Tag: US

2…………> Kind Last Pardons: Santa Trump
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US President Donald Trump has pardoned his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, ex-adviser Roger Stone and the father of Mr Trump’s son-in-law.
Mr. Manafort was convicted in 2018 in an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
Mr. Trump had previously commuted the prison sentence of Mr. Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress.
They are among 29 people to benefit from Mr. Trump’s latest pardons before he leaves office next month.
Twenty-six of them won full pardons on Wednesday night, while another three received commutations.
A commutation usually takes the form of a reduced prison term, but does not erase the conviction or imply innocence.
A pardon is an expression of the president’s forgiveness that confers extra privileges, such as restoring the convict’s right to vote.
Presidents often grant pardons in their final days of office.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55433522

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3…………> ICE Crime Billboards: To Vanish Under Biden?
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a billboard campaign today in Asheville, North Carolina, to alert the public of at-large immigration violators who may pose a public safety threat to the community. Several of the individuals were previously arrested or convicted of crimes in the U.S., but were released into the community instead of being transferred into ICE custody pursuant to an immigration detainer.
“It’s unfortunate that certain law enforcement agencies refuse to work with ICE to promote public safety by holding criminal aliens accountable and providing justice and closure for their victims,” said Thomas Giles, field office director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Atlanta, Georgia. “Sanctuary policies not only undermine the integrity of our nation’s immigration laws; they also shield criminal aliens who prey on the people in their own communities.”

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https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-launches-billboards-asheville-featuring-large-public-safety-threats
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4…………> US Budget Battles: Last Efforts

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Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives blocked each other’s attempts to modify the $2.3 trillion combined coronavirus relief and government spending bill that was agreed on earlier this week on, failing to reach a compromise despite the looming threat of a partial government shutdown.
Republicans reportedly blocked Trump’s sought-after increase in direct relief checks for ordinary Americans to $2,000, after Democrats sided with the president’s proposal.
Democrats, meanwhile, blocked an effort by Republicans to reduce outlays for foreign aid included in the spending package.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who previously sought to delay signing a new COVID relief bill ahead of the November election so that Trump wouldn’t be able to get “his name on a check that goes out,” called on the president to sign the existing bill before Monday to avoid a government shutdown. She added that Democratic lawmakers would be back at work next week on a separate, stand-alone bill to increase direct relief payments to $2,000.

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https://sputniknews.com/us/202012241081560519-congress-blocks-trumps-request-to-alter-coronavirus-bill-increase-relief-spending/

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5…………> Dark Ice Secrets: Future Hints Deep Below?

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Scientists have made a thrilling descent into the maw of a Greenland ice sheet by drilling deep into the ice to explore aspects of the area that contain secrets critical to climate change research, 
by creating two intersecting holes in the bed of a now frozen-over ice river, anchored their lines by running a rope through them and dropped into the vertical cavern, called a “moulin, publishing their findings ‘Moulin Volumes Regulate Subglacial Water Pressure on the Greenland Ice Sheet’.
“These are big giant scary holes in the ice… Places that historically people have avoided. During the summer you have entire lakes that disappear down these things, sometimes overnight. Almost every river on the Greenland ice sheet disappears into these holes,” said one of the researchers, indicating growing global fears over the warming climate of the Arctic. 

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https://sputniknews.com/science/202012241081558199-thrilling-descent-into-perilous-maw-of-greenland-ice-sheet-reveals-alarming-secrets-/

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