Donald Trump ends 'strategic patience' with North Korea

Donald Trump has declared the end to an "era of strategic patience" with North Korea as he vowed to defend the US and its allies against Pyongyang.

Appearing in the White House Rose Garden with South Korea's leader Moon Jae-in, the US President branded North Korea a "menace" with "no respect for human life".

He demanded the rogue state "choose a better path and do it quickly", condemned the country as a "reckless and brutal regime" and said "millions of their own people have starved to death."

Beyond North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile activity, concern in the US has grown recently after the death of Otto Warmbier.

The US student fell into a coma while in North Korean custody and died just days after being returned to the US.

Mr Trump said: "The North Korean dictatorship has no regard for the safety and security of its people or its neighbours and has no respect for human life - and that's been proven over and over again."

He thanked President Moon for offering his condolences over Mr Warmbier's death.

Mr Trump added: "The US calls on nations around the world to implement sanctions and demand that the North Korean regime chose a better path and do it quickly for a better future for its long-suffering people."

Image:Donald Trump met Moon Jae-in at the White House

The meeting between the two leaders on Friday was seen as important both diplomatically and economically.

Mr Trump praised the alliance between the US and South Korea as "a cornerstone of peace and security in a very, very dangerous part of the world".

The US President also accepted an invitation to South Korea later this year.

Mr Trump vowed to start reducing the US trade deficit by renegotiating a trade deal with South Korea.

The US had a $27.6bn trade deficit with South Korea last year and Mr Trump said: "We cannot allow that to continue. That's not a good deal."

The two leaders did not take questions, marking the second consecutive foreign visit where Mr Trump has not taken questions alongside a world leader he is hosting at the White House.

Mr Moon's visit to Washington DC came after Mr Trump approved a series of measures designed to ratchet up pressure on North Korea, while also sending signals to China about America's declining patience over efforts to tackle Pyongyang.

On Thursday, the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on a Chinese bank, while the State Department approved a $1bn arms deal with Taiwan.

Both moves appeared aimed at unsettling China, with the US having repeatedly urged Beijing to pressure North Korea into changing its behaviour.

Arkansas nightclub shooting: at least 17 injured after gunman opens fire

At least 17 people have been left injured after a gunman opened fire at a nightclub in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to police.

Officers said via Twitter that all the victims at the Power Lounge are alive and one who was previously listed in critical condition is now stable.

#UPDATE as of now ALL 17 confirmed shooting victims are alive. We will provide additional updates as needed.

David Davis and Boris Johnson 'want PM to loosen Brexit stance'

A former top aide to David Davis has suggested the Brexit Secretary wants Theresa May to scrap her "red lines" on Britain's EU exit.

Despite her General Election disaster, the Prime Minister has stuck to her Brexit plan's hardline stance on leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and gaining full control over immigration.

But it has been claimed two of the most senior members of her Cabinet want Mrs May to soften her position because it is making Brexit negotiations "very difficult".

James Chapman, Mr Davis' chief of staff until the General Election, described how both his former boss and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson might be keen for the Prime Minister to rethink her Brexit vision.

Where Mrs May has taken "absolutist positions on particular issues", such as the ECJ, Mr Chapman said the Prime Minister had "hamstrung" the UK in exit talks with the EU.

He suggested Mrs May had "set a red line" on the ECJ for the purposes of her Tory party conference speech last year.

Mr Chapman insisted "there isn't anyone better" in Parliament than Mr Davis to negotiate Brexit, telling BBC Radio 4's The Week In Westminster: "He's a very tough, resilient operator.

"There have been red lines that have been set for him, that make the job he has to do very difficult."

Asked if any Brexit-supporters in the upper ranks of Government would want Mrs May to rethink her pre-election Brexit plan, Mr Chapman said: "If you consider the two most powerful Brexiters in the Cabinet; David Davis and Boris Johnson, they're actually pretty liberal on issues like immigration.

"I think that there would be room to recalibrate some of this approach but at the moment she is showing no willingness to do this.

"She said that when she delivered the Lancaster House speech that's the plan and that's what she is sticking to.

"Now this is a new Parliament, there's a new reality. She has to get these things through Parliament. There's an enormous amount of legislation."

He claimed if the Prime Minister doesn't show "more flexibility" and "pragmatism" then "she won't get this stuff through Parliament".

Mr Chapman highlighted withdrawal from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), which governs the peaceful use of nuclear energy within the EU, as one area where Parliament was likely to force Mrs May into reversing her position.

He suggested the Prime Minister had committed to leaving Euratom because the treaty is governed by the ECJ and allows the free movement of nuclear scientists.

Mr Chapman said: "We're withdrawing from it because of this absolutist position on the European Court."

Gulf crisis: Qatar FM meets UN Security Council

Qatar's foreign minister met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday to discuss the crisis [Reuters]

Qatar's foreign minister has asked members of the United Nations Security Council to urge a Saudi-led bloc of states to lift their blockade on the Gulf country, nearly one month after it began.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Friday met with non-permanent members of the Security Council at the Qatari mission to the UN in the US state of New York, urging them to speak out publicly on his country's behalf.

Al Thani told Al Jazeera he gave them "updates on the situation" and urged "all of them to call for a lifting of the blockade on Qatar".

Qatar envoy to UK : Saudi-led blockade is collective punishment

Qatar was "trying to encourage all the parties to enter a serious dialogue to try to put an end to this," the foreign minister said.

The meeting took place one day after Al Thani's visit to Washington DC, "where US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson promised to try to help resolve the gulf crisis," Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York, said.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 over allegations that it supports "extremism" and is too close to Iran - charges Doha has repeatedly denied.

After more than two weeks, the four Arab countries gave Doha a 10-day ultimatum to comply with a 13-point list of demands in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures.

Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski & Joe Scarborough respond to Donald Trump

Revenge is always a dish better served cold.

TV hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski delayed the start of their vacation to respond to Donald Trump’s misogynistic facelift tweet, claiming that the President is “vicious to women” because he fears them.

“I’m fine,” Ms Brzezinski said. “My family brought me up really tough. This is absolutely nothing for me personally. But I’m very concerned about what this once again reveals about the president of the United States.”

“The president’s tweets, whether they’re personally aimed at me … that doesn’t bother me one bit. It does worry me about the country.”

“It's been fascinating and frightening and really sad for our country,” Ms Brzezinski added. “We're OK,” said Mr Scarborough said. “The country's not.”

When Mr Trump announced he was running for the White House, former congressman Mr Scarborough and co-host Ms Brzezinski, his fiancee, were considered supportive of his bid for the Republican nomination. Mr Trump appeared frequently, on their MSNBC show, Morning Joe, and consider them to be “believers”, if not outright supporters.

But their relationship soured, and took a sharp turn for the worse after Mr Scarborough penned an article in the Washington Post last year expressing concerns about Mr Trump.

This week, Mr Trump sparked widespread outcry when he posted two tweets about the anchors.

“I heard poorly rated @Morning Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore),” he said.

“Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came ... to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a facelift. I said no.”

The comments were widely condemned, both by Mr Trump’s opponents and members of the Republican party. Observers - used to Mr Trump’s unprecedented behaviour since he assumed the presidency - said he had crossed yet another red line.

Mr Scarborough and Ms Brzezinski also responded to Mr Trump, with a joint op-ed article in the Post.

“President Trump launched personal attacks against us Thursday, but our concerns about his unmoored behavior go far beyond the personal,” they wrote.

“America’s leaders and allies are asking themselves yet again whether this man is fit to be president. We have our doubts, but we are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show, ‘Morning Joe’.”

The couple appearance on Friday morning spread over more than half-an-hour. At times, Mr Scarborough's comments veered towards the pompous and sanctimonious.

Yet Ms Brzezinski spoke very candidly, admitting to the facelift operation that Mr Trump had mocked. "I'm very open about it," she said. "I'm very happy about it."

Mr Scarborough claimed he had been told by senior members of Mr Trump’s team they were worried about his mental health. He said they had also been told things they were not able to say on the air.

Ms Brzezinski added: “He has once again shown the world that he can be played, that he can be tweaked, that he can be goaded. “That is what I’m worried about.”

Quran for proof that Islam is a peaceful religion

The so-called Jihadi groups, which consist of extremist Muslims of every faction: ranging from Salafis, Wahhabis, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Isis and many more, consider themselves as advocates of True Islam. These terrorists claim that the Paris, London and New York attacks are supported and justified by the Quran.

Meanwhile, the majority of Muslims condemn those atrocities.

For those on the outside of the debate, this may seem like a confusing situation. Which side speaks the truth? Is Islam a dangerous religion?

Here are the reasons why the Quran doesn’t support the actions of terrorist groups both in the reasons for waging war and what it is appropriate to do when there is defensive justification for war.

To be frank, God does give conditional permission for Muslims to wage war; however there are strict guidelines for this which jihadists do not adhere to.

Here are some of the terms and conditions: first, Muslims cannot pre-emptively initiate a war. They are only allowed to act in defense. Muslims have permission from God to fight back only when they are expelled from their houses or lands. War can be waged if there is a situation where defenseless people are under attack and ask their Muslim allies for help. The last reason for a just war is when war breaks out between two groups of believers and one party does not intend to stop it in spite of a proposed truce.

Even for battles and fights, the Quran has set limitations and frameworks. If the enemy proposes peace, Muslims should immediately stop the war. Second, Muslims are not allowed to transgress the divine justice: “fight for the cause of God, those who fight you, but do not transgress, for God does not love the transgressors.” The idea of unrestricted, apocalyptic warfare as proposed by Isis is totally un-Islamic. Third, Muslims have to treat prisoners of war with honour, not behead them, as seen recently in the bloody propaganda videos spread by the so called Islamic state. Prisoners should be released after the war, either in exchange for Muslims captives or only as a favour. Also Muslims do not have permission to keep prisoners of war, enslave them, or use them as future soldiers. Finally, followers of Islam are not allowed to force their religious beliefs upon their enemies.

According to the Quran, jihadists obliterate one of the most important commandments about relationships with other nations. The Quran indicates that Muslims should not seek hostility towards those who haven’t sought any war against them. The verse mentions that Muslims have to establish mutual relationships with those who have not expelled, nor have helped to expel, Muslims from their lands. Thus it becomes clear that the Quran has not hindered the Muslims from being kind and just toward free-thinkers.

The permission to fight in the Quran mainly has defensive and reactive purpose. A true follower of the Quran is not allowed to initiate a war and even when a just war breaks out Muslims are not allowed to kill innocent people. This is the Islam that many Muslim’s follow; fundamentally it is a guideline for living peacefully alongside people of all other religions and nationalities.

How to Delete your Facebook Account

Mark Zuckerberg kicked off Facebook’s F8 developer conference this week with a keynote detailing a number of his grand visions of the future.

Augmented reality, advanced chat bots and a rather grim-looking social VR app called Spaces are the next-generation products Mr Zuckerberg will use to keep us glued to our screens.

While the social network is a handy tool for staying in touch with friends and organising events, it's become bigger and far more powerful than the site many of us originally signed up to.

Facebook can be and has been called out for a wide range of perceived misdemeanors. In some circles, it's long been viewed as a rather sinister threat to privacy and criticised for its tax practices, but more recent issues, such as the spread of fake news, the site’s approach to illegal content and incredibly disturbing uses of Facebook Live are particularly troubling.

However, for many, it’s simply a colossal waste of time.

Regardless of why you want to cut ties with Facebook, here’s how to deactivate and delete your account now.
Deactivate

Unless you’re absolutely sure you want to get rid of your Facebook account once and for all, we’d recommend going down the deactivation route.

Deactivating your account hides your profile from friends and search, but allows you to resurrect your account – complete with friends, updates, pictures and Likes – if you ever decide to return, simply by entering your login information.

To deactivate your Facebook account:
Click the downwards-pointing arrow in the top-right corner of the screen
Select Settings
Open the Security section
Choose the Deactivate Your Account option at the bottom of the menu

Delete

Deleting your account is a major step, so think it through before committing. Facebook can take up to 90 days to process account deletion requests, but once your account's gone, it’s gone.

Before taking the plunge, it’s well worth downloading a copy of the data Facebook has on you.

To do this:
Click the downwards-pointing arrow in the top-right corner of the screen
Select Download a copy of your Facebook data

Once that’s done, you’re ready to delete your account. Bear in mind, however, that your sent messages will continue to exist even when all other traces of your account are gone.

To permanently delete your Facebook account:
Head to Facebook’s Delete Account page
Select Delete My Account