US Summoned Chinese Ambassador Over His Tween On US Army’s Role In Coronavirus

Taking serious note of a senior Chinese official tweeting that the US military started the COVID-19 pandemic, the US on Friday summoned China’s ambassador, Cui Tiankai. Also, the top US diplomat for Asia, David Stilwell, made a stern presentation to Cui.

US sent summon to China

The China was trying to deflect criticism its role in starting a global pandemic and not telling the world, said a State Department official. He further said that spreading conspiracy theories was dangerous and that they won’t tolerate that for the good of Chinese people and the world.

Tweet of Chinese official

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted that patient zero in the global pandemic might have come from the United States – not the Chinese metropolis Wuhan that was the epicenter of the pandemic.

Tweeting in both Mandarin and English, he said that it might be the US army that brought the epidemic to Wuhan. He further asked US to make its data public to be transparent. But Zhao has a history of making provocative statements on social media.

Cui’s response to US

Ambassador Cui Tiankai is known for his diplomatic approach that is in stark contrast with Zhao. The ambassador said that the China looked forward to work closely with the US to fight COVID-19 for a secure future.

Conspiracy theories

Earlier there was a theory that Russia had systematically spread disinformation that US was behind the coronavirus in an effort to damage US reputation. Similarly, Iran’s firebrand former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asked WHO to investigate why adversaries of US are hardest hit with virus.

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Don’t Visit The Taj Mahal On February 24

On 24 February, the Taj Mahal will remain closed for the public 12 noon for US President Donald Trump’s visit to the historic monument. Specific security arrangements are also made for Trump’s visit next week.

Taj Mahal closure

Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, Superintendent Agra Division, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said that on February 24, the Taj Mahal would be closed for public from 12 noon for security reasons. US President Donald Trump is visiting India and he could visit the Taj Mahal on the same day.

Preparations for Trump’s visit in Agra

Massive security operation is carried out in Agra for Trump’s visit to Taj. The US President Donald Trump and the first lady of the US are visiting India on the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And they have plan to visit the Taj.

Superintendent of Police (City) Botre Rohan Pramod said that every mansion whether it is a home, shop, restaurant of hotel near the Taj Mahal area and on the main route had been identified. He informed that the verification process was about to finish. He said that some teams had also been put for getting the verification done.

The locals including vendors and businessmen in the city said that they were asked to produce their Aadhaar cards for verification. The police and the authorities also confirmed that checking Aadhaar was a part of the verification process.

It is to be noted that the US President Donald Trump could visit the Taj Mahal, if his security needs are accommodated.

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Donald Trump With Imran Khan Offers “Help” On Kashmir

US President Donald Trump again made the offer to “help” on Kashmir. It was the fourth time that he made this offer despite repeated refusals from New Delhi. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was standing at the side of Trump while Trump offered help.

Trump repeated his offer to help

Donald Trump was addressing the media on his visit to World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. With Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at his side, he said that he was talking about Kashmir and with relation to what was going on with Pakistan and India.

President Trump is visiting India within a few weeks. When asked whether he would visit Pakistan on the way to India he said that he won’t have to. He further said that had a great relationship with India and Pakistan.

Imran Khan on help offered by Trump

Pakistan PM Imran Khan said that there were issues that he wanted to talk about. He gave example of Afghanistan. Also, he said that India was a big issue. He hoped that the US would play its part to solve the issues because no one could.

Meditation offers by Trump

US President Donald Trump made his first offer on meditation in September during the United Nations General Assembly in US. At that time, he made his first offer, if both India and Pakistan wanted him to. The fourth offer came on Tuesday just a few weeks before his visit to India.

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Why Did Trump Took Jibe At Imran Khan?

The US President Donald Trump took a jibe at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan during a discussion on neighbors of Pakistan. Trump said that Pakistan lived with very friendly neighbors.

Imran Khan in the US

Pakistani Premier is on a state visit to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly session on September 27. He met Trump on September 23 on the sidelines of UNGA. Both the leaders were discussing world situation when Imran Khan diverted the focus to India. Trump diluted the discussion by including Afghanistan.

When Trump said Pakistan lives with friendly neighbors

A laugh broke out with Trump’s friendly neighbor remark. But it was a little bit sarcastic towards Pakistan. The political analysts see it as a sarcastic intervention to highlight the real situation of south-east Asia and especially with India and Pakistan. Imran Khan is there to attend UNGA meeting and address the world leaders on September 27.

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US Calls North Korea To Resume Nuclear Talks

Today’s latest trending news is coming from South Korea where the US recently concluded its military exercise with Seoul. The US and South Korea ended their regular military exercise on Tuesday and revealed that it was ready to resume nuclear talks with North Korea.

The US-North Korea stalemate

The top US envoy Stephen Biegun expressed the interest of his country to bring North Korea back to the negotiation table. He told to reporter that they were prepared to engage as soon as they hear from their counterparts in North Korea.

US President Donald Trump met his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Un, in Vietnam in February but the meeting yielded no results. It was the second summit between the Washington and Pyongyang. In June, both the leaders met again at the Korean border and decided to resume dialogue at a suitable time. But North Korea has yet to respond to the call.

The US-South Korea military exercise

It was a regular military exercise but North Korea took a very serious note of it and declared the exercise a show of strength and an invasion rehearsal. South Korea took its missiles and weapons to the extreme level during the military exercise with the US.

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Trump Threatens Fed Leaders With Removal or Demotion For Not Following His Line

The US President Donald Trump made it clear that he wished the dollar could be weaker in comparison to other countries especially China with which America is at a trade war.

Trump on Dollar

High interest rate of dollar is a cause of concern for Trump because it is making the US companies especially manufacturers to compete with other economies including China. Trump highlighted the gravity of the situation in a series of tweets on Thursday. On one such tweet, he wrote that he wasn’t happy with the dollar strengthening but wished it to be weaker.

Dollar rate cut

The Fed took a strong measure by cutting its key policy rate by a quarter point last week but this step failed to please president Trump who is asking for more. Further rate cut would lower the value of dollar against other currencies but there are other factors at play that can help in lowering the value.

US-China trade war

In the latest exchange of words, the US accused China of devaluing its yuan and called Beijing a currency manipulator. With these accusations, the trade war between the two economic giants goes to next level. The world economy is paying a high price of this trade war.

Fed leaders

Former Fed leaders – Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen – called for protecting the political independence of the central bank. They condemned the move to remove or demote Fed leaders for not following Trump’s line as discouraging for the bank. Meanwhile, the Fed chief Jerome Powell wished that he could complete his term amid threats of removal by president. For more information please … Read the rest

US Sees No Threat In North Korea Missile Test

US President Donald Trump said he had very good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that the missile test by North Korea wasn’t aimed at the US.

North Korea missile test

Pyongyang fired two short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan also called the East Sea. North Korea said that the missile launch was a warning to the South Korea that was importing weapons and conducting joint military drills especially with US.

It was the first missile test since Trump met Kim last month and the two leaders agreed to revive the denuclearization talks. The talks stalled last after a failed summit between the two leaders in February 2019.

Trump’s stand on North Korea

US President Trump doesn’t see North Korea’s missile test as a threat to America. He said that they were standard missiles and many countries have those missiles. America was watching the developments, maintained Trump. He categorically said that the issue between North and South Korea is a bilateral one. Also, he stressed the point that Kim didn’t mention that the missiles were for US.

UN’s stand on North Korea

UN Security Council has banned North Korea from conducting ballistic missile tests but Pyongyang considers the UNSC resolutions as infringement on its right to self-defense.

Trump and Kim meeting

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeotold Fox News that fresh talks were still possible and that the two leaders could meet in a couple of weeks. But he gave no date and time of any meeting.

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Imran Khan And Team Comprising Top Generals Reach US For July 22 Meeting

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Washington but this time with Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar JavedBajwa and the director-general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Faiz Hameed and Advisor to Prime Minister for Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood.

This is the first time in history of Pakistan that a PM arrives with two top serving military generals for a bilateral meeting with US President.

Trump Khan meeting

Imran Khan landed in the US for a 3-day official visit with US President Donald Trump. The Trump Khan meeting would take place on July 22 and the two leaders are expected to discuss issues including Afghanistan and peace in South Asian region. Pakistan PM would outline his vision for “Naya Pakistan” during his various engagements in Washington.

Qamar JavedBajwa will meet US Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, the new chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley and other senior officials in the Pentagon.

Pak US relationship

The bilateral relationship of Pakistan and US took a plunge when Trump struck down USD 1.3 billion aid to Pakistan following the 14 February Pulwama attack on Indian territory. The US President categorically said that the aid would remain suspended until Pakistan takes concrete measures against terrorist groups working from its soil.

Hafiz Saeed arrested

Pakistan has three months to prove that action has been taken against terror organizations before FATF puts sanctions on it. The arrest of Hafiz Saeed is seen as a political drama to create a friendly environment to escape sanctions.

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Overall Support For Donald Trump Remains Unaffected From His Racial Remarks

The US President Donald Trump enjoys firm support of Republicans even after facing flak for his racial tweet against four minority Democratic congresswomen.

Reuters conducted an online poll opinion in England and declared that support for Donald Trump has increased by 5 percentage points to 72% in comparison to similar poll conducted last week. But the net approval – the percentage of approval mins the percentage of disapproval – is down by 2 points among Democrats.

But Trump’s overall performance remained stable over the past week, according to poll results. 41% of the US voters still support Trump but 55% of voters disapproved Trump for his actions.

Donald Trump is seeking re-election next year but his recent racial comment against minority community made him unpopular among Democrats and Independents. The poll results show that 3 out of 10 Independents support Trump against 4 out of 10 a week ago.

“go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” tweeted Trump.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are the women Democrats mentioned by Trump. They are US citizen andthree are born in the US.

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