Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
UK told ‘not to soothe the ayatollahs angry’ at US decision to abandon nuclear deal
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has urged the UK to stand with Washington in reining in Iran’s “bloodletting and lawlessness”, as Tehran took the first conditional steps to extricate itself from the landmark nuclear deal it had signed with the west, Russia and China in 2015.
Iran said it was acting in response to Donald Trump’s decision a year ago to withdraw the US from the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, imposing a wave of sanctions not just on Iran but on any company that seeks to trade with it.
Iran has suspended commitments it made under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on the country in exchange for limits on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The deal was reached after years of negotiations.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and senate minority leader Chuck Schumer have issued a joint letter calling McConnell’s “case closed” speech this morning “a stunning act of political cynicism and a brazen violation of the oath we all take”:
Joint Pelosi-Schumer statement calls McConnell’s Mueller speech this morning “a stunning act of political cynicism and a brazen violation of the oath we all take” pic.twitter.com/ey7XmpNkC1
Warren brings her call for Trump’s impeachment from the campaign trail to the floor of the US senate:
On the Senate floor, Sen. Warren calls for impeachment proceedings against President Trump:
"We took an oath to protect and serve the Constitution of the United States of America, and the way we do that is we begin impeachment proceedings now against this president." pic.twitter.com/3IjR0NSrdK
Analysts viewed the flat denial as a direct challenge to Congress’ power to oversee the other two branches of government
The Treasury department has denied a request by Congress for copies of Donald Trump’s tax returns, saying that Congress had overstepped its bounds in requesting them.
The flat denial, which analysts viewed as a direct challenge to the supposed power of Congress to oversee the other two branches of government, was the latest in an escalating series of confrontations between Trump and the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives.
Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, began his three-year prison sentence on Monday. He is the third former Trump campaign aide to go to prison in the past 12 months. Outside his New York City apartment, Cohen promised: 'There still remains much to be told and I look forward to the day that I can share the truth'
The visit of the hawkish US secretary of state poses problems for Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt
American secretaries of state can be earnestly dull, like John Kerry, or plain brilliant, like George Marshall; they can be Machiavellian, like Henry Kissinger, or intensely political, like Hillary Clinton. Mike Pompeo, the bluntly spoken, present-day incumbent who will discuss “shared global priorities” with Theresa May in London, is simply a problem.
As last week’s failed US pressure tactics in Venezuela showed, the former army officer, Christian evangelical and ex-CIA director favours a muscular approach to diplomacy. His messianic drive to force regime change in Iran is another example. He recently suggested Donald Trump had been sent by God to save Israel from Tehran’s mullahs.
Experts say Pyongyang is stepping up pressure against US after failed nuclear summit
South Korea has issued a stern rebuke to Pyongyang for escalating military tensions on the divided peninsula after North Korea fired a series of “unidentified short-range projectiles” into the sea.
The projectiles were fired on Saturday from the east coast city of Wonsan at around 9am, and flew 70 to 200km towards the north-east, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The report concluded that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was ‘sweeping and systematic’
Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin discussed what Trump again dismissed as the “Russian hoax” in their first known phone call since the release of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s extensive meddling during the 2016 election campaign.
In an hourlong “very good talk” on Friday, Russia’s president “sort of smiled” about Mueller’s conclusions, Trump told reporters at the White House.
Here’s an updated recap of today’s political news as we close out the Friday night live politics blog:
The president elaborated his complaints about conservative “censorship” on social media, highlighting his concerns about the treatment of Diamond and Silk, two online commenters who have been championed by Republicans for being black women who support Trump, James Woods, and Paul Watson, a British editor of Infowars, Alex Jones’ conspiracy site.
Trump appeared on Infowars, which has promoted multiple conspiracy theories, including the conspiracy that the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting was a hoax, in 2015, and told host Alex Jones “Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”
The wonderful Diamond and Silk have been treated so horribly by Facebook. They work so hard and what has been done to them is very sad - and we’re looking into. It’s getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!
So surprised to see Conservative thinkers like James Woods banned from Twitter, and Paul Watson banned from Facebook! https://t.co/eHX3Z5CMXb
He is very very very very very very very very very very very obviously an extremist. https://t.co/4pK2klhbqi
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, accused William Barr of lying to Congress on Thursday and said neither the attorney general nor the Republican president were above the law.
'That's a crime,' Pelosi said, although she did not specify the comment to which she was referring.
President Trump is now touting a number of issues important to evangelical Christians, including ending the Johnson Amendment and saying “Merry Christmas.”
The Johnson Amendment prevented houses of worship with tax exempt status from endorsing political candidates. The Trump administration ended enforcement of that provision.
President Donald Trump is now speaking at the Rose Garden for the National Day of Prayer. Watch live here.
After a botched attempt to overthrow him, Maduro holds ‘march to reaffirm the absolute loyalty of the armed forces’
Nicolás Maduro has thanked Venezuela’s military for resisting what he branded a treacherous “imperial” plot to topple him this week by sparking a conflict that would justify foreign military intervention.
“Loyalty is a value that you either have or you don’t … I know you will not fail the homeland,” Maduro told troops during an early-morning parade in Caracas that was broadcast on state television.
William Barr was defiant during his appearance before Congress on Wednesday, defending his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. In uncomfortable testimony for Trump's chief legal officer, Democrats called for his resignation and accused him of deliberately misrepresenting Mueller's findings in the president’s favour.
Here’s the full statement from House judiciary chair Jerry Nadler:
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says if Attorney General William Barr doesn't provide the unredacted Mueller report to Congress in the next day or two, "the next step is seeking a contempt citation against the attorney general." https://t.co/muIkjgd0aTpic.twitter.com/s0q6kBctHw
Here’s attorney general William Barr’s full statement for why he won’t be testifying tomorrow before the House judiciary committee:
Barr’s statement makes clear that the sole basis for his refusal to testify before House Judiciary is that they intended to have a staff attorney ask questions.
In letter to Barr, special counsel said attorney general ‘did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance’ of investigation
The special counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to US attorney general William Barr expressing frustration with how the attorney general characterized the conclusions of Mueller’s investigation into potential ties between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, according to multiple reports.
The Washington Post, the New York Times and NBC reported on Tuesday that Mueller penned the letter in late March, after Barr wrote a four-page summary of the special counsel’s work that largely cleared Trump on potential obstruction of justice.
The US president has gone from urging a ceasefire in Tripoli to threatening to veto such calls in the UN
Egyptian and Emirati influence on Donald Trump has thrown US policy on Libya into turmoil at a moment when Tripoli is under attack and the country is on the brink of a full-scale war once again.
The state department went from encouraging a UN security council resolution calling for a ceasefire and an end to an offensive on the capital by the eastern Libyan warlord, Khalifa Haftar, to threatening to veto the same resolution a few days later.
The White House incumbent has told a staggering 10,000 lies since taking office, some big, some trifling. Here’s a selection
Donald Trump likes to boast about his achievements, imagined and otherwise, that is no secret. The president regularly trumpets the success of the greatest economy ever, and the strongest military, and the most decisive electoral victory and all manner of other superlatives he’s supposed to have delivered. But one that is undeniable is that he has just become one of the most prolific liars in the history of American governance, passing the 10,000th lie of his administration this week – meaning an average of almost 17 lies a day over 604 days.
President’s 10,000th false claim came on Friday when he discussed the Charlottesville protests, the Washington Post reports
Donald Trump has made more than 10,000 false or misleading claims since he became president in January 2017, according to a count by factcheckers at the Washington Post.
Trump’s strike rate of “alternative facts” – a phrase made infamous by senior adviser Kellyanne Conway – has increased rapidly in recent months, the paper said on Monday.
Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor, sought to defend Trump’s record during CNN interview: ‘He does think it’s a threat’
The Trump administration faced fresh scrutiny on Sunday over the president’s fraught record on white nationalism in the wake of a suspected hate crime at a synagogue in California on Saturday, which left one woman dead and three injured.
Trump unequivocally condemned the shooting, telling a rally on Saturday evening in Wisconsin: “Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded, and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community. We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated.”
Attorney general has expressed objections to House judiciary committee’s questioning format, according to Democratic aide
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has informed the powerful House of Representatives judiciary committee that attorney general William Barr may not attend a Thursday hearing to review special counsel Robert Mueller’s report of the Trump-Russia investigation.
Barr has expressed objections over the panel’s questioning format, according to a senior Democratic committee aide.