President Trump on Sunday sounded a war drum over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un refusing to abandon his nuclear weapons program, telling Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to stop wasting time negotiating with Kim because the U.S. “will do what needs to be done.”
“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” tweeted Trump, using his mocking nickname for Kim. “Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!"
...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!
Several hours later, Trump sent another tweet that said that being nice to Kim hadn’t worked for Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. Kim is 33 and came to power only six years ago after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December 2011.
"Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail,” Trump wrote.
Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017
On Sunday, Trump returned to Kim and his pursuit of a nuclear arsenal, despite more U.S. and international economic sanctions that reportedly are having a severe impact on the rogue nation’s economy.
In a recent interview, Ron Paul exposes the real agenda behind the Russian fearmongering — it is to control the narrative, so real issues are ignored.
The investigation into the alleged Russian meddling in the US elections and the supposed use of social media by Moscow to sway public opinion is just a “witch hunt,” former US Congressman Ron Paul told RT.
“The people who promote this witch hunt do not care about what [the former US presidential candidate] Hillary [Clinton] was doing and they are very biased against the Trump campaign,” Paul said, adding that he believes that the “real problem” lies precisely in this bias.
He also said that the Washington lawmakers involved in Russia-bashing close their eyes to repeated meddling by the US in the internal affairs and electoral processes in many other countries.
“I would like our government to talk about our involvement in campaigns, most recently in Ukraine, [where] we participated in a coup,” the former senator said.
“So far, they have not shown me the ad that was pro-Trump and was paid for by the Russian government,” the politician said, referring to the fact that, after 10 months of investigating, the US authorities still failed to find any solid evidence of collusion with Moscow by Donald Trump or his campaign team.
The anti-Russian hysteria was stirred up in the US to draw people’s attention away from real problems, Paul said, adding that he is more concerned about a crisis in US relations with Russia as well as US actions in Syria.
Catalonia has won the right to statehood, according to Catalan President Charles Puigdemont.
Following a violent and chaotic Sunday independence referendum in Catalonia, Puigdemont announced that the breakaway region has won the "right to independence."
While specifics on the vote tally appear to be in short supply, the Catalan leader has affirmed that the region has won the right to be an independent, sovereign state, according to reports.
"We have won the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic," declared Puigdemont, surrounded by senior Catalan leaders, during a live televised address, cited by the BBC.
Puigdemont asserted that Europe and the EU would no longer be able "to look the other way," with regard to a free and independent Catalonia.
Update (4:15 pm ET): As promised, Barcelona FC played its season opening against Las Palmas to an empty stadium to protest the brutal actions of the Spanish government. In a statement released earlier, the team said it had asked the Professional Football League to postpone the game because of today's referendum, but it had refused.
Polls across the region have now closed, but because many of the region's centralized voting systems have been cut off by Spanish authorities, the regional government hasn't been able to provide estimates for turnout. Counting the votes could take time. However, the Catalan government has said it would declare independence within 48 hours should the vote be in favor of leaving.
...Meanwhile, the number injured in today's unrest has climbed above 750.
Update (12:30 pm ET): Clashes between riot police and voters in Barcelona and other towns and cities across Catalonia have left hundreds injured as police beat peaceful demonstrators with sticks and fired rubber bullets into crowds. The clashes, which have been well-documented by journalists and members of the public, are resulting in a massive public embarassment for the government in Madrid, as photos of elderly Catalonian pensioners with blood streaming down their faces have flooded the internet.
According to the Catalonian health ministry, 465 people have been injured during today's demonstrations, including at least nine local police officers and three Civil Guard officers. Here's a breakdown via the Guardian: 216 were hurt in Barcelona, 80 in Girona, 64 in Lleida, 53 in Terres de l’Ebre, 27 in Catalunya central and 25 in Tarragona.
Despite the crackdown, the Guardian reports that the majority of polling stations in the province have remained open. Spanish national police have closed down 46 in total (27 in Barcelona, six in Tarragona, six in Girona and seven in Lleida). The Guardia Civil have closed another 46 (14 in Barcelona, 12 in Tarragona, eight in Girona and 12 in Lleida). Catalan police, the Mossos, say they have closed 244 polling stations across Catalonia. In total, 336 polling stations have been shuttered. To put this in context, the Catalan government said more than 2,000 polling stations were set up across the province for the referendum. Meanwhile, the Spanish government said that three people, including one girl, have been arrested for civil disobedience and attacking officers.
The shocking photos have provoked widespread condemnation. In the UK, Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn urged Prime Minister Theresa May to urge Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy to end the crackdown.
All elements of Catalonian society have pitched in to try and protect voters from brutal police tactics. This video emerged showing Catalonian firemen being beaten with sticks by the police.
We thought we had seen it all. The Spanish police battering the Catalonian Fire Service tells us this is sickening. pic.twitter.com/SwMOkm4kjG
— YES East Kilbride (@EKsaysYES) October 1, 2017
The Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has demanded that the government in Madrid put an end to the violence.
Over 460 people injured in Catalonia already. As Mayor of BCN I demand an immediate end to police charges against the defenceless population https://t.co/412z6Jacap— Ada Colau (@AdaColau) October 1, 2017
According to the FT, police confiscated voting papers and ballot boxes in Barcelona and elsewhere and fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds at the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona, a polling station in the city.. However, elsewhere in Catalonia, voting was carried out peacefully with the 17,000-strong local police force apparently being less interventionist in stopping the polling at certain stations. Since there is no electoral commission overseeing the referendum, little authoritative information was immediately available on the turnout for the vote and how it complied with normal standards. Police were ordered to shut down the region's electronic vote-counting system earlier in the week, meaning it could be a while before the results start coming in.
The National Park Service has approved the placement of a 45-foot sculpture of a nude woman on the National Mall next month through March 28.
Titled “R-Evolution” by artist by Marco Cochrane, it first debuted in 2015 at the “Burning Man” Festival in Nevada, it could soon be making its way for a position near the Washington Monument, Smithsonian and the Capitol.
And guess which direction it will be facing – the White House.
A fundraising effort is currently under way to transport the figure from San Francisco to the nation’s capital. More than $20,000 has been raised with a 30-day goal of $90,000.
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