World
As part of America’s elevated response to North Korea’s military expansion, the THAAD missile defense system installed in South Korea has been completed, less than 2 months after the equipment arrived there, according to the U.S. military.
The move to install the shield was made last July during the Obama administration.
217 – 213 was the vote that passed without motion to reconsider, but all 193 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted “Nay.”
Democrats made news by shouting “Hey Hey, Goodbye” on the Senate floor, and protesters staged public demonstrations against the move in the streets.
Trump said of the bill, “Make no mistake. This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare.”
The bill’s writing had several changes made in order to get passed, including that states can opt out of essential benefits, spending caps, hospital care, and pre-existing conditions requirements, on the condition that the state show it would improve the market to opt out.
The bill also cuts spending on Medicaid $880b over 10 years. This is where the figure of “24m more uninsured Americans” comes from, as reported by the CBO.
Prime Minister Al-Abadi wants some or all of the 7,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq to stay, even after ISIS leaves, according U.S. mainstream news reports.
The largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history is taking place in the territory of Puerto Rico. $120b debt and pension obligations need to be restructured.
It owes $72m to creditors, many of which will have to eat the losses.
The 3 million-strong territory will close 184 schools as part of its cutting down of social services costs (students will go to other schools). Pensions are also expected to take a hit.
The Puerto Rican economy faces many challenges. They have lost 10% of their population in the last 10 years (mostly to the U.S.), and 20% of the island’s jobs. The current unemployment rate is at 12%. Because they are a territory and not a state, they do not have representation and have a hard time getting funding from the U.S. government.
One day after he was fired as FBI Director by Trump, senators from both sides of the isle asked Comey to appear before the committee next week, reportedly.
It is not known whether the session will be public. Comey would be allowed to speak on classified intelligence to Senators in a classified setting as a private citizen, but in public classified information would not be given, although Comey’s personal thoughts on the matter might be more forthcoming than if he were still employed by the FBI.
Comey later declined the request. The President tweeted that Comey “better hope there are no ‘tapes'” of the conversation the two shared, but it is not known whether this was related to Comey’s decision.
Most prominent among the victims: The UK’s National Health Service. Dozens of hospitals and medical centers had to be closed. Treatment was postponed, ambulances diverted. Appointments couldn’t be made because it was too dangerous. Medical workers had no access to important information.
However, some security firms reported that most of the affected computers were in Russia.
It has been reported that the hackers may have used a tool that was a NSA secret before it was leaked to the public earlier this year.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office,” read the statement issued by the White House Tuesday.
“President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”
Comey was heading the FBI investigation into the possible Russian hacking of Clinton’s email servers and whether there was any collusion on the part of Trump associates. A similar investigation is also being conducted by both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Intelligence Committee. So far, there is no evidence that there was collusion.
New Orleans removed a monument to the Battle of Liberty Place, part of what is seen as a wider movement to remove symbols of Confederacy and Jim Crow.
In the 1874 battle, a mostly Confederate veteran army which was part of the Democratic Party, fought New Orleans metro police and state militia, and held official buildings for days until federal troops removed them.
The battle was part of violence that followed a contested 1872 gubernatorial election in which both parties claimed victory.
The monument was erected in 1891 to celebrate and remember the Democratic insurrection. A white obelisk and inscription expressed what some consider white supremacist views.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu removed the monument without warning in the early morning hours, and told the public other monuments would be taken down in the same way.
Some called Landrieu’s method “the coward’s way,” and criticised Landrieu for removing pieces of New Orleans’ history, which is also an important part of the city’s tourist economy.
By way of explanation, Landrieu stated, “We will no longer allow the Confederacy to literally be put on a pedestal in the heart of our city.”
Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales is creating Wikitribune, a news version of Wikipedia where he hopes news will be more fact-based than what he sees elsewhere.
He will be hiring many journalists for the initial phase, and see how things develop from there.
Wikitribune will not focus on doing original journalism. It will use the same community model as Wikipedia to put together long-form contextual articles for news events, as well as finding related questions that can be filled in by people at home.
Regarding whether the venture would succeed, Wales stated, “[O]ne of my main questions is the question of scale – I think if we can get to scale, it will be successful. If we aren’t able to produce enough good work early on to persuade people to contribute further support, I think that means that potentially we are going to struggle to get traction. But the response so far to the announcement has been so positive that I’m feeling ok.”
To save around $8,000 per year, the Kentucky Coal Museum is installing rooftop solar panels.
The museum is in Benham, a town of 500 people, down from 3,000 in it’s coal town heyday.
The move is seen as part of a wider movement in Kentucky to move away from coal energy, which is considered to be increasingly replaced by natural gas.
A government shutdown could be the result of Trump’s demand for funding for a wall on the Mexico border.
Among Trump’s priorities for the CR* are the wall and the military, according to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Congressional Democrats and some Republicans oppose the funding of the wall, and it may result in a government shutdown on Saturday, Trump’s 100th day in office. At least 8 democrats are needed to pass a funding bill.
However, Trump was reported to have indicated in a private meeting with conservative media outlets this week that he may put off seeking funds for the border wall until after Republicans begin drafting the budget blueprint for the next fiscal year, which would decrease the likelihood of a shutdown.
Lumber tariffs up to 24% are being imposed by Trump on Canada.
During his presidential run, Trump repeatedly spoke of “America first,” and threatened tariffs on China and Mexico. These threats received voter support, but the first tariff imposed by the president was on the U.S.’s northern neighbor.
The lumber tariffs were announced Monday after trade talks on dairy products fell through.
There is talk of a trade war between Canada and the U.S. Currently, the two nations and Mexico are preparing to renegotiate NAFTA.
The U.S. government is thought to be motivated by a desire improve prospects for American lumber companies, who complain that subsidies provided to Canadian companies by the Canadian government create an unfair playing field. Canada exported a reported $5.6 billion worth of softwood to the U.S. last year.