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"Everybody in NY hates this guy"

A US teenager who took legal action against his school after he was banned for refusing the chickenpox vaccination now has the virus, his lawyer says.

Jerome Kunkel, 18, made headlines last month after he unsuccessfully sued his Kentucky school for barring unimmunised students amid an outbreak.

His lawyer, Christopher Weist, told US media that the teen's symptoms developed last week.

The student had opposed the vaccine on religious grounds.

His lawsuit argued the vaccine is "immoral, illegal and sinful" and that his rights had been violated.

The ban from his school, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart/Assumption Academy in Walton, came during an outbreak that sickened at least 32 pupils.

Mr Weist told NBC News his young client did not regret his decision to remain unvaccinated.

US President Donald Trump said China "broke the deal" in trade talks, ramping up hostilities ahead of negotiations between the two sides.

The comments come as Beijing said it would retaliate with "necessary countermeasures" if the US raises tariffs on Chinese products.

Mr Trump has vowed to more than double tariffs on $200bn (£152bn) of Chinese goods on Friday.

Despite that, the two sides are due to hold trade talks in the US on Thursday.

Ahead of the discussions, Mr Trump accused China's leaders of breaking the deal the US was negotiating on trade.

"They broke the deal... They can't do that. So they'll be paying," Mr Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Florida.

He said if the two sides don't make a deal, there was "nothing wrong with taking in more than $100bn a year".

Only recently, the two sides seemed to be nearing an agreement that would put an end to the trade war.

But on Sunday Mr Trump said on Twitter the US would hike tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods this week and could introduce fresh tariffs.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer later accused China of backtracking on commitments in trade talks. However, he insisted a deal with Beijing was still possible.

I like you but this is ridiculous.

What Is Donald Trump Hiding?
The latest revelations about President Trump’s past tax reports underscore the importance of examining his more recent returns.

President Trump owes the American people a fuller account of his financial dealings, including the release of his recent tax returns, because politicians should keep their promises, because the public deserves to know whether his policies are lining his pockets and because the integrity of our system of government requires everyone, particularly the president, to obey the law.

Mr. Trump promised to release his tax returns before his presidential campaign and in the early stages of that campaign, then reneged, offering a long series of inconsistent excuses for breaking his promise. Now Mr. Trump is resisting the lawful request of the House Ways and Means Committee for the Treasury secretary to release the last six years of his tax returns.

In seeking the president’s returns, the House is clearly acting in the public interest...

North Korea has fired two short-range missiles in its second weapons test in less than a week, the South Korean military says.

The missiles fired from the north-western city of Kusong travelled 420km (260 miles) and 270km towards the east.

It came hours after the top US envoy arrived in South Korea for talks on how to revive nuclear negotiations.

Analysts say the North is trying to increase pressure on the US over its failure to make concessions.

A meeting in Vietnam between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump ended without agreement in February with the US insisting North Korea give up its nuclear programme and Pyongyang demanding sanctions relief.

What do we know about the latest firing?
The two missiles were fired at about 16:30 local time (07:30 GMT) and reached an altitude of about 50km before falling into the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

They were launched from Kusong, some 160km from the capital, Pyongyang. Detailed analysis was being carried out in co-operation with US intelligence officials, it added.

On Saturday, the North fired several short-range missiles, the first missile test since it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

The tests should not come as a surprise as North Korean state media has repeatedly shown its frustration with recent joint US-South Korea military exercises, BBC Seoul correspondent Laura Bicker reports.

Pyongyang has also warned Washington that its patience to do a deal involving the easing of sanctions will not last long before it takes what Mr Kim has described as a "new path", our correspondent adds.

South Korea's presidency said the launches were "very worrisome" and unhelpful for efforts to reduce tensions.

Heroin is too expensive. On the upside you get to send money to needy Afghan farmers.

After stating his goals for Iran, Trump's policy makes even less sense

Despite making a series of unnecessary concessions, Donald Trump's policy toward North Korea appears to be unraveling. The rogue nuclear state launched two rounds of missiles overnight -- despite Trump's boast that he brought an end to North Korea's weapons testing -- and yesterday, the Pentagon said it's suspended talks with Pyongyang about recovering the remains of U.S. service members killed during the Korean war.

And yet, the last we heard from the White House, the American president reiterated that the North Korean dictator knows that Trump is "with him."

But as strange as it is to see the Republican embrace a nuclear-armed dictator who keeps firing missiles into the sea, Trump's policy toward North Korea is clear and coherent compared to his posture toward Iran. Here was the American president last night at a rally in northern Florida:

"I hope to be able at some point -- maybe it won't happen, possibly won't -- to sit down and work out a fair deal [with Iran]. We're not looking to hurt anybody.

"We want a fair deal. We just don't want them to have nuclear weapons. It's all we want."

That might be more persuasive if it weren't for the fact that Trump already had what he said he wants. There was an international nuclear agreement in place with Iran, which according to the president's own team, was working exactly as intended -- right up until Trump abandoned the policy one year ago this week for reasons that he's never fully explained.

If "all" the administration wants is for Iran not to have nuclear weapons, all Trump had to do was allow the policy to keep working effectively. He did the opposite, which has led Iran to start backing away from its commitments under the deal.

The result is a dynamic in which the Republican is embracing a rogue nuclear state firing missiles, while thumbing his nose at a country that was complying with an international agreement the United States negotiated.

Rubio's old principle: an AG held in contempt 'should resign'

The House Judiciary Committee voted yesterday to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt, and soon, the whole Democratic-led House will likely approve the same measure.

According to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), that's a strong indication that the attorney general should resign -- at least according to the standards the Florida Republican laid out seven years ago.

Quote:

Video unearthed Wednesday by an activist group shows U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio making the case for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign after he was found in contempt of Congress in 2012.

"No one can be above the law, not even the Attorney General," Rubio says in the clip. He added: "I think an attorney general held in contempt of Congress is someone who should resign." [...]

The clip was released by Republicans for the Rule of Law, a group created by "life-long Republicans dedicated to defending the institutions of our republic," according to the organization's website.

At one point in the video, Rubio emphasizes the institutional significance of congressional oversight of the executive branch, concluding that it's "outrageous that any attorney general, Republican or Democrat, refused to comply with Congress' constitutional right to hold them accountable and the Justice Department accountable."

The senator quickly added, "I would say that if this was a Republican."

Is that so.

Rubio went on to complain about the administration's use of executive privilege, which led him to believe "there's something in those documents that they don't want us to know about. There's something in there they don't want the public to be aware of. And I think that's wrong."