U.S. Flexes Muscle with Two Drills in Asian Waters
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WORLD NEWS July 22, 2020 5 U.S. Flexes Muscle With Trump Clashes With Congress as Crisis Widens Two Drills in Asian Waters MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia is considering cutting spending on the military as low oil prices with the Indian navy helped improve and the coronavirus crisis have pummeled its the interoperability of their forces. economy, a document published by the finance “While operating together, the U.S. ministry shows. The ministry has proposed the and Indian naval forces conducted government cut state spending on the military by high-end exercises designed to maxi- 5% between 2021 and 2023. The proposal, pub- mize training and interoperability, lished on Monday, also includes budget spending including air defense,” the U.S. navy cuts of 10% for the court system, the servicing said. of Russia’s debt and wages for civil servants. Russia, which flexed its military muscle with its India’s relations with China have also 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and been strained after a deadly clash on intervention in the Syrian conflict, dropped out their disputed border in the Himalayas of the list of the top five biggest military spend- last month, prompting calls in India ers in 2018 after its spending fell 3.5%. Last year for closer security ties with the United it returned as the world’s fourth largest military States and its allies including Japan. spender and increased its military expenditures The drills were carried out near In- by 4.5% to $65.1 billion, according to the Stock- dia’s Andaman and Nicobar islands, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell listens as President Don- holm International Peace Research Institute. off the north end of the Malacca ald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White That amount corresponded to 3.9% of its gross domestic product, it said. Sailors man the rails as aircraft carrier USS Nimitz with Carrier Straits, one of the world’s busiest ship- House, July 20, 2020, in Washington. Strike Group 11, and some 7,500 sailors and airmen depart for a ping routes for trade and fuel, an Indian *** WASHINGTON (AP) — President parties before the November election, and source said. India has a military base KHARTOUM (Reuters) -- Ousted Sudanese 6-month deployment in the Western Pacific from San Diego, Donald Trump acknowledged a “big even more so for the nation, which now California, U.S., June 5, 2017. on the islands. President Omar al-Bashir and some of his for- The U.S. navy said the Nimitz Car- flareup” of COVID-19 cases, but divi- has registered more coronavirus infections mer allies went on trial on Tuesday on charges of NEW DELHI/TOKYO (Dispatches) lenge the country. rier Strike Group was in the Indian sions between the White House and and a higher death count — 140,800 — leading a military coup that brought the autocrat -- The United States is conducting China opposes such exercises and Ocean in support of a free and open Senate Republicans and differences than any other country. to power in 1989. A Sudanese court had already two military exercises in Asian wa- said the U.S. rejection of its claims in Indo-Pacific region. with Democrats posed fresh challenges Trump has insisted that the virus would handed Bashir a two-year sentence in December ters this week involving allies Japan, the South China Sea raised tension and Separately, the U.S. strike group led for a new federal aid package with the “disappear,” but the president’s view did on corruption charges. He also faces trials and in- Australia and India, the U.S. navy undermined stability in the region. U.S. crisis worsening and emergency re- not at all match projections from the lead- vestigations over the killing of protesters. State TV by the Ronald Reagan was carrying out broadcast the judge opening the hearing at a court said on Tuesday. The USS Nimitz and the USS Ron- drills with naval forces from Japan and lief about to expire. ing health professionals straining to halt Trump convened GOP leaders at the the alarming U.S. caseload and death toll. in Khartoum without showing footage of Bashir, The exercises come as military ri- ald Reagan were deployed to the South Australia in the Philippine Sea, U.S. who has been jailed since he was toppled in April valry between the United States and China Sea twice this month but this and Australian officials said on Tues- White House on Monday as Senate Ma- On a conference call with the nation’s jority Leader Mitch McConnell prepared governors Monday, Vice President Mike last year following mass protests against his 30- China is intensifying and days after week, the Nimitz was in the Indian day. year rule. In December, his lawyer told reporters to roll out his $1 trillion package in days. Pence called the rising numbers in Sunbelt the United States said China’s claims Ocean for exercises with the Indian The exercises are due to end on July it was a “political trial par excellence” more than But the administration criticized the leg- states “serious.” of sovereignty in the South China Sea navy, the U.S. navy said, in the latest 23, Australia’s defense department 30 years after the event. Before any statements or islation’s money for more virus testing Trump raised alarms on Capitol Hill were illegal. sign of growing cooperation between said. evidence could be given, the trial was adjourned and insisted on a full payroll tax repeal when he suggested last month at a rally The United States has long opposed the forces. until Aug. 11 to reconvene in a larger court to al- Later this year, the United States will that could complicate quick passage. The in Oklahoma that he wanted to slow virus China’s territorial claims on the South Rear Admiral Jim Kirk, commander low more lawyers and family members of defen- hold naval exercises with India and Ja- timeline appeared to quickly shift. testing. Testing is seen as the best way to dants to attend. China Sea, sending warships regularly of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, pan in the Bay of Bengal and Australia “We’ve made a lot of progress,” Trump track the virus to contain its spread. An- through the strategic waterway to chal- said in a statement that Monday’s drills might join. said, but added, “Unfortunately, this is other Republican familiar with the process *** something that’s very tough.” said about half of the $25 billion previ- ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Leg- Lawmakers returned to a Capitol still ously approved remains unspent. Senate islature passed a package of police accountabil- off-limits to tourists, another sign of the Democrats are investigating why the ad- ity measures early Tuesday that includes a ban China Vows ‘Forceful’ Response to on neck restraints like the one that was used on nation’s difficulty containing the corona- ministration has left so much on the table. George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis. virus. Rather than easing, the pandemic’s The proposed virus aid package would The sweeping package was said to be one of the UK on Hong Kong devastating cycle is churning again, leav- be the fifth, following the $2.2 trillion bill most substantial changes to the state’s criminal ing Congress little choice but to engineer passed in March, the largest U.S. interven- dition treaties with Hong Kong earlier justice system in years and also bans chokeholds another costly rescue. Businesses are shut- tion of its kind. While many Republicans this month. U.S. President Donald Trump and so-called warrior-style training in which ting down again, many schools will not hoped the virus would ease and economy officers are instructed to view all encounters as has ended preferential economic treat- fully reopen and jobs are disappearing, all rebound, it’s become clear more aid is inherently dangerous. Passage of the measures ment for Hong Kong. while federal aid will expire in days. needed. comes after nearly two months of negotiations Last week, Prime Minister Boris John- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., The jobless rate remained at double dig- that followed Floyd’s death May 25. The Black son ordered equipment from China’s said any attempt by the White House to its, higher than in the last decade’s Great man was restrained face down in the street while Huawei Technologies to be purged com- block money for testing “goes beyond ig- Recession, and a federal eviction morato- handcuffed and with three officers holding him pletely from Britain’s 5G network by the norance.” rium on millions of rental units approved down, including a white officer who had a knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly 8 minutes. The House end of 2027. The political stakes are high for both in the last bill is about to expire. China - once courted as the prime source approved the measure 102 to 29 just before mid- of investment in British infrastructure night Monday. The Senate passed it 60 to 7 and sent the bill to Gov. Tim Walz a couple of hours projects from nuclear to rail - has accused Armed Man Holds Bus later. Britain of pandering to the United States. Britain claims the new security law *** breaches the guarantees of freedoms, in- JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- Two members of cluding an independent judiciary. Passengers Hostage in Ukraine the South African cabinet have been admitted to Officials in Hong Kong and Beijing hospital with COVID-19, the presidency said on New spokesman for Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin speaks have said the law is vital to plug gaps in Tuesday.