Friday, November 17, 2017

Six In The Morning Friday November 17

Senate judiciary committee requests more information on Kushner

Updated 0255 GMT (1055 HKT) November 17, 2017



Senate judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dianne Feinstein sent a letter Thursday requesting more information on President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner related to his security clearance and questions over whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.
The two senators specifically requested "transcripts from other committee interviews, additional documents from previous requests, communications with (former national security adviser) Michael Flynn and documents related to his security clearance," according to their statement.





'Maybe the smog can bring us together': toxic air chokes Pakistan and India

With Lahore suffering from air pollution almost equal to that enveloping Delhi, joint action to tackle the problem is urgently needed, say environmentalists



Parts of Pakistan have been enveloped by deadly smog in recent weeks, with the city of Lahore suffering almost as badly as the Indian capital Delhi.
Pictures and video that show Lahore looking like an apocalyptic landscape have left people in shock. Some residents have said they can’t see beyond their outstretched arm.
According to the app Airvisual and a Twitter user going by the handle @Lahoresmog, the air quality index, which measures the level of PM 2.5 pollutants in the air, has been set at “hazardous” over the past week, making a modest improvement in recent days.



Iraqi spies have infiltrated Isis 'sleeper cells' to prevent future terror attacks, says minister

Exclusive: In an interview with The Independent, Iraq's Interior Minister says the government sometimes lets Isis bomb a target and then releases fake casualty numbers, in order to protect informants



Violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, as Isis loses its base areas and its bombing attacks are thwarted by informers and double agents. A senior Iraqi security official says that intelligence about potential Isis attacks has improved to the point that government forces can monitor a bomb from construction to detonation, allowing it to explode after evacuating civilians so Isis does not know that its bomb-making networks have been penetrated.
“We have people who work with Isis who agree to work with us,” said Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji in an interview with The Independent in Baghdad. “Isis does not know this and we make sure our informant is not exposed.” Sometimes security forces even pay for the car that transports a bomb to Baghdad and allow it blow up in a place which Isis has targeted. “We ask people to move and make an official statement with a false number of casualties,” he says.

Germany replaces US as country with best international image

Germany enjoys the best reputation of any country in the world, according to the latest Nation Brands Index. The survey found that there is much more than Germany's economic motor driving the positive image.
Germany has replaced the US as the country with the best "brand image," according to a new study of 50 countries released Thursday.
The Nation Brands Index (NBI) survey, carried out by German-based market research firm GfK and the British political consultant Simon Anholt, measured public opinion around the world on "the power and quality of each country's 'brand image.'"
Germany moved up to first place after coming in second in 2016. The US dropped from top to sixth, with France, Britain, Canada and Japan taking spots two to five.

Airbnb raided by Japan fair trade watchdog, denies wrongdoing


Airbnb's offices in Japan have been raided by anti-monopoly officials, the home sharing giant said Friday, denying any wrongdoing and pledging cooperation.
Japan's Fair Trade Commission reportedly carried out the raids over suspicions Airbnb was requiring users to sign exclusively with its site and cut ties with other agencies.
"Airbnb Japan received an on-site inspection by the Japan Fair Trade Commission and we are cooperating with the Commission's ongoing investigation," the company said in a statement.


THESE WALL STREET COMPANIES ARE READY TO CASH IN ON TRUMP’S BORDER WALL




November 17 2017


MUCH OF THE discussion on President Donald Trump’s border wall has focused on its cost and impracticality, as well as the anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric it embodies. Little attention, however, has been paid to who specifically might profit from building the structure.
Earlier this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection chose six companies to build prototypes for the wall in both concrete and “other materials” — and last month they unveiled eight different proposals, the closest this administration has come to fulfilling its signature campaign promise. All but one of the companies that built prototypes are privately held, but a close look at Sterling Construction Company, a publicly traded company based in Texas, suggests that even investors who have distanced themselves from the president’s immigration policies are eager to cash in should the wall actually come to pass.


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