Donald Trump told to 'get ready for impeachment' by senior Democrat Maxine Waters - Independent

Donald Trump told to 'get ready for impeachment' by senior Democrat Maxine Waters

'If the facts are there, then we should move quickly to do something about it'

California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters has warned President Donald Trump that he should prepare to be impeached, the latest escalation of rhetoric over alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

Ms Waters has been pressing Congress to quickly impeach Mr Trump if evidence arises of his alleged collusion with the Russian government during the election race.

The Democrat did not cite a particular reason for Mr Trump’s impeachment, but earlier in March said: “The only thing that I am focused on is credible investigations to bring out the facts.

“If the facts are there, then I think we should move very quickly to do something about it.

“And if there was collusion, and any support for undermining our democracy, I think the President should be impeached.”

Ms Water’s tweet comes a day after FBI director James Comey confirmed the agency was investigating possible contact between the Trump campaign and Kremlin officials.

He and National Security Agency boss Michael Rogers also told the Congressional intelligence hearing they believe Russia meddled in the race leading up to the election by hacking the Democratic National Committee and other political organisations.

Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural

Ms Waters follows senior senator Dianne Feinstein in suggesting Mr Trump's presidency may come to an end soon. She was asked by a protester: “[Mr Trump] has obvious dealings with Russia [...] How are we going to get him out?”

Ms Feinstein, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, replied: “We have a lot of people looking into this. I think he’s going to get himself out.”

A scandal about contact between the Trump team and Russia has refused to die down, with a string of reports emerging linking officials close to Mr Trump to the Kremlin. The White House has maintained no improper communications took place.

Trump Administration Bans Small Electronic Devices on Certain Overseas Flights - TIME

Trump Administration Bans Small Electronic Devices on Certain Overseas Flights

Posted: 21 Mar 2017 03:00 AM PDT

The Trump Administration is banning personal electronic devices larger than a cell phone on flights to the U.S. from 10 overseas airports, the Transportation Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security announced early Tuesday.
The government issued an Emergency Amendment/Security Directive to affected airports and airlines at 3 a.m. Tuesday, giving them 96 hours to ensure compliance. All passenger electronics larger than a smart phone will be required to be placed in checked baggage, the agencies announced. There is no impact on domestic flights or on flights originating from the U.S., officials said.
“Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items,” a senior Administration official told reporters late Monday.

Officials refused to say whether the announcement was made regarding a specific threat, but indicated it came as part of a broader review of security measures. “As a matter of policy we don’t publicly discuss intelligence information,” the official said.
“The United States remains concerned about terrorist groups’ continued interest in targeting civil aviation,” another senior Administration official said.
The ban affects 10 airlines that fly direct service to the U.S. from Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Kuwait.
The airports are Queen Alia International Airport (AMM), Cairo International Airport (CAI), Ataturk International Airport (IST), King Abdul-Aziz International Airport (JED), King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Kuwait International Airport (KWI), Mohammed V Airport (CMN), Hamad International Airport (DOH), Dubai International Airport (DXB), and Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). Nine airlines are affected, including Emirates and Etihad.
The State Department has notified foreign governments of the restrictions, an official said.
The disruptive electronics ban, which will include laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players, and gaming devices larger than a smartphone, is not permanent, but nor is there a date for its expiration. Officials said they regularly reevaluate security concerns and would update the policy if warranted.
Officials pointed to the attempted 2016 downing of Daallo Airlines Flight 159, in which a suicide bomber tried to bring down a Somali airliner with what was believed to be a bomb concealed in a laptop. Egyptian officials also revealed in December that traces of explosives were found on the bodies of the passengers of EgyptAir Flight 804, which was downed last year.
Airlines that fly to the U.S. are subject to strict security requirements and must comply with TSA directives.
Officials said they coordinated with the FAA about the placement of additional lithium ion batteries in aircraft cargo holds and determined that the risk of a potential attack outweighed the potential risk of battery fire—an emerging FAA concern.
News of the ban first emerged on social media Monday in postings from Royal Jordanian Airlines, one of the affected carriers, though it mistakenly suggested that the restrictions would be imposed on flights originating from the U.S.
Notably the restrictions include Abu Dhabi International Airport, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintains a “preclearance” facility for U.S.-bound travelers. Officials said it was included out of an “abundance of caution.”

David Rockefeller, Billionaire Businessman and Philanthropist, Dies at 101 - TIME Business

David Rockefeller, Billionaire Businessman and Philanthropist, Dies at 101 Posted: 20 Mar 2017 08:19 AM PDT (NEW YORK) — David Rockefeller, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who was the last in his generation of one of the country’s most famously philanthropic families, died Monday. He was 101. Rockefeller died in his sleep at his home in suburban Pocantico Hills, New York, according to his spokesman, Fraser P. Seitel. He was the youngest of six children born to John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. With the passing of his siblings, he became the guardian of his family’s fortune and head of a sprawling network of family interests, both business and philanthropic, that ranged from environmental conservation to the arts. To mark his 100th birthday in 2015, Rockefeller gave 1,000 acres of land next to a national park to the state of Maine. Aspects of the Rockefeller brothers’ upbringing became famous, including the 25-cent allowance, portions of which had to be set aside for charity and savings, and the inculcation that wealth brings great responsibility. Two of his brothers held elected office: Nelson Rockefeller served as the governor of New York, hungered for the White House and briefly served as vice president. Winthrop Rockefeller was a governor of Arkansas. David Rockefeller, however, wielded power and influence without ever seeking public office. Among his many accomplishments were spurring the project that led to the World Trade Center. And unlike his other brothers, John D. III and Laurance, who shied from the spotlight and were known for philanthropy, David Rockefeller embraced business and traveled and spoke widely as a champion of enlightened capitalism. “American capitalism has brought more benefits to more people than any other system in any part of the world at any time in history,” he said. “The problem is to see that the system is run as efficiently and as honestly as it can be.” Rockefeller graduated from Harvard in 1936 and received a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1940. He served in the Army during World War II, then began climbing the ranks of management at Chase Bank. That bank merged with The Manhattan Company in 1955. He was named Chase Manhattan’s president in 1961 and chairman and chief executive officer eight years later. He retired in 1981 at age 65 after a 35-year career. In his role of business statesman, Rockefeller preached capitalism at home and favored assisting economies abroad on grounds that bringing prosperity to the Third World would create customers for American products. He parted company with some of his fellow capitalists on income taxes, calling it unseemly to earn $1 million and then find ways to avoid paying taxes on it. He didn’t say how much he paid in taxes and never spoke publicly about his personal worth. In 2015, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $3 billion. As one of the Rockefeller grandchildren, David belonged to the last generation in which the inherited family billions were concentrated in a few hands. The next generation, known as “the cousins,” has more people. Rockefeller was estimated to have met more than 200 rulers in more than 100 countries during his lifetime, and often was treated as if he were a visiting head of state. Under Rockefeller, Chase was the first U.S. bank to open offices in the Soviet Union and China and, in 1974, the first to open an office in Egypt after the Suez crisis of 1956. In his early travels to South Africa, Rockefeller arranged clandestine meetings with several underground black leaders. “I find it terribly important to get overall impressions beyond those I get from businessmen,” he said. But Rockefeller took a lot of heat for his bank’s substantial dealings with South Africa’s white separatist regime and for helping the deposed, terminally ill Shah of Iran come to New York for medical treatment in 1979, the move that triggered the 13-month U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Tehran. Rockefeller maintained the family’s patronage of the arts, including its long-standing relationship with New York’s Museum of Modern Art, of which his mother had been a fervent patron. His private art collection was once valued at $500 million. The Rockefeller estate overlooking the Hudson River north of New York City is the repository of four generations of family history, including Nelson’s art and sculpture collection. One of the major efforts of Rockefeller’s later years was directed at restoring family influence in the landmark Rockefeller Center, most of which had been sold in the 1980s to Japanese investors. He eventually organized an investor group to buy back 45 percent of the property. His philanthropy and other activities earned him a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1998. Rockefeller and his wife, the former Margaret McGrath, married in 1940 and had six children — David Jr., Richard, Abby, Neva, Margaret and Eileen. His wife, an active conservationist, died in 1996.

As Trump Trade Fades, Investors Reverse Course - Wall Street Journal

As Trump Trade Fades, Investors Reverse Course
Developing doubt about the administration’s ability to deliver quickly on its agenda upends a strategy

The Trump trade is over. Get ready for “Trump Lite.”
Developing doubt about the U.S. administration’s ability to deliver on its pro-growth policy agenda—at least any time soon—has upended a strategy that had been a winner since November’s U.S. election: sell bonds, buy the U.S. dollar and pick up cheap stocks that might benefit from improved U.S. growth.
That trade went into reverse in Tuesday’s U.S. trading: The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, its first decline of more than 1% this year and biggest drop since October, while the ICE U.S. dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of six currencies, slipped below 100 for the first time since Feb. 6.

But even before the reversal there had been weeks of stall. In fact, a more successful strategy this year than the Trump trade has been to discount a U.S. recovery and bet instead on Europe and Asia, particularly China. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is up 8.6% in 2017—driven by double-digit gains in Turkey, China, Hong Kong and India—trumping the S&P 500’s 4.7%. Even European stocks have outperformed the U.S. over the past month, despite concerns around France’s coming election.
“There’s a lack of confidence in the reforms and the overall policy agenda, and that’s been spoken about underpinning the whole market sentiment and animal spirits so far,” Catherine Yeung, investment director at Fidelity International, said about investors’ reconsideration.
The skittishness spilled into Asia Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 2.1% to 19183.27, erasing all its gains for the year. The yen strengthened to as much as ¥111.4350 to the dollar; a strong yen typically hurts the earnings of Japanese exporters. Shares also struggled in Hong Kong, with Chinese companies particularly hard hit.
America May Need Making GreatAgainAmerica May Need Making Great Again
This year, the MSCI Emerging MarketsIndex (blue) has outperformed the S&P500 (red) and the Stoxx 600 (yellow).This year, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (blue) has outperformed the S&P 500 (red) and the Stoxx 600 (yellow).
Increasingly, investors are showing they believe the Trump trade has got out of hand. Around one-third of portfolio managers believe global equities are overvalued, the highest level on record going back to the turn of the century, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s monthly survey of 200 funds managing $592 billion, and around four-fifths believe U.S. stocks are the most overvalued of all. Around a third believe the U.S. dollar is overvalued, the highest level since June 2006.
The “Trump Lite” trade hinges upon the administration’s getting sandbagged in policy fights, such as the current wrangling over health care. Drawn-out congressional debates over the details of stimulus measures could cause inflation to peter out, encouraging investors to resume the hunt for yield—buying bonds and stocks with sustainable dividend income.
From the start the market had been too optimistic about Donald Trump ’s ability to execute the finer details of his economic policy, said Megan E. Greene, chief economist at Manulife Asset Management.
“The risks were always going to become more balanced in the markets as it became apparent how aggressive and difficult the administration’s policy agenda is this year, with limited legislative days remaining in the calendar,” she said. “There is little doubt some stimulus will come through, but it is likely to be smaller and take longer to hit the real economy than many investors would like to believe.”
But if Mr. Trump’s current woes are bolstering emerging markets, he still has wide scope to spoil the party, particularly by pushing on his campaign pledges to get tough on the U.S.’s trade partners.
“The market seems to have forgotten about the rhetoric Trump has talked about regarding trade,” said Fidelity’s Ms. Yeung.

Wall Street Journal