Thursday, Jul 27th
Last update05:20:13 AM GMT
Special Interest Glance
Derek Harvey, the president’s top Middle East adviser, was dismissed on Thursday by national security adviser H.R. McMaster—further shrinking the ranks of White House aides hired by McMaster’s ousted predecessor, Michael Flynn.
“McMaster wants his own guy,” said a senior White House aide. The White House did not immediately announce a replacement for the job of NSC Senior Director for the Middle East.
The Department of Justice argued in a legal brief on Wednesday that the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 offers no protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation, a position advocacy groups condemned as “shameful” and “politically driven.”
DOJ lawyers, arguing under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in which they said the department did not believe the law ― which bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin ― applied to lesbian and gay people. The brief was filed as part of a lawsuit filed by a now-deceased skydiving instructor, Donald Zarda, who said he was fired for his sexual orientation. His lawyers contend the dismissal violated of the act’s Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination.
After a week sparring with his attorney general and steaming over the Russia investigation consuming his agenda, President Donald Trump was closing in on an important win.
House Republicans were planning to pass a spending bill stacked with his campaign promises, including money to build his border wall with Mexico.
But an internal House Republican fight over transgender troops was threatening to blow up the bill. And House GOP insiders feared they might not have the votes to pass the legislation because defense hawks wanted a ban on Pentagon-funded sex reassignment operations — something GOP leaders wouldn’t give them.
Members of the House Intelligence Committee investigating Russia election interference questioned White House senior adviser Jared Kushner today on Capitol Hill for more than three hours.
Kushner, who was under oath, answered questions from Republicans and Democrats about his meetings with Russian officials during the presidential campaign.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has surprised observers by vetoing two bills that would have given his populist government sweeping powers over the country's courts.
The controversial bills are part of a package of judicial reforms put forward by the ruling right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) and passed by both houses of Polish parliament last week.
The proposed reforms have prompted huge protests in the capital Warsaw and across the country.
TVNL Comment: Take note, fellow Americans: When good people take to the streets, evil can be defeated. Kudos to the good people of Poland.
Tensions over the Israeli decision to put metal detectors on a Jerusalem site holy to both Jews and Muslims exploded into deadly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the city and the West Bank on Friday in the worst outbreak of violence there in recent years.
As simmering outrage over the metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount — Jews’ holiest site, also the location of the Al-Aqsa Mosque — reached a boiling point, thousands of Palestinians battled with Israeli security forces after noon prayers.
A strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea has killed at least two people on the Greek island of Kos, officials say. The 6.7-magnitude quake hit 12km (seven miles) north-east of Kos, near the Turkish coast, with a depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey said.
On Kos, around 115 people were injured, including tourists - 12 of them seriously. Some buildings were damaged. Turkey's health minister said 358 were hurt in the Turkish city of Bodrum, but none seriously.
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