The Jim Bakker Show

NATO, Russia and trade top the agenda for Trump talks with Britain’s May

By Steve Holland and Elizabeth Piper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May, who share an unusual bond as the products of anti-establishment uprisings, will sit down on Friday for what could be a difficult search for unity on NATO, Russia and trade.

The meeting will mark Trump’s first with a foreign leader since taking power a week ago, and it could go a long way toward determining how crucial Trump considers the traditional “special relationship” between the two countries.

Trump rode an anti-Washington wave to win on Nov. 8, and May gained power in July after the “Brexit” vote that has put her country on a path to separate from the European Union. The meeting will conclude with a joint White House news conference.

Trump has declared NATO obsolete and expressed a desire for warmer ties with Russia. May considers the trans-Atlantic alliance crucial and is skeptical of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They both want to begin work on a bilateral trade agreement, which for May would provide proof of stability amid the Brexit breakup and for Trump would support his belief that he can negotiate one-on-one trade pacts.

“They both need this to be a success,” said Heather Conley, a European expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Trump, she said, “needs to demonstrate that he has a command of issues” while May “needs to hear strong messages of support for her vision of a Britain that works for everyone, a global Britain.”

May, in a speech to Republican lawmakers gathered in Philadelphia on Thursday, suggested she saw the need for some reforms in NATO and for more countries to pay more to the alliance to help fund it, which has been Trump’s main complaint about NATO.

“America’s leadership role in NATO – supported by Britain – must be the central element around which the alliance is built,” May said.

But she said that EU nations “must step up” to ensure NATO remains the cornerstone of the West’s defense.

Trump and May also seem somewhat at odds over how to deal with Russia. In her speech, May said Western leaders should “engage but beware” of Putin and should not accept Putin’s claim that Eastern Europe is now in his sphere of influence.Trump, on the other hand, wants a strong U.S. relationship with Russia to fight Islamic State militants.

“I don’t know Putin, but if we can get along with Russia, that’s a great thing,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity” on Thursday. “It’s good for Russia, it’s good for us.”

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Philippines says U.S. military to upgrade bases, defense deal intact

Philippine President Duterte discusses U.S. bases on Philippines

By Manuel Mogato

MANILA (Reuters) – The United States will upgrade and build facilities on Philippine military bases this year, Manila’s defense minister said on Thursday, bolstering an alliance strained by President Rodrigo Duterte’s opposition to a U.S. troop presence.

The Pentagon gave the green light to start the work as part of an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), a 2014 pact that Duterte has threatened to scrap during barrages of hostility towards the former colonial power.

“EDCA is still on,” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told a news conference.

EDCA allows the expansion of rotational deployment of U.S. ships, aircraft and troops at five bases in the Philippines as well as the storage of equipment for humanitarian and maritime security operations.

Lorenzana said Washington had committed to build warehouses, barracks and runways in the five agreed locations and Duterte was aware of projects and had promised to honor all existing agreements with the United States.

This week, Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, who headed the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee, proposed $7.5 billion of new military funding for U.S. forces and their allies in the Asia-Pacific.

The geopolitical landscape in Asia has been shaken up by Duterte’s grudge against Washington, his overtures towards erstwhile adversary China, and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration has indicated it may take a tough line on China’s activities in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has said it wants no part in anything confrontational in the strategic waterway and will not jeopardize promises of extensive Chinese trade and investment, and offers of military hardware, that Duterte has got since he launched his surprise foreign policy shift.

Lorenzana said the Philippines had asked China for two to three fast boats, two drones, sniper rifles and a robot for bomb disposal, in a $14 million arms donation from China.

The arms package would be used to support operations against Islamist Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines, he said.

“If these are quality equipment, we will probably buy more,” he said.

Lorenzana said Russia was offering hardware such as ships, submarines, planes and helicopters.

As with China, those offers have come as a result of a charm offensive by Duterte, who has praised Russia and its leadership. He last year said if Russia and China started a “new order” in the world, he would be the first to join.

Duterte was infuriated by U.S. expressions of concern about extra-judicial killings in a campaign against drugs he launched after he took office in June.

(Editing by Martin Petty, Robert Birsel)

Trump to choose Supreme Court justice nominee on Feb. 2

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will make his choice to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 2 as he seeks to restore the conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

Trump announced the date in Twitter message one day after meeting with key U.S. senators and promising to unveil his nominee to fill the vacancy left by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago.

Three U.S. appeals court judges are among those under close consideration by Trump, who took office last Friday and had said he would act on a nominee next week.

Appointment as a Supreme Court justice requires Senate confirmation for the lifetime post. Trump’s fellow Republicans control the Senate with a 52-48 majority, but Democrats could potentially try to block the nomination using procedural hurdles.

On Tuesday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he told Trump in the meeting that Democrats would fight any nominee they consider to be outside the mainstream.

Trump is in position to name Scalia’s replacement because the Republican-led U.S. Senate last year refused to consider Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee, appeals court judge Merrick Garland.

The current frontrunners include three conservative jurists who were appointed to the bench by Republican former President George W. Bush: Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Thomas Hardiman, who serves on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; and William Pryor, a judge on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Frances Kerry)

Trump invites Netanyahu to Washington for visit: White House

By Ayesha Rascoe and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Washington in early February during a phone call in which they discussed the importance of strengthening the U.S.-Israeli relationship, the White House said on Sunday.

In his first call with Netanyahu since taking office on Friday, Trump stressed his “unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security.”

“The president and the prime minister agreed to continue to closely consult on a range of regional issues, including addressing the threats posed by Iran,” the White House said in a statement.

Trump also said peace between Israel and the Palestinians could only be negotiated between the two parties, but that the United States would work with Israel to achieve that goal.

Relations between Israel and the Obama administration ended on a contentious note, when the United States declined to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a halt to Israeli settlement-building.

The readout from the White House did not include any mention of moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, an action that would likely spark anger in the Arab world.

Earlier on Sunday, the White House said it was only in the early stages of talks to fulfill Trump’s campaign pledge to relocate the embassy.

“We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement. Aides said no announcement of an embassy move was imminent.

Washington’s embassy is in Tel Aviv, as are most foreign diplomatic posts. Israel calls Jerusalem its eternal capital, but Palestinians also lay claim to the city as part of an eventual Palestinian state. Both sides cite biblical, historical and political claims.

Any decision to break with the status quo is likely to prompt protests from U.S. allies in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Washington relies on those countries for help in fighting the Islamic State militant group, which the new U.S. president has said is a priority.

The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive Republican and Democratic presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem.

In early December, then-President Barack Obama renewed the presidential waiver on an embassy move until the beginning of June. It is unclear whether Trump would be able to legally override it and go ahead with relocation of the embassy.

U.S. diplomats say that, despite the U.S. legislation, Washington’s foreign policy is in practice broadly aligned with that of the United Nations and other major powers, which do not view Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and do not recognize Israel’s annexation of Arab East Jerusalem after its capture in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel approved building permits on Sunday for hundreds of homes in three East Jerusalem settlements in expectation that Trump will row back on the previous administration’s criticism of such projects.

(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe, Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Howard Goller and Paul Simao)

Executive actions ready to go as Trump prepares to take office

By Ayesha Rascoe and Julia Edwards Ainsley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump is preparing to sign executive actions on his first day in the White House on Friday to take the opening steps to crack down on immigration, build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and roll back outgoing President Barack Obama’s policies.

Trump, a Republican elected on Nov. 8 to succeed Democrat Obama, arrived in Washington on a military plane with his family a day before he will be sworn in during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.

Aides said Trump would not wait to wield one of the most powerful tools of his office, the presidential pen, to sign several executive actions that can be implemented without the input of Congress.

“He is committed to not just Day 1, but Day 2, Day 3 of enacting an agenda of real change, and I think that you’re going to see that in the days and weeks to come,” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday, telling reporters to expect activity on Friday, during the weekend and early next week.

Trump plans on Saturday to visit the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Virginia. He has harshly criticized the agency and its outgoing chief, first questioning the CIA’s conclusion that Russia was involved in cyber hacking during the U.S. election campaign, before later accepting the verdict. Trump also likened U.S. intelligence agencies to Nazi Germany.

Trump’s advisers vetted more than 200 potential executive orders for him to consider signing on healthcare, climate policy, immigration, energy and numerous other issues, but it was not clear how many orders he would initially approve, according to a member of the Trump transition team who was not authorized to talk to the press.

Signing off on orders puts Trump, who has presided over a sprawling business empire but has never before held public office, in a familiar place similar to the CEO role that made him famous, and will give him some early victories before he has to turn to the lumbering process of getting Congress to pass bills.

The strategy has been used by other presidents, including Obama, in their first few weeks in office.

“He wants to show he will take action and not be stifled by Washington gridlock,” said Princeton University presidential historian Julian Zelizer.

Trump is expected to impose a federal hiring freeze and take steps to delay a Labor Department rule due to take effect in April that would require brokers who give retirement advice to put their clients’ best interests first.

He also will give official notice he plans to withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, Spicer said. “I think you will see those happen very shortly,” Spicer said.

Obama, ending eight years as president, made frequent use of his executive powers during his second term in office, when the Republican-controlled Congress stymied his efforts to overhaul immigration and environmental laws. Many of those actions are now ripe targets for Trump to reverse.

BORDER WALL

Trump is expected to sign an executive order in his first few days to direct the building of a wall on the southern border with Mexico, and actions to limit the entry of asylum seekers from Latin America, among several immigration-related steps his advisers have recommended.

That includes rescinding Obama’s order that allowed more than 700,000 people brought into the United States illegally as children to stay in the country on a two-year authorization to work and attend college, according to several people close to the presidential transition team.

It is unlikely Trump’s order will result in an immediate roundup of these immigrants, sources told Reuters. Rather, he is expected to let the authorizations expire.

The issue could set up a confrontation with Obama, who told reporters on Wednesday he would weigh in if he felt the new administration was unfairly targeting those immigrants.

Advisers to Trump expect him to put restrictions on people entering the United States from certain countries until a system for “extreme vetting” for Islamist extremists can be set up.

During his presidential campaign, Trump proposed banning non-American Muslims from entering the United States, but his executive order regarding immigration is expected to be based on nationality rather than religion.

Another proposed executive order would require all Cabinet departments to disclose and pause current work being done in connection with Obama’s initiatives to curb carbon emissions to combat climate change.

Trump also is expected to extend prohibitions on future lobbying imposed on members of his transition team.

‘THE HIGHEST IQ’

Washington was turned into a virtual fortress ahead of the inauguration, with police ready to step in to separate protesters from Trump supporters at any sign of unrest.

As Obama packed up to leave the White House, Trump and his family laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery and attended a concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

Trump spoke earlier to lawmakers and Cabinet nominees at a luncheon in a ballroom at his hotel, down the street from the White House, announcing during brief remarks that he would pick Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets of the National Football League, as U.S. ambassador to Britain.

“We have a lot of smart people. I tell you what, one thing we’ve learned, we have by far the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever assembled,” Trump said.

Trump has selected all 21 members of his Cabinet, along with six other key positions requiring Senate confirmation. The Senate is expected on Friday to vote to confirm retired General James Mattis, Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, and retired General John Kelly, his homeland security choice.

Senate Republicans had hoped to confirm as many as seven Cabinet members on Friday, but Democrats balked at the pace. Trump spokesman Spicer accused Senate Democrats of “stalling tactics.”

Also in place for Monday will be 536 “beachhead team members” at government agencies, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said, a small portion of the thousands of positions Obama’s appointees will vacate.

Trump has asked 50 Obama staffers in critical posts to stay on until replacements can be found, including Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Brett McGurk, envoy to the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.

The list includes Adam Szubin, who has long served in an “acting” capacity in the Treasury Department’s top anti-terrorism job because his nomination has been held up by congressional Republicans since Obama named him to the job in April 2015.

The Supreme Court said U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, who will administer the oath of office on Friday, met with Trump on Thursday to discuss inauguration arrangements.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, David Shepardson, Susan Heavey, David Alexander, Doina Chiacu, Ayesha Rascoe, Ginger Gibson, Mike Stone, Emily Stephenson, David Brunnstrom and Lawrence Hurley)

British protesters tell Trump from Tower Bridge: ‘Build bridges not walls’

By Alistair Smout and Luke Bridges

LONDON (Reuters) – A banner reading “Build bridges not walls” was draped across London’s Tower Bridge on Friday as part of a series of protests across the world aimed at expressing displeasure at the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president.

Protesters on the drawbridge, with its two Gothic-style towers, held up pink letters reading “Act now!” soon after sunrise, while others unfurled the banner over the railings and a speedboat with a black flag reading “build bridges not walls” raced down the River Thames.

Beside the British parliament, protesters draped banners saying “Migrants welcome here” and “Migration is older than language” over Westminster bridge. Other protests are planned in London, other British cities and across the world on Friday.

Julie Chasin, a 42-year-old teacher originally from New York who has lived in London for a decade, said she joined the protest to hold up one of the pink letters on Tower Bridge as she was concerned about the Trump presidency.

“Yes Donald Trump is President, but he still needs to protect everybody’s rights,” said Chasin, a Democrat who said she worked on Hillary campaign in North Carolina.

“It’s scary. I hope he’s kept in check. I hope everyone who is telling me not to worry, and saying that we have a strong system of checks and balances, I hope that it’s true,” Chasin said.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to “make America great again”, drawing strong support especially from areas of industrial decline. He said on Twitter that he would fight very hard to make his presidency a great journey for the American people.

TRUMP’S FRESH APPROACH

Due to be sworn in at a ceremony in Washington on Friday, he faces protests in Washington during his inauguration, and in cities from Toronto to Sydney, Addis Ababa and Dublin over his politics which critics say are divisive and dangerous.

The protest in London was organized by the campaign group also called “Bridges not Walls”, in reference to Trump’s pledge to build a wall on the Mexican border.

“We won’t let the politics of hate peddled by the likes of Donald Trump take hold,” Nona Hurkmans of Bridges not Walls said in a statement.

Trump opponents have been angered by his comments during the campaign about women, illegal immigrants and Muslims and his pledges to scrap the Obamacare health reform and build a wall on the Mexican border.

The Republican’s supporters admire his experience in business, including as a real estate developer and reality television star, and view him as an outsider who will take a fresh approach to politics.

For some on the protest in London, Trump’s victory a little over 4 months after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, symbolizes a rise of populism across the West.

“For me it’s about not just the inauguration of Trump, but about the rise of right wing populism across Western Europe and the US, and Trump’s inauguration is a celebration of that,” Jac St John, 26, a doctoral student from London, who unfurled one of the banners.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Luke Bridges; editing by Kate Holton and Guy Faulconbridge, Ralph Boulton)

China’s Xi says to build new relations with United States

By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – China will build a new model of relations with the United States as part of its creation of a “circle of friends” around the world, President Xi Jinping said in a speech at the United Nations in Geneva on Wednesday.

His speech, the finale of a Swiss trip that included a state visit and topping the bill at the World Economic Forum in Davos, was intended to highlight a Chinese interest in playing a cooperative role in international affairs.

“We always put people’s rights and interests above everything else and we have worked hard to develop and uphold human rights,” he said. “China will never seek expansion, hegemony or sphere of influence.”

Human rights groups and Western governments have accused China of widespread human rights abuses. Beijing has also been accused by smaller neighbors of expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea but denies such charges.

“Big countries should treat smaller countries as equals instead of acting as a hegemon imposing their will on others.

“We will strive to build new model of major country relations with the United States, a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination with Russia, a partnership for peace, growth, reform and among different civilizations,” he said.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was particularly critical of China during his election campaign, accusing it of exploiting the United States economically. He also raised concern by taking a telephone call after his election from the president of Taiwan which Beijing regards as a renegade province.

Xi called for unity on climate change and the fight against terrorism, as well as nuclear disarmament.

“The Paris agreement is a milestone in the history of climate governance. We must ensure this endeavor is not derailed…China will continue to take steps to tackle climate change and fully honor its obligations,” Xi said.

China itself suffers serious air pollution but has pushed hard to develop “green” energy systems. President-elect Trump has cast doubt on accepted scientific wisdom that carbon emissions are driving a rise in global temperatures.

The deep sea, the polar regions, outer space and the Internet should be new frontiers for cooperation rather than a wrestling ground for competition, he said.

(Reporting by Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Trump’s U.N. nominee to blast world body over Israel: testimony

Nikki Haley to-be amassador under Donald Trump for United Nations speaks for Israel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will blast the world body over its treatment of Israel at her Senate confirmation hearing, according to prepared testimony seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

“Nowhere has the UN’s failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel,” Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said in the opening remarks for her appearance on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Any honest assessment also finds an institution that is often at odds with American national interests and American taxpayers,” the speech says.

In the remarks, Haley offered some praise for UN activities, such as health and food programs that have saved millions of lives, weapons monitoring and some peacekeeping missions, in something of a departure from Trump, who has disparaged the United Nations.

Other Trump national security nominees, notably his choices for Secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of Defense, retired Marine General James Mattis, have also broken from the Republican president-elect in testimony before the Senate.

Noting that the United States contributes 22 percent of the UN budget, far more than any other country, Haley asked, “Are we getting what we pay for?” She promised to work with U.S. lawmakers to pursue what she described as “seriously needed change” at the United Nations.

Some Republican lawmakers, led by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, have threatened to cut U.S. funding for the United Nations after the Security Council adopted a Dec. 23 resolution demanding an end to settlement building by Israel.

Graham will introduce Haley at her hearing.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)

Potentially nasty fight looms over Trump U.S. Supreme Court pick

By Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Democrats are gearing up for a potentially ugly fight over Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court pick, with some liberal activists urging them to do everything possible to block any nominee from the Republican president-elect.

Democrats are still seething over the Republican-led Senate’s decision last year to refuse to consider outgoing President Barack Obama’s nomination of appeals court judge Merrick Garland for a lifetime post on the court. The action had little precedent in U.S. history and prompted some Democrats to accuse Republicans of stealing a Supreme Court seat.

Trump last week vowed to announce his appointment within about two weeks of taking office on Friday. He said he would pick from among 20 candidates suggested by conservative legal groups to fill the lingering vacancy caused by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia last Feb. 13.

Scalia’s replacement could tilt the ideological leaning of the court for years to come, restoring the long-standing conservative majority that disappeared with Scalia’s death just at a time when it appeared liberals would get an upper hand on the bench.

Liberal groups are gearing up for a battle, with the People For the American Way calling the judges on Trump’s list of candidates “very extreme.”

“We’re hearing from Senate Democrats and parallel concern among outside groups that this is going to be a major fight,” said Marge Baker, the group’s executive vice president. “We’ll be arguing that Democrats use every means at their disposal to defeat the nominee. This is going to be ‘all hands on deck,’ using all means at our disposal.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has said it is hard for him to imagine Trump picking a nominee who Democrats could support, and said he would “absolutely” fight to keep the seat vacant rather than let the Senate confirm a Trump nominee deemed to be outside the mainstream.

“We are not going to make it easy for them to pick a Supreme Court justice,” Schumer told MSNBC on Jan. 3, adding that if the Republicans “don’t appoint someone who’s really good, we’re going to oppose them tooth and nail.”

Senate Democrats may be in a position to hold up Trump’s selection indefinitely. Senate rules require 60 votes in the 100-seat chamber to overcome a procedural hurdle called a filibuster on Supreme Court nominees. There are 52 Republican senators.

Assuming all 52 back Trump’s nominee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell either would need to lure eight Democrats to his side or change the rules and ban the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. Republicans, then in the minority, complained that their rights had been trampled when Senate Democrats in 2013 voted to eliminate the filibuster for executive branch and judicial nominees beyond the Supreme Court.

‘THIS IS A FIGHT’

Baker said liberals cannot hold their fire for fear that Republicans will use this so-called nuclear option, adding, “At some point you don’t game this out. You say, ‘This is a fight.'”

Other liberal groups urged a more conciliatory approach.

“We’re not predisposed to opposition here,” said Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Any nominee will be evaluated, Clarke said, adding that the group is girding for a nominee who is hostile to civil rights.

Trump’s nominee could influence the court on a wide range of issues including abortion, the death penalty, religious rights, presidential powers, gay and transgender rights, federal regulations and others.

Political considerations also hang over the confirmation fight. Democrats and the two independents aligned with them in the Senate will be defending 25 seats in the 2018 elections, while Republicans defend only eight.

Many of those Democratic seats are in Republican-leaning states Trump won in the Nov. 8 election, including West Virginia, Missouri, North Dakota, Indiana, Montana, Michigan and Ohio.

Republicans likely will target these and other Democrats in hopes of coaxing them into backing Trump’s nominee. That means Democratic senators such as West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Indiana’s Joe Donnelly and Missouri’s Claire McCaskill could face extra pressure not to block Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

The liberal groups are facing off with well-funded conservative adversaries. The Judicial Crisis Network, for instance, has said it will spend at least $10 million on advertising and grassroots efforts to pressure Senate Democrats to back Trump’s nominee.

Carrie Severino, the group’s chief counsel, said it would be hypocritical for Democrats to block a vote after arguing the Constitution required the Senate to act on Garland.

“A lot of them (Democrats) spent the last nine months saying there is a constitutional duty to have a vote. I’d find it shocking if they would not carry out what they think their duty is,” Severino said.

Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, said the high level of interest the vacancy has generated among activists, lawyers, students and others makes up for the deep pockets of the other side. “I don’t think we’ll need $10 million given the outcry expressed already,” Aron said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)

Philippines says protested against China arms buildup on South China Sea isles

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest with China, its foreign minister said on Monday, over Beijing’s installation last year of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on its manmade islands in the disputed South China Sea.

The protest note was sent to the Chinese embassy in December, after confirmation of a report from the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies about a weapons buildup on seven artificial islands in the Spratlys.

One of those islands is located within the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay told CNN Philippines it was important to raise concerns carefully, and not create a big row.

“I just want to assure the Filipino people that when we take action at engaging China in this dispute, we do not want to take such aggressive, provocative action that will not solve the problem,” he said.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of goods passes every year. An international arbitration ruling last year invalidated those claims.

Speaking up about that has become a tricky issue for the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte turned its foreign policy upside down by seeking engagement and a new relationship with China. Until recently the Philippines had been one of the most outspoken critics of Beijing’s maritime assertiveness.

“We cannot engage China in a war,” Yasay added, but “when there are reports about the buildup of weapon systems in the area during our watch, we made sure that the interests and rights of the Philippines are properly protected.”

The Philippines this year chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Yasay said last week he was confident a protracted code of conduct between the grouping and China could be finished by mid-year, after 15 years and limited progress.

China’s artificial islands became a hot issue last week when the U.S. nominee for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, told a Senate hearing that Beijing should be repelled from, and then denied access to, the controversial islets.

Yasay last week suggested the Philippines would play no part in that, and said of the United States, “Let them do it”.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez)

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