Top News Stories for Today – Mar 26, 2019
Top News Stories for Today
Lawmakers vote to seize control of Brexit
British lawmakers wrested control of the parliamentary agenda from the government for a day in a highly unusual bid to find a way through the Brexit impasse after Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU divorce deal was rejected again.
Lawmakers will now vote on a range of Brexit options on Wednesday, giving parliament a chance to indicate whether it can agree on a deal with closer ties to Brussels – and then try to push the government in that direction. Nearly three years after the 2016 EU membership referendum, and four days before Britain was supposed to leave the bloc, it remains still unclear how, when or even if Brexit will take place, with parliament and the nation still bitterly divided. Reuters
Democrats demand full Mueller report
Six Democratic committee chairs in the House sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Monday requesting that he submit the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation to Congress by April 2. In a three-page letter to Barr, the lawmakers wrote that his summary of the Mueller report “is not sufficient for Congress.”
The top House Democrats argued that providing the report “in complete and unredacted form,” along with the underlying evidence and materials, would be fully consistent with the Department of Justice’s practice and precedent with Congress. NBC News
Trump asks Courts to erase Obamacare
The Trump administration is hardening its legal position toward Obamacare, arguing now the entire law is unconstitutional in a shift that promises to bring the issue to the forefront of the 2020 election campaign. The position is a change for the Justice Department after it argued last year that large parts of the 2010 law — but not all of it — should be struck in the case Texas v. US, which is pending before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. A trial court judge sided with Texas and voided the law in a December ruling. The Justice Department now says that the entire law, enacted under President Barack Obama, should be thrown out.
Trump’s move, which could prove to be a gift for Democrats, prompted a swift response from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Tonight in federal court, the Trump administration decided not only to try to destroy protections for Americans living with pre-existing conditions, but to declare all-out war on the health care of the American people,” she said in a statement. Bloomberg
Apple debuts streaming service, credit card
Apple unveiled its new streaming service, a credit card, and a news subscription service during a Monday event at its Cupertino, California, headquarters. The forthcoming streaming platform is called AppleTV+ and will feature content from Oprah, Stephen Spielberg, Sesame Street, and dozens more big-name creators. There’s no word on a price for the service, but it’s set to launch this fall.
The new Apple Card is a fee-free digital credit platform where users earn 2 percent cashback on all Apple Pay purchases. They can access the card via the iPhone Wallet app or with a physical titanium card. The new expansion of Apple News will offer content from more than 300 magazines for $9.99 per month. The Verge, TechCrunch via The Week
N Korea actions at joint office message for Seoul
As quickly as North Korea withdrew personnel from a joint liaison office in Kaesong Friday, Pyongyang returned Monday without explanation. The inter-Korean liaison office was opened following the third summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Some analysts have interpreted North Korea’s decision to leave the liaison office as a response to the US Treasury Department sanctioning North Korean entities, and then coming back after the weekend in response to Trump canceling further sanctions, said Bruce Klinger, Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation. The Voice of America
WH and business groups make push on trade pact
The White House and business groups are stepping up efforts to win congressional approval for the US-Mexico-Canada trade accord. But prospects are uncertain given that Republicans are at odds with some aspects of the plan and Democrats are in no hurry to secure a political victory for the president.
President Donald Trump will meet with GOP lawmakers Tuesday to try to kick-start the process for rounding up votes on Capitol Hill. Supporters in Congress and business groups say they have a narrow window to push it through, given that lawmakers tend to avoid tough trade votes during election season. The Voice of America
Trump recognizes Golan Heights as Israeli
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday recognized Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights in an election boost for visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, prompting a sharp response from Syria, which once held the strategic land. Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally.
Syria reacted swiftly to Trump’s proclamation, calling it a “blatant attack” on its sovereignty and territorial integrity and saying it had a right to reclaim the Golan. At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “clear that the status of Golan has not changed,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. A UN Security Council resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-member body in 1981 declared that Israel’s “decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect.” It also demanded Israel rescind its decision. Reuters