Watch: Trump Wants ‘Groundbreaking’ Ceremony for Border Wall Next Year

President Trump says he wants to hold a “groundbreaking” style ceremony at the end of January to celebrate the construction of bollard fencing along the United States-Mexico border. In a press briefing in the Oval Office on Christmas day, Trump said he planned to go to the southern border at the end of January next year to celebrate what he calls the construction of his proposed “great wall” — a collection of new bollard fencing and replacement fencing. “It’s a 2,000-mile border but much of it has mountains and region where you can’t get across,” Trump said. “So we’re looking at between 500 and 550 [miles], so we gave out 115 [miles] yesterday. And we gave it out at a great price. We’re going to have a great wall there and we have other sections to give out.”

It remains unclear what Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contract Trump is referring to when he mentions the 115-mile border construction contract. “We’ve renovated massive amounts of very good wall — wall that was good, but that was in bad shape,” Trump continued. “So you don’t have to replace it, but you have to renovate it. And we’ve renovated a massive amount of wall. And in addition to that, and I think very, very importantly, we built a lot of new wall. So it’s all being built. The new piece, the new section is very, very exciting, what’s going on there.” “And you’ll see it because in January I’m going there,” Trump said. “We’re almost having a groundbreaking – it’s such a big section. It’s probably the biggest section we’ll get out. So while we’re fighting over funding, we’re also building.”

Trump said he wanted to have all construction of the bollard fence and replacement fencing finished by the time the 2020 presidential election rolls around, giving him less than two years to get the project finished. “It’s my hope to have this done, completed all 500 to 550 miles, to have it either renovated or brand new, by election time,” Trump said.

The federal government has been shut down for nearly a week as House and Senate Democrats refuse to support any funding for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, despite supporting such border projects in the recent past under Presidents Bush and Obama, Breitbart News reported.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/26/watch-trump-wants-groundbreaking-ceremony-for-border-wall-next-year/

Iraq Makes Christmas Day a National Holiday

The Iraqi government announced Monday that an amendment was approved to officially designate Christmas Day a national holiday. The Iraqi Cabinet voted in favor of amending its national holidays law to include a holiday recognizing December 25 as “the occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ.” The Iraqi government confirmed the change on social media, tweeting, “The @IraqiGovt announces Christmas Day to be an official holiday across Iraq. Happy Christmas to our Christian citizens, all Iraqis and to all who are celebrating around the world”::

The move coincides with a visit to Iraq by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state. Parolin held a Christmas vigil mass with the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in the Karrada district, according to Vatican News. On Wednesday, the high-ranking Vatican official is scheduled to meet with government officials and church representatives in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan’s regional government in Iraq. Official estimates state 1.4 million Christians resided in Iraq prior to the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. Currently, approximately 300,000 Christians live in Iraq, many Iraqis having been driven out amid years of sectarian violence. In recent years, Christians in the Islamic State (ISIS)-controlled areas were mandated to convert to Islam or face death.

This Christmas, Iraqi Christians held prayer ceremonies across the war-damaged country, with mass celebrations taking place at Baghdad’s St George Chaldean Church and the Mar Addai Chaldean Church in Qaraqosh, located roughly eight miles from Mosul, a former ISIS stronghold. In 2016, worshippers in Bartella celebrated Christmas — the first time in two years since ISIS was driven from the ancient Christian town.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2018/12/25/iraq-makes-christmas-day-national-holiday/

Exclusive: White House mulls new year executive order to bar Huawei, ZTE purchases

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China’s Huawei and ZTE, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. It would be the latest step by the Trump administration to cut Huawei Technologies Cos Ltd [HWT.UL] and ZTE Corp, two of China’s biggest network equipment companies, out of the U.S. market. The United States alleges that the two companies work at the behest of the Chinese government and that their equipment could be used to spy on Americans.

The executive order, which has been under consideration for more than eight months, could be issued as early as January and would direct the Commerce Department to block U.S. companies from buying equipment from foreign telecommunications makers that pose significant national security risks, sources from the telecoms industry and the administration said. While the order is unlikely to name Huawei or ZTE, a source said it is expected that Commerce officials would interpret it as authorization to limit the spread of equipment made by the two companies. The sources said the text for the order has not been finalized. The executive order would invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States.

The issue has new urgency as U.S. wireless carriers look for partners as they prepare to adopt next generation 5G wireless networks. The order follows the passage of a defense policy bill in August that barred the U.S. government itself from using Huawei and ZTE equipment. Huawei and ZTE did not return requests for comment. Both in the past have denied allegations their products are used to spy. The White House also did not return a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported in early May that the order was under consideration, but it was never issued.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-huawei-tech-exclusive/exclusive-white-house-mulls-new-year-executive-order-to-bar-huawei-zte-purchases-idUSKCN1OQ09P?il=0