USA

HOUSTON (AP) — An emergency dike has been repaired and a fire-damaged petrochemical tank stabilized during cleanup of leaking oil products that closed part of the Houston Ship Channel, the operator of the complex said Sunday.

Authorities are still trying to determine what caused a March 17 fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company’s Deer Park facility, which left several petrochemical tanks damaged or destroyed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s business economists foresee a sharp slowdown in U.S. economic growth over the next two years, in sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s predictions that growth will accelerate this year and next.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The “Medicare for All” legislation that’s become a clarion call for progressives has two little-noticed provisions that could make it even more politically perilous for 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

The legislation from White House hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with a similar measure in the House, lifts curbs on government health insurance for people in the country illegally and revokes longstanding restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions.

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says a United Express regional jet didn’t slide off a runway in Maine — it missed the runway altogether.

A preliminary report Thursday indicates the 50-seat Embraer 145 approached to the right of the runway on an aborted first landing attempt and then again when it touched down March 4 at Presque Isle International Airport.

The document indicates it landed between the runway and taxiway.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The father of a slain black teenager pleaded for peace Saturday after the acquittal of a white police officer triggered an apparent retaliatory shooting at the defense attorney’s office and touched off protests in the streets of Pittsburgh.

Police put officers on 12-hour shifts until further notice.

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand is calling President Donald Trump a “coward” who “punches down” and says that he is “tearing apart the moral fabric of our country.”

Gillibrand is set to say even more about Trump on Sunday as she stands in front of one of his signature New York properties.

Worries about economic growth prospects hit global stock markets on Friday, causing sharp price drops on both sides of the Atlantic.

In bloodletting on Wall Street, US stocks suffered their worst day since early January.

The closely watched "yield curve" flashed a warning sign that a recession could be looming while monthly US, French and German manufacturing indices all fell -- rattling investors who were already uneasy after this week's surprisingly weak outlook from the Federal Reserve.

23 Mar 2019; DW: It's a well-worn exercise: The finishing touches are being made, readying the Washington Convention Center for the AIPAC meeting on March 24-26. A sound-check is carried out on the speakers through which the unmistakable American-accented baritone of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will boom, as he addresses a crowd of up to 18,000 participants — a man in the final throes of his bid for reelection.

24 Mar 2019; DW: Boeing on Saturday said a software upgrade for its grounded 737 MAX 8 planes, which have been involved in two deadly crashes, were ready to be reviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Airlines worldwide grounded the jet after the deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10 that killed all 157 people on board. It came less than five months after 189 people died in a Lion Air crash involving a MAX 8 off the coast of Indonesia in October.

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Saturday she will reject any classified briefing on special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the just-concluded Russia investigation, according to media reports.

Pelosi made the remarks Saturday afternoon during a conference call with roughly 120 members of the Democratic Caucus, U.S. political website The Hill reported, citing a person on the call.

"The takeaway from this call is that the American (people) deserve the truth," she said, according to the person. "Transparency is the order of the day."