Top Stories Today – May 22, 2019
Top Stories Today – May 22, 2019
North Korea slams Biden as fool of low IQ
North Korean state media slammed Joe Biden as an “imbecile” and a “fool of low IQ” Wednesday, Pyongyang’s first substantial comments on the 2020 US presidential election. The commentary in the state-run Korean Central News Agency criticized Biden for recently referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a thug and a tyrant.
“[Biden] reeled off rhetoric slandering the supreme leadership of the DPRK,” KCNA said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name. “What he uttered is just sophism of an imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being, let alone a politician.” The statement does not represent a formal endorsement of Trump; North Korean media often lash out at world leaders who criticize members of the ruling Kim family. The Voice of America
Huawei faces break with chip giant ARM
UK-based chip designer ARM has told staff it must suspend business with Huawei, according to internal documents obtained by the BBC. ARM instructed employees to halt “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with Huawei and its subsidiaries to comply with a recent US trade clampdown. ARM’s designs form the basis of most mobile device processors worldwide. In a company memo, it said its designs contained “US origin technology”.
As a consequence, it believes it is affected by the Trump administration’s ban. One analyst described the move, if it became long-term, as an “insurmountable” blow to Huawei’s business. He said it would greatly affect the firm’s ability to develop its own chips, many of which are currently built with ARM’s underlying technology, for which it pays a license. Cambridge-headquartered ARM had been described as the UK’s largest tech firm until its takeover by a Japanese fund. It employs 6,000 workers and lists eight offices in the US. In a statement it said it was “complying with all of the latest regulations set forth by the US government”, but declined to comment further. BBC
IRS memo says Trump tax returns be given to Congress
A confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo says tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president takes the rare step of asserting executive privilege, according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Washington Post. The memo contradicts the Trump administration’s justification for denying lawmakers’ request for President Trump’s tax returns, exposing fissures in the executive branch.
Trump has refused to turn over his tax returns but has not invoked executive privilege. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has instead denied the returns by arguing there is no legislative purpose for demanding them. But according to the IRS memo, which has not been previously reported, the disclosure of tax returns to the committee “is mandatory, requiring the Secretary to disclose returns, and return information, requested by the tax-writing Chairs.” The Washington Post
Clashes in Jakarta in wake of election
Indonesian President Joko Widodo says he will not tolerate anyone disturbing the country’s democratic process, after deadly clashes between police and supporters of Prabowo Subianto, the former army general who lost the recent election. Jakarta’s governor said at least six people were killed and more than 200 injured in the violence Wednesday.
Authorities say protesters refused to disperse as police tried to persuade them to leave saying that it’s Ramadan and they should refrain from committing violence during the holy month. The protesters even set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles. The police finally used tear gas to disperse the protesters. National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told VOA that protests turned violent Tuesday night and continued until early Wednesday. Dozens of people were arrested. The Voice of America
House subpoenas 2 more Trump’s advisers
The Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas Tuesday ordering two more of President Donald Trump’s former advisers — Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson — to testify before the panel and hand over documents.
Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York wants Hicks, the former White House communications director, and Donaldson, who was deputy to former White House counsel Don McGahn, to undergo questioning in his panel’s efforts to pursue findings by Special Counsel Robert Mueller concerning possible obstruction of justice by Trump. The aggressive move by Nadler came just hours after McGahn defied a committee subpoena for his testimony, refusing to attend a scheduled Judiciary hearing at the direction of the White House. Bloomberg
US spent $1.57 billion on 1.7 miles of border fence
US Customs and Border Protection has put up just 1.7 miles of fencing with the $1.57 billion that Congress appropriated last year for President Donald Trump’s wall along the Mexican border, a federal judge was told. A lawyer for the US House of Representatives provided the information Tuesday to the judge in Oakland, California, who is weighing requests from 20 state attorneys general and the Sierra Club to block Trump from using funds not authorized by Congress to build the wall.
“The administration recently provided updated information to Congress on the status of its efforts as of April 30, 2019,” the attorney, Douglas Letter, said in a court filing. That was 3/4 of a mile more than the administration reported at the end of February, Letter said. US District Judge Haywood Gilliam had asked for the information at a May 17 hearing. A Customs and Border Protection official said the agency can’t comment on pending litigation. Trump Border Wall Judge Is Vexed by Awfully Shifty Landscape. Bloomberg