Russia Says About 10,000 IS Militants Now in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD — Russia has estimated there are about 10,000 Islamic State militants in Afghanistan and their number is growing because fighters fleeing Syria and Iraq also are heading to the war-ravaged country. Russian media on Saturday quoted Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, as saying Moscow is particularly worried about an increasing foothold of Daesh militants in northern Afghan provinces bordering Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for IS. "Russia was among the first to be sounding the alarms in connection with the emergence of Daesh in Afghanistan.... Daesh has significantly increased its power in the country recently. According to our estimates, the number of militants exceeds 10,000 and continues to grow, particularly due to new fighters arriving from Syria and Iraq," Kabulov told the Sputnik news agency. The Russian envoy alleged helicopters “without identifying insignia” are transferring fighters and delivering “Western [military] equipment” to the Afghan branch of the terrorist group.
https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-afghan ... 76497.html
Mexico murders hit record high, dealing blow to president

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico has this year registered its highest murder total since modern records began, according to official data, dealing a fresh blow to President Enrique Pena Nieto’s pledge to get gang violence under control with presidential elections due in 2018. A total of 23,101 murder investigations were opened in the first 11 months of this year, surpassing the 22,409 registered in the whole of 2011, figures published on Friday night by the interior ministry showed. The figures go back to 1997. Pena Nieto took office in December 2012 pledging to tame the violence that escalated under his predecessor Felipe Calderon. He managed to reduce the murder tally during the first two years of his term, but since then it has risen steadily. At 18.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, the 2017 Mexican murder rate is still lower than it was in 2011, when it reached almost 19.4 per 100,000, the data showed. The rate has also held below levels reported in several other Latin American countries. According to U.N. figures used in the World Bank’s online database, Brazil and Colombia both had a murder rate of 27 per 100,000, Venezuela 57, Honduras 64 and El Salvador 109 in 2015, the last year for which data are available.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexi ... SKBN1EH0LK
Tribe Will Move From Shrinking Island to Louisiana Farm

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana officials have chosen a sugar cane farm as the next home for residents of a tiny, shrinking island, a move funded with a 2016 federal grant awarded to help relocate communities fleeing the effects of climate change. Dozens of Isle de Jean Charles residents are to be relocated about 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the northwest, in Terrebonne Parish, Nola.com|The Times-Picayune and The New Orleans Advocate report. The tract, which is closer to stores, schools and health care — and which is less flood-prone than the island, which has been battered by hurricanes and tropical storms.sle de Jean Charles is home to members of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe. It has lost 98 percent of its area since 1955. Causes include erosion, sinking of coastal land, and Mississippi River levees that block replenishing river sediment. Climate change-triggered sea-level rise is expected eventually to drown the island.
https://www.voanews.com/a/tribe-will-mo ... 76285.html
Cholera outbreak hits record 1 million

(CNN) It had already become the world's biggest cholera outbreak in recent history, but now the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen since April has hit 1 million, and at an incredibly fast speed. The International Committee of the Red Cross announced the record Thursday on its official Twitter account Thursday, describing it as "shocking." "More than 80% of the population lack food, fuel, clean water and access to health care," it said, pointing to some of the underlying causes of the disease. Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness that kills thousands of people worldwide each year. It is easily transmitted, by consuming food or water contaminated with the fecal bacteria Vibrio cholerae. Yemen's civil war that began in 2015 has left millions of people on the brink of famine, and as clean drinking water becomes harder to find, cholera has spread through communities. While the rate of cholera contraction is beginning to slow in Yemen, doctors are concerned the reprieve will be short, and fear the onset of diphtheria, another disease that can be deadly, especially for children.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/21/health/ye ... index.html
Problem for Puerto Rico in review of hurricane deaths: 'The bodies have been buried'

Bayamón, Puerto Rico (CNN) In the world of forensic pathology, there's a morbid truism: Bodies are evidence, and you need a body in order to fully examine a death. Thousands of people have died since the storm on September 20, according to the Puerto Rican government. Many, if not most, of those bodies have been buried or cremated. That fact will severely limit the US territory's efforts to re-analyze deaths, experts told CNN. "At this point, the bodies have been buried, and there is no way to do a thorough investigation of each individual case," said Eric Klinenberg. "You'd want to talk with next of kin and neighbors to find out what happened to the person, possibly with doctors as well. But that is very difficult even in the best of times, and right now (many) people still don't have power," he said. "It would require an enormous effort." The official death toll from Hurricane Maria stands at 64. In reality, it may be many times higher. In November, CNN surveyed half of the funeral homes in Puerto Rico and identified 499 deaths that funeral home directors and staff say were hurricane-related. Later, The New York Times and academics calculated the number of "excess deaths" in 2017 compared with previous years. That analysis led the paper to suggest more than 1,000 people likely died in the storm.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/health/pu ... index.html
The psychology of sycophants

(CNN) President Donald Trump invited Republicans to the White House on Wednesday to celebrate the tax bill's passage through Congress. There, the praise was unrestrained. "This has been a year of extraordinary accomplishing for the Trump administration," Sen. Mitch McConnell said. "Something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership," House Speaker Paul Ryan said. "We are going to make this the greatest presidency we have seen, not only in generations but maybe ever," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, whose praise and hopes included all present. "You've spurred an optimism in this country that's setting records," Vice President Mike Pence said. Not surprisingly, critics heard these accolades as the purest form of sycophancy -- insincere flattery -- bestowed by a team of "yes men."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/22/health/ps ... index.html
Russia's ruling party seeks Putin's 'ultimate victory' at 2018 election

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s ruling party United Russia wants the “ultimate victory” of President Vladimir Putin at the presidential election in March, party head and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday. Putin, 65, said earlier this month he would run for re-election as a self-nominated candidate, in a contest he seems sure to win comfortably, extending his grip on power into a third decade. “We will give you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, all possible support, now and in the future,” said Medvedev, addressing Putin by his first and patronymic names.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russ ... SKBN1EH0CN

Exclusive: U.S. memo weakens guidelines for protecting immigrant children in court

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has issued new guidelines for immigration judges that remove some instructions for how to protect unaccompanied juveniles appearing in their courtrooms. A Dec. 20 memo, issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) replaces 2007 guidelines, spelling out policies and procedures judges should follow in dealing with children who crossed the border illegally alone and face possible deportation. The new memo removes suggestions contained in the 2007 memo for how to conduct “child-sensitive questioning” and adds reminders to judges to maintain “impartiality” even though “juvenile cases may present sympathetic allegations.” The new document also changes the word “child” to “unmarried individual under the age of 18” in many instances.
(Link to comparison: tmsnrt.rs/2BlT0VK
May 2007 document: tmsnrt.rs/2BBR8wj
December 2017 document: tmsnrt.rs/2C2sWCs)
An EOIR official said the new memo contained “clarifications and updates” to 10-year-old guidance “in order to be consistent with the laws as they’ve been passed by Congress.” The new memo was posted on the Justice Department website but has not been previously reported.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN1EH037
McConnell happier with Trump tweets after tax victory

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A summer spat between President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has turned into a warm embrace - and all it took was a sweeping rewrite of the U.S. tax code. For months, McConnell urged the president to lock his cell phone in a drawer and retire his signature tweets that have Washington abuzz on a daily basis. He even chided Trump for having “excessive expectations” of Congress. McConnell joined in the love fest on Friday, or at least what constitutes a love fest for the understated senator.
“With regard to the president’s tweeting habits, I haven’t been a fan until this week. I‘m warming up to it,” McConnell quipped.
Moscow: U.S. arms may spur use of force by Kiev in eastern Ukraine

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The U.S. decision to supply weapons to Ukraine is dangerous as it will encourage Kiev to use force in eastern Ukraine, Russian officials said on Saturday. The U.S. State Department said on Friday the United States would provide Ukraine with “enhanced defensive capabilities” as Kiev battles Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Facebook on Saturday the weapons would be used to protect Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Facebook on Saturday the weapons would be used to protect Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Supplies of any weapons now encourage those who support the conflict in Ukraine to use the “force scenario,” Russia’s RIA state news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin as saying on Saturday. Franz Klintsevich, a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament’s security committee, said Kiev would consider arms supplies as support of its actions, Interfax news agency reported. “Americans, in fact, directly push Ukrainian forces to war,” Klintsevich said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN1EH097
Everything we know about North Korea's bioweapons program

North Korea's successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4 heightened global fears about the deadly threat of nuclear war. But nuclear weapons are not the only weapons of mass destruction that experts think North Korea is developing. They warn that the secretive state also possesses chemical weapon stores and may maintain an ongoing biological weapons program as well. Biological weapons are particularly scary, since they could ignite a global disease pandemic as devastating as nuclear war — a threat Bill Gates wrote about in an op-ed for Business Insider in February. It's likely that North Korea has been developing such weapons since the 1960s, according to most experts. Defectors and South Korean reports have suggested that North Korean researchers have worked with biological agents the US governments considers serious threats, including plague, anthrax, viral hemorrhagic fevers, and potentially smallpox. Kim Jong Un visited Pyongyang's Bio-technical Institute in 2015, where he was photographed by North Korean television posing with lab equipment and military personnel. This effort was likely "designed to send a message to the United States: that North Korea has an active bioweapons program," Ouagrham-Gormley wrote. South Korean news reports have also indicated that North Korea is "likely capable" or "suspected" of being able to produce biological weapons.

U.S. Territories — and Emergency Agency — Struggle to Recover from Disasters

December 23, 2017 1:25

Roofs damaged by Hurricane Maria are still exposed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 15, 2017. The Department of Homeland Security will investigate how a tiny Florida company won more than $30 million in contracts for relief supplies and failed to deliver the tarps and plastic sheeting needed to cover tens of thousands of Puerto Rican homes

The year has been a tough one for Puerto Ricans, Floridians, Texans and Californians, and recovery efforts continue for those three areas hit by hurricanes and one, California, struggling to contain wildfires. In a year of disasters, even the Federal Emergency Management Agency is struggling to cope.................. Long told lawmakers that Hurricanes Harvey, which hit Texas, Irma, which targeted Florida, and Maria, which walloped the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, added to the ongoing California fires “have compelled FEMA to push its limits.”................But FEMA has been criticized for its response to the crisis in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Caribbean islands that took a double hit from Irma and Maria within the space of a month. Three months after the second storm, only 65 percent of Puerto Rico has its power restored, thanks to an aging infrastructure and bungled reconstruction deals. The Army Corps of Engineers now estimates that power may not be fully restored to all communities until May........................But the tough times may get tougher before they ease: FEMA’s voucher program for displaced storm victims expires January 15................One more major point on which U.S. officials have been criticized is the storm-related death toll in Puerto Rico. The official total was placed at 64, but both Vox news and the New York Times published analyses in the past week comparing historic death rates from September and October with the death tolls from this year. They both found more than 1,000 more deaths occurred this year than in previous years, and both publications attributed the higher tolls to the stresses of storm recovery.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-territorie ... 77093.html
Lawmakers seek probes of award for Hurricane Maria tarps

By TAMI ABDOLLAH

Nov. 30, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats in Congress are pushing for investigations into how the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded contracts worth $30 million to a fledgling company for Hurricane Maria disaster supplies that it failed to deliver to Puerto Rico. The senior Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, wrote Thursday to FEMA Administrator Brock Long, seeking more information about how FEMA evaluated Bronze Star LLC of St. Cloud, Florida. The Associated Press reported this week that FEMA awarded the small firm contracts for tarps and plastic sheeting that were never delivered. The agency ultimately terminated the contracts earlier this month without paying any money, but the episode caused a delay of four weeks. In her letter, McCaskill cited AP’s reporting and requested copies of all contract proposals submitted by the company. “FEMA’s decision to award Bronze Star contracts to provide critical supplies raises further questions about FEMA’s contract award process” and how it determined the Florida company was capable of quickly providing the supplies, the letter said.
[ NO WORD TO DATE ON HOW MANY HOMES RECEIVED TARPS ]
https://apnews.com/46defed4b87d4f46a55de1c4a3add727
This is not how Puerto Rico usually does Christmas

Dec 20, 2017 12:28 PM CST

By Ray Sanchez CNN

San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN) -- On the southeastern coast of this island, where Hurricane Maria made landfall in September, the waves of the Caribbean lash the crumbling foundation of Jose Morales' battered seaside home. A year ago, the Morales clan kicked off the holidays in Yabucoa with a large outdoor gathering that included turkey and a traditional pig roast. It's an example of the importance Puerto Ricans place on the Christmas season, when family feasts and roving parties known as parrandas happen seemingly every week. But this year is different. "This year there will be no Christmas," says Morales, who is 74 and legally blind. "Those who can will enjoy the holidays. We can't. We'll be here. Living in fear, in danger." Up the road, his sister Paula Morales, 67, sits in a plastic chair -- one of two pieces of furniture in her living room -- under the blue plastic tarp that has replaced her roof. A small painting of a clown, one of the few things she salvaged after the storm, hangs on the wall. "I can't think about the holidays right now," she says, eating white rice and red beans from a small plate. "I have too many worries."

For many Puerto Ricans, a marathon season of revelry started with Thanksgiving and ends around January 6 with Three Kings' Day, when families hold festive gatherings and children leave shoe boxes full of grass -- the equivalent of cookies for Santa -- for the wise men's camels. "The way we celebrate ... is not (just) Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's," said Cynthia García Coll, an educational psychologist who lives in Dorado, near the capital of San Juan. "It's every weekend. You have cousins on another part of the island. So the next weekend the whole family goes to the other side of the island. "Hurricane Maria's assault on the island has changed all that. The holiday season, instead of being festive, will be "a reminder that we are still victims," adds Marqués, whose family was without power until two weeks before Christmas. "The holidays will be a trigger for trauma for a lot of people. I'm really worried about that. "How are you going to feel if you can't give your family a holiday?"

For weeks, signs of the holiday season have blossomed across the island like the green shoots sprouting on trees stripped bare by Maria. Colorful holiday signs and tinsel trees adorn homes and businesses. Folksy Christmas songs blare from car radios. Despite their hardships, some Puerto Ricans are trying to stay positive. "There is no going back to normal. It's not going to be like before. And that's not necessarily a bad thing," Marqués says. "We're going to be more resilient. My son and my daughter are going to be stronger than they were supposed to be. We're going to have more pride as a country. We're going to be better." Musician Roberto Silva, one of the island's leading backcountry troubadours, agrees. "This could be the Christmas that moves Puerto Rico forward," he said. "The FEMA tarps are covering up a terrible social and economic crisis. We have to find a place between pain and happiness. "The devastation wrought by Maria has even affluent Puerto Ricans unsure about how or what to celebrate. "We're dreading the holidays," said García Coll, the psychologist, who works in San Juan.

Even deciding on a place for Thanksgiving dinner for about 30 extended family members was a problem. "Nobody has water," she said. "Nobody has electricity stable enough to be able to do it. We are the privileged ones. We have much more than the rest of the island." This year, the hum of an electrical generators will be the backdrop of her family's Christmas celebration, García Coll said. They agreed to exchange only gifts manufactured and sold on the island. "It will be a different Christmas, but we would not be anywhere else," she said.

The holiday season in Puerto Rico is typically marked by parrandas, a tradition similar to Christmas caroling in which families and friends gather and move from house to house, singing and dancing. The roving carolers can arrive unexpectedly at all hours and often come inside to eat and drink before taking the party to the next home. Those celebrations have been more muted this year. García Coll said the season has been subdued so far, even on what used to be lively weekend nights. "Many families are really struggling," she said. "How can you celebrate when there are so many of us suffering?"

Still, many Puerto Ricans held traditional parrandas in recent weeks. Marqués says co-workers at the graduate school of psychology where he teaches took the roaming parties to rural mountain towns. His co-workers raised money to donate solar lanterns and water filtration systems to people in the countryside, he says. They distributed toys to needy children. "They deserve it," he says of hurricane survivors in remote parts of the island. "We're the quote-unquote 'privileged ones.'... The people in the mountains, in isolated communities, they feel betrayed. They feel angry. The government is not there."

The first emergency roof tarps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not arrive in town until nearly two months after Maria hit on September 20, Santiago says. More than 1,600 homes in the town had roofs damaged or blown away entirely, he says. More than 500 people remain in shelters throughout the island, according to the government. But Santiago says that figure doesn't take into account the large number of displaced residents not living in shelters. "I have some 5,000 refugees," he says. "You don't see them because they're staying with relatives, friends and neighbors. That's two and three families in one house without light or water

'This Christmas will be different'
A short distance to the northwest, in the hilly town of Corozal, 12-year-old Ian Nieves sits in the elementary school that has sheltered his family since Hurricane Maria hit. He covers his eyes, fighting back tears, as he tries to recall his blessings this holiday season.
Elian Nieves, 6, gave his donated clothes to friends who were needier.

"This Christmas will be different than all others," he says. Ian and his brother Elian, 6, cannot return to their nearby home, which sits on a hillside vulnerable to mudslides and remains badly damaged. Their school is still closed, so the boys spend their days riding bicycles, shooting hoops in the hot sun and playing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles board game. Their great-grandmother prepares breakfast, lunch and dinner in a corner of the classroom she now calls home. "I miss home so much," Elian says.

Ian recalls last year's holiday season, the parrandas and the large spreads of food that included traditional desserts of arroz con leche, rice cooked with coconut milk, sugar and spices, and a coconut milk custard known as tembleque. "We had the whole family together," he says. The boys also miss three of their cousins -- ages 6, 9, 13 -- who lived down the street but left the island for Pennsylvania about a month after the storm. Many Puerto Ricans have fled in recent weeks to stay with relatives or in hotels on the mainland. "I cried so much that day," Elian says. "I don't know when they'll be back."

Ian says he hopes to get new clothes for Christmas. Elian wants a scooter and a juice mug to replace the one -- it was yellow, with a smiley face -- he lost in the hurricane. The younger boy says he recently received a donation of new clothing and shoes but gave some away to friends who needed them more. "They have nothing," he says. "They lost it all in the storm."

Across the island in Yabucoa, Jose Morales and his wife, Irma Torres, live down a muddy road in a yellow house where one room has no roof. The ceilings in two other rooms appear close to collapsing. And the relentless ocean waves are threatening what is left. "The lower wall, by the sea, is in danger of falling," says Morales, a former fisherman who lost his eyesight 12 years ago. "It scares me at night. I hear the waves hitting it. I feel it."

The couple have no place else to go. They live on about $300 a month in food stamps and Social Security benefits. And like the rest of their family nearby, they have been subsisting on rice and cans of Vienna sausage, corned beef and sardines. Torres asks a reporter if she could borrow his phone to call a nephew in Connecticut. When she hears her nephew's voice on the phone, she starts crying.

"God bless you," she tells him. "You know I love you very much." She's surprised to learn it's her nephew's birthday. She didn't know. She asks him to visit soon, and to bring cake and medicine for her respiratory disorder. "We've been waiting for FEMA," she says to him. "Please come see me. ... Give my best to your mother. I love you." After she hangs up, Torres manages a smile. It's her first in a while.
http://www.kitv.com/story/37110849/this ... -christmas

SO! WHEN WE ARE OPENING OUR GIFTS OR DEVOURING THAT CHRISTMAS DINNER, REMEMBER HOW WELL OFF WE ARE !! THANK YOU !!

Venezuela has been having problems for a while now. Breadlines, crime, and other things you would expect from socialism. But I’m reading now that it is a true humanitarian crisis.

In socialism you always end up running out of other people’s money. Even in what was an oil rich country not long ago.

Liberal media was pointing to that country not all that long ago as a socialist euphoria. Doubt they’re covering the huge problems now.

Putin critic Navalny clears first hurdle in bid for Russia presidency

12/24/17

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Sunday cleared the first hurdle towards taking part in next year’s presidential election, even though the central election commission has previously ruled him ineligible to run. Navalny, 41, is a fierce opponent of President Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to win re-election in March, extending 17 years in power. A veteran campaigner against corruption among Russia’s elite, he won the initial support of 742 people at a gathering in a district of Moscow - above the minimum 500 required to initiate a presidential bid. “There is no large-scale support for Putin and his rule in this country,” Navalny told the meeting, describing himself as a “real candidate” for election and threatening a boycott of the vote by his supporters if he is barred from running. On Sunday evening, Navalny submitted the documents to the central election commission needed to be registered as a candidate. The commission, which extended its working hours on Sunday to take the documents, has five days in which to decide whether Navalny will be registered. The commission has previously said he is ineligible due to a suspended prison sentence that he says was politically motivated. Navalny has been jailed three times this year on charges of repeatedly organizing public meetings and rallies in violation of existing laws.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russ ... SKBN1EI0AT

Putin critic Navalny barred from Russian presidential election

12/25/17

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred on Monday from running in next year’s presidential election after officials ruled he was ineligible to take part due to a suspended prison sentence he says was trumped up. The decision by the central election commission was widely expected as election officials had repeatedly declared Navalny would be ineligible to run. Twelve members of the 13-member commission voted to bar Navalny. One member abstained, citing a possible conflict of interest. Navalny, 41, who polls show would struggle to beat incumbent Vladimir Putin in the March election, said he would appeal and called on his supporters to boycott the election and campaign against it being held. “We knew this could happen, and so we have a straight-forward, clear plan,” Navalny said in a pre-recorded video released immediately after the decision. “We announce a boycott of the election. The process in which we are called to participate is not a real election. It will feature only Putin and the candidates which he has personally selected.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russ ... SKBN1EJ0P2
Navalny Calls for Presidential Election Boycott After Being Barred as Candidate

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who submitted endorsement papers necessary for his registration as a presidential candidate, speaks at the Russia's Central Election commission in Moscow, Dec. 25, 2017.

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is calling for a boycott of the country's next presidential ballot after election officials barred him from running. Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) voted Monday to bar Navalny from running in the March 2018 presidential election because of his conviction on criminal charges that the anti-corruption blogger and his followers say were politically motivated. The commission's decision came a day after Navalny declared he had collected the required number of endorsements nationwide to become a presidential candidate. Following Monday's CEC decision, Navalny released a video calling on his supporters to boycott the presidential vote. "We understood that this [the CEC decision] was possible, and we have a clear and precise plan... We are declaring a 'voters' strike', in as much as the procedure in which we are being urged to participate is not an election," he said.
https://www.voanews.com/a/navalny-calls ... 78338.html
Canada to expel Venezuelan diplomat in retaliatory move

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada will expel a Venezuelan diplomat and also bar the country’s ambassador from returning, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday, two days after Venezuela booted out Canada’s envoy for criticizing its rights record. Western nations and Latin American neighbors have been increasingly critical of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this year, accusing him of stamping on democracy and human rights. Venezuela says foreign governments are trying to encourage a right-wing coup. On Saturday, it also expelled the Brazilian envoy. Venezuela had already withdrawn its ambassador to Canada in protest over sanctions against the Maduro regime that Canada imposed in September. In a statement, Freeland said the ambassador was no longer welcome in Canada and that Venezuela’s charge d‘affaires is persona non grata. Venezuela’s expulsion of the Canadian diplomat over the weekend, she said, was ”typical of the Maduro regime, which has consistently undermined all efforts to restore democracy and to help the Venezuelan people. “Canadians will not stand by as the Government of Venezuela robs its people of their fundamental democratic and human rights, and denies them access to basic humanitarian assistance,” she said in the statement.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vene ... SKBN1EJ0RY
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin was sent gift-wrapped box of horse manure: reports

(Reuters) - A gift-wrapped package addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s home in a posh Los Angeles neighborhood that was suspected of being a bomb was instead filled with horse manure, police told local media.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN1EI0HI
Gloomy Christmas in Bethlehem in Wake of Trump’s Declaration

BETHLEHEM — Christians around the world are celebrating Christmas. But in the Holy Land, Israeli-Palestinian tensions have put a damper on festivities. Bells at the Church of the Nativity summoned the faithful to celebrate Christmas at the traditional birthplace of Jesus in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. But turnout was sparse in the wake of three weeks of Palestinian protests against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinian Michael Kumsiyeh sat in his empty souvenir shop in Manger Square and put the blame squarely on Trump. “He makes a problem. He doesn’t make any solution. He doesn’t find any solution for the problem,” said Kumsiyeh. Café owner Hader Kanaan said customers are few and far between. “This Christmas this year is very sad. No celebration. Nobody happy. Bad situation. Everything [is] bad,” he said.
https://www.voanews.com/a/gloomy-christ ... 78307.html
Refugees escaping Libya arrive in France

Paris (CNN) The French government stepped up its fight against slavery as the first group of refugees rescued from Libya touched down Tuesday in Paris from Niger. France plans to take in 10,000 refugees by 2019, with 3,000 people coming from a resettlement program in Niger and Chad. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the plan in the aftermath of CNN releasing video footage that showed migrants being sold into slavery in the North African country, some for as little as $400 each. Further flights from Niger are expected to land Tuesday and Wednesday in Paris, with additional arrivals set for January.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/19/europe/fr ... index.html
Vietnam braces for typhoon as Philippine toll rises to 230 dead

HANOI/MANILA (Reuters) - Authorities in Vietnam prepared to move a million people from low-lying areas along the south coast on Monday as a typhoon approached after it battered the Philippines with floods and landslides that killed more than 230 people. Typhoon Tembin is expected to slam into Vietnam late on Monday after bringing misery to the predominantly Christian Philippines just before Christmas. Vietnam’s disaster prevention committee said 74,000 people had been moved to safety from vulnerable areas, while authorities in 15 provinces and cities were prepared to move more than 1 million.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia ... SKBN1EJ085

Kremlin seeks investigation of vote boycott called by Putin opponent

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hundreds of Russian celebrities, sportspeople and politicians nominated President Vladimir Putin for re-election on Tuesday, hours after the Kremlin said it wanted opposition leader Alexei Navalny investigated for calling for a boycott of the vote. Navalny called for the boycott of the March 18 election on Monday after Russia’s central election commission ruled he was not eligible to run for president due to a suspended prison sentence hanging over him. The 41-year-old lawyer, who says he’s being excluded on false grounds because the Kremlin is running scared, said he would use his campaign headquarters across the country to call the election’s legitimacy into question and organize protests. The Kremlin, which points to polls that show Putin is the runaway favorite with Navalny trailing far behind, on Tuesday set the scene for possible police action against Navalny and his supporters whose protests have been broken up before. Navalny, who says he could defeat Putin in a fair election, has been jailed three times this year and charged with breaking the law for organizing public meetings and rallies designed to bolster his presidential campaign.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russ ... SKBN1EK15S
Venezuelans scramble to survive as merchants demand dollars

CARACAS/CIUDAD GUAYANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - There was no way Jose Ramon Garcia, a food transporter in Venezuela, could afford new tires for his van at $350 each. Whether he opted to pay in U.S. currency or in the devalued local bolivar currency at the equivalent black market price, Garcia would have had to save up for years. Though used to expensive repairs, this one was too much and put him out of business. “Repairs cost an arm and a leg in Venezuela,” said the now-unemployed 42-year-old Garcia, who has a wife and two children to support in the southern city of Guayana. “There’s no point keeping bolivars.”
For a decade and a half, strict exchange controls have severely limited access to dollars. A black market in hard currency has spread in response, and as once-sky-high oil revenue runs dry, Venezuela’s economy is in free-fall. President Nicolas Maduro has maintained his predecessor’s policies on capital controls. Yet, the spread between the strongest official rate, of some 10 bolivars per dollar, and the black market rate, of around 110,000 per dollar, is now huge.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vene ... SKBN1EK0XK
Activists: Trump’s 'Fake News' Theme Used to Limit Global Press Freedom

WHITE HOUSE — With the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide at an all-time high, press freedom groups are drawing a direct line between President Donald Trump’s verbal slugfest with some of America’s most venerable news institutions and the adoption of his “fake news” mantra by autocrats and dictators around the world. “We’re seeing an unprecedented attack on both the institution of journalism and the media, as well as very personal attacks on individual journalists and individual media outlets,” says Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists. “And what this does is it creates an environment in which journalists operate less safely.” The CPJ’s 2017 press freedom survey shows 262 journalists are behind bars worldwide, slightly higher than the number a year ago. More than half the total are in Turkey, China, and Egypt. He once called CNN, “the enemy of the people.”

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, asked about an Amnesty International report on systematic killings in Syrian prison, replied, “We’re living in a fake news era, as you know. Everybody knows it.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro complained international media are spreading lies about him, saying, “This is what we call fake news, isn’t it?”

Cambodia’s Hun Sen, who regularly quotes Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric, has ordered more than a dozen radio stations to close or stop broadcasting programming from the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and shut down a leading independent newspaper.

Libyan media used the term in trying to discredit a CNN report on slavery among migrants, and Russia’s foreign ministry has begun posting stories it considers false on its website covered by the words “FAKE NEWS” in big red letters.

China’s top cyber security official cited "fake news" about a report ranking China last in the world in internet freedom.

Trump has welcomed several known foes of free media to the White House. Trump hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a friend, despite that country’s reputation as the world’s leading jailer of journalists.

With Trump at his side during a recent ASEAN summit, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called reporters “spies.”

"It's hard enough to be a journalist in dictatorships like Cambodia when the United States is setting a good example," Tom Malinowski, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Labor, told VOA.

"Now every dictator who wants to ban media he doesn't like can say, 'Trump does it so why can't I?'" said Malinowski, who served under President Obama.
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-fake-ne ... 79719.html
America First? Trump Struggles to Implement Campaign Promises on Military

WASHINGTON — As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised a radically different approach to foreign intervention than that of his predecessors. At campaign events, Trump railed against U.S. military intervention so frequently that it eventually became a part of his stump speech. “We’ve spent $6 trillion in the Middle East,” Trump repeatedly lamented. “We could have rebuilt our country twice.” In his first year as president, Pentagon data suggests Trump has struggled to carry out his “America First” approach to the world, at least when it comes to the use of force. Instead, Trump has sent more U.S. troops to conflict zones in the Middle East and South Asia. He’s dropped more bombs on Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. And he’s expanded a global campaign of targeted drone killings. Add it all up, and it’s hard to see how Trump’s foreign policy is any less interventionist than his predecessors. If anything, Trump’s policies are a little more hawkish than those of Barack Obama, says Christopher Preble, with the CATO Institute.
https://www.voanews.com/a/america-first ... 79454.html
2017 Saw Limited Progress on Trump's Legislative Agenda

CAPITOL HILL — At the end of President Donald Trump’s first year in office, congressional Republicans head into 2018, a midterm election year, with one major bicameral legislative achievement to tout: an overhaul of the U.S tax code that polled poorly in most opinion surveys.
https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-legisla ... 79355.html
Russian President Vladimir Putin announces re-election bid

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday declared his intention to seek re-election next March, a vote he appears certain to win. If Putin serves another six-year term that would run through 2024, it would make him the nation's longest serving ruler since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Putin has been in power in Russia since 2000. He served two presidential terms in 2000-2008, then shifted into the prime minister's seat because of term limits, but continued calling the shots while his ally, Dmitry Medvedev, served as placeholder president. Medvedev had the presidential term extended to six years and then stepped down to let Putin reclaim the presidency in 2012.

The upper house of parliament is expected to give the formal start to the election campaign later this month. The most visible Putin foe, Alexei Navalny, also wants to run, even though a conviction he calls politically motivated bars him from joining the campaign. He has organized a grassroots campaign and staged rallies across Russia to raise pressure on the Kremlin to let him register for the race.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... story.html

OF INTEREST - DID tRUMP REALLY SAY IT ???

Trump Celebrates Tax Bill With Mar-a-Lago Friends: “You All Just Got a Lot Richer”
Trump slams Nigerians for not "returning to their ‘huts’ after seeing America"
"Said Haitians ‘All Have AIDS’ "
Trump says the GOP tax bill would 'cost me a fortune' —
That GOP Tax Bill Would Hurt The Wealthy
"Our movement is a movement built on love."
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I really have a huge problem with trump, the GOP right wingers, and the folks over at FOX. The way these people are attacking our Intelligence Agencies (DOJ and FBI) is a "clear and present danger" in my opinion.

My main concerns are with trump and his appointees and hires. As we have seen, they have been rather "suspect" especially the individuals within his inner circle and the WH itself. His appointees, judges and cabinet members, have also been suspect. It appears trumps vetting process in itself is suspect.

What I fear most are the attempts by trump, the GOP right wingers, and the folks over at trump tv, fostering the idea of "purging" the DOJ and the FBI. "If" they succeed in purging these agencies, who replaces them? Imagine these positions being filled with trump appointees. "Yes" persons with "loyalty" demanded by trump. An intelligence community filled with trump "yes" persons. Is this the "real" conspiracy? "If" trump, the GOP, and trump tv gets their way, I think we all know where this road leads. Just some thoughts I have. Pretty scary stuff. Dangerous stuff.

The bashing of Mueller and his team is gaining momentum. The trump presidency has been built on lies and deceit. Unfortunately, the plague has affected the GOP. As a person who loves the underdog, I'm cheering on Team Mueller.

world.news.goldwave.com

Nikki Haley Pranked By Russian Comedians: "Putin Absolutely Meddled In The Binomo Election!"

Embarrassingly Stupid Nikki Haley Gets Punked by Russian Pranksters

Haley’s Binomo: US Representative to UN Gets Served by Russian Pranksters

The US ambassador to the United Nations has fallen victim to a phone prank perpetrated by a famous Russian duo, with whom she discussed the affairs of a fictional South China Sea island nation and the alleged harassment of the Ukrainian president by Kevin Spacey.

Notorious Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov (Vovan) and Alexey Stolyarov (Lexus) have managed to one-up the US government by calling Nikki Haley and tricking her into thinking that she was speaking with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

During the phone conversation, the pranksters probed Haley’s opinion about the island nation of Binomo — a fictional country located in the South China Sea not far from Vietnam, and invented by Vovan and Lexus for that occasion.

When the pranksters told Haley that the country recently proclaimed independence and that the Russians have meddled in the elections held there she immediately replied “of course they did!” The ambassador also stated that the US is aware of the situation that it will continue to monitor it closely just as Washington deals with all issues “that keep coming up in the South China Sea.”

“Nikki Haley is a member of Trump’s cabinet. An ambassador to the UN holds a lot more clout in their country than on ours… It’s very funny when such a person is responsible for foreign relations in the US,” Stolyarov remarked during an interview with Russian media.The pranksters also inquired whether Haley heard about (fictional) claims made by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about Hollywood celebrity Kevin Spacey harassing him in 2015. The ambassador replied that she wasn’t aware of this tidbit and promised to research this topic.

Haley gets punked the entirety of this clip, the Binomo punk starts at the 11:20 mark - Embarrassing ! More so because these are Russian not Polish pranksters . This administration is so full of bullcrap !

https://youtu.be/9RgXL7byTF0

Earlier this year Vovan and Lexus managed to prank US Congresswoman Maxine Waters: the duo managed to convince her that Russian hackers rigged the elections in a fictional African country called Limpopo and install a puppet leader named Ai Bolit.
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2017 ... ranksters/

Putin files re-election bid as Kremlin critic calls for protests

(CNN) Russian President Vladimir Putin officially launched his bid for a fourth term as Russia's president on Wednesday, as his main opponent called for a day of protests against the elections.

Putin, who has served as either Prime Minister or President of Russia since 1999, filed papers that pave the way for him to rule until 2024. The former KGB leader, who has dominated Russian politics for two decades, is likely to score a comfortable win -- his only serious opponent, Alexey Navalny, was barred from standing against him due to a fraud conviction.

[ Putin has been in power in Russia since 2000. He served two presidential terms in 2000-2008, then shifted into the prime minister's seat because of term limits, but continued calling the shots while his ally, Dmitry Medvedev, served as placeholder president. Medvedev had the presidential term extended to six years and then stepped down to let Putin reclaim the presidency in 2012. ]

Navalny called for a day protests on January 28. Writing on his blog on Wednesday, Navalny urged his supporters to "refuse to call Putin's reassignment an election." "We do not want to wait another six years. We want competitive elections right now," he wrote.

The opposition leader's call to action comes just days after Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected his bid to enter the country's presidential race, citing a previous embezzlement conviction according to state-run media outlet RIA-Novosti.

The decision to bar Navalny from the race came as no surprise. The 41-year old's candidacy was unlikely as Russian law prevents convicted criminals from running for public office. Navalny says his prosecution was politically motivated.

Navalny has been instrumental in a political awakening of the country's youth, tapping into deep seated frustrations among supporters that have grown up in a sluggish economy and under endemic corruption.

Support for the Russian dissident has been mobilized by a robust social media presence, dedicated teams of grassroots campaigners seen across the country, and Navalny Live, a live-streaming companion to his original YouTube channel that has more than 1.6 million subscribers.

Those YouTube videos galvanized supporters to join in on the biggest anti-government protests that Russia has seen in years last March. Thousands joined rallies in almost 100 cities across the country; Navalny was arrested and jailed for 15 days.

In October, thousands of people attended marches in 26 cities against Putin on the leader's 65th birthday.

At his annual press conference earlier this month, Putin said his aim was for Russia to have a "competitive" and "balanced" political system, but it wasn't his responsibility to create political opponents.

"I want this," Putin said, "and I will strive for a balanced political system and that is impossible without competition in the political field."

The election commission will rule on the validity of Putin's registration in the next few days, with an election set for March 2018.

[ Ahhhhh! The guy who trump admires so much ]
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/27/europe/ru ... index.html

Obama Misses 'Fascinating' Work of Presidency, Warns of 'Different Realities' Online

Britain's Prince Harry interviews former U.S. President Barack Obama as part of his guest editorship of BBC Radio 4's Today programme which is to be broadcast on Dec. 27, 2017. (Obama Foundation/BBC/Handout via REUTERS)

U.S. President Barack Obama told Britain's Prince Harry one danger of the internet is "that people can have entirely different realities" and surround themselves in information that "reinforces their current biases."

Harry interviewed Obama in September for Wednesday's broadcast on BBC Radio.
https://www.voanews.com/a/obama-preside ... 80883.html

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Obama Admits Fear Of Dangerous Social Media Use In Prince Harry Interview: Shading Trump?

Though he didn’t call Donald Trump by name, in his interview with Prince Harry, Barack Obama warned other world leaders against using social media to spread misinformation!

Amidst reports that Barack Obama, 56, is on the Royal wedding invitation list, while a certain someone might not be, the former President urged those in leadership positions not to use social media to spread misinformation and foster division during his interview with Prince Harry, 33, for BBC Radio 4’s Today show on Dec. 27. While he didn’t name him, it’s pretty clear that Obama was talking about Donald Trump, 71, who is known for his itchy Twitter thumb!

“All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet. One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases,” Obama said. “The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn’t lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground,” he added.

Meanwhile, there’s talk that the Obama family will be invited to Harry’s upcoming wedding to Meghan Markle, 36, but it’s unclear as to whether the Trumps will be, too! As a source told The Sun, the current President “could react very badly” if the Obamas attend the Royal wedding even before Trump “has had a chance to meet the Queen.” Yikes. See photos of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attending the Queen’s annual pre-Christmas lunch here.

[ Can't wait to see trump's reaction if he gets snubbed by the prince and at the same time, prevents trump from meeting the queen and Obama receives the invite trump just might start world war 3 ]
http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/12/27/bar ... ald-trump/

Listen to Barack Obama and Prince Harry’s full interview below:

https://youtu.be/Rr5OqqNsSuU

[ I miss Obama...Awesome Speaker! Great to hear a president that doesn't Kindergarten speak ]

No doubt, we are not well-liked in Europe thanks to trump. We have relatives in Europe and they pretty much confirm that consensus of opinion. face it, trump is not well-liked. This is not a good situation we find ourselves in overseas. trump has hurt our image in the middle east. Our only real friend is Israel for obvious reasons. Asia? Africa? The Americas? Are we on the inside looking out?

Trump's approval is at 46 today. The exact same as Obama's was at this time his first year. I would say that is amazing considering the media licked Obama's boots and constantly report crap to make Trump look bad.

46 approval rating? Where was that poll taken? Mar-a-Lago guests?

Rasmussen daily tracking.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... rack_dec28

Another example of a liberal who only watches liberal news who doesn't know what is really going on. Hard to believe half the country likes the president when you only watch liberals bash him all day long.

Call me when he's over 50.

Last time I looked 46 is not half the country

How the new tax bill will cut infrastructure investment

By increasing the cost to finance infrastructure for states and local governments, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will lower investment in our nation’s infrastructure. This runs counter to President Trump’s repeated desire to tackle the major problems associated with America’s crumbling infrastructure through increased investment. The impact may be large and immediate enough to swamp the short-term impact of any infrastructure package Congress can put together in the immediate future.

In America, most investment in infrastructure—about 3 out of every 4 dollars for operating, maintaining, and improving infrastructure—occurs at the state and local level. States, local governments, and infrastructure providers (port authorities, transit agencies, etc…) own over 90% of non-defense public infrastructure assets. They fund and finance infrastructure through a combination of taxes, borrowing, and user and beneficiary charges.

Big picture: The tax cuts will make infrastructure financing more expensive for states and local governments and increase the costs to local voters of funding infrastructure through property taxes. Here’s how that will happen:

The largest immediate impact on the cost of financing infrastructure will come from increasing the cost for states to borrow through municipal debt. On a basic level, states and local governments borrow by issuing municipal debt “munis” that enjoy special status of paying interest that is not subject to federal taxes (and often not subject to the state’s income tax, as well). The muni debt market is huge—about $3.8 trillion. Most infrastructure projects, particularly significant ones, involve issuing muni-debt to finance the costs. After all, a bridge needs to be built before it can collect any tolls.

The tax cuts will cause muni debt to be more expensive for states and local governments through several mechanisms. Many muni buyers are wealthy individuals, particular retirees. When the top marginal tax rate is cut, the value of debt being tax-free falls. This decline in value from cutting taxes for the top marginal rates will ripple through and make the bonds worth less. This means that new tax-free municipal debt will have to pay higher interest rates to attract capital. Higher interest costs for infrastructure agencies means less money available to build, repair, and upgrade infrastructure.

A second whammy for the muni-market will come from the corporate rate cut. Many muni debt buyers are corporations, particularly banks and insurance companies. The Federal Reserve estimates that banks and insurance companies together own almost 30 percent of all municipal debt. The same principle that applies to retail investors applies to corporate owners: When the marginal tax rate falls, the value of being ‘tax-exempt’ falls. With larger cuts on the corporate side from 35 to 21 percent, demand for munis from businesses, particularly banks and insurance companies, should fall even sharper.

The tax bill limits the amount of property taxes that can be deducted against federal income tax through what is often called the SALT deduction. This deduction is particularly binding on states with higher income taxes (often states in the northeast), which have some of the oldest and most decaying infrastructure. SALT deductions are also more likely to hit cities that have their own local income and property taxes and larger infrastructure needs. Limiting the SALT deduction will increase the cost of property taxes to voters, who ultimately have control over whether state and local governments go forward with new infrastructure projects.

The tax bill will serve to increase the cost of infrastructure projects, slowing down the investments that President Trump says he wants more of. It will have the opposite impact of the Build America Bond program, enacted in the first year of the Obama Administration, which lowered the cost of municipal debt and helped stimulate greater investment in infrastructure.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front ... nvestment/
New York governor questions the constitutionality of federal tax overhaul

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new U.S. tax code targets high-tax states and may be unconstitutional, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday, saying that the bill may violate New York residents’ rights to due process and equal protection.

The sweeping Republican tax bill signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday introduces a cap, of $10,000, on deductions of state and local income and property taxes, known as SALT. The tax overhaul was the party’s first major legislative victory since Trump took office in January.

The SALT provision will hit many taxpayers in states with high incomes, high property values and high taxes, like New York, New Jersey and California. Those states are generally Democratic leaning.

“I‘m not even sure what they did is legally constitutional and that’s something we’re looking at now,” Cuomo said in an interview with CNN.

In an interview with CNBC, Cuomo suggested why the bill may be unconstitutional.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN1EM1A1
Trump on Twitter (Dec 28) - Global Warming

The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS.

The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy.

@realDonaldTrump :

- Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! bit.ly/2lnpKaq [1814 EST]

- In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up! [1901 EST]
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN1EN04M
50,000 pounds of food intended for Puerto Rico will now aid evacuees in Central Florida

Tens of thousands of pounds of donated food that have been sitting in a Jacksonville warehouse will be distributed to Puerto Rican families in Central Florida who have fled dire conditions on the island.

The shipment of about 50,000 pounds of food was originally destined for Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands affected by hurricanes, but it had been held in Jacksonville instead. A Florida spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it wasn’t clear why the food was never sent to Puerto Rico.

Immediately after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, supermarket shelves throughout Central Florida emptied as people rushed to collect and donate food for Puerto Ricans.

But as thousands fleeing difficult living conditions continue to arrive in Florida, Rodriguez said community organizations and churches are scrambling to collect large-scale food donations, affordable housing options and winter clothes.

“We sent so much help to Puerto Rico — it’s a human instinct,” he said. “But we didn’t anticipate so many people would come here.”
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pue ... story.html
Reuters reporters held in Myanmar were handed papers, then arrested: families

YANGON (Reuters) - Family members of two Reuters reporters detained in Myanmar said on Thursday the pair had told them they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents by policemen they had gone to meet.

In the first account of the circumstances of the arrests from the journalists themselves, Wa Lone’s wife, Pan Ei Mon, told a news conference her husband said that he and Kyaw Soe Oo had a meeting at a restaurant on Dec. 12 with two police officers they had not met before.

The policemen handed them two rolled-up papers and said they could take the documents home and open them there, Pan Ei Mon said, quoting her husband.

“They took the two rolled papers and paid the bill and went out from the restaurant,” she said. “They were immediately grabbed by around seven or eight policemen who handcuffed them and arrested them. He told me that.”

Nyo Nyo Aye, Kyaw Soe Oo’s sister, told the news conference that her brother had given her a similar account of the incident.

Police were not immediately available for comment.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myan ... SKBN1EM1BK
Regional Mexican Lawmaker Shot Dead in Jalisco State

MEXICO CITY — Unidentified gunmen shot dead a local lawmaker in the western Mexican state of Jalisco on Thursday, authorities said, the latest killing in a gang-ravaged region ahead of elections next summer.

Saul Galindo, a lawmaker for the opposition center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution, headed the justice committee in the Jalisco state congress, according to its website.

Galindo was at home in the town of Tomatlan when gunmen arrived and shot him, a spokeswoman from the state attorney general's office said. Galindo was running for mayor of Tomatlan, according to his Twitter feed.

The motive for the slaying was unclear, said the office of the state attorney general, who is investigating the case.

Earlier this week, an activist for the center-left Citizens Movement, the party that holds the mayoralty of state capital Guadalajara, was also shot dead in Jalisco.

Elections in Mexico can cause violence in areas where gangs seek to influence local politics.
https://www.voanews.com/a/regional-mexi ... 83337.html