Friday, Aug 3, 2018
Giuliani: Trump will decide within 10 days whether to sit for Mueller interview Rudy Giuliani said Thursday that President Trump and his legal team will decide within a “week to 10 days” if Trump will grant an interview to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Giuliani, Trump’s head lawyer, told Politico that Trump and his attorneys will spend the weekend mulling over Mueller’s latest proposal, which would limit the questions related to obstruction of justice and allow Trump to provide some written answers, and then make a decision. Giuliani said Trump wants to meet with Mueller, but the legal team is contemplating saying no to an interview. If they do agree, Giuliani added, the team will insist Mueller limit questions to alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. “We don’t want questioning on obstruction,” he said. “They would have to concede that. It depends on how much they want his testimony on the other [topic.]” Source: Politico
Top security officials break with Trump on election interference America’s top national security officials came forward Thursday to discuss election interference. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Director John Bolton, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and FBI Director Chris Wray all appeared at Thursday’s press briefing, and all four acknowledged ongoing efforts to interfere in American elections. Coats, Bolton, and Wray all cited Russia specifically as perpetrating such efforts, while Nielsen only said that she “fully [shares] the intelligence community’s assessments.” President Trump, meanwhile, has consistently attempted to muddle the conclusion, backing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials over U.S. intelligence, then stating suddenly last week that he was “very concerned” about Russian interference — because, he claimed without evidence, “they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats.” Source: Talking Points Memo, The Week
Labor Department reports another month of solid job gains U.S. employers added 157,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department announced Friday, fewer than the 194,000 economists polled by MarketWatch expected but enough to nudge the unemployment rate down to 3.9 percent from 4 percent, near an 18-year low. The July figure was considered solid but it was down from 248,000 added jobs in June, a figure adjusted up from an initial report of 213,000. Strong spending by consumers and businesses is boosting growth and increasing demand for workers across the economy, and the tightening job market has been slowly pushing wages higher, too. Average wages rose by 7 cents or 0.3 percent to $27.05 per hour, and yearly pay rate increases remained unchanged at 2.7 percent. U.S. stock futures pared early gains after the report. Source: MarketWatch, The Associated Press
Report: Suspected Russian spy worked at U.S. embassy in Moscow A Russian national suspected of being a spy for the Kremlin worked at the U.S. embassy in Moscow for more than 10 years, The Guardian reports. The woman was hired by the Secret Service, and in 2016, two investigators from the Department of State’s Regional Security Office performed a routine security check and determined she was having regular unauthorized meetings with members of FSB, the Russian security agency. The woman had access to the Secret Service’s intranet and email systems, The Guardian reports, which would have let her see the schedules of current and former presidents, vice presidents, and their spouses, like Hillary Clinton. The Regional Security Office notified the Secret Service about the woman in January 2017, but an inquiry was never launched. She was dismissed last summer, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Guardian, after her security clearance was revoked by the State Department. Source: The Guardian
Osama bin Laden’s mother Hamida al-Attas is interviewed for the first time. (Newser)
Thursday, Aug 2, 2018
Tests on the 5,000-year-old burned human bones of 25 people found at Stonehenge suggest 10 came from more than 100 miles (160 km) away in West Wales. (The Guardian)
Archeologists report the discovery of the foundations of a Roman library building in Cologne, Germany. Dating from the 2nd century CE, it is the oldest library yet discovered in Germany. (BBC)
Apple Inc. becomes the first public company to be worth US$1 trillion. (BBC)
Tokyo Medical University is reported to have altered entrance examination scores in order to decrease the number of women attending the college. (BBC)
A study is published suggesting that loose plastic objects in the ocean release more methane than previously thought. (BBC)
Kepler-452b emerges as an exoplanet that might support alien life. (Sky News)
Saudi-led coalition airstrikes kill at least 20 in Al Hudaydah, Yemen. (BBC)
Wednesday, Aug 1, 2018
Researchers from Australia report the success of a plan to use mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria to prevent the spread of dengue fever in an Australian town, stating that they intend to bring the program to other locales. (BBC)
An intense heat wave hits South Korea started at the end of July is forecast to reach its highest temperature in the coming days. The heat wave killed 27 people, while more than 2,200 were taken to the hospital. (The Straits Time)
The White House imposes sanctions on two Turkish officials over the detention of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges. (Al Jazeera)
The Eiffel Tower in Paris shuts down after workers go on a strike over ticketing changes. (Upi)
Trump calls on Jeff Sessions to end the Mueller investigation President Trump on Wednesday tweeted that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should step in and end Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign was involved with Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Sessions “should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now,” Trump wrote, “before it continues to stain our country any further.” Trump has previously expressed frustration that Sessions recused himself from overseeing the investigation, but he has never before directly and publicly asked that Sessions shut down the probe or fire Mueller. In a statement, Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, said: “We have been saying for months that it is time to bring this inquiry to an end. The president has expressed the same opinion.” CNN, Fox News
Mueller reportedly hands off cases involving 3 powerful D.C. lobbyists Special Counsel Robert Mueller has referred three investigations involving Washington insiders to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, apparently after determining the foreign lobbying cases fell outside of his mandate, CNN and The New York Times report. The three powerful lobbyists now being scrutinized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York — Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group, former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) at Mercury Public Affairs, and former Obama White House Counsel Gregory Craig at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom — allegedly failed to register as foreign agents of Ukraine for work contracted through Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman. None of the three have been charged with any crimes, and its not clear the investigations will lead anywhere. (CNN) (The New York Times)
Judge stops release of blueprints for 3D-printed guns U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday afternoon to block the release of blueprints to make 3D-printed plastic guns. In June, the government reached a settlement with Texas-based Defense Distributed, allowing the company to start posting blueprints for the guns online Wednesday. On Monday, eight Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit to halt the settlement, saying that being able to print guns is a public safety risk. (The Associated Press)
The Afghan government says it will hold presidential elections on April 20, 2019, for the fourth time since the Taliban were toppled from power in 2001. (AL Jazeera)
Tuesday, Jul 31, 2018
Worker pay rate in the US hits its highest level since 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Employment Cost Index, which tracks worker compensation, has seen a steady increase over the past year and a half since the election of Donald Trump. (CNBC) (Bloomberg) (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Three russian journalists are killed in Central African Respublic during investigation of “Wagner” private military company’s activity in this country.
Three Russian journalists are killed in an ambush near Sibut, Central African Republic, while filming a documentary about alleged mercenaries in the Wagner Group. (TASS) (Reuters) (CBS News)
The European Union imposes sanctions on six Russian companies involved in the construction of the bridge connecting mainland Russia to the annexedCrimea peninsula. (The Moscow Times)
The former campaign chairman of U.S. President Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, appears in court for the opening day of his criminal trial on 18 bank and fraud charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. (The Hill)
ISIL claims responsibility for an attack in Tajikistan that leaves four cycle tourists dead over the weekend. (CBS News)
Facebook announces that it has suspended 32 accounts it believes intended to influence the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States. The company says while it is uncertain who operated these accounts, at least one is linked to the Russian-based Internet Research Agency. (BBC)
An Aeroméxico Embraer 190 crashes shortly after taking off from Durango International Airport in Durango, Mexico, injuring around 85 people, two critically. (BBC)
Monday, Jul 30, 2018
Intelligence officials in the United States share evidence that North Korea has continued to develop nuclear weapons, despite promises made at the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. (Washington Post)
The Syrian Army seizes control of Al-Shajara, described as ISIL’s “main bastion” in the Daraa Governorate. (The New Arab)
A man died and 12 others were hospitalized when the West Nile virus spread across Italy. (Fidelity News)
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House. (USA Today)
The End
Zulu Kilo 