Part 2, Thursday, March 16th, 2017
--- "A teenager opened fire at his high school in southeastern France on Thursday, wounding up to four people, in an attack apparently inspired by videos of U.S. mass shootings such as Columbine, officials said. The incident in Grasse, which does not appear to be linked to militancy, comes with France on high alert after more than 230 people were killed in the past two years by attackers allied to Islamic State. "It was total panic," Achraf, a student in the school, said on BFM TV. "The gunshots were at 4 to 5 meters from where we were. We thought the gunman was coming toward us. We heard him shouting." France's Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem visited the scene in Grasse, a town known for its perfume industry, and said the attack appeared to be "a crazy act by a fragile young man fascinated by firearms". "His motivations seem to be linked to bad relations he had with other students in school," Grasse prosecutor Fabienne Atzori told reporters. With a presidential election less than six weeks away, the attack by a 16-year-old armed with a shotgun loaded with lead pellets looked likely to further stoke France's debate on security."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-idUSKBN16N1LI?il=0
--- "A female employee of the International Monetary Fund suffered injuries to her face and arms on Thursday when a letter bomb mailed from Greece and addressed to the world lender's European representative blew up as she opened it, officials said. The letter, which had arrived by mail, exploded as it was opened by a secretary at the institution's office in an upscale part of Paris. The secretary, whose hearing was also affected, was receiving treatment but her injuries were not life-threatening, Paris police chief Michel Cadot told reporters. The blast caused little damage to the office. The letter was intended for the IMF's European representative, according to police. Jeffrey Franks, a 24-year veteran of the fund, has been director of the IMF's Europe office since March 2015, according to its website. Paris anti-terrorism prosecutors opened an investigation. A militant Greek group, Conspiracy of Fire Cells, claimed responsibility for a parcel bomb mailed to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday, but there was no immediate claim for the Paris attack. However, a Greek return address was on the envelope which exploded in Paris, Greece's public order minister said in Athens."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-blast-idUSKBN16N1DZ?il=0
--- "Export powerhouse Germany on Thursday criticized U.S. moves to challenge international treaties as Chancellor Angela Merkel headed to Washington for a first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has unsettled allies around the world by challenging multilateral trade agreements and other treaties, while accusing Germany, China and others of manipulating their currencies to boost exports. Such questioning jeopardized Germany's stability, but would also harm the United States in the long-run, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told a conference on international law. He said the new U.S. administration's demand to negotiate only bilateral trade deals posed significant political and economic challenges for Germany as the largest economy in Europe and a key member of the European Union, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of its members."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-usa-gabriel-idUSKBN16N1FN?il=0
--- "Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders may have fallen short in this week's election in the Netherlands, but his views were shared by all the Dutch parties and are pushing Europe towards "wars of religion", Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday. Centre-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte fended off the Wilders challenge in a victory hailed across Europe by governments facing a rising wave of nationalism. The reaction in Ankara was less sanguine. Turkey has been locked in a deepening row with the Netherlands after the Dutch barred Turkish ministers from holding rallies among overseas Turks. "Many parties have received a similar share of votes. Seventeen percent, 20 percent, there are lots of parties like this, but they are all the same," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a rally in the southern city of Antalya. "There is no difference between the mindsets of Geert Wilders and social democrats in the Netherlands. They all have the same mindset ... That mindset is taking Europe to the cliff. Soon wars of religion may and will start in Europe.""
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-election-turkey-idUSKBN16N14S?il=0
--- "Eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a crowded street in the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday, a local official said. The car was parked in al-Atibaa Street ("Doctors Street" in English) in downtown Tikrit, which is often crowded as it has many clinics. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing although Islamic State has carried out similar actions as it battles against a government offensive on its former stronghold in Mosul, 200 km (125 miles) north of Tikrit."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-sis-iraq-tikrit-idUSKBN16M2I4?il=0
--- "Ten people were injured in an eruption on Mount Etna on Thursday when magma flowing into snow caused a violent explosion that sent stones and rocks flying into the air, emergency services said. Amongst those hurt near the summit of Etna on the island of Sicily were members of a television crew filming for the BBC."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-etna-idUSKBN16N270?il=0
--- "Six years into Syria's war, doctors there are under increasing pressure from a new army offensive, while President Bashar al-Assad looks increasingly unassailable. Medics are struggling to obtain the supplies they need to save lives. Without their disposable kits, the dialysis machines are effectively useless. "We've sent many requests to the United Nations," but erratic aid deliveries barely last a few months, said Abou Bassel, who declined to give his full name, in an internet phone call with Reuters. "Every time these sessions run out, a patient dies." The United Nations says Syrian authorities have removed life-saving medicines from aid convoys sent to Douma and other besieged areas. The U.N. aid chief, reporting to the security council last year, said this was "deliberately and cynically" designed to cause more suffering among civilians. The Syrian government has rejected such accusations. Physicians for Human Rights, in a report on Tuesday, said authorities removed dialysis supplies from several convoys headed to Douma last year. Few doctors remain in besieged towns like Douma, where they often treat the wounded on the floors of hospitals that have run out of supplies."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-medicine-idUSKBN16N1WK?il=0
--- "Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Thursday that any attempt to block a second independence referendum would be undemocratic and evidence that Prime Minister Theresa May fears the verdict of the Scottish people. After Sturgeon demanded a new independence referendum in late 2018 or early 2019, May said "now is not the time" for a second independence referendum."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-scotland-sturgeon-idUSKBN16N1WW?il=0
--- "Populism and nationalism will continue to rise until the world's biggest economies start to temper the excesses of globalization, tackling a growing feeling of injustice, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday. As the gap widens between the rich and the poor, nationalism, populism and protectionism will find fertile ground and pose a risk to prosperity, Schaeuble told a conference, responding in part to an increasingly protectionist stance from the new U.S. administration. "If we have learned anything about the lessons of the past, it’s that nationalism and protectionism are never the right answers," Schaeuble said, just hours before meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "Isolationism is always the wrong choice. It can be very tempting in the short term but in the long term, it can only undermine trust," Schaeuble said."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-schaeuble-protecionism-idUSKBN16N1OX?il=0
--- "Britain's Queen Elizabeth on Thursday formally granted Prime Minister Theresa May the power to trigger exit talks with the European Union, approving legislation which passed through parliament late on Monday."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-article-idUSKBN16N19V?il=0
--- "While Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's election success was hailed as a victory for pro-European forces over the far-right, the result may reflect more the fragmentation of protest votes than the half-hearted support of the EU by mainstream parties. Rutte's stance on the European Union during his campaign was hardly a full-throated endorsement, summarised by his party as "less nonsense from Brussels, and only things that are in the Dutch interest." Both Rutte's pro-business VVD party and his likely coalition partner, the conservative Christian Democrat Party, remain committed to European Union membership - but skeptical towards any increase in Brussels' powers. Pollster Maurice de Hond said a pre-election poll showed a majority of Dutch voters favor the European Union being slimmed down into a free trade zone, without free movement of labor...On immigration, Wilders' PVV did come in second fighting on a firmly anti-Islam platform, and the VVD and CDA have adopted much of Wilders' immigration platform."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-election-takeaways-idUSKBN16N2ET?il=0
--- "German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out trading provocations with Turkey on Thursday after President Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticized bans on planned rallies by Turkish ministers in Germany and the Netherlands. Erdogan's mounting criticism of the two countries, part of a drive to win support among Turks living abroad for a referendum to widen his powers, has strained Ankara's ties with European capitals concerned about what they see as an increasingly authoritarian and insulting tone from Turkey. Merkel told regional newspaper Saarbruecker Zeitung that Erdogan's accusation this week that she supported terrorists from the Kurdish PKK militant group was absurd. "I don't intend to participate in this race to trade provocations," she said. Referring to his attacks on the Netherlands, she added: "The insults need to stop.""
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-referendum-germany-merkel-idUSKBN16N2Z2?il=0
Domestic & International News:
--- "The Republican head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Thursday he was worried about the Trump administration's proposal to deeply cut the State Department budget for the 2018 fiscal year. "I am very concerned that deep cuts to our diplomacy will hurt efforts to combat terrorism, distribute critical humanitarian aid, and promote opportunities for American workers," Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce said in a statement. He noted that the cuts come as the United States is fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria and millions of people are at risk of starvation around the world."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-royce-idUSKBN16N2QL?il=0
--- "United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday against an abrupt cut to U.S. funding for the world body, and France's U.N. envoy said a retreat by Washington from global affairs could lead to more instability. "Abrupt funding cuts can force the adoption of ad hoc measures that will undermine the impact of longer-term reform efforts," said Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "The Secretary-General fully subscribes to the necessity to effectively combat terrorism, but believes that it requires more than military spending," he said in response to Trump's proposal for an additional $54 billion in military spending. French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said a strong United Nations and a U.S. commitment to world affairs is needed "more than ever". "America's retreat and unilateralism, or even the perception of it by other players, would create the risk of coming back to the old spheres of influence policy, and history teaches us that it has only led to more instability," Delattre said. "In foreign policy, as in politics, perception matters," he said."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-un-idUSKBN16N2FT?il=0
--- "Shortly after crossing the Rio Grande into the gang-infested border city of Reynosa, dozens of Mexicans deported during U.S President Donald Trump's first days in office said they would soon try to head north again - but this time to Canada. In a Reynosa migrant shelter, just yards from the U.S. border, 26-year-old Cenobio Rita said he had earned about $3,000 a month installing playgrounds in Richmond, Virginia, before he was deported on Feb. 15 after police found marijuana in his car. Having left Mexico as a 14-year-old, he fretted about returning to his violent home state of Michoacan. With Trump taking a tough stance on undocumented immigrants, he ruled out a common path for many deportees - back into the United States. "I want to go to Canada with my passport," he said. "For those without documents, I think (the United States) is over. Now it's Canada's turn." As Trump seeks to crack down on undocumented immigrants in the United States, about half of whom are Mexican, there are some nascent signs that more Mexican migrants see a future in Canada, which in December eased travel for visitors from Mexico."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-mexico-canada-idUSKBN16N1W0
--- "The protectionist stance of the new U.S. administration could complicate G20 talks this week and force policymakers to leave out the disputed trade issue, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Reuters in an interview. Speaking ahead of the G20 gathering of finance ministers and central bankers in the German town of Baden-Baden on Friday and Saturday, Schaeuble said it was still unclear if the G20 would keep joint language supporting free trade and open markets. "There are differing views on this subject," Schaeuble said, pointing to "America First" comments by U.S. President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. government officials. "It's possible that we explicitly exclude the topic of trade in Baden-Baden and say that can only be resolved at the summit of the state and government leaders." An early draft communique for the G20 meeting had suggested that the world's financial leaders might no longer explicitly reject protectionism, breaking with a decade-old tradition."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-g20-schaeuble-idUSKBN16N0WZ?il=0
--- "Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams will call on leaders of the U.S. Congress on Thursday to support efforts by Irish nationalists to maintain Northern Ireland's place in the European Union after the rest of the United Kingdom leaves. He was also set to ask the Irish government to resist any attempt by Britain to revert to ruling Northern Ireland directly from London for the first time in a decade, which he said would be "an enormous act of bad faith". Sinn Fein has led calls for Northern Ireland to be given a special status within the EU once the rest of the United Kingdom leaves, on the basis that 56 percent of voters in the province voted to remain in the Brexit referendum held last June. Northern Ireland, the only part of the United Kingdom with a land border with the EU, is widely seen as the region most exposed to the economic and political fallout from Brexit. Politicians from all sides have warned that the process of leaving the EU could increase tensions between mainly Catholic Irish nationalists who aspire to a united Ireland and predominantly Protestant pro-British Unionists. They do not, however, foresee a return to the violence that killed more than 3,600 people over three decades before a 1998 peace deal."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-nireland-idUSKBN16N1OA?il=0
--- "U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday the State Department's current spending was "not sustainable," and he willingly accepted the "challenge" President Donald Trump had given in proposing to cut more than a quarter of his agency's budget. Trump's budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1 would cut 28 percent of the budget for U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid, according to documents provided by the White House. The combined budget for the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) would be $25.6 billion..."Clearly the level of spending that the State Department has been undertaking, particularly in this past year, is simply not sustainable," he said. "As time goes by, there will be fewer military conflicts that the U.S. will be directly engaged in.""
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-tillerson-idUSKBN16N10W?il=0
--- "The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that President Donald Trump's proposed budget for the 2018 fiscal year would not reduce U.S. aid to Israel but that assistance levels to other nations, including Egypt and Jordan, were still being evaluated. "Our assistance to Israel is ... guaranteed and that reflects obviously our strong commitment to one of our strongest partners and allies," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "With respect to other assistance levels, foreign military assistance levels, those are still being evaluated and decisions are going to be made going forward," Toner added, noting that treaty obligations would be a factor. The United States provides assistance to Jordan and Egypt as part of their peace treaties with Israel."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-foreignaid-idUSKBN16N2Q9?il=0
--- "President Donald Trump is asking Congress to give the Pentagon about $2 billion for a "flexible" fund to use against Islamic State over the next six months, as his administration weighs changes to the U.S.-led campaign against the militant group. Trump is also seeking to upgrade long-underfunded facilities at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba that Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, unsuccessfully sought to close during his eight-year administration. "It doesn't seem like we are going to close it anytime soon," John Roth, the acting Pentagon comptroller, told a Pentagon news briefing, explaining the move. The proposals were part of a $30 billion supplemental request to Congress to add more money to the Pentagon's budget during the government's ongoing fiscal year, which began under the Obama administration and ends in September. It includes plans to crank up U.S. funding for the fight against Islamic State militants for items like high-tech bombs and defenses against insurgents' drones, bringing overall spending on the campaign to the highest level yet, the Pentagon said."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-islamicstate-idUSKBN16N2ZP?il=0
--- "House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday that President Donald Trump is playing a constructive role in new health care legislation and helping bridge differences among congressional Republicans. "This president is getting deeply involved," Ryan said at a news briefing. "He is helping bridge gaps in our conference. He is a constructive force to help us get to a resolution so that we get consensus on how to repeal and replace Obamacare.""
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-ryan-idUSKBN16N272?il=0
--- "Senior Boeing (BA.N) executive Patrick Shanahan is U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to take over the No. 2 role at the Pentagon as deputy U.S. defense secretary, the White House announced on Thursday."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pentagon-nominees-idUSKBN16N27F?il=0
--- "The U.S. House Budget Committee approved Republicans' healthcare bill in a 19-17 vote on Thursday that moves the legislation to a final committee before sending it for a full vote before the U.S. House of Representatives. The panel backed the plan pending non-binding changes to the legislation to unwind the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare. After the Budget Committee debates possible changes, it can recommend them to the House Rules Committee that is next to weigh in."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-house-idUSKBN16N22M?il=0
--- "The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said on Thursday President Donald Trump's 2018 budget proposal does not include enough funds to rebuild the nation's military. "It is clear to virtually everyone that we have cut our military too much and that it has suffered enormous damage," Representative Mac Thornberry said. "Unfortunately, the administration’s budget request is not enough to repair that damage and to rebuild the military as the president has discussed.""
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-thornberry-idUSKBN16N1U1?il=0
--- "U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday announced further cash management measures to avoid a U.S. default. In a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, Mnuchin said that Treasury would no longer be able to fully invest in three retirement and investment funds for federal workers. They are the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, and the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees' Retirement System, according to the letter. All the funds would be made whole once the debt limit is increased, Mnuchin said. "Federal retirees and employees will be unaffected by these actions," he added."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-debt-limit-idUSKBN16N2P9?il=0
--- "President Donald Trump stands by his allegation that former President Barack Obama ordered Trump Tower to be wiretapped during the 2016 campaign, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday. "He stands by it," Spicer said at a daily briefing. Spicer's comments came after the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said they saw no evidence to support Trump's claim."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-wiretap-whouse-idUSKBN16N2TL?il=0
--- "U.S. business executives are skeptical that President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress can overhaul the U.S. tax code this year but believe tax reform is likely to occur in 2018, according to a survey released on Thursday. Only 16 percent of about 1,000 business, tax and financial executives polled by KPMG, a big accounting and advisory firm, said they expect to see tax reform in 2017. Just over half predicted it would occur next year, while 11 percent said they do not expect to see fundamental tax policy changes until 2019. Twenty-one percent were unsure about timing. The findings, collected during a March 2 KPMG webcast on tax reform, coincide with growing doubts among lawmakers and lobbyists about a Republican goal of getting healthcare and tax reform bills through the House of Representatives and the Senate before Congress breaks for the summer on July 28."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-business-idUSKBN16N2UP?il=0
--- "The Trump administration on Thursday proposed eliminating Energy Department loan programs and some research funding for energy- efficient technology and electric vehicle development at three carmakers as the industry shifts more of its focus to electric and self-driving vehicles. The White House budget blueprint proposes ending the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-e, program, which gives $300 million a year in grants for research in technologies aimed at reducing fossil-fuel consumption and improving energy efficiency. The program, created in 2007 under President George W. Bush, has supported research into micro-organisms that produce replacements for petroleum, battery storage systems, improving window-pane efficiency and technology that allows vehicles to communicate to avoid crashes. The Trump budget proposes scrapping the ARPA-e program, along with two energy loan programs because the "private sector is better positioned to finance disruptive energy research and development and to commercialize innovative technologies." The White House would also eliminate a U.S. Energy Department clean vehicle loan program that boosted Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), Nissan Motor Co 7201 and Ford Motor Co (F.N) during the last industry downturn, but has not funded a new project in six years."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-vehicles-idUSKBN16N2RM?il=0
--- "As discussions surrounding Obamacare's repeal and replacement take place in Congress, one Change.org petition, targeting the health care coverage lawmakers and their families currently receive, is gathering steam. "Some politicians cannot relate to the cost burden experienced by families across the nation because they’ve historically received health benefits that most Americans have not," argues petitioner Daniel Jimenez. He says that his father passed away from cancer because of late intervention, and the current debate over the Affordable Care Act's replacement reminds him of "whether he would have made it if he had early access to cost-effective health care." "I want lawmakers to commit to treating themselves just like those who will be impacted by [ Affordable Care Act] repeal or replacement," he continues. "A lot of Members of Congress promote choice as an American value, which is all the more reason for them to have to continue to choose their own health coverage from the free marketplace.""
Source: http://time.com/4704824/petition-remove-congress-health-care-subsidies/
