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DonViejo's JournalTrump Voices Support For Iran Protesters in Tweet: 'Govt Should Respect Their People's Rights'
Source: Mediate
by Nicholas Page | 11:13 pm, December 29th, 2017
Anti-government demonstrations that began in Iran on Thursday have now spread to several major cities, and President Donald Trump has now officially chimed in on the protests via his favorite medium, Twitter.
In a Friday night Tweet, Trump voiced his support for the protesters saying they have the “right to express themselves”:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/946949708915924994
People there took to the streets to express anger at the government over high prices, and vented their fury against President Hassan Rouhani. According to the AP, 52 people were arrested for chanting what the government considered harsh slogans.
The protests spread to other cities in the northeast part of the country, and some developed into broader anti-government demonstrations, calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to police beatings.
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Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-voices-support-for-iran-protesters-in-tweet-govt-should-respect-their-peoples-rights/
EXCLUSIVE. Bronx Building's Oil-Based Paint Made It Burn Like 'Gasoline'
Source: The Daily Beast
‘Couple breaths of that and you’re on the floor,’ the firefighter said. ‘You can take a couple of whiffs and you’re unconscious.’
MICHAEL DALY
12.29.17 9:04 PM ET
The FDNY has repeated the message in safety ads and Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro did so again on Friday morning. He was standing just down the block from a five-story Bronx apartment building where 12 people had perished.
“Close the door, close the door, close the door,” Nigro said.
Nigro reported that fire marshals had worked through the night and determined the blaze had started shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, when a 3-year-old child played with the stove burners in a kitchen on the first floor. The boy’s screams had alerted his mother. She had fled to safety with him along with her other child, a 2-year-old. “And left the door open,” Nigro noted.
Nigro continued. “Fire travels up. The stairway acted like a chimney. It took the fire so quickly upstairs that people had very little time to react.”
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/bronx-buildings-oil-based-paint-made-it-burn-like-gasoline?ref=home
Trump Administration Announces Support for Iran Protests
The State Department issued a Friday evening statement in support of Iranian protestors demonstrating against their government. The protestors’ chief complaints included economic inequality and soaring food costs. The State Department statement accused Iran’s leaders of turning the country “into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos.” The statement condemned the reported arrests of more than 50 protestors, and appeared to support regime change in Iran. “On June 14, 2017, Secretary Tillerson testified to Congress that he supports ‘those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of government,’” the statement read. “The Secretary today repeats his deep support for the Iranian people.”
https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/946872757450608642
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-announces-support-for-iran-protests
U.S. military to accept transgender recruits on Monday: Pentagon
Source: Reuters
DECEMBER 29, 2017 / 2:18 PM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO
Lawrence Hurley, Idrees Ali
5 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transgender people will be allowed for the first time to enlist in the U.S. military starting on Monday as ordered by federal courts, the Pentagon said on Friday, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to appeal rulings that blocked his transgender ban.
Two federal appeals courts, one in Washington and one in Virginia, last week rejected the administration’s request to put on hold orders by lower court judges requiring the military to begin accepting transgender recruits on Jan. 1. A Justice Department official said the administration will not challenge those rulings.
“The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks. So rather than litigate this interim appeal before that occurs, the administration has decided to wait for DOD’s study and will continue to defend the president’s lawful authority in District Court in the meantime,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In September, the Pentagon said it had created a panel of senior officials to study how to implement a directive by Trump to prohibit transgender individuals from serving. The Defense Department has until Feb. 21 to submit a plan to Trump.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-transgender/u-s-military-to-accept-transgender-recruits-on-monday-pentagon-idUSKBN1EN1LV?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social
After questioning Spicer, Democrats want to depose Priebus about election night activities
Source: Politico
By MATT FRIEDMAN 12/29/2017 04:40 PM EST
Fresh from interviewing former White House press secretary Sean Spicer over what he was doing on the fifth floor of Trump Tower on election night, Democrats now want to interview former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.
Spicer’s presence that night has caused some unease among Republicans because the expiration of a 35-year-old settlement, or consent decree, barring the RNC from engaging in ballot security operations may depend on it. The fifth floor, POLITICO has reported, was the nerve center of then-candidate Donald Trump’s poll-watching operations.
Spicer, at the time, was the RNC’s communications director and chief strategist.
The Democratic request to interview Priebus may be the last gasp in the party’s quest to keep the consent decree alive.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/12/29/after-questioning-spicer-democrats-want-to-depose-priebus-about-election-night-activities-164571
Senators scrap Russia trip after Kremlin snubs Shaheen
Source: Politico
The Democratic senator backed sanctions against Russia and called for a crackdown against Kaspersky Lab.
By KYLE CHENEY 12/29/2017 03:13 PM EST
Two Republican senators have called off a planned trip to Russia after the Kremlin denied a visa to a Democratic colleague, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Shaheen, an outspoken backer of a Russia sanctions bill that Congress approved overwhelmingly earlier this year, had been scheduled to visit Russia along with GOP colleagues Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and John Barasso of Wyoming. But a Shaheen spokesman said the senator believes the Kremlin has placed her under a travel sanction, prohibiting her visit.
"While she regrets the Kremlin decision to impede dialogue between the Senate and the Russian people, she vows to continue her work to hold the Russian government accountable for its actions that go against international norms and against the Russian people," said Shaheen spokesman Ryan Nickel.
A spokesman for Russia's U.S. embassy said in a statement that Shaheen's visa was the only one denied because she is on a Russian "black list" created in response to U.S. sanctions issued against the country.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/29/senators-scrap-russia-trip-after-kremlin-shahen-snub-319632
White House surprised, frustrated by Trump NYT interview: report
BY JULIA MANCHESTER - 12/29/17 06:33 PM EST
Various White House officials were taken off guard and frustrated by President Trump's impromptu interview with The New York Times on Thursday, according to a report from The Washington Post.
The publication quoted one official who was not aware of the interview, which was posted on Thursday evening, as asking “What interview? Today?" Another official was reportedly frustrated with the interview, and referred to it as “embarrassing.”
The report comes after The New York Times published a wide-ranging interview with the president, covering various areas such as his strained relationship with the news media and special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia election meddling probe.
Trump told The Times he had the "absolute right" to do whatever he wanted in regards to the Department of Justice and that he believed Mueller would be fair to him in the probe.
more
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/366841-white-house-surprised-frustrated-by-trump-nyt-interview-report
State Dept. posts Clinton aide's documents found on Weiner's laptop
Source: The Hill
BY JULIA MANCHESTER - 12/29/17 05:08 PM EST
The State Department on Friday released portions of 2,800 emails and other documents belonging to former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin that were recovered by the FBI last year on Abedin’s estranged husband Anthony Weiner’s computer last year.
While the newly released emails have been seized on by conservative activists who have long been critical of Clinton's treatment of classified emails as secretary of State, the FBI already said in 2016 that a review of the emails didn't change the bureau's opinion that Clinton shouldn't face charges over email handling.
The Friday release came after a 2015 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the conservative group Judicial Watch against the State Department seeking the release of emails containing “official State Department business” sent or received from Abedin from January 2009 to February 2013 using a non-State Department email address.
The released messages include a single email from 2010 that contained information that was later determined to be classified. The email markings indicate the message was never opened by Weiner on his account, but Judicial Watch pointed to that and other messages as evidence of Clinton and Abedin’s "obvious violations of law" and called on the Department of Justice to investigate them.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/366822-state-posts-documents-from-clinton-abedin-on-weiner-computer
Virginia Board of Elections announces new date for random drawing to decide tied race
Source: The Hill
BY AVERY ANAPOL - 12/29/17 04:58 PM EST
The random drawing to decide a tied race for a seat in Virginia’s House of Delegates — and party control of the chamber — will take place on Thursday, after officials postponed the drawing in response to a legal challenge from one of the candidates.
The State Board of Elections announced in an email that the drawing of lots, which was originally set to take place on Dec. 27, will now occur on Jan. 4, after Democratic candidate Shelly Simonds filed a legal challenge disputing the tie.
https://twitter.com/jamesalcorn/status/946790040738332672
The race between Simonds and GOP incumbent Del. David Yancey drew national attention after a recount, triggered by Yancey winning on election night by only 10 votes, found Simonds to have won the race by a single vote.
The race was then declared a tie after a three-judge panel ruled that one ballot that hadn’t been counted in the recount should count for Yancey. The ballot in question had bubbles for both candidates filled in, but the bubble for Simonds had a slash though it.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/366827-virginia-board-of-elections-announces-new-date-for-random-drawing-to
China Tells Trump 'This Is Not How A U.S. President Should Behave' After North Korea Tweet
Source: Newsweek Magazine
BY TOM O'CONNOR ON 12/29/17 AT 12:03 PM
Updated | China has rejected President Donald Trump's accusations that it was illegally supplying oil to North Korea, criticizing Friday the Republican leader's evidence, and his demeanor.
Trump launched the allegation Thursday via a tweet in which he claimed China had been "caught RED HANDED" shipping oil into North Korea, a violation of the strict United Nations Security Council sanctions punishing the reclusive, authoritarian state for its unwillingness to abandon an increasingly powerful ballistic and nuclear weapons program. In response, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official organ published a commentary questioning the U.S. and South Korea's interpretation of the satellite imagery allegedly showing Chinese ships transferring oil to North Korean boats in the Yellow Sea.
"In the photos, North Korean boats appeared to be linking up with Chinese vessels. These 'Chinese vessels' are not oil tankers and are not large-tonnage. U.S. and South Korean media believe these photos prove China violated U.N. Security Council resolutions to transfer oil to North Korea, but even in the reports it is unclear where the vessels come from or whom they belong to," The Global Times wrote Friday.
"Trump's tweet is one of the strongest responses from the U.S. and South Korea. He concluded that China was caught before the truth was clarified and commented in a strong tone. This is not how a U.S. president should behave," it continued.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/china-tells-trump-not-how-us-president-should-behave-north-korea-tweet-764757
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Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
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