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Target

Trump eyes Europe after China for North American trade pacts

Tom Howell, Jr.
The Washington Times
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Trump
© AP/Evan VucciPresident Trump speaking at Davos Forum, Switzerland, January 2020
President Trump said Wednesday the U.S. will seek a trade deal with the European Union now that he's signed a phase-one deal with China and negotiated with North American partners, reissuing his threat to levy car imports [if] they don't come to the table. Speaking to CNBC, the president said Europe has taken advantage of the U.S. for too long, so something has to give.

Mr. Trump met with Ursula von der Leyen, the new president of the European Commission, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mr. Trump told CNBC:
"I said, 'Look, we don't get something, I'm going to have to take action,' and the action will be a very high tariff on their cars and other things that come into our country. They're going to make a deal because they have to. They have to. They have no choice."
He said there is no reason for Americans to "get nervous" because he's confident of a deal. "I would be very surprised if I had to implement the tariffs," he said.

Comment: Sputnik, 22/1/2020: Zarif's 'told you so' moment:
The three European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal triggered a dispute resolution mechanism last week, a move tantamount to an accusation that Iran is violating its terms, which could eventually lead to the return of UN sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has quipped that the EU's efforts to force Iran back into the nuclear deal have backfired as Donald Trump floated the idea of imposing new tariffs on the bloc.


RT, 22/1/2020: Trade war ignited? UK risks US wrath with digital tax on tech giants
Speaking on a panel - alongside US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin - at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, British Chancellor Sajid Javid doubled down on government plans to implement a two-percent levy on revenues made by global tech giants like Facebook and Twitter in the UK.

"We plan to go ahead with our digital services tax in April. It is a proportionate tax, and a tax that is deliberately designed as a temporary tax." Javid's comments drew the ire of Mnuchin, who hit out at the proposals, branding them "discriminatory" against US companies.

In what was ostensibly a veiled threat aimed at his UK counterpart, the US treasury secretary warned that if his country's digital companies face "arbitrary taxes," then in response they would "consider putting arbitrary taxes on their car companies."




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Arrow Up

Zarif: Iran open to talks with neighbors; Saudi Arabia sends same signals


Sputnik
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 13:45 UTC
Zarif
© AP/Ebrahim NorooziIranian FM Javad Zarif
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two regional rivals who see themselves as the leaders of the two main branches of Islam, have been characterised by Cold War-type animosity. The withdrawal of the United States, a key Saudi ally in the region, from the Iran nuclear deal escalated Mideast tensions to a level not seen in decades.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has signaled Iran's readiness for dialogue with its neighbours, following a grueling month for regional stability. Zarif wrote in an Arabic-language tweet on Thursday:
"Iran remains open to dialogue with its neighbours, and we declare our readiness to participate in any complementary work that is in the interest of the region, and we welcome any step that restores hope to its people and brings them stability and prosperity."
The message did not mention any names but appeared to refer specifically to Saudi Arabia. Speaking on the fringes of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Saudi Prince Faisal said Saudi Arabia was open to talks "but it is really up to Iran".
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Arrow Down

Trump and Salih discuss US troop drawdown from Iraq


Press TV
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 06:22 UTC
TrumpSalih
© AFPUS President Donald Trump • Iraqi President Barham Salim • Davos, Switzerland • 2020
Iraqi President Barham Salim and his US counterpart Donald Trump have exchanged viewpoints about a reduction in the number of American military forces in the war-ravaged Arab country, weeks after a parliamentary bill demanded the withdrawal of all US-led foreign troops.

"We've had a very good relationship. And we're down to a very low number. We're down to 5,000. So we're down to a very low number, historically low, and we'll see what happens," Trump told journalists following a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos on Wednesday with the Iraqi leader.

Salih and Trump also discussed the importance of respecting the demands of the Iraqi people to preserve the country's sovereignty. "We have a lot of common interests, the fight against extremism, stability in the neighborhood, and [a] sovereign Iraq that is stable, friends of the neighbors and friends of the United States," the Iraqi president commented.

On January 5, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country.

Comment: 'Occupational' hazard: The US military in your country. Permanently. The demands of an occupied sovereign country to leave somehow never equal the US' excuses to stay.

See also:

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Russian Flag

Putin prepares Russia for the future: New government is competent, technically skilled, non-ideological

The Saker
The Unz Review
Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:32 UTC
new Russian government
Putin's retooled Russian government
The suspense is over and we now know the names of all the members of the new Russian government. You can, for example, take this good summary published by RT.

What is important right now is not only what did happen, but also what did NOT happen. I will begin with two extremely important things which did NOT happen:

First, the Russian government has NOT remained unchanged. The naysayers had predicted that nothing at all would change, that the same folks who be sitting in maybe different seats, but that the changes would be primarily cosmetic. That did not happen. In reality 12 people kept their seats and another 9 were replaced.

Comment: It is comforting to know that at least one world leader is possessed of intelligence and foresight.

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Rocket

'A landmark achievement': Pakistan test-launches new surface-to-surface ballistic missile


RT
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:47 UTC
missile launch
Pakistan has once again tested Ghaznavi, a surface-to-surface ballistic missile that can carry a range of warheads, including nuclear ones, with an operating range of 290 km. This is the missile's second successful launch.

The test was a part of field training exercises on both day and night combat readiness. Pakistani state media said the launch was witnessed by top military officials, and that its success demonstrated "a very high standard of proficiency in handling and operating the weapon system". President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan hailed the launch as a "landmark achievement".

The Ghaznavi ballistic missile, also known as Hatf-3, is a Pakistani-made nuclear-capable missile that can be launched from road-based vehicles and can hit targets up to 290 km away. It was previously tested in August 2019 in a night-time launch.

The exercises follow the escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir's autonomy being revoked by New Delhi.

Pakistan claims that India's move is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. India, on the other hand, insists that changes to the Indian Constitution are an internal matter, and that its move will improve stability and end militancy in Kashmir.

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Che Guevara

'I received an invitation to the US. Will I go? No,' Philippine's Duterte tells RT


RT
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:26 UTC
duterte
© rt
Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte told RT in an exclusive interview that he has no plans to visit the US for the ASEAN summit, having already snubbed one invitation over a clash of words with Obama.

The Filipino leader told RT's Murad Gazdiev that he's never been to the United State, even though he once received an offer from Obama to come to Washington. He said he turned down the invitation after being criticized by the Democratic president during a press conference.

"He should have realized that I'm also the head of a sovereign state," Duterte explained, arguing that there were diplomatic channels that Obama could have used to make his concerns heard. "He should have brought the case to the United Nations rather than castigate a president of another country in a press conference."

Comment: Here's the full interview, in which Duterte excoriates the United States for its "total lack of respect for our sovereignty" and its representatives "coming to the Philippines like they own the place..."



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Eye 1

Julian Assange extradition case to be drawn out for months


ABC News
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 10:13 UTC
Assange
The complex extradition case designed to determine whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be sent to the U.S. to face espionage charges will take longer than expected.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser agreed on Thursday to add a three-week session in May in addition to the five-day hearing already set for Feb. 24.

The judge said she was "unlikely to look favorably" on any further requests for delays in the long-awaited confrontation between Assange and U.S. officials.

Assange is being held at Belmarsh Prison in east London while he waits for the hearing. The U.S. has charged him with espionage related to WikiLeaks' hacking of hundreds of thousands of confidential government documents.

Comment: See also: Three protected state witnesses accuse Spanish ex-marine of illegally spying on Julian Assange

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Bad Guys

In its obsession with Russia, Polish government rushes headlong into Holocaust revisionism

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:02 UTC
concentration camp
© Reuters / Axel Schmidt
The Polish-Russian war of words over World War II has taken an ugly turn, with the Polish president refusing to attend a Holocaust memorial in Israel and his PM accusing the Soviet Union of delaying the liberation of Auschwitz.

President Andrzej Duda has refused the invitation to the World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem on Thursday, in protest over Russian President Vladimir Putin being invited to speak at the event while he was not. Instead, Duda will preside over the memorial ceremony in Auschwitz on Monday - to which his government deliberately did not invite Putin.

International Holocaust Memorial Day is marked on January 27 because on that date in 1945 the Red Army troops liberated the notorious Nazi death camp at what is now called Oswiecim. Yet the current Polish government has refused to give the Soviet Union any credit for liberating Auschwitz - or Poland, for that matter - insisting instead that their country was a purely innocent victim of Nazis and Soviets in equal measure.
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Eye 1

Backdoored backup? FBI barred Apple from offering customers encrypted iCloud storage

Helen Buyniski
RT
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:55 UTC
apple
© Reuters / Stephen Lam
Apple was barred from offering customers encrypted iCloud storage because US intelligence agencies insisted on maintaining open access to users' files, their primary means of evidence-gathering, sources claim.

The FBI quashed a planned feature that would have allowed Apple users to encrypt their iCloud storage, claiming that it would cut the agency off from its best source of evidence against iPhone-using suspects, according to sources who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday. Apple reportedly went along with the agency, hoping to avoid being made an example of in the media or used as the test case for a draconian new anti-encryption law, and the program was put to bed two years ago - yet the crusading surveillance state has returned in the wake of the Pensacola naval air base shooting to demand still greater incursions on user privacy.
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Russian Flag

Russian MPs give first nod to sweeping constitutional changes proposed by Putin


RT
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:52 UTC
duma
© RIA Novosti / Maxim Blinov
In a unanimous move in the State Duma, lawmakers backed a bill seeking to overhaul several articles of the constitution, just a week after President Putin proposed major amendments to the law including about his own post.

Proposed by Vladimir Putin in his annual state-of-the-nation address, the changes seek to give more powers to parliament, which will be able to pick the prime minister. The premier's cabinet picks, currently not requiring a nod from MPs, would require parliamentary confirmation and could not be rejected by the president.

They would also limit the president's overall tenure to only two terms; the individual will also be required to have lived 25 consecutive years in Russia, up from the current 10, and to have never obtained foreign citizenship or a residence permit. There will also be stricter background requirements for top officials and MPs.

Comment: Previously: Russian PM Mishustin announces first cabinet: Lavrov and Shoigu remain, but many fresh faces are among appointees

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