USA

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives failed on Tuesday to override President Donald Trump's veto of a congressional resolution blocking his declaration of a national emergency at the nation's southern border with Mexico.

The lower chamber, controlled by Democrats, voted 248-181, short of the two-thirds majority needed for an override.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said Tuesday his company was "humbled" and "learning" from an Ethiopian airlines crash that killed 157 people more than two weeks ago.

In a statement published Tuesday, Muilenburg said Boeing is resorting to all the resources it has to cooperate "tirelessly" with the Ethiopians to "understand what happened and do everything possible to ensure it doesn't happen again."

UNITED NATIONS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese UN envoy said Tuesday China wishes to stress once again that a two-state solution is the fundamental solution to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and any new initiative should contribute to the realization of the two-state solution.

At present, the international consensus on taking forward the Middle East peace process is faced with challenges, while the efforts to facilitate Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have shown no sign of progress, said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

WASHINGTON, March 26. /TASS/. The House of Representatives of the US Congress voted on Monday for the bill on assisting Central and Eastern European countries to diversify energy supplies sources for countering Russia’s influence, with 391 and 24 congressmen voting for and against the bill, respectively. A live broadcast of the voting was provided by the C-SPAN TV channel.

The bill must be passed by the Senate and then be signed by the President to become law.

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon announced Monday that it has authorized the transfer of 1 billion U.S. dollars for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a press release issued Monday night, the Pentagon said acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan has authorized the commander of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to begin planning and executing up to 1 billion dollars in support to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Patrol.

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged the international community to renew its promise to end racial discrimination.

In his remarks at an event to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Guterres said that it is time to "renew our promise to end racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including social and ethnic discrimination, anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Semitism."

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The UN policy on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights remains unchanged despite the Trump administration's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory, a UN spokesman said Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the territory that Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.

HOUSTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. natural gas consumption increased by 10 percent in 2018, reaching a record high of 82.1 billion cubic feet (about 2.32 billion cubic meters) per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Monday.

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, marking a major shift in U.S. policy in the Middle East.

The proclamation said that it is "appropriate to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights" because of the security need of Israel.

"This was a long time in the making," Trump said before signing the decree at the White House with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing alongside.

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California company is voluntarily recalling whole avocados over possible listeria contamination.

Henry Avocado, a grower and distributor based near San Diego, said Saturday that the recall covers conventional and organic avocados grown and packed in California. The company says they were sold in bulk across California, Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New Hampshire.

There have been no reports of any illnesses associated with the avocados.