Top News Stories for Today – Feb 20, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – Feb 20, 2019
Hanoi summit may advance N Korea’s objectives
With the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un one week away, final preparations are underway in Vietnam for the February 27-28 talks in Hanoi. It remains unclear what the outcome between the two leaders will yield, but former North Korean Deputy Ambassador to Britain, Thae Yong Ho, told reporters Tuesday that Pyongyang’s long term goal was to remove the US and United Nations presence from the Korean peninsula.
During Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s speech, he said Pyongyang called for a “staged approach” for the creation of a “peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula, said Thae. VOA
WH tried to sell nuclear plants to Saudis
Key members of the Trump administration pushed a plan to sell nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia in the months after the inauguration despite objections from members of the National Security Council and other senior White House officials, according to a new report from congressional Democrats.
The 24-page report from the House Oversight and Reform Committee is based on internal White House documents and the accounts of unnamed whistleblowers. It said the objectors — including White House lawyers and National Security Council officials — opposed the plan out of concern that it violated laws designed to prevent the transfer of nuclear technology that could be used to support a weapons program. Of greater concern to some were potential conflicts of interest on the part of Michael Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general who was President Trump’s first national security adviser and who had advised a firm pitching the nuclear plan. Yet the effort persisted even after Flynn resigned and left the White House, the report alleges. The Washington Post
Trump tried to install ally to lead Cohen probe
Last year, President Trump reportedly asked Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker if he could get Southern District of New York attorney Geoffrey Berman put in charge of the district’s investigation into former attorney Michael Cohen.
Berman had recused himself from the investigation. This probe is what led to charges against Cohen, and after Whitaker declined to appoint an ally to lead the investigation, Trump reportedly “soured on” him and “complained about his inability to pull levers at the Justice Department that could make the president’s many legal problems go away,” The New York Times writes. Asked on Tuesday about whether he made the request of Whitaker, Trump said, “No, not at all.” The New York Times via The Week
Jeffrey Rosen for deputy AG
President Donald Trump plans to nominate Jeffrey Rosen as the new deputy attorney general, the White House said on Tuesday night. Rosen, now deputy secretary of the US Transportation Department, would replace Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Last week, the Senate confirmed William Barr as the new US attorney general. It was Barr who chose Rosen to be the new deputy attorney general, according to people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to discuss the nomination process.
Rosen, a Harvard Law School graduate, worked at the Transportation Department and the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He also had a long career at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Barr, who also led the Justice Department under President George H.W. Bush, was of counsel at the firm. Bloomberg
Civilians evacuated from last ISIS enclave
Trucks have begun evacuating civilians from the last village in Syria still held by the Islamic State (ISIS) group. Journalists on the front line saw at least 15 vehicles carrying men, women and children leaving Baghuz. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, which is besieging the area, said it did not yet know if any IS fighters were among the passengers.
On Tuesday, the UN expressed concern about the fate of some 200 families reportedly trapped in Baghuz. Human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said they were apparently being actively prevented from leaving by IS and continued to be subjected to intense bombardment by SDF and US-led coalition forces. BBC
Venezuela shuts border with Caribbean islands
enezuela on Tuesday shut the maritime border with nearby Dutch Caribbean islands ahead of an opposition effort to bring in humanitarian aid from foreign territories including neighboring Curacao despite the protests of President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro has rejected offers of foreign aid, denying there are widespread shortages and insisting that the country’s economic problems are the result of sanctions by Washington.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by dozens countries as the legitimate head of state, has said that food and medicine provided in part by the United States will enter Venezuela by land and sea on Saturday. VOA