Joe Biden sought 'hidden info' on Trump's incoming NSA: Ex-spy chief

 

US' previous covert operative boss has guaranteed that three weeks before the January 2017 presidential initiation, Joe Biden in his ability as the VP had requested that knowledge authorities "reveal the shrouded data" on the approaching public security consultant of then president-elect Donald Trump.

Trump's first public security guide Michael Flynn was the most elevated positioning authority trapped by the unique insight investigation into Russian intruding in the 2016 political decision. Flynn had to leave right off the bat in the Trump administration for deceiving Vice-President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian government authorities.

During his location to the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Wednesday, previous Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell comprehensively denounced the Obama organization's investigation into conceivable Trump-Russia arrangement in the 2016 political race.

"As Acting Director of National Intelligence, I saw the Democrats' whole case for Russian intrigue. What's more, what I saw made me debilitated to my stomach," he said.

The previous covert agent boss claimed that the Obama-Biden organization furtively propelled an observation procedure on the Trump lobby, and hushed the many bold insight authorities who opposed it.

"They introduced fake data as realities. They misled judges. At that point they grouped whatever sabotaged their case," he claimed.

"After Donald Trump won the political race, when they ought to have proceeded with the American custom of helping the duly elected president progress into the White House, they attempted rather to undermine him considerably more.

"Previous Vice President Joe Biden requested that insight authorities reveal the shrouded data on President Trump's approaching National Security Advisor (Flynn) three weeks before the (presidential) Inauguration, Grenell asserted.

In his RNC discourse, Grenell additionally commended Trump's 'America First international strategy'.

In four years, Trump has driven even some Washington Democrats to concede to the Chinese danger. On economic agreements that advantage Americans first. On collusions that share obligation, he said.

Why Donald Trump still needs to try harder to resolve Covid-19 crisis in US

With reviving of the economy and youngsters coming back to class a half year since the destructive infection was first revealed in the United States, US President Donald Trump despite everything needs to recapture control on the emergency activated by the pandemic in an offer to fix an appointive triumph in November, which runs straightforwardly through the soundness of his country.
As per The Washington Post, Trump's weaknesses have astounded even a portion of his most faithful partners, who progressively have asked why the president has not at any rate emulated a feeling of order over the emergency or passed on empathy for the a huge number of Americans hurt by it.
A portion of his partners and adversaries have even concurred that the President has fizzled at the one undertaking that could assist him with accomplishing every one of his objectives - going up against the pandemic with a reasonable methodology and predictable authority.
Individuals near Trump, many talking on state of secrecy, opined that the President's failure to entirely address the emergency is because of his practically neurotic reluctance to concede blunder; a positive input circle of excessively blushing appraisals and information from consultants and Fox News.
Lately, with in excess of 145,000 Americans now dead from the infection, the White House has endeavored to update - or possibly rejigger - its methodology. The organization has resuscitated news briefings drove by Trump and gave the President projections indicating how the infection is presently destroying Republican states brimming with his voters.

For some, in any case, the inquiry is the reason Trump didn't alter sooner, understanding that the way to about the entirety of his objectives - from a financial recuperation to a constituent triumph in November - runs legitimately through a sound country in charge of the infection.

Are Americans retreating into isolation? Here's what this survey reveals

International News

Public attitudes toward US foreign policy are a mess of ambiguities and seeming contradictions. Americans don’t particularly like Donald Trump’s policies, but they share some of his ambivalence about the country’s vast global role.They are not retreating into isolationism, but neither are they persuaded by the traditional justifications for America’s efforts to shape the world.
These are the principal takeaways from a recent opinion survey conducted by the progressive-leaning Center for American progress. For those who believe that American global engagement has been a good thing for the country and the world, the survey provides reason for optimism and pessimism alike. And it highlights the challenges Trump’s successor will face in rebuilding a foreign policy consensus that has frayed badly.
The good news is that Trump’s statecraft — a zero-sum version of nationalism emphasizing military strength, opposition to immigration and skepticism about America’s global responsibilities — is not very popular. Yes, perhaps one-third of the population can be categorized as “Trump nationalists,” but the president’s foreign policy approval rating is an unimpressive 40 per cent.
Americans are not exactly clamoring for more casual belligerence, economic protectionism, diplomatic self-isolation and simple incompetence.They are, however, receptive to some of Trump’s underlying critiques of America’s global project.

 According to CAP, Americans broadly support the idea of making allies take greater responsibility for their own defense. They place greater emphasis on dealing with direct, tangible threats such as terrorism than on confronting more abstract challenges such as geopolitical revisionism in Europe or the Asia-Pacific. They are wary of prolonged wars in the greater Middle East and show limited enthusiasm for promoting democracy.Americans also worry about trade-offs between domestic and global priorities: They are in the mood to spend money on butter rather than guns...Read More

Trump promoted strategic India-US relations in sustained manner: Report

International News

The Trump administration has worked to make India a more prominent part of its regional strategy, a top American think-tank has said in a report, lauding President Donald Trump for promoting strategic ties with India in a "sustained manner".

Asserting that the Trump administration has maintained the success story of US-India relations initiated by George W Bush, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in its report gives the US President a high B+ grade when it comes to America's ties with India.

The CFR in its special report Trump's Foreign Policy are Better Than They Seem said President Trump "deserves credit for promoting strategic ties with India in a sustained manner".

The Trump administration has worked to make India a more prominent part of its regional strategy. After changing the name of US Pacific Command to US Indo-Pacific Command in May 2018, the United States is now planning its first tri-service exercise with the Indian military, said the report authored by former US Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill.

President Trump's inclinations, as conveyed through his South Asia strategy, which accords primacy to India; his release of advanced weapons systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, for sale to New Delhi; and his decision to treat India on par with NATO allies where strategic technology release is concerned are all viewed as favourable toward India, it said.


The report said that New Delhi has accordingly responded with bold initiatives of its own."Although it has not entirely endorsed the Trump administration's Indo-Pacific strategy, it has applauded the strategy's declared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific regiona concept first articulated by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys an exceptionally close relationship," the CFR said.

Explained: Impact of Donald Trump's attack on preferential trade with India

Current Affairs

United States president Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a plan to end preferential trade treatment for India, withdrawing benefits under a nearly 50-year-old programme for up to $5.6 billion worth of New Delhi’s exports to America.

The move comes after over a year of back-and-forth between the two countries, and pressure exerted upon the Trump administration by the American dairy export and medical devices lobbies.

“I am taking this step because, after intensive engagement between the United States and the government of India, I have determined that India has not assured the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets of India,” Trump said in a letter to Congress representatives on Tuesday early morning.

According to World Bank data, India is currently the largest beneficiary of the ‘generalised system of preferences’ (GSP) programme, a trade initiative that was first started back in the 1970s.

India’s commerce ministry, however, has downplayed the impact of the move, saying that withdrawal of GSP benefits will have a “minimal and moderate impact”.

“The total GSP benefits amount to about $190 million on overall exports of $5.6 billion between the two countries,” commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

 “We had worked out a meaningful package that covered the US’ concerns but they made additional requests which were not acceptable at this time,” he added. “The GSP system is envisaged as a non-reciprocal benefit to developing countries.”..Read More

Exports likely to be hit as US moves to end major trade benefits to India

Economy News

Ending months of speculation, the Donald Trump administration has decided to cut benefits to Indian exporters under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme.

"At the direction of President Donald J Trump, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced today that the United States intends to terminate India's and Turkey's designations as beneficiary developing countries under the GSP program because they no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria", the United States Trade Representatives office announced late on Monday.

India, having exported goods worth $5.6 billion to the US in 2017-18 under GSP, is the largest beneficiary of the scheme. The GSP is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products, mostly from developing nations.

While Turkey was also been removed from the GSP list on Monday, the USTR came down particularly hard on India. "India has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on United States commerce," it said.A long time coming

 Back in November last year, the US President had signed an executive order to end the duty-free status of 50 Indian exports to the US. These included inorganic and organic chemicals, agricultural products like cucumbers and gherkin, and certain types of animal hide. These were part of a global list of 90 items — from a large group of nations including Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, Egypt and Ecuador — for which prevailing rates of import tariff were to be be levied when imported into the US.

Trump move to end preferential trade treatment won't hurt India much: Govt

Economy News

India does not plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods after US President Donald Trump said he intends to end India's preferential trade treatment, a top trade official said on Tuesday.
Anup Wadhawan said the withdrawal of the Generalised System of Preferences for Indian products would have limited impact.

The two countries had been working on a trade package to address each other's concerns, he said.Under the GSP program, India exports $5.6 billion worth of goods to the United States duty-free.
Arguing that New Delhi had failed to assure America that it would provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets in numerous sectors, US President Donald Trump on Monday informed the US Congress about his intent to terminate the designation of India and Turkey as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

In a letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Trump said he was determined that New Delhi had "not assured" the United States that it would "provide equitable and reasonable access" to the markets of India.

"I will continue to assess whether the Government of India is providing equitable and reasonable access to its markets, in accordance with the GSP eligibility criteria," Trump said in his letter, a copy of which was released to the press.


 In a separate letter, Trump also informed the Congress of his intent to terminate the GSP beneficiary designation of Turkey. This was primarily because the economy of Turkey had improved a lot in the last four-and-a-half decades, he said...Read More

Global stocks rise with yuan on optimism for US-China trade deal

International News

Stocks advanced in Europe and Asia while the Yuan strengthened after the US and China were said to be close to a trade deal that may end American tariffs in return for Chinese concessions. S&P 500 futures climbed, while the dollar fluctuated and Treasuries held steady.

Gains in miners and media companies led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to five-month high. Earlier in Asia, Chinese and Japanese stocks saw the biggest advances, though several markets pared increases as the session progressed. The mooted trade deal would require Beijing to follow through on pledges ranging from better protecting intellectual-property rights to buying a significant amount of American products, two people familiar with the discussions said. The dollar nudged higher even after US President Donald Trump warned against it becoming too strong.

“While we have all these great headlines about what could be achieved under a US-China trade agreement, we’re still a little way away,” said Kerry Craig, JP Morgan’s global market strategist. “There could be a chance for a disappointment. It could be phased in over a number of years. There’s still questions about how and what China will actually buy to try and reduce their deficit.”

Signs of progress between Beijing and Washington are helping revitalize a rally in global equities that showed signs of stalling last week. The market will keep focused on both superpowers for other developments as well: China’s annual National People’s Congress may yield policy clues when it kicks off on Tuesday and investors will get the latest read on the US economy with the monthly jobs report on Friday.


 Elsewhere, the pound rose against the euro, approaching a 21-month high it touched last week, amid optimism UK lawmakers are avoiding a hard Brexit by moving toward supporting Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed deal. West Texas oil climbed above $56 a barrel on signs of slowing US production growth and as OPEC and its allies deepened cutbacks...Read More

China to pass new foreign investment law to meet US' demand, end trade war

International News
China is all set pass a new foreign investment law to provide a level playing field to global investors with legal safeguards on IPR and technology transfer, some of the main demands of US President Donald Trump to end the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The US and China are locked in a trade war since Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items from China in March last year, a move that sparked fears of a global trade war. In response, China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of American imports.
China is the world's second largest economy after the US.

The draft foreign investment law will be submitted to the top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), for review on March 8 and put for vote on March 15, Zhang Yesui, spokesman of the NPC said on Monday.

Asked why China is passing the new foreign investment law in a hurry, Zhang said that the interests of China and the United States are deeply interwoven and a confrontational China-US relationship does not benefit anyone.

China has a clear policy towards its relationship with the US, which is based on no-conflict and no-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, he said.


 The adoption of the foreign investment law is an innovation in the legal system on foreign investment and is to replace the existing three laws and serve as the basic law on foreign investment as China continues to open up in the new era, Zhang said...Read More

South Korea war games too expensive for US: Trump on ending military drill

International News

US President Donald Trump denied that he ordered an end to major US-South Korean military exercises as a concession to North Korea's totalitarian leader Kim Jong Un.
The previously annual, large-scale manoeuvers -- meant to keep troops ready in case of conflict with North Korea -- were shelved shortly after Trump's summit last week with Kim in Hanoi.
Trump denied there was any link.
"The military drills, or war games as I call them, were never even discussed in my mtg w/ Kim Jong Un," he tweeted.
"I made that decision long ago because it costs the U.S. far too much money to have those 'games', especially since we are not reimbursed for the tremendous cost!" he said in the tweet.
There are close to 30,000 US troops stationed in South Korea, and their annual drills with tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers have angered North Korea, which claims they are rehearsals for invasion.
While Trump has ruled out withdrawing US troops, he has repeatedly complained about the cost of the exercises, describing them at a press conference in Hanoi as "very, very expensive".

 Trump's summit with Kim ended with no progress toward Washington's goal of getting the isolated country to give up its nuclear weapons...Read More