Russia denied a report that suggested US President-elect Donald Trump was planning to hold a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on his first foreign trip shortly after taking office.

&quot;There have not been talks about a meeting yet,&quot; the Kremlin&#39;s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA, in response to the Sunday Times report that was published on January 15.

The UK-based newspaper had said Trump was seeking to &quot;reset&quot; relations with the Kremlin, with Iceland the likely venue, emulating Ronald Reagan&#39;s Reykjavik meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 during the height of Cold War, the newspaper said, citing unnamed British officials.

Trump, who will be inaugurated on Friday (January 20), is planning to work on a deal limiting nuclear weapons as part of his bid to recalibrate relations between the two powers, the report went on to say.

Even Iceland said it was not aware of such plans but was willing to host a summit to help improve relations between Washington and Moscow.

&quot;The Icelandic government has not received a query with regards to this,&quot; Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson said in reply to a question from the mbl.is news website.

&quot;If officials in Washington DC make a formal request for the Icelandic government to organise a summit in Reykjavik we will look at it positively and make this our input to improve relations between the US and Russia, remember the summit at Hofdi house in 1986,&quot; he said.

Trump has expressed admiration for Putin, and only reluctantly accepted US intelligence&#39;s conclusion that hackers acting on the Russian strongman&#39;s authority interfered in the US elections.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Trump hinted that he may lift sanctions imposed on Russia over Moscow&#39;s alleged cyberattacks if Russia helps the US on key goals such as fighting jihadist groups.

(Agencies) 
&nbsp;

The UK-based Sunday Times had reported the US president-elect wanted to meet Putin to 'reset' relations with Russia

Russia denied a report that suggested US President-elect Donald Trump was planning to hold a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on his first foreign trip shortly after taking office. "There have not been talks about a meeting yet," the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA, in response to the Sunday Times report that was published on January 15. The UK-based newspaper had said Trump was seeking to "reset" relations with the Kremlin, with Iceland the likely venue, emulating Ronald Reagan's Reykjavik meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 during the height of Cold War, the newspaper said, citing unnamed British officials. Trump, who will be inaugurated on Friday (January 20), is planning to work on a deal limiting nuclear weapons as part of his bid to recalibrate relations between the two powers, the report went on to say. Even Iceland said it was not aware of such plans but was willing to host a summit to help improve relations between Washington and Moscow. "The Icelandic government has not received a query with regards to this," Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson said in reply to a question from the mbl.is news website. "If officials in Washington DC make a formal request for the Icelandic government to organise a summit in Reykjavik we will look at it positively and make this our input to improve relations between the US and Russia, remember the summit at Hofdi house in 1986," he said. Trump has expressed admiration for Putin, and only reluctantly accepted US intelligence's conclusion that hackers acting on the Russian strongman's authority interfered in the US elections. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Trump hinted that he may lift sanctions imposed on Russia over Moscow's alleged cyberattacks if Russia helps the US on key goals such as fighting jihadist groups. (Agencies)

Russia denies report about Trump, Putin meeting in Iceland

US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he would keep intact sanctions against Russia &quot;at least for a period of time,&quot; but added he would be open to lifting sanctions if Moscow proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other goals important to Washington.

Trump&nbsp;also said he wouldn&#39;t commit to the &quot;One-China&quot; policy until he sees progress from Beijing in its currency and trade practices.

In excerpts published by the Wall Stree Journal, Trump said, &quot;If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody&rsquo;s doing some really great things?&quot;

Trump told the newspaper he is prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin some time after he is sworn in on January 20.

&quot;I understand that they would like to meet, and that&rsquo;s absolutely fine with me,&quot; he said. Asked if he supported the &quot;One-China&quot; policy on Taiwan that has underpinned US relations with Beijing for decades, Trump told the Journal: &quot;Everything is under negotiation including One-China.&quot;

Trump angered the Chinese by taking a congratulatory phone call after his election win from Taiwan&#39;s leader and questioning the &quot;One-China&quot; policy. The United States has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only One-China and that Taiwan is part of China.

Trump has said in the past he would label China a currency manipulator after he takes office. In the interview, he said he wouldn&rsquo;t take that step on his first day in the White House. &ldquo;I would talk to them first,&quot; he said. &quot;Certainly they are manipulators,&quot; he added. &quot;But I&rsquo;m not looking to do that.&quot;

But he made plain his displeasure with China&rsquo;s currency practices. &quot;Instead of saying, &#39;We&rsquo;re devaluating our currency,&#39; they say, &#39;Oh, our currency is dropping.&#39; It&rsquo;s not dropping. They&rsquo;re doing it on purpose,&quot; he said, according to the Journal.

&quot;Our companies can&rsquo;t compete with them now because our currency is strong and it&rsquo;s killing us,&quot; the Journal quoted Trump as saying.&nbsp;

(Reuters)

'If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody?s doing... really great things?' he said

US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he would keep intact sanctions against Russia "at least for a period of time," but added he would be open to lifting sanctions if Moscow proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other goals important to Washington. Trump also said he wouldn't commit to the "One-China" policy until he sees progress from Beijing in its currency and trade practices. In excerpts published by the Wall Stree Journal, Trump said, "If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?" Trump told the newspaper he is prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin some time after he is sworn in on January 20. "I understand that they would like to meet, and that’s absolutely fine with me," he said. Asked if he supported the "One-China" policy on Taiwan that has underpinned US relations with Beijing for decades, Trump told the Journal: "Everything is under negotiation including One-China." Trump angered the Chinese by taking a congratulatory phone call after his election win from Taiwan's leader and questioning the "One-China" policy. The United States has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only One-China and that Taiwan is part of China. Trump has said in the past he would label China a currency manipulator after he takes office. In the interview, he said he wouldn’t take that step on his first day in the White House. “I would talk to them first," he said. "Certainly they are manipulators," he added. "But I’m not looking to do that." But he made plain his displeasure with China’s currency practices. "Instead of saying, 'We’re devaluating our currency,' they say, 'Oh, our currency is dropping.' It’s not dropping. They’re doing it on purpose," he said, according to the Journal. "Our companies can’t compete with them now because our currency is strong and it’s killing us," the Journal quoted Trump as saying. (Reuters)

Trump open to lifting Russia sanctions if Moscow 'is helpful'

BBC&#39;s Washington&nbsp;correspondent Paul Wood has<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427#pq=RbIoXb"> published </a>what he knows about the explosive allegation that Russia has compromising personal and financial information over Trump.&nbsp;While the BBC opted not to break the story earlier because they hadn&#39;t seen the alleged recordings themselves, if they do in fact exist,&nbsp;Wood adds more&nbsp;details&nbsp;about the allegations.&nbsp;

Wood describes hearing about the alleged tapes through as many as four sources. It is not clear whether these sources got their information from the same place.&nbsp;The claims here are still allegations.&nbsp;

Wood says &quot;The CIA finds it credible that the Kremlin has such Kompromat--or compromising material--on the next US commander in chief&quot;, and that&nbsp;there is also a joint task force comprising of the CIA and FBI investigating whether Russia sent money to Trump&#39;s election campaign.

Wood saw the report written by&nbsp;the former British intelligence agent, now identified in various world media as&nbsp;Chistopher Steele,&nbsp;alleging&nbsp;that Trump was filmed with a group of prostitutes in the presidential suite of Moscow&#39;s Ritz-Carlton hotel. He states that the BBC decided not to break the story when he was shown the report, which was in the week of the election,&nbsp;because they had not seen the alleged tapes, if such tapes&nbsp;do in fact exist.

The opposition research that prompted Steele&#39;s investigation&nbsp;was initially funded by an anti-Trump super pac (political&nbsp;action committee) during the Republican primaries, but then was funded by an anomyous Democratic Party supporter.

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While Trump was relentless in his criticism of these reports, likening his&nbsp;situation&nbsp;to&nbsp;Nazi Germany&nbsp;and calling them &quot;sick people [who] put that crap together&quot;, Wood says &quot;these are not political hacks&quot;.

Nobody, not even Trump, disputes that the intelligence briefing describing the above allegations&nbsp;were definitely brought to the attention of President Obama&nbsp;and, indeed, even Donald Trump. But the allegations in the report remain unverified.

Wood points out that both the Washington Post and the New York Times report that the allegations were sufficiently credible to be brought to the attention of the president. On the night&nbsp;the main tape was supposedly made,&nbsp;in 2013, Trump appeared on television in Moscow&nbsp;attending his Miss Universe competition.

Wood does not characterise this as a political hack. He says Christopher Steele&#39;s line of research is &quot;country analysis and commercial risk assessment&quot;, and that Steele&nbsp;&quot;apparently&quot; gave the dossier he collected on Trump to the FBI against the wishes of the firm who employed him.&nbsp;As early as August, Wood was told of this claim&nbsp;by a retired spy, who learned it from&nbsp;the &quot;head of an East European intelligence agency&quot;.&nbsp;

Wood used a go-between to pass questions along to the CIA officers tasked with this file. He got a message back: there was &quot;more than one tape&quot;, &quot;audio and video&quot;, on &quot;more than one date&quot;, in &quot;more than one place&quot;, and that the material was &quot;of a sexual nature&quot;.

Wood says that a Russian specialist says FSB agents are prone to boasting about public figures on which they have tapes. A CIA officer who spoke to Wood said he spoke to an FSB agent, who concluded,&nbsp;&quot;it&#39;s hokey as hell&quot;.

There are&nbsp;still&nbsp;ongoing inter-agency investigations looking into Trump&#39;s connection with Russian money, and it&#39;s not clear what will come of the&nbsp;task force investigating&nbsp;Trump under Trump&#39;s presidency. They may not be allowed to work.

Russia has denied all accusations, and so has Trump. Wood says that Michael Hayden, the former head of both the CIA and NSA, referred to Trump as a &quot;polezni durak&quot;-- a useful fool.

During the election, Clinton called Trump a &quot;puppet&quot; of Russia&#39;s leader Vladimir Putin.

Wood points out that a New York Times opinion&nbsp;piece from the summer written by former CIA director Michael Morrell wrote, &quot;In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr Putin had recruited Mt Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation&quot;.

Wood closed the piece declaring Americans will need to look at all the facts and judge for themselves.

(WION)

The BBC correspondent, who before the election had seen the report alleging Russia had compromising info on Trump, describes what he knows

BBC's Washington correspondent Paul Wood has published what he knows about the explosive allegation that Russia has compromising personal and financial information over Trump. While the BBC opted not to break the story earlier because they hadn't seen the alleged recordings themselves, if they do in fact exist, Wood adds more details about the allegations. Wood describes hearing about the alleged tapes through as many as four sources. It is not clear whether these sources got their information from the same place. The claims here are still allegations. Wood says "The CIA finds it credible that the Kremlin has such Kompromat--or compromising material--on the next US commander in chief", and that there is also a joint task force comprising of the CIA and FBI investigating whether Russia sent money to Trump's election campaign. Wood saw the report written by the former British intelligence agent, now identified in various world media as Chistopher Steele, alleging that Trump was filmed with a group of prostitutes in the presidential suite of Moscow's Ritz-Carlton hotel. He states that the BBC decided not to break the story when he was shown the report, which was in the week of the election, because they had not seen the alleged tapes, if such tapes do in fact exist. The opposition research that prompted Steele's investigation was initially funded by an anti-Trump super pac (political action committee) during the Republican primaries, but then was funded by an anomyous Democratic Party supporter. He got a message back: there was "more than one tape", "audio and video", on "more than one date", in "more than one place", and that the material was "of a sexual nature". × While Trump was relentless in his criticism of these reports, likening his situation to Nazi Germany and calling them "sick people [who] put that crap together", Wood says "these are not political hacks". Nobody, not even Trump, disputes that the intelligence briefing describing the above allegations were definitely brought to the attention of President Obama and, indeed, even Donald Trump. But the allegations in the report remain unverified. Wood points out that both the Washington Post and the New York Times report that the allegations were sufficiently credible to be brought to the attention of the president. On the night the main tape was supposedly made, in 2013, Trump appeared on television in Moscow attending his Miss Universe competition. Wood does not characterise this as a political hack. He says Christopher Steele's line of research is "country analysis and commercial risk assessment", and that Steele "apparently" gave the dossier he collected on Trump to the FBI against the wishes of the firm who employed him. As early as August, Wood was told of this claim by a retired spy, who learned it from the "head of an East European intelligence agency". Wood used a go-between to pass questions along to the CIA officers tasked with this file. He got a message back: there was "more than one tape", "audio and video", on "more than one date", in "more than one place", and that the material was "of a sexual nature". Wood says that a Russian specialist says FSB agents are prone to boasting about public figures on which they have tapes. A CIA officer who spoke to Wood said he spoke to an FSB agent, who concluded, "it's hokey as hell". There are still ongoing inter-agency investigations looking into Trump's connection with Russian money, and it's not clear what will come of the task force investigating Trump under Trump's presidency. They may not be allowed to work. Russia has denied all accusations, and so has Trump. Wood says that Michael Hayden, the former head of both the CIA and NSA, referred to Trump as a "polezni durak"-- a useful fool. During the election, Clinton called Trump a "puppet" of Russia's leader Vladimir Putin. Wood points out that a New York Times opinion piece from the summer written by former CIA director Michael Morrell wrote, "In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr Putin had recruited Mt Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation". Wood closed the piece declaring Americans will need to look at all the facts and judge for themselves. (WION)

Four sources to possible claims of Trump-Russia blackmail: BBC's Paul Wood

The Palestinians may consider &quot;reversing recognition&quot; of Israel&nbsp;if Donald Trump moves the US embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has said in an interview in&nbsp;French daily Le Figaro.

&quot;I wrote to president-elect Trump to ask him not to do it. Not only would this move deprive the United States of all legitimacy in playing a role in conflict resolution, it would also destroy the two-state solution,&quot; Abbas told the French daily.

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Trump - who takes office next Friday - has said he plans to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. The move is bitterly opposed by Palestinians, who see it as a destructive and unilateral action as the status of the city is still contested. The United States and most UN member states do not recognise Jerusalem as Israel&#39;s capital, and the city&#39;s status is one of the thorniest issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel supports Trump&#39;s plan and has encouraged previous US presidents to take similar steps but to no avail.

&quot;If the embassy transfer takes place, there would be several options for us, and we would discuss them with Arab countries,&quot; Abbas said.&nbsp;&quot;Reversing our recognition of the State of Israel is one of them. But we hope that it doesn&#39;t reach that point, and that, on the contrary, we will be able to work with the next American administration,&quot; he added.

Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognised each other under the 1993 Oslo agreements. But the process which was supposed to deliver a lasting peace still hasn&#39;t happened so far. More than 70 countries meet in Paris on Sunday at a conference expected to reaffirm support for the &quot;two-state solution&quot; in which Palestinian and Israeli states would live side-by-side in peace and security.

The Paris meeting &quot;may be the last chance for implementing&quot; the two-state solution, Abbas warned.

On Monday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said Abbas had written to Trump, warning an embassy move would have a &quot;disastrous impact on the peace process, on the two-state solution and on the stability and security of the entire region.&quot;

(AFP)

Trump has said he plans to acknowledge Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv

The Palestinians may consider "reversing recognition" of Israel if Donald Trump moves the US embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has said in an interview in French daily Le Figaro. "I wrote to president-elect Trump to ask him not to do it. Not only would this move deprive the United States of all legitimacy in playing a role in conflict resolution, it would also destroy the two-state solution," Abbas told the French daily. Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognised each other under the 1993 Oslo agreements. But the process which was supposed to deliver a lasting peace still hasn't happened so far × Trump - who takes office next Friday - has said he plans to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. The move is bitterly opposed by Palestinians, who see it as a destructive and unilateral action as the status of the city is still contested. The United States and most UN member states do not recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and the city's status is one of the thorniest issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel supports Trump's plan and has encouraged previous US presidents to take similar steps but to no avail. "If the embassy transfer takes place, there would be several options for us, and we would discuss them with Arab countries," Abbas said. "Reversing our recognition of the State of Israel is one of them. But we hope that it doesn't reach that point, and that, on the contrary, we will be able to work with the next American administration," he added. Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognised each other under the 1993 Oslo agreements. But the process which was supposed to deliver a lasting peace still hasn't happened so far. More than 70 countries meet in Paris on Sunday at a conference expected to reaffirm support for the "two-state solution" in which Palestinian and Israeli states would live side-by-side in peace and security. The Paris meeting "may be the last chance for implementing" the two-state solution, Abbas warned. On Monday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said Abbas had written to Trump, warning an embassy move would have a "disastrous impact on the peace process, on the two-state solution and on the stability and security of the entire region." (AFP)

May reverse Israel recognition if Trump moves embassy: Abbas

The US&nbsp;House of Representatives&nbsp;took the first step to dismantling Obamacare on Friday, with the House voting 227-198 to repeal it.&nbsp;

The move to repeal President Barack Obama&#39;s landmark health insurance law came without any replacement policy ready. &nbsp;

The motion was not supported by Democrats and committees have been directed to draft legislation by January 27 to repeal the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act or Obamacare.&nbsp;

The law provided health insurance&nbsp;to some 20 million Americans who are not covered by work but was hampered by a&nbsp;rise in insurance premiums and deductables as well as national&nbsp;insurers quitting the system.&nbsp;

House Speaker, Republican&nbsp;Paul Ryan,&nbsp;&quot;The deductibles are so high it doesn&rsquo;t feel like you&rsquo;ve got insurance in the first place.

&quot;We have to step in before things get worse. This is nothing short of a rescue mission,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

Trump on Friday morning tweeted&nbsp;&quot;The &#39;Unaffordable&#39; Care Act will soon be history!&quot; He also pressured lawmakers to repeal and replace it &quot;essentially simultaneously&quot;.

While campaigning for presidential election Trump had vowed to repeal Obamacare if he became president.&nbsp;

The resolution will need the president&#39;s signature and the approval of the House and Senate once the repeal legislation is drafted.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

&nbsp;

The House voted 227-198 to repeal the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act which provided health insurance to some 20 million Americans

The US House of Representatives took the first step to dismantling Obamacare on Friday, with the House voting 227-198 to repeal it. The move to repeal President Barack Obama's landmark health insurance law came without any replacement policy ready. The motion was not supported by Democrats and committees have been directed to draft legislation by January 27 to repeal the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act or Obamacare. The law provided health insurance to some 20 million Americans who are not covered by work but was hampered by a rise in insurance premiums and deductables as well as national insurers quitting the system. House Speaker, Republican Paul Ryan, "The deductibles are so high it doesn’t feel like you’ve got insurance in the first place. "We have to step in before things get worse. This is nothing short of a rescue mission," he said. Trump on Friday morning tweeted "The 'Unaffordable' Care Act will soon be history!" He also pressured lawmakers to repeal and replace it "essentially simultaneously". While campaigning for presidential election Trump had vowed to repeal Obamacare if he became president. The resolution will need the president's signature and the approval of the House and Senate once the repeal legislation is drafted. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

US House of Representatives votes to repeal Obamacare

The Palestinians may consider &quot;reversing recognition&quot; of Israel if Donald Trump moves the US embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said in an interview released by the French daily Le Figaro on Friday.

&quot;I wrote to president(-elect) Trump to ask him not to do it. Not only would this move deprive the United States of all legitimacy in playing a role in conflict resolution, it would also destroy the two-state solution,&quot; Abbas was quoted as saying.

Trump,&nbsp;who takes office next Friday,&nbsp;has said he plans to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

The move is bitterly opposed by Palestinians, who see it as a destructive and unilateral action as the status of the city is still contested.

The United States and most UN member states do not recognise Jerusalem as Israel&#39;s capital, and the city&#39;s status is one of the thorniest issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel supports Trump&#39;s plan and has encouraged previous US presidents to take similar steps but to no avail.

If the embassy transfer takes place, &quot;there would be several options for us, and we would discuss them with Arab countries,&quot; Abbas said.

&quot;Reversing our recognition of the State of Israel is one of them. But we hope that it doesn&#39;t reach that point, and that, on the contrary, we will be able to work with the next American administration,&quot; he added.

Israel and the&nbsp;Palestine&nbsp;Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognised each other under the 1993 Oslo agreements. But the process which was supposed to deliver a lasting peace is moribund.

More than 70 countries meet in Paris on Sunday at a conference expected to reaffirm support for the &quot;two-state solution&quot; in which Palestinian and Israeli states would live side-by-side in peace and security.

The Paris meeting &quot;may be the last chance for implementing&quot; the two-state solution, Abbas warned.

On Monday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said Abbas had written to Trump, warning an embassy move would have a &quot;disastrous impact on the peace process, on the two-state solution and on the stability and security of the entire region.&quot;

&nbsp;

(AFP)

Donald Trump has said he plans to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv

The Palestinians may consider "reversing recognition" of Israel if Donald Trump moves the US embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said in an interview released by the French daily Le Figaro on Friday. "I wrote to president(-elect) Trump to ask him not to do it. Not only would this move deprive the United States of all legitimacy in playing a role in conflict resolution, it would also destroy the two-state solution," Abbas was quoted as saying. Trump, who takes office next Friday, has said he plans to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. The move is bitterly opposed by Palestinians, who see it as a destructive and unilateral action as the status of the city is still contested. The United States and most UN member states do not recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and the city's status is one of the thorniest issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel supports Trump's plan and has encouraged previous US presidents to take similar steps but to no avail. If the embassy transfer takes place, "there would be several options for us, and we would discuss them with Arab countries," Abbas said. "Reversing our recognition of the State of Israel is one of them. But we hope that it doesn't reach that point, and that, on the contrary, we will be able to work with the next American administration," he added. Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognised each other under the 1993 Oslo agreements. But the process which was supposed to deliver a lasting peace is moribund. More than 70 countries meet in Paris on Sunday at a conference expected to reaffirm support for the "two-state solution" in which Palestinian and Israeli states would live side-by-side in peace and security. The Paris meeting "may be the last chance for implementing" the two-state solution, Abbas warned. On Monday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said Abbas had written to Trump, warning an embassy move would have a "disastrous impact on the peace process, on the two-state solution and on the stability and security of the entire region." (AFP)

May 'reverse' Israel recognition if Trump moves embassy: Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas

Donald Trump&#39;s pick to lead the Pentagon put Russia at the top of a list of threats to US&nbsp;interests on Thursday and told Congress that America must be ready to confront Moscow where necessary, even as he backed Trump&#39;s bid for better relations.

The remarks by retired Marine General James Mattis were the latest by one of Trump&#39;s Cabinet picks that veered away from the president-elect&#39;s campaign rhetoric, which included praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledges to improve ties with him.

Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson on Wednesday also expressed views at odds with Trump on key foreign policy issues like nuclear proliferation, trade deals, climate change and relations with Mexico.

Mattis said Russia, China and Islamist militants were presenting the biggest challenge to the US-led world order since World War II, and called for Congress to lift spending caps undermining military readiness.

&quot;I&#39;m all for engagement but we also have to recognise reality in what Russia is up to,&quot; Mattis said, adding there were a &quot;decreasing number of areas&quot; where the United States might cooperate with Moscow.

Asked about the main threats to US&nbsp;interests, Mattis said: &quot;I would consider the principle threats to start with Russia.&quot;

Mattis said he wanted to meet with the new Trump national security team to &quot;craft a strategy to confront Russia for what it&#39;s done,&quot; when questioned about the possibility of new US&nbsp;sanctions.

Due to enter the White House in eight days, Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that Russia likely hacked the Democratic National Committee and emails of top Democrats during the 2016 presidential election campaign, a conclusion reached by US&nbsp;spy agencies.

Mattis cited Russian involvement in hacking and information warfare among the challenges posed by Moscow. Others include treaty violations, destabilising activities abroad and &quot;alarming messages from Moscow regarding the use of nuclear weapons&quot;.

&nbsp;

Strong backing for NATO

He also accused Russia of trying to undermine NATO. Unlike Trump, who appeared to question the alliance during his campaign, Mattis strongly embraced it -- calling NATO central to America&#39;s defence. &quot;We recognise that he (Putin) is trying to break the North Atlantic alliance,&quot; Mattis said.

Senator John McCain, the Republican chairman of the committee, said he &quot;could not be happier&quot; about Mattis&#39; nomination. He warned sternly against optimism about engaging with Putin. &quot;Putin wants to be our enemy. He needs us as his enemy. He will never be our partner,&quot; McCain exclaimed.

Mattis also singled out China for its activities in the South China Sea, where it has been building man-made islands with anti-aircraft and anti-missile batteries.

Together with Russian activities and the threats of Islamist extremists, Mattis said China was part of mounting assault on global stability, and the relationship with Beijing needed to be carefully managed.

&quot;I think it (the world order) is under the biggest attack since World War II, sir, and that is from Russia, from terrorist groups, and with what China is doing in the South China Sea,&quot; he said.

Mattis railed against defence spending caps imposed by Congress and, when pressed, said he did not believe the US&nbsp;military was strong enough to properly deter potential adversaries.

&nbsp;

Waiver&nbsp;needed

Mattis, who retired from the military in 2013, is technically ineligible for the job since he has not been a civilian for at least seven years. That means Congress would need to grant him a waiver, something it has not done since 1950, but appears inclined to do now.

After Mattis&#39; testimony, the waiver cleared its first hurdle in Congress when the Senate Armed Services Committee approved it in a 24-3 vote.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he expected bipartisan support for Mattis would help him overcome limited opposition. &quot;The other thing he has going for him is that he may be a restraint on some of Trump&#39;s more extreme impulses,&quot; Cancian said.

Mattis, 66, has tried to persuade Trump privately against the use of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, as an interrogation tactic. Top US&nbsp;officials, many lawmakers and human rights groups have denounced waterboarding as torture.

Trump&#39;s pick for CIA director took a similar line during his confirmation hearing on Thursday, saying he would stand firm if necessary against Trump on the issue of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques.

Mattis was fiercely critical of Iran, cautioning that Tehran&#39;s &quot;malign influence&quot; in the region was growing. &quot;Iran is the biggest destabilising force in the Middle East and its policies are contrary to our interests,&quot; Mattis said in written responses to the committee.

Still, Mattis did not echo Trump&#39;s campaign threat to rip up a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions. Mattis said the deal was imperfect but that the United States should uphold it.

&quot;When America gives our word, we have to live up to it,&quot; Mattis said.

(Reuters)

James Mattis said Russia, China and Islamist militants presented the biggest challenge to the US-led world order since World War II

Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon put Russia at the top of a list of threats to US interests on Thursday and told Congress that America must be ready to confront Moscow where necessary, even as he backed Trump's bid for better relations. The remarks by retired Marine General James Mattis were the latest by one of Trump's Cabinet picks that veered away from the president-elect's campaign rhetoric, which included praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledges to improve ties with him. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson on Wednesday also expressed views at odds with Trump on key foreign policy issues like nuclear proliferation, trade deals, climate change and relations with Mexico. Mattis said Russia, China and Islamist militants were presenting the biggest challenge to the US-led world order since World War II, and called for Congress to lift spending caps undermining military readiness. "I'm all for engagement but we also have to recognise reality in what Russia is up to," Mattis said, adding there were a "decreasing number of areas" where the United States might cooperate with Moscow. Asked about the main threats to US interests, Mattis said: "I would consider the principle threats to start with Russia." Mattis said he wanted to meet with the new Trump national security team to "craft a strategy to confront Russia for what it's done," when questioned about the possibility of new US sanctions. Due to enter the White House in eight days, Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that Russia likely hacked the Democratic National Committee and emails of top Democrats during the 2016 presidential election campaign, a conclusion reached by US spy agencies. Mattis cited Russian involvement in hacking and information warfare among the challenges posed by Moscow. Others include treaty violations, destabilising activities abroad and "alarming messages from Moscow regarding the use of nuclear weapons". Strong backing for NATO He also accused Russia of trying to undermine NATO. Unlike Trump, who appeared to question the alliance during his campaign, Mattis strongly embraced it -- calling NATO central to America's defence. "We recognise that he (Putin) is trying to break the North Atlantic alliance," Mattis said. Senator John McCain, the Republican chairman of the committee, said he "could not be happier" about Mattis' nomination. He warned sternly against optimism about engaging with Putin. "Putin wants to be our enemy. He needs us as his enemy. He will never be our partner," McCain exclaimed. Mattis also singled out China for its activities in the South China Sea, where it has been building man-made islands with anti-aircraft and anti-missile batteries. Together with Russian activities and the threats of Islamist extremists, Mattis said China was part of mounting assault on global stability, and the relationship with Beijing needed to be carefully managed. "I think it (the world order) is under the biggest attack since World War II, sir, and that is from Russia, from terrorist groups, and with what China is doing in the South China Sea," he said. Mattis railed against defence spending caps imposed by Congress and, when pressed, said he did not believe the US military was strong enough to properly deter potential adversaries. Waiver needed Mattis, who retired from the military in 2013, is technically ineligible for the job since he has not been a civilian for at least seven years. That means Congress would need to grant him a waiver, something it has not done since 1950, but appears inclined to do now. After Mattis' testimony, the waiver cleared its first hurdle in Congress when the Senate Armed Services Committee approved it in a 24-3 vote. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he expected bipartisan support for Mattis would help him overcome limited opposition. "The other thing he has going for him is that he may be a restraint on some of Trump's more extreme impulses," Cancian said. Mattis, 66, has tried to persuade Trump privately against the use of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, as an interrogation tactic. Top US officials, many lawmakers and human rights groups have denounced waterboarding as torture. Trump's pick for CIA director took a similar line during his confirmation hearing on Thursday, saying he would stand firm if necessary against Trump on the issue of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. Mattis was fiercely critical of Iran, cautioning that Tehran's "malign influence" in the region was growing. "Iran is the biggest destabilising force in the Middle East and its policies are contrary to our interests," Mattis said in written responses to the committee. Still, Mattis did not echo Trump's campaign threat to rip up a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions. Mattis said the deal was imperfect but that the United States should uphold it. "When America gives our word, we have to live up to it," Mattis said. (Reuters)

Trump's Pentagon nominee says Russia threat to US interest

Jim Acosta, a senior White House correspondent for CNN, attempted to ask the president-elect a question at his New York press conference on Wednesday. First, Trump refused to answer. &quot;I am not going to give you a question. You are fake news,&rdquo; he said.

Trump blasted CNN after it&nbsp;reported the fact that both President Obama and President-elect Trump were briefed by US intelligence about allegations that Russian operatives claimed to have &quot;compromising&quot; personal and financial information on Trump. Trump himself talked about being briefed on this report, so its existence is undisputed.

Trump&nbsp;slammed&nbsp;the CNN report by conflating it with the BuzzFeed report, two completely different pieces of journalism.

BuzzFeed published the unverified and unsubstantiated report itself, a 35 page dossier containing salacious allegations concerning&nbsp;Trump&#39;s personal conduct written by former British intelligence officer who agencies find &quot;credible&quot;.&nbsp;

CNN didn&#39;t disclose anything risque about the nature of this&nbsp;personal information.They have responded to Trump&#39;s criticism, saying the&nbsp;stand behind their original reporting.

&nbsp;

Trump fights the press

Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer late&nbsp;Wednesday asked CNN&rsquo;s Acosta to apologise to Donald Trump for asking the President-elect a&nbsp;question, calling it&nbsp;&ldquo;rude, inappropriate and disrespectful&rdquo;.

After Trump dismissed Costa, he took a question from someone at&nbsp;Breitbart, a&nbsp;website that is staunchly pro-Trump and pro-white nationalism. A founding member of Breitbart, Steve Bannon, is now Trump&#39;s&nbsp;chief strategist.&nbsp;

Watch&nbsp;the exchange between <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/cnn-fake-breitbart-real-b507c0a2f21a#.yo0n1zdxk">Trump and Costa</a>, published on Raw Story. The people heard applauding Trump in this video as he criticises CNN as &quot;Fake news&quot;&nbsp;are paid Trump staffers, Raw Story reports.

Acosta wouldn&#39;t have raised his voice or repeated his question if Trump answered it the first time.

Yesterday was Trump&#39;s first&nbsp;press conference since July of last year. Trump&nbsp;doesn&#39;t make himself available to reporters outside of press conferences, or inside them.

&nbsp;

Trump&#39;s press secretary fights the press

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Regardless of party, <a href="https://twitter.com/Acosta">@acosta</a> behavior was rude, inappropriate and disrespectful. He owes <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a> and his colleagues an apology <a href="https://t.co/LnTkYam8IJ">https://t.co/LnTkYam8IJ</a>
&mdash; Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/819350772504731649">January 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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After the exchange between Trump and Acosta, Spicer repeated Trump&#39;s demand&nbsp;that Acosta apologize for asking a question. Acosta pushed back, saying Spicer threatened to have him thrown out of the news conference if he asked another question.

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An unfortunate statement. Sean you know that you threatened to throw me out of that news conference if I asked another question. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/realnews?src=hash">#realnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/T4dYXZbomd">https://t.co/T4dYXZbomd</a>
&mdash; Jim Acosta (@Acosta) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/819355114209214464">January 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;Then Spicer denied that he ever threatened to remove&nbsp;Costa from future press conferences.

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Not true, but par for the course in terms of the false reporting <a href="https://t.co/usHTCZ38LI">https://t.co/usHTCZ38LI</a>
&mdash; Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/819344456923000832">January 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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After Spicer denied that he ever threatened&nbsp;Acosta&#39;s press access, he then retweeted a video of himself appearing on TV explaining how he threatened to revoke Acosta&#39;s press access.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3C7qocdqwXE" width="560"></iframe>

(WION)

Spicer demanded the reporter apologise, threatened to remove him, denied this threat, then retweeted himself making this exact threat

Jim Acosta, a senior White House correspondent for CNN, attempted to ask the president-elect a question at his New York press conference on Wednesday. First, Trump refused to answer. "I am not going to give you a question. You are fake news,” he said. Trump blasted CNN after it reported the fact that both President Obama and President-elect Trump were briefed by US intelligence about allegations that Russian operatives claimed to have "compromising" personal and financial information on Trump. Trump himself talked about being briefed on this report, so its existence is undisputed. Trump slammed the CNN report by conflating it with the BuzzFeed report, two completely different pieces of journalism. BuzzFeed published the unverified and unsubstantiated report itself, a 35 page dossier containing salacious allegations concerning Trump's personal conduct written by former British intelligence officer who agencies find "credible". CNN didn't disclose anything risque about the nature of this personal information.They have responded to Trump's criticism, saying the stand behind their original reporting. Trump fights the press Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer late Wednesday asked CNN’s Acosta to apologise to Donald Trump for asking the President-elect a question, calling it “rude, inappropriate and disrespectful”. After Trump dismissed Costa, he took a question from someone at Breitbart, a website that is staunchly pro-Trump and pro-white nationalism. A founding member of Breitbart, Steve Bannon, is now Trump's chief strategist. Watch the exchange between Trump and Costa, published on Raw Story. The people heard applauding Trump in this video as he criticises CNN as "Fake news" are paid Trump staffers, Raw Story reports. Acosta wouldn't have raised his voice or repeated his question if Trump answered it the first time. Yesterday was Trump's first press conference since July of last year. Trump doesn't make himself available to reporters outside of press conferences, or inside them. Trump's press secretary fights the press Regardless of party, @acosta behavior was rude, inappropriate and disrespectful. He owes @realDonaldTrump and his colleagues an apology https://t.co/LnTkYam8IJ — Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 12, 2017 × After the exchange between Trump and Acosta, Spicer repeated Trump's demand that Acosta apologize for asking a question. Acosta pushed back, saying Spicer threatened to have him thrown out of the news conference if he asked another question. An unfortunate statement. Sean you know that you threatened to throw me out of that news conference if I asked another question. #realnews https://t.co/T4dYXZbomd — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 12, 2017 × Then Spicer denied that he ever threatened to remove Costa from future press conferences. Not true, but par for the course in terms of the false reporting https://t.co/usHTCZ38LI — Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 12, 2017 × After Spicer denied that he ever threatened Acosta's press access, he then retweeted a video of himself appearing on TV explaining how he threatened to revoke Acosta's press access. (WION)

Trump's press secretary threatens CNN reporter's access to president-elect for asking a question

The US has no plans to alter its One-China policy, but has made important commitments to Taiwan and needs to reaffirm them, Secretary of State nominee for the incoming Trump Administration has said.

&quot;I don&#39;t know of any plans to alter the one-China position,&quot; Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson told members of Senate Foreign Relations during his confirmation hearing for the position of Secretary of State yesterday. If confirmed, he would replace John Kerry as the Secretary of State.

However, Tillerson said the US had made important commitments to Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act, through the Six Issues Accord, and the country should express a reaffirmation of those.

&quot;Again, this is part of this approach that I&#39;m trying to lay out over and over, that we&#39;ve made commitments to people. We need to reaffirm those commitments and live up to those commitments, and I think it&#39;s important that Taiwan knows that we are going to live up to the commitments under the Relations Act and the Six Issues Accord,&quot; he said.

&quot;That in and of itself is a message, so I think the importance of that action to, again, this whole of China approach that I&#39;m speaking about, is we&#39;ve got to deal with the whole of China&#39;s actions and recognise that we have these balancing forces in our relationship that need to be dealt with,&quot; Tillerson said in response to a question.

(PTI)

Trump's incoming state secretary and former ExxonMobil CEO said the US has no plans to alter China relations, but made overtures to Taiwan

The US has no plans to alter its One-China policy, but has made important commitments to Taiwan and needs to reaffirm them, Secretary of State nominee for the incoming Trump Administration has said. "I don't know of any plans to alter the one-China position," Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson told members of Senate Foreign Relations during his confirmation hearing for the position of Secretary of State yesterday. If confirmed, he would replace John Kerry as the Secretary of State. However, Tillerson said the US had made important commitments to Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act, through the Six Issues Accord, and the country should express a reaffirmation of those. "Again, this is part of this approach that I'm trying to lay out over and over, that we've made commitments to people. We need to reaffirm those commitments and live up to those commitments, and I think it's important that Taiwan knows that we are going to live up to the commitments under the Relations Act and the Six Issues Accord," he said. "That in and of itself is a message, so I think the importance of that action to, again, this whole of China approach that I'm speaking about, is we've got to deal with the whole of China's actions and recognise that we have these balancing forces in our relationship that need to be dealt with," Tillerson said in response to a question. (PTI)

I don't know of any plans to alter the one-China position: Rex Tillerson

US Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson has indicated he may disagree from President-elect Donald Trump on the Paris climate agreement, saying America&#39;s interests are best served by maintaining a seat at the table so that it could also judge other countries&#39; commitment level.

&quot;Having a seat at the table to address this issue on a global basis and it is important that its 190 countries or there about have signed on to being to take action. I think we are better served by being at that table than leaving that table,&quot; Tillerson said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.

&quot;I think it is important that the US maintain a seat at that table so that we can also judge the level of commitment of the other 189 or so countries that are around that table again, adjust our own course, accordingly,&quot; he said.

Tillerson&#39;s views on climate change differ significantly from those of Trump who had threatened to cancel the landmark Paris climate agreement in which more than 190 countries including India pledged to reduce carbon emissions.

&quot;As I have stated before in my statements around climate change and responses to it, that it will require a global response. And that countries that attempt to influence this by acting alone, are probably only harming themselves,&quot; Tillerson said, as he advocated staying inside the Paris agreement.

During his tenure as Exxon CEO, Tillerson had praised the Paris agreement last year, noting that addressing climate change &quot;requires broad-based practical solutions around the world&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
(PTI) 
&nbsp;

Tillerson's views are at complete variance as he believes climate change requires 'practical solutions' to curb menace

US Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson has indicated he may disagree from President-elect Donald Trump on the Paris climate agreement, saying America's interests are best served by maintaining a seat at the table so that it could also judge other countries' commitment level. "Having a seat at the table to address this issue on a global basis and it is important that its 190 countries or there about have signed on to being to take action. I think we are better served by being at that table than leaving that table," Tillerson said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday. "I think it is important that the US maintain a seat at that table so that we can also judge the level of commitment of the other 189 or so countries that are around that table again, adjust our own course, accordingly," he said. Tillerson's views on climate change differ significantly from those of Trump who had threatened to cancel the landmark Paris climate agreement in which more than 190 countries including India pledged to reduce carbon emissions. "As I have stated before in my statements around climate change and responses to it, that it will require a global response. And that countries that attempt to influence this by acting alone, are probably only harming themselves," Tillerson said, as he advocated staying inside the Paris agreement. During his tenure as Exxon CEO, Tillerson had praised the Paris agreement last year, noting that addressing climate change "requires broad-based practical solutions around the world". (PTI)

Secretary of State nominee Tillerson differs with Trump on Paris climate pact

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday said Mexico will not pay for the wall and will try to negotiate trade, security and migration issues with Trump administration.&nbsp;

&quot;It is obvious that we have some differences with the next government of the United States, like the issue of the wall that Mexico of course will not pay for,&quot; Pena Nieto said.&nbsp;

He also added that Mexico is ready to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and will reject any attempt to coerce or influence foreign investors.

Pena Nieto said Mexico was willing to constuct a secure border and not a wall and that both countries shared responsibilty over immigration.

Referring to Trump&#39;s threat to deport undocumented immigrants, he said any repartriaton&nbsp;must &quot;continue in an orderly and coordinated&quot; manner to &quot;guarantee the humane treatment and the respect of the rights of Mexican migrants.&quot;

Adding, the US will have to stop the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico and illegal money that finance organised crime.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

President Enrique Pena wants to negotiate trade, security and migration issues with Trump administration

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday said Mexico will not pay for the wall and will try to negotiate trade, security and migration issues with Trump administration. "It is obvious that we have some differences with the next government of the United States, like the issue of the wall that Mexico of course will not pay for," Pena Nieto said. He also added that Mexico is ready to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and will reject any attempt to coerce or influence foreign investors. Pena Nieto said Mexico was willing to constuct a secure border and not a wall and that both countries shared responsibilty over immigration. Referring to Trump's threat to deport undocumented immigrants, he said any repartriaton must "continue in an orderly and coordinated" manner to "guarantee the humane treatment and the respect of the rights of Mexican migrants." Adding, the US will have to stop the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico and illegal money that finance organised crime. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Mexican President refuses to pay for wall, seeks talks

In his first press conference since&nbsp;winning the November 8 election, US President-elect Donald Trump slammed reports that Russia had compromising information about him, calling it &quot;all fake news&quot; and phony.&nbsp;

Trump addressed the media at the lobby of Trump Tower&nbsp;in midtown Manhattan at 2130 Indian Standard Time (1400 hours GMT) on Wednesday.&nbsp;

The President-elect lashed out at the allegations&nbsp;as &quot;nonsense that was released by, maybe the intelligence agencies, who knows, but maybe the intelligence agencies ... It should never have been written, it should never have been released.&quot;

&quot;I think it&#39;s a disgrace that information would be let out. It&#39;s all fake news. It didn&#39;t happen. It&#39;s phony stuff. It was a group of opponents who got together, sick people, who put that out.&quot;

&quot;That&#39;s something that Nazi Germany would have done.&quot;

Trump was responding to allegations after a&nbsp;35-page dossier was&nbsp;published in Buzzfeed and reported by CNN.&nbsp;Trump treated&nbsp;the BuzzFeed report and the CNN report as if they were the same, but they are different.&nbsp;

<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/">CNN first reported</a>&nbsp;that both President Obama and President-elect Trump were&nbsp;briefed&nbsp;by US&nbsp;intelligence about&nbsp;allegations that Russian operatives claimed to have &quot;compromising&quot; personal and financial information on Trump. CNN didn&#39;t disclose anything about the nature of the personal&nbsp;information. They have responded to Trump, and stand&nbsp;behind their story.

BuzzFeed published the 35-page document itself, which contains unsubstantiated claims from a former British intelligence officer who US intelligence claims to find&nbsp;sufficiently credible to warrant further investigation into him.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;I think it&#39;s pretty sad when intelligence reports are leaked out to the press. First of all, it&#39;s illegal,&quot; Trump said.&nbsp;

While he praised some news organisations for not publishing the unsubstantiated report, like The New York Times, but refused to take questions from CNN which had published it.&nbsp;

&quot;I&#39;m not going to give you a question. You are fake news,&quot; he told the CNN reporter.&nbsp;&quot;Some of the media outlets we are dealing with are fake news ... All I can ask for are honest reporters.&quot;

Trump also asserted that he had &quot;no dealings in Russia&quot; after he was asked if he accepted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a hand in his victory.&nbsp;He responded by saying &quot;If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability.&quot;

&quot;I have no dealings with Russia. I have no dealings in Russia ... I have no loans with Russia at all.&quot;

He also accepted that Russia could be behind the hacking saying, &quot;As far as hacking, I think it&#39;s Russia. But we also get hacked by other countries and other people and I can say that.&quot;

Trump does not divest, cedes business to sons&nbsp;

Trump said he will cede control of business empire to his two sons, Don Jr and Eric while maintaing ownership of the company.&nbsp;He said he will resign from all positions and shift his assets into a trust to avoid conflict of interest. &quot;They are not going to discuss [the business] with me,&quot; said Donald Trump.

<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/313779-trump-to-hand-over-businesses-to-sons">Ethics experts believe&nbsp;</a>Trump must sell all his assets and place proceeds into a blind trust, saying that this is the only way to ensure that he is free of any conflicts between his international business empire and the office of the presidency, The Hill reports.

Last November, the Trump transition team&nbsp;asked about the possibility of getting&nbsp;top secret&nbsp;security clearance for Donald Trump&#39;s children, CNN reported. A&nbsp;Trump spokesman said the President-elect did not make this request, and that no paperwork was filed about it.&nbsp;

Supreme Court judge appointment&nbsp;

Trump said he will appoint a Supreme Court justice within two weeks of 20th January to replace Justice Scalia.&nbsp;

&quot;So, as you know, I have a list of 20. I&#39;ve gone through them. We&#39;ve met with numerous candidates. They were outstanding in every case ... I&#39;ll be making the decision on who we will put up for justice of the United States Supreme Court, a replacement for the great, great Justice (Antonin) Scalia. That will be probably within two weeks of the 20th (of January). So within about two weeks, probably the second week.

&quot;It will be a decision which I very strongly believe in. I think it&#39;s one of the reasons I got elected. I think the people of this country did not want to see what was happening with the Supreme Court. So, I think it was a very, very big decision as to why I was elected.&quot;

The President-elect also discussed building the wall between US and Mexico saying he will not wait for negotiations to get over before starting the constructions. Adding that Mexico will&nbsp;reimburse US for the cost of the wall.&nbsp;

He also spoke about the pharmaceutica sector saying&nbsp;&quot;We have to get our drug industry coming back,&quot; he said, adding it had been &quot;disastrous and leaving left and right.&quot;

He also called for new bidding policy for US pharmaceutical firms saying&nbsp;&quot;They&#39;re getting away with murder (with drug prices) ... There&#39;s very little bidding for drugs. We&#39;re the largest buyer of drugs in the world and yet we don&#39;t bid properly. We&#39;re going to start bidding and we&#39;re going to start saving billions of dollars.&quot;

Trump said the F-35&#39;S&nbsp;were &quot;billions of dollars way over budget. &quot;We&#39;re going to get those costs way down, and we&#39;re going to get some competition and it&#39;s going to be a beautiful thing.&quot;&nbsp;

He&nbsp;also announced that Dr. David Shulkin was appointed as secretary of Veteran Affairs.

&quot;We&#39;re going to straighten out the VA for our veterans. I have been promising that for a long time ... We interviewed at least 100 people (for VA head), some good, some not so good ... Our veterans have been treated very unfairly.&quot;

He also declared that he will be the &quot;greatest jobs producer that God ever created,&quot; and that he will not make his tax returns public &quot;as they&#39;re under audit&quot;.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

&nbsp;

In his first news briefing after Nov 8, Trump spoke on issues ranging from Russia hacking election to appointment of Supreme Court justice

In his first press conference since winning the November 8 election, US President-elect Donald Trump slammed reports that Russia had compromising information about him, calling it "all fake news" and phony. Trump addressed the media at the lobby of Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan at 2130 Indian Standard Time (1400 hours GMT) on Wednesday. The President-elect lashed out at the allegations as "nonsense that was released by, maybe the intelligence agencies, who knows, but maybe the intelligence agencies ... It should never have been written, it should never have been released." "I think it's a disgrace that information would be let out. It's all fake news. It didn't happen. It's phony stuff. It was a group of opponents who got together, sick people, who put that out." "That's something that Nazi Germany would have done." Trump was responding to allegations after a 35-page dossier was published in Buzzfeed and reported by CNN. Trump treated the BuzzFeed report and the CNN report as if they were the same, but they are different. CNN first reported that both President Obama and President-elect Trump were briefed by US intelligence about allegations that Russian operatives claimed to have "compromising" personal and financial information on Trump. CNN didn't disclose anything about the nature of the personal information. They have responded to Trump, and stand behind their story. BuzzFeed published the 35-page document itself, which contains unsubstantiated claims from a former British intelligence officer who US intelligence claims to find sufficiently credible to warrant further investigation into him. "I think it's pretty sad when intelligence reports are leaked out to the press. First of all, it's illegal," Trump said. While he praised some news organisations for not publishing the unsubstantiated report, like The New York Times, but refused to take questions from CNN which had published it. "I'm not going to give you a question. You are fake news," he told the CNN reporter. "Some of the media outlets we are dealing with are fake news ... All I can ask for are honest reporters." Trump also asserted that he had "no dealings in Russia" after he was asked if he accepted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a hand in his victory. He responded by saying "If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability." "I have no dealings with Russia. I have no dealings in Russia ... I have no loans with Russia at all." He also accepted that Russia could be behind the hacking saying, "As far as hacking, I think it's Russia. But we also get hacked by other countries and other people and I can say that." Trump does not divest, cedes business to sons Trump said he will cede control of business empire to his two sons, Don Jr and Eric while maintaing ownership of the company. He said he will resign from all positions and shift his assets into a trust to avoid conflict of interest. "They are not going to discuss [the business] with me," said Donald Trump. Ethics experts believe Trump must sell all his assets and place proceeds into a blind trust, saying that this is the only way to ensure that he is free of any conflicts between his international business empire and the office of the presidency, The Hill reports. Last November, the Trump transition team asked about the possibility of getting top secret security clearance for Donald Trump's children, CNN reported. A Trump spokesman said the President-elect did not make this request, and that no paperwork was filed about it. Supreme Court judge appointment Trump said he will appoint a Supreme Court justice within two weeks of 20th January to replace Justice Scalia. "So, as you know, I have a list of 20. I've gone through them. We've met with numerous candidates. They were outstanding in every case ... I'll be making the decision on who we will put up for justice of the United States Supreme Court, a replacement for the great, great Justice (Antonin) Scalia. That will be probably within two weeks of the 20th (of January). So within about two weeks, probably the second week. "It will be a decision which I very strongly believe in. I think it's one of the reasons I got elected. I think the people of this country did not want to see what was happening with the Supreme Court. So, I think it was a very, very big decision as to why I was elected." The President-elect also discussed building the wall between US and Mexico saying he will not wait for negotiations to get over before starting the constructions. Adding that Mexico will reimburse US for the cost of the wall. He also spoke about the pharmaceutica sector saying "We have to get our drug industry coming back," he said, adding it had been "disastrous and leaving left and right." He also called for new bidding policy for US pharmaceutical firms saying "They're getting away with murder (with drug prices) ... There's very little bidding for drugs. We're the largest buyer of drugs in the world and yet we don't bid properly. We're going to start bidding and we're going to start saving billions of dollars." Trump said the F-35'S were "billions of dollars way over budget. "We're going to get those costs way down, and we're going to get some competition and it's going to be a beautiful thing." He also announced that Dr. David Shulkin was appointed as secretary of Veteran Affairs. "We're going to straighten out the VA for our veterans. I have been promising that for a long time ... We interviewed at least 100 people (for VA head), some good, some not so good ... Our veterans have been treated very unfairly." He also declared that he will be the "greatest jobs producer that God ever created," and that he will not make his tax returns public "as they're under audit". (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Trump cedes business to sons, slams media over Russia allegations

News agency CNN said&nbsp;its decision to publish &quot;carefully sourced reporting&quot; on unverified intelligence documents concerning Donald Trump is &quot;vastly different than BuzzFeed&#39;s decision to publish unsubstantiated memos,&quot; on Wednesday.&nbsp;

CNN&#39;s statement came after President-elect Trump called the news outlet &quot;fake news&quot; and refused to take a CNN reporter&#39;s questions at a news conference.

BuzzFeed on Tuesday published a story about a dossier of documents that it said were unverified and &quot;potentially unverifiable&quot; allegations of contact between Trump aides and Russian operatives.

Included in the documents were claims that Russian intelligence had compromising information about Trump.

A BuzzFeed spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Throughout the news conference, Trump decried a CNN report on Tuesday that said US&nbsp;intelligence officials had presented Trump with claims that Russian operatives said they had compromising personal and financial information about the president-elect.

(Reuters)

CNN said it's decision to publish 'carefully sourced reporting' was different from Buzzfeed's 'unsubstantiated memos'

News agency CNN said its decision to publish "carefully sourced reporting" on unverified intelligence documents concerning Donald Trump is "vastly different than BuzzFeed's decision to publish unsubstantiated memos," on Wednesday. CNN's statement came after President-elect Trump called the news outlet "fake news" and refused to take a CNN reporter's questions at a news conference. BuzzFeed on Tuesday published a story about a dossier of documents that it said were unverified and "potentially unverifiable" allegations of contact between Trump aides and Russian operatives. Included in the documents were claims that Russian intelligence had compromising information about Trump. A BuzzFeed spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Throughout the news conference, Trump decried a CNN report on Tuesday that said US intelligence officials had presented Trump with claims that Russian operatives said they had compromising personal and financial information about the president-elect. (Reuters)

CNN says its report on Trump different from Buzzfeed's

The World Bank has pared back its global growth estimate for 2017, but uncertainty about the economic policies of US President-elect Donald Trump is clouding the outlook.

&quot;We need to pay attention. All eyes are on US policymakers and how they will formulate their policies,&quot; Ayhan Kose, main author of the World Bank&#39;s global forecast, said.

&quot;What happens in the United States does not stay in the United States.&quot;&nbsp;In the semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank lowered the estimate for global growth this year a tenth from the June forecast, to 2.7 per cent compared to the 2.3 per cent growth seen last year.&nbsp;The World Bank maintained its US forecast at 2.2 per cent following a sluggish 1.6 per cent in 2016.&nbsp;But those estimates could go much higher.&nbsp;

Even the table in the report displaying the forecasts for the major regions and economies comes with a footnote warning about the uncertainty: &quot;The US forecasts do not incorporate the effect of policy proposals by the new US administration, as their overall scope and ultimate form are still uncertain.&quot;&nbsp;Kose said it is simply too soon to draw any conclusions, however a simulation showed the individual and corporate tax cuts that Trump discussed during the campaign could on their own add three-tenths to the US growth rate this year, and more than double that in 2018.&nbsp;And infrastructure spending could have an even larger impact.

&quot;These are significant increases,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;A healthy US economy is good for the rest of the world&nbsp;since an increase in US growth of one full percentage point could boost advanced economies by eight-tenths after a year, and emerging markets by six-tenths,&quot; he added.

So global growth potentially could rise another tenth this year to 2.8 per cent, and get a three-tenths boost in 2018, he said. However, he was quick to stress the caveats to this estimated impact: It will depend on the timing of the tax cuts, how they impact inflation, and how the Federal Reserve reacts.

The same is true for other proposals like big spending on infrastructure, which would have a more direct impact on growth, but could exacerbate an already tight labor market, which also could fuel inflation.&nbsp;The US central bank has cautioned that spending that fuels inflation could require more and faster increases in the benchmark lending rate.&nbsp;Higher interest rates in turn would tend to slow economic growth.

Kose said the rising threat of protectionism in advanced economies also remains a concern, and that uncertainty &quot;is a challenge to businesses in the US and abroad&quot;.

But again he said, it is too early to tell what the impact on global growth will be until the specifics are known -&nbsp;for example, whether US tariff increases Trump has threatened are limited to one product, like automobiles, or extend to an entire country.

&quot;One thing we know well, open trade policies help promote economic growth,&quot; Kose said, in the closest he came in the interview to a word of caution to the new administration. After a pretty bad year in 2016, Kose said the world economy is poised for a recovery, especially with major commodity exporters returning to growth after recessions, including Russia, Brazil and Argentina.&nbsp;The euro area is expected to grow 1.5 per cent this year -- the same as in the June forecast -- and 1.4 per cent in 2018, after 1.6 per cent GDP last year.

Japan&#39;s growth is forecast at 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent for 2017 and 2018, which is a half-point better than the June estimate.&nbsp;The China forecasts are unchanged, with growth expected to slow to 6.5 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent next, which Kose called &quot;a healthy slowdown&quot;.

&quot;They have done a real competent job so far slowing down the economy&quot; from double-digit rates. Kose said the most worrisome thing about the global outlook is the continued drop off in investment.

&quot;The single most important issue we are focusing on in this report is the persistent investment weakness in emerging and developing economies,&quot; he said. &quot;The issue is critical.&quot;&nbsp;Investment expanded 10 per cent in 2010, but has slowed steadily growing just 3.5 per cent in 2016.

(AFP)

The World Bank said uncertainty about the economic policies of US President-elect Donald Trump is clouding the outlook

The World Bank has pared back its global growth estimate for 2017, but uncertainty about the economic policies of US President-elect Donald Trump is clouding the outlook. "We need to pay attention. All eyes are on US policymakers and how they will formulate their policies," Ayhan Kose, main author of the World Bank's global forecast, said. "What happens in the United States does not stay in the United States." In the semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank lowered the estimate for global growth this year a tenth from the June forecast, to 2.7 per cent compared to the 2.3 per cent growth seen last year. The World Bank maintained its US forecast at 2.2 per cent following a sluggish 1.6 per cent in 2016. But those estimates could go much higher. Even the table in the report displaying the forecasts for the major regions and economies comes with a footnote warning about the uncertainty: "The US forecasts do not incorporate the effect of policy proposals by the new US administration, as their overall scope and ultimate form are still uncertain." Kose said it is simply too soon to draw any conclusions, however a simulation showed the individual and corporate tax cuts that Trump discussed during the campaign could on their own add three-tenths to the US growth rate this year, and more than double that in 2018. And infrastructure spending could have an even larger impact. "These are significant increases," he said. "A healthy US economy is good for the rest of the world since an increase in US growth of one full percentage point could boost advanced economies by eight-tenths after a year, and emerging markets by six-tenths," he added. So global growth potentially could rise another tenth this year to 2.8 per cent, and get a three-tenths boost in 2018, he said. However, he was quick to stress the caveats to this estimated impact: It will depend on the timing of the tax cuts, how they impact inflation, and how the Federal Reserve reacts. The same is true for other proposals like big spending on infrastructure, which would have a more direct impact on growth, but could exacerbate an already tight labor market, which also could fuel inflation. The US central bank has cautioned that spending that fuels inflation could require more and faster increases in the benchmark lending rate. Higher interest rates in turn would tend to slow economic growth. Kose said the rising threat of protectionism in advanced economies also remains a concern, and that uncertainty "is a challenge to businesses in the US and abroad". But again he said, it is too early to tell what the impact on global growth will be until the specifics are known - for example, whether US tariff increases Trump has threatened are limited to one product, like automobiles, or extend to an entire country. "One thing we know well, open trade policies help promote economic growth," Kose said, in the closest he came in the interview to a word of caution to the new administration. After a pretty bad year in 2016, Kose said the world economy is poised for a recovery, especially with major commodity exporters returning to growth after recessions, including Russia, Brazil and Argentina. The euro area is expected to grow 1.5 per cent this year -- the same as in the June forecast -- and 1.4 per cent in 2018, after 1.6 per cent GDP last year. Japan's growth is forecast at 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent for 2017 and 2018, which is a half-point better than the June estimate. The China forecasts are unchanged, with growth expected to slow to 6.5 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent next, which Kose called "a healthy slowdown". "They have done a real competent job so far slowing down the economy" from double-digit rates. Kose said the most worrisome thing about the global outlook is the continued drop off in investment. "The single most important issue we are focusing on in this report is the persistent investment weakness in emerging and developing economies," he said. "The issue is critical." Investment expanded 10 per cent in 2010, but has slowed steadily growing just 3.5 per cent in 2016. (AFP)

World Bank lowers global growth estimate

US President-elect Donald Trump&#39;s pick for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, promised on Tuesday to stand up to Trump, his close ally and future boss,&nbsp;saying he would oppose a ban on Muslims entering the country and enforce a law against waterboarding even though he voted against the measure.

As attorney general, Sessions would serve as the top US law enforcement officer and be responsible for giving unbiased legal advice to the president and executive agencies. With that in mind, lawmakers from both Trump&#39;s Republican Party and the Democratic Party sought to establish how closely Sessions hewed to Trump positions and whether he could put aside his staunchly conservative political positions to enforce laws he may personally oppose.

Before the Judiciary Committee, Sessions several times defended himself against charges of racism. He said allegations that he harboured sympathies toward the Ku Klux Klan, a violent white supremacist organisation, were false.

&quot;I abhor the Klan and what it represents and its hateful ideology,&quot; Sessions said in his opening remarks.

Former Ku Klux Klan&nbsp;leader David Duke&nbsp;openly celebrated Jeff Sessions&#39; appointment, expecting that Sessions as Attorney General&nbsp;would &quot;stop the massive institutional race discrimination against whites!&quot;.

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Bannon, Flynn, Sessions -- Great! Senate must demand that Sessions as AG stop the massive institutional race discrimination against whites!
&mdash; David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/799624219831058432">November 18, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Sessions was denied confirmation to a federal judgeship in 1986 after allegations emerged that he made racist remarks, including testimony that he called an African-American prosecutor &quot;boy,&quot; an allegation Sessions denied.

The year before saw his&nbsp;high-profile prosecution of three black civil rights activists, including one who used to advise Martin Luther King Jr, who were accused of voter fraud --&nbsp;illegally tampering with absentee ballotts in rural Alabama, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/12/20/1980s-voting-fraud-case-likely-topic-at-sessions-hearing/">Salon reports.</a>&nbsp;The defendants argued they were helping poor, uneducated and often illiterate people vote&nbsp;by marking the ballots with their express permission.&nbsp;

Martin Luther King Jr&#39;s wife expressed&nbsp;&quot;stong opposition&quot;&nbsp;about Sessions on the record at the time, pleading with Congress not to confirm Sessions as a federal district court judge.

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Coretta Scott King&#39;s 1986 letter pleading for congress not to appoint racist <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JeffSessions?src=hash">#JeffSessions</a> <a href="https://t.co/rn3JXr7GcA">https://t.co/rn3JXr7GcA</a>
&mdash; Andrew McCaskill (@DrewMcCaskill) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrewMcCaskill/status/819029016686501889">January 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said the Senate Judiciary Committee had received letters from 400 civil rights organisations opposing his confirmation to the country&#39;s top law enforcement post.

Protesters, some dressed in KKK uniforms, shouted out abuse and calling&nbsp;Sessions &quot;racist&quot; before&nbsp;the hearing even started. The protests were still occurring when&nbsp;Lindsey Graham joked about how over one thousand law professors expressed concern over&nbsp;Sessions&#39;s ability to&nbsp;protect civil rights, which made&nbsp;Sessions laugh.

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Here&#39;s Lindsey Graham joking about the concerns of 1,424 law professors from across the US that Jeff Sessions won&#39;t protect civil rights <a href="https://t.co/38BHw1jnRc">pic.twitter.com/38BHw1jnRc</a>
&mdash; David Mack (@davidmackau) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/818857615820279808">January 10, 2017</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

&quot;P*ssy grabbing&quot;

Questioned for ten and a half&nbsp;hours by a US Senate committee responsible for confirming his appointment, Sessions, a US senator from Alabama, distanced himself from comments he had made defending Trump from criticism over a 2005 video that emerged in October showing Trump boasting about grabbing women&#39;s genitals.

At the time, Sessions told The Weekly Standard magazine he would not characterise the behaviour as sexual assault. He later said the comments were taken out of context. Asked on Tuesday whether &quot;grabbing a woman by her genitals without consent is...sexual assault,&quot; he replied: &quot;Clearly, it would be.&quot;

With 10 days to go before Trump takes office, Sessions, 70, was the first Cabinet nominee to face questioning. He appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

&nbsp;

Muslim ban:

Sessions said he would not support banning anyone from the United States on the basis of religion and that Trump&#39;s intentions were to restrict people from countries harbouring terrorists, not all Muslims. Elected on November 8, Trump at one point campaigned on a proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.

Sessions said he favoured &quot;higher intensity of vetting&quot; for refugees seeking to enter the United States from countries that harbour terrorists but that he would oppose ending the US refugee program.

He also said he would enforce a 2015 law that outlawed waterboarding terrorism suspects, even if it meant resisting Trump. The senator said he had voted against the law, believing those in high positions in the military and intelligence community should be able to do so.

&nbsp;

Waterboarding

During the campaign, Trump said waterboarding, which simulates drowning and is widely regarded as torture, was an effective technique and vowed to bring it back and make it &quot;a hell of a lot worse&quot;. More recently Trump has said retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, his nominee for secretary of defence, had persuasively argued against it.

&nbsp;

Legal leanings

Sessions said he would enforce laws upheld by the US Supreme Court, even those he disagreed with, such as decisions making abortion and same-sex marriage legal.

Sessions said the comments he made during the 2016 presidential campaign about Democrat Hillary Clinton&#39;s email practices and charitable foundation would cloud the perception of impartiality if the Justice Department continued investigating Clinton. He said he would recuse himself and favoured a special prosecutor to carry out any future investigations.

Trump, who defeated Clinton, said during the campaign that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to see that Clinton go to prison for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and her relationship with her family&#39;s charitable foundation.

But in a climate where&nbsp;marginalised communities worry about a&nbsp;Trump presidency, American critics point out that Sessions recently opposed legal measures to protect women from violence because it included specific protections for Native American and LGBT women.

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In 2013, Sessions opposed the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization because it included protections for Native American &amp; LGBT women.
&mdash; Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBarbaraLee/status/818847698862346243">January 10, 2017</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Immigration

Sessions said he agreed with Trump in opposing Democratic President Barack Obama&#39;s executive action that granted temporary protection to immigrant children brought to the country illegally by their parents and would not oppose overturning it.

Sessions, representing the deeply conservative Southern state of Alabama, has long opposed legislation that provides a path to citizenship for immigrants. He has also been a close ally of groups seeking to restrict legal immigration by placing limits on visas used by companies to hire foreign workers.

Sessions said he would be more aggressive in investigating and prosecuting abuses of the H-1B visa program, which he said allows companies to discriminate against American workers by hiring foreigners.

As head of the Justice Department, the attorney general oversees the immigration court system that decides whether immigrants are deported or granted asylum or some other kind of protection. Sessions renewed his criticism of the Obama administration for not being tougher on countries that refuse to take back criminal migrants ordered deported from the United States.

A key plank of Trump&#39;s election campaign was his pledge to deport illegal immigrants and build a wall along the US border with Mexico.

Kelly told his hearing a physical barrier on its own is not enough to keep people and drugs from illegally entering the United States. In written testimony, Kelly said that &quot;rapidly processing&quot; and deporting immigrants in &quot;significant numbers&quot; would deter future illegal migration.

The US immigration court system has a backlog of over 500,000 cases awaiting a decision on deportation, asylum or some other kind of protection. Many migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border are given&nbsp;notice to appear in court one to three years in the future.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Jeff Sessions, Trump's radical pick for attorney general, defended himself against the accusation he is racist

US President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, promised on Tuesday to stand up to Trump, his close ally and future boss, saying he would oppose a ban on Muslims entering the country and enforce a law against waterboarding even though he voted against the measure. As attorney general, Sessions would serve as the top US law enforcement officer and be responsible for giving unbiased legal advice to the president and executive agencies. With that in mind, lawmakers from both Trump's Republican Party and the Democratic Party sought to establish how closely Sessions hewed to Trump positions and whether he could put aside his staunchly conservative political positions to enforce laws he may personally oppose. Before the Judiciary Committee, Sessions several times defended himself against charges of racism. He said allegations that he harboured sympathies toward the Ku Klux Klan, a violent white supremacist organisation, were false. "I abhor the Klan and what it represents and its hateful ideology," Sessions said in his opening remarks. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke openly celebrated Jeff Sessions' appointment, expecting that Sessions as Attorney General would "stop the massive institutional race discrimination against whites!". Bannon, Flynn, Sessions -- Great! Senate must demand that Sessions as AG stop the massive institutional race discrimination against whites! — David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) November 18, 2016 × Sessions was denied confirmation to a federal judgeship in 1986 after allegations emerged that he made racist remarks, including testimony that he called an African-American prosecutor "boy," an allegation Sessions denied. The year before saw his high-profile prosecution of three black civil rights activists, including one who used to advise Martin Luther King Jr, who were accused of voter fraud -- illegally tampering with absentee ballotts in rural Alabama, Salon reports. The defendants argued they were helping poor, uneducated and often illiterate people vote by marking the ballots with their express permission. Martin Luther King Jr's wife expressed "stong opposition" about Sessions on the record at the time, pleading with Congress not to confirm Sessions as a federal district court judge. Coretta Scott King's 1986 letter pleading for congress not to appoint racist #JeffSessions https://t.co/rn3JXr7GcA — Andrew McCaskill (@DrewMcCaskill) January 11, 2017 × Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said the Senate Judiciary Committee had received letters from 400 civil rights organisations opposing his confirmation to the country's top law enforcement post. Protesters, some dressed in KKK uniforms, shouted out abuse and calling Sessions "racist" before the hearing even started. The protests were still occurring when Lindsey Graham joked about how over one thousand law professors expressed concern over Sessions's ability to protect civil rights, which made Sessions laugh. Here's Lindsey Graham joking about the concerns of 1,424 law professors from across the US that Jeff Sessions won't protect civil rights pic.twitter.com/38BHw1jnRc — David Mack (@davidmackau) January 10, 2017 × "P*ssy grabbing" Questioned for ten and a half hours by a US Senate committee responsible for confirming his appointment, Sessions, a US senator from Alabama, distanced himself from comments he had made defending Trump from criticism over a 2005 video that emerged in October showing Trump boasting about grabbing women's genitals. At the time, Sessions told The Weekly Standard magazine he would not characterise the behaviour as sexual assault. He later said the comments were taken out of context. Asked on Tuesday whether "grabbing a woman by her genitals without consent is...sexual assault," he replied: "Clearly, it would be." With 10 days to go before Trump takes office, Sessions, 70, was the first Cabinet nominee to face questioning. He appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Muslim ban: Sessions said he would not support banning anyone from the United States on the basis of religion and that Trump's intentions were to restrict people from countries harbouring terrorists, not all Muslims. Elected on November 8, Trump at one point campaigned on a proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country. Sessions said he favoured "higher intensity of vetting" for refugees seeking to enter the United States from countries that harbour terrorists but that he would oppose ending the US refugee program. He also said he would enforce a 2015 law that outlawed waterboarding terrorism suspects, even if it meant resisting Trump. The senator said he had voted against the law, believing those in high positions in the military and intelligence community should be able to do so. Waterboarding During the campaign, Trump said waterboarding, which simulates drowning and is widely regarded as torture, was an effective technique and vowed to bring it back and make it "a hell of a lot worse". More recently Trump has said retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, his nominee for secretary of defence, had persuasively argued against it. Legal leanings Sessions said he would enforce laws upheld by the US Supreme Court, even those he disagreed with, such as decisions making abortion and same-sex marriage legal. Sessions said the comments he made during the 2016 presidential campaign about Democrat Hillary Clinton's email practices and charitable foundation would cloud the perception of impartiality if the Justice Department continued investigating Clinton. He said he would recuse himself and favoured a special prosecutor to carry out any future investigations. Trump, who defeated Clinton, said during the campaign that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to see that Clinton go to prison for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and her relationship with her family's charitable foundation. But in a climate where marginalised communities worry about a Trump presidency, American critics point out that Sessions recently opposed legal measures to protect women from violence because it included specific protections for Native American and LGBT women. In 2013, Sessions opposed the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization because it included protections for Native American & LGBT women. — Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) January 10, 2017 × Immigration Sessions said he agreed with Trump in opposing Democratic President Barack Obama's executive action that granted temporary protection to immigrant children brought to the country illegally by their parents and would not oppose overturning it. Sessions, representing the deeply conservative Southern state of Alabama, has long opposed legislation that provides a path to citizenship for immigrants. He has also been a close ally of groups seeking to restrict legal immigration by placing limits on visas used by companies to hire foreign workers. Sessions said he would be more aggressive in investigating and prosecuting abuses of the H-1B visa program, which he said allows companies to discriminate against American workers by hiring foreigners. As head of the Justice Department, the attorney general oversees the immigration court system that decides whether immigrants are deported or granted asylum or some other kind of protection. Sessions renewed his criticism of the Obama administration for not being tougher on countries that refuse to take back criminal migrants ordered deported from the United States. A key plank of Trump's election campaign was his pledge to deport illegal immigrants and build a wall along the US border with Mexico. Kelly told his hearing a physical barrier on its own is not enough to keep people and drugs from illegally entering the United States. In written testimony, Kelly said that "rapidly processing" and deporting immigrants in "significant numbers" would deter future illegal migration. The US immigration court system has a backlog of over 500,000 cases awaiting a decision on deportation, asylum or some other kind of protection. Many migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border are given notice to appear in court one to three years in the future. (With inputs from Reuters)

Trump's AG nominee Sessions questioned by senate committee as protesters shout, wear KKK hoods

Trump called CNN 'fake news' and Buzzfeed a 'pile of garbage' for publishing a report about Russia having 'compromising' information on him

(Click to watch the media briefing live) United States President-elect Donald Trump will hold his first press conference since winning the election on November 8. In fact, this will be his first media conference since July 2016. Trump will be addressing the media at the lobby of Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan at 2130 Indian Standard Time (1400 hours GMT). In the last 24 hours, Trump has faced a growing avalanche of questions about his alleged ties with the Kremlin -- allegations that have been vociferously denied by the president-elect. On December 10, CNN reported that classified documents presented last week to president-elect Donald Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising information about him. The allegations were in a two-page synopsis appended to a report presented by US intelligence officials to Trump and President Barack Obama on Russian interference in the 2016 election, citing multiple US officials with direct knowledge of the briefings. Hours later, BuzzFeed published unverified document, saying that the Kremlin had "cultivated" Trump for the last five years. To this, Trump tweeted: 'BuzzFeed Runs Unverifiable Trump-Russia Claims' #FakeNews https://t.co/d6daCFZHNh — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017 × Some of the tough questions he will have to face include Russia's role in Ukraine and Crimea, his ties with Moscow and the issue of barring Muslims from entering the country. 2241 IST: Now on to the intel agencies. "Intelligence agencies are vital. We are going to be putting in some outstanding people and they will come up with a major report on hacking. The United States is hacked by everybody. The Republicans didn't get hacked because we had a strong hacking defence. The Democrats failed and that's why they failed with the country," Trump said, adding that a hacking report will be submitted in the next 90 days. He again condemns the intelligence units for outing classified reports. "That report should have never been written," Trump said, alluding to the BuzzFeed report. 2238 IST: Trump now moves to his pet peeve -- the media. He calls Buzzfeed a "failing pile of garbage" and also made a blistering attack on CNN. Things are getting quite tetchy now, with Trump now asking a reporter to quieten down and when the latter doesn't, he refuses to answer his question. He also sardonically calls the BBC a "thing of beauty". 2236 IST: On the Supreme Court, Trump said he had a list of 20 candidates. He will a decision in another two weeks. 2231 IST: He moves on to his next favourite project -- the Mexican border wall. There will be a major border tax on companies who are leaving and getting away with murder, the 70-year-old said. "If they hadn't, millions of people would have jobs in the country," Trump said, reiterating that "they are going to build a wall". He says they won't wait for a year to start building the wall and that the Mexicans will have to pay for the wall -- a theme that he has droned on about since his campaign trail. He adds that he "respects" Mexico and the phenomenal "Mexican government". He doesn't blame the Mexican government but chastises the foolhardiness of the past US governments. "They (Mexico) just took advantage of the situation." 2227 IST: Finally on to ObamaCare, a topic that Trump wishes to talk about. He starts off by calling it a "total disaster" and that it was "imploding" in several states. "We don't want to own it, politically. We are going to be submitting a plan -- a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, almost simultaneously. We are going to get a health care in place, maybe within minutes after the ObamaCare is repealed. We are doing them (the Democrats) a great service by repealing the plan," Trump says, adding that they would put in place a cheaper health care plan. 2225 IST: Trump trains his guns on China again and the need to reverse the trade imbalance the US currently has with Beijing and Japan. 2223 IST: Dillon says Trump will donate all gifts received from leaders of other groups to the American treasury. She stresses that her client wants to make the country great again and bring success to all Americans. 2213 IST: "Trump has relinquished leadership of his company. His sons -- Don Junior and Eric -- will take over the company. The company will abide by the highest ethics standards. President Trump will resign from all positions he holds in the Trump entity. So will Ivanka relinquish all her roles in the company," says Dillon, the president-elect's lawyer. 2210 IST: When asked about his tax returns, Trump seems to parry the question, saying he wasn't releasing the figures as they were currently under audit. "The only people that care about my tax returns is the reporters,"Trump said as a handful of reporters whooped to back the president-elect. "I became president. I think you care. First of all you learn very little from tax returns.” 2207 IST: Trump says he could run the Trump organisation and the country at the same time but doesn't want to. 2206 IST: Trump reveals he is a germaphobe. 2205 IST: On his relationship with Vladimir Putin and him trying to help him win the election, Trump said: "If Putin likes Trump, I consider that as an asset, not a liability." He goes on to say "he has no deals with Russia, will not have deals with Russia and have no loans with Russia at all". He asserts he could make new deals in Russia but doesn't want to as it would be a conflict of interest. 2201 IST: "Putin said the fake news was indeed fake news. If something did happen, they (the Russians) would have released (information)," Trump said. Trump looks at the upside of the hack, saying it revealed important facts about Hillary Clinton. "It would have been big news if I had done that," says Trump 2200 IST: Responding to the hacking controversy that has dogged Trump ever since he won the election, he said he would build a more stringent anti-hacking devices. 2155 IST: He also talks about the F-35s and lamented about the much-delayed fighter jet project. 2153 IST: Trump hopes that the drug industry is revived in the country. Promises to streamline the bidding procedure of pharma companies. He also says that Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has promised to do "tremendous things" for the country. 2151 IST: Unexpectedly, Donald Trump starts off by chastising the intelligence agencies for leaking unverified news about his links to the Kremlin. However, he does say he has "great respect" for some of the media outlets and lauds their "professionalism" 2150 IST: Vice president-elect Mike Pence was similarly scathing of the report published by BuzzFeed. 2148 IST (Indian Standard Time): Donald Trump spokesperson Sean Spicer starts the media briefing by ripping into BuzzFeed and CNN's "outrageous" report in blistering fashing. Calling it a "highly irresponsible" report, Spicer said the media was trying to scythe the legitimacy of the new government. (WION)

Donald Trump lashes out at Buzzfeed, CNN amid Russia allegations

Classified documents report that the heads of four US intelligence agencies presented last week to President-elect Donald Trump included claims that Russian intelligence operatives have compromising information about him, two US officials said Tuesday evening.

They told Reuters the claims, which one called &quot;unsubstantiated,&quot; were contained in a two-page memo appended to a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election that US intelligence officials presented to Trump and President Barack Obama last week.

Trump responded on Tuesday evening in a tweet calling the reports: &quot;FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!&quot;&nbsp;

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FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/818990655418617856">January 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.&nbsp;

One of the officials, both of whom requested anonymity to discuss classified matters, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other US&nbsp;agencies are continuing to investigate the credibility and accuracy of the claims.

They are included in opposition research reports made available last year to Democrats and US officials by a former British intelligence official, most of whose past work US officials consider credible.

The official said investigators so far have been unable to confirm the material about Trumpfinancial and personal entanglements with Russian businessmen and others whom US intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of Russian intelligence. Some material in the reports produced by the former British intelligence officer has proved to be erroneous, the official said.

The FBI declined comment.

&nbsp;

SURFACED LAST YEAR

The charges that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump were presented to the FBI and other US government officials last summer and have been circulating for months.

The FBI initially took the material seriously, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, which was first reported by CNN. However, the FBI failed to act on the material, and the former British intelligence officer broke off contact about three weeks before the November election, they said.

The warning of information about Russia&#39;s compromising claims follows growing US intelligence and law enforcement concerns about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called &quot;multifaceted&quot; Russian influence and espionage operations in Europe and the United States.

In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial and other information on persons of interest, US&nbsp;intelligence officials said.

The classified briefings last week were presented to Obama and Trump by Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers.

US intelligence chiefs included a classified summary of the material to make Trump aware that it is circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of Congress, government officials and others, one of the officials said.

An unclassified intelligence report released on Friday concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Trump&#39;s electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign.

The report said US intelligence agencies have concluded that as part of the effort Russia&#39;s military intelligence agency, the GRU, used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks and others to release emails it hacked from the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats.

(Reuters)

The unclassified intelligence material, which hasn't been verified yet, alleges close ties between US President-elect Trump and the Kremlin

Classified documents report that the heads of four US intelligence agencies presented last week to President-elect Donald Trump included claims that Russian intelligence operatives have compromising information about him, two US officials said Tuesday evening. They told Reuters the claims, which one called "unsubstantiated," were contained in a two-page memo appended to a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election that US intelligence officials presented to Trump and President Barack Obama last week. Trump responded on Tuesday evening in a tweet calling the reports: "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017 × The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One of the officials, both of whom requested anonymity to discuss classified matters, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other US agencies are continuing to investigate the credibility and accuracy of the claims. They are included in opposition research reports made available last year to Democrats and US officials by a former British intelligence official, most of whose past work US officials consider credible. The official said investigators so far have been unable to confirm the material about Trumpfinancial and personal entanglements with Russian businessmen and others whom US intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of Russian intelligence. Some material in the reports produced by the former British intelligence officer has proved to be erroneous, the official said. The FBI declined comment. SURFACED LAST YEAR The charges that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump were presented to the FBI and other US government officials last summer and have been circulating for months. The FBI initially took the material seriously, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, which was first reported by CNN. However, the FBI failed to act on the material, and the former British intelligence officer broke off contact about three weeks before the November election, they said. The warning of information about Russia's compromising claims follows growing US intelligence and law enforcement concerns about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called "multifaceted" Russian influence and espionage operations in Europe and the United States. In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial and other information on persons of interest, US intelligence officials said. The classified briefings last week were presented to Obama and Trump by Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers. US intelligence chiefs included a classified summary of the material to make Trump aware that it is circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of Congress, government officials and others, one of the officials said. An unclassified intelligence report released on Friday concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Trump's electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign. The report said US intelligence agencies have concluded that as part of the effort Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks and others to release emails it hacked from the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats. (Reuters)

Russian intel's 'compromising' info on Trump under FBI scanner

US spy chiefs had&nbsp;informed Donald Trump that Russian operatives claim to possess deeply compromising personal and financial information about him, US media reported.&nbsp;Citing &quot;multiple&quot; unnamed US officials with direct knowledge of the meeting, CNN said intelligence chiefs last week presented America&#39;s incoming 45th president with a two-page synopsis on the potential embarrassment.&nbsp;President Barack Obama, was also briefed on the explosive issue, CNN reported, giving no details of the allegedly compromising information. 
 
Several US media published -&nbsp;without corroborating its contents -&nbsp;a 35-page dossier of memos on which the synopsis is based, which had been circulating in Washington circles for months.&nbsp;The memos describe sex videos involving prostitutes during a 2013 visit by Trump to a Moscow hotel. They also suggest Russian officials proposed lucrative deals in order to win influence over the real estate magnate.

Read the 35-page document <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984/Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.pdf">here</a>.

CNN said the memos contained in the dossier were originally compiled by a former British MI-6 intelligence operative hired by other US presidential contenders to do political &quot;opposition research&quot; on Trump in the middle of last year.&nbsp;Trump was reportedly informed of the existence of the dossier -&nbsp;and its salacious details -&nbsp;when he received a briefing from US spy chiefs on alleged Russian interference in the presidential election.

The classified two-page synopsis also included allegations that there was a regular flow of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and Russian government intermediaries.

&quot;If these allegations are true, allegations of coordination between Trump campaign officials and Russian intelligence officials, and allegations that the Russians have compromised President-elect Trump&#39;s independence, that would be truly shocking,&quot; Democratic Senator Chris Coons said on CNN.&nbsp;

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had been given the information in August, more than two months before the November 8 election, according to CNN.

Since then, CNN reported, US intelligence agencies have checked out the former British intelligence operative and his network, and found him credible enough to include some of the information in the presentation to Trump.&nbsp;The existence of compromising information on Trump in Russian hands had been rumored since before the election.&nbsp;

The rumors gained support when then Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said in a letter to FBI Director James Comey a week before the vote.

&quot;It has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government -&nbsp;a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity. The public has a right to know this information.&quot;

Comey was one of four top officials who briefed Trump on Friday, along with the heads of the Directorate of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.&nbsp;Asked in a Senate hearing Tuesday about the allegations of sustained contacts between Russia and the Trump team, Comey refused to confirm or deny that his agency was investigating such links.

US intelligence has already made the virtually unprecedented accusation that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to tip the electoral scales in Trump`s favor by ordering a hack of Democratic Party email servers.&nbsp;The Russian campaign, intelligence concluded, aimed first to boost the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton with embarrassing leaked emails, and then to boost Trump once they thought he had a chance to win.

Trump denounced a &quot;political witch hunt&quot; after CNN reported that intelligence officials briefing him last week on allegations of Russian meddling in the US election had also given him a synopsis of the explosive and unverified claims.

&quot;FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!&quot; the president-elect tweeted.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed the conclusion that Moscow influenced the election while calling for a push to mend bilateral relations deeply strained during the Obama presidency.&nbsp;After being told last week that Putin directed a vast campaign aimed at installing him in the White House, Trump condemned as &quot;stupid&quot; anyone opposing better relations with Moscow.

(AFP)

Read the document alleging Kremlin officials buying influence and salacious sex videos of 'Golden showers' with Moscow prostitutes

US spy chiefs had informed Donald Trump that Russian operatives claim to possess deeply compromising personal and financial information about him, US media reported. Citing "multiple" unnamed US officials with direct knowledge of the meeting, CNN said intelligence chiefs last week presented America's incoming 45th president with a two-page synopsis on the potential embarrassment. President Barack Obama, was also briefed on the explosive issue, CNN reported, giving no details of the allegedly compromising information. Several US media published - without corroborating its contents - a 35-page dossier of memos on which the synopsis is based, which had been circulating in Washington circles for months. The memos describe sex videos involving prostitutes during a 2013 visit by Trump to a Moscow hotel. They also suggest Russian officials proposed lucrative deals in order to win influence over the real estate magnate. Read the 35-page document here. CNN said the memos contained in the dossier were originally compiled by a former British MI-6 intelligence operative hired by other US presidential contenders to do political "opposition research" on Trump in the middle of last year. Trump was reportedly informed of the existence of the dossier - and its salacious details - when he received a briefing from US spy chiefs on alleged Russian interference in the presidential election. The classified two-page synopsis also included allegations that there was a regular flow of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and Russian government intermediaries. "If these allegations are true, allegations of coordination between Trump campaign officials and Russian intelligence officials, and allegations that the Russians have compromised President-elect Trump's independence, that would be truly shocking," Democratic Senator Chris Coons said on CNN. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had been given the information in August, more than two months before the November 8 election, according to CNN. Since then, CNN reported, US intelligence agencies have checked out the former British intelligence operative and his network, and found him credible enough to include some of the information in the presentation to Trump. The existence of compromising information on Trump in Russian hands had been rumored since before the election. The rumors gained support when then Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said in a letter to FBI Director James Comey a week before the vote. "It has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government - a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity. The public has a right to know this information." Comey was one of four top officials who briefed Trump on Friday, along with the heads of the Directorate of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Asked in a Senate hearing Tuesday about the allegations of sustained contacts between Russia and the Trump team, Comey refused to confirm or deny that his agency was investigating such links. US intelligence has already made the virtually unprecedented accusation that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to tip the electoral scales in Trump`s favor by ordering a hack of Democratic Party email servers. The Russian campaign, intelligence concluded, aimed first to boost the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton with embarrassing leaked emails, and then to boost Trump once they thought he had a chance to win. Trump denounced a "political witch hunt" after CNN reported that intelligence officials briefing him last week on allegations of Russian meddling in the US election had also given him a synopsis of the explosive and unverified claims. "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!" the president-elect tweeted. Trump has repeatedly dismissed the conclusion that Moscow influenced the election while calling for a push to mend bilateral relations deeply strained during the Obama presidency. After being told last week that Putin directed a vast campaign aimed at installing him in the White House, Trump condemned as "stupid" anyone opposing better relations with Moscow. (AFP)

Unsubstantiated British intelligence links Trump to Russian prostitutes, Russian government

US President-elect Donald Trump has rubbished reports of Russia having compromising information about him and that the Kremlin had any leverage with him.

He blamed the intelligence agencies, with which he has had many run-ins in the past, for circulating such reports.

In a series of tweets, Trump accused intelligence agencies of taking &quot;one last shot&quot; at him by leaking the information.&nbsp;

&quot;Are we living in Nazi Germany?&quot; he asked in a Twitter post.

Last week, the US intelligence agencies briefed Trump about the Russian hacking scandal.&nbsp;

Trump&#39;s appointed chief of staff, Reince Priebus, termed a media report saying intelligence agencies had briefed the President-elect about Russian operatives having compromising information about him as &quot;fake news&quot;.

Donald Trump will speak to mediapersons at 1600 GMT in what will be his first news conference after his surprising election win.

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Trump blamed the US intelligence agencies for leaking the information about Russia having compromising information about him

US President-elect Donald Trump has rubbished reports of Russia having compromising information about him and that the Kremlin had any leverage with him. He blamed the intelligence agencies, with which he has had many run-ins in the past, for circulating such reports. In a series of tweets, Trump accused intelligence agencies of taking "one last shot" at him by leaking the information. "Are we living in Nazi Germany?" he asked in a Twitter post. Last week, the US intelligence agencies briefed Trump about the Russian hacking scandal. Trump's appointed chief of staff, Reince Priebus, termed a media report saying intelligence agencies had briefed the President-elect about Russian operatives having compromising information about him as "fake news". Donald Trump will speak to mediapersons at 1600 GMT in what will be his first news conference after his surprising election win. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Trump denies reports of Russia having compromising information about him

Classified documents presented last week to president-elect Donald Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising information about him, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The allegations were in a two-page synopsis appended to a report presented by US&nbsp;intelligence officials to Trump and President Barack Obama on Russian interference in the 2016 election, CNN said, citing multiple US&nbsp;officials with direct knowledge of the briefings.

The allegations came, in part, from memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative, whose past work US&nbsp;intelligence officials consider credible, CNN reported.

It said the FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Trump.

The FBI declined&nbsp;to comment.

Allegations that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump have been circulating in Washington for months, and they were presented to US&nbsp;officials last year.

Reuters has not been able to corroborate the allegations or confirm the existence of the two-page synopsis reported by CNN.

The warning to Trump, however, coincides with growing concern about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called a &quot;multifaceted&quot; Russian influence and espionage campaign in Europe and the United States.

In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial or other information on persons of interest, US&nbsp;intelligence officials said.

The classified briefings last week were presented by Clapper, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey, Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan and National Security Agency director Mike Rogers.

One reason the US&nbsp;intelligence chiefs took the extraordinary step of including the synopsis in the briefing documents was to make Trump aware that allegations about him are circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of Congress and government officials, CNN said.

An unclassified intelligence report released on Friday concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Trump&#39;s electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign.

The report said US&nbsp;intelligence agencies have concluded that as part of the effort Russia&#39;s military intelligence agency, the GRU, used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks and others to release emails it hacked from the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats.

(Reuters)

Allegations that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump have been circulating in Washington for months

Classified documents presented last week to president-elect Donald Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising information about him, CNN reported on Tuesday. The allegations were in a two-page synopsis appended to a report presented by US intelligence officials to Trump and President Barack Obama on Russian interference in the 2016 election, CNN said, citing multiple US officials with direct knowledge of the briefings. The allegations came, in part, from memos compiled by a former British intelligence operative, whose past work US intelligence officials consider credible, CNN reported. It said the FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Trump. The FBI declined to comment. Allegations that Russia attempted to compromise New York real estate businessman Trump have been circulating in Washington for months, and they were presented to US officials last year. Reuters has not been able to corroborate the allegations or confirm the existence of the two-page synopsis reported by CNN. The warning to Trump, however, coincides with growing concern about what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has called a "multifaceted" Russian influence and espionage campaign in Europe and the United States. In addition to hacking computer networks and spreading propaganda and fake news, it includes efforts to cultivate business and political leaders and find compromising personal, financial or other information on persons of interest, US intelligence officials said. The classified briefings last week were presented by Clapper, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey, Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan and National Security Agency director Mike Rogers. One reason the US intelligence chiefs took the extraordinary step of including the synopsis in the briefing documents was to make Trump aware that allegations about him are circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of Congress and government officials, CNN said. An unclassified intelligence report released on Friday concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Trump's electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign. The report said US intelligence agencies have concluded that as part of the effort Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks and others to release emails it hacked from the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats. (Reuters)

Russian operatives claim to have compromising information on Trump: CNN

The FBI has no evidence that Russia successfully hacked President-elect Donald Trump&#39;s campaign or the Republican National Committee (RNC), Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said on Tuesday.

Testifying before Congress for the first time since Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton on November&nbsp;8, Comey declined to answer a question about whether the FBI was investigating the possibility of links between Trump associates and Russia.

US&nbsp;intelligence agencies on Friday released an assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Republican Trump&#39;s electoral chances by discrediting Clinton in the 2016 campaign.

The report, which omitted classified details, was the US&nbsp;government&#39;s starkest public description of what it says was an Russian campaign to manipulate the American electoral process. Russian authorities have denied interfering in the election.

&quot;We did not develop any evidence that the Trump campaign, or the current RNC, was successfully hacked,&quot; Comey told lawmakers.

He said there was evidence Russia hacked Republican state-level political campaigns and &quot;old&quot; email domains that the RNC was no longer using. While it collected some information from these hacks, Russia did not publicly release it, he said.

In contrast, Friday&#39;s report assessed that Russian military intelligence used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks, DCLeaks.com and the Guccifer 2.0 &quot;persona&quot; to release emails that it had acquired from the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats as part of the effort to help Trump and harm Clinton.

(Reuters)

James Comey said there was evidence Russia hacked Republican state-level political campaigns and 'old' email domains that RNC no longer used

The FBI has no evidence that Russia successfully hacked President-elect Donald Trump's campaign or the Republican National Committee (RNC), Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said on Tuesday. Testifying before Congress for the first time since Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton on November 8, Comey declined to answer a question about whether the FBI was investigating the possibility of links between Trump associates and Russia. US intelligence agencies on Friday released an assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Republican Trump's electoral chances by discrediting Clinton in the 2016 campaign. The report, which omitted classified details, was the US government's starkest public description of what it says was an Russian campaign to manipulate the American electoral process. Russian authorities have denied interfering in the election. "We did not develop any evidence that the Trump campaign, or the current RNC, was successfully hacked," Comey told lawmakers. He said there was evidence Russia hacked Republican state-level political campaigns and "old" email domains that the RNC was no longer using. While it collected some information from these hacks, Russia did not publicly release it, he said. In contrast, Friday's report assessed that Russian military intelligence used intermediaries such as WikiLeaks, DCLeaks.com and the Guccifer 2.0 "persona" to release emails that it had acquired from the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats as part of the effort to help Trump and harm Clinton. (Reuters)

No evidence Trump campaign or RNC 'successfully hacked' says FBI

Modern-day musical &#39;La La Land&#39; swept the 74th Golden Globes Awards&nbsp;2017, winning &nbsp;prizes in seven categories including best motion picture - musical or comedy, best actor and best actress.

The film won every award it was nominated for with its stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling winning in the acting categories. The Golden Globe Awards are the first major Hollywood film award event of 2017.

&quot;Moonlight&quot;&nbsp;was named the&nbsp;best drama film, while &quot;Zootopia&quot;&nbsp;was named the&nbsp;best animated feature film.

Casey Affleck and Isabelle Huppert won other acting prizes for their roles in &quot;Manchester By The Sea&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;Elle.&quot;&nbsp;

Huppert came as a surprise winner by beating contenders including Natalie Portman, who had been considered the favourite for playing Jackie Kennedy in &quot;Jackie.&quot;

Viola Davis grabbed best supporting actress for &quot;Fences,&quot;&nbsp;the screen adaptation of August Wilson&#39;s play.

Accepting the award, Davis said, &quot;It&#39;s not every day that Hollywood thinks of translating a play to screen &mdash;&nbsp;it doesn&#39;t scream &#39;moneymaker&#39;. But it does scream art, and it does scream heart.&quot;

In a surprise win, British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson was named best supporting actor for his role in &quot;Nocturnal Animals&quot;&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;a prize that was expected to go to Mahershala Ali for &quot;Moonlight.&quot;

Jimmy Fallon hosted the ceremony and joked that the Golden Globes was &quot;one of the few places left where America still honours the popular vote&quot; &mdash; a reference to Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton in the recent US election despite getting fewer votes overall.

He also described emotional drama &quot;Manchester By The Sea&quot;&nbsp;as &quot;the only thing more depressing than 2016.&quot;

The ceremony featured several references to US President- elect Donald Trump.

Meryl Streep launched an attack on Trump while accepting the Cecil B Demille award for outstanding contribution to entertainment.

Streep referred to Trump&#39;s mocking of a disabled reporter and said, &quot;Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose.&quot;

There were several British wins in the television categories, including awards for Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman for &quot;The Night Manager.&quot;

Claire Foy also won the&nbsp;best actress in a television series for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix&#39;s &quot;The Crown.&quot;

For the first time, the arrival of Hollywood&#39;s A-listers on the red carpet was live-streamed on Twitter.

The Golden Globe Awards, which are run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, honour the best in TV and film from the past year.

The Sikh body sought answers from Jeff Sessions through the members of Senate committee on issue of violence against Sikh Americans

Modern-day musical 'La La Land' swept the 74th Golden Globes Awards 2017, winning prizes in seven categories including best motion picture - musical or comedy, best actor and best actress. The film won every award it was nominated for with its stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling winning in the acting categories. The Golden Globe Awards are the first major Hollywood film award event of 2017. "Moonlight" was named the best drama film, while "Zootopia" was named the best animated feature film. Casey Affleck and Isabelle Huppert won other acting prizes for their roles in "Manchester By The Sea" and "Elle." Huppert came as a surprise winner by beating contenders including Natalie Portman, who had been considered the favourite for playing Jackie Kennedy in "Jackie." Viola Davis grabbed best supporting actress for "Fences," the screen adaptation of August Wilson's play. Accepting the award, Davis said, "It's not every day that Hollywood thinks of translating a play to screen — it doesn't scream 'moneymaker'. But it does scream art, and it does scream heart." In a surprise win, British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson was named best supporting actor for his role in "Nocturnal Animals" — a prize that was expected to go to Mahershala Ali for "Moonlight." Jimmy Fallon hosted the ceremony and joked that the Golden Globes was "one of the few places left where America still honours the popular vote" — a reference to Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton in the recent US election despite getting fewer votes overall. He also described emotional drama "Manchester By The Sea" as "the only thing more depressing than 2016." The ceremony featured several references to US President- elect Donald Trump. Meryl Streep launched an attack on Trump while accepting the Cecil B Demille award for outstanding contribution to entertainment. Streep referred to Trump's mocking of a disabled reporter and said, "Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose." There were several British wins in the television categories, including awards for Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman for "The Night Manager." Claire Foy also won the best actress in a television series for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix's "The Crown." For the first time, the arrival of Hollywood's A-listers on the red carpet was live-streamed on Twitter. The Golden Globe Awards, which are run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, honour the best in TV and film from the past year.

Sikh body to US senators: Ensure prosecution of hate crimes during Trump presidency

&nbsp;

Mexico&#39;s new foreign minister vowed that his country will negotiate with US President-elect Donald Trump&#39;s administration &quot;without fear.&quot; President Enrique Pena Nieto brought former finance minister Luis Videgaray back to his cabinet last week to seek &quot;constructive&quot; relations with Trump, who has vowed to upend trade ties with Mexico.

Videgaray had resigned as finance minister in September, a week after it was revealed that he orchestrated a much-criticized pre-election meeting between Trump and Pena Nieto in Mexico City.

&quot;We will negotiate with great confidence in ourselves, without fear, knowing how important Mexico is for the United States in economic, social and political terms,&quot; Videgaray said at a meeting with Mexican ambassadors.

Trump has angered Mexicans with his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his vow to make the neighboring country pay for a giant wall along their border. The Republican President-elect, who takes office on January 20, has also caused the peso to plunge as investors fret over his plan to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.

Trump has also pledged to slap import tariffs of as much as 35 per cent on companies that ship jobs abroad. Trump made similar threats to US automaker General Motors and Japan&#39;s Toyota last week for making cars in Mexico, while Ford announced the cancellation of a new $1.6 billion factory in the neighboring country.

Despite concerns about Trump&#39;s protectionist policies, exports of Mexican-made cars to the United States rose by 9.6 per cent in December compared to the same month in 2015, according to the Mexican Automobile Industry Association (AMIA). AMIA president Eduardo Solis said the United States would have to withdraw from NAFTA in order to impose tariffs because the pact&#39;s rules keep such import taxes for cars at zero per cent.

The Mexican government could also take legal action at the World Trade Organization if tariffs of more than 2.5 per cent are imposed on light vehicles and 25 per cent on pickup trucks, Solis said.

(AFP)

&nbsp;

Mexico's new foreign minister has vowed to take a tough stand during US-Mexico trade negotiations

Mexico's new foreign minister vowed that his country will negotiate with US President-elect Donald Trump's administration "without fear." President Enrique Pena Nieto brought former finance minister Luis Videgaray back to his cabinet last week to seek "constructive" relations with Trump, who has vowed to upend trade ties with Mexico. Videgaray had resigned as finance minister in September, a week after it was revealed that he orchestrated a much-criticized pre-election meeting between Trump and Pena Nieto in Mexico City. "We will negotiate with great confidence in ourselves, without fear, knowing how important Mexico is for the United States in economic, social and political terms," Videgaray said at a meeting with Mexican ambassadors. Trump has angered Mexicans with his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his vow to make the neighboring country pay for a giant wall along their border. The Republican President-elect, who takes office on January 20, has also caused the peso to plunge as investors fret over his plan to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada. Trump has also pledged to slap import tariffs of as much as 35 per cent on companies that ship jobs abroad. Trump made similar threats to US automaker General Motors and Japan's Toyota last week for making cars in Mexico, while Ford announced the cancellation of a new $1.6 billion factory in the neighboring country. Despite concerns about Trump's protectionist policies, exports of Mexican-made cars to the United States rose by 9.6 per cent in December compared to the same month in 2015, according to the Mexican Automobile Industry Association (AMIA). AMIA president Eduardo Solis said the United States would have to withdraw from NAFTA in order to impose tariffs because the pact's rules keep such import taxes for cars at zero per cent. The Mexican government could also take legal action at the World Trade Organization if tariffs of more than 2.5 per cent are imposed on light vehicles and 25 per cent on pickup trucks, Solis said. (AFP)

We will negotiate without fear with US on trade: Mexico

US&nbsp;President-elect Donald Trump will make Jared Kushner his senior adviser, US media reported.&nbsp;The position, unlike Cabinet posts, does not require US&nbsp;Senate confirmation.

Kushner, 35, is married to Donald Trump&#39;s&nbsp;eldest daughter Ivanka, and like Trump&nbsp;is a New York-based real estate developer with business dealings that could lead to conflict of&nbsp;interest.&nbsp;

Kushner, who like Donald&nbsp;has no previous experience working in politics, has been instrumental in Trump&#39;s campaign during the presidential elections, playing a key role in advising him in matters of appointment and strategy. He was&nbsp;involved in almost every aspect of it, from personnel decisions to strategy and fundraising.

It remains to be ascertained how Kushner&#39;s appointment could affect the&nbsp;federal anti-nepotism law that prohibits a president from hiring relatives.&nbsp;Kushner will need to argue that the federal anti-nepotism laws, which prohibit&nbsp;any federal official from hiring family members to an agency or office which he or she leads,&nbsp;do not apply to him, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/09/jared-kushner-senior-adviser-donald-trump">The Guardian</a> reports.

The law has loopholes: Ethics experts say that Kushner could retain a technically unofficial rule, such as serving as&nbsp;&quot;consultant&quot;, and bypass the law, The Guardian reports.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s transition team has said that Kushner &quot;has chosen to forego his salary while serving in the administration&quot;. Forbes estimates that Kushner, along with his parents and adult brother, is worth an estimated $1.8 billion, PTI reports.

&nbsp;

Divesting?

Kushner&nbsp;and his wife will reportedly undertake significant divestments of their wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare for their move to Washington from New York and face inevitable questions about&nbsp;potential conflicts of interest. Kushner will resign from his positions as chief executive of the Kushner Companies and as publisher of the New York Observer newspaper and divest from any interests in the New York Observer, Thrive Capital, the 666 Fifth Avenue office building in midtown Manhattan and any foreign investments.

In addition, Kushner will recuse himself from participating in matters that could have a direct effect on his remaining financial interests. Those interests include real estate in the New York area, Ivanka Trump&#39;s interest in the new Trump hotel in Washington and the Ivanka Trump Brand fashion business, the officials said. Kushner will file a public financial disclosure form.

While those in his cabinet appear to be divesting themselves, Donald Trump, who owns at least&nbsp;<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/28/politics/trump-foreign-businesses/">144&nbsp;foreign companies in 25 different countries</a>, has never indicated that he will sell off his&nbsp;business interests before serving as president.&nbsp;Foreign diplomats&nbsp;are reportedly going out of their way to stay in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/2016/11/18/9da9c572-ad18-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html?utm_term=.2f13ec6258a0">Trump&#39;s hotel and buy his products</a>&nbsp;when they visit Washington, the Washington Post reports.&nbsp;

Trump&nbsp;has repeatedly failed to&nbsp;release his tax returns, a document that&nbsp;could potentially shed light on potential conflicts of interest, after promising to do so. Originally Trump said he would release them publicly except he was not allowed to because he was under audit.&nbsp;American tax collectors said he was under audit, but that he was free to release them. Trump&#39;s&nbsp;son said that his father would release his tax return, except&nbsp;doing so would subject them to public scrutiny.

Ivanka Trump, who like her husband has been a close adviser to the president-elect, will not take on an official role in her father&#39;s White House, but will reportedly focus on settling her family in Washington. While Donald Trump has claimed she will run his businesses and have no political role, Ivanka was pictured attending&nbsp;a meeting in Trump Towers with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and was also pictured at a meeting with American tech industry leaders, leading to doubts that there will be a meaningful separation between Trump&#39;s business interests and his role&nbsp;as public servant.

Trump has said he would transfer control of his business to his children, but he has given no details. Trump claimed in November via Twitter there would be a&nbsp;news conference in December on the topic, but&nbsp;it&nbsp;was cancelled. Trump is expected to take questions from reporters this week.

&nbsp;

&#39;We have the better argument&#39;

Jamie Gorelick, a New York lawyer who served as deputy attorney general for Democratic President Bill Clinton and helped advise Kushner, said his new post would not violate a 1967 anti-nepotism statute.

She said Congress in 1978 authorised the president to hire personnel for the White House office &quot;without regard&quot; to federal personnel laws like the anti-nepotism statute and that court rulings had determined the White House was not an &quot;agency&quot; under the anti-nepotism law.

&quot;I&#39;m not saying that there isn&#39;t an argument on the other side, and I respect the people who have made the argument on the other side. I just think we have the better argument,&quot; Gorelick said.

Richard Briffault, a government ethics expert at Columbia Law School, disagreed, saying: &quot;Given the fact that the president is specifically mentioned, you would think that someone that is working for the president would be covered&quot; by the anti-nepotism law.

Bill Clinton aroused controversy in 1993 when he named his wife, Hillary Clinton, to lead his healthcare reform drive. She lost the November&nbsp;8 election to Trump. After John F&nbsp;Kennedy was elected president in 1960, he chose his brother Robert as attorney general.

Late on Monday, a group of six Democrats on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said they had written to the Justice Department and US&nbsp;Office of Government Ethics asking them to review concerns about nepotism and conflicts of interest arising from Kushner&#39;s appointment.

(With inputs from agencies)

Jared Kushner has no political experience whatsoever, and his family is worth $1.8 billion. Anti-nepotism lawyers are already at work

US President-elect Donald Trump will make Jared Kushner his senior adviser, US media reported. The position, unlike Cabinet posts, does not require US Senate confirmation. Kushner, 35, is married to Donald Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, and like Trump is a New York-based real estate developer with business dealings that could lead to conflict of interest. Kushner, who like Donald has no previous experience working in politics, has been instrumental in Trump's campaign during the presidential elections, playing a key role in advising him in matters of appointment and strategy. He was involved in almost every aspect of it, from personnel decisions to strategy and fundraising. It remains to be ascertained how Kushner's appointment could affect the federal anti-nepotism law that prohibits a president from hiring relatives. Kushner will need to argue that the federal anti-nepotism laws, which prohibit any federal official from hiring family members to an agency or office which he or she leads, do not apply to him, The Guardian reports. The law has loopholes: Ethics experts say that Kushner could retain a technically unofficial rule, such as serving as "consultant", and bypass the law, The Guardian reports. Trump's transition team has said that Kushner "has chosen to forego his salary while serving in the administration". Forbes estimates that Kushner, along with his parents and adult brother, is worth an estimated $1.8 billion, PTI reports. Divesting? Kushner and his wife will reportedly undertake significant divestments of their wide-ranging financial portfolios as they prepare for their move to Washington from New York and face inevitable questions about potential conflicts of interest. Kushner will resign from his positions as chief executive of the Kushner Companies and as publisher of the New York Observer newspaper and divest from any interests in the New York Observer, Thrive Capital, the 666 Fifth Avenue office building in midtown Manhattan and any foreign investments. In addition, Kushner will recuse himself from participating in matters that could have a direct effect on his remaining financial interests. Those interests include real estate in the New York area, Ivanka Trump's interest in the new Trump hotel in Washington and the Ivanka Trump Brand fashion business, the officials said. Kushner will file a public financial disclosure form. While those in his cabinet appear to be divesting themselves, Donald Trump, who owns at least 144 foreign companies in 25 different countries, has never indicated that he will sell off his business interests before serving as president. Foreign diplomats are reportedly going out of their way to stay in Trump's hotel and buy his products when they visit Washington, the Washington Post reports. Trump has repeatedly failed to release his tax returns, a document that could potentially shed light on potential conflicts of interest, after promising to do so. Originally Trump said he would release them publicly except he was not allowed to because he was under audit. American tax collectors said he was under audit, but that he was free to release them. Trump's son said that his father would release his tax return, except doing so would subject them to public scrutiny. Ivanka Trump, who like her husband has been a close adviser to the president-elect, will not take on an official role in her father's White House, but will reportedly focus on settling her family in Washington. While Donald Trump has claimed she will run his businesses and have no political role, Ivanka was pictured attending a meeting in Trump Towers with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and was also pictured at a meeting with American tech industry leaders, leading to doubts that there will be a meaningful separation between Trump's business interests and his role as public servant. Trump has said he would transfer control of his business to his children, but he has given no details. Trump claimed in November via Twitter there would be a news conference in December on the topic, but it was cancelled. Trump is expected to take questions from reporters this week. 'We have the better argument' Jamie Gorelick, a New York lawyer who served as deputy attorney general for Democratic President Bill Clinton and helped advise Kushner, said his new post would not violate a 1967 anti-nepotism statute. She said Congress in 1978 authorised the president to hire personnel for the White House office "without regard" to federal personnel laws like the anti-nepotism statute and that court rulings had determined the White House was not an "agency" under the anti-nepotism law. "I'm not saying that there isn't an argument on the other side, and I respect the people who have made the argument on the other side. I just think we have the better argument," Gorelick said. Richard Briffault, a government ethics expert at Columbia Law School, disagreed, saying: "Given the fact that the president is specifically mentioned, you would think that someone that is working for the president would be covered" by the anti-nepotism law. Bill Clinton aroused controversy in 1993 when he named his wife, Hillary Clinton, to lead his healthcare reform drive. She lost the November 8 election to Trump. After John F Kennedy was elected president in 1960, he chose his brother Robert as attorney general. Late on Monday, a group of six Democrats on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said they had written to the Justice Department and US Office of Government Ethics asking them to review concerns about nepotism and conflicts of interest arising from Kushner's appointment. (With inputs from agencies)

Trump to make son-in-law senior adviser

In rare praise for Donald Trump, US President Barack Obama has said the President-elect is &quot;very engaging and gregarious&quot; and not lacking in confidence, but acknowledged that they were &quot;opposites in some ways&quot;.

&quot;He is somebody who I think is very engaging and gregarious. I have enjoyed the conversations that we have had. He is somebody who I think is not lacking in confidence,&quot; Obama said.

&quot;You have to have enough craziness to think that you can do the job. I think that he has not spent a lot of time sweating the details of, all the policies that I think that can be both a strength and a weakness. I think it depends on how he approaches it. If it gives him fresh eyes, then that can be valuable. But it also requires you knowing what you do not know and putting in place people who do have the kinds of experience and background and knowledge that can inform good decision&nbsp;making. I think it is fair to say that he and I are sort of opposites in some ways,&quot; Obama said.

After the November 8 general elections, Obama and Trump have had several talks over the phone after their first meeting at the Oval Office, days after the elections.

&quot;The conversations have been cordial. He has been open to suggestions. The main thing that I have tried to transmit is that there is a difference between governing and campaigning, so that what he has to appreciate is, as soon as you walk into this office after you have been sworn in, you are now in charge of the largest organisation on Earth,&quot; Obama told ABC News.

&quot;You cannot manage it the way you would manage a family business. You cannot manage it the way you would manage a Senate office as I was a senator before I became president and so you have to have a strong team around you. You have to have respect for institutions and the process to make good decisions because you are inherently reliant on other folks.

&quot;So when I talked to him about our intelligence agencies, what I have said to him is that there are going to be times where you have got raw intelligence that comes in and, in my experience, over eight years the intelligence community is pretty good about saying,&nbsp;&#39;Look, we cannot say for certain what this means,&#39;&quot; the US President said.

He said that &quot;there are going to be times where the only way you can make a good decision is if you have confidence that the process is working and the people that you put in charge are giving you their very best assessments&quot;.

Not lacking in confidence, Obama said, is probably a prerequisite for the job.

(PTI)&nbsp;

Obama's rare and faint praise also came with the warning, 'You have to have respect for institutions'

In rare praise for Donald Trump, US President Barack Obama has said the President-elect is "very engaging and gregarious" and not lacking in confidence, but acknowledged that they were "opposites in some ways". "He is somebody who I think is very engaging and gregarious. I have enjoyed the conversations that we have had. He is somebody who I think is not lacking in confidence," Obama said. "You have to have enough craziness to think that you can do the job. I think that he has not spent a lot of time sweating the details of, all the policies that I think that can be both a strength and a weakness. I think it depends on how he approaches it. If it gives him fresh eyes, then that can be valuable. But it also requires you knowing what you do not know and putting in place people who do have the kinds of experience and background and knowledge that can inform good decision making. I think it is fair to say that he and I are sort of opposites in some ways," Obama said. After the November 8 general elections, Obama and Trump have had several talks over the phone after their first meeting at the Oval Office, days after the elections. "The conversations have been cordial. He has been open to suggestions. The main thing that I have tried to transmit is that there is a difference between governing and campaigning, so that what he has to appreciate is, as soon as you walk into this office after you have been sworn in, you are now in charge of the largest organisation on Earth," Obama told ABC News. "You cannot manage it the way you would manage a family business. You cannot manage it the way you would manage a Senate office as I was a senator before I became president and so you have to have a strong team around you. You have to have respect for institutions and the process to make good decisions because you are inherently reliant on other folks. "So when I talked to him about our intelligence agencies, what I have said to him is that there are going to be times where you have got raw intelligence that comes in and, in my experience, over eight years the intelligence community is pretty good about saying, 'Look, we cannot say for certain what this means,'" the US President said. He said that "there are going to be times where the only way you can make a good decision is if you have confidence that the process is working and the people that you put in charge are giving you their very best assessments". Not lacking in confidence, Obama said, is probably a prerequisite for the job. (PTI)

Obama calls Trump 'engaging and gregarious'

Veteran actress Meryle Streep, who received Cecil B DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, took her time on stage to slam President-elect Donald Trump in a moving acceptance speech, pointing out that Hollywood was made of outsiders.

Streep began her speech by saying that she had &quot;lost her voice&quot; and &quot;mind sometimes earlier this year&quot; so she would like to read from a written speech.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MerylStreep?src=hash">#MerylStreep</a>, truth-teller. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoldenGlobes?src=hash">#GoldenGlobes</a> <a href="https://t.co/tuxxp5fgOU">pic.twitter.com/tuxxp5fgOU</a>
&mdash; deray mckesson (@deray) <a href="https://twitter.com/deray/status/818304181895315456">January 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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She echoed Hugh Laurie&#39;s comment about how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is part of &quot;the most vilified segments in American society right now&quot;, Streep said the association was made of -- Hollywood, foreigners and the press.

&quot;But who are we and what is Hollywood, anyway? It is just a place with a bunch of people from other places,&quot; Streep said, adding she was raised in New Jersey while Sarah Paulson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Adams, Natalie Portman, Ruth Negga, Viola Davis, Dev Patel and Ryan Reynolds were all born in different places.

&quot;Where are their birth certificates? Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick us all out, you&#39;ll have nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts, which are not arts,&quot; she said.

The multiple award-winning actress, who is one of the most respected names in Hollywood, said the &quot;performance&quot; that stood out this year did not belong to an actor but to Trump when he publicly mocked a disabled reporter.

&quot;There was nothing good about it, but it did its job. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can&#39;t get it out my head because it wasn&#39;t in a movie, it was in real life. That instinct to humiliate when it&#39;s modeled by someone in a public platform, it filters down into everyone&#39;s life because it gives permission for others to do the same,&quot; Streep cautioned.

&quot;Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose.&quot; The actress urged the press to stand up to Trump.

&quot;We need the principled press to hold power to account, to call them on the carpet for every outrage ... We&#39;re going to need them going forward and they&#39;re going to need us to safeguard the truth,&quot; she said of journalists.

Streep, 67, ended her speech by quoting late Carrie Fisher: &quot;As my friend, the dear departed Princess Leia, said to me once, &#39;Take your broken heart, make it into art.&#39;&quot;

Viola Davis presented the honour to Streep, who has won eight Golden Globes and 29 nominations.

Davis began her speech by saying Streep &quot;stares&quot; and that&#39;s the first thing one notices about her. She also tilts her head back with a &quot;sly suspicious smile&quot; and &quot;she stares for a long time&quot;, making one think that they have something on their teeth, Davis said amid laughs from the audience and Streep.

&quot;Her artistry reminds us of the impact of what it means to be an artist, which is to make us feel less alone. You make me proud to be an artist. You make me feel that what I have in me? my body, my face, my age ? is enough,&quot; Davis said while paying a glowing tribute to her &quot;The Doubt&quot; co-star.

The annual DeMille award honours those with &quot;outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment&quot;.

Previous recipients are Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Woody Allen, Jodie Foster, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Warren Beatty.

(PTI)

The veteran actress chided Trump for mocking a disabled reporter. 'When the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose'

Veteran actress Meryle Streep, who received Cecil B DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, took her time on stage to slam President-elect Donald Trump in a moving acceptance speech, pointing out that Hollywood was made of outsiders. Streep began her speech by saying that she had "lost her voice" and "mind sometimes earlier this year" so she would like to read from a written speech. #MerylStreep, truth-teller. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/tuxxp5fgOU — deray mckesson (@deray) January 9, 2017 × She echoed Hugh Laurie's comment about how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is part of "the most vilified segments in American society right now", Streep said the association was made of -- Hollywood, foreigners and the press. "But who are we and what is Hollywood, anyway? It is just a place with a bunch of people from other places," Streep said, adding she was raised in New Jersey while Sarah Paulson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Adams, Natalie Portman, Ruth Negga, Viola Davis, Dev Patel and Ryan Reynolds were all born in different places. "Where are their birth certificates? Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick us all out, you'll have nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts, which are not arts," she said. The multiple award-winning actress, who is one of the most respected names in Hollywood, said the "performance" that stood out this year did not belong to an actor but to Trump when he publicly mocked a disabled reporter. "There was nothing good about it, but it did its job. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can't get it out my head because it wasn't in a movie, it was in real life. That instinct to humiliate when it's modeled by someone in a public platform, it filters down into everyone's life because it gives permission for others to do the same," Streep cautioned. "Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose." The actress urged the press to stand up to Trump. "We need the principled press to hold power to account, to call them on the carpet for every outrage ... We're going to need them going forward and they're going to need us to safeguard the truth," she said of journalists. Streep, 67, ended her speech by quoting late Carrie Fisher: "As my friend, the dear departed Princess Leia, said to me once, 'Take your broken heart, make it into art.'" Viola Davis presented the honour to Streep, who has won eight Golden Globes and 29 nominations. Davis began her speech by saying Streep "stares" and that's the first thing one notices about her. She also tilts her head back with a "sly suspicious smile" and "she stares for a long time", making one think that they have something on their teeth, Davis said amid laughs from the audience and Streep. "Her artistry reminds us of the impact of what it means to be an artist, which is to make us feel less alone. You make me proud to be an artist. You make me feel that what I have in me? my body, my face, my age ? is enough," Davis said while paying a glowing tribute to her "The Doubt" co-star. The annual DeMille award honours those with "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment". Previous recipients are Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Woody Allen, Jodie Foster, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Warren Beatty. (PTI)

Meryl Streep slams Donald Trump at Golden Globes

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed hope that the dialogue between Turkey and the United States will gain momentum after Presdient-elect Donald Trump takes office, Reuters reported.

He hoped of reaching a consensus on regional issues after Trump takes over as the president.

&quot;I believe we will accelerate dialogue when Mr Trump takes office. I believe we will reach a consensus with Mr Trump, particularly on regional issues,&quot; Erdogan told Turkish ambassadors gathered in Ankara for an annual conference, Reuters reported.

Turkey is a key NATO ally crucial to the US-led campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. 
&nbsp; 
Relations between the US and the Turkey have been strained after a failed coup attempt last year sought to overthrow the Turkish president.&nbsp;

Erdogan blames the failed coup attempt on Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania in US.

Turkey wants US to extradite Gulen.

Another important issue that has created a rift between the two allies is US support for the YPG militia, a Syrian Kurdish group that is fighting the Islamic State.

Turkey sees the group as an extension of the PKK, which is behind a string of terror attacks in Turkey and seeks to achieve its goal of Kurdish autonomy.

Turkey&#39;s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey expects Washington to extradite Gulen and end its cooperation with the Syrian YPG militia, Reuters reported.

The US on its part has skirted the issue of extradition by passing the responsibilty of extradition to the courts.

Trump&#39;s policy on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia is unclear.&nbsp;

Trump, however, has clearly outlined that his priority is to fight the Islamic State and not to force Assad out of power, something that Turkey has long desired.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Turkey hopes of reaching a consensus on regional issues after Trump takes over as the president

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed hope that the dialogue between Turkey and the United States will gain momentum after Presdient-elect Donald Trump takes office, Reuters reported. He hoped of reaching a consensus on regional issues after Trump takes over as the president. "I believe we will accelerate dialogue when Mr Trump takes office. I believe we will reach a consensus with Mr Trump, particularly on regional issues," Erdogan told Turkish ambassadors gathered in Ankara for an annual conference, Reuters reported. Turkey is a key NATO ally crucial to the US-led campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Relations between the US and the Turkey have been strained after a failed coup attempt last year sought to overthrow the Turkish president. Erdogan blames the failed coup attempt on Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania in US. Turkey wants US to extradite Gulen. Another important issue that has created a rift between the two allies is US support for the YPG militia, a Syrian Kurdish group that is fighting the Islamic State. Turkey sees the group as an extension of the PKK, which is behind a string of terror attacks in Turkey and seeks to achieve its goal of Kurdish autonomy. Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey expects Washington to extradite Gulen and end its cooperation with the Syrian YPG militia, Reuters reported. The US on its part has skirted the issue of extradition by passing the responsibilty of extradition to the courts. Trump's policy on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia is unclear. Trump, however, has clearly outlined that his priority is to fight the Islamic State and not to force Assad out of power, something that Turkey has long desired. (With inputs from Reuters)

Turkey looks forward to improving ties with US during Trump presidency

President-elect Donald Trump accepts the US&nbsp;intelligence community&#39;s conclusion that Russia engaged in cyber attacks during the US&nbsp;presidential election and may take action in response, his incoming chief of staff said on Sunday.

Reince Priebus said Trump believed Russia was behind the intrusions into the Democratic Party organizations, although Priebus did not clarify whether the president-elect agreed that the hacks were directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

&quot;He accepts the fact that this particular case was entities in Russia, so that&#39;s not the issue,&quot; Priebus said on &quot;Fox News Sunday&quot;.

It was the first acknowledgment from a senior member of the Republican president-elect&#39;s team that Trump had accepted that Russia directed the hacking and subsequent disclosure of Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential election.

Trump had rebuffed allegations that Russia was behind the hacks or was trying to help him win, saying the intrusions could have been carried out by China or a 400-pound hacker on his bed.

With less than two weeks until his January&nbsp;20 inauguration, Trump has come under increasing pressure from fellow Republicans to accept intelligence community findings on Russian hacking and other attempts by Moscow to influence the November&nbsp;8 election. A crucial test of Republican support for Trump comes this week with the first confirmation hearings for his Cabinet picks.

A US&nbsp;intelligence report last week said Putin directed a sophisticated influence campaign including cyber attacks to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and support Trump.

The report, commissioned by Democratic President Barack Obama in December, concluded vote tallies were not affected by Russian interference, but did not assess whether it influenced the outcome of the vote in other ways.

&nbsp;

&#39;Action may be taken&#39;

After receiving a briefing on Friday from leaders of the US&nbsp;intelligence agencies, Trump did not refer specifically to Russia&#39;s role in the presidential campaign.

In a statement, he acknowledged that &quot;Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat(ic) National Committee&quot;.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told Reuters the president-elect&#39;s conclusions remained the same and that Priebus&#39; comments were in line with Friday&#39;s statement.

Priebus&rsquo; wording did not appear to foreshadow the dramatic reversal of Trump&rsquo;s apparent Russia policy that experts say would be required to deter further cyber attacks.

&ldquo;It will take a lot more than what we heard on television today to make Putin cool it,&rdquo; the expert added. &ldquo;In fact, there may not be anything that can deter Putin from pursuing a course he&rsquo;s bet his future and Russia&rsquo;s on,&rdquo; said a US&nbsp;intelligence expert on Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss domestic political positions.

The expert added that Putin&#39;s &quot;multifaceted campaign of cyber attacks and espionage, propaganda, financial leverage, fake news and traditional espionage&quot; had expanded in the United States since the election, &quot;and it will be a shock if it does not escalate in France, Germany and elsewhere this year.&quot;

Priebus, the former Republican National Committee chairman Trump tapped as White House chief of staff, said Trump planned to order the intelligence community to make recommendations as to what should be done. &quot;Action may be taken,&quot; he said, adding there was nothing wrong with trying to have a good relationship with Russia and other countries.

Two senior Republican senators urged Trump to punish Russia in response to US&nbsp;intelligence agencies&#39; conclusion that Putin personally directed efforts aimed at influencing the election.

Appearing on NBC&#39;s &quot;Meet the Press,&quot; Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain said evidence was conclusive that Putin sought to influence the election - a point that Trump has refuted.

&quot;In a couple weeks, Donald Trump will be the defender of the free world and democracy,&quot; Graham said. &quot;You should let everybody know in America, Republicans and Democrats, that you&#39;re going to make Russia pay a price for trying to interfere.&quot;

On Saturday, Trump wrote on Twitter that having a better relationship with Russia was a &quot;good thing&quot;.

US&nbsp;Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said three US&nbsp;presidents had tried and failed to be friends with Putin.

&quot;I&rsquo;m just not sure it&rsquo;s possible,&quot; Nunes said on the &quot;Fox News Sunday&quot; program. &quot;I&rsquo;ve cautioned his administration to be careful with Putin, as he remains a bad actor.&quot;

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed it was not unusual for a new president to want to get along with the Russians. He added on CBS, however, that the Russians remained a &quot;big adversary, and they demonstrated it by trying to mess around in our election&quot;.

Obama, who himself tried to &quot;reset&quot; relations with Russia after he took office in 2009, told NBC he did not think he had underestimated the Russian president.

&quot;But I think that I underestimated the degree to which, in this new information age, it is possible for misinformation for cyber hacking and so forth to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems, to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that I think are accelerating,&quot; he said in an interview with &quot;Meet the Press&quot; broadcast on Sunday.

(Reuters)

Two aides claim he accepts US intel, but after his CIA briefing Trump did not single out Putin and still wants good relations with Russia

President-elect Donald Trump accepts the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia engaged in cyber attacks during the US presidential election and may take action in response, his incoming chief of staff said on Sunday. Reince Priebus said Trump believed Russia was behind the intrusions into the Democratic Party organizations, although Priebus did not clarify whether the president-elect agreed that the hacks were directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. "He accepts the fact that this particular case was entities in Russia, so that's not the issue," Priebus said on "Fox News Sunday". It was the first acknowledgment from a senior member of the Republican president-elect's team that Trump had accepted that Russia directed the hacking and subsequent disclosure of Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential election. Trump had rebuffed allegations that Russia was behind the hacks or was trying to help him win, saying the intrusions could have been carried out by China or a 400-pound hacker on his bed. With less than two weeks until his January 20 inauguration, Trump has come under increasing pressure from fellow Republicans to accept intelligence community findings on Russian hacking and other attempts by Moscow to influence the November 8 election. A crucial test of Republican support for Trump comes this week with the first confirmation hearings for his Cabinet picks. A US intelligence report last week said Putin directed a sophisticated influence campaign including cyber attacks to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and support Trump. The report, commissioned by Democratic President Barack Obama in December, concluded vote tallies were not affected by Russian interference, but did not assess whether it influenced the outcome of the vote in other ways. 'Action may be taken' After receiving a briefing on Friday from leaders of the US intelligence agencies, Trump did not refer specifically to Russia's role in the presidential campaign. In a statement, he acknowledged that "Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat(ic) National Committee". Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told Reuters the president-elect's conclusions remained the same and that Priebus' comments were in line with Friday's statement. Priebus’ wording did not appear to foreshadow the dramatic reversal of Trump’s apparent Russia policy that experts say would be required to deter further cyber attacks. “It will take a lot more than what we heard on television today to make Putin cool it,” the expert added. “In fact, there may not be anything that can deter Putin from pursuing a course he’s bet his future and Russia’s on,” said a US intelligence expert on Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss domestic political positions. The expert added that Putin's "multifaceted campaign of cyber attacks and espionage, propaganda, financial leverage, fake news and traditional espionage" had expanded in the United States since the election, "and it will be a shock if it does not escalate in France, Germany and elsewhere this year." Priebus, the former Republican National Committee chairman Trump tapped as White House chief of staff, said Trump planned to order the intelligence community to make recommendations as to what should be done. "Action may be taken," he said, adding there was nothing wrong with trying to have a good relationship with Russia and other countries. Two senior Republican senators urged Trump to punish Russia in response to US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Putin personally directed efforts aimed at influencing the election. Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain said evidence was conclusive that Putin sought to influence the election - a point that Trump has refuted. "In a couple weeks, Donald Trump will be the defender of the free world and democracy," Graham said. "You should let everybody know in America, Republicans and Democrats, that you're going to make Russia pay a price for trying to interfere." On Saturday, Trump wrote on Twitter that having a better relationship with Russia was a "good thing". US Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said three US presidents had tried and failed to be friends with Putin. "I’m just not sure it’s possible," Nunes said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. "I’ve cautioned his administration to be careful with Putin, as he remains a bad actor." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed it was not unusual for a new president to want to get along with the Russians. He added on CBS, however, that the Russians remained a "big adversary, and they demonstrated it by trying to mess around in our election". Obama, who himself tried to "reset" relations with Russia after he took office in 2009, told NBC he did not think he had underestimated the Russian president. "But I think that I underestimated the degree to which, in this new information age, it is possible for misinformation for cyber hacking and so forth to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems, to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that I think are accelerating," he said in an interview with "Meet the Press" broadcast on Sunday. (Reuters)

Trump team admits but downplays Russian election interference: 'Action may be taken'

Fiat Chrysler has&nbsp;announced it was creating 2,000 jobs in the United States, coming as President-elect Donald Trump has been publicly scolding automakers for investing in Mexico.

The American-Italian firm will invest $1 billion by 2020 in two of its factories in the Midwestern states of Michigan and Ohio, where the new jobs will be based, the company said in a statement coming on the eve of the Detroit auto show.

&quot;FCA US is further demonstrating its commitment to strengthening its US manufacturing base,&quot; it said, adding that it has created 25,000 jobs in the country since 2009.

Trump, who campaigned on promises of creating industrial jobs in the American heartland, took to Twitter this past week to blast automakers with operations or plans to build plants in Mexico. He slammed General Motors for making some of its Chevy Cruze models south of the border, and Toyota, which is building a new plant there.

On Tuesday, US automaker Ford announced it was scrapping construction of a plant in Mexico to instead invest in the United States and create 700 jobs, citing a &quot;vote of confidence&quot; in the economic agenda of the incoming president.&nbsp;

Fiat Chrysler so far has escaped Trump&#39;s Twitter wrath, but it&#39;s due to start importing Jeep Compass models from Mexico as soon as this month.

Other auto groups have pre-emptively said they will be flexible in the new era of American politics.

&quot;We are pragmatic, we will adapt to any situation,&quot; said the chief of the Renault-Nissan alliance, Carlos Ghosn, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.&nbsp;In December, American air conditioner manufacturer Carrier backed off a planned transfer of 1,000 jobs to the Mexico, after a deal with Trump - and for $7 million in tax cuts.&nbsp;

(AFP) 
&nbsp;

Fiat Chrysler has?announced it was creating 2,000 jobs in the United States

Fiat Chrysler has announced it was creating 2,000 jobs in the United States, coming as President-elect Donald Trump has been publicly scolding automakers for investing in Mexico. The American-Italian firm will invest $1 billion by 2020 in two of its factories in the Midwestern states of Michigan and Ohio, where the new jobs will be based, the company said in a statement coming on the eve of the Detroit auto show. "FCA US is further demonstrating its commitment to strengthening its US manufacturing base," it said, adding that it has created 25,000 jobs in the country since 2009. Trump, who campaigned on promises of creating industrial jobs in the American heartland, took to Twitter this past week to blast automakers with operations or plans to build plants in Mexico. He slammed General Motors for making some of its Chevy Cruze models south of the border, and Toyota, which is building a new plant there. On Tuesday, US automaker Ford announced it was scrapping construction of a plant in Mexico to instead invest in the United States and create 700 jobs, citing a "vote of confidence" in the economic agenda of the incoming president. Fiat Chrysler so far has escaped Trump's Twitter wrath, but it's due to start importing Jeep Compass models from Mexico as soon as this month. Other auto groups have pre-emptively said they will be flexible in the new era of American politics. "We are pragmatic, we will adapt to any situation," said the chief of the Renault-Nissan alliance, Carlos Ghosn, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In December, American air conditioner manufacturer Carrier backed off a planned transfer of 1,000 jobs to the Mexico, after a deal with Trump - and for $7 million in tax cuts. (AFP)

Fiat Chrysler to invest $1 billion in two US factories

House Republicans have revived a law from 1876 that allows members of Congress to target individual federal employees and reduce their pay to $1, the Washington Post reports.

The Holman Rule, as it&#39;s known, permits Congress members to single out any of the 2.1 million civil servants the US employs for a career-ending reduction in pay, as well as to cut specific programs to $0, the Washington Post reports.

Majorities in the House and Senate still&nbsp;need to approve the amendment before the Holman Rule can be enacted, but the mere possibility has critics fearing&nbsp;Republicans can use this to target&nbsp;opponents.

There are reasons to be suspicious.

Two&nbsp;weeks ago the Trump transition team sent a questionnaire to&nbsp;the <a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/01/06/house-republicans-support-rule-that-could-allow-them-to-pay-individual-federal-workers-1/">Department of Energy</a>&nbsp;to identify&nbsp;specific employees working on&nbsp;climate change, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/01/06/house-republicans-support-rule-that-could-allow-them-to-pay-individual-federal-workers-1/">Salon reports</a>. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/12/22/trump-team-asked-state-department-for-info-on-womens-issues-programs-stoking-fears-of-another-witch-hunt/?utm_term=.f3fbe99d7958">The Washington Post</a> reports that Trump&#39;s team also sought the names from the State Department&nbsp;of individuals working on women&#39;s health issues.

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Oh, hey, remember when the transition team asked for names of climate change staff at DOE and women&#39;s program staff at State? This is why. <a href="https://t.co/fAxAOliFwG">https://t.co/fAxAOliFwG</a>
&mdash; Megan Carpentier (@megancarpentier) <a href="https://twitter.com/megancarpentier/status/817147618363117569">January 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Also in the crosshairs is&nbsp;intelligence.&nbsp;On Thursday,&nbsp;Trump said that plans to overhaul the Office of the Director National Intelligence, Salon reports.&nbsp;

Trump has clashed for weeks&nbsp;with US intelligence agencies, who now state&nbsp;unequivocally that&nbsp;Vladimir Putin interefered in the US election to benefit Trump. Trump, who in the presidential debates openly called on Russia&nbsp;to hack Clinton&#39;s emails, denied that Russia had any role in interfering&nbsp;with the US election. Last night he issued a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-admits-russia-interfered-with-us-election-after-meeting-intelligence-heads-10988">statement</a>&nbsp;admitting&nbsp;that Russia, among others, did interefere&nbsp;in the US election, but denied&nbsp;that it&nbsp;affected its&nbsp;outcome.

Trump&nbsp;has&nbsp;claimed&nbsp;he does not receive daily intelligence briefings, and has cast doubt on his country&#39;s own intellgence agencies. Last week he publicly sided with&nbsp;Julian Assange over&nbsp;the FBI, CIA and the White House.

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Julian Assange said &quot;a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta&quot; - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/816620855958601730">January 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Republican Represenative from Virginia H Morgan Griffith suggested the Holman Rule may really&nbsp;come about&nbsp;and&nbsp;appeared to justify it,&nbsp;telling&nbsp;the Washington Post:&nbsp;&quot;I can&#39;t tell you it won&#39;t happen...The Power is there. But isn&#39;t that appropriate? Who runs the country, the people of the United State or the people on the people&#39;s payroll?&quot;

House Majority leader told reporters earlier in the week appeared to justify the Holman Rule, saying, &quot;All agencies should be held accountable and tested in a manner, and this is an avenue to allow them to do it&quot;, Salon reports.

The Holman Rule could be used in still more places&nbsp;too, critics fear.&nbsp;

As <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/congress-can-now-cut-the-pay-of-individual-civil-servants.html">NYMag</a> neatly points&nbsp;out, Trump is picking candidates with decades of experience&nbsp;that run contrary to&nbsp;the stated objectives of the departments they will lead: &quot;The president-elect&rsquo;s Labor Secretary&ndash;designate is&nbsp;<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/12/trump-gives-middle-finger-to-wage-earners-with-labor-pick.html" target="_blank">a fast-food executive</a>&nbsp;whose restaurants are serial violators of labor law; his EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) head is an&nbsp;<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/12/report-donald-trump-names-scott-pruitt-as-head-of-the-epa.html" target="_blank">ally of the oil industry</a>&nbsp;who loves to sue the EPA; his&nbsp;<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/carson-is-trumps-pick-for-hud-for-some-awful-reason.html" target="_blank">head of Housing and Urban Development</a>&nbsp;has called the Fair Housing Act &#39;communist&#39;.&quot;

On Tuesday Republicans voted to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-republicans-scrap-move-to-gut-non-partisan-ethics-watchdog-10872">gut the only non-partisan ethics </a>watchdog committed to overseeing&nbsp;Congress.&nbsp;

This week, in an unprecedented step,&nbsp;Trump demanded&nbsp;that&nbsp;all US envoys around the world posted by <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-asks-us-envoys-appointed-by-obama-to-quit-by-inauguration-day-10984">Obama must quit their post</a> before his January 20 inauguration. This threatens to leave the US without envoys in several important countries, including Canada, Germany, and Britain.

How&nbsp;the Republicans use this 140-year-old law has yet to be seen, but&nbsp;their hostility to the previous administration&nbsp;is&nbsp;beyond a doubt.&nbsp;

(WION)&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Critics fear Republicans will use the obscure Holman Rule to attack a broad spectrum of opponents. There are many good reasons to worry

House Republicans have revived a law from 1876 that allows members of Congress to target individual federal employees and reduce their pay to $1, the Washington Post reports. The Holman Rule, as it's known, permits Congress members to single out any of the 2.1 million civil servants the US employs for a career-ending reduction in pay, as well as to cut specific programs to $0, the Washington Post reports. Majorities in the House and Senate still need to approve the amendment before the Holman Rule can be enacted, but the mere possibility has critics fearing Republicans can use this to target opponents. There are reasons to be suspicious. Two weeks ago the Trump transition team sent a questionnaire to the Department of Energy to identify specific employees working on climate change, Salon reports. The Washington Post reports that Trump's team also sought the names from the State Department of individuals working on women's health issues. Oh, hey, remember when the transition team asked for names of climate change staff at DOE and women's program staff at State? This is why. https://t.co/fAxAOliFwG — Megan Carpentier (@megancarpentier) January 5, 2017 × Also in the crosshairs is intelligence. On Thursday, Trump said that plans to overhaul the Office of the Director National Intelligence, Salon reports. Trump has clashed for weeks with US intelligence agencies, who now state unequivocally that Vladimir Putin interefered in the US election to benefit Trump. Trump, who in the presidential debates openly called on Russia to hack Clinton's emails, denied that Russia had any role in interfering with the US election. Last night he issued a statement admitting that Russia, among others, did interefere in the US election, but denied that it affected its outcome. Trump has claimed he does not receive daily intelligence briefings, and has cast doubt on his country's own intellgence agencies. Last week he publicly sided with Julian Assange over the FBI, CIA and the White House. Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 × Republican Represenative from Virginia H Morgan Griffith suggested the Holman Rule may really come about and appeared to justify it, telling the Washington Post: "I can't tell you it won't happen...The Power is there. But isn't that appropriate? Who runs the country, the people of the United State or the people on the people's payroll?" House Majority leader told reporters earlier in the week appeared to justify the Holman Rule, saying, "All agencies should be held accountable and tested in a manner, and this is an avenue to allow them to do it", Salon reports. The Holman Rule could be used in still more places too, critics fear. As NYMag neatly points out, Trump is picking candidates with decades of experience that run contrary to the stated objectives of the departments they will lead: "The president-elect’s Labor Secretary–designate is a fast-food executive whose restaurants are serial violators of labor law; his EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) head is an ally of the oil industry who loves to sue the EPA; his head of Housing and Urban Development has called the Fair Housing Act 'communist'." On Tuesday Republicans voted to gut the only non-partisan ethics watchdog committed to overseeing Congress. This week, in an unprecedented step, Trump demanded that all US envoys around the world posted by Obama must quit their post before his January 20 inauguration. This threatens to leave the US without envoys in several important countries, including Canada, Germany, and Britain. How the Republicans use this 140-year-old law has yet to be seen, but their hostility to the previous administration is beyond a doubt. (WION)

Republicans invoke 140-year-old law that could reduce federal employees' wage to $1

US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, who was appointed by the Obama administration will reportedly demit office before US President-elect Donald Trump&#39;s inauguration on January 20.

The 48-year-old, who is first Indian-American to to be appointed as US envoy to India, will not be given any &quot;grace period&quot; beyond Trump&#39;s inauguration day, PTI reported.

In a break from tradition, Trump&#39;s transition team has decided not to give any grace period beyond inauguration day to US envoys who are political appointees of President Barack Obama.

The unusual decision by the transition team could also mean that some of the top US embassies around the world will be left without an ambassador for months, as Trump replaces them with new appointments.

Sources told PTI that Verma will quit the post before January 20.

Verma had played a key role in the passage of the US India civil nuclear deal in the Congress and is a strong advocate of closer Indo-US ties.

The US ambassador may prolong his stay in capital New Delhi in a private capacity for a few more months so that his children can complete their current academic year, PTI reported.

Verma assumed charge as the 25th American Ambassador to India in 2015. The US has one of its largest missions in the world in India. He succeeded Nancy Powell, who resigned in March 2014 in the backdrop of a diplomatic row over the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US.

The former assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs is also a veteran of the US Air Force, where he served on active duty as a judge advocate.

(WION with inputs from PTI)

 
&nbsp;

Richard Verma, who is first Indian-American to to be appointed as US envoy to India, will not be given any 'grace period'

US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, who was appointed by the Obama administration will reportedly demit office before US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. The 48-year-old, who is first Indian-American to to be appointed as US envoy to India, will not be given any "grace period" beyond Trump's inauguration day, PTI reported. In a break from tradition, Trump's transition team has decided not to give any grace period beyond inauguration day to US envoys who are political appointees of President Barack Obama. The unusual decision by the transition team could also mean that some of the top US embassies around the world will be left without an ambassador for months, as Trump replaces them with new appointments. Sources told PTI that Verma will quit the post before January 20. Verma had played a key role in the passage of the US India civil nuclear deal in the Congress and is a strong advocate of closer Indo-US ties. The US ambassador may prolong his stay in capital New Delhi in a private capacity for a few more months so that his children can complete their current academic year, PTI reported. Verma assumed charge as the 25th American Ambassador to India in 2015. The US has one of its largest missions in the world in India. He succeeded Nancy Powell, who resigned in March 2014 in the backdrop of a diplomatic row over the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US. The former assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs is also a veteran of the US Air Force, where he served on active duty as a judge advocate. (WION with inputs from PTI)

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma likely to quit before Trump's inauguration

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