“One Cocained Actress Has Fallen Flat On Her Face” – Shekhar Suman Sly Tweets…Read full details

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Shekhar Suman, who used to be a super popular talk show host once upon a time, hasn’t been seen around much lately. We came across this cryptic tweet of his this morning talking about the failure of an actress’s recent film.

One cocained actress was carrying the burden of her non existent stardom.She has fallen flat on her face n how.Guess this is poetic justice.

— Shekhar Suman (@shekharsuman7) February 27, 2017

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His son also ended up getting into a little Twitter war with someone.

@shekharsuman7 Hi sir where do you and your super star son @AdhyayanSsuman keep your National awards ??

— ashish agarwal (@ashishagarwal_) February 27, 2017

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@ashishagarwal_ @shekharsuman7 beta national award se films nahin chalte …

— adhyayen suman (@AdhyayanSsuman) February 27, 2017

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@AdhyayanSsuman @shekharsuman7 Mere pas h job jo apne mehnat se hai…I dont believe in putting others down and mock other people failure

— ashish agarwal (@ashishagarwal_) February 27, 2017

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@ashishagarwal_ @shekharsuman7 accha beta sirf tu hi mehnat karta hai haan! U r mocking me ! Why? Did I say shit to u ?

— adhyayen suman (@AdhyayanSsuman) February 27, 2017

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@AdhyayanSsuman @shekharsuman7 Waise I think I should not pay heed to you… You are no body

— ashish agarwal (@ashishagarwal_) February 27, 2017

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@ashishagarwal_ beta nobody se baat mat kar apna 9 to 5 job kar. Ja chal nikal abhi

— adhyayen suman (@AdhyayanSsuman) February 27, 2017

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@AdhyayanSsuman Atleast i have my indentity not dependent on others like you. And If some one do 9 se 5 job are they small in ur eyes. SHAME

— ashish agarwal (@ashishagarwal_) February 27, 2017

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@Ch0tpot3 right !!! You seem pretty busy too!!

— adhyayen suman (@AdhyayanSsuman) February 28, 2017

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Ouch! Any idea who Shekhar Suman’s hinting at?

The post “One Cocained Actress Has Fallen Flat On Her Face” – Shekhar Suman Sly Tweets is copyright of MissMalini.

Source: Miss Malini

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Hundreds of migrants enter Spain from Morocco

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Migrants

Hundreds of migrants stormed into Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta from Morocco early Friday, the emergency services and police said, adding that some were injured in the process.

“The Civil Guard at Ceuta estimates that 500 people could have succeeded in entering the town,” the emergency services said on Twitter.

The Civil Guard, or paramilitary police, meanwhile told AFP that “several hundreds” crossed over and many of them were hurt, as were members of the security forces.

The last such attempt took place on New Year’s Day when more than 1,000 migrants tried to jump a high double fence between Morocco and Ceuta in a violent assault that saw one officer lose an eye.

The emergency services said on Twitter that the Spanish Red Cross extended assistance to some 400 people.

Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish territory in North Africa, have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.

They are entry points for African migrants seeking a better life in Europe, who get there by climbing the border fence, swimming along the coast or by hiding in vehicles.

The enclave has been ringed by a double wire fence that is eight kilometres (five miles) long. The six-metre (20-foot) high fence also has rolls of barbed wire.

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AU collective withdrawal plan from ICC suffer setback

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PHOTO: Missionaries of Africa

The plan by members of African Union (AU) to collectively withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) may suffer a setback as Nigeria and some other countries objected the proposal.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Addis Ababa.

Onyeama explained that there was a strategy adopted by AU for collective withdrawal from the ICC which Nigeria did not subscribe to.

The minister said that when the issue came up during a meeting, several countries kicked against it.

He said Nigeria and others believed that the court had an important role to play in holding leaders accountable, hence Nigeria fully stood by it.

“Nigeria is not the only voice agitating against it, in fact Senegal is very strongly speaking against it, Cape Verde, and other countries are also against it.

“What they (AU) do was to set up a committee to elaborate a strategy for collective withdrawal.

“And after, Senegal took the floor, Nigeria took the floor, Cape Verde and some other countries made it clear that they were not going to subscribe to that decision,” he said.

According to him, a number of countries also took the floor to say that they needed time to study it before they acceded to that position.

He said that Zambia, Tanzania, Liberia, Botswana and host of others were not willing to withdraw from the court.

While faulting AU position on ICC, Onyeama stressed that each individual country willingly acceded to the 1998 Rome Statue on the setting up of the court.

“Each country free and willingly acceded to the Treaty, and not all of the members of the AU acceded, each country acceded individually exercising its own sovereign right.

“So each country, if they want to withdraw has the right to do that individually,

“The issue is that the AU which was not a party to the Rome Statues which established the court, should not be developing a strategy for a collective withdrawal for something that each country entered into individually.

“Those who feel they want to withdraw should do that individually.”

NAN reports that in what seems to be a continental domino effect, three African states in 2016 publicly declared their intention to withdraw from the court.

The countries include Brundi, South Africa and The Gambia, with the reports that Namibia, Kenya and Uganda were contemplating withdrawing from the ICC

The court has repeatedly been criticized by African states as an inefficient, neo-colonial institution of the Western powers to try African countries.

This argument is supported by the fact that nine of the ten situations under investigation, with three others under preliminary investigations, involve African countries.

However, as noted from a social shorthand by the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), “the rift is often caused by a neat difference in priorities.

“Where one gives more importance to peace processes, while the other gives more weight to obtaining [international] justice.”

African state parties to the Rome Statute make up the biggest regional membership, comprising 34 of the 124 members.

From 2009, African countries have called for collective withdrawal from the ICC but some countries have pushed back.

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Shabaab attacks Kenya army base in Somalia (Read full details)

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Shabaab

Islamist Shabaab fighters attacked a Kenyan military base in southern Somalia on Friday in their latest assault on foreign and national army outposts.

The attack on the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) base at Kolbiyow, close to the Kenyan border in Somalia’s Lower Juba region, began with suicide truck bombers blasting their way into the camp, followed by militants attacking from different directions.

Shabaab claimed in a statement to have overrun the base, captured military vehicles and equipment and to have killed scores of Kenyan soldiers.

“Fighters have taken control of the base and the overall Kolbiyow area after massacring the Kenyan infidels,” the statement said.

KDF spokesman Paul Njuguna denied the base had been overrun, but gave no casualty figures.

“We are engaging the enemy and we have actually repulsed them, but it is ongoing,” Njuguna said.

Shabaab frequently overstates the death toll from its attacks while Kenya commonly underplays its losses.

In January last year a Kenyan base at El-Adde was attacked and overrun by Shabaab fighters who claimed to have killed over 100 Kenyan soldiers. The government never gave its own toll.

The Shabaab, which once controlled much of Somalia, is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu.

It launches regular attacks on government, military and civilian targets and has carried out a series of deadly assaults against foreign soldiers deployed in Somalia as part of an African Union force.

On Tuesday at least 28 people were killed when Shabaab bombers and fighters attacked a hotel in the capital.

Shabaab attacks Kenya army base in Somalia

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Mexican leader mulls cancelling Trump meeting (Read full details)

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US presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) delivers a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City on August 31, 2016. Donald Trump was expected in Mexico Wednesday to meet its president, in a move aimed at showing that despite the Republican White House hopeful's hardline opposition to illegal immigration he is no close-minded xenophobe. Trump stunned the political establishment when he announced late Tuesday that he was making the surprise trip south of the border to meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto, a sharp Trump critic. PHOTO: YURI CORTEZ / AFP

President Enrique Pena Nieto weighed on Wednesday whether to cancel a meeting with Donald Trump next week as he condemned the US president’s decision to build a massive border wall.

Lawmakers are pressuring Pena Nieto to scrap Tuesday’s talks in Washington after Trump made good on his campaign pledge to quickly order the construction of the barrier.

“I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us,” Pena Nieto said in a nationally televised message.

“I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall,” he said, referring to Trump’s vow to make the southern neighbor pay for the barrier.

“Mexico gives and demands respect as the completely sovereign nation that we are,” Pena Nieto said.

Pena Nieto said he would wait for a report from a high-level Mexican delegation holding meetings in the US capital this week and consult with governors and lawmakers before deciding on “the next steps to take.”

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who was in Washington, told the Televisa network that Pena Nieto will weigh whether to travel to Washington but that “the meeting stands for now.”

– Bad meeting –
The last time Pena Nieto met with Trump, things did not go well for the Mexican leader.

Pena Nieto came under massive criticism at home for hosting the Republican billionaire during the US presidential election in August even though Trump had called Mexican migrants “rapists” and drug runners.

Videgaray resigned his post as finance minister at the time after it emerged that he had orchestrated the trip, but he was named chief diplomat after Trump was elected.

Now, Pena Nieto is under pressure to avoid meeting Trump again, with Senator Miguel Barbosa, of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), saying Pena Nieto should not let Trump “impose his conditions” in negotiations.

Barbosa described the wall and measures against “sanctuary” US cities that protect migrants from deportation as “acts of aggression against Mexico, against Latin America, against the world, against freedom.”

Margarita Zavala, a potential 2018 presidential candidate of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), wrote on Twitter that Trump’s announcement was “an affront to Mexico” and that Pena Nieto must reconsider his trip.

Other political stalwarts urged Pena Nieto to stand up to Trump during his visit.

Two-time presidential election runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador exhorted Pena Nieto to lodge a complaint against the US government at the United Nations for “violation of human rights and racial discrimination.”

He said Pena Nieto should go to Washington to deliver the complaint to Trump and to “fight for freedom, not beg for it.”

Trump ordered work to begin on designing and building the wall just as Mexico’s foreign and economy ministers were in Washington to prepare Pena Nieto’s trip. Their meetings continue on Thursday.

Videgaray said US officials insisted that Trump’s wall announcement was not meant to coincide with the Mexican delegation’s visit.

“They reiterated the willingness to work to reach agreements that are good for the United States and Mexico,” he said.

– Mexicans worry about tighter border –
At the busy border crossing in the northwestern city of Tijuana, Julian Tamayo was sitting in a long line of cars with his wife and daughter to go to the US city of San Diego, where he works.

“Many of the (border) guards are very despotic and arrogant, and Trump is giving them carte blanche to be even more so,” Tamayo, 49, told AFP.

Hector Renteria, a 29-year-old architecture student who was also waiting to cross the border, said the wall is not useful because migrants will “find other ways to cross” illegally.

Renteria worried that the wall will “affect traffic more and (border) checks will be stricter.”

Mexican leader mulls cancelling Trump meeting

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Illness, injuries didn’t stop Venus believing (Read full details)

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Venus Williams of the US celebrates her victory against Coco Vandeweghe of the US during their women's singles semi-final match on day 11 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN /

Venus Williams says she never doubted she’d reach another Grand Slam final despite an eight-year drought — and she’s not planning to let her sister Serena ruin the party now she’s there.

The 36-year-old rolled back the years to beat dangerous Coco Vendeweghe 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-3 in the Australian Open semi-finals, striking a blow for the tennis old guard and justifying her self-belief.

Despite failing to reach a major final since Wimbledon in 2009 — her 14th, winning seven and losing seven — she always knew it would happen again, despite the illness and injuries she has suffered in the intervening years.

“Not at all. Not at all,” she said, when asked if she ever thought the chance had passed, particularly with her diagnosis with Sjogren’s syndrome, a rare, energy-sapping autoimmune disorder, in 2011.

“Even the matches I’m not winning, I’m still in control, normally, of every match that I have the opportunity. It’s on my racquet, always putting myself in position to be where I need to be.

“As long as you continue to try, you have an opportunity. That’s why I’m here.”

In making the decider, she becomes the oldest finalist at Melbourne Park in the Open era, joining a select list of 30-somethings to get that far including Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

The 13th seed also bags the record for the longest wait between major finals at seven-and-a-half years, following her last appearance at Wimbledon.

Williams has consistently said in Melbourne that she has nothing to prove and was simply “living the dream”, and her relaxed approach has paid dividends.

But her achievement has also come through hard work, coupled with an unrelenting desire to win.

“Clearly these matches are challenging, physically, mentally, all of that. It’s a challenge,” she said.

“But I’m up for the challenge. Also, if I’m here, that’s why I’m here. I’m not just here to hang out halfway around the world.

“This is a long way to come for a hang-out session. Whether you win, lose or draw, it’s very focused of why you’re here.”

– ‘Chump change’ –
Against Vandeweghe, she was calm and focused, drawing on her vast experience to tame her supremely confident fellow American, picking her shots well and conserving energy to bounce back after losing a first set tiebreaker.

Her joy at clinching the win and finally making another final was clear for all to see, as she screamed and performed pirouettes to huge roars from the crowd.

Next up is younger sister Serena in their ninth Grand Slam final on Saturday, eight years after the last at Wimbledon. Serena holds a 6-2 advantage, stretching back to the US Open in 2001.

“Oh God, yeah, for sure,” Venus said, when asked if she thought she could win on Saturday.

If she does, it would thrust her back into the world’s top 10, from her current 17 ranking. Just making the final will move her up to at least 11.

“I probably just need to continue playing like I’m playing. I haven’t played badly. I lost a set today. I was not happy about it,” she said.

“But my opponent deserved that set. So what else could I do? Try to get the next two. I will try to do the same.

“When I’m playing on the court with her (Serena), I think I’m playing, like, the best competitor in the game,” she added.

“I don’t think I’m chump change either. I can compete against any odds. No matter what, I get out there and I compete.”

Illness, injuries didn’t stop Venus believing

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Mexican leader mulls cancelling Trump meeting

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US presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) delivers a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City on August 31, 2016. Donald Trump was expected in Mexico Wednesday to meet its president, in a move aimed at showing that despite the Republican White House hopeful's hardline opposition to illegal immigration he is no close-minded xenophobe. Trump stunned the political establishment when he announced late Tuesday that he was making the surprise trip south of the border to meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto, a sharp Trump critic. PHOTO: YURI CORTEZ / AFP

President Enrique Pena Nieto weighed on Wednesday whether to cancel a meeting with Donald Trump next week as he condemned the US president’s decision to build a massive border wall.

Lawmakers are pressuring Pena Nieto to scrap Tuesday’s talks in Washington after Trump made good on his campaign pledge to quickly order the construction of the barrier.

“I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us,” Pena Nieto said in a nationally televised message.

“I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall,” he said, referring to Trump’s vow to make the southern neighbor pay for the barrier.

“Mexico gives and demands respect as the completely sovereign nation that we are,” Pena Nieto said.

Pena Nieto said he would wait for a report from a high-level Mexican delegation holding meetings in the US capital this week and consult with governors and lawmakers before deciding on “the next steps to take.”

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who was in Washington, told the Televisa network that Pena Nieto will weigh whether to travel to Washington but that “the meeting stands for now.”

– Bad meeting –
The last time Pena Nieto met with Trump, things did not go well for the Mexican leader.

Pena Nieto came under massive criticism at home for hosting the Republican billionaire during the US presidential election in August even though Trump had called Mexican migrants “rapists” and drug runners.

Videgaray resigned his post as finance minister at the time after it emerged that he had orchestrated the trip, but he was named chief diplomat after Trump was elected.

Now, Pena Nieto is under pressure to avoid meeting Trump again, with Senator Miguel Barbosa, of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), saying Pena Nieto should not let Trump “impose his conditions” in negotiations.

Barbosa described the wall and measures against “sanctuary” US cities that protect migrants from deportation as “acts of aggression against Mexico, against Latin America, against the world, against freedom.”

Margarita Zavala, a potential 2018 presidential candidate of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), wrote on Twitter that Trump’s announcement was “an affront to Mexico” and that Pena Nieto must reconsider his trip.

Other political stalwarts urged Pena Nieto to stand up to Trump during his visit.

Two-time presidential election runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador exhorted Pena Nieto to lodge a complaint against the US government at the United Nations for “violation of human rights and racial discrimination.”

He said Pena Nieto should go to Washington to deliver the complaint to Trump and to “fight for freedom, not beg for it.”

Trump ordered work to begin on designing and building the wall just as Mexico’s foreign and economy ministers were in Washington to prepare Pena Nieto’s trip. Their meetings continue on Thursday.

Videgaray said US officials insisted that Trump’s wall announcement was not meant to coincide with the Mexican delegation’s visit.

“They reiterated the willingness to work to reach agreements that are good for the United States and Mexico,” he said.

– Mexicans worry about tighter border –
At the busy border crossing in the northwestern city of Tijuana, Julian Tamayo was sitting in a long line of cars with his wife and daughter to go to the US city of San Diego, where he works.

“Many of the (border) guards are very despotic and arrogant, and Trump is giving them carte blanche to be even more so,” Tamayo, 49, told AFP.

Hector Renteria, a 29-year-old architecture student who was also waiting to cross the border, said the wall is not useful because migrants will “find other ways to cross” illegally.

Renteria worried that the wall will “affect traffic more and (border) checks will be stricter.”

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Illness, injuries didn’t stop Venus believing

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Venus Williams of the US celebrates her victory against Coco Vandeweghe of the US during their women's singles semi-final match on day 11 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN /

Venus Williams says she never doubted she’d reach another Grand Slam final despite an eight-year drought — and she’s not planning to let her sister Serena ruin the party now she’s there.

The 36-year-old rolled back the years to beat dangerous Coco Vendeweghe 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-3 in the Australian Open semi-finals, striking a blow for the tennis old guard and justifying her self-belief.

Despite failing to reach a major final since Wimbledon in 2009 — her 14th, winning seven and losing seven — she always knew it would happen again, despite the illness and injuries she has suffered in the intervening years.

“Not at all. Not at all,” she said, when asked if she ever thought the chance had passed, particularly with her diagnosis with Sjogren’s syndrome, a rare, energy-sapping autoimmune disorder, in 2011.

“Even the matches I’m not winning, I’m still in control, normally, of every match that I have the opportunity. It’s on my racquet, always putting myself in position to be where I need to be.

“As long as you continue to try, you have an opportunity. That’s why I’m here.”

In making the decider, she becomes the oldest finalist at Melbourne Park in the Open era, joining a select list of 30-somethings to get that far including Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

The 13th seed also bags the record for the longest wait between major finals at seven-and-a-half years, following her last appearance at Wimbledon.

Williams has consistently said in Melbourne that she has nothing to prove and was simply “living the dream”, and her relaxed approach has paid dividends.

But her achievement has also come through hard work, coupled with an unrelenting desire to win.

“Clearly these matches are challenging, physically, mentally, all of that. It’s a challenge,” she said.

“But I’m up for the challenge. Also, if I’m here, that’s why I’m here. I’m not just here to hang out halfway around the world.

“This is a long way to come for a hang-out session. Whether you win, lose or draw, it’s very focused of why you’re here.”

– ‘Chump change’ –
Against Vandeweghe, she was calm and focused, drawing on her vast experience to tame her supremely confident fellow American, picking her shots well and conserving energy to bounce back after losing a first set tiebreaker.

Her joy at clinching the win and finally making another final was clear for all to see, as she screamed and performed pirouettes to huge roars from the crowd.

Next up is younger sister Serena in their ninth Grand Slam final on Saturday, eight years after the last at Wimbledon. Serena holds a 6-2 advantage, stretching back to the US Open in 2001.

“Oh God, yeah, for sure,” Venus said, when asked if she thought she could win on Saturday.

If she does, it would thrust her back into the world’s top 10, from her current 17 ranking. Just making the final will move her up to at least 11.

“I probably just need to continue playing like I’m playing. I haven’t played badly. I lost a set today. I was not happy about it,” she said.

“But my opponent deserved that set. So what else could I do? Try to get the next two. I will try to do the same.

“When I’m playing on the court with her (Serena), I think I’m playing, like, the best competitor in the game,” she added.

“I don’t think I’m chump change either. I can compete against any odds. No matter what, I get out there and I compete.”

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US scientists raise bar for sea level by 2100

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This handout photo taken on March 26, 2016 and released by NASA shows a perspective of the northeast coastline of Greenland, one of the world’s two great ice sheets, whose melting could contribute to rising sea levels (AFP Photo/Handout)<br />

In the last days of Barack Obama’s administration, US government scientists warned even more sea level rise is expected by century’s end than previously estimated, due to rapid ice sheet melting at the poles.

The report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) set the “extreme” scenario of global average sea level rise by 2100 to 8.2 feet (2.5 meters), up half a meter from the last estimate issued in 2012.

“We raised the upper limit of our scenarios,” lead author William Sweet told AFP.

“It is possible. It has a very low probability. But we can’t discount it entirely.”

The figures are among the highest ever issued by the US government, and take into account new scientific studies on the disappearing ice cover in Greenland and Antarctica.

“Recent (scientific) results regarding Antarctic ice sheet instability indicate that such outcomes may be more likely than previously thought,” said the report, released on January 19.

It also revised the lower end of the anticipated range, saying nearly one foot (0.3 meters) is expected by 2100, up from four inches (0.1 meters) previously.

This put the NOAA report closer in line with the 2013 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which said global sea levels would likely rise from one to three feet by the end of the century.

The US space agency NASA has also warned that significant sea level rise is “unavoidable,” given mankind’s continued burning of fossil fuels like oil and gas that contribute to warming the planet.

In 2015, NASA said the Earth is likely locked in to at least three feet of sea level rise, and probably more.

But the big question remains: how soon? Researchers do not know how soon the seas will rise, and whether they will hit these levels in this century or beyond.

“We are not projecting anything. Everything is dependent on the amount of future heating, ocean and atmospheric heating,” explained Sweet.

– Localized results –

Though experts warn that the past is not an accurate predictor of future sea level rise, global average sea level has climbed eight to nine inches since 1880, when modern record-keeping began.

Much of that has taken place in recent years, as global warming has accelerated. Seas around the world have risen an average of nearly three inches since 1992.

The NOAA report also pointed to regional dangers of sea level rise, with some portions of the US coast more likely to see above-average rise and increased flooding than other parts of the world.

“The world’s ocean is not going to rise like water in a bathtub,” said Sweet.

With the exception of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, almost all US coasts are expected to see greater than global average sea level rise in the next eight decades.

Land in Alaska is rising, but in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast and the mid-Atlantic, it is sinking.

Other factors, like changing ocean circulation in some parts of the planet, affect how much oceans mount in various places.

As ice sheets melts, the gravity around Earth will change as the planet loses mass, causing some areas to see higher or lower sea level rise than the global average.

Recent research has shown that about three feet of sea level rise “would permanently inundate areas currently home to two million Americans,” said the report.

Six feet would flood the homes of six million people in the United States.

Sweet said the report’s release was not planned to coincide with the end of the Obama presidency, or to precede the inauguration of Donald Trump, who has expressed doubts about climate change and pledged to increase fossil fuel extraction in the United States.

“The timing might look suspect,” Sweet said.

“But no, this has actually been in the works for over a year

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Trump poised to move on Mexican border wall

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US President Donald Trump launched his election campaign with a promise to build a wall along America's long — and porous — southern border with Mexico. PHOTO: AFP/ALFREDO ESTRELLA

Donald Trump will take a first step toward enacting his pledge to “build a wall” on the Mexican border Wednesday by issuing an executive decree.

The White House said that Trump will visit the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon when he is expected to roll out a series of immigration-related measures.

“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Trump tweeted late Tuesday.

Stemming immigration to the United States was a central plank of Trump’s election campaign.

His signature policy was to build a wall across the 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometre) border between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the borders is already fenced, but Trump has argued that a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.

Experts have voiced serious doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth investing billions in such a project when there are other cost effective methods of achieving similar results.

But the issue has become a clarion call for the US right and far right, the core of Trump’s support.

After four days in office, some are wondering why the populist president’s policies have been largely indistinguishable from those of orthodox Republicans.

His promised executive order may be a way to slake that thirst.

Still, any action from the White House would be piecemeal, diverting only existing funds toward the project.

The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the project is to be anywhere near completed, and Trump’s party has spent years preaching fiscal prudence.

Furthermore, much of the land needed to build the wall is privately owned, implying lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly even told his confirmation hearing that the border wall might not “be built anytime soon.”

Trump had promised to make “Mexico pay” for the wall, something that the Mexican government says is fanciful.

Trump aides have weighed increasing border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to “make Mexico pay.”

Ban on Muslims?
Trump has also floated the idea of a ban on Muslims coming to the United States.

He is said to be considering moves to halt or slow refugee flows, particularly from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries.

Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries alone, according to the United Nations.

An estimated 18,000 Syrians have fled to the United States.

Former officials said Trump could slow the process down by move resources away from processing visa requests, or cut migrant quotas and programs.

The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.

Citizens from those countries already face large obstacles in obtaining US visas.

But the move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.

“Donald Trump is making good on the most shameful and discriminatory promises he made on the campaign trail,” said Trita Parsi of the National Iranian-American Council. Iran was one of the countries that may be listed.

“He called for a Muslim ban and is now taking the first steps to implement one. This will not stand. The American people are better than this.”

Trump may also issue orders on so-called sanctuary cities, where local officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on such things as handing over illegal immigrants for deportation.

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Trump poised to move on Mexican border wall (Read full details)

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US President Donald Trump launched his election campaign with a promise to build a wall along America's long — and porous — southern border with Mexico. PHOTO: AFP/ALFREDO ESTRELLA

Donald Trump will take a first step toward enacting his pledge to “build a wall” on the Mexican border Wednesday by issuing an executive decree.

The White House said that Trump will visit the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon when he is expected to roll out a series of immigration-related measures.

“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Trump tweeted late Tuesday.

Stemming immigration to the United States was a central plank of Trump’s election campaign.

His signature policy was to build a wall across the 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometre) border between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the borders is already fenced, but Trump has argued that a wall is needed to stop illegal immigrants entering from Latin America.

Experts have voiced serious doubts about whether a wall would actually stem illegal immigration, or if it is worth investing billions in such a project when there are other cost effective methods of achieving similar results.

But the issue has become a clarion call for the US right and far right, the core of Trump’s support.

After four days in office, some are wondering why the populist president’s policies have been largely indistinguishable from those of orthodox Republicans.

His promised executive order may be a way to slake that thirst.

Still, any action from the White House would be piecemeal, diverting only existing funds toward the project.

The Republican-controlled Congress would need to supply new money if the project is to be anywhere near completed, and Trump’s party has spent years preaching fiscal prudence.

Furthermore, much of the land needed to build the wall is privately owned, implying lengthy legal proceedings, political blowback, and substantial expropriation payments.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly even told his confirmation hearing that the border wall might not “be built anytime soon.”

Trump had promised to make “Mexico pay” for the wall, something that the Mexican government says is fanciful.

Trump aides have weighed increasing border tariffs or border transit costs as one way to “make Mexico pay.”

Ban on Muslims?
Trump has also floated the idea of a ban on Muslims coming to the United States.

He is said to be considering moves to halt or slow refugee flows, particularly from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries.

Around 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries alone, according to the United Nations.

An estimated 18,000 Syrians have fled to the United States.

Former officials said Trump could slow the process down by move resources away from processing visa requests, or cut migrant quotas and programs.

The orders would restrict immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.

Citizens from those countries already face large obstacles in obtaining US visas.

But the move has prompted a fierce backlash even before it was announced.

“Donald Trump is making good on the most shameful and discriminatory promises he made on the campaign trail,” said Trita Parsi of the National Iranian-American Council. Iran was one of the countries that may be listed.

“He called for a Muslim ban and is now taking the first steps to implement one. This will not stand. The American people are better than this.”

Trump may also issue orders on so-called sanctuary cities, where local officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on such things as handing over illegal immigrants for deportation.

Trump poised to move on Mexican border wall

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