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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Trump Ready To Meet Kim Jong-Un Over Nukes

Donald Trump has said he would be prepared to meet Kim Jong-Un and speak to him about scaling back North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him," he told the Reuters news agency

Asked whether he would try to talk some sense into the North Korean leader, Mr Trump replied: "Absolutely."

North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr Trump's remarks.

In a separate interview with Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly, Mr Trump also admitted he has "regrets" and could have used "different language in a couple of instances" during his controversial White House campaign.

The presumptive nominee defended his combative style, calling himself a "counter-puncher" and insisting that if he had been less aggressive then he would not have been so successful.

It was the first time that Kelly and Mr Trump had faced each other since a feisty exchange in a television debate back in August 2015, when Kelly challenged Trump about some of the offensive words he had used to describe women he didn't like.

The property tycoon implied she was treating him badly, tweeting later that she was a "bimbo" and a "lightweight", and then in a phone interview infamously commenting that the journalist asked him tough questions because she had "blood coming out of her wherever".

In this latest interview, Kelly asked him about why he had re-tweeted some of the offensive messages his fans had posted about her.

A boyish, slightly embarrassed Trump emerged.


Trump Ready To Meet Kim Jong-Un Over Nukes

Donald Trump has said he would be prepared to meet Kim Jong-Un and speak to him about scaling back North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him," he told the Reuters news agency

Asked whether he would try to talk some sense into the North Korean leader, Mr Trump replied: "Absolutely."

North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr Trump's remarks.

In a separate interview with Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly, Mr Trump also admitted he has "regrets" and could have used "different language in a couple of instances" during his controversial White House campaign.

The presumptive nominee defended his combative style, calling himself a "counter-puncher" and insisting that if he had been less aggressive then he would not have been so successful.

It was the first time that Kelly and Mr Trump had faced each other since a feisty exchange in a television debate back in August 2015, when Kelly challenged Trump about some of the offensive words he had used to describe women he didn't like.

The property tycoon implied she was treating him badly, tweeting later that she was a "bimbo" and a "lightweight", and then in a phone interview infamously commenting that the journalist asked him tough questions because she had "blood coming out of her wherever".

In this latest interview, Kelly asked him about why he had re-tweeted some of the offensive messages his fans had posted about her.

A boyish, slightly embarrassed Trump emerged.

First Kidnapped Chibok Girl Reportedly Found


The first of 219 girls kidnapped by terror group Boko Haram in 2014 has been found alive, according to reports in Nigeria.
Amina Ali Nkeki was apparently discovered by civilian vigilantes in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno State on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old's uncle, Yakubu Nkeki, said she was pregnant and traumatized, but otherwise unharmed. 
She was initially taken to Chibok to verify her identity and be reunited with her mother.  
He father died while she was held captive, Mr Nkeki said. 
Nigeria
The secretary of the missing girls' parents' association, Lawan Zannah, said he had seen Amina sitting in a military vehicle at the area commander's residence in Chibok.
He said he had only been allowed to exchange brief greetings with her in their local language, Kibaku. 
She is now thought to be travelling to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri. 
Its governor, Kashim Shettima, told reporters: "I haven't got any details... I learned the girl is on her way now." 
A community leader, Pogu Bitrus, said other girls from the group may also have been rescued after soldiers closed in on Boko Haram militants on Tuesday night. 
There was international outrage when the girls were abducted from their school in April 2014.
High-profile figures including American first lady Michelle Obama joined a campaign with the hashtag: #BringBackOurGirls. 
Boko Haram militants have killed an estimated 15,000 people and kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children during a six-year campaign to establish an Islamic caliphate in northeastern Nigeria. 

Interpol: 800,000 Migrants Ready To Head To EU

An estimated 800,000 migrants are waiting in Libya to cross into Europe and there is an increased possibility that terrorists will try to cross with them, a report by Interpol and Europol says.
The conclusions of the international policing groups have been seized on by Leave campaigners who want the UK to quit the EU.
The report states: "While a systematic link between migrant smuggling and terrorism is not proven, there is an increased risk that foreign terrorist fighters may use migratory flows to (re)enter the EU."
The report adds that the closures of some border in response to the migration crisis will lead to more widespread and sophisticated people smuggling operations.
It says: "It is expected that, in 2016, more than 90% of the migrants moving towards the EU will be facilitated by smugglers.
"Key migratory routes identified as main corridors for migrant smuggling are fluid and influenced by external factors like border controls.
"Migrant smuggling is a multinational business, with suspects originating from more than 100 countries."
UKIP MEP Steven Woolfe, who wants the UK to leave the EU, said the report's findings confirmed the security fears of former-MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove who says Britain would be safer outside the EU.
He said: "This joint report from Interpol and Europol demonstrates that 800,000 Libyans are queuing up to enter the EU.
"Intelligence says that it is only a matter of time before another terrorist attack occurs in Europe.
"Unless we vote to leave, we will be putting our national security at risk."
The report comes as another group, Human Rights Watch, said Islamic State has been carrying out widespread atrocities in Libya, including beheadings of dozens of residents accused by militants of being spies.
IS is thought to have between 2,000 and 6,000 fighters in Libya, after gaining a foothold amid the chaos that has engulfed the country over the past few years.
The report by the New York-based watchdog, which has spoken to dozens of people who have fled the country, recounts instances of "crucifixions" and floggings of men for acts such as smoking or listening to music.
Senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at HRW Letta Tayler, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group, said: "While the world's attention is focused on atrocities in Syria and Iraq, ISIS is also getting away with murder in Libya."

Senate Passes 9/11 Bill Despite Saudi Threats

The US Senate has passed legislation that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.

The measure, which must still be voted on by the House of Representatives, was approved despite fierce objections from the US ally and the Obama administration.

Of the 19 hijackers, 15 were from Saudi Arabia, with the others from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon.

Riyadh, which denies responsibility for the 2001 attacks, has reportedly threatened to sell up to $750bn in US assets if the bill becomes law.

The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act gives victims' families the right to sue in US court for any role that elements of the Saudi government could have played in 9/11.

Relatives have been calling on the Obama administration to declassify 28 pages of a US intelligence report, which are said to discuss possible Saudi involvement.

The bill would remove sovereign immunity - which shields governments from lawsuits - for countries found to be involved in terrorist attacks on US soil.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said earlier this month such a move would "turn the world for international law into the law of the jungle".

New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, co-sponsor of the bipartisan bill, said: "Today the Senate has spoken loudly and unanimously that the families of victims of terrorist attacks should be able to hold the perpetrators, even if it's a country, a nation, accountable."

Senate Democrats firmly supported the legislation, putting them at odds with the Obama administration, which has threatened a veto.

The White House has said the bill could expose Americans overseas to legal risks.

"Given the concerns that we've expressed, it's difficult to imagine the president signing this legislation," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

But Senator Schumer said the Senate had the two-thirds vote the chamber needs to override a presidential veto.

Man Fights Off Circling Crocodiles With Spanners

A 72-year-old man threw spanners and spark plugs to fight off circling crocodiles after his friend drowned when one of the reptiles capsized their boat.
The holidaymakers from Victoria were attempting to retrieve crab pots on Tuesday in a northern Australian creek near Darwin when a crocodile tipped over their 10-foot-long boat.
The fishermen tried to get back on board but it flipped again, trapping one of them underneath and drowning him.
The other managed to clamber on top of the boat and desperately tried to keep the reptiles away.
"He was using spanners and spark plugs to hold them at bay," said Ian Badham, director of CareFlight, an Australian aeromedical charity which flew him to a Darwin hospital.
He told rescuers he got stuck in waist-deep mud as he tried to pull the boat to shore.
He managed to drag the boat to nearby mangroves where he took refuge before fellow crabbers heard his cries for help.
The dead man's body was retrieved and the survivor was found suffering from severe dehydration and exposure, Mr Badham told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Crocodiles are common in the country's tropical north and on average two people each year are killed by them.
Last month, a 19-year-old on a family camping trip had a lucky escape after he was dragged out of his tent by a crocodilewhich bit into his foot as he slept.
In January, a woman walking her dogs had her arm bitten off by a crocodile in a "death roll".

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

When's A Policy Not A Policy? Govt U-Turns


The Queen's speech today will set out the Government's programme of legislation for this year. But critics say they haven't accomplished much from their last one.
Political Correspondent Tamara Cohen looks at the few of the major policy U-turns from the past year, and how damaging they have been.
:: Tax credits
The Conservatives promised during the election campaign to slash a massive £12bn from the welfare budget, but without spelling out where the axe would fall.
In George Osborne's emergency Budget last July, he announced he had found £4.4bn of this from tax credits, which subsidise the income of the lowest-paid.
The Chancellor said he was making the system more "affordable," but many Tory backbenchers were nervous and the plans were embarrassingly defeated in the House of Lords.
His own colleagues said the move was punishing those going out to work and doing the right thing 
Result: by November the Chancellor had "listened" and made a total climbdown.
Damage rating: 7/10
:: Disability benefit:
Without the windfall from tax credits, ministers were on the hunt for more welfare cuts and took the axe to the personal independence payment (PIP) - a benefit for the severely disabled.
Officials were concerned about how quickly the bill for this weekly benefit was rising. But those affected included 640,000 people who need help dressing and using the bathroom.
It also jarred with the offer of middle-class tax breaks in the same Budget, and in the storm which followed Welfare Secretary Iain Duncan Smith dramatically resigned saying the cuts were "indefensible".
Five days later, new work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb torpedoed the plan, warning: "Behind every statistic is a human being and perhaps sometimes in government we forget that." Ouch.
Damage rating: 9/10
:: Trade union crackdown
After an expected victory at the General Election, how better to keep the Thatcherite flame ablaze than with a crackdown on trade unions which organised public sector walkouts under the Coalition.
Thresholds for strike action were to rise. Labour party members could no longer be automatically enrolled in unions and there was talk of a ban on mentioning strikes on Twitter and workers on picket line having to wear armbands.
What happened? The EU referendum campaign and ministers needing to get Labour supporters and trade union members to turn out and vote to stay in the European Union.
Armbands and Twitter bans were dropped, the funding changes were watered down. The Tory Right was unimpressed.
Damage rating: 2/10
refugees
David Cameron vowed Britain would fulfil its "moral responsibility" last September by taking in 20,000 vulnerable refugees from the camps around Syria to start new lives in Britain.
But the charity Save the Children had wanted the Government to aid some 3,000 unaccompanied children who had travelled to Europe already and were living in squalid conditions in Greece and Calais.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats backed the call, but ministers stood firm insisting it would only provide a "pull factor" for people to make dangerous journeys by sea.
That was until Labour peer Alf Dubs got involved - an 84-year-old rescued from the Nazis on the Kindertransport who said the 3,000 must be let in.
As it became clear Tory backbenchers were wavering, David Cameron accepted defeat, although would not commit to a specific number.
Damage rating: 3/10
:: Forced academisation
The Conservative party manifesto talked about "turning every failing and coasting school into an academy" - run directly from Whitehall, rather than by local councils.
Then in his March 2016 Budget the Chancellor announced every single school would have to become an academy by 2022 "to give headteachers more control over budgets and the curriculum".
A fierce backlash ensued, as former minister Tim Loughton said he thought Conservatives believed in choice, others worried small rural schools would be forced to close and MPs asked why something not broken needed fixing.
As Labour took the heat for poor local election results, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced a U-turn. The bill will be in the Queen’s Speech but with a series of concessions.
Damage rating: 5/10
:: Fox hunting
The Conservatives opposed the ban on fox hunting imposed by Tony Blair's government, and in a boost to their rural supporters, promised MPs would have a free vote.
They knew Labour MPs would vote against it, but didn’t bank on the Scottish Nationalists - who have already banned fox hunting in Scotland – voting against the measure applying in England.
With a slim majority of 12, it appeared the Conservative party had changed over the past decade with 50 Tory MPs also opposed. Having misread the mood, it was one of the first U-turns in July last year.
Damage rating: 4/10