News Headlines - 05 March 2019

▽US decision to merge Palestinian mission with Israeli embassy sparks anger | The Independent

The US has officially closed its consulate in Jerusalem, which served Palestinians, and has folded it into the US embassy to Israel.
The consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians for decades, but now that mission will be handled by a Palestinian affairs unit under the command of the embassy.

▽Holland recalls envoy from Iran in escalating murder plot row | The Times of Israel

The Netherlands said Monday it had recalled its ambassador from Tehran after Iran expelled two Dutch diplomats in an escalating dispute over an alleged plot to assassinate regime opponents.
Dutch authorities accused Iran in January of involvement in the murder of two dissidents on Dutch soil in 2015 and 2017, and the European Union slapped sanctions on Tehran over the killings.

▽Ghosn’s family taps U.N. rights group to show jail violations：The Asahi Shimbun

Carlos Ghosn's lawyers have submitted a dossier to a United Nations' working group which showed that the former head of Renault's rights had been violated during detention in Japan, one if his lawyers said on Monday.
Ghosn has been in custody since his initial arrest in late November over allegations he under-reported his compensation at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., for nearly a decade through 2018. He also has been charged with aggravated breach of trust.

▽'Haptic baton' offers new hope for blind musicians | Reuters

A conductor’s baton has been created that allows the visually-impaired to follow its movements, opening up the potential for blind people to join more orchestras.
The ‘Haptic Baton’ contains sensors that pick up even slight motions. These are then transmitted via radio signals to vibrating devices attached to musicians’ wrists or ankles.
They vibrate and buzz in different ways to indicate to the player the pace and dynamics the conductor wants.

▽Japan Releases Incredible Asteroid Landing Footage From Its Hayabusa-2 Spacecraft

Japan has revealed images taken by its Hayabusa-2 spacecraft during last month’s historic asteroid landing, showing the dramatic moment it touched the surface and scooped up material.
Hayabusa-2 landed on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu on Thursday, February 21 at a distance of 310 million kilometers from Earth. This was only the second successful asteroid landing in history, after the Hayabusa-1 mission in 2005.