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Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Covfefe bill aims to stop Trump deleting presidential tweets

Donald Trump is facing action aimed at preventing him deleting his tweets - in a bill named after his infamous "covfefe" post.

The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement or COVFEFE bill was introduced to the US House of Representatives on Monday.

Mike Quigley, a Democratic congressman from Illinois, presented the proposed legislation as a means of making the US President accountable for every social media post he makes.

The bill hopes to amend the Presidential Record Act to ensure Mr Trump's Twitter posts are archived as part of the official record of his time in office.

It would also make the deletion of posts a violation of the presidential record.
Mr Trump has regularly deleted his tweets since taking office, leading to the creation of a number of websites keeping a record of his erased posts.

The US President, who has tweeted more than 35,000 times since joining Twitter in 2009, recently sparked worldwide bemusement by posting the word "covfefe".

In a tweet that stayed online for hours before he deleted it, Mr Trump wrote: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe"

Following huge speculation - and mockery - at what his likely typo was meant to say, the US President wrote: "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!"


The White House press secretary Sean Spicer refused to admit the President had made a typo, telling reporters "the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant".

Mr Trump's fondness for tweeting about his policies backfired on him this week.

Judges cited one of his posts within their reasoning for upholding a decision to block his travel ban on certain Muslim-majority countries.

Commenting on his COVFEFE act, Mr Quigley said: "In order to maintain public trust in government, elected officials must answer for what they do and say; this includes 140-character tweets.

"If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference.

"Tweets are powerful, and the President must be held accountable for every post."

Putin warns Gulf crisis imperils Syria peace efforts

Putin met the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month [File: Pavel Golovkin/Pool/Reuters]

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has warned in a phone conversation with the king of Saudi Arabia that the blockade against Qatar by its neighbours would make it harder to reach a peaceful end to the war in Syria.

The comment came in a statement issued by the Kremlin after the call on Tuesday, more than a week after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and closed their air, sea and land borders for the country, accusing it of supporting "extremists" and Iran, charges Qatar calls "baseless".

Qatar hires law firm to counter terrorism accusations

Putin and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud "touched on the aggravated situation around Qatar, which unfortunately does not help consolidate joint efforts in resolving the conflict in Syria and fighting the terrorist threat," the Kremlin said.
Syrian conflict

Russia is involved in the Syrian conflict, providing military support to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

Saudi Arabia and other Arab states support the rebels who want to see Assad removed from power.

The Syrian conflict has started in 2011 with peaceful anti-government protests. More than 465,000 Syrians have been killed in the fighting and over 12 million Syrians - half the country's prewar population - have been displaced from their homes.

On Tuesday, the Kremlin said Putin and Salman also discussed developing ties in various areas and expressed an intention to "activate bilateral cooperation".

Late last month, Putin met the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Russian capital of Moscow for talks on the Syrian conflict as well as cutting oil production.

US student Otto Warmbier in a coma as he is released from North Korea jail

A US student jailed in North Korea is in a coma after being released from custody, his parents say.

Otto Warmbier, 22, was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour in March 2016 after admitting he tried to steal a propaganda banner.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the release was secured "at the direction of the President", adding that Mr Warm bier was "en route to the US where he will be reunited with his family".

The 22-year-old was medically evacuated from North Korea, the Washington Post reported.

Image:Mr Warmbier broke down as he was jailed in March 2016

Citing privacy concerns, Mr Tillerson said he would not comment on Mr Warmbier's condition.

However, he noted that the State Department is continuing "to have discussions" with North Korea about the release of other three American citizens who are jailed there.

Mr Warmbier's release came during the first day of a visit to North Korea by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who said he was "trying to open a door" to the reclusive state.

Nairobi apartment collapses trapping up to 15 people

About 15 people are feared trapped after a seven-storey building collapsed in a residential area in Kenya's capital.

Kenya Red Cross said the building, in Nairobi's Pipeline estate, had been vacated minutes before the collapse on Monday night but some people were missing and a search operation had begun.

As daylight came, excavators were sent in to begin removing the debris so a search could be carried out.

Image:The building was evacuated before it collapsed

Police said 121 people had been accounted for, but St John's Ambulance said it understood up to 15 were missing after the building went down.

Pius Masai, deputy head of communications at the National Disaster Management Unit, said: "It is believed that some people may have been trapped. Rescue efforts are ongoing,"

Witness Kamau Mwangi told Kenya's Star newspaper that people were told to leave the building when it showed signs of collapsing.

"But there are some people who sneaked back to collect some of their belongings before the building caved in," he said.

Image:Excavators move into clear the debris

"We haven't been able to scrutinise but we believe some people could be trapped."

Joas Nemati, a resident of the building, told the Daily Nation that on Monday workers and the caretaker repaired a massive crack on one of the staircases and assured them it was intact.

But Mr Nemati said that later his wife called him to say they had been ordered to leave immediately as the structure was about to come down.

Image:It is reported cracks were seen in the staircase before the collapse

The Daily Nation reported that a woman and her children had refused to leave their home and are among those unaccounted for.

The East African nation has seen similar tragedies in the past.

A total of 49 people died last year when another building collapsed during heavy night-time rain in Huruma estate, Nairobi.

Where are Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted in world's worst airport rankings?

Four British airports are among the worst 10 in the world, according to new rankings measuring punctuality, quality and service.

Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester were in the bottom five, while Edinburgh was the sixth worst-rated by AirHelp.

Worst 10 airports by ranking

:: Kuwait 5.02
:: London Gatwick 5.38
:: Manchester 5.43
:: Newark Liberty, New Jersey, USA 5.92
:: Stansted 6.07
:: Edinburgh 6.10
:: Mumbai, India 6.21
:: Dubai, UAE 6.24
:: Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Thailand 6.30
:: Delhi, India 6.31

Heathrow was the only British airport to fly high as the 20th best airport. It fell between San Francisco and Vancouver.

Top 10 airports by ranking

:: Singapore Changi 9.07
:: Munich, Germany 8.66
:: Hong Kong 8.42
:: Copenhagen Kastrup, Denmark 8.04
:: Helsinki-Vantaa, Finland 8.03
:: Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky, USA 7.94
:: Barcelona El Prat, Spain 7.90
:: Madrid Adolfo Suarez-Barajas, Spain 7.81
:: Auckland, New Zealand 7.80
:: Frankfurt, Germany 7.76

Image:Singapore's Changi Airport clinched the top spot

Airlines were also ranked, with British Airways placed seventh worldwide out of 87 carriers, followed by Virgin Atlantic.

Ryanair and Monarch featured in the bottom five based on on-time performance, quality of service and how well airlines process claims for compensation.

Singapore soared above the competition again, its national carrier Singapore Airlines ranked the top carrier in the world.

Munich railway station shooting leaves several wounded

A number of people, including a female police officer, have been wounded after shots were fired at a railway station in Munich.

The police officer was shot in the head after a man grabbed her pistol and then fired at bystanders at the Unterfohring underground station.

Police said the officer's injuries are life-threatening but injuries to members of the public were less serious.

The incident is not believed to be terror-related and the suspect was detained after officers shot him.

Police spokesman Michael Riehlein said the area had been secured and there was no danger to the public.

Image:At least one officer has been injured in the shooting

Another police spokesman added: "The sole male perpetrator was motivated by personal reasons. There is no political or religious background here."

Police were called to the station following reports of an altercation involving passengers on a train.

When officers arrived the suspect tried to push them onto the tracks and then manged to grab the female officer's gun, police said.

London Eye owner sees terror impact on visitor numbers

The company behind some of Britain's biggest tourist attractions including Madame Tussauds and the London Eye said visitor numbers had been affected by recent terrorist incidents.

Merlin Entertainments said its London division saw a "softer domestic, day-trip market" after the Westminster attack in March with a "further deterioration" after those in Manchester and at London Bridge.

Shares fell 3%.

The company also said a number of its UK theme parks - which include Legoland, Chessington, Alton Towers and Thorpe Park - had been "adversely affected in recent weeks by the terror attacks and subsequent heightened security measures".

However, Merlin also said that visits by foreign tourists to its London sites had been boosted by the weakness of the pound - making their holidays to the UK cheaper.

It said this had continued in the immediate aftermath to the Westminster attack.

But the company was "cautious on trends in foreign visitation over the coming months" since the impact of the terror incidents would take time to filter through to holiday bookings.

Image:The Smiler ride at Alton Towers

Merlin chief executive Nick Varney said: "The impact of recent terror attacks on our London attractions is unclear at this stage.

"What is clear however is that London has bounced back before, and will do again.

"I have every confidence in the long term resilience and growth trajectory of the market.

"London is very much open for business, welcoming visitors from the UK and from around the world to this exciting and vibrant city."

Merlin, which operates more than 100 attractions around the world, earlier this year reported a 17% rise in annual profits, helped by the collapses in the pound after the Brexit vote.

Its wider performance has been overshadowed over the last couple of years by the crash on its Smiler ride at Alton Towers in June 2015 that resulted in a number of serious injuries.

Merlin was fined £5m over the incident last September.