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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/05/media/stocks-trump-tariff-threat/index.html

Rep. Rashida TlaibRashida Harbi TlaibHouse votes to block Trump from exiting Paris climate accord Biden can’t outrun the progressive beast that will devour him Angela Davis, Ayanna Pressley lead rally in support of Ilhan Omar MORE (D-Mich.) on Sunday criticized The New York Times for its framing of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling the paper’s headline about the recent violence in the region “dehumanizing.” 

Tlaib was responding to a Times headline that read “Gaza militants fire 250 rockets, and Israel responds with airstrikes.”

“When will the world stop dehumanizing our Palestinian people who just want to be free?” Tlaib wrote. “Headlines like this & framing it in this way just feeds into the continued lack of responsibility on Israel who unjustly oppress & target Palestinian children and families. #FreePalestine.” 

Renewed violence has rocked the region since Friday when a Palestinian sniper wounded two Israeli troops, according to the Israeli military, leading Israel to launch airstrikes into Gaza. At least four Israelis and 20 Palestinians have died so far, The Associated Press reported, including two pregnant Palestinian women.  

Gaza militants had fired approximately 600 rockets toward Israel as of Sunday, with Israel launching airstrikes on 260 targets across Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The IDF has denied killing a 1-year-old baby and the baby’s mother in Gaza, claiming their deaths were caused by a Hamas rocket.  

Hamas has reportedly called for a ceasefire. 

Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress, has been outspoken about her support for the Palestinian people and rejection of the Israeli government. The Michigan Democrat is seeking to lead a congressional delegation to the West Bank, arguing that it is important to listen to Palestinian activists. 

Fellow freshman Rep. Ilhan OmarIlhan OmarMore than three million people over the age of 60 still struggling to pay off student loan debts: report Omar fires back at Pence for saying she ‘doesn’t know what she’s talking about’ Hillicon Valley: Facebook nears settlement with FTC | Lawmakers push bill restricting border agency from selling data | Ocasio-Cortez backs Warren plan to break up tech giants MORE (D-Minn.) has ignited multiple firestorms over her remarks about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and U.S. support for Israel, which some panned as anti-Semitic and which progressives defended as legitimate criticism of the close diplomatic ally. 

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/house/442216-tlaib-criticizes-new-york-times-for-framing-of-israel-palestinian-conflict

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he plans to appoint Mark Morgan, a border patrol chief under former President Barack Obama who supports Trump’s border wall, to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

“I am pleased to inform all of those that believe in a strong, fair and sound Immigration Policy that Mark Morgan will be joining the Trump Administration as the head of our hard working men and women of ICE,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Morgan, who headed border patrol for six months, came out in support of Trump’s border wall in January.

RELATED: Inside Otay Mesa immigration detention center




Trump’s hardline immigration policy is likely to be a top issue in the 2020 presidential election. The wall has been one of Trump’s top goals since the 2016 campaign, but has so far failed to materialize amid opposition from Democrats and lack of an agreement on how to fund it.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/05/05/trump-selects-advocate-of-border-wall-to-head-us-ice/23721906/

The body of one of two people still missing after Friday’s explosion at the AB Specialty Silicones factory in Waukegan was recovered Sunday afternoon.

Crews found the missing man at approximately 2:30 p.m. in the rubble of the building, according to Waukegan Fire Marshall Steven Lenzi.

Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper did not identify the body, but said its recovery might help in the location of the other body.

“We do have an idea of where we will search now using the information we have of where this body was found,” Cooper said. “But it’s not a guarantee, because in an explosion things move to the path of least resistance.”

Source Article from https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/news/ct-lns-waukegan-explosion-update-st-0506-story.html

Thirteen people are dead after a passenger jet burst into flames during an emergency landing.

The plane took off from Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow Sunday evening, but began an emergency landing at the same airport just minutes after taking off. There were 78 passengers on board, and although the extent of the casualties is not yet known, Russian media is reporting that 13 were killed.

The Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet was seen spewing smoke and flames as it made the emergency descent. After it came to stop perpendicular to the runway, passengers were seen running from the burning plane.

The jet was en route to Murmansk, a city in northern Russia. It is not yet clear what prompted the emergency landing or caused the fire.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/13-people-reported-dead-after-jet-makes-emergency-landing-in-russia

WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Sunday that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, should not testify before Congress, setting up another confrontation with Democrats over presidential authority and the separation of powers.

On Twitter, he argued that Mr. Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, which found no conspiracy between Moscow and Mr. Trump’s campaign but did not exonerate the president on possible obstruction of justice, was conclusive and that Congress and the American people did not need to hear from Mr. Mueller. “Bob Mueller should not testify,” he said. “No redos for the Dems!”

That puts the president at odds with the Democrats, and with his own attorney general, William P. Barr.

Democrats have insisted that Mr. Mueller is the best person to provide a detailed interpretation of the 448-page report that he delivered last month to Mr. Barr, and set May 15 as a prospective date for him to appear before the House Judiciary Committee.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/us/politics/trump-mueller-testimony.html

Black smoke caused by an Israeli airstrike billows over Gaza City, Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to continue pounding the coastal city. Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip also intensified a wave of rocket fire into southern Israel.

Khalil Hamra/AP


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Khalil Hamra/AP

Black smoke caused by an Israeli airstrike billows over Gaza City, Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to continue pounding the coastal city. Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip also intensified a wave of rocket fire into southern Israel.

Khalil Hamra/AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “massive strikes” against militant groups in Gaza on Sunday in response to a barrage of rocket fire, stretching hostilities into a third day and leading to mounting casualties on both sides.

At a cabinet meeting on Sunday Netanyahu said he also instructed military leaders to boost tank artillery and infantry forces around the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas bears responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also those by Islamic Jihad, for which it pays a very high price,” he said.

Gaza militant groups have launched at least 600 rockets and mortars at Israel since the latest conflict began, while the military has struck what it says are hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the coastal enclave, Israel Defense Forces said on Twitter.

At least three Israeli men and nine Palestinians have been killed since the violence erupted, and more than 100 people have been wounded on each side of the Israel-Gaza border since tensions flared. Among them, a pregnant Palestinian woman and a 14-month-old infant. Gazan health officials blamed Israeli strikes for their deaths, but the IDF disputes that, claiming it was a rocket shot from inside Gaza killed them.

A Palestinian man checks the damage of a multi-story building following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Sunday. Palestinian militants have fired more than 600 rockets and mortars into Israel, drawing dozens of retaliatory airstrikes on targets across the Gaza Strip in a round of intense fighting that broke a month-long lull between the bitter enemies.

Khalil Hamra/AP


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A Palestinian man checks the damage of a multi-story building following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Sunday. Palestinian militants have fired more than 600 rockets and mortars into Israel, drawing dozens of retaliatory airstrikes on targets across the Gaza Strip in a round of intense fighting that broke a month-long lull between the bitter enemies.

Khalil Hamra/AP

A 58-year-old man killed by a rocket that hit his home was the first Israeli fatality in the weekend skirmish. The Barzilai University Medical Center in Ashkelon confirmed two Israeli civilians died from rocket fire from Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced that two of its members had been killed in East Gaza City in Israeli airstrikes. And at least four gunman were killed in separate strikes, Reuters reported.

The IDF said it targeted and killed Hamid Ahmed Abdul Khudri, whom it accused of helping fund the rocket fire attacks by transferring money from Iran to militant groups inside of Gaza.

“Transferring Iranian money to Hamas & the [Palestinian Islamic Jihad doesn’t make you a businessman. It makes you a terrorist,” IDF wrote in a tweet that included a photo of a charred Toyota engulfed in flames.

Other Israeli targets include a tunnel, rocket launcher sites, mosques and other military compounds it alleges are used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

An Army spokesman told NPR’s Naomi Zeveloff that at least 150 of the Palestinian-launched projectiles were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. He added that the Army is preparing to deploy an armored brigade for an offensive mission if needed.

The latest conflict was sparked on Friday after militants shot and injured two Israeli soldiers. The attack prompted swift military retaliation, which resulted in the deaths of two militants. That, in turn, led to an onslaught of mortar and rocket fire from within Gaza, unraveling the tenuous calm

Israeli soldier walks past a car hit by a missile fired from Gaza near the Gaza and Israel border on Sunday.

Ariel Schalit/AP


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Israeli soldier walks past a car hit by a missile fired from Gaza near the Gaza and Israel border on Sunday.

Ariel Schalit/AP

It is one of the most serious conflicts in the region since the 2014 war, which lasted seven weeks and killed dozens of Israeli soldiers and several civilians and on the Palestinian side, left more than 2,000 people dead, including hundreds of civilians and militants.

The fighting broke out as Egyptian mediators had been trying to negotiate a long term cease fire, in exchange for Israel loosening restrictions on Gaza.

U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov decried the violence from within Gaza. “I condemn the continuing launching of rockets from Gaza. Enough Palestinian and Israeli lives have been lost, people injured, houses damaged and destroyed!” he said in a tweet, urging both sides to “return to the understandings of the past few months before it is too late.”

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2019/05/05/720452125/netanyahu-orders-continued-pounding-in-gaza-as-600-rockets-fired-into-israel

President Trump said he’ll raise tariffs Friday on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, ending a truce in the U.S. trade war with Beijing amid negotiations that the president said are moving “too slowly.”

Mr. Trump said on Twitter that U.S. tariffs of 10 percent will be increased to 25 percent on a variety of Chinese imports. He also warned that $325 billion worth of Chinese goods that haven’t been subject to tariffs will be levied at a rate of 25 percent “shortly.”

A team of trade negotiators from China led by Vice Premier Liu He is due in Washington this week to resume the latest round of talks with Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other U.S. officials. Both sides reported progress during negotiations in Beijing last week, and CNBC had reported that a deal could come by this Friday.

Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in late November to suspend any more tariff increases on both sides as talks continued. The U.S. had begun raising tariffs on Chinese products in 2018 as Mr. Trump complained about Beijing’s unfair trade practices and a rising trade deficit with China.

The Chinese had responded with retaliatory tariffs on a broad range of U.S. goods, including agricultural products.



Mr. Trump said Sunday that partial tariffs on Chinese high-tech products “are partially responsible for our great economic results.”

“The Tariffs paid to the USA have had little impact on product cost, mostly borne by China,” he said. “The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!”

Economists say that tariffs are paid by U.S. importers, not by China, and that the importers pass along most of those increased costs to U.S. consumers.

In February, Mr. Lighthizer told Congress that the U.S. had suspended its plans to raise tariffs to 25 percent as negotiations progressed.

Source Article from https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/5/donald-trump-raises-china-trade-tariffs-25-percent/

Though Mr. Morgan served in the Obama administration, he has backed some of Mr. Trump’s tougher immigration positions.

In an interview on Fox News on April 15, Mr. Morgan said he supported Mr. Trump’s suggestion that he might send migrants crossing the border to so-called sanctuary cities that are defying a crackdown by ICE.

“I’ve been there. The Border Patrol, ICE, their facilities are overwhelmed, the faith-based organizations and other nongovernmental organizations are overwhelmed,” Mr. Morgan said in the interview. “They have no choice. They’re going to have to start pushing these individuals out. Shouldn’t we kind of share the burden throughout the country?”

Mr. Morgan also strongly backed Mr. Trump’s characterization of the problems at the border as a security crisis. Democrats have said the issues are far more humanitarian in nature.

“What the president is saying and what they’re trying to do as far as the policy goes, it’s based on reality and fact, and I know that because he’s listening to the experts,” Mr. Morgan said in the Fox interview. “Not political pundits, not talking heads, he is listening to experts. Anyone who says this a manufactured crisis is absolutely misleading the American people.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/us/politics/trump-ice-mark-morgan.html

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called President Trump a “clown” during an appearance in South Carolina.

“Biden said he doesn’t intend to try to match Donald Trump in the nickname game but nonetheless offered one for the president,” reports Bloomberg.

“There’s so many nicknames I’m inclined to give this guy,” Biden said on Saturday. “You can just start with clown.”

THE VIEW – Joe Biden, the 47th Vice President of the United States, was the special guest, live, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET). The Vice President discussed the Affordable Care Act and the importance of signing up for health insurance through the marketplace before the March 31 deadline. Vice President Biden sat down with The View hosts Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy as part of the shows continuing Red, White & View campaign, which is committed to political guests and discussions. ‘The View’ airs Monday-Friday (11:00 am-12:00 pm, ET) on the ABC Television Network.
(Photo by Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty Images)
SHERRI SHEPHERD, BARBARA WALTERS, VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, JENNY MCCARTHY

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Michael Milken, chairman of the Milken Institute, arrive on stage at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The conference is a unique setting that convenes individuals with the capital, power and influence to move the world forward meet face-to-face with those whose expertise and creativity are reinventing industry, philanthropy and media. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images




He made the remark at a private fundraiser when asked if intended to respond to being called “Sleepy Joe” by Trump.

Trump has repeatedly slammed Biden after he announced his 2020 presidential bid.

“Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe,” Trump tweeted last month. “I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign. It will be nasty – you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!”

 

Source Article from https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/05/05/biden-calls-trump-a-clown-after-being-referred-to-as-sleepy-joe/23721867/

The president has mocked Biden with the nickname “Sleepy Joe” on Twitter and has reportedly told aides that he considers Biden one of the largest threats to his reelection.  

Biden has made criticism of Trump central to his candidacy, promoting himself as a foil to the president.

“The only place he has any confidence is in the mud,” Biden said on Saturday night, according to Bloomberg. “The only thing he doesn’t know how to respond to is issues and specifics.” 

He also referred to Trump as a “no-good SOB” and recalled saying that he might have “taken him behind the barn and beat the hell out of him” in high school, according to The Associated Press.

“Guess what? I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Biden said. “The presidency is an office that requires dignity and reestablishing respect and standing.”

He also accused the president and Republicans of suppressing black voters. 

“You’ve got Jim Crow sneaking back in,” Biden said, according to the AP. “You know what happens when you have an equal right to vote? They lose.”

Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/442158-biden-calls-trump-a-clown-during-remarks-in-sc

Special counsel Robert Mueller is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee this month.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., said on “Fox News Sunday” that May 15 had been fixed for Mueller to appear before the committee.

“A tentative date has been set for May 15 and we hope the special counsel will appear,” Cicilline said. “We think the American people have a right to hear directly from him.”

The announcement comes after intense debate among Democrats about Mueller’s report, which they argue shows evidence of obstruction of justice.

Attorney General William Barr testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday but did not appear before the House Judiciary Committee the following day. Barr cited unreasonable terms placed on him by House leaders, including Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who wanted counsels for both Democrats and Republicans to have the opportunity to question him.

Although the date is “tentative,” Cicilline said he expects Mueller, who spent 22 months investigating President Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, to appear.

“The White House has so far indicated they would not interfere with Mr. Mueller’s attempts to testify,” the congressman said Sunday.

This would be the first time Mueller testified before Congress since the release of his 448-page report last month.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mueller-set-to-testify-before-congress-on-may-15

The leader of the Hermit Kingdom supervised a “strike drill” of long-range multiple rocket launchers and unspecified tactical guided weapons into the East Sea on Saturday while telling troops to remain on alert, North Korean state media said.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that Kim Jong Un expressed “great satisfaction” over the drills, which were to “estimate and inspect the operating ability and the accuracy of striking duty performance” of the weaponry.

Kim also urged troops to remember that “the iron truth that genuine peace and security are ensured and guaranteed only by powerful strength,” the KCNA said, according to Yonhap.

NORTH KOREA HOLDS ‘STRIKE DRILL’ OF ROCKET LAUNCHERS, TACTICAL GUIDED WEAPONS: REPORT

North Korean state media said Sunday that leader Kim Jong Un observed live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and unspecified tactical guided weapons, a day after South Korea’s military detected the North launching several unidentified short-range projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast.
(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

“Praising the People’s Army for its excellent operation of modern large-caliber long-range multiple rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons, he said that all the service members are master gunners and they are capable of carrying out duty to promptly tackle any situation,” the KNCA paraphrased Kim as saying. “He stressed the need for all the service members to keep high alert posture and more dynamically wage the drive to increase the combat ability so as to defend the political sovereignty and economic self-sustenance of the country and … the security of the people from the threats and invasion by any forces.”

This Saturday, May 4, 2019, photo provided on Sunday, May 5, 2019, by the North Korean government shows a test of weapon systems, in North Korea.
(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Photographs released by the KCNA showed the weapons being fired as Kim, equipped with binoculars, observed tests of the different weapons systems.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, equipped with binoculars, observes tests of different weapons systems on Saturday.
(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that “several projectiles” had been launched from near the coastal town of Wonsan and that they flew up to 125 miles before splashing into the sea toward the northeast. That roughly matched the distance between the area and the South Korean capital of Seoul, although the North in Sunday’s report did not issue any direct threat or warning toward the South or the United States.

This Saturday, May 4, 2019, photo provided on Sunday, May 5, 2019, by the North Korean government shows a test of weapon systems, in North Korea.
(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Kim Dong-yub, an analyst from Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, told Reuters the missile appeared to be modeled after the modeled after Russia’s 9K720 Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system.

Iskander missiles can be fired a distance ranging from 37 to 300 miles and are difficult to intercept, military experts told Yonhap.

“What was sobering for me was that unexpectedly, there was a photo of short-range, ground-to-ground ballistic missile, otherwise known as the North’s version of Iskander,” he told Reuters.

The solid-fuel North Korean missile, which was first revealed in a Pyongyang military parade in February, is potentially capable of conducting nuclear strikes on all areas of South Korea, according to Kim.

TRUMP SAYS KIM JONG UN ‘KNOWS THAT I AM WITH HIM’ DESPITE LATEST NORTH KOREA TEST

After an emergency meeting of top officials at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea said it’s “very concerned” about the recent North Korea’s weapons launches, calling them a violation of the agreements to reduce animosities between the countries. Officials also urged North Korea to stop committing acts that would raise military tensions and join efforts to resume nuclear diplomacy.

A TV screen shows a file footage of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 4, 2019.
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The weapons launches come amid stalled diplomatic talks after President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Vietnam for their second summit, but negotiations fizzled. The North requested sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearization measures. The U.S. balked at the request, insisting sanctions would not be relaxed until complete denuclearization.

This Saturday, May 4, 2019, photo provided on Sunday, May 5, 2019, by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observing tests of different weapons systems, in North Korea.
(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

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Pyongyang has recently demanded that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo be removed from nuclear negotiations and criticized National Security Adviser John Bolton. North Korea also said last month that it had tested a new type of unspecified “tactical guided weapon.”

President Trump said Saturday on Twitter that he still believes a nuclear deal with North Korea will happen.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump said Saturday on Twitter that he still believes a nuclear deal with North Korea will happen. He tweeted that Kim “fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea, & will do nothing to interfere or end it.”

Trump added: “He also knows that I am with him & does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen!”

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-oversees-testing-of-multiple-rocket-launchers-tells-troops-to-keep-high-alert-posture


Former Vice President Joe Biden addresses a crowd at the Hyatt Park community center on Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina. | Sean Rayford/Getty Images

2020 elections

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Biden on Saturday referred to President Donald Trump as a “clown” after a supporter asked the former vice president whether he would return Trump’s insults.

Biden, who is on the first swing of his 2020 campaign, told about two dozen supporters at a private fundraiser that he didn’t want to get down in the mud with Trump.

Story Continued Below

“There’s so many nicknames I’m inclined to give this guy,” Biden said to laughter in the room. “You can just start with clown.”

Since launching his bid in late April, Trump has given Biden special attention, including referring to him as “Sleepy Joe.”

Biden said that while he planned to respond to Trump if directly attacked, he believed it was part of the president’s strategy to keep dialogue away from the issues.

“On every single issue and on every demeaning thing he says about other people, I have no problem responding directly,” Biden said. “What I’m not going to do is get into what he wants me to do. He wants this to be a mud wrestling match.”

Saturday marked the first of Biden’s two-day swing through South Carolina as part of a larger cross-country tour that will eventually bring him back to a rally in Philadelphia. Biden spoke at a fundraiser in the private home of state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, an attorney and former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman. Earlier in the day, Biden spoke at a rally in Columbia before heading to the private fundraiser where he delivered remarks and took questions from supporters for about 20 minutes. Biden’s campaign is allowing limited media access to all of the candidate’s fundraisers.

Biden highlighted his foreign policy background as he made the case for running.

“I think, whether I’m right or not, I know as much about American foreign policy as anyone around, including even maybe Kissinger. I say that because I’ve been doing it my entire adult life.”

Just then, Biden flubbed on his foreign leaders.

“One I can say is Margaret Thatcher, um, excuse me, Margaret Thatcher – Freudian slip,” Biden said to laughter in the room. “But I knew her too.” He then corrected himself: “The prime minister of Great Britain, Theresa May.”

Biden also told the group he regretted once saying if he were in high school he would have taken Trump around back and “beat the hell out of him.”

“Well guess what? I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Biden said Saturday, “I don’t want to get it down to that level. The presidency is an office that requires some dignity.”

Biden alluded to having private conversations with Trump, adding: “I let him understand what I think about him.”

The former vice president warned that the contest would get nasty quickly, and that he expected his family would be the subject of attacks.

“This guy is going to go after me and my family,” Biden said.

Biden then told a story about his grandchildren playing a role in urging him to run for president. He said one of his grandchildren called a family meeting eight weeks ago and contended that his grandchildren urged him to run after seeing degrading images on him online.

“‘Pop, you have to run Pop,” Biden said one of his grandsons, “Little Hunter” told him, then said his grandson showed him a photo online from Beau Biden’s funeral. “‘Pop, it says: ‘Look at Biden molesting a kid,’” Biden said his grandson told him. “Pop, I know it’s going to be mean, they’re going to say bad things about Daddy.”

“Mommy and Daddy had a divorce and they’re going to really go after that,” Biden continued, in retelling what he said his grandchildren said to him.

“My generic point is they know how tough it’s going to be.”

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/04/joe-biden-trump-clown-2020-1301641

North Korea’s launch Saturday of what appear to be short-range missiles is disturbing, but we shouldn’t overreact and conclude the move will end President Trump’s diplomatic efforts to get the North to give up its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

In fact, Trump may still win his high-stakes bet that he can end North Korea’s status as an international pariah and open the way for normal diplomatic and trade relations if the communist nation accepts denuclearization.

According to the South Korean military, the North launched the unspecified projectiles Saturday morning and they flew between 42 and 124 miles before falling into the sea between North Korea and Japan.

TRUMP SAYS KIM JONG UN ‘KNOWS THAT I AM WITH HIM’ DESPITE LATEST NORTH KOREA TEST

Does this mean North Korea is slowly heading back to the days of dangerous provocations by testing advanced military hardware – and perhaps even another nuclear weapon?

It’s too early to tell.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is a young man and he is playing a long game. He considers nuclear weapons his insurance policy against a U.S. attack now and for decades to come.

<strong>A deal is very much within President Trump’s grasp – and he might just be the only person who can make it happen.</strong>

But Trump has done something no other U.S. president has done. Instead of matching Kim’s aggressive moves, he is showing restraint and showing he won’t get baited in any way.

Trump is trying to reassure Kim that he is still willing and able to find a diplomatic solution to the dispute over denuclearization, despite the failure of the two leaders to come to an agreement in summits they held in Singapore and Vietnam.

“Anything in this very interesting world is possible, but I believe that Kim Jong Un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea, & will do nothing to interfere or end it,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “He also knows that I am with him & does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen!”

I agree completely. A deal is very much within President Trump’s grasp – and he might just be the only person who can make it happen.

What makes Trump well-suited to negotiating a deal with North Korea is that he is a realist and pragmatist. Because he is not a career politician, a diplomat or a trained political scientist, his ideas are not limited to the conventional thinking that has failed to halt North Korea’s march to become a nuclear power.

As with many things in life, when old approaches fail repeatedly to solve a problem, new approaches need to be tried.

Trump, despite decades of tensions with North Korea, was the only U.S. president to have a sit-down with a leader of the North – something that was considered a radical concept a year ago.

And while North Korea still seems reluctant to give up its nuclear weapons, there is a recognition by diplomats in Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington who I have spoken with over the last few months that we can never go back to the dark days of 2017, when war between the U.S. and North Korea seemed like a real possibility.

But now the time for words alone is over. Now is the time for bold action on all sides, as it seems America, North Korea and even South Korea are becoming frustrated with the recent stalemate in negotiations.

What we face – and must overcome – is a crisis of trust. After years of suspicion, threats of nuclear war and starts and stops in diplomacy, how do these different nations that all fear each other’s intentions reverse course and embrace peace?

First, we should listen to what North Korea has been telling us it wants from the United States. Recently, the Kim regime has stated it is willing to move away from demands for economic sanctions relief and instead is now seeking security guarantees from America.

Kim and his inner circle want assurances that they and their nation are under no threat by the United States before they give up their nuclear weapons.

North Korea has been asking for such assurances for decades. In fact, Kim brought this up in his recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But how could Washington provide such assurances without drawing down U.S. forces in South Korea or in the wider Indo-Pacific?

America could work to address an area of dire need that may eventually lead to massive instability and even regime collapse in North Korea – growing food shortages. According to Reuters, official food rations are now 11 ounces per day for North Koreans because of serious food shortages now plaguing the country.

South Korea’s regional governments have already allocated the resources needed to assist the North and could begin food distribution quickly, ensuring mass starvation does not set in. This can be done in a way to ensure that any food aid given doesn’t go to Kim’s armed forces.

Such a move would show Kim we have no intention of invading or deposing his regime.

Next, its past time to begin utilizing the South Korean government much more effectively, given the unique position it holds in acting as not only a facilitator of talks, but as the only party both Washington and Pyongyang can trust.

In fact, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in could very well end up being the most important player in forging a lasting and durable peace on the Korean Peninsula.

For example, just before the Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam, Moon offered to move quickly on inter-Korean economic projects that would be worth tens of billions of dollars to Pyongyang.

However, Washington and Seoul would never give away such a prize for free. If North Korea once again agreed to dismantle the entirety of its Yongbyon nuclear facility, economic carrots could be granted as a reward to Pyongyang in stages to ensure compliance as the facility is dismantled.

That’s a win-win proposal that no one should reject. It could be structured in a way that has snapback provisions in the agreement, so if North Korea were to cheat on the deal, all economic incentives would stop immediately.

Finally, there is one thing above all else all sides should agree to that would lay down a strong foundation of peace and build trust: ending the Korean War once and for all.

Estimates are that the horrific conflict took as many as 5 million lives from 1950 to 1953. But the war was never concluded in any sort of formal diplomatic way. It was only halted by an armistice.

There is no reason that America, South Korea, China and the United Nations cannot sign a formal peace declaration finally putting an end to this dark chapter of history.

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This – and perhaps only this – can prove to all sides that nations capable of bringing lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula are serious, having taken an irrevocable step that would be hard to reverse. Nothing builds trust more than making history and putting the past behind us.

A peaceful Korean Peninsula is not an impossible dream. President Trump has proven he is a man of action with the ability to approach old problems in new ways and find solutions. We should all hope he can succeed in doing so now in dealing with North Korea.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY HARRY KAZIANIS

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/harry-kazianis-despite-new-north-korean-test-denuclearization-still-possible-heres-what-us-should-do

Traveling through Sri Lanka is like venturing into a kaleidoscope, each piece shifting and separate.

A Buddhist heartland, with verdant hills and saffron-robed monks, gives way to neighborhoods of mosques and men in prayer caps. Later, along the same road, comes a Hindu village, with its diversity of gods decorating homes.

Occasionally, a cross juts out from a Roman Catholic or Protestant church or the windshield of a trishaw driver.

The Easter bombings may have been particularly bloody, but the targeting of places of worship in this multiethnic, multifaith nation is not new. In 1998, Tamil separatists attacked one of world’s holiest sites, the temple in central Sri Lanka where a relic believed to be the Buddha’s tooth is kept. That temple was also targeted in 1989 by communist extremists.

Over the course of the civil war between insurgents from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sinhalese-majority state, the military descended upon Christian churches and Hindu temples where Tamils had sought refuge. The Tamil Tigers responded by massacring dozens of Buddhist monks. In 1990, they infiltrated evening prayers at two mosques, killing more than 100 Muslims who were considered government collaborators.

Sri Lanka cannot be divided neatly by race, faith or language. The population is more than 70 percent Sinhalese; most are Buddhists, a minority is Christian. Around 10 percent of the country is Tamil, largely Hindu and Christian. Muslims occupy another 10 percent and are considered a distinct ethnicity even though many speak Tamil.

The Constitution affords special status to Buddhism, which for many Sinhalese is synonymous with their ethnicity. After the Tamils were defeated, a Buddhist nationalist movement gained favor with the government, and extremist monks turned their attention to new enemies: Muslims and Christians.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/world/asia/sri-lanka-attacks-hate.html

Source Article from https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2019/05/03/plane-rests-river-jacksonville-fla/AJKfCOcmd0HRT3mwmwJvIK/story.html