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AP 'napalm girl' photo from Vietnam War turns 40 | 0 |
GERMANY’S DEFENSE MINISTER Refuses To Wear Hijab During Saudi Arabia Visit…Says Trump’s Election Proves Political Correctness Has Been RejectedGermany s defense minister refused to wear a traditional head covering during her visit with a Saudi Arabian prince, arguing that women have as much right as men do to wear whatever they choose.Ursula von der Leyen declined to wear a hijab a veil traditionally worn by Muslim women or an abaya, a full-length robe, when she met with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud in the Saudi capital of Riyadh last Wednesday, according to Sputnik International news. The right to choose your own clothing is a right shared by men and women alike. It annoys me, when women are to be pushed into the Abaya, Das Bild reported Leyen as saying.According to reports, the woman pictured below, was arrested last week in Saudi Arabia for posting a picture of herself without a burka on social media:Woman who got death threats for posting photo not wearing a hijab arrested in Saudi Arabia https://t.co/2R3vD18UKA pic.twitter.com/c3oaYn8zA4 Muslim World Today (@MWTorg) December 14, 2016When pictures of Leyen, minus a hijab, hit social media, some Saudis went on Twitter to blast her. NYPThis Egyptian Infantry and Air Force veteran applauds her decision to ditch the hijab:Salute Defence Minister #leyen who represents a free nation, Not like our shameful Minister,We here kneeling for #Saudi, Long live Germany pic.twitter.com/x80APnzOcB Belal E. (@irresistibleOne) December 14, 2016 The German Defense Minister: not wearing the hijab in Saudi was deliberate. This is an insult to Saudi Arabia, read one tweet.Leyen, decked out in a crisp dark pantsuit, said she respects the customs and traditions of the country. [In Germany] one is free to choose his or her attire accordingly, Sputnik reported.The incident comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently called for a ban on wearing burkas in her country. | 0 |
U.S. judge rejects bid to dismiss Indonesian immigrant's lawsuitBOSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss a lawsuit by an Indonesian illegal immigrant challenging his detention in a Massachusetts county jail, finding that she had authority to challenge the conditions of his confinement. Terry Rombot was part of a wave of Indonesian Christians who fled their country following deadly riots in 1998. About 70 members of that exodus have been allowed to remain, illegally, in New Hampshire since 2010 under a deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities. However, in August, President Donald Trump instructed ICE in a directive that all immigrants in the United States illegally were subject to deportation. Rombot learned of the policy change when he arrived for an Aug. 1 check-in at ICE s Manchester, New Hampshire, office and was arrested. He was initially held in Massachusetts at the Plymouth County house of corrections, which had filed a bid to dismiss the lawsuit, and since has been moved to Bristol County. Federal courts do not have direct authority over immigration matters, which are handled by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, but Chief Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court in Boston wrote in a court filing on Wednesday that she has a say over the terms of his confinement. The district court holds jurisdiction to review habeas (corpus) challenges to unlawful immigration detention, Saris wrote. Writs of habeas corpus challenge illegal detention. At a Friday hearing, Saris expressed concern that ICE had broken its word with Rombot after telling him in 2015 that he would be given an opportunity to prepare for an orderly departure before being deported. She also expressed concern he was being held alongside potentially violent criminals. Rombot is one of 47 Indonesian nationals living illegally in New Hampshire involved in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration s move to deport them. ICE officials said the arrangement had always been a temporary one and that the agency always had discretion to deport the people covered by the arrangement. Members of the group and advocates say they fear they could face discrimination or violence if forced to return to the world s largest Muslim-majority country. The Indonesians are part of an ethnic community of about 2,000 people clustered around the city of Dover in New Hampshire s seacoast region. Their cause has drawn the support of the state s all-Democratic congressional delegation, including U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Governor Chris Sununu. | 1 |
Anchor Accidentally Announces Hillary Clinton’s Death On Air – Conspiracy Nuts Go WILDSunday night, an ABC News affiliate in New York began their show with a startling breaking news announcement from weekend anchor Joe Torres: Hillary Clinton was dead. We begin with the breaking news about Hillary Clinton s death They were talking about her health, and dove right on into her leaving a 9/11 memorial on Sunday after feeling light-headed. Then her campaign released the news that she was battling pneumonia, and then this happened. That has since been edited out, but remains up on YouTube for now. Watch the original report below:WABC 7 clarified the mistake later on. They told TVSpy that Torres had misspoken and meant to say health, which anyone with more than two brain cells, who watched the whole report, would have figured out: During a live introduction to a story about the health of Hillary Clinton, Joe Torres inadvertently said death when he meant to say health.' a station spokesperson said. It was clear from the context of the story, the reporters information and graphics on the screen that Secretary Clinton was alive and recovering.' Both the original story and the edit have tripped the conspiracy loons sensors anyway, though, because why let reason get in the way of a good Hillary conspiracy? So now they re going nuts. Some are convinced that ABC edited that out to cover up the fact that she did actually die, and that the campaign is using a body double to cover it up: A video clip of WABC-TV Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York City opened last night with Anchorman Joe Torre saying more on Hillary Clinton s Death. The opening line, however, seems edited-OUT of the video archive!Did Hillary die after leaving the 9-11 Ceremony in New York . . . and the information is being concealed? A whole slew of irregularities have cropped-up indicating that may actually be the case!BODY DOUBLE?A short time later, a person ALLEGED to be Hillary, is seen leaving the East 26th Street home of Chelsea Clinton, but there are problems with this person. The conspiracy baloney never ends with this crowd, does it? Here s another that s just certain she really died: Now it looks like the story has gotten even worse. Based on rogue reports, it is now our understanding that Hillary Rodham Clinton may in fact be dead.Yes, you read that correct. After airing on ABC news in New York for merely seconds, it was pulled from the air.This isn t a random report. Don t believe it? We didn t believe it at first either, until we saw an additional report of the same exact occurrence: At this point, we don t have all the news.All we know for sure is that Hillary Clinton may have actually died at a local hospital in New York City. It doesn t help that David Shuster tweeted that DNC operatives were informing him that the committee would hold an emergency meeting to discuss Hillary s replacement. That tweet was later deleted and replaced with one saying that they were considering a meeting to discuss replacing her.Furthermore, all the heretofore-unknown doctors across the Internet who are coming out of the woodwork to loudly proclaim that her pneumonia means she s at death s door don t seem to know some basic facts: 1) Pneumonia is fluid in the lungs, and 2), there are eleventy billion things that can cause it. Some are serious, some are very serious, some are not-so serious.Donna Brazile, the interim DNC chair, said that they re looking forward to Hillary s speedy recovery and return to the campaign trail, essentially destroying Shuster s tweets and the stories of those who piled on to that. It also destroys the absurd notion that she actually died, but hey, conspiracy nuts will think what they want. Despite what the Hillary-haters are hoping, she is alive and well and recovering. She s not at death s door, and she s certainly not dead.Featured image via screen capture from embedded video | 0 |
Google booted from China's number two carrier | 1 |
Suspicious packages believed to contain human remains sent to two Vancouver schools | 1 |
Emotional Al Jazeera Journalist Breaks Down During Gaza Report | 1 |
Trump’s Education Secretary Gets ROASTED After Saying Guns In Schools Will Prevent Bear Attacks (TWEETS/VIDEO)Our children are at risk, people! Fortunately, there is one woman who is willing to take a brave stand and confront this danger head-on Trump education secretary pick Betsy DeVos. On Tuesday, supergenius DeVos was asked a very simple question: Do you think guns have any place in or around schools? Now, most of us would have answered that question with a simple no, but not DeVos. She sees a danger the rest of us are missing: bears.But never fear! Trump would never appoint someone who is completely unqualified to any position. Sure, she doesn t know that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a thing, but DeVos has the perfect answer to this hidden and severe threat against our children a whole bunch of motherf*cking guns.DeVos says the decision to allow guns in schools is best left to locales and states to decide because bear attacks are apparently a thing, and we wouldn t want students undefended while Yogi searches their school for a pic-a-nic basket, would we? I will refer back to Senator Enzi and the school he was talking about in Wyoming, DeVos said. I would imagine that there is probably a gun in the schools to protect from potential grizzlies. As it turns out, Wyoming schools do not keep a pile of guns around to deal with an ever-looming threat of bear attacks.UPDATE: Teacher at Wyoming school Betsy DeVos said needed guns to shoot "grizzlies" says that's "absolutely" untruehttps://t.co/dWneudD0Tf pic.twitter.com/oVb8kEdAgL Tom McKay (@thetomzone) January 18, 2017But, hey, at least the folks on Twitter are having fun:Screenshot from the National Geographic special Betsy DeVos watched to prove grizzly bears are a threat to schools pic.twitter.com/c3ATfOdMJy Guy Fi-hairy (@ih8_mayo) January 18, 2017Betsy DeVos took @StephenAtHome very literally. #GrizzlyBears #DeVosHearing pic.twitter.com/OKpsE3UQNk FooseBallsOFire (@FooseBallsOFire) January 18, 2017We can't tell you how many times in the past year we've had a lockdown because #grizzlybears. ? #NotMySOE #StopDeVos #DeVosHearing Wa Badass Teachers A (@WaBATs_) January 18, 2017Maybe grizzly bears can home school your kids. Grizzlies aren't that bad and they're quite good at quadratic equations. #DeVosHearing Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) January 18, 2017Betsy DeVos said we need to have guns in schools to protect children from grizzly bears. What is wrong with these people? #DeVosHearing pic.twitter.com/eLeagUHrDo nnydi g ? (@bennydiego) January 18, 2017DeVos: Guns in schools so kids can protect themselves from grizzly bears. 200+ school shootings since 2013, 0 grizzly attacks. Peter Ambler (@PeterMAmbler) January 18, 2017#BetsyDeVos says we need guns in schools to protect kids from grizzly bears.Not even kidding. #DeVosHearing pic.twitter.com/SIeTT0pusL Chad R. MacDonald (@ChadMac19) January 18, 2017Guys, I'm very worried about grizzly bears in Ohio's public schools. John Scalzi (@scalzi) January 18, 2017DeVos won't say guns shouldn't be in schools.Because sometimes kids need to be defended against grizzly bears.SERIOUSLY SHE SAID THAT S Dynarski (@dynarski) January 18, 2017The Bible teaches us that God uses bears to kill children who disrespect elders. (2 Kings 2:23-24) Why is Betsy DeVos against God's plan? Alexandra Erin (@alexandraerin) January 18, 2017I'm confused. Betsy DeVos wants to bring God into schools but also guns because I guess God isn't powerful enough to stop grizzly bears. Sarcasticsapien (@Sarcasticsapien) January 18, 2017COMMITTEE: Yes or no. Would you enforce a school-wide fight to the death like Battle Royale? DEVOS: (breathing heavy) oh god yes Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) January 18, 2017Betsy DeVos answering questions at the senate hearing was like listening to a 4 year old try to explain what happens while you're asleep. Johnny Taylor, Jr. (@hipsterocracy) January 18, 2017We need a Secretary of Education that will work hard to end all of the grizzly bear on bear crime in schools.OHHHHH BETSY DEVOS! Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) January 18, 2017Asked if she would support Trump s plan to allow guns in schools, hospitals, day cares, and anywhere else a federal ban on gun-free zones would allow people to bring their firearms, DeVos explained that her heart bleeds and is broken for those families that have lost any individual due to gun violence. She did not say whether or not this includes the children who will be slaughtered as a result of Trump s policies.Watch what is quite possibly the dumbest thing you will hear from DeVos until the next time she opens her mouth:Featured image via Getty Images (Drew Angerer)/screengrab | 0 |
France's Macron to give Saudi Arabia extremist listPARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he would draw up a list of extremist organizations to convey to Saudi Arabia after its crown prince pledged to cut their funding. Saudi Arabia finances groups overseen by the Mecca-based Muslim World League, which for decades was charged with spreading the strict Wahhabi school of Islam around the world. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seeking to modernize the kingdom and cleave to a more open and tolerant interpretation of Islam. He never did it publicly, but when I went to Riyadh (this month), he made a commitment, such that we could give him a list and he would cut the financing, Macron said during an interview with France 24 television. I believe him, but I will follow up. Trust is built on results, Macron added. The crown prince has already taken some steps to loosen Saudi Arabia s ultra-strict social restrictions, scaling back the role of religious morality police, permitting public concerts and announcing plans to allow women to drive next year. The head of the Muslim World League told Reuters last week that his focus now was aimed at annihilating extremist ideology. We must wipe out this extremist thinking through the work we do. We need to annihilate religious severity and extremism which is the entry point to terrorism, Mohammed al-Issa said in an interview. Macron, speaking from Abidjan, said he had also sought commitments to cut financing of extremist groups from Qatar, Iran and Turkey. The French leader will make a quick trip to Doha on Dec. 7, where he will discuss regional ties and could sign military and transport deals, including the sale of 12 more Rafale fighter jets. Qatar has improved its ties with Iran since Saudi Arabia and other Arab states boycotted it over alleged ties to Islamist groups and its relations with Tehran. Macron said he still intended to travel to Iran next year, but wanted to ensure there was a discussion and strategic accord over its ballistic missile program and its destabilization activities in several regional countries. | 1 |
Pelosi re-elected to House Democratic leadership postWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi was re-elected to her post on Wednesday, beating back a challenger who accused Democrats of ignoring the working-class Americans who flocked to Republican Donald Trump in elections this month. Pelosi, 76, a Californian who has been in Congress for 30 years and led the party in the House for 14 of them, defeated 43-year-old Tim Ryan, a seven-term representative from the Rust Belt region of northeastern Ohio. The vote, taken by secret ballot, was 134-63. Ryan had brought his challenge complaining about the Democrats’ track record under Pelosi’s guidance, noting Democrats have only been in the majority in the House of Representatives for four of the past 18 years. He said Wednesday that he had been “biting his tongue” until the Nov. 8 national election, when Trump won the White House with the support of many working-class Americans, and Republicans kept control of the House and Senate. Democrats gained only about a half-dozen seats in the House of Representatives, when some had thought they would make double-digit gains. Ryan said after the vote he was satisfied his concerns had at least been heard by Democratic leaders, and there might be change. “If the message of the Democrats now is about working class people ... if that’s our focus, we will right this ship,” he said. Pelosi also suggested there had been a lesson learned. “Never again will we have an election where there’s any doubt in anyone’s minds where the Democrats are when it comes to America’s working families,” she told reporters. It was the biggest challenge to Pelosi’s leadership since 2010, when then-Representative Heath Shuler got just 43 votes. Ryan’s backers stressed they fear the party will be doomed to its minority status if it continues to move away from working-class people, traditionally part of the Democrats’ base. “We talk more about free-range chickens than we do working people on the Democratic side sometimes,” Representative Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts said before the vote. “We have to convince the American people, the American worker, that we’re in their corner. And Donald Trump did that. He took that away from us,” Lynch said. But Representative Eliot Engel, a Pelosi supporter, said “you really can’t blame her” for the party’s disappointing showing in November. “It was a loss of support at the top and it trickled all the way down,” Engel said. | 1 |
Saudi Arabia Hajj Disaster Death Toll at Least 2,110 | 1 |
Thousands of Mexico City taxi drivers snarled traffic in the mega-capital on Monday in a protest demanding that the government ban US ride-sharing service Uber | 0 |
Deaf 10-year-old girl trafficked to UK, kept in cellar and raped by pensioner | 0 |
How the settlers backed by the IDF and Israeli government have created an apartheid state in Israel. 13 minute clip from 60 minutes really puts the Palestinians hell on earth into perspective | 1 |
Terror suspect on the run after 34 killed in Brussels attacks | 0 |
Libya says pushing to be removed from Trump travel ban listTRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya s internationally recognized government has appealed to the United States to drop or ease a travel ban imposed on its citizens by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The Libyan Foreign Ministry, through its embassy in Washington, has begun to take measures to lift Libya from the list of countries and to ease the restrictions on Libyan citizens, the ministry said in a statement. Libya is one of six Muslim-majority countries subject to the travel ban. This week the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the ban to take full effect while litigation over its ultimate validity continues. The ban was also discussed at a meeting between Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siyala and U.S Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke on Monday, the statement said. | 1 |
Rhetoric aside, Latin America leaders say Trump listened on VenezuelaNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump attacked Venezuela s authoritarian government from the podium at the United Nations this week but Latin American leaders say that behind the scenes he listened to them on how best to resolve the delicate regional crisis. Latin American leaders who dined with Trump on Monday on the fringes of the U.N. General Assembly said they told him that a military invasion, a threat he casually made last month, would be unacceptable in a region long-sensitive to heavy-handed intervention by Washington. They pressed on him the need for a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela and argued against economic sanctions that would deepen its humanitarian crisis, which has already sent tens of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries. Trump went to the trouble of asking us how best to solve the Venezuelan situation, Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie, who attended the dinner, told Reuters. That the United States would consult Latin American counties on what to do is in itself a major step forward. At the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trump attacked the Socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro for destroying a once-wealthy oil-producing nation. He threatened to increase sanctions if Maduro did not move toward restoring democratic rule. But Trump steered clear of repeating the threat of military action he made on Aug. 11 which alarmed Latin Americans. For many, it conjured memories of the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that overthrew dictator Manuel Noriega, who died in May after years in prison in the United States and his own country. At least 125 people were killed in Venezuela during four months of protests this year against Maduro, who has resisted calls to bring forward a presidential election and instead set up a legislative superbody to overrule the opposition-led Congress. While no decisions were taken, the talks between Trump and the presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Panama, and the vice president of Argentina put pressure on Maduro to engage in real negotiations with his opponents instead of using talks to gain time, Latin American leaders said. Brazilian President Michel Temer told reporters after the dinner those present had agreed to ramp up pressure on Venezuela without direct intervention. President Juan Carlos Varela of Panama said the dinner with Trump strengthened an initiative by a dozen Latin American countries and Canada to back a new round of negotiations between Maduro and his opponents. There will be more pressure to convince Maduro to accept free and democratic elections in 2018, Varela told Reuters. We think Maduro is getting the message that change must come. Purchases of crude and refined products from Venezuela represented 7 percent of total U.S. oil imports in the first half of the year, giving Washington some leverage to push for political change in the South American nation. Yet an oil embargo - which would deprive the Maduro government of its main source of income - was not discussed at the dinner with Trump, several attendees said. Much of Venezuelan oil is heavy in sulfur and used for heating oil and asphalt, but is also refined into gasoline, mainly by U.S. Gulf refiners. Gulf state senators have urged Trump not to ban imports, which would hurt refineries and push up gasoline prices. Colombian foreign minister Mar a Angela Holguin said an oil boycott would only extend the suffering of the Venezuelan people, who are facing shortages of food and medicine. We have to think of the Venezuelans who would suffer even more if the economic crisis deepens, she said. Formal negotiations with the opposition are due to begin in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo on Sept. 27 and involve observers from Mexico, Chile, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Argentina s Faurie said the Maduro government would have to agree to several conditions for talks to be taken seriously, including a calendar for elections monitored by international observers and the release of political prisoners. Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Americas Society, a business forum dedicated to fostering ties between the United States and Latin America, said the talks between Trump and regional leaders sent a clear message to Maduro. The most important thing that came out of the dinner was the photograph showing the president and the vice president of the United States sitting down with regional leaders to talk about Venezuela, Farnsworth said. | 1 |
Ex Representative Grimm's restaurant partner to plead guilty: lawyerNEW YORK (Reuters) - A onetime business partner of former U.S. Representative Michael Grimm is preparing to plead guilty to a tax charge in a case related to the prosecution that led to the congressman’s imprisonment, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Prosecutors in a filing in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday said they intend to file charges against Bennett Orfaly, Grimm’s former partner in Healthalicious, a restaurant at the center of the Republican politician’s criminal case. James DiPietro, Orfaly’s lawyer, in an interview said his client is “hoping to reach a quick resolution with a plea to a tax count.” The filing on Monday said the case would relate to the one against Grimm, who represented a district in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Grimm was sentenced in July to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud. DiPietro said that while the case stemmed from the investigation of Grimm, Orfaly will be charged in connection with other restaurants he owned. A deal could come as soon as next week or the following, he said. A spokeswoman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Robert Capers and a lawyer for Grimm both declined comment. The expected plea was first reported by the New York Daily News. Grimm, a former Marine who subsequently worked as an FBI agent, was elected in 2010 with a wave of conservative “Tea Party” Republicans advocating low taxes and government spending, but built a moderate voting record. From 2007 to 2010, Grimm oversaw the day-to-day operations of Healthalicious, which he co-founded with Orfaly, according to authorities. At a court hearing in 2012, a prosecutor, Anthony Capozzolo, said Orfaly had ties to a member of the Gambino family, Anthony Morelli, who was sentenced in 1996 to 20 years in prison in connection with a gas tax fraud. That statement came during a bail hearing for a former campaign fundraiser for Grimm, Ofer Biton, who later pleaded guilty to visa fraud in 2013. Grimm was subsequently indicted in April 2014 on tax charges related to Healthalicious and pleaded guilty that December to aiding and assisting the preparation of a false tax return. Prosecutors said Grimm under-reported wages paid to workers, many of whom did not have legal status in the United States, and concealed over $900,000 in Healthalicious’ gross receipts from an accountant who prepared the restaurant’s tax returns. | 1 |
Russia's U.N. envoy calls for 'cool heads' on North KoreaUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Monday military solutions cannot settle the Korean Peninsula issues and warned there was an urgent need to maintain a cool head and refrain from any action that can escalate tensions. A comprehensive settlement to the nuclear and other issues plaguing the Korean peninsula can be arrived at solely through political diplomatic channels, including by leveraging the mediation efforts of the United Nations secretary-general, Nebenzia told the U.N. Security Council. | 1 |
France's Macron trades barbs for diplomacy with TrumpPARIS (Reuters) - France’s president has not given Donald Trump an easy ride: a crunching handshake at one meeting was followed by a body swerve at another and then a public rebuke over his attitude to climate change. But now there seems to be an olive branch from Paris. The U.S. leader said on Wednesday he had accepted an invitation from Emmanuel Macron to celebrate July 14 Bastille Day celebrations and 100 years since the U.S. troops entered into World War One. Trump will likely revel in a ceremony laden with pageantry and military pomp, with U.S. soldiers marching down the Champs Elysees boulevard beside French servicemen - a welcome respite from his domestic woes. For Macron, 39, it is an opportunity to use soft diplomacy to win Trump’s confidence as he tries to establish himself as a leading global statesman at a time when decision-making in the White House has become increasingly unpredictable. “We don’t want the United States to isolate themselves,” a Macron aide said recently. “That’s what diplomacy is for. It’s not to let people sulk in their corner.” In the space of six weeks, France’s youngest leader since Napoleon, will have hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Versailles and Trump on Paris’ most iconic avenue. Macron flattered Putin in May with a meeting at the sumptuous palace of France’s former monarchy, built outside Paris by Louis XIV - the ‘Sun King’ - to symbolize absolute power. Even so, Macron pulled no punches, accusing Russian state media of “lying propaganda” during his French election campaign. A French diplomat indicated there would be frank exchanges with Trump too after Macron took a dig in English at Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord when he urged U.S. citizens to help “make this planet great again”. “On climate change it’s complicated,” the diplomat said. “But the rest is sufficiently important for him to make this historic trip on July 14.” Macron appears to be broadly aligning his foreign policy with U.S. priorities of tackling terrorism while seeking better ties with Russia. The battle against Islamic State, Syria’s civil war and Iran’s nuclear accord are likely talking points. Privately, some French diplomats have lamented the lack of a clear U.S. policy on the long-term political process in Syria and say even setting up a meeting between the French and U.S. foreign ministers is tough. A White House statement said the two leaders would “further build on the strong counter-terrorism cooperation and economic partnership between the two countries”. Past words may haunt Trump. It will be his first visit since he declared that a wave of militant attacks showed France was soft on immigration and fighting jihadists. “France is no longer France. They won’t like me for saying that but... France is no longer France and this world better be very careful and they better get very tough and very smart,” the U.S. president said in a campaign speech. In bringing Trump to Paris, Macron has stolen a march on Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Theresa May. London’s offer in February of a state visit for Trump met fierce public resistance, Britons perceiving it as a desperate act by a government in need of a trade deal as it faced tough negotiations on its exit from the European Union. A date has still not been confirmed. In Paris, public opinion appeared divided. “You can see that the way Trump’s headed isn’t going to help things and I think diplomatic channels are the best way to calm things down,” said antique dealer Florence Toussaint. Psychologist Martine Aubourg was less impressed. “Trump isn’t an honorable president,” she said. “He changes his mind all the time.” | 1 |
Pakistan orders troops to open fire if US launches air or ground raid across Afghan border | 1 |
Study Deepens Mystery of Arsenic in Bengal Basin's Groundwater - "This is one of the worst mass poisoning cases in this history of mankind", says geologist. It's caused a water shortage, illness, & death in a region of over 60,000,000, leaving them unable to use the water even for washing dishes. | 1 |
WikiLeaks founder says may seek Swiss asylum | 1 |
Davos elites struggle for answers as Trump era dawnsDAVOS, Switzerland - The global economy is in better shape than it’s been in years. Stock markets are booming, oil prices are on the rise again and the risks of a rapid economic slowdown in China, a major source of concern a year ago, have eased. And yet, as political leaders, CEOs and top bankers make their annual trek up the Swiss Alps to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the mood is anything but celebratory. Beneath the veneer of optimism over the economic outlook lurks acute anxiety about an increasingly toxic political climate and a deep sense of uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on the final day of the forum. Last year, the consensus here was that Trump had no chance of being elected. His victory, less than half a year after Britain voted to leave the European Union, was a slap at the principles that elites in Davos have long held dear, from globalization and free trade to multilateralism. Trump is the poster child for a new strain of populism that is spreading across the developed world and threatening the post-war liberal democratic order. With elections looming in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly Italy, this year, the nervousness among Davos attendees is palpable. “Regardless of how you view Trump and his positions, his election has led to a deep, deep sense of uncertainty and that will cast a long shadow over Davos,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, CEO of International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think-tank. Moises Naim of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was even more blunt: “There is a consensus that something huge is going on, global and in many respects unprecedented. But we don’t know what the causes are, nor how to deal with it.” The titles of the discussion panels at the WEF, which runs from Jan. 17-20, evoke the unsettling new landscape. Among them are “Squeezed and Angry: How to Fix the Middle Class Crisis”, “Politics of Fear or Rebellion of the Forgotten?”, “Tolerance at the Tipping Point?” and “The Post-EU Era”. The list of leaders attending this year is also telling. The star attraction will be Xi Jinping, the first Chinese president ever to attend Davos. His presence is being seen as a sign of Beijing’s growing weight in the world at a time when Trump is promising a more insular, “America first” approach and Europe is pre-occupied with its own troubles, from Brexit to terrorism. British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has the thorny task of taking her country out of the EU, will also be there. But Germany’s Angela Merkel, a Davos regular whose reputation for steady, principled leadership would have fit well with the WEF’s main theme of “Responsive and Responsible Leadership”, will not. Perhaps the central question in Davos, a four-day affair of panel discussions, lunches and cocktail parties that delve into subjects as diverse as terrorism, artificial intelligence and wellness, is whether leaders can agree on the root causes of public anger and begin to articulate a response. A WEF report on global risks released before Davos highlighted “diminishing public trust in institutions” and noted that rebuilding faith in the political process and leaders would be a “difficult task”. Guy Standing, the author of several books on the new “precariat”, a class of people who lack job security and reliable earnings, believes more people are coming around to the idea that free-market capitalism needs to be overhauled, including those that have benefited most from it. “The mainstream corporate types don’t want Trump and far-right authoritarians,” said Standing, who has been invited to Davos for the first time. “They want a sustainable global economy in which they can do business. More and more of them are sensible enough to realize that they have overreached.” But Ian Bremmer, president of U.S.-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, is not so sure. He recounted a recent trip to Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York where he saw bankers “rejoicing in the elevators” at the surge in stock markets and the prospect of tax cuts and deregulation under Trump. Both Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his JP Morgan counterpart Jamie Dimon will be in Davos. “If you want to find people who are going to rally together and say capitalism is fundamentally broken, Davos is not the place to go,” Bremmer said. Suma Chakrabarti, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), believes a “modern version of globalization” is possible but acknowledges it will take time to emerge. “It is going to be a long haul in persuading a lot of people that there is a different approach. But you don’t have to throw the baby out with the bath water,” he told Reuters. Still, some attendees worry that the pace of technological change and the integrated, complex nature of the global economy have made it more difficult for leaders to shape and control events, let alone reconfigure the global system. The global financial crisis of 2008/9 and the migrant crisis of 2015/16 exposed the impotence of politicians, deepening public disillusion and pushing people towards populists who offered simple explanations and solutions. The problem, says Ian Goldin, an expert on globalization and development at the University of Oxford, is that on many of the most important issues, from climate change to financial regulation, only multilateral cooperation can deliver results. And this is precisely what the populists reject. “The state of global politics is worse than it’s been in a long time,” said Goldin. “At a time when we need more coordination to tackle issues like climate change and other systemic risks, we are getting more and more insular.” | 1 |
China cracks down on online comments, click-bait stories, foreign TV content as Xi reshapes media landscape | 1 |
Egyptian doctor sentenced to fifteen years jail, 1,500 lashes in Saudi Arabia | 0 |
Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa promises zero tolerance in corruption fightHARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday promised zero tolerance in his government s push to punish corruption that stifled political freedom and economic growth under Robert Mugabe s 37-year rule. Mnangagwa, giving his first state of the nation address since he assumed power last month following a de facto coup that ousted his 93-year-old predecessor, has sought to draw a line under years of endemic corruption and impunity. Under pressure to deliver results, especially on an economy crippled by severe currency shortages, Mnangagwa said reforms of a bloated state sector would be launched in early 2018. With opposition parties calling for widespread political reforms before an election next year, he repeated a promise that his government would do everything in its power to ensure a credible, free and fair ballot. Corruption remains the major source of some of the problems we face as a country and its retarding impact on national development cannot be overemphasized, Mnangagwa told a joint sitting of the country s two houses of parliament. On individual cases of corruption, every case must be investigated and punished in accordance with the dictates of our laws. There should be no sacred cows. My government will have zero tolerance towards corruption and this has already begun. The latter was an apparent reference to comments last week he would name and shame those who failed to return stolen public funds after a three-month amnesty ends in February. His government is also pursuing corruption charges dating back over two decades against former finance minister Ignatius Chombo, a close ally of Mugabe and his wife, Grace. Chombo, whose lawyer has said he will deny the charges, faces trial early next year. In the latter half of Mugabe s rule the economy fell apart amid the violent and chaotic seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms. Billions of dollars of domestic debt issued to pay for a bloated civil service triggered a collapse in the value of Zimbabwe s de facto currency and hyperinflation. Mnangagwa said the government would in the first quarter of next year announce a program to reform, commercialize or shut down some state-owned firms he said had been for a long time an albatross around the government s neck . Zimbabwe s efforts to re-engage international lenders and lure investors will rest on the credibility of next year s election, and the president again pledged a commitment to a free and fair vote. To level a playing field they say is skewed in favor of Mnangagwa s ZANU-PF party, opposition parties have however challenged his army-backed government to first enact a long list of electoral reforms. They include a new voters roll, opposition access to public media, allowing an estimated three million Zimbabweans living abroad to vote and international observers including the United Nations. We would like to see genuine, credible electoral reforms that will lead to free and fair elections and they must be underwritten and guaranteed by the international community, Tendai Biti, leader of the opposition MDC Alliance, told reporters ahead of Mnangagwa s address. Biti and other members of the alliance also criticized what they called the militarization of the government following the appointment of two former senior military officials to the new cabinet. Mnangagwa gave his clearest signal yet on Tuesday that he would appoint as vice president Constantino Chiwenga, the military leader who led the coup that ousted Mugabe. Chris Mutsvangwa, adviser to the president and the influential leader of the war veterans association, has rejected the criticism of the appointments, saying they were not unique to Zimbabwe. | 1 |
In the past 40 yrs, the permanent resident population of Venice has decreased by half. At the current rate of emigration - about 800 residents a yr - demographers predict there will not be a single Venetian left by 2030. But it's not flooding that's driving away the natives. | 1 |
Most intense shelling in Gaza, streets littered with dead bodies, death toll climbs to 425 - The death toll on the Palestinian side included children and women, with over 2,500 injured and almost 61,000 displaced seeking refuges in 49 UN Relief and Works Agency run centres | 0 |
Culture war erupts in Israel over attempts to end preferential budgets for ultra-Orthodox | 1 |
British PM May wants Northern Ireland's government restoredLONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday everyone wanted to see an agreement to restore Northern Ireland s devolved government after parties failed to reach agreement. We all want to see a Northern Ireland executive restored, she told lawmakers. | 1 |
Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan "has launched a blistering attack on US Republicans, declaring "cranks and crazies" have taken over the party and have come to represent the No 1 threat to the world's biggest economy." | 0 |
Republicans raise concerns on visa waiver bill implementationWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five U.S. Republican lawmakers raised concerns on Thursday with the Obama administration about implementation of a law meant to make it harder for people to enter the United States if they have visited certain countries, in a letter seen by Reuters. Kevin McCarthy, top Republican in the House of Representatives, and four other House members said in the letter that the Department of Homeland Security is making overly broad exemptions to allow people to skirt the new requirements. The bill was enacted into law in December following the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and the Dec. 2 shootings in San Bernardino, California. The law was designed to keep people who have traveled to Syria, Iraq, Iran and Sudan from coming to the United States except through the normal visa process. Under the existing U.S. Visa Waiver Program, citizens of 38 mainly European countries can travel for up to 90 days to the United States visa free. The new law required that travelers who have been to Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan since March 1, 2011, must get a visa to come to the United States. Several of the Islamic State attackers who killed 130 people in France held European passports that would have allowed them to easily enter the United States under the waiver system. According to the letter, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is making exceptions to the new law for people who visited the four specified countries to do humanitarian work, journalism or for “legitimate business-related purposes.” “These exemptions from the travel restrictions were not provided for in the law, are contrary to congressional intent, and are in breach of the agreement we reached with members of your administration,” the letter said. The lawmakers said the Department of Homeland Security must provide Congress with details of every visa waiver for those who have traveled to the listed countries on a monthly basis, including name and nationality of each traveler and the justification for granting the visa waiver. The letter asked the administration to provide no later than Feb. 12 emails and other documents that led them to the decision on making exemptions. “Had your administration complied in good faith with the bipartisan agreement we reached, we would not be writing you today,” the letter said. The letter was signed by Kevin McCarthy, Michael McCaul, Bob Goodlatte, Edward Royce and Candice Miller. | 1 |
Syrian and Russian special forces have rescued the second pilot of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey and he is now at a Russian air base in Syria | 1 |
North Korea's missile is advanced, but still some things to prove: South Korea presidentSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea s President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday a missile launched this week by North Korea was the most advanced of Pyongyang s arsenal, but said that the isolated state still needed to prove some technical details. Moon made the remarks during a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying it was unclear whether the North actually had the technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and that it still needed to prove other things, such as its re-entry technology. Earlier, the United States warned North Korea s leadership it would be utterly destroyed if war were to break out, after Pyongyang test-fired its most advanced missile, putting the U.S. mainland within range, in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. | 1 |
Italy's internet usage is one of the lowest in Europe. Does that make it backwards? | 0 |
Gaddafi vows no surrender after rebels overrun Tripoli compound: Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi vowed "martyrdom or victory" in an audio message delivered from hiding. | 1 |
Canadian whooping cough cases soar over last year; only 72 % kids in affected area are vaccinated | 0 |
Rabbis' wives urge Israeli women: Stay away from Arab men - A new letter signed by 30 women suggests that girls who date non-Jews will be cut off from their 'holy race'.
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British Special forces play Bollywood music to annoy ISIS | 1 |
Scottish island 'crime' would be first in 40 years | 0 |
UNREAL! LIBERAL PROTESTERS Scream and Yell During Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance at Republican Town Hall [Video] | 0 |
Isis threatens attacks in India. Isis mocked Muslims living in harmony with Hindus and urged them to travel to Isis-held territories.India, a Hindu-majority country, is home to more than 160 million Muslims, but only a handful of them have joined the Middle Eastern group | 0 |
Not all sex workers are victims (UK): We are facing not a feminist measure, but an ideology that sees women as unable to be sexually independent and free of their own actions. | 1 |
Elizabeth Warren Issues BLISTERING Takedown Of Trump’s Racist AG PickDonald Trump says he wants to be the president for all Americans, but he has put a literal white supremacist steps from the Oval Office, and is busily surrounding himself with bigots of many stripes. Now, he has picked racist Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be his Attorney General. Sessions is a guy who couldn t even get confirmed as a federal judge by the United States Senate in 1986 because he was too racist. Well, progressive firebrand and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is having none of it, and is demanding that Trump dump Sessions.Senator Warren issues a blistering statement rebuking both Sessions and Trump, which read: Instead of embracing the bigotry that fueled his campaign rallies, I urge President-elect Trump to reverse his apparent decision to nominate Senator Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States. If he refuses, then it will fall to the Senate to exercise fundamental moral leadership for our nation and all of its people. Thirty years ago, a different Republican Senate rejected Senator Sessions nomination to a federal judgeship. In doing so, that Senate affirmed that there can be no compromise with racism; no negotiation with hate. Today, a new Republican Senate must decide whether self-interest and political cowardice will prevent them from once again doing what is right. The heart of this statement is what is important; after all, we know that Trump has not the moral character to realize why picking Sessions, white nationalist Steve Bannon, or any of the other appalling people in his inner circle to fill out his administration is such a huge problem. Therefore, it will be up to the Senate to do their jobs and to deny Sessions his confirmation. Unfortunately, Bannon s appointment is all in Trump s hands, so he s in the White House for the long haul. However, Sessions is a different story. Therefore, the Senators who are elected to represent ALL of the people need to do their jobs and reject the bigots Trump is busily nominating.I know that Donald Trump values loyalty above all else that goes back to the undeniable fact that he has serious authoritarian tendencies. Sessions has been loyal, and this job is his reward. However, one of the most important jobs of the Attorney General is to enforce civil rights laws and to protect minorities. Therefore, Sessions would be an absolute threat to minorities in that role. Senate no matter your party affiliation do your jobs and follow in the footsteps of your honorable predecessors, and refuse to confirm Jeff Sessions as the top law enforcement officer of the United States.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 0 |
As the US caves in to Israeli demands on settlements and breaks the promises given in Cairo, the Economist wonders, is Israeli political jewjitsu just too strong for Obama? | 1 |
Mobile's missed calls that reveal 'terrorists tried to detonate car bombs 15 times in central London' | 0 |
“THE WAR ON COAL IS OVER”…First New Coal Mine Of Trump Presidency Opens In Pennsylvania…Another Promise Kept [VIDEO] So much winning! Were going to be winning so much, you re going to be sick of winning! -Candidate Donald J. TrumpPresident Donald Trump hailed the opening Thursday of a new coal mine as proof deregulation is helping bring jobs to the industry, even though plans for the mine s opening were made well before Trump s election.Corsa Coal Corp. will supply coal used in making steel and is expected to generate up to 100 full-time jobs. The company said it decided in August to open the Acosta mine 60 miles south of Pittsburgh after a steel industry boom drove up prices for metallurgical coal.Under a tent perched hundreds of feet above a freshly dug coal pit, about 200 miners, business leaders, and politicians celebrated amid the surge of enthusiasm for the industry. Mining headgear lay atop red, white, and blue table cloths labeled Make Coal Great Again. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said the mine was part of an effort to bring back jobs and industry to the state. Pennsylvania awarded a $3 million grant for the project. We have not always capitalized on our standing as one of the world s leaders in these resources, but we re changing that, Wolf said.Trump has made reversing the decades-long decline in coal mining the central tenet of his environmental policy, blaming federal regulations aimed at curbing planet-warming carbon emissions for job losses in the industry. Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have targeted laws that protected waterways from coal waste and required states to slash carbon emissions from power plants. About a dozen protesters chanted in opposition to the mine at the opening.Trump noted the impending opening of the mine last week during his speech announcing the nation s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. He said then he had hoped to attend the event; he participated via recorded video message, taking partial credit for the opening. One by one, we re eliminating the regulations that threaten your jobs, and that s one of the big reasons you re opening today: Less regulation, Trump said. We have withdrawn the United States from the horrendous Paris climate accord, something that would have put our country back decades and decades, we would have never allowed ourselves to be great again. Trump noted the impending opening of the mine last week during his speech announcing the nation s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. He said then he had hoped to attend the event; he participated via recorded video message, taking partial credit for the opening. One by one, we re eliminating the regulations that threaten your jobs, and that s one of the big reasons you re opening today: Less regulation, Trump said. We have withdrawn the United States from the horrendous Paris climate accord, something that would have put our country back decades and decades, we would have never allowed ourselves to be great again. For entire story: Mcall | 0 |
Federal judge blocks Florida law to end abortion clinic fundingTAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A federal judge has blocked parts of a new Florida law aiming to cut off state funding for preventive health services at clinics that also provide abortions, acting shortly before the restrictions took effect on Friday. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a preliminary injunction late on Thursday after state Planned Parenthood affiliates challenged certain provisions as unconstitutional. Hinkle found the clinics were unacceptably targeted by state efforts to eliminate funding for other healthcare services they also provide, such as birth control and screening for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. “The state’s only beef is that the plaintiffs provide abortions,” he wrote, noting that Florida already prohibits funding for abortions, as courts have held permissible. Florida is among many states adopting new abortion laws as conservatives seek to chip away at the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. Supporters argued that the wide-ranging law adopted this spring in Florida would protect women’s health. It included restrictions similar to those in a Texas law that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down earlier this week. Planned Parenthood, however, did not challenge in its lawsuit a related provision requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, a type of formal affiliation that can be difficult to obtain. The organization’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Northern District of Florida, focused on the funding cuts, which it said jeopardized about $500,000 annually. Planned Parenthood also challenged a new requirement that state inspectors review 50 percent of patient medical records at abortion clinics. Hinkle’s 25-page injunction also blocked the additional inspections, noting that the volume requirements for abortion clinics far exceeded the standards for other medical facilities. “The inspection provision is a solution in search of a problem,” Hinkle wrote. In the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood also raised concerns about changes in how the state defines gestational stages. The terminology was clarified during a court hearing, said Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, who applauded the judge’s ruling. “This means this vital programs will continue to go forward,” she said in a phone interview. “Because anti-women’s health politicians want to end abortion, they went to the lengths of trying to stop these preventive services.” The Florida Department of Health, named in the lawsuit, did not immediately provide comment. Neither did the office of Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican. | 1 |
If you look at the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country, it is net zero. Its been that way now for almost two years. | 1 |
EU plans migrant quotas, Britain opts out - The EU announced a plan on Wednesday to distribute asylum-seekers more fairly around its member states and take in 20,000 more refugees, but Britain's newly re-elected Conservative leaders rejected any quota system imposed from Brussels. | 1 |
WATCH: Ted Cruz Lies Straight To The Camera After Trump Calls Him A Canadian Anchor BabyTed Cruz was approached at a campaign stop in New Hampshire and asked to give a response to Trump s latest attack, in which he calls Cruz a Canadian anchor baby. In and of itself, the question was not that fruitful but what is important is how Cruz handled it. Basically, all it told us was that Ted Cruz is great at lying (not like we didn t already know that).Senator Cruz looked right at the camera and after giving out a jolly laugh, said: I like Donald. And he s welcome to say whatever he likes. I like and respect him. That s all I got to say and right now its up to the voters to decide. He likes and respects him? How can that even be believable for a second? He didn t even say it sarcastically. No wonder nobody likes Ted Cruz; he doesn t even respect himself with the truth.While it s commendable that Ted Cruz would not resort to any further attacks, he s doing a greater disservice by lending further legitimacy to a guy that deserves ZERO political respect from the voters. And he didn t even mean it. Next thing you know this clip will be used in another campaign ad by Trump as proof that he s a respectable guy. Yet he s nowhere close to it. Ted Cruz needs to grow some balls.While it is true that Cruz and Trump had a bromance before Ted Cruz started rising in the polls, whatever love and affection they had for each other effectively ended when Donald began attacking him below the belt in every way imaginable. How can Ted Cruz respect someone who just a few weeks ago referred to him a nasty guy. The full quote is much, much worse than that: Look, the truth is, he s a nasty guy. He was so nice to me. I mean, I knew it. I was watching. I kept saying, Come on Ted. Let s go, okay. But he s a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him. He s a very - he s got an edge that s not good. You can t make deals with people like that and it s not a good thing. It s not a good thing for the country. Very nasty guy. Video of Trump calling Ted Cruz an anchor baby in Canada https://t.co/lI6wle9E2b Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 29, 2016Ted Cruz doesn t respect Donald Trump; he just doesn t want to deal with any more attacks from him. He can t stand up for himself, pure and simple.Featured image via screen capture. | 0 |
Map: The most- and least-corrupt countries in the world | 1 |
Today the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic proclaimed the mass surveillance of citizens as unconstitutional | 1 |
Norway to introduce new regulations on circumcision. Ban on under 18 circumcision a possibility. | 0 |
Factbox: Trump fills top jobs for his administration(Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, a transition official said, putting him in charge of the agency he proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The following is a list of Republican Trump’s selections for top jobs in his administration. All the posts but that of national security adviser, the White House chief of staff, White House director of the National Economic Council and White House strategist require Senate confirmation. Sessions, 69, was the first U.S. senator to endorse Trump’s presidential bid and has been a close ally since. Son of a country store owner, the Alabama senator and former federal prosecutor has long taken a tough stance on illegal immigration, opposing any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. U.S. Representative Pompeo, 52, is a third-term congressman from Kansas who serves on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which oversees the CIA, National Security Agency and cyber security. A retired Army officer and Harvard Law School graduate, Pompeo supports the U.S. government’s sweeping collection of Americans’ communications data and wants to scrap the nuclear deal with Iran. Ross, 78, heads the private equity firm W.L. Ross & Co. His net worth was pegged by Forbes at about $2.9 billion. A staunch supporter of Trump and an economic adviser, Ross helped shape the Trump campaign’s views on trade policy. He blames the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, which went into force in 1994, and the 2001 entry of China into the World Trade Organization for causing massive U.S. factory job losses. Mattis is a retired Marine general known for his tough talk, distrust of Iran and battlefield experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. A former leader of Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and South Asia, Mattis, 66, is known by many U.S. forces by his nickname “Mad Dog.” He was once rebuked for saying in 2005: “It’s fun to shoot some people.” DeVos, 58, is a billionaire Republican donor, a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party and an advocate for the privatization of education. As chair of the American Federation for Children, she has pushed at the state level for vouchers that families can use to send their children to private schools and for the expansion of charter schools. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR: SCOTT PRUITT An ardent opponent of President Barack Obama’s measures to stem climate change, Oklahoma Attorney General Pruitt, 48, has enraged environmental activists. But he fits with the president-elect’s promise to cut the agency back and eliminate regulation that he says is stifling oil and gas drilling. Pruitt became the top state prosecutor for Oklahoma, which has extensive oil reserves, in 2011, and has challenged the EPA multiple times since. U.S. Representative Price, 62, is an orthopedic surgeon who heads the House Budget Committee. A representative from Georgia since 2005, Price has criticized Obamacare and has championed a plan of tax credits, expanded health savings accounts and lawsuit reforms to replace it. He is opposed to abortion. The final leadership role of Kelly’s 45-year career was head of the U.S. Southern Command, responsible for U.S. military activities and relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 66-year-old retired Marine general differed with Democratic President Barack Obama on key issues and has warned of vulnerabilities along the United States’ southern border with Mexico. Carson, 65, is a retired neurosurgeon who dropped out of the Republican presidential nominating race in March and threw his support to Trump. A popular writer and speaker in conservative circles, Carson previously indicated reluctance to take a position in the incoming administration because of his lack of experience in the federal government. Carson is the first African-American picked for a Cabinet spot by Trump. McMorris Rodgers, a 47-year-old U.S. congresswoman from Washington state, is the fourth most senior member of the House of Representatives leadership. A member of the House Energy Committee, she has supported efforts to expand the U.S. energy industry such as the recent repeal of the decades-old ban on oil exports and efforts to reject the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the United States Act. She has also expressed skepticism about climate change. Before joining Congress in 2004, McMorris Rodgers served for a decades in the Washington state legislature, eventually becoming the first woman there to serve as minority leader. Cohn, 56, president and chief operating officer of investment bank Goldman Sachs, had widely been considered heir apparent to Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of the Wall Street firm. Trump hammered Goldman and Blankfein during the presidential campaign, releasing a television ad that called Blankfein part of a “global power structure” that had robbed America’s working class. Puzder, chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants Inc [APOLOT.UL], which runs the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast-food chains [APOLOT.UL], has been a vociferous critic of government regulation of the workplace and the National Labor Relations Board. Puzder, 66, has argued that higher minimum wages would hurt workers by forcing restaurants to close, and praises the benefits of automation, so his appointment is likely to antagonize organized labor. Retired Lieutenant General Flynn, 57, was an early Trump supporter and serves as vice chairman on his transition team. He began his Army career in 1981 and was deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Flynn became head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012 under President Barack Obama but retired a year earlier than expected, according to media reports, and became a fierce critic of Obama’s foreign policy. Tillerson, 64, has spent his entire career at Exxon Mobil Corp, where he rose to serve as its chairman and CEO in 2006. A civil engineer by training, the Texan joined the world’s largest energy company in 1975 and led several of its operations in the United States as well as in Yemen, Thailand and Russia. As Exxon’s chief executive, he maintained close ties with Moscow and opposed U.S. sanctions against Russia for its incursion into Crimea. Perry, 66, adds to the list of oil drilling advocates skeptical about climate change who have been picked for senior positions in Trump’s Cabinet. The selections have worried environmentalists but cheered an industry eager for expansion. Perry, who also briefly ran in the 2016 presidential race, would have to be confirmed by the Senate to head the Energy Department, which is responsible for U.S. energy policy and oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons program. McMahon, 68, is a co-founder and former chief executive of the professional wrestling franchise WWE, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut. She ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012, and was an early supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign. Chao, 63, was labor secretary under President George W. Bush for eight years and the first Asian-American woman to hold a Cabinet position. She is a director at Ingersoll Rand, News Corp and Vulcan Materials Company. She is married to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky. Mnuchin, 53, is a successful private equity investor, hedge fund manager and Hollywood financier who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs before leaving in 2002. He assembled an investor group to buy a failed California mortgage lender in 2009, rebranded it as OneWest Bank and built it into Southern California’s largest bank. Housing advocacy groups criticized the bank for its foreclosure practices, accusing it of being too quick to foreclose on struggling homeowners. Haley, 44, has been the Republican governor of South Carolina since 2011 and has little experience in foreign policy or the federal government. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she led a successful push last year to remove the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol after the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston by a white gunman. Recently re-elected to serve as Republican National Committee chairman, Priebus will give up his party post to join Trump in the White House, where the low-key Washington operative could help forge ties with Congress to advance Trump’s agenda. The 44-year-old was a steadfast supporter of Trump during the presidential campaign even as the party fractured amid the choice. CHIEF WHITE HOUSE STRATEGIST, SENIOR COUNSELOR: STEVE BANNON The former head of the conservative website Breitbart News came aboard as Trump’s campaign chairman in August. A rabble-rousing conservative media figure, he helped shift Breitbart’s into a forum for the alt-right, a loose confederation of those who reject mainstream politics and includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites. His hiring signals Trump’s dedication to operating outside the norms of Washington. As White House chief of staff, Bannon, 63, will serve as Trump’s gatekeeper and agenda-setter. | 1 |
South Sudan judges end strike to return to huge legal backlogJUBA (Reuters) - South Sudanese judges ended a five-month strike without a pay deal on Thursday, saying they had to clear a massive backlog of cases. President Salva Kiir, who in July sacked several striking judges, has told union representatives he would resolve their demands in the near future, Arop Malueth of the Judges and Justice Union said. The strike was over salaries that the judges say have been rendered practically worthless by hyperinflation in a country in civil war since 2013. Courts already faced a huge backlog as the nation of 12 million people only had 274 judges on the payroll in the last government budget. Some have since resigned, some are off sick and others are on leave, the union said. This strike has gone for five months but nothing has been done by the authorities and our citizens have been suffering every day because the courts are closed, Malueth told Reuters. The union s general assembly agreed on Wednesday to return to work on Sept. 11. War has brought famine and forced more than a quarter of South Sudan s population to flee their homes, creating Africa s biggest refugee crisis since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. | 1 |
Trump touts tax reform, overlooks White House aide CohnSPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump made his first major tax reform speech on Wednesday, but in a long list of thank yous he did not mention Gary Cohn, the White House point man on taxes who traveled with Trump to the event. At a manufacturing company in Springfield, Missouri, Trump reiterated his longstanding call for slashing the U.S. corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent at a time when lawmakers believe they could be lucky to bring it down to 25 percent. When asked about the omission of Cohn’s name, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One, en route to Washington from Missouri, that it was customary for Trump to recognize Cabinet members, but not advisers, in speeches. Cohn traveled with Trump on Air Force One for the Missouri speech, in which Trump called on Democrats to join his tax overhaul effort. He said he would cut taxes and simplify the sprawling U.S. tax code for the middle class. But he offered few specifics, and tax reform will be an uphill task in Congress. “We must reduce the tax rate on American businesses so they keep jobs in America, create jobs in America and compete for workers right here in America,” Trump said in his first presidential speech specifically on tax reform, one of his key 2016 campaign issues. Both congressional Democrats and Republicans say tax reform is needed but the Republican goal of enacting legislation this year faces a battle in Congress, which has already failed to deliver on healthcare reform sought by Trump. During his speech, Trump did single out Cabinet members, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon, as well as members of Congress — more than a dozen people in all. He asked his daughter Ivanka Trump, who is not a Cabinet member but is a staff member, to stand and be recognized in his speech at a manufacturing company in Springfield. “Anybody I forgot?” Trump asked. Cohn, who stood next to the stage during the speech with Sanders, has worked side-by-side for months with Mnuchin developing Trump’s tax reform strategy. “It’s pretty standard practice for us not to specifically call out staff,” Sanders told reporters afterward. “He regularly mentions Cabinet members but very rarely mentions staff in speeches.” Asked if the oversight of Cohn was significant, Sanders said, “Well, look, Gary is here. The president is here. They’re both working hard and extremely committed to providing tax relief for middle-class America. The president has made very clear this is a top priority for him, for his administration, and Gary is one of the people leading the charge.” Cohn recently criticized Trump for his comments about violence at racially charged protests in Virginia earlier this month. Trump blamed “both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville, in which white supremacists and neo-Nazis battled anti-racism protesters. Trump’s comments drew condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats. Cohn told the Financial Times last week that the Trump administration “can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning” hate groups. The former Goldman Sachs executive, who is Jewish, said he had come under “enormous pressure” to resign over Trump’s remarks. TAX REFORM UNLIKELY BEFORE YEAR-END Independent analysts and lobbyists are increasingly pessimistic that Congress can act by the end of 2017, and some believe final tax legislation could be more like a straight tax cut than a reform. “I don’t want to be disappointed by Congress. Do you understand me?” Trump said to cheers. Trump said business tax cuts would lead to higher wages for workers by boosting economic growth and making American companies more competitive, an argument Democrats dismiss as more of the “trickle-down” economics that they blame for leaving workers behind in recent decades. “If President Trump’s previous tax plans are any indication, the wealthy and big corporations will be the ultimate winner,” Representative Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement. There has been no comprehensive overhaul of the tax code since 1986. Trump singled out Missouri’s Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, telling voters to throw her out of office in the 2018 midterm elections if she does not get on board with tax reform. McCaskill’s office did not respond to queries from Reuters about Trump’s remark. After more than seven months in power, Trump and Republican leaders who control both the U.S. Senate and the House are still far from agreement on a tax package. Initially expected in the spring, tax reform legislation now may not emerge until as late as November, lobbyists say. Trump will discuss a tax overhaul at a White House meeting next Tuesday with the “Big Six” tax reform negotiators: House Speaker Paul Ryan, Mnuchin, Cohn, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican chairmen of two congressional tax committees. | 1 |
22 school students stabbed in China: A man with a knife has wounded 22 children and an adult at a primary school in central China | 0 |
Predictions For Syria ---
Deeply troubling assessment from reporter recently back from two-month assignment. Regime can survive for a long time. "Syria is crumbling before our eyes, and a thoroughly modern nation is likely to be set back many decades" | 0 |
DEMOCRAT ACCUSED Of Sexual Harassment Just Threatened ‘Many Members’ Who Also Have Allegations Against ThemJohn Conyers might just drain the swamp for us. The 88-year old Democrat from Michigan who is accused of sexually harassing female staffers is now threatening to bring the swamp down by exposing all of the other members of the House and Senate accused of sexual harassment. Yes, the swamp is turning on itself. This could get really good In case you haven t heard $17 MILLION taxpayer dollars went to pay off people who accused politicians in the House and Senate of sexual harassment. That s YOUR money! Conyers paid $27K to one accuser He s got several more that have come out to say he also harassed them This guy is so bold with his harassment that he showed up to a meeting in his underwear. Yikes!CONYERS THREATENS TO EXPOSE OTHERS:Peter Hasson describes for the Daily Caller the remarkable vague threat emanating for the attorney representing John Conyers:The attorney for Democratic Michigan Rep. John Conyers, who is accused of continuously sexually harassing his female staffers, defended Conyers by indicating that there are allegations against many members of the House and Senate.Conyers attorney, Arnold E. Reed, released a statement defending the Michigan Democrat and pushing back against the disturbing allegations. The bizarre statement was written in all-CAPS and referred to both Reed and Conyers in the third person.https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/933504768269606912ALL CAPS? Really? The lawyer should resign for using all caps!CHART OF PAYOUTS TO SETTLE HARASSMENT CHARGES:Congressional Office of Compliance releases year-by-year breakdown of harassment settlements and awards: pic.twitter.com/vxbezi22wb Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) November 16, 2017 | 0 |
Privacy not an absolute right, says GCHQ director | 1 |
Rajoy: Spain will not be divided, national unity will be preservedBERLIN (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a newspaper interview that Spain would not be divided, a week after Catalonia held a referendum that authorities there say showed voters overwhelmingly support independence. Asked if there was a risk that Spain would be divided, Rajoy said in an interview published in Die Welt on Monday: Absolutely not. Spain will not be divided and national unity will be preserved. We ll do everything that legislation allows to ensure that. Catalonia, which has its own language and culture and is led by a pro-independence regional government, held the Oct. 1 referendum over secession in defiance of Spain s constitutional court which had declared the vote illegal. [nL8N1MJ0L9] | 1 |
Mitt Romney left Massachusetts $1 billion in debt. | 0 |
India's Cochin International Airport becomes the first in the world to run fully on solar power | 0 |
Japan to impose sanctions on Russia | 1 |
China Tightens Media Grip, insisting that media outlets dont report on stories that appear in social media until theyve been verified.
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Australian MP sets river on fire, blames nearby fracking - An Australian MP is blaming seeping methane from a nearby fracking site for making it possible for him to set Queensland's Condamine River on fire. | 0 |
Google, Facebook take down 'offensive' India content: The firms have pulled down web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders, in compliance with a court directive issued during an ongoing civil lawsuit against more than 20 Internet giants.
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Trump Lashes Out At Puerto Ricans, Calls Them ‘Ingrates’ In Self-Congratulatory TweetsAgain, these are AMERICAN citizens he is talking about.If Donald Trump had treated Texas and Florida the way he is treating Puerto Rico right now, there would be riots in the streets and massive protests in front of the White House.But apparently, people don t seem to understand that the people of Puerto Rico are American citizens who should be given the same respect and treatment that Texans and Floridians received after hurricanes slammed their states.Trump has not done that so far. Not only was he too slow in responding because he focused more on trying to force NFL players to stand during the national anthem, he has not sent nearly enough troops or equipment or supplies to Puerto Rico. And he is insulting them to add insult to injury.Trump has taken to Twitter to constantly brag about the recovery operation despite his response being worse than President George W. Bush s response to Hurricane Katrina. Puerto Rico was devastated by two Category 5 hurricanes, yet less water and food has been sent to the island.When Trump s administration tried to frame the disaster as a good news story, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz fired back by pointing out that people are dying. Trump threw a temper tantrum in response and suggested that Puerto Ricans are lazy people who won t help themselves.On Sunday morning, Trump lashed out again. While bragging about the recovery effort as if it s the best recovery effort in history, Trump congratulated himself and called Puerto Ricans who criticize the weak effort ingrates. We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates, Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military. All buildings now inspected .. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 for safety. Thank you to the Governor of P.R. and to all of those who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017Again, Trump s response to the crisis in Puerto Rico could be much better and it s certainly not as good as he thinks it has been. Furthermore, Trump insulted Puerto Ricans again. While Mayor Cruz is working to save lives, Trump is busy golfing and rage-tweeting. He is enraged because he thinks brown people should be grateful for what little help he has provided. That s a totally unacceptable way to treat American citizens. Period.Featured Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 0 |
Snowden's asylum in Russia runs out this month, asks for extension | 0 |
HIV can be flushed out of its hiding places in the body using a cancer drug, researchers show. | 0 |
Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village yesterday in the middle of the night. Mosque was ransacked, 300 olive trees are uprooted (which serve as income for farmers), 2 cars were set ablaze and racist slogans were spray-painted in Hebrew around town. | 1 |
Turkish PM Erdoan says male and female students should not live together in same house and we will intervene as government | 1 |
Black Family BLASTS Trump For Using Photo As ‘Propaganda’: We DON’T Support HimThe black family whose family reunion photo was used in a tweet by Donald Trump to prove the Republican nominee has support with black voters is pushing back strongly on the reality TV star. Buzzfeed contacted the Perry family after it was revealed that Trump retweeted a post using their family gathering to boost his campaign.BuzzFeed News can reveal the parents in the photograph, pictured at right, are Eddie and Vanessa Perry and they are not endorsing or publicly supporting any political candidate during the 2016 election.[ ]On Saturday morning, however, a friend texted him a screenshot of Trump s tweet. When I saw it, I immediately knew it was political propaganda, he said.The Trump supporter who created the doctored image is apparently the same provocateur who pushed a photo comparison of Heidi Cruz and Melania Trump that attacked Cruz s looks and was promoted by Trump.Trump posted his most recent fraudulent creation after facing heavy criticism for several racial outbursts on Friday. During a rally, Trump referred to a black man in the crowd as my African-American, and earlier in the event and on CNN defended his race-based attack on the judge presiding over the court case alleging fraud by Trump University.Trump complained that due to the judge s Mexican heritage it is improper for him to judge Trump. In reality, the judge is a native-born American with a Latino heritage, much like Trump is a native-born American with a German heritage.The mainstream leadership of the Republican Party, including Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have endorsed Trump s campaign despite its ongoing use of racist and misogynist rhetoric. Trump has also called for a ban on Muslim migration to the United States, a move which has been slammed by some members of his own party and by prominent Democrats like President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton.Featured image via WCPO | 0 |
Russia says it loses billions to oil slump, sanctions | 0 |
Not every blogger is a crank: British teacher predicted Eurozone problems based on demographic differences, and is now being courted and cited by economic community. | 0 |
Somalia seen as most corrupt nation---US slips out of top 20 least corrupt | 0 |
Japan moves closer to restarting nuclear reactors | 1 |
DIRTY POOL! FBI AND DOJ Just Affirmed They Spied On Trump WITHOUT Proving Dossier’s AuthenticityHow dirty is this? The powers-that-be at the intelligence agencies didn t follow the proper channels before opening up spying on the Trump campaign! They needed proof that the Trump dossier is authentic but never received that proof. They moved forward with the spying anyway! What dirty rats these Democrats are!FBI and Justice Department officials have told congressional investigators in recent days that they have not been able to verify or corroborate the substantive allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign outlined in the Trump dossier.The FBI received the first installment of the dossier in July 2016. It received later installments as they were written at the height of the presidential campaign, which means the bureau has had more than a year to investigate the allegations in the document.The dossier was financed by the Hillary Clinton campaign and compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.An August 24, 2017 subpoena from the House Intelligence Committee to the FBI and Justice Department asked for information on the bureau s efforts to validate the dossier. Specifically, the subpoena demanded any documents, if they exist, that memorialize DOJ and/or FBI efforts to corroborate, validate, or evaluate information provided by Mr. Steele and/or sub-sources and/or contained in the Trump Dossier. According to sources familiar with the matter, neither the FBI nor the Justice Department has provided documents in response to that part of the committee s subpoena. But in face-to-face briefings with congressional staff, according to those sources, FBI and DOJ officials have said they cannot verify the dossier s charges of a conspiracy between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.Read more: WE | 0 |
Eric Trump Just Humiliated Himself With Fake Photo Of ‘Florida’ Rally (Complete With Texas Flag)Ever since Hillary Clinton generously, yet correctly, identified about half (only half?) of Donald Trump s vapid, illiterate flock of racist, meth-addled taint-barnacles, as a basket of deplorables, the Right has been in a frenzy as they feverishly attempt to prove her right. One such deplorable, Trump s son Eric, showed the world on Monday that he is deserving of the title when he attempted to hit back at Clinton over the remark. Look at the #BasketOfDeplorables in Pensacola Florida last night! What a horrible statement. #CrookedHillary, Trump tweeted victoriously.Look at the #BasketOfDeplorables in Pensacola Florida last night! What a horrible statement. #CrookedHillary pic.twitter.com/GfevT0KUjd Eric Trump (@EricTrump) September 10, 2016Unfortunately, there was just a teensy problem. That photo was not of the Pensacola rally. In fact, it wasn t even in Florida. Legendary former news commentator Keith Olbermann was among the many, many people who rushed to point out the obvious lie. The Pensacola Deplorables relocated to Dallas because they were promised a new arena @KeithOlbermann. How do you NOT know this? @EricTrump Orlando Jones (@TheOrlandoJones) September 10, 2016Yes, Dallas. In Texas. Eric Trump, as Olbermann postulated, may very well be dumber than his dad. Others helpfully informed Trump of his error:@BillyBlac LOL.. That picture is from a rally an 1 yr ago at American Airlines Center in DALLAS. @EricTrump < CON MAN @RickRapscallion Billy Tee (@BillyT_202) September 10, 2016@BillyBlac @BillyT_202 @EricTrump @RickRapscallion there's a Texas state flag right in the picture, genius. Eric's the one lying to you. Brian Santa Maria (@briansantamaria) September 10, 2016.@EricTrump and lying runs in the family eh?? Throw another one in #BasketofDeplorables https://t.co/Moa8hbfUbL Bimmerella (@bimmerella) September 10, 2016@TheFTProphet @EricTrump @bimmerellaEric is as dumb as his dad has no idea that we can google image search his bullshit tweet. ??? ((tay)) (@SensiblySecular) September 10, 2016@EricTrump You intentionally cropped out American Airlines Center.. You're a con man just like your daddy. https://t.co/0PTsEjgg6p @mcuban Billy Tee (@BillyT_202) September 10, 2016Trump s supporters including his children who participate in The Donald s circus of idiocy deserve their new, cute little nickname, and this is just one example. His followers consist almost entirely of white supremacists and other assorted racists, Tea Party revolutionaries who desperately crave a new revolution, and xenophobes groups that most of us would consider deplorable. Unfortunately, to Trump and his friends on the Right, they re patriots. Featured image via Twitter | 0 |
KGB defector's cold war secrets are revealed at last - Vasili Mitrokhin's demand granted 20 years on as 2,000 pages of notes he made from KGB archives begin to be made public | 0 |
BREAKING! Trump Moves To Withdraw US From TPP: “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first…”Newly installed President Donald Trump has moved swiftly to turn his fiercely nationalist America first inaugural speech into action, stoking unease abroad over the new direction the United States is headed under his leadership.On Day One of his presidency, the White House moved to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. The Obama administration s signature domestic programme, the Affordable Care Act, also fell victim to Mr Trump s move to unpick his predecessor s policies.In his fiery inauguration address on Friday, Mr Trump painted a bleak picture of America today one exploited by foreign countries, burdened with lopsided alliances and failing to defend its borders. For many decades, we ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidised the armies of other countries, while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military, he said, blasting past policies. One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. What s left behind, he said, is a dystopia of blighted inner cities and rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the land. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now, Mr Trump declared. From this day forward, it s going to be only America first Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. Mr Trump, revisiting the election campaign themes that resonated strongly with what he called the forgotten voters of Middle America, made clear that under his administration, the US will be hard-nosed in protecting its own interests. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs, he said.Mr Trump s signaling of a dramatic shift in policy has set off ripples of concern in world capitals, even as congratulations and offers to improve ties flooded in. Straights Times | 0 |
"And I think there is nothing that can\'t be done if it is fundamentally reasonable." | 0 |
Japan's love of tiny cars sore spot as Trump, Abe meet TOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) - When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets on Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump, Japan’s bulging automotive trade surplus will be a sore spot, but the path to balancing auto exports and imports will be no easier than it was in the 1980s. Trump may press Abe to do more to level the trade imbalance with Japan during a White House visit or a round of golf, but the two leaders are unlikely to change the fact that the big cars and trucks that America makes do not sell in Japan. Many Japanese consumers, faced with congested cities, favor tiny domestically-made vehicles, called kei cars, which make up more than a third of the market. Priced from around 1.1 million yen, or about $9,800, these cars have engines most Americans would consider inadequate for a motorcycle. Even Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co cannot convince Japanese consumers to buy models that are popular in the United States. Small sport utility vehicles such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda’s CR-V are seen by Japanese consumers as too big. Only about 13,000 vehicles from U.S. automakers sold in Japan in both 2016 and 2015, and of that about three-fourths were Jeep SUVs made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Ford Motor Co announced last month that it is pulling out of the Japanese market entirely, after selling just 2,400 vehicles there in 2016. The Japanese auto market has shrunk not only in terms of vehicle size, but in sales volume. As a result, global automakers, including Japan’s, are focused on boosting sales in China, the United States and growing emerging markets. “It would take a painstaking fine-tuning of vehicle specs to suit American cars to those driving and other conditions and develop a strong distribution network to be able to gain traction in Japan. It is nothing short of a 20-year effort,” said a Toyota executive who spoke on condition he not be named. Jaguar Land Rover Japan Ltd Chief Executive Magnus Hansson said the low sales of U.S. cars in Japan did not mean it was a closed market, but rather reflected “a total and absolute lack of effort over 50 years” by Detroit. Still, Japan remains an export hub for the big Japanese automakers. The U.S. Commerce Department this week reported that the U.S. trade deficit with Japan in 2016 was $68.9 billion, and of that total surplus, some $52.6 billion was in vehicles and automotive parts. Japan’s automakers have more than 90 percent of the Japanese market. Last year U.S. automakers controlled only 45 percent of their home market, the world’s second-biggest after China. A bigger factor than imports in the Detroit automakers’ loss of U.S. market share since 1980 is the surge in investment by Japan’s automakers in U.S. factories. Last year, 56 percent of the vehicles Toyota sold in the United States were made in America, the company said. Toyota said it employs more than 34,000 in the United States. For years the growth of Japanese-owned auto factories in the U.S. heartland has helped cool trade tensions. But Trump, a Republican, has turned up the heat by complaining about the trade surplus and accusing Japan of manipulating the value of the yen to disadvantage American-made goods. On Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators from auto manufacturing states called on the new president “to address currency manipulation and auto-related non-tariff barriers.” They are not alone in urging changes to help bolster U.S. business. “(Trump) must bring Abe up short on any cheery notion that business will continue as usual,” said Kevin L. Kearns, head of the U.S. Business and Industry Council. The group represents smaller U.S. manufacturers, many of which feed the U.S. auto industry. | 1 |
PLANE FORCED TO TURN AROUND, Police Remove NAACP President From Flight Over Argument With PassengerNAACP President becomes victim in 5 4 3 2 1 North Carolina NAACP President William Barber was removed from a flight in Washington, D.C., Friday night after he was deemed a disruptive passenger by an American Airlines pilot.Barber wrote in a statement that he had boarded the plane and was sitting in the two seats he had purchased when he overheard a man sitting behind him talking loudly. Barber says after he asked a flight attended to ask the man to lower his voice, that s when the altercation started. But as she left, I heard him saying distasteful and disparaging things about me, Barber said in the statement. He had problems with those people and he spoke harshly about my need for two seats, among other subjects. Barber says he purchased two seat because of a physical disability, the same ailment that caused him to stand up instead of simply turning his head to confront the passenger behind him. I asked him why he was saying such things, and I said he did not know me, my condition, and I added I would pray for him, Barber said.The police were called and Barber was escorted off the plane.Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
Republicans To Give MASSIVE Tax Cuts To The Wealthy While Taking Healthcare From MillionsRepublicans don t care about the American people and this is proof.One of the first actions Republicans intend to take when Donald Trump takes office in January is to repeal Obamacare, which would strip millions of Americans of their health insurance. It would return America to a time when insurance companies could deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions, which would hurt women most since insurance companies consider being female a pre-existing condition. It would also reverse the ability of children to remain on their parents insurance until the age of 26 and give insurance companies the power to raise costs like never before.Millions of Americans across the nation, especially those in red states would lose their healthcare coverage, causing the uninsured rate to skyrocket back to historic levels.Repeal would punish Americans simply for getting access to healthcare coverage.But repeal would be a windfall for the wealthy.That s right. Republicans are going to take healthcare away from Americans and give the rich a massive tax cut at the same time.According to Talking Points Memo,Two taxes that will be presumably axed with the law affect only those making $200,000 or more. The break the ACA repeal will bring to those taxpayers will amount to a $346 billion tax cut in total over 10 years, according to the CBO report on the 2015 repeal legislation GOP lawmakers say they ll be using as their model next year.These taxes help cover the subsidies many Americans received in order to help them afford a healthcare plan. But if Obamacare is repealed, those subsidies will be eliminated and will serve as a tax hike on the poor and middle class.This is how Republicans are going to begin 2017. They are literally going to prevent Americans from affording healthcare while giving even MORE money to greedy people who don t need it.On top of all this, Republicans are aiming to phase out Medicare by privatizing it and turning it into a worthless voucher system and have introduced legislation to slash Social Security.In short, Republicans are planning to break the back of the middle class and screw over the working class once and for all. The lives of every American who is not wealthy are about to become a living hell.Featured Image: Image of Paul Ryan by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Image of Mitch McConnell by Drew Angerer/Getty Images. | 0 |
UNESCO gives Palestinians full membership | 0 |
NATO Admits U.S. Forces Killed Innocent Pregnant Women in Afghanistan | 1 |
Israels latest FU to US - We'll do what we want with East Jerusalem, it's not up for negotiation. | 1 |
PRESIDENT TRUMP SHOCKS PRESS CORP…Makes Unannounced Trip With Ivanka TrumpPresident Trump bolted from the White House Wednesday afternoon aboard Marine One to make a trip that was unannounced, and shocked the Press Corps but turns out it s be a very somber occasion. The President was with Ivanka Trump when he left, and reporters had no idea where he was going.The trip was not on Trump s public schedule. A small group of journalists traveled with Trump on the condition that the visit was not reported in advanceAbout 20 minutes after he lifted off in the chopper the White House revealed he was flying to Dover Air Force Base to greet the plane bringing back the remains of U.S. Navy Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens.Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens, a 36-year-old from Peoria, Illinois, was the first known U.S. combat casualty since Trump took office less than two weeks ago. Three other Americans were wounded in the operation, which was planned by former President Barack Obama s administration but approved by Trump.The White House says the ceremony will be held in private. | 0 |
GRAB THE POPCORN: Bernie Sanders Campaign Manager Hammers the DNC For Holding The Campaign ‘Hostage’Wow! The DNC is pushing for a coronation of Hillary and doing everything it can to stop Bernie Whoa! | 0 |
Factbox: Contenders for senior jobs in Trump's administration(Reuters) - The following people are mentioned as contenders for senior roles as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump puts together his administration before taking office on Jan. 20, according to Reuters sources and other media reports. Trump already has named a number of people for other top jobs in his administration. * Chuck Conner, a former acting secretary of the U.S. Agriculture Department and current head of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives * Tim Huelskamp, Republican U.S. representative from Kansas * Sid Miller, Texas agriculture commissioner * Sonny Perdue, former Georgia governor * Navy Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency * Ronald Burgess, retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and former Defense Intelligence Agency chief * Robert Cardillo, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency * Pete Hoekstra, Republican former U.S. representative from Michigan * John Allison, a former chief executive officer of regional bank BB&T Corp and former head of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank * Paul Atkins, former SEC commissioner * Thomas Hoenig, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp vice chairman and former head of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank * Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a venture capitalist, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former Food and Drug Administration deputy commissioner * Jim O’Neill, a Silicon Valley investor who previously served in the Department of Health and Human Services * Debra Wong Yang, a former U.S. attorney who was appointed by former President George W. Bush * Ralph Ferrara, a securities attorney at Proskauer Rose LLP * Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner who heads Trump’s transition team for independent financial regulatory agencies * Daniel Gallagher, Republican former SEC commissioner The Trump transition team confirmed the president-elect would choose from a list of 21 names he drew up during his campaign, including Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah and William Pryor, a federal judge with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. * Dan DiMicco, former CEO of steel producer Nucor Corp * Robert Lighthizer, former deputy U.S. trade representative during the Reagan administration * Wayne Berman, senior executive with private equity and financial services firm Blackstone Group LP * David McCormick, president of investment manager Bridgewater Associates LP * Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America and Fox News commentator * Navy Admiral Michelle Howard * Scott Brown, former Republican U.S. senator from Massachusetts * Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and Republican nominee for vice president in 2008. * Jeff Miller, former Republican U.S. representative from Florida who was chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee * Larry Kudlow, economist and media commentator | 1 |
New Zealand offer to take 150 refugees could help Australia defuse PNG stand-offWELLINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would offer to take 150 refugees held by Australia when she meets counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday, promising Canberra a breather from a stand-off at a Papua New Guinea detention site. For more than three days, about 600 men have barricaded themselves inside in a camp on Manus Island, defying efforts by Australia and Papua New Guinea to shut it, despite having no food or running water. New Zealand on Friday became the first country to publicly offer to intercede, when Arden said she would offer to take 150 refugees from Australia s two remote Pacific detention centers at the meeting with Turnbull in Sydney. I expect the situation on Manus Island will be discussed in my meeting with Prime Minister Turnbull on Sunday, Arden said in an emailed statement. I intend to reaffirm our offer when we meet. The offer could present Turnbull with a partial solution to the Manus Island stand-off, which the United Nations this week described as an unfolding humanitarian emergency . Australia has previously rejected a similar offer by former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, citing the ability of asylum seekers to freely move to Australia after relocation. New Zealand residents are allowed to live in Australia without visas. But Australia s center-right government is pushing for tough new rules to ban any asylum seekers who arrived by boat after 2013 from ever being allowed into Australia, even as tourists. Mounting criticism has not deterred Australia from its plan to close the Manus Island center, where it detains asylum seekers arriving by boat, as part of its controversial immigration policy, along with another in Nauru. Heavy rains across Papua New Guinea on Thursday helped replenish water storage bins on Manus, but food shortages worry the detainees, many of them from war-torn nations such as Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Syria. They vowed not to leave, even though many are beginning to feel the ill-effects of going several days without food. We will never move to another prison, said one, Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish journalist from Iran. We will never settle for anything less than freedom. Only freedom. | 1 |
UK proposes 50% tax on banker bonuses | 0 |
German lawyers to probe Erdogan over alleged war crimes | 0 |
Gadhafi says he'll stay in Tripoli 'until the end' | 1 |
HILLARY CHEERLEADER Publication Warns Republicans: DUMP JESUS…Or Become IrrelevantGod family, guns and country these are some of the most important things to the majority of Republicans, yet means very little to leftist Democrats. Without God, we become the communist nation the Democrat party has been pushing us towards for decades God doesn t just go away because the Left wants Him to. Unfortunately, this is what happens when a political party who elects godless presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton who sincerely believe that Government can replace God in the lives of American citizens.Salon Magazine has accused the Republican Party of being out of touch with post-Christian America, warning the GOP that if it doesn t renege on its alliance with Christianity, it will soon become irrelevant.Ted Cruz s failure to get the GOP nomination, Matthew Sheffield proclaims in Salon, is a perfect window into trends that will set the pace of American politics for decades to come: Americans are moving away from Christianity, including people most likely to vote Republican. To back up his claims, Sheffield cites the 2014 Pew Research study finding that 23 percent of Americans say they re unaffiliated with any religious tradition, up from 20 percent just three years earlier.The trend away from religion, and Christianity in particular, Sheffield argues, is the real cause of Republicans woes and their failure to win the last two elections. The likely reason why Republicans have declined in popularity among the non-religious is GOP s long habit of identifying itself as a Christian party, he states. The later attempt to add in a Judeo- prefix has done little to stop the bleeding. While the statistics showing a rise in the religiously unaffiliated are undoubtedly sobering to people of faith, Sheffield fails to mention that the very same Pew study showed that over 70 percent of Americans continue to identify as Christian. That means that to an overwhelming majority of Americans, God matters. Breitbart | 0 |
BOOM! MARCO RUBIO Has Best Line Of The Day At Comey Hearings [VIDEO]He may not have been President Trump s biggest fan during the primary season, but Senator Marco Rubio exposed the truth behind the unfounded witch hunt today, as he landed a right hook to former FBI director Jame Comey during the hearings this afternoon. The mainstream media s been working overtime to impugn President Trump s character and question his involvement in Russia s interference in our election. Senator Rubio exposed their baseless claims with one great line Watch Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) deliver the best line of the day: The only thing that hasn t leaked is that Trump wasn t under investigation. -US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) | 0 |
Swiss Banks are Trying to Strong-Arm American Clients into Divulging Offshore Wealth to Avoid Massive Fines | 1 |
Subsets and Splits