monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Worst prime minister since Lord North.

New Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said there is "no question" that President Donald Trump is racist.

When asked by presenter Anderson Cooper whether Mr Trump "is a racist", the 29-year-old left-wing Democratic lawmaker responded: "Yeah, yeah no question."

"When you look at the words that he uses, which are historic dog whistles of white supremacy, when you look at how he reacted to the Charlottesville incident, where neo-Nazis murdered a woman, versus how he manufactures crises like immigrants seeking legal refuge on our borders, it's night and day."

She also called Mr Trump a "symptom of the problem".

"The president certainly didn't invent racism, but he's certainly given a voice to it and expanded it and created a platform for those things," she said.

Since her surprise election, Ms Ocasio-Cortez has become a lightning rod for the political right, which has criticised everything from her clothing to a dance video that she made in college.

At the weekend, Republican congressman Steve Scalise got into a heated Twitter debate with Ms Ocasio-Cortez on tax policy - she recently called for a 70% tax rate on the super wealthy.

The Louisiana congressman withdrew from the argument after her followers began ridiculing him for nearly dying when he was shot at a congressional softball practice in 2017 by an anti-Trump gunman.

Millions of US taxpayers will still receive refunds despite an ongoing partial government shutdown, the White House has said.
Cynical. Trump knows people will be up in arms if they don't think they're going to receive their tax refunds. But he callously denies government workers their pay checks, labeling them as "mostly Democrats".

Corsi is a conspiracy theorist.

"There is absolutely no plan. Only dysfunction,

He's got the truth on his side.

I see you're buying into the uber-right conspiracy theories

A Russian lawyer who famously attended a meeting with top Trump campaign aides in 2016 has been charged in a separate obstruction of justice case.

Natalya Veselnitskaya is accused of fabricating evidence while working to defend a Russian company in 2013.

Prevezon Holdings was accused of participating in a tax fraud scheme that laundered $230m (£180m).

Officials have confirmed Ms Veselnitskaya is now wanted by the US Attorney's Office in New York.

An indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, accuses the lawyer of submitting an "intentionally misleading declaration" to the US government in defence of the company, after it requested information from Russia in relation to the case.

"Veselnitskaya's declaration presented supposed investigative findings by the Russian government - findings purportedly exonerating Veselnitskaya's clients - under the false pretence that these findings had been independently drafted by the Russian government," the indictment says.

It alleges the 43-year-old "secretly" worked with a Russian prosecutor to draft the response. She has previously denied working on behalf of the Russian government.

Prevezon Holdings, the company at the centre of the case, was ordered to pay almost $6m ($5m) to the US government in a civil settlement.

The lawyer first made headlines in the US when it emerged she had met with senior Trump campaign aides, including Mr Trump's son Donald Trump Jnr, in 2016 to purportedly exchange information about Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

The meeting is considered a key part of the special counsel's investigation into alleged Russian meddling during the 2016 US election.

Tuesday's charge, which is unrelated to that probe, carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

US media report that the lawyer is thought to currently be in Russia.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Ms Veselnitskaya said she would "defend her professional honour" but declined to comment further.

It is not clear whether the lawyer will return to the US to face the charge.

labeling them as "mostly Democrats".

Federal Government Workers Donating Overwhelmingly to Democrats

Turkey's president has strongly rejected US calls for his country to protect Kurdish fighters in Syria.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said such statements made by US National Security Adviser John Bolton at the weekend were "unacceptable".

He is in Ankara to seek guarantees that members of a Kurdish militia battling the Islamic State group will be safe after US troops backing them pull out.

Turkey regards the People's Protection Units (YPG) as a terrorist group.

On Tuesday, Mr Erdogan told MPs from his governing Justice and Development Party that he could not "accept and swallow" Mr Bolton's message.

The Americans did not know who the various Kurdish groups were, he said, adding: "If the US evaluates them as 'Kurdish brothers' then they are in a serious delusion."

He considers the YPG an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades. The YPG denies any direct organisational links to the PKK.

Turkey telling America to blow it out of its arse.