Houston

Trump is 'looking into' Facebook 'bias' as aide melts down over suspension

A Facebook spokesperson told Yahoo News that a system intended to stop bots had temporarily halted Dan Scavino’s ability to post comments, and that the company had apologized and restored his account.

Justice Clarence Thomas breaks three-year silence in Mississippi case about racial bias in jury selection

The Supreme Court's senior justice, who seldom speaks during oral argument, broke a three-year silence to ask questions in a race discrimination case.

More flood waters rising in storm damaged U.S. Midwest

As icy, lethal flood waters fed by rains and melting snow recede in Nebraska and Iowa, leaving destroyed homes, drowned cattle and swamped farmland, Midwest states downstream were set on Thursday for a relentless surge of the Missouri River. Flooding from last week's storm has already caused nearly $1.5 billion in damage in Nebraska, killed at least four people with another missing. "This isn't over," said David Roth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.

New Zealand attacks unite government on gun control. America stands divided.

The Second Amendment, as Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, is 'not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever': Our view

Pilot who hitched a ride in cockpit saved doomed Lion Air Boeing 737 Max day before it crashed

As the Lion Air crew fought to control their diving Boeing 737 Max 8, they got help from an unexpected source: an off-duty pilot who happened to be riding in the cockpit. That extra pilot, who was seated in the cockpit jumpseat, correctly diagnosed the problem and told the crew how to disable a malfunctioning flight-control system and save the plane, two people familiar with Indonesia’s investigation told Bloomberg. The next day, under command of a different crew facing what investigators said was an identical malfunction, the jetliner crashed into the Java Sea killing all 189 aboard. The previously undisclosed detail on the earlier Lion Air flight represents a new clue in the mystery of how some 737 Max pilots faced with the malfunction have been able to avert disaster while the others lost control of their planes and crashed. The presence of a third pilot in the cockpit wasn’t contained in Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee’s November 28 report on the crash and hasn’t previously been reported. Airlines with Boeing 737 Max 8s in their fleet The so-called dead-head pilot on the earlier flight from Bali to Jakarta told the crew to cut power to the motor driving the nose down, according to the people familiar, part of a checklist that all pilots are required to memorise. “All the data and information that we have on the flight and the aircraft have been submitted to the Indonesian NTSC. We can’t provide additional comment at this stage due the ongoing investigation on the accident,” Lion Air spokesman Danang Prihantoro said. The Indonesia safety committee report said the plane had had multiple failures on previous flights and hadn’t been properly repaired. Representatives for Boeing and the Indonesian safety committee declined to comment on the earlier flight. The safety system, designed to keep planes from climbing too steeply and stalling, has come under scrutiny by investigators of the crash as well as a subsequent one less than five months later in Ethiopia. A malfunctioning sensor is believed to have tricked the Lion Air plane’s computers into thinking it needed to automatically bring the nose down to avoid a stall. Jakarta plane crash: Flight Lion Air JT610 Boeing’s 737 Max was grounded on March 13 by US regulatorsafter similarities to the Oct. 29 Lion Air crash emerged in the investigation of the March 10 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. In the wake of the two accidents, questions have emerged about how Boeing’s design of the new 737 model were approved. The Transportation Department’s inspector general is conducting a review of how the plane was certified to fly and a grand jury under the US Justice Department is also seeking records in a possible criminal probe of the plane’s certification. The FAA last week said it planned to mandate changes in the system to make it less likely to activate when there is no emergency. The agency and Boeing said they are also going to require additional training and references to it in flight manuals. “We will fully cooperate in the review in the Department of Transportation’s audit,” Boeing spokesman Charles Bickers said. The company has declined to comment on the criminal probe. After the Lion Air crash, two US pilots’ unions said the potential risks of the system, known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, hadn’t been sufficiently spelled out in their manuals or training. None of the documentation for the Max aircraft included an explanation, the union leaders said. “We don’t like that we weren’t notified,’’ Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said in November. “It makes us question, ‘Is that everything, guys?’ I would hope there are no more surprises out there.’’ The Allied Pilots Association union at American Airlines Group Inc. also said details about the system weren’t included in the documentation about the plane. Following the Lion Air crash, the FAA required Boeing to notify airlines about the system and Boeing sent a bulletin to all customers flying the Max reminding them how to disable it in an emergency. Authorities have released few details about Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 other than it flew a “very similar” track as the Lion Air planes and then dove sharply into the ground. There have been no reports of maintenance issues with the Ethiopian Airlines plane before its crash. If the same issue is also found to have helped bring down Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, one of the most vexing questions crash investigators and aviation safety consultants are asking is why the pilots on that flight didn’t perform the checklist that disables the system. “After this horrific Lion Air accident, you’d think that everyone flying this airplane would know that’s how you turn this off,” said Steve Wallace, the former director of the US Federal Aviation Administration’s accident investigation branch. The combination of factors required to bring down a plane in these circumstances suggests other issues may also have occurred in the Ethiopia crash, said Jeffrey Guzzetti, who also directed accident investigations at FAA and is now a consultant. “It’s simply implausible that this MCAS deficiency by itself can down a modern jetliner with a trained crew,” Guzzetti said. MCAS is driven by a single sensor near the nose that measures the so-called angle of attack, or whether air is flowing parallel to the length of the fuselage or at an angle. On the Lion Air flights, the angle-of-attack sensor had failed and was sending erroneous readings indicating the plane’s nose was pointed dangerously upward. Sign up for your essential, twice-daily briefing from The Telegraph with our free Front Page newsletter.

Devin Nunes sued a Twitter account dedicated to a cow. Now it has more followers than he does

Rep. Devin Nunes filed a $250 million lawsuit against Twitter and a number of parody accounts. Now, one dedicated to a cow has, um, mooved past him.

'Generation Nazarbayev' jokes, hopes after Kazakh leader resigns

People under 30 in Kazakhstan have only known one leader -- Nursultan Nazarbayev, who announced his resignation this week after shepherding the country from the Soviet era. "The word 'Nazarbayev' means something like the word 'parent'," said 18-year-old film student Madi Makanov, who lives in the country's largest city Almaty. Kazakhstan has a young population, with around 40 percent of people under 24, according to estimates based on UN figures.

Aggressive Instagramming is ruining Southern California's super bloom

People trampled California's poppies for the 'gram, and ruined it for the rest of us. Fields of fiery "super bloom" poppies are lighting up the hills of Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore, a city about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. Thanks to uncommonly heavy rains this winter, much of Southern California is seeing a massive burst of wildflower blooms across the state. The poppies in Walker Canyon are so lush, they can be seen from space. > Superbloom visible from space - California poppies (orange) near Lake Elsinore, CA > > [15 March 2019; Sentinel-2 satellite; https://t.co/fy8NaGcTwN] pic.twitter.com/ZdSqCvjbuY> > -- Zack Labe (@ZLabe) March 18, 2019With the bloom came hordes of influencers, mommy bloggers, and YouTubers, all eager to snap a few photos of themselves sitting among the flowers.But it's making life absolute hell for Lake Elsinore, which has a population of 60,000. On Sunday, about 100,000 visited Walker Canyon, overwhelming Lake Elsinore and creating the traffic of nightmares. Since the poppies went viral -- even getting their own Twitter moment --the city has tried to cope with the flood of visitors by closing, then reopening, then closing the fields. SEE ALSO: Death Valley, the driest place in North America, is now a sea of yellow flowersIn a Facebook post over the weekend, the city of Lake Elsinore closed Walker Canyon because "the situation has escalated beyond our available resources." The city also closed the highway ramps leading to the canyon because traffic was so bad. By Monday, Walker Canyon was open to the public again, albeit with "extremely limited" parking. Explaining that it is "not feasible" to keep visitors out, the city stated that "this is something unlike anything we have ever experienced in our city and may never again." "Lake Elsinore is the destination for so many unique and incredible features," the Facebook post said. "And this attraction has brought thousands of people from around the world to not only see our city, but to shop in our stores and dine in our restaurants."But by noon, Mayor Steve Manos asked people to come another time because the fields were so full. "As you can see behind me, there are a large number of people here again," Manos said in an Instagram video recorded in front of the blooms. "We've expended lots of resources over the weekend ... But we are full." He added that the city just didn't have the resources to keep Walker Canyon closed because of the sheer amount of people sneaking in and parking on the freeway. Never underestimate the tenacity of an Instagram devotee.> View this post on Instagram> > SuperBloom Update: Steve Manos, Lake Elsinore Mayor provides update regarding why City was forced to reopen Walker Canyon and encourages visitors to choose other options. Walker Canyon is full. City is evaluating all options. We must remain flexible to this once in a lifetime opportunity and crisis facing our city.> > A post shared by City of Lake Elsinore (@cityoflakeelsinore) on Mar 18, 2019 at 12:02pm PDTManos is hopeful that the city will figure out a solution, though. "We've gone through fires and floods, we'll get through the flowers," he told CBS This Morning. By Tuesday afternoon, Lake Elsinore once again closed the freeway ramps in both directions. In a Facebook post citing "severe congestion," the city said that the decision was made by California Highway Patrol, not the city. In the meantime, here are some photos of the super bloom if you can't (or consciously won't) see them in person. > View this post on Instagram> > A post shared by Momo Twins ~ Leia & Lauren (@leialauren) on Mar 18, 2019 at 10:20pm PDT> View this post on Instagram> > A post shared by ⠀ ⠀⠀J i m e n a R e n o (@renosaurio) on Mar 18, 2019 at 8:04am PDT> View this post on Instagram> > A post shared by Gerd Ludwig (@gerdludwig) on Mar 19, 2019 at 12:51pm PDT> View this post on Instagram> > A post shared by J E S S (@jess.wandering) on Mar 14, 2019 at 8:30am PDT> View this post on Instagram> > A post shared by Lil' Sawyer the Labradoodle (@sawyertheminidood) on Mar 19, 2019 at 7:26am PDTAnd don't forget that if you do end up visiting, stick to the wildflower etiquette guide.   WATCH: Elon Musk did it - Tesla's $35,000 Model 3 is finally finally finally here

Trump Lauds Ohio Military Plant And Blasts GM for Closed Factory

The Lima factory, which is set to grow from 400 employees before Trump’s presidency to 1,000 by year’s end, builds Abrams tanks and Stryker combat vehicles. It stands in stark contrast to another nearby symbol of American manufacturing: General Motors Co.’s Lordstown plant, which has been idled due to slow sales of the car that’s built there.

Pope nixes French cardinal resignation after cover-up

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has declined to accept the resignation of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin as archbishop of Lyon after he was convicted of failing to report a known predator priest to police, the Vatican said Tuesday.

Loesch: CNN's gun control townhall was an embarrassing display of bias

CNN townhall on gun control wins award; radio host Dana Loesch on the hostility she faced during the townhall.

Flooding will continue into next week in storm-ravaged Midwest

Floods driven by rain and melting snow have affected several states, with four people killed and one missing after storms.

Lion Air Pilots Were Checking the 737 Max 8's Handbook Right Before the Plane Crashed

The pilots of Lion Air Flight 610 looked to a handbook for guidance as the plane plummeted.

Beto O'Rourke campaign: Bernie Sanders' supporters fuel misinformation about Texas Democrat's record-breaking fundraising haul

Beto O’Rourke's record-breaking fundraising haul has appeared to upset supporters of Bernie Sanders, who began spreading misinformation about how the Texas Democrat’s campaign managed to top that of the Vermont senator’s in its first 24 hours. A tweet claiming the former congressman’s 2020 campaign was part of a supposed financial kickback with the Texas Democratic Party went viral after Mr O'Rourke released his fundraising figures from his first day on the campaign trail earlier this week.

Glyphosate under fire from San Francisco to Sri Lanka

Glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup, is the subject of fierce controversy across the globe and is classified by the World Health Organization as "probably" being carcinogenic. A California court on Tuesday found that Roundup was a "substantial factor" in Edwin Hardeman, 70, getting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after spraying the weedkiller on his garden for decades.

New Zealand Bans Assault Rifles in Wake of Deadly Attacks

The ban takes immediate effect to prevent stockpiling of firearms while the legislation is being drafted, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters on Thursday. Further changes in gun laws to tighten licensing and increase controls over ammunition will be made in coming months. “I strongly believe that the vast majority of legitimate gun owners in New Zealand will understand that these moves are in the national interest, and will take these changes in their stride,” she said.

Correction: Mob Shooting story

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — In some versions of a story March 18 about a court hearing over the killing of a reputed Gambino crime boss, The Associated Press erroneously reported where the victim was born. Francesco Cali was born in New York City, not in Sicily.

New figures reflect lack of diversity at elite New York City high schools

Only seven black students were offered admission to Stuyvesant High School's freshman class of 895 students.

Missouri towns prepare for deluge as floods move downstream

A string of small Missouri towns on Wednesday prepared for the next deluge along the snow-melt-swollen Missouri River after flooding wreaked nearly $1.5 billion in damage in Nebraska, killing at least four people and leaving another man missing. High water unleashed by last week's late-winter storm and swiftly melting snow this week has already inundated a large swath of Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa along the Missouri River, North America's longest river. The Missouri River's next big flood crest was due to hit St. Joseph, Missouri, about 55 miles (89 km) north of Kansas City, Missouri, and Atchison, Kansas, a short distance downstream, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman James Lowe said on a briefing call.

Trump administration plays favorites with faith-based media

According to one account, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised that “people of all faiths will have ‘something to say’ about the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan the White House is expected to announce after Israel’s elections in two weeks.”

Apple's Week of Surprises Continues With Updated AirPods

After it announced surprise updates for the iPad and Mac lineups

Canada to assess Boeing 737 MAX airworthiness without US

Canada said Tuesday it will make its own assessment of Boeing's modifications to its 737 MAX airliners before allowing them to fly again in its airspace, after two crashes in less than five months. "Of course, when that software change is ready, which is in a number of weeks, we will, in Canada, even if it's certified by the FAA, we will do our own certification," Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said. Garneau's comments marked a break from protocol, with Canada traditionally working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the US commercial airline industry.

Who is running for president? Here's a list of the candidates so far

The 2020 field has become crowded in recent weeks. Here's a look at who has announced their candidacy or opened an exploratory committee in the hunt for the presidency.

New Zealand holds first funerals for victims of Christchurch massacre

A father and son who fled the civil war in Syria for "the safest country in the world" were buried before hundreds of mourners on Wednesday. The funerals of Khalid Mustafa, 44, and Hamza Mustafa, 15, came five days after a white supremacist methodically gunned down 50 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch - a massacre that he broadcast live on Facebook. Hamza’s high school principal described the student as compassionate and hardworking, and said he was an excellent horse rider who aspired to be a veterinarian. Those present included Hamza’s younger brother, 13-year-old Zaed, who was wounded in an arm and a leg during the attack. The boy tried to stand during the ceremony but had to sit back in his wheelchair, one mourner said. "We tried to not shake his hand, and not touch his hand or his foot, but he refused, he wanted to shake everybody’s hand, he wanted to show everyone that he appreciated them. And that’s amazing," said Jamil El-Biza, who travelled from Australia to attend the funeral. Female mourners attend the funeral of two victims of the Christchurch terrorist attack at Memorial Park Cemetery Credit: Getty The Mustafas had moved to New Zealand last year, after spending six years as refugees in Jordan. Mustafa’s wife, Salwa, told Radio New Zealand that when the family asked about New Zealand they were told "it’s the safest country in the world, the most wonderful country you can go ... you will start a very wonderful life there." She added, "But it wasn’t." Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the family should have been safe. "I cannot tell you how gutting it is to know that a family came here for safety and for refuge," she said. Families of those killed had been anxiously awaiting word on when they could bury their loved ones. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police have now formally identified and released the remains of 21 of those killed. Islamic tradition calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible. The burials began soon after Ms Ardern renewed her call for people to speak of the victims rather than the man who killed them. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern receives a hug from a student during her visit to Cashmere High School which lost two students during a mass shooting  Also on Wednesday, a man accused of sharing video footage of Friday’s massacre was jailed by a judge until his next court appearance in mid-April. And Mr Bush said he believes police officers stopped the gunman on his way to a third attack. Ms Ardern’s plea against giving the accused gunman notoriety followed his move to represent himself in court, raising concerns he would attempt to use the trial as a platform for airing his racist views. During a visit on Wednesday to the high school Hamza and another victim attended, Ms Ardern revisited that thought and asked students not to say the attacker’s name or dwell on him. "Look after one another, but also let New Zealand be a place where there is no tolerance for racism," she told students at Cashmere High School. "That’s something we can all do." Another Cashmere student, 14-year-old Sayyad Milne, also died in the attack. About 30 people wounded in the attacks remained in hospital as of Tuesday evening. About 10 of them were in critical condition, including a four-year-old girl. Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian man, has been charged with murder and is next scheduled to appear in court on April 5. Police have said they are certain Tarrant was the only gunman but are still investigating whether he had support from others. Ardern previously has said reforms of New Zealand’s gun laws would be announced next week and she said an inquiry would be convened to look into the intelligence and security services’ failures to detect the risk from the attacker or his plans. New Zealand’s international spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau, confirmed it had not received any relevant information or intelligence before the shootings. Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly, of Sydney, travelled to Christchurch to attend or lead some of the funerals. Through a translator, he said he felt compelled to support the grieving. A nationwide lockdown on mosques was imposed until Monday, which Hilaly said had upset Muslims whom he had visited in Auckland. Police continue to guard mosques across the country. Philip Arps, 44, appeared in a Christchurch court on Wednesday on two charges of distributing the killer’s livestream video of the attack on the Al Noor mosque, the first mosque that was attacked, a violation of the country’s objectionable publications law. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Arps, heavily tattooed and dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, hasn’t entered a plea. He remained expressionless during the hearing, his hands clasped behind his back. Judge Stephen O’Driscoll denied him bail. Charging documents accuse Arps of distributing the video on Saturday, one day after the massacre. Bush said they believe they know where the gunman was going for a third attack when officers rammed his car off the road but won’t say more because it’s an active investigation. In a 74-page manifesto he released before the attack, Tarrant said he was going to attack two mosques in Christchurch and then one in the town of Ashburton if he made it that far.

These Are the World’s Happiest (and Most Miserable) Countries

According to the report published on Wednesday, Finland has witnessed modest but steady gains since 2014, and the country is now “significantly ahead” of other countries in the top 10, the researchers said. The data “offer the world’s governments and individuals the opportunity to rethink public policies as well as individual life choices, to raise happiness and well-being,” said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

On heels of scandals, USC announces new president

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California on Wednesday announced a new school president to usher "a new era" following a series of high-profile scandals that culminated last week with a massive college admissions bribery case.

Scenes From the 'Historic' Floods That Hit the Midwest — And Could Get Worse

The Midwest is facing even more "historic and catastrophic flooding,” according to the National Weather Service in the wake of a bomb cyclone that dumped…

Jury finding upends Bayer's Roundup defense strategy: experts

Bayer shares tumbled more than 12 percent on Wednesday after a unanimous jury in San Francisco federal court found Roundup to be a "substantial factor" in causing California resident Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The jury decision was a blow to Bayer after the judge in the Hardeman case, at the company's request, had split the trial, severely limiting evidence plaintiffs could present in the first phase. Tuesday's defeat on terms considered advantageous to Bayer sets up the second phase to be even tougher and limits the grounds on which the company could appeal any final verdict, the experts said.

Trump administration refuses to hand over documents to House oversight investigation

The Trump administration is committing "an unprecedented level of stonewalling, delay and obstruction" in response to congressional requests for documents and witnesses, the chair of the House oversight committee has said. Elijah Cummings, Democratic congressman for Maryland, said he had sent 12 letters to the White House on a range of topics from the "routine" to "relating to our core national security interests". In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Mr Cummings said the subjects included White House security clearances, Donald Trump's alleged hush money payments, and the use of taxpayer funds for lavish private planes.

Delta declared America's best airline: The Points Guy

Delta Air Lines tops a new list of the best -- and worst -- airlines in America for its impressive on-time performance and network of lounges. 

Jump-seat pilot reportedly saved Boeing Max jet one day before Lion Air crash

A day before a Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed off of Indonesia last year, killing all 189 people aboard, pilots struggled for control of the same aircraft.

Lithuanian leader mulls moving embassy to Jerusalem

Centrist Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said Tuesday he would consider moving Lithuania's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, should he win May's presidential elections. Skvernelis said that moving the mission could lead to closer ties with Israel and the United States, which Lithuania sees as a key security buffer against Russia.

The Latest: Austria says NZ attack suspect visited there

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — The Latest on the mosque attacks in New Zealand (all times local):

Robert Kraft's plea deal offer for prostitution charges hinders real progress on sex trafficking

Those who buy sex have more power and privilege than those who sell it. There's a disgusting imbalance in every commercial sex interaction.

Could the Twitter Primary Cost Democrats the Oval Office?

In my lifetime, I’ve never seen more presidential candidates advocate breaking more American constitutional, economic, and policy norms than I’ve seen from the Democratic field so far in 2019. When you assemble their proposals, it’s breathtaking.End the Electoral College? Elizabeth Warren is for it, and Beto O’Rourke says there’s “a lot of wisdom” in her proposal.Pack the Supreme Court?  Warren, Beto, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand are open to the idea.End the legislative filibuster? Harris and Warren are thinking about it.Remake the American economy with the Green New Deal? Virtually every significant Democratic presidential candidate is an enthusiastic yes.Sweep away the private health-insurance policies of 150 million Americans? This is the emerging Democratic consensus.This is only a partial list of Democratic power moves to the left, including calls to fundamentally transform longstanding constitutional structures and institutions. What is going on? Are these all conviction moves by progressive politicians telling the American people what they really believe? Are these politicians merely reflecting and amplifying the deeply held views of the Democratic rank-and-file?Certainly the Democratic mainstream has become more liberal, and its left-most cohorts are white, female, college-educated, and young. In other words, I just described many of the key demographics of American Twitter — the platform that exercises a wildly disproportionate influence on politicians, journalists, and political activists. The dominant feedback loop in the early primary isn’t just from the motivated base (which would be entirely normal), but a motivated base amplified by a specific social-media platform.Yes, radical Democratic pronouncements will earn them a wave of negative media attention on Fox News and in conservative media, but not a single Democratic candidate is trying to win that demographic. Indeed, a wave of Fox News hate is good for the brand. But if a Democratic candidate breaks in even small ways from the emerging online orthodoxy, watch them trend on Twitter. Watch them get viciously dragged in real time in front of every single leading progressive politician, activist, and journalist in the United States. It takes a brave person to withstand the attack, especially when there is precious little short-term advantage in confronting the online Left.This immediate, public, toxic, and often vicious or scornful feedback amplifies existing primary-season pressures to move leftward — just as the same kind of immediate toxic reaction can cow conservatives who oppose Trump. These attacks aren’t just read by campaign staffers. They also provide fodder for journalists, and they can quickly create narratives that dog candidates for days or weeks.I’m not arguing that primary-season purity tests are anything new. Republicans have been through those wars, and now the GOP purity test is centered around loyalty to Trump. But these days Twitter — which has developed into a hysterical platform prone to mobbing and shaming — amplifies and intensifies preexisting primary pressures. Now, a strategy to prevent poor optics on Twitter will push Democratic candidates further and further to the left, as they express “openness” to ideas they’d never otherwise entertain, all to avoid the backlash.As I’ve argued before, Twitter is so influential in part because that’s where the people who care the most spend their time. The people who care the most about anything — from politics to sports to pop culture — set the tone. And in American politics, the people who care the most tend not to be moderate, either in temperament or ideology.By the time progressive Twitter has done its work on the Democratic field, the American people may no longer have the ability to choose true American norms in 2020. They may well encounter a choice between an extremist personality with a relatively center-right or populist agenda and a more normal personality who seeks to enact extremist policies. If suburban voters long for not radical change but rather a more reasonable politics, where will they turn?But Democrats — indeed, both parties — need to remember that while Twitter has disproportionate influence on activists and elites, there’s little evidence that its outrages and controversies penetrate the wider world. An incident from this past week speaks volumes. If you’d only watched Twitter, you’d think that Beto’s presidential announcement was a bust. The Bernie Brigades — which punch well above their weight online — gang-tackled Beto on social media. He wasn’t taking on Ted Cruz, he was taking on the heroes of the progressive movement, and the honeymoon was most definitely over.Twitter pronounced its verdict: His announcement was a bust. His campaign was days old, but he was already struggling. And then we learned Beto had out-raised every other Democratic candidate — including Bernie — in the first 24 hours of his campaign.That doesn’t mean Beto is a favorite. Nor does it mean that he’s immune to Twitter’s progressive temptations. Just yesterday he backed abortion-on-demand even into the third trimester. He has backed the Green New Deal. He’s even advocated tearing down parts of the existing border wall. But it does mean that sensible politicians and sensible members of their staffs would do well to remember that the praise they earn online may well spell their doom at the ballot box. Twitter politics is extremist politics, and fighting one norm-breaker by creating another is an excellent way for the Democrats to fail again.

Citigroup to sell Venezuelan gold in setback to President Maduro: sources

Maduro's government has since 2014 used financial operations known as gold swaps to use its international reserves to gain access to cash after a slump in oil revenues left it struggling to obtain hard currency. Under the terms of the 2015 deal with Citigroup's Citibank, Venezuela was due to repay $1.1 billion of the loan on March 11, according to four sources familiar with the situation. Citibank plans to sell the gold held as a guarantee - which has a market value of roughly $1.358 billion - to recover the first tranche of the loan and will deposit the excess of roughly $258 million in a bank account in New York, two of the sources said.

Trump Pours Gas on GM's Already Smoldering Relations With UAW

In a series of tweets starting Saturday, Trump attacked both General Motors Co. and the UAW over the closing of a Chevrolet Cruze factory in Lordstown, Ohio. GM and the UAW each pushed back, but the two have otherwise been very much at odds entering bargaining over a new four-year labor contract.

New Zealand bans all assault weapons after mosque shootings, prime minister says

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand is immediately banning assault rifles, high-capacity magazines and "military style semi-automatic rifles" like the weapons used in last Friday's attacks on two Christchurch mosques.

The Supreme Court Ruled That Immigrants With a Criminal Past Can Be Detained Years After Serving Time

The 5-4 ruling gives the federal government the power to detain immigrants with a criminal past years after they finish serving time

Danish MP told her baby not welcome in parliament

A Danish MP said on Tuesday she was ordered to remove her infant daughter from parliament's chamber, sparking surprise in a country often hailed as a pioneer in women's rights. "You are not welcome with your baby in the parliament's chamber," speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, an outspoken former leader of the far-right Danish People's Party, allegedly told MP Mette Abildgaard. "I didn't ask for permission to bring her since I had previously seen another colleague bring a child into the chamber without any problems," Ms Abildgaard, whose Conservative party is part of the ruling centre-right coalition, wrote on Facebook. Ms Abildgaard, who is in her 30s, said she found herself in an exceptional situation with her five-month-old daughter, and had never brought her into the chamber before. But she said the infant was "in a good mood and had a pacifier in her mouth." Mette Abildgaard responded to the incident on Facebook Ms Kjaersgaard passed the message to an assistant, who then asked Ms Abildgaard to remove the baby from the room. Ms Abildgaard handed the child to an assistant and returned to the chamber to vote. "MPs should be in the chamber, not babies or children," insisted Ms Kjaersgaard when questioned by news agency Ritzau. She said clear rules would be issued on the subject. The Scandinavian country is often held up as a champion of gender equality and women's rights, and as a child and family-centred nation with generous parental leave. Ms Abildgaard noted that she was entitled to a year's maternity leave with full pay, but that she had chosen to return to work. Her Facebook post garnered more than 600 comments within the space of a few hours. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds her baby after speaking at the UN General Assembly Credit: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri "A chamber that represents mothers, fathers and babies ought to be open to mothers, fathers and babies," one person wrote. In 2016, an Icelandic lawmaker made headlines after breastfeeding her infant while speaking at the podium in parliament. And in September, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern became a symbol for working mothers when she brought her baby to the UN General Assembly in New York.

USC's new president ready to 'fix' school after scandals

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The new president of the University of Southern California said she wants to be a part of "fixing" the school following a series of high-profile scandals including the massive college admissions bribery case that broke last week.

Australian PM welcomes 'moderation' from Turkey's Erdogan

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday welcomed some "moderation" in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments in the wake of the Christchurch massacre. Trying to take the sting out of a diplomatic row that has threatened relations between Australia, New Zealand and Turkey, Morrison pointed to a recent Erdogan column in the Washington Post as progress. "Overnight, progress has been made on this issue and overnight we've already seen a moderation of the president's views," Morrison said, citing the article in which Erdogan stepped away from direct criticism of New Zealand.

'Terrorist' or 'psychopath'? Complex picture of Dutch attack suspect

The prime suspect in a deadly shooting on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht was known for a "rap sheet from here to Tokyo" but showed few signs of radicalism, according to residents and reports. Turkish-born Gokmen Tanis, 37, had been released from jail only two weeks ago in a rape case and has an extensive criminal record including for the possession of illegal weapons. Police were still questioning Tanis over Monday's rampage in which three people were killed, saying they were "seriously" investigating a terrorist motive because of a letter found in his getaway car.

Pilots searched for right checklist before Lion Air crash: investigators

The details revealed at a press conference corroborated a Reuters report on Wednesday that was based on three sources with knowledge of the cockpit voice recorder's contents. Investigators said they have 90 percent of the data needed for a final report on the October crash that killed 189 people. Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at Indonesia's national transportation committee (KNKT) said the recording showed there was "panic" in the cockpit in the last 20 seconds of the flight.

737 Max maker Boeing spent more than $753,000 on candidates, political organizations last month: FEC report

Chicago-based Boeing spent more than $753,000 on candidates and political organizations on both sides of the aisle last month, an FEC report shows.