morning in Ogossagou Peulh village, Mopti region, in central Mali,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the secretary-general, said in a statement.

BAMAKO: Gunmen have killed at least 134 Fulani herders in central Mali, official said.

According to media reports, this has been the deadliest such attack of recent times in the region.

The gunmen attacked villages of Ogossagou and Welingara as a U.N. Security Council mission visited Mali seeking solutions to violence in the region on Saturday.

Mayor of the nearby town of Bankass, Moulaye Guindo, said armed men dressed as traditional Donzo hunters encircled and then attacked the Ogossagou village, reports said.

He said they were provisionally at 134 bodies recovered by the gendarmes.

According to him, the gunmen also attacked another nearby Fulani village and Welingara. Most of those killed have been women, children and elderly people. (Agencies)

PANAMA CITY: Panama’s ex-president Ricardo Martinelli faces up to 21 years in jail for spying on political foes, reporters and business leaders while in power, international media reports said.

The then-president has been accused of targeting about 150 individuals with illegal communications tapping that was done without an order from the court.

Attorney Carlos Carrillo of Martinelli’s legal team, however, insisted that it was impossible to link Martinelli himself with the offenses of which he has been accused.

BEIJING: The death toll from an explosion in a pesticide plant in eastern China’s Jiangsu province has climbed to 64, media reports said on Saturday.

The incident has been dubbed as of the worst industrial accidents in China. The explosion knocked down buildings, tossed children into air and caused a tremor equivalent to a magnitude-3.0 earthquake, officials said Saturday.

The officials said that 24 others were missing.

WASHINGTON: Special Counsel Robert Mueller has finished his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, media reports said on Friday.

Mueller’s confidential report has been delivered to Attorney General William Barr, the Justice Department announced.

The attorney general now will decide who to release it, The New York Times reported.
It took 22 months for Mueller to complete his report.

(Agencies)

KABUL: Two US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Friday, NATO has said. It is the latest casualties to hit the international coalition. The incident comes at a time when peace talks are underway between Washington and the Taliban.

“In accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the name of the service members killed in action are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete,” said NATO.

The deaths come a day after at least six people were killed by blasts in an Islamic State-claimed attack during Persian New Year celebrations in a Shiite area of Kabul, AFP reported. (Agencies)

ATHENS: Attackers riding on a motorcycle threw an explosive device at the Russian consulate in Athens this morning, local media reports said.

Media quoted police as saying that the explosive device could probably be a hand grenade. However, no one was injured, police said.

Police cordoned off the area after the incident. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the consulate. (Agencies)

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has received death threats on social media. Police are investigating death threats to Jacinda Ardern on social media. A Twitter post containing a photo of a gun and captioned, “You are next” was sent to the Prime Minister.

The post had been up for more than 48 hours before the sender’s Twitter account was suspended before 4 pm after it was reported by various people. Another post tagged to Ardern and NZ Police and had the same photo with “next it’s you.”

I’ve just reported some death threats against our Prime Minister, complete with pictures of guns, that were tweeted 48 hours ago – if you wouldn’t mind sorting those out while you’re here standing with us.

— Aimee Gulliver (@aimeegulliver) March 22, 2019

The suspended account contained anti-Islamic content and white supremacist hate speech. A police spokeswoman said, “Police are aware of a comment made on Twitter and are making inquiries.”

The Prime Minister’s office and Twitter were contacted for comment. The posts were pointed out to Twitter itself after the social networking giant tweeted a message of support following the two Christchurch mosque attacks last Friday which left 50 people dead.

Twitter Public Policy’s tweet – promoted by Twitter Australia – read: “Kia Kaha. We stand together with New Zealand.” The message came at 1.48 pm, closely after the nationwide two-minute silence for the mosque victims.

(Agencies)

PRAYAGRAJ:  500 buses parade along 3.2-km stretch have set a Guinness  world record in India. The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) ran a fleet of 500 shuttle buses on a stretch of 3.2 kilometres between Sahson toll and Nawabganj toll plaza.

UPSRTC had issued directive to all the 18 regions of the state to send the buses along with manpower in the city by February 27. A couple of observers from the Guinness Book of the World Records witnessed the event and handed over a certificate to the winners. Till date, has Abu Dhabi held a record of running 390 buses in a parade.