“Up all night!” - that’s the screaming headline across US news networks other than US president Donald Trump’s favourite Fox News channel.
“If someone were to write a book on how the end of this Presidency began, it would start with Trump tweeting, in all CAPS, at 1 am in the morning after (Michael) Cohen’s guilty plea. It’s looking more and more like the last days of Nixon, when he grew lonely and isolated and the walls closed in”, Peter Baker of the New York Times told CNN.
Has the Trump presidency reached the equivalent of August 1974? Or to
put it in a form that's more relevant to the Trump era, would the new
horrors be enough to deliver a final blow?
The endgame, if it exists, looks clearer and closer than ever after Cohen’s flip. Nixon’s defenders, just like Trump’s, used to call Watergate investigations a political “witchhunt” - an all too familiar moniker in the US today. Even two weeks before his fall from grace, most of Nixon’s party members voted against impeachment. It was only when the Democrats that year gained 49 more House seats in the midterms that Nixon’s exit was assured. The parallels are too many and they are stunning.
The legal system dumped two political hazards this week on Trump. His former 'fixer' Cohen pleaded guilty and said he and Trump arranged payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep them silent about their alleged affairs with him. And Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman during a key stretch of the 2016 race, was convicted by a jury of eight counts of bank and tax fraud. The combination set up a world of uncertainty for everyone allied with the president. In addition, Daniels and McDougal who say they were Trump's onetime paramours are suing to invalidate agreements designed to silence them.
The US President’s markedly nervous performance on a Fox and Friends interview the morning after Cohen’s bombshell speaks to the legal troubles he is up against.
For Trump, who’s been ranting about immigration and border control, it’s the insiders who are turning the knives in. Not just that, more Republicans are talking about impeachment than Democrats. But, just like many of the breathtaking Trump news cycles, we don’t know if Trump will ever face the reckoning that everyone's talking about.
Here’s how the ducks are lining up with less than 80 days to go before the midterm elections 2018.
The fixer who wants to fix Trump
Michael Cohen is sticking his hand out and asking the public for help paying for his legal defense, and one anonymous donor already has ponied up $50,000.
Through his lawyer, Donald Trump's former "fixer" says collecting contributions through a GoFundMe page set up after his guilty plea this week is the only way to ensure the truth comes out about the president. Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, commented in court Tuesday that Trump had directed him to arrange payments of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about alleged affairs before the election. While Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted. In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday that he knew about payments "later on."
Tabloid magnate kept damaging Trump stories in a safe!
The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press. The detail comes as several media outlets reported Thursday that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.
'Loyalty freak' Trump finds that quality is rare in Washington DC
Loyalty has long been a core value for President Donald Trump. But he's learning the hard way that in politics, it doesn't always last.
Days after Cohen, the president's former personal attorney, implicated the president in a stunning plea deal, word surfaced that David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend and media boss, also was cooperating with prosecutors. Taking the Cohen news as a personal betrayal, Trump criticized his longtime fixer for "flipping," saying on "Fox and Friends" that such double-crossers "make up things" to get reduced prison time and become "a national hero."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushes back at Trump
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is declaring that the Justice Department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations" as he pushes back against President Donald Trump's latest jabs. Sessions' response came after Trump, appearing increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations, accused the attorney general of failing to take control of his department - euphemism for allowing the Mueller probe to land on Trump's front porch.Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal "fixer" Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted. Trump said it might be better if "flipping" — cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment— were illegal because people cooperating with the government "just make up lies."
Mueller probe is closing in
Special counsel Robert Mueller's timing has hurt the White House time and again. Mueller is still investigating Russia's attempts to sway voters in the 2016 election. The probe includes the hacking of Democrats' emails, whether the Trump campaign may have cooperated with Russia and if the president obstructed justice. Key to Mueller's investigation is a 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in New York between Donald Trump Jr., Manafort, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner and people with ties to Russia. Trump calls the probe a "witch hunt" and has not said whether he will sit for an interview with Mueller. A final report from Mueller could go to Congress — a move that would become more significant if Democrats win control in this year's elections.
“If someone were to write a book on how the end of this Presidency began, it would start with Trump tweeting, in all CAPS, at 1 am in the morning after (Michael) Cohen’s guilty plea. It’s looking more and more like the last days of Nixon, when he grew lonely and isolated and the walls closed in”, Peter Baker of the New York Times told CNN.
US president Donald Trump speaks at a Make America Great Again rally at Charleston on 22 August. Reuters
The endgame, if it exists, looks clearer and closer than ever after Cohen’s flip. Nixon’s defenders, just like Trump’s, used to call Watergate investigations a political “witchhunt” - an all too familiar moniker in the US today. Even two weeks before his fall from grace, most of Nixon’s party members voted against impeachment. It was only when the Democrats that year gained 49 more House seats in the midterms that Nixon’s exit was assured. The parallels are too many and they are stunning.
The legal system dumped two political hazards this week on Trump. His former 'fixer' Cohen pleaded guilty and said he and Trump arranged payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep them silent about their alleged affairs with him. And Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman during a key stretch of the 2016 race, was convicted by a jury of eight counts of bank and tax fraud. The combination set up a world of uncertainty for everyone allied with the president. In addition, Daniels and McDougal who say they were Trump's onetime paramours are suing to invalidate agreements designed to silence them.
That pretty much sums up the grim mood in the White House even if nobody there is admitting it.“The worst hour of his entire life”: The walls may feel like they’re closing in on Trump, writes @sbg1 https://t.co/dbROCz8Z0n— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) August 22, 2018
For Trump, who’s been ranting about immigration and border control, it’s the insiders who are turning the knives in. Not just that, more Republicans are talking about impeachment than Democrats. But, just like many of the breathtaking Trump news cycles, we don’t know if Trump will ever face the reckoning that everyone's talking about.
The fixer who wants to fix Trump
Michael Cohen is sticking his hand out and asking the public for help paying for his legal defense, and one anonymous donor already has ponied up $50,000.
Through his lawyer, Donald Trump's former "fixer" says collecting contributions through a GoFundMe page set up after his guilty plea this week is the only way to ensure the truth comes out about the president. Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, commented in court Tuesday that Trump had directed him to arrange payments of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to buy their silence about alleged affairs before the election. While Trump denies the affairs, his account of his knowledge of the payments has shifted. In April, Trump denied he knew anything about the Daniels payment. He told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday that he knew about payments "later on."
Tabloid magnate kept damaging Trump stories in a safe!
The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press. The detail comes as several media outlets reported Thursday that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.
'Loyalty freak' Trump finds that quality is rare in Washington DC
Loyalty has long been a core value for President Donald Trump. But he's learning the hard way that in politics, it doesn't always last.
Days after Cohen, the president's former personal attorney, implicated the president in a stunning plea deal, word surfaced that David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend and media boss, also was cooperating with prosecutors. Taking the Cohen news as a personal betrayal, Trump criticized his longtime fixer for "flipping," saying on "Fox and Friends" that such double-crossers "make up things" to get reduced prison time and become "a national hero."
Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushes back at Trump
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is declaring that the Justice Department "will not be improperly influenced by political considerations" as he pushes back against President Donald Trump's latest jabs. Sessions' response came after Trump, appearing increasingly vulnerable to long-running investigations, accused the attorney general of failing to take control of his department - euphemism for allowing the Mueller probe to land on Trump's front porch.Trump's anger with Sessions boiled over in an interview with Fox News in which the president also expressed frustration with the plea agreement his onetime legal "fixer" Michael Cohen cut with prosecutors, including implicating Trump in a crime that Cohen admitted. Trump said it might be better if "flipping" — cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for more favorable treatment— were illegal because people cooperating with the government "just make up lies."
Mueller probe is closing in
Special counsel Robert Mueller's timing has hurt the White House time and again. Mueller is still investigating Russia's attempts to sway voters in the 2016 election. The probe includes the hacking of Democrats' emails, whether the Trump campaign may have cooperated with Russia and if the president obstructed justice. Key to Mueller's investigation is a 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in New York between Donald Trump Jr., Manafort, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner and people with ties to Russia. Trump calls the probe a "witch hunt" and has not said whether he will sit for an interview with Mueller. A final report from Mueller could go to Congress — a move that would become more significant if Democrats win control in this year's elections.
Next S
North, South Korea begin second round of tearful family reunions amid efforts to shore up ties
Seoul: Elderly North
and South Koreans wept and embraced each other on Friday at the
beginning of a second round of temporary reunions of family members
separated for decades by the Korean War.
More than 300 South Koreans travelled to the North's Diamond Mountain resort for three days of meetings with their long-lost relatives. Earlier this week, about 200 other South Koreans went to the scenic resort for similar reunions.
During the meetings on Friday, Kang Jong Hwa, an 85-year-old North Korean woman wearing a traditional hanbok dress, sobbed while touching the face of her 100-year-old sister from South Korea. "I cannot believe this," Kang said.
Two silver-haired brothers in their 80s also wept while surrounded by
other relatives, while others asked each other about their lives in a
rush of emotions.
"Thank you for being alive," Wu Ki-ju, a 79-year-old South Korean woman, said after seeing her 86-year-old North Korean sister in a wheelchair.
Participants in the latest reunions are to part again on Sunday, likely for good.
The two Koreas occasionally allow
elderly people to reunite with loved ones on the other side of the
border, but none has been given a second chance to meet.
The previous family reunions were in 2015.
The separated families are a bitter reminder of the division of the Koreas, which were once a single country.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
South Korea wants to expand the family reunions, but experts say North Korea is reluctant to do so because of worries that increasing their frequency will loosen its authoritarian control and cause it to relinquish a coveted bargaining chip in negotiations with the South.
This week's reunions were arranged as the rival Koreas take various steps aimed at improving ties amid diplomatic efforts to end the stalemate over North Korea's nuclear program.
More than 300 South Koreans travelled to the North's Diamond Mountain resort for three days of meetings with their long-lost relatives. Earlier this week, about 200 other South Koreans went to the scenic resort for similar reunions.
During the meetings on Friday, Kang Jong Hwa, an 85-year-old North Korean woman wearing a traditional hanbok dress, sobbed while touching the face of her 100-year-old sister from South Korea. "I cannot believe this," Kang said.
South
Korean Pi Eun-ae, 75, right, holds a hand with her North Korean sister
Pi Sun Ae, 86, as photos of their family members are displayed on the
table during the Separated Family Reunion Meeting. AP
"Thank you for being alive," Wu Ki-ju, a 79-year-old South Korean woman, said after seeing her 86-year-old North Korean sister in a wheelchair.
Participants in the latest reunions are to part again on Sunday, likely for good.
The previous family reunions were in 2015.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
South Korea wants to expand the family reunions, but experts say North Korea is reluctant to do so because of worries that increasing their frequency will loosen its authoritarian control and cause it to relinquish a coveted bargaining chip in negotiations with the South.
This week's reunions were arranged as the rival Koreas take various steps aimed at improving ties amid diplomatic efforts to end the stalemate over North Korea's nuclear program.
WHO praises Bangladesh for curtailing outbreak of deadly diseases among Rohingya migrants
New Delhi: Outbreaks
of deadly diseases were "prevented and rapidly curtailed" among nearly
10 lakh Rohingya refugees and thousands of lives were saved due to the
efforts of the Bangladesh government, WHO and other health partners in
the last one year, the global health body said on Friday.
The regional office of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) South East Asian Region said despite this, the Rohingya refugees remained vulnerable even today with their evolving health needs and a severe fund crunch, threatening the continuity of life-saving health services in their camps.
"Unprecedented efforts have been made in the last year and in the
most challenging conditions. Deadly diseases such as cholera have been
prevented and measles and diphtheria curtailed rapidly with quick
roll-out and scale-up of health services and mass vaccination campaigns.
"It is remarkable that not only has the mortality rate among the Rohingyas remained lower than expected in an emergency of such a scale, it has also reduced significantly in the last six months," Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said. She lauded the Bangladesh government's work in this regard.
The arrival of nearly seven lakh
Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar, beginning 25 August last year, was one of the
largest ever population influxes over such a short span of time, the
global health body said.
In response, WHO, with Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, coordinated the emergency health services provided by the nearly 107 health partners on the ground, to ensure access to essential services for the Rohingyas.
In the last year, 155 health posts
have been established, each catering to around 7,700 people and in
addition, 60 primary healthcare facilities covering 20,000 people each
and 11 secondary-care facilities being accessed by nearly 1,15,000
people each have also been established, WHO said.
"Despite these efforts, challenges remain. Floods and landslides in the ongoing monsoon season continue to displace people and affect the functioning of the health facilities.
"The Rohingya population is reluctant to access sexual and reproductive health services and as a result, 70 per cent of births are still taking place outside of health facilities," the global health body pointed out.
The regional office of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) South East Asian Region said despite this, the Rohingya refugees remained vulnerable even today with their evolving health needs and a severe fund crunch, threatening the continuity of life-saving health services in their camps.
Logo of World Health Organisation. AFP
"It is remarkable that not only has the mortality rate among the Rohingyas remained lower than expected in an emergency of such a scale, it has also reduced significantly in the last six months," Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said. She lauded the Bangladesh government's work in this regard.
In response, WHO, with Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, coordinated the emergency health services provided by the nearly 107 health partners on the ground, to ensure access to essential services for the Rohingyas.
"Despite these efforts, challenges remain. Floods and landslides in the ongoing monsoon season continue to displace people and affect the functioning of the health facilities.
"The Rohingya population is reluctant to access sexual and reproductive health services and as a result, 70 per cent of births are still taking place outside of health facilities," the global health body pointed out.
Scott 'Stop the boats' Morrison: New Australian PM is known for his controversial policy on asylum-seekers
Sydney: Evangelical
Christian Scott Morrison, who emerged as prime minister after a bun
fight in Australia's ruling party on Friday, is an ambitious man who has
always dreamed of the top job.
Behind the scenes of a battle for the leadership of the Liberal party that erupted this week between ousted Malcolm Turnbull and right-wing former policeman Peter Dutton, Morrison was quietly canvassing support among his colleagues.
The hard-line former immigration minister, who took credit for "stop
the boats" — a harsh policy to prevent asylum-seekers from entering
Australia at its seaports — billed himself as a man of faith and family
who could get things done.
The 50-year-old's stealth candidacy reflected aspirations he has had since he entered parliament in 2007, representing the Sydney seat of Cook which is the site of Australia's last race riots.
The son of a policeman, Morrison, known as "ScoMo", becomes Australia's seventh prime minister in 11 years, replacing a man who became the latest in a long line of leaders knifed in the back by their allies.
His supporters point to his success with the immigration portfolio from 2013-14, where he implemented the controversial "Operation Sovereign Borders" to stop asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat.
They were either sent back to where they had come from or transferred to remote Pacific island camps. The policy was credited with eliminating sea-borne arrivals.
But it also attracted fierce
criticism, fuelled by Morrison's refusal to release details of the
military operations to turn back boats, sometimes to countries with
dodgy human rights records. Conditions in the camps on Manus Island in
Papua New Guinea and on Nauru were slammed by rights groups, with some
asylum-seekers languishing there for years.
Critics questioned how the man in charge reconciled his worn-on-the-sleeve Christian faith with his uncompromising immigration stance.
Family and faith
Born 13 May, 1968 in the beachside Sydney suburb of Bronte, Scott John Morrison was the younger of two sons, whose parents ran church youth programmes. Morrison himself was an active church member, and met his wife Jenny as a young teenager through the church. The pair married when he was 21.
It took 18 years and multiple rounds of IVF before the first of two children was born, and Morrison dedicated his maiden parliamentary speech to his daughter Abbey Rose. Morrison worked in the tourism sector at home and in New Zealand before being selected to contest the seat of Cook in 2007.
He credited his win to the "most significant influences on my life — my family and my faith". After serving as shadow immigration minister, Morrison moved straight into the government job when the Liberal party took power in 2013.
A short stint in the social services portfolio followed, before he took over the treasury when Turnbull became leader in September 2015. Morrison presided over Australia's economy as the government sought to return the budget to surplus and simultaneously cut personal income and small business taxes.
On social issues, Morrison has stood to the right of the more moderate Turnbull, and opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage last year. But he has also tried to soften his image, appearing on a cooking-with-politicians series that airs on national broadcaster ABC.
Behind the scenes of a battle for the leadership of the Liberal party that erupted this week between ousted Malcolm Turnbull and right-wing former policeman Peter Dutton, Morrison was quietly canvassing support among his colleagues.
File photo of new Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. AFP
The 50-year-old's stealth candidacy reflected aspirations he has had since he entered parliament in 2007, representing the Sydney seat of Cook which is the site of Australia's last race riots.
The son of a policeman, Morrison, known as "ScoMo", becomes Australia's seventh prime minister in 11 years, replacing a man who became the latest in a long line of leaders knifed in the back by their allies.
His supporters point to his success with the immigration portfolio from 2013-14, where he implemented the controversial "Operation Sovereign Borders" to stop asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat.
They were either sent back to where they had come from or transferred to remote Pacific island camps. The policy was credited with eliminating sea-borne arrivals.
Critics questioned how the man in charge reconciled his worn-on-the-sleeve Christian faith with his uncompromising immigration stance.
Born 13 May, 1968 in the beachside Sydney suburb of Bronte, Scott John Morrison was the younger of two sons, whose parents ran church youth programmes. Morrison himself was an active church member, and met his wife Jenny as a young teenager through the church. The pair married when he was 21.
It took 18 years and multiple rounds of IVF before the first of two children was born, and Morrison dedicated his maiden parliamentary speech to his daughter Abbey Rose. Morrison worked in the tourism sector at home and in New Zealand before being selected to contest the seat of Cook in 2007.
He credited his win to the "most significant influences on my life — my family and my faith". After serving as shadow immigration minister, Morrison moved straight into the government job when the Liberal party took power in 2013.
A short stint in the social services portfolio followed, before he took over the treasury when Turnbull became leader in September 2015. Morrison presided over Australia's economy as the government sought to return the budget to surplus and simultaneously cut personal income and small business taxes.
On social issues, Morrison has stood to the right of the more moderate Turnbull, and opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage last year. But he has also tried to soften his image, appearing on a cooking-with-politicians series that airs on national broadcaster ABC.
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