#belgian elections were last summer and i voted for the party that wanted to support palestine btw

[aangarchy]

following the US election as a European is mind blowing btw bc what do you mean the racist, misogynistic, convicted felon is winning over a woman

[ara-la]

A Specter is Haunting Europe

A Specter is Haunting Europe

by Michael Novick, Anti-Racist Action-LA/People Against Racist Terror

    The spectre is unfortunately not communism but a resurgent, zombie neo-fascist racial nationalist populism. I visited Sweden, Poland and Germany this summer and became more aware of troubling developments in all three countries, indicative of the growth of far right forces, rooted in old fascist elements in northern and western as well as eastern Europe. You can come and learn more about anti-fascism in Europe from two German antifa visiting L.A. on September 27. Contact ARA-LA for details.

     Anti-fascists in Stockholm told me that although their movement was still strong and there was substantial, broad opposition to open Nazis, the racist right had successfully moved away from demonstrative street actions and confrontations and into the electoral arena over several years. Shortly after my visit, the far right Sweden Democrats, with neo-Nazi roots, who have promised to freeze migration and want to take the nation out of the European Union, became the third largest party in the elections, with 17.6% of the vote (up about 5% but short of the 20% that had been predicted).

     Although there was much greater diversity in Sweden, apparently comfortably, than I saw in a visit 8 years ago, the ruling center-left coalition, led by the Social Democrats, had paved the way for the election outcome through over a decade of neo-liberal privatization policies and recent efforts to embrace anti-immigrant sentiment. The Social Democrats came in first, but their coalition, including the Greens and the Left Party, barely led a mainstream center-right coalition, and the outcome of the deadlock is unclear. Jimmie Akesson, leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats (a misnomer) portrayed himself as a kingmaker. "We see that we are this election's winner, but now we enter a new mandate period and now we are going to get influence over Swedish politics for real." If the center-right is willing to accept their support to take over the government, Sweden will join the ranks of European countries where neo-nazi-based parties are now part of ruling coalitions.

     In Austria (Hitler's birthplace, and once united with Nazi Germany in the Anschluss) the mainstream right's junior coalition partner, the Freedom Party once led by a former SS officer,  now controls the defense, interior and foreign ministries. The Daily Beast reports that hackers discovered that the party’s chairman, Johann Gudenus, once had the Facebook password “heilheil”.

    The neo-nazis have also taken aim at the intelligence services. A police unit headed by a Freedom Party member raided the homes of four staffers and an office of the domestic Austrian intelligence agency known as the BVT (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismus Bekämpfung, i.e., Federal Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution and for Counterterrorism) in May of this year. The bureau had released, supposedly accidentally, an intelligence report on right-wing extremism.

     Herbert Kickl, Austria's Minister of the Interior from the Freedom Party, claimed they were investigating "corruption" in the BVT based on documents that exposed sex parties among staffers. The material, attributed to a BVT employee, was noised around for a year until Kickl took over the interior ministry. Peter Gridling, head of the BVT for the last 10 years, was fired several days after the raids. According to the Daily Beast, he had been the object of a virulent campaign by the website unzensuriert.at (known as “the Austrian Breitbart”). The former editor in chief of unzensuriert.at is now Kickl’s communications director. Gridling has been reinstated, but Germany's intelligence agency has limited its sharing of information with the Austrians after it turned out that some of their material was seized in the raids.

     Austria also hosts the largest regular gathering of neo-Nazis in Europe. On May 12, about 10,000 Croatians – including neo-Nazis and Catholic officials – gathered in a field in the southern Austrian town of Bleiburg to commemorate the defeat of the Ustaše army in May of 1945. The fascist movement which collaborated with the Nazi invasion, was responsible for murdering hundreds of thousands of Jews, Roma, Serbs and Muslims during World War II, many in the organization's Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia. It was the only concentration camp run without any German involvement. Thousands of Ustaše members were captured and killed by Allied forces in Bleiburg. According to VICE, the annual event mourning that fact is organized by the Croatian Catholic Church, which claims that the gathering is not political, but simply a Mass that aims to "remember the dead".

     In Poland, where I visited with anti-fascists at a squat in Warsaw, I learned that the mainstreaming and embrace of open neo-Nazis has also taken place there. Whereas in earlier years, antifa had been able to forestall or disrupt neo-Nazi marches in the capital, beginning in 2015, the Nazi element had become part of a larger, nationalistic march on Nov. 11, Polish National Day (anniversary of the end of World War I when Poland again became independent). That year, several hundred neo-Nazis peeled off from the larger march and physically attacked one of the autonomous movement's squats in the city; although the squatters and supporters were able to fend off the attack, it was from a clearly defensive position.

     In 2017, the 99th anniversary, 60,000 people including right-wingers from across Europe marched in Warsaw, in the "unofficial" celebration, many chanting "Sieg Heil" (Hail Victory, the chant of Hitler's Nazis) and carrying banners reading "Clean Blood" and "White Europe." Warsaw was by far the "whitest" and least diverse city I visited in Europe as compared to Gothenburg or Stockholm in Sweden, Frankfurt in Germany, or London. Vessel cancellations forced me to skip a visit to Bialystok, Poland, where my father grew up, but from what I was told, it is now a hot-bed of neo-Nazi activity, with swastika graffiti everywhere, and antifa forced to keep a low profile.

     Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party [PiS] has taken a hard line against immigrants and refugees, and defended the racist and nationalistic Warsaw rally. Jaroslaw Kaczynski is the "power behind the throne" in Poland. With no official government or state position, he remains party leader and is considered the most powerful man in the country. The party has tightened its grip on the security services, the courts and the civil service, and the media, purging and replacing personnel at the public TV channel with party loyalists.

    In Slovakia, the People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS), led by Marian Kotleba, similarly moved from the fringes to winning seats in parliament. Kotleba used to wear a uniform modeled on the militia of Slovakia’s wartime Nazi puppet state. He rails against the Roma people (AKA "gypsies", also victims of genocide under Hitler) and is an admirer of Jozef Tiso, the Catholic priest and wartime leader who deported tens of thousands of Jews to Nazi death camps. In the post–World War II era, European politics have seen a long series of extremists, generally raging on the sidelines and creating a lot of noise while wielding limited power. His People’s Party-Our Slovakia got 23% of first-time voters in the last election, and took 14 seats in the 150-member parliament. Similar to Sweden, the left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico had repeatedly vowed to protect Slovakia from an influx of Muslims, saying Slovakia would take in 200 Syrian refugees, but only if they were Christians. By legitimizing such anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim politics, he paved the way for the acceptability and electoral success of the openly racist far right.

     But as Sweden shows, electoral success for the Nazi-rooted far right is not limited to former Warsaw Pact countries or former soviet republics like the Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The Dutch PVV and Marine Le Pen’s Front National in France are now partnered with the neo-Nazi Austrian FPO in the European Parliament. Other allies include the Danish People’s Party (DPP) and Vlaams Belang (VB) in Belgium. Filip Dewinter, who is now the leader of Vlaams Belang, published a 70-point program in 1992 calling for the forcible deportation of all ‘immigrants’ -- up to the third generation born in Belgium -- back to their countries of "ethnic origin" — in practice, this would imply the repatriation of the majority of ethnic Belgians, whether or not they were Belgian citizens. Dewinter opposed efforts to integrate “non-European foreigners” into “Flanders and eventually all of Western Europe” as a dangerous plot to create “multi-racial utopias.”

     According to an article on Medium, Belgian philosopher Etienne Vermeersch, professor emeritus at the University of Ghent, points out that Dewinter founded the NJSV (Nationalist Young Student Association) in 1980, with a flag bearing the traditional Nazi colors — black, white and red. Dewinter’s NJSV published Signal, a magazine which in several issues featured a sword with a ribbon, stating, “My honor is loyalty”, the original slogan of the Nazi SS.

     Meanwhile, in Italy, two far-right parties formed the core of a new government earlier this year. The right-populist, anti-establishment Five Star Movement agreed to form a government with the Liga Nord (Northern League) after Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, which had been part of an electoral coalition led by the League, agreed to support the government in Parliament "from the outside" (without entering into the government itself or getting any cabinet posts). League leader Matteo Salvini took the post of Interior Minister, and in addition to blocking entry to refugees (he refused to let a vessel carrying several hundred migrants rescued at sea to dock in Italy), he has ordered a census of Roma, with the aim of deporting those who are not Italian citizens.

     The other noteworthy lesson I learned while in Europe is the similarity of other struggles going on over housing and gentrification/displacement, in Stockholm and Frankfurt, although with less police violence than is the case in Los  Angeles. But those cities, and according to reports from British antifa, London among others are seeing poor people and migrants driven out of areas by rising housing costs or new upscale and corporate construction projects. Comrades in Frankfurt were involved in a rent strike and in efforts to build a tenants' union; they were very interested in developments in Los Angeles along those lines.

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 5/20/2019

Good MORNING  #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Monday 20th May 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

BLP MARKS ONE YEAR IN OFFICE – Hundreds have packed the pews at the James Street Methodist Church to worship and celebrate with the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) which is celebrating its first year in office. During a short address, Prime Minister Mia Mottley thanked God, her Cabinet ministers, their families and the people of Barbados.     She said support was needed in the past year but reminded them all hands still needed to be on deck going forward. In May 2018, the BLP won all 30 seats in the General Election. (DN)

DOOR OPEN FOR DONVILLE – If the embattled Donville Inniss is interested in representing the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in St James South again, he will be welcomed back with open arms – once he is proven innocent. But he will have to be interviewed by an executive board before being presented to the party for consideration. Inniss, the former representative for the constituency, lost his seat to the Barbados Labour Party’s Sandra Husbands in the General Election last May 24. Shortly after, the former minister of commerce and international business was arrested in the United States on money-laundering charges. He is accused of accepting bribes from a Barbadian insurance company and then attempting to launder US$36 000 in illegal payment using the “US financial system”.  (DN)

BARBADOS AND ANTIGUA TO DISCUSS LIAT SHARES  - Barbados will not be negotiating LIAT’s future direction in the public domain, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has reiterated,  in response to reports out of Antigua and Barbuda that her Government has agreed to sell its shares to St John’s. Speaking on his radio station on Saturday, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Mottley has said yes to selling “a significant portion” of Barbados’ shares in LIAT to his government. Earlier this month, the Browne administration issued a statement from a Cabinet meeting which said, “Prime Minister Gaston Browne indicated to the Cabinet members that he has written to Prime Minister Mia Mottley on the LIAT restructuring plan.“An offer was made for Antigua and Barbuda to acquire the LIAT shares owned by Barbados, through a take-over of the liability of Barbados to the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)”.This afternoon, Prime Minister Mottley’s Press Secretary Roy Morris confirmed that Barbados had received the letter but made it clear that Mottley would not be drawn into making public comments on the matter. “PM Mottley’s position is that Antigua has made an offer to Barbados regarding its shares in LIAT, and Barbados has responded by inviting [Prime Minister Gaston Browne] to send a team to Barbados to talk,” Morris told Barbados TODAY. “In the meanwhile, Barbados will not prejudice those talks by making any further statement on the matter, ” he added. Antigua Newsroom, an online news outlet, reported that Browne did not give an exact number of shares Barbados intended to sell, but said Mottley indicated that Bridgetown wanted to retain “at least ten per cent of its shares”. “The intent is not to exclude any country from participating in LIAT. In fact, as far as practicable we would want to broaden the shareholding in LIAT,” prime minister Browne said. He added that he was “quite happy that they [Barbados] will maintain a shareholding position”. Browne further disclosed that a negotiating team has been established, including MPs Lennox Weston and Sir Robin Yearwood as well as a representative from the Ministry of Finance. He said the decision was in the best interest of the Antigua and Barbuda economy. Last Wednesday, at the annual luncheon of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC), Prime Minister Mottley said she was primarily focused on ensuring reliable and affordable regional transport, as she confirmed receiving Antigua and Barbuda’s expression of interest in purchasing her country’s shares in LIAT. “Let’s just say we agree on the mission, and the mission is that there must always be reliable affordable access for travel in the region as there must be nationally. And I can assure you and the country that we are working on this every day. “But you also have to take the reality of an existence as you find it and then determine whether the modality that you have is the best mechanism by which to deliver on that objective,” she said. (BT)

BCC TUTOR QUITS – Reverend Reginald Knight has called it quits. The part-time tutor at the Barbados Community College (BCC) has decided to withdraw his services as a tutor in ethics and citizenship, six days after being embroiled in a controversy over leaked exam results at the Howells Cross Road, St Michael institution. Answers for the ethics and citizenship exam were leaked to scores of students last Tuesday, forcing the BCC to reschedule the test two days later. “It was a mistake. I have apologised to the principal and the registrar,” a contrite Knight told the NATION in an exclusive interview last night. “While they understand how the matter happened, I personally did not wish to be seen, or to have done anything that would have brought the college into disrepute. I have tendered my resignation, and it should reach the college tomorrow (today). (DN)

DE-VERNE KEVIN SCANTLEBURY SLAPPED WITH CRIMINAL CHARGES – Detectives of the Major Crimes Unit have arrested and charged De-verne Kevin Scantlebury in connection with a serious matter which occurred on May 17. Police say Scantlebury, 25, of Clement Rock, Airy Hill, St Joseph, has been charged for offences including: possession of an unlicensed firearm, possession of 11 rounds of ammunition, possession of cannabis, and intent to supply cannabis He is scheduled to appear at the District B Magistrates’ court on Monday, May 20. (BT)

THREE CHARGED IN MILLION DOLLAR DRUG HAUL – Three St Michael men are scheduled to appear in court today, charged in connection with the seizure of more than $1 million worth of cannabis. They are Christopher Dave Johnson, 36 years, of Martindale’s Road; 35-year-old Malo Anthony Edwards of Taylor's Gap, Martindale's Road and Colvin Ishmael Brathwaite, 47, of Brandons Main Road. The trio is jointly charged with possession of cannabis, intent to supply and trafficking. Police were acting on a tip when members of the Marine Section and the Barbados Coast Guard intercepted a fishing vessel 27 miles off Needhams Point, within the island’s territorial waters. They discovered 16 polyethylene bags all containing vegetable matter suspected to be cannabis. The bags weighed about 300 kilogrammes and the contents have an estimated street value of $1 210 400. Johnson, Edwards and Brathwaite are all scheduled to appear at the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ court. (DN)

VINCENT KOMPANY LEAVES MANCHESTER CITY TO BECOME ANDERLECHT PLAYER-MANAGER – Vincent Kompany says joining Anderlecht as player-manager is the "most passionate yet rational" decision he has made after announcing he has left Manchester City. The 33-year-old has signed a three-year deal with the Belgian club after 11 years at Etihad Stadium, eight of which he spent as club captain. Saturday's 6-0 FA Cup final win over Watford was Kompany's final game for City, after winning four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups. In an open letter on Facebook, Belgium defender Kompany said leaving City "doesn't feel real". He defines the essence of the club. For a decade he has been the lifeblood, the soul, and beating heart "Man City has given me everything. I've tried to give back as much as I possibly could." In a second letter released hours later, Kompany announced his move to Anderlecht, who said his arrival marked the "return of the prince". "I want to share my knowledge with the next purple generations," said Kompany, who first joined Anderlecht at the age of six. "With that, I will also put a bit of Manchester in the heart of Belgium.  Centre-back Kompany joined City from Hamburg as a defensive midfielder in 2008 and was named club captain three years later. He scored his final goal against Leicester on 6 May, a brilliant strike from 25 yards that was voted goal of the season on BBC Match of the Day. That victory took City to within one win of the Premier League title, which they sealed on the final day of the season with victory at Brighton. (DN)

ADVENTISTS SPRUCE UP ISLAND’S BUS TERMINALS – The East Caribbean Conference of Seventh Day Adventists has teamed up with the Barbados Transport Board to paint the terminals at Fair Child Street, Princess Alice Highway and Speightstown. Last evening, church members got down to work at the Fair Child Street Bus Terminal. Director of Community Services and Personal Ministries Departments Pastor Dayle Haynes told Barbados TODAY it’s all part of the church’s GLOW (Generosity, Love, Outreach and Wholesomeness) project. “We want to embark on reaching out to our community and helping,” Haynes said. “Last year we painted 50 homes for the elderly and the needy in Barbados.” (BT)

CROP OVER LAG –Some bandleaders are contending that Crop Over is losing its appeal, and fear that in a couple of years there will be a seriously scaled down version of the sweetest summer festival. Veteran leader of Kontact Kadooment Band, Anthony Layne, told the NATION he was seeing Barbados, already “lagging behind” Trinidad, being overtaken by Jamaica Carnival. “Right now I am not seeing many local people opting to jump in the bands. They are leaving here to go to Trinidad, Jamaica and other Caribbean island carnivals,” he lamented. In fact, Layne said his numbers now comprised more overseas revellers than locals.  (DN)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 225 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

[studentofrhetoric-blog]

Part 2, Tuesday, March 21st, 2017

International News:

--- "Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon sought backing from the Edinburgh parliament on Tuesday for her proposal to hold a new referendum on independence from the United Kingdom, the first formal step in a process resisted by London. The parliament started a two-day debate on Sturgeon's proposal to hold a referendum in late 2018 or early 2019, with a vote expected on Wednesday. The current balance of power means Sturgeon is almost certain to win the chamber's backing to formally ask London for permission to press ahead. "It will simply not be acceptable for the UK government to stand as a roadblock to the democratically expressed will of this parliament," said Sturgeon on the first day of debate. Scotland voted against independence by 55 to 45 percent in 2014, but Sturgeon argues circumstances have changed since then because the UK as a whole voted in a referendum last year to leave the European Union while Scotland voted to stay." 

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-scotland-idUSKBN16S244?il=0

--- "Belgium's migration minister on Tuesday attacked aid groups for saving drowning migrants in the Mediterranean, saying they were only causing more death by doing so, earning himself a rebuke from his own prime minister. Thousands of migrants have drowned on their journey across the central Mediterranean in the last couple of years, as millions make the journey to escape poverty and war...MSF, which says on its website that it has saved some 24,000 migrants from drowning, said it regretted that a member of the Belgian government criticized it for saving lives."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-belgium-idUSKBN16S2FA?il=0

--- "Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday that he wants to send a strong message in favor of free trade when he welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders in Italy in May. Italy hosts the annual meeting of seven of the world's biggest industrialized economies (G7) in the town of Taormina in Sicily on May 26-27. It will be Trump's first scheduled trip to Europe. Trump brandished strong protectionist rhetoric during his "America First" election campaign, saying it was necessary to save jobs. He has already pulled out of a key Pacific trade agreement and proposed a new tax on imports, arguing that certain trade relationships need to be reworked to make them fairer for U.S. workers. "It's our hope that the G-7 in Taormina will send a message about the importance of international trade and against every protectionist temptation," Gentiloni said after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Rome."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-g7-japan-idUSKBN16S2JR?il=0

--- "North Korea has nothing to fear from any U.S. move to broaden sanctions aimed at cutting it off from the global financial system and will pursue "acceleration" of its nuclear and missile programs, a Pyongyang envoy told Reuters on Tuesday. This includes developing a "pre-emptive first strike capability" and an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), said Choe Myong Nam, deputy ambassador at the DPRK (North Korean) mission to the United Nations in Geneva. Reuters, quoting a senior U.S. official in Washington, reported on Monday that the Trump administration is considering sweeping sanctions as part of a broad review of measures to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threat. "I think this is stemming from the visit by the Secretary of State (Rex Tillerson) to Japan, South Korea and China...We of course are not afraid of any act like that," Choe told Reuters. "Even prohibition of the international transactions system, the global financial system, this kind of thing is part of their system that will not frighten us or make any difference." He called existing sanctions "heinous and inhumane". North Korea has been under sanctions for "half a century" but the communist state survives by placing an emphasis on juche or "self-sufficiency", he said. His country wants a forum set up to examine the "legality and legitimacy of the sanctions regime". He denounced joint annual military exercises currently being carried out by the United States and South Korea on the divided peninsula and criticized remarks by Tillerson during his talks with regional allies last week..."In the light of such huge military forces involved in the joint military exercises, we have no other choice but to continue with our full acceleration of the nuclear programs and missile programs. It is because of these hostile activities on the part of the United States and South Korea.""

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-sanctions-idUSKBN16S2KY?il=0

--- "Martin McGuinness, the Irish Republican Army commander who laid down his arms to become a major architect of peace in Northern Ireland, died on Tuesday aged 66, drawing tributes from allies and former enemies alike. The face of Irish Republicanism during some of the worst moments of "The Troubles" that killed more than 3,600 people, McGuinness remained a figure of hate for many pro-British Protestants until his death. But the senior Sinn Fein party figure earned widespread respect across Britain, Ireland and beyond by embracing his bitterest rivals to cement the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement and allow Northern Ireland to slowly return to normality."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-nireland-mcguinness-idUSKBN16S0HJ?il=0

--- "Centrist Emmanuel Macron's bid for power in France gathered pace on Tuesday when he won support from a junior minister in the Socialist government while the interior minister resigned amid scandal in a new twist to the topsy-turvy presidential campaign. Voters rated Macron as the strongest performer of the five leading candidates who took part in the first debate of the presidential election campaign on Monday night, watched by nearly 10 million viewers, according to snap opinion polls. His front-running status was reinforced by an endorsement from a junior minister in Socialist President Francois Hollande's administration, the first government member openly to back the independent politician in preference to the Socialist candidate, Benoit Hamon. In addition to the endorsement from biodiversity minister Barbara Pompili, of the ecology party, Macron also won backing from Bernard Poignant, a close adviser to Hollande. The turbulent election campaign was rocked again on Tuesday by the sudden resignation of Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux over press reports he paid his daughters from public funds for summer jobs in parliament when he was a lawmaker. The hiring of family members by politicians has become a sensitive issue after conservative candidate Francois Fillon became embroiled in a similar scandal over parliamentary assistant jobs for his wife and two of his children. Le Roux quit after financial prosecutors opened an inquiry into the allegations against him, although he insisted he did nothing wrong."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-idUSKBN16S0QO?il=0

--- "Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye left prosecutors' offices early on Wednesday after being questioned in an investigation into a corruption scandal that ended her presidency this month. Park did not respond to reporters' questions as she emerged from the building after nearly 22 hours and entered a waiting car to be driven to her private home. Prosecutors questioned Park as a criminal suspect for the first time since the Constitutional Court on March 10 upheld her December impeachment by parliament. Park is accused of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back the president’s policy initiatives. She and Choi have denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors declined to comment on Tuesday whether Park would be called back for more questioning or whether they will seek an arrest warrant from the court to detain her. They did not discuss the details of the questions but said Park was responding well to the investigation. She issued a brief statement upon arriving at the prosecutors' office on Tuesday, her first public remark since being removed from office...The questioning lasted 14 hours until just before midnight, one of her lawyers, Sohn Bum-gyu, told reporters."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-souhtkorea-politics-idUSKBN16S2W3?il=0

"Several developing countries are rising in the ranks of overall well-being after decades of struggling to keep up with Western nations, an annual report shows. The World Happiness Report, an index that rates nations based on factors such as income and life expectancy, released its 2017 list Monday at the United Nations. The list doesn’t contain any surprises among the happiest or least happy nations, where Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, and Finland rounded out the top and the Central African Republic, Syria, Tanzania, and Burundi came in among the bottom of the list. But there is movement among some developing nations, including Nicaragua, Latvia, Sierra Leone, and Ecuador, which all saw the highest jumps in their happiness ratings when indexes from 2005-2007 were compared to 2014-2016 numbers. Meanwhile, nations on the regressing side included many Western countries, such as the United States, Italy, and Greece, as well as impoverished nations like the Central African Republic, Rwanda, and Ukraine. Nicaragua came in 43rd, Ecuador in 44th, Latvia in 54th, and Sierra Leone in 106th, overall, putting each (aside from Sierra Leone) in the top half of nations. Sierra Leone made the third-largest gain on the happiness scale, after Latvia (No. 2) and Nicaragua (No. 1). Analysts say that healthy life expectancy and gross domestic product per capita are two of the strongest determining factors in gauging a country’s happiness. But among nations that have generally ranked lower, such as developing countries in Latin America, Africa, or Eastern Europe, seemingly slight changes in those factors, or in issues of violent conflict and volatile political systems, can facilitate larger shifts, causing countries to see significant progress."

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2017/0321/It-s-not-just-Norway-some-developing-countries-are-seeing-gains-in-happiness-index-too

Domestic & International News:

--- "U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson proposed new dates on Tuesday for a NATO meeting, the State Department said, after he initially decided to skip the talks and rebuffed the alliance's efforts to reschedule them. Tillerson's decision to miss his first meeting with NATO foreign ministers, set for April 5-6 in Brussels, unsettled European allies who worried it reopened questions about U.S. President Donald Trump's commitment to the alliance. Reuters exclusively reported on Monday that Tillerson would stay in the United States to attend Trump's expected April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida. U.S. officials also said Tillerson would visit Russia later in April. The alliance had offered to change the meeting dates so Tillerson could attend both it and the Xi talks but the U.S. State Department rebuffed the idea, a former U.S. official and a former NATO diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday. On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the department put forward new dates for a meeting when Tillerson could come, noting that such a decision would have to be made by consensus among the 28 NATO members...It was not yet clear if the NATO meeting would be rescheduled to accommodate Tillerson...NATO's quarterly meetings are closed-door sessions over about two days in which governments discuss security strategies and approve top secret documents designed to guide the nuclear-armed alliance in areas ranging from training in Afghanistan to defenses against Iranian missiles. Given the U.S. role as the de facto head of the alliance, it is rare for the country's top diplomat to miss a NATO meeting. The last time was during the Iraq war in 2003, when Colin Powell was forced to cancel at the last moment."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-tillerson-nato-idUSKBN16S18S?il=0

--- "The United States and Britain on Tuesday imposed restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming from certain airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified security threats. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said passengers traveling from a specific list of airports could not bring into the main cabin devices larger than a mobile phone such as tablets, portable DVD players, laptops and cameras. Instead, such items must be in checked baggage. Although civil liberties groups raised concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump was seeking another limit on movement after a travel ban from Muslim-majority countries was challenged in the courts, Britain took similar steps. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said there would be curbs on electronic items in the cabin on flights from six countries in the Middle East. The foreign office said the measures would be implemented by March 25. The moves were prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices inside electronic gadgets. The ban would continue for the "foreseeable future," a U.S. government official said on Tuesday, adding that it was possible it could be extended to other airports and other countries...The airports covered by the U.S. restrictions are in Cairo; Istanbul; Kuwait City; Doha, Qatar; Casablanca, Morocco; Amman, Jordan; Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates. The affected airports are served by nine airlines that fly directly from those cities to the United States about 50 times a day, senior government officials said. The carriers -- Royal Jordanian Airlines, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways -- have until Friday to adopt the new policy, which took effect on Tuesday."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-airlines-electronics-idUSKBN16S11Q?il=0

--- "The new U.S. administration should keep its international obligations and common trade rules in mind when overhauling its tax code to favor exports over imports, senior European and German government officials said on Tuesday. Seeking to put "America first", U.S. President Donald Trump has already pulled out of one major trade agreement and proposed a border tax on imports, arguing that certain trade relationships need to be reshaped to make them fairer for U.S. workers. "The European Commission expects all trade partners to stick to international rules and obligations to which they committed, especially under the framework of the World Trade Organization," a senior European Union official said, referring to U.S. proposals to introduce a border adjustment tax. The EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed to the WTO requirement to avoid any form of discrimination in trade relations. Germany Deputy Economy Minister Matthias Machnig urged the new U.S. administration to abide by the rules under the WTO framework."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-usa-trade-rules-idUSKBN16S2H4?il=0

--- "U.S. and European shares tumbled on Tuesday on concerns that higher interest rates and pro-growth U.S. policies were on hold, boosting safe-haven Treasuries and gold prices, while the euro hit a more than six-week high against the dollar on soothed French election worries. The U.S. S&P 500 financial sector .SPSY fell as much as 2.8 percent and was on track for its biggest daily plunge in nine months. Analysts attributed the selling to reduced confidence that U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-growth policies, including financial deregulation, would occur soon, and to concerns of a dovish Federal Reserve. The Fed stuck to its outlook for two more hikes this year last week, instead of the three expected by many market participants."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN16S030?il=0

--- "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has written to the leaders of the U.S. Senate urging the ratification of Montenegro as the newest member of the NATO alliance, saying it is "strongly in the interests of the United States." In a letter dated March 7 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Tillerson argued that Montenegro's membership in the alliance would support greater integration, democratic reform, trade, security and stability among its neighbors. Moscow opposes any further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the delay in U.S. approval of Montenegro's accession has fueled questions about whether President Donald Trump's administration and his Republican Party will stand up to Russia despite Trump's desire for better relations...Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic with a population of 650,000, hopes to win the required approval of all 28 NATO allies in time to become a full member at a summit in May. By early this month, it had been approved by 24. NATO members see Montenegro's accession as a way to counter Russia's efforts to expand its influence in the Balkans."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nato-montenegro-exclusive-idUSKBN16S2VH?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday that it supported the Republican healthcare bill that could come up for a vote in the House of Representatives as early as Thursday. The chamber said it would consider how lawmakers vote on the bill in its annual "How They Voted Scorecard," which could put pressure on members of Congress to support the legislation."

Source:  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-chamberofcommerce-idUSKBN16S2LX?il=0

--- "U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday pledged independence from President Donald Trump and said no one including the president is above the law amid concerns by Democrats he would be beholden to the man who selected him. Answering questions from senators during the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Gorsuch said Trump never asked him to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion nationwide, saying if the Republican president had done so "I would have walked out the door." Trump promised during last year's presidential campaign to appoint an anti-abortion justice who would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which many conservatives want reversed. If confirmed by the Senate as expected to fill a 13-month-old vacancy, Gorsuch would restore the nine-seat court's conservative majority at a time when Republicans control Congress and the White House. But the conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado repeatedly said he was beyond politics. "When I became a judge, they gave me a gavel not a rubber stamp," Gorsuch said. "I am my own man," he added. His steady, measured performance during the marathon session, marked by a few moments of indignation under Democratic questioning, indicated he was on track for confirmation."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-gorsuch-idUSKBN16S10L?il=0

Background on Gorsuch: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-gorsuch-cases-factbox-idUSKBN16S10X?il=0

--- "Some conservatives in Washington were fuming on Tuesday after an Obamacare rollback bill was tweaked by Republican leaders to delete a provision meant to crack down on illegal immigrants getting federal healthcare insurance coverage. The development posed another problem for Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and President Donald Trump, who are trying to win congressional approval of the wider bill, the first big legislative test for Trump since taking office. The provision would have allowed the Treasury Department to access data at the Department of Homeland Security to verify that healthcare tax credits went only to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, not to illegal immigrants. In a largely procedural move, it was dropped from the bill after the Senate Parliamentarian determined that the Senate Finance Committee, which handles tax credits under the bill, does not have purview over the Department of Homeland Security."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-immigration-idUSKBN16S2RX?il=0

--- "Organizers of a prominent Mexican festival in Philadelphia have cancelled this year’s parade over concerns that immigration authorities could target attendees. Edgar Ramirez, one of the six organizers who decided unanimously to cancel it, told local station WCAU-TV that the decision was a “sad but responsible” one in light of the "severe conditions affecting the immigrant community,” citing recent large-scale immigration raids that include a roundup of 248 people in Pennsylvania and neighboring states this month. "We have people who travel all the way from Chicago, Connecticut and New York," Mr. Ramirez told the station. "We don't want anything to happen to them." El Carnaval de Puebla, held in South Philadelphia for about a decade on May 5, celebrates Mexican forces’ defeat of French invaders on May 5, 1862 in Puebla, the state from which much of the city's Mexican population hails. About 450 people march in the parade, which draws about 15,000 attendees. The event's cancellation seems to underscore the way a crackdown aimed at least nominally at immigrants without legal status has prompted trepidation among nonwhite ethnic communities more generally. And it comes as Philadelphia, along with other cities deemed “sanctuaries” for immigrants due to policies that limit police cooperation with ICE, faces pressure from the Trump administration. In a January memo, President Trump ordered federal funding to be cut off for such jurisdictions, though if and how that might be enacted remains unclear."

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2017/0321/Cinco-de-Mayo-cancelled-in-Philadelphia-amid-immigration-fears

--- "In the eyes of some Democrats, he might be the hero the party deserves – and the hero it needs. Former Vice President Joe Biden returns to the political stage as a not-so-silent guardian of Obamacare just two months after leaving office. Joining House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats on the steps of the Capitol, an Obamacare rally will mark an unusually political start for a post-vice presidency. The Democratic leaders will gather on the front steps of the Capitol at 10 a.m. Wednesday in a joint celebration of Obamacare’s 7th anniversary and in protest of its potentially imminent repeal, according to Politico. The rally will be one of Mr. Biden’s first political appearances since leaving office in January."

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2017/0321/Biden-returns-What-s-next-in-the-Obamacare-fight

--- "Andrew Puzder, who withdrew as nominee for U.S. Labor Secretary in the new Trump administration, is stepping down as chief executive of CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc in April, the parent of the Carl's Jr and Hardee's restaurant chains said on Tuesday. "I expressed my desire to have CKE plan for succession approximately a year ago," said Puzder, 66, who has served as chief executive officer since 2000. Puzder will be succeeded by Jason Marker, who most recently was president of Yum Brands Inc's (YUM.N) KFC chain. Puzder pulled his name from consideration for labor secretary in February, amid concerns that he could not garner enough U.S. Senate votes to be confirmed following a swirl of controversies, complaints and potential conflicts."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cke-restaurants-puzder-idUSKBN16S2XE?il=0

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is not considering a carbon tax, a White House official said on Tuesday. On Feb. 8, Trump administration officials met with a group of Republican elder statesman who called for a $40 per ton tax on carbon emissions to fend off global climate change. In response to that meeting, the White House official said: "The Trump Administration is not considering a carbon tax.""

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-carbontax-idUSKBN16S2ZF?il=0

--- "The United States pulled out of a regional hearing held on Tuesday to discuss the possible effects on human rights from executive orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump targeting immigrants and refugees, organizers said. The hearing by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), created by the 35-nation Organization of American States (OAS) to protect human rights in the Americas, follows concerns over the impact of three executive orders signed by Trump, including plans to build a wall on the border with Mexico. The U.S. government has appealed a federal judge's halt on Trump's ban on refugees and travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries. Trump said the ban was needed to protect the country from Islamist militants but immigration advocates said it discriminated against Muslims. Maria Isabel Rivero, a spokeswoman for the IACHR, said the United States advised the commission on Monday it would not attend the panel, which includes representatives from a number of regional human rights and immigration groups. "If the member state doesn't want to be represented there is nothing we can do about it but the hearing goes ahead anyway," Rivero said. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said government lawyers felt it would not have been appropriate to discuss the executive orders while some are under review by U.S. courts."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-rights-oas-idUSKBN16S2YP?il=0