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U.S. must step up support for operation against West Africa militants: FrancePARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States must step up its support for a planned African force to fight Islamist militants in West Africa or it could fail, leaving French troops to carry the burden alone, France s defense minister said on Friday. France intervened in Mali to ward off an offensive by Islamist militants that began in 2012, and 4,000 of its troops remain in the region as part of Operation Barkhane where they work alongside 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers in Mali. France and West African countries are pushing for the creation of a regional force known as the G5 Sahel. Washington provides bilateral assistance, intelligence and training for regional security operations. But it is cool towards the African force and has pushed back against U.N. support for it. President Donald Trump s administration has also come under intense scrutiny over its existing operations in West Africa after an ambush in Niger in early October saw four U.S. soldiers killed by jihadists, in what experts say appears to have been an intelligence failure. In the Sahel, France is deploying in a high-intensity environment, with tremendous support from the United States. We are immensely grateful for that support, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said in a speech at a Washington think tank monitored in Paris. But much more needs to be done. We can t be, and don t want to be, the praetorian (guards) of sovereign African countries. They must be made able to defeat terror on their own, she said during a visit for meetings with her American counterpart James Mattis and White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. I would be happy if you could help spread the word in the Beltway, she said in a reference to the U.S. government. Still, discussion in Washington was focused more on what went wrong with the Niger operation. The deadly incident has become a political football in Washington amid criticism of Trump s handling of condolence messages to the families of the dead soldiers. The U.S. military is investigating the incident, and the FBI said it was assisting as it has done in the past when American citizens are killed overseas. Hours after Parly s visit to the Pentagon, Mattis visited Capitol Hill to meet Senator John McCain, who threatened to issue a subpoena to get information about the ambush in Niger after complaining about being kept in the dark. After their talks, Mattis acknowledged that we can always improve on communication, remarks echoed by McCain, the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We have had our problems and issues. But I m proud to work with him, and I m proud of the work that he is doing, McCain said. From initial accounts, the 40-member patrol, which included a dozen U.S. troops, came under attack by militants riding in a dozen vehicles and on about 20 motorcycles. Under heavy fire, U.S. troops called in French fighter jets for air support, but the firefight was at such close quarters that the planes could not engage and were instead left circling overhead. French aircraft evacuated the wounded, but the body of one of the dead soldiers was recovered by Nigerien soldiers only after two days. The U.S. military s Africa Command issued a statement on Friday explaining that the 800 U.S. military personnel in Niger were on a mission supporting African forces. The U.S. military does not have an active, direct combat mission in Niger, it said. LONG-TERM EXIT STRATEGY? Parly said the G5 Sahel force was meant to bolster the security capacity of Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania, which are all former French colonies. French officials see the success of the G5 Sahel as a long-term exit strategy for Paris. For decades, France has mounted military operations in its former African colonies but in recent years it has looked to spread the cost. Until now the G5 force has only received a quarter of its estimated 423 million euro budget, according to a report by the U.N. Secretary General, who said financing the operation would remain a significant challenge for several years. It will start its first operations soon. It needs support. The U.N. wants to give support. I hope everyone can become convinced that a robust U.N. assistance is necessary, Parly said. French defense officials say they expect the first G5 patrols to begin this month and hope that will provide momentum ahead of a donor conference in December.

Saudi official: We wont cooperate with Israel as long as Palestine is occupied

teens attack 75 year old blind flamingo - what is wrong with our world?

Nigeria puts fortress towns at heart of new Boko Haram strategyBAMA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria s government has a plan for the northeast, torn apart by eight years of conflict with Boko Haram: displaced people will be housed in fortified garrison towns, ringed by farms, with the rest of the countryside effectively left to fend for itself. The vision for the state of Borno, ground zero for the war with the Islamist insurgency, is a stark admission of the reality in the northeast. For two years, the military and government have said Boko Haram is all but defeated, and the remnants are being mopped up. But the military is largely unable to control territory beyond the cities and towns it has wrested back from Boko Haram. That means many of the nearly 2 million displaced people across the northeast cannot return to their homes in rural areas. Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno state, said it was not possible for people to live in small villages. There s beauty in numbers, there s security in numbers. So our target is to congregate all the people in five major urban settlements and provide them with means of livelihood, education, health care and of course security, he told Reuters. It s a long term solution, certainly. The plan for the eastern part of the state, centered on the town of Bama, is intended as a pilot scheme to be rolled out in other parts of Borno if it is successful. Vigilantes, currently members of a group known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, will become agricultural rangers, the governor said. Aided by Nigerian security forces, they will aim to secure and patrol a five-km (three-mile) radius around each garrison town where people can farm. Peter Lundberg, the United Nations Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, who heads the organization s response in the northeast, said the reconstruction of Bama town, the second biggest in the state, was logical . People are very eager to go back if the conditions are right and if the conditions are safe, if the conditions are dignified, and of course it has to be voluntary, he told Reuters. Sentiment amongst the displaced is mixed. Abubakar Goni, who lived outside Bama before fleeing to the Borno state capital Maiduguri, said he wants to return home, but if the town is safer he will agree to go there. I will support it as long as I will have a place to farm. I am also happy to hear the government will give us protection on the farm because I learnt Boko Haram men are still around. Others, like Tijja Modu Alhaji, are wary of potential disputes between residents of the towns where people will be sent and the returnees. I don t want to stay in Bama because I will still be a stranger there, just as I am in Maiduguri now, he said. I want to go home, not to somebody else s land. The governor s plan is still in its early stages. It involves bringing back thousands of people who fled the town of Bama and the surrounding area and sought refuge in camps in Maiduguri and elsewhere. They will eventually be housed in towns such as Bama, which was largely abandoned by its inhabitants when Boko Haram took it three years ago, but has since been recaptured by the military. Many of Bama s buildings are still shells, windows smashed, doors ripped out and roofs gone. Telephone and electricity wires remain torn down, more than two years after the military evicted Boko Haram. It is not clear how the returnees will be housed. There are already 15,000 people in a crowded camp for displaced local residents set up by the military after it retook the town. The United Nations had planned to move them gradually to new shelters accommodating 30,000 people that have been erected in the town, but the military said it could not oversee two camps there at the same time, UN and military officials told Reuters. The government has announced plans to build 3,000 homes in the Bama area. But there are concerns about how people sent to the town will manage, since many did not originally live there. It s one thing to move people to Bama, said Lundberg. Unless the engine of the economy can restart, the risk is that people are moving back to places where they will become very dependent (on aid). Aid workers said the demarcation between garrison towns and a lawless countryside means people have a choice: live in virtual quarantine, or return to their homes in the countryside, where Boko Haram roam, and be treated by security forces as potential insurgency sympathizers. You re imprisoned, but you re safe, said one senior relief worker, speaking on condition of anonymity. If you prefer your own life you can do it on the outside. Boko Haram s recent attacks, including a suicide bombing that killed at least 50 in a mosque in Adamawa state last week, are the last kicks of a dying horse, Nigeria s Information Minister Lai Mohammed said last Sunday. But military and diplomatic officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said overstretched troops are unable to push Boko Haram out of non-urban areas. Much of Borno is not under the authorities control and attacks are rife. On Saturday, suicide bombers killed at least 13 people in the town of Biu and injured 53 others. Borno is not getting better at all. It may have even gotten worse, a diplomat said of the security situation outside urban areas. There is no recovery and stabilization.

"Emergency powers" to ensure police and security services can continue to access phone and internet records are being rushed through the UK Parliament, dispite the EU rejecting the plan.

U.S. is a partner in bloodshed with Jerusalem move, Erdogan saysANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the United States decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital had made Washington complicit in violence. His comments on the U.S. move have strained fragile relations between Turkey and Israel, which only restored ties last year following a six-year diplomatic rift. Erdogan, a frequent critic of Israel, has said the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump will spark violence in the region. The ones who made Jerusalem a dungeon for Muslims and members of other religions will never be able to clean the blood from their hands, Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. With their decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, the United States has become a partner in this bloodshed, he said, adding he did not consider Trump s decision binding. Trump s decision last week overturned longstanding U.S. policy on Jerusalem, a city holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians. The status of Jerusalem has been one of the biggest obstacles to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians for generations. Over the weekend Erdogan referred to Israel as a terror state and an invader state , prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire back. I m not used to receiving lectures about morality from a leader who bombs Kurdish villages in his native Turkey, who jails journalists, helps Iran go around international sanctions and who helps terrorists, including in Gaza, kill innocent people, Netanyahu said at a news conference. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group has fought a decades-old insurgency with the Turkish state in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. The conflict flared up after the collapse of a ceasefire in 2015. Last year Israel and Turkey restored ties following a six-year rupture that occurred after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, killing 10 Turkish activists on board. The normalization of ties between both countries has been driven in part by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as by mutual concerns about regional security.

Japan Gets Hit with 7.3 Magnitude Earthquake

MELANIA WINS HUGE SETTLEMENT FROM TABLOID Over Fake And “Embarrassing Claims”Melania Trump just accepted damages of approximately $3 million from Daily Mail after they published a smut article claiming she prostituted herself during her modeling career. The false and defamatory claims got the left-leaning tabloid in hot water when they couldn t produce evidence.The Daily Mail has been anti-Trump from the beginning. They often publish inflammatory and false articles on Trump, his family and his administration. The problem with this is that this publication is read world-wide. Millions of people are reading this slanted news! Talk about fake news!MELANIA WINS BIGLY!Melania Trump has accepted damages and an apology over allegations about her work as a professional model.The action was against Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail.The amount of damages was not disclosed in court, although the total payment of damages and costs is believed to come to about $3 million.An article published in the newspaper and on Mail Online last August included false and defamatory claims about the First Lady which questioned the nature of her work as a professional model, and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modelling , the court heard.Her lawyer John Kelly said the story included statements that Mrs Trump denied the allegations and that Paulo Zampolli, who ran the modelling agency, also denied the claims.The article, he said, also said there was no evidence to support the allegations.The article about Mrs Trump was published last August Mr Kelly told Mr Justice Nichol: The article also claimed that Mr and Mrs Trump may have met three years before they actually met, and staged their actual meeting as a ruse . He said the allegations about Mrs Trump were not true and strike at the heart of the claimant s personal integrity and dignity .Catrin Evans QC, for the publishers, told the judge: The defendant acknowledges that these claims about the claimant are untrue, and we retract and withdraw them. The defendant is here today publicly to set the record straight, and to apologize to the claimant for any distress and embarrassment that the articles may have caused her. THE DAILY MAIL APOLOGY: The Mail Online website and the Daily Mail newspaper published an article on 20th August 2016 about Melania Trump which questioned the nature of her work as a professional model, and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modelling.The article included statements that Mrs. Trump denied the allegations and Paulo Zampolli, who ran the modelling agency, also denied the allegations, and the article also stated that there was no evidence to support the allegations.The article also claimed that Mr and Mrs Trump may have met three years before they actually met, and staged their actual meeting as a ruse. We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them. We apologise to Mrs Trump for any distress that our publication caused her. To settle Mrs Trump s two lawsuits against us, we have agreed to pay her damages and costs.Via: Sky News

GRAMMYS Nominate All-Black Artists…SNUB Country Music, White Musicians Over “White Supremacy” Concerns…#BoycottGrammysOn Tuesday, the Grammys announced their nominations for the 2018 awards shows, and there are some notable additions and snubs that make it look like the Recording Academy is getting into the business of identity politics.For the first time in 14 years, no country music acts were nominated for the top awards: record of the year, song of the year, and album of the year. Instead, the Grammys took a sharp turn towards honoring hip-hop, R&B, and funk for the top awards.According to Buzzfeed: The night s biggest category, Album of the Year, not only has majority black nominees, but also has no white male nominees for the first time in 19 years.This is also the first year the Record of the Year category is only people of color (with the exception of Justin Bieber, who is featured on Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee s Despacito ).The Best New Artist category is also majority black this year with SZA, Khalid, and Lil Uzi Vert all gaining nominations. SZA is also this year s most Grammy-nominated woman.Rapper Jay-Z and pop singer Bruno Mars got nods in all three top categories, while rapper/singer Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover), rapper Kendrick Lamar, and the coupling of Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee got nods in two of the top three categories. Meanwhile, rapper Logic got nominated for his anti-suicide song 1-800-273-8255 for song of the year.Objectively speaking, Jay-Z, Mars, Gambino, Lamar, Fonsi, and Yankee put out some great product this past year, and with any awards show, there are going to be some snubs. However, it appeared that Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Kesha, and Miranda Lambert were all looked over from the top categories because of concerns about white supremacy. Instead, Lorde, the 20-year-old New Zealand singer, and Julia Michaels, the 24-year-old singer from Iowa, were the only pop acts to be nominated for the top categories. Washington ExaminerSince rap seems to have surpassed country in popularity (well, at least according to the Grammys), in an effort to address White supremacy , perhaps it s worth taking a look at the black rapper, Snoop Dogg, who shamelessly promotes killing our President and violence against his supporters. Paul Joseph Watson made a brilliant video that exposes how gangster rap increases racism in America. racist 45-year-old rapper Snoop Dogg (**Language warning**):

Dutch find 10 Syrian war crime suspects among migrants

Avoiding US Censorship, Torrent Sites May Flee To China

1000 Congolese citizens hurl rocks at a UN compound, "angry that a 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force has been unable to protect them from a rebel attack just 25 miles north of the city."

Breaking: MAJOR Action Taking Place At Trump Tower As Activists Project Messages, Demonstrate (IMAGES)By now, everyone knows that Donald Trump is up to his eyeballs in Russian scandals. Anyone who is smart enough not to believe Team Trump s bullsh*t about the Special Counsel investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 presidential election being a hoax, a witch hunt, and fake news is definitely paying attention.Well, now, some activists in New York City have made sure to remind everyone just what is up with Trump s mysterious inability to criticize Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. They have projected amazing images onto Trump Tower in SoHo. One is a photo of Vladimir Putin. Another is a message to Special Counsel Robert Mueller when it comes to investigating Trump s finances that says, FOLLOW THE MONEY. Here are those images:It seems that the activist is willing to self-identify, and posted this video to Twitter:Hi @realDonaldTrump, I'm projecting #followthemoney on the SoHo Trump hotel. On #nationaldollarday of all days. https://t.co/5neeXq57kx robin bell (@bellvisuals) August 8, 2017Of course, Mueller is definitely smart enough not to adhere to Trump s so-called red line when it comes to taking the probe in the direction of Trump s own personal finances, as well as those regarding his business dealings through the Trump Organization. In fact, like most cops, Trump s infantile demands will likely make Mueller MORE curious about any financial ties Trump may have to the Russians or other foreign powers.These activists are beyond brave. Trump and his people will be furious, and they are quite powerful right now. However, this is what freedom and speaking truth to power looks like. Keep it up, folks, and, yes follow the money.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

'I agreed to become a suicide bomber' - 14 year old boy | BBC NEWS

Two brothers, aged 10 and 12, tortured victims aged 9 and 11. Absolutely sick. [BBC News]

Cuba goes all in on English, amid closer US ties - Now that Cuba has restored diplomatic ties with the United States, teaching English in schools will be a priority

India has a new symbol for its currency following a public contest with 3,000 submissions

Democratic voter-intimidation cases falter in three U.S. statesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats fell short in three U.S. states on Monday in their legal battle to impose tighter restrictions on supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who plan to monitor Election Day voting for signs of fraud. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to reimpose new rules on partisan poll watchers in Ohio after an appeals court struck them down, while U.S. judges in Pennsylvania and North Carolina declined Democrats’ request to impose new rules that Democrats had sought. Voter intimidation is prohibited under U.S. law, but Democrats worry that Trump’s warnings of a “rigged” election in his battle against Democrat Hillary Clinton might inspire supporters to harass minority voters and create Election Day chaos in big cities as they search for signs of vote manipulation. Numerous studies have found that U.S. voter fraud is exceedingly rare. Democrats have asked U.S. courts in six battleground states to impose greater restrictions on partisan poll watchers, arguing that the Trump campaign, state Republican parties and Republican operative Roger Stone are encouraging supporters to intimidate minority voters. Trump’s campaign and Republican parties in the various states say their poll watchers are trained to bring evidence of any problems to the party and not confront voters directly. “This was an attempt to intimidate Republican people engaging in lawful activity,” North Carolina Republican Party executive director Dallas Woodhouse told Reuters. Stone says those working for his planned “exit poll” will be trained to use neutral, non-threatening language. One day before the election, Democrats so far have failed to win any of their legal efforts. A U.S. judge denied the Democrats’ case in Arizona on Friday. Monday’s rulings in North Carolina and Pennsylvania give Democrats little time for appeals, while the Supreme Court’s Monday ruling put to rest the case filed in Ohio. The Supreme Court order, which only covers the Ohio case, included no noted dissents from the eight justices. Liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote a brief statement noting that “Ohio law proscribes voter intimidation” and citing the relevant law. U.S. judges in Michigan and Nevada have yet to issue opinions. Democrats have waged a separate legal battle against the Republican National Committee, arguing in court that the RNC should be prevented from supporting the Trump campaign’s poll-watching effort. A U.S. judge in New Jersey denied that motion on Saturday.

FOX NEWS REPORTER ASKS MAYOR Why She’s Using Taxpayer Money To Sue Family For Epic Christmas Light Display [VIDEO]The drip drip drip of the Left ensuring Christmas is reduced to a quiet nonpublic celebration This isn t a very good of taxpayer money, going after home owners for a few Christmas lights, is it? Watters pressed. I don t think Santa s going to be happy with you. While definitive information about the lawsuit wasn t offered up, Bendekovic did make it clear that she thinks that Watters is in no position to speak for Santa Claus. I don t think you should be voicing your opinion what Santa wants and what Santa doesn t want, she shot back.According to the Sun Sentinel, the Hyatts have been battling with officials for years over the size and scale of the display, with the city which considers it a nuisance filing a lawsuit earlier this year to stop it.After years of arguing with the Hyatts to scale back the display, the city sued this year to quash the spectacle, which officials consider a neighborhood nuisance. A scheduled hearing did not take place over the summer as planned and has not yet been rescheduled.In addition to the lawsuit, the family claims on its official website that it faces $250 per day in fines for continuing the show, citing government interference as being at the root of the dispute. Here s a portion of a petition that is posted on the Hyatt Extreme Christmas website:By signing this petition, you show your support for Hyatt Extreme Christmas, a 20 year-old tradition, which has been entertaining, inspiring and motivating families from around Plantation and South Florida.The Hyatt s take great joy in creating memories for children both young and old during this special time of year. Our community can see our display of more than 200,000 lights for FREE. We give back to our community by raising awareness and funds for charitable partners such as Humane Society, Broward Food Bank and Support for the Military working with the Red Cross Holiday Cards for Heroes .Despite facing legal woes, the Hyatts are back at it this year, bringing their display to the masses. The husband and wife duo took Watters through the display, and he interviewed some locals who fully support it. They re just not making money on this and they wanted money from us, he said, claiming that city officials wanted the family to charge admission for the free display. When we wouldn t give it to them, all the sudden we re in court. Via: The Blaze

Bulgaria deputy PM wants new laws to stifle radical IslamSOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria should tighten rules on foreign financing for religious communities and restrict visits by foreign clerics to help counter the potential spread of radical Islam, deputy prime minister Krasimir Karakachanov said on Thursday. Karakachanov is a co-leader of the nationalist United Patriots, a junior partner in the coalition government that is known for its tough rhetoric on migration and Bulgaria s Roma. He said proposals to parliament to amend laws on religion and education as well as the criminal code would be submitted by the end of the year. Bulgaria s government banned the wearing of full face veils in public places last year. Bulgaria has one of the biggest Muslim communities in Europe at about 12 percent of its 7.1 million population a legacy of almost 500 years of Ottoman Turkish rule that ended in the late 19th century. Historic resistance to the Muslim Ottomans is a core element of national identity for the mainly Orthodox Christian majority and some nationalists have cast the recent arrival of Muslim migrants via Turkey as a threat to the nation s security. It turns out that problems we see in a number of European countries already exist in Bulgaria, Karakachanov said after a meeting to discuss how to prevent the spread of radical Islam in the country. He said extremely liberal laws were allowing the spread of non-traditional Islam through the private provision of education and training. It is mostly the ... financing by private structures of religious communities that attempt to realize political influence in the country, Karakachanov said. Many Islamist organizations in Europe are financed largely with foreign donations. Karakachanov has previously complained that many imams preaching in Bulgaria come from abroad and do not speak Bulgarian, and has spoken of fostering native imams who are more deeply integrated into Bulgarian society. The wave of mainly Muslim refugees and migrants reaching Europe s borders over the past years has contributed to a rise in right-wing nationalism across the continent.

Dem Rep. Hits One Of Our Most Hypocritical Allies HARD With A Single, Potent WordThere are things that, with all the excitement going on at both the RNC and the DNC, are getting overlooked right now. However, Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) spoke on one such issue that needs much closer attention: That of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. Johnson has a choice word for the settlers, and it s bang-on target: There has been a steady [stream of Israeli settlers], almost like termites can get into a residence and eat before you know that you ve been eaten up and you fall in on yourself. And they are. For the past several decades, Israel has been eating up Palestinian land and treating Palestinian citizens like subjects and much worse while their leader, Bibi Netanyahu, says Israel must occupy all the land in order to ensure their own safety. There s no regard for the people already living there. Termites stream in and eat the wood of our houses. Israelis stream in and eat the houses of Palestinians. An apt description if there ever was one.Johnson went on to say: You see one home after another being appropriated by Jewish people who come in to claim that land just because somebody did not spend the night there.The home their [Palestinian] ancestors lived in for generations becomes an Israeli home and a flag goes up. The Palestinians are barred from flying flags in their own neighborhoods. Nobody in the U.S. would tolerate being told they can t fly the American flag. Nobody. But we ll gladly call a country that does this, and so much more with glee, an ally. Disgusting.Why is this so important right now? Don t we have more important things to worry about?The answer to those questions is, yes and no. It isn t just important because we re busy supporting an apartheid state, or because of Israel s gross human rights violations. It isn t just because we shouldn t support them if we re going to call ourselves the bastion of freedom we think we are. It s also because our support of Israel has poisoned many of our leaders to the point where they actually want to criminalize freedom of expression.The BDS movement, which stands for Boycott, Divest and Sanction, is under attack here because of our blind love for Israel. Staunch supporters of Israel have been quietly criminalizing that movement, despite the fact that this very same thing helped bring about an end to apartheid in South Africa.Boycotts are also a staple of American protest. Yet the pro-Israel crowd would destroy freedom of expression in dogged support of an ally that maybe shouldn t be an ally. Staunch defenders of the Constitution would tear up the First Amendment before denouncing Israel. It s sick.Israel uses us. Sure, some may say that we need them for intelligence on more hostile Middle Eastern nations (when a lot of our support is because of Sheldon Adelson, his money, and AIPAC), so we send billions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment to them, for which we the taxpayers are on the hook, and pretend not to see their relentless and violent crawl across Palestine.We wouldn t turn a blind eye to termites relentless crawl through the structures of our houses, though.Ben Cohen, of The Daily Banter, put it just as perfectly as Rep. Johnson when he said: Israelis routinely claim that they have to defend themselves against Palestinian attacks. But occupying someone else s land is an attack itself, so it is impossible to defend yourself if you are the person attacking. So can we please stop pretending Israel is being attacked? As of March, half of Israeli Jews actually supported ethnic cleansing. We have white supremacists here that support the same thing. We fought a war in Bosnia over ethnic cleansing. It s only something we must stop when we hear calls for ethnic cleansing coming from people and places we don t like. Israel? They ve brainwashed us into thinking they re always the victim.Our growing problem with Islamophobia isn t helping, either.Going into the final stretch of this election cycle, Israel isn t just a distant foreign policy issue something to be dealt with, maybe, after the new president and Congress take office in January. Israel s atrocious and disgusting policies toward Palestine impact us in a direct way, because our support of them could cost us our own freedom. At least we have some leaders here who understand that.Featured image by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Suspicions Mount As New Details On Donald Trump Self-Funding Emerge (IMAGES)As Addicting Info reported here, Donald Trump is very likely running the biggest campaign scam in American history.While Trump claims to be self-funding his campaign, the majority of the candidate s funding comes in the form of loans from Trump owned entities, rather than donations.In reality, Trump s campaign owes Donald Trump tens of millions of dollars. While he claims that the campaign won t be expected to pay the loans back, his most recent campaign filings with the FEC show that this money is still being treated as campaign debt.When Addicting Info first reported on Trump s self-funding scam in April, his campaign owed the candidate $17.5 million. At that time, loans to the campaign from Trump accounted for 70 percent of all contributions received.As NBC reports here, since the campaign s last filing with the FEC the amount owed to Donald Trump has more than doubled, now exceeding $43 million.In spite of Trump s assurances that the loans won t be paid back, this invitation to an upcoming fundraiser, obtained by the Los Angeles Times and published by NBC News here, raises even more suspicion about the loans.Image credit: Los Angeles Times via NBC NewsAccording to the information printed on the invitation, the first $2700 of each donation received during the fundraiser is designated for the Trump campaign to use in the primary election.NBC News verified that the information printed on the invitation is accurate.Since the republican primary election is over, it would seem that the only reason to continue raising money for Trump s primary campaign is to pay off his earlier campaign debts, all of which are owned by the candidate himself.As we reported here, Trump once vowed to be the first presidential candidate to make a profit from his campaign.There is nothing stopping Trump from using future donations to pay himself back for the loans he s made to his own campaign, with interest.The latest FEC filings, along with the details of his fundraising activities, suggest that that s exactly what he s planning to do.Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

ROMNEY REFUSED TO INSIST OBAMA Expose His Sealed Records…CAUTIONS Voters Trump Is Hiding Bombshell In THESE DocumentsWouldn t it have been great to see Mitt fight as hard to reveal the TRUTH about Barack Hussein Obama, aka Barry Soetoro in 2012, as he is trying to find some bombshell revelation about Trump?Sorry Mitt, but you forfeited your opportunity to save America when you cowered to political correctness. Cue the Trump Train Wednesday in a Facebook post, 2012 Republican presidential nominee and vocal Donald Trump critic Mitt Romney said, It is disqualifying for a modern day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters. Romney added, There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump s refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them. Given Mr. Trump s equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it s a bombshell of unusual size. In an interview on Tuesday with The Associated Press, Trump said, There s nothing to learn from them. On Wednesday, Trump clarified by tweeting:In interview I told @AP that my taxes are under routine audit and I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2016Via: Breitbart News

BOOM! SHAREHOLDER Confronts Liberal Starbucks CEO Over Damage To Stock Value After Saying He’ll Hire 10,000 Refugees…Questioned Why Schultz Ignored Obama’s Travel Ban [VIDEO]Americans who are sick and tired of leftist CEO s using their public positions to attack President Trump and his efforts waged a huge boycott against Starbucks and the Starbucks brand: Kudos to this shareholder for standing up and confronting Schultz over his selfish decision to publicly shame President Trump in his efforts to keep terrorists from entering our country With Starbuck s stock underperforming, its about time someone questioned Starbucks s liberal agenda. Just don t expect the media to care.A conservative think tank, The National Center for Public Policy Research, confronted outgoing controversial Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. As an owner of Starbucks stock, the group sent its General Counsel Justin Danhof to Starbucks s annual shareholders meeting on March 22. There, he questioned Schultz for his public liberal opinions that may have hurt the company s stock price.In reference to Schultz s Jan. 29 decision that Starbucks would hire 10,000 refugees, Danhof asked Schultz How much will Starbucks investors have to spend so that the company can properly vet refugees that the federal government admits it can t afford to vet? He also asked Schultz why he condemned President Donald Trump s immigration order but lacked the courage to speak out against the Obama-Clinton travel ban? Watch:

Israels Intelligence Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz warns that Israel might act unilaterally against Iran if Nuclear Deal goes ahead

Boiler Room EP #73 – In The Shadow of The Valley Of LiesTune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6 PM PST | 9 PM EST for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher, & Spore along with Jay Dyer from jaysanalysis.com, Jamie Hanshaw author of Weird Stuff, Andy Nowicki from Alt Right Blogspot, Patrick Henningsen of 21Wire and Stewart Howe for the 73rd episode of BOILER ROOM. Dim the lights, dawn the headphones and indulge in some Boiler Room with the crew. This week we re discussing the 15 year anniversary of 9/11 and going around the room talking about where were were when it happened and how our thoughts on the event have evolved over the years.Please like and share the program and visit ACR s donate page to get involved!BOILER ROOM IS NOT A POLITICALLY CORRECT ZONE! LISTEN TO THE SHOW IN THE PLAYER BELOW ENJOY!Reference Links:

China's Xi calls for more peace-making efforts over North Korea: XinhuaBEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Saturday for more international peace-making and crisis-management efforts on the Korean peninsula during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, state news agency Xinhua said. Xi and Trump, meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg, also agreed to keep in close touch on the North Korean nuclear issue, the report added.

Russia names nine U.S.-backed news outlets likely to be labeled 'foreign agents'MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday named nine U.S. government-sponsored news outlets likely to be labeled foreign agents under a new law that is being rushed through parliament in response to what Moscow says is unacceptable U.S. pressure on Russian media. Russia s lower house of parliament approved the law - allowing Moscow to force foreign media to brand news they provide to Russians as the work of foreign agents and to disclose their funding sources - on Wednesday. The legislation needs approval from the upper house of parliament, which is likely to happen next week, and the signature of President Vladimir Putin before it becomes law. The Russian Justice Ministry on Thursday published a list of nine U.S.-backed news outlets that it said could be affected by the changes, which it said in a statement on its website were likely to become law in the near future. It said it had written to the U.S. government-sponsored Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), along with seven separate Russian or local-language news outlets run by RFE/RL. One of the seven outlets provides news on Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, one on Siberia, and one on the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region. Another covers provincial Russia, one is an online TV station, another covers the mostly Muslim region of Tatarstan, and the other is a news portal that fact-checks the statements of Russian officials. Russia s broadside against U.S. media is part of the fallout from allegations that the Kremlin interfered in the U.S. presidential election last year in favor of Donald Trump. U.S. intelligence officials accuse the Kremlin of using Russian media organizations it finances to influence U.S. voters, and this week Washington required Russian state broadcaster RT to register a U.S.-based affiliate company as a foreign agent . The Kremlin denies meddling in the election and has said the restrictions on Russian broadcasters in the United States amount to an attack on free speech. The new media law in Russia is retaliation, it says. The draft legislation states that Russian authorities can designate foreign media as foreign agents , making them subject to the same requirements that are applied to foreign-funded non-governmental organizations under a 2012 law. Under that law, foreign agents must include in any information they publish or broadcast to Russian audiences a mention of their foreign agent designation. They also must apply for inclusion in a government register, submit regular reports on their sources of funding, on their objectives, on how they spend their money, and who their managers are. They can be subject to spot checks by the authorities to make sure they comply with the rules, according to the 2012 law, which has forced some NGOs to close. RFE/RL said in a statement it did not want to speculate what steps Russia might take against it next, and looked forward to continuing its journalistic work. VOA Director Amanda Bennett has said the station remains committed to providing independent news to global audiences.

TRUMP HATER MEGYN KELLY Pummeled In Ratings While Hannity Soars!Via: GP

US relocates 3,000 MRAPs, other military gear to Kuwait ahead of expected anti-IS offensive

New shelter constructed over Chernobyl ruins - The New Safe Confinement is a 108-meter tall sliding arch structure, which will cover the existing sarcophagus, which had been hastily built as a temporary measure after the nuclear disaster in 1986.

Sean Hannity Goes Apesh*t Over Trump As Caesar AGAIN, Gets Torn Apart Over HUGE Mistake (TWEETS)It s crystal clear that nobody can accuse Sean Hannity of knowing what he s talking about, particularly over Twitter. Tonight, he got into a heated exchange with conservative writer Ben Shapiro over the suddenly-controversial depiction of Trump as Julius Caesar, because in Shakespeare s play, Julius Caesar gets assassinated.Hannity seemed to enjoy chants of liberal hate kills, after another Trump-loving protester rushed the stage at the play, and Shapiro called him out on his hypocrisy over that. Hannity responded by calling him stupid in one tweet, and then again with this little bit in which he made a complete fool of himself:Really, who s the stupid one here? The same theater company that did this play did have an Obama lookalike as Caesar in 2012. Other parallels have been drawn between Shakespearean characters and politicians, too: For instance, Henry V seemed to depict George W. Bush. There wasn t anything like the outcry we re seeing with the Trumpian Caesar.And Twitter is busy pointing all of this out with glee: The manufactured controversy could be due to the right s ongoing persecution complex. They latch onto anything that makes them look like it s them against the world, like the world is out to get them. It s absolutely ridiculous in the face of real persecution.This tweet may get deleted and it may stay up. Hannity isn t really known for admitting when he screwed something up royally like this. Kind of like his hero, Trump. He s more Trumpian every day.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images/screenshot

Dyer: ‘LA Times ‘Fake News’ Article is an Attack on Independent Media’Jay Dyer 21st Century WireAccording to a recent feature article published by the LA Times, and which has since gone viral, this website, 21st Century Wire, has been placed at the top of a list of fake news sites compiled by Dr Melissa Zimdars, an associate professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts. Aside from being a highly political attempt to discredit a number of online news source which Dr Zimdars and the Democratic Party establishment probably labels as Alt Right, this coordinated effort also points directly to a much deeper agenda, as part of a larger as psychological operation to create an algorithm for filtering (censoring) news items on major internet platforms and social networks.I take that to heart, since I write for 21WIRE. It s no coincidence that this LA Times hit piece comes in the same week that Democratic Party pundits and leaders are blaming Hillary Clinton s loss to Donald Trump on fake news posted on Facebook which they claim wrongly influenced voters. Also just by coincidence this week, Facebook, Google and other DNC affiliated Silicon Valley media partners have announced they are planning to draw-up lists of numerous alternative media websites including right wing websites as well as known satire sites, and ours as fake. Google and Facebook will then be able to flag and restrict banned websites from being able to earn revenue through their advertising networks. Of course, the real reason for this is explained in my video (watch below) outlining the absurdity of the most astounding liars on the planet the Mainstream Media accusing websites like ours as pushing out fake news. Ultimately, this is an attack on all independent media.It seems that Dr Zimdar s master list was made to place 21WIRE at the top and yet, it s perhaps the best site on the list and is the only one that has been to Syria, reported on the ground in Aleppo, and even met with Syria president Assad all things that most corporate mainstream media outlets have not managed to do. 21WIRE also blasted faux NGO the White Helmets away as a western-funded propaganda front. 21WIRE is subject to regular DDoS attacks and regularly does real journalism. It is also edited by accredited journalists and is frequently featured on radio and television. That is why it has been targeted in this hit piece because it is independent and not attached to any political party.Watch my video analysis here: ***Jay Dyer is the author of the new book, Esoteric Hollywood: Sex, Cults and Symbols in Film from Trine Day Publishers. Focusing on film, philosophy, geopolitics and all things esoteric, JaysAnalysis and his podcast, Esoteric Hollywood, investigates the deeper meanings between the headlines, exploring the hidden aspects of our sinister synthetic mass media matrix.READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE NOW & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

Libya murdered 16 protesters

Trump’s Treasury Secretary Pick Made Money Betting On When Elderly People Would DieThis is despicable and morbid.Donald trump has clearly chosen a piece of human excrement as his Secretary of Treasury.Former Goldman Sachs executive and hedge fund manager Steven Mnuchin has been heavily and rightfully criticized ever since Trump made the announcement. Not only did Mnuchin s OneWest Bank fail to disperse desperately needed Hurricane Sandy to people affected by the disaster, it tried to take a 90-year-old woman s home away from her over a 27 cent bill.Now another firm owned by Mnuchin is coming under fire for betting on when elderly people would die.Yeah, you read that right.Mnuchin firm Dune Capitol Management bought life insurance policies through a third party from elderly people who needed the cash, betting that they would die soon so they could collect the payout. Seriously.According to the New York Times,Dune had plans to package the insurance policies called life settlements into bonds that could be sold to investors. Life settlements represent one of the most macabre actuarial bets that Wall Street has dreamed up. It s a wager that the elderly person selling the policy will die sooner rather than later, meaning the hedge fund does not have to make many premium payments to keep the insurance policy in force and collect the payout upon that person s death.That s pretty f*cked up and proves that Trump picked a terrible and greedy human being to be Treasury Secretary. A guy who is all sorts of shady who would stab you in a back or sell his own mother into the sex trade if he could profit from it.Trump s selection of Mnuchin is so bad that many of his supporters now regret voting for himIn fact, one woman who voted for Trump now regrets doing so because he picked Mnuchin, who foreclosed on her house a few years ago.Clearly, the Senate should protect the American people from such a predator. But they re already protecting Trump and he s an economic predator n addition to being a sexual predator, so they probably won t have a problem confirming Mnuchin.Featured Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Canada to introduce pot legalization legislation in 2017

How Do You Prove Someone's a Witch in Saudi Arabia? --- Call the religious police's Anti-Witchcraft Unit and get them to set up a sting operation.

Here we go again. Another major Earthquake, another Tsunami warning. 7.9 Earthquake rocks Indonesia.

PRESIDENT TRUMP Blasts Phony Climate Change Crybabies: “I Was Elected to Represent the Citizens of Pittsburgh, Not Paris” [VIDEO]With his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, President Trump just gave the #ResistTrump crowd a new reason to hate him. Meanwhile, his supporters can add another check mark in the promised kept category. We all know how rare it is for a politician to actually do what he promised he d do while campaigning for office. Now it s up to Trump supporters to make sure they have his back President Trump said he was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, during remarks Thursday explaining his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. We want fair treatment for our taxpayers, he said. We don t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore, and they won t be. They won t be. I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris. Trump appeared to name-drop Pittsburgh because of its historic ties to the coal and manufacturing industries.However, Democratic Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto rejected Trump s words, saying his city would follow the guidelines of the agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. WFBThe mayor of Pittsburg, Bill Peduto, took to Twitter to show his opposition to and disrespect for our president who dodged a major bullet by his brave decision to not go along with the Paris Agreement:As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future. https://t.co/3znXGTcd8C bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017Apparently not everyone who follows the radical mayor of Pittsburg agreed with his tweet. Here are some of the responses he received:Enjoy your last term Mr mayor Ed Serrano (@bugkiller7803) June 1, 2017You're more likely to be shot or killed in Pittsburgh than in Chicago. Maybe mayor Peduto should fix that before the climate @PressSec #MAGA pic.twitter.com/uigrOKxHxQ Democrats are NAZIs (@iResistAll) June 1, 2017

China says talks with Japan have been 'ruined'

Brunei: 19 Islamic words banned for non-Muslims

A Letter from an Israeli jail

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS Just Got A Big SURPRISE While Touring White House Today [VIDEO]

Swiss banks ban top exec travel in case they are detained as part of a global crackdown on bank secrecy

Gaddafi's wife owns some 20 tons of gold, which would make her worth around $1 Billion

Chinese steelmakers and power plants are being forced to shop around for higher-quality raw materials to meet tougher air pollution standards, a move that will be a boon for global mining giants that produce premium-grade iron ore and coal.

A major Indian city has been underwater for almost a month now

Sean Quinn, once Ireland's richest man, is given 9 week jail term

(VIDEO) TED CRUZ SLAMS JORGE RAMOS ON THE RULE OF LAW AND THE CONSTITUTIONThis is so great! Ted Cruz knows his Constitution!

INVITED POP STAR SAYS SHE’LL PERFORM At Trump Inauguration ONLY If She Can Sing Song About Lynching BlacksBritish pop singer Rebecca Ferguson, daughter of a white British woman and Jamaican father, says she has been invited to perform at Donald Trump s inauguration, but her response may not be the RSVP the President-elect s team were expecting.The former UK X-Factor runner-up said she would only accept the invitation on the condition that she could perform Strange Fruit a song protesting racism in 1930s America, made famous by Billie Holiday.The lyrics, written in the 1930s by Jewish communist Abel Meeropol, were composed as a protest poem to highlight endemic racism in America s southern states.The song s opening lyrics deal with lynching, which was still happening in parts of the country at the time: Southern trees bear strange fruit // Blood on the leaves and blood at the root // Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze // Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.According to Billie Holiday s Estate, Holiday regularly performed the song at live performances in 1939. Her record label, Columbia, refused to let her record the song under their name, so they granted her a one-session contractual release that gave Holiday clearance to independently record the track.Later that year, the album featuring Strange Fruit sold a million copies, becoming Holiday s biggest-selling record at the time. In 1978, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Last month, The Beach Boys told CNN that the group has been contacted about performing, but that no decision has been made at this point as to how or whether they will participate. The so-called "A" list celebrities are all wanting tixs to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016-CNN

Alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza war - the full UN investigation report.

Rich got 14.6% richer in 2013

Philippines displays ancient maps to debunk China's sea claims

Trump Hired Flynn After Obama SPECIFICALLY Warned Him Not To – Now Karma Is Coming For Trump. Hard.Trump s latest attempt to pass blame for his own mistakes onto others is backfiring in spectacular fashion. Like a broken record, Trump lashed out at former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who is set to testify that she emphatically warned Trump s administration about the dangers of appointing disgraced general Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. He also tried to pin the blame on Obama, justifying his hiring of Flynn on the basis of Obama having hired him during his administration ignoring one major detail.General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017Trump thinks you re dumb enough to not realize that Obama also fired Flynn for being erratic and angry to such a degree that it disturbed his colleagues and staffers.2012 Obama appoints Flynn DIA2014 Obama fires him2016 DOD renews Flynn's clearance2016- With no apparent vetting Trump appoints him NSA https://t.co/6f0dOlpn64 Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 8, 2017However, his peculiarly fierce attacks directed at Obama over Flynn betray his Achilles heel. He is a one-trick pony anything he is guilty of, he accuses others of being responsible for. In this case, it turns out Obama had actually warned Trump about hiring Flynn. In an Oval Office meeting just days after Trump had won the election, Obama sat him down and explained that his trusted adviser who Trump was reportedly considering naming vice president was unfit for office.NBC News:According to all three former officials, Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn. The Obama administration fired Flynn in 2014 from his position as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, largely because of mismanagement and temperament issues.Obama s warning pre-dated the concerns inside the government about Flynn s contacts with the Russian ambassador, one of the officials said. Obama passed along a general caution that he believed Flynn was not suitable for such a high level post, the official added.By all accounts, Trump only got more interested in hiring Flynn after Obama s warning. Like many of his Republican brethren, Trump has long suffered from a knee-jerk reaction to do the opposite of anything Obama says. If Obama says healthcare is good, Republicans come out against it. If Obama says breathing is good, Republicans will hold their breath until they re blue in the face. And apparently if Obama says Don t hire this unstable, incompetent nutjob to serve in one of the most important roles in the White House, Trump fast-tracks his application.The irony, of course, is that by deliberately ignoring Obama s warning, Trump made the bed he s currently sleeping in. The fact that he tried to cover up his mistake by firing Sally Yates when she, too, warned him about Flynn only makes things worse for him. Trump is most certainly guilty of many things, but at the forefront is his own rank stupidity and creepy obsession with Obama.His ugliest traits conspired to undo him.How fitting.Featured image via Jack Gruber-Pool/Getty Images

Help refugees wherever they come from, Austria's Kurz saysBERLIN (Reuters) - Austria s new Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, called for an end to failed attempts to achieve a quota system for distributing asylum seekers around the European Union and urged new efforts to help refugees in their country of origin. When he was foreign minister, Kurz, a conservative now governing in coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, was a strong critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel s decision to open Germany s borders to more than a million fleeing migrants in 2015. Since becoming Chancellor this week, he has aligned himself with central European neighbors like Hungary and the Czech Republic in opposing German-backed proposals to distribute asylum seekers around EU member states. Forcing states to take refugees doesn t take Europe any further. The discussion makes no sense, he told Germany s Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Migrants who set off for Europe don t want to go to Bulgaria or Hungary. They want to go to Germany, Austria or Sweden. Instead of doubling down on what he termed a failed policy, Kurz called for the EU to support, perhaps militarily , efforts to help migrants in their countries of origin or in neighboring states. If that isn t possible, then they should be helped in safe areas on their own continent, he said. The EU should support that, perhaps even organize it, and back it militarily. It was not clear from the interview extracts, published by the newspaper, what kind of military support he envisaged. But European leaders have on occasion suggested the EU contribute to peacekeeping operations to stabilize conflicts in Africa. The question of how to deal with streams of migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa also divides Merkel s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) as they prepare for talks on forming a new government. Hard-line members of Merkel s conservative camp demand tight absolute caps on the numbers of refugees allowed to enter Germany each year, while a senior SPD official on Saturday suggested local authorities around Europe be paid to house refugees.

Funding battle looms as Texas sees Harvey damage at up to $180 billionHOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday challenged Congress to raise the government’s debt limit in order to free up relief spending for Hurricane Harvey, a disaster that the governor of Texas said had caused up to $180 billion in damage. Harvey, which came ashore on Aug. 25 as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, has killed an estimated 50 people, displaced more than 1 million and damaged some 200,000 homes in a path of destruction stretching for more than 300 miles (480 km). As the city of Houston and the region’s critical energy infrastructure began to recover nine days after the storm hit, the debate over how to pay for the disaster played out in Washington. Texas Governor Greg Abbott estimated damage at $150 billion to $180 billion, calling it more costly than Hurricanes Katrina or Sandy, which devastated New Orleans in 2005 and New York in 2012. The administration of President Donald Trump has asked Congress for an initial $7.85 billion for recovery efforts, a fraction of what will eventually be needed. Even that amount could be delayed unless Congress quickly increases the government’s debt ceiling, Mnuchin said, as the United States is on track to hit its mandated borrowing limit by the end of the month unless Congress increases it. “Without raising the debt limit, I am not comfortable that we will get money to Texas this month to rebuild,” Mnuchin told Fox News. Republican lawmakers, who control both houses of Congress, have traditionally resisted raising the debt ceiling, but linking the issue to Harvey aid could force their hand with people suffering and large areas of the fourth-largest U.S. city under water. Beyond the immediate funding, any massive aid package faces budget pressures at a time when Trump is advocating for tax reform or tax cuts, leading some on Capitol Hill to suggest aid may be released in a series of appropriations. Katrina set the record by costing U.S. taxpayers more than $110 billion. In advocating for funds to help rebuild his state, Abbott said damage from Harvey would exceed that. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city expected most public services and businesses to be restored by Tuesday, the first day after Monday’s Labor Day holiday. “Over 95 percent of the city is now dry. And I’m encouraging people to get up and let’s get going,” Turner told NBC News. Even so, Houston mandated the evacuation of thousands of people on the western side of town on Sunday to accommodate the release of water from two reservoirs that otherwise might sustain damage. The storm stalled over Houston, dumping more than 50 inches (1.3 m) on the region. Houston cut off power to homes on Sunday to encourage evacuations. The area was closed off on Sunday and military vehicles were stationed on the periphery to take people out. Karen Waltmon, 58, who was returning to her home in one of the neighborhoods, said she wondered if parts of the city would have to be razed. “I feel a lot of Houston is drying out, and I don’t want them to forget about us,” she said. About 37,000 refugees stayed overnight in 270 shelters in Texas plus another 2,000 in seven Louisiana shelters, the highest number reported by the American Red Cross. Some 84,700 homes and businesses were without power on Sunday, down from a peak of around 300,000, according to the region’s major electric companies. In Crosby, Texas, an Arkema (AKE.PA) chemical plant that ran out of electricity needed to keep volatile organic peroxide refrigerated will burn the remaining containers as a “proactive measure,” company and Harris County fire officials said in a statement. Officials last week evacuated residents and set up a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) perimeter around the area. Energy disruptions pushed up gasoline futures to a two-year high ahead of the holiday weekend, but major refineries started to come back online on Friday. Colonial Pipeline, the biggest U.S. fuel system, expects to reopen a Texas segment of its network on Monday, when it will resume transporting distillates from Houston to Hebert, Texas, the company said on Sunday, adding that it would be ready to start moving gasoline on Tuesday. Those repairs would restore to normal Colonial’s entire pipeline from Houston to Linden, New Jersey, relieving shortages between Texas and the U.S. Northeast.

Outrage Grows in India Over Gang-Rape on Bus - The hours-long gang-rape & near-fatal beating of a 23-yr-old student on a bus in New Delhi trigger outrage & anger across the country as Indians demand action from authorities who've long ignored persistent violence & harassment against women.

House committee considering tax relief for hurricane victimsWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tax-policy writers in the U.S. House of Representatives are considering legislation to bring tax relief to businesses and individuals affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the top House lawmaker on tax issues said on Tuesday. Representative Kevin Brady, Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said staff was working with lawmakers from affected states to craft a bill that would help lessen the blow of property losses, facilitate access to retirement savings and encourage charitable giving. He said the committee could act on legislation before Oct 1. “They’re really looking at how do we get our small businesses back up and running, how do we get customers to them and how do we help families and communities rebuild,” Brady told reporters. In past years, aides say Congress has sought to help disaster victims through a number of tax innovations including special tax credits for low-income housing, tax deferrals on gains from insurance payments and special refunds on tax filings from past years. Irma has caused widespread damage in Florida, weeks after Harvey inundated Houston and southeast Texas with record flooding last month.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Ross to join economic dialogue with Japan: sourceTOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to join Vice President Mike Pence for a bilateral economic dialogue in Tokyo next month, a Japanese government official with direct knowledge of preparations said on Thursday, dashing Tokyo’s hope of leaving thorny issues on trade off the negotiating table. Participants of the dialogue, led by Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, will hold their first round of talks in Tokyo on April 18 to discuss issues ranging from macroeconomic policy, infrastructure investment and trade. The dialogue will be a major test of U.S. President Donald Trump’s confrontational approach to trade. Senior administration officials, including Ross, have signaled they would press Japan to remove non-tarrif trade barriers and buy more U.S. products. Japan, which proposed the dialogue, had hoped to keep contentious issues like auto and agriculture trade out of the talks by proposing an agenda focused on infrastructure investment and energy. One of Tokyo’s strategy was to keep the bilateral dialogue as informal as possible so Aso can deal directly with Pence, who is regarded as having a less confrontational view on trade compared with others in the Trump administration, Japanese government officials said. “The agenda is vague now, but if friction comes up in the future, our plan is to say let’s discuss that in the Aso-Pence dialogue and then use the dialogue to diffuse any problems,” one of the officials said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly. The participation of Ross heightens the chance the dialogue would serve as a venue to discuss a bilateral trade deal, which could put Japan under U.S. pressure to open up heavily-protected areas like agriculture and pharmaceuticals, the officials said. Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s ministry of economy, trade and industry, and Foreign Minister Fumiko Kishida will also join the dialogue, the government officials said. Ross has been known to have close ties with Japan, having led a firm investing in the country since 1997 and serving as chairman of the Japan Society - a non-profit organization promoting bilateral relations, since 2010.

Hugo Chavez Expells Israeli Ambassador to Venezuela

Would this ever happen in America? Two British marines discharged after hitting Afghan prisoner with a rubber boot.

CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND ANN COULTER DESTROYS Delta Airlines On Twitter For Kicking Her Out Of Reserved SeatThere are some people you probably shouldn t cross. Donald Trump is one, and conservative author and political analyst Ann Coulter is the other one Conservative columnist Ann Coulter flew into a fit of fury Saturday after Delta Airlines booted her from her reserved Comfort+ seat which comes with 3 additional inches of legroom and gave it to another passenger.In a two-hour tweeting tantrum,she quoted her exchange with a flight attendant: Why are you taking me out of the extra room seat I specifically booked? she asked.Their answer, she said, was I don t know. Before Coulter posted a picture of the woman Delta gave her extra-legroom reserved seat to, she tweeted this:Suckiest @Delta moved me from my PRE-BOOKED SEAT & gave it to some woman, not elderly, child, or sick. I have pictures so don t lie, @Delta! Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017But at least @Delta was nice @ it, summarily snatching my ticket from my hand & ordering me to move w/o explanation, compensation or apology Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017The 6-foot-tall Coulter, who is 55, tweeted a picture of the woman who got her aisle seat on the flight from LaGuardia to Florida, noting, Delta didn t give my extra room seat to an air marshal or tall person. NYP.@Delta didn t give my extra room seat to an air marshall or tall person. Here s the woman given my PRE-BOOKED seat: pic.twitter.com/iDNB8xXXOd Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 15, 2017The long-legged Coulter, who still appeared to furious about Delta s decision to boot her from her reserved seat with extra legroom, tweeted again to Delta about the daschund-legged woman who they gave her seat to:So glad I took time investigate the aircraft & PRE-BOOK a specific seat on @Delta, so some woman could waltz at the last min & take my seat. Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 15, 2017Hey @Delta, if it was so important for the dachshund-legged woman to take my seat, she should have BOOKED THE SEAT IN ADVANCE. Like I did. Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017The sharp-tongued conservative firebrand continued to rip into Delta Airlines in a series of tweets criticizing their customer service:.@Delta motto: "How can we make your flight more uncomfortable?" Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017.@Delta employee questionnaire: What is your ideal job: Prison guard? Animal handler? Stasi policeman? All of the above: HIRED! Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017A Delta spokesman said it appeared Coulter was in the same extra-room row, just in a different seat. But he promised to look into it.

Hillary Wins Big In Tuesday Election Battle (VIDEO)March 15 saw yet another Super Tuesday battle waged, and Hillary Clinton swept Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina by wide margins. The contests are still undecided in Missouri and Illinois, with an especially tight margin in the latter. Here is a breakdown of those Illinois demographics between the two Democratic candidates, via CBS News:Women are breaking for Clinton (54 percent), while men are going for Sanders (56 percent). Just over a quarter of voters (27 percent) are African American, Clinton is getting about 69 percent of them, while 30 percent are for Sanders far higher than his margins in most other states that have voted thus far. Sanders currently has the backing of 60 percent of white voters.Clinton has a slight edge as to who would make the best commander-in-chief, with 51 percent of Illinois primary voters naming her. The majority (64 percent) say Clinton would have the better chance in defeating Donald Trump in November. Still, more Illinois primary voters say Sanders (55 percent) inspires them about the future than Clinton (44 percent).Clinton also congratulated Bernie Sanders on the impressive campaign he is running during a victory speech in Florida. The former Secretary of State is likely sweeping the south because of the fact that most Democratic voters in this area of the country are African American, and the Clintons have long had a great relationship with this community. Women are also going for Clinton, while younger voters tend to like Sanders.Either way, both candidates are running classy campaigns, in sharp contrast to the childishness, mud-slinging, and dangerous rhetoric being displayed on the Right.Thank you, Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders for keeping it classy and keeping it real. You keep cementing my devotion to vote Blue in November, no matter who wins the Democratic nomination.Watch Hillary Clinton s impassioned victory speech below:UPDATE: Clinton is also the projected winner of Illinois as of 12:30 AM EST March 16.Featured image via video screen capture

Bee Gee's singer Robin Gibb is dead.

Trump and May to discuss expanding U.S.-British trade: White HouseWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will discuss ways to expand trade with Britain when British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with him at the White House on Friday, although trade may not be the central focus of their conversation, the White House said. “I’m sure that there will be a discussion of trade ... the degree to which I don’t know yet,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Monday. “He’s going to have a great conversation about the potential for greater trade with the UK.” Spicer added that he did not believe there were currently any plans for the two leaders to hold a joint news conference. Trump, asked in the Oval Office what his agenda was for the meeting, would not go into details, saying only, “I look forward to seeing her.”

Regional crises, not human rights, to dominate Obama-Gulf talksRIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama aired his human rights concerns with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday, but his talking points on that subject are expected to be get less attention when he meets Gulf Arab monarchs on Thursday. Activists have urged the American leader to push Saudi Arabia over its human rights record, but the region’s many geopolitical crises are likely to dominate a summit already overshadowed by strained ties between Washington and the Gulf. The president, who arrived on Wednesday, hopes to allay Gulf countries’ fears over Iranian influence and encourage them to try to douse sectarian tensions in the region in an effort to confront the threat posed by Islamic State. Most of the Gulf Arab monarchies have in private been sorely disappointed by Obama’s presidency, regarding it as a period in which the United States has pulled back from the region, leaving space for their archrival Iran to expand its influence. Human rights have not figured high on the list of issues straining the relationship. But Saudi Arabia has increasingly chafed at what it sees as a campaign of vilification by Western media, think tanks and rights groups. Rob Malley, Obama’s adviser on the Middle East, said rights issues would be raised, and deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes met human rights advocates at the White House just before the Riyadh visit to hear their concerns. During a two-hour meeting on Wednesday with the Saudi king and a group of top princes, Obama expressed his broad concerns about human rights issues, the White House said, without listing specific cases. But early signs were that disagreements over human rights would be relegated to the margins of Thursday’s talks. Obama has spoken of his desire to persuade Gulf states to arrive at a “cold peace” with Iran to ease sectarian tensions and allow all sides to focus on what he sees as a greater threat emanating from Islamic State. On Thursday, he will attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups the monarchical states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Apart from Oman, they are ruled by Sunni Muslim dynasties that see revolutionary, Shi’ite Iran as a threat to their security and say its involvement in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen has fueled conflict and deepened sectarian divisions. The White House shares the view of Gulf Arab states that Tehran plays a destabilizing role. But its willingness to enter a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers last year caused fears in Riyadh that Washington was not listening to Gulf Arab concerns. Riyadh has come under fire in Western countries for its restrictions on women, suppression of freedom of expression, strict blasphemy rules and a judicial system that applies Islamic law and frequently beheads convicts. Rights groups are also pushing for Obama to press Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen, for which peace talks are due to take place in Kuwait this week, and where air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition have killed many civilians. “I urge you to take this final opportunity to speak out publicly on human rights issues inside the (Saudi) Kingdom,” Elisa Massimino, president of Human Rights First, a U.S. monitoring and activist group, wrote in an open letter. Saudi Arabia has said other countries should not interfere in its domestic affairs by criticizing its human rights record. It insists its Islamic legal system is its own business and that its courts are fair and independent. It says the war in Yemen was in support of its internationally recognized government and aimed at restoring stability. It says it has taken great care to avoid civilian casualties.

Trump to visit Florida on Thursday in wake of hurricane: White HouseWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House announced on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump would travel to Florida later this week as the administration continues to monitor the damage from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. The president and the entire administration continue to monitor the situation in Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Florida, Texas and all areas affected by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in making the announcement.

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‘Alt-Right’ Leader Richard Spencer Was Just Punched In The Head AGAIN Then Glitter BombedRichard Spencer, who has the most punchable face in the U.S., just got clocked upside the head again. The Alt-Right leader (neo-Nazi) was also glitter-bombed as well.On Twitter, Spencer has been vocal about his opposition to Trump s military strikes in Syria but that won t help his public image since the leader of the white supremacist faction on the right has elevated himself in the spotlight since just before the U.S. presidential election last year while promoting racist rhetoric.Spencer was confronted at a demonstration in Washington, D.C., against the military strikes against Syria. The Alti-Right leader spoke to the crowd at the rally then he was confronted by counter-protesters who shouted Go home Nazis and called him a Nazi snowflake, according to Anti-Fascist News.The confrontation between the two groups became heated then the counter-protesters chased Spencer across the park as police followed along.The police protected Spencer and his Nazi buddies.Secret Service & cops in Washington DC protecting Richard Spencer & Nazis from #NoWarNoNazis. Spencer tries to leave & fight breaks out. pic.twitter.com/ctqirN0q4U Ash J (@AshAgony) April 8, 2017Richard Spencer ran into a taxi in Washington DC & got surrounded by #Antifa. Cops came & tried to protect him. #NoWarNoNazis pic.twitter.com/yHVV0hlK5b Ash J (@AshAgony) April 9, 2017Spencer tried to get into a taxi, but counter-protesters pulled him out of the vehicle, according to the Antifa site. When he was getting into the cab he was allegedly pulled out by counter-protesters, punched, and glitter bombed, the site reports. In a video posted on Periscope shortly thereafter, Spencer said what happened was that Antifa disallowed him to get in his getaway car and the police instructed him to get in a cab. Once he was in one the cab driver (who Spencer mocked for being of Indian origin) got out of the cab, frightened of the ensuing protesters, and Spencer had to take off running. Then he was glitter bombed.Here's the gif of Richard Spencer getting glitter bombed: https://t.co/4YJzkYFdxp? pic.twitter.com/fwxlLFdUt7 Brett Banditelli (@banditelli) April 9, 2017Spencer assured his followers that he s OK.I m okay, fam. Richard ?? Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) April 9, 2017This isn t Spencer s first time being smacked upside the head. It s his third.richard spencer, with tears streaming down his face, resetting the "days since i have been punched" back to 0 again Kind Words Online (@kissesfingers) April 9, 2017In fact, Spencer was punched in the head twice in one day, one time by a woman. #PunchANaziDay quickly went viral on Twitter then memes and gifs were created.During a live interview while in D.C. for alleged president Donald Trump s Inauguration, he was punched in the face.The attack was celebrated by many, and video of Spencer being punched in the face quickly turned into a viral meme.Twitter users set the moment to music and it went crazy on the Internet.this is as patriotic as I ve felt in a long time pic.twitter.com/yiVxd8semM ron dickles (@prttybadtweeter) January 21, 2017Spencer advocates for peaceful ethnic cleansing, however, I m not sure how he would accomplish that without violence.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Canada shuts down investor immigration path declaring that there is "little evidence that immigrant investors as a class are maintaining ties to Canada or making a positive economic contribution to the country"; Rich Chinese sue

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Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt slams 'foolish' US pursuit of Wikileaks - That seems like revenge and it is, Schmidt told weekly Die Zeits magazine in an interview to be published Thursday.

Icelandic Journalist takes over for Julian Assange because of arrest.

HEY HILLARY…WHO IS REALLY BEHIND Attempt By Party Of “DIVERSITY” To Use Bernie’s JEWISH Faith To Take Him Down… [VIDEO]Is it possible the curtain has been pulled back, and the truth about the intolerant Democrat Party is out there for the whole world to see? Will DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz take the utlitmate hit to keep Bernie fans under control? When will the media expose Hillary s involvement in the DNC and media s coordinated take down of Bernie Sanders?Bernie Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said his team was disappointed by the emails from the Democratic National Committee leaked through WikiLeaks, which seemed to reveal staff in the party working to support Hillary Clinton. Someone does have to be held accountable, Weaver said during an interview with ABC News. We spent 48 hours of public attention worrying about who in the [Donald] Trump campaign was going to be held responsible for the fact that some lines of Mrs. Obama s speech were taken by Mrs. Trump. Someone in the DNC needs to be held at least as accountable as the Trump campaign. We have an electoral process. The DNC, by its charter, is required to be neutral among the candidates. Clearly it was not, Weaver said, responding for the first time to the growing controversy. We had obviously pointed that out in a number of instances prior to this, and these emails just bear that out. Another member of Sanders staff, Rania Batrice put it this way: Everything our fans have been saying and they were beaten down for and called conspiracy theorists and now it s in black and white. One of the newest leaks is an email thread about Sanders faith. Sanders, who is Jewish, did not bring up his religious faith much during the campaign trail and some DNC staffers were hoping he would. But the email itself does not mention Sanders by name, so readers are to infer that it may have been him. But it remains to be seen if these leaked emails are fakes.DNC CFO Brad Marshall sent an email, with the blunt subject line No Sh*t, to DNC communications director Luis Miranda, CEO Amy Dacey, and deputy communications director Mark Paustenbach, discussing if Sanders would be bringing up his faith during the Kentucky and West Virginia primaries: It might may no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist. Dacey replied with a simple Amen about the topic. Sanders had discussed his Jewish heritage in the past, but has remained mum on all other religious aspects of his life. Marshall told The Intercept he did not recall writing this email and it wasn t necessarily geared toward Sanders. Uproxx Via: Slate And InterceptThe email dump comes at a crucial time, just days before the party s national convention in Philadelphia, with thousands of delegates representing both campaigns gathering from across the country. Weaver and several other members of the Sanders staff have said they are worried the news could disrupt the goals of the convention.Weaver said the emails showed misconduct at the highest level of the staff within the party and that he believed there would be more emails leaked, which would reinforce that the party had its fingers on the scale. Everybody is disappointed that much of what we felt was happening at the DNC was in fact happening, that you had in this case a clear example of the DNC taking sides and looking to place negative information into the political process. ABC NewsDEMOCRATS WILL ATTEMPT TO FIX CRISIS BY DISALLOWING Blabbermouth Schutlz from speaking at the DNC but will that be enough?Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will not speak at or preside over the party s convention this week, a decision reached by party officials Saturday after emails surfaced that raised questions about the committee s impartiality during the Democratic primary.The DNC Rules Committee on Saturday named Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, as permanent chair of the convention, according to a DNC source. She will gavel each session to order and will gavel each session closed. She s been quarantined, another top Democrat said of Wasserman Schultz, following a meeting Saturday night.The Democrat familiar with the decision said it was done in hopes of preventing chaos on the convention floor among Sanders supporters. Via: CNN

Hong Kong Billioniare doubles his offer from 40M to 80m to any man who can turn his lesbian daughter straight

North Korea shipments to Syria chemical arms agency intercepted: U.N. reportUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country s chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report on North Korea sanctions violations. The report by a panel of independent U.N. experts, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month and seen by Reuters on Monday, gave no details on when or where the interdictions occurred or what the shipments contained. The panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK (North Korea), the experts wrote in the 37-page report. Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria. Another Member state informed the panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria, according to the report. KOMID is the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation. It was blacklisted by the Security Council in 2009 and described as Pyongyang s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. In March 2016 the council also blacklisted two KOMID representatives in Syria. The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the European Union and the United States as front companies for Syria s Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), a Syrian entity identified by the Panel as cooperating with KOMID in previous prohibited item transfers, the U.N. experts wrote. SSRC has overseen the country s chemical weapons program since the 1970s. The U.N. experts said activities between Syria and North Korea they were investigating included cooperation on Syrian Scud missile programs and maintenance and repair of Syrian surface-to-air missiles air defense systems. The North Korean and Syrian missions to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The experts said they were also investigating the use of the VX nerve agent in Malaysia to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korea s leader Kim Jong Un in February. North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and the Security Council has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear weapons tests and four long-range missile launches. Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. However, diplomats and weapons inspectors suspect Syria may have secretly maintained or developed a new chemical weapons capability. During the country s more than six-year long civil war the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said the banned nerve agent sarin has been used at least twice, while the use of chlorine as a weapon has been widespread. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.

Warren Buffett called (Jeff) Greenes scheme financial weapons of mass destruction.

Tackling climate change would grow global economy, World Bank says | Findings put to rest claims that the world could not afford to act on climate change

Two japanese citizens were detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland.

NAILS IT! POLLSTER PAT CADDELL Blasts The Obamas For Lacking ONE KEY THING In Their DepartureCaddell s remarks came after hearing Michelle Obama s now infamous comments to Oprah Winfrey:The First Lady was asked by Oprah Winfrey whether she thinks that her husband s administration had achieved his promise of hope for America. Yes. I do, she said. Because we feel the difference now. See, now, we are feeling what not having hope feels like. You know. Hope is necessary. It s a necessary concept and Barack didn t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believe, what else do you have when you do not have hope? Caddell continued, The Bush people, they had a certain conduct. George W. Bush kept his mouth shut about Obama forever. What s Obama doing saying, I m going to be back here right after vacation. I need to be in Washington. I need to comment ? Where s the part where you gracefully leave the stage? Via: Breitbart

U.S. House Republicans finalize list of rules to kill in Wednesday voteWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans pressed ahead in their deregulatory push on Tuesday, with the U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee officially adding a regulation on methane and one intended to root out pay discrimination to the list of rules the whole chamber will vote to kill on Wednesday. On Monday, the committee sent three other recently enacted rules on the environment, corruption and guns to the full House to axe under the Congressional Review Act, which has only been used effectively once, in 2001. The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote to overturn all five regulations on Wednesday, and then hand them off to the Senate. Agencies cannot create a new rule to replace any part of an overturned regulation, and Democrats at Tuesday’s committee hearing argued that House Republicans were closing off the possibility of enacting regulations that could be needed in the future. They also pressed for more time to consider rolling back regulations that often took months and years to craft. “What we’ve been doing today and yesterday ... I would characterize as mindless legislating,” said Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts. “I worry that this whole process is going to subject a lot of vulnerable people, and a lot of working people, as well as our environment to some pretty dark consequences.” New York’s Louise Slaughter, the committee’s senior Democrat, while talking about the methane rule during the one-hour hearing bluntly said: “I disagree wholeheartedly with what you’re doing.” Democrats, though, have little power to stop the overturning of regulations. Only simple majorities in both chambers are needed to kill a rule. In the past, Republicans’ nullification attempts were met with veto threats by former president Barack Obama, a Democrat. Now, a fellow Republican occupies the White House, President Donald Trump. Critics of the methane rule say the regulation, which covers emissions from oil and gas operations on federal and Indian land, is not necessary. They cast it as a duplicative regulation that usurps state rights and slows down the distribution of natural gas through excessive red tape. Supporters, meanwhile, say that the rule keeps oil and gas companies from polluting the environment, brings in royalties to the federal government, and reduces wasted methane. Those wanting to see the pay-discrimination rule overturned have similar complaints, saying that other rules already cover the area and that requiring federal contractors to collect information on their employees will be expensive and time-consuming.

Israel's 22-day offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip killed 1,434 people, including 960 civilians, 239 police officers and 235 fighters

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Trump HUMILIATED As China Roasts Him For Being An ‘Ignorant Child’ (DETAILS)While Donald Trump is desperately trying to get the respect, and if not the respect, the attention through military might, of the media and the world, Chinese media is noticing. They think he s a joke.China hasn t been a fan of Trump since he first stepped into politics. He s a big mouthed clown. In an editorial published this week, China s state-owned Global Times newspaper condemns the billionaire candidate as big-mouthed and abusively forthright. Source: CNNThey called his election a democracy malfunction. Opinion:@realDonaldTrump turn #election away from common sense,logic. #democracy malfunction https://t.co/23nDl1d5R0 pic.twitter.com/aMiYNCFw1g China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 4, 2016He s Mussolini or Hitler: The rise of a racist in the US political area worries the whole world, the party-controlled Global Times crowed this week ahead of of Trump s victory in the latest round of primaries. He has even been called another Benito Mussolini or Adolf Hitler by some western media. It added, darkly: Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections, a heavy lesson for western democracy. Source: The GuardianThey mocked Trump s spelling:On Sunday, the Chinese Communist Party linked Global Times newspaper questioned Trump s response in an editorial and highlighted his misspelling in the headline: Unpresidented Trump adds fuel to fire. He seemed emotionally upset, but no one knows what he wanted to say, read the article. Trump is not behaving as a President who will become master of the White House in a month. Source: TimeThe Communist paper, the Global Times, called him ignorant as a child. Many people might be surprised at how the new U.S. leader is truly a businessman through-and-through, the paper said, referring to Trump s suggestion of using the one China policy as a bargaining chip. But in the field of diplomacy, he is as ignorant as a child. Source: Huffington PostAfter his complete 180 in regards to China being a currency manipulator, and Trump s attack on Syria, Chinese media really let him have it.How the news Trump won t label China a currency manipulator plays here: Eating his words! Trump slaps self in face, again pic.twitter.com/sxeCvuwBcM Te-Ping Chen (@tepingchen) April 13, 2017Their most frightening response, and perhaps their most precient, was applauding Trump s Syria attack, saying that it will mire the United States in the Middle East: If the United States gets trapped in Syria, how can Trump make America great again? As a result, China will be able to achieve its peaceful rise, Mr. Shen said, using a term Beijing employs to characterize its growing power. Even though we say we oppose the bombing, deep in our hearts we are happy. Source: New York TimesLet that sink in for a while. It was the exact same plan Osama bin Laden had for us. It almost worked.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

ITALIANS FURIOUS! Have You Ever Dreamed Of Living FREE OF CHARGE In A 4-Star Seaside Resort In Italy?…Become A Refugee And You Can!One short trip on a boat and this could be all yours! No papers required A group of local citizens from the Italian Island of Sicily have denounced a recent political decision to turn a 4-star seaside resort into the latest migrant welcome center, near the historic city of Agrigento. The hotel Capo Rossello Realmonte is located just a short distance from the Scala dei Turchi, or Turkish Steps, an unusual white, rocky cliff popular with tourists that has also been proposed for the UNESCO Heritage list.The Region of Sicily, led by governor Rosario Crocetta of the Democratic Party, has decided to transform the hotel into a hub where asylum-seekers will be accommodated, theoretically just for 48 hours for registration purposes before being transferred to other centers or possible repatriation. Critics have noted that the migrants and refugees will actually be staying considerably longer, judging from the way such centers work elsewhere in Italy.The local City Council of Realmonte, chaired by Mayor Calogero Zicari has joined a local citizens movement in collecting signatures protesting the plan to convert the hotel into a migrant center.The mayor told local media that since the area depends on tourism, the proposal would have a major impact on the economy, recalling that the arrival of large groups of migrants in other areas has destroyed investments that had been developed over years. We are angry and worried by this latest irresponsible decision, said Angelo Attaguile, the local leader of the Noi con Salvini populist political party. Some people forget that we are talking about a site with enormous touristic value, which was recently nominated as a UNESCO Heritage site, and which could be jeopardizes by this foolish decision, Attaguile said. We cannot accept that top-tier hotel facilities, close to the sea and tourist destinations like the Scala Dei Turchi, continue to be turned into reception centers, he added.Another political operative from the Noi con Salvini party, Giuseppe Di Rosa, has accused politicians in office of reaping economic benefits from public funds coming in for the construction and operation of refugee centers. They are transforming our land into a mega hotel that houses refugees of all kinds without any sanitary control of the territory, he said. -Via: Bretibart News

Death toll in Egypt mosque attack rises to 305 killed: state news agencyCAIRO (Reuters) - The death toll in a devastating militant attack on a mosque on Friday in Egypt s North Sinai has risen to 305 killed, including 27 children, and 128 more people were wounded, MENA state news agency said on Saturday.

Serbia extradites Kurdish activist to Turkey despite U.N. warningBELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia has extradited to Turkey a Kurdish political activist who had been seeking asylum, a police official said on Tuesday, defying a recommendation by the United Nations Committee against Torture. Cevdet Ayaz requested asylum in Serbia earlier this year after fleeing Turkey, where he had been sentenced to 15 years in prison over alleged activities against the constitution, the Belgrade-based N1 TV quoted his lawyer Ana Trkulja as saying. It also quoted her as saying that Ayaz had been extradited to Turkey on Monday and that his brother had been asked to contact a police station in Istanbul where he was being held. The U.N. Committee against Torture (UNCAT) issued a recommendation on Dec. 18 urging Belgrade to refrain from extraditing Ayaz. The Serbian police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Serbian courts had ruled that all preconditions for the extradition had been met and that Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic had acted accordingly. The motion by the U.N. came after that (decision) ... The police only performed the extradition procedure, the official said. Officials at Serbia s Justice Ministry, which approved Ayaz s extradition, were not immediately available for comment on the case. On Monday UNCAT chairman Jens Modvig warned Serbia, a candidate for European Union membership, to adhere to its international obligations. Serbia is in the process of extraditing Mr. Ayaz to Turkey ... Serbia, please be aware of your UNCAT obligations, Modvig wrote on his Twitter account. Rights groups accuse Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of using a state of emergency declared after the 2016 coup attempt to quash decades-long Kurdish dissent and political opposition. Turkey, which is also a candidate for EU membership, denies using torture. Serbia, the legal successor to the now-defunct Yugoslavia, has ratified the U.N. convention against torture, which came into force in 1987. Serbia s President Aleksandar Vucic has sought to boost trade ties with Turkey, and Erdogan visited Belgrade in October.

CHECK OUT ELIZABETH WARREN’S Rip On New BFF Hillary Clinton In 2004 [Video]Does anyone else see a little crazy in this woman? Elizabeth Warren is Hillary Clinton s new best friend and possible VP choice but we think that would be a total disaster for Clinton. Yikes!

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China's Xi taps low-profile official to take over war on graftBEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday tapped a low-profile official to lead his signature war on corruption, replacing the retiring Wang Qishan, whose sweeping anti-graft campaign had made him China s second most-powerful politician. Zhao Leji was appointed to the new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee and will take up Wang s role as head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) from his position as head of the Communist Party s powerful Organisation Department, which is in charge of personnel. Zhao s appointment is likely to spur efforts to turn the fight against graft from a campaign into a structured feature of China s political system, analysts said. Xi s corruption fight has ensnared more than 1.3 million officials, and he said during the twice-a-decade party congress that wrapped up this week that the battle to take down both tigers and flies will continue, a reference to elite officials and ordinary bureaucrats. Zhao s job appears to be less about taking down tigers and swatting flies but more about effectively institutionalizing the anti-corruption system and getting the CCDI mechanisms implemented at all levels, said Damien Ma, associate director at the Paulson Institute, a U.S. think tank. It s going to be challenging, but he does have everyone s files as former head of the Organisation Department. Speaking to reporters after unveiling his seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, Xi said that the party s battle to rid itself of corruption, written into its constitution on Tuesday, is a journey without an end . There cannot be any virus in the party structure, he said. Wang, sometimes called the Communist Party s fireman for his skill in resolving crises, has widely been credited with the success and vigor of the graft fight, which has been highly popular with the public while rattling the party elite. Wang, who was previously vice governor of the central bank and helped oversee China s recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis, built the once toothless and obscure CCDI into a feared watchdog that felled party heavyweights, including the former domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang. The campaign has also taken down many of Xi s rivals and helped to tighten his grip on power. Zhao, at 60 the youngest member of the Standing Committee, has been steadily promoted through his career, which has included long stints in poor rural areas, giving him a comparatively low profile among Chinese leaders. Xi and Zhao have a Shaanxi connection , according to Cheng Li, a U.S.-based expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution. They are among a group of politicians with personal and political ties to northwest China s Shaanxi province, Xi s ancestral home, who have moved up the party ranks in recent years. Zhao spent much of his early career in the Shaanxi countryside, leaving him with a strong regional accent. INSTITUTIONALIZING ANTI-CORRUPTION Xi plans to overhaul China s anti-corruption architecture to create a powerful super-ministry, the National Supervision Commission, that will combine work by a number agencies, not including the CCDI, although the two will share offices and personnel. The commission will also have the power to investigate civil servants, even if they are not party members, and will be backed by law, giving legal authority to many of the measures currently used by the party to investigate officials. Xi also said last week that a secret party interrogation system, known as shuanggui , would be replaced with new detention measures, although rights groups say that it is unclear whether suspects will have access to lawyers under the new system. Some experts have questioned how much power the new body will have without Wang at the helm. It is not clear who will head the new commission or exactly what its relationship will be with the CCDI.

I dont know what kind of stuff you have in New York, Mr. Dong said. But people could strap all sorts of minibombs to pigeon legs.

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TWO DEMOCRATS Announce Plan To Vote For Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court [Video] Senators have a constitutional obligation to advice and consent on a nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy and, simply put, we have a responsibility to do our jobs as elected officials, Manchin said in a statement Thursday. I will vote to confirm him to be the ninth justice on the Supreme Court. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csE04bREOAEHeitcamp of North Dakota also pledged her vote for Gorsuch and released a statement to confirm: After doing my due diligence by meeting with Judge Gorsuch and reviewing his record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I ve decided to vote in favor of his confirmation. He has a record as a balanced, meticulous, and well-respected jurist who understands the rule of law, .

Loggers in Brazil captured an eight-year-old girl from one of the Amazon's last uncontacted tribes and burned her alive as part of a campaign to force the indigenous population from its land.

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