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5,600 | Cambodian leader threatens ban on opposition party | PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened on Monday that the main opposition party would be dissolved if it continues to back detained leader Kem Sokha, who has been charged with treason over an alleged plot to gain power with U.S. support. Kem Sokha was arrested on Sept. 3 and is the only serious election rival to Hun Sen, a 65-year-old former Khmer Rouge commander. Western countries have criticized the arrest, which marked a an escalation in a crackdown on critics ahead of a poll next year that could pose the toughest electoral challenge Hun Sen has faced in more than 30 years of rule. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) said it would continue to support Kem Sokha as leader and threatened to boycott the election if he is not freed. Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen warned that the CNRP s stand could mean the dissolution of the party . If the political party continues to blockade and defend this traitor, it means the party is also a traitor so there is no time to let this party operate in Cambodia s democratic process anymore, Hun Sen said. Parliamentarians from the CNRP went to the prison where Kem Sokha is being held to demand his release. They said his arrest was illegal because he should have been protected by parliamentary immunity. The party president Kem Sokha is the CNRP president now and will be in the future, one of his deputies, Mu Sochua, said outside the prison, adding that his release was an essential condition to allow a free and fair election. We can t participate in an election that isn t free and fair, she said. The opposition party boycotted a parliamentary vote on whether Kem Sokha should be prosecuted. It would not have been able to block approval as Hun Sen s Cambodian People s Party (CPP) holds a majority, and the motion in favor of prosecuting was passed unopposed. It was unclear whether that effectively overrode Kem Sokha s right to claim parliamentary immunity. The evidence presented against Kem Sokha so far is a video recorded in 2013 in which he discusses a strategy to win power with the help of unspecified Americans. His lawyers have dismissed the evidence as nonsense and said he was only discussing election strategy. Western countries and human rights groups have condemned the arrest of Kem Sokha and raised doubts as to whether next year s election can be fair, given the crackdown on the opposition, activists and independent media. However Hun Sen s main ally, China, has said it supports Cambodia s efforts to preserve its own security. Hun Sen was due to visit Beijing on Monday. He said he was going to ask for more aid for Cambodia s health sector. (Story refiles to correct opposition party acronym to CNRP in later references.) | 1 |
5,601 | Hillary Clinton Shuts Down GOP Lawmaker Rudely Heckling Her At Town Hall Event (VIDEO) | A Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire showed up to one of Hillary Clinton s town hall events in the state on Sunday and apparently thought it would be smart to heckle Mrs. Clinton. Bad idea. Not only did it not work out as planned, but the former Secretary of State called out the state representative in front of everyone. You are very rude, and I m not ever going to call on you. Thank you. The comment earned Mrs. Clinton an enormous round of applause, as the heckler just stood there continuing to point her finger at Hillary while waving her hands like a crazy person. It s these kinds of tactics that don t go over so well. Perhaps there s a better way to get your message across?So, what exactly was Katherine Prudhomme O Brien, the GOP state representative from Rockingham, trying to say? She followed up with a reporter after the event and was mad that Hillary didn t want to talk about Bill Clinton s past marital infidelities from decades ago. Really? That s what was so important? I asked her how in the world she can say that Juanita Broderick and Kathleen Wiley are lying when she has no idea who Juanita Broderick is. She told me this summer she doesn t know who she is and doesn t want to know who she is. How can she access that they are lying, which she told someone last month? Expect for more below-the-belt tactics like these now that Bill Clinton is set to make his first appearance on the campaign trail starting on Monday. Republicans are looking for any and every chance to use Bill s past indiscretions against Hillary. It s the kind of dirty campaign tactics that people claim cause them to hate politics, yet somehow they still get the most attention.With that said, Bernie Sanders, unlike Republicans, doesn t intend on bringing up Bill Clinton s sexual past anytime soon: No, I think we ve got more important things to worry about in this country than Bill Clinton s sex life. Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
5,602 | White House aims to speed U.S. drone, wireless technologies | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is bringing together drone makers, wireless companies and venture capitalists on Thursday to look at ways government can help speed new technologies to the marketplace. President Donald Trump will meet with the chief executives of General Electric Co, Honeywell International Inc and AT&T Inc AT&T Inc, major drone industry firms and venture capitalists in the latest effort by the White House to focus on innovative technologies as a way of spurring job growth. Michael Kratsios, the White House’s deputy chief technology officer, told reporters the goal of the sessions is to find ways the United States “can maintain its leadership creating and fostering entirely new technologies that will drive our economic growth.” The chief executives of several unmanned aerial system, or drone, companies including Kespry Inc, AirMap, Airspace Inc, Measure UAS Inc, Trumbull Unmanned, and PrecisionHawk Inc are attending the White House sessions. Senior executives at Xcel Energy Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and CenturyLink Inc are also taking part as are venture capital firms including AOL co-founder Steve Case who heads Revolution LLC, 500 Startups, Cayuga Ventures, Epic Ventures and Lightspeed Ventures. The administration wants to promote the development and commercialization of emerging technologies and speed the development of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones and 5G wireless technology, Kratsios said. The Obama administration implemented rules that opened the skies to low-level small drones for education, research and routine commercial use. The Trump administration is considering whether to expand drone use for purposes such as deliveries where aircraft would fly beyond the sight of an operator. Security issues would need to be resolved. The FAA in March estimated that by 2021 the fleet of small hobbyist drones will more than triple and the commercial drone fleet will increase tenfold to about 442,000. Last year, the FCC cleared the way for 5G, a lightning-fast next generation of wireless services. Testing is under way and deployment is expected around 2020. New 5G networks are expected to provide speeds at least 10 times and maybe 100 times faster than today’s 4G networks. The next generation of wireless signals needs to be much faster and far more responsive to allow advanced technologies such as virtual surgery or controlling machines remotely, regulators say. The networks could help wirelessly connect devices such as thermostats or washing machines to facilitate the internet of things. | 1 |
5,603 | Florida prepares for powerful Hurricane Irma | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Emergency management officials across South Florida hastened disaster preparations on Tuesday in anticipation of Hurricane Irma s expected weekend arrival on the U.S. mainland with possibly greater force than Hurricane Harvey unleashed on Texas. Irma, a Category 5 storm - the highest hurricane ranking used by U.S. forecasters - neared the Caribbean s northern Leeward Islands, east of Puerto Rico, late on Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (300 km/h). The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami forecast the storm would make landfall in Florida on Saturday, although Irma s precise trajectory remained to be seen. Forecasters described the storm as potentially catastrophic. Irma ranks as one of the five most powerful Atlantic hurricanes during the past 80 years and is the strongest Atlantic storm ever recorded outside the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, the NHC said. Mindful of the devastation wrought by Harvey days ago along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, Florida officials were taking no chances. Normally, people here don t like to prepare, said Gary Palmer, a 60-year-old deputy sheriff who visited a home supply store in Fort Lauderdale. But what happened in Texas opened up everybody s eyes. Authorities in the Florida Keys, the popular resort archipelago stretching from the southern tip of the state s mainland peninsula, called for a mandatory evacuation of the islands visitors, starting at sunrise on Wednesday. Roman Gastesi, administrator of Monroe County, which includes the Keys, said a mandatory evacuation of residents there was likely at some point. Residents of low-lying areas in densely populated Miami-Dade County to the north were urged to move to higher ground by Wednesday as a precaution against coastal storm surges. Public schools throughout South Florida were to be closed ahead of the storm, starting with Monroe and neighboring Lee County on Wednesday and Miami-Dade and several others districts beginning on Thursday. My wife is leaving the Keys today, Monroe County Emergency Management Director Martin Senterfitt said in a statement. She would rather go to the dentist than sit in traffic. The sooner people leave the better. If ever there was a storm to take serious in the Keys, this is it. U.S. President Donald Trump, acting at the request of Governor Rick Scott, approved an emergency declaration on Tuesday mobilizing federal disaster relief efforts in Florida ahead of Irma s arrival, the White House said. Scott has also directed all 7,000 of the state s National Guard troops to report for duty Friday morning, saying additional Guard members would be activated as needed beforehand. Fort Lauderdale native Alexandra Nimmons, 25, said she was taking Irma s possible impact on South Florida more seriously after seeing the extreme damage Harvey left behind in Texas. I spent a while today collecting water, Nimmons said. I hoard Mason and salsa jars so that finally paid off. She also planned to stock up on candles, matches and canned food. Annisa Ali, 45, who just moved to Oakland Park, Florida, from New York City said she was having a hard time finding water at local stores. Last night, I went to Wal-Mart. No water. I went to Target. No water. Now I m here. No water, Ali said at a grocery store in Wilton Manors, Florida. James Foote, a 56-year-old handyman in Fort Lauderdale, said he was unable to find any plywood to nail over windows at a local home supply store on Tuesday. He said more wood was expected to be delivered on Wednesday. I will be back tomorrow before this place opens at 7 o clock, Foote said. I ve waited in lines for concert tickets before. This is way more important than that. | 1 |
5,604 | Chinese space official promoted as part of military reshuffle | BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior Chinese space official and military officer has been promoted to run the People s Liberation Army s key equipment development department, the military said on Monday, part of a reshuffle ahead of next month s Communist Party congress. China s armed forces, the world s largest, are ramping up their capabilities with new equipment like aircraft carriers and stealth fighters as the country pursues a more assertive stance in the disputed East and South China Seas and seeks to project power far from home shores. In a brief story on its website about a military technology exhibition in Beijing, the Defence Ministry named Li Shangfu as the new head of the military s Equipment Development Department. It gave no other details of his appointment. According to his official resume, Li was previously director of one of China s main satellite launch sites in Xichang in the southwestern province of Sichuan and has been involved in missions to explore the moon. The U.S. Defense Department has highlighted China s increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations from using space-based assets in a crisis. China insists it has only peaceful ambitions in space, but has tested anti-satellite missiles. Li, 59, takes over from Zhang Youxia, who has likely reached retirement age. Li could be promoted to Zhang s position on the Central Military Commission, which is in overall charge of the People s Liberation Army, when the party holds its once-in-five-years congress in Beijing next month. However, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters that the commission may be cut down to Xi and four vice-chairmen, doing away with committee members and streamlining reporting lines. President Xi Jinping, who is commander-in-chief of China s armed forces, currently chairs the commission, which also comprises two vice-chairmen and eight committee members. China s military is preparing a sweeping leadership reshuffle, dropping top generals, including two that sources say are under investigation for corruption. China earlier this month also appointed new commanders for its army and air force. | 1 |
5,605 | WATCH Tina Fey’s Triumphant Return To SNL As Crazy Sarah Palin Endorsing Trump | Tina Fey once again took on Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live, and as always, it was a gutbuster.Fey opened the January 23 edition of the comedy show with the cold open, appearing as Palin next to Darrell Hammond s always-on-point rendition of Donald Trump. The two were re-enacting Palin s bizarre endorsement of Trump from earlier in the week.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfDKKe04sBQIntroducing her, Trump said, I hope nobody s allergic to nuts, because we got a big one here. Palin then launched into a monologue eerily reminiscent of the real thing, freestyle rhyming about the Americans she supposedly is representing as part of the Trump trainwreck.Palin explained, I belong in [Trump s] cabinet. Cause I m full of spice, and I ve got a great rack. In a moment made for social media, Fey/Palin also spoke in tongues, shooting off her finger guns:Speaking for most of America, Trump noted, She s crazy, isn t she? Fey of course also appeared in a version of Palin s blinding blouse from the event, and many observers on social media pointed out that in addition to the shocking visual similarity between the two women, Fey had once again nailed Palin s accent and bizarre language.In 2008, Fey s impression of Palin set the comedy world on fire and SNL s ratings skyrocketed. The failed vice presidential candidate and half-term governor was repeatedly a source of material for the premiere satirical program in America, with her assertion that she read all of the media, and that Alaska provided a vantage point for oversight of Russia s Vladimir Putin.Palin recently tried to return the favor, appearing as Fey in a sketch for a conservative website, but despite the visual similarities, the skit mostly fell flat. Instead of going for the joke, as Fey has on SNL, Palin chose to promote a political message about political correctness and safe spaces. Featured image via Twitter | 0 |
5,606 | snowden journalists are a threatened class in era of mass surveillance | by jay syrmopoulos pipeline opponents attempting to protect their water supply from the dakota access oil pipeline dapl as well as prevent the continued destruction | 0 |
5,607 | lifting weights could ward off dementia and make you smarter | how to remove uric acid crystallization in joints httpblogsnaturalnewscomremoveuricacidcrystallizationjoints
by twain yobra
posted tuesday november at pm edt
joint pain prevents us from exercising or doing simple tasks like walking unfortunately it only gets worse as we age this happens because the fluid synovial fluid in the joints reduces as we age reduction of this fluid increases friction on the joints and leads to arthritis
but research also shows that uric acid can cause arthritis buildup of uric acid in the joints can damage joint tissues and cause pain the buildup happens when the kidneys dont excrete enough uric acid it can also be triggered by the body converting purines to uric acid fast longterm buildup of uric acid can cause inflammation and reduce your mobility
switch to an alkaline diet
theres been a neverending argument about whether alkaline diets reduce acidity in the body or not in fact some experts have discredited them as useless but what does research say well this study found that alkaline diet enhances excretion of uric acid through urine on the other hand researchers found that acidic foods reduce excretion of uric acid
another study affirms that alkaline diets can help reduce uric acid in the body and they can prevent uric acid crystallization in joints
note that more research needs to be conducted on effect of diet on uric acid crystal
eat these alkaline foods
you simply need to reduce intake of acidic foods and eat more alkaline foods alkaline foods are mostly vegetables and legumes red pepper | 0 |
5,608 | Loser Trump Fails Miserably Again As ‘Monday Night Football’ Ratings Soar | Wow, it s like a president can t even get a boycott going anymore. Donald Trump tried to launch a boycott on the NFL over black athletes who choose to kneel instead of stand during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality and police brutality. Trump wasn t having any of that, so he took to his Twitter account after calling the African-American athletes sons of bitches, to promote a boycott. Conservatives have never been very good at boycotts anyway.The Cowboys versus Cardinals game featured Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones taking a knee in solidarity with his players. Pushing things even further, Trump tweeted that he heard boos from the crowd. The booing at the NFL football game last night, when the entire Dallas team dropped to its knees, was loudest I have ever heard, Trump tweeted. Great anger. The booing at the NFL football game last night, when the entire Dallas team dropped to its knees, was loudest I have ever heard. Great anger Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017Instead of addressing the devastation in Puerto Rico, Trump has been on a mission to attack athletes. Even this morning, Trump called for banning the practice of kneeling.The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can't kneel during our National Anthem! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017He has called out the NFL over its ratings, but he really should worry about his own dismal approval ratings.Shareblue reports: This is a huge victory for MNF after a day and full weekend of coverage of the U.S. President openly criticizing protesting athletes, calling some sons of bitches, noted the Hollywood Reporter. That big increase Monday night meant that ratings for the league s entire slate of games during the Trump controversy were up compared to last year s Week 3.The Cowboys versus Cardinals match-up posted a massive rating boost, with 63 percent more viewers tuning in. The Dallas Cowboys 28-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals earned a 9.3 overnight rating according to Nielsen, according to ESPN.Instead of a big wall on our southern border, fences are being mended. Instead of giving healthcare to all Americans, Trump tried to take it away from millions and that, too, failed. Trump promised to have Hillary Clinton locked up, but instead, he s found himself plagued with scandals. Hell, Trump can t even get a boycott going.Image via Twitter | 0 |
5,609 | ONLY DAYS AGO…BATON ROUGE THUG, #BlackLives Matter Supporter MAKES VIDEO…Says He’s Going To Start KILLING COPS…FBI, Local Police Make Visit…NO ARREST…NO CHARGES! [VIDEO] | This thug doesn t just threaten to KILL COPS he encourages OTHERS who are watching the Youtube video to JOIN HIM! Why wasn t this thug charged with encouraging the murder of police officers?***WARNING****LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE****Yesterday, 3 teenage thugs were arrested in Baton Rouge for a plot to KILL Police Officers. Our Community Agitator in Chief has put these police officers lives at risk. America needs to start calling out Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and any other prominent figure who is standing behind Black Lives Matter, a terror group created to inspire the Black community to show up at the polls for Democrats (specifically for Hillary) in November:Police arrested three suspects and were seeking a possible fourth suspect accused of stealing several handguns as part of what authorities Tuesday described as substantial, credible threat to harm police officers in the Baton Rouge area.The arrests come at a time of heightened tensions after the deadly police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge and Minnesota and the killing of five police officers in Dallas last week.Authorities in Baton Rouge discovered the alleged plot while responding to a burglary at a pawn shop early Saturday morning, Baton Rouge police Chief Carl Dabadie said in a press conference. The chief said the first suspect arrested told police that the reason the burglary was being done was to harm police officers. He said the suspect didn t give any details about when or where a possible plot would be carried out. We have been questioned repeatedly over the last several days about our show of force and why we have the tactics that we have. Well, this is the reason, because we had credible threats against the lives of law enforcement in this city, he said.The police department has come under criticism for the tactics it s employed to deal with protesters, using riot police and military-style vehicles on the streets of the capital city. Over a three day period, police arrested about 200 protesters.In a statement, police said surveillance video showed the suspects using a ladder to climb the roof of the building to get in. Eight handguns and one airsoft BB gun were missing from the store.Authorities said they arrested one suspect Antonio Thomas, 17 at the scene with a handgun and a BB gun. Another suspect, Malik Bridgewater, was apprehended Sunday and a third suspect a 13-old boy was apprehended on a street. They called on the fourth suspect to turn himself in. Another man was arrested for allegedly purchasing two of the stolen guns, but he hasn t been linked to the alleged plot, a police spokesman said.All of the suspects are from Baton Rouge and all are black. The suspects face charges including burglary, simple burglary, and theft of a firearm; they have not been arrested on any charges related to plotting to kill police.State Police Col. Mike Edmonson called it a substantial, credible threat to police.Six of the eight stolen firearms have been recovered and two are still at large, authorities said.A week after 37-year-old Alton Sterling was shot and killed by two white police officers in Baton Rouge outside a convenience store, tension are high in the city. While protesters demand justice for Sterling, the shootings in Dallas last week and other attacks on police around the country have put the police on edge.Earlier Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards defended the police response to protesters rallying against the shooting death of a black man by white officers, saying Tuesday that the riot gear and weaponry was appropriate. We ve had a police officer with teeth knocked out of his face because of a rock. If you don t have on riot gear, you have no defence against that sort of thing, said the Democratic governor, who comes from a family of sheriffs. In light of what happened in Dallas, understanding that just one gunman can change the situation entirely, how do you in good conscience put police officers on the street without the ability to defend themselves? he said.After nearly a week of protests over the killing of Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge officers, state police and other law enforcement agencies have received criticism for their methods of dealing with demonstrators.Protests have spread across the country as people express outrage over the recent death in Baton Rouge and of a second black man, Philando Castile, at the hands of police in Minnesota last week. The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Sterling s shooting.In the first few days after Sterling s death, police took a reserved approach to enforcement, keeping a low profile as hundreds gathered outside the convenience store where Sterling died.But tensions escalated at weekend protests that moved away from the store and into other areas of the city, with nearly 200 people arrested and a show of force from law enforcement that included police wielding batons, armed with long guns and wearing shields.The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana has criticized police as using violent, militarized tactics on groups of people who have gathered peacefully. Amnesty International has questioned the high number of arrests. Via: The Globe and MailCall local Baton Rouge Police Department to ask why this thug wasn t charged: (225) 389-2000 | 0 |
5,610 | FORMER MEXICAN PRESIDENT Tries To ‘Make Nice’ With Trump…TRUMP’S Response Is Awesome! [Video] | If this is what s to come, IT S GOING TO BE AWESOME! Vicente Fox apologized to Trump and Trump shot back: Get your money ready, you re paying for the wall (Videos below)Former President Of Mexico Vicente Fox was interviewed by Breitbart News exclusively when Fox gave this apology to Donald Trump: I apologize. Forgiveness is one of the greatest qualities that human beings have, is the quality of a compassionate leader. You have to be humble. You have to be compassionate. You have to love thy neighbor, | 0 |
5,611 | Spain steps up security at Catalan airports, rail stations: source | MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government is reinforcing security at airports and rail stations in Catalonia before a meeting at which the regional leader could declare independence from Madrid, a police source said on Tuesday. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont is due to address the regional parliament at 1600 GMT. | 1 |
5,612 | GOP Bill To Derail Iran Deal Goes Down In Flames After 100+ Republicans Forget To Show Up To Vote | The Republican Party is an absolute mess and we re starting to reap the benefits.While the GOP has spent Obama s entire presidency attempting to do nothing to help the country, they ve recently taken it so far that they hardly bother to show up at the Capitol at all. This is creating some really, really stupid problems.It s easy to see why House Speaker Paul Ryan was reluctant to take the job because one of the unenviable tasks he s expected to do is to somehow trick the hundreds of Republican lawmakers he leads into actually doing their jobs once in a while. It s not easy.Recently, an increasingly frustrated Ryan even told Congress that they needed to make more of an effort to show up on time for legislative votes. The process is supposed to take 15 minutes, but with lawmakers slowly trickling in when they feel like it, oftentimes it can go on for an eternity. (If you re getting the sense that lawmakers are behaving worse than high school students dragging their feet to homeroom, you re not the only one.) The lack of urgency means Congress hardly gets anything done. Members should be reminded, members should attempt to come to the floor within the 15-minute period as prescribed by the first ring of the bells. All sides of the aisle, Ryan said. As a point of courtesy to each of your colleagues, voting within the allotted time would help with the maintenance of the institution. The chair appreciates the members attention to this matter, he said with a smile.Apparently, nobody listened, least of all Ryan s fellow Republicans.When it came time for Republicans to vote on a measure meant to derail Obama s historic nuclear deal with Iran, over 130 lawmakers, mostly Republicans, were visibly absent. It appears that voting for a thing they themselves had introduced had slipped their minds. An unhappy Ryan slammed down his gavel after 15 minutes and abruptly ended voting which vacated the tally due to insufficient votes.How big of a screw up was this for Republicans? The window to truly derail Obama s Iranian deal closed with Ryan s gavel. They blew it. Instead, Secretary of State John Kerry says America will begin upholding its obligations to the deal starting in a matter of days, barring any setbacks from Iran. Implementation day, which is the day on which Iran proves that it has sufficiently downsized its nuclear program and can begin to receive sanctions relief, is going to take place very soon, likely within the next coming days somewhere. In a supreme irony, many Republican lawmakers were probably catching up on sleep after spending last night giving breathless interviews disingenuously spreading the lies that Iran was holding American Navy service members hostage. As usual, their lofty rhetoric doesn t match their actions. If Iran was really so dangerous and they cared so much for the troops, would skipping this vital vote really be an option?Yet another example that the dysfunction in Washington stems largely from the Republican Party. As the right-wing movement continues to become swallowed by anti-government extremists who were once considered the radical fringe, even doing the jobs you were elected to do say, pass legislation can paint you as a RINO. Instead, many Republican lawmakers try their best to destroy the government from the inside by willfully throwing wrenches into the works. But as we ve seen, this scorched earth approach can backfire. During those times when Republicans actually do want to accomplish something, they fall apart. We see it here.Another Republican chance to hurt Obama goes down in flames by a needless unforced error due to stupidity, apathy, and laziness. What a legacy this Congress is building for itself. Republicans ought to be so proud.Feature image via io9 | 0 |
5,613 | Factbox: Trump to meet heads of Carlyle Group, Marvel, World Jewish Congress | (Reuters) - Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump resumed holding meetings at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, following the Christmas holiday as he prepared to take over the White House from Democrat Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Below is a list of meetings for Wednesday, according to Trump’s transition team. *Co-CEO, founder and director of Carlyle Group * CEO of Marvel Entertainment, a unit of Walt Disney Co * Co-owner of Runway Vineyards * Under consideration for agriculture secretary * Former U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety under President George W. Bush * Under consideration for agriculture secretary * Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush * Will discuss health care reform * President of the World Jewish Congress | 1 |
5,614 | South Korea says it will join U.S. aircraft carrier drill November 11-14 | SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will join three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups in a joint drill scheduled for Nov. 11 to 14, the South s military said on Friday. South Korean naval vessels will participate in the drill in waters off the east coast, the South s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement. The Pentagon said on Wednesday the drill involving three aircraft carrier strike groups in the Western Pacific would be carried out for the first time in a decade, confirming a Reuters report. A total of seven South Korean navy vessels, including Aegis-equipped warships, will participate in the drill, the statement said, to accompany 14 U.S. naval warships. During the joint drill, the two countries will practice air operations, air artillery strikes and aircraft carrier escorts to test their ability to jointly carry out such operations. The drill is also in response to North Korean nuclear and missile provocations, the South s military said, and to show any such developments by Pyongyang can be repelled with overwhelming force . | 1 |
5,615 | Ukraine says U.S. special representative will help end Russian aggression | KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday welcomed the appointment of Kurt Volker to serve as Washington’s special representative to Ukraine, saying it would help end what he called Russian aggression and restore Crimea to Ukraine. The former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Volker will be responsible for advancing U.S. interests as set out in the 2015 Minsk agreement and accompany Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Kiev on Sunday, the State Department said. “Welcome the decision of the US Administration to appoint Kurt Volker a Special representative for Ukraine, following our arrangements,” Poroshenko tweeted. “Important & timely move in the interests of ending Russian aggression and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including Crimea.” | 1 |
5,616 | UNHOLY ALLIANCE: Hillary Clinton’s Saudi Sponsors Support Terrorism, Islamist Extremism | 21st Century Wire says Amid the tossing and turning of media hit pieces and partisan mud slinging in advance of the US presidential vote in November, very little focus is given on the actual record and policies of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.With this week s damning revelations regarding Gulf Arab monarchs buying access into the US State Dept via the Clinton Foundation, a clearer picture is now emerging about how the sponsorship of religious extremism, as well as geopolitical instability in the Middle East and beyond links directly back to the Clinton global network of international oligarchs. Watch this week s ABC News segment: Based on this line of inquiry, what will four years of a Clinton presidency bring in terms of US foreign policy? A few answers to this question from Global Research Andre Vltchek Global ResearchIf the West in general and the United States in particular, left the Arab and Muslim world alone and in peace, we would most likely never see all those terrorist attacks, which are rocking the world from Indonesia to France. There would be no Mujahedeen and its mutation into al-Qaeda; in Afghanistan or elsewhere. There would be no traces of the ISIS (or ISIL or I.S. or Daesh or however you choose to call it), in Syria, Iraq, Libya or anywhere else.And the super-conservative Wahhabi Islam, that outdated, freak Saudi mutant, would remain in the religious schools of the ultra-regressive Kingdom, instead of gaining ground all over Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.Secular IslamBut the West embarked on a brutal, Machiavellian path: it decided to destroy socialist Islam that (historically) moderate, compassionate and progressive religion. It smashed once secular Egypt; it overthrew the government in socialist Iran and then in near-Communist Indonesia, implanting in all these places horrifically degenerate and fully outdated religious concepts. It used extremists to destroy healthy patriotism and socialism. Like the Brits in the 19th Century ( You can control people s brains, while we will control your natural resources ), the West embraced Wahhabi teaching, because it was able to guarantee full obedience, dictatorial (pro-Western) governance and oppressive feudalism.Islam has been used and abused, manipulated and virtually stripped of its essence. The process has gone so far that two leading Iranian scholars, during my visit last-year to Tehran, declared to me: In so many parts of the world, the West created an absolutely new religion. We don t recognize it, anymore. It has nothing to do with Islam. If the West in general and the United States in particular, left the Arab and Muslim world alone and in peace, we would most likely never see all those terrorist attacks, which are rocking the world from Indonesia to France Correct. Like a naughty, spoiled and heartless child, the West, after destroying the Soviet Union, painstakingly constructed its new enemy militant Islam so it could continue indulging in its favorite activity, which is perpetual conflict, endless wars and plunder.It is as simple as that.The greatest oppressors of the Muslim people, those in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Indonesia have all been closely allied to the West. The most terrible terrorist Muslim organizations, from Al-Qaida to ISIS, have been created, armed and supported by the West and its cronies.In Europe and in the United States, the fear of terrorists is fully exploited by the Western regime a global class alliance of plutocrats, in actuality, with headquarters in Washington, where the main military and media muscle reside. It still clings to power mainly thanks to such fear implanted in the brains of ordinary people .And what about the War on Terror ? Yes, there really is such war, but the West is not the one who fights it. As this goes to print, the war against terrorism is being fought by Russia, Iran, China, Syria, Hezbollah and their allies!The West is still closely collaborating with the terrorists. It miraculously avoids targeting them when fighting wars against them ; it financially supports some and trains others. It criticizes and antagonizes those who are actually fighting the extremist militant groups.Extremists have been unleashed, like Rottweiler fighting dogs, against almost all progressive governments in the Middle East, but also against China and Russia. Extremist Muslims, extremist Christians, even extremist Buddhists!In turn, the politicians in the United States are regularly supported, financially, by the regimes (including those of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, etc.) that are spreading, relentlessly, throughout the world, the most intolerant and grotesquely violent religious concepts.Despite their essential servility and cowardice, even some North American mainstream media outlets are now actively discussing various schemes involving the financing of the Clinton Foundation by Saudi Arabia (alongside several leading transnational corporations and Wall Street s largest banks).On its Breaking News , as far back as in 2008, CNN reported:The donations to the William J. Clinton Foundation include amounts of $10 million to $25 million from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and real estate mogul Stephen Bing, a personal friend of the Clintons.The Clintons came under intense pressure during Hillary Clinton s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to release the names of donors to both the Foundation and to the Clinton presidential library in Arkansas.Bill Clinton agreed to the release of the list after President-elect Barack Obama nominated Hillary Clinton to become Secretary of State.The governments of Kuwait and Qatar are also on the list, as is Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rashid, who has close ties to the Saudi royal family. Saudi Sheikh Mohammed H. Al-Amoudi, reputed to be one of the richest men in the world, is among the donors as well. Both Saudis contributed in the $1 million to $5 million range. A group called Friends of Saudi Arabia and the Dubai Foundation appear in the same category. As recently as on August 20th, 2016, The New York Times wrote something similar, essentially reconfirming the validity of the earlier reports, while adding many more details and adjusting the figures: The kingdom of Saudi Arabia donated more than $10 million. Through a foundation, so did the son-in-law of a former Ukrainian president whose government was widely criticized for corruption and the murder of journalists. A Lebanese-Nigerian developer with vast business interests contributed as much as $5 million.For years the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation thrived largely on the generosity of foreign donors and individuals who gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the global charity. But now, as Mrs. Clinton seeks the White House, the funding of the sprawling philanthropy has become an Achilles heel for her campaign and, if she is victorious, potentially her administration as well. Long time Clinton s top aide, Huma Abedin (who spent part of her childhood in Saudi Arabia) has been an intermediary between the former Secretary of State and pro-Saudi interests. She also negotiated financial support for Ms. Clinton from Mr. Chagouri and other individuals, organizations and businesses originating from the Middle East.The accusations and evidence keep coming in, from different media outlets, both left wing and right wing. On August 1st, 2016, the conservative Breitbart News stated: Khizr Khan, the Muslim Gold Star father that the mainstream media and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been using to criticize Donald J. Trump, has deep ties to the government of Saudi Arabia and to international Islamist investors through his own law firm. In addition to those ties to the wealthy Islamist nation, Khan also has ties to controversial immigration programs that wealthy foreigners can use to essentially buy their way into the United States and has deep ties to the Clinton Cash narrative through the Clinton Foundation. Hillary s Saudi SponsorsHillary Clinton s dependence on Saudi sponsors has been strongly influencing her decision to maintain a foreign policy in the service of Riyadh and support for various terrorist groups controlled by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in and beyond the Middle East region [including those currently active in Syria and Iraq].In reality, she is simply representing continuity of an already existing, deadly trend. The regime has been evolving for decades, but especially since the Ronald Reagan years. Republicans or Democrats: it truly matters very little. Both parties spread terror all over the world. True, George W. Bush invaded Iraq, but people like Bill Clinton are close friends and supporters of Paul Kagame, the Rwandese butcher of Congo , with the blood of some 10 million people on his hands. Democrat and moderate , Bill Clinton, was also responsible for the criminal bombing and destruction of socialist Yugoslavia. And so it goes But under Barack Obama s rule, the last hope for an independent Middle East and the Arab world has virtually evaporated. Libya has been destroyed; the Syrian civil war was launched from Washington, London and Paris. Saudis bathed rebellious Yemen in blood using UK and US produced weapons. Virtually all Arab Spring revolutions were infiltrated and diverted. And in Bahrain, the Shi a majority was literally raped by Saudi Arabia and its own ruthless rulers, with British advisors standing-by.The US and Europe have kept selling arms to the Gulf, building new military bases while supporting the most appalling and bloodthirsty regimes.The Obama/ (Hilary) Clinton Era has greatly improved the symbioses of Western imperialism, big business, and pro-Western fascist regimes worldwide, but particularly in the Middle East and Africa.This toxic embrace has proved fatal to millions of people in these two parts of the world. Hopes for self-governance have been ruined. Corpses keep piling up in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and elsewhere.The West does not care, as long as it stays in charge of the show , and for as long as hundreds of billions of dollars are made by weapons producers. Even if millions are dying, there is still an uninterrupted flow of raw materials to the West and Japan. Therefore, it is business as usual . Un-people and their lives are worth nothing.At one point, Russia, Iran, China and others have said enough is enough; let s fight against the true terrorists! Let s fight ISIS and other bigots! Let s give a hand to the independence-minded, socially-oriented patriots .Predictably,. this led to total outrage in Washington, London, and Paris (and Tokyo). Disobedience and rebellion against the global (Western) order could not be tolerated! It had to be crushed, even at the cost of new and deadly world war.NATO, Washington, Europe, Japan, and South Korea all started a direct confrontation policy against Russia, China, Iran, North Korea (DPRK) and other members of the Coalition of Daring . Brazil, an important member of BRICS, was recently destroyed by the extreme-right coup supported by the West.Even the Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, in his rare moments of sanity, is clearly aware of the danger. He does not wish to confront Russia. He is obviously not willing to sacrifice tens of millions of human lives for some grotesque dreams of total world domination by a market fundamentalism backed by the white (or Western) supremacist dogmas.But Trump s moments of sanity are defined as madness by the mainstream propaganda. Not surprisingly! As was correctly stated by the great Indian thinker, Arundhati Roy, some several years ago: now war is called peace and black is called white . Orwellian indeed, with a vengeance.The Clinton CampaignThe Clinton campaign has gone into overdrive. It attempts to distract attention from its own funding scandals, by accusing Donald Trump s aides of receiving financing from abroad. Trump is now described as Russia s agent .This game it is all self-serving: nothing to do with the interests of the world, or even the interests of the common American people .For as long as the general political trend of the West does not radically change, or for as long as the West is not stopped by outside forces, perpetual wars will continue. Monstrous genocides in Africa, the destruction of entire states and regions in the Middle East, all this could easily spread to other parts of the Planet.It is clear now that if provoked and confronted, countries like China, Russia and Iran would not hesitate to fight back. They also may fight for others for their tortured allies.The Western implants and their buddies, Mujahedeen/Al-Qaida, have already destroyed Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. ISIS, another mutant unleashed by the West and its allies, have been devastating Iraq, Syria, Libya and now what is left of Afghanistan.These movements have really nothing to do with Islam. They were manufactured in Washington, Riyadh, London, and Doha (and most likely even in Tel Aviv), for several concrete purposes, all of them thoroughly foul.They are making sure to ruin the socialist nature of Islam, insisting exclusively on the implementation of outdated, medieval fundamentalist interpretations.Huma Abedin s mother, Dr. Saleha Mahmood Abedin, is one of the founding members of the Muslim Sisterhood, and chairperson of the International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child (IICWC). She is also a well known writer and editor based in Saudi Arabia. Her organization (IICWC) had repeatedly argued that laws banning female circumcision should be revoked, as well as laws prohibiting child marriage and marital rape. During her visit to KSA, Hillary Clinton spoke at the Islamic college of Dar El-Hekma (where Dr. Saleha Abedin was a vice-dean) shoulder-to-shoulder with her favorite aide Huma.Was this just an insignificant episode? Like those millions of dollars in Saudi Arabian funding for Clinton s foundation? Like the US foreign policy in the Gulf and in the Middle East, like spreading Muslim extremist groups to all corners of the world, from Africa, the Middle East, to Southeast Asia and even China? Like unleashing conservative Islam against socialist Muslim countries?Too many episodes ! Too much blood It is time to say what is by now obvious: The US establishment is not fighting Muslim terrorism or even extremism ; it is manufacturing it, and injecting it everywhere. The only real enemy that Washington, London and Paris have, for decades, even for centuries, is the anti-colonialist struggle, and the burning desire of people, worldwide, to terminate the West s global dictatorship. Philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist, Andre Vltchek has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. His latest books are: Exposing Lies Of The Empire and Fighting Against Western Imperialism . Discussion with Noam Chomsky: On Western Terrorism. Point of No Return is his critically acclaimed political novel. Oceania a book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific. His provocative book about Indonesia: Indonesia The Archipelago of Fear . Andre is making films for teleSUR and Press TV. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and the Middle East. He can be reached through his website or Twitter account. | 0 |
5,617 | STEVE BANNON JUST MADE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT About What He’ll Be Doing After Leaving The White House…And It’s Very Bad News For The Left | Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon left the White House today and has already returned as Executive Chairman of Breitbart News, where he will continue to go to war for President Trump.Unfortunately for the Left, Steve Bannon will continue to go to war for Trump against his opponents, he just won t be conducting the war from the White House anymore. There are very few conservatives in America who really know how to beat the left at their own game. Conservatives need someone like Steve Bannon more than ever right now. Fortunately for us, he doesn t plan to walk away from the fight. Josh Caplan reports that Bannon will continue his fight for Trump from the outside after his exit from the White House today.FULL STATEMENT: Bannon says he s going to war for Trump after White House exit pic.twitter.com/e61m6bb74O Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) August 18, 2017 If there s any confusion out there, let me clear it up: I m leaving the White House and going to war for Trump against his opponents on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America, Bannon told Bloomberg News Friday in his first public comments after his departure was announced.Bannon led the evening editorial meeting at Breitbart, where he resumed his role as executive chairman, the website said in a statement. A person who was on the call said Bannon called on the group to hunker down and work like never before to advance conservative causes. Bloomberg The populist-nationalist movement got a lot stronger today, said Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow. Breitbart gained an executive chairman with his finger on the pulse of the Trump agenda. Breitbart News CEO and President Larry Solov agreed. Breitbart s pace of global expansion will only accelerate with Steve back, said Solov. The sky s the limit. Bannon joined the Trump campaign on August 17, 2016 nearly one year ago to the day of his return to Breitbart. He submitted his intention to leave the White House on August 7 of this year. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve s last day, said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Friday afternoon. We are grateful for his service and wish him the best. Breitbart | 0 |
5,618 | Ex-Homeland Secretary Johnson to testify in Russia probe: House intel panel | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will testify next Wednesday before the intelligence committee in the House of Representatives as part of its probe of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, the panel said on Thursday. The committee said in a statement that Johnson would appear in an open session beginning at 10 a.m. ET on June 21 to answer questions related to the active measures Russia took to affect the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential vote. | 1 |
5,619 | Apple, FBI to clash again in Congress over encryption | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and the FBI will return to Congress next week to testify before lawmakers about their heated disagreement over law enforcement access to encrypted devices, a congressional committee announced on Thursday. Apple’s general counsel, Bruce Sewell, and Amy Hess, executive assistant director for science and technology at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will testify on separate panels before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Tuesday, in addition to other law enforcement officials and technology experts. FBI Director James Comey appeared before a separate congressional committee last month to defend his agency’s pursuit of a court order to compel Apple’s assistance in unlocking an iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters. Sewell also testified at that hearing. The FBI has since abandoned the San Bernardino case, a surprising development that came after a still-secret third party helped the government hack into the iPhone. But the U.S. Justice Department redoubled its efforts last week to use the courts to force Apple’s cooperation in cracking encrypted iPhones by announcing plans to continue with an appeal in an unrelated New York drug case. Other witnesses appearing include Thomas Galati, chief of the New York Police Department’s intelligence bureau; Charles Cohen, commander of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; and Matthew Blaze, a professor and computer security expert at the University of Pennsylvania. Earlier this week, two U.S. senators released draft legislation that would empower courts to order technology companies to hand over data “in an intelligible format,” even if encryption has rendered that data inaccessible to anyone other than the owner. Security researchers and civil liberties advocates say the bill amounts to a ban on strong encryption, which is necessary to keep malicious hackers at bay and protect the overall security of the Internet. | 1 |
5,620 | Two-thirds of U.S. voters say they back some gun control: Reuters/Ipsos poll | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two-thirds of Americans voting in Tuesday’s presidential election favor moderate or strong gun control measures, according to an early reading from the Reuters/Ipsos Election Day poll, up from 59 percent who said so in 2012. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been a vocal opponent of increased limits on American gun ownership, while Democrat Hillary Clinton has advocated for an assault weapons ban and comprehensive background checks on would-be gun owners, following a slew of deadly mass shootings in the United States. The Reuters/Ipsos Election Day poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states and included about 38,000 people who had already voted in the presidential election. The poll reading will be updated as more poll responses are tallied and more votes counted across the country. The survey found that Americans’ views on abortion – another divisive issue in American politics - has not changed significantly since 2012, with 39 percent of voters saying it should be illegal. Trump opposes abortion and has said it should be punished while Clinton believes it should remain legal. | 1 |
5,621 | Trump vows to end prohibition on church political activity | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to free churches and other tax-exempt institutions of a 1954 U.S. law banning political activity, drawing fire from critics who accused him of rewarding his evangelical Christian supporters and turning houses of worship into political machines. As Trump used a prayer breakfast to take aim at a long-standing statutory barrier between politics and religion called the Johnson Amendment, civil liberties and gay rights groups expressed concern that he might consider an executive order to allow government agencies and businesses to deny services to gay people in the name of religious freedom. Trump did not reference such an order in his remarks. But he lambasted the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations such as churches and other places of worship, charities and educational institutions from directly or indirectly participating in any political campaign in favor or against a political candidate. “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that, remember,” Trump told U.S. politicians, religious leaders and guests including Jordan’s King Abdullah at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Trump wanted to find ways to make sure people were not penalized for following through on their religious beliefs. A draft executive order on “religious freedom” circulating among advocacy groups would allow government officials to deny marriage licenses to gay couples and let businesses withhold services from gay people, activists said. The White House said it was not working on such an order. Trump previously spoke out against the Johnson amendment during the campaign and won the support of evangelical Christian leaders including Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. A change in the law would require action in the Republican-led U.S. Congress, and Republican lawmakers introduced legislation that would reverse the policy. After Trump’s remarks, Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters he has “always supported” eliminating the Johnson Amendment. Critics including the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State expressed alarm. “President Donald Trump and his allies in the religious right seek to turn America’s houses of worship into miniature political action committees,” said the group’s executive director, Barry Lynn. “It would also lead some houses of worship to focus on supporting candidates in exchange for financial and other aid. That would be a disaster for both churches and politics in America,” Lynn said. Peter Montgomery of the liberal advocacy group People For the American Way said Trump wants to pay back religious conservatives who helped get him elected “by letting them turn their churches into political machines with tax-exempt charitable dollars.” Scrapping the Johnson Amendment has been a goal of Christian conservatives, who contend it violates free speech and religious freedom rights. The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion and bars the government from establishing an official religion. “We are encouraged to see that President Trump understands the very real constitutional violation posed by the Johnson Amendment and that he is committed to restoring a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing government retribution,” said Erik Stanley, senior counsel for the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom. Trump used the opening moments of the usually solemn prayer breakfast to deride actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, his successor on a reality TV show, for his viewership ratings. Trump said Schwarzenegger, the Republican former governor of California, had disastrous ratings on the NBC reality TV program “Celebrity Apprentice,” which Trump previously starred in. “They hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place. And we know how that turned out,” Trump said. “It’s been a total disaster. ... And I want to just pray for Arnold if we can, for those ratings, OK?” Schwarzenegger, who endorsed Ohio Governor John Kasich over Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, shot back, alluding to the controversies of Trump’s first two weeks in office. “Hey Donald, I have a great idea,” Schwarzenegger said in a video. “Why don’t we switch jobs? You take over TV, because you’re such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job. And then people can finally sleep comfortably again.” Spicer later called Trump’s remarks “light-hearted” and part of an “absolutely beautiful” speech. Trump a week ago put a 120-day halt on the U.S. refugee program, barred Syrian refugees indefinitely and imposed a 90-day suspension on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump defended his directive on Thursday as crucial to ensuring religious freedom and tolerance in America, and said he wanted to prevent a “beachhead of intolerance” from spreading in the United States. He also called terrorism a fundamental threat to religious freedom. “The world is in trouble, but we’re going to straighten it out. OK? That’s what I do. I fix things,” Trump said. “When you hear about the tough phone calls I’m having, don’t worry about it,” Trump added, apparently referring to telephone conversations including one with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. “It’s time we’re going to be a little tough folks. We’re taken advantage of by every nation in the world virtually. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said. | 1 |
5,622 | Russia-hosted summit could be decisive for Syria peace: Erdogan | SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - A three-way summit on Wednesday between the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey could produce decisive steps toward ending the bloodshed in Syria, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said at the start of their talks. The summit, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a rare occasion bringing together the leaders of Russia and Iran who back Syria s President Bashar al-Assad around a table with Erdogan, who has supported Assad s opponents. In opening remarks at the summit in the southern Russian resort of Sochi, Putin, Erdogan and Iran s President Hassan Rouhani spoke of an opening for peace in Syria now that Islamic State has been pushed out of its last major stronghold there. The point we have reached is important, but not enough, Erdogan told the gathering, also attended by military commanders and foreign ministers from the three countries. It is critical for all parties to contribute to a permanent and acceptable political solution for the people of Syria, he said. This summit is aimed at results, I believe critical decisions will be taken. As a prelude to the summit, Putin earlier this week hosted Assad at his residence in Sochi. It was the only time the Syrian leader is known to have left Syria since his last visit to Russia, two years ago. Putin also made telephone calls in the past 24 hours to other leaders with influence in Syria, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia s King Salman, as part of Moscow s drive to build an international consensus over a peace deal to end the six-year conflict. We can say with certainty that we have reached a new stage, opening up the possibility to launch a real political process towards a peace deal, Putin told the gathering. Compromises and concessions will be needed on all sides ... including (from) the Syrian government, Putin said. He said the focus of peace efforts should be the convocation of a congress bringing together all of Syria s ethnic groups. Russia has offered to host such a congress in Sochi, but attempts to agree a date have so far foundered, in part because Turkey raised objections to the presence of some Kurdish groups. Iran s Rouhani used his remarks at the summit to rail against the presence of foreign forces in Syria, an apparent reference to the United States and Tehran s arch regional rival Saudi Arabia, which alongside Turkey have backed Assad s foes. There is no excuse for the presence of foreign troops in Syria without the approval of its legitimate government, Rouhani said. The Syrian nation will not allow any interference of foreigners in their state affairs and will confront any move that harms Syria s integrity, independence and unity, he said. Iran s military is also present in Syria, alongside Russian troops and Hezbollah, the pro-Iran Lebanese militia. They say that does not amount to foreign interference because they are in Syria at Assad s invitation. | 1 |
5,623 | Ahead of regional vote, Merkel's conservatives neck-and-neck with Social Democrats | BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) and the rival Social Democrats (SPD) are neck-and-neck ahead of a crucial regional election in the state of Lower Saxony, an infratest dimap poll showed on Thursday. The Oct. 15 snap election is being followed unusually closely because it follows just three weeks after national elections and will delay federal coalition negotiations, since parties are reluctant to alienate core voters by making compromises ahead of a key regional vote. The poll placed the CDU on 35 percent, just ahead of the SPD on 34 percent. The Greens were in third place on 9 percent, followed by the pro-business Free Democrats on 8 percent. The radical Left party was on 5 percent and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was on 6 percent. | 1 |
5,624 | Democrat Clinton says China likely to commit more 'bad acts' in trade | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Friday said that as the Chinese economy slows, China will engage in more damaging practices in global trade. “But now that China’s economy is slowing down we can expect even more bad acts from them,” she said in a speech in Detroit. “It’ll look to dump products overseas to make up for lost demand at home. So we have to stop that right now.” Clinton is the front runner for her party’s nomination to the November presidential election. (Reporting by Luciana Lopez; Additional reporting by Michelle Conlin; Editing by Leslie Adler) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 1 |
5,625 | Senators on defensive over all-male healthcare panel | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barely two days into crafting a new bill to roll back Obamacare, U.S. Senate Republicans were already on the defensive on Tuesday over the absence of any women in their core working group. After a meeting of the Senate healthcare group, lawmakers were bombarded with questions as to why no women were named to the 13-man panel. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to explain. “The working group that counts is all 52 of us,” McConnell told reporters, referring to all 52 Republican senators in the 100-member chamber. “Nobody is being excluded based upon gender ... Everybody’s at the table. Everybody.” Democrats pounced. Republican men are negotiating “a secret healthcare plan, which I really hope is not happening in the men’s locker room,” said Senator Patty Murray, a member of the Democratic leadership from Washington state. If the criticism was any sign of what lies ahead as senators try to improve on a rollback bill passed on Thursday by House of Representatives Republicans, it could be a long road ahead. Dismantling the parts of President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law that they dislike and preserving other parts of it is proving to be a difficult task for President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans. A House of Representatives’ plan for doing that, approved last week amid much drama, faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Some Republicans eye drafting a similar Senate bill by mid-summer, possibly with the involvement of Democrats. Others indicate the House bill requires major surgery and that the effort to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, could take months. Regardless of timing, two decisive factors will come into sharper focus soon. One is voter reaction to the House bill, now being voiced in town hall events being hosted nationwide by House members in their home districts. The other factor is an expected analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office of how many million Americans would lose their health insurance coverage under the House bill, if it became law, and how it would affect the U.S. budget deficit. Both the CBO analysis and the town hall events have the potential to do damage to the House legislation, which Trump hailed as a triumph just days ago. Senators are already talking about major changes in the House bill concerning Medicaid, the government healthcare program for the poor, and tax subsidies for healthcare coverage. Trying to get past the controversy over the absence of women on the healthcare panel, Senate Republicans said they expected to devote much time to healthcare in the near future. “I don’t think we’re going to be talking about much else other than healthcare at least three days a week with all members of our conference present,” said Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican. Cornyn said senators would start with the House bill. “If we have to make modifications in order to pass it, we’ll make those modifications and work out the differences with the House.” Medicaid was the topic at the Senate working group meeting Tuesday. The House bill would cut federal spending on Medicaid by $880 billion over 10 years. But some Republicans want any reductions to be more gradual, and Trump made a campaign pledge not to cut the program. “There ought to be a glide path where you do not have a cliff that the House provides in 2020,” when the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare is abruptly ended, said Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. But other Republicans said cutbacks were important to save taxpayer money. “The public wants every dime you can give them. Let’s face it, once you get them on the dole, they are going to take every dime they can. We’ve got to find some way of getting things under control, or this country and your future’s going to be gone,” said Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, a member of the healthcare working group. | 1 |
5,626 | South Korea to review whether or not to abolish anti-abortion law | SEOUL (Reuters) - The South Korean president s office said on Sunday that it will begin a review on the country s 64-year-old law to ban abortion. The announcement came after more than 230,000 South Koreans filed a petition calling for the abolishment of the law. South Korea criminalized abortion in 1953 when its leaders wanted to boost the population and build an army powerful enough to fend off its rival North Korea. But in 1973, with population growth strong, the country drew up exceptions to the abortion law, such as where the mother s health is at risk, the baby is to be born with severe birth defects or the pregnancy was caused by a sexual crime. Many public health experts in South Korea pushed for changes in the abortion law but faced opposition from a strong pro-life lobby in a country with one of Asia s largest percentages of Christians and a government trying to boost one of the world s lowest fertility rates. The president s office said the government will conduct research next year on the country s abortion cases for the first time since 2010. Based on the outcome from the research, we expect to move relevant discussions one step forward, Cho Kuk, the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, said in a statement. Cho said South Korea s Constitutional Court, which in 2012 upheld the anti-abortion law, will again review the legislation. According to the most recent figures, an estimated 16,900 abortions were performed in 2010, and only 6 percent of them were done legally, he said. | 1 |
5,627 | China sees THAAD deployment as 'weather vane' under Trump | BEIJING (Reuters) - Whether President-elect Donald Trump goes through with a deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea will be a key indicator to how political ties unfold with China, sources with ties to the leadership in Beijing said. Beijing will also be keeping a close eye on Trump’s meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, its key regional rival, for clues on how the President-elect, who has never held public office, is likely to conduct foreign policy, they said. South Korea and the United States have agreed to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter missile threats from North Korea. It is expected to be in place within eight to 10 months, the commander of U.S. forces in South Korea said earlier this month. China has argued the planned deployment undermines strategic stability in Northeast Asia, and worries that THAAD’s powerful radar provides coverage of China’s missile installations. “Whether deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense is delayed is a political weather vane,” one source said. A security adviser to Trump said last week his meeting in New York with Abe on Thursday may mark the start of talks to garner Tokyo’s support for a push-back against China’s growing influence in Asia. “We have heard what he said. We will now watch what he does,” said the source, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media. “We will play it by ear,” the source said, invoking an idiom that translates to blocking a punch or a kick as it comes. Trump has created doubts over his commitment to security alliances with Japan and South Korea, suggesting they need to pay more for a U.S. military presence and even hinting they should develop their own nuclear weapons capability. Japan going nuclear would be China’s worst nightmare and is likely to provoke strong reaction, diplomats and analysts have said. China’s relations with Japan have long been poisoned by what Beijing sees as Tokyo’s failure to fully atone for its invasion and occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two as well as competing claims over a group of East China Sea islets. “Northeast Asia would be a powder keg,” a second source said, referring to a nuclearized sub-region including China, Japan, North and South Korea. The State Council Information Office, or cabinet spokesman’s office, had no immediate comment. China is generally opposed to military alliances, seeing them as Cold War relics. China’s stability-obsessed leaders do not know what to make of the 70-year-old Trump, whose win over Hillary Clinton was unexpected, and has backpedaled on some of his more controversial campaign statements. For example, Trump pledged his commitment to defending South Korea under an existing security alliance during a phone call last week with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Trump had said during the election campaign he would be willing to withdraw the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea unless Seoul paid a greater share of the cost of the U.S. deployment. Trump told Reuters in an interview in May he was willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear program - a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation - but has also called for China to do more to rein in Pyongyang. Sino-U.S. relations after Trump takes office on Jan. 20 are expected to be fluid, although Chinese President Xi Jinping told Trump during a telephone call on Monday cooperation was the “only correct choice” for the two giants. A statement from Trump’s presidential transition office said the two men “established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another” and he believes the two countries will have one of the strongest relationships moving forward. Trump’s election does offer some good news for China: it signals the demise of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which excludes China; it raises the possibility of belated U.S. backing for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and possibly marks an end to President Obama’s strategic “pivot” to Asia. The bad news is that Trump has often made provocative remarks about China during his campaign, including threats to slap 45 percent tariffs on imports from China and label the world’s second-biggest economy a currency manipulator. Wei Jianguo, a retired vice commerce minister, was optimistic a trade war could be avoided. “Protectionism is on the rise, but a trade war between China and the United States is unlikely,” Wei, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a government-backed think-tank, told Reuters. “That was just election rhetoric,” he said. | 1 |
5,628 | Black Man Detained By Cops After Withdrawing $200,000 Of HIS OWN Money (VIDEO, IMAGES) | Rapper Blac Youngsta went to an Atlanta bank to withdraw $200,000 of his own money, and upon leaving the building he was detained by police.Blac Youngsta s real name is Sam Benson and he claims that the police even pulled a gun on him.Yo Gotti's artist Blac Youngsta Speaks To News About Police Drawing Guns On Him For Withdrawing $200k From The Bank! pic.twitter.com/mZPOFvlJH1 saycheesetv.com (@SayCheese_TV) January 9, 2016Benson said he withdrew $200,000 in cash from his account. He said when he came out of the bank, a police officer pointed at him. They come bum rushing me at the car, put me on the ground, putting guns to my head, so I m like What I d do, Benson said. A lady was like I m not supposed to have $200,000 on me. I m like, I m a millionaire. How can I not have $200,000 on me? On his Facebook page, Benson posted a picture of himself in handcuffs on the ground surrounded by police officers with the caption LOOK AT HOW THEY TREAT A YOUNG RICH NIGGA. Benson also posted a video discussing the fact that the police thought he had too much money on him.https://www.facebook.com/BlacYoungsta/videos/vb.708100352651760/802664839861977/?type=2&theaterBenson said police told him that they thought he was someone who had previously written a bogus check, and apologized to him after taking $100,000 of his cash but eventually giving it back to him.The rapper said he had withdrawn the money because he planned to buy a car. Initially he planned to buy a Maybach but after the incident he was feeling fast and thinking about purchasing a Ferrari.Police told an Atlanta TV station that they responded to the bank at the request of the bank manager but Officers found that no crime had been committed. Imagine the anger at working at your skill to the point where you ve amassed such a large sum of money in the bank, go to withdraw your own money, and are style eyed with suspicion to the point that police are called and you are put down on the ground in cuffs.Something has to be changed.Featured image via Facebook | 0 |
5,629 | White Pro-Trump Pastor Tries To Rap Attack On Eminem And It’s F*cking Hilarious (VIDEO) | Hahahahahahahaha. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Hah.You know all those stereotypes about white people in general being terrible at rap? They re all true, and if you need proof look no further than Trump acolyte Joshua Feuerstein.The right-wing pastor became incensed when Eminem dissed The Donald during a freestyle at the BET awards, so he decided to bust out his wicked rap skills in a video he somehow didn t delete from Facebook in shame.Just to be clear, this is Feuerstein himself claiming he destroys Eminem, which make this about a bazillion times funnier than it would otherwise be.Feuerstein s rap includes some pretty sick lines like say what you will about Trump, his first name is still President (Trump s first name is Donald), Trump is fighting real enemies to America ISIS, North Korea and fake news/Yet you call Trump a neo-Nazi/Dude are you that much of a pinhead?/Put both of you in a police lineup. You re the one who looks like a skinhead, and Your music has probably killed as many young black kids as your homie Planned Parenthood, which was probably the most hilarious piece of this musical equivalent of a war crime.Watch it below, unless you re bothered by people who suck sucking at things at which they suck:Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
5,630 | Donald Trump files disclosure of $10 billion in net worth | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump has filed a new personal financial disclosure form that details a net worth of more than $10 billion, the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign said on Tuesday. The party’s presumptive nominee has refused so far to release his income tax statements, which are normally released by presidential candidates. That decision has drawn criticism from likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. The personal disclosure form is identical to one Trump filed shortly after announcing his candidacy last year. Critics have said the billionaire real estate developer is inflating his net worth in the forms and that his tax documents would provide a more accurate depiction of how much money he has. “I have built an incredible company and have accumulated one of the greatest portfolios of real estate assets, many of which are considered to be among the finest and most iconic properties in the world,” Trump said in a statement about his disclosure. | 1 |
5,631 | (VIDEO) YOU’LL BE PROUD! ONE VETERAN REMAINED AFTER FLAG BURNING EVENT IN NYC TO TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS | Be proud! One U.S. Army Veteran remained after the smoke cleared at the flag burning event in Brooklyn on Wednesday night. Mark Brummitt vowed to stay until the very end to ensure that at the end of the night there is a flag left standing. | 0 |
5,632 | wow indictment likely in clinton foundation case hillarys server hacked by five foreign entities daily wire | president obama has stooped to new lows in his increasingly forceful pleas for voters to go to the polls for enthusiasm gapchallenged hillary clinton | 1 |
5,633 | Austria's prospective ruling parties agree on budget discipline, cutbacks for migrants | VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s conservative People s Party and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) said on Friday they had agreed on a commitment to the European Union and budget discipline as well as cuts in migrants welfare benefits as basic policies for a new coalition government. People s Party leader Sebastian Kurz started coalition talks with the FPO last week after his party won a parliamentary election with 31.5 percent of the vote. Kurz s hard line on immigration and his decision to force a collapse of the current coalition with the Social Democrats, who came second, made the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO) a natural partner. Some European leaders have expressed concern about the likely return to power of the FPO, which first became a major force in the 1990s under the late Joerg Haider, who praised Hitler s employment policies. Austria s new government will focus on actively shaping the Austrian EU Council presidency and a commitment to further develop the European Union according to the principle of subsidiarity , FPO chief Heinz-Christian Strache said at a news conference with Kurz in Vienna on Friday. Subsidiarity is the principle that power should be exercised at the lowest feasible level. Austria will take on the rotating EU Council presidency for six months from next July. Kurz has repeatedly said that any government must have a clear pro-European orientation. However, just like Strache, he wants the EU to slim down and focus mainly on core issues such as trade and securing external borders. Kurz and Strache said they had also agreed to reduce inefficiencies in state spending to be able to cut taxes and meet EU budget criteria. Finance Ministry projections last month forecast Austria s 2018 structural deficit at 1.1 percent of GDP, well above an EU limit of 0.5 percent. We are jointly committed to ensuring sustainable financing as the basis of our work, Kurz said. The goal was not to spend more than is earned . Details will be negotiated between the parties, he said. Both parties called in their election campaigns for tax cuts for low earners and for companies, and both promised not to introduce a wealth or inheritance tax. To achieve this, they plan to reduce welfare benefits for migrants and consider introducing a five-year residence qualification for citizens of other EU countries to be eligible for welfare payments in Austria. Three of Austria s nine provinces have already cut benefits for new arrivals, saying the system was being overstretched by an influx of refugees. Austria took in asylum seekers equivalent to more than 1 percent of its population in 2015, most of them fleeing conflict in the Middle East. | 1 |
5,634 | U.S., Philippines ties back on track as Trump, Duterte make up and bond | MANILA (Reuters) - Mutual praise, warm handshakes and even an impromptu love song at a lavish dinner suggest U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte want a fresh start after the biggest breakdown in U.S.-Philippine ties in years. Their meeting on Monday during a summit of Asian leaders in Manila was arguably the most anticipated of the three-day event and went off well, with Duterte s aides talking up the rapport the two had, and Trump boasting of his great relationship with the similarly mercurial Philippines leader. It came a little over a year after Duterte announced his separation from the United States and sought new alliances with China and Russia. Angered by Barack Obama s criticism of his war on drugs, he told the then-U.S. president to go to hell , shocking American businesses and a Philippine military heavily reliant on the help of the Pentagon. Central to the rapprochement this week was Duterte holding his tongue, and Trump not expressing concern about Duterte s centerpiece policy - the crackdown on drugs that has killed thousands of Filipinos. Tensions and damage inflicted during the Obama administration has somehow been repaired, looking at the executive relationship, it has essentially been normalized, said Richard Javad Heydarian, an author and a political science professor at Manila s De La Salle University. The modus operandi is, Trump doesn t openly criticize Duterte s war on drugs and Duterte tones down his direct attacks on the U.S. Even with Trump in the White House, Duterte had repeatedly railed at the hypocrisy of his country s former colonial ruler. He has accused Washington of treating the Philippines like a dog and said he would not visit the United States, because it was lousy . But there was none of Duterte s trademark hostility this week and some indications that both countries had taken a calibrated approach to ensure the two leaders hit it off. Contrary to traditional seating protocol for a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the two were seated next to each other at Sunday s gala dinner. Duterte sang a hit Filipino love song at that event, and joked it was on the orders of the U.S. commander-in-chief . Although Duterte s fallout with Obama was acrimonious, the fissures between the two long-term allies did not run deep, with joint programs across various sectors largely intact. That included dozens of annual joint military exercises over the past year. This year, the Philippines military relied on U.S. technical support in its biggest-ever urban battle, ending a five-month occupation of a southern city by rebels loyal to Islamic State. There were no signs of an exodus of American business under Duterte either, with $353 million of investments from the United States recorded in the first eight months of this year, compared to $90 million in the same period in 2016, according to the Philippines central bank. There were conflicting accounts of what was discussed between Trump and Duterte on Monday, however. A White House spokeswoman said human rights was talked about, in the context of the drugs war. Duterte s spokesman, Harry Roque, said that was not the case, although Duterte had explained his anti-drugs campaign to Trump, who nodded and seemed to be in agreement . The relationship appears to be very warm and very friendly, getting very candid, Roque said. They have similar feelings toward former U.S. President Barack Obama. Duterte had said last week he would tell Trump to lay off if he talked about human rights. But according to a senior White House official, Duterte raised the issue himself. He had an explanation and he pre-emptively brought it up, the official said, estimating Duterte did 90 percent of the talking. The two leaders agreed to further strengthen the decades-old defense alliance between them, one that Duterte had previously threatened to abort. Heydarian, the professor, however said that even with improved ties, Trump would be powerless to stop moves by Duterte to diversify foreign relations beyond the United States to include China and Russia, and tap them for anything from loans and infrastructure to rifles and jeeps. I don t think that the Trump-Duterte convivial hobnob will ever be enough to change Duterte s strategic orientation, he said. We have stopped the hemorrhaging of the alliance, but it will never go back to being special and sacred as it was before Duterte came to power. | 1 |
5,635 | Rosneft's Sechin a no-show as witness in bribery trial again, ordered to appear next week | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin again failed to show up as a witness at the bribery trial of a former Russian economy minister on Wednesday, prompting the judge to order him to appear next week. Sechin, boss of Russia s biggest oil company and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, had told the court he would be unavailable for the rest of the year. He is a key witness in the trial of Alexei Ulyukayev, who was arrested last year after a late night meeting in Sechin s office. Ulyukayev faces up to 15 years in prison, accused of accepting $2 million from Sechin in return for approving the sale of a state-controlled oil company to Rosneft. Police detained him inside Rosneft headquarters shortly after Sechin handed him the cash. Ulyukayev denies the accusations and says he was framed by Sechin. His lawyers say their client cannot testify in court prior to Sechin s testimony as a witness. All of us are here thanks to witness Sechin, Ulyukayev s lawyer Timofei Gridnev told the court after Sechin failed to appear on Wednesday. Gridnev said it was the third time Sechin had ignored a summons to appear. Judge Larisa Semyonova read out a letter from Sechin s lawyers saying he would be unable to attend for the rest of the year due to his tight schedule, but she nevertheless summoned him for next Monday. Rosneft made clear later on Wednesday that chances its boss would appear in court on Monday were rather slim. This hunt for Sechin discredits the court. Sechin is not the accused one, Rosneft spokesman Mikhail Leontyev told Reuters. All this shouting of Sechin s name in court and these dates are trash. Before his arrest, Ulyukayev was one of the leading figures in a faction of economic liberals who argued for less state control over the economy. Sechin is widely seen as the main champion of the opposite view, that the state should consolidate its grip, particularly over the energy sector that provides a large share of Russia s state revenue through its two biggest companies, Rosneft and Gazprom. Ulyukayev had opposed last year s sale of the medium-sized oil company Bashneft to Rosneft. But prosecutors say he signed off on the deal and then took the cash from Sechin. Sechin missed Wednesday s hearings because he is on a business trip to western Siberia, where on Tuesday he attended the opening of a new Rosneft oil field. On Wednesday, he met a regional governor and chaired a meeting with Rosneft s management in the Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiisk, Rosneft said. | 1 |
5,636 | France says takes U.S. claims Iran violated U.N. resolutions seriously | PARIS (Reuters) - France s foreign ministry said on Wednesday it was taking accusations by the United States that Iran had violated two U.N. Security Council resolutions seriously and urged Iran to comply with all its international commitments. The United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying Yemen s Houthi rebels with a missile that was fired into Saudi Arabia in July and called for the U.N. to hold Tehran accountable for violating two U.N. Security Council resolutions. We take these American indications seriously and attach utmost importance to Iran s compliance with all of its international obligations, including the weapons transfer bans provided for in UN Security Council Resolutions 2216 and 2231, deputy foreign ministry spokesman Alexandre Georgini told reporters in a daily briefing. He did not respond when asked whether Paris supported potential measures at the Security Council. France s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said that he expected a challenging meeting with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran when he travels there later this month. He is due to discuss Iran s ballistic missile program, which Paris says goes against U.N. Security Council resolutions, and its regional activities. We have deep disagreements with Iran (on the ballistic issue) ... and the way in which Iran is discreetly or through proxies trying to create a direct channel to the Mediterranean, he said after a Security Council meeting at the United Nations on Oct. 31. | 1 |
5,637 | abc poll oversamples dems by claims hillary leading | store uk economy grows in three months after brexit vote the gdp figure is driven by growth in the services sector offsetting slides in construction manufacturing and agriculture image credits publicdomainpicturesnet
the uk economy grew by in the three months after the brexit vote the office for national statistics ons has said
the figure for july to september was down from the growth recorded in the second quarter of the months before britain voted to leave the european union
but it is more robust than many economists had expected and stronger than the forecast last month by the bank of england boe
the higherthanexpected gdp figure was driven by the services sector which accounts for more than of the uk economy which grew by in the three months to september | 0 |
5,638 | Odebrecht paid firms linked to Peru's Kuczynski $4.8 million: document | LIMA (Reuters) - Brazilian builder Odebrecht transferred $4.8 million to companies linked to Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski between 2004 and 2012, some of which was paid to a company Kuczynski controlled when he held senior government roles, according to a document the company sent to Congress. In a brief recorded message broadcast on local radio program RPP after lawmakers made the contents of the document public on Wednesday, Kuczynski denied wrongdoing but did not deny the transfers took place. Kuczynski s office declined further comment. Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] declined to comment. A source in the company who spoke on condition of anonymity said the document seen by Reuters was authentic. The transfers shown in the document contradicted Kuczynski s previous denials about his ties to Odebrecht and prompted some lawmakers in the opposition-controlled Congress to call for his resignation. Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America s biggest graft scandal and has admitted to paying about $30 million in bribes to officials in Peru over a decade, including during the 2001-2006 term of ex-President Alejandro Toledo, when Kuczynski was finance minister and prime minister. After Odebrecht s public acknowledgement a year ago, Kuczynski repeatedly denied ever taking money from Odebrecht or having any professional connections to the company. But on Saturday Kuczynski announced on a local radio program that he once worked as a financial adviser for an Odebrecht project when he did not hold public office; he did not mention the company that paid him. According to the document sent to Congress, Odebrecht made seven transfers totaling about $780,000 to Kuczynski s company Westfield Capital Ltd between 2004 and 2007, including about $60,000 when Kuczynski worked in Toledo s Cabinet and the government awarded several contracts to Odebrecht. Later, between 2008 and 2012, Odebrecht paid about $4 million to First Capital Inversiones Y Asesorias. Kuczynski has previously said that First Capital belongs to his friend and Chilean business partner, Gerardo Sepulveda. Kuczynski was the sole director of Westfield Capital, according to his sworn declaration on the presidency s website. Kuczynski has not appeared in public since his radio interview on Saturday. He said on RPP on Wednesday that he had decided to heed Congress repeated calls to explain any connections he had with Odebrecht to an investigative committee. I ve never favored any company. I m willing to clarify everything that needs to be clarified before Congress and prosecutors because I have nothing to hide, Kuczynski said on RPP, without taking any questions from journalists. A spokesman for Popular Force, the opposition party that holds a majority of seats in Peru s single-chamber Congress, slammed Kuczynski. The country, Mr. Kuczynski, is tired of your lies and doesn t want any more explanations. The country hasn t just lost its trust in you, but in your government as well, Daniel Salaverry, the spokesman, told a news conference. In a televised plenary session late on Wednesday, hardline Popular Force lawmaker Hector Becerril called for Kuczynski to resign, calling the transferred funds camouflaged bribes. An independent lawmaker also called for Kuczynski to step down. A source in the attorney general s office said prosecutors investigating Odebrecht in Peru were probing Kuczynski s relationship with the company but could not name him as a suspect until his term and presidential immunity end. Toledo, the former president under whom Kuczynski worked, has been accused of taking a $20 million bribe from Odebrecht in exchange for help in securing lucrative highway contracts. Toledo has denied the charges. Authorities in Peru are seeking his extradition from the United States. | 1 |
5,639 | Republican Rubio clears way for Tillerson's approval as top U.S. diplomat | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio reluctantly backed President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, in a move that all but secures Senate confirmation of the former Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive as the nation’s top diplomat later on Monday. Rubio said he was troubled by Tillerson’s recent responses before lawmakers regarding Russia as well as other countries, but that he ultimately decided he would vote to approve the nominee in deference to Trump, as well as to fill a critical top job. “Despite my reservations, I will support Mr. Tillerson’s nomination in committee and in the full Senate,” Rubio said in a statement ahead of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s vote on Tillerson. A vote in the Republican-controlled Senate was expected shortly after the committee vote. Tillerson was expected to win confirmation, despite opposition from Democrats. Rubio, a onetime rival to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, said he would not be so deferential regarding Trump’s other nominees for top State Department posts. At a confirmation hearing earlier this month, Tillerson’s views appeared to be at odds with Trump’s on key foreign policy issues such as nuclear proliferation, trade deals, climate change and relations with Mexico. The nominee also had a tense exchange with Rubio on whether he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was a war criminal, in reference to Russia’s military actions in support of Syria’s government. Tillerson said he would not use that term. Tillerson, 64, also sidestepped questions on human rights, declining to condemn countries like Saudi Arabia and the Philippines for rights abuses. Over the weekend, fellow Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said they would back Tillerson despite their concerns over his relationship with Putin as CEO of one of the world’s largest corporations. Republican Senator Rob Portman on Monday also voiced his support and said he was reassured by Tillerson’s commitment at the Jan. 11 hearing to support NATO, an organization that Trump has voiced differing opinions about. Earlier on Monday, the most senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ben Cardin, said he would not support Tillerson. “The power of the Secretary of State to call out wrong, to name and shame, and to fight each day on behalf of the American people and freedom-seeking people the world over is an enduring symbol,” Cardin said in a prepared statement. | 1 |
5,640 | Stephen King OBLITERATES Trump For Throwing Another Fit On Twitter | Donald Trump disgusted thousands of Americans when he mocked the disabled man. Meryl Streep was definitely one of them, and she was able to put into words what many of us were feeling, destroying Trump last night at the Golden Globes: An actor s only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us and let you feel what that feels like, she said. And there were many, many, many powerful performances this year that did exactly that breathtaking, compassionate work. There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good there was nothing good about it but it was effective, and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter: someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can t get it out of my head because it wasn t a movie it was real life. Donald Trump s response was predictable, he threw a fit on Twitter:Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a .. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017First off, Meryl Streep has won more than a handful of awards, including three academy awards, which she s had 19 nominations for.Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never "mocked" a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him . Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017 Hillary flunky who lost big. Well Donald, for the 100th time, you lost the popular vote by the biggest margin EVER."groveling" when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017Donald Trump definitely did make fun of the reporter, there s even video evidence. The sad part is, Donald Trump is going to be our president, but he still acts like a child, blasting his problems all over social media. On some of his tweets, even his supporters call him out for continuing to bash on Hillary despite the fact he s already been elected. He uses the social media site to make fun of people who don t support him, and Stephen King got sick of it and then continued to successfully destroy Trump at his own game:Trump's response to Meryl Streep childish, churlish, petulant is exactly why most Americans fear his presidency. Emtoionally unqualified. Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 9, 2017Stephen was 100% correct too, and 65 million Americans know it, but sadly he s still going to be our president.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
5,641 | Nothing formally agreed on moving next round of Brexit talks -UK PM May's spokeswoman | LONDON (Reuters) - Nothing has been formally agreed with the European Union on moving the next round of Brexit negotiations, British Prime Minister Theresa May s spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Earlier, diplomats in Brussels said the EU and Britain had agreed to delay the talks by a week to Sept. 25 on expectations that May would make an important speech on the subject on Brexit on Sept. 21. The latest position on this from our perspective was that both sides said they were keen to be flexible, but we hadn t formally agreed anything, the spokeswoman said. | 1 |
5,642 | Moscow to respond to pressure on Russian media abroad: RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said on Monday it would respond in kind to any violations of the rights of Russian companies and media abroad, saying it had the tools to do this, the RIA news agency reported. Russia threatened to take action against Alphabet Inc s (GOOGL.O) Google if articles from Russian news websites Sputnik and Russia Today were placed lower in search results, after a statement by Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt appeared to admit this. We have been in correspondence with Google regarding this, and Google replied to us that they had in no way implied this ranking of information, RIA cited Roskomnadzor head Alexander Zharov as saying. It is completely clear that there is the need to react in kind to any violations of the rights of our companies as well as of our mass media, he said. And the Russian Federations has the tools to do this. | 1 |
5,643 | VANISHED: FBI FILES Related To Mysterious “Suicide” Death Of Hillary’s Trusted WH Counsel, Vince Foster DISAPPEAR From National Archives | Corruption is nothing new for Hillary and Bill. What is truly stunning is the mountain of evidence that clearly shows their criminal behavior has been going on for decades How did documents describing Hillary Clinton s role in the death of White House counsel Vince Foster vanish?Foster is believed to have shot himself with a .38 caliber revolver at Fort Marcy Park along the Potomac River on July 20, 1993From NewsMax April 4, 2001. Vince Foster s Gun Serial Number Searched Before DeathWhen Vince Foster was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head in 1993, the government was quick to write off the death as a suicide.That sat well with Bill Clinton and Vince s closest confidante, Hillary Rodham Clinton.For years, detail after detail emerged questioning the official ruling.Significant questions were raised about the unusual gun a .38 Colt revolver made from the parts of three guns with two serial numbers found conveniently in Vince s hand.The Park Police said one of the serial numbers indicated the gun was vintage 1913 and had no pedigree.Foster family members insisted neither Foster nor his father ever owned the old revolver.Recently, a NewsMax.com reader named Craig Brinkley contacted us.Curious about the gun, Brinkley had filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI, asking details of requests on the gun s serial numbers with the NCIC the National Crime Information Center.The NCIC keeps records of all law enforcment inquiries of serial numbers.On March 23, 2001, the FBI responded to Brinkley s request.Serial number 356555, one of the numbers on the gun, was never searched, not by the FBI, the Park Police or by that investigation by Ken Starr.Serial number 355055 was found on the frame of the gun. Brinkley believes that was the gun s real nnumber.That number was indeed searched by the Park Police, on the evening of Foster s death, more exactly at 22:45 EDT on July 20, 1993.Interestingly, searches were conducted on the same serial number no fewer than three times earlier that year, before Foster s death, on March 3, March 7 and April 29.Was someone checking to see that this gun had a clean predigree and was untraceable?We called Marilyn Walton at the FBI s Access Integrity Unit. She told us that the government does not disclose which law enforcement agencies requested a trace on the serial number. She said it could have been made by local or federal agencies who have access to the NCIC computer.She noted that serial numbers are often duplicated, and usually when a request is made, it includes additional information, such as the gun s make and model.In all four cases no such information was entered, just the number. Walton added that many guns share similar serial numbers.Is it a coincidence that in the year of Foster s death, four searches were conducted on the serial number found on the old gun none ever before or after? Two former FBI agents involved in the investigation tell Daily Mail Online they issued reports linking Hillary s tirade to Foster s suicideIn interviewing Clinton White House aides and Foster s friends and family, the FBI found that a week before Foster s death, Hillary held a meeting at the White House with Foster and other top aides to discuss her proposed health care legislation.Hillary angrily disagreed with a legal objection Foster raised at the meeting and ridiculed him in front of his peers, former FBI agent Coy Copeland and former FBI supervisory agent Jim Clemente told me. Copeland was Starr s senior investigator and read the reports of other agents working for Starr.During the White House meeting, Hillary continued to humiliate Foster mercilessly, according to both former FBI agents, who spoke about the investigation for the first time. Hillary put him down really, really bad in a pretty good-size meeting, Copeland says. She told him he didn t get the picture, and he would always be a little hick town lawyer who was obviously not ready for the big time. Indeed, Hillary went so far as to blame Foster for all the Clintons problems and to accuse him of failing them, according to Clemente, who was also assigned by the FBI to the Starr investigation and who probed the circumstances surrounding Foster s suicide. Foster was profoundly depressed, but Hillary lambasting him was the final straw because she publicly embarrassed him in front of others, says Clemente. Hillary blamed him for failed nominations, claimed he had not vetted them properly, and said in front of his White House colleagues, You re not protecting us and You have failed us, Clemente says. That was the final blow. After the White House meeting, Foster s behavior changed dramatically, the FBI agents found. Those who knew him said his voice sounded strained, he became withdrawn and preoccupied, and his sense of humor vanished. At times, Foster teared up. He talked of feeling trapped.On Tuesday, July 13, 1993, while having dinner with his wife Lisa, Foster broke down and began to cry. He said he was considering resigning.Archived material related to the case, housed at National Archives in College Park, Md. were examined by the author to no availAfter filing a Freedom of Information request, it was determined that the agents reported have gone missing FBI agents reports of interviews documenting that Hillary Clinton s stinging humiliation of her friend and mentor Vince Foster in front of White House aides triggered his suicide a week later are missing from where they should be filed at the National Archives, Daily Mail Online has learned exclusively.On two separate occasions, this author visited the National Archives and Records Service in College Park, Md., to review the reports generated by FBI agents assigned to investigate the 1993 death of Bill Clinton s deputy White House counsel.On the first visit, archivist David Paynter provided the box of records that he said contained the FBI reports of interviews conducted by FBI agents on Foster s death.On a second visit, archivist James Mathis provided what he said were those same documents.While the box contained dozens of FBI reports concerning Foster s death including interviews with the medical examiner, U.S. Park Police officers, and White House aides about the contents of Foster s office the reports on Hillary Clinton s role in his death were absent.After filing a Freedom of Information request with the National Archives, Martha Murphy, the archives public liaison, reported that she directed a senior archivist to conduct a more thorough review of the relevant FBI files, including those that had not been previously made public in response to FOIA requests. He examined all eight boxes but found no interviews by any investigator that detail either a meeting between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster or the effects of a meeting between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster on Vince Foster s state of mind, Murphy reported in an email. We did not limit ourselves to interviews by the two individuals [FBI agents] you mention. While Murphy said the archives searched for the records that would be responsive to your request and concluded that they could not be found, when asked for comment, John Valceanu, the archives director of communications and marketing, said, We do not agree with your conclusion that the records you requested are missing from the National Archives simply because we were unable to locate any responsive records in response to your request. While confirming that the records could not be located, Valceanu held out the possibility that the FBI interviews were not filed where they should have been and were somewhere else in the more than 3,000 boxes of records amounting to 7.5 million pages generated by the Starr investigation.This is not the first time documents related to the Clintons have apparently vanished from the National Archive.In March 2009, the archives found that an external hard drive from the Bill Clinton White House containing confidential documents was missing.When it could not be located, the inspector general s office announced that it had opened a criminal investigation.Offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to recovery of the hard drive, the archives asked that tips be reported to the Secret Service. At the time, the archives said it had a backup drive.Via: Daily Mail | 0 |
5,644 | Iran says missile program non-negotiable, denies Reuters report: agency | ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran said on Friday its ballistic missile program was for defense purposes only and non-negotiable, denying a Reuters report that Tehran may be open to discussing the controversial program with major powers. Iran has in all bilateral diplomatic meetings ... emphasized that its defensive missile program is not negotiable and that it is not inconsistent with UN Security Council resolution 2231, Mehr news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying. A Reuters report on Friday, quoting Iranian and Western officials familiar with the overtures, said Iran has suggested to six world powers that it may be open to talks about its ballistic missile arsenal aimed at reducing tension over the disputed program. | 1 |
5,645 | Egypt Western Desert attack exposes front outside Sinai | CAIRO (Reuters) - A deadly attack on the police in Egypt s Western Desert claimed by a new militant group risks opening up another front for security forces far beyond the remote northern Sinai, where they have battled a stubborn Islamic State insurgency since 2014. A little-known group called Ansar al-Islam claimed responsibility for the Oct. 21 attack. Analysts and security sources said the heavy weapons and tactics employed indicated ties to Islamic State or more likely an al Qaeda brigade led by Hesham al-Ashmawy, a former Egyptian special forces officer turned jihadist. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has already suggested fighters from Islamic State will move into Egypt and neighboring Libya now that the group in on the retreat in Iraq and Syria after a string of losses. Security is key for Sisi, a former military commander who presents himself as a bulwark against Islamist militants, as he looks set to seek re-election next year. Claims of a new front with possible ties to Ashmawy and al Qaeda would increase risks the security forces face in the Western Desert, where militants can already take advantage of the terrain and the porous Libyan border, security sources, analysts and residents say. Two security sources and a medical source said evidence showed one militant killed in a follow-up raid was a former military officer and second-in-command to Ashmawy, whose allegiance switched from Islamic State in the Sinai to al Qaeda, and who has been based in Libya since 2014. If he has been involved with what appears to have been a heavily armed and wholly unexpected operation on the Egyptian side of the Egypt-Libya border, that s of great concern, said H.A. Hellyer, an Egypt expert and senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council. An interior ministry official said he could neither confirm nor deny the validity of the Ansar al-Islam claim as it was being investigated. Prosecutors are also investigating the attack. Two Homeland Security officers said militants in the Western Desert appeared more professional than in Sinai. The officers, who work on gathering intelligence, said militants tied to Ashmawy could draw on experience of members who once were in the Thunderbolt elite army unit, or former police. Ashmawy and four other former officers have experience in fighting, surveillance, and planning so the group they have with them is dangerous, one officer said, referring to Ashmawy s brigade commanders. It remains unclear exactly what happened when an Egyptian police convoy ran into an apparently well-planned ambush by a heavily armed militant group in a remote, desert area 135 km (85 miles) southwest of Cairo. Three security sources told Reuters at the time that dozens of police officers and conscripts were killed. But the interior ministry refuted that figure the next day and said 16 police and conscripts died, including some high-ranking officers. One part of the operation was hit by rockets and heavy weapons, officials and sources said. The lead and rear vehicles were hit first, immobilizing the convoy, security sources said. On Oct. 28, the interior ministry replaced several senior security officials in charge of the area where the attack happened, including a homeland security chief and a Giza province security chief, though no reason was given. On Oct. 31, the army launched air strikes against the militants it said were responsible, killing dozens and rescuing a kidnapped and wounded policeman. The new group gave no evidence of its Oct. 21 claim, and it said the oasis attack was the start of a campaign against Sisi s government. It gave a list of grievances but no evidence on the size of its operations or its abilities. Ansar al-Islam s statement was carried by another group with al Qaeda links, Guardians of Sharia, whose social media feeds also carry statements from al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri. Three security sources in the Giza area said they believe the attack may have been the work of Ashmawy s militants. Egyptian authorities believe he fled to Libya in 2014. He has strong ties in the Libyan city of Derna, where he operates an al Qaeda cell with other former Egyptian officers. He has been blamed for high-profile attacks such as the killing in June 2015 of Egypt s top public prosecutor in a car bomb. But moving into Egypt would also raise questions about whether he had shifted his area of operations. Both Islamic State and al Qaeda have brigades operating in North Africa, where they have competed for space in Libya, especially in Derna, and sometimes operated alongside each other in small brigades in countries like Tunisia and Algeria. Oded Berkowitz, an intelligence analyst for risk consulting group MAX Security, said assessing the new group s capabilities or loyalties was difficult, but there could be an effort by al Qaeda to benefit from Islamic State s decline to bolster its presence and recruits locally. There is a strong al Qaeda presence in Libya that can support such an endeavor in Egypt. Usually, a militant group in decline (IS) and an increase in competition between two groups translates into a more aggressive stance, and attempts at larger and more quality attacks, he said. Egypt s security forces are battling several militant groups, but have been focused on an Islamic State affiliate that has killed hundreds of police and soldiers in the northern Sinai and has now begun staging attacks outside the peninsula. But the Western Desert, a vast region making up more than half of Egypt s territory, has always been a security headache with arms flowing across the frontier from Libya. Militant groups have found shelter across the border in the chaos that followed the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Residents, businessmen and security sources around the area of the ambush say they have seen a heightened militant presence over the last two years, with militants sometimes openly driving along highways at night, and carrying out hit-and-run attacks. It s closer for them to bring the weapons from Libya and it s closer for them to carry out their operations, then flee to Libya or hide out in the desert, said one Egyptian military intelligence officer working in Farafra Oasis area near the Oct. 21 attack. Egypt s continuing struggle against Islamist insurgencies at home contrasts with Islamic State s big losses in Iraq and Syria. In Libya s southern Sahara, Islamic State shows signs of a revival after losing Sirte city a year ago. U.S. forces carried out air strikes in Libya in September - the first for almost a year - to destroy an Islamic State camp. When Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in September urged followers to stand fast after defeats in Iraq and Syria, he mentioned Sinai and Sirte as places where they should fight. Islamic State, which some experts had suspected was involved, included details of the Oct. 21 attack in its Al-Nabaa news bulletin, but without any claim of responsibility. The Western Desert attack came as Egypt hopes a peace agreement between Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas on the Gaza Strip across its Sinai border can help stabilize that area and curb supplies to militants on the peninsula. Militants are able to move in the Western Desert easier than they do in Sinai, due to the open geographic nature, one police officer working in the area said. It s not like Sinai, which you can cordon off. Attacks in Egypt: tmsnrt.rs/2hO9VIQ | 1 |
5,646 | JESSE WATTERS NAILS IT: You Can’t Drain the Swamp if Your Own Party is “Plugging the Holes” [Video] | Jesse Watters: GOP can t drain the swamp when their own members are plugging the hole. Jesse Watters made an excellent point about Republicans and their failure to repeal Obamacare. The GOP can t seem to get out of its own way. The GOP can t drain the swamp when their own members are standing in the way.Watters nailed it! This is so on point!MSNBC s Joy Reid confirmed what Watters said when she commented on the three women Watters mentioned and called them the resistance to Trump:Wednesday on MSNBC s Deadline: White House, network host Joy Reid said Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) stalled efforts in the Senate to repeal Obamacare because they are leading kind of the resistance to President Donald Trump. (video below)Reid said, When it comes to politics I think it s such a man s world for so long it s so much of politics driven by men telling women what s best for them. And that has not caught up to the 21st century in a lot of ways. I think the most glaring spectacle we have seen is this 13 member, all male, all white commission deciding what s best for health care, including women s health care. She continued, These three Republican women are saying no. And these three Republican women are leading kind of the resistance to the bill, even within the GOP. I honestly have to say that, Nicolle, on the trail last year covering the campaign I noticed among white women, in particular, there was not a drive a see a woman in the White House for its own sake. But after the election, suddenly women are saying, wait a minute. We are being taken advantage of. And women are stepping up a little bit as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udw2WHtnsqo | 0 |
5,647 | Trump tries to rally support for healthcare bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump tried to rally Republican lawmakers behind a plan to dismantle Obamacare on Tuesday as U.S. stock markets showed their worst one-day performance since the November election. Trump is trying to win the first major legislative battle of his presidency. Pressure is growing on the businessman-turned politician to deliver as investors become worried that a failed healthcare push could also portend trouble for promised tax cuts and relaxed regulation that have propelled the market to record highs in recent months. In one of the few visits he has made to the U.S. Capitol since taking office two months ago, Trump told fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday morning they would face “political problems” for opposing the bill that takes apart Obamacare and partially replaces it. Later in the day, Trump hosted roughly a dozen lawmakers in the Oval Office to listen to their concerns. “The president was really clear: He laid it on the line for everybody,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, the leading proponent of the bill, told reporters. “We made a promise. Now is our time to keep that promise. ... If we don’t keep our promise, it will be very hard to manage this.” The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 1 percent in their worst one-day performances since before Trump’s election victory on Nov. 8. The S&P financial index sank 2.87 percent, its biggest daily fall since June. “You have this back and forth in Congress with the new healthcare plan and you have this belief that if the healthcare plan can’t pass, then they can’t move on to taxes. There’s this feeling that if things don’t get done, then maybe what the market has been anticipating gets held up,” said Mark Kepner, managing director at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey. Some conservative lawmakers believe the healthcare bill does not go far enough, while moderate Republicans worry that millions of Americans will be hurt by the dismantling of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare legislation. (For a graphic on how U.S. healthcare stacks up under the ACA and AHCA click tmsnrt.rs/2n0ZMKf) Party leaders hope to move the bill to the House floor for debate as early as Thursday. But the administration and House leadership can afford to lose only about 20 Republican votes or risk the bill failing since Democrats are united against it. Republican Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the roughly three dozen members have decided not to vote as a bloc. As many as 21 currently plan to vote no on the legislation, according to a CNN report. Republican Representative Walter Jones said Trump told lawmakers in the closed-door meeting at the Capitol that if the Republican bill does not pass, they would face “political problems.” Jones said he thought Trump meant lawmakers could lose their seats. Repealing and replacing Obamacare was one of Trump’s main campaign promises and has been a goal of Republicans since it was enacted. While Trump predicted that Republicans could face challenges in primary contests ahead of the 2018 midterm elections if they do not gut Obamacare, there is also danger to them in doing so. If the Republican bill is passed, millions of voters might lose their healthcare coverage. The Congressional Budget Office said last week that 14 million people would forfeit coverage under the House bill over the next year, although that number could change based on the most current version of the legislation. Nancy Nielsen, associate dean for health policy at the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine, said Republican leaders were in a tough spot. “It is a not-so-delicate balancing act, as they have to win over the most conservative House and Senate members without causing an outrageous backlash from voters now or in the next election,” Nielsen said. Democrats oppose the Republicans’ plan, saying it would hurt the elderly, poor and working families while giving tax cuts to the wealthy. Republican leaders tweaked the bill this week to try to satisfy critics, mainly from their own party. Republican chairmen for two key committees said late Monday they proposed more funding for tax credits, which conservatives have opposed, that would give the Senate flexibility to help older people afford health insurance. Additionally, Obamacare’s taxes would be eliminated in 2017 instead of 2018. The amendments also addressed Medicaid, which is the country’s largest health insurance program and covers about 70 million people, mostly the poor. The changes would allow states to implement work requirements for certain adults, an idea championed by many conservatives, and to decide how they receive federal funds. Congressman Dan Donovan, who attended the Oval Office meeting on Tuesday, said Trump did “more listening than directing.” There was some “political talk” but “no threats,” he said. Donovan, who has not announced whether he will support the bill, cited people losing Medicaid and the defunding of women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood as concerns in his New York district. The Club for Growth, an influential conservative lobby group, said it would spend at least $500,000 for ads on television and digital platforms urging Congress members to defeat the bill. The Senate also will vote on the legislation, and more changes could be made. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if the House approved a healthcare bill, he would try to bring it to the Senate floor next week. | 1 |
5,648 | Internet EATS TRUMP ALIVE For Generic MLK Tweet After Weekend Of Bashing John Lewis (TWEETS) | Over the weekend Donald Trump has been bashing Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis, even going so far as to say he hasn t done anything.Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk no action or results. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017You see, Trump and his fragile ego couldn t handle Lewis calling him an illegitimate president because of all the intelligence revealing Russia helped him get elected.If you recall, John Lewis marched alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., throughout the Civil Rights movement, even speaking at the same memorable event where King uttered his brilliant I have a dream speech.Needless to say, when Trump dared to tweet out a wickedly generic tweet about Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday morning, it was not received well at all.Trump tweeted: Celebrate Martin Luther King Day and all of the many wonderful things that he stood for. Honor him for being the great man that he was! Celebrate Martin Luther King Day and all of the many wonderful things that he stood for. Honor him for being the great man that he was! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2017Which was greeted with:.@realDonaldTrump As you wish we stand against the tyranny, injustice, and racism you represent, and which MLK worked his life to rid. Al x Young (@AlexYoung) January 16, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Birtherism, housing discrimination, dishonoring John Lewis, calling inner cities hellscapes, The Wall, Jeff Sessions Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) January 16, 2017Those actions are the opposite of everything MLK fought for. So many Americans will honor #MLKDAY by recommitting to fight your agenda. Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) January 16, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Will I be seeing you at the Museum of African American History today? Oh no, cause you canceled that. Right. Kris Sanchez (@KrisSanchez) January 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump Honor him by respecting John Lewis's 50 year record fight for human rights. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) January 16, 2017Yes, why don't you? https://t.co/HIDspTVn9g Sarah Wood (@SarahWoodwriter) January 16, 2017Morning, @realDonaldTrump, do you find it odd attacking John Lewis one day and praising MLK the next? Curious. Founder, @TheOfficialPORP David G. McAfee (@DavidGMcAfee) January 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump This was our #FirstStand. Look for us again at an inauguration protest near you. #TheResistance pic.twitter.com/frtC40RTiZ #TheResistance (@AynRandPaulRyan) January 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump But dishonor the man who fought alongside him, @repjohnlewis Bill Shapiro (@Bill_Shapiro) January 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump how about John Lewis who marched with MLK? Scott A. Jones (@chachaman) January 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump We will celebrate MLK Jr by standing with John Lewis pic.twitter.com/sMBgzG2vs9 Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) January 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump political correctness ~ you can't truly appreciate and honor what Martin Luther King Jr stood for but step on @repjohnlewis Slade Douglas (@SladeDouglas) January 16, 2017JFK White House in '63 @realDonaldTrump: here's King standing & working for civil & voting rights. That's John Lewis right there behind him. pic.twitter.com/55gcZrGv9b Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) January 16, 2017It s doubtful that Donald Trump will get the hint that people are tired of his absolute bullsh*t. He talks out of both sides of his mouth, and both sides are equally as repulsive but for different reasons. One side shows how absolutely vile he is, and the other how he tries to manipulate the fools who are desperate to believe him.If Trump wants to honor MLK, he could start by first honoring America by not pretending to actually care when he doesn t.Featured Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
5,649 | U.S. says hackers probed voting systems, no sign of damage | (Reuters) - Hackers have probed the voting systems of many U.S. states but there is no sign that they have manipulated any voting data, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Saturday. National security officials are investigating a number of possible leads suggesting that cyber-criminals are trying to influence the Nov. 8 presidential election, including by hacking into systems run by the Democratic National Committee. Republican candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly charged that the U.S. election system is “rigged” and top Democrats in Congress have charged that Russia is behind repeated attempts to access both party data and state voting systems. “In recent months, malicious cyber actors have been scanning a large number of state systems, which could be a preamble to attempted intrusions,” Johnson said in a statement. “In a few cases, we have determined that malicious actors gained access to state voting-related systems. However, we are not aware at this time of any manipulation of data.” The head of the Democratic National Committee, Donna Brazile, last month said the organization had been hacked by Russian state-sponsored agents who were trying to influence the election, when voters will choose between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Trump, a New York real estate developer. Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned as DNC chair on the eve of July’s Democratic National Convention after WikiLeaks published a trove of hacked DNC emails that showed party officials favoring eventual nominee Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders during the party’s nominating contests. | 1 |
5,650 | SMASHED WINDOWS AND DEATH THREATS: Liberal Couple Reveals Horrific Experience After Opening Up Farm To Muslim “Refugees” | These Good Samaritans bit off a little more than they could chew. Maybe next time they ll think twice about helping people who have no intention of assimilating or becoming part of a community. It s an all about me mentality coming from these people who are supposedly looking for help to escape persecution A white bleeding-heart leftist couple made headlines when they generously opened their home to a group of Muslim refugees allegedly fleeing devout Muslim militants. However, it didn t take long for their liberal policies to backfire in a racist and ironic way and it s exactly the poetic justice we ve been warning about all along.In July, the headline read Meet the angels who opened their hearts and home to 143 lost strangers, and the left was drooling over the couple who followed their socialist values to the letter. Andrew and Rae Wartnaby opened up their 50-acre farmland to over 100 Muslim refugees who were reportedly displaced during xenophobic attacks, according to News 24.After escaping Islamic brutality in the Central African Republic, the Muslim migrants traveled to South Africa, where they were again set upon by South African natives in black-on-black attacks. So, the good-natured yet naive white couple welcomed the refugee families to their land, which included Obama s favored widows and orphans. However, after only a few months of graciously allowing the Muslim migrants to live for free on their property, the loving couple soon found that they would actually be the refugees. The Wartnabys were threatened with slaughter by the same people they were helping escape brutality.The Wartnaby s fed, clothed, and housed 143 migrants for free, but it wasn t enough to keep them from turning on the couple. The New Observer reports that the good Samaritans tolerance was used by the refugees to chase them from their own farm, which has already been destroyed by the ungrateful migrants.Last week, the Muslims attacked the Wartnabys home in the wee hours of the morning and warned that they would kill Andrew if the pair didn t leave the property. They claimed that the white couple was not helping them to be relocated back home or to another country, and that it was the pair s responsibility to provide more money, passports, and transportation. I immediately asked if everyone is okay but they kept shouting that tonight was my night and they will kill me. I haven t slept since then, Andrew said. When we took everyone in, we said we would try and help, which we have. But they feel like it has been too long and we let them down. I have asked that group to leave my farm, but they refuse to and to be honest, I don t know what is going to happen. All I know is that I don t want to be murdered tonight. The Muslim migrants cut down the fence, smashed the house s windows, and broke down the doors to drive out the Wartnabys at 2 a.m. The dangerous refugees are still in control of the farm, and the couple remains in hiding, fearing for their lives from the very people they were selflessly helping.Much like Europe and North America, South Africa is an attractive, Westernized country that was well-developed with the help of European settlement. Now, the declining nation is being overrun by African migrants seeking to take advantage of the once thriving infrastructure.Hundreds of thousands of migrants have flooded South Africa, and natives have been unsuccessful in chasing off the demanding, dangerous Muslim invaders.Time and time again we desperately warn the left that their own agenda will turn on them, and we see this same immigration policy played out on a smaller scale with the Wartnabys.Muslim migrants are fundamentally different from any other refugees escaping religious brutality and political tyranny. Although they often flee their own ideology s savagery, they bring the same barbarity wherever they go.The Islamic Prophet Muhammad perfectly modeled how to use migration and the generosity of others as a stepping stool by which to overtake them. As a refugee to Medina, the messenger quietly built up his followers before slaughtering, converting, exiling, and subjugating the very tribes that welcomed him to their thriving, tolerant city.The multiculturalism, tolerance, and religious freedom that once prevailed was stripped away by the commands of Allah that require Muslims to fight every ounce of their ability to establish Sharia law and forcibly spread Islam until it is the only religion left. Via: Mad World News | 0 |
5,651 | Trump says foreign policy team still not ready | (This version of the story was corrected to change Waurishuk statement to say “willing” not “happy” in paragraph 10) By Mark Hosenball and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday he does not yet have a foreign policy team, and three former U.S. military and intelligence officials who have endorsed him are little known in either the Republican Party or the wider foreign policy community. The New York billionaire, who had promised to name his foreign policy and national security advisers last month, told MSNBC that he has met with people but made no decision yet on who to advise him on global affairs. Asked whether he had a team, Trump said on Tuesday: “Yes, there is a team. Well, there’s not a team. I’m going to be forming a team at the appropriate time. I’ve met with far more than three people.” Trump has given hints of the kind of advisor he would hire to promote his national security policy, much of which is focused on cracking down on Islamic State. He also promises to gut global trade deals and build a wall on the Mexican border to halt illegal immigration. Asked during a debate last week who he trusts on national security, Trump had warm words for three men with world views that differ from one another: former diplomat Richard Haass and retired U.S. Army officers Gen. Jack Keane and Col. Jack Jacobs. And on his campaign website last month, Trump announced that he had received endorsements in Florida from two “top national security experts.” Foreign policy experts say they know little about those Trump supporters. They are Gary Berntsen, a former senior CIA officer, and retired Colonel James Waurishuk, a one-time deputy chief of intelligence for U.S. Central Command during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who also once served on the National Security Council staff. “These people are not well known in foreign policy circles...I never heard of any of them,” said Harvard professor and former Kennedy School of Government dean Joseph Nye. Waurishuk said on Tuesday he would have been willing to give advice if asked, by any presidential candidate, including Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Apart from Trump, however, Waurishuk said that the only other candidate he had contact with was Republican Jeb Bush, who he says snubbed him when they met at an event in 2014. Bush “ignored me and walked away,” Waurishuk said. Former CIA officer Berntsen is perhaps the best known of the three endorsers. A participant in efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden, he later wrote a book entitled “Jawbreaker, The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.” According to The Hill newspaper, one of its contributors, J.D. Gordon, has also endorsed Trump. Gordon is a former Navy commander officer and former Pentagon spokesman. On Tuesday, Trump described U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama, as someone he would consider for his team, adding that he would make a decision “in due time.” Sessions is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and one of the few senior mainstream Republicans to endorse Trump. Sessions is not known as one of the party’s leading foreign policy voices in the Senate. He opposes comprehensive immigration reform and supports tight border security measures. On Tuesday, Trump, dismissed criticism that his harsh rhetoric would damage America’s standing in the world. Foreign diplomats from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia have expressed alarm to U.S. government officials about Trump, calling his public statements inflammatory and insulting. The businessman shot back, saying diplomats are upset over his tough stance on trade and returning jobs to the United States as he seeks the party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election. “Every country is ripping us off in trade, and other things. And they know that won’t happen with me. I’m going to bring trade back, I’m going to bring our jobs back,” Trump told Fox News. | 1 |
5,652 | Major U.S. Government Official: Why I’d RESIGN If Trump Wins | Donald Trump has not yet officially received the Republican Party s presidential nomination and there is a small effort still alive to derail him, though it is highly unlikely to be successful but already a major official in the U.S. government has spoken out on why one of Trump s positions would cause him to leave his post.CIA director John Brennan was speaking at an event at the Brookings Institution and was extremely blunt about his standing on waterboarding torture: If a president were to order the agency to carry out waterboarding or something else I can say as long as I m director of CIA irrespective of what the president says I m not going to be the director of CIA that gives that order, he said at a Wednesday event at the Brookings Institution. They will have to find another director. Trump has often argued that he is in favor of waterboarding and torture, whose practice was encouraged by the George W. Bush administration after 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. Earlier in the year at a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire, Trump said, bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding. President Obama barred the military from using waterboarding after he took office in January of 2009. Experts have said that waterboarding and other forms of torture not only violate the Geneva Conventions of War, they are also simply not a good tool to fight terrorism.Studies have shown that people subjected to torture give up information in order to stop the abuse, and more often than not the information given is faulty, since stopping the abuse and not accuracy is at the top of their minds.Most Republicans have called for the use of torture to fight terrorism, but some oppose it, most notably Senator John McCain (R-AZ) who was subjected to torture when he was a hostage for the Vietcong army during the Vietnam War.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
5,653 | Merkel's conservatives tied with SPD ahead of state vote: poll | BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) and the rival Social Democrats (SPD) are nearly tied ahead of a crucial regional election in the state of Lower Saxony, a poll conducted by a German newspaper showed on Monday. The poll by the Hannoverschen Allgemeine Zeitung put the CDU on 33.1 percent, while the Social Democrats - who now rule the state with the environmentalist Greens - were at 32.8 percent. The Oct. 15 election is being followed closely because it follows just three weeks after national elections and will delay federal coalition talks since parties are reluctant to alienate core voters by making compromises ahead of the vote. The poll showed the Greens were in third place with 9.9 percent of the vote, followed by far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with 8.1 percent, the pro-business Free Democrats with 8 percent and the far-left Left party at 5.4 percent. | 1 |
5,654 | Presidents Bush and Clinton: Be humble in victory, responsible with power | DALLAS (Reuters) - Former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton told a forum in Dallas on Thursday that they were able to forge mutual bonds of respect and friendship because the other had been gracious in victory and respectful of presidential power. The two did not mention President Donald Trump once during a nearly hour-long discussion where they traded quips and insights. But they offered indirect references that many in the crowd of about 300 people at the George W. Bush Presidential Library took to be references to the current president. “He (Clinton) was humble in victory, which is very important in dealing with other people,” Bush said at the event to mark a graduation at the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a partnership among the Bush, Clinton, Lyndon Johnson and George H.W. Bush presidential centers. Clinton said: “If you want to be president, realize it’s about the people, not about you. “You want to be able to say ‘things were better off when I quit, kid’s had a better future, things were coming together.’ You don’t want to say, ‘God, look at all the people I beat.’” Current President Trump has come under criticism from Democrats who have said he fires off excessive and unwarranted criticism against his predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama and the person he beat in the election, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Republican Bush said while in office he sought Democrat Clinton’s advice. Clinton said when he left office he told incoming President Bush that he would offer him help and treat him with respect. Bush and Clinton said they have enjoyed their lives after the presidency but would not trade their current status for their eight years in office. “The decisions you make have a monumental effect on people,” Bush said, adding humility is a key quality for any president. “Presidency is often defined by the unexpected. It makes the job interesting,” he said. Clinton said: “If you don’t deal with the incoming fire, it will undermine your ability to do anything else. If all you deal with is incoming fire, you can’t keep the promises you made when you were running.” The two also exchanged jokes about being grandfathers, with Bush saying his grandchildren call him “jefe,” Spanish for “chief.” “The best thing that can happen to you when you are in politics is to be consistently underestimated,” Clinton said. “I was pretty good at that,” Bush returned. | 1 |
5,655 | sorry liberalsyou can stop with the petitionshillary did not win the popular vote | mark cuban has made no secret of his dislike for trump and his love for crooked hillary watch him tell fox news neil cavuto at mark if donald wins i have no doubt the market tanks well thats not exactly what happened now is it cuban so heres what really happened
market watch us stocks rallied wednesday with the dow industrials jumping points led by a surge in financial healthcare and industrial stocks as investors bet on the infrastructure spending policy promised by presidentelect donald trump
the dow jones industrial average djia gained as much as points briefly surpassing the alltime closing high set in august the index closed points or higher at its highest level since aug pfizer inc pfe and caterpillar inc cat led the gains rallying more than way to go cubanyou just reminded us of how little you know about economics or choosing the right candidate for president hope that loss didnt cost you too much cubancheers k shares | 1 |
5,656 | Democrats to join Trump, Republicans in talks to avert government shutdown | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in Congress on Monday accepted an invitation to meet U.S. President Donald Trump and Republicans for talks to avert a government shutdown this week, even as the Democrats pressed demands on funding priorities and protecting young immigrants. House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who canceled a meeting with Trump last week after he posted a disparaging note about them on Twitter, said on Monday they hoped the president would remain open-minded about reaching a deal with Democrats. “We need to reach a budget agreement that equally boosts funds for our military and key priorities here at home,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement. “There is a bipartisan path forward on all of these items.” The meeting was scheduled for Thursday, a day before funding for the federal government is due to run out. House Republicans over the weekend introduced a stopgap measure that would fund the government at current levels until Dec. 22 to give lawmakers time to reach a deal on a longer-term bill. Congress is expected to vote on the measure this week. Conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus asked House Republican leaders to extend the duration of the stopgap measure through Dec. 30 in exchange for their votes for the House to go to conference with the Senate on tax legislation, which moved Congress closer to a final bill for a major tax overhaul. “There is a better chance of going to the 30th than the 22nd, but no commitment,” Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters. The House Republican leadership agreed to consider the Dec. 30 date and talk to the Senate leadership about it, a House Republican leadership aide said. Trump is scheduled to have lunch with Republican members of the Senate at the White House on Tuesday. Republicans have a majority in both the House and Senate. But they will need some Democratic support to get the spending bill past Senate procedural hurdles that require 60 votes, since there are only 52 Republicans in the 100-member chamber. Schumer said on Monday that everyone should be working to avoid a shutdown, and he did not believe Republican congressional leaders wanted one. “The only one at the moment who’s flirted with a shutdown is President Trump, who tweeted earlier this year that ‘we could use a good shutdown to fix the mess,’” Schumer said. The Republican bill will provide some short-term help for states that are running out of money to finance a health insurance program for lower-income children, Republican aides said. Schumer and Pelosi on Monday listed that program among their priorities, which also included the opioid crisis, pension plans, rural infrastructure and protection for young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, known as “Dreamers.” Those young immigrants must be taken care of now, Senate Democratic whip Dick Durbin declared on the Senate floor. He said Democrats had offered in return to toughen border security, a Republican priority. “How can we in good conscience pass a spending bill giving authority and resources to this administration to go out and arrest and deport these young people - and not address the underlying issue of their legality and future in the United States?” Durbin asked. | 1 |
5,657 | BEAUTIFUL! TRUMP Hits Liz Warren And HuffPo With Great Zingers! [Video] | One thing we re discovering is that Trump has a way with one-liners that are hysterical! He s asked about Liz Warren and HuffPo in a press conference. Here s Trump s funny retort:So, #Pocahontas is "Very Offensive" to ONE reporter. WATCH how Trump handles her? I LAUGHED? & LAUGHED? & LAUGHED!?https://t.co/afQTTealrB Boston Bobblehead (@DBloom451) May 26, 2016 I Think She s as Native American as I Am Does the Huffington Post report politics? | 0 |
5,658 | Philippines' Duterte wants U.S. help in fighting drugs, blames triads | MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte urged the United States on Tuesday to help control drugs smuggling, blaming Taiwan and Hong Kong-based criminal gangs for using his country as a shipping hub. In a speech, he also said illegal drugs had funded the seizure by Islamist militants of large parts of the southern city of Marawi in May. More than 800 people have died in the conflict, which Duterte said was triggered by an attempt to arrest a drug personality, who he did not identify. The Philippines is a transhipment of shabu to America, Duterte told members of the Philippine Constitution Association, referring to the local term for methamphetamine. It behoves upon America to work closely with the Republic of the Philippines, especially on this serious matter. Duterte, who was elected 16 months ago on promises to fight corruption, crime and drugs, said the so-called 14-K triads in Hong Kong and the Taiwan-based Bamboo triads were using the country as a transhipment point. We are flooded with drugs. This is the first time I would reveal it ... the Philippines today is a client state of the Bamboo triad. They have taken over the operations, he added. Duterte gave no details of the source of his information. Washington has said it supports the country s anti-drug efforts but has also urged Manila to respect human rights and the rule of law in its operations. More than 3,800 people have died in gunfights with police and soldiers in anti-drug operations nationwide since June last year, according to the government. Human rights groups say the figure is much higher. | 1 |
5,659 | U.S.-led surveillance aircraft leave area near Islamic State convoy in Syria | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State said on Friday its surveillance aircraft had moved away from an Islamic State convoy which has been trying to reach territory in east Syria. The Islamic State convoy has split in two, with 11 buses remaining in the open desert after others turned back into government-held areas. The Syrian government and Lebanon s Hezbollah group offered the convoy of originally about 300 lightly armed Islamic State fighters and about 300 family members safe passage in return for the militant group surrendering an enclave on the Syria-Lebanon border. However, the coalition has blocked the convoy from entering Islamic State territory in east Syria, near the border with Iraq, by cratering roads and destroying bridges. To ensure safe de-confliction of efforts to defeat ISIS, coalition surveillance aircraft departed the adjacent airspace at the request of Russian officials during their assault on Dawyr Az Zawyr, the coalition said in the Friday statement, using an acronym for Islamic State. The coalition said Syrian pro-regime forces had advanced past the convoy. The regime s advance past the convoy underlines continued Syrian responsibility for the buses and terrorists, Brigadier General Jon Braga, director of operations for the coalition said. | 1 |
5,660 | Three Swiss Muslim group members charged with making al Qaeda propaganda | ZURICH (Reuters) - Prosecutors said on Thursday they had charged three senior members of a Swiss Muslim group with making and promoting propaganda films for al Qaeda. The indictment targeted three committee members of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS), which describes itself as the country s largest Islamic organization and says it focuses on representing the local population. ICCS spokesman Abdel Azziz Qaasim Illi, who told Reuters he was one of the three men charged, dismissed the case as a political show trial, and said authorities had misunderstood the video at the heart of the case. The indictment did not name the suspects, but the ICCS said in a statement the other two were its chairman, Nicolas Blancho, and its cultural production head, Naim Cherni. The Office of the Attorney General said that the Council had made films in Syria in 2015 with a leading al Qaeda member and posted two films on YouTube that were promoted by the three committee members. The state prosecutor said it alleged that the accused offered the leading al-Qaeda member in question a prominent multilingual multimedia platform from which to advantageously portray and promote both himself and the ideology of al-Qaeda. Qaasim Illi called the indictments clearly politically motivated and said the interview had been with a senior Saudi cleric who denied having links to al Qaeda. The point of the interview was to counter (Islamic State) propaganda with a credible figure from the moderate Syrian rebel spectrum. The interview itself never concerned al Qaeda, he added in an email. The Attorney General s office said the indictments were part of criminal proceedings first launched against the Council in December 2015, after the posting of the videos. The case was launched as Switzerland was in a heightened state of alert after attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Switzerland has not seen the kind of Islamist attack that have rocked other Western states, but authorities say they still see a significant threat. The Attorney General s office said it was involved in around 60 criminal proceedings linked to jihadists, most of them related to to propaganda in support of terrorist organizations . | 1 |
5,661 | Bernie Sanders Draws Impressive Crowd At Pine Ridge Reservation (VIDEO) | On Thursday, 1,200 hundred people attended a community conversation with Bernie Sanders at the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. During the event, indigenous people spoke out against the problems facing their community. The most talked about issue was healthcare.Alex Romero-Frederick says, We ve had relatives that have passed away because of the substandard care at the Rosebud hospital, and as far as having ER available, we live our life like, don t get hurt. While speaking to the enormous crowd gathered before him and one community member in particular, Sanders said: One of the issues that I feel strongly about is just what you said Evie, promises were made, treaties were signed, and those promises were not kept. If elected president, we will keep those promises. Other community members were positively surprised to learn how easy it was to speak with Sanders. The cool part is he s so personable, and he s not this typical Washington, D.C.-level person that s bigger than you and more important and will talk down to you. He was on the same level of us, and that s very important to me, said Evie.You can watch a video report from KEVN Black Hills Fox below.Sanders has made helping indigenous communities a major part of his platform. He has created policy proposals that specifically address the issues that affect indigenous people into his larger reform projects. Included in those agenda items are policies that specifically address inequality in healthcare, education, police violence, and energy infrastructure.So far in the Democratic primary election, Sanders has received massive amounts of support from indigenous communities. On his campaign website, it is noted that: Bernie is proud to have earned more than 80 percent of the votes cast in the Meskwaki Settlement near Tama, Iowa. He was also favored by voters in caucuses on and near reservations in Nevada. Sanders received a major indigenous shout out last February, when the Indigenous activist, economist, and author Winona LaDuke released a video where she publicly endorsed Sanders. You can watch the video below.Indigenous people are one of the most neglected groups of people in the U.S. Coverage of the issues that indigenous communities face hardly ever make their way into the media s spotlight. It is great that there is a candidate out there pushing those issues into that spotlight.South Dakota s primary is scheduled to take place on June 9.Featured image from video screenshot via KEVN | 0 |
5,662 | Leaving nothing to chance, China increases security, social control before Congress | BEIJING (Reuters) - China is tightening security for next month s twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress, cancelling police leave in Beijing, limiting tourism to Tibet, and clamping down on the spread of political rumors. High-level meetings in China are typically accompanied by a security crackdown - as well as uncharacteristically smog-free blue skies - with the stability-obsessed party not wanting to run the risk that anyone or anything offers a distraction. Thousands of policemen from other provinces have been sent to the Chinese capital to reinforce, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. A second source, with ties to the country s security forces and citing conversations with senior police officers, said all police leave in Beijing had been canceled starting from early September. Beijing Communist Party chief Cai Qi on Wednesday asked the city for 120 percent effort to ensure safety for the congress, the official Beijing Daily said. We must hold the line for social control, eliminate all destabilizing factors, hold the line for cyber security and resolutely crack down on political rumors and harmful news, Cai said. Beijing s largest market for metal building materials will be shuttered from Friday and is being relocated to Hebei province taking with it more than 10,000 industry workers and stall owners, according to the Beijing Daily. The market s unceasing growth had created a messy environment where migrants congregate, the paper said, without mentioning the crucial party gathering. Many of the tightened security measures target migrants, with ID checks at metro stations and patrols outside government ministries to ensure any petitioners from out of town are rounded up immediately should they attempt to make a scene. Some 2,000 delegates will converge on Beijing for the Congress, staying at hotels across the city, and security will only get tighter as its opening nears, meaning any protests will be quickly shut down. China s ongoing clampdown on cyberspace has seen WhatsApp, the messaging service run by Facebook, periodically unavailable in the past few weeks, while certain gifs using images of President Xi Jinping cannot be posted to group chats on messenger app WeChat. China s Internet regulator, in a statement to Reuters, said the government had the legal right to prevent the spread of violent, terrorist and other illegal information . As a well-known global app, WhatsApp should really proactively take steps to block the dissemination and spread of illegal information, it said, without elaborating or making a specific mention of WeChat. New limits have been placed on discussion in private group chats. Rules released at the beginning of September make companies and group owners accountable for breaches of content rules. China s cyber watchdog on Monday also imposed the largest possible fines of 100,000 yuan ($15,110) on tech giants Tencent Holdings Ltd, Baidu Inc and Weibo Corp for failing to censor online content. The measures are far from restricted to just keeping Beijing secure. Measures have also been introduced in strategically sensitive places in other parts of China. Security has been heightened at ports along the Yangtze River, with the Maritime Safety Administration saying last week that it was considering curbs on loading and unloading hazardous or flammable chemicals from Oct 11 to Oct 28. Travel for foreign tourists to Tibet is also being restricted, some travel agents said. Tibet is always sensitive for Beijing given the opposition to Chinese rule that exists within the Tibetan community, and even in normal times foreigners need permission to go there. An official at China International Travel Service Ltd said the government had told it that no foreigners were allowed to visit Tibet from Oct. 18-28 because of the Congress. Three other travel agencies confirmed a ban would be lifted in late October. Organizers of a discussion on politics in the Middle East canceled the event in Beijing because they were worried about potential pressure from the authorities, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The word democracy was only used once in the adverts, not in a sensitive way, but still they thought it was best to cancel, the source said, declining to be named. Feng Xiaogang, a famous Chinese film director known for work that brushes against sensitive issues and the limits of censorship, announced last week that the Sept 30 release of Youth , his latest film, had to be delayed. Feng gave no explanation. However, a source with ties to the censors told Reuters that the authorities had considered it risky to screen the film before the congress, as it is partially set during China s 1979 war with Vietnam - a touchy subject. The fear was that it could spark debate about the morality and necessity of the conflict. In and around Beijing, efforts have also been ramped up to ensure the skies remain blue over the Congress and not polluted by the city s notorious smog. The city of Handan, near Beijing, has ordered steel mills to halve output a month earlier than the usual mid-November cutbacks aimed at curbing air pollution, according to media reports. Rounds of inspections by the authorities to check up on health and safety or environmental requirements have left small businesses closed for days, weeks or months, owners and employees say. Factories on the outskirts of Beijing, even those that make luxury goods, have been closed for days while inspections are carried out, according to one employee who declined to be named. Some low-end, fast food-type restaurants in Beijing have also been ordered to close, ostensibly to prevent fire risks and to limit pollution, residents say. There s so many inspections at the moment, said a pancake seller who gave her family name as Liu. What am I supposed to do if they make me shut? | 1 |
5,663 | Key U.S. lawmakers back enforcing, not ditching, Iran pact | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committee said on Wednesday the international nuclear deal with Iran should be strictly enforced by Washington working with its allies, but did not call for an end to the agreement. “As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it,” Representative Ed Royce said at a hearing. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce on Friday a new strategy for Iran that could include a first step toward the United States exiting the agreement. Royce, like every other Republican in the U.S. Congress, opposed the nuclear agreement reached under President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in 2015 and signed by the United States, Iran, China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union. Several of Obama’s fellow Democrats also opposed the deal, including Representative Eliot Engel, the ranking Democrat on the foreign affairs panel. Engel said at the hearing that killing the deal would be a “grave mistake,” since it is in place and backed by U.S. allies and other powers. “We need to work with allies and partners on a shared agenda that holds the regime in Iran accountable, not dividing America from our closest friends across the globe,” he said. Trump is expected to announce an “overall Iran strategy,” including whether to decertify the international deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline. The agreement, under which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear program for 15 years in exchange for sanctions relief, is viewed in Europe as a rare triumph of international diplomacy in the Middle East. If Trump declines to certify the Iran deal, it would open a 60-day window in which U.S. congressional leaders could move quickly to reimpose sanctions on Tehran suspended under the agreement. That could be a first step toward Washington exiting the agreement, something strongly opposed by European allies. If Congress does not act, however, it would leave the agreement in place. Many congressional sources and others familiar with the process say the Trump administration is considering using decertification to increase pressure on Tehran, not to end the deal. Iranian officials have said they will not renegotiate. | 1 |
5,664 | Turkish judge finds 42 soldiers guilty of trying to kill Erdogan | MUGLA, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Wednesday found 42 former soldiers guilty of trying to kill President Tayyip Erdogan during last year s failed coup, and handed most of them life sentences in the highest profile case related to the attempted putsch so far. Judge Emirsah Bastog read out guilty verdicts for 42 of the 47 defendants, according to a Reuters reporter at the court in Mugla, southwestern Turkey. Mugla is near the luxury resort where Erdogan and his family narrowly escaped a team of rogue soldiers who stormed his hotel during the night of the coup. The trial, which started in February and included Erdogan as a co-plaintiff, is part of a sweeping security crackdown that followed the failed putsch of July 2016. It is the biggest such case to reach a conclusion so far. I hope the verdict today is beneficial to everyone, Bastog said as he sentenced 34 of the accused to aggravated life sentences, the harshest punishment possible under Turkish law because it lengthens the minimum sentence required for parole. Another six defendants were given life terms while two others were given lesser sentences. (Several) defendants have been found guilty on the charge of attempting to assassinate the president, Bastog told the packed courtroom. One was acquitted and another was transferred to another court. No verdict was given for three who were tried in absentia, including U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for orchestrating the coup. Demonstrators threw eggs and plastic bottles at the defendants as police escorted them from the courthouse. Others waved Turkish flags, blared a famous song praising Erdogan and called for a return to capital punishment. The court heard final statements from the defendants just before Bastog delivered his verdict. Some of the accused said they did not believe the court could deliver a fair verdict and had been under political pressure. From the moment I was arrested at the air base on July 16, I was treated like a criminal, Ergun Sahin, a former air force lieutenant, told the court. Pictures released in the aftermath of the coup showed some suspected coup plotters - including high-ranking military officers - stripped to their underpants, handcuffed and their faces bruised. Words don t mean anything here as we didn t have a chance of a fair trial, said another defendant, Gokhan Sen. We are just the grass that elephants trampled on during their fight. More than 240 people were killed on the night of July 15, 2016 when putschists commandeered tanks, warplanes and helicopters, attacking parliament and attempting to overthrow the government. Erdogan s lawyer, who was present at the case, said that justice had been served. Had these putschists succeeded that night in the attack against our president, history would have changed, we would be living in a different Turkey now, Huseyin Aydin told Reuters. My son has been avenged, said Nihat Eker, the father of a police officer who was killed during the coup. If our president were to present us with a choice, we d all agree to it. We say, execution, execution, execution . Erdogan has previously said he would be willing to restore the death penalty if parliament passed such a measure. Turkey abandoned capital punishment more than a decade ago as part of its bid to join the European Union. Restoring it would all but end its attempt to join the EU. While Turkey has seen a groundswell in nationalism since the coup, the extent of the government s crackdown has alarmed European allies and rights groups. More than 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from their jobs and some 50,000 jailed. Investors also worry about Erdogan s tightening grip on power and an erosion in the rule of law. The government blames the network of Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan, for orchestrating the failed coup. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied involvement and condemned the coup. A total of 47 defendants were on trial, 43 of whom have been held in detention during the 7-1/2 month hearing. Gulen was being tried in absentia. Most of the defendants were soldiers. | 1 |
5,665 | natural remedies that will help you get rid of blackheads quickly | what we all should be doing first thing in the morning a simple cheap and effective way to jump start your metabolism weight loss and improve your health
what if i told you that by doing this every day making it part of your morning routine just like brushing your teeth would help you to lose weight flush out toxins hydrate your body and skin improve brain function give you more energy and decrease your appetite would you do it
drinking water upon rising in the morning can have huge health benefits some people call it water therapy and has its origination in ayurvedic medicine it is purported to help with numerous diseases such as cancer asthma high blood pressure arthritis diabetes and migraines
to reap the benefits drink the water upon waking ideally minutes before you eat and make it part of your morning routine most us are walking around in a dehydrated state so start your day off the right way
ideally filtered water that is void of chemicals and fluoride is best i personally like the berkey filter system as this is affordable for many instead of a whole house system most water pitchers are ineffective for removing most of the chemicals in our water but there are a couple good ones out there such as the clearly filtered pitcher but even if you dont have a water filter system it does not mean you should not drink up
for most people oz of water in the morning is the right amount others say to drink double this amount this may be a lot of water to consume for most people first thing in the morning my suggestion would be to start out with oz and slowly work your way up to the higher amount and see how you feel moderation is key as too little or too much water is never a good thing
the glasses filled with oz of water is a myth and no science behind this reasoning another simple rule is to divide your body weight in half and drink this amount in ounces but if you are a large person this may feel like you are spending your day drinking water
instead focus on getting that glass of water first thing in the day and then add in water herbal teas fruits and vegetables during the day if your urine is very pale yellow throughout the day then you are hydrated if it is a bright yellow to orange drink up riboflavin a b vitamin can make your urine a bright yellow benefits to drinking water first thing in the morning it can jump start your metabolism
it can increase your metabolism by for the first minutes after consuming that glass of water another study showed that it can increase your metabolic rate by for the next minutes after the water is consumed hydration this is more important that you think when dehydrated we may experience brain fog lack of energy and metal clarity hydrating in the morning can increase the flow of oxygen which is energizing hydrating will also help the skin to look younger flushes out toxins
support your kidneys by helping them to flush out toxins and give your body the water it needs first thing in the am speed up the detox process by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to your morning water this is best done prior to brushing your teeth in the morning as the film on your teeth will protect the enamel from the acidity in the lemon juice support brain health
your brain tissue is water not having enough water can make you feel tired drained and can cause mood swings prevent you from overeating just by drinking water you feel full studies show that those who consume water before every meal lost an average of pounds over a threemonth period thats with no dieting not changing your eating habitsjust adding in water less colds and flu
staying hydrated helps to maintain the health of your lymphatic system which also affects how your body fights off infection
if you are looking for a simple cheap and effective way to improve your health and stimulate weight loss then this is it
sources
bauman e friedlander j therapeutic nutrition ca bauman college
carroll a no you do not have to drink glasses of water a day httpwwwnytimescomupshotnoyoudonothavetodrinkglassesofwateradayhtml | 0 |
5,666 | WHY ARE VAN LOADS OF ILLEGALS Being Moved and Released Away From The Border? | The insanity continues! The outrageous invasion on our southern border has been so out of control in the past seven years but it s gotten to crisis mode recently with a HUGE surge in illegals from all over the world. Yes, we ve become a GLOBAL MAGNET for anyone to cross our border. Soooo what s the reason for the illegals to be released? You ll never believe it! It s because the detention centers are FULL! No kidding! The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is quietly transporting illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to Phoenix and releasing them without proper processing or issuing court appearance documents, Border Patrol sources tell Judicial Watch.The government classifies them as Other Than Mexican (OTM) and this week around 35 were transferred 116 miles north from Tucson to a Phoenix bus station where they went their separate way. Judicial Watch was present when one of the white vans carrying a group of OTMs arrived at the Phoenix Greyhound station on Buckeye Road. The OTMs are from Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala and Border Patrol officials say this week s batch was in custody for a couple of days and ordered to call family members in the U.S. so they could purchase a bus ticket for their upcoming trip from Phoenix. Authorities didn t bother checking the identity of the U.S. relatives or if they re in the country legally, according to a Border Patrol official directly involved in the matter. American taxpayers pick up the fare for those who claim to have a credible fear, Border Patrol sources told JW. None of the OTMs were issued official court appearance documents, but were told to promise they d show up for a hearing when notified, said federal agents with firsthand knowledge of the operation.A security company contracted by the U.S. government is driving the OTMs from the Border Patrol s Tucson Sector where they were in custody to Phoenix, sources said. The firm is called G4S and claims to be the world s leading security solutions group with operations in more than 100 countries and 610,000 employees. G4S has more than 50,000 employees in the U.S. and its domestic headquarters is in Jupiter, Florida. Judicial Watch is filing a number of public records requests to get more information involving the arrangement between G4S and the government, specifically the transport of illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to other parts of the country. The photo accompanying this story shows the uniformed G4S guard that transported the OTMs this week from Tucson to Phoenix.Outraged Border Patrol agents and supervisors on the front lines say illegal immigrants are being released in droves because there s no room to keep them in detention. They re telling us to put them on a bus and let them go, said one law enforcement official in Arizona. Just move those bodies across the country. Officially, DHS denies this is occurring and in fact earlier this year U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske blasted Border Patrol union officials for denouncing this dangerous catch-and-release policy. Kerlikowske s scolding came in response to the congressional testimony of Bandon Judd, chief of the National Border Patrol Council, the labor union that represents line agents. Judd told lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee that illegal immigrants without serious criminal convictions can be released immediately and disappear into the shadows. Kerlikowske shot back, telling a separate congressional committee: I would not stand by if the Border Patrol was releasing people without going through all of the formalities. Yet, that s exactly what s occurring. This report, part of an ongoing Judicial Watch investigation into the security risks along the southern border, features only a snippet of a much broader crisis in which illegal aliens are being released and vanishing into unsuspecting American communities. The Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest addressed this issue just a few weeks ago in a hearing called Declining Deportations and Increasing Criminal Alien Releases The Lawless Immigration Policies of the Obama Administration. Judd, the Border Patrol Union chief, delivered alarming figures at the hearing. He estimated that about 80% of apprehended illegal immigrants are released into the United States.Read more: Judicial Watch | 0 |
5,667 | donald trump whines because isis cuts off heads we should be able to waterboard | more philippine president rodrigo duterte speaks during a banquet hosted by japans prime minister shinzo abe not pictured in tokyo on october photo by afp
philippine president rodrigo duterte says he wants us troops out of his country in the next two years amid rising tensions between manila and washington
duterte told an economic forum in the japanese capital tokyo on wednesday that manila was also willing to scrap defense pacts with washington if necessary
i want maybe in the next two years my country free of the presence of foreign military troops duterte said in a clear reference to us forces adding i want them out and if i have to revise or abrogate agreements executive agreements i will
duterte told reporters on tuesday before leaving for japan that if he stayed longer he would not sign the enhanced defense cooperation agreement edca with the united states
president duterte has promised that he would review the defense pact he has already said that the presence of the us troops in the island of mindanao could complicate manilas operations against the abu sayyaf militant group notorious for different terrorist attacks in the country
in a meeting with business leaders in the chinese capital beijing last week duterte said the philippines would separate from the united states and realign with china and russia
the philippine president has tried to reach out to china and russia amid an uneasy relationship with washington policemen block protesters during a rally in front of the us embassy in manila the philippines october photo by afp
last month the filipino leader harshly criticized the us and president barack obama saying he was not a puppet of america i am the president of a sovereign country and i am not answerable to anyone except the filipino people
washington is critical of dutertes bloody war on drugs the attitude has led to tensions between the philippines and the united states loading | 1 |
5,668 | STOP THE MADNESS! NYC Firefighters Take First “Trans 101” Course…Learn Correct Way To Interact With Transgenders | Because NYC Firefighters don t have enough to worry about. They now have to worry about how to properly identify and address their victims based on sexual preference?It must to be a crime to waste these brave men and women s time with this insanity Firefighters and medics will take their first Trans 101 course on Tuesday, learning the correct way to interact with transgender people and even getting a lesson in what LGTBQI actually stands for, a city official said.(It stands for lesbian gay trans bisexual queer/questioning and intersex.)The two-hour sensitivity training was launched in March by the city Commission for Human Rights after Mayor de Blasio signed an executive order allowing people to use any public bathroom or locker room they identified with, regardless of their sexual anatomy.The training at FDNY headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn will go over correct terminology and even how to ask for a person s preferred pronoun. People need to learn to not be afraid to ask someone who is transitioning genders what their pronoun is, said a Commission for Human Rights spokesman. Employees of city pools have also begun training in time for Wednesday s opening of the summer swim season, where gender sensitivity issues are more likely to arise in locker rooms and bathrooms. It s especially important for Parks employees [to take the training] because they work in a place that involves changing clothes, a commission spokesman said.So far, 65 city pool employees have taken the class and 200 more are scheduled to take it in the coming weeks, according to Sam Biederman, a Parks Department spokesman. Via: NYP | 0 |
5,669 | Ivanka Just Threw Her Father Under The Campaign Bus: ‘I’m NOT A Surrogate’ (VIDEO) | Hours before the third and final presidential debate, even Trump s own daughter is trying to distance herself from her father s failing campaign.During Fortune s The Most Powerful Women Summit, Ivanka Trump was asked about the role she has taken on as one of the most visible members of the inner circle of a Republican nominee who just in the last two weeks has body shamed a Miss Universe contestant and appeared in that [Access Hollywood] tape and suggested that other women that accused him were too unattractive [for him] to have assaulted. My brand was launched far before the presidential cycle commenced, Ivanka responded. And I ve always tried to maintain complete separation between that and the campaign. I hate the word surrogate, she added. Because what does that mean? When people talk about I m his confidante at one point, major newspapers were writing that I was a vice presidential candidate. I m saying, no, I m a daughter. She also said that except for childcare and women s rights, she keeps her views on policy to herself. She then reiterated that she does not consider herself to be a Republican. But I m not a surrogate, she insisted. I m a daughter. I stood in front of the [Republican National Convention] and shared that I m an independent, which is very consistent with many other millennials. But I do dismiss this idea of a surrogate because I don t think it appreciates the role that I m playing as my father s daughter I m not the campaign mastermind. You can watch Ivanka Trump s interview, here:<iframe width= 560 height= 315 src= https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Rr56ReOGYk frameborder= 0 allowfullscreen></iframe>Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
5,670 | Irish PM not optimistic Brexit talks will move onto next stage in October | CLONMEL, Ireland (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Friday said he was not optimistic that Britain and the European Union will have made enough progress by an October leaders summit to launch negotiations on the post-Brexit relationship. The EU has said that talks on the future relationship can only start after the other 27 EU governments are satisfied that sufficient progress has been made on the terms of Britain s departure. At this moment in time, I m not optimistic that it will be possible to come to the view in October that we re able to move onto the next phase of talks, Varadkar told a news conference. As of now enough progress hasn t been made but that can change. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, who was also at the briefing said the EU was unlikely to agree to move to the second phase of the negotiations unless there is a significant further move from the British government . The summit is taking place on Oct. 19-20. | 1 |
5,671 | Exclusive: Kremlin tells companies to deliver good news | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin wants good news. The Russian leadership has told major companies to supply it with news stories that put its stewardship of the country in a positive light, according to documents seen by Reuters. A seven-page document spelled out the kind of articles required, with a focus on new jobs, scientific achievements and new infrastructure, especially those involving state support. It also detailed how the stories should be presented, and gave a weekly deadline for submissions. The instructions were sent last month by the energy ministry to 45 companies in Russia s energy and utilities sector including Rosneft, Lukoil and Novatek, according to a second document, a list of recipients. The drive coincides with the run-up to a presidential election in March next year when President Vladimir Putin needs a strong mandate with high turnout to maintain his firm grip on power after dominating Russian politics for two decades. Life for the majority of people has become calmer, more comfortable, more attractive. But many such examples often escape the media s attention, said the first document. Our task, through a creative and painstaking approach, is to select such topics and subjects and offer them to the media. That document, which did not mention the election, said the news items to be supplied were to feed a positive news wire and should correspond to two themes: Life is getting better and How things were; how they are now . Both documents were attached to an invitation, dated Oct. 9, sent by the energy ministry to senior executives in the public relations and government relations departments of the firms, of which 17 are state-controlled and 28 privately-held. The invitation requested they send representatives to an Oct. 12 meeting at the ministry in Moscow to discuss how to help the government s PR effort. Reuters saw a copy of the invitation and spoke to three executives who received it. According to the invitation, the news initiative was requested by Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy chief of staff in the presidential administration. A spokesman for Kiriyenko did not respond to a request for comment. The energy ministry also did not respond, nor did Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Reuters sent requests for comment to the biggest five companies out of the 45, by market value - state-owned oil major Rosneft, state-owned gas giant Gazprom, private oil companies Lukoil and Surgutneftegaz, and private gas firm Novatek. No responses were received. NINE-POINT LIST Oil and gas provide Russia s biggest source of revenue and energy firms are among the most powerful companies and biggest employers. Reuters has not found evidence that similar instructions were sent to companies in other sectors. The Oct. 12 meeting was chaired by Deputy Energy Minister Anton Inyutsyn, and an official from the presidential administration was also present, according to one of the sources who attended. The two officials went through and explained the instructions laid out in the seven-page document, said the source, who added that the election was not mentioned. Reuters reported in February that the ministry had enlisted energy companies to give it advance notice about developments that could influence public opinion. The meeting last month and the guidelines circulated in preparation for it show that, since then, the initiative has stepped up into a higher gear, with companies being handed highly specific instructions on how they are expected to help. It was not clear if the companies had acted on the instructions. The news guidelines document said the government wanted to highlight victories and achievements . It included a nine-point list of the kind of news that companies should supply. It asked, for example, for stories about business units where it s possible to say that state support helped lift them out of crisis, restored modern production, and re-equipped them with new equipment and gave work to local residents . Examples given of the kind of events of interest to the government from elsewhere in the corporate world included state lender Sberbank hiring 700 people in the Volga river city of Togliatti, a festival funded by a company in Kaliningrad region for young people with hearing difficulties and a sports center being opened in Cherkessk, southern Russia. The document also held up the case of Yevgeny Kosmin as an example of a positive news story, a miner in western Siberia whose team extracted 1.6 million tonnes of coal in July this year, a monthly record. That carried echoes of Alexey Stakhanov, a miner who in 1935 extracted almost 15 times more coal during a shift than his quota required. Communist propaganda held Stakhanov up as a symbol of Soviet industrial prowess. The instructions stipulated that companies should submit positive news stories every week - on the Monday, or Tuesday morning at the latest. They said the companies should present their items in the format of a table, with new additions highlighted in a colored font, and accompanied by a press release that could be passed on to journalists with minimal editing from government officials. The document also required each company to provide a contact person who could provide extra information to journalists, tell TV news crews how to reach the venue to report on an event, and organize access for news crews to the company s sites. Reuters was not able to establish if the Kremlin had made similarly specific demands of companies in the past. Putin has not yet declared his intention to seek re-election. Most Kremlin observers say he will. Opinion polls show he will win comfortably, with many voters crediting him with restoring national pride. The Kremlin s biggest headache with the election, scheduled for next March, is ensuring a strong turnout, say many political analysts. With the economy weak and many people viewing the result as a foregone conclusion, voters may be tempted to stay away from polling stations. A low turnout could undermine Putin s legitimacy in his next term, the analysts say. | 1 |
5,672 | Jill Stein Forced To Drop Pennsylvania Recount Bid When Judge Attaches $1 Million Price Tag | On Saturday, Green Party candidate Jill Stein was forced to drop her bid for a recount in Pennsylvania when a judge decided on a $1 million bond.Spokesman Sam Scarrow revealed in an emailed statement that an attorney for the Stein campaign said the price was just too high. Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means. They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court, wrote the lawyer.Stein shared her thoughts on Twitter.How odd is it that we must jump through bureaucratic hoops and raise millions of dollars so we can trust our election results? #Recount2016 Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) December 4, 2016According to court documents, Donald Trump s campaign requested that the judge set the bond for the recount at $10 million.Stein has filed for recounts of the presidential election in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Hillary Clinton announced that she would back Stein s recount efforts in all three states, which prompted Trump to lose his mind. He railed against the efforts on Twitter and denounced the bid for recounts as nothing more than a scam. Ironically, he made the case for a recount of even more states at the very same time with his own claims of widespread voter fraud.It is unlikely that the recount would successfully change the outcome of the election in the long run, especially since a margin of this size has never before been overcome. However, Trump sure was acting like he was scared to death of a second look. It seems that, at least in Pennsylvania, he is going to get his way. In Wisconsin and Michigan, Trump has not been so lucky. The recounts in both of these states have already begun. But the push for a recount in the Keystone State seems to have come to an end.On Saturday night, the Pennsylvania GOP issued a statement that read, in part: The filing of a discontinuance of the Election Contest by Jill Stein s petitioners tonight is a recognition that their Election Contest was completely without merit, and meant solely for purposes to delay the Electoral College vote in Pennsylvania for President-Elect Trump Candidate Jill Stein s allegations created the false allusion that some unidentified foreign government hacked our state s voting systems when absolutely no such proof existed. We believe that she always knew that she had no such proof. Pennsylvania election officials published the updated vote count on Friday, which showed Trump s lead over his Democratic rival shrinking to 49,000 from 71,000. As shocking as this may sound, this did not meet Pennsylvania s 0.5 percent trigger for an automatic statewide recount.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
5,673 | Turkey seizes largest ever haul of ancient statues and coins | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police said on Thursday they had rescued thousands of artefacts dating back to Anatolian, Greek and Egyptian civilizations in the largest operation to combat smuggling of ancient treasures in the country s history. Among the items recovered were a golden queen s crown with an inscription of the Hellenistic god, Helios, a bust dedicated to Alexander the Great s conquest of India and a statue of a goddess dating back to the Hittite era 3,000 years ago. The 26,456 objects recovered also included Egyptian-origin statues and Phoenician-type teardrop vials. The retrieved artefacts are... more valuable than the artefacts in the inventory of an average size museum, Istanbul police said in a statement. For three months the investigation, dubbed Operation Zeus , tracked the smuggling ring, which aimed to take the artefacts abroad and sell them to museums and collectors for millions of dollars, it said. Six people involved in the ring were detained on Dec. 12 in Turkey s northwestern province of Duzce as they attempted to sell off some of their haul. Seven more were detained in four different provinces. | 1 |
5,674 | Trump nomination odds wane in online betting, third party run bets up | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s prospects of winning the Republican nomination for the White House have slid sharply in online wagering venues, and bets that Republicans could have a fractured convention or that Trump may run as a third-party candidate were increasing. Chances of Trump claiming the Republican mantle have fallen hard to 69 percent after cresting at 86 percent this week following his winning seven of 11 states in Super Tuesday voting, according to PredictWise, which aggregates betting on multiple venues into an implied probability. The billionaire businessman is still the prohibitive favorite, but it was the steepest slide in his imputed chances since his second-place showing in the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. Trump faces withering attacks from rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and from 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who labeled him a danger to the Republican party and the United States. On PredictIt, a site aggregated into PredictWise probability, Trump’s chances were 70 percent early Friday, up slightly from late Thursday when they fell to 68 percent, their lowest since Feb. 23. PredictIt is operated by Victoria University in New Zealand. Online wagering venues such as Ireland’s PaddyPower, which express candidates’ prospects as traditional sports-betting odds, show Trump losing luster as Rubio and Cruz gain steam. PaddyPower’s odds show Trump as a 2-to-5 favorite compared with a 1-to-7 favorite right after Super Tuesday. Odds on Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, narrowed to 4-to-1 from 5-to-1 on Tuesday, and odds for Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, were 9-to-1 from 12-to-1 earlier this week. Intense squabbling among Republican candidates and efforts by establishment Republicans to block a Trump nomination at this summer’s Republican National Convention boosted bets that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the favorite for the Democratic nomination, would win the Nov. 8 general election. Clinton’s prospects of winning a head-to-head contest against Trump shot to above 60 percent earlier this week and stood at 57 percent on Friday, according to PredictIt. Trump’s chances of trouncing Clinton sank to 27 percent on Friday from 39 percent in late February. Republican infighting is fueling betting that Republicans will have a so-called brokered convention, which occurs when no candidate wins a majority of delegates before the convention, or that Trump will run as a third-party candidate. Chances for a brokered convention closed at 40 percent on Thursday on record volume in betting on PredictIt after starting the week at 23 percent. They were 39 percent early on Friday. The last brokered U.S. major-party convention was in 1952 when Democrats nominated Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson on the third ballot. The last brokered Republican convention was in 1948, when New York Governor Thomas Dewey won in three ballots. Neither candidate won the presidential election. Chances that Trump would run as a third-party candidate have ticked higher, but it remains a long-shot in betting circles. PredictIt put the chances of him running as an independent at 17 percent on Friday, from 14 percent on Thursday and 10 percent a week ago. (Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Toni Reinhold) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 1 |
5,675 | Ivanka Drops SHOCKING Bombshell On The Obamas Right Before They Leave White House (DETAILS) | After having to endure Donald Trump s disastrous presidential campaign and having to basically hold his hand every single day after the election, you can only imagine just how fed up President Barack Obama and his family are with Trump and his entitled children. They re likely counting down the days until they no longer shoulder the responsibility of the undeserving President-elect and aren t forced to be face-to-face anymore. Unfortunately, it seems that the Obamas are far from finished with the Trumps because part of Trump s family has dropped a bombshell with the decision to move just three minutes away from them.Trump s most beloved daughter Ivanka has just announced that she and her family will practically be neighbors to the Obamas once they leave the White House in less than three weeks. According to The Washingtonian, multiple real estate sources have reported that Ivanka and her family will be moving into a $5.5 million residence on Tracy Place in Washington, DC less than two blocks away from where the Obamas will be living.TwitterSo just as the Obamas thought they might actually be free of Trump once he takes the presidency, it looks like that s going to be much harder than they originally planned, as Trump will likely be lurking just around the corner at Ivanka s house. And Obama shouldn t be surprised if one day Trump comes around begging him for advice considering he has no idea what the hell he s doing.Ivanka is moving her family to Washington, DC to undoubtedly be closer to her father and provide assistance, just as she was heavily involved in his campaign. Currently, Trump and his team are trying to find a loophole that will allow Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to have a role in his administration.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images | 0 |
5,676 | PRICELESS! BOEHNER WHINES ABOUT THE NEW MEDIA EXPOSING THE TRUTH ABOUT BIG GOVERNMENT | Twenty years ago when, uh, we won the first Republican majority in 40 years, there was one radio talk show host that nobody d ever heard of. Uh, there was one cable news channel that just did news. And you look at t-today, you ve got hundreds of radio talk show hosts all trying to outdo themselves, right going further right and further right and further right. Uh, you ve got all these cable news channels, and all they do are politics, and it s tending to either push or pull people into one of two camps. If I go down to see President Obama, the right begins to wonder what I m up to; the left begins to wonder what the president s up to. The president s suggested, Hey, you think it s too much trouble if we play golf again? (snickers) And I have to look at him and say, Yes! RUSH: So Boehner can t play golf with Obama cause of us. He can t play golf because he s afraid talk radio and Fox News are gonna wonder what he s up to and maybe well, I don t know, reading his mind think that we re gonna say he s selling out or that Obama s doing whatever.Some people were pushing me to run for the Senate. I decided I didn t want to do that, and I made a decision that the rest of my career was gonna be in the US House. So the team said to me, All right, well, the rest of your career s gonna be in the House. What s your goal? I didn t know! So I said, Well, if you don t shoot for the top (snickers), why shoot for anything? So I set my goal to be speaker. | 0 |
5,677 | SENATOR JEFF FLAKE is Strongly ‘Denounced’ by Brent Bozell for being a Fake Conservative ‘with no Conscience’ | Brent Bozell does political commentary on Fox News. He just put the hurt on FAKE CONSERVATIVE Senator Jeff Flake with a great oped calling Flake out for being a RINO On behalf of my late father and my family, I am denouncing Senator Jeff Flake and his new book, dishonestly titled, Conscience of a Conservative.Since entering the Senate in 2013, Jeff Flake has, time and again, proven he is part of the indulgent hypocrisy in Washington. While he waxes poetically about conservative principles, his Conservative Review Liberty score is an abysmal 53%, also known as: F . In 2013, I watched first-hand as Flake refused to sign a letter pledging to defund ObamaCare, among his many betrayals to conservatism. Jeff Flake is neither a conservative nor does he have a conscience.As every conservative leader knows, my father, L. Brent Bozell, Jr., ghost-wrote Conscience of a Conservative for Barry Goldwater. While the Goldwater Institute may own the rights to the book s title, neither the organization nor Senator Flake have the right to unjustifiably trade on my father s work. Conscience of a Conservative is the greatest selling polemic in history, and Senator Flake is trading on its reputation to shamelessly promote himself and disguise his own conservative deficiencies. My father would be appalled to see this fraud as the author of the so-called sequel, which it most certainly is not.The media need to know, when reporting on Senator Flake and his book, that the author is a deceiver out for personal and financial gain. I also call on my conservative brethren to denounce this impostor, who dishonorably claims to speak for conservatism, in the strongest possible terms. ~ Brent Bozel | 0 |
5,678 | Factbox: Trump to meet tech leaders from Google, Apple, others - sources | (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump convenes a gathering of leaders of some of the largest technology companies at his New York headquarters on Wednesday as he continues to form his administration before taking office on Jan. 20. The session is billed as an introductory meeting that would not result in any job or investment announcements, sources said. Below is a list of attendees expected at the summit, according to sources. Trump’s transition team has announced the meeting but did not name any invited executives during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. * CEO Larry Page of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Google’s parent company * Apple Inc (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook * Facebook Inc (FB.O) COO Sheryl Sandberg * Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) CEO Jeff Bezos * Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk * Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) CEO Satya Nadella * Oracle Corp (ORCL.N) CEO Safra Catz * In addition, the technology news website Recode reported that Intel Corp (INTC.O) executives were invited. An Intel spokeswoman declined to comment. * The Wall Street Journal reported Palantir Technologies Inc CEO Alex Karp would also attend the meeting. | 1 |
5,679 | Catalan standoff touches separatist hearts beyond Spain | EDINBURGH/OTTAWA (Reuters) - The standoff between Madrid and supporters of independence in Spain s wealthy Catalan region has stirred separatist feelings far beyond the Spanish borders. Politicians across the globe criticized armed Spanish police who used truncheons and rubber bullets on voters, injuring hundreds in a crackdown on Sunday s secession vote, considered illegal under Spain s 1978 Constitution. Several politicians from regions with their own separatist movements said it was time for politics to resolve the crisis in the euro zone s fourth-biggest economy. Catalan leaders said the result showed its people wanted to leave Spain and it would push ahead with secession. Madrid has ruled out talks until, it said, Catalonia acts within the law. The solution is political. It won t be through repression, it won t be through brutality, and what needs to happen is a political discussion. I think that s reality, Quebec s premier Philippe Couillard told reporters. He drew parallels for a potential solution to his own province, which has held two referendums on whether to separate from Canada and the last of which in 1995 was narrowly defeated. Other politicians called on the European Union, currently facing a huge challenge to its unity in Britain s impending exit from the bloc, to intervene in a deepening crisis that has shaken the euro and Spanish stocks and bonds. They said it was a matter of human rights. Joanna Cherry, a lawmaker from the Scottish National Party, called on the EU to up its game. Her party lost a legally binding referendum on Scottish independence from the UK in 2014 the terms of which were hammered out between both sides. The SNP-led Scottish government is urging talks to let Catalans decide their own future. Spain will maintain that this vote is not legitimate, but the strength of feeling demonstrated cannot be ignored by Spain, it said. Matt Carthy, European lawmaker for Irish nationalists Sinn Fein whose aim is to unite British-run Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic, called the EU a shower of utter hypocrites. The EU has ignored a vicious assault on EU citizens in Catalonia because they had the audacity to vote, he told fellow European lawmakers in an emotionally-charged speech. We are told the EU stands for peace, democracy and human rights. Where were those values on Sunday? Opinion polls conducted before the Catalan vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of Catalans backed independence, but a majority wanted a referendum to be held. Catalan officials released preliminary referendum results showing 90 percent support in favor of breaking away, but turnout was 43 percent and low among those who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot. Spain s constitution determines that the majority which counts is Spain as a whole, not Catalonia s 5.3 million voters. Ireland s prime minister Leo Varadkar has said his government respects Spain s constitution but he also described the violence as disproportionate and counterproductive. Spain s deputy prime minister and European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans have said the use of force was proportionate . Turkey, which condemned last week s referendum for Kurdish independence in northern Iraq, also spoke of the importance of respecting Spanish law and territorial integrity. We believe that Spain ( ) will overcome such challenges and establish a national dialogue environment through a democratic approach, Turkey s foreign ministry said. In Serbia, officials accused the EU of double standards by refusing to recognize Catalonia s vote and at the same time supporting the independence of Serbia s former province Kosovo. Another would-be breakaway group, the Movement for the Autonomy of Slask (RAS) which wants autonomy for Poland s Slask region, said that events in Spain were proof of the temptation to use repression to control political dissent. The European community should work out rules and procedures for solving similar conflicts, it said. Its indifference with respect to the forceful repression of aspirations of Catalan people for self-rule will be interpreted as a sign of weakness and will deepen the confidence crisis that many Europeans feel toward EU institutions. | 1 |
5,680 | Trump Goes Mental On Threats To North Korea, This Is His Most Dangerous One Yet (VIDEO) | Donald Trump has now taken his threats to North Korea off Twitter and is making them to the public. Quite frankly, the situation is getting more terrifying as the days go on.After tweeting this morning that U.S. military solutions were locked and loaded, Trump made some very disturbing comments when speaking to reporters this afternoon at his New Jersey golf course, where he is enjoying a 17-day vacation.When a reporter asked Trump about his ominous tweet, Trump stated that he meant exactly what he said and that his words are very, very easy to understand. Trump also said that the Trump administration would be very, very successful in acting swiftly on North Korea, right before directly attacking North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump said: And if he utters one threat in the form of an overt threat, which, by the way, he has been uttering for years, and his family has been uttering for years, or if he does anything with respect to Guam or any place else that s an American territory or an American ally, he will truly regret it, and he will regret it fast. This all began when Trump threatened North Korea with fire and fury on Tuesday, and now we re here. Trump is leading America down a dangerous road, and he barely understands the consequences that will follow. He carelessly speaks through his insecurities and fragile ego and shows no concern for how irresponsible his comments actually are. Trump is more concerned with looking like a tough leader (and like a dictator) than he is with improving the country and keeping peaceful working relations with the rest of the world. If this is the kind of disaster we are looking at just a few months into Trump s presidency, the world will be in shambles if he lasts four years.You can watch this disturbing Trump footage below:Featured image via Drew Angerer /Getty Images | 0 |
5,681 | BREAKING NFL COMMISH GOODELL Pens Bombshell Letter To Players After Trump Tweet | Wow! It s about time Roger Goodell stepped up to tell the players to stand for our national anthem. Goodell released a statement today that he expects the NFL players to stand for our anthem. He said in his statement below: We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that together with our players. This came after President Trump Tweeted out that the NFL should stop receiving tax dollars from their fellow Americans because they won t support the anthem: Why is the NFL getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country? Change tax law! PDJTGoodell also addressed the underlying issues : The controversy over the Anthem is a barrier to having honest conversations and making real progress on the underlying issues. What do you think will happen now? Do you think the players will give up kneeling or do you think the protests will get worse?He began his letter with: We live in a country that can feel very divided. Sports, and especially the NFL, brings people together and lets them set aside those divisions, at least for a few hours. The current dispute over the National Anthem is threatening to erode the unifying power of our game, and is now dividing us, and our players, from many fans across the country. JUST IN: In letter to NFL owners, Roger Goodell says: "We believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem." pic.twitter.com/iveGOQgJnz NBC News (@NBCNews) October 10, 2017 | 0 |
5,682 | EU plans Brexit summit gesture, May hints on cash | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain will be offered a goodwill gesture at a European Union summit next week, European nations agreed on Friday, seeking to break the deadlock over Brexit, but no watering down of their demand for tens of billions of euros they say Britain owes. British Prime Minister Theresa May also indicated she might make a move at next week s summit. A spokeswoman said there will be more to say there on a promise May made last month to honor financial commitments when Britain leaves. Both sides are making the moves to end an apparent stalemate in talks on Britain s leaving the EU. At heart is a proposal by summit chair Donald Tusk to tell May next week that the EU will start internal work on a post-Brexit transition plan. This is a very big gesture towards Britain, maybe way too big, a senior EU diplomat said ahead of an evening meeting of envoys from the 27 remaining states to discuss Tusk s draft for a statement to made after leaders meet in a week s time. Ambassadors broadly agreed the plan on Friday despite scepticism, including from powerhouse Germany. They requested some harder language to ram home that any offer is conditional on Britain making progress toward agreeing Brussels terms. Time is running out , German Chancellor Angela Merkel s spokesman had warned after week of stalemate in negotiations and faction-fighting within May s government that have raised concerns that talks could collapse, leaving Britain bumping out into legal limbo in March 2019. Hammering the point, EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said in Luxembourg: They have to pay. They have to pay. Underscoring tensions, British finance minister Philip Hammond referred to the EU as the enemy at one point, but then apologized. His remark came as he defended himself against accusations from hardline Brexit supporters who say he is soft on Brussels. Businesses planning investment decisions are calling for a clear idea by the new year of how the split and subsequent years of transition to a new trade relationship will function. Otherwise, some firms say, they may assume a disruptive hard Brexit and move some operations to continental Europe. As the process approaches the half-way stage between last June s referendum vote for Brexit and Britain s departure on March 30, 2019, tensions are building not just between the two negotiating sides but also within the bloc of 27. While hardliners would prefer less or no talk of a future after Brexit and more about demanding money, others are keen to give May, beleaguered at home, something to show for the effort to compromise she displayed in a speech at Florence last month. One diplomat called the draft a search and rescue mission to help the British premier out of a jam. Another said it was a bid to break stalemate and avert disaster over the winter: Some states were not very happy about this but what else can we do? the diplomat added. We are trying to reach out. But then the diplomat added: They must come up with something on the money. Diplomats said Germany and France coordinated on Friday , to limit any watering down of the EU position that its negotiator, Michel Barnier, cannot so much as mention to his British counterparts what might come after Brexit until leaders deem there has been sufficient progress on three issues the EU says must be settled before Britain leaves. These are the rights of EU citizens in Britain, Northern Ireland s new EU border and the intractable Brexit bill . Tusk, who met Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in a week when he has spoken to almost all other EU leaders including May, offered a draft text saying there is not enough progress but welcoming the advances there have been and flagging a hope that the next summit in December could open trade talks. In its strongest conclusion, it proposes that Barnier start working out internally - without negotiating with London - what will happen after Brexit. Barnier himself has sought flexibility to break the deadlock, diplomats say. If this is the concession May needs to be able to make a move on financial settlement, let s try it, said a diplomat from one of Britain s close EU trading partners. She is so weak at the moment she can do nothing. And we need the money. Despite protestations of unity, some diplomats detect nuance in approaches to the prospect of talks collapsing, with those countries with most to lose from trade barriers with Britain most keen to avert a meltdown. Essentially that means its near neighbors like the Nordic states, the Netherlands and Ireland. | 1 |
5,683 | Chainsaw MASS-acre: This Nun Is Doing More For Irma Victims Than Leather-Face Trump | On Tuesday afternoon, Miami-Dade Police tweeted a picture and an amazing video of one Sister Margaret Ann helping with cleanup from Hurricane Irma. Despite wearing some questionably suitable clothing for operating heavy equipment, the nun from Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School in the Miami suburb of West Kendall, Florida was on the scene with a chainsaw to put the fear of God into some downed trees in her neighborhood.We are #OneCommunity in @MiamiDadeCounty! Thank you Sister Margaret Ann of @ACCHS_Bulldogs for pitching in as we recover from #Irma ? pic.twitter.com/KSqdHFHJuv Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) September 12, 2017? of Sister Margaret Ann in action. Thank you to all of our neighbors that are working together to get through this! We are #MiamiDadeStrong pic.twitter.com/5tG6nzk7Ye Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) September 12, 2017The Sister is geared up for doing the Lord s work, and I can t help but wonder what other pious servants of Jesus are up to today. Let s see, we ve got Ted No Right To Masturbate Cruz he s got his hands full with a staffing issue Twitter mishap today. Mike Pence is probably about to give Mother her afternoon peck on the cheek, so he can t really grab a rake or a shovel. And what about the Proselytizer-in-Chief, Trump himself?He s busy congratulating his son Eric on the birth of their very-biblically nicknamed new child, Luke. Congratulations to Eric & Lara on the birth of their son, Eric "Luke" Trump this morning! https://t.co/Aw0AV82XdE Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2017I have no idea what the quotation marks are for, so I m just going to assume it s so nobody thinks Donald s newest grandchild is about to write the next book of Acts. But with a new baby to fawn over the genes of, and his Twitter to maintain, there s no way that Donald Trump has any time to be helping with any silly hurricanes. After his administration started talking about withholding Harvey aid, did anyone actually expect any different?All I know is, that s one bad-ass nun. Trump could take a lesson from Sister Margaret Ann.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 0 |
5,684 | CLASSIC! PRESIDENT TRUMP Totally Rips CNN Reporter At Presser Over Comey Hearing [Video] | President Trump spoke in the Rose Garden today in a presser with Romania s leader It got contentious when CNN s Jonathan Karl asked questions about the Comey testimony It s a classic!Trump knows how to throw down the hammer on people. It s awesome!JONATHAN KARL RECENTLY HAD A RUN IN WITH SARA HUCKABEE-SANDERS: ABC s Jonathan Karl asked a very spunky Sara Huckabee-Sanders (yes, Sara is the daughter of the very funny and sarcastic former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee) if Vice President Pence was in the dark about the firing of FBI Director James Comey? Sara snapped back, Nobody was in the dark Jonathan! You wanna create this false narrative. If we want talk about ah contradicting statements and people that were maybe in the dark, how about the Democrats? Let s read a few of them. You wanna talk about em? Here s what Democrats said not that long ago about James Comey :Harry Reid said, Comey should resign and be investigated by the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer, I don t have confidence in him anymore. Senator Bernie Sanders said, It would not be a bad thing for the American people if Comey resigned. Nancy Pelosi said, Comey was not in the right job. Former DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz said that she thought Comey was no longer able to serve in a neutral and credible way. President Obama s advisor Valerie Jarrett reportedly urged him to fire Comey. Just yesterday, Representative Maxine Waters said that, Hillary Clinton would have fired Comey. You wanna talk about people who are in the dark? The people that are in the dark today are the Democrats.Boom!Earlier today, we posted a video that President Trump posted to his Twitter page pointing out the absurd hypocrisy of the Democrats and their allies in the liberal media. This video pretty much sums up how hypocritical Democrats and their media arm really are when it comes to anything related to Trump.Watch:The Democrats should be ashamed. This is a disgrace!#DrainTheSwamp pic.twitter.com/UfbKEECm2V Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2017 | 0 |
5,685 | Japan arrests North Korean crew amid mystery boat arrivals | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese police arrested three crew of a North Korean boat on Saturday for stealing a generator from a hut on an uninhabited island, public broadcaster NHK said, the latest drama amid increasing arrivals of North Korean fishing boats off Japan. The boats, some in distress, some abandoned and some with dead bodies on board, have raised fears about infiltration by spies as tension with North Korea surges over its missile and nuclear programs. North Korea has test-fired two missiles over Japan, a country it has threatened to destroy. Most experts say the wooden boats are just carrying fishermen including soldiers drafted to fish. There has been no suggestion the crew are defectors. A boat, with 10 crew on board, was found moored at the island, off Hokkaido, last month and several crew said they picked up electronic goods from the hut, according to NHK. Police arrested three of them for theft and other crew members will be sent to the Immigration Bureau, NHK said. Hokkaido police were not immediately available to comment. A spokesman at the Japan coast guard declined to comment. There were 28 cases of boats adrift off Japan or grounded on its shores in November, the coast guard has said, compared with just four in November last year. | 1 |
5,686 | Race for governor in Virginia set after tight primary race | RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) - Virginia’s lieutenant governor will face a former Republican national committee chairman in a November general election to become the state’s next governor in a race seen as a bellwether for next year’s mid-term congressional races. Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam bested former congressman Tom Perriello in the Democratic primary, while former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie topped President Donald Trump’s former Virginia campaign co-chairman Corey Stewart, according to unofficial returns posted online by the Virginia Department of Elections. The gubernatorial race in Virginia, the only state other than New Jersey electing a new governor this year, is seen as a key test of Trump’s popularity ahead of the 2018 mid-term elections for the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The winner in November will succeed incumbent Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, who is barred by term limits from running again. Northam sought to stoke Democrats’ anger toward Trump, calling the president a “narcissistic maniac” in statewide ads. “Tonight, we’re one step closer to building a Virginia that works for everyone - no matter who you are, no matter where you’re from,” Northam said in a Twitter post declaring victory. In the Republican primary, Gillespie beat Stewart 44 percent to 42 percent with Frank Wagner earning 14 percent of the vote. On the Democrat side, 56 percent vote went to Northam and 44 percent went to Perriello, unofficial returns showed. The governor’s race in Virginia, a swing state where a recent Washington Post and George Mason University poll showed 59 percent of voters disapprove of Trump’s performance, is shaping up as a pivotal battleground with national implications. “Virginia will be more hotly contested than ever,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a University of Mary Washington political analyst. “All the national money and national attention will be coming this way. ... Republicans want to claim that the Trump movement is doing well and the Democrats want to claim it is not.” Northam was backed by every statewide Democratic officeholder, while Perriello drew support of Democratic progressives, including U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Gillespie was endorsed by a raft of state and national Republican leaders. On the campaign trail, he largely avoided talking about Trump, who has not weighed in on the race. Republican strength has eroded in recent Virginia elections, with Democrats now holding all statewide offices. Virginia, once a Republican bulwark in presidential polls, has gone Democratic in three straight elections. | 1 |
5,687 | One HUGE Way Liberals Are Already Fighting Back Against Trump | While they are sad and in understandable despair, liberals are not simply sitting shell-shocked over the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. Very aware of the danger the newly elected Republican government will mean for vulnerable citizens, liberals are rushing to the defense of key organizations that have been targeted by Republicans.Few groups have been the subject of Republican and conservative attacks like Planned Parenthood has, and now liberals are letting them know they ve got their backs.Since the election, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said it has received nearly 80,000 new donations nationwide, although it did not disclose the money amount.Planned Parenthood of Illinois said online appointments for long-acting contraceptives like IUDs, or intrauterine devices, rose nearly 50 percent in the past two days compared to the same period last week. It said it plans to increase the number of available appointments to meet demand. We have been overwhelmed by community members making donations and contacting us to offer to volunteer and provide support, said Sarah Wheat, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, where successive Republican governors have cut funding to the organization.Republicans have gone after Planned Parenthood because they provide birth control and abortion access to women, regardless of income. The right has gone after them with hoax videos designed to implicate the group in criminal acts, brought its leaders before congress in order to berate them without cause, and voted over and over and over to cut federal funding.President Obama and congressional Democrats have repeatedly pushed back against the Republican onslaught, but many of the measures they have put in place have been weakened by sustained Republican obstruction over the last eight years. Many of these protections can be undone by a Trump presidency, and while Trump himself has not strongly pushed on the abortion issue, many Republicans will be looking to him in to attack women s health.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
5,688 | Austrian conservative Kurz says needs more time on coalition | VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz said on Monday he needs more time to decide which party he will hold coalition talks with but did nothing to dampen expectations that he will turn to the far right. Kurz s People s Party (OVP) won last week s parliamentary election with 31.5 percent of the vote, well short of a majority, which means it needs a partner to form a stable government. He had been expected to announce which party he would be inviting to coalition talks on Monday after spending the weekend talking with the leaders of all parties entering the new parliament. It has yet to be decided with whom we want to start negotiations. I will clarify that in the coming hours or days, Kurz said after meeting President Alexander Van der Bellen. There are certain issues that I would like to discuss again informally or clear up before I start negotiations, he told reporters, declining to elaborate. European leaders have expressed guarded concern about the possible return to power of the Freedom Party (FPO), which was founded in the 1950s by ex-Nazis and was last in government more than a decade ago. The FPO once argued against membership in the European Union but has become steadily more mainstream, dropping those calls and expelling members for anti-Semitic statements. Kurz, who is just 31, has maintained that any future government will be pro-European. But he campaigned on an anti-immigration platform that was very similar to the FPO s, after Europe s migration crisis left many voters feeling Austria was being overrun. Only two parties the Social Democrats (SPO), who came second in the election, and the FPO, which came third have enough seats to give Kurz a majority if they go into coalition with him. But a partnership between the two centrist parties has never been considered the most likely outcome, even though they have governed together for 44 of the 72 years since World War Two. Kurz forced last week s election when he called an end to the current coalition with the SPO after he took over as OVP leader, and the two sides are now at loggerheads. The Social Democrats said on Monday they were planning on going into opposition. In principle, however, any tie-up between two of the top three parties could take place. And none of those options have been fully ruled out, including a coalition of losers between the FPO and Social Democrats. Kurz has also said a minority government is an option if coalition talks fail. The head of Austria s main Jewish group earlier on Monday warned Kurz not to do business with the wolf of the FPO. When the nationalist wolf puts on a blue sheep skin it does not change its nature, only its appearance, the head of Austria s main Jewish group, Oskar Deutsch, said in an open letter to both centrist parties. Blue is the colour of the FPO, which is staunchly anti-Islam but now openly courts Jewish voters, with limited success. If OVP and SPO believe they can tame the wolf, they are deceiving themselves, Deutsch said. The FPO s Davis Lasar, a Jewish lawmaker, responded by saying in a statement: The FPO has always been committed to the safety of Austria s Jewish population. | 1 |
5,689 | All Hell Breaks Loose At First Charlottesville City Council Meeting Since Nazi Rally | All hell broke loose on Monday when the city of Charlottesville held their first city council meeting since torch-wielding white supremacists took over the small Virginia town, leaving a counter-protester dead in their wake. Residents were more than ready to let the city council know just how they felt about the city allowing Nazis to march through their streets. You had multiple opportunities to intervene and you did not intervene one time. We told you exactly what you needed to do and you did nothing, one man told the city council members at the meeting.Two protesters who were holding a sign that read Blood on your hands climbed up on top of the dais, at which point several members of the city council got scared and ran away. Police eventually removed several people from the meeting and arrested at least three of them, which prompted the crowd to chant Shame and Shut it down. Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy, was the only official who had the guts to stay and try to negotiate with the protesters, who have every right to be pissed off that Nazis were given a permit to spread their hate and violence throughout Charlottesville. The protesters called for Mayor Mike Signer to resign from his position, chanting Signer must go! After making it abundantly clear that they do not appreciate the city council inviting white supremacists to town, they also demanded the removal of Confederate monuments from Charlottesville. The city agreed to begin the removal process and a motion was approved by the council that will commemorate the victims of the Nazi rally by draping black fabric over the statues.Watch more on the mayhem here, via WVIR: NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and WeatherFeatured image via video screen capture | 0 |
5,690 | Just Back From A Golfing Vacay, Trump Says He’s Done More Than Any President Ever | Donald Trump just got back from binge-golfing over a span of five days and he s on track to triple the time former President Barack Obama spent on the golf course in his first year in office even though he repeatedly disparaged his predecessor for golfing. There are at least 27 tweets which Trump unleashed about Obama golfing, and on the campaign trail, he continued that. If I were in the White House I don t think I d ever see any of the places that I [own], Trump said during the campaign just last year, citing one of his golf courses in Florida. I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off, make great deals. Right? Who s going to leave? Who s going to leave? Mark Knoller of CBS News keeps detailed statistics of presidencies.By my count, Pres Trump has spent all or part of 87 days at one of his golf clubs plus one in Japan. More often than not, WH won't say when he plays golf. Compares at same point in presidencies:Obama 24 rounds of golfGeorge W Bush 7 rounds. Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 26, 2017Trump golfed for 5 days straight.Last day of his Florida holiday, Pres Trump back at one of his eponymous golf clubs. 5th day in a row. No photo op for the press pool, dropped off across-the-street at public library. Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 26, 2017Sunday night, the Vacationer-in-Chief expressed his concern over the Russia scandal being brought up by wait for it bringing it up, then went on to tell how much he s done in 10 months, more than any president ever. Since the first day I took office, all you hear is the phony Democrat excuse for losing the election, Russia, Russia, Russia, he tweeted. Despite this I have the economy booming and have possibly done more than any 10 month President. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Since the first day I took office, all you hear is the phony Democrat excuse for losing the election, Russia, Russia,Russia. Despite this I have the economy booming and have possibly done more than any 10 month President. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017To be clear, Trump is saying that he s accomplished more than George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt even though he s the least popular president in the history of polling and has not passed any major legislation. You know who isn t taking vacations right now? Robert Mueller, that s who.Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images. | 0 |
5,691 | Fire in Philippine shopping mall kills 37 | MANILA (Reuters) - Fire swept through a shopping mall in the Philippines killing at least 37 people, most of them workers at a call center, city government officials said on Sunday. The vice mayor of the southern city of Davao, Paolo Duterte, said the chance of survival for any of the 37 people missing at the NCC Mall was zero . Let us pray for them, said Duterte, the eldest son of President Rodrigo Duterte. The fire broke out on Saturday at a furniture store on the mall s third level and quickly engulfed an outsourcing business on the upper floor, said a spokeswoman for the city government, Ma. Teresita Gaspan, The cause was not known but an investigation was being launched, she said. President Duterte and his daughter, Sara Duterte, who is mayor of the city, visited the scene late on Saturday to meet anxious relatives of the missing and survivors. Six people were rescued and taken to hospital. | 1 |
5,692 | OAS may request new Honduras election to correct 'irregularities' | TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The Organization of American States (OAS) said on Wednesday it may call for new Honduran elections if any irregularities undermine the credibility of results in last month s disputed vote that has sparked a crisis in the Central American nation. In a statement, the OAS also called for an immediate return of constitutional rights such as freedom of movement. The Honduran government imposed a curfew last week when protests erupted over the vote count in the Nov. 26 presidential election, which has been tarnished by allegations of electoral fraud. The statement, released by OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, said the election result was not yet certain, and measures including a partial recount should be undertaken to clarify the outcome and restore credibility. It is clear that it is not possible, without an exhaustive and meticulous process of verification that determines the existence or not of an electoral fraud ... to restore the confidence of the population, the statement said. Official results showed Honduras conservative President Juan Orlando Hernandez with a narrow 1.6 percentage point lead over center-left opposition leader Salvador Nasralla. However, no victor has yet been declared by the election tribunal. Nasralla on Wednesday evening called for an international arbiter to oversee the recount, saying he no longer recognized the Honduran tribunal because of its role in the process. If we hadn t had international participation, we would truly be in the law of the jungle, he said. David Matamoros, head of the country s electoral tribunal, told reporters that the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship, which Nasralla fronts, must still deliver its voting tally sheets and documentation so the tribunal can review the election results. Then the tribunal will discuss the OAS recommendations and what can be done to implement them, Matamoros added. When asked about the possibility of a new election, Matamoros said if the complaints about the process are borne out, the whole issue of the vote will need to be revalidated. However, this would only be possible if the tribunal was in a position to review all the tally sheets, he added. Eight Latin American governments said in a joint statement on Wednesday they supported the tribunal s decision to hold a total recount of the disputed ballots, and urged Hondurans to remain calm while awaiting final results. Uruguay was added to a list of seven originally issued by Mexico s foreign ministry. Nasralla has demanded a recount and encouraged his supporters to protest, triggering demonstrations. At least 14 people - including two police - have died in the protests, according to a human rights group in Honduras known as COFADEH. Hernandez s center-right National Party said it would hold a march in Tegucigalpa on Thursday to show solidarity with the president, pledging a turnout in the thousands. The U.S. State Department on Wednesday advised U.S. citizens to delay or cancel unnecessary travel to mainland Honduras due to ongoing political protests and the potential for violence. The election results also show Hernandez s National Party winning the most seats in Congress. But third-placed presidential candidate Luis Zelaya, of the Liberal Party, said on Wednesday that irregularities in the vote had polluted the results for legislators as well as the presidency, and reiterated that Nasralla had won the top job. He did not specify what the alleged irregularities were but said his party would share its copies of ballot sheets, including those disputed by the opposition, with the OAS. On Tuesday, Nasralla said the electoral tribunal should review virtually all the ballots. If the tribunal was unwilling to do that, he proposed a run-off between himself and Hernandez, something not allowed for under Honduran law. Hernandez, who as president has won praise from the United States for his crackdown on violent street gangs, has not claimed victory in broadcast comments in recent days and indicated on Wednesday that his party would support a recount. | 1 |
5,693 | WATCH: Samantha Bee Shows Just How CRAZY Ted Cruz Supporters Are | One has to wonder why in the world people would support Ted Cruz. His policies are the essence of Republican backwardness and even members of his own party don t like him. In addition, he s lied throughout his campaign for the Republican nomination. Yet, Cruz is still hanging in there for the nomination. In fact, he s actually enjoying a surge as of late as Republican voters try to figure out who is less worse, Donald Trump, or creepy Ted Cruz. Cruz appears to have found a niche as Republicans have to vote for Cruz as the alternative to Trump.Yet, who are these voters that are now siding with Cruz as he surges in the polls? Samantha Bee sums it all up when she took down Ted Cruz s appalling group of supporters on her show Full Frontal. First, there s Colorado pastor Kevin Swanson, who appears in a video clip (see below) saying, Homosexuals are worthy of death to which Bee commented, Wow, For a guy who hates gay people, Swanson s got some fabulous dance moves. Then there s the reverend Flip Benham, who was convicted of stalking an abortion doctor and was part of a protest where people chanted, Jesus hates Muslims. Bee declared, In your face Donald Trump, Cruz supporters hated Muslims before it was cool. Not to be outdone, there s pastor Mike Bickle, who is the poster child for anti-Semitism. Bickle declared: The lord said I m going to give all 20 million of them the chance to respond to the fisherman and if they don t respond to grace, I m going to raise up the hunters and the most famous hunter in recent history is a man named Adolph Hitler. Bee s segment was funny but she sends an important message: Ted Cruz and his supporters are dangerous.Watch video here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXkEeTfdQeA] Featured image via video screenshot. | 0 |
5,694 | Wealthy, educated voters fuel Trump's East Coast sweep | WASHINGTON/BETHESDA, Md. (Reuters) - Wealthy, well-educated voters helped carry Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump to victory in this week’s East Coast primaries, a demographic the famously blunt-spoken billionaire had struggled to attract in the past. His sweep of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island on Tuesday included wins in some of the richest and best-educated counties in the country - like Fairfield County, Connecticut, and Newport County, Rhode Island - and added to victories in his more traditional strongholds of white working-class neighborhoods. Exit polls from Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland showed Trump winning about half of Republican voters with college degrees, and over half of Republican voters making more than $100,000 a year. “On its face, it is hard to believe he’d be improving with a demographic group that has been so averse to his style, his denigrating language,” said Randall Miller, a professor of American politics at Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania. “But I think people may have gotten used to Trump, he’s not as outrageous as he used to be,” he said, adding that familiarity with the businessman’s brand in the Northeast may also have helped him. Still, the five states could be an uphill battle for Republicans in the Nov. 8 presidential election. The last Republican presidential nominee to win any of them was George H.W. Bush in 1988. The challenge for the New York billionaire could be to replicate Tuesday’s performance in other parts of the country as he seeks to lock down his party’s nomination, with 10 state contests remaining. Nationally, likely voters with a college degree have become increasingly critical of Trump in recent months, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. He is also increasingly unpopular with those who make more than $100,000 a year. But with Trump far ahead of his rivals, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, in the race for the presidential nomination, Miller said Republican voters of all stripes may become more resigned to voting for Trump. “I think it is possible he replicates this.” ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT Trump has historically done well in areas where the collapse of important local industries has put stress on working families - propelling his popularity among poorer white voters drawn to his rhetoric about inept government and failed international trade deals. That narrative persisted in Tuesday’s contests. Trump took more than 63 percent of the vote in Forest County, Pennsylvania, where the median family income among whites, at $45,000, is the lowest in the state. But he also got more than 46 percent of the vote in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where median income for whites is the highest in the state, at $108,000. A Franklin and Marshall College voter survey released last week showed Trump’s message of disaffection had sunk in across the state. Just under 40 percent of voters cited “government, politicians” as the most important problem facing Pennsylvania, with “unemployment, personal finances” ranked a distant second at 14 percent. In the affluent Maryland suburbs of Montgomery and Howard counties, where more than 60 percent of whites hold college degrees, Trump claimed a smaller 40 percent share of the Republican vote. It was still enough for a first-place finish over Cruz and Kasich. Fred Stubbs, 72, a retired accountant from Potomac, Maryland, said he voted for Trump on Tuesday because he believed the real estate mogul would improve the country’s standing in the world. He added that when he traveled to New York, he regularly dined in restaurants in buildings owned by Trump. “I’ve always admired him as a businessman,” Stubbs said. | 1 |
5,695 | Sign-up pace slows in third week of 2018 Obamacare enrollment | (Reuters) - The pace slowed in the third week of enrollment for 2018 Obamacare individual insurance as nearly 800,000 people signed up through the federal government website HealthCare.gov, down about 75,000 people from the previous week, a U.S. government agency reported on Wednesday. There was an increase, however, in the number of new consumers to the program created by former President Barack Obama, to 220,323 from 208,397 in the previous week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said. Republican President Donald Trump and lawmakers are trying to undo Obama’s health law but do not have enough votes to repeal it and so must continue to run the insurance program, which offers income-based subsidies. Uncertainty over its future drove 2018 monthly premiums up more than 30 percent on average as insurers such as Anthem Inc, Centene Corp and Molina Healthcare sought to cover higher costs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 11 million will enroll in 2018, up from 2017’s 10 million, even as the period for sign-ups has been cut in half to six weeks and will end on Dec. 15. Total sign-ups for Obamacare individual insurance in the 39 states that use HealthCare.gov reached 2.28 million during the first three weeks of enrollment. The figures do not include enrollment in Washington, D.C. or the 11 states including New York and California that run their own enrollment and websites. Among the states using HealthCare.gov with the highest number of individuals signing up were Florida, 498,168; Texas, 271,737; North Carolina, 138,932; Georgia, 119,968; and Pennsylvania, 101,286, the agency said. | 1 |
5,696 | GOP Will IMMEDIATELY Defund Planned Parenthood In Same Bill That Abolishes Obamacare | Well, it s happening. If you voted your conscience or refused to support a criminal who is not an actual criminal, voted for Jill Stein if you just couldn t handle a Hillary Clinton presidency because reasons, cast protest votes for Donald Trump, or against his wishes Bernie Sanders, you now get to say that you own a piece of history. That s right, for the low, low price of your dignity, you managed to buy yourself a Donald Trump presidency the one where healthcare is stripped from the most vulnerable Americans, and women s health services go the way of slavery (except if 20% of Donald Trump voters had their way, slavery would make a comeback).In the end, while Hillary Clinton took a historic, almost three million vote lead over Trump, it all came down to about 78,000 votes in three states 44,292 in Pennsylvania, 22,748 in Wisconsin, and 10,704 in Michigan. To put it in perspective for conscience voters, quadrennial fake liberal hero, Jill Stein, earned herself 49,901 in Pennsylvania, 31,072 in Wisconsin, and 51,493 in Michigan.Stein and supporters said repeatedly that their goal was to defeat Hillary Clinton, and they did all while helping Donald Trump win. Now the causes they, like many of the rest of us, champion, are in danger.On Thursday, the GOP announced the beginning of what will almost assuredly be a glorious, thousand-year Reich, when they laid out their plans to gut Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood in the same bill. The Hill reports that the situation is exactly as bad as was predicted by those establishment stooges who had the gall to vote for the woman who had the best chance to defeat Donald Trump, rather than sling diapers at the wall for almost a year and join in the propagation of untrue right-wing propaganda:Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that defunding Planned Parenthood will be included as part of a bill to repeal ObamaCare.Ryan said cutting off federal funds to the organization will be included in a reconciliation bill that also repeals the core of ObamaCare. The reconciliation process prevents Democrats from launching a filibuster against the measure, meaning Republicans won t need 60 votes to win on defunding. Planned Parenthood legislation will be in our reconciliation bill, Ryan said, without providing any more details.Currently, Republicans would be hard-pressed to lay out any actual plan to replace Obamacare because there isn t one. But that isn t stopping them from undoing the good work of Barack Obama s administration. Their goal over the next four years will not be to help you or anyone else. Their goal will be the same as it was when Obama was first elected to erase the legacy of our first African-American President, and to undo any good that he has done. Isn t that, after all, the true meaning of Make America Great Again? The worst part is that if we, the people who are supposed to be the adults in the room, had simply united behind the most qualified candidate, we could have prevented this.Featured image by Scott Olson via Getty Images | 0 |
5,697 | Sweden to raise minimum pension age as retirees live longer | STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will raise the minimum age at which workers can take their state pension over the coming years, a move designed to match an increase in average life spans, the major political parties said on Thursday. Workers can currently choose to take their state pension from the age of 61. This will be raised successively to 64 by 2026. The current pension system was designed around 20 years ago and Swedes now live around 2.5 years longer on average. That is positive but it means that pensions ... have to last a longer time, the parties said in a statement. In order to maintain a good and sustainable pension level, therefore, people need to work longer. The reforms will also make it harder for companies to get rid of people who want to continue to work after the mandatory pension age and tighten requirements for funds providers in the pension system after a number of scandals. [L8N1CU16Y] The deal, which will not affect state finances either positively or negatively, was agreed between the minority coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens, the Moderates - the biggest opposition party - and the Center, Liberal and Christian Democrat parties. | 1 |
5,698 | Kazakhstan to re-examine 2004 banker's death, may target Nazarbayev critic | ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakh state prosecutors said on Wednesday they will re-investigate the 2004 death of a prominent banker after the man convicted of accidentally killing him said he had in fact been hired to do so by Mukhtar Ablyazov, a former oligarch turned opponent of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Central Asian nation s government has accused Ablyazov, who has been living in France, of embezzling billions of dollars from a local bank he used to run. A French court last year ruled against extraditing him, however, and set him free. The new probe may lead to a fresh extradition request from the former Soviet republic, setting the stage for another prolonged legal battle in European courts. Ablyazov, once a wealthy businessman who became a government minister, led an opposition political movement in the early 2000s until being convicted on corruption charges in 2002. Nazarbayev pardoned him in 2003. But Ablyazov fell out with the strongman leader again in 2009 when the government nationalized BTA, Kazakhstan s biggest bank at the time, of which Ablyazov was the chairman and majority shareholder. He then fled Kazakhstan, whose authorities have since unsuccessfully tried to have him brought back to the country on fraud and embezzlement charges while also seeking to seize his personal assets. On Tuesday, a businessman now in prison for an unrelated crime claimed in a television documentary that he had murdered Ablyazov s former associate in 2004 in a hit job ordered by the oligarch. At the time, the death was ruled involuntary manslaughter as the killer said he had accidentally shot banker Yerzhan Tatishev during a hunting trip. Tatishev was the chief executive of BTA; shortly after his death Ablyazov became the bank s chairman. The Prosecutor General s office said on Wednesday it was reopening the case and reclassifying it as murder. Although the prosecutors statement did not mention Ablyazov, the latter accused the government in a Facebook post on Wednesday of forcing the alleged killer to falsely testify against him. Since a French court set him free last December, Ablyazov has regularly used social networks to criticize Nazarbayev, who has run the oil-rich nation of 18 million since 1989. | 1 |
5,699 | Lawsuit against Trump model agency dismissed by U.S. judge | (This story corrects date of election to Nov. 8 from Nov. 3 in eighth paragraph) By Alana Wise WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s modeling agency, saying there was insufficient evidence a foreign-born model had been misled or was owed back pay. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres found that Alexia Palmer had not provided proof that Trump Model Management LLC fraudulently applied for a U.S. visa for her or that she had been denied fair wages. Attorneys for both Palmer and the modeling agency could not be immediately reached for comment. Lawyers for Trump, who owns the agency but was not named directly in the suit, have called the case “frivolous” and “without merit.” Palmer, a Jamaica native, sued in October 2014, alleging that for her three-year contract with the agency, she was promised a $75,000-a-year salary, but received just $3,880.75. She sought $250,000 in back pay. The lawsuit also alleged Palmer’s experience was part of a grander scheme to “lure foreign models to the United States” and cheat them out of their pay. But Torres said there was not enough evidence to prove that Palmer had worked the requisite number of hours over the three years to justify a minimum hourly wage complaint or warrant back pay. The case’s dismissal was a setback for attorneys who sought to bring a class action against the agency on behalf of models. A group lawsuit could have drawn additional attention to Trump’s employment of foreign-born workers as he seeks the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Trump, a billionaire New York businessman, has acknowledged legally using foreign workers in his businesses but has said his experience would allow him to reform a visa system that can be easily manipulated. The case is Alexia Palmer v. Trump Model Management, et al., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-08037. | 1 |
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