North America

Washington, Mar 12 :  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday hoped that India will not be the "economic lifeline" to the "authoritarian" regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by purchasing oil from the Latin American country.

Pompep's comments came as Washington ramps up actions on Maduro's regime, which is battling to hold onto power in the face of heavy domestic and international pressure.

Venezuela is the third largest supplier of oil to India which is the world's third-biggest oil consumer.

United Nations, Mar 12 (AP) UN experts say they are investigating possible violations of United Nations sanctions on North Korea in about 20 countries, from alleged clandestine nuclear procurement in China to arms brokering in Syria and military cooperation with Iran, Libya and Sudan.

The expert panel's 66-page report to the Security Council, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, also detailed the appearance in North Korea of a Rolls-Royce Phantom, Mercedes-Benz limousines and Lexus LX 570 all-wheel drive luxury vehicles in violation of a ban on luxury goods.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google paid former search executive Amit Singhal $35 million in an exit package when he was reportedly forced to resign after a sexual assault investigation, according to court documents released Monday.

Details of the exit package were revealed as part of a shareholder lawsuit against the company, one that followed a published report of payouts Google made to executives accused of sexual misconduct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump proposed a record $4.7 trillion budget, pushing the federal deficit past $1 trillion but counting on optimistic growth, accounting shuffles and steep domestic cuts to bring future spending into balance in 15 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is setting a high bar for impeachment of President Donald Trump, saying he is “just not worth it” even as some on her left flank clamor to start proceedings. 

Pelosi said in an interview with The Washington Post that “I’m not for impeachment” of Trump.

“Unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country,” she said.

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.