PoliticsAssociated PressThe Latest: Trump tweets abrupt shift on Golan Heights
President Donald Trump has abruptly declared the U.S. will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a major shift in American policy that gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month before what is expected to be a close election. The administration has been considering recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the strategic highlands, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, for some time. Netanyahu had pressed the matter with visiting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just a day earlier.
NewsReutersJustice Thomas speaks as U.S. top court confronts racial bias in jury selection
U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared poised to side with a black Mississippi death row inmate put on trial six times for a 1996 quadruple murder who accused a prosecutor of repeatedly blocking black potential jurors, though the court's only black member sounded skeptical. Justice Clarence Thomas, who had not posed a question during an oral argument in three years, asked several in the case involving Curtis Flowers, 48, who has argued that his constitutional right to a fair trial was violated. Thomas, an idiosyncratic conservative and only the second African American ever appointed to the court, signaled through his questions he might vote against Flowers, who otherwise drew broad support among the other justices, both liberal and conservative.
PoliticsUSA TODAYWho is running for president? Here's a list of the candidates so far
Fast facts: The grandson of a Mexican immigrant and son of a Latina activist, Castro's twin brother, Joaquin Castro, is a Democratic congressman from Texas. Campaign site: https://www.julianforthefuture.com/ John Delaney Age: 55 Experience: U.S. House representative from Maryland, 2013-2019; entrepreneur Quote: "Trump wants this campaign to be about socialism and we shouldn't give him what he wants. We need to update our social programs to better fit today's world, and we need to make capitalism more just and inclusive."
- BusinessCar and Driver
See Photos of the New 2020 Porsche Cayenne Coupe
Porsche joins competitors Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz with a coupe version of its Cayenne SUV at a modest price premium over the standard Cayenne and Cayenne Turbo. From Car and Driver
- EntertainmentTime
'Change Is Closer Than We Think.' Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Unlikely Rise
It's almost always a harmless fan, one of dozens who arrive each day, leaving neon-colored Post-it notes as devotional offerings. But in her first three months in Congress, aides say, enough people have threatened to murder Ocasio-Cortez that Capitol Police trained her staff to perform risk assessments of her visitors. This is the daily reality for America's newest human Rorschach test.
- NewsThe Independent
Harvard 'shamelessly' profits from photos of enslaved people, descendant claims in lawsuit
A descendant of enslaved people has sued Harvard University, alleging that the Ivy League institution has “shamelessly” profited from photos of her ancestors. Tamara Lanier, of Norwich, Connecticut, claims that Harvard has ignored requests to surrender images of a man named Renty, whom she says is her great-great-great grandfather, and his daughter Delia. Lanier is suing Harvard for “wrongful seizure, possession and expropriation” of the images, asking the university to return the photos to her, pay unspecified damages, and recognise her ancestry.
PoliticsFOX News VideosSamantha Bee skewers Democratic 2020 hopefuls on late-night talk show
Late-night TV host Samantha Bee ripped into the growing field of Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls Wednesday night. The 'Full Frontal' host commented on everything from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign slogan, to former Vice President Joe Biden not making a decision on his third potential presidential run. The TBS star also went after former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
- BusinessMashable
Brew craft beer at home with the PicoBrew brewing machine — on sale for $150 off at Best Buy
From now until March 23, get the PicoBrew Pico Model C brewing machine for $150 off at Best Buy, bringing the price down to $249. Pico Model C brings the taproom to your home by equipping you to brew award-winning beers from more than 170 breweries around the world without needing complex equipment and supplies. Sort of like a meal kit delivery service, PicoBrew pre-packages all the ingredients you'll need to create the brew of your choosing.
BusinessAFPAfter crashes, Boeing rolls out safety feature previously sold as option
Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft will be outfitted with a warning light for malfunctions in the anti-stall system suspected in October's fatal crash in Indonesia, an industry source told AFP Thursday, standardizing a feature previously sold as an optional extra. The development comes as the manufacturer struggles to cope with the fallout from both the Indonesia crash and another in Ethiopia this month, which have cast a spotlight on the safety certification process and shaken confidence in a plane that is crucial to its future plans. Known as a "disagree light," this safety feature will become standard and is among the modifications the company will present to US authorities and clients in the coming days, the source said on condition of anonymity.
- WorldYahoo News
In a gift to Netanyahu, Trump tweets U.S. support for Israel annexing Golan
Stepping again into the fraught territory of Middle Eastern politics, President Trump on Thursday reversed a long-standing American policy that treated Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights as temporary. Trump wrote on Twitter: “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability! The precise legal significance of Trump's tweet was unclear, and its practical impact is limited.
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: New Zealanders to observe Muslim call to prayer
People across New Zealand will listen to the Muslim call to prayer on Friday as the nation marks one week since a gunman attacked two mosques and killed 50 people. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and thousands of other people plan to congregate in Hagley Park opposite the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch to observe the call to prayer at 1:30 p.m. Many radio and television stations plan to broadcast the event live. At least 42 people died at the Al Noor mosque and at least seven at the nearby Linwood mosque in last Friday's attack.
WorldReutersCitigroup to sell Venezuelan gold in setback to President Maduro: sources
Maduro's government has since 2014 used financial operations known as gold swaps to use its international reserves to gain access to cash after a slump in oil revenues left it struggling to obtain hard currency. Under the terms of the 2015 deal with Citigroup's Citibank, Venezuela was due to repay $1.1 billion of the loan on March 11, according to four sources familiar with the situation. Citibank plans to sell the gold held as a guarantee - which has a market value of roughly $1.358 billion - to recover the first tranche of the loan and will deposit the excess of roughly $258 million in a bank account in New York, two of the sources said.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Bringing the Sting: The U.S. Navy Is Getting New F/A-18E/F Super Hornets
David Axe Security, The Super Hornets would be the first new-build examples of the Block III variant of the F/A-18E/F. The Block III flies farther and carries more weapons than an older F/A-18E/F can do and also is stealthier than earlier Super Hornet models are. The U.S. Navy in mid-March 2019 awarded Chicago plane-maker Boeing a $4-billion contract to build 78 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for the U.S. Navy. The Super Hornets would be the first new-build examples of the Block III variant of the F/A-18E/F. The Block III flies farther and carries more weapons than an older F/A-18E/F can do and also is stealthier than earlier Super Hornet models are.
PoliticsReutersBiden building 2020 White House campaign ahead of expected bid: sources
Biden has told supporters and former staff that he will run, according to one source who has knowledge of discussions. Biden and his aides also have reached out to donors and potential bundlers - people who volunteer to raise money on behalf of the candidate - to assess support, according to another source. A third source with direct knowledge of Biden's plans offered a caveat, saying the former vice president was very close to running, but "it's not 100 percent." “We're leaning into that moment” when Biden gives the green light, the source said.
NewsThe IndependentFox News contributor called 'complete moron' for falsely saying US was first to end slavery
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich attempted to counter Senator Elizabeth Warren's call to discuss the injustices of slavery, and its lasting systemic impact on generations of African-Americans, by claiming that the United States does not get “enough credit” for ending slavery. While discussing reparations to descendents of enslaved people on Fox News' "Outnumbered" on Tuesday, Ms Pavlich claimed that the US was the first country to abolish slavery. They keep blaming America for the sin of slavery but the truth is, throughout human history, slavery existed, and America came along as the first country to end it within 150 years,” she said.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Catholic Church scandal: 395 Illinois priests, deacons accused of sexual misconduct
CHICAGO – Nearly 400 Catholic clergy members in Illinois have been accused of sexual misconduct, but church officials have only informed congregants of a fraction of those who have faced allegations, according to attorneys who represented clergy sex abuse victims across the USA. A 182-page report, published Wednesday by the Minnesota-based law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, includes the names, background information, photos and assignment histories of each accused clergy member. The danger of sexual abuse in Illinois is clearly a problem of today, not just the past,” the report concludes.
- WorldMashable
Giant inland sea created by the disastrous Mozambique cyclone
Cyclone Idai left death, destruction, and a sprawling inland sea in its wake. The powerful tropical cyclone — which struck Mozambique last Thursday as the equivalent of a Category 2 or 3 hurricane with winds of around 100 mph — has left at least 150 dead and 600,000 in need of help in the flooded nation said the EU, though the Associated Press reports over 300 fatalities as of March 21 when accounting for deaths in neighboring Zimbabwe. The cyclone's widespread flooding — in part overshadowed by simultaneous and historic flooding in the Midwest — has left behind an inundated area some 200 square miles in size (518 square kilometers), with the inland sea reaching up to 15 miles wide, accordin...
BusinessAFPIndonesia's Garuda says to cancel 49-jet Boeing 737 deal after crashes
Indonesia's national carrier Garuda has told Boeing it will cancel a multi-billion-dollar order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after the model was involved in two fatal crashes. The move could spark more cancellations from other major carriers, an aviation analyst said, as Boeing and US federal regulators get set to face their first public grilling by Congress since the deadly incidents. "We have sent a letter to Boeing requesting that the order be cancelled," Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said.
PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump visits tank factory and renews attack on war hero McCain
At a speech at an Ohio tank factory, President Trump complained that he wasn't thanked for giving John McCain “the kind of funeral he wanted. I gave him the kind of funeral he wanted which as president I had to approve. I don't care about this, I didn't get thank you, that's OK,” Trump said, to a crowd of workers at the Lima Army Tank Plant in Lima, Ohio.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
See How Snøhetta's Architecture Brought the Best of Scandinavian Design to the World
A new book surveys the AD100 firm, which has designed such high-profile structures as the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion to lesser-known buildings like the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Pavilion
- CelebrityTime
USC Just Named a New President. Here's What She Said About the Admissions Scandal
As the University of Southern California (USC) grapples with the fallout from a sweeping college admissions scandal, officials announced the appointment of a new president who vowed to bring lasting change to a campus that has been plagued by controversy. Carol Folt, who stepped down in January as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), will take over as USC president on July 1, becoming the first permanent female president at the school. USC was one of several schools named in last week's indictment of wealthy parents who are accused of bribing athletic coaches and facilitating cheating on standardized tests to get their children into elite colleges, including Georgetown, Yale, Stanford and USC.
WorldAssociated PressAustralia says tensions with Turkey ease after WWI remarks
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday tensions between his country and Turkey had eased after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said comments by the Turkish leader that sparked the row had been taken out of context. A diplomatic dispute flared over Erdogan's comments in the wake of Friday's gun massacre in which 50 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, attacks for which an Australian white supremacist has been charged with murder. Speaking while campaigning for local elections, Erdogan warned Australians and New Zealanders going to Turkey with anti-Muslim views would return home in coffins, like their ancestors who fought at Gallipoli in World War I.
BusinessReutersJury finding upends Bayer's Roundup defense strategy: experts
Bayer shares tumbled more than 12 percent on Wednesday after a unanimous jury in San Francisco federal court found Roundup to be a "substantial factor" in causing California resident Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The jury decision was a blow to Bayer after the judge in the Hardeman case, at the company's request, had split the trial, severely limiting evidence plaintiffs could present in the first phase. Tuesday's defeat on terms considered advantageous to Bayer sets up the second phase to be even tougher and limits the grounds on which the company could appeal any final verdict, the experts said.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Jared Kushner: Trump's son-in-law uses WhatsApp and personal email for official White House business, attorney says
Jared Kushner uses private messaging apps and personal email to communicate about official Trump administration matters with foreign leaders – a violation of a laws governing White House records - a congressional committee has been told. Elijah Cummings, the Democratic congressman who heads the House of Representative's oversight committee, said the lawyer of the president's son-in-law. Reuters said the congressman also said the lawyer told his committee that Ivanka Trump, the president's oldest daughter and Mr Kushner's wife, continued to receive emails related to official business on a personal email account.
NewsAssociated PressEx-cop says he thought he saw a gun when he shot black teen
A white former police officer said Thursday he thought a weapon was pointed at him when he shot and killed an unarmed black teenager outside Pittsburgh last summer. Former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld took the stand at his homicide trial and insisted he was in fear for his life when he gunned down 17-year-old Antwon Rose II. Rosfeld, 30, got choked up and dabbed away tears as he recounted finding the mortally wounded Rose on the ground.
