U.S. President Donald Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump accused social media companies of interfering with the upcoming 2018 midterm election, without appearing to offer any evidence, telling the Daily Caller in an interview published on Wednesday that they are "super liberal."
Referring to such companies, which include Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc, Trump told the conservative news outlet in an interview conducted on Tuesday that "I think they already have" interfered in the Nov. 6 election. The report gave no other details.
The Republican president's accusation added to recent charges he has made of political bias against him by social media companies and search engines. Google and other tech companies have denied any political bias.
"The true interference in the last election was that — if you look at all, virtually all of those companies are super liberal companies in favor of Hillary Clinton," he added, referring to his Democratic opponent in the 2016 White House contest. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 campaign with the aim of tilting the election in Trump's favor, a finding that Moscow has denied.
U.S. Senate Democrats plan to hammer President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over his views on abortion and presidential power in hearings starting on Tuesday, but the conservative judge looks likely to be confirmed.Trump's fellow Republicans hold narrow majority control of the Senate so they can approve Kavanaugh if they stay united. So far, there were no signs of defections, with the Senate likely to vote by the end of the month.The hearing, expected to last four days, gives Democrats a chance to make their case against Kavanaugh ahead of November's congressional elections.Kremlin dismisses Trump warning on Syria's Idlib"There will be sparks at this hearing. Sparks will fly, and there will be a lot of heat," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the judiciary committee that will convene the hearings, said on Friday.Trump nominated Kavanaugh, 53, to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement on June 27 at age 81. He is Trump's second nominee to a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest judicial body. Trump last year appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch, part of his push to make the courts more conservative.Liberals are concerned Kavanaugh could provide a decisive fifth vote on the nine-justice court to overturn or weaken Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide.US ‘repeating Churchill’s bungles’Without Kennedy, the court is now split 4-4 between conservatives and liberals. Kennedy was a solid conservative but sided with the court's liberals on some issues, including abortion and gay rights.Beyond social issues, Kavanaugh is also likely to face questions about his views on investigating sitting presidents and the ongoing probe led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign.Kavanaugh spent four years working for Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who investigated former Democratic President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Kavanaugh also spent more than five years working for Republican President George W. Bush.Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ IdlibIn 2009, many years after the Starr inquiry, Kavanaugh wrote a law review article saying presidents should be free from the distractions of civil lawsuits, criminal prosecutions and investigations while in office.As a judge, he has amassed a solidly conservative record since 2006 on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.With Senator John McCain's death, the Republican Senate majority shrank to 50-49, but McCain's replacement is likely be seated before a final vote on Kavanaugh, restoring the majority to 51-49 and providing the votes needed for confirmation.Liberal activists have pinned their slim hopes to block Kavanaugh on two Republican senators who support abortion rights: Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. So far, neither has indicated she is likely to oppose Kavanaugh.
Democrats vow 'sparks will fly' over Trump's Supreme Court pick
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad not to “recklessly attack” Idlib province amid reports of a potential military offensive by regime forces.“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy,” Trump posted on Twitter.“Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!” he added.Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrians, many of whom fled from other cities that were attacked by the Assad regime’s forces.In May, Idlib was designated a “de-escalation zone” -- in which acts of aggression are expressly forbidden -- as part of ongoing peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.Earlier Monday, Germany and France expressed concern about a possible major offensive in the region.Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who arrived in Damascus Monday for talks ahead of a planned trilateral summit on war-torn Syria, said the Al-Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist groups “must be cleaned out of Idlib”.
Trump warns Assad against ‘recklessly attacking’ Idlib
The Irish government must treat the U.S. president's office with the respect it deserves when Donald Trump visits in November despite disagreeing with many of his policies, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said ahead of planned protests.Trump will travel to Ireland for the first time as president during a trip to Europe to attend a Nov. 11 commemoration in Paris of the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War One, the White House said on Friday.The president's decision to take up an open invitation to Ireland in November "came a little bit out of the blue", said Varadkar, who as a minister was against extending an invitation to Trump before changing his mind when he became prime minister.A number of smaller opposition parties have begun organising protests to coincide with the visit.Journalists arrested over documents used in Northern Ireland documentary"I know a lot of people dislike him, a lot of people object to him, a lot of people disagree with a lot of his policies, just as I do in fact," Varadkar said in an interview with national broadcaster RTE late on Sunday."But he is the president of America and the relationship between Ireland and the United States is much more important than any Irish government or any U.S. administration and I think we have to treat his office with the respect that it deserves."Low tax Ireland is also a major beneficiary of investment by U.S. firms with almost 800 U.S.-based companies including major employers such as Google, Apple and Pfizer accounting for around 7 percent of the country's workforce.Trump will visit his golf resort in the west coast village of Doonbeg as well as Dublin during the brief trip, Varadkar said.The Irish Prime Minister will use an expected meeting with Trump to raise issues including trade, migration, human rights and Britain's exit from the European Union which is set to hit Ireland harder than any other remaining EU member."As you know, he's very supportive of Brexit and I once again want to explain to him why that's not the right position either for America or for Europe," said Varadkar, who met Trump in the White House in March. 
Ireland must respect US president's office when Trump visits: PM