Punishing its enemies economically, when stopping short of armed force, has long been a favoured American way of achieving foreign policy goals.

Sanctions have been around for decades, but came to the fore after the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001.

They are now again present when diplomacy doesn’t work. President Donald Trump has been imposing them more widely and more frequently.

The latest were over Turkey’s detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson, which has triggered one of the most serious rifts with a NATO ally in recent years.

Those being targetted by the US are hitting back with their own sanctions, some on the same level and scale.

The list of countries affected is long. But do the sanctions serve any purpose? And who gets hurt the most?

Presenter: Hoda Abdel-Hamid

Guests:

Richard Weitz – director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute

Mohammad Marandi – head of North American studies graduate programme at the University of Tehran

Christopher Preble – vice president for defence and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute

Source: Al Jazeera News

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WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Sunday said he won’t let special counsel Robert Mueller rush him into an interview with the president, arguing investigators could trap Trump into lying based on their interpretation of the facts.

“I’m not going to be rushed into having him testify so that he gets trapped into perjury,” Giuliani said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 

“When you tell me, you know, that he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth, and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth, not the truth,” Giuliani said. 

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor who has become the leading voice on Trump’s defense team, then entered into an unusual back-and-forth with “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd about the definition of truth.

“Truth is truth,” Todd replied.

“No, it isn’t truth,” Giuliani said. “Truth isn’t truth.”

“Truth isn’t truth?” Todd said at one point in the exchange. “Mr. Mayor, do you realize … this is going to become a bad meme.”

As an example, Giuliani said the president and former FBI director James Comey have sharply conflicting accounts about fired White House National Security Adviser Mike Flynn.

Giuliani has said the president never had a conversation with Comey about ending the FBI’s investigation into Flynn. That contradicts a memo Comey wrote at the time, in which he said Trump asked him to let go of the Flynn matter.

“Donald Trump says, ‘I didn’t talk about Flynn with Comey,’” Giuliani said Sunday. “Comey says, ‘You did talk about it,’ so tell me what the truth is.”

Comey took to Twitter a few hours later with his response. “Truth exists and truth matters,” he tweeted. “Truth has always been the touchstone of our country’s justice system and political life. People who lie are held accountable.” 

Sunday’s exchange with Todd was not the first memorable soundbite about honesty to come from Giuliani in recent days. Last week, he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that “nowadays” facts “are in the eye of the beholder.”

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians – a charge Trump has vehemently denied. Comey’s claims about the Flynn conversation and Trump’s later firing of Comey likely are a key issue in any potential obstruction of justice charges.

More: White House lawyer Don McGahn: 5 things to know about his cooperation with Russia probe

More: Rudy Giuliani now says President Trump did not talk about Michael Flynn with FBI’s James Comey

 

 

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Like any good millennial, there are a few things I enjoy: #catsofInstagram, ’90s nostalgia, and the overwhelming sense of entitlement that comes with contributing to the demise of entire industries, like soap. 

But if there’s a stereotypical millennial trait I identify with most, it’s my love of avocados. 

So when pop star Anne-Marie tried to make chocolate avocado toast a thing this weekend, I’ll admit I was slightly intrigued.

Intrigue quickly turned to horror, though, when my editor asked if I would try to recreate the “recipe” myself. You know, for journalism.

But being the serious professional I am, I agreed to the assignment and promptly headed for the farmers market. 

Step one: acquiring the goods

It’s 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in the middle of summer in San Francisco — which means it’s freezing and foggy. Luckily, the neighborhood farmers market is already almost entirely set up. 

Image: Karissa bell/mashable

Halfway down the street, I hit the jackpot: an entire stand full of avocados from Southern California. As I wait for the woman in front of me to finish her purchase, I wonder if I should tell the avocado vendor about my little project.

I do, and the dialogue goes like this:

Me: Hi, I need one avocado.

Her: OK.

Me: But I need one that’s soft.

Her: Oh… you want to eat it today? (She looks mildly alarmed.)

Me: Yes. 

*We both begin gingerly squeezing avocados until she hands me one that she says is suitable for immediate consumption*

It is an “extra large” avocado. It costs $2.75. I decide it’s best not to tell her what I have planned for it.

Step two: chocolate crisis

Next comes what I knew would be the most challenging part of my supply run: I need to find some kind of “chocolate spread.” 

My editor and I agreed that Nutella would probably do the trick, but it’s not exactly a staple of farmers market cuisine. I wonder wildly if there’s someone selling crepes whom I can persuade to sell me a single-serving of Nutella, but there are none in sight. Maybe I can find some sort of artisanal chocolaty spread amongst the stalls? 

I’m almost at the end of the market when I see some jars with brownish contents and briefly get excited. I walk over only to find that it’s olives and homemade kimchi. 

Image: karissa bell/mashable

I begin to panic slightly as I walk up the street, hoping that maybe the corner store will be open. Of course it isn’t, but then I remember the bakery around the corner. I decide to improvise with a chocolate croissant that I’ll just scoop the innards out of. I buy one for $4.75. 

AS LAST, ASSEMBLY

First, I gather all my ingredients. I pull out the avocado and croissant, then grab half a baguette I have left over from a dinner party last night.

I slice up the bread and throw it in the toaster. While it’s toasting, I begin disassembling the croissant so I can scoop out it chocolate filling. It’s trickier than I thought — the chocolate is carefully rolled into the bottom of the croissant — but I manage to get it out without making a mess.

Image: karissa bell/mashable

The toaster dings, so I grab the baguette and spread on a thin layer of chocolate. I cut up my avocado and am pleased to find it’s just the right amount of soft without being overly squishy. 

I carefully balance avocado slices onto the chocolate spread. I decide to add a pinch of sea salt on top to help the two flavors meld. 

Image: karissa bell/mashable

I spend the next five minutes staring at my creation, willing myself to take a bite. My editor says it looks good, but I’m still hesitant to eat it. I decide to go into another room to take some more photos. 

Finally, I can’t put it off any longer. 

Digging in

I take a bite.

It’s better than I expected! But I wouldn’t exactly call it tasty. The bittersweet chocolate filling from the croissant is extremely strong and overpowers the taste of the avocado. 

The resulting flavor is chocolate with a strange, creamy, avocado texture. The salt was definitely a good idea, as it helps balance the sweetness from the chocolate.

I chew slowly. It’s not exactly good, but it’s not terrible, either. I think that maybe it would be a good way to trick picky children into eating avocados. 

To be honest, I’m still not sure why anyone would want to combine these ingredients, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. I realize I’m still not sure if I executed this properly — would Nutella have been better? Is there some other chocolaty spread that’s more suited for avocados that I don’t know about?

I may never be certain, but it probably doesn’t matter because I don’t think I’ll be making dessert avocado toast again any time soon.

P.S. Anne-Marie, if you’re reading this, tell me what you think of my toast.

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh – Bangladesh has for years struggled to cope with a surging drug epidemic, at the heart of which is a wildly popular meth pill smuggled into the country from neighbouring Myanmar.

Known as Yaba, or “crazy medicine” in Thai, the highly-addictive stimulant is a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine that usually comes in the form of colourful, candy-like tablets.

The usage of the drug has risen to an alarming rate, with  authorities striving to stem the flow of tens of millions of pills pouring in from Myanmar – where they’re manufactured – and ripping through Bangladesh’s cities and villages.

The illicit trade has long relied on drug trafficking cartels smuggling yaba across the border – and more recently, men living in the Bangladesh-based camps hosting vulnerable Rohingya refugees are also being recruited as drug mules.

Since the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing a brutal crackdown by Myanmar’s army in August 2017, authorities in Bangladesh have seized more than 10 million yaba pills from local drug peddlers and the Rohingya living in makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazar, according to Dhaka Tribune, a Bangladeshi daily.

“At the beginning of the influx, we couldn’t search every Rohingya man for possession because of the miserable conditions of the camps,” said Md Saiful Hasan, senior assistant to the special commissioner of Cox’s Bazar’s district.

“We gave them open access to our borders, and that’s why some drugs have come in.” 

‘I cannot lead a fair life’

Last year, Bangladeshi authorities seized almost 15m yaba pills and arrested 649 people, including 15 Myanmar nationals.

A. was not one of them.

The 35-year-old fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably, only relaxing after dragging on his cigarette, his thin body dwarfed by the large chair he sat on. A. is a carrier of yaba, receiving 5,000 Bangladeshi taka ($60) for every 1,000 pills he manages to shift from Kutupalong camp to Cox’s Bazar, a popular tourist destination 40km away.

“I carry yaba to survive,” he said, speaking in a measured tone. “I am compelled to do this job because I have to provide for my family.”

“Since I am suffering financially, I cannot lead a fair life.”

In October 2016, A,  his mother, wife and three sons fled to Bangladesh, taking with them with nothing but a few clothing items – just like many others from the long-persecuted, mostly Muslim minority did before and after them in their bid to escape a number of violent campaigns against them in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Despite having lived for centuries in the majority Buddhist Myanmar, the Rohingya are not considered one of the country’s 135 official ethnic groups and have been denied citizenship since 1982, which has effectively rendered them stateless. 

Today, more than one million Rohingya have taken shelter in Bangladesh. They live in bleak conditions in overcrowded camps, which are rife with sanitary woes and at risk of dangerous landslides during torrential rains.

Upon arriving in the Ukhiya upazila (sub-district) almost two years ago, A. and his family were prevented from entering Kutupalong camp by the Bangladeshi soldiers manning its entrances.

“We hid at different local people’s residences,” he said. “Once we were allowed to settle in the camp, we found life to be very difficult. We were hit with water shortages and shelter crises.”

His family, A. said, struggled a great deal to cope in their new environment. There was no money and food was enough for just a meagre meal once a day. Without any belongings, they had nothing of value to sell to buy sustenance.

A. said he tried to open a small shop, but that failed as no one would loan him the money he needed. Growing desperate by the day, he decided to meet a group of men in the camp who he knew transported yaba pills to Cox’s Bazar.

“I was compelled to engage with them,” he said, his eyes expressionless.

“When I sat with them, I found how they collect yaba, how it is consumed and how they deliver it to other parts of the country.”

Bringing in yaba was cheap, but selling it was lucrative.

A. confirmed that some of the Rohingya men, especially those who are fluent in Bengali, cross the border from the southern sub-district of Teknaf to Myanmar. They come back with the drugs, which they then supply to Bangladeshi peddlers.

A. said that at the beginning of the year he travelled with around two dozen men to the border to see how the operations ran.

“We knew which checkpoints we would be searched by police, so we travelled separately, either on foot or motorcycles or bicycles,” he said. “But if you travel in a microbus or three-wheeled rickshaw, you would definitely be checked.”

Yaba trend increase

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, yaba was first introduced to East Asia during World War II to boost the performance of troops. Since then, the strong stimulant has grown in popularity across the region, including in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar, where Bangladeshi authorities believe there are more than 50 drug factories.

Although concrete figures are hard to come by, in 2012 it was estimated that there were 4.6 million yaba users in Bangladesh, with numbers increasing by the day.

In 2014, the Department of Narcotics Control said the consumption of the drug had jumped by 77 times over the course of a six-year period. 

Nongovernmental organisations, however, have compiled their own figures, with DNC Director General Md Jamal Uddin Ahmed stating in May 2018 that “according to [the NGOs], the number of drug addicts is about seven million” – with five million of them hooked on yaba.

Drug abuse has been on the rise in Bangladesh since early 2000, prompting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in May to launch an anti-drug campaign.

Since then, more than 17,000 drug traffickers have been arrested by the police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a paramilitary body.

“The yaba trend has increased in Cox’s Bazar, but law enforcement agencies are working on a 24/7 basis on this issue,” Hasan, the assistant SP, said.

Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh’s state minister of foreign affairs, said the government has taken on a more “holistic approach” to tackling the drug issue.

“The NGOs [in Cox’s Bazar] are feeding information to the law enforcement agencies if there are any suspicious activities going on,” he said.

However, Hasan said that some of the Rohingya involved in drug-peddling are working “under the banner of some NGOs or independent workers”.

Smuggling pills out of the camp

A. has been shifting yaba for about a year now. But it’s far from regular work, ranging from once a weekly to twice a month, or even more rare.

“On average, if the supply is flowing, I make between 8,000 to 10,000 taka ($94-$118) a month. But in dry spells, I don’t earn any money,” he said, adding that the proceeds are spent on paying back loans, grocery shopping and health expenses.

He went on to describe how the operation is run.

The drug peddlers would drop off a batch off pills either inside his shelter or to an undisclosed part deep within the camp. At times, the delivery would contain the maximum 1,000 pills, while in others smaller quantities.

“Sometimes we hide the pills inside our shoes,” A. said. “Or we cover them with polythene and stick them on the inside of our belts.

“If the pills are a small amount, like 100 or 200, we carry them in our hands. We fold them in paper, and place our mobile phones on top of them. That way, people will think we are only carrying our phones in our hands.”

The refugee camps operate on a curfew basis, with no Rohingya allowed to leave after dark. Those caught outside are penalised, which makes the journey from Kutupalong to Cox’s Bazar all the more challenging.

For A., returning to the camp is easier than leaving.

“I exit the camp and take the hilly routes, not the roads, to Marine Drive,” he said, referring to the road along the Bay of Bengal that stretches 80km from Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf.

“After that, it’s fairly easy going to Cox’s Bazar. I have heard of some carriers being caught at flying check-posts, where they got found out because they don’t speak Bengali fluently. But I always managed to escape.”

Once in town, A. would deliver yaba to the locations specified beforehand by the peddlers, usually in the Baharchara area near the airport or the fishery ghat (landing station/fish market).

He would then board a bus bound to Teknaf, and get off once in Kutupalong.

To stave off questions from the camp’s guards, who interrogate everyone coming in late, A. would buy a few goods before entering.

“That way, if anyone asks me where I am coming from I tell them I had to do some emergency shopping,” he said.

Penalties, imprisonment and lack of choice

A. estimated that there are some 400-500 yaba carriers in the Rohingya camps, but they do not know each other for security reasons.

“We are not connected, otherwise we would risk bringing attention and unwanted surveillance from the law enforcement agencies,” he explained. “If we all knew each other, then the police can easily arrest us all.”

According to Hasan, Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies have arrested more than 600 Rohingya over the past year for their role in the drug-related business.

Carriers or peddlers who are caught with a small amount of yaba pills, between 20-50, go through a summary or instant trial.

“We don’t prosecute them because it’s a lengthy process, and sentence them up to six months in jail or a fine,” Hasan said.

“The highest penalty is hanging, but the government is thinking of amending this,” he added.

There have also been cases of shoot-outs, with at least 211 people killed across the country since the launch of the anti-drug drive. Law enforcement agencies have been accused by the victims’ families of using the drug war as a cover to get rid of political activists.

A. admitted he is afraid of being caught.

“I heard about those killed in gunfights or caught in crossfires,” he said, expressing his worry of being suspected or people from his community bad-mouthing him. “I also heard about imprisonments. Fear is on everyone’s mind.”

“But what choice do I have? If I had money, I would not do this work or be engaged in such crimes.

“If I had money, I could live out my life in nice way and ethical way, open a small shop. Nothing else.”

In November last year, the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh reached a repatriation deal for the Rohingya, but A. said he is not hopeful that this will take place.

“If it really happens, I will go back to my country,” he said. “Here, we are restricted. There we have lands and properties where we can farm and grow crops.

“Here we cannot farm even a chicken.”

Follow Linah Alsaafin on Twitter: @LinahAlsaafin

An awful England batting collapse gave India complete control of the third Test on day two at Trent Bridge.

The home side were bundled out for 161, surrendering all 10 wickets in the period between lunch and tea.

At one stage they lost nine for 74 runs in the space of 20.5 overs, with India all-rounder Hardik Pandya claiming 5-28.

The tourists themselves had lost their last four first-innings wickets for six runs to be dismissed for 329.

When they batted for a second time, India moved to 124-2 to end a chaotic day with a lead of 292 and the perfect opportunity to cut their deficit in the five-match series to 2-1.

England exposed again

Though England won the first two matches of the series, in the second innings of the first Test at Edgbaston they found themselves 87-7 and at Lord’s they were 131-5.

Indeed, in 61 innings since the beginning of 2016, they have lost their fourth wicket having scored 100 runs or fewer on 30 occasions.

On this ground in 2017, as England were being trounced by South Africa, former captain Michael Vaughan suggested they did not “respect” the way to bat in Test cricket.

This latest capitulation was not as a result of recklessness, but technical deficiencies against a ball that consistently moved in the air and off the seam.

In England’s big win at Lord’s, India were found wanting as the hosts enjoyed perfect bowling conditions. Here, the tourists gave the home side a taste of their own medicine.

After tumbling from 54-0 to 128-9, England were dragged past 150 by the hitting of Jos Buttler, who cracked 39 from 32 balls.

Still, England were bowled out in the space of a session for the third time in less than two years.

Pandya leads rampant India

India actually began poorly, bowling too short before lunch, only to improve after the break with a fuller length, bustling pace and assured slip catching.

Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings were caught behind off consecutive deliveries – Cook drawn into playing by a lovely delivery from Ishant Sharma, Jennings needlessly poking at Jasprit Bumrah.

After Ollie Pope tickled Ishant down the leg side, Pandya took over, swinging the ball to claim his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

The crowd booed when the third umpire adjudged that Joe Root’s edge carried to second slip, but there was no doubt when Jonny Bairstow was dismissed in the same fashion.

Chris Woakes gloved a hook, Adil Rashid gave debutant wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant his fifth catch and Stuart Broad was indisputably lbw.

At the other end, Ben Stokes prodded Mohammad Shami to KL Rahul, who claimed three catches at second slip, as England’s batting was left in tatters.

Buttler briefly brought carnage of a different kind, entertaining the crowd in a last-wicket stand of 33 with James Anderson before holing out off Bumrah.

So complete was the destruction brought by the India pace bowlers, the tourists were unaffected by a hip injury that restricted off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to only one over.

India’s two innings in one day

Pandya’s dismissal to the final ball of the first day left India resuming on Sunday on 307-6.

Drizzle kept the players off the field for half an hour, after which Anderson and Broad swung a nearly new ball under grey skies.

Pant played on off Broad, who also bowled Ashwin before Anderson accounted for Shami and Bumrah in successive deliveries. England took their four wickets in 7.5 overs.

England were bowling again straight after tea but, this time, were flat, loose and punished as the ball ceased moving in the evening sunshine.

At one stage, Anderson was conceding five runs an over, Broad six and Stokes seven, even if the Durham all-rounder did manage to bowl Rahul for 36.

Cook’s drop of a straightforward Dhawan edge did not prove too costly – the left-hander stumped off leg-spinner Rashid for 44, leaving India skipper Virat Kohli to accompany Cheteshwar Pujara to the close.

‘England have to be honest with themselves, but keep the faith’ – what they said

Former England spinner Graeme Swann on Test Match Special: “I hope England say ‘we were awful today and went too hard at the ball’.

“I hope they don’t say the Joe Root catch changed the game.

“The batsmen have let down the bowlers. To be bowling again by teatime on day two – no wonder they look grumpy.

“To be putting your bowling shoes on 38 overs later when they are still warm and sweaty is a horrible feeling.

“However, they have got to keep the faith and believe they can still win this game. If the sun comes out tomorrow this will be a good pitch to bat on.”

England batsman Jos Buttler: “It is very disappointing after a really good start with the ball and being 50-0. In testing conditions, unfortunately we weren’t good enough to ride it out.

“We have to talk and improve. We need to make sure these things don’t happen often. There have been honest conversations and hopefully some learnings.

“It is down to us come back tomorrow and dust ourselves down.”

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
Published 12:26 p.m. ET Aug. 19, 2018 | Updated 3:05 p.m. ET Aug. 19, 2018

LOS ANGELES – Glitz won out over guns as the gilded romance “Crazy Rich Asians” made its debut at No. 1 this weekend, surpassing industry expectations and beating out action-packed fare like “Mile 22.”

The studio estimates that “Crazy Rich Asians” earned $25.2 million for the weekend and $34 million since opening Wednesday. It’s a surefire win for the film, which cost $30 million to produce and went into the weekend with a 93 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Breakout star Henry Golding told the Associated Press on Sunday that the film’s performance is a “testament to the people who are turning up.”

“It’s not just the Asians who are coming. It’s people of all colors from all walks of life who are enjoying this cinematic experience,” Golding says. “It’s a real shift in Hollywood.”

Opinion: Why ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ made me cry

More: The 5 most outrageous shark-movie moments in honor of ‘The Meg’

Related: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’: The 5 biggest book-to-movie changes

Adapted from Kevin Kwan’s best-seller, “Crazy Rich Asians” stars Constance Wu as an American woman who gets a culture shock meeting her boyfriend’s obscenely wealthy family in Singapore. The studio strategically bumped up the film’s opening to a Wednesday.

“We knew we’d get avids who read the book and a large Asian following,” says Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. domestic distribution president. “We figured, OK, we get good reviews, open on Wednesday, word of mouth will spread and really propel the movie into the weekend, and that’s exactly what happened.”

As recently as July 26, box-office experts were predicting the film would open to at least $18 million for its first five days. But no one expected it to launch with more than $30 million.

“The audience isn’t an obvious audience,” Goldstein says. “When you get a culturally important event like this movie, I think it just takes off like wildfire.”

The stakes were high for the first studio-produced movie led by Asian-Americans in 25 years. The filmmakers even turned down a big offer from Netflix to give the historically significant film a theatrical platform. 

Director Jon M. Chu tweeted his appreciation Sunday and asked audiences to keep spreading the word.

“We still have a long run to go but our message to the world has been heard. We have arrived,” Chu wrote. “Now let’s go tell more of our stories! We have a lot more to say. And I don’t want to wait another 25 years to see them. This is only the beginning.”

Despite the success of “Crazy Rich Asians,” other films still found audiences this weekend, including shark movie “The Meg,” which fell only 53 percent in its second weekend, adding $21.2 million. The Jason Statham-led film has now grossed more than $300 million worldwide.

Mark Wahlberg’s action-packed “Mile 22,” his fourth collaboration with director Peter Berg, landed in third place with an estimated $13.6 million. 

Launching with $10.5 million, “Alpha,” an Ice Age-set family adventure, tied for fourth place in its opening weekend with Tom Cruise’s latest “Mission: Impossible” installment, “Fallout.” 

Hollywood’s winning streak continues with the summer season up 12.4 percent from last year and the year overall up 8.9 percent.

“The box office is on a roll,” says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian, noting the diverse genre offerings. “The lineup basically looks like a streaming service. That’s what people have become accustomed to, and the movie theater is delivering it in a big way this summer.”

Final numbers are expected Monday.

 

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Image: Getty Images/alex  wong

Another day, another Trump aide gaslighting the American public.

The latest: Rudy Giuliani’s declaration Sunday that “truth isn’t truth,” which is mind-numbingly WTF and yet somehow perfect for our post-“fake news” era.

Speaking to Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press, President Donald Trump’s lawyer was attempting to explain why his client hasn’t spoken with the special counsel’s office regarding its probe into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, citing fears that the president may get “trapped into perjury.” 

“When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s gonna tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth, not the truth,” Giuliani said.

“Truth is truth,” Todd interjected.

“No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth,” Giuliani retorted.

In addition to somehow topping Kellyanne Conway’s infamous “alternative facts” statement (which, coincidentally, also happened in a Meet the Press interview), the comment is also the perfect phrase to describe what’s unfolded on the internet over the last year. 

Trump, who has long attacked media with whom he disagrees as “fake news,” has recently taken to describing journalists as the “enemy of the people.”  Giuliani’s comments serve as a timely reminder that not only does the Trump Administration like to single out journalists — it also has zero interest in actual facts.

All this, it seems, was not lost on Todd, who was clearly taken aback by the comment. He visibly cringed and covered his face in exasperation, appearing to be at a loss for words.

“This is going to be a bad meme,” he said.

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has declared a conditional ceasefire with the Taliban ahead of Eid al-Adha, effective from Monday.

In a televised address on Sunday, Ghani said the truce would be “until the prophet’s birthday provided that the Taliban reciprocate”, referring to the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday which is celebrated on November 21 in Afghanistan.

Ghani, who was speaking during a ceremony to mark the 99th Independence Day of Afghanistan at the iconic Darul Aman palace in the capital, Kabul, said the decision was reached after extensive consultation with different segments of the Afghan society and Islamic scholars worldwide.

The Taliban did not respond to requests for comment immediately but released a statement saying that they planned to free “hundreds of prisoners” on the occasion of Eid.

Ghani’s ceasefire announcement was limited to the Taliban and excluded other armed groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

It was immediately welcomed in neighbouring Pakistan.

“Pakistan fully supports all such efforts that contribute to achieving durable stability and lasting peace in Afghanistan, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.

“The people of Afghanistan deserve it. Coinciding with the Independence Day of Afghanistan, the announcement has an even greater significance.”

Record number of civilians killed

The Afghan government had previously announced a ceasefire with the Taliban during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in June.

That truce, the first formal, nationwide ceasefire since the 2001 US invasion. was indirectly accepted by the Taliban for three days, but the group later rejected a call by the president to extend it, with attacks resuming shortly after.

Ghani’s announcement follows a bloody week of fighting across Afghanistan which saw the Taliban launch a massive assault against the provincial capital Ghazni – just a two-hour drive from Kabul.

At least 150 soldiers and 95 civilians were killed in a five-day siege, which eased last week when Afghan soldiers backed by US forces pushed back the group’s heavily armed fighters.

Blasts, suicide attacks and clashes between the Taliban and Afghan forces killed over 1,600 civilians in the first six months of the year, the highest number in the past decade, despite June’s truce, the United Nations said in a statement on Sunday.

Published by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the report attributed 42 percent of civilian casualties to the Afghan Taliban and 18 percent to the ISIL, noting a fourfold increase in deaths and injuries caused by both the armed groups.

Afghan security forces have struggled to battle the Taliban and ISIL since the US and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in the country in 2014 and shifted their focus to a “support and counterterrorism” role.

Meanwhile, pro-government forces, including Afghan national security troops and international military forces, caused a fifth of the civilian casualties so far this year. 

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

The breathtaking moment comes in the final act of Crazy Rich Asians, when Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) makes the tough decision to leave Singapore — and Nick Young (Henry Golding) — behind for good. The resulting musical montage, set to a simple Mandarin cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow,” is both saccharine and powerful; 19-year-old Katherine Ho‘s voice softly swells over the film’s emotional climax like a sweet declaration of love.

For director Jon M. Chu, that statement wasn’t so much about Rachel and Nick; it was about self-love. In that moment, Chu proved that the word “yellow” — a loaded word for the Asian community, often said in a derogatory manner — could be beautiful.

Though Chu had always envisioned Coldplay’s “Yellow” in the film, it took some convincing for Warner Bros. to see his vision. “We’re going to own that term,” he told The Hollywood Reporter of the choice. “If we’re going to be called yellow, we’re going to make it beautiful.”

However, Coldplay initially turned down Chu’s request to use the song in the film. So the director tried a more personal approach in the form of a letter to bandmates Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, and Will Champion, a tactic recently perfected by Lady Bird helmer Greta Gerwig. In the letter, which you can read in full over on THR.com, Chu’s “complicated relationship” with the color yellow is laid bare.

“From being called the word in a derogatory way throughout grade school, to watching movies where they called cowardly people yellow, it’s always had a negative connotation in my life. That is, until I heard your song. For the first time in my life, it described the color in the most beautiful, magical ways I had ever heard: the color of the stars, her skin, the love. It was an incredible image of attraction and aspiration that it made me rethink my own self image.”

According to Chu, using the song in Crazy Rich Asians — the first studio film with an all-Asian cast in 25 years — would give “a whole generation of Asian-Americans, and others, the same sense of pride I got when I heard your song.”

Needless to say, within 24 hours of sending the letter, Coldplay approved Chu’s request, and movie magic was made.

The Mandarin version of “Yellow,” which is called “Liu Xing” (shooting star or meteor), evokes the kind of cosmic love that resonated with Chu when he first heard the song. So it’s only fitting that the song is now a self-love anthem for a new generation, just how Chu intended.