UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S. attempt to get the United Nations to condemn violence by Palestinian militant group Hamas for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly.
The resolution required two-thirds support and while Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry political weight. The U.S. text received 87 votes in favor, 58 against, 32 abstentions and 16 countries did not vote.
In an earlier procedural move requested by Kuwait, the 193-member body narrowly voted to require two-thirds support and not a simple majority for adoption of the draft resolution.
Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had written to member states on Monday to urge them to vote for the U.S.-drafted text, warning them: “The United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously.”
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Filibuster_HK
2018-12-7 09:35:07
Conservatives to pick Angela Merkel's successor as CDU head
The 1,001 delegates at the conference held by the Christian Democrats (CDU) in Hamburg on December 7 and 8 have been tasked with electing a new party chair and other internal leaders. De facto, they will also be seeking their front-runner to take over power, sooner or later, from Angela Merkel when her long tenure as the head of the German government ends.
The question of who would succeed Merkel became urgent in late October when she announced that she would not seek to extend her 18 years as CDU party chairwoman this year or run again for re-election as chancellor when the current Bundestag expires in 2021.
Several candidates immediately expressed interest in the post, with two favorites and one dark horse emerging. The favorites are Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, an ally of Merkel's and the party's current general secretary, and the Merkel detractor Friedrich Merz, who went into private business after his tenure as the CDU's parliamentary whip.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn, a frequent critic of Merkel, is the other prominent name in contention, but, at the age of 38, he is considered quite young and seems to lack the support that the other two aspirants have found.
Nigel Farage has quit UKIP, saying the party's leader Gerard Batten seems to be obsessed with Islam and ex-English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson.
Speaking on LBC radio, the former leader of the Eurosceptic party said he made the decision with a "heavy heart".
But he said he did not "recognise" the party anymore and it was turning a blind eye to extremist politics.
Mr Batten survived a vote of no confidence on Monday, after he appointed Mr Robinson as an adviser.
However, the party's ruling body said it did not endorse Mr Robinson's appointment and he was barred from membership "through his associations".
Filibuster_HK
2018-12-7 21:42:20
White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly close to resigning – live updates
White House chief of staff John Kelly is expected to resign in the coming days, CNN is reporting this morning.
Kelly and Donald Trump have stopped speaking to each other in the last fews days, the network reports, adding that the two men have reached a stalemate in their relationship and neither party believes it is sustainable.
Trump is actively looking for replacements. According to Axios and CNN, Nick Ayers, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, is widely believed by West Wing officials to be the pick.
Filibuster_HK
2018-12-7 21:44:10
Angela Merkel takes her leave as conservative party head
No matter how divided the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) may be over chancellor Angela Merkel, but it would be little short of churlish not to recognize the worth of her long tenure as party chairwoman. Most party heads don't serve anywhere near the 18 years that Merkel has steered the CDU.
Merkel received a standing ovation when she opened the conference in Hamburg, at which delegates will elect her successor as party head. And she used her keynote address to remind them of how much the party has changed – in her view for the better – during her long reign.
Merkel began her address by drawing attention to the motto of the party conference "Zusammenführen. Und zusammen führen" (Bring together and lead together). It was an implicit appeal for party solidarity despite what many expected to be a neck-and-neck race between the pro-Merkel centrist Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the conservative Merkel critic Friedrich Merz.
Merkel recalled the dire state of the CDU, which was in the midst of a party financing scandal, when she took over in 2000.
"Our CDU is a different one than in 2000, and that is good," Merkel said, adding that the party couldn't afford to live in the past but needed to look forward to the future.
Anti-government protests in France have "created a monster", France's Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has said.
And he is warning that "radical elements" could infiltrate planned "yellow vest" protests at the weekend.
Tourist sites in Paris are to close on Saturday amid fears of further street violence.
The protests began three weeks ago, initially against a rise in fuel taxes but have spread to take in other issues, including education reforms.
Mr Castaner said "large-scale security measures" would be put in place this weekend.
Across France, 89,000 police officers will be on duty and armoured vehicles will be deployed in the capital, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced.
Paris police have urged shops and restaurants on the Champs-Elysees to shut and some museums will also be closed.
Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, helped substantially with the special counsel’s investigation and should receive little to no prison time for lying to federal investigators, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
(...)
“His early cooperation was particularly valuable because he was one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight” into the subject of Mr. Mueller’s investigation — Russia’s election interference and whether any Trump associates conspired, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing recommendation memorandum and an addendum that was heavily blacked out.
(...)
“The defendant deserves credit for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government,” prosecutors wrote.
By replacing Jeff Sessions, who was fired by Mr Trump last month, the 68-year-old will take charge of the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
US media report he has been critical of some aspects of that inquiry.
A well-known conservative lawyer, Mr Barr held the role under President George H W Bush from 1991 to 1993.
The president called him a ”highly respected lawyer“ by both Republicans and Democrats and ”a terrific man“ while speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn.
書桓
2018-12-7 23:27:26
Trump唔會炒Muller，就算Senate 決定closes Russian probe, House 可以隨時搞返嗰。
神隱@ユーリbb
2018-12-7 23:33:07
In an instant Europe has gone from being the most stable region in the world to anything but. Paris is burning, the Merkel era is ending, Italy is playing a dangerous game of chicken with the EU, Russia is carving up Ukraine, and the UK is consumed by Brexit. History is resuming.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was voted successor to Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at the party's conference in Hamburg on Friday.
In a razor-thin decision, the centrist politician received 51 percent of the vote from delegates in a second-round runoff against her main rival, the businessman and traditional conservative Friedrich Merz. The third candidate, Jens Spahn, was eliminated in the first round.
Addressing delegates ahead of the vote, Kramp-Karrenbauer spoke of perceptions that she was a "mini-Merkel," saying: "People consider me a copy, just more of the same, but I can tell you that I stand here as my own person, as myself."
Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was the state premier of Saarland between 2011 and 2018, was Merkel's favored successor. She has served as the CDU's secretary general since February.
Merkel remains Germany's chancellor and can look forward to working with a close ally at the head of her party. But given that German chancellors are almost always party heads, AKK, as she's known, must now be considered a favorite to succeed Merkel in Germany's top political post as well.
The big winner on the day, other than Kramp-Karrenbauer, of course, was Angela Merkel.
Not only did Kramp-Karrenbauer run her campaign for the party chair by promising a large measure of continuity. Significantly, when arguing that CDU had to remain a big-tent association of the center, she turned to "Angela" to acknowledge the role of the chancellor and former party chairwoman of 18 years in moving the conservatives into the middle.
Kramp-Karrenbauer's election is essentially an endorsement, if not a particularly ringing one, for a centrist course and more diverse party than the return to conservative fundamentals and the male-dominated past offered by Merz. His cause was perhaps hurt by a rather impersonal speech that got off to a slow start, although he almost pulled off an astonishing comeback.
Angela Merkel's CDU successor: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
書桓
2018-12-8 13:46:56
Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-un/u-s-fails-to-win-enough-support-at-u-n-to-condemn-hamas-idUSKBN1O52NV
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S. attempt to get the United Nations to condemn violence by Palestinian militant group Hamas for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly.
The resolution required two-thirds support and while Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry political weight. The U.S. text received 87 votes in favor, 58 against, 32 abstentions and 16 countries did not vote.
In an earlier procedural move requested by Kuwait, the 193-member body narrowly voted to require two-thirds support and not a simple majority for adoption of the draft resolution.
Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had written to member states on Monday to urge them to vote for the U.S.-drafted text, warning them: “The United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously.”