FILE PHOTO: A student holds a banner during a protest against Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers, Algeria March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
March 13, 2019
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria’s army will preserve the country’s security “in all circumstances and conditions”, Deputy Defence Minister Ahmed Gaed Salah told Ennahar TV on Wednesday, amid continuing protests by Algerians demanding rapid political change.
Gaed Salah is also the armed forces chief of staff.
Ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has abandoned his bid for a fifth term in power but stopped short of stepping down, raising suspicions on the street that he is buying time.
His initiative after three weeks of mass demonstrations against his rule has not defused anger on the streets, and school teachers began a strike in several cities on Wednesday to keep up pressure on the 82-year-old head of state.
Bouteflika has also delayed elections and promised to hold a conference on Algeria’s political future.
Tens of thousands of people from all social classes have demonstrated almost daily against a political system dominated for nearly 60 years by the military and veterans of the 1954-62 independence war against France.
Bouteflika has ruled for 20 years but has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.
(Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Alison Williams, William Maclean)
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler confirmed Sunday that Congress will continue to investigate President Donald Trump regardless of the conclusions reached by special counsel Robert Mueller.
“We know there was collusion,” Nadler insisted several times during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with guest host Dana Bash. “Why there’s been no indictments, we don’t know.”
Nadler listed the Trump Tower meeting — which has been the subject of numerous false reports — and the way Trump “pressured the FBI to go easy, to stop investigating Flynn,” and Trump firing Comey as evidence of the alleged “collusion.”
Bash pointed out several times that none of that rose to the level of indictment from the Mueller team, but Nadler quickly shrugged it off.
“Well, there have been obstructions of justice, whether they are — clearly, whether they are criminal obstruction is another question,” Nadler explained.
“But we have — the special prosecutor is limited in scope. His job was limited in scope and limited to crimes. What Congress has to do is look at a broader picture. We are in charge — we have the responsibility of protecting the rule of law, of looking at obstructions of justice, abuses of power, at corruption, in order to protect the rule of law so that our democratic institutions are not greatly damaged by this president.”
Nadler’s response made it clear that Congressional Democrats are likely moving forward with any number of investigations — in spite of warnings from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell regarding the possible consequences of “presidential harassment.”
Sanctuary cities across the United States are responding to President Donald Trump’s threat to bus border crossers and illegal aliens to their jurisdictions, saying they plan to welcome all illegal immigration with “open arms” despite soaring homelessness problems.
Last week, Trump threatened to bus border crossers and illegal aliens into sanctuary cities and states, like California and New York City, if the country’s asylum laws were not changed. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Sunday confirmed that the White House is considering the plan.
“The USA has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Cities,” Trump posted on Twitter over the weekend. “We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California, which is well known or it’s poor management & high taxes!”
Just out: The USA has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Cities. We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California, which is well known or its poor management & high taxes!
Sanctuary city mayors like Oakland, California, Mayor Libby Schaaf have responded to Trump’s threat by saying they plan to welcome any and all illegal aliens to their cities — even those cities that are struggling with rising homelessness. Currently, there are nearly 38,000 homeless American veterans across the country.
“Oakland welcomes all, no matter where you came from or how you got here,” Schaaf wrote on Twitter.
FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison arrives for APEC CEO Summit 2018 at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 17 November 2018. Fazry Ismail/Pool via REUTERS
February 18, 2019
By Colin Packham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – A cyber attack this month on Australian lawmakers was probably carried out by an unidentified foreign country, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, adding that the networks of major political parties were breached ahead of an election due by May.
Lawmakers were this month told to urgently change their passwords after Australia’s cyber intelligence agency detected an attack on the national parliament’s computer network.
The hackers breached the networks of Australia’s major political parties, Morrison said, as he issued an initial assessment by investigators.
“Our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity,” he told parliament.
“We also became aware that the networks of some political parties, Liberal, Labor and Nationals have also been affected.”
Morrison did not reveal what information was accessed, but he said there was no evidence of election interference.
Australians will return to the polls by May.
Morrison did not name any suspects, but government analysts have said China, Russia and Iran were the most likely culprits.
Ties with China have deteriorated since 2017, after Canberra accused Beijing of meddling in its domestic affairs. Both countries have since sought to mend relations, but Australia remains wary of China.
Tension rose this month after Australia rescinded the visa of a prominent Chinese businessman, just months after barring Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies from supplying equipment to its 5G broadband network.
Officers of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency covertly monitored computers of U.S. Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and campaign committees, and stole large amounts of data, U.S. investigators have concluded.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Donald Trump Jr. appeared to mock Joe Biden by retweeting a doctored video of the former vice president addressing a series of misconduct allegations leveled against him.
Trump Jr., 41, retweeted the 15-second doctored footage of Biden Wednesday in which he acknowledged his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement have made some women uncomfortable and he promised to be “much more mindful” of respecting personal space.
Biden is seen sitting and talking in the doctored video, while a viral photo of the ex-VP placing his hands on the shoulders of former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s wife, Stephanie Carter, is seen lurking in the background. The tweet was captioned, “Noooooooo Joe, NOT DURING THE APOLOGY!"
Following the news, the photographs of Biden with Carter made their way back into the public eye, Carter wrote a post on Medium defending Biden and saying the photos were “misleading.”
“But a still shot taken from a video — misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends — sent out in a snarky tweet — came to be the lasting image of that day,” she wrote.
The video was Biden’s first direct comment on what has tripped up his preparations to enter the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. He did not directly apologize but seemed to be seeking to ease some people's discomfort, which has raised questions about whether he could wage an effective campaign.
Last week, former Nevada Lt. Gov. candidate Lucy Flores accused Biden of inappropriate conduct during a 2014 campaign event, saying Biden “plant[ed] a big slow kiss on the back of my head.”
The Trump administration has sent a memo to TV producers which contains a list of Russian collusion liars, advising networks to challenge individuals like Rep. Peter Schiff on their “false claims” in future.
The memo, sent by Trump’s Director of Communications Tim Murtaugh, was sent a day after the Mueller investigation’s conclusion which completely vindicated President Trump.
It lists Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Eric Swalwell, DNC Chairman Tom Perez and former CIA director John Brennan.
The memo accuses the above of “lying to the American people by vigorously and repeatedly claiming there was evidence of collusion.”
“They made many of these false claims, without evidence, on your airwaves,” the memo adds, before giving an example for each of the individuals named.
The memo then asks TV producers to think twice before booking the same guests again.
“Moving forward, we ask that you employ basic journalistic standards when booking such guests to appear anywhere in your universe of productions,” states the memo, adding, “At a minimum, if these guests do reappear, you should replay the prior statements and challenge them to provide the evidence which prompted them to make the wild claims in the first place.”
While Trump has zero power to tell the media who they can and can’t have on as guests, leftists will undoubtedly weave this into their wider conspiracy theory that the president is trying to intimidate and shut down the media.
South Africa’s 400m Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk looks on as he attends South African Championships in Germiston, South Africa, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
April 26, 2019
GERMISTON, South Africa (Reuters) – Olympic 400 meters champion Wayde van Niekerk has backed South African compatriot Caster Semenya in her battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which now appears to have taken a new twist.
Semenya, a double 800 meters Olympic gold medalist, is waiting for the outcome of her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to halt the introduction of new regulations by governing body IAAF that would require her to take medicine to limit her natural levels of testosterone.
The IAAF wants female athletes with differences of sexual development who run in events from 400 meters to a mile, to reduce their blood testosterone level to below five (5) nmol/L for a period of six months before they can compete, saying they have an unfair advantage.
“She’s fighting for something beyond just track and field, she’s fighting for woman in sports, in society and I respect her for that,” Van Niekerk told reporters.
“I will support her and with the hard work and talent that she’s been putting into the sport. With what she believes in and what she’s dreaming for, I’ve got a lot of respect for her.
“I really hope and pray that everything just goes from strength to strength for her.”
Semenya has sprung a surprise at the on-going South African Athletics Championships though, ditching the 800 meters and instead competing over 1,500 and 5,000-metres – the latter one would not require her to medically lower her testosterone level.
She stormed to victory in the 5,000-metres final in a modest time of 16:05.97, but looked to have lots left in the tank as she passed the finish line.
Semenya beat fellow Olympian and defending national 5,000m champion Dominique Scott in Thursday’s final but the latter admitted she is unsure whether the 800m specialist could be a serious Olympic contender over the longer distance.
“Honestly‚ I have no idea‚” Scott said. “Before today I probably would have said no. It’s hard to compare a 5,000 at altitude to a 5,000 at sea level.
“But I think she’s an amazing runner and I don’t think there’s any limit or ceiling on what she can do.”
Van Niekerk, the 400m world record holder, had to abort his comeback from a knee injury, that had sidelined him for 18 months, following a combination of cold weather and a wet track.
“We are trying to take the correct decisions now early in the year so as not to put myself in any harm,” he said.
“It was a bit chilly this entire week prepping and coming through here as well it was quite cold and it caused bit of tightness in my leg. We decided to not risk it.
“My recovery is going well and I would like to be back in competition this year, but will only do so if I can deliver a good performance.
“I am a competitor and respect my opponents, so I need to be at my best when I return.”
(Reporting by Nick Said, additional reporting by Siyabonga Sishi; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
The suspected leader of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka died in the Shangri-La hotel, one of six hotels and churches targeted in the attacks that killed at least 250 people, authorities said.
Police said Mohamed Zahran, leader of the National Towheed Jamaat militant group, had been killed in one of the bombings. The group’s second in command was also arrested, police said.
Zahran amassed an online following for his hate-filled sermons. Some were delivered before a banner depicting the Twin Towers.
Sri Lankan authorities said Friday that Islamic cleric Mohammed Zahran died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel during the Easter Sunday atatcks that killed at least 250 people. (YouTube)
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that the attackers responsible for the bombings were supported by the Islamic State group. Around 140 people in Sri Lanka had connections to ISIS, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said.
“We will completely control this and create a free and peaceful environment for people to live,” he said.
Investigators determined the attackers received military training from someone called “Army Mohideen.” They also received weapons training overseas and at some locations in Sri Lanka, according to authorities.
A copper factory operator arrested in connection with the bombings helped Mohideen make improvised explosive devices, police said. The bombings have led to increased security throughout the island nation as authorities warned of another attack.
KATHMANDU, Nepal – A Malaysian mountain climber was being treated in a hospital in Nepal’s capital Friday after being stranded nearly two days alone near the summit of Annapurna.
A helicopter crew searching for the missing climber on Thursday spotted Wui Kin Chin waving his hands at them, and rescuers brought him down to a lower camp.
At the time of his rescue, Chin had been without an oxygen bottle, food and water for over 40 hours, said Mingma Sherpa, the head of Seven Summit Treks, which arranged his expedition.
Chin was flown to the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday and taken to a hospital, where his wife joined him.
Chin is an anesthesiologist and accomplished climber, and Sherpa credited Chin’s medical knowledge and familiarity with mountains for keeping him alive.
“It’s a big thing to stay alive in that altitude without food, water, and oxygen,” Sherpa said. He described Chin on Thursday as fine but not in condition to walk.
Chin was a part of a 13-member expedition led by a French climber and was separated from the others during the descent.
The 8,091-meter (26,545-foot) Mount Annapurna is the ninth tallest mountain in Nepal and the 10th tallest in the world. It’s considered an especially treacherous mountain due to its difficult terrain and weather conditions.
Spanish Prime Minister and Socialist Party candidate Pedro Sanchez applauds to supporters during an election campaign event in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Spain is preparing to hold its third parliamentary election in less than four years. But even though the exercise is familiar, uncertainty surrounds the election’s outcome. Polls indicate a substantial share of voters, about one-third, hadn’t decided by the final week of campaigning how they would mark their ballots on Sunday. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
MADRID – Spain’s prime minister says he’s open to a coalition with an anti-austerity party, hinting for the first time at a possible center-left governing alliance after Sunday’s national election.
In an interview published Friday by El Pais newspaper, Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez says “it isn’t a problem” for the far-left United We Can to become part of his Cabinet if he wins the tight race.
With Spain’s electoral law banning polls during the last week of campaigning, it’s unclear if the two parties will emerge strong enough in the lower house of parliament or whether a right-wing alliance could assemble a majority.
Sánchez is calling on Spaniards to cast a “useful vote” and has warned that the rise of the far right in polls could be underestimated given the large pool of undecided voters.
FILE PHOTO: KPN logo is seen at its headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands, January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
April 26, 2019
By Bart H. Meijer and Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch telecom firm Royal KPN NV said on Friday it would select a Western supplier to build its core 5G mobile network, making it one of the first European operators to make clear it would not pick China’s Huawei for such work.
The United States has been seeking to discourage its allies from using equipment made by Huawei because of concerns that it could eventually be used for Chinese government spying. Huawei says such worries are baseless and U.S. policy is driven by economic interests.
The Hague-based KPN, the Netherlands’ largest telecom firm, said its decision took into account “the evolving assessment on the protection of vital infrastructure and the influence this may have on future Dutch policy.”
The Dutch government has not taken a decision on the issue.
KPN, which also reported on Friday slightly worse than expected first quarter core earnings of 563 million euros ($627 million), said it would still use equipment made by Huawei in some capacities.
In addition, the company announced a preliminary deal with Huawei to upgrade existing mobile telecommunications gear to make it safer. Huawei has been a key supplier to KPN in the past decade.
The Dutch government set up a task force with KPN and other major operators in the Netherlands this month to analyze the “vulnerability of 5G telecommunications networks to misuse by technology vendors … and measures needed to manage risks.”
KPN said it would use equipment made by Huawei, which it described as a world leader in radio and antenna technology, to improve security on its existing network.
“This preliminary agreement can be adjusted or reversed to align it with future Dutch government policy,” it added.
Sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Britain’s National Security Council (NSC) had decided to bar Huawei from core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core areas.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Edmund Blair)
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