Trump to release opioid epidemic plan on Monday that includes death penalty

President Trump · Donald John TrumpAccuser says Trump should be afraid of the truth Woman behind pro-Trump Facebook page denies being influenced by Russians Shulkin says he has White House approval to root out ‘subversion’ at VA MORE on Monday will …

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Source: The Hill

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Pakistan shelling kills 5 family members in Kashmir

JAMMU, India

Five members of a family were killed and two others wounded on Sunday in cross border shelling between Indian and Pakistani soldiers in disputed Kashmir, officials said.

The five were killed after a shell fired by Pakistani soldiers hit their home in Poonch region along the militarized Line of Control that divides the Himalayan territory between the two nuclear-armed rivals, said S.P. Vaid, the police chief.

The dead included a woman, two children and a teenage boy. Vaid said the injured have been hospitalized and authorities were evacuating civilians from the area amid shelling and firing.

India's army said its soldiers were responding to what it called unprovoked violation of the 2003 cease-fire agreement between the two countries.

Pakistan did not immediately comment. However, both the nuclear-armed rivals routinely blame the other for starting any firing and insist they are only retaliating.

The violence comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad as both accused each other of harassing their diplomatic staff in the two capitals.

This year soldiers of the two nations have also been engaged in fierce border skirmishes along the rugged and mountainous Line of Control, as well as lower-altitude 200-kilometer (125-mile) boundary separating Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over their competing claims to the region.

Many see the fighting as part of what's become a predictable cycle of violence, as the region convulses with decades-old animosities between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, where rebel groups demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

A flare-up early this year similarly sent thousands to temporary shelters for days.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training anti-India rebels and also helping them by providing gunfire as cover for incursions into the Indian side.


Pakistan denies this, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the militants and to Kashmiris who oppose Indian rule. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown since 1989.

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Russian monitors report election irregularities

A polling station official prepares vote cabins for the 2018 Russian presidential election at a polling station in Simferopol, Crimea, Saturday, March 17, 2018. Russian voters, observers and eight presidential candidates are gearing up for an election that will undoubtedly hand Vladimir Putin another six-year term.

MOSCOW — The Latest on Russia’s presidential election (all times local):9 a.m.

Election monitors are reporting irregularities at voting stations across Russia in a presidential election whose only open question is how many people cast ballots.

Vladimir Putin is certain to win a fourth term in Sunday’s election, so voter apathy is widespread. Authorities have spent unprecedented funds to get out the vote to ensure he has a strong mandate for his next six years in office.

Election monitoring group Golos reported dozens of apparent violations Sunday, from the Russian Far East to Moscow. The problems included multiple ballot boxes placed out of sight of observation cameras, and last-minute voter registration changes likely designed to boost turnout.

Some 145,000 observers are monitoring the voting in the world’s largest country, including 1,500 foreigners and representatives from opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s political movement.

Navalny himself is barred from running. Putin faces seven challengers but none poses a serious threat.

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Southeast Asia leaders back sanctions against North Korea

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull makes an opening speech at the Leaders Plenary during ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, Sunday, March 18, 2018, in Sydney, Australia. It is the first time Australia has hosted the summit with ASEAN leaders in Australia. (Mark Metcalfe/Pool via AP)

Southeast Asian leaders and Australia's prime minister have called on North Korea to end its nuclear program and are urging United Nations countries to fully implement sanctions.

Leaders attending the first summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, to be held in Australia issued a joint statement with Australia on Sunday that also calls for non-militarization and a code of conduct in the contested waters of the South China Sea, where China has become increasingly assertive.


Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have eased recently amid plans for a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but Asian nations are still wary of any potential conflict in the region.

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