August 2017 Archives

US Slaps Sanctions on Venezuelan President Maduro

No oil-related measures were included in the announcement, but such measures remain under consideration, according to congressional sources.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro show his ballot as casts his vote at a polling station during the Constituent Assembly election in Caracas, Venezuela, July 30, 2017. Credit: Miraflores Palace/Handout via Reuters

Washington: The US government slapped sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday, the Trump’s administration’s toughest move so far against his government in response to Sunday’s election of a legislative superbody Washington denounced as a “sham” vote.

No oil-related measures were included in the announcement, but such measures remain under consideration, according to congressional sources and a person familiar with the White House’s deliberations on the matter.

Under the sanctions, all of Maduro‘s assets subject to US jurisdiction were frozen, and Americans are barred from doing business with him, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said.

“By sanctioning Maduro, the United States makes clear our opposition to the policies of his regime and our support for the people of Venezuela who seek to return their country to a full and prosperous democracy,” treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

He said anyone who participates in the new legislative superbody could be exposed to future US sanctions for undermining democracy in Venezuela.

In Caracas on Monday, Maduro celebrated the election of the new legislative superbody, which is expected to give the ruling Socialist Party sweeping powers. He mocked US criticism that the vote on Sunday was an affront to democracy.

The sanctions against Maduro could be followed by measures targeting further senior Venezuelan officials as well as oil-sector measures in an “escalatory process” depending on how far theVenezuelan government goes in implementing the new congress following Sunday’s vote, according to the person familiar with the White House deliberations.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has also weighed possible sanctions against Venezuelan defense minister Vladimir Padrino and socialist party number two Diosdado Cabello, other US officials have told Reuters. But experts say individual sanctions, while providing strong symbolism, have had little or no impact on Maduro‘s policies and that broader oil-sector and financial sanctions may be the only way to make the Venezuelan government feel economic pain.

(Reuters)

Yemeni Publicly Executed for Raping and Killing a Three-Year-Old

The execution of Muhammad al-Maghrabi drew a large number of onlookers, some perched up telegraph poles and many watching from rooftops.

People gather to watch the execution of Muhammad al-Maghrabi, 41, who was convicted of raping and murdering a three-year-old girl, in Sanaa, Yemen, July 31, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah

Sanaa: A man convicted of raping and murdering a three-year-old girl was executed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday in front of hundreds of onlookers, the first public execution there since 2009.

“Security was very tight, because authorities were fearing a revenge attack by armed men from the Bani Matar tribe to which the girl’s family belong,” said Reuters photographer Khaled Abdullah who witnessed the scene.

The police van transporting Muhammad al-Maghrabi, 41, to Sanaa’s Tahrir Square was escorted by five police patrol vehicles. The execution drew a large number of onlookers, some perched up telegraph poles and many watching from rooftops.

The crowd started to shout “Allah is the greatest” when Maghrabi arrived.

“The man was escorted from the van to the middle of the square, and then the place turned to a complete chaos and I fought for a position to take pictures,” Abdullah said.

“He tried to talk to the executioner, a police officer who was calmly smoking a cigarette as he stood next to him before pointing his AK-47 to his back from a very close distance.

“Soon he fired around four shots, and people realized that it was done, they rushed to the place and tried to take the body, but the police were able to take the body to the van and drove through the crowd out of the square.”

Yahya al-Matari, the father of the murder victim, Rana al-Matari, told reporters after the execution he was satisfied.

“This is the first day in my life,” he said. “I am relieved now.”

Yemen has been devastated by more than two years of civil war between its Saudi-backed government and Houthi fighters who seized parts of the country in 2014 and 2015.

(Reuters)

Kremlin Orders Washington to Cut Diplomatic Staff

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ultimatum shows he is prepared to stand up to Washington but also wants to avoid directly affecting US investment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, in Moscow, Russia June 21, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin/Files

Moscow: The Kremlin has ordered the US to cut about 60% of its diplomatic staff in Russia but many of those let go will be Russian citizens, softening the impact of a measure adopted in retaliation for new US sanctions.

The ultimatum issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin is a display to voters at home that he is prepared to stand up to Washington, but is also carefully calibrated to avoid directly affecting the US investment he needs, or burning his bridges with his US opposite number Donald Trump.

Putin said on Sunday Russia had ordered the US to cut 755 of its 1,200 embassy and consulate staff by September, and was seizing two diplomatic properties.

The cuts will affect embassy and consular operations, but allowing the US to choose who leaves means a smaller impact than expelling US diplomats from Russia.

The measures were announced after the US Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions to respond to Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and to punish Russia further for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The White House said on Friday that Trump would sign the Sanctions Bill.

Speaking to troops in Tallinn, Estonia, US vice president Mike Pence called Russia‘s actions “drastic” but said Washington would continue with its sanctions until Moscow stopped its “destabilising activities in Ukraine and elsewhere.”

Trump did not comment on the expulsions on Monday. “Right now, we’re reviewing our options, and when we have something to say, we’ll let you know,” his spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.

Staff at the US embassy in Moscow were on Monday summoned to an all-hands meeting where ambassador John F. Tefft briefed employees on the Russian decision – the toughest diplomatic demarche between the two countries since the Cold War.

“The atmosphere was like a funeral,” said one person present, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media.

Punishing Congress, not Trump

Forcing the US to scale back its diplomatic presence will reinforce Putin’s reputation at home as a resolute defender of Russia‘s interests. That will help burnish his image before next year’s presidential election, when he is expected to seek another term.

Putin said on Sunday he saw no sign of better relations with the US, and held out the possibility of more measures to come.

The consequences of the Russian retaliation are not so stark that it would permanently alienate Trump, according to Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Moscow Carnegie Centre, a think tank.

By announcing his counter-measures before Trump signed the sanctions legislation into law, “Putin is sending a message that he is punishing Congress’s America, and not Trump’s America,” Baunov wrote in a Facebook post.

“(Putin) has taken Trump out of the direct line of fire and spared his ego.”

Absent from the Russian retaliation were any measures that directly target US investment inRussia. US bluechip companies such as Ford, Citi and Boeing have projects in the country, bringing the kind of investment the Kremlin needs to lift a sluggish economic recovery.

Town hall meeting

Embassy employees in Moscow on Monday anxiously waited to hear if they would keep their jobs. Tefft described the Russian decision as unfair, but provided no details about the cuts, a person at the meeting told Reuters.

The ambassador said Russian staff who were let go could apply for a special immigration visa to the United States.

“People asked what Russian staff should do now, since a lot of Russian people working for theembassy are blacklisted and cannot find a job in Russian companies,” said the person present.

One area likely to be cut is the office that issues visas to Russian citizens seeking to travel to the US, according to a former US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul.

“If these cuts are real, Russians should expect to wait weeks if not months to get visas to come to US,” McFaul wrote in a Twitter post on Sunday.

Moscow’s response included a vow to seize a US warehouse in southern Moscow and a country villa, or dacha, on the outskirts of the city used by embassy staff on the weekends.

On Monday, a Reuters journalist saw five vehicles with diplomatic licence plates, including a cargo truck, arrive at the dacha. The convoy was refused access.

Russian state news agency RIA quoted an unnamed foreign ministry source as saying the Americans failed to obtain environmental permits for the trucks to enter a conservation area around the site.

(Reuters)

GST Confusion Results in July Factory Activity Contraction

The Nikkei/IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.9 in July from June’s 50.9, its first reading below the 50 mark.

An employee works inside a garment factory in Mumbai, February 28, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui/Files

Bengaluru: Indian factory activity plunged last month and had its deepest contraction in more than nine years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new tax policy severely hurt output and demand, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.9 in July from June’s 50.9, its first reading below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since December and its lowest reading since February 2009.

A Reuters poll predicted a modest July dip to 50.8. But July brought the biggest month-on-month decline since November 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a financial crisis and brought on a global recession.

An output sub-index fell to 46.3, its lowest since early 2009, from 51.7 in June, while contractions were reported across all major sub-indexes in the survey, including new orders, purchasing activity and employment.

“The introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) weighed heavily on the Indian manufacturing industry in July,” said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at IHS Markit.

“New orders and output decreased for the first time since the demonetisation-related downturn.”

On November 8th, 8, Modi stunned the country by ordering the removal of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes, which removed about 86% of the currency in circulation and put activity on the skids in a predominantly cash-reliant economy.

Another huge change in India has been implementation of a national GST, which took effect on July 1. While the near-term impact is expected to be negative, the economy should reap benefits in the medium to longer-term, many analysts say.

In July, a lack of clarity among producers on the new tax system hurt output even though factories cuts prices for their goods.

Even though input costs rose, firms cut prices to try and stimulate weak demand, suggesting retail inflation – which fell to a five-year low in June – is likely to remain subdued in coming months, adding pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates on Wednesday.

“The weakening trend for demand, relatively muted cost inflationary pressures and discounted factory gate charges provide powerful tools for monetary policy easing,” said De Lima.

US, North Korea Bear Responsibility for Reducing Tensions, Says China

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was “very disappointed” China had done “nothing” for Washington with regards to North Korea.

China’s ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi speaks at a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York City, New York, US, July 31, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

UN: China‘s UN ambassador said on Monday it is primarily up to the US and North Korea, not Beijing, to reduce tensions and work toward resuming talks to end Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs.

North Korea on Friday conducted its second test this month of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was “very disappointed” China had done “nothing” for Washington with regards to North Korea.

“(The United States and North Korea) hold the primary responsibility to keep things moving, to start moving in the right direction, not China,” China‘s UN ambassador Liu Jieyi told a news conference to mark the end of Beijing’s presidency of the UN Security Council in July.

“No matter how capable China is, China‘s efforts will not yield practical results because it depends on the two principal parties,” Liu said. Without naming anyone, he also accused “relevant countries” of violating Security Council resolutions by heightening tensions and failing to resume negotiations.

US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said on Sunday the US is “done talking about North Korea” and China must decide if it is willing to back imposing stronger UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

“We’re constantly in touch. Communication has never stopped on what the council should do,” Liu told reporters. “The new resolution is under discussion in the Security Council.”

For nearly a month, the US has been in talks with North Korean ally China on a draft UN Security Council resolution to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea. Haley gave Chinaa draft text after North Korea’s July 4 ICBM test.

Traditionally, the US and China have negotiated sanctions on North Korea before formally involving other council members.

Liu said China was looking at the best way Security Council action could achieve de-nuclearization, maintenance of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and a resumption of talks.

“And also what measures should be put in place to prevent further (missile) testing and at least to make sure that the non-proliferation regime works better to stop the nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” he said.

He reiterated China‘s opposition to the deployment of a US anti-missile defense system, known as THAAD, in South Korea.

“That is not the way to counter the purported testing by (North Korea),” he said. “It has a big negative impact on the strategic stability of the region.”

(Reuters)

Remembering Yash Pal, a Proponent of People’s Knowledge and People’s Science

‘A significant fraction of children who drop out may be those who refuse to compromise with non-comprehension. They are potentially superior to those who just memorise and do well in examinations, without comprehending very much!’

‘A significant fraction of children who drop out may be those who refuse to compromise with non-comprehension. They are potentially superior to those who just memorise and do well in examinations, without comprehending very much!’

Yash Pal. Source: YouTube

Anita Rampal is a professor and former dean at the faculty of education, Delhi University.

Sitting through a memorial meeting in honour of Yash Pal last week, I had a strong, uncanny feeling of having him close by, nudging us with his characteristic mischievous smile, saying “Arre yaar, couldn’t you think of some other songs to remember me by!” It was a very long session of (often off-key) bhajans, little in consonance with the essence of the person we had come to remember. Interestingly, another memorial meeting soon after, for a dear friend, the historian Robi (Basudev) Chatterjee, strove instead to honour his deep scepticism of the sombre incongruence of such occasions, in a moving celebration of his irreverent humour, deep passion and brilliant scholarship.

Yash Pal was a scientist, humanist, educator, a passionate science communicator, and much more. We had known him for several decades as a staunch supporter of innovative ways to re-envision science – through education as well as through people’s movements. In the 1970s, while he was at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, he had supported the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme in rural schools, to relate science with children’s lives and cultural contexts, through a participatory, enquiry-based curriculum. The programme had attracted scientists from the best national institutions and universities to be associated with it – during teachers’ orientation workshops or textbook development. In the early 1980s, when Eklavya was being set up to consolidate this work in the state of Madhya Pradesh, he, with some other scientists, had helped involve national agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology, the University Grants Commission and the Planning Commission to extend possible support.

Having worked in the most eminent and highly resourced research institutes and government establishments in India, Pal was keenly sceptical of scientists’ ‘ivory tower’ existence in the largely impoverished reality of science education across the country. His anti-colonialist inspirations from the struggle for independence made him more sensitive to social and systemic disparities, and unlike most ‘establishment scientists’ he tried to explore spaces to work with communities – as he did at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Ahmedabad during SITE, the first satellite communication programme. Through the years, he understood the problems of the dominant discourse of ‘science (or development) for the people’, through its often hegemonic top-down perspective that tended to attribute a ‘deficit’ and dismissive view of the so-called ‘illiterate’ and ‘unscientific’ masses. This helped him build closer relationships of mutual respect and solidarity with groups working at the grassroots, in related areas such as education, health, water management, agriculture, artisanal production, etc. under the loosely federated structure of the People’s Science Network. Shared concerns and interventions on how science could impact lives and livelihoods shaped his commitment to interrogate and disrupt the entrenched hierarchies of ‘skills versus knowledge’ and ‘indigenous versus scientific knowledge’.

Many of us working towards these goals had actively interacted and collaborated with him through the years, through the 1980s and the coming together of the All India People’s Science Network, the 1990s during the Literacy Campaigns and the work of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, the Yash Pal Committee Report of 1993, subsequently for the National Curriculum Framework of 2005 and the new textbooks, and finally the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

The last time I met him was over a year ago, when we were together on a TV panel passionately defending the RTE Act, after attempts were being made to revoke its main clauses regarding comprehensively assessing children without detaining them in elementary school. We saw this as crucial for good quality and equitable education for all our children, and argued that it was their right to be nurtured to participate in schooling, creatively, innovatively and meaningfully. Schooling must respect the knowledge they bring with them, and what they construct through the process of meaning-making in their own languages, without humiliating them or ‘pushing them out’ by a pernicious examination that makes them memorise information which cannot be understood at that age.

Pal had persistently stood by this, which he enunciated in the report titled ‘Learning Without Burden’ (1993) as chair of the national advisory committee, to advise on improving the quality of learning. He had held consultations in some places around the country and had tried to summarise the problems with school curricula, shaped more by the demands of the disciplines at the university-level, by teachers of higher education who did not know or understand children and their diverse lives. I often quote from his provocative personal comments to the then education minister, Arjun Singh, especially where, while presenting the report, he says it is not the gravitational load of the school bag but instead the pernicious burden of ‘non-comprehension’ that is more cruel. “In fact, …a significant fraction of children who drop out may be those who refuse to compromise with non-comprehension – they are potentially superior to those who just memorise and do well in examinations, without comprehending very much! I personally do believe that “very little, fully comprehended, is far better than a great deal, poorly comprehended.”

He was often provocative in his style, particularly when he expected high resistance to what he thought was ‘good sense’. He worked for a democratic vision of quality education and scientific development. However, he was open to disagreement from those who were co-travellers, allies or even co-conspirators in the long and often frustrating journey of educational change. His eyes had a glint of his irrepressible sense of optimism. Even in the most exasperating circumstances, he was always there to conspire and inspire, with often child-like excitement. We fondly miss him. We will almost certainly find it difficult, in the near future, to see such a rare example of an ‘establishment scientist’ or a ‘head of institution’ who can passionately promote constructive scepticism, keen questioning, and advocate for ‘out of the box’ thinking by younger colleagues and students.

Farmers, Jobless and Disabled Vie for Votes As Grassroots Politics Spread in Kenya

A pharmacist, a headmaster, a former hotel manager, several farmers, and the unemployed are running for local offices as independents or members of small parties in Kenya, challenging large-scale, mainstream corruption.

Peter Maritim, a candidate for the role of local representative, passes by banners as he campaigns in the Barut ward, Nakuru, Kenya, July 27, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Baz Ratner

Barut, Kenya: Peter Maritim rolled along Barut’s main street in his home-made wheelchair, shouting out to voters – just one of 13 candidates campaigning for the tiny Kenyan town’s single seat in the county assembly.

The unemployed 42-year-old will compete next week with a pharmacist, a headmaster, a former hotel manager and several farmers, many of them independents or members of small parties who entered politics after the government devolved power and money to counties in 2013.

The reforms, part of a democratic overhaul brought in after 2007’s elections exploded into ethnic violence, have spurred home-grown, small-scale campaigning in the East African economic powerhouse.

Supporters say that’s a timely reaction to long-running allegations of corruption in the way that the big, mainstream parties chose their candidates. Established politicians call it chaos.

Kenyans will elect a president, lawmakers, and local representatives on August 8, with devolution prompting particularly fierce competition for local races.

“I am not going there to look for money. I am going there to give people service,” said Maritim, who is partially paralysed and gets around in a wheelchair pulled by his brother’s motorbike.

Maritim is promising improved roads, and has tried to inspire voters with the story of his life and struggle for an education, all running on the slogan “disability is not inability”.

The new devolved politics has attracted more than 8,000 independent candidates across Kenya, up from 300 in the last elections.

“This is new territory for us and it’s good for democracy,” said Jessica Musila, the head of Mzalendo, an independent group that monitors parliament.

The big parties’ primary races were beset by problems, she said, and independent lawmakers might be more willing to stand up to corruption since they did not risk party censure.

“Guns for hire”

Dennis Onyango, spokesman for the opposition alliance, disagreed.

“We see them (independents) as a threat to the building of strong parties,” he said. “No one knows how they will behave … They could be guns for hire.”

Voters in Barut, near the central Rift Valley town of Nakuru, said all they wanted was a representative to focus on irrigation, better roads and jobs.

But after decades of political manoeuvring, they were also keeping their hopes and idealism on hold.

Several said they had already been offered up to 200 shillings (£2) for their vote – a tactic from the old days of big party politics and a tempting proposal in the drought-hit area.

“The person who is going to win is using money, dishing money to people,” said another candidate, primary school director James Yegon. “They are taking advantage of the poor situation of the community.”

Other voters suggested some of the candidates might be interested in more than what they could achieve.

Kenyan politicians are famously well-paid, and local representatives get at least $40,000 per year, nearly 40 times the annual average.

“Some are seeing the opportunity for getting big salary so that is why they are contesting,” said farmer James Tongus as he took a break from weeding his crops.

(Reuters)

Islamic State Claims Attack on Iraqi Embassy in Kabul

The assault came a week after 35 people by the Taliban in Kabul and underlines Afghanistan’s precarious security as the US reconsiders its regional policy.

Afghan security forces arrive during gun fire at the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 31, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Mohammad Ismail

Kabul: Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul on Monday that began with a suicide bomber blowing himself up at the main gate, allowing gunmen to enter the building and battle security forces.

Although there has been no confirmation of direct planning links with the main Islamic State movement in Iraq and Syria, the attack, just three weeks after the recapture of Mosul, underlines fears of a spillover into Afghanistan from fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Afghan security forces confronted three gunmen for hours before the interior ministry announced in mid-afternoon that the attack, in a normally busy business district of the capital, had been suppressed.

“The attack is finished,” said Sayed Basir, a member of the special forces unit that dealt with the incident. He said the four attackers were dead, while two members of his unit were slightly wounded.

The embassy building, partly blackened by smoke and flames from the fighting, was damaged but otherwise the impact from the attack was relatively limited, compared with other recent attacks in Kabul.

Najib Danish, an interior ministry spokesman, said two Afghan embassy workers had been killed but no Iraqi personnel had been hurt.

A separate statement from the Iraqi foreign ministry said an Iraqi diplomat had been rescued, while a nearby hospital operated by Italian aid group Emergency said two injured people had been brought in for treatment.

Islamic State‘s Amaq agency said two attackers carrying machine guns and hand grenades and wearing suicide vests had blown up the gate, and two fighters had broken into the compound. It said more than 27 guards had been killed, well above the figures given by Afghan authorities.

The assault came a week after 35 people were killed in a Taliban attack on government workers in Kabul and underlines Afghanistan’s precarious security as the US weighs an overhaul of its policy in the region.

Islamic State, an ultra-hardline Sunni group, has carried out a series of high-profile attacks in Kabul, mainly targeting members of the mainly Shi’ite Hazara community. The attacks have fuelled fears that militants in Afghanistan are trying bring in the kind of sectarian brutality seen in the Middle East.

The local branch of the movement, often called Daesh, is often known as Islamic State in Khorasan (ISIS-K), after an old name for the region that now includes Afghanistan.

The top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, condemned the attack. “ISIS-K seeks only to destroy a peaceful future for the people of Afghanistan. They failed in this attack and they will be defeated,” he said in a statement.

US commanders say ISIS-K has been severely hit by a campaign of drone strikes and joint Afghan and US Special Forces operations over the past year, with hundreds of fighters and commanders killed.

However, Afghan security officials say the movement operates in as many as nine provinces, from Nangarhar and Kunar in the east to Badakhshan, Jawzjan and Faryab in the north and Baghdis and Ghor in the west.

The Taliban, fighting to reestablish strict Islamic law 16 years after being expelled by a US-led campaign in 2001, have opposed Islamic State.

(Reuters)

Trump Dictated Misleading Statement on Son’s Meeting with Russian Lawyer

Trump Jr. released emails that showed he agreed last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer with damaging information on Clinton.

Donald Trump Jr. (R) watches his father, Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, leave the stage on the night of the Iowa Caucus in Des Moines, Iowa, US, February 1, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Jim Bourg/Files

Washington: US President Donald Trump dictated a statement, later shown to be misleading, in which his son Donald Trump Jr. said a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 was not related to his father’s presidential campaign, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

Trump Jr. released emails earlier in July that showed he eagerly agreed last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow’s official support for his father.

The New York Times was first to report the meeting.

The Washington Post said Trump advisers discussed the new disclosure and agreed that Trump Jr. should issue a truthful account of the episode so that it “couldn’t be repudiated later if the full details emerged.”

The president, who was flying home from Germany on July 8, changed the plan and “personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said he and the Russian lawyer had ‘primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children,'” the Post said, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the deliberations.

It said the statement, issued to the New York Times as it prepared to publish the story, emphasized that the subject of the meeting was “not a campaign issue at the time.”

An attorney for Trump, Jay Sekulow, issued a statement in response to the Post report: “Apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate, and not pertinent.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Post story, nor did Trump Jr.’s attorney, Alan Futerfas.

US investigators are probing whether there was collusion between the Kremlin and Trump’s Republican presidential campaign.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow sought to hurt Clinton and help Trump in the 2016 election. Russia denies any interference, and Trump has denied collusion with Russia.The president applauded his son’s “transparency” after he released the email exchanges on July 11.

“It remains unclear exactly how much the president knew at the time of the flight about Trump Jr.’smeeting,” the Washington Post said.

David Sklansky, a professor of criminal law at Stanford Law School, said that if Trump, as reported by the Post, helped craft a misleading public statement about the meeting, he may have bolstered a potential obstruction of justice case against himself.

To build a criminal obstruction of justice case, federal law requires prosecutors to show that a person acted with “corrupt” intent. A misleading public statement could be used as evidence of corrupt intent, Sklansky said.

“Lying usually isn’t a crime,” he said. But “it could be relevant in determining whether something else the president did, like firing (former FBI Director James) Comey, was done corruptly.”

US Senate Too Divided to Keep Pushing for Healthcare, Senator Says

US Senate finance committee chairman Orrin Hatch said on Monday that senators for now are too divided to keep working on healthcare overhaul legislation.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is seen during an interview on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US July 31, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein

Washington: US Senate finance committee chairman Orrin Hatch said on Monday that senators for now are too divided to keep working on healthcare overhaul legislation and that he and other senior Republicans will take that message to the White House.

President Donald Trump has been urging lawmakers not to drop the matter, despite a series of failed votes last week.

“There’s just too much animosity and we’re too divided on healthcare,” Hatch said in an interview with Reuters.

He said he would prefer Congress not appropriate cost-sharing subsidies that help make Obamacare plans affordable but added, “I think we’re going to have to do that.”

Trump over the weekend urged Republican senators to stick with trying to pass an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act, former President Obama’s signature domestic initiative known as Obamacare.

Trump made replacing Obamacare a key part of his presidential campaign and Republicans have promised for years to repeal or replace the law. The House of Representatives has passed an overhaul but the Senate has been unable to do so despite having worked on it for months. Three Senate Republicans joined Democrats in voting against repealing even part of the law at the end of last week.

“Don’t give up Republican senators, the world is watching: Repeal and Replace . . . ,” Trump tweeted on Sunday while White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said the Senate should stay in session to get something done on healthcare, even if it means postponing votes on other issues.

Hatch said although he understood Mulvaney’s position, he did not think he was right. Thesenator said he saw no real desire on the part of Democrats to work together on thehealthcare issue “and I have to say some Republicans are at fault there, too.”

Hatch said he had not given up on healthcare. “I think we ought to acknowledge that we can come back to healthcare afterwards but we need to move ahead on tax reform,” Hatchsaid.

Asked who would relay the message to the Trump administration, Hatch laughed and said, “I’m going to be one who does that,” adding that he expected Republican leaders of the House and Senate, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, would do so, too.

Hatch said lawmakers would need to appropriate the cost-sharing subsidy payments that the administration has been making. Trump has threatened to cut off these subsidies, which help insurers keep deductibles down for low-income people who get health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges.

“I’m for helping the poor, always have been. And I don’t think they should be bereft of healthcare,” Hatch said.

(Reuters)