US deploying B-52 bombers was a ‘hard’ message to Iran

Former CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman says the Trump administration has been 'a lot harder on Iran' when it comes to proxy attacks from Iranian militias based in Iraq.

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  • Veteran Republican criticizes Trump and suggests US may need new party for ‘moderate conservatives’

    Former Maine senator also compared Trump’s congressional backers to circus elephants under his control

  • Emmanuel Macron uses new year's message to say Brexit was born of 'many lies and false promises'

    Emmanuel Macron used his new year's message to accuse Brexit of having been born of a European malaise and "many lies and false promises". In the French president’s annual address to the people of France, Mr Macron questioned the strength of Britain's sovereignty following its departure from the European Union, which was officially completed at 11pm on New Year’s Eve. Giving the speech from the Elysee Palace, Paris, he said: “The United Kingdom remains our neighbour but also our friend and ally. This choice of leaving Europe, this Brexit, was the child of European malaise and lots of lies and false promises.” It comes after Downing Street recently accused Mr Macron of standing in the way of a deal because he was playing to his domestic audience ahead of elections in 18 months’ time.

  • The Bill Is Coming Due for China’s ‘Capitalist’ Experiment

    The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has re-awoken to a profound truth: Rich, secure capitalists are the natural enemies of authoritarian regimes. In a hybrid autocratic-capitalist model, capitalism is the means to generate wealth, but power is the end goal. Successful capitalists naturally begin to demand that their personal and property rights be protected from authoritarian fiat. Capital in the hands of entrepreneurs is a political resource; it poses a threat to the implementation of centralized plans.Realizing this, the CCP has begun to assert control over the private sector by “installing . . . Party officials inside private firms” and having state-backed firms invest in private enterprises. In the absence of civil rights or an independent judiciary, “private” companies have no real independence from the government in China. Dissent and demands for civil rights are a threat to the regime and will be crushed.China’s shift from encouraging external investment and internal market competition toward treating capitalism as a threat has an obvious historical precedent. From 1921–1928, the Soviet Union instituted a policy of economic liberalization, which allowed for the privatization of agriculture, retail trade, and light industry. This partial and temporary return to a controlled and limited capitalism, known as the New Economic Policy (NEP), saved the Soviet economy from collapse and enabled Russia to modernize. But, in 1928, Stalin suddenly reversed course: He collectivized agriculture and liquidated the most prosperous farmers, thereby necessitating the frequent resort to grain imports, notably from the United States.China’s own experiment with economic liberalization began in 1981, when Premier Deng Xiaoping began to decentralize and privatize economic activity while continuing to assert the ultimate authority of the CCP. With liberalization, international businesses were invited into China. The price was high: the Chinese regime demanded that they work with and train local firms. This arrangement led to widespread theft of intellectual property, and soon enough, domestic competitors displaced their international rivals in the domestic market, often with the help of government subsidies. CCP-sponsored firms leveraged domestic dominance to enter the international marketplace, undercutting their competitors worldwide. International “partners” were then subjected to asymmetric regulatory action, excluding them from China. (Uber is one recent case of this phenomenon. There are countless others.)Now that the West is waking up to this game, the inflow of capital to China is slowing. Is China’s neo-mercantilist form of capitalism about to end? That seems unlikely; it is too far entrenched to be uprooted quickly. But the freedom of action accorded to Chinese companies and executives is already being dramatically curtailed as Xi Jinping asserts explicit political control over the economy. For example, in November, the CCP unexpectedly prevented the IPO of Ant Group, a company whose business model was considered misaligned with the goals of the party.International businesses that are heavily invested in the PRC must prepare for the worst: “Offers” of the sort that can’t be refused will be made to coerce the sale of onshore facilities and operations. Given the capital controls imposed on the movement of money out of China, it is likely that many Western investments in China will be confiscated as Deng’s experiment is wound down. Western competitors in the global market should finally recognize that their Chinese competitors are both at the mercy of the CCP and backed by instruments of state power.The central conceit of Chinese relations with the West has been that while political authority is monopolized by the CCP, China has a free-market economic system, and should be treated as a free-market trading partner. This was always a convenient fiction. But whatever distance might have existed in the past between economic and political activity in China has disappeared as the party takes control of nominally independent companies.A number of Chinese state-backed companies, including some in strategically important industries, have begun to default on their debt obligations. Will international creditors be allowed to claim the assets? Will the equity holders — in many cases the CCP or regional and local governments in China — be wiped out? If these companies are bailed out by the government, will domestic and foreign debt-holders be treated equally? Or will foreign creditors find their assets wiped out, while these companies continue operating under nominally new ownership and perhaps a new corporate brand? It seems a safe bet that foreign debts will be repudiated, either explicitly or implicitly. What was previously commercial debt now has the risks that are typically associated with sovereign debt, which can be canceled by government fiat. In short, a wave of write-downs is coming for Western businesses invested in China.Western businesses are not competitors operating in a free market in the PRC. As we wrote in a recent article, the CCP consistently treats western firms as adversaries to the sovereign interests of the PRC and uses all the tools at its disposal to target them. Western business executives need to prepare themselves for the very realistic possibility of extensive confiscation of Western assets in China in the near future. Before this happens, the U.S. government should pass legislation allowing Western companies to claim compensation from CCP-controlled entities in U.S. courts for the confiscation of assets. And since the CCP is asserting control over all Chinese companies, all of these companies should be treated as part of a single, government-controlled entity for purposes of litigation and regulation. When the bill comes due for capitalism in China, the West must be ready.Michael Hochberg is a physicist who has founded four successful semiconductor and telecommunications startups. Leonard Hochberg is the Coordinator of the Mackinder Forum-U.S. and a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

  • Minneapolis police release officer video in fatal shooting

    Police in Minneapolis on Thursday released body-camera video from a traffic stop one night earlier that ended with a man shot dead, an extraordinarily quick move aimed at stemming public anger over the city's first police-involved death since George Floyd died while being restrained by officers in May. The confrontation happened about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday in a gas station on the south side, about a mile from where Floyd died. Police said the man — identified by his father as Dolal Idd — was a suspect in a felony and that eyewitnesses said he had fired first.

  • Georgia Senate runoff election: What are the latest polls and odds?

    Candidates are extremely close in the polls, but bookmakers favour Republicans

  • Report: Trooper under investigation dies in apparent suicide during house search

    A Louisiana State Police trooper died Wednesday in an apparent suicide as his colleagues were searching his home as part of a criminal investigation, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press.

  • Canadian minister resigns after Caribbean holiday during pandemic

    The finance minister for Canada's most populous province resigned on Thursday after going on a Caribbean vacation during the pandemic and seemingly trying to hide the fact by sending social media posts showing him in a jumper before a fireplace. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he had accepted Rod Phillips's resignation as minister hours after Phillips returned home from a more than two-week stay on the island of St. Barts despite government guidelines urging people to avoid nonessential travel. "Travelling over the holidays was the wrong decision, and I once again offer my unreserved apology," Phillips said in a statement confirming his resignation. In a video posted on Twitter on Christmas Eve, the sweater-wearing finance minister was shown drinking eggnog beside a fireplace with a gingerbread house and a little Christmas tree. "I want to thank every one of you for what we are doing to protect our most vulnerable," Phillips said about Ontarians hunkered down at home because of the pandemic over the Christmas holidays.

  • In New Year's speech, Taiwan president again reaches out to China

    TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan is ready to have "meaningful" talks with China as equals as long as they are willing to put aside confrontation, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday, offering another olive branch to Beijing in her New Year's speech. Democratic Taiwan, claimed by China as its sovereign territory, has come under increasing pressure from Beijing, which has ramped up military activity near the island. China says it is responding to "collusion" between Washington and Taipei, angered at growing U.S. support for the self-governed island.

  • In a first, Congress overrides Trump veto of defense bill

    Congress on Friday overrode President Donald Trump's veto of a defense policy bill, a first by lawmakers since he took office nearly four years ago. In an extraordinary New Year's Day session, the Republican-controlled Senate easily turned aside the veto, dismissing Trump's objections to the $740 billion bill and handing him a stinging rebuke just weeks before he leaves the White House.

  • Fake teen doctor, now 23, arrested for fraud in Florida

    Malachi Love-Robinson gained notoriety as a teenager after posing as a doctor and is now once again in trouble with the law. As a teenager, Love-Robinson practiced medicine as “Dr. Love” in Florida and spent time in prison for his actions. On Thursday, he returned to the custody of police after being arrested in Palm Beach County on charges of fraud and grand theft.

  • GOP Sen. Ben Sasse says he hasn't heard 'a single congressional Republican' dispute the election in private

    Republican House members and at least one senator are lining up to oppose President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 win. But Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) says that's not what's happening behind the scenes.On Jan. 6, when Congress meets to certify the presidential election results, some Republicans are planning to object to the results. It's a last-ditch attempt to overturn Biden's win, after multiple recounts proved it was legitimate and dozens of court challenges failed to change the results. But despite all the pressure from his own party, Sasse wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Thursday that he won't be joining their "dangerous ploy."Sasse went on on to break down what he thinks is the "truth" about the Jan. 6 certification, as well as voter fraud in the 2020 election. For starters, it's not only "unwise" for Congress to oppose the results; there are no state election results "in doubt" either, Sasse wrote. And after analyzing several court battles and fraud allegations, he came to the same conclusion as former Attorney General William Barr: There was no large-scale fraud that could've changed the election results.Privately, Sasse said his fellow Republicans agree. "I haven't heard a single Congressional Republican allege that the election results were fraudulent —not one," Sasse wrote. "Instead, I hear them talk about their worries about how they will 'look' to President Trump's most ardent supporters." But while these "ambitious politicians" see their opposition efforts as "a quick way to tap into the president's populist base without doing any real, long-term damage," they're wrong, Sasse continued. And if they don't start working with Democrats to "rebuild trust" in self-government, "we're going to turn American politics into a Hatfields and McCoys endless blood feud — a house hopelessly divided," Sasse finished.More stories from theweek.com 4 predictions for 2021 5 cartoons about the end of a very, very bad year Here's how the world welcomed 2021

  • US admits vaccination rollout is slower than hoped - and 'normality' may not return until autumn

    The US government has admitted its coronavirus vaccine rollout is going too slowly, as the country's top infectious disease expert warned the nation may not reach "some semblance of normality" until the autumn. As of Thursday morning, just 2.8 million Americans had received a Covid-19 vaccine, far short of the government's goal of immunising 20 million people this month. The rollout has been particularly slow moving in nursing homes, where only 170,000 residents had been vaccinated as of December 30, despite patients in the facilities being among the most vulnerable to the virus. It comes as a more infectious coronavirus strain first detected in the UK has been identified in Colorado and California. Neither patient identified with the strain has a known travel history, leading to concerns the new strain was already spreading within those communities.

  • Chicago ends 2020 with 769 homicides as gun violence surges

    The number of homicides and shootings in Chicago spiked dramatically in 2020, ending with more bloodshed than in all but one year in more than two decades, statistics released by police on Friday revealed. The number of officers who were struck by bullets doubled from five in 2019 to 10 in 2020.

  • Transgender woman found dead in Christmas day slaying, advocacy group says

    At least 43 transgender or non-conforming people have been slain this year, the Human Rights Commission says.

  • Iran commander vows 'resistance' a year after Soleimani killing

    The United States killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2020. Days after the U.S. drone strike, Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where U.S. forces were stationed, and Iranian forces on high alert mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran. Esmail Ghaani who succeeded Soleimani as head the elite Quds force, said on Friday Iran was still ready to respond.

  • How stimulus checks could be withheld from the Americans who need them most

    The government has begun distributing $600 stimulus checks to millions of Americans. But actually getting access to that money may be another story.Even as record numbers of Americans spent months unemployed amid the coronavirus pandemic, Congress took months to agree to send out another round of stimulus checks and boost unemployment benefits after the last relief package expired. Millions of Americans suffered during that time, and, as The New York Times reports, often had to overdraw from their bank accounts to pay for groceries and other essentials. In return, banks charged those people overdraft fees, and have often locked people out of their accounts until those fees are paid.That means the $600 stimulus checks, which the government frequently deposits directly into bank accounts, could be out of reach for the people who need them most. That includes Morgan Banke, who told the Times she has only been able to pay either her rent or car insurance every month, and has overdrawn from her Iowa credit union to cover the rest. She asked the credit union to temporarily waive her fees so she could use the stimulus money, but because it had done so three times in the past, it turned her down.Many major banks — Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo among them — have said they'll waive accounts' overdrawn status when the checks come in. But many regional banks and credit unions haven't made the same promises, and have even closed down accounts with overdrawn balances, leaving Americans to get their checks another, slower way. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com 4 predictions for 2021 5 cartoons about the end of a very, very bad year Here's how the world welcomed 2021

  • Trump returns to White House early, offers year-end message

    President Donald Trump delivered a year-end video message Thursday after returning early from vacation, highlighting his administration’s work to rapidly develop a vaccine against COVID-19 and rebuild the economy. As the end of his presidency neared, Trump cut short his stay at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and got back to the White House a day ahead of schedule. Upon his return, Trump released a video message over Twitter to underscore his administration’s work on the vaccine, economic stimulus checks and America’s “grit, strength and tenacity” in the face of challenges.

  • Baltimore police officer indicted on charge of assaulting man who refused to wear face mask

    A grand jury indicted officer Andre Maurice Pringle on one count of second-degree assault and one count of misconduct in office.

  • 1st Female Green Beret Faces 'Minor Misdemeanor' Charge for Accidentally Firing Gun, Police Say

    The soldier graduated from the Special Forces Q Course, becoming the first woman to earn the Special Forces tab.

  • Florida Supreme Court delivers the ‘Holy Grail of lawsuit reform’ in Thursday ruling

    The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday revamped a key legal standard as its conservative majority continued to show a willingness to undo previous decisions that have guided the state’s courts.