As trade war grinds on, Chinese authorities ready the populace for a long fight – The Washington Post
As trade war grinds on, Chinese authorities ready the populace for a long fight – The Washington Post

Anna Fifield

May 20 at 11:20 AM

BEIJING —  China’s government looks to be settling in for a long trade war with the United States, with President Xi Jinping invoking one of the Communist Party’s most epic — and ultimately successful — battles.

The Chinese leader, accompanied by his top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, on Monday placed a floral basket at a monument in Jiangxi province commemorating the start of the Long March in 1934. In the 4,000-mile, year-long trek, the Communists broke through Nationalist lines, eventually ousting them and installing Mao Zedong as leader of China.

Meanwhile, China’s main movie channel, CCTV-6, has scrapped its regular programming in favor of films about the Korean War, which ended in a draw after China intervened to fight back the Americans.

“We are echoing the present times using the art form of film,” the channel said, explaining its sudden schedule changes.

The planned coverage of the Asian Film Awards was ditched Friday for the classic war movie “Heroic Sons and Daughters,” the story of Chinese “volunteer troops” who helped North Korea fight the Americans in the 1950s.

Then, over the weekend, came three more movies about resisting the United States: “Battle on Shangganling Mountain” and “Surprise Attack.” Another classic, the 1960 film “Guards on the Railway Line,” about Chinese scouts rooting out spies who work for the Americans, was due to screen Monday night.

The trade war reminds many Chinese of the 1950-1953 Korean War, when the two sides talked about a cease-fire for two years while continuing to fight, Xu Hailin, a commentator for the provocative nationalist tabloid the Global Times, wrote in a column published Monday.

“The Chinese people’s memories of engaging in talks and fights at [the] same time remains fresh,” he wrote. “It [lets] Chinese people realize that the trade frictions between China and the U.S. will not end very soon.” 

[Are the U.S. and China heading for a deal — or a divorce? ]

Earlier this year, the state-run People’s Publishing House printed “Rereading On Protracted War,” an updated collection of speeches that Mao gave in 1938 amid a Japanese invasion that would take eight years for China to repel. It appeared to be a sign that authorities were preparing the people for a long and difficult trade war.

All this propaganda has a purpose, said Dali Yang, professor of political science at the University of Chicago. “The psychological aspect cannot be overestimated. The Chinese side wants to be seen as standing up to the U.S.,” he said. “They have to put on a strong face.”

Yang recalled that in the 1990s, CCTV-6 had been playing movies about its old ally, Yugoslavia, and that these had infused the social atmosphere. After the U.S. bombing of China’s embassy in Belgrade in 1999, “the students had been primed for action by these movies that had been playing,” he said, noting that it was entirely coincidental but nonetheless extremely effective.

Tens of thousands of Chinese, including students, took to the streets to protest the United States, pelting its embassy in Beijing with eggs and bricks, and even 20 years on, many Chinese say it was not an accident, as the United States and NATO insisted.

The Communist Party does, however, have to strike a careful balance. It apparently wants to unify the populace against the United States, but not so much that students pour back out onto the streets. It’s only two weeks until the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, and authorities have already clamped down on movement in Beijing and commentary online.

[Graphic: The first round of China tariffs already stifled U.S. exports ]

Still, over the past week, anti-American propaganda has intensified in Chinese state media. The slogan “Want to talk? Let’s talk. Want to fight? Let’s do it. Want to bully us? Dream on!” went viral on Chinese social media, according to What’s on Weibo, a website that monitors China’s answer to Twitter.

All of this is a sharp turnaround from the days after President Trump tweeted that he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 to 25 percent in response to China “reneging” on commitments made to seal a trade deal and end the year-long tariff war.

Then, the state media was slow to report on the U.S. tariffs, waiting more than 24 hours to mention the threats — and reporting them only once the Chinese authorities were ready to respond.

Now, the Chinese media is full of fighting talk.

When the news broke that Washington was hiking tariffs again, Chinese netizens overwhelmingly agreed with authorities: “If you want to talk, the door is open; if you want to fight, we will fight to the end,” Xinhua reported.

A former vice minister of commerce, Wei Jianguo, had previously said that China had not only the determination but also the willingness to fight a prolonged war. “China will not only act as a kung fu master in response to U.S. tricks, but also as an experienced boxer and can deliver a deadly punch at the end,” he told the South China Morning Post.

In a sign that nerves are running high, news websites appeared to accidentally resend a Xinhua alert from May 20 last year, declaring: “China-U. S. trade war ceasefire! The war has ended!” 

The official news agency said it condemned the distribution of “false news” and would investigate how it had happened.

Wang Yuan contributed to this report.

Read more:

What ‘arrest’ means for the Canadians detained in China — and the epic battle over Huawei 

U.S. prepares to slap tariffs on remaining Chinese imports

Trump’s washing-machine tariffs cost U.S. consumers $815,000 for every job created

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-trade-war-grinds-on-chinese-authorities-ready-the-populace-for-a-long-fight/2019/05/20/11997968-7b0d-11e9-a66c-d36e482aa873_story.html

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Chicago Mayor: Lori Lightfoot Inaugurated – NPR
Chicago Mayor: Lori Lightfoot Inaugurated – NPR

Lori Lightfoot, who won a landslide victory in Chicago’s runoff election, was sworn in as mayor on Monday.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ


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Lori Lightfoot, who won a landslide victory in Chicago’s runoff election, was sworn in as mayor on Monday.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Updated at 1:10 p.m. ET

Lori Lightfoot officially became Chicago’s first black female and openly gay mayor on Monday. She immediately laid out a four-point plan for safety, education, stability and integrity during her 40-minute inauguration speech.

“I’m looking ahead to a city of safe streets and strong schools for every child, regardless of neighborhood or ZIP code,” Lightfoot said. “A city where people want to grow old and not flee. A city of sanctuary against fear where no one must hide in the shadows. A city that is affordable for families and seniors, and where every job pays a living wage. A city of fairness and hope and prosperity for the many, not just for the few, a city that holds equity and inclusion as our guiding principles.”

Lightfoot was sworn in with all 50 aldermen, City Clerk Anna Valencia and City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin at the 10,000-seat Wintrust Arena.

She thanked her 90-year-old mother, Ann Lightfoot, who traveled from Massillon, Ohio, to sit in the front row for the speech.

Lightfoot then promised “to build this great city, and leave it better, stronger, fairer and more prosperous than we found it.”

The new mayor promised to tackle violence and education, but cautioned that the city’s problems “will not be solved overnight.”

To combat gun violence, Lightfoot announced the Mayor’s Office of Public Safety, which will be lead by a deputy mayor. The office will be tasked with developing and implementing an interdepartmental anti-violence strategy.

“People cannot, and should not, live in neighborhoods that resemble war zones. … Let’s unite in our response to the biggest challenge we face: the epidemic of gun violence that devastates families, shatters communities, buries dreams and holds children hostage to fear in their own homes,” Lightfoot said. “It inflicts lifelong trauma that spreads through our communities.”

Lightfoot also vowed to improve the city’s public education system to “create a citywide workforce as a pipeline of jobs.”

Lori Lightfoot (right) on stage at her inauguration with her wife Amy Eshleman.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ


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Lori Lightfoot (right) on stage at her inauguration with her wife Amy Eshleman.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

“As a city, we make promises to our children … we promise them an education — a safe, relevant and challenging education that prepares them for meaningful work, civic engagement and lifelong learning.”

But Lightfoot will face challenges. Among the many demands of the Chicago Teachers Union is hefty 5% raises for staff, as well as more counselors and nurses. Though negotiations are moving along, the CTU is taking the necessary legal steps to strike in September if they don’t have a contract by then. Lightfoot has said she wants to avoid a strike but has not said how she will find money to meet these demands.

In her speech, Lightfoot acknowledged the city’s financial hole by saying “some hard choices will have to be made” but didn’t give details on her plan.

“Our challenges are great, there’s no mistaking that,” Lightfoot said. “But if we follow these four stars — safety, schooling, stability and integrity — we can once again become a city that families want to move to, not run away from.”

Lightfoot’s inauguration caps a stunning political rise for someone who has never before held elected office. The former federal prosecutor and corporate lawyer launched her mayoral bid last May, months before Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s bombshell announcement that he would not seek a third term in office.

That prompted a crush of pols to jump into the race, but Lightfoot, 56, rose to the top of a field of 14 candidates in late February’s general election. After a short and bruising campaign against Democratic Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Lightoot went on to win a landslide victory in the April 2 runoff.

Ultimately, Lightfoot won in all 50 wards and garnered 74% of the vote over Preckwinkle’s 26%, a margin not seen in Chicago since Mayor Richard M. Daley.

The city is also inaugurating Chicago’s two other citywide elected officials and all 50 aldermen Monday.

On the campaign trail, Lightfoot promised to put an end to Chicago’s political machine “once and for all” and shine a bright light on corruption in City Hall. It’s a message that resonated with voters, particularly as a burgeoning corruption scandal involving some of the city’s longest-serving aldermen hit the headlines at the height of the mayor’s race.

Veteran Alderman Ed Burke was charged in January with attempted extortion for allegedly trying to shake down owners of a fast-food franchise in order to win business for his private law firm. Burke has said he didn’t do anything wrong.

But legal documents also revealed that Burke allegedly urged the restaurateurs to give campaign money to Preckwinkle. That revelation and other Preckwinkle-Burke connections, coupled with Preckwinkle’s post as the Cook County Democratic Party Chair, left an opening for Lightfoot to paint her as the consummate City Hall insider at a time when voters were hungry for reform.

In recent days, Lightfoot started to act on some of those campaign promises to clean up City Hall.

She met with aldermen about an executive order she had said she would sign on her first day in office that would curtail an unwritten custom, known as “aldermanic prerogative,” that gives local aldermen the final say over permits and zoning in their wards. Critics have long said that unilateral power leads to corruption, but many aldermen were not on board with Lightfoot’s proposed changes after last week’s meetings.

Lightfoot not only must learn now to navigate a new political landscape at City Hall, but she also immediately has to deal with the city’s serious financial problems and the onset of summer gun violence.

Lightfoot told reporters Friday that the 2020 budget gap she will have to close is worse than the $700 million deficit proclaimed by Emanuel’s administration, though she wouldn’t say how much worse.

The new mayor also will have to work with the City Council quickly to find money for a spike in state-mandated payments to Chicago’s beleaguered pension funds. City Hall’s ante into its pension funds jumps by $121 million next year, and the city will have to come up with about $1 billion more by 2023 in order to keep up with those ever-rising obligations.

Lightfoot has not detailed how she plans to deal with Chicago’s budget problems, and how that could hit taxpayers. To pay for pensions, aldermen went along with a series of unpopular tax hikes under Emanuel, and it’s not clear whether they’ll be willing to do so again for Lightfoot.

The new mayor will also immediately face high levels of violence and crime with the coming of warm weather. While she’s still rolling out her top cabinet picks, Lightfoot has made it clear that she will not decide whether to replace Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson until after the summer, in order to provide stability during the traditionally violent season.

Lightfoot, the former head of the Chicago Police Board, will also have to manage the ongoing task of reforming the Chicago Police Department. That process, launched after the Laquan McDonald shooting scandal, has been fraught with tension between City Hall and the Chicago police union.

She’s also had only a small window of time — about six weeks — to staff a new leadership team for City Hall.

Several of her top staff picks signal her priorities — reducing segregation, building up neighborhoods, tackling police reform — and some department heads will be kept on from Emanuel’s administration.

One of Lightfoot’s first tests in the City Council will come later this month, when aldermen are set to vote on which from their ranks will get to lead the chamber’s influential committees. Committee picks are traditionally put forth by the mayor.

And Lightfoot is already shaking things up. She wants to name progressive Alderman Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward, to head up the powerful Finance Committee. That post was held by Burke until he was charged by the feds.

Alderman Pat Dowell, 3rd Ward, would replace the influential Alderman Carrie Austin, from the 34th Ward, as Budget Committee chair. Austin backed Preckwinkle in the mayor’s race.

Among other changes, 36th Ward Alderman Gilbert Villegas will serve as Lightfoot’s floor leader, the first Latino ever to hold that unofficial post. The job, which involves whipping votes and advancing a mayor’s agenda in the City Council, was performed by Alderman Pat O’Connor during Emanuel’s time in office. But O’Connor, 40th Ward, was defeated in the anti-incumbent wave that swept Lightfoot into office in April.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/724951238/capping-a-stunning-political-rise-chicago-to-inaugurate-lori-lightfoot-as-mayor

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Kamala Harris calls for fining companies over gender pay gap – Fox News
Kamala Harris calls for fining companies over gender pay gap – Fox News
Video

2020 presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA): What to know

Senator Kamala Harris announced her bid for the White House on Monday, January 21, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Here’s what you need to know about her and her positions on major issues.

Presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris is vowing to fine corporations that don’t take steps toward closing the gender pay gap.

The Democrat from California wants to turn the current system on its head. Instead of requiring female employees to come forward with complaints, her plan would require companies to submit data each year on equal pay to comply with new standards.

HARRIS VOWS TO TAKE EXECUTIVE ACTION TO BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS IMPORTS

The plan, unveiled Monday, was touted by the Harris campaign as “first-of-its kind” and “historic.”

The candidate said in a statement that the issue of equal pay hits home: “[A]s the daughter of a working mother in a male-dominated field, I know the fight to be treated equally in the workplace has persisted for generations.”

Harris said her proposal would “finally put the burden of ensuring equal pay on the corporations responsible for gender pay gaps, not the employees being discriminated against. We can finally ensure women earn the wages they deserve by forcing companies to step up, holding them accountable when they don’t, and committing as a nation to ending pay inequity once and for all.”

Women working full time are paid, on average, 82 cents to every dollar a male worker earns, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Black women earn just 68 cents compared with their male counterparts, and that number drops to 62 cents to the dollar for Latina workers.

HARRIS SHARPLY DISAGREES WITH BIDEN ON CRIME LAW, SAYS HE’D MAKE A GOOD RUNNING MATE

The senator’s plan, if passed into law, would mandate that large corporations obtain ‘equal pay certification’ from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Companies failing to land a certification would face fines – for every 1 percent wage gap, they would be fined 1 percent of their profits.

If Congress does not pass her plan into law, Harris vowed she would take executive action, as she would with her plan to stem gun violence. Harris said she would require companies applying for federal contracts to meet the equal pay standards.

Harris gave a sneak peek of her plan at a campaign event Sunday night in Los Angeles, telling the crowd that “I believe this is a moment in time where anyone who professes to be a leader has got to fight for the importance of restoring equal opportunity for all people to succeed.”

The Republican National Committee took aim at the latest Harris proposal.

“We don’t need to strap new regulations, burdens, or fines on businesses to create opportunities for women, and President Trump’s economic record is a testament to that,” RNC press secretary Blair Ellis told Fox News.

And she highlighted GOP President Trump’s efforts to support women in the workforce and emphasized that “it’s why women’s unemployment has dropped to the lowest level since 1953 and wage growth has hit a 10-year high.”

   WHERE HARRIS STANDS IN THE NEW FOX NEWS POLL

The senator’s plan builds on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in 2009 – which clarifies the statute of limitations on equal pay discrimination cases. And it builds on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which earlier this year passed the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.

The measure is co-sponsored by a number of Harris’ rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and former Reps. Beto O’Rourke of Texas and John Delaney of Maryland.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-fining-companies-gender-pay-gap

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North Korean State TV Gets A Makeover – NPR
North Korean State TV Gets A Makeover – NPR

In this episode last September of an evening show on North Korea’s Korean Central Television named News From Soldiers’ Hometowns, the show’s anchor is interrupted by a presenter who walks on with papers in hand to deliver an update.



DPRKToday/Screenshot by NPR

There’s an evening show on North Korea’s state TV that brings soldiers news from their hometowns.

Last September, the show on the regime-run Korean Central Television, or KCTV, was interrupted for an urgent update.

“Another piece of news from our families on the home front, just in from the Kangson steel factory,” an announcer says. “Soldiers from Kangson will be happy to hear that,” the anchor replies, beaming.

The update: A soldier’s father says he and fellow factory workers are so motivated, they will beat production targets by 50%.

The spirited labor message is decades old. But the presentation, including the staged interruption, hints at a change in propaganda tactics.

The news presenters are fresh-faced. Their attire is business casual. Their dialogue is chatty. You might almost think it’s a South Korean show. One giveaway that it’s not is the anchors’ red lapel pins bearing images of old North Korean leaders, worn only in the North.

The program is an example of recent North Korean efforts to give propaganda a makeover. Analysts say it is a response to fierce competition between Pyongyang’s narrative — that its foreign and domestic policies are succeeding — and an influx of outside information, in spite of government attempts to completely shut it out.

North Korean authorities “know that they can’t go on with the old ways of propaganda and idolizing leaders,” Jang Haesung, a former KCTV reporter who defected to South Korea in the 1990s, tells NPR.

“But they have no choice,” he says, “because if they admit their failings, the regime could collapse.”

In the past, stern-faced anchors stolidly read their scripts, and there were few visuals. For major events, such as nuclear tests, presidential summits and the death of national leaders, the state television would wheel out veteran anchor Ri Chun Hee. She is known for her dramatic spiels, delivered wearing a traditional hanbok dress and in front of a backdrop of the crater atop Mount Paektu, the mythical birthplace of founding dynast Kim Il Sung.

People watch North Korea’s state-run television as presenter Ri Chun Hee announces North Korea has test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017.

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People watch North Korea’s state-run television as presenter Ri Chun Hee announces North Korea has test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017.

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

In recent months, though, the network’s business reports have begun to use digitally designed charts and graphics. Weather forecasters have stood up from their desks. Previously unseen TV studios and control rooms have begun to appear on screen.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un himself underwent an on-air makeover for his annual televised New Year’s address, ditching his rostrum and his Mao suit of years past. He instead donned a suit and tie and ensconced himself in a book-lined, wood-paneled study, which North Korea watchers say was apparently aimed at making him look more genial and statesman-like.

Proclamation to disregard conventional style

Authorities, meanwhile, have issued a slew of directives to the effect that news and propaganda “should boldly disregard the established customs and conventional way of writing and editing,” as the ruling party’s flagship newspaper Rodong Sinmun proclaimed in a May 7 article (link in Korean).

Another Rodong op-ed on April 29called for “fact-based” propaganda, which should never “fail to take into account the general public’s cognitive and emotional capabilities.”

In March, Kim Jong Un himself wrote a letter (link in Korean) to propaganda workers, telling them that “mystifying the leader’s revolutionary activities to emphasize his greatness will bury the truth.” He added: “Only when the people are charmed by the leader as a human and a comrade, will they feel a sense of absolute loyalty.”

The statements, analysts say, reflect the fact that North Koreans increasingly have access to alternative sources of information which challenge the leadership’s narrative.

“After watching South Korean television, North Koreans can’t help but wonder why they can’t make programs like those,” says Kang Dong Wan, an expert on North Korea media at Dong-A University in Busan, South Korea.

This is happening despite authorities’ best efforts, Kang points out. Few of North Korea’s more than 25 million people have access to the Internet, and those who do are limited to surfing a dozen or so government-run sites. Several million North Koreans now have mobile phones, but their calls are believed to be monitored by authorities.

Jang, the former KCTV reporter who is now retired, confides that when he was with the North’s network he had access to foreign news and domestic intelligence briefings and, although he couldn’t discuss it publicly, he knew pretty well what was happening at home and abroad. He says other North Korean elites are in a similar position.

Increasingly, ordinary North Koreans are also exposed to outside news and entertainment through smuggled DVDs, thumb drives and memory cards, or in broadcasts from foreign media outlets, such as Radio Free Asia and the BBC, accessed by shortwave radios.

And it is carried in the minds of North Korean traders and laborers — from seafood merchants in China to lumberjacks in Russia’s Far East — who can access foreign media while working abroad.

Even though North Korea’s leaders can easily jail their critics, analysts say, they still have to at least appear to care about what people think.

“No matter how much propaganda it puts out,” Kang says, “the North Korean government knows that its people know that what they are telling them is not true.”

Meanwhile, says Kim Seungchul, president of the Seoul-based North Korea Reform Radio, penalties for accessing banned foreign media are becoming more lenient as more people catch on.

Kim is a North Korean defector. His network broadcasts a couple of hours of news a day via shortwave, aimed at a North Korean audience.

It used to be, he says, that getting caught listening to foreign broadcasts could land you in a political prison, or worse. Now so many people are listening, he says, that getting caught usually just means a fine or a short stint in a detention center.

The influx of information has undermined North Korea’s control over the narrative of current events, most notably in February in Vietnam, when President Trump walked out on what he said was a bad deal offered by Kim Jong Un.

Kim Seungchul says that following the summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, North Korean diplomats told workers overseas: “‘We have our own position on this. You just wait and see. But in the meantime, don’t tell anyone about it. Don’t even discuss it with each other.'”

But the news got into North Korea anyway, and after a week of claiming the summit was a victory for Kim Jong Un, state media did an about-face, blaming hard-liners within the Trump administration for sabotaging the summit.

Later in March, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui argued that public opinion was constraining Kim’s policy options.

“Our people, especially our military and munitions industry, are saying we must never give up nuclear capabilities,” Choe said, and therefore they opposed Kim making a deal with Trump in Hanoi.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/723922031/north-koreas-state-propaganda-gets-a-makeover

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Trump dismisses report that Deutsche Bank ignored warnings about his accounts – AOL
Trump dismisses report that Deutsche Bank ignored warnings about his accounts – AOL

  • President Donald Trump lashed out at a New York Times report Monday, in which former Deutsche Bank employees claimed that concerns about potentially illicit activity from accounts tied to Trump were ignored. 
  • According to the report, several banks refused to do business with Trump.
  • In the tweets, Trump claimed that he didn’t seek the custom of other banks “because I didn’t need money.”
  • “Deutsche Bank was very good and highly professional to deal with – and if for any reason I didn’t like them, I would have gone elsewhere,” tweeted the president. 
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump in a series of early morning tweets lashed out at a New York Times report in which former employees claimed that they were ignored when they raised concerns about accounts connected to the president.

The report claims that anti-money-laundering specialists at the bank recommended that numerous transactions involving entities controlled by Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner should be referred to a federal financial-crimes watchdog.

According to the report, Deutsche Bank lent Trump and his businesses $2.5 billion at a time when “most Wall Street banks had stopped doing business with him after his repeated defaults.”

“The Failing New York Times (it will pass away when I leave office in 6 years), and others of the Fake News Media, keep writing phony stories about how I didn’t use many banks because they didn’t want to do business with me. WRONG! It is because I didn’t need money,” Trump tweeted. 

“Very old fashioned, but true. When you don’t need or want money, you don’t need or want banks. Banks have always been available to me, they want to make money. Fake Media only says this to disparage, and always uses unnamed sources (because their sources don’t even exist).”

He went on to praise Deutsche Bank, which he described as “highly professional.” 




He continued: “The new big story is that Trump made a lot of money and buys everything for cash, he doesn’t need banks. But where did he get all of that cash? Could it be Russia?

“No, I built a great business and don’t need banks, but if I did they would be there…and Deutsche Bank was very good and highly professional to deal with – and if for any reason I didn’t like them, I would have gone elsewhere….there was always plenty of money around and banks to choose from.

“They would be very happy to take my money. Fake News!”

Speculation has long existed about Trump’s ties to Deutsche Bank, which lent the then businessman millions when he was refused loans by other banks. 

Five former employees with the bank told the New York Times they had filed reports about suspicious activity by accounts connected to the Trump organization. 

During the Monday tweetstorm, the president went on to claim that there were “two tweets missing from the last batch,” but provided no further details, blaming it on a “Twitter error.” 

NOW WATCH: Here are 7 takeaways from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation

See Also:

Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2019/05/20/trump-dismisses-report-that-very-good-and-highly-professional-deutsche-bank-ignored-warnings-that-his-accounts-could-be-linked-to-financial-crime/23730809/

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As Trump escalates China trade dispute, economic ties lose stabilizing force in matters of national security – The Washington Post
As Trump escalates China trade dispute, economic ties lose stabilizing force in matters of national security – The Washington Post

Paul Sonne

May 19 at 2:59 PM

The United States for years relied on economic interdependence with China as a stabilizing force in relations with Beijing, with business between the two nations forming what former treasury secretary Hank Paulson used to call the “ballast” in U.S.-China affairs.

But as President Trump escalates his trade dispute with Chinese President Xi Jinping, there is a realization that those days are gone. The result is a reduced incentive for stability and restraint in Washington when it comes to China, raising the possibility that tensions could extend beyond the trade sphere and impact other areas of contention, including Taiwan or the South China Sea.  

“The way a lot of people have been talking about this is that you have lost, or you’re losing, the ballast,” said Zack Cooper, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former official in the George W. Bush administration. “The challenge now is that there is not much of a constituency that wants to protect the relationship amidst trade tensions, security concerns and human rights concerns.” 

The U.S. military is expressing growing alarm about China’s defense buildup. Human rights advocates are crying foul over China’s use of surveillance technology and internal reeducation camps for Muslims. And some American business executives, who once prized China and advocated for a more conciliatory stance toward Beijing, say they feel stung by what they see as unfair practices, ranging from intellectual-property theft to rules that require partnerships with local Chinese entities. 

[After tariff threats, many Chinese see Trump as a Marvel villain out to destroy them]

Underpinning the growing strain is a sense among many Americans, harnessed by Trump during the 2016 presidential election, that China is not playing fair, and the time has come for Washington to shift the balance. While Trump has focused on trade, raising the stakes in recent days by applying 25 percent tariffs to billions of dollars in Chinese goods, his administration’s tougher line has extended to national security, too. The Pentagon’s defense strategy calls for “great power competition” that aims to prevent China from achieving any substantive military advantage.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration added the Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei to the U.S. Commerce Department’s “entity list,” making it difficult for the Chinese firm to do business with any American company. The Commerce Department said Huawei “is engaged in activities that are contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interest.” The dispute over Huawei demonstrated the confluence of Washington’s economic and national security concerns.

“Putting these in two completely separate boxes — and saying we have to maintain close economic ties even as we compete in the national security realm — I don’t think that’s possible anymore,” said Bonnie S. Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I don’t think that we have the strong support from the business community that used to exist for this relationship. To me, the playing field has changed so fundamentally.”

Still, the United States and China have developed a complex and robust economic relationship that dates to the normalization of diplomatic ties four decades ago. Today, the United States imports more than half a trillion dollars in Chinese goods per year, underscoring the extent to which both nations have hitched their economic futures to each other and melded their supply chains in the decades since the diplomatic breakthrough of 1979.

That reality raises a broader question about the Trump administration’s approach to the world’s second-biggest economy: How can the United States execute full-fledged “great power competition” with China, the likes of which Washington has not seen since the Cold War, when the nations remain so economically intertwined?

The conundrum highlights one of the key differences between the Cold War and the burgeoning competition between the United States and China. The United States and the Soviet Union had few economic and trade links in the decades after World War II. The U.S. policy of containment, as the late diplomat George F. Kennan put it, ultimately sought to cause the “breakup or the gradual mellowing of Soviet power.” Any such containment policy with China would carry great economic risks for the United States.


From left, U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He line up for a photo before the opening session of trade negotiations in Beijing in February. (Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

“While I understand the appeal of thrusting China into a role of Soviet Union 2.0, thrusting or forcing China into that role would lead us toward a very misguided goal of containment,” said Ali Wyne, a policy analyst at Rand Corp. “China is far more powerful economically than the Soviet Union ever was.”

The Trump administration has sent mixed messages about what it is seeking to achieve long term with its trade and national security policies on China. Some officials, including Trump at times, suggest economic ties with China will continue apace and possibly even deepen, so long as Beijing agrees to new, fairer rules. Others emphasize American resolve to restrain China’s unfair expansionism and end the economic linkages that have been fueling its rise.

“For some sides of the administration, the purpose of the tariffs was to build leverage so as to pressure China to open its markets to American businesses, thereby deepening the U.S.-China relationship,” said Ely Ratner, director of studies at the Center for a New American Security, who was previously an adviser to former vice president Joe Biden. “Others see economic interdependence as a huge vulnerability and a problem that needs to be solved. Is the goal a more reciprocal economic relationship or is it one that’s less interdependent?”

 Ratner said he didn’t expect the worsening trade relations necessarily to result in more Chinese aggression in Taiwan or the South China Sea. He said the question is more on the U.S. side — whether the failure to reach a trade deal will prompt the Trump administration to unleash harsher measures against China that until now it has been holding back in the interest of striking a deal. He said those measures could extend to the national security space — for instance, with more a more muscular U.S. military presence in the South China Sea.

Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs executive and treasury secretary under George W. Bush, is no longer describing business as the “ballast” in U.S.-China relations. These days, he is warning of an “economic iron curtain” that could descend between the United States and China, noting the risks that entails for the American economy. One reason, he said in a speech in February, is that “national security concerns are now bleeding into virtually every aspect of our economic relationship.”

“The problem with applying a blunt hammer is that it can end up breaking everything,” Paulson said. “If you aim to hurt others but end up hurting yourself, you cannot always recover for a second chance.”

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/as-trump-escalates-china-trade-dispute-economic-ties-lose-stabilizing-force-in-matters-of-national-security/2019/05/19/61d50abc-78da-11e9-ac17-284a66782c41_story.html

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Texas transgender woman seen in videotaped attack found dead – Fox News
Texas transgender woman seen in videotaped attack found dead – Fox News

DALLAS – A 23-year-old transgender woman seen on a widely circulated video being beaten in front of a crowd of people was found dead over the weekend in a Dallas shooting, police said.

Muhlaysia Booker was found face-down in a street early Saturday and no suspect has been identified, police Maj. Vincent Weddington said Sunday. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

There is no apparent link to the April 12 beating Booker suffered after she was involved in a minor traffic accident . A police affidavit released at the time said Booker accidentally backed into a vehicle before the driver of that vehicle pointed a gun at her and refused to let her leave unless she paid for the damage.

As a crowd gathered, someone offered $200 to a man to beat the woman, who suffered a concussion, fractured wrist and other injuries, police said at the time. Other men also struck Booker, with one stomping on her head. Edward Thomas, 29, was arrested and jailed on a charge of aggravated assault.

A cellphone recording showed her being beaten as the crowd hollered and watched. Video of the incident was shared on social media.

Booker attended a rally the following week where she said she was grateful to have survived the attack.

“This time I can stand before you, where in other scenarios, we’re at a memorial,” The Dallas Morning News reported her as saying.

Weddington said Sunday that the investigation into the April attack continues.

“We’re still attempting to identify other people that were seen assaulting Muhlaysia in the video,” he said.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-transgender-woman-seen-in-videotaped-attack-found-dead

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A billionaire will pay off debt of Morehouse College’s 2019 graduates. Here is what that gesture means – CNN
A billionaire will pay off debt of Morehouse College’s 2019 graduates. Here is what that gesture means – CNN

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/20/us/morehouse-robert-smith-student-loans/index.html

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After impeachment remarks, Justin Amash has a primary challenger – Washington Examiner
After impeachment remarks, Justin Amash has a primary challenger – Washington Examiner

After becoming the first Republican congressman to call for President Trump’s impeachment, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash now has a pro-Trump primary challenger.

State Rep. Jim Lower announced the 2020 challenge against the five-term congressman in a statement Sunday.

Jim Lower of Cedar Lake speaks to reporters in the House chamber in Lansing, Mich.

“I am a Pro-Trump, Pro-Life, Pro-Jobs, Pro-2nd Amendment, Pro-Family Values Republican,” Lower said. “Justin Amash’s tweets yesterday calling for President Trump’s impeachment show how out of touch he is with the truth and how out of touch he is with people he represents.”

On Saturday Amash penned a long series of tweets arguing that Trump committed impeachable offenses during special counsel Robert Mueller’s 22-month investigation. He also knocked Attorney General William Barr’s interpretation of Mueller’s findings, which concluded that the president did not obstruct justice.

“Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” wrote Amash, who said he believes that Trump obstructed justice during the course of the investigation.

Trump responded to remarks by calling Amash a “loser” who plays into the hands of Democrats in Congress.

[ Related: RNC chairwoman attacks GOP congressman Amash over Trump impeachment tweets]

“If he actually read the biased Mueller Report, ‘composed’ by 18 Angry Dems who hated Trump, he would see that it was nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION,” Trump tweeted. “Anyway, how do you Obstruct when there is no crime and, in fact, the crimes were committed by the other side? Justin is a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents hands!”

The same day Lower made the announcement, he changed his Twitter and Facebook profile pictures to a photo of him holding a microphone with a Trump 2020 banner hanging behind him.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/after-impeachment-remarks-justin-amash-has-a-primary-challenger

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Thousands protest Alabama abortion law at rallies around the state – AL.com
Thousands protest Alabama abortion law at rallies around the state – AL.com

From Huntsville to Mobile, Birmingham to Montgomery, thousands of Alabamians gathered Sunday in protest of the state’s new abortion law, widely considered the most restrictive in the country.

“I think this size shows us that people are mad,” said Megan Skipper, one of the organizers for the Montgomery rally. “And we are the majority and that abortion rights are human rights and that’s what we want for the state of Alabama.”

The law, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey last week, includes no exceptions for cases of rape and incest, outlawing all abortions except when necessary to prevent serious health problems for the woman. Though women are exempt from criminal and civil liability, the new law punishes doctors for performing an abortion, making the procedure a Class A felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. The law won’t go into effect for six months, though supporters and opponents expect it to be blocked by federal courts.

Opponents of the bill began organizing protests and rallies late last week. After a rally in Montgomery was announced for Sunday, organizers in other cities planned their rallies for the same day.

Montgomery

Montgomery’s March for Reproductive Freedom began Sunday at the Court Square Fountain.

“We never planned for it to be this big,” said Megan Skipper of Montgomery, one of the organizers. “But I think this size shows us that people are mad. And we are the majority and that abortion rights are human rights and that’s what we want for the state of Alabama.”

The crowd cheered speakers from the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, Yellowhammer Fund and other organizations, as well as those sharing their personal experiences.

“We shouldn’t be having to have a protest about this,” said Anna Belle May, 20, of Prattville, who said it was her first time at a protest. “There’s separation of church and state for a reason, and we’re bringing the church into the Legislature.”

Hundreds turn out to protest abortion law at Alabama Capitol

Protesters marched up Dexter Avenue to the Alabama Capitol, carrying signs and chanting “vote them out” to express their opposition to Alabama’s new law making abortion a felony.

Birmingham

In Birmingham, a crowd of 2,000 joined the “March for Reproductive Freedom,” which began and ended Kelly Ingram Park and included a rally.

Sarah Dillie, an OBGYN, marched alongside other doctors in white coats to protest the ban’s criminalization of doctors who perform abortions.

“I am here because doing my job should not be criminalized. I don’t think I should be called a felon for doing something that is part of comprehensive women’s healthcare.

Marchers walked around Kelly Ingram Park yelling “my body, my choice” and “hey hey, ho ho, abortion bans have got to go.”

Protesters fill Birmingham park to oppose abortion ban

Doctors, activists, parents, teachers, children and even pets marched alongside each other in downtown Birmingham protesting the passing of a near-total abortion ban last week at the March for Reproductive Freedom.

Huntsville

Huntsville police estimated as many as 1,000 attendees at the “My Body, My Choice” rally at Butler Green park in Huntsville on Sunday afternoon.

“We are gathering because we do not support what is happening right now,” said organizer Megan Eller. “This is not the Alabama I know, and I’m mad because of how Alabama is being portrayed to the rest of the world. I refuse to be a part of that.”

The rally was originally scheduled for the Courthouse Square but was later moved after more than 1,000 RSVP’d to the event on Facebook.

A few anti-abortion protesters showed up and were heckled by some of the pro-abortion rights protesters.

During the rally, protesters chanted “my body my choice” and “this is what democracy looks like.”

Hundreds gather in Huntsville to protest Alabama abortion ban

Police estimated up to 1,000 gathered on Butler Green in Huntsville for the Sunday afternoon rally.

Mobile

Mobile hosted two rallies, kicking off the weekend with a Saturday rally in Bienville Square and a march around downtown Mobile.

“It’s important for us to bring the community together,” said Katherine Brown, an organizer for the rally, which was hosted by the Mobile Bay Green Party and the Alabama Coalition for Reproductive Rights. A similar rally and march were held Sunday.

“People are upset,” she said. “People are hurt. They feel they have not been heard.”

Frustration and calls for change dominate at abortion ban protest rally

About 180 people showed up Saturday to Bienville Square for an abortion ban protest rally and march. It was the first of what will be several similar events in cities around Alabama on Sunday.

Elsewhere

In the Shoals, protesters gathered at the post office in Florence for a Shoals-area March For Reproductive Freedom rally.

A rally in Anniston is planned for Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the corner of Highway 202 and Noble Street.

High school students from Auburn are organizing a “Stand Up, Let Your Voices Be Beard” rally at the State Capitol next Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Source Article from https://www.al.com/news/2019/05/thousands-protest-alabama-abortion-law-at-rallies-around-the-state.html

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Chicago Mayor: Lori Lightfoot To Be Inaugurated Monday – NPR
Chicago Mayor: Lori Lightfoot To Be Inaugurated Monday – NPR

Lori Lightfoot, who has never held elected office, won a landslide victory in Chicago’s April 2 mayoral runoff election.

Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images


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Lori Lightfoot, who has never held elected office, won a landslide victory in Chicago’s April 2 mayoral runoff election.

Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images

Chicago will make history Monday when Lori Lightfoot is sworn in as the city’s first black woman mayor and first openly gay mayor.

The 56-year-old is set to be inaugurated along with Chicago’s two other city-wide elected officials and all 50 aldermen.

Lightfoot’s inauguration caps a stunning political rise for someone who has never before held elected office. The former federal prosecutor and corporate lawyer launched her mayoral bid last May, months before Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s bombshell announcement that he would not seek a third term in office.

That prompted a crush of pols to jump into the race, but Lightfoot rose to the top of a field of 14 candidates in late February’s general election. After a short and bruising campaign against Democratic Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Lightoot went on to win a landslide victory in the April 2 runoff.

Ultimately, Lightfoot won in all 50 wards and garnered 74 percent of the vote over Preckwinkle’s 26 percent, a margin not seen in Chicago since the reign of Mayor Richard M. Daley.

On the campaign trail, Lightfoot promised to put an end to Chicago’s political machine “once and for all” and shine a bright light on corruption in City Hall. It’s a message that resonated with voters, particularly as a burgeoning corruption scandal involving some of the city’s longest-serving aldermen hit the headlines at the height of the mayor’s race.

Veteran Ald. Ed Burke was charged in January with attempted extortion for allegedly trying to shake down owners of a fast food franchise in order to win business for his private law firm. Burke has said he didn’t do anything wrong.

But legal documents also revealed that Burke allegedly urged the restaurateurs to give campaign money to Preckwinkle. That revelation and other Preckwinkle-Burke connections, coupled with Preckwinkle’s post as the Cook County Democratic Party Chair, left an opening for Lightfoot to paint her as the consummate City Hall insider at a time when voters were hungry for reform.

In recent days, Lightfoot started to act on some of those campaign promises to clean up City Hall.

She met with aldermen about an executive order she had said she’ll sign on her first day in office that would curtail an unwritten custom, known as “aldermanic prerogative,” that gives local aldermen the final say over permits and zoning in their wards. Critics have long said that unilateral power leads to corruption, but many aldermen were not on board with Lightfoot’s proposed changes after last week’s meetings.

Lightfoot not only must learn now to navigate a new political landscape at City Hall, but she’ll also immediately have to deal with the city’s serious financial problems and the onset of summer gun violence.

Lightfoot told reporters Friday that the 2020 budget gap she’ll have to close is worse than the $700 million deficit proclaimed by Emanuel’s administration, though she wouldn’t say how much worse.

The new mayor will also have to work with the City Council quickly to find money for a spike in state-mandated payments to Chicago’s beleaguered pension funds. City Hall’s ante into its pension funds jumps by $121 million next year, and the city will have to come up with about $1 billion more by 2023 in order to keep up with those ever-rising obligations.

Lightfoot has not detailed how she plans to deal with Chicago’s budget problems, and how that could hit taxpayers. To pay for pensions, aldermen went along with a series of unpopular tax hikes under Emanuel and it’s not clear whether they’ll be willing to do so again for Lightfoot.

The new mayor will also immediately face high levels of violence and crime with the coming of warm weather. While she’s still rolling out her top cabinet picks, Lightfoot has made it clear that she will not decide whether to replace Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson until after the summer, in order to provide stability during the traditionally violent season.

Lightfoot, the former head of the Chicago Police Board, will also have to manage the ongoing task of reforming the Chicago Police Department. That process, launched after the Laquan McDonald shooting scandal, has been fraught with tension between City Hall and the Chicago police union.

She’s also had only a small window of time — about six weeks — to staff a new leadership team for City Hall.

Several of her top staff picks signal her priorities — reducing segregation, building up neighborhoods, tackling police reform — and some department heads will be kept on from Emanuel’s administration.

One of Lightfoot’s first tests in the City Council will come later this month, when aldermen are set to vote on which from their ranks will get to lead the chamber’s influential committees. Committee picks are traditionally put forth by the mayor.

And Lightfoot is already shaking things up. She wants to name progressive Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward, to head up the powerful Finance Committee. That post was held by Burke until he was charged by the feds.

Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd Ward, would replace the influential Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th Ward, as Budget Committee chair. Austin backed Preckwinkle in the mayor’s race.

Among other changes, 36th Ward Ald. Gilbert Villegas will serve as Lightfoot’s floor leader, the first Latino ever to hold that unofficial post. The job, which involves whipping votes and advancing a mayor’s agenda in the City Council, was performed by Ald. Pat O’Connor during Emanuel’s time in office. But O’Connor, 40th Ward, was defeated in the anti-incumbent wave that swept Lightfoot into office in April.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/724951238/capping-a-stunning-political-rise-chicago-to-inaugurate-lori-lightfoot-as-mayor

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In Trump’s Trade War, How Patriotic Will Americans Be? – NPR
In Trump’s Trade War, How Patriotic Will Americans Be? – NPR

Chinese shipping containers are stored at the Port of Los Angeles in Long Beach, Calif. Americans like trade, in bigger numbers than ever. But they also believe China doesn’t play fair in trade.

Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images


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Chinese shipping containers are stored at the Port of Los Angeles in Long Beach, Calif. Americans like trade, in bigger numbers than ever. But they also believe China doesn’t play fair in trade.

Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Bob Best enthusiastically supports President Trump’s tough policies against China and other countries.

“I’m not a big tariff guy. I’m a free trade guy,” says Best, who manages a heating and air conditioning company in Kennesaw, Ga.

“But sometimes when the bully just doesn’t listen, you’ve got to punch him in the mouth. And that’s what he’s doing.”

Best supports the president’s actions even though they affect him directly. The price of the heating and air conditioning units that his company sells went up by as much as $150 apiece after the cost of building them went up because Trump placed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports last year. He was forced to pass the increase onto his customers.

Trump will have to appeal to Americans’ national pride, and even their patriotism, to succeed in leveling the playing field with China. That’s because virtually every American is likely to feel an impact if Trump’s tariffs go forward on just about everything imported from China. He will have to persuade Americans that what’s at stake transcends their own interests.

Americans may not like paying higher prices on imported products, but they are more likely to tolerate them if they perceive that American values are at stake, says Henry Olsen, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

“I think you have an element of patriotism,” Olsen says. “People recognize that the Chinese government is not a free government, it’s not a democratic government, and that it’s increasingly becoming a threat to us and the other countries that do believe in those things.”

As an abstract idea, Americans are big backers of trade. Seventy-four percent see trade as a net positive for the economy. Mohamed Younis, editor-in-chief at Gallup News, says most people believe trade lowers prices over all and leads to a greater selection of products.

But 62% of Americans believe trade with China is unfair, he says.

Last week, Trump hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products from 10% to 25% and has threatened to levy that amount on an additional $325 billion worth of goods.

Tariffs are like taxes paid by importers at U.S. ports when they clear customs. Those businesses have to either swallow the cost themselves or pass it on to customers. The risk for Trump is that Americans will balk at paying higher prices. So far, there’s little no evidence that’s happening.

And support from some of the hardest hit remains firm. Even farmers, who have bore the brunt from the trade war, continue to support Trump in large numbers, says Rhonda Brooks, editor of Farm Journal, which regularly surveys ranchers and farmers about their political views.

“They believe very strongly that this is a president who is more than any president in recent history actually who’s really been talking about farmers and at least acknowledging them and that he wants to help them,” Brooks says.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/724357301/in-trumps-trade-war-americans-will-be-asked-to-show-economic-patriotism

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Trump: ‘I will not let Iran have nuclear weapons’ | TheHill – The Hill
Trump: ‘I will not let Iran have nuclear weapons’ | TheHill – The Hill

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump calls for Republicans to be ‘united’ on abortion Tlaib calls on Amash to join impeachment resolution Facebook temporarily suspended conservative commentator Candace Owens MORE said in a Sunday night Fox News interview that he doesn’t want to go to war with Iran but emphasized he will never allow the nation to develop nuclear weapons.

“I will not let Iran have nuclear weapons,” Trump told Fox News host Steve Hilton. “I don’t want to fight. But you do have situations like Iran, you can’t let them have nuclear weapons — you just can’t let that happen.”

Trump has reportedly grown frustrated with the hardline approach toward Tehran taken by national security adviser John BoltonJohn Robert BoltonOvernight Defense: Trump rails against media coverage | Calls reporting on Iran tensions ‘highly inaccurate’ | GOP senator blocking Trump pick for Turkey ambassador | Defense bill markup next week Trump: Anonymous news sources are ‘bulls—‘ Trump to Iran: ‘So call me maybe’ MORE and Secretary of State Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoUS warns airlines about flying over Persian Gulf amid Iran tensions Trump: Anonymous news sources are ‘bulls—‘ Iranian official: Trump ‘holding a gun’ while pursuing talks MORE and wishes to negotiate directly with Iranian leaders, but escalated his own rhetoric earlier Sunday afternoon, warning that a military engagement would mean “the official end of Iran.”

Tensions have risen between the two countries in recent weeks, with Bolton announcing a carrier group would be deployed to the Persian Gulf in response to unspecified acts of aggression by Iran, while Iran announced it will scale back some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal on the anniversary of Trump’s announcement the U.S. would withdraw from the deal entirely.

“I ended the Iran nuclear deal, and actually, I must tell you — I had no idea it was going to be as strong as it was. It totally — the country is devastated from the standpoint of the economy,” Trump said Sunday.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/444502-trump-i-will-not-let-iran-have-nuclear-weapons

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Game of Thrones’ Hilarious Series Finale: Congrats to the New Ruler of the 6 Kingdoms! – E! NEWS
Game of Thrones’ Hilarious Series Finale: Congrats to the New Ruler of the 6 Kingdoms! – E! NEWS

By:

LAUREN PIESTER

Sun., May. 19, 2019 7:25 PM

HBO

All hail the King Formerly Known as Bran. 

In the end, the Iron Throne…went to no one. It was melted to a puddle of iron by a dragon, but the role of king went to the person it probably made the most sense to go to, just in terms of the fact that he knows everything past, present, and future and will be able to make decisions for his people based on that and whatever, and he can also warg around to track down an angry dragon when he doesn’t want to deal with coins and brothels and ships and stuff. It’s Bran. Bran’s the King. King Bran the Broken.

Meanwhile, Jon’s been sent right back to the Night’s Watch to lead the Wildlings, Sansa’s the new Queen in the North, Arya’s off to discover the West, and Daenerys Targaryen is dead. 

Last week, women and children were being burned alive for no apparent reason. This week, Tyrion was comically arranging chairs and Sam literally held up a book called “A Song of Ice and Fire.” Ya never know what you’re going to get with this show.

The whole thing started just about where the last episode left off, with Tyrion, Jon, Davos, and some soldiers wandering the thoroughly destroyed King’s Landing, surveying the damage their queen had done. Grey Worm was sentencing Lannister soldiers to die, and Jon was all, “it’s over, dude.” 

Grey Worm refused to accept this and the unsullied even almost turned on Jon, and so Jon gave up and just let Grey Worm kill the guys. Who even cares anymore? Everyone might as well die at this point. 

Tyrion went on to the Red Keep by himself and wandered slowly through the debris until he came upon Jaime’s golden hand, followed by the dead bodies of Jaime and Cersei. Tyrion cried. Jaime and Cersei would likely not have survived even if Dany had only burned the people she went there to burn, but still. Sad for Tyrion, we guess. 

Helen Sloan/HBO

Arya and Jon then made their way to some really tall and extra dramatic stairs, and Jon walked up to the top to meet the new queen, who was ready to address her army. She made Grey Worm her master of war, and declared that their war was not over until they liberated all the women and children all over the Seven Kingdoms (except of course for the ones she just brutally murdered). 

As Tyrion stood beside her, she pointed out that he freed his brother and committed treason, and he pointed out that she just slaughtered a city, and then he tore off his fancy Hand of the Queen pin and they stared at each other for a second before she instructed her men to take him. (Honestly she should have done that last week instead of killing all the people who hadn’t wronged her but whatever). 

Jon and Arya reunited, and Arya had some cold hard truths to tell, like how Sansa saw this coming, and how Jon will always be a threat to Dany since she knows who he really is. 

Jon then went to visit Tyrion, who was imprisoned, and Tyrion just reminded us all that Dany went crazy and Jon would never have done such a thing, and tried to go back and describe all the things she had done to justify what she just did. Then they both waxed poetic about love and reason and duty and it all came down to the fact that Jon would have to kill the queen. 

Meanwhile, Dany found the throne. The walls around it had fallen down and it was way smaller than she thought it was going to be, but she was still about to finally have her moment until Jon Snow showed up to yell about all the women and children she just killed. But Dany was still convinced that her world will be a good world, because she knows what’s good, somehow. But no, she will not show mercy to any of the people who’ve wronged her, and she doesn’t regret what she just did to King’s Landing. 

“Be with me,” she told Jon, and got real close to him, which gave him the perfect opportunity to STAB HER. 

She died surprisingly fast given how slow every single other thing has happened this season, and then Drogon arrived to sadly nudge his mama a couple of times, bare his teeth in Jon’s direction, then turn his fiery breath towards the Iron Throne, which he completely melted. Then he picked Dany up in his dragon hand and flew away with her into the cloud of ash, which was when this first got funny. 

HBO

Some unknown time later (perhaps a “few weeks”), Tyrion was brought in chains in front of all the heads of house, and we learned that Jon was also a prisoner. Grey Worm refused to free him even as Sansa demanded it, and when no one could figure out what to do, Tyrion was like, “the king or queen should do it.” 

Then everybody realized there was no king or queen, and so they all decided to choose one. Whatever character Tobias Menzies plays (honestly can’t remember) tried to apply for the job, but that didn’t go well, and then everyone laughed uproariously after somebody suggested they turn the seven kingdoms into a democracy. Somebody asked if Tyrion wanted the gig, and he said absolutely not, but after thinking about it, stories are really cool and effective, and maybe we should choose the person with the best story. And that person is Bran. 

And since Bran can’t father children, the next time they need a new ruler, they’ll choose it again in the same way in the same spot instead of just handing it off to a son or daughter. 

Before Sansa agreed to Bran, she declared that the North will be an independent kingdom after everything they just went through, meaning Bran’s now just the king of the Six Kingdoms, and Tyrion’s his Hand. And as for Jon, no matter what happens, there will be a war, so King Bran decided to send him right back to the Night’s Watch for a life sentence of watching…something. 

Arya plans to go west of Westeros, to find out what happens after all the maps stop. Brienne updated a book about Jaime and somehow let herself end it with “died protecting his queen” instead of “turned out to be a real sister-loving jerk after all.” Tyrion carefully arranged all the chairs at the council table, only for everyone to come in and mess them up, just before Sam arrived to present him with a very large book called “A Song of Ice and Fire,” a book about the history of the wars following the death of King Robert, AKA the book series this show is based on. 

King Bran then arrived for two seconds only to check if anyone had found Drogon yet, and no one had, so he said he was going to go work on that while the rest of them figured out the rest of whatever ruling six kingdoms entails. We honestly thought Bran was just going to warg away right there at the table, and we were ready for it, but instead he just had Podrick push him away, leaving the rest of the half a council to argue about whether ships or brothels are more important. 

Helen Sloan/HBO

The final montage was the real end. Arya led ships West of Westeros. Sansa was crowned the King in the independent kingdom of the North, and Jon reunited with Tormund and Ghost and led the freefolk past the wall, where the zombies apparently really are gone for good.

And that was it. Our watch has ended. 

Vote in the poll below with your thoughts on the finale, and stay tuned for more coverage and unpacking of all of that. 

Game of Thrones aired on HBO. 

Source Article from https://m.eonline.com/amp/news/1042733/lessigreatergame-of-throneslessigreater’-hilarious-series-finale:-congrats-to-the-new-ruler-of-the-6-kingdoms!

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Trump vows to ‘end’ Iran if it threatens US again – New York Post
Trump vows to ‘end’ Iran if it threatens US again – New York Post

President Trump threatened to destroy Iran in a tweet sent in the wake of reports that a rocket was fired into Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone less than a mile away from the US Embassy.

“If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!,” Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon.

It’s unclear exactly what promoted Trump’s posting, but news outlets reported explosions in Iraq’s capital and that a rocket launcher was discovered in eastern Baghdad, an area that is home to Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

Roads leading into the Green Zone were briefly closed and no casualties were reported.

Amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran there have been concerns that Iraq, where Iranian forces and about 5,000 American troops are stationed, could become entangled in the standoff.

A Saudi Arabian diplomat said his country doesn’t want to go to war with Iran but but will defend itself after two Saudi oil tankers were targeted by acts of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates last week.

No group has claimed responsibility for the sabotage but US officials in reports signaled that Iran encouraged Iraq-based Iranian militants to carry it out.

Riyadh also accused Tehran of being behind a drone attack on two oil pumping stations in the Kingdom, which Yemen’s Iranian-aligned Houthi group claimed responsibility for.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not want war in the region and does not strive for that… but at the same time, if the other side chooses war, the kingdom will fight this with all force and determination and it will defend itself, its citizens and its interests,” Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abel al-Jubeir told reporters.

The top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s elite fighting force, echoed the same sentiments through state media on Sunday.

“Iran is not looking for any type of war, but it is fully prepared to defend itself,” said Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami.

Tensions have been heightened between Washington and Tehran after reports said Iran was planning to carry out attacks on American troops and ships in the region.

Earlier this month, the White House sent warships and bombers into the Persian Gulf to counter any threats from Iran and evacuated non-emergency personnel from Iraq.

The US Navy said the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group conducted exercises in the Arabian Sea over the weekend in a show the US military’s “lethality and agility to respond to threat” and to protect US interests.

Trump has employed such bluster before including when he was negotiating with North Korea to ditch its nuclear weapons program.

Responding to reports that North Korea had succeeded in attaching nuclear warheads to ballistic missiles, Trump warned leader Kim Jong-un not to threaten the US.

“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump told reporters in August 2017. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

With Post wire services

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2019/05/19/trump-vows-to-end-iran-if-it-threatens-us-again/

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Trump threatens Iran’s ‘end’ if it seeks fight with the US – Aljazeera.com
Trump threatens Iran’s ‘end’ if it seeks fight with the US – Aljazeera.com

Just days after saying he was prepared for talks, United States President Donald Trump has issued a direct threat to Iran, suggesting that the Islamic Republic will be destroyed if it attacks his country’s interests.

“If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday. He did not clarify what threats he meant.

The confrontational post follows last week’s attacks on Saudi oil assets and the firing of a rocket on Sunday into the heavily fortified “Green Zone” in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, an area housing many government buildings and embassies.

The Iraqi military said there were no casualties in the rocket attack. There has been no claim of responsibility.


Amid escalating tension with Iran, Washington earlier this month dispatched to the region an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, as well as an amphibious assault ship and a Patriot missile battery.

On Wednesday, it ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel from the US embassy in Baghdad embassy and the Erbil consulate in northern Iraq, citing “imminent” threats from Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups. It did not disclose any details, and its account has been met with widespread skepticism outside the US.

But in recent days, the White House has sent mixed signals over its stance against Iran, amid multiple US media reports of infighting in Trump’s cabinet.

John Bolton, Trump’s long-hawkish national security adviser, is reportedly pushing a hard line on Iran, but others in the administration are resisting. Trump himself said recently that he has to “temper” Bolton. 

And when he was asked on Thursday if Washington was going to war with Tehran, Trump replied, “I hope not”. That comment came a day after he expressed a desire for dialogue, tweeting: “I’m sure that Iran will want to talk soon.”

“It really is becoming a clear that this administration is sending mixed messages when it comes to Iran,” Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, said.

“So the big question is why did he send that confrontational tweet? Is it because he received some sort of classified briefing or is it because of something he watched on television? We don’t know.”


‘Contradictory and schizophrenic’

Trita Parsi, a professor of Middle East politics at Georgetown University, described Trump’s threat as
“extremely dangerous”.

“This is genocidal,” he told Al Jazeera from Reston, Virginia. “This is absolutely not something that any leader of a country should do, but it is also somewhat contradictory and schizophrenic,” he added.

“If we were to try and make sense of it, if there actually is a logic behind all of this, then my guess would be that earlier on Trump was led to believe – probably by people like [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu] and Bolton that Iran is an easy target, that they are about to crumble and that if you just ratchet things up the Iranians are going to back off,” continued Parsi.

“Then the intelligence came which showed that as the Iranians were starting to perceive an American threat they were making themselves ready to retaliate and to defend themselves. And it appears as if that actually spooked Trump, because he did suddenly realise that actually an attack on Iran would lead to a larger war and he is clever enough to understand that a larger war is not in his interest, and … he started saying things like he doesn’t want to have a war.

“But every once in a while his impulses get the better of him and that’s when he goes on Twitter and says things that are just fundamentally genocidal.”


‘There will not be a war’

Iran-US relations hit a new low last year as US Trump pulled out of a multinational 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed unilateral sanctions that had been lifted in exchange for Tehran scaling back its nuclear programme.

Last month, Washington also designated Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist” entity. Tehran responded by declaring US Centcom a “terror” organisation. 


On Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, downplayed the prospect of a new war in the region, saying Tehran opposed it and no party was under the “illusion” the Islamic Republic could be confronted.

“We are certain … there will not be a war since neither we want a war nor does anyone have the illusion they can confront Iran in the region,” Zarif told state-run news agency IRNA at the end of a visit to China.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia‘s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said on Sunday the kingdom wanted to avert war in the region but stood ready to respond with “all strength and determination” after last week’s attacks on the Saudi oil assets.

Saudi Arabia has accused its regional rival, Iran, of ordering Tuesday’s drone attacks on two oil-pumping stations in the kingdom, claimed by Yemen’s Houthi group.

The attack came two days after four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, were “sabotaged” off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE has not blamed anyone, pending an investigation, and Iran has denied any involvement.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not want a war in the region nor does it seek that,” al-Jubeir told a news conference on Sunday.

“It will do what it can to prevent this war and at the same time it reaffirms that in the event the other side chooses war, the kingdom will respond with all force and determination, and it will defend itself and its interests.

“We want peace and stability in the region but we will not sit on our hands in light of the continuing Iranian attack,” al-Jubeir said. “The ball is in Iran’s court and it is up to Iran to determine what its fate will be.”

A senior Iranian military commander was similarly quoted as saying his country is not looking for war, in comments published in Iranian media on Sunday.

“We are not pursuing war but we are also not afraid of war,” Major General Hossein Salami was cited as saying by the semi-official news agency Tasnim.

The remarks came as Saudi Arabia’s King Salman invited Gulf and Arab leaders to convene emergency summits in Mecca on May 30.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed regional developments, including efforts to strengthen security and stability, in a phone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Saudi Media Ministry tweeted on Sunday.

Source Article from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/trump-threatens-iran-seeks-fight-190520003050499.html

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Brazil officials say 11 dead in ‘massacre’ at Belém bar – USA TODAY
Brazil officials say 11 dead in ‘massacre’ at Belém bar – USA TODAY

RIO DE JANEIRO – A gang of gunmen reportedly attacked a bar in the capital of Brazil’s northern Pará state Sunday afternoon, killing 11 people.

The state security agency confirmed late Sunday only that six women and five men died in the incident in the Guamá neighborhood of the Pará state capital, Belém.

The G1 news website said police reported that seven gunmen were involved in the attack, which also wounded one person. The news outlet said the attackers arrived at the bar on one motorcycle and in three cars.

“A massacre is confirmed,” Pará state spokeswoman Natalia Mello said.

In late March, the federal government sent National Guard troops to Belém to reinforce security in the city for 90 days.

Brazil hit a record high of 64,000 homicides in 2017, 70% of which were due to firearms, according to official statistics.

Much of Brazil’s violence is gang related. In January, gangs attacked across Fortaleza, bringing that city to a standstill with as commerce, buses and taxis shut down. Rio de Janeiro experiences daily shootouts between rival gangs and also police that often kill innocent bystanders.

Rio de Janeiro, the country’s second biggest city, experiences daily shootouts between rival gangs and also between police and criminals, battles that often result in the deaths of innocent bystanders. Fogo Cruzado, a group that monitors shootings in the Rio metropolitan area, says there were 2,300 shootings in Rio and its suburbs during the first 100 days of this year.

One of new President Jair Bolsonaro’s main campaign promises was that he would loosen Brazil’s strict gun laws, arguing that because criminals are well-armed with illegally obtained guns, “upstanding citizens” should have the right to defend themselves with legally bought guns.

Bolsonaro has made good on that campaign promise with two presidential decrees that make buying guns easier, though federal prosecutors are seeking to get the courts to block that move.

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/19/brazil-officials-massacre-media-dead-bar/3736132002/

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Buttigieg takes on Trump, acknowledges campaign must appeal to ‘black and brown’ voters in Fox News Town Hall – Fox News
Buttigieg takes on Trump, acknowledges campaign must appeal to ‘black and brown’ voters in Fox News Town Hall – Fox News
Video

Town Hall with Pete Buttigieg: Part 1

Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg discusses his youth, leadership experience, inclusive policy plans, abortion, drug addiction and debt with moderator Chris Wallace in Claremont, New Hampshire.

Insurgent Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg acknowledged at the Fox News town hall in Claremont, New Hampshire Sunday evening that he needs to do more to appeal to “black and brown” voters, even as he confidently parried a series of policy questions — and, on several occasions, went directly after President Trump.

Buttigieg argued that minority voters are “skeptical of people who seem to come out of nowhere,” after moderator Chris Wallace noted that he was polling at one-percent support among nonwhite primary voters according to a recent Fox News poll.

On fiscal policy, Buttigieg pushed for four distinct tax hikes when asked about the deficit, saying he favored a “fairer, which means higher” marginal income tax, a “reasonable” wealth tax “or something like that,” a financial transactions tax, and closing “corporate tax loopholes.”

“You don’t blow a hole in the budget with an unnecessary and unaffordable tax cut for the very wealthiest,” Buttigieg told Wallace, referring to President Trump’s tax legislation.

PETE BUTTIGIEG TOWN HALL WITH FOX NEWS: AS IT HAPPENED

With little equivocating, Buttigieg largely stuck to reminding voters of his core campaign pledges, and the lessons he learned from his six-month deployment to Afghanistan in 2014: “We do not send young men and women to war when there’s an alternative,” he emphasized.

Throughout, Buttigieg repeatedly drew applause — even when he defended his calls to abolish the Electoral College, a move that would gut New Hampshire’s influence in selecting the next president.

“States don’t vote, people vote,” Buttigieg said. He added that “if we’re going to call ourselves a democracy,” the U.S. should move to a popular vote system.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: EVEN MAYOR PETE SAYS HE’S SURPRISED BY HIS SURGE IN THE POLLS

Responding to the newly passed pro-life legislation passed in Alabama, as well as similar bills making their way through other state legislatures, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana told Wallace that “abortion is a national right.”

South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during the Fox News Town Hall Sunday evening.
(Fox News)

Asked about third-trimester abortions, Buttigieg asserted that such cases were rare and typically involved an unforeseen circumstance, before refusing to endorse any restrictions whatsoever on late-term abortions. Government statistics indicate that in 2015, approximately 1.3 percent of abortions were performed after 20 weeks.

“I trust women to draw the line,” Buttigieg said. “That decision [to have an abortion] is not going to be made any better, medically or morally, because the government is dictating how that decision should be made.”

Vice President Joe Biden is now the clear front-runner in the crowded Democrat Party primary field, but Buttigieg indicated that the long odds didn’t faze him.

“There’s a lot of us running for president on the Democratic side, but I think it’s safe to say I’m not like the others,” Buttigieg told Wallace, noting that seeking the presidency is inherently “audacious” — especially given that he would be the youngest person to ever become president.

“I would say being a mayor in a city of any size in America right now is about as relevant as it gets,” Buttigieg added.

TRUMP TELLS ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS TO STAY UNITED IN 2020

Buttigieg suggested he isn’t too worried about his likely Republican opponent after the primary, either.

“The tweets are — I don’t care,” Buttigieg to raucous applause at one point, referring to Trump’s Twitter posts, including some that mocked Buttigieg.

“It’s a great way to command attention,” Wallace said.

“It’s a great way to command attention from the media,” Buttigieg countered.

Video

In a closing lightning-round of questions, Buttigieg downplayed his comments during a radio interview on Friday, in which he called for removing Thomas Jefferson’s name from buildings and events like the Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner.

“You would have thought I would proposed blowing up the Jefferson Memorial in D.C.,” Buttigieg joked, noting that his campaign headquarters is on a street named for Jefferson.

Buttigieg also cited the HBO show “Game of Thrones” as one of his “guilty pleasures,” noting that the finale would be televised shortly after the conclusion of the town hall.

Ultimately, Buttigieg received a standing ovation after delivering his closing remarks.

“Look, what we’re trying to do here is different,” Buttigieg began, as the the town hall wrapped up. “Because the moment that we’re in is different. I get that a millennial, midwestern mayor is not what leaps to mind when you think about a prototypical candidate for president. But I also think we’re living — if it’s hard to figure out what’s going on right now, it’s because we are living on one of those blank pages in between chapters of American history. And what comes next could be ugly or it could be amazing.”

Buttigieg continued: “And I believe running for office is an act of hope, and so is voting for somebody, and supporting somebody and volunteering for somebody. I hope you’ll join me in making sure that that next era is better than any we’ve had so far.”

Before the town hall, Buttigieg took stock of his campaign’s unexpectedly strong position early in the race.

“We were expecting at this stage of the game to still be introducing ourselves and even defending the idea that something this audacious was appropriate,” Buttigieg told Fox News. “Instead we find that we’ve bolted into the top tier.”

In an email to supporters Saturday night, Buttigieg defended his decision to appear at the Fox town hall, as progressives have increasingly pushed for Democrats to appear only on left-leaning networks. On Sunday, Trump himself took aim at Buttigieg’s appearance at the town hall, saying it was “hard to believe” Fox had hosted the candidate.

“If we ignore the viewers of Fox News and every news platform that doesn’t share our worldview, we will surrender our ability to speak directly to millions of American voters,” Buttigieg asserted. “If we don’t show up, the conservative media will tell our side of the story for us.”

Separately, Trump told Fox News’ “The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton” in an interview to air Sunday that “I think it’s absolutely fine” that Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, are open about their relationship on the campaign trail.

Trump agreed with Hilton that Buttigieg’s candidacy is a sign of progress for the country.

“I think that’s something that perhaps some people will have a problem with,” Trump said. “I have no problem with it whatsoever. I think it’s good.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

During his 2016 campaign, Trump suggested he’d appoint conservative justices to overturn a Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. But he called the issue “settled” shortly after his election.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pete-buttigieg-fox-news-town-hall-donald-trump

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Brawl erupts at convention for local-government officials at Indian Wells resort – Los Angeles Times
Brawl erupts at convention for local-government officials at Indian Wells resort – Los Angeles Times

Soria said in his statement that he was told that Mendoza and a council colleague, Ivan Altamirano, were having a conversation that had “become elevated” so he “went to the area to defuse any potential conflict.” He said that when he approached, he saw Mendoza on the floor “apparently unconscious,” and Altamirano “standing nearby with a facial injury.”

Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-convention-brawl-resort-20190519-story.html

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Baby Dies in Hot Car in Indianapolis, Mother Questioned – The Epoch Times
Baby Dies in Hot Car in Indianapolis, Mother Questioned – The Epoch Times

A child died in Indianapolis after being left in a hot vehicle, and the mother was interviewed by police, it was reported.

According to ABC News, emergency personnel responded to an AutoZone after a baby was found in an SUV at around 4:45 p.m. local time on May 18.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said, “EMS transported the baby to Riley [Hospital for Children] where despite the best efforts of medical staff, the baby died.”

The mother of the child was questioned by homicide detectives. No charges were filed.

“This is still considered a death investigation at this time,” police stated. “If it is ruled a homicide a formal brief will follow.”

Investigators said the baby was in the car with its mother as another person went inside the store, Fox59 reported.

The baby’s cause of death will be conducted by the Marion County Coroner’s Office.

Temperatures in Indianapolis reached 85 degrees Fahrenheit on May 18.

Other details about the case are not clear.

Other Incidents

A 4-year-old trapped in a hot car helped rescue seven toddlers between the ages of 2 and 4 in Maryland after dialing 911.

The car was unlocked, but the windows were rolled up.

Sheriff’s officials said there was only a single car seat in the vehicle, WJLA reported.

The suspect in the case is a mother of two of the children involved in the case. The mother allegedly told the children not to leave the vehicle, it was reported.

According to reports on May 7, a toddler died after being left in a car in New Jersey.

Source Article from https://www.theepochtimes.com/baby-dies-in-hot-car-in-indianapolis-mother-questioned_2928638.html

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Trump says war will mean ‘official end of Iran,’ warns ‘never threaten the United States again’ – Fox News
Trump says war will mean ‘official end of Iran,’ warns ‘never threaten the United States again’ – Fox News
Video

Congress criticizes the Trump administration over not being briefed on the US-Iran conflict sooner

Former Treasury Department terrorism finance analyst Jonathan Schanzer says senior members of Congress should be briefed on the growing tension between the U.S. and Iran.

President Trump fired a social media broadside at the Iranian regime Sunday afternoon, vowing that war between Washington and Tehran would result in “the official end of Iran” before warning, “[n]ever threaten the United States again!”

Trump tweeted hours after a rocket landed less than a mile from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, the first such attack since September. An Iraqi military spokesman told reporters the rocket appeared to have been fired from east Baghdad, which is home to several Iran-backed Shiite militias.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have risen in recent weeks after the Trump administration ordered warships and bombers to the Middle East earlier this month to counter threatened attacks against U.S. interests by Iran or Iranian-backed forces.

The U.S. also ordered nonessential staff out of its diplomatic posts in Iraq days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Baghdad told Iraqi intelligence that the United States had been picking up intelligence that Iran is threatening American interests in the Middle East. Two Iraqi officials told the Associated Press that Pompeo had offered no details of the alleged threat.

State Department orders all non-essential staff to leave Iraq

The Iranian government claims the U.S. is trying to raise tensions in the Middle East; Rich Edson reports.

UK FOLLOWS US LEAD, RAISES THREAT LEVEL IN IRAQ DUE TO THREAT FROM IRAN

Trump appeared to have softened his tone in recent days, saying he expects Iran to seek negotiations with his administration. Asked on Thursday if the U.S. might be on a path to war with Iran, the president answered, “I hope not.”

The U.S. Navy said Sunday it had conducted exercises in the Arabian Sea with the aircraft carrier strike group ordered to the region to counter the unspecified threat from Iran. The Navy said the exercises and training were conducted Friday and Saturday with the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group in coordination with the U.S. Marine Corps, highlighting U.S. “lethality and agility to respond to threat,” as well as to deter conflict and preserve U.S. strategic interests.

LARGE US WARSHIPS TRAIN TOGETHER IN ARABIAN SEA WITH EYE ON IRAN THREATS, NAVY SAYS

The USS Abraham Lincoln has yet to reach the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a third of all oil traded at sea passes.

On the Iranian side, the head of the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, was quoted Sunday as saying Iran is not looking for war. But he said the U.S. is going to fail in the near future “because they are frustrated and hopeless” and are looking for a way out of the current escalation. His comments, given to other Guard commanders, were carried by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

US warns airlines against flying over the Persian Gulf amid growing tensions with Iran

Jennifer Griffin reports.

Also Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs told reporters that the kingdom “does not want war in the region and does not strive for that … but at the same time, if the other side chooses war, the kingdom will fight this with all force and determination and it will defend itself, its citizens and its interests.”

Adel al-Jubeir spoke a week after four oil tankers— two of them Saudi— were targeted in an alleged act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and days after Iran-allied Yemeni rebels claimed a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline. The Saudis have blamed the pipeline attack on Iran, accusing Tehran of arming the rebel Houthis, with which a Saudi-led coalition has been at war in Yemen since 2015. Iran denies arming or training the rebels, who control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.

BRETT VELICOVICH: ATTACKS ON SAUDI OIL PIPELINES, TANKERS HAVE IRAN’S FINGERPRINTS ALL OVER THEM

“We want peace and stability in the region, but we won’t stand with our hands bound as the Iranians continuously attack. Iran has to understand that,” al-Jubeir said. “The ball is in Iran’s court.”

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, meanwhile, has called for a meeting of Arab heads of state on May 30 in Mecca to discuss the latest developments, including the oil pipeline attack. The state-run Saudi news agency reported Sunday that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss regional developments. There was no immediate statement by the State Department about the call.

Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen claim responsibility for drone attacks on Saudi oil pipelines

The Pentagon increases America’s military footprint in the Middle East to counter an unspecified Iranian threat to U.S. troops.

An English-language Saudi newspaper close to the palace recently published an editorial calling for surgical U.S. airstrikes in retaliation for Iran’s alleged involvement in targeting Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The current tensions are rooted in Trump’s decision last year to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and impose wide-reaching sanctions, including on Iranian oil exports that are crucial to its economy.

Iran has said it would resume enriching uranium at higher levels if a new nuclear deal is not reached by July 7. That would potentially bring it closer to being able to develop a nuclear weapon, something Iran insists it has never sought.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-war-iran-never-threaten-united-states

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