A spokesman for President Donald Trump's personal attorney hit back against a Washington Post report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the president for possible obstruction of justice.
The Post reported Wednesday evening that Mueller has widened his investigation to include whether Trump obstructed justice, citing five people briefed on the requests and noting that the investigation began after Comey was fired last month.
Mark Carallo, a spokesman for Trump's attorney Marc Kasowitz, questioned the legality of the leaking information about the investigation, calling it " outrageous, inexcusable and illegal" in a statement to TIME. He did not deny the Post report.
According to the Post, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, Director of National Security Agency Mike Rogers, and Rogers' former deputy Richard Ledgett agreed to be interviewed by Mueller's team. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, to handle the Russia investigation.
Obstruction of justice is essentially defined as intentionally intervening or tampering with an ongoing investigation. However, the key to proving obstruction of justice is that the intervention was done for corrupt purposes.
"If it's a threat, that makes it a crime. If it's not a threat — but a request — it could still be a crime if the threat is motivated by a corrupt purpose,"Robert Weisberg, a law professor at Stanford, told TIME last month.
Comey had confirmed during a congressional testimony in March that the FBI was investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, which included possible collusion between the country and Trump associates.
The Post reported June 6 that Coats had told associates Trump had asked him to intervene with Comey when he was still FBI Director to reduce focus on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The New York Times reported last month that Trump himself had asked Comey to halt any investigation into Flynn, an interaction Comey confirmed during his congressional testimony earlier this month, but Kasowitz denied.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Death toll to rise after Glenfell Tower fire
London's Mayor Sadiq Khan said the death toll from Wednesday's fire is expected to rise [Toby Melville/Reuters] The death toll from a tower block fire in West London is expected to rise as rescue workers continue to tackle the blaze a day after it started.
At least 12 people died and more than 70 were injured after a fire broke out inside Grenfell Tower just after midnight on Wednesday with the number of dead expected to jump, according to the city’s mayor.
"Sadly, it has been confirmed that 12 people are now known to have died as a result of the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower, a figure which I am afraid is expected to increase," said Sadiq Khan in a statement published on his website.
Khan also confirmed that checks would also be carried out on other similar tower blocks to ensure they were not at risk.
Emergency services battled throughout the day to put the fire out but late into Wednesday the blackened husk of the building, where up to 600 people are believed to have lived, continued to glow orange because of the flames inside.
As many as 600 people are believed to have lived in the building [Natalie Oxford/AFP]
Details are still emerging about the desperate attempts made by residents to escape the high-rise, as well as questions about whether safety regulations were neglected by local authorities in the run-up to the fire.
Sarmad Ismail, a resident of a nearby building, told Al Jazeera he saw a man in the tower trying to get the attention of those outside.
"I remember one Chinese or Asian man still stuck and he was just waving his trousers out the window," Ismail said. "Nobody was helping him.. It was shocking and it still hasn't sunk in."
By Wednesday morning, police had cordoned off the area and crowds of people gathered outside trying to get word about friends and family members who are missing.
NIGERIA: The Hope, Aspirations and Expected “Change”
Nigeria is a federal republic in West Africa. It comprises of 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory. The Nigerian state originated from British colonial rule in 19th century. Nigeria became formally independent in 1960 and plunged into civil war 1967 which ended 1970.
After many trials, the country achieved a stable democracy in 1999, with the presidential elections of that year. Nigeria is often referred to as the Giants of Africa with population of approximately 180 million and over 500 ethnic groups of which the three largest are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Nigeria can be divided into two halves: between Christians who live mostly in the southern part and Muslim in the Northern part.
According to Wikipedia in 2015, Nigeria is the world’s 20th largest economy, worth more than $500 billion and $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP. Political corruption is a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria which makes President Mohammadu Buhari define corruption as the greatest form of human rights violation and many cases of misuse of founds and resources. The government has tried to contain corruption through the enactment of laws and the enforcement of integrity systems, but success has been slow in coming, Over $400 billion estimated to have been lost to corruption since independence.
Nigeria has one of the worlds highest economic growth rates, averaging 7.4% according to the Nigeria economic report released in July 2014 by the world Bank. Poverty still remains significant in Africa biggest economy. For a country with massive wealth and huge population to support commerce, a well-developed economy and plenty of natural resources, the level of poverty remains unacceptable. However, poverty may have been overestimated due to the lack of information on the extreme huge informal sector of the economy, lack of stringent regulatory and monitoring system has allowed for rampant corruption. This has hindered past poverty alleviation efforts to a large extent, since resources which could pay for public goods or directed towards investment and so create employment and other opportunities for citizens are being misappropriated.
Government programmes at poverty alleviation, like National Accellerated Food Production Programmes and the Nigerian Agricultural and Co-operative Bank, Feed the Nation, Green Revolution Programme, Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure, Family Support Programme and the Family Economic Advancement Programme, National Poverty Eradication programme, Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, and the N-Power Programme are good development programmes in tackling the poverty even though Nigeria’s economy suffered its first annual contraction in 25 years as growth in Africa’s top oil producer shrank into a technical recession in the first half of the year as it finances were hit by low oil prices.
Business executives and analysts complain that the government reacted too slowly to the crises and has pursued policies that have deepened the turmoil. As government seeks solution to the twin problem of Boko Haram and militant activities that gave rise to kidnapping in the oil producing zones, agitation for secession by Southeast youths seem to have further intensify the call to restructure the federation with an ultimatum dealt by youths of the north calling the bluff of the southeast Biafra agitators to leave the north latest by October 1st 2017, which the nations national independence anniversary.
President Mohammadu Buhari is out of the country on extended medical leave and his VP Yemi Osinbajo appears to be moving on quickly with economic reforms. Can there be hope for it citizens? The 2017 budget signed as the Appropriation Act for the year seem to hold the answers to this puzzle and expectations and millions of Nigerians and restive youths, many of whom have taken to all forms of criminality and or joining the drove of emigrants searching for greener pastures in Europe and America. As Nigerians watch with higher expectation of a better tomorrow, the masses are praying and hoping that the war on corruption will help to sanitize the nation’s Augean stable to achieve the expected change agenda of the government.
After many trials, the country achieved a stable democracy in 1999, with the presidential elections of that year. Nigeria is often referred to as the Giants of Africa with population of approximately 180 million and over 500 ethnic groups of which the three largest are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Nigeria can be divided into two halves: between Christians who live mostly in the southern part and Muslim in the Northern part.
According to Wikipedia in 2015, Nigeria is the world’s 20th largest economy, worth more than $500 billion and $1 trillion in terms of nominal GDP. Political corruption is a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria which makes President Mohammadu Buhari define corruption as the greatest form of human rights violation and many cases of misuse of founds and resources. The government has tried to contain corruption through the enactment of laws and the enforcement of integrity systems, but success has been slow in coming, Over $400 billion estimated to have been lost to corruption since independence.
Nigeria has one of the worlds highest economic growth rates, averaging 7.4% according to the Nigeria economic report released in July 2014 by the world Bank. Poverty still remains significant in Africa biggest economy. For a country with massive wealth and huge population to support commerce, a well-developed economy and plenty of natural resources, the level of poverty remains unacceptable. However, poverty may have been overestimated due to the lack of information on the extreme huge informal sector of the economy, lack of stringent regulatory and monitoring system has allowed for rampant corruption. This has hindered past poverty alleviation efforts to a large extent, since resources which could pay for public goods or directed towards investment and so create employment and other opportunities for citizens are being misappropriated.
Government programmes at poverty alleviation, like National Accellerated Food Production Programmes and the Nigerian Agricultural and Co-operative Bank, Feed the Nation, Green Revolution Programme, Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure, Family Support Programme and the Family Economic Advancement Programme, National Poverty Eradication programme, Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, and the N-Power Programme are good development programmes in tackling the poverty even though Nigeria’s economy suffered its first annual contraction in 25 years as growth in Africa’s top oil producer shrank into a technical recession in the first half of the year as it finances were hit by low oil prices.
Business executives and analysts complain that the government reacted too slowly to the crises and has pursued policies that have deepened the turmoil. As government seeks solution to the twin problem of Boko Haram and militant activities that gave rise to kidnapping in the oil producing zones, agitation for secession by Southeast youths seem to have further intensify the call to restructure the federation with an ultimatum dealt by youths of the north calling the bluff of the southeast Biafra agitators to leave the north latest by October 1st 2017, which the nations national independence anniversary.
President Mohammadu Buhari is out of the country on extended medical leave and his VP Yemi Osinbajo appears to be moving on quickly with economic reforms. Can there be hope for it citizens? The 2017 budget signed as the Appropriation Act for the year seem to hold the answers to this puzzle and expectations and millions of Nigerians and restive youths, many of whom have taken to all forms of criminality and or joining the drove of emigrants searching for greener pastures in Europe and America. As Nigerians watch with higher expectation of a better tomorrow, the masses are praying and hoping that the war on corruption will help to sanitize the nation’s Augean stable to achieve the expected change agenda of the government.
ICC has called for the immediate arrest Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
The ICC has called for the immediate arrest and surrender of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was freed in Libya last week. The International Criminal Court prosecutor said that Libya -- and any other state or entity with relevant information -- was obliged to detain Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and hand him over to the court, as the warrant for his arrest was still valid. The son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is accused of crimes against humanity. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was freed from jail several days ago in the town of Zintan, where he has been held by a militia since the end of the revolution against his father.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
NATO explores the rules of cyber spying
"No future conflict is likely to be fought without a cyber element," a NATO publication has warned.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation officially recognised cyberwarfare as an operational domain of war in 2016, and now it is exploring "norms" for peacetime and wartime activities.
Norms, which NATO uses to judge hostile activities, define which aggressive activities could be considered acts of war, says Professor Martin Libicki in a paper for the organisation.
Developing these norms is increasingly important in the cyber domain because state activities that were previously acceptable - especially cyber espionage - could now be precursors to cyberattacks.
One incident - the data breach at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) - was cited as as one of the most notorious security breaches of recent years.
OPM held information on all federal workers in the US, including those working in intelligence. Roughly 21.5 million public sector workers' information was stolen in the breach.
The hack was attributed to the Chinese but despite complaints from some public figures, the former National Security Agency and CIA director Michael Hayden said that he "would not have thought twice" about seizing similar information from China.
According to Prof Libicki's paper, such espionage is always going to be considered a norm, but it could become unacceptable if the Chinese delivered this information to cybercriminals.
While there is "scant evidence" of such a handover, according to the professor, cybersecurity professional Chris Kubecka told Sky News that she had seen OPM data for sale on darknet marketplaces.
"Establishing a norm that holds some forms of cyber espionage to be acceptable and others not would raise issues," wrote Prof Libicki.
"First, can the United States and its friends define such norms in ways that render unacceptable (many of) those practices it finds objectionable, but do not prevent its own practices from being deemed unacceptable?"
One of the most fraught areas of debate regards cyber espionage on critical national infrastructure. An adversary could use implants on an infrastructure system to not just take information from it, but also to attack it.
Because of this, establishing the cyber equivalent of demilitarised zones has been suggested by Mr Hayden - but it would be very difficult to enforce such an agreement, Prof Libicki wrote.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation officially recognised cyberwarfare as an operational domain of war in 2016, and now it is exploring "norms" for peacetime and wartime activities.
Norms, which NATO uses to judge hostile activities, define which aggressive activities could be considered acts of war, says Professor Martin Libicki in a paper for the organisation.
Developing these norms is increasingly important in the cyber domain because state activities that were previously acceptable - especially cyber espionage - could now be precursors to cyberattacks.
One incident - the data breach at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) - was cited as as one of the most notorious security breaches of recent years.
OPM held information on all federal workers in the US, including those working in intelligence. Roughly 21.5 million public sector workers' information was stolen in the breach.
The hack was attributed to the Chinese but despite complaints from some public figures, the former National Security Agency and CIA director Michael Hayden said that he "would not have thought twice" about seizing similar information from China.
According to Prof Libicki's paper, such espionage is always going to be considered a norm, but it could become unacceptable if the Chinese delivered this information to cybercriminals.
While there is "scant evidence" of such a handover, according to the professor, cybersecurity professional Chris Kubecka told Sky News that she had seen OPM data for sale on darknet marketplaces.
"Establishing a norm that holds some forms of cyber espionage to be acceptable and others not would raise issues," wrote Prof Libicki.
"First, can the United States and its friends define such norms in ways that render unacceptable (many of) those practices it finds objectionable, but do not prevent its own practices from being deemed unacceptable?"
One of the most fraught areas of debate regards cyber espionage on critical national infrastructure. An adversary could use implants on an infrastructure system to not just take information from it, but also to attack it.
Because of this, establishing the cyber equivalent of demilitarised zones has been suggested by Mr Hayden - but it would be very difficult to enforce such an agreement, Prof Libicki wrote.
Huge fire engulfs west London tower block
Two hundred firefighters and 40 fire engines are battling a large fire on a west London estate.
At least two people have been injured and flats at the 27-storey Grenfell Tower are being evacuated.
Footage on social media showed the building engulfed in fire, with flames stretching over a number of floors.
The fire brigade said the fire had spread throughout the entire building.
London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Dan Daly said: "Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire.
"This is a large and very serious incident and we have deployed numerous resources and specialist appliances."
One witness, Reo, told Sky News: "I was in my kitchen and heard smoke alarms.
"I could see the whole right side of the building was on fire."
Image:The fire at Grenfell Tower is in Latimer Road in west London
Celeste Thomas lives across the road from the tower and said residents and families were "trying to find each other" following the evacuation.
She said: "Police have moved everyone back out of direct sight but I can hear cracking and debris falling."
The tower block is on the Lancaster West Estate, between Latimer Road Underground station and Westfield's White City shopping centre.
Police said: "At this stage we are aware of two people being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation."
At least two people have been injured and flats at the 27-storey Grenfell Tower are being evacuated.
Footage on social media showed the building engulfed in fire, with flames stretching over a number of floors.
The fire brigade said the fire had spread throughout the entire building.
London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Dan Daly said: "Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire.
"This is a large and very serious incident and we have deployed numerous resources and specialist appliances."
One witness, Reo, told Sky News: "I was in my kitchen and heard smoke alarms.
"I could see the whole right side of the building was on fire."
Image:The fire at Grenfell Tower is in Latimer Road in west LondonCeleste Thomas lives across the road from the tower and said residents and families were "trying to find each other" following the evacuation.
She said: "Police have moved everyone back out of direct sight but I can hear cracking and debris falling."
The tower block is on the Lancaster West Estate, between Latimer Road Underground station and Westfield's White City shopping centre.
Police said: "At this stage we are aware of two people being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation."
Trump, take note: Britain’s May seems to have saved her job — for now — by saying ‘I’m sorry’
They are not usually words associated with Theresa May. But when the British prime minister faced a group of her own party members for the first time since last week’s shock election, the tone she struck was one of humility.
“I got us into this mess and I’m going to get us out of it,” she told a meeting with Conservative Party lawmakers Monday night. “I’ll serve as long as you want me.”
It seems to have saved her job — for now. In the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s election, May’s position looked extremely precarious. She ran a presidential-style campaign that centered largely on herself as a “strong and stable” leader, and instead of winning big, she threw away her party’s parliamentary majority.
But on Tuesday, she was still very much in her job. She met with a small hard-right party in Northern Ireland to finalize a deal that would see the party prop up May’s minority government. May is seeking the support of the party’s 10 lawmakers so that the Conservatives can pass legislation on key issues like the budget.
The potential alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is controversial. John Major, a former British prime minister and one of the architects of peace settlement in Northern Ireland, told the BBC he was "concerned" that a deal could undermine the fragile peace process in Northern Ireland.
There were some who doubted that May would even last this long. But after meeting with fellow Conservative Party lawmakers on Monday night, she seemed to buy herself time. She apologized to the group, said she was sorry for those who had lost their seats, and promised to work more inclusively. When the meeting concluded, lawmakers banged on the table as a sign of approval.
Boris Johnson, Britain’s foreign secretary and bookies’ favorite to succeed May, called her performance “stonking.”
The Conservative lawmaker Grant Shapps said it was “May unscripted.”
Heidi Allen, another Conservative lawmaker, had initially predicted that May wouldn’t last six months after the bungled election — and even then, she would only last that long because of imminent Brexit negotiations and the need for stability.
But after Monday night’s meeting, she said she was struck by May’s humility and leadership.
“I saw an incredibly humble woman who knows what she has to do, and that is be who she is and not what this job had turned her into,” she told the Guardian newspaper. “She has lost her armadillo shell and we have got a leader back.”
May’s mea culpa also highlights a difference between her and President Trump, whom May has gone out of her way to befriend — within the president’s first week in office, May extended an offer for a state visit to the U.K.
Unlike Trump — who has a reputation for not apologizing — May has responded to criticisms of her leadership by eating a slice of humble pie.
It’s unclear if May’s overall leadership style will change in the wake of the botched election. Her very first statement after the election was labeled “tone deaf” by fellow Tories after she failed to show contrition. One of the criticisms of May is that she is headstrong to the point where she doesn’t admit U-turns even when others can hear the sound of screeching tires.
She did appear more relaxed on Tuesday, however, even making fun of herself in the House of Commons. After John Bercow was reelected unanimously as the speaker of the House of Commons, May joked: “At least someone got a landslide.”
Today's WorldView
What's most important from where the world meets Washington
Humility has clearly helped May, but there are other underlying calculations for keeping her in the post, not least because the timing of a new leadership campaign isn’t optimal, with Brexit talks scheduled to start next week.
European Union officials say that Britain needs to start negotiations. In March, May triggered a two-year countdown for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union but negotiations have yet to begin. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, tweeted on Tuesday that the “current uncertainty cannot continue.”
But May is also not out of the woods. She could fall next week, next month, next year.
She is a diminished leader and there are few who think she will complete a five-year parliamentary term: May called an election she was under no pressure to call and she and her party ended up considerably weakened.
“I got us into this mess and I’m going to get us out of it,” she told a meeting with Conservative Party lawmakers Monday night. “I’ll serve as long as you want me.”
It seems to have saved her job — for now. In the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s election, May’s position looked extremely precarious. She ran a presidential-style campaign that centered largely on herself as a “strong and stable” leader, and instead of winning big, she threw away her party’s parliamentary majority.
But on Tuesday, she was still very much in her job. She met with a small hard-right party in Northern Ireland to finalize a deal that would see the party prop up May’s minority government. May is seeking the support of the party’s 10 lawmakers so that the Conservatives can pass legislation on key issues like the budget.
The potential alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is controversial. John Major, a former British prime minister and one of the architects of peace settlement in Northern Ireland, told the BBC he was "concerned" that a deal could undermine the fragile peace process in Northern Ireland.
There were some who doubted that May would even last this long. But after meeting with fellow Conservative Party lawmakers on Monday night, she seemed to buy herself time. She apologized to the group, said she was sorry for those who had lost their seats, and promised to work more inclusively. When the meeting concluded, lawmakers banged on the table as a sign of approval.
Boris Johnson, Britain’s foreign secretary and bookies’ favorite to succeed May, called her performance “stonking.”
The Conservative lawmaker Grant Shapps said it was “May unscripted.”
Heidi Allen, another Conservative lawmaker, had initially predicted that May wouldn’t last six months after the bungled election — and even then, she would only last that long because of imminent Brexit negotiations and the need for stability.
But after Monday night’s meeting, she said she was struck by May’s humility and leadership.
“I saw an incredibly humble woman who knows what she has to do, and that is be who she is and not what this job had turned her into,” she told the Guardian newspaper. “She has lost her armadillo shell and we have got a leader back.”
May’s mea culpa also highlights a difference between her and President Trump, whom May has gone out of her way to befriend — within the president’s first week in office, May extended an offer for a state visit to the U.K.
Unlike Trump — who has a reputation for not apologizing — May has responded to criticisms of her leadership by eating a slice of humble pie.
It’s unclear if May’s overall leadership style will change in the wake of the botched election. Her very first statement after the election was labeled “tone deaf” by fellow Tories after she failed to show contrition. One of the criticisms of May is that she is headstrong to the point where she doesn’t admit U-turns even when others can hear the sound of screeching tires.
She did appear more relaxed on Tuesday, however, even making fun of herself in the House of Commons. After John Bercow was reelected unanimously as the speaker of the House of Commons, May joked: “At least someone got a landslide.”
Today's WorldView
What's most important from where the world meets Washington
Humility has clearly helped May, but there are other underlying calculations for keeping her in the post, not least because the timing of a new leadership campaign isn’t optimal, with Brexit talks scheduled to start next week.
European Union officials say that Britain needs to start negotiations. In March, May triggered a two-year countdown for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union but negotiations have yet to begin. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, tweeted on Tuesday that the “current uncertainty cannot continue.”
But May is also not out of the woods. She could fall next week, next month, next year.
She is a diminished leader and there are few who think she will complete a five-year parliamentary term: May called an election she was under no pressure to call and she and her party ended up considerably weakened.
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