Despite some rumors and speculation that Merkel may call it a day after being the most important woman in Europe for over a decade, having served as chancellor of Europe's biggest economy for 11 years, on Sunday Merkel told leading members of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) that she wants to run for a fourth term as chancellor in next year's election, senior party sources told Reuters and German DPA agency.
I know we’re all Hamiltoned out, but please, allow me another word about Hamilton and the power of art to open our eyes to things we would not otherwise have seen. Back in 2005, I was a columnist at The Dallas Morning News. Then as now, when I wrote about same-sex marriage, I defended and advocated for tradition. Brokeback Mountain was then in theaters, and I didn’t want to see it for a couple of reasons.
After everyone from Jesse Jackson, to the terrified mainstream media to prominent Congressional Democrats have called upon Obama to issue a blanket pardon for Hillary Clinton, he finally admitted that it's not possible to pardon someone who hasn't yet stood trial for a crime. And while Obama was referencing a potential pardon of Edward Snowden with his comments, one could assume that the law should be applied the same way for all U.S. citizens.
Israeli politicians and community leaders have called for the resignation of a top Jerusalem rabbi after he said Jewish law prescribed the death penalty for gays. In in an interview with Yisrael Hayom, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar said homosexuality was a “cult of abomination” which the Torah “punishes with death…This is in the first line of serious sins.” Amar’s comments were met with fury by members of the LGBTQ community and champions of civil liberties in Israel. Members of parliament have written to the the prime minister to complain.
President-elect Donald Trump has fired Attorney General Loretta Lynch from her post and nominated Sen. Jeff Sessions to replace her. Loretta Lynch, who famously boarded a plane with Bill Clinton for a “private meeting” during ongoing FBI investigations into Hillary Clinton, is likely to leave office in April 2017 just before Jeff Sessions is confirmed by the Senate. The announcement was met by widespread applause from Republicans, but denouncement from Democrats who claim Sessions’ has overly “hard-line views on immigrants,” despite the fact that his voting record shows otherwise.