https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/11/07/remarks-president-trump-and-president-moon-republic-korea-state-dinner
" The partnership between our two nations and our two people is deep and enduring. We have been proud to stand by your side for many decades as an unwavering friend and a loyal ally. And you have never had a time where this ally has been more loyal or stood by your side more than right now.
Here in South Korea, the people built a free, sovereign, and democratic republic. Through their resilience and sacrifice and determination, they became the chief architects of the future. Today, the course of this great nation is charted solely by the free people of South Korea." (click link source for more)
WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE: Remarks by President Trump and President Moon of the Republic of Korea in Joint Press Conference | Seoul, Republic of Korea
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/11/07/remarks-president-trump-and-president-moon-republic-korea-joint-press
" Today, the President and I had an opportunity to talk about a range of vital economic and security matters, including our trade relationship and our joint efforts to solve North Korea's grave nuclear threat to South Korea and, indeed, the entire world. This is a worldwide problem.
The Republic of Korea is more than a longstanding ally of the United States. We are partners and friends who have fought side-by-side in a war, and, really, worked very hard and prospered toward a great and lasting peace.
I feel confident that we'll be able to reach a free, fair, and reciprocal trade deal as we renegotiate our current five-year-old trade document. We cannot allow North Korea to threaten all that we have built -- and we have built it very much together, and we're very, very proud of it, also, together -- but all that we've built in the decade since our soldiers sacrificed side-by-side in the struggle for freedom. Our alliance is more important than ever to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and across the Indo-Pacific region." ---President Donald Trump
(see full statements on link source)
(PAGE 2)
MORE WORLD NEWS AND EVENTS
NEWS FROM THE UN:
UN PRESS RELEASE: Adopting Resolution 2382 (2017), Security Council Supports Implementing Strategic Guidance Framework for Police Peacekeeping
Press release issued 11/ 6/ 17
https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sc13056.doc.htm
Mission Police Force Chiefs Brief on Challenges, Addressing Members’ Queries during Interactive Dialogue
The Security Council this afternoon resolved to include, on a case by case basis, policing as an integral part of the mandates and decision-making structures of United Nations peacekeeping operations and special political missions.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2382 (2017), the Council would take into account the need to give clear, credible, achievable, appropriately resourced mandates for policing‑related activities, and emphasize in that context the need to ensure a United Nations system‑wide approach to the rule of law.
By the text, the Council would continue to promote and support the finalization and operationalization of the Strategic Guidance Framework for International Police Peacekeeping. It requested the Secretary‑General to, among other things, provide updates on progress in terms of gender‑responsive police reform and protection activities, where mandated, including efforts to make national police services more accessible and responsive to women.
Recognizing the important role that United Nations police components could play in the protection of civilians, including in preventing and addressing sexual and gender‑based violence, and violations and abuses against children, the Council urged police‑contributing countries to ensure that all deployed officers, formed units and specialized teams had undergone comprehensive training. It reiterated that the protection of children in armed conflict should be an important aspect of any comprehensive strategy to resolve conflict and build peace, underscoring in that regard the importance of specialized predeployment and in‑mission training and stressing the importance of enhancing coordination between police components and child, women and gender protection advisers.
Further to the resolution, the Council urged all police‑contributing countries to deliver robust predeployment training to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and to ensure that all personnel to be deployed were vetted for previous criminal acts of sexual exploitation and abuse. (see link source for more)
On Anne Frank Diary Anniversary, Students to Take Part in Interactive Holocaust Education Programme, Learn about Plight of Today’s Refugees, Migrants
Press release issued 11/ 6/ 17
https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/note6508.doc.htm
To mark the seventieth anniversary of the publication of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, the United Nations Department of Public Information, in partnership with New York’s Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect and Facing History and Ourselves, will host an interactive educational programme for more than 500 high school students on Thursday, 9 November, at New York Headquarters.
Organized by the United Nations Education Outreach Section, From Desperation to Inspiration: The Seventieth Anniversary of the Anne Frank Diary aims to increase students’ awareness of the Holocaust and its devastating impact on the Jewish community while helping them understand the plight of refugees and migrants in today’s world. The event will run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The event will honour the legacy of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who wrote a diary of her experiences while hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam during the Second World War. Between 1942 and 1944, while living in an attic with her family, Anne transferred her fears and feelings onto paper until she was deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she died in 1945 at age 15.
The Center will begin the day’s first student activity with a brief film, Short Life of Anne Frank, and the reading of passages of her diary. The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme will carry out a second activity meant to help students better understand the ongoing migration and refugee crisis. Facing History and Ourselves will then launch a brief conversation titled “Repairing the World — Our Obligation towards the ‘Other’”. (see link source for more)
US PRESS RELEASE: ‘Epic’ Humanitarian Crisis Looms Should Palestine Refugee Agency Be Compelled to Scale Back Services, Delegates Warn as Fourth Committee Debate Continues
Press release issued 11/ 6/ 17
https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/gaspd654.doc.htm
Urging broader support for new financing mechanisms, delegates warned today of a humanitarian crisis should the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) be forced to scale back services because of a financing deficit, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on that Agency’s work.
Turkey’s representative recalled the broad consultation process that had animated discussions on ensuring predictable, sufficient and sustainable funding for the Agency. If implemented by each relevant stakeholder, the recommendations could ensure continuity for UNRWA’s services and end its recurrent and severe financing shortfalls. Welcoming the establishment of new funding mechanisms in partnership with international financial institutions, he said Turkey had dedicated $100,000 towards efforts to materialize those new streams. While other members of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had also taken steps in that regard, support from the broader United Nations membership would be vital to realizing concrete results on that track, he added.
Echoing the concerns about UNRWA’S financing, Sri Lanka’s representative cautioned that, if underfunded or without reserves, the Agency would be overtaken by a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions that would threaten its good works and services. Moreover, the ongoing violence in Syria had created large-scale movements of people, further complicating the Agency’s work and placing an added burden on its depleted finances. (see link source for more)
UN NEWS CENTER HEADLINES...
Building safe houses, UN agency helping Dominica recover from disaster
7 November 2017 – Seven weeks since hurricane Maria made landfall in Dominica and left widespread destruction in its wake, the United Nations migration agency has been supporting local tradespeople with safe construction skills to repair the damage and create conditions for a full recovery.
https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58042
UN Security Council calls on Myanmar to end excessive military force in Rakhine state
6 November 2017 – Strongly condemning the widespread violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, which has led to the displacement of over 600,000 members of the country’s minority Muslim Rohingya community, the United Nations Security Council on Monday called on the Government to end the use of excessive military force and intercommunal violence in the region.
https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58040
Journalism under fire amid rise of ‘fake news’ and social media-driven echo chambers – UNESCO report
6 November 2017 – The media industry, which remains the primary source of news and information in the digital age, faces both vast opportunities and steep challenges, the United Nations cultural agency said on Monday in its flagship analysis of new trends in media freedom, pluralism, independence and the safety of journalists.
https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58037
Asia-Pacific regional consultations on UN strategy for safe migration open in Bangkok
6 November 2017 – With ever-increasing numbers of people on the move, travelling away from their homelands in search of better opportunities, a United Nations regional meeting opened today in Bangkok, Thailand, exploring options to make migration safer and to better protect their rights.
https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58034
FROM THE US MISSION TO THE UN:
Remarks at a UN Security Council Debate on Bosnia and Herzegovina
" We urge all parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina to stay focused on much-needed reforms including political, socio-economic, and electoral reforms. The government must work to enhance the rule of law, tackle corruption, and improve the overall political climate in the country for the benefit of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina." ---Amy Tachco Political Coordinator, U.S. Mission to the United Nations
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8091
Ambassador Haley on Weapons of Iranian Origin Used in Attack on Saudi Arabia
“Saudi Arabia’s announcement confirms once again the Iranian regime’s complete disregard for its international obligations. By providing these types of weapons to the Houthi militias in Yemen, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is violating two UN resolutions simultaneously. We encourage the release of any information that will help to hold Iran accountable for its support of violence and terrorism in the region and the world. The United States is committed to containing Iran’s destabilizing actions and will not turn a blind eye to these serious violations of international law by the Iranian regime,” said Ambassador Haley."
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8090
Remarks at a UN Security Council Briefing on Peacekeeping Operations: Police Commissioners
" Police cannot be second class citizens in UN peacekeeping. The UN bureaucracy must model the same level of integration among military, police, and justice components that we seek to develop in host nations through peacekeeping operations. Police expertise must be consistently integrated into the mandates and decision-making structures of UN peace operations, both peacekeeping and Special Political Missions." ---Amy Tachco Political Coordinator, U.S. Mission to the United Nations
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8092
Ambassador Haley on the Announcement of a Timeline for Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
“As we heard directly from the Congolese people, the citizens of the DRC are hungry for democracy and new leadership. Further delays and attempts to hold onto power will only serve to isolate the DRC’s leaders and government. The release of an electoral calendar – while long overdue – sets a clear timeline for a transition of power. We will work closely with the DRC, the UN, and our partners to ensure President Kabila and his government stick to this timeline, encourage full peaceful participation and freedom of speech, and do not permit any further delay in giving their people their rightful opportunity to decide on their country’s future,” said Ambassador Haley.
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8089
US STATE DEPT: Joint Statement From the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka on the Second U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue
Press release issued 11/ 6/ 17
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/11/275329.htm
The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Sri Lanka on the occasion of the second U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue.
Sharing a commitment to democracy, rule of law, and the prosperity and well-being of our peoples, Sri Lanka and the United States convened the second Partnership Dialogue on November 6, 2017, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The meeting was led by Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon. The Partnership Dialogue demonstrates the consolidation of cooperation between the United States and Sri Lanka, and serves to further strengthen and enhance bilateral relations in the widest sense, through regular and structured engagement.
As fellow democracies, the two governments resolved to work together toward a free and open Indo-Pacific region and for greater peace and stability around the world. The United States and Sri Lanka agreed that the security, stability, and prosperity of the Indian Ocean region should be safeguarded through the promotion of a rules-based order which would ensure that all countries that enjoy the global commons respect international laws and norms. Both countries agreed to advance this vision for peace and stability regionally and in international fora and stressed the particular importance of the freedom of navigation and overflight and of maintaining a maritime order based on the rule of law including unimpeded commerce, and they shared the intention to further promote cooperation and exchanges in maritime security and safety, including anti-piracy measures. Sri Lanka emphasized its need, as an island nation, to build maritime capacity so that it can effectively patrol its own borders and safeguard its marine resources.
The vision to develop Sri Lanka as a regional hub for trade and investment in Asia, which would connect trade flows among ASEAN, India, the Middle East and Africa through free and open seas that would be the key to growth of the region, was discussed. The United States expressed its support for Sri Lanka through trade, investment, foreign assistance and direct partnership with stakeholders throughout the country. The United States remains committed to a strong economic partnership and robust trade relationship with Sri Lanka.
Since the inaugural Partnership Dialogue in February 2016, Sri Lanka and the United States have made substantial progress in bilateral relations. This includes cooperation in law enforcement, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, and the establishment of U.S. Departments of Treasury and Justice programs to help address fiscal and debt challenges, to strengthen rule of law, and to enhance transparency. Several important official visits have taken place, including high-level U.S delegations to Sri Lanka, and visits to the United States by His Excellency the President, the Honorable Speaker of the Parliament, and the Minister of Finance and Mass Media, among others.
As a sign of strong bilateral ties and deepening U.S. engagement in Sri Lanka, the United States announced it will offer a second U.S. Coast Guard cutter to the Sri Lankan Navy, pending completion of Congressional notification. The Secretary Class High Endurance Cutter will allow Sri Lanka to more effectively police its coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone and to protect its sea lines of trade and communication. The United States is also working with the Sri Lankan government to return U.S. Peace Corps volunteers to Sri Lanka’s English classrooms. The United States also announced a $21 million/3,150,000,000 Sri Lankan rupees project, awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food for Progress program, to modernize and strengthen Sri Lanka’s dairy sector by increasing productivity and improving milk quality, financing, food safety, and trade. The development of a Millennium Challenge Corporation compact for grant assistance for Sri Lanka will continue through 2017-2018. (see full statement on link source)
US STATE DEPT. PRESS RELEASE: Limited Resumption of Visa Services in Turkey
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/11/275326.htm
Press release issued 11/ 6/ 17
As announced by our Embassy in Ankara this morning, the United States has received initial high-level assurances from the Government of Turkey that there are no additional local employees of our Mission in Turkey under investigation. We have also received initial assurances from the Government of Turkey that local staff of our Embassy and consulates will not be detained or arrested for performing their official duties and that Turkish authorities will inform the U.S. government in advance if the Government of Turkey intends to detain or arrest a member of our local staff in the future.
Based on these preliminary assurances, the Department believes the security posture has improved sufficiently to allow for the resumption of limited visa services in Turkey. We continue to have serious concerns about the existing cases against arrested local employees of our Mission in Turkey. We are also concerned about the cases against U.S. citizens who have been arrested under the state of emergency. U.S. officials will continue to engage with their Turkish counterparts to seek a satisfactory resolution of these cases.
US DEFENSE DEPT NEWS:
Mattis Praises Finland’s Contributions to Democracy, Global Security
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2017 — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis applauded Finland’s contributions to democracy and global security today after meeting with the country’s most-senior government official.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1364257/mattis-praises-finlands-contributions-to-democracy-global-security/
Officials Release Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq
SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 6, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 14 strikes consisting of 33 engagements Nov. 4-5, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1363564/officials-release-details-of-latest-strikes-against-isis-terrorists-in-syria-ir/
President Talks to Troops at Yokota Air Base
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2017 — U.S. and Japanese service members standing shoulder to shoulder have made Yokota Air Base one of the most capable operational bases in Japan and in the world, President Donald J. Trump said in a troop talk there, today.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1363186/president-talks-to-troops-at-yokota-air-base/
(PAGE 3)
News from Olympia
Scam Calls Are Not From Washington Supreme Court
November 02, 2017
The Washington Supreme Court has become aware some state residents are receiving “spoofed” calls using fake caller ID information displaying the number of the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office. It is unknown what the falsified callers are asking of recipients, but phone and email scams in recent years have included scam artists pretending to be with courts, police and prosecutor offices. Scam artists have demanded money from recipients for supposedly missing jury duty, missing a court appearance, for cancelling an arrest warrant, and so on.
The Washington Supreme Court is not making calls to residents. Although local court personnel may contact individuals by phone for specific court business, they will never ask for money or personal information such as social security numbers or bank or credit card information. If you receive such a phone call, do not give this information. Please hang up and contact law enforcement immediately. If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from the state Supreme Court, please contact us at 360-357-2074.
http://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/?fa=newsinfo.internetdetail&newsid=14809
Washington companies honored for hiring veterans
OLYMPIA – The state Employment Security Department today recognized 12 Washington businesses/agencies for their efforts to employ military veteran in 2017.
Department commissioner Dale Peinecke announced the Hire-A-Vet award recipients in support of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Hire-A-Veteran Month proclamation and the upcoming Veterans Day holiday.
“Hiring a veteran isn’t just a good idea, it’s good business,” said Peinecke. “Today’s veterans are highly skilled and possess an amazing work ethic. I encourage other Washington businesses to follow the lead of these companies and consider veterans in their next hiring decisions.”
Award recipients were nominated by WorkSource veterans employment representatives who work directly with employers to help recruit, hire and retain veterans.
https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/washington-companies-honored-for-hiring-veterans
Joint statement from the Pacific Coast Collaborative at the start of COP 23
https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/joint-statement-pacific-coast-collaborative-start-cop-23
The governors of California, Oregon, Washington state and the environment minister from British Columbia will join world climate leaders for the twenty-third United Nations Conference of Parties (COP23) in Bonn, Germany. These jurisdictions are members of the regional partnership called the Pacific Coast Collaborative (PCC), which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonize the economy and build thriving sustainable communities through the adoption of clean energy policies, sharing of expertise and resources, and collective action.
As the Trump Administration moves to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and abandon the Clean Power Plan, the leaders of these West Coast governments are redoubling commitments to climate action to address one of the greatest threats of our time.
The devastating impacts of extreme weather, wildfires and ocean acidification on communities in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia make it clear that there's too much at stake - health, homes and livelihoods - to retreat now.
That’s why the Pacific Coast leaders will head to Bonn to expand collaboration with other jurisdictions and help drive meaningful and long-lasting changes in the building, electricity and transportation sectors. These efforts to get more electric vehicles on roads, improve the power grid, make buildings more efficient and advance renewable energy technology will help spur innovation, open up new markets, create jobs, attract investment and make communities more resilient for the future.
WORLD AND NATIONAL HEADLINES FROM REUTERS...
Trump warns 'rogue regime' North Korea of grave dangerBEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in China on Wednesday seeking help to rein in North Korea after warning the North’s leader that the nuclear weapons he is developing “are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in grave danger.”
EU, U.S. affirm Lebanon support, diverging from Saudi
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The European Union and the United States on Wednesday reaffirmed support for Lebanon after the resignation of its prime minister, striking a sharp contrast to Saudi Arabia, which accuses Beirut of declaring war because of the Shi‘ite group Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia makes fresh arrests in anti-graft crackdown: sources
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian authorities have made further arrests and frozen more bank accounts in an expanding anti-corruption crackdown on the kingdom’s political and business elite, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday
Texas church gunman escaped mental facility in 2012 while facing court-martial
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (Reuters) - The former U.S. serviceman who committed the deadliest mass shooting on record in Texas escaped from a mental hospital in 2012 as he faced court-martial on domestic violence charges for which he was later convicted, a police report revealed on Tuesday.
Democrats win bitter Virginia governor's race in setback for Trump
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Ralph Northam won a bitter race for Virginia governor on Tuesday, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump with a decisive victory over a Republican who had adopted some of the president’s combative tactics and issues.
Business group pushes for U.S. flood insurance reform as December deadline looms
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The latest attempt to overhaul the U.S. federal flood insurance program hit a stumbling block, but a coalition of business and environmental groups renewed their push on Wednesday for lawmakers to enact an overhaul before the program expires on Dec. 8.
Daily Bible Verse: And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15 NKJV
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