US President Donald Trump has reiterated his demand for border wall funding as the partial government shutdown enters its 25th day.

Trump again urged Congress on Monday to give him the money to build his long-promised wall along the US-Mexican border.

Speaking at an American Farm Bureau convention in New Orleans, Trump rejected a Republican call for temporarily reopening shuttered US government agencies in order to encourage negotiations with Democrats on border security issues.

Democrats, who control the House, have rejected Trump’s $5.7 billion demand for a border wall.

He threatened to continue with the government shutdown for as long as it takes to get Congress’ approval for the wall funding across the southern border with Mexico.

On the other side of the argument, Democrats say that there are cheaper and more effective ways than a wall to strengthen border security.

They have offered to give Trump $1.3 billion in new border security funds this year to help pay for a range of high-tech and other tools to enhance security at the southern border.

Constructing a wall along the US-Mexican border could cost way above $25 billion, according to Trump’s critics in the Democratic Party.

In the meantime, Trump was scheduled to meet members of Congress for lunch at the White House on Tuesday.

It was not announced who would be at the lunch; however, media reports cited unnamed sources as saying a group of more moderate lawmakers from the Democratic Party had been invited.

Until now Democratic lawmakers, who make up the majority of the House, have rejected Trump’s demand for funding Trump’s “big, beautiful wall”.

In an effort to restart talks with Democrats, on Sunday the powerful Judiciary Committee’s new chairman, South Carolinian Senator Lindsey Graham urged Trump to reopen the government for a short period of time.

Temporarily reopening the government and then holding talks is an idea that the Democrats support.

The partial shutdown, which affects about 800,000 federal workers, has been the longest shutdown in the history of the United States.

Source: Presstv

A winter storm that dumped heavy snow on the US Midwest, causing at least five roadway deaths, stranding some motorists in Missouri and canceling dozens of flights, marched east toward Washington on Saturday.

The weather system, which started as rain from Mexico but has since turned into snow, is forecast to affect an 1,800-mile (2,900 km) swath of the United States from Colorado to the Mid-Atlantic.

The storm hit Kansas and Missouri on Friday and pummeled those states again on Saturday as it extended into parts of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, said US Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Andrew Orrison.

In Kansas City, snow dusted the field at Arrowhead Stadium during Saturday’s National Football League playoff game between the hometown Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts.

“There’s snow time like Showtime,” the Chiefs said on Twitter, sharing video of the team’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes arriving at the stadium in the snow.

The storm is leaving its heaviest snowfall on areas west of St. Louis, where about a foot and a half of snow was recorded, with still more falling on Saturday, Orrison said.

At least five people died in weather-related crashes on roads in Missouri and Kansas, according to the highway patrolmen in both states.

“I think it’s safe to say that every road is bad in Kansas right now!” Trooper Tod Hileman, a spokesman for the Kansas Highway Patrol, said on Twitter on Saturday.

Dozens of flights were canceled at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which described the onslaught of snow on Twitter as one of its biggest single-day winter storms in years.

Snow is forecast for the Appalachian Mountains and the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday evening and Sunday.

“Given how cold it is across the Midwest and even in the mid-Atlantic region, certainly people who are going to be out are going to want to dress in layered clothing,” Orrison said.

Washington, where many federal government offices are closed due to the US government shutdown, is expected to receive 6 to 8 inches (15 cm to 20 cm) of snow from this storm, according to the National Weather Service.

Central and northern Virginia will receive even more, with up to 10 inches of snow possible in some places. Baltimore and parts of Maryland are also bracing for a similar amount.

Philadelphia is expected to receive a few inches of snow, but areas north of there are expected to be spared, Orrison added.

(Source: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump has launched a new attack on mainstream American news organizations, calling the press “crazed lunatics,” and again used the term “enemy of the people” and “fake news” to degrade journalists.

“With all of the success that our Country is having, including the just released jobs numbers which are off the charts, the Fake News & totally dishonest Media concerning me and my presidency has never been worse,” Trump said in tweets on Monday.

“Many have become crazed lunatics who have given up on the TRUTH!,” he added. DIt was not clear what provoked Trump’s fresh onslaught against the news media.

In earlier tweets Monday, Trump claimed, without citing any specifics, that the “Fake News” knowingly lies and fabricates sources to make him look bad.

“The Fake News Media in our Country is the real Opposition Party,” Trump said. “It is truly the Enemy of the People! We must bring honesty back to journalism and reporting!”D

Trump has frequently criticized journalists and described news reports that contradict his opinion or policy positions as “fake news.”

The Republican president’s comments reflect a view held by many conservatives that most newspapers and other news organization in the US often distort, fabricate or exclude facts because of their liberal tendencies.

The UN human rights commissioner warned in August that Trump’s verbal attacks on the media are “very close to incitement to violence” against journalists.

In September, the publisher of the New York Times made a similar warning and urged Trump to stop attacking the news media.

Source: Presstv

There is still confusion in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, after some junior military officials announced very early on Monday that they had overthrown President Ali Bongo who is currently receiving treatment in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

A source close to the Gabonese military has just revealed that power supply has been cut off in strategic neighbourhoods in the nation’s capital to preempt the coup plotters from making great strides.

Though power supply and the Internet have been cut off, it is still possible to reach people in Gabon through the telephone. Many Gabonese are apprehensive as they are not getting much information about the situation following the government’s decision to shut down the Internet.

Currently, the country’s military that is loyal to President Bongo is in control of Libreville’s downtown core where the ministry of petroleum, the senate and other landmarks are located.

The source has also debunked the fact that the coup plotters have been arrested. The coup plotters are in total control of the radio and television building and dislodging them will take heavy artillery and long hours of fighting, our source said.

The source says that the country is being controlled by the coup plotters, adding that those who are announcing that everything is under control are speaking out of the country while the coup plotters are within the country.

Activists and other supporters of the coup have been trying to reach the French embassy, but the French government has deployed French Gendarmes around the country’s embassy in Libreville. Meanwhile, the French government is trying to talk to both parties with the objective of hammering out a negotiated settlement.

Our source has also said the negotiations are not going very fast as many people would have loved, as residents of the capital city have been holed up in their homes since the junior army officers declared that they had overthrown the government.

It should be recalled that the government’s spokesperson, Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, had earlier announced that the political situation in Gabon was “under control” .

He added that all five of the rebels who tried to take charge had been arrested by the authorities, stressing that the junior officers had only claimed that they had seized power “to restore democracy” in oil-rich Gabon, where the ailing leader’s family has ruled for 50 years.

It is also being reported that tanks and armored vehicles could be seen in the capital Libreville. “The situation is calm. The gendarmes who are often stationed there have taken control of the entire area around the radio and TV headquarters, so everything is back to normal”, said Guy-Bertrand Mapangou. a government spokesman.

There is still uncertainty in the country as very little information is coming out of government sources. Despite efforts to negotiate, the French government has clearly condemned the coup.

“We condemn any attempt to change government outside constitutional rules,” French foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in a statement seen by Reuters news agency. “Gabon’s stability can only be ensured in strict compliance with the provisions of its constitution,” she said.

By Pierre Onana in Libreville

Malaysia’s king abdicated on Sunday in a historic first for the country that ended weeks of speculation about his future after he took medical leave and reportedly married a Russian ex-beauty queen. Sultan Muhammad V’s decision marks the first time a king has stepped aside during his five-year term in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

The national palace confirmed the resignation with immediate effect of the 49-year-old, who had been on the throne for two years and was known for his fondness for four-wheel driving and other extreme sports.

“His majesty tells the people of Malaysia to continue to be united to maintain unity, tolerance, and work together,” said a statement from the Comptroller of the Royal Household, Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.

Malaysia’s Islamic rulers will now meet to decide on the next king. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty.

The system has been in place since independence from Britain in 1957. Royal officials gave no reason for Sultan Muhammad V’s move but there had been a question mark over the king’s reign since he went on leave for medical treatment in November.

Secret marriage?

Reports in British and Russian media then surfaced saying that he had married the former Miss Moscow in the Russian capital in a lavish ceremony.

Royal officials in Malaysia have so far not commented on the rumoured marriage, or given any details about the state of the king’s health.

Speculation intensified about the king’s future after his medical leave officially finished at the end of December, and the country’s Islamic royals reportedly held a special meeting last week.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s Islamic royalty command great respect, especially from Muslim Malays, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

Sultan Muhammad V studied at St Cross College at Oxford and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, according to official media. He is known for a relaxed public persona, taking part in walkathons to promote health, and has been photographed wearing a baseball cap backwards.

According to a report from official news agency Bernama at the time of his enthronement, he “fills his free time by reading and has an interest in extreme sports such as four-wheel drive expeditions and endurance challenges and shooting”.

He is also the ceremonial ruler of the conservative Islamic northern state of Kelantan. The palace statement said he was “ready to return home to the state of Kelantan to be together with the state government and… the Kelantanese people”.

(AFP)

The US Department of Defense’s chief of staff, Rear Admiral Kevin Sweeney, has quit his post in the wake of his boss’s resignation.

Sweeney released a statement not long after a resignations was submitted by Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

Mattis’s former deputy, Patrick Shanahan, began serving as acting Defense secretary at the beginning of January.

“After two years in the Pentagon, I’ve decided the time is right to return to the private sector. It has been an honor to serve again alongside the men and women of the Department of Defense,” he said.

Before him, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White had announced her resignation at the end of December.

The US president pushed James Mattis out of his post after disagreement over Trump’s decision to end the US military presence in Syria and scale it back in Afghanistan, making Trump further isolated at helm.

Before leaving Pentagon, Mattis ordered withdrawal of an estimated 2,200 US forces from Syria.

Mattis submitted his letter of resignation after he failed to convince the president that the US military presence in Syria is associated with maintaining critical alliances and partnerships.

The long list of dismissals and resignations in the Trump administration reveals the chaotic play of power inside the White House.

Source: Presstv

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the country’s armed forces to get prepared for a “comprehensive military struggle” amid escalating tensions with the United States.

Addressing a meeting of the Central Military Commission in Beijing Friday, the president urged the armed forces to strengthen their sense of urgency and do everything possible to prepare for battle.

Xi said the world is in an era of drastic changes and “China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development,” Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

He said various predicable and unpredictable risks and challenges have been arising and that the armed forces needed to be able to respond quickly to emergencies and nurture new types of combat forces. 

Xi’s remarks follow his speech on the 40th anniversary of a key Taiwan policy statement in which he said Beijing would make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserved the option of taking all necessary means to achieve “reunification” with Taiwan.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty under a policy known as “One China.”

‘Sinking US warships will resolve tensions’

A senior naval official said recently that tensions with the US will easily be resolved if the Chinese naval forces sink two of American warships in the South China Sea.

The deputy head of a Chinese military academy Admiral Lou Yuan said in an address late last month that “what the United States fears the most is taking casualties.”

He said sinking one carrier only would kill 5,000 and sinking two would double that number.

Beijing should, Lou said, deal with Washington by using an “asymmetric counter-attack,” that is “use our strengths to attack the enemy’s weaknesses. Whatever the enemy fears, we strike. Wherever the enemy is soft, we will exploit it.”

US military presence in the sea has long been a source of concern for Beijing which claims almost the entire South China Sea.

Beijing has also warned Washington that close encounters by air and naval forces of the two countries in the region could easily trigger miscalculation or even accidents at sea or in air.

The US, however, says military operations are meant to protect “freedom of navigation” in the sea, a gateway for trillions of dollars in maritime trade each year.

Taiwan appeals for support

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who accuses Beijing of interfering in the island’s political and social development, called on Saturday for international support.

“We hope that the international community takes it seriously and can voice support and help us,” Tsai told reporters in the capital Taipei.

She said if the international community did not support her government, “we might have to ask which country might be next.”

Taiwan has already lost several allies one after another since Tsai took office in 2016. Only last year, it lost three allies, who switched diplomatic allegiance to Beijing, leaving Taiwan now with just 17.

China says Taiwan is historically part of its territory, with no right to formal diplomatic ties of its own with other countries.

Almost all countries, including the US, recognize Chinese sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan. Washington, however, has long courted Taipei in an attempt to counter China.

US President Donald Trump signed the so-called Taiwan Travel Act last year, which encourages high-level visits between the two sides, despite Beijing’s strong opposition.

Taiwan and the mainland separated amid a civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring the island under its control — by force if necessary.

Source: Presstv