JUSTICE DEPARTMENT & WHITE HOUSE RESPOND TO REPORTS THAT JEFF SESSIONS MET WITH TOP RUSSIAN OFFICIAL DURING ELECTIONS

On Wednesday night, Washington Post, released a report claiming new U.S Attorney General, Jeff Sessions twice met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in Washington last year, and may have possibly discussed electoral and political matters with Kislyak, that influenced the U.S presidential elections.

Top Democratic senators are now urging Jeff Sessions to resign.

Kislyak, is regarded by U.S Intelligence agencies as a top spy recruiter in Washington and his discussion with U.S President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Mike Flynn before his assumption of office led to his resignation

Top Democratic senators are now asking Jeff Sessions to resign as he may have put American intelligence and the safety of future elections in jeopardy with the meeting, as he didn't even mention he had met with any Russian official during his confirmation hearing by the Senate.

Jeff Sessions, a loyal Trump supporter on Wednesday night swiftly responded to the reports, denying he discussed anything political or electoral with the Russian official.. The Justice Department and the White House have also responded to the reports, saying unlike Flynn, Sessions did not do anything wrong.

"I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign," he said in a statement on Wednesday night. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."

Sessions' spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said there was nothing "misleading about his answer" to Congress when asked about Russia.

According to Flores, Jeff "was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign -- not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee."

"Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors," Isgur Flores said in the new statement.

A Justice Department official also talked about sessions meeting with CNN, saying Sessions met with the ambassadors "in his capacity as a senator on the Armed Serviced Committee."

A White House official reacting to the reports, said: "This is the latest attack against the Trump Administration by partisan Democrats.
(Attorney) General Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony."

MARINE LE PEN'S IMMUNITY LIFTED BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen loses her EU immunity after tweeting images of ISIL brutality. Le Pen's immunity has been lifted before for comparing Muslims praying in public to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. 

 The lifting of immunity allows a Paris court to prosecute her for posting three images of brutality by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS, on Twitter in 2015, including a photo of the decapitated corpse of US journalist James Foley.

The offence being considered is "publishing violent images," which under certain circumstances can carry a penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $78,930.00.   

Lawmakers voted by a "big majority" on Thursday to deprive Le Pen of her immunity in the case, acting parliament speaker Dimitrios Papadimoulis said.

Parliamentary immunity is intended to protect EU lawmakers against intimidation attempts.

EU officials said that the vote came after a request from the French judiciary.

Responding to the vote on Wednesday, Le Pen said: "This only shows French citizens what the EU is, what the European parliament is and that it's all part of the system that wants to stop the French people's candidate that I am".

Florian Philippot, a vice president of Le Pen's party the National Front (FN), defended the Eurosceptic candidate's 2015 Twitter posts.

"Showing and naming the horror of Islamism allow us to fight against it," Philippot told the Reuters news agency.

Le Pen has previously refused to attend a French police interview over the investigation, citing her status as an MEP.

But her head of cabinet has been placed under formal investigation for "the dissemination of violent images".

The French leader, locked in an increasingly tight three-way race to succeed Francois Hollande this spring, has already seen her earnings as MEP cut for a different case involving alleged misuse of EU funds.

She has denounced the legal proceedings against her as political interference in the campaign, where she is the leading candidate. She has called for a moratorium on judicial investigations until the election period is over.

Le Pen is expected to win the first of the two election rounds but likely to lose in a runoff,according to polls, which also show that her legal battles seem to have little effect on her supporters.

Le Pen's immunity has been lifted before, in 2013. She was prosecuted in 2015 for "incitement to discrimination over people's religious beliefs", for comparing Muslims praying in public to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II.

Prosecutors eventually recommended the charges be dropped.

UN TROOPS USE LOCALS IN MALI PEACEKEEPING MISSION

 UN soldiers in northern Mali are enlisting the help of local residents to defeat fighters linked to al-Qaeda. It's a strategy one commander says has already prevented a massacre. 

The UN peace keepers have also asked locals to help fight the terrorist. It was through the locals that UN keepers were able to defuse a bomb that was kept at a school which could have killed a lot of locals. 

The peace keepers in return help the locals cultivate their farm land. Through the help of local peace is coming to the area little by little.