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.
President Donald Trump’s accusation that Barack Obama ordered his phones to be tapped is “simply false”, the former president’s spokesman, Kevin Lewis, has said.
Kevin Lewis said that “neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen”.
President Trump had tweeted: “Terrible! Just found out Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”
The president gave no details to back the claim.
In his statement, Kevin Lewis said a “cardinal rule of the Obama Administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice”.
Image source AP
The statement left open the possibility that a judicial investigation was taking place.
Earlier Ben Rhodes, who was President Obama’s foreign policy adviser and speechwriter, also addressed Donald Trump’s claims in a tweet, saying: “No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you.”
Donald Trump, who is at his Florida resort, fired off a series of tweets from just after 06:30 local time on March 4.
The president called the alleged tapping “a new low” and said “This is Nixon/Watergate” – referring to the most notorious political scandal of 1972, which led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon after a web of political spying, sabotage and bribery was exposed by the media.
McCarthyism, which Donald Trump referred to in one of the first posts, relates to the persecution for US Communists and their allies led by Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s.
The tweets followed allegations made by conservative radio host Mark Levin, which were later picked up by Breitbart News, the website run by Steve Bannon before he became Donald Trump’s chief strategist.
Mark Levin said there should be a congressional investigation into what he called President Obama’s “police state” tactics in his last months in office to undermine Donald Trump’s campaign.
Breitbart summarizes Mark Levin’s accusations, which say that “the Obama administration sought, and eventually obtained, authorization to eavesdrop on the Trump campaign; continued monitoring the Trump team even when no evidence of wrongdoing was found; then relaxed the NSA (National Security Agency) rules to allow evidence to be shared widely within the government”.
Malaysia has expelled North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol after he criticized the country’s investigation into the killing of Kim Jong-nam.
Ambassador Kang Chol must leave within 48 hours, Malaysia’s foreign ministry says.
Malaysia demanded an apology after the ambassador said North Korea could not trust its handling of the probe, but says it did not receive one.
Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, died on February 13 at a Kuala Lumpur airport.
Malaysia has not directly blamed North Korea for the attack, in which two women smeared the nerve agent VX on Kim Jong-nam’s face. However, there is widespread suspicion North Korea was responsible.
Kang Chol, who had become a fierce critic of Malaysia, said the probe into the killing had become “politicized” and was being interfered with.
The foreign minister declared the ambassador “persona non grata”, and said his country had demanded an apology for the comments, but this was not forthcoming.
Image source Getty Images
Anifah Aman said in a statement: “Malaysia will react strongly against any insults made against it or any attempt to tarnish its reputation.”
Ambassador Kang Chol also failed to turn up for a meeting at the Malaysian foreign ministry on March 4, he added.
Two women, one from Vietnam another from Indonesia, have been charged with murder. They both said they thought they were taking part in a TV prank, but are yet to make a formal plea in their case.
The expulsion of the North Korean ambassador also comes after the Malaysian government announced an investigation into a company called Glocom, which has been operating in Malaysia for several years.
According to a confidential United Nations report, Glocom is run by North Korea’s top intelligence agency to sell military communications equipment, in violation of UN sanctions.
Malaysia was one of very few countries that had relatively friendly relations with North Korea.
However, it canceled visa-free travel for visiting North Koreans in the wake of the killing, citing security reasons. It had already recalled its ambassador in Pyongyang as it investigated the case.
North Korea has not yet confirmed that the body is that of Kim Jong-nam, acknowledging him only as a North Korean citizen.
Kim Jong-nam was traveling using a passport under a different name.
President Donald Trump has accused Barack Obama of wiretapping his phone a month before he was elected.
The president tweeted on March 4: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”
Donald Trump went on to say that a court had earlier denied a wiretap request.
He has given no details to back up the claim – or suggested which court order he was referring to.
Media reports in the past few weeks have suggested the FBI had sought a warrant from the foreign intelligence surveillance court (FISA) last summer in order to monitor members of the Trump team suspected of irregular contacts with Russian officials.
The warrant was first turned down but then approved in October, according to the media reports.
There has been no official confirmation and it is also not clear if this evolved into a full investigation.
There has been no comment yet from former President Barack Obama.
Donald Trump tweeted: “I’d bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to the Election.”
The president called the alleged tapping “a new low” and said “This is Nixon/Watergate” – referring to the most notorious political scandal of 1972, which led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon after a web of political spying, sabotage and bribery was exposed by the media.
Donald Trump also called it McCarthyism – the persecution for US Communists and their allies led by Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s.
His tweets followed allegations made by conservative radio host Mark Levin, which were later picked up by Breitbart News, the website founded by Steve Bannon, now Donald Trump’s chief strategist.
Mark Levin said there should be a congressional investigation into what he called Barack Obama’s “police state” tactics in his last months in office to undermine Donald Trump’s campaign.
Breitbart summarizes Mark Levin’s accusations, which say that “the Obama administration sought, and eventually obtained, authorization to eavesdrop on the Trump campaign; continued monitoring the Trump team even when no evidence of wrongdoing was found; then relaxed the NSA (National Security Agency) rules to allow evidence to be shared widely within the government”.
President Donald Trump has defended under-fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions amid calls for him to quit.
According to the Democrats, Jeff Sessions “lied on oath” at his confirmation hearing about contacts with the Russian ambassador.
President Trump said Jeff Sessions “could have stated his response more accurately but it was clearly not intentional” and accused Democrats of a “witch hunt”.
However, Jeff Sessions has removed himself from an FBI probe into alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
The Democrats have maintained their attacks on Jeff Sessions, saying his explanation regarding his contacts with the Russian ambassador in 2016 were “simply not credible”.
Donald Trump said the Democrats had “lost the election and now they have lost their grip on reality”.
The Trump campaign was dogged by allegations that some of his team had met with Russian officials and that Moscow had interfered in the election on his behalf. Donald Trump has branded the allegations “fake news”.
Image source Flickr
It stems from Jeff Sessions’ comments at his confirmation hearing in January.
He was asked: “If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government, in the course of this campaign, what will you do?”
Jeff Sessions responded: “I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians. And I’m unable to comment on it.”
However, it then emerged Jeff Sessions and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak held a private conversation in Sessions’ office in September and spoke at a meeting with several other envoys on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in July.
Jeff Sessions was at the time a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. However, he was already a prominent member of Donald Trump’s campaign team.
The former Alabama senator also had meetings with more than 25 foreign ambassadors in the course of the year.
He insists he did not lie at the confirmation hearing, saying his comments were “honest and correct as I understood it at the time”.
Jeff Sessions said he had spoken with the Russian ambassador as a US senator and not as Donald Trump’s “surrogate”.
He said: “I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign.”
Jeff Sessions admitted that in his confirmation comments he “should have slowed down and said, <<but I did meet one Russian official a couple of times>>”.
He said that during his meeting with Sergei Kislyak they talked about terrorism and then “somehow the subject of Ukraine came up”.
Nancy Pelosi repeated her call for Jeff Sessions to quit. She said his “his narrow recusal and sorry attempt to explain away his perjury” were totally inadequate.
Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said Jeff Sessions “clearly misled” the Senate and his explanation was “simply not credible”.
Although some top Republicans in the House and Senate agreed Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from the investigation, senior figures rallied behind him, resisting demands for the appointment of an independent prosecutor.
For Jeff Sessions to be charged with perjury, prosecutors would have to show that he not only made false statements, but knowingly and willfully misled members of the committee about an indisputable fact.
According to the DoJ, Jeff Sessions met Russia’s ambassador during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, despite telling his confirmation hearing he had “no communications with the Russians”.
The justice department confirmed Jeff Sessions met Sergei Kislyak in July and September 2016 as part of his role on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
On March 1, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said his comments at his confirmation related to his role on the Trump campaign team.
Democrats accused him of lying on oath.
They said Jeff Sessions must resign, and also called on him to step aside from an investigation by the FBI – which he oversees as attorney general – into alleged Russian interference in the US election, including contacts between Russian officials and those involved in campaigning.
The US intelligence community has concluded that alleged Russian hacking of DNC was carried out to help Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, was fired last month after he misled the White House about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, allegedly regarding sanctions against Moscow.
As reported in the Washington Post and confirmed by the justice department, Jeff Sessions met Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee twice last year.
The Post reports that they held a private conversation in Jeff Sessions’s office in September and had spoken earlier in the summer at a meeting with several other ambassadors.
Jeff Sessions had meetings with more than 25 foreign ambassadors in the course of the year.
However, Jeff Sessions’ meetings with Sergei Kislyak came while he was a prominent part of Donald Trump’s campaign team – a so-called surrogate – and amid growing reports of Russian meddling in the US election.
Image source Flickr
During his confirmation hearing on January 10, Jeff Sessions was asked by Democrat Senator Al Franken: “If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government, in the course of this campaign, what will you do?”
Jeff Sessions responded: “I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians. And I’m unable to comment on it.”
In a statement on March 1, Jeff Sessions reiterated: “I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.”
DoJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said there had been “absolutely nothing misleading about his answer” at the confirmation hearing.
She said: “He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign – not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.”
Jeff Sessions was also backed by the White House, which condemned the “latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats”.
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Jeff Sessions of “lying under oath” and demanded he resign.
While Congressman Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said that if the reports were accurate, Jeff Sessions must withdraw from the FBI investigation.
Nikolai Lakhonin, press secretary of the Russian embassy in Washington, said the diplomatic mission did “not comment on numerous contacts” between Russian diplomats and “local partners”, Russia’s Interfax news agency reports.
News of Jeff Sessions’ meetings broke just after a congressional committee agreed to an investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the election.
The House intelligence panel inquiry will scrutinize contacts between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Moscow.
The White House denies any improper behavior during the election campaign, and Russia has consistently rejected allegations of interference.
Francois Fillon says a judge is placing him under investigation over a fake job scandal – but has vowed to continue his campaign for France presidential election.
For weeks, the center-right presidential candidate has fought allegations that his wife, Penelope, was paid for years for work she did not do.
Francois Fillon called the investigation “a political assassination” against him.
President Francois Hollande criticized his words, and accused him of attacking France’s judicial system.
The president said: “Being a presidential candidate doesn’t authorize you to cast suspicion on the work of police and judges.”
Francois Fillon says he has been summoned to appear before the judge, Serge Tournaire, on March 15.
Image source Wikimedia
The date is just two days before the deadline for candidates to submit their final applications. The first round takes place on April 23, followed by a second-round run-off on May 7.
In a combative speech on March 1 announcing the formal investigation, Francois Fillon called on his supporters to “resist”, saying it was up to voters to decide his fate.
“It’s not just me that is being assassinated, it’s the presidential election. The voices of millions of votes have been muzzled,” he complained.
Francois Fillon said he would respect the summons and tell the judge the truth.
The judge has heard several high-profile cases, including those of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and tycoon Bernard Tapie.
Francois Fillon was selected late last year in national primaries held by the centre-right Republicans that attracted some four million voters.
For a time he was the favorite in the race to succeed Francois Hollande as president – until the fake job allegations emerged.
His appearances have recently been accompanied by loud protests.
He has slipped to third in the polls, behind far-right National Front (FN) leader Marine le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron.
Marine Le Pen also faces allegations that she misused EU funds – a claim she denies.
The allegations circling around the Fillon family focus mainly on his Welsh-born wife Penelope.
Le Canard Enchaine alleged Penelope Fillon was paid €831,400 ($900,000) over several years for working as a parliamentary assistant for her husband and his successor, but had no parliamentary pass – raising questions over whether she did the work she was paid for.
Penelope Fillon was also alleged to have picked up €100,000 for writing a handful of articles for a literary journal.
The family has consistently denied the claims. Initially Francois Fillon said he would stand down as a candidate if his case was placed under formal investigation, but recently he insisted that he would fight on “until victory”.
“The closer we get to the date of the presidential election, the more scandalous it would be to deprive the right and centre of a candidate,” he said.
Penelope Fillon also faces a formal investigation, AFP reports, citing a source close to the investigation.
In his first speech to Congress, President Donald Trump has said the US is witnessing a “renewal of the American spirit”.
Adopting a measured, upbeat tone, Donald Trump spoke of a “new chapter of American greatness”.
The Republican president condemned recent vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and a hate crime in Kansas that left an Indian man dead.
Donald Trump’s primetime address sought to bolster his low approval ratings after a bumpy start to his fledgling presidency.
At the outset of the hour-long speech, President Trump tackled recent suspected hate crimes, saying “we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its very ugly forms”.
On immigration, Donald Trump dangled the intriguing possibility of a major policy shift towards a goal that eluded his two predecessors, insisting that “real and positive” reform was possible.
Image source Flickr
That line came hours after he told news anchors off the record at a White House lunch that he might be open to granting legal status to undocumented immigrants.
In his remarks on Capitol Hill, President Trump also talked tough on the issue, pledging to make US communities safer “by finally enforcing our immigration laws”.
The president defended his early actions in office, touting his moves to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and order work to start on a US-Mexico border wall.
However, the most thunderous ovation of the night came when a war widow wept as Donald Trump paid tribute to her husband.
Navy Seal Ryan Owens died in a US raid on a suspected al-Qaeda base in Yemen, days into Donald Trump’s presidency.
“Ryan’s legacy is etched into eternity,” President Trump told the grieving Carryn Owens, who sobbed and looked upwards.
It was one of the rare moments when lawmakers on both sides of the aisle applauded.
Despite the president’s appeal for both parties to “unite for the good of our country”, Democratic lawmakers mostly sat in silence or openly laughed at parts of the speech.
Donald Trump’s feel-good exhortation for national unity, some noted, was in stark contrast to his doom-laden inauguration speech of a month ago.
In his concluding remarks, Donald Trump – whose political honeymoon has been soured by acrimonious spats with the media – said “the time for trivial fights is behind us”.
Among First Lady Melania Trump’s special guests in the gallery were three California residents whose relatives were killed by people in the US illegally.
At least a dozen Democrats brought as their guests young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children.
Former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear delivered the Democratic rebuttal to the speech, accusing Republicans of planning to “rip affordable health insurance” from Americans and being “Wall Street’s champion”.
According to RealClearPolitics, Donald Trump’s popularity has hit a historic low for modern presidents after a month in office – just 44% of Americans think he is doing a good job.
In a Fox News interview broadcast earlier on February 28, President Trump gave himself an overall “A plus” for effort, but added that “in terms of messaging, I would give myself a C or a C plus”.
Donald Trump’s first month in office was overshadowed by missteps that included a high-profile court defeat to his controversial travel ban and the firing of a top aide.
President Donald Trump has told Fox News he believes former President Barack Obama is behind a wave of protests against Republican lawmakers, and national security leaks.
He said: “I think President Obama’s behind it because his people are certainly behind it”, but added: “I also think it’s just politics.”
President Trump offered no evidence for his claims and his predecessor in the White House has not commented.
He also spoke about his budget plans and other issues.
The president’s interview was broadcast hours before he is due to give his first address to a joint session of Congress.
In the speech he is expected to set out in greater detail his plans to cut spending and boost the economy.
Image source AP
Donald Trump has said his proposal to increase the defense budget by $54 billion would be paid for by a “revved up economy”.
The foreign aid purse and the environmental department face a squeeze to pay for it, but analysts are doubtful the spending promises can be kept without increasing the deficit.
President Trump said he would get “more product for our buck” in terms of buying military hardware and would ask for a “form of reimbursement” from countries making use of the US military.
In the Fox News interview, President Trump was asked about the protests faced by some Republican politicians at town hall meetings across the country.
The president said he was certain Obama loyalists were behind both those protests and White House leaks.
“In terms of him being behind things, that’s politics. And it will probably continue,” Donald Trump added.
The president was asked for more detail on how he would find the money for the 10% increase in military spending he has proposed for 2018. Proposed cuts elsewhere are unlikely to cover the proposed increase.
The White House sent Donald Trump’s 2018 budget blueprint, which begins on October 1, to federal agencies on February 27.
The agencies will then review the plan and propose changes to the cuts as the White House prepares for negotiations with Congress.
The Republican-controlled Congress must approve any federal spending.
Donald Trump’s plan is expected to face a backlash from Democrats and some Republicans over the planned cuts to domestic programs.
Samsung vice-president and heir apparent Lee Jae-yong is to be formally indicted on multiple charges including bribery and embezzlement, South Korean prosecutors said.
The case is tied to the Choi Soon-sil scandal which led to the impeachment of South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye.
The special prosecutor’s office announced the charges against the de-facto Samsung chief, along with four other company executives.
Three of those executives resigned on February 28 following the announcement.
Samsung also said it was dismantling its corporate strategic office, a unit coordinating the various arms of the huge conglomerate.
The tech giant is accused of giving donations to non-profit foundations operated by Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of President Park Geun-hye, in exchange for government favors.
Prosecutors accused Lee Jae-yong of giving donations worth 41 billion won ($36 million) to organizations linked to Choi Soon-sil. They alleged this was done to win government support for a big restructuring of Samsung that would help a smooth leadership transition in favor of Lee Jae-yong, who is standing in as chairman for his ill father, Lee Kun-hee.
The controversial merger required support from the national pension fund – the allegation is that this support was granted in return for the donations.
In a December parliamentary hearing, Samsung admitted giving a total of 20.4 billion won to two foundations, but denied seeking favors in return.
Lee Jae-yong also confirmed the company gave a horse and money to help the equestrian career of Choi Soon-sil’s daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, something he said he now regrets.
This centers around President Park Geun-hye’s ties to Choi Soon-sil and has brought allegations of cult activities, influence-peddling and leaks of classified information.
Choi Soon-sil is a long term family friend whose father had already had close ties with President Park’s father who was president in the 1970s.
As well as soliciting donations, Choi Soon-sil is accused of using their friendship to interfere in politics.
Choi Soon-sil is now on trial charged with various offences, including abuse of authority, coercion and attempted fraud, and denies wrongdoing.
In December 2016, the parliament voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye. Her case is now being heard by the constitutional court. Meanwhile she has been stripped of her presidential powers.
Regardless of the outcome, Lee Jae-yong’s trial is a big blow to Samsung. His arrest may not affect short term production or the running of the firm but there could be long term implications.
Samsung is one of the biggest electronics companies in the world and for the head of a company that thrives on a premium brand image to be involved in a corruption scandal is a huge embarrassment.
Earlier in February, when Lee Jae-yong was first arrested, Samsung said it would do its best “to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings”, though denies wrongdoing.
SpaceX has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the Moon.
The company’s CEO Elon Musk said the mission is planned for late 2018 and the tourists “have already paid a significant deposit”.
The two unnamed space tourists will fly aboard a spaceship which is set for its first unmanned test flight later this year.
Elon Musk said the co-operation of NASA had made the plan possible.
He said the two passengers “will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them”.
Elon Musk declined to reveal their identities, only saying that they knew each other and that “it’s nobody from Hollywood”.
Image source Wikimedia
He added: “Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration.
“We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year.”
The first mission would be unmanned, and the next one – with crew – was expected in Q2 of 2018, he said.
Elon Musk also said the first passengers “are entering this with their eyes open, knowing that there is some risk here”.
“They’re certainly not naive, and we’ll do everything we can to minimize that risk, but it’s not zero.”
The tourists would make a loop around the Moon, skimming the lunar surface and then going well beyond, the entrepreneur said.
The mission will not involve a lunar landing.
If NASA decided it wanted to be first to take part in a lunar flyby mission, then the agency would have priority, Elon Musk said.
The US has not sent astronauts to the Moon since the early 1970s.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic venture proposes to send tourists on short sub-orbital flights in its vehicle SpaceShipTwo; the cost of a seat is listed as $250,000.
However, Virgin Galactic’s space vehicle was destroyed in a crash in 2014 and it remains unclear when the first flights with paying customers will begin.
President Donald Trump is seeking to boost defense spending by $54 billion in his proposed budget plan for 2018, which is about a 9% increase.
The blueprint also calls for deep cuts elsewhere, including to foreign assistance and environmental budgets.
However, President Trump’s plan leaves large welfare programs such as Social Security and Medicare untouched, despite Republican calls for reform.
Donald Trump is expected to release his final budget proposal in mid-March.
He said in a meeting with governors at the White House on February 27: “We’re going to do more with less and make the government lean and accountable.”
President Trump, who vowed to increase military spending and preserve welfare programs during his campaign, said the budget will focus on “military, safety, economic development”.
Image source Flickr
He said: “It will include an historic increase in defense spending to rebuild the depleted military of the United States of America at a time we most need it.”
Military spending has declined in recent years due to budgetary battles in Congress that led to a defense sequester.
Donald Trump’s proposal would return the United States closer to wartime spending.
He also said he would discuss his plans for infrastructure spending, in a speech to Congress on February 28.
“We’re going to start spending on infrastructure big,” he said.
Donald Trump did not say how his budget proposal will tackle mandatory spending and taxes, promising those details to come later.
He pledged to cut taxes during his presidential campaign, which would likely add to the national debt.
Military spending has declined in recent years due to budgetary battles in Congress that led to a defense sequester.
The White House sent President Trump’s 2018 budget blueprint, which begins on October 1, to federal agencies on February 27.
The agencies will then review the plan and propose changes to the cuts as the White House prepares for negotiations with Congress.
The Republican-controlled Congress must approve any federal spending.
Donald Trump’s plan is expected to face backlash from Democrats and some Republicans over cuts to domestic programs.
South Korea’s opposition seeks the impeachment of acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn over his decisions on the country’s corruption scandal.
The interim leader decided not to extend a special prosecutor’s investigation which involves his predecessor, President Park Geun-hye.
Prosecutors want more time to question her over the scandal.
Park Geun-hye is awaiting a separate ruling on her December impeachment from the constitutional court.
She is still technically president, though she has been stripped of her powers while the constitutional court decides her fate. As long as she remains president, she is immune from prosecution.
However, the wider corruption investigation which emerged from the scandal will now end on February 28, before special prosecutors have the opportunity to question Park Geun-hye.
Any further investigation will fall to individual state prosecutors.
Image source Wikipedia
Hwang Kyo-ahn, who remains prime minister while he sits in for the president, said that continuing the investigation is not in the best interests of the nation.
His spokesman said: “After much deliberation [the acting president] has decided that it would be best for country’s stability to not extend the special investigation and for the prosecutors to take over.”
Choo Mi-ae, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said Hwang Kyo-ahn’s decision indicated he was trying “to become Park’s shield to protect her and her associates”.
Park Geun-hye was impeached weeks after her old friend Choi Soon-sil was arrested.
In a written statement on February 27, Park Geun-hye maintained her innocence, but said she had “belated regret, that I should have been more cautious with my trust in her.”
Choi Soon-sil is accused of using her presidential connections to pressure companies for millions of dollars in donations to two non-profit foundations she controlled. President Park Geun-hye is alleged to have been personally involved.
On November 20, Choi Soon-sil was charged with various offences, including abuse of authority, coercion, attempted coercion and attempted fraud, leading to the wider investigation.
Samsung vice-president was also arrested in connection with the probe.
The company is accused of giving donations to non-profit foundations operated by Choi Soon-sil in exchange for government favors.
Park Geun-hye’s case at the constitutional court also heard the final arguments on February 27. It is not known when the final verdict will be delivered.
The court may reject Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, restoring her powers and returning the country to its status quo.
If, however they uphold the parliament’s decision, a presidential election must be held.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets calling on ousted President Park Geun-hye to step down immediately, rather than continue to fight her impeachment in the constitutional court.
President Donald Trump has announced he will skip the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 29.
The event draws celebrities, journalists and politicians, normally including the president.
Donald Trump said he would not attend the event a day after the White House excluded several major broadcasters and newspapers from a press briefing.
The president has frequently described negative news coverage as “fake”.
However, he has not provided any evidence for his claims.
The announcement comes as relations between the White House and some media outlets continue to deteriorate.
On February 24, the CNN, Buzzfeed, BBC and the New York Times were among media groups barred from an off-camera informal briefing held by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Hours before the briefing, President Trump had delivered a strong attack on what he called “fake news” in the media, targeting stories with unnamed sources.
He said “fake news” was the “enemy of the people”.
Image source Getty Images
President Trump announced his non-attendance at the correspondents’ dinner via Twitter, writing: “I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!”
Bloomberg News and the New Yorker magazine are among media outlets who have said they will not hold their usual after-parties this year.
There have been some calls for journalists to boycott the event itself.
According to the New York Times, every sitting president since 1924 has attended the correspondents’ dinner at least once.
They traditionally make a light-hearted speech at the annual event. Former President Barack Obama attended eight times.
Donald Trump has been a regular at the dinner in the recent past.
In 2011, Barack Obama joked that Donald Trump would turn the White House into a casino if he became president and made fun of rumors, then propagated by Trump, that President Obama was not born in the United States.
Donald Trump was shown on camera sitting stony-faced through a barrage of jokes at his expense, including some from host Seth Meyers, although he said last year that he “loved that dinner”.
Many believe that the 2011 event fuelled Donald Trump’s desire to enter politics and later run for office.
In a statement the White House Correspondents’ Association said it took note of President Trump’s announcement and said the dinner would “continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic”.
Mexico has warned the United States against imposing a unilateral tax on Mexican imports to finance the border wall, saying it could respond in kind.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the government could place tariffs on selected goods from United States reliant on exports to Mexico.
Earlier, President Donald Trump vowed to start building the wall “soon, way ahead of schedule”.
The US government says it will start accepting design proposals next month.
The US Customs and Border Protection Agency has informed that it will ask companies to submit proposals “for the design and build of several prototype wall structures” on or around March 6.
A shortlist of the best designs will be drawn up by March 20, after which bidders will be asked to cost their ideas.
Contracts are expected to be awarded by mid-April.
Addressing the CPAC in Maryland on February 24, President Donald Trump vowed to always put American citizens first and build a “great, great border wall”.
Donald Trump has pledged that Mexico will pay for the wall, which could cost up to $21.5 billion, according to Reuters, which cited a Department of Homeland Security internal report.
The figure is much higher than Donald Trump’s estimated price tag of $12 billion.
President Trump has proposed to levy a 20% tax on Mexican imports to pay for a border wall.
In a radio interview on February 24, Luis Videgeray said that “Mexico believes in free trade”, but “would have to respond” if the US tried to fund a border wall by imposing a tax on Mexican imports.
“What we cannot do is remain with our arms crossed,” he said.
“Mexico will face this as a reality and not just as a rhetorical threat because we have realized that rhetorical threats come and go.”
According to reports, Luis Videgeray has previously identified states including Iowa, Texas and Wisconsin as possible targets for retaliatory tariffs.
Mexico is by far the top destination for Texan exports, with goods worth $92.4 billion exported there in 2015, according to the US Department of Commerce.
The wall is a sensitive political subject in Mexico. President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a trip to meet President Trump last month over the dispute and has said Mexico will not fund the wall.
On February 23, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly met their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City.
Neither side made any mention of the wall in the news conference after their closed-door meetings.
President Donald Trump needs Congressional approval for funding before moving forward with construction of the wall.
The White House has banned several media outlets from attending an informal press briefing.
The CNN, BBC, the New York Times and others were excluded from an audience with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, with no reason given.
It came hours after President Donald Trump delivered another attack on the media in his CPAC speech, saying that “fake news” was the “enemy of the people”.
President Trump has previously singled out CNN and the New York Times for criticism.
Recent reports claiming Donald Trump’s campaign aides had contact with Russian intelligence officials have particularly irked the president.
Shortly after his speech on February 24, a number of selected media organizations were invited into Sean Spicer’s office for an informal briefing, or “gaggle”.
Those allowed into the room included ABC, Breitbart News, Reuters, Fox News and the Washington Times.
Image source Wikimedia
When asked why some were excluded, Sean Spicer said it was his decision to “expand the pool” of reporters.
Sean Spicer also warned the White House was going to “aggressively push back” at “false narratives” in the news.
Buzzfeed, the Daily Mail and Politico were also left out, but CNN was the only major TV network to be denied entry.
USA Today, Time magazine and the Associated Press refused to attend as a protest.
New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said it was the first time such an exclusion had happened in the newspaper’s history.
A White House spokeswoman said they had invited a group which included all journalists in the press pool, which shares information with other reporters
“We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that,” Sarah Sanders said.
During the briefing, Sean Spicer addressed reports that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had asked the FBI to publicly dispute media stories about contacts between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
Sean Spicer said Reince Priebus had little choice but to seek assistance in rejecting what Spicer said were inaccurate reports. The FBI did not issue the statement requested.
Donald Trump has been dogged by claims of alleged links to Moscow since his presidential campaign.
He asked for national security adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation last week after he misled VP Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador during the transition.
The White House Correspondents’ Association says it is “protesting strongly” about how the press briefing was handled by the White House.
Addressing the Conservative Political Action Congress (CPAC), President Donald Trump has promised to start building a wall on the Mexican border “soon, way ahead of schedule”.
President Trump vowed to always put American citizens first and build a “great, great border wall”.
He also promised to focus on “getting bad people out of this country”.
Donald Trump was greeted by chants of “USA, USA, USA!” as the president addressed the annual forum in Maryland.
“We’re building the wall,” he said.
“In fact it’s going to start very soon. Way ahead of schedule. It’s way, way, way ahead of schedule.”
Donald Trump’s comments come a day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly met their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City.
Neither made any mention of the wall in February 23 news conference after their closed-door meetings.
Image source Flickr
The wall could cost up to $21.5 billion, according to Reuters, citing a Department of Homeland Security internal report – much higher than Donald Trump’s estimated price tag of $12 billion.
Donald Trump, who has insisted Mexico would later pay for the wall, needs Congressional approval for funding before moving forward with construction.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said he would not finance Donald Trump’s wall.
On February 24, President Donald Trump also said he was working on a plan to “totally obliterate” ISIS.
“Foreign terrorists will not be able to strike America if they can’t get in to America,” he said.
Donald Trump continued that he “took a lot of heat on Sweden”, referring to his erroneous claim that an attack had recently happened there.
He told the crowd: “I love Sweden… but the people over there understand I’m right.”
President Trump then referred to terrorist attacks in France before telling an anecdote about a friend who used to love travelling to Paris every year, but has stopped because “Paris is no longer Paris”.
One of the loudest rounds of applause came when he emphasized his “America First” outlook.
“Global co-operation, dealing with other countries, getting along with other countries is good,” he said.
“It’s very important.
“But there’s no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag.
“This is the United States of America that I’m representing. I’m not representing the globe; I’m representing your country.”
President Trump devoted the first 13 minutes of his speech to criticizing the media and its use of unnamed sources, without saying which stories he was unhappy with.
Relations between the White House and the media hit a new low for his presidency a few hours later.
Reporters from the BBC, The New York Times, CNN and other outlets were excluded from a briefing by the White House press secretary Sean Spicer. No reason was given, but Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the so-called gaggle in protest.
Donald Trump is the first president to address the group during his first year in office since Ronald Reagan in 1981, according to American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp.
North Korea has accused China, its only international ally, of giving in to American demands.
Last week, China announced a ban on coal imports during 2017, in response to North Korea’s continuing ballistic missile tests.
The Pyongyang statement did not name China, but referred to a “neighboring country” which “often claims” to be friendly.
“This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US,” the state-run KCNA news agency said.
In a direct reference to the ban on imports, the Pyongyang statement said China had “taken inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade”, which would help its enemies “to bring down the social system” in North Korea.
North Korea relies on the coal trade with China for cash income.
Although China backs North Korea, alone among the international community, it has been a critic of its nuclear program, and has backed UN sanctions against it.
China’s ban on coal imports came a week after North Korea tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
The following day, Chinese media reported that a coal shipment from North Korea worth $1 million had been stopped at Wenzhou port, on China’s eastern coast, before the ban was officially announced a few days later.
Image source Getty Images
North Korea claims to have advanced nuclear capabilities that have never been verified. The country said it created a nuclear weapon in just a few years without any external aid.
If North Korea successfully created a fully functional inter-continental ballistic missile, it could conceivably threaten the US – about 5,500 miles away – as well as closer neighbors.
Howver, the government remains defiant in the face of international pressure.
“It is utterly childish to think that [North Korea] would not manufacture nuclear weapons and inter-continental ballistic rockets if a few [pennies] of money is cut off,” it said in its statement.
The words “dancing to the tune of the US” may refer to President Donald Trump’s remarks, before taking office, that China should bring North Korea “under control”.
Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox and Friends on January 4: “China has… total control over North Korea.
“And China should solve that problem. And if they don’t solve the problem, we should make trade very difficult for China.”
The rebuke of its only ally is the second verbal attack on another nation by North Korea on the same day.
Earlier, the secretive country appeared to blame Malaysia for the death of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, and said the country was attempting to politicize the return of his body.
Kim Jong-nam died after being poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport in an apparent planned attack.
President Donald Trump will rescind guidance enacted by President Barack Obama in favor of transgender students, the White House has announced.
The Obama-era rule directed public schools to allow transgender pupils to use toilets of their gender identity.
However, critics said that guidance was government overreach which threatened other students’ privacy and safety.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said President Trump firmly believes “this is a states’ rights issue”.
Sean Spicer told a news conference: “I would expect further guidance to come out on that today.”
Though the Obama-era order will be rescinded, anti-bullying safeguards are expected to remain in place, the AP reported, citing a government official.
In May 2016, President Obama’s justice and education departments instructed public schools to allow transgender students to use whichever bathroom corresponded to their gender identity.
Image source Wikipedia
Though not legally binding, President Obama’s order warned schools they could lose funding if they did not follow the new guidance.
The directive sparked a backlash across the country, prompting legal challenges from 13 states and a Texas federal judge’s preliminary injunction blocking the department’s position in August.
The Obama administration’s guidance was based on its interpretation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in education.
Barack Obama argued that protection extended to gender identity.
However, Sean Spicer said the previous administration’s guidelines were confusing and too difficult to implement.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump said transgender students should be allowed to use whichever bathroom “they feel is appropriate”.
However, he reversed his stance after facing Republican criticism.
Conservative activists praised Donald Trump’s impending order, saying it protected student rights to privacy.
“Our daughters should never be forced to share private, intimate spaces with male classmates, even if those young men are struggling with these issues,” said Vicki Wilson, a member of Students and Parents for Privacy.
“It violates their right to privacy and harms their dignity.”
Meanwhile, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called the move a major setback for trans rights.
Hong Kong’s ex-Chief Executive Donald Tsang has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for misconduct.
Donald Tsang led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012 and is the most senior official in the territory ever to stand trial for corruption.
He was found guilty last week of misconduct in public office, in a case related to a luxury flat in China.
In sentencing, Judge Andrew Chan said: “Never in my judicial career have I seen a man fall from so high.”
A number of senior former officials in Hong Kong had written letters to the court in defense of Donald Tsang’s character.
Image source Wikipedia
Judge Chan said he took Donald Tsang’s reputation and long public service into account in sentencing, taking 10 months off what would have been a 30-month sentence. The maximum penalty could have been 7 years.
Donald Tsang was cleared last week of a second count of misconduct, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge of accepting an advantage. He is expected to be retried on that charge in September.
After sentencing, Donald Tsang was taken from court in handcuffs to the hospital where he has been staying since experiencing chest pain on February 20.
The case has worried a territory that prides itself on its relatively clean reputation.
The trial related to events which took place near the end of Donald Tsang’s term, between 2010 and 2012.
Prosecutors accused Donald Tsang of inappropriate and undeclared conflicts of interest, including renting a luxury flat in mainland China from the shareholder of a broadcast company whose license applications he approved. They also alleged the flat was redecorated free of charge and that he later nominated the interior designer for an honor.
The jury found the former leader guilty of misconduct over his failure to disclose the lease of the flat, but dismissed the charge related to the designer and did not reach a verdict on whether he accepted a bribe in the form of the refurbishment.
A career civil servant, Donald Tsang rose through the ranks to become Hong Kong’s second chief executive, following Tung Chee-hwa.
Donald Tsang’s deputy, former Chief Secretary Rafael Hui, was jailed for accepting bribes from a property tycoon in 2014.
The White House has issued tough guidelines to widen the net for deporting illegal immigrants from the United States, and speed up their removal.
Undocumented immigrants arrested for traffic violations or shop-lifting will be targeted along with those convicted of more serious crimes.
The memos do not alter immigration laws, but take a much tougher approach towards enforcing existing measures.
There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new blueprint leaves in place Obama-era protections for immigrants who entered the US illegally as children.
However, it expands the more restricted guidance issued under the previous administration, which focused its policy on immigrants convicted of serious crimes, threats to national security or those who had recently crossed the border.
Image source Wikimedia
The DHS plans to hire an extra 10,000 agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 5,000 more border patrol officers to enforce the new guidance.
During his eight years in office, President Barack Obama instructed immigration officials to focus deportation efforts on undocumented immigrants who were convicted of serious crimes or recent arrivals captured near the US border.
President Trump’s immigration order marks a sharp break with those policies. Instead – according to the DHS implementation memos – the Trump administration essentially will “prioritize” the deportation of almost all undocumented immigrants, everywhere.
The DHS’s list of prioritized “removable aliens” is so broad as to include just about every class of undocumented immigrant – with only a carve-out for individuals who entered the US as children.
All this will require more money and manpower – and the Trump administration is going to ask Congress for the former and go on a hiring spree to address the latter. Local and state law-enforcement officials will also be allowed to arrest unauthorized immigrants.
While President Barack Obama aggressively enforced immigration law and ramped up deportations in some areas and at some times, there were notable instances where he de-emphasized action. In the Trump era immigration authorities are now being given the power to make a sea-to-sea, border-to-border push.
The two memos released on February 21 by the agency suggest individuals apprehended in the US would need to prove that they have been in the country continuously for two years.
Otherwise, agents could expedite their removal with no court proceeding.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly wrote in one of the memos: “The surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States.”
His memo also includes instructions to enforce an existing provision of the US Immigration and Nationality Act that allows authorities to send some people caught illegally at the border back to Mexico, regardless of where they are from.
It is unclear whether the US has authority to force Mexico to accept foreigners.
The DHS guidance is a blueprint to implement executive orders that President Trump signed on January 25, days after taking office.
The new guidelines did not explain how President Trump’s border wall would be funded and where undocumented immigrants apprehended in the crackdown would be detained.
The memos instruct agents to “allocate all available resources to expand their detention capabilities and capacities”, but Congress would probably need to allocate money to build new detention centers.
Donald Trump’s immigration policies have prompted protests on both sides of the border. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in more than a dozen Mexican cities last week to protest against President Trump’s plan for a border wall.
President Donald Trump has picked Lt. Gen. Herbert Raymond McMaster to replace Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.
Michael Flynn was fired after just three weeks and three days in the job.
H.R. McMaster served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he worked on a government anti-corruption drive.
President Trump’s first choice, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, turned down the role, citing “personal reasons”.
Donald Trump has praised H.R. McMaster as “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience” who is “highly respected by everybody in the military”.
Image source Wikimedia
H.R. McMaster does not appear to have close ties to Moscow, and was recently commissioned to study the ways the US could counter some of Russia’s military advances.
He is no stranger to questioning authority. In a 2014 interview, he said: “The commanders that I’ve worked for, they want frank assessments, they want criticism and feedback.”
Time magazine named H.R. McMaster as one of its 100 most influential people in the world in 2014, saying he “might be the 21st Century Army’s pre-eminent warrior-thinker”.
He criticized the US military’s involvement in the Vietnam War in his book Dereliction of Duty.
H.R. McMaster has a PhD in US history from the University of North Carolina.
He has said it is “a privilege… to be able to continue serving our nation” and that he looks forward to joining the national security team.
The role involves serving as an independent adviser to the president on issues of national security and foreign policy.
It is one of the most senior roles in the US government. Observers say the role’s influence varies from administration to administration, but the adviser is seen as one of the president’s key confidantes.
The adviser attends the National Security Council, and may act as a broker between different government departments.
The role is not subject to US Senate confirmation.
In a tweet on February 19, President Donald Trump has sought to explain why he referred to a security incident in Sweden on February 17 which did not actually happen.
Addressing a rally on February 18, President Trump had said, “look at what’s happening last night in Sweden”, as he listed parts of Europe hit by terrorist attacks.
With no such incident reported in Sweden on February 17, Sweden asked the US administration for an explanation.
President Trump tweeted on February 19 that he had been referring to a TV report.
Donald Trump said it had been broadcast on Fox News but did not say when. He may have been referring to a Fox News program on that night, which looked at refugees and crime in Sweden.
Despite his words “happening last night in Sweden”, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said separately that President Trump had been talking about rising crime and recent incidents in general, not referring to a specific issue.
Former Swedish PM Carl Bildt was among those who mocked Donald Trump’s comment, suggesting that he had “been smoking”.
Image source Flickr
Social media users ridiculed President Trump, joking about imaginary situations involving Swedish institutions like Abba and IKEA.
Many made reference to the “Bowling Green massacre”, a a non-existent attack that was cited by one of Donald Trump’s key advisers, Kellyanne Conway, earlier this month.
On February 19, Donald Trump tweeted: “My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.”
The Fox News report looked at gun violence and rape in Sweden since it opened its doors to large numbers of asylum-seekers in 2013.
Fox News is known to be among Donald Trump’s favorite cable TV channels.
He said at a big rally in Florida: “You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden.”
“Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible. You look at what’s happening in Brussels, you look at what’s happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice, take a look at Paris.”
No terrorist incidents were reported in Sweden on February 17.
Sweden, with a population of about 9.5 million people, has taken in nearly 200,000 refugees and migrants in recent years – more per capita than any other European country.
It saw a sharp increase in asylum seekers in 2015, with more than 160,000 people arriving. With the influx, tensions also rose with some isolated attacks on immigrants, as well as pro- and anti-migrant demonstrations.
The killing of a 22-year-old woman in January 2016 by an asylum seeker based at the center where she worked put further pressure on the government to reassess its approach to refugees.
There was a drop in numbers in 2016 after the country introduced new border checks incurring longer processing times, as well as financial incentives for migrants who voluntarily returned to their country of origin.
No terrorist attacks have been recorded in Sweden since the country’s open-door policy on migration began in 2013.
However, Sweden is believed to have the highest number of ISIS fighters per capita in Europe. About 140 of the 300 who went to Syria and Iraq have since returned, leaving the authorities to grapple with how best to reintegrate them into society.
President Donald Trump cited a non-existent incident in Sweden, baffling many – not least Swedes.
He told a crowd of supporters at a rally in Florida: “You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this. Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”
It was not entirely clear which incident President Trump was referring to, as many on Twitter pointed out, including the former Swedish prime minister: “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.”
Image source Flickr
Some of those contacted the official @Sweden Twitter account – which is manned by a different Swedish citizen each week – to ask: “What happened in Sweden last night?”
It was down to Emma, a school librarian, to allay concerns voiced from people around the world: “ No. Nothing has happened here in Sweden. There has not been any terrorist attacks here. At all. The main news right now is about Melfest.”
Melfest is the music competition which selects Sweden’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The hashtag #lastnightinSweden was soon trending on Twitter, and the Swedish embassy in Washington has asked the State Department for clarification.
President Donald Trump’s comments just weeks after one of his key advisers, Kellyanne Conway, cited a non-existent attack dubbed the “Bowling Green massacre”.
Some people suggest President Trump might have been referring to a clip aired on Fox News on Friday night of a documentary about alleged violence committed by refugees in Sweden.
President Donald Trump has launched another fierce attack on the media at a “campaign rally for America” event in Melbourne, Florida.
He told the crowd the media did not want “to report the truth” and had their own agenda.
President Trump also defended the achievements of his presidency so far, insisting that a spirit of optimism was sweeping the United States.
He had attacked the media at a press conference on February 16, as pressure mounted on his presidency.
President Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn quit earlier in the week. Donald Trump is to interview candidates for the role on February 19.
Image source Flickr
On February 18, Donald Trump and his wife Melania were greeted by thousands of supporters at the rally in a state he won in November’s election, while hundreds protested outside.
In his speech, Donald Trump said he wanted to speak to Americans “without the filter of fake news”.
Describing the media as “dishonest”, the president repeated his assertion that some outlets “don’t want to report the truth” and were making up their stories about him.
He said: “We will continue to expose them.”
It is unusual for a sitting president to hold a rally in the style of those held during election campaigns.
Throughout the week, President Trump launched attacks on the media while indicating his excitement at facing crowds in Florida again.
On February 16, Donald Trump held a 76-minute press conference where he told reporters their level of dishonesty was out of control, citing coverage of his campaign’s alleged contacts with Moscow.
Michael Flynn, President Trump’s national security adviser, resigned on February 13 after he misled VP Mike Pence about whether he had discussed US sanctions with Russia’s ambassador before his own appointment.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported earlier this week that members of Donald Trump’s campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.
While in Florida, President Trump is staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort for the third weekend in succession. In a tweet, he referred to the property as the “Southern White House”, although the private club is part of Donald Trump’s portfolio and is not government property.
Francois Fillon has taken back a promise to quit France’s presidential race if placed under formal investigation.
His campaign has been dogged by claims, which he denies, that his wife and two of his children were paid for non-existent parliamentary work.
While an initial investigation is already under way, a decision on a more formal probe has yet to be made.
Francois Fillon told Le Figaro: “I am the candidate and I will continue until victory.
“The closer we get to the date of the election, the more scandalous it would be to deny the Right and the Center of a candidate.”
Image source Wikimedia
The first round of the election will be held on April 23, with the second round run-off between two candidates two weeks later.
On January 26, Francois Fillon had told the TF1 channel that “the only thing that would prevent me from being a candidate is if my honor was tainted, if I was placed under examination”.
While France’s financial prosecutor decided to keep an initial investigation open on February 16, the decision to launch a more formal probe would need to be taken by a magistrate. It could take months or years to reach that point.
Media reports say Francois Fillon’s Welsh-born wife Penelope earned €831,400 ($880,000) as her husband’s parliamentary assistant between 1998 and 2012, and questioned how much work she had done.
It subsequently emerged that Francois Fillon had hired two of his children to act as lawyers, paying them €84,000 between 2005 and 2007 – when they were students.
In early February, Francois Fillon said that although what he had done was legal, French people no longer accepted the practice and that he had made a “mistake”.
The controversy has hit Francois Fillon in the polls, with one new survey by Ifop for three French media outlets on February 17 suggesting he is neck-and-neck with centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron.
However, the poll places both behind the far-right’s Marine Le Pen.
Polls indicate Francois Fillon or Emmanuel Macron would easily beat Marine Le Pen in the second round of the election in May.
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