Britain's US ambassador resigns after Trump spat

LONDON - United Kingdom's ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch said Wednesday he was resigning after drawing Donald Trump's ire for calling the US president "inept" in leaked confidential cables to London.

Darroch said in a resignation letter to the Foreign Office that the scandal made it "impossible" for him to continue representing British interests in the United States.

Trump has said his administration would no longer "deal" with Darroch.

"Since the leak of official documents from this Embassy there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding my position and the duration of my remaining term as ambassador," Darroch wrote.

"I want to put an end to that speculation. The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like," he said.

"I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador."

Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament moments after Darroch's resignation that the criticism he faced was "beyond unfair and wrong".

"I think he's given honorable and good service and he should be thanked for it," she said.

The Mail on Sunday's publication of Darroch's cables set off a political firestorm in London and saw Trump launch two successive days of Twitter attacks against the envoy and May.

One of the cables called the Trump administration "uniquely dysfunctional" and another characterized the US leader as "inept" and "insecure".

Trump tweeted Monday that Darroch "is not liked or well thought of within the U.S. We will no longer deal with him." He also welcomed the "good news" that Prime Minister Theresa May was stepping down in two weeks.

The US leader followed that up on Tuesday by calling "wacky Ambassador" Darroch "a very stupid guy".

The scandal saw Darroch taken off the guest list of a dinner attended by Trump on Monday.

He also missed visiting UK Trade Minister Liam Fox's talks in Washington on Tuesday with the president's adviser and daughter Ivanka Trump.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

No shaking off Taylor Swift-Kanye West 'Famous' feud

Taylor Swift and Kanye West won't be shaking off their bad blood anytime soon, as the feud between the pop star and rapper over the lyrics of his single "Famous" took an ugly turn with the release of a video and phone call between the two music stars.

The video, released online on Sunday by West's reality star wife, Kim Kardashian, was a recording of West chatting by phone with Swift earlier this year in which the "Shake It Off" singer gave her approval -- at least in part -- to the song, which she later deemed offensive and misogynistic.

    do u guys follow me on snap chat? u really should ;-)

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 18, 2016
 
"Famous," released by West in February, contains the line, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. I made that bitch famous."

The trio, three of the biggest pop culture celebrities, have been fighting long distance via tabloid and social media for months over West's insistence that Swift gave her blessing for the lyrics, and Swift's strenuous denials.

According to video of the phone call, released by Kardashian on social media on Sunday after an episode of "Keeping up with the Kardashians," Swift told West of the song, "I really appreciate you telling me about it. That's really nice," she says. "It's all very tongue-in-cheek either way."

PART 1: Kanye calling Taylor Swift to tell her about the #FAMOUS lyrics. Courtesy of KKW. pic.twitter.com/TIiqxxzLUh

— TeamKanyeDaily (@TeamKanyeDaily) July 18, 2016

"If people ask me about it, I think it would be great for me to be like, 'Look, he called me and told me about the line,'" Swift says in the call, which took place before the February release of "Famous."

On Sunday, however, Swift said that she had been secretly recorded by West and accused him of character assassination.

That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet. pic.twitter.com/4GJqdyykQu

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 18, 2016

"Where is the video of Kanye telling me that he was going to call me 'that bitch' in his song?," the 10-time Grammy winner wrote on her Instagram account on Sunday.

"It doesn't exist because it never happened ... While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot 'approve' a song you haven't heard. Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination," added Swift.

"Famous" refers to an infamous 2009 MTV Video Music Awards incident in which West snatched the microphone from Swift during her acceptance speech and declared that Beyonce should have won.

The pair publicly made up in August last year when Swift presented West with an lifetime award.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com