Syrian Kurds refuse to comply with the decisions to be adopted in Astana
Kurdish defense forces said they did not intend to adhere to the decisions to be taken at between Syrian talks in Astana, the organization said in a statement, RIA news
"We will not adhere to any decisions that will be the result of a conference in Astana ... We believe that the negotiating parties and the patron of the country are part of a serious crisis in Syria, and they do not have solutions relevant to the Syrian people," - said in a statement.
According to the Kurds, to solve the crisis it is necessary to hold consultations with representatives of all nationalities living in Syria and confessions. Recall, today, 23 January, began an international meeting on the Syrian settlement in Astana. The meeting began at 13:50 in the hotel «Rixos President Astana». In Astana are involved delegations from Syria, Russia, Turkey and Iran. Special Envoy for Syria, the UN Secretary General, Staffan de Mistura gave a brief comment to journalists in the lobby of the hotel «Rixos President Astana». The representative of the Syrian opposition Yahya al-Aridi said on the first day of talks in Astana. "We talked about the issues of achieving this long-term truce in Syria. Each side was asked to develop their views on how this can be achieved. This - the first one. Second, what we talked about - the human factor. This hostage besieged areas. What we ultimately discussed - very good for such a meeting.
The US Congress is exploring ways to pay for a southern border wall, with payment to be sought from Mexico later.
President-elect Donald Trump made building a wall, paid for by the US neighbour, a central campaign pledge.
The businessman sparked a storm of disapproval in 2015 when he said Mexico was sending criminals and rapists north to the US through a porous border.
In a tweet on Friday, he lashed out at the "dishonest media" for saying taxpayers would foot the bill.
"Any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!"
Mr Trump's spokesman, Sean Spicer, insisted on Friday morning that the plan to seek reimbursement from Mexico after paying US money up-front "doesn't mean he's broken his promise".
"Build the wall" was a popular chant heard at Trump rallies
Trump railed against illegal immigration during his campaign
"I think he's going to continue to talk to them (the Mexican government) about that," he told ABC News.
Congressional Republicans confirmed they have the legal authorisation to build the wall under the Secure Fence Act passed by former president George W Bush in 2006.
But to ensure they have the funding, they may seek to add billions of dollars to the government's spending bill - which needs to pass by 28 April to keep the federal government open.
Democrats may oppose that spending, risking a government shutdown.
Voters won't care - Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington
At Donald Trump's campaign rallies, his supporters loved when their man asked who was going to pay for his border wall. "Mexico!" they shouted in unison.
It made for powerful political theatre - a shared moment between candidate and voter. But polls indicated that few Americans, even Trump backers, actually believed Mexico would foot the bill.
Now it appears their lack of confidence was well-founded. Getting any kind of a border wall built - let alone the "big, beautiful" structure Mr Trump envisions - will be a political grind. If it requires a diplomatic battle with Mexico before the first brick is laid, the chances of success would dwindle.
The practical course was always to build first, then deal with Mexico.
Political writer Salena Zito once observed that Trump's supporters take their man seriously but not literally, while his media critics do the opposite. Trump voters may not mind if Mexico doesn't pay, as long as the president-elect takes border security seriously.
Mexico's president and senior officials have said that they will not pay for the wall, despite Mr Trump's campaign pledge.
But Republican Congressman Chris Collins said he has no doubt the Mexican government will end up paying.
"When you understand that Mexico's economy is dependent upon US consumers, Donald Trump has all the cards he needs to play," Mr Collins said on CNN.
"On the trade negotiation side, I don't think it's that difficult for Donald Trump to convince Mexico that it's in their best interest to reimburse us for building the wall."
Nigel Farage to host lavish party for Donald Trump at Washington hotel
The former UKIP leader has apparently hired the top floor of an exclusive five star hotel in Washington DC.
15:45, UK,Friday 06 January 2017 Image Caption:Mr Farage is expected to attend the inauguration ceremony as well as hosting the party
By Darren McCaffrey, Sky News Politics Correspondent
Nigel Farage is to host a lavish party for Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC.
Five hundred US politicians, including senators, governors and congressmen, as well as media stars and other members of the Washington elite are on the guest list.
Mr Trump and his family have also been invited and although they have not formally accepted, organisers hope the newly sworn in President will attend.
Sky News understands the top floor of the five star exclusive The Hay-Adams hotel has been hired. Image Caption:The Hay-Adams Hotel near the White House in Washington, DC
The $500-a-night hotel, located just metres away from the White House, hosted the Obamas two weeks before their inauguration eight years ago.
Mr Farage is also expected to attend the inauguration ceremony itself as a guest of Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.
"The Governor of Mississippi has invited me and I'm there for a few days and it's going to be a great, historic event," he told Sky News.
"In America they've had a political revolution and it's complete; the problem in Britain is our revolution is not complete because the same people are still in charge."
Mr Farage was a passionate supporter of Mr Trump during the campaign trail, attending pro-Trump rallies and widely criticising Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
He later became the first UK politician to meet him just days after he was elected.
Both Mr Farage and Mr Trump have regularly compared the US election to the UK's vote to leave the EU.
Video:Hack row: Biden tells Trump to 'grow up'
Separately, the day before the inauguration, Arron Banks, a leading donor to the leave EU movement, is expected to meet with executives of Warner Bros about making a film telling the Brexit story.
The studio is apparently eager to adopt his memoir, The Bad Boys of Brexit.
The book tells the story of the car insurance salesman's rise to prominence, having supported UKIP and Brexit in the recent referendum.
The Pentagon said Saturday that China will return a U.S. Navy drone seized in the international waters of the South China Sea.
"We have registered our objection to China's unlawful seizure, of a U.S. unmanned-underwater vehicle,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said. “Through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will return the UUV to the United States."
President-elect Donald Trump tweeted the following Saturday night:
China's seizure is being considered by some observers as one of the most significant disputes in years between the world super powers and follows Trump’s post-election victory call with the president of Taiwan.
The call alarmed old guard foreign policy experts who said it undermined the United States’ decades-long “One China” policy that recognizes mainland China over Taiwan.
Before the Pentagon announcement, China had indicated that efforts were underway to resolve the issue, saying it was in contact with American counterparts regarding the "appropriately handling" of the unmanned underwater glider.
However, the one-sentence comment by the country’s foreign ministry offered no details on what discussions were underway or why China on seized the drone, which the Pentagon says was being operated by civilian contractors for oceanic research.
The U.S. said it issued a formal diplomatic complaint over the seizure and demanded the drone's return.
"According to (our) understanding, the U.S. and Chinese sides are working on appropriately handling this matter through channels between the two militaries," the foreign ministry said in its statement, which was faxed to The Associated Press.
China's defense ministry did not immediately respond to questions on the issue.
The drone was seized while collecting unclassified scientific data about 57 miles northwest of Subic Bay, near the Philippines in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety, the U.S. Navy said Friday.
"It is ours,” a Navy spokesman said. “It's clearly marked as ours. We would like it back, and we would like this not to happen again,"
The spokesman also said the drone costs about $150,000 and is largely commercial, off-the-shelf technology.
The most recent, significant dispute between the countries’ militaries was perhaps in April 2001 when a U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft and a Chinese fighter jet nearly collided about 70 miles from China's Hainan island, which led to the death of a Chinese pilot.
Whatever the outcome of the drone incident, the incident is likely to fray the already tense relations between U.S. and China.
Beijing was angered by Trump's decision to talk Dec. 2 by phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and by his later comments that he did not feel "bound” by the One China policy, unless the U.S. could gain trade or other benefits from China.
China considers the self-governing island its own territory to be recovered by force if it deems necessary.
There also have been increased tensions over Beijing's ongoing military buildup in the South China Sea, mainly the development and militarization of man-made shoals and islands aimed at extending China's reach in the strategically vital area through which about $5 trillion in global trade passes annually.
In one of the few reports in state media about the drone's seizure, a newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party cited an unidentified military official as saying that a "smooth resolution" to the matter is expected.
A Chinese navy ship discovered an "unidentified device" Thursday and was checking on it for the sake of maritime safety, the Global Times quoted the official as saying.
"China has received the U.S. request to return the device, communication is open between the relevant departments of the two sides and I believe this matter will obtain a smooth resolution," the officer was quoted as saying.
In a separate report, the paper quoted retired Chinese admiral Yang Yi as saying China considered itself well within its rights to seize the drone.
"If China needs to take it, we'll take it. (America) can't block us," Yang was quoted as saying.
Yang said he was unsure of the purpose of seizing the drone, but didn't think the matter qualified as a "military conflict." However, he added that the chances of a confrontation had risen following Trump's recent comments, which were seen as testing China's bottom line on Taiwan and other sensitive issues.
"It's natural for us to take possession of and research for a bit these types of things that America sends to our doorstep," Yang said. "The louder they shout, the more their protests ring hollow."
"It gives me great pleasure to send Your Excellency my congratulations on the celebration of your National Day, in the year in which Kazakhstan celebrates 25 years of independence, together with my best wishes for the people of Kazakhstan in the coming year. Elizabeth R.". British Embassy in Kazakhstan вFacebook.
WASHINGTON – On a "bittersweet day" that brought back memories of loved ones lost, President Barack Obama signed into law legislation that makes new investments in cancer research and battling drug abuse.
Obama signed the bill Tuesday at a ceremony on the White House campus flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and key lawmakers. The 55-year-old president recounted that his own mother did not even reach his age, dying of cancer in her early 50s.
"It's not always easy to remember, but being able to honor those we've lost in this way and to know that we may be able to prevent other families from feeling that same loss, that makes it a good day," Obama said. "It's a good day to see us doing our jobs."
The 21st Century Cures Act invests $1.8 billion for a cancer research "moonshot" that is strongly supported by Biden. The vice president's son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015.
The bill also authorizes giving states $1 billion over two years to prevent and treat the abuse of opioids and other addictive drugs like heroin.
Overall, the measure plans $6.3 billion in new spending over the coming decade. The bill also streamlines the approval process for drugs and medical devices at the Food and Drug Administration.
Biden said he believed the bill would inject new urgency into fighting cancer and would give millions of Americans hope that they will be able to have their lives extended through research that will bring about new cures and treatments.
"Every day, millions of people are praying, praying for hope, praying for time," Biden said.
That news pleases some people, like internet trolls who write that they are happy to be "rid of that noted LIAR and falsifier of news" who produces "hit pieces." Another wrote, "Hopefully the cancer came back to finish him off."
To be clear, I'm not ending "Stossel" because I have cancer. I don't have cancer. I had a small tumor removed, and, best we can tell, it's gone. I didn't even have chemo or radiation.
I'm moving on because I want to create a new libertarian internet-based platform with Reason TV and become an educator with the Charles Koch Institute's new Media and Journalism Fellowship program. I will still make appearances on Fox News.
I had a good time hosting my own show for seven years, trying to find new ways to simplify economics and demonstrate the benefits of free markets.
Unfortunately, economic freedom can be hard to demonstrate. Adam Smith's "invisible hand" is, well, invisible. How do I explain it on TV? Friedrich Hayek's phrase "spontaneous order" is clearer but still hard to show.
I was stumped until I read "Rinkonomics: A Window on Spontaneous Order" by George Mason University's Dan Klein. That inspired me to rent a skating rink.
Why? Well, imagine you've never seen a rink, and you are the government regulator who approves new businesses.
I tell you: I will flood that arena, freeze the water and then charge people money to strap sharp blades onto their feet and zip around on the ice. I will have few rules. Anyone can skate: young and old, skilled and unskilled.
Most any regulator would resist my bizarre skating idea. Hillary Clinton might say that for my rink to be approved it must have stoplights, skating police and barriers between skilled and unskilled skaters, adults and children. I must have someone with a megaphone direct the skaters to make sure they don't smash into each other.
So, I actually tried that. I rented a rink and bossed people around: "You, turn left, you slow down." Of course, the skaters hated that. And it didn't make skating safer. Some people, responding to my instructions, lost their balance and fell.
There is spontaneous order on a normal skating rink. Skaters make their own decisions. No regulator knows the wishes, skills and immediate intentions of individual skaters better than skaters themselves.
Regulators might say my attempts to direct skaters failed because I'm not a skating "expert." On my TV show, one guest said regulation must be done "by technocrats with expertise."
So I hired an expert, an Olympic skater. She did no better with the megaphone. No "technocrat" has enough expertise to direct the skaters on the ice.
For safety, rinks usually just have a few employees who police reckless skaters and simple rules like "skate counterclockwise." That's enough!
Good thing rinks were invented before the modern regulatory state took over.
Leave people free to make their own choices and a spontaneous order arises. Skaters find their own path. Buyers and sellers adjust to changing prices. Families raise kids. Musicians create jazz.
That's what I've tried to demonstrate on my show.
Control freaks have criticized such spontaneity for at least 2,400 years. Plato warned that music should be simple so that it does not stir up passion. In America, Ladies Home Journal once warned that jazz would lead "to a breaking away from all rules." Lucky America didn't have a Department of Music Safety then or jazz would have been banned.
Over seven years on the "Stossel" show, I've done all sorts of stunts, trying to explain the benefits of liberty. I've dressed as a Founder and Santa and Uncle Sam, begged for money on Manhattan streets, broken windows, collected signatures on petitions to ban "dangerous" chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide (that's water), stolen things from children, held a racist (that is, affirmative action) bake sale, smashed cars with a sledgehammer (inspired by the "cash for clunkers" government program) and cut the federal budget with a chain saw.
If it helps explain the benefits of freedom, I'll try it.
John Stossel is the author of "No They Can't! Why Government Fails -- But Individuals Succeed" and host of "Stossel" (Fridays at 9 PM/ET), a weekly program highlighting current consumer issues with a libertarian viewpoint. Stossel also appears regularly on Fox News Channel (FNC) providing signature analysis.
Image Caption:Mr Farage is expected to attend the inauguration ceremony as well as hosting the party
Image Caption:The Hay-Adams Hotel near the White House in Washington, DC
Video:Hack row: Biden tells Trump to 'grow up'
