All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

No African citizens granted visas for African trade summit in California | US news | The Guardian

An annual African trade summit in California had no African attendees this year after at least 60 people were denied visas, according to event leaders.The African Global Economic and Development Summit, a three-day conference at the University of Southern California (USC), typically brings delegations from across Africa to meet with business leaders in the US in an effort to foster partnerships. But this year, every single African citizen who requested a visa was rejected, according to organizer Mary Flowers.

Source: No African citizens granted visas for African trade summit in California | US news | The Guardian

Ivanka Trump has West Wing office and will get access to classified information | US news | The Guardian – Corruption reaching new heights – and what says the GOP? Nada!

Since Donald Trump took office, his eldest daughter has been an increasingly visible presence in the White House, where her husband, Jared Kushner, already serves as a senior adviser. On Friday she participated in a meeting on vocational training with the president and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. She stepped down from her position at the Trump Organization before her father’s inauguration, but still owns her own fashion label.

Source: Ivanka Trump has West Wing office and will get access to classified information | US news | The Guardian

Why are Fringe Politicians So Obsessed with Morally Policing Romance? Hint: Follow the Money – The Ladies Finger

Do these party members really believe in what they say about women and marriage? A large-scale expose of right-wing politicians by Cobrapost and Gulail found, in horrifying conversations, right-wing Hindu men treating Hindu and Muslim women as property to be exchanged. “If she doesn’t listen to us, we hit her. We get her beaten up. We misbehave,” a Bharatiya Janata Party leader said about ‘saving’ Hindu women married to Muslim men. As TLF wrote then these men were using “marriage as a weapon of war”. The truth is that across the political spectrum the easiest way for aspirants to climb the ladder is step on a pile of women’s bodies.The thing is for small ‘parties’ or small politicians in big parties can there be an easier agenda than fixing ‘immoral’ couples or policing women.

Source: Why are Fringe Politicians So Obsessed with Morally Policing Romance? Hint: Follow the Money – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Egyptian Aak 2017- Week 11 ( March 13-19)

Must read or at last scan material – Russia in Egypt!?!

Nervana

Top Headlines

  • Pope to visit Egypt next month
  • President Sisi to meet Trump in Washington in early April
  • Reuters: Russia appears to deploy forces in Egypt, eyes on Libya role
  • Russia denies deploying airbase in Egypt
  • Mubarak returns to his home in Heliopolis
  • More than 2,200 kids may have been food poisoned in south of Egypt
  • Parliament to discuss Red Sea’s Tiran and Sanafir deal despite court ruling voiding the agreement

 Main Headlines

Monday

Tuesday 

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Ex-UK ambassador calls White House wiretap claims ‘gratuitously damaging’ | US news | The Guardian

“This is a dangerous game,” Westmacott writes. “The intelligence relationship between Britain and America is unique and precious. It is critical to our shared efforts to counter terrorism.”Westmacott adds that “gratuitously damaging it by peddling falsehoods and then doing nothing to set the record straight would be a gift to our enemies they could only dream of”.The former ambassador’s excoriating remarks are all the more remarkable given that he stepped down from his role as the UK’s representative in Washington as recently as January 2016.His unrestrained putdown of Trump’s refusal to correct the unsubstantiated wiretapping allegations – which Westmacott ascribes acerbically to the president’s “famous reluctance to admit mistakes” – is a clear indication of the intensity of British anger at having been dragged into what is seen as a controversy entirely of Trump’s own making.

Source: Ex-UK ambassador calls White House wiretap claims ‘gratuitously damaging’ | US news | The Guardian

A Texas Woman ‘Voted Like a U.S. Citizen.’ Only She Wasn’t. – The New York Times – In Texas – Racism is issue #1!

Her punishment may be unprecedented for an offense that often draws a minimal sentence or probation. Ms. Ortega, who has a seventh-grade education and a sometimes shaky grasp on the complexities of her life, has steadfastly insisted that she did not know she was violating the law — that she is being imprisoned and probably deported for the crime of being confused.“I thought I was doing something right,” Ms. Ortega said. “It wasn’t to hurt somebody, or the state, or the government. I even worked for the government.

Trump ‘did not refuse to shake Merkel’s hand’, says spokesperson – The Local — you can hear a reporter clearly suggesting they shake hands and then she asks the same thing – he is staring – spaced out.

sitting side-by-side in the Oval Office, Merkel’s suggestion of another handshake went unheard or ignored by Trump – an awkward moment in what are usually highly scripted occasions.German media pointed to the incident as another marker of the meeting’s general icy mood between the cautious German chancellor and impulsive US president.In a frequently awkward joint press conference in the East Room, Trump and Merkel showed little common ground as they addressed a host of thorny issues including NATO, defense spending and free trade deals.For most of the 30 minutes, Merkel was stony-faced as Trump ripped into Washington’s NATO allies for not paying for their “fair share” for transatlantic defense and demanded “fair and reciprocal trade” deals.On Sunday, Germany’s biggest-selling daily Bild said that throughout the White House meeting, not once did Trump look her in the eye.

Source: Trump ‘did not refuse to shake Merkel’s hand’, says spokesperson – The Local