China says it wants to resolve differences with U.S. 'on equal footing' - Reuters

AUGUST 3, 2018
China says it wants to resolve differences with U.S. 'on equal footing'
Christian Shepherd

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China is willing to resolve differences with the United States on an equal footing, the Chinese government’s top diplomat said on Friday after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, but added they did not address their trade war too specifically.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday instructed his trade officials to look at increasing tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion in Chinese imports into the United States.

Trump, who has accused China and others of exploiting the United States in global trade, has demanded that Beijing make a host of concessions to avoid the new duties, which could be imposed in the weeks after a comment period closes on Sept. 5.

China, however, shows no sign of bending to Washington’s pressure.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Pompeo on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi said Pompeo told him he was “was willing to maintain constructive contact”.

“As two members of the U.N. Security Council and the world’s largest two economies, we should of course maintain talks at all times,” Wang said.

“Cooperation is the only correct choice for the United States and China. It’s the universal expectation of the international community. Opposition can only bring dual loss and will hurt the peaceful and stable development of the world,” he added.

“We are willing to resolve the concerns of both sides via talks on the basis of an equal footing and mutual respect. He (Pompeo) was accommodating on this as a direction, and said that he does not want current frictions to continue,” Wang said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their bilateral meeting at the 51st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore, August 3, 2018. Mohd Rasfan/Pool via Reuters
Answering a question about what was specifically said on trade, Wang said: “We did not speak in such details. But actually, as journalists have noted, how can talks take place under this pressure?”

Wang, who is also China’s foreign minister, urged the United States on Thursday to calm down and “carefully listen to the voices of U.S. consumers”.

So far, the United States has imposed duties on $34 billion of imports from China as part of a first tranche of sanctions on $50 billion of goods.

It wants China to stop stealing U.S. corporate secrets, abandon plans to boost its high-tech industries at America’s expense and stop subsidizing Chinese companies with cheap loans that enable them to compete unfairly.

China says the United States is trying to stop the rise of a competitor and it has imposed its own tariffs on U.S. goods. The rising tensions have weighed on stock and currency markets, with the Chinese yuan falling against the dollar.

The two countries have not had formal talks on their trade dispute since early June.

Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie

Iran's foreign minister says China 'pivotal' to salvaging its nuclear deal - Reuters

WORLD NEWS  AUGUST 3, 2018
Iran's foreign minister says China 'pivotal' to salvaging its nuclear deal
Reuters Staff

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday China was “pivotal” to salvaging a multilateral nuclear agreement for the Middle Eastern country after the United States pulled out of the pact earlier this year.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif smiles as he attends a bilateral meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore, August 3, 2018. REUTERS/Feline Lim
U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 deal in May. International sanctions were lifted under the pact between world powers and Tehran in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump has ordered U.S. sanctions on Tehran, while a senior State Department official said Washington has told allies to cut imports of Iranian oil by November. Iran and other signatories, including China, have been trying to salvage the deal.

“The role of China in the implementation of JCPOA, in achieving JCPOA, and now in sustaining JCPOA, will be pivotal,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said, referring to the technical name for the nuclear deal.

Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Paul Tait

Donald Trump: President claims the Queen was actually late to meet him, and the internet can't cope - Independent

Donald Trump: President claims the Queen was actually late to meet him, and the internet can't cope
Posted on August 3, 2018 by Lowenna Waters in news 
UPVOTE 

Remember when Trump came to visit the UK, a huge orange baby blimp flew across London, and more than 25,0000 people took to the streets in protest?

Well, the president of the United States is now claiming that when he met with the Queen during his July state visit, it was HER who was late, not him, when they met for afternoon tea at Windsor Castle.

Yes, really. This is despite the fact it was reported he managed to break royal protocol twice when meeting the Queen, first by failing to bow, and second by walking in front of her.

Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania last night, Trump said that the 'fake fake disgusting' news was responsible for lying about his encounter with Queen Elizabeth.

Speaking to the rally, he said:

I was asked to have tea with the Queen, who is incredible by the way. Incredible. 

I landed [and] I'm on the ground and I'm waiting with the King's and the Queen's guards, wonderful people. I'm waiting.

I was about 15 minutes early and I'm waiting with my wife and that's fine. Hey, it's the Queen, right? We can wait. But I'm a little early.

He continued:

So, I then go up and meet the Queen and she is fantastic. We then go up and we have tea. And I didn't know this - it was supposed to last 15 minutes but it lasted like an hour. Because we got along. And she liked our first lady and our first lady liked her.

But we got along fantastically well. But the time went by - you know, sometimes you get along and the time goes by.

So here was the story by the fake news: The president was 15 minutes late for the Queen. Wrong.

And then, here's the rest of the story: The president overstayed. So I was late and I overstayed. But honestly, folks, it was such a beautiful, beautiful visit and afternoon.

But they can make anything bad because they are the fake, fake, disgusting news.

Right, OK. Many people on the Internet were quick to point out that this doesn't really add up.

Some were quick to point out that when they two met, there is video of the Queen appearing to check her watch.


11th Hour
✔
@11thHour
 WATCH: Here's the moment when the Queen appeared to check her watch before Pres. Trump arrived to meet her today. Learn more: https://nbcnews.to/2uxNopg

12:58 PM - Jul 14, 2018

Others were shocked that Trump doesn't seem to realise that the meeting was televised.

Donna Richards
@ResumeWonder
Replying to @11thHour @ryaninteractive
Does he not realize that there is video?

10:09 AM - Aug 3, 2018

Denise Bali
@DBalistrer
Replying to @11thHour @StacieDerepent2
Does he know the event was televised live and he left a 92 year old woman standing in the heat?

10:20 AM - Aug 3, 2018
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Others pointed out they thought the claims to be completely untrue.

michael movic
@oldmanliver
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
At This Point The Only
One To Believe Trump
Is Trump

9:55 AM - Aug 3, 2018
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Gemma Greene
@gemmagreene16
 Trump says HM The Queen made HIM wait.
We, Mr Trump, are not blind to your vile character & will not be convinced to disbelieve our own eyes.
Whatever one might think of her position, you kept a 92 yr old lady waiting in blazing heat.
We will not forget that.

6:23 PM - Aug 3, 2018
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Denise
@denise76300
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
Hey @realDonaldTrump is this one of those time when we shouldn’t believe what we see??

10:12 AM - Aug 3, 2018 · Canton, MA

Others brought up the fact Queen Elizabeth wore a brooch gifted to her by Obama to meet Trump.

Darla Beattie
@BeattieDarla
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
He lies about absolutely everything!  Still makes me laugh that Her Majesty was wearing a brooch given to her from President Obama though😂

9:55 AM - Aug 3, 2018

LaRhonda
@LaRhondaS
Replying to @BeattieDarla and 2 others
I’m sure he will have something nasty to say about that brooch, soon enough. He may even say he told her that he would give her a much nicer one than Obama did. A bigger one. The biggest and nicest brooch she ever got from anyone.

10:14 AM - Aug 3, 2018

Others brought up the fact that he appeared to walk in front of her, a 92-year-old woman, when the two met.

Kelly Hamilton
@kellyhamilton49
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
Trump is such an embarrassment!

10:56 AM - Aug 3, 2018


Some just thought the whole thing was rather ridiculous.

alien
@osseuscadaver
 why does trump talking about not being late to meet the queen sound like a bad stand up story

5:09 PM - Aug 3, 2018
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HT The Daily Mail

More: Cher was asked to compliment Trump or eat a cow tongue. She chose the tongue

More: Kim Kardashian has 'nothing bad to say' about Donald Trump

UPVOTE 

Black student claims member of college staff reported her to police for eating lunch
Posted about an hour ago by Greg Evans in news 
UPVOTE 
              
A sophomore student at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, has claimed that she was questioned by a 'member of staff' at the school as to if she was a student while she read and ate in a common room.

Oumou Kanoute, who is working as a residential advisor and teaching assistant for the summer, posted two videos on her Facebook page on Tuesday when she was approached by a police officer during a break.

In her Facebook post, you can see an officer approach her and ask what she is doing there. Once she says why, the officer apologises and explains why he had been called over.

She writes:

I am blown away by the fact that I cannot even sit down and eat lunch peacefully.

Today someone felt the need to call the police on me while I was sitting down reading, and eating in a common room at Smith College.

This person didn't try to bring their concerns forward to me but instead decided to call the police.

I did nothing wrong, I wasn't making any noise or bothering anyone. All I did was be black.

It's outrageous that some people question my being at Smith College and my existence overall as a woman of colour.

I was very nervous and had a complete meltdown after this incident. It's just wrong and uncalled for.

No students of colour should have to explain why they belong at prestigious white institutions.

I worked my hardest to get into Smith, and I deserve to feel safe on my campus.


In the second video, she calmly responds to the officer by highlighting how often these type of incidents are becoming in America.

It’s OK. It’s just like, the kind of stuff like this happens way too often, where people just feel threatened.

According to The Daily Dot, a school official told MassLive.com that someone was reported who "seemed out of place" but upon inspection campus police "found nothing suspicious about the student's presence".

In a separate Facebook post, Oumou states that a white member of staff had reported her as a "suspicious black male".

She also demands that Smith releases the name of the employee who called 911 so that "they can confront and acknowledge the harm done to me as a student".

However, the school has responded by saying that it is not policy to release the name of the caller.

In a statement on Facebook the school writes:

We have received multiple requests to release the name of the individual who called campus police.

Under college policy, any campus police records that are released must redact the names of parties involved.

This policy recognises the potentially adverse consequences of releasing identifying information, especially in those cases where doing so may discourage the use of this critical safety resource.

They also clarified that they have reached out to Oumou and that an investigation into the incident will be conducted by Human Resources and Campus Police.

Yesterday, campus police responded to a call from an employee reporting an unknown person who “seemed to be out of place” in a Smith building where the dining area was in use by the college’s summer programmes.

A campus police officer responded to the site and spoke with the individual, a Smith undergraduate student of colour, who was on a break from her on-campus job.

Campus police found nothing suspicious about the student's presence.

This incident has raised concerns in our community about bias and equity. Smith College does not tolerate race or gender-based discrimination in any form.

Such behaviour can contribute to a climate of fear, hostility and exclusion that has no place in our community.

We have reached out to the student to offer support and discuss next steps and will conduct an investigation of the incident with the employee, with human resources and with campus police.

We strongly encourage any member of the community experiencing bias in any form to immediately notify the college,

This incident is just one in a growing trend of incidents where black members of the public in the United States have been reported to the police for having BBQs, selling water or attending a public swimming pool.

HT New York Post

UN experts condemn President Trump's media criticism - BBC News

UN experts condemn President Trump's media criticism
2 August 2018

Jim Acosta: "All I am asking you to do is to acknowledge that the media is not an enemy of the people"
President Donald Trump's media attacks raise the risk of violence against journalists, UN experts have warned.

In a statement, David Kaye and Edison Lanza of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called the attacks "strategic" and said they undermined press freedom and "verifiable facts".

The comments follow hours after Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka distanced herself from her father's attacks.

Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised the media before and during his presidency.

He has declared journalists to be "enemies of the people", drawing condemnation from across the political spectrum.

Why Trump attacks the media
How Trump 'enemies' remark echoes tyrants
Earlier on Thursday, his daughter Ivanka broke from her father's remarks - prompting a tweet from Mr Trump in which he attacked "fake news" as the real threat.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
 They asked my daughter Ivanka whether or not the media is the enemy of the people. She correctly said no. It is the FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media, that is the enemy of the people!

6:24 AM - Aug 3, 2018

But White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday refused to say the media were not enemies, causing a CNN reporter to walk out of the briefing.

Mr Kaye and Mr Lanza said the president's assaults "increase the risk of journalists being targeted with violence" in their joint statement, and were "designed to undermine confidence in reporting".

Reality Check: Are journalists increasingly under attack?
Donald Trump decries 'fake news' on UK visit
Their warning follows a number of attacks from the president, his administration and his supporters over the past week.

At a presidential rally in Florida on Tuesday, CNN filmed Mr Trump's supporters yelling insults and swearing at reporters covering the event. CNN presenter Jim Acosta tweeted a clip, which contained strong language.

Jim Acosta
✔
@Acosta
 Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy.

11:32 AM - Aug 1, 2018

And on Sunday, the publisher of the New York Times urged the president to stop using the phrase "enemies of the people" after he launched a Twitter tirade against the media.

Mr Trump's frequent attacks have drawn criticism from even those close to him and within his party.

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci condemned Trump's supporters at the Florida rally on Twitter, saying the behaviour was "not who we are".

Republican senator for Arizona Jeff Flake meanwhile has compared Mr Trump to the former USSR dictator Joseph Stalin.

Apple’s Stock Is Going Gangbusters and it Could Be the First American Company Worth $1 Trillion - TIME Business

Apple’s Stock Is Going Gangbusters and it Could Be the First American Company Worth $1 Trillion

Posted: 01 Aug 2018 07:17 AM PDT


(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. shares jumped 3.5 percent in pre-market trading Wednesday after the company projected sales that suggest consumers are still snapping up the company’s high-end iPhones even as updated models are on the horizon.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant said on Tuesday it expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion. Analysts were looking for $59.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fiscal third-quarter results also beat Wall Street expectations, at one point sending the shares to $198 in extended trading, a record price if the increase holds through Wednesday.
Apple’s stock gained 12 percent this year though Tuesday’s close — before the results were announced — putting the iPhone maker on a path to become the first U.S.-based company with a market value of $1 trillion.

“These results and guidance will increase investor confidence,” Shannon Cross of Cross Research wrote in a note to investors. “We expect the vast majority of Apple’s product line-up to be refreshed during the next couple of quarters which should support near-term results.”

More than a decade after its debut, the iPhone is still Apple’s most-important product, accounting for about 60 percent of revenue. While unit sales have slowed recently, the company is building digital services and a suite of other gadgets around the device. Those newer businesses, along with higher iPhone prices, have supported revenue growth.

Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter outlook is closely watched because this is usually the period when the company unveils new iPhones. The company is expected to launch three new phones later this year. That’s raised Wall Street expectations for more sales and profit.

The results “were driven by continued strong sales of iPhone, Services and Wearables, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline,” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Read about Apple’s future iPhone plans here.

Fiscal third-quarter sales rose 17 percent to $53.3 billion, Apple said. Profit came in at $2.34 per share. Analysts expected revenue of $52.4 billion and earnings of $2.18 a share.

The company sold 41.3 million iPhones in its third quarter, generating revenue of $29.9 billion. That was driven by a higher average selling price of $724, thanks in part to the iPhone X, which starts at $999.

Analysts were looking for 41.6 million iPhone units in the quarter, and an average selling price of $699, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

During a conference call with analysts, Cook said the iPhone X was the most popular iPhone in the fiscal third quarter, gaining market share around the world.

Apple reported record services revenue of $9.55 billion, up 31 percent from a year earlier. Analysts forecast $9.2 billion. The category includes the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud storage and Apple Pay. The company is working on expanding these offerings with original videos and a news subscription service.

Cook told analysts that Apple is on track to meet a goal of doubling Services revenue by 2020. Paid subscriptions have now passed 300 million, he also noted.

Apple said its gross profit margin will be 38 percent to 38.5 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter, versus analysts’ estimates of 38.2 percent.

The company’s Other Products segment continued to see strong growth, with revenue up 37 percent to $3.7 billion. The category includes AirPods headphones, the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and the HomePod. Cook said wearables were a highlight of the quarter, with sales up 60 percent year over year. The Apple Watch had a record quarter with mid-40 percent growth, the CEO also said. The company doesn’t report sales figures for the Watch.

Apple said it sold 11.6 million iPads in the quarter, up from the 11.4 million in the year-ago period. In March, Apple launched an updated $329 iPad geared toward students. It’s also working on an upgraded Pro model with iPhone X features like Face ID, which could increase sales of the device.

Jeff Bezos’s Parents Gambled on His Big Idea — and Now Could Be Worth Billions - TIME Business

Jeff Bezos’s Parents Gambled on His Big Idea — and Now Could Be Worth Billions

Posted: 31 Jul 2018 07:26 AM PDT

It may be the most successful venture investment of all time.

In 1995, Jackie and Mike Bezos plowed $245,573 into their son’s fledgling e-commerce website, according to a prospectus two years later. It was a big gamble, Mike Bezos, the stepfather of Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, recalled onstage during a 2015 event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

“I want you to know how risky this is,” the son told his parents, “because I want to come home at dinner for Thanksgiving and I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

He’s probably welcome to extra helpings of turkey — and all the gravy. One IPO and three stock splits later, his parents’ stake could be worth almost $30 billion today. That would make them wealthier than Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, the 30th-richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The parents’ holdings haven’t been publicly disclosed since the end of 1999. While it’s unclear how much they still own, continuing donations of Amazon stock to their charitable foundation suggest they still control a healthy chunk of the world’s second-most valuable company.

They’ve donated 595,027 shares to the Bezos Family Foundation from 2001 through 2016, according to filings available on GuideStar, which collects data on nonprofits. The 25,000 shares they gifted in 2016 were worth about $20 million at the time. The foundation focuses on education for young people.

If they haven’t sold or donated anything else, the pair would own about 16.6 million shares, or 3.4% of the firm, making them the second-biggest individual owners after their son.

Their total return in that case would be about 12,000,000%, a performance that would make even the most celebrated venture capitalists blush. SoftBank’s $20 million bet on Alibaba has returned about 720,000% since 2000, according to calculations by Bloomberg. Sequoia Capital’s WhatsApp investment returned roughly 36,000% by the time Facebook Inc. bought the messaging service for $22 billion in 2014.

“We were fortunate enough that we have lived overseas and we have saved a few pennies so we were able to be an angel investor,” Mike Bezos, a Cuban immigrant who also goes by Miguel, said in Philadelphia. “The rest is history.”

He bought 582,528 shares in February 1995, according to the 1997 prospectus. Five months later, Jackie Bezos bought 847,716 shares. The wider Bezos family held this stock through four trusts at the end of 1999, another filing shows. The Jacklyn Gise Bezos 1996 Revocable Trust held 8.9 million shares, followed by the Miguel A. Bezos 1996 Revocable Trust with 4.8 million shares, while the Bezos Family Trust and the Bezos Generation Skipping Trust held 2.9 million and 675,000, respectively.

Any self-respecting wealth adviser likely would have pressed the family to diversify their holdings given the “heightened consequences of such extreme individual company exposures,” according to Eduardo Gruener, co-founder of Miami-based multi-family office GFG Capital.

Siblings’ Windfall
After applying historic selling patterns and accounting for the disclosed donations, Jackie and Mike Bezos would still control $10 billion of shares, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s on top of their son’s $147 billion fortune, which easily makes him the world’s richest person.

Even if they had unwound all of their Amazon holdings at the lowest possible price, they still would have reaped about $100 million.

The filing also suggests a windfall for Jeff Bezos’ siblings Mark and Christina. They each bought 30,000 Amazon shares for $10,000 in 1996. If they haven’t sold any of those shares, their stakes would be worth about $640 million apiece.

The Bezos Family Foundation didn’t respond to email and telephone messages requesting comment. Amazon declined to comment.

Wozniak’s Largesse
With Amazon, Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. approaching market values of $1 trillion, the world could have myriad unknown tech billionaires. Only corporate insiders or shareholders with stakes exceeding 5% are required to report their interests. In the case of Apple, that means individuals with positions up to $46.7 billion wouldn’t be required to disclose their holdings.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak held a 7.9% stake in 1980, which shrank over time as he sold options at low prices to mid-level employees and gifted shares to those he felt had been shortchanged. His remaining stake is thought to be in the millions rather than billions.

Or take Google parent Alphabet. An early investor was reportedly none other than Jeff Bezos, who put $250,000 of his own money into the internet-search startup in 1998, according to the New Yorker. Those shares, valued at about $280 million at the IPO, would be worth more than $8 billion today.

That pales in comparison to the returns potentially reaped by his parents, who hit the jackpot backing their boy.

“Extraordinary returns don’t come around often” said Gruener, the wealth adviser.“Replace Amazon with nearly any other name in the market and the ending may have turned out as a nightmare.”

Google plans censored version of search engine in China - Reuters

AUGUST 2, 2018
Google plans censored version of search engine in China: sources
Cate Cadell, Joseph Menn
BEIJING/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s Google plans to launch a version of its search engine in China that will block some websites and search terms, two sources said, in a move that could mark its return to a market it abandoned eight years ago on censorship concerns.

The plan comes even as China has stepped up scrutiny into business dealings involving U.S. tech firms including Facebook Inc, Apple Inc and Qualcomm Inc amid intensifying trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Google, which quit China’s search engine market in 2010, has been actively seeking ways to re-enter China where many of its products are blocked by regulators.

The Intercept earlier reported Google’s China plans on Wednesday, citing internal Google documents and people familiar with the plans.

The project is code named “Dragonfly” and has been underway since the spring of 2017, the news website said.

Progress on the project picked up after a December meeting between Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and a top Chinese government official, it added.

Search terms about human rights, democracy, religion and peaceful protests will be among the words blacklisted in the search engine app, which The Intercept said had already been demonstrated to the Chinese government.

The finalised version could be launched in the next six to nine months, pending approval from Chinese officials, it added.

Chinese state-owned Securities Times, however, said reports of the return of Google’s search engine to China were not true, citing information from “relevant departments”.

But a Google employee familiar with the censored version of the search engine confirmed to Reuters that the project was alive and genuine.

On an internal message board, the employee wrote: “In my opinion, it is just as bad as the leak article mentions.”

The worker, who declined to be named, said that he had seen slides on the effort and that many executives at the vice president level were aware of it. He said he had transferred out of his unit to avoid being involved.

Separately, a Chinese official with knowledge of the plans said that Google has been in contact with authorities at the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) about a modified search program.

The official, who declined to be named, said the project does not currently have approval from authorities and that it is “very unlikely” such a project would be made available this year.

Google declined to comment on the accounts and the CAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters on Thursday.

A day earlier, the search giant also declined to comment on specifics mentioned in The Intercept report, but noted that it has launched a number of mobile apps in China and works with local developers as part of maintaining its domestic presence.

But the report pummeled shares of U.S.-listed Baidu, which dominates China’s search engine market. Baidu shares fell 7.7 percent on Wednesday, despite posting better than expected quarterly results.

Google’s main search platform is blocked in China along with its video platform YouTube, but it has been attempting to make new inroads into China.

In January, the search engine joined an investment in Chinese live-stream mobile game platform Chushou, and earlier this month, launched an artificial intelligence (AI) game on Tencent Holdings Ltd’s social media app WeChat.

Reports of its possible re-entry spurred a strong reaction on Chinese social media outlets on Wednesday evening, including debates over the merits of a censored search engine versus accessing the U.S. version through illegal virtual private networks.

“Let’s carry on jumping the Firewall,” said one anonymous poster. “I’d rather not have it than use a castrated version.”

Reporting by Brenda Goh and Cate Cadell, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Muralikumar Anantharaman

Donald Trump: President attempts to quote Marc Thiessen's criticism of Hillary Clinton and spells it wrong - Independent

Donald Trump: President attempts to quote Marc Thiessen's criticism of Hillary Clinton and spells it wrong
Posted  by Lowenna Waters on August 1, 2018 in news 
UPVOTE 
            
By now, we're all accustomed to the rather regular spelling errors that are issued from the White House and Donald Trump's Twitter accounts.

In the latest instalment, Trump attempted to criticise Hillary Clinton by quoting right-wing Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen in order to accuse her of conspiring with Russia to gain compromising information that could be used against his campaign.

In the tweet, the president quoted Marc Thiessen, who told Fox News in an interview Wednesday: "We already have a smoking gun about a campaign getting dirt on their opponent, it was Hillary Clinton."

In the tweet, Trump continued the quote, however he made a blaring spelling error, which has been screen-shotted by The Daily Mail:

spellingerror.jpg

Smocking? Hummm....
Unsurprisingly, the original tweet was quickly deleted, and replaced with one that actually spelt the word 'smoking' correctly:


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
 “We already have a smoking gun about a campaign getting dirt on their opponent, it was Hillary Clinton. How is it OK for Hillary Clinton to proactively seek dirt from the Russians but the Trump campaign met at the Russians request and that is bad?” Marc Thiessen, Washington Post

1:56 AM - Aug 2, 2018

The full quote reads:

'We already have a smoking gun about a campaign getting dirt on their opponent, it was Hillary Clinton. How is it OK for Hillary Clinton to proactively seek dirt from the Russians but the Trump campaign met at the Russians request and that is bad?' Marc Thiessen, Washington Post


Needless to say, the internet had a field day.

Jonah Goldberg
✔
@JonahNRO
 Hey @marcthiessen did you really spell it “smocking”? https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1024676935065120768 …

1:37 AM - Aug 2, 2018

Sam Vecenie
✔
@Sam_Vecenie
 Oh my god he did the smocking tweet.

1:37 AM - Aug 2, 2018
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Others wondered whether it had something to do with the White House's guns policies?

Shannon Watts
✔
@shannonrwatts
 I wonder if a “smocking gun” is a new @NRA marketing ploy to sell guns to women?

1:39 AM - Aug 2, 2018

Andrew Beatty
✔
@AndrewBeatty
 Overheard in the White House 'can you 3D print a smocking gun?"

1:50 AM - Aug 2, 2018

The sewing puns abounded.

Jason Isbell
✔
@JasonIsbell
 So glad I quit smocking

1:41 AM - Aug 2, 2018

Joanne Buchanan
@js_buchanan
Replying to @JasonIsbell
You quilt?

1:43 AM - Aug 2, 2018 · Durham, N

Jason Isbell
✔
@JasonIsbell
Replying to @js_buchanan
Quilt bodice time last year

6:07 AM - Aug 2, 2018

Joanne Buchanan
@js_buchanan
Replying to @JasonIsbell
That is sew great!  💪

7:28 AM - Aug 2, 2018 · Durham, NC

Others got creative with sewing imagery.

Maggie Serota
✔
@maggieserota
 smocking

2:13 AM - Aug 2, 2018

Kyle Griffin
✔
@kylegriffin1
 · 18h
 "Smocking gun" pic.twitter.com/Vf80nKcC9w


Dani Bostick
✔
@danibostick
Smocking. pic.twitter.com/rQmvc0fRcR

1:33 AM - Aug 2, 2018

Many hammered home that 'smocking' is a bad habit.


Christopher Bouzy
@cbouzy
 SMOCKING IS BAD FOR YOU!

1:38 AM - Aug 2, 2018


But, the real question on everyone's lips was - is smocking the new covfefe?

Unapologetically BLACK ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿
@misscrystal81
 Does smocking = covfefe? 🤔

Kyle Griffin
✔
@kylegriffin1
"Smocking gun"

View image on Twitter
12:43 PM - Aug 2, 2018

See Unapologetically BLACK ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿's other Tweets
Twitter Ads info and privacy

HT The Hill

Hillary Clinton teams up with Steven Spielberg to bring female voting rights story to television - CNBC News

August 1, 2018.

Hillary Clinton teams up with Steven Spielberg to bring female voting rights story to television
Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she was working with director Steven Spielberg to bring "The Woman's Hour," a book about women's fight for voting rights, to television.
The project will mark Clinton's debut as a TV producer and follows a deal in May between Netflix and former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle to produce films and other content for the streaming service.
Reuters
Matthew Eisman
Hillary Clinton speaks onstage during OZY Fest 2018 at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park on July 21, 2018 in New York City.
Hillary Clinton is adding a new skill to her resume: television producer.

The losing 2016 U.S. presidential candidate said on Wednesday she was working with director Steven Spielberg to bring a book about women's fight for voting rights to television.

"I'm thrilled to be joining forces with Steven Spielberg to bring author Elaine Weiss' book 'The Woman's Hour' to TV," Clinton said on her Twitter account.

"It's about the women who fought for suffrage nearly 100 years ago. We stand on their shoulders, and I'm delighted to have a hand in helping to tell their stories," she added.

Spielberg's Amblin Television said in a statement that Clinton would be one of four executive producers on the show, which is being developed for a cable channel or a streaming platform.

No writer or network has yet signed on, but The Hollywood Reporter said Clinton is expected to have hands-on involvement in the development of the show, including casting.

The project will mark Clinton's debut as a TV producer and follows a deal in May between Netflix and former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle to produce films, documentaries and other content for the streaming service.

"The Woman's Hour," set in 1920, tells the story of the long crusade by American women to get the right to vote. It was published in March.

Clinton called it "both a page-turning drama and an inspiration for everyone, young and old, male and female, in these perilous times."

Since losing her bid to become the first female U.S. president, Clinton has written a memoir about her campaign, "What Happened," and launched the political action group Onward Together.

She is also due to make a guest appearance as herself in an October episode of television's "Madam Secretary," about a fictional female U.S. Secretary of State that is widely thought to be inspired by Clinton's own time at the U.S. State Department from 2009 to 2013.

Illinois lawmaker Nick Sauer quits after 'catfishing' claim - BBC News

August 2, 2018.

Illinois lawmaker Nick Sauer quits after 'catfishing' claim

Mr Sauer's former girlfriend has reportedly also filed a police report in Chicago
An Illinois state representative has resigned following allegations he used photos of his ex-girlfriend to "catfish other men".

Republican Nick Sauer allegedly used the photos on a fake Instagram account to lure men into "graphic conversations of a sexual nature".

His former girlfriend Kate Kelly made the allegations in a formal complaint.

Catfishing refers to creating fake personas to trick others into bogus online conversations.

Mr Sauer said in a statement his duties would be affected "by the distraction of addressing these allegations.

"After speaking with my family, I feel it best to step away from my public responsibilities," the first term lawmaker said.

Illinois house Republican leader Jim Durkin called the allegations "troubling", saying the "proper authorities" should be allowed to investigate.

Publishing private sexual images without consent is a crime in the state of Illinois.

Mr Sauer was serving as representative in Illinois' 51st district
Ms Kelly filed the complaint with the Office of the Legislative Inspector General on Wednesday, according to reports on US news website Politico.

The article says that Ms Kelly has also filed a report with the Chicago Police Department.

Speaking to the website, Ms Kelly said she and Mr Sauer, both unmarried, met on the dating app Tinder in 2016 but broke up earlier this year when she discovered he had been seeing other women.

What is catfishing?
Catfishing is when people create fake online personas to trick or bully others
The fraudster can try to scam others into romantic or sexual relationships
A documentary called Catfish was released in 2010 about a man uncovering the true identity of an online love interest
The film's lead, Nev Schulman, later made a television series with the same name
Should 'catfishing' be made a crime?

In July, a man allegedly contacted Ms Kelly on her Instagram account saying he had been speaking to a person for the past four months pretending to be her.

Ms Kelly's complaint says Mr Sauer later "came to my house and confessed to catfishing men with my photos".

Mr Sauer represented Illinois' 51st district, and was a member of the House Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Task Force.

Earlier this year, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens resigned after claims he photographed a naked woman without her consent.

Zimbabwe election: International calls for restraint - BBC News

August 2, 2018.

Zimbabwe election: International calls for restraint

BBC captures footage of post-election violence in Harare
A government crackdown in Zimbabwe after Monday's elections has prompted international calls for restraint.

The UN and former colonial power the UK both expressed concern about the violence, in which three people were killed after troops opened fire.

Parliamentary results gave victory to the ruling Zanu-PF party in the first vote since the removal in November of long-time leader Robert Mugabe.

But the opposition says Zanu-PF has rigged the election.

The result of the presidential vote is not yet known.

The opposition MDC Alliance insists its candidate, Nelson Chamisa, beat the incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Zanu-PF, which has been in power for 38 years since the country gained its independence, denies there has been any rigging and has called for calm.

Can post-Mugabe vote heal Zimbabwe?
President Mnangagwa said the government was in talks with Mr Chamisa to diffuse the crisis and "we must maintain this dialogue in order to protect the peace we hold dear".

In a series of tweets, he said he wanted an independent investigation to ensure that those behind Wednesday's violence were brought to justice.

President of Zimbabwe
✔
@edmnangagwa
 I wish to extend my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of yesterday’s violence. All human life is sacred, and their deaths are a tragedy, irrespective of the circumstances. I would also like to wish a speedy recovery to all those injured in yesterday’s events

5:41 PM - Aug 2, 2018

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged Zimbabwe's politicians to exercise restraint, while UK foreign office minister Harriett Baldwin said she was "deeply concerned" by the violence.

The US embassy in Harare urged the army to "use restraint" on Twitter, saying the country had an "historic opportunity" for a brighter future.

Opposition supporters are angered by the delay in results and mistrust the electoral commission
Human rights group Amnesty International's acting secretary general Colm O Cuanachain said in a press release that the "militarisation" of the election aftermath was "muzzling freedom of expression, association and assembly".

"People must be guaranteed their right to protest," he said.

No violence was reported on Thursday. A truckload of armed policemen and soldiers were driving around the city shouting, "Behave yourself, people of Zimbabwe."

What happened after the vote?
The country's electoral commission said that Zanu-PF had won a two-thirds majority in parliament - prompting protests in the capital, Harare.

Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu said the government would not tolerate the protests.

Police officers remain on the streets of the capital
The opposition "are testing our resolve", he said, "and I think they are making a big mistake."

A spokesman for Mr Chamisa condemned the deployment of soldiers and the subsequent loss of life.

"Soldiers are trained to kill during war. Are civilians enemies of the state?" he asked.

"There is no explanation whatsoever for the brutality that we saw today."

Which results have been declared?
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has so far announced victory in 140 seats for Zanu-PF, with 58 for the MDC Alliance, ZBC state media reported. There are 210 seats in the National Assembly's lower house.

More than five million people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 70%.

ZBC had reported that the electoral commission would announce the presidential results at 12:30 local time (10:30 GMT) on Wednesday, but only parliamentary results were read out.

The BBC's Shingai Nyoka reports that the announcement on the presidential poll was not made because representatives of some of the 23 candidates had failed to turn up to verify the results.

A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to win outright. Otherwise, a run-off election will be held on 8 September.

What are election observers saying?
The EU mission criticised the delay in announcing the presidential results. Zec has until Saturday to do so.

The electoral commission says 70% of registered voters took part in the election
It said it had observed several problems, including media bias, voter intimidation and mistrust in the electoral commission, adding that there was an "improved political climate, but un-level playing field and lack of trust".

This is the first time in 16 years that the government has allowed EU and US election monitors into the country.

The African Union mission has said the elections "took place in a very peaceful environment" and "were highly competitive".

It added that it could not confirm opposition parties' complaints of vote-buying, intimidation by the state and bias by traditional leaders.

A preliminary report by the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) observers said the elections were largely peaceful and conducted in accordance with the law.

‘Blackmail and pressure will never work’ says China, as Donald Trump mulls 25% tariff on US$200bn imports – reports - Hong Kong Free Press

‘Blackmail and pressure will never work’ says China, as Donald Trump mulls 25% tariff on US$200bn imports – reports
1 August 2018 17:30 AFP2 min read

US President Donald Trump is now considering a 25 percent tariff on US$200 billion in Chinese imports, rather than the 10 percent previously touted, reports said Tuesday.

The US imposed tariffs of 25 percent on US$34 billion of Chinese products earlier this month, with plans to add another US$16 billion of imports on Tuesday.

Trump initially threatened to levy 10 percent on an additional US$200 billion but that figure may now rise to 25 percent, sources told the Washington Post and Bloomberg.

It would represent a ramping up of pressure over Washington’s trade standoff with Beijing.

In Beijing Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday that “blackmail and pressure from the US side will never work on China”.

“If the US takes measures to further escalate this situation, we will surely take counter-measures to firmly uphold our legitimate rights and interests,” he told a regular briefing.

In 2017 the United States had a US$376 billion trade deficit with China, which it is keen to reduce.

Trump recently threatened to slap punitive tariffs on all Chinese exports to the US, which amounted to more than US$500 billion last year.

People are responding to Donald Trump's claim that 'collusion is not a crime' - Independent

August 1, 2018.

People are responding to Donald Trump's claim that 'collusion is not a crime'
Posted about 23 hours ago by Jake Hall in news 
UPVOTE 
              
There’s honestly not a lot left to say about Donald Trump’s Twitter account.

It seems that everything he ever writes is destined to make headline news - from ‘covfefe’ to sassy takedowns of Meryl Streep, there’s a wealth of meme-worthy material which rarely escapes scrutiny.

But this morning’s misstep was more concerning.

Not only did he accuse (for approximately the millionth time) Hillary Clinton of collusion, he also made a factually dubious claim: that collusion is not a crime.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
 Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)!

9:58 PM - Jul 31, 2018

This information seemingly came courtesy of lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who also went viral this week for tweeting the word ‘you’.

Yes, really.

There’s a lot to unpack here: if collusion isn’t a crime, why is he so determined to crucify Clinton for it? Will the nickname ‘Crooked Clinton’ ever catch on? Is this just another example of the President trying to avoid accountability for his alleged ties to Russia by arguing that the whole investigation is based on nothing?

Apparently so.

Shortly after Trump tweeted, Global News stepped in to fact-check his claims.

Although their exploration of the law acknowledges that ‘election collusion’ actually isn’t a precise legal term, it goes on to unpack the allegations made against Trump and finds that, in the context of the ongoing FBI investigation, his reported collusion could definitely have legal consequences.

The article concludes:

In other words, ‘collusion’ might be shorthand. But if it relates to Russia and U.S. elections, it can still be very much against the law.

Now that’s cleared up, it’s time to look at the inevitable slew of hilarious responses that ensued.

Some made jokes about the president’s willingness to defend his own missteps whilst simultaneously placing blame on others.

TechnicallyRon
✔
@TechnicallyRon
 STEALING A TIGER FROM THE ZOO IS NOT A CRIME BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER I DIDN'T STEAL A TIGER FROM THE ZOO BUT HILARY DID AND SHOULD GO TO JAIL BECAUSE STEALING TIGERS FROM THE ZOO IS ILLEGAL.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)!

11:19 PM - Jul 31, 2018

Others made jokes linked to his recent claim that he would introduce tax cuts for the mega-rich, or just generally outlined his willingness to flip-flop on his statements.

TechnicallyRon
✔
@TechnicallyRon
 STEALING A TIGER FROM THE ZOO IS NOT A CRIME BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER I DIDN'T STEAL A TIGER FROM THE ZOO BUT HILARY DID AND SHOULD GO TO JAIL BECAUSE STEALING TIGERS FROM THE ZOO IS ILLEGAL.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)!

11:19 PM - Jul 31, 2018

dylan
✔
@dyllyp
Replying to @realDonaldTrump
Donald Trump in 2016: Lock Hillary up for collusion!

Donald Trump in 2017: There was no collusion with the Russians!

Donald Trump in 2018: Collusion is not a crime!

I hope they let you tweet from prison, because this shit is hysterical.

12:04 AM - Aug 1, 2018


Matthew Yglesias
✔
@mattyglesias
 Small brain: No collusion
Big brain: Collusion isn’t illegal
Galaxy brain: Hillary did the collusion

10:34 PM - Jul 31, 2018 · Washington, DC


Jokes aside, people were quick to point out that the issue was related to language as opposed to actual legislation.
‘Election collusion’ might not technically be a crime, but conspiracy is.


Brian Krassenstein
@krassenstein
 Trump this morning: "Collusion is not a crime."

Yeah but...

'Conspiracy to defraud the United States'

and

'Conspiracy to commit Fraud and related activity in connection with computers'

ARE CRIMES!!

11:53 PM - Jul 31, 2018

The One Man Putin Can’t Get Out of His Head - Bloomberg

The One Man Putin Can’t Get Out of His Head
Bill Browder says renewed threats from Russia mean his efforts to punish its kleptocrats are working.

By Joe Nocera
August 1, 2018, 7:00 PM GMT+10

“A real deterrent for bad behavior.” Photographer: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images
Joe Nocera is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. He is co-author of “Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA.”

It’s just amazing how badly Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to put Bill Browder behind bars.

You know who Browder is, don’t you? He’s the hedge fund manager 1  who set up shop in Russia just as the country was privatizing, only to later become a critic of its oligarchs, which resulted in his being run out of the country, after which a handful of Russian officials “took over” his company and used it, in classic Russian fashion, to claim a phony $230 million tax refund. Which they received within 24 hours.

Although Browder persuaded most of his staff to move to London with him, his outside counsel, Sergei Magnitsky, refused to leave and instead investigated the tax fraud, after which he was tossed in prison, where his health deteriorated amid the brutal conditions and he died eight months later, at 37, apparently murdered by his captors.

Browder vowed to devote himself to avenging Magnitsky’s death, and began a worldwide campaign to have nations pass something called the “Magnitsky Act,” which denies visas and freezes the assets of human rights abusers, starting with the officials involved in Magnitsky’s death. It became law in the U.S. in 2012. Since then, an additional six countries have enacted their own Magnitsky Act, with nine more teed up, including Germany, Sweden and Australia. Meanwhile, Browder wrote a best-selling memoir in 2015, “Red Notice,” and has worked tirelessly to spotlight Russia’s human rights and rule-of-law abuses.

Yeah, that guy.

The Magnitsky Act has messed with the heads of Putin and the Russian elite like nothing else. The economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe after Russia’s takeover of Crimea scarcely compare. Economic sanctions merely hurt the Russian population. The Magnitsky Act hit Putin and his cronies where it hurt: in their pocketbooks. Any Russian with wealth keeps most of it outside the country. And most wealthy Russians own property in places like London, Miami and New York. The Magnitsky Act prevents the elites from accessing their money and visiting their property. From the Russian point of view, it is galling that this one man has been able to so humiliate the Russian elite. And Putin wants revenge.

Just a few weeks ago, during the Helsinki summit, Putin said he would be willing to allow special counsel Robert Mueller to question the Russian hackers he’d indicted if Russia could interrogate “certain U.S. officials it suspects of interfering in Russian affairs,” as the Washington Post put it. (“An incredible offer,” replied a clueless President Donald Trump before being wised up when he returned to Washington.) Who were those U.S. officials? With the exception of former ambassador Michael McFaul, they were all associated with the passage of the Magnitsky Act, starting with Browder, whom Putin ludicrously accused during the press conference of avoiding taxes on $1.5 billion and contributing $400 million to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Indeed, Russian prosecutors have already tried Browder twice in absentia, sentencing him to nine years in prison each time. (Prosecutors also convicted Magnistky — posthumously! — of tax fraud.) In May, during a trip to Spain, Browder was detained by the police after Russia issued an arrest warrant via Interpol. It was the sixth time the Russian government has attempted to use Interpol, the international agency that facilities police cooperation, to nab Browder. Interpol has consistently rejected Russia’s efforts, and the Spanish police released Browder once Interpol intervened.

In July, about the same time as the summit, a Russian prosecutor said that the country would redouble its efforts to capture Browder — “He shouldn’t sleep peacefully at night,” the prosecutor said — and sent out a seventh Interpol request. Late last week, the ministry of foreign affairs announced that it was opening yet another case against Browder, describing him as the head of a “criminal organization.” (A few years earlier, a Russian company hired Fusion GPS — the same political research firm that hired Christopher Steele to compile the Trump dossier — to collect “evidence” against Browder, which is now regularly cited by the government.) On Monday, Bloomberg News reported that a Supreme Court justice in Russia had rejected a settlement reached by HSBC with Russian prosecutors. HSBC’s crime? It was the trustee for Browder’s hedge fund when he operated in Russia.

After last week’s announcement by the ministry of foreign affairs, I called Browder. Over the years, I’ve written about him and the Magnitsky Act; it now occurred to me that this constant harassment by Russia had to be affecting his life. It was.

He told me that the prosecutor’s dark warning was a reminder — not that he really needed one — that he has to be constantly looking over his shoulder. He has full-time security, of course. And he is very careful when he travels — he told me that he recently decided to skip a planned trip to Italy because the new prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, is “pro-Putin.” When I asked if he was worried Putin might try to have him killed, as he has allegedly done to various others he viewed as enemies, he didn’t shrug off the idea. But he said he thought was protected by his visibility — “If they kill me, everyone will know who did it,” he said.

Then again, Browder went on to say, every time Putin and the Russian government take steps against him, it proves the potency of the law as an instrument to punish human rights abusers. “We couldn’t get better recognition of how powerful this tool is. It is a total vindication of all our efforts these past years.”

“The primary objective of Putin and his senior people,” Browder went on, “is to steal money. They are kleptocrats in the truest sense. But to do it, they have to commit grave human rights abuses. And once they have the money they have to move it to the west, where there are property rights. Because the Magnitsky Act freezes that money, it puts their business model at risk. That’s why it makes them so crazy.”

So what’s his end game?

“My goal is for every civilized country in the world to have a Magnitsky Act and to use it aggressively,” he replied. “I want this to become a pedestrian piece of policy that is enacted almost routinely, so that it becomes a real deterrent for bad behavior.”


One final thought about the Magnitsky Act. Remember the aftermath of that infamous 2016 meeting in Trump Tower, the one where Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner met with the Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who claimed she had dirt on Clinton? When the meeting was later exposed, Trump Jr. claimed that all they talked about was “Russian adoption policy.” That was code for the Magnitsky Act. Russia has banned adoptions of Russian children by Americans as a retaliatory measure. It seems likely that Veselnitskaya, whose clients include the company that commissioned the Fusion GPS report against Browder — and who has ties to the Kremlin — was probing to see if Trump might be willing to trade an end to the Magnitsky Act for lifting the adoption ban if he became president.

That meeting, of course, is now an important piece of Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the campaign and Russia. Which means that if, in the end, that investigation does serious damage to the Trump presidency, you may well have Bill Browder to blame.

Or thank, as the case may be.

Donald Trump claims Americans need ID to buy groceries at Florida rally 'Never been shopping I guess,' says critic - Independent

August 1, 2018.

Donald Trump claims Americans need ID to buy groceries at Florida rally
'Never been shopping I guess,' says critic

Harriet Agerholm
@HarrietAgerholm

Rihanna appears on British Vogue with super slim eyebrows
Trump claims Americans need ID to buy groceries at Florida rally
Ellie Soutter took own life after missing flight to training, says dad
Gay valedictorian rejected by parents going to college after campaign
Donald Trump has wrongly claimed Americans need photo identification to buy groceries, prompting a slew of accusations he is out of touch with the lives of ordinary people.

The US president made the remarks in a freewheeling speech at a Florida rally, during which he defended his trade policy and accused Democrats of obstructing his agenda.

Mr Trump was railing against the idea of non-US citizens voting and advocating stricter voting laws when he said IDs were required for everything else, including food shopping.

“Only American citizens should vote in American elections, which is why the time has come for voter ID, like everything else,” he said at the event at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

Manafort squares off with Mueller and could face decades in prison
“If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out and you want to buy anything, you need ID and you need your picture.”

Photo IDs are not needed to by groceries in shops and supermarkets in the United States, although they are required for purchases such as alcohol, cigarettes or some medicines.

“Where on earth does @realDonaldTrump buy groceries?! (Just kidding, we all know he doesn’t buy groceries),” said Boston City councillor Matt O’Malley on Twitter.

“Wow, never been shopping I guess, unless he is now planning extreme grocery vetting,” actor and screenwriter Kathy Gori said.
Referring to the US president’s discontinued meat brand, Comedian Adam Heath Avitable said: ”I hate having to show photo ID, provide a blood sample, and pee into a cup before I can buy my Trump steaks at the grocery store.”

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about when the billionaire president last bought groceries or anything else himself.

During a raucous rally aimed at boosting support for two Florida Republicans before the state’s primary, Mr Trump also defended his trade policy amid rising tensions with China.

He accused the country of having “targeted our farmers”, saying it was “not good, not nice”.

“You know what our farmers are saying? ‘It’s OK, we can take it,” he added.

Mr Trump’s administration last week announced plans for $12bn (£9bn) in temporary aid to help farmers deal with retaliatory tariffs from trading partners in response to new US policies.

At the Florida rally the US president backed Republican Ron DeSantis in a competitive primary for governor and backed the Senate campaign of his longtime ally, Governor Rick Scott.

“We have to make sure Rick Scott wins and wins big,” Mr Trump told the crowd. “It’s time to vote Bill Nelson out of office.”


Mr Trump, who is seeking Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in the fall, made the case voters need to elect more Republicans, pointing to Democratic opposition to his pick.

Democrats “don’t want to give Trump any victory,” he said. “They will do anything they can to not help the Trump agenda.”

Associated Press contributed to this report

Lloyds Bank sets aside another £460m for PPI claims - BBC News

August 1, 2018.

Lloyds Bank sets aside another £460m for PPI claims

Lloyds Banking Group has said it has put aside another £460m in costs for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims.

That means it has now allocated more than £19.2bn to settle the claims. The bank said it expected 13,000 PPI complaints a week until August 2019.

The provision came as Lloyds said its profits for the first six months of the year rose by nearly a quarter.

It made pre-tax profits of £3.1bn, 23% higher than the same time last year.

Chief executive António Horta-Osório said: "We have delivered another strong and sustainable financial performance with increased statutory profits, higher returns and a strong capital build."

Lloyds said the latest PPI charge was "largely driven by a potentially higher total volume of complaints and associated administration costs due to higher reactive complaint volumes received over the past six months and ongoing volatility".

It added: "The remaining provision is consistent with an average of approximately 13,000 complaints per week through to the industry deadline of the end of August 2019."

It said that every extra 1,000 complaints a week above that level would cost it another £150m.

Branches pledge
The bank said it had sold an estimated 16 million PPI policies since 2000, including policies that were not mis-sold and those that had been successfully claimed upon.

It has already dealt with about 53% of those policies.

Analysis:
by BBC personal finance reporter Kevin Peachey

PPI mis-selling was a huge financial scandal and now, for many, the reason for a lot of unwanted calls about claiming compensation.

But it is worth stepping back for a minute to look at the staggering numbers involved.

Latest figures from the regulator show that in May alone, compensation of more than £400m was paid out by the industry.

No wonder banks were so delighted when a claims deadline was set for 29 August 2019.

On the flipside, claims management companies (CMCs) are furious. This week a trade body for CMCs claimed that half of us are unaware of the cut-off date.

They will be busy in the next 12 months, so expect more calls.

Despite those efforts, many people are missing out on compensation that is rightfully theirs and that they can claim themselves without charge.

Lloyds said it was committed to maintaining the UK's largest network of branches, despite its announcement of 49 branch closures in April.

It said it also had the largest digital bank in the UK, with active users increasing to almost 14 million, including about 10 million mobile banking users.

Lloyds said its balance sheet remained strong, with its common equity tier one capital ratio increasing to 15.1% pre-dividend.

It said it would pay an interim dividend of 1.07 pence a share.

The government sold its last shares in Lloyds in May 2017, eight years after pumping in £20bn to save it.

Lloyds' share price rose nearly 2% in early trading, but it remains lower than it was a year ago.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "António Horta-Osório must be wondering just what he has to pull out of the bag to push the stock price up.

"Since taking over the reins in 2011, Horta-Osório has presided over a bank which has swung from an annual loss of £260m to a profit of £3.5bn. The share price, meanwhile, is at roughly the same level it stood at when he became CEO.

"That's largely because Brexit means some investors don't want to touch UK domestic companies like Lloyds with a bargepole.

"While this sentiment doesn't look like shifting any time soon, Lloyds shareholders are being paid to wait. The bank is expected to deliver a total dividend of 3.44p this year, equivalent to a 5.5% income yield. Not bad, if you can get it."

A US federal judge in Seattle has blocked the release of software that allows consumers to 3D-print firearms. - BBC News

August 1, 2018

US release of 3D-printed gun software blocked

A US federal judge in Seattle has blocked the release of software that allows consumers to 3D-print firearms.

Gun access advocacy group Defense Distributed published downloadable gun blueprints five days early on Friday.

The firm had reached a settlement with the Trump administration in June to allow it to legally publish the plans.

But eight states and the District of Columbia sued the government on Monday to block the settlement, arguing the untraceable guns were a safety risk.

US District Judge Robert Lasnik issued a temporary restraining order halting the release hours before the 1 August deadline, saying the blueprints could fall into the wrong hands.

3D-printed firearms, explained
Will 3D printing change my world?
"There are 3D printers in public colleges and public spaces and there is the likelihood of potential irreparable harm," he said.

Judge Lasnik scheduled another hearing for 10 August.

Although Defense Distributed had been expected to publish the blueprints on Wednesday, it uploaded files for nine types of gun to its website last week. Between Friday and Sunday, more than 1,000 people downloaded the files for building a gun apparently modelled on the AR-15 rifle - the gun used in many of America's mass shootings.

Why is the release being blocked?
The lawsuit against the Trump administration was filed in Seattle by the Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Maryland and District of Columbia are involved.

The complaint calls the 1 August release of gun blueprints "a bell that cannot be un-rung".

It raises concerns about national security implications and the safety of citizens.

The Liberator became the first gun to be made wholly with 3D-printed parts in 2013
The 3-D printed guns are untraceable and no background checks are required. So there are fears that known criminals could easily access them.

Security experts also fear that the DIY guns could evade metal detectors used in public buildings and airports.

What's been the reaction?
Speaking outside the court, Washington attorney general Bob Ferguson called the judge's decision a "complete, total victory".

"Everything we asked for we got from Judge Lasnik," he said, and called on President Trump to make it "unlawful for anyone to make this information available for anyone".

The president had tweeted on Tuesday before the ruling that selling 3D guns to the public "doesn't seem to make much sense" after settling with Defense Distributed in June.

But the group's founder Cody Wilson told the BBC the 3D gun was not a threat to public safety.

"I haven't watched any crimes be committed with it," he said.

"As far as I know only one person's ever been arrested because of this gun and it was a gentleman in Japan who was curious about making it."

How was the printable gun developed?
The arguments began in 2013 when Mr Wilson, a self-styled crypto-anarchist, showed off the world's first 3D-printed gun.

Files showing how to replicate the process were immediately made available on the Defense Distributed website and downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.

It led the US State Department to order them to be removed from the internet.

There followed a four-year legal battle, with Defense Distributed joining forces with the Second Amendment Foundation - which defends the right to own guns - to sue the State Department.

Last month, in a surprise move, it won its case, with the US Justice Department ruling that Americans may "access, discuss, use and reproduce" the technical data.

Mr Wilson hailed his victory as the beginning of "the age of the downloadable gun".

But critics are concerned it will see a massive rise in so-called ghost guns, unregistered weapons the government is unaware of and is unable to trace.

Since the legal action began, Defense Distributed has been working on new gun designs and has also created a milling device - known as Ghost Gunner - that can turn parts purchased online into a fully working weapon.

Lawmakers struggle with response to Trump-Putin relationship - CBS News

July 31, 2018, 6:02 AM
Lawmakers struggle with response to Trump-Putin relationship

Congress is producing an unusual outpouring of bills, resolutions and new sanctions proposals to push back at President Donald Trump's approach to Vladimir Putin, shore up relations with NATO allies and prevent Russian interference in the midterm election.

But it remains uncertain if any of their efforts will yield results. Lawmakers are struggling with internal party divisions as well as their own onslaught of proposals as they try to move beyond a symbolic rebuke of Trump's interactions with the Russian president and exert influence both at home and abroad. And while many Democrats are eager for quick votes, some Republicans prefer none at all.

As Trump and Putin weigh another face-to-face meeting, lawmakers in both parties — particularly in the Senate — appear motivated to act.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a rare warning that Russia "better quit messing around" in U.S. elections as he tasked two Senate committees to start working on sanctions-related legislation and other measures to deter Russia.

In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan joined McConnell in saying that Putin would not be welcome on Capitol Hill, though he did not push forward any Russia-related legislation before his chamber recessed for August.

Still, the past few weeks have been one of the rare moments in the Trump era that Republicans and Democrats have jointly asserted the role of Congress as a counterweight to the administration.

"You look at the action of Congress since the summit in Helsinki, you find Democrats and Republicans both standing up and saying no," said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., in an interview on C-SPAN with The Associated Press and The Washington Post.

For starters, there's a bipartisan push from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and others to "explicitly prohibit" the president from withdrawing from NATO without Senate approval.

Other senators are debating action to prevent meddling in the midterm election. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., call the protection of the election system a "national security priority."

Graham said it's "extremely important that Congress recognize the threat to our electoral system coming from Russia and act in a decisive way."

In addition, legislation from McCain and Cardin would require approval from Congress before Trump could reverse sanctions issued under the Sergei Magnitsky Act, which bans visas for travel and freezes assets of key Russians involved in alleged human rights abuses.

Russia's displeasure at the 2012 Magnitsky Act played into what Trump initially called an "incredible offer" from Putin at the summit to allow U.S. questioning of Russians indicted by the Justice Department for hacking Democratic emails. In return, Putin requested the ability to investigate Americans involved in the Magnitsky Act.

McCain called it a "perverse proposal" and Trump has since backed away from it.

With some 100 days before the midterm election, some say Congress is not acting fast enough.

One bill that has been given a go-ahead nod from McConnell is legislation from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., that attempts to warn Putin off more election interference by setting up tough new sanctions on Russia if it does try to intervene.

The measure is slowly making its way through the Senate Banking Committee, but some lawmakers in the House and Senate have raised concerns it casts too wide a net and could cause problems for allied nations that do business with Russia.

Rubio says he's willing to adjust the legislation to meet concerns, but says the goal is for Russia to understand there will be a price to pay for further election interference. He adds the legislation was introduced months before the Helsinki summit and isn't intended to embarrass or attack the president.

"I'm deeply concerned about their ability to interfere in our politics," Rubio said in an interview. "We want them to know what the price is going to be to make that choice."

The legislation would likely see overwhelming support, lawmakers in both parties say. But a vote is not scheduled.

Some symbolic measures on Russia have failed to make it out of the starting gate.

Already, the Senate has blocked a symbolic resolution from Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to reaffirm the findings of the American intelligence community that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Twice over the past two weeks, Republicans objected to motions to advance the measure, saying they prefer a more strategic approach that goes beyond symbolic resolutions.

House Democrats were similarly thwarted in their attempts to slap new sanctions on anyone who has interfered in U.S. elections and bolster election security funds to the states as Republicans blocked those votes.

Key Republicans are panning more federal spending on election security. The GOP chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, said Monday that he worried federal funds would come with "strings attached" that would interfere with elections operations he believes should be left to the states.

Ryan says the U.S. has "learned a great deal" about Russian interference. "So, I think we're far better prepared today than we were just a couple of years ago."

But the Speaker added there's more for Congress to do.

EU slaps sanctions on six Russian groups over Crimea bridge - Reuters

JULY 31, 2018
EU slaps sanctions on six Russian groups over Crimea bridge
Reuters Staff

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has imposed asset freezes on six Russian firms for their involvement in the construction of a new road-and-rail bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula which the bloc says is illegal.

Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 during an uprising which toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian president. The West condemned the move as an illegal annexation and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

The $3.6 billion bridge across the Kerch strait, part of which was unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in May, has drawn strong rebukes from the EU which says it is a further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows a road-and-rail bridge, which is constructed to connect the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula, as a man walks in the waters of the Kerch Strait, Crimea April 14, 2018. REUTERS/Pavel Rebrov/File Photo
The six companies cited in Tuesday’s statement from the Council of the European Union include construction firms PJSC Mostotrest and CJSC VAD.

The firms will have their assets in the EU frozen and EU persons and entities will not be able to make funds available to them, the Council said.

“Through their actions they supported the consolidation of Russia’s control over the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula, which in turn further undermines the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the Council said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin said he welcomed the additional sanctions.

“Important warning also for European businesses not to go down same slippery slope,” Klimkin wrote on Twitter.

The other companies targeted are engineering firm GPSM, Zaliv Shipyard and construction groups SGM and Stroygazmontazh Most OOO.

Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

China tempts Britain with free trade, says door to U.S. talks open - Reuters

JULY 30, 2018
China tempts Britain with free trade, says door to U.S. talks open
Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - China offered Britain talks on a post-Brexit free trade deal on Monday, reaching out to London as Beijing remains mired in an increasingly bitter trade war with Washington, even as a senior Chinese diplomat reiterated its door remained open for dialogue.

China has been looking for allies in its fight with the United States, initiated by the Trump administration, which says China’s high-tech industries have stolen intellectual property from American firms and demanded Beijing act to buy more U.S. products to reduce a $350 billion trade surplus.

Britain has pushed a strong message to Chinese companies that it is fully open for business as it prepares to leave the European Union next year, and China is one of the countries with which Britain would like to sign a post-Brexit free trade deal.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing after meeting British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said both countries agreed to step up trade with and investment in each other.

Hunt said Wang had made an offer “to open discussions about a possible free trade deal done between Britain and China post Brexit”.

“That’s something that we welcome and we said that we will explore,” Hunt said, without elaborating.

Wang, standing next to Hunt at a state guest house in the western suburbs of Beijing, made no direct mention of the free trade talks offer but said both countries had “agreed to proactively join up each others’ development strategies, and expand the scale of trade and mutual investment”.

China and Britain should also oppose trade protectionism and uphold global free trade, Wang added.

While a trade pact with China would be a political win for Britain’s government, formal talks cannot begin until it officially leaves the EU next year. Free trade talks typically take many years to conclude.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a joint news conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China July 30, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
CHINA-U.S. TRADE TENSIONS

In the briefing, Wang again slammed Washington for intransigence and intentionally hyping up the idea that the United States is the real victim in their trade dispute.

“The responsibility for the trade imbalance between China and the United States lies not with China,” Wang said, citing the global role of the U.S. dollar, low U.S. savings rates, huge levels of U.S. consumption and U.S. restrictions on high tech exports as amongst the reasons.

The United States has benefited a great deal from trade with China, getting lots of cheap goods, which is good for U.S. consumers, and U.S. companies benefit hugely in China too, he added.

Both China and the United States had appeared to have avoided a full-scale trade war in May, with China agreeing to buy more U.S. agriculture and energy products, but the deal collapsed and the two sides slapped import tariffs on their respective goods.


Washington has since threatened to set tariffs on an additional $450 billion worth of Chinese goods, and no formal negotiations between the two countries have taken place since early June.

China says it is committed to resolving the dispute via talks, and has appealed to other countries to support it in upholding free trade and the multilateral trading system, though European countries in particular have many of the same market access complaints as the United States.

Wang said the current tensions were initiated by the United States, and the two should resolve their issues under the World Trade Organization framework, rather than in accordance with U.S. law.

“China does not want to fight a trade war, but in the face of this aggressive attitude from the United States and violation of rights, we cannot but and must take countermeasures,” he said

China and the United States have had talks and had reached a consensus, but the United States did not meet China half way, he noted.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (L) shakes hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China July 30, 2018. Andy Wong/Pool via Reuters
“China’s door to dialogue and negotiations is always open, but dialogue needs to be based on equality and mutual respect and on rules,” Wang said. “Any unilateral threats and pressure will only have the opposite effect.

Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Writing by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Sam Holmes

Generals From North and South Korea Meet in Effort to End Military Standoff - TIME

Generals From North and South Korea Meet in Effort to End Military Standoff

By HYUNG-JIN KIM / AP 10:16 PM EDT
(SEOUL, South Korea) — Generals from the rival Koreas met Tuesday at their shared border for talks meant to ease a decades-long military standoff, Seoul officials said. The meeting comes days after North Korea returned the reported remains of U.S. war dead, the most recent sign of blossoming diplomacy after last year’s threats of war.

The general-level officers were discussing ways to implement April’s inter-Korean summit agreements on non-nuclear military issues, but no huge announcement is expected from the talks at the border village of Panmunjom. Some experts say South Korea can’t agree on any drastic measures to reduce animosity unless the North takes serious nuclear disarmament steps.

During the April 27 summit, the leaders of the Koreas agreed to disarm a jointly controlled area at Panmunjom, work to prevent accidental clashes along their disputed sea boundary and halt all hostile acts. Since then, the Koreas dismantled their frontline propaganda loudspeakers, restored a military hotline and held their first general-level talks since 2007.

Tuesday is the second meeting of its kind since the summit. The generals will likely discuss dropping the number of military guards at Panmunjom, withdrawing heavy weapons from the area and pulling some army guard posts away from the Demilitarized Zone, a buffer zone that separates the two countries. They may also talk about ways to make sure their fishermen peacefully operate along the Korean sea boundary, the site of several bloody naval skirmishes in recent years.

The Defense Ministry won’t discuss any detailed agenda for the talks.

The meeting comes four days after North Korea returned what were said to be dozens of remains of American soldiers missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, something that leader Kim Jong Un promised during a June summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump thanked Kim for “fulfilling a promise” to send back U.S. remains and said it was a step in the right direction following their summit.

During the Singapore meeting, Kim also committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula while Trump promised to provide him with security assurances. But there have been worries that North Korea hasn’t since taken any serious disarmament measures.

The North suspended its missile and nuclear tests and shut down its nuclear test site, and recent satellite photos indicated the country had also begun dismantling key facilities at its main rocket launch site. But many foreign experts say those were not enough to prove it’s serious about its disarmament commitment, saying the North must first submit a list of nuclear assets to be dismantled.

As a reward for returning the U.S. war dead, North Korea may demand that the United States agree on a declaration to end the Korean War as a U.S. security guarantee. That issue could be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, according to analyst Cho Han Bum at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.

The Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war. North Korea has long argued its nukes are aimed at coping with U.S. military threats, saying it wants to sign a peace treaty with the United States to formally end the war. That could then allow the North to demand the pullout of 28,500 U.S. troops deployed in South Korea.

Is North Korea secretly continuing its nuclear programme? - BBC News

Is North Korea secretly continuing its nuclear programme?
By Andreas Illmer
BBC News
2 July 2018

Reports that North Korea is continuing its weapons programme, despite pledges to denuclearise, have cast doubt on its sincerity in peace talks.

The recent reports, based on US intelligence leaks, suggest the country is still upgrading its nuclear enrichment sites, among other activities. So what's actually going on?

What are the allegations?
Here's what has been reported across US media:

North Korea's only official nuclear enrichment site at Yongbyon is being upgraded.
The country is stepping up enrichment at two or more secret sites besides Yongbyon.
Pyongyang continues to produce more mobile launch vehicles for its ballistic missiles.
It has also expanded missile production of solid fuel engines which are more mobile and easier to launch.
How reliable are these reports? They are "only" reports but they are deemed accurate by respected North Korea watchers.

The information is based on multiple unnamed sources from the US intelligence community as well as the 38 North study of satellite images of the Yongbyon site.

Skip Twitter post by @nktpnd

Ankit Panda
✔
@nktpnd
 In summary: centrifuges spin at Yongbyon, Kangson, and another facility; KN15 TELs continue to roll out; the Hamhung solid-fuel shop expands considerably.

We shouldn't be surprised; these are in line with Kim's New Year's Day directive on warhead/ballistic missile production.

10:29 AM - Jul 2, 2018

How serious are they?
"None of that activity is in violation of any agreements made at the Singapore summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un," explains Vipin Narang, MIT professor for political science and specialist on nuclear proliferation.

In the declaration wrapping up that summit, Pyongyang merely agreed to work towards denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, something it sees as a phased process.

Details of the process still remain to be worked out by the two sides.

"This was never going to be unilateral and immediate," says Mr Narang. "So Kim Jong-un is free to continue operating the existing sites."

To trust or not to trust, that is the question
Yet the reports that the North is continuing its nuclear activity is still seen as undermining the spirit of the summit and casts doubt on Pyongyang's sincerity to denuclearise.

"The bigger picture here is that North Korea's nuclear programme continues as directed by Kim Jong-un in his speech in January, where he urged the continued production of warheads and ballistic missiles," explains Ankit Panda, editor at The Diplomat magazine.

What were the results of the Trump-Kim summit?
North Korean propaganda changes its tune
N Korea still poses major threat - Trump
What is the biggest news?
Solid fuel engines are more mobile and hence a big step for Pyongyang. Together with the mobile launchers, it means that North Korea can fire missiles from sites that can be quickly set up and not be detected ahead of time by South Korea or the US.

Yet the biggest revelation has been the details about North Korea's secret enrichment sites. So far, Pyongyang has only ever admitted to one enrichment site: Yongbyon.

Solid fuel and mobile launchers would be a major step for Pyongyang
It's been a longstanding suspicion though that there are more, secret sites. An exclusive NBC report based on US intelligence sources confirmed and named one such site and says there is at least one more secret enrichment site.

"You can imagine a North Korean strategy where - without a full disclosure of all their facilities - they can offer to shut down some of the known sites in order to get sanctions relief," explains Mr Narang.

"At the same time they would clandestinely push ahead at the secret sites."

A sacred mountain and other ideologies
On board the train to Korea's music festival for peace
Inside the North Korean place that ‘doesn’t exist’
Why is timing important?
The information coming from the US intelligence sources is presumably something they have known for quite some time. Mr Trump is likely to have been briefed about that very information in the run-up to the Singapore summit.

So why is it now being leaked to the media?

"The sheer number of leaks on nuclear activity makes it look like an authorised attempt to get that intel out into the public sphere," says Andray Abrahamian of the Griffith Asia Institute.

Experts believe there are two reasons why the US intelligence community might have chosen to disclose its information at this point in time.

Scenario one would be "to counter the narrative coming from the White House that it's 'mission accomplished' and that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat," explains Mr Narang.

It may therefore "constrain Trump a bit so he can't claim successes that have not yet be reached", agrees Mr Abrahamian. "It gets the foreign policy community riled up and increases pressure on Trump not to be soft on the [North] Koreans."

The other scenario would be that it's in fact co-ordinated by the Trump administration to generate leverage. By revealing the extent of US intel, Washington can put pressure on North Korea to admit to its secret sites and operations.

The leaked intel could be a way to say 'Mr Kim, we're watching you'
"The assumption was always that we would let the North Koreans disclose their own sites and check that against the list the US intelligence community maintains," explains Mr Panda. "Immediately you would have a sense of whether or not the North Koreans are negotiating in good faith.

"Now that we have put out what we know about the covert enrichment sites, we can see if the North Koreans will choose to disclose those or not."

Will the pressure work?
What remains is the bigger question of whether post-Singapore summit, this kind of pressure will really be able to steer Pyongyang into line.

The flurry of recent reports of North Korea's continued nuclear and military efforts suggest the country is intent on maintaining its nuclear and ballistic capabilities and even to continuing to produce them.

"It could be that Pyongyang is calculating that no matter what, China is already off the maximum pressure campaign of sanctions against North Korea. And the US really can't sustain it without China," warns Mr Narang.

"Kim Jong-un might simply say 'I've done what I have to in order to break the maximum pressure campaign' - and I think he might be right."

North Korea working on new missiles, US officials say, despite thaw - BBC News

July 31, 2018

North Korea working on new missiles, US officials say, despite thaw

North Korea appears to be building new ballistic missiles despite recent warming ties with the Trump administration and pledges to denuclearise, reports say.

Unnamed US officials told the Washington Post that spy satellites had spotted continuing activity at a site that has produced ballistic missiles.

Reuters quotes an official as saying it is unclear how far the work has gone.

Donald Trump met North Korea's Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June.

After the first meeting between sitting leaders from the two countries, the two men pledged to work towards denuclearisation. Mr Trump later said North Korea was "no longer a nuclear threat".

But Mr Trump was criticised at home for making concessions without securing any firm commitment from Mr Kim to end the nuclear and missile programmes.

Trump-Kim summit: Why did they meet?
Is North Korea sticking with its nukes?
These are not the first reports that North Korea may be continuing its weapons programme, casting doubt on the real impact of the summit in Singapore.

Nukes, Trump Towers and human rights - what might peace look like between the US and North Korea?
What do the latest reports say?
On Monday, the Washington Post newspaper quoted officials as saying North Korea appeared to be building one or two new liquid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at the Sanumdong facility near the capital, Pyongyang.

Why North Korea is in no hurry to please the US
Deciphering what happened in Singapore
The factory is known to have produced the Hwasong-15, the first North Korean ICBM capable of reaching the US.

However, a US official told news agency Reuters that a liquid-fuelled ICBM didn't "pose nearly the threat that a solid-fuelled one would because they take so long to fuel".

Reuters also added that satellite imaging showed vehicles moving in and out of the facility, but not the extent of any missile construction.

What are experts saying about this?
Satellite imagery of the Sanumdong facility shows that the site is "active", Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) told the Washington Post.

"[The facility] is not dead, by any stretch of the imagination," said Mr Lewis. "We see shipping containers and vehicles coming and going. This is a facility where they build ICBMs and space-launch vehicles."

Another North Korean expert from MIIS, Melissa Hanham, told the BBC that the facility had "regular traffic in and out of the building", adding that this "traffic pattern" on the site stayed "about the same through the Panmunjom and Singapore meetings".

This indicated that there had not been a complete stop in activity during the summit talks.

She also noted that large "brightly coloured containers" also showed up in satellite imagery, saying that "containers similar to these have appeared during previous ICBM inspections by Mr Kim."

Ms Hanham added that while that experts at MIIS could not "find a way to confirm the [intelligence] leak", the information has matched evidence from satellite imagery.

What was agreed on in the Singapore summit?
North Korea has carried out a total of six nuclear tests, the most recent of which took place in September last year. It has in the past two years quickly advanced its nuclear programme.

But at their landmark meeting in Singapore, Mr Trump and Mr Kim agreed to work towards the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".

The pair signed a document pledging they would work towards new relations
It's been unclear what both sides mean by "complete denuclearisation", and no further details have been released about when or how Pyongyang would renounce its nuclear weapons nor how the process would be verified.

Experts have also cast doubt on whether Pyongyang has been genuine in its apparent commitment to "denuclearise".

What were the results of the Trump-Kim summit?
Did the summit rhetoric match reality?
Last week, it appeared North Korea had begun dismantling part of a key rocket launch site, but according to recent reports based on US intelligence leaks, Pyongyang might still secretly be continuing its nuclear weapons programme.

Reports had indicated that North Korea was upgrading its only official nuclear enrichment site, and was stepping up enrichment at other secret sites.

Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was forced to admit that North Korea was continuing to produce nuclear fissile material, though he insisted that "progress is happening".