Man faces jail for refusing to take down Trump flag

NEW YORK — Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump appears to have a passionate supporter in Joseph Hornick, a New Jersey man who faces a $2,000 fine or 90 days in jail for flying a flag emblazoned with the billionaire candidate’s name over his home.

Local officials said the flag violates an ordinance prohibiting the display of political signs more than 30 days ahead of an election and issued him a summons. New Jersey’s primary is on June 7.

High school students Snapchat photo of ‘Jews vs. Nazis’ drinking game

PRINCETON, N.J. — Officials at a New Jersey high school say they’re upset over a photo on social media showing students playing a “Jews vs. Nazis” drinking game.

The photo was shared on Snapchat, where one Princeton high student captured it andwrote about it on her blog.

Imagewandel für „Made in China“: Von der Werkbank der Welt zum Qualitätsproduzenten

„Made in China“ - das war lange Zeit ein Synonym für die bloße Weiterverarbeitung von Materialien. Dass China einst 800 Millionen Hemden exportieren musste, um ein Flugzeug aus dem Ausland zu importieren, bleibt der Fertigungsindustrie der Volksrepublik noch immer in schmerzhafter Erinnerung. Doch dank der wirtschaftlichen Transformation des Landes und der neuen Innovationsoffensive der Regierung hat sich das Bild geändert. Ob Chinas Hochgeschwindigkeitszüge, seine Kernkraft-Projekte oder chinesische Smartphones – 

Les fins artisans de la Cité interdite

GONG HAN, membre de la rédaction

Mai 2015, 5 mois avant le 90^e anniversaire du Musée du Palais impérial installé dans la Cité interdite, un paravent poussiéreux et abîmé est envoyé à l'équipe de restauration des objets historiques. Dans les réserves du musée : 32 paravents de cette sorte. Celui-ci était le cadeau d'anniversaire préparé par ses 16 fils et 32 petits-fils à l'empereur Kangxi des Qing (1644-1911) lors de ses 60 ans.

习近平同捷克总统举行会谈 两国元首共同宣布建立中捷战略伙伴关系

两国元首共同宣布建立中捷战略伙伴关系

　　新华社布拉格3月29日电（记者王朝文　陈贽　孟娜）当地时间29日，国家主席习近平在布拉格同捷克总统泽曼举行会谈。双方积极评价两国关系发展，就中捷关系、中欧关系、中国－中东欧国家合作及共同关心的国际和地区问题深入交换意见，达成广泛共识。两国元首一致同意，将中捷关系提升为战略伙伴关系，推动中捷关系再上新台阶。

　　习近平指出，捷克是最早承认并同新中国建交的国家之一，两国和两国人民友谊源远流长。当前，中捷关系已经进入春华夏实的时候，发展势头积极向好，双方高层交往密切，经贸等各领域合作蓬勃发展。中方愿同捷方一道，珍惜中捷关系来之不易的良好局面，巩固中捷传统友谊，增进双方政治互信，推动两国务实合作取得更多新成果，使中捷友好事业薪火相传。

Blast at a Crowded Park in Lahore, Pakistan, Kills Dozens

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suicide bomber set off a powerful blast close to a children’s swing set in a public park on Sunday evening in the eastern city of Lahore, killing at least 69 people and wounding around 300, rescue workers and officials said.

The blast occurred in a parking lot at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, one of the largest parks in Lahore, said Haider Ashraf, a senior police official in the city. The bomb was detonated within several feet of the swings in a park crowded with families on Easter.

Jamaat-e-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the blast. Its spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said in a statement that Christians were the target.

It was the third bombing in Pakistan in this month alone, a reminder that even as the military has cracked down on extremists over the past two years, Islamist groups remain a potent threat.

The bombing came as large protests were held in other parts of the country to protest the execution in February of the man who murdered a secular politician five years ago. While public opinion has largely been galvanized by attacks on civilians by jihadists, particularly the killing of 150 people at a school in Peshawar in 2014, the protests are a sign that widespread sympathy remains for extremist groups in Pakistan.

In Brussels Bombing Plot, a Trail of Dots Not Connected

BRUSSELS — The stench of chemicals emanating from the sixth-floor apartment made the owner of the building gag. Other odd happenings at the mostly empty housing block in northern Brussels prompted an anxious resident in the area to alert the police. A taxi driver who picked up three young men at the block smelled a noxious odor leaking from their curiously heavy luggage as he drove them to Brussels Airport.

North Carolina May Be Ground Zero for Election Law Battles

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The purest distillation of the nation’s wars over voting rules and legislative gerrymandering is playing out in North Carolina.

A high-profile lawsuit is taking on a voter identification law and other voting changes. There are four other suits challenging North Carolina’s congressional or state legislative districts on racial grounds. Three more allege unconstitutional gerrymandering of local races. And on March 4, a new law changing how judges are elected was struck down by a three-judge state panel.

North Carolina May Be Ground Zero for Election Law Battles

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The purest distillation of the nation’s wars over voting rules and legislative gerrymandering is playing out in North Carolina.

A high-profile lawsuit is taking on a voter identification law and other voting changes. There are four other suits challenging North Carolina’s congressional or state legislative districts on racial grounds. Three more allege unconstitutional gerrymandering of local races. And on March 4, a new law changing how judges are elected was struck down by a three-judge state panel.

Killer Whale From ‘Blackfish’ Film Is Ailing, SeaWorld Says

Tilikum, the orca whose killing of a trainer at a SeaWorld park in Orlando became the focus of the documentary “Blackfish,” has been found to have a respiratory disease that could likely end in death, his caretakers said.

According to a statement by SeaWorld, the killer whale, known to his caretakers as Tili, has been in captivity since 1983, and is estimated to be around 35 years old.

In an accompanying video, Tilikum’s veterinarian, Dr. Scott Gearhart, said that the bacteria found in the orca’s lungs is found also in wild marine animals, and that “there’s no doubt in my mind” that care at SeaWorld prolonged his life.

Afghan Court Confirms Reduced Sentences in Mob Killing of Woman

KABUL, Afghanistan — One defendant was the custodian of a holy shrine who trafficked in Viagra, condoms and pagan amulets, who, found out, falsely accused a young woman namedFarkhunda of burning a Quran. Another was an employee from an optician’s shop who joined agrowing mob at the shrine and pummeled Farkhunda with a rock the size of a watermelon.

Another was an Afghan intelligence agent who bragged on Facebook that he had the honor of striking the fatal blow against her. Another man drove his car over her, twice.

Hopeful Start for First Uterus Transplant Surgery in U.S.

CLEVELAND — Just minutes after the patient’s name was placed on the waiting list for a transplant, details about a matching donor popped up.

“I was shocked,” said Dr. Andreas G. Tzakis, the director of solid organ transplantation at theCleveland Clinic’s hospital in Weston, Fla. “I really considered it an act of God.”

Less than 24 hours later, on Feb. 24, the patient, a 26-year-old woman from Texas, became the first in the United States to receive a uterus transplant, in a nine-hour operation here at the Cleveland Clinic. Born without a uterus, she hopes the transplant will enable her to become pregnant and give birth.

In Democratic Debate, Bernie Sanders Pushes Hillary Clinton on Trade and Jobs

FLINT, Mich. — Senator Bernie Sanders, anxious that the Democratic nomination is slipping away from him, launched a series of cutting and sarcastic attacks against Hillary Clinton over trade, welfare reform and Wall Street in a debate Sunday night that often felt like a war over Bill Clinton’s legacy and the moderate Democratic policies of the 1990s.

Even Mrs. Clinton joined in the repudiation of her husband’s 1994 crime bill and 1996 welfare law, which both disproportionately harmed African-Americans. Both she and Mr. Sanders are aggressively courting black voters in Michigan, Ohio and other racially diverse states that hold primaries over the next nine days, but Mr. Sanders has an urgent need to cut into Mrs. Clinton’s support among African-Americans.

Ted Cruz Wins Kansas Caucuses as 5 States Vote on ‘Super Saturday’

Senator Ted Cruz scored a hard-fought and decisive win in the Kansas caucuses on Saturday, demonstrating his enduring appeal among conservatives as he tries to reel in Donald J. Trump’s significant lead in the Republican presidential race.

Mr. Cruz’s victory illustrated the doubts about Mr. Trump that still linger among the sort of traditional Republicans who attend time-intensive party caucuses. With results still being tallied, Mr. Trump appeared to finish well behind Mr. Cruz, with Senator Marco Rubio of Florida taking third.

Rank and File Republicans Tell Party Elites: We’re Sticking With Donald Trump

From Michigan to Louisiana to California on Friday, rank-and-file Republicans expressed mystification, dismissal and contempt regarding the instructions that their party’s most high-profile leaders were urgently handing down to them: Reject and defeat Donald J. Trump.

Their angry reactions, in the 24 hours since Mitt Romney and John McCainurged millions of voters to cooperate in a grand strategy to undermine Mr. Trump’s candidacy, have captured the seemingly inexorable force of a movement that still puzzles the Republican elite and now threatens to unravel the party they hold dear.