Saturday, 7 May 2016

Trump Snubbed By Jeb Bush But Backed By Cheney

The ex-Florida governor says he would vote for neither his party's presumptive nominee, nor likely rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton
Failed Republican White House candidate Jeb Bush is the latest conservative figure to say he will not support Donald Trump.
He said in a Facebook post on Friday that his former rival "has not demonstrated that temperament or strength of character (worthy of the presidency).
"He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution. And, he is not a consistent conservative."
The former Florida governor said he would vote for neither his party's presumptive nominee, nor the likely rival in November's White House election, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Mr Bush was asked in recent days whether he might be Mr Trump's running mate, and his adviser's emailed reply was: "Hahahahahahahahaha."
His snub comes two days after his older brother, former US President George W Bush, and their father, former US President George H W Bush, said they would not endorse Mr Trump.
The Bushes' cold shoulder may be seen as personal since Mr Trump tormented Jeb Bush during his White House run, labelling him "low energy" and "an embarrassment to his family".
However, Mr Trump picked up support on Friday from the younger ex-President Bush's former deputy, Dick Cheney.
The list of opponents to the outsider candidate's hostile takeover of the Republican party has been growing.
Mitt Romney, who won the nomination in 2012, and Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham are also refusing to support Mr Trump.
But the real estate baron's former rival, Rick Perry - who once called him a "cancer on conservatism" - said he would be open to being his running mate.
Republican mega-donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is also backing Mr Trump, saying he has clinched the nomination “fair and square".
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said he would meet Mr Trump next Thursday, a day after telling media he is "just not ready" to endorse Mr Trump.
Republican party chairman Reince Priebus said on Friday he will support Mr Trump, even if he disagrees with ideas like temporarily banning Muslims from entering the US.
US President Barack Obama smiled on Friday when asked during a White House briefing about the disarray among his Republican antagonists.
In his first remarks about Mr Trump's presumptive nominee status, Mr Obama had a message for the media: "This is not entertainment.
"This is not a reality show."


Iran says several of its soldiers killed near Aleppo

Chinese fishing boat, cargo ship collision leaves 17 missing: state media

Seventeen people were missing after a Chinese fishing boat collided with a Maltese cargo ship and sank in the East China Sea on Saturday, state media reported, citing the country's coastguard fleet.
The fishing boat, Lu Rong Yu 58398, had 19 people on board when the incident happened at 3.40 a.m. Beijing time (1940 GMT), the China News Service said, adding that two people had been rescued by passing fishing boats and a search and rescue operation was still underway.
China National Radio said that it had hit Maltese cargo ship Catalina, a 40,485 ton bulk carrier, which has continued sailing. They did not specify where in the East China Sea the collision happened.
The East China Sea is home to a group of uninhabited islets claimed by both China and Japan and previous incidents involving Chinese fishing boats and Japanese patrol ships have stoked diplomatic rows.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Italy rescues nearly 1,800 migrants in Mediterranean

Italian vessels have helped rescue nearly 1,800 migrants from boats trying to reach Italy from north Africa in the last 24 hours, the navy said on Friday, indicating that numbers are rising as the weather warms up.
The navy said 1,759 migrants were rescued in 10 operations involving the Italian navy, coastguard and finance police, the European Union's external borders agency Frontex and the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
The Italian frigate Grecale was taking the migrants to the Sicilian port of Augusta, where they were expected to arrive on Saturday morning, a navy statement said. It gave no details of their nationalities.
The latest arrivals picked up in the Strait of Sicily will bring the total of migrants reaching Italy by boat so far this year to more than 30,000, slightly higher than in the same period of 2015.
Humanitarian organizations say the sea route between Libya and Italy is now the main route for asylum seekers heading for Europe, after an EU deal with Turkey dramatically slowed the flow of people reaching Greece.
Officials fear the numbers trying to make the crossing to southern Italy will increase as sailing conditions improve in warmer weather.
More than 1.2 million Arab, African and Asian migrants fleeing war and poverty have streamed into the European Union since the start of last year.
Most of those trying to reach Italy leave the coast of lawless Libya on rickety fishing boats or rubber dinghies, heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is close to Tunisia, or toward Sicily.
On Wednesday, however, Italy's coastguard said it had rescued 42 migrants from a sailboat off the coast of Puglia, in the southeastern heel of mainland Italy.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones; editing by Andrew Roche)

Opponents try to head off maverick mayor in final rallies for Philippine presidency

North Korean leader hails nuclear success in opening congress

Brazil Senate committee votes for Rousseff to stand trial