| Trump rages about Electoral College reform and lowering voter age to 16 in midnight Twitter tirade Posted: 20 Mar 2019 03:57 AM PDT  Donald Trump has used his latest overnight Twitter tirade to rail against proposals among some Democrats to abolish the Electoral College system and lower the voting age to 16. "Campaigning for the Popular Vote is much easier & different than campaigning for the Electoral College," Mr Trump tweeted on Tuesday evening. The president's outburst came after Elizabeth Warren, a leading Democratic contender for 2020, called for a popular vote to replace the complex Electoral College system, in which a president is selected by "electors" that people in each state vote for.
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| The Latest: New Zealanders to observe Muslim call to prayer Posted: 21 Mar 2019 02:34 PM PDT  CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — The Latest on the mosque attacks in New Zealand (all times local):
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| Venezuela doctors under regime pressure during UN visit Posted: 19 Mar 2019 11:46 PM PDT  Venezuelan doctors have come under pressure from President Nicolas Maduro's government for trying to alert a visiting UN mission about the severe lack of hospital medicine and equipment, NGOs say. Venezuelan authorities say that US sanctions freezing $30 billion in assets have blocked imports of basic items including medicine. "They forcibly booted out the head of a medical school in Maracay (west of Caracas) and since then we haven't heard from her," said Jaime Lorenzo, executive director of one association called Medicos Unidos (Doctors United).
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| Samantha Bee skewers Democratic 2020 hopefuls on late-night talk show Posted: 21 Mar 2019 07:53 AM PDT  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.
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| Flooding will continue into next week in storm-ravaged Midwest Posted: 20 Mar 2019 03:50 AM PDT  Floods driven by rain and melting snow have affected several states, with four people killed and one missing after storms.
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| Justice Clarence Thomas breaks three-year silence in Mississippi case about racial bias in jury selection Posted: 20 Mar 2019 04:04 PM PDT  The Supreme Court's senior justice, who seldom speaks during oral argument, broke a three-year silence to ask questions in a race discrimination case.
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| Some Pickups Lag in Passenger Crash Protection Posted: 20 Mar 2019 09:01 PM PDT  Crash Tests Show Some Pickup Trucks Lag in Passenger Protection Most pickup trucks fall short when it comes to protecting passengers in certain types of crashes, according to new findings from t...
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| The Pentagon's Watchdog Is Investigating Whether the Acting Defense Secretary Boosted Boeing Posted: 20 Mar 2019 11:22 AM PDT  The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has launched an investigation into Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan.
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| Trump Pours Gas on GM's Already Smoldering Relations With UAW Posted: 20 Mar 2019 03:00 AM PDT  In a series of tweets starting Saturday, Trump attacked both General Motors Co. and the UAW over the closing of a Chevrolet Cruze factory in Lordstown, Ohio. GM and the UAW each pushed back, but the two have otherwise been very much at odds entering bargaining over a new four-year labor contract.
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| US woman sues Harvard over 'slave ancestor' pictures Posted: 20 Mar 2019 06:49 PM PDT  A US woman who says she is descended from slaves who were photographed in 1850 by a racist Harvard University professor on Wednesday sued the university over the "exploitation" of the images of her ancestors. Tamara Lanier filed suit in the northeastern state of Massachusetts over the photographs taken in South Carolina of a slave and his daughter, known only by their first names: Renty -- the patriarch of her family -- and Delia. The images, thought to be the earliest known photographs of American slaves, are currently in a museum at the university near Boston.
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| Don’t leave home without this tiny Apple Watch travel charger, currently down to its lowest price Posted: 20 Mar 2019 09:25 AM PDT ![Don't leave home without this tiny Apple Watch travel charger, currently down to its lowest price]( "Don't leave home without this tiny Apple Watch travel charger, currently down to its lowest price") You would never travel without your Apple Watch, of course, but wouldn't you love it if you could travel without the Apple Watch's mile-long charging cable? Clip the 5% coupon on the Amazon page and use the exclusive coupon code BGRSAVING15 when you check out, and you'll get the UGREEN Apple Watch Travel Charger for an all-time low of just $32.79. This essential accessory is tiny enough to fit on a keychain and it has an MFi certified wireless charging disc just like the charger that came with your Apple Watch. Definitely pick one up before these sales end.Here's some additional information from the product page: * Apple MFi Certified: Built-in MFI certified (PPID: 219693-0102) magnetic wireless charging module, combine MagSafe technology with inductive charging; Compatible for all 44mm 42mm 40mm 38mm Apple Watch Series 4 3 2 1, Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch Nike plus, Apple Watch Hermes, Apple Watch Edition; * Cable-free Charging: No extra charging cables are needed---saves you from the hassles of tangling cables! Simply plug it into a wall charger/power bank or any other USB charging devices and charging is on the go! * Original Charging Speed: Offers a fast original charging speed for your Apple watch series 4 3 2 1; This apple watch charger cable only takes 2h to fully charge your Apple watch; * Portable and Compact: Lightweight and portable apple watch charger is a perfect accessory for your apple watch. With lanyard design, you can hang it on your bag or put it in your pocket. * Multiple Protections: Built-in over current, over voltage, short circuit and over temperature protection, offers you a safe environment for both watch and the charger.
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| Ocasio-Cortez fires back at Fox News for 'Latina thing' segment Posted: 21 Mar 2019 07:04 AM PDT  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to Laura Igraham after the Fox News host and a guest mocked the freshman Democratic from New York for the way in which she pronounces her name.
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| Citigroup to sell Venezuelan gold in setback to President Maduro: sources Posted: 20 Mar 2019 05:37 PM PDT  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.
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| What we know about Olivia Jade, Lori Loughlin's daughter caught up in admissions scandal Posted: 19 Mar 2019 07:34 PM PDT  Lori Loughlin's USC student daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli, has been swept up in the college admission scandal. Here's what you need to know.
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| The Latest: Forecasters: 'historic' flooding could hit South Posted: 21 Mar 2019 08:33 AM PDT  The Latest on the upcoming flood threat in the South (all times local):
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| Pilot who hitched a ride in cockpit saved doomed Lion Air Boeing 737 Max day before it crashed Posted: 20 Mar 2019 02:06 AM PDT  As the Lion Air crew fought to control their diving Boeing 737 Max 8, they got help from an unexpected source: an off-duty pilot who happened to be riding in the cockpit. That extra pilot, who was seated in the cockpit jumpseat, correctly diagnosed the problem and told the crew how to disable a malfunctioning flight-control system and save the plane, two people familiar with Indonesia's investigation told Bloomberg. The next day, under command of a different crew facing what investigators said was an identical malfunction, the jetliner crashed into the Java Sea killing all 189 aboard. The previously undisclosed detail on the earlier Lion Air flight represents a new clue in the mystery of how some 737 Max pilots faced with the malfunction have been able to avert disaster while the others lost control of their planes and crashed. The presence of a third pilot in the cockpit wasn't contained in Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee's November 28 report on the crash and hasn't previously been reported. Airlines with Boeing 737 Max 8s in their fleet The so-called dead-head pilot on the earlier flight from Bali to Jakarta told the crew to cut power to the motor driving the nose down, according to the people familiar, part of a checklist that all pilots are required to memorise. "All the data and information that we have on the flight and the aircraft have been submitted to the Indonesian NTSC. We can't provide additional comment at this stage due the ongoing investigation on the accident," Lion Air spokesman Danang Prihantoro said. The Indonesia safety committee report said the plane had had multiple failures on previous flights and hadn't been properly repaired. Representatives for Boeing and the Indonesian safety committee declined to comment on the earlier flight. The safety system, designed to keep planes from climbing too steeply and stalling, has come under scrutiny by investigators of the crash as well as a subsequent one less than five months later in Ethiopia. A malfunctioning sensor is believed to have tricked the Lion Air plane's computers into thinking it needed to automatically bring the nose down to avoid a stall. Jakarta plane crash: Flight Lion Air JT610 Boeing's 737 Max was grounded on March 13 by US regulatorsafter similarities to the Oct. 29 Lion Air crash emerged in the investigation of the March 10 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. In the wake of the two accidents, questions have emerged about how Boeing's design of the new 737 model were approved. The Transportation Department's inspector general is conducting a review of how the plane was certified to fly and a grand jury under the US Justice Department is also seeking records in a possible criminal probe of the plane's certification. The FAA last week said it planned to mandate changes in the system to make it less likely to activate when there is no emergency. The agency and Boeing said they are also going to require additional training and references to it in flight manuals. "We will fully cooperate in the review in the Department of Transportation's audit," Boeing spokesman Charles Bickers said. The company has declined to comment on the criminal probe. After the Lion Air crash, two US pilots' unions said the potential risks of the system, known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, hadn't been sufficiently spelled out in their manuals or training. None of the documentation for the Max aircraft included an explanation, the union leaders said. "We don't like that we weren't notified,'' Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said in November. "It makes us question, 'Is that everything, guys?' I would hope there are no more surprises out there.'' The Allied Pilots Association union at American Airlines Group Inc. also said details about the system weren't included in the documentation about the plane. Following the Lion Air crash, the FAA required Boeing to notify airlines about the system and Boeing sent a bulletin to all customers flying the Max reminding them how to disable it in an emergency. Authorities have released few details about Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 other than it flew a "very similar" track as the Lion Air planes and then dove sharply into the ground. There have been no reports of maintenance issues with the Ethiopian Airlines plane before its crash. If the same issue is also found to have helped bring down Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, one of the most vexing questions crash investigators and aviation safety consultants are asking is why the pilots on that flight didn't perform the checklist that disables the system. "After this horrific Lion Air accident, you'd think that everyone flying this airplane would know that's how you turn this off," said Steve Wallace, the former director of the US Federal Aviation Administration's accident investigation branch. The combination of factors required to bring down a plane in these circumstances suggests other issues may also have occurred in the Ethiopia crash, said Jeffrey Guzzetti, who also directed accident investigations at FAA and is now a consultant. "It's simply implausible that this MCAS deficiency by itself can down a modern jetliner with a trained crew," Guzzetti said. MCAS is driven by a single sensor near the nose that measures the so-called angle of attack, or whether air is flowing parallel to the length of the fuselage or at an angle. On the Lion Air flights, the angle-of-attack sensor had failed and was sending erroneous readings indicating the plane's nose was pointed dangerously upward. Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.
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| Republican senator Johnny Isakson says Trump will get a major ‘whipping’ after McCain attacks: ‘The country deserves better’ Posted: 20 Mar 2019 08:45 AM PDT  The Republican chairman of the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee was slated to deliver a major rebuke of Donald Trump after his repeated attacks against the late war hero and former Senator John McCain. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican who heads the veterans committee in the US Senate, told journalist AB Stoddard he would deliver a "whipping" towards Mr Trump after he attacked Mr McCain in a series of misleading tweets over the weekend. Mr Isakson, who has previously described Mr Trump's attacks against Mr McCain as "unthinkable," told the journalist he wanted to "elevate John" with a speech scheduled on Wednesday.
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| Robert Kraft's plea deal offer for prostitution charges hinders real progress on sex trafficking Posted: 21 Mar 2019 05:05 AM PDT  Those who buy sex have more power and privilege than those who sell it. There's a disgusting imbalance in every commercial sex interaction.
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| Aspirin is out. Here's how healthy older adults can prevent heart attacks, strokes without pills Posted: 19 Mar 2019 06:07 PM PDT  The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association say these diet and lifestyle changes can keep hearts healthy.
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| The Latest: Minnesota to help Nebraska flood fight Posted: 20 Mar 2019 04:41 PM PDT  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on Midwest flooding (all times local):
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| Pilots searched for right checklist before Lion Air crash: investigators Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:05 AM PDT  The details revealed at a press conference corroborated a Reuters report on Wednesday that was based on three sources with knowledge of the cockpit voice recorder's contents. Investigators said they have 90 percent of the data needed for a final report on the October crash that killed 189 people. Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at Indonesia's national transportation committee (KNKT) said the recording showed there was "panic" in the cockpit in the last 20 seconds of the flight.
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| 'Our Darkest of Days.' New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Reflects on How The Country Can Move Forward Posted: 20 Mar 2019 12:29 PM PDT  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has garnered international praise for her empathetic but defiant response in the wake of the terror attacks on two…
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| Beto O'Rourke reportedly asks voters to shape him into the candidate they want him to be Posted: 20 Mar 2019 11:04 AM PDT  The Democrat candidate kicks off his presidential campaign focusing on sentiment over specifics.
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| Trump visits tank factory and renews attack on war hero McCain Posted: 20 Mar 2019 01:35 PM PDT  The president complains that he was never thanked for giving McCain the "kind of funeral he wanted."
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| It's not just you: 4 in 5 Americans stressed out from poor office communication Posted: 20 Mar 2019 11:01 AM PDT ![It's not just you: 4 in 5 Americans stressed out from poor office communication]( "It's not just you: 4 in 5 Americans stressed out from poor office communication") Poor company communication has not only led employees to feel more stressed, but also to resent their bosses.
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| Missouri River towns face deluge as floods move downstream Posted: 20 Mar 2019 05:36 PM PDT ![Missouri River towns face deluge as floods move downstream]( "Missouri River towns face deluge as floods move downstream") A string of small Missouri towns prepared for the next deluge along the raging Missouri River on Wednesday after flooding wreaked nearly $1.5 billion in damage in Nebraska, killing at least four people and leaving another man missing. High water unleashed by last week's late-winter storm and melting snow has already inundated a large swath of Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa along the Missouri River, North America's longest river. The Missouri River's next major flood crest was forecast to hit St. Joseph, Missouri, at 6 a.m. on Friday and Kansas City, Missouri, 55 miles (88 km) to the south, about 24 hours later, said Mike Glasch of the Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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| The Latest: Ethiopian airline defends pilots' training Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:05 PM PDT  NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Latest on the Ethiopian plane crash (all times local):
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| Kentucky Governor Signs Law Prohibiting Abortions Based on Unborn’s Sex, Race, or Disabilities Posted: 20 Mar 2019 12:06 PM PDT  Kentucky governor Matt Bevin on Tuesday signed a bill that bans abortions chosen on the basis of an unborn child's sex, race, or disability.A court filing in the U.S. District Court in Louisville indicated that the governor has signed the bill, which included an "emergency clause" stipulating that it would go into effect immediately.Physicians must now certify in writing that the patient did not request the abortion for a reason related to the baby's sex, race, or disabilities. Flouting the new law puts doctors at risk of losing their medical license or being prosecuted for a felony, although the mother of the unborn child would not be targeted.The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the bill in federal court as an unconstitutional restriction on a woman's right to abortion."Instituting laws that instantly affect critical patient care should not be a cat-and-mouse game," the group said, asking that it be notified when the bill is signed.Another new law that bans abortions after about six weeks or when a heartbeat can be detected forced Kentucky's sole abortion clinic, EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville, to cancel some appointments on Friday until a federal judge intervened."EMW and its abortionists have responded with a novel claim: Women have a constitutional right to undergo race-based abortions, gender-based abortions, and disability-based abortions. In plaintiffs' view, somewhere in the Fourteenth Amendment's penumbra lies a protection for eugenics," the governor's lawyer M. Stephen Pitt wrote in defending the ban on eugenics-based abortions. "This is a perverse distortion of Roe v. Wade."
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| Biden building 2020 White House campaign ahead of expected bid: sources Posted: 20 Mar 2019 12:38 PM PDT  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.
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| In a gift to Netanyahu, Trump tweets U.S. support for Israel annexing Golan Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:19 PM PDT  President Trump on Thursday reversed a long-standing American policy that treated Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights as temporary.
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| Loesch: CNN's gun control townhall was an embarrassing display of bias Posted: 20 Mar 2019 06:00 PM PDT  CNN townhall on gun control wins award; radio host Dana Loesch on the hostility she faced during the townhall.
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| Chief of staff to Venezuela's Guaido arrested Posted: 20 Mar 2019 05:07 PM PDT  Venezuelan intelligence officers Thursday arrested the chief of staff of Juan Guaido, the opposition leader recognized by the US and other countries as interim leader, Guaido and the opposition-ruled congress said on Twitter. Roberto Marrero was grabbed by SEBIN officers when they staged a pre-dawn raid on his Caracas home, according to Guaido and a recorded voice message by Marrero published on social media. The United States has repeatedly warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government against arresting Guaido or his aides, and Washington's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo quickly called for Marrero's release.
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| USC Just Named a New President. Here's What She Said About the Admissions Scandal Posted: 20 Mar 2019 07:03 PM PDT  "I am not afraid about taking on challenges," Carol Folt said.
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| T-Mobile unveils home broadband service that could expand after Sprint merger Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:04 PM PDT  T-Mobile on Thursday unveiled a limited home internet service that it plans to pilot for 50,000 mobile customers at $50 a month, with the company promising it could build on that, and eventually offer a lot more once its $26.5 billion merger with Sprint finally goes through.For now, the new invitation-only service will focus on areas where the carrier can deliver high-speed internet access to connect up to 50,000 homes in rural and underserved parts of the country. Once it merges with Sprint, however, T-Mobile says it should be able to cover more than half of the US with broadband service by 2024.This seems to be one attempt by T-Mobile to push back against critics of the proposed merger who worry it will leave customers with less choice and the potential for prices to rise. "We're walking the walk and laying the foundation for a world where we can take the fight to Big Cable on behalf of consumers and offer real choice, competition and savings to Americans nationwide," T-Mobile CEO John Legere about the home broadband pilot.The service will be offered only in areas where T-Mobile expects to deliver speeds of around 50 Mbps through fixed unlimited wireless service over LTE, with no data caps. The carrier points to one economist's estimate that showed while customers today pay around $80 a month for wired in-home broadband service, "the new T-Mobile will save customers up to $13.65 billion a year on home broadband by 2024".As context for why it decided to pursue the new service, T-Mobile went on to note in its announcement that almost half of Americans today have no competitive choice for high-speed in-home broadband. "The New T-Mobile," the company declares, "will be armed with spectrum and network assets that will build the highest capacity wireless network in US history, covering millions with 5G, not just a few people in a few blocks of a few cities like the other guys."If you're eligible to participate in the home broadband pilot, T-Mobile plans to start sending out invitations by email and regular mail this week.We mentioned T-Mobile's pending merger with Sprint, and it's also worth pointing out, as a reminder, that it's still under review by federal regulators. T-Mobile has said it feels optimistic everything will be approved in the first half of this year.
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| Floodwaters threaten millions in crop and livestock losses Posted: 20 Mar 2019 12:00 AM PDT  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmer Jeff Jorgenson looks out over 750 acres of cropland submerged beneath the swollen Missouri River, and he knows he probably won't plant this year.
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| Delta declared America's best airline: The Points Guy Posted: 20 Mar 2019 02:16 AM PDT  Delta Air Lines tops a new list of the best -- and worst -- airlines in America for its impressive on-time performance and network of lounges.
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| Earth Studies Posted: 20 Mar 2019 05:00 AM PDT |
| Battle for last Islamic State enclave edges toward its end Posted: 20 Mar 2019 12:00 PM PDT  The operation to take Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria looked close to an end on Wednesday, with no sign of clashes as U.S.-backed fighters said they were combing the area for hidden jihadists. Reuters reporters overlooking Baghouz from a hill on the bank of the Euphrates at the Iraqi border said the area was calm, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia searched for tunnels and landmines, an SDF official said. The SDF on Tuesday captured an encampment where the jihadists had been mounting a last defense of the tiny enclave, pushing diehard fighters onto a sliver of land at the Euphrates riverside.
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| Trump says US will recognize Israel's sovereignty over Golan Heights Posted: 21 Mar 2019 12:35 PM PDT  * Israel captured Golan Heights from Syria after war in 1967 * Netanyahu responds on Twitter: 'Thank you President Trump!' * Follow today's US politics newsDonald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018. Trump said the Golan Heights were of 'critical strategic and security importance to the state of Israel and regional stability'. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesDonald Trump has announced that the US will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967, in a dramatic move likely to bolster Benjamin Netanyahu's hopes to win re-election, but which will also provoke international opposition.Previous US administrations have treated Golan Heights as occupied Syrian territory, in line with UN security council resolutions. Trump declared his break with that policy, in a tweet on Thursday.He said: "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!"By defying a 52-year-old unanimously adopted UN resolution on "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", Trump has also broken the postwar norm of refusing to recognise the forcible annexation of territory – which has underpinned western and international opposition to the Russian annexation of Crimea."The United States relies on these core principles regarding peaceful dispute resolution and rejecting acquisition of territory by force," Tamara Cofman Wittes, the former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, wrote on Twitter. Wittes, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, added the move "yanks the rug out from under US policy opposing Russia's annexation of Crimea, as well as US views on other disputed territories".Netanyahu, the Israeli PM, quickly tweeted his gratitude for Trump's gesture."At a time when Iran seeks to use Syria as a platform to destroy Israel, President Trump boldly recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," the Israeli prime minister wrote. "Thank you President Trump!"The announcement came as Netanyahu was hosting the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in Jerusalem."President Trump has just made history," Netanyahu said. "I called him. I thanked him on behalf of the people of Israel. The message that President Trump has given the world is that America stands by Israel."Pompeo said: "President Trump tonight made the decision to recognise that hard-fought real estate, that important place is proper to be sovereign part of the state of Israel."He added: "The people of Israel should know that the battles they fought, the lives that they lost on that very ground, were worthy, meaningful and important for all time."The announcement marks a diplomatic coup for Netanyahu, less than three weeks before a close fought election, and four days before he is due to visit Washington.Trump denied his announcement was intended to help Netanyahu hold on to office, even suggesting he had been unaware the election was imminent."I wouldn't even know about that. I have no idea," Trump told Fox News. He said he had been thinking about recognising the Israeli annexation "for a long time"."This is sovereignty, this is security, this is about regional security," he said.Administration officials had previously rebuffed Netanyahu's pressure for recognition of Israel's possession of the strategic border area, pointing out that Trump had already handed the Israeli leader a significant political gift by moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Recognition of the Golan could pave the way for US recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Palestinian occupied territories. In a recent state department report on human rights, the administration changed its description of the West Bank and Gaza from "occupied territories" to "Israeli-controlled territories".Robert Malley, a former Middle East adviser to Barack Obama and now head of the International Crisis Group, said: "This decision is intensely political – timed to boost Netanyahu's electoral chances; gratuitous – it will not alter in any way Israel's control of the Golan Heights; in disregard of international law; and an ominous step at a time when voices in Israel calling for the annexation of the West Bank are growing louder."He added: "It is of a piece with the administration's one-sided Mideast policy and confirms that its goal is not Arab-Israeli peace but a fundamental redrawing of the parameters that have governed its pursuit."Israel advanced into the Golan Heights gradually in the years following the 1948 war Arab-Israeli war, and occupied it entirely in the 1967 war. That year, UN security council resolution 242 stressed the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every state in the area can live in security".A further resolution, supported by the Reagan administration in 1981, rejected as "null and void" a move to put the area under direct Israeli jurisdiction.Over the decades there have been a string of abortive attempts to negotiate a peaceful solution to the fate of the Golan Heights – most recently in 2010 when the Obama administration and Netanyahu engaged in secret talks with the Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, on a peace treaty involving Israeli withdrawal.But that effort foundered with the spread of the Arab Spring revolt to Syria, and Assad's decision to crush the rebellion by massacring protesters in 2011.Frederic Hof, a former senior state department official involved in those negotiations, told the Guardian on Thursday that annexation "would be an entirely gratuitous gesture with potential diplomatic downsides for Israel and for the security of Israelis".Hof said: "It will be welcomed by Israel's bitterest enemies – Iran and Hezbollah – who would see annexation as additional justification for terror operations. It would enable Syria's Assad regime to change the subject from its war crimes and crimes against humanity to Israel's formal acquisition of territory in violation of UN security council resolution 242. It would do nothing whatsoever positive for Israel's security."
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| 2020 election: Kamala Harris and Beto O’Rourke jump in new poll, but Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders tie as frontrunners Posted: 20 Mar 2019 11:29 AM PDT  A new poll has revealed early gains for Kamala Harris and Beto O'Rourke in the growing field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates — but they're still far from being the frontrunners at this stage in the game. Joe Biden, the former vice president who has yet to formally announce his candidacy, has been leading the pack in a slate of polls putting him ahead of his lesser known potential opponents. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is now tied with Mr Biden at 26 per cent of total support from Democratic voters, however, according to a new Emerson poll released on Wednesday.
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| Syrian refugee father and son laid to rest as New Zealand burials start Posted: 20 Mar 2019 06:26 AM PDT  A Syrian refugee and his son who fled the chaos of their homeland only to meet tragedy in New Zealand were buried on Wednesday in the first funerals of those killed in the mosque massacres. Hundreds of mostly Muslim mourners gathered at a cemetery in the southern city of Christchurch to lay to rest Khalid Mustafa and his 15-year-old son Hamza, who were among 50 people slaughtered at two mosques by an Australian white supremacist. The pair had fled to New Zealand seeking sanctuary from the Syrian maelstrom but died in last Friday's hail of bullets, a bitter irony that New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called "gutting".
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