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Breaking News: Paul Manafort, Who Once Ran Trump Campaign, Indicted on Money Laundering and Tax Charges

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Paul Manafort and his former business associate were indicted on Monday on money laundering, tax and foreign lobbying charges, a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over President Trump’s first year in office.
Mr. Manafort, the president’s former campaign chairman, and his longtime associate Rick Gates, surrendered to the FBI on Monday. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, said Mr. Manafort laundered more than $18 million to buy properties and services.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/politics/paul-manafort-indicted.html?emc=edit_na_20171030&nl=breaking-news&nlid=49769097&ref=headline

Trump says he’ll allow Kennedy assassination files to be released

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US President Donald Trump says he would allow the release of classified documents related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in November 1963.

“Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened,” Trump tweeted.

More than 3,000 documents related to the JFK assassination are scheduled to be made public next week by the National Archives. This is in compliance with the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which states that the federal government must release them by October 26, 2017.

However, Politico Magazine reported on Friday that Trump administration and other government officials would block the release of specific information regarding Kennedy’s murder on Trump’s orders.

Trump administration officials told the publication that there were fears over releasing classified documents that were created in the 1990s, saying it could provide important information on recent intelligence and law enforcement operations.

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the Trump administration is aiming “to ensure that the maximum amount of data can be released to the public” under the act.

Kennedy served as the 35th president of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

The President’s Commission on the Assassination of Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by former President Lyndon B. Johnson in November 1963 to investigate the assassination of JFK.

The commission’s final 888-page report released in September 1964 concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted entirely alone in assassinating President Kennedy.

However, many researchers are unconvinced by the official government account and argue that Oswald was part of a conspiracy to kill Kennedy.

Donald Trump sends list of hard-line immigration policy principles to Congress

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The Trump administration has issued a list of immigration priorities that threaten to derail a deal with Democrats on protecting young immigrants known as “Dreamers.” They include building Trump’s promised border wall.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday presented congressional leaders with a list of hard-line policy wishes that he says must be enacted in exchange for a deal with Democrats to protect hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.

The list includes the construction of Trump’s long-promised — and controversial — wall along the US-Mexico border and speeding up deportation of visa overstayers. Trump also calls in the list for an end to “extended-family chain migration,” limiting family-based green cards to spouses and minor children.

The demands include some policies that Democrats say are off the table, and thus could potentially derail ongoing negotiations over protecting young immigrants from deportation, many of whom were brought to the US illegally as children. The immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” had been given a reprieve from deportation and permission to work legally in the country under President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

Trump ended the program last month, but gave Congress six months to come up with alternative legislation to prevent recipients from losing their status.

Read more: Donald Trump’s DACA, wall comments leave US politicians scrambling

Democrat outrage

Senior Democrats have sharply criticized Trump’s list, saying it went “far beyond what is reasonable” and contained no attempt at compromise.

“The Administration can’t be serious about compromise or helping the Dreamers if they begin with a list that is anathema to the Dreamers, to the immigrant community and to the vast majority of Americans,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.

Media attention elsewhere

The list, which also includes proposals to dramatically increase the number of immigration enforcement officials was issued unexpectedly in the middle of a long weekend.

Its release was also overshadowed by the media attention given instead to Vice President Mike Pence’s exit from a football game on Sunday because some players knelt instead of stood during the national anthem before the game in a continuation of protests against racial injustice.

Pence’s action has been seen in some quarters as a PR stunt by the administration.

tj/kms (dpa, AP, AFP)

Netanyahu ‘bigger problem’ in Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Trump

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US President Donald Trump has described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the bigger anathema of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. 

Both leaders of Israel and Palestine are problematic; however, Netanyahu is the bigger problem, Trump said in a meeting last month with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to seven Western and Israeli sources, who were either present at or briefed on the meeting, Israeli Haaretz newspaper wrote on Friday.

On September 19, Trump had held a 15-minute meeting with Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. According to six Western diplomats and one former senior Israeli official, all of whom asked to remain anonymous, at least half of the meeting dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Trump, who had met with Netanyahu in New York the previous day, told Guterres his impressions of that meeting and his own views on the peace process.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is very old and needs a legacy to leave behind. Netanyahu, in contrast, understands that he’ll never have a president more understanding of Israel’s security needs, Trump told Guterres, adding that Netanyahu would be the harder one to persuade.

On September 18, Trump met in New York with Netanyahu. There he surprised Netanyahu when, at a joint press event before the meeting, he focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the days before the meeting, Netanyahu and his staff had repeatedly stressed that the meeting would focus on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Netanyahu told Israeli reporters in a post-meeting briefing that despite the prominence Trump gave the Israeli-Palestinian issue in front of the cameras, at the meeting itself it wasn’t a major topic of discussion.

Netanyahu was likely convincing Trump to get tough with Iran and create problems over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

A few days after he returned from New York, Netanyahu briefed the Israeli regime’s security cabinet and the ministers about his meeting with Trump.

“I presented our positions to the president,” Netanyahu told the ministers about his meeting with Trump.

Trump congratulates Armenia on Independence Day

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President of U.S. Donald Trump sent a congratulatory message to Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on Independence Day, Armenian president’s press office reported.

In his message, Trump recalled that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The United States is ready to continue assistance to Armenia on implementation of the new Constitution and transition to the parliamentary system of government.

President Trump said they seek to expand mutually beneficial trade and investments. He also highly assessed Armenia’s participation in peacekeeping operations and NATO led Noble Partner 2017 military drills.

The American leader also said U.S. appreciates Armenia’s assistance to Syrian refugees.

Donald Trump tells UN: ‘I will always put America First’ “totally destroy” North Korea

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US President Donald Trump has stressed sovereignty in his first address to world leaders at the UN General Assembly. Trump has also vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea if the reclusive state doesn’t relent.

US President Donald Trump said that the world is facing a “time of both immense promise and great peril” in his first address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

Trump also praised the notion of the nation-state and told world leaders that he would always put his country first, encouraging others to do the same.

“As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interests above all else, but in fulfilling our obligations to our nations, we also realize that it’s in everyone’s interests to seek the future where all nations can be sovereign, prosperous and secure,” he said.

One day prior, he had urged the 193-nation organization to cut costs and reduce bureaucracy, saying that the UN had not reached its full potential due to “mismanagement.”

Read also: Russia, China urge ‘peaceful’ solution with North Korea

Trump calls out ‘rouge states’

Loud murmurs filled the UN General Assembly hall when Trump issued a strong warning to North Korea, calling it a “rouge state.”

Unless North Korea backs down from its nuclear standoff, Trump said Washington “will have no choice than to totally destroy North Korea.”

“Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime,” Trump said, referring to leader Kim Jong Un.

He also denounced the Iran nuclear deal, in a possible sign that he wants to pull the US out from the international agreement.

“Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it,” Trump said.

“Believe me. It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction.”

UN chief takes a swipe at Trump

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used his first speech at the General Assembly to urge for diplomacy to avoid war with North Korea. He warned that “fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings” in a possible swipe at both Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“This is the time for statesmanship,” said the former prime minister of Portugal. “We must not sleepwalk our way into war.”

Trump previously warned of “fire and fury” if Pyongyang does not back down from its threats.

Guterres also criticized world leaders for stoking resentment and fear of refugees for political gain as well as urged for more to be done to combat climate change.

“It is high time to get off the path of suicidal emissions. We know enough today to act. The science is unassailable,” the UN chief said.

This is a developing story and will be updated as events progress.

rs/kl (AP, Reuters)

Military option with North Korea ‘locked and loaded’: Trump

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Trump locked and loadedUS President Donald Trump has said a military option against North Korea is “locked and loaded,” ratcheting up  his war of words against the Asian nation.

“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Trump tweeted on Friday.

A day earlier, Trump issued another apocalyptic warning to North Korea, saying his previous threat to hit the country with American “fire and fury” maybe “wasn’t tough enough.”

During a lengthy exchange with reporters at his golf club in New Jersey on Thursday, Trump said, “It’s about time someone stood up for the people of our country.”

Responding to North Korea’s rejection of his warning as “nonsense,” Trump said that “maybe it wasn’t tough enough.”

“They’ve been doing this to our country for a long time, many years,” he said. “It’s about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. So if anything, maybe that statement wasn’t tough enough.”

Trump told reporters that they will see what is “tougher” than “fire and fury.”

Republican hawks are also pushing the president towards launching war against North Korea.

GOP Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday the United States should go for a military option against North Korea and predicted that Washington will win the conflict.

“If we have to, we’ll go to war. I don’t want to, but if we have to, we’ll go to war. And I’ll tell you who’ll win that war, we will,” Graham said.

However, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned that war with North Korea would be “catastrophic”.

Breaking News: Trump: to North Korea “They will be met fire and fury” President Trump just issued a warning :

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President Trump just issued a warning :

We’ve heard this from North Korea before. The difference now is…

In 2015, North Korea said it had the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons. In March 2017, North Korea claimed it made that happen, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported at the time.

A US intelligence assessment concluded in March this year that North Korea “probably” possesses that kind miniaturized nuclear warhead.

At that time, the US officials who said North Korea likely has the warhead noted that they don’t know if the device would actually work. That assessment had yet to become a formal consensus view of the US government.

The difference now? US intelligence has assessed that North Korea has produced this kind of technology.

 

 

Trump: Syrian rebel aid program was ‘dangerous and wasteful’

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Trump syrian rubelAFP, Washington Tuesday, 25 July 2017
US President Donald Trump on Monday announced he had ended a program to support rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because it was “massive, dangerous, and wasteful.”

The comments came days after General Tony Thomas, the head of US special operations confirmed that the four-year-old operation was brought to a close but denied the decision was motivated by a desire to placate Russia, which backs the Assad regime.

“The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad…..” Trump tweeted

The missive appeared to be a response to an article by the newspaper published hours earlier and titled “Cooperation with Russia becomes central to Trump strategy in Syria.”

It quoted anonymous officials as saying “the United States and its proxies would concede Assad’s control of most of central and southern Syria” in return for Moscow and its allies steering clear of US coalition operations against the Islamic State group.

The United States and Russia agreed on creating de-escalation zones in southern Syria at their first meeting at the G20 in Hamburg earlier this month.

Former president Barack Obama approved the rebel aid program in 2013 as various insurgent groups sought external support in a general uprising against the Assad regime.

Thousands of Syrian anti-government fighters were trained and armed. But the US commitment remained ambiguous amid doubts in some quarters that the rebels could actually manage to depose Assad and as attention turned to the rising power of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Support for the program further eroded last year after the rebels lost the areas they held in the Syrian city of Aleppo under a brutal Russian-backed government assault. US officials said last week that some of the anti-Assad forces could be absorbed into US military-supported groups fighting ISIS.

Donald Trump scraps covert CIA program to arm Syrian rebels

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US President Donald Trump has decided to end a secret CIA operation to support Syrian rebels fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, US media reported. The decision is an acknowledgement of the situation on the ground.

US President Donald Trump has decided to end a CIA program to arm and train so-called moderate Syrian rebels, in a seeming acknowledgement that a years-long covert program would fail to dislodge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or bring the regime to the negotiating table.

The Washington Post and the New York Times reported on the decision, citing US officials.

Trump reportedly made the decision to shut down the training program a month ago after consulting National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Trump had foreshadowed the decision, repeatedly criticizing US backing of rebels during the 2016 presidential campaign for fueling Islamic extremism.

Read more: Opinion: ‘Islamic State’ jihadism could live on

Obama policy

Former US President Barack Obama started the covert CIA program in 2013, backing so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions in southern and northern-western Syria that the administration deemed to be moderate.

Run in coordination with Jordan, Gulf Arab states and Turkey, the CIA program gave the United States influence on the ground and, importantly, some sway over its regional allies’ policies in Syria.

But the goal of toppling Assad with no apparent successor in place to ensure stability afterwards was always questionable. Backing dozens of fractious rebel factions brought with it the risk that weapons and money would end up in the hands of extremists.

Key rebel backers, Turkey and Gulf Arab states, also poured in money and weapons to their own preferred groups.

A separate $500-million Pentagon train-and-equip program in 2015 to create a 5,000 strong rebel force highlighted the challenges and dangers of assembling fighters to take on the “Islamic State” (IS).

That program ended up with defections and attacks by al Qaeda jihadists on the US-backed force, which lost its weapons before disbanding with less than a dozen fighters in the same year.

US focused on IS

The Syrian conflict, now in its sixth year, has morphed into complex civil war with a dizzying array of armed actors and fronts-within-fronts that has drawn in more than a dozen international and regional powers.

The United States has increasingly focused its attention more on defeating IS in Iraq and Syria than toppling Assad. Ending the CIA program will not impact the US-led fight against IS.

Over the past two years, the US military has found common cause with the Syrian Kurds as its preferred partner on the ground to fight IS in northeastern Syria.