#Donald Trump has signed an executive order to allow all Asia nationals travel to the United States without visa

[newstfionline]

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Biden Signs Orders to Expand Food Stamps and Raise Wages (NYT) President Biden signed two executive orders on Friday to provide help to struggling families and raise wages for certain workers, turning once again to the power of the executive branch to advance his economic goals as the legislative chances for his broader stimulus package remain uncertain. “The crisis is only deepening,” Mr. Biden said during remarks at the White House, calling the need to help those out of work and unable to afford enough food “an economic imperative.” Mr. Biden’s executive orders are intended to increase the amount of money poor families get for food each month and provide additional meal money for needy students whose schools have been closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. A second executive order will lay the groundwork for the federal government to require a $15 an hour minimum wage for its employees and contract workers.

Biden is only the second Catholic president, but nearly all have been Christians (Pew Research Center) The U.S. Constitution famously prohibits any religious test or requirement for public office. Still, almost all of the nation’s presidents have been Christians. That includes Joe Biden, a Catholic who often speaks of his religious convictions, quotes the Bible and attends Mass regularly. One-in-five U.S. adults say it is “very important” for the president to have strong religious beliefs, and 14% say it is very important to have a president who shares their own religious beliefs, according to a February 2020 Pew Research Center survey. A far higher share (63%) say it is very important to have a president who personally lives a moral and ethical life. Historically, about a quarter of presidents—including some of the nation’s most famous leaders, such as George Washington, James Madison and Franklin Roosevelt—were members of the Episcopal Church, the American successor to the Church of England. Presbyterians are the next largest group, with eight presidents, including Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan. Unitarians and Baptists (the latter including Bill Clinton and Harry Truman) are the groups with the third-largest share of presidents, each with four. There also have been four presidents who identify as Christian without a formal denomination, including Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Senate agrees to start Trump’s impeachment trial Feb. 9 (Washington Post) The impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump will begin Feb. 9 under a deal reached Friday by top Senate leaders—delaying by two weeks the high-stakes proceedings over whether Trump incited the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The House on Jan. 13 passed a sole impeachment article, alleging “incitement of insurrection.” House leaders could have forced the Senate to begin the trial immediately by transmitting the papers across the Capitol. But a delay serves the former and current presidents: Trump has struggled to assemble a legal team and muster a defense, and President Biden needs the Senate to confirm most of his Cabinet appointees. Had no accord been reached, the trial would have started Tuesday and run uninterrupted by other Senate business until the Senate rendered its verdict.

Britain to discuss tighter travel restrictions (Reuters) British ministers are to discuss on Monday further tightening travel restrictions, the BBC reported on Saturday, adding that people arriving in the country could be required to quarantine in hotels. Britain’s current restrictions ban most international travel while new rules introduced earlier in January require a negative coronavirus test before departure for most people arriving, as well as a period of quarantine. The government is considering making it mandatory for travellers to spend that 10-day quarantine period in a hotel for which they would have to pay, as a way to enforce the quarantine rules, the BBC said.

Belgium bans leisure travel for a month to combat pandemic (AP) Belgium is banning all leisure travel abroad for its citizens as of next week and until March, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its virulent variants. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Friday that visitors from Britain, South Africa and South America will have to quarantine for ten days to make sure they don’t bring dangerous variants into Belgium. In Belgium only essential business, family and humanitarian travel will still be allowed from next week until March. Over the past year, Belgium has seen a spike in cases after popular holidays because of returning travelers. February is the traditional month for Belgians to go skiing in the Alps or fly down south for warmth. The EU itself is also preparing measures that should make travel more difficult, including an introduction of new trans-border “dark red zones” where infections rates are particularly high and where all non-essential travel should be discouraged. Travelers from these areas could be required to undergo tests before their departure and be placed in isolation upon arrival in another location.

More than 2,300 arrested across Russia in protests for jailed opposition leader Navalny (Washington Post) More than 2,300 people were arrested Saturday in protests spanning nearly 70 cities and towns across Russia calling for the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny — a massive show of defiance against President Vladimir Putin and his widening crackdowns against challenges to his power. Among the detained was Navalny's wife, Yulia, and many heads of Navalny's regional offices. It was the largest number of protesters taken into custody in a day since the Russian rights group OVD-Info began monitoring demonstrations in 2011. The rallies — from Russia’s Far East to central Moscow — came less than a week after Navalny returned from Germany, where he recovered from a nerve agent poisoning in August during a trip to Siberia. Navalny was arrested shortly after stepping off the plane. The wide turnout sent a powerful message to the Kremlin on the reach and resolve of Navalny’s network. The swift crackdowns by authorities underscored the pressure facing Russian authorities who must decide whether to keep Navalny behind bars.

Wuhan returns to normal as world still battling pandemic (AP) A year ago, a notice sent to smartphones in Wuhan at 2 a.m. announced the world’s first coronavirus lockdown, bringing the bustling central Chinese industrial and transport center to a virtual standstill almost overnight. It would last 76 days. Early Saturday morning, however, residents of the city where the virus was first detected were jogging and practicing tai chi in a fog-shrouded park beside the mighty Yangtze River. Life has largely returned to normal in the city of 11 million, even as the rest of the world grapples with the spread of the virus’ more contagious variants. Traffic was light in Wuhan but there was no sign of the barriers that a year ago isolated neighborhoods, prevented movement around the city and confined people to their housing compounds and even apartments. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, thousands of residents were locked down Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening outbreak in the city. Hong Kong has been grappling to contain a fresh wave of the coronavirus since November. More than 4,300 cases have been recorded in the last two months, making up nearly 40% of the city’s total.

Taiwan reports large incursion by Chinese air force (Reuters) Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Saturday, and Taiwan’s air force deployed missiles to “monitor” the incursion, the island’s Defence Ministry said. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted almost daily flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in recent months. However they have generally consisted of just one or two reconnaissance aircraft. The presence of so many Chinese combat aircraft on this mission—Taiwan said it was made up of eight nuclear-capable H-6K bombers and four J-16 fighter jets—is unusual. Beijing has watched with growing concern increasing U.S. support for democratic Taiwan, especially during Donald Trump’s administration which left office on Wednesday.

On ‘Rooftop of Africa,’ Ethiopia’s Troops Hunt Fugitive Former Rulers (NYT) The politicians and generals of Tigray, who ruled Africa’s second-most populous country for much of the past three decades through their political party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or T.P.L.F., are now on the run. Since Jan. 7, Ethiopia’s military has killed or captured at least 47 people from a most-wanted list of 167 senior leaders of the T.P.L.F., including four of the party’s nine-member executive committee, according to Ethiopian state media reports. When Mr. Abiy came to power in 2018, his government quickly unseated many of these T.P.L.F. leaders, who over 27 years had overseen impressive economic growth, but ruled Ethiopia with an iron fist. Several were charged with corruption and human rights abuses, and some of them fled or retreated to their home base in Tigray. Fighting has raged across the region in recent weeks, according to U.N. security reports seen by The New York Times.

And now, a reading from an email according to St. Paul (Reuters) If he were alive today, even St. Paul would be texting, Tweeting and firing off emails to get the news out, Pope Francis said on Saturday in his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Social Communication. St. Paul, who lived in the first century of the Christian era, spread the new faith into Europe and Asia Minor and is believed to have written a great part of the New Testament. “Every tool has its value, and that great communicator who was Paul of Tarsus would certainly have made use of email and social messaging,” the pope said in the message, titled “Come and See”. Still, Francis said Paul was at his best while preaching in person, saying journalists and other communicators today should do more “hitting the streets ... meeting people face to face to research stories or to verify certain situations first-hand”. “In communications, nothing can ever completely replace seeing things in person,” he said.

[go-redgirl]

President Donald Trump, joined on stage by supporters and members of congress including Vice President Mike Pence, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks during an event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, to acknowledge the final passage of tax overhaul legislation by Congress. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)          

With the passage of the GOP tax bill this week, the Trump administration has scored 81 major achievements in its first year, making good on campaign promises to provide significant tax cuts, boost U.S. energy production, and restore respect to the United States, according to the White House.

And along the way, President Trump even outdid his own expectations and slashed at least 11 major legacy items of former President Barack Obama, including cracking down on the open border, slowing recognition of communist Cuba and effectively killing Obamacare by ending the mandate that everyone have health insurance or face a tax.

According to the White House, the 81 accomplishments are in 12 major categories and include well over 100 other minor achievements.

The unofficial list helps to counter the impression in the mainstream media and among congressional Democrats that outside the approval of Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch and passage of the tax reform bill little was done.

Administrations typically tout their achievements broadly at the end of each year, but Trump plans to list jobs added, regulations killed, foreign policy victories won, and moves to help veterans and even drug addicts.

And in a sign of support for conservatives, the White House also is highlighting achievements for the pro-life community.

Below are the 12 categories and 81 wins cited by the White House.

Jobs and the economy

Passage of the tax reform bill providing $5.5 billion in cuts and repealing the Obamacare mandate.

Increase of the GDP above 3 percent.

Creation of 1.7 million new jobs, cutting unemployment to 4.1 percent.

Saw the Dow Jones reach record highs.

A rebound in economic confidence to a 17-year high.

A new executive order to boost apprenticeships.

A move to boost computer sciences in Education Department programs.

Prioritizing women-owned businesses for some $500 million in SBA loans.

Killing job-stifling regulations

Signed an Executive Order demanding that two regulations be killed for every new one creates. He beat that big and cut 16 rules and regulations for every one created, saving $8.1 billion.

Signed 15 congressional regulatory cuts.

Withdrew from the Obama-era Paris Climate Agreement, ending the threat of environmental regulations.

Signed an Executive Order cutting the time for infrastructure permit approvals.

Eliminated an Obama rule on streams that Trump felt unfairly targeted the coal industry.

Fair trade

Made good on his campaign promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Opened up the North American Free Trade Agreement for talks to better the deal for the U.S.

Worked to bring companies back to the U.S., and companies like Toyota, Mazda, Broadcom Limited, and Foxconn announced plans to open U.S. plants.

Worked to promote the sale of U.S products abroad.

Made enforcement of U.S. trade laws, especially those that involve national security, a priority.

Ended Obama’s deal with Cuba.

Boosting U.S. energy dominance

The Department of Interior, which has led the way in cutting regulations, opened plans to lease 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling.

Trump traveled the world to promote the sale and use of U.S. energy.

Expanded energy infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline snubbed by Obama.

Ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to kill Obama’s Clean Power Plan.

EPA is reconsidering Obama rules on methane emissions.

Protecting the U.S. homeland

Laid out new principles for reforming immigration and announced plan to end "chain migration," which lets one legal immigrant to bring in dozens of family members.

Made progress to build the border wall with Mexico.

Ended the Obama-era “catch and release” of illegal immigrants.

Boosted the arrests of illegals inside the U.S.

Doubled the number of counties participating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement charged with deporting illegals.

Removed 36 percent more criminal gang members than in fiscal 2016.

Started the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program.

Ditto for other amnesty programs like Deferred Action for Parents of Americans.

Cracking down on some 300 sanctuary cities that defy ICE but still get federal dollars.

Added some 100 new immigration judges.

Protecting communities

Justice announced grants of $98 million to fund 802 new cops.

Justice worked with Central American nations to arrest and charge 4,000 MS-13 members.

Homeland rounded up nearly 800 MS-13 members, an 83 percent one-year increase.

Signed three executive orders aimed at cracking down on international criminal organizations.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions created new National Public Safety Partnership, a cooperative initiative with cities to reduce violent crimes.

Accountability

Trump has nominated 73 federal judges and won his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Ordered ethical standards including a lobbying ban.

Called for a comprehensive plan to reorganize the executive branch.

Ordered an overhaul to modernize the digital government.

Called for a full audit of the Pentagon and its spending.

Combatting opioids

First, the president declared a Nationwide Public Health Emergency on opioids.

His Council of Economic Advisors played a role in determining that overdoses are underreported by as much as 24 percent.

The Department of Health and Human Services laid out a new five-point strategy to fight the crisis.

Justice announced it was scheduling fentanyl substances as a drug class under the Controlled Substances Act.

Justice started a fraud crackdown, arresting more than 400.

The administration added $500 million to fight the crisis.

On National Drug Take Back Day, the Drug Enforcement Agency collected 456 tons.

Protecting life

In his first week, Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy that blocks some $9 billion in foreign aid being used for abortions.

Worked with Congress on a bill overturning an Obama regulation that blocked states from defunding abortion providers.

Published guidance to block Obamacare money from supporting abortion.

Helping veterans

Signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to allow senior officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire failing employees and establish safeguards to protect whistleblowers.

Signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act.

Signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, to provide support.

Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 to authorize $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program.

Created a VA hotline.

Had the VA launch an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with a way to access wait time and quality of care data.

With VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin, announced three initiatives to expand access to healthcare for veterans using telehealth technology.

Promoting peace through strength

Directed the rebuilding of the military and ordered a new national strategy and nuclear posture review.

Worked to increase defense spending.

Empowered military leaders to “seize the initiative and win,” reducing the need for a White House sign off on every mission.

Directed the revival of the National Space Council to develop space war strategies.

Elevated U.S. Cyber Command into a major warfighting command.

Withdrew from the U.N. Global Compact on Migration, which Trump saw as a threat to borders.

Imposed a travel ban on nations that lack border and anti-terrorism security.

Saw ISIS lose virtually all of its territory.

Pushed for strong action against global outlaw North Korea and its development of nuclear weapons.

Announced a new Afghanistan strategy that strengthens support for U.S. forces at war with terrorism.

NATO increased support for the war in Afghanistan.

Approved a new Iran strategy plan focused on neutralizing the country’s influence in the region.

Ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airbase used in a chemical weapons attack.

Prevented subsequent chemical attacks by announcing a plan to detect them better and warned of future strikes if they were used.

Ordered new sanctions on the dictatorship in Venezuela.

Restoring confidence in and respect for America

Trump won the release of Americans held abroad, often using his personal relationships with world leaders.

Made good on a campaign promise to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Conducted a historic 12-day trip through Asia, winning new cooperative deals. On the trip, he attended three regional summits to promote American interests.

He traveled to the Middle East and Europe to build new relationships with leaders.

Traveled to Poland and on to Germany for the G-20 meeting where he pushed again for funding of women entrepreneurs.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com

[johnlharrisr-blog]

(RNS) — It started in 2004 as a little Bible study looking at the political implications of Jesus’ teaching and the social dimensions of the gospel. Four years later, during the 2008 presidential election, I published a book with Chris Haw called “Jesus for President” and took the movement out on a national tour, traveling through nearly every U.S. state in a bus that ran on waste vegetable oil, hosting packed-out rallies in different cities each night.

We had some solid ideas for serious change in America back then. Like putting the Amish in charge of Homeland Security and melting all of our weapons into garden tools and enacting the biblical year of Jubilee, where property is redistributed and financial debts are forgiven. We were dead serious about some of those ideas (and still are).

A lot has changed since 2008. A lot has changed since 2016. Heck, a lot has changed since last month, and week and day.

One thing that has not changed is that Christians still have a hard time knowing how to engage with politics, especially during an election year.

RELATED: Voting my conscience in this election may mean staying home

Some Christians ignore politics altogether, preferring to focus on matters like saving souls and getting people into heaven. They often quote Scripture about how our “citizenship is in heaven” and insist that this world is not our home. Politics don’t belong in the pulpit, they say (unless it’s abortion or marriage equality). Jesus didn’t come to overthrow Caesar and take over Rome, but to establish an altogether new kingdom that is not of this world. So it goes.

Another group of Christians has totally bought into partisan politics and married itself to these Christians’ favorite candidate or party. If they are evangelicals, that usually means the Republican Party. As my friend the Rev. Tony Campolo says: “Mixing our faith with a political party is sort of like mixing ice cream with cow manure. It doesn’t mess up the manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream.”

More recently, I have become familiar with the progressive version of the savior complex; it still messes up the ice cream.

As people of faith, we are desperately in need of a better political imagination — one not confined by party or candidate or the culture wars at all, but one wholly rooted in our faith. We need to be as peculiar as we are political. Jesus was both — political and peculiar.

Nearly every time Jesus opened his mouth, he talked about the “kingdom of God.” The word he used for “kingdom” was the same word as “empire.” But his empire is upside down. The first are last, and the last are first. The mighty are cast from their thrones, and the rich are sent away empty. The poor are blessed, and the peacemakers are “the children of God.” Literally, Jesus blesses the people this world has cursed and rebukes the people this world has idolized.

According to Jesus, the kingdom of God is not just something we hope for when we die. It is something we are to make “on earth as it is in heaven,” apparently while we’re alive, now. It is an invitation to join a revolution that transforms the world from what it is into what God wants it to be.

We know because he talked about the real stuff and real people — unjust judges, day laborers, widows and orphans: political stuff. The golden rule — love your neighbors as yourselves — can’t be followed if we ignoring the policies and powers that are crushing the lives of our neighbors. Jesus was political in the sense that the word “politics” derives from “citizens” — meaning our neighbors.

As much as Jesus’ vocation was political, it was also peculiar. His entire life (and death) is a parody of power, political satire on a whole new level, a political photobomb that took attention off of the centers of power and put the spotlight on the margins.

Jesus came straight out of Nazareth: a brown-skinned, Palestinian, Jewish refugee from a town out of which people said, “Nothing good could come.” This was what determined his view of power. When confronted by tax collectors about whether he paid his taxes, he pulled money out of the mouth of a fish, questioning what really is Caesar’s and what is God’s.

He called Herod a fox and flipped tables in the Temple. He included the excluded and challenged the chosen. Entering Jerusalem, he did not ride a warhorse with a military entourage like Caesar, but a borrowed donkey. Political satire. Street theater of the holiest kind. Instead of the iron fist of tyrants, Jesus ruled with a towel washing his disciples’ feet. He was accused of insurrection, arrested, beaten, tortured by the state and finally executed.

His execution, directed by the Romans, was also political parody of the highest order. His throne was an old rugged cross. His crown was not made from olive branches like Caesar’s, but thorns. Nailed to the cross read a sign, “King of the Jews.”

Jesus outdid the Romans’ attempt to join in his parody by rising from the dead — the greatest act of protest in history.

The word “savior” was not just used for Jesus. It was also used for Caesar. On the imperial walls in Asia Minor, nearly a decade before the birth of Christ, these words were written: “emperor Augustus … who being sent to us and our descendants as Savior, has put an end to war and has set all things in order, having become god manifest… the birthday of the god Augustus has been for the whole world the beginning of the good news…”

Sound familiar?

The words attributed to Jesus in the Gospels — Lord, savior, Incarnation — were already attributed to Caesar. The imperial calendar revolved around the birthday of Caesar, not Christ. You start to see why the politics of Jesus are so radical, so revolutionary and so controversial. Every time the early Christians declared “Jesus is Lord,” they were also declaring, “Caesar is not.”

That confession was deeply and subversively political. It was just as strange to say “Jesus is my Lord” 2,000 years ago as it would be to declare him commander in chief today. It was an invitation to a new political imagination centered on the person, teaching and peculiar politics of Christ.

One of the greatest temptations during election year is to misplace our hope. We are tempted to put our hope in a party or a candidate who we think will save us from the chaos we are in. But as the old hymn goes, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. … On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” There is a lot of sinking sand these days. Lots of big promises and empty words. We are bound to be disappointed if we put too much hope in a person or a party.

Joining the politics of Jesus is about joining God’s redemptive plan to save the world. It is about allegiance, hope and a new kingdom. So I am indeed hopeful in 2020 — not because I have found a candidate who fulfills my deepest hopes, but because I have learned how to hope differently. My hope does not lie in Donald Trump or Joe Biden, or even America. My hope is in Christ alone.

Now that we’ve established that — let me be clear. I will be voting on Nov. 3. But I will not be looking for a political savior. I will be looking to do damage control. I’ll be trying to harness the principalities and powers of darkness that are hurting so many children of God. I’ll be voting for the politicians who I believe will do the least amount of damage to the world, and alleviate the most suffering for the most people. Though that may sound cynical, I think that’s an appropriate theological posture to have.

There are those who will opt out because they don’t want to “hold their noses” and vote, and still others who refuse to choose between the “lesser of two evils.”

But opting out also has consequences. Privilege is being able to choose which issues matter and which ones do not. Privilege is being able to opt out of decisions that have life and death consequences for other people. I believe this election is a referendum, and we have power that we can steward on Nov. 3. I want to look back and say I did everything I could to stand against fear, and racism and violence… including vote. We need to use every tool in our toolbox.

If you have a hard time voting for a particular candidate this year, perhaps consider what it means to vote for the people Jesus blessed. Vote for the poor. Vote for immigrants. Vote for families separated at our border and for the kids in cages. Vote for those without health care. Vote for those who are incarcerated and those who aren’t allowed to vote. Vote for the victims of violence. Vote for Breonna Taylor.

Vote for love. When we vote for love over fear, we can rest confidently that we voted our faith and put flesh on our prayers.

So, I will vote on Nov. 3. I will vote against hatred, and fear, and misogyny. I will vote against Trump and those who have enabled his hurtful policies and hateful rhetoric. And I will do it because I have pledged my ultimate allegiance to Christ.

Surely, Election Day is not the only day we make a difference. I will also vote every day before Nov. 3 and every day after Nov. 3. Change is not confined to one day every four years. Change happens every day. We vote with our lives. Social change doesn’t come from the top down. It comes from the bottom up — just like water boils.

The holy work of “seeking first the kingdom of God” is not confined to a ballot box. No matter who gets elected in November, we will need to be in the streets in January holding them accountable.

[alibiappeal6-blog]

Immigration Law: Glancing At History

 Added on September 19, 2018  Means George  9/11 , 9/11 Commision , Act , arthur , Asiatic Barred Zone , asylum , Barack Obama , Bill Clinton , bush , clinton , DACA , deferred action for childhood arrivals , department of homeland security , deportation , donald trump , Elian Gonzalez , exclusion , Executive Order , expulsion , George Bush , Immigration , independence , Law , Obama , passageway , pathway , Reform , Refugee , removal , State of the Union Address , travel ban , trump , undocumented

President Donald Trump’s dedication to enacting a travel ban was finally approved by the Supreme Court on June 26 after the administration’s third revision of the policy finally passed in a 5-4 vote.

It may appear that America is in a new era of immigration law, but U.S. presidents have always teetered back and forth between conservative and liberal policies affecting the dreams of foreigners interested in Western culture.

Before the Declaration of Independence, the Pennsylvania Provincial Council was the entity that organized political action within the Pennsylvania and Delaware regions in colonial America. And those leaders, appointed by William Penn, weren’t always keen on the change in demographics either.

An astonishing decry came in 1717 when William Keith, governor of both Pennsylvania and Delaware, said the city was in danger due to the number of immigrants coming into the port. This outcry ultimately prompted an individual tax on Palatines arriving in the city at that time.

In 1718, James Logan, member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council and friend of the Penn family, also spoke out about this matter which led to the council requiring ships to provide passenger logs upon arrival.

By the time of the American Revolution, Philadelphia was the largest city in terms of population due to the immigration of Europeans despite the controversial views of its early leaders.

As of 2016, Philadelphia ranks sixth in the United States in terms of population with an estimated 1.5 million people. The city has seen a population resurgence in the past decade, largely due to immigration.

“In precarious times when federal immigration policies are changing on a whim, the fact that the City maintains its welcoming status helps soothe people’s fears,” said Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Executive Director Miriam Enriquez in an emailed statement.

Site of former Washington Avenue Immigration Station.

Several federal policies have affected the flow of immigrants to the United States. Below is a selection of some, but not all, significant ones.

Naturalization Act of 1790 – Requirements such as living in the United States for two years and maintaining residence within a particular state for one year before applying were established for those seeking citizenship through naturalization.

Steerage Act of 1819 – This became the first real federal legislation on immigration to be enacted by Congress. The act required continual reporting of incoming immigrants and rules for those leaving the U.S. on passenger ships.

Act to Encourage Immigration of 1864 – President Lincoln signed legislation into effect on July 4, 1864 which transferred control of immigration to the Secretary of State with an appointed commissioner. The plan was to actively recruit new laborers from Europe to come assist with the work needs in America.

Page Act of 1875 – This immigration legislation prohibited the entry of convicts, prostitutes and forced laborers from Asia.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – This became the first law that strictly prohibited one ethnic group, particularly Chinese laborers, from entering the United States. Along side of this, came the exclusion of lunatics and idiots and harsher language in forthcoming law enactments. The act was signed into effect by President Chester A. Arthur and had a term-life of 10 years, which was later extended in the Geary Act of 1892.

Alien Contract Labor Law of 1885 – The passing of this law completely banned immigration contract laborers from entering the country and served as another deterrent to Chinese immigration.

Scott Act of 1888 – The Scott Act expanded upon the Exclusion Act of 1882 and allowed for expulsion of aliens attempting to return to America.

Immigration Act of 1903 – This immigration act consolidated immigration law and established the exclusion of foreign-born anarchists and prostitutes.

Naturalization Act of 1906 – This was simply a revision to the naturalization process that required immigrants to learn basic English before becoming citizens.

Immigration Act of 1907 – This act increased head tax on immigrants and established that unaccompanied minors, polygamists and people with physical or mental issues were strictly prohibited from entering the country. President Theodore Roosevelt’s signing of this law soon led to his Gentleman’s Agreement which limited the number of Japanese entering the United States as well.

Literacy Act of 1917 – The Literacy Act required immigrants to demonstrate their ability to read any given language. The exclusion list was also vastly expanded to include people such as psychopaths, alcoholics and stowaways, as well as furthered Asian prevention by creating the Asiatic Barred Zone.

Emergency Quota Act of 1921 – Immigration became limited to 357,000 people each year.

Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 – The Johnson-Reed Act put a quota on the number of immigrants allowed in according to country of origin.

Magnuson Act of 1943 – Also known as the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act, the Magnuson Act allowed for a very small quota of 105 visas each year for immigrants from China.

War Brides Act of 1945 and Fiancees Act of 1946 – Both of these acts allowed soldiers to bypass the federal quotas when it came to foreign-born spouses and children.

Displaced Persons Act of 1948 – The U.S. began to offer asylum to refugees of persecution for the first time.

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 – The Asiatic Barred Zone was broken apart in attempts to seem favorable to non-European countries which paved the way for the Communist Control Act of 1954 in the process.

Refugee Relief Act of 1953 – After the expiration of the Displaced Persons Act, the refugee relief efforts were rehashed to allow anti-communists a safe haven.

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 – INA was a revision to the old quota framework that established a categorical system for immigration that is much like today’s current system.

Refugee Act of 1980 – Amendments were made to the Refugee Act acknowledging the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing their countries after the Vietnamese War.

Immigration Reform And Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) – Title II of “Reagan Amnesty” had a few glaring similarities to DACA, but the bill also increased border security and acted as a crackdown on undocumented workers.

Immigration Act of 1990 – This amendment significantly increased the accessibility and number of entries into the U.S.

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) – Following the promises made at his 1995 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton brought on reform that allowed for retroactive deportations and broadened the crimes that could result in removal.

Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 – Easier passageways were created for Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and citizens of the former Soviet Bloc.

Child Citizenship Act of 2000 – In response to the Elian Gonzalez controversy, the President Clinton signed a pathway for certain cases involving children into law.

Homeland Security Act of 2002 – Following 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security was created. All immigration related issues now fall under this agency’s umbrella.

Secure Fence Act of 2006 – President George W. Bush authorized the strengthening of the Southern Border to help protect Americans.

Everything that has been in the news as of recent isn’t categorized as law. While President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is still technically active, it was an executive action he made in response to an inactive Congress.

President Trump’s recent travel bans fall under a similar category of an executive order.

Many states have been quick to argue recent policies leaving many of the decisions up to the federal judges across the country.

“Cities are at the forefront of change,” Enriquez said, “and Philadelphia is proud to be a leader in being welcoming to all.”

– Text and photos by George Means.

Source: https://philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2018/09/19/immigration-law-glancing-at-history/

[worldtrendings]

Donald Trump signs a Visa-Free travel policy for Asia

Donald Trump signs a Visa-Free travel policy for Asia

The United States President, Donald Trump has on Monday signed an executive order to allow all Asia nationals travel to the United States without visa. The new order serving as a change in visa policy for Asians traveling to the United States, would permit Asia nationals stay in the U.S for a maximum period of 180 days for Tourism or business purposes only. Stay over 180 days would therefore…

[itsfinancethings]

The protesters didn’t expect to be back on the streets so soon.

Life in Hong Kong had only just started to resemble a new normal after the threat of the pandemic subsided. But there they were again on May 24, dressed in black, ready for the storm brewing. “This is a fresh hell,” says Sukie, 25, who asked to use only her nickname for safety reasons.

After almost a year of widespread, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the former British colony, China had announced sweeping new security measures that will prevent and punish any secession, subversion, terrorism or foreign interference in Hong Kong. Successive city leaders refrained from passing such a law in fear of demonstrations, and so Beijing bypassed the legislature to impose the bill itself. In the rest of China, these kinds of measures are regularly leveled to stifle dissent. The intent is clear, says Willy Lam, a political analyst at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “Control is the No. 1 consideration.”

The law, which could be enacted by late June, is poised to curtail the liberties that set Hong Kong–long a conduit between East and West–apart from the mainland; its free speech, free assembly and independent judiciary. It also opened another front in China’s ongoing conflict with the U.S., after three years of bruising disputes on trade, espionage and intellectual property.

In response, the Trump Administration announced Hong Kong was no longer a free city, and pledged to revoke its preferable exemptions on trading, customs, travel and more. The world once had a “sense of optimism that Hong Kong was a glimpse into China’s future,” President Donald Trump said on May 29, “not that Hong Kong would grow into a reflection of China’s past.”

Miguel Candela—EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Police circle detainees near the city’s legislature on May 27, as the debate over the national-security bill was set to resume

In the past few months, tensions between the U.S. and China have dramatically worsened. A relationship that has swung between outbreaks of hostility and grudging collaboration is now settling into long-term estrangement. At the end of May, Trump signed a major China policy document that argues 40 years of U.S. engagement with China has failed to produce the “citizencentric, free and open rules-based order” the U.S. hoped it would. The following week, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi fired back that it was “wishful thinking for the U.S. to change China,” and accused Washington of attempting to foment a “new cold war.”

The pandemic is the backdrop to these tensions. While China’s President Xi Jinping hopes to rile up nationalism at home to distract from the economic wreckage wrought by the coronavirus, Trump is turning to anti-China sentiment to shift focus from his own response to the outbreak. Hong Kong, about which the U.S. President has previously said little, offers a new line of attack. “Trump is hardly a crusader for liberal democratic values,” Orville Schell, the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, tells TIME. “But he is dedicated to blaming China as a way to escape the burdens of his own irresponsibility.”

On one side is the world’s leading superpower, and on the other its rising challenger. Caught in the middle is Hong Kong, whose mostly young protesters have come to symbolize resistance to the Communist Party. The week Beijing announced plans to rein in the city, thousands defied social-distancing rules and police orders to disperse to take to the streets once again. Their chants of “stand with Hong Kong” and the answering cloud of bitter tear gas recalled the upheaval of last year. But no one could deny the stakes have dramatically increased. “There is no middle ground anymore,” says Chloe, 25, a teacher. “Either we accept being integrated into China now, or we become independent.”

For more than half a century, observers have been pronouncing the end of Hong Kong–most recently, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who on May 22 called the national-security law a “death knell” for the city. Local activists marked the handover from Britain with funeral rites back in 1997, when Hong Kong was grafted back onto China under a “one country, two systems” formula designed to preserve its legal and political systems within an authoritarian state.

This arrangement was forged by the reform-minded leader Deng Xiaoping at a time when many believed China would eventually embrace democracy. The West has long seen Hong Kong, where English is widely spoken and Western ideals embraced, as “a catalyst of democratic values” in China, as President Bill Clinton put it in 1993.

Hong Kong flourished as a gateway to China’s growing economic engine, becoming a base for international and local companies wanting access to the world’s top trading nation without the party-controlled courts and bureaucratic red tape. By 2001, around a quarter of China’s imports and 40% of its exports were handled through Hong Kong.

Politically, Beijing promised the city a “high degree of autonomy” for 50 years after the handover, until 2047. But the city has always been uneasy under the Communist Party’s rule. Promised democratic reforms, including direct elections for the city’s leader, were never realized, while the Hong Kong government aligned itself ever more closely with Beijing. An attempt to insert a “national education” into the school curriculum was jettisoned only after hunger strikes and demonstrations in 2012. Booksellers who published salacious tomes about the party leadership vanished in 2015, reappearing on staterun television issuing confessions.

Things came to a head in 2019, when an extradition bill perceived to hand authority to Beijing inspired massive popular protests that flared into several months of violent unrest. The national-security law is just the latest “milestone” in a long erosion of freedoms, says Bao Pu, a Hong Kong–based publisher and political commentator. “At present, even if they don’t pass the security law, the old way of life, it’s over, it’s long been over,” he says.

Disillusionment with Beijing has calcified a distinct identity among Hong Kongers. This is particularly galling to Xi, who has pursued the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Hong Kong protesters have not only rejected this vision but also solicited assistance from the U.S. and the U.K. Few believe independence is feasible, but they see calling for it as a way to express their angst about the national-security law.

The legislation will permit the mainland’s feared security agencies to establish permanent operations in Hong Kong for the first time, instead of working secretly. Prominent protesters fear arrest by secret police and trial and imprisonment in Beijing. Many have started scouring their social-media accounts, deleting posts they fear could be incriminating once the law comes into force.

Some in the city are eyeing the exits. Migration consultancies say they are overwhelmed by the sudden volume of inquiries. Taiwan has promised “rescue and possibly residency” for Hong Kongers escaping political oppression, while the U.K. has offered 2.9 million of its former subjects safe harbor. “We will honor our obligations,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in an oped on June 3.

The Trump Administration’s move was designed to hurt Chinese business. The enclave’s special status allows Beijing to attract foreign funds. In the first eight months of 2019, China received $62.9 billion in foreign direct investment via Hong Kong, accounting for 70% of the total inflows. Any threat to such a vital financing channel risks destabilizing China’s already slowing economy.

Roy Liu—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA couple on the boardwalk of Victoria Harbour, where tourists enjoy a nightly light show, on May 28

But removing the city’s special status could also diminish its attraction as a global hub. Analysts say companies may uproot from Hong Kong to Singapore or Vietnam. Sources within two major law firms and an international media company told TIME the situation has accelerated contingency planning to relocate, though executives at other firms voiced hopes the national-security law would return stability to Hong Kong and thus to inward investment. A survey of 180 companies by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong in early June found that almost 30% were considering moving business operations, capital or assets, but a majority of correspondents said they had no personal plans to leave the city.

Experts say the Trump Administration’s actions could ultimately accelerate Beijing’s ability to consolidate control over Hong Kong, while also hurting U.S. business interests. According to the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, 1,300 U.S. companies have offices in the city. “Paradoxically, if we eliminate our special relationship with Hong Kong, it makes Hong Kong more integrated into the Chinese system, not less,” says Susan Shirk, a former State Department official who chairs the 21st Century China Center at University of California, San Diego.

For some of the more hawkish figures in Washington, that appears to be a regrettable side effect. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, acting chair of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, urged U.S. businesses to leave the territory, and said eventually China’s interference will make it imperative. “Alternatives exist all over the world from Taiwan and Malaysia to Ireland and Mexico. Supply chains can adjust,” he said in a statement to TIME. “When the [Communist Party of China’s] vision of security is implemented, Hong Kong can no longer serve as a trusted intermediary between China and the world.”

While Beijing’s harder line toward Hong Kong reflects its impatience with the protest movement, it is also part of a pattern of aggression in the weeks after China’s apparent recovery from the coronavirus. Chinese troops repeatedly crossed the contested border with India in May, and clashed with Indian troops. The Chinese navy has stepped up patrols in the South China Sea, and sank a fishing boat off the coast of Vietnam in April.

The U.S. has responded in kind, deploying warships off China’s southern coast and increasing naval exercises in disputed waters. The two powers have also engaged in a war of words over Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims is part of its territory. China’s Ministry of Defense expressed “strong dissatisfaction” after Pompeo congratulated Taiwanese President Tsai Ingwen on her inauguration last month, and days later one of the country’s most senior generals explicitly threatened to absorb the island by force. “Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical,” Alice Wells, a senior U.S. diplomat, said during a recent press briefing. “We continue to see provocations and disturbing behavior by China that raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power.”

The 2020 U.S. election threatens to compound this new environment of uncertainty and belligerence, as President Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden trade attacks over who has been softer on China. Still, the talk of a new cold war, with its implication of a conventional or nuclear military confrontation, is overblown, current and former U.S. and other officials say. Today’s battlefields are not literal but technological, its front lines 5G, AI and the supply chains along which trade and investment flow. The balance of power between Washington and Beijing today is also more level than the one between a booming U.S. and a fading USSR that had only military power.

Another comparison might be the Great Game, the 19th century trade-oriented rivalry between Britain and Russia, the two superpowers at the time. The legacy of that dispute is still visible today in war-plagued Afghanistan and in the continuously disputed region of Kashmir. Whenever and however great powers clash, there are victims left behind.

Hong Kong may yet be one of them. The pro-democracy activists here are trying to figure out their next moves. Years of peaceful demonstrations were ignored by the city’s government. The increasingly violent iterations over the past year drew Beijing’s ire. Now, dissenters will have to shift to new tactics as they contend with the unyielding Chinese government rather than its local proxies. Many hope the U.S. and its allies will help them push back.

“I hope Western countries can see that sooner or later conflict with China is inevitable,” says Cheung, a 50-year-old broadcast employee whose Sunday shopping was interrupted by police clearing a protest. “Hong Kong stood up … The rest of the world will have to stand up too at some point.”

–With reporting by KIMBERLY DOZIER and JOHN WALCOTT/WASHINGTON; AMY GUNIA/HONG KONG; and CHARLIE CAMPBELL/SHANGHAI

[singbox13-blog]

Immigration Law: Glancing At History

 Added on September 19, 2018  Means George  9/11 , 9/11 Commision , Act , arthur , Asiatic Barred Zone , asylum , Barack Obama , Bill Clinton , bush , clinton , DACA , deferred action for childhood arrivals , department of homeland security , deportation , donald trump , Elian Gonzalez , exclusion , Executive Order , expulsion , George Bush , Immigration , independence , Law , Obama , passageway , pathway , Reform , Refugee , removal , State of the Union Address , travel ban , trump , undocumented

President Donald Trump’s dedication to enacting a travel ban was finally approved by the Supreme Court on June 26 after the administration’s third revision of the policy finally passed in a 5-4 vote.

It may appear that America is in a new era of immigration law, but U.S. presidents have always teetered back and forth between conservative and liberal policies affecting the dreams of foreigners interested in Western culture.

Before the Declaration of Independence, the Pennsylvania Provincial Council was the entity that organized political action within the Pennsylvania and Delaware regions in colonial America. And those leaders, appointed by William Penn, weren’t always keen on the change in demographics either.

An astonishing decry came in 1717 when William Keith, governor of both Pennsylvania and Delaware, said the city was in danger due to the number of immigrants coming into the port. This outcry ultimately prompted an individual tax on Palatines arriving in the city at that time.

In 1718, James Logan, member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council and friend of the Penn family, also spoke out about this matter which led to the council requiring ships to provide passenger logs upon arrival.

By the time of the American Revolution, Philadelphia was the largest city in terms of population due to the immigration of Europeans despite the controversial views of its early leaders.

As of 2016, Philadelphia ranks sixth in the United States in terms of population with an estimated 1.5 million people. The city has seen a population resurgence in the past decade, largely due to immigration.

“In precarious times when federal immigration policies are changing on a whim, the fact that the City maintains its welcoming status helps soothe people’s fears,” said Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Executive Director Miriam Enriquez in an emailed statement.

Site of former Washington Avenue Immigration Station.

Several federal policies have affected the flow of immigrants to the United States. Below is a selection of some, but not all, significant ones.

Naturalization Act of 1790 – Requirements such as living in the United States for two years and maintaining residence within a particular state for one year before applying were established for those seeking citizenship through naturalization.

Steerage Act of 1819 – This became the first real federal legislation on immigration to be enacted by Congress. The act required continual reporting of incoming immigrants and rules for those leaving the U.S. on passenger ships.

Act to Encourage Immigration of 1864 – President Lincoln signed legislation into effect on July 4, 1864 which transferred control of immigration to the Secretary of State with an appointed commissioner. The plan was to actively recruit new laborers from Europe to come assist with the work needs in America.

Page Act of 1875 – This immigration legislation prohibited the entry of convicts, prostitutes and forced laborers from Asia.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – This became the first law that strictly prohibited one ethnic group, particularly Chinese laborers, from entering the United States. Along side of this, came the exclusion of lunatics and idiots and harsher language in forthcoming law enactments. The act was signed into effect by President Chester A. Arthur and had a term-life of 10 years, which was later extended in the Geary Act of 1892.

Alien Contract Labor Law of 1885 – The passing of this law completely banned immigration contract laborers from entering the country and served as another deterrent to Chinese immigration.

Scott Act of 1888 – The Scott Act expanded upon the Exclusion Act of 1882 and allowed for expulsion of aliens attempting to return to America.

Immigration Act of 1903 – This immigration act consolidated immigration law and established the exclusion of foreign-born anarchists and prostitutes.

Naturalization Act of 1906 – This was simply a revision to the naturalization process that required immigrants to learn basic English before becoming citizens.

Immigration Act of 1907 – This act increased head tax on immigrants and established that unaccompanied minors, polygamists and people with physical or mental issues were strictly prohibited from entering the country. President Theodore Roosevelt’s signing of this law soon led to his Gentleman’s Agreement which limited the number of Japanese entering the United States as well.

Literacy Act of 1917 – The Literacy Act required immigrants to demonstrate their ability to read any given language. The exclusion list was also vastly expanded to include people such as psychopaths, alcoholics and stowaways, as well as furthered Asian prevention by creating the Asiatic Barred Zone.

Emergency Quota Act of 1921 – Immigration became limited to 357,000 people each year.

Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 – The Johnson-Reed Act put a quota on the number of immigrants allowed in according to country of origin.

Magnuson Act of 1943 – Also known as the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act, the Magnuson Act allowed for a very small quota of 105 visas each year for immigrants from China.

War Brides Act of 1945 and Fiancees Act of 1946 – Both of these acts allowed soldiers to bypass the federal quotas when it came to foreign-born spouses and children.

Displaced Persons Act of 1948 – The U.S. began to offer asylum to refugees of persecution for the first time.

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 – The Asiatic Barred Zone was broken apart in attempts to seem favorable to non-European countries which paved the way for the Communist Control Act of 1954 in the process.

Refugee Relief Act of 1953 – After the expiration of the Displaced Persons Act, the refugee relief efforts were rehashed to allow anti-communists a safe haven.

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 – INA was a revision to the old quota framework that established a categorical system for immigration that is much like today’s current system.

Refugee Act of 1980 – Amendments were made to the Refugee Act acknowledging the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing their countries after the Vietnamese War.

Immigration Reform And Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) – Title II of “Reagan Amnesty” had a few glaring similarities to DACA, but the bill also increased border security and acted as a crackdown on undocumented workers.

Immigration Act of 1990 – This amendment significantly increased the accessibility and number of entries into the U.S.

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) – Following the promises made at his 1995 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton brought on reform that allowed for retroactive deportations and broadened the crimes that could result in removal.

Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 – Easier passageways were created for Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and citizens of the former Soviet Bloc.

Child Citizenship Act of 2000 – In response to the Elian Gonzalez controversy, the President Clinton signed a pathway for certain cases involving children into law.

Homeland Security Act of 2002 – Following 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security was created. All immigration related issues now fall under this agency’s umbrella.

Secure Fence Act of 2006 – President George W. Bush authorized the strengthening of the Southern Border to help protect Americans.

Everything that has been in the news as of recent isn’t categorized as law. While President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is still technically active, it was an executive action he made in response to an inactive Congress.

President Trump’s recent travel bans fall under a similar category of an executive order.

Many states have been quick to argue recent policies leaving many of the decisions up to the federal judges across the country.

“Cities are at the forefront of change,” Enriquez said, “and Philadelphia is proud to be a leader in being welcoming to all.”

– Text and photos by George Means.

Source: https://philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2018/09/19/immigration-law-glancing-at-history/

[theconservativebrief]

The Trump administration has slammed the brakes on bringing refugees to the US. At the end of its first full fiscal year, new government data shows, the administration is falling way short of the expectations it set for resettling refugees — which were, themselves, way lower than the levels set by President Obama and his predecessors.

While refugee arrivals from other parts of the world are down as much as 90 percent from Obama-era levels, resettlements from Europe — specifically, the former Soviet Union — have taken only a modest hit. In the rest of the world, the Trump administration isn’t going to come anywhere close to the “ceilings” it set for the fiscal year ending September 30th. Resettlements from Africa are less than half of the “ceiling.” In the Near East and South Asia, the administration set a fiscal year 2018 ceiling of 17,500 — as of the end of August, with one month of the fiscal year left, it had resettled 3,642.

Refugee arrivals from Europe, however, haven’t suffered. In fact, they smashed through their regional “ceiling” months ago, and haven’t slowed down since.

To people who already assume that the Trump administration is aiming to slow American demographic change by disfavoring nonwhite immigration, this may not seem surprising. But the reasons for Trump’s apparent refugee exception are more complicated than that.

In fact, the reasons that European refugees are still coming into the US in higher-than-expected numbers end up revealing why nearly everyone else is not. The Trump administration has deprioritized taking in refugees, from the explicit bans of Trump’s first year to a lack of investment in the infrastructure needed to vet people and bring them over in a timely fashion. The former Soviet Union is the exception that proves the rule.

How many refugees enter the US each year is basically up to the president and the executive branch to decide; they’re supposed to consult with Congress, but they don’t need to get formal approval. Before a new fiscal year, the State Department sends Congress its “Proposed Refugee Admissions” for the year, including numbers for particular regions (Africa; East Asia; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; and the Near East and South Asia) as well as a global estimate.

The Obama administration worked to increase the number of refugees — especially from Syria — in Obama’s last few years in office. In fiscal year 2016 (October 2015-September 2016), the administration basically met its target of resettling 85,000 refugees; for fiscal year 2017, which started in October 2016, it proposed bringing in 110,000 refugees.

Donald Trump and his administration do not share their predecessors’ sense of obligation to resettle refugees in the United States. To the contrary — during his first week in office, Trump signed an executive order (the first version of his “travel ban”) that attempted to stop all refugee admissions to the US for a few months, and to reset the refugee target for fiscal year 2017 to 45,000 instead of 110,000.

Federal courts stopped the administration from changing the targets for the year, but ultimately allowed Trump to impose a temporary ban on refugees who didn’t have “bona fide relationships” with a relative or business in the US. That meant that even though in theory the administration was still operating under the targets set by Obama, the total number of refugees resettled in fiscal year 2017 turned out to be a little over 53,000.

But for fiscal year 2018, the administration got to set its own target. It picked a radically low one — 45,000, with 50 percent reductions in the regional “ceilings” for each region — but one that it was assumed the administration would actually be able to hit.

With two weeks left in the fiscal year, it looks like the Trump administration will miss the expectations it set for itself this year as badly as it missed the targets set for all regions in 2017.

Except for Europe.

Javier Zarracina/Vox

The Trump administration proposed resettling 2,000 refugees from Europe in fiscal year 2018 (a 50 percent reduction from the fiscal year 2017 target). With a month to go, it’s already resettled over 3,000 from the region.

Trump is still resettling fewer European refugees than Obama did — the current stats are about 20 percent short of actual European refugee resettlements in fiscal year 2016, Obama’s last full year. But that’s not a big dip compared to refugees from the rest of the world from 2016 to 2018: a 39 percent reduction in refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean; a 72 percent reduction in refugees from Africa; a 74 percent reduction in refugees from East Asia; and a 90 percent reduction in refugees from the Near East and South Asia.

The bottom line is that refugee admissions have slowed down everywhere — but less in Europe than everywhere else.

Every single European refugee taken by the US in 2018 has come from the former Soviet Union. That’s not a coincidence.

One of the pathways to come to the US as a refugee is to be a member of a group the US has identified as a specific “group of concern.”

People from the former Soviet Union who are members of religious minorities, and who have close family members in the US, are one of those groups,

This designation dates back, unsurprisingly, to the days when the Soviet Union wasn’t former at all. In 1989, thousands of Jews fled the crumbling USSR after decades of having been restricted from emigrating and persecuted at home — but the George H. W. Bush administration started denying some of their applications for resettlement in the US. The change alarmed then-Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who understood why they were fleeing — he’d traveled to the Soviet Union and met with Jews who were constantly watched by the Soviet regime, barred from attending universities, and even forcibly relocated due to their religion.

Lautenberg’s solution was enacted in 1990, and is still known as the Lautenberg Amendment. It explicitly lowered the standard for religious minorities in the Soviet Union to claim refugee status — instead of having to demonstrate that they had reason to believe they specifically would be persecuted, they simply had to demonstrate they were a member of a protected religious minority, and that that minority had a credible fear of being persecuted.

The Lautenberg Amendment isn’t saving Jews from Soviet authorities anymore. For one thing, the program now primarily serves evangelical Christians. For another, of course, the militantly atheist Soviet Union has been replaced as a regional hegemon by the Russia of Vladimir Putin — whose aggressive nationalism has become tightly entwined with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Lautenberg program has experienced a huge surge of interest in recent years — after Russia’s 2014 partial invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is by far the country that sends the most refugees to the US right now — over 4,000 in 2017, and over 2,000 in 2018.

That exodus is definitely a response to fears of Russia. But it’s less clear whether those are specifically fears about religious persecution or not. While Russia (and Russian-allied extremists in Ukraine and elsewhere) has persecuted Muslim Crimean Tatars and Jehovah’s Witnesses, attacks on evangelical Christians haven’t risen to that level. They haven’t gotten to the point of provoking people to flee their their homes.

The refugee agency HIAS (formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), which has long taken the lead in resettling Lautenberg amendment beneficiaries in the US, argues that this means the Lautenberg program in the former Soviet Union doesn’t actually count toward the US’s contribution to the global refugee crisis. “It’s good for religious minorities,” says HIAS president Mark Hetfield, “but it’s not relevant to the 65 million displaced people globally” — and the latter is what matters in terms of global leadership on refugees. “These are not those people.”

And ironically, under Trump, that makes it easier to resettle them.

Proving you qualify as a victim of persecution is only part of the stringent vetting process for refugees. There are also layers of security checks performed by different agencies and capped off with an in-person interview conducted by a US official abroad.

This is where the refugee system is really struggling under the weight of the Trump administration. Administration officials told members of Congress this summer that over 100,000 people were being processed but hadn’t yet had in-person interviews yet — partly due to the fact that very few refugee officers were being sent abroad on “circuit rides” to interview applicants.

It’s easier to set up circuit rides in places where the US and UNHCR already have infrastructure — and in places where there isn’t an active conflict. That can mean that it’s hard to get to the populations (like Syrian refugees) in the most need. It usually means that the US takes a few years to really ramp up refugee admissions in a given location after deciding that people there are a priority.

The countries with the most refugee admissions to the US in 2018 — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bhutan and Burma — are places prioritized in the last years of the Obama administration. But Bhutan and Burma were both winding down, as scheduled, in 2018; without an effort to identify new populations to invest in a refugee infrastructure for, the Trump administration will keep admitting fewer refugees in future years.

In the meantime, though, the reality of circuit rides makes it easier for people who live in countries that are relatively peaceful — like the former Soviet Union — and are seeking refugee status for reasons other than war.

But the interview is only part of the bottleneck. Another 45,000 would-be refugees had had interviews as of this summer, but were waiting for security checks to be completed — or had waited in the pipeline so long that their security approvals had expired and needed to be checked again. Under Trump, the FBI has been required to conduct checks on most or all refugees — without having added staff people to do it. (Officials told NBC News that FBI agents can sometimes only do a handful of checks in a day.)

The processing pipeline doesn’t move at the same speed for all applicants, however. Advocates are seriously concerned that it’s becoming a way to slow-walk certain refugees without having to officially deny their applications.

They’re particularly concerned about people from 11 countries where refugee admissions were suspended in late 2017 even after the 120-day global refugee ban had expired — including countries, like Syria and Iran, that had been sending the most refugees to the US in recent years.

Admissions from those countries have restarted, but only barely. 38 refugees from Iran, for example, have been resettled in 2018 so far.

The Department of Homeland Security stresses that people who come in under the Lautenberg Amendment are subject to the exact same security checks as any other refugee. But religious minorities in Iran are also supposed to benefit from the Lautenberg Amendment. And the added vetting requirements of the Trump administration have hardly affected both groups equally.

In April, a group of Iranian Christians who had fled to Austria sued the United States to reopen their asylum cases. They claimed they’d all been summarily denied at once — raising suspicions that they hadn’t flunked individual security checks, but were instead being denied out of an abundance of caution at best (and discrimination at worst). The judge has ordered the government to reconsider their claims.

The case has attracted some attention in the US because the Trump administration has sometimes claimed to be particularly sensitive to the persecution of Christians — indeed, religious minorities in the Middle East were exempted from the first version of the refugee ban.

In its day-to-day management of refugee admissions, though, the Trump administration isn’t putting a thumb on the scale to help Christians because it’s not putting that amount of effort in, period.

Few Trump administration officials would affirmatively defend the idea that the people who most deserve to be resettled in the United States, from anywhere in the world, are people who fear persecution from Putin’s Russia. But those are the only people for whom the administration is even close to meeting the low expectations it’s set — while, in the rest of the world, the doors are all but swinging shut.

Original Source -> Under Trump, refugee admissions are falling way short — except for Europeans

via The Conservative Brief

[investmart007]

Morocco challenge to stay in 2026 WCup contest vs Americans

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/K5opiZ

Morocco challenge to stay in 2026 WCup contest vs Americans

/March 15, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — FIFA struggles to move on from the most tainted chapter in its history, even as it attempts to award another World Cup.

With less than three months to go until the host of the 2026 World Cup is decided, FIFA is still assessing allegations of skullduggery around the voting more than seven years ago for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

Can the expedited contest between North America and Morocco really be bulletproof, free of scandal, as soccer’s governing body promises?

There’s intrigue around a process that could see FIFA disqualify a bid before the June vote if it can’t meet the requirements for the first World Cup after the leap from 32 to 48 competing teams.

Morocco’s stadiums require significant upgrades to get close to matching the infrastructure boasted by the North Americans, whose bid includes 16 NFL venues awash in the luxury seating required by FIFA.

But if Morocco is not struck off by a FIFA task force lacking true independence, the vote could be closer than anticipated in part due to new procedures intended to signal a break from the secrecy of the past.

Not only is the decision open to every soccer nation, rather than just the ruling executive that had chosen the World Cup sites from 1986-2022, but each vote is set to be published. That exposes officials to potential intimidation.

The voting regulations will be finalized by the FIFA Council on Friday, which is also the deadline for the bid books to be received.

Bid bureaucrats traveled to Zurich to hand over the host city contracts, financial estimates and stadium proposals — rather than star footballers— reflecting a campaign shorn of the razzmatazz witnessed in the buildup to the 2010 votes won by Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022.

___

THE CAMPAIGN

The United States-led bid, which includes Canada and Mexico as minority partners, hoped to be awarded the hosting rights to one of the biggest events in sports without facing a challenge.

The FIFA Council had other ideas at a meeting last May, giving Morocco a chance to prevent a coronation.

But while the Americans opened their official campaign in April, the Moroccans did not launch theirs in public until January.

Morocco’s bid has been cloaked in secrecy: the international communications team declined to send The Associated Press a copy of the media pack being distributed domestically.

It contained no specific details on the construction requirements and mis-states that 17 people were wounded, rather than killed, in a 2011 Marrakesh bombing in a section seeking to offer assurances on safety.

While the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994 before failing to land 2022, Morocco has been unsuccessful four times.

Moroccan officials express irritation when pressed on bribery allegations surrounding its 2010 World Cup campaign that form part of ongoing criminal proceedings in the United States.

Morocco will be hoping the American investigations into FIFA deter voters from taking the World Cup to a country so determined to expose wrongdoing within soccer. Inflammatory comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that have offended parts of the world could also work in Morocco’s favor.

FIFA has faced criticism from the home city of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Chicago refused to sign up to the bid because it believed the tax waivers and legal provisions required pose a risk to the city and shareholders. Vancouver, which hosted the 2015 Women’s World Cup final, said its bid was rejected because it refused to comply with FIFA’s requirements that include putting agreements under Swiss law.

____

THE PROPOSITION

The bids offer distinctive proposals. Is FIFA in the mood for another gamble?

Morocco poses more logistical challenges and risks for FIFA, which will be coming off a complex tournament in Qatar in 2022.

There’s significant building work required to upgrade stadiums. The largest venue, in Casablanca, has a capacity of 67,000, whereas FIFA will want a venue with at least 80,000 seats for the opening game and final. Only five other stadiums have a capacity in excess of 40,000.

North America is the easy option. The U.S. would host 60 games in venues requiring only minor construction work, such as hospitality and media facilities, and is touting three stadiums with more than 87,000 seats.

Canada and Mexico, which has the 87,523-capacity Azteca Stadium, will settle for 10 matches each up to the round of 16.

North America will be hoping voters are dazzled by its financial proposition. It’s certainly more favorable for FIFA, which is trying to return to profitability after being hit by the cost of corruption scandals, and the governing body could secure more funds to redistribute to member nations.

FIFA would earn $300 million more from the North American broadcasters if the 2026 World Cup is played in the region under the terms of contracts negotiated to stave off legal action for shifting the dates of the 2022 tournament in Qatar to November, where it overlaps the NFL and college football seasons.

___

FIFA’S TAKE

As chief commercial officer at FIFA, Philippe Le Floc’h is responsible for replenishing coffers. That largely requires squeezing cash out of corporate sponsors and maximizing television revenue.

With 48 teams and 80 games to accommodate for the first time, Le Floc’h pointed out “the size and the magnitude” of North America’s proposition helps.

“It would have some commercial attraction,” Le Floc’h said. “It has got infrastructure. They have got massive stadiums because they are used for American Football. So on the pure hospitality point, potentially, we might have more revenues.”

Remaining publicly impartial, Le Floc’h highlighted how Morocco is in “the perfect time zone for Europe and Asia” television audiences.

“There are other ways to generate revenues,” he said, “and the time zone in Morocco could help us.”

___

TASK FORCE

In 2010, the now-discredited FIFA executive committee all but ignored the FIFA-produced technical reports that identified Russia and Qatar as the highest-risk bids among nine candidates.

Now a restyled five-man task force, dominated by European officials, will make inspection visits, then grade and score the bids.

Those marks could play a key role in the contest.

Since the panel includes FIFA’s deputy general secretaries — Zvonimir Boban of Croatia and Marco Villiger of Switzerland — it could prove highly contentious if a bid is disqualified. FIFA’s Council must approve the verdict of the task force before the Congress votes.

___

SCORING THE BIDS

Infrastructure, of which half relates to stadiums, accounts for 70 percent of the panel’s mark. The remaining 30 percent is based on projected costs and revenues.

“The scores have a bearing on whether or not a bid qualifies for the next stage of the bidding process, with bids shortlisted by the FIFA Council,” according to FIFA.

In a scoring system of 0 to 5 — where 0 means is “no requirements met/very weak” and 5 is “requirements exceeded/excellent” — a bid must average a total of 2, or “minimum requirements met/sufficient,” to be approved ahead of the vote.

In addition, bids must score at least 2 for the individual aspects of stadiums, teams and referee facilities, plus accommodation and transport links.

Failure to score 2 from the task force means a bid “has been evaluated as ‘high risk’ and represents a material failure,” a FIFA bid regulations document states, whereupon “FIFA shall terminate this Bidding Registration.”

____

VOTING

Up to 207 of the 211 member federations will vote on June 13 in Moscow, with the four bidding members excluded.

In aiming for transparency, FIFA’s pledge to publish the choice of each member could affect the voting. The secret ballot in presidential elections allows members to vote freely and defy orders from regional or continental leaders.

Sepp Blatter was president when FIFA last voted on men’s World Cup hosts. While championing Morocco, Blatter questions whether it can count on all 53 votes from Africa.

“Africa is not always united,” Blatter said. But he believes the Americans are “afraid … and give the impression that they are not any longer very sure that they will win.”

____

By GRAHAM DUNBAR and ROB HARRIS, AP Sports Writer, By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

___

[anchorarcade]

North Korea may consider H-bomb test in Pacific, Kim calls Trump 'deranged'

http://ryanguillory.com/north-korea-may-consider-h-bomb-test-in-pacific-kim-calls-trump-deranged/

North Korea may consider H-bomb test in Pacific, Kim calls Trump 'deranged'

SEOUL/NEW YORK (Reuters) – North Korea said on Friday it might test a hydrogen bomb on the Pacific Ocean after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to destroy the country, with leader Kim Jong Un promising to make a “mentally deranged” Trump pay dearly for his threats.

Kim, who has traded ever-more heightened rhetoric with Trump, did not specify what his response would be. His comments were believed to be the first direct message ever issued by a North Korean leader.

However, Kim’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said North Korea could consider a hydrogen bomb test of an unprecedented scale on the Pacific Ocean, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

Ri, who was talking to reporters in New York ahead of a planned address later this week, however also said he did not know Kim’s exact thoughts, according to the report.

Japan, the only country ever to suffer an atomic attack, described the threat as “totally unacceptable”.

Trump said in his first address to the United Nations on Tuesday he would “totally destroy” North Korea, a country of 26 million people, if it threatened the United States and its allies, and called Kim a “rocket man” on a suicide mission.

Kim said the North would consider the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” against the United States and that Trump’s comments had confirmed his own nuclear program was “the correct path”.

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has launched dozens of missiles this year as it accelerates a program aimed at enabling it to target the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile.

“I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire,” Kim said in the statement carried by the KCNA state news agency, referring to Trump.

“SLEEPWALKING INTO WAR”

Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he could not recall such a statement in the first person, authored and signed by Kim.

“I don’t think it’s happened before. That’s something to take seriously alone,” he said.

The escalating rhetoric came even as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for statesmanship to avoid “sleepwalking” into a war.

South Korea, Russia and China all urged calm.

However, the rhetoric was starting to rattle some in the international community. French Sports Minister Laura Flessel said France’s team would not travel to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea if its security cannot be guaranteed.

The 2018 Games are to be staged in Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, the world’s most heavily armed border.

Asian stocks fell and the Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained on the possibility of a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific. [MKTS/GLOB]

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan handed back earlier gains and was down 0.4 percent after falling 0.7 percent the previous day.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un makes a statement regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech at the U.N. general assembly, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 22, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS

MORE TIME

In his sanctions announcement on Thursday, Trump stopped short of going after Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner, China, praising as “tremendous” a move by its central bank ordering Chinese banks to stop doing business with North Korea.

The additional sanctions on Pyongyang, including on its shipping and trade networks, showed that Trump was giving more time for economic pressures to weigh on North Korea after warning about the possibility of military action on Tuesday.

Asked ahead of a lunch meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea on Thursday if diplomacy was still possible, Trump nodded and said: “Why not?”

Trump said the new executive order on sanctions gives further authorities to target individual companies and institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea.

It “will cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea’s efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind”, Trump said.

The U.S. Treasury Department now had authority to target those that conduct “significant trade in goods, services or technology with North Korea”.

Trump did not mention Pyongyang’s oil trade.

The White House said North Korea’s energy, medical, mining, textiles, and transportation industries were among those targeted and that the U.S. Treasury could sanction anyone who owns, controls or operates a port of entry in North Korea.

“ON NOTICE”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said banks doing business in North Korea would not be allowed to also operate in the United States.

“Foreign financial institutions are now on notice that going forward they can choose to do business with the United States or with North Korea, but not both,” Mnuchin said.

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously imposed nine rounds of sanctions on North Korea since 2006, the latest this month capping fuel supplies to the isolated state.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who addressed the U.N. General Assembly, said sanctions were needed to bring Pyongyang to the negotiating table, but Seoul was not seeking North Korea’s collapse.

“All of our endeavors are to prevent war from breaking out and maintain peace,” Moon said in his speech. He warned the nuclear issue had to be managed stably so that “accidental military clashes will not destroy peace”.

The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.

For a graphic on nuclear North Korea, click: here

Additional reporting by Linda Sieg in Tokyo, David Brunnstrom, Michelle Nichols and Arshad Mohammed in NEW YORK, Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Eric Walsh and Tim Ahmann in WASHINGTON, and Soyoung Kim in SEOUL; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Paul Tait

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source link

[awesomefelicitylewis-blog]

North Korea may consider H-bomb test in Pacific, Kim calls Trump 'deranged'

http://ryanguillory.com/north-korea-may-consider-h-bomb-test-in-pacific-kim-calls-trump-deranged/

North Korea may consider H-bomb test in Pacific, Kim calls Trump 'deranged'

SEOUL/NEW YORK (Reuters) – North Korea said on Friday it might test a hydrogen bomb on the Pacific Ocean after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to destroy the country, with leader Kim Jong Un promising to make a “mentally deranged” Trump pay dearly for his threats.

Kim, who has traded ever-more heightened rhetoric with Trump, did not specify what his response would be. His comments were believed to be the first direct message ever issued by a North Korean leader.

However, Kim’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said North Korea could consider a hydrogen bomb test of an unprecedented scale on the Pacific Ocean, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

Ri, who was talking to reporters in New York ahead of a planned address later this week, however also said he did not know Kim’s exact thoughts, according to the report.

Japan, the only country ever to suffer an atomic attack, described the threat as “totally unacceptable”.

Trump said in his first address to the United Nations on Tuesday he would “totally destroy” North Korea, a country of 26 million people, if it threatened the United States and its allies, and called Kim a “rocket man” on a suicide mission.

Kim said the North would consider the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” against the United States and that Trump’s comments had confirmed his own nuclear program was “the correct path”.

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has launched dozens of missiles this year as it accelerates a program aimed at enabling it to target the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile.

“I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire,” Kim said in the statement carried by the KCNA state news agency, referring to Trump.

“SLEEPWALKING INTO WAR”

Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he could not recall such a statement in the first person, authored and signed by Kim.

“I don’t think it’s happened before. That’s something to take seriously alone,” he said.

The escalating rhetoric came even as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for statesmanship to avoid “sleepwalking” into a war.

South Korea, Russia and China all urged calm.

However, the rhetoric was starting to rattle some in the international community. French Sports Minister Laura Flessel said France’s team would not travel to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea if its security cannot be guaranteed.

The 2018 Games are to be staged in Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, the world’s most heavily armed border.

Asian stocks fell and the Japanese yen and Swiss franc gained on the possibility of a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific. [MKTS/GLOB]

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan handed back earlier gains and was down 0.4 percent after falling 0.7 percent the previous day.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un makes a statement regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech at the U.N. general assembly, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 22, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS

MORE TIME

In his sanctions announcement on Thursday, Trump stopped short of going after Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner, China, praising as “tremendous” a move by its central bank ordering Chinese banks to stop doing business with North Korea.

The additional sanctions on Pyongyang, including on its shipping and trade networks, showed that Trump was giving more time for economic pressures to weigh on North Korea after warning about the possibility of military action on Tuesday.

Asked ahead of a lunch meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea on Thursday if diplomacy was still possible, Trump nodded and said: “Why not?”

Trump said the new executive order on sanctions gives further authorities to target individual companies and institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea.

It “will cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea’s efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind”, Trump said.

The U.S. Treasury Department now had authority to target those that conduct “significant trade in goods, services or technology with North Korea”.

Trump did not mention Pyongyang’s oil trade.

The White House said North Korea’s energy, medical, mining, textiles, and transportation industries were among those targeted and that the U.S. Treasury could sanction anyone who owns, controls or operates a port of entry in North Korea.

“ON NOTICE”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said banks doing business in North Korea would not be allowed to also operate in the United States.

“Foreign financial institutions are now on notice that going forward they can choose to do business with the United States or with North Korea, but not both,” Mnuchin said.

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously imposed nine rounds of sanctions on North Korea since 2006, the latest this month capping fuel supplies to the isolated state.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who addressed the U.N. General Assembly, said sanctions were needed to bring Pyongyang to the negotiating table, but Seoul was not seeking North Korea’s collapse.

“All of our endeavors are to prevent war from breaking out and maintain peace,” Moon said in his speech. He warned the nuclear issue had to be managed stably so that “accidental military clashes will not destroy peace”.

The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.

For a graphic on nuclear North Korea, click: here

Additional reporting by Linda Sieg in Tokyo, David Brunnstrom, Michelle Nichols and Arshad Mohammed in NEW YORK, Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Eric Walsh and Tim Ahmann in WASHINGTON, and Soyoung Kim in SEOUL; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Paul Tait

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source link

[studentofrhetoric-blog]

Part 2, Friday, April 21st, 2017

International News:

--- "A French policeman was shot dead and two others were wounded in central Paris on Thursday night in an attack carried out days before presidential elections and quickly claimed by the Islamic State militant group. President Francois Hollande said he was convinced the "cowardly killing" on the Champs Elysees boulevard, in which the assailant was himself shot dead by police, was an act of terrorism. The wide avenue that leads away from the Arc de Triomphe had been crowded with Parisians and tourists enjoying a spring evening, but police quickly cleared the area, which remained empty well into the night of all but heavily armed security forces and police vehicles. Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said the man had been identified, but investigators were still assessing if he had accomplices. A police arrest warrant issued earlier on Thursday, which was seen by Reuters after the attack, warned of a dangerous individual who had come into France by train from Belgium on Thursday. It was unclear if that man was the attacker or linked to the shooting. Officers searched the home of the dead attacker in a town east of Paris, a police source said. "The sense of duty of our policemen tonight averted a massacre ... they prevented a bloodbath on the Champs Elysees," Interior Minister Matthias Fekl told reporters."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-idUSKBN17M2I8?il=0

--- "The man responsible for a shootout in central Paris on Thursday was a French national, Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon told public broadcaster VRT. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the shooting, in which a French policeman was shot dead, via its Amaq news agency, naming the attacker as Abu Yousif al-Belgiki -- "the Belgian" in Arabic. "The investigation is continuing. What we can confirm, is that the perpetrator was a French national," Jambon told VRT. In November 2015, when Paris was rocked by near simultaneous gun-and-bomb attacks on entertainment sites, two of the 10 known perpetrators were Belgian citizens and others lived in Belgium."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-belgium-minister-idUSKBN17N0SV?il=0

--- "Investigators are trying to find out whether the man who shot dead a policeman in Paris had accomplices, a prosecutor said, adding that he had shown no previous signs of radicalization despite a long prison record. The gunman, identified as Karim Cheurfi, opened fire on a police vehicle parked on the Champs Elysees in Paris late on Thursday, killing one officer and injuring two others before being shot dead. The attack, which was claimed by Islamic State, overshadowed the last day of campaigning for Sunday's presidential election first round. Cheurfi, 39, a French national who lived with his mother in the eastern Paris suburb of Chelles, had spent some 14 years in prison from 2001 for crimes including gun attacks on law enforcement officers. "The investigations will now focus on determining ... the potential help that he may have benefited from," Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference on Friday. "He was not on the security watch list and had shown no signs of radicalization despite his many years in prison."  But Molins confirmed police had found a note with handwritten messages defending Islamic State near his body, addresses of police establishments in his car and a Koran. Police believe he had "opened fire on the officers in the knowledge he would be killed by them", a source close to the investigation said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-idUSKBN17N0JP?il=0

--- "U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday an attack in central Paris is the latest reminder that terrorism can strike anywhere and at anytime, and the United States would not relent in its efforts to end terrorism. Pence made the remarks at the start of a roundtable with businessmen in Jakarta, where he was ending a two-day visit to Southeast Asia's largest economy."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-usa-idUSKBN17N0AP?il=0

--- "Indonesia and the United States agreed on Friday to find ways to reduce barriers to U.S. companies operating in Southeast Asia's largest economy, visiting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Jakarta's investment chief said. The Trump administration has put Indonesia on a list of 16 countries whose trade surpluses with the United States will be put under review. A series of disputes between Indonesia and American firms has also ruffled ties. "We will work with President Jokowi to reduce barriers to trade and investments and to create a truly level playing field where all our businesses have equal opportunity and market access," Pence said. Jokowi is the nickname of Indonesia's President Joko Widodo. "The president and I spoke about that very candidly and very respectfully," Pence told a roundtable discussion with business executives in Jakarta before flying to Australia on the last leg of his 10-day Asia-Pacific tour. Indonesia's investments barriers include a lack of intellectual property protection, insufficient transparency with regulations and requiring local content for manufactured goods sold in the Indonesian market, Pence said. Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board chief Tom Lembong said Widodo agreed "we still have too many regulations, too many barriers to trade, and these are bad for local and international industries"...Neither side disclosed any discussions about the disputes Indonesia has had with American companies of late...Pence did, however, witness the signing of more than $10 billion in memoranda of understanding with U.S. companies in Indonesia on Friday."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pence-asia-indonesia-idUSKBN17N09A?il=0

--- "U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that Syria had dispersed its warplanes in recent days and that it retained chemical weapons, an issue he said would have to be taken up diplomatically. The United States launched dozens of missiles earlier this month against a Syrian air base in response to a chemical attack that killed 90 people, including 30 children. It says the Syrian government launched the attack from the Shayrat air base. The Pentagon has said that the strike had damaged or destroyed about 20 percent of the Syrian military's operational aircraft. During a press conference alongside his Israeli counterpart, Mattis was asked whether the Syrian military had moved warplanes to a Russian base in Latakia. "They have dispersed their aircraft, no doubt. They have dispersed their aircraft in recent days," Mattis said. Mattis also reiterated that the United States believed Syria had retained some chemical weapons. "The bottom line is, I can say authoritatively they have retained some (chemical weapons). It's a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions, and it's going to have to be taken up diplomatically," Mattis said. Israel's military said on Wednesday it believed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces still possessed several tonnes of chemical weapons."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mattis-israel-idUSKBN17N0SN?il=0

Domestic & International News:

--- "When Raj, a Sri Lankan fisherman, sought refuge in the United States in 2005, he had precisely the kind of fear of returning home that U.S. asylum laws require. In 2004, he was kidnapped by the separatist rebel group the Tamil Tigers and had to pay $500 to secure his release, according to Raj, his lawyer and court records reviewed by Reuters. The group then demanded more money, which he could not pay after a tsunami destroyed his house and fishing boat. Raj, 42, who asked that only his first name be used because of the sensitive nature of his situation, decided to flee. He boarded a plane using a false Canadian passport and requested asylum upon arriving in the United States. There was a catch, however. U.S. laws ban immigration by anyone who has provided "material support" to terrorists, and the Tamil Tigers are designated as a terrorist group by the United States. A judge ruled that Raj's ransom payment to them constituted material support. Ultimately, Raj was granted asylum in 2011 because of rules that allow for waivers for people who provided aid to terrorists under duress...Raj said it was "a big relief" when he finally received his green card around a year after receiving asylum. "I am not a terrorist," he said. Now the Trump administration is debating whether to rescind the waivers that have allowed Raj, and tens of thousands of others, to immigrate to the United States in the past decade. Some immigration hardliners are concerned the exemptions could allow terrorists to slip into the country. U.S. President Donald Trump directed the secretaries of State and Homeland Security, in consultation with the attorney general, to consider abolishing the waivers in an executive order in March. That directive was overshadowed by the same order's temporary ban on all refugees and on travelers from six mostly Muslim nations. The bans on refugees and travel were challenged in lawsuits, and their implementation has been suspended pending full hearings in court. But the waiver review was not included in the court rulings, so that part of the order remains in effect."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-terrorism-exceptions-idUSKBN17N13C?il=0

--- "Global economic leaders on Friday continued downplaying possible friction with the Trump administration over currencies, trade and other potentially contentious issues, even while acknowledging that much about the U.S. president's plans remains unclear. On a day when Donald Trump himself seemed focused on domestic matters - promising a new U.S. tax plan next week and announcing reviews of financial regulations - world officials gathered just blocks from the White House said there was "broad consensus" with the new president's advisers over the need to keep economic borders open and coordinate on global financial regulation. "Almost everybody underscored the importance of open markets and free market access," German central bank governor Jens Weidmann said following meetings among finance ministers from the world's top 20 economic powers, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "That was the consensus." His remarks come as finance and economic officials attending meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank took heart in an improving world economy, but also spoke of the sudden raft of political issues that could put that progress at risk. Trump's tough talk on trade and seeming suspicion of "globalist" groups like the IMF cast a shadow over the start of this week's session. Similarly, the French elections on Sunday have been frequently cited as the sort of event that could reverse the euro zone's tentative economic progress."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g-idUSKBN17N24I?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "A special federal judicial panel ruled for the second time in two months on Thursday that the Republican-led Texas Legislature deliberately redrew political boundaries so as to unfairly diminish voter clout of the state's growing Latino population. A divided three-judge panel found that the boundaries of several state legislative districts were reshaped with the intention of illegally diluting the strength of the Democratic-leaning Hispanic electorate for the benefit of the Republican Party. The panel ruled that the redrawn boundaries were designed to either fragment cohesive Latino communities among multiple districts, or to lump Hispanics into a single jurisdiction and thus limit their overall sway. Similar gerrymandering tactics of "cracking" and "packing" were found last month by the same panel in redrawn boundaries for three of the state's 36 congressional districts. It was not immediately clear whether Texas would appeal the latest decision, which pertained to state legislative districts encompassing some of the state's largest cities, including Dallas, San Antonio and Houston."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-redistricting-idUSKBN17N0CI?il=0

--- "A group of 11 Republican state attorneys general are protesting an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N) violated consumer protection laws when selling fossil fuel products, according to a court filing. Top prosecutors for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, all of whom are Republicans, filed a brief in U.S. District Court in Manhattan supporting a lawsuit by Exxon to halt a probe by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Schneiderman and Healey, both Democrats, are looking at whether the company violated consumer protection laws by selling fossil fuels while failing to reveal information about the effects of burning them on the global climate. In their brief, the attorneys general said Healey and Schneiderman were abusing their power and violating Exxon's rights to free speech by "using law enforcement authority to resolve a public policy debate" over whether carbon emissions cause climate change, a debate they claim is not settled."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-environment-lawsuit-idUSKBN17M2OY?il=0

--- "The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Friday it had invited FBI, NSA and Obama administration officials to testify as it restarts its investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. After stalling over the committee chairman's ties to President Donald Trump's White House and disagreements over who should testify, the bipartisan committee said it sent a letter inviting James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, to appear behind closed doors on May 2. A second letter invited three officials who left the government as President Barack Obama's administration ended - former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates - to appear at a public hearing to be scheduled after May 2. The planned hearings are the first the committee has announced since its chairman, Republican Representative Devin Nunes, recused himself from the Russia investigation on April 6 after receiving information at the White House about surveillance that swept up some information about members of Trump's transition team."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-congress-idUSKBN17N23C?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress face their first major budget test next week, with the threat of a U.S. government shutdown potentially hinging on his proposed Mexican border wall as well as Obamacare funding. With Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, keeping the federal government operating is a basic test of their ability to govern, but their task could become even more complicated if they insist on using the spending legislation to bring about contentious policy changes. Not only must Republicans overcome intraparty ideological divisions that stopped major healthcare legislation last month, but they will have to win over some opposition Democrats with provisions that could be distasteful to conservatives. With the Senate reconvening on Monday and the House of Representatives on Tuesday after a two-week recess, lawmakers will have only four days to pass a spending package to keep the government open beyond April 28, when funding expires for numerous federal programs. "I think we want to keep the government open," Trump said on Thursday, adding he thinks Congress can pass the funding legislation and perhaps also a revamped healthcare bill. Democratic support depends on what provisions Republicans demand in the bill. Democrats have signaled they would not cooperate if it contains money for one of Trump's top priorities, a southwestern border wall intended to combat illegal immigration, or if it ends federal subsidies to help low-income people buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which Republicans want to repeal. Democrats also want federal funds maintained for Planned Parenthood, which many Republicans oppose because the women's healthcare provider performs abortions. Another obstacle would be if Trump demands large defense spending increases coupled with deep cuts to domestic programs Democrats want to protect."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-budget-idUSKBN17N1LK?il=0

--- "A massive power outage threw San Francisco into chaos for most of the work day on Friday, knocking out traffic signals, paralyzing businesses and halting the city's famed cable cars. The power outage, which was triggered by a fire in a PG&E Corp. utility substation, disrupted San Francisco's normally bustling financial district, home to banks and technology companies. The blackout started just after 9 a.m. (noon ET/1600 GMT) and at one point affected nearly 90,000 customers, according to PG&E. The cause of the fire was a circuit breaker failure at the substation, PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty said. Office workers unable to access elevators or use their keycards spilled out onto the sidewalks, some wandering the streets in search of an open cafe or sunny spot to enjoy a rare warm San Francisco day. Others simply went home, with long lines forming for ferries. For many, there was little to do but wait. "When I got here we had to shut down all the servers, all the work stations were off-line," said Bard Wood, an information technology worker in the financial district. "I'm sure we've lost millions of dollars already. There's no business down here right now." Some cable car operators snoozed after their cars stalled on the street rails. Traffic was snarled and emergency workers responded to 20 elevator rescues, according to the city's fire department, but there were no reported deaths or major injuries. But many businesses, from coffee shops to major banks, took a hit."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sanfrancisco-power-idUSKBN17N27T

--- "The U.S. Department of Justice threatened on Friday to cut some funding to California as well as eight cities and counties across the United States, escalating a Trump administration crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. President Donald Trump has vowed to strip federal funds from dozens of state and local governments that do not fully cooperate with U.S. immigration agents, arguing they endanger public safety when they decline to hand over for deportation illegal immigrants who are arrested for crimes. "Sanctuary cities" in general offer safe harbor to illegal immigrants and often do not use municipal funds or resources to advance the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Many of these localities say they do not have the funding or space to hold immigrants until federal agents can take custody of them. Those threatened were: the state of California; New York City; Chicago; Philadelphia; Clark County, Nevada; New Orleans; Miami-Dade County, Florida; and Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Cook County, Illinois, also received a warning, even though it did not get money from the Justice Department last year. The jurisdictions have until June 30 to provide evidence to the federal government that they are not violating any laws. At stake is roughly $29 million in law enforcement aid under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which helps local governments pay for everything from forensics labs to drug courts. The grants in question are among the largest handed out under the program, collectively amounting to 11 percent of the $256 million distributed in the last fiscal year."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-sanctuary-idUSKBN17N2JA?il=0

--- "Social media did not take kindly to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions referring to the country's 50th state of Hawaii as just "an island in the Pacific." Using the hashtag #IslandinthePacific, many on Twitter reminded Sessions that Hawaii is in fact part of the country, the birthplace of former President Barack Obama and home to Pearl Harbor. Sessions told "The Mark Levin Show" earlier this week that he was "amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power." Sessions was referring to Judge Derrick Watson, a federal district court judge in Honolulu, who struck down the second version of Trump's immigration order banning immigrants from six majority-Muslim countries temporarily. He ruled the order discriminated against Muslims. The now infamous phrase from Sessions has been mentioned more than 27,000 times online, according to Brandwatch, a social media monitoring company."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hawaii-sessions-idUSKBN17N2HG

--- "President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens of six Muslim-majority nations faces its second challenge at a U.S. appeals court next month, and this time more Republican states are backing the measure, while one Democratic state attorney general dropped out of the legal fight this week. Some legal experts say the states' realignment could signal that the changes made last month to Trump's original executive order have strengthened the government's case. Sixteen Democratic state attorneys general and the District of Colombia on Thursday filed a "friend of the court" brief backing Hawaii in its bid to block the March 6 executive order, which two federal judges put on hold before it could be implemented. Hawaii and other states argue the ban violates the U.S. Constitution because it discriminates against Muslims. But Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who opposed the original ban that Trump signed on Jan. 27, did not join Thursday's brief, which was filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Shapiro declined to comment. On the other side, Texas, which had been alone in its support for the original January order, has gained the support of 14 Republican states urging that the ban go forward in a legal brief filed on April 10. Those states back the government's argument that the president has wide authority to implement immigration policy and that the ban is needed to prevent terrorist attacks."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-legal-idUSKBN17O00W?il=0

[omcik-blog]

New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/trump-travel-ban-is-discouraging-u-s-visitors/

Trump travel ban is discouraging U.S. visitors

by Chris Isidore   @CNNMoney March 10, 2017: 2:37 PM ET

President Donald Trump’s travel ban could keep out more international travelers than he bargained for.

International airline bookings to the United States, which measure future travel plans, have fallen substantially since the first travel ban went into effect — even from countries that are not identified in the ban.

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“This is all about perception now,” said Mike McCormick, executive director of the Global Business Travel Association. He and others in the industry are worried many travelers simply feel that foreigners are unwelcome in Trump’s America.

About 38% of corporate travel professionals in Europe say they are avoiding the U.S., according to a survey the group conducted this week after the new, less restrictive ban was unveiled.

“We’ve done surveys after terrorism events, when there were high fuel prices, SARS and Ebola outbreaks. This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” McCormick said.

Related: Airport Lawyer service helps fliers worried about the travel ban

The new travel restrictions block citizens of six majority Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa — Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — from getting visas to travel to the U.S. for at least 90 days.

But there are lots of signs that travelers from Europe and Asia also plan to stay away.

Bookings for inbound travel to the United States from around the globe fell 6.5%, compared to last year, during the period that the original travel ban was in effect, according to data released Monday by ForwardKeys, a research firm that tracks 16 million airline bookings a day. (The ban started on Jan. 27 and was put on hold by a federal judge on Feb. 4.)

Bookings recovered slightly after the original ban was blocked by the courts, but President Trump’s vow on Feb. 16 to unveil a new travel ban order sent them down again.

Related: Tech companies condemn Trump’s revised travel ban

“The information … makes it clear that the travel ban has damaged the U.S. travel industry,” said Olivier Jager, CEO, ForwardKeys. “The presidential rhetoric appears to be deterring visitors to the USA.”

Other factors could be hurting travel into the U.S., including a strong dollar that makes travel here more expensive for foreign visitors. But the dollar was already strong when industry forecasts, before Trump’s election, called for a 2017 increase in international travel to the U.S.

Jonathan Grella, spokesman for the U.S. Travel Association, which represents hotels and tourist attractions, said members of his group are reporting canceled reservations. He said people in his industry would like to see the administration do more to promote travel to the U.S. even as it puts restrictions in place.

“We understand the administration’s responsibility to keep the nation safe,” said Grella. “But nothing is lost if you say ‘We would love to have people visit.’ People do need to be overtly welcomed.”

New York City, the largest U.S. destination for foreign travelers, plans a $3.5 million ad campaign in foreign markets to drum up international travel.

The city had expected to see a 400,000 increase in foreign visitors in 2017, according to the firm Tourism Economics, but it now expects a 300,000 decline.

Related: More than 100 companies join legal fight against travel ban

Nationwide, the number of foreign travelers to the U.S. is expected to drop 3% in 2017 after having originally been forecast to grow by 4%.

Foreign travelers to New York City spend four times as much as domestic visitors, staying longer and spending more while they are here. New York City believes that it could lose $600 million in spending by international travelers this year.

And that spending translates into jobs. The U.S. Travel Association estimates more than 1 million jobs are tied to spending by foreign travelers.

February traffic reports released this week by the three largest U.S. airlines — American (AAL), United (UAL) and Delta (DAL) — show no real sign of a drop-off in international travel. The declines were similar to what was reported for January, before the travel restrictions were announced.

But travel executives say the drop in bookings is very real.

“While we’re not seeing impact quite yet, we’re worried,” said Chris Heywood, spokesman for the New York City’s visitors bureau. “This is a critical time of year when many foreign travelers are booking their summer holiday. People have choices.”

CNNMoney (New York) First published March 10, 2017: 2:11 PM ET

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NMLS #1136

[immigration-way]

Canadian Tech Firms optimistic in face to Trump’s immigration restrictions!

Canadian Tech Firms optimistic in face to Trump’s immigration restrictions!

While U.S. immigration restrictions introduced late last week are bringing the stateside technology industry together in outrage, some Canadians see a positive ripple effect on tech recruitment and investment north of the border.

“Canada has an opportunity to be a country where the best talent from around the world can move here and do their life’s work as never before,” said Alexandra Clark, director of policy and government affairs at Ottawa-based e-commerce platform Shopify.

She said the country must focus on incentives to lure foreign skilled workers, adding in an email that “talent is not defined by borders and if they choose to come to Canada, the entire ecosystem will be better for it.”

Allen Lau, CEO of Toronto-based online storytelling app Wattpad, said along with measures recently unveiled by Ottawa to shorten the immigration process for foreign-born tech workers, “what Donald Trump is doing actually may actually help Canada.”

He said the U.S. president’s travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority nations could at least partially bridge a substantial gap in tech talent in Canada.

And Lau said that the travel ban is already having an impact. “Americans who I know have contacted me, and are looking at what are other countries they might want to move to,” he said, although he called it premature to speculate about tech companies moving north to flee Trump.

Canada’s technology community urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week to snap up industry workers caught in Trump’s border crackdown, saying embracing diversity drives innovation and the economy. Dozens of the country’s tech chief executive officers signed a letter asking Canada to offer immediate entry visas to those hit by the order.

“In choosing to hire, train, and mentor the best people in the world, we can build global companies that grow our economy,” said the letter, which included signatures from Shopify’s Tobi Lutke, an immigrant from Germany, and Hootsuite Media’s Ryan Holmes. “By embracing diversity, we can drive innovation to benefit the world.’’

The letter follows a move by Trudeau’s government last year to create a fast-track visa program that would let tech companies bring international workers into the country in two weeks rather than having to deal with the usual months-long bureaucratic slog.

Stephen Green of Toronto-based Green and Spiegel LLP said that his immigration law firm has taken calls since Friday from cross-border companies asking about the process of moving some of their workers to Canada amid U.S. unpredictability.

Green said he has also fielded calls from manufacturers considering relocation, adding that he believes engineering schools here could also benefit in terms of foreign student enrollment gains.

Ben Baldwin, a Toronto-based entrepreneur who founded ScaleDriver, a service that pairs traditional Fortune 500 companies with innovators from the Toronto-Waterloo, Ont., tech corridor and Silicon Valley, said the immediate impact of the Trump administration’s tough stance on immigration is to focus the media spotlight on Canada and its welcoming attitude.

“If you’re a talented individual who is considering moving somewhere and you see a community embracing you for humanitarian reasons, that’s a powerful factor. We know that this is going to benefit us.”

BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen, meanwhile, said in a statement Monday that Trump’s travel ban will hurt trade, adding that “it gives us a little bit of a leg up in attracting talent to Canada.” Chen noted that more than half of Waterloo-based BlackBerry’s executive team and many of its employees, including Chen, are immigrants.

Trump signed an executive order Friday that doesn’t allow citizens from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Libya to enter the U.S. for 90 days.

Chen said the move will make it more difficult to conduct business globally, adding that more than half of BlackBerry’s executive team, including himself, and many of the company’s employees are immigrants.

U.S. tech giants including Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Amazon all have sizable offices in Canada and immigration already plays a key role in their presence: the companies have been known to bring workers to Canada from South Asia or Eastern Europe to get them closer to headquarters while they wait for them to clear more stringent U.S. visa requirements.

Google Canada has nearly 1,000 employees (from Canada and around the world) in Montreal, Toronto and Waterloo.

“Our engineers work on global teams building products that are used by billions of people — and we have some of the world’s leading researchers in AI (artificial intelligence) based in Montreal and Toronto,” a spokesperson said Monday.

“Part of the reason the Toronto-Waterloo technology sector is such a powerful force is the strength and diversity of its leadership.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory, meanwhile, added his voice to those encouraging the tech sector to continue fostering “the inclusive, accepting culture that helps drive innovation in the Toronto Region. I will continue to work with all levels of government to make sure our country remains a safe haven for those in need,” he said in an email.

And even though the Trump travel ban isn’t an immediate threat to businesses in the U.S., emotions are running high because it violates Silicon Valley’s self-image of inclusion and tolerance.

More than any other industry, the tech enclave embraces the work and aspirations of immigrants. At least half of the top 20 U.S. tech companies were founded or are currently led by someone who came from another country.

The late Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, is the biological son of an immigrant from Syria, one of the countries targeted by the Trump administration. The chief executive officers of Microsoft and Google were both born in India. Among start-ups, 51 per cent of those valued at more than $1 billion (U.S.) had an immigrant as co-founder, according to a paper by the National Foundation for American Policy.

“This is essentially a direct attack at what we consider to be incredibly important to our culture and how we built our companies,” said Aaron Levie, CEO of Box Inc.

Read more about this article here: http://ift.tt/2m0difb

[touristguidebuzz]

Trump’s Travel Ban and 21 Other Tourism Trends This Week

Demonstrators sit down in the concourse and hold a sign that reads "We are America," as more than 1,000 people gathered at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to protest President Donald Trump's order that restricts immigration to the U.S., Saturday, January 28, 2017. Genna Martin / seattlepi.com via Associated Press

Skift Take: These are the tourism trends we were talking about this week.

— Sarah Enelow

Throughout the week we post dozens of original stories, connecting the dots across the travel industry, and every weekend we sum it all up. This weekend roundup examines tourism.

For all of our weekend roundups, go here.

>>What TripAdvisor CEO Kaufer tweeted about Republican Congress members holds true for the travel industry, as well: This is not the time to be silent about an issue that cuts to the core of travel and democracy in the U.S.: Travel Booking Site CEOs Condemn Trump’s Travel Ban for Muslim-Majority Countries

>>Compared to previous years we’ve done this survey, there’s been an improvement. But really: a third of Americans say they didn’t get a break in 2016, and that’s not good: Travel Habits of Americans: 34% of Americans Didn’t Take a Break in 2016

>>Tourism associations are already up in arms about the plans but there is no guarantee that the UK government will hand over the power to implement a tax: London Mayor Backs Plans for a New Tourism Tax

>>As economies around the world continue to fluctuate from boom to bust times, the bus market will remain relevant to capitalize on what consumers can afford: Bus Travel Is Growing Around the World, But Airline Competition Is Increasing

>>Now is the best time for you and your coworkers to get your tickets to attend Skift Forum Europe. Don’t wait, this discount won’t last: Announcing Group Rates to Skift Forum Europe 2017

>>Pink-tinted products make it obvious that a company is targeting women, but these tokens don’t significantly improve the travel experience. Female leadership in travel companies is the next, deeper level of serving female travelers: Travel Megatrends 2017: This Is the Year of the Modern Female Traveler

>>As much as we love travel tech, which is crucial to the industry’s evolution, human beings will have to remain front-and-center as well: Travel Megatrends 2017: 5 Podcast Takeaways

>>The Association of Southeast Asian Nations may be better off focusing on facilitating tourism growth through infrastructure and other improvements, which it is adept at, than launching another Visit ASEAN Year: Southeast Asia’s Tourism Campaign Is a Misplaced Effort

>>Fueled by the ability to search, sort, discover, and reserve across digital devices, diners can create the ultimate personalized experience any day of the week: Travel Megatrends 2017: Dining Out Is the Main Event

>>Many brands are looking to ease pain points of traveling with pets, but a lot of work still needs to be done, especially by airlines: Pet-Friendly Travel Is Growing Yet Still Complicated

>>Right now, it means polarization, little conversation, and a lot of anxiety: What the Trump Administration Means for the Meetings and Events Industry

>>The fallout over Friday’s problematic executive order continues: Companies are afraid that employees won’t be able to travel freely and won’t be safe while they’re on the road: Companies Expect to Cut Business Travel in the Wake of Trump’s Travel Ban

>>Now that half of corporate travel policies allow ride-sharing services, at least according to this survey, we have to wonder: What is the holdup with the other half? More Companies Are Allowing Travelers to Use Sharing Economy Services

>>The new standards of modern luxury are consumer-led rather than brand-driven: Travel Megatrends 2017: The New Luxury Is Defined by Small Brands and Big Stories

>>As crowds at airports suggest and polling demonstrates, only a minority of Americans support the president’s travel ban: Trump’s Travel Ban: Fewer Than 30% of Americans Support It

>>Record levels of live streaming and data-driven community engagement rallied people to come together around common causes, which the meetings industry can learn from: Meetings and Events in The Trump Era — Meetings Innovation Report

>>Tune in to hear from two experts about why the travel industry shouldn’t overlook customers with disabilities — and how companies can best serve the market: Skift Podcast: The Evolution of Accessible Travel

>>Think of them as tweeners. And that’s the point: Travelers in their 50s, squeezed between Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, are breaking new ground in their global meanderings: Travel Megatrends 2017: The Fifties Are the New Target Demographic for Travel Brands

>>Expect the growth of the sharing economy to continue in corporate travel, but it will be interesting to see if there will be a ceiling on adoption in coming years: Sharing Economy Goes Mainstream in Business Travel — Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report

>>I can’t think of a more delicious way to take a stand: Opinion: Open Your Travel Horizons With Banned Country Dinners

>>Confusion surrounded last week’s travel ban, and two different surveys reflect the mood of the business community: Another Survey Shows Trump’s Travel Ban Will Likely Hurt Business Travel

>>The likes of Thomas Cook and Tui Group should be wary of Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who in the past has taken on Google and Apple: EU Is Investigating Tour Operators Over Suspected Anticompetitive Practices

[studentofrhetoric-blog]

Wednesday, March 15th, 2017

International News:

--- "A suspicious package found at the German Finance Ministry in Berlin on Wednesday contained explosives, police said, adding that the item was found in an area where mail is processed. A spokeswoman for the ministry declined to comment, saying an investigation was underway. "The first investigation results show that the package contained a so-called explosives mixture, which is frequently used to produce pyrotechnics. It was designed to cause considerable injuries when the package was opened," police said in a statement."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-security-idUSKBN16M1RQ?il=0

--- "The United Nations' Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, condemned the deadly suicide bomb attacks in Damascus on Wednesday saying they aimed to derail peace talks as the country marked the sixth anniversary of the uprising. "These attacks have claimed the lives of innocent civilians. They are also plainly designed to spoil attempts to sustain political talks," de Mistura said in a statement issued in Geneva after Syrian state media reported two suicide bomb attacks killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more in the capital. De Mistura, who plans to hold the next round of Geneva talks between the warring sides from March 23, also called for "full respect of the ceasefire, which is being challenged by violations on the ground"."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un-damascus-idUSKBN16M39A?il=0

--- "Dutch investment in Turkey is not threatened by the diplomatic row between the two countries, as Ankara's ire is focused on the Dutch government, not its people or businesses, Turkey's minister for EU affairs told Reuters. In an interview late on Tuesday, Omer Celik also said he believed the time had come for Turkey to reassess its migration agreement with the European Union, since it has become clear the EU was not following through on its promise to grant Turks visa-free travel. Turkey suspended high-level diplomatic relations with the Netherlands on Monday, banning the Dutch ambassador from the country and preventing diplomatic flights from landing, after the Dutch barred Turkish ministers from speaking to rallies of overseas Turks. Despite the furor, Celik said Ankara was telling businesses worldwide that Turkey was safe for investment. "Dutch businessmen who invest, have businesses and create employment in Turkey are included in this. They are definitely not part of the crisis," he said. "The private sector, business world, tourists and the people of the Netherlands are not a part of the crisis.""

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-referendum-netherlands-ministe-idUSKBN16M0OT?il=0

--- "A U.N. agency published a report on Wednesday accusing Israel of imposing an "apartheid regime" of racial discrimination on the Palestinian people, and said it was the first time a U.N. body had clearly made the charge. Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman likened the report, which was published by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), to Der Sturmer - a Nazi propaganda publication that was strongly anti-Semitic. The report concluded "Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole." The accusation - often directed at Israel by its critics - is fiercely rejected by Israel. U.N. Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf said the report was the "first of its type" from a U.N. body that "clearly and frankly concludes that Israel is a racist state that has established an apartheid system that persecutes the Palestinian people". ESCWA comprises 18 Arab states in Western Asia and aims to support economic and social development in member states, according to its website. The report was prepared at the request of member states, Khalaf said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-report-idUSKBN16M2IN?il=0

--- "Turkey has blocked some military training and other work with NATO "partner countries" in an apparent escalation of a diplomatic dispute with EU states, officials and sources said on Wednesday. Turkey was not immediately available to comment, but sources said it had blocked NATO's 2017 rolling program of cooperation with non-EU countries, including political events, civilian projects and military training...Turkey's action potentially affects all 22 NATO partner states, including Sweden and Georgia, some of which contribute troops to NATO missions in places such as Afghanistan and Kosovo. A senior diplomat from another non-NATO state said: "The longer this continues, the bigger the volume becomes of canceled and postponed activities between NATO allies and partners and the more problematic all this becomes.""

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-referendum-nato-idUSKBN16M2OR?il=0

--- "A nationalist surge at elections in Northern Ireland and a Scottish demand for a second independence referendum have raised doubts over whether the United Kingdom can hold together after it leaves the European Union. Last year's referendum on EU membership saw England and Wales vote to leave while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain, straining the ties that bind the UK together. Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon dealt a blow to British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday by demanding a new vote on independence in late 2018 or early 2019, making her move much sooner than expected. But while the Scottish issue had been well flagged since the Brexit vote, a snap provincial assembly election in Northern Ireland produced a genuine shock: for the first time since the partition of Ireland in 1921, unionists lost their majority. Nationalist party Sinn Fein, backed by many of Northern Ireland's Catholics, narrowed the gap with the Democratic Unionist Party, whose support base is among pro-British Protestants, to just one seat. This has revived the slow-burning question of whether Northern Ireland will stay in the United Kingdom over the long term or become part of the Republic of Ireland. This could be achieved by a referendum, often referred to as a border poll."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-nireland-analysis-idUSKBN16M27O?il=0

--- "Managers who close businesses, shut factories or restructure firms without fully considering the impact on workers and their families are committing a "very grave sin", Pope Francis said on Wednesday. Addressing tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square for his weekly audience, Francis strayed from his text after mentioning he was worried about how families might be affected by a labor dispute at TV network Sky Italia, making clear that he was concerned about the problem in many countries. "Work gives us dignity. Those who are responsible for people, managers, are obliged to do everything so that every woman and every man can work and thus be able to walk with their heads held high, to look other people in the face with dignity," the pope said. "Those who, for economic schemes or in order to make deals that are not fully transparent, close factories, shut down enterprises and take work away from people, that person commits a very grave sin," he said. Francis has strongly defended the rights of workers since becoming leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics four years ago."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-jobs-idUSKBN16M1QI?il=0

--- "A U.N.-backed report on Yemen has found no full-blown famine in the country but said 60 percent of Yemenis, or 17 million people, are in "crisis" or "emergency" food situations, 20 percent more than in June. The World Food Programme said in a statement on Wednesday that the governorates of Taiz and Hodeidah along the Red Sea risked slipping into famine if they did not receive more aid. Both have long traditions as food-producing regions. The crisis follows two years of civil war pitting the Iran-allied Houthi group against a Saudi-backed coalition, which has caused economic collapse and severely restricted the food and fuel imports on which Yemen depends. "If humanitarian actors do not access all the people in need by the coming months, the situation may deteriorate dramatically," the report said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-famine-idUSKBN16M1KI?il=0

--- "It is not right for government to tell women what to wear, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday, after the European Union's top court ruled that companies may ban staff from wearing Islamic headscarves under certain conditions."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-court-headscarf-britain-idUSKBN16M1RA?il=0

--- "Germany will press G20 members to sign off on a set of principles including free trade at this week's meeting of the group's financial leaders, in what the Trump administration may perceive as a challenge to its more protectionist stance. In an unusual move, Germany, the host of the meeting, will stress the importance of global free trade in a document separate from the group's main communique, G20 sources said. The move underscores Germany's desire to rebuff any explicit U.S. demands to water down the group's commitment to free trade, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepares for her first meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday. Attaching a separate document also would allow Germany to clarify its priorities and avoid them being overshadowed by what could be a more heated debate on protectionism and currency policy."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-g20-document-exclusive-idUSKBN16M0SG?il=0

--- "It would be impossible to hold a legal and decisive referendum on Scottish independence in the timeframe demanded by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the British government's Scotland minister said in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday. Sturgeon, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), on Monday demanded a new referendum in late 2018 or early 2019, once the terms of Britain's exit from the European Union become clearer but before Brexit happens. "It would be impossible for people in the timescale suggested by Nicola Sturgeon to make a reasoned view and, therefore, have a legal, fair and decisive referendum," Britain's Scotland Secretary David Mundell told The Herald. The United Kingdom as a whole voted last year to leave the EU, but Scotland, one of the UK's four constituent parts, voted to stay. Sturgeon has argued Scotland should not be dragged out of the bloc against its will."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-scotland-idUSKBN16M01B?il=0

--- "South Korea said on Wednesday it will hold an election on May 9 to choose a successor for former President Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in a historic court ruling last week over a widening corruption scandal. Prosecutors said on Wednesday Park - the first democratically elected president to be removed from office in South Korea - would be summoned for questioning on Tuesday into the influence-peddling scandal. The Constitutional Court dismissed Park from office on Friday when it upheld a parliamentary impeachment vote in December."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-idUSKBN16M02K?il=0

--- "China's accelerated military development and recent activity by its military aircraft and ships around Taiwan pose an increased threat to the self-ruled island, according to a Taiwanese government defense report draft reviewed by Reuters. The 2017 Quadrennial Defence Review (QDR) also highlights the uncertainty over the future strategic direction of the United States in the region, the impact of Japan flexing its military capabilities and "conflict crisis" potential in the disputed South China Sea. "The recent activity of Chinese jets and ships around Taiwan shows the continued rise in (China's) military threat capabilities," highlighting the importance of Taiwan's need to defend itself, the review will say. "In addition to posing a military threat to our country, it also has a negative impact on regional stability." The document is due to be presented to parliament on Thursday by Taiwan defense minister Feng Shih-kuan. The defense ministry had no comment on the report on Wednesday."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-defence-exclusive-idUSKBN16M0CB?il=0

--- "China's Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday that Beijing does not want to see a trade war with the United States and urged talks between both sides to achieve common ground. "We do not want to see any trade war breaking out between the two countries. That would not make our trade fairer," Li said at his annual news conference at the end of the annual meeting of China's parliament. "Our hope on the Chinese side is that no matter what bumps this relationship hits, we hope it will continue to move forward in a positive direction," he said. "We may have different statistical methods, but I believe whatever differences we may have we can all sit down and talk to each other and work together to find solutions," Li said. Issues that cannot immediately be solved should be "shelved" for the time being, he added. U.S. media have reported that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Florida next month. Trump has attacked China on issues ranging from trade to the South China Sea and what he perceives as China's lack of interest in reining in nuclear-armed North Korea."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-usa-idUSKBN16M0AN?il=0

Domestic & International News:

--- "Mexican presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Wednesday against U.S. President Donald Trump's planned border wall and his administration's treatment of immigrants. Lopez Obrador, a fiery leftist who has led recent polls for the 2018 election, said he expects the commission to "speak out in accordance with the law to protect immigrants from the harassment they are suffering since Trump took office."...Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor and two-time runner-up for the presidency, said he hoped the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights would view Trump's moves as a "violation of human rights and discriminatory." The commission, an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), is tasked with promoting and protecting human rights in the American hemisphere."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-wall-idUSKBN16N082?il=0

--- "The United States on Wednesday charged two Russian intelligence agents and two hackers with masterminding the 2014 theft of 500 million Yahoo accounts, the first time the U.S. government has criminally charged Russian spies for cyber offences. The charges came amid a swirl of controversies relating to alleged Kremlin-backed hacking of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible links between Russian figures and associates of U.S. President Donald Trump. This has given rise to uncertainty about whether Trump is willing to respond forcefully to any action by Moscow in cyberspace and elsewhere. The 47-count Justice Department indictment included charges of conspiracy, computer fraud and abuse, economic espionage, theft of trade secrets, wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identify theft. It painted a picture of the Russian security services working hand-in-hand with cyber criminals, who helped spies further their intelligence goals in exchange for using the same exploits to make money. "The criminal conduct at issue, carried out and otherwise facilitated by officers from an FSB unit that serves as the FBI’s point of contact in Moscow on cyber crime matters, is beyond the pale,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord said at a press conference announcing the charges."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yahoo-hack-indictments-fsb-idUSKBN16N0CO?il=0

--- "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will have "substantive, hard" talks with U.S. partners in Asia on next steps in dealing with North Korea, but his visit this week is not likely to produce an immediate specific response, the State Department said on Wednesday. "I wouldn't predict that there's going to be concrete action out of his trip," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing on Wednesday when asked if Tillerson expected firm commitments on moving forward against North Korea. "I think this is a chance for him to have a lot of substantive, hard discussions with our allies and partners in the region about possible next steps, again recognizing that the threat of North Korea, frankly, is only growing stronger," Toner said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-asia-tillerson-state-idUSKBN16M2WY?il=0

--- "A group of Republican and Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday that would provide an additional 2,500 visas for Afghans who have assisted U.S. forces by working as interpreters or in other support functions, often risking their lives. The U.S. State Department said last week it would soon run out of visas for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, designed to help bring to the United States those who have worked for the government during the decade and a half that U.S. forces have been engaged in the country. The U.S. embassy in Kabul has stopped scheduling interviews for applicants seeking a visa through the program. The bill was introduced by Republican Senators John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Thom Tillis, and Democrats Jack Reed, the committee's top Democrat, and Jeanne Shaheen. Tillis and Shaheen are also members of the panel."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-afghanistan-visas-idUSKBN16M25S?il=0

--- "German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday he was looking forward to the first meeting with his U.S. counterpart Steven Mnuchin on Thursday, adding he did not expect him to come to Germany with a closed mind on all matters. Asked about proposals to introduce a U.S. border tax on imports, Schaeuble said that he did not view the new U.S. administration as being close to any decision. "A country cannot just do this unilaterally," Schaeuble said, adding that he was not expecting a fundamental change in international tax policy, "at least not in the short term"."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-usa-schaeuble-idUSKBN16M1PA?il=0

--- "U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flew to Asia accompanied by only one journalist on his aircraft, a reporter from a website founded by former Republican political operatives, in a departure from decades of practice. Tillerson, who became the top U.S. diplomat under Republican President Donald Trump in February, traveled to Mexico and Germany last month with a small contingent of journalists, including a "pool" reporter who informed colleagues of Tillerson's statements or actions. The journalist on Tillerson's plane that arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, Erin McPike of the Independent Journal Review (IJR), was not acting as a pool reporter. State Department Acting Spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement that there was only one seat available on Tillerson's plane for media. The department had previously told reporters covering Tillerson's trip to South Korea, Japan, and China that he would not be taking reporters on his plane and that they would have to fly commercially, breaking with decades of precedent stretching back to Henry Kissinger. "It was decided to take a journalist from an outlet that doesn't normally travel with the Secretary of State, as part of an effort to include a broader representation of U.S. media," Toner said. "We will also make every effort to include a contingent of media on the Secretary's plane going forward.""

 Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tillerson-asia-media-idUSKBN16M0C4?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump used his barnstorming strategy on Wednesday to try to build momentum for his first legislative initiative, a healthcare overhaul, by holding a massive rally in Nashville, Tennessee, reminiscent of his campaign events. Back on Capitol Hill, Republican leaders negotiated behind closed doors, held media conferences and gave cable-news interviews as they tried to push forward their plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. After Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled the new plan last week, fault lines appeared within the party as some conservatives said it did not go far enough and others rejected it entirely. Trump used campaign-like language in his Wednesday night speech, pledging "to repeal and replace horrible, disastrous Obamacare." Speaking to reporters aboard presidential plane Air Force One after the rally, Trump expressed optimism about his plan's chances in Congress. "We're going to come up with something. We always do," he said. Republicans control both Congress and the White House for the first time in a decade, but the overhaul still faces political battles to be fought by a president new to governing. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters before the rally the Trump administration had been in talks with Ryan and congressional leaders and was flooding the media with interviews with administration officials to help advance the plan. Ryan, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, also continued to champion the legislation, saying on cable news he was open to making "improvements and refinements," but also adding "the major components are staying intact." He told a news conference later in the evening the House would hold votes on repealing and replacing Obamacare but refused to provide a timetable."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-idUSKBN16L1VF?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump's senior counselor for economic initiatives, Dina Powell, will be named deputy national security adviser for strategy, a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday. Powell, who worked in the administration of President George W. Bush, will also continue to work with Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner on economic initiatives, Politico reported earlier."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-security-adviser-idUSKBN16N05K?il=0

--- "Individuals who steal classified information from the U.S. government are "enemies to our state" and must be punished forcefully, the White House's homeland security adviser said on Wednesday. Tom Bossert, in remarks that were among the first he has made publicly since becoming the White House homeland security adviser, characterized cyber security in the U.S. government and around the world as being in general disarray. “We need to find the people who do it and hold them accountable and be absolutely unwavering in doing so," Bossert said in remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C. "People who have taken things that they should not have taken, like Snowden and others, are absolute enemies to our state. Period," Bossert said. "They need to be caught, punished, and treated as such.”"

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-bossert-idUSKBN16M31I?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump suggested more information would be coming out soon about his claim that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. "I think you're going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks," Trump said about the wiretap claim in excerpts of an interview to be broadcast later Wednesday on Fox News."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-claim-idUSKBN16M2YQ?il=0

--- "Seventeen congressional Republicans signed a resolution on Wednesday vowing to seek "economically viable" ways to stave off global warming, challenging the stated views of President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax. Republicans Elise Stefanik of New York, Carlos Curbelo of Florida and Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania introduced the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, pledging to "study and address the causes and effects of measured changes to our global and regional climates" and seek ways to "balance human activities" that contribute. Several Republicans who signed the resolution, which is non-binding, represent parts of the country most affected. Curbelo hails from Miami, where streets regularly flood at high tide due to rising sea levels. "This issue was regrettably politicized some 20 or so years ago and we are in the process of taking some of the politics out, reducing the noise and focusing on the challenge and on the potential solutions," Curbelo said in a call with journalists on Tuesday."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-congress-idUSKBN16M235?il=0

--- "Leaders of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Wednesday they do not believe Trump Tower was tapped during the 2016 presidential campaign and that FBI and NSA directors will testify at a hearing next week about that claim and any Russian meddling in the U.S. election. Republican Chairman Devin Nunes and the committee's top Democrat, Adam Schiff, told reporters they do not believe President Donald Trump's phones were tapped, as he asserted without proof, but they want the FBI to provide any evidence at next Monday's hearing."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-nunes-idUSKBN16M2CN?il=0

--- "The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed on Wednesday it would reopen a review of whether the Obama administration's 2022-2025 vehicle emission rules are feasible, a win for automakers which have urged the Trump administration to reverse a January decision to uphold the standards. The EPA said it would make a determination by April 2018 after the Obama administration sought in January to lock in the rules. Environmentalists say the rules save fuel and reduce greenhouse gases. "These standards are costly for automakers and the American people," said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in a statement."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-epa-emissions-idUSKBN16M2RU?il=0

--- ""He expresses a lot of empathy and sympathy for the less powerful," Schumer said, "but when it comes to time to rule, when the chips are down, far too often he sides with the powerful few over everyday Americans just trying to get a fair shake." Conservative legal activists who support the nomination say that Democrats are cherry-picking a small number of rulings that distort Gorsuch's 11-year record as a judge. President Donald Trump nominated Gorsuch on Jan. 31 to fill a yearlong vacancy on the nine-justice Supreme Court...Trump's fellow Republicans control the Senate 52-48, but Schumer repeated his view that Gorsuch would need to win 60 votes, rather than a simple majority, to move toward confirmation. Democrats can seek to use a procedural maneuver to block a confirmation vote if Gorsuch's supporters cannot muster 60 votes, although Republicans could change the Senate rules."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-gorsuch-idUSKBN16M2JT?il=0

--- "The top U.S. derivatives regulator laid out plans on Wednesday for a sweeping overhaul of the agency that will include everything from cutting regulation to restructuring the unit that conducts surveillance for market abuses. In a wide-ranging policy speech that drew a rare standing ovation from more than 1,000 industry participants, Acting Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, who was nominated by President Donald Trump as permanent chairman late Tuesday, said it was time for the CFTC to "reinterpret its regulatory mission" by focusing on fostering economic growth, enhancing U.S. markets, and "right-sizing" its regulatory footprint. In prepared remarks before the Futures Industry Association's annual conference in Boca Raton, Florida, he outlined plans to create a new initiative to help streamline regulation known as "Project KISS" and said he intends to restructure the CFTC's market surveillance branch in an effort to strengthen how the agency polices the marketplace. That unit, in charge of searching for manipulation and other abuses, is currently housed in the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight. Giancarlo said it would be relocated inside the agency's enforcement division to bolster how the CFTC polices the marketplace. A new "chief market intelligence officer" position will also be created, he said, to help oversee a new branch that will be tasked with keeping pace with new trends and technology."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cftc-idUSKBN16M1W3?il=0

--- "U.S. environmental group the Sierra Club has asked the Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general to investigate whether the agency's head, Scott Pruitt, violated internal policies when he said he did not believe carbon dioxide was a major contributor to climate change, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday...The request ramps up tension between the U.S. environmental movement and the administration of President Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax meant to weaken the U.S. economy and has packed his Cabinet with people who question the science of climate change. An overwhelming majority of scientists think that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels is a major contributor to global climate change, triggering sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. "It's pretty unprecedented to have the head of the EPA contradicting basic scientific facts," Sierra Club Senior Attorney Elena Saxonhouse told Reuters on Wednesday. In the letter, the Sierra Club's lawyers said Pruitt's comments contradicted a "comprehensive review" of scientific research on climate change and appeared to be politically motivated."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-epa-exclusive-idUSKBN16M2O7?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump's administration has been contacting U.S. energy companies to ask them about their views on the U.N. global climate accord, according to two sources with knowledge of the effort, a sign Trump is reconsidering his 2016 campaign pledge to back out of the deal. The sources, who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the subject, said many of the companies reached by the administration had said they would prefer the United States remain in the pact, but would also support reducing U.S. commitments in the deal. The accord, agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, would limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. As part of the deal, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by between 26 and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The sources did not name the companies contacted. One of the sources said the companies were "publicly traded fossil fuel companies," and added the White House would consider their input in making a decision on the Paris accord shortly. The source said the White House has been leading the discussions with the fossil fuel companies and the State Department, which represents the United States in climate negotiations, had not taken part."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-climatechange-idUSKBN16M2CB?il=0

--- "The top Republican and Democrat on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee both said on Wednesday that sanctions imposed on Russia over its involvement in Ukraine must not be lifted without drastic changes by Russia. Senator Mike Crapo, the panel's Republican chairman, said reducing sanctions could encourage Moscow to continue aggressive actions, three years after it annexed Ukraine's Crimea region. Senator Sherrod Brown, the ranking Democrat, said the panel should look at increasing sanctions. "Russia remains a hostile, recalcitrant power, deploying its military, cyber-enabled information espionage activities and economic tactics to harm the United States and drive a wedge between it and its allies," Crapo said. President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans and Democrats in congress have both expressed concern that Trump might reduce sanctions on Russia imposed under his predecessor, Democratic former President Barack Obama, because of Trump's expressed desire to improve relations with Moscow. Trump has said he intends, at least for now, to maintain U.S. sanctions...Brown noted a report by U.S. intelligence agencies concluding that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election on Trump's behalf. He said the committee should focus on how it can strengthen its response to Russia."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-congress-idUSKBN16M2H0?il=0

--- "The U.S. government said on Wednesday that 12.2 million Americans across 50 states had selected an individual insurance plan as of Jan. 31, 2017, one-third of whom were new to this market created under Obamacare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid said that of those, 10.1 million people had received premium tax credits based on income that help reduce their monthly health costs and that are one of the lynchpins of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-enrollment-idUSKBN16M200?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered a review of tough U.S. vehicle fuel-efficiency standards put in place by the Obama administration, handing a victory to auto industry executives and provoking criticism from Democrats and environmental groups. In a move widely seen as a preamble to loosening fuel standards, Trump told an audience of cheering union workers, he would "ensure that any regulations we have protect and defend your jobs, your factories," and promised he would encourage growth in the U.S. auto sector. "The assault on the American auto industry is over," Trump said, standing in front of a banner that read "Buy American-Hire American." Trump added that the White House is "setting up a task force in every federal agency to identify and remove any regulation that undermines American auto production." The backdrop and message underscored Trump's efforts to lock down support in industrial states such as Michigan that put him in the White House. Trump spoke at the site of the former Willow Run bomber factory in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which won fame for building an operational B-24 heavy bomber every 59 minutes during World War Two. Now, the site is being redeveloped as a testing ground for autonomous vehicles. At a roundtable with industry leaders Trump made clear he expected automakers to hire more Americans in return, a theme that dominated his election campaign. "We're going to do some wonderful work with you, but you're going to have to help us with jobs," he said. Trump's event was attended by around 1,000 people, including automotive executives, United Auto Workers union President Dennis Williams - who sat next to Trump - and workers from Detroit's "Big Three" automakers: General Motors Co (GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N). Automakers lined up examples of vehicles they build in the United States for the president to see. Auto industry executives have said they are hopeful the Trump administration will pursue tax and regulatory policies that would benefit U.S. manufacturers."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-autos-idUSKBN16M2C5?il=0

--- "President Trump compared his presidency to that of Andrew Jackson while marking the birthday of the nation's seventh president on Wednesday. Speaking outside of The Hermitage, Jackson’s estate in Nashville, Tenn., Trump referred to Jackson as the people’s president, echoing the populist comparisons made by pundits about himself and Jackson. "It was during the revolution that Jackson first confronted and defied an arrogant elite. Does that sound familiar?" Trump said ahead of his rally in the city Wednesday evening, according to White House pool reports. Trump said his visit to The Hermitage was “inspirational” and that he is "a fan.""

Source: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/324207-trump-draws-comparisons-to-andrew-jackson-in-nashville