Politics

President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority states from entering the US for 90 days, and temporarily freeze all refugee arrivals (including Syrians indefinitely), has been interpreted widely as an attempt to curtail the inward migration of Muslims, which Trump and his supporters argue pose a threat to national security. It has also been challenged legally, and today a showdown between the DOJ and a San Francisco Court of Appeals is scheduled for 6pm, at which point the Trump order may be formally rejected, forcing Trump to engage the Supreme Court.

Submitted by Damir Kaletovic via OilPrice.com,

An autopsy has reportedly shown that top Yemeni investigative journalist Mohammed al-Absi, who died under mysterious circumstances in December, was poisoned.

The journalist died in the Yemeni capital Sana’a after having dinner with a cousin. He was said to have been investigating oil companies and had recently published a series of reports on government corruption.

Following yesterday's shocking poll by INSA, which as we reported put the center-left SPD on 31 percent and Merkel's conservative CDU bloc on 30 percent, suggesting if the election were held today, Germany's new chancellor would be the SPD's new boss and Nigel Farrage's European Parliament nemesis, Martin Schulz...

... Germany's mass-selling tabloid Bild has openly questioned on its front page whether voters have had enough of Chancellor Angela Merkel.  "Is Germany tired of Merkel?" Bild asked in a headline, noting the result of the INSA survey. 

At noon on Tuesday, the Senate is expected to vote whether to confirm Trump's controversial nominee for education secretary, billionaire Betsy DeVos, following an unusually fiery debate including an all-night Senate session, that has left her at risk of becoming the first cabinet nominee in 28 years to be rejected. Although Senate Republicans and the White House have said they are confident they have the votes to confirm Mrs.

Trump's ongoing spat with Iran escalated on Tuesday, when Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the US president's warning to Iran to stop its missile tests, saying the new U.S. president had shown the "real face" of American corruption. "We are thankful to (Trump) for making our life easy as he showed the real face of America," Khamenei said according to his website. He made the remarks in an address to the commanders of the Army Air Force on the verge of the Islamic Revolution’s victory anniversary which falls on February 10 this year.