【一蓮托生】國際時事政治選舉集中理性討論區（二）

超級推薦，講ISIS係Mosul點執行佢個一套，明日有下集

The bureaucracy of evil: how Islamic State ran a city

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/29/bureaucracy-evil-isis-run-city-mosul

The Madina Document was just the first step, however. The so-called Islamic State did not spring up in a single day. It arrived gradually, over roughly two months, via a series of actions and edicts – each new step affecting a different segment of society, raising the heat each time.

In many ways, Isis’s project resembled other attempts through history to build a utopian state, from the Bolsheviks to the Taliban – a road map of authoritarian rule. First, promote a mythical founding ideology. Next, use it to purge society of undesirables. Use the utmost brutality so as to thwart any resistance; maintain a ruthless intelligence network to induce the population to denounce itself.

But totalitarian regimes can’t survive on millennial ideology and mass terror alone. They need a functioning bureaucracy and competent administrators.

The new administration was a hybrid: an attempt at running a modern-day municipality, but using behaviours, titles, dress code and language from 800 AD.


And, just as in any totalitarian society, the majority of residents bent their heads and went on with life.

Le Pen's National Front Slips in First Votes of the Macron Era

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/le-pen-s-national-front-slips-in-first-votes-of-the-macron-era?

Marine Le Pen’s National Front party slumped in special elections for two legislative seats that were the first electoral contests since President Emmanuel Macron and his party took power last June.

The far-right party’s vote fell to 7.5 percent in Belfort, eastern France, Sunday from 17.5 percent in the first round of legislative elections last June, according to Agence France-Presse. In Val d’Oise near Paris, the National Front’s score fell to 10 percent from 15 percent, AFP said.

In Belfort the Republican candidate won 39 percent of the vote ahead of a MoDem candidate, part of an alliance with Macron’s party, who got 27 percent. In Val d’Oise, Macron’s party won 29 percent of the vote, compared with 24 percent for the Republican rival. The two leading candidates in each constituency go through to a run-off next Sunday.

Andrew McCabe, FBI deputy director, quits after Trump criticism

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42865202

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director, whom US President Donald Trump repeatedly accused of political bias, has resigned.

Andrew McCabe was forced to step down ahead of his official retirement date on 18 March, reports CBS News.

Mr McCabe's exit from the top law enforcement agency comes a week after a report that Mr Trump wanted him out.

He was also reportedly pressured to quit by FBI Director Christopher Wray ahead of an internal agency report.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Monday's daily press briefing: "This decision was not made by the White House."

Russia 'will target US mid-term elections' says CIA chief

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42864372

The director of the CIA expects that Russia will target the US mid-term elections later this year.

Mike Pompeo told the BBC there had been no significant diminishing of Russian attempts at subversion in Europe and the US.

He also said North Korea may have the ability to strike the US with nuclear missiles "in a handful of months".

The US intelligence community has said that it believes Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Pompeo, who briefs the president most mornings, dismissed as "drivel" recent claims that US President Donald Trump was not up to the job.

North Korea cancels joint cultural performance with South

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42863274

North Korea has abruptly cancelled a cultural event scheduled to be held jointly with the South, Seoul has said.

Set for 4 February at Mount Kumgang in the North, it had been part of a series of events ahead of the South's hosting of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

The events, and other links during the Games, were seen as a thawing of ties.

A telegram from the North reportedly blamed "biased" and "insulting" media coverage in the South. South Korea said the decision was "regrettable".

It said the North should uphold all the agreements that had been made.

北韓控制晒個主導權，一啖砂糖一啖 南韓一d主動都無

Btw文仔因為對北韓太軟弱，勁過陽光政策既曝曬政策令佢民望由七成以上跌到五字頭

黎蝸藤呢篇好睇，講文仔外交反覆軟弱，令北韓擁核成定局

https://lwt2017.blogspot.hk/2018/01/blog-post_17.html

咁睇樸婦人都強硬過文仔唔少

朴槿惠外交政策合理好多，你唔搞事就同你傾，搞事就斷會談，裝薩德。而且同日本關係友好，係慰安婦問題上讓步等。

不過內政出晒事，同時打壓自由同媒體

China rejects claim it bugged headquarters it built for African Union

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/30/china-african-union-headquarters-bugging-spying

China and the African Union dismissed on Monday a report that Beijing had bugged the regional bloc’s headquarters, which it built and paid for in the Ethiopian capital.

French newspaper Le Monde quoted anonymous African Union (AU) sources saying that data from computers in the Chinese-built building had been transferred nightly to Chinese servers for five years.

After the hack was discovered a year ago, the building’s IT system including servers was changed, according to Le Monde. During a sweep for bugs after the discovery, microphones were also found hidden in desks and the walls, the newspaper reported.

朴就係因為交合理得罪支共 三星為左利益踢佢走咩
而家呢個一定岩支那心意先上到位啦

Carles Puigdemont weighs return to Spain amid threat of jail

http://www.dw.com/en/carles-puigdemont-weighs-return-to-spain-amid-threat-of-jail/a-42356163

Carles Puigdemont, the fugitive ex-president of Catalonia, wants to attend the next session of the regional parliament on Tuesday but avoid being arrested in the process.

He has sent a letter to the Catalan parliament asking the body to guarantee his right to attend the parliamentary session without being taken into custody. Puigdemont fled to Belgium following an illegal declaration of independence last October.

It's unclear if the chamber even has such authority but a couple of court rulings suggest Puigdemont faces long odds of returning to Spain and getting elected regional president without getting arrested along the way.

Ireland to hold abortion referendum at the end of May

http://www.dw.com/en/ireland-to-hold-abortion-referendum-at-the-end-of-may/a-42360132

Ireland's government will give voters their first chance in 35 years to decide whether to repeal the country's restrictive abortion laws, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced on Monday.

A referendum on the divisive issue will be held at the end of May in the once-stridently Catholic country.

What will this entail?

Voters will be asked if they want to repeal the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution which guarantees the equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child.

If the repeal is approved, Ireland's parliament will set a new law on abortion, which Varadkar said would be based on recommendations by an all-party parliamentary committee. The committee has called for terminations to be allowed without restriction up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy.

The referendum will give voters under the age of 50 their first opportunity to decide on the issue.

House panel votes to release secret memo

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/29/trey-gowdy-devin-nunes-fbi-classified-memo-374688

Republicans on the House intelligence committee voted Monday in favor of releasing a classified memo that alleges misconduct by senior FBI officials involved in the Russia probe, despite objections from the Department of Justice.

The GOP-led panel voted along party lines to release the secret document — which was written by Republicans — and against making public a competing memo Democrats had crafted, said Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee. The group also rejected a proposal to give the Justice Department and FBI more time to vet the Republican document, he said.

Three people who have seen the memo told POLITICO recently that it accuses senior FBI officials of abusing a classified surveillance program, known as FISA, to spy on a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser. Obtaining a warrant under FISA requires the FBI to present an application to a court with evidence that indicates the target is acting on behalf of a foreign power.

Colombia suspends peace talks with ELN rebels following attacks

http://www.dw.com/en/colombia-suspends-peace-talks-with-eln-rebels-following-attacks/a-42359742

An upcoming round of peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) was suspended by the country's president on Monday following a weekend of deadly attacks.

The developments are a step back in efforts to end Colombia's 50 years of conflict, which appeared to be nearing a resolution.

Two sides at odds

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the decision to freeze the talks at an event near Bogota, saying that his "patience and the patience of the Colombian people has its limits."

He said the talks would remain suspended "until we see coherence between the ELN's words and its actions."

The ELN said in a statement on Monday that it would back a new ceasefire but that its attacks would continue if there was no ceasefire deal in place.

Brexit would damage UK growth, says leaked cabinet report

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/30/brexit-would-damage-uk-growth-says-leaked-cabinet-report?

Brexit would leave the UK worse off under three possible scenarios: a comprehensive free trade deal, single market access and no deal at all, according to a leaked government analysis of the economic impact of leaving the EU.

The document was meant to be shown confidentially to cabinet ministers this week but was leaked in an embarrassing development for Theresa May and David Davis, the Brexit secretary.

It said national income would be 8% lower under a no deal scenario, around 5% lower with a free trade agreement with the EU and about 2% lower with a soft Brexit option of single market membership over a 15-year period.

Kenya's opposition to swear in Raila Odinga as 'people's president'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/30/kenyas-opposition-to-swear-in-raila-odinga-as-peoples-president

Opposition leaders in Kenya say they will go ahead with a ceremony to swear in Raila Odinga as “president of the people” at a mass meeting “come hell or high water”.

The National Super Alliance (Nasa) is planning to hold the ceremony in Uhuru Park in Nairobi around noon on Tuesday.

The move is likely to lead to fresh confrontations in Kenya, three months after Uhuru Kenyatta won a new five-year term as president in a controversial re-run election. The opposition boycotted the poll, saying it was not free or fair.

Government lawyers have described the opposition ceremony as treason and it was unclear if police would allow supporters to gather until hours before the meeting was due to be held.

Yemen's Saudi-backed government 'to flee from Aden'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/30/yemens-saudi-backed-government-to-flee-from-aden

Leaders of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government are reportedly preparing to flee from Aden as fighters from the armed wing of a political movement demanding secession for southern Yemen seized large parts of the city after three days of fighting.

The Southern Transitional Council has been seeking secession from the rest of Yemen for years. Until recently it received support from the United Arab Emirates, causing a fracture in the Saudi-UAE alliance that intervened in Yemen against Houthi rebels who captured the north of the country.

In recent days, leaders in the UAE have been calling on the STC to accept a ceasefire. Last week, the STC gave President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government an ultimatum – either dismiss the prime minister, Ahmed bin Daghr, and his cabinet or face being overthrown.

The STC accused Hadi’s government of “rampant corruption” resulting in a “deteriorating economic, security and social situation never before witnessed in the history of the south”.

大家記得明日朝早十點係侵侵的第一份國情咨文(State of the Union address)，千祈唔好錯過，明日一早再share link。

What happened to the State of the Union address? Originally, it helped the president and Congress deliberate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/30/what-happened-to-the-state-of-the-union-address-originally-it-helped-the-president-and-congress-deliberate/?utm_term=.33673efea747

But the performance likely won’t do what it was originally designed for: framing a productive debate between two branches of government about the nation’s direction.

The State of the Union is in a state of decay, and has been since well before the age of Trump.

The Constitution states that the president “shall from time to time give to Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

Everything you need to know: Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/29/trump-state-of-the-union-2018-time-date-details-374477

5 things to watch at Trump's 2018 State of the Union

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/30/trump-state-union-address-375577

Exclusive: Tests link Syrian government stockpile to largest sarin attack - sources

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-chemicalweapons-exclusiv/exclusive-tests-link-syrian-government-stockpile-to-largest-sarin-attack-sources-idUSKBN1FJ0MG

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The Syrian government’s chemical weapons stockpile has been linked for the first time by laboratory tests to the largest sarin nerve agent attack of the civil war, diplomats and scientists told Reuters, supporting Western claims that government forces under President Bashar al-Assad were behind the atrocity.

Laboratories working for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons compared samples taken by a U.N. mission in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta after the Aug. 21, 2013 attack, when hundreds of civilians died of sarin gas poisoning, to chemicals handed over by Damascus for destruction in 2014.

The findings on Ghouta, whose details were confirmed to Reuters by two separate diplomatic sources, were not released in the October report to the U.N. Security Council because they were not part of the team’s mandate. They will nonetheless bolster claims by the United States, Britain and other Western powers that Assad’s government still possesses and uses banned munitions in violation of several Security Council resolutions and the Chemical Weapons Convention.


Independent experts, however, said the findings are the strongest scientific evidence to date that the Syrian government was behind Ghouta, the deadliest chemical weapons attack since the Halabja massacres of 1988 during the Iran-Iraq war.

State of the Union address Live (Hong Kong Time: 1000) :

Video
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sotu/

Text:
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-42882400

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2018/jan/30/state-of-the-union-address-donald-trump-live-updates

侵侵入場，可以開live 睇

Live: President Trump’s State of the Union address (with fact check by Politico)


https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/trump-state-of-the-union-2018-transcript-analysis/

1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Bill

以美國的基建情況應該唔多夠

做維修應該都洗唔少