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Happening Today: New Zealand, North Korea, Border, Johnson & Johnson, Hallmark Channel, Louis Tomlinson

What to Know

  • Mass shootings at two mosques full of worshipers killed 49 people on what the prime minister called 'one of New Zealand's darkest days'
  • Johnson & Johnson must pay $29 million to a woman who claimed its baby powder gave her terminal cancer, a jury ruled
  • The Hallmark Channel cut ties with favored star Lori Loughlin, a day after her arrest in a college admissions scam

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49 Killed in New Zealand Mosque Shootings; Man Charged

Mass shootings at two mosques full of worshipers attending prayers killed 49 people on what the prime minister called "one of New Zealand's darkest days." Authorities charged one person, detained three others and defused explosive devices in what appeared to be a carefully planned racist attack. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the events in Christchurch represented "an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence" and acknowledged many of those affected may be migrants and refugees. In addition to the dead, she said more than 20 people were seriously wounded. Police took three men and a woman into custody after the shootings, which shocked people across the nation of 5 million people. One of the suspects was later charged with murder. While there was no reason to believe there were more suspects, Ardern said the national security threat level was being raised to the second-highest level.

Kim Rethinking US Talks, Launch Moratorium, N. Korean Official Says

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will soon decide whether to continue diplomatic talks and maintain his moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests, a senior North Korean official said, adding the U.S. threw away a golden opportunity at the recent summit between their leaders. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, addressing a meeting of diplomats and foreign media, including The Associated Press, in Pyongyang said the North was deeply disappointed by the failure of the two sides to reach any agreements at the Hanoi summit between Kim and President Trump. She said Pyongyang now has no intention of compromising or continuing talks unless the United States takes measures that are commensurate to the changes it has taken — such as the 15-month moratorium on launches and tests — and changes its "political calculation." Choe, who attended the Feb. 27-28 talks in Hanoi, said Kim was puzzled by what she called the "eccentric" negotiation position of the U.S.

Senate Rejects Trump Border Emergency as Republicans Defect

In a stunning rebuke, a dozen defecting Republicans joined Senate Democrats to block the national emergency that President Trump declared so he could build his border wall with Mexico. The rejection capped a week of confrontation with the White House as both parties in Congress strained to exert their power in new ways. The 59-41 tally, following the Senate's vote a day earlier to end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen, promised to force Trump into the first vetoes of his presidency. Trump had warned against both actions. Moments after Thursday's vote, the president tweeted a single word of warning: "VETO!" Two years into the Trump era, a defecting dozen Republicans, pushed along by Democrats, showed a willingness to take that political risk. Twelve GOP senators, including the party's 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney of Utah, joined the dissent over the emergency declaration order that would enable the president to seize for the wall billions of dollars Congress intended elsewhere. Many senators said the vote was not necessarily a rejection of the president or the wall, but protections against future presidents -- namely a Democrat who might want to declare an emergency on climate change, gun control or any number of other issues.

Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $29M in Baby Powder Case

Johnson & Johnson must pay $29 million to a woman who claimed its baby powder gave her terminal cancer, a California jury ruled. A Superior Court jury in Oakland found the world's largest health care company mainly liable for Teresa Leavitt's mesothelioma. The verdict said the baby powder was a "substantial contributing factor" in her illness. Her suit is one of many that link cancers to asbestos in Johnson & Johnson's talc-based products and contend that the company concealed the health risk for decades. Requests for comment from the New Jersey-based comment were not immediately answered. Johnson & Johnson is facing some 13,000 similar lawsuits around the country.

Hallmark Drops Lori Loughlin, Daughter Loses Sephora Amid Scandal

The Hallmark Channel cut ties with favored star Lori Loughlin, a day after her arrest in a college admissions scam put the family-friendly network and extended Hallmark brand in uncomfortable proximity to a headline-grabbing scandal. "We are saddened by the recent allegations surrounding the college admissions process," Hallmark Cards Inc., parent company of the Crown Media Family Networks umbrella group that includes the Hallmark Channel, said in a statement. "We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin" and have stopped development of all productions with the actress for Crown Media channels, the statement said. The company initially took a wait-and-see approach after a federal investigation of the scam involving more than 30 parents, many of them prominent, was revealed Tuesday. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying bribes to gain their daughters' college admissions. Loughlin's career and the Hallmark Channel were deeply intertwined.

Louis Tomlinson's Sister Félicité Dies at 18, Reports Say

One Direction's Louis Tomlinson's younger sister, Félicité Tomlinson, has been found dead at the age of 18. Félicité, a model and social media influencer with over 1.3 million Instagram followers, reportedly collapsed after a suspected heart attack at her apartment in London. The Metropolitan Police Service tells E! News police were called by London Ambulance Service to a residential address following reports of a female in cardiac arrest. Officers attended, and a female believed to be aged 18 was pronounced dead at the scene. She last shared a photo to Instagram March 10. In the picture, Félicité can be seen sitting on the floor as she takes a selfie. This devastating news comes just over two years after Félicité and Louis' mom, Johannah Deakin, died after a long battle with leukemia. It was exactly one week ago that the 27-year-old One Direction star released an emotional new song about his mother's death called "Two of Us."

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