These are the seven countries from which President Donald Trump halted entry to the United States: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Including all terrorist acts committed by terrorists who were foreign-born or whose parents were born abroad, the total number of Americans killed by terrorists from the Trump 7 is…zero. On the other hand, terrorists from other countries have killed 2, 689 Americans. Here are some examples.   read more

Even as Trump says he'll end foreign business deals, he's taking on projects involving powerful political figures. They include a politician accused of trying to extort billions of dollars from a U.S. mining company, a top shareholder in that company, and a billionaire running for national office. “You could have two world leaders that are business partners,” said a Bush lawyer. “It makes it almost impossible to conduct diplomacy in an evenhanded manner." Said Trump: "It's not a big deal."   read more

It's been a 6-year U.S. effort to seize $3 billion in assets of foreign officials who use their countries’ wealth to enrich themselves. If Trump doesn't separate his business from politics, it will be tougher for the Justice Dept to criticize foreign leaders who have gained wealth based on their government ties. "It reduces U.S. leverage because of the perceived hypocrisy. The moral case is drastically undermined,” said prof. Stephenson.   read more

Trump has packed his Cabinet with nominees who dispute climate change. He said he'll withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and belittled global warming. But California — a state that has for 50 years been a leader in environmental advocacy — is about to step into the breach. In a show of defiance, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders said they'll work directly with other nations and states to defend and strengthen the most aggressive policies to fight climate change in the nation.   read more

Just under 400,000 American retirees are now living abroad, according to the Social Security Administration. The countries they have chosen most often: Canada, Japan, Mexico, Germany and the United Kingdom. Retirees most often cite the cost of living as the reason for moving elsewhere, said PSC's Mitchell. "I think that many people retire when they are in good health and they are interested in stretching their dollars and seeing the world," Mitchell said.   read more

Paraquat has long been controversial because of its use in suicides, since drinking one sip can be lethal. But now U.S. regulators are grappling with research linking paraquat to Parkinson’s disease. Many of the nations that ban paraquat still allow it to be manufactured as long as it is exported. As Europe and China move away from paraquat, its use is rebounding in the U.S. “It’s a poison, and we really shouldn’t be using this as an herbicide in the way we do,” said Dr. Ritz.   read more

Salem Al Sabah, Kuwait's ambassador to the U.S., switched the event from the Four Seasons. The move to Trump's $200-million renovation of the Old Post Office Pavilion could reinforce questions raised about the incoming president's possible conflicts of interest. House Democrats already have warned that they'll make the splashy hotel a headache for Trump if he doesn't dump his ownership stake before taking office Jan. 20. Trump has a six-decade lease on the property.   read more

The comic book heroine was abruptly fired from her ambassador job at the U.N. following protests from both inside and outside the world organization that a white, skimpily dressed American prone to violence wasn't the best role model for girls. Critics said the appointment was tone deaf at a time when real women are fighting against sexual exploitation and abuse, and that there were plenty of real heroines that could be the face for gender equality.   read more

“The [United] States can invest there in other ways that can actually promote other ideology among the people over there,”Ali Jaber said. “These drones are actually really helping al-Qaida attract people because they are saying, ‘look – the [United] States are killing you. Come join us so we can kill them.'” Ali Jaber said people in his area “do not know anything about the [United] States but the drones.” He says the strikes constitute extrajudicial killings in violation of international law.   read more

Tillerson’s stake in Russia’s energy industry could create a very blurry line between his interests as an oilman and his role as America’s leading diplomat. “As secretary of state, he would be called upon to negotiate with world leaders like Vladimir Putin,” said prof. Klare. “In these negotiations, one has to wonder what would influence the types of deals he is making. Questions arise over whether his actions would be benefiting his company or the interests of the U.S. and its allies.”   read more

"The Obama administration is running out of time to completely suspend U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia or be forever linked to Yemen wartime atrocities," HRW's Motaparthy said. A Saudi-led coalition supported by the U.S. launched air campaigns on behalf of Yemen's internationally recognized government. More than 4,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict, and some 3 million have been displaced. HRW said fragments of the weapons used in attacks show they were produced in the U.S.   read more

Of all President-elect Donald Trump’s rivals over the past year, the tiny narrow-mouthed whorl snail must be the smallest. Sometimes, though, less is more: Now it appears that the snail has prevailed. The sea wall plan had attracted attention because the Trump Organization’s representatives had used the threat of rising seawater from climate change as a rationale for building it, even though Trump has referred to climate change as a hoax.   read more

Amid growing security tensions in the West, governments, intelligence agencies and advocacy groups want Google, Microsoft and other tech firms to take further steps to curb hate speech, as well as to clamp down on how terrorists circulate information online. But freedom of expression advocates have warned that such demands may limit people’s ability to communicate across the internet, and they have cautioned that the line between hate speech and legitimate political discussion can be blurry.   read more

That finding puts respondents in the United States in contrast with citizens of many countries and at odds with international law, which prohibits torture under any circumstances. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump endorsed waterboarding, claiming that “it works.” Only Israelis, Palestinians and Nigerians seemed to endorse torture as enthusiastically as Americans. Forty percent of Americans also accepted the killing of humanitarian workers in a conflict zone as being part of war.   read more

Trump mystified many with his praise for Putin. But what seemed inexplicable when Trump first expressed his admiration for the Russian leader seems, in retrospect, to have been a shrewd dog whistle to a small but highly motivated part of his base. AltRight's Spencer claimed that “an understanding” between Trump and Putin might bring together Slavic and American Caucasians and eventually “foretell a unified white world.”   read more

The multi-billion-dollar project, the biggest in Taiwan's history, is seeking investors. And a representative of Donald Trump took a meeting. “She had authorization documents issued by the Trump company,” confirmed the Taoyuan mayor on Nov. 18. The meeting went largely unnoticed outside Taiwan until Friday, when president-elect Trump received a congratulatory phone call from the Taiwan’s president. Now, the perception of a possible business conflict in Taiwan further complicates the situation.   read more