The Dow Jones Industrial Average has passed the 20,000 milestone for the first time on January 25.
The S&P 500 and tech-heavy NASDAQ were also at new highs, fuelled by hopes that President Donald Trump’s policies will boost the economy.
The Dow was up 0.8% at 20,074 points in afternoon trading.
Investors’ cash has poured into shares on hopes of tax cuts and higher growth.
Image source AP
Donald Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway was quick to comment on the news, tweeting that the landmark was down to “The Trump Effect”.
If the index stays above 20,000 by the time the day’s trading ends, then it would mean the 42-session rise from the first close above the 19,000 mark would be the second quickest 1,000 point rise of all time.
The Dow rose from 10,000 to 11,000 in only 24 trading days between March 29 and May 3, 1999, while the rise from 18,000 to 19,000 took 483 trading days (nearly two years).
Financial stocks have been a major factor in the gain – with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan accounting for around 20% of it.
This is because investors believe that some of Donald Trump’s policies will trigger inflation and produce a rise in interest rates.
According to new reports, Madonna has filed to adopt two more children in Malawi.
The singer appeared in court in the Malawian capital Lilongwe to make the application.
Madonna previously adopted two children from Malawi: David Banda in 2006 and Mercy James in 2009.
The 58-year-old star has two other children – Lourdes and Rocco – from previous relationships. Last year saw her involved in a custody dispute over Rocco with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.
Madonna eventually lost the case, with 16-year-old Rocco moving to London to live with his father.
Image source Instagram
She has yet to comment on her attempts to adopt two further children, but a government spokesman confirmed she had appeared in High Court on January 25.
Madonna flew to Malawi on January 24, fresh from the Women’s March in Washington.
Court spokesman Mlenga Mvula said the star would have to wait a week before hearing the court’s decision.
In 2013, Madonna explained her decision to become an adoptive parent in an article for Harper’s Bazaar: “I decided that I had an embarrassment of riches and that there were too many children in the world without parents or families to love them.
“I applied to an international adoption agency and went through all the bureaucracy, testing, and waiting that everyone else goes through when they adopt.”
However, Madonna was vilified in the press with some – including relatives of the adopted children – questioning her suitability as a parent.
The star called the furor “a real low point in my life”.
Madonna’s relationship with Malawi dates back to 2006, when she established the Raising Malawi foundation, with the goal of improving children’s lives.
She initially planned to build a $15 million girls’ academy, but later changed strategy, and used the money to fund a number of schools.
Raising Malawi also provides scholarships to female students, and is currently building the country’s first pediatric intensive care unit at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, in Blantyre.
Madonna visited the project last summer, and took David and Mercy to visit the orphanages where they lived before being adopted.
President Donald Trump has announced a “big day” on national security, including an announcement to build a wall on the border between the US and Mexico.
He is expected to sign several executive orders regarding immigration and border security over the next few days.
The executive orders are likely to include the “extreme vetting” of people coming from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa.
This would restrict refugee access.
Donald Trump tweeted on January 24: “Big day planned on national security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!”
Image source Flickr
Building a 2,000-mile wall along the Mexican border was one of Donald Trump’s key proposals during the presidential election campaign.
There will also be measures that force so-called sanctuary cities in the US to co-operate with the authorities on deporting illegal immigrants.
“Sanctuary cities” are places that don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the country illegally.
Later this week, Donald Trump is expected to announce immigration restrictions from seven African and Middle Eastern countries, including Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.
President Trump is also likely to halt access to the country for some refugees – until the vetting process can be made more rigorous.
He also took to Twitter to express his concern about the level of violence in Chicago.
Donald Trump threatened to “send in the Feds” – federal authorities – if the city did not “fix the horrible carnage” taking place.
Local media has said that more than 40 people have been murdered and 228 shot so far in 2017.
The UN has condemned Israeli plans to build more settlements in the occupied West Bank.
According to UN spokesman, “unilateral actions” were an obstacle to peace based on a two-state solution.
On January 24, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would build 2,500 more homes in Jewish settlements “in response to housing needs”.
It is the second such announcement by the Israeli authorities since President Donald Trump took office on January 20.
Palestinian officials said the plans undermined peace hopes by building on land they want for a future state.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, said: “For the secretary general there is no Plan B for the two-states solution.
“In this respect any unilateral decision that can be an obstacle to the two-state goal is of grave concern for the secretary general.
“There is a need for the two parties to engage in a bona fide negotiation to reach the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, two states for two people.”
Donald Trump has indicated that he will be more sympathetic to settlement construction than his predecessor, Barack Obama, and has appointed a staunch settlement supporter as his ambassador to Israel.
Image source Wikimedia
Last month, he criticized President Barack Obama for declining to veto a UN Security Council resolution which demanded Israel immediately cease all settlement activities and warned they were “dangerously imperiling the viability of a two-state solution”.
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, although Israel disputes this.
Most of the new homes approved on January 24 will be built in existing West Bank settlement blocs, including 902 in Ariel and 652 in Givat Zeev.
One hundred will be constructed in Beit El, a settlement near Ramallah that reportedly has received funding from a foundation run by the family of Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
Following the announcement, Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Twitter: “We are building – and continuing to build.”
Benjamin Netanyahu says he still supports a two-state solution, but on January 22 he reportedly told ministers that he was lifting restrictions on construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as the city’s municipality approved permits for 566 new homes in the settlements of Pisgat Zeev, Ramat Shlomo and Ramot.
He also discussed the peace process with the Palestinians with President Trump in a telephone conversation, during which he was invited to a meeting in Washington in early February.
“The president emphasized that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal,” the White House said.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi strongly denounced January 24 announcement.
She said in a statement: “Once again, the Israeli government has proved that it is more committed to land theft and colonialism than to the two-state solution and the requirements for peace and stability.
“Such a deliberate escalation of Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise constitutes a war crime and the flagrant violation of international law and conventions, in particular UN Security Council resolution 2334.”
Hanan Ashrawi called on the US and the rest of the international community to “undertake serious and concrete measures to bring about a full cessation of all settlement activities and to hold Israel to account for these disastrous plans with punitive measures and sanctions before it completes the destruction of the territorial and demographic contiguity of the West Bank”.
The White House has defended Donald Trump’s voter fraud claim, saying that the president believes that millions of people voted illegally in the US election based on “studies and evidence”.
Press secretary Sean Spicer said President Trump “does believe that”, but offered no evidence to support the claim when pressed by reporters.
Donald Trump has repeated his claim to explain why he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
However, any notion of widespread voter fraud has been widely rejected.
Sean Spicer told reporters on January 24: “He continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him.”
The press secretary’s comments came after President Trump told congressional leaders behind closed doors on January 23 that three to five million undocumented immigrants had illegally voted in the election.
Donald Trump, who first made the claim in a late November tweet, has never provided any evidence.
Fact-checkers have rejected it as untrue and Republican election officials in key states have said they found no proof of fraudulent voting.
Image source CNBC
On January 24, the National Association of Secretaries of State said it had confidence in the “systemic integrity of our election process” and was not aware of any evidence related to Donald Trump’s claims.
Hillary Clinton received nearly three million votes more than Donald Trump, who won the presidency by prevailing in so-called swing states.
Republicans admonished Donald Trump and urged him to drop the matter a day after the closed doors meeting with congressional leaders.
Senator Lindsey Graham called the comments “inappropriate”, adding that Donald Trump should “knock this off”.
He continued that President Trump “seems to be obsessed with the idea that he could not have possibly lost the popular vote without cheating and fraud”.
House Speaker Paul Ryan also said there was no evidence to support Donald Trump’s claims.
Republican Pennsylvania Representative Charlie Dent also weighed in, saying Donald Trump needed to move on and “get to the serious business of governing”.
Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said it was “nonsensical” and he feared Donald Trump was paving the way for Republican governors to “go forward with voter suppression”.
Modern musical romance La La Land has scored a record 14 nominations for this year’s Oscars.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are up for best actor and actress for their roles in the movie.
La La Land is also one of nine movies up for the best picture award.
Arrival and coming-of-age drama Moonlight have eight nominations each, with the latter’s citations including a supporting actress nod for Naomie Harris.
Naomie Harris, who plays Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies, said she was “over the moon” and “couldn’t be more thrilled”.
La La Land‘s 14 nominations puts it on the same footing as All About Eve and Titanic, which both received 14 nominations in 1951 and 1998 respectively.
It is now the most nominated musical in Oscar history, having topped the 13 nods Mary Poppins received in 1965.
Damien Chazelle is nominated both for his direction and original screenplay, while his movie has two nominations in the best song category.
La La Land, which received 11 BAFTA nominations earlier this month, gets additional nods for its score, editing and cinematography.
It is also shortlisted for its costume and production design and for its sound editing and mixing.
Ben-Hur, Titanic and the third Lord of the Rings movie share the record for Oscar wins, having each won 11 awards.
Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Lion and Manchester by the Sea join Arrival, La La Land and Moonlight on the best picture shortlist.
Meryl Streep gets her 20th Oscar nomination, in the best actress category, for her role in Florence Foster Jenkins.
Natalie Portman, Ruth Negga and Isabelle Huppert are also in contention for their roles in Jackie, Loving and Elle.
Previous Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Octavia Spencer also receive nominations for Lion and Hidden Figures.
Lion tells the true story of an Indian-born man who, having been adopted and raised in Tasmania, uses Google Earth to find the family he was parted from as a child.
In a statement, Nicole Kidman thanked AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) “for all of the acknowledgements you have given this heartfelt film”.
Moonlight‘s Mahershala Ali, Manchester by the Sea‘s Lucas Hedges and Hell or High Water‘s Jeff Bridges are also up for best supporting actor.
The line-up is completed by Michael Shannon, a surprise nominee for his role as a grizzled sheriff in Nocturnal Animals.
Many had expected Aaron Taylor-Johnson to be nominated following his triumph at the Golden Globes earlier this month.
If Damien Chazelle wins best director, he will be the youngest person ever to receive the award.
Mel Gibson is also up for the director prize, as is Arrival‘s Denis Villeneuve, Moonlight‘s Barry Jenkins and Manchester by the Sea‘s Kenneth Lonergan.
Non-white talent is well-represented in this year’s acting nominations, with at least one non-white actor included in each of the four categories.
This contrasts with 2015 and 2016’s nominations, which were criticized for having all-white line-ups in the acting categories.
Jimmy Kimmel will host this year’s Oscar ceremony on February 26.
Rex Tillerson has been narrowly approved as secretary of state, despite concerns about his business ties to Russia.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee split along party lines, with all 11 Republicans voting in favor and all 10 Democrats against. A full vote will now be held in the Republican-run Senate.
The move capped a busy day for Donald Trump’s administration.
Most notable was the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), fulfilling a campaign pledge.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pull out from the 12-nation trade deal that had been a linchpin of former President Barack Obama’s Asia policy.
He said: “Great thing for the American worker what we just did.”
Also on January 23, the Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as Donald Trump’s CIA director.
Mike Pompeo’s immediate task, correspondents say, will be to establish an effective relationship between the spy agency and Donald Trump.
Image source Flickr
Donald Trump has been critical of the CIA for concluding that Russia had been actively working to influence the US presidential election in his favor.
In another development, new US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Washington had an “unshakeable commitment” to NATO, despite Donald Trump’s earlier description of the military alliance as “obsolete”.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Rex Tillerson after leading Republican Senator Marco Rubio dropped his opposition.
Marco Rubio sparred with Rex Tillerson during confirmation hearings earlier this month, accusing him of being soft on Russia.
The 64-year-old former head of Exxon Mobil knows Russian President Vladimir Putin through his business dealings.
However, Rex Tillerson has criticized Moscow for its annexation of Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula in 2014.
Marco Rubio said that although he had doubts over the choice, he believed a new president was entitled to deference in assembling his cabinet.
“Despite my reservations, I will support Mr. Tillerson’s nomination in committee and in the full Senate,” said Marco Rubio.
He had challenged Rex Tillerson over his refusal to call President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” over Russia’s air strikes in Syria and his failure to condemn strongly enough human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
Marco Rubio was among the candidates who fought Donald Trump in the battle for the Republican presidential ticket.
The partisan split in the voting is unusual. Traditionally, nominees for secretary of state have been approved by overwhelming votes from both parties.
Senator Ben Cardin, the committee’s top Democrat, had said he would not vote for Rex Tillerson, also over his position on Russia as well as other issues.
He also suggested that Rex Tillerson’s “business orientation” could “compromise his ability as secretary of state to forcefully promote the values and ideals that have defined” America.
While critics raise concern about Rex Tillerson’s ability to trade in his corporate interest for a national one, some supporters suggest the former CEO’s background as a global dealmaker may bring fresh perspective to the nation’s top diplomatic post.
At a closed doors meeting on January 23, Donald Trump told congressional leaders he would have won the popular vote in the election if millions of undocumented immigrants had not voted illegally. He gave no evidence for the claim.
Hillary Clinton won nearly three million votes more than Donald Trump, who got more support in key swing states and won the Electoral College.
However, any notion of widespread voter fraud was widely rejected as untrue when Donald Trump made the same claim in November.
Previously top of their game in the car industry, US car giants, Ford reported something of a decline in interest over the past few years. With an optimised strategy, some seriously well structured marketing and heavy investment in technology, the brand has recently been invigorated and bounced back, fresher than ever.
Innovation led by nature
Once considered innovators, Ford have risen to the challenge of staying on top of innovation once again. With a dedicated centre in Silicon Valley, they have used biomimicry of the beloved gecko to inform development of the eco-friendly materials used to make the interior. Geckos hold strong to almost twice their bodyweight, making them a good model materials for the car industry. This technique of using nature to inform design was deployed also when Japan’s Shinkansen was developed, based on the speed of a kingfisher.
Tech uses in car
Ford’s unique AWD (All-wheel drive) of the newest Ford models was led by their impressive Ford Performance team, who are on the cutting edge of speed and agility in the automotive industry. There are tech features such as Traffic Sign Recognition and SYNC 2 connectivity which are noticeable in cars and point to a reinvigorated brand that oozes innovation. The EcoBoost Engine Technology and AWD demonstrate Ford’s innovation and companies such as Motorpoint have reported a rise in sales of recent Ford classics, which indicates a revival of Ford makes that Essentially, you can get a lot of the features in these recent and sporty models in cheaper models such as the Zetec S and the ST variations of the Focus.
Autonomous cars
For fans of David Hasselhoff’s Knightrider in the 80s, it’s exciting to think about the concept of autonomous cars actually driving themselves. Whilst this has not yet happened, Ford have a range of semi autonomous vehicles out on the road already, with no sign of stopping their innovation and production.
With tech leading their connectivity, design and innovation, Ford have embraced technologies such as Vines and other social media to improve their marketing, targeting a younger, millennial audience with a cohesive strategy that uses tech in all its forms.
2017 looks set to be Ford’s ‘year’ with regards to innovation and technology.
Gazing out into your backyard can be a little depressing during the winter months. Once winter is over, you will want to change this by reinvigorating your garden and getting it ready for spring – a month full of life, colour and vivaciousness. This can make an enormous difference to how your home both looks and feels, plus it also provides you with a great space for relaxing or entertaining guests.
Spring Cleaning
Much like cleaning around the house, the first stage involves tidying the entire area. Put on your gloves and fill a large bag with debris, twigs, any dead plants and anything else unsightly. This will make a big difference straight away and you will now be ready to revive the garden.
Bringing the Lawn to Life
The lawn plays a huge role in how a garden looks, so you will need to pay special attention to this area. Start off by raking the lawn to remove thatch and to identify areas of snow mould or brown patches. Next, you will want to aerate compacted spots to allow the grass to breathe and grow. Finally, you will want to start weeding and make sure that you are pulling from the root to completely get rid of the weed.
Borders
Next, you will want to tidy the borders of your backyard as these can make a huge difference to how it looks. This could involve simply washing the fences and gates, or perhaps giving them a new lick of paint to really inject some colour into the backyard. You will also want to clean any tables or pavement areas, with rotary surface cleaners being the best way to do this. These are available from suppliers such as SGS.
InWith the New
With the bleak winter now a distant memory, you will want to bring colour and life to your backyard. The best way to achieve this is to visit a garden centre and pick out a range of colourful and attractive new plant life, plus you may also find other decorative items to add some personality to your garden.
Create Areas for Relaxation
Finally, you will want to create an area for you to relax or socialise in. Bring out your garden table and chairs, invest in a bench, wheel out the barbeque and start enjoying your newly invigorated and beautiful backyard either with a good book or with a few friends round.
With these simple steps, your garden will quickly become your new favorite place to relax and somewhere that is full of colour and life.
Selling a car can be even more of a headache than buying one. How do you find the best buyer? And how do you get the best possible price? Often times, you just have to shop around to see who will make you the best offer, but before that you want to put your best foot forward. Here are the three most important things to do before trying to sell your car.
Have Your Papers in Order
A full service record including MOTs is a big plus for many buyers, and an absolute necessity for others. And if you can prove that all of the repairs and services the car has undergone through its lifetime were at a franchised garage (that is one belonging to the manufacturer, or carrying their certification) then this can give the price a significant boost.
A full ownership history is also valuable in private sale—it won’t increase the value but it will establish a trust that will make clinching the deal easier.
Repair Minor Faults
If the car has a few dents and scratches, but is still basically roadworthy, give some serious consideration to having them professionally repaired—the cost of the work will often be less than the difference it will make to the sale price.
This is doubly important if the car has any faults that affect the driving experience. Take your car for a test drive and watch out for any quirks you might have gotten used to. Also make sure to check all your warning lights and take appropriate action if any are lit up.
Clean It
This may seem blindingly obvious, but the difference it makes to car valuations can’t be understated. Go all out, because getting your car to look as good as new may be easier than you expect.
If the car looks like it might need a new coat of paint, you’ll be surprised what a thorough waxing achieves. Make sure to clean or replace dirty interior mats, and use specially made headlight cleaning products—murky lights are seen as a clear sign of a beaten up old vehicle.
These are all pretty simple solutions but the difference they make will stagger you twice—once when you see the car, and again when you see the new price.
About a week before his master left office, Sunny, a Portuguese Water Dog, bit a family friend just under her eye.
According to witnesses, the unidentified 18-year-old tried to give the dog a kiss, and the animal evidently interpreted her move as aggressive. After the animal was removed, White House physician Ronny Jackson attended to the victim by cleaning her wound and stitching up the large gash on her face. Reportedly, she may have a permanent facial scar as a result of the animal attack. The Obamas own two Portuguese Water Dogs — 4-year-old Sunny and 8-year-old Bo — who have never bit anyone before.
Some observers opined that the victim scared the dog, prompting the violent reaction.
Dog Bite Law
This incident underscores the fact that any animal can attack at any time for any reason, because Portuguese Water Dogs are generally known to be very family-friendly dogs that are especially good with children and for people with allergies.
Washington, D.C. basically has a modified one-bite rule, so unless the animal was “at large” when it attacked, victims must establish negligence to recover damages. Typically, this means that the owner knew the animal was dangerous and nevertheless decided to keep it. However, California is a strict liability state, so victims only have to prove cause to receive compensation for their medical bills, lost wages, and other economic damages, as well as their emotional distress, loss of enjoyment in life, and other noneconomic damages. Given that many victims are children, these noneconomic damages tend to be substantial, because animal attacks often traumatize children who are entirely unaccustomed to such unexpected aggression. Special rules apply to minors as well, as outlined below.
The broad law is probably one of the reasons that the Golden State leads the nation in terms of dog bite homeowners’ insurance claims (1,684 in 2015) and value of claims ($76 million in 2015). Police dogs, military dogs, and trespassers are the only exceptions listed in Civil Code 3342; otherwise, dog owners are fully liable for all damages “suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place.” According to Sherwin Arzani, a dog bite attorney in Los Angeles, CA, “If your dog bites someone in California, you can almost certainly expect to pay damages to the injured victim.”
Some municipalities and counties expand the strict liability rule even further, applying it to caregivers, custodians, veterinarians, and other non-owners. If there is no such law, victims attacked while animals are in a non-owner’s custody must usually either prove negligence, or a lack of ordinary care, or scienter (“knowledge”), meaning that the custodian must have known that the animal was dangerous.
Insurance Company Defenses
As the name implies, there is basically no defense to liability under a strict liability law, unless one of the limited exceptions applies. However, the measure of damages is a different matter, and this is where insurance companies concentrate their efforts.
Many people probably noticed how, in the above story, some observers are quick to blame dog bite victims for provoking or scaring the animals. However, under California law, provocation has a very specific meaning. The insurance company must prove that the victim intentionally provoked the animal to attack, usually by prodding it or using some other action. Words alone are normally insufficient, and non-violent actions that the dog misinterprets are nearly always insufficient as well. Moreover, very young children (usually those under age 5) cannot provoke dogs as a matter of law.
If the victim legally provoked the animal by inflicting pain that was so intense as to justify a violent response in the animal, the jury must divide fault on a percentage basis, such as 50-50 or 70-30 or whatever. Since California is a pure comparative fault state, the judge will then reduce the plaintiff’s damages by the proportion of contributory negligence.
In scienter and negligence cases, assumption of the risk might be a factor. To disprove negligence, the defendant must prove that the victim voluntarily assumed a known risk. If the attack occurred in a public place, the involuntariness prong is probably not present; if the victim did not actually know that the dog was dangerous, the defense is also inapplicable.
The social media frenzy was sparked when SNL writer Katie Rich posted a tweet just after Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony saying: “Barron Trump will be America’s <<first homeschool shooter>>.”
Donald Trump’s supporter Melissa Earnest posted a number of responses on her Facebook page including one long defense of Barron Trump in which she said: “Whether you like or dislike the Trumps – this is their 10-year-old son. He is still growing and words hurt.”
Her post has already been shared several million times.
Melissa Earnest, who describes herself on Facebook as “wife, mother, businesswoman” began her defense of Barron Trump by stating: “Do you see this child? This child’s life was changed forever when his father was sworn in as President of the United States of America yesterday.
“Long before his father, President Donald J. Trump, was sworn in – this child became the center of hateful online attacks. From a certain celebrity attempting to diagnose him with a neurological disorder with her degree from <<The University of Google>> to now, when a writer from Saturday Night Live decided to tweet saying that he would be the <<first homeschool shooter>>.”
Melissa Earnest concluded: “He is a child. He is to be respected and he is off limits!”
Image source Wikimedia
She first posted a report about Katie Rich’s tweet asking people to “go to Saturday Night Live’s Facebook and plague their page with comments”.
Although Melissa Earnest later posted another message saying: “It was suggested to me that I put the accounts out there for the world to see so that they could be messaged over and over. May I just say that no harassing of any form will be tolerated on this page nor will I partake.”
Katie Rich’s Twitter account was later made private and there were claims that the offending tweet had been removed. But the row continued.
Former White House child Chelsea Clinton waded in with a message that simultaneously supported Barron Trump and took a thinly-veiled swipe at his father.
Chelsea Clinton was 13 when her father was inaugurated.
She was mocked by both talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Saturday Night Live for her appearance.
Similar spats about Barron Trump have been going on across social media.
On Instagram, Modern Family actress Julie Bowen posted pictures of Barron Trump, who seemed occasionally distracted during his father’s inauguration ceremony. She posted: “I think Barron is on his Gameboy. Can’t say I can blame him.”
Julie Bowen’s post attracted a blast of criticism with people also leaving abusive messages on another one of her Instagram posts featuring a picture of her child.
The actress tweeted a response to one of her critics which said: “I love that Barron is a kid being a kid. My kids would be a horror show at a public event! Just trying to keep it light.”
President Barack Obama’s daughters were no strangers to social media abuse throughout their father’s terms in office.
Two years ago Sasha, then 13, and Malia, then 16, were advised in a Facebook post to “try showing a little class”.
The author was Elizabeth Lauten, a communications director for a Republican congressman who added in a reference to the length of the girls’ skirts: “Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar.”
In the backlash, people tweeted Elizabeth Lauten’s boss, and the hashtag “#FireElizabethLauten” went viral. She posted an apology and later resigned.
Before the Obama girls, President George W. Bush’s 19-year-old twin daughters Jenna and Barbara made their own international headlines when they were cited by Texas police for underage drinking in 2001 when they first went to college.
In a recent letter to Sasha and Malia Obama, Jenna and Barbara Bush acknowledged the pressures that come with being in the spotlight at such young age. On leaving the White House, they reflected: “You won’t have the weight of the world on your young shoulders any more… make mistakes – you are allowed to.
“You have lived through the unbelievable pressure of the White House.”
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The 12-nation trade deal was a linchpin of former President Barack Obama’s Asia policy.
Donald Trump said as he dumped the pact with a stroke of a pen: “Great thing for the American worker what we just did.”
The president also cut funding for international groups that provide abortions, and froze hiring of some federal workers.
Donald Trump’s executive order on TPP was largely symbolic since the deal has not been ratified by a divided US Congress.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump criticized the TPP as a “potential disaster for our country”, arguing it harmed US manufacturing.
Donald Trump’s first weekday of administration began with a flurry of executive orders, which allow him to bypass Congress by issuing legally binding directions, mostly of limited scope, to federal agencies.
Image source Flickr
The president also signed an order blocking foreign aid or federal funding for any nongovernmental organization that provides abortions abroad.
The so-called Mexico City policy was first established by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
It is typically rescinded by incoming Democratic presidents, including Barack Obama in 2009, and reinstated by Republican presidents.
Donald Trump also signed an executive action placing a hiring freeze on non-military federal workers.
Also on January 23, the new president pledged to “massively” cut regulations and taxes on companies, but impose “a very major border tax” if they move factories outside the US.
“All you have to do is stay,” he told executives from 12 companies including Lockheed Martin, Under Armor, Whirlpool, Tesla and Johnson & Johnson.
After meeting business leaders at the White House, Donald Trump pledged to lower corporate taxes to 15% or 20%, from the current 35%, and slash regulations by up to 75% if they keep jobs in the US.
“A company that wants to fire all of its people in the United States, and build some factory someplace else, and then thinks that that product is going to just flow across the border into the United States – that’s not going to happen,” he said.
Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris told reporters afterwards he would take the president at his word.
He said: “He’s not going to do anything to harm competitiveness.
“He’s going to actually make us all more competitive.”
Donald Trump – whose protectionist rhetoric sent the US dollar falling – is due to meet labor leaders in the afternoon.
The Senate will meanwhile vote on his nomination of Mike Pompeo to be CIA director.
Rex Tillerson’s nomination as secretary of state was effectively guaranteed on January 23 as Senator Marco Rubio dropped his objections.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said it was “unquestionable” that Donald Trump’s inauguration “was the most watched” ever.
Although Ronald Reagan’s was top in terms of TV figures, attracting 41.8 million viewers, Sean Spicer pointed out that the 30.6 million who tuned in to see Donald Trump take the oath of office did not include the millions who watched the ceremony online.
Sean Spicer’s remarks followed Donald Trump’s stinging attack at the weekend on media reporting of attendance figures and the weather at his inauguration.
The smart traveler today does not leave home without 2 or 3 passports. That was the bottom line of a recent post in the New York Times titled“Taking the Second Passport?” It is not just for spies taking care of the benefits of traveling with different passports, 2nd citizenships as well as naturalization. In line with the post published in New Yorktimes, some people do not even know that they already have double nationality and therefore are eligible to have a 2nd passport from an overseas country. Other people are not aware that they can lawfully get second passport and citizenship programs by using an”Economic Citizenship” plan.
What’sthe Greatest Benefit of Second Citizenship?
For any sovereign person, the best edge is certainly the legitimate right to have a job without any restriction in different countries — a specific advantage of passports in the European Union. Furthermore, Dvorak says, having a 2nd passport is actually “a way of hiding exactly where the person has been,” when traveling to countries with soured associations — for instance among Israel and Arab-speaking nations.
How Would You Get A 2nd Passport?
For a step one, to get a 2nd passport, you must be a resident of the targeted country. When that’s achieved, the entire process of applying for a 2nd passport is comparatively easy. Obviously, it is like getting qualified for the 2nd citizenship which is the challenging part. But there are methods, even when you do not have Irish, Uk, German or Italian forebears (those are usually the countries considered to be most favorable in handing out passports to United States people based on ancestral roots). Israel, for instance, allows any person of Judaism history to use which is known as Aliyah, or even the ‘Law of Return.’This allowsgetting fast Israeli citizenship for any person of Judaism ancestral roots or someone who converts to Judaism.
The Case in Point
Ruth Yoffe is the second case in point mentioned in the New York times report who also has a 2nd passport. Yoffe is actually the founding father of Reloop Designs, a company which hires disabled individuals in Cambodia to make gift baskets from thewaste plastic material. Being a resident of America and New Zealand, she often goes throughout South Asian countries. “For plain security reasons, I usually try to travel and carry my visas with the New Zealand passport,” she mentioned. “On an airplane, I’d rather not be seen as an American if I get that choice, based on where I’m going.”
Although pricey, economic citizenship programs in many cases are useful for rich people who don’t have enough time or interest to hold back the 2 to 5 years which is required to establish dwelling in one more country and submit an application for citizenship by way of naturalization in one of the more generous countries for getting 2nd passports for example Dominican Republic Paraguay. On top of that, they have the benefit of being totally tax-free and never being hooked in paperwork or military support obligations.
Samsung’s investigation into its Galaxy Note 7 fiasco has found that the overheating and burning of the phones was caused by faults with their batteries.
The tech giant had axed its iPhone rival in October 2016 after an earlier botched recall and re-release.
The recall is thought to have cost $5.3 billion and was hugely damaging for Samsung’s reputation.
On January 23, the South Korean company said that neither software nor hardware were at fault, only the batteries.
Internal and independent investigations “concluded that batteries were found to be the cause of the Note 7 incidents”, the South Korean technology giant said in a statement.
Samsung said that errors both in design and manufacturing affected batteries by two different manufacturers.
According to the findings, the problems centered on insufficient insulation material within the batteries and a design that did not give enough room to safely accommodate the batteries’ electrodes.
Photo Samsung
The company said it was “taking responsibility for our failure to ultimately identify and verify the issues arising out of the battery design and manufacturing process”.
Samsung did not name the battery suppliers during their presentation, though last year had identified them as their affiliate Samsung SDI and Chinese company Amperex Technology.
The company said it did not plan to take legal action and that it accepted responsibility for asking the suppliers to meet certain specifications.
Launched in August 2016, Samsung’s Note 7 device was marketed as a large-screen top-end device and positioned as a rival to Apple’s iPhone.
However, in September, Samsung had to recall about 2.5 million phones after complaints of overheating and exploding batteries.
Samsung insisted that all replaced devices were safe. However, that was followed by reports that those phones were also overheating.
The company said there would be no repeat of the fires in future devices such as the upcoming S8.
“We look forward to moving ahead with a renewed commitment to safety. The lessons of the past several months are now deeply reflected in our processes and in our culture.”
Samsung also said it would not unveil its upcoming Galaxy S8 phone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, as had been expected, suggesting the flagship model’s launch may be later in the year.
The head of Samsung’s smartphone business, Koh Dong-jin said the phone would not get a launch event at the event in Barcelona in February unlike previous Galaxy S smartphones.
At least 18 people have been killed and many others injured by severe weather in Georgia and Mississippi, emergency officials say.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has declared a state of emergency in seven counties in the state, where 14 people have died.
Other 4 people were killed by tornadoes in Mississippi on January 21.
According to the National Weather Service, a “tornado risk” continued for Southern Florida.
It also warned of damaging winds and hail.
In a news release, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said that the 14 victims were in the southern Cook, Brooks, Dougherty and Berrien counties.
Image source CNN
Most of the deaths occurred in Cook County, when a mobile home park was apparently struck by a tornado.
Cook County coroner Tim Purvis said numerous mobile homes had been “leveled” before dawn on Sunday in the park near the city of Adel. He said emergency teams were still searching for survivors.
Tim Purvis estimated that the park has about 40 mobile homes in total, and roughly half were destroyed.
Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement: “These storms have devastated communities and homes in South Central Georgia, and the state is making all resources available to the impacted areas.”
President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Gov. Nathan Deal and expressed his condolences for the loss of life.
In Brooks County, coroner Michael Miller said two people died when an apparent tornado tossed a mobile home around 100 yards into the middle of Highway 122.
Swathes of the south-eastern United States have been hit by storms over the weekend.
In southern Mississippi, four people died in the path of a tornado with winds above 136 mph.
More than 50 others were injured and about 480 homes were damaged, state officials said.
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency issued advice on the best and worst places to shelter from a tornado on January 21, advising locals in the path of a tornado to cover themselves with blankets or a mattress for protection.
An adviser to Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow has said that more than $11 million is missing from the state coffers following the departure of long-time leader Yahya Jammeh.
Mai Ahmad Fatty said financial experts were trying to evaluate the exact loss.
Luxury cars and other items were seen being loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane on the night Yahya Jammeh left The Gambia.
Yahya Jammeh flew into exile on January 21, ending his 22 years in power.
The former leader had refused to accept election results but finally left after mediation by regional leaders and the threat of military intervention.
President Adama Barrow remains in neighboring Senegal and it is not clear when he will return.
Image source Wikimedia
However, West African troops entered the Gambian capital, Banjul, on January 22 to prepare for his arrival.
Cheering crowds gathered outside the State House to watch soldiers secure the building.
The Senegalese general leading the joint force from five African nations said they were controlling “strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate… Mr. Barrow’s assumption of his role”.
Mai Ahmad Fatty told reporters in the Senegalese capital Dakar that The Gambia was in financial distress.
“The coffers are virtually empty,” he said.
“It has been confirmed by technicians in the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of the Gambia.”
Mai Ahmad Fatty said Yahya Jammeh had made off with more than $11 million in the past two weeks alone.
He said officials at The Gambia’s main airport had been told not to let any of Yahya Jammeh’s belongings leave the country.
Reports said some of Yahya Jammeh’s goods were in Guinea where he had stopped on his journey into exile.
Yahya Jammeh is reported to now be in Equatorial Guinea, although authorities there have not confirmed it.
The former president had initially accepted Adama Barrow’s election win on December 1st, but later alleged “irregularities” and called for a fresh vote.
The move was internationally condemned and the UN-backed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued an ultimatum for him to quit or be removed by force.
Donald Trump’s team has become embroiled in a fresh war of words with the media.
On January 21, President Trump had condemned media reporting of the number of people attending his inauguration.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said there was “an obsession… to de-legitimize this president. We’re not going to sit around and take it.”
However, photos show more people attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009.
Reince Priebus said on Fox News Sunday that the “media from day one has been talking about de-legitimizing the election”. He said Donald Trump’s presidency would fight such coverage “tooth and nail every day”.
The latest row was mainly sparked by the inauguration figures.
There were no official estimates. President Trump said during a visit to the CIA on January 21 that it “looked like a million and a half people”, but provided no evidence. He called reporters “among the most dishonest human beings on Earth” for saying it was far lower.
Image source CNBC
Donald Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer outlined figures amounting to 720,000 people in Washington’s National Mall, despite also saying that “no-one had numbers” for the inauguration.
Sean Spicer also said it was the “largest audience to ever witness an inauguration – period – both in person and around the globe”.
Many outlets, using photos of the National Mall showing the difference in numbers attending the 2009 inauguration and Donald Trump’s, hit out at Sean Spicer’s statements.
The New York Times denounced “false claims” and described the statements as a “striking display of invective and grievance at the dawn of a presidency”.
Both CNN and ABC News went into detail to refute Sean Spicer’s claims.
Donald Trump’s aide Kellyanne Conway also criticized the media in a feisty exchange on NBC.
Kellyanne Conway was challenged by Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press to say why Sean Spicer’s first appearance had been to “utter a probable falsehood”.
“If we are going to keep referring to our press secretary in those type of terms, I think we are going to have to rethink our relationship here,” she said.
Pressed on Sean Spicer’s claims, Kellyanne Conway said he had been presenting “alternative facts”.
“Alternative facts are not facts they are falsehoods,” Chuck Todd replied.
Kellyanne Conway insisted there was “no way to really quantify crowds” and, taking offence at a laugh from the reporter, said: “You can laugh at me all you want. It’s symbolic of the way we are treated by the press the way you just laughed at me.”
She also highlighted another issue that caused friction with the media – the Time Magazine reporter who incorrectly reported that a bust of civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. The reporter later apologized for the error.
On January 22, Donald Trump tweeted about TV ratings of the inauguration, saying that 31 million people had watched, 11 million more than four years ago.
The president also referred to January 21 protests that saw millions in the US and hundreds of thousands around the globe take to the streets in some 600 demonstrations against his presidency.
Donald Trump’s initial tweet said he was “under the impression that we just had an election”, asking: “Why didn’t these people vote?”
A later tweet said that “peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy”.
Pope Francis has said that is too early to judge President Donald Trump, but he warned against a rise in populism and the dangers of allowing political crises to usher in dictators like Hitler.
In a wide-ranging interview with Spain’s El Pais, the pontiff condemned the use of walls and barbed-wire to keep foreigners out.
Donald Trump has caused controversy with his comments on Mexican immigrants and his plans for a wall to keep them out.
Asked if he was worried about the rise of populism in Europe and the US, Pope Francis said: “Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933.
“Germany is broken, it needs to get up, to find its identity, a leader, someone capable of restoring its character, and there is a young man named Adolf Hitler who says: <<I can, I can.>>
“And all Germans vote for Hitler. Hitler didn’t steal the power, his people voted for him, and then he destroyed his people.”
On President Trump, Pope Francis said he would “wait and see”.
“I don’t like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely. We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion,” the pontiff added.
Donald Trump and Pope Francis publically disagreed during the presidential campaign, with the Pope appearing to question Trump’s Christian faith over his plans to build a border wall with Mexico.
Donald Trump has accused the media of dishonestly reporting the size of the crowd at his inauguration on January 20.
The president said the crowd had reached the Washington monument as he spoke at the US Capitol, despite photographic evidence to the contrary.
Later, his White House press secretary said it had been “the largest audience to ever see an inauguration, period”.
On January 21, millions of demonstrators in the US and around the globe protested against Donald Trump’s new administration.
The largest rally was in Washington, which city officials estimated to be more than 500,000-strong. By most estimates, it surpassed the crowd at January 20 inauguration.
The protest’s aim was mainly to highlight women’s rights, which activists believe to be under threat from the new administration.
Donald Trump did not mention the protests during a bridge-building visit to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on January 21 but instead turned on the press.
The president accused the media of inventing a feud between him and the intelligence community and he called reporters “among the most dishonest human beings on earth”.
Donald Trump said TV footage and photos of his inauguration had painted an inaccurate picture.
Image source USA Today
“It looked like a million and a half people” there on Friday, he said, rubbishing media reports that there were as few as 250,000 people.
Donald Trump also said the crowd extended all the way back to the Washington Monument, although this claim is contradicted by aerial shots from the day.
Later, White House press secretary Sean Spicer berated reporters at a news conference over photographs that had shown large, empty spaces during the ceremony.
“This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period. Both in person and around the globe,” Sean Spicer said in a fiery statement.
“These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm about the inauguration are shameful and wrong.”
In addition to the photographic evidence, Washington’s Metro system said trips were down on previous inaugurations.
According to TV views were less than Barack Obama’s and Ronald Reagan’s first inaugurations.
Sean Spicer, who did not take questions, added: “There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable, and I’m here to tell you it goes two ways. We’re going to hold the press accountable as well.”
Outgoing CIA chief John Brennan accused Donald Trump of “a despicable display of self-aggrandizement” over the statement at Langley.
His former deputy, Nick Shapiro, said in a statement carried by CNN: “Former CIA Director Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump’s despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA’s Memorial Wall of agency heroes.
“Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself.”
Last week, John Brennan called on Donald Trump to be more “disciplined” in what he said and warned him not to underestimate Russian intentions.
Donald Trump’s visit had sought to mend relations with the intelligence community after weeks of doubting their conclusions about alleged Russian interference into the US election.
“I love you, I respect you,” he said, adding that he was “1,000%” behind the spy agency.
The president said the media had invented a feud between them, although in a recent row over a leaked dossier that alleged the Kremlin held compromising material on him, he had likened the actions of intelligence agencies to Nazi Germany.
Donald Trump tweeted: “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to <<leak>> into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?”
Yahya Jammeh has left The Gambia in the wake of elections that ousted him after 22 years in power.
The former president boarded a plane to Guinea and from there will travel on to exile in Equatorial Guinea, regional group ECOWAS says.
Yahya Jammeh was defeated in December’s election by Adama Barrow but went on to challenge the results.
Adama Barrow has been in Senegal but says he will return to The Gambia soon.
Marcel de Souza, president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said the military operation that had sent West African troops into The Gambia in support of Adama Barrow, was now ended, although some would remain to ensure security.
Adama Barrow has been in neighboring Senegal for days and was inaugurated as president in the Gambian embassy there on January 19.
Image source Wikimedia
Troops from several West African nations, including Senegal, had been deployed in The Gambia, threatening to drive Yahya Jammeh out of office if he did not agree to go.
Yahya Jammeh’s decision to quit his country came after talks with the presidents of Guinea and Mauritania.
Guinea’s President Alpha Conde was with Yahya Jammeh and his wife on the plane that left capital Banjul on January 21.
In an address on national TV, Yahya Jammeh, who had once said he would rule The Gambia for a billion years, said he would stand down and that it was “not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed”.
He said: “I have decided today in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation with infinite gratitude to all Gambians.”
Yahya Jammeh had at first accepted defeat in the election but then reversed his position, declaring a 90-day state of emergency and blaming irregularities in the electoral process.
Millions of anti-Trump demonstrators have taken to the streets of major cities in the United States and around the world to rally against the new president.
There were more than 600 rallies worldwide just one day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The protest’s aim was principally to highlight women’s rights, which activists believe to be under threat from the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump used his first full day in office to visit the CIA headquarter.
President Trump said he was “1,000%” behind the CIA’s employees and also accused the media of being dishonest in its reporting of the size of the crowd at his inauguration.
He did not refer to today’s protests.
The biggest US rally was in Washington DC, which city officials estimated to be more than 500,000-strong.
This far exceeded the 200,000 that had originally been expected by organizers of the Women’s March on Washington.
By most estimates, the Washington rally also surpassed the crowd at yesterday’s presidential inauguration.
The protesters in Washington heard speeches from Scarlett Johansson, America Ferrera, Ashley Judd, Gloria Steinem and Michael Moore among others.
A planned march to the White House proved impossible as the entire route was filled with demonstrators.
Interim DC Police Chief Peter Newsham told Associated Press: “The crowd stretches so far that there’s no room left to march.”
Image source ABC7
During his speech, Michael Moore ripped up a copy of the Washington Post, saying: “The headline was <<Trump takes power>>. I don’t think so. Here’s the power. Here’s the majority of America right here. We are the majority.”
Madonna also made an appearance, swearing several times in a speech carried live by major TV networks.
She said: “Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”
America Ferrera told the crowd: “We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war.”
Huge crowds were reported at other protests across the US.
In Chicago, some 150,000 turned out that a planned march had to be called off and the event declared a rally. Streets were also overflowing in LA.
Huge crowds were also reported in New York, Miami, Seattle and Boston, some of the venues for about 300 nationwide protests.
Many women wore knitted pink “pussy hats” – a reference to a recording that emerged during the election campaign in which Donald Trump talked about groping women.
In London, between 80,000 and 100,000 people had taken part at the rally, the organizers say. Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol were among the other UK cities holding protests.
Anti-Trump marches took place earlier in Australia, New Zealand and in several Asian cities.
Several thousand women and men joined a rally in central Sydney, with a similar number in Melbourne.
Women’s March Sydney co-founder Mindy Freiband told the crowd: “Hatred, hate speech, bigotry, discrimination, prejudicial policies – these are not American problems, these are global problems.”
In Europe, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam, Geneva, Budapest, Prague and Berlin were among the cities that took part.
Donald Trump’s first full day in office began with an inter-faith service at Washington National Cathedral before visiting the CIA’s HQ in Langley, Virginia.
In a speech there, President Trump told about 400 employees: “There is nobody who feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than me.”
During the election campaign, Donald Trump had sharply criticized the intelligence agencies over their stance on alleged Russian involvement.
Donald Trump also talked up his yet-to-be-confirmed nominee for CIA chief, Mike Pompeo.
In one of his first steps, President Trump ordered government agencies to ease the “economic burden” of the Affordable Act, known as ObamaCare.
His team also quickly overhauled the White House website. The revamp replaces Barack Obama’s policies with Donald Trump’s new agenda.
The new administration lists only six issues on the website – energy, foreign policy, jobs and growth, military, law enforcement and trade deals.
Critics complained that it made no mention of civil rights, healthcare, climate change or LGBT rights.
