US should work with Iran, Syria to deal with ISIL: Expert

September 4, 2014

Washington, Sep 4: The United States should work with Iran and Syria in order to tackle the threat of the ISIL terrorist group, an American foreign policy expert says.

British ISILJames Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst from Washington, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Wednesday.

On Sunday, two US Congressmen clashed over the likelihood of ISIL, also known as the Islamic State (IS), conducting a terrorist attack inside the United States, with one lawmaker arguing that Washington should follow London and raise its terror alert level because of the threat posed by ISIL.

“I think it's very premature to be talking about raising the alert level here in the United States. We are going to get alert level fatigue when they are constantly pointing this threat and that threat which has a very little chance of materializing,” Jatras said.

“As far as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria goes, yes I am sure there are some elements there they would love to strike the United States if they had the capability to do so. But I think we have to look at that that's something relatively remote at this time,” he added.

“It's more of a problem with regards to the states in the [Middle East] region and that's where the American policy is really quite confused. We still insist on adversarial relationship [with] both Damascus and Tehran, which…have adversarial relationships with the Islamic State. But we don't seem to be able to get our priorities straight. [W]e are still working primarily with countries, like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey which have led to the rise of the Islamic state in the first place,” the analyst concluded.

ISIL controls large parts of Syria's northern territory. The group sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq in June, quickly seizing large swaths of land straddling the border between the two countries.

In last two weeks, the group, which is operating in Iraq and Syria, reportedly beheaded two American journalists.

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News Network
May 30,2020

Washington, May 30: President Donald Trump said Friday he would strip several of Hong Kong's special privileges with the United States and bar some Chinese students from US universities in anger over Beijing's bid to exert control in the financial hub.

In a day of concerted action, the United States and Britain also raised alarm at the UN Security Council over a controversial new security law for Hong Kong, angering Beijing which said the issue had no place at the world body.

In a White House appearance that Trump had teased for a day, the US president attacked China over its treatment of the former British colony, saying it was "diminishing the city's longstanding and proud status."

"This is a tragedy for the people of Hong Kong, the people of China and indeed the people of the world," Trump said.

Trump also said he was terminating the US relationship with the World Health Organization, which he has accused of pro-China bias in its management of the coronavirus crisis.

But Trump was light on specifics and notably avoided personal criticism of President Xi Jinping, with whom he has boasted of having a friendship even as the two powers feud over a rising range of issues.

"I am directing my administration to begin the process of eliminating policy that gives Hong Kong different and special treatment," Trump said.

"This will affect the full range of agreements, from our extradition treaty to our export controls on dual-use technologies and more, with few exceptions," he said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday informed Congress that the Trump administration would no longer consider Hong Kong to be separate under US law, but it was up to Trump to spell out the consequences.

China this week pressed ahead on a law that would ban subversion and other perceived offenses against its rule in Hong Kong, which was rocked by months of massive pro-democracy protests last year.

US restricts students

In one move that could have long-reaching consequences, Trump issued an order to ban graduate students from US universities who are connected to China's military.

"For years, the government of China has conducted elicit espionage to steal our industrial secrets, of which there are many," Trump said.

Hawkish Republicans have been clamoring to kick out Chinese students enrolled in sensitive fields. The FBI in February said it was investigating 1,000 cases of Chinese economic espionage and technological theft.

But any move to deter students is unwelcome for US universities, which rely increasingly on tuition from foreigners and have already been hit hard by the COVID-19 shutdown.

China has been the top source of foreign students to the United States for the past decade with nearly 370,000 Chinese at US universities, although Trump's order will not directly affect undergraduates.

Critics say Trump has been eager to fan outrage about China to deflect attention from his own handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 people in the United States, the highest number of deaths of any country.

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, called Trump's announcement "just pathetic."

Eliot Engel, a Democrat who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, noted that Trump treaded lightly on Hong Kong during last year's protests as he sought a trade deal with Xi.

"Now, the president wants to shift the blame for his failures onto China, so he's doing the right thing for the wrong reason," Engel said.

Trump's order could also trigger retaliation. China in March expelled US journalists after the Trump administration tightened visa rules for staff at Chinese state media.

Clash at UN

The United States and Britain earlier in the day urged China to reconsider the Hong Kong law during talks at the UN Security Council, where China wields a veto -- making any formal session, let alone action against Beijing, impossible.

The Western allies raised Hong Kong in an informal, closed-door videoconference where China cannot block the agenda.

They said China was violating an international commitment as the 1984 handover agreement with Britain, in which Beijing promised to maintain the financial hub's separate system until at least 2047, was registered with the United Nations.

"The United States is resolute, and calls upon all UN members states to join us in demanding that the PRC immediately reverse course and honor its international legal commitments to this institution and to the Hong Kong people," said US Ambassador Kelly Craft, referring to the People's Republic of China.  

China demanded that the United States and Britain "immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs," saying the law did not fall under the Security Council's mandate.

"Any attempt to use Hong Kong to interfere in China's internal matters is doomed to fail," warned a statement from China's UN mission.

"There was no consensus, no formal discussion in the Security Council, and the US and the UK's move came to nothing," it said.

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Agencies
April 2,2020
Thailand's controversial king has created a category of his own with his idea of self-isolation.
 
According to reports, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, has hired out an entire luxury hotel in Germany, where he has been 'self-isolating' with 20 women.
 
The luxury hotel, the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl, is in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
 
The 67-year-old king is self-isolating with his entourage that includes a 'harem' of 20 concubines and several servants, reported Bild.
 
However, it is unclear if his four wives are currently living in the same hotel.

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News Network
May 6,2020

Singapore, May 6: Oil prices slipped back Wednesday after two days of gains, although Brent crude remained above $30 a barrel, as renewed US-China tensions offset optimism about the easing of coronavirus lockdowns.

Brent, the international benchmark, fell 1.1 per cent to $30.63 a barrel in early Asian trade. On Tuesday, the contract surged 14 per cent and rose above $30 for the first time since mid-April.

US marker West Texas Intermediate slipped 1.9 per cent and was changing hands for $24.13 a barrel.

Oil markets have been battered as the virus strangled demand due to business closures and travel restrictions, with US crude falling into negative territory last month for the first time.

They started rallying strongly this week as countries from Europe to Asia ease curbs and economies start shuddering back to life.

But gains were capped Wednesday as dealers follow a brewing US-China row after Donald Trump hit out at Beijing over its handling of the outbreak, saying it began in a Wuhan lab, but so far offering no evidence.

"Traders are incredibly cautious this morning, weighing all the possible China responses," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp.

"And the one that would hurt the most would be for China to reduce imports of US oil."

This week's rally was in part driven by a deal agreed between top producers to reduce output by almost 10 million barrels a day, which came into effect on May 1.

There have also been signs that the massive oversupply in the market is starting to ease as demand slowly comes back.

Energy data provider Genscape said earlier this week that stockpiles at the main US oil depot in Cushing, Oklahoma had increased by only 1.8 million barrels last week following weeks of major rises.

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