Florida Gov. Rick Scott speaks at a press conference about the Zika virus in Doral, Florida, U.S. August 4, 2016. Two Florida ports have canceled plans to sign cooperation pacts with Communist-ruled Cuba after state Governor Rick Scott threatened to cancel their funding if they did business with the “Cuban dictatorship.”
Category: Travel
Trump’s wall: PSU students’ thesis argues border wall would rip apart region
President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall, which could cost as much as $20 billion, along the entire U.S. border with Mexico isn’t just expensive, it would also rip apart the tight-knit communities that straddle the two countries. That’s according to research from three master’s degree candidates in architecture at Portland State University.
Questions abound after Trump says tax will pay for wall
” President Donald Trump is promising Mexico will pay for his massive border wall. On Thursday, his administration finally suggested how: a 20 percent tax on products imported from south of the border.
US to Send Admiral to Thailand for Military Exercises
Royal Thai armed forces General Sommai Kaoteera and U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Glyn Davies shake hands during the opening ceremony for Cobra Gold military exercise in Chonburi, east of Bangkok, Feb. 9, 2016. The highest ranking U.S. officer to visit Thailand since a 2014 coup will attend a military exercise next month in what the Thai army hailed Wednesday as a sign of improving relations.
UN holds off action over new Israeli settler homes30 min ago
The UN Security Council met behind closed doors today to discuss Israel’s plan to build new settler homes in the Palestinian West Bank, but took no action. Council members heard a report from UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov after the Israeli government approved a major expansion of 2,500 homes, in defiance of a UN resolution that demanded an end to settlement construction.
NEXT 7 DAYS This week’s events
No. He should stand in solidarity with U.S. Rep. John Lewis and other congressional members who aren’t attending. I don’t care what he does on inauguration day, as long as he does a good job as a congressman.
Nation-Now 15 mins ago 7:19 p.m.Trump prepares for busy Monday,…
President Trump, having declared post-inaugural Monday the true opening day of his new administration, spent Sunday pondering a string of executive orders on topics ranging from immigration to Israel to the economy, including what he called a re-working of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Supervising the swearing-in of 30 new White House staff members, Trump said he will soon meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto to discuss changes to NAFTA, the trade deal he claims has shipped U.S. jobs to those other countries.
Citizen sleuths’ new clue in aviation mystery
But even after the FBI shut the book on the mysterious case of DB Cooper, armchair detectives have refused to give up the search for answers. They’ve continued to investigate who this well-dressed businessman was, why he hijacked a US domestic flight 45 years ago, and how he then disappeared without a trace.
Thousands march in London ‘solidarity’ event after Donald Trump takes office
Thousands of women and men descended on central London for a global “solidarity” march in the wake of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. The Women’s March on London is being held in conjunction with others taking place in cities across the world to promote women’s and human rights.
Baltimore, BWI train stations overflowing with travelers to Women’s March on Washington
Penn Station in Baltimore felt like Penn Station in New York Saturday morning as thousands of people on their way to the Women’s March in Washington waited in lines that snaked from the tracks to the streets. They wore pink hats, carried signs and even a blow-up doll with a Donald Trump wig.
Melania Trump’s hometown in Slovenia marks inauguration
General view of the town of Sevnica, Slovenia, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. The inauguration of Donald Trump is a big thing for a small town in Slovenia where the future U.S. first lady traces her roots.
Change? Hypocrisy thrives in Washington
In the four days leading up to Friday’s inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America, nearly 450,000 people chose to read a four-year-old story in Capitol Hill Blue about a number of Republicans who would not be attending the second inaugural of Barack Obama. The article, written by Ken Thomas of The Associated Press, said Republicans, after losing the second straight Presidential election to Obama, weren’t in any mood to celebrate.
Moscow nightclub hosts early inauguration party for Trump
Twenty-four hours before Donald Trump was to be sworn in as president of the United States, several dozen people packed a Moscow nightclub to get a head start on celebrating. “Trump, Trump – it is unbelievable.
Marla Maples, Tiffany Trump reportedly refuse to pay for beauty services
She may have divorced Donald Trump, but Marla Maples is still married to the perks of their previous life together. Tricia Kelly , a freelance hairstylist in Washington, D.C., told the The Washington Post that she was contacted by a longtime client with connections to the Trump family asking if she would do Maples’s and her daughter Tiffany Trump’s hair on Inauguration Day.
Schapiro ends as US ambassador on Friday, family stays in Prague
The U.S. ambassador to Prague, Andrew Schapiro, will leave the post on Friday, he told journalists on Tuesday, adding that he will be returning to the Czech Republic because his children will complete their school attendance in the current school year in the country. Schapiro will leave his office on the day of the inauguration of the new U.S. president, Republican Donald Trump.
Obama says U.N. vote didn’t rupture U.S.-Israel relations
U.S. President Barack Obama played down fallout from a U.S. abstention on a United Nations resolution last month demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory, saying it did not trigger a significant break in relations with Israel. Relations between the United States and Israel, which have soured during Obama’s eight years in office, reached a low point late last month when Washington, defying pressure from longtime ally Israel and President-elect Donald Trump, declined to veto the U.N. resolution.
Japan’s Abe starts 4-nation trip with visit to Philippines
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reaches out his hand beside his wife Aika as they arrive at Manila’s airport, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Abe is in the country for a two-day official visit.
Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire
Kiev officials are scrambling to make amends with the president-elect after quietly working to boost Clinton. Donald Trump wasn’t the only presidential candidate whose campaign was boosted by officials of a former Soviet bloc country.
In final speech, Obama must reconcile his hopes with Trump’s
Now an elder statesman, Barack Obama is returning to Chicago where he launched his unlikely political career to tell Americans not to lose faith in their future, no matter what they think about their next president. Obama’s final speech as president, before thousands who will gather at McCormick Place, is his last chance to try to define what his presidency meant for America.
Obama says goodbye Popular but politically humbled, President Barack…
Popular but politically humbled, President Barack Obama says goodbye to the nation Tuesday night in a dramatic reinterpretation of a presidential farewell address. Hoping to capitalize on a well of goodwill that’s expanded in the final year of his tenure, Obama has discarded the staid Oval Office or East Room for his last formal set of remarks.
Obama says goodbye
NOVEMBER 16: U.S. President Barack Obama waves before descending from Air Force One upon his arrival on November 16, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. President Obama is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel tomorrow and hold talks with other European leaders on Friday as part of his last trip to Europe as President before continuing to Peru.
Chief of Naval Personnel Visits Sailors in Hawaii and San Diego
This week, the Navy’s top personnel officer is visiting Sailors in Hawaii and San Diego to discuss Sailor 2025 and some of the Navy’s other personnel initiatives. While in Hawaii, Vice Adm.
Taiwan leader heads to Americas; US stops set to irk China
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech before traveling to visit Central American allies including a U.S. transit, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taouyuan, Taiwan. Tsai pledged to bolster Taiwan’s presence on the international stage on her visit four Central American allies on a trip that includes U.S. transits and looks set to raise China’s ire.
Taiwan leader heads to Americas; US stops set to irk China
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech before traveling to visit Central American allies including a U.S. transit, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taouyuan, Taiwan. Tsai pledged to bolster Taiwan’s presence on the international stage on her visit four Central American allies on a trip that includes U.S. transits and looks set to raise China’s ire.
House rebukes United Nations
The House overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan measure Thursday that rebukes the United Nations for criticizing Israeli settlements as Republicans used the debate to accuse President Barack Obama of turning his back on the Jewish state. Lawmakers voted 342-80 for the non-binding resolution that declares unwavering support for Israel and insists that the United States reject any future U.N. actions that are similarly “one-sided and anti-Israel.”
Professor Obama FINALLY Publishes A Piece Of Scholarship
REUTERS/Carlos Barria President Barack Obama, the first black president of the Harvard Law Review and senior lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School, has finally published a piece of legal scholarship. The president’s first journal article appeared Thursday in the Harvard Law Review and concerned the role of the executive branch in advancing criminal justice reform.
GOP senators introduce bill forcing president’s hand on moving embassy to Jerusalem
Jewish worshippers draped in prayer shawls performing the annual Priestly Blessing during Sukkot at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, Sept. 30, 2015.
Oklahoma superintendent seeks $221M boost for schools
Oklahoma state Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, gestures as she talks with a colleague on the House floor in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. Oklahoma’s Department of Education says it needs $221 million more in funding for the next school year just to keep pace with student growth.
Morning Bits
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks at her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 17. One is precedent, two is a trend . “Another way for Australia to demonstrate its unswerving support for Israel, as the Middle East’s only liberal, pluralist democracy, might be to join any move by the Trump administration to move its embassy to Jerusalem.”
Under 3 weeks left: Obama in closing stretch of presidency
His last vacation behind him, President Barack Obama is entering the closing stretch of his presidency, an eleventh-hour push to tie up loose ends and put finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump. Obama returned to Washington midday Monday from Hawaii with less than three weeks left.
Whale spotted spending New Year’s Eve in New York City’s East River
The lure of New York City’s massive New Year’s celebrations is irresistible to many even, apparently, giant mammals. Officers patrolling New York City’s harbor on Saturday spotted a whale swimming in the East River in Manhattan.
Russia pledges reprisals for US hacking punishment
Moscow – Russia on Friday eyed retaliatory measures against the US after President Barack Obama kicked out dozens of suspected intelligence agents and imposed sanctions in a furious dispute over alleged election interference. The barrage of punishment against Moscow over cyber attacks dragged ties between Russia and the United States – already at their worst since the Cold War – to a fresh low less than a month ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking charge.
Obama sanctions Russia for U.S. election meddling
PanARMENIAN.Net – President Barack Obama on Thursday, December 29 unleashed a barrage of retaliatory measures against Moscow for meddling in the U.S.election, imposing sanctions on two intelligence agencies, expelling 35 agents and shuttering two Russian compounds inside the United States, AFP reports. Making good on a promise to punish Vladimir Putin’s government for allegedly trying to tilt the 2016 election in Donald Trump’s favor, Obama unveiled a broad range of steps that will inflame tensions with both Moscow and the president-elect.
2017: Staten Island’s future begins now
It all starts with the new American president. Republican Donald Trump is set to take the oath of office as the nation’s 45th chief executive in a couple of weeks, the first time we’ve had a new occupant of the Oval Office since 2009.
AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EST
Moscow is hoping Donald Trump will reconsider the sanctions the U.S. is levying in response to its finding of election hacking, a wait-and-see strategy bolstered by the American president-elect’s own approving words for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has essentially put relations with the U.S. on hold until Trump replaces President Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Though his foreign minister encouraged him to slap back at Washington for the sanctions imposed by Obama, Putin decided that Russia wouldn’t immediately retaliate.
Obama lines up a meeting with lawmakers, a speech in Chicago
In this photo taken Dec. 16, 2016, President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama will strategize next week with Democratic lawmakers about how to prevent Republicans from destroying his Affordable Care Act.
Obama Expels Russian For Spying
In a rare, if not unprecedented news conference, Russian Consul General Sergey Petrov addressed the media after President Obama ordered four diplomats at that embassy to leave. One of the employees is a chef.
Obama’s petty attempts to sabotage Trump are bound to fail :0
It’s easy to come up with several different reasons for the Obama administration’s moves against Russia and Israel. The repudiation of his policies in last month’s election would have wounded a normal person’s ego, to say nothing of someone as vain as Obama.
Senseless selfies, creepy clowns and Trumpa s triumph make year of odd news
Searches for selfies led to many bad decisions, an outbreak of creepy clown sightings chilled even horror maestro Stephen King, and a hard-fought campaign ended with the election of former reality TV star Donald Trump as president of the United States. New York’s Museum of Modern Art rolled out an exhibit of emojis this month.
Russia expert: New US sanctions ‘clearly meant to throw a…
New US sanctions on Russia could complicate the Trump administration’s relations with the Kremlin, as the president-elect seeks to warm relations while other US officials insist on harsh punishments for election meddling. Boris Zilberman, a Russia expert at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said increased sanctions from the US are “clearly … meant to throw a wrench into next [administration’s] dealings with Moscow.”