Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Thursday discussed Iran and the possible involvement of the Gulf state in establishing a vaccine plant in Israel, the two countries said. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates formalised ties with Israel on Sept. 15 in part over shared concerns about Iran, in a deal forged by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, a move praised by Israel which has objected to the accord. His successor, President Joe Biden, wants to rejoin the deal. But in the week since Washington offered to talk with Tehran about reviving the nuclear deal, Iran has curbed U.N. monitoring and threatened to boost its uranium enrichment. Tehran denies...
The U.S. State Department on Friday said Washington will de-link its pause on some aid to Ethiopia from its policy on the giant Blue Nile hydropower dam that sparked a long-running dispute between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that President Joe Biden’s administration will review U.S. policy on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and will assess the role the administration can play in facilitating a solution between the countries. A bitter dispute between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the filling and operation of the dam remains unresolved even after the reservoir behind the dam began filling in July. “We continue to support collaborative and constructive efforts by Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to reach an agreement on the GERD,” P...
Source: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Getty Today (Feb. 17), the old Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City was demolished. Donald Trump was responsible for building the property, and driving it into bankruptcy, which had been shuttered since 2014. The casino opened in 1984, when Trump was still conning people into thinking he was a skilled real estate developer, in the middle of Atlantic City’s famed Boardwalk. The twice impeached President would eventually own three properties in the New Jersey resort town with the Trump Marina (now the Golden Nugget) and the Trump Taj Mahal (now the Hard Rock Atlantic City). But in 2014, and Trump long-gone as an owner, it was shuttered due to poor performance. Reports the Associated Press: The former Trump Plaza casino was imploded after falling into ...
North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs are an urgent priority for the United States and Washington remains committed to denuclearization of the country, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. The Biden administration’s lack of direct engagement with North Korea should not be seen as an indication that the challenge posed by its weapons programs was not a priority, department spokesman Ned Price said. “It in fact very much is,” he told a regular briefing. North Korea continued to make progress in its nuclear and missile programs in recent years “which makes this an urgent priority for the United States and one that we are committed to addressing together with our allies and partners,” Price said. “And … the central premise is that we remain committed to denuclearizat...
Madonna (photo by Paul Morigi), Donald Trump, and Johnny Depp (photo via YouTube) Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial has been taking place over the past few days, and his lawyers haven’t been doing that great of a job defending him. For example, on Friday they argued that Democrats have previously used the same type of provocative language that Democrats are now claiming the former president used to incite the Capitol siege. To prove their point, Trump’s lawyers played a video that featured “fight” rhetoric used by Madonna and Johnny Depp, neither of whom provoked a violence insurrection. Trump’s attorney David Schoen accused the House impeachment managers of deceptively editing Trump’s words in their own video, which focused on Trump’s rallying cries on January 6th that were the...
The January 6th Capitol insurrection was an unholy calamafuck that resulted in an unprecedented second impeachment of Donald Trump. Those hoping to convict face an uphill battle, but if nothing else comes of it, the trial at least allowed Run the Jewels to fulfill their destiny. On February 10th, Rep. Stacey Plaskett quoted the lyrics “Truth is truth, whether denied or not,” entering the RTJ2 song “Early” into the official Congressional Record to make the case that — to summarize — Trump is guilty as fuck. Plaskett is a representative of the US Virgin Islands, and she made a bit of history herself when she became the first non-voting delegate to join a team of House impeachment managers. On February 10th, she addressed Congress and opened with a quote from Wu-Tang maestro GZA. “T...
It only took four years of violating the Terms of Service, but in January Twitter finally worked up the courage to ban then-President Donald Trump. Still, the one-time Tweeter-in-Chief has vowed to run for president in 2024, perhaps under the banner of a new Patriot Party. This has led many to speculate that Twitter would relax the ban if Trump returned to power, since they already showed cowardice an unwillingness to challenge him while he spoke for half the country. Well, bad news for all the “God bless you, sir!” reply-guys, because Twitter CFO Ned Segal has confirmed that the Orange Menace is gone for good. “The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform,” Segal told CNBC’s Squawk Box, “whether you’re a commentator, you’re a CFO, or y...
Four Seasons Total Landscaping is still cashing in on its increased exposure thanks to the bumbling, blundering 2020 Trump campaign. Since the humble Philadelphia business became the accidental site of a Rudy Giuliani press conference back in November, the company has raked it in with exclusive merch and that cheeky “Opportunity Knocks” Super Bowl ad for Fiverr. Now, the debacle that started this whole thing will become the focus of a new documentary from a pair of Oscar-winning producers. Entitled Four Seasons Total Documentary, the in-production film is being directed by Christopher Stoudt (Patron Saint of Jazz Fest). Glen Zipper and Sean Stuart, who won Academy Awards in 2012 for their high school football doc Undefeated, are serving as producers (via The Hollywood Reporter). Four Seaso...
If Donald Trump ever does intend to reenter entertainment, he’ll do so without the backing of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, as the union has permanently banned him from their ranks. Like the unemployed toddler he is, Trump threw a tantrum when he learned the SAG-AFTRA Disciplinary Committee was to hold a disciplinary hearing over the former Apprentice host’s role in the January 6th insurrection. He issued the most childish resignation letter ever, touting his work on Home Alone 2 and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as if he deserved Golden Globes. He even claimed the media’s coverage of him helped save the cable news industry and “created thousands of jobs at networks. Initially, SAG responded to the note with a blunt and simple, “Thank you...
Many Palestinians see a ruling by the International Criminal Court that it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories as a belated chance of justice for victims of Israeli attacks. But for many Israelis, Friday’s ruling is worrying because they say they are the “good guys” defending themselves against Palestinian violence. The ruling, delivered by a pre-trial chamber of three ICC judges, could lead to criminal investigations of Israel and Palestinian militant groups including Hamas. No probe was expected in the near future, however. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she would now examine the decision and pointed to the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and militant groups in Hamas-controlled Gaza, the 2018 Gaza border protests and Israeli settlements in occupied territory. In Khan Youni...
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday the US must “completely lift” sanctions first, followed by verification by Tehran, before the Islamic republic returns to its nuclear deal commitments. “If they want Iran to return to its commitments … America must completely lift sanctions, and not just in words or on paper,” Khamenei said in a televised speech to air force commanders. “They must be lifted in action, and then we will verify and see if they have been properly lifted, and then return,” he added. The 2015 landmark deal has been hanging by a thread since US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from it in 2018 and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Tehran a year later suspended its compliance with most key nuclear commitments to the deal. The new administration of ...
Twitter: Donald Trump ban permanent, even if he runs for office again
Former President Donald Trump will not be returning to Twitter at any point in the future, according to the company’s chief financial officer. In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box program on Wednesday, Twitter CFO Ned Segal said that running for public office again would not reverse the ban the company handed out to Trump in the aftermath of the US Capitol riot on January 6th. The question is relevant considering Trump’s ongoing impeachment trial. A central question in the trial is whether Democrats can bar Trump from running for president again in 2024 or seeking other public office. Regardless of the outcome, the @realDonaldTrump will still remain suspended for good, Segal said. “The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the...