RT

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang held talks on Monday in Berlin, and stressed their commitment to a multilateral trade system in the wake of trade disputes with Washington.

As part of the talks, the sides signed a range of commercial agreements worth about €20 billion ($23.5 billion). Joint projects, involving governmental agencies and companies such as Siemens, Volkswagen, BASF and others, were announced.   Continue reading “China and Germany sign €20 billion in trade deals in response to US tariff hikes”

RT

Beijing has prepared a package of $20 billion in loans, and about $106 million in financial aid, for Middle East nations, including Palestine, Reuters reports.

The decision was announced in Beijing during a meeting between President Xi Jinping and representatives of 21 Arab nations. The financial aid from China to the Middle East is part of “oil and gas plus” model to revive economic growth in the region, Xi said.  Continue reading “China pledges $20 billion in loans to Middle East and aid for Palestine”

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California prosecutor was disciplined Monday after posting to social media crude and profane comments about U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, former first lady Michelle Obama, Mexican immigrants and the victim of a police shooting.

Michael Selyem, a veteran deputy district attorney who handles gang prosecutions in San Bernardino County, was placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted, the district attorney’s office said. He could ultimately lose his job.   Continue reading “Prosecutor disciplined over profane post about Maxine Waters”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh, a solidly conservative, politically connected judge, for the Supreme Court, setting up a ferocious confirmation battle with Democrats as he seeks to shift the nation’s highest court ever further to the right.

A favorite of the Republican legal establishment in Washington, Kavanaugh, 53, is a former law clerk for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Like Trump’s first nominee last year, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh would be a young addition who could help remake the court for decades to come with rulings that could restrict abortion, expand gun rights and roll back key parts of Obamacare.   Continue reading “Trump replaces high court’s swing vote with conservative”

RT

Tehran is threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for oil shipments from the Middle East, if Iranian exports are hampered. This will result in a huge loss of global crude supply and soaring prices.

Most of the crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iraq passes through the Strait of Hormuz. It is also the route for nearly all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from the world’s largest exporter, Qatar.  Continue reading “Get ready for $250 oil if Iran blocks key shipment route in Middle East, analysts tell RT”

RT

A video showing an El Paso policeman aiming his weapon at a group of young children while he was responding to a disturbance has gone viral, angering locals and people online over the cop’s actions.

The footage, filmed by an eyewitness, shows the moment the unidentified law enforcement officer pointed his gun at local youths and ordered them to “back up” as he tried to detain a teenager. The incident unfolded on Thursday after police were called to a local recreation center over criminal trespassing.   Continue reading “‘Why is he picking on little kids?’ Footage shows cop pointing gun at children”

RT

The death of Dawn Sturgess from what police say was exposure to Novichok has sparked a new fit of Russia-blaming, as an MP, high-profile commentators and mainstream journalists pointed the finger at Moscow.

As British police launched a murder investigation into the poisoning and death of Dawn Sturgess, 44, in Amesbury, various self-styled chemical weapons experts on Twitter have cried for Russia’s blood, squarely blaming Moscow for the incident yet in the early stages of the investigation.   Continue reading “British MP, establishment journalists rush for Putin’s blood after Amesbury chemical death”

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union said it appears the Trump administration will miss a court-ordered deadline to reunite young children who were separated at the border with their parents in more than half of the cases.

The ACLU said late Sunday the administration provided it with a list of 102 children under 5 years old and that “appears likely that less than half will be reunited” by Tuesday’s deadline. The Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw for more time last week but the judge on Friday did not grant a blanket extension, saying only that he would consider certain exceptions. He told the two sides to discuss possible exceptions and report to him Monday. The Justice Department was working through the weekend on a path toward unification and was preparing a progress report for the court.   Continue reading “ACLU: Less than half of child reunions will meet deadline”

RT

The European Union has turned down China’s proposal of co-operation against escalating US trade tariffs on European and Chinese goods.

China proposed launching joint action against the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO), EU officials and diplomats told Reuters ahead of a Sino-European summit in Beijing on July 16-17.   Continue reading “Europe rejects China’s offer of alliance in trade war with United States”

RT

A woman trapped between a train and a platform in Boston, with her bone exposed through her thigh, pleaded with bystanders not to call an ambulance, asking them “do you know how much an ambulance costs?”

The accident happened on Friday, and a Boston Globe reporter on the scene described how the woman slipped between the subway train and the platform, trapping her leg. Left “in agony and weeping” as commuters rocked the train back and forth in an effort to free her, she begged them not to call an ambulance, as she said, “It’s $3000…I can’t afford that.”   Continue reading “Injured woman begs people not to call ambulance because she can’t afford it”

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BEIJING (AP) — China rejected “threats and blackmail” ahead of a threatened U.S. tariff hike, striking a defiant stance Thursday in a dispute companies worry could flare into a full-blown trade war and chill the global economy.

A government spokesman said Beijing will defend itself if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead Friday with plans to raise duties on $34 billion of Chinese goods in the escalating conflict over technology policy.   Continue reading “China rejects ‘blackmail’ on eve of US tariff hike”

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HELENA, Mont. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester gave President Donald Trump a tongue-in-cheek welcome to Montana Thursday by taking out a full-page ad in more than a dozen newspapers thanking him for signing 16 bills the Democrat sponsored or co-sponsored.

Trump was scheduled to hold a rally in Great Falls on Thursday to campaign for Tester’s Republican challenger, State Auditor Matt Rosendale. The president has made the Montana Senate race a priority after he blamed Tester for derailing the nomination of his first Veterans Affairs nominee, White House physician Ronny Jackson.   Continue reading “Montana Sen. Tester ‘welcomes’ Trump by touting passed bills”

RT

As Iran is suffering from severe drought, its officials are struggling to explain the disastrous weather conditions. An Iranian general believes Israel is behind the cloud and snow theft, but meteorologists cast their doubts.

Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali, head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization, accused the Islamic Republic’s old regional adversary, Israel, of taking the lead in “suspicious” climate change in the country. The general says researches have proof that Tel-Aviv, with some allies, are putting a crimp in precipitation on Iranian soil.   Continue reading “Did Israel steal Iran’s clouds? Tehran looks for source of ‘suspicious’ climate change”

RT

China’s state-owned banks have reportedly been buying US dollars in forwards on behalf of the central bank (PBOC) and immediately selling them on the spot market for yuan to support the domestic currency.

PBOC deputy governor and head of the foreign exchange regulator Pan Gongsheng said China was confident it could keep the yuan basically stable and at a “reasonable” level.  Continue reading “Major Chinese banks ditching US dollar to prop up domestic currency”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland police investigating America’s latest mass murder say Jarrod Ramos, the man charged with the slayings, sent three threatening letters on the day of the attack, including one that said he was on his way to the Capital Gazette to “kill as many people” as he could.

Sgt. Jacklyn Davis, a spokeswoman for Anne Arundel County police, said the letters were received Monday. Hours later, an overflow crowd gathered to remember journalist Rob Hiaasen and his four colleagues who were shot to death by a gunman who blasted his way into the Capital Gazette’s newsroom. They tried to focus on how they lived, rather than their senseless deaths at the hands of a gunman twisted by hate and festering rage.  Continue reading “Police: Shooter sent “kill” letter before newspaper attack”

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NANTERRE, France (AP) — French investigators believe a team of four or five loyal accomplices carried out the brazen prison helicopter escape of one of France’s most notorious criminals. The armed, masked men took a helicopter pilot hostage, forced him to land Sunday in Reau Prison’s yard, used power tools to break through the prison yard’s doors and hustled Redoine Faid to freedom.   Continue reading “Escaped French criminal had small team of loyal accomplices”

RT

Jason Kessler, the organizer of the alt-right Charlottesville march where Heather Heyer was killed, was awarded $5 in a suit against an activist who called him “crybaby Kessler” and said “f*ck you.”

Kessler filed a $500 lawsuit against activist Donna Gasapo, claiming her use of profanity and insulting language could have led to violence. This was despite Kessler’s own protest seemingly inspiring far-right James Alex Fields Jr. to mow down and kill protester Heather Heyer last August.   Continue reading “Charlottesville organizer wins $5 after suing activist for ‘f*ck you, crybaby’ comment”

RT

Chinese Armed Police units may soon have a new weapon, a portable laser beam that can reach targets from a kilometer away and is powerful enough to set flammable things on fire.

Although classified as “non-lethal,” the infrared laser projector can “burn through clothes in a split second … If the fabric is flammable, the whole person will be set on fire,” according to a South China Post report. The device is called ZKZM-500 and has been prototyped by the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shaanxi province.   Continue reading “Pew, pew! China develops AK-47-sized low lethality ‘laser rifle’”

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration is cutting dental and vision coverage for nearly a half-million Kentuckians after his Medicaid overhaul plan was rejected in court. The state Cabinet for Health and Family Services calls the cuts an “unfortunate consequence” of Friday’s ruling by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg’s rejection of the Republican governor’s plan to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program was also a setback for President Donald Trump’s administration, which has been encouraging states to impose work requirements and other changes on the joint state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.   Continue reading “Kentucky GOP cuts vision, dental care for 460,000 people”

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The morning after his crushing election victory, Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador thanked President Donald Trump for his congratulation message and said he’ll contact the U.S. leader to “reach an understanding.”

Lopez Obrador said in an interview Monday with the Televisa news network that Trump’s Tweet Sunday night “was very respectful. That is what we always want to maintain with the U.S. government, that there be mutual respect.”   Continue reading “Mexico’s victor reaches out to Trump, seeks NAFTA deal”