Why Donald Trump’s Debt is a National Security Risk

Details

Written by northsouth

Category: Americas

Published: 19 October 2020

Hits: 1188

BY JOE CIRINCIONE, a Distinguished Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON - If you owe someone a lot of money, they have leverage over you. To whom, exactly, does the U.S. president owe this money?

Donald Trump’s failure to disclose his foreign debts poses a serious risk to the national security of the United States. It is not just the amount of the debt but his refusal to provide any information about to whom he owes the money and, therefore, who might have influence over him.

Trump denied at the NBC Town Hall October 15 that he owed money to any foreign interests. “Not that I know of,” he told NBC reporter Savannah Guthrie when she asked if he owed money to “any foreign bank, any foreign entity.”

This is not true, according to multiple sources, including the president’s own financial disclosure forms that list a $300 million debt to the Germany-based Deutsche Bank, and many more debts to others. Trump’s tax returns claim a total of $421 million in debt, while some sources estimate the debt as high as $1 billion.



This is an exerpt from an article publisged by Defense One on 18 October.

For the full text , visit: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/10/why-donald-trumps-debt-national-security-risk/169330/

UK MPs back Assisted dying bill after emotionally-charged Commons debate

Details

Written by Super User

Category: Europe

Published: 29 November 2024

Hits: 681

LONDON - British MPs have voted in favour of new laws to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will allow people aged over 18 with less than six months to live the right to end their own life.

Some 330 MPs, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, voted in favour of the bill with 275 rejecting it - a majority of 55.

The proposed legislation sparked an emotionally-charged debate in Parliament.

Current laws mean people cannot ask for medical help to die. There are a number of requirements for a patient to be eligible for assisted dying under the proposals.

There will still be more months of fine tuning and Parliamentary activity before it becomes law.

Key Points

- Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves back assisted dying as 330 MPs voting for the bill to progress

- Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch vote against the assisted dying bill

- Kim Leadbeater: Bill is about 'giving dying people who have got six months or less to live to shorten their death'

- Hackney MP Diane Abbott says NHS will become 'a fully funded 100% suicide service'

- Shoreditch and Vauxhall MPs hold back tears as they talk about family members' illnesses

'Pro-life' activist who broke back in rock-climbing accident says he is 'very disappointed' by decision

Christian Hacking, a “pro-life” activist, said he was “very disappointed” by the news and that it was “sadly predictable”.

The 34-year-old from south-east London, who joined a protest outside Parliament today calling on MPs to vote against the Bill, said: “There is now going to be an additional moral weight upon people to end their own lives which, once it percolates down, is going to affect the vulnerable.”

Mr Hacking broke his back in a rock climbing accident in 2014 and described the issue as “really personal” for him.

“A number of people who went through the same rehab I went through, went to Dignitas to kill themselves because they felt they couldn’t cope with disability,” he said.

“I know that that despair is very real and that hopelessness is very real but I believe our humanity is so much greater than our utility,” he added.

“Why are we talking about how people can be assisted in killing themselves when actually we should be talking about how we can supercharge the palliative care system to help people die with dignity?”

Bishop of London says safeguarding 'must now be our priority'

Church of England’s lead bishop for healthcare, Dame Sarah Mullally, said that safeguarding the vulnerable “must now be our priority” in the wake of the vote.

Dame Sarah, who is the Bishop of London and a former nurse, had warned against moves to legalise assisted dying.

Reacting to the vote, she said: “I have been deeply moved watching proceedings unfold in the House of Commons today. My prayers are with all those who have been affected, who have shared and heard their stories, and facilitated this debate.

“The Church of England believes that the compassionate response at the end of life lies in the provision of high quality palliative care services to all who need them.

“Today’s vote still leaves the question of how this could be implemented in an overstretched and under-funded NHS, social care and legal system.

“In the wake of the decision MPs have made, safeguarding the most vulnerable must now be our priority in the Parliamentary process to come.”

Kim Leadbeater 'proud' of 'robust but compassionate' debate

Speaking to the press, Ms Leadbeater said: “It’s been tough, you know, these families have campaigned on this issue for years.

“I know what it means to people, if we hadn’t achieved what we achieved today I’d have let them down.

“I’m also really proud and really pleased that we had a very respectful debate in Parliament.

“It was robust but it was compassionate. Lots of people with different views, and I think Parliament showed itself in its best light today, and I’m very proud of that.”

Leadbeater hugged by campaigners outside Parliament

Crowds of supporters surrounded and hugged MP Kim Leadbeater outside Parliament after her assisted dying private members’ Bill passed.

Photographers and videographers chased after the Labour MP as she walked over to Parliament Square to celebrate with the supporters.

People shouted “thank you Kim” as she was mobbed by members of the public, activists, and the press.

'I'm over the moon' says Walthamstow resident whose father took his own life

A son whose father took his own life after suffering from multiple sclerosis said he was “incredibly relieved” the assisted dying Bill had passed.

Speaking from among a crowd of supporters of the Bill gathered outside Parliament, Anil Douglas, 35, from Walthamstow, London, said: “I’m incredibly relieved.

“I’m over the moon. MPs have voted for a safer, kinder, more compassionate future for dying people. I think it’s wonderful.”

Anil’s father Ian Douglas took his own life after suffering from MS for years. He said he felt like his father’s son today.

“I feel very much like his son today,” he said. “He was an active campaigner in various causes throughout his life. Being here today, in his memory, and in his honour, fighting for a change I know he would have benefited from and would have supported, means the world to me.”

He said he felt shock and a “deep-set relief” when he heard the result. “I think I was cautiously optimistic, but when that optimism became a reality – relief,” he said.

'I have got serious reservations' about assisted dying bill says Sadiq Khan

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he has “serious reservations” about the assisted dying bill.

He told LBC on Friday: “The job of the MPs now during the committee stage, during the report stage is to try and address some of the concerns people like me have.

“One of the things I have been really impressed by parliament this week, in particular, is it shows that MPs can put aside the knock-about stuff, they can put aside party politics and have proper discussions, proper debates, proper arguments in a cool, calm collected fashion.

He raised concerns about social services, national health service, backlogging the judiciary, the possibility of coercive control and the guilt people with terminal illnesses face.

Mr Khan said there was an opportunity for Parliamentarians to try and improve the bill.

Prime Minster backed vote on assisted dying

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour of the assisted dying legislation, parliamentary voting data has shown.

MPs were free to vote for what they believed in and did not have to obey party lines.

Breaking: The assisted dying bill has passed the first hurdle

The assisted dying bill has passed with 330 MPs voting for the bill to progress, while 275 MPs voted against it.

It has been approved for a second reading with a majority of 55.

It will now go to the House of Lords to be debated.

UK PM Starmer backs ICC over arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Details

Written by Super User

Category: Europe

Published: 21 November 2024

Hits: 544

LONDON - British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has backed the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

When asked about the issue, Sir Keir’s official spokesman said the Government respected the independence of the court.

He declined to say whether Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he arrived in the UK.

The spokesman said: “We respect the independence of the ICC, which is the primary institutional institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes in relation to international law.

“This Government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law. There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terror groups.

“We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.”

Under the Conservatives, the British government had told the court it intended to challenge the plans for the arrest warrants.

However, weeks after coming to power, Sir Keir’s government reversed that position and said it would not object.

Downing Street also declined to say whether Mr Netanyahu would be welcome to visit Britain in the future.

Sir Keir’s spokesman said: “We never comment on future international visits but my position on the Prime Minister’s support for Israel in terms of its right to defend itself in accordance with international law is very clear.”

The spokesman repeatedly declined to “go into hypotheticals” about whether Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he arrived in the UK.

He added: “It’s not up to the Prime Minister to determine other world leaders’ travel schedules. He engages and will continue to engage with the prime minister of Israel in support of Israel’s right to defend itself.”

Pressed on what he meant by his comments about the court, the spokesman said: “It means that we respect the independence of the ICC. We respect the fact that the ICC is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern.”

The spokesman went on to say the Government’s “focus” remained an end to the violence in the Middle East, which has been ongoing for more than a year after the Oct 7 terror attacks by Hamas.

On being asked about the US describing the ICC as a “kangaroo court”, the spokesman replied: “We respect the independence of the ICC.”

Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said his country would be obliged to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited.

Crosetto, whose country holds the G7 rotating presidency this year, told RAI television’s Porta a Porta programme said that if Netanyahu or Gallant “were to come to Italy, we would have to arrest them”.

It was not a political choice but Italy was bound as a member of the ICC to act on the court’s warrants, Crosetto said.

Ireland’s prime minister has said the ICC’s issuing of arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Dief is an “extremely significant step”.

“The court points to reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility for crimes perpetrated in the war in Gaza,” Simon Harris said.

Mr Harris also pointed to the arrest warrant for Hamas commander Mohammed Dief, who Israel claims to have killed earlier this year.

The International Criminal Court’s most senior prosecutor has urged the body’s 124 members to act on arrest warrants issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

The ICC has no power to enforce its warrants but technically, any country that has signed the Rome Statue would be obliged to arrest Netanyahu or Gallant.

Karim Khan in a statement, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said in a statement:“I appeal to all States Parties to live up to their commitment to the Rome Statute by respecting and complying with these judicial orders.

He also called on countries that are not members of the ICC to work together towards “upholding international law”.

Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, has said his government will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the International Criminal Courts.