Month: July 2019

Opening up another legal front against the Democrats investigating him, President Donald Trump on Tuesday sued the House Ways and Means Committee and New York state officials to prevent his state tax returns from being turned over to the congressional committee.   The lawsuit seeks an injunction to block the application of a new New York state law that could allow the Democratic-controlled House and Ways Means Committee to obtain the returns. The lawsuit, filed in Washington, comes amid a furious White House attempt to prevent the president’s tax returns to wind up in Democratic hands.   “We have filed a lawsuit today in our ongoing efforts to end presidential harassment,” said Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s lawyers. “The targeting of the president by the House Ways and Means Committee, the New York Attorney General, and a New York tax official violates article 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The harassment tactics lack a legitimate legislative purpose. The actions taken by the House and New York officials are nothing more than political retribution.”   The state’s attorney general, Letitia James, said the act “will shine a light on the president’s finances and finally offer transparency to millions of Americans yearning to know the truth.”   “President Trump has spent his career hiding behind lawsuits,” James said in a statement, “but, as New York’s chief law enforcement officer, I can assure him that no one is above the law — not even the president of the United States.”   Trump’s tax …

It’s been called the Deal of the Century by U.S. President Donald Trump, but it’s still a tightly held secret in Washington. Trump’s son-in-law and key adviser Jared Kushner and special negotiator Jason Greenblatt have been working on the Israeli-Palestinian peace project for two years. On Tuesday, Greenblatt addressed the U.N. Security Council, disclosing only that the document is 60 pages long. Afterward, he told a small group of reporters that he is ready for “withering criticism” once the plan is revealed, which he says is likely to be in the next few months. FILE – White House senior adviser Jared Kushner speaks in Manama, Bahrain, June 25, 2019. “We are going to air it at a time when we think it has the best chance of success,” Greenblatt said. “I really hope it doesn’t take beyond the Israeli election/government coalition.” Israel is facing new parliamentary elections in mid-September after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition government after winning April’s election. Palestinian stance Greenblatt says he and Kushner have talked to wide swaths of Israeli and Palestinian society in creating their proposal, including political and religious leaders, academics, experts and ordinary citizens. They have also gathered input in regional capitals and in Europe. “I don’t think there will be many surprises in the plan,” Greenblatt said. “We test ideas, we see the reactions … we know where the hot buttons are.” The Palestinian Authority has essentially rejected the plan sight unseen after Trump recognized Jerusalem as …

Most Americans think that tanking levels of distrust in the government and in other people are hindering efforts to solve pervasive, persistent issues, ranging from immigration and racism to healthcare, taxes and voting rights. Pew Research Center released results for the poll on Monday. It was conducted from November to December 2018 and included over 10,000 adults. “Many people no longer think the federal government can actually be a force for good or change in their lives,” Pew quoted one survey participant as saying. “This kind of apathy and disengagement will lead to an even worse and less representative government.” Nearly 70% of Americans say the federal government purposely withholds information that it could safely release, and a further 64% say that when elected officials speak, it’s hard to tell what’s true and what isn’t. Public confidence in government, which dipped in the 60s and 70s, made a recovery in the 80s and early 2000s, according to an April Pew poll. Now, at 17%, the American populace’s trust in government is near historic lows. And a large majority of people think this distrust is justified, with 75% answering that the government shouldn’t have more public confidence than it does. Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents were more likely to pin the blame for distrust on corruption and poor government performance, while their Democrat and Democrat-leaning counterparts were more likely to point at U.S. President Donald Trump’s performance. Confidence in other people has dropped too, but most prominently when politics come into the …

South Korea says it fired warning shots at a Russian military aircraft after the plane breached South Korea’s airspace. South Korea’s Defense Ministry says three Russian aircraft entered its air defense identification zone early Tuesday morning off its east coast before one of them breached the airspace. South Korean air force jets were deployed to intercept the plane and forced the Russian plane to leave the airspace.  But the aircraft violated the airspace 20 minutes later, and stayed briefly before South Korean fighter jets fired another warning shot. The ministry says it was the first time a Russian military aircraft violated South Korean airspace. Two Chinese aircraft also flew into the South’s air defense identification zone off the east coast hours earlier. The ministry says it will summon both Russian and Chinese embassy officials later Tuesday to lodge a formal protest. The violation happened near a disputed group of islands claimed by both South Korea, which calls it Dokdo, and Japan, which calls it Takeshima.   …

Brazil seized 25.3 tons of cocaine bound for Europe and Africa in the first half of 2019, up more than 90 percent on the same period last year, officials said Monday. Nearly half of the drugs were found at Santos port in southern Brazil, not far from where police recently arrested two men suspected of belonging to Italian mafia ‘Ndrangheta. Customs officials attributed the increase in seizures to better intelligence and increased vigilance along Brazil’s borders. “Last year we seized 31.4 tons of cocaine, a record that we will surely beat again,” Arthur Cazella told AFP.  The amount of cannabis confiscated more than doubled to 10.2 tons in the January-June period, up from 3.9 tons year-on-year. Brazil, which has some 17,000 kilometers (10,500 miles)of land borders, is an important hub for international drug trafficking.  Drugs produced in Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela and Paraguay are smuggled into Brazil and then sent to mainly European markets.  Some routes to Africa are also opening up, Cazella said. Cocaine seizures have soared in recent years, from 958 kilograms in 2014 to last year’s record 31.4 tons. …

Once upon a time, not too far from Hollywood, two of the world’s biggest movie stars were talking about what it’s like to screw up on set.   “Messing up the lines in front of the entire cast and crew?” Leonardo DiCaprio said.  “It’s the going to school in your underwear nightmare.” “It’s awful,” Brad Pitt chimed in. “When a scene’s not working. When YOU’RE not working in a scene…It goes beyond not being able to get the lines. You have 100 people there who are all ready to get on with their day and get home.” DiCaprio hasn’t exactly had to resort to dunking his head in ice water after a too-late and too-fun night out, as his actor character does in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.” But Pitt? “Oh I’ve done that,” he laughed. The two actors, who skyrocketed to fame around the same time more than a quarter century ago, have joined forces for the first time in a major motion picture to take on their own industry, their own town and even their own egos in a time of great change — 1969 Hollywood. Out nationwide Friday, it’s also reunited them with Quentin Tarantino. Once known only as “Tarantino’s Manson Movie,” the actual film is something very different. Manson is a character, as are his most notorious followers. And of course, Sharon Tate is depicted too and played by Margot Robbie. But as with most Tarantino movies, it’s not exactly what you think. FILE …

Mexico’s economy, the 2nd largest in Latin America, has hit a rough patch, weighed down by dwindling business confidence and an industrial slump. But ahead of GDP data for the second quarter due on July 31, a debate has raged over whether all that gloom adds up to a recession. Several banks say definitely yes – an assessment that could call into question the ability of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s eight-month-old government to deliver on his promises of development and improved fortunes for the country’s poor. “We estimate GDP will also contract in the second quarter, putting Mexico in a technical recession, two consecutive quarters of negative growth,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a client note in late June. The government strongly disagrees. “There has been a slowdown on a global level,” said Finance Minister Arturo Herrera in his first press conference earlier this month, after his predecessor abruptly resigned. “But we are very, very far from thinking that we are close to a recession.” In theory, defining whether there is a recession in Mexico could decide whether policymakers need to take action. “If the government thinks there is a danger of recession, it could implement countercyclical measures to boost the economy a bit, or the Bank of Mexico could cut the interest rate, said Marco Oviedo, head of Latin America economics research at Barclays. While Lopez Obrador has raised eyebrows by saying “I’ve got other numbers” when presented with negative economic news, even he does not …

Four Turkish nationals have been kidnapped at gunpoint in central Nigeria, police said on Monday, in the latest such incident in the country. Gunmen stormed a bar in the village of Gbale in the state of Kwara and seized the men on Saturday, national police spokesman Frank Mba told AFP. “We are working frantically to secure their release,” he added. Mba did not say if any ransom demands have been made. Local media said the Turks were working for a construction firm in the state. Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria, especially in the oil-rich south and the northwest. The victims are usually released after a ransom is paid although police rarely confirm if money changes hands. Earlier this month, two Chinese nationals were kidnapped in the southern state of Edo. Nigerian police could not confirm if they are still being held. There have also been many abductions in the northeast, where an insurgency led by Boko Haram jihadists has killed 27,000 people and forced some two million to flee their homes since 2009.         …

Poland’s politicians are condemning violence against the first LGBT rights parade through the eastern city of Bialystok. Police said Monday that 28 “hooligans” have been detained and have heard charges of disturbing a legal gathering. Local police have published images of at least two more men suspected of having thrown bottles and stones at police and at the marchers Saturday.  Police responded with tear gas. The interior minister in the right-wing government, Elzbieta Witek, and the deputy prime minister Beata Szydlo, have condemned the violence and spoke in favor of tolerance.   The spokesman for Poland’s Roman Catholic Church said that “violence and contempt” can’t be accepted.   The government has tolerated marches by far-right extremists in Bialystok in the past.   …

Puerto Rico braced early Monday for what many people expected to be one of the biggest protests ever seen in the U.S. territory as irate islanders pledged to drive Gov. Ricardo Rossello from office. Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take over one of the island’s busiest highways Monday morning to press demands for the resignation of Rossello over an obscenity-laced leaked online chat the governor had with allies as well as federal corruption charges leveled against his administration.   FILE – Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello speaks during a press conference in La Fortaleza’s Tea Room, in San Juan, July 16, 2019. The anticipated march in the capital of San Juan came a day after Rossello announced that he would not quit, but sought to calm the unrest by promising not to seek reelection or continue as head of his pro-statehood political party. That only further angered his critics, who have mounted street demonstrations for more than a week.   “The people are not going to go away,” said Johanna Soto, of the northeastern city of Carolina. “That’s what he’s hoping for, but we outnumber him.”   Organizers labeled the planned road shutdown “660,510 + 1,” which represents the number of people who voted for Rossello plus one more to reject his argument that he is not resigning because he was chosen by the people.   Monday would be the 10th consecutive day of protests, and more were being called for later in the week. The island’s …

Areas of the central and eastern United States are getting relief Monday in the form of lower temperatures after suffering through days of sweltering conditions that led to power outages, canceled events and several deaths. A cold front sweeping to the east is bringing with it some severe storms and heavy rain that forecasters warn could produce flash flooding and damaging winds. But behind the front, the coming days will feature weather with lower humidity and high temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius in many areas that had experienced temperatures around 38 degrees Celsius. Events were canceled across the country on Saturday and Sunday, from festivals and concerts to sporting events. In New York City, tens of thousands of people were still without power Monday as crews worked to repair the grid and try to prevent a more widespread outage.   Officials in Boston and Washington expanded access to public pools to help residents cope with the heat.   …

Kenya’s Finance Minister Henry Rotich and other treasury officials were arrested Monday on corruption and fraud charges over a multi-million dollar project to build two mega dams, police said. Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji had ordered the arrest and prosecution of Rotich and 27 other top officials on charges of fraud, abuse of office and financial misconduct in the latest scandal to rock graft-wracked Kenya. Rotich, his principal secretary and the chief executive of Kenya’s environmental authority then presented themselves to the police. “They are in custody now awaiting to be taken to court,” police chief George Kinoti told AFP. “We are looking for (the) others and they will all go to court.” Haji said the conception, procurement and payment processes for the dam project — part of a bid to improve water supply in the drought-prone country — was “riddled with irregularities”. “Investigations established that government officials flouted all procurement rules and abused their oath of office to ensure the scheme went through,” said Haji. He pointed to the awarding of the contract to Italian firm CMC di Ravenna in a manner that he said flouted proper procurement procedures, and despite financial woes that forced the company into liquidation and had led to it failing complete three other mega-dam projects. According to the contract, the project was to cost a total of $450 million (401 million euros), but the treasury had increased this amount by $164 million “without regard to performance or works,” said Haji. Some $180 million …

Ireland’s Shane Lowry won golf’s British Open on Sunday, his first career major championship, in front of thousands of cheering fans at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush course alongside the Atlantic Ocean. The bearded, 32-year-old Lowry led going in to the final round of professional golf’s last major championship of the year by four shots and was never seriously challenged. He finished the 72-hole tournament at 15 under par, shooting a one-over par 72 in gusty winds and intermittent rain during the last day of the four-day event. His playing partner, Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood, started Sunday in second and finished second, but six shots behind Lowry, with a final round 74. As the Irish throngs cheered Lowry’s final tap-in par on the last hole, Lowry raised his arms to the leaden skies and broke into a smile of satisfaction. Lowry’s victory meant that four different golfers won the sport’s major championships in 2019, with Americans winning the other three — Tiger Woods at the Masters, Brooks Koepka at the Professional Golfers championship and Gary Woodland at the U.S. Open.   …

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition secured a majority in Japan’s upper house of parliament in elections Sunday, according to vote counts by public television and other media. Exit polls indicated Abe could even close in on the super-majority needed to propose constitutional revisions. NHK public television said Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito had won 64 seats in the upper house after two hours of vote counting. The two-thirds majority needed for constitutional revision could be within reach if the ruling bloc can gain support from members of another conservative party and independents.     Up for grabs were 124 seats in the less powerful of Japan’s two parliamentary chambers. There are 245 seats in the upper house — which does not choose the prime minister — about half of which are elected every three years.   The results appeared to match or even exceed pre-election polls that indicated Abe’s ruling bloc was to keep ground in the upper house, with most voters considering it a safer choice over an opposition with an uncertain track record. To reach the two-thirds majority, or 164 seats, Abe needs 85 more seats by his ruling bloc and supporters of a charter change.   Opposition parties have focused on concerns over household finances, such as the impact from an upcoming 10% sales tax increase and strains on the public pension system amid Japan’s aging population.   Abe has led his Liberal Democratic Party to five consecutive parliamentary election victories since 2012.   …

U.S. authorities say a Venezuelan fighter jet “aggressively shadowed” an American intelligence plane flying in international airspace over the Caribbean, underscoring rising tensions between the two nations.  The U.S. Southern Command said Sunday that Venezuela’s action demonstrates reckless behavior by President Nicolas Maduro, whose government accused the U.S. of breaking international rules.   U.S. authorities say their EP-3 plane was performing a multi-nationally approved mission and the Venezuelan SU-30 fighter jet closely trailed the plane, which the U.S. says endangered its crew.   Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez says the U.S. plane entered Venezuelan airspace without prior notification.   He says it also endangered commercial flights from Venezuela’s main airport.   The U.S. backs opposition leader Juan Guaido’s attempt to oust Maduro.         …

U.S. President Donald Trump contended Sunday that four minority Democratic congresswomen he has been feuding with are not “capable of loving our Country.” “They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said,” Trump said on Twitter. “They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!” I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country. They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said. They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2019 For days now, Trump has assailed Congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayana Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, first telling them they should “go back” to their countries and “fix things” in their homelands before telling the U.S. what it ought to do. All of them are U.S. citizens, three of them by birth and Somali refugee Omar by naturalization. Democrats and some Republicans have sharply criticized Trump’s week-old remarks and the U.S. House of Representatives condemned them as “racist,” but the U.S. leader has continued to assail the four women, all newcomers to Congress in January. In turn, the lawmakers have attacked him, with Omar saying, “I believe he is fascist.” The ongoing verbal warfare reverberated on the Sunday news talk television shows. Mercedes Schlapp, a Trump …

British officials are drawing up plans to target Iran with sanctions for its seizing of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait off Hormuz, and it may urge European Union countries to reimpose sanctions that were lifted in 2016 as part of Tehran’s agreement to curb its nuclear program. The British government is under strong pressure from lawmakers to act decisively in the sharply escalating diplomatic quarrel between the two countries, but there’s growing domestic criticism in the House of Commons about the lack of naval protection for British tankers in the Strait. The outgoing British Prime Minister, Theresa May, is being blamed by some parliamentarians and military officials for failing to agree to a system of joint naval patrols the U.S. was urging Britain and other European navies to establish with American forces. Downing Street took the view that if Britain joined an American-proposed “coalition off navies” it would be seen as endorsing President Donald Trump’s hard-line, sanctions-led approach to Iran, say British and U.S. officials. British defense minister Tobias Ellwood told British broadcasters Sunday that Downing Street is is looking at imposing sanctions against Iran over the seizing of the British-flagged and Swedish-owned Stena Impero and its 23-strong crew. Sanctions could include the freezing of Iranian asset. Asked about sanctions, Ellwood said: “We are going to be looking at a series of options.” On Sunday, too, new audio recordings were released of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Royal Navy both giving instructions to to the Britain-flagged tanker, …