Stembridge News Digest

  • U.S. ban on sales to ZTE triggers patriotic rhetoric in China Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:37:04 -0400
    HONG KONG (Reuters) - A U.S. ban on sales of American components to ZTE Corp has unleashed a patriotic backlash in China's cyberspace, highlighting the growing tension between the world's two largest economies.


  • FAA to order inspections of jet engines after Southwest blast Thu, 19 Apr 2018 07:15:01 -0400
    (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it will order inspection of about 220 aircraft engines as investigators have found that a broken fan blade touched off an engine explosion this week on a Southwest flight, killing a passenger.


  • North Korea seeks 'complete denuclearization', says Moon, as U.S. vows continued pressure Thu, 19 Apr 2018 10:25:07 -0400
    SEOUL/GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea has expressed its commitment to "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula and is not seeking conditions, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday, as the United States vowed to maintain "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang.


  • P&G to buy German Merck's consumer health unit for $4.2 billion Thu, 19 Apr 2018 06:04:49 -0400
    (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) has agreed to acquire Merck KGaA's consumer health unit for 3.4 billion euros ($4.2 billion), giving it vitamin brands such as Seven Seas and greater exposure to Latin American and Asian markets.


  • Exclusive: Allergan in talks to acquire Shire, competing against Takeda - sources Thu, 19 Apr 2018 10:10:41 -0400
    (Reuters) - Botox maker Allergan Plc is in talks to acquire Shire Plc, competing against Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd for the London-listed drugmaker, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.


  • Nestle, Unilever forego price increases to move product Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:57:13 -0400
    ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) - First-quarter sales growth at Nestle and Unilever was driven almost entirely by shifting more goods, in a stark illustration of how hard it is for consumer products makers to raise prices in a competitive retail environment.


  • The great Russian oil game in Iraqi Kurdistan Thu, 19 Apr 2018 10:12:29 -0400
    LONDON (Reuters) - Last October, at the height of a political crisis in Iraq's Kurdistan region, a letter arrived at the Iraqi oil ministry in Baghdad from Igor Sechin, head of Kremlin oil major Rosneft .


  • Cuba set to swear in new president to replace Raul Castro Thu, 19 Apr 2018 01:01:33 -0400
    HAVANA (Reuters) - An era will end in Communist-run Cuba on Thursday when President Raul Castro retires, likely handing over the reins to his right hand man Miguel Diaz-Canel, born the year after brothers Fidel and Raul led their 1959 leftist revolution.


  • Assad steps up efforts to crush last besieged enclaves Thu, 19 Apr 2018 10:19:06 -0400
    BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - The Syrian government stepped up its efforts on Thursday to retake the opposition's last besieged enclaves, as rebels prepared to withdraw from one and a newspaper reported an ultimatum against another.


  • Puerto Rico restores power to over 70 perecnt of customers after blackout Thu, 19 Apr 2018 09:54:23 -0400
    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Puerto Rico's power company said it had restored power to over 1.1 million homes and businesses by Thursday morning after a transmission line failure cut service to almost all of the island's 3.4 million residents the day before.
  • Cory Gardner explains why a Roy Moore win would have been 'devastating' for GOP with women Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:07:25 GMT
    If not for Alabama’s Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, Republicans would currently be embroiled in a process with “devastating” effects on the party’s appeal with women, as Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., sees it.
  • Feminists can learn a lot from Barbara Bush Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:27:47 GMT
    "Barbara Bush, wife and mother of presidents, dies at 92," noted the Houston Chronicle. That headline made me think of when, in 1990, Bush was invited to give the commencement address at Wellesley College. Students complained that Bush's role as a wife and mother of six wasn't enough to warrant speaking status — that it didn't represent how a modern woman is supposed to live her life: devoted to a career, rather than to a husband and family. She’s supposed to be the president, not be married to one.
  • Barbara Bush was a transitional figure in America's culture wars Thu, 19 Apr 2018 04:01:58 GMT
    It was 1994 and former first lady Barbara Bush was holding court with David Brudnoy, one of Boston’s most popular radio talk show hosts, as the switchboard lit up.
  • Specially trained K-9s should be part of the school safety solution Thu, 19 Apr 2018 04:00:47 GMT
    Here's a sad secret from mothers of school-age children: When we drop our kids off at school, we often do a furtive scan of the grounds and think, what would happen to my kids if a school shooter arrived? The answer is more depressing than the question.
  • Tom McClintock: What works, and what won't to prevent more Parklands Thu, 19 Apr 2018 04:00:07 GMT
    For years the Left has attacked the Second Amendment as the progenitor of gun violence, and demonized the millions of Americans who support their right of self-defense as abettors of child murder.
  • Sen. Cory Gardner: The White House doesn't have a plan for Syria Thu, 19 Apr 2018 01:55:45 GMT
    In 2015, after Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced his state would accept Syrian refugees, Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., called on the Obama administration to “develop a comprehensive strategy to address the developments in Syria and eradicate the threat of [the Islamic State] once and for all.”
  • Michael Barone: Collusion, anyone? Wed, 18 Apr 2018 22:28:06 GMT
    The collusion being proved is not what the press expected.
  • No one likes James Comey Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:56:02 GMT
    Now that President Trump has rage-tweeted about James Comey’s just-released book, the former FBI director is likely set for a comfortable retirement.
  • Trump plays mind games with Kim Jong Un with Pompeo trip Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:35:52 GMT
    If one wanted to send Kim Jong Un a message that President Trump truly wants a negotiated resolution, sending the president’s trusted emissary to deliver it was common sense.
  • Mitch McConnell is wrong to block a Senate vote to protect Robert Mueller from firing Wed, 18 Apr 2018 21:02:38 GMT
    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is wrong to prevent the Senate from voting on a bill that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Trump.
  • Doctor who treated Prince pays $30K for illegal prescription
    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota doctor accused of illegally prescribing an opioid painkiller for Prince a week before the musician died from a fentanyl overdose has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a federal civil violation, according to documents made public Thursday.

  • Diaz-Canel replaces Raul Castro as Cuba's president
    HAVANA (AP) — Fifty-seven-year-old Communist Party official Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez replaced Raul Castro as the president of Cuba on Thursday, pledging to preserve the island's communist system while gradually reforming the economy and making the government more responsive to the people.

  • Trump leaves open possibility of bailing on meeting with Kim
    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said that although he's looking ahead optimistically to a historic summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he could still pull out if he feels it's "not going to be fruitful."

  • Seoul: N. Korean leader removes major nuclear sticking point
    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that his rival, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, isn't asking for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula as a precondition for abandoning his nuclear weapons. If true, this would seem to remove a major sticking point to a potential nuclear disarmament deal.

  • Men arrested at Starbucks say they feared for their lives
    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rashon Nelson initially brushed it off when the Starbucks manager told him he couldn't use the restroom because he wasn't a paying customer.

  • Soros in Retreat: Billionaire’s University to Move from Budapest to Vienna Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:30:13 +0000

    After a sustained campaign against the influence of left-wing billionaire George Soros by the Hungarian government, Soros's Central European University has announced its plans to move from Budapest to Vienna.
  • Protester Screams at Gorka Who Says ‘Their Fuel Is Hatred’ Thu, 19 Apr 2018 10:00:57 +0000
    Deputy assistant to President Trump Sebastian Gorka participates in a discussion during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 24, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland. Hosted by the American Conservative Union, CPAC is an annual gathering of right wing politicians, commentators and their supporters. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
    National security strategist and former Trump administration official Dr. Sebastian Gorka contrasted love of country to the hateful cries a protester spewed through his car window Thursday night as he arrived to give a speech in Richmond, Virginia.
  • Fed’s Neel Kashkari Demolishes Claims of U.S. Labor Shortage Wed, 18 Apr 2018 17:18:17 +0000
    Neel Kashkari, US Treasury Department Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability, discusses the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the federal government's $700 billion bailout program, in a forum at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business on January 13, 2009 in Washington, DC. In his remarks, Kashkari stressed the importance of banks lending money but noted that the Treasury will not make an attempt to force them to make loans. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)
    Neel Kashkari has become the Federal Reserve's foremost skeptic of the notion that the U.S. is experiencing a severe labor shortage.
  • Cory Booker: House Republicans Requesting Investigations ‘Is Things Dictators Do’  Thu, 19 Apr 2018 02:39:31 +0000
    Cory Booker
    Wednesday on MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said 11 House Republican lawmakers requesting the FBI and Attorney General Jeff Sessions open criminal investigations into former FBI Director James Comey and others for bias against Donald Trump was “things that dictators do.” Booker said, “This is to me really a bad sign in our democracy. I think it starred in the last presidential election where you hear a whole convention center chanting “lock her up,” which to me is things that dictators do, that autocrats do, is they go after their little enemies not through the mechanisms of democracy but threatening to arrest them, threatening to throw them in jail.” He added, “This is a very dangerous sign. It is very anti-democratic that people want to try to be pushing to lock up their political opponents.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
  • Feds Detain 225 Migrants in New York’s ‘Sanctuary City’ Thu, 19 Apr 2018 01:39:58 +0000
    Sanctuary
    Immigration enforcement agents tracked and arrested 225 illegal migrants in New York's "sanctuary city," where Democratic politicians are trying to prevent the deportation of the cheap-labor migrants in the city's service-class workforce.
  • ‘The More, the Better’: Australia Ready to Welcome South African Farmers Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:59:01 +0000
    A bumper sign during a blockade of the freeway between Johannesburg and Vereeniging, in Midvaal, South Africa, in protest against the recent murder of farmers, Monday, Oct 30 2017. Traffic was bought to a standstill on highways leading from farming areas to Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg, as white farmers protest in what they call the Black Monday protest against the high rate of murders of farmer workers. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
    Australia is laying the legislative groundwork necessary to welcome persecuted South African farmers who face a targeted campaign of violence at home, the country's top legal officer said.
  • Sheldon Adelson Donates $70 Million to Birthright in Honor of Israel’s 70th Anniversary Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:49:04 +0000

    TEL AVIV - Billionaire Sheldon Adelson made a surprise announcement at the 18th annual Birthright Israel gala on Sunday night by pledging a $70 million donation to the group in honor of Israel’s 70th anniversary.
  • Trump Applauds Israel’s 70th Anniversary, Says U.S Has ‘No Better Friends Anywhere’ Thu, 19 Apr 2018 09:50:32 +0000
    US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House on March 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump said he 'may' attend the opening of a controversial new US embassy in Jerusalem, a fraught prospect designed to underscore close ties with Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he hosted Monday.Trump warmly welcomed the embattled prime minister to the White House, claiming US-Israel ties had 'never been better' and floating a May trip that would be a major security and diplomatic challenge. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
    U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his fellow Israelis on the country’s 70th anniversary, saying the United States has “no better friends anywhere” than Israel.
  • American Atheists Fires President over Accusations of Sexual Assault Thu, 19 Apr 2018 11:00:52 +0000
    JANUARY 30: A man in a Atheist tee shirt listens as Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks during a campaign event at the Cedar Falls Eagles Club January 30, 2016 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Bush, who is seeking the nomination for the Republican Party, is on the presidential campaign trail across Iowa ahead of the Iowa Caucus taking place Monday, a week before the New Hampshire Primaries. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images)
    American Atheists, the flagship of organized atheism in the U.S., has sacked its combative president, David Silverman, after two women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct.
  • Italian Bishop: Preventing Alfie Evans Coming to Vatican Hospital ‘Outside All Human Logic’ Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:09:12 +0000

    Pope Francis has asked that the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù children’s hospital to “do everything possible” to be able to receive little Alfie Evans, the British child whom doctors are prepared to euthanize.
  • Wife of San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich Dies Thu, 19 Apr 2018 02:21:43 +0000

    April 18 (UPI) -- Erin Popovich, the wife of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, died on Wednesday.
  • Judge Orders Broward Sheriff’s Office to Release More Video Footage During Shooting Thu, 19 Apr 2018 03:55:20 +0000
    Family member embrace following a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
    "After careful consideration of the testimony and evidence presented, together with this Court's in-camera review of the video recordings from the exterior cameras, this Court finds that the video recordings minimally reveal information relating to the security system of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School," the judge ruled.
  • Paul Ryan, GOP Establishment Look to Fulfill Koch Brothers’ Wage-Crushing Amnesty Dreams Ahead of Midterms Thu, 19 Apr 2018 02:32:05 +0000
    Paul Ryan in a Koch Bros Sandwich
    House Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican establishment are considering an amnesty plan for illegal aliens that is nearly identical to a plan being pushed by the billionaire GOP megadonors the Koch brothers.
  • S.E. Cupp: Nikki Haley Should Run for POTUS — ‘Would Be Nice to Have Someone with Balls in the White House’ Wed, 18 Apr 2018 23:02:35 +0000
    S.E. Cupp
    Wednesday on HLN’s “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered,” host S.E. Cupp accused the Trump administration of  “sexism” in the back-and-forth with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley over additional sanctions on Russia. Cupp said, “Nikki Haley is not here for your sexism, White House. I’m not prone to cry sexism. I don’t do it often or lightly. But there’s no other word to describe the way President Trump and his advisers have treated a woman who is arguably his strongest, most confident and effective cabinet official. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was not only hung out to dry by the Trump administration, she was then dismissed and head patted by an old boys club Trump adviser who thought he could. It was shameful. Haley said over the weekend that Treasury Department head Mnuchin would be announcing new sanctions against Russia for aiding in Syria’s horrific chemical attacks on civilians.” She continued, “That was something she had said earlier on Fox News, and it was specific: Mnuchin on Monday. Clearly, Haley didn’t invent this idea out of thin air. In fact, the White House told surrogates the Saturday before that, that sanctions were coming. And a Russian newspaper published a report on that same Sunday claiming U.S. ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman,
  • Glenn Beck Selling His Private Jet as His Media Empire Crumbles Wed, 18 Apr 2018 23:25:51 +0000

    Glenn Beck is reportedly downsizing his assets as his media empire dwindles, posting his private jet for sale for an undisclosed amount on a site that sells used aircraft.

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