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Appeals court rules against Trump administration on indefinite detention of asylum-seekers | TheHill – The Hill
Appeals court rules against Trump administration on indefinite detention of asylum-seekers | TheHill – The Hill

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled against the Trump administration’s policy allowing for the indefinite detention of certain asylum-seekers, saying a lower court ruling temporarily blocking it can remain in place.

In the ruling, the judges said the Department of Justice did not make a “persuasive showing that it will suffer irreparable harm if it is required to provide bond hearings pending the outcome of this appeal in the same way it had done for several years.”

However, the appeals court did not allow a district judge’s order requiring the government to release some asylum-seekers within a certain amount of time after immigration proceedings begin, saying it “would impose short-term hardship for the government and its immigration system.”

Barr first issued the order earlier this year, determining that asylum-seekers who pass a “credible fear” test and go on to full deportation proceedings aren’t entitled to bond hearings.

But Judge Marsh Pechman, a Clinton appointee in federal court in Seattle, ruled earlier this month that policy is unconstitutional and blocked it from being enforced.

The three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit — Carter appointees Judges Mary Schroeder and William Canby as well as Judge Morgan Christen, an Obama appointee — declined to place a stay on Pechman’s ruling.

“The government failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits of its underlying argument that the government may indefinitely detain the plaintiffs without affording bond hearings at all,” Monday’s order reads.

Pechman had also ruled earlier this year that the Trump administration must take several steps in regard to asylum-seekers who are detained during immigration proceedings, including that certain migrants should be released if they are not granted a hearing within seven days of those proceedings beginning.

But the judges said that lawyers for the Trump administration showed that those requirements would be “too burdensome,” and temporarily halted the order as the full appeal of Pechman’s ruling plays out.

The appeals court is set to rule on the policies further, and Monday’s order asked that arguments be scheduled in the case for October of this year.

The Trump administration was critical of Pechman’s ruling against Barr’s asylum policy, with White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham saying in a statement that the order is “at war with the rule of law.”

On Monday officials said they were pleased the panel partially granted the government’s request.

“Unfortunately, in the same decision, the Ninth Circuit also allowed a radical decision from a district judge to go into effect during the pendency of the government’s appeal, which had held unconstitutional a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” said Deputy Press Secretary Steven Groves in a statement. “Based on the unprecedented theory that illegal aliens who recently entered the country have a constitutional right to be released on bond into the United States, the district court struck down a statute passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress during the Clinton administration specifically requiring certain aliens to be detained pending their asylum proceedings.”

He said the administration expected to ultimately prevail in the appeal.

The 9th Circuit’s ruling comes as the Trump administration seeks to implement tighter restrictions on asylum.

Trump officials announced last week that they would not accept asylum claims from migrants who pass through another country while traveling to the U.S.’s southern border, with limited exceptions. That rule is currently being challenged in a pair of federal courts.

— Updated at 11 p.m.

Source Article from https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/454208-appeals-court-rules-against-trump-administration-on-indefinite

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Justice Department tells Mueller his House testimony ‘must remain within the boundaries’ of public report – Fox News
Justice Department tells Mueller his House testimony ‘must remain within the boundaries’ of public report – Fox News
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What impact will the Mueller report findings have on the 2020 election?

Robert Mueller to testify before Congress; reaction from the ‘Special Report’ All-Stars.

A Justice Department official told former Special Counsel Robert Mueller that his upcoming testimony to House lawmakers “must remain within the boundaries” of the public, redacted version of his report, in a letter obtained by Fox News on Monday evening.

The letter, obtained exclusively by Fox News, signed by Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer, states: “Dear Mr. Mueller: I write in response to your July 10, 2019 letter concerning the testimonial subpoenas you received from the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).

“Your letter requests that the Department provide you with guidance concerning privilege or other legal bars applicable to potential testimony in connection with those subpoenas.”

After stating the decision to testify is Mueller’s to make, the letter continues: “But the Department agrees with your stated position that your testimony should be unnecessary under the circumstances. The Department generally does not permit prosecutors such as you to appear and testify before Congress regarding their investigative and prosecutorial activity.

READ THE FULL LETTER HERE

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“In addition, the Department already has taken the extraordinary steps to make almost your entire report, as well as a substantial volume of your underlying investigative material, available to the committees.

“Should you testify, the Department understands that testimony regarding the work of the Special Counsel’s Office will be governed by the terms you outlined on May 29 — specifically, that the information you discuss during your testimony appears in, and does “not go beyond,” the public version of your March 22, 2019 report to the Attorney General or your May 29 public statement.”

It continued: “Finally, any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by the executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement, deliberative process, attorney work product, and presidential communications privileges.

“These privileges would include discussion about the investigative steps or decisions, made during your investigation not otherwise described in the public version of your report. Consistent with standard practice, Department witnesses should decline to address potentially privileged matters, thus affording the Department the full opportunity at a later date to consider particular questions and possible accommodations that may fulfill the committees’ legitimate need for information while protecting Executive Branch confidentiality interests.”

BRET BAIER: MUELLER HEARING COULD BACKFIRE ON DEMOCRATS

The letter comes after a deal was struck earlier this month for Mueller to give extended testimony as part of an agreement for him to appear before congressional lawmakers later this month, Democratic Party officials said at the time.

Mueller’s highly anticipated appearance was pushed back at his request, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a joint statement.

Mueller had been scheduled to testify on July 17 about the findings of his two-year Russia probe after he was subpoenaed by the panels last month.

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The former special counsel’s only public comments on the investigation came in May, when he did not clear Trump of wrongdoing and reaffirmed his reluctance to testify in front of Congress. He did not say whether Trump obstructed justice during his probe.

DEMOCRAT CONFIDENT MAJORITY OF CAUCUS WILL BE IN FAVOR OF IMPEACHMENT AFTER MUELLER TESTIMONY

“Charging the president with a crime was not an option we could consider,” he said at the time. Mueller’s report did not assert that evidence showed Trump had, in fact, committed a crime.

Charges were brought against three businesses and 34 people, including former Trump aides, senior advisers, and Russian agents, although no Americans were indicted in connection with attempts to conspire with Russians to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Mueller found no evidence the Trump team conspired with Russian actors, despite multiple outreach efforts aimed at involving the Trump campaign.

Mueller also told reporters any testimony he gave would not exceed what’s contained in his report.

“There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress,” Mueller said. “Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis, and the reasons for the decisions we made. We chose those words carefully, and the work speaks for itself. And the report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.”

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-department-tells-mueller-his-house-testimony-must-remain-within-the-boundaries-of-public-report

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Trump announces support for two-year bipartisan budget deal that boosts spending, suspends debt limit – The Washington Post
Trump announces support for two-year bipartisan budget deal that boosts spending, suspends debt limit – The Washington Post

Damian Paletta

Erica Werner

July 22 at 8:24 PM

The White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reached a tentative two-year budget deal Monday that would raise spending limits by $320 billion and suspend the federal debt ceiling until after the 2020 presidential election.

The agreement, which still must be passed by Congress, probably would prevent a debt-ceiling crisis later this year but also would continue Washington’s borrowing binge for at least two years.

“I am pleased to announce that a deal has been struck with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — on a two-year Budget and Debt Ceiling, with no poison pills,” President Trump tweeted Monday. “This was a real compromise to give another big victory to our Great Military and Vets!”

The deal was met with fierce resistance from some prominent Republicans who said that it would add too much to the debt, a backlash that will force congressional leaders to work hard this week to ensure they have enough votes for passage. The agreement also could spark concerns from some House liberals because of concessions made to the Trump administration, as both parties try to stake out positions that resonate with voters ahead of the 2020 election.

The agreement marks a significant retreat for the White House, which insisted just a few months ago that it would force Congress to cut spending on a variety of programs to enact fiscal discipline. Instead, the White House agreed to raise spending for most agencies, particularly at the Pentagon.

In exchange, White House officials received verbal assurances from Democrats that they would not seek to attach controversial policy changes to future spending bills, although it’s unclear how that commitment would be enforced.

Pelosi brokered the deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whom Democrats and even some Republicans had considered the best arbiter for a compromise. White House acting budget director Russell Vought sought last week to force Democrats to commit to $150 billion in budget changes in exchange for the new spending, but his demand was rejected.

Instead, negotiators agreed to $77 billion in accounting changes that probably wouldn’t constrain any future spending. But the deal locked in more spending for the military, something Trump has tried to make a hallmark of his first 30 months as president. He has told advisers that if he is reelected, he wants to focus on spending cuts beginning in 2021, and he has largely cast aside the budget-slashing goals some of his aides have advocated since his inauguration in 2017.

“We are, I think, doing very well on debt, if you look at debt limit, however you want to define that, but we’re doing very well on that and I think we’re doing pretty well on a budget,” Trump told reporters Monday. “Very important that we take care of our military, our military was depleted and in the last two-and-a-half years we undepleted it, okay, to put it mildly, we have made it stronger than ever before. We need another big year.”

The deal would suspend the debt ceiling until July 31, 2021, meaning it probably would not need to be addressed again until the fall or winter of that year. And the agreement would set spending levels through Sept. 30, 2022.

The deal was reached as the House prepares to leave Washington at the end of this week for a six-week summer recess, giving Pelosi little margin for error to pass the legislation in a matter of days. The Senate is in session for an additional week and is expected to take up the deal next week before senators, too, head out on recess.

Many Republicans spent the bulk of the Obama administration insisting that the budget needed to shrink and calling for a constitutional amendment to balance it. A number of those lawmakers have either left in recent years or muted their criticism of Trump’s embrace of big deficits, and some GOP leaders in recent weeks have said they need to focus on passing budget deals and not getting into messy fights without a clear strategy.

In December, Trump decided late in negotiations to block a bipartisan spending agreement, leading to a long government shutdown.

“Somebody needs to calmly and clearly lay out the alternatives, because we saw what happened last time,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) told reporters Monday. “We ended up in a shutdown mode, and I don’t think that’s good for anybody.”

Still, some conservatives expressed outrage Monday that the White House would back such a big increase in spending when deficits are already ballooning.

Rep. Mike Johnson (La.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said he spoke with Trump on Saturday and urged him to oppose the emerging deal.

“I encouraged the president that he would have his right flank if he would hold the line and allow us all to do the fiscally responsible thing and that is limit this out-of-control spending,” Johnson said. “He responded well . . . he understood the sentiments.”

Fiscal hawks also said they were mortified.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said, “As we understand it, this agreement is a total abdication of fiscal responsibility by Congress and the president. It may end up being the worst budget agreement in our nation’s history.”

But some Democrats said they were upset that Democratic leaders did not secure a commitment from the White House that Trump would stop using money from military programs to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

And others complained that their extensive efforts to boost funding for things such as college are frequently dismissed while conservative priorities are often met.

“Notice how whenever we pursue large spending increases + tax cuts for corporations, contractors & connected, it’s treated as business as usual,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote on Twitter. “But the moment we consider investing similar [money] in working class people . . . they cry out it’s ‘unrealistic.’ ”

Also as part of the deal, Democratic leaders agreed not to include controversial policy changes, known as “riders,” in future spending bills. Those measures, which can be tied to hot-button issues such as abortion and immigration, can imperil spending legislation. Opponents of these measures often call them “poison pills.”

“There will be no poison pills, additional new riders . . . or other changes in policy or conventions,” congressional leaders wrote in an outline of the deal.

But lawmakers often disagree on what constitutes a poison pill, and the debate could be revived once specific spending bills are introduced.

By raising spending limits for the military and nondefense programs for the next two years, the White House and Pelosi have effectively erased key remnants of the 2011 Budget Control Act, which was supposed to constrain spending for a decade.

“With this agreement, we strive to avoid another government shutdown, which is so harmful to meeting the needs of the American people and honoring the work of our public employees,” Pelosi and Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement.

Lawmakers and the White House still must pass spending bills to fund government operations for the next fiscal year, which will begin in October, but that is considered an easier task now that budget levels have been set. The $320 billion in new spending that the White House and Pelosi agreed to represents an increase over what the reduced budget levels would have fallen to if the limits had begun next year.

The government spends more money than it brings in through revenue, and that difference is called the budget deficit. To cover the deficit, the government borrows money by issuing debt. The debt has grown from about $19 trillion when Trump took office to more than $22 trillion this month. The government must pay interest on the money it borrows, and this year it will pay more than $350 billion to finance its borrowing.

The deficit has widened since Trump took office. It was $587 billion in 2016, President Barack Obama’s last full year in office, and is projected to reach $1 trillion this year. The larger deficit is a result of higher spending and the 2017 tax cuts, which have led to a large drop in forecast revenue, according to budget experts. White House officials have argued that the combination of higher spending and tax cuts has helped the economy grow and that they plan to cut spending when the economy is on a stronger footing.

The deal could raise questions about the White House’s future negotiating strategy. Democrats targeted Mnuchin as a negotiating partner during the current talks because they thought he represented their best option for a compromise. Typically, the budget director or White House chief of staff would play a more prominent role. But acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has poor relations with House Democrats, and many have written off working with Vought.

It’s unclear whether this dynamic will change when lawmakers begin their next round of negotiations on the specific spending bills, debates that are likely to drag into September.

“I think Mr. Mnuchin has a different perspective on some of this than others in the administration, Mulvaney and Vought among others,” said Johnson, the Louisiana Republican. “And I don’t know if it’s yet decided which perspective will win the day. But we know there are some very smart and very thoughtful people involved in the negotiations, and we hope that at the end of the day they’ll do the right thing.”

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-announces-support-for-two-year-bipartisan-budget-deal-that-boosts-spending-suspends-debt-limit/2019/07/22/94cf2172-acb6-11e9-8e77-03b30bc29f64_story.html

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‘The People Can’t Take It Anymore’: Puerto Rico Erupts in a Day of Protests – The New York Times
‘The People Can’t Take It Anymore’: Puerto Rico Erupts in a Day of Protests – The New York Times

michael barbaro

“The Daily” is made by Theo Balcomb, Andy Mills, Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Annie Brown, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Alexandra Leigh Young, Jonathan Wolfe, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, Adizah Eghan, Kelly Prime, Julia Longoria, Sindhu Gnanasambandan and Jazmín Aguilera. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Mikayla Bouchard, Julia Simon, Stella Tan and William Rashbaum. That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/us/puerto-rico-protests-politics.html

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Trump calls congresswomen racist day after his adviser says the term is used to silence speech – USA TODAY
Trump calls congresswomen racist day after his adviser says the term is used to silence speech – USA TODAY

At his North Carolina rally, President Donald Trump highlighted past statements the “Squad” have made criticizing his administration’s policies.
USA TODAY

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/22/donald-trump-racism-and-squad-its-not-me-its-you/1796475001/

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Protesters In Puerto Rico Fill Streets Calling For Governor To Resign – NPR
Protesters In Puerto Rico Fill Streets Calling For Governor To Resign – NPR

Thousands of Puerto Ricans gather for what many are expecting to be one of the biggest protests ever seen in the U.S. territory, with irate islanders pledging to drive Gov. Ricardo Rosselló from office.

Carlos Giusti/AP


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Carlos Giusti/AP

Thousands of Puerto Ricans gather for what many are expecting to be one of the biggest protests ever seen in the U.S. territory, with irate islanders pledging to drive Gov. Ricardo Rosselló from office.

Carlos Giusti/AP

Thousands of people flooded the streets of San Juan on Monday, calling for Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to resign from office. The mass demonstrations are expected to be one of the largest protests ever seen in a U.S. territory.

A scandal that recently exposed chat messages Rosselló sent among his inner circle showed the governor and his allies insulting women, gay people and mocking everyday Puerto Ricans, even victims of Hurricane Maria.

On Sunday, Rosselló announced that he will not step down. Instead, he said he would not seek re-election next year — a move that did little to dampen widespread protests that have now been held for 10 straight days. By noon Monday, demonstrators had already clogged a major highway, causing the island’s largest mall to close and prompting cruise stops to cancel port stops to keep tourists away.

“They can’t deny it: The power is in the street,” Carmen Yulín Cruz said on Twitter on Monday, as marchers filled the streets demanding that Rosselló be ousted.

The public display of anger comes after nearly 900 pages of profane and offensive private text messages were leaked in which sexist, homophobic and other derogatory language was repeatedly used.

A number of Puerto Rican celebrities have joined the movement against the governor, including Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and musician Bad Bunny and singer Ricky Martin, who was mocked in the controversial texts.

Many protest supporters are rallying around the Twitter hashtag #RickyRenuncia (Ricky Resign). The demonstrations are being described as the largest protest on the island in nearly two decades, as The Associated Press reports.

The leaked messages also showed discussions about trying to manipulate public opinion and discredit the work of a federal police monitor and journalists that were critical of the administration. In one text, the governor’s chief financial officer tried to make light of dead bodies that piled up during Hurricane Maria in 2017, which led to nearly 3,000 deaths.

The territory’s largest newspaper, El Nuevo Día, also called on Monday for Rosselló to resign.

The unrest comes as the struggle continues to recover from billions of dollars in damage Hurricane Maria caused to Puerto Rico, which has been stuck in a recession from more than a decade.

The backdrop for the mass demonstration also comes as officials continue to assess the fallout from a federal corruption indictment filed against two former top Puerto Rico officials for steering millions of dollars of government work to favored businesses.

In a brief video posted on Sunday, Rosselló said he will defend himself against a potential impeachment process, which is now being explored by Puerto Rico’s legislature.

“To every Puerto Rican man and every Puerto Rican woman, I’ve heard you and I hear you today,” he said “I’ve made mistakes, and I have apologized.”

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/07/22/744093831/thousands-in-puerto-rico-seek-to-oust-rossell-in-massive-ricky-renuncia-march

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Trump expands fast-track deportation authority across US – AOL
Trump expands fast-track deportation authority across US – AOL

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration is expanding the authority of immigration officers to deport migrants without requiring them to appear before judges ahead of deportation.

The Homeland Security Department said Monday that fast-track deportations will apply to anyone in the country illegally less than two years.

Until now those deportations applied online to people caught crossing the U.S. border by land and not entering by boat or plane.

The department says the expansion “expedited removal” authority will allow it to more efficiently pursue large numbers of people in the country illegally and promptly remove them.

RELATED: Department of Homeland Security




Omar Jawdat of the American Civil Liberties says his group and the American Immigration Council will challenge the measure in court.

The announcement came a week after the administration adopted a major policy shift to limit asylum.

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Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/07/22/trump-expands-fast-track-deportation-authority-across-us/23775627/

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Gretna police officers Charlie Rispoli and Angelo Varisco fired for suggesting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "needs a round" after reading fake news post on Facebook – CBS News
Gretna police officers Charlie Rispoli and Angelo Varisco fired for suggesting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "needs a round" after reading fake news post on Facebook – CBS News

After reading a false headline on Facebook, a Louisiana police officer suggested Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, should be shot. His Facebook post, which was spotted by the news site NOLA.com over the weekend, comes amid heightened scrutiny of racist and violent social media posts from police officers nationwide.

Gretna Police Department officer Charlie Rispoli shared a fake news story with a headline that quoted Ocasio-Cortez as saying U.S. soldiers are “getting paid too much.” Snopes.com disproved the story as completely fabricated, but Rispoli went ahead and shared it on his Facebook page with a threatening comment.

“This vile idiot needs a round… and I don’t mean the kind she used to serve,” he wrote, referring to the freshman congresswoman’s previous job as a bartender, while also insinuating Ocasio-Cortez should be shot.

Rispoli and Angelo Varisco, a fellow officer who reportedly liked the post, have since been fired, CBS affiliate WWL-TV reported Monday. During a press conference, Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson called the incident “an embarrassment to our department.” 

“These officers certainly acted in a manner which was unprofessional alluding to a violent act to be conducted against a sitting U.S. congressman,” Lawson said.

Lawson told NOLA.com over the weekend that he was “not going to take this lightly and this will be dealt with on our end.” Rispoli has been with the department since 2005. Lawson said he does not think the comment is an actual threat, but that it appeared to violate the department’s social media policy. 

“Whether you agree or disagree with the message of these elected officials and how frustrated you may or may not get, this certainly is not the type of thing that a public servant should be posting,” Lawson said.

The post was taken down by Friday afternoon, and Rispoli’s page was down by Saturday, NOLA.com reported. CBS News reached out to the Gretna police department for further comment.

Rispoli’s post comes as law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are reviewing troubling social media posts by officers that were compiled by a watchdog group called The Plain View Project. Investigations are underway in all eight jurisdictions the group reviewed, the Plain View Project told CBS News, including Philadelphia and Dallas.

Ocasio-Cortez is one of four progressive congresswomen of color known as “the Squad” who have become a target for President Trump and his supporters. During a meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister at the White House Monday, Mr. Trump continued his attacks, calling the congresswomen “bad for the country.”

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie-rispoli-lousiana-gretna-city-police-department-officer-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/

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Britain is revving up a European military response to Iran – Washington Examiner
Britain is revving up a European military response to Iran – Washington Examiner

Escalating against Iran, Britain’s foreign secretary on Monday announced that Britain will establish “a European-led maritime protection mission to support safe passage” of tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

This follows Iran’s seizure of a British tanker on Friday. As I noted, that Iranian aggression was likely to backfire with just this kind of U.K. escalation.

While Britain, France, and Germany oppose the Trump administration’s maximum pressure sanctions campaign on Iran, they cannot permit Iran’s endangerment of critical global trade flows. Hunt says that discussions with other European powers about the formation of a task force have been “constructive.” And if Britain, France, Germany, each deploy one warship, and one or two other nations do the same, the Europeans will introduce a potent force to the Persian Gulf.

That speaks to the true scale of Iran’s miscalculation here: it has pushed the Europeans into de facto alignment with the U.S. military. Until now, the Europeans had resisted such an alignment out of opposition to the U.S. pressure campaign. That reluctance has aggravated the Trump administration, leading Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to tell the British on Monday that they have the responsibility “to take care of their ships.”

Iran has now changed that calculation. While Hunt suggested that the European effort will be separate from the Americans’, he adds that the Europeans will discuss “the best way to complement this with recent U.S. proposals in this area.”

This is a de facto alliance. Bonded by close military-to-military relationships and a shared objective to protect international shipping, the European and U.S.-led task forces will divide lines of effort. Likely by geographic locale. But the ultimate outcome will be the same: greater protection for shipping and improved deterrence of Iran.

This is Iran’s great difficulty.

Attempting to extort concessions to save their collapsing economy, Iran’s hardliner faction is only further isolating Tehran. This is not an escalation struggle that Iran can win.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/britain-is-revving-up-a-european-military-response-to-iran

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Rashida Tlaib: ‘I’m not going nowhere, not until I impeach this President’ – CNN
Rashida Tlaib: ‘I’m not going nowhere, not until I impeach this President’ – 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/2019/07/22/politics/trump-rashida-tlaib-squad/index.html

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A top CEO calls out Trump’s racism – CNN
A top CEO calls out Trump’s racism – 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/2019/07/22/business/siemens-ceo-joe-kaeser-trump/index.html

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Iran says it has arrested 17 CIA spies, some sentenced to death – AOL
Iran says it has arrested 17 CIA spies, some sentenced to death – AOL

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Monday it has arrested 17 Iranian nationals allegedly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency to spy on the country’s nuclear and military sites, and that some of them have already been sentenced to death.

The arrests took place over the past months, and those taken into custody worked on “sensitive sites” in the country’s military and nuclear facilities, an Iranian intelligence official told a press conference in Tehran. He did not elaborate, say how many of them were sentenced to death or when the sentences were handed down.

President Donald Trump tweeted that the claim had “zero truth,” calling Iran a “total mess.”

The announcement comes as Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers is unraveling and tensions have spiked in the Persian Gulf region. The crisis stems from Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the agreement last year and intensify sanctions on the country.




The Iranian official did not give his name but was identified as the director of the counterespionage department of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. It’s rare in Iran for intelligence officials to appear before media, or for any official to give a press conference without identifying himself.

The official claimed that none of the 17, who allegedly had “sophisticated training,” had succeeded in their sabotage missions. Their spying missions included collecting information at the facilities where they worked, carrying out technical and intelligence activities, and transferring and installing monitoring devices, he said.

The official further claimed the CIA had promised U.S. visas or jobs in America and that some of the agents had turned and were now working with his department “against the U.S.”

He also handed out a CD with a video recording of an alleged foreign female spy working for the CIA. The disc also included names of several U.S. Embassy staff in Turkey, India, Zimbabwe and Austria who Iran claims were in touch with the recruited Iranian spies.

Trump rejected the allegations.

“The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth. Just more lies and propaganda (like their shot down drone) put out by a Religious Regime that is Badly Failing and has no idea what to do. Their Economy is dead, and will get much worse. Iran is a total mess!” he tweeted.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former CIA director, declined on Monday to address specifics of the arrests. But he added that “the Iranian regime has a long history of lying.”

Pompeo pointed to differences between the U.S. and Iranian accounts of the location of an unmanned U.S. drone the Iranians shot down in June, among other incidents.

“I think everyone should take with a grain of salt everything that the Islamic Republic of Iran asserts today,” he said. “They have 40 years of history of them lying, so we should all be cautious reporting things that the Iranian leadership tells us.”

Pompeo, speaking to The Associated Press over the phone, said that the world is “watching the Iranian regime understand that they’ve got a real challenge, that America and the world understands that they are a rogue regime conducting terror campaigns.”

Iran occasionally announces the detention of people it says are spying for foreign countries, including the U.S. and Israel. In June, Iran said it executed a former staff member of the Defense Ministry who was convicted of spying for the CIA.

In April, Iran said it uncovered 290 CIA spies both inside and outside the country over the past years.

___

Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran. Associated Press writer Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed.

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Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/07/22/iran-says-it-arrested-17-cia-spies-some-sentenced-to-death/23775331/

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Apple Shuts Hong Kong Stores Early as Fears of Lawlessness Rise – The Wall Street Journal
Apple Shuts Hong Kong Stores Early as Fears of Lawlessness Rise – The Wall Street Journal

HONG KONG—Tech giant Apple Inc. shut its stores early citywide on Monday, as fears of escalating violence and spiraling lawlessness linked to weekslong protests spurred concern among businesses and the public.

A day after police fired tear gas in clashes with thousands of protesters, Hong Kong remains on edge as officials conceded no ground and activists accused the government of coddling a rise in vigilante justice. In the north of the city, a mob of white-shirted men stormed a subway station late Sunday and beat people whom…

Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-shuts-hong-kong-stores-early-as-fears-of-lawlessness-rise-11563793440

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‘He must resign’: Thousands pack Puerto Rico streets again with an urgent message for Gov. Rosselló – USA TODAY
‘He must resign’: Thousands pack Puerto Rico streets again with an urgent message for Gov. Rosselló – USA TODAY
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Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló faces calls to resign after private chats leaked, revealing the men mocking women and victims of Hurricane Maria.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

Thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the streets Monday as Gov. Ricardo Rosselló clung to his job amid a deepening scandal involving vulgar text messages that have fueled intense emotions across the island.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters were expected, and they quickly overwhelmed the expressway into San Juan for what could be the largest rally yet, coming one day after Rosselló announced he would not seek re-election but refused to resign.

Rosselló’s boyish charm and dogged determination helped him survive controversies surrounding Hurricane Maria, which ripped the island apart in 2017, and a series of corruption scandals. “Chatgate,” however, is proving his most difficult hurdle.

Monday marked the 10th consecutive day of protests.

The issue involves the leak of more than 800 pages that include sometimes profanity-laced, misogynistic texts and online chats with male members of his administration.

Mario Negrón Portillo, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico’s school of public administration, told The Guardian that Rosselló had a reputation as a meek family man. The brutal language revealed in the texts rocked the island of more than 3 million people, he said.

“Everyone woke up one day and the governor was spouting vulgarities,” Negrón said. “There’s nothing worse for a politician than losing legitimacy. I think Ricardo Rosselló has lost legitimacy.”

The controversy began less than two weeks ago with the arrest of Rosselló associates on corruption charges. The next day, the texts began emerging, and a few days later Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism published 889 pages.

Rosselló ‘s targets included former New York City Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.

Rosselló, upset that Mark-Viverito had challenged Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez’s support for statehood for Puerto Rico, called her a “whore.” And when a colleague texted that he was “salivating to shoot” the mayor, Rosselló responded that he would consider it a favor.

Rosselló and his associates made light of the suffering Maria imposed on many island residents and used vulgar language regarding a federal board overseeing the island’s finances. Even island musical star Ricky Martin was not spared, with a Rosselló associate using tasteless language to describe his homosexuality.

Rosselló apologized shortly after the information became public.

“I’m the governor of Puerto Rico, but I’m a human being who has his faults,” Rosselló said.

Apologies have failed to curb the crisis, and protests have been growing. Last week, a series of protests were led by unionized workers accompanied by horseback riders, and a caravan of thousands of motorcyclists. On Sunday, kayakers made their case from the waters.

“They mocked our dead, they mocked women, they mocked the LGBT community,” Martin said in a Twitter video. “They made fun of people with physical and mental disabilities, they made fun of obesity. It’s enough. This cannot be.”

Rosselló also has drawn ire on the mainland – “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was among protesters gatherer last week in New York. Puerto Rico’s non-voting member of Congress Jenniffer Gonzalez; Sen. Rick Scott of Florida; and New York Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez have all demanded Rosselló step aside.

In Puerto Rico, organizers labeled the planned road shutdown “660,510 + 1,”- the number of people who voted for Rosselló plus one more to counter his claim that he will not resign because he was chosen by the people.

Mark-Viverito was among those protesting Monday in San Juan. 

“He must resign, that is the message today,” she told CNN. “This is not about me. This is an attack on all women and an attack on Puerto Rico in general.”

Contributing: Susan Miller; The Associated Press

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Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/22/puerto-rico-governor-rossello-protests-grow/1793372001/

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"Jihad Squad": Illinois Republican Party group apologizes after sharing meme calling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar the "Jihad Squad" – CBS News
"Jihad Squad": Illinois Republican Party group apologizes after sharing meme calling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar the "Jihad Squad" – CBS News

A state Republican group apologized Sunday after sharing a meme calling four Democratic congresswomen the “The Jihad Squad.” The post showed a faux movie poster featuring Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar –– progressive lawmakers known as “the Squad” who were the target of attacks from President Trump last week. 

The Illinois Republican County Chairman’s Association (RCCA), a group that helps elect Republicans in the state, drew widespread criticism from both sides of the aisle after it posted a photoshopped image of the four congresswomen with guns, labeled “The Jihad Squad.” A logo for the RCCA appeared at the bottom. 

The association’s president, Mark Shaw, apologized in a statement Sunday night for the meme. “I condemn this unauthorized posting and it has been deleted,” Shaw wrote. “I am sorry if anyone who saw the image was offended by the contents.” 

He added,”This unauthorized posting is an unfortunate distraction from the serious debate surrounding the policies advocated by these four socialist members of the United States House of Representatives of which I strongly disagree.” 

The meme, which mimics the poster for the 2013 action flick “Gangster Squad.” depicts Pressley aiming a handgun, Omar with a high-powered rifle, Tlaib shouting with a gun in her hand, and Ocasio-Cortez wearing a red dress surrounded by flames. Omar and Tlaib are the first two Muslim women ever elected into Congress. The slogan under the photo said: “Political jihad is their game. If you don’t agree with their socialist ideology, you’re a racist.”

The Illinois Republican Party chairman Tim Schneider condemned the post, saying it doesn’t reflect his party’s values. “Bigoted rhetoric greatly distracts from legitimate and important policy debates and further divides our nation. My intense disagreement with the socialist policies and anti-semitic language of these four congresswomen has absolutely nothing to do with their race or religion,” he said.

The Cook County Democratic Party called the meme a “racist and inflammatory attack” on the four congresswomen, adding, “The post perpetuates the recent attacks by President Trump, promoting lies and racism to alienate immigrants, women, and people of color.” 

The post follows a string of public comments from Mr. Trump attacking the four congresswomen of color that began with a series of tweets. He told them to “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” In an interview with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King last week, the congresswomen called the attacks a “distraction.”

During a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump supporters began to chant “send her back” after the president mentioned Omar. Mr. Trump did not stop the chants. The next day he said he was “not happy” with it, but soon he seemed to reverse course again, praising the rally crowd and continuing to attack Omar.

Then on Sunday, he had more to say against the four freshmen lawmakers. “I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country. They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said,” he tweeted.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jihad-squad-illinois-republican-party-meme-poster-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-rashida-tlaib-ilhan-omar-ayanna-pressley/

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With Mueller testimony looming, Trump predicts trouble for special counsel and Dems – Politico
With Mueller testimony looming, Trump predicts trouble for special counsel and Dems – Politico

President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he does not plan to view the Mueller hearings later this week. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Legal

By

07/22/2019 09:45 AM EDT

Updated 07/22/2019 10:21 AM EDT


President Donald Trump predicted Monday that Robert Mueller’s highly anticipated testimony before Congress this week will “be bad for him,” and again suggested that the former special counsel should not answer questions from lawmakers.

“Highly conflicted Robert Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “In the end it will be bad for him and the phony Democrats in Congress who have done nothing but waste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt. Result of the Mueller Report, NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION!”

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In another post, the president continued: “The questions should be asked, why were all of Clinton’s people given immunity, and why were the text messages of Peter S and his lover, Lisa Page, deleted and destroyed right after they left Mueller, and after we requested them(this is Illegal)?”

Trump employed similar rhetoric in a pair of tweets earlier this month as the House Judiciary Committee moved to authorize subpoenas for a dozen of Mueller’s witnesses. “How many bites at the apple do they get before working on Border Loopholes and Asylum,” he wrote online, going on to criticize Mueller as “highly … conflicted and compromised.”

Mueller is scheduled to appear Wednesday before hearings of the Judiciary committee and the House Intelligence Committee, where he will face queries from the panels’ Democrats regarding the contents of his report on the findings of his 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and allegations that the president obstructed justice.

Republican lawmakers, however, are expected to interrogate Mueller about alleged bias within his team of federal prosecutors, including anti-Trump sentiments expressed in text messages exchanged between FBI agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page during the bureau’s separate probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Mueller removed Strzok from the Russia investigation in the summer of 2017 after he learned of the messages, which were unearthed last June in a report by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General.

Trump previously tweeted that “Bob Mueller should not testify” in May, when the House Judiciary Committee was still seeking an audience with Mueller. The president said Friday that he does not plan to view the hearings later this week, telling reporters: “At some point they have to stop playing games.”

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/22/trump-mueller-testimony-1424608

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Iran CIA arrests: Iran claims it’s nabbed 17 spies working for CIA and sentenced some to death today — live updates – CBS News
Iran CIA arrests: Iran claims it’s nabbed 17 spies working for CIA and sentenced some to death today — live updates – CBS News

Tehran, Iran — Iran said Monday it has arrested 17 Iranian nationals allegedly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency to spy on the country’s nuclear and military sites, and that some have already been sentenced to death. The arrests took place in the Iranian calendar year ending in March 2019 and those taken into custody worked on “sensitive sites” in the country’s military and nuclear facilities, an Iranian intelligence official told a news conference in Tehran.

He didn’t say how many of them got the death sentence or when the sentences were handed down. Iranian state television published images Monday it said showed the CIA officers who were in contact with the alleged spies, the Reuters news agency reports.

The CIA and State Department didn’t offer any immediate comment in response to CBS News inquiries.

The Iranian announcement came as Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers is unraveling and tensions have spiked in the Persian Gulf region. The crisis stems from President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of Tehran’s deal last year and intensify sanctions on Iran.

Announcements like Monday’s are common in Iran, Reuters notes, and “are often made for domestic consumption.” But the timing might indicate Tehran is taking a tougher stand amid the latest tensions, Reuters adds.

The Iranian official didn’t give his name but was identified as the director of the counterespionage department of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. Such a procedure is highly unusual in Iran; officials usually identify themselves at news conferences. It is also rare for intelligence officials to appear before the media.

The official claimed none of the 17, who allegedly had “sophisticated training,” had succeeded in their sabotage missions. Their spying missions included collecting information at the facilities they worked at, carrying out technical and intelligence activities and transferring and installing monitoring devices, he said.

The official further claimed the CIA had promised those arrested U.S. visas or jobs in America and that some of the agents had turned and were now working with his department “against the U.S.”

He also handed out a CD with a video recording of an alleged foreign female spy working for the CIA. The disc also included names of several U.S. Embassy staff in Turkey, India, Zimbabwe and Austria who Iran claims were in touch with the recruited Iranian spies.

Occasionally, Iran announces detentions of spies it says are working for foreign countries, including the U.S. and Israel. In June, Iran said it executed a former staff member of the Defense Ministry who was convicted of spying for the CIA.

In April, Iran said it uncovered 290 CIA spies both inside and outside the country over the past years. It was unclear whether the latest announcement has any connections to those arrests.

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-cia-spies-nabbed-17-sentenced-some-to-death-today-2019-07-22/

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Protests continue in Hong Kong for 4th-straight week – CBS News
Protests continue in Hong Kong for 4th-straight week – CBS News

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/video/protests-continue-in-hong-kong-for-4th-straight-week/

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Robert Mueller Hearings: DC At Crossroads. What Path Will It Take? – NPR
Robert Mueller Hearings: DC At Crossroads. What Path Will It Take? – NPR

Robert Mueller leaves in May after speaking about the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images


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Robert Mueller leaves in May after speaking about the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Robert Mueller’s appearance in Congress this week will be a hinge moment — the question is which way it might swing the political trajectory in Washington.

The Democrats who have negotiated for months to get Mueller to appear, and wound up compelling him with a subpoena, want Americans to watch the former special counsel tell his story on Wednesday in TV-friendly soundbites that erode support for President Trump.

The Republicans who’ve excoriated Mueller, his investigation, the Justice Department and FBI for months will have their Public Enemy No. 1 captive before them in the witness chair. They want to tar and feather him before closing the books on what they’ve called the Russia “hoax.”

As usual, reality likely will fall somewhere in between these extremes, but the precise importance of Mueller’s hearing and what follows depends on the specifics of what takes place.

Here’s what’s at stake.

Election security legislation

National security officials warn that election interference like that waged against the U.S. by Russia in 2016 hasn’t gone away and likely will return through the 2020 presidential election.

But even though intelligence and law enforcement agencies, elections supervisors and many voters are better prepared than they were, the legal and legislative environment in the U.S. is broadly unchanged.

Some members of Congress have offered proposals that range from more security funding to mandating paper ballot backups to requiring campaigns to report contacts with foreigners. So far no major bill has been passed.

One big question about Mueller’s testimony is whether he will change the political state of play enough to clear the way for new legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in particular, has been cool to any election legislation in the upper chamber.

And although the Democrats, who control the majority in the House, and a few key House Republicans have said they want some kind of election security bill, no consensus proposal has surfaced.

Even if one did, there would still be the task of reconciling it with McConnell’s Republicans and getting Trump to sign it.

Will Mueller change enough minds on Capitol Hill? Or if Mueller Day results in the status quo, will that finally shut the door to any bill passing by Election Day?

Democrats’ investigations

What, exactly, did Mueller’s office investigate?

For Democrats who have staked their political strategy on new investigations of their own into Trump, those details are critical.

Trump and his Republican supporters have said the results of Mueller’s investigation are a political inoculation that resulted in a clean bill of health for the president. Trump, for example, has said that he assumes Mueller obtained his tax returns — which Trump has not released, unlike many of his predecessors — and investigators evidently didn’t find anything amiss.

Is that so?

If Mueller establishes as much, that would take the wind from the sails of Democrats who are counting on their own investigations to yield politically damning new discoveries about Trump.

If Mueller validates Democrats’ impression that their questions remain unanswered, that will further bolster — in their eyes — the case for surfacing Trump’s taxes, financial statements, business records and other documents.

Debriefing the sphinx

One trick may be in getting Mueller to say much of anything, let alone reveal new information.

He is not enthusiastic about testifying and has said he won’t go beyond the contents of his written report. Prying information out of the taciturn former G-man could be a challenge for members of Congress in both parties.

But the milestone that Mueller’s hearings represent is also politically vital for both parties.

For example, people who have worked for Trump have described what they called questionable practices from before Trump entered politics, including under- or over-reporting income information to banks and authorities to gain an advantage in real estate dealings.

If Democrats’ investigations could substantiate that, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the party’s 2020 nominee could try to weaponize it against Trump.

The president and Republicans argue that Democrats want to redo the Russia investigation because it didn’t result in findings helpful to them, and that all the subsequent investigations are pure fishing expeditions.

The White House has been fighting many of Congress’ investigations by resisting committee subpoenas for witness testimony and documents. Republicans in 2020 will likely continue to paint Democrats as overzealous and focused on the wrong issues

The I-word

Some of the most anti-Trump Democrats in the House — and still more of the most anti-Trump Americans around the country — believe Mueller’s findings compel the House to pursue impeachment.

Pelosi doesn’t agree, mindful of the need for Democrats to try to appeal to a broader swath of voters in 2020 to protect her majority and try to unseat Trump.

Republicans, with their control of the Senate, could protect Trump if Democrats in the House were to impeach him.

In fact, Trump and supporters have sometimes seemed to goad their opponents in the House to proceed with impeachment, confident the effort would ultimately fail to oust the president. A fizzled attempt would amount to another inoculation for Trump, in this view, and a rebuke to Pelosi.

These are the positions on the battlefield as Mueller enters. Will his appearance on Wednesday alter them?

Many Americans — and many members of Congress — have not read his written report. One reason why House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., wants Mueller to appear is simply for there to be video of the former special counsel discussing his findings.

Nadler and Democrats hope that will reach more people than the report did.

The last time Mueller appeared, for a brief statement at the Justice Department, it moved the needle for some Democrats in terms of their calls for impeachment.

So another question raised by the hours’ worth of open testimony scheduled for Wednesday is whether the former special counsel’s appearance will change the minds of any more members of Congress in ways his written words did not.

Moving on?

If Mueller’s testimony results in the status quo here, too, Democrats may decide to join Republicans in finally closing the curtain on the Russia imbroglio.

The topic was not a major focus for the party’s many candidates at their first debate last month, and even when they were asked about it directly, some deflected to what they called more appropriate priorities.

Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, for example, said that although he’d be open to a prosecution against Trump after he’s out of office, most voters don’t have Russia on their radar screen.

“One thing, when you are out doing as much campaigning as I have done — 400 events in all 99 counties in Iowa — this is not the No. 1 issue the American people ask us about,” he said. “It’s not. They want to know what we’re going to do for health care, how we are going to lower pharmaceutical prices, how we are going to build infrastructure, what we are going to do to create jobs in their communities.”

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/07/22/740777450/will-robert-muellers-testimony-shift-the-prevailing-winds-in-washington

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Trump Continues to Target Democratic Lawmakers – The Wall Street Journal
Trump Continues to Target Democratic Lawmakers – The Wall Street Journal
The Democratic lawmakers targeted by President Trump, from left, Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, at a news conference last week.


Photo:

J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

President Trump on Sunday continued to target four progressive lawmakers known as the “squad,” while his senior advisers pushed back against assertions from Democrats that he was racist.

Mr. Trump kicked off the fight a week ago by saying the four Democratic lawmakers, all of them minority women, should return to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” and “fix” them. On Sunday the president tweeted from his New Jersey golf club that he doesn’t think the U.S. House lawmakers are “capable of loving our country.”

That followed similar suggestions last week that the four lawmakers—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts—hate the U.S.

His advisers, speaking on Sunday political shows, said his rhetoric was policy-focused. “Look, I have worked with President Trump for two years and he is not a racist,” said Mercedes Schlapp, a senior adviser to the president’s re-election bid, on ABC’s “This Week.” “He’s a compassionate man whose policies have focused on the minority community.”

Earlier on the same show, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) said the president was racist. “Yes, no doubt about it,” he said.

“He’s actually using racist tropes and racial language for political gain, trying to use this as a weapon to divide our nation against itself,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Mr. Booker is a Democratic presidential candidate.

The U.S. House, controlled by Democrats, on Tuesday approved a resolution largely along party lines condemning Mr. Trump’s tweets as racist.

The rhetoric got more heated last week after Trump supporters at a rally Wednesday in North Carolina chanted “send her back” about Ms. Omar, who was born in Somalia. Ms. Schlapp on the Sunday show said Mr. Trump disavowed that chant the following day, although on Friday the president called the rally attendees patriots.

“I’m sure you have been to a Trump rally,” Ms. Schlapp said. “There’s a lot of emotion. There’s a lot going on. He continued with his speech.”

Mr. Trump in a Saturday tweet about the North Carolina rally said, “I did nothing to lead people on, nor was I particularly happy with their chant. Just a very big and patriotic crowd.”

Write to Tarini Parti at Tarini.Parti@wsj.com

Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the July 22, 2019, print edition as ‘President Keeps Up Attacks on ‘Squad’.’

Source Article from https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-continues-to-target-democratic-lawmakers-11563733912

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IAEA chief Yukiya Amano dies at 72 – BBC News
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano dies at 72 – BBC News

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AFP

Image caption

Yukiya Amano had been expected to step down in March due to illness

The head of the global nuclear watchdog, Yukiya Amano, has died at the age of 72, the agency announced.

He has led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2009, and was due to step down in March because of an unspecified illness.

During his tenure he had overseen a period of tense negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear programme.

It is not yet clear who will succeed him, though discussions over his replacement began last week.

The Japanese national had taken over from Mohamed ElBaradei a decade ago and his third term was due to run until November 2021.

However, Amano appeared increasingly frail after undergoing an unspecified medical procedure in September.

“The Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency regrets to inform with deepest sadness of the passing away of Director General Yukiya Amano,” the IAEA statement said.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini spoke of her sadness at Amano’s passing.

“A man of extraordinary dedication & professionalism, always at the service of the global community in the most impartial way. I’ll never forget the work done together. It has been for me a great pleasure & privilege working with him,” she tweeted.

The agency said the flag over its head office in Vienna had been lowered to half-mast.

Who was Yukiya Amano?

Amano was regarded as more reserved and technocratic than his outspoken predecessor, who regularly clashed with US officials over its policies on Iran.

Some diplomats expressed frustration behind closed doors over the lack of sensitive confidential information Amano would share in comparison to Mr ElBaradei.

Amano joined the Japanese foreign ministry in 1972 and held increasingly senior positions, notably as director of the science division and director of the nuclear energy division.

Media captionIAEA director general Yukiya Amano called on Iran to honour its safeguard agreements back in 2010

He served as chairman of the IAEA’s policy-making board of governors in 2005-06 when the agency and Mr ElBaradei were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Amano was narrowly elected as the agency’s head in 2009, backed by Western powers, in an election race that highlighted a deep divide between industrialised and developing nations on the IAEA’s board.

Who will be next IAEA chief?

No decisions have been made yet, but the race started last week as it became clear Amano would be stepping down.

Names being touted include Argentina’s ambassador to the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, and diplomats say the agency’s chief coordinator, Cornel Feruta of Romania, is likely to put himself forward.

Whoever takes the role, no major policy shifts are expected regarding the most pressing issues including Iran and the possibility of returning to North Korea, which removed IAEA inspectors ten years ago.

Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-49069832

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