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2017-01-01 07:54:22

CNN

New Congress sworn in; Jobs report; 2016 auto sales; India's new bank notes

The week ahead in stocks: New Congress takes office; Final jobs report for 2016; Major automakers report annual sales; India scraps old bank notes.

1. New Congress sworn in: This week, the world welcomes a new year. And in the United States, there will be a whole new look in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump doesn't take office until January 20. But the 115th Congress will be sworn in on Tuesday, and Republicans will continue to be in charge of both legislative houses. Once Trump takes office, the new Congress is expected to make use of its power. They will tackle some of the country's most divisive issues, including Obamacare, immigration, trade and taxes. The Senate will be responsible for confirming Trump's cabinet picks. Republicans rode the Trump wave to victory in November's election. Paul Ryan will remain Speaker of the House and Mitch McConnell will continue as Senate Majority Leader. 2. Jobs Report: It's time for the final jobs report of 2016. On Friday, the Labor Department will report on how many jobs were added in December. The U.S. added 178,000 jobs in November, marking the 74th consecutive month the country has created jobs. Unemployment dropped to 4.6%, it's lowest since 2007. That momentum encouraged the Federal Reserve to finally raise interest rates. The central bank will release its minutes from that meeting on Wednesday. Trump made job growth a focal point of his campaign and has doubled down on the issue in recent weeks. He took credit last week for an announcement that Sprint (S) will add 5,000 U.S. jobs. A month earlier, Trump helped get Carrier to keep 800 jobs in Indiana. 3. Auto industry reports annual sales: 2016 could be a record-breaking year for the auto industry. Major automakers will release their annual sales on Wednesday. When December figures come in Wednesday, they may be enough to eke out a seventh straight year of gains, edging past last year's record of 17.5 million cars and trucks. But sales are showing signs of leveling off and are expected to fall in 2017. Experts say December was a strong month. "December is shaping up to be the biggest sales month of 2016, even though it will likely fall short of last year's record results," Kelley Blue Book analyst Tim Fleming said in the report. 4. India's new bank notes: India is ringing in 2017 with fresh bills. Dec. 30 was the last day for Indians to exchange their old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes with new ones. Prime Minister Narendra Modi discontinued the old rupees in November over money laundering and corruption concerns. The decision led 86% of India's bank notes to become worthless overnight and drained millions of dollars worth of cash from the economy. 5. Coming this week: Sunday - New era for the Indian rupee; OPEC's production cut begins; Mexico's minimum wage rises 10% Monday - U.S. stock markets are closed Tuesday - 115th U.S. Congress is sworn in; CES opens in Vegas; ISM manufacturing report Wednesday - Fed releases notes on its December meeting, 2016 auto sales report Thursday - Boeing's (BA) 2016 commercial plane order report Friday - Jobs report

Shannon Gupta

money.cnn.com

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/01/investing/stocks-week-ahead/index.html?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28CNNMoney%3A+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 08:00:01

The Guardian

‘It would be bad for our interests’: why Thatcher ignored the murder of an Observer journalist

In 1990, Farzad Bazoft was hanged by Saddam Hussein on false charges of espionage. Now files have revealed why the state was so reluctant to intervene

The execution of the Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft on 15 March 1990, ordered by Saddam Hussein, provoked outrage around the world. Yet later that same day Margaret Thatcher and her government decided not to take any action, against what ministers admitted was a “ruthless” regime, for fear of jeopardising lucrative exports to Iraq. In memos written two years after Saddam used mustard gas to slaughter more than 3,000 Kurds and only months before he marched into Kuwait, sparking war, newly released cabinet documents reveal that trade was still the uppermost concern for ministers. Even as the news of the hanging of the 31-year-old reporter was coming in, and despite public promises of firm action against what was clearly an increasingly dangerous dictator, cabinet ministers decided not to impose any sanctions. Trade or credit restrictions on Iraq would be “ineffective in influencing the attitude of the Iraqi government” and would inflict “disproportionate damage on UK industry”, Norman Lamont, a future chancellor but at that time the chief secretary to the Treasury, noted in a memo to foreign secretary Douglas Hurd, the files disclose. “Opinion here has been deeply shocked by Iraq’s behaviour,” Hurd conceded in reply, before making clear he shared Lamont’s concerns. “We have a considerable commercial presence to protect in Iraq,” he wrote. Lamont, now Lord Lamont of Lerwick, told the Observer that he had little memory of events from 27 years ago and thought it unlikely he would have had much input into any action taken by Britain against Saddam’s government. “I have no recollection of being involved in this sad story, although I remember vividly being shocked by the tragic death of the young man,” he said. “There was some argument about how British was he – he did have an Iranian passport and that was the decisive thing: he wasn’t a British citizen.” Bazoft, an Iranian-born freelance reporter who held British residency, had been invited by Saddam’s government to visit Iraq with other journalists on a group trip to report on elections planned for the country’s Kurdish areas. It was his sixth visit to the country and he was keen to get a story that the Observer could use. The day he left, in September 1989, the Independent published a report about an explosion in August at the al-Hillah military complex south of Baghdad, suspected of modifying ballistic missiles and secretly manufacturing chemical weapons. There were rumours of hundreds of deaths. Bazoft asked a British nurse, Daphne Parish, to drive him out there: he took photographs and collected soil samples. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protests outside the Iraqi embassy in London in 1990 after the announcement of Bazoft’s death. Photograph: Bill Cross/Daily Mail / Rex He was arrested at Baghdad airport while waiting for his flight back to London. He was incarcerated at Abu Ghraib prison where he was kept in solitary confinement, starved and beaten. On 1 November he was placed in front of television cameras and confessed to being an Israeli agent. In 2003, the Observer tracked down Kadem Askar, the colonel in the Iraqi intelligence service who interrogated Bazoft. He admitted that he knew Bazoft was innocent, but that he was powerless to obstruct Saddam’s personal orders to have him convicted and executed. Within months of Bazoft’s death – his body was unceremoniously returned to his parents in the UK, turning up at Heathrow unannounced in a rough box – Saddam had sent his troops over the British-drawn border between Iraq and Kuwait in the invasion that sparked the Gulf war of 1990-91. The files from March 1990 were released as part of an initiative to gradually reduce the embargo on official government files from 30 years to 20, and are among Cabinet Office papers from 1989 and 1990 that are now available to the public at the National Archives in Kew, west London. They reveal that Charles Powell, Margaret Thatcher’s foreign affairs adviser, told the prime minister that there was little doubt there would be calls to suspend credit or impose trade restrictions on Saddam’s Iraq. He added: “But we would not get international support for this and it would not actually achieve anything.” Lamont agreed. Five days after Bazoft was hanged, Hurd warned: “In the atmosphere brought about by our present difficulties, Iraq would see any action against credit as a further political response to Bazoft and would hit back hard. That would be bad for our wider commercial interests where our competitors would happily step in to take up our share of the market.” The only action the Thatcher government took was not to subsidise a planned Birmingham trade mission to Iraq and avoid giving publicity to it, the hitherto classified documents show. During Bazoft and Parish’s six-month imprisonment, smear stories and allegations against him appeared in several newspapers. Saddam said the two were British or Israeli spies. There has never been any evidence to support the allegation and, indeed, records uncovered in Baghdad in 2003 showed Saddam was well aware of this and simply wanted a “punishment for Margaret Thatcher” and to humiliate Britain. A one-day trial of the two was held in secret – in Arabic, which neither defendant understood – and without any defence. Parish was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Ten months after Bazoft’s death, she was allowed to return to the UK. Two backbench Tory MPs at the time repeated the notion that Bazoft was a spy, something picked up by newspapers, and there had long been suspicion that another story, revealing Bazoft had acquired a criminal record as a young man, had been leaked to discredit him. Certainly the government was aware of his past. The files at Kew contain a note sent by Sara Dent, private secretary to David Waddington, then home secretary, to Powell before Bazoft’s execution. “You might wish to know,” she said, “that from our inquiries on his immigration files, Mr Bazoft, the Observer journalist who has been sentenced to death for spying in Iraq, has a criminal record in this country.” Dent added: “Although this has no bearing on his sentence in Iraq, it may be raised by the Iraqis or by the press.” She noted that Bazoft had arrived in 1975 as a student. Four years later, he was in financial difficulties and his application for an extension to his stay was refused. He went into a building society, threatened to blow it up and demanded money from a cashier. He obtained £475 – the amount he was in debt – and was arrested later that day. There was no bomb but he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. His deportation order was revoked after evidence emerged that Iran had issued a warrant for his arrest as an “anti-revolutionary”. His family were critics of Ayatollah Khomeini and he had been allowed to stay in the UK on an “exceptional basis”, Dent wrote. She ended her note to Powell by saying that the Home Office “proposed not to volunteer this information but not deny it if it is raised with us”. Tabloid newspapers gave prominent front-page coverage to Bazoft’s previous criminal conviction, while MPs Rupert Allason and Terry Dicks slated his character. Lord (Woodrow) Wyatt told his News of the World readers that Britain should “start maximising trade and stop talking about Farzad Bazoft”. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Saddam Hussein with his sons Uday (left) and Qusay. Photograph: Faleh Kheiber/Reuters Donald Trelford, then editor of the Observer, described the coverage of Bazoft’s imprisonment and execution by some editors on Fleet Street as “persistently hostile”. He said that, even 20 years on, it remained hard to “contain one’s anger – not just at the insane barbarity of Saddam, but at some Tory MPs and the parts of the British press that tried to pin the blame for his murder on poor Farzad himself”. That the government of the day had consistently turned a blind eye to atrocities committed by Saddam became clear at the Scott arms-to-Iraq inquiry set up by John Major after the collapse of a trial of the directors of a Coventry-based machine tools firm, Matrix Churchill. It emerged during the trial that the directors were encouraged by MI5 and MI6 to spy on Saddam’s weapons programme when they visited Iraqi factories. Chemical weapons were known to have been used by Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war and, in March 1988, Iraqi warplanes attacked the Kurdish town of Halabja with chemical weapons, gassing between 3,000 and 5,000 men, women and children. At that time, the government had decided to relax controls on arms exports to Iraq. The files, released last week, include a document from 1989 in which the private secretary of the former Tory chancellor and foreign secretary, Geoffrey Howe, notes that Tariq Aziz, Saddam’s foreign minister, had promised that Iraq would not use chemical weapons in future. At the time ministers were planning to increase export credit guarantees for Iraq in the hope that British companies would win further contracts. Later that year, Hurd told Thatcher: “The Iraqi regime is ruthless and disagreeable but its influence is growing following the Iran/Iraq conflict [which ended in 1988].” He warned of the dangers of taking measures that would damage “British business”. Also in the National Archives is a copy of a letter Thatcher sent to Saddam after the decision to release Parish. Dated 16 July 1990, it reads: “I was very pleased to hear of your Excellency’s decision to release Mrs Daphne Parish on humanitarian grounds … We have long-standing ties and there are many positive aspects to our relations on which we can build.” A plaque and photograph remembering Farzad Bazoft remain in place in the Observer newsroom Iraq and Britain: a short history 1941 Iraq is reoccupied by Britain, less than a decade after gaining independence from British mandate. 1975 Iranian-born Farzad Bazoft, aged 16, comes to live in the UK with his parents. 1979 Saddam Hussein, of Iraq’s Arab nationalist Ba’ath party, becomes leader. 1980 Iran-Iraq war begins, ending in stalemate eight years later. 1981 Israeli air raid destroys nuclear reactor near Baghdad. 1988 Saddam attacks Kurdish town with poison gas. Thousands die. 1989 An explosion at al-Hillah, 60 miles from Baghdad, sparks rumours of secret military operations. In September, Iraq invites western journalists to cover elections in Kurdistan. Bazoft accepts, and enlists help from British nurse Daphne Parish to drive him to al-Hillah to investigate. They are both later arrested. 1990 Newspapers run stories based on a Tory MP’s false claim that Bazoft was a spy. His criminal record is leaked to the press. On 15 March Bazoft is executed. Margaret Thatcher writes to Saddam saying she is “horrified”. On 2 August Iraq invades Kuwait, starting the first Gulf war. 1991 Iraq withdraws from Kuwait and is subjected to weapons inspections. A brutal crackdown on Kurdish and southern Shia rebellions begins. Parish is released and allowed to return to the UK. 2002 Tony Blair publishes “dodgy dossier” into Iraq’s military capability. 2003 US-led invasion topples Saddam’s regime. Documents found in Baghdad show Saddam knew Bazoft was not a spy but killed him to humiliate Britain.

Richard Norton-Taylor;Tracy Mcveigh

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/farzad-bazoft-journalist-iraq-executed-saddam-hussein-thatcher

LEFT

2017-01-01 08:00:01

The Guardian

How Trump’s savvy army won the internet war

As new research reveals, right wingers understand far better than liberals how cyberspace can connect like-minded souls

Before we finally let go of 2016, it’s worth reflecting on what we learned from it. For me, the most striking lesson was the way it demonstrated how the internet has changed democratic politics. While there is no single, overarching explanation for Donald Trump’s election, his ascendancy would have been unthinkable in a pre-internet age, for two reasons. The first is that much of Trump’s campaign rhetoric would never have got past the editorial “gatekeepers” of an earlier era – the TV network owners and controllers, the editors of powerful print media and the Federal Communications Commission with its “fairness doctrine” (which required holders of broadcast licences to “present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission’s view, honest, equitable and balanced”). The second reason is that in the pre-internet era, the multitudes of Trump’s vigorous, engaged and angry supporters would have had little option but to fume impotently in whatever local arenas they inhabited. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for them to hook up with millions of like-minded souls to crowdsource their indignation and their enthusiasm for the candidate. Google, democracy and the truth about internet search Read more So I think we can say that while the net may not have been a sufficient condition for Trump’s victory, it was definitely a necessary one. Most commentators, hypnotised by Trump’s mastery of Twitter and the prevalence of “fake news” on Facebook, attributed this entirely to social media. But again, this was an overly simplistic view, for it turns out that there was a deep structure underpinning most of what went on in social media and it needed some fairly intensive network analysis to reveal it. Much of the heavy lifting in this regard was done by Jonathan Albright, an academic at Elon University, a private liberal arts college in North Carolina, who, in a series of remarkable blog posts, explored the vast ecosystem of far-right websites that have been proliferating on the web for years. Professor Albright’s central idea is that journalistic analysis of social media activity (for example, plotting millions of Facebook reactions to a fake news story or hashtag-surfing social media) doesn’t get us very far. What we need to understand is the online infrastructure that feeds the frenzy and that is what he set out to map. Insurgents intuitively understand the power of simple messages, and are less scrupulous about the stories they tell What emerges from his work is a fascinating picture of what is effectively a rightwing propaganda machine built from more than 300 fake news sites and containing something like 1.3m hyperlink connections. Albright also mapped the hidden online trackers hosted by these sites. This is similar to the tracking ecosystem behind most commercial websites. But in the rightwing case, these trackers are coming away with information not about consumption preferences but about the possible political or ideological predilections of site visitors. One’s first reaction to Professor Albright’s maps, after the sharp intake of breath at the scale and intensity of the online activity implied by them, is to ask what would the comparable leftwing ecosystem be like? His tentative answer is that it appears to be significantly smaller and much less interconnected than the “alt-right” ecosystem. Which is where the really interesting questions begin. Why is the political extreme right so established and dominant on the net? The answer is probably that its members have been effectively excluded from mainstream political discourse for a long time. So the internet, with its intrinsic permissiveness, was, for them, the only available option. (Indeed, it still is.) And they went for it. Why have they been such effective exploiters of the technology? Among the possible reasons are: the fact that radicals and insurgents intuitively understand the power of simple messages; they are motivated and driven, are less scrupulous about the stories they tell and good at making the facts fit the narrative rather than the other way round. They understand propaganda, in other words. But their main advantage may be that they have understood the affordances of cyberspace better than most of their liberal opponents, in particular the way in which its undermining of traditional institutions has opened up a world in which people find it easy to discover information that supports rather than challenges their beliefs. In that sense, the far right may have taken on board Hannah Arendt’s observation about the ideal target for totalitarian propaganda being “people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists”. So it was quite a year. Let’s hope that this one is better.

John Naughton

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/01/donald-trump-savvy-army-won-internet-war

LEFT

2017-01-01 08:00:01

The Guardian

Farzad Bazoft: tough UK action to save journalist was not forthcoming

Once the Observer journalist fell into the hands of Iraqi security, all Britain’s discreet diplomacy counted for nothing

He had a chequered past, spent time in prison, wasn’t British, couldn’t return home because he would have been persecuted there, and had no regular job. In other words, Farzad Bazoft was a journalist to his core, good looking in that fine-boned Persian way, attractive to women and a man ever eager to find a good story with which to make his mark in Fleet Street. Any editor, and particularly a foreign editor, knows the infinite variety and the chaotic ways of reporters, especially freelancers who live by the special insights or the unique information they can bring to the newspaper. Any editor also knows the trouble they bring if they get into difficulties abroad. Farzad wasn’t the only one to get into trouble with a repressive regime or to fall into the wrong hands. Time and again Britons abroad find themselves in difficulties and time again their families complain of the same lack of support they get from the Foreign Office and the local embassy. It’s something to do with the attitude that British diplomats take to their task. US ambassadors are trained to see themselves as representing the “American people”, singly and as a whole. British officials see themselves as representing the Queen and her government, the state and its interests, not the people who get into personal difficulties. That was certainly the case with Farzad. All the advice not to make a fuss, that quiet diplomacy was the best route – which private families so often hear – was offered in Farzad’s case. It didn’t work, and couldn’t. Once he fell into the hands of the Iraqi security forces, all the discreet diplomacy with their oleaginous foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, counted for nothing. A British journalist was a catch that Saddam Hussein wanted to use to demonstrate his power against Britain and her prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. What is more he was a journalist rootling around Iraq’s closest secret, its arms programme. Only the toughest action by the British government could have got him released and that was not forthcoming. For all the emollient words offered by ministers to the Observer during Farzad’s imprisonment, usually with the sting “he’s not British after all” and the deliberate government leaking of his record of imprisonment, Britain was never going to confront Baghdad. The interests of the state were in selling it arms. It’s hard to say that it has changed since. Today’s ambassadors are chosen from a wider social background and are more willing to speak out about local conditions. But the arms sales and the secrecy goes on. You only have to look at the continuing block on information about anything to do with Saudi Arabia or the Gulf to see that. Thinking of Farzad, I sometimes comfort myself for failing to prevent him going on that trip and for not doing more to support him and his cause during those awful weeks of incarceration with the knowledge that, ultimately, it was what he wanted. He was on to a good story, a major explosion in one of Iraq’s top secret military facilities. If he had brought back proof of Saddam’s nuclear ambitions, it would have been a revelation of huge importance – although of course, as today’s shocking revelations suggest, our government would have played it down for fear of the effect on our own arms sales there. COMMENTARY

Adrian Hamilton

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/farzad-bazoft-tough-uk-action-to-save-journalist-was-not-forthcoming

LEFT

2017-01-01 08:16:10

Fox News

Spain: 1,100 migrants try to breach N. African border fence

Spanish authorities say more than 50 Moroccan and Spanish border guards were injured repelling around 1,100 African migrants who attempted to storm a border fence and enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta.

Spanish authorities say more than 50 Moroccan and Spanish border guards were injured repelling around 1,100 African migrants who attempted to storm a border fence and enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta. A regional government spokesman told The Associated Press that 50 Moroccan and five Spanish border guards were injured early on Sunday when the large group of migrants tried to enter Spain. The spokesman says two migrants managed to reach Spanish soil. Both were injured in scaling the six-meter (20-foot) -high border fence and were taken to a hospital by Spanish police. He spoke anonymously in line with government policy. Another 100 migrants climbed the fence, but Spanish agents sent them directly back to Morocco. Last month, more than 400 migrants succeeded in breaching Ceuta's fence.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/01/spain-1100-migrants-try-to-breach-n-african-border-fence.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 08:22:27

Reuters

Macau gambling revenue falls 3.3 pct in 2016, 3rd year in a row

Gambling revenue in the Chinese territory of Macau fell for a third year in a row in 2016 as a prolonged anti-corruption campaign and slowing economic growth sapped sentiment in the world's largest casino hub.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Gambling revenue in the Chinese territory of Macau fell for a third year in a row in 2016 as a prolonged anti-corruption campaign and slowing economic growth sapped sentiment in the world’s largest casino hub. Gambling revenue fell 3.3 percent to 223.2 billion patacas ($28.0 billion) last year, government data showed on Sunday, in line with analyst forecasts of a drop of 3 percent to 4 percent. However, December revenue rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 19.8 billion patacas. New casino resorts, which opened in the third quarter, helped attract mass gamblers and spark a resurgence in VIP spenders who have steered clear since Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out his campaign against corruption at the start of 2014. Analysts have called a bottom to Macau’s gaming industry amid a perception that the campaign is waning and the southern Chinese enclave is no longer a top priority for the central government. But they remain mixed on the sustainability and pace of recovery in 2017 for operators Sands China (1928.HK), Wynn Macau (1128.HK), Galaxy Entertainment (0027.HK), MGM China (2282.HK), Melco Crown MPEL.O and SJM Holdings (0880.HK). “Macau gaming, now firmly at the bottom of the cycle, has better long-term prospects given investments in new supply, improvements in mass market indicators and under-penetration of gaming throughout the rest of Asia,” said Fitch in a December note. A specially administered region, Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. The latest wave of casino properties is set to open in Macau from 2017, with The 13 Holdings and MGM, followed by SJM’s casino in 2018. The new resorts come as Macau faces increasing competition from neighboring casino hubs including Saipan, the Philippines, Cambodia and South Korea. Local authorities have been trying to push the development of non gaming amenities to make the former Portuguese enclave less reliant on casinos, which contribute more than 80 percent of government revenues. The build-out of neighboring Hengqin island and developments including a new ferry terminal, increased rail links and a bridge linking Macau to Hong Kong and the mainland province of Zhuhai are expected to help increase visitation to the former Portuguese enclave over the next few years. ($1 = 7.9790 patacas)

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-macau-gambling-revenues-idUSKBN14L0UN

CENTER

2017-01-01 08:23:41

Breitbart

2016: Remains of 61 Dead Migrants Recovered in One Texas County

The remains of sixty-one human smuggling victims had been recovered in what has become known as the Brooks County killing fields.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER As the year end closed out in one Texas county, the remains of sixty-one human smuggling victims had been recovered in what has become known as the Brooks County killing fields. Brooks County is not a border county. In fact, it is located about 80 miles north of the border. Yet it is the focus of human smuggling activity in South Texas that often leads to death for many of those who have paid for illegal transportation around a Border Patrol checkpoint. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “The Border Patrol checkpoint is located right in the middle of our county,” newly sworn-in Sheriff Benny Martinez told Breitbart Texas Sunday morning. “There is no way to move through the county for these human smugglers other than to attempt to sneak their human cargo through the checkpoint, or march them around the checkpoint and through the dangerous ranch lands in the county. This is where the deaths occur.” Martinez told Breitbart Texas his county has recovered the bodies or remains of 61 people in 2016. “This happens because the human smugglers have no regard for human life,” Martinez said. “They will simply abandon anyone who cannot keep up with the group – leaving them to die from heat exhaustion, dehydration, or exposure to the elements.” Breitbart Texas has accompanied Sheriff Martinez and other Brooks County deputies to the scene of body recoveries in the past. The rotting bodies and picked apart bones tell a tragic story of what must have been a horrifying and excruciating death for these people who paid as much as $6,000 to cartel-connected human smugglers to get them safely to their destination. “The treatment of these illegal immigrants by their human smugglers is horrific,” Sheriff Martinez told Breitbart Texas in June 2016. “The people they take on these marches around the checkpoint are ill-prepared for the heat and hazardous terrain of these ranches. When they can’t keep up, they are left behind where they will die quickly if they don’t get help.” The county, already strapped for cash, must deal with the cost of processing the remains and burial of the bodies. This can cost the county taxpayers up to $2,000 per body, Breitbart Texas previously reported. Martinez is responsible for patrolling an area about the size of Rhode Island with a handful of vastly underpaid deputies. Communications capabilities are sketchy in many areas of the county where cell phones and police radios won’t work because of the lack of equipment. “We need help in establishing better communications for our deputies,” Martinez said. “It is important for officer safety, but it is also important when deputies come across someone in need of assistance. The migrants will frequently walk out of the fields and into the roadway after days of wandering lost in the fields. Many need help right away.” Martinez said thing may soon get worse as the Border Patrol is expanding the checkpoint to eight lanes. “They are creating a smuggling superhighway right in the middle of our county,” Martinez expressed. “This could create even more pressure on our resources as more smuggling vehicles make their way north from the border.” The new sheriff said they have seen an increase in traffic through the ranches. Increased presence from Border Patrol search and rescue teams, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and Texas State Guard search teams have helped keep the numbers of deaths down. Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on the rescues of migrants who have been abandoned and left to die by the ruthless smugglers in the area. Border Patrol agents rescued an illegal immigrant woman trying to bypass a checkpoint in Brooks County in November, Breitbart Texas reported. She was found unconscious after being abandoned by human smugglers. In April, two teenage girls were rescued from a ranch in Brooks County after being abandoned. One of the girls, a 13-year-old Mexican national, was found unconscious and clinging to life. She had to be transported by helicopter to a Corpus Christi hospital. “These heartless criminals take ruthless steps to exploit the multitude of poor immigrants from Mexico and Central America trying to reach the United States at any cost and the problem is getting worse,” Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla, Jr. said at the time in a written statement. “No one wants to see their loved ones being violated or abandoned in this manner.” Death is not the only risk to the migrants being smuggled through Brooks County. Breitbart Texas previously reported, “about the specific kinds of horror faced by these illegal immigrants because of the open border policies of the federal government. Rape, abuse, abandonment and death are often the treatment these people receive from their human smugglers who are often connected to Mexican cartels.” Now the task of stopping the human smugglers and ending the needless deaths of illegal immigrants in this South Texas county fall on Sheriff Martinez. “We appreciate the help with get from other agencies and from the volunteer police officers who give their time to help patrol our county,” Martinez said. “We have limited resources, but we will continue to push to stop the human smugglers and to find the lost migrants before they succumb to the elements.” Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

Bob Price

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/01/01/2016-remains-61-dead-migrants-recovered-one-texas-county/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 08:25:51

Breitbart

Rules for Righties -- a War-Winning Manifesto for 2017

2016 was a great year for most of us - but just because we've gained the beachhead doesn't mean we're going to win the war

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 2016 was a great year for most of us – but just because we’ve gained the beachhead doesn’t mean we’re going to win the war. With Brexit and Donald Trump, we’ve done the equivalent of capturing everywhere from Pointe Du Hoc to Pegasus Bridge. But just like with D-Day, the worst of the fighting is yet to come. Our enemy is fanatical, determined, well organised. Plus, they still hold most of the key positions: the big banks, the corporations, the top law firms, the civil service, local government, the universities, the schools, the mainstream media, Hollywood… Give those bastards half the chance and they’ll drive us back into the sea – which, in contemporary terms, means nixing Brexit (or giving us “soft Brexit”, which is basically the same thing) and frustrating all the things President Trump will try to do to Make America Great Again. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER I use the war analogy first because World War II analogies never fail, but second because this really is a war that we’re fighting. The bad news is that wars are hard, costly and ugly. The good news is that we’re on the right side and we’re going to win. Here’s how: We will never underestimate the wickedness of the enemy The liberal-left loves to portray us as the bad guys. But that’s just projection. From Mao’s China to Stalin’s Soviet Union, from Cuba to North Korea, history is littered with the wreckage of failed left wing schemes to make the world a better, fairer place. As the great, now sadly-retired Thomas Sowell says, “Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.” Its malign influence is still with us today. Innocent boys being accused of rape on college campuses; genuine rapes committed by gangs of Muslim taxi drivers in northern England and by gangs of Muslim immigrants in German cities like Cologne; hundreds of thousands driven into fuel poverty, landscapes ravaged, avian fauna sliced and diced as a result of crazy renewable energy policies; a Nobel-prize-winning scientist driven out of his job because a feminist loser misreported something he said about women at a conference; generations of kids denied a rigorous, disciplined, useful education; the needless violence and tension engendered by #blacklivesmatter: we should never concede the moral high ground to the kind of people who make all this sort of stuff possible, no matter how many times they tell us how evil and selfish and uncaring we are. We will always remember that we are better than them I’ll give you an example: the dumbass lecturer at Drexel who tweeted that what he wanted for Christmas was “white genocide”. Should we be demanding that the university authorities sack him at once? Of course we shouldn’t. The man has performed an invaluable public service: he has provided the perfect example of how ingrained the values of the left are in academe; he has shown prospective applicants to the Politics and Global Studies course at Drexel University in Philadelphia that unless they want to be indoctrinated with hard-left lunacy they might want to reconsider; he has further shown alumni of Drexel University who believe in old fashioned stuff like free markets that maybe they shouldn’t include their alma mater in their million dollar bequests, after all. Sure, we should jeer and crow when we catch idiots like this man expressing reprehensible opinions. But the idea that someone should actually lose their job for something they said on Twitter ought to be anathema to those of us on the right side of the argument. One of the most thoroughly hateful things about the left is the way it tries to constrain free expression. If we play the same game, we are no better than they are. And face it: we just are. We will take the fight to the enemy, not cower in No Man’s Land One of the best things about 2016 for me was the way it gave the lie to the weaselish and wet aphorism – so often repeated by so many of our impeccably reasonable, sensible and balanced TV and newspaper pundits – that elections are “won in the centre ground.” This was the Belial philosophy that gave us, in the U.S., that hideous continuum from the Bushes and the Clintons to Obama; and in Britain, the grotesque and malign Third Way squishery that took us from Tony Blair through to his (self-admitted heir) David Cameron and beyond. (It’s also the mindset which invented the disgraceful, sell-out concept of “soft Brexit”.) No wonder so many of us had become so fed up with politics: no matter which party you voted for, whether the notionally left-wing one or the notionally right-wing one you still seemed to end up up with the same old vested interests, the same old liberal Establishment elite. Of course we should always despise the liberal-left because their philosophy is morally bankrupt, dangerous and wrong. But I sometimes think that the people we should despise most of all are the squishes who pretend to be on our side of the argument but forever betray our cause. Sometimes they do this by throwing the more outspoken among us to the wolves in order to signal how tolerant and virtuous they are; sometimes they do this by endorsing some fatuous liberal position in order to show their willingness to compromise. I call the latter approach the “dogshit yogurt fallacy.” If conservatives like fruit or honey in their yogurt and liberals prefer to eat it with dogshit, it is NOT a sensible accommodation – much as our centrist conservative columnists might wish it so – to say: “All right. How about we eat our yogurt with a little bit of both?” We need to understand, very clearly, that there are such things as right and wrong; and that, furthermore, it is always worth fighting to the bitter end for the right thing rather than accepting second best because a bunch of lawyers and politicians and hairdressers from Brazil and squishy newspaper columnists and other members of the liberal elite have told us that second best is the best we can hope for. On Brexit, for example, I’m with Her Majesty the Queen: “‘I don’t see why we can’t just get out? What’s the problem?’ We will never apologise, never explain, never surrender See those scalped corpses, littering the plains? These are the guys – and it is, invariably, men – who thought that if only they showed contrition for their confected crimes the enemy would leave them alone. Sir Tim Hunt apologised, the guy from Saatchi apologised, the guy on the Rosetta space programme who wore the “sexist” shirt apologised. A fat lot of good it did them. The vengeful liberal-left doesn’t just want humiliation – it wants total annihilation. Giving even an inch of ground to an enemy so implacable and vile is not only futile – but it also badly lets the side down by granting them a power that they do not deserve. The most recent sorry example of this was Steve Martin who actually deleted a tweet praising his late friend Carrie Fisher as a “beautiful creature” because a bunch of feminazis on Twitter complained that this was sexist objectification. Look, I know it’s a scary thing when the SJW witch-hunt mob turns on you. But read Vox Day’s SJW Attack Survival Guide, follow the example of Nigel Farage and fight these people to the very last bullet (keeping the final round for yourself). Do not surrender! (And if you need reminding why not, read this piece I wrote the other day, of which I am very proud) We will laugh in the face of death Something I’ve noticed about the liberal-left: they don’t have a sense of humour. This is odd, given that 99.99 per cent of professional comedians are liberals. But it’s also unfailingly true. Go on social media and see for yourself: all the wittiest banter, all the funniest memes, all the snarkiest jibes – they all come from the right side of the argument, not the left. And this is as it should be for not only is humour a sign of intellectual superiority but it’s also entirely the right attitude for a team that wants to win. Humour requires a degree of self-knowledge; an ability to recognise your own weaknesses (vital if you are to triumph over them) and not to take yourself too seriously. Also, it’s a sign that you are a happy warrior – in the manner of heroes like Andrew Breitbart. I always try to keep this in mind when I’m engaged in a vicious tussle with the liberal-left: that witty barbs hurt them much more than anger. When your enemy takes himself so seriously, no weapon is more effective than a cutting quip. Sometimes it’s hard not be to angry because the left has given us so much to be angry about. But we must resist the temptation if we can because it just plays into the left’s caricature of us as angry, blustering conservatives. We should remember at all times that in the culture wars, we are the Greek city states and the enemy are the Persians. If you want to know the significance of this, I recommend you read Victor Davis Hanson’s Carnage and Culture. Basically, free men will always fight better than serfs because they have more to lose… We will mercilessly expose their weaknesses People on the liberal-left are just like us, really, only slightly less evolved. Their brains are stuck in that stage of evolution just before ours – the hunter-gatherer stage when we were all roaming the plains and were programmed to respond in the most basic way to our most primal instincts. This is why so much of the left-liberal ‘argument’ has to do with raw emotion rather than logic; it’s why they’ll almost never engage with us on detail, preferring simply to use what Vox Day calls “point and shriek” tactics, or to try to belittle and demean us with emotive (but meaningless) pejoratives like “racist”, “homophobe”, “misogynist”, “Islamophobe”, “climate change denier.” They have been using these techniques very successfully for years and in my experience there is only one effective way of dealing with this: you have to show their workings. You have to notice what they are doing and then you have to explain to other people what they are doing. This is hard: it requires patience, courage and persistence – the equivalent of maintaining discipline under fire. Again, I refer you to this piece I wrote recently because it embodies the kind of attitude and techniques required. Essentially it was a response to a mass assault by SJWs using Twitter to brand those of us on the right as heartless, uncaring, ruthless, evil people who would use a man’s recently widowed status against him. The attacks came in 140 character bursts. The response took almost 3000 words. But that’s the way it is: logic and rational argument take much longer to develop than emotive cheap shots. If we don’t use logic and rational argument though, we concede the field to the pointers and shriekers. Leave no man behind Diversity is our strength. This is the kind shit leftists, say, I know, but hear me out. At a conservative political meeting I attended in DC, recently, a woman stood up to address the assembled members of the Vast Right Wing conspiracy. Black and dressed a bit like the lovable, wise sassy, prostitute character from a 1970s Blaxploitation movie, she did not look obviously like a card-carrying Republican. But she was and she had come from California with a message: “Don’t abandon us! We know everyone in the conservative movement thinks that California is a joke. But 40 per cent of us voted for Donald Trump and we need your help!” She’s right. Unlike the left – which sees ethnic, sexual and religious minorities mainly as client victim groups to patronise and exploit for identity politics purposes – we on the right “celebrate diversity” by not giving a damn about diversity. The reason Sowell’s great and Milo’s great and Krauthammer’s great is not because they’re black and gay and disabled and therefore “helpful” to our cause, but simply because they think clearly and sensibly and have come to the right conclusions about the world. We support our own through thick and thin. We are all equal and we all have equal rights, just like the 14th amendment says. (Which means, by the way, that we don’t believe in positive discrimination – which is just another form of discrimination, as practised by the disgusting left not the sensible and just right). Always attack This, pretty much, was the tactic of the Royal Navy throughout the Napoleonic Wars – even when outnumbered and outgunned by the French and the Spanish. Today we are similarly outgunned and outnumbered by the loathsome edifice of the liberal establishment – and if we are going to reduce it to rubble, as of course we must, then we shall have to fight as aggressively as Nelson and Cochrane did. For far, far too long, conservatives have been fighting a defensive war – spending more time apologising for being conservatives than actually taking on the enemy. But at last, in the U.S. at least, we have a leader who is not afraid of a fight. What does “always attack” mean in practice, though? Well here’s a perfect example: a recent New York Times story headed “Wielding Claims of ‘Fake News’ Conservatives take aim at mainstream media“. The author of the story appears slightly taken back that conservatives are behaving in this way. Surely we should be feeling guilty for all those fake news stories spread by evil right-wing people on the internet in order to deceive the weak-minded by acting against their interests by voting for Brexit and Donald Trump? But no, far from apologising it seems that we on the right have been on the attack. If anyone is responsible for pumping out fake news these last few decades its the liberal elite and their mouthpieces in the MSM, not us. OK. We’re done. Unleash hell.

James Delingpole

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/01/01/2016-just-start-going-win-2017/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 08:30:15

The Guardian

Archbishop of Canterbury tells Britons to heal Brexit divisions

Justin Welby will say Britain must ‘take hold of our new future with determination and courage’ in his new year message

The archbishop of Canterbury will urge Britons to reconcile the divisions left by the “tough” EU referendum campaign in his new year message. Brexit would “profoundly” affect the country’s future, but its citizens should look to examples from Britain’s past for a route towards social harmony, the Most Rev Justin Welby is expected to say when he addresses the nation on Sunday. His message comes after the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage criticised as “negative” the archbishop’s Christmas Day sermon, which did not mention Brexit. The 60-year-old will say: “Last year, we made a decision that will profoundly affect the future of our country – a decision made democratically by the people. “The EU referendum was a tough campaign and it has left divisions. “But I know that if we look at our roots, our history and our culture in the Christian tradition, if we reach back into what is best in this country, we will find a path towards reconciling the differences that have divided us. “If we are welcoming to those in need, if we are generous in giving, if we take hold of our new future with determination and courage – then we will flourish.” He will cite Dick Howard, the second world war-era provost of Coventry Cathedral, who called for a more “Christ-like world” following the bombing of the area in 1940, and praise the city as an example of “Britain at its best”. And he is expected to speak about Sabir Zazai, an Afghan refugee who arrived in the UK in 1999 and now runs the Coventry Refugees and Migrant centre. “There are people like Sabir all over the country and they are a blessing to our way of life,” the archbishop will say. “They are embracing all that is good and that doesn’t just enrich their lives, it enriches and deepens ours too.” Being hospitable to strangers and living well together are the foundations of British values and traditions and can make the UK “a beacon of hope” in a troubled world, he will say. The archbishop’s new year message will be broadcast on BBC1 at 1.50pm and BBC2 4.55pm on 1 January.

Press Association

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/01/archbishop-of-canterbury-tells-britons-to-heal-brexit-divisions

LEFT

2017-01-01 08:32:30

Breitbart

'Russian Hacking' Report Underwhelms

DHS-FBI report "provides almost no new evidence to support the Obama Administration's claims Russia attempted to interfere with the US electoral process."

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Dan Goodin of Ars Technica writes that the DHS-FBI report on Russian hacking in 2016 “provides almost no new evidence to support the Obama Administration’s claims Russia attempted to interfere with the US electoral process.” From Ars Technica: SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Talk about disappointments. The US government’s much-anticipated analysis of Russian-sponsored hacking operations provides almost none of the promised evidence linking them to breaches that the Obama administration claims were orchestrated in an attempt to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The 13-page report, which was jointly published Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, billed itself as an indictment of sorts that would finally lay out the intelligence community’s case that Russian government operatives carried out hacks on the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Clinton Campaign Chief John Podesta and leaked much of the resulting material. While security companies in the private sector have said for months the hacking campaign was the work of people working for the Russian government, anonymous people tied to the leaks have claimed they are lone wolves. Many independent security experts said there was little way to know the true origins of the attacks. Sadly, the JAR, as the Joint Analysis Report is called, does little to end the debate. Instead of providing smoking guns that the Russian government was behind specific hacks, it largely restates previous private-sector claims without providing any support for their validity. Even worse, it provides an effective bait and switch by promising newly declassified intelligence into Russian hackers’ “tradecraft and techniques” and instead delivering generic methods carried out by just about all state-sponsored hacking groups. Read the rest of the story here.

Breitbart News

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/01/01/russian-hacking-white-house-fail/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 08:37:41

The Guardian

Girl aged 12 killed in hit and run in Oldham

Another girl is in critical condition after they were hit by Volkswagen Golf, whose driver fled scene

A driver fled the scene of a New Year’s Eve crash that killed a 12-year-old girl and left another child fighting for her life in hospital, police have said. Greater Manchester police said officers are searching for the driver of a black Volkswagen Golf which hit the children shortly after 7.15pm in Ashton Road, Oldham. The 12-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and a girl, 11, is in a critical condition, the force said. Sgt Lee Westhead, from the force’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “These are tragic circumstances where a young girl has lost her life and I would urge anyone who knows anything to do with this collision to contact police immediately. “Another girl is currently fighting for her life in hospital and specially trained officers are supporting the families involved. “Officers are at the scene trying to establish exactly what happened while we also have a dedicated team trying to locate the driver of the car.” The girl who died is yet to be formally identified but police have informed her family. Anyone with information should call the collision unit on 0161 856 4741 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Press Association

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/01/girl-aged-12-killed-in-hit-and-run-in-oldham

LEFT

2017-01-01 08:56:41

The Guardian

Isis would use chemical weapons in attack on UK, says minister

Security minister Ben Wallace says terror group wants to carry out mass casualty attack by ‘whatever means possible’

Islamic State wants to carry out a mass casualty attack in Britain and has “no moral barrier” to using chemical weapons, a minister has said. The security minister Ben Wallace said there were reports of Isis using chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq, where it controls large areas, and that Moroccan authorities had apprehended a cell in February which was harbouring substances that could be used to make either a bomb or a “deadly toxin”. He also pointed to a recent Europol report which warned of the chemical threat and the potential realisation of “everybody’s worst fear”. Wallace said: “Experts have warned that their ambition is a mass casualty attack and they have no moral barrier to using whatever means possible.” He told the Sunday Times that the group’s ambition was “definitely mass casualty attacks. They want to harm as many people as possible and terrorise as many people as possible. “They have no moral objection to using chemical weapons against populations and if they could, they would in this country. “The casualty figures which could be involved would be everybody’s worst fear. “We have certainly seen reports of them using it in Syria and Iraq [and] we have certainly seen aspiration for it in Europe.” Wallace also warned about the threat from “the enemy within” as terror groups, Russia and cyber-attackers were trying to plant “traitors” in the government, the military and leading businesses. “There are traitors. We have to be on our guard for the enemy within,” he said. “The insider threat, as we would call it, is real and it can be exploited and there are people trying to do that as we speak.” The warning comes after a year in which Europe suffered a spate of terror attacks using less sophisticated means. In two of the most high-profile attacks in Nice and Berlin, lone attackers drove lorries through crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day and browsing a Christmas market respectively. Isis claimed responsibility for both attacks. In March, three co-ordinated suicide bombers attacked the airport and metro system in Brussels, with Isis claiming responsibility.

Press Association;Amrit Singh

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/isis-chemical-weapons-attack-uk-ben-wallace

LEFT

2017-01-01 09:00:00

Politico

New York Times, Wall Street Journal editors take on Trump and the media

The top editors for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal expressed wariness over the incoming president-elect's treatment of the first amendment.

On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015 New York Times, Wall Street Journal editors take on Trump and the media The top editors for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal expressed wariness over the incoming president-elect’s respect for the First Amendment. In a special NBC “Meet the Press” episode devoted to the media and President-elect Donald Trump, New York Times editor Dean Baquet said he’s troubled by Trump’s remarks about the press and the First Amendment. "First off, the things he has said about the press in general are troublesome,” Baquet said. "He has said things that should make all journalists nervous about his view of the First Amendment, about his view of a press that's supposed to ask him tough questions. So that makes me nervous.” Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker said that despite the fact Trump often makes “questionable” and “challengeable” statements, he’s instructed his staff to keep their social media postings straight laced in order to maintain the trust of the readers. Asked by host Chuck Todd whether he’d be willing to call out a falsehood as a “lie” like some other news outlets have done, Baker demurred, saying it was up to the newspaper to just present the set of facts and let the reader determine how to classify a statement. "I'd be careful about using the word, ‘lie.’ ‘Lie' implies much more than just saying something that's false. It implies a deliberate intent to mislead,” Baker said, noting that when Trump claimed “thousands” of Muslims were celebrating on rooftops in New Jersey on 9/11, the Journal investigated and reported that they found no evidence of a claim. "I think it's then up to the reader to make up their own mind to say, 'This is what Donald Trump says. This is what a reliable, trustworthy news organization reports. And you know what? I don't think that's true.’ I think if you start ascribing a moral intent, as it were, to someone by saying that they've lied, I think you run the risk that you look like you are, like you’re not being objective,” he said. Baker also said he wishes the American media was less “deferential” to politicians and to the president. The comment stood out, as one of the Journal’s top writers, Monica Langley, has been criticized for her soft puff profiles and being friendly with her sources, and internally, Journal staffers complained before the election about publishing “too many flattering access stories,” according to one source. "I think there needs to be a little less deference, a little less insider behavior,” Baker told Todd on “Meet the Press”. "A little less coziness that there's been sometimes between the media and the major political institutions.” Baquet said that while he was proud of the work the paper did on Trump, where the paper missed in their coverage was “understanding the anger in the country.” "I think if news organizations made a mistake, and I can only speak for my own, I think that we wrote stories about anger in the country,” Baquet said. "We even did a series called Anxiety in America. But, of course, we should've done more. And I think people would've been less surprised, had we done more. That's what I would've done differently.” Baquet noted that while Trump has been well-investigated by the press there are still some “huge, unanswered questions,” including how wealthy he is, what he owns, and how much debt he has. Hadas Gold is a reporter at Politico.

Hadas Gold

www.politico.com

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2017/01/embargo-new-york-times-wall-street-journal-editor-on-trump-and-the-media-233077

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 09:00:00

Politico

Three former White House press secretaries issue warnings for press relations under Trump

Former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart calls Trump's actions "somewhat Orwellian."

On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015 Former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart compared President-elect Donald Trump's actions toward the press to that of former President Richard Nixon. | Getty Three former White House press secretaries issue warnings for press relations under Trump Three former White House press secretaries sounded various alarms about the president-elect and the possible pitfalls in his relationship with the media in a panel conversation with Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Joe Lockhart, White House press secretary under President Bill Clinton, said President-elect Donald Trump creates his own facts, something former President Richard Nixon would do. “It's somewhat Orwellian, which, you know, you redefine the past, which means you can define the present and the future,” Lockhart said. "And that's going to be very difficult for both sides to come to grips with.” Nicolle Wallace, communications director for former President George W. Bush, said Trump doesn’t need the press, but wants it “like an addict craves their drugs." "I think we're staring at trees and missing the forest,” Wallace said. "We've just elected a man who bullies female reporters at his rally as an applause line. We have just elected a man who started a hot war with a female anchor instead of attending a debate she moderated. We are in a new place. And I don't think it's good. And I don't think it has any parallels to the past." Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary for Bush, said the feeling is mutual between Trump and the press, calling it a “double-barreled hostility” where the media can’t stand Trump and Trump returns the favor. "He can use it to his advantage, because as the Gallup poll recently indicated, confidence in the press to report the news accurately and fairly has never been lower,” Fleischer said. "And so the press has made itself vulnerable, because it lost the trust of their readers and their viewers — and Trump has widely taken advantage of it.” Hadas Gold is a reporter at Politico.

Hadas Gold

www.politico.com

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2017/01/three-former-white-house-press-secretaries-issue-warnings-for-press-relations-under-trump-233084

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 09:00:02

The Guardian

Observer business agenda’s review of the year

Business journalist of the year Simon Goodley reflects on 12 months of tumult and turbulence in the City and beyond

When you start the year as a FTSE 100 company, but end it in second place on the list of the “modern Christmas cracker jokes” (according to UKTV’s comedy channel Gold) you can assume it’s been a challenging year. The company in question is, of course, Sports Direct, which spent 2016 engulfed by a crisis over pay and working conditions at its depot in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, where it was revealed that workers were effectively receiving less than the national minimum wage after unpaid body searches and tough financial penalties for slight lateness. Hence the chart-topping gag: what do workers at Sports Direct get for Christmas dinner? Answer: about five minutes. But was that really the funniest Sports Direct crack of the year? Maybe not. There was the one where founder Mike Ashley went through a mock security check as part of a PR campaign to demonstrate he really was a man of the people, only to then pull a wad of £50 notes out of his pocket; a similar joke about the company buying a private jet, but allowing staff to rent it for a commercial rate; plus another one when MPs visited Shirebrook only to discover they were being secretly recorded. Still, the most hilarious joke was surely delivered by chairman Keith Hellawell in September, when he refused to resign. A great year for fiction … in British politics The Man Booker prize for fiction went to Paul Beatty in 2016 for The Sellout – and no doubt it was well deserved too. But it was scandalous what names were missed off the shortlist. Somehow the judges overlooked the claims of the Leave campaign in June’s referendum for “We send the EU £350m a week: let’s fund our NHS instead” as well as its rivals in the Remain camp for all sorts of far-fetched plots in its entry, Project Fear. Pages from that tome included IMF boss Christine Lagarde’s “We have done our homework and we haven’t found anything positive to say about a Brexit vote”; JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon’s warning he could cut 4,000 UK jobs if Britain voted to leave the EU; plus, of course, then chancellor George Osborne’s warning that he’d have to slash public spending and increase taxes in an emergency budget to tackle a £30bn “black hole”. We did vote to leave, of course, and FTSE quickly crashed, making all of the above look quite smart. The FTSE then rose above where it was before and never got that low again – while economic data stubbornly refused to fit in with the Remainers’ expectations. They currently look less smart. Shy and retiring Green heads for a big bash It is now eight months since BHS collapsed and six months since its former owner Sir Philip Green promised to “sort” the £571m pension deficit. BHS is still bust while Green is still working on a solution (and shouting at people). That is despite a year in which the constantly cross shopkeeper has been battling it out with his old pal Mike Ashley for the Fred Goodwin Silver Salver, which this page likes to award to Britain’s most despised business person. Green’s reputation plummeted in 2016 after BHS failed just a year after he had sold the business to the astonishingly unsuitable Dominic Chappell for £1. Both men were then hauled in front of a joint select committee to explain themselves, an exercise that only succeeded in trashing their reputations some more. The MPs found that the department store had been subjected to “systematic plunder” by former owners, while Green gave “insufficient priority” to the pension scheme. Still, let’s look on the bright side. Green is partial to having a small birthday party every five years (you know the sort of thing: music by Stevie Wonder, topless modelling by Simon Cowell) and his 2017 birthday is a significant one. In March, the retailing knight turns 65, at which point he’ll be able to draw his state, er, pension. So, Vladimir, where do you keep your savings? Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cameron and Putin: divergent fortunes. Photograph: TASS / Barcroft Media April saw the release of the Panama Papers, an unprecedented leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The records were obtained from an anonymous source by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ then shared them with a large network of international partners, including the Guardian, Observer and the BBC. Perhaps the most startling tale to emerge was the network of secret offshore deals and vast loans worth $2bn laying a trail to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. The president’s name did not appear in any of the records, but his friends earned millions from deals that seemingly could not have been secured without his patronage, while the documents suggested Putin’s family benefited from this money. The leak also showed a Panama-based offshore trust set up by David Cameron’s late father had benefited the then prime minister. He ended up making a complete hash of his response by stalling for three days, with four partial statements issued by Downing Street, before confessing he owned shares in the tax haven fund, which he sold for £31,500 just before becoming PM in 2010. Putin’s year improved. Cameron’s didn’t. Gears start to grind in the gig economy Not a great year if you run a business in the so-called gig economy, as a number of moves threatened to improve the lot of workers at firms from Hermes to Deliveroo to Uber – and, possibly, undermine their business models. The UK’s chief taxman referred Hermes to HMRC compliance officers following complaints by couriers that they were being paid at levels equivalent to below the “national living wage”. The move came after newspaper reports revealed that some self-employed couriers for the company, which delivers for retailers including John Lewis and Next, were taking home less than the legal minimum. Some 78 couriers subsequently made complaints to Frank Field, the chairman of the Commons work and pensions select committee. Meanwhile, Deliveroo was told in August that it must pay its workers the minimum wage unless a court rules that they are self-employed, while in November delivery firm CitySprint became embroiled in a similar dispute over the gig economy, when it faced demands to treat its freelance couriers as workers. That came a month after a tribunal ruled that Uber drivers were not self-employed and should be paid the national living wage, in a landmark case which could affect tens of thousands of workers in the gig economy. Uber immediately said it would appeal. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Deliveroo riders: an improving lot? Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters The long and the short of it, courtesy of Sky “If there is one issue I regard as crucial to successful investment, it is the need for a long-term approach ... Many people in the financial services industry now acknowledge the need for a seismic shift to long-termism, though sometimes this looks like lip service.” That was Martin Gilbert, boss of Aberdeen Asset Management, in a blogpost in 2015. And it is also the same Gilbert who, wearing another hat as deputy chairman of Sky, sought instant gratification by waving through the idea that Rupert Murdoch’s £10.75-a-share bid for the TV group was fair – a conclusion he and his committee came to “after a period of negotiation” that lasted about 48 hours. Anyway, through 21st Century Fox Murdoch formally lodged an £11.7bn bid in December to take control of the two-thirds of Sky he doesn’t already own, meaning he will now need to gain regulatory approval for the deal, which values Sky at more than £18bn. If it goes through, he would control Sky’s operations in the UK, Germany and Italy in addition to his ownership of the Times, Sunday Times and Sun, and the radio group TalkSport. Still, some shareholders and analysts accuse Sky of selling on the cheap, pointing out that the shares were at the offer level as recently as February. How Glasenberg dug himself out of a hole Considering he has made a habit of topping “not-so-rich” lists since floating Glencore in 2011, 2016 was a stellar year for the commodity trader’s second-largest shareholder and chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg. The shares have soared by about 200%, taking the value of his holding to more than £3bn and alleviating the crisis that reduced Glasenberg to his last billion. That turnaround was achieved by hauling Glencore out of its debt hole. Borrowings have been reduced from $30bn to $17.5bn by selling $6bn of assets, cutting expenditure and raising $2.5bn of fresh capital at 125p a share. Glasenberg himself had to write a $211m cheque during that cash call (which is rather impressive) but that punt has paid off handsomely and dividends are set to resume next year. Still, let’s not be too charitable. For all the successes of 2016, it merely reversed some of the pain of previous years. Glasenberg’s aggressive use of debt created the crisis for the company and the shares are still only worth about half of what they were when they listed at 530p, almost six years ago. Something like 2016’s performance is required in 2017, therefore. Leicester won – but the bookies didn’t lose Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leicester City: not the bookies’ nightmare one might imagine. Photograph: Xinhua / Barcroft Images When Leicester City won the Premier League in May – having started the season as a 5,000-1 shot – all the quoted bookmakers started whining that they had paid out £25m, which was dubbed “the biggest loss in British history on a single sporting market”. What a load of old nonsense that was. What really happened was the bookies coined it in all season on the back of unbelievably freakish results, only to hand a fraction of that back at the death. Even so, as this page never tires of pointing out, the myth of the bookies being fleeced by Leicester’s triumph comes second only to the even more unbelievable line that the Foxes’ triumph was football’s “greatest fairytale”. No: it was only the third-greatest footballing fairytale in the East Midlands in the past 44 years.

Simon Goodley

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/01/observer-business-review-of-the-year

LEFT

2017-01-01 09:00:02

The Guardian

Medical smart jacket tackles misdiagnosis of pneumonia

Jacket would distinguish pneumonia’s symptoms up to four times faster than a doctor, in battle against illness that kills half a million children under five in sub-Saharan Africa every year

Ugandan graduate Brian Turyabagye was studying engineering when his friend’s grandmother fell seriously ill. Accompanying her to hospital, he watched as doctors diagnosed malaria and prescribing various treatments accordingly. Only as she lay dying did they realise their initial diagnosis was wrong. It was pneumonia that was killing her. Turyabagye, 24, was so shocked by the circumstances surrounding the death that he began researching methodologies for diagnosing pneumonia and its treatments. To his surprise, he discovered that the illness affects far more children than it does adults. According to Unicef, pneumonia kills half a million children under five in sub-Saharan Africa every year, with the region accounting for half of all global deaths from pneumonia of children under five. “Many of those deaths are because of misdiagnosis,” says Turyabagye. “In the villages and remote areas, children get sick – and the first reaction is to treat them for malaria. Most people are aware of malaria, and the signs for malaria and pneumonia are very similar, so it is difficult for health professionals to differentiate.” Even when a correct diagnosis is made, treatment is often unavailable. According to the Uganda Paediatrics Association, fewer than 20% of children with pneumonia receive antibiotics, which cost less than $1 (81p). So Turyabagye began designing a biomedical smart jacket that would distinguish pneumonia’s symptoms – temperature, breathing rate and sound of the lungs – and eliminate most human error, diagnosing pneumonia at a rate three to four times faster than a doctor. He named it “Mamaope”, or “mother’s hope” – a reference to the 27,000 children who die of pneumonia in Uganda every year. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Android app that accompanies the Mamaope jacket. “We focused on the distinguishing signs of pneumonia,” says Turyabagye. “One of the processes that most doctors use is a stethoscope to the check the lungs. But [pneumonia] tends to be on side points around the body, not just in the chest or back. Its accuracy of being able to diagnose what is healthy, and what is not, is very encouraging.” Currently a prototype, the Mamaope jacket will undergo an official national medical examination in January. Certification for use in health centres and hospitals is expected by spring. The jacket could be a major boon to diagnosing, treating and preventing pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite international progress tackling measles, HIV and Aids and tetanus, funding towards eradicating pneumonia remains extremely low: for every dollar spent on global health in 2011, Unicef says, only two cents went to pneumonia. “Although sub-Saharan Africa accounts for half of pneumonia deaths among children under five worldwide, funding for pneumonia prevention, management and treatment in the region remains low,” according to Mark Young, senior health specialist for Unicef. “More resources and more commitment at the highest level will bring us closer to stopping this disease from being a major child killer.” The Mamaope jacket was shortlisted for this year’s £25,000 Africa prize for engineering innovation, and Turyabagye hopes this could jumpstart mass production of the jacket for use across the continent. “Really, we are looking to help the next generation,” he says. “Pneumonia has such a high rate in Uganda and our neighbouring countries, if we were able to distribute in those countries we could save a lot of people.”

Kate Hodal

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/01/medical-smart-jacket-tackles-misdiagnosis-of-pneumonia

LEFT

2017-01-01 09:00:02

The Guardian

Rising stars of 2017: campaigner Faiza Shaheen

The director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies wants to shape a new society in which a more diverse range of voices are heard

Dr Faiza Shaheen is an economist, writer, activist and director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (Class), described by her as “a thinktank with a twist”. Founded four years ago, its remit, she says, is “to disrupt and challenge mainstream thinking” while staying out of the current Corbyn/Brexit pro or anti quagmire. “I took a friend into a bookshop recently and said, ‘Look at the books on economics – almost all are written by white men from a similar income group. The books on gender are all written by women, the books on race by people of colour.’ I’m really keen that both myself and Class break out of these intellectual ghettos, that we work on issues that change the situation, that turn off the tap, not just mop up the mess. Five years from now, I want Class to be the leading voice on how we shape a different kind of society.” Shaheen, 34, was born in Leytonstone, east London, and attended the same school as David Beckham. “Only a third [of pupils] got five GCSEs A* to C. You only had to do your homework to stand out but we had a real camaraderie,” she says. “Oxford wasn’t like that at all. Everyone was in competition. I looked at the stats recently and there are still only a handful of people of colour in each year, just as when I was there. That’s shocking. It’s always the same pool of people ruling the world in politics and business. That has to change. I realised very young that nobody was going to open any doors for me “Oxford politicised me because I was always being called to account. ‘Why do Muslims have a chip on their shoulder, Faiza?’ I became known as the rude girl with attitude, which is hilarious because my friends in London said they liked me precisely because that’s what I wasn’t. “I realised very young that nobody was going to open any doors for me. If you’re going to fight for justice you have to have weapons and I decided that education, economics and statistics were going to be mine.” Shaheen’s father is from Fiji, her mother is Pakistani. “A concern about inequality and justice has always been a part of me. Whether it was the result of being called Paki in the playground or because while we were considered poor by British standards, when we visited family in Karachi we were seen as insanely rich.” Ten years ago, when Shaheen began a PhD, her mother became ill. Two months ago, she had a successful heart transplant. “I thought it was amazing that someone gave her their heart. They didn’t ask if she was Pakistani. In the intensive care waiting room everyone looked out for each other regardless of race and class. It reminded me that there is a huge amount of humanity in spite of the horrible political time we’ve had.” Three more to watch ■ Among a number of other admirable roles, Josh Babarinde is CEO and founder of Cracked It, a social enterprise that trains at-risk young people to fix cracked iPhones, as a route away from gang crime. ■ Working on a PhD on domestic violence, Sarah Kwei is one of the founders of Sisters Uncut, using direct action to fight cuts to refuges and domestic violence services. Also active in social housing groups. ■ Deanne Ferguson, 32, regional organiser in Yorkshire and Derbyshire for trade union GMB, is active in challenging conditions at the Barnsley distribution centre for Asos and the £10 an hour living wage campaign.

Yvonne Roberts

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/01/rising-stars-2017-campaigner-faiza-shaheen-centre-labour-social-studies

LEFT

2017-01-01 09:04:24

Breitbart

Maryland County To Become 'Sanctuary City' Ahead Of Trump Inauguration

A region just outside Baltimore is now looking to join hundreds of other counties and cities across the country with a ‘sanctuary city’ policy.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A region just outside Baltimore, Maryland, is now looking to join hundreds of other counties and cities across the country with a ‘sanctuary city’ policy that protects criminal illegal immigrants from federal immigration law. Howard County officials, comprised of mostly Democrats, say they want to ban county officials from inquiring about an individuals’ immigration status. The officials would also be barred from cooperating with federal immigration officials, according to the Baltimore Sun. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “The recent national political climate, increased incidents of hate speech and violence, and unfortunate statements made by our nation’s President-elect, has caused many in the Howard County community to fear for their personal safety and the loss of civil liberties,” Howard County City Council member Calvin Ball said. The City Council, though, acknowledges that Howard County designating itself as a sanctuary city would not go far with President-Elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. The incoming President plans to focus heavily on banning a region from failing to comply with federal immigration laws. Jessica Vaughan with the Center for Immigration Studies told the Baltimore Sun she didn’t understand the purpose of the sanctuary city classification for Howard County, as it’s largely based in a drummed-up fear about federal immigration officials. “I’m at a loss to see how this would affect the real life practices of Howard County officials or force them to do anything they’re already doing,” said Vaughan. “This idea that immigration officers are suddenly going to be raiding elementary schools and so county officials need to enact these policies to protect people from this activity is just silly. It doesn’t happen that way and it never will. This is a solution in search of a problem.” While Howard County looks to move forward with a sanctuary city policy, other counties are reversing course thanks to Trump’s hardline position that sanctuary cities will have no place in his America. Suffolk County, New York, has officially announced that it will no longer designate itself as a sanctuary city. The move comes just ahead of Trump’s inauguration, as Breitbart Texas reported. Sheriff Vincent DeMarco said his county will no longer demand a judge’s order before detaining an illegal immigrant wanted by federal immigration officials — a major shift away from its previous sanctuary city policy. Trump is expected to take down sanctuary city jurisdictions, with incoming Attorney General Jeff Sessions likely to set legal battles with locales that refuse to comply with federal immigration law. John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

John Binder

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/01/01/maryland-county-set-become-sanctuary-city-ahead-trump-inauguration/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 09:24:14

The Guardian

Universal basic income trials being considered in Scotland

Two councils, Fife and Glasgow, are investigating idea of offering everyone a fixed income regardless of earnings

Scotland looks set to be the first part of the UK to pilot a basic income for every citizen, as councils in Fife and Glasgow investigate trial schemes in 2017. The councillor Matt Kerr has been championing the idea through the ornate halls of Glasgow City Chambers, and is frank about the challenges it poses. “Like a lot of people, I was interested in the idea but never completely convinced,” he said. But working as Labour’s anti-poverty lead on the council, Kerr says that he “kept coming back to the basic income”. Kerr sees the basic income as a way of simplifying the UK’s byzantine welfare system. “But it is also about solidarity: it says that everyone is valued and the government will support you. It changes the relationship between the individual and the state.” The concept of a universal basic income revolves around the idea of offering every individual, regardless of existing welfare benefits or earned income, a non-conditional flat-rate payment, with any income earned above that taxed progressively. The intention is to provide a basic economic platform on which people can build their lives, whether they choose to earn, learn, care or set up a business. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has suggested that it is likely to appear in his party’s next manifesto, while there has been a groundswell of interest among anti-poverty groups who see it as a means of changing not only the relationship between people and the state, but between workers and increasingly insecure employment in the gig economy. Kerr accepts that, while he is hopeful of cross-party support in Glasgow, there are “months of work ahead”, including first arranging a feasibility study in order to present a strong enough evidence base for a pilot. “But if there is ever a case to be made then you need to test it in a place like Glasgow, with the sheers numbers and levels of health inequality. If you can make it work here then it can work anywhere.” The idea has its roots in 16th century humanist philosophy, when it was developed by the likes of Thomas More, but in its modern incarnation it has lately enjoyed successful pilots in India and Africa. Despite its utopian roots, champions believe that this is an idea whose time has come, particularly in Scotland where the governing SNP voted in support of a basic income at their spring conference (although the proposal has yet to make it into their manifesto). At the heart of any experiment with basic income is money: how much should people get and where will it come from? Kerr says his instinct it to base the amount on similar calculations to those made for the living wage. “It’s about having more than just enough to pay the bills. But part of the idea of doing a pilot is to make mistakes and also find out what is acceptable to the public. There will be a lot of resistance to this. We shouldn’t kid ourselves. Part of the problem is we’re working against a whole discourse of deserving and undeserving poor.” As for where the money comes from, “the funding question is always the big one, and really will depend upon the approach a pilot takes”, explains Jamie Cooke, head of RSA Scotland, which has been spearheading research on the subject across the UK. Drawing on the experience of similar projects ongoing in Finland, Utrecht in the Netherland and Ontario in Canada, Cooke suggests: “It could be funding from particular trusts, it could be individual philanthropic funding, as we have seen in the States, or it could be a redirection of the existing welfare spend.” Obviously the latter is much harder to do in a pilot, although that will be happening in Finland next year where the experiment is being taken forward by the national government. As the Scottish government consults on what it has described as “the biggest transfer of powers since devolution began” – the devolution of around £2.7bn, or 15% of the total Scottish benefits bill, affecting 1.4 million people – both Kerr and Cooke believe that this is an ideal moment to consider the basic income seriously. “It’s a time to be testing out new – or rather old – ideas for a welfare system that genuinely supports independence,” says Kerr. Cooke likewise believes that cross-party support is key, pointing to the fact that the leader of the Conservative group on Fife council has joined forces with the Fairer Fife Commission, the council’s independent poverty advisory group which initially recommended the trial, with the aim of designing a pilot within the next six months. Scotland was recently added to the list of “places to watch” for basic income activity by the Basic Income Earth Network, founded by the radical economist Guy Standing, whose hugely influential book The Precariat identified an emerging social class suffering the worst of job insecurity and most likely to be attracted to rightwing populism. “The thing about Scotland is that they really understand the precariat,” says Standing, who recently visited the country to meet civil servants, local authorities and campaigners to discuss a basic income. “The sense of insecurity, the stagnating living standards, all of those things are clear in Scotland and the fact that so many within the SNP are supportive means there’s a real opportunity to do a pilot in Scotland.” The momentum is there, he argues, and once it is framed around a desire for greater social justice “then you get away from the stale debate about whether if you give people the basic income then they will be lazy”. “People relate to the idea that everyone should have a social dividend. Everywhere I go, it’s the communities that feel left behind by globalisation that are most interested [in the idea of a basic income]. We have seen a sea-change in attitudes. “This sense of alarm about populist rightwing politics has brought more people to thinking we need to do something to provide better security for people. We are risking our economic and political stability if we don’t do something about it.”

John O'Farrell

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/01/universal-basic-income-trials-being-considered-in-scotland

LEFT

2017-01-01 09:25:47

CNN

Istanbul nightclub attack: Manhunt underway for shooter

A New Year's celebration in an upscale club in Istanbul turned into yet another bloodbath, with at least 39 revelers killed, and almost 70 people in hospital after an unknown number of attackers stormed the club and started shooting.

Istanbul (CNN) A manhunt is underway in Turkey for an unknown attacker who opened fire on New Year's revelers in an Istanbul nightclub. At least 39 clubgoers were killed and nearly 70 were hospitalized after the suspect entered the Reina nightclub early Sunday and started shooting. An American was among the injured, but it was not clear if the person needed to be transported to a hospital. Turkey's Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, said he believes the attacker will be found soon. "There is strong coordination and we will find him, no delay," he told reporters gathered outside an Istanbul hospital, where Yildirim had been visiting people injured in the attack. Despite no group yet claiming responsibility, Turkish authorities quickly characterized the attack as the work of terrorists. "We are face to face with a terror attack," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters Sunday morning, adding, "the efforts to locate the terrorist are ongoing. Security forces have begun the necessary operations. God willing soon (the attacker) will be apprehended." US officials also called it a terrorist attack, making it the first of 2017. Latest developments The death toll from the Reina nightclub shooting stands at 39 69, including one American, are reported injured; "four of them are in critical condition -- one very critical," says Interior Minister No claim of responsibility has yet been made US, Turkish officials say incident is a terrorist attack Pope Francis condemns attack during Angelus address Turkey's PM believes attacker will be found soon US not aware of any Americans among fatalities 'At first we thought it was a fight' Witnesses said an evening that was supposed to celebrate the new year became a bloodbath instead. "We were having fun. At first we thought it was a fight, then there was a lot of gunfire," eyewitness Yunis Turk told CNN after police secured the nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood. "After the gunfire everyone started to run toward the terrace. We ran as well. There was someone next to me who was shot and fell on the floor. We ran away and hid under the sofas." Some people jumped into the Bosphorus strait, he said, a testament to the panic that engulfed the nightspot. Temperatures were near freezing in Istanbul and yet people were willing to leap into the frigid waters to escape. "For 10 minutes there was gunfire and then for another five minutes they were throwing bombs, fired a bit more, then left," Turk recalled. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN sister network CNN Turk that the attacker is a lone assailant and that the authorities "are trying hard" to identify and apprehend the person in order to investigate any ties to terror groups. He said that security forces are analyzing CCTV footage. "I hope we will shortly identify the attacker and find who is behind it," he said. Leaders express condolences Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released a statement via the semi-official Anadolu agency, offering his condolences to the families of the victims. In the statement, he said that those who attack the "serenity" of Turkey were trying to sow "chaos" but that the nation would not allow "this dirty game," and instead would unite and remain calm. Pope Francis condemned the attack during his Angelus address in St. Peter's Square on Sunday. According to a statement released by Father Rosica on behalf of the Vatican Press Office, the pontiff said the incident left him "deeply saddened." "I express my closeness to the Turkish people," he said. "I pray for the many victims and the injured and for the whole nation in mourning, and I ask the Lord to support all people of good will who courageously roll up their sleeves to face the plague of terrorism and the bloody stain that envelops the world with a shadow of fear and bewilderment." Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Erdogan following the deadly attack in Istanbul and said, "Our common duty is to respond decisively to the terrorist aggression," according to a statement released by the Kremlin. Putin also said Russia was and would remain Turkey's ally in the fight against "this evil." The White House announced that President Barack Obama's national security team had briefed him in Hawaii, where he is vacationing. "The President expressed condolences for the innocent lives lost, directed his team to offer appropriate assistance to the Turkish authorities, as necessary, and keep him updated as warranted," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. Identifying victims So far, 39 fatalities have been identified -- 24 men and 15 women, Ali Seker, a parliament member in Istanbul said, according to Anadolu. Of those, 24 were foreign nationals and 11 were Turks, he said. Among the dead are a policeman, a waiter and a private security employee, he told Anadolu. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said one of the fatalities was a Palestinian citizen of Israel from the town of Tira. She was identified as Leanne Nasser, according to Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon. Three Jordanians were killed and four others injured, according to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman. The brother of a Lebanese woman named Rita Chami confirmed her death for Lebanon's National News Agency. Tunisia's Foreign Ministry, in a statement posted on its Facebook page, said two Tunisian nationals died in the attack. Two people from India were killed, according to the Twitter account of Indian Prime Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. He identified them as Kushi Shah and Abis Rizvi. Rizvi is the son of a former parliament member Rajya Sabha. The Saudi consulate in Istanbul confirmed in a statement that a number of the victims were Saudis, but didn't say how many were injured or if any were killed. Belgium's Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed that one victim had dual Belgian-Turkish citizenship. State Department spokesman Michael Tran confirmed that an American had been injured but he said he could not provide any details on the person, including their age, sex or condition. 'Crazy people shooting everything' Around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, the gunman shot a police officer who was guarding the front gate at the Reina nightclub, killing him, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said. "He entered the club and attacked innocent people who were there to celebrate the new year. It was a cruel, cold-blooded act," the governor said. Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance rushes from the scene of an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday, January 1. A popular nightclub in Istanbul was attacked shortly after midnight. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A woman is consoled at the site of the attack. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics wheel a stretcher at the scene. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Turkish riot police officers stand guard. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People leave the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A Turkish medic reacts near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A wounded victim is rushed from the scene. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics and security officials work at the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A wounded person is put into an ambulance. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People walk in the rain near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance transports those wounded in the attack. Hide Caption 12 of 12 Witnesses in the club said they heard a loud noise, then a security officer told everyone to get out. One victim said he didn't know how many attackers there were, but he saw one person and hid. "I got shot in the (expletive) leg, man," he told journalists in English as he was taken into an ambulance. "These crazy people came in shooting everything." A security camera captured the moment a gunman dressed in dark clothing dashed into the Reina nightclub as bullets ricocheted in the street. The club issued a statement on its Facebook page Sunday. "This terrible incident is a terror attack against our citizens' peace, brotherhood, serenity, economy, tourism and against our nation. Our hearts bleed and the bullets are in our heart," the statement read. "All the people who died, the policemen, our tourist friends in the club, our waiters and staff are our sons." CNN Map Besiktas, on the European shore of the Bosphorus, is known for its expensive, upper-middle class neighborhoods. The popular area had been under heavy police security for New Year's celebrations. Ortakoy, where Reina is located, is a vibrant seaside neighborhood that caters to a wide range of people, from the uber-rich who party at clubs like Reina to students who buy stuffed baked potatoes from vendors along the Bosporus. Reina itself was one of the first clubs to open along the famous strait and remains a touchstone for Istanbul's exclusive nightlife. It boasts a classic Istanbul view. Several analysts said the shooting looked like a jihadist-inspired attack. "In terms of the soft-target aspects of this attack, it's a youthful place, a bar that's pretty well-known in particular to expats. It's sort of the lively area of Istanbul, and especially on New Year's Eve night -- all of those have hallmarks of ISIS-inspired, if not directed attacks to maximize casualties and get a lot of news around it," said Juliette Kayyem, CNN's national security analyst. Turkey's recent tumult Turkey has endured a recent wave of terrorist attacks, leaving many people wary. "This attack is, of course, a horrible development, but not shocking to many Turks who chose to stay inside this New Year's Eve," said Aykan Erdemir, former member of the Turkish Parliament. "Turkey is known to host these big parties to celebrate New Year's, but this year most citizens were wary of Islamist attacks so they chose to celebrate it at home with their friends." He said the attack seemed similar to what happened at the Bataclan, a Paris concert hall that was attacked by gunmen in 2015. "This is an attack on the Western lifestyle. This is an attack on Turkey's secular, urban way of living. And this will simply fuel the ongoing cultural clashes, the ongoing polarization in Turkey," Erdemir said. The United States condemned the attack. "That such an atrocity could be perpetrated upon innocent revelers, many of whom were celebrating New Year's Eve, underscores the savagery of the attackers," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. The US State Department said attacks like this one on its NATO ally "only reinforce our strong determination to work with the government of Turkey to counter the scourge of terrorism." The US Embassy in Turkey warned citizens to avoid the area where the attack occurred. A violent year Turkey faces numerous battles across different fronts. Not only have the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis spilled over into Turkey, but Turkey is also battling ISIS and Kurdish militants. Both have staged attacks in Turkey, which is still reeling from a bloody and failed military coup in July. ISIS is suspected in a June attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that left 44 people dead and an explosion at an August wedding, not far from the border with Syria, that killed at least 54 people. Meanwhile, Turkish security forces clash on an almost daily basis with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, mostly in predominantly Kurdish parts of southeastern Turkey. pair of bombings in Istanbul killed 44 people and wounded 155 others December 10 in an attack by a breakaway group of the PKK. The two explosions occurred after a heavily attended soccer game at Besiktas Vodafone Arena.

Euan Mckirdy;Ian Lee;Madison Park;Kimberly Hutcherson

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/europe/turkey-nightclub-attack/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_world+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+World%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 09:25:47

CNN

Istanbul nightclub attack: Manhunt underway for shooter

A New Year's celebration in an upscale club in Istanbul turned into yet another bloodbath, with at least 39 revelers killed, and almost 70 people in hospital after an unknown number of attackers stormed the club and started shooting.

Istanbul (CNN) A manhunt is underway in Turkey for an unknown attacker who opened fire on New Year's revelers in an Istanbul nightclub. At least 39 clubgoers were killed and nearly 70 were hospitalized after the suspect entered the Reina nightclub early Sunday and started shooting. Turkey's Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, said he believes the attacker will be found soon. "There is strong coordination and we will find him, no delay," he told reporters gathered outside an Istanbul hospital, where Yildirim had been visiting people injured in the attack. Despite no group yet claiming responsibility, Turkish authorities quickly characterized the attack as the work of terrorists. "We are face to face with a terror attack," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters Sunday morning, adding, "the efforts to locate the terrorist are ongoing. Security forces have begun the necessary operations. God willing soon (the attacker) will be apprehended." US officials also called it a terrorist attack, making it the first of 2017. Latest developments The death toll from the Reina nightclub shooting stands at 39 The number of injured is 69; "four of them are in critical condition -- one very critical," says Interior Minister No claim of responsibility has yet been made US, Turkish officials say incident is a terrorist attack Pope Francis condemns attack during Angelus address Turkey's PM believes attacker will be found soon US not aware of any Americans among fatalities 'At first we thought it was a fight' Witnesses said an evening that was supposed to celebrate the new year became a bloodbath instead. "We were having fun, at first we thought it was a fight then there was a lot of gunfire," eyewitness Yunis Turk told CNN after police secured the nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood. "After the gunfire everyone started to run toward the terrace. We ran as well. There was someone next to me who was shot and fell on the floor. We ran away and hid under the sofas." Some people jumped into the Bosphorus strait, he said, a testament to the panic that engulfed the nightspot. Temperatures were near freezing in Istanbul and yet people were willing to leap into the frigid waters to escape. "For ten minutes there was gunfire and then for another five minutes they were throwing bombs, fired a bit more, then left," Turk recalled. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN sister network CNN Turk that the attacker is a lone assailant and that the authorities "are trying hard" to identify and apprehend the person in order to investigate any ties to terror groups. He said that security forces are analyzing CCTV footage. "I hope we will shortly identify the attacker and find who is behind it," he said. Leaders express condolences Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released a statement via the semi-official Anadolu agency, offering his condolences to the families of the victims. In the statement, he said that those who attack the "serenity" of Turkey were trying to sow "chaos" but that the nation would not allow "this dirty game," by uniting and remaining calm. Pope Francis condemned the attack during his Angelus address in St. Peter's Square Sunday. According to a statement released by Father Rosica on behalf of the Vatican Press Office, the Pontiff said the incident left him "deeply saddened." "I express my closeness to the Turkish people," he said. "I pray for the many victims and the injured and for the whole nation in mourning, and I ask the Lord to support all people of good will who courageously roll up their sleeves to face the plague of terrorism and the bloody stain that envelops the world with a shadow of fear and bewilderment." Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Erdogan following the deadly attack in Istanbul and said, "our common duty is to respond decisively to the terrorist aggression," according to a statement released by the Kremlin. Putin also said Russia was and would remain Turkey's ally in the fight against "this evil." The White House announced that President Barack Obama's national security team had briefed him in Hawaii, where he is vacationing. "The President expressed condolences for the innocent lives lost, directed his team to offer appropriate assistance to the Turkish authorities, as necessary, and keep him updated as warranted," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. Identifying victims So far, 21 fatalities have been identified, Soylu said. Of those, 16 were foreign nationals and five were Turkish. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said one of the fatalities was a Palestinian citizen of Israel from the town of Tira. She was identified as Leanne Nasser, according to Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon. Three Jordanians were killed and four others injured, according to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman. The brother of a Lebanese woman named Rita Chami confirmed her death for Lebanon's National News Agency. Tunisia's Foreign Ministry, in a statement posted on its Facebook page, said two Tunisian nationals died in the attack. Two people from India were killed, according to the Twitter account of Indian Prime Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. He identified the them as Kushi Shah and Abis Rizvi. Rizvi is the son of a former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. The Saudi consulate in Istanbul confirmed in a statement that a number of the victims were Saudis, but didn't say how many were injured or if any were killed. Belgium's Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed that one victim had dual Belgian-Turkish citizenship. The US State Department says it doesn't know of any Americans were among the dead. "At this stage, we are not aware of any US citizen deaths," a State Department official told CNN. "We remain in close contact with Turkish authorities as the investigation continues and stand ready to provide all consular services. We are aware of reports that there are foreign nationals among the wounded. Privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further." 'Crazy people shooting everything' Around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, the gunman shot a police officer who was guarding the front gate at the Reina nightclub, killing him, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said. "He entered the club and attacked innocent people who were there to celebrate the new year. It was a cruel, cold-blooded act," the governor said. Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance rushes from the scene of an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday, January 1. A popular nightclub in Istanbul was attacked shortly after midnight. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A woman is consoled at the site of the attack. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics wheel a stretcher at the scene. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Turkish riot police officers stand guard. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People leave the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A Turkish medic reacts near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A wounded victim is rushed from the scene. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics and security officials work at the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A wounded person is put into an ambulance. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People walk in the rain near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance transports those wounded in the attack. Hide Caption 12 of 12 Witnesses in the club said they heard a loud noise, then a security officer told everyone to get out. One victim said he didn't know how many attackers there were, but he saw one person and hid. "I got shot in the (expletive) leg, man," he told journalists in English as he was taken into an ambulance. "These crazy people came in shooting everything." A security camera captured the moment a gunman dressed in dark clothing dashed into the Reina nightclub as bullets ricocheted in the street. The club issued a statement on its Facebook page Sunday. "We are deeply saddened by the heinous terror attack in our night club," the statement read, in part. "This terrible incident is a terror attack against our citizens' peace, brotherhood, serenity, economy, tourism and against our nation. Our hearts bleed and the bullets are in our heart. All the people who died, the policemen, our tourist friends in the club, our waiters and staff are our sons. We pay condolences to their families while wishing fast recovery to injured people." CNN Map Besiktas, on the European shore of the Bosphorus, is known for its expensive, upper-middle class neighborhoods. The popular area had been under heavy police security for New Year's celebrations. Ortakoy, where Reina is located, is a vibrant seaside neighborhood that caters to a wide range of people, from the uber-rich who party at clubs like Reina to students who buy stuffed baked potatoes from vendors along the Bosporus. Reina itself was one of the first clubs to open along the famous strait and remains a touchstone for Istanbul's exclusive nightlife. It boasts a classic Istanbul view. Several analysts said the shooting looked like a jihadist-inspired attack. "In terms of the soft-target aspects of this attack, it's a youthful place, a bar that's pretty well-known in particular to expats. It's sort of the lively area of Istanbul, and especially on New Year's Eve night -- all of those have hallmarks of ISIS-inspired, if not directed attacks to maximize casualties and get a lot of news around it," said Juliette Kayyem, CNN's national security analyst. Turkey's recent tumult Turkey has endured a recent wave of terrorist attacks, leaving many people wary. "This attack is, of course, a horrible development, but not shocking to many Turks who chose to stay inside this New Year's Eve," said Aykan Erdemir, former member of the Turkish Parliament. "Turkey is known to host these big parties to celebrate New Year's, but this year most citizens were wary of Islamist attacks so they chose to celebrate it at home with their friends." He said the attack seemed similar to what happened at the Bataclan, a Paris concert hall that was attacked by gunmen in 2015. "This is an attack on the Western lifestyle. This is an attack on Turkey's secular, urban way of living. And this will simply fuel the ongoing cultural clashes, the ongoing polarization in Turkey," Erdemir said. The United States condemned the attack. "That such an atrocity could be perpetrated upon innocent revelers, many of whom were celebrating New Year's Eve, underscores the savagery of the attackers," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. The US State Department said the attacks like this one on its NATO ally "only reinforce our strong determination to work with the government of Turkey to counter the scourge of terrorism." The US Embassy in Turkey warned citizens to avoid the area where the attack occurred. A violent year Turkey faces numerous battles across different fronts. Not only have the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis spilled over into Turkey, but Turkey is also battling ISIS and Kurdish militants. Both have staged attacks in Turkey, which is still reeling from a bloody and failed military coup in July. ISIS is suspected in a June attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that left 44 people dead and an explosion at an August wedding, not far from the border with Syria, that killed at least 54 people. Meanwhile, Turkish security forces clash on an almost daily basis with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, mostly in predominantly Kurdish parts of southeastern Turkey. pair of bombings in Istanbul killed 44 people and wounded 155 others December 10 in an attack by a breakaway group of the PKK. The two explosions occurred after a heavily attended soccer game at Besiktas Vodafone Arena.

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UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 09:25:47

CNN

Istanbul attack: Dozens killed in upscale nightclub shooting

A New Year's celebration in an upscale club in Istanbul turned into yet another bloodbath, with at least 39 revelers killed, and almost 70 people in hospital after an unknown number of attackers stormed the club and started shooting.

Istanbul (CNN) It was supposed to be a celebration welcoming in a new start, after a trying, bloody year in Turkey. But a New Year's bash in an upscale club in Istanbul's Besiktas municipality turned into yet another bloodbath, with at least 39 revelers killed, and almost 70 people hospitalized after an unknown number of attackers stormed the club and started shooting. "We were having fun, at first we thought it was a fight then there was a lot of gunfire," eyewitness Yunis Turk told CNN after police secured the Reina nightclub in the neighborhood of Ortakoy. "After the gunfire everyone started to run toward the terrace. We ran as well. There was someone next to me who was shot and fell on the floor. We ran away and hid under the sofas." Some people jumped into the Bosporus, he said, a testament to the panic that engulfed the nightspot -- it is freezing in Istanbul but people were willing to leap into the frigid water to escape the panic. "For ten minutes there was gunfire and then for another five minutes they were throwing bombs, fired a bit more, then left," Turk recalled. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN sister network CNN Turk that the attacker is a lone assailant and that the authorities "are trying hard" to identify and apprehend the person in order to investigate any ties to terror groups. He said that security forces are analyzing CCTV footage. "I hope we will shortly identify the attacker and find who is behind it," he said. Latest developments The death toll from the Reina nightclub shooting has risen to 39 The number of injured is at 69; "Four of them are in critical condition -- one very critical," says Interior Minister Deputy PM tells CNN Turk the attacker is one person and "we are trying hard to catch" them No claim of responsibility has yet been made US, Turkish officials say incident is a terrorist attack First terror attack of 2017 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released a statement via the semi-official Anadolu agency, offering his condolences to the families of the victims. In the statement he said that those who attack the "serenity" of Turkey were trying to sow "chaos" but that the nation would not allow "this dirty game," by uniting and remaining calm. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to Erdogan following the deadly attack in Istanbul and said "our common duty is to respond decisively to the terrorist aggression," according to a statement released by the Kremlin. Putin also said Russia was and would remain Turkey's ally in the fight against "this evil." Despite no group yet claiming responsibility, Turkish authorities quickly characterized the attack as the work of terrorists. "We are face to face with a terror attack," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters Sunday morning. Twenty-one of the dead have been identified, he said. Of those, 16 were foreign nationals and five were Turkish. US officials also called it a terrorist attack, making it the first of 2017. Soylu also said that "the efforts to locate the terrorist are ongoing. Security forces have begun the necessary operations. God willing soon (the attacker) will be apprehended." Around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, the gunman shot a police officer who was guarding the front gate at the Reina nightclub, killing him, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said. "He entered the club and attacked innocent people who were there to celebrate the new year. It was a cruel, cold-blooded act," the governor said. Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance rushes from the scene of an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday, January 1. A popular nightclub in Istanbul was attacked shortly after midnight. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A woman is consoled at the site of the attack. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics wheel a stretcher at the scene. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Turkish riot police officers stand guard. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People leave the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A Turkish medic reacts near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A wounded victim is rushed from the scene. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics and security officials work at the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An wounded person is put into an ambulance. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People walk in the rain near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance transports those wounded in the attack. Hide Caption 12 of 12 'Crazy people shooting everything' Witnesses in the club said they heard a loud noise, then a security officer told everyone to get out. One victim said he didn't know how many attackers there were, but he saw one person and hid. "I got shot in the (expletive) leg, man," he told journalists in English as he was taken into an ambulance. "These crazy people came in shooting everything." A security camera captured the moment a gunman dressed in dark clothing dashed into the Reina nightclub as bullets ricocheted in the street. The assailant, who has not yet been identified, opened fire inside the high-end nightclub in the busy Besiktas neighborhood, according to Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu. CNN Map Besiktas, on the European shore of the Bosporus, is known for its expensive, upper-middle class neighborhoods. The popular area had been under heavy police security for new year celebrations. Ortakoy, where Reina is located, is a vibrant seaside neighborhood that caters to a wide range of people, from the uber-rich who party at clubs like Reina, to students who buy stuffed baked potatoes from vendors along the Bosporus. Reina itself is one of the first clubs to open along the famous strait and remains a touchstone for Istanbul's exclusive nightlife. It boasts a classic Istanbul view. Several analysts said the attack looked more like a jihadist-inspired attack. "In terms of the soft-target aspects of this attack, it's a youthful place, a bar that's pretty well-known in particular to expats. It's sort of the lively area of Istanbul, and especially on New Year's Eve night -- all of those have hallmarks of ISIS-inspired, if not directed attacks to maximize casualties and get a lot of news around it," said Juliette Kayyem, CNN's national security analyst. Turkey's recent tumult Turkey has endured a recent wave of terrorist attacks, leaving many people wary. "This attack is, of course, a horrible development, but not shocking to many Turks who chose to stay inside this New Year's Eve," said Aykan Erdemir, former member of the Turkish Parliament. "Turkey is known to host these big parties to celebrate New Year's, but this year most citizens were wary of Islamist attacks so they chose to celebrate it at home with their friends." He said the attack seemed similar to what happened at the Bataclan, a Paris concert hall that was attacked by gunmen in 2015. "This is an attack on the Western lifestyle. This is an attack on Turkey's secular, urban way of living. And this will simply fuel the ongoing cultural clashes, the ongoing polarization in Turkey," Erdemir said. The United States condemned the attack. "That such an atrocity could be perpetrated upon innocent revelers, many of whom were celebrating New Year's Eve, underscores the savagery of the attackers," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. The US State Department said the attacks like this one on its NATO ally "only reinforce our strong determination to work with the government of Turkey to counter the scourge of terrorism." The US Embassy in Turkey warned citizens to avoid the area where the attack occurred. A violent year Turkey faces numerous battles across different fronts. Not only have the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis spilled over into Turkey, but Turkey is also battling ISIS and Kurdish militants. Both have staged attacks in Turkey, which is still reeling from a bloody and failed military coup in July. ISIS is suspected in a June attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that left 44 people dead and an explosion at an August wedding, not far from the border with Syria, that killed at least 54 people. Meanwhile, Turkish security forces clash on an almost daily basis with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, mostly in predominantly Kurdish parts of southeastern Turkey. pair of bombings in Istanbul killed 44 people and wounded 155 others December 10 in an attack by a breakaway group of the PKK. The two explosions occurred after a heavily attended soccer game at Besiktas Vodafone Arena.

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UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 09:31:31

HuffPost

A Belated American Cry to Rescue the Two State Solution

Unless John Kerry's six-principle vision becomes a UN Security Council resolution before Barack Obama leaves the White House, the speech he delivered thi...

Unless John Kerry's six-principle vision becomes a UN Security Council resolution before Barack Obama leaves the White House, the speech he delivered this week will remain a belated rallying cry to rescue the two-state solution, which is being killed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Unless the European powers, led by Britain, France, Germany, and Spain as well as New Zealand take complementary steps to safeguard what has been achieved in the latest UN Resolution 2334, which reaffirmed Resolution 465 of 1980 and for the first time in 36 years restated the illegality of Israeli settlements and called for their dismantlement, then Netanyahu's panicked pushback will undermine it and invalidate its legal implications. This is exactly what Netanyahu is working to achieve, wagering that neither the US nor the European countries will dare to take any moves, specifically two things, to prove their seriousness in confronting Israeli policy: First using economic instruments such as sanctions as a real protest against settlement activities that are destroying the two-state solution. Second, heading to the Security Council in the wake of an international conference that France has been working to host for many months, to produce a resolution according to the six principles set out by the US Secretary of State. These two measures would make it clear to Netanyahu's government that the international community is serious and intent to impose the two-state solution instead of submitting to Israel's assault on the two-state solution. There is a strict deadline for these two steps: 20 January, 2017, the day the president-elect, Donald Trump, is sworn in. After that it will be too late. Thus, questions are being raised about the timing of John Kerry's speech at the 11th hour of Obama's second term. In a way, there is a measure of a plausible distance between Obama and Kerry's vision, which unlike previous initiatives did not carry the president's name, such as the Clinton Parameters that Bill Clinton tried to push at the end of his presidency when he could have done so much earlier. Some see Kerry's vision as an attempt to salvage his dismal legacy and reputation, tainted by his astounding concessions to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Syria. He finds himself leaving the Department of State haunted by the scenes of carnage in Aleppo. Kerry is attempting to compensate. Others have noted that Kerry invested years and made huge efforts with the Israelis and Palestinians to achieve piece and fulfill the two-state solution, which he personally believes is feasible and advantageous to both Palestinians and Israelis as does the international consensus and in theory Israel. Accordingly, he launched one final attempt, these commentators believe, to safeguard US national interests and Israeli and Palestinian interests, preempting a bleak future for the two parties and the Middle East following the current trajectory. Some argue that what Kerry has done now, no matter how sincere his vision and principles may be, was a political mistake that will cost the Palestinians dearly. The reason is that the timing chosen, in the wake of the US abstaining on UN Security Council resolution 2334, has put Donald Trump in a bend. Now, Trump will inherit a thorny issue from Obama. Yet some believe the legal and political ground laid by the Obama administration in the US and on the international arena, regarding the two-state solution, will be a precious gift for Trump, if he pauses and ponders its importance instead of rushing to make threats that harm US but also Israeli interests. Benjamin Netanyahu is clear in his campaign against resolution 2334 and Kerry's vision, going as far as accusing the US secretary of state of lying when he challenged his claim that the US was not behind the resolution. He is priming himself to benefit maximally by engaging in calculated blackmail over this US 'misstep', and from the historic opportunity handed to him with the advent of Donald Trump and the appointment of a pro-Israeli US ambassador to Israel. Indeed, David Friedman not only supports the building of Israeli settlements, but also favors moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, to signal US recognition of Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel. Friedman, who is a bankruptcy lawyer, also opposes the two-state solution and Palestinian statehood along the lines of 1967. In other words, he is an anti-thesis to everything that the Obama administration's policy and all previous US policies represent regarding the resolution of the Palestinian- and Arab-Israeli conflicts. It is possible that Friedman's nomination was a factor in convincing the Obama administration that its national duty requires the protection of US interests through an international resolution and a public vision setting out US principles with regard to the resolution of the conflict. Trump's reaction, meanwhile, does not suggest that the man coming to the White House will act rationally and responsibly. On the campaign trail, he appeared less dogmatic on relations with Israel, and even spoke of acting as a neutral mediator. Trump's actions as president-elect have come under the influence of his son-in-law Jared Kutchner, the husband of Ivanka Trump who converted to Judaism for him. However, the biggest proof of Trump's intention to celebrate with Netanyahu the burial of the two-state solution is David Friedman, who has not concealed his hatred for the principles of this solution and its supporters, including Jewish Americans and part of the Israeli public themselves. What Kerry did was to challenge Israel, especially the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, to be honest about the two-state solution. He was clear in explaining that settlement activities practically and on the ground prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. He insisted that American values required upholding the two-state solution as both a moral and strategic imperative. He affirmed US commitments to Israeli security, and said that the Obama administration offered unprecedented support for Israel, more than any US administration in the past, whether in terms of the size of military aid or in terms of military and intelligence cooperation. However, Kerry also warned that the termination of the two-state solution will lead to the emergence of one state in Israel, one that is Jewish but not democratic, which will undermine the US ability to defend it. The majority of the six principles of Kerry's vision already enjoy international support now the US administration after decades. What is new is that these principles were elaborated in a package the Obama administration has now presented based on international resolutions. The first principle calls for establishing secure, sustainable, and recognized borders between Israel and Palestine through negotiations but what is new is that Kerry mentioned resolution 242 of 1967, which has not been implemented in Palestine before but was the basis of negotiations with Syria and Jordan. By mentioning 242 in the context of the two-state solution, saying the international community will not recognize any non--agreed alteration by Israel of the 1967 lines, Kerry expanded the scope of 242 to include Palestine. This is an important development, especially if the European countries take the six principles to the Security Council to issue a resolution, which would set a new legal precedent. Kerry mentioned in the second principle another famous resolution: 181, passed by the UN General Assembly in 1947 on the establishment of two states for two peoples, the Jews and the Arabs. However, Kerry did not mention resolution 194 on Palestinian refugees, only calling for a just and realistic resolution to the refugee question. In his fourth principle, Kerry raised an issue categorically opposed by the extremists in Netanyahu's government as well as Trump's ambassadorial nominee to Israel, namely, finding a mutually accepted solution to Jerusalem as an internationally recognized capital of two states, with secure and free access to religious sites. In the fifth principle, John Kerry mentioned a word that the Netanyahu government has sought hard to abolish from the political lexicon: occupation. Kerry spoke about ending the occupation, but riled up Palestinians when he spoke about a sovereign but de-militarized Palestinian state. And in the sixth principle, Kerry did something that previous US administrations should have done since 2002, when the Beirut Arab summit adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, pledging to recognize Israel's right to have secure borders in return for its withdrawal to the 1967 lines and agree borders with the state of Palestine. These principles are not new, but they have gained additional significance by being presented as an American package. Resolution 2334 on settlements is not new either in that it challenged the legitimacy of settlements and urged Israel to stop settlement activity and dismantle illegal settlements. Indeed, under President Jimmy Carter, the US administration voted for a similar resolution on settlement, but was pressured to change its vote to 'abstain'. The George H. W. Bush administration in 1991 used a 10-billion loan guarantee and other aid to pressure Israel with regard to settlements. In 2003, under the George W. Bush administration, the UN Security Council passed unanimously resolution 1515, agreeing a roadmap for two states, Israel and Palestine, side by side. What is new in resolution 2334, which Palestine's UN envoy Riad Mansour has worked hard on since early 2016, and which was met with Arab reposition through the ministerial committee and the only Arab Security Council member at present - is that the resolution contains implementation and monitoring mechanisms, according to Mansour. He adds: "The resolution empowers the ICC prosecutor to launch investigations into war crimes as we demand as the state of Palestine a member state of the ICC." Currently, Fatou Bensouda move to official investigations, having spent two years conducting preliminary examinations. "This has made Netanyahu lose his mind," Mansour says, describing the resolution's focus as being on settlements and legal frameworks that apply to Palestine, such as resolution 242 and urging states to distinguish in their relations with Israel territories prior to 1967 and territories occupied in 1967, including Eat Jerusalem "for the first time." New Zealand played a crucial role in pushing the resolution, backed by France, Britain, and the US as well as Malaysia and Senegal, which insisted on putting the resolution to a vote after Egypt backed down following a phone call between Trump and President Sisi. Egypt's president is betting on special relations with Trump's America at any cost. This raises another point: the burden of welcoming Kerry's principles as something in line with Egypt's vision falls on the shoulders of the only current Arab member of the Security Council, and not just on European, Asian, and African states. Furthermore, convincing Donald Trump that Kerry's vision is the right step is a big challenge for Egyptian diplomacy in the face of Israeli panic over resolution 2332 and Kerry's principles and rallying cry, answering which requires Arab and international boldness to do the right thing. Translated by Karim Traboulsi http://www.alhayat.com/Opinion/Raghida-Dergham/19333065/%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%AE%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B0-%D8%AD%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%86

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LEFT

2017-01-01 09:35:19

Slate

Turkey launches manhunt for gunman who killed dozens in Istanbul nightclub.

A celebration in Istanbul to welcome the new year turned deadly when a gunman—reportedly dressed as Santa Claus—opened fire indiscriminately at a popul ...

OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images A celebration in Istanbul to welcome the new year turned deadly when a gunman—reportedly dressed as Santa Claus—opened fire indiscriminately at a popular Istanbul nightclub, killing at least 39. The death toll is expected to increase as almost 70 others were injured, and four in critical condition. Many of those killed at the Reina club were foreigners, including an 18-year-old Israeli, a Belgian, three Jordanians, two Indians, and a Tunisian couple. Authorities have now launched a manhunt for the gunman who stormed the club and carried out what is being described as the first terrorist attack of 2017. "Unfortunately [he] rained bullets in a very cruel and merciless way on innocent people who were there to celebrate New Year's and have fun," Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters. When the shots began people started running toward the terrace and many reportedly jumped into the frigid Bosphorous waters to escape the hail of bullets. Advertisement No one has claimed responsibility for the attack that officials said was carried out by a lone gunman. Some reports, however, suggest there could have been more people involved. The attack came as Turkey had beefed up security in key areas of Istanbul and the capital Ankara along with much of Europe following the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people. A pro-Islamic State group had recently called on supporters to carry out attacks at holiday gatherings, clubs, markets, and movie theaters. It also singled out Turkey in the threats. “Attack the embassies and consulates of Turkey and all coalition countries where you are,” the message said, calling on supporters to turn “feasts into funerals.” Daghan Kozanoglu/Getty Images Local media quote the club’s owner, Mehmet Kocarslan, saying security at the club had been increased over the past 10 days after U.S. intelligence warned of a possible attack. But the U.S. embassy released a statement Sunday denying that Washington had information that specific venues were under threat. On Dec. 22, the U.S. government had issued a statement saying that extremist groups were “continuing aggressive efforts to conduct attacks throughout Turkey,” particularly in areas popular with foreigners. The shooting at the nightclub was the fourth terrorist attack in Turkey in less than a month, “raising questions about the ability of the government, a NATO member and critical regional ally of the United States, to counter threats stemming from the war across Turkey’s border in Syria, as well as an escalating conflict with Kurdish militants inside Turkey,” notes the Washington Post. Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for at least one of those attacks.

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2017-01-01 09:40:24

Reuters

China c.bank adviser calls for flexible 2017 growth target

The Chinese government should seta more flexible target for economic growth this year to givemore space for reform efforts, a central bank adviser told theofficial Xinhua news agency in comments published on Sunday.

BEIJING, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The Chinese government should set a more flexible target for economic growth this year to give more space for reform efforts, a central bank adviser told the official Xinhua news agency in comments published on Sunday. China's economy grew 6.7 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier and looks set to achieve the government's full-year forecast of 6.5-7 percent, buoyed by higher government spending, a housing boom and record bank lending. However, growing debt and concerns about property bubbles have touched off an internal debate about whether China should tolerate slower growth in 2017 to allow more room for painful reforms aimed at reducing industrial overcapacity and indebtedness. Huang Yiping, a monetary policy committee member of the central People's Bank of China and Peking University professor, told Xinhua that China's GDP growth target range should be 6-7 percent for this year, compared with 6.5-7 percent in 2016. "The 6.5 percent target is just an average rate," Huang said. "As long as employment is stable, a slightly wider growth target range in the short term will reduce the need for pro-growth efforts and give policy makers more room to focus on reforms." This year's growth target will determine the government's monetary policy, Huang said. "Large-scale monetary loosening is unlikely, while the possibility of tightening can not be ruled out," he added, citing inflation concerns, higher U.S. interest rates and a weakening yuan. While the yuan is under pressure from U.S. interest rate rises in the short term, Huang said the yuan's exchange rate will be "largely unaffected by investors' expectations about China's economic growth", Xinhua said. As Chinese people diversify their investment portfolio, capital outflow will "last only for a certain period" in future, Huang added. In 2016, the yuan posted its biggest annual loss against the dollar since 1994, making it the worst performing major Asian currency during the year. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/china-economy-idUSL4N1ER046

CENTER

2017-01-01 09:45:51

Breitbart

Arabic Social Media Unimpressed with 'Bizarre' Kerry Speech

Arab social media users were not impressed with John Kerry's speech outlining his vision of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Arab social media users were not impressed with outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech outlining his vision of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Twitter users charged that Barack Obama, the lame duck US president, is going out of his way to try to secure a legacy in his last days in office, and said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not have the powers necessary to implement the process toward statehood as outlined in Kerry’s speech and the UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Twitter user Ahmad Agha responded to Kerry’s speech saying, “Abbas doesn’t represent the Palestinians. Remember, the Palestinian resistance wrought more damage on the enemy than the armies of seven Arab countries ever could.” @bouarrakia @2li01 @s_h_a_h_d عباس لا يمثل الفلسطينيين حتى يكون عندهم هوان. فلسطين فيها مقاومة فعلت ف العدو ما لم يفعله 7 جيوش عربية — Ahmad Agha (@aghaa1_ahmad) December 28, 2016 “Kerry’s speech was bizarre, I was left stunned by it,” Ahmad Alsharif tweeted at CNN Arabic’s official twitter account. @cnnarabic خطاب كيري غريب وصدمني — احمد الشريف/ الحجاز (@sintrox) December 29, 2016 Responding to the same CNN Arabic tweet, Magdi Kamel remarked that Kerry showed “courage during garbage time.” @cnnarabic شجاعة في الوقت الضايع — Magdi Kamel (@kamel4_magdi) December 29, 2016 Abu Yazeed took to Twitter to say, “Whoever’s harboring optimism regarding anything coming out of the White House is but a fool.” @DrHamami من يتفائل بالبيت الأسود إلا اهبل — ابو يزيد#عاصفة الحزم (@abuyazeed1) December 28, 2016 Anwar Musaed tweeted, “This is an attempt to change the score in injury time. Only a month until the American regime changes and these pronouncements will turn into dust.” @asaadaldohayem @docshayji هذا لعب بالوقت الضائع كلها شهر وتتغير الإدارة الأمريكية وتصبح كلماته مجرد ذر رماد ! — أنور مساعد الطبطبائي (@anwartab) December 28, 2016 Faig Alsheak opined, “Kerry’s speech on Israel and Palestine is important, and will be extensively covered in the media, but overall it’s meaningless for it’s a swan song.” خطاب وزير الخارجية الأميركي جون كيري عن إسرائيل وفلسطين لاشك بأنه مهم وخطير، وسيشغل الإعلام العالمي .. لكنه لا معنى له، لأنه خطاب وداعي! — فائق الشيخ علي (@faigalsheakh) December 28, 2016 Twitter user M.K. wrote, “The administration realizes it has nothing to lose.” @faigalsheakh باعتبار الادارة بعد ماعدها شي تخسره — M.K (@N3twk) December 28, 2016 Mahmoud Mubarak, however, was excited by the speech, saying it “would go down as historic. He said what no other Western or Arab leader has said in a long time. If only for once in his life, he’s gathered the courage.” خطاب كيري الليلة يعد تاريخياً بحق. قال ما لم يقله أي مسؤول عربي أو غربي منذ أمدٍ بعيد. جيدٌ أن يتحلى المرء بالجرءة ولو مرةً في حياته — محمود المبارك (@m_mobarak) December 28, 2016 Twitter user Shady replied, saying, “What’s the use of it when he’s saying it on his way out?”

Ali Waked

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/01/01/arabic-social-media-users-unimpressed-bizarre-kerry-mideast-speech/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 09:52:02

Breitbart

Prankster Alters Hollywood Sign to Read 'Hollyweed'

Los Angeles residents woke up Sunday morning to find the iconic Hollywood sign vandalized once more.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER One as-yet-unidentified vandal rang in the New Year early Sunday morning by trekking up to the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles and altering it to read, “Hollyweed.” A law enforcement official told CBS Los Angeles that the prankster hiked up Mount Lee and draped two tarps over the “O”s in the sign to make them appear as “E”s. As the sun rose over Los Angeles Sunday morning, locals took to social media to share snaps of the altered sign. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN GOT VANDALISED AND IT NOW SAYS HOLLYWEED pic.twitter.com/Ngek4zqpTp — ebola ✨ (@mileynoticedme) January 1, 2017 Last night the Hollywood sign was vandalized into 'Hollyweed' Starting 2017 on a high note. #2017 #hollyweed pic.twitter.com/9V5CZD5GY6 — Kory DeSoto (@Korsoto) January 1, 2017 Someone managed to change the Hollywood sign to say "Hollyweed" – 2017 starting off strong 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/KPhiPAPgHo — Jon (@MrDalekJD) January 1, 2017 The incident was reportedly caught on tape by security cameras and police are investigating it as misdemeanor trespassing. The vandal may have been making a political statement, or may have simply been celebrating; in November, California legalized marijuana for recreational use for those 21 and older, the most significant statewide change in marijuana laws since the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized the drug for medical use. As other outlets have noted, this is not the first time the iconic sign has been altered to read “Hollyweed.” On New Year’s Day 1976, a student at Cal State Northridge similarly draped tarps over the “O”s to change them into “E”s, and the same thing reportedly happened again in 1983. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum

Daniel Nussbaum

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/01/01/prankster-changes-hollywood-sign-read-hollyweed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 10:00:03

The Guardian

My grateful dispatches from the end of 2017…

From the revelation that nuclear weapons don’t exist to Richard Branson’s reinvention of the spork, 2017 proved better than expected

It’s hard to believe that 2017 is already over. But we must believe it. Or, if not quite believe it, at least entertain the notion for the next few minutes. 2017 certainly hasn’t been as bad as 2016’s worst doom-mongers would have had us believe. After all, a human still lives to write this, and several others to read it. So it’s been much better than many expected. And even a real glass-half-empty type would have to admit that, regrettable though events on the international stage have been, what we’ve just undergone was really quite a small nuclear war. I’m joking of course, because, as we know from our recent attempts to have a nuclear war, nuclear weapons turn out never to have existed – or only briefly. It seems the original plans for the atom bomb were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of the Area 51 alien, who didn’t actually have any hands, just sort of suckers, and was subsequently discovered not to be an alien but an incredibly inaccurate model of the Michelin man constructed out of cork by a midwestern garage owner based on instructions he’d been given on a crackly phone line in French. The irrefutable fact is that the remake is the most profitable form of film. So they’ve got to be released first So, for most of the nuclear age, the notion of the weapons themselves was just a conspiracy by the rulers of the world’s leading nations to siphon off large sections of their respective defence budgets to spend on canapés. As a rogue CIA agent confessed on a YouTube video he released just before disappearing into the Cloud via a bizarre human-body-uploader he’d made out of a Portaloo, a liquidiser and a modem: “There are only two secrets you need to know: nuclear weapons don’t exist and unicorns do. Their livers can be made into stratospherically expensive pate.” Needless to say, this has made 2017 nearly as embarrassing for conspiracy theorists as 2016 was for opinion pollsters. “Heaven forbid that you’d suspect anything nice!” remarked Ian Hislop on Have I Got News for You in October. “Oh no! It’s all got to be ‘No one’s really landed on the moon!’ or ‘Princess Diana was murdered’ or ‘The world’s run by a secret cabal of lizards’ by which you basically mean Jews but it goes down better if you say lizards. But when it turns out nuclear weapons don’t exist and unicorns do, you missed it because you were too busy looking for evidence that 9/11 was actually a Top Gear stunt that got out of hand!” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Illustration by David Foldvari. It’s unclear how many times President Trump had pressed the nuclear button before admitting that nothing seemed to be happening, but he gave several speeches throughout the spring with a noticeably reddened thumb. Military historians will be debating the consequences of the anticlimactic third world war for decades, and its impact on the dystopian fiction genre is incalculable, but here are some of the lighter news events of the year that may have escaped your attention. Truth comes at a price on Google From September onwards, the first search result that came up for anyone Googling the word “truth” was a paid-for ad defining it as an “outmoded and discredited concept”. The cybergiant refused to disclose who was financing the ad on the basis of “professional ethics”, a phrase that, if itself Googled, gives the result: “lucrative non-disclosure agreement”. Julian Assange was initially suspected but he said that it couldn’t be him because “the embassy has changed the Wi-Fi code again. I’ve been trying to guess it for weeks.” Michael Gove also denied that he had anything to do with the ad, claiming: “I’m desperately trying to dissociate myself from all that and get some TV formats away.” Sir Richard Branson launches new item of cutlery “It’s been an awkward threesome for centuries,” said Branson at the launch of the Any-Tine. “Knife, fork, spoon. It’s as wobbly as a three-legged stool. Let’s bring some balance.” Described as “a breakthrough in the field of scooping prongs”, the Any-Tine looks like a double-corkscrew, with strange wide sections ending in three vicious sharp points. “I wanted to get inside cutlery’s DNA – and how better to do that than with a piece of cutlery that looks like the structure of DNA?” the billionaire asked. Lawyers for the Any-Tine effusively denied they’d had any initial discussions with the owners of the patent for the spork. Channel 4 buys the Queen’s speech The BBC and ITV were left with egg on their faces when Channel 4 signed a £60m 100-year deal with the newly formed Royal Palaces plc to make and broadcast the sovereign’s Christmas message. Confusion arose, however, when Her Majesty announced her intention to remain with the BBC. “I wish the show well, but my loyalties lie with non-commercial broadcasting,” said the Queen, who was believed to be in the running for a new reality format featuring Michael Gove and being developed by Endemol. “Working title: Gove Fucks It Up,” said the company’s head of development. “Each week, the Queen sends Gove on an important mission and he does what he does best: ruins everything.” Hollywood to release remakes first “It is a work of accounting genius,” explained a Hollywood insider. “Statistically, remakes do the business. They make much more money, on average, than films that aren’t remakes. Perhaps not quite as much as the films that warrant being remade but that’s a detail. The irrefutable fact is that the remake is the most profitable form of film. So they’ve got to be released first. We make a film, bury it, remake it, release the remake – then we can stick the original on YouTube or as a DVD extra, who cares? It is literally innumerate to claim this will not work.” Britain becomes last member state of the European Union Our former European partners stole a march on us in February by all simultaneously triggering article 50 and leaving the EU a fortnight later, leaving Britain the only remaining member of an organisation it long ago resolved to leave. “Brexit means Brexit,” said Theresa May as usual. “We will leave. We’re determined to leave. But obviously it now falls to us to wind down its various institutions first. Needless to say, this will all be very expensive. I would cancel Trident but, as you know, we rather blew all that on unicorn liver pate for President Trump’s state visit.”

David Mitchell

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/01/my-grateful-dispatches-from-the-end-of-2017-nuclear-weapons-michael-gove

LEFT

2017-01-01 10:00:03

The Guardian

Giles Duley, photojournalist: ‘I promised my pictures could help Syrian war victims. At last, I’ve kept my word’

Giles Duley believes his work can create change. But when he returned to Lebanon two years after his first trip, he found the subjects of his portraits – now his friends – still in dire straits. This is what happened next

It’s my last day with Khouloud and Jamal and I’m struggling with a decision. Whenever possible I like to take a print back to give to those I’ve documented, and in my bag I have a photograph I took of the couple two years before. But should I give it to them? In the picture Khouloud, paralysed from the neck down, lies in the tent she shares with her family in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley. Jamal sits at the end of her bed, holding her hand, the couple looking at each other with a love that is at odds with the stark, grainy black-and-white image that reflects the truth of their desperate situation. If there is one image that betrays my belief in the power of photography to create change, it’s this one. For here we are, two years later, sitting in that same dark oppressive tent and nothing has changed. Naively perhaps, I’d believed that telling Khouloud’s story would have made a difference, and I can’t help feeling I failed them. Finally, I reach down and take the photograph out of my bag. As I hand it to them I say: “When I took this two years ago, I didn’t take a photograph of a refugee, I didn’t take a photograph of a disabled woman; instead I took a photograph of a couple who are deeply in love, and that’s what this will always mean to me.” In 2014 I went to Lebanon with Handicap International to document some of Syria’s most vulnerable refugees. The sick, the elderly, single-parent families and those living with disabilities. People like 38-year-old Reem. She was in bed at home in Idlib, Syria, when a rocket hit her house. Her husband was killed next to her, one of her children also died, and Reem lost a leg. When I met her she was living in a tent on the top floor of an unfinished building. She was still learning to use her prosthesis and was unable to use the stairs, leaving her trapped. She didn’t want her surviving children to live with her – she felt ashamed because she believed her disability meant she couldn’t be a mother to them. Only her father, Abdel, lived with her on the rooftop. As I was taking his photograph, Abdel kept looking to the side, his eyes focused on the distant snow-capped mountains. I asked why he kept looking that way. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tripoli, Lebanon, 2016: ‘Aya hugs her father, Ayman. The family had moved from a tent in Idlib to this rented room, but life was still a constant struggle.’ Photograph: Giles Duley/UNHCR “Those mountains,” he replied, “are my home. I am an old man and may never return home, but at least each morning it’s the first thing I see, and when I go to bed the last.” Over the following weeks I met dozens of Syrians like Reem, fighting for survival and dignity as refugees in Lebanon. In 2014 the situation was already desperate, with over a million Syrians sheltering in a county of just four million. The infrastructure was close to collapse. Recovering from a life-changing accident myself (in 2011 I was injured while working in Afghanistan), that trip to Lebanon and the people I met were to have a profound effect both on my life and my work. But it was in meeting Khouloud – and, later, a girl called Aya – that I would find true inspiration and a renewed purpose for my photography In 2013 Khouloud, 32, was working in her garden with her children when a sniper shot her through the spine. She collapsed, paralysed from the neck down. “I tried to plant a small area of land near our house as it wasn’t possible to get vegetables like before,” she said. “I was taking care of the plants with my four children and suddenly a bullet hit my neck and I fell down and lost sensation. I could not move any more.” After her initial treatment her family managed to get her out of Syria. Eventually they found themselves living in an informal tented settlement in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley, one of thousands of unofficial camps dotted across the country. When we met she’d been there for five months. The UNHCR was providing food coupons but the family was struggling. Her husband has to provide Khouloud with 24-hour care. I asked her: “What’s your hope for the future?” “To be a mother again,” she replied. “I wish I could move my fingers because sometimes my son is injured outside and he comes in next to me. He moves my hand and he puts my fingers on to the wound. I wish I could move my fingers to touch him and make him feel like I am feeling the wound with him.” What struck me was the love within that family. Despite everything they had been through and the incredible suffering they still endured, there was laughter, hope and affection. They treated me like a family member. Despite having so little, they cooked and shared what they had. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lebanon, 2014: ‘This is Khouloud and Jamal in the photograph I took in their tent in Bekaa valley, Lebanon, when I first met them.’ Photograph: Giles Duley/Handicap International When I met Aya she was sitting alone on a concrete floor in a dark, damp tent. She has spina bifida, which means she is paralysed from the waist down and the curvature in her spin makes it hard to sit upright unaided. She was four years old. Seeing her there, I thought I couldn’t take her photograph. She seemed so vulnerable, and that goes against the way I like to work. Yet Aya was to prove me wrong. She turned out to be the feistiest four-year-old I’d ever met. I spent the day with her family, and her mother, Sihan, told me about Aya’s relationship with her sister, Iman. The two were inseparable. When their house in Idlib was bombed, it was Iman, only 10 herself, who held Aya in the basement where they sheltered for three days. With no food or water, she never let her sister go. Then, on the perilous journey from Syria to Lebanon, which took them several weeks, it was Iman who carried Aya. Iman walked into the tent while we were talking, and I expected to see that tenderness. Instead, Aya looked up at her sister and exclaimed “Pick me up, Donkey!” Over the coming weeks I revisited them and – as with Khouloud and her family – witnessed the strength of their love and unity. One of the hardest things was listening to Aya’s father, Ayman, talking about the possibility of splitting his family up. Things were so desperate: living in a makeshift tent, the children often sick, he not allowed to work because of his refugee status, the family sinking further and further into debt, and Aya not getting the medical support she desperately needed. The other children weren’t attending school and Ayman was considering sending them to live with others. Their most immediate concern was whether Aya would survive the winter. On my last day there, as the family attempted to winter-proof their tent with materials supplied by the UNHCR, Sihan was in tears as she told me that she doubted Aya could survive these hardships. But Aya had other thoughts. She interrupted her mother to exclaim with typical defiance: “Aya doesn’t die!” In the end I did take a photograph of Aya. It was of her playing hopscotch with Iman. She is laughing, and in that moment you see her strength and passion for life. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Laval, France, 2016: ‘Aya with her mother, Sihan, in France. For the first time in years, Sihan was able to tell Aya: “It’s OK, this is your home now.”’ Photograph: Giles Duley /UNHCR After returning home I often thought of the families I’d met. Some I managed to stay in contact with. Others, I had no idea of their fate. Then, in 2015, the UNHCR commissioned me to document the refugee crisis across Europe and the Middle East. Its brief was simple: “Follow your heart.” The project began in Lesbos, documenting scenes we are all too familiar with. I followed the refugees’ journey to Berlin, criss-crossing Europe, trying to record stories. However, I knew that if I was to fully fulfil my brief and follow my heart, I’d have to return to Lebanon. So in February 2016 I went back. I visited Aya and her family. They had moved out of the tent and, thanks to assistance from the UNHCR, were now living in a rented room on the outskirts of Tripoli. It wasn’t much, but at least it provided proper shelter, and the children seemed much healthier. Aya was her normal feisty self and had grown up so much. Her new hobby was painting her nails and trying out hairstyles. I photographed her being pushed around in her wheelchair by her brothers, screaming “Faster! Faster!” I have some understanding of the pain that she is in each day and her struggles with disability – yet I have never heard her complain. Life was still hard. What support the family received barely covered rent and food. While the kids could attend school, often they missed classes because the family could not pay the bus fare. Ayman still wasn’t allowed to work. Many days were spent sitting around the house. The family, like most refugees, were stuck in limbo. When I first met Aya’s family they talked of returning to Syria as soon as possible. After over five years of war, they were now questioning if they could ever return. And even if they did, what would be left? The schools, hospitals and businesses lie in ruins; their own house is destroyed. What future would they have? With the prospects of a return to Syria dwindling and life in Lebanon impossible, their hope now was for resettlement. “I never wanted to go to Europe, so far from Syria,” Ayman said, “but if this gives my children a chance of a future, then I will go.” They had been put forward by the UNHCR for resettlement in France, but months had passed and still no news. They were losing hope. I also returned to see Reem. I was happy to see she was now able to negotiate the stairs, and her daughter, Sarah, was living with her again. That evening I sat with the family (Reem’s two brothers had joined her, living on the roof-top), drinking coffee and eating homemade bread from the open fire. In so many ways, life was normal. The family joked and laughed, reminisced about life back in Syria, discussed food and football. But for the refugees living in Lebanon, nothing is normal. Like Aya’s family they were stuck, unable to build new lives or plan futures. I managed to track down most of those I’d met on my first visit, but in the chaos it was hard to trace everyone. On my last day I got a phone call. It was Khouloud’s family. She’d heard I was back and wanted me to visit. When I asked where she was living, I was told she was in the same tent I’d seen her in two years before. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. How could she still be living in that tent? Of all those I’d visited in 2014, Khouloud’s situation had seemed the most desperate. A tetraplegic woman living in a makeshift tent with her husband as full-time carer. I’d told her story and yet nothing had changed. I felt as if I had failed them. I extended my stay in Lebanon and went to see them. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bekaa valley, Lebanon, 2016: ‘Khouloud helps her youngest daughter, also called Aya, with her homework.’ Photograph: Giles Duley/UNHCR For over two years Khouloud had not moved from her bed, staring at the ceiling of the one room that they lived in. Yet still she remained positive; full of laughter and knowing smiles. Jamal still looked at her with, he said, all the love he had when they first met. The children do their homework on the bed with their mother, and they always eat together as a family. Astonishingly, the tent was a place filled with positivity, laughter and kindness. Over the days that followed I tried to capture that story through my photographs, I wanted to tell their story again. On the last day I gave them that photograph I’d taken two years before – with the promise that this time I’d make sure people heard their story. Just a few months later, in August 2016, I was in San Francisco, giving a talk. The idea was to raise funds and awareness of the crisis in Lebanon. After the talk I received an email from Philip Schneider, who manages the global community event Gishwhes and is also on the board of a charity called Random Acts. Set up by American actor Misha Collins in 2010, Random Acts has a simple mission statement: “Conquer the world, one random act of kindness at a time.” Key to its work is a network of connected people who use social media to raise awareness and help individuals and communities. After seeing the photographs and hearing the stories of Aya and Khouloud at the talk, Schneider was so moved that he wanted to combine the Gishwhes and Random Acts networks to see what could be done to help. Things moved fast. They set up a crowdfunding page, and the combined online communities started donating and spreading the word. “In situations like these, it’s hard to know how one can help,” wrote Schneider on their website, “but Gishwhes and Random Acts have decided that while we may not be able to solve Syria’s problems, making some small impact is better than standing idly by, doing nothing. Therefore, we have narrowed the scope and we are going to radically change the material situation of a few families that have suffered tremendously from this conflict.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Laval, France, 2016: ‘Aya laughs with her family, days after arriving in France. I realised this was the first time I had seen the family laugh.’ Photograph: Giles Duley/UNHCR In the days and weeks that followed, I sat glued to their fundraiser page. From over 20 countries, hundreds of people donated, often just 10 or 20 dollars. But the impact of so many people coming together to create change was dramatic. Within a month, over $200,000 was raised. Random Acts is now in the process of moving Khouloud and other families in Lebanon into flats, getting them medical treatment and making sure a trust is set up so the children can attend school until they are 18. No matter what your political persuasion, it can’t be denied that, in 2016, compassion, tolerance and empathy took a beating. But this generosity and compassion is inspiring. The issues of the world can seem overwhelming but – even if just for a few families – this proves that the kindness of strangers can change lives. Around the same time I received further good news: as part of UNHCR’s resettlement scheme, Aya and her family were to start a new life in France. They’d be leaving Lebanon in less than two weeks. Sihan, Aya’s mother, fretted about what they should take. They were allowed a suitcase each, and into those she packed blankets (for she had been told it was cold) and bags of dried thyme, cumin and Arabic coffee (she wanted to carry a taste of home). None of them had flown before. When they boarded the plane in Beirut the family was terrified. Apart from Aya, who, I’m told, did up her seat belt and said “Let’s go!” A few days later I visited them at their new home in Laval, an hour’s drive from Paris. Their flat is in a new block on the edge of a small town. It’s quiet, with gardens where the children can play. Random Acts helped provide Aya with a state-of-the-art wheelchair, and for the first time in her life she can fulfil her dream of attending school. Eating dinner with the family, I realised, that despite knowing them for over two years, it was the first time I’d seen Aya’s parents smile. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from them. As I was leaving, Sihan told me with tears in her eyes, about the first night they slept in their new flat. Aya often struggles to sleep, but on that night, as she put Aya to bed, Sihan was able to whisper to her: “It’s OK, this is your home now.”

Giles Duley

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/syria-disabled-refugees-update-giles-duley-photography

LEFT

2017-01-01 10:16:00

Fox News

Army veteran steps in to help man shot at Texas Walmart

An Army vet says his military training kicked in when a man was shot at a Walmart in the Red Bird area of Dallas, Texas on Friday.

An Army vet says his military training kicked in when a man was shot at a Walmart in the Red Bird area of Dallas, Texas on Friday. Rafael Semmler told FOX 4 that he and his family were at the Walmart when they heard gunfire. After making sure his family got out safely, he returned to the store to see if there was anything he could do to help. “Everybody started running towards us screaming they’re shooting, they’re shooting,” Semmler recalled. “You don’t really think about it, it’s just at that time it’s kind of like instinct, it’s what you’ve been trained to do.” Semmler was in the military for eleven years as an infantryman and a medic, serving places like Kuwait, Iraq and Bosnia. He said a man had been shot in the arm and losing a lot of blood. “Instantly, I grabbed shirts, ripped them off, put pressure points on the entrance and exit wound,” Semmler added. “[I] tied it up, told him it’s going to hurt… He just kept telling me ‘please don’t leave me, just stay with me. Stay here.’” Dallas police told FOX 4 that three men met at the Walmart to buy a cell phone, but the deal went south. The man shot, who has not been identified, was involved in the assault. Police are still looking for two others who fled after the shooting. No description of the suspects has been released.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/01/army-veteran-steps-in-to-help-man-shot-at-texas-walmart.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 10:29:00

Politico

Spicer questions Obama's Russia hacking response

Spicer told host Jonathan Karl that Trump's relationship with Russia and Putin comes from "an understanding of the role that Russia plays in our world right now."

Sean Spicer says Trump's relationship with Russia and Putin comes from "an understanding of the role that Russia plays in our world right now." | AP Photo Spicer questions Obama's Russia hacking response Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer questioned Sunday morning President Barack Obama imposing sanctions on Russia, asking “is that response in proportion to the actions taken?” “I think one of the questions that we have is why the magnitude of this?” Spicer said on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos. “I mean you look at 35 people being expelled, two sites being closed down, the question is, is that response in proportion to the actions taken? Maybe it was; maybe it wasn't but you have to think about that.” Story Continued Below Spicer was responding to Obama announcing last week that the U.S. will impose sanctions on Russia and expel 35 Russian diplomats from America in retaliation for Russia’s election-related hacking of the U.S. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, stated that Russia wouldn’t reciprocate – a move Spicer said shows Trump’s early successes in international diplomacy. Spicer told host Jonathan Karl that Trump's relationship with Russia and Putin comes from "an understanding of the role that Russia plays in our world right now." Spicer continued to say that people should stop focusing on Trump's tweets and stop trying to undermine him because he has been "getting action, successes, and wins both abroad and here at home." "He speaks with the head of Sprint gets 5,000 jobs moved from abroad. And everyone starts to mock him. Oh those jobs were already announced. They weren't. The sales jobs had been previously announced," Spicer said. The job commitments by Sprint Corp., however, are in line with hiring and investment pledges that were already made by SoftBank. "These jobs were coming from abroad to America. And instead of trying to mock him or undermine him, it's time that people started giving him credit for actually getting things done," Spicer said.

Rebecca Morin

www.politico.com

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/spicer-trump-already-getting-wins-in-us-abroad-233095

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 10:38:56

Slate

Trump Vows New Revelations on Hacking: “I Know Things Other People Don’t”

President-elect Donald Trump ended the year by once again raising doubts about the country's intelligence community and claims that Russia was responsi ...

DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump ended the year by once again raising doubts about the country's intelligence community and claims that Russia was responsible for the election-season hacking and said he would reveal some inside knowledge on the issue this week. Speaking to reporters before a New Year’s party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Trump said he wants to be sure intelligence agencies get to the bottom of the situation, noting they had been wrong in the past. “I just want them to be sure because it’s a pretty serious charge,” Trump said. “If you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong.” The president-elect then went on to repeat what he has said many times before—it could have been somebody else. The difference is that this time he seemed to suggest he had some new information that could shed some light on what happened. “I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation,” he said. When he was asked what it was that he knew that others don’t, Trump urged patience: “You’ll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.” He did not elaborate but the president-elect is scheduled to meet with intelligence community leaders next week to discuss the hacking, although he has previously said the country needs to “move on to bigger and better things.” Advertisement Trump also expressed broad skepticism of the safety of online communications as a whole, saying that no one should think anything they do on a computer is safe. “You know, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way,” Trump said. “Because I'll tell you what: No computer is safe.” Before the 800-person bash at Mar-a-Lago, Trump spent the last day of 2016 ditching the press to go play golf and wishing a “Happy New Year to all,” including his enemies and “those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do.” Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2016 Trump later tweeted a far more upbeat New Year’s message in which he said he was looking forward to a “wonderful & prosperous 2017 as we work together to #MAGA.”

www.slate.com

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/01/01/trump_vows_new_revelations_on_hacking_claims_to_know_things_others_don_t.html

LEFT

2017-01-01 10:40:00

Fox News

Spain: 1,100 migrants try to breach border fence

More than 50 Moroccan and Spanish border guards were injured repelling around 1,100 African migrants who attempted to storm a border fence and enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, Spanish authorities said Sunday.

More than 50 Moroccan and Spanish border guards were injured repelling around 1,100 African migrants who attempted to storm a border fence and enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, Spanish authorities said Sunday. A regional government spokesman told The Associated Press that 50 Moroccan and five Spanish border guards were injured early on Sunday when the large group of migrants tried to enter Spain. The spokesman said two migrants managed to reach Spanish soil. Both were injured in scaling the six-meter (20-foot) -high border fence and were taken to a hospital by Spanish police. He spoke anonymously in line with government policy. A further 100 migrants climbed the fence, but Spanish agents sent them directly back to Morocco. Last month, more than 400 migrants succeeded in breaching Ceuta's fence in one of the biggest crossing attempts of recent years. Hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants living illegally in Morocco try to enter Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave, each year in hope of getting to Europe. Most migrants who try to cross are intercepted on the spot and returned to Morocco. Those that make it over the fences are eventually repatriated or let go. Thousands more try to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea, often in small craft unfit for the open sea. Also on Sunday, a ship of Spain's maritime rescue service rescued 52 migrants trying to reach Spain's southern coast in a small boat.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/01/spain-1100-migrants-try-to-breach-border-fence.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 10:48:00

Fox News

Pre-teen Nigeria bomber detonates early, second bomber lynched

One person was seriously hurt when a pre-teen suicide bomber detonated her explosives early during an attack in Nigeria on Saturday, and an angry crowd captured another female bomber and lynched her, AFP reported.

One person was seriously hurt when a pre-teen suicide bomber detonated her explosives early during an attack in Nigeria on Saturday, and an angry crowd captured another female bomber and lynched her, AFP reported. No one had claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred near a food vendor selling noodles around 9:30 p.m.; however, the incident resembled the type of assault typically used by the Boko Haram terror group. Two girls under the age of 10 had blown themselves up in December in attacks that injured 19. “[Judging] from her corpse the girl was around 10 years old,” witness Grema Usman told AFP of the New Year's Eve bomber. An aid worker said the girl’s age may have made her nervous, causing her to detonate the bomb before she reached the crowd. Borno state police spokesman Victor Isuku said the second female attacker’s bomb was safely detonated by security forces.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/01/pre-teen-nigeria-bomber-detonates-early-second-bomber-lynched.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 10:53:10

The Guardian

HMRC empowered to name and shame tax evasion 'enablers'

Treasury says individuals or corporates who take deliberate action to help others evade paying tax face steep fines

Tax advisers, accountants and lawyers who aid the super-rich with offshore tax evasion will face tough new penalties from New Year’s Day, with HMRC now able to publicly name and shame “enablers”. The Treasury said the government’s new powers would see individuals or corporates who take deliberate action to help others evade paying tax facing fines of up to 100% of the tax they helped evade or £3,000, whichever is highest. The secret life of a tax adviser: it’s not about devising fancy avoidance schemes | Anonymous Read more The new crackdown, first announced by then-chancellor George Osborne in the 2015 budget, will mean HMRC can, for the first time, penalise the facilitators of tax evasion who help to physically move funds abroad or advise on offshore tax saving. Announcing the new penalties, financial secretary to the treasury Jane Ellison said: “Tax evasion is a crime and as a government we have led reform of the international tax system to root it out. Closer to home we are creating a tax system where taxes are fair, competitive and paid. The raft of measures we have introduced to tackle avoidance and evasion will create a level playing field for the vast majority of people and businesses who play fair and pay what is due.” A new corporate criminal offence of failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion will also be introduced this year, with companies held liable if an individual acting on its behalf as an employee or contractor facilitates tax evasion. Previous rules meant a corporate criminal prosecution was only possible if there was proof that the board of directors were aware and involved in facilitating the evasion. The Treasury said HMRC has secured more than £2.5bn specifically from offshore tax evaders since 2010. However, the department was criticised last November after its new specialist tax evasion unit only successfully pursued one criminal prosecution, despite having identified potential evasion and avoidance worth nearly £2bn after examining the tax affairs of 6,500 super-rich individuals. Also coming into force on 1 January is a new requirement to correct past tax evasion, which will see anyone who has failed to correct past evaded taxes by 30 September 2018 hit with tough new penalties. The Treasury said more action was planned in the coming months, including a consultation on a new requirement for businesses and individuals who create complex offshore financial arrangements that bear the hallmarks of enabling tax evasion to notify them to HMRC. May pledged during her leadership campaign that she would pursue companies and individuals who took part in deliberate tax avoidance. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re Amazon, Google or Starbucks: you have a duty to put something back, you have a debt to fellow citizens and you have a responsibility to pay your taxes,” she said.

Jessica Elgot;Prem Sikka

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/01/hmrc-tax-evasion-enablers-fines

LEFT

2017-01-01 11:04:00

Politico

HAPPY 2017 -- 19 days until Inauguration Day -- TRUMP SPEAKS on his way into Mar-a-Lago party -- WEEKEND READS -- MIKE SHIELDS and KATIE WALSH engaged in London -- BRIANNA KEILAR married in Vegas

HAPPY 2017 -- 19 days until Inauguration Day -- TRUMP SPEAKS on his way into Mar-a-Lago party -- WEEKEND READS -- MIKE SHIELDS and KATIE WALSH engaged in London -- BRIANNA KEILAR married in Vegas Driving the Day Happy New Year and welcome to 2017. PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP spoke to the pool Saturday night at his Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve party (which had paying guests). Here is what he said, per pooler S.V. Dáte of the Huffington Post. -- ON U.S. INTELLIGENCE THAT RUSSIA INTERFERED IN THE ELECTION: “Well, I just want them to be sure, because it’s a pretty serious charge, and I want them to be sure. And if you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong. And so I want them to be sure. I think it’s unfair if they don’t know. And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.” Follow-up question -- What do you know that others don’t? “You’ll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.” Story Continued Below -- ON CYBERSECURITY: “It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old fashioned way because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe. I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe. I have a boy who’s ten years old, he can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.” -- WHAT TRUMP WILL ASK AT HIS INTEL BRIEFINGS NEXT WEEK:“We’re talking about normal questions, but everything’s going to work out very well. Hopefully we’re going to have great relationships with many countries, it includes Russia and it includes China.” -- TRUMP’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: “Make America Great Again, OK? I’ll do that one!” Maggie Haberman’s story in the NYT from West Palm Beach http://nyti.ms/2hGyTKw … The menu at Trump’s NYE party http://bit.ly/2hGInFv JUST ASKING… -- Has any president ever so openly doubted U.S. intelligence before? And how many people still use couriers? **SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: http://politi.co/1M75UbX REMINDER -- Tomorrow, Jan. 2, is a national holiday. TRUMP is traveling back to New York this afternoon. OBAMA arrives back in D.C. at 10 a.m. Monday. TOP STORY -- “Manhunt underway after massacre at Istanbul nightclub, officials say,” by WaPo’s Erin Cunningham in Istanbul and Kareem Fahim in Cairo: “Turkish authorities on Sunday were hunting for the lone gunman who opened fire on a New Year’s celebration at one of Istanbul’s most popular nightclubs, killing dozens of people, including a number of foreigners, and wounding scores more ... At least 39 people were killed, and another 70 people wounded, in the latest in a string of attacks that has shaken Turkey as it faces an array of threats both at home and as a result of the ongoing civil war in Syria. Early Sunday, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the attack at the Reina Club, which began with a spray of gunfire around 1 a.m., was carried out by a single assailant, who has not yet been identified. Speaking to reporters outside an Istanbul hospital, Soylu said the attacker changed clothes in order to escape the scene.” http://wapo.st/2hGSegm --NYT/Istanbul: “The target of the attack was the upscale Reina nightclub, in the Ortakoy neighborhood overlooking the Bosporus, which had maintained its popularity with a mostly affluent, cosmopolitan clientele despite a series of terrorist attacks that had severely crimped Turkey’s tourism industry. Popular among professional soccer players and soap opera stars, and with Turks and foreigners, the nightclub is known for its late-night parties and the beautiful view from its terrace. As many as 600 people were estimated to have been in the club … Fifteen of the people killed were foreigners, the Foreign Ministry said. They included five Saudis; three Jordanians; two Lebanese men; two Indians; a Tunisian couple, one of whom was also a French citizen; a teenager from Israel; and a dual citizen of Belgium and Turkey.” http://nyti.ms/2iSXYzs DAILY DONALD -- “Trump kicks biographer off golf course,” by Ken Vogel: “President-elect Donald Trump on Friday ejected from his West Palm Beach golf course one of his most critical biographers, Harry Hurt III, who had been preparing to play in a foursome with billionaire mega-donor David Koch. Hurt is the author of ‘Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump,’ a 1993 book that revealed among other things that Trump was accused of ‘rape’ by his ex-wife Ivana Trump in a sworn deposition during their divorce proceedings. ... On Friday, Hurt approached Trump on the practice tee at Trump International Golf Club, and congratulated him on his victory in last month’s presidential election, according to an account that Hurt posted on Facebook on Saturday. “Trump responded by criticizing Hurt’s biography as untrue, to which Hurt replied ‘It’s all true,’ according to both Hurt’s Facebook post and a transition official who was briefed on the incident ... Trump told Hurt ‘you’re out of here,’ according to the transition official, while Hurt wrote on Facebook that Trump told him it was ‘inappropriate’ for him to play at the club. ... Hurt’s Facebook post says that Trump ‘had his security detail escort Hurt, Koch, and their playing partners to the parking lot,’ and that Koch ‘was appalled,’ and criticized Trump as ‘petty’ and ‘vulgar.’” http://politi.co/2hZ1CrJ ... Hurt’s Facebook post http://bit.ly/2iw3bRj… Hurt’s Trump bio -- $18.95 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2hGNqGb TRUMP INC. – NYT A1, “Trump’s Indonesia Projects, Still Moving Ahead, Create Potential Conflicts,” by Richard C. Paddock in Jakarta and Eric Lipton in DC: “One resort, planned as the largest in Bali, will overlook a spectacular Hindu temple. The other, in the verdant hills of West Java, will adjoin a theme park. The properties will be so luxurious, the Trump Organization says, that even an impressive five-star rating will not do them justice. So it will give them six stars instead. Even as President-elect Donald J. Trump promises to end foreign business deals that could pose conflicts of interest — there will be ‘no new deals’ while he is in office, he has said — his company is moving ahead with two Indonesian projects that illustrate how tricky that pledge might be.” http://nyti.ms/2hGTtvP ****** A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition: Starting as early as February 1, 2017, the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) will raise health insurance premiums even higher. That’s right. Unless Congress takes action now, the HIT will soon return—further driving up premiums. There’s no time to lose. Congress must Stop the HIT. Once and for all. ****** SUNDAY BEST -- SEAN SPICER on “THIS WEEK” with guest-host JONATHAN KARL -- KARL: “OK, I want to move on to the inauguration coming up. You’ve promised, and we’ve heard from Trump talking about a big start to this administration.” SPICER: “Right.” KARL: “What is the one big thing we are going to see after he takes the oath of office?” SPICER: “It’s going to be not one big thing; it’s going to be many big things. On day one he’s going to sign a series of executive orders, do two things, one is repeal a lot of the regulations and actions that have been taken by this administration over the last eight years that have hampered both economic growth and job-creation. And then secondly, do the same on a forward thinking thing. He’s going to start implementing things. … He’s going to institute a lobbying ban, five years. It’s very forward thinking. What we’ve had in the past is people who have looked in the rear view mirror. This time, we’re thinking forward. If you want to serve in a Trump administration, you’re going to serve this country, not yourself. So there’s going to be a five year ban on people going off to be lobbyists, or a lifetime ban on anyone who wants to serve a foreign government.” OBAMA LEGACY – NYT A1, “Obama’s Last Days: Aiding Trump Transition, but Erecting Policy Roadblocks,” by Mike Shear: Obama recently “has banned oil drilling off the Atlantic coast, established new environmental monuments, protected funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, ordered the transfer of detainees from Guantánamo Bay, criticized Israeli settlements and punished Russia for interfering in the recent elections through cyberattacks. ... Mr. Obama is continuing to fill the ranks of the government with his own appointees; since Election Day, he has named 103 people to senior Civil Service jobs, boards, key commissions and oversight panels.” http://nyti.ms/2hGGubR BRIANNA KEILAR IS MARRIED! -- Pool report from Paul Kane, filing from Vegas: “Brianna, CNN’s senior political correspondent and anchor, and Fernando, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Special Forces and current director of Afghanistan for the … National Security Council, were married Friday night in Las Vegas. The ceremony took place in The Gallery at CityCenter, with vows that included Keilar’s pledge to always root for Army over Navy and Lujan’s promise to always take her seriously, not literally. The reception was held next door at the Mandarin Oriental, where Lujan and the groomsmen serenaded Keilar and the bridesmaids backed by a mariachi band. Later, ‘Elvis’ entertained the crowd. “Friends and family danced well past midnight, interspersed with a series of emotional toasts recounting the couple’s initial meeting in 2012 (when Brianna at first tried to set Fernando up with a friend), reconnecting several years later and starting to date, then Lujan conspiring with Keilar’s mother to propose to her, her mother’s passing last May before the engagement and overcoming that sorrow. Kelly Keilar, Brianna’s sister, was maid of honor; David Lozano, who served in the Army with Lujan, was best man. Bridesmaids included Elise Labott, Kristen Welker and Brooke Baldwin. Carol Lee, also a bridesmaid, could not attend because she's covering President Obama's last presidential vacation in Hawaii, but Lee was represented by a life-size cardboard cutout that mingled with the crowd. … Glenn Keilar, in a powerful toast recounting overcoming despair after his wife’s passing, gave a final bit of advice to his daughter and son-in-law on how to have a successful marriage. Always just say two words to one another: ‘Yes, dear.’” Pic by Dana Bash http://bit.ly/2im7LkI SPOTTED: Richard Clarke, Wolf Blitzer and Lynn Greenfield, Michael Glantz and Heidi Skolnik, Spencer Garrett and Dana Bash, John Hughes, James Fletcher, Ron and Sara Bonjean, Erika Masonhall, Angel Burdette, Kenya Daniel, Kyung Lah, Tom Pratt, Jason and Samantha Galui, Valerie and Dean Boyd, Mara Schiavocampo and Tommie Porter, Lyla Kohistany, Thomas and Ericka Sowers, Pallavi Reddy, Billy Laing, Becky Zimmerman, Alex and Ann Gallo, Neilesh Shelat, Christy Abizaid and Jill Murphy, Jay and Sara Shaylor, and Courtney Cooper, who caught the bouquet. Khoshal Sadat, an Afghan Special Forces officer who worked closely with Lujan in Afghanistan in 2011, traveled the farthest to make the wedding. ENGAGED -- On New Year’s Eve in London, former RNC chief of staff and current head of the Congressional Leadership Fund Mike Shields proposed to current RNC chief of staff Katie Walsh. Pool report: “They were in London with their best friends Rob and Cindy Boyd and were having dinner but left early because Mike told her there was a party at 10 Downing Street they were going to stop by. ... As they were getting over there she got caught up on a call with Sara Armstrong (CEO of the Presidential Inaugural Committee) ... and didn’t realize no one else was going through security at 10 Downing. They got inside and the very nice security guards were giving them a little tour and she started to question why no one else seemed to be there. The security guard showed them the staircase from ‘Love Actually’ and then walked them into the cabinet room and closed the door. Then Mike got down on his knee and asked her to marry him. They then headed to the top of The Chard to watch the fireworks with Rob and Cindy and her best friend, Cara Mason, RNC’s finance director, whom Mike had flown over.” Instapic http://bit.ly/2irGNGu (h/t Reince Priebus) PAGE SIX: “Huma Abedin spends holidays with her son in the Hamptons”: “Anthony Weiner apparently didn’t get to spend the holidays with his son and estranged wife, Huma Abedin. Top Hillary Clinton aide Huma and her 4-year-old son with Weiner, Jordan, have been hiding out in the Hamptons over the holidays with her mother, Saleha Mahmood Abedin, and sister, Heba Abedin. On Wednesday, Huma was spotted taking Jordan to see the animated film ‘Sing’ at the 4 p.m. showing in Southampton.” http://pge.sx/2iwbIDV COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP -- No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 1 Alabama. Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. in Tampa. Televised on ESPN. WHAT PHIL MATTINGLY IS BURNING -- COLUMBUS DISPATCH FRONT-PAGE HEADLINE -- “UH, NOT THIS YEAR -- Ohio State falls to Clemson 31-0, ending title hopes” http://politi.co/2hCZYuP Playbook Reads PHOTO DU JOUR: Melania Trump looks on as her husband President-elect Donald Trump talks to reporters during a New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 31 in Palm Beach, Florida. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo WHAT NEW HAMPSHIRE IS READING -- “At Union Leader and Sunday News, one McQuaid succeeds another”: Brendan J. McQuaid of Manchester is the new president of the Union Leader Corp. McQuaid, 37, was named to the top post by the company board of directors. He succeeds his father, Joseph W. McQuaid, who will continue as Publisher, overseeing news and editorial operations.” http://bit.ly/2hCTU5q … Front page for the McQuaid scrapbook http://politi.co/2hH6G7X SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO IS OUT -- “‘WHEN I THINK BACK HOW DID I SURVIVE FOR 24 YEARS ...?’ -- Now, ‘America’s Toughest Sheriff’ is just an average Joe,” by the Arizona Republic’s Megan Cassidy and Michael Kiefer. http://bit.ly/2hCTOuA … A1 spread http://politi.co/2im2MQS CLICKERS – “2016: A very Wuerker year: A look back at 2016’s political cartoons from the desk of Matt Wuerker.” 30 funnies http://politi.co/2is01vl --“16 Photos That Will Change Your View of Washington: The best shots ‘inside the beltway’ in 2016,” by Ruairi Arrieta-Kenna: http://politi.co/2hZ1qc PICKING UP THE PIECES -- “Why the Democrats’ 2017 comeback dream is like nothing we’ve seen before,” by WaPo’s Dave Weigel: http://wapo.st/2iUu8yD GET SMART FAST -- “Putin’s Real Long Game: The world order we know is already over, and Russia is moving fast to grab the advantage. Can Trump figure out the new war in time to win it?” by Molly K. McKew in Politico Magazine: “From Moscow, Vladimir Putin has seized the momentum of this unraveling, exacting critical damage to the underpinnings of the liberal world order in a shockingly short time. As he builds a new system to replace the one we know, attempts by America and its allies to repair the damage have been limited and slow. ... What both [the Obama and incoming Trump] administrations fail to realize is that the West is already at war, whether it wants to be or not. It may not be a war we recognize, but it is a war. This war seeks, at home and abroad, to erode our values, our democracy, and our institutional strength; to dilute our ability to sort fact from fiction, or moral right from wrong; and to convince us to make decisions against our own best interests.” http://politi.co/2hH3qJz MOOD MUSIC -- “Feminism Lost. Now What?” by Susan Chira on the cover of NYT's Sunday Review: “This was supposed to be the year of triumph for American women. ... Instead, for those at the forefront of the women’s movement, there is despair, division and defiance. Hillary Clinton’s loss was feminism’s, too. A man whose behavior toward women is a throwback to pre-feminist days is now setting the tone for the country. The cabinet that Donald J. Trump has nominated includes men — and a few women — with public records hostile to a range of issues at the heart of the women’s movement. A majority of white women voted for him, shattering myths of female solidarity and the belief that demeaning women would make a politician unelectable. More broadly, there is a fear that women’s issues as the movement has defined them — reproductive rights, women’s health, workplace advancement and the fight against sexual harassment, among others — could be trampled or ignored.” http://nyti.ms/2hH3l8N FOR BROOKLYN -- “Losing a Presidential Bid Looks a Lot Like Getting Dumped,” by Gillian Brassil in POLITICO Magazine: “Here’s how other losing presidential contenders have muddled through the worst breakup of their lives. 1. Retreating to the woods ... 2. Growing a beard ... 3. Making a big show of how much more fun you’re having now ... 4. Retail therapy ... 5. More retail therapy ... 6. Going on solo drives ... 7. Indulging in guilty pleasures ... 8. Eating the pain away ... 9. Taking to the skies ... 10. NOT wandering the streets ... 11. Spending time in the great outdoors ... 12. Stockholm syndrome a.k.a. ‘Let’s stay friends’ ... 13. Pursuing new hobbies.” With 13 pix on one page: http://politi.co/2iw0zTK USED NEWS – NYT, yesterday, “Kitty Dukakis, a Beneficiary of Electroshock Therapy, Emerges as Its Evangelist” http://nyti.ms/2iDK2dv ... POLITICO Magazine, Sept. 3, 2015, “Michael Dukakis’ Final Campaign: Can he and Kitty lift the stigma from the electric shock treatment that saved her life?” by Jen Haberkorn. http://politi.co/2iSSZyO BEYOND THE BELTWAY – “Republicans embrace Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rebirth,” by Lauren Gardner in Mobile, Alabama: “A decade after Hurricane Katrina wiped out a long stretch of Amtrak’s transcontinental passenger route in the Deep South, the railroad is plotting to bring it back. And it’s attracted a seemingly unlikely group of cheerleaders: red-state Republicans. For Amtrak, extending the City of New Orleans line from Louisiana to Orlando, Fla., is a chance to demonstrate that its traditionally money-losing long-distance routes deserve Congress’ investment. It could also mark a shift in some Republicans’ attitudes toward Amtrak, after decades of GOP leaders in Washington trying to slash the passenger rail’s funding and force it to dump unprofitable routes. Now local and state Republican leaders along the Gulf Coast are promoting a revived Amtrak route as a tool for commerce and jobs.” http://politi.co/2iUDdaV FRENCH ELECTION UPDATE -- “Le Pen borrows from father’s company to fund presidential campaign: Loan highlights ties at a time when National Front is trying to carve fresh image,” by FT’s Michael Stothard in Paris: “Marine Le Pen will borrow €6m from a company owned by her father to fund her campaign for the French presidency this year, after the leader of the far-right National Front failed to secure financing from traditional banks. Florian Philippot, the deputy head of the party, told Europe 1 radio on Sunday that the money would come from a group called Cotelec, which is owned by Jean-Marie Le Pen, and was being taken because ‘the French banks refuse to finance us.’” http://on.ft.com/2iDSpWf BUSINESS BURST – NYT Sunday Business cover, “Deutsche Bank Flew and Fell. Some Paid a High Price,” by Landon Thomas Jr.: “In 2005, Deutsche Bank, then a powerhouse in the selling of risky derivatives on a global scale, was minting money. To mark the moment, the bank’s profit engine — its global markets division — commissioned a book about itself. ... In the view of one senior executive, it all came down to masterly salesmanship by a single man, Anshu Jain, the chief promoter of the bank’s hottest product: risk. ‘The size just kept mounting and mounting,’ this person marveled in a passage in the book, referring to the growing demand for some of Deutsche’s raciest fare. And it was Mr. Jain, the bank’s eventual leader, who ‘dramatically accelerated that delivery of complex structures to the broader client base.’ Today, these words read more like an epitaph than a commemoration.” http://nyti.ms/2hH2llb ****** A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition: Starting as early as February 1, 2017, small businesses, seniors and hardworking families will start feeling the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) once again. That’s right. Unless Congress takes action now, the HIT will return -- further driving up premiums for small businesses, seniors and hard-working families. There’s no time to lose. Congress must Stop the HIT. Once and for all. ****** YOWZA -- “Mariah Carey’s New Year’s Eve Nightmare in Times Square,” by NYT’s Pat Healy: “Mariah Carey suffered through a performance train wreck in Times Square on New Year’s Eve as technical malfunctions left her at a loss vocally during her hit song ‘Emotions,’ struggling to reach notes and to sync the lyrics and music. The trouble continued when she gave up on another of her best-known numbers, ‘We Belong Together,’ while a prerecording of the song continued to play, a confirmation that she had been lip-syncing. It was a rare meltdown on national television by one of the top-selling recording artists of all time. Ms. Carey, a pop phenomenon in the 1990s who won five Grammys out of 34 nominations over the years, was the final pre-midnight act on ABC’s ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest’ She had just finished ‘Auld Lang Syne’ when her star turn began to spiral out of control. “‘We can’t hear,’ she said in the opening seconds of ‘Emotions’ after she sashayed down the stage before more than 1 million people gathered to watch the ball drop in Manhattan. Standing still with her left hand on her hip while music played, Ms. Carey told the audience that there had not been a proper sound check before her performance. Then she said, ‘We’ll just sing,’ and noted proudly of her song, ‘It went to No. 1.’ But she could not manage the notes that followed, and she either forgot lyrics or did not want to deliver a subpar performance. ‘We’re missing some of these vocals, but it is what it is,’ she said. ‘Let the audience sing.’ ABC quickly cut to shots of the Times Square crowd as Ms. Carey tried to perform some of her choreography. She continued suggesting fixes from the stage, and at one point seemed to defend herself. ‘I’m trying to be a good sport here,’ she said. When the number ended, the crowd cheered her on. ‘That was —’ she said, pausing for effect, ‘amazing.’” http://nyti.ms/2hCMbV8 … Video http://bit.ly/2iDT4Hp HOLLYWOODLAND – “KKK Leaders Allege Producers Paid Them to Fake Scenes in Canceled A&E Documentary,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Nate Thayer: “Some KKK leaders divulged that they were paid hundreds of dollars in cash each day of filming to compel them on camera to distort the facts of their lives to fit the documentary’s predetermined narrative: tension between Klan members and relatives of theirs who wanted to get out of the Klan. ... The KKK leaders who were interviewed by Variety detailed how they were wooed with promises the program would capture the truth about life in the organization; encouraged not to file taxes on cash payments for agreeing to participate in the filming; presented with pre-scripted fictional story scenarios; instructed what to say on camera; asked to misrepresent their actual identities, motivations and relationships with others, and re-enacted camera shoots repeatedly until the production team was satisfied.” http://bit.ly/2im0aCD BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from New Orleans: --“The Most Powerful Men in the World,” by Masha Gessen in the NY Review of Books: “Trump and Putin ... lack a concept of the future. In Putin’s version of the clash of civilizations, we have only a threatening Western present versus an imaginary Eurasian past. In Trump’s case, the threatening present is global while the alluring past is American.” http://bit.ly/2hxOitn --“The Economist bids farewell to a formative home: Goodbye 25 St James’s Street” – The Economist cross-posted on Medium: “From the upper floors of the Economist tower, we are surrounded by buildings only half as high. ... Perhaps our height also [gave] us greater confidence in handing down Olympian judgments on world affairs.” http://bit.ly/2hxUtNR (h/t TheBrowser.com) --“He auctioned off the pistol that killed Trayvon Martin. She watched her child die in a mass shooting. Can they change each other’s minds about guns?” by Lisa Miller in NY Mag: http://nym.ag/2hvu4nh (h/t Longreads.com) --“How Donald Trump Beat Palm Beach Society and Won the Fight for Mar-a-Lago,” by Mark Seal in the February Vanity Fair: “From the moment Donald Trump set eyes on Mar-a-Lago, the grand palace of old Palm Beach, he was on a collision course with one of the richest and most insular towns in America. Mark Seal chronicles how the president-elect created his ‘Winter White House’ with brash ploys, lawsuits, and by turning Palm Beach’s exclusivity against it.” http://bit.ly/2igNV8h --“Inside an ISIS Bunker,” by The Daily Beast’s Kim Dozier in Baa’shiqa, Irag: “Booby-trapped houses above. A city strewn with bombs ahead. And below, a network of tunnels fit for a terror army.” http://thebea.st/2hGLld6 --“Anthony Bourdain on Sichuan Peppers, Sex, Eating Dogs, and Political Correctness,” by Alexander Bisley in Reason magazine: “Bourdain talked about how Sichuan peppers are like sex, whether animal-rights activists have any sense of humor, and how the ‘utter contempt with which privileged Eastern liberals such as myself discuss red-state, gun-country, working-class America as ridiculous and morons and rubes’ is a problem.” http://bit.ly/2iT56fl --“Is Putin’s Master Plan Only Beginning?” by Vanity Fair’s Henry Porter: “With three consequential European elections occurring in 2017, the former K.G.B. officer has more potential to undermine free societies than he could have ever fathomed during his Cold War days.” http://bit.ly/2igSHmp --“Mr. Comey Goes To Washington,” by Chris Smith in NYMag’s Oct. 20, 2003 issue: “Just as his terrorism and corporate-corruption cases here are heating up, United States Attorney James Comey is heading south to become John Ashcroft’s deputy. What’s a nice, nonpartisan prosecutor going to do in a Justice Department like that?” http://nym.ag/2i0CkKu --“A Sportscaster’s Secret Mission To Save Jewish Family At The ‘Nazi’ Olympics,” by Karen Given on WBUR’s “Only a Game”: http://wbur.fm/2iaQieK (h/t Jewish Insider) --“Steve Dunleavy: The Writer They Call Mr. Blood and Guts,” by Chet Flippo in the April 19, 1979 Rolling Stone: “A profile of the [N.Y.] ‘Post’ newspaperman whose crime coverage in 1970s New York made headlines.” http://rol.st/2ioj1cX --“Doing Her Quiet Thing,” by Michelle Koufopoulos in Longreads: “Concerned that she’s a ‘bad victim,’ a writer is silent about being raped—until she isn’t.” http://bit.ly/2hB3R4g --“Jihadists in Paradise,” by Mark Bowden in The Atlantic’s March 2007 issue: “A kidnapping at a Philippine resort triggered a yearlong hunt for pirate terrorists and their American hostages. A behind-the-scenes tale of intrigue, spycraft, and betrayal.” http://theatln.tc/2hmwMwK --“Land of the Free? This Firsthand Report From the Emmett Till Murder Trial Is Chilling to Read Today,” by Dan Wakefield in the Oct. 1, 1955 issue of The Nation: “The crowds are gone and this Delta town is back to its silent, solid life that is based on cotton and the proposition that a whole race of men was created to pick it.” http://bit.ly/2i1gUgj --“Polymath at large: revisiting the travels of Andrew Solomon,” by Erica Wagner in The New Statesman: “Solomon’s gifts are so wide-ranging it can be hard not to believe he comes from an earlier century.” http://bit.ly/2hD8wGU (h/t ALDaily.com) --“The Crazy Story of the Professor Who Came to Stay—and Wouldn’t Leave,” by Ian Gordon in Mother Jones: “It’s not easy to evict someone in California. Usually that's a good thing.” http://bit.ly/2imtFCu (h/t Longform.org) --“The Objectification of Birthing Bodies,” by Sarah Scullin in Eidolon: “While ‘general’ medicine has been faster to shed the vestiges of the Greco-Roman humoral medicine that dominated Europe and its colonies for roughly 2500 years, the branches that focus on lady parts ... and their workings ... reflect outdated and needlessly gendered ideas about the workings of the female body.” http://bit.ly/2i1lGdA Playbookers TRUMP FAMILY NYE PICS -- @IvankaTrump: “2016 has been one of the most eventful and exciting years of my life. I wish you peace, joy, love and laughter. Happy New Year! #NYE” http://bit.ly/2iV09Xy … @EricTrump: “New Year’s wouldn’t be New Year’s without @TheSlyStallone … #GreatAmerican” http://bit.ly/2hH45uR … @DonaldJTrumpJr: “Happy new year everyone. #newyear #family #vacation #familytime” http://bit.ly/2irNWGQ SPOTTED: Jonathan and Betsy Martin at Antoine’s in New Orleans last night in a private room at Walter and Cathy Isaacson’s annual New Year’s Eve dinner (Walter was spotted earlier in the afternoon on the balcony of his New Orleans house working on his upcoming Leonardo da Vinci biography) ... Troy Aikman at Cafe Milano last night at an early NYE dinner ... Matt Boyle celebrating Trump’s win yesterday at Disney World ... Bluebonnet CEO and GOP fundraiser Caroline Wren and CLS Strategies’ and former America Rising VP Dan Knight enjoying foie gras and bubbles in Paris last night. Pic http://bit.ly/2iSMFaC OUT AND ABOUT -- British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Kim Darroch, and his wife, Vanessa, with their children Georgina and Simon, hosted a New Year’s Eve party at the residence, complete with Scotch bar and roaring fireplace. With music from the Rolling Stones to George Michael provided by DJ Ben Chang, revelers toasted the new year to the chiming of Big Ben and singing of Auld Lang Syne. Pics -- the crowd singing Auld http://bit.ly/2hGDf4e ... The fireplace http://bit.ly/2iUCnLd ... The gingerbread house model of official British residence http://bit.ly/2hH67Ll SPOTTED: David Rennie and Nina Potts, Gen. David Petraeus, Kellyanne and George Conway, Steve Clemons and Andrew Oros, Liz Sherwood-Randall, Mike Hammer and Margret Bjorgulfsdottir, Jeffrey Goldberg and Pamela Reeves, Marc Grossman, David Sanger, Andrea Mitchell and Alan Greenspan, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Fred Hiatt, Ben Rhodes and Ann Norris, Ashley Chang, Amanda Downes, Eric Pelofsky and Joyce Pasion, Phil Gordon, Bill Burns, Melanne Verveer, Michael and Beth Hoare, Susannah and Matt Goshko. WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Wells Griffith and his wife, Catherine Bray Griffith, welcomed their first child last Friday. Wells Hamilton Griffith was born 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Both mom and baby are doing well. Big Wells, currently on the President-Elect’s transition team, most recently served as battleground states director for the Trump campaign. He previously served as deputy chief of staff to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. Pic http://bit.ly/2im80fC WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Nate Williams, a field representative for Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Morgan Darlington, a former Daines/Bozeman field representative, were married Saturday night in Bozeman at the Baxter Hotel. This is the second Daines staff wedding. Pic http://bit.ly/2hGBhkB --“Lauren Pully, Dylan Graham” – Times: “Ms. Pulley, 27, ... is a consultant in Manhattan for McKinsey & Company, the management consulting firm. She was until November a mobile app developer at the Clinton campaign headquarters in Brooklyn. She graduated from Columbia and received an M.B.A. from M.I.T. ... Mr. Graham, 28, is a senior software developer in Hoboken, N.J., for Jet.com, a commerce website that was recently acquired by Walmart. He graduated from Cornell. ... The couple met at a mutual friend’s birthday party in Manhattan in February 2012.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2hGyg3F LAST NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION -- From loyal Playbooker Ben Chang: “Send more postcards.” BIRTHDAYS: Rick Perry alum Rob Johnson, founder of Johnson Strategies ... Daniel Arrigg Koh, COS to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh ... Politico’s Kara Kearns ... Politico alum Tomer Ovadia, who’s enrolling this February in the App Academy ... James Glassman, chairman and CEO at Public Affairs Engagement and a Bush Presidential Center and State alum, is 7-0, celebrating with a brunch for about 40 close friends and family at the Hay-Adams (h/ts daughter Kate Glassman Bennett and Tim Burger) ... Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is 63 (h/t Robb Watters) ... IMF chief Christine Lagarde is 61 ... former N.J. Sen. and Gov. Jon Corzine is 7-0 … former Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) is 95 ... Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is 63 ... Rep.-elect Val Demings (D-Fla.) is 6-0 ... Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) is 52 ... former Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) is 52 ... former Rep. Martin Frost (D-Tex.) is 75 ... Stephanie Penn, press secretary for Sen. McConnell ... Katie Lee, an Ed Markey and Juliette Kayyem alum ... Kevin McGrann, AVP for federal relations at AT&T and a Boehner alum ... Nirmal Mankani ... WaPo’s Brady Dennis ... Daniel Bonner of the Paul E. Singer Foundation is 27 ... Ronald Perelman, the 36th richest American (per Forbes), businessman and philanthropist, is 74 ... Gail Golden Icahn, founder of Gutsy Women Travel, a company that arranges luxury trips for women who are traveling overseas alone, and the wife of Carl Icahn, is 64 (h/ts Jewish Insider) ... Brightfind’s Jeremy Bates ... Ted Bridis, AP’s editor of its Pulitzer-winning investigative team ... J.D. Bryant, VP and digital advertising director at 270 Strategies and an OFA alum ... … Todd Webster, VP of Cornerstone Government Affairs and Coons, Daschle and Murray alum (h/ts Jon Haber and Jonathan Kott) … Politico Europe’s Giulia Chiatante ... Ken Toltz, founder of Safe Campus Colorado … Hannah Schwartz and Michael Kelly, both former deputy press secretaries for Tim Kaine Senate campaign ... Bush 43 WH alum Meagan Vargas ... Margot Friedman, principal at Dupont Circle Communications ... Hugh Delehanty ... Alison Howard, director of alliance relations at Alliance Defending Freedom ... Kate Beale Maguire, deputy assistant administrator for LatAm and the Caribbean at USAID and a Hillary, Gillibrand and USAID alum ... Brian Frederick, COS at the ALS Association and an alum of Sports Fans Coalition and Media Matters, is 41 ... Caroline Buck of Brown Harris Stevens ... Yama Noori ... Jennifer Hall ... James Donnelly, owner of DC political/policy job bank DistrictDaybook.com ... Esther Haluts ... Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, now part of Everytown for Gun Safety (h/t birthday boy Ken Toltz) ... Remy White ... C-SPAN’s Nicole Ninh ... Jim Flynt ... Kay Wood ... Sally Slater, VP at Bliss Integrated Communication ... Uber’s Andrew Greene is 27 ... Josh Nanberg, president at Ampersand Strategies and an AIPAC alum, is 43 ... Abdul Qayyum Khosa ... Max Richtman ... Najam Kunjahi ... Jay Kahn ... Junaid Khan ... Jennifer Hall ... Paul Ullman … Tony Esoldo (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … Walt Gorski ... Nizar Latif Al-Babli ... Frank Langella is 79 ... Elin Nordegren is 37 (h/ts AP) ****** A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition: Starting as early as February 1, 2017, small businesses, seniors and hardworking families will start feeling the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) once again. That’s right. Unless Congress takes action now, the HIT will return -- further driving up premiums for small businesses, seniors and hard-working families. There’s no time to lose. Congress must Stop the HIT. Once and for all. ****** SUBSCRIBE to the Playbook family: POLITICO Playbook http://politi.co/1M75UbX ... New York Playbook http://politi.co/1ON8bqW … Florida Playbook http://politi.co/1OypFe9 ... New Jersey Playbook http://politi.co/1HLKltF ... Massachusetts Playbook http://politi.co/1Nhtq5v … Illinois Playbook http://politi.co/1N7u5sb ... California Playbook http://politi.co/2bLvcPl ... Brussels Playbook http://politi.co/1FZeLcw ... All our political and policy tipsheets http://politi.co/1M75UbX

Jake Sherman;Anna Palmer;Daniel Lippman

www.politico.com

http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/playbook/2017/01/happy-2017-19-days-until-inauguration-day-trump-speaks-on-his-way-into-mar-a-lago-party-weekend-reads-mike-shields-and-katie-walsh-engaged-in-london-brianna-keilar-married-in-vegas-218023

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 11:07:01

Breitbart

100 Earthquakes Hit Near California-Mexico Border on New Year's Eve

The California Institute of Technology is reporting approximately 100 earthquakes were detected near the California-Mexico border on New Year's Eve.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The California Institute of Technology is reporting approximately 100 earthquakes were detected near the California-Mexico border on New Year’s Eve. The quakes were centered about Brawley, CA, “which is about 125 miles east of San Diego and 20 miles north of the border.” SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER According to ABC 7, the largest of the quakes was about 3.9 magnitude. They report that scientists say larger quakes in the region are possible and “the shaking may continue for several days.” The outbreak of quakes occurred over 30 miles from the San Andreas Fault and is not expected to cause any large scale quakes. The @ABC7 Quake Cam registered 1 of the more than 100 earthquakes that hit during the swarm near Brawley https://t.co/cUagUkWYBj pic.twitter.com/3HEK58PlUu — ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 1, 2017 Seismologist Lucy Jones says there was an outbreak of quakes in the same area in 2012, and that the 2012 outbreak was much larger in magnitude. Map of today’s quakes (pink) with quakes in much bigger 2012 swarm. From Caltech pic.twitter.com/UfUFapwxTe — Dr. Lucy Jones (@DrLucyJones) January 1, 2017 AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected]

Awr Hawkins

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/01/01/100-earthquakes-near-border-california-mexico-new-years-eve/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 11:23:34

Breitbart

Transgender Reaassignment Surgery Under Obamacare Blocked Nationwide

The Texas AG won a nationwide preliminary injunction to block a new Obamacare mandate requiring taxpayers to fund transgender reassignment surgeries and abortions.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The Texas Attorney General won a nationwide preliminary injunction to block a new Obamacare mandate requiring taxpayers to fund transgender reassignment surgeries and abortions. The new rule which defines “sex” as a state of mind was scheduled to take effect January 1, 2017. On Saturday, a federal district court judge granted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to stop the Obama administration’s new federal health rules that would force the Employees Retirement System of Texas to amend its insurance coverage to provide for gender reassignment and abortion. There are 500,000 employees that participate in the coverage. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER In July, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services implemented a new rule that defined the term “sex” in the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) to include a state of mind, not a biological fact. A statement released by the Texas Attorney General on Sunday says that “The Obama administration is attempting to redefine the law so that the term ‘sex’ means one’s ‘internal sense of gender which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female,’ even though the president lacks the authority to rewrite the law.” When Congress enacted the law for Obamacare, it used the term “sex” as a biological category. Paxton says that the impact of the new rule on the state and health care workers is huge because it forces doctors and medical workers to provide sex transition services and it may be against their medical judgment or religious beliefs to do so. The AG says that if a health care doctor or worker chose to refer a patient to another medical provider, they would be in violation of the new rule unilaterally implemented by the Obama Administration. Paxton says “This runs roughshod over laws in Texas and other states that protect the independent medical judgment of doctors, which ensures the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship.” “This striking example of federal overreach under Obamacare would force many doctors, hospitals and other health care providers in Texas to participate in sex-reassignment surgeries and treatments, even if it violates their best medical judgment or their religious beliefs,” Attorney General Paxton said. “I will always fight to protect the constitutional rights of Texans.” The move to define sex in this manner is consistent with the Obama Administration’s “gender fluidity” mandate, as reported by Breitbart Texas, that school and school districts must allow students to use bathroom and shower facilities consistent with the gender that they identify with on a particular day. If school officials did not comply with the federal government’s directive, they risk losing federal funding. Texas leads a 13-state coalition against the Obama Administration’s transgender public school restrooms directive. As reported by Breitbart Texas in mid-October, the federal judge ruled that a preliminary injunction against the Obama transgender school bathroom mandate applies nationwide. Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2. Nationwide Injunction on Obamacare Requiring Taxpayers to Fund Transgender Reassignment Surgery by lanashadwick on Scribd

Lana Shadwick

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/01/01/ag-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 11:25:02

Breitbart

Former Chicago Police Chief Blames Black Lives Matter for Rise in Violent Crime

Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on Sunday blamed the Black Lives Matter movement for the uptick in violent crime in this country.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on Sunday blamed the Black Lives Matter movement for the uptick in violent crime in this country. During an interview with John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York, McCarthy blamed anti-police brutality protests in Baltimore, Ferguson, and Charlotte for creating a “political atmosphere of anti-police sentiment,” according to the Hill. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “So what’s happening, and this is ironic, is that a movement with the goal of saving black lives at this point is getting black lives taken, because 80 percent of our murder victims here in Chicago are male blacks,” McCarthy said. “Less than half of 1 percent of all the shootings in this city involve police officers shooting civilians.” McCarthy was fired last year over the controversy caused by a fatal police-involved shooting in October 2014 of a black 17-year-old named Laquan McDonald. Dashcam video footage released a year later showed that Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shot McDonald more than a dozen times, eventually killing him as he tried to walk away from the officers, NBC 5 Chicago reported. The officer was charged with first-degree murder, and there was a public outcry that McCarthy resign. McCarthy admitted it was a “bad shooting” and that the officer in that incident should be punished, but also said that this anti-police brutality sentiment is “hamstringing” law enforcement. McCarthy said that he is “hopeful” that President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, will do more for police than the justice department under President Obama. “I think the Trump election quite frankly is a reaction to that,” he said. “I think the people are tired of career politicians who’ve never really had a job telling us how we should think and how we should act.”

Katherine Rodriguez

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/01/former-chicago-police-chief-blames-black-lives-matter-rise-violent-crime/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 11:30:36

Breitbart

Fake News: WaPo's Erik Wemple Vindicates Breitbart After Publishing Unverified Claim

Fake News: WaPo's Erik Wemple Vindicates Breitbart After Publishing Unverified Claim

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Washington Post writer Erik Wemple has updated his fake news story to indicate that Breitbart News was not the source of a false food stamps fraud report made on-air by Fox and Friends co-host Abby Huntsman. “Breitbart notes correctly that its recent story on food stamps didn’t address fraud,” reads an updated version of Wemple’s Post article. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER You’ll recall, Huntsman corrected an earlier report in which she said that “$70 million were wasted on food stamp fraud.” Huntsman’s on-air correction was purportedly demanded by a USDA spokesperson, who had implied that Breitbart News was the source for the fake food stamps fraud figure. “We are not quite sure where this came from,” the USDA spokesperson said, according to Wemple. “We saw that there was as story on Breitbart.” Sure, there was a food stamps story on Breitbart News about the growth in overall food stamp use during President Barack Obama’s two terms. But that article never mentioned fraud in the food stamps program. Wemple failed to make that fact clear. Wemple’s correction came only after several left-wing journalists took to Twitter to smear Breitbart News for peddling “sham journalism.” After publishing his fact-challenged article, which included an unconfirmed rumor from a government agency to attack Breitbart, Wemple tweeted the article to his 22,000 Twitter followers. Fox News runs incorrect correction of food stamp story, then corrects correction: https://t.co/ldlLid6KQF — ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) December 30, 2016 “Updated to note that the Breitbart piece didn’t address food-stamp fraud.” an editor’s note reads. Many of the left-wing journalists who bashed Breitbart for spreading fake news have deleted their tweets, with just a few admitting their fault. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson

Jerome Hudson

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/01/01/fake-news-wapo-writer-vindicates-breitbart-publishing-unverified-claim/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 11:34:46

Breitbart

Son of Former Democratic VP Nominee Geraldine Ferraro Is Pardoned for 1988 Cocaine Conviction

The governor of Vermont has pardoned the son of former Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro almost 30 years after he was convicted of selling cocaine to an undercover officer while in college, the Daily Mail reported.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The governor of Vermont has pardoned the son of former Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro almost 30 years after he was convicted of selling cocaine to an undercover officer while in college, the Daily Mail reported. John Zaccaro Jr. was a Middlebury College student when he was arrested in 1986 for selling $25 worth of cocaine to an undercover state police officer. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER He was convicted in 1988 and sentenced to four months in jail. Zaccaro was placed in a house arrest program where inmates paid for their living arrangements and served 90 days of his sentence “in a luxury $1,500 a month Burlington apartment,” UPI reported in 1988. Zaccaro’s defense attorney argued that it was a case of entrapment because the officer claimed she was a student and lured him, People reported in 1988. Ferraro accused prosecutors of unfairly targeting her son because of her high-profile position as the 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee. Outgoing Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin pardoned Zaccaro and nine others Saturday. “I believe in second chances, and I believe we as a society will continue to move towards a more sensible approach to drug addiction and criminal justice,” Shumlin said in a statement. “As governor, I am honored to be able help people move past their mistakes and help relieve what can essentially amount to a life-sentence of burden and stigma.” Zaccaro currently is Principal of P. Zaccaro Company Inc., a real estate investment and management firm, and lives in New York City with his wife and three children.

Katherine Rodriguez

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/01/son-former-democratic-vp-nominee-geraldine-ferraro-pardoned-1988-cocaine-conviction/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 11:35:25

Reuters

Israeli woman killed in Istanbul nightclub attack: Israeli Foreign Ministry

An Israeli woman was among the dead in an Istanbul nightclub attack that killed at least 39 people, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli woman was among the dead in an Istanbul nightclub attack that killed at least 39 people, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. She was identified as Leanne Nasser, 19. Israeli media reports said she had been at the club with three friends from her home village of Tira in central Israel, one of whom was wounded in the shooting attack. In a statement at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We saw over the weekend ... another deadly attack in Turkey. We send condolences to the families of those who were murdered and best wishes for recovery to the wounded."

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-attack-israel-idUSKBN14L0Z8

CENTER

2017-01-01 11:38:19

Breitbart

More than Half of Forbes' 40 Under 40 Live in Bay Area

Over half of the people who made it onto Forbes' list of "America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40" live in California's Bay Area.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Over half of the people who made it onto Forbes‘ list of “America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40,” released in early December, live in California’s Bay Area. Of the 40 people selected, 25 of them live in San Francisco or Silicon Valley, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 32, who tops the list with a net worth of $50 billion. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Other Bay Area millionaires and billionaires include individuals who earned their wealth from startups and platforms like Airbnb, Snapchat, Instagram, Dropbox, Pinterest, Stripe, and Dropbox. The San Francisco Chronicle points out: …although many of the occupants of Forbes’ roundup are right here in the area, neither the youngest to land on the list, 24-year-old Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey, nor the oldest, Mayweather, live here. Rather, the Bay-based millionaires and billionaires in the running are largely founders of well-established investment companies, social media networks, and tech-based financial services. Forbes notes that 26-year-old president of Irish technology company Stipe, John Collison, is the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. He is two months younger than Snapchat cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel, who is also 26. Further, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, 28, and Snapchat cofounder Bobby Murphy, 28, are reportedly the only other self-made billionaires in the world under the age of 30. Others who made the list include — in chronological order based on wealth — basketball player and venture capitalist Kobe Bryant, 38; actress and the Honest Company’s Jessica Alba, 35; boxer and entrepreneur Floyd Mayweather, 39; entertainer and Parkwood Entertainment founder Beyoncé Knowles, 35; and basketball player LeBron James, 32. Six of the people listed had made at least some of, their wealth from Facebook. Forbes notes that in order to be be eligible for this list, individuals had to be under age 40 as of December 12, “reside in the U.S. and substantially have made their own fortunes in this country.” Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz

Adelle Nazarian

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/01/01/more-than-half-of-forbes-40-under-40-live-in-bay-area/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 11:42:00

Politico

Rep. Schiff: Congress will push for Russia sanctions if Trump undoes Obama's action

There is "bipartisan support in Congress for stronger sanctions against Russia," he says.

"We don't think that frankly the steps that have been taken are enough of a deterrent," Rep. Adam Schiff said. | AP Photo Rep. Schiff: Congress will push for Russia sanctions if Trump undoes Obama's action California Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that there will be a stronger push for sanctions against Russia if Donald Trump moves to undo them. "The direction is going to be even more vigorous, I'm convinced, in favor of stronger sanctions against Russia," he said. "You're going to see Democrats and Republicans like McCain and Graham and others come together with a strong sanction package." Story Continued Below Speaking on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Schiff said not enough has been done to Russia following their hacking of the U.S. presidential election, adding that there is "bipartisan support in Congress for stronger sanctions against Russia." President Barack Obama last week imposed sanctions and expelled 35 Russian diplomats in response to Russia’s hacking of the U.S. elections. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, stated he wouldn’t retaliate yet. On Sunday, incoming Press Secretary Sean Spicer questioned Obama’s response against Russia. “I think one of the questions that we have is why the magnitude of this? I mean you look at 35 people being expelled, two sites being closed down, the question is, is that response in proportion to the actions taken? Maybe it was; maybe it wasn't but you have to think about that,” Spicer said on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Schiff said that if the Trump Administration was smart, they would view Obama's sanctions as reprisals that "didn't really throw off relations with Russia," but added that Congress won't see it that way. "Frankly though, in Congress we don't share that view. We think that more has to be done," Schiff said. "We don't think that frankly the steps that have been taken are enough of a deterrent. You’re going to see bipartisan support in Congress for stronger sanctions against Russia.”

Rebecca Morin

www.politico.com

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-russia-sanctions-adam-schiff-233096

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 11:45:51

Fox News

Hundreds flee fighting near Syria's capital despite truce

Hundreds of civilians fled a mountainous region outside the Syrian capital on Sunday, where government forces were battling several insurgent groups, including an al-Qaida-linked outfit excluded from a recent nationwide cease-fire.

Hundreds of civilians fled a mountainous region outside the Syrian capital on Sunday, where government forces were battling several insurgent groups, including an al-Qaida-linked outfit excluded from a recent nationwide cease-fire. The Syrian military said some 1,300 people fled the Barada Valley region since Saturday. The region has been the target of days of airstrikes and shelling despite the truce, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey and appears to be holding in other parts of the country, despite some reports of fighting. The truce went into effect early Friday, and the government and the opposition are expected to meet for talks in Kazakhstan later this month. Russia, a key military ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Turkey, a leading sponsor of the rebels, are acting as guarantors of the agreement, which excludes the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front and the Islamic State group. On Saturday, The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end the nearly six-year conflict in Syria and jump-start peace negotiations. The military said those fleeing Barada Valley were relocated to safer areas and their names were registered by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the opposition's Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said there were buses in the region ready to evacuate civilians but could not confirm how many people had left. He said the Barada Valley region is not part of the cease-fire because of the presence of Fatah al-Sham Front, formerly known as the Nusra Front. The Barada Valley Media Center said Lebanese Hezbollah militants were firing on villages and towns in the water-rich region as Russian and government aircraft carried out raids for the 10th consecutive day Saturday. The Lebanese militant group has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to bolster Assad's forces. The Barada Valley is the primary source of water for the capital and its surrounding region. The government assault has coincided with a severe water shortage in Damascus since Dec. 22. Images from the valley's Media Center indicate its Ain al-Fijeh spring and water processing facility have been destroyed in airstrikes. The government says rebels spoiled the water source with diesel fuel, forcing it to cut supplies to the capital. The Observatory and the Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective, meanwhile reported government airstrikes on rebel-held villages near the northern city of Aleppo, which was recently returned to full government control. State news agency SANA said two suicide attackers blew themselves up in the coastal city of Tartus, killing two security officers who had stopped them shortly after midnight, as residents were celebrating New Year's Day. A news website close to Iran's Revolutionary Guard meanwhile said Gen. Gholam Ali Gholizadeh, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, was killed fighting in Syria. It did not provide further details. Iran is also closely allied with Assad.

www.foxnews.com

https://www.foxnews.com/world/hundreds-flee-fighting-near-syrias-capital-despite-truce

RIGHT

2017-01-01 11:47:25

CBS News

Famed Hollywood sign in Los Angeles vandalized to "Hollyweed"

California recently approved recreational marijuana use​ in a ballot initiative

HOLLYWOOD — Someone has managed to modify the famed Hollywood sign to read “Hollyweed.” The sign was visibly changed and captured on cameras as of Sunday morning, reports CBS Los Angeles. The incident did not mark the first time the sign has been targeted in a possible prank or act of vandalism. Danny Finegood, who passed away in 2007, was made famous by changing the sign to “Hollyweed” on Jan. 1, 1976, in celebration of the state’s then-more relaxed marijuana laws taking effect. (He also once changed the sign to read “Ollywood” in 1987 in protest of Col. Oliver North and the Iran-Contra affair, as well as making the sign read “Oil War” in 1990 to protest the first Gulf War.) California voters recently approved recreational marijuana use in a ballot initiative, joining six other states and the Distrcit of Columbia in allowing the drug’s non-medical use.

www.cbsnews.com

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/famed-hollywood-sign-los-angeles-vandalized-hollyweed/

CENTER

2017-01-01 11:59:13

Reuters

Citizens of several Arab nations among Istanbul attack victims: minister

Nationals of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon and Libya were among those killed in a gun attack at a packed nightclub in Istanbul on Sunday, Turkish Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency as saying.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Nationals of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon and Libya were among those killed in a gun attack at a packed nightclub in Istanbul on Sunday, Turkish Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency as saying. At least 39 people, many of them foreigners, were killed in the attack, in which the gunman opened fire at random in the Reina nightclub just over an hour into the new year.

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-attack-victims-idUSKBN14L10P

CENTER

2017-01-01 12:00:00

The Wall Street Journal

Re-Energized Dollar Looms Over the Rest of the World

On Wall Street, the rising dollar has been one of the most visible signals of growing optimism in the U.S. economy. For many other countries, it spells trouble.

On Wall Street, the rising dollar has been one of the most visible signals of growing optimism in the U.S. economy. For many other countries, it spells trouble. Most analysts expect the U.S. currency to strengthen in 2017, extending a gain that has boosted the value of the dollar by more than one-third since the U.S. credit downgrade in 2011. That expectation is mostly because a strengthening economy appears likely to enable...

Ira Iosebashvili

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/re-energized-dollar-looms-over-the-rest-of-the-world-1483272003

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 12:00:00

The Guardian

Texas looks set to follow North Carolina with push for 'bathroom bill'

Lieutenant governor Dan Patrick is proposing what critics see as an attack on transgender people and business leaders call unnecessary and unenforceable

Lieutenant governor Dan Patrick is proposing what critics see as an attack on transgender people and business leaders call unnecessary and unenforceable The passage of a “bathroom bill” last March sparked a maelstrom with severe political, economic and cultural consequences for North Carolina that continued through the end of 2016. Yet Texas is poised to propose a similar law in 2017. Texas federal judge halts Obama protection of transgender health rights Read more In November, one of the state’s most senior politicians published his top 10 priorities for the next legislative session. A “Women’s Privacy Act” was at number six, right after banning immigration “sanctuary cities” and insisting on photo ID at the ballot box. The act, said lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, is necessary so that “women and girls” can have “privacy and safety in their restrooms, showers and locker rooms”. When filed, the bill is likely to turn national attention to Texas in the wake of North Carolina legislators’ failure to repeal their bill during a special session on 21 December. Patrick issued a statement the following day congratulating them. The so-called bathroom bill in North Carolina includes a provision that requires people to use public bathrooms that match the gender on their birth certificate. Critics have described it as a thinly veiled attack on the transgender community under the guise of protecting public safety. Patrick hasn’t released his own proposed bill, but has said it would allow businesses to create their own bathroom policies. Despite the demonstrable negative consequences in states that have passed laws that undermine LGBTQ equality, the coming months will indicate whether the ascent of Donald Trump to the White House is emboldening religious conservatives to press for more such bills after a series of gains for gay and transgender people at the federal level under the Obama administration. A federal court ruling Saturday may further embolden these efforts. A Texas judge temporarily halted Obama administration rules that are intended to ban discrimination by doctors and hospitals against transgender persons. Joining Texas in the suit were Wisconsin, Kentucky, Nebraska and Kansas. In August, the same judge sided with 13 Republican-controlled states to block transgender protections in public schools sought by the Obama administration. ‘Something that should be avoided’ Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters rally against HB2 in Raleigh, North Carolina in April. Photograph: Chuck Liddy/AP So-called “religious freedom” provisions similar to those that caused controversy in Indiana in 2015 are also set to be aired in the Texas statehouse next year. “I certainly believe that logically thinking people would look to North Carolina and look to Indiana,” said Chuck Smith, chief executive of Equality Texas, an LGBTQ advocacy group. North Carolina 'bathroom bill' blocking LGBT protections unlikely to see repeal Read more Such people would see, he said, “the economic consequences that were experienced in those states as a result of filing discriminatory legislation, and a logically thinking person would come to the conclusion that that is something that should be avoided in the state of Texas.” The state’s chamber of commerce, the Texas Association of Business (TAB), reached that view. It has produced a 23-page report warning of dire economic consequences if the state follows North Carolina’s path by pursuing a policy that would harm tourism, alienate employers and dissuade talented millennials from staying in or moving to Texas. “If you just look at North Carolina and Indiana and put that over a Texas-sized footprint of our economy, it could be up to $8.5bn and 185,000 jobs lost, it is very dramatic,” said Chris Wallace, the association’s president. “We want to remain one of the top states in which to do business, so why would we want to do anything to risk any of that, by legislation that’s really unnecessary and unenforceable? “The question of how you would enforce people going into the right bathroom…What, so you have to take your birth certificate? It gets really tricky. “We’ve got too many core issues that we need to be worried about in this state – education, transportation, water, many more. Economic development, keeping us strong. We don’t need these types of issues to overshadow our core agenda items.” Att a Texas Tribune event in November, Joe Straus, the speaker of the Texas house of representatives, said he had other, more urgent concerns than the bathroom bill. Patrick, though, appears unmoved. In a statement earlier this month his office called the TAB report “misinformation and fear-mongering regarding a bill they haven’t even seen”. It also defended the proposal as a way to “assure that sexual predators, like those who exploit the internet, will not be able to freely enter women’s restrooms, locker rooms or showers, and that businesses are not forced by local ordinances to allow men in women’s restrooms and locker rooms”. Patrick’s spokesperson did not return a Guardian request for comment. ‘We have a friend in the White House’ Sexual assault in any location is, of course, already illegal, while there is no evidence that non-discrimination laws have resulted in increased rates of sexual assault. By contrast, LGBTQ advocates argue that violence and bias against transgender people is a very real problem exacerbated by prejudicial laws. North Carolina’s HB2 was signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican who lost his bid for re-election in November. The backlash saw sports events and concerts cancelled and businesses scrapping investment plans. Patrick, 66, was a radio talkshow host perhaps best-known for getting an on-air vasectomy until he was elected as lieutenant governor in 2014 on a platform of stopping the “invasion” of undocumented immigrants. He was the Texas state chairman for the Trump presidential campaign. “Starting in 2017, we will have a friend in the White House who was clearly elected because the people of this country believe in the conservative principles that have guided the way we govern in Texas,” Patrick said in November. Smith, of Equality Texas, said that Texas’s conservative politicians telegraphed their intentions to introduce more anti-equality legislation long before Trump’s victory. “I believe we have seen a heightened sense of concern about the possibility of favourable policies being rolled back on a federal level,” he said. “At the state level we already saw the threats that were lying ahead and those haven’t really changed.” The US supreme court legalised same-sex marriage nationwide in June 2015. That major victory for gay rights appears to have inspired a pushback by conservative Republicans in states. Mexico's gay couples fight backlash against same-sex marriage Read more According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 200 “anti-LGBTQ bills” were introduced across the country in 2016 sessions – most failing to pass – and more than 111 million people live in states without clear state-level protections against LGBTQ workplace discrimination. Smith is also concerned that 2017 will see Texas legislators press for “religious freedom” laws that would, for example, exempt Christian retailers who believe homosexuality is a sin from providing services for gay weddings. So far there are a handful of Texas bills which advocates consider anti-LGBTQ that have been filed amid the usual slew of pro-gun, pro-God, anti-undocumented immigrant, anti-abortion and anti-federal government proposals up for discussion when the legislative session starts in January. One would eliminate local non-discrimination ordinances if they have protections that go beyond state law – reminiscent of HB2. Another calls on the state not to enforce federal laws that the Texas legislature deems to violate the state constitution – which since 2005 has defined marriage as between a man and a woman. A high-profile revision of the law on a parent’s right to know information about their child has raised fears that it could force teachers to out students.

Tom Dart

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/01/texas-bathroom-bill-lgbt

LEFT

2017-01-01 12:00:00

The Wall Street Journal

China’s Delicate Balancing Act

Chinese officials need to tread carefully in the coming months to tighten monetary conditions, curb risky investment practices and keep the yuan from depreciating too far while keeping China’s economy healthy.

China is embarking on a financial high-wire act. At the top of regulators’ agenda in China for 2017 is a campaign to wean the nation’s sprawling financial system off of cheap borrowing and rising credit levels. Years of easy money have helped fuel growth, but also have sparked a worrisome surge in asset prices and other financial risks. The latest target is the $9 trillion bond market, where the central bank has been gradually...

Rachel Rosenthal;Rachel.Rosenthal Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-delicate-balancing-act-1483272010

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 12:00:00

The Wall Street Journal

Trump Ally Poised to Bring Populist Note to New York Mayoral Race

Bo Dietl, a private investigator and television personality who supported Donald Trump for president, plans to seek the Democratic mayoral nomination in New York City against incumbent Bill de Blasio.

Private investigator Bo Dietl has declared he will run for New York City mayor in 2017. Photo: Liliana Llamas/The Wall Street Journal New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has already planned to frame his 2017 re-election campaign partly as a fight against a Donald Trump White House. But with private eye Bo Dietl throwing his hat in the ring for mayor, Mr. de Blasio may get a taste of Trumpism in his own backyard. One of five declared candidates for the Democratic nomination,...

Mike Vilensky;Mike.Vilensky Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ally-poised-to-bring-populist-note-to-new-york-mayoral-race-1483272001

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 12:00:00

The Wall Street Journal

Republicans Take Control Facing Internal Tensions

The all-Republican leadership takes power in Washington in January with many common goals—but with different time frames and political constraints that suggest they may not always be in sync.

WASHINGTON—The capital’s all-Republican leadership takes power this month with many common goals—but with different time frames and political constraints that suggest they may not always be in sync. The morning after the GOP won the House, Senate and White House on Election Day, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cautioned Republicans against reading their sweep as license to push through a strictly partisan agenda. ...

Kristina Peterson;Kristina.Peterson Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-take-control-facing-internal-tensions-1483272004

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 12:02:00

Fox News

Vandal changes iconic LA sign to 'Hollyweed'

The iconic “Hollywood” sign got a New Year’s Day makeover from an unknown vandal who used a black tarp to transform the letters into a message celebrating marijuana.

The iconic “Hollywood” sign got a New Year’s Day makeover from an unknown vandal who used a black tarp to transform the letters into a message celebrating marijuana. Multiple social media images showed the new “Hollyweed” sign on Mount Lee overlooking Los Angeles. One of the black tarps appeared to have an image of a peace symbol and the other a heart. So this happened last night...and it's still there on the live streams! https://t.co/rE31BGf0n8 #Hollyweed pic.twitter.com/8OlD5rCxWp — Matt Amys (@mattamys) January 1, 2017 Cops have surveillance video of the suspect, TMZ reported. California in November passed a measure legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Though the Prop 64 vote may have been an impetus to change the sign, it wouldn’t be the first time someone has taken to the hills to alter the letters in honor of cannabis. A vandal also changed the sign to read “Hollyweed” on New Year’s Day 1976, TMZ reported.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/01/vandal-changes-iconic-la-sign-to-hollyweed.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 12:24:22

Breitbart

10-Year-Old Girl Used as Human Bomb in Nigeria Attack

A 10-year-old girl used as suicide bomber detonated an explosive and killed herself in a New Year's Eve attack in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A 10-year-old girl used as suicide bomber detonated an explosive and killed herself in a New Year’s Eve attack in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Although no group or individual has said they are responsible for the attack, using women and little girls is consistent with the tactics of the ISIS-affiliated group Boko Haram. The little girl blew herself up around 9:30 p.m. after she went into a market where people were gathered buying noodles from a food vendor. Only one person was seriously hurt but it was reported that the little girl “died instantly,” according to Yahoo News. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “The girl was clearly not more than 10 and this could have made her too nervous, making her to detonate the explosives prematurely,” the aid worker told Yahoo News. The news outlet reported that there was a second female suicide bomber which was “caught and lynched” by an angry mob. Security officials safely detonated the bomb. As reported by Breitbart News on December 12th, a suicide bomb attack, believed to be from Boko Haram, involved two girls who were 7- or 8-years-of-age. The explosion killed one person and injured 17 others at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria. “They got out of a rickshaw and walked right in front of me without showing the slightest sign of emotion,” said militia member Abdulkarim Jabo about the Boko Haram bombing, according to Sky News. Another bombing at a crowded market in Madagali, Nigeria, reported December 9th killed 30 to 45 people. Social media posts said female suicide bombers were to blame, as reported by UPI and Breitbart News. In February, Breitbart News reported that two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in northeastern Nigeria. The attack in the city of Dikwa killed approximately 65 people and wounded 150. Authorities said that Boko Haram was responsible for the murders. Breitbart News reported in March that a young girl in Nigeria was found with bombs strapped to her body. The little girl, estimated to be between nine and 12 years old said she was one of the 300 girls kidnapped from Chibok, Nigeria, two years ago. Law enforcement officials confirmed that the young girl was lying. In May, the Nigerian military thwarted suicide bombings that planned to use four Boko Haram female suicide bombers. Soldiers disarmed and arrested two women, one of which was holding a baby. Approximately 40-60 worshippers at a mosque in northeastern Nigeria were killed in October 2015 by three female suicide bombers. They were also believed to have been sent by the terrorist group Boko Haram. Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.

Lana Shadwick

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/01/01/10-year-old-girl-used-human-bomb-nigeria-attack/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 12:33:00

The Wall Street Journal

U.K. Leader Theresa May Seeks Unity Across Brexit Divide

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May urged unity after what she called a divisive Brexit referendum, and pledged to consider the interests of those who voted to remain in the European Union as she prepares to formally launch exit negotiations with Brussels.

LONDON—U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May urged unity after what she called a divisive Brexit referendum, and pledged to consider the interests of those who voted to remain in the European Union as she prepares to formally launch exit negotiations with Brussels. Mrs. May’s took a conciliatory tone in her New Year message, amid concerns Britain is headed for a so-called “hard” Brexit, in which the country leaves the EU’s tariff-free...

Wiktor Szary;Wiktor.Szary Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-leader-theresa-may-seeks-unity-across-brexit-divide-1483274024

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 12:36:53

The Guardian

Why the UK economy could fare better in 2017 than forecasters predict

From house prices to exports, there are reasons to be cheerful this year despite concerns over Brexit negotiations

New Year: a time for resolutions, detox diets and predictions. But after the year forecasters had in 2016, who would be brazen enough to predict how 2017 will pan out? Where most economists went wrong last year – including the likes of the Bank of England and International Monetary Fund – was in predicting a sharp slowdown in the event of a vote for Brexit. George Osborne, for example, made the misjudged warning that a vote to leave the EU was a vote for recession. The early data could be revised, but it suggests that far from grinding to a halt, the economy continued to grow in the months following the referendum. Consumers kept spending, house prices rose and businesses continued to win new contracts at home and abroad. There are plenty of signs the economic pain has been delayed rather than averted. Inflation is picking up as a weak pound raises import costs. Cracks are showing in the jobs market and wages will soon struggle to keep pace with inflation. Business and consumer confidence have waned. And Brexit negotiations haven’t even begun. There are other threats beyond Brexit. Elections in the eurozone may bring turmoil to the bloc if support rises for anti-establishment nationalists. In the US, Donald Trump moves into the White House in less than three weeks and there is a risk he may start a trade war with China that could have global consequences. Yet there are still reasons to hope that 2017, like 2016, will not turn out as bad as the doomsayers predict. Surely, one lesson from last year is that when forecasters accentuate the negative they risk missing the positives altogether. So to start the new year on an upbeat note, here are a few reasons to be cheerful in 2017. The economy will keep growing The UK economy remains unbalanced, with an over-reliance on consumer spending, but it chalked up respectable growth in 2016. Expansion will most likely slow in 2017, but the UK should avoid recession. The services sector’s fortunes will depend largely on how hard inflation hits consumer spending. Manufacturing and construction face a tough year as uncertainty and higher costs bite. But tourism and exports should be helped by a weak pound and there has been no exodus of foreign firms from Britain yet. Productivity is back in the spotlight After years of the UK lagging other big economies on productivity, ministers have vowed to sort out economic efficiency and the chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced a £23bn productivity fund in his autumn statement. It will not go very far but it is a start. The government push could be complemented by the private sector if the adversity and higher costs sparked by the Brexit vote force firms to improve their productivity. With a slowdown in immigration and a rise in the minimum wage coming, employers will need to look beyond cheap labour to maintain their profit margins. Ideally, that means investing more in good management, training and technology. Wages for the lowest paid will rise Inflation will squeeze average take-home pay in 2017, but for the lowest paid there is some good news as the “national living wage” – the minimum wage for over-25s – will rise in April from £7.20 to £7.50 an hour. That is still below what anti-poverty campaigners say should be the real living wage needed to meet everyday costs. The voluntary living wage is £9.75 in London and £8.45 elsewhere as set by the Living Wage Foundation. It reckons a fifth of UK workers are still not paid enough. But the good news is 3,000 employers have joined the voluntary scheme, including almost a third of the FTSE 100. Gender pay gap rules come into force There is still a 9.4% gap in average pay between male and female full-time employees. But companies will come under pressure to address the discrepancies when new rules come into force in April requiring large employers to report their gender pay and gender bonus gaps. More funding for apprenticeships Another change for employers this year is the apprenticeship levy, a tax on businesses designed to fund more work-based training schemes. It is high time young people in the UK are given more routes into decent careers and expanding apprenticeships could help tackle skills shortages in sectors such as construction. But employer groups have voiced legitimate concerns that the government risks going after quantity and not quality with its target of 3m apprenticeships by 2020. There are warnings the levy may prompt unscrupulous employers to rebadge existing jobs as apprenticeships to meet training targets and recoup the costs of the charge. Faint hopes for first-time buyers There was no house price crash after the referendum, but growth eased, dampened by Brexit-related uncertainty and stamp duty changes. The market is expected to slow further in 2017 and some forecasters predict prices could fall. That outlook will bring homeowners out in cold sweats but for anyone who has been trying to get on the housing ladder, a moderation in prices is long overdue. There is also a slither of hope that a government drive to address the UK’s housing shortage could help first-time buyers. Still, given past experience of unfulfilled housebuilding promises, they should not hold their breath, and the uncertain economic outlook may make builders nervous about taking on big projects. The weak pound will help exporters There is little sign of it yet, but in theory the weak pound should help UK exports by making them cheaper in overseas markets. If the government wants UK businesses to capitalise on the drop in sterling it will need to give them more support to crack new markets such as one-to-one mentoring and funding to attend trade fairs. Interest rates will stay low The Bank of England faces a trade-off between supporting growth and jobs on the one hand and keeping inflation in check on the other. The Bank has said there are limits to how far it will tolerate rising inflation but most of the signals suggest that under Mark Carney it is more worried about jobs. So it is bad news if you are saver, but for businesses and mortgage holders, 2017 will see continued support from rates staying at, or close to, their all-time low of 0.25%. Calls for government help will grow louder The Bank stepped in with a package of post-referendum support for the economy, but the government has been more hands off. Carney and other central bankers around the world have repeatedly urged politicians to do their share of the heavy lifting to bolster their economies with spending on infrastructure and structural reforms. If Hammond’s maiden autumn statement was anything to go by, he is not ready to pick up the baton. Far from abandoning Osborne’s austerity drive, the new chancellor merely pared it back and he remains fixated on cutting the deficit. Yet, there are growing signs that voters here and abroad are fed up with the status quo and as inflation starts to erode UK living standards, Theresa May’s government will come under more pressure to deliver her promise of an economy “that works for everyone”. She and her cabinet will ignore people’s frustrations at their peril.

Katie Allen

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/01/uk-economy-will-fare-better-in-2017-than-forecasters-predict

LEFT

2017-01-01 13:00:01

The Guardian

Here are 7 ways you can keep fighting for justice in 2017

It’s reasonable to just want to hibernate for the next four years. But that won’t help make things better

We just ended the worst year. Now starts, well: the worst worst year. Those of us appalled and terrified by the election of Donald Trump and the open rise of white supremacy in America ended 2016 exhausted and disillusioned. Now we enter 2017 in full knowledge that this year will probably be no better. No matter how much we’d like to hide in our homes for the next four years, we know that we cannot do that. We must fight for equality and justice. But the question is: how? What action can we take in the aftermath of such a heartbreaking defeat? As we start this new year, here are some resolutions for resistance. Check your sources Yes, we are really living in a dystopian future where we can’t be sure of what is true and what isn’t. A sensational story cross your eye? Yes, it may well be accurate. But it could also be made up by a teenager in a basement in Milwaukee, because we apparently live in a horrible world these days. Check the links on all articles to verify that those links actually back up what the original article is saying with source material. No links? Try to find a more reliable source to back up the story. No luck? Then do not share that story. Write down the name of that publication and avoid them in the future. Check the “about us” page of unfamiliar sites: is there actual staff? A lot of fake news sites will try to avoid criticism by calling themselves “satire” (note: the Onion is satire; fake news sites are really trying to trick you). Other red flags: website names that are close but not quite the same as established and reputable news sites, lack of dates on articles, lack of author name on articles, anonymous sources that can’t be verified (ex: “a friend said”, “someone at the scene said”, “our sources say”). Diversify your news The internet gives us a plethora of potential news sources. But we can still find ourselves consuming a dozen versions of the exact same viewpoint and convincing ourselves that we are well-informed. When I was an undergrad political science student, I had an international relations professor who not only required that we read three separate and very different papers each day, but that we read the local, national, international and economic sections of each. Then she would discuss a topic that had appeared in the papers and would test our ability to separate facts from the multiple interpretations given across the papers. This exercise taught me how widely the truth can be shaped and stretched, and how there can indeed be multiple truths for very important issues, depending on viewpoint. It’s a lesson I try not to forget. Try to diversify not only the subject matter you read, but the ideology of the publishers and the identities of the writers. Put your money where your mouth is Make this the year that your money does the talking. Upset about the housing crisis in your area? Donate to a shelter. Believe in abortion rights? Donate to Planned Parenthood. Believe in small business? Shop local. Believe in equal opportunity? Support minority-owned businesses. And don’t put your money into the businesses and banks that profit off the oppression of others or the destruction of the environment. Pay attention to local politics Guess what? There will be an election in 2017, and in 2018, and, well – you get the point. Local elections are where your vote counts the most and local votes are some of the most important votes you can make. What happens in your town can affect what happens in your county, then your state, your region and, ultimately, in the nation. School levies, minimum wages, city council elections – these votes have a real and almost immediate impact on your life and the lives of your community. Don’t give that power away. Stay informed about what is happening locally. And vote. Decentralize whiteness Just about every aspect of western culture centralizes whiteness. Our history, infrastructure, medical system, justice system, education system, entertainment industry – and yes, our social justice organizations – all do this. Whiteness is default, it’s ubiquitous and it’s insidious. We don’t have to purposefully center whiteness. When we neglect to decentralize it, it will be automatically centered. So work to decentralize whiteness: in your children’s school lessons, in your PTA meetings, in your office meetings, in your city council meetings, in the film and TV you watch, in the music you listen to, in the leaders you support. If you do not decentralize whiteness in your movements for progress, you will leave people of color behind. And what kind of progress is that? Understand your privilege Just about all of us have some privilege, and it is very important for us to be aware and to be willing to name that privilege. Your privilege is where you have the most power. Your privilege is the little piece of an oppressive system that you own and can therefore change. For example, I am not disabled – this is a major area of privilege for me. I’m very glad that I know this, because, when I am asked to speak on diversity panels, I can ask if there will also be disabled speakers, ramps and sign language interpreters. My privilege means that I’m asked to speak at more panels than disabled people are. My voice is in the room while disabled voices are not: being aware of that keeps me aware of my power to help change that. If I refused to recognize that privilege (and there was a time where I would have let guilt or just fear of confrontation keep me from doing so) I would simply remain a part of an oppressive system, even while claiming to work for liberation. Remember what you’re fighting for It is very easy to become hyper-focused on what we’re fighting against – neo-Nazis, Islamophobia, racism, sexism. But nothing is a better and more important motivator than what we are fighting for. We are fighting for our communities, for our families, for our future. What keeps you in the battle? Keep that close to your heart and let it be the light that guides your way.

Ijeoma Oluo

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/01/how-to-keep-fighting-for-justice-in-2017

LEFT

2017-01-01 13:00:01

The Guardian

From Kamala Harris to the Dallas Cowboys: people to watch in 2017

TV networks are pursuing Megyn Kelly, Keith Ellison is seeking to lead the Democratic National Committee, and for Lorde, ‘the party is about to start’

2016 taught us that very little is predictable. But there are a few people worth watching next year, in the likely chance that they’ll have a major role in shaping 2017. Here are the people to keep your eye on, in politics, the arts, media, and sports. Keith Ellison Facebook Twitter Pinterest Keith Ellison is hoping to chair the Democratic National Committee. Photograph: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/AP Ellison is one of the new hopes for the Democratic party – or at least for its progressive wing. A former community organizer who serves as a congressman for Minnesota, Ellison has been backed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee. Although one of only two Muslims in Congress, Ellison has pledged to resign his seat in Congress if elected as DNC chair. As party chair he would attempt to hew the Democratic party to the left, focusing on grassroots organizing to “build the party from the bottom up”. He would work towards Sanders-esque proposals on taxing the wealthy and corporations, and on immigration reform, in the hope of tempting back Democratic voters in the 2018 mid-term elections. The DNC will meet over the weekend of February 24-26 to vote for their choice. Ellison is not a shoo-in, however; other names mentioned for the chair include Labor secretary Tom Perez, seen as a more moderate choice, and South Carolina Democratic party chairman Jaime Harrison. Steve Bannon Facebook Twitter Pinterest Steve Bannon has the ear of the next president. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP The former executive chairman of unofficial Trump fan club Breitbart News will spend 2017 firmly embedded in the White House and is one of the few people who has the ear of the president-elect. Bannon – who is currently being portrayed as the grim reaper on Saturday Night Live – will serve as Trump’s chief strategist and senior counselor, which is a made-up position but one likely to give him significant power. During the presidential campaign Bannon was said to be the one advisor who could talk forcefully to Trump – a rare position and one that means he may be able to hold Trump to some of the right-wing, populist promises that won him the election. Megyn Kelly Facebook Twitter Pinterest Megyn Kelly has reportedly been offered $20m a year to stay at Fox News. Photograph: Victoria Will/AP Trump’s antagoniser-in-chief ended 2016 by releasing a book, Settle for More, for which she was paid up to $10m, and she is likely to have an even more lucrative 2017. Her contract with Fox News expires in July, and she has reportedly been offered $20m a year to stay. Kelly is also apparently being pursued by ABC, NBC and CNN, although they might not offer her quite as much money. Fox News is one of the few broadcasters, newspapers and news websites that Donald Trump does not actively criticize, so the right-wing channel is likely to be his first port of call for interviews. That means that Kelly – despite not being Trump’s favourite Fox News journalist (see: the Republican primary debates) – would have a rare opportunity to hold the president to account. If she decides to stay. Kamala Harris Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kamala Harris is the first Indian woman and the first black woman to be elected to the US senate. Photograph: Andrew Toth/Getty Images California’s senator-elect hasn’t taken office yet, but she is already being touted as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2020. Harris, whose mother is Indian American and father is Jamaican, is the first Indian woman and first black woman to be elected to the Senate. She will serve on the homeland security and governmental affairs committee and the select committee on intelligence, which could provide important checks on Donald Trump. Seen as a progressive, Harris was endorsed by the outgoing senator for California, Barbara Boxer, and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren in her Senate run. She hasn’t commented on the presidential speculation. But Barack Obama was another Democrat who endorsed Harris in 2016 – and running for president as a first term senator seemed to work out for him. Dallas Cowboys Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (21) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown. Photograph: Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports The Dallas Cowboys have only lost two games so far and have looked to be one of the better teams in the NFL all season. They’ve been propelled towards that record by two rookies: the quarterback, Dak Prescott, and running back, Ezekiel Elliott. Prescott, 23, was only the 135th pick in the draft, and few would have expected him to get much game time. But after the Cowboys’ veteran quarterback Tony Romo broke a vertebrae in pre-season Prescott became first choice, and promptly broke Tom Brady’s record for most consecutive passes thrown without an interception at the beginning of a career. His performances throughout the season have left some NFL commentators wondering if he might be the best rookie quarterback of all time. Meanwhile Elliot, 21, broke the Cowboys’ 39-year-old rookie record for rushing yards this season and has a chance to become the most successful rookie running back in NFL history. If Prescott and Elliott can keep up their form in the playoffs then the Cowboys could win their first Super Bowl since 1995. Elaine Welteroth Facebook Twitter Pinterest Elaine Welteroth was the youngest Condé Nast editor-in-chief in history. Photograph: Lewis/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock This year was huge for Elaine Welteroth, who in May was appointed editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue at just 29. That made her the youngest Condé Nast editor-in-chief in history, and only the second African American to hold such a job. Immediately, Welteroth, along with digital editorial director Phillip Pacardi, upped the magazine’s political and social issues coverage, focusing on the election, LGBT, race and feminist issues. Teen Vogue had more females of color as cover stars than any other fashion magazine this year. And Welteroth has been the face of it all, regularly appearing on panels, in interviews or even as herself on the show Black-ish. Over 77,000 people follow her jet-setting life on Instagram. After publishing around a dozen stories a day in 2015, her team now publishes 50 to 70 daily. But Welteroth will face the challenges of a tough media business in 2017. Last month Condé Nast announced the magazine is getting cut back from a monthly to a quarterly, starting in Spring 2017, with a more collectible print edition and a digital focus. Issa Rae Facebook Twitter Pinterest Issa Rae created one of 2016’s most critically successful TV shows. Photograph: Pari Dukovic/HBO Actress, writer and producer Issa Rae created Insecure, one of 2016’s most praised TV shows. Insecure began airing on HBO in October, putting black women and black female friendships front and center, and mixing microaggressions from working in an all-white work place with conversational Drake lyrics. The show has other big names on board: Larry Wilmore is an executive producer, Solange is a music consultant, Melina Matsoukas (director of Beyonce’s Formation) is a director and executive producer. Rae, 31, first shot to fame as a YouTube star, with her 2011 web series Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl. Her production company, which also includes ColorCreative.TV, offers opportunities specifically for women and minority writers. In 2017, she’s up for a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy, will be writing and shooting season two of Insecure, and will serve as executive producer on a new comedy show by her production company called Minimum Wage, the story of five employees at a fast food restaurant in LA’s Koreatown. Lorde Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lorde is finishing her second album. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella It’s been a couple of quiet years for the New Zealander who landed a US number one hit in 2013 when she was just 16 with Royals. Lorde (real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor) won a stack of awards, including two Grammys and became part of Taylor Swift’s squad, but has released no new music since 2014. Now she’s 20 and is just finishing off her sophomore album. “The party is about to start. I am about to show you the new world,” wrote Lorde on Facebook about the new album, explaining that was all about her growing up and learning how to be an adult. Jack Antonoff of Bleachers fame is helping produce it. This month Antonoff and Lorde sung a cover of Robyn’s Hang with Me for a Christmas fundraiser for the LGBT charity The Ally Coalition, in New York, a reminder of Lorde’s strong, ethereal pipes. The new album is expected spring 2017.

Adam Gabbatt;Amber Jamieson

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/01/people-to-watch-2017-kamala-harris-dallas-cowboys-issa-rae

LEFT

2017-01-01 13:00:26

Fox News

Danish politician Henning Christophersen dies at age 77

Henning Christophersen, a former vice president of the European Union's executive commission who previously was a senior government member in Denmark, has died.

Henning Christophersen, a former vice president of the European Union's executive commission who previously was a senior government member in Denmark, has died. He was 77. Senior EU official Jens Nymand Christensen, a close friend, told Danish media that Christophersen died Saturday in a Brussels hospital. Christophersen headed Denmark's ruling Liberal Party for six years until 1984, when Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen joined the party that he now leads. Loekke Rasmussen called him "the reason that politics became my fate." Christophersen was the country's foreign and finance minister from 1979-1982. As vice president of the EU Commission between 1985 and 1995, Christophersen was in charge of budget, economic and financial affairs. Nymand Christensen says Christophersen died surrounded by family at the hospital where he was admitted early in December.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/01/danish-politician-henning-christophersen-dies-at-age-77.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 13:12:00

The Wall Street Journal

Turkish Police Hunt for Gunman in Istanbul Nightclub Terror Attack

Turkish police were searching for a gunman who opened fire in a popular Istanbul nightclub in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing at least 39 people in the latest attack to rock a nation battling terrorism on multiple fronts.

Turkish police were searching for a gunman who opened fire in an Istanbul nightclub popular with international jet-setters in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing at least 39 people and wounding dozens of others in the latest attack to rock a nation battling terrorism on multiple fronts. The lone attacker sprayed bullets into a crowd of revelers who had come from across the Middle East and elsewhere to celebrate at the Reina, a...

Emre Peker;Emre.Peker Dowjones.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkish-authorities-hunt-for-gunman-in-istanbul-nightclub-terror-attack-1483276354

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 13:14:31

The Guardian

Jean-Claude Juncker blocked EU curbs on tax avoidance, cables show

Leaked papers reveal that as Luxembourg’s PM, the European commission president obstructed the bloc’s tax reforms efforts

The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, spent years in his previous role as Luxembourg’s prime minister secretly blocking EU efforts to tackle tax avoidance by multinational corporations, leaked documents reveal. Years’ worth of confidential German diplomatic cables provide a candid account of Luxembourg’s obstructive manoeuvres inside one of Brussels’ most secretive committees. The code of conduct group on business taxation was set up almost 19 years ago to prevent member states from being played off against one another by increasingly powerful multinational businesses, eager to shift profits across borders and avoid tax. Little has been known until now about the workings of the committee, which has been meeting since 1998, after member states agreed a code of conduct on tax policies and pledged not to engage in “harmful competition” with one another. However, the leaked cables reveal how a small handful of countries have used their seats on the committee to frustrate concerted EU action and protect their own tax regimes. Efforts by a majority of member states to curb aggressive tax planning and to rein in predatory tax policies were regularly delayed, diluted or derailed by the actions of a few of the EU’s smallest members, frequently led by Luxembourg. Luxembourg tax files: how tiny state rubber-stamped tax avoidance on an industrial scale Read more The leaked papers, shared with the Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists by the German radio group NDR, are highly embarrassing for Juncker, who served as Luxembourg’s prime minister from 1995 until the end of 2013. During that period he also acted as finance and treasury minister, taking a close interest in tax policy. Despite having a population of just 560,000, Luxembourg was able to resist widely supported EU tax reforms, its dissenting voice often backed only by that of the Netherlands. Among proposals popular in the code of conduct committee but opposed by Luxembourg were: • Plans for tax authorities in each member state to subject their dealings with multinational businesses to peer review. • An investigation into cross-border tax avoidance strategies, known as “hybrid mismatches”, often used by multinationals to conjure up artificial tax savings. • Improved information sharing between member states on tax deals granted to multinationals in private. A spokesperson for Luxembourg’s finance ministry refused to comment on the positions previous governments had taken in private EU discussions. “We have no knowledge of the communications you claim to have, and whether they are genuine, and therefore cannot comment on them,” he said. The spokesperson added: “In recent years Luxembourg has been at the forefront of the global trend towards greater transparency in tax matters and the fight against harmful tax competition.” The Guardian spoke to another former member of the code of conduct committee, who did not want to be named but corroborated claims in the leaked cables that Luxembourg was regularly among those looking to frustrate EU efforts to tackle tax avoidance. Jean-Claude Juncker: I will lead EU campaign against tax avoidance Read more The source said the committee was no longer fit for purpose. They said it was unable to achieve much because it was governed by unanimity. “Each country is ready to block any agreement. Moreover, each country stands ready to bargain its position on tax against any other topic at stake in the EU,” they said. Some tax experts contacted by the Guardian confirmed that Luxembourg had begun to move away from certain aggressive tax policies under the current prime minister, Xavier Bettel. However, the leaked cables suggest the country has remained resistant to other changes. In 2016 it fiercely opposed efforts supported by many countries to strengthen and expand the code of conduct committee’s work. Luxembourg particularly objected to a relaxation of the committee’s own rules on decision making, insisting there was no need to abandon the unanimity requirement. France, Germany and Sweden argued unsuccessfully that removing unanimity had become essential to the committee’s effectiveness. Luxembourg also opposed plans to identify member states that were standing in the way of reforms more clearly. One leaked cable noted: “It has become abundantly clear once again that a majority [of members states] are not interested in real reform. In particular, Luxembourg representatives said they would fundamentally object to any proposal to publish arguments made by Luxembourg in the committee.” A later cable read: “It is impressive to see how some member states present themselves outwardly as proponents of [international tax reforms] and at the same time to watch how they actually behave in EU discussions, protected by confidentiality.” The Guardian contacted Juncker’s office for comment. A spokesperson said it was not for the European commission to respond to questions about negotiating positions Luxembourg had taken, or about the country’s past tax policies. Damaging revelations Jean-Claude Juncker’s record as Luxembourg’s prime minister has cast an enduring shadow over his presidency of the European commission. On paper, his marathon 18-year stint at the helm of the EU’s second smallest member state might be hailed a triumph. He recast the fading steel-based economy into a booming hub for international business, and when he departed in 2013 Luxembourg had been transformed into one of the richest countries in the world per capita. Hundreds of the multinational corporations rushed to channel international profits through subsidiaries in the country, among them McDonald’s, Fiat, Amazon, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Skype. The secret to this success was exposed in 2014 when the Luxleaks scandal revealed the terms hidden within hundreds of private deals, known as “tax rulings”, that Luxembourg had handed out to multinational businesses behind closed doors. The rulings effectively rubber-stamped complex tax structures that global corporations used to access ultra-low tax rates, often less than 1%, for profits shifted to Luxembourg. Juncker conceded the scandal had damaged his reputation. While not illegal, he admitted Luxembourg’s tax system was also “not always in line with fiscal fairness” and may have breached “ethical and moral standards”. Since then, Juncker has made a point of supporting the EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, as she pursues high-profile investigations into specific tax rulings, including deals Luxembourg granted separately to McDonald’s and Amazon. The investigations are examining whether the deals were so generous that they amounted to illegal state aid from Juncker’s Luxembourg. Juncker has also campaigned hard for greater tax cooperation among member states in the battle against international businesses that avoid tax. The latest leaked cables, however, raise further questions about whether he is the right person to champion such reforms.

Simon Bowers

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/01/jean-claude-juncker-blocked-eu-curbs-on-tax-avoidance-cables-show

LEFT

2017-01-01 13:15:22

The Guardian

Park Geun-hye calls corruption allegations against her a 'fabrication'

South Korean president impeached on 9 December appears in public to deny claims of wrongdoing, saying she was ‘framed’

South Korean president impeached on 9 December appears in public to deny claims of wrongdoing, saying she was ‘framed’ Park Geun-hye, the impeached president of South Korea, has appeared in public for the first time in more than a month to deny charges of wrongdoing and say corruption allegations against her are a “fabrication and falsehood”. Park said she was set up over claims that she ordered the government to support a merger in 2015 of two affiliates of Samsung Group, a deal that has become central to a corruption investigation. “It’s completely framed,” she was quoted as saying by local media, without elaborating. South Korea impeachment vote: the key facts behind a presidential crisis Read more Park is accused of giving favours to major companies in return for financial contributions to entities controlled by her close friend Choi Soon-sil. On Sunday, Park denied that Choi was allowed undue and wide-reaching influence over state affairs. In a hastily arranged briefing over tea, the president met South Korean media in her first public event since being impeached by parliament on 9 December. Constitutional court judges have up to six months from this date to uphold the impeachment or reinstate her. Her last public appearance had been on 29 November, when she offered to step down if parliament could agree on a way for her to leave office. Opposition parties rejected this and led a motion to impeach the president by a wide margin, joined by some members of her Saenuri party. The court is set to begin hearing arguments from both sides. Park has previously denied wrongdoing but apologised for carelessness in her ties with Choi, a friend for four decades, who has also denied wrongdoing. Choi is being detained while on trial. On Sunday, Park said the decision by South Korea’s national pension fund to support a merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T Corporation was “a just policy decision” in the national interest that was supported by many brokerage firms at the time. “I did not have an iota of thinking to help anyone and the thought never crossed my mind,” Park said. “This is not the place to tell you all the details, but what I can clearly say now is that I did nothing whatsoever to favour anyone or collude with anyone to do that.” The deal has been criticised by some investors for strengthening the Samsung founding family’s control of the country’s biggest conglomerate at the expense of other shareholders. The National Pension Service, which had 545tn won (£366bn) under management at the end of September and was a major shareholder in the affiliates, voted in favour of the merger without calling in an external committee that sometimes advises it on difficult votes. Park, 64, is accused of colluding with Choi to pressure large businesses including Samsung to make contributions to non-profit foundations that support presidential initiatives. Over the past few months, hundreds of thousands of protesters have demanded that Park resign immediately from office, but she has indicated through her lawyers that she will fight her impeachment in court. Park also addressed accusations of negligence in her handling of the Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014 that killed more than 300 passengers, mostly schoolchildren. At the time, she was criticised for mishandling the rescue efforts and questioned over her whereabouts during the seven hours between the first report of the incident and her appearance in the government’s emergency room. The president denied allegations that she failed to pay closer attention to the rescue operation because she was receiving a cosmetic procedure. “That is not possible even by common sense,” she said.

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/park-geun-hye-impeached-south-korea-president-corruption-allegations-fabrication

LEFT

2017-01-01 13:29:02

Breitbart

2016 Closes With 140 Cops Being Killed in the Line of Duty

A total of 140 law enforcement officers were killed in 2016 in line of duty deaths an increase of 10 over 2015’s 130 officers who were killed.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A total of 140 law enforcement officers were killed in 2016 in line of duty deaths. The number of deaths increased by 10 over 2015’s 130 officers who were killed. The final death of the year came Friday night when Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Landon Weaver was shot and killed while investigating an alleged violation of a protective order. Jason Robinson, 32, allegedly grabbed a gun during the investigation and shot Trooper Weaver, killing him. Robinson fled the scene and was later found after an overnight manhunt. He threatened officers and was shot and killed. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Death by gunfire was, once again, the leading cause of death for officers who were killed on duty. A total of 64 officers were killed by gunfire – up from 39 in 2015, according to statistics obtained by Breitbart Texas from the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). This represents an increase of over 60 percent over the prior year. “The 61 percent increase in law enforcement officers shot and killed in 2016 versus 2015 and a 53 percent overall increase in officers murdered in the performance of duty are deeply troubling statistics,” ODMP Director of Research Steven Weiss told Breitbart Texas. “Included in that statistic is a disturbing increase in officers killed in ‘ambush-style’ murders, such as the incidents in Dallas and Des Moines.” “These types of murders are particularly disconcerting because they are not born out of a criminal’s desire to avoid arrest, but out of a hatred for not only law enforcement, but for our society as a whole,” Weiss explained. “It is the type of attack that, for the most part, tactical training or increased vigilance may not help to prevent.” Weiss told Breitbart Texas the “ambush style” murders of police officers have been increasing since 2012. “When a person is willing to plan and then put into action that plan to assassinate a person for no other reason than the person is a law enforcement officer,” Weiss stated, “it is hard to draw any conclusion other than it is an attack against the American way of life. Many times the men or women in uniform represents the face of our government, since an interaction with a law enforcement officer may be the extent of most citizen’s direct contact with government during their lifetime.” In addition to gunfire, 12 officers were killed by vehicular assault, one officer was stabbed, and three were killed in other types of assaults. Officers gave their lives in service to the public in 34 of our 50 states. Additionally, law enforcement officers with the federal government, Indian tribal police, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico also lost their lives while serving their departments. Texas led the nation with the deaths of 19 police officers. California was a distant second with 11 officers being killed. Each of the other states were listed with single digit numbers of officers killed while on duty. Vehicle accidents and a heart attack took the lives of three U.S. Border Patrol agents. This was the second year in a row that Texas peace officers led the nation in line of duty deaths. Automobile accidents were the second leading cause of death for law enforcement officers across the country. Automobile accidents accounted for 23 deaths while motorcycle accidents added seven more. Four officers were killed during pursuits with suspects and twelve officers were killed after being struck by automobiles alongside the roadway. One officer was killed in an aircraft crash and one was struck by a train. Other causes of death included drownings (2), animal related (1), duty-related illness (1), falling (1), accidental gunfire (2), heart attack (6), and illness related to 9/11 (3). Of the 140 deaths recorded, 134 were men and 6 were women. In addition to the 140 human officers killed in the line of duty, 34 K9 officers also lost their lives in the line of duty. Heat exhaustion led the causes of death with 12 K9 officers being killed by heat related issues. An additional ten K9 officers were killed by hostile gunfire and two K9s were killed by accidental gunfire. Weiss said these numbers are about more than statistics. “Each of those deaths represents the loss of a person that dedicated their life to service, to the pursuit of justice, and to keeping their community safe,” he said. “The loss of an officer is something that effects an entire family, many time for generations. Spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings and extended family are all impacted. And the impact many times can have a profound effect on the community the officer served.” “Thankfully, the law enforcement community is brotherhood like no other and those LOD families, like their loved ones, are never forgotten,” Weiss concluded. “They are supported by their agency and their communities for a lifetime. Agencies and charities ensure their children are able to afford higher-education, that families can stay in their homes and that children that lost a parent always have a father or mother figure to speak with and be there for them when they need it.” Author’s note: All statistics in this article were compiled from the Officer Down Memorial Page. A complete listing of the officers killed in the line of duty can be found on their website. Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

Bob Price

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/01/01/2016-closes-140-cops-killed-line-duty/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 13:54:07

The Guardian

Iraqi forces in Mosul performing 'at their peak', says US commander

Troops fighting Isis are adjusting well to changes on battlefield, says Brig Gen Rick Uribe as he suggests battle could last another three months

A senior US commander in Iraq on Sunday gave a vote of confidence to Iraqi forces fighting to recapture the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State militants, saying such forces were currently “at their peak” and adjusting well to changing realities on the battlefield. Speaking in an interview, Brig Gen Rick Uribe said he agreed with the forecast given by Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi that it would take another three months to liberate Mosul, the last Iraqi urban center in the hands of the extremist group. US military says Mosul airstrike may have killed civilians at hospital Read more “I think that sounds reasonable that we could potentially have a liberated Mosul in about that time period,” Uribe said, dismissing the notion that Iraqi forces were behind schedule. “We are on pretty close to where we want to be,” said Uribe, explaining that military planners knew that while the initial push toward the city would be quick, progress would become “significantly” slower on the city’s fringes. Uribe, speaking in Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq, said Iraqi forces north and south of Mosul had made progress since a new offensive was launched last week after a two-week lull in fighting. A government campaign to liberate Mosul and surrounding areas in Nineveh province began in mid-October. More than two months later, the only major fighting inside the city has been done by elite counter-terrorism forces, also known as the “golden division”. Since the new offensive began, the special forces have pushed forward in at least two neighborhoods in the city’s eastern sector, while the army’s ninth and 16th divisions also made headway south and north of the capital respectively. The ninth division was joined by units of the militarized federal police, while the 16th was bolstered by army units. “I think the forces right now, the Iraqi security forces, as we sit here today on 1 January 2017, are at their peak and I think they will continue to improve because of the lessons they are learning on a daily basis,” said Uribe, whose official title is deputy commanding general – Baghdad of the combined joint forces land component command. Uribe said Iraqi forces, backed by a US-led coalition, would face a different fight when they crossed to the west bank of the Tigris River, saying it would mostly be a “dismounted” battle fought in part on narrow streets, some of which were not wide enough for a vehicle to pass. “It will be a different fight and they will adjust as they go from the east to the west. They are already planning these adjustments,” he said. 'A more dangerous long-term threat': Al-Qaida grows as Isis retreats Read more He praised Iraqi security forces for what he said was going out of their way in Mosul to protect civilians. “They have been extremely good at taking care of those civilians. I don’t know whether you would have seen this a few years ago,” he said. “That was part of the training [by the coalition]. You got to treat people with dignity and respect. You cannot go into a city and make it worse than before.” Iraqi authorities have advised the estimated 1 million civilians believed to be still inside Mosul to stay in their homes until the city is fully liberated, but fears of getting caught in the crossfire between government forces and the militants have forced at least 120,000 residents to flee so far. Many are also leaving the city because they have run out of food and money, or due to a lack of essential services like water and power.

Associated Press In Irbil

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/iraqi-forces-in-mosul-performing-at-their-peak-says-us-commander

LEFT

2017-01-01 13:57:51

Breitbart

Texas State Rep Hit by Stray New Year's Bullet

A Texas State Representative from South Texas was hit in the head by a stray bullet overnight during the New Year celebrations.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A Texas State Representative from South Texas was hit in the head by a stray bullet overnight during the New Year celebrations. The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is carrying out an investigation into the shooting, authorities confirmed to Breitbart Texas. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The shooting of State Representative Armando Martinez (D-Weslaco) was first reported by The Mcallen Monitor. The Texas politician was struck in his head by what authorities believe was a bullet that had been fired into the air. The stray bullet landed near Weslaco where Martinez had been celebrating. The Texas State Representative is receiving treatment at a local hospital and is expected to recover. Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.

Ildefonso Ortiz

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/border/2017/01/01/texas-state-rep-hit-stray-new-years-bullet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 13:58:51

Breitbart

WATCH: Diamond And Silk Slam Obama, Kerry For 'Stabbing Israel In The Back'

WATCH: Diamond And Silk Slam Obama, Kerry For 'Stabbing Israel In The Back'

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER TEL AVIV – The YouTube sensations known as Diamond and Silk released a new video slamming President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry for “stabbing Israel in the back.” The hilarious duo, sisters with the real names of Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, rose to fame when they shot videos in ardent support of President-elect Donald Trump during his bid for the Republican nomination. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Their latest video, entitled “We Stand With Israel: Kerry and Obama don’t know where they stand,” lambasts Kerry for his address last week on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In apparent reference to Kerry’s wife Teresa Heinz, Hardaway said, “Kerry must be slipping in all of that Heinz Ketchup—’cause he trippin’!” Hardaway continues by attacking Obama for not having Israel’s back and for being “out of touch.” “Let me tell you something: Israel is our ally, so that means we have to have their backs! I don’t care if their back is small, and our backs our big, we still got to have their backs — period.” “[Obama] was out of touch with this election. He was out of touch with the American people. And now he is out of touch with Israel,” she says. “And if he’s not careful, somebody will end up stabbing Israel in the back,” she cries, as Richardson animatedly demonstrates the knife-to-back action. “And we can’t let that happen!” To end, the two sisters declare in unison: “Guess what — We stand with Israel! We will always have their back!”

Deborah Danan

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/01/01/watch-diamond-and-silk-we-stand-with-israel/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 14:00:00

The Wall Street Journal

Europe’s Fate in 2017: Caught Between Low Rates and Populist Politics

Europe seems on course for modest growth in 2017—unless Brexit proves to be the start of something bigger.

For Europe in 2017, the big question is whether fragile economic growth and unprecedented central-bank stimulus will be overtaken by populist politics. European equities could have a strong year if the antieuro populist candidates that have gained traction over 2016 fail to win elections, as polling suggests. But if populist candidates triumph in coming votes, the prospect of a eurozone breakup could return to markets. ...

Mike Bird;Mike.Bird Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/politics-cloud-european-economic-outlook-1483279202

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 14:03:22

CNN

Charlie Crist "open-minded" to Trump's 35% tariff on businesses

Congressman-elect Charlie Crist said he is willing to consider President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariff on businesses for the sake of keeping jobs in the United States.

Story highlights "Any good idea that is presented, we have to be open-minded to receive it," Crist said Trump plans to charge a 35% tariff for "any business that leaves our country" Washington (CNN) Congressman-elect Charlie Crist said he is willing to consider President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariff on businesses for the sake of keeping jobs in the United States. "Whatever it is that we come to to help American workers get back to work and help the middle class and our country, we need to do it together and do it in a spirit of cooperation," the Florida Democrat told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" in an interview that aired Sunday. Tapper then asked if the former Florida governor is open to backing Trump's support for a 35% tax or tariff on businesses wanting to take American jobs overseas. "Yes," Crist replied. "It's all about jobs and making sure that we have American jobs protected, we protect the American worker, give them the opportunity to be able to provide for their families, get a college education." "Any good idea that is presented, we have to be open-minded to receive it," said Crist, who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. "I mean, just because the messenger is somebody that was in a different party is no reason to cast it out." Read More

Eugene Scott

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/politics/charlie-crist-tariff-donald-trump-cnntv/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 14:04:12

CNN

Blackburn, Ivanka Trump working to make child care affordable

Rep. Marsha Blackburn says she has been discussing legislation to make child care more affordable for working Americans with the President-elect's daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Story highlights Ivanka Trump has called members of Congress about child care legislation Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn also said she had concerns about child care Washington (CNN) Rep. Marsha Blackburn says she has been discussing legislation to make child care more affordable for working Americans with the President-elect's daughter, Ivanka Trump. "I am delighted to see that we're looking at options for tax credits, tax incentives, ways for moms and dads to be able to write-off this child-care cost," Blackburn told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," which aired Sunday. "One of the things that is most troubling as a mom in the workforce is finding child care and being certain that your children are safe and well cared for and not feeling like they are going to miss out on things because you put yourself on the guilt bus," she added. The Tennessee Republican, who owns a small business, said she had concerns about child care as she was raising her kids. "It was so very difficult. It's one of the things I struggled with as my children were growing up," she said. Read More

Eugene Scott

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/politics/marsha-blackburn-child-care-ivanka-trump-cnntv/index.html

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 14:06:16

CNN

Ex-Clinton aide: Campaign made mistakes but faced 'perfect storm'

A former senior adviser in Hillary Clinton's campaign blamed the election loss on a "perfect storm" of factors, adding that the team could have run a better campaign.

Story highlights Karen Finney said that the Democratic Party has a lot of work to do going forward Finney's view on Clinton's election loss differs from comments from her former colleagues Washington (CNN) A former senior adviser in Hillary Clinton's campaign blamed the election loss on a "perfect storm" of factors, adding that the team could have run a better campaign. "There are any number of things that you could point to to say that it was a mistake that we made that probably has some merit to it, because it was such a perfect storm of a lot of different things," Karen Finney told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Sunday on "State of the Union." "But one of the things I think is important as we think about going forward is I don't think this is an issue where there's just a magic bullet ... A majority of those people agreed with her on the economy, thought she'd be better on the economy. And she's won 2.8 million more in the popular vote." Finney didn't provide further specifics. But she said the Democratic Party has a lot of work to do going forward. "I think we need to learn some of the lessons coming out of this election, no question, in terms of how we talk to working families -- whether they are black, white, brown and where those families are located -- how we talk to them about the issues that they care about," she said. "But I don't think that this is an example of 'there was one or two things that was just flip a switch and everything will be perfect.'" Finney's view on Clinton's election loss differs from comments from her former colleagues. Clinton's former campaign manager, Robby Mook, told Tapper in December that Russian intervention in the election played a role. Read More

Daniella Diaz

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/politics/karen-finney-hillary-clinton-state-of-the-union-cnntv/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 14:06:38

CNN

Van Jones: 'The Clinton days are over'

The Clinton family's grip on the Democratic Party has come to an end and it's time for a new generation of leadership to lead the party, CNN political commentator Van Jones said.

Story highlights Jones says the Democratic Party needs more progressive leaders He adds that incoming Sen. Kamala Harris will be a star in the party Washington (CNN) The Clinton family's grip on the Democratic Party has come to an end and it's time for a new generation of leadership to lead the party, CNN political commentator Van Jones said. "You have to understand, I think that the Clinton days are over," Jones told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Sunday on "State of the Union." "This idea that we're going to be this moderate party that's going to move in this direction, that's going to throw blacks under the bus for criminal justice reform, and for prison expansion, that's going to throw workers under the bus for NAFTA, those days are over." He added that Kamala Harris, a California Democrat who was just elected to the US Senate, is "unreal." "She's going to be out there defending those DREAMer kids because they're a big part of her constituency," he said. "But she's got African-American roots. She's got Asian roots. She's female. She's tough. She's smart. She's going to become a big deal." Jones also called Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress who is eying the Democratic National Committee chairmanship, "important" because he's progressive. Read More

Daniella Diaz

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/politics/van-jones-hillary-clinton-cnntv-state-of-the-union/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 14:07:21

Reuters

Gambia leader accuses West African bloc of declaring war

Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh accused West African regional body ECOWAS of declaring war, after it said it was putting forces on alert in case he refused to step down at the end of his mandate this month.

BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh accused West African regional body ECOWAS of declaring war, after it said it was putting forces on alert in case he refused to step down at the end of his mandate this month. Jammeh, who has vowed to stay in power despite losing a Dec. 1 election to rival Adama Barrow, also promised to defend Gambia against any outside aggression, in a New Year’s speech broadcast on state TV. The veteran leader initially conceded defeat in the vote, then changed his mind days later - raising fears that regional powers might have to intervene to oust him. His mandate runs out on Jan. 19. Marcel de Souza, commission president for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said last week it had put standby forces on alert. In his speech, Jammeh decried “the resolution of ECOWAS on the current situation to implement the results of Dec 1, 2016 presidential election by whatever means possible,” apparently acknowledging again that the poll did not go in his favor. “It is in effect a declaration of war and an insult to our constitution,” he said. “Let me make it very clear that we are ready to defend this country against any aggression ... My government will never opt for such confrontation but defending our sovereignty is a sacred duty for all patriotic Gambians.” Barrow’s surprise victory and Jammeh’s initial decision to concede after 22 years in power was initially seen as a moment of hope on continent where autocratic leaders are becoming more entrenched. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has stepped in as an ECOWAS mediator to offer Jammeh an “honorable exit”, but Jammeh said the bloc could no longer fulfill that role. “ECOWAS has also disqualified (itself) to provide mediation services as a genuine mediator has to be neutral and impartial and win the trust and confidence of the parties to the conflict,” he said.

Lamin Jahateh;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gambia-politics-idUSKBN14L15P

CENTER

2017-01-01 14:08:13

Reuters

Nigerian ex-militants say lost confidence in Buhari over restive Delta

A group of former Nigerian militants said on Sunday it had lost confidence in the president's efforts to end attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, a major goal in efforts to reach a lasting peace settlement.

YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - A group of former Nigerian militants said on Sunday it had lost confidence in the president's efforts to end attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, a major goal in efforts to reach a lasting peace settlement. In its first public criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said he was "jeopardizing the fragile peace in the region" with public comments about the unrest while reneging on past agreements. MEND had backed Buhari in his 2015 presidential election campaign and urged militants behind the most recent spate of attacks to pursue peace talks with the government. The attacks in the OPEC member's energy hub, coupled with low oil prices, have helped to push Africa's biggest economy into recession - the first in 25 years. Crude oil sales account for two-thirds of government revenue. Those behind the attacks, which began in early 2016, say they want a greater share of Nigeria's energy wealth to go to the southern region. The frequency of attacks has reduced since Buhari held talks with community leaders but there are sporadic attacks, most recently in late November. MEND, which was one of largest militant groups until it signed up for a government amnesty in 2009, said in a statement emailed on Sunday that it had passed "a vote of no confidence" in Buhari's government. It said he should tell government agencies to "immediately commence dialogue with the Niger Delta region" but did not say what it would do if the approach to the peace process was not altered. MEND's members are influential in the Niger Delta but it is unclear whether this extends to those responsible for the most recent attacks because the militant scene is splintered into small groups which each have their own list of demands. The presidency declined to comment on MEND's statement. Buhari said in his New Year's message on Saturday that he will seek a peace settlement in the oil-producing region. The attacks cut Nigeria's oil production, which stood at 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of 2016, by more than a third in the summer although the oil minister said repairs to oil facilities lifted output to nearly 1.8 million bpd in December.

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-delta-idUSKBN14L15H

CENTER

2017-01-01 14:09:17

CNN

White House staff readies for whirlwind moving day

While the world watches President-elect Donald Trump take the oath of office on Inauguration Day, almost 100 White House staffers will be watching the clock while they have only six hours to transform and prepare the 132-room mansion into the new first family's home.

Story highlights Chief White House usher Stephen Rochon describes the White House moving process President-elect Donald Trump hasn't commented on the redecorating he might do Honolulu, Hawaii (CNN) While the world watches President-elect Donald Trump take the oath of office on Inauguration Day, almost 100 White House staffers will be watching the clock while they have only six hours to transform and prepare the 132-room mansion into the new first family's home. On the morning of January 20, President Barack Obama and the current first family will say goodbye to the place they've called home for eight years, at 10:30 in the morning. Immediately after they leave their former home, White House staff rushes to prepare it for Trump and his family according to their own preferences and style. Movers plan to take the Obamas' belongings out to trucks on the South Lawn facing away from the White House and move the incoming first family's belongings inside from trucks on the other side of the driveway. "It's more like organized chaos," Chief White House usher Stephen Rochon told Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union" in an interview that aired Sunday. Read More

Allie Malloy

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/politics/white-house-moving-day-cnntv/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 14:15:00

The Wall Street Journal

Turmoil Over Police Shootings Lingered in 2016

Tensions between police and minority communities that flared two years ago in Ferguson, Mo., after the killing of an 18-year-old, didn’t ease in 2016.

Tensions between police and minority communities that flared two years ago in Ferguson, Mo., after the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, didn’t ease in 2016. In a two-week span in July, protests erupted across the country over the police killings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana—five police officers were gunned down by a sniper at a...

Zusha Elinson;Zusha.Elinson Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/turmoil-over-police-shootings-lingered-in-2016-1483280127

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 14:19:34

HuffPost

Gunman Kills At Least 11 People In Brazil New Year's Party Mass Shooting

The shooter killed himself following the murders.

Ricardo Moraes / Reuters A policeman walks past a police car damaged during a protest at the Mangueira slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil August 11, 2015. In the city of Campinas on New Year's Eve, a gunman shot and killed at least 11 people. RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 1 (Reuters) - A gunman stormed a house party and killed at least 11 people and himself during New Year celebrations in the southeastern Brazilian city of Campinas late on Saturday. Police in the state of São Paulo said the shooter is believed to have been angry over a separation from his former wife, who was among those killed. Local media reports said the couple’s 8-year-old son also died. A police spokesman could not confirm the identity or age of those killed or whether a child of the shooter, who also remains unidentified, was among the victims. Local media reported that a total of 15 people had been shot and several remain in critical condition. A neighbor interviewed by the Globo television network said that he and family members heard blasts about a quarter to midnight but did not immediately recognize it as gunfire, not New Year fireworks. Only when one of those shot ran into their property, bleeding and asking for help, did they realize that someone had been shooting. State police said they were called to the scene at 12:40 a.m. local time. Although Brazil struggles with high rates of crime and violence, mass shootings are uncommon. Gun deaths are frequent in heists, holdups and in confrontations among police, drug gangs and other criminals, but shooting sprees like those often seen in the United States are not prevalent.

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brazil-mass-shooting_us_58690d9de4b0d9a5945bcf86?ir=Politics&utm_hp_ref=politics

LEFT

2017-01-01 14:26:59

HuffPost

2017: The Beginning of the Era of Disruption

In this era of dramatic, rampant, and incessant political change, predictions about the future can no longer be based either on conventional wisdom or hi...

In this era of dramatic, rampant, and incessant political change, predictions about the future can no longer be based either on conventional wisdom or historical precedent. We are, after all, in the middle of a paradigm shift that is shredding prognosticators and their prognostications with voraciousness. Just as virtually all of those highly paid political pundits missed by a mile the Brexit and Trump's electoral victory, economic pundits accustomed to predicting the future based on past performance are getting it equally wrong, falling victim to the seemingly endless stream of unanticipated news, based on fallacious assumptions. Plainly and simply, historical performance can no longer serve as a guidepost to the future. Indeed, today there is great danger in presuming that anything that may have happened in the past is necessarily any indication of what will happen in the future. Wasn't the stock market supposed to go down in response to Trump's election? Wasn't the Colombian peace deal supposed to be approved the first time? Wasn't the price of oil supposed to see a dramatic rise in response to the OPEC agreement? Wasn't Putin supposed to respond in kind to the diplomat expulsions in the U.S.? This has a lot to do (among other things) with a tendency to perhaps over-rely on the lessons of history, the growing impact of instant communication, and the inclusion of voters who were previously either shut out or not heard (for whatever reason) having become integrated into political processes around the world. It is also the result of a change in global economic dynamics, with a gradual transition away from developed country domination of the global economy in favor of emerging economies. And it is evidence that technology, innovation and creativity, which are so vibrant in the many parts of the global economy, are translating into extended economic gains that literally swim against the tide of history. It turns out that all those 'know-it-alls' who think they've got it all figured out, just don't. Those political pundits who proclaimed that they knew the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, now proclaim to know what Trump's next move will be. Those stock market prognosticators who swear to their brethren that they know the future movement of stocks or the market, will be wrong again. And those global leaders who honestly believe that they are in tune with the pulse of their people are often mistaken. In the process, whether we realize it or not, the 'pyramid' we have all become so accustomed to is being turned upside down before our eyes. Decades of foreign policy 'norms' are about to be rewritten, some hard-fought multilateral treaties are about to be upended, and some of the things we have taken for granted as 'the gospel' are about to become a thing of the past. The net result is that scenarios that were previously considered little more than a pipe dream may now be within reach. Consider, for example, the following scenarios for 2017 and beyond: 1. A real U.S./Russia reset: The 'bromance' between Putin and Trump blossoms into a full-fledged reset, the U.S. sanctions are lifted, the two powers become partners fighting the Islamic State in Syria, and 75 years of enmity between them becomes largely a thing of the past. What might have seemed far-fetched (or even delusional) a year ago becomes a reality as Trump ramps up his self-designated 'Disrupter-in-Chief' role and pushes legislative changes through Congress making Russia a partner of the U.S. politically, militarily, and economically. Russia becomes a preferred investment destination and regains its previous position as a global player. 2. China steps up to the plate: China acts more like the superpower that it is, significantly increasing its foreign aid flows, implementing diplomatic initiatives that challenge both Russia and the U.S. in international forums, and building a blue water navy that can begin to back up its claims to sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea and project its power beyond Asia. Chinese GDP growth - the engine of global growth -- falls below 6% and heads toward 4% (one third of its previously sustained peak) by the end of the next decade, placing huge economic pressure on natural resource producing nations. 3. Global alliances shift: This is already under way vis-à-vis China, Russia and the U.S., with Turkey having pivoted toward Russia, and the Philippines and Malaysia having signaled their willingness to do the same with China. More of this will come, as the balance between these three powers continues to vacillate. U.S. dominance in the global economy gradually yields to China, Europe rescinds sanctions against Russia, and the balance of power that has evolved since World War II is gradually eroded, with unforeseen consequences. 4. The Right takes charge in Europe: National Front movements throughout Europe are elected, dramatically altering the political landscape, significantly curbing immigration, and resulting in widespread repudiation of the Left. This may not prove to be a short-term orientation, but rather, a sea change in global politics. The world enters an extended period of unease and uncertainty, resulting in a swing further in the direction of economic nationalism, and in gyrating investment climates. 5. Multilateralism slowly dies: In the Post-War era, Wilsonianism (liberal internationalism) and Rooseveltism (collective action based on alliances and mutual respect) have been the cornerstone of international relations. Trump succeeds in weakening many of the pillars of Post-War stability and prosperity, such as NATO, the WTO and the UN, and declares war on free trade agreements. Alliances become dependent not on a common set of values, but on perceived short-term interests. The price of natural resources and food can skyrocket at any given time because of spot shortages, resulting in riots and increased global political and economic instability. In short, in four years' time we may be witness to a world that is barely recognizable, based on what we know as standard operating procedure today. Should one or more of these scenarios come to pass, just imagine the implications for investors, lenders, traders, risk managers and policy makers. In a world in which foreign policy is reduced to a series of business transactions (based on relative costs and benefits), policy making ability becomes the domain of the highest bidder, investment climates may cease to be the domain of equal treatment under the law, and trade policy becomes even more dependent on bilateral treaties, rather than multilateral arrangements. So 2017 should be a year in which many preconceived notions of normality fall by the wayside, and yet another 'new normal' becomes established. The implications are potentially staggering for everyone, but none more so than the individuals charged with making sense of it all. If ever there were a time for businesses, multilateral organizations, NGOs and governments to become more risk agile, it is in this new vision of the world, which may become unrecognizable a year from now. The best advice is to presume that conventional wisdom will be wrong, history is no longer a guide to the future, and the unforeseen and unanticipated become the rule. *Daniel Wagner is Managing Director of Risk Cooperative and co-author of the book "Global Risk Agility and Decision Making".

Daniel Wagner;Managing Director Of Risk Cooperative;Co-Author Of;Global Risk Agility;Decision Making .;Follow Daniel Wagner On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Countryriskmgmt

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/2017-the-beginning-of-the_b_13921496.html?utm_hp_ref=world&ir=WorldPost

LEFT

2017-01-01 14:45:02

Slate

Prankster alters iconic Hollywood sign to read Hollyweed.

Los Angeles residents got a little surprise when they woke up on the first day of the year and realized one of the city’s most famous landmarks had bee ...

Los Angeles residents got a little surprise when they woke up on the first day of the year and realized one of the city’s most famous landmarks had been vandalized to read “HOLLYWeeD” — at least for a few hours. Police say the vandal used tarps to change the sign’s O’s into E’s. Security cameras caught the vandal—likely a man—changing the sign between midnight and 2 a.m. but police can’t tell the person’s race or height from the footage, reports KTLA . If caught, the vandal could face a misdemeanor trespassing charge. Some speculated the prankster was honoring approval of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational use of marijuana. And while many Los Angeles residents and tourists rushed to take photos of the altered sign, the vandalism wasn’t exactly unprecedented. The sign had already been vandalized to read Hollyweed in 1976 by Dany Finegood, an artist who would become known for his numerous alterations of the famous sign. He later changed it to “Ollywood” in 1987 to protest the positive treatment that Col. Oliver North had received during the Iran-Contra hearings. There are also reports that it had been similarly vandalized in other years.

www.slate.com

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/01/01/prankster_alters_iconic_hollywood_sign_to_read_hollyweed.html

LEFT

2017-01-01 14:49:54

Breitbart

Canadian Pilot Arrested After He Passes Out Drunk in the Cockpit

A Canadian pilot was arrested Saturday after he was found drunk in a plane he was about to fly out of Calgary Airport in western Canada.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A Canadian pilot was arrested Saturday after he was found drunk in a plane he was about to fly out of Calgary Airport in western Canada. The crew and other airline staff found the 37-year-old man intoxicated shortly after 7 a.m. in the cockpit of a plane he was supposed to fly to Cancun, Mexico, AFP reported. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The flight crew noticed the pilot’s erratic behavior before he passed out in the cockpit, and then called the authorities. Police said the pilot was escorted out of the plane and put in jail. Authorities say the pilot had more than three times the legal limit of alcohol allowed (0.08 percent in Canada) in his system two hours after his arrest. Miroslav Gronych of Slovakia was charged with one count of operating an aircraft while impaired, and one count of operating an aircraft with a blood alcohol level over 0.08, the Huffington Post Canada reported. “It had all the potential for a disaster but I’ll tell you this much – the likelihood of a pilot on a major airline like this actually being able to take off when they’re impaired like that is pretty slim, because there’s a lot of checks and balances,” police spokesman Paul Stacey said to BBC News. A spokeswoman for Sunwing Airlines thanked the crew for dealing with this “very unfortunate matter,” according to local media. Transport Canada spokesman Dan Dugas said that it is a crime for flight crew to work within eight hours of drinking alcohol or while under the influence. He added that Transport Canada is investigating the incident. The flight took off with another pilot in control of the Boeing 737 plane with 99 passengers and six crew members, including the pilot who was charged.

Katherine Rodriguez

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/01/canadian-pilot-arrested-passes-drunk-cockpit/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-01 14:55:52

USA Today

Authorities search for assailant behind Istanbul nightclub attack

At least 39 people have been killed and dozens more injured, authorities said.

Skip in Skip x Embed x Share An assailant believed to have been dressed in a Santa Claus costume opened fire at a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year’s celebrations Saturday, killing at least 35 people and wounding 40 others. Time Turkish special force police officers and ambulances are on the nightclub attack scene, Sunday. (Photo: Yasin Akgul, AFP/Getty Images) Authorities launched their search for an assailant who opened fire at a packed nightclub during New Year's celebrations in Istanbul, killing at least 39 people and injuring 69. In what Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin described as a terror attack, an assailant reportedly dressed as Santa Claus shot and killed a policeman and civilian outside the Reina club around 1:15 a.m. local time before entering and shooting up the club. More than 500 people were inside the club at the time, private NTV television reported. Some patrons jumped into the Bosphorus straight to escape. "Unfortunately, (he) rained bullets in a very cruel and merciless way on innocent people who were there to celebrate New Year's and have fun," Sahin told reporters. Sahin said the attacker used a long-barreled weapon but gave no other details about the device. He has not been identified as remains at large, said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. “Our security forces have started the necessary operations," Soylu said. "God willing he will be caught in a short period of time." At least 15 of the dead were foreign nationals, Soylu said. He did not identify their nationalities. Five of the victims were identified as Turkish nationals. Authorities were trying to identify the rest. Turkey's President, Recep Erdogan condemned the attack and expressed his condolences to victims of the attack in a series of tweets. Saldırıda hayatını kaybeden vatandaşlarımıza Allah'tan rahmet diliyor, yitirdiğimiz yabancı misafirlerimizi tazimle anıyorum. — Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RT_Erdogan) January 1, 2017 The White House issued a statement condemning the attack. "That such an atrocity could be perpetrated upon innocent revelers, many of whom were celebrating New Year's Eve, underscores the savagery of the attackers. We offer our thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones of those killed, and a speedy recovery to the wounded," the statement read. Footage from the scene outside the Reina nightclub showed at least six ambulances with flashing lights and civilians being escorted out. NTV said police had cordoned off the area and an operation to capture the assailant was ongoing. “Before I could understand what was happening, my husband fell on top me,” Sinem Uyanik said outside Istanbul’s Sisli Etfal Hospital where she waited to see her husband wounded in the attack. “I had to lift several bodies from top of me before I could get out. It was frightening.” Contributing: Associated Press. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2hG4JqC

Usa Today;A.M. Est January

www.usatoday.com

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/01/01/istanbul-turkey-nightclub-attack/96054548/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories

CENTER

2017-01-01 15:04:45

The Guardian

Cornwall refugee group raises thousands to help resettle Syrian families

Seaside resort of Bude wants to be one of the earliest adopters of the community sponsorship scheme to resettle refugees

A refugee support group in a small Cornwall town hopes to welcome two Syrian families after raising thousands of pounds. Bude Welcomes Refugees, a 30-person group based in the north Cornwall seaside resort, wants to be one of the earliest adopters of the community sponsorship scheme to resettle refugee families. The initiative enables community organisations, including charities, faith groups, churches and businesses, to take on the role of supporting resettled refugees in the UK. The group has applied for charity status and presented its plan to Cornwall council for approval, which is required to secure Home Office clearance. Please help us help #childrefugees survive the winter - Guardian/Observer 2016 Appeal Read more Richie Heard has been volunteering in an old RNLI lifeboat to save migrants and refugees attempting the crossing from Turkey to Greece. He said the initiative showed “just how much love this part of the country has to give”. The lifeguard, 32, who lives in Hartland, Devon, said: “I think it’s great, I think it’s lovely, and the fact that it’s coming to Bude ... There are so many people I know that would love to come out and jump on that boat, and do what I do and help in such a dramatic way, I feel very lucky to have the skills and the opportunity to do it. “But it’s given a lot of people here a great way to directly help these refugees who are coming across. I know so many people that have just dropped what they’re doing and started to raise money for these two families. And people here just absolutely can’t do enough to help. I haven’t heard anyone cast a negative opinion on this scheme that’s running. “There’s obviously going to be one or two people with a snide comment, but I think that’s born of ignorance. I think if you put most of these people in front of that Syrian family and asked them to judge again, they’d soon change their opinion.” The group has raised more than £12,600 for the first of the two families it hopes to offer homes to, which will cover the cost of interpreters, English lessons and top-up fees for local authority rates paid for private accommodation. All organisations hoping to take part in the government scheme must be either registered charities or community interest companies, and have the consent of the local authority in which they wish to operate and a comprehensive plan for resettlement. Sponsors under the scheme provide housing for the refugee family, as well as helping them integrate into life in the UK and access medical and social services, arrange English language tuition and support them towards employment and self-sufficiency.

Jamie Grierson

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/cornwall-refugee-group-raises-thousands-pounds-resettle-syrian-families

LEFT

2017-01-01 15:12:29

The Guardian

Chinese manufacturing sector expands for fifth consecutive month

Purchasing managers’ index at 51.4 in December, with recent housing boom boosting commodity prices

China’s manufacturing sector expanded for a fifth month in December but growth was slightly less than expected, with government measures to curb soaring asset prices beginning to have an effect on the broader economy. The grim truth of Chinese factories producing the west’s Christmas toys Read more The official purchasing managers’ index slipped from 51.7 in November to 51.4 last month, compared to forecasts in a Reuters poll of a figure of 51.5. A reading above 50 indicates that the economy is growing. A year ago the index was at 49.7, and the start of 2016 saw global markets spooked by worries of a severe slowdown in the world’s second largest economy, but since then it has been slowly recovering. A housing boom in the second half of 2016 and a government spending spree on infrastructure have helped boost prices for commodities, from cement to steel, giving the country’s manufacturing sector a much-needed lift. But the government is cracking down on speculative property buying, and signals from policymakers that more will be done to contain asset bubbles and rising debt – even at the expense of slower growth – suggest extra stimulus measures could be limited. “[These] PMI figures suggest that the change of policy tone has taken its toll, as the authorities are seriously concerned about the asset bubbles,” said Zhou Hao, senior economist at Commerzbank. Factory output slowed in December, with the sub-index hitting 53.3 compared with 53.9 the previous month. Total new orders were flat at 53.2, logging the same as in November, while new export orders fell to 50.1 from 50.3. Jobs were again lost, with the employment sub-index sitting at 48.9, compared to 49.2 in November, as the country pledged to cut excess capacity over a range of industries. The Markit/Caixin PMI, a private gauge of manufacturing activity which focuses more on small- and mid-sized firms, is due on 3 January. A separate reading on the services sector showed the pace of growth slowed in December. The official non-manufacturing PMI stood at 54.5 in December, down from 54.7 in November, but still well above the 50-point mark.

Staff

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/chinese-manufacturing-purchasing-managers-index-housing

LEFT

2017-01-01 15:31:42

HuffPost

Donald Trump's Press Secretary Won't Say Whether Russia Was Behind The DNC Hack

The intelligence report is titled “Russian Malicious Cyber Activity.”

WASHINGTON ― Donald Trump’s press secretary repeatedly refused to say whether the president-elect believes Russia was behind the hack of Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 presidential race. The Obama administration issued new sanctions on Russia on Thursday, in response to the reported interference with the election. Trump’s initial response to the sanctions was that “it’s time for our country to move onto bigger and better things.” He later said he would receive an intelligence briefing on the topic this week. In an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week,” Sean Spicer said multiple times that Trump intends to meet with intelligence officials to “get a full briefing on what they knew, why they knew it, whether or not the Obama administration’s response was in proportion to the actions taken.” “Maybe it was; maybe it wasn’t,” he said. “We need to have that briefing first.” But Spicer would not answer repeated, direct questions about whether Trump acknowledges the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia was behind the hack, even suggesting that the report the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI released last week didn’t say Russia was behind the hack. The title of that report is “Russian Malicious Cyber Activity.” Carlo Allegri/Reuters President-elect Donald Trump's incoming White House communications director and press secretary, Sean Spicer, appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. “While the media played it up as this report about the hacking, what it actually is, if you look through it, and its available online, is a series of recommendations that should be taken, like changing passwords, changing administrative rights. What it shows is that by all measures the Democratic National Committee had a very lax IT support,” Spicer said. “Now hacking is wrong by any standards. No one supports anyone hacking into any other entity, legal, domestically, or foreign, or anyone interfering with anything, but the fact of the matter is, what this report really does show is that there’s a need for them to go back in and look at their, what they’re doing IT wise to protect their system.” Karl pressed him further: “Does he accept that Russia was behind this?” “Well I think, like I said, he has to have the briefing first from the intelligence community next week,” Spicer said.

Kate Sheppard;Enterprise Editor Senior Reporter;The Huffington Post

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-russia-hack_us_5869198ae4b0eb586489d96c

LEFT

2017-01-01 15:32:53

CNN

Istanbul terror attack: Bloody end to grim year for Turkey

In Istanbul's horrific New Year terror attack the message is clear: 2017 has begun, expect more of the same to come.

(CNN) In Istanbul's horrific New Year terror attack the message is clear: 2017 has begun, expect more of the same to come. The echo of this black-clad gunman's bullets on such a globally festive night will reverberate long and hard. 2016 had already laid a terrible and bloody foundation of terrorist mayhem for Turkey's citizens: Dozens of attacks, from Europe's easternmost tip in Istanbul through to Turkey's southern border with Syria. At times last year it felt that barely a week went by between strikes, from a brazen gun and bomb raid at Istanbul's main international airport to carnage on the city's tourist-filled streets, to the assassination of Russia's ambassador in the capital, Ankara, 12 days ago. Such was the crescendo of attacks in the last few months of 2016 that the terror at Reina nightclub had a feeling of inevitability about it -- if not there precisely then someplace similar, upmarket, secular, serving alcohol. Barely two months ago, the US State Department warned that "extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack US citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent." In a year Turkey has gone from popular tourist destination to disturbingly dependable terror venue. That's not a reputation any country wants -- and particularly not Turkey, with its economy struggling following an attempted coup last summer. This has not come out of nowhere. Decades of bloody conflict There are two brands of terror targeting Turkey now: Kurdish and radical Islamist. It would be easy to lay the blame for the growth of both at the feet of Turkey's increasingly autocratic and powerful President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but that would be to oversimplify the upheaval underway in this once secular country. Yet Erdogan shapes Turkey's destiny more than any other single person. Four years ago he ended three decades of bloody conflict with the country's Kurds. They make up one fifth of Turkey's 80 million people. Tens of thousands died in a terror campaign as they fought the state for better rights. With peace came popularity, a secular Kurdish party winning seats in the following national elections. But their gains threatened Erdogan's grip on parliamentary power. As this was playing out the war in neighboring Syria was heating up. The United States did a deal with Turkey to use its Incirlik airbase close to the Syria border in order to strike ISIS targets. In return, Turkey agreed to strike "terrorists" too. But when Turkey did, their focus wasn't ISIS, but their old foe the Kurds, whom they feared were gaining ground inside Syria. Within months Turkey's war with the Kurds was back on; snap elections a few months later crippled the Kurdish vote and restored Erdogan's party's hold on government. By 2016 Kurdish tit-for-tat bombings, ambushes, gun attacks mostly against military and police targets had become the ugly background music of the year. Transit point for ISIS recruits To that already monstrous din, ISIS has added its own sordid battle noise. Like the renewed conflict with the Kurds, this too has its roots in Syria, and once again President Erdogan played a leading role in shaping its course. In the early years of the Syrian uprising, Erdogan sought to unseat his onetime friend President Bashar al-Assad by backing Sunni rebels. JUST WATCHED Dozens killed at upscale Istanbul nightclub Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Dozens killed at upscale Istanbul nightclub 01:24 Unlike the US and Europe, Erdogan didn't seem so picky about who benefited from his largesse, often choosing conservative Islamist rebels, rather than moderates. As ISIS grew in strength, they profited from Turkey's policy towards rebels. Thousands upon thousands of ISIS recruits transited Turkey on their way to the war. Near-open borders allowed ISIS fighters and their weapons to pour across, and most damaging for Erdogan, resupply hubs, escape routes and safe houses to develop right under his nose. Before the country belatedly tightened its border security, Turkey became riddled with ISIS. As the war in Syria morphed and Russia moved in to save Assad, Erdogan began to reassess. With the US an ineffective partner in the war -- for his aims at least -- the Turkish leader turned to the increasingly influential Putin in Moscow to cut a deal. The assassination of the Russian Ambassador by a Turkish policeman in Ankara the week before Christmas highlighted how swift an about-face Erdogan has executed. Few Turks expected his support of their co-religionists, the Sunni rebels, to wither so fast. Turkey in the crosshairs It is clear however, that ISIS saw the writing on the wall. Turkey was transitioning from benign conduit, to outright enemy. They didn't immediately claim responsibility for the July attack on Ataturk airport, but by the end of the end of the year the gloves were off. JUST WATCHED Turkish official: Signs point to 'jihadist attack' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Turkish official: Signs point to 'jihadist attack' 01:45 Neither ISIS nor the Kurds have any reason to scale back their assault, and Turkey is well and truly in their crosshairs. The Kurds will focus on military and police targets, civilian collateral an accepted part of their terror package. ISIS will gravitate towards westerners and to undermining the Turkish state. They'll target tourists to hit the economy, and wage open war on Turkey's secularists to rive at the wound Erdogan has already opened between conservatives and the less religious. ISIS's aim will be to create chaos, the Kurds' to continue a generational fight. Neither bodes well for Turkey, its neighbors in Europe or its allies in Washington. 2016 killed the status quo. 2017 is already a dark canvas.

Nic Robertson

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/europe/istanbul-terror-attack-analysis-robertson/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_europe+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+Europe%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 15:32:53

CNN

Istanbul terror attack: Bloody end to grim year for Turkey

In Istanbul's horrific New Year terror attack the message is clear: 2017 has begun, expect more of the same to come.

(CNN) In Istanbul's horrific New Year terror attack the message is clear: 2017 has begun, expect more of the same to come. The echo of this black-clad gunman's bullets on such a globally festive night will reverberate long and hard. 2016 had already laid a terrible and bloody foundation of terrorist mayhem for Turkey's citizens: Dozens of attacks, from Europe's easternmost tip in Istanbul through to Turkey's southern border with Syria. At times last year it felt that barely a week went by between strikes, from a brazen gun and bomb raid at Istanbul's main international airport to carnage on the city's tourist-filled streets, to the assassination of Russia's ambassador in the capital, Ankara, 12 days ago. Such was the crescendo of attacks in the last few months of 2016 that the terror at Reina nightclub had a feeling of inevitability about it -- if not there precisely then someplace similar, upmarket, secular, serving alcohol. Barely two months ago, the US State Department warned that "extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack US citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent." In a year Turkey has gone from popular tourist destination to disturbingly dependable terror venue. That's not a reputation any country wants -- and particularly not Turkey, with its economy struggling following an attempted coup last summer. This has not come out of nowhere. Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance rushes from the scene of an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday, January 1. A popular nightclub in Istanbul was attacked shortly after midnight. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A woman is consoled at the site of the attack. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics wheel a stretcher at the scene. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Turkish riot police officers stand guard. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People leave the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A Turkish medic reacts near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A wounded victim is rushed from the scene. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey Medics and security officials work at the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey A wounded person is put into an ambulance. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey People walk in the rain near the scene of the attack. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Attack at nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey An ambulance transports those wounded in the attack. Hide Caption 12 of 12 Decades of bloody conflict There are two brands of terror targeting Turkey now: Kurdish and radical Islamist. It would be easy to lay the blame for the growth of both at the feet of Turkey's increasingly autocratic and powerful President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but that would be to oversimplify the upheaval underway in this once secular country. Yet Erdogan shapes Turkey's destiny more than any other single person. Four years ago he ended three decades of bloody conflict with the country's Kurds. They make up one fifth of Turkey's 80 million people. Tens of thousands died in a terror campaign as they fought the state for better rights. With peace came popularity, a secular Kurdish party winning seats in the following national elections. But their gains threatened Erdogan's grip on parliamentary power. As this was playing out the war in neighboring Syria was heating up. The United States did a deal with Turkey to use its Incirlik airbase close to the Syria border in order to strike ISIS targets. In return, Turkey agreed to strike "terrorists" too. But when Turkey did, their focus wasn't ISIS, but their old foe the Kurds, whom they feared were gaining ground inside Syria. Within months Turkey's war with the Kurds was back on; snap elections a few months later crippled the Kurdish vote and restored Erdogan's party's hold on government. By 2016 Kurdish tit-for-tat bombings, ambushes, gun attacks mostly against military and police targets had become the ugly background music of the year. JUST WATCHED Turkey: A country in turmoil Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Turkey: A country in turmoil 01:09 Transit point for ISIS recruits To that already monstrous din, ISIS has added its own sordid battle noise. Like the renewed conflict with the Kurds, this too has its roots in Syria, and once again President Erdogan played a leading role in shaping its course. In the early years of the Syrian uprising, Erdogan sought to unseat his onetime friend President Bashar al-Assad by backing Sunni rebels. Unlike the US and Europe, Erdogan didn't seem so picky about who benefited from his largesse, often choosing conservative Islamist rebels, rather than moderates. As ISIS grew in strength, they profited from Turkey's policy towards rebels. Thousands upon thousands of ISIS recruits transited Turkey on their way to the war. Near-open borders allowed ISIS fighters and their weapons to pour across, and most damaging for Erdogan, resupply hubs, escape routes and safe houses to develop right under his nose. Before the country belatedly tightened its border security, Turkey became riddled with ISIS. JUST WATCHED Turkey: The biggest issue for the next US president? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Turkey: The biggest issue for the next US president? 00:44 As the war in Syria morphed and Russia moved in to save Assad, Erdogan began to reassess. With the US an ineffective partner in the war -- for his aims at least -- the Turkish leader turned to the increasingly influential Putin in Moscow to cut a deal. The assassination of the Russian Ambassador by a Turkish policeman in Ankara the week before Christmas highlighted how swift an about-face Erdogan has executed. Few Turks expected his support of their co-religionists, the Sunni rebels, to wither so fast. Turkey in the crosshairs It is clear however, that ISIS saw the writing on the wall. Turkey was transitioning from benign conduit, to outright enemy. They didn't immediately claim responsibility for the July attack on Ataturk airport, but by the end of the end of the year the gloves were off. Neither ISIS nor the Kurds have any reason to scale back their assault, and Turkey is well and truly in their crosshairs. JUST WATCHED Turkish official: Signs point to 'jihadist attack' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Turkish official: Signs point to 'jihadist attack' 01:45 The Kurds will focus on military and police targets, civilian collateral an accepted part of their terror package. ISIS will gravitate towards westerners and to undermining the Turkish state. They'll target tourists to hit the economy, and wage open war on Turkey's secularists to rive at the wound Erdogan has already opened between conservatives and the less religious. ISIS's aim will be to create chaos, the Kurds' to continue a generational fight. Neither bodes well for Turkey, its neighbors in Europe or its allies in Washington. 2016 killed the status quo. 2017 is already a dark canvas.

Nic Robertson

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/europe/istanbul-terror-attack-analysis-robertson/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_meast+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+Middle+East%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 15:46:59

Fox News

Afghan refugees coming to California struggle with PTSD

California's capital has emerged as a leading destination for Afghan refugees who were awarded Special Immigrant Visas because of their service to coalition forces in the war.

California's capital has emerged as a leading destination for Afghan refugees who were awarded Special Immigrant Visas because of their service to coalition forces in the war. But these former translators, engineers and doctors must start over in bug-infested, low-rent apartments with minimum-wage jobs while dealing with PTSD and other health problems. The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2hBy7yv) that more than 2,000 such visa holders and their family members have settled in Sacramento since October 2010. Many Afghans in Sacramento say they are struggling with anxiety and depression that have developed or been greatly exacerbated by their struggles in the United States. They say they feel helpless and abandoned, lacking decent jobs, housing, or an understanding of U.S. culture.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/01/afghan-refugees-coming-to-california-struggle-with-ptsd.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 15:59:04

The Guardian

London must stand strong in 2017 if its golden age is not to end

The UK capital’s politicians and other influential groups need unanimity of purpose if the city is to continue to prosper in the year of uncertainties ahead

For three decades, with barely a blip, the UK capital has been going from strength to strength. Nothing has stunted its potency and growth, not the 7/7 bombings or the 2011 riots, not Black Monday or the 2008 global crash, not even the original Millennium Dome. Its economy drives and subsidises the rest of the country, its still-new tier of regional government – the mayoralty and the Greater London Authority (GLA) – has been a success and it has hosted a triumphant Olympic Games. Its population, after shrinking through years of managed decline, is now at an all-time high, and may hit 10 million by 2030. But London enters 2017 with a question mark after its name. Might its golden age be coming to an end? After the fireworks, the New Year begins amid unaccustomed unease. The heavy, grey cloud above is Brexit, with major employers in an international city whose wealth has been built on financial services pondering their options for the future. Meanwhile, austerity, albeit moderated by the Miliband-esque measures of Theresa May, continues to erode from below. It doesn’t lighten the general mood that armed police officers have become a routine feature of everyday London life. In all these circumstances optimism is essential, but staving off its opposite will require fortitude and skill. The mayor, of course, has a big part to play in all of this. Sadiq Khan’s 2017 will involve the Labour man in unending nagging of and negotiating with the Conservatives in charge of national government, hoping to secure the best possible post-Brexit deal for the capital and, by extension, the country. His panel of Brexit advisors, bankers, accountants, Peter Mandelson and all, doesn’t delight those who think he’s insufficiently left-wing. But pragmatism is an essential mayoral art: if you want a bunch of Tories to take you seriously, you don’t surround yourself with Corbynites. Policy delivery will begin with Khan hailing a freeze on those public transport fares that Transport for London (TfL) sets, but not the universal one some of his election campaign statements and a line in his manifesto claimed. Political opponents will attack him (again) for that, and for the demands he is making on TfL’s finances as a whole as his first mayoral budget, covering all GLA functions, comes under closer public scrutiny. Khan’s new “hopper” fare, which enables bus passengers to catch two buses for the price of one during a 60 minute period, has given him - not to mention a lot of Londoners on low incomes - a quick early win. But this initiative, though welcome, needs to be seen in the context of falling bus ridership, something TfL can ill afford given its increasing dependence on fares revenue. This, in turn, is a consequence of worsening road traffic congestion, which London’s economy could do without. Congestion also harms air quality, another issue the mayor has sought to make a fast start on. He is set to kick-off implementing his anti-pollution policies by introducing an emissions surcharge (the so-called “T-charge” on toxicity) on high-pollution vehicles entering the congestion charge zone early in 2017, but will be urged by critical friends to go further with his policies as a whole. Holding down public transport fares is one part of a broader attempt to address London’s high cost of living, which leaves too many of its households, including around 40% of its children, struggling to make ends meet on unacceptably low pay and excluded from many of the city’s many riches. Housing costs are, famously, a huge factor in this and also hugely difficult to control. The mayor’s housing team has assembled a purposeful strategy for getting more homes built for sale, rent or a combination of both at prices ordinary Londoners can afford. Khan will hope to be able to boast of initial successes as he embarks on the vast task of trying to better match housing delivery to the city’s social and economic need. The backdrop to all this is the ongoing three-year monster mission of writing a new London Plan. There are going to be tensions. Hammered by successive grant cuts and hampered by limits on their freedom to borrow to build, some of the capital’s boroughs, often Labour-run, are becoming ever more adroit at finding ways to meet at least some local “affordable” housing demand, but these can mean private sector partnerships involving publicly owned land that don’t always work as well as planned. The available alternatives - largely, small variations on doing nothing - aren’t all that attractive either. Squeezed between the same rock and hard place we find shortages of school places and health and social care provision also having their impact at borough, and indeed neighbourhood level. Dynamic boroughs and the mayor alike are trying to get more more purchase on providing low-cost childcare and improving post-school skills training, as the city strives for greater autonomy in the running of its affairs. A striking thing about the politics of London is the high degree of consensus about the benefits of devolving power over such things as welfare programmes, property taxes and public investment from Whitehall. It crosses party lines and unifies business interests, social sector campaigners and more. There is strength in that solidarity. London will need every ounce of it to keep on prospering in 2017 and beyond.

Dave Hill

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2017/jan/01/london-must-stand-strong-in-2017-if-its-golden-age-is-not-to-end

LEFT

2017-01-01 16:05:06

HuffPost

California's Beloved First Dog, Sutter, Is Gone

"We'll miss you buddy," the governor's staff tweeted.

Everyone’s favorite personality in California’s capital is gone. Sutter Brown, Gov. Jerry Brown’s charismatic Pembroke Welsh corgi, has died of cancer at the age of 13, with the governor and first lady at his side. Sutter was buried at the family ranch in Colusa County, where he “loved to roam, sniff and play,” according to a statement from the governor’s office Friday that announced the little dog’s death. “It’s a sad day for all who loved Sutter,” said the governor’s deputy press secretary, Deborah Hoffman. The dog, inherited by the governor from his sister in 2010, went everywhere with Brown and often broke the ice between battling Democrats and Republicans. (Sutter never revealed his party affiliation.) He had his own Facebook page and Twitter account with 11,000 followers, helped pass along public service and political messages, and seemed to have lots of secret opinions. He underwent emergency surgery in October, but veterinarians were unable to completely remove his aggressive cancer tumors. Sutter, named in honor of the Swiss pioneer John Sutter who played a key role in the Gold Rush era, remained comfortable for a time. He greeted trick-or-treaters at the governor’s mansion, and went with his master to the voting booth on Election Day, but more recently his health deteriorated rapidly. California first lady Anne Gust Brown, who is her husband’s chief adviser, once joked that Sutter was better known than she was, recalled The Sacramento Bee. “It’s hard in my household to get any attention between my husband and the dog,” she quipped.

Mary Papenfuss;Trends Reporter;The Huffington Post

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LEFT

2017-01-01 16:11:31

HuffPost

Redefining U.S. Policy in the Middle East: Finding Coherence in 2017

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan One of the most immediate challenges facing President-elect Donald Trump and his national security team will be to redefine U.S. policy in the Middle East. Eight years of Obama foreign policy has proven to be incoherent and disjointed and has left the region in disarray, with Russian power and influence ascendant. That point was driven home when Russia, Iran and Turkey met in Moscow on December 20, to settle the latest attempt at a Syrian ceasefire. The fact that such a meeting occurred without the participation of the United States underscored the growing irrelevance of Washington in resolving the Syrian civil war. This is the third attempt in the last 12 months at implementing a ceasefire between Damascus and the various Syrian rebel groups. It will likely prove to be as short lived as its predecessors. There is no shortage of issues destabilizing the Middle East, but addressing seven macro issues will form the core of any new U.S. policy in the region. These seven issues are: the Iranian/Shia challenge, economic instability from low oil prices, the political stability of Egypt and its role in the larger Middle East, especially in North Africa, Russia's current role in the region, the emergence of Turkey as a rogue actor, the civil/proxy wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen and, finally, the ongoing battle against jihadism in general and the Islamic State (IS) in particular. Iran has emerged as a regional power in the Middle East. It has used its location on the Persian Gulf and the Strait to Hormuz to leverage its position by demonstrating its ability to disrupt oil tanker traffic moving through the Gulf. Such actions would bring it into conflict with U.S. naval forces in the area. While Tehran does not have comparable naval power, it has tried to show that the use of large numbers of lightly armed small craft, some of which would be maritime IEDs, in swarm tactics, could disable larger ships. In addition, Iran has positioned itself as the defender of Shia minorities throughout the Middle East, especially in the Gulf, and has tried to mobilize those minorities as a means of expanding its influence in the region. That policy has led Tehran to get much further involved in the Syrian, Iraqi and Yemenite civil wars and to project its military power elsewhere in the Middle East. The challenge for the United States is to find a way of containing Iranian ambitions. The partial dismantling of the sanctions against Iran has enhanced Tehran's ability to project its power and influence in the region and to gain access to essential technology to upgrade its industry, especially its petroleum sector. The much-vaunted opening to Iran by the Obama administration has so far proven to be an illusion. Tehran has shown little interest in engaging with Washington. While the incoming Trump administration may opt to impose new sanctions on Tehran or tighten the existing ones, there is little prospect that the rest of the world will follow suit. The "Iranian nuclear agreement" is now part of the new reality in the Middle East and is not reversible. At best, President Obama's policy toward Iran may have deferred Tehran's ability to field nuclear weapons. Even that accomplishment is suspect, however, and assumes that Iran was relatively close to developing a nuclear capability. There is considerable evidence that Tehran was nowhere close to having such a potential. In which case, the Obama led P5+1 agreement to regulate Iran's attempt to develop nuclear weapons means that Tehran gave up something it didn't have in return for the lifting of the sanctions and access to Western markets and technology. What Washington wants is a regional, secular, Sunni coalition that can counterbalance Tehran's Shia arc of influence that currently stretches across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. To date, however, no such alliance has emerged and there is little prospect of one. The previous player to fill this roll, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, disappeared when U.S. forces overthrew Hussein and Iraq's Shia majority took control of the country. The U.S. has supplied advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, but those countries lack the population and armed forces to present a sufficient counter to Iranian power. The two countries that do have the military strength to present a sufficient counter to Tehran have very different agendas. Cairo is reluctant to get involved in the Gulf. Foreign deployments of its military have proven disasterous in the past and are highly unpopular with Egyptians. Turkey, under its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has broader ambitions to expand Turkish influence and to lead the Sunnis in the region. But many Sunni Arabs are reluctant to follow Turkish leadership. A third long shot is Pakistan. The Saudi's have tried to get Pakistan to play a broader role in the Gulf. Islamabad has enough problems on its hands, however, without being drawn into a broader Sunni-Shia rivalry. The danger from the U.S. standpoint is that the Saudis and their allies resort to organizing and funding various jihadist groups to counter Tehran's ambitions in much the same way that Pakistan has resorted to such groups in Kashmir in its struggle with India, and as happened in Syria during the civil war. While this strategy may be successful in countering Iranian ambitions in the short-term, it does so at the risk of expanding jihadist influence in the region and risks spilling over into anti-Western violence in Europe and North America. Iranian missile test The price of oil has become a major source of financial instability in the Sunni led petro-states along the Gulf. At current prices, all the major oil producers are unable to balance their governmental budgets and have been forced to dip into their reserves. In Saudi Arabia's case, the government's current deficit amounts to 16 percent of GNP, and Riyadh is moving aggressively to cut expenses and intends to reduce the deficit to 11 percent of GNP in 2017. A recent agreement which, for the first time, also included production cutbacks from non-OPEC members, has given oil prices a bounce. This agreement is unlikely to produce a sustained price increase however. Rising production in Libya, which was exempt from the agreement, will already offset a quarter or more of the announced cut. Moreover, improvements in fracking technology in the U.S. have brought the breakeven price for frackers down to the low $30s. The U.S. rig count has been rising steadily over the last few months. The expected opening of federal lands to fracking and the easing of federal regulations will likely lead to an increase in U.S. production over the next several years. Long-term, a 1.2 million barrel a day production cutback is not going to move prices in a meaningful way. The risk is that these governments will drastically scale back the financial largess that has ensured domestic peace and stability. Short-term, three to five years, these countries have the financial resources to weather the storm. Long-term, however, they will need oil prices, at a minimum, to be $100 per barrel to cover their deficits and stabilize their economies. Low oil prices will become a major source of instability in the Sunni petro-states, one that Tehran will be quick to exploit. Egypt could play a critical role in the Middle East, should it chose to do so. Short-term, Cairo needs to stabilize the Egyptian economy. Tourism, Egypt's third largest economic sector, is down by around 40 percent. The slowdown in the Gulf has also impacted remittances from Egyptians working there while also decreasing demand in a key Egyptian export market. The strained relations between Cairo and Washington have not gone unnoticed by either Tehran or Moscow, and both have been quick to try to exploit it. Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood has also tried to exploit Egypt's current economic weakness to restore its political influence there. Egypt has a key role in stabilizing North Africa, especially Libya, and countering the spread of jihadist influence there. Washington needs to move quickly to repair its relationship with Cairo, help Egypt stabilize its economy, and to support Cairo's role in counter-jihadist activity, both domestically and across north and central Africa. The Kremlin has taken advantage of the incoherence and indecision of Obama's Mideast policy to expand its role and influence there. To be clear, despite its pretentions Russia is not a superpower and never again will be, its nuclear arsenal notwithstanding. It is, however, a super problem for Washington in the Middle East. Its success in expanding its Middle East role is more illusion than substance. Its ability to project power across the Middle East is limited, nor is it able to challenge the United States militarily in the region. It can, however, complicate the conduct of U.S. policy in the Mideast and play the role of a spoiler. By concentrating its efforts on ensuring the survival of the Assad regime, however, and leveraging Iranian power and influence toward the same goal, the Kremlin has made it clear that it will stand by its Mideast clients. Recently, Moscow has been moving aggressively to back Libyan Field Marshall Khalifa Hiftar in an obvious attempt to restore its influence in Libya, another former Soviet client state. That position is in sharp contrast to the ambivalence the Obama White House has shown in standing by America's Mideast allies. US Secretary of State John Kerry meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Russia is now a player in the Middle East. While it's not as influential as it claims, its interests in the region cannot be ignored. Moreover, it will continue to exploit U.S. mistakes to expand its influence and possibly flip or at least "Finlandize" long-standing American allies like Egypt and possibly even Turkey. The best way to counter Russian influence in the Mideast is to have a clear and consistent U.S. policy that makes our continued support of our allies there clear, is precise about when we will or will not intervene militarily and insures that any such intervention has precise goals and is executed effectively. Russia will succeed in stabilizing the Assad regime, will probably expand its influence in Libya and it can engage to a limited extent with Saudi Arabia and its allies to try to stabilize and raise oil prices. Beyond that, a skillful American policy will likely preempt any future expansion of Russian influence. The Kremlin can leverage Tehran's power and influence for its own ends, like supporting Assad in Syria, but long-term a powerful Iran is not in Russia's strategic interest. On at least this point there is possible common ground between Washington and Moscow. Turkey, a long-standing American ally, has under its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan increasingly behaved as a rogue actor in the region. Erdogan is attempting to build a broad Sunni coalition to counter Iran, but is couching it in the context of a restoration of Turkish influence in the lands of the former Ottoman Empire. Moreover, he is defining that coalition in Islamist and anti-Western terms. Erdogan's assertion that Turkey has a "responsibility to its brothers in the former Ottoman empire" is popular among his constituents, but has gotten little traction among Arabs in the region. Moreover, Ankara's willingness to support radical jihadist groups including, for a brief time the Islamic State, and turning a blind eye to the role of Turkish companies in facilitating the smuggling and sale of contraband oil and stolen antiquities from IS, puts it at sharp odds with U.S. policy in the region and has led to a sharp deterioration in Ankara's relations with Washington and the European Union. This is particularly true of Erdogan's attempts to use the Syrian refugees to leverage more favorable terms from the EU for Turkey and its citizens. Erdogan's arrest or dismissal of individuals that he claims were supporters of the failed coup now exceeds 110,000 Turkish citizens. He has used the coup attempt to purge the government, courts and military of any potential opposition and to close media outlets that criticized him. If Erdogan continues along his current track, his actions will amount to a counterrevolution of the Ataturk led revolution that established the modern secular Turkish state. Turkey has two significant vulnerabilities, however. First the Turkish economy is dependent on access to European markets and capital. Secondly, its flirtations with Moscow, notwithstanding, long-term Russian and Turkish interests are divergent. Russia is still the principal security threat to Turkey and, despite the Turkish military; Ankara will need allies if it finds itself confronting Russia. Erdogan's foreign policy is largely failing and is doing so at a time when Turkey's economic weakness makes it dangerous to alienate the EU or the United States. The civil wars in Syria and Yemen have become Shia-Sunni proxy wars, ones in which the success of neither side is in Washington's interest. In Yemen, the U.S. is providing intelligence and logistical support to the largely Saudi led effort, while Iran is supplying the Shia related Houthis. The U.S. has wisely avoided a deeper entanglement in Yemen. Houthi elements have attacked, no doubt under Iranian instruction, U.S. warships in the region to either force a U.S. withdrawal or an escalated U.S. involvement, either one of which would be in Tehran's interest. Washington does not want to see a pro-Iranian regime in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula on the flank of the Red Sea, but it has little to gain from an expanded American role there. American involvement in the Syrian civil war was initially prompted to contain the expansion of the Islamic State and then, in a typical example of mission creep, grew into a half-hearted effort to support the Syrian rebels and overthrow the Assad regime. The premise was that the U.S. would arm and train "moderate" elements within the anti-Assad opposition while supporting their campaign with airpower. Islamic State jihadist fighters in Mosul, June 2014 The idea that there were "moderate elements" within the Syrian opposition or that these could be identified and organized into a coherent group proved to be illusory. Likewise, the role of U.S. air power was so constrained by restrictive rules of engagement that only a quarter of the missions delivered their payloads. Notwithstanding a haphazard policy, the U.S. and its allies have succeeded in rolling back the Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq. In Syria, the largely Kurdish led and staffed Syrian Democratic Forces has emerged as an American proxy ground force. Supported by U.S. airpower and Special Forces, the SDF has succeeded in expelling IS from large areas of Syria. Turkish opposition to the role of Syrian Kurds in the SDF and to a separate Syrian-Kurdish state, the so called Rojava, however, has led the U.S. to forego supplying heavy weapons to the SDF and to constrain the areas where the SDF operates. In Iraq, U.S. supported Iraqi Army units and Peshmerga forces, in collaboration with regional Sunni militias and the Iranian sponsored Shia militias, have also successively rolled back the Islamic State and are now invading Mosul - IS's last major urban center there. The battle for Mosul will be bitterly fought street-by-street. Mosul is a city roughly the size of Houston, Texas. Its prewar population was approximately two million people. Its current population is unclear and has been estimated at anywhere from 400,000 to one million inhabitants. The Battle for Mosul will be the biggest urban battle since Stalingrad, a city that was only one-fifth of Mosul's size. While the United States has made notable progress against the Islamic State, it is losing the war against jihadism. Both al-Qaeda and Islamic State have successfully expanded their franchises to some 50 countries around the world. The al-Qaeda sponsored Jabhat al-Sham (Conquest of Syria Front), the former al-Nusra Front, is well positioned to inherit IS's jihadist mantle. Moreover, despite U.S. success in rolling back Islamic State, that campaign will likely still take an additional one to two years of effort. Even stripped of its territorial domain, however, Islamic State will continue. Its foreign franchises will survive, and in Syria and Iraq it will simply revert to its earlier role as a jihadist insurgency. The problem with combatting jihadism is that it has become a seductive, emotionally charged, powerful idea and it's impossible to defeat an idea with military force. You can only defeat an idea with a "better idea," an effort that Washington has failed to pursue. You cannot separate jihadism from its Islamic roots, even if most Muslims reject the jihadist interpretation of Islam. A "better idea" also must have Islamic foundations, a concept that the Obama administration has been unwilling to address on the premise that linking jihadists and Islam is inherently racist. Ultimately jihadism must be defeated both intellectually and physically. It needs to be defeated in cyberspace and social media just as surely as it needs to be defeated on the battlefield. Two decades of Mideast policy have amply demonstrated that the US cannot reshape the region's politics and governments to its liking. It still has a role to play there, however, has considerable influence and retains the ability to intervene militarily to contain the spread of violence that is destabilizing the region. The latter is an important role, but one that it should use very selectively and with the utmost prudence. These seven topics are only some of the issues that currently divide the Middle East. They are, however, the most important and must form the core of any new strategy. They need to be addressed in a systematic and comprehensive fashion if we want a coherent policy in the Middle East.

Joseph V. Micallef;Best Selling Military History;World Affairs Author;Keynote Speaker;Follow Joseph V. Micallef On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Josephvmicallef

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LEFT

2017-01-01 16:29:29

HuffPost

Cologne Police Screen Hundreds Of Mostly North African Men On New Year's Eve

Police deny the screenings and arrests, meant to prevent assaults, amounted to racial profiling.

Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters Police officers of Germany's federal police Bundespolizei check young men at the main railways station following New Year celebrations in Cologne, Germany, January 1, 2017. COLOGNE, Germany, Jan 1 (Reuters) - German police said on Sunday they had prevented a repeat of the assaults and robberies suffered by hundreds of women in Cologne a year ago by screening 650 mostly North African men on New Year’s Eve. Police detained and screened many of the men at the main railway station as they headed towards the center of Cologne in western Germany, where the attacks a year earlier fueled criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door migrant policy. Cologne police chief Juergen Mathies did not say how many of the men were subsequently allowed into the city center but denied that the checks amounted to racial profiling. He also said many of those detained had been aggressive. “This was clearly about preventing similar incidents to last year,” he told a news conference. “A large part of this group that was checked was such that criminal acts were to be expected. That is why we took this clear approach.” Police arrested 92 people - including 16 Germans and 10 Syrians - during Saturday night’s celebrations in Cologne. Police also installed new video surveillance cameras to monitor the station square. Many of the suspects in the attacks a year ago were of North African and Arab appearance, the police have said. Those attacks helped fuel the rise of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which hurt Merkel’s conservatives in a series of regional polls last year and threaten to erode her support in this year’s national election. In her New Year’s address to the nation, Merkel said Islamist terrorism was the biggest test facing Germany, and she vowed to improve security after an Islamic State attack in Berlin before Christmas that killed 12 people.

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LEFT

2017-01-01 16:30:23

Fox News

Teen killed, mother and suspected gunman injured in shooting

Police say a 16-year-old girl is dead and her mother was hurt in an attack in their Ellicott City home, just west of Baltimore.

Police say a 16-year-old girl is dead and her mother was hurt in an attack in their Ellicott City home, just west of Baltimore. Officers say the alleged 15-year-old gunman is in critical condition after shooting himself in the head. The Howard County Police Department said in a news release that 52-year-old Suzanne Zaremba heard a scuffle in her daughter's bedroom about 2 a.m. Sunday. Investigators say Zaremba went to Charlotte Zaremba's bedroom and saw a man. Police say he shot Suzanne and Charlotte Zaremba, then himself. Charlotte Zaremba died at a local hospital; Suzanne Zaremba was treated and released. Police say the alleged gunman is being treated for life-threatening injuries at Shock Trauma in Baltimore. Authorities say it is not clear if he has any connection to the victims.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/01/teen-killed-mother-and-suspected-gunman-injured-in-shooting.html

RIGHT

2017-01-01 16:34:08

Breitbart

Gun-Controlled Chicago Ends 2016 with Nearly 800 Homicides for the Year

The gun-controlled city of Chicago, Illinois, concluded 2016 with nearly eight hundred homicides throughout the year.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Gun-controlled Chicago ended 2016 with nearly 800 homicides throughout the year. The Chicago Tribune reports that there were a total of 779 homicides between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016. That is an increase of 287 homicides over 2015 totals. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER There were 4,385 shootings — fatal and non-fatal combined — in gun-controlled Chicago during 2016. That is an increase of nearly 1,500 shootings over the 2,900 Time magazine reported for 2015. 2016 was marred by shooting after shooting in Chicago. In fact, by early September, the egregious violence in the city was so high that ABC News reported “nearly 12” people had been shot every day in the city from January 1 to the end of August. Chicago has been a testing ground for gun control for decades. The city put a ban on handgun ownership in place in 1982 and the Tribune reported that the next 10 years witnessed a “41 percent” jump in murders, “compared with an 18 percent rise in the entire United States.” And why shouldn’t such a ban lead to an increase in murder? After all, when bans are enacted, only the criminals remain armed. The ban was overturned in 2010 via the Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v Chicago, but city leaders have worked diligently to preserve the vestiges of the ban at every turn in the road. Municipal and county limits on the number of gun stores allowed in Chicago, together with rules on the locations of those stores and a ridiculous amount of regulation on acquiring and carrying guns for self-defense, have coalesced to guarantee that criminals maintain an advantage similar to what they enjoyed when the ban was in place. The result of Chicago gun control is self-evident — bloody and repulsive, but self-evident none the less. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected].

Awr Hawkins

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RIGHT

2017-01-01 16:35:45

HuffPost

Former Press Secretaries Say Donald Trump's Relationship With Journalists Will Be Unprecedented

"I don’t think it has any parallels to the past," says former George W. Bush spokeswoman.

WASHINGTON ― Three former White House press secretaries told NBC’s Chuck Todd that the incoming Trump administration will be a very different beast when it comes to dealing with the press. “We’ve just elected a man who bullies female reporters at his rally as an applause line,” said Nicolle Wallace, who served as White House communications director under President George W. Bush. “We have just elected a man who started a hot war with a female anchor instead of attending a debate she moderated. We are in a new place. And I don’t think it’s good. And I don’t think it has any parallels to the past.” The “Meet The Press” roundtable discussed Trump’s predilection for using Twitter to reach people and his frequent disparagement of journalists and journalism. “I don’t think Trump needs the press, but I think he wants them like an addict craves their drugs,” Wallace continued. Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary for President Bill Clinton, said that already within the transition period, Trump has diverged from past presidents. “We’re on opposite sides of the parties,” he said, referring to the other press secretaries in the roundtable, “but I think our transitions were really similar, because we shared a couple of things. We shared the idea that the press-president relationship was mutually beneficial. The reason people sit down in the briefing room every day is because both sides get something out of it. Gary Cameron/Reuters The relationship between the press and incoming president Donald Trump is different than it has been with past presidents of both parties. “Traditionally for the last 50 years, we’ve operated on the same basic fact sets,” he continued. “We’re really in a place where ― we haven’t seen this, I think, since the ‘60s with Nixon ― where they create their own facts. You redefine the past, which means you can define the present and future. That’s going to be very difficult for both sides to come to grips with.” “It’s a double-barreled hostility,” said Ari Fleischer, another George W. Bush press secretary. “His press corps can’t stand Donald Trump, and Donald Trump is happy to return the favor.”

Kate Sheppard;Enterprise Editor Senior Reporter;The Huffington Post

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/former-press-secretaries-donald-trump-journalists_us_58692aaae4b0eb586489d9b6

LEFT

2017-01-01 16:35:53

CNN

Trump to 'repeal a lot' of Obama's actions on day one, top aide says

President-elect Donald Trump plans to repeal a raft of President Barack Obama's executive actions in his first day in office, Trump's incoming White House press secretary said Sunday.

Story highlights Trump will repeal Obama's actions after taking the oath of office, a top aide said The aide said Trump will ban members of his administration from lobbying for five years Washington (CNN) President-elect Donald Trump plans to repeal a raft of President Barack Obama's executive actions in his first day in office, Trump's incoming White House press secretary said Sunday. Sean Spicer, Trump's incoming White House press secretary, said on ABC's "This Week" that Trump will immediately "repeal a lot of the regulations and actions that have been taken by this administration over the last eight years that have hampered both economic growth and job creation." It was one of two moves Spicer said Trump will make immediately after he takes the oath of office. He didn't specify which executive actions Trump will repeal. However, Trump has long been critical of Obama's moves on immigration, energy regulation and foreign policy, and could look for ways to undo those and other actions. Read More

Eric Bradner

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UNDEFINED

2017-01-01 17:00:01

The Guardian

The BBC’s Planet Earth II did not help the natural world

Producers claim such series encourage conservation – but in fact their brilliance and beauty breeds complacency about our destruction of the planet

It has been wonderful watching Planet Earth II. What a glorious, spectacular and fascinating series. Hats off to the production team, the camera crews, the film editors and the splendid music – and to David Attenborough himself for the marvellous commentary and script. We have surely never been so close to the action and never have the pictures looked so luxurious. I have the greatest admiration for the teams who made Planet Earth II – whose final episode was broadcast last night on the BBC – but I fear this series, and others like it, have become a disaster for the world’s wildlife. These programmes are pure entertainment, brilliantly executed but ultimately a significant contributor to the planet-wide extinction of wildlife we’re presiding over. The Guardian view on Planet Earth: its life in our hands | Editorial Read more The justification, say the programme makers, is that if people (the audience) become interested in the natural world they will start to care about the natural world, and will be more likely to want to get involved in trying to conserve it. Unfortunately the scientific evidence shows this is nonsense. For instance, the World Wide Fund for Nature and Zoological Society of London’s authoritative 2016 Living Planet Report has concluded that between 1970 and 2012 there was a 58% decline of vertebrate population abundance worldwide. This encompasses the period in which Attenborough’s outstanding natural history series have been broadcast (starting with Life on Earth in 1979). The prime factor in this destruction is humankind’s insatiable need for space – destroying and degrading habitat at an appalling rate – coupled with species over-exploitation, pollution, invasive species, climate change and rampant poaching. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Planet Earth II: there may be as few as 3,500 snow leopards left in the wild. Photograph: David Willis/BBC Yet these programmes are still made as if this worldwide mass extinction is simply not happening. The producers continue to go to the rapidly shrinking parks and reserves to make their films – creating a beautiful, beguiling fantasy world, a utopia where tigers still roam free and untroubled, where the natural world exists as if man had never been. By fostering this lie they are lulling the huge worldwide audience into a false sense of security. “If David Attenborough is still making these sorts of wonderful shows then it can’t be that bad, can it?” Yes it can, and it’s going to get much, much worse. Even as Planet Earth II was being broadcast, it was reported that elephant and lion numbers were tumbling, and last month it became clear that the giraffe could be heading towards extinction, with numbers plummeting by 40% in the past 15 years. But no hint of the continuing disaster is allowed to shatter the illusion. I’m not for one moment suggesting such shows should not be made. They are wonderful records of the beauty rapidly disappearing from our planet. I believe that in 100 years people will be amazed, and profoundly sad, that it was still possible to make such programmes. What I am suggesting is that the fantasy should be balanced by reality. The 50 best TV shows of 2016: No 1 Planet Earth II Read more I would like to propose a “conservation tax” among natural history commissioners across all channels. This tax would insist that a fifth of natural history commissions are significantly conservation-oriented. As a matter of urgency, a development team should be set up to think how the reality of what’s happening to wildlife worldwide can be portrayed in innovative ways, integrated in dramas, in children’s shows – in collaborations with producers like Aardman Animations, perhaps, or video diaries of inspirational people working with animals, and cartoon characters. Some shows could be overtly conservation-oriented, others more subtle – perhaps a detective drama where the villains are smuggling rhino horn or ivory. But why would any TV development team put effort into imaginative conservation programming when escapist productions are so successful – unless it were taxed? The BBC is in a unique position to work with a conservation tax. It could do this as part of its public service remit, without having quite the financial pressure and need for profit that independents and commercial producers do. It would also be a very positive initiative for the BBC to be seen to be doing. We cannot simply carry on producing escapist wildlife fantasy almost totally ignoring the manmade mass extinction raging around us.

Martin Hughes-Games

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/01/bbc-planet-earth-not-help-natural-world

LEFT

2017-01-01 17:03:06

The Guardian

Labour members urged to reject plan for lower leadership threshold

Director of centrist Progress group says leftwing attempt to change party rules belittles idea of leadership

Labour members must resist attempts planned for 2017 to radically redraw party rules to give leftwing candidates a higher chance of success in future leadership contests, the director of a pressure group has said. Richard Angell, of the centrist Progress group closely associated with the New Labour years, said it was his new year’s resolution to stop an amendment supported by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, which would lower the number of supportive MPs needed to qualify as a leadership candidate. Currently, would-be candidates need the support of 15% of their parliamentary colleagues for their name to be added to the ballot. However, the Labour conference this year will vote on whether to lower the threshold to 5% of MPs. The move is favoured by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn because it is viewed as an avenue to allow a continuity leftwing candidate to succeed him whenever he chooses to resign. The amendment was put forward by a local constituency group and does not need the formal backing of Labour’s national executive committee to be put to conference. An NEC source said they thought Labour delegates in their current political makeup would be unlikely to back such a controversial amendment at Labour’s next conference. Angell wrote in a blog for the Progress website: “This pitiful threshold not only belittles the idea of leadership, it is an anathema to Labour’s commitment to parliamentary socialism and to Britain’s parliamentary democracy. “Our system require the candidate to be prime minister to command overwhelming support on the treasury benches. The hard left’s amendment acknowledges that their candidate for leader will never command that kind of support.” Angell suggested McDonnell was keen to lower the threshold for nomination because he was eager for the chance to run for the leadership himself, though McDonnell has publicly denied this and said he will never stand for the leadership of the Labour party. The shadow chancellor recently tipped other members of the shadow cabinet to eventually succeed Corbyn, including the shadow business secretary, Clive Lewis, and the shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner. A Labour source said it was clear both sides of the party would be mobilising long before conference. “Either way, it’s not a McDonnell amendment – that’s Progress trying to fire up their base,” the source said. The move to lower the threshold is backed by Momentum, the grassroots movement set up after the election of Corbyn, and the leftwing Campaign for Labour party Democracy group, of which Corbyn was formerly a member. Alice Perry, a member of Labour’s NEC, said party members focus should instead focus on getting ready to fight any snap general election. “The next Labour party conference is nine months away. A lot can happen in that time, including a possible general election,” she said. “We saw the political landscape shift dramatically in 2016, Labour’s priority has to be to respond to the new challenges we face, articulate our own compelling, positive vision for the UK’s future and fight every election 2017 has in store, including some very important local elections.” Meanwhile, Labour’s Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, has told the Sunday Times that he backs a “fundamental rethink” of free movement rules after the UK exits the EU – far stronger language than used by the party leader. “The rules on free movement have got to be changed or the way the rules operate has got to change,” he said. “People, when you talk to them about immigration, have a strong distinction in their mind between people who are coming here to work and contribute and those who are coming here to look for work, and I think that distinction is well worth exploring.” Corbyn has previously said he believes the pitfalls of free movement have been exaggerated, and expressed doubts that a work permit system could be fairly applied.

Jessica Elgot

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/01/labour-members-urged-to-reject-plan-for-lower-leadership-threshold

LEFT

2017-01-01 17:11:26

The Guardian

Bodies of two men and a woman found near white cliffs of Dover

Coastguard finds bodies of second man and woman following police discovery of man’s body at base of Langdon Cliffs

The bodies of two men and a woman have been found near the white cliffs of Dover in Kent, police have said. Officers were alerted to concern for the welfare of a man at Langdon Cliffs and found a body at the base of the cliffs. During the search on Sunday afternoon, the coastguard also discovered the bodies of a second man and woman, Kent police said. Officers do not believe their deaths are linked to that of the first man. A police spokesman said: “Kent police were called at 2.27pm due to concern for the welfare of a man at Langdon Cliffs, Dover. Officers attended and the body of a man was subsequently discovered at the bottom of the cliffs by the coastguard. During the search the coastguard also discovered the bodies of a second man and a woman. Officers do not believe their deaths are linked to that of the first man.” Kent police said inquiries into the circumstances behind all three deaths are ongoing.

Robert Booth

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/01/dover-white-cliffs-bodies-two-men-and-woman

LEFT

2017-01-01 17:15:07

Slate

Trump Doesn't Plan to Ease Off Twitter Once He Is Sworn in as President

Remember how President-elect Donald Trump told 60 Minutes shortly after winning the election that he was planning to be “restrained” on how he uses Twi ...

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images Remember how President-elect Donald Trump told 60 Minutes shortly after winning the election that he was planning to be “restrained” on how he uses Twitter? It seems he is now reconsidering and is “absolutely” planning to continue to use Twitter as a communication tool and to make major policy announcements, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on ABC’s This Week. "When he tweets, he gets results," Spicer said. "So whether it's Twitter, holding a news conference, picking up the phone, having a meeting, he is going to make sure that he continues to fight for the American people every single day." Advertisement Spicer said the president-elect’s use of Twitter is just another example of how Trump is going to be a different kind of president. “There’s a new sheriff in town,” Spicer said. “Absolutely you’re going to see Twitter.” When ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked him whether a Trump White House would involve “major policy done via Twitter,” Spicer said the concern reflects how mainstream journalists are concerned that Trump has a way to speak to the public without intermediaries. “You know, with all due respect, I think it freaks the mainstream media out that he has this following of over 45-plus million people that follow him on social media, that he can have a direct conversation. He doesn’t have to have it funneled through the media,” Spicer said. The incoming press secretary’s words appear to mark a shift from the November 60 Minutes interview when Trump said he would be “very restrained, if I use it at all.” Still, in that same interview he also spoke about how Twitter is useful to push back on negative stories. Since then though, Trump has not exactly been “restrained” on his Twitter use, taking to the social network to hint at upending decades of U.S. foreign policy, criticize outgoing President Obama, and praise Russian President Vladimir Putin.

www.slate.com

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/01/01/trump_has_no_plans_to_ease_off_twitter_once_he_is_sworn_in_as_president.html

LEFT

2017-01-01 17:25:24

The Guardian

'Hollyweed': California's Hollywood sign changed in post-election prank

Following the passage of measure legalizing use of recreational marijuana in state, a prankster alters the sign – and it’s not the first time it has been changed

Following the passage of measure legalizing use of recreational marijuana in state, a prankster alters the sign – and it’s not the first time it has been changed Los Angeles residents awoke on New Year’s Day to find a prankster had altered the famed Hollywood sign to read “Hollyweed”. Hollywood sign has tourists heading for the hills – and residents heading to court Read more KABC-TV reported that Los Angeles police had dispatched a unit to investigate the apparent vandalism. It quoted a witness, who it showed with two fellow hikers posing for a photo with the revised landmark in the background, as saying the reworded sign was “pretty cool”. CBS News (@CBSNews) Someone changed the famed Hollywood sign to read “Hollyweed" https://t.co/dr5pIIJZaL pic.twitter.com/LoWa4rnr7D Police had also notified the city’s department of general services, whose officers patrol Griffith Park and the area of the rugged Hollywood Hills near the sign. In November, California voters approved Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the state, beginning in 2018. The Hollywood sign was erected in 1923 and originally said “Hollywoodland”, to advertise a new housing development in the hills above Los Angeles. It has been altered to say “Hollyweed” before – in 1976, after the passage of a state law relaxing rules concerning marijuana. The same prankster, Danny Finegood, changed it to read “Ollywood” in 1987, in protest over positive treatment of Col Oliver North, the marine at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal; he also made it read “Oil war” in 1990, in protest at the first Gulf war. Finegood died in 2007.

Associated Press In Los Angeles

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/01/hollyweed-californias-hollywood-sign-changed-in-post-election-prank

LEFT

2017-01-01 17:25:38

CNN

Istanbul attack: Turkey must end blame game and look for solutions

Turkey is so deeply polarized around its President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan that instead of asking why terror attacks are happening, the pro- and anti-Erdogan blocks are blaming each other.

(CNN) Turkey is so deeply polarized around the powerful persona of its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan that instead of asking why terror attacks are happening and how they can be stopped, the country's pro- and anti-Erdogan blocks are blaming each other. This leaves me deeply worried about Turkey and its ability to stymie further terror attacks through the vigor of its institutions and unity of its citizens. Including last night's attack on a nightclub in central Istanbul , which killed at least 39 people, by my count Turkey has suffered 33 major terror attacks since summer 2015. These attacks, which have killed more than 730 people, are connected to two terror groups: ISIS and the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK has a penchant for going after security targets in its attacks. Most recently, on December 11, the group carried out a devastating suicide car bomb attack on a bus carrying police officers in which at least 38 people (both civilians and security officials) were killed, and another 150 wounded. No one has claimed responsibility for the New Year's Eve attack in Istanbul, but it would not be surprising that ISIS were behind this attack. For weeks now, Islamists in Turkey had argued that New Year's Eve celebrations are un-Islamic. Shocking as it is in a country with a deep-rooted Christian legacy -- St. Nicholas himself was born in Turkey in the early Christian era -- Islamists have even carried out mock-style executions of Santa Claus in public to protest against New Year's Eve celebrations, which they confuse with Christmas, and to which they object in their distorted ideology. It would not be surprising if ISIS or jihadist individuals radicalized by ISIS carried out last night's heartbreaking New Year's Eve attack in Istanbul. Fighting each other, not terrorists But if the perpetrators of Turkey's terror are so obvious, why does Turkey seem unable to prevent the tide of terror that it is facing? This is because the Turks are too busy fighting each other, rather than focusing on fighting terror together. JUST WATCHED Why are attacks so frequent in Turkey? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Why are attacks so frequent in Turkey? 02:13 Since coming to power first as prime minister in 2003 and then as president in 2014, Erdogan has won elections on a platform of right-wing populism. He has demonized, targeted, and brutally cracked down on electorates that are not likely to vote for him. These groups, including leftists, liberals, social democrats, Alevis (who are liberal Muslims), secularists and Kurds, together constitute nearly half of the country's population. Erdogan's strategy has left Turkey deeply polarized. And coupled with Turkey's economic growth under Erdogan, it has built him a loyal, right wing constituency, including Turkish nationalists, conservatives and Islamists, constituting the other half of the country. The pro-Erdogan block adores the Turkish leader and thinks that he can do no wrong. At the same time, the anti-Erdogan block loathes him and believes that he can do no right. This is also the prism through which Turks, unfortunately, view the terror attacks and the rising violence. How to prevent tide of violence? Following each attack, instead of discussing the security failures that may have led to the attack and what can and should be done to prevent future attacks, the Turks start blaming each other. Nor is there ever any discussion on the foreign policy picture behind the attacks, namely that Ankara's simultaneous wars against ISIS and the PKK ally Party for Democratic Unity (PYD) in Syria appear to be spilling over into the country, with ISIS and the PKK carrying out retaliatory-style attacks because Turkey is making gains against them in Syria. Instead, Turkey's polarized landscape shapes the debate in the country in the aftermath of each attack. If ISIS carries out an attack, anti-Erdogan Turks blame him for not protecting them. And if the PKK carries out an attack, then pro-Erdogan Turks blame the opposition, and so goes the vicious cycle until the next horrible attack. Turkey has strong national security institutions, which have helped it weather previous terror waves, including a full-blown PKK insurgency in the 1990s. The same institutions have also helped the country avert past crises, such as civil war-like fighting on the streets between hard-right and hard-left groups in the 1970s. But, if the Turks do not engage in an honest conversation on how to prevent the tide of violence facing them this time, I fear even these strong institutions may not be enough to halt the wave of terror and save the country from destruction.

Soner Cagaptay

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/01/opinions/istanbul-attack-turkey-polarized/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

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