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Part 3, Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017

International News:

--- "Centrist Emmanuel Macron is projected to come out on top in the first round of France's presidential election next month ahead of far-right leader Marine Le Pen before going on to win in a runoff, a Harris Interactive poll showed on Thursday. Macron was seen winning 26 percent of the vote in the April 23 first round followed by Le Pen on 25 percent, according to the poll for France Televisions. Both scores were unchanged from the last time the poll was carried out two weeks ago, even though it was carried out after the two traded barbs in a televised debate on Monday involving all the main candidates. Conservative candidate Francois Fillon saw his score slip to 18 percent of the first round vote from 20 percent as he struggles to limit the damage from a series of financial scandals. Meanwhile, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon saw his share of the vote rise to 13.5 percent, surpassing for the first time the score for the ruling Socialists candidate Benoit Hamon at 12.5 percent. Macron was seen winning the presidency by beating Le Pen in the May 7 runoff with 65 percent of the vote to 35 percent for the National Front leader, unchanged from two weeks ago.The poll was conducted on March 21-22 among 6,383 voters."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-idUSKBN16U09F?il=0

--- "The number or people who died in an attack close to Britain's parliament on Wednesday has risen to five after the death of a third member of the public, police said. Previously, the death toll had stood as four, including the attacker and a police officer. Britain's top counter-terrorism police officer Mark Rowley told reporters that police believed the attacker was inspired by Islamist-related terrorism. Rowley said police believed they knew the identity of the attacker but he declined to provide details."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-security-police-update-idUSKBN16T38U?il=0

--- "In a move without precedent in German history, the country will soon deport two German-born men accused of having discussed terrorist activity. On Tuesday, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig threw out a case saying that the men, one an Algerian national and the other a Nigerian citizen, should not be deported because there was no proof they had committed a serious offense. In so doing, it cleared the way for deportations that the state government of Lower Saxony ordered last month, when it described the pair as a threat to national security. It is the first time in the country’s history that German-born residents will be deported, a spokesman for Lower Saxony’s interior ministry told the dpa news agency. The ruling may be a sign of hardening attitudes in Germany, which has been facing the joint challenges of migrant inflows and terrorist attacks since 2015. "You can count on us using all means at our disposal with full force," state Interior Minister Boris Pistorius said, the Associated Press reported. "It's completely irrelevant whether they grew up here or not."...Unlike the United States, Germany does not confer citizenship on any child born in the country. Instead, citizenship follows the principle of jus sanguinis, or right of blood, in which citizenship is not determined by birthplace but by the citizenship of both parents. That means Germany can deport people to their country of citizenship even if they have lived in Germany all their lives."

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2017/0322/Germany-set-to-deport-native-born-potential-terrorists

Domestic News & International News

--- "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday the United States would set up "interim zones of stability" to help refugees return home in the next phase of the fight against Islamic State and al Qaeda in Syria and Iraq. The top U.S. diplomat did not make clear where these zones were to be set up. He was addressing a meeting of 68 countries and organizations gathered in Washington to discuss accelerating the battle against Islamic State. "The United States will increase our pressure on ISIS and al Qaeda and will work to establish interim zones of stability, through ceasefires, to allow refugees to return home," Tillerson told the gathering at the State Department, where the former oil executive was hosting his first major diplomatic event. Although it was unclear how the zones would work, creating any safe havens could ratchet up U.S. military involvement in Syria and mark a major departure from President Barack Obama's more cautious approach. Asked about Tillerson's remarks, coalition spokesman Colonel Joseph Scrocca said the U.S. military had not yet received direction to establish any kind of "zones". Increased U.S. or allied air power would be required if President Donald Trump chooses to enforce 'no fly' restrictions, and ground forces might also be needed to protect civilians in those areas...Tillerson called on coalition partners to make good on financial pledges to secure and rebuild areas where Islamic State has been pushed out. The coalition has pledged more than $2 billion in assistance for Iraq and Syria in 2017."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-usa-idUSKBN16T0CQ?il=0

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump, who has sought to ban travelers from Iran and other Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States, issued a holiday greeting on Wednesday to Iranians celebrating the New Year holiday known as Nowruz. Trump, who has also criticized the nuclear deal between Iran and western powers negotiated during President Barack Obama's administration, did not refer to the travel ban in his statement. "Nowruz means 'new day' in Persian. It is an occasion to celebrate new beginnings, a sentiment that is particularly meaningful for so many Iranians who have come to our country in recent decades to make a new start in a free land," Trump said in a statement issued by the White House. Nowruz is Iran's most important national event and is celebrated with family gatherings, vacations and gift-giving. "For many years, I have greatly enjoyed wonderful friendships with Iranian-Americans, one of the most successful immigrant groups in our country’s contemporary history," he said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-iran-idUSKBN16T3A6?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump and House of Representatives leaders pushed on Wednesday for votes for their plan to overhaul Obamacare and said they were making progress in their efforts to win over conservative Republicans who have demanded changes to the legislation. With a vote on the bill expected Thursday evening, members of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative Republican faction, said they had been negotiating possible concessions with the White House. Much of the discussion hinged on finding a way to scrap what are labeled "essential health benefits" - services that insurance plans are required to cover under the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, such as mental health help. "I can tell you that we're making great progress," Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters. "We're not there yet. But we're hopeful." Trump was to meet at the White House with members of the Freedom Caucus on Thursday at 11:30 a.m, the White House said. But while the president courted conservatives, the bill appeared to be losing traction among Republican moderates, some of whom attended a meeting late Wednesday in House Speaker Paul Ryan's office. Representative Charlie Dent, a leader of the "Tuesday Group" of House Republican moderates, issued a statement saying he could not back the bill. "I believe this bill, in its current form, will lead to the loss of coverage and make insurance unaffordable for too many Americans, particularly for low- to moderate-income and older individuals," Dent said in the statement. The chairman of the House Rules Committee, which met all day Wednesday to set the rules for the bill's consideration on the House floor, said late on Wednesday that the panel would resume its meeting on Thursday, having made no definite decision on the timing of the floor vote."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-idUSKBN16T22X?il=0

--- "A spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said on Wednesday a proposal to add a provision to a Republican healthcare bill repealing essential Obamacare benefits would violate reconciliation rules and thus require 60 votes to pass the chamber. "Repealing the essential health benefits provisions under the Affordable Care Act is a policy change, not budgetary, and thus violates the Byrd Rule," Schumer's spokesman, Matt House, said in a statement. "It will require 60 votes to repeal these protections, and the votes just aren’t there in the Senate,” the statement said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-schumer-idUSKBN16T394?il=0

--- "Leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday about infrastructure and reducing urban crime, calling the sit-down a "positive" first step toward finding common ground. The lawmakers presented Trump with a 130-page policy proposal titled "We Have a Lot to Lose: Solutions to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century," a reference to Trump's repeated query on the campaign trail asking what did blacks have to lose by supporting him. "We think it's a positive first start and we're going to continue the dialogue," Representative Karen Bass, a Democrat from California, told reporters after the meeting. Trump has pledged to improve the lives of African-Americans, who largely voted in favor of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 presidential election. Many black leaders have criticized his depiction of urban areas as crime-ridden war zones and his false claims that the first black U.S. president, Barack Obama, may not have been born in the United States. Trump later admitted he believes Obama was U.S. born. At the start of the meeting, Trump said he was serious about his promise to help African-Americans. "Every American child has a right to grow up in a safe community, to attend great schools, to graduate with access to high-paying jobs," Trump said during the portion of the meeting open to reporters. Since coming to office Trump has held a listening session with some of his black supporters and signed an executive order seeking to boost government support for historically black colleges."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-black-caucus-idUSKBN16T390

--- "The 2016 election was just a month away when Steve Curtis, a conservative radio host and former Colorado Republican Party chairman, devoted an entire episode of his morning talk show to the heated topic of voter fraud. “It seems to me,” Curtis said in the 42-minute segment, “that virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats.” On Tuesday, Colorado prosecutors threw a wrench into that already dubious theory, accusing Curtis of voter fraud for allegedly filling out and mailing in his ex-wife’s 2016 ballot for president, Denver’s Fox affiliate reported. Curtis, 57, was charged in Weld County District Court with one count of misdemeanor voter fraud and one count of forgery, a Class 5 felony, according to local media. The case is the only voter fraud investigation related to the 2016 election that has resulted in criminal charges in the state, the Colorado secretary of state’s office told Denver’s ABC affiliate. Curtis has not entered a plea. If convicted, he could face more than a year of prison time and a $5,000 fine. His attorney, Christopher Gregory, declined to comment on the case when reached by The Washington Post Tuesday night...Curtis served as chairman of the Colorado Republican Party from 1997 to 1999. In 2011, he made a brief reentry into state politics when he oversaw the advisory board for the Denver Tea Party Patriots, ABC 7 reported."

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/22/ex-colo-gop-leader-said-only-democrats-committed-voter-fraud-now-hes-charged-with-voter-fraud/?utm_term=.00a7aba51a78

--- "A Hawaii lawmaker who says she was pressured to give up her leadership post at the statehouse after criticizing President Donald Trump resigned Wednesday from the Republican Party. Rep. Beth Fukumoto said members of the GOP refused to oppose racism and sexism including a suggestion by Trump to create a Muslim registry during his campaign. "As a Japanese-American whose grandparents had to destroy all of their Japanese artifacts and items and bury them in the backyard to avoid getting taken and interned, how could I not have said anything?" Fukumoto asked. "And how could my party have not said anything?" Fukumoto was voted out of her post as House Minority Leader in February after calling Trump a bully in a speech at the Women's March in Honolulu, saying many of his remarks were racist and sexist and had no place in the Republican Party. Since then, she sought feedback from her constituents about leaving the GOP and said three-quarters of the more than 470 letters she received supported the move. She said she agrees with many Democratic positions on affordable housing and equitable taxes, and hopes to join that party. Hawaii Democratic Party leader Tim Vandeveer said Democrats will give Fukumoto a fair shake, but some members are concerned about her past voting record on civil rights and women's issues...Fukumoto voted against same-sex marriage when it came before the Legislature in 2013. She said Wednesday she voted that way to represent the majority of her constituents, but if she was voting on her own, she would have voted yes. On reproductive rights, Fukumoto said she does not believe in abortion in all three trimesters but does not want to rescind individuals' rights once they have been granted...Members of the Democratic Party on Oahu will ultimately decide whether to accept Fukumoto, but the process could take months, Vandeveer said."

Source: http://time.com/4710443/hawaii-republican-resigns-trump/

--- "On Tuesday, President Trump signed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017. The legislation authorizes $19.5 billion worth of spending in the 2018 budget year, and keeps several of NASA’s high-profile exploration programs on track. Signing the law earned Trump a blue NASA jacket and approval from a bipartisan group of lawmakers and astronauts. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat and former Space Shuttle astronaut, voiced optimism about the legislation. "We have the commercial companies going to and from the International Space Station and we have NASA going out and exploring the heavens," he said during the Oval Office signing ceremony. "And we're going to Mars." For the most part, NASA has avoided the deep cuts that the Trump administration has proposed for other research agencies. This authorization bill continues that trend, but doesn’t yet have scientists breathing a sigh of relief. Space policy expert Scott Pace, speaking to The Washington Post, described the bill as a “vote for stability.” Among other measures, it maintains NASA’s long-term goal of sending humans to Mars by the mid-2030's, and continues to fund development of the Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule that will get them there. It also calls for continued support of robotic missions already underway, like a Europa probe and the James Webb Space Telescope. The $19.5 billion authorization bill marks a slight increase over the $19.1 billion requested in Trump’s 2018 budget, described by the agency’s acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, as “a positive budget overall for NASA.”"

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2017/0322/With-budget-boost-Trump-shifts-NASA-s-gaze-from-Earth-to-Mars

--- "The State Department, which was criticized for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, said on Wednesday it failed to meet an end-of-2016 deadline to manage all its email records electronically. The department, and other U.S. government agencies, had more than four years to meet the deadline under an Aug. 24, 2012, directive that aimed to eliminate the use of paper records as much as possible in favor of electronic record-keeping. That directive was part of an Obama administration effort to update government record-keeping for the digital age and promote accountability for official decisions by ensuring they are properly documented and preserved for future generations. In a report posted by the National Archives on Wednesday, the State Department checked the "No" box in response to a question on whether it had met the goal of managing all its email records in an electronic format by Dec. 31, 2016."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-diplomacy-emails-idUSKBN16U04Z?il=0

--- "On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of two parents of an autistic son, finding that his Colorado school district had failed to provide him with a "free and appropriate public education." School districts are required to provide such an education under the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). But the exact meaning of an "appropriate" education has remained unclear. In January, The Christian Science Monitor’s Henry Gass explained that some federal appeals courts have “held that the district is only required to provide educational benefits that are more than minimal or trivial,” while others have instead ruled that “schools must supply a ‘meaningful educational benefit.’” As a result, “it is unclear whether school districts have to provide ‘meaningful’ or just ‘more than trivial’ educational benefits to students.” In their unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court’s eight justices came down decisively against the “more than trivial” camp, a ruling that could bring major benefits to students with disabilities – especially those with “individualized education programs,” or IEPs. "It cannot be right that the IDEA generally contemplates grade-level advancement for children with disabilities who are fully integrated in the regular classroom,” argued Chief Justice John Roberts in the opinion, “but is satisfied with barely more than de minimis progress for children who are not."...But in the court system, one noteworthy supporter of school districts against students has been Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. NPR reports that, as a federal judge on the 10th Circuit, he “repeatedly ruled the other way on similar cases.”"

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2017/0322/In-unanimous-decision-Supreme-Court-raises-bar-for-special-education-video

--- "The rate of infant deaths in the United States has improved, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a study released on Tuesday. The infant mortality rate dropped 15 percent over the past decade, from a record high 6.86 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005 to 5.82 in 2014, data show. While the new report indicates a promising development in the country’s public health, commentators say the United States has a long way to go to catch up peer nations. Across the country, a rising number of babies are living to their first birthday in most states – 33 states and Washington, D.C., to be exact – and the remaining 17 states saw no significant change, the reports said. The researchers of the study credited awareness and education programs with helping to reverse the trend...While the infant deaths rates of almost all race and ethnic groups followed the larger trend of decline, American Indian or Alaska Natives saw no significant change. Among the declines, infant mortality rates of Asian or Pacific Islander fell the most of 21 percent, followed by non-Hispanic black women at 20 percent. Yet, the disparity among racial groups remains stark, observers said. As babies born to non-Hispanic black women are more than twice as likely to die before their first birthday as those born to a non-Hispanic white woman, a point Slate’s writer Christina Cauterucci highlighted as “the most troubling aspect” of the data...Despite the improvement, the United States still falls behind many other industrialized nations. According to a list maintained by the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States ranks 56th with an estimated infant mortality rate of 5.8 in 2016, trailing after countries such as Canada, Singapore, and a number of European countries. Monaco and Japan are at the top of the list, with rates lower or equal to 2.0."

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2017/0322/US-infant-mortality-rate-declines-but-disparities-remain

#international affairs #domestic affairs #trump administration #source: reuters #source: the Christian science monitor #source: the washington post #source: time

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