Kushner’s overseas contacts raise concerns as foreign officials seek leverage
By Shane Harris, Carol D. Leonnig, Greg Jaffe and Josh Dawsey
As attacks in the Syrian enclave continued during first truce attempt, a second try to evacuate the injured begins.
A SHIFT IN THOUGHT
By Shane Harris, Carol D. Leonnig, Greg Jaffe and Josh Dawsey
Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter.
Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, the current and former officials said.
It is unclear if any of those countries acted on the discussions, but Kushner’s contacts with certain foreign government officials have raised concerns inside the White House and are a reason he has been unable to obtain a permanent security clearance, the officials said.
Ce*sored! China bans letter N (briefly) from internet as Xi Jinping extends grip on power
Amid fallout from the decision to allow Xi to be president for life, censors also crack down on letters, phrases and George Orwell’s Animal Farm
It is the 14th letter in the English alphabet and, in Scrabble, the springboard for more than 600 8-letter words.
But for the Communist party of China it is also a subversive and intolerable character that was this week banished from the internet as Chinese censors battled to silence criticism of Xi Jinping’s bid to set himself up as ruler for life.
The contravening consonant was perhaps the most unusual victim of a crackdown targeting words, phrases and even solitary letters censors feared might be used to attack Beijing’s controversial decision to abolish constitutional term limits for China’s president.North Korea is supplying chemical weapons to Syria: UN experts
Amid an investigation that the Assad regime has been using chemical weapons, a panel of UN weapons experts has now linked North Korean chemical weapons supplies to Syria. This may have been going on for decades, it says.
UN weapons experts have found that North Korea has been supplying Syria with items used in manufacturing chemical weapons, according to an unpublished report released to US media.
The report seen by The New York Times and The Associated Press claims to provide "substantial new evidence" of North Korea exporting material used in Syrian ballistic missile and chemical weapons programs as far back as 2008. It is also alleges that North Korean missile technicians traveled to Syria and were observed working at known chemical weapons and missile facilities inside the country.
Apart from violating UN sanctions, the experts reportedly describe the arrangement as a source of much needed cash for North Korea's nuclear missile program; for the Syrians, it would enable them to maintain their chemical weapons arsenal.
Second Russia truce attempt in Eastern Ghouta comes into effect
As attacks in the Syrian enclave continued during first truce attempt, a second try to evacuate the injured begins.
A second attempt at implementing a ceasefire in Syria's rebel-held Eastern Ghouta has begun after Russia's partial truce failed to stop an ongoing onslaught in the area.
Wednesday's attempt to provide residents with a five-hour "humanitarian pause" to evacuate the injured out of the Damascus suburb is also meant to allow humanitarian convoys to deliver food and medicine to the besieged enclave.
Called by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the truce from 9am-2pm (7:00-12:00 GMT) on Tuesday proved to be futile as aerial bombardment and artillery fire killed at least four civilians, and injured dozens more.
For Indians rethinking college abroad, home has new degree of possibility
A SHIFT IN THOUGHT
A new US administration, red tape, and the high costs have discouraged some applicants from abroad. But in India, many university students say they see a growing sense of opportunity right here, for their college years and beyond.
When a study last fall showed the number of new foreign students arriving in the United States dipped slightly in 2016 – the first time in years – some analysts attributed the decline to the “Trump effect.”
The nationalistic and anti-foreigner undertones of then-candidate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign had weakened the international draw of the Made-in-America college education, experts said.
“We like to say that ‘things are in the air,’ and that’s the situation here,” says Sheikh Safwan, a sophomore at Ashoka University who thought seriously about heading to the United States himself. “There’s just this growing perception of uncertainty about the US, that it’s turning inward and that Trump’s direction is to discourage foreigners and put Americans first.”
Brazil called up the military to control violence in Rio de Janeiro. Since then, it's only gotten worse
“Shots fired in Fazendinha and Zona do Medo, in Complexo do Alemão (16:25).”
“Police operation in the São Joaquim neighborhood in Itaboraí ended with one dead this morning.”
“Shots fired in the Cação neighborhood in Itaguaí (13:45).”
“Shots fired in Vila Kennedy, nearby Barão. (6:30).”
Just 10 days after Brazilian President Michel Temer signed a decree handing the military control of public security in Rio de Janeiro, notifications like these continue to fill the screens of smartphones across the surrounding state, informing those who have downloaded the Crossfire app (Fogo Cruzado in Portuguese) of when and where shootouts and gunshots are heard. Most live in Rio’s innumerable favelas, where police—and now military—operations have become an everyday occurrence.
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