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Russian Officials Bragged They Could Use Flynn to Influence Trump
Gloria Borger, Pamela Brown, Jim Sciutto, Marshall Cohen and Eric Lichtblau, CNN
Excerpt: "Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn and believed they could use him to influence Donald Trump and his team, sources told CNN."
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Gloria Borger, Pamela Brown, Jim Sciutto, Marshall Cohen and Eric Lichtblau, CNN
Excerpt: "Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn and believed they could use him to influence Donald Trump and his team, sources told CNN."
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As Trump Prepared for Riyadh Visit, Saudis Blocked US on Terrorist Sanctions
Joby Warrick, The Washington Post
Warrick writes: "Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich kingdom touted by President Trump as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State, has helped block a Trump administration proposal to impose sanctions against a Saudi branch of the terrorist group, documents show."
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Joby Warrick, The Washington Post
Warrick writes: "Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich kingdom touted by President Trump as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State, has helped block a Trump administration proposal to impose sanctions against a Saudi branch of the terrorist group, documents show."
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump step off Air Force One upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (photo: Bandar Al-Jaloud/AFP/Getty Images)
audi Arabia, the oil-rich kingdom touted by President Trump as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State, has helped block a Trump administration proposal to impose sanctions against a Saudi branch of the terrorist group, documents show.
The plan to add the Islamic State’s Saudi affiliate to a U.N. list of terrorist groups was quietly killed two weeks ago in a bureaucratic maneuver at the U.N. Security Council, records show. U.S. officials familiar with the move said the Saudis objected to the public acknowledgment of the existence of a separate Saudi offshoot of the terrorist group inside the kingdom.
“They don’t want to admit they have an issue in their back yard,” said a U.S official familiar with the events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
The news of the maneuver comes as Saudi Arabia hosts Trump in Riyadh in his first visit to a foreign capital since becoming president. U.S. and Saudi officials are expected to use the visit to underscore close cooperation between the two countries in battling Islamist extremist groups. Riyadh has contributed money, arms and fighter jets to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State in Syria.
The terrorist group in 2014 declared the existence of a separate Saudi province, or wilayat, with its own cadre of Saudi operatives seeking to overthrow the monarchy. The group has since claimed responsibility for several attacks inside the country, including a suicide bombing at a mosque in 2015 that killed 15 people.
The Trump administration’s proposal to add the “Islamic State in Saudi Arabia” to a list of U.N.-sanctioned terrorist groups was formally blocked on May 5 by Senegal and Egypt, two members of the U.N. Security Council. Egyptian diplomats explained to their U.S. counterparts that they acted at the behest of Saudi Arabia, according to U.S. officials and internal emails describing the exchange. It was the second time in a year that Saudi officials intervened to prevent the local affiliate from being added to the U.N. terrorist list.
A senior Saudi official, speaking by telephone from Riyadh, acknowledged his government’s opposition to the Trump administration’s plan. He said formal recognition of a separate Saudi branch of the Islamic State would have been both unfair to Saudi Arabia and an exaggeration of the local cell’s significance.
“You can’t equate ISIS in the kingdom with ISIS in Syria and Iraq,” said the Saudi official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss U.N. deliberations. “There is no ‘Islamic State in Saudi Arabia’ just as there is no ‘Islamic State in Britain’ or ‘Islamic State in France.’ In those countries there are terrorist cells, but they don’t control infrastructure.”
Acceding to the U.S. proposal could have resulted in “reputational risks” for the kingdom, possibly including losses in tourist revenue and higher insurance premiums, the official said.
Saudi Arabia is one of several countries that have opposed U.S. efforts to add local branches of the Islamic State to the U.N. terrorist list. Russian diplomats earlier this month quashed a U.S. proposal to sanction Islamic State chapters in Libya, Afghanistan and Yemen.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/43685-as-trump-prepared-for-riyadh-visit-saudis-blocked-us-on-terrorist-sanctions
Obamacare Premiums Could Skyrocket Next Year Amid Uncertain Repeal Efforts
Tony Pugh, McClatchy DC
Pugh writes: "Early rate filings by Obamacare insurers suggest consumers will face significantly higher premiums for marketplace coverage next year due to regulatory and political uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act."
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Tony Pugh, McClatchy DC
Pugh writes: "Early rate filings by Obamacare insurers suggest consumers will face significantly higher premiums for marketplace coverage next year due to regulatory and political uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act."
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The Justice Department Temporarily Shut Down a Legal Services Group That Opposed the Muslim Ban
Lauren C. Williams, ThinkProgress
William writes: "The Justice Department temporarily shut down a non-profit group in Seattle that provides free pro se, or temporary, legal representation to immigrants for nearly a month on a technicality."
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Lauren C. Williams, ThinkProgress
William writes: "The Justice Department temporarily shut down a non-profit group in Seattle that provides free pro se, or temporary, legal representation to immigrants for nearly a month on a technicality."
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Police Departments Are Terrible at Investigating Rape, and That's Fine With Jeff Sessions
Katie McDonough, Fusion
McDonough writes: "Rape is common and lying about it is rare. Police officers routinely get this backwards."
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Katie McDonough, Fusion
McDonough writes: "Rape is common and lying about it is rare. Police officers routinely get this backwards."
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Three Years After Coup, Junta Is Deeply Embedded in Thai Life
Panarat Thepgumpanat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat, Reuters
Excerpt: "Thailand has been bitterly divided since a 2006 coup against then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire businessman turned politician who gained the adoration of rural voters through populist schemes but made many enemies among the military-royalist elite."
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Panarat Thepgumpanat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat, Reuters
Excerpt: "Thailand has been bitterly divided since a 2006 coup against then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire businessman turned politician who gained the adoration of rural voters through populist schemes but made many enemies among the military-royalist elite."
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Pesticide That Trump's EPA Refused to Ban Blamed for Sickening Farm Workers
Oliver Milman, Guardian UK
Milman writes: "A pesticide that was set to be banned before the Trump administration reversed course has been blamed for causing sickness to nearly 50 farm workers who were exposed to the chemical in California."
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Oliver Milman, Guardian UK
Milman writes: "A pesticide that was set to be banned before the Trump administration reversed course has been blamed for causing sickness to nearly 50 farm workers who were exposed to the chemical in California."
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