Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson has withdrawn from consideration to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs after lawmakers received damaging allegations that he created a toxic work environment, drunkenly wrecked a car and maintained poor prescription records while serving in the federal government.
“While I will forever be grateful for the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me by giving me this opportunity, I am regretfully withdrawing my nomination to be Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Jackson said in a statement Thursday morning.
“The allegations against me are completely false and fabricated," he said. "If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years.
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Filibuster_HK
2018-4-26 22:47:09
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華人永遠農場
2018-4-27 07:21:25
今日重點
南北會談
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2018-4-27 07:43:07
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2018-4-27 08:49:32
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Korea summit: North and South leaders meet at border – live
Amber Rudd has vowed to scrap Home Office targets for removing people from Britain, after a chaotic 24 hours where she was summoned to the House of Commons to admit officials did have targets for departures, having previously denied their existence.
The home secretary was hauled back in front of MPs on Thursday to answer an urgent question from Labour’s Diane Abbott, after documents revealed targets had previously been set for voluntary removals.
Rudd had told the home affairs select committee on Wednesday that her department did not set such targets.
Serious concerns have been raised repeatedly by MPs about the target-driven culture of the Home Office, which some said could have led enforcement officers to target “low-hanging fruit” – people living in the UK legally but without the correct documents, like many of the Windrush generation.
Filibuster_HK
2018-4-27 15:06:47
Cabinet's Brexiters push May to drop 'customs partnership'
Theresa May’s Brexit inner cabinet are preparing for a showdown over the customs union next week, as leading Brexiters including Liam Fox and David Davis try to force the prime minister to ditch the “customs partnership” model.
This so-called “hybrid model”, under which the UK would collect EU import tariffs on behalf of Brussels, is regarded as cumbersome and impractical by Brexiters, who fear it would leave open the option that Britain could rejoin a customs union.
Countries in the customs union levy tariffs on goods made outside the EU, but member countries trade with each other tariff-free and negotiate trade deals as a bloc. It is this “common commercial policy” that Brexiters are particularly exercised about, since it would prevent Britain from striking the sort of independent deals with non-EU countries that Fox, the international trade secretary, is pursuing. The government’s options have initially been rejected by Brussels negotiators, though Davis has insisted his team is ready to answer the EU27’s concerns.
Filibuster_HK
2018-4-27 15:07:52
EX-CIA chief Mike Pompeo confirmed as secretary of state
Kim and Moon hammered out a joint statement that is short on concrete steps and heavy on aspirational goals. It’s mostly about holding more talks between the two side on issues ranging from families divided by the Korean war to transport links.
There’s one section about denuclearisation, but it only repeats the general idea that “the South and North have confirmed their common goal of realizing a nuclear-free Korean peninsula”.
Here are the highlights:
They will hold talks on formally establishing a peace treaty
Agreed to “urgently resolve” humanitarian issues of divided families
The two sides will work together to “ease the sharp military tensions on the Korean peninsula” and defense ministers will meet in May
Starting May 1, all propaganda activities, including loudspeakers and leaflets, will be halted.
Moon will visit Pyongyang in the autumn.They agreed to establish an inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaeseong
Rep. Patrick Meehan resigned from Congress on Friday but vowed to repay taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars he used to settle a sexual harassment claim.
“I will pay $39,000.00 to the U.S. Treasury to reimburse for the severance payment that was made from my office account,” Meehan said in a statement. “That payment will be made within 30 days of my resignation from the House of Representatives. I did not want to leave with any question of violating the trust of taxpayers.”
The Pennsylvania Republican had announced in January that he would not seek reelection, news that followed revelations he used taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment case involving a former staffer. He said resigning now is in the interest of his constituents.
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania’s president called on the prime minister to resign on Friday after she endorsed a secret deal to move the country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, overstepping her powers on foreign policy.
The head of state cannot dismiss the premier but President Klaus Iohannis’ call could trigger a no-confidence vote, something Prime Minister Viorica Dancila should easily survive given her party’s robust majority in parliament.
Any decision on embassy relocation rests with the president, who said he was not consulted about that or the state visit Dancila paid to Israel this week along with the leader of her Social Democrat party, Liviu Dragnea.
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Filibuster_HK
2018-4-28 20:49:30
China's Xi, India's Modi seek new relationship after summit
WUHAN, China (Reuters) - The leaders of China and India agreed to open a new chapter in their relationship on Saturday after an informal summit, just months after a dispute over a stretch of their high-altitude Himalayan border rekindled fears of war.
Billed as an informal get-together rather than a summit, the two men held talks on Friday that lasted far longer than expected, and on Saturday chatted over tea on a boat trip round a scenic lake.
Their differences are significant: as well as disputes over stretches of a 3,500 km (2,200 miles) border - the two fought a brief border war in 1962 - the Asian giants have squabbled over Xi’s signature Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
India signalled as recently as Tuesday its opposition to the grand trade and transport plan because one of its branches runs through Pakistani-administered Kashmir, which India claims.
Filibuster_HK
2018-4-29 00:06:18
Trump and Merkel tried – and failed – to hide their differences in Washington
Donald Trump and Angela Merkel worked hard to present a united front on Friday but could not mask deep differences in substance and style.
Although the two leaders stressed the US and Germany’s close ties, their low-key meeting offered a stark contrast to the lavish state visit of French president Emmanuel Macron – and their body language was distinctly colder.
At a joint press conference at the White House, Trump bemoaned America’s $151bn trade deficit with the European Union, whose exemption from steel and aluminum tariffs expires on Tuesday unless the US grants an extension.
Merkel suggested little progress had been made on the issue. “The president will decide – that’s very clear,” she told reporters. “We had an exchange of views on the current state of affairs and the negotiations. The decision lies with the president.”
Trump said: “We need a reciprocal relationship, which we don’t have. We’re working on it and we want to make it more fair and the chancellor wants to make it more fair.”
But he added that he did not blame Merkel, Germany or the EU for the imbalance. “I blame the people that preceded me for allowing this to happen,” he said.
Filibuster_HK
2018-4-29 22:47:21
North Korea will invite outside experts to observe closing of nuclear test site
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has pledged to shutter a nuclear test site and invite foreign experts and journalists to witness the decommissioning in May as he prepares to meet Donald Trump as early as next month.
Kim made the comments during meeting with Moon on Friday, where calling for a “nuclear-free Korean peninsula”. Kim earlier said the North would halt nuclear and missile tests, but this was the first mention of inviting foreign observers.
Kim also pledge to align the North’s timezone with the South during the inter-Korean summit. Pyongyang time is currently 30 minutes ahead of Seoul, a change instituted by Kim in 2015. The change was framed at the time as a break with Japan’s colonial legacy on the peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Filibuster_HK
2018-4-29 22:48:15
Protests continue for third day over Pamplona gang rape acquittal
Tens of thousands of people have marched in northern Spain for a third consecutive day to protest against the acquittal of five men of gang rape.
Police in Pamplona estimated up to 35,000 people took part in a demonstration on Saturday, rallying under the slogan, “it’s not sexual abuse, it’s rape”. Thousands of women marched together with their hands raised at the protest, which police said passed off peacefully.
An 18-year-old woman was attacked during the city’s bull-running festival in 2016, prompting a national outcry.
The five men, who called themselves la manada or “the wolf pack” in their WhatsApp group, were on Thursday acquitted of sexual assault, which includes rape, and sentenced to nine years for the lesser offence of sexual abuse. Lawyers say the victim is appealing.
Demonstrators have filled streets across the country since the court ruling, leading Spain’s conservative government to say it will consider changing rape laws.
https://politi.co/2r0rHgC
Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson has withdrawn from consideration to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs after lawmakers received damaging allegations that he created a toxic work environment, drunkenly wrecked a car and maintained poor prescription records while serving in the federal government.
“While I will forever be grateful for the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me by giving me this opportunity, I am regretfully withdrawing my nomination to be Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Jackson said in a statement Thursday morning.
“The allegations against me are completely false and fabricated," he said. "If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years.