USA

U.S. – Israel arms deal criticized in both countries

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Even before the formal signing of what was described as a record-making agreement for US financial aid, shrill critics here and there were claiming that Bibi had messed the opportunity to get more and better terms. Prominent in the agreement, which came after months or years (depending on whenever conversations […]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

Feinstein retreating from 9/11 victims’ bill that she co-sponsored

WASHINGTON — California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is joining a growing number in Congress who are reconsidering their support for a bill that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia over its alleged backing of the terrorists who committed the attacks. Feinstein is a co-sponsor of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.

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Middle East, USA

Donald Trump lauds stop-and-frisk policies widely condemned as racial profiling

Donald Trump wants police to use stop-and-frisk tactics more aggressively in black communities even though a federal judge has ruled that the practice violates the rights of minorities. Asked in a town hall on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Wednesday how he would combat violence in poor black neighborhoods, the GOP presidential nominee said police should

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USA

Texas billionaires give big to GOP, Dems, but for president, not so much

WASHINGTON — North Texas billionaires Robert Bass and Ross Perot Jr. are big political donors — with very different party preferences. The two Texas investors have extensive ties to Tarrant County, where Fort Worth is located. Bass, 68, who Forbes magazine calculates has a net worth of $2.8 billion, is one of four brothers who

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USA

Charlotte leaders seek calm amid protests over fatal police shooting of black man

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte, N.C., city leaders appealed for calm Wednesday and promised a thorough investigation of Tuesday’s fatal police shooting of a black man that triggered a night of violent protests. Authorities said they were reviewing video from body cams and dash cams from the deadly confrontation. The dead man was Keith Lamont Scott,

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USA

CJCS Dunford Calls For Strategic Shifts; ‘At Peace Or At War Is Insufficient’

NATIONAL HARBOR: The increasingly “adversarial” relationships with Russia and China are forcing the Pentagon to classify its previously public National Military Strategy, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says. Classification will allow bolder and more specific discussions of how to manage those relationships and our responses to them, Gen. Joe Dunford told the

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International, USA

Obama turns over Israel’s two-state challenge to successor

Having failed to make progress during the past eight years with Israel toward a two-state solution, President Obama acknowledged Wednesday that he’s turning over the challenge to the next president as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seal a new U.S. military aid package. “Obviously, I’m only going to be president for

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Middle East, USA

Voter frustration mounts over a campaign many find dispiriting, poll finds

WASHINGTON — As the first debate of the presidential campaign approaches, voters are in an increasingly frustrated and unhappy mood, driven to their choices more often by dislike of the opposing candidate than admiration for their own, new polling data find. Nearly 6 in 10 voters described themselves as frustrated by this year’s campaign, according

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USA

Analysis: ‘Broad shoulders’ and ‘a presidential look’: The Trump campaign uses gender to try to undercut Clinton’s candidacy

COLUMBUS, Ohio — What do voters hear when Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, in interview after interview, praises his running mate Donald Trump’s “broad shoulders”? What do they hear when Trump repeatedly criticizes Hillary Clinton for not looking presidential — “and you need a presidential look”? Or when he time and again calls into question her

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USA