Top News Stories for Today – Jan 11, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – Jan 11, 2019
US begins pulling troops out of Syria
The US-led military coalition in Syria has begun pulling out troops, a spokesman said Friday without elaborating on locations or timetables. “CJTF-OIR has begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria,” spokesman Colonel Sean Ryan told AFP in a statement, referring to the US-led anti-jihadist force. “Out of concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific timelines, locations or troops movements,” he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the coalition had started scaling down its presence at Rmeilan airfield in the northeastern province of Hasakeh. VOA
Myanmar court rejects Reuters reporters’ appeal
A Myanmar court on Friday rejected the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail on charges of breaking the Official Secrets Act, saying the defense had not provided sufficient evidence to show they were innocent.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were convicted by a lower court in September in a landmark case that has raised questions about Myanmar’s progress toward democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates. “It was a suitable punishment,” said High Court Judge Aung Naing, referring to the seven-year prison term meted out by the lower court. VOA
Trump renews national emergency threat over wall
US President Donald Trump has renewed a threat to declare a national emergency to fund the construction of a wall on the Mexican border. A row with Democrats over funding the wall has left the government partially shut down for 20 days, leaving some 800,000 federal employees unpaid.
On Saturday, the shutdown becomes the longest in US history. Mr Trump says the wall, a key campaign pledge, is needed to tackle a security crisis of illegal immigration. The Democrats say the wall is an “immorality” and a waste of taxpayers’ money. BBC
Trump plans to fund wall with Army disaster relief funds
The White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to find money is its own budget that could be used to fund the president’s desired border wall under a national emergency declaration, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The White House has specifically asked the Army Corps of Engineers to examine what funds could be redirected to the border wall from a $13.9 billion February 2018 emergency supplemental that was designed to fund more than 50 disaster relief projects, including in California, Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, among other states, according to a congressional aide with knowledge of the matter.One US official said the money could be used to build as much as 315 miles of border wall under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers. The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment. ABC
Fed’s Powell urges patience on US economy
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday stressed again that the US central bank can be patient in approving any further rate increases as officials gauge whether the US economy will slow this year, as some in financial markets worry, or continue motoring ahead as the Fed itself expects.
Powell’s second appearance in less than a week generated a subdued response in financial markets, a sign he may have found his footing in how to describe central bank policy without surprising investors. Several of his recent appearances have generated large market swings in both directions. VOA
Michael Cohen agrees to testify to Congress
Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer who implicated him in a scheme to pay hush money to two women claiming to have had affairs with him, said on Thursday that he had agreed to testify before a House committee next month and give “a full and credible account” of his work for Mr. Trump.
Cohen has been cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and upon reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors last month said that he would “state publicly all he knows about Mr. Trump” once Mueller “completes his investigation and issues his final report,” suggesting the Mueller probe might be concluding soon. New York Times
Oceans are warming faster than thought
New research shows that the world’s oceans are getting warmer at a much faster rate than previously thought. The oceans have, in the past, provided an essential counter to the effects of climate change, but that may be changing. The oceans have been record-breakingly warm for several years now, per a study published in the journal Science on Thursday.
And what’s more, they’re getting about 40 percent warmer than a United Nations panel estimated back in 2014. Earth’s oceans absorb up to 93 percent of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases — and as they get warmer, adverse effects such as loss of marine life, vanishing ecosystems, and worsening storms are bound to ramp up. The Week