Headline News 05/01/2018

Headlines

• ‘Fire and Fury’ Author Wolff calls Trump Least Credible Person who has Ever Walked on Earth

• Egypt's Grand Mufti Issues a Fatwa on Bitcoin and Warns it could be Used by Terrorists

• Pakistan Ditches the Dollar for Trade with China

Details

‘Fire and Fury’ Author Wolff calls Trump Least Credible Person who has Ever Walked on Earth

Michael Wolff, the author of a new book that gives a behind-the-scenes account of the White House, defended his work Friday, insisting he spoke with President Donald Trump on the record and calling the commander in chief "a man who has less credibility than, perhaps, anyone who has ever walked on earth." Wolff, in an exclusive interview on NBC's "Today," said that everyone he spoke to for the book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," described the president the same way. "I will tell you the one description that everyone gave, everyone has in common: They all say he is like a child," Wolff explained. "And what they mean by that is, he has a need for immediate gratification. It is all about him." Wolff added that "100 percent of the people around" Trump, "senior advisers, family members, every single one of them, questions his intelligence and fitness for office." [Source: NBC]

Wolff’s depiction of Trump confirms what most of the world thinks. However, who is dumber Trump or the millions that elected him into office and the Republican Party that continues to protect him?

Egypt's Grand Mufti Issues a Fatwa on Bitcoin and Warns it could be Used by Terrorists

Egypt's grand mufti Shawqi Allam has declared the trading of the digital currency Bitcoin unlawful - issuing an official fatwa and warning it could be used by terrorists. The theological leader, who is the country's official interpreter for the religion, issued the fatwa because the trading of it could be used for criminal exchanges. Allam added that it could provide 'stable and secure financial resources for terrorists and criminal groups'. Bitcoin, launched in 2009 and based on a peer-to-peer payment system, poses 'high risks to individuals and states,' Allam said in a published ruling. Suggesting his decision to declare a fatwa was based on discussions with economic experts, he concluded bitcoin is not permissible as it undermines the state - a central feature in Islamic sharia. Minting and issuing currency is an 'absolute right' of monetary institutions and 'one of the most specific functions of the state,' said the country's official interpreter of Islamic law. [Source: Daily Mail]

It would have been much better for the Mufti to advocate strenuously the return of the gold standard, which is the only standard stipulated by Shariah. Furthermore, Allam should have called for its immediate implementation in Egypt, where it would immunize the people against rising inflation. Without specifying the alternative Islamic vision to crypto currencies, and fiat money, many are left asking the question what Islam has to offer.

Pakistan Ditches the Dollar for trade with China

A day after the U.S. leader slammed Islamabad for harboring terrorists in a New Year's Day tweet, Pakistan's central bank announced that it will be replacing the dollar with the yuan for bilateral trade and investment with Beijing. The same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang defended Islamabad's counter-terrorism track record, saying the country "made great efforts and sacrifices for combating terrorism" and urged the international community to "fully recognize this." China has been watching closely as U.S.-Pakistan relations become increasingly strained.

Trump has long demanded the frontier economy to do more on counter-terrorism while he simultaneously grew closer to its arch-rival, India. "Pakistan and the U.S. have had a fraught relationship for years, but the big change recently has been China," said Simon Baptist, Asia regional director at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

"China has really gone hard in cementing its existing relationship with Pakistan, it's really the only place that's seen significant investment under the Belt and Road initiative and China has been pushing for geopolitical advantage there." Islamabad is home to one of Beijing's central infrastructure schemes, a near $60 billion collection of land and sea projects known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — a centerpiece of Belt and Road. And with a steady stream of Chinese capital under its belt, Pakistan may no longer be receptive to American threats, the most recent of which involves Washington cutting off security assistance. "Pakistan balks far less at reductions in American aid, which, as the former points out, has dwindled in recent years anyway. China, on the other hand, has promised Pakistan $57 billion in investments on infrastructure and energy under its Belt and Road Initiative," Madiha Afzal, a nonresident fellow at Brookings, said in a recent note. "All this means that America has far less leverage over Pakistan." "The history of Pakistan's relationships with China and the United States also shows that Pakistan's policy does not respond to strong-handedness, but to loyalty, and to being treated with dignity," she continued. [Source: CNBC]

By embracing the Yaun, Pakistan risks accelerating China’s grand plan of colonizing countries through initiatives like CPEC and the Silk Road project. Just as Germany dominates the EU via the Euro, China will dominate Pakistan and other countries that have adopted the Yaun to conduct bilateral trade.