Politics

President Obama has vowed to keep his promise and close Guantanamo Bay before his presidency ends this year, according to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.  The U.S. President says he will give Congress a chance to close the detention facility, before moving to the next step if they fail to act. He has hinted that if Congress fail to approve plans to close the controversial prison, he will use executive powers in order to do so. Presstv.com reports: “He feels an obligation to the next president.

The Saudi-led, U.S.-backed war on Yemen continues, and the U.N. is once again calling attention to the coalition’s war crimes:

Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general, warned Friday that a Saudi-led air coalition that is supported by the United States may have committed war crimes by using cluster munitions in heavily populated neighborhoods in Yemen.

Submitted by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,

The nation's attention turned to Oregon this week when a group calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom seized control of part of a federal wildlife refuge. The citizens were protesting the harsh sentences given to members of the Hammond ranching family. The Hammonds were accused of allowing fires set on their property to spread onto federal land.

The United States flew a B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber capable of carrying nuclear bombs over its ally South Korea yesterday. The move was a show of force, to remind North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after his country carried out a nuclear test last week, who is boss when it comes to self defense. Reuters UK video: The U.S. deploys a B-52 bomber and fighter jets to fly over its ally South Korea, in a show of alliance following North Korea’s nuclear test. Rough cut (no reporter narration).

Pope Francis has called Barack Obama a “DICTATOR” and warned that he is “tearing up the constitution.” A disturbing Federal Security Services (FSB) report on the warning letter sent to the European Union in Brussels by the pope this week warns that Obama no longer respects the constitution and is shamelessly ignoring democratic process.