Ivanka Trump is becoming an official government employee, joining her husband in serving as an unpaid adviser. https://t.co/HEcwwVh4ZE pic.twitter.com/p8VsiI2Whu
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) March 29, 2017
I will vote for Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's my full statement: pic.twitter.com/pDdhde7mGF
— Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (@SenatorHeitkamp) March 30, 2017
US won't announce or confirm info about troop numbers in Iraq & Syria "in order to maintain tactical surprise." https://t.co/CqMaoksRHO
— W.J. Hennigan (@wjhenn) March 31, 2017
Quiet in the library ; ) 📚 pic.twitter.com/7AxgubwLOn
— Abigail Ratchford (@AbiRatchford) March 29, 2017
Holy grail 👄 pic.twitter.com/GCAOQCNm8n
— Abigail Ratchford (@AbiRatchford) March 28, 2017
The U.S. military is becoming more involved in a string of complex wars in the Middle East https://t.co/P6gACx0M7d— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 30, 2017
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United States launched more airstrikes in Yemen this month than during all of last year. In Syria, it has airlifted local forces to front-line positions and has been accused of killing civilians in airstrikes. In Iraq, American troops and aircraft are central in supporting an urban offensive in Mosul, where airstrikes killed scores of people on March 17.The massive recent civilian causalities are extremely regrettable, and totally unacceptable. Otherwise, I'm really liking the growing footprint.
Two months after the inauguration of President Trump, indications are mounting that the United States military is deepening its involvement in a string of complex wars in the Middle East that lack clear endgames.
Rather than representing any formal new Trump doctrine on military action, however, American officials say that what is happening is a shift in military decision-making that began under President Barack Obama. On display are some of the first indications of how complicated military operations are continuing under a president who has vowed to make the military “fight to win.”
In an interview on Wednesday, Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the commander of United States Central Command, said the new procedures made it easier for commanders in the field to call in airstrikes without waiting for permission from more senior officers.
“We recognized the nature of the fight was going to change and that we had to ensure that authorities were down to the right level and that we empowered the on-scene commander,” General Votel said. He was speaking specifically about discussions that he said began in November about how the fights in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State were reaching critical phases in Mosul and Raqqa.
Concerns about the recent accusations of civilian casualties are bringing some of these details to light. But some of the shifts have also involved small increases in the deployment and use of American forces or, in Yemen, resuming aid to allies that had previously been suspended.
And they coincide with the settling in of a president who has vowed to intensify the fight against extremists abroad, and whose budgetary and rhetorical priorities have indicated a military-first approach even as he has proposed cuts in diplomatic spending...
In Your Eyes
Peter Gabriel
4:56 PM
Barracuda
Heart
4:51 PM
Walking On the Moon
The Police
4:46 PM
She's Not There
Santana
4:37 PM
My Sharona
The Knack
4:32 PM
Paint It Black
The Rolling Stones
4:28 PM
Blinded By the Light
Manfred Mann
4:21 PM
Kashmir
Led Zeppelin
4:13 PM
Burning Down the House
Talking Heads
4:09 PM
Low Rider
War
4:06 PM
Shake It Up
The Cars
4:03 PM
Have a Cigar
Pink Floyd
3:57 PM
I Won't Back Down
Tom Petty
3:55 PM
Pinball Wizard
The Who
3:52 PM
Who's Crying Now
Journey
A Nebraska town seems to exist only to sell beer to people like Tyrell Ringing Shield. https://t.co/cFpc1pVfm8 pic.twitter.com/cObFS4bgRo— NYT National News (@NYTNational) March 26, 2017
WHITECLAY, Neb. — This town is a rural skid row, with only a dozen residents, a street strewn with debris, four ramshackle liquor stores and little else. It seems to exist only to sell beer to people like Tyrell Ringing Shield, a grandmother with silver streaks in her hair.More.
On a recent morning, she had hitched a ride from her home in South Dakota, just steps across the state line. There, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, alcohol is forbidden. In Whiteclay, though, it reigns supreme.
“You visit, you talk, you laugh, you drink,” said Ms. Ringing Shield, 57, as she stood on the sidewalk with friends, chain-smoked Montclair cigarettes and recounted her struggles with alcoholism, diabetes and cirrhosis. “It makes you forget.”
Now many residents of Nebraska and South Dakota are pushing for the liquor stores of Whiteclay to be shut, disgusted by the easy access to alcohol the stores provide to a people who have fought addiction for generations. The Nebraska authorities, in turn, have tightened scrutiny of the stores, which sell millions of cans of beer and malt liquor annually. Last year, for the first time, the state liquor commission ordered the stores’ six owners to reapply for their liquor licenses.
The fate of the stores could be decided next month, when the three-member commission holds hearings in Lincoln, the state capital.
The issue has left people in South Dakota and Nebraska deeply divided. Most agree that alcohol abuse on the reservation is an entrenched problem, but they are unsure of the solution — and who is responsible.
The grim scene in Whiteclay has scarcely changed for decades. Particularly in the warmer months, Native Americans can be seen openly drinking beer in town, often passed out on the ground, disheveled and ill. Many who come to Whiteclay from the reservation spend the night sleeping on mattresses in vacant lots or fields.
Even under the chill of winter, people huddle outside the liquor stores, silver beer cans poking from coat pockets. The street, busy with traffic from customers, is littered with empty bottles and scraps of discarded clothing.
“It promotes so much misery, that little town,” said Andrea Two Bulls, 56, a Native American on Pine Ridge, who added that she hoped the state would revoke the licenses. “My brother used to go to Whiteclay all the time, and we’d have to go look for him. People sit and drink until they pass out. They just succumb.”
Over the decades, there have been frequent protests outside the stores. Lawsuits against the retailers and beer distributors have been filed. Boycotts of brewers that sell to the stores have begun with enthusiasm. All those efforts have sputtered, though, and little has changed...
BREAKING: Activists are blockading Stansted runway to stop a mass deportation flight to Nigeria & Ghana taking off. https://t.co/9fSNOt2IJ3 pic.twitter.com/Dz7lqH3vmQ
— Michael Segalov (@MikeSegalov) March 28, 2017
A missing Indonesian man was found inside a massive python on the island of Sulawesi. https://t.co/fdfp0Yzt9X— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 29, 2017
The formal two-year process governing Britain's departure from the European Union began in earnest Wednesday as a letter was delivered to the president of the European Council giving official notice that the country wishes to withdraw from the political and economic confederation.More.
The letter, signed by Prime Minister Theresa May and several pages long, will fundamentally shape the future of Britain and Europe for generations to come.
The letter was handed over by Sir Tim Barrow, Britain’s ambassador to the EU, and European Council President Donald Tusk released a brief statement on Twitter acknowledging receipt.
At a news conference in Brussels, Tusk appeared somber and said: "This is about damage control."
"Our goal is clear," he said. "To minimize the cost for the EU citizens, businesses and member states."
The move comes after the British public voted 52% to 48% last June, following a bruising referendum campaign, to leave the 28-member bloc after more than four decades.
During a statement to lawmakers in the House of Commons minutes after the letter was delivered, May said this was a "historic moment from which there can be no turning back."
She struck a conciliatory tone and pledged to “get the right deal for every single person in this country." She also implored all sections of society, regardless of how they voted, to use this moment to unite.
"We can, together, make a success of this moment and we can, together, build a stronger, fairer, better Britain — a Britain that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home," she said...
