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Wednesday, 31 July 2019
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WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions against Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, effectively slamming the door on the country’s top diplomat.The sanctions freeze any of Zarif’s assets in the United States or that are controlled by US entities, the government announced, saying it also will curtail his international travel."Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme Leader, and is the regime’s primary spokesperson around the world. The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behavior is completely unacceptable," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.The designation of Zarif under the same sanctions earlier applied to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the latest blow by President Donald Trump to the Obama administration’s attempt to end nuclear tensions through negotiations.Zarif has been at the heart of complex talks with foreign capitals over Iran’s nuclear power industry, which Tehran says is peaceful, but Washington and regional allies including Israel insist is cover for a secret weapons program.But a senior Trump administration official said that Zarif’s diplomatic image -- bolstered by his fluent English, self-effacing humor and background as a US-educated academic -- was false."The key issue is that he has had this veneer... of being the sincere and reasonable interlocutor for the regime. Our point today is that he is no such thing," the official said on condition of anonymity."Today President Trump decided enough was enough," the official said, accusing Zarif of functioning as "propaganda minister, not foreign minister."Zarif shot back, tweeting that Washington is trying to silence Iran on the international stage."The US’ reason for designating me is that I am Iran’s ‘primary spokesperson around the world’ Is the truth really that painful?" he tweeted. Short leash at UNIn addition to attempting to freeze assets, Washington will also squeeze Zarif’s ability to function as a globe-trotting diplomat. He is expected to be able to continue to visit the United Nations in New York, albeit under tight restrictions."The United States will continue to uphold our obligations," the administration official said.In mid-July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Zarif would be issued a visa but would be limited to the area reaching six blocks around the UN headquarters.Trump last year left a denuclearization accord negotiated by Zarif with six nations including the United States under former president Barack Obama and imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran’s economy, also vowing to curb Tehran’s regional influence.With tensions escalating in June, Trump says he issued a last-minute cancelation of military strikes on Iran after it shot down a US drone.Critics question the legal or diplomatic rationale for targeting Zarif, however, saying that sanctions will all but end the possibility of dialogue."If you sanction diplomats you’ll have less diplomacy," Republican Senator Rand Paul tweeted.The senior administration official insisted that Washington still wants talks -- only not with Zarif.US diplomats "do not consider him to be our primary point of contact," the official said. "If we do have an official contact with the Iranians, we want someone who is a significant decision maker.""The United States continues to seek a diplomatic solution that addresses the Iranian regime’s destructive behavior. The only path forward is a comprehensive deal that addresses the full range of its threats," Pompeo said in a statement."Until then, our campaign of diplomatic isolation and maximum economic pressure will continue," he said.Zarif, meanwhile, sought to minimize the sanctions’ impact on him, tweeting that they have "no effect on me or my family, as I have no property or interests outside of Iran. Thank you for considering me such a huge threat to your agenda."
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Britain's Boris Johnson faces his first test at the ballot box Thursday in a by-election that could reduce his parliamentary majority to one, making it harder to enact his Brexit plan.Just over a week after he took office as prime minister, Johnson's governing Conservative party looks set to lose the Welsh seat of Brecon and Radnorshire to a pro-European candidate.He is already facing strong opposition in the 650-seat parliament to his plan to take Britain out of the European Union without a deal if necessary on October 31.Victory for the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats in Brecon would embolden those opposition MPs and some Conservatives who have pledged to do whatever it takes to stop a "no deal" departure.Finance minister Sajid Javid on Wednesday announced an extra £2.1 billion ($2.6 billion, 2.3 billion euros) to prepare for the possibility of no-deal, with a parliamentary showdown looming when MPs return in September.The extra cash will be used to launch a public information campaign and "accelerate preparations at the border, support business readiness and ensure the supply of critical medicines," said a government statement.Brexit party challenge Thursday's by-election was called after former Conservative MP Chris Davies was forced out, following his conviction for making false expenses claims.He insists it was an honest mistake and is standing again, but polling points to a win for the Lib Dems, who have previously held the seat.Number Cruncher Politics, a polling consultancy, put the Lib Dems on 43 percent, the Conservatives on 28, Nigel Farage's Brexit party on 20 and Labour on eight percent.However, another Wales-wide survey by YouGov published this week gave an unexpected boost to the Conservatives, which experts attributed to a modest "Boris bounce".Brecon and Radnorshire voted 52 percent to leave the European Union in the 2016 vote -- echoing the UK-wide result.Johnson, a leading Brexit campaigner in the referendum, made a low-key visit on Tuesday to meet with Davies.He urged voters not to defect to the Brexit Party, which has been capitalising on the political deadlock over Britain's EU departure."The Brexit party cannot deliver Brexit, only the Conservatives can," Johnson said, adding that the Lib Dems "will do everything they can to stop Brexit".In European elections in May, the Brexit Party won 31 percent of the vote, pushing the Conservatives into fifth place with just nine percent.The pro-European Welsh nationalists and Green party are not fielding candidates in Brecon to avoid splitting the anti-Brexit vote.Johnson says he wants an EU divorce deal but argues the terms negotiated by his predecessor Theresa May -- which parliament has rejected three times -- are unacceptable.EU leaders have repeatedly said the existing deal is the only one available.Fears Britain was heading to a disorderly split with its closest trading partner sent the pound to new two-year lows against the dollar and the euro this week.
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Asian markets fell on Thursday, tracking losses on Wall Street, after the US Federal Reserve cut rates for the first time in more than a decade but failed to offer a clear signal on future easing.The move to ease the cost of borrowing was well telegraphed and meant to inoculate against global risks washing onto American shores, but financial markets were whipsawed by confusion over whether another cut would be coming.Fed chair Jerome Powell told reporters he remains confident in the American economy and sees no sectors ready to go "bust".But he said the Fed decided on a 25-basis-point cut in the rate to "insure against downside risks from weak global growth and trade policy uncertainty".US President Donald Trump -- who had been loudly calling for a rate cut -- wasted no time in attacking on Twitter, saying the move fell far short of the "aggressive rate-cutting cycle" he wanted."The Federal Reserve gave off the appearance of a rudderless ship with no specific game plan while doing little more than the bare minimum to appease the market's expectations," said VM Markets managing partner Stephen Innes.The Fed decision sent the US dollar rallying to its highest level in more than two years, while a strong run for oil prices stalled with West Texas futures dropping more than 1.2 percent."Commodities should still see some support on easy money flowing throughout all the major central banks in the world," said OANDA Markets senior analyst Edward Moya.Hong Kong shares fell 0.6 percent in morning trade after the city's de facto central bank matched the Fed's cut, lowering rates for the first time since 2008.The move came a day after the release of quarterly GDP figures showing a disappointing 0.6 percent on-year growth in the financial hub.Authorities attributed "sluggish" domestic demand and a drop in exports to fallout from the year-long US-China trade row, while analysts warn that weeks of civil unrest could threaten further economic headwinds.Trade talks end Shanghai was down 0.6 percent a day after the latest round of US-China trade talks wrapped up in the city.Negotiators on both sides said talks had been "efficient and constructive" but gave no signs of an imminent resolution to the impasse."While the bar has been set pretty low for progress, there was a level of disappointment after the meeting," said Innes."The fact that they couldn't agree on the G-20's soft-peddled concessions is a worrying sign."Tokyo clawed back opening losses shortly before lunch, after Powell's statement weighed on equities in key sectors.Traders were likely to return to buying in companies with strong earnings after a slate of quarterly results were posted this week, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.Elsewhere, Seoul rose 0.2 percent and Taipei fell 0.7 percent.Key figures around 0250 GMT Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 21,521.17Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.6 percent at 27,605.49Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 2,916.08Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2127 from $1.2152 at 2100 GMTEuro/pound: DOWN at 91.10 pence from 91.80 penceEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1048 from $1.1155Dollar/yen: UP at 109.14 yen from 108.61Brent North Sea crude: UP 45 cents at $65.17 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 72 cents at $57.87 per barrelNew York - Dow: DOWN 1.2 percent at 26,864.27 (close)London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 7,586.78 (close)
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LOS ANGELES: YouTube star Grant Thompson, who rose to fame as host of the popular channel "The King of Random," has died in a paragliding accident, his family announced.Authorities said the 38-year-old, who had 11 million subscribers on his channel and billions of views, was reported missing after he didn’t return on Monday from a paragliding trip in Utah.A GPS device that he had on him was used to locate his body late Tuesday.The Washington County Sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that rescuers had recovered paragliding equipment as well as a video recording device that may help shed some light on the crash.Thompson’s family informed fans of his death on his social media pages."It is with great sadness to inform everyone that Grant Thompson passed away last night," the family said on Instagram. "Please do a random act of love or kindness today in honor of The King of Random.""Grant’s legacy will live on in the channel and the global community he created."Thompson’s channel explored how things worked.One of his popular videos -- "How to Make LEGO Gummy Candy!" -- explained how to make candy at home, and another was titled "What does Liquid Nitrogen do to Your face?"His last video, "Rice Cake RAFT! Will It Float?" was published on Sunday.Prior to building his YouTube empire, Thompson worked as an airline pilot for 11 years and then worked for a brief period in real estate, according to a 2017 interview with MediaKix."I started making videos on YouTube showing people what I was tinkering with and what I was coming up with," he said in the interview. "It turned into a big enough movement that I shut down my real estate business, I quit the airlines, and now it’s all YouTube."
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WASHINGTON: US intelligence has received information that Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden´s son Hamza has died, NBC News reported Wednesday.NBC said three US officials had confirmed they had information of Hamza bin Laden´s death, but gave no details of the date or place, and did not indicate if they had confirmed the information.Questioned by reporters in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump did not confirm or deny the report."I don´t want to comment on it," he said.In February the US government put a $1 million bounty on Bin Laden´s head. Hamza bin Laden´s whereabouts have never been pinpointed.
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Tuesday, 30 July 2019
Monday, 29 July 2019
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WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Monday failed to prevent the sale of $8.1 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia, after President Donald Trump vetoed congressional resolutions blocking the deal.Despite bipartisan votes this month that served as a rebuke to the president -- and an expression of lawmakers´ outrage with the kingdom over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year -- the effort to override Trump´s third use of his veto powers since taking office fell well short.Trump sought approval for 22 separate sales of aircraft support maintenance, precision-guided munitions and other weapons and equipment to countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at a moment of heightened tensions in the Middle East.Trump´s administration took the extraordinary step of bypassing Congress to approve the sale in May, as his administration declared Iran to be a "fundamental threat" to the stability of the Middle East.Senate Democrat Ben Cardin said that by not blocking the sales, Republicans "abdicated their constitutionally mandated responsibilities" to conduct oversight."We have both a legal and moral obligation to make certain that US weapons are not used to repress human rights or perpetrate violence against innocent civilians," Cardin said.
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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump brushed off accusations of racism Monday to step up his war of words with prominent black and minority left-leaning leaders, branding his latest target a "con man."Rejecting criticism that he is stoking America’s smouldering racial divisions, Trump attacked African-American civil rights activist Al Sharpton."Al is a con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. Just doing his thing," Trump tweeted, adding that Sharpton "Hates Whites & Cops!"He struck out after Sharpton -- one of the best known, if controversial, black figures in US politics -- expressed support for Baltimore, a majority black city near Washington that has also come in for a presidential bashing.Over the weekend, Trump described Baltimore as a "rat and rodent infested mess" unfit for humans and blamed this on Elijah Cummings, the Democrat who represents much of the city in Congress.Cummings, who is black, heads the House Oversight committee, one of the powerful bodies mounting politically sensitive probes into everything from Trump’s Russia connections to tax records.Sharpton told reporters in Baltimore that Trump "has a particular venom for blacks and people of color.""He can say what he wants. Call me a troublemaker. Yes, I make trouble for bigots," Sharpton said.Trump did not hold back, either."So tired of listening to the same old Bull...," he wrote, spicing up his tweet with an abbreviated profanity."Next, Reverend Al will show up to complain & protest. Nothing will get done for the people in need."Loyal pastors Trump said earlier this month that he doesn’t have "a racist bone in my body."He routinely touts statistics showing low unemployment in the African-American community, as well as a program designed to encourage investment in forgotten inner city neighborhoods.On Monday he boosted that narrative by meeting at the White House with black pastors."The president is concerned about the whole nation, about everybody in the nation," said Alveda King, a niece of the slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King.Bill Owens, a pastor who said that about 20 people attended the previously unannounced, closed-door meeting with Trump, told reporters it was "hard to believe" that Trump is racist.Combative election campaign The Baltimore feud comes less than two weeks after the House of Representatives -- in a rare vote -- condemned the president for "racist" comments targeting four first-term Democratic congresswomen nicknamed the "Squad." All of them are from ethnic minorities."Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came," Trump asked about the women, only one of whom, Ilhan Omar, was born abroad, arriving two decades ago as a refugee from Somalia.The "go back" statement ignited a backlash from critics painting Trump as an open racist.But each of the provocative statements, including the assault on Baltimore, appears to boost a planned push to raise political temperatures ahead of the 2020 presidential election where Trump wants to frame Democratic opponents as the real extremists -- on the left."If the Democrats are going to defend the Radical Left ‘Squad’ and King Elijah’s Baltimore Fail, it will be a long road to 2020," Trump tweeted Monday.Cory Booker, an African-American running for the Democratic nomination, called the growing row "painful.""This is a moral, defining moment in America," he said.Kamala Harris, another candidate who is also black, said she was "proud" to have her campaign headquarters in Cummings’ district and called Trump’s attack "disgraceful."
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Sunday, 28 July 2019
The News,World
WASHINGTON: US intelligence chief Dan Coats will leave office next month, Donald Trump announced on Sunday, after a tenure in which he was regularly at odds with the president.The departure of Coats -- who has, however, sought to avoid direct confrontation with Trump during his time as Director of National Intelligence -- is the latest high-profile exit from the mercurial president´s turnover-plagued administration.Trump tweeted that Coats will leave on August 15, saying he plans to nominate Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas, who serves on the House intelligence, judiciary and homeland security committees, to replace him."A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves," Trump wrote, also thanking Coats "for his great service to our Country."If Ratcliffe´s nomination is approved, Trump will get an intelligence chief who is more in synch with his views.In Congress, he has been a staunch defender of Trump and has criticized two of the president´s nemeses, former FBI chief James Comey and special counsel Robert Mueller.Ratcliffe has also said he has "seen no evidence" that Russian election meddling helped bring Trump to office, has backed the president´s assertion that court-approved surveillance of his campaign amounted to spying, and has supported his hawkish policy on Iran.The choice of Ratcliffe was hailed by various Republicans -- including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who tweeted that he "will bring strength and accountability in his new role" -- but drew criticism from other quarters."Our Director of National Intelligence should be above partisan politics, speak truth to power, and resist Trump´s abuses of authority. John Ratcliffe doesn´t fit that bill," Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren tweeted.Coats has not seen eye-to-eye with Trump on a range of issues while serving as the official who oversees and coordinates the CIA, NSA and other US espionage bodies.Russia, N. Korea, IS He backed the US intelligence community´s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election that brought Trump to office -- something the president was long loath to acknowledge.The intelligence chief also disagreed with Trump´s decision to hold two hours of closed-door talks with Russian President Vladmir Putin in Helsinki in July 2018 with no one else present but interpreters."If he had asked me how that ought to be conducted, I would have suggested a different way," Coats said.He acknowledged he was not informed about the contents of the talks, saying three days after they were held: "I don´t know what happened in that meeting."Trump´s attempts to get North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal via talks with Pyongyang´s leader Kim Jong Un was another point of disagreement."We continue to assess that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, even as it seeks to negotiate partial denuclearization steps to obtain key US and international concessions," Coats said in the annual "Worldwide Threat Assessment" report earlier this year.North Korea´s leaders see having a nuclear weapons capability as "critical to regime survival," Coats said.Trump, however, has taken the view that Kim is willing to give up his nuclear arms.The report also warned that the Islamic State (IS) group -- despite Trump´s assertions to the contrary -- was hardly vanquished and could easily rise again in a vacuum left by departing US forces, resuming global attacks and restarting its propaganda machine.IS "still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria, and it maintains eight branches, more than a dozen networks, and thousands of dispersed supporters around the world, despite significant leadership and territorial losses," Coats said.Coats´s departure will be the latest in a long series of exits by top Trump administration officials, including defense secretary Jim Mattis, homeland security chief Kirstjen Nielsen, chief of staff John Kelly and top diplomat Rex Tillerson.
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KARACHI: A number of people have been wounded after a gunman opened fire at a food festival in California on Sunday.The shooting was reportedly happened at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Ambulance crews were told 11 people "were down" after shots rang out on the last day of the annual three-day event south of San Jose.Videos posted on social media appeared to show festival attendees scattering in confusion as at least one loud popping sound could be heard in the background.
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Saturday, 27 July 2019
The News,World
GENEVA: Reporters investigating Russian military intelligence have been targeted by highly sophisticated cyberattacks through their encrypted email accounts, with evidence suggesting Moscow was responsible, the email service provider ProtonMail and journalists said Saturday.The phishing attack, which sought to dupe users into sharing their ProtonMail passwords, was aimed at journalists from the award-winning website Bellingcat, which helped identify the agents who poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain.Geneva-based ProtonMail said in a statement that "the evidence (along with independent third-party assessments) seem to suggest an attack of Russian origin."The company’s chief executive Andy Yen told AFP that the operation "was one of the best-run phishing attacks we have ever seen."Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev, who led the site’s work on the Skripal case, said he had no doubt Russia’s GRU military intelligence unit was responsible and that it marked "a quantum leap" in terms of their technical sophistication."It was very convincing," he told AFP, noting that no Bellingcat reporters gave up their passwords.End-to-end encryption ProtonMail, which describes itself as the world’s most secure email provider, has become increasingly popular with journalists and others who handle sensitive information because user communications are protected by end-to-end encryption.The Harvard-educated Yen, who worked at Europe’s nuclear research lab CERN for five years before founding ProtonMail, told AFP that the company could not read users’ emails even if it wanted to -- in clear contrast with Google’s Gmail.The phishing attacks against Bellingcat reporters occurred this week, with "emails sent to the targeted users claiming to be from the ProtonMail team, asking the targets to enter their... login credentials," the company said.Grozev said that despite his technical savvy and awareness that he was a target, he "would have been fooled" if not for prior warning from a contact who had received a similar phishing email earlier this month.While the assault on Bellingcat journalists was concentrated over the past few days, Grozen claimed that multiple investigators and researchers from other organisations that work on Russia have received phishing emails in their ProtonMail accounts since April.Yen told AFP that "putting a precise start date as to when other Russia journalists began to be targeted is a bit more complex and not something that we can confirm with full confidence right now."‘Has to be investigated’ Yen said that ProtonMail has alerted the Swiss Federal Police and the government’s computer system security office, MELANI, about the events this week.The company has not yet received any indication that an investigation will be launched, Yen said, noting that he was not optimistic the perpetrators would face justice, in part because Moscow was likely to protect them.ProtonMail however is conducting its own investigation.But Grozen said the Swiss had a duty to act, given that its .ch domain was used to carry out the phishing operation."It is essentially a crime within the digital territory of Switzerland," he said, stressing that the entities who registered the malicious .ch websites are "traceable for (Swiss) authorities".Swiss Federal Police and MELANI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Bellingcat, a highly regarded Britain-based investigative website, has used open-source technology to break a series of stories, notably concerning Russia, including major revelations in the downing of MH17 flight over eastern Ukraine, which has also been linked to Russia’s GRU intelligence service.
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Friday, 26 July 2019
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MANILA: Eight people were killed and dozens injured when twin earthquakes struck islands in the northern Philippines early Saturday while many were still asleep, local officials said.Both tremors hit the province of Batanes, a group of sparsely populated islets north of the nation´s largest Luzon island. Terrified residents fled their homes and images in the Philippine media showed collapsed masonry homes as well as deep cracks in paved roads.The quakes -- of magnitude 5.4 and 5.9 -- struck within hours of each other, according to the US Geological Survey. No tsunami alerts were issued.Many people were still asleep when the first tremor struck around 4:15 am (2015 GMT Friday), followed just under four hours later by the second stronger jolt. Mayor Raul de Sagon told AFP that eight people had been killed and around 60 others were hurt. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.Police sergeant Uzi Villa added that the timing of the quake meant many people were at home when the first quake struck."We saw houses shaking. Some of the walls of the houses collapsed and fell on the victims," he told AFP."Some people died because they were sleeping soundly since it was still early," he added.The Philippines is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from quake-prone Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.The country´s most recent deadly quake occurred in April when at least 11 people were killed and a supermarket collapsed in a 6.3-magnitude tremor that hit a region north of the capital Manila.
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WASHINGTON: The warnings were unambiguous, and now so is the retreat: after threatening to hit Turkey with sanctions for buying a Russian missile defense system, the Trump administration is looking for a way to avoid doing so.Theoretically the sanctions were to be automatic, mandated by Congress, if NATO member Turkey opted to buy the S-400 system from NATO´s main adversary Russia.But since Ankara began taking delivery of the system, designed to protect the country from air attacks, on July 12, President Donald Trump has signaled he is loath to punish the US ally economically over the deal.Legislators from both parties want the US leader to show firmness, after having pressed Turkey hard for two years not to follow through.But after meeting with Trump this week, Republican senators were not optimistic."It was certainly clear that the president is not in a place right now where he wants to impose sanctions on Turkey," said an assistant to one of the legislators in the White House meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity.The billionaire president, who doesn´t mask his affinity for controversial autocrats, says he has a close relationship with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.And the Turkish strongman has claimed that this relationship will permit him to escape sanctions.The S-400 is viewed as threat to NATO -- it could be used to take aim at US and NATO aircraft.For months Washington has repeatedly warned of "very serious" sanctions "if it completes the delivery of the S-400."However the message from Washington has changed since then. The United States´ F-35 fighter jet program "cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities," the White House said last week.But on signing off on the sanctions, Trump has demurred."We´re not looking at that right now," he said on July 18."I´ve had a good relationship with President Erdogan," he said. "We´re working through it -- we´ll see what happens."- Semantic twists -"There is no timetable" in the so-called CAATSA legislation requiring sanctions for the S-400 purchase, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Thursday, stressing that the action taken on the F-35 program was already "very, very heavy."The 2017 CAATSA legislation requires punitive economic measures against any country engaging in "a significant transaction" with the Russian military.But since the delivery took place, Washington has subtly shifted. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has now said that the red line is the "activation" of the missile defense system."The activation of the S-400 is unacceptable," he told Bloomberg TV on Thursday."There could be more sanctions to follow, but frankly what we´d really like is the S-400 not to become operational."And Senator Lindsey Graham, an ally of the president, told the Defense One publication that he is mediating between the two sides.He said that he had told Ankara that if they don´t activate the S-400, "the sanctions don´t have to be applied."In exchange, Graham said, he offered to begin free trade agreement negotiations with Turkey -- an approach Pompeo did not deny.Erdogan has played along -- he said the S-400 won´t be operational until April, prolonging the poker game between the two countries.Yet some experts say the system is a threat even when it isn´t fully activated.The senator´s aide acknowledged an ongoing debate about what constitutes "a significant transaction," but said that, ultimately, the Trump administration has a legal requirement under CAATSA to sanction Turkey.Pressure is still coming from other parts of Congress, with some lawmakers questioning Turkey´s future in the Atlantic Alliance."NATO was created as a bulwark against Russian aggression," said Senator Rick Scott."I have serious concerns about allowing Turkey to continue to enjoy the protections of NATO while cozying up to Moscow."
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LOS ANGELES: Massive swarms of grasshoppers have descended on the Las Vegas Strip this week, startling tourists and residents as they pass through town on their northbound migration.Videos posted on social media show swarms of the bugs, called pallid-winged grasshoppers, converging on the bright neon lights of the Strip and sidewalks covered with the insects.The Nevada Department of Agriculture said the rare invasion was linked to an unseasonably wet winter and spring.Jeff Knight, an entomologist at the Agriculture Department, said while the insects may freak out many, they are harmless and not a sign of the end of time."They don´t carry any diseases. They don´t bite. And they are not even one of the species that we consider a problem," Knight told reporters on Friday. "They probably won´t cause much damage in a yard."He said the grasshoppers, measuring about 1.5 inches (3.80 centimetres), will all have flown out of the Las Vegas area within a couple weeks at the most."They´re moving through," he said. "Basically, they come in, settle in, then at night they take off and fly."He said the best away to avoid attracting the insects, which are drawn to ultra violet light, is to install yellow or amber lights which should deter them.And in the event the bugs end up inside a home, Knight had simple advice."Just use a vacuum cleaner," he said.
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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump warned that he would snub Apple’s requests for tariff exemptions on device components imported from China, as he put pressure on the tech company to shift production to the United States."Apple will not be given Tariff wavers, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!" Trump said on Twitter.Later, Trump told reporters that he wanted Apple to make the parts in the United States."When I heard they were going to build in China, I said when you send your product to the United States, we’re going to tariff you."Last week, Apple filed a request with the US trade representative, saying certain components for its $6,000 Mac Pro desktop computer could only be sourced from China and should be exempt from US tariffs.The move comes amid frictions between the two economic powers, which are trying to restart failed negotiations on ending a trade war.Trump has threatened to slap punitive tariffs on more goods to press Beijing to accept more imports and improve protections for US intellectual property.Trump praised Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying he was someone "I have a lot of liking for and respect.""We’ll work it out. I think they’ll announce they’ll build a plant in Texas. If they do that, I’m starting to get very happy," he said.
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