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Prime Minister Theresa May might sneak a very tight victory on Tuesday, but an array of parliamentary blocs opposed to her deal mean the odds are against her.

That’s my basic assessment of what will happen at 3 p.m. ET when members of parliament in Britain’s House of Commons vote on May’s Brexit deal. That deal would govern a transition period following Britain’s planned March 29 departure from the European Union. But, while I think May has the best deal she could get from the EU, many in parliament disagree.

First off, there are the “hard-Brexit” fundamentalists of May’s own Conservative Party. Unified under the European Research Group parliamentary caucus, these MPs believe May’s deal offers insufficient break with the EU. They say that May’s deal would keep Britain overly tied to various EU regulations, especially in the area of trade and customs. The ERG have shown they are willing to act where it matters: They were instrumental in defeating May on this same deal back in January. While the prime minister’s team had hoped that some ERG would shift their voting intention in light of new concessions granted by the EU late on Monday, they have since ruled out doing so. That said, May will have her fingers crossed that some of these MPs will abstain rather than vote against her.

The next bloc against May are the so-called “remainer” MPs who oppose Brexit. Wishing to overturn the referendum that precipitated Brexit, these MPs believe that a new referendum should be called. They believe that the public will then vote to remain inside the EU.

Next up, there are the erstwhile allies of May’s government from the Northern Irish DUP and other Conservative MPs outside of the ERG. While these MPs support May on other policy issues, they have rejected May’s Brexit agreement in the belief that it offers too few protections against a breach in British sovereignty. Their particular concern fixes on the so-called “backstop” arrangement that would govern the Northern Irish border with the Republic of Ireland in the event no final status deal was reached with the EU.

Finally, there’s the opposition Labour Party. Led by Jeremy Corbyn, Labour wants May to call a new election that might allow them to enter power and then strike their own deal with the EU. But Labour has also suggested that it might call a second referendum if May’s plan is defeated on Tuesday. It’s worth noting here that Labour is nearly as divided on Brexit as are the Conservatives.

Regardless, the simple conclusion of these various interest groups is that May’s plan looks likely to be defeated. If that happens, Brexit itself may fall by the wayside. It’s a big day.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/theresa-may-against-the-odds-in-huge-brexit-vote

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s evacuation of U.S. diplomats from Venezuela can be explained by three factors. Two are related to protecting U.S. diplomats, and one is related to the Trump administration’s impending escalation against Nicolas Maduro. Let’s take each in turn.

First, there are Venezuela’s ongoing power shortages and the corresponding inability of U.S. diplomats to either live or work effectively. Years of underinvestment in the national power grid means these shortages may continue perpetually.

Second, there are the power shortage’s secondary effects in areas such as food and medical supplies, and the growing risk of diseases. Cholera is a particular concern here due to failing water purification systems. Reporting indicates Venezuelans are using dirty water in increasing numbers. My father, a former U.S. Agency for International Development diplomat who served a tour in Bangladesh during the 1980s, tells me, “Dirty water is a much bigger deal than people realize. It could take Venezuela’s humanitarian disaster to the next level.”

But this humanitarian crisis also portends political ramifications. As the suffering grows, so too will the risk of Venezuela’s descent into an uncontrolled civil war, rather than Maduro’s removal by military realignment under the interim president, Juan Guaido. If civil war breaks out, U.S. diplomats will be vulnerable to violent pro-regime groups such as the Colectivos, or Maduro himself.

Third, there’s Trump’s impending escalation against Maduro. On Monday, Guaido formally requested international action to prevent Maduro’s continued supply of oil to his security enabler, Cuba. Guaido’s action matters because, as the recognized leader of Venezuela, his request gives Trump authority to act in his support under international law. I suspect we will soon see U.S. Navy action to enforce an embargo of Venezuelan oil supplies to Cuba. That action will force Cuba to withdraw its support for Maduro or face its own economic implosion. Assuming Cuba abandons Maduro, which it would ultimately have to do in this scenario, Maduro may lash out at U.S. citizens. Withdrawing U.S. diplomats thus allows the Trump administration to mitigate Maduro’s means of retaliation in advance of its own escalation.

In short, the relevant factors all point to this evacuation order being prudent and in service of broader U.S. policy interests.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3-reasons-mike-pompeo-is-pulling-diplomats-from-venezuela

On March 11, 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer programmer working at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory, sent in a proposal for an information management system. His boss responded with a note that read “vague but exciting.”

That proposal was the first sketch of what would become the World Wide Web, creating the system that functions on the internet today.

But on the 30th anniversary of his breakthrough invention, Berners-Lee shared a warning about the “sources of dysfunction” the web faces and how “the fight for the web is one of the most important causes of our time.”

In an open letter published Tuesday, he wrote about the consequences of the growing division that his invention has fueled.

“Of course with every new feature, every new website, the divide between those who are online and those who are not increases, making it all the more imperative to make the web available for everyone,” he wrote in the letter.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/world-wide-web-30-its-inventor-has-warning-us-n982156

New York State is getting ready to take on the Trump Organization. 

According to the New York Times, the attorney general, Letitia James issued subpoenas to Deutsche and Investors Bank for financing records of four major Trump Organization projects. 

James’ probe all stemmed from Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony where he claimed that Trump inflated his assets in an effort to receive tax breaks. 

And Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer gave copies of statements that he said were given to Deutsche Bank. 

Now, the Times reports that the New York investigation is a civil matter, not a criminal case. 

RELATED: Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.




The four projects listed in the probe deal with the Trump International Hotel in DC, the Trump National Doral outside of Miami and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. 

The investigation is also reportedly looking into Trump’s unsuccessful bid to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014. 

The deal ultimately fell through when the team was sold to another bidder for $1.4 billion. 

Since she was elected to the AG post, James has been fiercely critical of Trump, vowing to go after his family’s business transactions. 

Reportedly saying quote, “the president of the United States has to worry about three things: Mueller, Cohen, and Tish James.” 

Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/03/12/ny-att-gen-subpoenas-two-banks-over-trump-org-records/23690393/

But the carrier suffered a blow when Flight 302, bound for Nairobi, Kenya, went down shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board. An investigation is underway to determine why the plane, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed into a valley southeast of the airport just minutes after takeoff.

[Read our ongoing coverage of developments after Sunday’s crash.]

Since the crash, Ethiopian and more than a dozen other airlines around the world have grounded the model, in part because another accident involving a Max 8, owned by Lion Air, occurred in Indonesia in October, killing 189. The Federal Aviation Administration said that the inquiry of the latest crash had just begun and that it did not have enough information to take any action.

Ethiopian Airlines’ training academy, which 4,000 students pass through each year, trains not just pilots but also cabin crew, mechanics, and sales and management professionals. It draws those being groomed for jobs at Ethiopian and students from across Africa.

Nawal Taneja, an airline business strategist and a professor emeritus at Ohio State University’s Center for Aviation Studies, said on Monday that he was impressed by what the airline was doing with the school when he toured it last year, because it allows the airline to meet its substantial need for workers. The school uses it to feed its three flight markets — domestic, trans-African and long haul.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/business/ethiopian-airline-crash-school.html

BOSTON — Actresses and chief executives are among 50 people arrested in a nationwide college admissions cheating scam, authorities announced Tuesday.

According to charging documents, actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among those involved facing charges.

The suspects allegedly paid bribes of up to $6 million to get their kids into elite colleges, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC.

In most cases, the students did not know their admission was contingent on a bribe.

University athletic coaches and administrators of college entrance exams were also among those arrested.

The alleged scam centered around a man in California who ran a business helping students get into the college of their choice.

Authorities say parents would pay him a predetermined amount, with full knowledge of what they were doing. He would then steer the money to one of two places: either an SAT or ACT administrator, or a college athletic coach.

The coaches would allegedly arrange a fake profile that listed the prospective student as an athlete, and exam administrators would either hire proctors to take the test or correct the answers of a student.

The bribes ranged from a few thousand dollars to up to 6 million, according to officials. The charging documents, unsealed in Boston federal court, are more than 200 pages long.

They allege that Huffman and her husband “made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000…to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter. Huffman later made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter, before deciding not to do so.”

Federal agents say they have recorded telephone calls with Huffman and a cooperating witness.

The documents say that Loughlin and her husband “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC.”

Officials say they have emails from Loughlin.

Source Article from https://abc7chicago.com/actresses-ceos-charged-in-alleged-college-admissions-scam/5186103/

Boeing’s 737 Max airplanes are coming under fresh scrutiny for their safety record. But it was only two weeks ago that President Trump oversaw the sale of 100 of the planes while in Hanoi for a summit with Kim Jong Un.

Ahead of his nuclear talks, Trump participated in a trade singing ceremony with a number of airline executives inside the Vietnamese presidential palace.

Among them was Kevin McAllister, executive vice president of The Boeing Company and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

One of the agreements was between Boeing and VietJet, a low-cost airline based in Hanoi. The deal was for 100 of the 737 Max planes — 80 of the Max 10 variety, and 20 of the Max 8, the aircraft now under new scrutiny following crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Boeing said the order was worth $12.7 billion. Now, Vietnam is saying the safety issues must be resolved before the planes can fly.

“The first aircraft [in the order] is supposed to be delivered in October,” said Đinh Việt Thắng, the chief of Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority, according to Vietnam News. “This morning, we had a meeting about this issue and came to the decision that we will not be reviewing licenses for the use of Boeing 737 MAX planes until the causes for the crashes are identified and the US Federal Aviation Administration takes proper remedying measures.”

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/boeing-737-max-8-ethiopia-airlines-crash/index.html

As the Senate prepares to join the House in rebuking President Trump’s emergency declaration to seize money to build his wall, the president hasn’t quite got the message that Congress isn’t on board with pouring billions of dollars into barriers at the southern border.

Nevertheless, Trump is ready to try again with his well-worn strategy of simply demanding money. Indeed, on Monday, the White House submitted the administration’s 2020 budget proposal to Congress, which includes an $8.6 billion ask for a border wall funding.

For a bit of comparison, that $8.6 billion contained in the new budget proposal is more than Trump was hoping to get even when both chambers of Congress were controlled by Republicans. Indeed, the wall funding fight that shutdown the government in December, before the House flipped to Democrats, was over $5.7 billion.

It’s also more than the current split Congress was willing to give him earlier this year ($1.375 billion) and more than he’s currently able to get through his controversial emergency declaration ( up to $8 billion).

Perhaps Trump is betting that lawmakers have changed their minds, or that this time they will cave to presidential wishes. Either way, those are bets he’s bound to lose. More demands aren’t going to make much headway in convincing Congress to increase funding for border security.

If Trump is serious about border security and thinks that more wall is the best way to do it, he’d do well to start with the $1.375 billion already allocated and makes his case on the success of the new sections he builds. Or if he is desperate to have the funding now, he’d find a new, less sure-to-fail way to ask for it — perhaps by first working with Congress to reach an agreement on what amount of funding might be possible.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/banging-his-head-against-the-wall-trump-still-wont-get-his-billions

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., accused President Trump of setting a “racist tone” as an example for her critics.

“I’m gonna be very frank: I think that this president has set a racist tone,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with Vanity Fair published Monday. “I think he has set a tone of such strong misogyny, racism, conspiracy theory-ism.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who claimed she has been underestimated her whole life, said she would not allow Republicans who have mocked her, including jabs aimed at her Green New Deal plan, to thwart her future in politics.

“I think they saw a woman of color — Latina, no less — that came from a working-class and poor background, that ascended to federal office, and they said, ‘We cannot allow this to have credibility, because if people saw that she did it, then maybe others will come — and we cannot let other people like her run for office. We need to make an example out of her,’” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“The reality of the situation is that if I don’t define this moment, and if I don’t use my voice, then they will fill the void,” she said.

Ocasio-Cortez was elected to Congress in the 2018 midterm elections in November. Her national profile skyrocketed after she defeated incumbent and 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley in their primary race in June 2018.

[Also read: AOC is a ‘pompous little twit’ with a ‘silly’ climate plan, says Greenpeace co-founder]

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/aoc-accuses-trump-of-setting-racist-tone

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London (CNN Business)1. Boeing crash raises questions: Shares in Boeing (BA) were poised to open sharply lower in New York after the second crash of a 737 MAX 8 in less than five months.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/11/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html

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Sterling fell sharply against the dollar on Tuesday after Britain’s Attorney General Geoffrey Cox published his opinion on Prime Minister Theresa May’s recently amended Brexit deal.

Cox’s legal advice on the tweaked deal is seen as crucial to whether the assurances May received on Monday are enough to give wavering U.K. lawmakers the confidence to give her deal the green light. A second vote on May’s deal is still due on Tuesday evening.

Cox said Tuesday morning that the legal risks to Brexit still remain despite the late-night concessions from the European Union on Monday. He added that the revised document did not give Britain any legal means of exiting the “Irish backstop” arrangements unilaterally.

The backstop is a mechanism to avoid restoration of the “hard” border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland that was erased with the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement between London and Dublin. Some U.K. politicians don’t like the fact that the backstop, although intended as a last-resort, would mean the U.K. remaining within a EU customs union for an indefinite amount of time and unable to leave unilaterally.

“The legal risk remains unchanged that if through no such demonstrable failure of either party, but simply because of intractable differences, that situation does arise, the United Kingdom would have … no internationally lawful means of exiting the Protocol’s arrangements, save by agreement,” Cox said in the statement.

The British currency plunged 1 percent to trade at $1.3012 by 11:30 a.m. London time Tuesday. It also slipped nearly 1 percent against the euro. By around 3:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon it had retraced some of those losses and was trading at $1.3121.

May’s deal has already been roundly rejected by U.K. lawmakers once, back in January, and faces another test on Tuesday evening. If lawmakers vote against the deal again, they will then get to vote on Wednesday and Thursday respectively on whether the U.K. should leave the 28-member bloc with no deal, or should request a delay to its departure, currently scheduled for March 29.

May needs to win over the most ardent Brexiteers within her own Conservative Party who belong to a euroskeptic European Research Group (ERG) and the Northern Irish party that supports her government and gives it a slim majority in Parliament, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

By Tuesday afternoon, and after Cox’s statement, the DUP and ERG indicated they would both reject the deal.

What next for sterling?

Analysts told CNBC Tuesday that sterling could fluctuate from $1.30 to $1.38, depending on the result of the vote.

“The move in GBP overnight (Monday) reflects the fact that May’s plan is back in the running,” Jane Foley, head of foreign exchange strategy at Rabobank, told CNBC via email Tuesday. “We could see EUR/GBP dipping to 0.84 initially and cable pushing to 1.34 if a deal was passed.”

Sterling is down more than 5 percent over a 12-month period against the greenback, and is down more than 8 percent since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union in June 2016.

Jordan Rochester, a foreign exchange strategist at Nomura, told CNBC Tuesday that if the deal passes, it will be the “Eureka moment” and sterling could be trading around $1.38 on Wednesday. He, however, cautioned on it falling in the case of a rejection.

“If it fails, we’ll see GBP fall on the back of short-term positioning being taken off. But the move would likely be capped to no more than 0.87 in EURGBP given Article 50 extension still leaves open the options of softer Brexit and people’s votes in market pricing.”

The U.K. Parliament will start voting at 7:00 p.m. London time on Tuesday and the results will be announced later in the evening. The U.K. is set to leave the European Union on March 29.

—CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this article.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/12/sterling-reacts-on-uk-brexit-deal-ahead-of-parliament-vote.html

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A lot has changed since the World Wide Web was born 30 years ago.
USA TODAY

Thirty years ago, an English software engineer submitted a “vague, but exciting” proposal to his boss about a system for managing information that would later be known as the World Wide Web. 

Tim Berners-Lee was in his early 30s when he submitted the idea at work, a physics laboratory in Switzerland. He wasn’t hired to create a worldwide communication system. He simply came up with the idea because he noticed inefficiencies at work. 

“I found it frustrating that in those days, there was different information on different computers, but you had to log on to different computers to get at it … So finding out how things worked was really difficult,” he said.

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His proposal, “Information Management: A Proposal,” was the beginning of http, urls and html.

Today, roughly half the world is online and nearly 2 billion websites exist.

What’s next for the World Wide Web?

Berners-Lee hopes the technology can be a vehicle for “public good” and less littered with hacking, harassment and hate speech. Monday, he outlined what he hopes can become of the web in a “contract” to positively impact the world.  

“The Contract for the Web recognizes that whether humanity, in fact, is constructive or not actually depends on the way you write the code of the social network,” he said.

Berners-Lee believes that through laws, system changes and research, it’s possible to achieve a better World Wide Web, “the web we want.”

More: The World Wide Web’s inventor warns it’s in peril

The World Wide Web isn’t the same as the internet, which had been created years earlier. 

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets

 

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2019/03/12/world-wide-web-turns-30-berners-lee-contract-thoughts-internet/3137726002/

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday that it will continue to trust and use Boeing 737 MAX aircrafts even as Australian, Chinese and other aviation authorities are temporarily suspending the use of the aircraft following the deadly crash of one of the planes in Ethiopia that killed eight Americans.

The U.S. aviation authority said that it’s investigating Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and its crash on Sunday that killed 157 people, but noted that commercial airlines are still allowed to operate the aircraft that crashed.

“The FAA will issue a Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community (CANIC) for Boeing 737 Max operators. The FAA continuously assesses and oversees the safety performance of U.S. commercial aircraft. If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action,” the statement said.

FEINSTEIN, BLUMENTHAL LEAD DEM PRESSURE ON BOEING AFTER DEADLY ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES CRASH

This came as other countries and airlines stopped using the Boeing aircraft in response to the crash, with other countries’ aviation authorities suspending the use of it.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority is the latest authority that announced the move to suspend the operation of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from or to the country, Reuters reported.

“This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 MAX to and from Australia,” Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority CEO Shane Carmody said in a statement.

No Australian airlines actually operate the aircraft, but two foreign airlines reportedly use the planes to Australia, including Fiji Airways and Singapore-based SilkAir, which already suspended the use of the aircraft.

China, the country with the most Boeing 737 MAX planes, said on Monday that it’s also temporarily grounding the aircraft in question.

US AIRLINES ‘CLOSELY MONITORING’ ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES INVESTIGATION AFTER CHINA, INDONESIA GROUND BOEING 737 MAX 8 JETS

The order came following “the management principle of zero tolerance for security risks” and pointed that the crash was the second after another of the planes fell into the ocean off the coast of Indonesia in similar circumstances on Oct. 29, killing all aboard.

Indonesia and Singapore followed the suit, while Chinese authorities said a further notice will be issued after the consultation with the FAA.

In a statement by Boeing said it was “is deeply saddened by the loss of Lion Air Flight 610, which has have weighed heavily on the entire Boeing team, and we extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families and loved ones of those onboard.”

“Safety is a core value for everyone at Boeing and the safety of our airplanes, our customers’ passengers and their crews is always our top priority,” the statement continued. “The 737 MAX is a safe airplane that was designed, built and supported by our skilled employees who approach their work with the utmost integrity.”

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It added that “Boeing has been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/american-aviation-authority-says-boeing-737-max-jets-can-be-operated-despite-australia-china-grounding-the-plane

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Washington (CNN)The only thing worse than the near extinction of press briefings in the Trump White House might be actually having a briefing.

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    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/12/politics/donald-trump-press-briefing-sarah-sanders/index.html

    Speaking late Monday in Strasbourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, warned that the British could not expect any further concessions. “There will be no further interpretation of the interpretation,” he said. “No further assurances on the reassurances if the meaningful vote fails tomorrow.”

    The 650-seat British Parliament, which rejected Mrs. May’s previous deal by 230 votes, is scheduled to vote on the revised agreement around 7 p.m. in London. At stake is the fate of the withdrawal agreement and a political declaration that would allow Britain to leave the bloc on March 29 with a standstill transition period, during which very little would change until the end of 2020.

    If lawmakers reject the proposal, Britain would enter a new period of political uncertainty, one that could lead to Parliament trying to take control of the process from the government in a further diminishing of Mrs. May’s shaky authority.

    Late on Monday, Mrs. May’s de facto deputy, David Lidington, appealed to Parliament to endorse the proposals, arguing that the alternative would be to “plunge this country into a political crisis.”

    If Britain leaves the European Union without an agreement — the so-called no-deal Brexit — the consequences could be dire, with fears of clogged ports and shortages of some food and medicine.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/world/europe/uk-brexit-vote.html

    Is Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido reading the Washington Examiner?

    After all, on Monday, Guaido called on the international community to help stop presidential occupier Nicolas Maduro from supplying Cuba with oil. That’s exactly what I called for on Feb. 27. Addressing the national assembly as his country continues to suffer under an ongoing power blackout, Guaido was passionate in his call for action.

    Guaido was clear that he wants international support to enforce the ban. But why is this action so important?

    Well, because, via the highly capable intelligence and military forces it has deployed to Venezuela, Cuba is the critical enabler of Maduro’s repression. But if Cuba is cut off from Venezuelan oil, its economy will grind to a halt. Guaido and the U.S., which he has presumably consulted here, know as much. They will hope that any embargo will force Cuba to cut a deal with Guaido in which it ends support for Maduro in return for preserved oil supplies under a future administration.

    President Trump should respond favorably to this request by a head of government. Under Southern Command, the U.S. Navy can detect and interdict any oil tankers which attempt to transit through the Caribbean Sea. But the U.S. should also request naval support from the British, Colombian, Brazilian, and French governments. Each of those governments has recognized Guaido and each operates naval forces in proximity to the Caribbean Sea.

    The risk of conflict is small. Venezuelan naval and air forces loyal to Maduro could not contest an embargo without suffering annihilation. And their commanders would be reluctant to follow any order to that effect for fear of prosecution after Maduro’s fall. Nor could China and Russia effectively challenge the U.S. Navy so far from their home bases.

    Guaido’s request has taken on new urgency in light of the ongoing power shortage. Trump should launch this humanitarian operation to free Venezuelans from their starving dystopia.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/juan-guaido-takes-the-examiners-advice-time-for-trump-to-support-his-cuban-embargo

    It’s Monday, March 11, 2019. Let’s start here.

    1. Fleet weak?

    What caused a new Boeing passenger jet to crash just minutes after takeoff?

    Investigators are hoping two black boxes recovered from the wreckage of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 will shed some light on that. That crash killed all 157 on board. A similar incident in October killed 189 in Indonesia. Both planes were 737 Max 8 models.

    The stakes are high for Boeing, ABC News Senior Transportation Correspondent David Kerley says on “Start Here,” as more and more carriers ground their fleets of the company’s best-selling jet.

    2. ‘Not worth it’

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’s against impeaching President Donald Trump, telling The Washington Post in a new interview: “He’s just not worth it.”

    Her comments break with other Democrats, especially among Congressional newcomers eager to discuss impeachment proceedings.

    ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl tells us on today’s podcast that Pelosi’s “sending a message to her own rank and file.”

    3. $4.7 trillion

    In a rare on-camera briefing, the White House on Monday rolled out a $4.7 trillion budget proposal that includes more money for the military and a border wall and less for education and health care.

    Congress won’t pass this proposal as is, ABC News’ Anne Flaherty says on “Start Here,” but it does serve as a road map of the Trump administration’s priorities and its plans for 2020.

    Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
    White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during a press briefing at the White House, March 11, 2019.

    4. 19 days of terror

    A year ago in Austin, Texas, two people died and five were wounded in a string of bombings that lasted nearly three weeks.

    Now, for the first time, we’re getting a look at how authorities responded, including the final moments in which SWAT officers closed in on the suspected bomber sitting inside his car.

    ABC News Senior Investigative Reporter Josh Margolin joins “Start Here” to share exclusive police audio that’s part of a “Nightline” special project.

    “They race up,” Margolin says, “and they’re banging on his window, and — boom! — he detonates his last device.”

    Scott Olson/Getty Images
    Law enforcement officials continue their investigation at the home of Mark Anthony Conditt, March 22, 2018, in Pflugerville, Texas.

    Elsewhere:

    ‘Mr. McGregor appreciates the response of law enforcement and pledges his full cooperation’: An MMA superstar is arrested in Miami after, police said, he snatched away and smashed the cell phone of a man trying to take a photo.

    ‘She didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that.’ The family of a 33-year-old mother of three who died after being struck by a rock thrown from a highway overpass believes “justice will come.”

    ‘Drinking and playing with loaded weapons is not a good thing in any manner or sense’: A Missouri woman allegedly shot and killed her boyfriend while the pair were drinking whiskey and re-enacting a movie scene.

    From our friends at FiveThirtyEight:

    The 6 wings of the Democratic Party: Many labels have lost their utility by becoming too broad and oversimplified; the term “progressive,” for example, has become virtually meaningless to describe different kinds of Democrats, since politicians as different as Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both define themselves as progressive. So here’s a short guide to the various factions of the 2019-20 Democratic Party.

    Doff your cap:

    “The Investigation,” ABC News’ everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-Mueller-investigation podcast, features interviews with David Bossie, Donald Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, and Keith Davidson, a former attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy playmate Karen McDougal, both of whom received hush-money payments after allegedly having affairs with Trump.

    A former chief investigator during the Clinton administration, Bossie says the current White House is not prepared to handle the onslaught of investigations or what he sees as the eventual outcome: “We are headed to impeachment.”

    Davidson, who negotiated with Michael Cohen to secure payment for his clients, talks about why Trump’s former fixer turned on him. He also identifies what he says was the pivotal moment during the campaign that triggered Trump to pay off Stormy Daniels.

    Davidson also goes on the record about his dealings with American Media Inc., the National Enquirer’s parent company, and his “incredible meeting” with AMI CEO David Pecker and Karen McDougal, whose story AMI purchased for $150,000 to “catch and kill” immediately before the 2016 election.

    “Start Here” is the flagship daily news podcast from ABC News — a straightforward look at the day’s top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn or the ABC News app. On Amazon Echo, ask Alexa to “Play ‘Start Here'” or add the “Start Here” skill to your Flash Briefing. Follow @StartHereABC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for exclusive content, show updates and more.

    Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/US/start-here-boeing-737-fall-sky-nancy-pelosi-impeaching/story?id=61604106

    U.S. Attorney Robert Hur (center) discusses the charges against Christopher Hasson with Art Walker (left) of the Coast Guard investigative service, and FBI special agent Gordon Johnson last month.

    Michael Kunzelman/AP


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    Michael Kunzelman/AP

    U.S. Attorney Robert Hur (center) discusses the charges against Christopher Hasson with Art Walker (left) of the Coast Guard investigative service, and FBI special agent Gordon Johnson last month.

    Michael Kunzelman/AP

    A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant was arraigned Monday on gun and drug charges in a case authorities say linked him to a plot to killed several prominent Democrats and broadcast journalists.

    Christopher Hasson, 49, pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of firearm silencers, possession of firearms by a drug addict and unlawful user, and possession of a controlled substance.

    Hasson was arrested last month in the parking lot of the Coast Guard headquarters where he had worked for three years. A search of his Silver Spring, Md., apartment turned up 15 firearms, including seven rifles, and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

    According to court documents filed by the government, Hasson was a self-described white nationalist who hoped to establish a “white homeland” through violent means. He also allegedly drew up a computer-speadsheet hit list with the names of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and other high-ranking Democrats, as well as MSNBC hosts Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough, and CNN’s Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo and Van Jones.

    Hasson was not charged with terrorism. His original public defender said federal prosecutors were exaggerating his potential ties to terrorism.

    He faces up to 31 years in prison if convicted on all of the charges against him.

    Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/11/702416491/coast-guard-officer-pleads-not-guilty-to-gun-drug-charges-in-alleged-terrorism-p

    Image copyright
    Getty Images

    Image caption

    MP or not, Kim Jong-un retains an iron grip over North Korea

    North Korea’s election has resulted in the expected landslide win for its authoritarian leadership – but in a big first for the country, Kim Jong-un does not appear to have been on the ballot.

    If confirmed, it would be the first time a North Korean leader has not run for its rubberstamp parliament.

    The vote did see his sister, Kim Yo-jong, elected to the body, however.

    The leader’s younger sibling has been gradually moving into a more influential role.

    North Korea’s parliamentary election is used by Pyongyang to legitimise its rule, but is condemned internationally as a meaningless exercise. Each voting slip has only one state-approved candidate on it.

    State media announced the names of the 687 deputies elected to the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) on Tuesday, but Mr Kim’s name was not read out.

    Rachel Minyoung Lee, an analyst with North Korea specialist website NK News, told the BBC that his absence from the list does not suggest a weakening grip on power.

    “This could be part of North Korea’s ongoing effort to be perceived as a ‘normal state’,” she said. “And in most democratic countries, the president doesn’t concurrently have a seat in the parliament.”

    As for the leader’s sister, Ms Lee explained that Kim Yo-jong had not been elected in the previous 2014 election but had since become a member of the SPA, “possibly in a by-election due to someone’s death”.

    Ms Kim’s profile has been on the rise since 2014, when she was made vice-director of the party’s key Propaganda and Agitation Department.

    She has become a regular on her brother’s foreign travels, including the recent Hanoi meeting with US President Donald Trump, which reinforces her position as a close aide.

    Image copyright
    Reuters

    Image caption

    North Korea’s first sister has become a close aide of Kim Jong-un

    Voting in last Sunday’s election was mandatory for all North Korean citizens above the age of 17, even though there was no choice of candidates.

    The parliament is elected every five years, turnout is always close to 100% and approval for the governing Workers’ Party is unanimous.

    The North’s official news agency KCNA said on Tuesday that this year’s turnout was 99.99%, as those “abroad or working in oceans” were unable to participate.

    Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47535658

    More than 130 planes have been grounded worldwide in recent days, but there are hundreds more that have been ordered from Boeing, whose fates are now less certain.

    Malaysia’s economic affairs minister said on Monday that Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund should review an earlier purchase agreement for 25 of Boeing’s 737 Max 8 planes, putting those orders injeopardy.

    Boeing’s 2016 agreement with Malaysia Airlines — an embattled, state-owned carrier — was valued at $2.75 billion at list prices and included purchase rights for additional 737 Max 8 and 737 Max 9 aircraft.

    “They have to revisit whatever agreements that they had in the past,” the minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Aliwas told reporters.

    No other airlines have publicly questioned their orders of Boeing Max aircraft in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash, said Shukor Yusof, the founder of Endau Analytics, an aviation consultancy based in Malaysia and Singapore.

    Kazanah’s backtrack on the orders may have less to do with safety and more to do with money and politics, Mr. Yusof said, adding that the airline has been plagued by steep losses since 2014. Additionally, he said, the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, which came to power last year is aware that the citizens are currently skeptical of spending from government coffers.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/world/africa/boeing-ethiopian-airlines-plane-crash.html

    WASHINGTON, D.C.—Asked twice in her first press briefing in six weeks whether the job of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta was in jeopardy, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders pointedly declined to endorse the embattled department head.

    Acosta—the only Hispanic member of Trump’s cabinet—has faced sharp criticism for the leniency he showed as a U.S. attorney in Miami to Jeffrey Epstein, an accused sexual predator. Epstein is alleged to have engaged in the sex trafficking of underaged girls, yet the plea deal to which he ultimately agreed—and which Epstein brokered—had him admit guilt only on two minor prostitution charges.

    Though that deal was struck 11 years ago, full details have only recently been brought to public attention. The revelations about Epstein, which come during a time of #MeToo and a broader conversation about disparities in the criminal justice system, have led to calls for Acosta’s resignation.

    Sanders did little to tamp down speculation about Acosta’s future in the Trump administration. Asked by a reporter if Trump had any “misgivings” about Acosta’s role in the Epstein deal, Sanders said only that the matter was “currently under review.” She added that the White House was “certainly looking at it.”

    A short time later, Sanders was asked by another reporter whether Trump had “full confidence” in Acosta or whether the Labor Secretary was “possibly leaving.”

    Related: Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta:

    President Donald Trump signs an executive order on a revised Cuba policy aimed at stopping the flow of U.S. cash to the country’s military and security services while maintaining diplomatic relations, Friday, June 16, 2017, in Miami. From left are, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Cary Roque, Vice President Mike Pence and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

    President Donald Trump, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, third from left, Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, second from right, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, right, tour the Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee, Wis., Tuesday, June 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)




    Sanders passed up the opportunity to reaffirm Trump’s support for Acosta. “I am not aware of any personnel changes,” Sanders said, repeating her previous statement that “those things are currently under review.” She did not say what that review entailed.

    Sanders did not immediately respond to a subsequent request for comment.

    Were Acosta to either depart or face dismissal, he would be one of a legion of department heads and top-level advisers to leave the administration, including press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Priebus, chief of staff John Kelly, deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, chief strategist Steve Bannon, communications director Mike Dubke, communications director Hope Hicks, communications director Bill Shine, chief counsel Don McGahn, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions, national security adviser Mike Flynn, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, secretary of state Rex Tillerson, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, FBI director James Comey, and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

    The above is not a complete list.

    Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/03/11/white-house-wont-say-if-embattled-labor-secretary-acosta-has-trumps-support/23689852/