Top Stories Today – April 25, 2019
Top Stories Today – April 25, 2019
Kim and Putin hold historic summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for their first face-to-face talks on Thursday, with Putin saying that the summit should help plan joint efforts to resolve a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. The meeting, on Russky Island near the far western Russian city of Vladivostok, came two months after Kim’s second denuclearization summit with President Donald Trump broke down because of disputes over US sanctions.
Putin voiced confidence that Kim’s visit will “help better understand what should be done to settle the situation on the Korean Peninsula, what we can do together.” Putin, who analysts say wants to expand Moscow’s clout in the region and get more leverage with Washington, said “we welcome your efforts to develop an inter-Korean dialogue and normalize North Korea’s relations with the United States.” USA Today
Muslims flee in Sri Lankan town
As mourners buried the remains of Christian worshippers killed in the Easter suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, hundreds of Muslim refugees fled Negombo on the country’s west coast where communal tensions have flared in recent days. On Wednesday, hundreds of Pakistani Muslims fled the multi-ethnic port an hour north of the capital, Colombo. Crammed into buses organized by community leaders and police, they left fearing for their safety after threats of revenge from locals.
Most of Sri Lanka’s 22 million people are Buddhist, but the Indian Ocean island’s population includes Muslim, Hindu and Christian minorities. Until now, Christians had largely managed to avoid the worst of the island’s conflict and communal tensions. The Voice of America
Biden officially enters 2020 race
Joe Biden is officially enters the race for president. His long-awaited answer to the biggest political question in the country the past few months ended on Thursday, making him one of 20 Democrats vying to become the party’s 2020 presidential nominee.
The announcement from the 76-year-old former vice president comes three years after he declined to seek the country’s highest political office — a time in which he and his family were grieving the death of his oldest son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden. USA Today
Deutsche Bank turning over Trump’s loan documents
Deutsche Bank has begun the process of providing financial records to New York state’s attorney general in response to a subpoena for documents related to loans made to President Donald Trump and his business, according to a person familiar with the production.
Last month, the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James issued subpoenas for records tied to funding for several Trump Organization projects. The state’s top legal officer opened a civil probe after Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress in a public hearing that Trump had inflated his assets. Cohen at that time presented copies of financial statements he said had been provided to Deutsche Bank. CNN
NSA recommends ending phone surveillance program
The National Security Agency has recommended the White House drop the controversial phone surveillance program that was secretly launched during the George W. Bush administration following the 9/11 attacks, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. The program, which collects data on US phone calls and text messages, was started without a court order, and its existence wasn’t known until former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked information to journalists about it in 2013.
After saying for years that the program is a key tool in finding and thwarting terrorism plots, senior NSA officials now believe the many logistical and legal issues outweigh any intelligence benefits, the Journal reports. If the White House follows the NSA’s recommendation, the program’s legal authority will expire in December. The Wall Street Journal via The Week
Facebook expects to be fined up to $5 billion
Facebook said on Wednesday that it expected to be fined up to $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations. The penalty would be a record by the agency against a technology company and a sign that the United States was willing to punish big tech companies.
Facebook has been in negotiations with the regulator for months over a financial penalty for claims that the company violated a 2011 privacy consent decree. That year, the social network promised a series of measures to protect its users’ privacy after an investigation found that its handling of data had harmed consumers. The New York Times