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.
Donald Trump has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin after he ruled out expelling American diplomats, despite a similar move by Washington in response to alleged hacking.
The president-elect tweeted: “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!”
Vladimir Putin had earlier said Russia would not stoop to “irresponsible diplomacy”.
On December 29, Washington expelled 35 diplomats over hacking related to the US election. Moscow denies any involvement.
Donald Trump emphasized his statement on the row by pinning his tweet to the top of his account.
It was unclear exactly what he was referring to with the term “delay”.
Donald Trump has previously dismissed the hacking claims as “ridiculous” and said that Americans should “get on with our lives” when asked about the possibility of sanctions.
However, speaking before Vladimir Putin’s decision, Donald Trump did say he would meet US intelligence chiefs next week to be “updated on the facts of this situation”.
Donald Trump’s senior aide Kellyanne Conway said on December 29: “Even those who are sympathetic to President Obama on most issues are saying that part of the reason he did this today was to quote <<box in>>President-elect Trump.
“That would be very unfortunate if politics were the motivating factor here. We can’t help but think that’s often true.”
Under the US action, 35 diplomats from Russia’s Washington embassy and its consulate in San Francisco were given 72 hours to leave the United States with their families; two compounds said to have been used by Russian intelligence services in New York and Maryland were closed.
Sanctions were announced against nine entities and individuals including two Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU and the FSB.
President Barack Obama, who will be replaced by Donald Trump on January 20, had vowed action against Russia amid US accusations that it directed cyber-attacks on the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Emails stolen from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, and from the servers of the DNC – some containing embarrassing information for Democrats – were released during the election campaign.
In a statement on the Kremlin website, President Putin said: “We won’t be expelling anyone.
“We won’t be banning their families and children from the places where they usually spend the New Year holidays. Furthermore, I invite all children of American diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas Tree in the Kremlin.”
Vladimir Putin wished Barack Obama and his family a happy New Year, as well as Donald Trump and “the whole American people”.
The Russian president’s comments rebuffed his foreign ministry which had reportedly suggested expelling 31 American diplomats from Moscow and four from St Petersburg.
The Russian foreign ministry also suggested banning US diplomats from their dachas (holiday homes) in Serebryany Bor near Moscow and a warehouse on Moscow’s Dorozhnaya Street.
There has been no response yet to Vladimir Putin’s move from the Obama administration.
However, Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, described the Russian hacking as an “act of war”, adding: “And so we have to make sure that there is a price to pay, so that we can perhaps persuade the Russians to stop these kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy.”
John McCain said a lot more needed to be done in response to the hacking, with many sanctions possible.
The Greek ambassador to Brazil, Kyriakos Amiridis, was killed by a local police officer who was having an affair with the envoy’s wife, Brazilian police say.
Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, had been missing since December 26. The ambassador’s body was found in a burnt-out car on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro on December 29.
According to police, the ambassador’s Brazilian wife, Francoise Amiridis, plotted the murder with her lover.
Officer Sergio Gomes Moreira Filho confessed to strangling Kyriakos Amiridis to death, police said.
Francoise Amiridis, 40, has been detained along with Sergio Moreira, 29, and his cousin, Eduardo Melo.
Eduardo Melo is said to have been paid about 80,000 reais ($25,000) to act as a lookout.
The three suspects have been interrogated and will be held in police custody for another 30 days.
Image source India.com
Investigator Evaristo Pontes Magalhaes described the murder as “a tragic, cowardly act,” which police are treating as “a crime of passion”.
At a press conference, Evaristo Pontes Magalhes said: “Francoise initially denied the facts. She said she had nothing to do with that. We managed to make her see that she had no alternative and that there was no point in continuing to deny it.
“She fell into contradictions, burst into tears and began to say that the police officer [Sergio Moreira] had carried out her husband’s murder.”
The investigator said Sergio Moreira had a fight with the ambassador and ended up killing him when he went to confront the diplomat about claims of violence against his wife.
Sergio Moreira said he acted in self defense. But Brazilian police have dismissed his statement.
They say the police officer’s cousin, Eduardo Melo, confessed to moving the ambassador’s body and gave full details of the plot to murder Kyriakos Amiridis, implicating both Sergio Moreira and Francoise Amiridis.
Kyriakos Amiridis had traveled from Brasilia to the city of Nova Iguacu, north of Rio de Janeiro, to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays there with his wife and her parents.
The couple had been living together for 15 years and their daughter is 10 years old, local reports said.
Francoise Amiridis reported her husband missing on December 28.
She told police that Kyriakos Amiridis had left on December 26 in a car he had rented. The burnt-out vehicle was found on December 29 under a flyover on one of the main access roads to Rio with a body inside.
The body was burned beyond recognition, but police said it was that of Kyriakos Amiridis.
Investigators also said that they had found blood stains on the sofa in the house where the couple was staying and say he was probably stabbed to death there.
Kyriakos Amiridis served as consul in Rio de Janeiro between 2001 and 2004 and returned to Brazil as ambassador earlier this year.
According to Brazilian media, the body of a man found in a burnt-out car north of Rio de Janeiro is that of Greek envoy to Brazil Kyriakos Amiridis.
Police suspect 59-year-old Kyriakos Amiridis was the victim of a “crime of passion”, Rio news program RJTV reported.
The Greek ambassador’s wife is being questioned.
Quoting unnamed sources within the Rio force, RJTV said that police were working on the assumption that Kyriakos Amiridis’ wife had conspired to kill the ambassador.
Kyriakos Amiridis had traveled to the city of Nova Iguacu, north of Rio de Janeiro, to spend the Christmas holidays there with his Brazilian wife, Francois Amiridis, whose parents live in the city.
Image source India.com
Francois Amiridis reported her husband missing on December 28.
She told police that her husband had left the apartment in the car he had rented on December 26 without telling her where he was going.
The burnt-out car was found on December 29 under a flyover on one of the main access roads to Rio de Janeiro with a body inside.
Forensic tests have revealed the body is that of Kyriakos Amiridis, but police have not yet officially confirmed the test results, RJTV says.
Police investigators also said that they had found blood stains on the sofa in the apartment that Kyriakos and Francois Amiridis were staying in.
They told local media that they thought Kyriakos Amiridis had been killed in the apartment before his body was taken away in his rental car.
A member of the military police was taken in for questioning on December 29 and two other people are also being held.
RJTV said police sources had told their reporter that they suspected the police officer and Francois Amiridis of having an extramarital affair and of conspiring to murder the Greek ambassador.
It is not yet clear what the two other people who have been detained are suspected of.
President Vladimir Putin has ruled out the eviction of US envoys after the United States expelled 35 Russian diplomats amid a row over hacking.
Vladimir Putin said Russia would not “stoop” to the level of “irresponsible diplomacy” but would work to restore ties with the US under President-elect Donald Trump.
Russia’s foreign ministry had formally asked President Putin to expel 35 US envoys.
The country denies involvement in hacking related to the US election, calling US sanctions “ungrounded”.
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev accused the outgoing US administration of President Obama of ending in “anti-Russian death throes”.
President Obama, who will be replaced by Donald Trump on January 20, had vowed action against Russia amid US accusations that it directed cyber-attacks on the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Image NBC News
Emails stolen from her campaign manager and from the servers of the DNC – some containing embarrassing information for Democrats – were released during the election campaign.
In a statement on the Kremlin website, President Vladimir Putin said: “We won’t be expelling anyone.
“We won’t be banning their families and children from the places where they usually spend the New Year holidays. Furthermore, I invite all children of American diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas Tree in the Kremlin.”
Vladimir Putin wished Barack Obama and his family a happy New Year, as well as Donald Trump and “the whole American people”.
In a message on the presidential website, Vladimir Putin said that, with the accession of Donald Trump, “the two states, acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner, can take real steps for restoration of mechanisms for bilateral co-operation”.
Donald Trump has dismissed the hacking claims as “ridiculous” and said Americans should “get on with our lives” when asked previously about the possibility of sanctions.
However, the president-elect said on December 29 he would meet US intelligence chiefs next week to be “updated on the facts of this situation”.
Russia’s foreign ministry had reportedly suggested expelling 31 US diplomats from Moscow and four from St Petersburg.
It also suggested banning US diplomats from their dachas (holiday homes) in Serebryany Bor near Moscow and a warehouse on Moscow’s Dorozhnaya Street.
According to Russian media, the Russians facing expulsion from the embassy in Washington are struggling to buy plane tickets because flights are full ahead of the New Year holiday.
They will be forced to travel to New York, where their chances of finding plane seats are better, an “informed source” told Interfax news agency.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has denied a report by CNN that Moscow is shutting down a school attended by diplomats’ children.
Maria Zakharova said it was a “lie” that the Anglo-American School faced closure as retaliation.
Brazilian police have found a body inside a burnt-out car that had been rented by the Greek ambassador to Brazil, Kyriakos Amiridis.
The car was discovered near Rio de Janeiro.
Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, went missing three days ago after travelling to Rio de Janeiro from Brasilia for the traditional New Year celebrations on Copacabana beach.
The Greek ambassador was last seen on December 26 in the city of Nova Iguacu on the outskirts of Rio, where the car was found.
Forensic experts are carrying out tests to establish the body’s identity.
Image source India.com
Kyriakos Amiridis’s car was discovered under a flyover on one of the main access roads to Rio.
The ambassador had phoned his wife from a flat in Nova Iguacu on December 26 saying he was about to go out. He has not been heard from since.
Police say it is unlikely that Kyriakos Amiridis was kidnapped, as no ransom has been sought.
Rio de Janeiro has a high crime rate and violent incidents are not unusual, especially in the busy season between Christmas and New Year, when hundreds of thousands of tourists travel to the city.
Thirty five Russian diplomats have been expelled from the United States as punishment for alleged interference into this year’s presidential election.
The US will also close two Russian compounds used for intelligence-gathering, in Maryland and New York, as part of a raft of retaliatory measures.
President Barack Obama had vowed action against Russia amid accusations it directed hacks against the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Russia has denied any involvement.
The 35 Russian diplomats from the Washington DC embassy and the consulate in San Francisco have been declared “persona non grata” by state department, giving them and their families 72 hours to leave the US.
The Russian government is expected to respond in turn by expelling US diplomats.
The state department move follows calls from senior senators to sanction Russian officials who are believed to have played a role in the hacking, which some lawmakers referred to as America’s “political Pearl Harbor”.
President-elect Donald Trump has dismissed the claims as “ridiculous” and said Americans should “get on with our lives” when asked about the possibility of sanctions before the announcement on December 28.
Sanctions have also been announced against nine entities and individuals including the GRU and FSB Russian intelligence agencies.
The US Department of Treasury said that the move targeted those responsible for “undermining election processes or institutions”.
Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, told the RIA news agency the expulsion represented “the death throes of political corpses”.
In a statement President Barack Obama said “all Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions”.
The outgoing president called the moves a “necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests”, adding it would not be “the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities”.
Barack Obama also announced the US would declassify technical information related to Russian cyber activity to “help network defenders in the United States and abroad identify, detect, and disrupt Russia’s global campaign of malicious cyber activities”.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, said in a statement that despite the measures being overdue “it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia”.
Paul Ryan added that “it serves as a prime example of this administration’s ineffective foreign policy that has left America weaker in the eyes of the world”.
Maryland Democrat Senator Ben Cardin applauded sanctions against Russia but called them insufficient.
Ben Cardin called for Congress to take action separately from the White House, and plans to introduce legislation to establish a committee “to further examine the attack and Russian’s efforts to interfere in our election”.
In a joint statement by the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Security, and the FBI, officials appeal to companies to “look back within their network traffic” and report any signs of “malicious cyber activity” to law enforcement.
The Russian hacking, which the intelligence agencies describe as a “decade-long campaign” included methods such as “spearphishing, campaigns targeting government organizations, critical infrastructure, think tanks, universities, political organizations, and corporations; theft of information from these organizations; and the recent public release of some of this stolen information”.
Emails stolen from John Podesta and from the servers of the DNC were released during the 2016 presidential election by WikiLeaks.
Several US agencies, including the FBI and CIA have concluded that the hacked information was released to cause damage to Hillary Clinton and the Democrats in order to favor Donald Trump.
Former head of Helsinki’s anti-drugs police Jari Aarnio has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling drugs into Finland.
Jari Aarnio, 59, was found to have helped a gang to import nearly 1,764lb of hashish from the Netherlands and sell it in Finland between 2011 and 2012.
He was found guilty of five drug crimes and 17 other offences.
These included trying to frame an innocent man for being in charge of the drug ring.
Image source MTV.fi
An accomplice of Jari Aarnio, described as a top local criminal, was also sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He spent 30 years in the anti-drugs force and was arrested in 2013.
Jari Aarnio denied all the charges against him, claiming his actions were all legal and undertaken in a policing capacity.
According to his legal team, Jari Aarnio plans to appeal the district court’s sentence in the Helsinki Court of Appeal.
In a separate case in September, Jari Aarnio was sentenced to three years in jail for fraud.
Crime rates are relatively low in Finland compared with most other European countries.
Finland ranks as the second least-corrupt country, after Denmark, in the global index compiled by Transparency International.
The chairman of South Korea’s pension fund, Moon Hyung-pyo, has been arrested for alleged corruption acts involving Samsung and President Park Geun-hye.
State prosecutors said they raided the National Pension Service (NPS) chairman’s home on December 26, before arresting him on December 28.
The NPS is the world’s third-largest pension scheme.
Moon Hyung-pyo’s arrest comes amid President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment over the scandal involving her close friend Choi Soon-sil.
Image source Korea Herald
In the latest arrest, investigators are looking into NPS’s support of an $8 billion merger between two Samsung Group affiliates and whether Moon Hyung-puo used his influence as health minister at the time, to pressure it to back the deal.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare runs the pension service, which manages 545 trillion won ($451 billion) and was a major shareholder in Cheil Industries Inc and Samsung C&T Corp when they merged.
The NPS has denied previous reports that Moon Hyung-pyo pressured the organization to back the deal, and he told reporters on December 27 that he would cooperate with the investigation.
The scandal has also caught Samsung up in allegations that it backed foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil in the hope of receiving political favors, which investigators are also examining.
Politicians voted this month to impeach President Park Geun-hye – a decision South Korea’s constitutional court has six months to uphold or overturn. Until then Park Geun-hye remains formally president but stripped of her powers, which are handed to the prime minister, a presidential appointee.
Park Geun-hye denies wrongdoing but has apologized for the way she managed her relationship with Choi Soon-sil, who also denies committing criminal offences.
Typhoon Nock-Ten is threatening the Philippines, as it heads towards the area around the heavily-populated capital Manila.
Civil defense officials have been put on “red alert”, as Nock-Ten is due to hit Manila on December 26.
The typhoon has weakened since making landfall on the eastern coast on December 25, but it still packs winds up to 87mph, meteorologists say.
Three people were reported killed in Albay province, south-east of Manila.
Nock-Ten (known as Nina in the Philippines) has cut power lines and uprooted trees.
Manila’s civil defense office warned that the capital could be hit by “heavy to intense rains, flash floods and severe winds”.
Image source CNN
The coastguard has ordered beaches south of Manila to be cleared.
The storm hit the coast near Catanduanes Island on Christmas Day, knocking out power.
Hours later, local media reported that in Albay province a couple were swept away in a flash flood and an elderly man was killed by a collapsing wall.
About 100,000 people had been earlier moved from areas at risk in the Bicol region amid fears of widespread flooding and possible landslides.
There were fears Filipinos would ignore evacuation warnings to stay at home with family at Christmas, the biggest holiday in the largely Catholic nation.
Dozens of ports remain closed, with warnings of high waves.
Nock-Ten is expected to pass across the main island of Luzon, before heading into the South China Sea.
Donald Trump’s transitional team has announced that the president-elect intends to dissolve the Trump Foundation that remains under investigation.
In a statement, Donald Trump said the move was aimed at avoiding “even the appearance” of any conflict of interest with his presidency.
Earlier this year, New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that he was investigating the Trump Foundation over suspected “impropriety”.
Donald Trump has dismissed the claim.
The president-elect’s statement on December 24 said that “the foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children.
Photo AP
“However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways.”
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in September that his office wanted to ensure the Foundation was “complying with the laws that govern charities in New York”.
“We have been concerned that the Trump Foundation may have engaged in some impropriety from that point of view,” he told CNN at the time.
According to media reports, Eric Schneiderman’s office has been investigating the Trump Foundation since at least June, when it formally questioned a donation made to a group backing Republican Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2013.
The $25,000 payment was made at a time when Pam Bondi’s office was reportedly considering whether to open a fraud investigation into Trump University.
The fraud investigation never happened, although Pam Bondi denies the decision was influenced by the donation she received.
Donald Trump’s aides have already admitted the donation was a mistake resulting from clerical errors, according to reports.
South Koreans protesters dressed as Santa Claus have marched through the streets of Seoul calling for the immediate removal of President Park Geun-hye.
The festive protest marks the ninth week of rallies against the South Korean president.
Earlier this month South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal, but that decision has to be confirmed by the country’s constitutional court.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators demand the president to resign at once.
Organizers say more than 550,000 people joined the ranks marching towards the presidential Blue House, the prime minister’s office and the constitutional court. Police figures were not available.
The crowd chanted “Arrest Park immediately!” and sang along to Christmas songs whose lyrics they had changed to mock the president.
Between 200 and 300 young people in Santa outfits handed out books and Christmas cards to children at the demonstration, chanting: “Gifts to children and handcuffs to Park!”
The scandal which has engulfed President Park Geun-hye centers on her relationship with long-time friend Choi Soon-sil, who faces charges of coercion and abuse of power.
It is alleged that after Park Geun-hye became president in 2013, Choi Soon-sil, 60, used their friendship to pressure top companies into donating to foundations she controlled, and then siphoned off funds for her own gain.
Prosecutors are also investigating new allegations that Choi Soon-sil sent dubious assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars overseas.
Park Geun-hye’s one-time ally has been in custody since October, and was brought to a special prosecutors’ office to be questioned on December 24.
A spokesman for the special prosecutor told reporters: “We will question her to confirm her earlier statements and investigate other allegations.”
President Park Geun-hye has been suspended from her duties since the impeachment vote on December 9, but insists she will wait “calmly” until the constitutional court delivers its decision.
If the constitutional court confirms her impeachment, Park Geun-hye will be permanently removed from office, and elections will be held within 60 days.
Donald Trump’s New York campaign co-chair Carl Paladino has come under fire after crude remarks about President Barack Obama and the first lady.
Asked by a newspaper what he would most like to happen in 2017, Carl Paladino said he hoped President Barack Obama would die from mad cow disease and Michelle Obama would “return to being a male”.
Carl Paladino, 70, later said his remarks were meant to be humorous.
However, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the comments were “racist” and “ugly”.
Photo Flickr
Many Twitter users also condemned Carl Paladino, with one saying there was “something deeply, horribly wrong” with him.
Meanwhile, the Parent Teacher Organization in the city of Buffalo called on Carl Paladino to resign from its school board.
The White House has made no public comment.
Carl Paladino, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the post of New York governor in 2010, was asked by Buffalo’s Artvoice newspaper for his hopes for 2017.
This is Artvoice‘s traditional end-of-the-year feature, where prominent local figures give their predictions.
Referring to Barack Obama, Carl Paladino said he hoped the president “catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations” with a cow and would die and be buried “in a cow pasture”.
On Michelle Obama, he said: “I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.”
Carl Paladino later said his remarks were “about a little deprecating humor which America lost for a long time”, adding: “Merry Christmas and tough luck if you don’t like my answer.”
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has described the UN call to end settlement activity on occupied land as “shameful”.
The prime minister stressed that Israel would not abide by December 23vote at the 15-member UN Security Council.
However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman said the resolution was a “big blow to Israeli policy”.
The resolution was passed after the US refused to veto it, breaking with long-standing American practice.
Washington has traditionally sheltered Israel from condemnatory resolutions.
The Egyptian-drafted resolution had been withdrawn after Israel asked President-elect Donald Trump to intervene, but it was proposed again by Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal and Venezuela.
The UN resolutin, approved by 14 votes to zero, with only the US abstaining, demands that Israel immediately “cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem”.
Image source Wikimedia
It says Jewish settlements are a “flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”.
The issue is one of the most contentious between Israel and the Palestinians.
About 500,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by its terms.
“At a time when the Security Council does nothing to stop the slaughter of half-a-million people in Syria, it disgracefully gangs up on the one true democracy in the Middle East, Israel, and calls the Western Wall <<occupied territory>>.”
He said the Obama administration “not only failed to protect Israel against this gang-up at the UN, it colluded with it behind the scenes”, and added that he looked forward to working with Donald Trump.
Israel also announced its ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal had been ordered to return for consultations and that it was cutting all aid programs to Senegal.
It has no diplomatic ties with Malaysia and Venezuela.
A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas said: “The Security Council resolution is a big blow to Israeli policy, a unanimous international condemnation of settlements and a strong support for the two-state solution.”
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, said: “The Council’s action, while long overdue, is timely, necessary and important.”
Samantha Power, the US envoy to the UN, said the resolution reflected the “facts on the ground” that settlement growth had been accelerating.
Criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu, she said: “One cannot simultaneously champion expanding settlements and champion a two-state solution that would end the conflict.”
However, Samantha Power said the US had not voted in favor of the resolution because it was “too narrowly focused” on settlements.
She added that even if all settlements were dismantled, both sides would still have to acknowledge “uncomfortable truths” and make “difficult choices” to reach peace.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted after the vote: “As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th.”
On December 22, Donald Trump had urged the council to reject the motion, saying: “Peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations.”
Donald Trump’s transition team has released a letter that they say was sent to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The president-elect said about the note, which is dated December 14, 2016: “A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct.”
On December 22, the two leaders called for their respective nations to boost their nuclear arsenals.
Earlier, Donald Trump seemed to welcome the notion of a nuclear arms race tweeting that the US “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability”, only after hours after President Vladimir Putin had called for his own military to “strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces”.
Image NBC News
In the letter released by the Trump transition team, Vladimir Putin says he hopes that “we will be able – by acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner – to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas as well as bring our level of collaboration to the international scene to a qualitatively new level”.
Experts believe that Vladimir Putin hopes that the next US president will remove economic sanctions by the US Department of Treasury which have been placed on Russian officials following the invasion and annexation of Crimea.
At an annual media briefing on December 23 in Moscow, Vladimir Putin said he saw nothing remarkable in Donald Trump’s tweet, making it clear that he does not view the US as a potential aggressor.
Donald Trump has been seen as close to Vladimir Putin and the Russian government, and drew condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats when he announced his selection of Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state.
Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, has worked closely with Russian state oil company Rosneft, spoken out against international sanctions imposed on Moscow, and in 2013 was awarded an Order of Friendship by the Kremlin.
In response to Vladimir Putin’s letter, Donald Trump praised the Russian president’s words, calling them “so correct”.
President-elect Donald Trump said the US must “greatly strengthen and expand” its nuclear capabilities “until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes”.
His spokesman later said that the presidentelect was referring to the need to prevent nuclear proliferation.
Donald Trump spoke hours after President Vladimir Putin said Russia needs to bolster its military nuclear potential.
According to Arms Control Association, the US has 7,100 nuclear weapons and Russia has 7,300.
Donald Trump’s comments came in the form of a tweet, giving no other details.
Hours later, Jason Miller, the communications manager for the Trump transition team, explained the president-elect “was referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it – particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes”.
Jason Miller also added that Donald Trump “emphasized the need to improve and modernize our deterrent capability as a vital way to pursue peace through strength”.
Image source Flickr
Donald Trump’s tweet came after Vladimir Putin met with his military advisers to review Russian military activities in 2016.
The Russian president said: “We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems.”
During Donald Trump’s campaign he referred to nuclear proliferation as the “single biggest problem” facing the world, but also said he could not rule out using nuclear weapons against Europe.
Donald Trump’s defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton repeatedly cast her opponent during the campaign as too erratic and lacking in the diplomatic skills required to avoid a nuclear war.
Hillary Clinton mocked Donald Trump by saying: “A man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes.”
In interviews before his surprise victory Donald Trump said that other countries should spend more on their own defense budgets, and forgo US protection, because “we can’t afford to do it anymore”.
He has said he is in favor of countries such as Japan and South Korea developing nuclear weapons “because it’s going to happen anyway”.
Donald Trump is spending the festive season at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he has been meeting with campaign advisers.
Barack Obama has permanently banned offshore oil and gas drilling in the “vast majority” of US-owned northern waters.
The outgoing president designated areas in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans as “indefinitely off limits” to future leasing.
The move is widely seen as an attempt to protect the region before Barack Obama leaves office in January.
Donald Trump’s supporters could find it difficult to reverse the decision.
In a joint announcement with Washington, Canada also committed to a similar measure in its own Arctic waters.
Photo Flickr
According to the White House, the decision was for “a strong, sustainable and viable Arctic economy and ecosystem”.
It cited native cultural needs, wildlife concerns, and the “vulnerability” of the region to oil spills as some of the reasons for the ban.
However, while Canada will review the move every five years, the White House insists President Obama’s declaration is permanent.
The decision relies on a 1953 law which allows the president to ban leasing of offshore resources indefinitely.
During the election campaign, Donald Trump said he would take advantage of existing US oil reserves, prompting concern from environmental groups.
Supporters have already suggested that any attempt to reverse the “permanent” decision outlined by the law would be open to a legal challenge.
Reacting to the Arctic declaration, Friends of the Earth said: “No president has ever rescinded a previous president’s permanent withdrawal of offshore areas from oil and gas development.
“If Donald Trump tries to reverse President Obama’s withdrawals, he will find himself in court.”
However, the American Petroleum Institute said “there is no such thing as a permanent ban,” and that it hoped Donald Trump’s administration would simply reverse the decision.
The president-elct has also raised fears among some environmental campaigners through his choices for senior White House roles.
Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson has been named his secretary of state. His energy secretary, Rick Perry, has previously called for less regulation of the oil industry in his role as governor of Texas.
Environmental groups strongly criticized both appointments.
Very little oil drilling currently takes place in the Arctic region, as it is more expensive and difficult than other available options.
Donald Trump has won the Electoral College vote being certified as president, despite a last-ditch effort to deny him the White House.
Six weeks after winning the polls, Donald Trump has secured the 270 votes needed to formalize his victory.
Electors had been flooded with emails, letters and phone calls urging them not to support Donald Trump.
The process is usually a formality, but was beset this year by claims Russian hackers tried to sway the public vote.
Texas ultimately put Donald Trump over the 270 threshold, despite two of its electors voting against him.
Photo AP
According to the New York Times, four Democratic electors also cast their votes for someone other than Hillary Clinton.
The result will be officially announced on January 6 in a special joint session of Congress.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence hailed Donald Trump on Twitter as the results came in: “Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump; officially elected President of the United States today by the Electoral College!”
The movement to block Donald Trump had fought hard to convince Republican electors to abandon their party’s candidate.
Thousands of anti-Trump protesters had gathered at state capitols across the country.
In Pennsylvania, over 200 demonstrators braved sub-zero temperatures, chanting, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” and “No treason, no Trump!'”
In Maine, protesters beat drums and waved signs saying, “Don’t let Putin Pick Our President,” – a reference to allegations that Kremlin-backed hackers tried to sway the election in Donald Trump’s favor.
The Electoral College was set up by the US founding fathers as a compromise between allowing Congress and the people to elect the president.
Technically, Americans cast votes on Election Day for electors, not the candidates themselves.
The electors are mostly elected officials or party functionaries whose names are not on the ballot. They are generally unknown to the public apart from one or two exceptions such as former President Bill Clinton, who was a New York elector in 2016.
There are 538 electors in all, one for each member of Congress. A candidate needs to take at least 270 electoral votes – half of the total plus one – to win the White House.
In 2016, Donald Trump won 306 electors from 30 states.
If no candidate reaches 270 in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives must vote on the next president.
On December 19, the Electoral College is expected to certify Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, despite a last-minute effort to thwart the Republican.
The 538 electors will vote at state capitols nationwide.
A handful of Democratic electors have been organizing a long shot bid to persuade their Republican counterparts to cast ballots against Donald Trump.
The process is usually a formality, but takes place this year amid claims Russian hackers tried to sway the vote.
The Electoral College was set up by the founding fathers as a compromise between allowing Congress and the people to elect the president.
Technically, Americans cast votes on Election Day for electors, not the candidates themselves.
The electors are mostly elected officials or party functionaries whose names are not on the ballot. They are generally unknown to the public apart from one or two exceptions such as former President Bill Clinton, who is a New York elector this year.
There are 538 electors in all, one for each member of Congress. A candidate needs to take at least 270 electoral votes – half of the total plus one – to win the White House.
In November’s presidential election, Donald Trump won 306 electors from 30 states.
Under federal law, electors must gather on December 19, with each elector casting two votes – one for president and one for vice-president.
Their so-called Certificates of Vote must be transmitted by December 28 to Congress and the National Archives in Washington.
On January 6, Vice-President Joe Biden will preside as Congress officially tallies the electoral votes.
Once the votes are counted, the results are final, and Donald Trump would be all set for his noon inauguration on January 20.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a margin of nearly 3 million, but only gained 232 electors because she lost crucial swing states. This has fuelled renewed calls for the Electoral College to be scrapped, with critics arguing it is undemocratic and unfair.
Furthermore, US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia hacked the emails of the DNC – leaking embarrassing messages about Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches to Wall Street and party infighting – in an attempt to put its thumb on the electoral scales for Donald Trump.
Ten electors – nine Democrats and one Republican – asked unsuccessfully for an intelligence briefing about Moscow’s alleged role.
On December 18, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta upped the ante by suggesting the Trump team could even have colluded with Russia on the cyber-attack, which the Republican’s camp denies.
Millions of Americans who consider Donald Trump unfit to occupy the Oval Office have signed an online petition calling for Republican electors not to vote as directed by their state’s popular ballot.
Some have posted electors copies of founding father Alexander Hamilton’s writings in his Federalist Papers, which state that the meeting of the Electoral College “affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications”.
A handful of Democratic electors are so desperate to stop Donald Trump that they have even offered to vote against Hillary Clinton and unite with the other electors behind a consensus Republican candidate.
Nothing in the US constitution or in federal law requires electors to vote one way or another.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia bind their electors by law, though so-called “faithless electors” who defy the popular vote generally just face a fine.
History shows it is extremely unusual for an elector to defy the expressed will of his or her state’s voters.
It is highly unlikely the Electoral College will take the unprecedented step of changing the election’s outcome.
Only one Republican elector, Chris Suprun of Texas, has come forward to say he will not cast his electoral vote for Donald Trump. But 38 Republican electors would have to defect to deny Donald Trump.
Even that would probably only delay the inevitable.
If no candidate reaches 270 in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives must vote on the next president, and the Republican-controlled chamber would most likely choose Donald Trump anyway.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has defended his decision to scrap the nation’s most-used banknote, 100 bolivares.
The 100-bolivar note withdrawal has prompted protests and looting in several states as the supply of ready cash rapidly ran out.
However, Nicolas Maduro said taking millions of notes out of circulation had smashed the black market.
He also decided to postpone the withdrawal until January 2.
Nevertheless, some businesses were reportedly still refusing to accept the 100-bolivar notes, even though they remain legal tender until the New Year.
There were more reports of rioting on December 18. In the western state of Tachira people raided warehouses in search of food.
Many said they were afraid of what would happen next, despite the postponement of the withdrawal.
At the Colombian border there were scuffles as people scrambled to buy food and medicine, which are scarce in Venezuela.
Nicolas Maduro said that Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil would remain closed until the 100-bolivar note ceased to be legal tender in January, in order to prevent black market trading.
Venezuelans are only allowed to cross the border on foot for family visits.
In a TV address, Nicolas Maduro said that 300 alleged looters had been arrested.
Addressing opposition parties, the president said: “Don’t come and tell me they are political prisoners.”
Nicolas Maduro accused the riot leaders of taking instructions from President Barack Obama, alleging they wanted to engineer a coup against Venezuela’s left-wing government.
State TV showed a plane arriving on December 18 carrying the first batch of replacement notes, the 500-bolivar.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has announced the withdrawal of the 100-bolivar banknote will be delayed until January 2, 2017.
The sudden change of policy comes after days of economic chaos.
In a TV address, President Maduro claimed Venezuela had been the victim of international sabotage, which had prevented new 500-bolivar currency notes arriving in time.
Many Venezuelans have spent several days in long queues trying to hand in or swap the old notes.
Thousands of stores have closed because of a cash shortage, and the public have been forced to rely on credit cards or bank transfers. Many were left unable to buy food.
Anger over the move led to skirmishes in six cities on December 16, the Associated Press reported. It said 32 people were taken into custody and one person was injured.
In the capital, Caracas, people waved their 100-bolivar bills in the air and chanted “they’re useless!” – then turned and ran as police in riot gear fired tear gas.
Nicolas Maduro’s government had said the scrapping of the 100-bolivar note was necessary to prevent smuggling.
The president said the aim was to tackle gangs which hoard Venezuelan currency abroad, a move he has previously described as part of the “economic war” being waged against his government.
Nicolas Maduro has said the gangs hold more than 300 billion bolivares worth of currency, most of it in 100-bolivar notes.
He said there were “entire warehouses full of 100-bolivar notes in [the Colombian cities of] Cucuta, Cartagena, Maicao and Buaramanga”.
Nicolas Maduro said one reason for withdrawing the banknotes was to block any of the 100-bolivar notes from being taken back into Venezuela so the gangs would be unable to exchange their hoarded bills, making them worthless.
Venezuela’s central bank data suggests there are more than six billion 100-bolivar notes in circulation, making up almost half of the country’s currency.
Economic experts fear scrapping the 100-bolivar note will have little positive effect on Venezuela’s chronic economic and political problems.
Thousands of demonstrators in the Polish capital Warsaw have renewed their protest against government plans to restrict journalists’ access to parliament.
On December 17, crowds gathered outside the presidential palace and then marched to parliament.
Yesterday protesters blockaded the parliament building, leading to a late-night stand-off with police.
Poland’s populist right-wing government wants to limit the number of reporters allowed to cover parliament.
However, opposition lawmakers accuse it of trying to stifle press freedom.
Image source CBC
Amid a heavy police presence, a crowd of about 2,000 people gathered outside the presidential palace chanting “freedom, equality, democracy”. Some held up copies of the constitution.
The crowd later marched to the parliament building where opposition lawmakers are staging a sit-in.
On December 17, European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, urged the government to respect the constitution.
Addressing reporters in the western city of Wroclaw, Donald Tusk criticized the government’s plans, saying that without media access “democracy becomes dictatorship”.
In extraordinary scenes last night, opposition lawmakers blockaded the parliamentary plenary chamber, forcing fellow lawmakers from the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party into another room to vote on 2017 budget.
It was the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1989 that such a vote was held outside the main chamber of parliament.
Outside parliament, thousands of protesters gathered overnight. Police had to forcefully remove people to allow lawmakers to leave the building.
Leader of the opposition Nowoczesna party, Ryszard Petru, accused the government of usurping parliament’s authority.
Governing PiS has been accused of restricting press freedom since coming to power in 2015.
In 2017 only a few reporters will be allowed into parliament, with five selected TV stations permitted to make recordings of parliamentary sessions.
PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on December 16 that the proposals were no different to the media access in many other European nations.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski accused protesters of hooliganism and threatened them with unspecified “consequences”.
Poland’s parliament has been blocked by protesters in support for opposition lawmakers unhappy about new rules restricting press reporting.
The opposition objects to government plans to limit the number of journalists allowed to cover parliamentary proceedings.
The lawmakers’ protest delayed a budget vote, which was later held away from the main parliament chamber.
Hundreds of police surrounded protesters in a late-night stand-off.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS), earlier denounced the protest as “hooliganism”.
“We will not allow ourselves to be terrorized,” he said.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski left parliament with the PiS PM Beata Szydlo at about 03:00AM local time.
Opposition lawmaker Jerzy Meysztowicz told the TVN24 news channel that police used tear gas to clear a passage through protesters for their official vehicle.
The opposition accused the government of passing 2017 budget unlawfully on December 16 by transferring the key vote to a smaller hall and excluding the press.
It was the first since the restoration of democracy in 1989 that such a vote was held outside the main chamber of parliament.
Image source Getty Images
Enough lawmakers were present for the budget vote to be valid, according to Jaroslaw Kaczynski and other PiS members, but the opposition demanded a rerun of the vote in the main parliament chamber next week.
“There is no proof that a quorum of lawmakers was present. We suspect that people who were not allowed to vote took part,” said leader of the opposition Nowoczesna party Ryszard Petru.
The ruling party has been accused of restricting press freedom since coming to power in 2015.
In 2017 only a few reporters will be allowed into parliament.
Only five selected Polish TV stations will be permitted to make recordings of parliamentary sessions.
The government argues that it does not believe the measures are restrictive.
Supporters of the move argue it will stop lawmakers from being accosted by journalists inside the parliamentary building.
Last night’s demonstration began when an opposition lawmaker held aloft a placard reading “free media”.
He was told by Speaker Marek Kuchcinski, who is a PiS member, that he would no longer be allowed to attend parliamentary proceedings.
However, by then other opposition lawmakers converged on the podium to demand press freedom and an end to censorship.
It is believed to be the first protest of its kind in the Polish parliament for 10 years.
The proposed new rules – due to be enforced in 2017 – ban all recording of parliamentary sessions except by the five selected television stations. They also restrict the number of reporters permitted to enter the building.
Human rights campaigners have also condemned the plans, with former dissident Seweryn Blumsztajn condemning them as a “return to communist-era practices”.
President Barack Obama has revealed he ordered Russian President Vladimir Putin to “cut it out” in a conversation about email hacking ahead of the US election.
Implying that Vladimir Putin knew about the hacks, Barack Obama said: “Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.”
Barack Obama said he had warned the Russian president of serious consequences at a summit in September.
A month later, the United States accused Russia of meddling in its democratic process.
Barack Obama has promised a “proportional” response to the hacking of the Democratic Party and of emails belonging to defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.
The president appeared to suggest that the US could go on the offensive with its own cyber muscle, stating: “Whatever they do to us, we can potentially do to them.”
Barack Obama’s comments came during his last news conference of the year.
However, he did not criticize his successor, Republican Donald Trump, by name, but said some Republicans were failing to acknowledge the seriousness of Russia’s involvement in the US election.
Barack Obama also expressed bewilderment over GOP supporters who say they approve of Vladimir Putin, declaring: “Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave.”
The president urged Donald Trump to back a bipartisan investigation into Russian cyber intrusions.
Earlier this week, the president-elect poured scorn on US intelligence claims that Russian hackers helped swing the election in his favor, calling them ridiculous and politically-motivated.
Donald Trump tweeted: “Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!”
CIA Director John Brennan told employees on December 16 that the FBI agrees with the CIA’s conclusion that Russia’s goal was to help Donald Trump win.
The Kremlin denies US claims that Russia hacked official emails, and has called them “indecent”.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said: “They need to either stop talking about this or finally present some sort of proof.”
Russia’s response came as Hillary Clinton attributed her election defeat to Russian hacking for the first time.
Hillary Clinton told party donors that Vladimir Putin had a “personal beef” against her for describing Russia’s parliamentary elections five years ago as rigged.
The Democratic candidate also cited the release of a letter by FBI director James Comey as having lost her close races in key states.
James Comey made headlines when he announced a new inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s email server 11 days before the presidential election. The matter was dropped two days before Americans voted.
The FBI had previously concluded that Hillary Clinton had been “extremely careless” over her use of a private email server while secretary of state, but there were no grounds for any charges.
In her last TV interview before the family leaves the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama said America’s outlook had changed since Donald Trump won November’s election.
Speaking on Oprah Winfrey’s show, Michelle Obama said: “Now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like.”
President Barack Obama repeatedly used messages of hope in his presidential campaigns and during his time in office.
Michelle Obama played an unusually prominent role in the 2016 election cycle, throwing her support behind Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and trading barbs with Donald Trump.
The first lady called on women to rise up against Donald Trump over his groping comments and denounced his campaign’s “hateful language”.
Photo Getty Images
In turn, Donald Trump accused Michelle Obama of spending too much time campaigning for Hillary Clinton.
Michelle Obama does not mention the president-elect by name in the preview clip of the Oprah Winfrey interview, to be aired by the CBS network on December 19.
However, she repeats previous assertions that the US needs “an adult” in the White House, saying the country’s president should provide stability and inspiration.
Michelle Obama says: “Having a grown-up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis, <<Hey it’s going to be ok, let’s remember the good things we have, let’s look at the future, let’s look at all the things that we’re building>>…
“All of this is important for our kids to stay focused and to feel like their work isn’t in vain, that their lives aren’t in vain. What do we do if we don’t have hope?”
The first lady says she believes the American public will come to appreciate President Barack Obama’s impact with time.
Michelle Obama is an unusually popular figure in America’s political landscape, with a favorability rating, measured by Gallup at 64%, that is significantly higher than that of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.
Oprah Winfrey endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2007 but failed to do so publicly in 2012.
In November, Oprah Winfrey urged voters to choose Hillary Clinton in November’s poll, saying: “You don’t have to like her… Do you like democracy or do you want a demagogue?”
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