Complete guest list for the state dinner in honor of French president Emmanuel Macron

April 24, 2018

Just in case we need to look at the list of guests for some future Q Crumb.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron

Jerome Adams, the surgeon general, and Lacey Adams

Gérard Araud, ambassador of France to the United States, and Pascal Blondeau

Bernard Arnault, of LVMH, and Hélène Arnault

Nicole Belloubet, the French minister of justice

Philippe Besson

Jean-Michel Blanquer, the French minister of national education

John Bolton, national security adviser, and Gretchen Bolton

Thierry Breton

Christian Cambon, president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French Senate

Laurence des Cars, of Musée d’Orsay

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Laura Cassidy

Tim Cook, of Apple, and Lisa Jackson

Pierre-Olivier Costa

Sarah Coulson and Douglas Bradburn

Christian Dargnat

Jean-Yves Le Drian, French minister for Europe and foreign affairs

Meghan Duggan

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) and Donna Edwards

Laurence Engel

Philippe Étienne, diplomatic adviser to Macron

Barbara Frugier, international communication adviser to Macron

Joseph Hagin, White House deputy chief of staff

David Hamilton and Catharine Hamilton

Marillyn Hewson, of Lockheed Martin, and James Hewson

Fiona Hill, National Security Council, and Kenneth Keen

Stuart Holliday, of Meridian International Center, and Gwen Holliday

John F. Kelly, White House chief of staff, and Karen Kelly

Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) and Rebecca Kennedy

Henry Kissinger and Nancy Kissinger

Henry Kravis and Marie-Josée Kravis

Lawrence Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, and Judith Kudlow

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund

Ronald Lauder and Jo Carole Lauder

Aurélien Lechevallier, deputy diplomatic adviser to President Macron

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and Lauren LePage

Christopher Liddell, White House deputy chief of staff, and Renee Liddell

Bruno Le Maire, French minister of the economy and finance

Jim Mattis, secretary of defense

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Judy McCarthy

Jamie McCourt, U.S. ambassador to France

Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, and Patrick McDaniel

Stephen Miller, White House senior adviser

Emmanuel Miquel

Aaron Wess Mitchell, assistant secretary of state, and Elizabeth Mitchell

Steven T. Mnuchin, secretary of the treasury, and Louise Linton

Mary Morton, of the National Gallery of Art, and Keith Forman

Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall Murdoch

Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of homeland security, and Chad Wolf

Florence Parly, French minister for the armed forces

Vice President Pence and Karen Pence

Emmanuel Perrotin

Thomas Pesquet

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States

Hervé Pierre Braillard

Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Susan Pompeo

Dina Powell and David McCormick

Gen. Benoît Puga

John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the United States, and Jane Roberts

Adm. Bernard Rogel

John F.W. Rogers, of Goldman Sachs, and Deborah Lehr

Virginia Rometty, of IBM, and Mark Anthony Rometty

Wilbur Ross, secretary of commerce, and Hilary Ross

Rep. Edward R. Royce (R-Calif.) and Marie Royce

David Rubenstein, of the Carlyle Group, and Gabrielle Rubenstein

Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), the speaker of the House, and Janna Ryan

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, and Bryan Sanders

Marielle de Sarnez, president of foreign affairs committee for French National Assembly

Guy Savoy

Stephen Schwarzman, of the Blackstone Group, and Christine Schwarzman

Thomas A. Shannon Jr., undersecretary of state

John Shuster

Annette Simmons and Gerald Fronterhouse

Frederick Smith, of FedEx and Diane Smith

John J. Sullivan, deputy secretary of state, and Graciela Rodriguez

Julie Sweet and Chad Sweet

Hugo Verges

Benedict Wolf and Ursula Wolf

https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2018/04/24/complete-guest-list-for-the-state-dinner-in-honor-of-french-president-emmanuel-macron/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a3a1eb2f19fa

NTERNATIONAL

Watchdog Says Billions In Afghanistan Funding At Risk Of Misuse

April 25, 201812:00 AM ET

Over the course of 15 years, the U.S. has contributed more than $3 billion into a trust fund that is aimed at helping Afghanistan with its reconstruction.

In total, donors from around the world have given the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, which is administered by the World Bank, more than $10 billion.

But according to a watchdog appointed by Congress, those billions of dollars are at risk because the World Bank and the government of Afghanistan are not adequately monitoring where they go and how they are used.

"Once the U.S. or any other donor provides its contributions to the fund, neither the World Bank nor USAID can account for how those funds are specifically spent," said the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in a statement. SIGAR is tasked with monitoring U.S. spending in Afghanistan, and the U.S. provides money to the fund through USAID.

The ARTF describes itself as the "the largest single source of on-budget financing for Afghanistan's development … delivering important results within key sectors including education, health, agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, and governance." It does not fund Afghanistan's security sector.

The funds from the trust fund are used to pay salaries of Afghan government workers, SIGAR says, but the World Bank does not require a third-party monitor to physically verify that those government workers actually exist.

The third party contractor's work is limited by security concerns because they are not always able to verify workers in insecure areas, the report states. The World Bank also does not publicly share evaluations of the third-party contractors who are monitoring how the money is used.

"Donors, including USAID and U.S. taxpayers, will continue to provide billions of dollars to the ARTF without adequate assurance that the money being spent is actually contributing to the ongoing operation of the Afghan government, addressing fiscal gaps in Afghanistan's national budget, and furthering the international community's overall reconstruction efforts," the report states.

www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/25/605304003/watchdog-says-billions-in-afghanistan-funding-at-risk-of-misuse

Iran eyeballing SA?

Iran's Foreign Minister Comes To America, Keeping One Eye On Saudi Arabia

April 24, 20185:02 PM ET

When Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif walked into a roomful of reporters in New York on Saturday, he remarked on how his U.S. visit was going.

"Good," he said. "Not as good as the guy who spent $250 million on the trip."

It was a reference to Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who just this month wrapped up a three-week tour of the United States. The Saudi prince traveled from Boston to Silicon Valley in California, and although a final price tag is not known, the trip was reported to be lavish and included meetings to encourage millionaires and billionaires to invest in his kingdom.

Iranian diplomats, by contrast, are preparing for the possibility that the United States might restrict trade even more with Tehran, by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions. If the U.S. decides to pull out, Zarif says, Iran most likely will, too.

MORE: www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/24/605243026/irans-foreign-minister-comes-to-america-keeping-one-eye-on-saudi-arabia

INTERNATIONAL

Iran's Foreign Minister: Renegotiating Nuclear Deal Would Damage U.S. Credibility

April 24, 20183:10 AM ET

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells NPR that renegotiating the 2015 nuclear deal between his country and six world powers would be opening a "Pandora's box" that risks damaging U.S. credibility in future international talks.

In an interview airing Tuesday on Morning Edition, Zarif says he hopes that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during their successive visits to the United States this week, will "impress upon President Trump" that the international community "will be much better served if they were to respect the terms of the deal."

"I think the United States doesn't want to send the message to the world that if you negotiate with the United States, the U.S. is going to come back after you had reached an agreement and tell you 'I don't like these parts of the agreement and I want them re-negotiated,' " Zarif tells ME host Steve Inskeep during a conversation recorded Monday evening at the residence of Iran's United Nations ambassador in New York.

In the deal signed nearly three years ago, Iran agreed to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for lifting billions of dollars in international sanctions. U.S. law requires the president to recertify Iran's compliance with the agreement every 90 days, something that Trump has consistently done since taking office, despite his threats to the contrary. The next certification deadline is May 12.

Zarif says if Washington insists on going back on the deal, "Then nobody will be prepared to compromise with the United States."

He accuses the U.S. of not sticking to its end of the bargain and says Trump is "dissuading European companies from engaging in Iran by threatening them with consequences for their cooperation with Iran."

READ MORE: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/24/605166771/irans-foreign-minister-renegotiating-nuclear-deal-would-damage-u-s-credibility

Trump and Macron hint at new Iran nuclear deal

April 25, 2018

US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have suggested there could be a new agreement on Iran's nuclear programme.

After talks in the US, Mr Trump, who is sceptical of an accord that was struck in 2015, spoke about "doing a much bigger, maybe, deal".

Mr Macron said a new pact must cover Iran's ballistic missile programme and its role in the Middle East.

Iran warned of "severe consequences" if the US withdraws from the deal.

In 2015, Iran agreed to mothball its nuclear programme in return for an easing of economic sanctions on Iran.

The US president has been threatening to reject an extension of the Obama-era nuclear pact reached between Tehran and world powers by a 12 May deadline.

Mr Macron had been lobbying Mr Trump to stick with the deal, saying there was no better option.

Meanwhile, Mr Zarif said just hours before the Trump-Macron summit that a probable response would be to restart the enrichment of uranium - a key bomb-making ingredient.

"You cannot stop the process or not engage just because of a fear of failure. But at least you need to have some hope of success, some prospect for success, in order for this process to start," the Iranian foreign minister was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"And I do not believe that, under the present circumstances, with the present tone, and language and approach of the current administration in Washington, you would have much prospect."

Iran maintains its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful civilian purposes.

READ MORE: http:// www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43887061

Merkel warns of 'different type of anti-Semitism' in Germany

"The fact that no kindergarten, no school, no synagogue can be left without police protection dismays us."

by Carlo Angerer / Apr.23.2018

MAINZ, Germany — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has denounced a "different type of anti-Semitism" that has taken root in her country.

She also vowed to do everything possible to ensure the safety of Jews in Germany.

"We have refugees now, for example, or people of Arab origin, who bring a different type of anti-Semitism into the country," Merkel said in an interview with Israel's Channel 10. "But unfortunately, anti-Semitism existed before this."

READ MORE: www.nbcnews.com/news/world/merkel-warns-different-type-anti-semitism-germany-n868271

Merkel Has Disastrously Bungled Her Relationship With Trump

The chancellor’s approach has been typical of German foreign policy: moralistic, hypocritical — and completely ineffective.

BY JAMES KIRCHICK | APRIL 24, 2018, 7:00 AM

High up on both leaders’ agendas will be trade, with the European exemption from U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs set to expire on May 1, and the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump has insisted European leaders “fix” by May 12.

But beyond specific policy disagreements, Trump has presented a fundamental challenge for continental Europe’s two most important powers — a challenge to which France and Germany have responded very differently. The two approaches, which can essentially be boiled down to French pragmatism versus German petulance, are entirely characteristic of their respective political cultures. One of the two approaches – likewise characteristically – has proved far less effective.

Read more: http:// foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/24/merkel-has-disastrously-bungled-her-relationship-with-trump/