Month: July 2018

UK Report: UK To Hand Over Jihadists To US Without Death Penalty Assurances

Posted on by SeeUS

A report in a British newspaper says the British government has “secretly abandoned its blanket opposition to the death penalty and Guantanamo Bay” so that two jihadists — members of the so-called Beatles group of Islamic State terrorists — can face criminal prosecution in the United States. 

In a report posted on The Telegraph’s website late Sunday, the paper said it had seen documents that the government is willing to hand over Alexanda Kotey and Shafee El-Sheikh to the U.S. without any “assurances” that they will not be executed. 

British law does not allow for the death penalty. 

The paper said it had seen documents detailing the conditions of the plan, including a letter from British Home Secretary Sajid Javid to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that said Britain was not asking for “assurances” that the two men would not be executed. 

The report said the Home Secretary was concerned that British law “may not be robust enough to ensure a successful prosecution.” 

According to The Telegraph, in the letter dated June 22, 2018, Javid wrote, “. . . it is the long held position of the UK to seek death penalty assurances, and our decision in this case does not reflect a change in our policy on assistance in US death penalty cases generally, nor the UK Government’s stance on the global abolition of the death penalty.” 

The paper said, however, that a senior Home Office source had “insisted” Saturday night that the U.S. had been “verbally warned” against sending the men to Guantanamo Bay. 

The anonymous source said that the U.K. “made it clear” that the British government would hand over the men “for the purposes of a criminal trial,” but not for detention at Guantanamo Bay. 

Kotey and El-Sheikh were captured in Syria in January. The Telegraph says they are being held in Syria by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. 

Both held British citizenship. The Telegraph says, however, “… it has been widely reported that this has been secretly revoked by ministers.” 

Kotey and El-Sheikh were part of a four-member terrorist cell dubbed “The Beatles” because all four had British accents. A third member of the group, nicknamed “Jihadi John,” was killed by a drone strike in Syria in 2015. The fourth member, Aine Lesley Davis, is being held in a Turkish prison.

The cell was responsible for the beheadings of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, U.S. humanitarian worker Peter Kassig, and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning. 
…

your ad here

Trump Warns Iranian President ‘Never Threaten the US’

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to “never threaten the United States,” in a Twitter comment that came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech critical of Iran’s leaders.

“To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!” Trump posted late Sunday.

He appeared to be responding to reports earlier in the day quoting Rouhani warning Trump, “don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret.”

“America must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” Rouhani said.

Gen. Gholam Hossein Gheibparvar, a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, dismissed Trump’s statement as “psychological warfare” and said Trump would not take action against Iran.

Pompeo told an audience at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California that the government in Iran has become a nightmare for the Iranian people.

The top U.S. diplomat said the United Sates is not afraid to pressure the Iranian government at its highest level as he urged all U.S. allies to join in financially suppressing the government.

“This especially goes for our allies in the Middle East and Europe, people who have themselves been terrorized by the violent regime’s activity for decades,” Pompeo said.

He said the Trump administration will not stay silent against what he calls the numerous crimes and abuses of the Iranian government. This includes kleptocracy, with Pompeo saying those at the top have squandered the people’s wealth on terrorism and theft and a zeal to spread the Islamic revolution to other nations.

Pompeo said the Iranian economy is “going great,” but only for the elite, accusing the ayatollahs and senior leaders of lining their pockets to the tune of billions of dollars while a third of Iranians live in poverty.

“Judging by their vast wealth, they seem more concerned with riches than religion,” he said. “These hypocritical holy men have devised all kinds of crooked schemes to become some of the wealthiest men on Earth while their people suffer.”

While Pompeo was speaking about the lack of free speech in Iran, he was interrupted by a heckler. The secretary stood by calmly before remarking that Iranians should have the same kind of freedom of expression.

The secretary also announced that the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the Voice of America, is taking new steps to help Iranians get around internet censorship. The BBG is also launching a new 24/7 Farsi-language channel across television, radio, digital, and social media formats.

He said the goal of the United States is to see Iranians inside their own country live the same kind of life Iranians in the United States enjoy. 
…

your ad here

US Senators Push Sanctions to Send Putin Election Meddling Warning

Posted on by SeeUS

A pair of prominent Republican U.S. senators said on Sunday that the United States must move promptly to prepare new sanctions against Russia to discourage interference in upcoming elections.

Senator Lindsey Graham said additional sanctions needed to be teed up before President Donald Trump holds a second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the U.S. leader came under heavy criticism for failing to confront Putin about interference in the 2016 election at a summit last Monday.

“You need to work with Congress to come up with new sanctions because Putin’s not getting the message,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We need new sanctions, heavy-handed sanctions, hanging over his head, and then meet with him.”

Undaunted by the backlash in his own party to his first meeting, Trump invited Putin to a White House meeting sometime this autumn. Congressional elections will take place in November.

Representative Trey Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, questioned the wisdom of Putin being ushered into the White House.

Talking to Putin about matters such as the civil war in Syria, Gowdy said, “is very different from issuing an invitation. Those should be reserved for, I think, our allies like Great Britain and Canada and Australia and those who are with us day in and day out.” Gowdy made his remarks during an interview on television’s “Fox News Sunday.”

Republican Senator Marco Rubio wants a vote on a bill called DETER that would impose new sanctions if U.S. intelligence officials determine Russia meddled in U.S. elections. Rubio co-authored the legislation with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, a bipartisan effort revived by the fallout of last week’s summit.

“What I think is indisputable is that they did interfere and they will do so in the future,” Rubio said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Last Thursday, Rubio and Van Hollen, noting the “urgency of the challenge before our nation,” wrote to the chairmen of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations committees pressing them to hold hearings on the legislation before the start of an early August recess.

‘Deter’ Act

Putin has denied that Russia tried to influence the 2016 presidential election after the U.S. intelligence community concluded Russia interfered through cyber attacks and social media in a bid to boost Trump’s candidacy.

Under pressure from Congress, which last year passed a tough sanctions law targeting Russia, the U.S. Treasury in April imposed sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs for election meddling and “malign” activities.

The DETER Act would make sanctions more automatic and aim to punish Russia’s finance, energy, defense and other sectors. The U.S. director of national intelligence would be required to conclude if any foreign nations interfered in elections one month after Americans cast their votes, triggering strict sanctions within 10 days if interference was detected.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week identified the bill as a potential step Congress could take to push back against Russia as Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for sanctions and other deterrents.

But the U.S. oil and gas industry is lobbying against the bill because of worries that heightened sanctions could affect U.S. investments in Russia, congressional sources said.

U.S. businesses could face an uphill battle, however, if they aim to block or defang the legislation. “The sanctions are only implemented if Russia is deemed to have interfered in our election. Pretty hard to say: ‘C’mon guys, don’t take that too seriously.’ I mean, what representative of any industry could credibly make that argument? That’s pretty tough,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons said in a hallway interview late last week with Reuters.
…

your ad here

Spain Rescues Nearly 800 Migrants From Sea

Posted on by SeeEU

Spanish rescuers have picked up nearly 800 migrants trying the cross the Mediterranean Sea into the European Union over the past two days.

Coast Guard boats pulled people off of dangerously overcrowded vessels from the Straits of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea – two of the closest points between Spain the coast of North Africa.

The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration said more than 18,000 people have reached Spain from North Africa so far this year.

Spain has replaced Italy as the preferred destination for migrants from Africa, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere trying to escape war and poverty for a better life in the European Union.

Italy had been overwhelmed with migrants and under a deal worked out with Libya, has started returning them home instead of processing asylum requests.

 
…

your ad here

Pompeo Delivering Policy Speech on Iran

Posted on by SeeEA

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is addressing members of the Iranian diaspora to urge them to “support” protesters in Iran, as the Trump administration hints at a desire for regime change in Tehran after turning its back on the Iranian nuclear accord.

President Donald Trump – who has made the Islamic republic a favorite target since his unexpected rapprochement with North Korea – decided on May 8 to restore all the sanctions that had been lifted as part of the multi-nation agreement aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Following the U.S. withdrawal that stunned even Washington’s closest European allies, Pompeo on May 21 unveiled a “new strategy” intended to force Iran to yield to a dozen stringent demands or else face the “strongest sanctions in history.”

Pompeo is delivering his “Supporting Iranian Voices” speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California.

With the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 a year away, Pompeo plans to retrace “40 years of stealing from the Iranian people, the terrorism they have committed around the region, the brutal repression at home” as well as the “religious persecution” there, a senior State Department official told reporters ahead of the speech.

The venue for Pompeo’s address is significant, the official noted: some 250,000 Iranian-Americans live in Southern California.  

“He will be exposing some of the corruption” of a “kleptocratic regime,” the diplomat told reporters. “The regime has prioritized its ideological agenda over the welfare of the Iranian people.”

Pompeo launched his campaign against Iran on Twitter last month, saying the government in Tehran and the Revolutionary Guards – the regime’s elite armed corps – had “plundered the country’s wealth” in proxy wars “while Iranian families struggle.”

Exploiting growing tensions within

The Trump administration’s strategy appears simple: to exploit the already growing tensions within Iranian society that are being exacerbated by renewed U.S. sanctions that have forced some foreign firms to leave.  

There have been a series of anti-government protests in Iran in recent months, prompted by an array of different issues and concerns.

The State Department briefer said Pompeo plans to support “the legitimate demands of the Iranian people, especially their economic demands for a better life.”

But how far will he and the administration go?

“That’s the key question,” Behnam Ben Taleblu of the conservative pressure group Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told the French news agency AFP. “Pompeo and the administration can do more than just rhetorical support to the Iranian protester.”

Several Iranian dissidents have written to Pompeo to urge him to re-establish punitive measures against the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting network, which they accuse of abetting human rights violations.  

Word of Pompeo’s planned speech has fanned speculation on Washington’s precise intentions.

The State Department insists that the U.S. seeks merely a “change in behavior” by the regime.

But some senior members of the Trump administration – notably national security advisor John Bolton – have made it clear in the past that they would like to see the Tehran regime topple, and Pompeo himself said in May that “the Iranian people get to choose for themselves the kind of leadership they want.”

To Behnam Ben Taleblu, “genuine regime change can only come from inside.”

With an upsurge of “Iranians of all different social classes protesting,” he said, the Trump administration will have to decide whether it wants to “support elements that actually want to change the regime.”

Diplomats and experts in Washington are divided as to whether the protests and social tensions within Iran pose a true threat to the Islamic republic.

Nor is there agreement on what it would actually mean should the Iranian regime fall – but some find that uncertainty deeply worrying.

“The more likely result of regime collapse would be a military coup in the name of restoring order, led by the man Washington’s Iran hawks fear the most: Gen. Qasem Suleimani,” the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, according to Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“Exerting maximum pressure on Iran could bring about America’s worst nightmare,” he added on Twitter.

 
…

your ad here

Italy’s Molinari Wins Golf’s British Open

Posted on by SeeEU

Professional golfer Francesco Molinari won his first major championship Sunday, defeating an array of the sport’s top stars at the British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland.

The 35-year-old Molinari became the first Italian to capture one of golf’s four major annual titles, shooting a final round 2-under-par 69. He completed a bogey-free round with a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and then waited to claim the tournament’s Claret Jug trophy as other contenders faltered at the end.

For the tournament, Molinari was 8 under par, two better than a quartet of golfers, Britain’s Justin Rose, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and two Americans, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner.

The tourney marked the return to prominence for Tiger Woods, the U.S. golfer who has won 14 major championships but none since 2008. With a pair of birdies and eight pars through the first 10 holes Sunday, Woods surged into the lead, but promptly relinquished it with a double bogey on the 11th and a bogey on the 12th.

Woods completed the tourney in sixth place, three shots back of Molinari, his playing partner. It was Woods’ best showing in a major championship since his fourth-place finish at the 2013 Masters in the United States.

 
…

your ad here

News of Planned Putin Visit to US Stuns Washington

Posted on by SeeUS

On the heels of President Donald Trump’s widely-criticized Helsinki summit performance, Washington is abuzz yet again after the White House announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the United States later this year. VOA’s Michael Bowman has this report.
…

your ad here

About 150 Injured as 3 Earthquakes Rock Iran

Posted on by SeeEA

A 5.9-magnitude quake rattled Kermanshah province, in western Iran near the border with Iraq, Sunday, injuring nearly 150 people, the head of the country’s disaster response agency said.

Pirhossein Kolivand, head of the country’s natural disasters response agency, told state television that 146 people were injured, including 21 who were taken to hospitals for treatment. He did not say anyone was killed in the tremor.

Earlier Sunday, 4.7- and 5.7-magnitude quakes hit Hormozgan province, south of Tehran.

No injuries were reported but the twin temblors damaged several buildings.

“Reports indicate that some walls have collapsed, but extensive damage has not been reported,” Morteza Salimi, head of Iran’s Red Crescent society, told official news agency IRNA.

Last November, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Kermanshah province killed at least 620 people and injured thousands.
…

your ad here

Rights Group Calls on Iraq to Declare Detention Centers

Posted on by SeeEA

Human Rights Watch has called on Iraq’s government to declare the number of detention facilities it maintains and not to hold suspects without informing their families.

In a report issued on Sunday, the New York-based group says Iraq’s National Security Services runs a detention facility in Mosul. It said when granted access to the center on July 4, it was holding 427 men suspected of links to the Islamic State group.

 

An NNS officer said those prisoners were previously held in a house before a new prison block was built following “pressure from Baghdad.”

It added that the NSS first denied running detention centers, but later acknowledged it.

HRW says the cells at the Mosul facility are clean and air-conditioned, but extremely overcrowded.
…

your ad here

Iran’s Rouhani Warns Trump About ‘Mother of All Wars’

Posted on by SeeUS

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday cautioned U.S. President Donald Trump about pursuing hostile policies against Tehran, saying “America should know… war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” but he did not rule out peace between the two countries, either.

Iran faces increased U.S. pressure and looming sanctions after Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from a 2015 international deal over Iran’s nuclear program.

Addressing a gathering of Iranian diplomats, Rouhani said: “Mr Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret,” the state new agency IRNA reported.

“America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” Rouhani said, leaving open the possibility of peace between the two countries which have been at odds since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“You are not in a position to incite the Iranian nation against Iran’s security and interests,” Rouhani said, in an apparent reference to reported efforts by Washington to destabilize Iran’s Islamic government.

In Washington, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Reuters that the Trump administration has launched an offensive of speeches and online communications meant to foment unrest and help pressure Iran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups.

Current and former U.S. officials said the campaign paints Iranian leaders in a harsh light, at times using information that is exaggerated or contradicts other official pronouncements, including comments by previous administrations.

Rouhani scoffed at Trump’s threat to halt Iranian oil exports and said Iran has a dominant position in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping waterway.

“Anyone who understands the rudiments of politics doesn’t say ‘we will stop Iran’s oil exports’… we have been the guarantor of the regional waterway’s security throughout history,” Rouhani said, cited by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday backed Rouhani’s suggestion that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are halted.

Rouhani’s apparent threat earlier this month to disrupt oil shipments from neighboring countries came in reaction to efforts by Washington to force all countries to stop buying Iranian oil.

Iranian officials have in the past threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for any hostile U.S. action.

Separately, a top Iranian military commander warned that the Trump government might be preparing to invade Iran.

“The enemy’s behavior is unpredictable,” military chief of staff General Mohammad Baqeri said, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
…

your ad here

Trump: Surveillance Court Was ‘Misled’ to OK Wiretapping of Ex-Aide

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Sunday that newly released documents about the origins of an investigation of a former adviser’s links to Russia help vindicate his claim that U.S. government investigators were spying on his 2016 election campaign.

He contended in Twitter remarks that “as usual,” the documents “are ridiculously heavily redacted but confirm with little doubt that the Department of ‘Justice’ and FBI misled the courts. Witch Hunt Rigged, a Scam!”

It was not immediately clear how Trump felt the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was misled in the government’s four applications in 2016, and last year after Trump took office, to wiretap Carter Page, his one-time aide. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a 2016 opponent of Trump’s, told CNN that he did not think the Federal Bureau of Investigation “did anything wrong” in surveilling Page.

The FBI said in the first application in October 2016 that it “believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government.” After a redacted line, the document picked up with the phrase “undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law.”

Page, who has long denied being a Russian agent, has not been charged with any crime.

On Sunday, he acknowledged to CNN that he played a role in advising the Kremlin about energy issues at a 2013 conference in Russia and gave a school graduation address there in 2016. But he described any allegation that he had been conscripted by Moscow as “so ridiculous it’s beyond words. It’s literally a complete joke. I’ve never been an agent of a foreign power.”

The applications for the wiretapping were approved on four occasions by the same FISA Court judges, all appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have contended, however, that the FBI bid for the surveillance relied heavily on a dossier about Trump’s links to Russia that was compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent, and paid for by the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 challenger.

The documents released late Saturday at the request of several news organizations suggested that the FBI did not rely heavily on information in Steele’s dossier.

The FBI told the FISA court that Page “has established relationships with Russian government officials, including Russian intelligence officers”; that the FBI believed “the Russian government’s efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with” Trump’s campaign and that Page “has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government.”

Trump, in one of four Twitter comments about the documents, said, “Looking more & more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon [surveillance] for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton” and the Democratic National Committee. “Ask her how that worked out,” Trump said, adding that “Republicans must get tough now. An illegal Scam!”

In another tweet, the U.S. leader said the “whole FISA scam” led to the “rigged” criminal investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

For the last 14 months, Mueller and his team of investigators have been probing Trump campaign links to Russia and whether Trump obstructed justice by firing James Comey, a former FBI director, who was heading the agency’s Russia probe at the time Trump ousted him, before Mueller was named to take over the investigation.

Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about their links to Russia and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is set to go on trial this week in connection with lobbying efforts for Ukraine that predated the 2016 campaign. In addition, Mueller has indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officials in connection with cyberattacks on Democratic computers in the U.S. linked to the 2016 Clinton campaign in an effort to help Trump win.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement:  “For the sake of our national security and our democracy, these vital investigations must be allowed to continue unhindered by Republican interference.  The GOP must cease their attacks on our law enforcement and intelligence communities, and finally decide where their loyalty lies.”

 
…

your ad here

International Musicians Create Harmony Through Music Program

Posted on by SeeUS

Twenty-five young musicians from around the world have gathered in California to train and perform this month in an international program called iPalpiti, from the Italian word for heartbeats. The training program and performance festival mark a labor of love for Russian-born conductor and musical director Eduard Schmieder, who says that music has the power to break down barriers.

The musicians come from 19 countries, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Israel and Italy, and Schmieder says that in their own way, they make the world more peaceful. 

“In our orchestra,” he said, “I will not name the countries on purpose, but there are musicians from the countries which are practically — not practically — but which are at war. And they are sitting next to each other, and they become friends,” he said.

Schmieder and his wife started this program in 1997 with help from the renowned violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin.

Accomplished musicians

Professional musicians whose ages range from the late teens to the 30s take part in the program. They are accomplished, Schmieder said, and include winners of major competitions.

“It’s so great that you have so many sensitive musicians,” said Peter Rainer, a violinist who serves as concertmaster, the link between the musicians and conductor. “They all are very alert and awake and listen to each other” as they work together to perfect their performances, he said.

Turkish viola player Can Sakul says the international group meshes well.

“This is home because when you make good music; it makes you feel like you’re home,” Sakul said during a break from rehearsals in Orange County, California.

Cultural exchange

This is a cultural as well as musical exchange, a Siberian violinist says.

“Here, everyone has their own opinion of music, how to play every composition,” said Russian Semyon Promoe. “It’s very interesting to interact with everybody,” he said, “to play together and to create one opinion for everybody.”

This year, the festival focuses on music from baroque to contemporary, from J. S. Bach and Franz Schubert to the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak and Russia’s Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. Yet, this music has no geographic boundaries, says a cellist from Ecuador.

“It’s interesting to see where we intersect,” Francisco Vila said, “how many things we have in common. And also the music world … is quite small,” he added, “so you’re only one person away from knowing everyone else.”

He says that through this program, the instrumentalists get to know more about each other as they share the thrill of performing great music. Musicians who have taken part in the annual training and festival make up “a big family,” said Turkish violist Sakul, “so I’m proud to be a part of it,” he added.
…

your ad here

Fostering International Harmony Through Music

Posted on by SeeUS

Twenty-five young musicians from around the world have gathered in California to train and perform this month. As VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, the international program called iPalpiti, from the Italian word for heartbeats, is a labor of love for a Russian-born conductor who says music can break down barriers.
…

your ad here

German Industry: US Tariffs Risk Hurting US

Posted on by SeeEU

German industry groups warned Sunday, ahead of a meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and U.S. President Donald Trump, that tariffs the United States has recently imposed or threatened risk harming the U.S. itself.

The U.S. imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminum June 1, and Trump is threatening to extend them to EU cars and car parts. Juncker will discuss trade with Trump at a meeting Wednesday.

Dieter Kempf, head of Germany’s BDI industry association, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper it was wise for the European Union and United States to continue their discussions.

German auto industry

“The tariffs under the guise of national security should be abolished,” Kempf said, adding that Juncker needed to make clear to Trump that the United States would harm itself with tariffs on cars and car parts.

He added that the German auto industry employed more than 118,000 people in the United States and 60 percent of what they produced was exported to other countries from the U.S. 

“Europe should not let itself be blackmailed and should put in a confident appearance in the United States,” he added.

Lowered expectations

EU officials have sought to lower expectations about what Juncker can achieve and downplayed suggestions that he will arrive in Washington with a novel plan to restore good relations.

Eric Schweitzer, president of the DIHK Chambers of Commerce, told Welt am Sonntag he welcomed Juncker’s attempt to persuade the U.S. government not to impose tariffs on cars.

“All arguments in favor of such tariffs are … ultimately far-fetched,” he said.

The German economy had for decades counted on there being open markets and a reliable global trading system, Schweitzer said, but he added of the current situation: “Every day German companies feel the transatlantic rift getting wider.”
…

your ad here

Minister Under Fire in Macron Security Aide Scandal

Posted on by SeeEU

The most damaging scandal of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency deepened Saturday with his interior minister to face a grilling in parliament over his response to a top security aide of Macron caught on video beating up a young man at a Paris protest in May.

Opposition lawmakers have demanded that Macron, who has so far remained silent about the incident, explain the government’s stand after the videos of his aide Alexandre Benalla emerged this week.

“If Macron doesn’t explain himself the Benalla affair will become the Macron affair,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a tweet.

Laurent Wauquiez, the head of the Republicans party, accused the government of “trying to camouflage a matter of state” and said Macron had to clarify the matter to the French people.

Aide suspended, then fired

Benalla, 26, was initially suspended without pay, but on Friday Macron fired his former security aide, who was taken into custody suspected of unlawfully receiving police surveillance footage in a bid to clear his name.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb has been heavily criticized over the affair, with some opposition lawmakers saying his job is on the line after press reports that he knew about Benalla’s violence.

Collomb will be publicly questioned Monday morning by the Law Commission of the National Assembly, the head of the lower house of parliament announced.

Police officers in custody

Also on Saturday, three police officers were taken into custody suspected of providing the surveillance footage to Benalla. 

The Paris police prefecture said the footage was “improperly disclosed to a third party on the evening of July 18,” the same night the newspaper Le Monde published the video that sparked the scandal.

That video, shot on a smartphone, showed Benalla wearing a riot police helmet and surrounded by officers, manhandling and striking a protester during a May 1 demonstration.

In a second video published by the newspaper late Thursday, Benalla — who has never been a policeman — is also seen violently wrestling a young woman to the ground during scuffles on a square near the Rue Mouffetard.
…

your ad here

Niger Army: 10 Boko Haram Terrorists Killed

Posted on by SeeAF

Niger’s army said Saturday it killed 10 terrorists after one of its military positions in the southwest of the country was attacked by fighters from the Boko Haram jihadist group.

“In the night from Thursday to Friday, the military station of Baroua was attacked by the terrorist group Boko Haram,” Niger’s defense ministry said in a statement. 

According to a preliminary toll, one army soldier was killed and two others injured

“On the enemy’s side, 10 terrorists were killed,” the statement added.

The ministry said the area was still being searched by security forces.

Baroua is in Niger’s southeastern Diffa region, near the border with Nigeria, and has been the target of numerous attacks by Boko Haram.

At the beginning of July, six Niger soldiers were killed in an attack at a military post in the same area.

The previous month, three suicide bombers blew themselves up in Diffa town, killing six people.
…

your ad here

Brexit Secretary: No Brexit Payment Without Trade Deal

Posted on by SeeEU

Britain will only pay its EU divorce bill if the bloc agrees to the framework for a future trade deal, the new Brexit secretary warned in an interview published Sunday.

Dominic Raab, who replaced David Davis after he quit the role earlier this month in protest over the government’s Brexit strategy, said “some conditionality between the two” was needed.

He added that the Article 50 mechanism used to trigger Britain’s imminent exit from the European Union provided for new deal details.

“Article 50 requires, as we negotiate the withdrawal agreement, that there’s a future framework for our new relationship going forward, so the two are linked,” Raab told the Sunday Telegraph.

“You can’t have one side fulfilling its side of the bargain and the other side not, or going slow, or failing to commit on its side. So I think we do need to make sure that there’s some conditionality between the two,” he said.

Doubt cast

Prime Minister Theresa May agreed in December to a financial settlement totaling £35 to £39 billion ($46-51 billion, 39-44 billion euros) that ministers said depended on agreeing on future trade ties.

But Cabinet members have since cast doubt on the position. 

Finance minister Philip Hammond said shortly afterward that he found it “inconceivable” Britain would not pay its bill, which he described as “not a credible scenario.”

The country is set to leave the bloc on March 30, but the two sides want to strike a divorce agreement by late October in order to give parliament enough time to endorse a deal.

Raab met the EU’s top negotiator Michel Barnier for the first time on Friday, where he heard doubts over May’s new Brexit blueprint for the future relationship.

But Barnier noted the priority in talks should be on finalizing the initial divorce deal.

May’s plan unpopular

A hard-line stance by the British government on the financial settlement could complicate progress, with Raab insisting on the link with the bill and a future agreement.

May’s plans formally unveiled in early July envisions a customs partnership for goods and a common rulebook with the EU.

It has faced severe criticism in Britain, including from within her own Cabinet and Conservative Party.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Davis both resigned in opposition.
…

your ad here

Israel Evacuates Hundreds of Syrian ‘White Helmets’ to Jordan

Posted on by SeeEA

Israel has evacuated approximately 800 volunteer White Helmet rescuers and their families from Syria and taken them to Jordan in a Saturday night convoy of buses accompanied by Israeli police and United Nations vehicles.

The Israeli Defense Force, identifying the rescue workers as civilians, said on Twitter: “The civilians were evacuated from the war zone in Southern Syria due to an immediate threat to their lives. The transfer of the displaced Syrians through Israel is an exceptional humanitarian gesture.”

IDF said the evacuation was done at the “request of the United States and additional European countries.”

Israel said the evacuees were taken to “a neighboring country,” but did not mention Jordan.

Petra, Jordan’s official news agency, said the Syrians are in a closed area in Jordan. The agency said Britain, Germany and Canada have agreed to resettle them within three months.

The Syrian military, backed by a Russian air campaign, has been pushing into the edges of Quneitra province following an offensive last month that routed rebels in adjoining Deraa province who were once backed by Washington, Jordan and Gulf states.

The offensive has restored Syrian government control over a swathe of the southwest, strategic territory at the borders with Jordan and Israel.

Reuters contributed to this report.
…

your ad here

Amputee Soccer Team Trains with Hope of International Competition

Posted on by SeeEA

A group of 15 amputees has overcome physical challenges to form a soccer team in the Gaza Strip. A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council has organized what he calls the “Team of Heroes” after watching Turkish and British amputees in a soccer match last year. Arash Arabasadi reports.
…

your ad here

Unusual Pop-up Museum Promises to Keep Visit Sweet

Posted on by SeeEU

An unusual pop-up museum in Lisbon is delighting social media-focused visitors with colorful and dreamy displays of giant ice creams, marshmallow pools and all things sweet. As VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports, the museum’s founders say its an attraction that strives to put a smile on the faces of all its visitors.
…

your ad here

Fiat Chrysler Names Jeep Boss to Replace Stricken CEO

Posted on by SeeUS

Fiat Chrysler named on Saturday its Jeep division boss, Mike Manley, to take over immediately for Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, who is seriously ill after suffering major complications following surgery.

The carmaker said British-born Manley, who also takes responsibility for the North America region, will push ahead with the midterm strategy outlined last month by Marchionne, who had been due to step down next April.

Marchionne, 66, was credited with rescuing Fiat and Chrysler from bankruptcy after taking the Italian carmaker’s wheel in 2004. On Saturday, he was also replaced as chairman and CEO of Ferrari and chairman of tractor maker CNH Industrial — both spun off from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in recent years.

“FCA communicates with profound sorrow that during the course of this week unexpected complications arose while Mr. Marchionne was recovering from surgery and that these have worsened significantly in recent hours,” the statement said.

FCA disclosed earlier this month that Marchionne, a renowned dealmaker and workaholic, was recovering from a shoulder operation. But his condition deteriorated sharply in recent days when he suffered massive complications that were not divulged.

Ferrari named FCA Chairman and Agnelli family scion John Elkann as new chairman, while board member Louis Camilleri becomes chief executive. CNH appointed Suzanna Heywood to replace Marchionne as chairman. All three companies remain controlled by the Agnellis.

Marchionne had previously said he planned to stay on as Ferrari chairman and CEO until 2021.

Deal focus

One of the auto industry’s longest-serving CEOs, Marchionne has advocated tie-ups to share the growing cost burden of developing cleaner, electrified and autonomous vehicles.

He resisted the comparatively easy option of selling off coveted brands such as Jeep, saying that would leave too big a problem with Fiat as “the stump that is left behind.”

But after being rejected by his preferred partner General Motors, he turned back to the task of cutting FCA’s debt — a goal he achieved last month — while maintaining that a merger for FCA was “ultimately inevitable.”

Investor hopes for a transformative deal had largely dwindled and are unlikely to hit the shares on Marchionne’s departure, according to Evercore analyst George Galliers.

“The valuation doesn’t suggest expectations of a buyout are high,” Galliers said.

Even without Marchionne, FCA will remain “culturally more open to dealmaking and savvy to potential capital market opportunities than much of the competition,” he added.

“A lot of that’s now ingrained, so I don’t think you lose everything he’s brought to the company overnight.”

Yet, Manley will have a tough act to follow.

Marchionne resurrected one of Italy’s biggest corporate names and revitalized Chrysler, succeeding where the U.S. company’s two previous owners — Mercedes parent Daimler and private equity group Carberus — both failed.

He has multiplied Fiat’s value 11 times since taking charge, helped by moves such as the spinoffs of CNH Industrial and Ferrari. The planned separation of parts maker Magneti Marelli, due this year, should further increase that value-generation.

He also flattened an inflexible hierarchy, replacing layers of middle management with a meritocratic leadership style. He slashed costs by reducing the number of vehicle architectures and creating joint ventures to pool development and plant costs.
…

your ad here

AP Fact Check: Trump’s Week of Claims on Russia, NATO

Posted on by SeeUS

It was a week of bewilderment over what President Donald Trump really thinks about Russian interference in the U.S. election and what he and Russia’s Vladimir Putin told each other in their private meeting. The confusion was fed by Trump’s vacillating statements about the summit.

On other fronts, Trump inaccurately claimed Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon him an honor that she had never before granted during her reign and, when the president was back in the U.S., he gave a faulty account of improvements in health care for veterans.

A week in review:

TRUMP: “The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear … proliferation, cyber attacks, trade, Ukraine, Middle East peace, North Korea and more. There are many answers, some easy and some hard, to these problems … but they can ALL be solved!” — tweets Thursday.

THE FACTS: Trump implies that he reached broad agreements with Putin during the Helsinki meeting that the two countries “can start implementing” with a second meeting. If he did, his own White House and State Department seem not to know about it.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders mentioned humanitarian aid for Syria, Iran, Israel, arms control, Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its meddling in 2016 U.S. election as having been discussed. When pressed for details on any planned action, she could not provide any.

“This is the beginning of the dialogue with Russia and our administration and theirs and we’re going to continue working through those things,” Sanders told reporters Wednesday.

The State Department offered its own take on the Helsinki meeting, saying no agreements were reached and that there were just general proposals on matters mainly related to economic and strategic cooperation.

TRUMP, addressing whether Russia was interfering in the 2016 election: “The whole concept of that came up perhaps a little bit before, but it came out as a reason why the Democrats lost an election — which, frankly, they should have been able to win, because the Electoral College is much more advantageous for Democrats, as you know, than it is to Republicans. We won the Electoral College by a lot — 306 to 223, I believe.” — remarks Monday.

THE FACTS: Trump makes the misguided assertion, again, that Democrats have an “advantage” in the Electoral College. Its unique system of electing presidents is actually a big reason why Trump won the presidency. Four candidates in history have won a majority of the popular vote only to be denied the presidency by the Electoral College. All were Democrats.

In the 2016 election, Democrat Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump after racking up more lopsided victories in big states such as New York and California, according to election data compiled by The Associated Press. But she lost the presidency because of Trump’s winning margin in the Electoral College, which came after he narrowly won less populous Midwestern states, including Michigan and Wisconsin.

Unlike the popular vote, Electoral College votes are set equal to the number of U.S. representatives in each state plus its two senators. That means more weight is given to a single vote in a small state than the vote of someone in a large state.

Trump also misstates the Electoral College vote. The official count was 304 to 227, according to an AP tally of the electoral votes in every state.

TRUMP: “I want to have choice, just like we have now with the veterans, all approved, which nobody thought would be possible. The vets now, instead of standing on line for two weeks or one week or three months, they can go out and see a doctor, and we pay for it, and it turns out to be much less expensive. And they are loving it.” — remarks Wednesday at Cabinet meeting.

THE FACTS: The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Choice program for veterans that Trump refers to is not “all approved.” Nor are veterans necessarily loving the private-sector health care program, as measured by the average amount of time veterans must wait for a medical appointment with a private doctor. Trump’s suggestion that veterans are getting immediate care because of Choice does not reflect the reality.

Trump did sign into law last month a bill that would ease restrictions on private care. But its success in significantly reducing wait times depends in large part on an overhaul of VA’s electronic medical records to allow for a seamless sharing of records with private physicians. That overhaul will take at least 10 years to be complete.

Under the newly expanded Choice program that will take at least a year to implement, veterans will still have to meet certain criteria before they can see a private physician. Those criteria will be set in part by proposed federal regulations that will be subject to public review.

Currently, only veterans who endure waits of at least 30 days for an appointment at a VA facility are eligible to receive care from private doctors at government expense. A recent Government Accountability Report found that despite the Choice program’s guarantee of providing an appointment within 30 days, veterans waited an average of 51 days to 64 days.

TRUMP: “We met with the Queen, who is absolutely a terrific person, where she reviewed her Honor Guard for the first time in 70 years, they tell me. We walked in front of the Honor Guard, and that was very inspiring to see and be with her.” — remarks Tuesday during a meeting with members of Congress.

THE FACTS: No, Queen Elizabeth II did not review her Honor Guard for the first time in 70 years when Trump visited last week. She’s only been on the throne for 66 years.

The queen regularly inspects her Honor Guard as part of royal duties, often during visits from foreign officials. That included when President Barack Obama visited in 2011.

TRUMP, when asked Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting if Russia was still targeting U.S. elections: “No.”

THE FACTS: Trump’s apparent response that Russia does not pose a risk to future U.S. elections contradicted the warning from his director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, days earlier on the threat of Russian interference in the 2018 elections. Coats compared the cyberthreat today to the way U.S. officials described before 9/11 the risk of a terrorist attack as indicated from intelligence channels: “Blinking red,” with warning signs of an imminent attack.

Sanders said later Wednesday that Trump actually was saying “no” to answering additional questions — even though he subsequently went on to address Russia.

TRUMP, on his intelligence officials on Monday: “They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this — I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

TRUMP, reading from a statement, on his intelligence officials on Tuesday: “I accept our intelligence community conclusion that Russia meddling … took place” and the “sentence should have been ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’ ”

TRUMP, when asked by CBS on Wednesday if he agreed that Russia meddled in the 2016 election: “I have said that numerous times before, and I would say that is true, yeah.”

THE FACTS: Was Trump’s comment Monday a misunderstanding set off by his saying “would” instead of “wouldn’t”? Or was his rare admission of a mistake rooted in the ferocity of the stateside response by those — Republicans among them — who said he’d undermined U.S. intelligence services by seeming to side with Putin?

Whichever the case, Trump at various points in his Monday news conference made clear that he found Putin’s position on the matter compelling.

“I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said at the joint news conference. He made the untenable assertion Monday that “I have confidence in both parties” — his intelligence officials, who say Moscow interfered, and Putin, who says it didn’t.

Trump has been a nearly solitary figure in his administration in holding on to doubts about whether Russians tried to sway the election. Trump’s top national security officials, Democrats and most Republicans in Congress say U.S. intelligence agencies got it right in finding that Russians secretly tried to sway the election. The special counsel’s continuing Russia investigation has laid out a detailed trail of attempts and successes by Russians to steal Democratic Party and Clinton campaign communications and to leak embarrassing emails and documents.

Putin denied anew that the Russian government interfered, but he acknowledged Monday that he favored Trump in 2016. “Yes, I wanted him to win because he spoke of normalization of Russian-U.S. ties.”

PUTIN, referring Monday to Bill Browder, a prominent Putin critic and investor charged with financial crimes in Russia: “Business associates of Mr. Browder have earned over $1.5 billion in Russia. They never paid any taxes, neither in Russia nor in the United States, and yet the money escaped the country. They were transferred to the United States. They sent a huge amount of money, $400 million, as a contribution to the campaign of Hillary Clinton.”

THE FACTS: The notion of a $400 million donation to the Democrat’s campaign is a stratospheric exaggeration. On Tuesday, the Russian general prosecutor’s office said, to little fanfare, that Putin misspoke and meant $400,000.

The Clinton campaign committee raised less than $564 million. With supportive political action committees added to the equation, Clinton’s effort drew $795 million in donations. Putin’s initial figure suggested a huge chunk of her money came from a small cabal of financiers.

The reality is much less dramatic.

Browder’s New York financial partners, Ziff Brothers Investments, donated only $1.75 million in the 2016 campaign, spreading it among candidates for many offices in both parties and favoring Republicans in congressional races. The watchdog site opensecrets.org shows it giving only $17,700 for Clinton’s election and less than $300,000 to the Democratic National Committee, as well as smaller amounts to other entities.

Donations to Clinton came from diverse sources: the financial industry, education interests, Hollywood, unions, the health and pharmaceutical sectors, and many more.

TRUMP, on increased military spending by NATO countries: “I had a great meeting with NATO. They have paid $33 Billion more and will pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars more in the future, only because of me. NATO was weak, but now it is strong again (bad for Russia).” — tweet Tuesday.

THE FACTS: No, increased military spending by NATO members is not “only because” of him. The broader move toward rising spending by NATO countries began under Obama.

NATO members agreed in 2014 to stop cutting their military budgets and set a goal of moving “toward” spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on their own defense by 2024. Most NATO members are spending less than 2 percent, though more are moving in that direction. The issue is not one of payments to NATO, as Trump repeatedly puts it, but how much members spend on their own armed forces.

After being prodded by Trump to give him credit, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg indicated that Trump’s big demands had some effect on the military spending. He estimated European allies and Canada would add $266 billion to their military spending by 2024 and said of Trump, “This is really adding some extra momentum.” By one NATO estimate, alliance members apart from the U.S. collectively increased their military budgets by $33 billion last year.
…

your ad here

Tariffs Will Hurt Economy, IMF Warns, as Trump Threatens More

Posted on by SeeUS

The International Monetary Fund warned world economic leaders on Saturday that a recent wave of trade tariffs would significantly harm global

growth, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a major escalation in a dispute with China.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she would present the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Buenos Aires with a report detailing the impacts of the restrictions already announced on global trade.

“It certainly indicates the impact that it could have on GDP [gross domestic product], which in the worst case scenario under current measures … is in the range of 0.5 percent of GDP on a global basis,” Lagarde said at a joint news conference with Argentine Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne.

In the briefing note prepared for G-20 ministers, the IMF said global growth might peak at 3.9 percent in 2018 and 2019, while downside risks have increased because of the growing trade conflict.

Her warning came shortly after the top U.S. economic official, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, told reporters in the Argentine capital there was no “macro” effect yet on the world’s largest economy.

Long-simmering trade tensions have burst into the open in recent months, with the United States and China — the world’s largest and second-largest economies — slapping tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other’s goods so far.

The weekend meeting in Buenos Aires comes amid a dramatic escalation in rhetoric on both sides. Trump on Friday threatened tariffs on all $500 billion of Chinese exports to the United States.

Mnuchin said that while there were some “micro” effects, such as retaliation against U.S.-produced soybeans, lobsters and bourbon, he did not believe that tariffs would keep the United States from achieving sustained 3 percent growth this year.

“I still think from a macro basis we do not see any impact on what’s very positive growth,” Mnuchin said, adding that he was closely monitoring prices of steel, aluminum, timber and soybeans.

G-7 allies

The U.S. dollar fell the most in three weeks on Friday against a basket of six major currencies after Trump complained again about the greenback’s strength and about Federal Reserve interest rate increases, halting a rally that had driven the dollar to its highest level in a year.

Mnuchin will try to rally G-7 allies over the weekend to join the United States in more aggressive action against China, but they may be reluctant to cooperate because of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union and Canada, which prompted retaliatory measures.

Mnuchin said he would tell G-7 allies that the Trump administration was ready to make a trade deal with them and had placed a high priority on completing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.

“If Europe believes in free trade, we’re ready to sign a free-trade agreement,” he said, adding that a deal would require the elimination of tariffs, nontariff barriers and subsidies.

“It has to be all three issues.”

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, however, said at the G-20 meeting that the European Union could not consider negotiating a free-trade agreement with the United States unless Washington withdrew its steel

and aluminum tariffs first.

Le Maire said there was no disagreement between France and Germany over how and when to start trade talks with the United States. Both agreed Washington needs to take the first step by eliminating tariffs, he said.

Previous session

The last G-20 finance meeting in Buenos Aires in late March ended with no firm agreement by ministers on trade policy, except for a commitment to “further dialog.”

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he would use the meeting to advocate for a rules-based trading system, but that expectations were low.

“I don’t expect tangible progress to be made at this meeting,” Scholz told reporters on the plane to Buenos Aires.

The U.S. tariffs will cost Germany up to 20 billion euros ($23.44 billion) in income this year, according to the head of German think-tank IMK.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he hoped the debate at the G-20 gathering would lead to an easing of retaliatory trade measures.

“Trade protectionism benefits no one involved,” he said. “I think restraint will eventually take hold.”​

​Protests

Host country Argentina is one of the world’s most closed economies, after a string of populist leaders implemented tariffs and restrictions on foreign capital to protect domestic industry. Market-friendly President Mauricio Macri has removed many of those barriers, generating popular backlash as factory

employment has nosedived.

A currency crisis this year prompted Argentina to seek IMF financing, a political risk for Macri since many Argentines blame Fund-imposed austerity for making its 2001-02 economic collapse worse. Opposition politicians led a protest against Lagarde’s presence on Saturday.

“This deal will mean a tougher, more severe adjustment for working people,” said Nicolas del Cano, a lawmaker for the Socialist Workers’ Party, calling for a national strike to “defeat” the IMF deal.

Lagarde said on Saturday that Argentina was “unequivocally” making progress on its deficit reduction targets agreed to as part of the $50 billion deal.
…

your ad here

Coats: No Disrespect Intended Over Russia Summit News

Posted on by SeeUS

Dan Coats, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Saturday that he in no way meant to be disrespectful toward President Donald Trump with what he called his “awkward response” to news of a second planned Trump summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Coats issued a statement seeking to control the damage from an interview he gave at the Aspen Institute security forum in Colorado on Thursday in which he expressed surprise when the news broke that Trump was planning another Putin summit.

“Some press coverage has mischaracterized my intentions in responding to breaking news presented to me during a live interview. My admittedly awkward response was in no way meant to be disrespectful or criticize the actions of the president,” Coats said.

“I and the entire intel community are committed to providing the best possible intelligence to inform and support President Trump’s ongoing efforts to prevent Russian meddling in our upcoming elections, to build strong relationships internationally in order to maintain peace, denuclearize dangerous regimes and protect our nation and our allies,” Coats

added in his statement.

The White House had no comment Saturday on Coats’ statement.

‘Did I hear you?’

Coats was on stage at the Aspen Institute taking questions when he was informed by Andrea Mitchell, the MSNBC anchor who moderated the event, about the second summit.

“Say that again. Did I hear you?” he asked, appearing amused. “OK, that’s going to be special.”

Coats’ appearance at the Aspen Institute had generated some frustration at the White House. One source said there was a belief that if Coats had been in Washington instead of Colorado, he would not have been surprised by the news.

Trump has drawn heavy criticism from both Republicans and Democrats over his summit last Monday in Helsinki, Finland, with Putin, when he seemed reluctant to blame Russia for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump later made clear he supported the U.S. intelligence community’s findings about Russian meddling.

On Saturday, The Salt Lake Tribune published a letter from Jon Huntsman Jr., the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, that appeared to reject a suggestion from a columnist for the newspaper that he resign after Trump’s remarks in Helsinki.

“I have taken an unscientific survey among my colleagues, whom you reference, about whether I should resign. The laughter told me everything I needed to know,” the letter said.

A State Department spokeswoman had no immediate comment on Huntsman’s letter.
…

your ad here