Diane is a perfectionist. She enjoys searching the internet for the hottest events from around the world and writing an article about it. The details matter to her, so she makes sure the information is easy to read and understand. She likes traveling and history, especially ancient history. Being a very sociable person she has a blast having barbeque with family and friends.
The Senate Intelligence Committee investigating Russian interference in last year’s election has issued a rare formal demand for documents from President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Michael Flynn has failed to voluntarily co-operate with the investigation, the committee says.
The national security adviser was forced to resign in February after failing to disclose the content of his talks with Russian diplomats.
Meanwhile, the fallout continues over the firing of the FBI director.
The White House maintained that James Comey was removed on May 9 for his handling of the inquiry over Hillary Clinton’s emails.
However, senior Democrats said James Comey had recently asked the justice department for more resources for his Trump-Russia investigation.
The Senate Intelligence Committee said it issued a subpoena after Michael Flynn rejected its request on April 28 to submit documents relevant to the investigation.
Michael Flynn, a retired army lieutenant-general, misled the White House about discussing US sanctions against Russia with the country’s envoy, Sergei Kislyak, before President Trump’s inauguration in January.
Image source Wikimedia
His links to Russia are being scrutinized by the FBI and the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, as part of wider investigations into claims Moscow sought to tip the election in favor of Donald Trump, and into contacts between Russia and members of the president’s campaign team.
Reaction to James Comey’s firing continued on May 10, with a White House spokeswoman saying that President Trump had been considering sacking the FBI director since he was elected.
Howver, critics accuse President Trump of firing the nation’s top law enforcement official because he was leading the Russian inquiry.
The White House has rejected calls to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin over last year’s election.
The Senate Intelligence Committee invited James Comey to testify next week.
In a farewell letter to staff, James Comey said he would not “spend time on the decision or the way it was executed”.
“I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all,” he wrote.
“It is very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing,” James Comey added.
“My hope is that you will continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.”
President Trump stood by his actions, saying James Comey was fired “because he was not doing a good job”.
On May 10, Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein and Richard Durbin told media that James Comey had asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – who wrote the memo on which President Trump says the sacking decision was based – for more resources for the FBI investigation.
Justice department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores called those reports “totally false”.
Either way, Republicans and Democrats vowed the House and Senate Intelligence Committees’ investigations into the Russia claims would continue.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said if President Trump believed replacing James Comey would halt the inquiries “he made a big mistake”.
President Donald Trump has decided to fire FBI Director James Comey over his handling of the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails, the administration says.
The White House shocked Washington by announcing that James Comey “has been terminated and removed from office”.
However, Democrats said James Comey was fired because the FBI was investigating alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The move came as it emerged James Comey gave inaccurate information about Hillary Clinton’s emails to Congress last week.
James Comey, 56, was addressing FBI agents in Los Angeles when, according to media, he learned he had just been fired when he saw the news on TV.
He reportedly laughed, thinking it was a prank.
James Comey was three-and-a-half years into his 10-year term as FBI director.
Image source Wikipedia
The White House said the search for a successor would begin immediately. It is only the second time the head of the FBI has been fired.
President Trump wrote in a letter to James Comey that he agreed with US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recommendation that “you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau”.
Jeff Sessions said the department of justice was “committed to a high level of discipline, integrity, and the rule of law”, and “a fresh start is needed”.
Many have expressed surprise that James Comey should be fired for his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for sensitive government business, given that Donald Trump once praised the FBI director’s conduct in the matter.
In the final days of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump told a rally it “took guts” for James Comey to reopen the inquiry.
“What he did brought back his reputation,” Donald Trump said.
However, on May 9, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he “cannot defend the director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton’s emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgement that he was mistaken”.
“Almost everyone agrees the director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives.”
Democrats swiftly suggested that President Trump had fired James Comey to influence the FBI inquiry into whether members of the Trump election campaign colluded with Russia.
The House of Representatives and Senate intelligence committees are looking into the same allegations.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a news conference on May 9: “Were these investigations getting too close to home for the president?
“This does not seem to be a coincidence.”
President Trump responded on Twitter that Chuck Schumer had recently expressed his lack of confidence in the FBI chief.
Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted the Russia allegations are “fake news”.
Moon Jae-in has been sworn in as South Korea’s new leader following his decisive win in the presidential election.
He vowed to address the economy and relations with North Korea in his first speech as president.
Moon Jae-in, 64, said that he would even be willing to visit Pyongyang under the right circumstances.
He took his oath of office in Seoul’s National Assembly building a day after his victory.
The former human rights lawyer and son of North Korean refugees is known for his liberal views.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula remain high and recent weeks have seen the US and North Korea trade angry rhetoric as speculation about another nuclear test grows.
Moon Jae-in has also vowed to unify a divided country reeling from a corruption scandal which saw his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, impeached.
In his inauguration speech, Moon Jae-in said he would “do everything I can to build peace on the Korean peninsula”.
Image source Wikipedia
“If needed I will fly to Washington immediately,” he said.
“I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right circumstances.”
Moon Jae-in added that he would have “serious negotiations” with the US and China over the controversial deployment of anti-missile system THAAD.
North Korea has yet to officially comment on Moon Jae-in’s victory and remarks. It had previously hinted that Moon Jae-in was its preferred candidate.
Moon Jae-in has been critical of the two previous conservative administrations, which took a hard-line stance against Pyongyang, for failing to stop North Korea’s weapons development.
Since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953, there have only been two summits where the leaders of the two Koreas have met, both held in Pyongyang.
Moon Jae-in spearheaded preparations for the second meeting in 2007, when serving as a presidential aide.
The US, South Korea’s most important ally, has congratulated Moon Jae-in on his victory.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the US looked forward to continuing to “strengthen the alliance” and “deepen the enduring friendship and partnership”.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe said their countries faced common challenges “led by responses to the North Korean issue” but they could “further contribute to peace and prosperity of the region by working together”.
China’s President Xi Jinping said he “always attaches great importance to the relationship between China and South Korea”, and that he was “willing to diligently work with” with Moon Jae-in to ensure both countries benefit, reported Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham wants to launch an investigation into President Donald Trump’s business dealings for any potential links to Russia.
The Republican senator raised the issue a day after former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before a Senate panel.
Lindsey Graham said it would be “helpful” to see Donald Trump’s tax returns.
“I want to know more about Trump’s business dealings,” he told CNN on May 9.
Photo Wikipedia
However, he added it was too soon to determine whether he would be willing to subpoena them from the White House.
During May 8 testimony, James Clapper was asked whether he had any concerns about President Trump’s business interests and a possible connection to Russia.
“Not in the course of the preparation of the intelligence communities assessment,” said James Clapper, who served under former President Barack Obama.
However, when Lindsey Graham pressed the former spy chief on whether he had ever discovered any Trump business ties to Moscow, James Clapper alluded to an ongoing FBI investigation.
“Senator Graham I can’t comment on that because that impacts an investigation,” he said.
President Trump took to Twitter to cast doubt on any questions surrounding James Clapper’s refusal to comment on May 8.
He wrote: “Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is <<no evidence>> of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.”
President Trump later added: “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?”
A record turnout is predicted, with numbers boosted by younger voters, as South Koreans choose from 13 candidates.
Polls close at 20:00 local time, with the winner expected to be announced soon after. The new leader is likely to be sworn-in on May 10.
Heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula in recent weeks have made the perennial worries over the South’s volatile neighbor a key issue.
Moon Jae-in, of the Democratic Party of Korea, has advocated greater dialogue with North Korea while maintaining pressure and sanctions.
Both Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo have urged President Donald Trump to cool his rhetoric towards North Korea after his administration suggested it could take military action over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
However, Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative governing Liberty Korea Party has attacked Moon Jae-in’s approach, saying last week that the election was a “war of regime choices”.
North Korea state media said it favored a return to an earlier era of communication and co-operation known as the Sunshine policy, seen as an endorsement of Moon Jae-in who was part of the previous South Korean government which promoted that policy.
All the candidates are promising to protect the fragile recovery in the country’s economy – the fourth largest in Asia – and to bring down youth unemployment, which remains stubbornly high.
There have been vows to reform the family-run conglomerates – chaebols – which dominate the domestic economy.
Whoever wins will have to tackle ties with China, which retaliated economically over the deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea.
All candidates have been promising a break from the past as symbolized by the deeply unpopular Park Geun-hye.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the outgoing governor of Indonesian capital Jakarta, has been sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy and inciting violence.
The governor, also known as Ahok, is an ethnic Chinese and Christian. The case was seen as a test of Indonesia‘s religious tolerance.
He has denied blasphemy and plans to appeal. He was taken into custody after the verdict was read out.
His deputy Djarot Saiful Hidayat will take over his duties until his term ends in October.
The sentence is harsher than most observers had expected – prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year sentence.
Image source YouTube
Ahok was “found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment,” the judge told the court.
He was accused of blasphemy for comments he made during a pre-election speech in September 2016.
Ahok implied that Islamic leaders were trying to trick voters by using a verse in the Koran to argue that Muslims should not vote for a non-Muslim leader.
The governor’s remarks, which were widely shared in an edited video, sparked outrage among religious hardliners.
They staged regular large rallies calling for him to face trial.
Throughout the trial, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama denied wrongdoing, but did apologize for his comments nonetheless.
Ahead of the verdict, protesters for and against Ahok had gathered outside the court demanding respectively his acquittal or a long prison sentence.
Disappointed with the eventual verdict, some protesters demanded Ahok to be hanged.
Around 15,000 security personnel from the police and military are providing security at the scene, with riot police and armored vehicles separating the rival groups.
Ahok became governor after his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, was elected president in 2014.
As an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and Christian Ahok is a double minority, and was Jakarta’s first non-Muslim governor for 50 years.
His political success was also seen as a significant development given the violent anti-Chinese riots that occurred in the city in 1998.
Before the blasphemy allegations, Ahok had been widely hailed as a straight-talking politician with a strong anti-corruption stance.
However, the controversy overshadowed scheduled elections last month.
Despite Ahok’s enduring popularity with many in Jakarta for his efforts to improve living standards, he lost to conservative Muslim candidate Anies Rasyid Baswedan.
Indonesia is the world’s most-populous Muslim country. About 85% of Indonesia’s population are Muslim, but the country officially respects six religions.
Emmanuel Macron will also become the first president from outside the two traditional main parties since the modern republic’s foundation in 1958.
He said that a new page was being turned in French history.
Emmanuel Macron said he had heard “the rage, anxiety and doubt that a lot of you have expressed” and vowed to spend his five years in office “fighting the forces of division that undermine France”.
He said he would “guarantee the unity of the nation and… defend and protect Europe”.
Image source Wikimedia
Thousands of Emmanuel Macron’s supporters gathered to celebrate outside the Louvre in central Paris. Emmanuel Macron has now arrived to join them.
Security remains tight in Paris and there were reports of police firing tear gas at several hundred anti-capitalist protesters near the Ménilmontant metro in the 20th arrondissement.
The Macron team said that the new president had had a “cordial” telephone conversation with Marine Le Pen.
In a speech Marine Le Pen thanked the 11 million people who had voted for her. She said the election had shown a division between “patriots and globalists” and called for the emergence of a new political force.
Marine Le Pen said her National Front party needed to renew itself and that she would start the “deep transformation of our movement”, vowing to lead it into upcoming parliamentary elections.
She also said she had wished Emmanuel Macron success in tackling the “huge challenges” facing him.
President François Hollande congratulated Emmanuel Macron and said the result showed the French people wanted to unite around the “values of the republic”.
Initial figures suggested the turnout was lower than the past two elections.
North Korea has announced it has detained US citizen Kim Hak-song on suspicion of “hostile acts” against the state.
Kim Hak-song worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) and was held on May 6, state-run news agency KCNA said.
Three other US citizens are currently held in North Korea, including Kim Sang-duck, who had taught at PUST.
The US has in the past accused North Korea of detaining its citizens to use them as pawns.
KCNA said that “a relevant institution” was “conducting [a] detailed investigation” into Kim Hak-song’s alleged crimes.
It gave no further details.
A State Department official said Washington was “aware of reports that a US citizen was detained in North Korea”, adding it would liaise with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which helps look after US interests in North Korea.
Kim Hak-song had previously described himself as a Christian missionary who intended to start an experimental farm at PUST, Reuters reported, citing an online post by Kim Hak-song.
PUST is a university that mostly teaches the children of North Korea’s elite.
It was founded in 2010 by a Korean-American Christian entrepreneur, with much of the costs funded by US and South Korea Christian charities.
Several foreign lecturers are thought to teach at the university.
Pyongyang has threatened to carry out a new nuclear test – while the US has sent a warship to the region and vowed to stop the North from developing nuclear weapons.
On May 5, North Korea accused US and South Korean agents of plotting to kill its Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un.
The US and South Korean governments did not comment on the allegations, but experts were skeptical about the claim.
Kim Hak-song’s arrest makes him the fourth US citizen to be held by North Korea.
Polls opened in France, where voters are choosing their next president after an unpredictable campaign that has divided the country.
The second round contest pits centrist Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old former investment banker, against the 48-year-old far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen.
Citizens in some overseas territories and many French expats abroad have begun voting.
The polls opened in metropolitan France at 08:00 local time on May 7 and close at 19:00.
Polling stations will remain open in some big cities until 20:00 local time, with early estimates of the result due to be reported immediately after they close.
The two candidates, who topped a field of 11 presidential hopefuls in the first round election on April 23, have offered voters starkly different visions of France.
Emmanuel Macron, a liberal centrist, is pro-business and a strong supporter of the EU, while Marine Le Pen campaigned on a France-first, anti-immigration program.
Image source AFP
The National Front leader wants France to abandon the euro in the domestic economy, and hold a referendum on the country’s EU membership.
Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to win the vote, but analysts have said high abstention rates could damage his chances.
The run-off will be keenly watched across Europe, ahead of elections in Germany and the UK and as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU.
In whittling down a field of candidates to Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, French voters rejected the two big political parties – the Socialists and the Republicans – that have governed for decades.
The presidential campaign has been marked by its unpredictability, and in a final twist on May 5, soon before campaigning officially ended, Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche! political movement said it had been the victim of a “massive” hack, with a trove of documents released online.
The Macron team said real documents were mixed up with fake ones, and electoral authorities warned media and the public that spreading details of the attack would breach strict election rules and could bring criminal charges.
En Marche compared the hack to the leak of Democratic Party emails in last year’s US presidential election that was blamed on Russian hackers.
Emmanuel Macron has previously accused Moscow of targeting him with cyber attacks, which Russia strongly denied.
On May 6, President François Hollande promised to “respond” to the attack.
Management of the economy, security, immigration and France’s relationship with the EU have all been key issues in the campaign.
One of the overriding issues is unemployment, which stands at almost 10% and is the eighth highest among the 28 EU member states. One in four under-25s is unemployed.
The French economy has made a slow recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and both candidates say deep changes are needed.
Marine Le Pen wants the pension age cut to 60 and to “renationalize French debt”, which she argues is largely held by foreigners.
Emmanuel Macron wants to cut 120,000 public-sector jobs, reduce public spending by €60 billion ($65 billion), plough billions into investment and reduce unemployment to below 7%.
If voters opt for Emmanuel Macron, they will be backing a candidate who seeks EU reform as well as deeper European integration, in the form of a eurozone budget and eurozone finance ministers.
Marine Le Pen promises quite the opposite. She wants a Europe of nations to replace the EU.
They are similarly divided on other foreign policy issues. Emmanuel Macron opposes any rapprochement with Russia, while Marine Le Pen met Vladimir Putin in Moscow recently and has previously stated her approval of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The presidential election will be followed by legislative elections on June 11 and 18. Emmanuel Macron, who quit the Socialist government of President Hollande to found his new political movement, has no lawmakers, and Marine Le Pen has only two.
Whoever wins the presidency will need to perform well in those crucial elections if they want to win a parliamentary majority to push through their proposals.
The documents were leaked on a file sharing website on May 5 and the Macron camp condemned the action just before the official campaigning period ended at midnight.
Candidates and the media now face restrictions until the polls close on May 7, meaning Emmanuel Macron cannot issue further statements.
About nine gigabytes of data were posted online by an anonymous user.
Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche movement said internal campaign documents, including emails and financial data, had been taken in an “act of massive, co-ordinated hacking”.
“The leaked files were obtained several weeks ago by hacking personal and professional email accounts of several officials of the movement,” the party said in a statement.
Image source Wikimedia
The campaign said the documents showed only legitimate campaign activities.
France’s election commission warned that publication or republication of the leaked information could be a criminal offence.
That too remains unclear. The Macron camp has not blamed any specific party but said the hack clearly aimed to damage it and undermine French democracy.
It compared it to the leak of Democratic Party emails in last year’s US presidential election that was blamed on Russian hackers.
WikiLeaks, which published those emails, posted a link to the Macron documents on Twitter but implied it was not responsible.
Emmanuel Macron’s team has already been the victim of hacking attacks, for which it has blamed groups based in Russia and Ukraine. It suspects the Kremlin of wanting to help Marine Le Pen, who supports a pro-Moscow foreign policy.
Macron campaign servers went down for several minutes in February after attacks apparently originating in Ukraine. Last month, security experts from the company Trend Micro said that Russian hackers were targeting Emmanuel Macron’s campaign, using phishing emails, malware and fake net domains in an attempt to grab login names, passwords and other credentials of campaign staff.
Russia has denied that it is behind attacks aimed at Emmanuel Macron.
On May 4, Emmanuel Macron filed a lawsuit over online rumors that he had a secret bank account in the Caribbean.
The centrist candidate called the allegations “fake news and lies” and said some of the sites spreading them were “linked to Russian interests”.
Separate security alerts in and around Paris marred May 5 final scramble by the candidates to court voters.
A suspected radical Islamist possessing weapons and a pledge of allegiance to ISIS was arrested north of Paris.
Greenpeace activists scaled the Eiffel Tower to unfurl a banner, sparking an emergency police meeting.
French voters have rejected the two big political parties – the Socialists and the Republicans – that have governed for decades.
Voters will be making a decision on the country’s future direction and on its place at the heart of the EU.
If they opt for liberal Emmanuel Macron, they will be backing a candidate who seeks EU reform as well as deeper European integration, in the form of a eurozone budget and eurozone finance ministers.
If instead they choose far-right Marine Le Pen she promises quite the opposite. She wants a Europe of nations to replace the EU.
“I give myself six months to negotiate with the EU the return of sovereignty. Then it will be the French who decide,” Marine Le Pen tweeted.
The assumption is that Marine Le Pen would fail and a referendum would take place initially on France’s membership of the euro.
After the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of President Donald Trump, France is the latest country to deal a blow to politics as usual.
Democrats say the American Health Care Act will leave millions uninsured.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where Republicans have indicated they will cast it aside and write a new law.
Protesters shouted “Shame on you!” as lawmakers left Capitol Hill after the knife-edge vote.
However, there were celebrations moments later on the White House lawn, where President Trump laid on a reception for Republicans in the House of Representatives.
However, that bill has undergone several revisions to satisfy both the conservative and moderate wings of the GOP.
“Make no mistake, this is a repeal,” said a triumphant Donald Trump in the Rose Garden. ObamaCare, he added, was “essentially dead”.
“Premiums will be coming down, deductibles will be coming down, but very importantly it’s a great plan.”
The Democrats think the effect of this bill would be the opposite, stripping insurance from the poor, giving tax breaks to the wealthy and casting doubt on health provisions for the chronically sick.
Senator Bernie Sanders said: “Thousands of Americans would die because they would no longer have access to care.”
Groups representing hospitals and doctors have also expressed concerns about the Republican plan, which they say has yet to be properly assessed.
The ill-fated Republican bill in March would result in 24 million more Americans losing insurance within a decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said at the time.
One amendment added since then to placate conservatives means states can opt out of providing essential benefits such as cancer treatment and emergency room visits.
When $8 billion over five years was thrown in towards coverage for sick people who otherwise might face higher costs, several moderate Republicans changed course and backed it.
About 20 million Americans gained healthcare coverage under President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act, but Republicans viewed it as an overreach of the federal government and said patients had less choice and higher premiums.
The New York attorney general said on May 4 that he would challenge the bill in court if it became law, on the basis that it would deny people access to care.
The bill, if it becomes law, would mark a major overhaul in the US health system.
However, key elements could be ditched by Republican senators, who have said they will start fresh.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she would like “a clean slate”, while Senator Bob Corker said the current bill has “zero” chance in the Senate.
Emmanuel Macron was more impressive than rival Marine Le Pen in last night’s final TV debate for French presidential debate, a viewers’ poll says.
The candidates traded insults for more than two hours, arguing over terrorism, the economy, and Europe.
The French broadcaster BFMTV found voters had a more favorable view of Emmanuel Macron than Marine Le Pen in most categories.
Emmanuel Macron was the “most convincing” of the pair in the opinion of 63% of viewers.
Marine Le Pen lambasted her rival for his finance and government background, accusing him of being “the candidate of savage globalization” and said his version of France “is a trading room, where it will be everyone fighting for themselves”.
In turn, Emmanuel Macron said Marine Le Pen had openly lied, proposed nothing, and exaggerated the concerns of the public.
“The high priestess of fear is sitting before me,” he said.
Image source AFP
Both candidates were hoping to make an impression on the estimated 18% of undecided voters in the first election the country has ever held without a candidate from the two traditional mainstream parties.
The BFMTV poll found that Emmanuel Macron was deemed the “most convincing” during the TV debate for two-thirds of those who voted for both left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round, and for 58% of those who voted for Republican François Fillon.
Emmanuel Macron also led among voters when they were asked about which candidate was most honest, most aligned with the voters’ values, and who had the best plans.
It was carried out among 1,314 people over the age of 18 who watched the debate.
Emmanuel Macron already enjoys a lead in the opinion polls, which predict he will pull in about 59% of votes.
However, Marine Le Pen hammered her rival on his record during the key debate.
On unemployment, which stands at around 10% nationally, Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that France had not tackled the problem – and Marine Le Pen asked why he had not handled it during his recent time as economy minister.
Marine Le Pen also accused Emmanuel Macron of complacency about the threat of radical Islamist terrorism.
“Security and terrorism are major issues that are completely missing from your program,” she said.
In response, Emmanuel Macron said the measures she proposed – “eradicating” Islamic fundamentalism by shutting down extremist mosques, and expelling preachers of hate – played into terrorists’ hands and the desire they have for a “a civil war”.
They also clashed on the future of the EU, where they have clearly opposed views.
Marine Le Pen has said she would call for an in-out referendum on EU membership, and in recent days declared the euro currency finished.
During the debate, the National Front leader said she would restore France’s national currency and give companies and banks an option on which currency to pay in – a proposal which Emmanuel Macron labeled “nonsense”.
“How can a big company pay in euros on one hand and pay its employees in another currency?” he asked.
Last night’s debate marked the last time the two candidates faced each other before May 7 vote.
Just two days of campaigning remain before reporting restrictions come into force late on May 5 – and remain in place until polls close on May 7.
However, several key Republicans this week reversed course, partly due to an amendment by Congressman Fred Upton to provide $8 billion over five years towards coverage for sick people.
Image source Wikimedia
But Democrats said the amount was woefully inadequate.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said: “The Upton amendment is like administering cough medicine to someone with stage four cancer.”
Members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of ultraconservative lawmakers, indicated the Upton amendment would not be a deal-breaker for them.
In March, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said 24 million people would lose health insurance under the bill, which is called the American Health Care Act.
Conservatives want to see a complete rollback of ObamaCare, while moderates are concerned about losing voters who like the existing law.
President Barack Obama’s overhaul of healthcare extended insurance coverage to millions of Americans, but some have experienced rising premiums in recent years.
One of ObamaCare’s popular elements is that it bans insurers from denying coverage to patients who are ill with “pre-existing conditions”.
President Donald Trump has insisted the revised bill will keep that, although it is thought that states will be able to opt out of making that an absolute provision.
Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron go head to head on in a TV debate seen as the climax of a long and bitter campaign for France’s presidential election.
The aim for centrist Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen is to win the votes of large numbers of undecided or reluctant voters.
For the first time, neither candidate is from a mainstream French party.
Although Marine Le Pen’s father qualified in 2002 for the run-off as head of her party, the National Front (FN), his rival and eventual winner, Jacques Chirac, refused to take part in a debate because of the FN leader’s extremist views.
Image source AFP
Both candidates have limited their campaigning in recent days in preparation for the debate, set for 21:00 on May 3 and due to last two hours 20 minutes.
There have been TV debates ahead of the first round but so far the two main candidates have not sparred face to face. And this is being billed as the moment of truth, on the two biggest TV channels in front of some 20 million French viewers.
All the big campaign themes will be tackled, from France’s 10% unemployment rate and the economy to security, health policy and the EU.
For Marine Le Pen it is her big chance to land some blows and make up ground by exposing her 39-year-old rival’s relative inexperience.
Emmanuel Macron as favorite arguably has most to lose.
The French debate is not similar to the US presidential debate where the candidates stand behind lecterns. This is a direct confrontation.
The two candidates will sit at a big desk, Marine Le Pen on the left, Emmanuel Macron on the right. The presidential debate is a tried and tested event in France, going back to 1974.
The two moderators, Nathalie Saint-Cricq and Christophe Jakubyszyn are heavyweight political journalists, but not the big TV presenters France is used to. That is because the candidates objected to the initial choices.
The temperature will be regulated at 19C to keep the candidates cool.
The debate is must-see TV for French voters but there could be a battle over the remote.
AS Monaco go head to head against Juventus 15 minutes before the debate starts in the semi-final of the Champions League, in a match broadcast on pay TV.
Marine Le Pen’s campaign is based on a patriotic “Choose France” slogan. According to her, she is the real thing, and her rival is an impostor backed up by the old guard of French politics.
Her supporters leapt on a rumor on May 2 that Emmanuel Macron was threatening to walk out of the debate if she started using him as a “punching-ball”.
Marine Le Pen tweeted: “If Mr. Macron doesn’t feel comfortable he can always ask [President] François Hollande to come and hold his hand, I won’t stand in his way.”
However, to convince voters wary of a far-right leader she may project a softer image too, while her opponent will need to show a firm streak.
Emmanuel Macron’s aim is to seek the moral high ground by showing that he has authentic policies while his rival’s ideas are simplistic and dangerous for France.
“I want to go head-to-head, to get to the bottom of the issues, to show that these are false solutions,” he said on May 2.
Venezuela opposition has set up roadblocks and staged demonstrations demanding elections as the country’s political and economic crisis deepens.
Protesters responded with defiance to President Nicolas Maduro’s call for a new constitution to end unrest that has killed 28 people.
Nicolas Maduro said his move was necessary to fend off a foreign-backed plot against him.
The US said it was a bid to cling to power, while Brazil called it a “coup”.
President Maduro’s opponents want to hold a vote to remove him, blaming the left-wing president for food shortages that have led to rioting.
The president has rejected their calls and issued a presidential decree creating a 500-member “constituent assembly” to rewrite the constitution, a step that would bypass the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
Photo Reuters
Nicolas Maduro announced the step to thousands of his supporters at a May Day rally two days ago.
Elsewhere, security forces deployed tear gas and water cannon at anti-government demonstrators.
Opposition leaders have called for a “mega protest” on May 3.
There has been widespread international criticism of the move.
The head of the Washington-based Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, called it wrongheaded, unconstitutional and fraudulent.
The US state department spokesman Michael Fitzpatrick told reporters: “We have deep concerns about the motivation for this constituent assembly which overrides the will of the Venezuelan people and further erodes Venezuelan democracy.
“What President Maduro is trying to do yet again is change the rules of the game.”
Meanwhile, Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes called the move a “coup”.
“It’s another step in breaking the democratic order, which contradicts the country’s own constitution,” he said.
In Venezuela itself, in the opposition-controlled National Assembly, lawmakers voted to reject the new body with many saying President Nicolas Maduro was attempting to sideline the legislature and avoid new elections.
Nicolas Maduro was elected in 2013 to succeed the late Hugo Chavez, a popular figure who introduced wide-ranging social welfare programs.
However, since then, falling prices for Venezuelan oil exports have cut government revenue and there have been shortages of food, baby milk, medicine and other basics.
The IMF has forecast that inflation in Venezuela will be above 700% in 2017.
Presidential elections are due at the end of 2018.
Marine Le Pen has been accused of plagiarizing defeated rival Francois Fillon in a speech she delivered on May 1.
Several sections of French presidential candidate’s speech in Villepinte, north of Paris, appear to repeat almost word-for-word comments Francois Fillon made in an address on April 15.
An official of her National Front party said Marine Le Pen had made a “nod” to Francois Fillon and it showed she was “not sectarian”.
Marine Le Pen faces centrist Emmanuel Macron in the final round on May 7.
The similarity in the speeches was pointed out by the Ridicule TV YouTube channel, initially set up by François Fillon’s supporters to attack Emmanuel Macron before the first round of voting that saw Fillon eliminated from the contest.
Ridicule TV said the far right presidential candidate had plagiarized Francois Fillon’s speech “word for word” and set the two speeches side by side, inviting viewers to make up their own minds.
The videos were also posted on Twitter.
Photo Reuters
The Liberation newspaper said that what was supposed to have been a key speech for the second phase of voting in the election became instead a focus of ridicule for social media users.
However, Florian Philippot, deputy chairman of the National Front, told Radio Classique the party had owned up to the similarities and that Marine Le Pen’s speech was “nod-and-a-wink” to Francois Fillon’s speech to “launch a real debate” on French identity.
He earlier told AFP that the speech showed “she is not sectarian”.
Marine Le Pen’s campaign manager, David Rachline, also played down the accusations of plagiarism, saying the speech was a form of tribute to Francois Fillon, which “was appreciated” by his supporters.
Francois Fillon was a leading candidate for the presidency, representing the establishment conservative Republicans, but his campaign foundered after a funding scandal.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has abandoned a May Day rally after he was booed by workers demanding his resignation.
Scuffles broke out between President Zuma’s supporters and opponents, resulting in all speeches being canceled.
The main labor federation, Cosatu, called on Jacob Zuma to step down last month after he sacked his widely respected finance minister.
President Zuma’s allies say he will remain in office until his term ends in 2019.
He was seen on live TV hastily leaving the podium and being whisked away in a motorcade from the rally in Bloemfontein city, Reuters reports.
Jacob Zuma attended the rally despite the fact that powerful affiliates of Cosatu, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, had opposed his presence.
Cosatu is part of a formal alliance with the governing African National Congress (ANC).
Earlier, sections of the crowd sang a song which, loosely translated, means: “Have yougood news? Zuma is going”, heard the South Africa’s privately owned News24 site reports.
Cosatu leader Sdumo Dlamini said the rally had been marred by “chaos”, forcing its cancelation.
Photo Getty Images
The protest required “thorough reflection” on the part of the country’s leaders, he said.
Senior ANC officials were also booed at a May Day rally in Durban city, the political heartland of Jacob Zuma.
It led to global rating agencies downgrading South Africa to junk status.
The reshuffle was condemned by trade unions, big business, the opposition and and senior members of the government, including Deputy President Cyril Rampahosa.
The opposition has repeatedly accused President Zuma of being corrupt, and says the reshuffle was aimed at giving him and his allies greater access to government money.
Jacob Zuma said the reshuffle was aimed at promoting “radical economic transformation” to benefit the poor black majority.
He has been dogged by allegations of corruption for more than a decade.
In 2016, a court ruled that he should face corruption charges over a 1999 arms deal.
Jacob Zuma is appealing against the ruling.
In a separate case in 2016, South Africa’s highest court ruled that he had breached his oath of office by failing to repay government money used to upgrade his private residence.
He repaid the money, but rejected calls to sep down.
Jacob Zuma is due to step down as leader of the ANC in December, and as South Africa’s president in 2019.
His ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Cyril Rampahosa are vying to succeed him in both positions.
Top Capitol Hill negotiators have reached an agreement on a spending bill to keep the government running until September 30.
The bipartisan deal boosts military spending but does not include funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed wall on the Mexico border.
The reported $1 trillion-deal needs to be approved by lawmakers.
On April 28, Congress approved a stop-gap spending bill that averted a government shutdown at midnight on that day.
That gave Congress one more week to work out federal spending for the last five months of the fiscal year.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on the package in the coming days.
The failure to act would have closed national parks and monuments and laid off federal employees.
The last shutdown, in 2013, lasted for 17 days.
Full details of the agreement on a spending bill are yet to be made public.
Image source Wikimedia
However, media reports that it gives President Donald Trump a $12.5 billion increase in defense spending and another $1.5 billion for border security.
White House proposals to cut popular programs – such as funding medical research and community development grants – were rejected.
Democrats also fended off potential cuts to women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood.
New York City will reportedly receive a $68 million boost for local law enforcement, in recompense for the cost of protecting President Trump and his family.
The deal also gives coal miners $1.3 billion in health benefits, which will be funded by a rise in customs fees.
There were a number of key disputes during tense negotiations, and Republicans – who control the Congress, Senate and White House – were forced to make concessions.
Democrats had leverage in the talks because their votes will be needed to pass the bill.
The Senate requires 60 votes to pass legislation, so the 52 Republicans there will need support from at least eight Democrats.
President Donald Trump earlier had to yield to Democratic demands not to include funding for the proposed wall on the US-Mexico border in the spending bill.
Another concession was over ObamaCare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act.
In a statement on April 30, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the deal “a good agreement for the American people” that “takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table”.
Chuck Schumer said the measure would increase investment in medical research, education, and infrastructure.
John Czwartacki, a spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said: “Reports that the package makes a major down payment towards the president’s security priorities are encouraging.”
President Donald Trump has attacked the US media during a rally marking 100 days in office.
Donald Trump told supporters in Pennsylvania that he was keeping “one promise after another”, dismissing criticism as “fake news” by “out of touch” journalists.
Earlier, big rallies were held against Donald Trump’s climate change policies.
At the rally in Harrisburg, Donald Trump said the media should be given “a big, fat, failing grade” over their coverage of his achievements during his first 100 days and told the cheering crowd he was “thrilled to be more than 100 miles from Washington”.
The president quipped that at the same time “a large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling themselves” at the correspondents’ dinner “that will be very boring”.
Turning to his election pledges, President Trump said the first 100 days had been “very exciting and very productive”.
Donald Trump said he was “delivering every single day” by: ending “jobs theft” and bringing them back to the US from overseas; easing regulations on energy exploration, including halting a “war on coal”; pulling out of international deals not beneficial to the US, including the Trans-Pacific Patnership.
The president also said the administration of Barack Obama had resulted in “a mess”, stressing that he was ready for “great battles to come and we will win in every case”.
On climate change, Donald Trump said “a big decision” would be taken within the next two weeks.
He earlier described climate change as a hoax, vowing to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement.
Ahead of the speech, tens of thousands took part in protests across the US against the Trump administration’s stance on climate change. The People’s Climate March was timed to coincide with the 100th day of his presidency.
In Washington, the demonstrators marched from the Capitol to the White House.
Organizers said they wanted to put the climate debate firmly on the agenda for next year’s midterm elections.
The ban on TV dating shows follows a warning in March by Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus that the programs do not fit in with Turkish traditions and customs.
“There are some strange programs that would scrap the institution of family, take away its nobility and sanctity,” he said at the time.
However, AKP supporters say dating shows receive thousands of complaints and the ban is in the public interest.
The block on Wikipedia was detected at about 08:00 on April 29, the Turkey Blocks monitoring group said.
Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority said an “administrative measure” had been taken but did not give details.
According to Turkish media, Wikipedia had been asked to remove content by certain writers whom the authorities accuse of “supporting terror” and of linking Turkey to terror groups.
Wikipedia had not responded to the demands, the daily newspaper Hurriyet said, and the ban was imposed as a result.
A formal court order backing up the provisional order is expected in the coming days.
Responding to the ban, Wikipedia’s founder Jimmy Wales wrote on Twitter: “Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you to fight for this right.”
The latest sackings follow the suspension of more than 9,000 police officers and the arrest of 1,000 more on April 26 on suspicion of having links to the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Fethullah Gulen of instigating the 2016 coup attempt, a charge the cleric denies.
The government said in its Official Gazette that all those fired were suspected of links to “terrorist organizations and structures presenting a threat to national security”.
President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order aimed at reducing restrictions on oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic in order to “unleash American energy”.
He said it would create “thousands and thousands” of jobs, despite a downturn in the oil market.
As he signed the order, called the America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, President Trump said: “Our country’s blessed with incredible natural resources, including abundant offshore oil and natural gas reserves, but the federal government has kept 94% of these offshore areas closed for exploration and production.
“This deprives our country of potentially thousands and thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in wealth.”
The order instructs the Department of Interior to come up with a new development plan for all federal waters off US coasts.
It is debatable how much income might be generated by a reversal of Barack Obama’s order. Worldwide prices for oil have dropped in recent years, with a review by news agency Reuters finding the amount of money oil companies spent in the central Gulf of Mexico’s annual lease sale dropped by more than 75% between 2012 and 2017.
Alexei Navalny has been hospitalized after an antiseptic green dye was splashed on his face in Moscow.
It is the second time the Russian opposition leader has been attacked with zelyonka (“brilliant green” in English) this year.
The dye is a common antiseptic in Russia and has been used in protests there and in Ukraine.
Alexei Navalny tweeted: “It looks funny but it hurts like hell.”
It is not clear who carried out the attack, which happened near the offices of the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK) that Alexei Navalny founded.
Image source Twitter
According to a Russian report, he was diagnosed with a chemical burn to the eye.
Alexei Navalny is one of the foremost Russian critics of President Vladimir Putin and has announced his intention to run for president himself.
However, his intentions may be thwarted – he has been convicted of embezzlement, which would bar him from running for office, although he denies it.
Alexei Navalny was among 500 people arrested after organizing an anti-corruption rally last month. Rallies across Russia were the biggest opposition demonstrations in the country in several years.
He has said repeatedly that he wants to challenge President Putin’s control of the Kremlin and expose what he claims is the “myth” that Putin commands more than 80% popular support.
Meanwhile a separate opposition group, Open Russia, says its office has been raided by police, a day after the group was blacklisted by the authorities.
Activists said more than 20 riot police raided the office and removed computer equipment and 100,000 flyers for an unsanctioned rally planned for this weekend.
Open Russia was founded by former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile after spending 10 years in a Siberian prison on fraud charges, which he says were politically motivated.
A ruling that blocks President Donald Trump’s order barring funding for cities that shelter illegal immigrants has been labeled as “bananas” by the White House.
A San Francisco judge has placed January’s executive order in limbo, but the White House is vowing to appeal.
San Francisco and Santa Clara County sued in February.
The Trump administration has warned so-called sanctuary cities they could lose federal funds if they do not co-operate with federal immigration officials.
On April 25, Judge William Orrick issued a temporary injunction against the presidential order as the case continues in the courts.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said, in reference to the San Francisco-based appeals court, which conservatives often accuse of liberalism: “It’s the 9th Circuit going bananas.”
Image source Wikipedia
President Trump’s measure cast doubt on the transfer of some $1.2 billion for San Francisco and $1.7 billion to Santa Clara County, home to many Silicon Valley communities.
Lawyers for the federal government had argued in the sanctuary cities case that only funding related to law enforcement would be withheld.
However, Judge William Orrick said any doubt about the scope of the “vague” order was erased by public comments made by President Trump, such as those calling the measure a “weapon” to use against jurisdictions that disagree with his immigration policies.
Judge William Orrick accused the Trump administration of a “schizophrenic approach” to the order.
The 49-page court ruling added that the plaintiffs challenging President Trump’s order are likely to succeed in proving the order unconstitutional.
The judge wrote: “Federal funding… cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the President disapproves.”
However, Judge William Orrick’s ruling allowed the justice department to follow through with threats made to nine cities last week to cut specific program grants if they do not adequately co-operate with federal immigration officers.
In a press release last week, the department accused sanctuary cities of “crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime”.
There are several sanctuary cities across the US, including Donald Trump’s home of New York.
New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio praised April 25 ruling, saying President Trump went beyond his authority to cut funding to cities that “don’t share his illogical and unconstitutional desire to scapegoat immigrants”.
Marine Le Pen has announced that she is stepping aside as leader of her National Front (FN) party.
The move comes just a day after the far-right presidential candidate reached the second round of the French election, where she will face centrist Emmanuel Macron.
Marine Le Pen told French TV she needed to be above partisan considerations.
The French term Marine Le Pen used signaled that the move to step aside would be temporary.
She told France 2 that France was approaching a “decisive moment”.
Photo Reuters
Marine Le Pen said her decision had been made out of the “profound conviction” that the president must bring together all of the French people.
“So, this evening, I am no longer the president of the National Front. I am the candidate for the French presidency,” she said.
Marine Le Pen took over the FN leadership from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in January 2011.
She won 7.6 million votes on April 23 – the strongest ever result for a FN candidate, and 2.8 million more than her father won in 2002.
Her party wants to slash immigration, clamp down on trade, and overturn France’s relationship with Europe.
Emmanuel Macron, a former economy minister, is widely expected to win the run-off vote on May 7.
On April 24, he won the backing of President Francois Hollande, to go with that of two defeated candidates.
Francois Hollande said the far right would threaten the break-up of Europe, “profoundly divide France” and “faced with such a risk, I will vote for Emmanuel Macron”.
The president said his former economy minister would “defend the values which will bring French people together”.
Francois Fillon and Socialist Benoît Hamon both urged their supporters to vote for Emmanuel Macron.
The US embassy in London has been criticized by Democrats for a blog post on its website about President Donald Trump’s luxury Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The blog post, published on April 5, details the history of the 114-room mansion, which is often described as Donald Trump’s “winter White House”.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden accused the state department of promoting President Trump’s “private club”.
The department has issued no comment.
In her tweet, Nancy Pelosi wrote: “Why is @realDonaldTrump’s State Dept promoting the President’s private club? #Trump100Days.”
Meanwhile, Senator Ron Wyden wrote: “Yes, I am curious @StateDept. Why are taxpayer $$ promoting the President’s private country club?”
Image source Wikimedia
State department spokesman Mark Toner was not aware of the post when the issue was raised by the media on April 24, CNN reports.
The blog post says that “Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s Florida estate, has become well known as the president frequently travels there to work or host foreign leaders”.
The post also states that Donald Trump “is not the first president to have access to Mar-a-Lago as a Florida retreat, but he is the first one to use it.
“By visiting this <<winter White House>>, Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago’s original owner and designer.”
Since taking office, Donald Trump has spent seven weekends at Mar-a-Lago, which he bought in 1985 and turned into a private members club.
The president’s visits have led to concerns over costs and mixing business with politics.
The club has raised its initiation fees from $100,000 to $200,000 following Donald Trump’s election.
Since President Trump’s inauguration, Democratic groups and ethics watchdogs have been monitoring whether there has been a potential conflict of interest that could benefit his business holdings while he is in office.
In December, Donald Trump announced that he planned to shut his charitable foundation, although an investigation into its practices continues.
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