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All Talk NRA Refuses Chance To Debate Obama Over Gun Control On Live TV

Apparently the only thing the National Rifle Association and the White House can agree on is that President Obama would smoke them in a debate on gun control.CNN extended an invitation to the NRA, the nation s most powerful gun lobby, to join Obama during a live town hall on Thursday evening in Virginia to discuss the issue of gun violence. They gracelessly declined.NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam seemed willing to assume the NRA would come out of the debate looking very badly. He claimed the White House would rig the event and turn it into a public relations spectacle. In other words, the NRA believes it would lose and Arulanandam is desperate to think of a good excuse as to why that is.Undermining this excuse, however, is the fact that it is CNN, not Obama, that is organizing the event.A CNN spokesperson said that it was the network, not the White House, that proposed the idea of a town hall on guns, and noted the audience would be evenly divided between organizations that support the Second Amendment including NRA members as well as groups that back gun regulation.The only ones too afraid to show up to this mixed crowd are NRA representatives.And while it s laughable that the NRA already threw in the towel before the debate even began, they are justified in being worried about what they would face if they were brave enough to show up. As Obama proved numerous times during his two presidential elections, he s a formidable debate opponent. It is also clear that the issue of gun control is an area that Obama is fired up about. For years, Republicans in Washington and their pro-gun benefactors have stymied any and all attempts to address mass shootings. Entering his last year in office, Obama is done playing games. Earlier this week, he gave an emotional and powerful speech about the need for better gun control and what he plans to do about it. Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that common-sense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying, Obama said. I reject that thinking. We know we can t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence, he added.The NRA seems content to fight against any conceivable campaign to stop needless gun violence. This includes floating reckless lies that Obama is a tyrant seizing people s guns. On social media, the lobbying group regularly promotes misinformation to its gullible followers. They aren t used to being called out on it.Now that it is time to actually face Obama, it s no wonder they can t do it.Feature image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Title: All Talk NRA Refuses Chance To Debate Obama Over Gun Control On Live TV. Text: Apparently the only thing the National Rifle Association and the White House can agree on is that President Obama would smoke them in a debate on gun control.CNN extended an invitation to the NRA, the nation s most powerful gun lobby, to join Obama during a live town hall on Thursday evening in Virginia to discuss the issue of gun violence. They gracelessly declined.NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam seemed willing to assume the NRA would come out of the debate looking very badly. He claimed the White House would rig the event and turn it into a public relations spectacle. In other words, the NRA believes it would lose and Arulanandam is desperate to think of a good excuse as to why that is.Undermining this excuse, however, is the fact that it is CNN, not Obama, that is organizing the event.A CNN spokesperson said that it was the network, not the White House, that proposed the idea of a town hall on guns, and noted the audience would be evenly divided between organizations that support the Second Amendment including NRA members as well as groups that back gun regulation.The only ones too afraid to show up to this mixed crowd are NRA representatives.And while it s laughable that the NRA already threw in the towel before the debate even began, they are justified in being worried about what they would face if they were brave enough to show up. As Obama proved numerous times during his two presidential elections, he s a formidable debate opponent. It is also clear that the issue of gun control is an area that Obama is fired up about. For years, Republicans in Washington and their pro-gun benefactors have stymied any and all attempts to address mass shootings. Entering his last year in office, Obama is done playing games. Earlier this week, he gave an emotional and powerful speech about the need for better gun control and what he plans to do about it. Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that common-sense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying, Obama said. I reject that thinking. We know we can t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence, he added.The NRA seems content to fight against any conceivable campaign to stop needless gun violence. This includes floating reckless lies that Obama is a tyrant seizing people s guns. On social media, the lobbying group regularly promotes misinformation to its gullible followers. They aren t used to being called out on it.Now that it is time to actually face Obama, it s no wonder they can t do it.Feature image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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DID OBAMA ROB FANNIE & FREDDIE OF BILLIONS? Dr. Ben Carson’s Shocking Discovery At HUD Could Be A Clue! [Video]

Dr. Ben Carson just found over $500 Billion missing in an audit of HUD: Link to HUD ReportTHE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THE REPORT SAYS IT ALL:HUD management is downplaying the severity of the condition and impact of the errors identified, which were significant enough to cause it to recall its published AFR and reissue its fiscal year 2016 consolidated financial statements and notes. While the errors identified may not have changed HUD s financial position, as HUD states at the bottom of its financial statements, The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. These notes contained errors of $516.4 billion.Fraud and mismanagement is rampant!The total amounts of errors corrected in HUD s notes and consolidated financial statements were $516.4 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively. There were several other unresolved audit matters, which restricted our ability to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to express an opinion.These unresolved audit matters relate to(1) the Office of General Counsel s refusal to sign the management representation letter.(2) HUD s improper use of cumulative and first-in, first-out budgetary accounting methods of disbursing community planning and development program funds.(3) the $4.2 billion in non pooled loan assets from Ginnie Mae s stand-alone financial statements that we could not audit due to inadequate support.(4) the improper accounting for certain HUD assets and liabilities, and (5) material differences between HUD s subledger and general ledger accounts.This audit report contains 11 material weaknesses, 7 significant deficiencies, and 5 instances of noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations.Could it be that Dr. Carson is on to something?Obama took billions frm Fannie & Freddie to fund Obamacare & he s still trying to cover his tracks #FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/zdSKFpq1g9 STOCK MONSTER (@StockMonsterUSA) April 7, 2017

Title: DID OBAMA ROB FANNIE & FREDDIE OF BILLIONS? Dr. Ben Carson’s Shocking Discovery At HUD Could Be A Clue! [Video]. Text: Dr. Ben Carson just found over $500 Billion missing in an audit of HUD: Link to HUD ReportTHE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THE REPORT SAYS IT ALL:HUD management is downplaying the severity of the condition and impact of the errors identified, which were significant enough to cause it to recall its published AFR and reissue its fiscal year 2016 consolidated financial statements and notes. While the errors identified may not have changed HUD s financial position, as HUD states at the bottom of its financial statements, The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements. These notes contained errors of $516.4 billion.Fraud and mismanagement is rampant!The total amounts of errors corrected in HUD s notes and consolidated financial statements were $516.4 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively. There were several other unresolved audit matters, which restricted our ability to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to express an opinion.These unresolved audit matters relate to(1) the Office of General Counsel s refusal to sign the management representation letter.(2) HUD s improper use of cumulative and first-in, first-out budgetary accounting methods of disbursing community planning and development program funds.(3) the $4.2 billion in non pooled loan assets from Ginnie Mae s stand-alone financial statements that we could not audit due to inadequate support.(4) the improper accounting for certain HUD assets and liabilities, and (5) material differences between HUD s subledger and general ledger accounts.This audit report contains 11 material weaknesses, 7 significant deficiencies, and 5 instances of noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations.Could it be that Dr. Carson is on to something?Obama took billions frm Fannie & Freddie to fund Obamacare & he s still trying to cover his tracks #FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/zdSKFpq1g9 STOCK MONSTER (@StockMonsterUSA) April 7, 2017

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One person killed by car bomb attack in Somalia's capital

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and three others injured when a car bomb went off in Somalia s capital Mogadishu on Monday, police said. The bomb was concealed in a car parked on Al Mukaram street in the capital, Mohamed Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters.

Title: One person killed by car bomb attack in Somalia's capital. Text: MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and three others injured when a car bomb went off in Somalia s capital Mogadishu on Monday, police said. The bomb was concealed in a car parked on Al Mukaram street in the capital, Mohamed Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters.

fake

WATCH: Reporter Calls Kellyanne Conway And Her Lies ‘The Darkness’ – Her Reply Is INSANELY Ironic

Everyone knows by now just how fast and loose Kellyanne Conway is with her words. She pioneered alternative facts. She claimed that the U.S. had never gone as long without a Treasury Secretary as we did with Trump. She made up an entire terrorist attack. She said that microwaves turn into cameras. And somehow, people still want to talk to her.Some in the press have started seeing her as the darkness, because she s such a purveyor of misinformation. That word, darkness, refers to the Washington Post s front page motto, Democracy dies in darkness. Michael Wolff, a reporter for the Hollywood Reporter, told her: I m going to tell you, when they say democracy dies in darkness, you re the darkness. So the Washington Post (and Wolff) is calling her and other purveyors of lies out in their front-page motto. Conway s response was to first say, I m not the darkness! Then she said: It s what I tell small children: Just because somebody says something doesn t make it true, and it s a great lesson for everyone. Miss Bowling Green Massacre is defending herself against accusations of lies by pointing out that people lie. The irony! It hurts! But it gets even better: You can turn on the TV more than you can read in the paper because I assume editors are still doing their jobs in most places and people literally say things that just aren t true. Yes, primarily Fox News and those that like Trump. And herself. Someone needs to get Glass House here to say all of this again while looking in a mirror.Watch below:.@MichaelWolffNYC: Democracy dies in darkness. You re the darkness. @KellyannePolls: I m not the darkness. https://t.co/dChswXBtLh pic.twitter.com/2CnvLshNpH CNN (@CNN) April 12, 2017Featured image via video screen capture

Title: WATCH: Reporter Calls Kellyanne Conway And Her Lies ‘The Darkness’ – Her Reply Is INSANELY Ironic. Text: Everyone knows by now just how fast and loose Kellyanne Conway is with her words. She pioneered alternative facts. She claimed that the U.S. had never gone as long without a Treasury Secretary as we did with Trump. She made up an entire terrorist attack. She said that microwaves turn into cameras. And somehow, people still want to talk to her.Some in the press have started seeing her as the darkness, because she s such a purveyor of misinformation. That word, darkness, refers to the Washington Post s front page motto, Democracy dies in darkness. Michael Wolff, a reporter for the Hollywood Reporter, told her: I m going to tell you, when they say democracy dies in darkness, you re the darkness. So the Washington Post (and Wolff) is calling her and other purveyors of lies out in their front-page motto. Conway s response was to first say, I m not the darkness! Then she said: It s what I tell small children: Just because somebody says something doesn t make it true, and it s a great lesson for everyone. Miss Bowling Green Massacre is defending herself against accusations of lies by pointing out that people lie. The irony! It hurts! But it gets even better: You can turn on the TV more than you can read in the paper because I assume editors are still doing their jobs in most places and people literally say things that just aren t true. Yes, primarily Fox News and those that like Trump. And herself. Someone needs to get Glass House here to say all of this again while looking in a mirror.Watch below:.@MichaelWolffNYC: Democracy dies in darkness. You re the darkness. @KellyannePolls: I m not the darkness. https://t.co/dChswXBtLh pic.twitter.com/2CnvLshNpH CNN (@CNN) April 12, 2017Featured image via video screen capture

not fake

Zimbabwe military's statement after seizing power

HARARE (Reuters) - Following is the text of an address made by Zimbabwe Major General SB Moyo, Chief of Staff Logistics, on national television after the military seized power: Following the address we made on November 13, 2017, which we believe our main broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and The Herald were directed not to publicize, the situation in our country has moved to another level. Firstly, we wish to assure the nation that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and commander-in-chief of Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Comrade RG Mugabe, and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed. We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice. As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy. To the civil servants, as you are aware, there is a plan by the same individuals to influence the current purging that is taking place in the political sphere to the civil service. We are against that act of injustice and we intend to protect every one of you against that. To the judiciary, the measures underway are intended to assure that as an independent arm of the state you are able to exercise your independent authority without fear of being obstructed as has been the case with this group of individuals. To our members of parliament, your legislative role is of paramount importance for peace and stability in this country and it is our desire that a dispensation is created that allows you to serve your respective political constituencies according to democratic tenets. To the generality of the people of Zimbabwe we urge you to remain calm and limit unnecessary movement. However, we encourage those who are employed and those with essential business in the city to continue their normal activities usual. Our wish is that you enjoy your rights and freedoms and that we return our country to a dispensation that allows for investment, development and prosperity that we all fought for and for which many of our citizens paid the supreme sacrifice. To political parties we urge you to discourage your members from engaging in violent behavior. To the youth we call upon you to realize that the future of this country is yours. Do not be enticed with dirty coins of silver. Be disciplined and remain committed to the ethos and values of this great nation. To all churches and religious organizations in Zimbabwe we call upon you and your congregations to pray for our country and preach the gospel of love, peace, unity and development. To both our people and the world beyond our borders, we wish to make it abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover of government. What the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is actually doing is to pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country, which if not addressed may result in a violent conflict. We call upon all the war veterans to play positive in ensuring peace, stability and unity in the country. To members of the defense forces, all leave is canceled and you all to return to your barracks with immediate effect. To our respected traditional leaders, you are our custodians of our culture, customs, traditions and heritage and we request you to provide leadership and direction to your communities for the sake of unity and development in our country. To the other Security Services: We urge you to cooperate for the good of our country. Let it be clear that we intend to address the human security threats in our country. Therefore any provocation will be met with an appropriate response. To the media; we urge you report fairly and responsibly. Thank you

Title: Zimbabwe military's statement after seizing power. Text: HARARE (Reuters) - Following is the text of an address made by Zimbabwe Major General SB Moyo, Chief of Staff Logistics, on national television after the military seized power: Following the address we made on November 13, 2017, which we believe our main broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and The Herald were directed not to publicize, the situation in our country has moved to another level. Firstly, we wish to assure the nation that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and commander-in-chief of Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Comrade RG Mugabe, and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed. We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice. As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy. To the civil servants, as you are aware, there is a plan by the same individuals to influence the current purging that is taking place in the political sphere to the civil service. We are against that act of injustice and we intend to protect every one of you against that. To the judiciary, the measures underway are intended to assure that as an independent arm of the state you are able to exercise your independent authority without fear of being obstructed as has been the case with this group of individuals. To our members of parliament, your legislative role is of paramount importance for peace and stability in this country and it is our desire that a dispensation is created that allows you to serve your respective political constituencies according to democratic tenets. To the generality of the people of Zimbabwe we urge you to remain calm and limit unnecessary movement. However, we encourage those who are employed and those with essential business in the city to continue their normal activities usual. Our wish is that you enjoy your rights and freedoms and that we return our country to a dispensation that allows for investment, development and prosperity that we all fought for and for which many of our citizens paid the supreme sacrifice. To political parties we urge you to discourage your members from engaging in violent behavior. To the youth we call upon you to realize that the future of this country is yours. Do not be enticed with dirty coins of silver. Be disciplined and remain committed to the ethos and values of this great nation. To all churches and religious organizations in Zimbabwe we call upon you and your congregations to pray for our country and preach the gospel of love, peace, unity and development. To both our people and the world beyond our borders, we wish to make it abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover of government. What the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is actually doing is to pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country, which if not addressed may result in a violent conflict. We call upon all the war veterans to play positive in ensuring peace, stability and unity in the country. To members of the defense forces, all leave is canceled and you all to return to your barracks with immediate effect. To our respected traditional leaders, you are our custodians of our culture, customs, traditions and heritage and we request you to provide leadership and direction to your communities for the sake of unity and development in our country. To the other Security Services: We urge you to cooperate for the good of our country. Let it be clear that we intend to address the human security threats in our country. Therefore any provocation will be met with an appropriate response. To the media; we urge you report fairly and responsibly. Thank you

fake

BREAKING: Muslim Clock Boy Family…Give Us $15 Million…Or Else

Teaching kids all across America that bringing fake bombs to school on 9-11 really pays off Is it possible the radical Muslim family who became famous when their son took a fake bomb to school on 9-11 has discovered the cost of living in Qatar is higher than they anticipated? Or is it possible they just miss being in the spotlight? We re thinking America may have a slightly different attitude about the Muslim clock boy post Paris tragedy You know what they say timing is everything .(pun intended).Give us $15 million or else.That s the demand from the family of the world s most famous clockmaker, Ahmed Mohamed, to the City of Irving and Irving ISD. The city and district were each sent letters on Monday demanding money or else a lawsuit would be filed.The family wants $10 million from the City of Irving and $5 million from Irving ISD for damages it claims Ahmed and the family suffered after the teen was arrested. The family also wants an apology from the two entities.Mohamed, 14, was arrested by Irving police in September after he brought a homemade digital clock to school that was mistaken for a bomb by Irving MacArthur High School faculty. The subsequent fallout made international headlines.Mohamed and his immediately family are now overseas in Qatar and enrolling in school after a foundation has offered to pay for his education. The letter demanding money from the city and district says that the family wants more than anything to come home to Irving.The letter gives both the city and the district 60 days to pay up or else face a lawsuit.City and district officials didn t have any immediate comment on the letter. Via: FOX 4 News

Title: BREAKING: Muslim Clock Boy Family…Give Us $15 Million…Or Else. Text: Teaching kids all across America that bringing fake bombs to school on 9-11 really pays off Is it possible the radical Muslim family who became famous when their son took a fake bomb to school on 9-11 has discovered the cost of living in Qatar is higher than they anticipated? Or is it possible they just miss being in the spotlight? We re thinking America may have a slightly different attitude about the Muslim clock boy post Paris tragedy You know what they say timing is everything .(pun intended).Give us $15 million or else.That s the demand from the family of the world s most famous clockmaker, Ahmed Mohamed, to the City of Irving and Irving ISD. The city and district were each sent letters on Monday demanding money or else a lawsuit would be filed.The family wants $10 million from the City of Irving and $5 million from Irving ISD for damages it claims Ahmed and the family suffered after the teen was arrested. The family also wants an apology from the two entities.Mohamed, 14, was arrested by Irving police in September after he brought a homemade digital clock to school that was mistaken for a bomb by Irving MacArthur High School faculty. The subsequent fallout made international headlines.Mohamed and his immediately family are now overseas in Qatar and enrolling in school after a foundation has offered to pay for his education. The letter demanding money from the city and district says that the family wants more than anything to come home to Irving.The letter gives both the city and the district 60 days to pay up or else face a lawsuit.City and district officials didn t have any immediate comment on the letter. Via: FOX 4 News

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EU vows push to make Jerusalem capital for Palestinians too

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The EU s top diplomat pledged on Thursday to reinvigorate diplomacy with Russia, the United States, Jordan and others to ensure Palestinians have a capital in Jerusalem after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized the city as Israel s capital. The European Union, a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the United States, the United Nations and Russia, believes it has a duty to make its voice heard as the Palestinians biggest aid donor and Israel s top trade partner. The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference. She said she would meet Jordan s foreign minister on Friday, while she and EU foreign ministers would discuss Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday. The European Union will engage even more with the parties and with our regional and international partners. We will keep working with the Middle East Quartet, possibly in an enlarged format, said Mogherini, citing Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as Norway. We remain convinced that the role of the United States ... is crucial, she said. Mogherini, who also spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, threw her weight behind Jordan s King Abdullah, saying he was a very wise man that everyone should listen to as the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. Trump s decision stirred outrage across the Arab and Muslim world and alarm among U.S. allies and Russia because of Jerusalem s internationally disputed status, and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel. Mogherini stressed all 28 EU governments were united on the issue of Jerusalem and seeking a solution envisaging a Palestinian state on land Israel took in a 1967 war, but policy divisions within the bloc have weakened its influence. This is the consolidated European Union position, she said, saying EU foreign ministers made that clear to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday in Brussels. Hurdles for the EU include its range of positions, ranging from Germany s strong support for Israel to Sweden s 2014 decision to officially recognize the state of Palestine. The EU is also perceived by some in Israel as being too pro-Palestinian, partly because of the EU s long-held opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, diplomats say.

Title: EU vows push to make Jerusalem capital for Palestinians too. Text: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The EU s top diplomat pledged on Thursday to reinvigorate diplomacy with Russia, the United States, Jordan and others to ensure Palestinians have a capital in Jerusalem after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized the city as Israel s capital. The European Union, a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the United States, the United Nations and Russia, believes it has a duty to make its voice heard as the Palestinians biggest aid donor and Israel s top trade partner. The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference. She said she would meet Jordan s foreign minister on Friday, while she and EU foreign ministers would discuss Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday. The European Union will engage even more with the parties and with our regional and international partners. We will keep working with the Middle East Quartet, possibly in an enlarged format, said Mogherini, citing Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as Norway. We remain convinced that the role of the United States ... is crucial, she said. Mogherini, who also spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, threw her weight behind Jordan s King Abdullah, saying he was a very wise man that everyone should listen to as the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. Trump s decision stirred outrage across the Arab and Muslim world and alarm among U.S. allies and Russia because of Jerusalem s internationally disputed status, and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel. Mogherini stressed all 28 EU governments were united on the issue of Jerusalem and seeking a solution envisaging a Palestinian state on land Israel took in a 1967 war, but policy divisions within the bloc have weakened its influence. This is the consolidated European Union position, she said, saying EU foreign ministers made that clear to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday in Brussels. Hurdles for the EU include its range of positions, ranging from Germany s strong support for Israel to Sweden s 2014 decision to officially recognize the state of Palestine. The EU is also perceived by some in Israel as being too pro-Palestinian, partly because of the EU s long-held opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, diplomats say.

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While Texas Republicans Focus On Abortions And Bathrooms, It’s Still Legal To F*ck A Cat

Republicans priorities are out of whack. In Texas, the GOP is currently waging a war on women specifically on their ability to have a safe and sanitary abortion instead of taking a wire hanger to the bathroom. Top GOP legislators in the state have waged an extended war on Planned Parenthood based on fraudulent, heavily-edited videos depicting the health organization as an evil cabal that murders babies and sells their body parts to the highest bidder.Top GOP legislators in the state have waged an extended war on Planned Parenthood based on fraudulent, heavily-edited videos depicting the health organization as an evil cabal that murders babies and sells their body parts to the highest bidder. Though the creators of the baby parts videos were ultimately indicted by a grand jury and face decades in prison, the war on Planned Parenthood rages on in the Lone Star State.Texas latest assault on women s rights comes in the form of an attempt to legislate bathrooms so that transgender women even those some would call passable in a callous and offhanded sense would be forced to use the men s restroom. A bill filed Sunday would institute harsh penalties for anyone who was born with a penis if they entered a women s shower or toilet facility regardless of whether or not they identify as a woman. In fact, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently called this blatant act of discrimination a priority of the highest order. That s not a euphemism while Republicans are focused on legislating vaginas in one way or another, it is not a crime for someone to unzip his pants and violate a feline with his penis. This may seem shocking, but it s true.On Tuesday, Bloomberg published a report that revealed some horrific facts about the latest state to embarrass our nation with ridiculous attempts to legalize human rights violations:When Katie Jarl started her job as the Texas state director for the Humane Society of the U.S., she received calls on a monthly basis from law enforcement and animal cruelty officers about bestiality cases. They asked whether they could arrest individuals for animal cruelty and how they could remove the animals from the home, she said.Jarl was forced to tell them they couldn t do anything because bestiality is still legal in the state of Texas. The problem is we simply don t have a law, she told Bloomberg BNA. When something s not illegal, it s a problem for law enforcement. Texas is one of nine states and the District of Columbia whose criminal codes do not include an enforceable bestiality statute.Jarl says that unless someone has sex with an animal in public so they can be charged with another crime, there are no limits to what a motivated and sick individual could do to the neighborhood cat, horse, or iguana population. There is absolutely no way to stop someone from exercising their apparent right to violate an animal, Jarl says. This, of course, is a problem because crimes against animals often escalate into crimes against humans, including the children whom Republicans claim their bathroom bill would protect: Animals are often the gateway to abusing children, women, and other human beings, she said.Prosecutor Jessica Milligan agreed. Milligan heads the animal cruelty division for the District Attorney s Office of Harris County, Texas.Violence against animals and humans typically arise in a domestic violence context, but Milligan told Bloomberg BNA that she has seen more sinister cases. Right now they aren t considered criminals, Jarl says. They re allowed to do this legally. Under current laws, animal rescuers are forced to return runaway pets to their owners when there are clear signs of sexual abuse something that is certainly not OK.Unfortunately, one major problem is that Texas legislators don t know what the f*ck is going on in a general sense, but moreso when it comes to bestiality. Jarl says she is working with lawmakers to get a law on the books that would officially ban bestiality. She says that many are surprised it is not already against the law. I never thought I would have to convince anyone that bestiality should be illegal, she says, but in Red States, anything is possible. Unfortunately, even if she manages to make a law banning bestiality happen, Bloomberg notes that rural areas, where animals are seen as tools, will present a problem because unless the media gets involved, it will be difficult to bring attention to the problem.Milligan says that bestiality is becoming more common in Texas, noting an upswing in such horrific would-be crimes since about the time President Obama was re-elected (within the last four years) though she concedes that she is unsure if bestiality is on the rise or if people are just more open about posting their exploits on social media.Interestingly, Texas legislators remain silent on this issue, preferring to expend energy and taxpayer money on a nonsensical, multi-pronged war on women.Featured image via My San Antonio/Visualizeus

Title: While Texas Republicans Focus On Abortions And Bathrooms, It’s Still Legal To F*ck A Cat. Text: Republicans priorities are out of whack. In Texas, the GOP is currently waging a war on women specifically on their ability to have a safe and sanitary abortion instead of taking a wire hanger to the bathroom. Top GOP legislators in the state have waged an extended war on Planned Parenthood based on fraudulent, heavily-edited videos depicting the health organization as an evil cabal that murders babies and sells their body parts to the highest bidder.Top GOP legislators in the state have waged an extended war on Planned Parenthood based on fraudulent, heavily-edited videos depicting the health organization as an evil cabal that murders babies and sells their body parts to the highest bidder. Though the creators of the baby parts videos were ultimately indicted by a grand jury and face decades in prison, the war on Planned Parenthood rages on in the Lone Star State.Texas latest assault on women s rights comes in the form of an attempt to legislate bathrooms so that transgender women even those some would call passable in a callous and offhanded sense would be forced to use the men s restroom. A bill filed Sunday would institute harsh penalties for anyone who was born with a penis if they entered a women s shower or toilet facility regardless of whether or not they identify as a woman. In fact, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently called this blatant act of discrimination a priority of the highest order. That s not a euphemism while Republicans are focused on legislating vaginas in one way or another, it is not a crime for someone to unzip his pants and violate a feline with his penis. This may seem shocking, but it s true.On Tuesday, Bloomberg published a report that revealed some horrific facts about the latest state to embarrass our nation with ridiculous attempts to legalize human rights violations:When Katie Jarl started her job as the Texas state director for the Humane Society of the U.S., she received calls on a monthly basis from law enforcement and animal cruelty officers about bestiality cases. They asked whether they could arrest individuals for animal cruelty and how they could remove the animals from the home, she said.Jarl was forced to tell them they couldn t do anything because bestiality is still legal in the state of Texas. The problem is we simply don t have a law, she told Bloomberg BNA. When something s not illegal, it s a problem for law enforcement. Texas is one of nine states and the District of Columbia whose criminal codes do not include an enforceable bestiality statute.Jarl says that unless someone has sex with an animal in public so they can be charged with another crime, there are no limits to what a motivated and sick individual could do to the neighborhood cat, horse, or iguana population. There is absolutely no way to stop someone from exercising their apparent right to violate an animal, Jarl says. This, of course, is a problem because crimes against animals often escalate into crimes against humans, including the children whom Republicans claim their bathroom bill would protect: Animals are often the gateway to abusing children, women, and other human beings, she said.Prosecutor Jessica Milligan agreed. Milligan heads the animal cruelty division for the District Attorney s Office of Harris County, Texas.Violence against animals and humans typically arise in a domestic violence context, but Milligan told Bloomberg BNA that she has seen more sinister cases. Right now they aren t considered criminals, Jarl says. They re allowed to do this legally. Under current laws, animal rescuers are forced to return runaway pets to their owners when there are clear signs of sexual abuse something that is certainly not OK.Unfortunately, one major problem is that Texas legislators don t know what the f*ck is going on in a general sense, but moreso when it comes to bestiality. Jarl says she is working with lawmakers to get a law on the books that would officially ban bestiality. She says that many are surprised it is not already against the law. I never thought I would have to convince anyone that bestiality should be illegal, she says, but in Red States, anything is possible. Unfortunately, even if she manages to make a law banning bestiality happen, Bloomberg notes that rural areas, where animals are seen as tools, will present a problem because unless the media gets involved, it will be difficult to bring attention to the problem.Milligan says that bestiality is becoming more common in Texas, noting an upswing in such horrific would-be crimes since about the time President Obama was re-elected (within the last four years) though she concedes that she is unsure if bestiality is on the rise or if people are just more open about posting their exploits on social media.Interestingly, Texas legislators remain silent on this issue, preferring to expend energy and taxpayer money on a nonsensical, multi-pronged war on women.Featured image via My San Antonio/Visualizeus

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House oversight panel seeks ex-Trump aide Flynn's records

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The main investigative panel of the U.S. House of Representatives has asked the White House and the FBI for documents regarding former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s foreign contacts with Russia, Turkey and others, its Republican chairman and Democratic counterpart said on Wednesday. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings said in a statement that the panel also requested related documents from the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The committee is considering whether Flynn, who resigned less than a month after President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, fully disclosed his payments from foreign sources. Flynn’s departure followed a report that the Justice Department had earlier warned the White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office. Another report later showed Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, had been working as a representative for Turkey during last year’s presidential campaign even as he was advising Trump. Separately on Wednesday, U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a Republican, said intelligence agencies had swept up incidental communications by Trump’s political campaign after the Nov. 8 election, raising concerns about spying on the newly elected president. Chaffetz and Cummings said their request included documents on security clearance applications as well as on foreign contacts and payments, including payments Flynn received from RT, the Kremlin-backed media outlet. The committee called for the White House and the other agencies to provide all the documents related to Flynn dating back to his retirement in 2014 to the present, and to deliver them to the panel by April 3.

Title: House oversight panel seeks ex-Trump aide Flynn's records. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The main investigative panel of the U.S. House of Representatives has asked the White House and the FBI for documents regarding former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s foreign contacts with Russia, Turkey and others, its Republican chairman and Democratic counterpart said on Wednesday. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings said in a statement that the panel also requested related documents from the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The committee is considering whether Flynn, who resigned less than a month after President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, fully disclosed his payments from foreign sources. Flynn’s departure followed a report that the Justice Department had earlier warned the White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office. Another report later showed Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, had been working as a representative for Turkey during last year’s presidential campaign even as he was advising Trump. Separately on Wednesday, U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a Republican, said intelligence agencies had swept up incidental communications by Trump’s political campaign after the Nov. 8 election, raising concerns about spying on the newly elected president. Chaffetz and Cummings said their request included documents on security clearance applications as well as on foreign contacts and payments, including payments Flynn received from RT, the Kremlin-backed media outlet. The committee called for the White House and the other agencies to provide all the documents related to Flynn dating back to his retirement in 2014 to the present, and to deliver them to the panel by April 3.

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Hillary’s Latest Challenge To Progressives Is One That Needs To Be Taken Very Seriously (VIDEO)

Appearing on Face the Nation this past Sunday, Hillary Clinton was posed a question by host John Dickerson surrounding voters and how many want what they want, even when it comes to their candidate of choice. Dickerson insinuated that Hillary may be trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the race. However, when it comes down to who is going to win the nomination, many voters are undoubtedly going to be disappointed, because their candidate was not the one chosen. Yet, those voters will still have a voice, a voice that needs to be heard, and a message that needs to be spread far and wide.Hillary s response was honest, clear, to the point, and one that needs to be heard by every progressive everywhere who doesn t want to see the nation fall into the hands of Donald Trump. She said: I m three million votes ahead of Senator Sanders, nearly 300 pledged delegates ahead of him. He has to make his own mind up.But I was very heartened to hear him say last week that he is going to work seven days a week to make sure Donald Trump doesn t become president. And I want to unify the party. I see a great role and opportunity for him and his supporters to be part of that unified party, to move into not just November to win the election against Donald Trump, but to then govern based on the progressive goals that he and I share.We both want to raise the minimum wage. We both understand you have got to rein in bad actors on Wall Street and in corporate America to make sure they don t wreck Main Street. We have a lot of the same goals. And I hope we can unify around them. And she s absolutely correct. While the means to achieve some of the goals are different, the goals, nonetheless, are pretty much the same. While Bernie wants to overhaul health care and education in one fell swoop, Hillary wants the same things, but done over time. It s all about unifying behind the message and making sure we get there somehow, because if Donald Trump is to become president, or we can t manage to turn Congress blue again, honestly, it won t really matter who is president. Everything that needs to get done would be virtually impossible (see also: President Barack Obama with Republican Congress).No matter who the Democratic candidate for president is, it s time to unite behind them with the common goal of progress for the greater good, not just the few on top. Let s do this, progressives.Watch the whole segment from Face the Nation here:Featured Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Title: Hillary’s Latest Challenge To Progressives Is One That Needs To Be Taken Very Seriously (VIDEO). Text: Appearing on Face the Nation this past Sunday, Hillary Clinton was posed a question by host John Dickerson surrounding voters and how many want what they want, even when it comes to their candidate of choice. Dickerson insinuated that Hillary may be trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the race. However, when it comes down to who is going to win the nomination, many voters are undoubtedly going to be disappointed, because their candidate was not the one chosen. Yet, those voters will still have a voice, a voice that needs to be heard, and a message that needs to be spread far and wide.Hillary s response was honest, clear, to the point, and one that needs to be heard by every progressive everywhere who doesn t want to see the nation fall into the hands of Donald Trump. She said: I m three million votes ahead of Senator Sanders, nearly 300 pledged delegates ahead of him. He has to make his own mind up.But I was very heartened to hear him say last week that he is going to work seven days a week to make sure Donald Trump doesn t become president. And I want to unify the party. I see a great role and opportunity for him and his supporters to be part of that unified party, to move into not just November to win the election against Donald Trump, but to then govern based on the progressive goals that he and I share.We both want to raise the minimum wage. We both understand you have got to rein in bad actors on Wall Street and in corporate America to make sure they don t wreck Main Street. We have a lot of the same goals. And I hope we can unify around them. And she s absolutely correct. While the means to achieve some of the goals are different, the goals, nonetheless, are pretty much the same. While Bernie wants to overhaul health care and education in one fell swoop, Hillary wants the same things, but done over time. It s all about unifying behind the message and making sure we get there somehow, because if Donald Trump is to become president, or we can t manage to turn Congress blue again, honestly, it won t really matter who is president. Everything that needs to get done would be virtually impossible (see also: President Barack Obama with Republican Congress).No matter who the Democratic candidate for president is, it s time to unite behind them with the common goal of progress for the greater good, not just the few on top. Let s do this, progressives.Watch the whole segment from Face the Nation here:Featured Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

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Progress in Brexit talks is urgently needed: Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Time is ticking on Brexit negotiations between Britain and the European Union and there is real urgency to make progress, a German government spokesman said on Monday. More progress is required as time is ticking, Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference. It is understandable that the (EU) chief negotiator (Michel) Barnier stresses how urgent it is for Britain to act promptly, to make proposals.

Title: Progress in Brexit talks is urgently needed: Germany. Text: BERLIN (Reuters) - Time is ticking on Brexit negotiations between Britain and the European Union and there is real urgency to make progress, a German government spokesman said on Monday. More progress is required as time is ticking, Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference. It is understandable that the (EU) chief negotiator (Michel) Barnier stresses how urgent it is for Britain to act promptly, to make proposals.

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palestine considers suing israel in international sports court

erbil while iraqi forces are advancing in mosul to free the city some iraqi officers were informed about new plan of terrorists of isis to use suicide dogs to restrain iraqi armys advance shares fahmi abbas an officer in iraqi armored units had an interview with irna and said isis terrorists have equipped dogs with bombs and want to send them among iraqi army forces and explode them by remote control as stated by this military official isiss intention is to hinder advance of iraqi army to the city center of mosul this new plan was brought up when most of terrorists suicide attacks were neutralized by iraqi heatseeking missiles before reaching their aim according to the statistics announced by iraqi army during the days since mosul liberation operation began terrorists of isis have performed suicide attacks in different regions although they didnt succeed in delaying the advance of iraqi forces fahmi abbas stressed that all corps have been informed about terrorists new tactics and they wont be taken offguard this iraqi military official also mentioned the possibility of using other animals for suicide attacks by the terrorists he said that isis is under siege and terrorists have nowhere to escape unless they surrender or get killed on saturday th nov iraqi army entered hammam alalili in south of mosul and managed to free this part of city in the western bank of dijlah tigris river recommended for you mosul civilians stormed city main prison and free isis prisoners iraqs alsumaria satellite television quote d an unnamed security source that claimed mosul residents on friday evening killed isis terror by aht staff iraqi soldier battling isis in mosul reunited with his family after two years of estrangement its a heartwarming moment amid the carnage of the battle to liberate mosul an iraqi lieutenant part of the elite golden division spe by aht staff isis executes iraqi civilians by firing squad north of mosul member of nineveh provincial council hossam aldin alabbar announced that the isis executed civilians and former security members by aht staff isis executes civilians by electrocution in central mosul

Title: palestine considers suing israel in international sports court. Text: erbil while iraqi forces are advancing in mosul to free the city some iraqi officers were informed about new plan of terrorists of isis to use suicide dogs to restrain iraqi armys advance shares fahmi abbas an officer in iraqi armored units had an interview with irna and said isis terrorists have equipped dogs with bombs and want to send them among iraqi army forces and explode them by remote control as stated by this military official isiss intention is to hinder advance of iraqi army to the city center of mosul this new plan was brought up when most of terrorists suicide attacks were neutralized by iraqi heatseeking missiles before reaching their aim according to the statistics announced by iraqi army during the days since mosul liberation operation began terrorists of isis have performed suicide attacks in different regions although they didnt succeed in delaying the advance of iraqi forces fahmi abbas stressed that all corps have been informed about terrorists new tactics and they wont be taken offguard this iraqi military official also mentioned the possibility of using other animals for suicide attacks by the terrorists he said that isis is under siege and terrorists have nowhere to escape unless they surrender or get killed on saturday th nov iraqi army entered hammam alalili in south of mosul and managed to free this part of city in the western bank of dijlah tigris river recommended for you mosul civilians stormed city main prison and free isis prisoners iraqs alsumaria satellite television quote d an unnamed security source that claimed mosul residents on friday evening killed isis terror by aht staff iraqi soldier battling isis in mosul reunited with his family after two years of estrangement its a heartwarming moment amid the carnage of the battle to liberate mosul an iraqi lieutenant part of the elite golden division spe by aht staff isis executes iraqi civilians by firing squad north of mosul member of nineveh provincial council hossam aldin alabbar announced that the isis executed civilians and former security members by aht staff isis executes civilians by electrocution in central mosul

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NSA Contractor Arrested For Leaking Classified Documents On Russian Hacking To The Media

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, a federal contractor at the NSA, was arrested for leaking a classified report containing what has been described as Top Secret Level information on Russia s attempt to interfere with the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Winner appeared in federal court on June 5, facing one charge of removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet.Winner was employed by Pluribus International Corporation and had been assigned to a U.S. government facility in Georgia since February, working in a position that granted her a top-level security clearance. She had also previously held a similar clearance with the U.S. Air Force. Her arrest was announced about an hour after The Intercept published a story based on an NSA document detailing Russian attempts to hack American voting systems in 2016. Although the Justice Department hasn t stated whether Winner was arrested in connection with The Intercept s story, the site noted that the National Security Agency (NSA) report cited in its story was dated May 5, a date shared by an affidavit supporting her arrest.According to The Intercept s report, Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, conducted the cyber attacks described in the document: Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate actors executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. company in August 2016, evidently to obtain information on elections-related software and hardware solutions. The actors likely used data obtained from that operation to launch a voter registration-themed spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. local government organizations. An affidavit sworn by FBI Agent Justin Garrick claimed that the government was notified of the leaked report by the news outlet that received it and the agency that housed the report determined only six employees had made physical copies, one of whom was Winner. The affidavit also stated that Garrick interviewed Winner at her home and she admitted intentionally identifying and printing the classified intelligence reporting at issue and mailing it to the news outlet. The U.S. Government Agency examined the document shared by the News Outlet and determined the pages of the intelligence reporting appeared to be folded and/or creased, suggesting they had been printed and hand-carried out of a secured space, the affidavit continued.Titus Thomas Nichols, Winner s attorney, declined to confirm whether his client had been accused of leaking the document. My client has no [criminal] history, so it s not as if she has a pattern of having done anything like this before, Nichols said in a phone interview on Monday to the Associated Press. She is a very good person. All this craziness has happened all of a sudden, adding that she hadn t stated or shown any form of confession.Winner remains in federal custody pending a hearing scheduled for June 8.Featured image via Facebook

Title: NSA Contractor Arrested For Leaking Classified Documents On Russian Hacking To The Media. Text: Reality Leigh Winner, 25, a federal contractor at the NSA, was arrested for leaking a classified report containing what has been described as Top Secret Level information on Russia s attempt to interfere with the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Winner appeared in federal court on June 5, facing one charge of removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet.Winner was employed by Pluribus International Corporation and had been assigned to a U.S. government facility in Georgia since February, working in a position that granted her a top-level security clearance. She had also previously held a similar clearance with the U.S. Air Force. Her arrest was announced about an hour after The Intercept published a story based on an NSA document detailing Russian attempts to hack American voting systems in 2016. Although the Justice Department hasn t stated whether Winner was arrested in connection with The Intercept s story, the site noted that the National Security Agency (NSA) report cited in its story was dated May 5, a date shared by an affidavit supporting her arrest.According to The Intercept s report, Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, conducted the cyber attacks described in the document: Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate actors executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. company in August 2016, evidently to obtain information on elections-related software and hardware solutions. The actors likely used data obtained from that operation to launch a voter registration-themed spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. local government organizations. An affidavit sworn by FBI Agent Justin Garrick claimed that the government was notified of the leaked report by the news outlet that received it and the agency that housed the report determined only six employees had made physical copies, one of whom was Winner. The affidavit also stated that Garrick interviewed Winner at her home and she admitted intentionally identifying and printing the classified intelligence reporting at issue and mailing it to the news outlet. The U.S. Government Agency examined the document shared by the News Outlet and determined the pages of the intelligence reporting appeared to be folded and/or creased, suggesting they had been printed and hand-carried out of a secured space, the affidavit continued.Titus Thomas Nichols, Winner s attorney, declined to confirm whether his client had been accused of leaking the document. My client has no [criminal] history, so it s not as if she has a pattern of having done anything like this before, Nichols said in a phone interview on Monday to the Associated Press. She is a very good person. All this craziness has happened all of a sudden, adding that she hadn t stated or shown any form of confession.Winner remains in federal custody pending a hearing scheduled for June 8.Featured image via Facebook

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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.

Title: Ahead of regional vote, Merkel's conservatives neck-and-neck with Social Democrats. Text: 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.

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Trump says U.S. Senate candidate Moore should leave race if allegations true

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump finds the sexual misconduct allegations against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore “troubling” and thinks he should leave the race if they are true, the White House said on Thursday, as party leaders in Alabama stood by their nominee. Trump’s position did not go as far as other Republican leaders in Washington who have said they believe the women accusing the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice and have demanded Moore withdraw from the race before the Dec. 12 vote. “The president believes that these allegations are very troubling and should be taken seriously,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said at a news briefing. “The president said in his statement earlier this week that if the allegations are true, then Roy Moore should step aside. He still firmly believes that,” she said. Asked if the president’s endorsement of Moore still stands, Sanders said Trump thinks Alabama voters should decide the winner of the race. Trump supported the Republican National Committee’s decision to withdraw resources from the contest, Sanders added. In the past week, multiple women have accused Moore of sexual improprieties or unwanted romantic advances they said occurred decades ago. Some of the women were teenagers at the time, and he was in his 30s. Moore, 70, has denied any wrongdoing. The married Christian conservative has said he is the victim of a witch hunt and has refused to drop out of the race. The allegations are “not only untrue but they have no evidence to support them,” Moore told a news conference on Thursday after about 20 supporters, including religious leaders, said they still backed his candidacy. In a tweet, he accused U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and others of trying “to steal this election from the people of Alabama.” The Alabama Republican Party on Thursday said its 21-member steering committee would continue to support Moore. “He deserves to be presumed innocent of the accusations unless proven otherwise,” state party Chairwoman Terry Lathan said in a statement. Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations by the women. Before the allegations surfaced, Moore was heavily favored to defeat Democrat Doug Jones in the special election next month. Moore scored a decisive Republican primary victory in September over Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the vacant seat after Jeff Sessions became U.S. attorney general earlier this year. Trump backed Strange in the primary but threw his support to Moore after Strange’s defeat. A poll released on Wednesday by the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm showed Jones surging to a 12-point lead since the accusations became public. A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump’s agenda and shift the political outlook for next year’s congressional elections, giving Democrats a stronger shot at recapturing control of the Senate. Republicans currently hold 52 seats in the 100-member upper chamber.

Title: Trump says U.S. Senate candidate Moore should leave race if allegations true. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump finds the sexual misconduct allegations against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore “troubling” and thinks he should leave the race if they are true, the White House said on Thursday, as party leaders in Alabama stood by their nominee. Trump’s position did not go as far as other Republican leaders in Washington who have said they believe the women accusing the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice and have demanded Moore withdraw from the race before the Dec. 12 vote. “The president believes that these allegations are very troubling and should be taken seriously,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said at a news briefing. “The president said in his statement earlier this week that if the allegations are true, then Roy Moore should step aside. He still firmly believes that,” she said. Asked if the president’s endorsement of Moore still stands, Sanders said Trump thinks Alabama voters should decide the winner of the race. Trump supported the Republican National Committee’s decision to withdraw resources from the contest, Sanders added. In the past week, multiple women have accused Moore of sexual improprieties or unwanted romantic advances they said occurred decades ago. Some of the women were teenagers at the time, and he was in his 30s. Moore, 70, has denied any wrongdoing. The married Christian conservative has said he is the victim of a witch hunt and has refused to drop out of the race. The allegations are “not only untrue but they have no evidence to support them,” Moore told a news conference on Thursday after about 20 supporters, including religious leaders, said they still backed his candidacy. In a tweet, he accused U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and others of trying “to steal this election from the people of Alabama.” The Alabama Republican Party on Thursday said its 21-member steering committee would continue to support Moore. “He deserves to be presumed innocent of the accusations unless proven otherwise,” state party Chairwoman Terry Lathan said in a statement. Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations by the women. Before the allegations surfaced, Moore was heavily favored to defeat Democrat Doug Jones in the special election next month. Moore scored a decisive Republican primary victory in September over Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the vacant seat after Jeff Sessions became U.S. attorney general earlier this year. Trump backed Strange in the primary but threw his support to Moore after Strange’s defeat. A poll released on Wednesday by the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm showed Jones surging to a 12-point lead since the accusations became public. A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump’s agenda and shift the political outlook for next year’s congressional elections, giving Democrats a stronger shot at recapturing control of the Senate. Republicans currently hold 52 seats in the 100-member upper chamber.

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WATCH: Joe Biden Gives DEVASTATING Critique Of Trump’s Debate Performance

On Thursday night, Vice President Joe Biden joined host Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show for the very first time, and he did not disappoint.Biden was his usual charming self, and he continued to captivate the audience throughout the interview, even as he took on a more serious tone when Fallon asked him if he watched the debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Monday night. Biden admitted that he had watched, and was baffled that Trump had even been able to make it as far as the debate stage.Fallon also asked Biden about the constant fact-checking that was required whenever Trump opened his mouth, and Biden made the audience erupt in laughter as he said: I ve never quite seen anything like that. I ve never seen anybody who knew as few facts. Biden then brought up his own debate against Sarah Palin, which had taken place eight years ago, before going right back to critiquing Trump s pathetic debate performance and character. In particular, Biden called out the shocking moment that Trump said he was smart for not paying his federal income taxes like the rest of Americans, and advised that it was nothing to brag about.Biden, much like his boss President Barack Obama, is widely loved and respected by the American people, so his criticism is especially damaging to Trump. Americans should take note when Biden says Trump has caused a lot of worry and tension for America s allies, and is putting the reputation of our country in jeopardy. Biden said: I ve never known of a candidate who knows as little about the world as this man does. I don t even think he understands how much damage he does by what he already said. Biden s right Trump is absolutely clueless and it couldn t have been more obvious after he had to go up against Clinton on Monday. You can watch Biden slam Trump below:[ad3media campaign= 965 ]Featured image via screen capture

Title: WATCH: Joe Biden Gives DEVASTATING Critique Of Trump’s Debate Performance. Text: On Thursday night, Vice President Joe Biden joined host Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show for the very first time, and he did not disappoint.Biden was his usual charming self, and he continued to captivate the audience throughout the interview, even as he took on a more serious tone when Fallon asked him if he watched the debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Monday night. Biden admitted that he had watched, and was baffled that Trump had even been able to make it as far as the debate stage.Fallon also asked Biden about the constant fact-checking that was required whenever Trump opened his mouth, and Biden made the audience erupt in laughter as he said: I ve never quite seen anything like that. I ve never seen anybody who knew as few facts. Biden then brought up his own debate against Sarah Palin, which had taken place eight years ago, before going right back to critiquing Trump s pathetic debate performance and character. In particular, Biden called out the shocking moment that Trump said he was smart for not paying his federal income taxes like the rest of Americans, and advised that it was nothing to brag about.Biden, much like his boss President Barack Obama, is widely loved and respected by the American people, so his criticism is especially damaging to Trump. Americans should take note when Biden says Trump has caused a lot of worry and tension for America s allies, and is putting the reputation of our country in jeopardy. Biden said: I ve never known of a candidate who knows as little about the world as this man does. I don t even think he understands how much damage he does by what he already said. Biden s right Trump is absolutely clueless and it couldn t have been more obvious after he had to go up against Clinton on Monday. You can watch Biden slam Trump below:[ad3media campaign= 965 ]Featured image via screen capture

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U.N. appoints American to lead Children's Fund

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations announced on Friday the appointment of Henrietta Fore, an economic development advocate and former U.S. State Department official, as executive director of its Children s Fund, effective Jan. 1. Fore, 69, who currently is the chief executive officer of manufacturing and investment company Holsman International, will succeed Anthony Lake, U.N. Secretary-General Ant nio Guterres said in a statement. UNICEF provides humanitarian and development assistance to children and mothers in over 190 developing nations and territories, focused primarily on saving children s lives and defending their rights. Fore was administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2006 to 2009, the first woman to lead the agency. She also served as undersecretary for management at the State Department during the George W. Bush administration and as director of the U.S. Mint.

Title: U.N. appoints American to lead Children's Fund. Text: UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations announced on Friday the appointment of Henrietta Fore, an economic development advocate and former U.S. State Department official, as executive director of its Children s Fund, effective Jan. 1. Fore, 69, who currently is the chief executive officer of manufacturing and investment company Holsman International, will succeed Anthony Lake, U.N. Secretary-General Ant nio Guterres said in a statement. UNICEF provides humanitarian and development assistance to children and mothers in over 190 developing nations and territories, focused primarily on saving children s lives and defending their rights. Fore was administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2006 to 2009, the first woman to lead the agency. She also served as undersecretary for management at the State Department during the George W. Bush administration and as director of the U.S. Mint.

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JUST IN: TRUMP’S LONGTIME Bodyguard Tells Congress What REALLY Happened When Russians Offered To “Send 5 Women To Trump’s Room”

After a business meeting before the Miss Universe Pageant in 2013, a Russian participant offered to send five women to Donald Trump s hotel room in Moscow, his longtime bodyguard told Congress this week, according to three sources who were present for the interview.Two of the sources said the bodyguard, Keith Schiller, viewed the offer as a joke, and immediately responded, We don t do that type of stuff. The two sources said Schiller s comments came in the context of him adamantly disputing the allegations made in the Trump dossier, written by a former British intelligence operative, which describes Trump having an encounter with prostitutes at the hotel during the pageant. Schiller described his reaction to that story as being, Oh my God, that s bull -, two sources said.The conversation with the Russian about the five women took place after a morning meeting about the pageant in Moscow broke up, two sources said.That night, two sources said, Schiller said he discussed the conversation with Trump as Trump was walking back to his hotel room, and Schiller said the two men laughed about it as Trump went to bed alone. Schiller testified that he stood outside Trump s hotel room for a time and then went to bed.One source noted that Schiller testified he eventually left Trump s hotel room door and could not say for sure what happened during the remainder of the night.Two other sources said Schiller testified he was confident nothing happened.Schiller said he and Trump were aware of the risk that hotel rooms in Moscow could be set up to capture hidden video, two sources said.Schiller was grilled about the Moscow trip as part of four hours of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. The questioning around the Moscow trip took a significant amount of time, the sources said. Schiller was also asked about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and Russians, two of the sources said. He testified that he did not recall much about that day. A White House lawyer familiar with the matter said that the White House and fair-minded people are pleased that Mr. Schiller was able to debunk yet another of the false claims in the fantasy dossier funded by the DNC and the Clinton campaign and prepared during a time its foreign author worked closely with paid Russian operatives. A Navy veteran, Schiller worked part-time as a bodyguard for Trump while still an NYPD officer. He began working for Trump full-time after his retirement from the force in 2002 and became his director of security in 2004. He served as director of oval office operations in the Trump White House from January until September. NBC News

Title: JUST IN: TRUMP’S LONGTIME Bodyguard Tells Congress What REALLY Happened When Russians Offered To “Send 5 Women To Trump’s Room”. Text: After a business meeting before the Miss Universe Pageant in 2013, a Russian participant offered to send five women to Donald Trump s hotel room in Moscow, his longtime bodyguard told Congress this week, according to three sources who were present for the interview.Two of the sources said the bodyguard, Keith Schiller, viewed the offer as a joke, and immediately responded, We don t do that type of stuff. The two sources said Schiller s comments came in the context of him adamantly disputing the allegations made in the Trump dossier, written by a former British intelligence operative, which describes Trump having an encounter with prostitutes at the hotel during the pageant. Schiller described his reaction to that story as being, Oh my God, that s bull -, two sources said.The conversation with the Russian about the five women took place after a morning meeting about the pageant in Moscow broke up, two sources said.That night, two sources said, Schiller said he discussed the conversation with Trump as Trump was walking back to his hotel room, and Schiller said the two men laughed about it as Trump went to bed alone. Schiller testified that he stood outside Trump s hotel room for a time and then went to bed.One source noted that Schiller testified he eventually left Trump s hotel room door and could not say for sure what happened during the remainder of the night.Two other sources said Schiller testified he was confident nothing happened.Schiller said he and Trump were aware of the risk that hotel rooms in Moscow could be set up to capture hidden video, two sources said.Schiller was grilled about the Moscow trip as part of four hours of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. The questioning around the Moscow trip took a significant amount of time, the sources said. Schiller was also asked about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and Russians, two of the sources said. He testified that he did not recall much about that day. A White House lawyer familiar with the matter said that the White House and fair-minded people are pleased that Mr. Schiller was able to debunk yet another of the false claims in the fantasy dossier funded by the DNC and the Clinton campaign and prepared during a time its foreign author worked closely with paid Russian operatives. A Navy veteran, Schiller worked part-time as a bodyguard for Trump while still an NYPD officer. He began working for Trump full-time after his retirement from the force in 2002 and became his director of security in 2004. He served as director of oval office operations in the Trump White House from January until September. NBC News

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Irish government set to fall weeks before Brexit summit

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland s minority government looked set to collapse within days on Friday after the party propping it up submitted a motion of no confidence in the deputy prime minister, weeks before a summit on Britain s plans to leave the European Union. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that if the motion was not withdrawn by Tuesday, he would be forced to hold an election before Christmas, a prospect EU officials say would complicate a key EU summit on Dec. 14-15 on Brexit. What that would mean is me throwing a good woman under the bus to save myself and my own government, and that would be the wrong thing to do, Varadkar told national broadcaster RTE, dismissing demands for his deputy Frances Fitzgerald to quit. Varadkar is due to play a major role in the Brexit talks, telling EU leaders whether Ireland believes sufficient progress has been made on the future border between EU-member Ireland and Britain s province of Northern Ireland. The border is one of three issues Brussels wants broadly resolved before it decides whether to move the talks on to a second phase about trade, as Britain wants. While Varadkar could go into the summit in a caretaker role, he said that any election would have to happen before Christmas so that he or his successor could attend the next meeting of EU leaders in February with a fresh mandate. The head of opposition party Fianna Fail, Micheal Martin, earlier said an election can be avoided if the government takes action by asking Fitzgerald to resign. Varadkar said he would not seek, nor did he expect to be offered, a resignation. Fianna Fail supports the minority Fine Gael government in a confidence and supply arrangement. Voting no confidence in a minister would break that agreement. Varadkar and Martin met on Friday and were due to speak again over the weekend ahead of the motion of no-confidence in Fitzgerald, to be debated on Tuesday. The trigger is her handling of a legal case involving a police whistleblower. At a time when issues and decisions will need to be made that will reverberate in our country for decades to come, the prospect of either an election taking place or a government not being in place afterwards is actually unconscionable, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told RTE. However a source familiar with Fine Gael s planning said it had begun to make preparations on Friday for a snap poll. As well as the border, the other issues Brussels wants resolved before Brexit talks move on to trade arrangements are Britain s financial settlement on leaving the bloc and the rights of EU citizens living in Britain. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier assured Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on Friday that the EU would defend Dublin s position in talks with Britain over the coming weeks. Coveney told parliament on Thursday the government was not yet ready to allow the talks to move on to trade issues, and needed more clarity from London. Fianna Fail s Martin said parliament would be united behind Varadkar at the December summit. University College Dublin politics professor David Farrell said Varadkar may be tempted to take an even harder line against the United Kingdom in the talks in a bid to shore up support among Irish voters, who are overwhelmingly against Brexit. I suppose the only card he can try and play to distract from the crazy shenanigans around the causes of this election is leadership in Europe, he said. An election would likely be dominated by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, two centre-right parties that differ little on policy but have been bitter foes for decades, something that has always left the minority government one serious row away from collapse. But it would also present an opportunity for left-wing opposition party Sinn Fein to see if its veteran leader Gerry Adams decision last week to step down will boost its support. The party said deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald would lead them into the election, if one is called. While Sinn Fein, the third largest party in the Republic, has said it wants to enter government, the two largest parties have ruled out doing a deal with the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Since Varadkar s appointment as Fine Gael leader six months ago, his party has narrowly led Fianna Fail in opinion polls, which suggest both parties would increase their support but struggle to form anything but another minority government.

Title: Irish government set to fall weeks before Brexit summit. Text: DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland s minority government looked set to collapse within days on Friday after the party propping it up submitted a motion of no confidence in the deputy prime minister, weeks before a summit on Britain s plans to leave the European Union. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that if the motion was not withdrawn by Tuesday, he would be forced to hold an election before Christmas, a prospect EU officials say would complicate a key EU summit on Dec. 14-15 on Brexit. What that would mean is me throwing a good woman under the bus to save myself and my own government, and that would be the wrong thing to do, Varadkar told national broadcaster RTE, dismissing demands for his deputy Frances Fitzgerald to quit. Varadkar is due to play a major role in the Brexit talks, telling EU leaders whether Ireland believes sufficient progress has been made on the future border between EU-member Ireland and Britain s province of Northern Ireland. The border is one of three issues Brussels wants broadly resolved before it decides whether to move the talks on to a second phase about trade, as Britain wants. While Varadkar could go into the summit in a caretaker role, he said that any election would have to happen before Christmas so that he or his successor could attend the next meeting of EU leaders in February with a fresh mandate. The head of opposition party Fianna Fail, Micheal Martin, earlier said an election can be avoided if the government takes action by asking Fitzgerald to resign. Varadkar said he would not seek, nor did he expect to be offered, a resignation. Fianna Fail supports the minority Fine Gael government in a confidence and supply arrangement. Voting no confidence in a minister would break that agreement. Varadkar and Martin met on Friday and were due to speak again over the weekend ahead of the motion of no-confidence in Fitzgerald, to be debated on Tuesday. The trigger is her handling of a legal case involving a police whistleblower. At a time when issues and decisions will need to be made that will reverberate in our country for decades to come, the prospect of either an election taking place or a government not being in place afterwards is actually unconscionable, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told RTE. However a source familiar with Fine Gael s planning said it had begun to make preparations on Friday for a snap poll. As well as the border, the other issues Brussels wants resolved before Brexit talks move on to trade arrangements are Britain s financial settlement on leaving the bloc and the rights of EU citizens living in Britain. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier assured Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on Friday that the EU would defend Dublin s position in talks with Britain over the coming weeks. Coveney told parliament on Thursday the government was not yet ready to allow the talks to move on to trade issues, and needed more clarity from London. Fianna Fail s Martin said parliament would be united behind Varadkar at the December summit. University College Dublin politics professor David Farrell said Varadkar may be tempted to take an even harder line against the United Kingdom in the talks in a bid to shore up support among Irish voters, who are overwhelmingly against Brexit. I suppose the only card he can try and play to distract from the crazy shenanigans around the causes of this election is leadership in Europe, he said. An election would likely be dominated by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, two centre-right parties that differ little on policy but have been bitter foes for decades, something that has always left the minority government one serious row away from collapse. But it would also present an opportunity for left-wing opposition party Sinn Fein to see if its veteran leader Gerry Adams decision last week to step down will boost its support. The party said deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald would lead them into the election, if one is called. While Sinn Fein, the third largest party in the Republic, has said it wants to enter government, the two largest parties have ruled out doing a deal with the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Since Varadkar s appointment as Fine Gael leader six months ago, his party has narrowly led Fianna Fail in opinion polls, which suggest both parties would increase their support but struggle to form anything but another minority government.

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PRICELESS! TRUMP DOES “KISS THE BABY” Like No Other Politician Has Ever Done It! [Video]

Donald trump was making the rounds at a Colorado Springs campaign event and did something that s just priceless! He took not one but two babies and held them priceless!Thank you Colorado Springs. Get out & VOTE #TrumpPence16 in November! pic.twitter.com/wK02fWzJey Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2016

Title: PRICELESS! TRUMP DOES “KISS THE BABY” Like No Other Politician Has Ever Done It! [Video]. Text: Donald trump was making the rounds at a Colorado Springs campaign event and did something that s just priceless! He took not one but two babies and held them priceless!Thank you Colorado Springs. Get out & VOTE #TrumpPence16 in November! pic.twitter.com/wK02fWzJey Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2016

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Taiwan seeks to build soft power with retooled southbound policy

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan is seeking to boost its regional soft power by throwing its weight behind dozens of companies investing around Asia and by promoting areas such as education and tourism as it looks to reduce its economic reliance on China. The self-ruled island is stepping up its presence in the region at a time when relations between Taipei and Beijing have nosedived since Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won the presidential election last year. Taiwan must play an even more active and prominent role in order to participate in the future of the region, Tsai said at an international policy-related forum in Taipei this week. Redefining Taiwan s role in the region is one of my highest priorities as president. Taiwan is targeting deeper economic and political relations with 10 countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), six South Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, a move some analysts say will likely further rile Beijing. Tensions have risen since Tsai assumed office in May 2016, with Hong Kong seizing nine Singaporean armored vehicles in November after military exercises in Taiwan. China warned foreign countries against maintaining military ties with Taiwan, which it views as a wayward province. In addition, Panama and Sao Tome and Principe have broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, leaving Taiwan with just 20 countries with which it maintains formal relations. Seventy well-known companies, including Cathay Life Insurance Co, Century Iron and Steel Industrial Co Ltd and Kenda Rubber Industrial Co are considering fresh or expanded investments in the region, according to an economic ministry official. A Cathay spokesman confirmed the company is eyeing opportunities in Southeast Asia, while Century Iron and Steel plans to expand its existing investments in Myanmar, according to a spokesman. Kenda Rubber, which has projects in Vietnam and Indonesia, is considering investments in other regional markets, particularly India, a spokesman said. Taipei said it will provide such companies with greater consulting services and investment protection for their overseas operations and has earmarked an additional T$2.81 billion ($93 million) in its 2018 budget for the policy, 63 percent more than this year. The policy features new initiatives, including visa-free travel for visitors from several countries, scholarships and internships for overseas students, and a plan to train 1,000 doctors in Taiwan over a four-year period. The push has already seen some success. Taiwan exports to 18 southbound countries grew their fastest in five years, up 13.5 percent in the first half of 2017. The number of students from southbound countries to Taiwan rose 9.7 percent in the 2016 academic year versus the previous year, while southbound tourist visits climbed 36.7 percent in the first half. Government officials acknowledge, however, more work needs to be done. The policy s goal is broad and ambitious, Minister John Deng, who oversees the policy s implementation, told Reuters. To deepen the relationships, it s a long road. Since its inception in 1994, the original southbound policy has been heavily focused on trade and overseas investments. Tsai s new southbound policy is concentrated on several industries, particularly medical cooperation, industrial supply chains, regional agriculture, industry talent cultivation, and innovation-based industries. The government is reviewing investment agreements with the Philippines and Vietnam, Deng said, and hopes to review agreements with all other southbound partner countries. The Philippines and Indonesia are big markets with stronger growth potential and are the most likely destinations for Taiwanese companies to expand, said Ma Tieying, a DBS economist. Taiwan s attempts for a stronger regional presence will nevertheless face challenges, including resistance from China, which is heavily promoting its own Belt and Road initiative. Taiwan s official stance is that it will work alongside China s own push into the region, but an unpublished strategy recommendation paper guided by a presidential advisor and seen by Reuters, described China s attitude toward the new southbound policy as antagonistic . China is likely to pressure big companies in order to influence Taiwan s cross-strait policy direction, the paper said. China s Taiwan Affairs Office referred a question on the new southbound policy to a response it gave in May, in which it said any moves that run counter to the rules of economic development and are only based on considerations of political aims will only harm Taiwan s economy and the interests of Taiwanese businesses . Already, at least one Taiwan university, National Sun Yat-sen University, has faced difficulties setting up an educational center in the Philippines. It was told by more than one Philippines university that a Taiwan facility on campus would not be feasible due to China s preferences, according to two people familiar with the matter. Instead, the center was set up in a business district in Manila. When contacted by Reuters, National Sun Yat-sen University said it met difficulties securing office space from partner universities. In the future, it hopes to give students broader educational opportunities including ones specific to Taiwan s language and culture, according to Chih-wen Kuo, Vice President for international affairs at the university. No matter what Taiwan does, China will think that Taiwan is acting behind the scenes to gain something politically or diplomatically, said Titus Chen, an associate professor at National Sun Yat-sen University. Beijing will likely do its utmost to frustrate Taiwan s industrial and educational investment moves.

Title: Taiwan seeks to build soft power with retooled southbound policy. Text: TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan is seeking to boost its regional soft power by throwing its weight behind dozens of companies investing around Asia and by promoting areas such as education and tourism as it looks to reduce its economic reliance on China. The self-ruled island is stepping up its presence in the region at a time when relations between Taipei and Beijing have nosedived since Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won the presidential election last year. Taiwan must play an even more active and prominent role in order to participate in the future of the region, Tsai said at an international policy-related forum in Taipei this week. Redefining Taiwan s role in the region is one of my highest priorities as president. Taiwan is targeting deeper economic and political relations with 10 countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), six South Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, a move some analysts say will likely further rile Beijing. Tensions have risen since Tsai assumed office in May 2016, with Hong Kong seizing nine Singaporean armored vehicles in November after military exercises in Taiwan. China warned foreign countries against maintaining military ties with Taiwan, which it views as a wayward province. In addition, Panama and Sao Tome and Principe have broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, leaving Taiwan with just 20 countries with which it maintains formal relations. Seventy well-known companies, including Cathay Life Insurance Co, Century Iron and Steel Industrial Co Ltd and Kenda Rubber Industrial Co are considering fresh or expanded investments in the region, according to an economic ministry official. A Cathay spokesman confirmed the company is eyeing opportunities in Southeast Asia, while Century Iron and Steel plans to expand its existing investments in Myanmar, according to a spokesman. Kenda Rubber, which has projects in Vietnam and Indonesia, is considering investments in other regional markets, particularly India, a spokesman said. Taipei said it will provide such companies with greater consulting services and investment protection for their overseas operations and has earmarked an additional T$2.81 billion ($93 million) in its 2018 budget for the policy, 63 percent more than this year. The policy features new initiatives, including visa-free travel for visitors from several countries, scholarships and internships for overseas students, and a plan to train 1,000 doctors in Taiwan over a four-year period. The push has already seen some success. Taiwan exports to 18 southbound countries grew their fastest in five years, up 13.5 percent in the first half of 2017. The number of students from southbound countries to Taiwan rose 9.7 percent in the 2016 academic year versus the previous year, while southbound tourist visits climbed 36.7 percent in the first half. Government officials acknowledge, however, more work needs to be done. The policy s goal is broad and ambitious, Minister John Deng, who oversees the policy s implementation, told Reuters. To deepen the relationships, it s a long road. Since its inception in 1994, the original southbound policy has been heavily focused on trade and overseas investments. Tsai s new southbound policy is concentrated on several industries, particularly medical cooperation, industrial supply chains, regional agriculture, industry talent cultivation, and innovation-based industries. The government is reviewing investment agreements with the Philippines and Vietnam, Deng said, and hopes to review agreements with all other southbound partner countries. The Philippines and Indonesia are big markets with stronger growth potential and are the most likely destinations for Taiwanese companies to expand, said Ma Tieying, a DBS economist. Taiwan s attempts for a stronger regional presence will nevertheless face challenges, including resistance from China, which is heavily promoting its own Belt and Road initiative. Taiwan s official stance is that it will work alongside China s own push into the region, but an unpublished strategy recommendation paper guided by a presidential advisor and seen by Reuters, described China s attitude toward the new southbound policy as antagonistic . China is likely to pressure big companies in order to influence Taiwan s cross-strait policy direction, the paper said. China s Taiwan Affairs Office referred a question on the new southbound policy to a response it gave in May, in which it said any moves that run counter to the rules of economic development and are only based on considerations of political aims will only harm Taiwan s economy and the interests of Taiwanese businesses . Already, at least one Taiwan university, National Sun Yat-sen University, has faced difficulties setting up an educational center in the Philippines. It was told by more than one Philippines university that a Taiwan facility on campus would not be feasible due to China s preferences, according to two people familiar with the matter. Instead, the center was set up in a business district in Manila. When contacted by Reuters, National Sun Yat-sen University said it met difficulties securing office space from partner universities. In the future, it hopes to give students broader educational opportunities including ones specific to Taiwan s language and culture, according to Chih-wen Kuo, Vice President for international affairs at the university. No matter what Taiwan does, China will think that Taiwan is acting behind the scenes to gain something politically or diplomatically, said Titus Chen, an associate professor at National Sun Yat-sen University. Beijing will likely do its utmost to frustrate Taiwan s industrial and educational investment moves.

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Congressional Black Caucus Signals That They Absolutely Intend To Impeach Trump

The Congressional Black Caucus, like most Democrats and reasonable people everywhere, have never had very warm feelings toward Donald Trump to put it mildly. After all, this is a section of the House of Representatives dedicated to protecting the interests and rights of Black Americans, and Trump is a lifelong open and avowed racist. However, they have, for the most part, seemed to stop short of calling for Trump s removal with the exception of Rep. Maxine Waters, who is, of course, in a league all her own.This level of restraint being exercised by the majority of this powerful group of lawmakers has definitely changed as of late, though. Ever since Trump s disgraceful response to the horrific events in Charlottesville at a rally of neo-Nazis that resulted in countless injuries and the death of a brave young woman, it seems that the Black Caucus is done playing. They want Trump out of office, posthaste. During a conference call held with the press on Monday, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) said of Trump: You can make an argument based on pure competency and fitness to serve, and that s the conversation the caucus will have. Am I concerned about high crimes and misdemeanors? Absolutely. Am I concerned about this president s fitness to serve? Absolutely. Richmond also indicated that Charlottesville was the last straw when it came to giving Trump the benefit of the doubt when it comes to whether or not he really has the concerns of Black America at heart. Granted, all of this is a pipe dream for now. The GOP will criticize Trump until the cows come home, but they sure as hell won t do anything about him. They won t even formally censure him, much less move to remove him from office.All of that could change, however, if the House is returned to Democratic control in 2018. Folks, if we want to save our republic, we ll give the Congressional power to the Democrats next year while we still have a country to save.Featured image via Law Officer

Title: Congressional Black Caucus Signals That They Absolutely Intend To Impeach Trump. Text: The Congressional Black Caucus, like most Democrats and reasonable people everywhere, have never had very warm feelings toward Donald Trump to put it mildly. After all, this is a section of the House of Representatives dedicated to protecting the interests and rights of Black Americans, and Trump is a lifelong open and avowed racist. However, they have, for the most part, seemed to stop short of calling for Trump s removal with the exception of Rep. Maxine Waters, who is, of course, in a league all her own.This level of restraint being exercised by the majority of this powerful group of lawmakers has definitely changed as of late, though. Ever since Trump s disgraceful response to the horrific events in Charlottesville at a rally of neo-Nazis that resulted in countless injuries and the death of a brave young woman, it seems that the Black Caucus is done playing. They want Trump out of office, posthaste. During a conference call held with the press on Monday, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) said of Trump: You can make an argument based on pure competency and fitness to serve, and that s the conversation the caucus will have. Am I concerned about high crimes and misdemeanors? Absolutely. Am I concerned about this president s fitness to serve? Absolutely. Richmond also indicated that Charlottesville was the last straw when it came to giving Trump the benefit of the doubt when it comes to whether or not he really has the concerns of Black America at heart. Granted, all of this is a pipe dream for now. The GOP will criticize Trump until the cows come home, but they sure as hell won t do anything about him. They won t even formally censure him, much less move to remove him from office.All of that could change, however, if the House is returned to Democratic control in 2018. Folks, if we want to save our republic, we ll give the Congressional power to the Democrats next year while we still have a country to save.Featured image via Law Officer

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world community fears hillary kill list

votes being switched in multiple states to clinton electronic voting machines switching votes across the country owen shroyer infowarscom we now have reports in multiple states that a vote for donald trump is being switched to hillary clinton as reported by infowars friday a woman in hollywood maryland came forward this week to claim that her ballot was switched to hillary clinton after she had tried to vote for donald trump get the latest breaking news specials from alex jones and the infowars crew related articles download on your mobile device now for free today on the show get the latest breaking news specials from alex jones and the infowars crew from the store featured videos featured videos victim of hillary chicago violence speaks out see the rest on the alex jones youtube channel trump responds to new fbi investigation of hillary see the rest on the alex jones youtube channel illustration how much will your healthcare premiums rise in infowarscom is a free speech systems llc company all rights reserved digital millennium copyright act notice flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce

Title: world community fears hillary kill list. Text: votes being switched in multiple states to clinton electronic voting machines switching votes across the country owen shroyer infowarscom we now have reports in multiple states that a vote for donald trump is being switched to hillary clinton as reported by infowars friday a woman in hollywood maryland came forward this week to claim that her ballot was switched to hillary clinton after she had tried to vote for donald trump get the latest breaking news specials from alex jones and the infowars crew related articles download on your mobile device now for free today on the show get the latest breaking news specials from alex jones and the infowars crew from the store featured videos featured videos victim of hillary chicago violence speaks out see the rest on the alex jones youtube channel trump responds to new fbi investigation of hillary see the rest on the alex jones youtube channel illustration how much will your healthcare premiums rise in infowarscom is a free speech systems llc company all rights reserved digital millennium copyright act notice flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce brain force off flip the switch and supercharge your state of mind with brain force the next generation of neural activation from infowars life httpwwwinfowarscomwpcontentuploadsbrainforceejpg httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce httpwwwinfowarsstorecomhealthandwellnessinfowarslifebrainforcehtmlimstzrwuutm_campaigninfowarsplacementutm_sourceinfowarscomutm_mediumwidgetutm_contentbrainforce

not fake

Pennsylvania gun control advocates challenge law on city gun rules

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Pennsylvania gun control advocates on Wednesday asked the state’s top court to knock down a 2014 law allowing gun-rights lobbying groups to sue cities that adopt gun restrictions and recoup legal costs if they prevail. Firearms advocates, including the National Rifle Association, contend the law is necessary to prevent gun owners from becoming ensnared by a patchwork of municipal ordinances that violate their right to bear arms. Gun control advocates challenged the law on a technicality - that it passed as part of what they called an unrelated piece of legislation. “These two bills were cobbled together for political expediency at the end of the legislative session,” Martin Black, representing five Democratic lawmakers who sued to overturn the law, told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.More than 80 towns across Pennsylvania repealed gun laws - ranging from requirements that owners report lost or stolen firearms to bans on guns in public parks - rather than face hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills to defend ordinances that were seldom enforced. Five municipalities, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, have faced lawsuits under the law. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms, and efforts to regulate gun ownership are often fiercely contested. Wednesday’s arguments focused on the tortured legislative history of the bill and whether its passage violated a provision of the state’s Constitution that specifies that laws must focus on a single issue.  A lower court found last June that the passage was unconstitutional because Republican lawmakers tucked the firearms legislation into a bill dealing with scrap metal. That bill passed on the final day of the 2014 legislative session and was so rushed that Republican Governor Tom Corbett signed the wrong bill.   Republican legislators said at the time that the language was necessary because towns were ignoring laws that made it a criminal offense for towns to pass gun restrictions. “What does suing the city over a firearms matter have to do with the theft of copper wire?” asked a skeptical Justice David Wecht. Attorney Nick Orloff, arguing on behalf of Republican legislators, said both bills dealt with crime prevention.  “It’s meant to deter crime,” Orloff said.  But Shira Goodman, executive director of CeaseFire PA, scoffed at that idea. “Say the city of Philadelphia passes a soda tax,” Goodman said. “If I don’t drink soda, I don’t get to sue because I didn’t pay the tax.”

Title: Pennsylvania gun control advocates challenge law on city gun rules. Text: PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Pennsylvania gun control advocates on Wednesday asked the state’s top court to knock down a 2014 law allowing gun-rights lobbying groups to sue cities that adopt gun restrictions and recoup legal costs if they prevail. Firearms advocates, including the National Rifle Association, contend the law is necessary to prevent gun owners from becoming ensnared by a patchwork of municipal ordinances that violate their right to bear arms. Gun control advocates challenged the law on a technicality - that it passed as part of what they called an unrelated piece of legislation. “These two bills were cobbled together for political expediency at the end of the legislative session,” Martin Black, representing five Democratic lawmakers who sued to overturn the law, told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.More than 80 towns across Pennsylvania repealed gun laws - ranging from requirements that owners report lost or stolen firearms to bans on guns in public parks - rather than face hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills to defend ordinances that were seldom enforced. Five municipalities, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, have faced lawsuits under the law. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms, and efforts to regulate gun ownership are often fiercely contested. Wednesday’s arguments focused on the tortured legislative history of the bill and whether its passage violated a provision of the state’s Constitution that specifies that laws must focus on a single issue.  A lower court found last June that the passage was unconstitutional because Republican lawmakers tucked the firearms legislation into a bill dealing with scrap metal. That bill passed on the final day of the 2014 legislative session and was so rushed that Republican Governor Tom Corbett signed the wrong bill.   Republican legislators said at the time that the language was necessary because towns were ignoring laws that made it a criminal offense for towns to pass gun restrictions. “What does suing the city over a firearms matter have to do with the theft of copper wire?” asked a skeptical Justice David Wecht. Attorney Nick Orloff, arguing on behalf of Republican legislators, said both bills dealt with crime prevention.  “It’s meant to deter crime,” Orloff said.  But Shira Goodman, executive director of CeaseFire PA, scoffed at that idea. “Say the city of Philadelphia passes a soda tax,” Goodman said. “If I don’t drink soda, I don’t get to sue because I didn’t pay the tax.”

fake

The last hours of Yemen's Saleh

DUBAI (Reuters) - A day before they killed Yemen s former president, gunmen from the Iran-aligned Houthi militia group overran one of Ali Abdullah Saleh s fortified compounds in Sanaa. Ransacking the villa, they snapped photos of liquor flasks and vodka bottles and posted them online. This is how the traitor (Saleh) and his family lived during a time of war, siege and cholera, Hamid Rizq, a senior Houthi official, said on his official Twitter account. The Houthi gunmen acted fast and mercilessly to punish the 75-year-old Saleh for having appeared to switch sides in Yemen s three-year civil war - a proxy battle for influence between regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia. Allied with the Houthis for three years, Saleh had called on Saturday for a new page in relations with Saudi Arabia. The murder is a setback for Riyadh, which had hoped the backing of Saleh and his loyalist army units in northern Yemen - would help close a war that has killed 10,000 people and caused one of the world s most acute humanitarian crises. Saudi Arabia fears the Houthis will become as powerful a force in the Middle East as Lebanon s Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Houthis are holding their ground despite air strikes by Saudi Arabia and its allied forces and a naval blockade that has prevented food, medicine and fuel from arriving in Houthi-controlled northern areas, bringing the region to the brink of famine. Last month, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile into Riyadh. Now, the Saudis are turning their hopes to Saleh s son Ahmed Ali and his good ties with Saudi ally United Arab Emirates to do the job his father couldn t. Photos of Ahmed Ali, a military leader admired by thousands of soldiers in Houthi-run lands, appeared on the front page of UAE newspapers on Wednesday meeting the UAE s de-facto leader Mohammed bin Zayed. Saleh s death caps a 40-year political career that charts Yemen s tragic modern history. A country with few natural resources, awash in weapons and fractured along tribal and religious lines, Yemen has long been buffeted by its powerful neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia. Saleh was the first leader of a unified Yemen in 1990. But he shifted loyalties various times - fighting the Houthis in the 2000s, for example - as the plates of influence shifted in the Middle East. In this latest geopolitical drama, the UAE is emerging as playmaker in the Yemen crisis. The UAE has been financing and training armed groups that have been pushing toward the Red Sea port of Hodeida, a Houthi stronghold and entry point for supplies getting to millions of civilians in northern Yemen. The Saleh family has long enjoyed good relations with the wealthy Gulf state, which had over the decades funded infrastructure projects in Yemen before becoming a key member of the Saudi-led coalition. Hamza al-Houthi, a top Houthi leader, said the Houthis had suspected the Saleh family s allegiance to the Saudi-held coalition for some time and that tensions had been brewing since August. Al-Houthi said his troops had intercepted UAE arms shipments bound for Saleh s family late last month. As punishment, the Houthis killed his nephew Tareq on Monday. Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group said the latest events mean the war in Yemen is likely to escalate. The Houthis, while an important military force, are not particularly adept at politics or governance. Their reach...in the population is limited, and over time that will play into their opponents hands. But that won t happen anytime soon, so it looks like the conflict will worsen. Saleh s relationship with Saudi Arabia and its allies has been marked by politics and prayer. Over the past few decades, Riyadh has tried, in succession, to quash an anti-royalist revolution, Marxism and al Qaeda militancy in Yemen. Riyadh backed Saleh, an Arab nationalist strongman, between 1978 and 2012 to help him quash those ideologies before they could seep next door to Saudi Arabia. But as Arab Spring protests rocked Yemen swept through the Middle East, Riyadh realized Saleh was no longer strong enough for the job and backed a transition to his deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. When the Houthis attacked Sanaa in 2014 and swept Hadi into Saudi exile, Riyadh began the bombing campaign that continues today. At that time, Saleh took one of the riskiest gambles of his turbulent career, allying himself to the Houthis, heirs to a theocratic sect that ruled Yemen for a thousand years. Saleh s Yemeni military which had jets, tank brigades and long-range missiles had fought the Houthis in six wars over ten years at the time Saleh had allied himself with Saudi and Western powers. With Saleh s experience administering the country and cultivating a strong military, the Houthis made major military gains around the country and together their forces withstood thousands of Saudi-led air strikes. But the Houthi-Saleh entente cracked in August when a Houthi leader passed over a trusted Saleh confidante for a key military position, according to people in the General People s Congress Party, the grouping of technocrats and tribal grandees that did Saleh s bidding throughout his rule. Saleh loyalists itched for revenge, they said. Fearing disloyalty, the Houthis restricted Saleh to his fief in Sanaa s political district. Gerald Feierstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen of the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the Houthis then waged their war largely without him. Saleh was largely a spent force by the time he died in a weekend s fighting, wrote Feierstein in a policy brief. On November 29, tensions exploded. Rumors swirled in the city of Sanaa that the Houthis were planning to paint the domes of a giant mosque and palace that Saleh had built and named after himself in their trademark green. When Houthi militia neared the palace, Saleh s guards fired. The Houthis, experts in mountain guerrilla warfare, overran the palace with grenades and seized it. The Houthis wanted Saleh to hand over his weapons and disarm his fighters, a senior Saleh party official told Reuters. He refused. Another party official said that, contrary to reports that Saleh was in his car trying to flee when he was killed on Dec. 4, the former president had been executed with a gunshot to the head after making a last stand at his house. Now, the Saleh associate says he and his colleagues are afraid the Houthis will turn against all of them. The Houthis want to kill us all. For a graphic on Yemen's stalemated war, click tmsnrt.rs/2zqGyq9

Title: The last hours of Yemen's Saleh. Text: DUBAI (Reuters) - A day before they killed Yemen s former president, gunmen from the Iran-aligned Houthi militia group overran one of Ali Abdullah Saleh s fortified compounds in Sanaa. Ransacking the villa, they snapped photos of liquor flasks and vodka bottles and posted them online. This is how the traitor (Saleh) and his family lived during a time of war, siege and cholera, Hamid Rizq, a senior Houthi official, said on his official Twitter account. The Houthi gunmen acted fast and mercilessly to punish the 75-year-old Saleh for having appeared to switch sides in Yemen s three-year civil war - a proxy battle for influence between regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia. Allied with the Houthis for three years, Saleh had called on Saturday for a new page in relations with Saudi Arabia. The murder is a setback for Riyadh, which had hoped the backing of Saleh and his loyalist army units in northern Yemen - would help close a war that has killed 10,000 people and caused one of the world s most acute humanitarian crises. Saudi Arabia fears the Houthis will become as powerful a force in the Middle East as Lebanon s Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Houthis are holding their ground despite air strikes by Saudi Arabia and its allied forces and a naval blockade that has prevented food, medicine and fuel from arriving in Houthi-controlled northern areas, bringing the region to the brink of famine. Last month, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile into Riyadh. Now, the Saudis are turning their hopes to Saleh s son Ahmed Ali and his good ties with Saudi ally United Arab Emirates to do the job his father couldn t. Photos of Ahmed Ali, a military leader admired by thousands of soldiers in Houthi-run lands, appeared on the front page of UAE newspapers on Wednesday meeting the UAE s de-facto leader Mohammed bin Zayed. Saleh s death caps a 40-year political career that charts Yemen s tragic modern history. A country with few natural resources, awash in weapons and fractured along tribal and religious lines, Yemen has long been buffeted by its powerful neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia. Saleh was the first leader of a unified Yemen in 1990. But he shifted loyalties various times - fighting the Houthis in the 2000s, for example - as the plates of influence shifted in the Middle East. In this latest geopolitical drama, the UAE is emerging as playmaker in the Yemen crisis. The UAE has been financing and training armed groups that have been pushing toward the Red Sea port of Hodeida, a Houthi stronghold and entry point for supplies getting to millions of civilians in northern Yemen. The Saleh family has long enjoyed good relations with the wealthy Gulf state, which had over the decades funded infrastructure projects in Yemen before becoming a key member of the Saudi-led coalition. Hamza al-Houthi, a top Houthi leader, said the Houthis had suspected the Saleh family s allegiance to the Saudi-held coalition for some time and that tensions had been brewing since August. Al-Houthi said his troops had intercepted UAE arms shipments bound for Saleh s family late last month. As punishment, the Houthis killed his nephew Tareq on Monday. Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group said the latest events mean the war in Yemen is likely to escalate. The Houthis, while an important military force, are not particularly adept at politics or governance. Their reach...in the population is limited, and over time that will play into their opponents hands. But that won t happen anytime soon, so it looks like the conflict will worsen. Saleh s relationship with Saudi Arabia and its allies has been marked by politics and prayer. Over the past few decades, Riyadh has tried, in succession, to quash an anti-royalist revolution, Marxism and al Qaeda militancy in Yemen. Riyadh backed Saleh, an Arab nationalist strongman, between 1978 and 2012 to help him quash those ideologies before they could seep next door to Saudi Arabia. But as Arab Spring protests rocked Yemen swept through the Middle East, Riyadh realized Saleh was no longer strong enough for the job and backed a transition to his deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. When the Houthis attacked Sanaa in 2014 and swept Hadi into Saudi exile, Riyadh began the bombing campaign that continues today. At that time, Saleh took one of the riskiest gambles of his turbulent career, allying himself to the Houthis, heirs to a theocratic sect that ruled Yemen for a thousand years. Saleh s Yemeni military which had jets, tank brigades and long-range missiles had fought the Houthis in six wars over ten years at the time Saleh had allied himself with Saudi and Western powers. With Saleh s experience administering the country and cultivating a strong military, the Houthis made major military gains around the country and together their forces withstood thousands of Saudi-led air strikes. But the Houthi-Saleh entente cracked in August when a Houthi leader passed over a trusted Saleh confidante for a key military position, according to people in the General People s Congress Party, the grouping of technocrats and tribal grandees that did Saleh s bidding throughout his rule. Saleh loyalists itched for revenge, they said. Fearing disloyalty, the Houthis restricted Saleh to his fief in Sanaa s political district. Gerald Feierstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen of the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the Houthis then waged their war largely without him. Saleh was largely a spent force by the time he died in a weekend s fighting, wrote Feierstein in a policy brief. On November 29, tensions exploded. Rumors swirled in the city of Sanaa that the Houthis were planning to paint the domes of a giant mosque and palace that Saleh had built and named after himself in their trademark green. When Houthi militia neared the palace, Saleh s guards fired. The Houthis, experts in mountain guerrilla warfare, overran the palace with grenades and seized it. The Houthis wanted Saleh to hand over his weapons and disarm his fighters, a senior Saleh party official told Reuters. He refused. Another party official said that, contrary to reports that Saleh was in his car trying to flee when he was killed on Dec. 4, the former president had been executed with a gunshot to the head after making a last stand at his house. Now, the Saleh associate says he and his colleagues are afraid the Houthis will turn against all of them. The Houthis want to kill us all. For a graphic on Yemen's stalemated war, click tmsnrt.rs/2zqGyq9

fake

Trump puts Goldman Sachs in spotlight, for better or worse

(Reuters) - No Wall Street firm is set to do better under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump than Goldman Sachs Group Inc. But the selection of several current and former Goldman bankers to high-profile positions in his administration could reignite flames of resentment against the bank, and the Wall Street elite it represents, which Trump himself fanned during his campaign. Goldman’s shares have jumped by nearly a third since Trump’s Nov. 8 election victory, outpacing gains by rivals, as investors bet on a resurgence in trading stocks and bonds due to increased volatility, and the prospect of less onerous financial regulation. But Trump’s selection of Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist and Steven Mnuchin as his nominee for Treasury secretary - both of them former Goldman bankers - has prompted an outcry from Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who have pledged to resist Trump’s efforts to dismantle recent financial reforms. Trump’s expected pick of Gary Cohn, Goldman’s second-in-command, to advise him on economic policy, has only made that chorus louder. The proximity of so many Goldman executives to the seat of power could make sympathetic treatment of banks more likely, some critics have said. But at the same time, the public display of Goldman’s reach could stir up calls for renewed scrutiny just as Wall Street wants to see some restrictions imposed after the 2008 financial crisis eased. “Goldman has spent the last couple of years doing their work quietly, but now they have the focus on them, which means people who weren’t interested in them last week, now are,” said Erik Gordon, a business professor focusing on investment banking at the University of Michigan. “In the harsh spotlight, every wrinkle, scar and freckle shows.” U.S. governments have a tradition of choosing former Goldman bankers for key positions, stretching back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. But during the latest financial crisis, when Main Street bailed out Wall Street, Goldman’s connections within government and the profits it made selling toxic mortgage debt led Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi to call it “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.” Popular anger at Wall Street generally and Goldman in particular provided the backdrop to the Dodd-Frank post-crisis regulations, which made it much more expensive for banks to trade securities as they had before. Following the financial crisis, Goldman acknowledged it needed to do more work to improve the firm’s image with ordinary people, current and former executives have said. While Goldman - the leader in the lucrative business of advising on mergers and acquisitions - had previously thrived on keeping its head down, focusing on clients and shunning the media, it began to focus more closely on its reputation. “We’ve withdrawn from some businesses and withdrawn from some opportunities out there in the world because we decided we shouldn’t do that type of business because the brand and the reputation was too valuable,” Cohn said in a 2014 interview with a Canadian newspaper. Executives also started giving more interviews and the bank rolled out its first nationwide advertising campaigns aimed at regular people that emphasized its role in alternative energy and job creation. BANK-FRIENDLY REGULATIONS Goldman’s engagement with Main Street has grown more important as the bank has entered consumer markets, launching an online lending business earlier this year, called Marcus, with video ads on Facebook, Hulu, Pandora and YouTube. Despite efforts to revamp its image, Goldman has remained a byword for elitism, something that Trump tapped into during the election campaign, releasing a television ad that characterized Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein as part of a “global power structure” that had robbed America’s working class. The bank’s association with Trump’s government may reignite feelings of anger that ad may have stirred up. “If the decisions made by the Trump administration are seen as supporting the ‘old Wall Street’, that will bring the connection with Goldman to the forefront,” said Jim Marous, a financial industry strategist who works with banks on branding and marketing. For now, investors do not appear to be worried. With its consumer operations just a small sliver of its overall business, they are confident that any negative publicity Goldman may suffer will be far outweighed by the positive benefits that will flow from having more bank-friendly regulations. “Goldman will always be linked with politics, even if that goes away from time to time,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, which holds shares in Goldman Sachs. “Money and politics always go together.”

Title: Trump puts Goldman Sachs in spotlight, for better or worse. Text: (Reuters) - No Wall Street firm is set to do better under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump than Goldman Sachs Group Inc. But the selection of several current and former Goldman bankers to high-profile positions in his administration could reignite flames of resentment against the bank, and the Wall Street elite it represents, which Trump himself fanned during his campaign. Goldman’s shares have jumped by nearly a third since Trump’s Nov. 8 election victory, outpacing gains by rivals, as investors bet on a resurgence in trading stocks and bonds due to increased volatility, and the prospect of less onerous financial regulation. But Trump’s selection of Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist and Steven Mnuchin as his nominee for Treasury secretary - both of them former Goldman bankers - has prompted an outcry from Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who have pledged to resist Trump’s efforts to dismantle recent financial reforms. Trump’s expected pick of Gary Cohn, Goldman’s second-in-command, to advise him on economic policy, has only made that chorus louder. The proximity of so many Goldman executives to the seat of power could make sympathetic treatment of banks more likely, some critics have said. But at the same time, the public display of Goldman’s reach could stir up calls for renewed scrutiny just as Wall Street wants to see some restrictions imposed after the 2008 financial crisis eased. “Goldman has spent the last couple of years doing their work quietly, but now they have the focus on them, which means people who weren’t interested in them last week, now are,” said Erik Gordon, a business professor focusing on investment banking at the University of Michigan. “In the harsh spotlight, every wrinkle, scar and freckle shows.” U.S. governments have a tradition of choosing former Goldman bankers for key positions, stretching back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. But during the latest financial crisis, when Main Street bailed out Wall Street, Goldman’s connections within government and the profits it made selling toxic mortgage debt led Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi to call it “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.” Popular anger at Wall Street generally and Goldman in particular provided the backdrop to the Dodd-Frank post-crisis regulations, which made it much more expensive for banks to trade securities as they had before. Following the financial crisis, Goldman acknowledged it needed to do more work to improve the firm’s image with ordinary people, current and former executives have said. While Goldman - the leader in the lucrative business of advising on mergers and acquisitions - had previously thrived on keeping its head down, focusing on clients and shunning the media, it began to focus more closely on its reputation. “We’ve withdrawn from some businesses and withdrawn from some opportunities out there in the world because we decided we shouldn’t do that type of business because the brand and the reputation was too valuable,” Cohn said in a 2014 interview with a Canadian newspaper. Executives also started giving more interviews and the bank rolled out its first nationwide advertising campaigns aimed at regular people that emphasized its role in alternative energy and job creation. BANK-FRIENDLY REGULATIONS Goldman’s engagement with Main Street has grown more important as the bank has entered consumer markets, launching an online lending business earlier this year, called Marcus, with video ads on Facebook, Hulu, Pandora and YouTube. Despite efforts to revamp its image, Goldman has remained a byword for elitism, something that Trump tapped into during the election campaign, releasing a television ad that characterized Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein as part of a “global power structure” that had robbed America’s working class. The bank’s association with Trump’s government may reignite feelings of anger that ad may have stirred up. “If the decisions made by the Trump administration are seen as supporting the ‘old Wall Street’, that will bring the connection with Goldman to the forefront,” said Jim Marous, a financial industry strategist who works with banks on branding and marketing. For now, investors do not appear to be worried. With its consumer operations just a small sliver of its overall business, they are confident that any negative publicity Goldman may suffer will be far outweighed by the positive benefits that will flow from having more bank-friendly regulations. “Goldman will always be linked with politics, even if that goes away from time to time,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, which holds shares in Goldman Sachs. “Money and politics always go together.”

fake

WOW! CHICAGO RESIDENTS Blast “Democratic Machine” For Ruining The City…”They Want You to Think Donald Trump Is The Problem…White and Black Democrats Are Doing This To Us” [VIDEO]

This isn t the first punch this group of black Chicago residents have delivered to the failed Democrat Party. In 2015, they made a video message directly aimed at Barack Obama and the Democrat Party. The video exposed the lies Obama and the Democrats told Chicago residents to get votes, and then after the election, they ignored the residents while unemployment rates and crime skyrocketed and the city crumbled around them. Watch the VIRAL video HERE.The taxpayer-funded installation of a giant, gold-lettered #RealFake sculpture, placed by Chicago just opposite Trump Tower, serves as the backdrop for a cutting short film, Chicago Carnage, from RebelPundit filmmakers Jeremy Segal and Andrew Marcus featuring community organizers Paul McKinley and Mark Carter.The city of Chicago installed the sculpture just across the Chicago River from Trump Tower in a space that could only be intended to give a giant middle finger to President Trump late last month. The sculpture sits as perfect photo-op to take selfies and group photos flipping off the Trump sign, while standing underneath it right next to the golden sculpture that screams Real Fake.Both say Chicago is a city that is overrun with very real deadly violence and poverty within a few short miles from this sculpture and it is by intentional design under the liberal agenda. It is ironic that this sign would show up right here, and not in front of City Hall, McKinley says. It is a great deception to distract people from real issues. Carter says, They are not trying to resolve the problems in this city, they need things to happen exactly the way they are happening .The fake news is that this city is a city for everyone .This is city for the elite. He goes on to slam the city for looking like a bomb has been dropped, and looking like a third world city. Every day of the week there is a body count, 30 people shot up, 40 people shot up, that s not real fake, says McKinley. They want you to be focused on Donald Trump being the problem, Carter said, to which McKinley asks, why are we all messed up, Trump just got in there? There is nothing fake about this guy, said Carter, he tells you what he s about, the fake is Barack Obama, the fake is Bill Clinton. The Democrat machine is dummying down the people, socially engineering the people into poverty.They want you to believe that there is some white racist Republicans or some white racist conservative doing this. No, this is the democrat machine, these are white and black racist Democrats that are doing this to us.They don t want the killing to stop. They need the people to continue to poor. They need these blood sucking programs, that have never done anything to bring down violence, unemployment and poverty.McKinley says, this is the most racist city and segregated city in the country, right here in Chicago. Rebel Pundit

Title: WOW! CHICAGO RESIDENTS Blast “Democratic Machine” For Ruining The City…”They Want You to Think Donald Trump Is The Problem…White and Black Democrats Are Doing This To Us” [VIDEO]. Text: This isn t the first punch this group of black Chicago residents have delivered to the failed Democrat Party. In 2015, they made a video message directly aimed at Barack Obama and the Democrat Party. The video exposed the lies Obama and the Democrats told Chicago residents to get votes, and then after the election, they ignored the residents while unemployment rates and crime skyrocketed and the city crumbled around them. Watch the VIRAL video HERE.The taxpayer-funded installation of a giant, gold-lettered #RealFake sculpture, placed by Chicago just opposite Trump Tower, serves as the backdrop for a cutting short film, Chicago Carnage, from RebelPundit filmmakers Jeremy Segal and Andrew Marcus featuring community organizers Paul McKinley and Mark Carter.The city of Chicago installed the sculpture just across the Chicago River from Trump Tower in a space that could only be intended to give a giant middle finger to President Trump late last month. The sculpture sits as perfect photo-op to take selfies and group photos flipping off the Trump sign, while standing underneath it right next to the golden sculpture that screams Real Fake.Both say Chicago is a city that is overrun with very real deadly violence and poverty within a few short miles from this sculpture and it is by intentional design under the liberal agenda. It is ironic that this sign would show up right here, and not in front of City Hall, McKinley says. It is a great deception to distract people from real issues. Carter says, They are not trying to resolve the problems in this city, they need things to happen exactly the way they are happening .The fake news is that this city is a city for everyone .This is city for the elite. He goes on to slam the city for looking like a bomb has been dropped, and looking like a third world city. Every day of the week there is a body count, 30 people shot up, 40 people shot up, that s not real fake, says McKinley. They want you to be focused on Donald Trump being the problem, Carter said, to which McKinley asks, why are we all messed up, Trump just got in there? There is nothing fake about this guy, said Carter, he tells you what he s about, the fake is Barack Obama, the fake is Bill Clinton. The Democrat machine is dummying down the people, socially engineering the people into poverty.They want you to believe that there is some white racist Republicans or some white racist conservative doing this. No, this is the democrat machine, these are white and black racist Democrats that are doing this to us.They don t want the killing to stop. They need the people to continue to poor. They need these blood sucking programs, that have never done anything to bring down violence, unemployment and poverty.McKinley says, this is the most racist city and segregated city in the country, right here in Chicago. Rebel Pundit

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Jimmy Kimmel Compares Trump And Cruz and The Results Are HILARIOUS (VIDEO)

While many Republicans are lining up behind Ted Cruz because they say that Trump s policies are too extreme, here s some news for them: These two clowns are one in the same. The only difference is Ted Cruz seems to be a bit more slick and polite about his racism than the bombastic Trump. Jimmy Kimmel proved that on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live with an ad he says was created by Mitt Romney which urges Republicans to vote for Ted Cruz. Kimmel said: The Republican establishment seems to be doing all it can do behind the scenes to topple Donald Trump and in front of the scenes too. Mitt Romney, in particular, has his magic underwear in a bunch when it comes to Donald Trump. He s asking voters to stop what he calls Trumpism and support Ted Cruz. In fact Mitt released this powerful ad that really tells the differences between Trump and Cruz in a very easy to follow way. The ad then goes on to show the striking similarities between the two candidates. Whether it s building a wall or deporting 11 million immigrants, the candidates are one in the same. The candidates also agree on no gun control, ending abortion, repealing Obamacare, and oppressing American Muslims.So, why the uproar about Trump? Trump is simply more vocal and bombastic about his plans for America than the creepy Ted Cruz, who comes off more professional but is just as dangerous.Watch the video here:[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGnwlPAZjpM] Featured image via video screenshot.

Title: Jimmy Kimmel Compares Trump And Cruz and The Results Are HILARIOUS (VIDEO). Text: While many Republicans are lining up behind Ted Cruz because they say that Trump s policies are too extreme, here s some news for them: These two clowns are one in the same. The only difference is Ted Cruz seems to be a bit more slick and polite about his racism than the bombastic Trump. Jimmy Kimmel proved that on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live with an ad he says was created by Mitt Romney which urges Republicans to vote for Ted Cruz. Kimmel said: The Republican establishment seems to be doing all it can do behind the scenes to topple Donald Trump and in front of the scenes too. Mitt Romney, in particular, has his magic underwear in a bunch when it comes to Donald Trump. He s asking voters to stop what he calls Trumpism and support Ted Cruz. In fact Mitt released this powerful ad that really tells the differences between Trump and Cruz in a very easy to follow way. The ad then goes on to show the striking similarities between the two candidates. Whether it s building a wall or deporting 11 million immigrants, the candidates are one in the same. The candidates also agree on no gun control, ending abortion, repealing Obamacare, and oppressing American Muslims.So, why the uproar about Trump? Trump is simply more vocal and bombastic about his plans for America than the creepy Ted Cruz, who comes off more professional but is just as dangerous.Watch the video here:[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGnwlPAZjpM] Featured image via video screenshot.

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REPORT: Fox News Might Be Under Investigation By Federal Authorities

If federal authorities discover what they are reportedly looking for, the Republican propaganda network could be in deep sh*t.Last year, Roger Ailes was ousted as Fox News boss because Gretchen Carlson and other female anchors filed sexual harassment lawsuits.According to Carlson s lawsuit, Ailes punished her after she refused to have sex with him. He constantly ogled her and told her to wear short skirts to emphasize her legs. He also allowed misogyny to run rampant. Carlson even named current Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy in the lawsuit.First, Ailes demoted Carlson by removing her from Fox & Friends. And then he fired her after she continued to refuse to sleep with him to further her career.The case against Ailes was so damning that even Megyn Kelly defended Carlson.Eventually, Ailes settled the lawsuit and Fox News paid Carlson $20 million. Ailes was then fired by the company and given a $40 million severance package.And that money is the source of a possible investigation that federal authorities are considering or already moving forward with.Andrea Tantaros lawyer Judd Burstein, who is representing her in her sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News and Roger Ailes, recently received a subpoena from federal prosecutors. And he told the Hollywood Reporter what it means. Once I saw it, I knew what was happening, Burstein said. They were investigating whether Fox News violated securities laws by not reporting settlements to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In other words, Fox News may have settled the lawsuit against Ailes without informing the shareholders of the decision to pay Carlson $20 million while also agreeing to pay Ailes $40 million. Their haste to quickly sweep the lawsuit out of national headlines would be a violation of rules set up by the Securities and Exchange Commission.In a statement following the report, Fox News claimed the corporation has not received a subpoena, but did say they have been in contact with U.S. Attorneys. The court granted FOX News motion to send Andrea Tantaros case to arbitration, where it always belonged, and rejected her counsel Judd Burstein s histrionics. Apparently one of Mr. Burstein s other clients has received a subpoena. Neither FOX News nor 21CF has received a subpoena, but we have been in communication with the U.S. Attorney s office for months. We have and will continue to cooperate on all inquiries with any interested authorities. If Fox News gets busted for not informing their shareholders they could end up paying a hefty fine to settle with the SEC. That just takes more money out of Rupert Murdoch s pockets and could make it more difficult for the company to make huge offers to Fox hosts and anchors to stick around when it s time to renew contracts. It would be a major financial setback for the conservative propaganda machine.Hopefully, federal authorities are able to launch or continue their investigation without interference from Donald Trump.Featured image via Dangerous Minds

Title: REPORT: Fox News Might Be Under Investigation By Federal Authorities. Text: If federal authorities discover what they are reportedly looking for, the Republican propaganda network could be in deep sh*t.Last year, Roger Ailes was ousted as Fox News boss because Gretchen Carlson and other female anchors filed sexual harassment lawsuits.According to Carlson s lawsuit, Ailes punished her after she refused to have sex with him. He constantly ogled her and told her to wear short skirts to emphasize her legs. He also allowed misogyny to run rampant. Carlson even named current Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy in the lawsuit.First, Ailes demoted Carlson by removing her from Fox & Friends. And then he fired her after she continued to refuse to sleep with him to further her career.The case against Ailes was so damning that even Megyn Kelly defended Carlson.Eventually, Ailes settled the lawsuit and Fox News paid Carlson $20 million. Ailes was then fired by the company and given a $40 million severance package.And that money is the source of a possible investigation that federal authorities are considering or already moving forward with.Andrea Tantaros lawyer Judd Burstein, who is representing her in her sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News and Roger Ailes, recently received a subpoena from federal prosecutors. And he told the Hollywood Reporter what it means. Once I saw it, I knew what was happening, Burstein said. They were investigating whether Fox News violated securities laws by not reporting settlements to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In other words, Fox News may have settled the lawsuit against Ailes without informing the shareholders of the decision to pay Carlson $20 million while also agreeing to pay Ailes $40 million. Their haste to quickly sweep the lawsuit out of national headlines would be a violation of rules set up by the Securities and Exchange Commission.In a statement following the report, Fox News claimed the corporation has not received a subpoena, but did say they have been in contact with U.S. Attorneys. The court granted FOX News motion to send Andrea Tantaros case to arbitration, where it always belonged, and rejected her counsel Judd Burstein s histrionics. Apparently one of Mr. Burstein s other clients has received a subpoena. Neither FOX News nor 21CF has received a subpoena, but we have been in communication with the U.S. Attorney s office for months. We have and will continue to cooperate on all inquiries with any interested authorities. If Fox News gets busted for not informing their shareholders they could end up paying a hefty fine to settle with the SEC. That just takes more money out of Rupert Murdoch s pockets and could make it more difficult for the company to make huge offers to Fox hosts and anchors to stick around when it s time to renew contracts. It would be a major financial setback for the conservative propaganda machine.Hopefully, federal authorities are able to launch or continue their investigation without interference from Donald Trump.Featured image via Dangerous Minds

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Hillary BRILLIANTLY Trolls Trump As His Fledgling Administration Plunges Further Into Chaos (TWEET)

No matter what you think of former First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or her politics, there is one thing that cannot be denied: She would have been a competent president. However, thanks to a range of factors, Donald Trump beat her in the electoral college, and now we are stuck with the dangerous incompetence of Team Trump.The latest development after the three weeks of crazy that has been the beginning of the Trump regime is the fact that General Michael Flynn, Trump s now-former National Security Adviser, has resigned amid a flurry of chaos and scandal regarding conversations he had with a Russian official regarding sanctions before the Trump administration took over the White House.In an I told you so moment, Hillary weighed in on what was happening with Team Trump. This comes after one of Hillary s supporters, former Deputy Secretary of State Phillipe Reines, tweeted a snide remark regarding the fact that General Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr, had participated in spreading fake news regarding #Pizzagate, a false story alleging that Hillary and her campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring out of a Washington, DC pizza parlor. Of course this was not true, and absurd and ridiculous to anyone with half a brain, but some Trump supporters believed it wholeheartedly. This resulted in a man opening fire in the pizza joint, a popular family place called Comet Pizza.Hillary retweeted Reines, and added her own comment, thusly:Philippe's got his own way of saying things, but he has a point about the real consequences of fake news https://t.co/a02sXiaHfp Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 14, 2017Of course, Hillary and Phillipe are right. Not only have these lies from Team Trump come back to bite them, but said lies had very real consequences. Keep calling them out, Hillary. Trump may have won some key states, but remember you won the popular vote. You also warned America that this would happen. Godspeed, sister. Welcome to #TheResistance.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Title: Hillary BRILLIANTLY Trolls Trump As His Fledgling Administration Plunges Further Into Chaos (TWEET). Text: No matter what you think of former First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or her politics, there is one thing that cannot be denied: She would have been a competent president. However, thanks to a range of factors, Donald Trump beat her in the electoral college, and now we are stuck with the dangerous incompetence of Team Trump.The latest development after the three weeks of crazy that has been the beginning of the Trump regime is the fact that General Michael Flynn, Trump s now-former National Security Adviser, has resigned amid a flurry of chaos and scandal regarding conversations he had with a Russian official regarding sanctions before the Trump administration took over the White House.In an I told you so moment, Hillary weighed in on what was happening with Team Trump. This comes after one of Hillary s supporters, former Deputy Secretary of State Phillipe Reines, tweeted a snide remark regarding the fact that General Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr, had participated in spreading fake news regarding #Pizzagate, a false story alleging that Hillary and her campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring out of a Washington, DC pizza parlor. Of course this was not true, and absurd and ridiculous to anyone with half a brain, but some Trump supporters believed it wholeheartedly. This resulted in a man opening fire in the pizza joint, a popular family place called Comet Pizza.Hillary retweeted Reines, and added her own comment, thusly:Philippe's got his own way of saying things, but he has a point about the real consequences of fake news https://t.co/a02sXiaHfp Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 14, 2017Of course, Hillary and Phillipe are right. Not only have these lies from Team Trump come back to bite them, but said lies had very real consequences. Keep calling them out, Hillary. Trump may have won some key states, but remember you won the popular vote. You also warned America that this would happen. Godspeed, sister. Welcome to #TheResistance.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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U.S. lawmakers ask Wells about taking back bonuses linked to scam case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five Democratic U.S. Senators have asked Wells Fargo if it plans to take back bonuses and other compensation to executives linked to the 2 million phony bank accounts that employees created to meet sales quotas. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators announced last week that they had reached a $185 million settlement with the bank over the scam. “...We write to ask whether the Board of Directors will invoke Wells Fargo’s clawback authority to recover any of the compensation the company has provided to its senior executives, including Carrie Tolstedt, the former senior executive vice president of community banking,” they wrote in a letter dated Thursday and released on Friday. The five - Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, Rhode Island’s Jack Reed, New Jersey’s Robert Menendez, and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley - said Wells Fargo has cause to claw back money under a policy it instituted after the 2007-09 financial crisis. “These clawback provisions are designed to prevent exactly what happened with Ms. Toldstedt: Shareholders and consumers bearing the burden of bank misconduct while senior executives walk away with multimillion-dollar awards based on what the company later finds out are fraudulent practices,” they wrote. Toldstedt led the bank division running the incentive program that pushed the employees to create fake accounts under real customers’ names, often hurting those customers’ credit scores, and received more than $20 million in annual bonuses between 2010 and 2015, they wrote. Wells CEO John Stumpf will testify on Tuesday before the Banking Committee, where Brown is the most senior Democrat.

Title: U.S. lawmakers ask Wells about taking back bonuses linked to scam case. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five Democratic U.S. Senators have asked Wells Fargo if it plans to take back bonuses and other compensation to executives linked to the 2 million phony bank accounts that employees created to meet sales quotas. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators announced last week that they had reached a $185 million settlement with the bank over the scam. “...We write to ask whether the Board of Directors will invoke Wells Fargo’s clawback authority to recover any of the compensation the company has provided to its senior executives, including Carrie Tolstedt, the former senior executive vice president of community banking,” they wrote in a letter dated Thursday and released on Friday. The five - Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, Rhode Island’s Jack Reed, New Jersey’s Robert Menendez, and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley - said Wells Fargo has cause to claw back money under a policy it instituted after the 2007-09 financial crisis. “These clawback provisions are designed to prevent exactly what happened with Ms. Toldstedt: Shareholders and consumers bearing the burden of bank misconduct while senior executives walk away with multimillion-dollar awards based on what the company later finds out are fraudulent practices,” they wrote. Toldstedt led the bank division running the incentive program that pushed the employees to create fake accounts under real customers’ names, often hurting those customers’ credit scores, and received more than $20 million in annual bonuses between 2010 and 2015, they wrote. Wells CEO John Stumpf will testify on Tuesday before the Banking Committee, where Brown is the most senior Democrat.

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Putin to meet with security council after U.S. missile strikes on Syria

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting of his security council later on Friday to discuss the U.S missile strikes on Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia has suspended its Syria air safety agreement with the United States following the missile strikes. Peskov said Russia would keep technical and military channels of communication open with Washington, but would not exchange any information through them. “In light of the missile strikes, risks (of collisions between Russian and U.S. aircraft) are significantly higher,” the spokesman told reporters. The strikes were carried out in interests of Islamic State and other radical groups operating in Syria, Peskov added.

Title: Putin to meet with security council after U.S. missile strikes on Syria. Text: MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting of his security council later on Friday to discuss the U.S missile strikes on Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia has suspended its Syria air safety agreement with the United States following the missile strikes. Peskov said Russia would keep technical and military channels of communication open with Washington, but would not exchange any information through them. “In light of the missile strikes, risks (of collisions between Russian and U.S. aircraft) are significantly higher,” the spokesman told reporters. The strikes were carried out in interests of Islamic State and other radical groups operating in Syria, Peskov added.

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2012: JUSTICE KENNEDY READ A SCATHING DISSENTING OPINION ON OBAMACARE…Why He May Be The Vote That Saves Obamacare Today

Whether federal spending legislation crosses the line from enticement to coercion is often difficult to determine, and courts should not conclude that legislation is unconstitutional on this ground unless the coercive nature of an offer is unmistakably clear. In this case, however, there can be no doubt. Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and AlitoJustice Anthony Kennedy was furious when a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama s healthcare law. As he read the dissenting opinion from the bench three years ago, his anger was palpable. The majority regards its opinion as judicial modesty, he declared. It is not. It amounts instead to a vast judicial over-reaching. That was Kennedy on June 28, 2012.Now, as the country awaits a ruling in the second major challenge to Obama s signature Affordable Care Act, a question is whether the justice who was the voice of the opposition then could provide the critical fifth vote to uphold the law on the nine-justice court now.At stake are the tax-credit subsidies that have helped low- and moderate-income Americans obtain health insurance. The challengers say the government unlawfully extended those subsidies to states that did not create local insurance exchanges but instead relied on the federal exchange. If the court strikes down the subsidies, millions of Americans in at least 34 of the 50 states could lose coverage.Five years after its passage, the Affordable Care Act has become ingrained in American life even as it remains politically divisive. This is now part of the fabric of how we care for one another, Obama, a Democrat, declared in a speech last week. Republicans have called for repeal and among the related lawsuits simmering in lower courts is a dispute brought by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives over Treasury Department payments to healthcare insurers.IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICTIn the case before the court, the unique issue along with Kennedy s record and his comments in oral arguments raise the possibility he will join the four liberal justices to endorse the law. Three years ago, his fellow conservative Chief Justice John Roberts cast the swing vote with the liberals to uphold the law. It marked a rare episode when Kennedy, the usual key justice on this divided bench, did not control the outcome of a momentous case.It is impossible to predict with confidence how the court will resolve the case, King v. Burwell. A ruling is anxiously awaited by officials in Washington and the insurance and healthcare industries nationwide.What is known: Two days after the March 4 oral arguments this year, the justices, per their usual practice, took a vote in a small conference room off Chief Justice Roberts chambers. The most senior justice on the winning side then assigned the opinion for those in the majority; the senior justice on the dissenting side tapped a writer for the main dissent. Drafts of dueling opinions began circulating among the chambers.In this conversation through memos, the justices will sharpen their arguments, sometimes compromising in reasoning and rhetoric to keep a majority together. Those in dissent similarly hone their retorts. The process is shrouded in secrecy, and the public will only know who is writing which opinion when they are issued.For King v. Burwell, the decision could come down as soon as Monday morning, when the justices next take the bench. It is more likely to be issued later this month. The toughest disputes tend to be resolved right up against the traditional end-of-June deadline for the court s nine-month session. Among the 20 awaited cases is also the question of whether the U.S. Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.A PIVOTAL POSITIONOn healthcare, either Kennedy or Roberts could tip the balance. Yet the 78-year-old Kennedy, appointed to the bench in 1988 by Republican President Ronald Reagan, may be in a more pivotal position based on his respect for state sovereignty and concern for the practical consequences of a decision.While the 2012 dispute posed a broad-ranging constitutional challenge to the individual insurance mandate before it even took effect, this one turns on a mere four-word clause allowing tax credits for insurance purchased through exchanges established by the state. The challengers, libertarian lawyers who were among those who lodged the 2012 attack, say that means that the subsidies are not available to people who have bought insurance through federally facilitated exchanges, which vastly outnumber state-run exchanges. The Obama administration contends the law, taken as a whole, makes clear that Congress, when it passed the law, intended the subsidies to apply to all exchanges.During oral arguments Justice Kennedy suggested the challengers view of the law could put unconstitutional federal pressure on states, because if they failed to set up exchanges, they would lose subsidies: The states are being told either create your own exchange or we ll send your insurance market into a death spiral, he said.Kennedy also does not rigidly interpret the words of a statute. He considers how a decision may play out, and he noted that if people pay mandated taxes and are denied tax credits, the cost of insurance will be sky-high. Still, Kennedy may harbor skepticism about the law known as Obamacare, and he acknowledged during arguments the possibility that the challengers could prevail on the plain words of the statute. Via: Reuters

Title: 2012: JUSTICE KENNEDY READ A SCATHING DISSENTING OPINION ON OBAMACARE…Why He May Be The Vote That Saves Obamacare Today. Text: Whether federal spending legislation crosses the line from enticement to coercion is often difficult to determine, and courts should not conclude that legislation is unconstitutional on this ground unless the coercive nature of an offer is unmistakably clear. In this case, however, there can be no doubt. Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and AlitoJustice Anthony Kennedy was furious when a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama s healthcare law. As he read the dissenting opinion from the bench three years ago, his anger was palpable. The majority regards its opinion as judicial modesty, he declared. It is not. It amounts instead to a vast judicial over-reaching. That was Kennedy on June 28, 2012.Now, as the country awaits a ruling in the second major challenge to Obama s signature Affordable Care Act, a question is whether the justice who was the voice of the opposition then could provide the critical fifth vote to uphold the law on the nine-justice court now.At stake are the tax-credit subsidies that have helped low- and moderate-income Americans obtain health insurance. The challengers say the government unlawfully extended those subsidies to states that did not create local insurance exchanges but instead relied on the federal exchange. If the court strikes down the subsidies, millions of Americans in at least 34 of the 50 states could lose coverage.Five years after its passage, the Affordable Care Act has become ingrained in American life even as it remains politically divisive. This is now part of the fabric of how we care for one another, Obama, a Democrat, declared in a speech last week. Republicans have called for repeal and among the related lawsuits simmering in lower courts is a dispute brought by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives over Treasury Department payments to healthcare insurers.IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICTIn the case before the court, the unique issue along with Kennedy s record and his comments in oral arguments raise the possibility he will join the four liberal justices to endorse the law. Three years ago, his fellow conservative Chief Justice John Roberts cast the swing vote with the liberals to uphold the law. It marked a rare episode when Kennedy, the usual key justice on this divided bench, did not control the outcome of a momentous case.It is impossible to predict with confidence how the court will resolve the case, King v. Burwell. A ruling is anxiously awaited by officials in Washington and the insurance and healthcare industries nationwide.What is known: Two days after the March 4 oral arguments this year, the justices, per their usual practice, took a vote in a small conference room off Chief Justice Roberts chambers. The most senior justice on the winning side then assigned the opinion for those in the majority; the senior justice on the dissenting side tapped a writer for the main dissent. Drafts of dueling opinions began circulating among the chambers.In this conversation through memos, the justices will sharpen their arguments, sometimes compromising in reasoning and rhetoric to keep a majority together. Those in dissent similarly hone their retorts. The process is shrouded in secrecy, and the public will only know who is writing which opinion when they are issued.For King v. Burwell, the decision could come down as soon as Monday morning, when the justices next take the bench. It is more likely to be issued later this month. The toughest disputes tend to be resolved right up against the traditional end-of-June deadline for the court s nine-month session. Among the 20 awaited cases is also the question of whether the U.S. Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.A PIVOTAL POSITIONOn healthcare, either Kennedy or Roberts could tip the balance. Yet the 78-year-old Kennedy, appointed to the bench in 1988 by Republican President Ronald Reagan, may be in a more pivotal position based on his respect for state sovereignty and concern for the practical consequences of a decision.While the 2012 dispute posed a broad-ranging constitutional challenge to the individual insurance mandate before it even took effect, this one turns on a mere four-word clause allowing tax credits for insurance purchased through exchanges established by the state. The challengers, libertarian lawyers who were among those who lodged the 2012 attack, say that means that the subsidies are not available to people who have bought insurance through federally facilitated exchanges, which vastly outnumber state-run exchanges. The Obama administration contends the law, taken as a whole, makes clear that Congress, when it passed the law, intended the subsidies to apply to all exchanges.During oral arguments Justice Kennedy suggested the challengers view of the law could put unconstitutional federal pressure on states, because if they failed to set up exchanges, they would lose subsidies: The states are being told either create your own exchange or we ll send your insurance market into a death spiral, he said.Kennedy also does not rigidly interpret the words of a statute. He considers how a decision may play out, and he noted that if people pay mandated taxes and are denied tax credits, the cost of insurance will be sky-high. Still, Kennedy may harbor skepticism about the law known as Obamacare, and he acknowledged during arguments the possibility that the challengers could prevail on the plain words of the statute. Via: Reuters

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Newsmaker: Malaysian teacher seen as new 'emir' of pro-Islamic State militants

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The battlefield deaths of two leaders of an Islamic State alliance in the southern Philippines could thrust a Malaysian who trained at an Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan as the militant group s new regional emir , experts and officials say. Intelligence officials describe Malaysian Mahmud Ahmad as a financier and recruiter, who helped put together the coalition of pro-Islamic State (IS) fighters that stormed Marawi City in May. Isnilon Hapilon, Islamic State s anointed emir in Southeast Asia, and Omarkhayam Maute, one of two Middle East-educated brothers at the helm of the militant alliance, were killed in a raid on a building in Marawi and their bodies recovered on Monday, Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said. Philippine authorities said they were still searching for Mahmud. Based on our information, there is still one personality, Dr. Mahmud of Malaysia, and he is still in the main battle area with some Indonesians and Malaysians, military chief, Gen. Eduardo Ano, said on Monday. But their attitude is now different, they are no longer as aggressive as before. He did not elaborate. Ano urged the 30 militants remaining in a shrinking combat zone to surrender and free hostages as troops stepped up their fight. Abdullah Maute, the alliance s military commander, was reported killed in August, though no body was found. Intelligence officials in Malaysia believe Mahmud left Marawi months ago. Malaysia s police counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay told Reuters in July that Mahmud managed to sneak out from Marawi city to another safe place with his followers . The 39-year-old Mahmud, who holds a doctorate in religious studies and was a university lecturer in Kuala Lumpur, was Hapilon s second-in-command in the IS s Southeast Asia caliphate , according to a July report by Indonesia-based Institute of Policy Analysis and Conflict (IPAC). Sitting in the inner circle of the Marawi command center, Mahmud controlled recruitment and financing, the IPAC report said. He was the contact for foreigners wanting to join the fight in the Philippines or with IS in the Middle East, it said. It wasn t just Indonesians and Malaysians contacting Dr. Mahmud ... he was also the contact for Bangladeshis in Malaysia who wanted to join the fighting in Mindanao, IPAC s director Sidney Jones told Reuters. Rohan Gunaratna, an analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, described Mahmud as the most important IS leader in Southeast Asia . Ahmad El-Muhammady, a lecturer at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) and a counter-terrorism advisor to the police, said Mahmud often solicited funds for IS operations. He s always the one asking people does anyone have any money they d like to donate? , and he will usually reply when followers in the region ask him about the situation in the Philippines, Ahmad said. Mahmud grew up in Batu Caves, a crowded Kuala Lumpur suburb, famous for a Hindu temple housed in a large complex of caverns. Mahmud s wife and three children were last known to be living there, although Reuters could not locate them. Before leaving Malaysia in 2014, Mahmud taught young Muslim students at a tahfiz, a school to memorise the Koran, in Nakhoda, a village near Batu Caves, residents said. When he (Mahmud) started the school, he did stay there for the first one or two years, but then he just disappeared, said 50-year-old Zainon Mat Arshad, a Nakhoda resident who went to the mosque where Mahmud prayed. When he was at the tahfiz school, he kept mostly to himself and if he had come over to pray on Friday, I don t think anyone would have recognized him, said Zainon. He didn t mingle with the local community. Security experts say Mahmud studied at Pakistan s Islamabad Islamic University in the late 1990s before going to Afghanistan where he learned to make improvised explosive devices at an al Qaeda camp. In 2000, he returned to Malaysia to get a doctorate, which earned him a post as a lecturer in the Islamic Studies faculty at the University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Former students described Mahmud as a quiet person who kept to himself. He wasn t the kind of lecturer who hung out at cafes with his students as some others did, said one former student, who declined to be identified. The few signs of his militant beliefs were discovered later, including a book he wrote on jihad under his nom de guerre, Abu Handzalah, said Ahmad, the IIUM lecturer. He was put on Malaysia s most-wanted list in April 2014 after leaving the country with several others, including his aide, a Malaysian bomb maker named Mohammad Najib Husen, to work with the Abu Sayyaf group, notorious for violent kidnappings and beheadings in the southern Philippines, Ahmad said. Mahmud received funding for the Marawi operation directly from IS headquarters, through the group s Southeast Asian unit led by Syrian-based Indonesian militant Bahrumsyah, the IPAC report said. In a video released by the Philippines army in June, Mahmud is seen alongside Hapilon as well as Omarkhayam and Abdullah Maute - the pair of brothers who orchestrated the Marawi siege. (For a graphic on 'Pro Islamic State groups in the Philippine south' click tmsnrt.rs/2qVpzH5) (For a graphic on 'Battle for Marawi interactive' click tmsnrt.rs/2rhRPEa)

Title: Newsmaker: Malaysian teacher seen as new 'emir' of pro-Islamic State militants. Text: KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The battlefield deaths of two leaders of an Islamic State alliance in the southern Philippines could thrust a Malaysian who trained at an Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan as the militant group s new regional emir , experts and officials say. Intelligence officials describe Malaysian Mahmud Ahmad as a financier and recruiter, who helped put together the coalition of pro-Islamic State (IS) fighters that stormed Marawi City in May. Isnilon Hapilon, Islamic State s anointed emir in Southeast Asia, and Omarkhayam Maute, one of two Middle East-educated brothers at the helm of the militant alliance, were killed in a raid on a building in Marawi and their bodies recovered on Monday, Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said. Philippine authorities said they were still searching for Mahmud. Based on our information, there is still one personality, Dr. Mahmud of Malaysia, and he is still in the main battle area with some Indonesians and Malaysians, military chief, Gen. Eduardo Ano, said on Monday. But their attitude is now different, they are no longer as aggressive as before. He did not elaborate. Ano urged the 30 militants remaining in a shrinking combat zone to surrender and free hostages as troops stepped up their fight. Abdullah Maute, the alliance s military commander, was reported killed in August, though no body was found. Intelligence officials in Malaysia believe Mahmud left Marawi months ago. Malaysia s police counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay told Reuters in July that Mahmud managed to sneak out from Marawi city to another safe place with his followers . The 39-year-old Mahmud, who holds a doctorate in religious studies and was a university lecturer in Kuala Lumpur, was Hapilon s second-in-command in the IS s Southeast Asia caliphate , according to a July report by Indonesia-based Institute of Policy Analysis and Conflict (IPAC). Sitting in the inner circle of the Marawi command center, Mahmud controlled recruitment and financing, the IPAC report said. He was the contact for foreigners wanting to join the fight in the Philippines or with IS in the Middle East, it said. It wasn t just Indonesians and Malaysians contacting Dr. Mahmud ... he was also the contact for Bangladeshis in Malaysia who wanted to join the fighting in Mindanao, IPAC s director Sidney Jones told Reuters. Rohan Gunaratna, an analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, described Mahmud as the most important IS leader in Southeast Asia . Ahmad El-Muhammady, a lecturer at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) and a counter-terrorism advisor to the police, said Mahmud often solicited funds for IS operations. He s always the one asking people does anyone have any money they d like to donate? , and he will usually reply when followers in the region ask him about the situation in the Philippines, Ahmad said. Mahmud grew up in Batu Caves, a crowded Kuala Lumpur suburb, famous for a Hindu temple housed in a large complex of caverns. Mahmud s wife and three children were last known to be living there, although Reuters could not locate them. Before leaving Malaysia in 2014, Mahmud taught young Muslim students at a tahfiz, a school to memorise the Koran, in Nakhoda, a village near Batu Caves, residents said. When he (Mahmud) started the school, he did stay there for the first one or two years, but then he just disappeared, said 50-year-old Zainon Mat Arshad, a Nakhoda resident who went to the mosque where Mahmud prayed. When he was at the tahfiz school, he kept mostly to himself and if he had come over to pray on Friday, I don t think anyone would have recognized him, said Zainon. He didn t mingle with the local community. Security experts say Mahmud studied at Pakistan s Islamabad Islamic University in the late 1990s before going to Afghanistan where he learned to make improvised explosive devices at an al Qaeda camp. In 2000, he returned to Malaysia to get a doctorate, which earned him a post as a lecturer in the Islamic Studies faculty at the University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Former students described Mahmud as a quiet person who kept to himself. He wasn t the kind of lecturer who hung out at cafes with his students as some others did, said one former student, who declined to be identified. The few signs of his militant beliefs were discovered later, including a book he wrote on jihad under his nom de guerre, Abu Handzalah, said Ahmad, the IIUM lecturer. He was put on Malaysia s most-wanted list in April 2014 after leaving the country with several others, including his aide, a Malaysian bomb maker named Mohammad Najib Husen, to work with the Abu Sayyaf group, notorious for violent kidnappings and beheadings in the southern Philippines, Ahmad said. Mahmud received funding for the Marawi operation directly from IS headquarters, through the group s Southeast Asian unit led by Syrian-based Indonesian militant Bahrumsyah, the IPAC report said. In a video released by the Philippines army in June, Mahmud is seen alongside Hapilon as well as Omarkhayam and Abdullah Maute - the pair of brothers who orchestrated the Marawi siege. (For a graphic on 'Pro Islamic State groups in the Philippine south' click tmsnrt.rs/2qVpzH5) (For a graphic on 'Battle for Marawi interactive' click tmsnrt.rs/2rhRPEa)

fake

Trump Has Been Financing The ‘Crown Jewel’ Of His Empire With Money From His Worst Enemy

Trump bashes China so much and blames them for American problems so often, that if he wasn t such a racist you could arguably say it s the central theme of his presidential campaign. With that in mind, you have to wonder if Trump has some kind of multiple personality disorder. On one hand, he completely savages them with rhetoric every chance he gets. On the other, practically every aspect of his business is dependent on them to survive.As if it wasn t embarrassing enough for him to be busted on live TV for producing his overpriced and gaudy clothing in China, now it turns out that the crown jewel of his empire that being real estate development is also dependent on Chinese money to survive.A Trump-branded luxury apartment building called Trump Bay Street is being built in New Jersey. The project is receiving substantial funds from Chinese investors. Bloomberg reported that the investors were sold on the idea via a Sopranos style video campaign filmed from a moving car with the Work Up This Morning theme song from the show playing in the background. I didn t know the Sopranos were so big in China.If the fact he pandered out to Chinese investors wasn t hypocritical enough, this next part really takes the cake.The project was also funded to the tune of $50 million by a controversial visa program that essentially sells legal US residency for immigrants who can front a huge wad of cash. The program is called EB-5, and it allows foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in an American project that will create at least 10 jobs to receive a 2-year visa.The program is intensely popular as a capital source for real estate developers and has ballooned from 5 visas in 2005 to 10,692 in 2014. Approximately 1,200 Chinese millionaires essentially bought a visa while millions of regular immigrants wait patiently to come here legally.The EB-5 program has come under a lot of fire as well, for its ability to be easily exploited by unsavory individuals.In addition to reaching wealthy foreign investors, the program has become a magnet for those seeking to sidestep the scrutiny of the traditional immigration process. In one case, immigration officials pushed through a visa application from Chinese investor in a Las Vegas hotel project despite an internal review that found the investor had previously been turned back at the border, and much of his visa application had likely been fabricated, immigration records show.A Feb. 1, 2013 Homeland Security internal review obtained by ABC News also lays out in stark detail the breadth of the troubles afflicting some of the roughly 600 so-called regional centers private sector entities certified by Homeland Security to recruit foreign investors for specific business ventures that will qualify for EB-5 visas. The document summarizes 41 investigations, some open and some now closed, into allegations ranging from espionage to fraud to drug trafficking involving investors in various EB-5 investment projects.Source: GawkerTrump has been pissing and moaning about China for literally years now and explained how he will mercilessly beat them up in the name of America if elected president. Meanwhile, he s literally receiving a government handout from them, via a shady visa program that sells a spot in the U.S. for an obscene amount of money.I guess the question is, can he even afford to be tough on China, or will it bankrupt him?Featured image via YouTube

Title: Trump Has Been Financing The ‘Crown Jewel’ Of His Empire With Money From His Worst Enemy. Text: Trump bashes China so much and blames them for American problems so often, that if he wasn t such a racist you could arguably say it s the central theme of his presidential campaign. With that in mind, you have to wonder if Trump has some kind of multiple personality disorder. On one hand, he completely savages them with rhetoric every chance he gets. On the other, practically every aspect of his business is dependent on them to survive.As if it wasn t embarrassing enough for him to be busted on live TV for producing his overpriced and gaudy clothing in China, now it turns out that the crown jewel of his empire that being real estate development is also dependent on Chinese money to survive.A Trump-branded luxury apartment building called Trump Bay Street is being built in New Jersey. The project is receiving substantial funds from Chinese investors. Bloomberg reported that the investors were sold on the idea via a Sopranos style video campaign filmed from a moving car with the Work Up This Morning theme song from the show playing in the background. I didn t know the Sopranos were so big in China.If the fact he pandered out to Chinese investors wasn t hypocritical enough, this next part really takes the cake.The project was also funded to the tune of $50 million by a controversial visa program that essentially sells legal US residency for immigrants who can front a huge wad of cash. The program is called EB-5, and it allows foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in an American project that will create at least 10 jobs to receive a 2-year visa.The program is intensely popular as a capital source for real estate developers and has ballooned from 5 visas in 2005 to 10,692 in 2014. Approximately 1,200 Chinese millionaires essentially bought a visa while millions of regular immigrants wait patiently to come here legally.The EB-5 program has come under a lot of fire as well, for its ability to be easily exploited by unsavory individuals.In addition to reaching wealthy foreign investors, the program has become a magnet for those seeking to sidestep the scrutiny of the traditional immigration process. In one case, immigration officials pushed through a visa application from Chinese investor in a Las Vegas hotel project despite an internal review that found the investor had previously been turned back at the border, and much of his visa application had likely been fabricated, immigration records show.A Feb. 1, 2013 Homeland Security internal review obtained by ABC News also lays out in stark detail the breadth of the troubles afflicting some of the roughly 600 so-called regional centers private sector entities certified by Homeland Security to recruit foreign investors for specific business ventures that will qualify for EB-5 visas. The document summarizes 41 investigations, some open and some now closed, into allegations ranging from espionage to fraud to drug trafficking involving investors in various EB-5 investment projects.Source: GawkerTrump has been pissing and moaning about China for literally years now and explained how he will mercilessly beat them up in the name of America if elected president. Meanwhile, he s literally receiving a government handout from them, via a shady visa program that sells a spot in the U.S. for an obscene amount of money.I guess the question is, can he even afford to be tough on China, or will it bankrupt him?Featured image via YouTube

not fake

Kenya opposition chief: people should stay home, not protest during polls

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s opposition leader Raila Odinga told a BBC interviewer that he was not calling for protests during repeat presidential elections scheduled for Thursday, but that he wanted supporters to stay at home and boycott the vote. We have not told people to protest on polling day. We have not said that at all. We have told people to stay away, he said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday. Odinga s comments contradict repeated his previous public calls for protests on voting day.

Title: Kenya opposition chief: people should stay home, not protest during polls. Text: NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s opposition leader Raila Odinga told a BBC interviewer that he was not calling for protests during repeat presidential elections scheduled for Thursday, but that he wanted supporters to stay at home and boycott the vote. We have not told people to protest on polling day. We have not said that at all. We have told people to stay away, he said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday. Odinga s comments contradict repeated his previous public calls for protests on voting day.

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Turkey says 'serious danger' in Syria's Afrin must be removed

ANKARA (Reuters) - There is a serious danger in the Syrian region of Afrin and this must be removed, Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Wednesday. Speaking at his ministry s budget talks in Ankara, Canikli also said the Turkish Armed Forces had completed the formation of its third observation post in Syria s Idlib province.

Title: Turkey says 'serious danger' in Syria's Afrin must be removed. Text: ANKARA (Reuters) - There is a serious danger in the Syrian region of Afrin and this must be removed, Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Wednesday. Speaking at his ministry s budget talks in Ankara, Canikli also said the Turkish Armed Forces had completed the formation of its third observation post in Syria s Idlib province.

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Sean Hannity Just Made A Bizarre Implication About Philando Castile’s Girlfriend (VIDEO)

Sean Hannity made a bizarre implication during a segment of his conservative talk radio show The Sean Hannity Show on Friday. During the segment, Hannity called into question the motives of Philando Castile s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds .The conservative pundit is curious to know why the woman decided to live stream Castile s death to Facebook rather than do something to help her boyfriend rather than help him. We ve had two instances where these police shootings have gone down. One is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the other one in Minnesota. I ve never saw more bizarre video in my life than the one in Minnesota, where a woman is with her boyfriend, he s shot by the policeman, and she s live facetiming this thing to the world, commenting on it I m just like, how about helping the person that s been shot? We ll figure out the particulars later, but it was more important I guess to get the video, Hannity said. The implication that Hannity is making, as far as I can tell, is that Castile s girlfriend was more concerned with using the situation to further the agenda of the Black Lives Matter movement than Castile himself.Which would, of course, be complete nonsense. What exactly else is one supposed to do in a situation like that? She was in a car sitting next to her dying loved one who was just shot multiple times at close range.She did what nearly anyone else would do in that situation. She bore witness and gathered as much evidence as she could to show the world the tragedy that just occurred in front of her.The right wing is so desperate to try and vilify the victims of police brutality and to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement they will try and spin every story of a POC s death at the hands of the police to fit their narrative.You can watch a video capture of the segment below.Featured image from Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Title: Sean Hannity Just Made A Bizarre Implication About Philando Castile’s Girlfriend (VIDEO). Text: Sean Hannity made a bizarre implication during a segment of his conservative talk radio show The Sean Hannity Show on Friday. During the segment, Hannity called into question the motives of Philando Castile s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds .The conservative pundit is curious to know why the woman decided to live stream Castile s death to Facebook rather than do something to help her boyfriend rather than help him. We ve had two instances where these police shootings have gone down. One is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the other one in Minnesota. I ve never saw more bizarre video in my life than the one in Minnesota, where a woman is with her boyfriend, he s shot by the policeman, and she s live facetiming this thing to the world, commenting on it I m just like, how about helping the person that s been shot? We ll figure out the particulars later, but it was more important I guess to get the video, Hannity said. The implication that Hannity is making, as far as I can tell, is that Castile s girlfriend was more concerned with using the situation to further the agenda of the Black Lives Matter movement than Castile himself.Which would, of course, be complete nonsense. What exactly else is one supposed to do in a situation like that? She was in a car sitting next to her dying loved one who was just shot multiple times at close range.She did what nearly anyone else would do in that situation. She bore witness and gathered as much evidence as she could to show the world the tragedy that just occurred in front of her.The right wing is so desperate to try and vilify the victims of police brutality and to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement they will try and spin every story of a POC s death at the hands of the police to fit their narrative.You can watch a video capture of the segment below.Featured image from Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

not fake

Erdogan says Turkey aims to open embassy in East Jerusalem

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey intends to open an embassy in East Jerusalem, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, days after leading calls at a summit of Muslim leaders for the world to recognize it as the capital of Palestine. It was not clear how he would carry out the move, as Israel controls all of Jerusalem and calls the city its indivisible capital. Palestinians want the capital of a future state they seek to be in East Jerusalem, which Israel took in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognized internationally. The Muslim nation summit was a response to U.S. President Donald Trump s Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. His move broke with decades of U.S. policy and international consensus that the city s status must be left to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in the southern province of Karaman that Turkey s consulate general in Jerusalem was already represented by an ambassador. God willing, the day is close when officially, with God s permission, we will open our embassy there, Erdogan said. Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam s third holiest shrine as well as Judaism s Western Wall - both in the eastern sector - and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Foreign embassies in Israel, including Turkey s, are located in Tel Aviv, reflecting Jerusalem s unresolved status. A communique issued after Wednesday s summit of more than 50 Muslim countries, including U.S. allies, said they considered Trump s move to be a declaration that Washington was withdrawing from its role as sponsor of peace in the Middle East.

Title: Erdogan says Turkey aims to open embassy in East Jerusalem. Text: ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey intends to open an embassy in East Jerusalem, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, days after leading calls at a summit of Muslim leaders for the world to recognize it as the capital of Palestine. It was not clear how he would carry out the move, as Israel controls all of Jerusalem and calls the city its indivisible capital. Palestinians want the capital of a future state they seek to be in East Jerusalem, which Israel took in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognized internationally. The Muslim nation summit was a response to U.S. President Donald Trump s Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. His move broke with decades of U.S. policy and international consensus that the city s status must be left to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in the southern province of Karaman that Turkey s consulate general in Jerusalem was already represented by an ambassador. God willing, the day is close when officially, with God s permission, we will open our embassy there, Erdogan said. Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam s third holiest shrine as well as Judaism s Western Wall - both in the eastern sector - and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Foreign embassies in Israel, including Turkey s, are located in Tel Aviv, reflecting Jerusalem s unresolved status. A communique issued after Wednesday s summit of more than 50 Muslim countries, including U.S. allies, said they considered Trump s move to be a declaration that Washington was withdrawing from its role as sponsor of peace in the Middle East.

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Turkish court remands Turkey's Amnesty chairman in custody, Amnesty says

ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish court remanded Amnesty International s local board chairman in custody on Thursday, Amnesty Turkey said, hours after its local director was released by a separate court. The group s chairman, Taner Kilic, has been in prison since June in the coastal province of Izmir on terrorism charges. Prosecutors say he downloaded ByLock, a messaging application used by supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric Turkey says was behind a failed coup last year. On Wednesday an Istanbul court ordered the release on bail of eight human rights activists, including the director of the local branch of Amnesty International, pending a verdict in their trial on terrorism charges. The Izmir court merged Kilic s case with that of the rights activists in Istanbul. The next hearing for all 11 defendants will be held on Nov. 22. Over the last 24 hours we have seen the twin hands of Turkey s fickle justice system at play. While one grants liberty, the other, confronted with no less baseless charges, takes it away, said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International s Secretary General. The release... late last night restored some faith in Turkey s justice system. Today, that faith has been washed away. Separately, prominent activist and businessman Osman Kavala s detention period has been extended for another seven days, one of lawyers representing him told Reuters. Kavala, who took part in several civil initiatives for the protection of human rights and resolutions of the Kurdish issues in Turkey, was initially detained at Istanbul s Ataturk Airport last week, as part of a secret investigation which drew reaction from Ankara s western allies. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said Kavala was behind the Gezi uprising, a referral to the 2013 mass protests against Erdogan s rule.

Title: Turkish court remands Turkey's Amnesty chairman in custody, Amnesty says. Text: ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish court remanded Amnesty International s local board chairman in custody on Thursday, Amnesty Turkey said, hours after its local director was released by a separate court. The group s chairman, Taner Kilic, has been in prison since June in the coastal province of Izmir on terrorism charges. Prosecutors say he downloaded ByLock, a messaging application used by supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric Turkey says was behind a failed coup last year. On Wednesday an Istanbul court ordered the release on bail of eight human rights activists, including the director of the local branch of Amnesty International, pending a verdict in their trial on terrorism charges. The Izmir court merged Kilic s case with that of the rights activists in Istanbul. The next hearing for all 11 defendants will be held on Nov. 22. Over the last 24 hours we have seen the twin hands of Turkey s fickle justice system at play. While one grants liberty, the other, confronted with no less baseless charges, takes it away, said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International s Secretary General. The release... late last night restored some faith in Turkey s justice system. Today, that faith has been washed away. Separately, prominent activist and businessman Osman Kavala s detention period has been extended for another seven days, one of lawyers representing him told Reuters. Kavala, who took part in several civil initiatives for the protection of human rights and resolutions of the Kurdish issues in Turkey, was initially detained at Istanbul s Ataturk Airport last week, as part of a secret investigation which drew reaction from Ankara s western allies. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said Kavala was behind the Gezi uprising, a referral to the 2013 mass protests against Erdogan s rule.

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Kenya chief justice says police 'enhanced' security after shooting

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s chief justice said the national police chief had enhanced the security of Supreme Court judges after one of their bodyguards was shot, denying a Reuters report that a request for extra security had been turned down. The judges safety was thrust into focus last week after the shooting, which occurred on Tuesday evening. The next day, five out of seven judges failed to come to court to issue a judgment on an election petition seeking to delay the next day s presidential poll, sparking widespread speculation of intimidation. A senior judicial source told Reuters earlier this week that after the shooting the judges, who are normally allocated one bodyguard, had requested another vehicle, known as a chaser car , to follow or go ahead of them as they moved around the country. The source, who was not available to speak on Thursday, said this request was turned down. The source also said the judges were upset at the government s characterisation of the shooting as a crime rather than an attempt to intimidate judges who had recently annulled the August election victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta. The statement, issued by Chief Justice David Maraga s office late on Wednesday, said the story was wrong. To the contrary, the Inspector General of Police has in fact enhanced the security of Supreme Court judges, it said. It did not give further details. Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu had been allocated six police to guard her after the shooting of her bodyguard, who is in hospital in stable condition. He declined to comment on whether any other judges had requested extra security, but noted that both the interior minister and chief of police had promised they could have whatever they requested. He said he was not able to give details of the extra security provided because that in itself would be a breach of security protocols . Kenyatta won the repeat presidential poll on Oct. 26 with 98 percent of the vote after opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew from the race, saying it would not be fair. The repeat election was ordered by the Supreme Court after it nullified the results of a poll on Aug. 8 due to procedural irregularities. The election board said Kenyatta won that election by 1.4 million votes.

Title: Kenya chief justice says police 'enhanced' security after shooting. Text: NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s chief justice said the national police chief had enhanced the security of Supreme Court judges after one of their bodyguards was shot, denying a Reuters report that a request for extra security had been turned down. The judges safety was thrust into focus last week after the shooting, which occurred on Tuesday evening. The next day, five out of seven judges failed to come to court to issue a judgment on an election petition seeking to delay the next day s presidential poll, sparking widespread speculation of intimidation. A senior judicial source told Reuters earlier this week that after the shooting the judges, who are normally allocated one bodyguard, had requested another vehicle, known as a chaser car , to follow or go ahead of them as they moved around the country. The source, who was not available to speak on Thursday, said this request was turned down. The source also said the judges were upset at the government s characterisation of the shooting as a crime rather than an attempt to intimidate judges who had recently annulled the August election victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta. The statement, issued by Chief Justice David Maraga s office late on Wednesday, said the story was wrong. To the contrary, the Inspector General of Police has in fact enhanced the security of Supreme Court judges, it said. It did not give further details. Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu had been allocated six police to guard her after the shooting of her bodyguard, who is in hospital in stable condition. He declined to comment on whether any other judges had requested extra security, but noted that both the interior minister and chief of police had promised they could have whatever they requested. He said he was not able to give details of the extra security provided because that in itself would be a breach of security protocols . Kenyatta won the repeat presidential poll on Oct. 26 with 98 percent of the vote after opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew from the race, saying it would not be fair. The repeat election was ordered by the Supreme Court after it nullified the results of a poll on Aug. 8 due to procedural irregularities. The election board said Kenyatta won that election by 1.4 million votes.

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Organizers of white nationalist rally in Virginia, driver sued for $3 million

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - Two people who say they were injured in a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia sued the man charged with killing a woman by driving his car through the crowd as well as the event’s organizers on Tuesday for $3 million. Tadrint Washington and Micah Washington said in papers filed in Charlottesville circuit court that they had been among the people hurt when James Alex Fields drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one. They had been driving home and their car was struck by Fields car, and some of his pedestrian victims were also hurled onto their vehicle, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit names Fields, “Unite the Right” rally organizer Jason Kessler and about two dozen alt-right leaders and organizations as defendants. “There was no doubt that violence was intended at this rally,” the pair said in the lawsuit, noting that participants came bearing shields and weapons. Kessler has denied that the event was intended to provoke violence, contending that the counter-protesters sparked the fighting and blaming police for failing to protect his group. He could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Fields has been charged with second-degree murder for killing Heather Heyer with his car, and additional charges for the other 19 people injured. He was denied bail at a Monday court hearing.

Title: Organizers of white nationalist rally in Virginia, driver sued for $3 million. Text: CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - Two people who say they were injured in a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia sued the man charged with killing a woman by driving his car through the crowd as well as the event’s organizers on Tuesday for $3 million. Tadrint Washington and Micah Washington said in papers filed in Charlottesville circuit court that they had been among the people hurt when James Alex Fields drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one. They had been driving home and their car was struck by Fields car, and some of his pedestrian victims were also hurled onto their vehicle, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit names Fields, “Unite the Right” rally organizer Jason Kessler and about two dozen alt-right leaders and organizations as defendants. “There was no doubt that violence was intended at this rally,” the pair said in the lawsuit, noting that participants came bearing shields and weapons. Kessler has denied that the event was intended to provoke violence, contending that the counter-protesters sparked the fighting and blaming police for failing to protect his group. He could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Fields has been charged with second-degree murder for killing Heather Heyer with his car, and additional charges for the other 19 people injured. He was denied bail at a Monday court hearing.

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OBAMACARE TAKING DOWN MORE RURAL HOSPITALS

Let s face it Obamacare s been a disaster from Day 1. The closing if rural hospitals is the latest issue and it s a big one for those who ll need to travel farther to get medical help.The AP has noticed something. Rural hospitals seem to be closing. Now, what has happened to the American health care system in recent years that might help explain that? Hmmm .From The AP via ABC (with some honest commentary mixed in): Sac-Osage is one of a growing number of rural U.S. hospitals closing their doors, citing a complex combination of changing demographics, medical practices, management decisions and federal policies that have put more financial pressure on facilities that sometimes average only a few in-patients a day. Most of the rural hospital closures so far have occurred in the South and Midwest. Of those at risk,nearly 70 percent are in states that have declined to expand Medicaid coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act, although some experts are hesitant to draw a cause-and-effect correlation.At first, the AP tries to blame the closures on the conservative states that decided not to expand medicaid coverage (in spite of Obamacare s explicit instructions), but then admits that this is likely correlation without causation. They don t expound on it, but the obvious reason for the 70% figure is that, generally speaking, the more rural a state is, the more conservative it is, and therefore, the more likely it is to have a governor who opposes Obamacare enough to refrain from expanding medicaid.After all, that was the point (Are you listening, SCOTUS?). Even the AP could see that one a mile a way.Big city hospitals have been closing at about the same rate as rural ones during the past five years, but an abundance of alternatives in most major metropolitan areas typically reduces the effect on patients. When a rural hospital closes, people may have to travel dozens of miles to reach the nearest hospital, an inconvenience that potentially is a matter of life or death.They (briefly) admit that rural hospitals are closing at roughly the same rate as urban hospitals. Isn t this strong evidence that there might be another reason for the closings? What do rural hospitals and urban hospitals have in common? (hint: Obamacare) Declining populations and stagnant economies make it hard on rural hospitals. Rural areas tend to have older, poorer, sicker populations, said Michael Topchik, senior vice president of iVantage.That means they often have a higher percentage of patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid, a pair of government health care programs that pay a lower reimbursement rate than private-sector insurers. Hospitals that rely heavily on those government programs have been particularly hard hit by federal budget cuts and provisions in the 2010 federal health care law that reduced charity care reimbursements and changed other payment criteria.Oh this section is pure gold (and, of course, it all appears on page 2). Not only does the AP admit that part of the problem is that the economy is stagnant, they admit that the closings are, in large part, specifically due to the low rates Medicare and Medicaid pay. And to make it worse, they note that the government is reducing the amount of charity care reimbursements that go to these hospitals.Obamacare is a disaster REPEAL!Via: Poor Richard s

Title: OBAMACARE TAKING DOWN MORE RURAL HOSPITALS. Text: Let s face it Obamacare s been a disaster from Day 1. The closing if rural hospitals is the latest issue and it s a big one for those who ll need to travel farther to get medical help.The AP has noticed something. Rural hospitals seem to be closing. Now, what has happened to the American health care system in recent years that might help explain that? Hmmm .From The AP via ABC (with some honest commentary mixed in): Sac-Osage is one of a growing number of rural U.S. hospitals closing their doors, citing a complex combination of changing demographics, medical practices, management decisions and federal policies that have put more financial pressure on facilities that sometimes average only a few in-patients a day. Most of the rural hospital closures so far have occurred in the South and Midwest. Of those at risk,nearly 70 percent are in states that have declined to expand Medicaid coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act, although some experts are hesitant to draw a cause-and-effect correlation.At first, the AP tries to blame the closures on the conservative states that decided not to expand medicaid coverage (in spite of Obamacare s explicit instructions), but then admits that this is likely correlation without causation. They don t expound on it, but the obvious reason for the 70% figure is that, generally speaking, the more rural a state is, the more conservative it is, and therefore, the more likely it is to have a governor who opposes Obamacare enough to refrain from expanding medicaid.After all, that was the point (Are you listening, SCOTUS?). Even the AP could see that one a mile a way.Big city hospitals have been closing at about the same rate as rural ones during the past five years, but an abundance of alternatives in most major metropolitan areas typically reduces the effect on patients. When a rural hospital closes, people may have to travel dozens of miles to reach the nearest hospital, an inconvenience that potentially is a matter of life or death.They (briefly) admit that rural hospitals are closing at roughly the same rate as urban hospitals. Isn t this strong evidence that there might be another reason for the closings? What do rural hospitals and urban hospitals have in common? (hint: Obamacare) Declining populations and stagnant economies make it hard on rural hospitals. Rural areas tend to have older, poorer, sicker populations, said Michael Topchik, senior vice president of iVantage.That means they often have a higher percentage of patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid, a pair of government health care programs that pay a lower reimbursement rate than private-sector insurers. Hospitals that rely heavily on those government programs have been particularly hard hit by federal budget cuts and provisions in the 2010 federal health care law that reduced charity care reimbursements and changed other payment criteria.Oh this section is pure gold (and, of course, it all appears on page 2). Not only does the AP admit that part of the problem is that the economy is stagnant, they admit that the closings are, in large part, specifically due to the low rates Medicare and Medicaid pay. And to make it worse, they note that the government is reducing the amount of charity care reimbursements that go to these hospitals.Obamacare is a disaster REPEAL!Via: Poor Richard s

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As Tillerson heads to Pakistan, Islamabad wary of deepening U.S.-India ties

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - As U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Pakistan on Tuesday to pressure Islamabad to act over militants targeting Afghanistan from its soil, anxious Pakistanis may be equally interested in dissuading Washington s deepening ties with India. Nuclear-armed Pakistan, a staunch U.S. Cold War ally and key player in the U.S.-backed invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, has watched warily as Washington has in recent years pivoted towards its arch-foe. Islamabad views its much-bigger neighbor as an existential threat and the two nations have fought three wars since their violent separation at the end of colonial rule in 1947. Tillerson, due to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Pakistan s powerful military chiefs in a one-day visit, is expected to urge Pakistan to do more to root out Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network militants operating on its soil. But he is also expected to hear Pakistani officials warn him that drawing nuclear-armed India deeper into Afghanistan would destabilise the region and do little to end the 16-year war that is now America s longest military conflict. Bringing India into the mix is like adding kerosene to fire, said Miftah Ismail, a state minister and close ally of Prime Minister Abbasi. It s a complete red line. India has no political role to play in Afghanistan as far as we are concerned. Many Pakistanis feel betrayed that its traditional ally is now cosying up to India over Afghanistan. But the anger runs both ways. The United States accuses Pakistan of playing a double game since 2001, offering public backing to Washington while turning a blind eye, or even at times assisting, the Afghan Taliban and other militants who carry out deadly attacks against U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan. Pakistan supported the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s as a hedge to Indian influence in Afghanistan, and analysts say its military and security services maintained ties long after the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001. Pakistan denies providing a safe haven for Afghan Taliban and other militant fighters. Tillerson, during a visit to Afghanistan on Monday, said Washington has made some very specific requests of Pakistan in order for them to take action to undermine the support the Taliban receives and other terrorist organizations receive . U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis earlier this month said the United States would try one more time to work with Pakistan in Afghanistan, before opting for more punitive measures. President Donald Trump has vowed to be tougher on Pakistan than his predecessors. The United States has threatened further military aid cuts and U.S. officials have mooted targeted sanctions against Pakistani military figures, but in the past two weeks there have been hints of a slight thawing in ties. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Tillerson last week called Abbasi to thank Pakistan after its army rescued a U.S.-Canadian couple who were held hostage by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network for nearly five years, along with their three children born in captivity. Relations were further boosted when Omar Khalid Khorasani, leader of the lethal Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) group who Islamabad had been trying to catch for years, was killed by a U.S. drone strike last week. India has increased aid to Afghanistan in recent years and last year promised to ship more arms. Such moves have aggravating fears in Pakistan that it will find itself wedged between two hostile neighbors. Islamabad bristles at the idea that India holds the key to ending the Afghanistan conflict, and fears U.S. meddling could unsettle a delicate balance of power in South Asia. Promoting a higher involvement of India in Afghanistan will only worsen the historic strategic rivalries playing out in the region, said Sherry Rehman, Pakistan s former ambassador to United States and a senior member of the opposition Pakistan People s Party. Pakistan points to the 3.5 million Afghan refugees it hosts as proof that it has more than anyone else to lose from chaos in Afghanistan, and has emphasized the need for greater cooperation and intelligence sharing with United States and Afghanistan. But while Pakistan may not like it, India looks set to continue playing a role in Afghanistan, according to Sushant Sareen, a foreign policy analyst at the Vivekananda International Foundation, a think-tank with ties to the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The message is very clear that India is an important player when it comes to coordinating policies between Afghanistan and Washington, said Sareen.

Title: As Tillerson heads to Pakistan, Islamabad wary of deepening U.S.-India ties. Text: ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - As U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Pakistan on Tuesday to pressure Islamabad to act over militants targeting Afghanistan from its soil, anxious Pakistanis may be equally interested in dissuading Washington s deepening ties with India. Nuclear-armed Pakistan, a staunch U.S. Cold War ally and key player in the U.S.-backed invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, has watched warily as Washington has in recent years pivoted towards its arch-foe. Islamabad views its much-bigger neighbor as an existential threat and the two nations have fought three wars since their violent separation at the end of colonial rule in 1947. Tillerson, due to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Pakistan s powerful military chiefs in a one-day visit, is expected to urge Pakistan to do more to root out Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network militants operating on its soil. But he is also expected to hear Pakistani officials warn him that drawing nuclear-armed India deeper into Afghanistan would destabilise the region and do little to end the 16-year war that is now America s longest military conflict. Bringing India into the mix is like adding kerosene to fire, said Miftah Ismail, a state minister and close ally of Prime Minister Abbasi. It s a complete red line. India has no political role to play in Afghanistan as far as we are concerned. Many Pakistanis feel betrayed that its traditional ally is now cosying up to India over Afghanistan. But the anger runs both ways. The United States accuses Pakistan of playing a double game since 2001, offering public backing to Washington while turning a blind eye, or even at times assisting, the Afghan Taliban and other militants who carry out deadly attacks against U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan. Pakistan supported the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s as a hedge to Indian influence in Afghanistan, and analysts say its military and security services maintained ties long after the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001. Pakistan denies providing a safe haven for Afghan Taliban and other militant fighters. Tillerson, during a visit to Afghanistan on Monday, said Washington has made some very specific requests of Pakistan in order for them to take action to undermine the support the Taliban receives and other terrorist organizations receive . U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis earlier this month said the United States would try one more time to work with Pakistan in Afghanistan, before opting for more punitive measures. President Donald Trump has vowed to be tougher on Pakistan than his predecessors. The United States has threatened further military aid cuts and U.S. officials have mooted targeted sanctions against Pakistani military figures, but in the past two weeks there have been hints of a slight thawing in ties. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Tillerson last week called Abbasi to thank Pakistan after its army rescued a U.S.-Canadian couple who were held hostage by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network for nearly five years, along with their three children born in captivity. Relations were further boosted when Omar Khalid Khorasani, leader of the lethal Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) group who Islamabad had been trying to catch for years, was killed by a U.S. drone strike last week. India has increased aid to Afghanistan in recent years and last year promised to ship more arms. Such moves have aggravating fears in Pakistan that it will find itself wedged between two hostile neighbors. Islamabad bristles at the idea that India holds the key to ending the Afghanistan conflict, and fears U.S. meddling could unsettle a delicate balance of power in South Asia. Promoting a higher involvement of India in Afghanistan will only worsen the historic strategic rivalries playing out in the region, said Sherry Rehman, Pakistan s former ambassador to United States and a senior member of the opposition Pakistan People s Party. Pakistan points to the 3.5 million Afghan refugees it hosts as proof that it has more than anyone else to lose from chaos in Afghanistan, and has emphasized the need for greater cooperation and intelligence sharing with United States and Afghanistan. But while Pakistan may not like it, India looks set to continue playing a role in Afghanistan, according to Sushant Sareen, a foreign policy analyst at the Vivekananda International Foundation, a think-tank with ties to the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The message is very clear that India is an important player when it comes to coordinating policies between Afghanistan and Washington, said Sareen.

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All The Proof You Need To Realize Hillary Is Not About To Let Wall Street Get Away With Anything

Some, try as they might, to say that Hillary Clinton will be soft on Wall Street when the opposite is actually true. She knows just how much Wall Street greed had to do with the recession that began with the housing crisis in 2007. She also knows what we need to do to prevent such a crash from ever happening again. One also can t just throw blanket blame at any one company or bank or lender. The crash was a perfect storm of greed and taking advantage of those who simply didn t know better.Here are Hillary Clinton s remarks from December 5, 2007: Now, who s exactly to blame for the housing crisis? Well, that s always a question that the press and people ask and I think there s plenty of blame to go around.Responsibility belongs to mortgage lenders and brokers, who irresponsibly lowered underwriting standards, pushed risky mortgages, and hid the details in the fine print.Responsibility belongs to the Administration and to regulators, who failed to provide adequate oversight, and who failed to respond to the chorus of reports that millions of families were being taken advantage of.Responsibility belongs to the rating agencies, who woefully underestimated the risks involved in mortgage securities.And certainly borrowers share responsibility as well. Homebuyers who paid extra fees to avoid documenting their income should have known they were getting in over their heads. Speculators who were busy buying two, three, four houses to sell for a quick buck don t deserve our sympathy.But finally, responsibility also belongs to Wall Street, which not only enabled but often encouraged reckless mortgage lending. Mortgage lenders didn t have balance sheets big enough to write millions of loans on their own. So Wall Street originated and packaged the loans that common sense warned might very well have ended in collapse and foreclosure. Some people might say Wall Street only helped to distribute risk. I believe Wall Street shifted risk away from people who knew what was going on onto the people who did not.Wall Street may not have created the foreclosure crisis, but Wall Street certainly had a hand in making it worse. If anyone would bother to take the time to read her proposals to make sure a crash never happens again they d soon realize Hillary s not about to let Wall Street get away with anything. Here are her plans:She s also making sure to hold those who break the rules accountable:And if you re still not convinced, feel free to read a more comprehensive version of her plans HERE.We need comprehensive reform. We need solutions that will no only be strong, but long-lasting and unable to be manipulated by those still trying to scam others. Listening to people go after Hillary and say that she d be weak on Wall Street is not only misguided, but simply wrong. Even Elizabeth Warren supports Clinton s plan.Now, this isn t to put any other candidate down, or try to convince anyone who to vote for. This is simply just laying down the facts.Featured image via Instagram

Title: All The Proof You Need To Realize Hillary Is Not About To Let Wall Street Get Away With Anything. Text: Some, try as they might, to say that Hillary Clinton will be soft on Wall Street when the opposite is actually true. She knows just how much Wall Street greed had to do with the recession that began with the housing crisis in 2007. She also knows what we need to do to prevent such a crash from ever happening again. One also can t just throw blanket blame at any one company or bank or lender. The crash was a perfect storm of greed and taking advantage of those who simply didn t know better.Here are Hillary Clinton s remarks from December 5, 2007: Now, who s exactly to blame for the housing crisis? Well, that s always a question that the press and people ask and I think there s plenty of blame to go around.Responsibility belongs to mortgage lenders and brokers, who irresponsibly lowered underwriting standards, pushed risky mortgages, and hid the details in the fine print.Responsibility belongs to the Administration and to regulators, who failed to provide adequate oversight, and who failed to respond to the chorus of reports that millions of families were being taken advantage of.Responsibility belongs to the rating agencies, who woefully underestimated the risks involved in mortgage securities.And certainly borrowers share responsibility as well. Homebuyers who paid extra fees to avoid documenting their income should have known they were getting in over their heads. Speculators who were busy buying two, three, four houses to sell for a quick buck don t deserve our sympathy.But finally, responsibility also belongs to Wall Street, which not only enabled but often encouraged reckless mortgage lending. Mortgage lenders didn t have balance sheets big enough to write millions of loans on their own. So Wall Street originated and packaged the loans that common sense warned might very well have ended in collapse and foreclosure. Some people might say Wall Street only helped to distribute risk. I believe Wall Street shifted risk away from people who knew what was going on onto the people who did not.Wall Street may not have created the foreclosure crisis, but Wall Street certainly had a hand in making it worse. If anyone would bother to take the time to read her proposals to make sure a crash never happens again they d soon realize Hillary s not about to let Wall Street get away with anything. Here are her plans:She s also making sure to hold those who break the rules accountable:And if you re still not convinced, feel free to read a more comprehensive version of her plans HERE.We need comprehensive reform. We need solutions that will no only be strong, but long-lasting and unable to be manipulated by those still trying to scam others. Listening to people go after Hillary and say that she d be weak on Wall Street is not only misguided, but simply wrong. Even Elizabeth Warren supports Clinton s plan.Now, this isn t to put any other candidate down, or try to convince anyone who to vote for. This is simply just laying down the facts.Featured image via Instagram

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President's son had legitimate reasons to not answer House panel questions: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that Donald Trump Jr. was on solid legal ground when he refused to answer questions from a congressional committee about a conversation he had with his father, President Donald Trump, about emails relating to a meeting he attended with Trump associates and Russians. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House believed there was a “legitimate reason and basis for not answering those questions.” She declined to provide details.

Title: President's son had legitimate reasons to not answer House panel questions: White House. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that Donald Trump Jr. was on solid legal ground when he refused to answer questions from a congressional committee about a conversation he had with his father, President Donald Trump, about emails relating to a meeting he attended with Trump associates and Russians. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House believed there was a “legitimate reason and basis for not answering those questions.” She declined to provide details.

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Senate revokes Obama federal land-planning rule

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday revoked a rule that aimed to give the public more input into federal land management decisions, the latest move by the Republican-led Congress to undo Obama administration environmental regulations it sees as a burden. The Senate voted 51-48 to approve a resolution to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Planning rule, known as BLM 2.0, finalized in December by the Obama administration. The rule updated the 30-year process the agency followed when developing land-use plans across the 245 million acres of federal land it manages. Senators who voted to revoke the rule, such as Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said it diluted local authority over decisions about how to use land for grazing, energy and mineral development and recreation, and gave outside voices an outsized say in local matters. Supporters, such as the energy committee’s top Democrat, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, said the rule modernized the existing BLM process to make it more transparent. “When it comes to public lands, we want transparency, we want sunshine, we want a bottom-up approach when it comes to land management,” Cantwell said. Republicans have taken advantage of a seldom-used law known as the Congressional Review Act to overturn the BLM 2.0 rule as well as other recently enacted regulations with simple majorities in both chambers, denying senators the opportunity to filibuster and stall a vote. Last month, Republicans repealed a securities disclosure rule aimed at curbing corruption at energy and mining companies and voted to ax methane emissions limits on drilling operations using the CRA. Some conservation groups said using the CRA to revoke the measure was a “knee-jerk” and unnecessary measure, and that the land planning rule could have been revised by the BLM. “I struggle to understand why they would waste their time trying to strike down this rule and why not let the administration fix the rule,” said Phil Hanceford of the Wilderness Society.

Title: Senate revokes Obama federal land-planning rule. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday revoked a rule that aimed to give the public more input into federal land management decisions, the latest move by the Republican-led Congress to undo Obama administration environmental regulations it sees as a burden. The Senate voted 51-48 to approve a resolution to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Planning rule, known as BLM 2.0, finalized in December by the Obama administration. The rule updated the 30-year process the agency followed when developing land-use plans across the 245 million acres of federal land it manages. Senators who voted to revoke the rule, such as Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said it diluted local authority over decisions about how to use land for grazing, energy and mineral development and recreation, and gave outside voices an outsized say in local matters. Supporters, such as the energy committee’s top Democrat, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, said the rule modernized the existing BLM process to make it more transparent. “When it comes to public lands, we want transparency, we want sunshine, we want a bottom-up approach when it comes to land management,” Cantwell said. Republicans have taken advantage of a seldom-used law known as the Congressional Review Act to overturn the BLM 2.0 rule as well as other recently enacted regulations with simple majorities in both chambers, denying senators the opportunity to filibuster and stall a vote. Last month, Republicans repealed a securities disclosure rule aimed at curbing corruption at energy and mining companies and voted to ax methane emissions limits on drilling operations using the CRA. Some conservation groups said using the CRA to revoke the measure was a “knee-jerk” and unnecessary measure, and that the land planning rule could have been revised by the BLM. “I struggle to understand why they would waste their time trying to strike down this rule and why not let the administration fix the rule,” said Phil Hanceford of the Wilderness Society.

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Senate confirms Heather Wilson as Trump's Air Force secretary

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate easily confirmed Heather Wilson, a former Republican member of the House of Representatives, on Monday to be President Donald Trump’s secretary of the Air Force. The vote was 76-22 in favor of Wilson becoming the top civilian overseeing the Air Force. The 22 “no” votes all came from Democrats. At her confirmation hearing in March, Wilson praised the stealth capability of Lockheed Martin Corp’s (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet, in remarks suggesting the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons system would have an important advocate. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and former Rhodes scholar, Wilson, 56, has been president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology since 2013. She was a House member from New Mexico from 1998 to 2009 and had served on the National Security Council under President George H.W. Bush.

Title: Senate confirms Heather Wilson as Trump's Air Force secretary. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate easily confirmed Heather Wilson, a former Republican member of the House of Representatives, on Monday to be President Donald Trump’s secretary of the Air Force. The vote was 76-22 in favor of Wilson becoming the top civilian overseeing the Air Force. The 22 “no” votes all came from Democrats. At her confirmation hearing in March, Wilson praised the stealth capability of Lockheed Martin Corp’s (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet, in remarks suggesting the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons system would have an important advocate. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and former Rhodes scholar, Wilson, 56, has been president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology since 2013. She was a House member from New Mexico from 1998 to 2009 and had served on the National Security Council under President George H.W. Bush.

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Pelosi says Democrats will not back short-term funding bill on Thursday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday her party would not support a short-term funding bill being brought up for a vote later in the day because it did not include any key Democratic priorities. Pelosi said Democrats were seeking funding for fighting opioid addiction, veterans, the children’s health program, community health centers, disaster funding and a solution for young undocumented immigrants to the United States. Her statement suggested Republicans would have to find the votes they need to pass the bill among their own members. If a short-term funding measure is not approved by the Republican-led Congress and signed by Republican President Donald Trump, all but the most essential parts of the federal government will shut down. Pelosi told a news briefing that “Democrats are not willing to shut government down,” but she also said her members “will not leave here (for the holidays) without a ... fix” to the problem of illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, who are sometimes referred to as “Dreamers.” Pelosi said the temporary spending measure before the House on Thursday was a “waste of time.” “It has nothing about (the) opioid epidemic. There’s nothing about veterans’ funding, nothing about CHIP— CHIP — children’s health insurance, community health centers, nothing about, well, the DREAM Act, among other things,” she said. The short-term spending bill does provide some short-term help for states that are running out of money to finance the children’s health insurance program for lower-income children, but it stops short of renewing the program, which Congress allowed to expire at the end of September. Pelosi, discussing the immigration issue, said Democrats were willing to accept new funding for border security, but not for a border wall. “We’re not going to turn this country into a reign of terror of domestic enforcement and have the Dreamers pay that price,” she said. Republicans have a majority in both the House and Senate. But they will need some Democratic support to get the temporary spending bill past Senate procedural hurdles that require 60 votes, since there are only 52 Republicans in the 100-member chamber.

Title: Pelosi says Democrats will not back short-term funding bill on Thursday. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday her party would not support a short-term funding bill being brought up for a vote later in the day because it did not include any key Democratic priorities. Pelosi said Democrats were seeking funding for fighting opioid addiction, veterans, the children’s health program, community health centers, disaster funding and a solution for young undocumented immigrants to the United States. Her statement suggested Republicans would have to find the votes they need to pass the bill among their own members. If a short-term funding measure is not approved by the Republican-led Congress and signed by Republican President Donald Trump, all but the most essential parts of the federal government will shut down. Pelosi told a news briefing that “Democrats are not willing to shut government down,” but she also said her members “will not leave here (for the holidays) without a ... fix” to the problem of illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, who are sometimes referred to as “Dreamers.” Pelosi said the temporary spending measure before the House on Thursday was a “waste of time.” “It has nothing about (the) opioid epidemic. There’s nothing about veterans’ funding, nothing about CHIP— CHIP — children’s health insurance, community health centers, nothing about, well, the DREAM Act, among other things,” she said. The short-term spending bill does provide some short-term help for states that are running out of money to finance the children’s health insurance program for lower-income children, but it stops short of renewing the program, which Congress allowed to expire at the end of September. Pelosi, discussing the immigration issue, said Democrats were willing to accept new funding for border security, but not for a border wall. “We’re not going to turn this country into a reign of terror of domestic enforcement and have the Dreamers pay that price,” she said. Republicans have a majority in both the House and Senate. But they will need some Democratic support to get the temporary spending bill past Senate procedural hurdles that require 60 votes, since there are only 52 Republicans in the 100-member chamber.

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Saudi sovereign fund to develop holy sites in Mecca, Medina

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is forming two real estate development firms to boost the capacity of Mecca and Medina to receive pilgrims, in projects expected to create billions of dollars of business, it said on Monday. The plans are part of an array of commitments which the PIF, the country s main sovereign wealth fund, is taking on under economic reforms designed to reduce Saudi Arabia s dependence on oil exports. The government is mobilising the fund, believed to have about $180 billion of assets, to lead urban development and industrial projects around the country, even as the PIF manages stakes in top Saudi companies and makes foreign investments such as last year s purchase of a $3.5 billion stake in Uber. The scope of the PIF s activities has caused concern among some private Saudi businessmen. The reforms aim to stimulate the private sector but with so many huge projects going to the PIF, some businessmen fear they could be crowded out by the deep-pocketed fund. The PIF said the first phase of its development of an area near the Grand Mosque in Mecca would cover 854,000 square metres (9.1 million square feet) and deliver 115 buildings. It is to include 70,000 new hotel rooms and 9,000 housing units. Construction will start this year with the first phase expected to open in 2024. By 2030, the area will contribute $2.1 billion annually to gross domestic product, the fund said. It also plans to develop 1.3 million square metres near the Prophet s Mosque in Medina, adding 500 housing units and 80,000 hotel rooms. Expanding Islamic tourism is a top goal of Saudi reforms, which seek to develop non-oil income to offset a plunge in oil export receipts due to low crude prices. The PIF did not reveal how much money it would invest, how it would award contracts, or the extent to which private investors would be brought in. Riyadh has said it wants to involve private capital in major projects to reduce pressure on state finances, but in many cases a legal framework for such ventures has not yet been created. Most Saudi real estate developers are small, so state bodies often have to be used to jump-start large projects, especially when the government wants to move quickly. Among other PIF projects, the fund said last week that it would lead the $4.8 billion redevelopment of Jeddah s waterfront corniche. [nL8N1M83KV] In August, the government said it would develop resorts on about 50 Red Sea islands in a PIF-backed project. The fund will be the main investor in a 334 square kilometre (129 square mile) entertainment city near Riyadh featuring cultural and recreational facilities.

Title: Saudi sovereign fund to develop holy sites in Mecca, Medina. Text: RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is forming two real estate development firms to boost the capacity of Mecca and Medina to receive pilgrims, in projects expected to create billions of dollars of business, it said on Monday. The plans are part of an array of commitments which the PIF, the country s main sovereign wealth fund, is taking on under economic reforms designed to reduce Saudi Arabia s dependence on oil exports. The government is mobilising the fund, believed to have about $180 billion of assets, to lead urban development and industrial projects around the country, even as the PIF manages stakes in top Saudi companies and makes foreign investments such as last year s purchase of a $3.5 billion stake in Uber. The scope of the PIF s activities has caused concern among some private Saudi businessmen. The reforms aim to stimulate the private sector but with so many huge projects going to the PIF, some businessmen fear they could be crowded out by the deep-pocketed fund. The PIF said the first phase of its development of an area near the Grand Mosque in Mecca would cover 854,000 square metres (9.1 million square feet) and deliver 115 buildings. It is to include 70,000 new hotel rooms and 9,000 housing units. Construction will start this year with the first phase expected to open in 2024. By 2030, the area will contribute $2.1 billion annually to gross domestic product, the fund said. It also plans to develop 1.3 million square metres near the Prophet s Mosque in Medina, adding 500 housing units and 80,000 hotel rooms. Expanding Islamic tourism is a top goal of Saudi reforms, which seek to develop non-oil income to offset a plunge in oil export receipts due to low crude prices. The PIF did not reveal how much money it would invest, how it would award contracts, or the extent to which private investors would be brought in. Riyadh has said it wants to involve private capital in major projects to reduce pressure on state finances, but in many cases a legal framework for such ventures has not yet been created. Most Saudi real estate developers are small, so state bodies often have to be used to jump-start large projects, especially when the government wants to move quickly. Among other PIF projects, the fund said last week that it would lead the $4.8 billion redevelopment of Jeddah s waterfront corniche. [nL8N1M83KV] In August, the government said it would develop resorts on about 50 Red Sea islands in a PIF-backed project. The fund will be the main investor in a 334 square kilometre (129 square mile) entertainment city near Riyadh featuring cultural and recreational facilities.

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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

Title: STOP THE MADNESS! NYC Firefighters Take First “Trans 101” Course…Learn Correct Way To Interact With Transgenders. Text: 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

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Russia tell U.S. to step back from dispute over military observation flights

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday told the United States to step back from a confrontation over military observation flights before the two countries became embroiled in another round of tit-for-tat retaliatory measures. The United States has accused Russia of flouting the so-called Open Skies Treaty, an agreement designed to build confidence between the two countries militaries, and said it plans to take measures against Moscow. The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported on Tuesday that would include restricting Russian military flights over American territory in response to what it said was Moscow preventing U.S. observation flights over its heavily militarised Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday that Moscow would respond to any new U.S. restrictions. Nobody has canceled the principle of reciprocity in international relations, said Zakharova.

Title: Russia tell U.S. to step back from dispute over military observation flights. Text: MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday told the United States to step back from a confrontation over military observation flights before the two countries became embroiled in another round of tit-for-tat retaliatory measures. The United States has accused Russia of flouting the so-called Open Skies Treaty, an agreement designed to build confidence between the two countries militaries, and said it plans to take measures against Moscow. The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported on Tuesday that would include restricting Russian military flights over American territory in response to what it said was Moscow preventing U.S. observation flights over its heavily militarised Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday that Moscow would respond to any new U.S. restrictions. Nobody has canceled the principle of reciprocity in international relations, said Zakharova.

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As private lawyer, Trump high court pick was friend to business

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As a lawyer in private practice for a decade, President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch often fought on behalf of business interests, including efforts to curb securities class action lawsuits, experience that could mould his thinking if he is confirmed as a justice. Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado nominated by wealthy businessman Trump on Tuesday, could turn out to be a friend to business, having represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in fending off securities class actions, one of the most hotly contested areas of corporate law. The chamber is the largest U.S. business lobbying group. If confirmed, Gorsuch would be one of the only current justices with extensive experience on business issues in private practice. Securities class action lawsuits are filed by investors who allege misconduct by a company whose stock price has tanked, hurting investors’ portfolios. These once-common lawsuits now face higher hurdles and are filed less often. Congress passed laws in 1995 and 1998 making it harder to bring securities class actions. Later court rulings, including one in which Gorsuch was involved, clarified the requirements under the laws. From 1995 to 2005, Gorsuch worked at boutique law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel in Washington, becoming a partner in 1998. He had a wide range of clients, including individuals and nonprofits, as well as various business interests. While there, he filed two briefs on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce seeking limits to securities class actions. One of Gorsuch’s briefs came in a securities fraud case called Dura Pharmaceuticals v. Broudo. The Supreme Court in 2005 ruled unanimously for the company, but did not issue the kind of broad ruling Gorsuch had sought, said Patrick Coughlin, the lawyer who argued the case on behalf of the investors who sued. Of Gorsuch’s role, Coughlin said representing the Chamber of Commerce is the epitome of corporate defense work for a lawyer. “The chamber had always been against us,” Coughlin said, referring to class action lawyers. “He’d always been on the other side of what we were doing, so it was not surprising he was selected by Trump.” Prior to the ruling, Gorsuch co-wrote an article in the Legal Times trade publication for lawyers in which he described some securities class actions as a “free ride to fast riches” for plaintiffs’ lawyers. He said the Dura case was a chance for the court to “curb frivolous fraud claims” in which plaintiffs cannot prove a stock price drop was caused by misrepresentations by a company. Gorsuch’s background promises to be valuable on the Supreme Court, which hears a significant number of business disputes among the roughly 70 cases considered each annual term. Businesses have been trying with mixed success to get the Supreme Court to put new curbs on class action litigation beyond the securities context. Class actions can lead to huge jury awards against companies and is harder to defend against than lawsuits brought by individuals. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate in time, Gorsuch could play an immediate role in a major case on whether companies can head off costly class action lawsuits by forcing employees to give up their right to pursue work-related legal claims in court as a group. Paul Bland, executive director of consumer advocacy group Public Justice, said he hoped Gorsuch, if confirmed, would see that “most of what he saw as meritless cases in 2005 have been weeded out, and that the vast majority of the cases that remain raise substantial issues that protect investors.” Chamber of Commerce official Tom Collamore joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday for a meeting with advocacy groups touting Gorsuch’s pick, calling it “a fantastic nomination.” The chamber declined comment on Gorsuch’s work for the group. In a statement issued after the nomination was announced, chamber President Tom Donohue congratulated Trump on the selection. When Democratic President Barack Obama last March nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to fill the same vacant seat on the court, there was no press release from the chamber. Senate Republicans refused to act on Garland’s nomination, a move that paved the way for Trump to nominate Gorsuch to replace fellow conservative Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. Describing his career in private practice, Gorsuch said in his Senate questionnaire prior to his appointment by Republican President George W. Bush to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 that he was “involved in matters large and small for clients ranging from individuals to nonprofits to corporations,” on such issues as racketeering, securities fraud and antitrust. His former Washington law firm stressed in a statement that Gorsuch had a “wide variety” of clients and cited a case in which he represented people who had been targeted over payday loans. David Frederick, a lawyer at the firm, called Gorsuch “a dogged, very determined lawyer.” “He’s the kind of lawyer you would want to have representing you,” Frederick said. After leaving the firm, but before becoming a judge, he spent just over a year in Bush’s Justice Department. One of his roles was overseeing antitrust litigation involving the government.

Title: As private lawyer, Trump high court pick was friend to business. Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As a lawyer in private practice for a decade, President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch often fought on behalf of business interests, including efforts to curb securities class action lawsuits, experience that could mould his thinking if he is confirmed as a justice. Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado nominated by wealthy businessman Trump on Tuesday, could turn out to be a friend to business, having represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in fending off securities class actions, one of the most hotly contested areas of corporate law. The chamber is the largest U.S. business lobbying group. If confirmed, Gorsuch would be one of the only current justices with extensive experience on business issues in private practice. Securities class action lawsuits are filed by investors who allege misconduct by a company whose stock price has tanked, hurting investors’ portfolios. These once-common lawsuits now face higher hurdles and are filed less often. Congress passed laws in 1995 and 1998 making it harder to bring securities class actions. Later court rulings, including one in which Gorsuch was involved, clarified the requirements under the laws. From 1995 to 2005, Gorsuch worked at boutique law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel in Washington, becoming a partner in 1998. He had a wide range of clients, including individuals and nonprofits, as well as various business interests. While there, he filed two briefs on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce seeking limits to securities class actions. One of Gorsuch’s briefs came in a securities fraud case called Dura Pharmaceuticals v. Broudo. The Supreme Court in 2005 ruled unanimously for the company, but did not issue the kind of broad ruling Gorsuch had sought, said Patrick Coughlin, the lawyer who argued the case on behalf of the investors who sued. Of Gorsuch’s role, Coughlin said representing the Chamber of Commerce is the epitome of corporate defense work for a lawyer. “The chamber had always been against us,” Coughlin said, referring to class action lawyers. “He’d always been on the other side of what we were doing, so it was not surprising he was selected by Trump.” Prior to the ruling, Gorsuch co-wrote an article in the Legal Times trade publication for lawyers in which he described some securities class actions as a “free ride to fast riches” for plaintiffs’ lawyers. He said the Dura case was a chance for the court to “curb frivolous fraud claims” in which plaintiffs cannot prove a stock price drop was caused by misrepresentations by a company. Gorsuch’s background promises to be valuable on the Supreme Court, which hears a significant number of business disputes among the roughly 70 cases considered each annual term. Businesses have been trying with mixed success to get the Supreme Court to put new curbs on class action litigation beyond the securities context. Class actions can lead to huge jury awards against companies and is harder to defend against than lawsuits brought by individuals. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate in time, Gorsuch could play an immediate role in a major case on whether companies can head off costly class action lawsuits by forcing employees to give up their right to pursue work-related legal claims in court as a group. Paul Bland, executive director of consumer advocacy group Public Justice, said he hoped Gorsuch, if confirmed, would see that “most of what he saw as meritless cases in 2005 have been weeded out, and that the vast majority of the cases that remain raise substantial issues that protect investors.” Chamber of Commerce official Tom Collamore joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday for a meeting with advocacy groups touting Gorsuch’s pick, calling it “a fantastic nomination.” The chamber declined comment on Gorsuch’s work for the group. In a statement issued after the nomination was announced, chamber President Tom Donohue congratulated Trump on the selection. When Democratic President Barack Obama last March nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to fill the same vacant seat on the court, there was no press release from the chamber. Senate Republicans refused to act on Garland’s nomination, a move that paved the way for Trump to nominate Gorsuch to replace fellow conservative Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. Describing his career in private practice, Gorsuch said in his Senate questionnaire prior to his appointment by Republican President George W. Bush to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 that he was “involved in matters large and small for clients ranging from individuals to nonprofits to corporations,” on such issues as racketeering, securities fraud and antitrust. His former Washington law firm stressed in a statement that Gorsuch had a “wide variety” of clients and cited a case in which he represented people who had been targeted over payday loans. David Frederick, a lawyer at the firm, called Gorsuch “a dogged, very determined lawyer.” “He’s the kind of lawyer you would want to have representing you,” Frederick said. After leaving the firm, but before becoming a judge, he spent just over a year in Bush’s Justice Department. One of his roles was overseeing antitrust litigation involving the government.

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