Saudi Military Coalition Pauses Fight in Yemen
11/15/2018, 1:56:36 PMThe Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has suspended an assault on a vital port city, as Saudi Arabia comes under international pressure to undertake peace talks amid scrutiny of its foreign policy following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. ✔ The battle for Hodeidah, under way since June, had subsided in recent days to give space for aid workers and wounded civilians to evacuate ✔ Previous rounds of Yemen peace talks have faltered ✔ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Oct. 30 for a cease-fire and new talks in November ✔ Each operation has its own specifics and pace, he said
As Ebola spreads, U.S. won’t enter Congo war zone - Los Angeles Times
11/15/2018, 3:29:54 PMThe United States has no plans to re-deploy personnel to fight the growing Ebola outbreak on the ground in Congo because of worsening security concerns, administration officials said Wednesday. ✔ Looming over those security concerns are the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, according to public health experts familiar with discussions over U.S. personnel deployment who spoke on background to discuss matters candidly
Amid arrests and killings, Bangladesh and India must fight censorship | Arundhati Roy
11/15/2018, 1:50:46 PMOn PEN International’s Day of the Imprisoned Writer, the Indian novelist addresses photographer Shahidul Alam, charged with criticising Bangladesh on Facebook ✔ Would your body be found in an alley, or floating in some shallow pond on the outskirts of Dhaka ✔ Even the police know that they are likely to be acquitted by higher courts ✔ This foolish, shortsighted cruelty will give way to something kinder and more visionary ✔ This particular malaise, this bout of ill-health that has engulfed our planet will pass
U.S. fight against U.N. migration pact finds allies
11/15/2018, 1:58:16 PMThe Trump administration’s once-lonely opposition to an ambitious U.N. pact on the treatment of migrants worldwide is picking up allies, as the Czech Republic on Wednesday became the latest European country to reverse course and say it will not join the compact. ✔ The Trump administration’s once-lonely opposition to an ambitious U.N ✔ Raging debate The pact’s supporters say the fears of intervention in the rights of individual countries to set their own immigration polices or control their borders are vastly overblown
Why the US Fears Russian Peacemaking in Afghanistan
11/15/2018, 3:31:57 PMArticle from two weeks ago before the Moscow conference, but the analysis still very relevant. Within hours of the announcement on Saturday by the Russian Foreign Ministry that the second meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan will take place on November 9, the US government-funded Radio Free Europe and Liberty has announced that the Afghan government will not participate in the forthcoming meeting. The text of the Russian Foreign Ministry statement is reproduced below: ✔ Article from two weeks ago before the Moscow conference, but the analysis still very relevant ✔ The meeting will be opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey V ✔ Although an ethnic Afghan notionally, Khalilzad is a widely disliked figure among Afghans, including among the Kabul elite
Trump and Kim Jong-un to meet before North Korea provides list of weapons and missile sites: Report
11/15/2018, 12:58:42 PMThe Trump administration will not demand that North Korea provide a list of weapons and sites before proceeding with a second meeting between President Trump and N.K. leader Kim Jong-un, NBC News reported Thursday. ✔ Mr. Trump dismissed the reports Tuesday as Fake News ✔ However, both Mr. Pence and Mr. Trump have stressed that sanctions will not be lifted until there is a complete and proven plan to determine if the North Koreans are indeed working on denuclearization
U.N. still sees big risks in Syria, despite a lull in northwest
11/15/2018, 3:25:38 PMThousands of Syrians are trapped by battles or face hard choices about returning... ✔ as terrorists, remain in Idlib and Egeland said there are few signs of them negotiating or laying down their arms or seeking amnesty ✔ Imagine being a single mother in a tent in (Lebanon’s) Bekaa Valley – how do you do that ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Inside Facebook’s secret fight-back through years of crisis
11/15/2018, 2:02:12 PMSources reveal how Facebook went on attack to discredit critics as politicians and users began to turn on social media giant ✔ The flight was en route to Pangkal Pinang, and reportedly had 189 people onboard EPA 18/50 28 October 2018 A supporter of Workers' Party presidential candidate Fernando Haddad embraces a fellow weeping supporter, after learning that rival Jair Bolsonaro was declared the winner in the Brazil presidential runoff election
US military 'losing its competitive edge'
11/15/2018, 2:28:42 PMMilitary superiority has eroded to a dangerous degree, experts appointed by Congress warn. ✔ Today however, our margin of superiority is profoundly diminished in key areas ✔ But getting back into the business of high-end warfare will be costly ✔ We no longer live in a world where there is a clear distinction between peace and war ✔ But it also requires a new mindset in government and that may be the hardest thing to achieve
When will America stop participating in Yemen's genocidal war? | Mark Weisbrot
11/15/2018, 3:11:48 PMSooner or later, the Trump administration will be forced to withdraw from this war. But how many people will die before it happens? ✔ Two Republican representatives who supported H Res 138 cited James Madison in a letter to their colleagues on Wednesday: In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department
DRC and UN launch operation
11/15/2018, 12:29:40 PMThe Congolese army and the United Nations force in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been conducting a joint military operation against the ADF forces of Uganda. ✔ The Congolese army and the United Nations force in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been conducting a joint military operation ✔ Since October 2014, the ADF have been held responsible for the killings of several hundred of civilians in the region of Beni (North Kivu)
Starvation: The terrible human cost of Chad’s economic and political meltdown
11/15/2018, 3:33:21 PMAn oppressive heat seeped through the ward, the languid ceiling fans providing little relief to the patients lying listlessly on their beds. ✔ A malnourished child Credit:Todd Pitock Trade unions erupted in fury and many hospitals and clinics closed for more this year as part of a public sector general strike ✔ Newsletter promotion - global health security - end of article Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security
Donald Trump’s blind eye to the Khashoggi murder
11/15/2018, 3:22:53 PMundefined ✔ Older hands tried to warn Mr Kushner against putting America’s eggs in one basket ✔ The great untold story of the Middle East is Iran-US co-operation in Iraq, says Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA officer ✔ If that changed, things could turn dangerous very quickly
Why Iran executed the "Sultan of Coins" for hoarding gold as U.S. sanctions bite
11/15/2018, 3:20:12 PMIslamic Republic's currency has plummeted under U.S. sanctions with Trump's withdrawal from nuke deal, and regime is cracking down on hoarders ✔ The Iranian rial has plunged to 135,000 to the dollar from last year's rate of around 40,500 ✔ The White House also says the deal failed to address Iran's nefarious activities around the world, including alleged material backing for Islamic extremist groups from Syria and Lebanon to Yemen
Mainstream media on Gaza: Israelis get killed, but Palestinians merely ‘die’
11/15/2018, 12:59:41 PMAfter a Twitter backlash, the Guardian was forced to amend a brazenly propagandized headline which sought to undermine the basic rights of Palestinians and elevate Israeli soldiers to levels previously thought unimaginable. ✔ As explained by Maria Konnikova in the New Yorker: Psychologists have long known that first impressions really do matterwhat we see, hear, feel, or experience in our first encounter with something colors how we process the rest of it ✔ The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT
Australia to buy armed Reaper drones in shift towards pilotless future
11/15/2018, 12:02:49 PMAustralia will buy at least a dozen armed drones in a major step towards a future in which air strikes are increasingly carried out remotely. ✔ Most experts predict drones will become increasingly autonomous as advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are made, though Australian military officers have said humans will always be involved in approving deadly strikes ✔ ''If you have the army going in from LHDs [the navy’s maritime landing ships] the Reaper can be forward deployed into air bases for ground operations ashore
Bourke St: I am feeling nothing less than rage, alienation and despair
11/15/2018, 12:40:39 PMWe must enjoy freedom of religion but not be too Muslim-looking, too Muslim-acting, even too Muslim-thinking. ✔ Opinion National Islam Bourke St: I am feeling nothing less than rage, alienation and despair By Randa Abdel-Fateh15 November 2018 11:35pm Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size I am feeling nothing less than rage, alienation and despair at the moment ✔ I, an Australian Muslim, refuse to condemn the violence that took place on Bourke Street ✔ To ask me to condemn is to strip me of my basic humanity ✔ Randa Abdel-Fattah is a novelist and post-doctoral research fellow at Macquarie University
What if Donald Trump is what America is all about?
11/15/2018, 1:54:32 PMThere is a widely accepted idea among some Americans that Trump does not reflect American values. They are wrong. ✔ Despite the liberal media's insistence to contrary, this midterm elections in no way, shape, or form was a repudiation of Donald Trump or any so-called blue wave or anything of the sort ✔ UpFront Trump, the Democrats, and the future of US democracy ABOUT THE AUTHOR Hamid Dabashi Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University
The Health 202: 11152018-health202
11/15/2018, 2:13:46 PM✔ (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Republicans appear cognizant of these realities ✔ An unknown number of people staying at a shelter in Chico, Calif ✔ Norovirus is not uncommon, especially this time of year, and it’s especially not uncommon for a shelter situation where you have hundreds of people living in very close quarters, Butte County Public Health Department spokeswoman Lisa Almaguer told reporters, The Mercury News’s Jason Green reports ✔ SUGAR RUSH Trump endorses bipartisan criminal-justice reform bill:
U.S.-Made Drones Add Muscle to Australia’s Military Buildup
11/15/2018, 12:13:01 PMAustralia said it would buy American-made Reaper drones and may station warships in neighboring Papua New Guinea, as the U.S. ally bulks up its military in response to regional security threats. ✔ An MQ-9 Reaper drone sits on the tarmac at Kandahar air base in Afghanistan ✔ Mr. Pyne said Canberra was in talks with Papua New Guinea about basing warships at the country’s main naval port on Manus Island, on the southern approaches to the disputed South China Sea
Former UBS trader jailed for Britain's biggest fraud deported
11/15/2018, 12:40:13 PMKweku Adoboli, a former UBS trader jailed for Britain's biggest fraud over ... ✔ A spokesman for the interior ministry declined to comment directly on Adoboli’s case, but said: All foreign nationals who are given a custodial sentence will be considered for deportation ✔ In 1992, aged 12, he was sent to a Quaker boarding school in Yorkshire, northern England ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Rosamund Pike discusses she was left without pain medication
11/15/2018, 3:39:08 PMRosamund Pike explained it hasn't been without its difficulties as she was left without any pain medication when she went into labour early with her second son. ✔ As well as discussing motherhood, the former Bond girl chatted about why she wanted to play a part in her latest movie A Private War ✔ I care very much about it, about the whole thing.' Strength of character: She appears to effortlessly juggle her parenting duties to her two young sons and her jam-packed Hollywood acting schedule
Florida: judge gives thousands of voters time to fix ballot problem as Trump attacks Mueller – live
11/15/2018, 2:43:02 PMAt least 4,000 voters will be given 48 hours to correct the problem as deadline approaches for machine recount. Get all the latest news ✔ 9.38am EST09:38 Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un will meet for a second time next year, Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday ✔ The meeting, planned for early 2019, will aim to develop a verifiable plan to disclose the weapons sites, he told the network ✔ These are Angry People, including the highly conflicted Bob Mueller, who worked for Obama for 8 years
Russian Navy’s Dilemma; Troubled Sole Carrier Not Fit For Sea - But Vital to Retaining Naval Aviation Capabilities
11/15/2018, 2:44:19 PMRussia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, has suffered from a number of severe performance shortcomings in recent years which have brought its ability to continue to serve the country’s Navy into serious question. The warship was initially intended to be fielded as part of a large Soviet blue water fleet under an ambitious expansion program, which by the year 2000 would have consisted of 11 carrier warships of four classes. ✔ While the warship was primarily designed as a defensive carrier, it was pressed into service for its first major combat operation far from Russian shores in the eastern Mediterranean ✔ While Russia is planning to acquire lighter carriers, very likely equipped with specialised fighter jets capable of vertical landings, the skill set required to operate such warships differs for those for heavy warships such as the Kuznetsov, Ulyanovsk and SHTORM
Analysis | The Daily 202: Small cracks show in GOP’s judicial juggernaut, but Trump poised to continue remaking courts
11/15/2018, 2:22:22 PMAs Federalist Society convention begins, Jeff Flake promises to oppose nominees until he gets a vote on his bill to protect Bob Mueller. ✔ Seung Min Kim reports: At an afternoon event at the White House, Trump officially endorsed the First Step Act, which he said included ‘reasonable sentencing reforms while keeping dangerous and violent criminals off our streets.’ He urged lawmakers to send him a bill, saying: ‘I’ll be waiting with a pen.’ … The new Senate package includes language that lowers mandatory minimum sentences for drug felonies, including reducing the ‘three strikes’ penalty from life behind bars to 25 years
>>> Open This Series
Comments
Post a Comment