Monthly Archives: July 2017

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BRANFORD, Conn. (WTNH) - A dog a named Freedom is recovering at the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter in Branford and is doing much better.

Freedom was brought to the shelter on Wednesday. His teeth were shaved down and he had marks on his legs indicating he may have been tied up. His ears were also badly damaged.

Officials believe Freedom was injured in an illegal dog fighting ring. Police are now investigating.

When we first initially saw him our thought was that he was used as a bait dog as part of a fighting ring, said Laura Burban, director of the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter.

Related Content:Shelter official: Dog possible victim of illegal fighting

Shelter staff are not sure exactly where the dog was found. He had surgery to fix his ears on Wednesday night and his injuries were cleaned. Though he was not feeling well on Thursday, he has been improving.

Over the weekend hes kind of taken a turn for the better, said Burban. Hes wagging his tail, happy boy, happy to meet people and give kisses and those types of things.

Burban walked Freedom outside the animal shelter on Monday. He was curious and friendly. The dogs ears are healing, though he still has visible wounds on his face and legs.

The vets think the dog is from five to seven years old, and that he is some sort of pit bull mix. They will be doing a DNA test to find out for sure.

For right now were just focused on getting him healed and having his true personality come out, Burban said.

Freedom has a long road ahead. Staff will be introducing him to more people as he gets better. The hope is after that he will go to his forever home.

Were thinking hell probably need a full month to fully heal, Burban said. Then were going to start really evaluating him to see what kind of home hes going to do best in.

Staff say some families have already expressed interest in adopting Freedom after he gets better.

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Dog named Freedom recovering at Branford animal shelter - WTNH Connecticut News (press release)

The House Freedom Caucus is pushing for Republicans to adopt one of three possible approaches to the debt ceiling, calling for it to be addressed before Congress adjourns for the August recess.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged Congress to increase the debt ceiling before the August recess, but the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the country will not run out of borrowing options until mid-October.

Mnuchin has also urged a clean debt lift, which would keep any additional policy riders on the sidelines, but senior administration officials have continued voicing their support for attaching such riders.

That option was proposed in a bill introduced Thursday by Rep. David SchweikertDavid SchweikertFreedom Caucus backs three debt ceiling options Bipartisan lawmakers give blood in honor of Scalise GOP senators pleased with Ivanka Trump meeting on family leave, child tax credits MORE (R-Ariz.).

The second option would acquiesce to the debt ceiling being attached to the budget resolution, but demand that associated mandatory spending cuts increase to $250 billion.

The House Budget Committee had originally settled on $150 billion in cuts, mostly from welfare programs, but the Freedom Caucus had refused to support the plan unless cuts increased to $200 billion. Moderate Republicans have said that even the lowest of these figures would be difficult to pass.

The final option would be to link the debt ceiling to the ObamaCare repeal effort in the event that the bill was split into separate repeal and replace sectors.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellOvernight Healthcare: Senate Republicans eye repeal vote next week | Pence endorses repeal and delay | Cruz-Lee proposal hinges on budget score RNC head: Cancel August recess to work on ObamaCare repeal Feehery: The golden generation MORE (R-Ky.) has thrown cold water on the idea of splitting the bill, despite conservative support for the idea as a Plan B if the current bill under consideration fails in the Senate.

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Freedom Caucus backs three debt ceiling options - The Hill

Avigdor Liberman. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Israel is not bound by the US-Russian brokered ceasefire in Syria and will act when and where necessary to protect its security interests, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Sunday.

Liberman, on a tour of Ashkelon, said that Jerusalem is studying the understandings reached between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the cease-fire.

Israel reserves its complete freedom of action, regardless of any understandings or developments, Liberman said. We retain exclusive responsibility for the security of Israeli citizens, and therefore our freedom of action is absolute. We will do everything that is needed.

On another matter, Liberman addressing reports in a Lebanese newspaper about a possible deal involving the release of the bodies of two slain IDF soldiers held by Hamas and two Israeli civilians being held by the group in Gaza said there were continuous efforts underway to gain their release.

However, he said, There is no significant breakthrough, the efforts are continuing all the time.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Syrian issue at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, saying Israel will welcome a genuine cease-fire in Syria, but that it must not enable the establishment of a military presence by Iran and its proxies in Syria in general and in southern Syria in particular.

Netanyahu has long told the Russians that in any order that will emerge in a post-civil war Syria, Israel will not countenance either an Iranian or Hezbollah presence on the Golan Heights. The premier said that he discussed matter last week with both Putin and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Both told me that they understand Israels position and will take our demands into account, he said.

Netanyahu said Israel will carefully monitor the developments in Syria, while strongly upholding our red lines.

He defined those red lines as preventing the transfer of precision weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, via Syria; preventing Hezbollah or Iranian forces from establishing a ground presence along the border with Israel; and preventing the establishment of a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria.

Meanwhile, a monitor and two rebel officials said that the US-Russian brokered cease-fire in southwest Syria was holding, in the latest international attempt at peacemaking in the six-year war.

The United States, Russia and Jordan reached a cease-fire and de-escalation agreement this week with the aim of paving the way for a broader, more robust truce.

The announcement came after a meeting between Trump and Putin at the G20 meeting of major economies in Germany.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said calm was prevailing with no air strikes or clashes in the southwest since the truce began at noon on Sunday.

The situation is relatively calm, said Suhaib al-Ruhail, a spokesman for the Alwiya al-Furqan rebel group in the Quneitra area.

In Deraa city, another rebel official said there had been no significant fighting. It was quiet on the main Manshiya front near the border with Jordan, which he said had been the site of some of the heaviest army bombing in recent weeks.

A Syrian official indicated that Damascus approved of the cease-fire deal, describing the governments silence over it as a sign of satisfaction.

We negotiated a cease-fire in parts of Syria which will save lives, Trump said on Twitter on Sunday. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia! The deal marks the first peace-making effort in the Syrian war by the US government under Trump, appearing to give him a diplomatic achievement at his first meeting with Putin.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Liberman: Israel will retain freedom of action in Syria - The Jerusalem Post

Miami Herald

In Doral 'freedom rally', Scott promises to crack down on Venezuelan government Miami Herald Gov. Rick Scott, appearing in Doral on Monday at a rally against the government of Venezuela, said he plans to move ahead with a proposal that would ban any organization that does business with the Nicols Maduro regime from doing business with the ... Florida Gov. Rick Scott Holds Rally For Venezuela Freedom in DoralNBC 6 South Florida Ahead of Venezuela freedom rally, Rick Scott says it is important to be a 'voice for freedom'SaintPetersBlog (blog) all 79 news articles »

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In Doral 'freedom rally', Scott promises to crack down on Venezuelan government - Miami Herald

The current governments approach looks eerily familiar.

By Joshua Kurlantzick for The Diplomat

July 11, 2017

The National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government in Myanmar has now been in office for more than a year, with Aung San Suu Kyi as de facto head of government. Suu Kyi certainly wields sizable influence. In fact, Suu Kyi has often been criticized, by commentators and members of her own party, for keeping too tight-fisted control of actions by the government, so much so that NLD members of parliament seemingly have little to do.

To be sure, on some policy areas, Suu Kyi does not have the level of control that leaders of other, more established democracies enjoy. The military remains an extraordinarily powerful actor in Myanmar, and one apparently capable of operating, in outlying areas at least, without even clearing policy through the Cabinet. The military retains its percentage of seats in parliament, essential control over its budget, and its strong resistance to any constitutional change. Proponents of constitutional change that might reduce the formal powers of the armed forces, like former NLD lawyer U Ko Ni, have been murdered.

Nonetheless, there are areas of policy over which Suu Kyi should enjoy significant influence, and freedom of the press is one of them. Suu Kyi was a longtime opposition leader, at a time (mostly) when Myanmars media was tightly controlled, the security forces regularly detained reporters, and state media outlets used their pages to mock and condemn her. She could use her bully pulpit to promote independent media, greater freedoms for journalists working throughout Myanmar, and an end to media monopolies. She could step in strongly if journalists were detained, and call for greater transparency in government transparency that might actually work in her favor, since a more vibrant Myanmar press could well expose abuses by the armed forces and, indirectly, apply pressure for constitutional change.

But Suu Kyi has not taken this approach. Instead, over the past year, press freedom in Myanmar seems to have regressed. In some respects, press freedom in Myanmar now seems more restrictive than it was in the final years of the former Thein Sein government. The Suu Kyi government has not tried to change existing laws that are major barriers to a free press. The Committee to Protect JournalistsShawn Crispin notes:

Chief among those laws is section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, a broad provision that carries potential three-year prison terms for cases of defamation over communications networks. While the law was used only occasionally against journalists under military rule, politicians, military officials, and even Buddhist monks are increasingly using it now to stifle online and social media criticism.

The Myanmar chapter of the PEN press freedom group has estimated that over 55 cases have been filed, under this law, just in the year since Suu Kyis government came into office. Meanwhile, late last month three journalists were arrested in Shan State, under a different Unlawful Association law. These reporters included one fromThe Irrawaddy; they had been covering one of the countrys ethnic insurgencies as well as allegations of abuses by the state security forces. The return of a climate of fear is very disturbing,wroteThe Irrawaddys editor-in-chief, Aung Zaw, after the publications reporter was arrested.

As with the rising toll of defamation cases, Suu Kyi has said nothing about the arrests in Shan State. A spokesperson for her partytold the New York Times, For media personnel, press freedom is a key need For us, peace, national development and economic development are the priority, and then democracy and human rights, including press freedom.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyis government has enacted other restrictions on press access. It has made it nearly impossible for journalists to cover parts of Rakhine State in the west. The Suu Kyi government also recentlyrefused to provide visasto UN investigators tasked with analyzing the situation in Rakhine State and allegations of abuse by Myanmar security forces in Rakhine State. In some ways, the Suu Kyi government is looking more and more like its predecessors.

Joshua Kurlantzick is senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). This originally appeared over at CFRs Asia Unbound here and is republished here with kind permission.

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Why Myanmar's Suu Kyi Has Failed on Media Freedom - The Diplomat