Focus Washington December 2019

Federal Judge Blocks $3.6bn Transfer to Mexican Border Wall

December 11, 2019 Focus Washington

A federal judge on Tuesday issued a permanent injunction barring President Donald Trump’s attempt to transfer $3.6 billion in military construction funds to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, Reuters reports. Judge David Briones, […]

Follow

Turkey Reopens Churches, Mosques in Northern Syria

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

The Turkish Defense Ministry released a video Tuesday showing reopening of mosques and churches in Syria’s northern towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, Anadolu Agency reported. After repairing damage done by YPG/PKK terrorists who […]

Follow

Attorney General Barr Hopes Big Tech Probes Could be Completed in 2020

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

Attorney General William Barr said on Tuesday that he hoped to have Justice Department investigations of the big tech platforms – Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple – completed in 2020, Reuters informs. The four tech […]

Follow

Lavrov Calls on Washington to Publish Bilateral Communications Over 2016 Election

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

Russian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said Moscow wanted to publish a cache of communications with Washington that he said cleared Russia of allegations it interfered in the 2016 U.S. election, but […]

Follow

Afghanistan’s Karzai Claims U.S. Cash Fed Corruption

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

Afghanistan’s former president argued Tuesday that Washington helped fuel corruption in his nation by spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two decades without accountability, AP writes. In an interview with The Associated […]

Follow

House Dems, White House Announce New North American Trade Deal

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

House Democrats and the White House announced a deal on a modified North American trade pact, handing President Donald Trump a major Capitol Hill win Tuesday on the same day that impeachment charges were announced […]

Follow

Multiple Killed in New Jersey Shooting

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

A police officer and multiple others were killed in a shooting in Jersey City Tuesday that authorities say is not believed to have been a terrorism attack, The Associated Press reported. One officer was pronounced […]

Follow

LUNCHTIME POLITICS: Boris Johnson’s Closing Ad – Better Off Than Four Years Ago? – Congress – Tuesday Trivia

December 10, 2019 John Ganjei

Your Daily Polling Update for Tuesday, December 10, 2019 TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: AVERAGE 45%Up 1 from yesterday RON’S COMMENT: Today’s average is based on five polls, ranging from 40% (Quinnipiac) to 50% (Rasmussen). Without these […]

Follow

Ex-FBI Head Demands Apology from Trump

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

Ex-FBI General counsel said that President Donald Trump owes him as well as others at the FBI an apology, following a watchdog report by the Justice Department which is disproving Trump’s blast that his campaign was […]

Follow

Evidence of Trump Impeachment Presented at Judiciary Committee Hearing

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

The House Judiciary Committee on Monday was the scene of bitter partisan sparring, as lawmakers questioned staff attorneys who presented the evidence so far gathered in the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, CNBC […]

Follow

Trump Snubs FBI Chief over Inspector General’s Russia Inquiry

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

President Donald Trump slammed FBI Director Christopher Wray in a tweet he published on Tuesday morning, in which he disagreed with his characterization of a newly released Justice Department inspector general report, The Hill reported. […]

Follow

University of Arizona to Work on NASA’s Asteroid Planetary Defense Space Telescope

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

Professor Amy Mainzer of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona will provide technical leadership for the projected mission, to be in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Near-Earth Object Surveillance […]

Follow

SpaceX Vows to Fix Starlink Satellites Interfering with Ruining Astronomer’s Watch of Night Sky

December 10, 2019 Focus Washington

SpaceX has announced that the company is going to test a new Starlink satellite with a specialized anti-reflective coating that won’t interfere with the night sky. This revised spacecraft will be one out of a batch of 60 […]

Follow

NASA Finally Completes SLS, Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

NASA has completed the giant rocket that will take US astronauts back to the Moon, the space agency’s head announced Monday, pledging the mission would take place in 2024 despite being beset by delays. Towering […]

Follow

Watchdog Report Says FBI’s Russia Probe Justified

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

The FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and did not act with political bias, despite “serious performance failures” up the bureau’s chain of command, the […]

Follow

Washingon to Ask UN to Discuss Possible Escalatory Provocation by North Korea

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

The United States will ask the United Nations Security Council this week to discuss North Korea’s recent missile launches and “the possibility of an escalatory DPRK provocation,” a State Department official said on Monday, Reuters […]

Follow

Amazon Lawsuit Blames Trump for Loss of Pentagon Cloud Contract

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

Amazon on Monday accused President Donald Trump of exerting “improper pressure” and bias that led the Department of Defense to award a lucrative $10 billion cloud contract to rival Microsoft, Reuters informs. In a complaint […]

Follow

Democrats Look to Bolster Impeachment Case as Republicans Defend Trump

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

Democrats on Monday sought to bolster the case for impeaching President Donald Trump, describing his pressuring of Ukraine to investigate a political rival as a “clear and present danger” to free and fair elections and […]

Follow

LUNCHTIME POLITICS: Foreign Interference in Elections – Ukraine Quid Pro Quo – Consideration Ratings – Arizona

December 9, 2019 John Ganjei

Your Daily Polling Update for Monday, December 9, 2019 TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: AVERAGE 44%Same as Friday RON’S COMMENT: Today’s average is based on five polls, ranging from 40% (Politico, Quinnipiac) to 51% (Rasmussen). Without these […]

Follow

North Dakota County May Become U.S.’s First to Bar New Refugees

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

Reuben Panchol was forced to leave war-torn Sudan decades ago as a child, embarking on an odyssey that eventually brought him to the American Midwest and left him eternally grateful to the country that took […]

Follow

Hong Kong Sees Biggest Protests Since Democrats’ Election Boost

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

Vast crowds of black-clad demonstrators thronged Hong Kong on Sunday in the largest anti-government protests since local elections last month that boosted the pro-democracy movement seeking to curb controls by China, Reuters informed. It was […]

Follow

Trump Says Kim Jong-un Risks Losing ‘Everything’

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un risks losing “everything” if he resumes hostility and his country must denuclearize, after the North said it had carried out a “successful test […]

Follow

U.S., Iran Swap Prisoners in Rare Act of Cooperation

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

The United States and Iran each freed a prisoner on Saturday in a rare act of cooperation between two longtime foes whose ties have worsened since President Donald Trump took office, Reuters informs. Iran released […]

Follow

Sudan Claims it Has Reduced Troops in Yemen to 5,000

December 9, 2019 Focus Washington

Sudan’s prime minister said on Sunday Khartoum had reduced the number of troops it has in Yemen from a peak of 15,000 to 5,000, confirming a drawdown in a conflict which he said could not […]

Follow

Tech Finds Surprise Ally in Trump

December 8, 2019 Focus Washington

President Donald Trump is defending Google, Facebook and other big tech companies he’s repeatedly railed against when it comes to France’s digital tax, a position that underscores how Trump’s policies on tech don’t always match […]

Follow

House Impeachment Report Looks at Abuse, Bribery, Corruption

December 8, 2019 Focus Washington

Previewing potential articles of impeachment, the House Democrats on Saturday issued a lengthy report drawing on history and the Founding Fathers to lay out the legal argument over the case against President Donald Trump’s actions […]

Follow

North Korea Carries Out ‘Very Important’ Test

December 8, 2019 Focus Washington

North Korea has carried out a “very important” test at its Sohae satellite launch site, state media KCNA reported on Sunday, a rocket testing ground that U.S. officials once said Pyongyang had promised to close, […]

Follow

Thousands of Protesters Flock to Hong Kong Streets as Government Urges Calm

December 8, 2019 Focus Washington

Thousands of black-clad protesters from all walks of life thronged the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday in a sign of broad support for anti-government demonstrations that have roiled the Chinese-ruled city for six months, […]

Follow

UK Security Minister Says No Russian Money Behind Conservatives

December 8, 2019 Focus Washington

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has not funded its election campaign with Russian money, security minister Brandon Lewis told the BBC on Sunday, Reuters writes. Asked whether Russian money had been funding the […]

Follow

Biden Courts Iowans, Balances National Campaign

December 7, 2019 Focus Washington

Minutes after Joe Biden met Cathy Buxengard, he commandeered her cellphone to talk with her 99-year-old mother about her service as a World War II nurse and how worried she is about the United States […]

Follow