USA

12 Mar 2019; AFP: Hollywood star Gal Gadot has leapt to defend a fellow actress who was chided by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for challenging his party's treatment of Arab citizens.

Netanyahu and his Likud party have been accused of using scare tactics and demonising Israel's Arab population ahead of April 9 elections in a bid to motivate their right-wing base.

12 Mar 2019; AFP: World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee on Monday slammed the increasing commodification of personal information and appealed for internet users to strive to maintain "complete control" of their data.

Berners-Lee, credited with creating the web in 1989, is on a mission to save his invention from a range of problems increasingly dominating online life, including misinformation and a lack of data protection.

12 Mar 2019; DW: US federal aviation authorities on Monday said they will order Boeing to make improvements to its 737 Max 8 following two deadly crashes in the past five months involving the new airliner, but did not ground the jet.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notified Boeing that it anticipates design changes, including adding anti-stalling software and maneuvering system updates by April.

11 Mar 2019; DW: Boeing's new passenger aircraft has crashed twice within the space of a few months, raising a number of safety questions. So far, the 737 has been the backbone of many fleets globally.

HOUSTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Natural gas fueled more than 60 percent of electric generating capacity installed last year in the United States, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday.

According to EIA's report, 31.3 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity were added in the country in 2018, the largest addition since 48.8 GW were added in 2003.

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Visiting King Abdullah II of Jordan met here on Monday with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials, discussing bilateral ties and regional issues, among others.

Pence discussed with King Abdullah about the bilateral relationship, the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and regional dynamics, said a statement from the White House.

The two also talked about U.S. President Donald Trump's decision "to maintain a residual U.S. presence in Syria," the statement added.

JERUSALEM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Mellanox Technologies, an Israel-based chip maker, said on Monday that U.S. computer giant Nvidia Corporation agreed to buy it for about 6.9 billion U.S. dollars in cash.

"Nvidia and Mellanox today announced that the companies have reached a definitive agreement under which Nvidia will acquire Mellanox," Mellanox said in a statement.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top aircraft manufacturer Boeing has postponed the debut of 777X airplane previously planned for this week, local media reported on Sunday night.

The company has decided to delay the unveiling ceremony of the 777X originally slated for Wednesday and will look for another opportunity for its debut, a Boeing employee responsible for media affairs, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed to Xinhua on Monday.

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States will withdraw all remaining U.S. personnel from its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday.

The announcement was made in a statement released by the State Department late Monday night.

"This decision reflects the deteriorating situation in Venezuela as well as the conclusion that the presence of U.S. diplomatic staff at the embassy has become a constraint on U.S. policy," said the top U.S. diplomat in the statement.

Washington, Mar 11 (PTI) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Monday, during which the two officials are likely to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of common interest.

Gokhale arrived in the US on Sunday in connection with the bilateral Foreign Office Consultation and Strategic Security Dialogue with his American counterparts, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson.