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Students from an estimated 156 countries marched in the Global Climate Strike.
USA TODAY

Millions of people around the world took part in Friday’s climate strike, and estimates of total crowd sizes are still rolling in — some as high as 4 million.

From New Delhi to Antarctica, protesters marched to draw attention to the climate crisis ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit, which kicks off Monday.

In New York City, where schools excused the city’s 1.1 million students from class to participate, Mayor Bill de Blasio put preliminary crowd estimates at 60,000. Organizers, however, have pegged that number at closer to 250,000, making it the largest protest that day. 

Local officials and protest organizers offered varying crowd size estimates. According to organizers, some of the other largest demonstrations took place in Berlin (270,000), London (100,000) and across Australia (about 100,000 protesting in Melbourne, organizers say). 

In the U.S., big groups also turned out in San Francisco (40,000), Denver (7,500) Boston (7,000), Chicago (3,000), Portland (2,000) and Washington, D.C., among other cities.

You may like: 6 things to know about teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg, the noted 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist who sparked the global movement, joined the strike in New York City. She and other organizers have estimated the worldwide crowd size at 4 million.

“Around the world today about 4 million people have been striking,” Thunberg said. “This is the biggest climate strike ever in history and we all should be so proud of ourselves because we have done this together.”

She’s likely right — preliminary estimates suggest that Friday’s strike was the largest climate protest in history.

More than 1.4 million people worldwide took part in the first global climate strike this past March, organizers estimated. Some 100,000 young people participated in the U.S. The second global strike in May likely witnessed even greater participation, organizers said.

Putting a number on turnout can be tricky, but researchers with the Crowd Funding Consortium are giving it a shot. Harvard Professor Erica Chenoweth and University of Connecticut Professor Jeremy Pressman are leading a collaborative effort to document crowd size estimates in the U.S. and worldwide.

Back in 2017, after the first Women’s March, Chenoweth and Pressman launched the consortium to make crowd estimates available to academics and the public. You can see the breakdown of their estimates laid out in spreadsheets here.

“We collect data on as many U.S. protests going on as possible. We consult social media, traditional media, and, for large protests, the maps and listings publicly provided by organizers,” Pressman told USA TODAY.

No future, no children: Teens refusing to have kids until there’s action on climate change

The group pegged its “best guess” at total crowd size for the Women’s March at more than 4 million in the U.S. alone, placing it among the largest protests in world history.

Others include the nearly 4 million people across France who marched in solidarity against terrorism following the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack, and the 2003 worldwide protests against the war in Iraq, when somewhere between 10 and 15 million people protested, according to various estimates.

Pressman said the number of locations participating in Friday’s climate strike made it difficult to put a number on crowd size, but that data was still being compiled.

A second worldwide walkout called Earth Strike is planned Sept. 27, on the anniversary of “Silent Spring,” the book that kick-started the environmentalist movement.

Want to join the Crowd Funding Consortium‘s effort to count protesters? Submit data here.

Follow Grace Hauck on Twitter @grace_hauck.

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/21/global-climate-strike-estimates-crowd-size-millions-worldwide/2401672001/

MIAMI — The 11th named storm of the hurricane season has developed in the Atlantic.

The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Karen formed early Sunday near the Windward Islands.

Maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 kph).

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, suggesting tropical storm conditions are likely in the next 12 hours.

The hurricane center says a tropical storm watch likely will be issued for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, meaning tropical storm conditions are possible in the next 48 hours.

Karen was moving toward the west-northwest around 9 mph (15 kph), and a northwest turn was expected Monday.

The storm was expected to approach Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Tuesday.

Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/weather/2019/09/22/11th-named-storm-of-hurricane-season-develops-in-atlantic/23817547/

BEIRUT—Weapons experts are inspecting GPS systems recovered from the Sept. 14 missile and drone strike on Saudi Arabian oil facilities for evidence that could reveal their origin and flight path, people familiar with the investigation said.

Officials in Riyadh and Washington have blamed Iran for the attacks and are searching for “smoking gun” evidence. They say they can’t galvanize world support for their view unless they can draw a clear link back to Tehran, which has denied any role in the attacks.

Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-saudis-look-for-iran-link-in-weapon-systems-11569171598

Deafening drums marked the entrance of President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a packed Texas stadium Sunday. Instead of dwelling on differences, Mr. Trump highlighted the growth of U.S. exports to India, the billions of dollars spent by India on U.S.-made defense equipment and joint military exercises with New Delhi.

“India has never invested in the United States like it is doing today,” Mr. Trump said, adding that “we’re doing the same thing in India.”

About 50,000 Indian Americans attended the “Howdy Modi!” rally in Houston, where the crowd chanted “Modi! Modi! Modi!” as he took the stage to introduce Mr. Trump as “my friend, a friend of India, a great American president.”

Modi even used Trump’s political slogan to say the president had a strong resolve to “make America great again.”

“When I met him for the first time, he said to me ‘India has a true friend in the White House,'” Modi said. “Mr. President, this morning in Houston, you can hear the heartbeat of this great partnership in this celebration of the world’s two largest democracies.”

President Trump participates in the “Howdy Modi” event with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston on September 22, 2019.

Reuters


Mr. Trump said Modi invited him to the rally — one of the largest U.S. gatherings of the Indian diaspora in history — when they met last month in France. He seemed to explain his decision to attend by saying “I love India.”Earlier this year, Modi won the biggest reelection India has seen in years and his support for Mr. Trump could help the president at the polls next year. The two are to meet Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly.

Mr. Trump is also scheduled to meet this week with Pakistani leader Imran Khan, who recently solicited the president’s help mediating the Pakistan-India conflict over Kashmir. India’s government has stripped the disputed Himalayan region of its semi-autonomy and launched a security crackdown last month.

Mr. Trump said U.S.-India bonds are expanding despite tensions over India’s trade surplus with the U.S. In June, the U.S. canceled special trade privileges that had allowed India to export certain goods with lower tariffs. India responded by slapping tariffs on more than two dozen U.S. goods.

The U.S. and India are discussing ways to negotiate at least a partial trade deal, which could include Washington reinstating India’s special tariff status in exchange for concessions related to access to Indian markets, possibly in dairy and medical devices. Other issues are thwarting efforts to sign a larger trade deal.

In an address in Hindi to “my family,” Modi briefly mentioned the trade talks and expressed hope that an announcement can be made while he and Mr. Trump participate in the U.N. gathering.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/howdy-modi-trump-rally-pushes-unity-prime-minister-narendra-modi-houston-texas-today-2019-09-22/

President Trump confirmed on Sunday that he discussed the family of former Vice President Joe Biden during a phone call with Ukraine’s president that sits at the center of a whistleblower’s complaint about alleged abuse of power within the White House. The president argued that he did not do anything wrong during the call, but several prominent Democratic lawmakers are calling the whistleblower complaint grounds for impeachment.

Speaking to reporters Sunday before heading to a rally with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump described his July 25 conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as “perfect.” The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Trump attempted eight times on the call to pressure the foreign leader to launch an investigation into Biden’s son, Hunter, and his business ties to Ukraine, an allegation that Trump has firmly denied.

The conversation was “largely [about] the fact that we don’t want our people like Vice President Biden and his son creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine,” Trump told the gathered reporters.

Later, he told reporters he “had every right to” bring up Biden because “we don’t want a country that we’re giving massive aid to to be corrupting our system.”

That aid is central to questions over Trump’s call: $250 million in assistance had been due to that country over the summer. Its release had been delayed, but Trump agreed to send it to Ukraine this month, facing pressure from Congress. That money has the president’s critics concerned he withheld the aid in an attempt to convince his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Biden.

Biden is a leading frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, and damaging information could hurt his candidacy. There is absolutely no evidence he was involved in his son’s business dealings in Ukraine, nor is there evidence that he did anything illegal, despite President Trump’s suggestions otherwise. Biden has called for a transcript of the phone call to be released, saying in a statement that the alleged behavior is evidence “there is truly no bottom to President Trump’s willingness to abuse his power and abase his country.”

Trump signaled he is open to doing so Sunday in Houston, Texas, telling reporters “it would be fine” to release the transcript; he also said he might “give it to a respected source, they can look at it,” but did not specify whether he meant a news source he sees as credible or to someone within the government. He again stood by his words, however, saying of the transcript, “what I said was so good … everybody will say that.”

As Republicans defend Trump, some Democrats are calling for impeachment

Democrats aren’t so sure that what the president said was “so good.” Many are concerned he may have attempted to use his office to have a foreign country interfere in the 2020 election by providing some sort of opposition research in exchange for aid. And as reports and details about that complaint have emerged over the last week, many Democrats have begun calling for consequences, up to and including impeachment.

Impeachment “may be the only remedy,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee and has not previously come out in support of impeachment, said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.

Schiff is a key figure in concerns about the president’s actions on the call: He is the person who called for the release of the whistleblower report after Acting Director of National Intelligence Maguire failed to disclose it to Congress, as required by law, and his committee will investigate the allegations the president faces.

If the whistleblower complaint is accurate it “would be, I think, the most profound violation of the presidential oath of office, certainly during this presidency, which says a lot,” Schiff added.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CA) agreed that Congress had to take the allegation seriously.

“If we do have the evidence from this whistleblower that the president indeed did try to bully a foreign power into affecting our elections, then we have to do something about it,” he said.

Some Democratic presidential candidates, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, argue that what Democrats should do is to begin impeachment proceedings. Biden has not joined these calls, despite his prominence within the whole affair — instead, he has said Trump must be investigated.

Biden’s response is in line with that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who came out against the idea of impeachment on Friday. On Sunday, she released a “Dear Colleagues” letter saying that she expected Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire to turn the full whistleblower complaint over to Congress, and called on Republicans to support the investigation into the matter.

“If the Administration persists in blocking this whistleblower from disclosing to Congress a serious possible breach of constitutional duties by the President, they will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation,” the letter reads in part.

On Twitter, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) argued her fellow Democrats ought to take a tougher stance on the complaint, writing that the Democratic failure to coalesce around impeachment was worse than the behavior itself:

She faced some criticism for that assessment, but defended her stance by saying, “It is one thing for a sitting president to break the law. It’s another to let him.”

Republicans responded to criticism of the president by standing by his claim that he’s done nothing wrong, and by attempting to turn attention on Biden.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin denied any kind of improper attempt to trade aid money for an investigation into the Bidens on Meet the Press, and said the fact Ukraine received $140 million in aid on top of the promised $250 million it was not expecting did not mean that country was given a bonus for agreeing to investigate Biden.

“There was no connection,” Mnuchin said. When host Chuck Todd then pressed Mnuchin on the additional aid money, Mnuchin dismissed that as “details.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News on Sunday he believes there should be an investigation into Biden — a domestic one.

“I’m calling for somebody in the Justice Department to look at all things Ukraine,” Graham said. “I’m hoping the Department of Justice will look at the Biden-Ukraine connection, like we looked at the Trump-Russia connection.”

House Leader Kevin McCarthy also referenced the investigation into Russia in an appearance on Fox News on Friday, and claimed Democrats are working to distract the public from scrutinizing Biden’s record: “Wouldn’t it be interesting politically, if you wanted people not to look at what Biden was doing to try to bring something once again alleged against this president, as they’ve done time and again because they don’t like the outcome of an election.”

While many Republicans circled the wagons, at least one — Sen. Mitt Romney — called the affair “troubling in the extreme” on Twitter, and wrote, “Critical for the facts to come out:”

As Democrats and Republicans retreat to their habitual rhetorical corners, a number of questions about the whistleblower’s complaint remain: We don’t yet know the identity of the person who made it, or the details of any other other allegations it may contain. It is also unclear what kind of consequences the president would face if these allegations are found to be true, particularly given impeachment is not, by and large, favored by voters and that it would be blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

Thus far, the White House has not cooperated with any investigations into the whistleblower’s complaint. Refusing to comply with congressional requests has been a successful tactic for the Trump administration in stalling other investigations into alleged misconduct, and given the president has already faced accusations he conspired with a foreign power to influence an election, he is in familiar territory. As are all Americans, for whom the specter of foreign election interference could hang for another electoral cycle.

Source Article from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/22/20878702/donald-trump-ukraine-whistleblower-joe-hunter-biden-military-aid-corruption

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Source Article from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/pence-took-eight-care-motorcade-to-michigan-mackinac-island.html

A Florida police officer was suspended after he arrested two young children in school last week, including a 6-year-old who was acting out because of an apparent medical condition, a relative and police said.

Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón said in a statement that the reserve school resource officer, Dennis Turner, did not obtain the approval of a commanding officer before making the arrests on Thursday, as department policy requires.

Turner was suspended while the department conducts an internal inquiry, Rolón said.

“The Orlando Police Department has a policy that addresses the arrest of a minor and our initial finding shows the policy was not followed,” Rolón said. “As a grandparent of three children less than 11 years old this is very concerning to me.”

NBC affiliate WFLA reported that the 6-year-old was charged with battery after she kicked someone at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy, a K-5th grade charter school in Orlando.

The girl’s grandmother, Meralyn Kirkland, attributed her behavioral problems to sleep apnea, according to the station.

Kirkland said the girl was taken to a juvenile detention center Thursday where she was set to be processed.

The arrest was halted after a supervisor learned of it, Rolón said, and she was returned to school before being processed.

The 8-year-old, who was arrested in a separate incident, was processed and later released to a relative.

Additional information about that arrest was not immediately available.

The principal of Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy did not respond immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday, nor did a local police union.

Source Article from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-officer-suspended-after-arresting-two-kids-ages-6-8-n1057441?cid=public-rss_20190922

September 22 at 4:41 PM

The foreign strategy of soothing tensions with the United States by stroking President Trump’s ego was put into vivid effect here Sunday when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lathered praise on his American counterpart at a massive rally celebrating the Indian diaspora.

The leaders of the world’s two largest democracies took the stage together in Houston before a roaring crowd of tens of thousands of Indian Americans, where Modi delivered an unmistakable endorsement of Trump’s presidency and cast their joint appearance in historic terms.

“His name is familiar to every person on the planet,” Modi said as he introduced Trump. “He was a household name and very popular even before he went on to occupy the highest office in this great country. From CEO to commander in chief. From boardrooms to the Oval Office. From studios to global stage.”

The prime minister then repurposed his own campaign slogan in India to rally support for “my friend” Trump in the United States: “Abki baar, Trump sarkar,” meaning, “This time, a Trump country.”

Modi’s overtures come at a delicate moment in U.S.-India relations. After the United States imposed tariffs on Indian steel and aluminum imports, India has been looking for ways to decrease trade tensions with the Trump administration and stimulate fresh investment.

The two leaders — both center-right politicians who govern with big personalities and stir controversy — are set to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.

Trump swooped into Houston on Sunday with an unusual role: as a warm-up act.

Called “Howdy, Modi!,” the event was staged to honor the prime minister and was billed as the largest gathering for an invited foreign leader other than the Pope. Attendees, many of them from Texas’s large Indian diaspora, packed into NRG Stadium, the 72,000-seat home to the NFL’s Houston Texans. Houston is the nation’s most diverse city and home to an estimated 150,000 Indian Americans.

Modi recently invited Trump to join him here, and the president agreed to be a special guest, but the signage and stagecraft made clear that Modi was the main attraction, with his image projected on large screens throughout the arena.

“In Houston, we say ‘Howdy’ in more than 140 languages — and this morning we are saying ‘Howdy’ to Prime Minister Modi,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, told the crowd.

The event pulsed with energy all morning, as artists performed Indian dances and played music onstage. Once Trump arrived, live video of him and Modi walking down a red carpet winding through the bowels of the stadium played on the screens as a drum band played in anticipation of their grand entrance. The two strode onto the stage holding hands.

As Trump stood at his side grinning widely, Modi said he admired Trump’s “concern for every American, a belief in America’s future and a strong resolve to make America great again.”

The prime minister added, “We are witnessing history in the making.”

Trump delivered remarks — and, unlike at his own campaign rallies, did not appear to stray from his script on Teleprompters.

The president highlighted his stewardship of the economy, but drew far most impassioned responses from the crowd when he talked about other issues. The president received a standing ovation when he denounced “radical Islamic terrorism,” and sustained applause when he vowed to stop illegal immigration.

He said Modi was doing “a truly exceptional job” as prime minister, and congratulated him on his overwhelming reelection victory in May.

Trump then took a seat in the audience to watch Modi give the keynote address in his native Hindi.

In the 2016 election, Trump won the support of roughly 14 percent of Indian American voters, compared to 84 percent for Hillary Clinton, according to an analysis by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

But Trump made a direct pitch to expand his share of support among Indian Americans in his 2020 reelection. In his speech, he singled out the estimated 4 million Indian Americans living here.

“You enrich our culture, you uphold our values, you uplift our communities and you are truly proud to be American — and we are proud to have you as Americans,” Trump said. “We thank you, we love you, and I want you to know my administration is fighting for you each and every day.”

“We are going to take care of our citizens first, our Indian American citizens, before we take care of illegal immigrants who want to pour into our country,” Trump said.

M.R. Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora and an organizer of Sunday’s event, said there was an opportunity for Trump to improve upon his 2016 vote margin.

“He could hope he could change some minds,” Rangaswami said. “It could happen.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said Trump was smart to come to Houston and take advantage of the large audience assembled to see Modi.

“Politics being what politics is, it’s really important to show up and to listen respectfully and try to find common ground with these constituents,” Cornyn told reporters. “I don’t think it’s any accident the president decided to come.”

“Of course, he loves a good rally,” Cornyn added. “You might have heard that.”

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-plays-unusual-role-of-warm-up-act-at-massive-rally-for-modi-in-houston/2019/09/22/18cf7a2a-dd50-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html

The Labour Party should be standing on the brink of a historic opportunity. Instead, it stands ready to squander it.

Of course, one makes electoral predictions with great risk. The pundit class has been proved hopelessly wrong by Jeremy Corbyn before. There is certainly time between now and whenever an election happens for everything to change, but it is not to make a false prediction to say the party is currently in a hopeless mess.

The leader’s acolytes have begun the party conference by trying and failing to topple the deputy leader. Mr Corbyn hopes this conference can be the launchpad for popular policies that will resonate with the general public, just as happened in 2017. But Andrew Fisher, his policy chief and the author of almost all of Corbyn’s popular policies, quit on the eve of the conference and launched a devastating, personal attack on Mr Corbyn’s office as he did so.

All around Brighton, the party’s most senior figures, including Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan, are openly contradicting party policy, piling pressure on Mr Corbyn to take Labour in an explicitly Remain direction, something he has thus far refused to do.

Party discipline is completely out of control. Arguably, Mr Corbyn’s policy of advocating a second referendum after a general election is not just smart politics, but morally commendable too. At some point, the country has to come together. Having a party that both Leavers and Remainers can vote for is admirable. But it is not working. Remainers are deserting Labour for the Lib Dems and the Greens. For Brexiteers, other electoral options are available.

In television interviews in the build-up to the conference, Mr Corbyn has consistently refused to say if he personally is in favour of Leave or Remain, and will not say what side he would back in the second referendum he himself is offering.

Such interviews have made for painful viewing. The idea that he can hold on to a position of neutrality during a long general election campaign is fanciful in the extreme. The other idea – that he can negotiate a better, softer Brexit deal, one that is more closely aligned to the customs union and the single market – is also highly questionable. And even if it is correct, the kind of voter that Labour is losing to the Brexit Party will not be placated by it. For these voters, the current deal is already too soft.

In 2017, Labour surprised itself and others. Its success was in no small part down to its popular policies that had nothing to do with Brexit.

When the election eventually comes, it is difficult to see how a similar policy platform will cut through, when the policy of constructive Brexit ambiguity will be so desperately unavoidable.

Thus far, one of the Labour leader’s stock answers to the unanswerable question has been that it is a democratic party, and that the party will decide the position on Brexit, not him.

If that is the case, all of the available evidence intimates the time for the party to make that decision must be now, this week. The policy of ambiguity has expired in its usefulness.

Source Article from https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/jeremy-corbyn-brexit-labour-remain-general-election-tom-watson-a9115781.html

Trump administration officials said Sunday that signs of deepening tensions between the US and Iran are proof the White House’s “maximum pressure” campaign is working.

Critics of the strategy have raised concerns over its efficacy as both nations employed harsh rhetoric against the other in recent days, with President Donald Trump tweeting that the US is “locked and loaded” to strike following an attack on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia the US claims was conducted by Iran. Iran has denied any responsibility for the attack and has said it is prepared to retaliate against any US military action.

Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration will stay its course, with Mnuchin telling CNN’s Jake Tapper, “Tensions are worse because it’s working.” Pompeo told CBS’ Margaret Brennan, the administration is still “looking for a diplomatic resolution,” but said, “We’re prepared to do the things we need to do.”

Currently, that diplomatic solution leans heavily on sanctions: On Friday, President Donald Trump announced sanctions against Iran’s central bank; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin described the sanctions as “very big.”

“We’ve now cut off all source of funds to Iran,” Mnuchin said during a press conference. “This will mean no more funds going to the IRGC or to fund terror. This is on top of our oil sanctions and our financial institution sanctions.”

But as Vox’s Alex Ward has explained, some security experts, like Center for a New American Security fellow Neil Bhatiya, were unsure if more sanctions were possible. “We’ve basically hit most sectors of the Iranian economy,” Bhatiya wrote on Twitter following the announcement, but added, “They could start lashing out at other countries with secondary sanctions.”

Sunday, Mnuchin explained that this is exactly the administration’s plan.

“The thing we’ll be focusing on now is people that are violating the Iran sanctions, and issuing sanctions on third parties where we violations,” Mnuchin told Tapper. When asked if this would include placing sanctions on NATO allies, the secretary said, “If they violate it, absolutely.”

Pompeo echoed Mnuchin’s call for a tough stance Sunday, and placed heavy emphasis on the need to respond to the attack in Saudi Arabia, one he termed “a state-on-state act of war.”

As Ward has noted, this rhetoric is surprising because the US does not have a formal treaty alliance with Saudi Arabia, and thus is not required to respond to acts of aggression on its soil.

Still, Pompeo told Fox News that avoiding armed conflict remains a priority: “We want to resolve this in a way that doesn’t resort to kinetic action if it’s at all possible to achieve that.”

Rising tensions have led to fears of war

Rising tensions have led to concern that the US and Iran could go to war. This concern is not new; despite administration officials’ insistence that their maximum pressure campaign is yielding results, this has been a year in which escalating tensions have only begotten more tensions. As I wrote back in June:

The US exit from the multination Iranian nuclear deal in 2018 put strain on the US-Iran relationship; this pressure was intensified when the Trump administration placed new sanctions and trade restrictions on Iran this year.

Over the past few weeks, the US has accused Iran of attacking ships in the Gulf of Oman (something Iran has denied), and Iran has announced it will no long abide by certain parts of the nuclear deal. The US has moved new troops to the Middle East, and Thursday, Iran shot down a US drone, claiming the device had crossed into its territory (something the Trump administration denies).

But as Vox’s Alex Ward has described, September has had onlookers once again fearing an all-out war between the US and Iran could erupt as the two nations bickered over who was responsible for an attack on a Saudi oil facilities:

Last Saturday, two vital oil facilities belonging to Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Aramco were attacked by what appear to be 10 drones and nearly 20 missiles. The assault shut down roughly half of the company’s production, hitting the global oil market hard and triggering the largest oil price spike in roughly 30 years.

The Trump administration almost immediately said Iran had launched the assault — even though the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had already claimed responsibility for the strikes — and shared some evidence it said proved its stance. Iran expectedly denied any involvement, but that didn’t lower the temperature of the situation.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that the US was “locked and loaded” for a retaliatory strike to defend Saudi Arabia, while others in his Cabinet said what occurred was an “act of war.”

Sunday, Iran continued to deny responsibility for the drone attacks, but also made clear that it will respond to US aggression in kind when Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, warned of an “all-out war” if his country was struck militarily in an interview that aired on CBS’ Face the Nation. Zarif went on to say he’d like to see a diplomatic solution to these tensions.

“These attacks did not take place from Iran for the supreme leader to approve them. Had they taken place from Iran then he would have had to approve them. But it didn’t take place from Iran,” he said. “I’m certain that [US officials] are being lied to, whether they want to accept that lie. I think the work of us diplomats, I think myself and my counterpart, the US secretary of state, we need to try to push diplomacy.”

But Zarif also added that he could not say that there would be no war between the US and Iran. And he added that Iran while would not start one, he believes his country would win any conflict.

“I’m not confident that we can avoid a war,” he said, “But I’m confident that whoever starts one will not be the one who finishes it.”

As Ward has explained, such a fight would result in heavy losses on all sides, with some experts believing more than a million people could die; he summed up the potential conflict by writing, “The bottom line: It’d be hell on earth.”

Bellicose rhetoric like that shared by Zarif Sunday has become an increasingly frequent component of the US-Iran relationship. Trump tweeted in 2018 that he would respond to Iran with “CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE” if they continued to make threats. And in June, Trump announced that he had prepared, and then called off, a military strike on Iran.

For the moment, both sides have an interest in ensure the rhetoric stays just that, which is why US administration officials continue to balance their threats with calls for diplomatic solutions. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Pompeo said that troops being sent to the region, for example, were there only for “deterrence and defense.”

“Our mission set is to avoid war,” he said.

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac before Air Force One on Thursday, Trump did not seem so deadset on avoiding conflict.

“There are many options,” he said. “There’s the ultimate option and there are options that are a lot less than that, and we’ll see.”

However, by Sunday, the president too had somewhat softened his stance, saying that while he won’t meet with any Iranian leaders during the the UN General Assembly this week, “Nothing is ever off the table completely.”

Source Article from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/22/20878091/us-iran-sanctions-saudi-arabia-zarif-trump-unga-pompeo-mnuchin

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a deadline date for Thursday, for the White House to provide a whistleblower complaint made against President Trump.

#Deadline #Whistleblower #Trump #TheWhiteHouse #PresidentTrump #complaint #ABCNews #Politics

Source Article from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHAGTdNWTpA

Some key administration officials are urging President Trump to release the transcript of a conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that is at the center of a growing whistleblower controversy.

Those officials believe public disclosure of what was said on the call would quell accusations that Trump broke the law or acted improperly by pressing Zelensky to investigate Trump rival Joe Biden’s son. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump urged Zelensky “about eight times” to help Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani probe the business dealings of Hunter Biden.

The officials think release of the transcript would show definitively that Trump did nothing illegal. The president’s adversaries, determined to use the issue to demand his impeachment, might still argue that he acted inappropriately, but release of the president’s precise words, the officials believe, would make it more difficult for critics to claim that Trump did something wrong.

The officials also believe the public should know the circumstances of the whistleblower complaint. The complaint is hearsay because the author did not have direct knowledge of the substance of the complaint but rather heard it from someone else. Being hearsay does not totally invalidate a complaint, but some officials believe it weakens the alleged whistleblower’s case.

The bottom line is that the officials believe public release of the transcript would be in President Trump’s best interest.

There are also administration officials who oppose public release. The content of the president’s conversation with Zelensky, like all presidential conversations with foreign leaders, is privileged. Small portions of it might also be classified. Opponents of public release say that if the Trump-Zelensky transcript were made public, foreign leaders could have no confidence that their talks with Trump would be confidential.

The whistleblower controversy focuses on a decision by the Director of National Intelligence not to give the whistleblower complaint to the House and Senate intelligence committees. The intelligence community inspector general, who first received the complaint, judged it to be legitimate and passed it on to the director’s office. The law directs that the complaint then be given to Congress. But the acting director, Joseph Maguire, consulted the Justice Department, which ruled that the complaint did not meet standards of disclosure to lawmakers. A still-unresolved impasse ensued.

Democrats are demanding the complaint be turned over. Some Democrats and NeverTrumpers who already support impeaching the president immediately added the whistleblower complaint to their list of reasons Trump should be removed from office. The topic consumed hours of time on cable news.

The controversy has mushroomed even as no one knows precisely what Trump and Zelensky said. In the absence of real knowledge, an informed debate about the call is impossible. That is one reason why some members of the administration want the transcript made public.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/trump-allies-urge-release-of-transcript-at-center-of-whistleblower-controversy

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has taken the lead in a major new Iowa poll, registering slightly ahead of persistent frontrunner Joe Biden in a survey of the state’s Democratic voters. The results come after months of upward momentum by Warren, but it remains to be seen whether she will be able to maintain or build on these numbers: Many respondents indicated that their current picks aren’t set in stone, leaving room for reversals of fortune in the five months leading up to next year’s first caucus.

The latest Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll, released Saturday night, puts Warren’s support among registered Democrats in Iowa at 22 percent, just ahead of Biden’s 20 percent. (The poll has a margin of error of 4 percent).

Warren is also the second choice, or a candidate under active consideration for more voters than Biden; a tally of those who have the senator as their first or second choice, or who are otherwise “actively” considering her is at 71 percent. Biden comes closest to Warren on this metric: 60 percent of voters are considering him in some way.

“This is the first major shakeup,” longtime pollster J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., which conducted the poll, told the Des Moines Register. “It’s the first time we’ve had someone other than Joe Biden at the top of the leader board.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders was the only other candidate to reach double-digit support, at 11 percent. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala Harris followed, with 9 and 6 percent support respectively.

Shoring up the above-1 percent club were Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota (3 percent); former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and entrepreneurs Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang (2 percent).

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who ended his campaign on Friday, was not named by a single voter as either a first or second choice for president. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and former Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania shared in that dubious distinction.

While Warren is now on top, her support remains fluid

As Vox’s Andrew Prokop has explained, the release of Selzer’s poll was eagerly awaited given that her work is considered the “gold standard” of Iowa polling, and because the few recent polls released in that state have come from newer, less established groups. However, the newest numbers do in fact mirror those of one of the two polls conducted following September’s Democratic primary debate: An online poll by Civiqs conducted for Iowa State University, showed Warren in the lead there with 24 percent support, substantially ahead of the tied-for-second Biden and Sanders with 16 percent each.

While the lead suggests the race may be changing, it is important to remember Iowa’s caucuses are five months away. In that time, much can, and likely will, change. In fact, few Iowa voters — only one in five — told Selzer’s pollsters that they actually have their minds made up. And 63 percent of those polled said they could still change their minds.

Those numbers are even shakier for Warren specifically: only 12 percent of her supporters say their choice is firm, while 88 percent say they could still be convinced to place their support elsewhere. By contrast, a quarter of Biden’s supporters are firm in their choice, with 70 percent saying they could be persuaded to pick another candidate.

“My sense is there’s still opportunity aplenty,” Selzer told the Des Moines Register. “The leaders aren’t all that strong. The universe is not locked in.”

While Warren’s “universe of support” is larger than other candidates, others who fared poorly in this poll could take heart from the numbers reflecting their potential supporters. For example, former HUD secretary Julián Castro, who polled at just 1 percent, has 22 percent of voters considering him.

Castro’s potential support pool still lags well behind other candidates, however, particularly Biden, who still enjoys the second-largest universe of support, at 60 percent. Harris and Buttigieg are tied (55 percent); they are trailed by Sanders (50 percent), followed by Booker (42 percent), O’Rourke (38 percent) and Klobuchar (37 percent).

The good news for Warren is reflective of her steady ascent in the Iowa polls. In Selzer’s polling last December, she registered at 8 percent, and hit 9 percent in March. By June, she became neck-and-neck with Sanders, her fellow progressive, at 15 percent. This is her first time besting the entire field.

For his part, Sanders’s base of support has stagnated in recent months, and this poll represents a small decline. In December, his support was at 19 percent. It increased to 25 percent in March. By June, it had dropped back to 16 percent.

This decline is particularly notable among young voters, the demographic that Warren currently leads. Sanders is at just 11 percent with voters aged 35 or younger in the latest poll, compared to 16 percent in June and 25 percent in March.

Warren may have cut into this key constituency, which helped Sanders threaten his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton in 2016, notes the Des Moines Register. Only a quarter of those who caucused for Sanders in 2016 say they will do so again; 32 percent have indicated that they will instead support Warren.

In a race where voters are presented with many more candidates than they were in 2016, all candidates are forced to work hard to stand out, but the new figures suggest old favorites like Biden and Sanders may need to do much more if they want to rise to the top.

Source Article from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/22/20878167/iowa-poll-elizabeth-warren-ann-selzer-des-moines-register-september-2019-democratic-primary

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued on Sunday to accuse Iran of committing a “state-on-state act of war,” saying the Trump administration has irrefutable evidence that shows an attack last week on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia was organized and directed by the government in Tehran.

“This was Iran true and true, and the United States will respond in a way that reflects that act of war by this Iranian revolutionary regime,” Pompeo said on “Face the Nation” from New York, where he’s attending this week’s United Nations General Assembly. “The U.N.’s primary charter is to protect peace around the world. This was a state on state act of war.”

The decades-long strained relationship between Tehran and Washington has worsened under President Trump, who last year withdrew the U.S. from the landmark 2015 nuclear accord. But tensions have escalated even more in recent days after the U.S. blamed Iran for a series of early morning attacks on oil processing facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia that rattled global energy markets. 

On Friday, Mr. Trump ordered the Pentagon to deploy hundreds of additional troops, as well as missile systems, to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, another key American ally in the region. The administration said the move was in response to the oil plant attacks, and the Pentagon called it “defensive in nature.” 

Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional nemesis, has forcefully denied involvement with the attacks, with foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif pointing to the claim of responsibility made last week by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed rebel group in Yemen fighting the fragile government there and a Saudi-led coalition supporting it.

“Well, it is difficult for the United States to explain why its state of the art equipment was not able to intercept these weapons. But the fact of the matter is that the Houthis have accepted responsibility,” Zarif said on “Face the Nation.”

But Pompeo strongly pushed back against that assertion, saying there is “ample evidence” that his Iranian counterpart is lying. He said the Houthis don’t have the capabilities to launch such a “sophisticated attack.”

“These weapons systems had ranges that could not have come from the Houthis. It is crazy for anyone to assert that they did,” he added. “I mean, it is literally nuts on its face to make an assertion that this was an attack by the Houthis.” 

The secretary of state said the U.S. is still committed to finding a diplomatic solution to ease the simmering tensions with Iran and stabilizing in the region, which has been the setting of a bitter proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran for years. 

But Pompeo denied that defensive military deployments and more economic sanctions are the only tools the administration is willing to employ to deter Iran.

“Oh, goodness, no,” he said. 

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-pompeo-on-face-the-nation-secretary-of-state-says-attack-on-saudi-oil-plant-was-act-of-war-by-iran/

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President Donald Trump is denying an accusation of improper contact with a foreign leader.
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – A whistleblower complaint and concerns over President Donald Trump’s discussions with the Ukrainian president have sparked yet another inquiry into Trump’s interactions with foreign leaders and has spilled over into the 2020 presidential campaign.

The story, which has been reported in bits and pieces from a number of news outlets, folds together diplomatic efforts from both the Obama and Trump administrations. Here we’ve attempted to breakdown what everyone is talking about.

First, it’s important to know the players, who include familiar and some not-so-familiar names. They are: Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin and current Ukrainian secretary general Yuriy Lutsenko. 

At the heart of the matter is an August whistleblower complaint by a U.S. intelligence community official and ongoing efforts by Democrats to learn more about Trump’s contacts with Ukraine. Democrats have demanded access to the whistleblower complaint. 

Little is known about the complaint but The Washington Post and The New York Times have reported that at least part of it involved Ukraine.

Democrats separately have been investigating whether Trump sought to put pressure on Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, the Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of Burisma Group, an energy company in Ukraine. They contend that using official diplomatic contacts to try to undermine a political rival would amount to an abuse of power.

On Friday, Trump said it “doesn’t matter” if he asked Ukraine to investigate Biden and that the matter warrants scrutiny. The president also said his conversations with world leaders are “always appropriate, at the highest level always appropriate.” On the same day, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump asked Zelensky eight times to investigate Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden in Ukraine

The New York Times reported in May that Biden, while in office in 2016, threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees unless Ukraine reduced its corruption. Part of that demand called for removing the country’s top prosecutor, Shokin, who was investigating the oligarch behind an energy company where Hunter Biden served on the board. 

Shokin was accused by U.S. officials of ignoring corruption in his own office. The Ukrainian Parliament eventually voted him out.

But Lutsenko, Ukraine’s current prosecutor, told Bloomberg News Service in May that he had no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son.

“Hunter Biden did not violate any Ukrainian laws — at least as of now, we do not see any wrongdoing,” Lutsenko told Bloomberg. “A company can pay however much it wants to its board.”

Hunter Biden told the Times in May that he had “no role whatsoever” in the Ukrainian investigation of the company or any of its officers. The Post has reported there is “no evidence” Biden was trying to help his son.

Trump’s call with Zelensky

On July 25, Trump called Zelensky, the Ukrainian president. Trump allegedly told Zelensky he could improve that country’s image by pursuing corruption cases, according to a letter from House Democrats investigating the call.

Trump also withheld more than $250 million in security assistance that Congress had appropriated and that Ukraine desperately needed. But the Trump administration made the funding available earlier this month.

The day after Trump’s call, Ambassador Kurt Volker, the U.S. special representative for Ukraine, was dispatched to meet with Zelensky. And days later, Giuliani met in Spain with Andriy Yermak, a Zelensky aide, to discuss a possible meeting between Trump and Zelensky.

Giuliani has tweeted allegations of Biden corruption repeatedly, at one point alleging “bribery, extortion, money laundering and fraud” by the Biden family in China and Ukraine.

Biden spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield told The New York Times in May that Biden acted “without any regard for how it would or would not impact any business interests of his son, a private citizen.”

The whistleblower complaint

Democrats are in a standoff with the Trump administration, which is refusing to turn over to Congress an Aug. 12 complaint from a whistleblower within the intelligence community. The conflict intensified after The Washington Post reported that the whistleblower had raised concerns over Trump’s contact with the foreign leader, including a “promise” he made to the leader.

The inspector general for the director of national intelligence (DNI), Michael Atkinson, said in a Sept. 9 letter that the matter involves an “urgent concern,” which is defined as “a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of the law,” but “does not include differences of opinions concerning public policy matters.” Atkinson said a preliminary review found the complaint credible.

Such complaints are typically reported to Congress within seven days. But Atkinson said he hit an impasse with Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, over sharing the complaint with Congress. Atkinson said he was told by the legal counsel for the intelligence director that the complaint did not meet the definition of an “urgent concern.” And he said the Justice Department said it did not fall under the director’s jurisdiction because it didn’t involve allegations concerning  a member of the intelligence community or intelligence activity.

Atkinson said in a letter to Maguire he disagreed with that Justice Department view.

“I set forth my reasons for concluding that the subject matter involved in the complainant’s disclosure not only falls within the DNI’s jurisdiction, but relates to one of the most significant and important of the DNI’s responsibilities to the American people,” Atkinson wrote.

The inspector general said he requested authorization to at the very least disclose the “general subject matter” to Congress but had not been allowed to do so. He said the information was “being kept” from Congress.

Democrats say they have “grave” concerns about the Trump administration’s refusal to allow the complaint to be disclosed to members of Congress.

“Reports of a reliable whistle-blower complaint regarding the President’s communications with a foreign leader raise grave, urgent concerns for our national security,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “The president and acting DNI’s stonewalling must end immediately, and the whistle-blower must be provided with every protection guaranteed by the law to defend the integrity of our government and ensure accountability and trust.”

Giuliani admits he talked to Ukraine about Biden

Congressional Democrats were troubled by the appearance of Trump urging a foreign government to investigate a political rival.

“If the President, in his official capacity, asked a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political opponent,” Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a tweet. “Congress cannot let that stand. Our silence could doom the republic.”

The dispute had been simmering as Congress investigated what was said during the call. But it boiled over Thursday, when Giuliani first denied that he urged Ukraine to investigate and then acknowledged it.

“Of course I did,” Giuliani said during a rambling interview on CNN.

Giuliani said he visited Ukraine on his own and then told Trump.

“I did what I did on my own,” Giuliani said. “I told him about it afterward.”

Three congressional chairmen – Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.; Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md. – had announced Sept. 9 that they were demanding records from the White House and State Department about alleged attempts to manipulate Ukraine’s judicial system.

“As the 2020 election draws closer, President Trump and his personal attorney appear to have increased pressure on the Ukrainian government and its justice system in service of President Trump’s reelection campaign, and the White House and the State Department may be abetting this scheme,” said the letter from the Democratic chairmen.

The State Department has insisted that President Trump’s attorney is “a private citizen” who “does not speak on behalf of the U.S. Government.” Yermak publicly stated that “it was not clear to him whether Mr. Giuliani was representing Mr. Trump in their talks.”

The IG meets with the House Intelligence Committee

The inspector general met privately Thursday with members of the House Intelligence Committee. But Schiff, the committee chairman, said the official refused to describe the complaint, but called it “both credible and urgent.”

The committee plans to hold a public hearing with Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, on Sept. 26. Maguire and Atkinson also are expected next week at the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Schiff said the prospect of misconduct at the highest levels of government “raises grave concerns that your office, together with the Department of Justice and possibly the White House, are engaged in an unlawful effort to protect the President and conceal from the Committee information related to his possible ‘serious or flagrant’ misconduct, abuse of power, or violation of law.”

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., tweeted that withholding the complaint could become another part of the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation.

“This is deadly serious,” Cicilline said. “If the President does not allow the whistleblower complaint against him to be turned over to Congress, we will add it to the Articles of Impeachment.”

Trump said the complaint was partisan, although he later said he didn’t know who made it.

“It’s a partisan whistleblower,” Trump said.

Trump’s response

Trump has said Biden should be investigated, but when speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump refused to describe his July call with the Ukrainian president and he dismissed the whistleblower complaint as a partisan attack.

“Somebody ought to look into Joe Biden’s statement, because it was disgraceful, where he talked about billions of dollars that he’s not giving to a certain country unless a certain prosecutor is taken off the case,” Trump said. “It’s a disgrace.”

Trump denied any impropriety in the call.

“I’ve had conversations with many leaders. They’re always appropriate,” Trump said. “It’s just another political hack job.”

Biden’s response

Biden lashed out Friday at Trump’s effort to push Ukraine to investigate him.

“Not one single credible outlet has given credibility to these assertions. Not one single one,” Biden said during a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.. “So I have no comment other than the president should start to be president.”

Biden then put out a statement Friday evening.

“If these reports are true, then there is truly no bottom to President Trump’s willingness to abuse his power and abase our country,” the statement said. “This behavior is particularly abhorrent because it exploits the foreign policy of our country and undermines our national security for political purposes. It means that he used the power and resources of the United States to pressure a sovereign nation — a partner that is still under direct assault from Russia — pushing Ukraine to subvert the rule of law in the express hope of extracting a political favor.”

Biden said on Saturday he has never spoken to his son about his business dealings overseas.

“Here’s what I know,” he said. “Trump should be investigated.”

More about President Donald Trump’s clashes with Congress:

Impeach Trump? House Democrats face delicate choice as lawmakers, but not public, push for action

‘Slow-motion constitutional car crash’: Trump, Congress battle over investigations with no end in sight

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/09/22/donald-trump-joe-biden-ukraine-whistleblower-standoff-explained/2388648001/

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

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/22/europe/lebanon-hijacking-twa-847-arrest-intl/index.html

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India’s Prime Minister Modi should spend more time at home taking care of the country’s faltering economy and growing divide of the India people, and less time abroad telling foreigners that everything is fine in India.

Because as Modi travels from Russia to the US, meeting with the world’s powerful leaders, the Indian economy is slowing down dramatically, from 8% a couple of years ago, to 5% recently.

The Worker Population Ratio in India stands at a record low of  46.8%, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

Koyfin

Employment Rate averaged 48.76% for the period from 2012-2018, reaching an all-time high of 50.80% in 2012 and a record low of 46.80% in 2018.

Koyfin

The Business Expectations Index (BEI) dropped to 112.8 in the second quarter of 2019-20 fiscal year from 113.5 in the previous quarter, well below the 117.74 Index Points average for the period 2000-2019, according to Tradingeconomics.com.

Meanwhile, Consumer Confidence dropped to 95.70 Index Points in the third quarter of 2019 from 97.30 Index Points in the second quarter of 2019—well below the 103.10 Index Points for the period 2010-2019.

That’s a big difference from Modi’s early days in office, when India’s economy grew at robust rates, climbing 23 spots in the World Bank’s 2018 Ease of Doing Business ranking to the 77th position, up from 100thin 2017, on top of another jump of 30 spots in the 2017 ranking from 2016.

Apparently, several things must be wrong in India these days.

One of them is that Modi’s policies didn’t touch the masses. In fact, the average Indian is worse off under Modi, according to a Gallup survey, which revealed a big decline in the percentage of Indians who rate their lives positively enough to rate it as “thriving” since Modi assumed office.

Things are even worse in the rural areas.

“Beginning in 2015, rural Indians began reporting increased difficulty paying for food,” says another Gallup report. “That year, more than one in four rural Indians (28%) reported not having enough money to pay for food at some point that year (compared with 18% of urban Indians who reported the same hardship).”

Then there’s Modi’s experimentation with the country’s currency and the reigning in of the country’s central bank. And there’s his “strong fist” ruling style, which divides the country along religious and regional lines.

Modi has been running the most centralized administration India has experienced for decades, according to Ruchir Sharma, Head of Emerging Markets and Chief Global Strategist at Morgan Stanley Investments.

That’s something that hardly works in such large and diverse country.

There’s one more reason — the persistence of corruption, which is still thriving in India in all the usual places, as also discussed in a previous piece here.

Telling the world about India won’t change India. Learning from the world, especially from the US, and getting back to work at home would do it.

Source Article from https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2019/09/21/modi-should-spend-more-time-at-home/

Who’s that baby?

A snapshot of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) carrying a toddler while boarding a Friday flight out of Washington, D.C., had the internet wondering whose child the childless politician was traveling with.

The Queens-Bronx congresswoman answered Saturday by revealing it was a “test” of a policy that may be treading into a gray area of campaign finance.

“The tot is my staffer’s 1 year old!” she tweeted in response to a Twitter post of the photo. “We are testing new childcare policies on the campaign by covering childcare expenses for traveling parents, or covering travel for children + a partner to join on certain trips. Wish us luck!”

A few hours later, she tweeted a selfie with the staffer holding the child in a seat next to her on the plane and a longer explanation.

“Team AOC does things a little differently. We are experimenting with internal childcare policies — like offering childcare to traveling parents on our team, or subsidizing costs to bring baby and partner along for certain trips.”

She went on to explain that childcare expenses are related to the gender pay gap, because mothers often forego opportunities that involve work-related travel due to childcare costs and considerations.

AOC and her staffer were on their way to Boulder, Colorado, where she joined fellow House freshman Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) for a “Climate Emergency” panel discussion in the morning, along with a fundraiser for his campaign.

The move to offer childcare to staffers may require a ruling from the Federal Elections Commission on whether such use of campaign funds is legal.

The FEC ruled last year that a campaign can pay childcare expenses that would not exist “irrespective of the candidate’s campaign for federal office.” But the May 2018 decision that upheld such costs for Democrat Gretchen Liuba when she took on longtime Rep. Pete King (R-L..I.), was specific to the candidate’s childcare costs. It did not mention staff members’ costs.

A 1995 ruling said a candidate could pay for childcare costs when his wife traveled with him because she was “an integral part” of the campaign team and the costs were “incurred only as a direct result of campaign activity and would not otherwise exist.”

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2019/09/21/who-is-the-baby-aoc-was-pictured-traveling-with/

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s many gaffes don’t mean he’s mentally unfit to be president, but if they raise enough questions with voters they might prevent him from getting the Democratic presidential nomination, or from getting elected if he becomes the nominee.

Biden, his two leading competitors in the Democratic presidential primaries and President Trump are all in their 70s. The oldest is Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 78, followed by Biden at 76, Trump at 73, and Sen. Elizabeth of Warren of Massachusetts at 70.

Are all four too old for what is probably one of the most intellectually challenging jobs in the world, with enormous power over our lives and the future of the planet?

FOX NEWS POLL: BIDEN AT NEW LOW IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY RACE

Biden, Sanders, Warren and Trump all keep demanding and high-pressure schedules, traveling frequently, often getting little sleep, and speaking on an almost daily basis in front of TV cameras to answer questions from reporters and to address audiences large and small. That takes stamina and a quick mind.

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But because they speak in public so often and most of what they say is recorded, each of them sometimes generates news stories when saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Biden, however, seems to exceed the average for the number of these gaffes. And because the former vice president’s frequent gaffes have now become an issue raising questions about his fitness to serve as president, they are getting outsized attention in the media and from his opponents.

Still, at this early stage in the 2020 presidential race Biden remains the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. A Fox News poll that came out this week shows Biden has the support of 29 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, compared with 18 percent for Sanders and 16 percent for Warren. However, Biden’s solid lead was down by two points since August and six points since May.

Biden has almost universal name recognition among voters from his eight years as President Barack Obama’s vice president and 36 years in the Senate before that. A centrist who doesn’t embrace the more far-left policies of Sanders and Warren, Biden has strong appeal for many voters because of his more moderate positions and because they believe he can make Trump a one-term president.

But what about all the Biden gaffes? His critics are raising questions about his mental fitness and whether he could be suffering from the early stages of dementia that could grow markedly worse at the end of a potential two terms in the White House.

So far the Democratic presidential candidate going after Trump most directly on the mental fitness issue is former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, who aggressively attacked Biden in the last presidential debate, accusing Biden of forgetting a comment he had made just minutes earlier.

But it turns out that Castro was the one who forgot what Biden said. Does the fact that Castro got mixed up mean he is suffering from dementia?

Look, dementia isn’t diagnosed by watching someone on a podium at a televised debate, where candidates are required to instantly respond to questions and sum up complex issues in a minute or less.

And once in office, presidents have advisers and briefings and time to learn and think about issues. No one is ever going to say to a president: Sir (or someday Madam), tell me in 60 seconds how to end terrorism, or end poverty, or improve our educational system, or balance the federal budget.

And when we look at Biden’s gaffes and question if he is possibly “losing it” or if he’s fit for office, we shouldn’t forget that President Trump certainly has made quite a few gaffes of his own.

More importantly, according to The Washington Post’s Fact Checker database, as of Aug. 5 Trump “had made 12,019 false or misleading claims.”

“President Trump’s proclivity for spouting exaggerated numbers, unwarranted boasts and outright falsehoods has continued at a remarkable pace,” a Post article reported.

Of course, the president and his supporters strongly dispute the Post tally, and the president regularly denounces the newspaper as biased against him and as purveying “fake news.”

But if voters are concerned about instances where Biden gets a bit confused at times and inadvertently says the wrong thing, they should be even more concerned about Trump’s “false and misleading claims.”

We all accidentally say the wrong thing sometimes and forget things or remember past events incorrectly. Those are innocent mistakes.

And we all age differently. Some people are past their peak mental performance in their 60s and some even have dementia at that age. Others are just fine mentally in their 80s and even beyond.

Space doesn’t permit a listing of all Biden’s gaffes, simply because there are so many. But importantly, he’s been making these gaffes for decades, going back to when he was a young man and in middle age. That hasn’t prevented him from devoting a lifetime to public service and accomplishing a great deal for the American people.

But let’s look at just a few of Biden’s gaffes.

Recently Biden has urged parents to keep “record players” on to improve the vocabulary of their

children. He said he was in Vermont when he was really in New Hampshire.

Biden said in August that he was still vice president at the time of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb.14, 2018 – when he had been out of office for more than a year.  An official with Biden’s campaign later said Biden had meant to refer to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, which occurred in December 2012.

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And one of Biden’s gaffes, which was a favorite for many and quite funny, came during CNN’s July 31 presidential debate, when he asked voters to “go to Joe 30330.” He said later he meant to say “text.” “I was so focused on making the case for Joe, I said ‘Joe’ and I gave the number,” he said.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association: “There is no one test to determine if someone has dementia.  Doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia based on a careful medical history, a physical examination, laboratory tests, and the characteristic changes in thinking, day-to-day function and behavior associated with each type.”

I’m not a doctor and I certainly can’t diagnose Biden’s mental abilities. But you would think if he really was slipping mentally his own doctors, his wife, other family members and the people who work with him every day would notice something was seriously wrong.

And you would think Biden himself would notice and conclude for his own health and for the good of the country he deeply loves that he should withdraw from the presidential race – or resign from the presidency, should he become president and be stricken with dementia.

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The bottom line is that opponents attack each other in campaigns. This has begun happening in the 2020 presidential race and is going to get a lot worse. As the Democratic front-runner, Biden is a magnet for attacks – as always happens with front-runners.

My best advice to Biden is to focus on trying to reduce the number of gaffes he makes, working with his top advisers. He has an outstanding record in government and shouldn’t be pushed out of the race for slips of the tongue, as long as they don’t indicate he has more serious problems that make him unfit to be our next president.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY LESLIE MARSHALL

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/leslie-marshall-do-bidens-frequent-gaffes-mean-hes-too-old-and-unfit-to-be-president

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police fired tear gas on Sunday to break up pro-democracy protesters who trashed fittings at a station and shopping mall, the latest in more than three months of often violent unrest.

Hundreds of protesters, young and old, had gathered in the New Town Plaza in the New Territories town of Sha Tin, chanting: “Fight for freedom” and “Liberate Hong Kong.”

Protesters called for a boycott of businesses in the Chinese-ruled city seen as pro-Beijing and made a paper chain of receipts from those stores, which were then hung across the mall.

Activists rounded on a man believed to have opposed them when they had damaged the Chinese flag. Shouting, they pushed him into a corner beside the station and cheered as crowds punched and kicked him.

After 20 minutes, he managed to walk away, dazed and bleeding from the forehead. Protesters also smashed video cameras and ticket booths in the station.

Some started to trash fittings at the entrance of the mall. The protesters then spilled outside where they set fire to barricades made of cardboard, broken palm trees and other debris.

Police fired tear gas after coming under attack from bricks dug up from pathways.

Violence has hit parts of the former British colony at different times over the last three months, but life goes on as normal for most people most of the time.

However, pictures of petrol bombs and street clashes broadcast worldwide present a huge embarrassment for Beijing just days ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Oct. 1.

The Hong Kong government has already called off a big fireworks display to mark the day in case of further clashes. China, which has a People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong, has said it has faith in Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to solve the crisis.

ANGRY

The protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula intended to guarantee freedoms that are not enjoyed on the mainland.

China says it is committed to the arrangement and denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments including the United States and Britain of inciting the unrest.

There was also a noisy standoff between protesters and police at the Tsing Yi interchange station, which serves the Airport Express and the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), which had been closed due to plans to block roads around the station.

There were also scuffles at the Kwai Fong MTR, near Tsing Yi.

Police closed Kowloon station, also on the Airport Express route, where about 400 protesters had gathered, shouting abuse and vandalizing property.

Protest violence has often targeted the MTR, which is blamed for closing stations at the government’s behest to stop

demonstrators gathering.

Protesters are also demanding that the MTR hand over CCTV footage of police beating protesters on a train as they cowered on the floor, smartphone footage of which went viral online.

Slideshow (26 Images)

Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters who threw petrol bombs in two new towns on Saturday after pro-China groups pulled down some anti-government graffiti. There were violent clashes elsewhere in the city.

Police condemned the violence and said there had been many serious injuries in clashes between people of “different views”.

Police earlier prevented a protest targeting the airport.

Pro-democracy protesters have targeted the airport before, occupying the arrivals hall, blocking approach roads and setting street fires in the nearby town of Tung Chung.

Reporting by Poppy McPherson, Jessie Pang, Farah Master, Felix Tam and Twinnie Siu; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Giles Elgood

Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests/hong-kong-braces-for-airport-protest-after-night-of-violent-clashes-idUSKBN1W700W