A leading House Democrat says special counsel Robert Mueller will give “very substantial evidence” that will make the case for impeaching U.S. President Donald Trump.”This is a president who has violated the law six ways from Sunday,” House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler told Fox television.Mueller is set to testify before two House committees Wednesday on his investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to meddle in the 2016 presidential election and if Trump obstructed justice in trying to derail the probe.”We have to present, or let Mueller present, those facts to the American people…because the administration must be held accountable and no president can be above the law,” Nadler said.The Mueller report concluded there was not enough evidence to determine that Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia. But Mueller wrote he could not exonerate Trump of allegations of obstruction of justice, turning the matter over to Attorney General William Barr. Barr said he could find no evidence of obstruction.Trump was highly critical of the Mueller investigation, but does say the report clears him of any alleged criminal activity.Mueller has said he chose the words in his report very carefully and would not provide any other information in any public testimony.But Nadler said Sunday he does not expect Mueller’s appearance to be what he called a “dud.”FILE – Robert Mueller, then-special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a meeting with lawmakers, in Washington, June 21, 2017.”The president and the attorney general have lied to the American people about what was in the Mueller report…the president saying they found no collusion. That was not true, that it found no obstruction, that is not true.”Nadler says lawmakers will ask Mueller some very specific questions about parts of the report.”Look at page 344, paragraph two…does that describe obstruction of justice…did you find that the president did that, for example.”Republicans are upset at what they see as Democratic efforts to keep what they regard as a one-sided but over and done investigation of the president on the front pages.Congressman Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, was also on Fox television Sunday. He accused Democrats “going after things that we’ve already known.””It’s like going back and finding a book on the shelf that looks new and then all of a sudden you begin to read and you find ‘wait, I’ve already read this before’,” Collins said.He said Republicans will also have a few questions for Mueller.”Let me tell you, Republicans have not forgotten how and where the investigation started and there’s going to be a lot of questions for what he did say, what he didn’t say, and how this thing started.”
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Month: July 2019
Why China and Vietnam Can’t Stop Clashing With Each Other
China and Vietnam are continuing to clash over a maritime sovereignty dispute despite diplomacy and calm being displayed by other claimants to the same sea.The Communist neighbors talk regularly about their differences party-to-party as well as through diplomatic channels. Around the rest of the contested South China Sea, claimed by six governments total, other countries have largely avoided openhanded spats over the past three years.Yet a new dispute erupts between China and Vietnam about once a year. They’re locked in another one now over energy exploration in an area in the sea that both countries call their own.The two countries continue to spar because of decades, if not centuries, of distrust coupled with material ambitions in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea, experts say.
“I think the big picture on China-Vietnam relations is that they would go for diplomacy and they would go for hardball games,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school. “It’s a very long love-hate relationship between China and Vietnam.”FILE – A man rides a motorcycle past a poster promoting Vietnam’ sovereignty in the East Sea of the South China Sea, on Phu Quoc island, Sept. 11, 2014.Leaders in Hanoi are trying to balance their foreign policy to avoid dependence on China, despite their Communist linkage, said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor with the University of New South Wales in Australia.After China and among the South China Sea claimant nations, Vietnam is the second most active seeker of oil, gas and the small expansion of its holdings on small islets.Vanguard Bank disputesVanguard Bank has “frequently been at the heart of Vietnam and China’s long-standing maritime tensions, with Beijing trying to limit or block Hanoi from exploring in what it considers disputed territory,” Stratfor Worldview says. That tension flared up a lot in the 1990s, Thayer said.Last year, Spanish driller Repsol suddenly quit a Vietnamese-approved energy exploration project at Vanguard Bank, apparently under pressure from China, foreign media reports and political experts said at the time. Vietnam still maintains outposts there.The two countries never resolved their 2018 dispute, Thayer said. “Vietnam stood down and they didn’t buy Chinese acquiescence then to solve this matter,” he said.FILE – Soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy patrol at Woody Island, in the Paracel Archipelago, Jan. 29, 2016.Wider sovereignty disputeA string of other incidents has shaken the two countries over the past five years. In 2014, a Chinese oil rig touched off a boat-ramming incident in the South China Sea and deadly anti-China riots in Vietnam.In March this year, search-and-rescue officials in Hanoi said a Chinese vessel had rammed a Vietnamese boat near Discovery Reef east of Vietnam.Vietnam’s Communist Party normally sends a special envoy to China for talks over these flaps, Thayer said.“I think they need to find areas with mutual interest to cool off the face-off,” said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan. “I think they will do this, because they’ve got enough trouble already and they don’t want to create another one.”China, the strongest player in the six-way sovereignty dispute, is already using trade and investment incentives – backed by the world’s second biggest economy – to ease its sovereignty disputes with Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnam has seen an influx of Chinese tourists.But “diplomacy will probably fail” to solve maritime sovereignty issues, Araral said.
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Trump Renews Attacks on 4 Congresswomen of Color
President Donald Trump has renewed his attacks aimed at four Democratic congresswomen of color, alleging Sunday they are not “capable of loving our Country.” This follows days of similar statements by the president. Critics have deemed his recent comments about Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayana Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan as ‘racist.’
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Irishman Shane Lowry Wins British Open
Ireland’s Shane Lowry won golf’s British Open on Sunday, his first career major championship, in front of thousands of cheering fans at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush course alongside the Atlantic Ocean.The bearded, 32-year-old Lowry led going in to the final round of professional golf’s last major championship of the year by four shots and was never seriously challenged.He finished the 72-hole tournament at 15 under par, shooting a one-over par 72 in gusty winds and intermittent rain during the last day of the four-day event. His playing partner, Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood, started Sunday in second and finished second, but six shots behind Lowry, with a final round 74.As the Irish throngs cheered Lowry’s final tap-in par on the last hole, Lowry raised his arms to the leaden skies and broke into a smile of satisfaction.Lowry’s victory meant that four different golfers won the sport’s major championships in 2019, with Americans winning the other three — Tiger Woods at the Masters, Brooks Koepka at the Professional Golfers championship and Gary Woodland at the U.S. Open.
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Japan’s Ruling Coalition Secures Upper House Majority
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition secured a majority in Japan’s upper house of parliament in elections Sunday, according to vote counts by public television and other media. Exit polls indicated Abe could even close in on the super-majority needed to propose constitutional revisions.NHK public television said Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito had won 64 seats in the upper house after two hours of vote counting. The two-thirds majority needed for constitutional revision could be within reach if the ruling bloc can gain support from members of another conservative party and independents.
Up for grabs were 124 seats in the less powerful of Japan’s two parliamentary chambers. There are 245 seats in the upper house — which does not choose the prime minister — about half of which are elected every three years.
The results appeared to match or even exceed pre-election polls that indicated Abe’s ruling bloc was to keep ground in the upper house, with most voters considering it a safer choice over an opposition with an uncertain track record. To reach the two-thirds majority, or 164 seats, Abe needs 85 more seats by his ruling bloc and supporters of a charter change.
Opposition parties have focused on concerns over household finances, such as the impact from an upcoming 10% sales tax increase and strains on the public pension system amid Japan’s aging population.
Abe has led his Liberal Democratic Party to five consecutive parliamentary election victories since 2012.
He has prioritized revitalizing Japan’s economy and has steadily bolstered the country’s defenses in the backdrop of North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats and China’s growing military presence. He also has showcased his diplomatic skills by cultivating warm ties with President Donald Trump.
Abe was hoping to gain enough upper house seats to boost his chances for constitutional revision, his long-cherished goal before his term ends in 2021. Abe needs approval by a two-thirds majority in both houses to propose a revision and seek a national referendum. His ruling bloc already has a two-thirds majority in the more powerful lower house.
But Abe and his conservative backers face challenges because voters seem more concerned about their jobs, the economy and social security.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and three other liberal-leaning parties teamed up in some districts. They stressed support for gender equality and LGBT issues _ areas Abe’s ultra-conservative lawmakers are reluctant to back.
At a polling station in Tokyo’s Chuo district on Sunday, voters were divided over Abe’s 6 1/2-year rule.
A voter who identified himself only as a company worker in his 40s said he chose a candidate and a party that have demonstrated an ability to get things done, suggesting he voted for Abe’s ruling party and its candidate, as “there is no point in casting my vote for a party or a politician who has no such abilities.”
Another voter, Katsunori Takeuchi, a 57-year-old fish market worker, said it was time to change the dominance of Abe and his ultra-conservative policies.
“I think the ruling party has been dominating politics for far too long and it is causing damage,” he said.
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US Accuses Venezuela Jet of Aggressive Action Over Caribbean
U.S. authorities say a Venezuelan fighter jet “aggressively shadowed” an American intelligence plane flying in international airspace over the Caribbean, underscoring rising tensions between the two nations. The U.S. Southern Command said Sunday that Venezuela’s action demonstrates reckless behavior by President Nicolas Maduro, whose government accused the U.S. of breaking international rules.
U.S. authorities say their EP-3 plane was performing a multi-nationally approved mission and the Venezuelan SU-30 fighter jet closely trailed the plane, which the U.S. says endangered its crew.
Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez says the U.S. plane entered Venezuelan airspace without prior notification.
He says it also endangered commercial flights from Venezuela’s main airport.
The U.S. backs opposition leader Juan Guaido’s attempt to oust Maduro.
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Trump: Four Democratic Congresswomen Not ‘Capable of Loving Our Country’
U.S. President Donald Trump contended Sunday that four minority Democratic congresswomen he has been feuding with are not “capable of loving our Country.””They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said,” Trump said on Twitter. “They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!”I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country. They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said. They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Senior White House Advisor Stephen Miller waits to go on the air in the White House Briefing Room in Washington, Feb. 12, 2017.Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller, told Fox News that Trump’s critical remarks of U.S. policies during his 2016 campaign were made out of love for America.But he said “there’s a huge difference” between Trump’s credo of promoting “America first” and the lawmakers’ ideology “that runs down America.”Congressman Elijah Cummings, one of several House committee chairmen investigating Trump and his administration’s policies, told ABC he believes Trump is a racist.”Yes, no doubt about it,” Cummings contended. “I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt.”Cummings says the four congresswomen targeted by Trump “love their country” and want to move closer to the “more perfect union that our founding fathers talked about. When you disagree with the president, suddenly you’re a bad person.”He concluded, “Our allegiance is not to the president. Our allegiance is to the Constitution of the United States of America and the American people.”
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Britain Drafts Plans to Sanction Iran in Tanker-Quarrel
British officials are drawing up plans to target Iran with sanctions for its seizing of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait off Hormuz, and it may urge European Union countries to reimpose sanctions that were lifted in 2016 as part of Tehran’s agreement to curb its nuclear program.The British government is under strong pressure from lawmakers to act decisively in the sharply escalating diplomatic quarrel between the two countries, but there’s growing domestic criticism in the House of Commons about the lack of naval protection for British tankers in the Strait.FILE – In this image from file video provided by UK Ministry of Defence, British navy vessel HMS Montrose escorts another ship during a mission to remove chemical weapons from Syria at sea off coast of Cyprus in February 2014.HMS Montrose was an hour away from the tanker as it was being swarmed by agile, high-speed Iranian small boats and a helicopter.Later the British officer can be heard demanding from the Iranians in a dueling conversation to “please confirm that you are not intending to violate international law by unlawfully attempting to board the MV Stena.”The British-registered ship’s crew is made up of Indian, Latvian, Filipino and Russian members.As reports emerged in London of likely British retaliation, the Iranian ambassador to Britain, Hamid Baeidinejad, took to Twitter to warn the British not to escalate the quarrel. UK government should contain those domestic political forces who want to escalate existing tension between Iran and the UK well beyond the issue of ships. This is quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region. Iran however is firm and ready for different scenarios.— Hamid Baeidinejad (@baeidinejad) FILE – A Royal Marine patrol vessel is seen beside the intercepted Grace 1 super tanker in the British territory of Gibraltar, July 4, 2019.Iranian officials appeared to be trying Sunday to exploit divisions between the EU and Britain over the Gibraltar incident. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, again reiterated Tehran’s contention that the U.S. had pushed Britain into a confrontation with Iran, blaming mainly U.S. national security adviser John Bolton. Make no mistake: Having failed to lure FILE – Campaigners hold posters of jailed British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe at the Iranian Embassy in London on February 21, 2018.Johnson was strongly criticized for his handling when foreign secretary of the Iranian imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman and media worker for Reuters, who Iran detained, accusing her of spying. Her family say Johnson worsened her plight by misspeaking by saying she was in Iran working as a journalist, when in fact she was in the country to visit family.
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Doctors: Detainee Allegedly Tortured in Sudan Dies
A Sudanese civilian detained and allegedly tortured by security agents in a central town has died in custody, a doctors committee linked to the country’s protest movement said Sunday.The man died on Saturday in the town of Dilling in the state of South Kordofan after he was detained by agents of the feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), the doctors committee said in a statement.The detainee “passed away on July 20, 2019 from torture while in detention at the NISS office in Dilling,” the statement said without elaborating on the circumstances of his arrest.”NISS continues to torture and claim innocent civilian lives illegally without facing any consequences.”Officers of NISS were not immediately available for comment.Rights groups and activists had regularly accused NISS agents of cracking down on dissidents and restricting freedoms during the regime of veteran leader Omar al-Bashir who was ousted in April.It was NISS that led a sweeping crackdown on protests against Bashir’s rule that first erupted in December.Dozens were killed and hundreds of protesters, activists and opposition leaders were arrested during the months-long campaign that led to Bashir’s overthrow and subsequent demonstrations calling for civilian rule.Last week a power-sharing deal was inked between the protest leaders and the ruling generals who seized power after ousting Bashir.More talks between the two sides to thrash out some pending issues have been suspended following differences within the protest movement itself over the power-sharing deal.
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Recycled Water Part of Perth’s Plan to Beat Climate Change in Australia
As drought-hit towns across New South Wales and Queensland edge closer to completely running out of water, federal and state governments in Australia are trying to come up with ways to guarantee supplies into the future. But on the other side of the continent, the city of Perth is leagues ahead in its water efficiency following a long-term decline in rainfall. Part of its survival plan relies on recycled water from toilets, a move that many consumers elsewhere still consider to be unpalatable.Since 2017, residents in the Western Australian city of Perth have been drinking water recycled from sewage. It is filtered using a process called reverse osmosis, which is similar to forcing water through a giant sponge. It is then disinfected with ultra-violet light at a treatment plant, pumped into natural aquifers, and extracted.Perth is a city of two million people, and Clare Lugar from Western Australia’s Water Corporation said it has had to get used to climatic changes.”We know from the mid-70s onwards Perth’s rainfall has been declining by about 20 percent, and that has had a huge impact on our water sources that are dependent on the climate.”Lugar said convincing residents of the benefits of drinking recycled sewage did take time.”So, it is only a small percentage of the water that comes into the plant is actually from our toilets. But getting over that perception, that kind of image you might be drinking the water that you flushing down the toilet – that was probably one of our big challenges initially,” said Lugar.Two desalination plants supply about half of Perth’s water. Aquifers are also crucial, but recycling produces only two percent of the total. But that figure is soon expected to rise.Ian Wright, an expert in environmental science at Western Sydney University, believes other parts of Australia should embrace recycling.”In Sydney that is probably 150 liters per day per person of waste water that is completely wasted, and, yes, we have the availability of desalination on the coast, but Canberra does not have desalination and then the poor drought-stricken towns like Tamworth and Dubbo, and Broken Hill, they could really, really use that now,” he said.Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent. Water is precious, and, in many places, scarce. More than 95 percent of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, is officially in drought, and the next three months are forecast to be drier than average.
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UK Treasury Chief Vows to Quit if Boris Johnson Becomes PM
British Treasury chief Philip Hammond said Sunday that he will quit if _ as widely expected — Boris Johnson becomes prime minister this week on a promise to leave the European Union with or without a divorce deal.
Hammond said Johnson’s vow to press for a no-deal Brexit if he can’t secure a new agreement with the EU is “not something that I could ever sign up to.”
Hammond was almost certain to be removed from office by the new leader in any case. He has angered Brexit-backers, who now dominate the governing Conservative Party, with his warnings about the economic pain that leaving the EU could cause.
Hammond told the BBC that if Johnson wins, “I’m not going to be sacked because I’m going to resign before we get to that point.”
Johnson is the strong favorite to win a two-person runoff to lead the Conservative Party and the country. The winner is being announced Tuesday, with the victor taking over from Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday.
Britain is due to leave the EU on Oct. 31 but Parliament has repeatedly rejected the divorce deal struck between May and the bloc. Both Johnson and his rival Jeremy Hunt, the current foreign secretary, say they will leave the EU without an agreement if the EU won’t renegotiate.
Most economists say quitting the 28-nation bloc without a deal would cause Britain economic turmoil. The U.K.’s official economic watchdog has forecast that a no-deal Brexit would trigger a recession, with the pound plummeting in value, borrowing soaring by 30 billion pounds ($37 billion) and the economy shrinking 2% in a year.
But Johnson, who helped lead the “leave” campaign in Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum, says a no-deal Brexit will be “vanishingly inexpensive” if the country prepares properly.
The EU insists it won’t reopen the 585-page divorce deal it struck with May.
Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said Sunday that the bloc is “simply not going to move away from the Withdrawal Agreement.”
“If the approach of the new British prime minister is that they’re going to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement, then I think we’re in trouble,” he told the BBC. “We’re all in trouble, quite frankly, because it’s a little bit like saying: ‘Either give me what I want or I’m going to burn the house down for everybody.'”
Hammond is the third U.K. minister within a week to quit or say they will resign in order to try to prevent a cliff-edge Brexit. Britain looks set for a fall showdown between the new Conservative government and British lawmakers determined to thwart a no-deal exit.
“I am confident that Parliament does have a way of preventing a no-deal exit on October 31 without parliamentary consent and I intend to work with others to ensure parliament uses its power to make sure that the new government can’t do that,” Hammond said.
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US Concerned over China’s ‘Interference’ in South China Sea
The United States said it’s concerned by reports of China’s interference with oil and gas activities in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where Vietnam accuses Beijing of violating its sovereignty.State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that China’s “repeated provocative actions aimed at the offshore oil and gas development of other claimant states threaten regional energy security and undermine the free and open Indo-Pacific energy market.”Vietnam on Friday demanded China remove a survey ship from Vanguard Bank, which it says lies within Vietnam’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone. China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety and has rattled smaller neighbors by constructing seven man-made islands in the disputed waters and equipped them with military runways and outposts.Chinese coast guard vessels also have been reported near a drilling rig in the same Vanguard Bank area where Vietnam has contracted Russia’s Rosneft to develop gas fields.”Vietnam has made contact with China on multiple occasions via different channels, delivered diplomatic notes to oppose China’s violations, and staunchly demanded China to stop all unlawful activities and withdraw its ships from Vietnamese waters,”Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement Friday.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang earlier in the week urged Hanoi to respect China’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction, “and not to take any move that may complicate matters.”In May 2014, Chinese and Vietnamese vessels engaged in a dangerous confrontation when China’s national oil company moved its oil platform into waters Vietnam considers its territory.Ortagus calls on China to “cease its bullying behavior and refrain from engaging in this type of provocative and destabilizing activities.”
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Iran: Fate of Seized Ship Depends on Crew ‘Cooperation’
Iran said Sunday the fate of a British-flagged tanker it is refusing to hand back after seizing it in the Gulf depends on the cooperation of its crew with an investigation.A senior official also said the entire crew of the Stena Impero oil tanker was in good health.The vessel was impounded with its 23 crew members aboard at the port of Bandar Abbas after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized it in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
The Guards on Saturday released video footage showing a ship with the Stena Impero’s markings being surrounded by speedboats before troops in balaclavas descend down a rope from a helicopter onto the vessel.Iran detained the oil tanker on allegations of failing to respond to distress calls and turning off its transponder after hitting a fishing boat.Its crew is made up of 18 Indians, including the captain, three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino.”All of them are in full health, they are on the vessel and the vessel is… anchored in a safe place,” said Allah-Morad Afifipoor, director-general of the Hormozgan province port and maritime authority.”We are ready to meet their needs. But we have to carry out investigations with regards the vessel,” he told Press TV.”The investigation depends on the cooperation by the crew members on the vessel, and also our access to the evidence required for us to look into the matter.”God willing, we will make every effort to gather all the information as soon as possible,” he added.Britain called the seizure a “dangerous” and summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires on Saturday, urging Iran to de-escalate tensions and release the tanker.Escalating tensionsIran opened an investigation on Saturday into the Stena Impero after it allegedly collided with a fishing boat.The fishermen had issued a distress call after the collision and contacted the port authority when they “didn’t receive any response,” said Afifipoor, quoted by Fars news agency.India, Latvia and the Philippines said they had approached Iran to seek the release of their nationals.The Stena Impero’s owner said it was in “international waters” when it was “attacked by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter.”Iran and the United States have been at loggerheads since May 2018 when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 deal putting curbs on the Islamic republic’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.Tensions in the Gulf have escalated since May this year, when the United States boosted its military presence in the region in response to “indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces”.The U.S. administration reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, which responded by increasing its enrichment of uranium beyond limits set in the nuclear accord.Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic downed a US drone, one of a string of incidents including attacks on tankers in the Gulf.’Tit-for-tat’Germany and France urged Iran to release the seized Stena Impero tanker as the European Union voiced concern.British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the seizure showed “worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilising behaviour.”Hunt called it a “tit-for-tat” situation, as it came hours after a court in Gibraltar said it would extend by 30 days the detention of the Grace 1 Iranian tanker seized by British authorities in the Mediterranean two weeks ago on allegations of breaching U.N. sanctions against Syria.London warned its ships to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about a third of the world’s sea-borne oil.Trump said Friday’s incident “only goes to show what I’m saying about Iran: trouble. Nothing but trouble.”But Iran remained defiant.Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran’s actions were taken to “uphold” international maritime rules.”It is IRAN that guarantees the security of the Persian Gulf & the Strait of Hormuz. UK must cease being an accessory to #EconomicTerrorism of the US,” he tweeted.In a separate development, Iran said one of its tankers held in Saudi Arabia since being forced to seek repairs in the kingdom is returning to the Islamic republic.The Happiness 1 tanker “has been released following negotiations and is now moving toward Persian Gulf waters,” said transport minister Mohammad Eslami, quoted by state news agency IRNA.The rare docking came despite escalating tensions between staunch enemies Iran and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia.
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Teenagers Doing Free Home Repairs for People in Need
More than 400 teenagers from all over the US spent one week of their summer vacation renovating homes by day, and sleeping on the floor of local churches by night. As Faiza Elmasry tells us, the faith-based program is giving these young people a unique opportunity to learn and grow, while helping people in need. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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At Least 6 Dead in US Heat Wave
Health officials say an oppressive heat wave that has blanketed large swaths of the United States has contributed to the deaths of at least six people.Various news outlets have reported heat-related deaths in the states of Maryland, Arizona and Arkansas.The National Weather Service warned a “dangerous heat wave” paired with high humidity in the United States over the weekend could quickly cause heat stress or heat stroke, if precautions are not taken.Events were canceled throughout the nation, from festivals and concerts to sporting events.The NWS said temperatures would remain warm at night, in the upper 70s to low 80s, with more heat on the way Sunday for the East Coast. The agency also advised people to check in on relatives and friends, especially the elderly.During a span of three days in July 1995, more than 700 people died in Chicago, when temperatures rose above 36 degrees Celsius. Many of those who died were poor or elderly with no access to air conditioning. Many also lived alone.Despite the warnings, one runner in the nation’s capital planned to head out for a run early Saturday. “It’s brutal,” Jeffrey Glickman, 37, said, adding, “You just have to power through it the best you can.”Temperatures have been rising in cities from the Midwest to the East Coast because of a high pressure system that has trapped the warm air. City officials are allowing public pools to stay open longer and municipalities are issuing advisories to inform the public about how best to deal with the heat.
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Britain Calls Ship Seizure ‘Hostile Act’ As Iran Releases Video of Capture
Britain on Saturday denounced Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf as a “hostile act” and rejected Tehran’s explanation that it seized the vessel because it had been involved in an accident. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards posted a video online showing speedboats pulling alongside the Stena Impero tanker, its name clearly visible. Troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns rappelled to its deck from a helicopter, the same tactics used by British Royal Marines to seize an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar two weeks ago. Friday’s action in the global oil trade’s most important waterway has been viewed in the West as a major escalation after three months of confrontation that has already taken Iran and the United States to the brink of war. It follows threats from Tehran to retaliate for Britain’s July 4 seizure of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, accused of violating sanctions on Syria. British Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt called the incident a “hostile act”. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had expressed “extreme disappointment” by phone to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Britain also summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in London. A spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier-General Ramezan Sharif, said Tehran had seized the ship in the Strait of Hormuz despite the “resistance and interference” of a British warship which had been escorting it. No British warship was visible in the video posted by the Guards. Iran’s Fars news agency said the Guards had taken control of the Stena Impero on Friday after it collided with an Iranian fishing boat whose distress call it ignored. The vessel, carrying no cargo, was taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. It will remain there with its 23 crew – 18 of them Indians – while the accident is investigated, Iranian news agencies quoted the head of Ports and Maritime Organization in southern Hormozgan province, Allahmorad Afifipour, as saying. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Britain said the tanker was approached by Iranian forces when it was in Omani territorial waters exercising its lawful right of passage, and the action “constitutes illegal interference.” “Current tensions are extremely concerning, and our priority is to de-escalate. We do not seek confrontation with Iran,” the letter said. “But it is unacceptable and highly escalatory to threaten shipping going about its legitimate business through internationally recognized transit corridors.” Oil prices upZarif told Hunt that the ship must go through a legal process before it can be released, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported. The strait, between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, is the sole outlet for exports of most Middle Eastern oil, and the seizure sent oil prices sharply higher. The United States, which tightened sanctions against Iran in May with the aim of halting its oil exports altogether, has been warning for months of an Iranian threat to shipping in the strait. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he also discussed the situation with Hunt, his British counterpart. “We talked about what they’ve seen, what they know, and how they’re beginning to think about how they will respond,” Pompeo said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that was published on Saturday by the State Department. “Iran is in a place today that they have taken themselves.” Another oil tanker, the Mesdar, was also boarded by Iranian personnel on Friday and temporarily forced to divert toward Iran, but later was allowed to continue on its route through the strait. On Saturday Algeria’s APS news agency said the Mesdar was owned by Algeria’s state oil company Sonatrach. France, Germany and the European Union joined Britain in condemning the seizure. The three big European countries are signatories to a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that Washington undermined by quitting last year, setting Iran’s already fragile relations with the West on a downward spiral. Under the pact, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear work in return for lifting sanctions. The European countries opposed the Trump administration’s decision to abandon the agreement last year, but have so far failed to fulfill promises to Iran of providing alternative means for it to access world trade. Extreme disappointment “Just spoke to … Zarif and expressed extreme disappointment that having assured me last Saturday Iran wanted to de-escalate situation, they have behaved in the opposite way,” Hunt wrote on Twitter. “This has to be about actions not words if we are to find a way through.” Earlier he said London’s reaction would be “considered but robust” and it would ensure the safety of its shipping. On Friday, Hunt said the solution would be found via diplomacy and London was “not looking at military options.” Britain’s government said it had advised British shipping to stay out of the Hormuz area for an interim period. During the past three months of escalation, the United States and Iran come as close as ever to direct armed conflict. In June, Tehran shot down a U.S. drone and President Donald Trump ordered retaliatory air strikes, only to call them off just minutes before were to have been carried out. The vessel had been heading to a port in Saudi Arabia and suddenly changed course after passing through the strait. The United States has blamed Iran for a series of attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has rejected the allegations. Washington also said it had this week downed an Iranian drone near where the Stena Impero was seized. The United States is sending military personnel and resources to Saudi Arabia for the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
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US Adviser Bolton Travels to Japan, S. Korea Amid Trade Dispute
White House national security adviser John Bolton departed on Saturday for a trip to Japan and South Korea as the two countries are in the middle of a trade dispute. A White House National Security Council spokesman said on Twitter that Bolton planned to “continue conversations with critical allies and friends.” President Donald Trump on Friday offered his help to ease tensions in the political and economic dispute between the United States’ two biggest allies in Asia, which threatens global supplies of memory chips and smartphones. Lingering tensions, particularly over the issue of compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese occupiers during World War Two, worsened this month when Japan restricted exports of high-tech materials to South Korea. Japan has denied that the dispute over compensation is behind the export curbs, even though one of its ministers cited broken trust with Seoul over the labor dispute in announcing the restrictions. The export curbs could hurt global technology companies. Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that South Korean President Moon Jae-in had asked him if he could get involved. A spokeswoman for Moon confirmed Moon had asked Trump for help at their summit in Seoul on June 30. During his trip, Bolton is also likely to seek support for a U.S. initiative to heighten surveillance of vital Middle East shipping lanes, which has been greeted warily by allies reluctant to raise tensions with Iran, which Washington blames for attacks on tankers. Japanese media has said the issue could be on the agenda when Bolton visits Japan, where any military commitment abroad would risk inflaming a divide in public opinion in a country whose armed forces have not fought overseas since World War Two. A South Korean official said last week Washington had yet to make any official request to Seoul on the issue. The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joseph Dunford, said this month Washington hoped to enlist allies in a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, where Washington blames Iran and Iran-aligned fighters for attacks. But with allies reluctant to commit new weaponry or fighting forces, a senior Pentagon official told Reuters on Thursday the aim was not to set up a military coalition but to shine a “flashlight” in the region to deter attacks on commercial shipping. Kathryn Wheelbarger, who briefed NATO allies in the past week on the U.S. proposal, said it was less operational and more geared toward increasing surveillance capabilities. Japan is the world’s fourth-biggest oil buyer and 86% of its oil supplies last year passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond. Japan’s position is complicated by the fact that it has maintained friendly ties with Iran which it would be reluctant to damage. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an unsuccessful bid to ease tensions in the region when he met Iranian leaders in Tehran last month.
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Japan Votes in Upper House Election
TOKYO — Japanese voters cast ballots Sunday in an upper house election, with Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc looking to protect its majority and keep on track plans to amend the country’s pacifist constitution.
Abe, 64, who is on course to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, is also hoping to shore up his mandate ahead of a crucial consumption tax hike later this year, along with trade negotiations with Washington.
Opinion polls suggest his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito are likely to win a majority, mostly because of a lackluster opposition.
Sunday’s vote is for half the seats in the House of Councilors — the less powerful house of parliament — and polling stations across the country open at 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Saturday).
The vote outcome is expected to become clear shortly after the polls close at 8 p.m., with pollsters suggesting turnout could be lower than 50 percent, significantly less than usual. ‘Disarray’ in opposition camp
Abe’s ruling coalition is forecast to win a solid majority of the 124 seats contested in the election, according to pre-election surveys.
The two parties control 70 seats in the half of the chamber that is not being contested, meaning the projections put them on track to maintain their overall majority in the body.
“Abe’s strength is largely based on passive support resulting from disarray in the opposition camp and a lack of rivals,” Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of political science at Meiji University in Tokyo, told AFP.
FILE – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a press conference at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo, June 26, 2019.A win means Abe should be able to stay in power until November, when he will break the service record of Taro Katsura, a revered politician who served three times as premier between 1901 and 1913.
During campaigns, Abe’s ruling coalition has sought to win voter support for a rise in the nation’s consumption tax to 10 percent later this year as part of efforts to ease swelling social security costs in the “ultra-aged” country.
Abe is also hoping that his coalition and a loose group of conservatives from smaller opposition parties can grab a two-thirds majority in the upper house, giving him the support to move ahead with plans to amend the constitution’s provisions on the military.
“This is an election to decide whether to pick parties who take responsibility for firm discussions on the constitution,” Abe told voters in a campaign speech earlier this month. Self-defense provisions
Abe vowed to “clearly stipulate the role of the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution,” which prohibits Japan from waging war and maintaining a military.
The provisions, imposed by the U.S. forces after World War II, are popular in the public at large, but reviled by nationalists like Abe, who see them as outdated and punitive.
Local media predict that forces in favor of revising the constitution, led by Abe’s LDP, are likely to win close to 85 of the seats being contested, giving them a “supermajority” in the chamber.
“Since the ruling coalition is widely expected to win the election, attention is now focused on whether the pro-revision forces can win a two-thirds majority,” Nishikawa said.
But even if Abe secures it, any constitutional revision also requires approval in a national referendum, a result that is far from guaranteed.
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Nigerian President Condemns Latest Killings in Sokoto State
ABUJA — Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari condemns the killing of 37 people by bandits in the northwestern state of Sokoto, his spokesman said Saturday in a statement. Armed gangs have killed hundreds of people in northwest Nigeria this year and forced at least 20,000 to flee to neighboring Niger, adding to security problems in a country also struggling with an Islamist insurgency in the northeast and clashes between farmers and herders in central states. “President Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemns the killing of 37 innocent people by bandits in the Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State,” the presidency said in the statement. Local media said the attacks took place late Friday. Troops have been deployed to the areas hit in the latest flashpoint, the presidency statement said. Military and police have been dispatched to tackle criminal gangs blamed for a spate of killings and kidnappings over the last year. Buhari, a former military ruler, began his second four-year term in May after winning a presidential election in February. During his campaign he vowed to improve security but — against the backdrop of the northwest’s wave of banditry, high-profile kidnappings nationwide and attacks by Islamist insurgents — he has reiterated that it remains a priority.
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British Airways Suspends Flights to Cairo
CAIRO — British Airways abruptly suspended flights to Cairo for a week from Saturday over security concerns, giving no details about what had prompted the move. “We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment,” it said in a statement. The airline added that it would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so. When asked for more details about why flights had been suspended and what security arrangements the airline was reviewing, a spokeswoman responded: “We never discuss matters of security.” Three Egyptian airport security sources told Reuters that British staff had been checking security at Cairo airport on Wednesday and Thursday. They provided no further details. The British Foreign Office updated its travel advice on Saturday to add a reference to the British Airways suspension, advising travelers affected to contact the airline.
It has long advised against all but essential travel by air to and from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where a Russian passenger jet was bombed in 2015, but has not issued similar warnings against air travel to and from Cairo. “There’s a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the U.K.,” the British advice says. Egypt’s civil aviation ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. Tourism, a key source of foreign revenue for Egypt, has been recovering after tourist numbers dropped in the wake of a 2011 uprising and the 2015 bombing of the Russian passenger jet, which killed all 224 people on board shortly after takeoff. That attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, prompted Russia to halt all flights to Egypt for several years and a number of countries, including Britain, to cease flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, which have yet to resume.
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Greek PM Says 2020 Budget Will Respect Fiscal Targets
ATHENS — Greece will submit a 2020 budget later this year that will fully respect the fiscal targets agreed upon with its lenders, newly elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Saturday. Outlining his main policies after a landslide victory in a July 7 election, Mitsotakis told Greek lawmakers that the budget would not put fiscal targets for 2019 and 2020 at risk. Greece emerged from economic adjustment programs overseen by its lenders last August but still needs to meet fiscal targets, including a primary budget surplus — which excludes interest payments on its debt — of 3.5 percent of annual economic output up to 2022, which many consider unrealistic. “In the draft budget for 2020, the given fiscal balance is not disrupted and the primary surplus targets for the years 2019 and 2020, agreed by the previous government, are not disputed,” Mitsotakis said. Mitsotakis, who takes over from former leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, was elected on a pledge to cut taxes and speed up investments to spur growth in a country that lost a quarter of its output during the Greek debt crisis. He said that planned tax cuts and bold reforms of the economy and public administration would lead to higher growth and help Greece persuade its lenders to lower fiscal targets after 2020. “In 2020 … we will have the ability to seek the lowering of primary surpluses to more realistic levels,” Mitsotakis said. Property tax cutCorporate tax will be cut to 24% on 2019 profit from 28% currently and taxation on dividends will be halved to 5 percent, he said, adding that a highly unpopular property tax that was introduced in 2012 at the height of the crisis would be cut by an average 22% this year. One urgent matter facing Mitsotakis’ cabinet is the shoring up of key state-controlled utility Public Power Corp. (PPC), which is saddled with more than 2.4 billion euros of arrears from bills left unpaid during the debt crisis. Mitsotakis said that PPC, which is 51% owned by the state, would be revamped through the privatization of its networks and identification of habitual defaulters, before a strategic investor was sought for the utility. The new conservative government, which investors consider to be more market friendly than its predecessor, also plans to relaunch the sale of Helleneic Petroleum, the country’s biggest oil refiner, and push ahead with an 8 billion-euro investment plan for the disused Hellenikon airport, which has been beset by years of delays, Mitsotakis said. “Hellenikon will soon become the symbol of a new Greece of … extroversion and innovation,” he said.
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Pompeo Tells Turkey of Disappointment About Missile Purchase
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Turkey’s foreign minister on Saturday and expressed disappointment over the country’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile system, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. Washington had opposed Turkey’s purchase of the Russian missile defense system and threatened to impose sanctions. Since then, President Donald Trump has been unclear about whether his administration was planning such an action. Several Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Thursday pressed Trump to impose sanctions on Turkey for the purchase.
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Thousands Gather for Pro-Police Rally in Hong Kong
HONG KONG — Tens of thousands gathered in Hong Kong on Saturday to voice support for the police and call for an end to violence, after a wave of protests against an extradition bill triggered clashes between police and activists and plunged the city into crisis.
The rally, called “Safeguard Hong Kong,” came a day ahead of another mass protest planned against the government and its handling of the now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed people in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China for trial.
Police have called for calm ahead of Sunday’s protest, where security is expected to be tight. Authorities have removed metal barriers — which activists have used to block roads during previous demonstrations — from areas around the march route.
“We are experiencing the most serious revolution after Hong Kong’s handover,” said former Legislative Council President Jasper Tsang. “We are also experiencing the most serious challenge for “One Country, Two Systems,” he added, referring to the system under which Hong Kong is governed since its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Explosive found in raid
Also Saturday, the Associated Press reported that police in Hong Kong found about 2 kilograms of a powerful homemade explosive, TATP, and arrested a man in a raid on a commercial building late Friday night. TATP, or tri-acetone tri-peroxide, has been used in terrorist attacks worldwide.
Local media reported that police found materials voicing opposition to the extradition bill at the site, the AP reported. A police spokesman said no concrete link between the explosives cache and the march had been established, and they were continuing to investigate.
Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, has apologized for the turmoil the extradition bill has caused and declared it “dead,” although opponents say nothing short of its full withdrawal will do.
Demonstrators, mostly middle-aged or older and dressed in white, braved heavy rain and thunderstorms to gather at the city’s Tamar Park, next to the Legislative Council, which protesters stormed and raided on July 1, the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to Chinese rule.
Some waved Chinese flags as others chanted “Hong Kong Cheer Up” and “Support Hong Kong Police.” A vessel displaying a banner saying “Cherish Hong Kong, Stay Together” passes Victoria Harbor during a pro-government rally in Hong Kong, July 20, 2019.’We’re all in the same boat’
A fleet of around 12 fishing boats circled Victoria Harbor next to the rally with banners draped over the side of the vessels that read “Put away the combat, fight for Hong Kong” and “Cherish Hong Kong, we’re all in the same boat.”
“Violence is intolerant. We are distressed about our home and we should absolutely stand out to support Hong Kong police, to maintain stability and rule of law in society,” said Tsol Pui, 85, president of Hong Kong Veterans’ Home.
Echoing that sentiment, Tang King Shing, Hong Kong’s former police commissioner, said: “Police, we support you. You should not have suffered from the disaster made by those thugs. … We Hong Kong people come out to safeguard Hong Kong.”
Organizers said 316,000 attended the rally. Police put the number at 103,000 at the peak.
Violence
Last weekend two initially peaceful protests degenerated into running skirmishes between baton-wielding riot police and activists, resulting in scores of injuries and more than 40 arrests.
Those fights followed larger outbreaks of violence in central Hong Kong last month, when police forced back activists with tear gas, rubber bullets and beanbag rounds.
Activists and human rights groups have called for an independent investigation into what they describe as excessive use of force by police.
The groups are also demanding the word “riot” be withdrawn from the government’s description of demonstrations and the unconditional release of those arrested.
What started as protests over the extradition bill have now morphed into demands for greater democracy, the resignation of leader Lam, and even curbing the number of mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong.
Under the terms of the handover from Britain in 1997, Hong Kong was allowed to retain extensive freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent judiciary and right to protest.
But for many Hong Kong residents, the extradition bill is the latest step in a relentless march toward mainland control. Future protests
Other anti-government protests are planned over coming weekends in areas including Mong Kok, a gritty working-class district across the harbor from the financial center, and in Tseung Kwan O and Sham Shui Po, one of the city’s poorest areas.
Opponents of the extradition bill fear it would leave Hong Kong people at the mercy of Chinese courts, where human rights are not guaranteed, and have voiced concerns about the city’s much-cherished rule of law.
Some material from the Associated Press is included in this article.
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Pence Lauds Apollo Astronauts on Anniversary of Moon Landing
On the 50th anniversary of humanity’s first moon landing, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence paid tribute to the three American astronauts who helped make the historic event a reality.
“They did more than win the space race, they brought together our nation, and for one brief moment, all the people of the world were truly one,” Pence said at an anniversary event Saturday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Now, true to their creed, astronauts have never liked the idea of being called heroes. Yet for all they did, for all the risks they took, if Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins are not heroes, then there are no heroes,” said Pence, chairman of the National Space Council, to enthusiastic applause.
On July 20, 1969, America’s lunar module named Eagle touched down at 2018 GMT, with Armstrong, the late astronaut, placing his left foot on the lunar surface six hours later.
The landing was an enormous diplomatic and technological Cold War-era achievement for the U.S., which was bested by the Soviet Union in putting the first human and satellite in space.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement Saturday that the moon landing was a steppingstone to future space missions: “I have instructed the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) to send the next man and first woman to the Moon and to take the next giant leap — sending Americans to Mars.”
The administration has launched plans to return to the moon by 2024 and land on Mars for the first time by 2033.
But debate about whether to return to the moon or go directly to Mars resurfaced Friday during a White House Oval Office gathering that included Apollo 11 astronauts Aldrin and Collins.
Collins, 88, who stayed in the command module while Aldrin and Armstrong descended to the moon, told Trump he supported going directly to Mars.
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