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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Bonn, February 16, 2017. Source: Flickr / MFA Russia U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington is ready to seek new common ground for cooperation with Moscow, Reuters reported "As we search for new common ground we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate violence in Ukraine," Tillerson said after meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. In his turn, Lavrov noted, that they "have discussed the situation in bilateral relations, which were seriously undermined by the Obama administration." "Tillerson has confirmed readiness to overcome this period expressed by President Trump during the phone talks with President Putin," Lavrov added. The first meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary  of State Res Tillerson was held in the German city of Bonn on the sidelines of th...

Facebook's ad policies have been updated to increase opportunity and prohibit discrimination. Tamar Weinberg Late last year, Facebook committed to updating  its ad targeting  practices to prevent discrimination for housing, employment or credit-related ads. Today, the company is  putting  its ad discrimination policy into practice with policy updates, tools and further education. Policy updates Facebook is strengthening its stance with clearly defined prohibitions against ads with discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability or medical/genetic condition. Education Facebook has also updated its policy with a  section  about discriminatory practices. Advertisers are prohibited from wrongfully targeting or excluding audiences in their ads. This section expands to groups of individuals who are connected to the ACLU, Department of Justice — ...

Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate Isabella Lovin delivers remarks at the ''Our Ocean'' conference at Georgetown University in Washington, U.S., September 16, 2016. REUTERS/GARY CAMERON FILE PHOTO: Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin speaks to the media during a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden July 2, 2016. TT News Agency/Johan Jeppsson/via REUTERS/FILE PHOTO (Reuters) - Eight countries have joined an initiative to raise millions of dollars to replace shortfalls caused by President Donald Trump's ban on U.S.-funded groups around the world providing information on abortion, Sweden's deputy prime minister said. Isabella Lovin told Reuters a conference would be held on March 2 in Brussels to kick-start the funding initiative to help non-governmental organizations whose family planning projects could be affected. The Netherlands announce...

Bill McKibben The White House in the Time of Trump has seen unprecedented attacks on pillars of society and civilization  ‘Bannon and Trump hate reason precisely because it places limits on their actions.’ Photograph: REX/Shutterstock We’re not in a normal historical moment. Congress is acting as expected under a Republican government. The assault on the environment and working people is wrong, but predictable. What’s coming from the Oval Office, though, is unprecedented. It’s less the White House than the Black Tower, sending out its Breitbartian orcs and alt-right winged harpies to poison the politics of a nation. Two types of assaults are underway. One, instigated mostly by Congress, is painful. Last week, for instance, they managed in one morning to both end rules which sought to  prevent  coal companies from polluting streams and regulations which made it  harder  for oil companies to bribe foreign governments. There are ...

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech in a meeting with military commanders in Tehran, Iran, February 7, 2017. Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves as he delivers a speech in a meeting with military commanders in Tehran, Iran, February 7, 2017. Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's warning to Tehran to stop its missile tests, and called on Iranians to respond to Trump's "threats" on Friday's anniversary of the 1979 revolution. "No enemy can paralyze the Iranian nation," Khamenei was quoted as saying by his website in a meeting with military commanders in Tehran. "[Trump] says 'you should be afraid of me'. No! The Iranian people will respond to his words on Feb 10, (the anniversary of revolution) and will show their stance against such threats."

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks to a group of Belgian reporters in this handout picture provided by SANA on February 7, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks to a group of Belgian reporters in this handout picture provided by SANA on February 7, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said U.S. President Donald Trump prioritizing the fight against jihadists by Islamic State was promising although it was too early to expect any practical steps, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday. Trump has indicated he might cut U.S. support for Syrian rebels and might help Syria in the fight against Islamic State. He has made defeating Islamic State a core goal of his presidency and signed an executive order asking the Pentagon, the joint chiefs of staff and other agencies to submit a preliminary plan on how to proceed within 30 days. Assad was quoted by SANA as telling a group of Belgi...

White House backs up president’s claim that media is deliberately ignoring terror attacks by releasing list riddled with errors   Trump claims media is deliberately ignoring terror attacks David Smith  in Washington The White House has distributed a list of 78 terrorist attacks to support Donald Trump’s claim that the media is failing to properly report them. But the list includes many atrocities that received blanket western media coverage including the  Paris Bataclan attacks , the Nice truck killings  and the  San Bernardino shootings . Many others including the  Sydney siege  and Germany’s  Christmas market attack received wide international coverage. The list also includes multiple errors and spelling mistakes, including ‘San Bernadino’, and for no apparent reason excludes terror attacks in Israel. Images of Trump in a bathrobe flood Twitter after Sean Spicer says he 'doesn't own one' The release comes af...

The speaker of the UK House of Commons says he is "opposed" to a speech by US President Donald Trump in Westminster Hall, particularly after his order for imposition of a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries. John Bercow made the remarks during a speech to the House of Commons on Monday after a point of order by a fellow Labour MP, Stephen Doughty. Bercow noted that his opposition to a Trump speech intensified after the new president‘s executive order. “Before the imposition of the migrant ban I would myself have been strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall. After the imposition of the migrant ban by President Trump I am even more strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall,” said the speaker. Bercow’s stance complicates the situation for the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been promoting a boost in the UK-US “special relationship” after Trump’s grip on ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with his Moldovan counterpart Igor Dodon at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, January 17, 2017. The Kremlin said on Monday it did not agree with U.S. President Donald Trump's assessment of Iran as "the number one terrorist state" and wanted to deepen what it described as already good ties with Tehran. The Kremlin was responding to comments Trump made to Fox News in an interview aired at the weekend in which he complained that Iran had "total disregard" for the United States. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters that Moscow saw things differently. "Russia has friendly partner-like relations with Iran, we cooperate on a wide range of issues, value our trade ties, and hope to develop them further," said Peskov. Trump and Putin say they want to try to rebuild U.S.-Russia ties, that were badly damaged by Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and by Western sanctions i...

President Donald Trump will huddle with chief executives of major U.S. companies on Friday as the business community finds itself increasingly split over how to respond to his policies. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick on Thursday quit the business leaders' group, a panel selected by Trump in December, under pressure from activists over Trump's week-old executive order halting travel to the United States for people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Executives from Ford Motor Co and Tesla Inc also criticized Trump's travel ban, but other advisory group members, including General Motors Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co have not taken a position. Trump previously met with executives from the U.S. pharmaceutical and auto industries as part of a push to step up U.S. job creation. U.S. companies of all political stripes want Trump, a Republican, to fulfill a campaign pledge to slash corporate taxes, but a schism has developed over how to do it. The splits highlight business leader...