Mediaboss Marketing

President Donald Trump has decided not to attend the White House Correspondents Dinner.

The president said he was skipping the annual event that celebrates the media but he wished them well.

Its not a big surprise as several news outlets, including Bloomberg News, cancelled afterparties and it was reported that CNN was discussing not attending.

But the White House Correspondents Association confirmed it will still hold the event.

Conservative author and pundit Ann Coulter said the decision was a good move.

I want him working and not hanging around with the enemy, he told Fox News Jeanine Pirro on Justice Saturday as she joked that he might be in danger at the frivolous event.

Coulter said the organizations holding the dinner are the propagators of the biggest and most blatant lies and skipping the event is four more hours he can spend shutting down sanctuary cities.

Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast HERE

Carmine Sabia Jr started his own professional wrestling business at age 18 and went on to become a real estate investor. Currently he is a pundit who covers political news and current events.

See the original post here:
Trump tweets that he'll skip WH Correspondents Dinner; why Ann Coulter is relieved - BizPac Review

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, warned European Union chiefs must seize the moment to "reset" the bloc in the wake of Brexit.

The top diplomat stressed the religious state in the city of Rome is "concerned" about populism engulfing Europe and said the time has come for leaders to reform the union.

Populist anti-immigrant parties have made gains in a number of European countries, including Italy, France and the Netherlands, threatening the future of the EU.

Geert Wilders launched his Dutch election campaign with plans to crackdown on migrants and polls predict Front National leader Marine Le Pen will win the first round of France's presidential election.

GETTY/ ANADOLU

It is obvious there are many tensions, many difficulties

Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Both politicians have threatened to take their countries out of the EU if they win power.

Cardinal Parolin told Vatican Radio the European project must be "relaunched" ahead of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome.

He said: It is obvious there are many tensions, many difficulties, but they are also able to become, as they say, a kairos an opportune moment to reset the political relationship on a new basis.

EU member states have pledged to use the March 25 anniversary as an opportunity to "rebuild" the crumbling bloc which has struggled to cope with the arrival of more than 1.3 million migrants since the start of 2015.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to unite Europe and will join EU leaders in the Italian capital next month to celebrate the Treaty of Rome.

The Cardinal's comments come as he launched a blistering attack on out-of touch politicians.

Recognising the gap between the political elite and voters, Cardinal Parolin criticised politics for "sometimes being too distant".

GETTY

REUTERS

He called on leaders grasp the needs of the people, of real people, and must be able to give answers that are real answers, so that people come back to live and to hope.

The Cardinal, who has been touted as a future Pope, was speaking after a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and other officials.

In a veiled dig at US President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban and calls to "Make America Great Again", Cardinal Parolin warned isolationism, is "never a good policy".

He said: The inability to welcome and integrate can be dangerous.

GETTY

History teaches us this, and we hope that in this sense it will not be repeated.

Last week Pope Francis denounced "populist rhetoric" for fuelling fear.

The Pope called for a radical change of attitude towards immigrants, saying they should be welcomed with dignity.

1 of 8

Courts in the US have blocked an executive order by President Trump to ban arrivals from seven mainly Muslim countries.

Pope Francis, who did not single out any particular country in his address, said: "Faced with this kind of rejection, rooted ultimately in self-centeredness and amplified by populist rhetoric, what is needed is a change of attitude, to overcome indifference and to counter fears with a generous approach of welcoming those who knock at our doors."

He added: "For those who flee conflicts and terrible persecutions, often trapped within the grip of criminal organisations who have no scruples, we need to open accessible and secure humanitarian channels."

Go here to see the original:
Now even the Pope says the EU needs to be RELAUNCHED - Express.co.uk

Aljazeera.com

10 Police Officers Killed in Ambush by Militants in Afghanistan New York Times KABUL, Afghanistan At least 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander were killed in an ambush by Islamic State militants in the northern province of Zawzjan, a provincial official said on Saturday. Mohammad Reza Ghafori, a spokesman for ... Mosque ambush kills 10 police in northern AfghanistanAljazeera.com Afghanistan: IS militants kill 11 in mosque ambushHindustan Times Reports: Dozens Die in Violence Across AfghanistanVoice of America SBS -WBOC TV 16 -Quad-Cities Online all 26 news articles »

Follow this link:
10 Police Officers Killed in Ambush by Militants in Afghanistan - New York Times

AFGHANISTAN TOUR OF ZIMBABWE, 2017

Cricbuzz StaffLast updated on Sun, 26 Feb, 2017, 05:31 PM

Mohammad Nabi scored 48 off 40 in the deciding ODI in Harare. Getty

Afghanistan inched one step closer to a series win after Mohammad Nabi hit a crucial 48 towards the end of the innings to help his side post 253 on the board against Zimbabwe in the fifth and final One-Day International. With Afghanistan posting the highest score of the series, Zimbabwe will have their task cut out in the chase on Sunday (February 26).

Afghanistan opted to bat first in the decider and made four changes to their XI in their bid to seal the series. The hosts though were unchanged, following a crushing seven-wicket win in the fourth ODI at the same venue.

With teams initially struggling against the new ball throughout the series, the Afghanistan openers probably wanted to make a mark early. Mohammad Shahzad drove the first ball of the match through the covers for a boundary and fetched another two balls later, courtesy of an inside edge. Noor Ali Zadran began in similar fashion by driving one past mid-off as the visitors made 13 in the first over. There were no boundaries hit in the next three overs before Ali Zadran found the gap between mid wicket and mid on. Richard Ngarava finally struck in the sixth over by bringing one back into Shahzad that shattered the stumps.

The wicket did no harm to Afghanistan's run rate though as four boundaries were hit in the next three overs with three of them coming from Ali Zadran's bat. The flurry of boundaries took the run rate past six as the visitors made full use of the powerplay. They couldn't end it on a high note though as Ngarava made another breakthrough. Gulbadin Naib missed the ball and was trapped leg-before while attempting a flick. Ali Zadran then made full use of a free-hit in the following over by depositing the ball over deep midwicket for a maximum. The impressive 28-year-old collected two more boundaries but his dismissal in the 15th over for 46 proved to be a huge setback.

Afghanistan went through a period where they failed to find the boundary rope even once in nine overs. Asghar Stanikzai broke the shackles with a boundary over extra cover but Sean Williams got rid of the skipper in the very next over, trapping him lbw. The wicket was followed by another barren spell without any boundaries as the run rate began to dip. A terrible mix up then cost Samiullah Shenwari his wicket and then three overs later, it was the turn of Rahmat Shah to get dismissed in similar fashion. He had done a decent job until then, reaching a half-century off 79 balls.

With six wickets down by the 40th over, Afghanistan needed senior statesman Nabi to put his hand up and deliver, which he did with aplomb. His first boundary came off Williams when he smashed the left-arm spinner for a six. Even though Najibullah Zadran fell at the other end, Nabi kept the scoreboard ticking. Ngarava then the bore the brunt of the allrounder's assaault as Nabi hit him for back-to-back boundaries. Nabi and Rashid Khan were dismissed in the penultimate over but Dawlat Zadran's little cameo hurt Zimbabwe right at the death. The bowler hammered Chatara for a couple of fours and a six in the final over to take his side past 250. The previous highest score in the series was 238, which was also posted by Afghanistan, a contest they went on to win.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 253/9 (Rahmat Shah 50, Mohammad Nabi 48; Chris Mpofu 3-46, Richard Ngarava 2-37) vs Zimbabwe

Cricbuzz

Read the original:
Advantage Afghanistan after Nabi's cameo - Cricbuzz

Published time: 25 Feb, 2017 21:57Edited time: 26 Feb, 2017 04:47

In what has become a regular occurrence in recent months, a deportation flight bound for Kabul, Afghanistan, took off from Germany with less than half of the expected passengers on board.

While 50 people were scheduled to be repatriated, "in fact, only 18 got on the flight," Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate was quoted as saying by The Local.

Read more

"There are always a few who don't turn up because of different reasons health reasons, successful applications for urgent rights protection of which there are three cases here Others go into hiding or seek asylum in churches," he added.

"That's why the government has initiated several measures, including for example no longer announcing such flights in advance," Plate confirmed.

This is the third wave of deportations since December as part of an ongoing, Europe-wide effort to alleviate the refugee crisis. A flight from Germany to Afghanistan in December 2016, when the current phase of the repatriation initiative began, had 16 of 50 passengers disappear.

"We sent home 80,000 last year whose asylum applications were rejected that's a record And the number will rise again further, Peter Altmaier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff told Bild in an interview.

There were some 700,000 asylum applications in 2016 and nearly 300,000 were rejected. We'll be sending these people home quickly, because if we don't, it'll damage our credibility as a state based on the rule of law," he added.

There is still strong support for refugees to remain in the country, as evidenced by the 300 protesters at Munich airport on Wednesday.

READ MORE: If Afghanistan collapses, 4mn more refugees will flood into Europe Fallon

In addition, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein will not be deporting any refugees to Afghanistan until May 31, at the earliest. This bold move further highlights the complexity of the refugee crisis in Germany as national and state authorities clash on an ongoing basis.

"The security situation in Afghanistan may vary from region to region, but one cannot say that the situation anywhere in the country is particularly good," Brbel Kofler, the Bundestag's human rights commissioner told the German Passauer Neue Presse newspaper, as reported by DW.

More:
Half-empty deportation flight to Afghanistan highlights ongoing ... - RT