Welcome To aBlackWeb

Register

The Official World Politics Thread



Promising Chinese Jobs, Trump Commits To Backing Off Iran Sanctions Violator ZTE

After the Commerce Department last month ordered American companies to stop selling products to the Chinese telecom giant ZTE, President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to commit to reversing that ban.

In a 2017 settlement, ZTE pleaded guilty to evading U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea and agreed to pay a $1.2 billion combined penalty, breaking the record for such sanction penalties.

Then, last month, the Commerce Department issued a denial order against the company, asserting that it had not properly held relevant employees accountable for the sanctions violations and that it had misled U.S. officials, therefore violating the settlement terms. As a result, American manufacturers of crucial components like microchips were barred from selling to ZTE.

“The provision of false statements to the U.S. Government, despite repeated protestations from the company that it has engaged in a sustained effort to turn the page on past misdeeds, is indicative of a company incapable of being, or unwilling to be, a reliable and trustworthy recipient of U.S.-origin goods, software, and technology,” the Commerce Department’s seven-year denial order read in part.

In response, ZTE said in a statement that “[t]he Denial Order will not only severely impact the survival and development of ZTE, but will also cause damages to all partners of ZTE including a large number of U.S. companies.”

And ZTE told investors days ago that “major operating activities of the company have ceased” as a result of the denial order, though several outlets pointed out that the full impact of the denial order was not fully known.

The Wall Street Journal noted Saturday that Chinese officials had raised the issue with a U.S. trade delegation last week.
Click to expand...

America First tho...
 
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/israel-prepares-for-opening-of-us-embassy-in-jerusalem

Israel Prepares For Opening Of US Embassy In Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is preparing a series of festivities Sunday to celebrate the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, a move that has ignited Palestinian protests and raised fears of a further outbreak of violence.
As Israel marks Jerusalem Day, the 51st anniversary of what it refers to as the city’s “unification” following the 1967 war, it will also be hosting a gala reception for Monday’s embassy dedication that will include members of a delegation led by President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin.

Dozens of foreign diplomats are expected, though many ambassadors of European nations who oppose the move will skip it. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania have reportedly blocked a joint EU statement on the issue.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and view the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city as a blatantly one-sided move that invalidates the U.S. as a Mideast peace broker.

Trump’s decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ignited months of protests in the Palestinian territories. The weekly protests along the Israel-Gaza border are expected to culminate Monday in parallel to the celebrations in Jerusalem.

Since Mar. 30, 42 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the weekly protests aimed primarily against the decade-long blockade of Gaza. More than 1,800 have been wounded.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers have led the protests, which are aimed to peak this week with the 70th anniversary of what the Palestinians call the “nakba,” or catastrophe, referring to their mass uprooting during the Mideast war over Israel’s 1948 creation. Organizers have indicated they may try to breach the border with Israel.

Israel says it has a right to defend its border and has accused Hamas of using the protests as a cover for attacking it. On Saturday, it destroyed the sixth Hamas attack tunnel it has uncovered in as many months. Rights groups say the use of potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters is unlawful.

A high-ranking delegation of Gaza’s Hamas rulers headed to Egypt on Sunday, amid diplomatic efforts aimed at containing the mass rally.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said Israel would be celebrating Trump’s decision.

“President Trump promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and he did so. He promised to move the American Embassy to Israel and he is doing so. Of course we will all celebrate this day, a real celebration, tomorrow,” he said at a weekly Cabinet meeting.

Most countries have traditionally kept their embassies in coastal Tel Aviv rather than the contested holy site of Jerusalem. But after Trump’s move both Guatemala and Paraguay announced that they planned to follow suit.
Click to expand...

Smh...
 
https://www.mediaite.com/online/wh-...apologize-publicly-for-comment-about-her-dad/

WH Aide Reportedly Promised Meghan McCain She’d Apologize Publicly for Comment About Her Dad

White House aide Kelly Sadler reportedly promised Meghan McCain days ago she’d apologize publicly for joking about her father’s struggle with brain cancer, but so far, the staffer hasn’t publicly said a word.

According to a source who spoke to CNN, when Sadler called her Thursday to smooth things over after saying Sen. John McCain‘s (R-AZ) opinion on CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel was obsolete because “he’s dying anyway,” she was told she’d need to go public with her mea culpa.

Sadler agreed, the source said, but as of Sunday, no apology had been issued outside of the call.

Last Friday, McCain spoke out about Sadler’s joke on The View, questioning why she’d still have a spot in the White House after such a remark.

“I don’t understand what kind of environment you’re working in when that would be acceptable and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job,” McCain said.

The White House has still not refuted reports of the jab, yet it, too, has not apologized or removed Sadler from her post.

The joke, which was leaked from a closed-door meeting, reportedly angered Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who seemed more upset about the privately made statement reaching the press rather than the substance of the statement itself. Sanders later chastised staffers for the leak, it was reported.

An administration official excused the remark, telling CNN it was intended to be funny but that “it fell flat.”
Click to expand...
 
https://www.mediaite.com/online/a-b...why-they-leak-so-much-its-a-mexican-standoff/

https://www.axios.com/trump-white-h...ing-dae05b8e-e792-41a7-bb74-c2756b542cd0.html

A Bunch of White House Officials Explain Why They Leak So Much: It’s a ‘Mexican Standoff’


Axios reporter Jonathan Swan dropped a staggering report this weekend: a White House communications staff meeting, during which press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted aides for leaking, was subsequently leaked by five people present at the meeting.

The private meeting was held in response to comments made at a prior meeting by White House aide Kelly Sadler, who said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was “dying anyway,” so his opposition to Trump’s CIA Director nominee didn’t matter.

We know all of this because it all leaked.

Swan, ever the enterprising reporter, took it upon himself to find out why this White House is the leakiest in recent history, and the product is a new report in which the administration’s “most prolific leakers” explain why they do it.

“To be honest, it probably falls into a couple of categories,” one White House official told Swan. “The first is personal vendettas. And two is to make sure there’s an accurate record of what’s really going on in the White House.”

Another senior White House official said the “most common substantive leaks are the result of someone losing an internal policy debate… By leaking the decision, the loser gets one last chance to kill it with blowback from the public, Congress or even the President.”

The official continued: “You have to realize that working here is kind of like being in a never-ending ‘Mexican Standoff.’ Everyone has guns (leaks) pointed at each other and it’s only a matter of time before someone shoots. There’s rarely a peaceful conclusion so you might as well shoot first.”

One former senior White House official, who Swan wrote “turned leaking into an art form” (and whose name definitely does not rhyme with Beve Stannon) explained the practice thusly: “Leaking is information warfare; it’s strategic and tactical — strategic to drive narrative, tactical to settle scores.”

And, if you thought like this all sounds like a fun game where the stakes are the survival of the modern democratic project, allow me to introduce you to Captain Asshole of Swan’s League of Leakers, a current White House official:

“To cover my tracks, I usually pay attention to other staffers’ idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me.”
Click to expand...
 
Honestly Avenatti is setting himself up to be a Cochran level lawyer in terms of publicity after this is all said and done.

The man is doing a masterful job lol. Playing chess while the other side ain't even at the table.

His profile is multiplying daily with all the free publicity
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top