Constituents Seek Recall Of Murray-Bruce For Being An ‘Abuja Senator’

BY EMMANUEL ADDEH

THIS DAY, AUGUST 23, 2017

Ben Murray-Bruce Via This Day

YENAGOA, BAYELSA (THIS DAY) --- The people of Nembe, Brass and Ogbia Local Government Areas in Bayelsa State on Tuesday threatened to initiate the process of recalling Senator Ben Murray-Bruce for allegedly abandoning them and making Abuja his home.

Many of the constituents, comprising mainly students, from the Bayelsa East senatorial district, within which the local government areas fall, said since the lawmaker was elected, he had seldom met or consulted with them on any issue.

They alleged that the senator was in the habit of empowering and meeting with people outside the district and the state, to the detriment of his primary constituency.
In a statement signed by Samuel Tari (Nembe), Ambrose Joseph (Brass) and Mark John (Ogbia), the aggrieved constituents gave the federal lawmaker an ultimatum of 10 days to retrace his steps or face their wrath.

The angry electorate in the area lamented that the senator was not in a good relationship with his people and had continued to shy away from his constitutional responsibilities.
According to them, the senator was donating relief materials to people in other states when his constituents were wallowing in poverty with many students unable to pay their fees.
Aside the alleged non-performance, they said since the politician cum media entrepreneur was elected, he had not visited his people.

“Since Murray-Bruce became a senator, he has failed to look into the basic needs and challenges currently bedevilling the Bayelsa East senatorial districts, such as issues of education, as most of our students cannot access good quality education.

“He has failed to attract a single project to the districts in terms of infrastructure including roads and others. He has continuously and deliberately ignored efforts by the people to create a working relationship that will bring out purposeful leadership for our people,” they said.
Added to that, the signatories to the statement said none of the senator’s promises during the campaign had been fulfilled.
“He is yet to fulfill any of his campaign promises; painfully, he is an Abuja-based senator. He refuses to visit his constituency, except only once when he visited his hometown and couldn’t even stay for up to four hours.

“Sincerely, we are tired. Other places are enjoying the benefits that come from having a national representative. Our case has been a curse rather than a blessing. We are just like a district without a senator. This why we intend to change that narrative,” they noted.
For a start, the constituents asked the senator to organise a town hall meeting with his people and take out time to tour his constituency.

“We are, hereby, giving him an ultimatum of 10 days, starting from August 21. If he fails to meet with us, we shall take our protest to the National Assembly.
“We will mobilise all the students, our mothers and our fathers. We will initiate his recall process. Our people deserve a better treatment from him. We request to have a town hall meeting,” the aggrieved constituents said.

Worldwide Remembrance Of The Slave Trade 'A Tribute To Every Victim' – Senior UNESCO Official

UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTER

UNESCO earlier this year added to its World Heritage List the Mbanza Kongo, Vestiges of the Capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo (Angola) – one of the largest constituted states in Southern Africa from the 14th to 19th centuries – as an acknowledgement of its “outstanding universal value.” Photo: UNESCO/Joost De Raeymaeker

AUGUST 22, 2017(UNESCO) – While the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is a tribute to every victim and their resistance against slavery, it is also a reminder of the importance of teaching history, a senior United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO) has stressed.

“The legacy of the slave trade is a symbolic victory for human rights freedom; and the International Day acts as a reminder of the eternal effort to reaffirm human dignity and break down ignorance” Nada Al-Nashif, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences told UN News ahead of the International Day of remembrance, marked annually on 23 August.

Since its 1998 establishment, the commemoration has provided an opportunity to look back at the legacy of the slave trade and to understand how the uprising that began in 1791 in what is now Haiti was symbolic of a victory for freedom and human rights.

She explained that many regions of the world consider it to be a day of common heritage that symbolizes “a call for freedom, for justice and for dialogue among people.”

According to Ms. Al-Nashif, it is important to understand the limitation of interpretation, to change the silence and to act together to make resistance against slavery an inspirational force for future generation.

She underscored that its “call for truth” permeates UNESCO's work in appealing for social justice, the reduction of inequality and the preservation of human dignity and human rights.
Tracing history

Aiming not only to break the silence, but to better understand the historic causes, methods and global consequences of the tragedy, UNESCO launched in 1994 the landmark Slave Route Project.

“Highlighting global transformations and cultural interactions,” Ms. Al-Nashif said the project showcased “how cultural pluralism and intercultural dialogue and understanding are critical to the culture of peace.”

Since its introduction, UNESCO maintains that the project has had a significant impact at local, national, regional and international levels – and has helped to effect a change in attitudes by 'de-racializing' the tragedy which, de facto, concerns humanity as a whole.

The Slave Route Project has contributed substantially to fostering greater awareness of the ethical, political, socio-economic and cultural aspects of this chapter of history, “and even the official recognition of slavery as a crime against humanity by the United Nations,” according to Ms. Al-Nashif.

Ms. Al-Nashif noted that project also speaks to “remedy the general ignorance on the history of Africa by reconstructing it – freeing it from racial prejudice – and re-reading the history through purely African perspectives or more objective views of scientists or researchers.”

Turning newly-nominated UNESCO World Heritage sites, Ms. Al-Nashif told UN News about Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site in Brazil and Mbanza Kongo, the Vestiges of the Capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo in Angola, saying “both [are] recognized to be of universal value.”

Ms. Al-Nashif said that Valongo, the former harbour area in Rio de Janeiro is “one of the most important wharfs in world history, because as many as 900,000 African men, women and children were held there before being sold in the Brazilian market and, for the two decades that it existed, was a hub for how the African diaspora came to the New World.”

The Vestiges were also a principal slave trade route through which enslaved people were transported to the Americas and Caribbean.

“The archaeological traces of the past speak to the many tangible and intangible heritage elements that still exist and have been honoured now,” she stressed.

Ms. Al-Nashif added that slavery is not a thing of the pass.

“Today we talk about modern slavery and human trafficking; the pushback on multilateralism and human rights; about race, identity and culture; and the challenges on how we can co-exist together,” she concluded.

7 Senate Seats Most Likely To Flip In 2018

BY BEN KAMISAR AND LISA HAGEN

THE HILL, AUGUST 22, 2017

Next year's midterm elections will provide Republicans with a major opportunity to build their majority in the Senate - if they can overcome President Trump's dismal approval rating and internal party rancor.

The 2018 Senate map heavily favors Republicans, who will only defend eight seats, including just two of which are considered vulnerable right now. By comparison, Democrats have to defend 25 seats, including 10 in states that Trump won in 2016.

Despite the rough landscape, Democrats received a handful of breaks in the early months of 2017. But with so few offensive opportunities, Democrats will have to thread the needle in deep-red states just to tread water.

Here are the seven most vulnerable Senate seats of the 2018 midterm elections as they stand now.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.)

Heller is the only Republican up for reelection in 2018 who represents a state that Hillary Clinton won last November. Making matters worse for Heller, he's had a rough 2017.

His public wavering during the recent healthcare debate will hurt Heller in a state he won with only 46 percent of the vote in 2012, especially since his state accepted ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion. By the end of the GOP ObamaCare repeal push, a poll from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found him with a 22 percent approval rating.

Democrats are largely falling in line behind Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), a strong challenger with backing from former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the dean of Nevada Democrats. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) is still weighing a bid, but Democrats' near-uniform support for Rosen could squeeze Titus out of the race and give the party more time to focus on Heller.

In the meantime, Rosen and Democratic groups have hammered Heller on his healthcare position. Perennial candidate Danny Tarkanian will challenge Heller in the GOP primary from the right, a fight that could hurt Heller with the Republican base. But as an incumbent, Heller will have heavy reinforcements from Washington Republicans who are committed to helping one of their own.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)

McCaskill is one of the few statewide Democratic officeholders left in Missouri, which Trump won by 19 points in November.

The two-term senator spent 2016 as one of Hillary Clinton's top surrogates, mounting a strong defense of the Democratic presidential nominee that McCaskill's rivals believe will become a weakness in her own campaign.

McCaskill's party also just lost Missouri's 2016 Senate race, despite a strong campaign from Democrat Jason Kander.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) continues to move closer to a bid, as key state Republicans push to unite around him after he won his 2016 election with more votes than Trump. And he'll likely have some serious financial backing - Politico reported last week that the Club for Growth has banked $10 million to support Hawley.

But Hawley is new to elected office, and McCaskill is a strong fundraiser. She pulled in more than any of the other vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the second quarter of 2017, leaving her with $5.1 million in the bank.

Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)

Donnelly leveraged a bipartisan approach to politics and his blue-collar appeal into a Senate seat in 2012, but he'll have to fight yet another tough battle if he wants to keep his Senate seat in a state Trump won by 19 points.

Republican Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer are engaged in a nasty primary. Messer is considered the more establishment Republican option, but Rokita surprised many observers with a strong second fundraising quarter where he outraised Messer by more than $400,000 and topped him in cash-on-hand.

The brutal primary could play to Donnelly's favor, sapping resources from the eventual nominee and leaving wounds that could take some time to heal. But Republicans are seizing on a recent report that Donnelly owned stock in a family company that outsources jobs to Mexico, even as he publicly criticized other companies for sending jobs out of the country.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)

Flake wouldn't rank this high in a normal election year, but a Republican president threatening to support a primary challenge to an incumbent GOP senator isn't normal, either.

The Arizona senator's path to reelection has grown more difficult as his feud with Trump heats up. Earlier in August, Trump called Flake "toxic" in a tweet where he applauded Kelli Ward, Flake's primary opponent. And his upcoming Tuesday rally in Arizona could give him a stage to take more shots at Flake or even officially endorse a primary opponent.

Complicating Flake's path is Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who confirmed this week that she's still considering a bid.

Flake will have the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a score of outside groups that look to protect GOP incumbents, whether or not they have Trump's support. And Republicans have so far been successful at keeping a statewide Democratic push at bay. But keep an eye on how far Trump is willing to go in the primary - that could be a major factor.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)

In 2016, West Virginia went for Trump by a larger margin than any other state - 42 points.

That resounding victory hasn't been lost on Manchin, who's made it a point to try and work with the president and Senate GOP colleagues. Another factor counting in his favor: Manchin's consistent record of winning statewide office in the state since 2001, despite the state's rightward drift.

But Trump's popularity in West Virginia has drawn interest from strong Republican candidates, and the winner will pose a serious threat to Manchin's political future. And Democrats can't be encouraged by Gov. Jim Justice's decision to ditch the Democrats and become a Republican last month, a decision he announced with Trump at his side.

Rep. Evan Jenkins and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey are locked in another tough primary, as each tries to capture the mantle of being the "true conservative" in the race. The gloves have come off as Jenkins tries to frame Morrisey as late to the Trump bandwagon, while Morrisey focuses on Jenkins's history as a Democratic state legislator.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)

Heitkamp hails from another deep-red state - North Dakota went for Trump by about 36 points.

Like Manchin, Heitkamp has walked the line between the party's opposition to Trump and his popularity among her constituents - briefly floated as a potential Agriculture Secretary, Heitkamp, like Manchin, voted for more than two-thirds of Trump's Cabinet appointments.

While Heitkamp hasn't announced whether she'll run for reelection, her steady fundraising pace keeps the door for another bid wide open. Heitkamp had $3 million in the bank as of the end of June - more than half the total she spent during her entire 2012 bid.

Heitkamp received her first challenger this week when state Sen. Tom Campbell, who is framing himself as an outsider who better exemplifies the values of voters in the conservative state, entered the race. Campbell might not have the primary field to himself, though - Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) is mulling a bid of his own.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)

Republicans have a lot to like about their Montana prospects. Trump won the state by more than 20 points in November, and Republican Greg Gianforte just won the state's at-large congressional seat in a special election even after he assaulted a reporter.

Tester has never hit 50 percent in either of his two Senate bids, winning each election with 49 percent after a libertarian candidate siphoned off part of the vote.

But Tester, a former chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is no stranger to a tough fight and has forged his own brand in the state separate from the national Democratic Party that's allowed him to outperform a typical Democratic candidate.

Republicans are going into battle without the candidates they wanted, as former Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) is now Secretary of the Interior and Attorney General Tim Fox opted to run for governor instead. State Auditor Matt Rosendale appears to be the favorite in the GOP, with businessman Troy Downing and state Sen. Albert Olszewski also in the mix.

Other races to watch

There are five other Democrats running in states Trump won - Sens. Bill Nelson (Fla.), Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio). These five do not yet seem as vulnerable as the others, but the races could move up the rankings depending on how primaries shake out.

Florida Republicans are in a holding pattern as Gov. Rick Scott (R) weighs a bid, since his entry would immediately clear the field and give Nelson a top-tier challenger. Casey and Baldwin are waiting to see how the large GOP primary fields taking them on shake out.

Musician Kid Rock is mulling a bid against Stabenow. And Brown could face a rematch against his 2012 opponent, state treasurer Josh Mandel, but some state Republicans aren't excited about his campaign and are looking for other options.

Priest Urges Haters To Repent; Reveals His Ku Klux Klan Past

BY MATHEW BARAKAT

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017

© The Associated Press FILE - In this May 3, 1982 file photo, President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan pose with the Butler family on their front porch at their home in College Park, Md. home of the family, which has been victimized by…


MCLEAN, VA. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — A Roman Catholic priest in Virginia is taking a leave of absence after disclosing he once burned crosses as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Father William Aitcheson, a priest in the diocese of Arlington, described how he belonged to the Klan as a young man in a column published Monday in The Arlington Catholic Herald, the diocese's newspaper.

"My actions were despicable. When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else," he wrote.

Aitcheson, 62, said that 40 years have passed since he was in the Klan, but the images from this month's violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville reminded him that "we cannot forget, we should not forget."

"While I firmly believe God forgave me -- as he forgives anyone who repents and asks for forgiveness -- forgetting what I did would be a mistake," Aitcheson wrote.

The diocese noted that Aitcheson "voluntarily asked to temporarily step away from public ministry, for the well being of the Church and parish community."

In a statement, Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge called Aitcheson's past with the Klan troubling, but said he hopes his story of transformation will help others.

"I pray that in our current political and social climate his message will reach those who support hate and division, and inspire them to a conversion of heart," Burbidge wrote.

Aitcheson was ordained as a priest in 1988 by the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, and has been assigned to the Arlington Diocese since 1993, most recently serving at St. Leo the Great in Fairfax.

In his article, Aitcheson wrote that his membership in the Klan is public information, but rarely comes up.

Indeed, Aitcheson was convicted on criminal charges in 1977 after the cross-burnings, one of which drew a response from President Ronald Reagan years later.

Reagan paid a visit in 1982 to the home of Phillip and Barbara Butler — Aitcheson had burned a cross on their lawn after the Butlers moved to a mostly white neighborhood in College Park, Maryland. Reagan's visit came a week after a judge ordered Aitcheson to pay the Butlers $23,000 in damages.

Diocese spokesman Billy Atwell said the diocese knew about Aitcheson's past with the Klan when he arrived in 1993, but "just learned this weekend about the civil suit from 40 years ago and will be working with Fr. Aitcheson to ensure he meets all of his legal and moral obligations to make restitution."

Aitcheson was sentenced to 90 days in jail in 1977 after a series of criminal charges involving allegations that he was involved in multiple cross-burnings, including the Butlers' home, and had threatened to kill Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump And McConnell Locked In A Cold War, Threatening The G.O.P. Agenda

BY ALEXANDER BURNS AND JONATHAN MARTIN

THE NEW YORK TIMES AUGUST 22, 2017

© Eric Thayer for The New York Times Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has fumed over President Trump’s regular threats against fellow Republicans and criticism of Senate rules.

The relationship between President Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has disintegrated to the point that they have not spoken to each other in weeks, and Mr. McConnell has privately expressed uncertainty that Mr. Trump will be able to salvage his administration after a series of summer crises.

What was once an uneasy governing alliance has curdled into a feud of mutual resentment and sometimes outright hostility, complicated by the position of Mr. McConnell’s wife, Elaine L. Chao, in Mr. Trump’s cabinet, according to more than a dozen people briefed on their imperiled partnership. Angry phone calls and private badmouthing have devolved into open conflict, with the president threatening to oppose Republican senators who cross him, and Mr. McConnell mobilizing to their defense.

The rupture between Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell comes at a highly perilous moment for Republicans, who face a number of urgent deadlines when they return to Washington next month. Congress must approve new spending measures and raise the statutory limit on government borrowing within weeks of reconvening, and Republicans are hoping to push through an elaborate rewrite of the federal tax code. There is scant room for legislative error on any front.

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A protracted government shutdown or a default on sovereign debt could be disastrous — for the economy and for the party that controls the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Yet Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell are locked in a political cold war. Neither man would comment for this story. Don Stewart, a spokesman for Mr. McConnell, noted that the senator and the president had “shared goals,” and pointed to “tax reform, infrastructure, funding the government, not defaulting on the debt, passing the defense authorization bill.”


Still, the back-and-forth has been dramatic.

In a series of tweets this month, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. McConnell publicly, then berated him in a phone call that quickly devolved into a profane shouting match.

During the call, which Mr. Trump initiated on Aug. 9 from his New Jersey golf club, the president accused Mr. McConnell of bungling the health care issue. He was even more animated about what he intimated was the Senate leader’s refusal to protect him from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to Republicans briefed on the conversation.

Mr. McConnell has fumed over Mr. Trump’s regular threats against fellow Republicans and criticism of Senate rules, and questioned Mr. Trump’s understanding of the presidency in a public speech. Mr. McConnell has made sharper comments in private, describing Mr. Trump as entirely unwilling to learn the basics of governing.

In offhand remarks, Mr. McConnell has expressed a sense of bewilderment about where Mr. Trump’s presidency may be headed, and has mused about whether Mr. Trump will be in a position to lead the Republican Party into next year’s elections and beyond, according to people who have spoken to him directly.

While maintaining a pose of public reserve, Mr. McConnell expressed horror to advisers last week after Mr. Trump’s comments equating white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., with protesters who rallied against them. Mr. Trump’s most explosive remarks came at a news conference in Manhattan, where he stood beside Ms. Chao. (Ms. Chao, deflecting a question about the tensions between her husband and the president she serves, told reporters, “I stand by my man — both of them.)

Mr. McConnell signaled to business leaders that he was deeply uncomfortable with Mr. Trump’s comments: Several who resigned advisory roles in the Trump administration contacted Mr. McConnell’s office after the fact, and were told that Mr. McConnell fully understood their choices, three people briefed on the conversations said.

Mr. Trump has also continued to badger and threaten Mr. McConnell’s Senate colleagues, including Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, whose Republican primary challenger was praised by Mr. Trump last week.

Mr. Trump was set to hold a campaign rally on Tuesday night in Phoenix, and Republicans feared he would use the event to savage Mr. Flake again.

If he does, senior Republican officials said the party’s senators would stand up for their colleague. A Republican “super PAC” aligned with Mr. McConnell released a web ad on Tuesday assailing Mr. Flake’s Republican rival, Kelli Ward, as a fringe-dwelling conspiracy theorist.

“When it comes to the Senate, there’s an Article 5 understanding: An attack against one is an attack against all,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who has found himself in Mr. Trump’s sights many times, invoking the NATO alliance’s mutual defense doctrine.

The fury among Senate Republicans toward Mr. Trump has been building since last month, even before he lashed out at Mr. McConnell. Some of them blame the president for not being able to rally the party around any version of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, accusing him of not knowing even the basics about the policy. Senate Republicans also say strong-arm tactics from the White House backfired, making it harder to cobble together votes and have left bad feelings in the caucus.

When Mr. Trump addressed a Boy Scouts jamboree last month in West Virginia, White House aides told Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from the state whose support was in doubt, that she could only accompany him on Air Force One if she committed to voting for the health care bill. She declined the invitation, noting that she could not commit to voting for a measure she had not seen, according to Republican briefed on the conversation.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told colleagues that when Mr. Trump’s interior secretary threatened to pull back federal funding for her state, she felt boxed in and unable to vote for the health care bill.

In a show of solidarity, albeit one planned well before Mr. Trump took aim at Mr. Flake, Mr. McConnell will host a $1,000-per-person dinner on Friday in Kentucky for the Arizona senator, as well as for Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who is also facing a Trump-inspired primary race next year, and Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska. Mr. Flake is expected to attend the event.

Former Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican who is close to Mr. McConnell, said frustration with Mr. Trump was boiling over in the chamber. Mr. Gregg blamed the president for undermining congressional leaders, and said the House and Senate would have to govern on their own if Mr. Trump “can’t participate constructively.”

“Failure to do things like keeping the government open and passing a tax bill is the functional equivalent of playing Russian roulette with all the chambers loaded,” Mr. Gregg said.

Others in the party divide blame between Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell. Al Hoffman, a former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee who has been supportive of Mr. McConnell, said Mr. McConnell was culpable because he has failed to deliver legislative victories. “Ultimately, it’s been Mitch’s responsibility, and I don’t think he’s done much,” Mr. Hoffman said.

But Mr. Hoffman predicted that Mr. McConnell would likely outlast the president.

“I think he’s going to blow up, self-implode,” Mr. Hoffman said of Mr. Trump. “I wouldn’t be surprised if McConnell pulls back his support of Trump and tries to go it alone.”

An all-out clash between Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell would play out between men whose strengths and weaknesses are very different. Mr. Trump is a political amateur, still unschooled in the ways of Washington, but he maintains a viselike grip on the affections of the Republican base. Mr. McConnell is a soft-spoken career politician, with virtuoso mastery of political fund-raising and tactics, but he had no mass following to speak of.

Mr. McConnell, while baffled at Mr. Trump’s penchant for internecine attacks, is a ruthless pragmatist and has given no overt indication that he plans to seek more drastic conflict. Despite his private battles with Mr. Trump, Mr. McConnell has sent reassuring signals with his public conduct: On Monday, he appeared in Louisville, Ky., with Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, for a discussion of tax policy.

Mr. McConnell’s Senate colleagues, however, have grown bolder. The combination of the president’s frontal attacks on Senate Republicans and his claim that there were “fine people” marching with white supremacists in Charlottesville has emboldened lawmakers to criticize Mr. Trump in withering terms.

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee rebuked Mr. Trump last week for failing to “demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence” required of presidents. On Monday, Senator Susan Collins of Maine said in a television interview that she was uncertain Mr. Trump would be the Republican presidential nominee in 2020.

There are few recent precedents for the rift. The last time a president turned on a legislative leader of his own party was in 2002, when allies of George W. Bush helped force Trent Lott to step down as Senate minority leader after racially charged remarks at a birthday party for Senator Strom Thurmond, Republican of South Carolina.

For the moment, Mr. McConnell appears to be far more secure in his position, and perhaps immune to coercion from the White House. Republicans are unlikely to lose control of the Senate in 2018, and Mr. Trump has no allies in the Senate who have shown an appetite for combat with Mr. McConnell.

Still, some allies of Mr. Trump on the right — including Stephen K. Bannon, who stepped down last week as Mr. Trump’s chief strategist — welcome more direct conflict with Mr. McConnell and congressional Republicans.

Roger J. Stone Jr., a Republican strategist who has advised Mr. Trump for decades, said the president needed to “take a scalp” in order to force cooperation from Republican elites who have resisted his agenda. Mr. Stone urged Mr. Trump to make an example of one or more Republicans, like Mr. Flake, who have refused to give full support to his administration.

“The president should start bumping off incumbent Republican members of Congress in primaries,” Mr. Stone said. “If he did that, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan would wet their pants and the rest of the Republicans would get in line.”

But Mr. McConnell’s allies warn that the president should be wary of doing anything that could jeopardize the Senate Republican majority.

“The quickest way for him to get impeached is for Trump to knock off Jeff Flake and Dean Heller and be faced with a Democrat-led Senate,” said Billy Piper, a lobbyist and former McConnell chief of staff.

Trump Kills More Civilians Than Obama Fighting ISIS

BY TOM O'CONNOR

NEWSWEEK

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has killed more civilians during President Donald Trump's first seven months in office than in the three years it existed under his predecessor, according to the latest estimate by a U.K.-based monitor.

Airwars, which describes itself as a "journalist-led transparency project," released Tuesday its latest data on airstrikes reportedly conducted by the U.S. and its allies battling ISIS and other jihadists in Iraq and Syria. According to data gathered since the coalition's inception in October 2014, the U.S.-dominated multinational force has been responsible for a minimum of 5,117 civilian deaths, with about 55 percent of them occurring during Trump's administration. While the stage of the conflict inherited by the Republican leader has largely involved targeting ISIS's urban strongholds after allied gains elsewhere under former President Barack Obama, Trump has faced backlash at home and abroad over reports of mounting collateral damage.

"During @BarackObama's 29 months at helm of ISIS war we tracked 855 alleged civilian casualty events which likely killed 2298-3398 civilians," Airwars tweeted to the group's official account.

"In @realDonaldTrump's first 7 months as President, we tracked 1,196 alleged incidents in which we assess at least 2,819-4,529 civilians died," it added.

The U.S. began conducting airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in October 2014 as part of what came to be known as the Joint Combined Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve. The campaign was created in response to lightning gains made across Iraq and Syria by ISIS, a notoriously brutal and powerful offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The ultraconservative Sunni Muslim group managed to overpower local forces and expanded its self-proclaimed caliphate across nearly half of the two countries.

The group's lines of defense began to collapse in Iraq as it was targeted by the country's armed forces, Kurdish militias, majority-Shiite Muslim militias backed by Iran and U.S.-led airstrikes. In Syria, U.S. airstrikes assisted the local Kurdish forces and some Arab insurgent groups in taking on the jihadists, while a 2015 Russian intervention allowed Syria's embattled military and its allies, including Iran-backed militias, to retake large parts of the country lost to ISIS and other anti-government groups in the wake of a 2011 uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Assad have also been criticized for reports of high civilian casualties incurred by their joint air campaigns.

When Trump came into office in January, U.S. forces had already begun major offensives to help local allies dislodge ISIS from two of its most important cities. Since then, the Iraqi government has declared ISIS defeated in Mosul, by far the largest city to fall into the jihadists' hands, and the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish alliance of Arabs and ethnic minorities, has beaten ISIS in about half of its de facto capital of Raqqa. As the two campaigns became increasingly urban, civilian casualties increased substantially. In last month's report, Airwars said that about 80 civilians were killed per month under Obama and that that figure had risen to 360 under Trump by July.

Other monitoring groups have also criticized the increasingly deadly consequences of the U.S.-led intervention against ISIS. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based group with ties to the exiled Syrian opposition, said Monday that coalition airstrikes had escalated in the past week, killing 167 people, with at least 42 dead reported from a single airstrike that day.

"Such massacres only add to the deteriorating humanitarian situation of civilians in ISIS-controlled areas in Raqqa city, where death became inevitable awaiting even those who try to flee along with their families to areas far from the doomed city," the group wrote.

Co-Founder Of Firm Tied To Trump Dossier Interviews With Senate Panel

BY MAX GREENWOOD

THE HILL

Provided by The Hill Co-founder of firm tied to Trump dossier interviews with Senate panel

The co-founder of a firm behind the controversial opposition research dossier on President Trump spoke to investigators on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday behind closed doors.

ABC News reported that Glenn Simpson was set to be questioned about funding and sources for the dossier, which contained salacious and unverified information about the president.

Simpson's firm, Fusion GPS, was first hired by Republicans to dig up dirt on Trump during his presidential campaign. But as Trump emerged as the party's likely nominee, GOP donors ended their work with the firm, and Democrats began paying Fusion GPS for opposition research on Trump.

Fusion GPS commissioned Christopher Steele, a former British spy, to compile the dossier.

The firm's role in developing the controversial document has emerged as a topic of interest for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is among several congressional panels probing Russia's efforts to meddle in the presidential election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

Simpson had initially declined to speak with the committee but agreed to do so last month. In exchange for his testimony, the panel's top lawmakers, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), agreed to withdraw a subpoena for his testimony.

According to a Fox News report, Fusion GPS has already turned over some 40,000 documents to the judiciary committee.

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion between his campaign and Russian officials and has fiercely denied allegations made in the dossier, which remains uncorroborated.

Why Investors Shun Nigeria’s Oil Industry

BY SEBASTINE OBASI

VANGUARD, AUGUST 22, 2017

Ibe Kachikwu

FOREIGN investors appear to be finding Nigeria’s oil industry unattractive due to the high cost of production, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, stated.

Speaking at the 2017 annual conference of National Association Energy Correspondents, in Lagos, Kachikwu decried the high cost of oil production in the country which has made cost of foreign direct investment, FDI, very expensive.

 The minister, who put the cost of producing a barrel of oil at $32, however, said that government is expediting action to bring down cost of production to $15 per barrel to significantly bring down cost of FDI. The minister noted that the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, PIGB, has been structured to fully turn around the petroleum sector and make it attractive to investors.

 Kachikwu deplored the challenging security issues and funding gap in the area of refinery which according to him have delayed takeoff of refinery projects even after licenses have been issued. He regretted that after the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, has issued about 40 licenses only two projects are currently being developed.

The minister was however optimistic that the PIGB will bring about fiscal regime that is flexible, promote gas utilisation and enhance local content as well as restructure the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for enhanced productivity.

 Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru explained that the PIGB largely reflects the aspirations of the industry for the emplacement of an effective policy, commercial and regulatory framework that promotes growth and efficient operations.

 Baru however observed that there other issues in the bill that need to be immediately addressed before it is finally sent to the President for assent. 

For that to happen he urged stakeholders to take advantage of the opportunity to seek clarity and where possible propose changes to ensure that what is signed into law accomplishes the main purpose of reforming the industry for the collective good.

At Least 600 Mssing In Deadly Sierra Leone Mudslides

Crowds gather outside the Connaught Hospital waiting for loved ones outside a mortuary in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Mudslides and torrential flooding killed more than 300 people in and around Sierra Leone's capital early Monday following heavy rains, with many victims trapped in homes buried under tons of mud. (Society 4 Climate Change Communication-Sierra Leone via AP)

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (AP) — The death toll from massive mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital was certain to rise Tuesday as bodies washed up on a beach and workers searched for an untold number of people buried in their homes. The Red Cross estimated that 600 people were still missing.

Authorities have said more than 300 people were killed in and around Freetown on Monday following heavy rains. Many were trapped under tons of mud as they slept. The Connaught Hospital mortuary in central Freetown was overwhelmed on Tuesday with more than 300 bodies, many spread on the floor.

"The magnitude of the destruction as a result of the disaster is such that the number of victims in the community who may not come out alive may likely exceed the number of dead bodies already recovered," said Charles Mambu, a civil society activist and resident of one affected area, Mount Sugar Loaf.

In a sign of hope, he said, "two bodies were brought out alive from the debris last evening." Government spokesman Cornelius Deveaux said rescue operations began early Tuesday to remove people still believed to be buried in the rubble. Heavy equipment was deployed to dig into the piles of red mud.

Deveaux said definitive death figures were unknown "as the mortuary is overwhelmed with corpses — men, women and children." Many bodies were in a horrible state, missing arms, heads or legs, Deveaux said, adding that proper burials will be vital in keeping disease at bay. "Contingency plans are being put in place to mitigate the outbreak of disease like cholera," he told a local radio station, FM 98.1.

Sulaiman Parker, the environmental protection officer in the Freetown City Council, said bodies will be buried in the next 48 hours. Some rescue workers and volunteers dug overnight through the mud and debris with their bare hands in a desperate search for missing relatives. Military personnel have been deployed to help with the operation in the impoverished West African nation.

"I have never seen anything like it," said Abdul Nasir, program coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "A river of mud came out of nowhere and swallowed entire communities, just wiped them away. We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss."

An estimated 9,000 people have been affected, Nasir told The Associated Press. The Sierra Leone National Broadcasting Corp. showed people carrying the dead to the morgue in rice sacks. Many of the impoverished areas of Sierra Leone's capital are close to sea level and have poor drainage systems, exacerbating flooding during the rainy season. Freetown also is plagued by unregulated building of large residential houses in hilltop areas.

Thousands of makeshift settlements in and around the capital were severely affected. "The government has been warning people not to construct houses in these areas. When they do this, there are risks," Nasir said. "People don't follow the standard construction rules, and that is another reason that many of these houses have been affected."

Deforestation for firewood and charcoal is one of the leading factors of worsening flooding and mudslides.

Exec Resigns From President's Council, And Trump Lashes Out

President Donald Trump, left, speaks during a meeting with manufacturing executives at the White House in Washington, including Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, center, and Ford CEO Mark Fields. Frazier is resigning from the President’s American Manufacturing Council citing "a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism." Frazier's resignation comes shortly after a violent confrontation between white supremacists and protesters in Charlottesville, Va. Trump is being criticized for not explicitly condemning the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville.

NEW YORK (AP) — The CEO of the nation's third largest pharmaceutical company resigned from a manufacturing council that advises President Donald Trump days after racially tinged clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, citing "a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism."

Trump, who is under increasing pressure to explicitly condemn the white supremacist and hate groups involved, lashed out almost immediately Monday at Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier on Twitter, saying that because of the resignation, the pharmaceutical executive "will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!"

Drugmakers have come under closer scrutiny because of rising drug prices, though Merck has not been one of the companies targeted by lawmakers or watchdog groups. Frazier, who is African American, said in a tweet on Monday that the country's leaders must "honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy."

One person was killed in the protests after a car slammed into a crowd and multiple people were injured in that incident and in running clashes between white supremacists and those opposing them. Frazier is not the first executive to resign from advisory councils serving Trump.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk resigned from the manufacturing council in June, and two other advisory groups to the president, after the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Bob Iger resigned from a White House advisory council for the same reason.

The manufacturing jobs council had 28 members initially, but it has shrunk since it was formed earlier this year as executives retire, are replaced, or, as with Frazier, Musk and Iger, resign.

Will NKorea's Kim Pull The Trigger? Possible Signs To Watch

Provided by South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, top, and second from top, and South Korean fighter jets F-15K fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea. Tensions between the United States and North Korea tend to flare up suddenly and then fade away almost as quickly, but the latest escalation won't likely go away quite so easily. (South Korean Defense Ministry via AP, File)

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Tensions between the United States and North Korea tend to flare suddenly and fade almost as quickly — but the latest escalation won't likely go away quite so easily. Events closer to home, including deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Virginia, could demand more of President Donald Trump's attention in the days ahead and cut into the volume and frequency of his fiery North Korea rhetoric.

But North Korea has yet to back away from its biggest threat: a plan to lob missiles toward U.S. military bases on the island of Guam that Pyongyang says should be ready for leader Kim Jong Un to review anytime now.

Will it all stop there? Or, despite the extremely high risks, will Kim really give the go order? And, regardless of what Kim does or doesn't do, will the tough-talking Trump feel compelled to take matters into his own hands?

Unpredictable as the situation is, some potential flashpoints to watch for:

BOMBER FLIGHTS

This could be the biggest trigger.

North Korea says it was compelled to put the Guam plan together because it feels threatened by a squadron of B-1B bombers on the island that the U.S. has increasingly sent to fly in Korean airspace in symbolic shows of force during times of particular tension.

But that may be only a pretense.

North Korea is certainly sensitive to the bombers, which could cause a lot of devastation if a war did start. But it also might just want an excuse to fully test the capabilities of its new Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles.

Either way, it's a cagey tactic: If Trump orders the B-1Bs to stay on the ground, Pyongyang can claim victory. If he orders them to fly, North Korea has its excuse to launch. If, of course, that's what it really wants to do — Pyongyang wisely left itself a lot of wiggle room and hasn't committed itself one way or the other.

LIBERATION DAY

Aug. 15 is the anniversary of the end of World War II in 1945 and the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

Pyongyang likes to use big anniversaries to make high-profile statements with military activity or political provocations. It launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile, for example, on July 4 — Independence Day in the United States.

This week's World War II anniversary isn't linked so closely to veneration of North Korea's ruling Kim family, the primary days for demonstrating national power. But it's a national holiday just the same and could be an opportune moment for the North to make some kind of a move.

So far, however, there haven't been any telltale signs of anything brewing in Pyongyang. The day could just be marked with small celebrations and the distribution of free treats — or maybe more rhetoric about the Guam missile plan.

WAR GAMES

This is another likely trigger, if Pyongyang is going to actually do anything.

Tens of thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops are expected to kick off the annual Ulchi-Freedom Guardian military exercises on Aug. 21. North Korea sees these exercises and larger ones held every spring as a rehearsal for invasion. Getting Washington to halt them has long been one of Pyongyang's key demands, and it regularly stirs the pot around the time they're held.

North Korea carried out its biggest nuclear test just after last year's UFG drills ended and fired four Scud ER missiles into waters off Japan to coincide with the spring exercises this past March.

This year's UFG exercises are expected to last around 10 days.

Eric Talmadge is the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter at EricTalmadge and Instagram @erictalmadge.