When she heard that Nintendo was planning to reproduce its iconic Nintendo Entertainment System video game console for the holiday season, Emily Bradbury put a note on her calendar and set an alarm on her phone. She was not interested in buying it for her children. She wanted it for her husband. "He's 40 years old and grew up with a Nintendo," Ms. Bradbury said. "It's a nostalgia thing. " Since its release on Nov. 11, the NES Classic Edition, a smaller version of the original console introduced to North America in 1985, has become one of the hottest gift items of the year. It has struck a chord especially among older millennials and younger members of Generation X, who may have found in it a video game system to share with their children — if they don't just keep it for themselves. It retails for $60, with one original controller, and comes preloaded with 30 classic games, including Super Mario Bros. Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and Tecmo Bowl. But this trip down memory lane has not been without headaches. Nintendo has been sluggish in responding to the demand, resulting in huge markups on the secondary market, including on sites like eBay, where the consoles were being resold for as much as $390. Those higher prices are sure to stand out even more on Monday, when many other brands and retailers cut prices for Cyber Monday, the online version of Black Friday. On the release date, most retailers, including Amazon and GameStop, sold out almost immediately. ( had sold out over the summer.) Walmart kept a very limited supply in stock that it trickled out in online flash sales over the last two weeks. The consoles sold out within two minutes each time. Heeding her calendar warnings and alarms, Ms. Bradbury tried to order the NES online through Amazon and Walmart but could not act quickly enough. She even enlisted friends to visit nearby Target and Best Buy stores in Wichita, Kan. the closest big city to her home. But they, too, returned . "I thought it would be a bunch of us people going after it, but it won't be much of a big deal," said Ms. Bradbury, the member services director for the Kansas Press Association, a trade organization for Kansas newspapers. "I was shocked. " But Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst, said he was not surprised by the intense demand or the low supply, which he considered an intentional move by Nintendo to garner attention, knowing that it could restock before the holiday shopping season was over. "The Classic is sold out for three reasons: It's nostalgic, it's cheap and Nintendo clearly didn't ship enough of them," Mr. Pachter said in an email, adding: "There is plenty of time to stock the channel. They may miss Black Friday, but they won't miss Xmas. " In a statement, Nintendo said that it was "working hard to keep up with consumer demand. " "There will be a steady flow of additional systems through the holiday shopping season and into the new year," the statement read. The company declined to comment further. David Cole, the chief executive of DFC Intelligence, a market research firm, said there was a lot riding on Nintendo's ability to satisfy demand in the next few weeks. The company is introducing a new product, Nintendo Switch, in 2017, which it hopes will make up for its lagging sales of the Wii U and its late entry into mobile gaming. Pokémon Go, which was released over the summer and is partially owned by Nintendo, was the company's first major effort in mobile gaming, and it was a sensation. Mr. Cole said buyers were pursuing the NES Classic Edition mostly for nostalgia, but he thought the console could potentially make older customers interested in future Nintendo products. "They had really lost their brand identity the past two years," Mr. Cole said. "This was the kind of thing that was perfect for bringing that back. " But such a plan will work, Mr. Cole added, only if Nintendo manages to restock before the holidays are over. "If they don't, they really miss out on an opportunity," he said. "That demand might not carry over into 2017. " Jim Silver, editor of TTPM, a toy review website, says that nostalgic items have been big this year, and that retailers are recognizing that many of the children who grew up in the 1980s are starting families of their own. He noted that Stretch Armstrong figurines, and Strawberry Shortcake and Teddy Ruxpin dolls have all begun making comebacks. The NES is no different. "This is not saying, 'I need to have Zelda,'" Mr. Silver said. "This is adults saying, 'These were my favorite games. I get to play them again. '" But shopping for a hot holiday item, even online, is hardly simple today. And those who have managed to acquire the new NES at the retail price seem to have benefited from extensive planning, research and luck — even strategizing since July, when Nintendo announced its plans to release the NES. Michael Salazar, from Sacramento, Calif. managed to place a request to a console on July 22 through Amazon's British website. When it arrived last week, shipped directly from Edinburgh, Mr. Salazar was elated. He then used a secondary site, which tracks inventory at Target stores, to monitor whether any consoles had arrived locally. When he saw that a nearby Target had received three, he rushed there at 7:30 a. m. on a Sunday to buy one as a present for his . Now, he is looking for a third to give as a gift. "I'm 38 that's my childhood," Mr. Salazar said. "Nintendo was always a very important piece of my life. " Amanda Schluer, of Rocklin, Calif. had the foresight in July to set an alert on Amazon for one minute before the release date. Then she watched the seconds tick down. "I've sat and waited for Garth Brooks tickets the same way," Ms. Schluer said. "Just wait until the second they go on sale and push the button. " By acting quickly, Ms. Schluer, 38, managed to buy a console. She and her husband even took their NES to Los Angeles to play with family over Thanksgiving. "We have a Wii, and my kids never play it," said Ms. Schluer of her two daughters, ages 6 and 10. "That's the good thing about the old retro games," Ms. Schluer added. "They are fun, they're and it's something we can all play together. "


In his efforts to weasel out of answering questions about Donald Trump s lie that President Obama tapped Trump Tower s wires, Sean Spicer uttered four little words that he now regrets. No, that s above my pay grade, Spicer told a reporter when asked for evidence that Trump was telling the truth.Jay Carney, President Barack Obama s press secretary, very quickly shut down Spicer s claim that he does not have access to that information via Twitter. Actually, his pay grade is the highest possible at WH same as for chief of staff, national security and other senior personnel, Carney tweeted:Actually, his "pay grade" is the highest possible at WH same as for chief of staff, national security and other senior personnel. https://t.co/V3BENwFHjI Jay Carney (@JayCarney) March 7, 2017Yes, this means that Sean Spicer lied to you.On Saturday, Trump dropped a bigger lie about Obama than the whole Kenya thing (and that was a whopper). Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism! our alleged President said as part of an extended rant that was clearly intended to distract from the very real scandals related to him, his campaign, his staff, and a little shirtless Russian guy he calls Vladdy Poot Poot (we assume on that last bit). A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice, Obama responded via spokesman Kevin Lewis. As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false. So far Trump has not been able to provide a shred of evidence and even some of Obama s most vocal opponents have failed to defend The Donald. Nevertheless Trump has demanded that the Republican Congress distract themselves from any of those pesky Russia investigations by looking into whether or not Obama did the stupid and illegal thing he falsely said he did. They agreed, because they legitimately do not care what laws he breaks.Watch Spicer lie again below:


President Donald Trump signed an executive order formally withdrawing the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday, following through on a promise from his campaign last year. In an Oval Office ceremony, Trump also signed an order imposing a federal hiring freeze and a directive banning U.S. non-governmental organizations receive federal funding from providing abortions abroad. Trump called the TPP order a "great thing for the American worker."


Republican nominee Donald Trump has finally made some decisions on a few of his Cabinet members if he wins the election tomorrow, and it s almost just as depressing as imagining him getting into the White House. Following the theme of giving the most offensive GOPers more power, Trump has decided that New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani deserves to be his Attorney General.When MSNBC reported on Trump s list of bigot helpers, host Tamron Hall could barely get the words out about Giuliani. When she tried to deliver the news about the former NYC mayor, she choked up and coughed, making it hard to actually complete her sentence. Hall said: New this morning, Trump campaign sources tell NBC News among those being considered to serve in a Trump administration. Rudy Giuliani for Attorney General, excuse me Hall tried to move on and talk about Newt Gingrinch being chosen as Trump s Secretary of State, but she was already coughing. She recovered quickly, perhaps putting the shock and disgust of Giuliani s new position on the back burner for now, and went through the rest of Trump s choices with zero issues.You can watch Hall get sick to her stomach over the Giuliani news below:Having Giuliani as a major help to Trump in the White House is terrifying. He s not only defended Trump s racism, misogyny and other offensive comments by the business mogul, but he s also been caught lying a fairly good amount. Giuliani is basically just like Trump, and giving both of these idiots more power is just about the worst decision that America could make in this election. This isn t just about Trump anymore it s about the future of America, and making sure that more of these clueless GOPers don t gain more influence than they already have.Featured image is a screenshot


UPDATE: Trump 304 Clinton 224, Other 6 and 4 pending votes remaining.Among the electors today, there were more Hillary defectors than Trump defectors. Go HERE to see who they were and which states they are from.Although the official electoral college results won t be announced until January 6, when Congress meets in a joint session to officially count the results, many of the votes are already being announced in some states. We will update this post with the electoral count as state results are announced, so you can stay updated on the latest. Trump had 259 electoral votes before Texas cast 36 of its 38 electoral votes for Trump, pushing him over the 270 that he needed to win.Here are the results we know so far, as shared by local media outlets, electors, or state officials:Alabama All 9 electors have voted for Trump.Alaska All 3 electors voted for Trump.Arizona All 11 electors voted for Trump.Arkansas All 6 electors voted for Trump.Connecticut All 7 electors voted for Hillary Clinton.Delaware All 3 electors voted for Hillary Clinton.Florida All 29 electors voted for Trump.Georgia All 16 electors voted for Trump.Idaho All 4 electors voted for Trump.Illinois All 20 electors voted for Clinton.Indiana All 11 electors voted for Trump.Kansas All six electors voted for Trump, per 270 to WIN.Kentucky All 8 electors voted for Trump.Louisiana All 8 electors voted for Trump.Maine Maine and Nebraska are the only states that split their electoral votes. In Maine, Trump earned 1 electoral vote and Clinton earned 3. One of Clinton s electors, David Bright, announced on Facebook that he was giving his electoral vote to Bernie Sanders. He tried to do just that, but he was ruled out of order and the vote was recast, forcing him to vote for Hillary Clinton instead.Maryland All 10 electors voted for Hillary Clinton.Michigan All 16 electors voted for Trump.Minnesota All 10 electors voted for Clinton.Missouri All 10 electors voted for Trump.Mississippi All 6 electors voted for Trump.Nebraska All 5 voted for Trump.New Hampshire All 4 electors voted for Clinton.New York All 29 electors voted for Hillary Clinton.North Carolina All 15 electors voted for Trump.North Dakota All 3 electors voted for Trump.Ohio All 18 electors voted for Trump.Oklahoma All 7 electors voted for Trump.Oregon All 7 electors voted for Clinton.Pennsylvania All 20 votes for Trump (verified by CBS).Rhode Island All 4 electors voted for Clinton.South Carolina All 9 electors voted for Trump.South Dakota All 3 electors voted for Trump.Tennessee All 11 electors voted for Trump.Texas In Texas, 36 out of its 38 electoral votes went to Trump. Chris Suprun wrote today on The Hill that he still intended to cast his vote for John Kasich and not Trump. Once the meeting got underway, four electors resigned and then were replaced, which caused the results to be delayed. One of the electors, Sisneros, did not want to vote for Trump. The other three found out they were ineligible, Sean Walsh of the Statesman reported.Utah All 6 electors voted for Trump, per 270toWin.Vermont All 3 electors voted for Clinton.Washington In Washington, eight voted for Clinton, 3 voted for Colin Powell, and 1 voted for Faith Spotted Eagle.West Virginia All 5 electors voted for Trump.Wisconsin All 10 electors voted for Donald Trump.via: 270towinh/t Heavy


The political left and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself) still reeling from the results of the November election, found traction this weekend in the debate over crowd sizes with the new Trump administration. [For their purposes, it matters less what the Trump said, and even less what the crowd sizes were (or why) and more that they were able to create a common filter through which they will interpret subsequent events as they muster an opposition (pretentiously called "resistance"). First, the facts. The crowd on Inauguration Day was massive, and from the front sections — where this reporter was lucky enough to have seats — it looked like the entire mall was full. Trump — and anyone else seeing the event from that vantage point — could be forgiven for thinking the crowd was at least a million strong, or more. Taking him to task for speculating about that was simply petty. Press Secretary Sean Spicer was correct: the media were trying to undermine the new president. At the same time, the crowd did not feel overwhelming. And that was partly by design. The left did its best to scare Trump supporters away by threatening violence. Furthermore, the timing (on a Friday) and the high price of traveling to, and staying in, Washington over a weekend kept many Trump fans at home. A good portion of the protesters who came in from out of town had probably already booked their travel plans in anticipation of a Hillary Clinton win, driving prices up. The size of the crowds at the respective events was not an issue until the media made it one. In his combative statement to the press on Saturday, Spicer correctly noted that there were some media reports of crowd size that were clearly manipulative. The presence of additional security — again, required because of threats — did slow entry onto the Capitol lawn and the Mall. (How easy the left often has it: threaten Republicans, then mock them in the media for taking you seriously!) Most Trump fans were probably happy to see Spicer take the media to task — especially over the false report that President Trump had removed a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office. That bogus story was undoubtedly motivated by the media's continued quest to find evidence of racism in the Trump camp. It was classic fake news, a clean bust (no pun intended). So, naturally, media critics focused on the more dubious claim that Trump's crowds had rivaled Obama's. To make his case, Spicer presented what Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway later called "alternative facts" — a harmless, and accurate, term in a legal setting, where each side of a dispute will lay out its own version of the facts for the court to decide. In the heated debate, however, the term quickly became a meme as a euphemism for "lying" — in much the way that a Bush aide inadvertently gave the mainstream media a badge of honor when he used the phrase " community. " Trump was not lying — nor were Spicer, or Conway. They were merely giving their version of events. But CNN and the New York Times explicitly said that Trump had made "false" claims, whether about crowd size or the media, even when his claims were clearly supportable opinion. It was not enough for journalists to find, and report, the facts independently, and let their readers or viewers decide. They decided to be argumentative — and laid down a marker, "Trump lied," on Day One (or Two). In some ways, that was simply the media reverting to what they had done under the Bush administration, the last time they had to cover a Republican in power. We are likely to hear a lot more about "alternative facts" in the future, stripped of its original (benign) context and used as the foundation for an alternative reality. There is nothing even Trump can do to stop that. But the new administration could choose its battles more carefully, and perhaps learn to deliver rebukes with a smile. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the "most influential" people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.


Wayne MADSEN | 11.11.2016 | WORLD The Clintons and Soros launch America's Purple Revolution Defeated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is not about to «go quietly into that good night». On the morning after her surprising and unanticipated defeat at the hands of Republican Party upstart Donald Trump, Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, entered the ball room of the art-deco New Yorker hotel in midtown Manhattan and were both adorned in purple attire. The press immediately noticed the color and asked what it represented. Clinton spokespeople claimed it was to represent the coming together of Democratic «Blue America» and Republican «Red America» into a united purple blend. This statement was a complete ruse as is known by citizens of countries targeted in the past by the vile political operations of international hedge fund tycoon George Soros. The Clintons, who both have received millions of dollars in campaign contributions and Clinton Foundation donations from Soros, were, in fact, helping to launch Soros's «Purple Revolution» in America. The Purple Revolution will resist all efforts by the Trump administration to push back against the globalist policies of the Clintons and soon-to-be ex-President Barack Obama. The Purple Revolution will also seek to make the Trump administration a short one through Soros-style street protests and political disruption. It is doubtful that President Trump's aides will advise the new president to carry out a diversionary criminal investigation of Mrs. Clinton's private email servers and other issues related to the activities of the Clinton Foundation, especially when the nation faces so many other pressing issues, including jobs, immigration, and health care. However, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said he will continue hearings in the Republican-controlled Congress on Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and Mrs. Clinton's aide Huma Abedin . President Trump should not allow himself to be distracted by these efforts. Chaffetz was not one of Trump's most loyal supporters. America's globalists and interventionists are already pushing the meme that because so many establishment and entrenched national security and military «experts» opposed Trump's candidacy, Trump is «required» to call on them to join his administration because there are not enough such «experts» among Trump's inner circle of advisers. Discredited neo-conservatives from George W. Bush's White House, such as Iraq war co-conspirator Stephen Hadley, are being mentioned as someone Trump should have join his National Security Council and other senior positions. George H. W. Bush's Secretary of State James Baker, a die-hard Bush loyalist, is also being proffered as a member of Trump's White House team. There is absolutely no reason for Trump to seek the advice from old Republican fossils like Baker, Hadley, former Secretaries of State Rice and Powell, the lunatic former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, and others. There are plenty of Trump supporters who have a wealth of experience in foreign and national security matters, including those of African, Haitian, Hispanic, and Arab descent and who are not neocons, who can fill Trump's senior- and middle-level positions. Trump must distance himself from sudden well-wishing neocons, adventurists, militarists, and interventionists and not permit them to infest his administration. If Mrs. Clinton had won the presidency, an article on the incoming administration would have read as follows: «Based on the militarism and foreign adventurism of her term as Secretary of State and her husband Bill Clinton's two terms as president, the world is in store for major American military aggression on multiple fronts around the world. President-elect Hillary Clinton has made no secret of her desire to confront Russia militarily, diplomatically, and economically in the Middle East, on Russia's very doorstep in eastern Europe, and even within the borders of the Russian Federation. Mrs. Clinton has dusted off the long-discredited 'containment' policy ushered into effect by Professor George F. Kennan in the aftermath of World War. Mrs. Clinton's administration will likely promote the most strident neo-Cold Warriors of the Barack Obama administration, including Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, a personal favorite of Clinton». President-elect Trump cannot afford to permit those who are in the same web as Nuland, Hadley, Bolton, and others to join his administration where they would metastasize like an aggressive form of cancer. These individuals would not carry out Trump's policies but seek to continue to damage America's relations with Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, and other nations. Not only must Trump have to deal with Republican neocons trying to worm their way into his administration, but he must deal with the attempt by Soros to disrupt his presidency and the United States with a Purple Revolution No sooner had Trump been declared the 45 th president of the United States, Soros-funded political operations launched their activities to disrupt Trump during Obama's lame-duck period and thereafter. The swiftness of the Purple Revolution is reminiscent of the speed at which protesters hit the streets of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in two Orange Revolutions sponsored by Soros, one in 2004 and the other, ten years later, in 2014. As the Clintons were embracing purple in New York, street demonstrations, some violent, all coordinated by the Soros-funded Moveon.org and «Black Lives Matter», broke out in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Oakland, Nashville, Cleveland, Washington, Austin, Seattle, Philadelphia, Richmond, St. Paul, Kansas City, Omaha, San Francisco, and some 200 other cities across the United States. The Soros-financed Russian singing group «Pussy Riot» released on YouTube an anti-Trump music video titled «Make America Great Again». The video went «viral» on the Internet. The video, which is profane and filled with violent acts, portrays a dystopian Trump presidency. Following the George Soros/Gene Sharp script to a tee, Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova called for anti-Trump Americans to turn their anger into art, particularly music and visual art. The use of political graffiti is a popular Sharp tactic. The street protests and anti-Trump music and art were the first phase of Soros's Purple Revolution in America. President-elect Trump is facing a two-pronged attack by his opponents. One, led by entrenched neo-con bureaucrats, including former Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency director Michael Hayden, former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and Bush family loyalists are seeking to call the shots on who Trump appoints to senior national security, intelligence, foreign policy, and defense positions in his administration. These neo-Cold Warriors are trying to convince Trump that he must maintain the Obama aggressiveness and militancy toward Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and other countries. The second front arrayed against Trump is from Soros-funded political groups and media. This second line of attack is a propaganda war, utilizing hundreds of anti-Trump newspapers, web sites, and broadcasters, that will seek to undermine public confidence in the Trump administration from its outset. One of Trump's political advertisements, released just prior to Election Day, stated that George Soros, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, and Goldman Sachs chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein, are all part of «a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities». Soros and his minions immediately and ridiculously attacked the ad as «anti-Semitic». President Trump should be on guard against those who his campaign called out in the ad and their colleagues. Soros's son, Alexander Soros, called on Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, to publicly disavow Trump. Soros's tactics not only seek to split apart nations but also families. Trump must be on guard against the current and future machinations of George Soros, including his Purple Revolution.


Facing deeply entrenched differences and political headwinds, the top negotiators trying to reach a sweeping U.S.-European free trade deal avoided agriculture, public procurement and other thorny issues in talks this week. Instead, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Daniel Mullaney and European Commission lead negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercera said on Friday they concentrated on less controversial areas such as small and medium enterprises and technical language. But both insisted after their 13th negotiating round in New York that they can still reach a deal this year before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office in January. Mullaney said concerns over a June referendum in Britain over whether to leave the European Union would not slow efforts to reach a deal to boost trade, investment and job growth on both continents, and nor would anti-trade rhetoric from the U.S. presidential campaign trail. "We're confident that we can achieve that kind of an agreement and that when we do, later this year, it'll be an agreement that the public on both sides of the Atlantic can support," Mullaney said. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has said he would scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and has been especially critical of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement for "destroying" U.S. jobs. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, has also said TPP is unacceptable in its current form. "I haven't seen a worse political environment for trade deals" negotiations, said Robert Vastine, a former president of the Coalition of Service Industries, who gave a presentation on services at a forum on the sidelines of the New York talks. He said the sour environment was contributing to the slow pace of talks and a lack of enthusiasm for making concessions, particularly when any deal would need to be approved under a new U.S. president. In Europe, too, the political environment is challenging, with widespread opposition to allowing more imports of U.S. agricultural products over concerns about genetically modified foods, hormone-raised beef and fierce protection of local food-naming rules for items from Asiago cheese to Parma ham. A new survey released this week by the Bertelsmann Foundation showed waning support for a TTIP deal in both Germany and the United States. The poll, conducted by YouGov, showed that only 17 percent of Germans believe TTIP is a good thing versus 55 percent two years ago. In the United States, only 18 percent of those polled supported such a deal, versus 53 percent in 2014. France has voiced particular frustration at the lack of movement on the U.S. side. French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl this month suggested the talks should be scrapped absent further progress. John Wilson, senior vice president of the Dairy Farmers of America, told the New York forum that his cooperative of 8,500 farms would oppose TTIP unless U.S.-made cheese can break into Europe's closely guarded naming rules, known as "geographic indications." "We've been producing Asiago cheese for a long time. It's a common name, it's a generic name," he said. European Commission agricultural negotiator John Clarke shot back that Europe would fiercely defend its geographical indications, including Asiago, from U.S. imports. "You will certainly not be able to export Asiago from the USA to Europe. That's absolutely impossible," Clarke said. The services sector remains another problem area, with U.S. officials insisting Europe drop exclusions for some 200 sectors, and European officials frustrated at the U.S. refusal to open up its coastal maritime transport sector. The EU's Garcia Bercera said he was mindful of the public debate in the negotiations. "We believe that the task is to convince public opinion in Europe and the United States that trade agreements are instruments to better manage globalization," he said.


Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week's most notable new songs and videos — and anything else that strikes them as intriguing. You can listen to this playlist on Spotify here. Like this Playlist? Let us know at theplaylist@nytimes. com, and sign up for our Louder newsletter (coming soon!) here. The sleight of hand that made "Earned It," the Weeknd's magisterial song for the original "Fifty Shades of Grey" film, so effective was that it relied on a sort of bondage, balancing the tension between its polished exterior and what was easy to imagine as its core. "I Don't Wanna Live Forever," the first offering from the film's sequel, by ZAYN and Taylor Swift, (available on Apple Music) has no such struggle. There's little moistness here: ZAYN's sweet vocals never manage anguish or tension, and Ms. Swift has perhaps never been more obscured by digital manipulation, in places to the point where she's practically anonymized. The pleading in the song is clinical, the chemistry muted. (An opportunity for Ms. Swift to strike back at an ex is largely missed — ZAYN is a former bandmate of Harry Styles, her paramour.) The thickness of the production conveys the urgency here — in the beginning, it recalls the hollers of Ms. Swift's "Out of the Woods" — and the chorus gleams. But the song never sweats, nor threatens to. JON CARAMANICA Here's one way to announce a comeback: "Trying to win your interest you ain't having none of that. " That's the salutation from Jim and William Reid, the brothers who lead the Jesus and Mary Chain, which released its last album in 1998 but has been touring sporadically since 2007. "Amputation" opens a new album due in March, "Damage and Joy," and it barely budges from the sound the Jesus and Mary Chain perfected on "Psychocandy" in 1985. It's rock sung with cynical conviction and barricaded with layer upon layer of distorted guitars and additional noise, like the sizzling whistle that opens the track and squeals throughout. The mandate is to keep thickening the mix, loading on the irritants and cranking them up: the way sweet falsetto "oohs" arrive with vicious feedback at 1:25, and the way the chorus is chanted for the final minute and a half over implacable drums and a massive pileup of lead and rhythm guitars. It's not chaos it's strategic cacophony. JON PARELES Rage spews every which way in "Governed by Contagions," the first song in 16 years from the reunited At The . The beat gallops and pummels Omar 's guitar parts proceed from buzzing, nagging repetition to jagged leaps to screeching tremolo chords, and the singer and lyricist Cedric rails, obliquely, about desperate people facing detested adversaries, "singing cannibal hymns of the bourgeoisie," and envisioning revolution: "That's the way the guillotine claps," a chorus declares. It's as precise in its aggression as At The Drive In's has always been it's also a gauntlet thrown down. J. P. The title of Ryan Adams's coming album, "The Prisoner," refers to an emotional state — specifically, what it means to be consumed or paralyzed by desire. On the album's lead single and opening track, "Do You Still Love Me? ," his lyrics suggest the perspective of someone trying to catch sand as it slips through his hands. The chorus consists of the title phrase (with a "babe" added for good measure) while one verse elaborates further: "What can I say? I didn't want it to change Is my heart blind and our love so strange?" "The Prisoner" is due out on Feb. 17. NATE CHINEN Here's a bash from a band that's equally raucous and confronting mortality, media and general pandemonium all at once. It's from the provocatively titled album "Nazi Hologram. " The verses pound one chord into drone ecstasy the bridges jump around but come back to that drone. "As I lay there cruised up to had something she was looked sinister and stuck it in stuck it in me!" Then the drums crash harder and Andrew Katz sings, "Turn on your TV sets!" J. P. Sure, there's plenty of gimmickry in pop music, but it's admirable when someone leans in to it as convincingly as Post Malone does. He's a singer with a background his music is both pointedly hybridized and abstract enough that it can be interpreted many different ways. On "Cold" — a standout from his major label debut album, "Stoney," which was released today — he ups the ante even further. The singing is spectral, the cadence is practically spoken, and, as a bonus, the beat is with thumps that flicker on and off. The result is unusual and impressive: "Cold" flirts with everything, and commits to nothing. J. C. Hurray for the Riff Raff hasn't had to pivot to become part of the resistance. But on its new song, the band sharpens its aim and agenda, aligning with protesters at Standing Rock and in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico. Alynda Segarra, the songwriter at the helm of Hurray, sings of cultural theft and systemic oppression, naming no names but making her opposition clear: "Now all the politicians, they just squawk their mouths They said 'We'll build a wall to keep them out'" The song, which rides a percussive groove (and has some fine guitar playing) is an early taste of "The Navigator," due out on March 10. Ms. Segarra's touchstones on the album range from Fania Records to Bowery to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, with an animating conviction that's summed up in this song's closing refrain: "I'll keep fighting 'til the end. " N. C. This charming song is many months old, but has finally received a vivid video, thanks to its inclusion on Kodie Shane's new EP, "Zero Gravity," her first major label release. Kodie Shane is a member of Lil Yachty's Sailing Team, and in Daliesque fragments similar to the boss. "Sad" is a duet between them, with Kodie Shane lamenting her romantic lot, followed by Lil Yachty coming in to offer succor, and more. The climactic scene in the video is both comic and sweet. They sing face to face in a therapist's office — their voices digitized, their emotions very raw. J. C. The Cuban pianist David Virelles is a brilliant hybridist, but until recently he generally released music with acoustic dimensions, approachable from the vectors of postbop or . "Antenna" — recently released in digital form and as a vinyl EP — sounds like something else entirely, even as it carries on an inquiry that has always been at the center of Mr. Virelles's work. A track called "Rumbakuá" has electronic textures, splicing and versifying by the Cuban rapper Etián Brebaje Man. The EP is worth seeking out, and so is a performance by Mr. Virelles at Le Poisson Rouge on Friday evening, with partners like the guitarist Rafiq Bhatia and the drummer Marcus Gilmore. N. C.


Myanmar security forces have brutally driven out half a million Muslim Rohingya from northern Rakhine state, torching their homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning, the U.N. human rights office said on Wednesday. Jyoti Sanghera, head of the Asia and Pacific region of the U.N. human rights office, called on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to stop the violence and voiced fear that if the stateless Rohingya refugees return from Bangladesh they may be interned. If villages have been completely destroyed and livelihood possibilities have been destroyed, what we fear is that they may be incarcerated or detained in camps, she told a news briefing. U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman is due to visit Myanmar on Friday, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric. In a report based on 65 interviews with Rohingya who have arrived in Bangladesh in the past month, the U.N. human rights office said that clearance operations had begun before insurgent attacks on police posts on Aug. 25 and included killings, torture and rape of children. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra ad al-Hussein - who has described the government operations as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing - said in a statement that the actions appeared to be a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return . Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, scorched their dwellings and entire villages in northern Rakhine State, not only to drive the population out in droves but also to prevent the fleeing Rohingya victims from returning to their homes, the report said. It said the destruction by security forces, often joined by mobs of armed Rakhine Buddhists, of houses, fields, food stocks, crops, and livestock made the possibility of Rohingya returning to normal lives in northern Rakhine almost impossible . The campaign was well-organized, coordinated and systematic and began with Rohingya men under 40 being arrested a month earlier, creating a climate of fear and intimidation . We are not in a position to make a finding of genocide or not, but this should in no way detract from the seriousness of the situation which the Rohingya population is currently facing, said Thomas Hunecke, who led the team that went to Cox s Bazar, Bangladesh, from Sept. 14-24. It was highly likely that Myanmar security forces planted landmines along the border in recent weeks to prevent Rohingya from returning, he said, citing doctors treating injuries. Despite growing international condemnation of the crisis, the military campaign is popular in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where there is little sympathy for the Rohingya, and for Muslims in general, and where Buddhist nationalism has surged. Myanmar on Tuesday launched its first bid to improve relations between Buddhists and Muslims since the eruption of deadly violence inflamed the communal tension and triggered an exodus of some 520,000 Muslims to Bangladesh. But the U.N. s Sanghera, noting that 11,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh on Monday alone, said: Clearly it seems that some level of eviction, displacement, forced movement and violence may be continuing. The U.N. experts documented Myanmar security forces firing indiscriminately at Rohingya villagers, injuring and killing other innocent victims, setting houses on fire . Almost all testimonies indicated that people were shot at close range and in the back while they tried to flee in panic, the report said. The U.N. report quoted a 12-year-old girl from Rathedaung township as saying the security forces had surrounded her house and started shooting. It was a situation of panic they shot my sister in front of me. She was only seven years old. She cried and told me to run. I tried to protect her and care for her, but we had no medical assistance on the hillside and she was bleeding so much that after one day she died. I buried her myself. The girl did not know what happened to her mother and four brothers, nor her father jailed a month earlier. The United Nations said on Wednesday that its current top official in Myanmar, Renata Lok-Dessallien, would finish her nearly four-year assignment at the end of October. Myanmar is stalling on accepting a plan by the U.N. to upgrade the U.N. country head to the more powerful rank of assistant secretary-general (ASG) when Lok-Dessallien leaves. Thaung Tun, Suu Kyi s national security adviser, told Reuters earlier this month that the U.N. must treat us equally, adding that: We ll be fine with anybody if all member states have an ASG assigned. Not just us.


Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has agreed to stand down and his resignation letter has been drafted, CNN said on Monday, citing a source familiar with his negotiations with the generals who seized power in Harare last week. Under the terms of the deal, Mugabe and his wife Grace would be granted full immunity, CNN said. Two senior government sources told Reuters late on Sunday that Mugabe had agreed to resign but did not know details of his departure.


(Want to get this briefing by email? Here's the .) Good evening. Here's the latest. 1. President Obama angrily responded to a speech Monday by Donald J. Trump in which Mr. Trump appeared to broaden his proposal to bar Muslim immigrants. Mr. Obama called the Republican presidential candidate's comments about the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. "dangerous. " Mr. Trump's appeal to fear breaks with the way most American political leaders have reacted to this kind of crisis, but his stance on guns may help his outreach to Democrats. _____ 2. Harrowing accounts of the attack, which left 49 people dead, continued to surface: "I look over, and he shoots the girl next to me. And I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next, I'm dead,' " said Angel Colon, who was shot multiple times. Doctors spoke of bleeding patients lining hospital hallways after arriving in trucks and cars, and on foot. _____ 3. The F. B. I. investigation turned to the second wife of the Orlando gunman, Omar Mateen, to determine whether she had been aware of his plot. The wife, Noor Zahi Salman, is not in custody, but indicated she had accompanied him on one trip to the club and to buy ammunition, and tried to talk him out of waging an attack, a senior law enforcement official said. _____ 4. In France, the killings of a police officer and his companion on Monday by a a assailant who swore allegiance to ISIS have raised new concerns about radicalization and the handling of people convicted of activities. The attacker was a Frenchman who was previously found guilty of aiding a group planning terrorist activities, but he was released immediately after his trial ended in 2013. _____ 5. As Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders met privately amid the largely inconsequential primary contest in the District of Columbia, the Democratic Party confirmed that Russian hackers had breached the computers of the Democratic National Committee for roughly a year. The targets included the trove of opposition research against Donald J. Trump. _____ 6. internet can be defined as a utility, a federal appeals court ruled. The decision upheld net neutrality rules by the F. C. C. that signal a shift in how the government views broadband: as a service that should be equally accessible to all Americans, rather than as a luxury. Companies are banned from blocking or slowing the delivery of internet content to consumers, and they've indicated they may pursue their case all the way to the Supreme Court. _____ 7. Disney is sharing the keys to the Magic Kingdom with China's Communist Party — at least in Shanghai, where a new resort that will be four times as big as Disneyland opens on Thursday. The Disney has given the country's government an unusual role in running the park and, in doing so, has set the pace for how other multinational companies can do business in there. _____ 8. An influential critic's refusal to review the new "Ghostbusters" film — starring women in the lead roles — drew more than a million views on YouTube and lots of comments essentially blasting him as a misogynistic jerk. But when our writer dug deeper, he found the reviewer's positions to be less polarizing than he expected — a reminder that, in this age of speedy public judgment, withholding expectations can be worthwhile for all parties. _____ 9. Let's take a moment to remember the beehive — not the insect nest, but the 1960s hairstyle made possible by hair spray, and lots of it. The do's creator, Margaret Vinci Heldt, died on Friday at 98. Ms. Heldt was an hairstyling celebrity when she created the look, which was inspired by a black hat and has never really gone away, even making it onto the heads of Beyoncé and Adele. _____ 10. Lastly, here are a couple of weasels ( ferrets, specifically). They might look cute, but they are also remarkable predators. Badgers, ferrets and otters are part of the mustelid family: carnivores who are capable of competing for food with much larger predators like big cats, wolves and bears. Maybe it's time to rethink what it means to call someone a weasel. _____ Jonah Engel Bromwich contributed reporting. _____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don't miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here's last night's briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com.


posted by Eddie "…Out of the middle of its division, a burning torch sprang, throwing out a long way, flames, coals, and sparks. As well, the moon's body which was lower, twisted as though anxious, and in the words of those who told me and had seen it with their own eyes, the moon palpitated like a pummelled snake. After this, it returned to its proper state…" The moon is without a doubt, one of the most enigmatic objects in the sky. Thousands of years ago, ancient civilizations observed the sky, watching in awe Earth's faithful companion. Since time immemorial, the moon has also been the subject of numerous myths and conspiracy theories. All kinds of strange 'things' are connected t. Interestingly, in 1178, a group of monks from Canterbury observed how the moon 'suddenly exploded' into 'sparks', taking a 'blackish appearance'. If we look history history, we will realize that man times have astronomical events been mistaken for supernatural signs. In ancient times, these events were considered omens, and from time to time, strange lights observed in the sky were interpreted as evil signs. Mysteriously, on June 18th of 1178, monks in Canterbury observed a fascinating sighting. As they looked up to the sky, they witnessed a fascinating event which they described accordingly: "…This year on the Sunday before the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, after sunset when the moon was first seen, a marvelous sign was seen by five or more men sitting facing it. Now, there was a clear new moon, as was usual at that phase, its horns extended to the east, and behold suddenly the upper horn was divided in two. Out of the middle of its division, a burning torch sprang, throwing out a long way, flames, coals, and sparks. As well, the moon's body which was lower, twisted as though anxious, and in the words of those who told me and had seen it with their own eyes, the moon palpitated like a pummelled snake. After this, it returned to its proper state…" So what did they observe in 1178? Did the moon really blow up? According to researchers, they didn't actually witness the moon exploding, but they observed a massive impact of a large body that smashed into the moon, forming what we today know is the Giordano Bruno crater. However, there are others who disagree saying that an impact od such magnitude would have sent towards Earth debris that would have resulted in sightings observed by more people on Earth, and not just a few monks. However, studies have shown that the impact would have launched 10 million tons of ejecta into the Earth's atmosphere in the following weeks. According to a report from NASA , such an impact would have triggered a blizzard-like, week-long meteor storm on Earth –yet there are no accounts of such a storm in any known historical record, including the European, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese and Korean astronomical archives. Withers reported his analysis and other tests of the hypothesis in this month's issue of Meteoritics and Planetary Science . According to many, if we want to explain what the monks saw from a scientific perspective, then the most plausible explanation is that the monks probably witnessed a massive meteor blow up in the atmosphere. From the monk's observational point –and only from there— It would have looked as if the moon had exploded, while people from elsewhere would have spotted the phenomenon but only as a bright shooting star. "I calculate that this would cause a week-long meteor storm comparable to the peak of the 1966 Leonids," he said. Ten million tons of rock showering the entire Earth as pieces of ejecta about a centimeter across (inch-sized fragments) for a week is equivalent to 50,000 meteors each hour. And they would be very bright, very easy to see, at magnitude 1 or magnitude 2. It would have been a spectacular sight to see! Everyone around the world would have had the opportunity to see the best fireworks show in history." "I think they happened to be at the right place at the right time to look up in the sky and see a meteor that was directly in front of the moon, coming straight towards them." "That would explain why only five people are recorded to have seen it. Imagine being in Canterbury on that June evening and seeing the moon convulse and spray hot, molten rock into space." "The memories of it would live with you for the rest of your life." Source:


German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to exploratory talks on forming a new government starting on Jan. 7, both parties said on Wednesday after informal discussions. The decision, 87 days after a national election that returned a fragmented parliament and complicated coalition arithmetic, brightens prospects for a renewal of the grand coalition that governed Germany over the past four years. A repeat coalition is Merkel s best chance of securing a fourth term as chancellor after talks on forming a three-way alliance with two smaller parties broke down, leaving Europe s largest economy in an unprecedented state of uncertainty. It was a good discussion in a trusting atmosphere, the parties said in a joint statement after leaders met on Wednesday. They agreed to hold four days of talks from Jan. 7, with the aim of deciding by Jan. 12 whether to open formal coalition negotiations. Even in the most optimistic case, Germany will have smashed 2013 s post-World War Two record of needing 86 days to form a new government after an election. The hiatus highlights that Germany, long Europe s bastion of stability, is not immune to the political fragmentation that has swept the continent. The conservatives and Social Democrats have identified 15 policy areas for exploration, including education, the welfare state and employment law, where the SPD is keen to carve out a distinctive left-wing identity for itself after a disastrous election showing blamed in part on Merkel s dominant stature. The SPD s membership, which tends to be more radical than the party leadership, will have to ratify any decision to repeat a coalition with Merkel, who has been in power for 12 years. (This version of the story corrects the date to Jan. 12 in fourth paragraph)


Cambodia police on Saturday deported 61 Chinese nationals wanted in China on suspicion of extorting money over the internet and by phone, they said, but Taiwan said 19 were from Taiwan. Several hundred suspected scammers have been arrested in Cambodia, which has emerged as a major center of rackets that have cost the victims billions of dollars. Pictures sent to Reuters on Saturday showed suspects wearing red shirts with their wrists bound together ahead of the deportation. Uk Heisela, chief of investigation at Cambodia s immigration department, said Chinese police had arrived to pick up the suspects. The Immigration Department deported 61 suspects, including 13 women, who were involved in extortions on the internet, Uk Heisela told Reuters. Uk Heisela said they had been detained during raids on Oct 17 and Oct 21 in the capital, Phnom Penh, and in Kandal and Preah Sihanouk provinces. Taiwan s government said 19 of them were from Taiwan, and that it had lodged a strong protest with China about the deportations. Taiwan has been unhappy that Taiwanese extortion suspects have been deported to China in the past and has accused Phnom Penh of acting at the behest of Beijing. China considers self-ruled Taiwan sovereign territory and Cambodia is one of China s closest allies in Southeast Asia.


#disruptj20 protesters blocking men in Air Force uniforms from getting through the #Inauguration checkpoint pic.twitter.com/XVErOHHBwg Ryan Lovelace (@LovelaceRyanD) January 20, 2017


US Presidential Elections Sound a Warning of Catastrophes to Come By Daily Bell Staff - November 08, 2016  What's wrong with Hillary Clinton's brand? … As momentous an occasion as this should be for women around the world, Ms. Clinton would begin her term in the Oval Office with her unpopularity ratings at near-record levels. All of which leads to the question: What's wrong with Brand Hillary? – The Globe and Mail  In the run-up to today's election, many articles on Hillary in the mainstream media have tried to explain more fully why Hillary is electable and desirable as the leader of the US.  A common theme of these articles is that Hillary's troubles are not mentioned or analyzed in detail. The Economist magazine, like many other publications, recently came out with an endorsement of Hillary.  But the endorsement simply dealt with Hillary's legislative and professional history. As always when it comes to Hillary in the mainstream media, deeper questions are glossed over.  This approach to covering Hillary is deliberate and has generated increasing skepticism among large portions of the American public. Correctly, alternative media reports have pointed out this declining credibility but not enough have explained its widening ramifications.  More:  Ms. Clinton is one of the most qualified presidential candidates in recent memory – and her credentials are that much more impressive compared to those of her opponent.  After her time as first lady – in the state of Arkansas, and in the White House – Ms. Clinton served her country as a U.S. Senator and as secretary of state.  The article goes on to ask why Hillary has not been "able to break through in a way that inspires fervent support and popularity."  At this point a significant analysis would grapple with underlying issues regarding Hillary's background and approach to politics and life. These issues are well known. But instead, these issues are presented as "multiple scandals, ranging from Lewinsky to Benghazi, and most recently, her e-mails."  The use of the word "scandal" implies something embarrassing. The significance of these problems in her personal and professional life goes far beyond embarrassment. It illustrates her approach to the US political system and generally how she wields power.  Having skipped past this analysis, the article then minimizes the scandals themselves, stating, "Any politician who has been in the game that long has their fair share of scandal."  The article continues to evolve toward ephemera, suggesting that a big problem with Ms. Clinton is her inability to "appear likable to voters." This is a political problem to be sure, but it is not the UNDERLYING problem, which is much more significant.  Finally, the article brings up the idea that a big reason for the disconnect between Hillary and voters has to do with her gender. "As disheartening as that still is, society and the media still stereotype women and paint them with a negative brush."  The article explains that much criticism of Hillary is gender-related. She has been scrutinized because of her health problems and has too-often been seen by the media as a wife and mother rather than as a businesslike politician with a long, professional history.  As stated, articles like this are at variance with what many believe to be true. Hillary is seen, at this point, by tens of millions as a person with an extremely shady past who may be part of a larger political mafia with her husband that deals in extortion, cover-ups, drug-dealing and even murder to generate vast profits for their Clinton Foundation, and thus for themselves.  Since this information is so widely dispersed, articles that don't deal more directly with these issues can be seen either as painfully naive or as concealing something. It is one of the reasons that trust in the mainstream media has plunged so precipitously.  Additionally, as we pointed out recently, belief in "conspiracy theories," has risen to over 50 percent. Hillary's campaign and its coverage may be directly responsible. Once people were increasingly and regularly exposed to the disconnect between what they believed about Hillary and what was being presented, they began to reexamine various "conspiracy" reports they'd previously discounted.  Even among those voting for Hillary, there is widespread sentiment that she may have committed criminal wrongdoings and deserves a trial rather than the presidency.  We've advanced the idea that none of this has come about by accident, not the FBI fumblings, nor reports of her healthcare problems, nor even the email "scandals." All of this in fact was known well in advance of her latest presidential run.  This is simply not a coincidence in our view. The idea, increasingly it seems, is to shatter cultural cohesion in the West with an eye toward creating increased globalization and an internationalized society. This presidential election and its mainstream coverage has done just that.  Going forward, it is probable that cultural destruction will be increasingly significant throughout the West, employing numerous strategies – political, ethnic, economic and military.  These elections – whether Hillary wins or Trump – are evidently the starting gun, along with the European immigrant crisis, for a new series of elite programs. These will likely yield up serial catastrophes that will change lives and belief structures going forward for millions and even billions  Conclusion: Building an international world, whether the effort is to be successful or not, is a massive and horribly disruptive and bloody prospect. Americans would be wise to perceive this latest presidential elections as a kind of warning of what it is to come.


Print  [Ed. – How do they go through all this hair-tearing, the sackcloth and ashes, and not question the quality of their candidate — or their choice to run her?]  [Clinton's allies] said they were "dumbfounded" by the revelation that the new FBI review may have been spurred by a separate investigation into Anthony Weiner sending lewd texts to a minor. Weiner is separated from wife Huma Abedin, one of Clinton's closest aides.  And they worried that Clinton's unconventional email arrangement had finally caught up to her and might imperil her presidential bid less than two weeks before Election Day.  "I'm livid, actually," one Clinton surrogate told The Hill. "This has turned into malpractice. It's an unforced error at this point. I have no idea what Comey is up to but the idea this email issue is popping back up again is outrageous. It never should have occurred in the first place. Someone somewhere should have told her no. And they didn't and now we're all paying the price."  Another ally called the campaign's mood something akin to "paralysis," and blamed Weiner's behavior for railroading the campaign.  One strategist said the developments would further cement the notion that Clinton has something to hide.  "It's made people think there's always going to be something around the Clintons, some investigation, some inquiry," the strategist said. "It never goes away."


North Korea's nuclear threat looms large this week over the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York, where diplomats are eager to hear U.S. President Donald Trump address the 193-member body for the first time. North Korean diplomats will have a front-row seat in the U.N. General Assembly for Trump's speech on Tuesday morning, which will touch on the escalating crisis that has seen Trump and Pyongyang trade threats of military action. Despite his skepticism about the value of international organizations and the United Nations in particular, Trump will seek support for tough measures against North Korea, while pressing his "America First" message to the world body. "This is not an issue between the United States and North Korea. This is an issue between the world and North Korea," Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said on Friday. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres - who, like Trump, took office in January - plans to meet separately with "concerned parties," including North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, on the sidelines of the 72nd General Assembly. "The solution can only be political. Military action could cause devastation on a scale that would take generations to overcome," Guterres warned on Wednesday. A week ago, the 15-member U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted its ninth sanctions resolution since 2006 over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said U.N. sanctions had banned 90 percent of the Asian state's publicly reported exports, saying of Pyongyang on Friday: "This is totally in their hands on how they respond." Haley told CNN's "State of the Union" program on Sunday that Washington had "pretty much exhausted" its options on North Korea at the Security Council. Ri is due to address the General Assembly on Friday. Some leaders will also push Trump not to give up on a 2015 deal curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions in return for a lifting of U.N., U.S. and European sanctions, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was time to "fix it - or cancel it." The foreign ministers of Iran, the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia, China and France - the parties to the agreement - are due to meet on Wednesday ahead of an October deadline for Trump to tell Congress if he believes Tehran is sticking to what he has described as "the worst deal ever negotiated." When asked on Friday what Moscow's message would be for Washington, Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said: "Stay in the JCPOA (the nuclear deal)." A senior U.N. Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "We are faced with real uncertainties with respect to North Korea and it's a bit dangerous ... to add another source of uncertainty with respect to Iran." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday his country would not be bullied by the United States and would react strongly to any "wrong move" by Washington on the nuclear deal. Iran and North Korea will also feature heavily during a ministerial Security Council meeting on Thursday, at the request of the United States, to discuss the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. While leaders and diplomats are also due to meet on longer-running crises including Libya, Syria, South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Yemen and Iraq, a last-minute addition has been Myanmar, where the United Nations has branded violence against Rohingya Muslims as "ethnic cleansing." Britain is due to host a ministerial meeting on Monday to seek a way to get Myanmar authorities to end a military offensive in the country's Rakhine state that has sent more than 400,000 minority Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh. Following Trump's announcement that the United States would withdraw from a landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, several high-level gatherings are planned on the sidelines of the General Assembly to bolster the deal. "Climate change is a serious threat," Guterres told reporters. "Hurricanes and floods around the world remind us that extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent and severe, due to climate change." U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to hold the door open for the United States to remain in the Paris climate accord "under the right conditions." "The president said he is open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others on what we all agree is still a challenging issue," Tillerson said on CBS' "Face The Nation" program on Sunday. Trump will seek to boost support for reforming the United Nations, which he once called "a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time." The United States is the largest U.N. contributor and Trump has complained that Washington pays too much. "The United Nations, of course, holds tremendous potential to realize its founding ideals, but only if it's run more efficiently and effectively," McMaster said on Friday.


Leading presidential candidate and former reality TV star Donald Trump gets angry any time reporters or his political rivals bring up Trump University and the legal problems associated with the enterprise that made him a significant amount of money. Already Republican super PACs are attacking Trump on the issue. But here are 4 secrets about Trump University that Democrats are sure to use against him in the fall election, which could quickly deny him the White House.Trump University was actually a series of seminars often organized and held in the lobbies of hotels across the country, preying on people who hoped to duplicate the success Donald Trump claims he has had in the real estate industry. The school promised regular Joes and Jills they would have access to Trump s unique insights and techniques.In an email to prospective clients, Trump bragged, Seventy-six percent of the world s millionaires made their fortunes in real estate and told people, My father did it, I did it, and now I m ready to teach you how to do it. Of course, Trump s father did it by reportedly engaging in racist practices while a landlord, and Trump himself started out with a million-dollar loan from his dad and a series of shaky deals built on other people s money, sometimes resulting in bankruptcies.Less than a year after the business launched in 2004, the New York State Department of Education said it was operating an unlicensed educational institution, a violation a state law. So by 2010, the name was changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative. Trump University is being sued in New York by attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman and in two class action lawsuits in California.In the New York lawsuit, the school has been accused of being a bait and switch operation that relied on totally false advertising.One ad published at least 170 times across the country in 2009, according to Mr. Schneiderman s office, promised that students would learn from Donald Trump s handpicked instructors, and that participants would have access to Trump s real estate secrets. But an investigation by Mr. Schneiderman s office found that Mr. Trump had little to do with picking instructors or developing the curriculums for the seminars, which were run largely by people with motivational speaking backgrounds who were compensated based on how many people they persuaded to buy additional seminars. One of them was a manager at a Buffalo Wild Wings.Here s one of the adsKathleen Meese of Schoharie, N.Y. was caring for her son with Down syndrome attended a Trump University three-day conference at a hotel in Malta, N.Y. and was then hit with a hard sell in which she was told she could make money faster if she signed up for the Gold Elite program which cost $25,000. She said a Trump University trainer pressured her into putting the costs on her credit card that only had a $30,000 limit who told her I had to find the resources to invest in my future. In an affidavit in the New York lawsuit against Trump, Meese testified that all that money bought her was a few visits to some rental properties, noting, I was unable to get my refund and am still paying off debts from my Trump tuition. Trump University students say they were led to believe that at the seminar they would get the opportunity to take a photo with Trump himself, which of course is something a wannabe real estate mogul would love to get a shot at.Instead of a photo with the real-live Trump, they were instead directed to stand next to a cardboard cutout of Trump for a picture.Here is an example of one such photo:I don't know why people say Trump University was a scam: a photo with my cardboard cutout is totally worth $36,000! pic.twitter.com/LW7q8FZ6Uo Donald J. Trump (@CandidateTrump) February 27, 2016


Because it was a joke before it was politically incorrect?Before Al Franken became a United States Senator from Minnesota, he had a long career as a comedian (save for Stuart Saves His Family), an original writer on Saturday Night Live, and later as a political radio host on Air America.During that time, and when he was writing books like Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Liar and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, Franken took some shots at his now-fellow senator John McCain s military service. He also made one joke in a 2000 Salon.com essay just as presidential election season started picking up steam. Here s the remark: I have tremendous respect for McCain but I don t buy the war hero thing. Anybody can be captured. I thought the idea was to capture them. As far as I m concerned he sat out the war. Before everyone suggests Franken need to apologize just like Donald Trump should, here s why this is different: Back in 2000, Franken was not a political figure. He wasn t a sitting anything or a candidate for anything; the closest he came to political officialdom was as a revered satirist. More importantly, he even re-told the joke to McCain s face in 2004, when the senator was on Franken s own radio show.Here s how Franken s spokesperson commented on the joke:The fact that a statement came so quickly from Franken s office demonstrates that he is well-aware it is a terrible thing to say about McCain.On the other hand, Trump is not just not apologizing, he s doubling down. Because he knows we ll all keep writing about it.But hey we all need a good clown, even if unintentional. It s a long presidential race.


A coalition of some of the largest U.S. Latino organizations on Thursday will lay out a raft of policies that, they say, presidential candidates and other politicians must heed to earn the votes of the growing group of voters. The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), which includes 40 national and regional groups, will recommend policies on everything from economic security, education and comprehensive immigration reform to the environment and health. For Latino communities and the politicians seeking their votes - including candidates in the November 2016 presidential election - the agenda is a "road map," said Hector Sanchez, the chairman of the NHLA. "For the next four years, this is our guide for collaborating with Congress and collaborating with the White House," he added. The agenda underscores the growing power of Latinos as a part of the electorate, as presidential candidates have sought to win over those voters on the way to the White House. Latinos are among the nation's fastest growing ethnic groups, and, because of lower voter turnout levels in the past, represent a potential pool of previously untapped voters. The campaigns of both Democratic contenders for the presidency, for example, have recently argued over who actually won the Hispanic vote at last week's Nevada caucus. While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the state overall, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said that entrance polls show he won Hispanics. The Clinton campaign disputes those numbers. The NHLA's agenda recommends expanding job opportunities, improving retirement security and increasing support for homeownership. Under immigration, the group wants to see comprehensive immigration reform - a hot button issue in this year's election. The group wants a path to citizenship, protections for immigrant workers and family reunification provisions, among other items. "The NHLA also supports addressing the root causes of forced migration and opposes efforts that call into question the citizenship of persons born in the United States," the group wrote in the 2016 Hispanic Public Policy Agenda. Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for his party's nomination, has repeatedly taken a hard line against illegal immigration, calling for the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico. Trump angered a number of activists, Latinos and others when, in launching his campaign last year, he suggested that Mexican immigrants were rapists and criminals. But the criticisms have done little to stop him, with Trump now having won three of the four earliest nominating contests among Republican contenders. (Reporting by Luciana Lopez in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.


A Japanese court sentenced a former U.S. military base worker to life in prison on Friday for the rape and murder of a woman on the southern island of Okinawa, public broadcaster NHK reported. The Naha District Court found Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, 33, guilty of killing 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro in April last year, NHK said. A court spokesman told Reuters he was unable to immediately confirm the decision. The case sparked anger on the island, where locals have long protested the presence of U.S. military bases that they say imposes a heavy burden on Okinawa. Okinawa hosts around 50,000 U.S. nationals, including 30,000 military personnel and civilians employed at the bases. In a bid to assuage locals, the United States last year agreed to limit legal protection and benefits to some U.S. civilian contractors working for the military in Japan under a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that dates back to 1960. SOFA exempts personnel from requiring visas while in Japan, and has been criticized because it has been used by the U.S. military to ship people home before Japanese police can capture them. Other incidents involving U.S. personnel have stirred resentment among Okinawans. On Nov. 19, a local man was killed in road accident after his van collided with a car driven by a U.S. Marine suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. The U.S. military responded by imposing a drinking ban for personnel in Japan on or off base.


This was your choice of a question, there goes that relationship! @POTUS reacts to Laura Kuenssberg s question https://t.co/v9jJpyT2tn Sky News (@SkyNews) January 27, 2017


Craning over his shoulder, Douglas Tully slowly, cautiously maneuvered his delivery truck down a block of West 56th Street in Midtown Manhattan — in reverse. "I've seen a lot of things as a truck driver, but this has got to be a first, " said Mr. Tully, 40, who had delivered a rug near Trump Tower only to find he could not exit the street 56th Street was blocked off at Fifth Avenue by the police, blast barricades and dogs. As vehicles nosed toward Fifth Avenue, officers stopped each one, forcing them back down the street against traffic. Ever since Donald J. Trump was elected president last month, the sidewalks around his home and office on Fifth Avenue have been clogged with gawkers, security barriers and officers who search shopping bags filled with presents. Traffic, including city buses, crawls by. All around the building, during what is usually a peak time of the year, restaurants are sending home waiters because there are not enough customers, garages say almost no one is parking and salons are doing fewer hairdos for holiday parties. Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues is closed to all vehicle traffic. These days it is filled with deliverymen pushing crates of vegetables for long blocks from their trucks stranded on 56th Street to restaurant kitchens. "The block is now unwelcoming and looks like a war zone," said Daniel R. Garodnick, a Democratic city councilman who represents the area. "We are getting to a place where these businesses need to plan and worry that they won't be able to survive. We have a need to protect the but we shouldn't allow our businesses and all of those jobs be sacrificed in the process. " Trump Tower sits along Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets, the entrance flanked by the Gucci and Tiffany Company flagship stores, all of which are behind a cordon of law enforcement protection. Police officers questioning customers yell out "Gucci!" or "Tiffany!" like street peddlers. Just a few days before Christmas Eve, few shoppers seemed to be making the effort. But despite Trump Tower's gilded address, the neighborhood is filled with many modest businesses, like cafes and hair salons, all struggling to figure out a way to deal with the intense security perimeter. In a letter sent on Tuesday to Mayor Bill de Blasio, Mr. Garodnick said that revenue had declined by 20 percent or more at over three dozen small businesses in the neighborhood. Ten city bus routes are affected by the new traffic patterns around Trump Tower, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. A bottleneck that developed in the days after Election Day has eased on Fifth Avenue, but travel times have increased markedly on 57th Street, where eastbound traffic is 20 percent slower between Fifth and Seventh Avenues than it was before the election, according to the city's Department of Transportation. Drivers, transportation officials said, seem to be adjusting to the traffic challenges by choosing different routes through the neighborhood. "We are taking an aggressive approach to combating congestion in Midtown,'' said Eric F. Phillips, Mr. de Blasio's press secretary. "We regularly convene all of the major agencies and stakeholders. '' About 200 members of the New York Police Department serve shifts outside Trump Tower every day, a total of about 1, 400 law enforcement personnel over the course of a week, the police said. The assignments are not permanent, but are done on a rotating basis, using officers from other parts of the city. The officers are pulled evenly from precinct houses across the five boroughs, according to a fact sheet provided by the department. "This would be a job for any other city," Stephen P. Davis, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said. "But we have done so much of this that it's something that's not alien to us. " City officials have asked the federal government to reimburse the cost of providing security for Mr. Trump, which they said would reach $35 million by the time of his inauguration on Jan. 20. So far, federal officials have set aside $7 million for such expenses. The constant changing of the guard may prevent policing from suffering in other parts of the city, but it does present complications: Workers collecting garbage from Uncle Jack's Steakhouse, on 56th Street, have been let through by officers on some days, but turned away by different officers on other days, said Robert Smith, the director of operations for the restaurant. Restaurant workers regularly have to fetch customers who have been stopped by officers at Fifth Avenue. "We go out and find the gold shields and beg them to let people in," Mr. Smith said, adding that business has fallen 20 percent in what is usually his busiest season, forcing him to reduce shifts for workers. Last month, David Chang, the celebrated of the Momofuku group of restaurants who has several establishments in the area, vented his frustration on Twitter, saying the situation was "killing" foot traffic. In a following tweet, he added: "Make 56th Street Great Again. " A spokeswoman for Mr. Chang's restaurants declined to provide details about how severely business had been affected. Mr. Chang, she said, was too busy to speak about the issue. Staff members from the city's Department of Small Business Services met on Thursday with members of the Police Department to discuss new measures for the area. Among those measures were making sure all officers assigned to Trump Tower are familiar with security protocols, including what kind of vehicles are allowed to pass through security barriers, and replacing some of the larger barricades that might intimidate shoppers. "This is all temporary," Sgt. Arthur Smarsch of the Police Department said after the meeting as he stood on 56th Street on Thursday, near Fifth Avenue where barricades blocked traffic from proceeding east. "Just for the next four years. "


U.S. President Donald Trump called for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to immediately allow humanitarian aid to reach the Yemeni people, suggesting Washington had run out patience with a Saudi-led blockade that has been condemned by relief organizations. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Iran-aligned armed Houthi movement in Yemen s civil war started a blockade of ports a month ago after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired toward its capital Riyadh from Yemen. Although the blockade later eased and showed signs of breaking on Wednesday, Yemen s situation remained dire. About 8 million people are on the brink of famine with outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria. I have directed officials in my administration to call the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to request that they completely allow food, fuel, water and medicine to reach the Yemeni people who desperately need it, Trump said in a statement, without elaborating. This must be done for humanitarian reasons immediately, Trump said. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said the first food and fuel had arrived in Hodeidah and Saleef ports, but supplies were at a trickle compared to what was needed, since Yemen s population of 27 million was almost entirely reliant on imports for food, fuel and medicine. Oxfam International applauded Trump s statement, calling it long overdue but hugely important. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who has called for restrictions on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, said he expected the Kingdom to heed Trump s call. Trump s brief, one-paragraph statement is one of the clearest signs of U.S. concern over aspects of Saudi Arabia s foreign policy. Saudi Arabia has also split with Trump over his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Publicly, Trump, his top aides and senior Saudi officials have hailed what they say is a major improvement in U.S.-Saudi ties compared with relations under former President Barack Obama, who upset the Saudis by sealing a nuclear deal with their arch-foe Iran. Even as ties improve, however, U.S. diplomats and intelligence analysts privately express anxiety over some of the more hawkish actions by Saudi Arabia s crown prince, especially toward Yemen and Lebanon, as Saudi Arabia seeks to contain Iranian influence. In turn, Saudi Arabia has been unusually public about its concerns over U.S. policy on Jerusalem. King Salman told Trump ahead of his Jerusalem announcement on Wednesday that any decision on the status of Jerusalem before a permanent peace settlement was reached would harm peace talks and increase tensions in the area, according to Saudi state-owned media. A White House official said Trump s statement on aid to Yemen did not represent retaliation for the Saudi position on Jerusalem. It has to do with the fact that there is a serious humanitarian issue in Yemen and the Saudis should and can do more, the official said. The fuel shortages caused by the blockade have meant that areas hardest hit by war, malnutrition and cholera lack functioning hospital generators, cooking fuel and water pumps. It also makes it harder to move food and medical aid around the country. The Saudi-led military coalition stepped up air strikes on Yemen s Houthis on Wednesday as the armed movement tightened its grip on Sanaa a day after the son of slain former president Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed revenge for his father s death. Saleh, who was killed in an attack on his convoy, plunged Yemen deeper into turmoil last week by switching allegiance after years helping the Houthis win control of much of northern Yemen, including the capital. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that the killing of Saleh would likely worsen an already dire humanitarian situation in the country in the short term. This is where we ve all got to roll up our sleeves and figure out what you re going to do about medicine and food and clean water, cholera, Mattis said.


Palestinian officials expressed surprise on Saturday at a U.S. decision to close the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington unless the group enters peace negotiations with Israel, and said they would not surrender to blackmail. A U.S. State Department official said that under legislation passed by Congress, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could not renew a certification that expired this month for the PLO office, given certain statements made by the Palestinian leaders about the International Criminal Court. The law says the PLO, the main Palestinian umbrella political body, cannot operate a Washington office if it urges the ICC to prosecute Israelis for alleged crimes against Palestinians. In an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian Authority called on the ICC to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people. The State Department official added that restrictions on the PLO in the United States, including the operation of its Washington office, could be waived after 90 days if U.S. President Donald Trump determines the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel. We are hopeful that this closure will be short-lived, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the Palestinian presidency expressed surprise at the U.S. move, which was first reported by the Associated Press. WAFA quoted Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki as saying that Palestinian leaders would not give in to blackmail or pressure regarding the operation of the PLO office or negotiations on an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. The agency quoted a spokesman for Abbas, Nabil Abu Rdainah, expressing surprise, given that meetings between Abbas and Trump had been characterized by full understanding of the steps needed to create a climate for resumption of the peace process. A Palestinian official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters the State Department had informed the Palestinians of the decision on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear what effect the State Department s move might have on the Trump administration s efforts to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which are led by Jared Kushner, the U.S. president s son-in-law and senior adviser. Abbas spokesman called the U.S. move an unprecedented step in U.S.-Palestinian relations that would have serious consequences for the peace process and U.S.-Arab relations, according to WAFA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday: This is a matter of U.S. law. We respect the decision and look forward to continuing to work with the U.S. to advance peace and security in the region. The State Department official said the U.S. move did not amount to cutting off relations with the PLO or signal an intention to stop working with the Palestinian Authority. We remain focused on a comprehensive peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians that will resolve core issues between the parties, the official said.