Top News Stories for Today – feb 6, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – feb 6, 2019
Trump’s State of the Union speech
US president Trump makes 82 minutes long his second State of the Union Friday night. In an address to the nation with the theme “Choosing Greatness”, he vowed once again to build a border wall. He announced in his State of the Union speech that he will hold a second nuclear summit with North Korea’s leader in Vietnam February 27-28.
Trump raised potential areas of agreement, such as infrastructure improvements, lowering prescription drug costs and fighting childhood cancer. Trump said his administration was holding “constructive talks” with the Taliban to find a solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. The president also said “virtually all” of the territory once occupied in Syria and Iraq by the Islamic State group had been liberated from “these bloodthirsty monsters”. Despite the president’s call for unity, the reception from Democrats was frosty for most of the evening. Meanwhile, Republicans shouted their approval – especially when Trump talked about the wall along the southern border. When the president said: “The state of our union is strong”, members of his party stood and chanted: “USA!” The Democrats stayed seated. But then the mood changed. As the president noted the record number of women in Congress, Democrats gave a standing ovation – and they began shouting: “USA!” Republicans joined in – they all chanted together. BBC
Stacey Abrams rebuttal State of the Union
In the Democratic response to the State of the Union, Stacey Abrams said that while she is “very disappointed” in the way President Trump approaches problems, she doesn’t want “him to fail,” but rather “tell the truth, and to respect his duties and the extraordinary diversity that defines America.” Abrams was the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, and narrowly lost the race in November.
She touched on everything from the recent government shutdown, which she called “a stunt engineered by the president of the United States,” to immigration. “The administration chooses to cage children and tear families apart,” she said. “Compassion treatment at the border is not the same as open borders.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution via The Week
UN report: N Korea avoiding sanctions
A new report by the United Nations shown to the Security Council Friday claims North Korea is working to ensure its weapons cannot be destroyed by military strikes. It comes as US President Donald Trump hailed “tremendous progress” last week in his dealings with North Korea and set the date for his second summit during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
The 317-page U.N. report found evidence of North Korea using civilian facilities, including airports, for ballistic missile assembly and testing with the goal of effectively preventing ‘decapitation’ strikes.” In addition, the U.N. report said North Korea ”continues to defy Security Council resolutions through a massive increase in illegal ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products and coal,” rendering the latest U.N. sanctions ineffective. The U.N. monitors included in the report evidence of one prohibited petroleum transaction worth more than $5.7 million. VOA
Pope admits clergy sexual abuse of nuns
Pope Francis on Tuesday publicly acknowledged the scandal of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns and vowed to do more to fight the problem, the latest sign that there is no end in sight to the Catholic Church’s abuse crisis — and that it now has a reckoning from the #MeToo movement.
Francis admitted to the problem for the first time in public during a news conference while returning to Rome from the United Arab Emirates. The acknowledgment comes just two weeks before he hosts an unprecedented gathering of bishops to craft a global response to the scandal of priestly predators who target children and the superiors who covered up the crimes. Associated Press
There will be no host for the Oscars
The 2019 Oscars will officially not have a host. A spokesperson for the Academy confirmed this following weeks of reports that no one would be hired to replace Kevin Hart, who was originally tapped for the gig but stepped down in December when old homophobic tweets and jokes of his were resurfaced.
This year’s show will, therefore, be the first Oscars without a host in 30 years. At a luncheon for nominees Monday, producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss did not address the hosting controversy, but a line-up of presenters was announced Monday that includes Jennifer Lopez, Awkwafina, Chris Evans, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Brie Larson, and Constance Wu. Variety, Entertainment Weekly via Week