US Politics - Trump cancels summit having to do with North Korea

Cuttooth wrote:They barred The Mail for crying out loud.

BBC's Washington bureau chief, Paul Danahar, said: “We understand there may be occasions when, due to space or circumstances, the White House restricts press events to the established pool.

“However, what happened today did not fit into that pattern. On this occasion selected media were allowed to attend the briefing and the selected media, including the BBC, were not.

"The BBC has a representative at every daily White House briefing so we are not clear why we were barred from today's. We have sought clarification from the White House Press team. Our reporting will remain fair and impartial regardless.”

BBC News wrote:India has expressed shock after the fatal shooting of an Indian national in the US, amid reports that the attack may have been racially motivated.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla died shortly after Wednesday's attack at a bar in Olathe, Kansas. His friend Alok Madasani, also from India, and an American were hurt.

Adam Purinton has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder.

The killing dominated news bulletins in India and social media, where some blamed Donald Trump's presidency.

Mr Kuchibhotla's wife, Sunayana Dumala, described her husband as a "loveable soul".

Speaking at a news conference, she described the US as "the country that he loved so much" and called the shooting a "hate crime".

Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories

The Trump administration has enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates’ ties to Russia, a politically charged issue that has been under investigation by the FBI as well as lawmakers now defending the White House.


Acting at the behest of the White House, the officials made calls to news organizations last week in attempts to challenge stories about alleged contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, U.S. officials said.




The calls were orchestrated by the White House after unsuccessful attempts by the administration to get senior FBI officials to speak with news organizations and dispute the accuracy of stories on the alleged contacts with Russia.


The White House on Friday acknowledged those interactions with the FBI but did not disclose that it then turned to other officials who agreed to do what the FBI would not — participate in White House-arranged calls with news organizations, including The Washington Post.

twitter.com/DennisPerkins5/status/835223242524798978

twitter.com/kenvogel/status/835219520541364225

Australian children's author Mem Fox detained by US border control: 'I sobbed like a baby'

Author of Possum Magic was aggressively questioned for two hours over her visa status and later recieved an apology for her treatment by border guards

Australian childrens’ book author Mem Fox has suggested she might never to return to the US after she was detained and insulted by border control agents at Los Angeles airport.

Fox, who is famous worldwide for her best-selling books including Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Possum Magic, was en route to a conference in Milwaukee earlier this month when she was stopped.

She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she was questioned by border agents for two hours in front of a room full of people – an experience that left her feeling like she had been physically assaulted.

“I have never in my life been spoken to with such insolence, treated with such disdain, with so many insults and with so much gratuitous impoliteness,” Fox said.

“I felt like I had been physically assaulted which is why, when I got to my hotel room, I completely collapsed and sobbed like a baby, and I’m 70 years old.”

The author attributed the aggressive questioning to border police who had been “turbocharged” by Donald Trump’s proposed travel ban.

Fox said she was questioned over her visa, despite having travelled to America 116 times before without incident. She was eventually granted access to the country.

After lodging a complaint over her treatment with the Australian embassy in Washington and the US embassy in Canberra, Fox received an emailed apology from US officials.

Fox said she was shocked by her treatment and “couldn’t imagine” returning to the US.

Fox has written more than 30 children’s books, including the hits Where is the Green Sheep? and Time for Bed. Possum Magic has sold more than three million copies and is the bestselling picture book in Australian history.

Muhammad Ali Jr. detained by immigration officials at Fla. airport

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained for hours by immigration officials earlier this month at a Florida airport, according to a family friend.

Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the first wife of Muhammad Ali, were arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 7 after returning from speaking at a Black History Month event in Montego Bay, Jamaica. They were pulled aside while going through customs because of their Arabic-sounding names, according to family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini.

Immigration officials let Camacho-Ali go after she showed them a photo of herself with her ex-husband, but her son did not have such a photo and wasn't as lucky. Mancini said officials held and questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, "Where did you get your name from?" and "Are you Muslim?"

When Ali Jr. responded that yes, he is a Muslim, the officers kept questioning him about his religion and where he was born. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1972 and holds a U.S. passport.

To the Ali family, it's crystal clear that this is directly linked to Mr. Trump's efforts to ban Muslims from the United States," Mancini said, referring to President Trump's executive order signed Jan. 27 that instituted a ban for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Officials at the Fort Lauderdale airport did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Camacho-Ali and Ali Jr. live in Deerfield Beach, Fla., a 20-minute drive from the airport. While Ali Jr. was detained, Camacho-Ali ran around the airport asking, "Where's my son?" and begging for help, according to Mancini. Because incidents involving customs officials are considered to be on federal soil, local police had no jurisdiction to help her. Ali Jr. was eventually released two hours later, and the family contacted Mancini the following day.

Mancini said he and the Ali family are contemplating filing a federal lawsuit and are currently trying to find out how many other people have been subjected to the same treatment as Ali Jr.

"Imagine walking into an airport and being asked about your religion," he said. "This is classic customs profiling."

Alvin Flummux wrote:The Tweet that will get Sean Spicer fired:

twitter.com/DennisPerkins5/status/835223242524798978

twitter.com/kenvogel/status/835219520541364225

Garth wrote:

BBC's Washington bureau chief, Paul Danahar, said: “We understand there may be occasions when, due to space or circumstances, the White House restricts press events to the established pool.

“However, what happened today did not fit into that pattern. On this occasion selected media were allowed to attend the briefing and the selected media, including the BBC, were not.

"The BBC has a representative at every daily White House briefing so we are not clear why we were barred from today's. We have sought clarification from the White House Press team. Our reporting will remain fair and impartial regardless.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 98641.html

Saint of Killers wrote:I wonder if they really did this to knock the Trump/Russia stories off the top of the news.

Harry Ola wrote:

Saint of Killers wrote:I wonder if they really did this to knock the Trump/Russia stories off the top of the news.

Some were complaining that once again they had managed to move the story away from Priebus and the FBI by doing something outlandish, but for now fairly inconsequential.

It was a winning strategy in the campaign, but the press have got 4 years to get to the bottom on Trump and Russia, so they can change one news cycle but not them all.