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Obama & wife enjoy tango session in Argentina

When in Argentina, dance the tango.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama tangoed with professional dancers Wednesday during a state dinner at the Kirchner Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires.
 
The event started with a dance performance for the guests at the dinner. A couple of dancers performed while Argentine President Mauricio Macri explained aspects of the dance to Obama. The first lady appeared taken with the performance, according to pool notes.
 

The female dancer then asked Obama to the floor while the male performer requested the same of Michelle.

Obama is in Argentina to discuss Argentina's reform agenda. The White House hopes the trip will increase cooperation in trade and investment for Americans.
 
"I think Argentina is a good example of the shift that's taken place in terms of U.S. relations with other governments and other countries generally," Obama told CNN in an interview ahead of his trip. "President Macri recognizes that we're in a new era, and we have to look forward."

cnn.com

New data shows White terrorists have killed more Americans on U.S. soil since 9/11 attacks

The New America Foundation (NAF), a think tank funded by prominent universities and foundations, has been keeping track of all terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11, and found that not only have white terrorists killed more Americans than jihadists, but attacks by white terrorists are also twice as frequent, with 18 homegrown terror attacks between 2004 and 2015, and just 9 terror attacks rooted in Islamic extremist ideology.


 

To define what constitutes a terrorist, NAF has very specific criteria:

The purpose of this database is to provide as much information as possible about American citizens and permanent residents engaged in violent extremist activity as well as individuals, regardless of their citizenship status, living within the United States who have engaged in violent extremist activity. We examine both those individuals motivated by Jihadist ideology, understood as those who worked with or were inspired by al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups, as well as those motivated by other ideologies that are non-Jihadist in character, for example right wing, left wing, or idiosyncratic beliefs.

NAF’s list of terrorist attacks since September 11, 2001 includes 9 attacks led by jihadists, which have killed 45 people — the most recent attack being the San Bernardino shooting in December that killed 14 and wounded 21 — and 18 attacks by American right-wing extremists that killed 48 people.

Most notably, while there were zero terror attacks on U.S. soil by Islamic extremists between June 2, 2009 and April 14, 2013, there were eight attacks by right-wing extremists in that time frame. The most deadly of those attacks was the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin in 2012, which left six dead and four wounded.

But despite the frequency and brutality of white terror attacks, there are far more Muslim terrorists prosecuted and/or killed for their crimes in 11 of the 15 years studied. As the chart below shows, the only years between 2001 and 2015 where non-jihadist terrorists were indicted or killed for their crimes more than their jihadist counterparts were 2001, 2004, 2008, and 2012:

Additional data shows that while jihadists were diverse in ethnicity, an overwhelming majority of American terrorists were white. Out of 182 total non-jihadist perpetrators of terror attacks in the US between 2001 and 2015, 165 were white. And while Trump is proposing an outright ban on Muslims entering the US as a way to combat terrorism, he ignores the fact that a vast majority of terrorists, both right-wing and Islamic, are American-born citizens:

What these numbers show is that there is no catch-all solution to stop extremist terrorism. But it’s evident that simply profiling Muslims and treating all new immigrants as potential jihadists is both discriminatory and counterproductive.

Tom Cahill is a writer for US Uncut based in the Pacific Northwest. He specializes in coverage of political, economic, and environmental news. You can contact Tom via email at tom.v.cahill@gmail.com.

usuncut.com

Citizens walk pass $19,030 on street despite owner’s free offer

A Korean woman threw cash worth 22 million won ($19,030) on the street in downtown Seoul on Monday, but caused no major disruption as passersby did not rush to pick them up, police said Tuesday.


 

The 56-year-old threw hundreds of 1,000-won, 5,000-won and 10,000 won-banknotes in the Seoul Square at around 5 p.m.

But there was no single citizen who picked up the bills, with many of passersby glancing at the grass covered by banknotes and taking photos of the scene, police said.

Police said that picking up unattended money can be punished by law on charges of theft. But in this case, the women had intended to give up her rights to the money, so there was no legal basis to punish those who gathered the bills.

During the questioning at a nearby police box, she allegedly said that she was afraid of her ex-husband and son trying to take her money and would rather donate the money to anyone on the street.

The police probe found that she had withdrawn 42 million won in cash from a local bank in Seoul a few days earlier. She arrived in the Seoul Square by taxi and hired a private guard to escort her with a paper bag full of the banknotes.

She was neither under threat from her family nor in need of police protection, according to police.

koreaherald.com

Prez Obama enjoys translation help from daughter Malia on Cuban visit

President Obama had to fall on his eldest daughter Malia to translate the offerings on the menu when they visited an old restaurant in Havana, on his Cuba visit.


 

White House Photographer Pete Souza captured the laugh shared between the president and his daughter, along with a chef at a restaurant in Old Havana and posted to Instagram. Although Obama has been greeted with open arms by the people of Cuba, his Spanish is a bit rusty, which is where his 17-year-old daughter came in handy.

Flotus and her daughters also visited La Catedral de la Virgen Maria de la Concepcion Inmaculada, as the president met with Raul Castro. The First Family landed in Cuba on Sunday, and will board Air Force One on Thursday to head to Argentina where they’ll meet with the country’s new president Mauricio Macri.

vibe.com

Ultra-Orthodox Jews in U.S protest to challenge Israel's army recruitment drive

Sunday's demonstration on the streets of New York City briefly shut down Wall Street and Water Street in Manhattan's Financial District, but it was a shadow of the massive waves of protests that crippled the holy city of Jerusalem just last weekend.


The ultra-Orthodox in New York took to the streets in a show of solidarity for their brethren in Israel.

The Israeli government has long exempted the super devout from their near-universal conscription, but in recent weeks have proposed changing that rule for at least some of the ultra-Orthodox.

The ultra-Orthodox aim to live a life strictly dedicated to the study of the Torah and many see a government requirement that they serve in the military as a form of religious persecution.

Police in Jerusalem said a staggering 300,000 protestors attended the event last Sunday.

Organizers of the New York City sister protest put their own numbers at 50,000.

As the largest Jewish community outside Israel, the New Yorkers have tight bonds with Orthodox Israelis, some of whom emigrated from the United States.

dailymail.co.uk

General Lori Robinson is new US Northern Command boss

US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has nominated the first female in US military history to lead a combatant command.

General Lori Robinson has been nominated to lead the US Northern Command, Mr Carter announced on Friday.

Paris attacks suspect Abdeslam shot & arrested in Brussels

Belgian officials say they have apprehended one of the Paris suspects Salah Abdeslam after a shoot-out.

Officials say Abdeslam, who has been on the run since the November attacks, was wounded in the leg as police moved in on a flat in the Molenbeek area.

Barack Obama settles on Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia

US President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, an appellate court judge and former prosecutor, to the Supreme Court.

In an address from the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, Obama emphasised Garland's readiness for the job and history of support from both Republicans and Democrats.

'Lula' da Silva appointed chief of staff by President Dilma Rousseff

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff has appointed her predecessor Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva as chief of staff, according to a senior Congress official.

It is a move that could help Lula avoid possible detention in expanding corruption investigation that have now touched the top of Brazil's political leadership.