Cohen raid ignites Trump's rage and sparks speculation
Kevin Liptak-Profile-Image
By Kevin Liptak, CNN White House Producer
Updated 0834 GMT (1634 HKT) April 10, 2018
Toobin: Looks like Trump itching to fire Mueller
trump stormy daniels avenatti and schwartz
Stormy and Cohen's attorneys debate contract
POMPANO BEACH, FL - MARCH 09: The actress Stephanie Clifford, who uses the stage name Stormy Daniels, arrives to perform at the Solid Gold Fort Lauderdale strip club on March 9, 2018 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Stephanie Clifford who claims to have had an affair with President Trump has filed a suit against him in an attempt to nullify a nondisclosure deal with Trump attorney Michael Cohen days before Trump's 2016 presidential victory. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
New links between Trump, Stormy Daniels
anderson cooper 03092018
Anderson Cooper: It's not about the affair
Cohen used business email in Daniels deal
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives at Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
Cohen faces criticism over Stormy Daniels case
stormy daniels, michael cohen
WSJ: Cohen complained about porn star payment
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
WaPo: Mueller examining Trump's lawyer
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
Trump attorney tries to silence alleged affair
Toobin: Looks like Trump itching to fire Mueller
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
FBI raids Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's office
Michael Avenatti newday 2 04092018
Avenatti: Trump shot himself in the foot
Cohen referred client to former Daniels lawyer
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
Michael Cohen: Trump's loyal fixer
Trump: No knowledge of Stormy Daniels payment
Michael Avenatti
Avenatti: Trump team has told bucket of lies
Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels
Stormy Daniels sues Cohen for defamation
trump stormy daniels avenatti and schwartz
Stormy and Cohen's attorneys debate contract
POMPANO BEACH, FL - MARCH 09: The actress Stephanie Clifford, who uses the stage name Stormy Daniels, arrives to perform at the Solid Gold Fort Lauderdale strip club on March 9, 2018 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Stephanie Clifford who claims to have had an affair with President Trump has filed a suit against him in an attempt to nullify a nondisclosure deal with Trump attorney Michael Cohen days before Trump's 2016 presidential victory. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
New links between Trump, Stormy Daniels
anderson cooper 03092018
Anderson Cooper: It's not about the affair
Cohen used business email in Daniels deal
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives at Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
Cohen faces criticism over Stormy Daniels case
stormy daniels, michael cohen
WSJ: Cohen complained about porn star payment
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
WaPo: Mueller examining Trump's lawyer
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
Trump attorney tries to silence alleged affair
Toobin: Looks like Trump itching to fire Mueller
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
FBI raids Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's office
Michael Avenatti newday 2 04092018
Avenatti: Trump shot himself in the foot
Cohen referred client to former Daniels lawyer
Attorney Michael Cohen arrives to Trump Tower for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump on December 16, 2016 in New York.
Michael Cohen: Trump's loyal fixer
Trump: No knowledge of Stormy Daniels payment
Michael Avenatti
Avenatti: Trump team has told bucket of lies
Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels
Stormy Daniels sues Cohen for defamation
Washington (CNN)It was a photo-op meant to portray President Donald Trump at his most commanding: Flanked by senior military leaders, Trump was there to plot America's response to a suspected chemical gas attack in Syria.
Instead, his boiling display in the White House Cabinet Room on Monday evening only served to underscore the President's most visible weakness: his ambient rage over Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
The special counsel, Trump declared, was conducting a "total witch hunt." The FBI raid carried out on his longtime fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen's office is "frankly, a real disgrace." And the investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia amounts to "an attack on our country in a true sense."
That was just in the first minute.
Trump slams FBI for raid of his personal attorney's office
Trump slams FBI for raid of his personal attorney's office
Rarely has Trump's ever-simmering anger over the Russia probe erupted on camera as it did on Monday. The news that FBI agents had carted away documents and records related to, among other things, the adult film actress Stormy Daniels from Cohen's office prompted the type of emotional diatribe that his allies and advisers have long sought to head off.
That's left his aides and advisers wondering -- and in some cases dreading -- what might come next.
People familiar with Trump's thinking said Monday that the Cohen revelation struck the President harder than seeing other associates caught up in the Mueller swirl. Unlike campaign aides Paul Manafort or Michael Flynn, Cohen has been a longtime fixture of Trump's orbit. He was a regular presence inside the Trump Organization headquarters on the 26th floor of Trump Tower. And he acted as an enforcer of secrets, admitting to paying off at least one woman who alleged she'd carried out a sexual affair with Trump.
He was, in the telling of one person who worked with both Trump and Cohen for years, "the closest person to Trump that I have ever met who is not family."
Trump made the decision on his own to directly -- and bluntly -- address the FBI raid of Cohen's office during his meeting with top military brass and his national security advisers. One White House official said there was no discussion among aides about the President not talking about it at his event.
He wanted to air his grievances, the official said, and react publicly to the news that had enraged him for the past two hours.
"You can see how angry he is," the White House official said.
WH Official: Trump watching tv reports of FBI raiding 01:32
The outburst came late in a day otherwise occupied with calls and meetings focused on the Syria attack. By midafternoon, Trump had spoken for the second time with French President Emmanuel Macron and had conferred with senior aides, including new national security adviser John Bolton, on options for responding.
But the strategy sessions were interrupted when Trump learned the raids were underway. He huddled at the White House with his attorney Ty Cobb and other senior aides to plot a response.
"I heard it like you did," Trump told reporters in the Cabinet Room, though one official said the President had found out earlier in the afternoon that FBI agents had seized documents from Cohen's office and hotel room.
He spent the remainder of the afternoon viewing coverage of the episode on television in the private dining room just off the Oval Office, growing more incensed and planning his response. White House aides seemed caught off guard by the raids, unprepared with a response. Press aides spent the afternoon hunkered down in their offices determining how to react.
Trump, now without a permanent communications director after the departure of Hope Hicks, ended up doing the reacting himself.
"That is really now in a whole new level of unfairness," Trump bemoaned at the start of his meeting with military leaders.
Without being prompted by a reporter's question, Trump launched into his minutes-long tirade as top military brass and national security aides looked on.
Defense Secretary James Mattis sat stone-faced across the table, his hands folded and his eyes cast downward. Bolton, sitting to Trump's left, adjusted his glasses and fiddled with his pen. Vice President Mike Pence, at Trump's right, stared ahead with an unchanging expression of concern.
Other military leaders looked on silently as the commander in chief attacked his attorney general, deputy attorney general and special counsel in a blistering partisan attack that stood out even by Trump's standards.
Trump: Syria attack will be met forcefully
Trump diverted from his rampage, briefly, to address the situation in Syria. But he eagerly returned to the Mueller matter as soon as he was peppered with questions from reporters.
"Why don't I just fire Mueller? Well, I think it's a disgrace what's going on. We'll see what happens," he said, making sure to repeat the question for the cameras. "And many people have said, you should fire him."
It's the prospect of a Mueller firing that has some of Trump's advisers nervous. Trump has recently escalated his attacks in private, not just of Mueller but also of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation at the Justice Department. After the departure of aides like Hicks, there are fewer confidants in the White House to buffer Trump's combative instincts.
A growing number of Trump's allies have advised him that his legal team appears outmatched by the stable of lawyers recruited by Mueller to investigate his campaign's ties to Russia, even as that team begins informally preparing him for an interview with Mueller. And they are concerned about how he will react to the upcoming publicity tour by James Comey, the FBI director he fired last year, who has a book coming out.
Republicans in Washington are eyeing the President's moves carefully.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Jim Acosta, Dan Merica, Kaitlan Collins and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.
Trump's lawyer referred a client to Stormy Daniels' former lawyer, raising new questions about collaboration
Trump's lawyer referred a client to Stormy Daniels' former lawyer, raising new questions about collaboration
Sean Hannity, who mocked Michelle Obama, says it's wrong to mock Melania Trump
Sean Hannity, who mocked Michelle Obama, says it's wrong to mock Melania…
Axelrod, Steyer spar over Dems' impeachment calls
Axelrod, Steyer spar over Dems' impeachment calls
Stormy Daniels: I wouldn't have signed nondisclosure pact if I knew Trump wasn't signing
Stormy Daniels: I wouldn't have signed nondisclosure pact if I knew Trump…
The Democratic case against impeaching President Trump
The Democratic case against impeaching President Trump
Donald Trump just made the Masters all about him
Donald Trump just made the Masters all about him
Trump just put himself in a political red zone
Judge denies motion by Stormy Daniels' attorney to depose Trump, Cohen
Allred withdraws from Zervos case against Trump
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Kudlow says China has not wanted to 'talk in earnest' amid tariff threats - CNN Politics
Kudlow says China has not wanted to 'talk in earnest' amid tariff threats
Anchor Muted Background
By Maegan Vazquez, CNN
Updated 1524 GMT (2324 HKT) April 8, 2018
Kudlow: I'd support pulling trigger on tariffs
Kudlow: I'd support pulling trigger on tariffs 01:29
Washington (CNN)White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow says President Donald Trump is trying to get China's attention by ramping up trade war rhetoric, but so far, Beijing has not wanted "to come round and talk in earnest."
"Look, we have had to go in and fire a shot across the bow. China's behavior, it's 20 years now, it's more than unfair trade practices. It's illegal trading practices," Kudlow said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," later emphasizing that "this is a process" and "no tariffs have been implemented yet."
Last Thursday, Trump ratcheting up the trade war rhetoric with China, saying he was asking US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs on the country's exports to the US.
Trump defends tariffs amid jittery markets
Trump defends tariffs amid jittery markets
Earlier in the week, the US announced new tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, claiming that China is stealing US intellectual property. China responded within hours by announcing tariffs on $50 billion worth of US goods.
The moves follow US tariffs that were imposed earlier this year on Chinese steel and aluminum, which also prompted retaliatory measures from China.
Kudlow, who joined the administration only days ago, said he would support the new tariffs if they were implemented.
"In this last round (of tariffs), President Trump asked Bob Lighthizer, our trade diplomat, to consider whether an additional round of tariffs would be useful, and part of that is because after we've made the first round, the Chinese response was unsatisfactory, to (say) the least," Kudlow said. "So the President is trying to get their attention again. The process may include tariffs. I can't rule that out. It may rest eventually on negotiations."
Trump pushes back against market fears of trade war
Trump pushes back against market fears of trade war
"Maybe China will want to come round and talk in earnest," Kudlow added. "So far it hasn't. I hope it does."
In a tweet Sunday morning, Trump wrote that Chinese "President Xi (Jinping) and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade."
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade. China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!
10:12 PM - Apr 8, 2018
"China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!" he continued.
Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday morning that though the tariff threats against China are serious, they're also a negotiating ploy.
"We're moving forward in a measured way with tariffs, with investment restrictions," he said. "What we want from China is very clear. We want fair and reciprocal trade. We want them to stop stealing our stuff. We want them to guard intellectual property, not take it from us."
Trying to make sense of Trump's contradictory trade war tweets
Trying to make sense of Trump's contradictory trade war tweets
On "State of the Union" Sunday morning, Republican Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, said the administration needs a "more nuanced approach" to the issue, but gave the President credit for posing the treat of additional tariffs against China.
We need to get tough with China, but we need to do so in a way that we do not spark a trade war and retaliation that will end up with our European and Asian competitors getting business that otherwise would have come to American farmers and American manufacturers," Collins said.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, also credited Trump for taking action.
"To those who believe that China is cheating: What idea do you have better than Trump? He's the first guy to actually take them on, they have a weak economy compared to ours, the Chinese, they don't have Social Security or unemployment benefits," Graham said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." He added, "They need us more than we need them, and all I'm asking them to do, Martha, is to quit cheating us out of market share."
CNN's Jackie Wattles and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.
Anchor Muted Background
By Maegan Vazquez, CNN
Updated 1524 GMT (2324 HKT) April 8, 2018
Kudlow: I'd support pulling trigger on tariffs
Kudlow: I'd support pulling trigger on tariffs 01:29
Washington (CNN)White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow says President Donald Trump is trying to get China's attention by ramping up trade war rhetoric, but so far, Beijing has not wanted "to come round and talk in earnest."
"Look, we have had to go in and fire a shot across the bow. China's behavior, it's 20 years now, it's more than unfair trade practices. It's illegal trading practices," Kudlow said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," later emphasizing that "this is a process" and "no tariffs have been implemented yet."
Last Thursday, Trump ratcheting up the trade war rhetoric with China, saying he was asking US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs on the country's exports to the US.
Trump defends tariffs amid jittery markets
Trump defends tariffs amid jittery markets
Earlier in the week, the US announced new tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, claiming that China is stealing US intellectual property. China responded within hours by announcing tariffs on $50 billion worth of US goods.
The moves follow US tariffs that were imposed earlier this year on Chinese steel and aluminum, which also prompted retaliatory measures from China.
Kudlow, who joined the administration only days ago, said he would support the new tariffs if they were implemented.
"In this last round (of tariffs), President Trump asked Bob Lighthizer, our trade diplomat, to consider whether an additional round of tariffs would be useful, and part of that is because after we've made the first round, the Chinese response was unsatisfactory, to (say) the least," Kudlow said. "So the President is trying to get their attention again. The process may include tariffs. I can't rule that out. It may rest eventually on negotiations."
Trump pushes back against market fears of trade war
Trump pushes back against market fears of trade war
"Maybe China will want to come round and talk in earnest," Kudlow added. "So far it hasn't. I hope it does."
In a tweet Sunday morning, Trump wrote that Chinese "President Xi (Jinping) and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade."
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade. China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!
10:12 PM - Apr 8, 2018
"China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!" he continued.
Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday morning that though the tariff threats against China are serious, they're also a negotiating ploy.
"We're moving forward in a measured way with tariffs, with investment restrictions," he said. "What we want from China is very clear. We want fair and reciprocal trade. We want them to stop stealing our stuff. We want them to guard intellectual property, not take it from us."
Trying to make sense of Trump's contradictory trade war tweets
Trying to make sense of Trump's contradictory trade war tweets
On "State of the Union" Sunday morning, Republican Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, said the administration needs a "more nuanced approach" to the issue, but gave the President credit for posing the treat of additional tariffs against China.
We need to get tough with China, but we need to do so in a way that we do not spark a trade war and retaliation that will end up with our European and Asian competitors getting business that otherwise would have come to American farmers and American manufacturers," Collins said.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, also credited Trump for taking action.
"To those who believe that China is cheating: What idea do you have better than Trump? He's the first guy to actually take them on, they have a weak economy compared to ours, the Chinese, they don't have Social Security or unemployment benefits," Graham said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." He added, "They need us more than we need them, and all I'm asking them to do, Martha, is to quit cheating us out of market share."
CNN's Jackie Wattles and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.
The Biggest Deal In Shark Tank History, That Can Make YOU Rich In Just 7 Days! (Seriously) - Insider Financial Daily
The Biggest Deal In Shark Tank History, That Can Make YOU Rich In Just 7 Days! (Seriously)
(Tuesday, April 10, 2018) - These two university mates created, Bitcoin Trader, a simple push-button bitcoin trading platform.
Appearing on channel 10's hit show, Shark Tank, two best friends from university pitched their idea for an automated bitcoin trading platform, called Bitcoin Trader. The idea was simple: allow the average person the opportunity to cash in on the bitcoin boom. Even if they have absolutely no investing or technology experience.
A user would simply make an intial deposit into the platform, usually of $250 or more, and the automated trading algorithm would go to work. Using a combination of data and machine learning, the algorithm would know the perfect time to buy bitcoin low and sell high, maximizing the user's profit.
The entrepreneurs intend to make money from their platform by charging a small commission on only the profits a user generates. They asked the sharks for $200,000 for 25% of the company, valuing the company at $800,000.
To demonstrate the power of their company's platform the entrepreneurs had Janine Allis deposit $250 live on the show.
Janine Allis after buying her first ever bitcoin with the help of Bitcoin Trader
"I've heard about Bitcoin and the massive amount of money you can make from it, but I've never bought any. I no idea where to start. This was really easy, I can just use my credit card to deposit money and it buys them for me." Janine said.
After her initial deposit for $250 was made, the trading platform went to work buying low and selling high. Within 3 minutes, she had successfully increased her initial funds to $323.18. That's a $73.18 profit.
The Sharks started to become very eager to invest in this business
All the Sharks were immediately impressed by how easy it was to make money. The platform handles all the trading work automatically and because the price of Bitcoin is quite volatile, there are numerous opportunities to profit.
"Bitcoin is so hot right now and if even somebody like Janine, no offence Janine, can make money from it, I'm all in. I need to have a piece of this. I'm going to make a huge offer, $2 million for 25% of the company." Steve Baxter said.
Before the entrepreneurs even had a chance to respond to Baxter's offer, Janine Allis interrupted and said with a smile on her face: "I've gone up to $398.42 after just 8 minutes".
After the instance success of Janine Allis, Steve Baxter recalculates his initial offer.
Although at this point all 5 Sharks were ready to invested, a bidding war quickly emerged between Glen Richards and Steve Baxter. Richards improved on Baxter's offer, by $2.5 million for 25%, whereas Baxter hit back with a revised valuation of $2.5 million for 20%, effectively valuing the company at $12.5 million.
After some minor back-and-forth discussion, the entrepreneurs quickly accepted, making this the biggest deal in the history of Shark Tank.
We decided to put Bitcoin Trader to the test, to see if it was really possible for you to make money using the platform.
We quickly discovered that the platform charges a commission of 2% on profits a user generates and you need to make a minimum deposit of $250 to get started. That money will be your initial investment, which the trading software uses to trade.
Also, we learnt that Bitcoin Trader makes money by buying when the price goes up AND when the price goes down. This is know as short-selling and the platform handles it for you automatically.
I decided to sign up for an account with Bitcoin Trader, I made the initial deposit $250 and set my account to active.
MY RESULTS WITH BITCOIN TRADER AFTER 7 DAYS
On the show, Janine was able to make $73.18 in profit after 3 minutes, for me, it took much longer. The platform took 20 hours to generate a $80.19 profit, which still impressed me alot! I've never puchased Bitcoin before and never made a trade in my life, yet here I was able to generate profits.
I spent about 5 minutes a day checking my results and after 5 days, the platform had traded up to a massive total of $630. That is a 252% increase in my initial deposit. I was starting to become a true believer in this platform.
After 7 Days my initial investment had traded up to $1,930. At this point, my mind was racing with possibilities of all the things I could spend that money on. This is more money than I made at work for the week and I spent less than 30 minutes checking the platform.
I decided to keep my account active for 15 days in total, because I wanted to see how high it could go. My account eventually hit a peak of $7,380.10, but had a negative -$79.51 trade. I looked through my trading logs and discovered that not every trade is profitable, some actually lose money.
The platform isn't magic, but after 70% of my trades were profitable, the net result was I made $7,300.59 from my initial deposit of $250. It took me less than 30 minutes of work a week and absolutely no technical or investing experience.
As you can see from the screenshot below, I decided to used the 'withdraw funds' function to withdraw $7,300.59 from my account.
How I easily withdrew my money from my Bitcoin Trader account
All in all, I was able to make $7,300.59 from using Bitcoin Trader. I decided to pull my money out to pay for an overseas holiday. When I get back, with the money I've got left over from my holiday, I will definitely reinvest in Bitcoin Trader. I may even quit my job!
Note: It took 48 hours for my the money to be deposited into my personal bank account.
THE SHARKS ABSOLUTELY LOVE BITCOIN TRADER
“Bitcoin Trader has been the greatest investment I've ever made! The business has been growing at over 2,400% this year alone. And as a user of the platform, my Bitcoin trading profits have increased by 320% on virtual autopilot.” - Steve Baxter
“I missed out on the Bitcoin Trader investment, as the entrepreneurs decided to go with Steve Baxter, but I've been making huge returns as a user of the platform! My return as a user has been over 630%, which is much bigger than anything I've made here in Shark Tank” - Glen Richards
“I've gone from somebody who has only heard about Bitcoin to becoming a Bitcoin Multi-Millionaire in the space of just 3 months. I wish I had offer more money to invest in the business, but I'm extremely happy that I decided to become a user of the product.” - Naomi Simson
“I'm still in shock, I deposited $250 live on the show and it immediately returned a $73.18 profit after just 3 minutes. That is the biggest and fastest return I've ever seen after 3 minutes. This thing is legit.” - Janine Allis
“Bitcoin Trader has revolutionised the world of investments for me. I've almost completely abandoned my normal stock portfolio in favour of Bitcoin trading. With the use of Bitcoin Trader, you can make more money, faster, easier and with absolutely no prior bitcoin or investor knowledge.” - Andrew Banks
(Tuesday, April 10, 2018) - These two university mates created, Bitcoin Trader, a simple push-button bitcoin trading platform.
Appearing on channel 10's hit show, Shark Tank, two best friends from university pitched their idea for an automated bitcoin trading platform, called Bitcoin Trader. The idea was simple: allow the average person the opportunity to cash in on the bitcoin boom. Even if they have absolutely no investing or technology experience.
A user would simply make an intial deposit into the platform, usually of $250 or more, and the automated trading algorithm would go to work. Using a combination of data and machine learning, the algorithm would know the perfect time to buy bitcoin low and sell high, maximizing the user's profit.
The entrepreneurs intend to make money from their platform by charging a small commission on only the profits a user generates. They asked the sharks for $200,000 for 25% of the company, valuing the company at $800,000.
To demonstrate the power of their company's platform the entrepreneurs had Janine Allis deposit $250 live on the show.
Janine Allis after buying her first ever bitcoin with the help of Bitcoin Trader
"I've heard about Bitcoin and the massive amount of money you can make from it, but I've never bought any. I no idea where to start. This was really easy, I can just use my credit card to deposit money and it buys them for me." Janine said.
After her initial deposit for $250 was made, the trading platform went to work buying low and selling high. Within 3 minutes, she had successfully increased her initial funds to $323.18. That's a $73.18 profit.
The Sharks started to become very eager to invest in this business
All the Sharks were immediately impressed by how easy it was to make money. The platform handles all the trading work automatically and because the price of Bitcoin is quite volatile, there are numerous opportunities to profit.
"Bitcoin is so hot right now and if even somebody like Janine, no offence Janine, can make money from it, I'm all in. I need to have a piece of this. I'm going to make a huge offer, $2 million for 25% of the company." Steve Baxter said.
Before the entrepreneurs even had a chance to respond to Baxter's offer, Janine Allis interrupted and said with a smile on her face: "I've gone up to $398.42 after just 8 minutes".
After the instance success of Janine Allis, Steve Baxter recalculates his initial offer.
Although at this point all 5 Sharks were ready to invested, a bidding war quickly emerged between Glen Richards and Steve Baxter. Richards improved on Baxter's offer, by $2.5 million for 25%, whereas Baxter hit back with a revised valuation of $2.5 million for 20%, effectively valuing the company at $12.5 million.
After some minor back-and-forth discussion, the entrepreneurs quickly accepted, making this the biggest deal in the history of Shark Tank.
We decided to put Bitcoin Trader to the test, to see if it was really possible for you to make money using the platform.
We quickly discovered that the platform charges a commission of 2% on profits a user generates and you need to make a minimum deposit of $250 to get started. That money will be your initial investment, which the trading software uses to trade.
Also, we learnt that Bitcoin Trader makes money by buying when the price goes up AND when the price goes down. This is know as short-selling and the platform handles it for you automatically.
I decided to sign up for an account with Bitcoin Trader, I made the initial deposit $250 and set my account to active.
MY RESULTS WITH BITCOIN TRADER AFTER 7 DAYS
On the show, Janine was able to make $73.18 in profit after 3 minutes, for me, it took much longer. The platform took 20 hours to generate a $80.19 profit, which still impressed me alot! I've never puchased Bitcoin before and never made a trade in my life, yet here I was able to generate profits.
I spent about 5 minutes a day checking my results and after 5 days, the platform had traded up to a massive total of $630. That is a 252% increase in my initial deposit. I was starting to become a true believer in this platform.
After 7 Days my initial investment had traded up to $1,930. At this point, my mind was racing with possibilities of all the things I could spend that money on. This is more money than I made at work for the week and I spent less than 30 minutes checking the platform.
I decided to keep my account active for 15 days in total, because I wanted to see how high it could go. My account eventually hit a peak of $7,380.10, but had a negative -$79.51 trade. I looked through my trading logs and discovered that not every trade is profitable, some actually lose money.
The platform isn't magic, but after 70% of my trades were profitable, the net result was I made $7,300.59 from my initial deposit of $250. It took me less than 30 minutes of work a week and absolutely no technical or investing experience.
As you can see from the screenshot below, I decided to used the 'withdraw funds' function to withdraw $7,300.59 from my account.
How I easily withdrew my money from my Bitcoin Trader account
All in all, I was able to make $7,300.59 from using Bitcoin Trader. I decided to pull my money out to pay for an overseas holiday. When I get back, with the money I've got left over from my holiday, I will definitely reinvest in Bitcoin Trader. I may even quit my job!
Note: It took 48 hours for my the money to be deposited into my personal bank account.
THE SHARKS ABSOLUTELY LOVE BITCOIN TRADER
“Bitcoin Trader has been the greatest investment I've ever made! The business has been growing at over 2,400% this year alone. And as a user of the platform, my Bitcoin trading profits have increased by 320% on virtual autopilot.” - Steve Baxter
“I missed out on the Bitcoin Trader investment, as the entrepreneurs decided to go with Steve Baxter, but I've been making huge returns as a user of the platform! My return as a user has been over 630%, which is much bigger than anything I've made here in Shark Tank” - Glen Richards
“I've gone from somebody who has only heard about Bitcoin to becoming a Bitcoin Multi-Millionaire in the space of just 3 months. I wish I had offer more money to invest in the business, but I'm extremely happy that I decided to become a user of the product.” - Naomi Simson
“I'm still in shock, I deposited $250 live on the show and it immediately returned a $73.18 profit after just 3 minutes. That is the biggest and fastest return I've ever seen after 3 minutes. This thing is legit.” - Janine Allis
“Bitcoin Trader has revolutionised the world of investments for me. I've almost completely abandoned my normal stock portfolio in favour of Bitcoin trading. With the use of Bitcoin Trader, you can make more money, faster, easier and with absolutely no prior bitcoin or investor knowledge.” - Andrew Banks
Trump on track to lose Republicans' control over Senate and Congress, says leading pollster - Independent
April 9, 2018
Trump on track to lose Republicans' control over Senate and Congress, says leading pollster
'I think the Republicans are in deep trouble in the House and the Senate,' says Frank Luntz
Maya Oppenheim @mayaoppenheim
America’s best known public opinion guru partially heaps blame on Mr Trump for the waning electoral hopes of the Republican party Getty
A leading Republican pollster has predicted Donald Trump could take a hit in the 2018 midterm electi, with Republicans in danger of losing control of the Congress and the Senate.
Frank Luntz said if that the elections were to be held now, the Republican Party would likely lose control of both.
“I think the Republicans are in deep trouble in the House and the Senate as well. If the election were held today, frankly, I think Republicans would lose both,” the conservative pollster said on Fox News.
Republican governor warns party is at risk of Democratic gains
Republican finally concedes special election in ominous sign for Trump
Hillary Clinton says 'the Russians are coming' ahead of midterms
Republicans fear a 'bloodbath' in midterm elections
America’s best known public opinion guru partially heaped blame on Mr Trump for the Republican Party's dwindling electoral hopes.
“If Donald Trump wants to keep the Republican Congress, he has to differentiate when he’s attacking Congress in general versus the Republicans in Congress,” he said.
“Differentiate when he’s attacking the press versus when he feels he’s not getting a fair shake”.
Mr Luntz argued the economy had flourished under the Trump administration but that the president failed to gain proper recognition for it. He suggested the leader’s obsession with tweeting deflected attention away from positive stories about the economy.
A slew of polls in recent weeks have shown Democrats with a lead over Republicans. A Quinnipiac University poll released last month showed Democrats holding a 10-point lead.
In the House, 435 seats are up for election in the forthcoming midterms. The Republicans in that chamber currently hold 238 seats and the Democrats have 192 but are predicted to procure more. The Democrats need to flip 23 seats in order to take back the House.
But the Senate is a far trickier political landscape - 35 seats are up in the 2018 elections there. The Democrats need to defend their existing 26 of those seats and win two extras in order to take control of the chamber.
Democrats believe that with Mr Trump’s approval at a record low and with a similarly record number of candidates from its party getting ready to run in November, they will be able to capitalise on anti-Trump sentiment and retake one or both chambers of Congress.
Former vice president Joe Biden recently argued Democrats would win back the House and maybe even the Senate in Autumn.
“We’re going to win back the House. We actually have a chance at winning back the Senate, for real. It’s a little more of a climb, but it’s real,” Mr Biden said in February.
Trump on track to lose Republicans' control over Senate and Congress, says leading pollster
'I think the Republicans are in deep trouble in the House and the Senate,' says Frank Luntz
Maya Oppenheim @mayaoppenheim
America’s best known public opinion guru partially heaps blame on Mr Trump for the waning electoral hopes of the Republican party Getty
A leading Republican pollster has predicted Donald Trump could take a hit in the 2018 midterm electi, with Republicans in danger of losing control of the Congress and the Senate.
Frank Luntz said if that the elections were to be held now, the Republican Party would likely lose control of both.
“I think the Republicans are in deep trouble in the House and the Senate as well. If the election were held today, frankly, I think Republicans would lose both,” the conservative pollster said on Fox News.
Republican governor warns party is at risk of Democratic gains
Republican finally concedes special election in ominous sign for Trump
Hillary Clinton says 'the Russians are coming' ahead of midterms
Republicans fear a 'bloodbath' in midterm elections
America’s best known public opinion guru partially heaped blame on Mr Trump for the Republican Party's dwindling electoral hopes.
“If Donald Trump wants to keep the Republican Congress, he has to differentiate when he’s attacking Congress in general versus the Republicans in Congress,” he said.
“Differentiate when he’s attacking the press versus when he feels he’s not getting a fair shake”.
Mr Luntz argued the economy had flourished under the Trump administration but that the president failed to gain proper recognition for it. He suggested the leader’s obsession with tweeting deflected attention away from positive stories about the economy.
A slew of polls in recent weeks have shown Democrats with a lead over Republicans. A Quinnipiac University poll released last month showed Democrats holding a 10-point lead.
In the House, 435 seats are up for election in the forthcoming midterms. The Republicans in that chamber currently hold 238 seats and the Democrats have 192 but are predicted to procure more. The Democrats need to flip 23 seats in order to take back the House.
But the Senate is a far trickier political landscape - 35 seats are up in the 2018 elections there. The Democrats need to defend their existing 26 of those seats and win two extras in order to take control of the chamber.
Democrats believe that with Mr Trump’s approval at a record low and with a similarly record number of candidates from its party getting ready to run in November, they will be able to capitalise on anti-Trump sentiment and retake one or both chambers of Congress.
Former vice president Joe Biden recently argued Democrats would win back the House and maybe even the Senate in Autumn.
“We’re going to win back the House. We actually have a chance at winning back the Senate, for real. It’s a little more of a climb, but it’s real,” Mr Biden said in February.
South Carolina reps introduce bill to allow debate on secession over gun laws - Fox News ( source : Associated Press )
South Carolina reps introduce bill to allow debate on secession over gun laws
By Lukas Mikelionis | Fox News
South Carolina state Rep. Mike Pitts and two other state lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow the debate on seceding from the U.S. in the event of confiscation of “legally purchased firearms in this State.”
South Carolina state Rep. Mike Pitts and two other state lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow the debate on seceding from the U.S. in the event of confiscation of “legally purchased firearms in this State.” (Facebook/Mike Pitts)
Three state House Republicans in South Carolina introduced a bill last week that would allow the debate on the Palmetto State possibly seceding from the U.S. if “legally purchased firearms” are ever confiscated.
Rep. Mike Pitts, the initiative’s chief sponsor, said that he has been considering the proposal amid increasing calls to curb the Second Amendment rights, but denied the bill was in response to retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ call to repeal the Second Amendment.
RETIRED SUPREME COURT JUSTICE STEVENS SAYS SECOND AMENDMENT SHOULD BE REPEALED
The bill is unlikely to pass this year, but Pitts pledged to continue raising the issue as a defense of the Bill of Rights.
“Without a Bill of Rights, our nation is not what it is,” he said on Friday. “I see a lot of stuff where people even talk about totally repealing the Second Amendment, which separates us from the entire rest of the world.”
Pitts said he is not “promoting secession” and does not want to see South Carolina leaving the Union, but he said he believes the bill is important to make the secession possible if events warrant it.
Calls for secession over gun rights are not new. In 2013, several counties proposed seceding from the state of Colorado and the Union and create their own state amid new gun control laws introduced by the Democratic legislature.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union before the Civil war in 1860 over “increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the Institution of Slavery.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Lukas Mikelionis | Fox News
South Carolina state Rep. Mike Pitts and two other state lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow the debate on seceding from the U.S. in the event of confiscation of “legally purchased firearms in this State.”
South Carolina state Rep. Mike Pitts and two other state lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow the debate on seceding from the U.S. in the event of confiscation of “legally purchased firearms in this State.” (Facebook/Mike Pitts)
Three state House Republicans in South Carolina introduced a bill last week that would allow the debate on the Palmetto State possibly seceding from the U.S. if “legally purchased firearms” are ever confiscated.
Rep. Mike Pitts, the initiative’s chief sponsor, said that he has been considering the proposal amid increasing calls to curb the Second Amendment rights, but denied the bill was in response to retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ call to repeal the Second Amendment.
RETIRED SUPREME COURT JUSTICE STEVENS SAYS SECOND AMENDMENT SHOULD BE REPEALED
The bill is unlikely to pass this year, but Pitts pledged to continue raising the issue as a defense of the Bill of Rights.
“Without a Bill of Rights, our nation is not what it is,” he said on Friday. “I see a lot of stuff where people even talk about totally repealing the Second Amendment, which separates us from the entire rest of the world.”
Pitts said he is not “promoting secession” and does not want to see South Carolina leaving the Union, but he said he believes the bill is important to make the secession possible if events warrant it.
Calls for secession over gun rights are not new. In 2013, several counties proposed seceding from the state of Colorado and the Union and create their own state amid new gun control laws introduced by the Democratic legislature.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union before the Civil war in 1860 over “increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the Institution of Slavery.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
China's Xi announces plans to 'open' China, including lowering tariffs on imported autos - CNBC News
China's Xi announces plans to 'open' China, including lowering tariffs on imported autos
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday.
He discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy, including "significantly" lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies.
Everett Rosenfeld | Huileng Tan
Published April 9, 2018
CNBC.com
President Xi Jinping vows a 'new phase' of opening China's economy President Xi Jinping vows 'further opening' of China's economy
Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy during a Tuesday address.
Those measures included "significantly" lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies.
Xi's address — from the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit that's been dubbed the "Asian Davos" — comes amid escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. as the world's two largest economies take turns announcing punitive trade measures against each other.
In his speech, Xi said China will take the initiative to expand imports this year and "work hard" to import products that are required by the population.
"China does not seek trade surplus. We have a genuine desire to increase imports and achieve greater balance of international payments under the current account," Xi said, according to a translation of the speech.
Beyond that, he described China as a country upon which other nations had imposed unfair trade penalties: "We hope developed countries will stop imposing restrictions on normal and reasonable trade of high-tech products and relax export controls on such trade with China," he said, not naming any specific country.
In his speech, the Chinese president sold a vision of China as a benevolent leader of the global economy, emphasizing that open systems are the best course of action for the world.
"We must refrain from seeking dominance and reject the zero-sum game, we must refrain from 'beggar thy neighbor' and reject power politics or hegemony while the strong bully the weak," Xi said.
Instead, he said, countries should "stay committed to openness, connectivity and mutual benefits, build an open global economy, and reinforce cooperation within the G-20, APEC and other multilateral frameworks. We should promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, support the multilateral trading system."
"This way, we will make economic globalization, more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all," he added.
China's President Xi Jinping waves to delegates as he is elected to a second five-year term during the fifth plenary session of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2018.
China's President Xi Jinping waves to delegates as he is elected to a second five-year term during the fifth plenary session of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2018.
China will continue opening up even further to the rest of the globe, he said throughout the speech. He discussed some of the ways the country plans to open further.
One of those is China pushing the state intellectual property office this year to step up law enforcement of relevant laws, Xi said.
"We encourage normal technological exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises and protect the lawful [intellectual property] owned by foreign enterprises in China," he said.
President Donald Trump's administration is taking Beijing to task over China's large trade deficit with the U.S., which Washington says is in part due to unfair trade practices.
Last week, Trump asked U.S. trade officials to consider another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. China's commerce ministry, for its part, said it would "fight back with a major response" if provoked.
Earlier in the year, the U.S. imposed tariffs on imported solar panels, as well as steel and aluminum imports.
China, in turn, implemented additional tariffs on 128 U.S. products, including fruit and pork, in response to the Trump administration's decision to impose duties on steel and aluminum. It also announced extra tariffs on 106 U.S. products last week, although no start date was given for those measures.
Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that China will remove trade barriers as that was the "right thing to do." The president also expressed optimism that the countries would strike a deal on intellectual property.
Belt and Road
In his Tuesday speech, Xi downplayed any geopolitical ambitions China may have beyond its shores regarding the Belt and Road Initiative — an infrastructure and investment program widely seen as an attempt by China to construct a massive, multi-national zone of economic and political influence that has Beijing at its center.
While the project may be initiated by China, the opportunities and outcomes will benefit the world, said Xi.
"China has no geopolitical calculations, seeks no exclusionary blocs and imposes no business deals on others," the Chinese president added.
—CNBC's Cheang Ming contributed to this report.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday.
He discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy, including "significantly" lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies.
Everett Rosenfeld | Huileng Tan
Published April 9, 2018
CNBC.com
President Xi Jinping vows a 'new phase' of opening China's economy President Xi Jinping vows 'further opening' of China's economy
Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy during a Tuesday address.
Those measures included "significantly" lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies.
Xi's address — from the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit that's been dubbed the "Asian Davos" — comes amid escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. as the world's two largest economies take turns announcing punitive trade measures against each other.
In his speech, Xi said China will take the initiative to expand imports this year and "work hard" to import products that are required by the population.
"China does not seek trade surplus. We have a genuine desire to increase imports and achieve greater balance of international payments under the current account," Xi said, according to a translation of the speech.
Beyond that, he described China as a country upon which other nations had imposed unfair trade penalties: "We hope developed countries will stop imposing restrictions on normal and reasonable trade of high-tech products and relax export controls on such trade with China," he said, not naming any specific country.
In his speech, the Chinese president sold a vision of China as a benevolent leader of the global economy, emphasizing that open systems are the best course of action for the world.
"We must refrain from seeking dominance and reject the zero-sum game, we must refrain from 'beggar thy neighbor' and reject power politics or hegemony while the strong bully the weak," Xi said.
Instead, he said, countries should "stay committed to openness, connectivity and mutual benefits, build an open global economy, and reinforce cooperation within the G-20, APEC and other multilateral frameworks. We should promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, support the multilateral trading system."
"This way, we will make economic globalization, more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all," he added.
China's President Xi Jinping waves to delegates as he is elected to a second five-year term during the fifth plenary session of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2018.
China's President Xi Jinping waves to delegates as he is elected to a second five-year term during the fifth plenary session of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2018.
China will continue opening up even further to the rest of the globe, he said throughout the speech. He discussed some of the ways the country plans to open further.
One of those is China pushing the state intellectual property office this year to step up law enforcement of relevant laws, Xi said.
"We encourage normal technological exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises and protect the lawful [intellectual property] owned by foreign enterprises in China," he said.
President Donald Trump's administration is taking Beijing to task over China's large trade deficit with the U.S., which Washington says is in part due to unfair trade practices.
Last week, Trump asked U.S. trade officials to consider another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. China's commerce ministry, for its part, said it would "fight back with a major response" if provoked.
Earlier in the year, the U.S. imposed tariffs on imported solar panels, as well as steel and aluminum imports.
China, in turn, implemented additional tariffs on 128 U.S. products, including fruit and pork, in response to the Trump administration's decision to impose duties on steel and aluminum. It also announced extra tariffs on 106 U.S. products last week, although no start date was given for those measures.
Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that China will remove trade barriers as that was the "right thing to do." The president also expressed optimism that the countries would strike a deal on intellectual property.
Belt and Road
In his Tuesday speech, Xi downplayed any geopolitical ambitions China may have beyond its shores regarding the Belt and Road Initiative — an infrastructure and investment program widely seen as an attempt by China to construct a massive, multi-national zone of economic and political influence that has Beijing at its center.
While the project may be initiated by China, the opportunities and outcomes will benefit the world, said Xi.
"China has no geopolitical calculations, seeks no exclusionary blocs and imposes no business deals on others," the Chinese president added.
—CNBC's Cheang Ming contributed to this report.
Vanuatu denies it will host China military base - BBC News
April 10, 2018
Vanuatu denies it will host China military base
China set up an military base in Djibouti last year
Vanuatu has denied holding talks with Beijing to establish a Chinese military base on its soil.
Australia's Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that China had approached Vanuatu to establish a permanent military presence in the South Pacific.
The report said China had not made an official proposal, but its possibility had been discussed at "the highest levels" in the US and Australia.
Vanuatu said it was not interested in hosting foreign military bases.
"No-one in the Vanuatu government has ever talked about a Chinese military base in Vanuatu of any sort," Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"We are a non-aligned country. We are not interested in militarisation."
The newspaper report has sparked discussion in Australia, which sits 2,000km (1,240 miles) from Vanuatu, about possible efforts by China to exert influence in the South Pacific.
China has not commented on the report. It set up its only overseas military base in Djibouti last year.
What is China's relationship with Vanuatu?
Vanuatu, a string of more than 80 islands sitting between Fiji and New Caledonia, has previously backed Beijing's position on the South China Sea.
Home to about 250,000 people, the South Pacific nation has faced challenges including poverty and extreme weather events.
Fairfax Media reported that Beijing had given the nation "hundreds of millions of dollars in development money", and has vowed to build or upgrade three Vanuatu government buildings.
What did the report say?
The newspaper said that China was likely to seek an initial access agreement that would allow its ships to be serviced and restocked in Vanuatu.
Beijing could then expand its presence over time, Fairfax Media said, attributing its information to multiple anonymous sources.
The report said officials in Washington and Canberra had discussed the issue, but it did not give details.
What did Vanuatu say?
In rejecting the report, Mr Regenvanu said he was "not very happy about the standard of reporting in the Australian media".
"I would hope the upsurge in the paranoia about China in Australia is not used to destroy or denigrate the good relationship Vanuatu has with Australia," he said.
'China influence' book divisive in Australia debate
How China is poaching Taiwan's friends
How have other nations responded?
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was confident that her nation remained "Vanuatu's strategic partner of choice".
However, she acknowledged that Beijing appeared to be increasing its activity in the Pacific.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Prince Charles visit Vanuatu on Saturday
"Chinese vessels visited Vanuatu last year as part of a broader visit to the region, but these sorts of visits are normal for many neighbours around the world," she said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her nation was "opposed to the militarisation of the South Pacific generally".
Who has raised concerns?
Despite Vanuatu's denial, security experts say it is feasible that China could attempt to build a military base in a nation such as Vanuatu.
Such a move would challenge the influence of the US and its allies Australia and New Zealand, according to Asia-Pacific expert Bates Gill.
"Those relationships as well as the US Navy itself has been the most dominant military and security power in the region for some 70 years," Prof Gill, from Sydney's Macquarie University, told the BBC.
"[China] is beginning to shift this long-standing regional dynamic in ways that are causing concern in Canberra and in other regional capitals."
Vanuatu denies it will host China military base
China set up an military base in Djibouti last year
Vanuatu has denied holding talks with Beijing to establish a Chinese military base on its soil.
Australia's Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that China had approached Vanuatu to establish a permanent military presence in the South Pacific.
The report said China had not made an official proposal, but its possibility had been discussed at "the highest levels" in the US and Australia.
Vanuatu said it was not interested in hosting foreign military bases.
"No-one in the Vanuatu government has ever talked about a Chinese military base in Vanuatu of any sort," Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"We are a non-aligned country. We are not interested in militarisation."
The newspaper report has sparked discussion in Australia, which sits 2,000km (1,240 miles) from Vanuatu, about possible efforts by China to exert influence in the South Pacific.
China has not commented on the report. It set up its only overseas military base in Djibouti last year.
What is China's relationship with Vanuatu?
Vanuatu, a string of more than 80 islands sitting between Fiji and New Caledonia, has previously backed Beijing's position on the South China Sea.
Home to about 250,000 people, the South Pacific nation has faced challenges including poverty and extreme weather events.
Fairfax Media reported that Beijing had given the nation "hundreds of millions of dollars in development money", and has vowed to build or upgrade three Vanuatu government buildings.
What did the report say?
The newspaper said that China was likely to seek an initial access agreement that would allow its ships to be serviced and restocked in Vanuatu.
Beijing could then expand its presence over time, Fairfax Media said, attributing its information to multiple anonymous sources.
The report said officials in Washington and Canberra had discussed the issue, but it did not give details.
What did Vanuatu say?
In rejecting the report, Mr Regenvanu said he was "not very happy about the standard of reporting in the Australian media".
"I would hope the upsurge in the paranoia about China in Australia is not used to destroy or denigrate the good relationship Vanuatu has with Australia," he said.
'China influence' book divisive in Australia debate
How China is poaching Taiwan's friends
How have other nations responded?
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was confident that her nation remained "Vanuatu's strategic partner of choice".
However, she acknowledged that Beijing appeared to be increasing its activity in the Pacific.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Prince Charles visit Vanuatu on Saturday
"Chinese vessels visited Vanuatu last year as part of a broader visit to the region, but these sorts of visits are normal for many neighbours around the world," she said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her nation was "opposed to the militarisation of the South Pacific generally".
Who has raised concerns?
Despite Vanuatu's denial, security experts say it is feasible that China could attempt to build a military base in a nation such as Vanuatu.
Such a move would challenge the influence of the US and its allies Australia and New Zealand, according to Asia-Pacific expert Bates Gill.
"Those relationships as well as the US Navy itself has been the most dominant military and security power in the region for some 70 years," Prof Gill, from Sydney's Macquarie University, told the BBC.
"[China] is beginning to shift this long-standing regional dynamic in ways that are causing concern in Canberra and in other regional capitals."
Syria 'chemical attack': Trump pledges 'forceful' US response - BBC News
April 10, 2018
Syria 'chemical attack': Trump pledges 'forceful' US response
The US president has said "nothing's off the table" - so what options are on the table?
US President Donald Trump has promised a "forceful" response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria, as Western leaders consider what action to take.
"We have a lot of options militarily," he told reporters. He added that a response would be decided "shortly".
Mr Trump said the US was getting some "good clarity" on who was responsible for the incident in Douma on Saturday.
Medical sources say dozens were killed in the alleged attack but exact numbers are impossible to verify.
Mr Trump also discussed the incident with French President Emmanuel Macron late on Monday, and both leaders expressed a desire for a "firm response", the Elysee Palace said.
The AFP news agency quoted French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux as saying on Tuesday that "if a red line had been crossed, there will be a response", adding that intelligence shared by the two leaders "in theory confirms the use of chemical weapons".
In February Mr Macron threatened to strike Syria if proof emerged of the use of chemical weapons.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said she "utterly condemns" the "barbaric" alleged chemical weapons attack and called for backers of President Bashar al-Assad to be held to account.
Suspected Syria chemical attack kills scores
Why is there a war in Syria?
Israel blamed for Syria airfield attack
The condemnation from Western leaders follows a tense meeting at the UN Security Council in which the US and Russia traded harsh words over the incident.
Russian representative Vassily Nebenzia said the alleged attack was staged and warned that US military action in response could have "grave repercussions".
US envoy Nikki Haley said Russia - a Syrian military backer - had the "blood of Syrian children" on its hands and branded President Assad a "monster".
Ms Haley has called for a vote on Tuesday on a draft resolution to set up a new inquiry into the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
But Russia says it cannot support the proposal because it contains "unacceptable elements".
What happened on Saturday?
The Syrian-American Medical Society said more than 500 people were brought to medical centres in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus, with symptoms "indicative of exposure to a chemical agent".
It said this included breathing difficulties, bluish skin, mouth foaming, corneal burns and "the emission of chlorine-like odour".
Neither the death toll nor what exactly occurred can be verified as the area is blocked off with access denied.
Unverified video shows children being treated after the alleged gas attack
The estimates of how many people died in the suspected chemical attack range from 42 to more than 60 people, but medical groups say numbers could rise as rescue workers gain access to basements where hundreds of families had sought refuge from bombing.
The French representative at the UN Security Council said poison gas had deliberately been used as it could seep down to the basements.
The US, France and UK have led international condemnation of the alleged attack, with the Syrian government and its Russian backers denying any responsibility.
What did Russia say at the UN?
Mr Nebenzia, presenting Russia's case that rebels in Douma staged the event for their own ends, painted the incident and its fallout as part of a US-led effort to hurt Russia with a "broad arsenal of methods", including slander, insults and "hawkish rhetoric".
In an angry statement, he invited investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to fly to Syria as soon as Tuesday, saying that Russian troops would escort them to the site of the alleged attack.
UK PM condemns 'barbaric attack' in Syria
Moscow has said its experts have not found "any trace of chlorine or any other chemical substance used against civilians".
Mr Nebenzia said the tone taken against Russia had gone beyond what was acceptable even during the Cold War and warned against a US military response.
"Armed force under mendacious pretext against Syria, where, at the request of the legitimate government of a country, Russian troops have been deployed, could lead to grave repercussions," he said.
What is the wider context?
Tensions between Russia and the West have plunged to their worst level in decades, following the poisoning in March of an ex-spy in England that the UK blamed on Moscow, and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
Russia v the West: Is this a new Cold War?
The Cold War explained
Viewpoint: Chemical weapons ‘threat to West’
The poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with what the British government says was a military-grade Novichok nerve agent of a type developed by Russia led to the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western allies, to which Moscow responded in kind.
Syria 'chemical attack': Trump pledges 'forceful' US response
The US president has said "nothing's off the table" - so what options are on the table?
US President Donald Trump has promised a "forceful" response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria, as Western leaders consider what action to take.
"We have a lot of options militarily," he told reporters. He added that a response would be decided "shortly".
Mr Trump said the US was getting some "good clarity" on who was responsible for the incident in Douma on Saturday.
Medical sources say dozens were killed in the alleged attack but exact numbers are impossible to verify.
Mr Trump also discussed the incident with French President Emmanuel Macron late on Monday, and both leaders expressed a desire for a "firm response", the Elysee Palace said.
The AFP news agency quoted French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux as saying on Tuesday that "if a red line had been crossed, there will be a response", adding that intelligence shared by the two leaders "in theory confirms the use of chemical weapons".
In February Mr Macron threatened to strike Syria if proof emerged of the use of chemical weapons.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said she "utterly condemns" the "barbaric" alleged chemical weapons attack and called for backers of President Bashar al-Assad to be held to account.
Suspected Syria chemical attack kills scores
Why is there a war in Syria?
Israel blamed for Syria airfield attack
The condemnation from Western leaders follows a tense meeting at the UN Security Council in which the US and Russia traded harsh words over the incident.
Russian representative Vassily Nebenzia said the alleged attack was staged and warned that US military action in response could have "grave repercussions".
US envoy Nikki Haley said Russia - a Syrian military backer - had the "blood of Syrian children" on its hands and branded President Assad a "monster".
Ms Haley has called for a vote on Tuesday on a draft resolution to set up a new inquiry into the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
But Russia says it cannot support the proposal because it contains "unacceptable elements".
What happened on Saturday?
The Syrian-American Medical Society said more than 500 people were brought to medical centres in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus, with symptoms "indicative of exposure to a chemical agent".
It said this included breathing difficulties, bluish skin, mouth foaming, corneal burns and "the emission of chlorine-like odour".
Neither the death toll nor what exactly occurred can be verified as the area is blocked off with access denied.
Unverified video shows children being treated after the alleged gas attack
The estimates of how many people died in the suspected chemical attack range from 42 to more than 60 people, but medical groups say numbers could rise as rescue workers gain access to basements where hundreds of families had sought refuge from bombing.
The French representative at the UN Security Council said poison gas had deliberately been used as it could seep down to the basements.
The US, France and UK have led international condemnation of the alleged attack, with the Syrian government and its Russian backers denying any responsibility.
What did Russia say at the UN?
Mr Nebenzia, presenting Russia's case that rebels in Douma staged the event for their own ends, painted the incident and its fallout as part of a US-led effort to hurt Russia with a "broad arsenal of methods", including slander, insults and "hawkish rhetoric".
In an angry statement, he invited investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to fly to Syria as soon as Tuesday, saying that Russian troops would escort them to the site of the alleged attack.
UK PM condemns 'barbaric attack' in Syria
Moscow has said its experts have not found "any trace of chlorine or any other chemical substance used against civilians".
Mr Nebenzia said the tone taken against Russia had gone beyond what was acceptable even during the Cold War and warned against a US military response.
"Armed force under mendacious pretext against Syria, where, at the request of the legitimate government of a country, Russian troops have been deployed, could lead to grave repercussions," he said.
What is the wider context?
Tensions between Russia and the West have plunged to their worst level in decades, following the poisoning in March of an ex-spy in England that the UK blamed on Moscow, and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
Russia v the West: Is this a new Cold War?
The Cold War explained
Viewpoint: Chemical weapons ‘threat to West’
The poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with what the British government says was a military-grade Novichok nerve agent of a type developed by Russia led to the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western allies, to which Moscow responded in kind.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Trump Sort of Goes to Bat for John Kelly After Negative Report - Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )
April 8, 2018
2:58 pm
Trump Sort of Goes to Bat for John Kelly After Negative Report
By
Benjamin Hart
@realaxelfoley
Are we having fun yet? Photo: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump and one of his advisers want you to think that Chief of Staff John Kelly isn’t in danger of losing his job. There is reason to doubt their credibility.
On Saturday, the Washington Post published a thorough chronicling of Kelly’s White House downfall, from buck-stops-here enforcer to just another ineffectual observer of Trump’s capricious rule. Among other details: Kelly recently blew up at Trump in the Oval Office, and regularly threatens to quit a job he never much liked — though Trump may dispatch him before he follows through on that threat.
Trump responded as you might expect, attacking the Post for its reporting while avoiding an actual Kelly endorsement.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage - more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!
9:58 PM - Apr 8, 2018
Post reporters defending their story, which was based on interviews with 16 (yes, 16) sources.
Josh Dawsey
✔
@jdawsey1
Here's the link to the story, which we of course extensively reviewed with the White House before publication, checking facts and asking for comment repeatedly. Kelly and POTUS did not want to comment. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/when-you-lose-that-power-how-john-kelly-faded-as-white-house-disciplinarian/2018/04/07/5e5b8b42-39be-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpkelly-540pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory … https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/982950739441004544 …
11:03 PM - Apr 8, 2018 · Washington, DC
‘When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian
The chief of staff grew so frustrated when President Trump fired the Veteran Affairs secretary that other Cabinet members tried to calm him, according to people with knowledge of the incident.
washingtonpost.com
On Meet the Press Sunday morning, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro went farther than his boss in defending Kelly, claiming that the chief of staff still “has the confidence” of the president.
“You read stuff in the Washington Post, frankly that’s fake news most of the time,” Navarro said, to Chuck Todd’s consternation.
Meet the Press
✔
@MeetThePress
WATCH: Navarro characterizes Washington Post story on Kelly as "fake news"
Navarro: "it's not a cheap shot" to call the story "fake news"
11:49 PM - Apr 8, 2018
(Why Navarro has the authority or knowledge to comment on personnel matters is a mystery. It’s the same kind of Trump White House role-scrambling that led Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin to weigh in on neo-Nazis.)
Trump’s nonendorsement endorsement signifies very little about Kelly’s future, given that the president has pulled similar tricks with multiple now-former staffers. For example, he denied that National Security adviser H.R. McMaster was in danger of losing his job and even told him he was doing a “great job” three weeks before getting rid of him.
The president is even more enthusiastic about another embattled official: Scott Pruitt. On Saturday night, Trump tweeted his enthusiasm for the EPA Administrator, who is facing multiple ethics-related scandals.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK. Scott is doing a great job!
10:03 AM - Apr 8, 2018
While even this level of ardor does not guarantee job security, Trump’s tepid feelings toward Kelly may well be the kiss of death.
2:58 pm
Trump Sort of Goes to Bat for John Kelly After Negative Report
By
Benjamin Hart
@realaxelfoley
Are we having fun yet? Photo: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump and one of his advisers want you to think that Chief of Staff John Kelly isn’t in danger of losing his job. There is reason to doubt their credibility.
On Saturday, the Washington Post published a thorough chronicling of Kelly’s White House downfall, from buck-stops-here enforcer to just another ineffectual observer of Trump’s capricious rule. Among other details: Kelly recently blew up at Trump in the Oval Office, and regularly threatens to quit a job he never much liked — though Trump may dispatch him before he follows through on that threat.
Trump responded as you might expect, attacking the Post for its reporting while avoiding an actual Kelly endorsement.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage - more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!
9:58 PM - Apr 8, 2018
Post reporters defending their story, which was based on interviews with 16 (yes, 16) sources.
Josh Dawsey
✔
@jdawsey1
Here's the link to the story, which we of course extensively reviewed with the White House before publication, checking facts and asking for comment repeatedly. Kelly and POTUS did not want to comment. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/when-you-lose-that-power-how-john-kelly-faded-as-white-house-disciplinarian/2018/04/07/5e5b8b42-39be-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpkelly-540pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory … https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/982950739441004544 …
11:03 PM - Apr 8, 2018 · Washington, DC
‘When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian
The chief of staff grew so frustrated when President Trump fired the Veteran Affairs secretary that other Cabinet members tried to calm him, according to people with knowledge of the incident.
washingtonpost.com
On Meet the Press Sunday morning, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro went farther than his boss in defending Kelly, claiming that the chief of staff still “has the confidence” of the president.
“You read stuff in the Washington Post, frankly that’s fake news most of the time,” Navarro said, to Chuck Todd’s consternation.
Meet the Press
✔
@MeetThePress
WATCH: Navarro characterizes Washington Post story on Kelly as "fake news"
Navarro: "it's not a cheap shot" to call the story "fake news"
11:49 PM - Apr 8, 2018
(Why Navarro has the authority or knowledge to comment on personnel matters is a mystery. It’s the same kind of Trump White House role-scrambling that led Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin to weigh in on neo-Nazis.)
Trump’s nonendorsement endorsement signifies very little about Kelly’s future, given that the president has pulled similar tricks with multiple now-former staffers. For example, he denied that National Security adviser H.R. McMaster was in danger of losing his job and even told him he was doing a “great job” three weeks before getting rid of him.
The president is even more enthusiastic about another embattled official: Scott Pruitt. On Saturday night, Trump tweeted his enthusiasm for the EPA Administrator, who is facing multiple ethics-related scandals.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK. Scott is doing a great job!
10:03 AM - Apr 8, 2018
While even this level of ardor does not guarantee job security, Trump’s tepid feelings toward Kelly may well be the kiss of death.
Viktor Orban: Hungary PM re-elected for third term - BBC News
April 9, 2018
Viktor Orban: Hungary PM re-elected for third term
Viktor Orban (c) will be prime minister for a third time
Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed a landslide victory in Sunday's general election.
The 54-year-old will serve a third consecutive term in office, with his party Fidesz projected to keep its key two-thirds majority in parliament.
Fidesz won almost half of the vote, with 93% of ballots counted, Hungary's National Election Office said.
Mr Orban is a strong Eurosceptic who campaigned on an anti-immigration platform.
In a speech to supporters on Sunday night, Mr Orban said his victory gave Hungarians "the opportunity to defend themselves and to defend Hungary".
Leaders of the second and third-placed parties have resigned in light of the result.
How did the result play out?
Polling stations were meant to close at 19:00 (17:00 GMT), but some stayed open hours later due to long queues. Voter turnout reached a near-record 69% - an outcome some believed would favour the prime minister's opponents.
But with almost all votes counted, the nationalist Jobbik party is in second place with 20% of the vote. The Socialists are in third with 12%, and the LMP, Hungary's main Green Party, is in fourth with 7%.
The man who thinks Europe is being invaded
Nationalism in heart of Europe needles EU
Jobbik's chairman Gabor Vona stood down on Sunday night, telling a news conference: "Jobbik's goal, to win the elections and force a change in government, was not achieved. Fidesz won. It won again."
Socialist Party President Gyula Molnar was similarly downcast as he resigned, saying: "We regard ourselves as responsible for what happened [and] we have acknowledged the decision of voters."
Orban keeps the provinces but loses the youth vote
By the BBC's Budapest Correspondent Nick Thorpe
As Fidesz paints the map of Hungary orange (their colour) once again, preliminary results show they will reach the 133 seats in the 199 seat Parliament needed for a constitutional two-thirds majority. They won two-thirds victories at both previous elections, in 2010 and 2014.
The prime minister's party won in most rural constituencies and in provincial towns, while opposition parties took most seats in the capital, Budapest.
Mr Orban's legitimacy on a European level will likely be strengthened, as nationalist parties across the continent take heart from his victory.
There were only two consolation prizes for anti-Fidesz voters: most constituencies in the capital, Budapest, went to opposition candidates. And Fidesz have also lost a large part of the youth vote. The next Fidesz government can be expected to include younger ministers, in an attempt to address this problem.
The result spells trouble ahead for civil society groups which campaign for human rights and against corruption, and for critical media. Viktor Orban has promised a "settling of accounts - moral, politically, and legally" with his opponents.
What are Orban's policies?
The election campaign was dominated by immigration, with Mr Orban promising to defend the country's borders and block migration by Muslims.
The prime minister refused to debate publicly with his opponents or speak to the independent media, speaking instead at rallies for his supporters.
These addresses focused on one core policy - stopping immigration.
"Migration is like rust that slowly but surely would consume Hungary," Mr Orban said at his final rally on Friday.
In 2015, Hungary built a fence along its borders with Serbia and Croatia to stop illegal migrants.
Mr Orban hammered home his anti-immigration stance at a number of campaign rallies
Mr Orban is an avowed Eurosceptic who opposes further EU integration. He refused to take part in the EU's refugee resettlement programme and has praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Front, tweeted Mr Orban her congratulations and said the "mass immigration promoted by the EU has been rejected once again".
Hungary jails 'terrorist' over border riot
Hungarian PM: Migrant crisis 'is a German problem'
Mr Orban has promised to cut income taxes and pass pro-growth economic policies.
His administration has presided over strong economic growth, which he had argued would be threatened under the opposition.
Viktor Orban: Hungary PM re-elected for third term
Viktor Orban (c) will be prime minister for a third time
Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed a landslide victory in Sunday's general election.
The 54-year-old will serve a third consecutive term in office, with his party Fidesz projected to keep its key two-thirds majority in parliament.
Fidesz won almost half of the vote, with 93% of ballots counted, Hungary's National Election Office said.
Mr Orban is a strong Eurosceptic who campaigned on an anti-immigration platform.
In a speech to supporters on Sunday night, Mr Orban said his victory gave Hungarians "the opportunity to defend themselves and to defend Hungary".
Leaders of the second and third-placed parties have resigned in light of the result.
How did the result play out?
Polling stations were meant to close at 19:00 (17:00 GMT), but some stayed open hours later due to long queues. Voter turnout reached a near-record 69% - an outcome some believed would favour the prime minister's opponents.
But with almost all votes counted, the nationalist Jobbik party is in second place with 20% of the vote. The Socialists are in third with 12%, and the LMP, Hungary's main Green Party, is in fourth with 7%.
The man who thinks Europe is being invaded
Nationalism in heart of Europe needles EU
Jobbik's chairman Gabor Vona stood down on Sunday night, telling a news conference: "Jobbik's goal, to win the elections and force a change in government, was not achieved. Fidesz won. It won again."
Socialist Party President Gyula Molnar was similarly downcast as he resigned, saying: "We regard ourselves as responsible for what happened [and] we have acknowledged the decision of voters."
Orban keeps the provinces but loses the youth vote
By the BBC's Budapest Correspondent Nick Thorpe
As Fidesz paints the map of Hungary orange (their colour) once again, preliminary results show they will reach the 133 seats in the 199 seat Parliament needed for a constitutional two-thirds majority. They won two-thirds victories at both previous elections, in 2010 and 2014.
The prime minister's party won in most rural constituencies and in provincial towns, while opposition parties took most seats in the capital, Budapest.
Mr Orban's legitimacy on a European level will likely be strengthened, as nationalist parties across the continent take heart from his victory.
There were only two consolation prizes for anti-Fidesz voters: most constituencies in the capital, Budapest, went to opposition candidates. And Fidesz have also lost a large part of the youth vote. The next Fidesz government can be expected to include younger ministers, in an attempt to address this problem.
The result spells trouble ahead for civil society groups which campaign for human rights and against corruption, and for critical media. Viktor Orban has promised a "settling of accounts - moral, politically, and legally" with his opponents.
What are Orban's policies?
The election campaign was dominated by immigration, with Mr Orban promising to defend the country's borders and block migration by Muslims.
The prime minister refused to debate publicly with his opponents or speak to the independent media, speaking instead at rallies for his supporters.
These addresses focused on one core policy - stopping immigration.
"Migration is like rust that slowly but surely would consume Hungary," Mr Orban said at his final rally on Friday.
In 2015, Hungary built a fence along its borders with Serbia and Croatia to stop illegal migrants.
Mr Orban hammered home his anti-immigration stance at a number of campaign rallies
Mr Orban is an avowed Eurosceptic who opposes further EU integration. He refused to take part in the EU's refugee resettlement programme and has praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Front, tweeted Mr Orban her congratulations and said the "mass immigration promoted by the EU has been rejected once again".
Hungary jails 'terrorist' over border riot
Hungarian PM: Migrant crisis 'is a German problem'
Mr Orban has promised to cut income taxes and pass pro-growth economic policies.
His administration has presided over strong economic growth, which he had argued would be threatened under the opposition.
China studying yuan depreciation as a tool in U.S. trade row: Bloomberg, citing sources - Reuters ( source : Bloomberg )
APRIL 9, 2018 / 5:31 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
China studying yuan depreciation as a tool in U.S. trade row: Bloomberg, citing sources
Reuters Staff
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is evaluating the potential impact of a gradual yuan depreciation as a tool in the escalating trade dispute with the United States, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Dollar and China Yuan notes are seen in this picture illustration June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo
Senior Chinese officials are studying a two-pronged analysis of the yuan that was prepared by the government, the people said, but the analysis doesn’t mean officials will carry out a devaluation, which would require approval from top leaders, according to Bloomberg.
Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Kim Coghill
China studying yuan depreciation as a tool in U.S. trade row: Bloomberg, citing sources
Reuters Staff
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is evaluating the potential impact of a gradual yuan depreciation as a tool in the escalating trade dispute with the United States, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Dollar and China Yuan notes are seen in this picture illustration June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo
Senior Chinese officials are studying a two-pronged analysis of the yuan that was prepared by the government, the people said, but the analysis doesn’t mean officials will carry out a devaluation, which would require approval from top leaders, according to Bloomberg.
Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Kim Coghill
Wall St star approached to be Trump budget chief a year before loan to Kushner firm - Guardian
Wall St star approached to be Trump budget chief a year before loan to Kushner firm
Private equity executive Joshua Harris began financial disclosure process with support of Trump son-in-law before backing out, sources say. In 2017 his company loaned $184m to Kushner family business
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in New York
Mon 9 Apr 2018 15.00 AEST Last modified on Mon 9 Apr 2018 15.02 AEST
Joshua Harris, co-founder and senior managing director of Apollo Global Management LLC.
Joshua Harris, co-founder and senior managing director of Apollo Global Management LLC. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A senior private equity executive was approached about taking the job of US budget director a year before his company agreed to loan Jared Kushner’s private family business tens of millions of dollars, according to two sources who spoke to the Guardian.
Joshua Harris, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management, was considered to be a candidate for the job of director of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shortly after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, according to the sources, who had knowledge of the situation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Jared Kushner's company under renewed scrutiny over Chinese and Israeli deals
Read more
The sources told the Guardian that Harris began the task of disclosing his financial holdings but then backed out of the potential job because it would have been too difficult to unravel his personal finances in the short amount of time required to accept the government position.
The sources said the alleged approach was initiated and backed by Kushner, a senior White House adviser who is also Trump’s son-in-law.
The circumstances surrounding the $184m loan by Apollo to Kushner Companies, Kushner’s private family business, is currently the subject of an internal inquiry by the White House counsel’s office after the 2017 loan was revealed in a New York Times report in February. The newspaper reported that Kushner and Harris had discussed a possible White House job but that the job never materialised.
Both Harris and an attorney representing Kushner emphatically deny that Harris was offered the OMB director job, which is one of the most powerful positions in any administration.
“Mr Harris never applied for, was offered, or accepted any position at OMB,” a spokesman for Harris told the Guardian.
The spokesman declined to comment on whether Harris had filled out financial disclosure forms. The spokesman did not dispute that a possible White House job had informally been discussed – as reported by the New York Times – but declined to offer any further details about the discussion.
A spokesman for Kushner’s private attorney, Abbe Lowell, also denied the account.
“Nothing about this assertion is accurate. Mr Kushner did not discuss any business concerning his former company in any meetings after he entered government, and he did not discuss the OMB or any position with him and did not (and could not) offer Josh Harris or anyone else the OMB position,” said the spokesman.
There is no evidence that Kushner ever personally discussed the Apollo loans with Harris or that he personally or formally offered Harris the OMB post. Neither Kushner nor Harris have been accused of wrongdoing.
But a source with direct knowledge, who said he was involved in the events, told the Guardian that Harris was offered the OMB job just days after the 2016 election and that the idea was initiated and supported by Kushner. The source said that Harris was “brilliant” and considered an innovative choice to lead the OMB because of Harris’s views about the federal deficit and corporate America. But that source said there was also some internal concern that Harris might be too close to Wall Street, since the administration already planned to tap Steve Mnuchin, a former banker, to serve as treasury secretary.
Jared Kushner initiated and supported the idea of Joshua Harris becoming budget director, according to a source with direct knowledge.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jared Kushner initiated and supported the idea of Joshua Harris becoming budget director, according to a source with direct knowledge.
The source with direct knowledge also alleged that Harris began filling out financial disclosure forms in connection to the position.
Another source, who worked on the Trump transition, was allegedly informed that Harris had been chosen for the OMB post by a senior administration official. The transition official was later informed that the job did not ultimately work out because the financial disclosure involved in working for the federal government was too complicated for Harris to sort out in the short period required.
The OMB directorship was later offered to Mick Mulvaney, a Republican hawk and former congressman, who accepted the job in mid-December 2016.
The New York Times reported in February that Harris started making regular visits to the White House in early 2017 and met Kushner on several occasions to discuss US infrastructure policy.
Months later, in November 2017, Apollo loaned $184m to Kushner Companies. The loan refinanced the company’s Chicago skyscraper.
The White House counsel’s office told David Apol, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, that it was investigating the facts surrounding the loan following the New York Times report, according to a letter Apol sent to a Democratic congressman on 22 March.
In a statement to the Guardian, the White House denied that Trump ever offered the OMB job to Harris.
The loan is drawing scrutiny on Capitol Hill.
White House investigating $500m loans to Kushner family firm – ethics chief
In a 20 March letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren and other members of Congress, which was provided to the Guardian by Apollo and written in response to the lawmakers’ questions, attorneys for Apollo at Williams & Connolly said that Kushner and Harris never discussed the Chicago loan and that initial discussions between Apollo and the Kushner Companies began in the summer of 2017, months after the alleged approach regarding the OMB job.
“To our knowledge, Jared Kushner did not play any role on behalf of Kushner Companies with respect to the Chicago loan,” the letter stated.
Apollo said the loan was made at market terms, in the ordinary course of business, and after an arm’s-length negotiation.
The letter – which did not make any reference to any alleged job discussions – also disclosed that Apollo had participated in one other loan to Kushner Companies. Apollo’s attorneys said that in the spring of 2017, Kushner Companies and RFR Holding LLC sought to buyout a real estate partner’s stake in properties in Brooklyn, New York. The buyout of the partner, Invesco Real Estate, involved a $425m loan, consisting of a $325m loan by Citigroup, and a $75m loan by Apollo, and a $10m loan by Rockwood Capital. Apollo said the loan was not unusual and that it was not discussed by Harris and Kushner
Private equity executive Joshua Harris began financial disclosure process with support of Trump son-in-law before backing out, sources say. In 2017 his company loaned $184m to Kushner family business
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in New York
Mon 9 Apr 2018 15.00 AEST Last modified on Mon 9 Apr 2018 15.02 AEST
Joshua Harris, co-founder and senior managing director of Apollo Global Management LLC.
Joshua Harris, co-founder and senior managing director of Apollo Global Management LLC. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A senior private equity executive was approached about taking the job of US budget director a year before his company agreed to loan Jared Kushner’s private family business tens of millions of dollars, according to two sources who spoke to the Guardian.
Joshua Harris, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management, was considered to be a candidate for the job of director of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shortly after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, according to the sources, who had knowledge of the situation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Jared Kushner's company under renewed scrutiny over Chinese and Israeli deals
Read more
The sources told the Guardian that Harris began the task of disclosing his financial holdings but then backed out of the potential job because it would have been too difficult to unravel his personal finances in the short amount of time required to accept the government position.
The sources said the alleged approach was initiated and backed by Kushner, a senior White House adviser who is also Trump’s son-in-law.
The circumstances surrounding the $184m loan by Apollo to Kushner Companies, Kushner’s private family business, is currently the subject of an internal inquiry by the White House counsel’s office after the 2017 loan was revealed in a New York Times report in February. The newspaper reported that Kushner and Harris had discussed a possible White House job but that the job never materialised.
Both Harris and an attorney representing Kushner emphatically deny that Harris was offered the OMB director job, which is one of the most powerful positions in any administration.
“Mr Harris never applied for, was offered, or accepted any position at OMB,” a spokesman for Harris told the Guardian.
The spokesman declined to comment on whether Harris had filled out financial disclosure forms. The spokesman did not dispute that a possible White House job had informally been discussed – as reported by the New York Times – but declined to offer any further details about the discussion.
A spokesman for Kushner’s private attorney, Abbe Lowell, also denied the account.
“Nothing about this assertion is accurate. Mr Kushner did not discuss any business concerning his former company in any meetings after he entered government, and he did not discuss the OMB or any position with him and did not (and could not) offer Josh Harris or anyone else the OMB position,” said the spokesman.
There is no evidence that Kushner ever personally discussed the Apollo loans with Harris or that he personally or formally offered Harris the OMB post. Neither Kushner nor Harris have been accused of wrongdoing.
But a source with direct knowledge, who said he was involved in the events, told the Guardian that Harris was offered the OMB job just days after the 2016 election and that the idea was initiated and supported by Kushner. The source said that Harris was “brilliant” and considered an innovative choice to lead the OMB because of Harris’s views about the federal deficit and corporate America. But that source said there was also some internal concern that Harris might be too close to Wall Street, since the administration already planned to tap Steve Mnuchin, a former banker, to serve as treasury secretary.
Jared Kushner initiated and supported the idea of Joshua Harris becoming budget director, according to a source with direct knowledge.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jared Kushner initiated and supported the idea of Joshua Harris becoming budget director, according to a source with direct knowledge.
The source with direct knowledge also alleged that Harris began filling out financial disclosure forms in connection to the position.
Another source, who worked on the Trump transition, was allegedly informed that Harris had been chosen for the OMB post by a senior administration official. The transition official was later informed that the job did not ultimately work out because the financial disclosure involved in working for the federal government was too complicated for Harris to sort out in the short period required.
The OMB directorship was later offered to Mick Mulvaney, a Republican hawk and former congressman, who accepted the job in mid-December 2016.
The New York Times reported in February that Harris started making regular visits to the White House in early 2017 and met Kushner on several occasions to discuss US infrastructure policy.
Months later, in November 2017, Apollo loaned $184m to Kushner Companies. The loan refinanced the company’s Chicago skyscraper.
The White House counsel’s office told David Apol, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, that it was investigating the facts surrounding the loan following the New York Times report, according to a letter Apol sent to a Democratic congressman on 22 March.
In a statement to the Guardian, the White House denied that Trump ever offered the OMB job to Harris.
The loan is drawing scrutiny on Capitol Hill.
White House investigating $500m loans to Kushner family firm – ethics chief
In a 20 March letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren and other members of Congress, which was provided to the Guardian by Apollo and written in response to the lawmakers’ questions, attorneys for Apollo at Williams & Connolly said that Kushner and Harris never discussed the Chicago loan and that initial discussions between Apollo and the Kushner Companies began in the summer of 2017, months after the alleged approach regarding the OMB job.
“To our knowledge, Jared Kushner did not play any role on behalf of Kushner Companies with respect to the Chicago loan,” the letter stated.
Apollo said the loan was made at market terms, in the ordinary course of business, and after an arm’s-length negotiation.
The letter – which did not make any reference to any alleged job discussions – also disclosed that Apollo had participated in one other loan to Kushner Companies. Apollo’s attorneys said that in the spring of 2017, Kushner Companies and RFR Holding LLC sought to buyout a real estate partner’s stake in properties in Brooklyn, New York. The buyout of the partner, Invesco Real Estate, involved a $425m loan, consisting of a $325m loan by Citigroup, and a $75m loan by Apollo, and a $10m loan by Rockwood Capital. Apollo said the loan was not unusual and that it was not discussed by Harris and Kushner
Syria attack: US likely to launch missile attack - Times of London
Syria attack: US likely to launch missile attack
updated
Deborah Haynes, Defence Editor
April 9 2018, 9:00am,
The Times
President Trump is expected to strike the airbase from where the chemical weapons attack was launched
President Trump is expected to strike the airbase from where the chemical weapons attack was launched
The “big price” that President Trump has said President Assad’s regime will pay for the suspected chemical weapons attack will almost certainly include military action.
If it is confirmed that Saturday’s atrocity was carried about by regime forces it is likely that the United States will fire Tomahawk cruise missiles from ships at sea, aimed at the airbase from where the attack was launched, according to a senior British military source.
Such an offensive would take out aircraft at the base, including the helicopter thought to have dropped the barrel bomb on the rebel-held town of Douma, the source said.
France and the US promised a “strong joint response” to the attack after a call between Presidents Trump and Macron last night. Britain may also become involved as part of an anti-Assad coalition, though the UK would probably have to seek parliamentary approval to expand its military operations in Syria. The RAF is already using Tornado and Typhoon jets, operating out of an airbase in Cyprus, as well as Reaper drones, stationed in Kuwait, to launch airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.
Jets were on the runway at RAF Marham in Norfolk when parliament last voted on military action against the Syrian regime in 2013. However, MPs voted against airstrikes at the time. Any decision to launch strikes now would carry a greater risk than targeting Isis because if manned aircraft are used it would put US-led forces in direct conflict with the Syrian military — which is backed by President Putin — including its highly capable air-defence systems. Launching missiles from ships or submarines at sea is the least risky option as this can be done outside of the range of Syrian fire.
David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee and a former foreign secretary, said that the West must be prepared to make sacrifices to reverse Syria’s “descent into hell”. Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he warned against further “episodic, ad hoc, one-off, reactive strikes or other interventions” and said that western inaction allowed Russia to act with impunity in Syria.
Jack Keane, a retired four-star general who declined a role on Mr Trump’s cabinet, said he should destroy the regime’s entire air force infrastructure. “All of that could be done in one night if we wanted to,” General Keane told the BBC. Asked how he would respond if Russian forces refused to leave Syrian airfields before a US attack, he added: “Make the strike and let them suffer the consequences . . . the Russians really don’t want to have a fight with the United States over this.”
Mr Trump authorised the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles, fired from the guided-missile destroyers USS Ross and USS Porter in the eastern Mediterranean a year ago after the last big chemical weapons attack in Syria.
Another option this time would be to launch cyberattacks against individuals within the Assad regime who are identified as being within the chain of command that authorised the suspected chemical weapons attack, according to Johnny Mercer, a Conservative member of the defence select committee and a former army officer. Cyberweapons could be used to disrupt online financial transactions for regime officials and to turn off power.
British and US special forces could also be deployed to go after any known sources of sarin gas and other illegal chemical stockpiles still being kept by the regime.
updated
Deborah Haynes, Defence Editor
April 9 2018, 9:00am,
The Times
President Trump is expected to strike the airbase from where the chemical weapons attack was launched
President Trump is expected to strike the airbase from where the chemical weapons attack was launched
The “big price” that President Trump has said President Assad’s regime will pay for the suspected chemical weapons attack will almost certainly include military action.
If it is confirmed that Saturday’s atrocity was carried about by regime forces it is likely that the United States will fire Tomahawk cruise missiles from ships at sea, aimed at the airbase from where the attack was launched, according to a senior British military source.
Such an offensive would take out aircraft at the base, including the helicopter thought to have dropped the barrel bomb on the rebel-held town of Douma, the source said.
France and the US promised a “strong joint response” to the attack after a call between Presidents Trump and Macron last night. Britain may also become involved as part of an anti-Assad coalition, though the UK would probably have to seek parliamentary approval to expand its military operations in Syria. The RAF is already using Tornado and Typhoon jets, operating out of an airbase in Cyprus, as well as Reaper drones, stationed in Kuwait, to launch airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.
Jets were on the runway at RAF Marham in Norfolk when parliament last voted on military action against the Syrian regime in 2013. However, MPs voted against airstrikes at the time. Any decision to launch strikes now would carry a greater risk than targeting Isis because if manned aircraft are used it would put US-led forces in direct conflict with the Syrian military — which is backed by President Putin — including its highly capable air-defence systems. Launching missiles from ships or submarines at sea is the least risky option as this can be done outside of the range of Syrian fire.
David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee and a former foreign secretary, said that the West must be prepared to make sacrifices to reverse Syria’s “descent into hell”. Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he warned against further “episodic, ad hoc, one-off, reactive strikes or other interventions” and said that western inaction allowed Russia to act with impunity in Syria.
Jack Keane, a retired four-star general who declined a role on Mr Trump’s cabinet, said he should destroy the regime’s entire air force infrastructure. “All of that could be done in one night if we wanted to,” General Keane told the BBC. Asked how he would respond if Russian forces refused to leave Syrian airfields before a US attack, he added: “Make the strike and let them suffer the consequences . . . the Russians really don’t want to have a fight with the United States over this.”
Mr Trump authorised the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles, fired from the guided-missile destroyers USS Ross and USS Porter in the eastern Mediterranean a year ago after the last big chemical weapons attack in Syria.
Another option this time would be to launch cyberattacks against individuals within the Assad regime who are identified as being within the chain of command that authorised the suspected chemical weapons attack, according to Johnny Mercer, a Conservative member of the defence select committee and a former army officer. Cyberweapons could be used to disrupt online financial transactions for regime officials and to turn off power.
British and US special forces could also be deployed to go after any known sources of sarin gas and other illegal chemical stockpiles still being kept by the regime.
Missouri Sen. McCaskill faces a strong GOP challenger and Trump - NBC News
Missouri Sen. McCaskill faces a strong GOP challenger and Trump
The Democrat's rival this time around is the state's attorney general — a young, polished, Stanford-and-Yale-educated former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts.
by Jonathan Allen / Apr.09.2018 / 7:06 PM ET
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., speaks during the Senate Democrats news conference on tax reform in the Capitol on Nov. 28, 2017.Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
ARNOLD, Mo. — Sen. Claire McCaskill needs another miracle.
The Missouri Democrat swept into office with a little less than 50 percent of the vote in the 2006 Democratic wave. Six years later, she provided an assist to a Republican rival during the primary and then defeated him in the general election after he said women's bodies have a way to "shut the whole thing down" if pregnancies are the result of "legitimate rape."
Now, in a year in which control of the Senate could turn on a single race, McCaskill is locked in what is sure to be one of the nastiest, most closely contested and expensive elections in the nation. Political prognosticators uniformly rate the race here as a "tossup," but, whether she leads or trails by a few points, McCaskill hasn't topped 45 percent in any of the handful of polls that have been publicly released.
This year she is likely to face state Attorney General Josh Hawley — a young, polished, Stanford-and-Yale-educated former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts — in a state that has been trending hard toward Republicans. To beat him, McCaskill will have to combine the qualities just about everyone here agrees she's demonstrated in her long political career: Tremendous skill and uncanny luck. And she'll need both of them in good measure.
McCaskill to Hillary Clinton: Watch your words
08:36
A Democrat hasn't won Missouri in a presidential election since Bill Clinton — from neighboring Arkansas — did it in 1996. Donald Trump won the state by 19 percentage points in 2016 and every elected statewide official in the state is a Republican, including Hawley.
He and his allies say McCaskill's hot political hand will be frozen by the cold math of the state's Republican leaning, and her own vote tallies in Washington.
"Democrats like Claire McCaskill have basically abandoned their constituents," said Nick Meyers, the chairman of the Newton County GOP in the southwest corner of the state, citing her votes against Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, seven of Trump's Cabinet nominees, and his tax cut. "I don't think she will be able to make the issue something other than her voting record this time."
THE GOVERNOR SCANDAL
But a big element of Democrats' strategy is to argue that the 38-year-old Hawley, just two years into a four-year term, hasn't handled his current job well and has failed to go after scandal-plagued Republican Gov. Eric Greitens.
In February, a St. Louis grand jury indicted Greitens on charges of felony invasion of privacy, accusing him of photographing a lover nude without her consent. Greitens has admitted to having an affair but denies blackmailing the woman.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley makes his acceptance speech on November 9, 2016, in Springfield, Missouri. (Jr/TNS via Getty Images) John Sleezer/Kansas City Star / TNS Via Getty Images
This week, a special committee of the Republican-led Missouri state House is expected to deliver a report on the affair that will be very sexually graphic, according to a person familiar with its contents.
Though Hawley has deferred to the jurisdiction of St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner on matters involving the affair, Democrats want to connect him to all of Greitens' scandals, as the Senate Majority PAC did in a recent 30-second ad calling him "part of the problem in Jefferson City."
Hawley has been widely criticized for his handling of an investigation into Greitens' office use of Confide, an app that destroys messages after they're read, that found no wrongdoing, and critics argue that the attorney general was slow to probe whether the governor improperly used donor information from a veterans charity he founded to aid his gubernatorial campaign.
Hawley "is struggling to do the job he was just elected to and trying to protect a governor mired in scandal," said McCaskill campaign spokeswoman Meira Bernstein. McCaskill declined an interview request for this story.
Some Republican donors and political leaders also are worried that Hawley isn't working hard enough in the Senate race, particularly because McCaskill is known for hitting the hustings non-stop.
Meet the Midterms: Obama jumps in Missouri Senate race for McCaskill
He had just $1.2 million in the bank at the end of the year, compared to $9.1 million for McCaskill, who has a fundraiser featuring former President Barack Obama scheduled in Beverly Hills next month.
On top of that, Hawley's been skipping county parties' Lincoln Day dinners to avoid being on the same stage with Greitens — he doesn't think it's appropriate when he's investigating the governor, but other Republicans say it's a mistake to miss out on opportunities to energize his base before the election.
"His heart is not into the campaign the way it was two years ago," lamented one fellow Republican elected official who asked to remain anonymous because he supports Hawley.
MISSOURI MCCASKILL, WASHINGTON MCCASKILL
For the 64-year-old McCaskill to win, political experts here say, she'll have to run up the score with Democratic base voters in two vote-rich Democratic areas — St. Louis and Kansas City — swing working-class whites in their suburbs back into the Democratic column, and hold down Hawley's margins in the rest of the state.
That's a tall order for two reasons: Republicans in Missouri's suburbs didn't abandon Trump the way their counterparts did in some other areas of the country in 2016. And McCaskill has been hearing rumblings from the state's African-American leaders that she hasn't done enough for the black community.
"I'm going to vote for Claire, but Claire is going to have to bring her ass to St. Louis," state Rep. Bruce Franks, an African-American lawmaker who gained attention as an activist during the Ferguson police shooting protests, said at a February town hall.
Even in a year in which anti-Trump sentiment is expected to drive Democratic voters to the polls in droves, McCaskill can ill-afford to lose any available votes in a state where her party has been hemorrhaging them for years. In 2008, Obama lost Missouri by less than two-tenths of a percentage point while racking up more than 1.4 million votes. Four years later, he got about 220,000 fewer votes. And Hillary Clinton, running in 2016, tallied about 371,000 fewer votes than Obama had in 2008.
Other than McCaskill in 2006, the last Democrat to win a midterm Senate election in Missouri was Tom Eagleton in 1974.
McCaskill's other potential problem centers around her voting record, particularly her propensity to toe the Democratic line and vote against top Trump priorities.
Overall, the website FiveThirtyEight reports, McCaskill has voted with Trump 46.3 percent of the time. That ranks her sixth-highest among Senate Democrats.
But her score is far below the 83.8 percent of the time the website says McCaskill would be expected to back his position given his margin of victory in her state. Three other Democratic senators in tough races — Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana — register at more than 55 percent support for Trump.
McCaskill has always campaigned as a politician who has been independent from her party and has sought bipartisan solutions. An aide noted that she has sponsored, cosponsored or worked behind the scenes on more than 20 bills that Trump has signed into law. And she's taken the lead on some high-profile legislative efforts, including a recent anti-sex-trafficking law she worked on with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
But Hawley said McCaskill's reports of cross-aisle work in the Senate don't match up to reality.
"There are unfortunately two different Claire McCaskills," Hawley said in an interview with NBC News. "The real Claire McCaskill is the D.C. Claire McCaskill."
THE TRUMP EFFECT
The president remains popular in Missouri. A recent Morning Consult poll showed that 50 percent of registered voters in the state approve of him, while 45 percent don't.
Trump endorsed Hawley last year, and during a speech to Hawley donors in St. Louis last month, Trump called Hawley "a wonderful guy...who knows what it's all about," according to an audio recording of the president's remarks obtained by NBC News.
Trump got involved in the race early, taunting McCaskill in one Tweet delivered among an unrelated series about hurricane relief last August.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
I will also be going to a wonderful state, Missouri, that I won by a lot in '16. Dem C.M. is opposed to big tax cuts. Republican will win S!
11:15 PM - Aug 27, 2017
The combination of McCaskill's efforts to demonstrate when she's agreed with him and Hawley's unwillingness to distance himself from the president suggest both sides understand the power of Trump's appeal here.
For example, in an interview, Hawley declined to say whether he supports Trump's new tariffs, which threaten to directly or indirectly hurt businesses like Anheuser-Busch and Boeing in St. Louis and the state's many farmers.
"One of my top concerns is to ensure there is no retaliation against our agricultural community — including Missouri farmers — and that we are not punishing trade partners who do follow the rules in the process," Hawley said. "Trade is good for Missouri workers and farmers when our trade partners follow the same rules we do."
Hawley also declined to offer support for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a favorite target of Trump's wrath, saying that the decision on whether the nation's top law enforcement officer should keep his job is "up to the president."
Hawley has said that Trump is welcome to visit the state any time, and Republicans here hope that the president will rally voters in the southern part of the state in the campaign's home stretch.
"She's always the underdog," state Rep. Michael Butler, a Democrat who represents a St. Louis district, said of McCaskill. "But she thrives as the underdog."
Russia and Syria accuse Israel of bombing air base near Homs - Financial Times
April 9, 2018
Russia and Syria accuse Israel of bombing air base near Homs
Unclaimed strike comes amid heightened tension over alleged chemical weapons attack
Syrian state TV has accused Israel of using F-15 jets (pictured) to launch an air strike against an air base near Homs © AFP
Rebecca Collard in Beirut 5 MINUTES AGO Print this page0
Syria and Russia have accused Israel of carrying out an air strike against an air base near Homs amid rising tension in the country after Bashar al-Assad’s regime was accused by the US and its allies of launching a chemical weapons attack over the weekend.
Syrian state television Sana said Israeli F-15 fighter jets attacked the T-4 air base near Homs early on Monday by firing missiles from inside Lebanese airspace, having initially blamed US forces for the strike. Russia has also said Israel carried out the attack.
The strikes comes amid heightened tension in the region following the alleged chemical weapons attack on the town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, which killed 48 people and injured hundreds more, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, a medical relief organisation. It said victims were suffering symptoms consistent with exposure to both chlorine gas and the nerve agent Sarin.
Donald Trump led international condemnation of the alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government, raising prospects of a US response. The Pentagon swiftly denied any involvement in the air strike on the Syrian air base, whereas Israel declined to comment.
Israel has struck the T-4 airfield before and is believed to have carried out dozens of strikes in Syria principally against Iranian targets. Tehran is a key ally of the Assad regime and Israel is increasingly concerned about Iran’s military build up on its doorstep. Israel rarely confirms or denies such attacks but has said publicly it will destroy any Iranian depots or forces in Syria that it considers a threat.
If confirmed, the chemical attack on Douma would be the most serious since Assad’s forces dropped Sarin gas and other chemicals on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun a year ago, killing more than 80 people. That attack led to Mr Trump ordering the first major military intervention of his presidency against the Assad regime air base from where the attack on Khan Sheikhoun was launched.
Sana said Syrian air defences had shot down eight missiles in Monday’s attack on the T-4 base and said a number of people were killed and injured in the strike. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the Associated Press 14 people were killed in the attack. He said all those killed were either Iranians or members of Iran-backed groups.
Israel has previously accused Iran of using the base to launch drones across the border into Israel.
The attack on Douma has garnered international attention and prompted Mr Trump to warn there would be “a big price to pay” should the chemical attack be confirmed. His comments followed a pledge last week that he would soon order the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, a move that was not welcomed by Israel.
Syria and its ally Russia denied the use of chemical weapons in Douma and accused opposition groups of fabricating the attack. Doctors and aid organisations are calling for an immediate international investigation into the incident which took place a short drive from the offices of the United Nations and World Health Organization in Damascus.
The Syrian government has carried out dozens of chemical attacks since the start of the civil war seven years ago, according to a report by the UN in September last year.
Russia and Syria accuse Israel of bombing air base near Homs
Unclaimed strike comes amid heightened tension over alleged chemical weapons attack
Syrian state TV has accused Israel of using F-15 jets (pictured) to launch an air strike against an air base near Homs © AFP
Rebecca Collard in Beirut 5 MINUTES AGO Print this page0
Syria and Russia have accused Israel of carrying out an air strike against an air base near Homs amid rising tension in the country after Bashar al-Assad’s regime was accused by the US and its allies of launching a chemical weapons attack over the weekend.
Syrian state television Sana said Israeli F-15 fighter jets attacked the T-4 air base near Homs early on Monday by firing missiles from inside Lebanese airspace, having initially blamed US forces for the strike. Russia has also said Israel carried out the attack.
The strikes comes amid heightened tension in the region following the alleged chemical weapons attack on the town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, which killed 48 people and injured hundreds more, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, a medical relief organisation. It said victims were suffering symptoms consistent with exposure to both chlorine gas and the nerve agent Sarin.
Donald Trump led international condemnation of the alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government, raising prospects of a US response. The Pentagon swiftly denied any involvement in the air strike on the Syrian air base, whereas Israel declined to comment.
Israel has struck the T-4 airfield before and is believed to have carried out dozens of strikes in Syria principally against Iranian targets. Tehran is a key ally of the Assad regime and Israel is increasingly concerned about Iran’s military build up on its doorstep. Israel rarely confirms or denies such attacks but has said publicly it will destroy any Iranian depots or forces in Syria that it considers a threat.
If confirmed, the chemical attack on Douma would be the most serious since Assad’s forces dropped Sarin gas and other chemicals on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun a year ago, killing more than 80 people. That attack led to Mr Trump ordering the first major military intervention of his presidency against the Assad regime air base from where the attack on Khan Sheikhoun was launched.
Sana said Syrian air defences had shot down eight missiles in Monday’s attack on the T-4 base and said a number of people were killed and injured in the strike. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the Associated Press 14 people were killed in the attack. He said all those killed were either Iranians or members of Iran-backed groups.
Israel has previously accused Iran of using the base to launch drones across the border into Israel.
The attack on Douma has garnered international attention and prompted Mr Trump to warn there would be “a big price to pay” should the chemical attack be confirmed. His comments followed a pledge last week that he would soon order the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, a move that was not welcomed by Israel.
Syria and its ally Russia denied the use of chemical weapons in Douma and accused opposition groups of fabricating the attack. Doctors and aid organisations are calling for an immediate international investigation into the incident which took place a short drive from the offices of the United Nations and World Health Organization in Damascus.
The Syrian government has carried out dozens of chemical attacks since the start of the civil war seven years ago, according to a report by the UN in September last year.
Kim Jong Un willing to discuss getting rid of North Korea's nukes, US says - Fox News
April 9, 2018
Kim Jong Un willing to discuss getting rid of North Korea's nukes, US says
By Nicole Darrah | Fox News
North Korea says it's ready to discuss denuclearization
North Korea has told the Trump administration that Kim Jong Un is ready to discuss denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said he's willing to talk with President Trump about getting rid of North Korea's nuclear weapons as part of a denuclearization across the Korean Peninsula, a Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News on Sunday.
The confirmation came ahead of a meeting between the two leaders, which officials have suggested would take place by May.
NORTH KOREA BEGINS TESTING EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR AT NUCLEAR SITE DESPITE 'DENUCLEARIZATION' TALK
And while Trump tweeted on March 28 that he was looking forward to the meeting, saying, "There is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity," many analysts have expressed skepticism about the secretive regime's intentions.
Meeting between two Koreas slated for April ahead of Trump-Kim summit. Greg Palkot has the latest developments.Video
North and South Korea plan historic meeting at DMZ
"It's possible that Kim Jong Un has a different meaning in mind," Abraham Denmark, a former senior U.S. defense official said, noting that a possible denuclearization offer appears to be contingent on the U.S. creating the right conditions. "So far it sounds like the same old tune."
South Korea, which has shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to set up the talks, said Kim had expressed willingness to discuss giving up nuclear weapons during his upcoming meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump, but North Korea hadn't confirmed such discussions until Sunday.
The rogue nation's abrupt diplomatic outreach in recent months has brought a temporary lull to tensions sparked by its nuclear weapons and missile tests last year that resulted in Kim and Trump exchanging crude insults and threats of war.
DENNIS RODMAN: I HOPE KIM JONG UN WEARS A 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN' HAT AFTER MEETING TRUMP
However, increased activity was spotted by satellite at a North Korean nuclear site in February, photos of which suggest the North has begun preliminary testing of an experimental light water reactor and possibly brought another reactor online at its Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center.
Both could be used to produce the fissile materials needed for nuclear bombs.
Fox News' Rich Edson, Katherine Lam and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kim Jong Un willing to discuss getting rid of North Korea's nukes, US says
By Nicole Darrah | Fox News
North Korea says it's ready to discuss denuclearization
North Korea has told the Trump administration that Kim Jong Un is ready to discuss denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said he's willing to talk with President Trump about getting rid of North Korea's nuclear weapons as part of a denuclearization across the Korean Peninsula, a Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News on Sunday.
The confirmation came ahead of a meeting between the two leaders, which officials have suggested would take place by May.
NORTH KOREA BEGINS TESTING EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR AT NUCLEAR SITE DESPITE 'DENUCLEARIZATION' TALK
And while Trump tweeted on March 28 that he was looking forward to the meeting, saying, "There is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity," many analysts have expressed skepticism about the secretive regime's intentions.
Meeting between two Koreas slated for April ahead of Trump-Kim summit. Greg Palkot has the latest developments.Video
North and South Korea plan historic meeting at DMZ
"It's possible that Kim Jong Un has a different meaning in mind," Abraham Denmark, a former senior U.S. defense official said, noting that a possible denuclearization offer appears to be contingent on the U.S. creating the right conditions. "So far it sounds like the same old tune."
South Korea, which has shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to set up the talks, said Kim had expressed willingness to discuss giving up nuclear weapons during his upcoming meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Trump, but North Korea hadn't confirmed such discussions until Sunday.
The rogue nation's abrupt diplomatic outreach in recent months has brought a temporary lull to tensions sparked by its nuclear weapons and missile tests last year that resulted in Kim and Trump exchanging crude insults and threats of war.
DENNIS RODMAN: I HOPE KIM JONG UN WEARS A 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN' HAT AFTER MEETING TRUMP
However, increased activity was spotted by satellite at a North Korean nuclear site in February, photos of which suggest the North has begun preliminary testing of an experimental light water reactor and possibly brought another reactor online at its Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center.
Both could be used to produce the fissile materials needed for nuclear bombs.
Fox News' Rich Edson, Katherine Lam and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
China blames U.S for trade frictions, says negotiations currently impossible - Reuters
APRIL 9, 2018 / 5:43 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
China blames U.S for trade frictions, says negotiations currently impossible
Kevin Yao, Christian Shepherd
BOAO, China (Reuters) - China stepped up its attacks on the Trump administration on Monday over billions of dollars worth of threatened tariffs, saying Washington is to blame for frictions and repeating that it was impossible to negotiate under “current circumstances”.
A worker works at a furnace at a steel plant of Dalian Special Steel Co Ltd in Dalian, Liaoning province, China April 8, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
The comments come after U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday predicted China would take down its trade barriers, and expressed optimism that both sides could resolve the issue through talks.
Chinese state researchers and media talked down the likely impact of U.S. trade measures on the world’s second largest economy and described the Trump administration’s posturing on trade as the product of an “anxiety disorder”.
“Under the current circumstances, both sides even more cannot have talks on these issues, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a regular news briefing.
“The United States with one hand wields the threat of sanctions, and at the same time says they are willing to talk. I’m not sure who the United States is putting on this act for,” Geng said.
China blames U.S for trade frictions, says negotiations currently impossible
China's premier says need to oppose unilateralism, trade protectionism
China's premier says need to oppose unilateralism, trade protectionism
The trade frictions were “entirely at the provocation of the United States”, he added.
Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming said at the Boao Forum for Asia in the southern province of Hainan, that Beijing did not want to fight a trade war, but was not afraid of one.
Focus this week will be on the forum, with President Xi Jinping and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivering speeches on Tuesday.
“GREAT WALL OF DENIAL”
The U.S. move last week to threaten China with tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods was aimed at forcing Beijing to address what Washington says is deeply entrenched theft of U.S. intellectual property and forced technology transfer from U.S. companies.
Beijing’s claims that Washington is the aggressor and is spurring global protectionism, though China’s trading partners for years have complained that it abuses World Trade Organization rules, and practices unfair industrial policies at home that lock foreign companies out of crucial sectors with the intent of creating domestic champions.
After repeated pledges to open up sectors such as financial services, Trump has said in speeches that the United States will no longer let China take advantage of it on trade.
“China’s reaction to Mr. Trump’s legitimate defense of the American homeland has been a Great Wall of denial — despite incontrovertible evidence of Beijing’s illicit and protectionist behaviors,” White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said in a commentary in the Financial Times on Monday.
A worker checks aluminium rolls at a warehouse inside an industrial park in Binzhou, Shandong province, China April 7, 2018. China Daily via REUTERS
“Nothing less than the U.S.’s economic future is at risk from China’s assault on American technology and IP, and its mercantilist bid to capture emerging high-tech industries,” he said.
Chinese officials deny such charges, and responded within hours of Trump’s announcement of tariffs with their own proposed commensurate duties. The move prompted Trump to threaten duties on an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods.
None of the measures have yet gone into effect.
China’s ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said in an interview in China’s Securities Daily newspaper that the United States should “adopt a more responsible attitude” on trade or it would harm itself with its own policies.
“Some people in the United States are still accustomed to being the world leader, and haven’t adapted to the change in the global situation,” Cui said.
The Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper described U.S. trade policies as a populist tilt by Trump ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections, but that the steps would ultimately end up hurting U.S. households through higher consumer prices.
“In the world’s perception, the U.S. is overshadowed by an anxiety disorder and is very keen to show its anxiety,” the newspaper said.
“IMPACT WILL BE LIMITED”
A researcher with China’s state planning agency said China’s economy will see little impact from the trade dispute, as the country’s vast domestic market can compensate for any external impact.
“As China’s economy is stable and improving ... the China-U.S. trade friction will impact our economy, but the impact will be limited,” Wang Changlin, a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission, wrote in a post on the commission’s official microblog account.
Even with the U.S. tariffs, China can still reach its 2018 GDP growth target of around 6.5 percent and the impact on employment will be limited, Wang wrote.
Fan Gang, an influential economist and adviser to China’s central bank, on Sunday flagged the possibility of a U.S. trade war as the U.S. economy faces pressure from China’s rapid development.
Discussion of the trade dispute also touched on the possibility of China leveraging its massive holdings of U.S. government debt, which has been dubbed the “nuclear option”.
Zhang Yuyan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, said China was unlikely to sell off its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds as a tactic in its trade dispute with the United States.
“On whether China will reduce its foreign exchange reserves, how policymakers think, I don’t know. I personally believe this possibility is very small,” Zhang said on Sunday in Boao.
China is evaluating the potential impact of a gradual yuan depreciation as a tool in the trade dispute, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, though it said the analysis doesn’t mean officials will carry out the move.
Reporting by Kevin Yao, Christian Shepherd, Andrew Galbraith and Stella Qiu; Writing by Elias Glenn and Michael Martina; Editing by Sam Holmes
China blames U.S for trade frictions, says negotiations currently impossible
Kevin Yao, Christian Shepherd
BOAO, China (Reuters) - China stepped up its attacks on the Trump administration on Monday over billions of dollars worth of threatened tariffs, saying Washington is to blame for frictions and repeating that it was impossible to negotiate under “current circumstances”.
A worker works at a furnace at a steel plant of Dalian Special Steel Co Ltd in Dalian, Liaoning province, China April 8, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
The comments come after U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday predicted China would take down its trade barriers, and expressed optimism that both sides could resolve the issue through talks.
Chinese state researchers and media talked down the likely impact of U.S. trade measures on the world’s second largest economy and described the Trump administration’s posturing on trade as the product of an “anxiety disorder”.
“Under the current circumstances, both sides even more cannot have talks on these issues, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a regular news briefing.
“The United States with one hand wields the threat of sanctions, and at the same time says they are willing to talk. I’m not sure who the United States is putting on this act for,” Geng said.
China blames U.S for trade frictions, says negotiations currently impossible
China's premier says need to oppose unilateralism, trade protectionism
China's premier says need to oppose unilateralism, trade protectionism
The trade frictions were “entirely at the provocation of the United States”, he added.
Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming said at the Boao Forum for Asia in the southern province of Hainan, that Beijing did not want to fight a trade war, but was not afraid of one.
Focus this week will be on the forum, with President Xi Jinping and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivering speeches on Tuesday.
“GREAT WALL OF DENIAL”
The U.S. move last week to threaten China with tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods was aimed at forcing Beijing to address what Washington says is deeply entrenched theft of U.S. intellectual property and forced technology transfer from U.S. companies.
Beijing’s claims that Washington is the aggressor and is spurring global protectionism, though China’s trading partners for years have complained that it abuses World Trade Organization rules, and practices unfair industrial policies at home that lock foreign companies out of crucial sectors with the intent of creating domestic champions.
After repeated pledges to open up sectors such as financial services, Trump has said in speeches that the United States will no longer let China take advantage of it on trade.
“China’s reaction to Mr. Trump’s legitimate defense of the American homeland has been a Great Wall of denial — despite incontrovertible evidence of Beijing’s illicit and protectionist behaviors,” White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said in a commentary in the Financial Times on Monday.
A worker checks aluminium rolls at a warehouse inside an industrial park in Binzhou, Shandong province, China April 7, 2018. China Daily via REUTERS
“Nothing less than the U.S.’s economic future is at risk from China’s assault on American technology and IP, and its mercantilist bid to capture emerging high-tech industries,” he said.
Chinese officials deny such charges, and responded within hours of Trump’s announcement of tariffs with their own proposed commensurate duties. The move prompted Trump to threaten duties on an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods.
None of the measures have yet gone into effect.
China’s ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said in an interview in China’s Securities Daily newspaper that the United States should “adopt a more responsible attitude” on trade or it would harm itself with its own policies.
“Some people in the United States are still accustomed to being the world leader, and haven’t adapted to the change in the global situation,” Cui said.
The Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper described U.S. trade policies as a populist tilt by Trump ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections, but that the steps would ultimately end up hurting U.S. households through higher consumer prices.
“In the world’s perception, the U.S. is overshadowed by an anxiety disorder and is very keen to show its anxiety,” the newspaper said.
“IMPACT WILL BE LIMITED”
A researcher with China’s state planning agency said China’s economy will see little impact from the trade dispute, as the country’s vast domestic market can compensate for any external impact.
“As China’s economy is stable and improving ... the China-U.S. trade friction will impact our economy, but the impact will be limited,” Wang Changlin, a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission, wrote in a post on the commission’s official microblog account.
Even with the U.S. tariffs, China can still reach its 2018 GDP growth target of around 6.5 percent and the impact on employment will be limited, Wang wrote.
Fan Gang, an influential economist and adviser to China’s central bank, on Sunday flagged the possibility of a U.S. trade war as the U.S. economy faces pressure from China’s rapid development.
Discussion of the trade dispute also touched on the possibility of China leveraging its massive holdings of U.S. government debt, which has been dubbed the “nuclear option”.
Zhang Yuyan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, said China was unlikely to sell off its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds as a tactic in its trade dispute with the United States.
“On whether China will reduce its foreign exchange reserves, how policymakers think, I don’t know. I personally believe this possibility is very small,” Zhang said on Sunday in Boao.
China is evaluating the potential impact of a gradual yuan depreciation as a tool in the trade dispute, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, though it said the analysis doesn’t mean officials will carry out the move.
Reporting by Kevin Yao, Christian Shepherd, Andrew Galbraith and Stella Qiu; Writing by Elias Glenn and Michael Martina; Editing by Sam Holmes
Bhutan's 'Shangri-La' caught between two rival superpowers - BBC News
April 9, 2018
Bhutan's 'Shangri-La' caught between two rival superpowers
By Anbarasan Ethirajan
BBC News, Thimphu
Bhutan has beautiful hilltops and monasteries
With its scenic mountains and stunning Buddhist monasteries on hilltops, Bhutan is a traveller's dream and described by some as the last Shangri-La - a mystical beautiful place where everything is perfection.
The country's capital, Thimphu, is a refreshing delight to those who are tired of traffic and pollution in mega cities. The fresh air and the lush green mountains and snow peaks in the distance offer a visual treat.
Men, women and children calmly walk around in the country's traditional attire. It is probably the only country in the world where there are no traffic signals - just traffic police officers giving hand signals.
But beneath the surface, this picture-postcard country has been experiencing an undercurrent of tension and nervousness since last year.
Sandwiched between two Asian giants - China in the north and India in the south - the Himalayan nation, with a population of about 800,000, was anxious when troops from the two military powers squared up to each other over their border dispute.
The flare-up was in a strategic plateau called Doklam - situated in the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China.
The remote mountainous region of Doklam is disputed. Bhutan and China both claim the area. India supports Bhutan's claim over it.
When China started to expand an unpaved road in June 2017, Indian troops went across and stopped the work, triggering a face-off between the two sides.
Delhi argued that the road had security implications. The fear is that in any future conflict, Chinese troops can use it to seize India's strategically important Siliguri Corridor, known as the Chicken's Neck, which connects the Indian mainland with its north-eastern states.
Some experts said the fears were far-fetched.
Image caption
Namgay Zam: "Most people don't even know where Doklam is"
But many Bhutanese were unaware of the strategic importance of Doklam.
"Doklam was insignificant until it became a controversial issue a few months ago. Most Bhutanese don't even know where Doklam is," says Namgay Zam, a multimedia journalist in Thimphu.
She adds: "It became a matter of contention and discussion only after it blew up as a controversial issue between China and India".
The tense stand-off between Chinese and Indian troops in Doklam raised concerns among many Bhutanese that it could trigger a war between the two Asian giants. Beijing angrily denounced what it described as a "trespass of Indian troops".
After weeks of hectic diplomacy by the Indian and Chinese leadership, the 73-day face-off was brought to an end. Indian troops finally withdrew.
People's Daily,China
✔
@PDChina
Replying to @PDChina
#UPDATE: India has pulled back all border personnel and equipment from the border standoff site at Doklam as of Monday afternoon: Chinese FM
5:49 PM - Aug 28, 2017
The Bhutanese government refuses to publicly discuss the Doklam stand-off, but it issued a cautious statement last August welcoming what it described as "the disengagement by the two sides".
Many in Bhutan say the flare up was a wakeup call.
There was a passionate discussion on social media over whether it was time for Bhutan to settle its border dispute with China and follow an independent foreign policy. Some even argued that Bhutan should come out of India's influence.
Disputes along the long border between China and India remain unresolved in several areas
After Tibet was invaded and annexed by China in the 1950s, Bhutan immediately turned south - towards India - for friendship and security. Since then it has been under India's sphere of influence.
India provides economic, military and technical help to Bhutan. The Himalayan nation is the largest recipient of India's foreign aid. India gave nearly $800 million to Bhutan's last five-year economic plan.
Hundreds of Indian soldiers are stationed inside Bhutan and officials say they offer training to Bhutanese troops. Its military headquarters is in the western town of Haa, about 20km (12 miles) from Doklam.
While many Bhutanese are thankful to India for its assistance over the decades, others, particularly the young, want the country to chart its own course.
Bhutan has a population of just 800,000
Bhutan's foreign policy takes India's security concerns into account because of a special treaty, signed first in 1949. The treaty was revised in 2007 but it gave Bhutan more freedom in areas of foreign policy and military purchases.
Some here feel India's influence has been overbearing and stifling.
"As we mature [as a democracy] we have to get out of India's shadow. India also should not think of Bhutan as what some people refer to as a 'vassal state'. Let Bhutan decide its own political future," argues Gopilal Acharya, a writer and political analyst.
Bhutan and China have disputes over territory in the north and in the west. There is a growing feeling within Bhutan that it is time for the country to reach a settlement with China.
"Bhutan actually needs to resolve this issue with China at the earliest, that's what I feel. After that we may be able to move forward diplomatically or otherwise this [Doklam] problem is going to reoccur," says Karma Tenzin, a political commentator.
"We cannot afford to have two superpowers lock their horns at the doorstep of a peaceful nation like Bhutan."
Several people who I spoke with in Thimphu argue that India could have shown restraint and avoided a face-off with China.
They think India's stance might have an impact in Bhutan's efforts to solve its long-standing border dispute with Beijing.
Gopilal Acharya says Bhutan has to pull itself out from India's shadow
India has been unable to stop the Chinese making inroads into other south Asian countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh. Bhutan is the only country in the region which has no formal diplomatic relations with Beijing.
There is also resentment among several Bhutanese who feel that India has been unfairly treating them in exploiting its natural resources. Delhi's "big brother" attitude, they say, could lead to people calling for more trade links with China. They point to Nepal playing the China card vis-Ã -vis its relations with India.
"For us, our future is with India. But we should forge a new kind of relationship which is equal between India and Bhutan. We have to look for new areas of engagement on equal footing," says Mr Acharya.
While India grapples with the challenge of a rising China, both militarily and economically, it is also in danger of losing its allies if its foreign policy is not based on mutual respect.
Bhutan may be a tiny Himalayan nation but it holds a strategic card. It does not want to be squeezed in India-China rivalry. The last thing they want to see is Chinese and Indian armies squaring up to each other once again near their border.
Bhutan's 'Shangri-La' caught between two rival superpowers
By Anbarasan Ethirajan
BBC News, Thimphu
Bhutan has beautiful hilltops and monasteries
With its scenic mountains and stunning Buddhist monasteries on hilltops, Bhutan is a traveller's dream and described by some as the last Shangri-La - a mystical beautiful place where everything is perfection.
The country's capital, Thimphu, is a refreshing delight to those who are tired of traffic and pollution in mega cities. The fresh air and the lush green mountains and snow peaks in the distance offer a visual treat.
Men, women and children calmly walk around in the country's traditional attire. It is probably the only country in the world where there are no traffic signals - just traffic police officers giving hand signals.
But beneath the surface, this picture-postcard country has been experiencing an undercurrent of tension and nervousness since last year.
Sandwiched between two Asian giants - China in the north and India in the south - the Himalayan nation, with a population of about 800,000, was anxious when troops from the two military powers squared up to each other over their border dispute.
The flare-up was in a strategic plateau called Doklam - situated in the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China.
The remote mountainous region of Doklam is disputed. Bhutan and China both claim the area. India supports Bhutan's claim over it.
When China started to expand an unpaved road in June 2017, Indian troops went across and stopped the work, triggering a face-off between the two sides.
Delhi argued that the road had security implications. The fear is that in any future conflict, Chinese troops can use it to seize India's strategically important Siliguri Corridor, known as the Chicken's Neck, which connects the Indian mainland with its north-eastern states.
Some experts said the fears were far-fetched.
Image caption
Namgay Zam: "Most people don't even know where Doklam is"
But many Bhutanese were unaware of the strategic importance of Doklam.
"Doklam was insignificant until it became a controversial issue a few months ago. Most Bhutanese don't even know where Doklam is," says Namgay Zam, a multimedia journalist in Thimphu.
She adds: "It became a matter of contention and discussion only after it blew up as a controversial issue between China and India".
The tense stand-off between Chinese and Indian troops in Doklam raised concerns among many Bhutanese that it could trigger a war between the two Asian giants. Beijing angrily denounced what it described as a "trespass of Indian troops".
After weeks of hectic diplomacy by the Indian and Chinese leadership, the 73-day face-off was brought to an end. Indian troops finally withdrew.
People's Daily,China
✔
@PDChina
Replying to @PDChina
#UPDATE: India has pulled back all border personnel and equipment from the border standoff site at Doklam as of Monday afternoon: Chinese FM
5:49 PM - Aug 28, 2017
The Bhutanese government refuses to publicly discuss the Doklam stand-off, but it issued a cautious statement last August welcoming what it described as "the disengagement by the two sides".
Many in Bhutan say the flare up was a wakeup call.
There was a passionate discussion on social media over whether it was time for Bhutan to settle its border dispute with China and follow an independent foreign policy. Some even argued that Bhutan should come out of India's influence.
Disputes along the long border between China and India remain unresolved in several areas
After Tibet was invaded and annexed by China in the 1950s, Bhutan immediately turned south - towards India - for friendship and security. Since then it has been under India's sphere of influence.
India provides economic, military and technical help to Bhutan. The Himalayan nation is the largest recipient of India's foreign aid. India gave nearly $800 million to Bhutan's last five-year economic plan.
Hundreds of Indian soldiers are stationed inside Bhutan and officials say they offer training to Bhutanese troops. Its military headquarters is in the western town of Haa, about 20km (12 miles) from Doklam.
While many Bhutanese are thankful to India for its assistance over the decades, others, particularly the young, want the country to chart its own course.
Bhutan has a population of just 800,000
Bhutan's foreign policy takes India's security concerns into account because of a special treaty, signed first in 1949. The treaty was revised in 2007 but it gave Bhutan more freedom in areas of foreign policy and military purchases.
Some here feel India's influence has been overbearing and stifling.
"As we mature [as a democracy] we have to get out of India's shadow. India also should not think of Bhutan as what some people refer to as a 'vassal state'. Let Bhutan decide its own political future," argues Gopilal Acharya, a writer and political analyst.
Bhutan and China have disputes over territory in the north and in the west. There is a growing feeling within Bhutan that it is time for the country to reach a settlement with China.
"Bhutan actually needs to resolve this issue with China at the earliest, that's what I feel. After that we may be able to move forward diplomatically or otherwise this [Doklam] problem is going to reoccur," says Karma Tenzin, a political commentator.
"We cannot afford to have two superpowers lock their horns at the doorstep of a peaceful nation like Bhutan."
Several people who I spoke with in Thimphu argue that India could have shown restraint and avoided a face-off with China.
They think India's stance might have an impact in Bhutan's efforts to solve its long-standing border dispute with Beijing.
Gopilal Acharya says Bhutan has to pull itself out from India's shadow
India has been unable to stop the Chinese making inroads into other south Asian countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh. Bhutan is the only country in the region which has no formal diplomatic relations with Beijing.
There is also resentment among several Bhutanese who feel that India has been unfairly treating them in exploiting its natural resources. Delhi's "big brother" attitude, they say, could lead to people calling for more trade links with China. They point to Nepal playing the China card vis-Ã -vis its relations with India.
"For us, our future is with India. But we should forge a new kind of relationship which is equal between India and Bhutan. We have to look for new areas of engagement on equal footing," says Mr Acharya.
While India grapples with the challenge of a rising China, both militarily and economically, it is also in danger of losing its allies if its foreign policy is not based on mutual respect.
Bhutan may be a tiny Himalayan nation but it holds a strategic card. It does not want to be squeezed in India-China rivalry. The last thing they want to see is Chinese and Indian armies squaring up to each other once again near their border.
Russia sanctions: Shares in Deripaska-controlled firms crash - BBC News
April 9, 2018
Russia sanctions: Shares in Deripaska-controlled firms crash
The US has accused Oleg Deripaska of operating for the Russian government
Shares in firms controlled by Oleg Deripaska have plunged after the US imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs and their companies on Friday.
Shares in the Russian aluminium giant Rusal nearly halved on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.
EN+, another firm controlled by Mr Deripaska, dived by 25% in London.
The sanctions follow a diplomatic crisis sparked by the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
The US has accused Mr Deripaska of operating for the Russian government. Other magnates hit by sanctions include Alexei Miller, director of state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
Russia has vowed that there will be a "tough response" to the new sanctions.
The US sanctions affect the seven oligarchs, 12 companies they own or control, as well as 17 senior Russian government officials.
The Russian individuals and companies were targeted for profiting from a Russian state engaged in "malign activities" around the world.
Russia sanctions: Shares in Deripaska-controlled firms crash
The US has accused Oleg Deripaska of operating for the Russian government
Shares in firms controlled by Oleg Deripaska have plunged after the US imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs and their companies on Friday.
Shares in the Russian aluminium giant Rusal nearly halved on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.
EN+, another firm controlled by Mr Deripaska, dived by 25% in London.
The sanctions follow a diplomatic crisis sparked by the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
The US has accused Mr Deripaska of operating for the Russian government. Other magnates hit by sanctions include Alexei Miller, director of state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
Russia has vowed that there will be a "tough response" to the new sanctions.
The US sanctions affect the seven oligarchs, 12 companies they own or control, as well as 17 senior Russian government officials.
The Russian individuals and companies were targeted for profiting from a Russian state engaged in "malign activities" around the world.
Syria conflict: Israel blamed for attack on airfield - BBC News
April 9, 2018
Syria conflict: Israel blamed for attack on airfield
A satellite image showing the T4/Tiyas airbase in central Syria
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have blamed Israel for a deadly attack on a Syrian military airport.
Monday's attack hit the Tiyas airbase, known as T4, near the city of Homs. Observers say 14 people were killed.
Israel, which has previously hit Syrian targets, has not commented. Syria initially blamed the US for the strike.
The incident comes amid international alarm over an alleged chemical attack on a Syrian rebel-held town. The US and France had threatened to respond.
US President Donald Trump said there would be a "big price to pay" for the alleged chemical attack in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus. He branded Syria's President Bashar al-Assad an "animal".
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price...
11:00 PM - Apr 8, 2018
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
....to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!
11:04 PM - Apr 8, 2018
Meanwhile, the last rebel fighters in Douma have surrendered and are being bussed out of the enclave after reaching a deal with the government, Syria's state TV said.
Could Israel be involved?
Syrian state news agency Sana, quoting a military source, reported that air defences had repelled an Israeli missile attack on T4, saying the missiles were fired by Israeli F15 jets in Lebanese airspace.
Russia's defence ministry said that, of eight missiles, five were shot down and three reached the western part of the aerodrome.
Israel rarely acknowledges carrying out strikes, but has admitted attacking targets in Syria dozens of times since 2012. Its heaviest air strike on Syria, in February this year, included targeting the T4 air base.
That followed an incursion by an Iranian drone into Israel and the shooting down by Syrian air defences of an Israeli F16 fighter jet.
Israel has said it will not allow Iran, its arch-foe, to set up bases in Syria or operate from there, something Israel considers a major threat.
The Israeli military said Iran and its Revolutionary Guards had long been active in the T4 base, and were using it to transfer weapons, including to Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, an enemy of Israel.
They also said the drone had been launched from the base.
Iran building base in Syria - claim
UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that fighters of various nationalities - meaning Iranians or members of Iranian-backed Shia militias - were among the 14 dead at the base.
Complicated equation
By Jonathan Marcus, BBC Defence and Diplomatic correspondent
This attack could be part of Israel's growing effort to contain Iran's military build-up in Syria and to interrupt the supply of advanced Iranian missiles to its Lebanese Shia ally, Hezbollah.
Any Israeli operation would have been closely monitored by Russian air defence radars in Syria. There is also a telephone hot-line between the Israelis and the Russian headquarters in Syria.
So far Moscow has done nothing to interfere with Israel's air operations.
But the presence of Russia's air defences in Syria certainly complicates the strategic equation as Western governments ponder their response to the recent chemical attack.
Is there a connection to the Douma attack?
Mr Trump and France's President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement on Sunday vowing to "co-ordinate a strong, joint response" to the alleged chemical attack.
Suspected Syria chemical attack kills scores
But US officials said America did not launch the overnight strike.
"At this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting air strikes in Syria," the Pentagon said in a statement.
A short guide to the Syrian civil war
"However, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable."
France also issued a denial.
Sana initially called the reported missile strike on the Tiyas airfield a "suspected US attack", but later dropped the reference to the US.
In April 2017, the US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria's Shayrat military airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack on a different rebel-held town, Khan Sheikhoun.
What happened in Douma?
Medical sources say dozens of people were killed on Saturday in the attack on Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region.
One video, recorded by rescue workers known as the White Helmets, shows a number of men, women and children lying lifeless inside a house, many with foam at their mouths.
However, it has not been possible to verify independently what actually happened, or the actual number of dead.
Media captionUnverified video shows children being treated after the alleged gas attack
The UN Security Council is expected to discuss the crisis on Monday.
Both Syria and Russia deny a chemical attack took place, and have reached an evacuation deal with the Jaish al-Islam rebels who hold Douma.
Moscow said military operations there had been halted. Under the deal, 100 buses are said to be moving 8,000 fighters and 40,000 of their relatives out of the battered town. Hostages who had been held by the rebels are being set free.
The development means pro-government forces have now taken full control of Eastern Ghouta.
Analysts say this is President Assad's biggest military success since the fall of Aleppo in 2016. It follows a weeks-long government offensive in which more than 1,600 people were killed.
Syria conflict: Israel blamed for attack on airfield
A satellite image showing the T4/Tiyas airbase in central Syria
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have blamed Israel for a deadly attack on a Syrian military airport.
Monday's attack hit the Tiyas airbase, known as T4, near the city of Homs. Observers say 14 people were killed.
Israel, which has previously hit Syrian targets, has not commented. Syria initially blamed the US for the strike.
The incident comes amid international alarm over an alleged chemical attack on a Syrian rebel-held town. The US and France had threatened to respond.
US President Donald Trump said there would be a "big price to pay" for the alleged chemical attack in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus. He branded Syria's President Bashar al-Assad an "animal".
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price...
11:00 PM - Apr 8, 2018
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
....to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!
11:04 PM - Apr 8, 2018
Meanwhile, the last rebel fighters in Douma have surrendered and are being bussed out of the enclave after reaching a deal with the government, Syria's state TV said.
Could Israel be involved?
Syrian state news agency Sana, quoting a military source, reported that air defences had repelled an Israeli missile attack on T4, saying the missiles were fired by Israeli F15 jets in Lebanese airspace.
Russia's defence ministry said that, of eight missiles, five were shot down and three reached the western part of the aerodrome.
Israel rarely acknowledges carrying out strikes, but has admitted attacking targets in Syria dozens of times since 2012. Its heaviest air strike on Syria, in February this year, included targeting the T4 air base.
That followed an incursion by an Iranian drone into Israel and the shooting down by Syrian air defences of an Israeli F16 fighter jet.
Israel has said it will not allow Iran, its arch-foe, to set up bases in Syria or operate from there, something Israel considers a major threat.
The Israeli military said Iran and its Revolutionary Guards had long been active in the T4 base, and were using it to transfer weapons, including to Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, an enemy of Israel.
They also said the drone had been launched from the base.
Iran building base in Syria - claim
UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that fighters of various nationalities - meaning Iranians or members of Iranian-backed Shia militias - were among the 14 dead at the base.
Complicated equation
By Jonathan Marcus, BBC Defence and Diplomatic correspondent
This attack could be part of Israel's growing effort to contain Iran's military build-up in Syria and to interrupt the supply of advanced Iranian missiles to its Lebanese Shia ally, Hezbollah.
Any Israeli operation would have been closely monitored by Russian air defence radars in Syria. There is also a telephone hot-line between the Israelis and the Russian headquarters in Syria.
So far Moscow has done nothing to interfere with Israel's air operations.
But the presence of Russia's air defences in Syria certainly complicates the strategic equation as Western governments ponder their response to the recent chemical attack.
Is there a connection to the Douma attack?
Mr Trump and France's President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement on Sunday vowing to "co-ordinate a strong, joint response" to the alleged chemical attack.
Suspected Syria chemical attack kills scores
But US officials said America did not launch the overnight strike.
"At this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting air strikes in Syria," the Pentagon said in a statement.
A short guide to the Syrian civil war
"However, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable."
France also issued a denial.
Sana initially called the reported missile strike on the Tiyas airfield a "suspected US attack", but later dropped the reference to the US.
In April 2017, the US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria's Shayrat military airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack on a different rebel-held town, Khan Sheikhoun.
What happened in Douma?
Medical sources say dozens of people were killed on Saturday in the attack on Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region.
One video, recorded by rescue workers known as the White Helmets, shows a number of men, women and children lying lifeless inside a house, many with foam at their mouths.
However, it has not been possible to verify independently what actually happened, or the actual number of dead.
Media captionUnverified video shows children being treated after the alleged gas attack
The UN Security Council is expected to discuss the crisis on Monday.
Both Syria and Russia deny a chemical attack took place, and have reached an evacuation deal with the Jaish al-Islam rebels who hold Douma.
Moscow said military operations there had been halted. Under the deal, 100 buses are said to be moving 8,000 fighters and 40,000 of their relatives out of the battered town. Hostages who had been held by the rebels are being set free.
The development means pro-government forces have now taken full control of Eastern Ghouta.
Analysts say this is President Assad's biggest military success since the fall of Aleppo in 2016. It follows a weeks-long government offensive in which more than 1,600 people were killed.
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