Thousands Of Chinese Evacuated From Vietnam Amid Violence
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese authorities forcibly broke up small protests against China in two cities on Sunday, after deadly anti-China rampages over a flaring territorial dispute risked damaging the economy and spooked a state used to keeping a tight grip on its people.In southern Ho Chi Minh City, police dragged away several demonstrators from a park in the city center. In Hanoi, authorities closed off streets and a park close to the Chinese Embassy and pushed journalists and protesters away. Police were posted outside well-known dissidents houses, preventing them from leaving, according to activists.
China, meanwhile, said it had dispatched the first of five ships to Vietnam to speed up the evacuation of any its citizens wanting to leave.
More than 3,000 Chinese have already been pulled out from Vietnam following the riots this past week that left two Chinese dead and injured about 100 others, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
China deployed an oil rig to a disputed patch of the South China Sea on May 1, triggering fury in Vietnam. Hanoi sent ships to confront the rig in a tense standoff with Chinese vessels. The breakdown in ties between the two countries is the most serious since 1979, when they fought a brief but bloody border war.
Last weekend, Vietnam allowed anti-China protests that drew thousands of people, a rare step widely seen as a way of amplifying state anger against Beijing. Doing so was risky for authorities: dissident groups joined in the protests, and public anger was such that violence was a possibility.
China says separatist group carried out deadly train station attack in western region
BEIJING – China says a deadly attack at a train station in the western Xinjiang region last month was planned outside the country and carried out by a separatist militant group.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement was behind the attack in Urumqi that killed three people and injured 79 others.
East Turkistan is the name used for Xinjiang by some members of the region's native Uighur (pronounced WEE'-gur) ethnic group, extremists among which have been fighting a low-intensity insurgency against Chinese rule.
China says the ETIM has ties to overseas supporters of Uighur separatism. The U.S. initially placed it on a terrorist watch list following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but later quietly removed it amid doubts that it existed in any organized manner.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement was behind the attack in Urumqi that killed three people and injured 79 others.
China says the ETIM has ties to overseas supporters of Uighur separatism. The U.S. initially placed it on a terrorist watch list following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but later quietly removed it amid doubts that it existed in any organized manner.
Head of Syrian air defense killed, official says
DAMASCUS – The head of Syria's air defenses was killed in clashes near the capital, Damascus, a government official and activists said Sunday, one of a few high-ranking military officers to be killed in the country's 3-year-old civil war.
Lt. Gen. Hussein Ishaq died Saturday as rebels attacked a Syrian air defense base near the town of Mleiha, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to brief journalists about Ishaq's death.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed Ishaq's death. It said he died from wounds he suffered during Saturday's fighting.
The Observatory, which bases its reports on a network of activists on the ground, said Ishaq was killed in clashes with fighters from the Nusra Front, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, and other Islamic rebel groups.
Heavy fighting has happened around Mleiha in recent weeks. Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have conducted a heavy bombing campaign around the area, which rebels see as strategically important due to its proximity to the capital.
Ishaq is one of a few high-ranking military officers to be killed in the Syrian war. It's unclear if his death will have any wider strategic or military impact on the war itself, however.
There have also been regular clashes in Benghazi between the army and militants blamed for killing security personnel.
Libya's leaders have struggled to bring stability to the country since Muammar Gaddafi was removed from power in 2011.
A planned new constitution remains unwritten and the country has had three prime ministers since March.
The eastern city of Benghazi was at the heart of the anti-Gaddafi uprising.
The BBC's Rana Jawad in the capital, Tripoli, says that the no-fly zone declared by the army chief is an attempt to prevent the new paramilitary force from using air power against Islamist militias in Benghazi.
Lt. Gen. Hussein Ishaq died Saturday as rebels attacked a Syrian air defense base near the town of Mleiha, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to brief journalists about Ishaq's death.
The Observatory, which bases its reports on a network of activists on the ground, said Ishaq was killed in clashes with fighters from the Nusra Front, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, and other Islamic rebel groups.
Heavy fighting has happened around Mleiha in recent weeks. Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have conducted a heavy bombing campaign around the area, which rebels see as strategically important due to its proximity to the capital.
Ishaq is one of a few high-ranking military officers to be killed in the Syrian war. It's unclear if his death will have any wider strategic or military impact on the war itself, however.
Libya sets Benghazi no-fly zone after clashes
A no-fly zone has been imposed over Libya's second city of Benghazi, the army has announced.
The move follows clashes between a paramilitary force and Islamist militants which resulted in 43 deaths and more than 100 injuries.There have also been regular clashes in Benghazi between the army and militants blamed for killing security personnel.
Libya's leaders have struggled to bring stability to the country since Muammar Gaddafi was removed from power in 2011.
A planned new constitution remains unwritten and the country has had three prime ministers since March.
The eastern city of Benghazi was at the heart of the anti-Gaddafi uprising.
The BBC's Rana Jawad in the capital, Tripoli, says that the no-fly zone declared by the army chief is an attempt to prevent the new paramilitary force from using air power against Islamist militias in Benghazi.
Syrian rebels capture village in northwest
BEIRUT – Activists say that Syrian rebels have captured a village in northwestern Syria after heavy fighting with government troops.
The anti-government Local Coordination Committees activist group says the rebels seized the village of Tel Meleh in Hama province Sunday, killing "large numbers" of President Bashar Assad's forces.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 18 pro-government troops and two rebels were killed in the fighting in Tel Meleh.
Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman says the village has changed hands several times over the course of the Syrian conflict, now in its fourth year.
SOMA, Turkey, May 17 (Reuters) - Turkish police put the mining town of Soma on virtual lockdown on Saturday, setting up checkpoints and detaining dozens of people to enforce a ban on protests as rescue efforts following the country's worst industrial disaster ended.
Observers say the ceremony was rich in political symbolism, underlining Mr Modi's roots as a Hindu nationalist.
Mr Modi, 63, also promised to clean up the Ganges, considered a sacred river by Hindus.
He was elected to parliament from Varanasi as well as from another seat in his home state of Gujarat.
Manmohan Singh, whose Congress party was crushed in the poll, has tendered his resignation as prime minister.
Results show the BJP gained a majority in parliament and will be able to govern without coalition partners.
However, many Indians still have profound concerns over Mr Modi because of claims he did little to stop communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which at least 1,000 people died, most of them Muslims.
Mr Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, has always denied the allegations and was never charged.
Construction company Odebrecht confirmed that a part of the roof at the Itaquerao will only be completed after the World Cup.
There was not enough time to install the glass covers that were supposed to be added to the stadium's roofing structure, so Odebrecht and local organizers decided to postpone the work until after the tournament.
Odebrecht said the missing covers will not affect fans watching matches in the stadium, although it appears from photos that more people would be covered from rain if they were in place.
Also Friday, the company in charge of 20,000 temporary seats needed for the opener said it successfully addressed all health and safety issues that had prompted prosecutors to threaten to halt work at the venue.
Odebrecht said in an email sent to The Associated Press that "the glass covers will only be installed after the World Cup" because "transparency studies" were still being finalized to make sure the covers can allow the passage of the proper amount of light needed to "preserve the pitch in good conditions."
The metal structures where the glasses have to be installed are in place but they will be empty by the time the nearly 70,000 fans and guests arrive for the high-profile opener between Brazil and Croatia on June 12. The venue will host five World Cup matches, including one of the semifinals.
"It's not good at all. Petrol is expensive, so people drive less, so they break down less," Homayoon says. Wearing a grubby red T-shirt advertising Axol Lubes, he laughs and shrugs when asked whether American sanctions are to blame for high prices and lack of customers.
"Of course it's sanctions!" interrupts Ali, another mechanic. "The economy is sick. My friends have small businesses like this one. Electricity is up 25%, water up 30%, petrol up 75%, business tax up, VAT up. Interest rates are 25%, so they can't borrow. They can't handle it," he says.
"I don't know about those things," says Homayoon, still smiling. "That's for the government to decide. I like the Americans. They're great. I don't care what they say at Friday prayers."
What they say at Friday prayers is less forgiving. A day earlier, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, one of the Islamic Republic's most venerable imams, treated the weekly televised gathering at Tehran University stadium to a stern anti-American diatribe.
With white beard, flowing robe, turban and walking stick, Jannati is every inch the mullah – a Shia fundamentalist cleric of the old school. He preaches under the slogan "Any diversion from the true path will be the path of accursed Satan".
Today, Jannati is treading the path of self-sufficiency and what the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calls the resistance economy – Iran's supposed answer to the crushing American-led oil, banking and trade embargoes.
In comments carried by Iran's Press TV, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi emphasized that the Arak reactor would remain a heavy water facility and also stressed that Iran has the right to enrich uranium.
The fate of Arak which has not yet been completed is one of the central issues in negotiations between Iran and the world powers, aimed at reaching a long-term deal on Tehran’s nuclear program by a July 20 deadline.
Araqchi said on Friday that no progress had been made during the fourth round of negotiations in Vienna.
"The talks were serious and constructive but no progress has been made," Araqchi told reporters at the end of the fourth round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.
The negotiations began in February and are aimed at reaching a long-term deal to curb sensitive parts of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a gradual lifting of sanctions.
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“She was Secretary of State at the time that it happened -- she was one of the first in Washington to know about it,” Cheney said. “I think she clearly bears responsibility for whatever the State Department did or didn’t do with respect to that crisis.”
The attack on the compound led to the deaths of four Americans -- Ambassador Chris Stevens, foreign service officer Sean Smith, and former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
“I do think it’s a major issue,” Cheney said. “I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it yet.”
Earlier this month, a controversial House select committee was formed to look into the Benghazi attack – investigating the circumstances leading up to it and its aftermath.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, tapped South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy to head the newly-established committee.
Republicans have largely accused the Obama administration of trying to deceive the public about the true nature of the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist attack during the final months of the 2012 presidential campaign.
Obama, as well as Clinton, has strongly refuted those accusations.
Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private Dynasty aims to change that. Written by Mother Jones senior editor Daniel Schulman, the biography, set to be released Tuesday, draws on hundreds of interviews with Koch family and friends, as well as thousands of pages of legal documents. The Huffington Post received a copy of the book on Friday.
Schulman examines the roots of Charles and David Koch's libertarian worldview through the lens of their family, including the formative relationship that all four Koch brothers had with their father, the cold, ambitious Fred Koch. Schulman also traces the bitter and litigious history of Charles and David Koch's relationships with their lesser-known brothers: Frederick, the eldest, and Bill, David’s twin brother.
At the center of the saga is patriarch Fred Koch, a staunch anti-communist who drilled his political ideology into his sons from a young age. In 1938, then sympathetic to the fascist regimes ruling Germany, Italy and Japan, Fred wrote that he hoped one day the United States would resemble these nations, which had "overcome" the vices of "idleness, feeding at the public trough, [and] dependence on government."
Elsewhere, Fred warned of a future "vicious race war" in which communists would pit black Americans against white. "The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America," he wrote.
In private, Fred Koch "ruled the house with an iron fist” and faith in social Darwinism. Schulman recounts how the former boxer encouraged his sons to fight each other, sometimes with horrifying results. "During one bout, Bill bashed his twin over the head with a polo mallet," Schulman writes. And "David still bears a scar from the time Bill pierced him in the back with a ceremonial sword." Those early lessons left a deep imprint on the brothers.
Dropping a possible hint about his thinking regarding a White House bid, Bush said “if you feel inspired to serve your fellow citizens, don’t let the ugliness of politics keep you from pursuing public office. There is always room for informed, engaged, passionate leaders at every level of government.”
People close to Bush have said his major concern about running is navigating today’s messy spectacle of Twitter wars and super PAC attacks. In January, Bush said, “The decision will be based on, ‘Can I do it joyfully?’ because I think we need to have a candidate to lift our spirits.”
On Tuesday, Marjorie Margolies, an in-law of the Clintons will be in a four-way brawl in a primary in the Keystone State. But the man who may best her doesn’t come from political royalty and he isn’t even independently wealthy. He’s a 37-year-old baby-faced state legislator who grew up in a rowhouse in Philadelphia.
“Marjorie puts Bill Clinton in her ads, I put my dad in my videos,” Brendan Boyle said of his father, who is a janitor for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Boyle is up against Margolies, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former journalist who held the same office she is seeking from 1993 to 1995. She lost her seat after casting a controversial vote in favor of Bill Clinton’s budget. She also happens to be Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law. Her son Marc Mezvinsky married Chelsea Clinton in July 2010 and they are expecting a baby this fall. His other primary opponents are state Sen. Daylin Leach and physician Val Arkoosh.
Bill Clinton, a longtime ally, held a fundraiser for Margolies, 71, and Hillary Clinton threw a fundraiser for her last week (although Margolies chose to skip it to attend a Montgomery County Democratic Party dinner and stump more in the district).
The proposal by Sens. Dan Coats, R-Ind.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would forbid the direct or indirect use of U.S. tax dollars to enter contracts or agreements with the company and end all existing contracts.
The Russian Weapons Embargo Act of 2014, introduced on Thursday,
would also prohibit Defense Department contracts with any domestic or
foreign company that cooperates with Rosoboronextort to design,
manufacture or sell military equipment, according to a news release.
"Given Russia’s hostile actions in Ukraine, business as usual is unacceptable,” Coats said in a statement. "With American credibility and the future of the international order on the line, our actions should reflect that. This specific economic sanction will harm Russian interests in a serious way without damaging America’s economy."
The Pentagon has a $553.8 million contract with Rosoboronexport to purchase 30 Mi-17 transport helicopters for Afghanistan's air force, according to The Hill. The DoD has already spent $546.4 million on 33 helicopters.
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The anti-government Local Coordination Committees activist group says the rebels seized the village of Tel Meleh in Hama province Sunday, killing "large numbers" of President Bashar Assad's forces.
Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman says the village has changed hands several times over the course of the Syrian conflict, now in its fourth year.
Turkey Clamps Down On Mine Disaster Protests As Death Toll Reaches 301
SOMA, Turkey, May 17 (Reuters) - Turkish police put the mining town of Soma on virtual lockdown on Saturday, setting up checkpoints and detaining dozens of people to enforce a ban on protests as rescue efforts following the country's worst industrial disaster ended.
The last two bodies of workers thought still to have been left in the mine were carried out four days after a fire sent deadly carbon monoxide through it. That brought the death toll to 301, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said.
Hundreds of riot police patrolled the streets while others checked identity cards at three checkpoints on the approach road to Soma, a Reuters witness said. The local governor banned protests in response to clashes a day earlier between police and several thousand demonstrators.
Eight lawyers from the Contemporary Jurists Association, including its leader, were handcuffed and detained during the lockdown on suspicion that they had gone to the town to take part in more protests, the private Dogan news agency reported.
A total of 36 people were arrested and taken to a sports center in the town where they chanted: "the pressure cannot intimidate us", the agency said. The number of detentions could not immediately be confirmed.
Tuesday's disaster has triggered protests across Turkey, aimed at mine owners accused of ignoring safety for profit, and at Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government, seen as too close to industry bosses and insensitive in its response.
Erdogan has presided over a decade of rapid economic growth.
India elections: Varanasi welcomes Narendra Modi
India's Prime Minister-elect, Narendra Modi, has been performing religious rituals in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi after his election landslide.
Mr Modi offered prayers on the banks of the river Ganges after being greeted by jubilant supporters. Observers say the ceremony was rich in political symbolism, underlining Mr Modi's roots as a Hindu nationalist.
Mr Modi, 63, also promised to clean up the Ganges, considered a sacred river by Hindus.
He was elected to parliament from Varanasi as well as from another seat in his home state of Gujarat.
Earlier he held a victory procession in the capital, Delhi.
Narendra Modi secured the most decisive election victory in India in three decades, campaigning on promises to revive the economy. He is expected to be sworn in next week. Manmohan Singh, whose Congress party was crushed in the poll, has tendered his resignation as prime minister.
Results show the BJP gained a majority in parliament and will be able to govern without coalition partners.
However, many Indians still have profound concerns over Mr Modi because of claims he did little to stop communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which at least 1,000 people died, most of them Muslims.
Mr Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, has always denied the allegations and was never charged.
World Cup Stadium Construction Won't Be Finished In Time For Opening Game In Brazil
SAO PAULO (AP) — The roof of the stadium hosting the World Cup opener in a few weeks will not be fully finished in time for the tournament, constructors said Friday.Construction company Odebrecht confirmed that a part of the roof at the Itaquerao will only be completed after the World Cup.
There was not enough time to install the glass covers that were supposed to be added to the stadium's roofing structure, so Odebrecht and local organizers decided to postpone the work until after the tournament.
Odebrecht said the missing covers will not affect fans watching matches in the stadium, although it appears from photos that more people would be covered from rain if they were in place.
Also Friday, the company in charge of 20,000 temporary seats needed for the opener said it successfully addressed all health and safety issues that had prompted prosecutors to threaten to halt work at the venue.
Odebrecht said in an email sent to The Associated Press that "the glass covers will only be installed after the World Cup" because "transparency studies" were still being finalized to make sure the covers can allow the passage of the proper amount of light needed to "preserve the pitch in good conditions."
The metal structures where the glasses have to be installed are in place but they will be empty by the time the nearly 70,000 fans and guests arrive for the high-profile opener between Brazil and Croatia on June 12. The venue will host five World Cup matches, including one of the semifinals.
Iran is at breaking point under US sanctions – and its leaders feel the heat
Despite talk of a defiant 'resistance economy', the consequences may be dire if a nuclear deal with the west does not come soon
At the car repair shop on Soreana Avenue in central Tehran, Homayoon is happy to talk; after all, there is not much else to do. Business is bad, he says, as he wipes his hands with an oily cloth. It's the same for everybody."It's not good at all. Petrol is expensive, so people drive less, so they break down less," Homayoon says. Wearing a grubby red T-shirt advertising Axol Lubes, he laughs and shrugs when asked whether American sanctions are to blame for high prices and lack of customers.
"Of course it's sanctions!" interrupts Ali, another mechanic. "The economy is sick. My friends have small businesses like this one. Electricity is up 25%, water up 30%, petrol up 75%, business tax up, VAT up. Interest rates are 25%, so they can't borrow. They can't handle it," he says.
"I don't know about those things," says Homayoon, still smiling. "That's for the government to decide. I like the Americans. They're great. I don't care what they say at Friday prayers."
What they say at Friday prayers is less forgiving. A day earlier, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, one of the Islamic Republic's most venerable imams, treated the weekly televised gathering at Tehran University stadium to a stern anti-American diatribe.
With white beard, flowing robe, turban and walking stick, Jannati is every inch the mullah – a Shia fundamentalist cleric of the old school. He preaches under the slogan "Any diversion from the true path will be the path of accursed Satan".
Today, Jannati is treading the path of self-sufficiency and what the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calls the resistance economy – Iran's supposed answer to the crushing American-led oil, banking and trade embargoes.
Iran defiant on Arak facility, right to enrich uranium as nuclear talks appear to falter
As talks between world powers and Iran came to a close without any signs of progress, Tehran said Sunday that the Arak research reactor, which the West fears can be used to make plutonium for a nuclear bomb, would continue its work with 40 megawatts of power.In comments carried by Iran's Press TV, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi emphasized that the Arak reactor would remain a heavy water facility and also stressed that Iran has the right to enrich uranium.
The fate of Arak which has not yet been completed is one of the central issues in negotiations between Iran and the world powers, aimed at reaching a long-term deal on Tehran’s nuclear program by a July 20 deadline.
Araqchi said on Friday that no progress had been made during the fourth round of negotiations in Vienna.
"The talks were serious and constructive but no progress has been made," Araqchi told reporters at the end of the fourth round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.
The negotiations began in February and are aimed at reaching a long-term deal to curb sensitive parts of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a gradual lifting of sanctions.
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Cheney says Clinton 'bears responsibility' for Benghazi
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Dick Cheney said on “Fox News Sunday” that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “bears responsibility” for the State Department’s chaotic handling of the Benghazi terrorist attacks in Libya on Sept. 11, 2012.“She was Secretary of State at the time that it happened -- she was one of the first in Washington to know about it,” Cheney said. “I think she clearly bears responsibility for whatever the State Department did or didn’t do with respect to that crisis.”
“I do think it’s a major issue,” Cheney said. “I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it yet.”
Earlier this month, a controversial House select committee was formed to look into the Benghazi attack – investigating the circumstances leading up to it and its aftermath.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, tapped South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy to head the newly-established committee.
Republicans have largely accused the Obama administration of trying to deceive the public about the true nature of the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist attack during the final months of the 2012 presidential campaign.
Obama, as well as Clinton, has strongly refuted those accusations.
Koch Brothers' Secrets Revealed In New Book
WASHINGTON -- Charles and David Koch are the unofficial standard-bearers of a new generation of billionaires, willing to spend immense sums to influence politics. Best known for bankrolling the tea party movement, the fiercely private Koch family has achieved a quasi-mythical status in political circles. Yet they remain an enigma to most Americans.Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private Dynasty aims to change that. Written by Mother Jones senior editor Daniel Schulman, the biography, set to be released Tuesday, draws on hundreds of interviews with Koch family and friends, as well as thousands of pages of legal documents. The Huffington Post received a copy of the book on Friday.
Schulman examines the roots of Charles and David Koch's libertarian worldview through the lens of their family, including the formative relationship that all four Koch brothers had with their father, the cold, ambitious Fred Koch. Schulman also traces the bitter and litigious history of Charles and David Koch's relationships with their lesser-known brothers: Frederick, the eldest, and Bill, David’s twin brother.
At the center of the saga is patriarch Fred Koch, a staunch anti-communist who drilled his political ideology into his sons from a young age. In 1938, then sympathetic to the fascist regimes ruling Germany, Italy and Japan, Fred wrote that he hoped one day the United States would resemble these nations, which had "overcome" the vices of "idleness, feeding at the public trough, [and] dependence on government."
Elsewhere, Fred warned of a future "vicious race war" in which communists would pit black Americans against white. "The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America," he wrote.
In private, Fred Koch "ruled the house with an iron fist” and faith in social Darwinism. Schulman recounts how the former boxer encouraged his sons to fight each other, sometimes with horrifying results. "During one bout, Bill bashed his twin over the head with a polo mallet," Schulman writes. And "David still bears a scar from the time Bill pierced him in the back with a ceremonial sword." Those early lessons left a deep imprint on the brothers.
Jeb Bush hints at 2016 run, talks up faith in his only commencement address this year
In his lone commencement address of the year, former Florida governor Jeb Bush urged students at a Christian liberal arts college Saturday to reaffirm their socially conservative values, a sign that he is underscoring his own as he considers running in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.
“Remain true to your convictions and your faith,” Bush said, speaking at Grove City College in northwestern Pennsylvania. “This may seem a little challenging today, where we have a federal government that is willingly violating the religious freedom of its citizens. But we don’t have to accept it.”Dropping a possible hint about his thinking regarding a White House bid, Bush said “if you feel inspired to serve your fellow citizens, don’t let the ugliness of politics keep you from pursuing public office. There is always room for informed, engaged, passionate leaders at every level of government.”
People close to Bush have said his major concern about running is navigating today’s messy spectacle of Twitter wars and super PAC attacks. In January, Bush said, “The decision will be based on, ‘Can I do it joyfully?’ because I think we need to have a candidate to lift our spirits.”
Pennsylvania Legislator Takes on the Clinton Machine in Fierce Primary
Meet the man who’s trying to beat the Clinton family at its own game.
On Tuesday, Marjorie Margolies, an in-law of the Clintons will be in a four-way brawl in a primary in the Keystone State. But the man who may best her doesn’t come from political royalty and he isn’t even independently wealthy. He’s a 37-year-old baby-faced state legislator who grew up in a rowhouse in Philadelphia.
“Marjorie puts Bill Clinton in her ads, I put my dad in my videos,” Brendan Boyle said of his father, who is a janitor for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Boyle is up against Margolies, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former journalist who held the same office she is seeking from 1993 to 1995. She lost her seat after casting a controversial vote in favor of Bill Clinton’s budget. She also happens to be Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law. Her son Marc Mezvinsky married Chelsea Clinton in July 2010 and they are expecting a baby this fall. His other primary opponents are state Sen. Daylin Leach and physician Val Arkoosh.
Bill Clinton, a longtime ally, held a fundraiser for Margolies, 71, and Hillary Clinton threw a fundraiser for her last week (although Margolies chose to skip it to attend a Montgomery County Democratic Party dinner and stump more in the district).
Senators push to cut off Pentagon contracts with Russia amid Ukraine crisis
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation banning Pentagon contracts with Russian arms dealer Rosoboronexport amid the crisis in Ukraine.The proposal by Sens. Dan Coats, R-Ind.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would forbid the direct or indirect use of U.S. tax dollars to enter contracts or agreements with the company and end all existing contracts.
"Given Russia’s hostile actions in Ukraine, business as usual is unacceptable,” Coats said in a statement. "With American credibility and the future of the international order on the line, our actions should reflect that. This specific economic sanction will harm Russian interests in a serious way without damaging America’s economy."
The Pentagon has a $553.8 million contract with Rosoboronexport to purchase 30 Mi-17 transport helicopters for Afghanistan's air force, according to The Hill. The DoD has already spent $546.4 million on 33 helicopters.
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