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peppertree's JournalEconomist Joseph Stiglitz: Trump's Budget Takes a Sledgehammer to What Remains of the American Dream
Socialist Lenin Moreno sworn in as Ecuador president
Source: Reuters
Lenin Moreno was sworn in as Ecuador's president on Wednesday following a tight electoral race that the former vice president won on promises of maintaining the social programs of his leftist predecessor, Rafael Correa.
The 64-year-old socialist won a runoff last month against right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso, bucking a shift to the right in South America as leftist governments struggle to maintain support. He has promised a more conciliatory style with adversaries and foreign companies, in contrast to Correa's often combative manner.
Moreno promised more support for agriculture and tourism, adding he would provide cheap credit and push to modernize infrastructure. Debt terms will be improved, he said, and the relationship between the state and multinationals transformed. His oil minister, Carlos Pérez, is a former Halliburton executive.
Moreno is the first disabled individual to take office as president of Ecuador. He became paraplegic after being shot in the back during a robbery in 1998.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-politics-idUSKBN18K2GU?il=0
The headline notwithstanding, Moreno is actually a little closer to the middle than his predecessor. All the best to him.
Two men caned 83 times in Indonesia for homosexual sex
Source: CNN
Two men were caned 83 times Tuesday as a punishment for having homosexual sex in Indonesia's ultra-conservative Aceh province.
Hundreds of people turned out to see the public punishment, held at a mosque in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, filming the caning on their phone cameras. It is very rare, even in Aceh, which follows strict Islamic law, for two men to be caned for having sexual relations.
The men, aged 20 and 23, were arrested in March by vigilantes. Neighbors had barged into an apartment with the men and filmed them naked with camera phones, according to rights groups. The videos were shared widely in local media.
They were subsequently found guilty of violating Aceh's strict Islamic laws and were sentenced to 85 lashes. On Tuesday, two lashes were taken off because the men had already served two months in prison.
Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/23/asia/indonesia-caning-homosexuality/
Another White House invite, no doubt.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Declares Martial Rule in Southern Part of Country
Source: Time
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared the country's south under martial rule for 60 days and cut short a visit to Moscow on Tuesday after Muslim extremists allied with the Islamic State group laid siege to a southern city.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told a news conference in Moscow that martial rule took effect Tuesday evening in the southern region of Mindanao "on the grounds of existence of rebellion."
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said troops raided the hideout of a top terrorist suspect in southern Marawi city on Tuesday, sparking a gunbattle that prompted the militants to call for reinforcements from an allied group, the Maute. He said dozens of gunmen occupied city hall, a hospital and a jail and burned a Catholic church, a jail, a college and some houses in a bold attack that killed at least two soldiers and a police officer and wounded 12 others.
Several militants were killed in the fighting in Marawi city in Lanao del Sur province, about 830 kilometers (520 miles) south of Manila, but others continued to lay siege to the largely Muslim city of more than 200,000 people, officials said, adding that power was cut in the city in a chaotic scene.
"The whole of Marawi city is blacked out, there is no light, and there are Maute snipers all around," Lorenzana said in the news conference in Moscow, which was broadcast live in the Philippines.
Read more: http://time.com/4791237/rodrigo-duterte-martial-law-philippines/
Cheeto must be so jealous.
Oklahoma crisis offers opportunity for Democrats
The Oklahoma state budget has been cut so deeply that two elementary schools in state Rep. Jason Dunnington's district in Oklahoma City can no longer afford to pay for art teachers. A hospital is struggling after lawmakers axed a fund for uncompensated care.
Beyond the cuts, the situation has also produced a political role reversal. Republicans want to ease the pain with increases in cigarette and fuel taxes. Dunnington and fellow Democrats are attacking those bills, hoping opposition offers their party a path back to relevance after many years in the wilderness.
"I would rather lose fighting for what's just than win fighting for the wrong thing," Dunnington said.
No state Democratic party has been more hapless in recent years than Oklahoma's. It holds only a small minority of seats in the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature and has been repeatedly defeated in elections for statewide office.
But the worst budget crisis in recent state history presents an opportunity for a possible Democratic comeback, although it might mean inflicting more suffering on some constituents after three straight years of revenue shortfalls. If budget negotiations break down and Republicans are forced to make even deeper cuts, the effects could drive more voters to support Democrats in 2018.
For Democrats, "there's no downside to this at all," said Keith Gaddie, chairman of the University of Oklahoma's political science department. "It costs them nothing." Erin Taylor, whose youngest of five children receives supplemental health insurance through a state program because of a disability, is fearful of seeing her benefits slashed.
At: https://www.mail.com/news/politics/5211498-oklahoma-crisis-offers-opportunity-hapless-democra.html#.23140-stage-hero1-1
Macri intelligence chief Arribas to face Congressional scrutiny over bribery claims
Argentina's Congressional Intelligence Committee has called Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) chief Gustavo Arribas to testify after the key witness in the Brazilian Lava Jato bribery scandal testified that Arribas received $850,000 in bribes.
Leonardo Meirelles, a Brazilian “doleiro” (bag man) for the disgraced São Paulo-based public contractor Odebrecht, testified last week that Arribas had been bribed with $850,000 in 10 transfers to two bank accounts in Switzerland.
Like Odebrecht CEO Marcelo Odebrecht, Meirelles is currently serving time for his role in the massive Lava Jato (car wash) scandal.
·Congressional summons·
Following the Meirelles testimony, Arribas was invited to appear before the Bicameral Intelligence Monitoring Committee this week - but declined to attend. Accordingly, the Committee unanimously agreed to formally summon Arribas in the near future.
Senator Juan Carlos Marino of the centrist UCR said that Arribas “made a mistake” in not attending. The senator noted that there had been calls during the closed door meeting for Arribas to be suspended from his post until these allegations are cleared up.
Evidence had already surfaced on January 11 that Arribas had received at least $594,000 in wire transfers from the same Odebrecht-controlled account - RFY Import & Export Limited, in Hong Kong. The firm, Meirelles testified, was a cutout used solely for issuing bribes.
In a controversial ruling, Arribas was cleared on March 31 by Federal Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral. An appeal has been filed in light of this new evidence, however, and the case may soon be re-opened. Arribas has denied the accusations.
·Accustomed to trickery·
President Mauricio Macri, who appointed Arribas by decree within days of taking office 17 months ago, has resisted growing calls to dismiss the AFI boss - even from members of his right-wing “Let's Change” caucus.
“This doesn’t worry me at all,” said Macri. “The information that Arribas presented was clear and (Justice) Minister Germán Garavano has already said everything.”
Arribas, one of numerous administration officials with close personal ties to the president, has a longstanding business relationship with Macri as a deal maker and currently resides in an apartment rented from Macri.
In an interview published on Wednesday, the president admitted to local journalist Laura di Marco that he appointed Arribas as head of intelligence because “he was the most accustomed to trickery.”
At: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/225696/arribas-to-face-congressional-scrutiny-over-bribery-claims
Macri intelligence chief Gustavo Arribas: “accustomed to tricks”
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