Top News Stories for Today – Dec 27, 2018
Top News Stories for Today – Dec 27, 2018
Trump visits US troops in Iraq
President Donald Trump made an unannounced trip to Iraq Wednesday to visit US troops stationed there. Trump and first lady Melania Trump landed at al-Asad air base in western Iraq at 7:16 p.m. local time. This is Trump’s first visit to a conflict zone as president. The trip was undertaken in near secrecy.
The president and first lady greeted troops in a dining hall, taking photos and signing autographs as part of the visit. They left three hours later. On the return to Washington, Air Force One stopped briefly at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, where Trump met with several US Air Force leaders, and he and the first lady took photos with US service members there. Trump did not meet with any Iraqi officials during his short visit to the country, but he did speak on the phone with Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. Trump’s visit to Iraq came a day after he held a video conference from the Oval Office with military members around the globe. After the call, he was criticized by some media outlets that reported he is first president since 2002 to not visit US troops at Christmastime. VOA
Russia test new hypersonic missile
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed final tests of a hypersonic missile, which he earlier said would render existing missile defense systems obsolete. The Kremlin told Russian news agencies the test had taken place in far eastern Kamchatka while Putin was at the national defense control center.
Putin unveiled features of the Avangard during his annual address in March, which he said would be part of a new generation of “invincible” weaponry. The hypersonic missile could fly at 20 times the speed of sound and maneuver up and down, meaning it could breach defense systems, he said at the time.
The final test comes after US President Donald Trump announced plans to pull out of a key Cold War-era nuclear weapons pact, the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Putin has laid out plans to develop missiles banned under the deal if the United States abandons it. CBS News
Dow rebounds 1,000 points
The Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked more than 1,080 points Wednesday, a nearly 5 percent gain and the largest rise since 2009. The S&P 500 jumped nearly 5 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.6 percent, largely thanks to oil and retail stock hikes in the wake of the holidays. The massive gains come after the biggest Christmas Eve trading slump in history, which continued the stock market’s worst December since the Great Depression.
Investors appeared to take to heart President Trump’s assessment Tuesday that the market plunge represented a “tremendous opportunity to buy.” Markets also seemed placated after White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s job is “100 percent safe.” Hassett also indicated Trump was “very happy” with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The Week
US to medical checks for immigrant kids
Declaring the US immigration system had been “pushed to a breaking point by those who seek open borders,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Wednesday ordered mandatory medical checks on all children under the age of 10 in US custody and said she would send US Coast Guard medical personnel to the border to help.
Nielsen said she also planned to visit the border later this week to see “first-hand” how medical screenings were handled. abc News
US man finishes solo race across Antarctica
A 33-year-old American man has become the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unassisted. Explorer Colin O’Brady finished in 53 days, ahead of British Army Captain Louis Rudd, 49, after an epic race across the ice. Both men set out on 3 November to complete the journey, which killed a British ex-Army officer two years ago.
The 921-mile (1,482km) trek took them across the coldest continent on Earth in some of the most extreme conditions. O’Brady, a pro-athlete who posts his milestones on social media, spoke to the BBC on one his harshest days. BBC