| Jeff Flake Slams Trump’s Attacks On Press As Stalinist Posted: 14 Jan 2018 09:53 AM PST  Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) says President Donald Trump's attacks against the press are reminiscent of similar tactics employed by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
|
| Doctors say new Medicaid rules 'like asking people to work with an anchor on their back' Posted: 13 Jan 2018 09:09 AM PST  As many as 6.3 million people could lose Medicaid benefits as a result of the new change. Dr Gary Leroy's patients are "salt of the earth": inner-city people working in Dayton, Ohio as dishwashers, car mechanics and patient care assistants. Although the vast majority have jobs, most qualify for Medicaid, a public health insurance program which serves 74 million poor and disabled Americans.
|
| For 38 Minutes, Hawaii Panicked: 'This Could Be The End' Posted: 13 Jan 2018 04:09 PM PST  HONOLULU, Hawaii ― For a half-hour on Saturday morning, individuals in Hawaii believed the state was under attack.
|
| Leader of Britain's UKIP faces calls to quit over girlfriend's remarks Posted: 14 Jan 2018 05:50 AM PST ![Leader of Britain's UKIP faces calls to quit over girlfriend's remarks]( "Leader of Britain's UKIP faces calls to quit over girlfriend's remarks") The leader of Britain's eurosceptic UK Independence Party faced calls on Sunday to stand down after a newspaper published racist messages sent by his girlfriend about Prince Harry's fiancee Meghan Markle. Last year, Henry Bolton was the fourth leader in a year to be appointed to the helm of UKIP, a party which helped bring about a Brexit vote. The Mail on Sunday published a series of messages sent by Jo Marney to a friend in which she made offensive comments about Markle and black people.
|
| Most of mudslide-stricken California town told to empty out Posted: 12 Jan 2018 07:34 PM PST  MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Most residents of mudslide-ravaged Montecito were under orders to clear out Friday as the search for victims dragged on and crews labored to clean up massive debris and repair power, water and gas lines.
|
| Saudi Binladin Group denies govt takeover after chief detained Posted: 13 Jan 2018 05:04 AM PST  Saudi construction giant Binladin Group denied Saturday any state takeover after its chairman was detained, but said some shares may have been transferred to the government. The firm, which has been forced to lay off tens of thousands of workers due to financial problems, said it remained a private shareholding company and was undergoing restructuring. International media this week reported Saudi Arabia's government had taken over the firm after chairman Bakr bin Laden was detained.
|
| Tunisia considers aid for poor as president hosts emergency talks on anti-austerity protests Posted: 13 Jan 2018 07:38 AM PST  The Tunisian government may increase aid for poor families in a bid to defuse tensions following anti-austerity protests that saw hundreds arrested and left at least one man dead. Beji Caid Essebsi, Tunisia''s president, hosted emergency talks with trade unions, employers associations, and political parties on Saturday. "We discussed the general situation in the country and the reforms, especially socio-economic, that must be adopted to overcome the current problems," Wided Bouchamaoui, the head of the UTICA employers association, told reporters after the meeting. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi (C) attends a meeting with political parties, unions and employers following unrest triggered by austerity measures Credit: FETHI BELAID/AFP Noureddine Taboubi, the secretary general of UGTT, the country's main trade union, said no specific moves had been agreed but that measures "must be adopted" to aid needy families and improve the social safety net. A Tunisian government source told Reuters that a package of measures would include extra aid to poor families and people in need, but did not give further detail. Peaceful protests broke out across Tunisia after the government adopted a new budget that raised taxes and pushed up the cost of living on January 1. Demonstrations escalated on Monday night as youths burned tires to block streets and clashed with security forces. The unrest largely tailed off after the military was deployed on the streets of several cities on Thursday, but tensions remain high. Police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators at a small protest in the central city of Sidi Bouzid overnight on Friday. Khlifa Chibani, a spokesman for the Interior ministry, said on Saturday a total of 803 people suspected of taking part in acts of violence, theft and looting have been arrested since last Sunday. Police intervene during a protest in Tunis on January 12, 2018 Credit: Anadolu He said 97 policemen and members of the security forces had been injured over the week. It is unclear how many protesters have been injured. A man in his 40s died in disputed circumstances during unrest in the northern town of Tebourba on on Monday night. The unrest comes ahead of Sunday's seventh anniversary of the revolution that toppled the dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, an event that sparked similar uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and Syria. While the other revolutions have descended into violence or given way to authoritarianism, Tunisia is widely seen as a success story of the Arab Spring. Its democracy remains for the most part intact and a secular party currently leads the government in coalition with a moderate Islamist group. But frustration has grown among many Tunisians over economic stagnation and unemployment. Tunisia agreed to take decisive economic measures to bring down the country's deficit. in return for a $2.9 billion loan (£2.2 billion) from the International Monetary Fund.
|
| China Appears to Have Secretly Sold Pakistan a Large Combat Drone, Says Report Posted: 13 Jan 2018 04:43 AM PST  China appears to have secretly sold Pakistan a large combat drone, according to new satellite images. Citing satellite images from November 2017, the Center reported on January 5th that there was a medium-altitude long-endurance drone spotted at the Alam Air Base in Mianwali, Pakistan.
|
| Rand Paul Says Calling Trump 'A Racist' Hurts Immigration Talks Posted: 14 Jan 2018 10:12 AM PST  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says politicians and members of the media who call President Donald Trump "a racist" are imperiling a potential immigration deal between Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
|
| Man accused of fatally shooting mother after argument over video game Posted: 13 Jan 2018 03:12 PM PST  A California man fatally shot his 68-year-old mother Friday night after losing a video game, police said.
|
| Iran oil tanker explodes off coast of China with no survivors Posted: 14 Jan 2018 10:22 AM PST ![Iran oil tanker explodes off coast of China with no survivors]( "Iran oil tanker explodes off coast of China with no survivors") A burning Iranian oil tanker exploded and sank Sunday after more than a week listing off the coast of China, as an Iranian official acknowledged there was "no hope" of missing sailors surviving the disaster. The collision and disaster of the Sanchi, which carried 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, had transfixed an Iran still reeling from days of protests and unrest that swept the country at the start of the year. Families of the sailors wept and screamed at the headquarters of the National Iranian Tanker Co. in Tehran, the private company that owns the Sanchi.
|
| Native Americans Who Can't Afford Heat Take Desperate Measures To Stay Warm Posted: 13 Jan 2018 07:40 AM PST  As temperatures dropped below zero on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation earlier this month, one young girl felt she had had enough.
|
| Hawaii told to fix emergency notification system after false ballistic missile warning Posted: 14 Jan 2018 01:35 PM PST  Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai told the state that it didn't have proper safeguards in place to ensure that a notice like that wouldn't be sent out, engulfing residents in panic. This was "absolutely unacceptable," Mr Pai remarked. Residents and visitors of the island state were shocked Saturday morning when they received the notification — sent to mobile phones in the area — indicating that a ballistic missile was on-course to hit the state.
|
| 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt Posted: 14 Jan 2018 05:10 PM PST  Putting the 'lit' in Bullitt.
|
| Qatar exile says he's held by UAE; Abu Dhabi denies claim Posted: 14 Jan 2018 10:27 AM PST  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An exiled Qatari ruling family member once promoted by Saudi Arabia amid its ongoing dispute with Doha appeared in an online video Sunday claiming he's being held against his will in the United Arab Emirates, an allegation denied by Abu Dhabi.
|
| Japan's Abe seeks Baltic support against North Korea Posted: 13 Jan 2018 05:38 PM PST  Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday urged Baltic NATO states to support pressure on North Korea, as he hammered home his hawkish message that Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes pose a global threat. Despite a recent cooling of tensions in the run-up to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, Shinzo Abe has insisted on "maximising pressure" on the North. "We should work closely together to maintain and strengthen a rule of law-based international order on North Korea, which is now a threat to the global community", Abe told reporters in Lithuania's capital Vilnius.
|
| Illinois nursing homes sue state over low Medicaid rates Posted: 12 Jan 2018 06:54 PM PST ![Illinois nursing homes sue state over low Medicaid rates]( "Illinois nursing homes sue state over low Medicaid rates") By Tracy Rucinski CHICAGO (Reuters) - A handful of Illinois-based nursing homes sued the state's Department of Healthcare and Family Services on Friday, saying low Medicaid rates are jeopardizing their ability to provide adequate quality of care. In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, five groups that jointly operate more than 100 skilled nursing facilities across the state said Illinois' reimbursement rates and methodologies violated certain requirements under the Medicaid Act. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the governor's office did not immediately return requests for comment.
|
| Protesters Try To Arrest London's Mayor For Disrespecting Donald Trump Posted: 13 Jan 2018 10:43 PM PST  A group of right-wing protesters wheeled a home-made gallows outside a hall where London's Muslim mayor was about to speak and tried to arrest him for disrespecting Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported.
|
| A Man Is Holding a 10-Year-Old Boy Hostage and Firing at Officers, Police Say Posted: 13 Jan 2018 12:58 PM PST  Authorities outside Cincinnati say a man is holding a 10-year-old boy hostage at an apartment complex and has been shooting at officers
|
| Israel says it destroys Hamas tunnel under key Gaza crossing Posted: 13 Jan 2018 11:05 PM PST ![Israel says it destroys Hamas tunnel under key Gaza crossing]( "Israel says it destroys Hamas tunnel under key Gaza crossing") JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Sunday it destroyed an attack tunnel built by the Hamas militant group that stretched from the Gaza Strip, though Israel and into Egypt, and that ran past Israeli military posts as well as gas and fuel pipelines.
|
| Tourist in Hawaii describes panic caused by false alarm Posted: 13 Jan 2018 01:21 PM PST  State officials say emergency alert that said a missile was inbound was sent out by mistake.
|
| Texas Man Charged With Capital Murder In Adopted Daughter's Death Posted: 14 Jan 2018 08:46 AM PST  A Texas man has been charged with capital murder in the death of his 3-year-old adoptive daughter, who was found to have died from "homicidal violence."
|
| Tavelers shatter tourism records around the world in 2017 Posted: 13 Jan 2018 04:46 AM PST  The numbers are trickling in from tourism offices and it seems that 2017 was a banner year for many parts of the world.
|
| Detroit auto show begins amid talk of NAFTA, tax cuts Posted: 14 Jan 2018 03:28 PM PST  The Detroit Auto Show got rolling Sunday with international trade and tax cuts dominating the conversation, even as carmakers raced to meet Americans' seemingly insatiable appetite for trucks and SUVs. In a keynote address, US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao touted just-enacted US tax cuts, which reduced the US corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, saying the move will attract more US investment. Industry insiders were taking a wait-and-see attitude toward talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has generated fears of huge tariffs on Mexican-made imports to the US.
|
| Fear and doubt should not determine response to immigrants, Pope says Posted: 14 Jan 2018 04:53 AM PST ![Fear and doubt should not determine response to immigrants, Pope says]( "Fear and doubt should not determine response to immigrants, Pope says") Mutual fears between immigrants and their new communities are understandable, but must not prevent new arrivals from being welcomed and integrated, Pope Francis said on Sunday in a special Mass to mark the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Francis, a keen defender of the rights of migrants, was addressing a congregation including migrants and refugees from some 50 countries, whose flags festooned the area around the altar in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. "Local communities are sometimes afraid that the newly arrived will disturb the established order, will "steal" something they have long laboured to build up," he said, while "the newly arrived ... are afraid of confrontation, judgement, discrimination, failure." "Having doubts and fears is not a sin.
|
| On earthquake anniversary, Haitians trying to rebuild Posted: 12 Jan 2018 09:02 PM PST  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Eight years ago, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake upended life in Haiti, killing more than 300,000 people by some estimates and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes. For many of those left homeless, life hasn't yet returned to normal.
|
| Whistleblower Manning seeks US Senate seat Posted: 13 Jan 2018 02:37 PM PST  Whistleblower Chelsea Manning, jailed for leaking classified information, is seeking election in the US state of Maryland, a document seen on Saturday says. The Federal Election Commission document, filed Thursday, lists Chelsea Elizabeth Manning of North Bethesda, Maryland, as a Democratic candidate for the United States senate. Manning, now 30, was an army intelligence analyst sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
|
| Iran Releases Hundreds of Anti-Government Protesters From Detention, Officials Say Posted: 14 Jan 2018 06:41 AM PST  At least 25 people have reportedly been killed during the recent unrest
|
| David Harbour Hijacks Student's Senior Photos After Twitter Joke Goes Viral Posted: 13 Jan 2018 05:51 AM PST  This "Stranger Things" fan will forever treasure her high school senior photos.
|
| Man convicted of 3 killing civil rights workers dies in jail Posted: 12 Jan 2018 07:37 PM PST  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Edgar Ray Killen, a 1960s Ku Klux Klan leader who was convicted decades later in the "Mississippi Burning" slayings of three civil rights workers, has died in prison at the age of 92, the state's corrections department announced.
|
| A New American Leader Rises in ISIS Posted: 13 Jan 2018 01:07 PM PST ![A New American Leader Rises in ISIS]( "A New American Leader Rises in ISIS") The clues are out there, if you know where to look. Scattered across far-flung corners of the internet, there is evidence that Zulfi Hoxha, the son of an Albanian-American pizza-shop owner from New Jersey, had sinister plans.
|
| Warning over alarming 'Tide Pod Challenge' detergent eating YouTube trend Posted: 13 Jan 2018 08:23 AM PST  An alarming new trend involving teenagers eating detergent capsules and posting the videos on YouTube could "put them in danger", health officials have warned. The concerning 'Tide Pod Challenge' phenomenon has spread across social media since the turn of the year. Teenagers have filmed themselves biting into Tide laundry detergent capsules, with some of the videos racking up more than 100,000 hits before being removed by YouTube. The first mention of the 'Tide Pod Challenge' on YouTube dates back to June 2014, while parody website The Onion followed this up with a satirical op-ed about the pods in 2015. A video by CollegeHumor titled 'Don't Eat the Laundry Pods' posted in March 2017 has been viewed more than three million times and towards the end of last year it spread into a popular meme. Tide Pod Challenge: The Viral Challenge Encouraging Teens To Eat Laundry Detergent. @StahlCBS3 reports:https://t.co/igDt2P8n7ypic.twitter.com/aB1XiRtZDT— CBS Philly (@CBSPhilly) January 12, 2018 There has been a spike in the number of cases of detergent pod ingestion in the first two weeks of 2018 reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC). Health officials have warned the capsules contain "highly concentrated toxic contents" which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and in worst case scenarios, breathing difficulties. "Teens trying to be funny are now putting themselves in danger by ingesting this poisonous substance," Ann Marie Buerkle, from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, told Good Morning America. Some YouTube creators say their videos about the Tide Pod Challenge have been removed for violating the platform's rules. "Why did my video on kids doing the 'Tide Pod Challenge' get taken down and striked when there are millions of compilations of kids eating them?" questioned user Niksfinity. A spokesperson for Procter & Gamble, Tide's parent company, said: "Our laundry pacs are a highly concentrated detergent meant to clean clothes, and they're used safely in millions of households every day. "They should be only used to clean clothes and kept up, closed and away from children. "They should not be played with, whatever the circumstance is, even if it is meant as a joke." Eight deaths as a result of eating detergent pods were reported from 2012 to early 2017 in the US, involving six adults suffering from dementia and two children. In 2013, a seven-month-old boy from Florida died after biting into a laundry pod. Members of the public seeking specific information on poisons should contact the NHS 111 service or call 999 if a person is showing signs of being seriously ill. The extreme lengths YouTubers go to for viral fame
|
| Bitcoin fever hits US real estate market Posted: 13 Jan 2018 08:00 PM PST  Bitcoin fever has hit the US real estate market, especially that of Florida, offering foreign investors a way to dodge currency controls at home and US economic sanctions. As of the end of last year, the digital currency was listed as a way to pay for some 75 properties for sale, especially in south Florida and California, according to the real estate firm Redfin. "Bitcoin accepted" is a message now seen in the description of homes for sale in the Miami area.
|
| South Korea and North Korea to hold working-level talks on Jan. 15 Posted: 13 Jan 2018 09:41 PM PST ![South Korea and North Korea to hold working-level talks on Jan. 15]( "South Korea and North Korea to hold working-level talks on Jan. 15") (This version of the story corrects 2nd paragraph to show the delegation will be led by a Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry official, not the unification minister.) SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea and South Korea have agreed to hold working-level talks at the Tongil Pavilion on the North Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom on Jan. 15, South Korea's unification ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The delegation, to be led by an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will be sent to hold talks on the prospects of North Korea sending its performance art group to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the unification ministry said in a statement. Inter-Korean talks are held alternately at the Peace House, which is on the South Korean side of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone, and Tongil Pavilion in the North.
|
| Hong Kong police arrest South Korean suspected of murdering wife, son at Ritz-Carlton Posted: 13 Jan 2018 09:33 PM PST ![Hong Kong police arrest South Korean suspected of murdering wife, son at Ritz-Carlton]( "Hong Kong police arrest South Korean suspected of murdering wife, son at Ritz-Carlton") Hong Kong police arrested a South Korean man on suspicion of murder on Sunday after his wife and seven-year-old son were found dead in a room at the five star Ritz-Carlton hotel. Ritz Carlton did not immediately respond to requests for comments by phone and by email, and the South Korean consulate could not be reached as it was outside office hours. The Ritz-Carlton is located on the top 15 floors of Hong Kong's tallest building, the International Commerce Centre, and overlooks the Victoria Harbour.
|
| Trump says immigration deal 'probably dead' Posted: 14 Jan 2018 05:36 PM PST  US President Donald Trump vehemently denied Sunday that he was a racist, after his vulgar disparagement of African countries and Haiti complicated a bipartisan deal on immigration. Trump appeared to give up for dead an immigration deal, coming back on the issue in a pair of early morning tweets three days after reportedly referring to African and Haitian immigrants as coming from "shithole countries," triggering global condemnation. "DACA is probably dead because the Democrats don't really want it," Trump tweeted, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program at the heart of the immigration impasse.
|
| By 2020, China Could Have Hypersonic Missiles to Sink U.S. Aircraft Carriers Posted: 13 Jan 2018 04:37 AM PST  In November, China tested what may become the world's first operational hypersonic weapon. While Chinese progress in this area surprises no one, the first operational deployment of the weapon will add another weapon to China's growing antiaccess toolkit, posing a dilemma for U.S. military planners in the Pacific. Over the past decade China has conducted several tests of potential hypersonic weapons.
|
| Ranking The Best New Shows On Netflix You Can Stream Right Now Posted: 13 Jan 2018 05:58 AM PST  For the weekend of Jan. 13, Streamline recommends "Black Mirror" in the top Netflix spot for the second time.
|
| Earthquake in Peru destroys dozens of homes, kills 1 man Posted: 14 Jan 2018 04:39 PM PST  LIMA, Peru (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck off Peru's coast early Sunday, tumbling adobe homes in small, rural towns, killing at least one person and injuring dozens, officials said.
|
| Shelter Makes Tinder Profile for 3-Year-Old Dog Struggling to Get Adopted Posted: 14 Jan 2018 07:44 AM PST  He has been at the shelter for more than two years.
|
| Tesla's New Roadster Is the Fastest Production Vehicle of All Time Posted: 12 Jan 2018 05:56 PM PST ![Tesla's New Roadster Is the Fastest Production Vehicle of All Time]( "Tesla's New Roadster Is the Fastest Production Vehicle of All Time") It's faster than... well, everything.
|
| 13-Year-Old Boy Saves Mother`s Life After Father Attacks Her with Sword Posted: 14 Jan 2018 11:02 AM PST  Police are praising the actions taken by a 13-year-old after he stopped his father attacking his mother with a sword.
|
| South Africa to target investment, graft under new ANC leader Posted: 13 Jan 2018 08:57 AM PST ![South Africa to target investment, graft under new ANC leader]( "South Africa to target investment, graft under new ANC leader") By Ed Stoddard EAST LONDON, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa wants to attract foreign investors to help it kick-start economic growth and will crack down on corruption, the new leader of the ruling African National Congress said on Saturday. Cyril Ramaphosa, who narrowly won the race to succeed President Jacob Zuma as ANC leader last month, also used a speech to mark 106 years since the founding of Africa's oldest liberation movement to call for party unity after a bitter leadership contest. South Africa's economy has slowed to a near-standstill over Zuma's two presidential terms, as allegations of influence-peddling in government and mismanagement of state-owned enterprises have dented consumer and business confidence.
|
| Donald Trump walks back on 's---hole countries' comment as 54 African states demand apology Posted: 12 Jan 2018 05:53 PM PST  President Donald Trump was accused of using "hate-filled, vile and racist" language in the Oval Office after he reportedly attacked immigrants coming to the United States from "s---hole countries". Mr Trump denied making the comments about immigrants from Africa, Haiti and El Salvador, saying he had been "tough, but this was not the language used". A group of 54 "extremely appalled" African countries demanded he retract and apologise for his reported comments. After an emergency session to weigh Mr Trump's remarks, the group of African ambassadors to the United Nations said it was "concerned at the continuing and growing trend from the US administration toward Africa and people of African descent to denigrate the continent and people of colour." The group is "extremely appalled at, and strongly condemns the outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks by the president of the United States of America as widely reported by the media," a statement added, demanding a "retraction and an apology." President Donald Trump, pictured in a meeting on prison reform on Thursday. Later that afternoon he was reported to have made the slurs against immigrants It came after the United Nations human rights office decried the remarks - which were reported by the Washington Post - as "racist". In an extraordinary rebuke, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a Geneva news briefing on Friday morning that the US president's alleged comments "encouraged racism and xenophobia". "These are shocking and shameful comments from the President of the United States. There is no other word one can use but 'racist'," Mr Colville said. "You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as 's---holes', whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome," he added. The issue was more than "vulgar language", Mr Colville said. "It's about opening the door to humanity's worst side, about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia that will potentially disrupt and destroy lives of many people." Lindsey Graham was inside the Oval Office when Mr Trump reportedly made his controversial remarks Mr Trump had also failed to clearly condemn the "anti-Semitic and racist actions of white supremacists in Charlottesville" at a rally in Virginia last August, Mr Colville said Mr Trump had convened a meeting at the White House on Thursday to discuss reforming immigration policy, and one of the politicians inside the Oval Office suggested that a deal could be reached if Mr Trump agreed to restore protection for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries. "Why are we having all these people from s---hole countries come here?" the president responded, according to two people who spoke to The Washington Post. The paper said he was referring to African countries, Haiti and El Salvador. "This is ignorance ... to speak in such vile racist terms." Rep. @LuisGutierrez reacts to Trump's 'sh**hole countries' remark, says "the paint has been stripped away from Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/US4Amyx4U5— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 12, 2018 He then reportedly suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met on Wednesday. His remarks reportedly left the assembled politicians "taken aback", the paper said, with Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator for South Carolina, and Dick Durbin, Democratic senator for Illinois, among those in the room. Here is my statement on the President's comments today: pic.twitter.com/EdtsFjc2zL— Rep. Mia Love (@RepMiaLove) January 11, 2018 Mr Durbin said Mr Trump had used the reported words. The senator said: "In the course of his comments he said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist. I use those words advisedly, I understand how powerful they are. "I cannot believe that, in the history of the White House and that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday." Mr Graham said: "Following comments by the president I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel." Hillary Clinton, on Twitter, accused Mr Trump of having "ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesn't look like him". Congressman Luis Gutierrez said: "We always knew that President Trump doesn't like people from certain countries or people or certain colours. "We can now we say with 100 per cent confidence that the president is a racist who does not share the values enshrined in our Constitution." Asked about the remarks, White House spokesman Raj Shah said: "Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people," he said. Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, said Mr Trump's comments were "unkind, divisive, elitist and fly in the face of our nation's values." Haiti's ambassador to the United States, Paul G. Altidor, said that "the president was either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people." Leading academics also condemned Mr Trump. "The notion that all immigrants from certain nations are a drag on the US economy is unsupported. The notion that all students from a certain nation think and behave in the same way is equally unacceptable," said British born John Quelch, the dean of Miami Business school. Mr Trump has called himself the "least racist person that you've ever met." On Friday he signed a proclamation honouring Martin Luther King Day. In a speech at the event Mr Trump said: "No matter what the colour of our skin, or the place of our birth, we are all created equal." As he left the room the president was asked several times by journalists "Are you a racist?" but refused to answer. Earlier, Mr Trump spoke to The Wall Street Journal, and claimed that he has developed a positive relationship with North Korea's leader. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have repeatedly traded insults "I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un, "said Mr Trump, despite there being no formal contact between US and North Korean officials in decades. "I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised." Asked if he has spoken with Mr Kim, Mr Trump replied: "I don't want to comment on it. I'm not saying I have or haven't. I just don't want to comment." The president has called the nation's leader a "maniac," a "bad dude," mocked him as "short and fat," and referred to him repeatedly as "rocket man." Mr Kim in response has warned he would "tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire". Mr Trump told the paper, however, that his Twitter insults were simply part of his game plan. "You'll see that a lot with me," he said about combative tweets. "And then all of the sudden somebody's my best friend. I could give you 20 examples. You could give me 30. I'm a very flexible person." The president said he approved of North Korea's participation in next month's Olympic Games, and acknowledged that Pyongyang may be trying to separate Washington and Seoul. "If I were them, I would try," he said. "The difference is I'm president, other people aren't. And I know more about wedges than any human being that's lived." Donald Trump approval rating tracker Mr Trump also announced for the first time that Mexico could pay for the border wall through negotiations to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. "They can pay for it indirectly through Nafta," he said. "We make a good deal on Nafta, and, say, I'm going to take a small percentage of that money and it's going toward the wall. Guess what? Mexico's paying."
|
| Anti-jihadist coalition looks to future role after IS defeat Posted: 13 Jan 2018 09:18 PM PST  With the Islamic State group all but vanquished from its self-proclaimed "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, the US-led coalition that has been fighting the jihadists for more than three years is transforming its mission. Eager to avoid a repeat of 2011, when America completed its troop withdrawal from Iraq only to watch in horror as IS later overran swathes of the country, the coalition is focusing on what it must do to stop a jihadi re-emergence. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis recently told reporters the mission now is shifting towards stabilization and making sure an "ISIS 2.0" can't pop up, using an alternate acronym to refer to the jihadist group.
|
| A Photo Of Reese Witherspoon With Emilia Clarke Is Blowing Fans' Minds Posted: 13 Jan 2018 01:59 AM PST  Elle Woods met the Mother of Dragons, and folks online just couldn't cope.
|
| Largest wildfire on record in California finally contained Posted: 12 Jan 2018 07:10 PM PST  VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — The largest wildfire on record in California was declared contained on Friday, days after mud on the coastal mountain slopes it scorched crashed down on homes during a storm, killing at least 18 people.
|
