Woodwards book underscores trumps contempt for sessions

WASHINGTON: The news media in the Western world remain dominated by newspapers, magazines and broadcasters still known as the mainstream. The most vivid proof of their continued reign over public opinion is in the figure of US President Donald Trump, whose repeated attacks on “failing” publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post as "enemies of the people" is a backhanded tribute to their continued power. Still, the dominance of the old media is under threat from the new. Trump has more than 55 million followers on Twitter, which he uses as his personal channel to fire up Americans. And these new media channels now threaten to overcome that dominance. They bring voices from every part of the political and social spectrum in a fashion more intimate, direct and demotic than the mainstream – which is generally careful not to offend, to eschew profanity, to balance one view with another. Perhaps most importantly, the new platforms bring voices which claim to have … [Read more...] about Commentary: Beware the culture warriors of social media

CHICAGO: As U.S. President Donald Trump touted the signing of a U.S.-China trade deal in January, he told cash-strapped farmers they would soon need bigger tractors and "a little more land" to meet additional Chinese demand for U.S. agricultural goods. His administration assured farmers that they would no longer need the billions in aid the government had provided to offset their losses from the trade war Trump launched with China in 2017. Now, with Chinese buying of most farm goods still lagging their 2017 levels, the administration says it may extend the farm subsidy program for a third year - money farmers say they still desperately need. Such an extension would expand what has already been a massive industry bailout. The about-face reflects vagaries in the so-called Phase 1 trade deal: China did not commit to a timeline for ramping up imports of U.S. farm goods to make the 2020 goal of US$36.5 billion, up from US$24 billion in 2017. It also underscores economic uncertainty … [Read more...] about US farmers still dependent on trade aid after China deal

On Feb. 4, in his first foreign-policy speech as president of the United States, Joe Biden caricatured Trump administration diplomacy as an abject failure—destructive of American interests and contrary to American ideals. At the same time, Biden gave unwitting recognition to former secretary of state Mike Pompeo 's signature achievement, which was to reorient American foreign policy toward the challenge presented by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Biden thereby acknowledged a defining test confronting him and his administration: Can they pick up where the Trump administration left off by elaborating and implementing a concrete strategy to prevail in the contest launched by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the shape of the international order? Biden's speech included several notable departures from the Obama administration's foreign policy in favor of Trump administration priorities. During Barack Obama 's eight years as president—and Biden's as vice … [Read more...] about The Biden Administration and the China Challenge | Opinion

Red Spring Festival expects to collect over 4,000 blood units Young people donate their blood In his opening remarks, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) Bach Quoc Khanh, who is head of the festival’s organizing board, said that the festival has been held annually since 2008 to address blood shortages after the lunar New Year holiday, and gradually changed public awareness of blood donation. After 13 editions, the festival has collected over 85,000 blood units and become the annual biggest blood donation event. Khanh took the occasion to express his gratitude for donators nationwide. The 14th edition is taking place from March 1-7 at the NIHBT headquarters, and three fixed places - 26 Luong Ngoc Quyen in Hoan Kiem district, 132 Quan Nhan in Thanh Xuan district, and Valley 122 of Lang Street in Dong Da district. The organizing board expects to receive over 4,000 blood units during this year’s festival, which then will … [Read more...] about VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES MARCH 2

It’s early January, and Sarah McBride is sitting at a desk in her parents’ house in Delaware. A “Sarah McBride for State Senate” yard sign is wedged between a bookshelf and the wall — already a relic from the election she won two months earlier. “It’s been a whirlwind,” she says, leaning forward and taking off her glasses to rub her eyes. And not just because it’s her first time holding public office: When she won her election for state senator of Delaware’s 1st District with an overwhelming 73 percent of the vote, she became the highest-ranking openly trans elected official in U.S. history. Even on a video call, it’s easy to imagine how she captured three-quarters of her constituents in November. At 30 years old, she’s already well into her second decade in politics. She was 13 when she tagged along on a campaign for the first time, for a friend of her dad’s who was running for Delaware insurance commissioner. At 17, she worked on Democrat Jack Markell’s bid to be governor, … [Read more...] about Why Sarah McBride Might Be the Most Inspiring Elected Official in America

Gov. John Bel Edwards gets his second shot of Pfizer vaccine this week. But more important, the governor will have a chance to give Louisiana’s economy a shot in the arm by lifting some of the restrictions that have crimped commerce for a full year now. It was a year ago that the pandemic assaulted Louisiana, and when the disease was at its most mysterious and threatening, we were an early hot spot. Thanks to the unfettered celebrations of Mardi Gras, Louisiana was once the national leader in the spread of the killer coronavirus. It would have been unimaginable then that we would still be struggling to overcome the virus, but COVID-19 pretty much vanquished Mardi Gras 2021. First, they canceled the parades. Then, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell closed down the bars and Bourbon Street. Then a historic cold snap robbed the holiday of whatever joy was left. Reporting this weekend in our pages by Jeff Adelson and Gordon Russell underscores the idea that the pandemic posed a … [Read more...] about Our Views: Vaccines are the critical thing, but good virus numbers support re-opening