8 Senate Dems Urge POTUS Not To Meet Putin One-on-One

Eight Senate Democrats including Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Minority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and the top Democrats on the Senate Intelligence, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Armed Services, Appropriations and Banking committees sent a letter to Trump on Saturday making the demand.

"If you insist on meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, we write to urge that you include senior members of your team and not meet one-on-one with Mr. Putin, as reportedly planned," the group of senators wrote.

"Mr. Putin is a trained KGB intelligence veteran who will come to this meeting well-prepared. As the Kremlin said last week, a one-one-one meeting with you 'absolutely suits' him. There must be other Americans in the room," they wrote, urging Trump to "rely on the expertise and the experts of the State Department, Defense Department, CIA and other U.S. government agencies" and "not wing it on your own."

The group also called on Trump to address Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election on the heels of special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment Friday of 12 Russian intelligence officers who are accused of being behind the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

"If you are not prepared to make Russia’s attack on our election the top issue you will discuss, then you should cancel the Helsinki summit," the senators wrote to Trump, adding that he "should demand" that Putin hand over the indicted Russians and 13 other Russian nationals indicted in February for running a "troll factory" during the election.

"These individuals must be brought to the United States so that they can stand trial, and you should demand that Mr. Putin hand them over," they wrote.

The letter was signed by Schumer, Durbin, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Judiciary Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Armed Services Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Banking Committee Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/397013-senate-dems-tell-trump-dont-meet-with-putin-one-on-one

Israel launches widest Gaza daytime assault since 2014 war

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military carried out its largest daytime airstrike campaign in Gaza since the 2014 war Saturday as Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel, threatening to spark a wider conflagration after weeks of tensions along the volatile border.

No casualties or major damage was reported on either side, and Israel said it was focused on hitting military targets and was warning Gaza civilians to keep their distance from certain sites. But it still marked a significant flare-up after a long period of a generally low-level, simmering conflict.

The military said its jets targeted two Hamas tunnels as well as other military compounds, including those involved in the production of the kites and balloons. It said the Hamas battalion headquarters in northern Gaza was completely destroyed.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/israel-launches-widest-gaza-daytime-assault-since-2014-war

"The United States under the Trump administration has stepped up military efforts in Somalia, including dozens of drone strikes, against al-Shabab and a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group"

6 dead after attackers target Somalia’s presidential palace

Six people were dead in all including a suicide car bomber, Capt. Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press, saying the situation had calmed and security in the area was being tightened.

The midday attack began when a car bomb detonated near a checkpoint close to the presidential palace after security forces engaged with gunmen. A second car bomb exploded in the same area shortly afterward, Hussein said.

“There were skirmishes between security forces and the attackers and then we had a big blast and a huge boom. The blast knocked me down,” one witness, Osman Ali, told the AP.

The Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group, an arm of al-Qaida, often targets high-profile places in the capital. It claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack, saying its fighters were conducting a “major operation” around the palace and nearby SYL Hotel.

Al-Shabab was blamed for the October truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more than 500 people in the deadliest attack in the country’s history.

The threat from what has become the deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa has hurt efforts to strengthen Somalia’s fragile government and stabilize the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

The United States under the Trump administration has stepped up military efforts in Somalia, including dozens of drone strikes, against al-Shabab and a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group. At least two U.S. military personnel have been killed.

The U.S. military and others in the international community have expressed concern about the plan for Somalia’s security forces to take over the country’s security from a multinational African Union force over the next few years, saying the local troops are not yet ready.

https://www.breitbart.com/news/6-dead-after-attackers-target-somalias-presidential-palace/

>>2153320

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