Having issued an indirect travel alert "urging" US national to "depart immediately" from North Korea two weeks ago, the US State Department has escalated their perspective on US citizens' travel to, in, or through North Korea dramatically by declaring all U.S. passports invalid for travel, implicitly ordering all Americans out of North Korea from September 1st 2017.
ACTION:
Notice of passport travel restriction.
SUMMARY:
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson penned an op-ed in the USA Today warning Republicans that they have about 4 months left to pass tax cuts or suffer the inevitable consequences of massive losses in the 2018 mid-terms that will return control of Congress to Nancy Pelosi.
The specter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is looming.
Two U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday according to Reuters when a NATO convoy came under attack in Kandahar province, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said, with NATO adding that the assault led to an unspecified number of casualties.
Resolute Support can confirm that a NATOconvoy was attacked this afternoon in #Kandahar . pic.twitter.com/gwRfMGBjLq
— Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) August 2, 2017
After several days of delays, which prompted speculation among politicians and the media why the White House is dragging its feet on the issue and was the topic of several questions during Rex Tillerson's Tuesday media press conference, moments ago the Donald Trump officially signed into law new Russian sanctions that prevent the president from acting unilaterally to remove certain sanctions on Russia and adds sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea.
In the latest shot across the bow by Italy in Europe's latest refugee crisis, BBC and AP report that the Italian Coast Guard has impounded a German NGO migrant rescue boat and is questioning its crew on the isle of Lampedusa, amid a growing dispute over Italy's code of conduct for handling migrants at sea. Lampedusa is a tiny Italian island near North Africa which has struggled to house boatloads of migrants in recent years.