Progressive Think Tank To Release 50-Page Report Saying Trump Colluded With Russia

BY MALLORY SHEBOURNE

THE HILL

AUGUST 02, 2017

Trump Image Provided By The Hill

The progressive think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) is reportedly preparing to publish a report alleging that President Trump's campaign colluded with Russia.

According to a Tuesday report by Buzz Feed News, CAP will release the report on Wednesday, which presents the argument for Congressional Democrats that Trump's campaign staff colluded with the Kremlin.

"We're ... trying to convey that it's time to stop beating around the bush on Trump's collusion with Russia. There is a mountain of evidence that Trump and his associates colluded with Russia and it's time to start saying so," Adam Jentleson, a senior strategic adviser for CAP, told BuzzFeed.

"We think it's time to be a lot more forward-leading because the evidence is overwhelming."

The imminent release of the report comes as the special counsel's probe into Russia's election meddling and potential ties between Trump campaign staff members and Moscow deepen.

The think tank is planning to present the report, which totals almost 50 pages, to "key offices" in Congress, the report said.

Lawsuit: Fox Coordinated With White House On False Story

Rod Wheeler's lawsuit against Fox News is photographed Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017, in Washington. Wheeler, an investigator who worked on the Seth Rich case claims Fox News fabricated quotes implicating the murdered Democratic National Committee staffer in the WikiLeaks scandal and coordinated with the Trump administration as it worked on the story.



NEW YORK (AP, AUGUST 02, 2017) — A lawsuit filed Tuesday lays out an explosive tale of Trump allies, the White House and Fox News Channel conspiring to push a false story about Democratic leaks and an unsolved killing in order to distract attention from the Russia investigation that has been swirling around the president.

The lawsuit was filed against Fox by an investigator who had been looking into the killing of Seth Rich, a former Democratic National Committee staff member killed in 2016 in what police say was a botched robbery. The investigator alleges that Fox quoted him as saying things he never said and was willing to show President Donald Trump its story before it was posted online.

It's the second time in two days that Trump has been accused of being actively involved in pushing a public narrative to lower the heat of the Russia story. The Washington Post reported that the president had written a misleading statement for his son to give to The New York Times about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting last summer with a Russian who promised dirt on Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Rich's death has become fodder for conspiracy theorists, deeply angering the 27-year-old's family. In May, the story was thrust into the headlines again when Fox posted a story on its website in which investigator Rod Wheeler said there had been contact between Rich and WikiLeaks, the organization that posted a trove of DNC emails last year. The story was heavily promoted by Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has informally advised the president.

In the lawsuit, Wheeler now says that he never made that statement. He also contends he was told his false comments were put in the story because Trump wanted it that way. Rich's family released a statement Tuesday night supporting the lawsuit. "While we can't speak to the evidence that you now have, we are hopeful that this brings an end to what has been the most emotionally difficult time in our lives and an end to conspiracy theories surrounding our beloved Seth," the family wrote.

Fox says it's "completely erroneous" to suggest it pushed the story to distract from the Russia investigation. Wheeler has made contradictory statements regarding the case and is simultaneously filing a racial discrimination lawsuit against the network, represented by a lawyer who has other lawsuits against Fox.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump had no knowledge of the false story before it was posted and that it was "completely untrue" that the White House had any role in shaping it.

Wheeler, a Fox contributor on law enforcement issues, said he was brought into the Rich case by donor and Trump supporter Ed Butowsky. He says Butowsky, who has also made occasional guest appearances on Fox News, was intent on establishing a link between Rich and WikiLeaks.

Two days before the Fox article was published, Wheeler said he got a text message from Butowsky: "Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article. He wants the article out immediately. It's now all up to you. But don't feel the pressure."

Butowsky said in a phone interview Tuesday he has never met Trump and his text message to Wheeler about the president reading the article was "tongue-in-cheek." Fox removed the story from its website a week after it was published, saying "it was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all of our reporting." Hannity ultimately backed away, saying he was acting out of respect for Rich's family.

Wheeler also said that he and Butowsky had met with outgoing White House press secretary Sean Spicer and showed Spicer notes on Wheeler's investigation. Spicer asked to be kept informed, the lawsuit said.

Spicer plays down the importance of that meeting. "Ed is a longtime supporter of the president's agenda who often appears in the media," Spicer said Tuesday. "He asked for a 10-minute meeting, with no specified topic, to catch up and said he would be bringing along a contributor to Fox News. As Ed himself has noted, he has never met the president and the White House had nothing to do with his story."

On the day the Fox story was posted, Spicer was asked about the report that Rich had emailed WikiLeaks. He said, "I'm not aware of that" and did not mention that he had met with Butowsky and Wheeler a month earlier.

One of Trump's attorneys, Jay Sekulow, also devoted attention to the Rich story during several Hannity appearances in May, before his hiring by Trump was announced. "There's a lot more to this, I would suspect," Sekulow said on the May 18 show, which Hannity devoted almost entirely to a discussion about Rich. "You can't ignore the fact that it was a DNC staffer. You can't ignore the fact that there was nothing taken from the individual's body."

He said that while he hadn't seen "the files" on Rich, the incident "undercuts" the argument that Russians interfered in the election. At the time, Trump was facing news stories about the investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and possible ties between his campaign aides and Moscow. He continues to blast the inquiries as a "witch hunt" aimed at discrediting his election win and tries to focus attention on Clinton, who has largely faded from the headlines.

Jay Wallace, Fox News president, says, "The accusation that FoxNews.com published Malia Zimmerman's story to help detract from coverage of the Russia collusion issue is completely erroneous." Malia Zimmerman was a Fox producer on the story.

"The retraction of this story is still being investigated internally and we have no evidence that Rod Wheeler was misquoted by Zimmerman," Wallace said. In May, Wheeler told Fox's local affiliate in Washington that he "absolutely" had sources at the FBI saying that there was information that could link Rich to WikiLeaks. But the station noted that Wheeler subsequently said contradictory things to other news organizations, and the station could not contact him again.

Fox News Channel's prime-time opinion hosts, particularly Hannity, make no secret of their admiration for Trump. But any charges that the network worked with Trump on a false story could harm the reputations of the network's journalists.

Trump has fostered an unusually close relationship with Fox and many of its personalities, particularly Hannity. Hannity gave Trump a frequent platform for non-challenging interviews during the campaign, along with advice on air and behind the scenes. The "Fox and Friends" morning show also is a Trump favorite.

Jill Colvin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Donna Cassata in Washington and Shelley Acoca in New York contributed.

With Baby Steps, Senate Republicans Abandoning The President

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. speaks to members of the media as he walks to a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. There wasn’t a dramatic public break, or a precise moment when it happened. But little by little, Senate Republicans have been turning their backs on President Donald Trump. They’ve defied his Twitter demands, defeated his top agenda item and passed veto-proof sanctions on Russia over administration objections. Flake took aim at Trump and his own party in a new book, writing that “Unnerving silence in the face of an erratic executive branch is an abdication” and “the strange specter of an American president’s seeming affection for strongmen and authoritarians created such a cognitive dissonance among my generation of conservatives _ who had come of age under existential threat from the Soviet Union _ that it was almost impossible to believe.”

WASHINGTON (ASSOCIATED PRESS, AUGUST 02, 2017) — There wasn't a dramatic public break or an exact moment it happened. But step by step, Senate Republicans are turning their backs on President Donald Trump. They defeated an Obamacare repeal bill despite Trump's pleas. They're ignoring his Twitter demands that they get back to work on it. They dissed the White House budget director, defended the attorney general against the president's attacks and passed veto-proof sanctions on Russia over his administration's objections.

They're reasserting their independence, which looked sorely diminished in the aftermath of Trump's surprise election win. "We work for the American people," Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said Tuesday. "We don't work for the president."

Those are surprisingly tough words from a Republican whose state Trump won easily less than a year ago. But after six months of controversies and historically low approval ratings, it's clear Trump isn't commanding the fear or respect he once did.

Some Republicans no doubt are giving voice to long-held reservations about a man whose election was essentially a hostile takeover of their party. But it is notable that the loudest criticism is coming from the Senate, where few Republicans are burdened with facing an electorate anytime soon. The situation is different in the House, where most Republicans represent conservative districts still loyal to Trump. For those lawmakers, the fear of facing a conservative primary challenger, possibly fueled by angry Trump followers, is real.

In the most remarkable example of public Trump-bashing, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona is taking aim at the president and his own party in a new book, writing that "Unnerving silence in the face of an erratic executive branch is an abdication" and marveling at "the strange specter of an American president's seeming affection for strongmen and authoritarians."

The criticism from Flake is especially striking since he is one of just two GOP senators facing competitive re-election races in next year's midterm elections, the other being Dean Heller of Nevada. The other 50 Senate Republicans are largely insulated from blow-back from Trump's still-loyal base, at least in the short term, since they won't face voters for several years.

That is likely contributing to their defiance, which is emerging now after an accumulation of frustrations, culminating in the failure of the health care bill Friday. In particular, senators were aghast over Trump's recent attacks on their longtime colleague Jeff Sessions, the former Alabama senator who is now attorney general and facing Trump's wrath over having recused himself from the investigation into possible collaboration between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina deemed Trump's treatment of Sessions "unseemly" and "a sign of great weakness on the part of President Trump." The comments were echoed by other Republican senators.

Then, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, a former House member, suggested on a Sunday show that the Senate must pass health care before doing anything else. No. 2 Republican John Cornyn didn't hesitate to go after him.

"I don't think he's got much experience in the Senate as I recall, and he's got a big job," Cornyn said. "He ought to do that job and let us do our jobs." The ill will flows both ways. At Tuesday's White House briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pointedly blamed lawmakers for the president's failures to deliver. "I think what's hurting the legislative agenda is Congress' inability to get things passed," she said.

Trump has been ignoring past warnings from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to stay out of the Senate's business, tweeting relentless commands in the wake of Friday's failure on health care that the Senate should eliminate the filibuster rule that requires 60 votes to move forward on much major legislation.

"Mitch M, go to 51 Votes NOW and WIN. IT'S TIME!" the president said over Twitter. That ignored the fact that Republicans tried to pass the health care bill under rules that required only a simple majority.

So Republicans, in turn, ignored Trump. "It's pretty obvious that our problem on health care was not the Democrats," McConnell said drily on Tuesday. "We didn't have 50 Republicans." Some Republicans say Trump and his administration only made it harder to pass health care by ineptly pressuring Sen. Lisa Murkowski with threats from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke about consequences for her state, which rankled the Alaska senator. She proceeded to postpone votes in the Energy committee she chairs on a group of administration nominees, while saying it was for unrelated reasons, and voted "no" on the health bill.

"I think most Republican senators have their own identity that's separate from the president," said Alex Conant, a GOP strategist and former adviser to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. "If you look at the elections last fall almost every Republican senator who was up for re-election ran ahead of Trump and that's not a fact that's lost on Congress."

The House has been a friendlier place for Trump. Republicans there pushed through a health care bill in May. "For the most part our caucus is still in support of the president," said Rep. James Comer of Kentucky. "That doesn't mean we agree with everything he says and does, but we still support his agenda, his presidency, and we're not going to fumble the ball."

In the Senate, though, lawmakers and the president appear to be going their separate ways, with some senators talking as though Trump is almost irrelevant. "Ever since we've been here we've really been following our lead, right?" said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee. "Whether it was the Supreme Court justice or the Russia sanctions bill, attempting to do health care and obviously we did so unsuccessfully, and now we're moving on to tax reform, but most of this has, almost every bit of this has been 100 percent internal to Congress."

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Matthew Daly and Jill Colvin contributed.

NIGERIA: 52% Of Married Couples In Akwa Ibom Are HIV Positive- AKSACA

NIGERIAN BULLETIN

AUGUST 01, 2017

According to Dr. Nkereuwem Etok, the Programme Manager of Akwa Ibom state Agency for the Control of AIDS (AKSACA), 51.6 percent of married men and women in the state have tested positive to HIV/AIDS.

“We have areas of high prevalence, before the statistics started coming we were sure that the most-at risk population will be the commercial sex workers, we were sure that this group will be the most affected but our data showed surprisingly that married men and women are the highest HIV infections with 51.6 percent.

“The commercial sex workers recorded only 4 percent while those engaged in casual sex recorded second highest with 30 percent’’ he said.

He attributed the high prevalence rate among the couples to include denial the existence of HIV/AIDS virus and the fact that most of them engage in sex not minding the status of the other sex partners.

Trump On Tricky Legal Ground With 'Obamacare' Threat

President Donald Trump pauses during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Trump’s threat to stop billions of dollars in government payments to insurers and force the collapse of “Obamacare” could put the government in a tricky legal situation. Legal experts say he’d be handing insurers a solid court case, while undermining his own leverage to compel Democrats to negotiate, especially if premiums jump by 20 percent as expected after such a move.

WASHINGTON (AP, AUGUST 01, 2017) — President Donald Trump's threat to stop billions of dollars in government payments to insurers and force the collapse of "Obamacare" could put the government in a legal bind. Law experts say he'd be handing insurers a solid court case, while undermining his own leverage to compel Democrats to negotiate, especially if premiums jump by 20 percent as expected after such a move.

"Trump thinks he's holding all the cards. But Democrats know what's in his hand, and he's got a pair of twos," said University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley. Democrats "aren't about to agree to dismantle the Affordable Care Act just because Trump makes a reckless bet."

For months, the president has been threatening to stop payments that reimburse insurers for providing required financial assistance to low-income consumers, reducing their copays and deductibles. Administration officials say the decision could come any day.

The "cost-sharing" subsidies are under a legal cloud because of a dispute over whether the Obama health care law properly approved the payments. Other parts of the health care law, however, clearly direct the government to reimburse insurers.

With the issue unresolved, the Trump administration has been paying insurers each month, as the Obama administration had done previously. Meanwhile, attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., are seeking to block the administration from canceling the subsidies.

"This is not a game," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. "Millions of people would not be able to afford health insurance for their families." Trump returned to the issue last week after the GOP drive to repeal the health care law fell apart in the Senate, tweeting, "As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!"

He elaborated in another tweet, "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies...will end very soon!" It's not accurate to call the cost-sharing subsidies a bailout, said Tim Jost, a professor emeritus at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia.

"They are no more a bailout than payments made by the government to a private company for building a bomber," he said. That's at the root of the Trump administration's potential legal problem if the president makes good on this threat.

The health law clearly requires insurers to help low-income consumers with their copays and deductibles. Nearly 3 in 5 HealthCare.gov customers qualify for the assistance, which can reduce a deductible of $3,500 to several hundred dollars. The cost to the government is about $7 billion a year.

The law also specifies that the government "shall make periodic and timely payments" to reimburse insurers for the cost-sharing assistance that they provide. Nonetheless, the payments remain under a cloud because of a disagreement over whether they were properly approved in the language of the health law, by providing an "appropriation."

The Constitution says the government shall not spend money without a congressional appropriation. Think of an appropriation as an electronic instruction to your bank to pay a recurring monthly bill. You fully intend to pay, and the money you've budgeted is in your account. But the payment will not go out unless you specifically direct your bank to send it.

House Republicans trying to thwart the ACA sued the Obama administration in federal district court in Washington, arguing that the law lacked specific language appropriating the cost-sharing subsidies.

The district court judge agreed with House Republicans, and now the case is on hold before the U.S. appeals court in Washington. California's Becerra and other state attorneys general are asking that court to let them join the case, in defense of the subsidies.

Both Bagley and Jost have followed the matter closely, and they disagree on whether the health law properly approved the payments to insurers. Bagley says it did not; while Jost says it did. However, the two experts agree that insurers would have a solid lawsuit if Trump stops the payments. Insurers could sue in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which hears claims for money against the government.

"The ACA promised to make these payments — that could not be clearer — and Congress has done nothing to limit that promise," said Bagley. "I think there would very likely be litigation if the Trump administration tries to cut off the payments," said Jost.

Another way to resolve it: Congress could appropriate the money, even if temporarily, for a couple of years. "Simply letting Obamacare collapse will cause even more pain," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said recently.

If the president makes good on his threat, experts estimate that premiums for a standard "silver" plan would increase by about 19 percent. Insurers could recover the cost-sharing money by raising premiums, since those are also subsidized by the ACA, and there's no question about their appropriation.

But millions of people who buy individual health care policies without any financial assistance from the government would face prohibitive cost increases. And more insurers might decide to leave already shaky markets.

"The president is likely to own the fallout if he forces the collapse," said Bagley. "But the president may not see it the same way."

Shahid Abbasi Elected As Pakistan's Prime Minister

Pakistan's premier-designate Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, right, leaves with his aids after meeting with politicians in Parliament house in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, July 31, 2017. Pakistan's parliament will meet Tuesday to elect a new prime minister after the disqualification of three-term prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party nominated Sharif's longtime loyalist Abbasi for the top slot on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD (AP, AUGUST 01, 2017) — Pakistan's lower house of parliament on Tuesday elected veteran lawmaker Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the country's new prime minister, less than a week after the Supreme Court disqualified thrice-elected Nawaz Sharif for concealing assets.

Abbasi, a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, got 221 votes in the 342-member National Assembly. His closest rival Syed Naveed Qamar from the opposition Pakistan People's Party secured 47 votes, according to Ayaz Sadiq, the National Assembly Speaker. Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, a lawmaker from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, founded by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, got 33 votes.

Abbasi replaced the 67-year-old Sharif, who was disqualified by the top court Friday for concealing assets — specifically, that his son's Dubai-based company listed a monthly salary for him. Sharif claimed he never received any of that money.

In his first televised speech, an emotionally-charged Abbasi dismissed the corruption allegations against Sharif as baseless and said he hoped the deposed premier would return to parliament soon. He said the people of Pakistan did not accept Sharif's disqualification, and vowed to follow in his footsteps of Sharif.

Abbasi stopped short of criticizing the judiciary, saying legal experts were surprised by the decision to disqualify Sharif and that "no one is willing to accept it." He said Sharif was victimized for putting Pakistan back on the path of progress and bringing in foreign investments worth billions of dollars to Pakistan.

He said Sharif was able to attract foreign investment because he was an honest person. Abbasi also asked his countrymen to pay their taxes honestly as he plans to take stern action against anyone involved in tax evasion. He said rich people must pay their taxes for Pakistan's economy to improve. He promised better health and education facilities for his countrymen.

Abbasi said he would ensure the rule of law and that he would run the country strictly according to the constitution. Sharif's party has said it will file a petition with the Supreme Court next week asking for a review of its decision to disqualify him.

Sharif's party wants Abbasi to serve as an interim premier until Sharif's younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, wins a national assembly seat in a by-election. The opposition has criticized this intention as dynastic and undemocratic. The next general election is due to take place in June 2018.

Abbasi's rival candidates Qamar and Ahmed congratulated him on becoming the new prime minister. Meanwhile, a female lawmaker from Khan's party on Tuesday quit the party, calling the party leader a "characterless person."

Ayesha Gulalai Wazir posted a tweet saying the honor of female party members was not safe because Khan had an "immoral character." There was no immediate comment from Khan's party about the allegation.

Nigerian Army Admits Feeding Public With Lies

The three abducted Nigerian soldiers during the ambush (Via PM News)

NIGERIA (PM NEWS, JULY 30, 2017) -- The Nigerian Army has admitted feeding the public with bareface lies over the abduction of NNPC staff by a faction of Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin on Tuesday, 25 July.

The Army had claimed in a statement on Wednesday through its spokesman, Brigadier-General Sani Usman that all the abducted staff of NNPC had been rescued by soldiers during a search and rescue operation in the area. He added that only nine soldiers died during the ambush.

To counter the lies, the Abu Musab al-Barnawi led faction of Boko Haram released a video on Saturday showing some of the abducted NNPC staff begging the Federal Government to negotiate with the sect for their freedom.

Also, forty-eight corpses of persons killed by the terrorists during the ambush on Tuesday were brought to the Maiduguri Teaching Hospital in the Borno State capital on Thursday.

The corpses brought include 18 soldiers, 15 Civilian JTF, five university staff and four NNPC drivers.

But in a rare show of remorse after the Boko Haram video hit the air waves, Brigadier-General Usman in another statement on Saturday said his initial statement that all the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) workers abducted in the ambush had been rescued was wrong.

He added that six members of the NNPC exploration team out of 12 that went out are still missing, while one of the NNPC staff returned to base alive.

Usman revealed further that the death toll from the July 25 ambush of oil workers and staff members of the University of Maiduguri in Borno by Boko Haram has risen with the recovery of more bodies.

According to him, 21 more bodies of those on the team that was ambushed by the terrorists had been recovered with some persons still missing.

“So far the search and rescue team has recovered additional bodies of 5 soldiers, 11 Civilian JTF and 5 members of the exploration team,” Usman stated.

Describing the ambush as “as unfortunate and highly regrettable”, Usman said his initial statement that all the NNPC workers abducted in the ambush had been rescued was wrong.

According to him, the pursuit team also recovered two of army’s gun trucks and an additional Toyota Buffalo Gun truck from the insurgents.

“In addition, the team also made the following recoveries; four rocket-propelled grenade bombs, four rocket propelled grenade chargers, six AK-47 rifles, one anti-aircraft gun, on general purpose machine gun, one anti-aircraft gun barrel, one rocket-propelled grenade tube, four Dane guns, eight tyres and two Tyre Rims,” it added.

Other items recovered include one pumping machine, two tyre jacks, one super battery, five reflective jackets, three Toyota Hilux vans, four Jerry cans filled with PMS, one Motorola Radio, one Geographical Positioning System (GPS), 21 empty Jerry cans, two shovels and three food coolers.

The troops also recovered 122 rounds of PKM ammunition, 213 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 1255 Anti-Aircraft Guns ammunition, 4 boxes of API 12.7mm ammunition, 1 AK-47 Rifle Magazine, a Digger, two bows and 13 arrows, 2 LLG bombs, assorted drugs and assorted working tools.

Boko Haram insurgents had on July 25 ambushed troops, including members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, escorting some staff members of the NNPC as well as that of the University of Maiduguri who were carrying out oil exploration activities in Borno Yesu District of Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno state.

Trump Threat: End Health Payments Unless There's An Overhaul

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, July 28, 2017, after the Republican-controlled Senate was unable to fulfill their political promise to repeal and replace "Obamacare."

WASHINGTON (AP, JULY 29, 2017) — President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened once more to end required payments to insurance companies unless lawmakers repeal and replace the Obama-era health care law. In apparent frustration over Friday's failure by the Senate Republican majority to pass a bill repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act, Trump tweeted: "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!"

No Democrats voted for the GOP bill. Repeal-and-replace has been a guiding star for Republicans ever since President Barack Obama enacted the law in 2010. That goal, which Trump turned into a top campaign promise, remains out of reach even with Republicans controlling both the White House and Congress. The issue has dominated the opening months of Trump's presidency.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after the bill failed early Friday that he would move to other legislative business in the upcoming week. Trump also tweeted: "Unless the Republican Senators are total quitters, Repeal & Replace is not dead! Demand another vote before voting on any other bill!"

The subsidies, totaling about $7 billion a year, help reduce deductibles and copayments for consumers with modest incomes. The Obama administration used its rule-making authority to set direct payments to insurers to help offset these costs. Trump inherited the payment structure, but he also has the power to end them.

The payments are the subject of a lawsuit brought by House Republicans over whether the Affordable Care Act specifically included a congressional appropriation for the money, as required under the Constitution. Trump has only guaranteed the payments through July, which ends Monday.

Trump previously said the law that he and others call "Obamacare" would collapse immediately whenever those payments stop. He has indicated a desire to halt the subsidies but so far has allowed them to continue on a month-to-month basis.

Without the payments, analysts have said, more insurers might drop out of the system, limiting options for consumers and clearing the way for the insurers who stay to charge more for coverage. The Senate's Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, cautioned such a step, saying it would make health care more expensive.

"If the president refuses to make the cost sharing reduction payments, every expert agrees that premiums will go up and health care will be more expensive for millions of Americans," Schumer said Saturday in a written statement. "The president ought to stop playing politics with people's lives and health care, start leading and finally begin acting presidential."

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Google To Train 10m Africans Says CEO In Visit To Nigeria, Following Trips By Facebook, Microsoft

BY TOBY SHAPSHAK

FORBES, JULY 27, 2017

Google CEO Sundar Pichai takes a selfie in Lagos

LAGOS, NIGERIA (FORBES) -- Google plans to train 10-million people for digital jobs says CEO Sundar Pichai in a surprise visit to Nigeria. He is the latest global tech firm chief to make the pilgrimage to Lagos, the capital of Africa's most populous country, following trips last year by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft's Satya Nadella.

"Thrilled that we're expanding our digital skills program to train 10M Africans over the next 5 years #GoogleforNigeria," Pichai tweeted.

Nigeria has a 191-million population and an estimated 91-million Internet users as of December 2016. This equates to 47.9% of the population, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Pichai is in Nigeria for a Google conference, where he made the announcement. This follows a year-long programme to train 1-million people with digital skills, which was completed in March.

"Having 1 million digitally skilled young people in Africa is good for everyone. Because we think that if young people have the right skills, they’ll build businesses, create jobs and boost economic growth across the continent,” says Google South Africa country director Luke Mckend of this Digital Skills programme, which offered 89 courses through an online portal and face-to-face training in 20 countries with 14 training partners.

Shapshak is editor-in-chief and publisher of Stuff magazine. Based in Johannesburg, his TED talk on innovation in Africa has had more than 1.4m views.

Nigeria Will Split Into Six – Ex-Reps Member, Felix Mbam

DAILY POST NIGERIA

JULY 27, 2017

A former House of Representatives member from Ebonyi State, Barr. Felix Mbam has said that Nigeria will split into six following the various agitations coming from all the geopolitical zones of the country.

Mbam, who made this known while chating with DAILY POST in Abakaliki noted that there will be serious problem in Nigeria if the present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari failed to implement the 2014 confab report.

He said: “In ten years time, that time I will be 82yrs old, I foresee the country splitting into six. And out of that six, some of them may agree to stay together. For example, Biafra and the people of oil Rivers may form one country with middle belt (the Igalas and Idomas).

“We may go into loose country to what we call confederation of states and each state will be given at least five years to opt out in the marriage called Nigeria and that will be on constitutional table.”

Mbam who was an ex-Biafran solider stated further that “There will be no crisis, because, we that have fought war know what it means.

“We may remain together as Nigeria and continue to suffer the way we are suffering. Because, when you see a home that is going to disintegrate, the husband and the wife will be fighting always.

“In Nigeria today, the Yoruba man does not trust Igbo man and Igbo man does not trust Yoruba man, Yoruba man does not trust Hausa man and Hausa man does not trust Yoruba man just as Igbo man does not trust Hausa man and Hausa man does not trust Igbo man. So with that mutual mistrust, Nigeria will
not last.”‎

The ex-lawmaker stressed that “If they don’t call constitutional conference and they continue speaking English that Nigeria is indissoluble and indestructible, because of the millions of naira they carry every month, they should be ready to face what comes out of it.

“Who told them that Nigeria is

indissoluble? Russia divided into 15 countries among others and people
are still saying that Nigeria is indivisible. Is it not somebody that brought it together? Since Nigeria was brought together by human and the people brought together are people with different cultures, ethnicity and religion, it must dissolve one day. But for Nigeria not to go there must be equitable treatment of everybody. We cannot have ‎second class citizens in where there is no slavery.”l
He condemned the increasing corruption in the nation nothing that restructuring cannot even end corruption In Nigeria.

“If we restructure, will it stop corruption? If we have Biafra, will it stop corruption? If we want to run equitable government, we must stop corruption. You mean, there will be no corrupt people if Biafra is created? There will be many. If you give River people independence, they will be killing themselves everyday over oil.

“So, there is no place as corrupt as Nigeria. Our leaders are corruption personified. There is nothing wrong with the name Nigeria but until we make up our minds. What is wrong with Nigeria are those inside Nigeria, the leaders. We have good followers but we have bad leaders.

“How could somebody own about hundred houses, has hundred cars,
aeroplanes, burry billions of naira and dollar underground and so on, the only thing he does not have is prison yard in his house? Even if 20 countries are created and we don’t make up our minds, we are going nowhere. It is not the system of government that matters, it is the people who run the government, call it democracy, anarchism, military,
etc”, he stressed.

Senators Prepare Bill To Block Firing Of Special Counsel

Attorney General Jeff Sessions boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, July 27, 2017 At Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Sessions is traveling to El Salvador to meet with local leaders and discuss their efforts to fight gangs like MS-13.

WASHINGTON (AP, JULY 27, 2017) — Warning of "holy hell" to pay if the president fires Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a top Senate Republican is working to prevent the potential end result, the dismissal of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is working on legislation that would block the firing of special counsels without judicial review. Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday they are among the senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee who are working with Graham on the effort.

Despite a drumbeat of criticism from President Donald Trump, congressional Republicans have expressed strong support for former FBI Director Mueller, who was appointed earlier this year to investigate allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election and possible links to the Trump campaign. They have also rallied around Sessions, a former senator from Alabama who has become a daily target of critical tweets from Trump.

Graham and Whitehouse lead the Judiciary panel's subcommittee on crime and terrorism and have been investigating the Russian meddling along with the committee's chairman, Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley. A Graham spokesman says the senator's still working on the bill, and it's unclear when it will be introduced.

Blumenthal said that the bill "might be a committee effort" and said that it would protect Mueller and other special counsels. He said firing Mueller "would precipitate a firestorm that would be unprecedented in proportions."

Graham has sternly warned Trump not to fire Mueller or Sessions. He said Thursday, "If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay." Trump has criticized Sessions for recusing himself from the investigation into election meddling after he admitted to meeting with Russia's ambassador during the campaign. Sessions, who traveled to El Salvador Thursday to work on an effort to lessen gang violence, has privately told allies he doesn't plan to resign.