Twitter Took Different Approaches to Tweets From Trump and Conspiracy-Promoting Chinese Official

Facing criticism for “fact checking” President Trump’s tweets about mail-in ballots and voter fraud, Twitter has retroactively added similar warnings to two tweets posted more than two months ago by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman who promoted coronavirus conspiracy theories. Read

Trump Warns Violent Protestors in Minnesota: ‘When the Looting Starts, the Shooting Starts’

As a police precinct in Minneapolis went up in flames overnight, President Trump tweeted that he has offered Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz military support, and added a warning: “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Read

Beijing Blames US Hostility for Hong Kong Dispute, But Other Nations Also Warn China

Ahead of Friday’s anticipated news conference by President Trump on U.S.-China relations, the administration on Thursday harnessed the support of three close allies in confronting Beijing over its controversial decision to impose a national security law in Hong Kong. Read

‘The World’s Most Oppressive Dictatorship’: US House Confronts Beijing Over Rights Abuses

The U.S. House of Representatives passed by near-unanimous vote Wednesday legislation designed to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable for egregious human rights abuses against minority Muslims in China’s far-western province of Xinjiang. Read

Pompeo’s Hong Kong Assessment Paves Way for Punishing Beijing

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s determination to Congress Wednesday that Hong Kong is no longer “sufficiently autonomous” from China to merit U.S. trade privileges paves the way for President Trump to take punitive steps against Beijing at a time when bilateral relations have soured dramatically over the coronavirus pandemic. Read

Iran, Venezuela Celebrate US-Sanctions-Busting Gasoline Shipments

The third of five Iranian tankers ferrying gasoline to the embattled Maduro regime entered Venezuelan waters on Wednesday, as the two rogue regimes celebrate their collaboration in defiance of U.S. sanctions. Read

Iranian President Approves ‘Anti-Zionist’ Law: Cooperation With Israel Could Lead to Death Penalty

Days after Iran’s supreme leader likened Israel to the coronavirus and a “cancerous tumor,” President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday issued an order on implementing a new “anti-Zionist” law, which among other things makes “any cooperation” with Israel a likely capital offense. Read

Russia Has Been Violating Open Skies Treaty For Years; Now Trump Wants Out

President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty is highlighting again the contrast between his response to Russian violations and those of his predecessors, as well as European allies. Read

Beijing Scoffs at US Warnings That It’s Putting Hong Kong’s Special Trade Status At Risk

As Hong Kongers take to the streets again to protest Beijing’s latest crackdown attempt, U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien warned that the territory risks losing the U.S. trade privileges that have been central to its success. Read

Beijing’s Proposed Hong Kong Security Law Draws US Warnings

Less than a year after a proposal to allow extradition to mainland China sparked massive protests in Hong Kong, Beijing is planning a new national security law for the territory expected to be even more contentious, and worsen an already deeply troubled relationship with the United States. Read

Chinese Media Outlets Used Terms Like ‘Wuhan Virus’ Early On – Then Scrubbed Them

Chinese state media outlets early this year used terms like “Wuhan virus” and “Wuhan pneumonia” in their news reporting on the coronavirus outbreak that began in that city, but after Beijing began attacking U.S. officials for doing so, references were scrubbed. Read

US Slaps Visa Ban on Iranian Official Linked to Terror on Three Continents

The State Department on Wednesday announced visa restrictions on one of the Iranian regime’s most notorious establishment figures, a former intelligence minister implicated in acts of terrorism on three continents in the 1990s. Read

Tedros Declines to Comment on Trump’s Funding Threat; WHO is ‘Looking Into’ It

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom on Wednesday declined to discuss with reporters President Trump’s written ultimatum – reform or lose U.S. taxpayer dollars – beyond confirming that it had been received and was being examined. Read

Medical Journal Disputes Trump’s Claim to WHO – But Misstates What He Said

A leading medical journal on Tuesday took issue with President Trump for citing its research in a letter to the World Health Organization – but evidently misinterpreted what Trump had written. Read

US Tells WHO It Doesn’t Like its Position on Abortion, Either

Hours after President Trump warned the World Health Organization that U.S. funding and membership were on the line, the U.S. on Tuesday rejected language in a WHO resolution because of concerns about promoting abortion. Read

Competing Narratives on Coronavirus Outbreak as Xi, Azar Address WHO Assembly

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Monday accused China – without naming it – of making a “mockery” of its obligations under international law to be transparent when confronted by a major health crisis, charging that it had done so “in an apparent attempt to conceal” the coronavirus outbreak. Read

Trump to WHO: Commit to Major Reforms or US Will Stop Funding Permanently, ‘Reconsider’ Membership

President Trump on Monday gave the World Health Organization 30 days to “commit to major substantive improvements,” failing which it would lose U.S. funding permanently and may see the United States withdraw from the organization altogether. Read

Trump: 'Priorities Are Really Screwed Up,' If Pompeo Was Probed for Dog-Walking Request

President Trump expressed disbelief Monday about the possibility that the State Department inspector general whom he removed last week had been investigating whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had improperly got employees to do personal errands like walk his dog. Read

China: Any Investigation Into the Pandemic Should be Led by WHO

Any investigation into the coronavirus pandemic should be carried out by the World Health Organization, a Chinese Communist Party newspaper declared on Sunday, on the eve of WHO’s annual assembly where dozens of countries are expected to press for a review. Read

Biden Slams Trump for Cuba’s Human Rights Council Candidacy; Under Obama Cuba Was Elected 3 Times

Former Vice President Joe Biden is blaming President Trump for the fact that Cuba is in line for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council again next year, but there is little evidence that eight years of much-touted engagement by the Obama administration did anything to improve its composition. Read

Rejecting FBI Hacking Claims, Beijing Says it’s Ahead of the US in Vaccine Research

Beijing on Thursday rejected FBI claims that Chinese hackers are trying to steal U.S. research into COVID-19 vaccine and treatments, saying that as China is leading in the race to find a vaccine it was more likely to be a victim of hacking, rather than the perpetrator. Read

Swiping 'Globalists,' Trump Vows to Bring Medicine and Other Supply Chains Back Home

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday designed to facilitate the domestic production of strategic supplies needed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. He had strong words for “globalists” who he said had put global interests ahead of those of the United States. Read

Trump Ridiculed For Linking COVID-19 Cases to Testing Rates. But There Is a Correlation

President Trump was derided on Twitter Thursday for saying that the high number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States was related to the significant increase in testing. But the data suggest that he is right. Read

Climate Activist Joins Biden Task Force But Voices Concern About Tara Reade Accusations

Joe Biden and former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday named a climate task force led by former Secretary of State John Kerry and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), amid signs that it’s going to be an uphill battle to get some of Sanders’ young, climate-focused supporters to associate themselves with Biden’s presidential campaign. Read

Afghan Gov’t Renews Offensive After Terrorists Target Mothers, Newborns at Hospital

Shaken by a bloody attack targeting mothers and newborn babies in a Kabul hospital, the Afghan government on Tuesday night announced a stepped-up offensive against terrorists, with officials signaling skepticism of Taliban denials of responsibility. Read

‘Ask China’: UN Spokesman Asked to Comment on Trump’s ‘Racist Remarks’

The prickly conclusion to President Trump’s Rose Garden press conference on Monday was brought to the attention of a United Nations spokesman on Tuesday, as a correspondent sought a U.N. response to what he called the president’s “racist remarks” directed at a journalist. Read

WHO Says 13 Countries Now Back Proposal for Taiwan’s Participation in World Health Assembly

Amid firm Chinese opposition, at least 13 countries are now backing a proposal that the World Health Organization’s annual World Health Assembly, meeting later this month, invite Taiwan to take part as an observer. Read

Trump on Reports Chinese Hackers Are Trying to Steal Vaccine Research: ‘What Else is New?’

Asked Monday about reports that Chinese state hackers are trying to steal U.S. research into coronavirus vaccines and treatments, President Trump, with barely-concealed contempt, asked, “What else is new?” before again criticizing the Chinese Communist Party’s handling of the deadly outbreak. Read

Top WH Coronavirus Task Force Members Self-Quarantining After Contact With Confirmed Case

Four of the top health experts on the White House coronavirus task force will testify before a Senate panel on Tuesday by videoconference, since three of them are self-quarantining after coming into contact with someone who has the virus. Read

Trump Says Chuck Todd Should be Fired Over Misleading Edit of AG Barr’s Comments

President Trump tweeted Sunday night that NBC News’ Chuck Todd should be fired after misrepresenting a comment by Attorney General William Barr on the decision not to pursue criminal charges against former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn. Read

European Union Accedes to Chinese Censorship Over Origin of Coronavirus Outbreak

The European Union this week agreed – “with considerable reluctance” – to publish an op-ed in China Daily after the Communist Party-run newspaper censored it to remove a reference to the coronavirus having originated in China. Read

House GOP Launches Task Force on Challenges Posed by China; Dems Bail Out

Weeks after the Democrats abruptly withdrew from the proposed initiative, the House Republican leadership on Thursday announced the launch of a task force to examine the threats posed to the U.S. by the Communist Party of China, including those associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Read

Pompeo Calls on Tedros to Invite Taiwan to Health Assembly; WHO Balks

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called on the head of the World Health Organization to invite Taiwan to take part as an observer in the upcoming World Health Assembly, but officials at the U.N. health agency continue to insist that the matter is one for WHO member-states, not the secretariat. Read

Update: Democrat-Led Attempt to Override Trump’s Iran War Powers Veto Fails

The U.S. Senate on Thursday sustained President Trump’s veto of a resolution limiting his ability to take military action against Iran without congressional approval. Read

Foreign Policy Officials From Clinton, Obama Era Want Democratic Platform to Oppose Israeli Policies

Ahead of the Democratic National Convention in the summer, almost three dozen foreign policy specialists from past Democrat administrations are calling for the platform to include explicit support for Palestinian rights, and opposition to Israeli policies which they see as undermining those rights. Read

‘You Can’t Suspend a Revolution’: Sanders Backers Launch Drive to Boost Delegate Count, Sway Platform

Liberal activists, including former Bernie Sanders presidential campaign staffers, launched a drive on Tuesday night to urge supporters to continue backing Sanders in the remaining state primaries, to secure him the number of delegates needed at the Democratic National Convention to influence the platform and rules. Read

Testing Kits in Africa Deemed Faulty After COVID-19 Confirmed in Goat, Quail, Pawpaw

The health minister of Tanzania has suspended the head of the East African country’s national laboratory, after the lab sent back positive COVID-19 test results for samples taken from a goat, a quail, and a pawpaw. Read

Pompeo: ‘Enormous Evidence’ Coronavirus Came From Wuhan Lab; China Must Allow Experts In

Escalating a seething row with Beijing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the U.S. has “enormous evidence” that the novel coronavirus wreaking havoc across the world began in a laboratory in Wuhan, and slammed China for its continued refusal to provide access to the site to Western experts. Read

Rep. Ayanna Pressley Urges Biden to Respond to Abuse Allegations With ‘Empathy, Diligence’

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) called Monday for former Vice President Joe Biden and his presidential campaign to give a response to Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual assault “that models the empathy, diligence, and acknowledgement of broken systems that this conversation demands.” Read

With Strong US Backing, Taiwan Asks to Take Part in Upcoming WHO Assembly

Taiwan has formally asked the World Health Organization to allow it to take part in the U.N. agency’s forthcoming annual assembly, buoyed by strong expressions of support from the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read

Pompeo: ‘Enormous Evidence’ Coronavirus Came From Wuhan Lab; China Must Allow Experts In

Escalating a seething row with Beijing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the U.S. has “enormous evidence” that the novel coronavirus wreaking havoc across the world began in a laboratory in Wuhan, and slammed China for its continued refusal to provide access to the site to Western experts. Read

Trump on Biden Tweet: ‘Joe Biden Didn’t Write That’

Confronted by a tweet from former Vice President Joe Biden criticizing his response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump said Sunday the tweet was not written by Biden but “by a young man that got very good grades at a very good school.” Read

Pompeo: No ‘Remotely Reasonable’ Explanation for Obama Limiting Iran Arms Embargo to 5 Years

President Obama and then-Secretary of State John Kerry thought for some reason that five years was a long enough period to prevent Iran from being able to buy conventional weapons, but the Trump administration will do all it can to see the embargo extended ahead of its scheduled expiration in October, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday. Read

Of 10 Hardest-Hit Countries, US Has 2nd-Lowest Case-Fatality Rate, 4th-Lowest Per Capita Death Toll

As April moves into May, the United States continues to have the second-lowest fatality rate out of the ten countries reporting the highest numbers of COVID-19 deaths. Read