Stocks staged a strong comeback in early trade Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex rebounding over 256 points and the Nifty recapturing the 10,900-mark on unabated foreign capital inflows amid short covering.

Asian markets were also trading in the green ahead of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un&nbsp; 
in Vietnam.

The 30-share Sensex rose by 256.18 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 36,226.89 in early trade. The gauge had lost 239.67 points Tuesday after India carried out air strikes on a terrorist camp in Pakistan.

All the sectoral indices, led by auto, metal, bankex, FMCG and healthcare, were trading in the green with gains of up to 1.32 per cent.

The broad-based NSE Nifty went up by 70.80 points or 0.66 per cent to 10,906.10.

Prominent gainers that supported the recovery were Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, M&amp;M, Asian Paints, Hero moto corp, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, RIL, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, L&amp;T, Coal India and Vedanta Ltd, rising up to 2.83 per cent.

Brokers said continued pumping of investments by foreign funds and fresh spell of buying by domestic investors amid a firm trend at other Asian bourses led the markets higher.

Besides, covering-up of short positions by speculators ahead of February month expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday, too supported the upside in select stocks, they added.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,674.17 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold equities to the tune of Rs 720.27 crore Tuesday, provisional data showed.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.44 per cent, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.53 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index was up by 0.79 per cent in early trade. Korea's KOSPI too gained 0.24 per cent.&nbsp;

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.13 per cent higher in Tuesday's trade.&nbsp;

Stocks staged a strong comeback in early trade Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex rebounding over 256 points and the Nifty recapturing the 10,900-mark on unabated foreign capital inflows amid short covering.

Stocks staged a strong comeback in early trade Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex rebounding over 256 points and the Nifty recapturing the 10,900-mark on unabated foreign capital inflows amid short covering. Asian markets were also trading in the green ahead of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam. The 30-share Sensex rose by 256.18 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 36,226.89 in early trade. The gauge had lost 239.67 points Tuesday after India carried out air strikes on a terrorist camp in Pakistan. All the sectoral indices, led by auto, metal, bankex, FMCG and healthcare, were trading in the green with gains of up to 1.32 per cent. The broad-based NSE Nifty went up by 70.80 points or 0.66 per cent to 10,906.10. Prominent gainers that supported the recovery were Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Asian Paints, Hero moto corp, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, RIL, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, L&T, Coal India and Vedanta Ltd, rising up to 2.83 per cent. Brokers said continued pumping of investments by foreign funds and fresh spell of buying by domestic investors amid a firm trend at other Asian bourses led the markets higher. Besides, covering-up of short positions by speculators ahead of February month expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday, too supported the upside in select stocks, they added. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,674.17 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold equities to the tune of Rs 720.27 crore Tuesday, provisional data showed. In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.44 per cent, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.53 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index was up by 0.79 per cent in early trade. Korea's KOSPI too gained 0.24 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.13 per cent higher in Tuesday's trade.

Sensex rebounds 256 points, Nifty above 10,900-mark

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/egypt-to-host-huaweis-first-mena-cloud-platform-cairo-199907">Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei</a> vehemently denied United States accusations that its ambitions to roll out 5G services around the world presented a security threat, one of its senior officials said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday.

Washington's spat with Beijing over Huawei's aspirations, which was playing out to the backdrop of a wider bilateral trade dispute, is centered on allegations that the Chinese company would use the next generation communications technology, which will be used to connect everything from self-driving cars to manufacturing, as a way to gather backdoor information on other countries.&nbsp;

"Huawei is leading in 5G globally, but we understand, innovation is nothing without security," Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman, told those attending the 2019 edition of the mobile world's most influential congress.

"Let me say this as clear as possible, Huawei has not and will never plant backdoors. And we will never allow anyone to do to so with our equipment," he said. "The US security accusation on our 5G has no evidence, nothing."&nbsp;

The US has increasingly called on its allies to avoid deals with the Chinese smartphone maker over accusations Beijing used the tech giant as a way to spy on foreign nations.&nbsp;

In January, Huawei fired sales director Wang Weijing after he was arrested in Poland on suspicion of espionage.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, in December 2018, Canadian authorities arrested Huawei chief financial officer and daughter of the company's founder, Meng Wanzhou, at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the US, which filed for her extradition for alleged fraud and for breaching sanctions on Iran.&nbsp;

China shortly afterwards sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug charges in what was an escalation in diplomatic tensions widely seen as retaliatory by observers.&nbsp;

Huawei was looking to ship its 5G technology around the world and had already signed 18 contracts in Europe.&nbsp;

"I fully understand what President Donald Trump said last week," Guo said. "The US needs powerful, faster and smarter 5G."

Washington and China were currently engaged in a tense series of bilateral trade talks aimed at staving off a trade war.&nbsp;

Trump recently said he expected to sign a trade deal "fairly soon."&nbsp;

He added that he planned to postpone his plans to hike import tariffs on Chinese goods worth around $200 billion, which were set to kick in March.&nbsp;

He announced he was pencilled to meet Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.&nbsp;

China had earlier pledge to buy $1.2 of American products.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei vehemently denied United States accusations that its ambitions to roll out 5G services around the world presented a security threat, one of its senior officials said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei vehemently denied United States accusations that its ambitions to roll out 5G services around the world presented a security threat, one of its senior officials said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday. Washington's spat with Beijing over Huawei's aspirations, which was playing out to the backdrop of a wider bilateral trade dispute, is centered on allegations that the Chinese company would use the next generation communications technology, which will be used to connect everything from self-driving cars to manufacturing, as a way to gather backdoor information on other countries. "Huawei is leading in 5G globally, but we understand, innovation is nothing without security," Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman, told those attending the 2019 edition of the mobile world's most influential congress. "Let me say this as clear as possible, Huawei has not and will never plant backdoors. And we will never allow anyone to do to so with our equipment," he said. "The US security accusation on our 5G has no evidence, nothing." The US has increasingly called on its allies to avoid deals with the Chinese smartphone maker over accusations Beijing used the tech giant as a way to spy on foreign nations. In January, Huawei fired sales director Wang Weijing after he was arrested in Poland on suspicion of espionage. Meanwhile, in December 2018, Canadian authorities arrested Huawei chief financial officer and daughter of the company's founder, Meng Wanzhou, at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the US, which filed for her extradition for alleged fraud and for breaching sanctions on Iran. China shortly afterwards sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug charges in what was an escalation in diplomatic tensions widely seen as retaliatory by observers. Huawei was looking to ship its 5G technology around the world and had already signed 18 contracts in Europe. "I fully understand what President Donald Trump said last week," Guo said. "The US needs powerful, faster and smarter 5G." Washington and China were currently engaged in a tense series of bilateral trade talks aimed at staving off a trade war. Trump recently said he expected to sign a trade deal "fairly soon." He added that he planned to postpone his plans to hike import tariffs on Chinese goods worth around $200 billion, which were set to kick in March. He announced he was pencilled to meet Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. China had earlier pledge to buy $1.2 of American products.

US has no evidence of backdoor spying in 5G technology: Huawei chairman

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/after-kim-trump-arrives-in-hanoi-for-summit-talks-199903">US President Donald Trump</a> met Vietnam's president, Nguyen Phu Trong, in Hanoi on Wednesday, hours before Trump was due to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for their second summit.

Trump and Trong, who is also general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, met at the grand, colonial-era presidential palace.&nbsp;

Trump was later due to have lunch with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

On Wednesday evening, Trump is scheduled to meet Kim at the city's Metropole hotel, eight months after their first summit in Singapore, to discuss efforts to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

US President Donald Trump met Vietnam's president, Nguyen Phu Trong, in Hanoi on Wednesday, hours before Trump was due to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for their second summit.

US President Donald Trump met Vietnam's president, Nguyen Phu Trong, in Hanoi on Wednesday, hours before Trump was due to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for their second summit. Trump and Trong, who is also general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, met at the grand, colonial-era presidential palace. Trump was later due to have lunch with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. On Wednesday evening, Trump is scheduled to meet Kim at the city's Metropole hotel, eight months after their first summit in Singapore, to discuss efforts to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

Trump meets Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong before second North Korea summit

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/us-urges-india-pakistan-to-exercise-restraint-secretary-of-state-pompeo-199949">US</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/us-urges-india-pakistan-to-exercise-restraint-secretary-of-state-pompeo-199949"> urges India, Pakistan to 'exercise restraint': Secretary of State Pompeo</a>

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday called for India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint" amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours while urging Islamabad to take action against militants.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/sushma-swaraj-raises-pulwama-terror-attack-with-her-chinese-counterpart-report-199940">Sushma Swaraj raises Pulwama terror attack with Chinese counterpart: Report</a>

A day after Indian Air Force carried out airstrikes targeting terror launch pads in Pakistan's Balakot, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Wuzhen.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-house-strikes-down-trumps-border-emergency-199924">US House strikes down US President Trump's border emergency</a>

The US House of Representatives dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, approving a resolution blocking him from obtaining funding for a Mexican border wall through his declaration of a national emergency.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-ex-lawyer-cohen-to-offer-new-russia-details-to-congress-source-199926">Trump's ex-lawyer Cohen to offer new Russia details to Congress: Source</a>

US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen will tell lawmakers on Wednesday that Trump asked him several times about a proposed skyscraper project in Moscow long after he secured the Republican presidential nomination, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/pakistan-violates-ceasefire-along-loc-yet-again-5-army-personnel-injured-199925">Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC yet again, 5 Army personnel injured</a>

Pakistan on Tuesday violated ceasefire as they resorted to heavy shelling at around 12 to 15 places along the Line of Control (LoC) in Memander area of Shopian district, leaving five Indian Army personnel injured.

US urges India, Pakistan to 'exercise restraint': Secretary of State Pompeo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday called for India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint" amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours while urging Islamabad to take action against militants.

US urges India, Pakistan to 'exercise restraint': Secretary of State Pompeo US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday called for India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint" amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours while urging Islamabad to take action against militants. Sushma Swaraj raises Pulwama terror attack with Chinese counterpart: Report A day after Indian Air Force carried out airstrikes targeting terror launch pads in Pakistan's Balakot, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Wuzhen. US House strikes down US President Trump's border emergency The US House of Representatives dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, approving a resolution blocking him from obtaining funding for a Mexican border wall through his declaration of a national emergency. Trump's ex-lawyer Cohen to offer new Russia details to Congress: Source US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen will tell lawmakers on Wednesday that Trump asked him several times about a proposed skyscraper project in Moscow long after he secured the Republican presidential nomination, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC yet again, 5 Army personnel injured Pakistan on Tuesday violated ceasefire as they resorted to heavy shelling at around 12 to 15 places along the Line of Control (LoC) in Memander area of Shopian district, leaving five Indian Army personnel injured.

News brief: Big stories of the day

The US House of Representatives dealt a blow to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/after-kim-trump-arrives-in-hanoi-for-summit-talks-199903">President Donald Trump</a> on Tuesday, approving a resolution blocking him from obtaining funding for a Mexican border wall through his declaration of a national emergency.

Dismissing a veto threat by the president, the Democratic-controlled House struck down Trump's emergency declaration by a comfortable margin of 245-182, sending the measure to the Republican-held Senate.

Thirteen Republicans joined Democrats in voting to "terminate" Trump's emergency declaration, which the Republican president issued on February 15 after failing to secure billions of dollars from Congress for the wall.

The emergency declaration would allow Trump to find funding for the Mexican border wall -- his signature campaign promise -- from other sources, notably the Pentagon budget for military construction projects.

The president has threatened to veto the resolution if it passes both the 435-member House and the 100-seat Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 edge and its prospects are uncertain.

Democrats have denounced the emergency declaration as a power grab by the president and a violation of the Constitution because it usurps the power of Congress to decide government spending.

At least two Senate Republicans -- Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina -- have said they would back the resolution overturning Trump's emergency declaration.

Four Republicans would need to break ranks for the measure to pass the Senate but neither chamber is likely to be able to muster the two-thirds majority needed to override an expected presidential veto.

Should the measure clear both the House and the Senate and reach his desk, Trump would be faced with a stinging rebuke and cornered into issuing the first veto of his presidency.

Trump's national emergency declaration gives him access to billions of dollars to construct the border wall beyond the nearly $1.4 billion allocated by Congress.

'Power grab'&nbsp; 
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Trump's emergency order was an unconstitutional attempt to expand executive authority and strip lawmakers of the power to control how federal funds are spent.

"The president's power grab usurps that responsibility and fundamentally violates the balance of power envisioned by our founders," Pelosi said.

As several Republican senators expressed reservations about Trump's emergency declaration, the president sought to head them off.

"I hope our great Republican Senators don't get led down the path of weak and ineffective Border Security," Trump tweeted on Monday before heading for Vietnam for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.&nbsp;

"Be strong and smart," he said. "Don't fall into the Democrats 'trap' of Open Borders and Crime!"

Republican senators Collins and Tillis have openly broken ranks already and others appeared to be wavering.

While Trump is "rightfully frustrated with Congress's inaction" on border security, the president made a mistake declaring an emergency, said Tillis.

"I have grave concerns when our institution looks the other way at the expense of weakening Congress's power," the Republican senator from North Carolina wrote in The Washington Post.

"The emergency course is not one I favour," Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said.

Veto '100 per cent' certain&nbsp; 
Trump has said he is "100 per cent" certain to issue a veto if the House and Senate override his emergency declaration and the White House reiterated that on Tuesday.

"The current situation at the southern border presents a humanitarian and security crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency," the White House said in a statement.

"The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics."

Dozens of Republican ex-lawmakers and a bipartisan group of former national security officers, including secretaries of defence and CIA directors, spoke out strongly against the emergency declaration on Monday.

In a joint declaration, the 58 national security officials warned of an abuse of the Constitution. The group includes former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and John Kerry, along with George W Bush's undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns.

"Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border," they said.

The US House of Representatives dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, approving a resolution blocking him from obtaining funding for a Mexican border wall through his declaration of a national emergency.

The US House of Representatives dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, approving a resolution blocking him from obtaining funding for a Mexican border wall through his declaration of a national emergency. Dismissing a veto threat by the president, the Democratic-controlled House struck down Trump's emergency declaration by a comfortable margin of 245-182, sending the measure to the Republican-held Senate. Thirteen Republicans joined Democrats in voting to "terminate" Trump's emergency declaration, which the Republican president issued on February 15 after failing to secure billions of dollars from Congress for the wall. The emergency declaration would allow Trump to find funding for the Mexican border wall -- his signature campaign promise -- from other sources, notably the Pentagon budget for military construction projects. The president has threatened to veto the resolution if it passes both the 435-member House and the 100-seat Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 edge and its prospects are uncertain. Democrats have denounced the emergency declaration as a power grab by the president and a violation of the Constitution because it usurps the power of Congress to decide government spending. At least two Senate Republicans -- Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina -- have said they would back the resolution overturning Trump's emergency declaration. Four Republicans would need to break ranks for the measure to pass the Senate but neither chamber is likely to be able to muster the two-thirds majority needed to override an expected presidential veto. Should the measure clear both the House and the Senate and reach his desk, Trump would be faced with a stinging rebuke and cornered into issuing the first veto of his presidency. Trump's national emergency declaration gives him access to billions of dollars to construct the border wall beyond the nearly $1.4 billion allocated by Congress. 'Power grab' Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Trump's emergency order was an unconstitutional attempt to expand executive authority and strip lawmakers of the power to control how federal funds are spent. "The president's power grab usurps that responsibility and fundamentally violates the balance of power envisioned by our founders," Pelosi said. As several Republican senators expressed reservations about Trump's emergency declaration, the president sought to head them off. "I hope our great Republican Senators don't get led down the path of weak and ineffective Border Security," Trump tweeted on Monday before heading for Vietnam for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "Be strong and smart," he said. "Don't fall into the Democrats 'trap' of Open Borders and Crime!" Republican senators Collins and Tillis have openly broken ranks already and others appeared to be wavering. While Trump is "rightfully frustrated with Congress's inaction" on border security, the president made a mistake declaring an emergency, said Tillis. "I have grave concerns when our institution looks the other way at the expense of weakening Congress's power," the Republican senator from North Carolina wrote in The Washington Post. "The emergency course is not one I favour," Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said. Veto '100 per cent' certain Trump has said he is "100 per cent" certain to issue a veto if the House and Senate override his emergency declaration and the White House reiterated that on Tuesday. "The current situation at the southern border presents a humanitarian and security crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency," the White House said in a statement. "The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics." Dozens of Republican ex-lawmakers and a bipartisan group of former national security officers, including secretaries of defence and CIA directors, spoke out strongly against the emergency declaration on Monday. In a joint declaration, the 58 national security officials warned of an abuse of the Constitution. The group includes former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and John Kerry, along with George W Bush's undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns. "Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border," they said.

US House strikes down US President Trump's border emergency

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-ex-lawyer-cohen-to-offer-new-russia-details-to-congress-source-199926">Michael Cohen</a>, the former "fixer" and personal lawyer for US President Donald Trump, will testify on Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time about a leak of emails that would hurt his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen will also tell Congress that Trump directed negotiations for a real estate project in Moscow even as he campaigned for the presidency and publicly stated he had no business interests in Russia, according to a draft of Cohen`s planned testimony.

In the text of his planned opening statement before a House of Representatives committee, Cohen calls Trump a "racist", a "conman" and a "cheat" and said he would be handing over documents to support his assertions. The draft statement was first reported by the New York Times.

Cohen says Trump ordered him to pay $130,000 to an adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels in order to cover up an affair in violation of campaign finance laws, and also told Cohen to lie about it to First Lady Melania Trump.

The sweeping claims against Trump from a man who was once a loyal ally come as Special Counsel Robert Mueller appears to be close to completing his investigation into possible collusion between Trump`s 2016 campaign team and Russian efforts to interfere in the election.

Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow, dismisses the Mueller investigation as a "witch hunt" and has said Cohen is a liar and a "rat".&nbsp;

"He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time," Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday from Vietnam, where he was to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to break a stalemate over the North`s nuclear weapons.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying &amp; fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time. Using Crooked’s lawyer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1100683974899363840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2019</a></blockquote>
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He has denied knowing ahead of time about the WikiLeaks dump of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails during the election.

Cohen, in his prepared comments, said he was in Trump`s office in July 2016 when Roger Stone, a self-described "dirty trickster" and longtime political adviser to Trump, called the Republican presidential candidate.

Cohen said Stone told Trump he had been speaking with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who told him there would be a dump of emails within a couple of days that would damage Clinton`s campaign.

On July 22, 2016, WikiLeaks released internal DNC emails that drove a wedge between supporters of Clinton and her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders. Although Clinton won the nomination, that rift weakened her election bid.

Stone was indicted by Mueller on charges of lying to Congress about his communications with others related to WikiLeaks email dumps.

Stone denies having advance knowledge of WikiLeaks` plans, although text messages reviewed by Reuters show that during the campaign he made several attempts to make contact with Assange.&nbsp;

Although Cohen will accuse Trump on a wide range of issues in his testimony on Wednesday, he said in his draft statement that he does not have direct evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia.

"I do not. I want to be clear. But I have my suspicions," Cohen said.

It is not clear whether Cohen`s testimony will significantly alter public perception of Trump`s business practices or put him in greater legal peril.&nbsp;

Cohen, 52, was one of Trump`s closest aides and fiercest defenders, working with him on business and personal deals for a decade. But he turned against him last year and is cooperating with prosecutors after pleading guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.

Cohen will start a three-year prison term in May.

MOSCOW DECEPTION

The prepared remarks show Cohen intends to apologize for his initial statements to Congress in 2017 in which he said efforts to build a Trump skyscraper in Moscow had ceased by January 2016 when in fact they continued through June 2016.

Cohen said Trump`s lawyers "reviewed and edited" those false statements to Congress.

Cohen said Trump on multiple occasions inquired about the project while telling the public he had no business dealings in Russia - a falsehood Cohen said reflected Trump`s view that the campaign was aimed only at building his brand.

"He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars," Cohen says.

Cohen described an incident when Trump`s son, Donald Jr., walked behind his father`s desk and told him in a low voice: "The meeting is all set." Cohen said Trump replied: "Ok good ... let me know."

In hindsight, Cohen said he believed the son was referring to the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between a Russian lawyer promising "dirt" on Clinton and members of Trump`s campaign.

Trump has denied having advance knowledge of the meeting, which has come under intense scrutiny in the Mueller probe.

REGRET

Cohen said in his draft statement he regrets the things he did for Trump. They included, he said, hush-money payments to two women and writing letters on Trump`s orders that threatened Trump`s high school, colleges and the College Board not to release his grades.

Cohen said he planned to provide the committee with a copy of a $35,000 check Trump signed on August 1, 2017, one in a series to reimburse him for paying off Daniels after Trump took office.&nbsp;

"I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty - of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him," Cohen said. "I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat."

Republicans on the House oversight panel, including ranking member Jim Jordan, are likely to aggressively question Cohen`s credibility, given his guilty plea for lying to Congress last year.

Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz, a Trump ally, caused controversy with a tweet on Tuesday suggesting compromising information about Cohen`s private life might soon be released.&nbsp;

How Cohen handles the Republican assault could determine whether he is perceived as credible and if he has anything like the impact of John Dean, who helped bring down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.

Advocates for Cohen have likened his decision to come clean to Mueller`s team and federal prosecutors in Manhattan to that of Dean.

But Dean, former White House counsel to Nixon, told Reuters the significance of Cohen`s testimony would depend on what he says and how he responds to Republican criticism.&nbsp;

"It could be historic," said Dean, now a frequent commentator on television. "But if he just gets beat up by the Republicans, it won`t be."&nbsp;

Michael Cohen, the former "fixer" and personal lawyer for US President Donald Trump, will testify on Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time about a leak of emails that would hurt his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

Michael Cohen, the former "fixer" and personal lawyer for US President Donald Trump, will testify on Wednesday that Trump knew ahead of time about a leak of emails that would hurt his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Cohen will also tell Congress that Trump directed negotiations for a real estate project in Moscow even as he campaigned for the presidency and publicly stated he had no business interests in Russia, according to a draft of Cohen`s planned testimony. In the text of his planned opening statement before a House of Representatives committee, Cohen calls Trump a "racist", a "conman" and a "cheat" and said he would be handing over documents to support his assertions. The draft statement was first reported by the New York Times. Cohen says Trump ordered him to pay $130,000 to an adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels in order to cover up an affair in violation of campaign finance laws, and also told Cohen to lie about it to First Lady Melania Trump. The sweeping claims against Trump from a man who was once a loyal ally come as Special Counsel Robert Mueller appears to be close to completing his investigation into possible collusion between Trump`s 2016 campaign team and Russian efforts to interfere in the election. Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow, dismisses the Mueller investigation as a "witch hunt" and has said Cohen is a liar and a "rat". "He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time," Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday from Vietnam, where he was to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to break a stalemate over the North`s nuclear weapons. Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time. Using Crooked’s lawyer! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019 × He has denied knowing ahead of time about the WikiLeaks dump of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails during the election. Cohen, in his prepared comments, said he was in Trump`s office in July 2016 when Roger Stone, a self-described "dirty trickster" and longtime political adviser to Trump, called the Republican presidential candidate. Cohen said Stone told Trump he had been speaking with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who told him there would be a dump of emails within a couple of days that would damage Clinton`s campaign. On July 22, 2016, WikiLeaks released internal DNC emails that drove a wedge between supporters of Clinton and her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders. Although Clinton won the nomination, that rift weakened her election bid. Stone was indicted by Mueller on charges of lying to Congress about his communications with others related to WikiLeaks email dumps. Stone denies having advance knowledge of WikiLeaks` plans, although text messages reviewed by Reuters show that during the campaign he made several attempts to make contact with Assange. Although Cohen will accuse Trump on a wide range of issues in his testimony on Wednesday, he said in his draft statement that he does not have direct evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia. "I do not. I want to be clear. But I have my suspicions," Cohen said. It is not clear whether Cohen`s testimony will significantly alter public perception of Trump`s business practices or put him in greater legal peril. Cohen, 52, was one of Trump`s closest aides and fiercest defenders, working with him on business and personal deals for a decade. But he turned against him last year and is cooperating with prosecutors after pleading guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. Cohen will start a three-year prison term in May. MOSCOW DECEPTION The prepared remarks show Cohen intends to apologize for his initial statements to Congress in 2017 in which he said efforts to build a Trump skyscraper in Moscow had ceased by January 2016 when in fact they continued through June 2016. Cohen said Trump`s lawyers "reviewed and edited" those false statements to Congress. Cohen said Trump on multiple occasions inquired about the project while telling the public he had no business dealings in Russia - a falsehood Cohen said reflected Trump`s view that the campaign was aimed only at building his brand. "He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars," Cohen says. Cohen described an incident when Trump`s son, Donald Jr., walked behind his father`s desk and told him in a low voice: "The meeting is all set." Cohen said Trump replied: "Ok good ... let me know." In hindsight, Cohen said he believed the son was referring to the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between a Russian lawyer promising "dirt" on Clinton and members of Trump`s campaign. Trump has denied having advance knowledge of the meeting, which has come under intense scrutiny in the Mueller probe. REGRET Cohen said in his draft statement he regrets the things he did for Trump. They included, he said, hush-money payments to two women and writing letters on Trump`s orders that threatened Trump`s high school, colleges and the College Board not to release his grades. Cohen said he planned to provide the committee with a copy of a $35,000 check Trump signed on August 1, 2017, one in a series to reimburse him for paying off Daniels after Trump took office. "I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty - of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him," Cohen said. "I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat." Republicans on the House oversight panel, including ranking member Jim Jordan, are likely to aggressively question Cohen`s credibility, given his guilty plea for lying to Congress last year. Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz, a Trump ally, caused controversy with a tweet on Tuesday suggesting compromising information about Cohen`s private life might soon be released. How Cohen handles the Republican assault could determine whether he is perceived as credible and if he has anything like the impact of John Dean, who helped bring down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. Advocates for Cohen have likened his decision to come clean to Mueller`s team and federal prosecutors in Manhattan to that of Dean. But Dean, former White House counsel to Nixon, told Reuters the significance of Cohen`s testimony would depend on what he says and how he responds to Republican criticism. "It could be historic," said Dean, now a frequent commentator on television. "But if he just gets beat up by the Republicans, it won`t be."

Michael Cohen accuses Trump over WikiLeaks, Moscow project, hush payments

More than a dozen prominent Vietnamese political activists say police have stepped up surveillance and prevented them from leaving their homes in Hanoi as the Vietnamese capital hosts a summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.

Despite sweeping economic and social reforms in Vietnam, the ruling Communist Party retains tight controls on media and does not tolerate criticism.&nbsp;

Hosting the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been seen as a public relations coup for Vietnam and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said security should be a top priority.

Hanoi has branded itself a "city for peace" for hosting the summit.&nbsp;

Nguyen Chi Tuyen, an activist known as Anh Chi, said security officials had been stationed outside his house for two days.&nbsp;

"They follow me everywhere I go and warn me that I may be detained if I cross the river into the (city) centre," he told Reuters on Wednesday.

Police told him they will guard his house until March 1 and not to take photos of them, he added.&nbsp;

Vietnam`s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump and Kim meet on Wednesday evening at Hanoi`s French-colonial-era Metropole Hotel for the start their second summit in less than a year, seeking to break a stalemate over the North`s nuclear weapons.&nbsp;

Dao Thu Hue, a Chinese teacher at a university in Hanoi known for her anti-communist protests, said police started restricting her movements on Tuesday evening. Her house is often sealed off during major events.

"This time they are tighter and very determined. They don`t say why they are blocking my house, only say `we are following orders`," Hue said.

Bui Hang, an activist based in the southern city of Vung Tau, told Reuters someone had padlocked her door from the outside and glued it in place.

Some other activists said they managed to strike compromises with security officers.&nbsp;

"I have been under guard for several days but there is still room to negotiate," said activist La Dung, speaking as he was riding on the back a local security officer`s motorbike on his way to play a game of tennis.&nbsp;

"They said tennis is OK, but other things is a no," Dung laughed.

Activist Mai Phuong Thao, known as Thao Teresa, said she has been prevented from leaving her house since Monday.

Police looked into her house several times a day to see if she was there or to hear her voice, but she said she has her own way to leave the house when she needs to.

Singer and activist Mai Khoi posted a video of herself on Twitter sticking her middle finger up as Trump`s motorcade was passed on Tuesday night with a caption "Peace on you, Trump!".

Last time Trump was in Vietnam in 2017, she held a poster that said "Piss on you Trump".

She was locked inside her house for several hours after that protest.

More than a dozen prominent Vietnamese political activists say police have stepped up surveillance and prevented them from leaving their homes in Hanoi as the Vietnamese capital hosts a summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.

More than a dozen prominent Vietnamese political activists say police have stepped up surveillance and prevented them from leaving their homes in Hanoi as the Vietnamese capital hosts a summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea. Despite sweeping economic and social reforms in Vietnam, the ruling Communist Party retains tight controls on media and does not tolerate criticism. Hosting the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been seen as a public relations coup for Vietnam and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said security should be a top priority. Hanoi has branded itself a "city for peace" for hosting the summit. Nguyen Chi Tuyen, an activist known as Anh Chi, said security officials had been stationed outside his house for two days. "They follow me everywhere I go and warn me that I may be detained if I cross the river into the (city) centre," he told Reuters on Wednesday. Police told him they will guard his house until March 1 and not to take photos of them, he added. Vietnam`s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump and Kim meet on Wednesday evening at Hanoi`s French-colonial-era Metropole Hotel for the start their second summit in less than a year, seeking to break a stalemate over the North`s nuclear weapons. Dao Thu Hue, a Chinese teacher at a university in Hanoi known for her anti-communist protests, said police started restricting her movements on Tuesday evening. Her house is often sealed off during major events. "This time they are tighter and very determined. They don`t say why they are blocking my house, only say `we are following orders`," Hue said. Bui Hang, an activist based in the southern city of Vung Tau, told Reuters someone had padlocked her door from the outside and glued it in place. Some other activists said they managed to strike compromises with security officers. "I have been under guard for several days but there is still room to negotiate," said activist La Dung, speaking as he was riding on the back a local security officer`s motorbike on his way to play a game of tennis. "They said tennis is OK, but other things is a no," Dung laughed. Activist Mai Phuong Thao, known as Thao Teresa, said she has been prevented from leaving her house since Monday. Police looked into her house several times a day to see if she was there or to hear her voice, but she said she has her own way to leave the house when she needs to. Singer and activist Mai Khoi posted a video of herself on Twitter sticking her middle finger up as Trump`s motorcade was passed on Tuesday night with a caption "Peace on you, Trump!". Last time Trump was in Vietnam in 2017, she held a poster that said "Piss on you Trump". She was locked inside her house for several hours after that protest.

Vietnamese activists say police restrict movements during Trump-Kim summit

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-warns-us-sceptics-as-kim-heads-for-vietnam-for-summit-with-trump-199370">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un</a> arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-warns-us-sceptics-as-kim-heads-for-vietnam-for-summit-with-trump-199370">summit with US President Donald Trump</a> where they will try to reach an agreement on a North's Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

Trump is due to arrive in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Tuesday evening.

Trump will meet Kim for a brief one-on-one conversation on Wednesday evening, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One.

She said that would be followed by more meetings between the two leaders on Thursday.

Their talks come eight months after their <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-kim-ii-the-summit-the-script-and-the-sequel-199292">historic summit in Singapore</a>, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.

While there is no real expectation that the second meeting will bring a final deal on ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons that threaten the United States, there are some hopes it could lead to a declaration that the 1950-53 Korean War is at last formally over.

But the United States would expect significant movement by Kim towards denuclearisation in return.

In Singapore, Kim pledged to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but the vague agreement struck there has produced few concrete results. US Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Kim travelling from the North Korean capital by train.'s train arrived at the station in the Vietnamese town of Dong Dang after crossing over the border from China, a Reuters witnesses at the station said.

Vietnamese officials were on hand to receive him at the station with a red-carpet including a guard of honour and North Korean and Vietnamese flags flying.

Kim left his train in Dong Dang and set off on the 170 km (105 miles) to the capital, Hanoi, by car.

Both Kim and Trump are also due to hold separate talks with Vietnamese leaders.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also arrived in Hanoi, on Tuesday, a reporter travelling with him said.

Pompeo has been Trump's top envoy in his efforts to improve ties with the reclusive North and has made several trips to Pyongyang to negotiate steps towards ending its nuclear programme.

'Tremendous'

Trump told reporters he and Kim would have "a very tremendous summit".

Tweeting on Monday, he stressed the benefits to North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons. "With complete Denuclearization, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse. Without it, just more of the same. Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!" Trump said.

In a speech on Sunday night, Trump, however, appeared to play down any hope of a major breakthrough at the Hanoi summit, saying he would be happy as long as North Korea maintained its pause on weapons testing.

"I'm not in a rush. I don't want to rush anybody," he said. "I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy."

North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in September 2017 and last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

A South Korean presidential spokesman told reporters in Seoul on Monday that the two sides might be able to agree to a formal end of the Korean War, which ended in an armistice not a peace treaty, a move North Korea has long sought.

While a formal peace treaty may be a long way off, the two sides have discussed the possibility of a political declaration stating that the war over.

"The possibility is there," the South Korean spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom told a briefing.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a summit with US President Donald Trump where they will try to reach an agreement on a North's Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a summit with US President Donald Trump where they will try to reach an agreement on a North's Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons programme. Trump is due to arrive in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Tuesday evening. Trump will meet Kim for a brief one-on-one conversation on Wednesday evening, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One. She said that would be followed by more meetings between the two leaders on Thursday. Their talks come eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. While there is no real expectation that the second meeting will bring a final deal on ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons that threaten the United States, there are some hopes it could lead to a declaration that the 1950-53 Korean War is at last formally over. But the United States would expect significant movement by Kim towards denuclearisation in return. In Singapore, Kim pledged to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but the vague agreement struck there has produced few concrete results. US Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Kim travelling from the North Korean capital by train.'s train arrived at the station in the Vietnamese town of Dong Dang after crossing over the border from China, a Reuters witnesses at the station said. Vietnamese officials were on hand to receive him at the station with a red-carpet including a guard of honour and North Korean and Vietnamese flags flying. Kim left his train in Dong Dang and set off on the 170 km (105 miles) to the capital, Hanoi, by car. Both Kim and Trump are also due to hold separate talks with Vietnamese leaders. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also arrived in Hanoi, on Tuesday, a reporter travelling with him said. Pompeo has been Trump's top envoy in his efforts to improve ties with the reclusive North and has made several trips to Pyongyang to negotiate steps towards ending its nuclear programme. 'Tremendous' Trump told reporters he and Kim would have "a very tremendous summit". Tweeting on Monday, he stressed the benefits to North Korea if it gave up its nuclear weapons. "With complete Denuclearization, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse. Without it, just more of the same. Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!" Trump said. In a speech on Sunday night, Trump, however, appeared to play down any hope of a major breakthrough at the Hanoi summit, saying he would be happy as long as North Korea maintained its pause on weapons testing. "I'm not in a rush. I don't want to rush anybody," he said. "I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy." North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in September 2017 and last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017. A South Korean presidential spokesman told reporters in Seoul on Monday that the two sides might be able to agree to a formal end of the Korean War, which ended in an armistice not a peace treaty, a move North Korea has long sought. While a formal peace treaty may be a long way off, the two sides have discussed the possibility of a political declaration stating that the war over. "The possibility is there," the South Korean spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom told a briefing.

North Korea's Kim arrives in Vietnam for summit; Trump on his way

By Ben Zissimos

Venezuela stands close to the brink of another revolution. Acute shortages of food and medicine, along with quintuple-digit inflation, has led to an economic crisis.

With a large amount of much-needed humanitarian aid being held at Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil, things could turn very violent (some skirmishes have already taken place). The aid has been sent by the US and other international supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Together they brand President Nicolás Maduro a dictator, believing that he rigged his election in May 2018, and demand that he now stand down and restore democracy. But the army, so far, remains loyal to Maduro and troops have barricaded the border crossings to prevent aid from entering – something Maduro fears is a prelude to US invasion.

In applying my research to the situation in Venezuela, it’s clear that things could soon come to a head. My research shows how dictators can manipulate their trade policies to bolster their political survival, foreclosing democratisation in this process. Using an economic model, I strip these types of situations down to a few essential ingredients, simplifying an extremely complex set of circumstances to facilitate deeper insight into how they work. Using my model to think about Venezuela’s situation, we can see precisely the role that the world’s powerful countries play through their sanctions and aid in shaping Venezuela’s prospects for democracy. 
 
Keeping people happy

The basic logic of my model is that the Maduro regime, even as a dictatorship, has to keep the population happy just like any other political regime. After all, while democratic regimes worry about losing power at the ballot box, dictators fear revolution.

The model assumes that people have a sense of how life will be if they overthrew the Maduro regime, through a revolution, paving the way to democracy. Revolution is of course extremely costly and dangerous. But if life becomes so tough for ordinary people that they ultimately feel revolution is worth the costs, then Maduro has the threat of revolution on his hands.

Maduro’s options in the face of the threat of revolution include repression – something he has already experimented with. But, from his perspective, repressing his own people is extremely costly politically. It is also risky, especially when this entails turning against his own support base.

Plus, many members of the military are unwilling to turn their weapons on their own people. This elevates the danger that military repression will ultimately backfire and lead to Maduro’s downfall. More than 100 soldiers are said to have defected during the clashes over aid deliveries.

A better option for Maduro than military repression would be to try and improve the welfare of ordinary people, making them more prepared to live with the status quo of his rule and less inclined to spark a revolution. Adopting this approach is in line with Maduro’s claims that there isn’t any crisis in the country. This is where Venezuela’s vast oil reserves could help him.

One of the insights one gains from viewing this situation through the lens of my model is that dictators can stay in power by using commodities like oil to import food and hence placate the populace. Venezuela’s ability to produce oil has been badly curtailed by the economic chaos engulfing the country, but the oil it does still produce could help Maduro shore up his survival.

This is where international economic policy becomes critical. The EU and US have levied sanctions on Venezuela’s exports, which means they have committed not to buy Venezuela’s oil. This, in turn, hinders the regime’s ability to use its oil to buy the food that Maduro needs. Having food to offer to his population is what stands between Maduro and the threat of a full-blown revolution.

Seen through my model, the explicit purpose of sanctions is to deny Maduro that lifeline, pushing Venezuela to the brink of a revolution. Of course, China and Russia’s support for Venezuela works in precisely the opposite direction, turning Maduro’s survival into a tug of war between the world’s major powers.

Uncomfortable truths

The uncomfortable truth is that, although the purpose of sanctions is to put pressure on the Maduro regime, this glosses over an important aspect of how the pressure works. It works by pushing the Venezuelan people to the point of desperation where they are prepared to risk everything in a revolution rather than live with the status quo.

Yet a second uncomfortable truth arguably outweighs the first. Failing to push the Venezuelan people to the brink of revolution will probably lead to a longer period under the Maduro dictatorship, delaying democratisation in Venezuela and entrenching the current misery.

At first sight, US food aid seems to undermine the above rationale. If food is Maduro’s lifeline, and if the purpose of sanctions is to destabilise the Maduro regime by depriving it of food, why send food aid?

I don’t think there was ever any expectation that the Maduro regime would accept the aid. Its purpose was to draw Venezuelan troops to the Colombian border, away from the capital city Caracas, and that is exactly what it has done. This further reduces Maduro’s ability to use the military to repress an uprising in the capital Caracas, further heightening the risk of revolution. It also increases the Venezuelan people’s temptation to overthrow the Maduro regime, because then they could gain access to the food aid immediately.

Another revolution is neither inevitable nor desirable. But, in my view and following the logic of the model I have developed, Venezuela has to get to the brink of revolution before it has any hope of finding the path back to meaningful democracy.

(Ben Zissimos is Associate Professor of Economics, University of Exeter)

(This article was originally published on the Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/maduro-has-pushed-venezuela-to-the-brink-of-revolution-sanctions-and-aid-may-tip-it-over-the-edge-112324">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

By Ben Zissimos Venezuela stands close to the brink of another revolution. Acute shortages of food and medicine, along with quintuple-digit inflation, has led to an economic crisis.

By Ben Zissimos Venezuela stands close to the brink of another revolution. Acute shortages of food and medicine, along with quintuple-digit inflation, has led to an economic crisis. With a large amount of much-needed humanitarian aid being held at Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil, things could turn very violent (some skirmishes have already taken place). The aid has been sent by the US and other international supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Together they brand President Nicolás Maduro a dictator, believing that he rigged his election in May 2018, and demand that he now stand down and restore democracy. But the army, so far, remains loyal to Maduro and troops have barricaded the border crossings to prevent aid from entering – something Maduro fears is a prelude to US invasion. In applying my research to the situation in Venezuela, it’s clear that things could soon come to a head. My research shows how dictators can manipulate their trade policies to bolster their political survival, foreclosing democratisation in this process. Using an economic model, I strip these types of situations down to a few essential ingredients, simplifying an extremely complex set of circumstances to facilitate deeper insight into how they work. Using my model to think about Venezuela’s situation, we can see precisely the role that the world’s powerful countries play through their sanctions and aid in shaping Venezuela’s prospects for democracy. Keeping people happy The basic logic of my model is that the Maduro regime, even as a dictatorship, has to keep the population happy just like any other political regime. After all, while democratic regimes worry about losing power at the ballot box, dictators fear revolution. The model assumes that people have a sense of how life will be if they overthrew the Maduro regime, through a revolution, paving the way to democracy. Revolution is of course extremely costly and dangerous. But if life becomes so tough for ordinary people that they ultimately feel revolution is worth the costs, then Maduro has the threat of revolution on his hands. Maduro’s options in the face of the threat of revolution include repression – something he has already experimented with. But, from his perspective, repressing his own people is extremely costly politically. It is also risky, especially when this entails turning against his own support base. Plus, many members of the military are unwilling to turn their weapons on their own people. This elevates the danger that military repression will ultimately backfire and lead to Maduro’s downfall. More than 100 soldiers are said to have defected during the clashes over aid deliveries. A better option for Maduro than military repression would be to try and improve the welfare of ordinary people, making them more prepared to live with the status quo of his rule and less inclined to spark a revolution. Adopting this approach is in line with Maduro’s claims that there isn’t any crisis in the country. This is where Venezuela’s vast oil reserves could help him. One of the insights one gains from viewing this situation through the lens of my model is that dictators can stay in power by using commodities like oil to import food and hence placate the populace. Venezuela’s ability to produce oil has been badly curtailed by the economic chaos engulfing the country, but the oil it does still produce could help Maduro shore up his survival. This is where international economic policy becomes critical. The EU and US have levied sanctions on Venezuela’s exports, which means they have committed not to buy Venezuela’s oil. This, in turn, hinders the regime’s ability to use its oil to buy the food that Maduro needs. Having food to offer to his population is what stands between Maduro and the threat of a full-blown revolution. Seen through my model, the explicit purpose of sanctions is to deny Maduro that lifeline, pushing Venezuela to the brink of a revolution. Of course, China and Russia’s support for Venezuela works in precisely the opposite direction, turning Maduro’s survival into a tug of war between the world’s major powers. Uncomfortable truths The uncomfortable truth is that, although the purpose of sanctions is to put pressure on the Maduro regime, this glosses over an important aspect of how the pressure works. It works by pushing the Venezuelan people to the point of desperation where they are prepared to risk everything in a revolution rather than live with the status quo. Yet a second uncomfortable truth arguably outweighs the first. Failing to push the Venezuelan people to the brink of revolution will probably lead to a longer period under the Maduro dictatorship, delaying democratisation in Venezuela and entrenching the current misery. At first sight, US food aid seems to undermine the above rationale. If food is Maduro’s lifeline, and if the purpose of sanctions is to destabilise the Maduro regime by depriving it of food, why send food aid? I don’t think there was ever any expectation that the Maduro regime would accept the aid. Its purpose was to draw Venezuelan troops to the Colombian border, away from the capital city Caracas, and that is exactly what it has done. This further reduces Maduro’s ability to use the military to repress an uprising in the capital Caracas, further heightening the risk of revolution. It also increases the Venezuelan people’s temptation to overthrow the Maduro regime, because then they could gain access to the food aid immediately. Another revolution is neither inevitable nor desirable. But, in my view and following the logic of the model I have developed, Venezuela has to get to the brink of revolution before it has any hope of finding the path back to meaningful democracy. (Ben Zissimos is Associate Professor of Economics, University of Exeter) (This article was originally published on the Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Venezuela stands close to the brink of another revolution

The train station on the Vietnam-China border where <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-koreas-kim-sets-off-by-train-to-vietnam-for-summit-with-trump-report-199156">Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive</a> by rail was closed to the public and surrounded by armed guards on Monday, days ahead of the North Korean leader's summit with Donald Trump.

Kim boarded his trademark olive-green train in Pyongyang on Saturday and its armoured carriages were later spotted crossing a bridge into China.

The train apparently bypassed Beijing and is now thought to be chugging south en route to Vietnam, which is hastily preparing for the second meeting between Kim and US President Trump after their historic first summit in Singapore last June.

Sources in Vietnam said Kim could arrive at the Dong Dang border station in the early hours of Tuesday following his epic 4,000 kilometres, two-and-a-half-day journey.

His motorcade is likely to drive from Dong Dang to Hanoi and in an unprecedented move, the entire 170-kilometre stretch of road will be completely closed from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm Tuesday.

An AFP reporter at the scene saw armed guards stationed at Dong Dang station on Monday morning, while workers tended to the rail tracks.

"(The station) is closed, no public access. We don't know when it's closed until but around tomorrow," a guard told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Kim's route through China remained a tightly guarded secret.

Ifeng, the online Chinese-language news website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, posted a video on its Twitter-like Weibo account showing what it described as Kim's special train passing through Wuhan in the central province of Hubei at 7:15 am local time on Monday.

Vietnam said on Saturday that Kim would make an official visit to the country "in the coming days", but did not say whether that would be before or after the Trump-Kim summit on February 27-28.

Two sources told AFP on Monday that Kim would stay at a modern hotel in downtown Hanoi, about one kilometre (mile) from the colonial-era Government Guesthouse where the summit could take place.

The Melia hotel boasts of its "elegant interiors with gorgeous views of the city" and is connected to Hanoi's only Rolls-Royce dealership catering to the city's growing class of super-rich.

A staff member told AFP this week the hotel was fully booked until early March, but would not be drawn on any VIP guests.

The White House press centre will be set up at the same hotel, and North Korean security personnel were seen entering the building on Sunday.

During his trip, Kim is also expected to visit industrial zones in Vietnam's provinces of Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh, which is home to a Samsung factory.

Trump and Kim's first meeting ended with a vaguely worded statement to work towards the "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula, and both sides are under pressure to walk away from this week's summit with concrete deliverables.

The train station on the Vietnam-China border where Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive by rail was closed to the public and surrounded by armed guards on Monday, days ahead of the North Korean leader's summit with Donald Trump.

The train station on the Vietnam-China border where Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive by rail was closed to the public and surrounded by armed guards on Monday, days ahead of the North Korean leader's summit with Donald Trump. Kim boarded his trademark olive-green train in Pyongyang on Saturday and its armoured carriages were later spotted crossing a bridge into China. The train apparently bypassed Beijing and is now thought to be chugging south en route to Vietnam, which is hastily preparing for the second meeting between Kim and US President Trump after their historic first summit in Singapore last June. Sources in Vietnam said Kim could arrive at the Dong Dang border station in the early hours of Tuesday following his epic 4,000 kilometres, two-and-a-half-day journey. His motorcade is likely to drive from Dong Dang to Hanoi and in an unprecedented move, the entire 170-kilometre stretch of road will be completely closed from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm Tuesday. An AFP reporter at the scene saw armed guards stationed at Dong Dang station on Monday morning, while workers tended to the rail tracks. "(The station) is closed, no public access. We don't know when it's closed until but around tomorrow," a guard told AFP, requesting anonymity. Kim's route through China remained a tightly guarded secret. Ifeng, the online Chinese-language news website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, posted a video on its Twitter-like Weibo account showing what it described as Kim's special train passing through Wuhan in the central province of Hubei at 7:15 am local time on Monday. Vietnam said on Saturday that Kim would make an official visit to the country "in the coming days", but did not say whether that would be before or after the Trump-Kim summit on February 27-28. Two sources told AFP on Monday that Kim would stay at a modern hotel in downtown Hanoi, about one kilometre (mile) from the colonial-era Government Guesthouse where the summit could take place. The Melia hotel boasts of its "elegant interiors with gorgeous views of the city" and is connected to Hanoi's only Rolls-Royce dealership catering to the city's growing class of super-rich. A staff member told AFP this week the hotel was fully booked until early March, but would not be drawn on any VIP guests. The White House press centre will be set up at the same hotel, and North Korean security personnel were seen entering the building on Sunday. During his trip, Kim is also expected to visit industrial zones in Vietnam's provinces of Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh, which is home to a Samsung factory. Trump and Kim's first meeting ended with a vaguely worded statement to work towards the "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula, and both sides are under pressure to walk away from this week's summit with concrete deliverables.

Hanoi summit: Vietnam train station on lockdown ahead of Kim's arrival

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump has said he would be happy as long as <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-could-become-great-economic-power-without-nukes-trump-199406">North Korea maintains its pause on weapons testing</a>, and he was in no rush to strike a nuclear deal with its leader, Kim Jong Un, when they hold their second summit this week.

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US&nbsp;president and a North Korean leader.

The two leaders pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but their vague agreement has produced few results. US&nbsp;Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

As Kim made his way across China by train for the summit, North Korean state media warned Trump on Sunday not to listen to US&nbsp;critics who it said were disrupting efforts to improve ties.

Trump, speaking in Washington on the eve of his departure for Vietnam, said he believed he saw eye to eye with Kim and that they had developed "a very, very good relationship".

"I'm not in a rush. I don't want to rush anybody," Trump said. "I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy."

North Korea conducted its last nuclear test, its sixth, in September 2017. It last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up the nuclear weapons programme, which combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions.

But in recent days, Trump has signalled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearisation.

Trump said he and Kim expected to make further progress at the summit and again held out the promise that denuclearisation would help North Korea develop its economy.

He scoffed at critics of his handling of North Korea, and added that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been supportive of US&nbsp;efforts on North Korea.

Limited deal?&nbsp;

A South Korean presidential spokesman told reporters in Seoul the two sides might agree to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War at the summit.

The war ended in a truce, not a treaty, and the North has long called for a treaty to end it. It also wants security guarantees.

The United States has for years demanded North Korea's complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, before any concessions will be granted. North Korea denounced that stance as unilateral and "gangster like".

Trump's latest comments would appear to support speculation his administration is open to seeking a limited deal at the summit.

Officials in Washington and the South Korean capital, Seoul, have said discussions have included allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor and opening US-North Korea liaison offices.

Declaring an end to a technical state of hostilities that has existed since the 1950s, and allowing some inter-Korean projects like opening a tourism zone in North Korea were other possibilities.

US&nbsp;Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told "Fox News Sunday" he hoped for substantial progress this week but North Korea had yet to take "concrete" steps on denuclearisation and another summit might be needed beyond the one in Hanoi.

The New York Times reported Pompeo has conceded in private discussions with Korea experts that he would be lucky if North Korea agreed to dismantle 60 percent of what the United States has demanded. That would still be more than any other administration had achieved, he added.

The State Department declined to comment on the report.

North Korean state media confirmed on Sunday that Kim had left for the summit by train from Pyongyang, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Worker's Party, said on Monday the entire nation received news of the leader's long foreign trip with "countless excitement and thrill".

Kim’s train passed through the Chinese city of Wuhan at around 7 am&nbsp;(2300 GMT on Sunday), Yonhap news agency reported.

That would put it on track to arrive in Vietnam by early Tuesday.

Vietnam has released few details about arrangements for the summit including its specific location or timing.

US President Donald Trump has said he would be happy as long as North Korea maintains its pause on weapons testing, and he was in no rush to strike a nuclear deal with its leader, Kim Jong Un, when they hold their second summit this week.

US President Donald Trump has said he would be happy as long as North Korea maintains its pause on weapons testing, and he was in no rush to strike a nuclear deal with its leader, Kim Jong Un, when they hold their second summit this week. The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. The two leaders pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but their vague agreement has produced few results. US Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. As Kim made his way across China by train for the summit, North Korean state media warned Trump on Sunday not to listen to US critics who it said were disrupting efforts to improve ties. Trump, speaking in Washington on the eve of his departure for Vietnam, said he believed he saw eye to eye with Kim and that they had developed "a very, very good relationship". "I'm not in a rush. I don't want to rush anybody," Trump said. "I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy." North Korea conducted its last nuclear test, its sixth, in September 2017. It last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017. The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up the nuclear weapons programme, which combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions. But in recent days, Trump has signalled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearisation. Trump said he and Kim expected to make further progress at the summit and again held out the promise that denuclearisation would help North Korea develop its economy. He scoffed at critics of his handling of North Korea, and added that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been supportive of US efforts on North Korea. Limited deal? A South Korean presidential spokesman told reporters in Seoul the two sides might agree to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War at the summit. The war ended in a truce, not a treaty, and the North has long called for a treaty to end it. It also wants security guarantees. The United States has for years demanded North Korea's complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, before any concessions will be granted. North Korea denounced that stance as unilateral and "gangster like". Trump's latest comments would appear to support speculation his administration is open to seeking a limited deal at the summit. Officials in Washington and the South Korean capital, Seoul, have said discussions have included allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor and opening US-North Korea liaison offices. Declaring an end to a technical state of hostilities that has existed since the 1950s, and allowing some inter-Korean projects like opening a tourism zone in North Korea were other possibilities. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told "Fox News Sunday" he hoped for substantial progress this week but North Korea had yet to take "concrete" steps on denuclearisation and another summit might be needed beyond the one in Hanoi. The New York Times reported Pompeo has conceded in private discussions with Korea experts that he would be lucky if North Korea agreed to dismantle 60 percent of what the United States has demanded. That would still be more than any other administration had achieved, he added. The State Department declined to comment on the report. North Korean state media confirmed on Sunday that Kim had left for the summit by train from Pyongyang, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong. The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Worker's Party, said on Monday the entire nation received news of the leader's long foreign trip with "countless excitement and thrill". Kim’s train passed through the Chinese city of Wuhan at around 7 am (2300 GMT on Sunday), Yonhap news agency reported. That would put it on track to arrive in Vietnam by early Tuesday. Vietnam has released few details about arrangements for the summit including its specific location or timing.

Trump happy if North Korea doesn't test weapons; peace deal a possibility

US Vice President Mike Pence passed on a message from Donald Trump to Venezuela's opposition leader<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/venezuelas-guaido-meets-with-foreign-allies-for-anti-maduro-strategy-199636"> Juan Guaido</a> on Monday, telling him "we are with you 100 per cent."

Pence and Guaido met in Colombia's capital during a meeting of regional allies to discuss their next move in response to the crisis in Venezuela.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-slaps-sanctions-on-venezuelan-governors-supporting-nicolas-maduro-199710">US</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-slaps-sanctions-on-venezuelan-governors-supporting-nicolas-maduro-199710"> imposes sanctions on Venezuelan governors supporting Nicolas Maduro</a>

Guaido warned against "indulging" Venezuela's President <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/as-4-people-die-in-venezuela-border-clashes-juan-guaido-proposes-to-consider-all-options-to-oust-maduro-199344">Nicolas Maduro</a>, saying to do so "would be a threat to all of America."

Colombia's President Ivan Duque, meanwhile, called on regional allies to create a "more powerful and effective" ring around Maduro to facilitate the transition of power "demanded by the Venezuelan people."

The Lima Group meeting is taking place following a bloody weekend in which Guaido failed to fulfil his pledge to bring humanitarian aid into Venezuela after a military blockade ordered by Maduro stood firm.

Four people died in clashes on Venezuela's border with Brazil between security forces and civilians seeking to bring in aid.

Several hundred more were injured in the confrontations at the borders with Colombia and Brazil.

Trump "sent me here to stand with you and to stand with our friends and allies in Venezuela," Pence told Guaido, who caused a sensation a month ago in declaring himself acting president.

That sparked a power struggle between the National Assembly speaker and Maduro, whom Guaido has branded illegitimate over his disputed reelection last May.

"It's important to recover democracy in Venezuela because those usurping power today are a threat to the continent's stability," said Guaido.

He said on Sunday he was heading to Bogota to ask allies to consider "all measures" in helping end Venezuela's humanitarian crisis.

Years of recession and hyperinflation have left people suffering shortages of desperately needed food and medicines.

Guaido says 300,000 people could die if the aid isn't urgently brought in.

Maduro has rejected the aid, though, claiming it would be a pretext to a US invasion.

Before the meeting began, Peru's Foreign Affairs Minister Hugo de Zela said the Lima Group's aim was "to find a peaceful solution" to the political impasse.

US Vice President Mike Pence passed on a message from Donald Trump to Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido on Monday, telling him "we are with you 100 per cent.

US Vice President Mike Pence passed on a message from Donald Trump to Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido on Monday, telling him "we are with you 100 per cent." Pence and Guaido met in Colombia's capital during a meeting of regional allies to discuss their next move in response to the crisis in Venezuela. Also read: US imposes sanctions on Venezuelan governors supporting Nicolas Maduro Guaido warned against "indulging" Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, saying to do so "would be a threat to all of America." Colombia's President Ivan Duque, meanwhile, called on regional allies to create a "more powerful and effective" ring around Maduro to facilitate the transition of power "demanded by the Venezuelan people." The Lima Group meeting is taking place following a bloody weekend in which Guaido failed to fulfil his pledge to bring humanitarian aid into Venezuela after a military blockade ordered by Maduro stood firm. Four people died in clashes on Venezuela's border with Brazil between security forces and civilians seeking to bring in aid. Several hundred more were injured in the confrontations at the borders with Colombia and Brazil. Trump "sent me here to stand with you and to stand with our friends and allies in Venezuela," Pence told Guaido, who caused a sensation a month ago in declaring himself acting president. That sparked a power struggle between the National Assembly speaker and Maduro, whom Guaido has branded illegitimate over his disputed reelection last May. "It's important to recover democracy in Venezuela because those usurping power today are a threat to the continent's stability," said Guaido. He said on Sunday he was heading to Bogota to ask allies to consider "all measures" in helping end Venezuela's humanitarian crisis. Years of recession and hyperinflation have left people suffering shortages of desperately needed food and medicines. Guaido says 300,000 people could die if the aid isn't urgently brought in. Maduro has rejected the aid, though, claiming it would be a pretext to a US invasion. Before the meeting began, Peru's Foreign Affairs Minister Hugo de Zela said the Lima Group's aim was "to find a peaceful solution" to the political impasse.

Trump with you 100%: US Vice President Pence to Venezuela's Guaido

At a time when US president Donald Trump is holding peace talks with the Taliban terrorists and has decided to withdraw 7,000 troops in the next few months, at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pulwama. &nbsp;

While Indian security forces have killed the three main terrorists behind the Pulwama attack and the Indian government is weighing all possible options to dismantle terror outfits operating against India from across the border, this attack has once again reinforced the fact that the language of peace cannot be an effective tool to deal with terrorists. &nbsp; &nbsp;

In fact, ever since the Trump administration started peace talks with the Taliban, there were apprehensions in India, the US and elsewhere that such efforts would only embolden the Taliban. 
 
Sure, it was during the Obama administration that the US decided to hold talks with the Taliban and during the 2016 presidential election campaign, Trump too promised to end the war in Afghanistan.

Interestingly, the Trump Administration’s South Asia Policy released in 2017 underscored the need for US troops to stay on in Afghanistan. In fact, on the issue of promoting peace, security, stability and development in Afghanistan, Trump’s South Asia Policy mentioned that the US will deploy more troops in Afghanistan without fixing a timeline for the return of US forces.&nbsp;

However, over a year later in July 2018, President Trump shifted his position on Afghanistan issue with the intention of clinching a deal with the Taliban. It would give the US a morally legitimate reason to withdraw its troops.&nbsp;

At the same time, Russia and China’s efforts to hold talks with the Taliban was seen by the US as a major geo-strategic threat to its interests in the region.&nbsp;

While the possible re-emergence of the Taliban is being seen as the onset of another phase of darkness for that blighted country, for India, which has always supported the “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled,” process with participation of the elected government in Kabul, peace talks between the US and the Taliban and Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops, now pose serious security challenges.

Ever since reconstruction work began in Afghanistan, India has invested over $3 billion building roads, hospitals, schools, providing training, arms and fighter aircraft to the Afghan armed forces.&nbsp;

Taliban’s arrival on the centre stage will not only put India’s economic interests at stake in Afghanistan, it will also pose a huge security threat to India because Pakistan’s prominence in Afghanistan will increase and Islamabad could use the Taliban against Indians there. &nbsp;

Since Russia has also moved to improve ties with Pakistan and is more than keen to play an important role in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, as evident from Moscow’s own peace talks with the Taliban last year, the possible emergence of a strategic China-Russia-Pakistan axis along the Taliban, could jeopardise India’s position.&nbsp;

The Pulwama attack has only validated India’s security concerns. Counter-terrorism experts in the US have argued that it has highlighted the utter failure of the Trump administration in pressurising Pakistan to act against terrorist organisations operating from its soil.

They have also argued that the ISI must have helped JeM in carrying out the Pulwama attack. Afghanistan has also complained to the UN Security Council against Pakistan’s recent engagement with the Taliban.

While US National Security Adviser John Bolton has told his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval that America supports India’s right to self-defence, with both sides reaffirming to work together to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe haven for the JeM and other terror outfits, it remains to be seen how the Trump administration fulfills such promises.&nbsp;

At the same time, the Indian government needs to give up the tag of a soft-power state and take long-lasting punitive action against terrorist organisations and the country whose only aim is to destabilise India.&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-us-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-its-effects-on-india-2723612">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

At a time when US president Donald Trump is holding peace talks with the Taliban terrorists and has decided to withdraw 7,000 troops in the next few months, at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pulwama.

At a time when US president Donald Trump is holding peace talks with the Taliban terrorists and has decided to withdraw 7,000 troops in the next few months, at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pulwama. While Indian security forces have killed the three main terrorists behind the Pulwama attack and the Indian government is weighing all possible options to dismantle terror outfits operating against India from across the border, this attack has once again reinforced the fact that the language of peace cannot be an effective tool to deal with terrorists. In fact, ever since the Trump administration started peace talks with the Taliban, there were apprehensions in India, the US and elsewhere that such efforts would only embolden the Taliban. Sure, it was during the Obama administration that the US decided to hold talks with the Taliban and during the 2016 presidential election campaign, Trump too promised to end the war in Afghanistan. Interestingly, the Trump Administration’s South Asia Policy released in 2017 underscored the need for US troops to stay on in Afghanistan. In fact, on the issue of promoting peace, security, stability and development in Afghanistan, Trump’s South Asia Policy mentioned that the US will deploy more troops in Afghanistan without fixing a timeline for the return of US forces. However, over a year later in July 2018, President Trump shifted his position on Afghanistan issue with the intention of clinching a deal with the Taliban. It would give the US a morally legitimate reason to withdraw its troops. At the same time, Russia and China’s efforts to hold talks with the Taliban was seen by the US as a major geo-strategic threat to its interests in the region. While the possible re-emergence of the Taliban is being seen as the onset of another phase of darkness for that blighted country, for India, which has always supported the “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled,” process with participation of the elected government in Kabul, peace talks between the US and the Taliban and Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops, now pose serious security challenges. Ever since reconstruction work began in Afghanistan, India has invested over $3 billion building roads, hospitals, schools, providing training, arms and fighter aircraft to the Afghan armed forces. Taliban’s arrival on the centre stage will not only put India’s economic interests at stake in Afghanistan, it will also pose a huge security threat to India because Pakistan’s prominence in Afghanistan will increase and Islamabad could use the Taliban against Indians there. Since Russia has also moved to improve ties with Pakistan and is more than keen to play an important role in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, as evident from Moscow’s own peace talks with the Taliban last year, the possible emergence of a strategic China-Russia-Pakistan axis along the Taliban, could jeopardise India’s position. The Pulwama attack has only validated India’s security concerns. Counter-terrorism experts in the US have argued that it has highlighted the utter failure of the Trump administration in pressurising Pakistan to act against terrorist organisations operating from its soil. They have also argued that the ISI must have helped JeM in carrying out the Pulwama attack. Afghanistan has also complained to the UN Security Council against Pakistan’s recent engagement with the Taliban. While US National Security Adviser John Bolton has told his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval that America supports India’s right to self-defence, with both sides reaffirming to work together to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe haven for the JeM and other terror outfits, it remains to be seen how the Trump administration fulfills such promises. At the same time, the Indian government needs to give up the tag of a soft-power state and take long-lasting punitive action against terrorist organisations and the country whose only aim is to destabilise India. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and its effects on India

Democrats will subpoena <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/robert-mueller-former-trump-campaign-manager-broke-law-repeatedly-and-brazenly-199293">Special Counsel Robert Mueller</a>'s final report on his investigation into links between US President Donald Trump's 2016 election team and Russia if it is not given to Congress, senior lawmaker Adam Schiff said on Sunday.

Schiff, a Democrat who chairs the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said Democrats will also sue the government and call on Mueller to testify to Congress if necessary.

"We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress; we will take it to court if necessary. And in the end, I think the (Justice) Department understands they're going to have to make this public,” Schiff said in an appearance on ABC's "This Week."

Amid reports that Mueller could be near concluding a 21-month investigation into whether Trump's campaign team colluded with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, Democrats are pushing for it to be made public.

When Mueller completes his report, he will hand it into Trump's attorney general, William Barr.

But Barr indicated during his confirmation hearings that he could draft his own report to Congress and not turn Mueller's report over in its entirety.

Trump, a Republican, has denied any collusion took place between his campaign team and Moscow. Russia denies the claims of US intelligence agencies that it meddled in the 2016 elections.

Trump refers to the Mueller probe as a "witch hunt" and on Sunday wrote on Twitter that the only collusion with the Russians was committed by Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 election, and the Democratic National Committee.

Democrats hope to use the Mueller report as the basis for any further investigations into Trump, including whether they would initiate impeachment proceedings.

Schiff said he would be willing to take the administration to court if it does not turn over the Mueller report.

"We are going to get to the bottom of this," Schiff said. "We are going to share this information with the public and if the president is serious about all of his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of this report."

Democrats will subpoena Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report on his investigation into links between US President Donald Trump's 2016 election team and Russia if it is not given to Congress, senior lawmaker Adam Schiff said on Sunday.

Democrats will subpoena Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report on his investigation into links between US President Donald Trump's 2016 election team and Russia if it is not given to Congress, senior lawmaker Adam Schiff said on Sunday. Schiff, a Democrat who chairs the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said Democrats will also sue the government and call on Mueller to testify to Congress if necessary. "We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress; we will take it to court if necessary. And in the end, I think the (Justice) Department understands they're going to have to make this public,” Schiff said in an appearance on ABC's "This Week." Amid reports that Mueller could be near concluding a 21-month investigation into whether Trump's campaign team colluded with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, Democrats are pushing for it to be made public. When Mueller completes his report, he will hand it into Trump's attorney general, William Barr. But Barr indicated during his confirmation hearings that he could draft his own report to Congress and not turn Mueller's report over in its entirety. Trump, a Republican, has denied any collusion took place between his campaign team and Moscow. Russia denies the claims of US intelligence agencies that it meddled in the 2016 elections. Trump refers to the Mueller probe as a "witch hunt" and on Sunday wrote on Twitter that the only collusion with the Russians was committed by Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 election, and the Democratic National Committee. Democrats hope to use the Mueller report as the basis for any further investigations into Trump, including whether they would initiate impeachment proceedings. Schiff said he would be willing to take the administration to court if it does not turn over the Mueller report. "We are going to get to the bottom of this," Schiff said. "We are going to share this information with the public and if the president is serious about all of his claims of exoneration, then he should welcome the publication of this report."

Democrats will subpoena Mueller's Russia report if needed: US lawmaker

Shanghai led a rally across Asian markets Monday after Donald Trump said he would delay a hike in tariffs on Chinese goods citing "substantial progress" in trade talks and fuelling hopes of an end to their long-running stand-off.

Optimism over the negotiations had already provided support to global equities, spurring a rally in January and February, but the president's comments gave extra ammunition to investors to ramp up the buying.

The news also fired currency markets with the yuan extending gains to a seven-month high, while other high-yielding, riskier units were also up against the dollar.

Trump said on Twitter that the US "has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues".

He added: "As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1."

The president also said he planned to hold a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to sign a deal.

China's Xinhua news agency added that the two sides had "made substantial progress on specific issues" including on transfer of technology, intellectual property and agriculture.

'Sigh of relief'&nbsp;

In morning trade, Shanghai jumped 2.8 per cent and Hong Kong added 0.4 per cent while Tokyo ended the morning 0.7 per cent higher.

Sydney and Singapore each put on 0.1 per cent, while Seoul was flat, Taipei added 0.4 per cent and Jakarta rose 0.3 per cent.

The gains in Asia followed another positive lead from Wall Street, where the Dow enjoyed its ninth straight weekly gain -- the longest streak since May 1995.

"This is a sigh of relief," said Ben Emons, managing director for global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors. "Markets will still keep a level of caution, but this news is encouraging," he told Bloomberg TV.

The upbeat sentiment lifted high-risk currencies, with the yuan hitting its highest level against the dollar since July, while South Korea's won, the Australian dollar and the Indonesia rupiah were also well up.

Forex traders will be closely watching speeches this week from top Federal Reserve officials -- including chairman Jerome Powell's appearance in front of lawmakers -- hoping for clues about the bank's monetary policy plans.

Wall Street "will be looking for soothing comments about the future size of the balance sheet -- the bigger the better -- and insights into future rate hikes", said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Shanghai led a rally across Asian markets Monday after Donald Trump said he would delay a hike in tariffs on Chinese goods citing "substantial progress" in trade talks and fuelling hopes of an end to their long-running stand-off.

Shanghai led a rally across Asian markets Monday after Donald Trump said he would delay a hike in tariffs on Chinese goods citing "substantial progress" in trade talks and fuelling hopes of an end to their long-running stand-off. Optimism over the negotiations had already provided support to global equities, spurring a rally in January and February, but the president's comments gave extra ammunition to investors to ramp up the buying. The news also fired currency markets with the yuan extending gains to a seven-month high, while other high-yielding, riskier units were also up against the dollar. Trump said on Twitter that the US "has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues". He added: "As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1." The president also said he planned to hold a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to sign a deal. China's Xinhua news agency added that the two sides had "made substantial progress on specific issues" including on transfer of technology, intellectual property and agriculture. 'Sigh of relief' In morning trade, Shanghai jumped 2.8 per cent and Hong Kong added 0.4 per cent while Tokyo ended the morning 0.7 per cent higher. Sydney and Singapore each put on 0.1 per cent, while Seoul was flat, Taipei added 0.4 per cent and Jakarta rose 0.3 per cent. The gains in Asia followed another positive lead from Wall Street, where the Dow enjoyed its ninth straight weekly gain -- the longest streak since May 1995. "This is a sigh of relief," said Ben Emons, managing director for global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors. "Markets will still keep a level of caution, but this news is encouraging," he told Bloomberg TV. The upbeat sentiment lifted high-risk currencies, with the yuan hitting its highest level against the dollar since July, while South Korea's won, the Australian dollar and the Indonesia rupiah were also well up. Forex traders will be closely watching speeches this week from top Federal Reserve officials -- including chairman Jerome Powell's appearance in front of lawmakers -- hoping for clues about the bank's monetary policy plans. Wall Street "will be looking for soothing comments about the future size of the balance sheet -- the bigger the better -- and insights into future rate hikes", said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Asia markets rally as Trump delays China tariffs

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump on Monday said he would hold a summit with China to sign any final trade deal, a day after signalling that he planned to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement.

However, Trump also told a group of US governors at the White House that while a US-China trade pact could happen very soon, it also might not happen at all.

On Sunday, Trump said he would delay an increase in US tariffs on Chinese goods thanks to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-to-delay-china-tariff-increase-trump-199444">"productive" trade talks</a>. Assuming additional progress was made on both sides, Trump said he planned to meet with Xi at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

World markets rose on Monday after Trump's announcement of the delay, feeding investors' hopes that the trade war between the world's two biggest economies could soon see a resolution.

The seven-month-old trade war has rattled global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy.

Analysts say the two sides are likely to trumpet mutual agreements to resolve the easier parts of the trade dispute -- increasing purchases of American goods, more open investment in China and tougher protections for intellectual property and proprietary technology.

The harder parts covering issues such as scaling back China's ambitious industrial strategy for global preeminence, meanwhile, are another question.

Beijing has reportedly proposed a significant increase in its imports of US energy and agricultural exports. Still, a broader deal could be difficult given the US demands for far-reaching structural changes.

China's retaliation has hit US farm exports hard. The US Agriculture Department estimated this month that US soy exports would not return to their pre-trade war levels for another six years.

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he would hold a summit with China to sign any final trade deal, a day after signalling that he planned to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement.

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he would hold a summit with China to sign any final trade deal, a day after signalling that he planned to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement. However, Trump also told a group of US governors at the White House that while a US-China trade pact could happen very soon, it also might not happen at all. On Sunday, Trump said he would delay an increase in US tariffs on Chinese goods thanks to "productive" trade talks. Assuming additional progress was made on both sides, Trump said he planned to meet with Xi at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. World markets rose on Monday after Trump's announcement of the delay, feeding investors' hopes that the trade war between the world's two biggest economies could soon see a resolution. The seven-month-old trade war has rattled global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy. Analysts say the two sides are likely to trumpet mutual agreements to resolve the easier parts of the trade dispute -- increasing purchases of American goods, more open investment in China and tougher protections for intellectual property and proprietary technology. The harder parts covering issues such as scaling back China's ambitious industrial strategy for global preeminence, meanwhile, are another question. Beijing has reportedly proposed a significant increase in its imports of US energy and agricultural exports. Still, a broader deal could be difficult given the US demands for far-reaching structural changes. China's retaliation has hit US farm exports hard. The US Agriculture Department estimated this month that US soy exports would not return to their pre-trade war levels for another six years.

Trump says he plans summit with China to sign trade deal

Could the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/security-men-and-metal-detectors-vietnam-prepares-for-trump-kim-summit-199466">United States and North Korea</a> reach a historic accord -- or could it all fall to pieces?

As President Donald Trump prepares for a historic second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, observers see a wide array of possible outcomes.

Here are some scenarios that could emerge from the summit, which opens Wednesday in Hanoi:

Complete breakdown considered unlikely&nbsp;

The US point man on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, and his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol are holding working-level talks in Hanoi to lay the groundwork for the leaders.

A complete collapse of the summit seems "unlikely because Trump and Kim are so invested in the meeting," said Viping Narang, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But what comes out of the talks is another story. The two leaders' first summit in Singapore ended in a statement that agreed on "complete denuclearization" -- which Pyongyang defines broadly as an end to nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.

The United States says it is seeking the "verifiable and irreversible" denuclearization of North Korea -- a formulation Pyongyang is sure to resist.

Repeat of Singapore is defeat for Trump

A simple repeat of the Singapore declaration would be widely seen in the United States as a defeat for Trump.

"What would be a failure is another vague statement about intentions with very little concrete action that each side is committed to take," said Jung Pak, a former CIA analyst who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Narang said that a repeat of Singapore would be the favoured outcome for North Korea, which would face no fresh constraints.

"There's a paradox: for the summit to be useful for the North Koreans, the working-level meetings need to be as vague and drawn-out as possible," Narang said.

"But for the summit to be useful for the US, the working-level meetings have to deliver something concrete."

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if nothing major emerges by the US summer, hawks around Trump such as his national security adviser, John Bolton, could increasingly press to be done with talks and focus on pressure.

Or Trump yields ground&nbsp;

No matter how much Trump's team prepares him, this most untraditional of US presidents could reject expert advice and, as is his wont, go with his gut.

Such a scenario would be seen as a catastrophe by much of the Washington establishment, which has spent decades trying to figure out North Korea.

"A failure would be that the US gives more than it receives," said Abraham Denmark, director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Denmark voiced fear that Trump could declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War -- which closed only with an armistice -- without significant action from Pyongyang.

"Declaring an end to the war is a significant concession and should not be done lightly," he said, fearing an effect on the dynamics between the two Koreas.

One major fear for South Korea and Japan is that Trump reaches a deal that only restricts intercontinental missiles that could hit the United States, while not taking up shorter-range weapons that threaten them.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly spoken of the North Korea summit as a way to protect Americans, raising worries in the region.

US hopes for verifiable denuclearization

The best result for the United States would be a step-by-step, verifiable agreement in which the North Koreans commit to ending their nuclear program beyond verbal promises.

North Korean concessions over which the United States could cry victory include the suspension of all the regime's missile and nuclear sites and the destruction of some of them, Denmark said.

For Narang, the destruction of the Yongbyon complex -- North Korea's main nuclear centre -- would mark an important step.

But the key for Washington would be inspections by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency to verify North Korea is getting rid of its nuclear weapons.

In return, Washington could open a liaison office in Pyongyang -- a step toward full diplomatic relations -- or declare an end to the war.

Kim's most urgent goal is the lifting of international sanctions that have held back his hopes of economic development.

The United States has so far insisted that it will not provide aid until denuclearization.

But Biegun recently hinted at early steps, saying, "We didn't say we won't do anything until you do everything."

Could the United States and North Korea reach a historic accord -- or could it all fall to pieces? As President Donald Trump prepares for a historic second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, observers see a wide array of possible outcomes.

Could the United States and North Korea reach a historic accord -- or could it all fall to pieces? As President Donald Trump prepares for a historic second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, observers see a wide array of possible outcomes. Here are some scenarios that could emerge from the summit, which opens Wednesday in Hanoi: Complete breakdown considered unlikely The US point man on North Korea, Stephen Biegun, and his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol are holding working-level talks in Hanoi to lay the groundwork for the leaders. A complete collapse of the summit seems "unlikely because Trump and Kim are so invested in the meeting," said Viping Narang, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But what comes out of the talks is another story. The two leaders' first summit in Singapore ended in a statement that agreed on "complete denuclearization" -- which Pyongyang defines broadly as an end to nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. The United States says it is seeking the "verifiable and irreversible" denuclearization of North Korea -- a formulation Pyongyang is sure to resist. Repeat of Singapore is defeat for Trump A simple repeat of the Singapore declaration would be widely seen in the United States as a defeat for Trump. "What would be a failure is another vague statement about intentions with very little concrete action that each side is committed to take," said Jung Pak, a former CIA analyst who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Narang said that a repeat of Singapore would be the favoured outcome for North Korea, which would face no fresh constraints. "There's a paradox: for the summit to be useful for the North Koreans, the working-level meetings need to be as vague and drawn-out as possible," Narang said. "But for the summit to be useful for the US, the working-level meetings have to deliver something concrete." A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if nothing major emerges by the US summer, hawks around Trump such as his national security adviser, John Bolton, could increasingly press to be done with talks and focus on pressure. Or Trump yields ground No matter how much Trump's team prepares him, this most untraditional of US presidents could reject expert advice and, as is his wont, go with his gut. Such a scenario would be seen as a catastrophe by much of the Washington establishment, which has spent decades trying to figure out North Korea. "A failure would be that the US gives more than it receives," said Abraham Denmark, director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Denmark voiced fear that Trump could declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War -- which closed only with an armistice -- without significant action from Pyongyang. "Declaring an end to the war is a significant concession and should not be done lightly," he said, fearing an effect on the dynamics between the two Koreas. One major fear for South Korea and Japan is that Trump reaches a deal that only restricts intercontinental missiles that could hit the United States, while not taking up shorter-range weapons that threaten them. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly spoken of the North Korea summit as a way to protect Americans, raising worries in the region. US hopes for verifiable denuclearization The best result for the United States would be a step-by-step, verifiable agreement in which the North Koreans commit to ending their nuclear program beyond verbal promises. North Korean concessions over which the United States could cry victory include the suspension of all the regime's missile and nuclear sites and the destruction of some of them, Denmark said. For Narang, the destruction of the Yongbyon complex -- North Korea's main nuclear centre -- would mark an important step. But the key for Washington would be inspections by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency to verify North Korea is getting rid of its nuclear weapons. In return, Washington could open a liaison office in Pyongyang -- a step toward full diplomatic relations -- or declare an end to the war. Kim's most urgent goal is the lifting of international sanctions that have held back his hopes of economic development. The United States has so far insisted that it will not provide aid until denuclearization. But Biegun recently hinted at early steps, saying, "We didn't say we won't do anything until you do everything."

Nuclear breakthrough or vague promises? Outcomes abound for Trump and Kim

Dozens of North Korean security men with identical haircuts and suits marched off an aircraft at Hanoi airport on Sunday, as Vietnamese soldiers searched through shrubbery outside a posh hotel in the city centre days before a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-warns-us-sceptics-as-kim-heads-for-vietnam-for-summit-with-trump-199370">North Korea-US summit</a>.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on a commitment they made at their first meeting, in Singapore in June, to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear bombs.

They are expected to meet for their second summit in Hanoi's Government Guesthouse, an elegant, colonial-era building in the city centre, or at the nearby Metropole Hotel, sources have told Reuters.

Vietnam has confirmed that Kim will arrive for an official goodwill visit as well as the summit with Trump, but has released no further details regarding the location of meetings.

A Reuters witness saw Vietnamese soldiers in camouflaged fatigues sweeping the area around the Metropole with a metal detector. Its potted plants were thoroughly checked.

Teams of soldiers were also seen busy on nearby rooftops, installing radio devices and equipment under camouflaged webbing.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered that security should be a top priority for the summit, the government said in a post on its website.

The Southeast Asian country is relishing its role as peace maker, seeing it as an opportunity to burnish its international standing and balance it foreign ties.

Vietnam has pushed US and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official told Reuters.

Media published photographs taken at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport showing a North Korean cargo plane with its loading door open and the security men filing off onto the tarmac.

Some banners proclaiming the summit have gone up along Hanoi's tree-lined streets and some lamp posts are decked with North Korean, Vietnamese and US flags fluttering above a handshake design, but apart from that, for now at least, life goes on as normal.

Motorists have been warned to expect road closures when the leaders are in town.

Security at the train station in the town of Dang Dong, on the Chinese border where Kim is expected arrive by train, has also been stepped up.

Vietnamese soldiers were seen patrolling its streets on Sunday.

Dozens of North Korean security men with identical haircuts and suits marched off an aircraft at Hanoi airport on Sunday, as Vietnamese soldiers searched through shrubbery outside a posh hotel in the city centre days before a North Korea-US summit.

Dozens of North Korean security men with identical haircuts and suits marched off an aircraft at Hanoi airport on Sunday, as Vietnamese soldiers searched through shrubbery outside a posh hotel in the city centre days before a North Korea-US summit. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on a commitment they made at their first meeting, in Singapore in June, to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear bombs. They are expected to meet for their second summit in Hanoi's Government Guesthouse, an elegant, colonial-era building in the city centre, or at the nearby Metropole Hotel, sources have told Reuters. Vietnam has confirmed that Kim will arrive for an official goodwill visit as well as the summit with Trump, but has released no further details regarding the location of meetings. A Reuters witness saw Vietnamese soldiers in camouflaged fatigues sweeping the area around the Metropole with a metal detector. Its potted plants were thoroughly checked. Teams of soldiers were also seen busy on nearby rooftops, installing radio devices and equipment under camouflaged webbing. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered that security should be a top priority for the summit, the government said in a post on its website. The Southeast Asian country is relishing its role as peace maker, seeing it as an opportunity to burnish its international standing and balance it foreign ties. Vietnam has pushed US and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official told Reuters. Media published photographs taken at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport showing a North Korean cargo plane with its loading door open and the security men filing off onto the tarmac. Some banners proclaiming the summit have gone up along Hanoi's tree-lined streets and some lamp posts are decked with North Korean, Vietnamese and US flags fluttering above a handshake design, but apart from that, for now at least, life goes on as normal. Motorists have been warned to expect road closures when the leaders are in town. Security at the train station in the town of Dang Dong, on the Chinese border where Kim is expected arrive by train, has also been stepped up. Vietnamese soldiers were seen patrolling its streets on Sunday.

Security men and metal detectors: Vietnam prepares for Trump-Kim summit

The United States is delaying <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-says-china-has-agreed-to-cut-tariffs-on-us-made-cars-181113">a planned increase of tariffs on more than $200 billion in Chinese exports</a> after both sides hailed "substantial progress" made in trade talks.

US President Donald Trump also said Sunday that he planned to hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago to ink a deal.

"I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues," Trump wrote on Twitter.

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I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues. As a result of these very......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1099800961089003522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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....productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. &amp; China!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1099803719435239426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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After exchanging tit-for-tat tariffs on more than $300 billion in total two-way trade, Trump and Xi in December declared a truce and agreed to hold off on further tariffs or retaliation for 90 days.

Trump initiated the trade war, which ate into company profits and contributed to stock market plunges, because of complaints over unfair Chinese trade practices -- concerns shared by the European Union, Japan and others.

"As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. &amp; China!" Trump tweeted.

China's official Xinhua news agency echoed those sentiments, saying the two sides "made substantial progress on specific issues" such as the transfer of technology, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, the services sector, agriculture and exchange rates.

The delegations "came a step closer to realizing the important consensus reached" by Trump and Xi when they agreed to the truce in December, it added.

The report said the parties also agreed to "carry out follow-ups in accordance with the instructions of the two heads of state."

Trump had already expressed optimism about the negotiations Friday after meeting with China's vice premier Liu He, who led the Chinese side for the talks that concluded Sunday.

Steps forward 
Tokyo stocks opened higher supported by optimism over the deal that also lifted US shares. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.59 percent, or 125.58 points, at 21,551.09 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.58 percent, or 9.32 points, at 1,618.84.

The dollar fetched 110.76 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.75 yen in New York Friday.

In Tokyo, some China-linked shares were higher, with construction machinery maker Komatsu up 1.71 percent at 2,873 yen and electronic parts maker Rohm up 2.05 percent at 7,460 yen.

Xi also struck a positive tone in a letter Liu delivered to Trump, saying he hoped the negotiations would be held in a "win-win" spirit that would lead to a mutually beneficial agreement.

The Chinese president expressed hope that the talks maintain "a mutually respectful, cooperative and win-win attitude" and lead to a "mutually beneficial" agreement.

Trump said Friday that an agreement on currency manipulation will be included in the trade pact, but otherwise few details have been made public.

The seven-month-old trade war has rattled global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy.

Analysts say the two sides are likely to trumpet mutual agreements to resolve the easier parts of the trade dispute -- increasing purchases of American goods, more open investment in China and tougher protections for intellectual property and proprietary technology.

The harder parts covering issues such as scaling back China's ambitious industrial strategy for global preeminence, meanwhile, are another question.

Beijing has reportedly proposed a significant increase in its imports of US energy and agricultural exports. Still, a broader deal could be difficult given the US demands for far-reaching structural changes.

China's retaliation has hit US farm exports hard. The US Agriculture Department estimated this month that US soy exports would not return to their pre-trade war levels for another six years.

The United States is delaying a planned increase of tariffs on more than $200 billion in Chinese exports after both sides hailed "substantial progress" made in trade talks.

The United States is delaying a planned increase of tariffs on more than $200 billion in Chinese exports after both sides hailed "substantial progress" made in trade talks. US President Donald Trump also said Sunday that he planned to hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago to ink a deal. "I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues," Trump wrote on Twitter. I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues. As a result of these very...... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 × ....productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 × After exchanging tit-for-tat tariffs on more than $300 billion in total two-way trade, Trump and Xi in December declared a truce and agreed to hold off on further tariffs or retaliation for 90 days. Trump initiated the trade war, which ate into company profits and contributed to stock market plunges, because of complaints over unfair Chinese trade practices -- concerns shared by the European Union, Japan and others. "As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!" Trump tweeted. China's official Xinhua news agency echoed those sentiments, saying the two sides "made substantial progress on specific issues" such as the transfer of technology, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, the services sector, agriculture and exchange rates. The delegations "came a step closer to realizing the important consensus reached" by Trump and Xi when they agreed to the truce in December, it added. The report said the parties also agreed to "carry out follow-ups in accordance with the instructions of the two heads of state." Trump had already expressed optimism about the negotiations Friday after meeting with China's vice premier Liu He, who led the Chinese side for the talks that concluded Sunday. Steps forward Tokyo stocks opened higher supported by optimism over the deal that also lifted US shares. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.59 percent, or 125.58 points, at 21,551.09 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.58 percent, or 9.32 points, at 1,618.84. The dollar fetched 110.76 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.75 yen in New York Friday. In Tokyo, some China-linked shares were higher, with construction machinery maker Komatsu up 1.71 percent at 2,873 yen and electronic parts maker Rohm up 2.05 percent at 7,460 yen. Xi also struck a positive tone in a letter Liu delivered to Trump, saying he hoped the negotiations would be held in a "win-win" spirit that would lead to a mutually beneficial agreement. The Chinese president expressed hope that the talks maintain "a mutually respectful, cooperative and win-win attitude" and lead to a "mutually beneficial" agreement. Trump said Friday that an agreement on currency manipulation will be included in the trade pact, but otherwise few details have been made public. The seven-month-old trade war has rattled global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy. Analysts say the two sides are likely to trumpet mutual agreements to resolve the easier parts of the trade dispute -- increasing purchases of American goods, more open investment in China and tougher protections for intellectual property and proprietary technology. The harder parts covering issues such as scaling back China's ambitious industrial strategy for global preeminence, meanwhile, are another question. Beijing has reportedly proposed a significant increase in its imports of US energy and agricultural exports. Still, a broader deal could be difficult given the US demands for far-reaching structural changes. China's retaliation has hit US farm exports hard. The US Agriculture Department estimated this month that US soy exports would not return to their pre-trade war levels for another six years.

Trump says he is delaying tariff increase on Chinese goods

US President Donald Trump on Monday expressed concern about oil prices and repeated his previous calls on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to keep prices steady.

On Monday, oil prices edged up amid political uncertainty and sanctions and involuntary curbs on several producers but could face pressure from continued anxiety over the global economy and record US exports.

"Oil prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax and take it easy. World cannot take a price hike - fragile!" Trump, whose administration has sanctioned crude from Iran and Venezuela, tweeted.

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Oil prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax and take it easy. World cannot take a price hike - fragile!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1100002139282309121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
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OPEC members and non-OPEC producers such as Russia are leading efforts to rebalance the market and support oil prices.

Trump, who has made the US economy one of his top issues, has repeatedly tweeted about oil prices and OPEC, airing complaints about higher prices, including ahead of the organizations meeting in December.

US President Donald Trump on Monday expressed concern about oil prices and repeated his previous calls on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to keep prices steady.

US President Donald Trump on Monday expressed concern about oil prices and repeated his previous calls on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to keep prices steady. On Monday, oil prices edged up amid political uncertainty and sanctions and involuntary curbs on several producers but could face pressure from continued anxiety over the global economy and record US exports. "Oil prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax and take it easy. World cannot take a price hike - fragile!" Trump, whose administration has sanctioned crude from Iran and Venezuela, tweeted. Oil prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax and take it easy. World cannot take a price hike - fragile! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019 × OPEC members and non-OPEC producers such as Russia are leading efforts to rebalance the market and support oil prices. Trump, who has made the US economy one of his top issues, has repeatedly tweeted about oil prices and OPEC, airing complaints about higher prices, including ahead of the organizations meeting in December.

Trump calls on OPEC to 'relax,' says oil prices are too high

Hopes that <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-happy-if-north-korea-doesnt-test-weapons-peace-deal-a-possibility-199577">Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un</a> will formally declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War at the Hanoi summit rose Monday after South Korea said the two leaders could reach an agreement.

The devastating conflict between communist North Korea, backed by China, and the capitalist South, aided by the United States, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving Pyongyang and Washington still technically at war.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-could-become-great-economic-power-without-nukes-trump-199406">North Korea could become 'great economic power' without nukes, says Trump</a>

"I believe that the possibility is there," the South's presidential Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters about a formal declaration.

"There is no way of knowing what kind of declaration it might be, but I believe the US and North Korea may reach an agreement."

President Moon Jae-in said in October "it was only a matter of time" before Washington and Pyongyang declared an end to the war.

The US has also struck an upbeat tone. Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea, said earlier this month that Trump was "ready to end this war", fuelling speculation that the formal end of the conflict may be near.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/why-china-remains-key-player-as-us-north-korea-meet-199202">Why China remains key player as </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/why-china-remains-key-player-as-us-north-korea-meet-199202">US</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/why-china-remains-key-player-as-us-north-korea-meet-199202">, North Korea meet</a>

Kim, the leader of North Korea, is due to meet the US president in the Vietnamese capital on Wednesday and Thursday, where it is hoped the pair will make progress in talks on denuclearisation, and a possible peace treaty.

But Blue House spokesman Kim said even if the US and North Korean leaders declare the end of the Korean War, a formal peace treaty will likely be signed at the "last stage of the denuclearisation process" of the Korean peninsula -- and may take a long time to materialise.&nbsp;

"A peace treaty and a declaration of the end of the war are different," he said, adding that the treaty must be a "multilateral effort" involving South Korea and China.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/i-dont-want-my-children-to-bear-burden-of-nuclear-arms-says-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-199161">I don't want my children to bear </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/i-dont-want-my-children-to-bear-burden-of-nuclear-arms-says-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-199161">burden</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/i-dont-want-my-children-to-bear-burden-of-nuclear-arms-says-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-199161"> of nuclear arms, says North Korea's Kim Jong-un</a>

North Korea, the US-led United Nations Command and China were all signatories to the armistice.

The Hanoi summit comes after Trump and Kim met in June in Singapore, producing a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation, but progress has since stalled, with the two sides disagreeing over what the agreement meant.

Observers say tangible progress is needed in Hanoi to avoid the talks being dismissed as a publicity stunt.

Meanwhile the respected US-based website 38 North reported on Monday there is no indication Pyongyang is operating its nuclear reactors at the Yongbyon complex.

The dismantling of the complex is expected to be among the key denuclearisation steps that the US and North Korean leaders will likely discuss in Hanoi.

"There is no steam venting from the generator hall, nor is there any hot water effluent at the cooling water outfall pipe," the website said.

Hopes that Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will formally declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War at the Hanoi summit rose Monday after South Korea said the two leaders could reach an agreement.

Hopes that Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will formally declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War at the Hanoi summit rose Monday after South Korea said the two leaders could reach an agreement. The devastating conflict between communist North Korea, backed by China, and the capitalist South, aided by the United States, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving Pyongyang and Washington still technically at war. Also read: North Korea could become 'great economic power' without nukes, says Trump "I believe that the possibility is there," the South's presidential Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters about a formal declaration. "There is no way of knowing what kind of declaration it might be, but I believe the US and North Korea may reach an agreement." President Moon Jae-in said in October "it was only a matter of time" before Washington and Pyongyang declared an end to the war. The US has also struck an upbeat tone. Stephen Biegun, the US special envoy for North Korea, said earlier this month that Trump was "ready to end this war", fuelling speculation that the formal end of the conflict may be near. Also read: Why China remains key player as US, North Korea meet Kim, the leader of North Korea, is due to meet the US president in the Vietnamese capital on Wednesday and Thursday, where it is hoped the pair will make progress in talks on denuclearisation, and a possible peace treaty. But Blue House spokesman Kim said even if the US and North Korean leaders declare the end of the Korean War, a formal peace treaty will likely be signed at the "last stage of the denuclearisation process" of the Korean peninsula -- and may take a long time to materialise. "A peace treaty and a declaration of the end of the war are different," he said, adding that the treaty must be a "multilateral effort" involving South Korea and China. Also read: I don't want my children to bear burden of nuclear arms, says North Korea's Kim Jong-un North Korea, the US-led United Nations Command and China were all signatories to the armistice. The Hanoi summit comes after Trump and Kim met in June in Singapore, producing a vaguely worded agreement on denuclearisation, but progress has since stalled, with the two sides disagreeing over what the agreement meant. Observers say tangible progress is needed in Hanoi to avoid the talks being dismissed as a publicity stunt. Meanwhile the respected US-based website 38 North reported on Monday there is no indication Pyongyang is operating its nuclear reactors at the Yongbyon complex. The dismantling of the complex is expected to be among the key denuclearisation steps that the US and North Korean leaders will likely discuss in Hanoi. "There is no steam venting from the generator hall, nor is there any hot water effluent at the cooling water outfall pipe," the website said.

Korean War could be declared over at Hanoi summit: South Korea

An impersonator of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday said Vietnamese authorities were deporting him from the country, just 24 hours before the real Kim was expected to arrive in Hanoi ahead of a summit with the president of the United States.

Donald Trump is due to attend a second summit with the North Korean dictator on Wednesday and Thursday.

In a Facebook post, the comedian, known as Howard X, said three officers had escorted him to the airport in the capital, where he boarded a Vietnam Airlines flight bound for Singapore.

The police had detained him on Friday to question the impersonator, who is a resident of Hong Kong, and told him that his visa was "invalid."

"My real crime was looking like the president of North Korea," the comedian said, who also published a photograph of him bidding farewell to an impersonator of Donald Trump, whom the local authorities have allowed remaining in the country for several more days but have barred him from any public performances.

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The pair kissed and hugged as they said their goodbyes in front of a throng of cameras and reporters at a hotel in Hanoi on Monday before Howard X was escorted to the airport.

The real Kim Jong-un is expected to arrive Monday or Tuesday in Hanoi for a state visit before the summit with the US president later this week.

In the first visit by a North Korean leader to Vietnam since the reunification of the Southeast Asian country in 1975, Kim will meet with the president and General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, at the presidential palace in Hanoi.

Kim and Trump are scheduled to hold their second summit in the Vietnamese capital after meeting for the first time in Singapore in Jun. 2018.

The two are expected to discuss the stalled denuclearization of the Pyongyang regime, which the pair agreed to work towards after their summit last year.

Howard X and Trump impersonator Russell White also made headlines in the run-up to that first meeting in Singapore.

The fake Kim had said that Singaporean authorities had briefly detained him at the airport upon his arrival, but he was allowed to remain for the duration of the summit.

An impersonator of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday said Vietnamese authorities were deporting him from the country, just 24 hours before the real Kim was expected to arrive in Hanoi ahead of a summit with the president of the United States.

An impersonator of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday said Vietnamese authorities were deporting him from the country, just 24 hours before the real Kim was expected to arrive in Hanoi ahead of a summit with the president of the United States. Donald Trump is due to attend a second summit with the North Korean dictator on Wednesday and Thursday. In a Facebook post, the comedian, known as Howard X, said three officers had escorted him to the airport in the capital, where he boarded a Vietnam Airlines flight bound for Singapore. The police had detained him on Friday to question the impersonator, who is a resident of Hong Kong, and told him that his visa was "invalid." "My real crime was looking like the president of North Korea," the comedian said, who also published a photograph of him bidding farewell to an impersonator of Donald Trump, whom the local authorities have allowed remaining in the country for several more days but have barred him from any public performances. × The pair kissed and hugged as they said their goodbyes in front of a throng of cameras and reporters at a hotel in Hanoi on Monday before Howard X was escorted to the airport. The real Kim Jong-un is expected to arrive Monday or Tuesday in Hanoi for a state visit before the summit with the US president later this week. In the first visit by a North Korean leader to Vietnam since the reunification of the Southeast Asian country in 1975, Kim will meet with the president and General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, at the presidential palace in Hanoi. Kim and Trump are scheduled to hold their second summit in the Vietnamese capital after meeting for the first time in Singapore in Jun. 2018. The two are expected to discuss the stalled denuclearization of the Pyongyang regime, which the pair agreed to work towards after their summit last year. Howard X and Trump impersonator Russell White also made headlines in the run-up to that first meeting in Singapore. The fake Kim had said that Singaporean authorities had briefly detained him at the airport upon his arrival, but he was allowed to remain for the duration of the summit.

Vietnam deports Kim Jong-un impersonator ahead of Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi

These are tough times for Saudi Arabia.

The drama enveloping the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the brutal way in which it was carried out has captured public attention. In reality, however, Saudi Arabia’s real problems began earlier as a result of its conduct of the Yemen War.

Saudi interference in Yemen that culminated in military intervention predates the four-year-old war. Yemen has long been perceived by Saudi Arabia as a threat. That threat went far beyond current Iranian support for the Houthis. In fact, it was Saudi divide-and-rule tactics in Yemen, changing Saudi attitudes towards the Houthis and Saudi Arabia’s global campaign to promote anti-Shiite, anti-Iranian strands of ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam that helped pave the way for the current Yemen crisis.

It is only half a century ago that the Houthis were part of a Saudi effort to confront Arab nationalism. As an aside, Saudis and Israelis cooperated already then with Israeli military aircraft dropping weapons for the Saudi-backed rebels that included the Houthis. The deterioration in Saudi-Houthi relations accelerated just after the turn to this century when the Saudis funded the opening of a Salafi centre on the outskirts of the Houthi capital of Saada.

The centre constituted not only a challenge to the Houthis but also to the power of the Houthi leadership. It successfully appealed to the socially disadvantaged as well as youth who were attracted by Salafism’s egalitarianism, resented the power of the older generation and saw puritan Islam as a vehicle to challenge the traditional hierarchy. Fear of the Wahhabi/Salafi encroachment fuelled the Houthi’s armed fight against the government of the then President Ali Abdullah Saleh, his Saudi-backed successor Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and ultimately the Saudis themselves, which led to the kingdom’s military intervention in Yemen in March 2015.

To initially counter the threat, the leadership of the Houthis, Zaidis who are Shiites with practices more akin to Sunni Muslim ritual, turned to Iran for support in religious education, a development that further angered the kingdom, and laid the groundwork for a war that has devastated a country that already ranked as one of the world’s poorest.

The Saudi intervention was, however, about more than just confronting an Iranian proxy on its doorstep. For one, if anything, it was the intervention that really drove the Houthis and Iranians closer to one another. Even so, the Houthis remain an opportunity in a far broader Saudi-Iranian rivalry rather than a strategic target for the Iranians.&nbsp;

The Salmans, the king and his son, have since coming to office and despite the emergence of Donald Trump, taken to new heights a far more assertive foreign and military policy that was initially crafted by their predecessors in response to the popular Arab revolts in 2011. Make however no mistake, Saudi Arabia’s new assertiveness is not a declaration of independence from the United States even if the kingdom is expanding its international relations as is evident in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s recent tour of Asia.

On the contrary, Prince Mohammed made that very clear in multiple interviews. His goal was to force the United States to reengage in the Middle East as the best guarantor for regional stability. The Saudis appear to be operating on the basis of Karl Marx’s Verelendungs theory: things have to get worse to get better. That is the part of the backdrop of the stalled military intervention in Yemen. Dangling Iran as the real threat emanating from Yemen serves the Saudis’ purpose.

In doing so Saudi Arabia has proven to be driven. It is a drive that is fuelled by a perception that Iran poses an existential threat to Saudi Arabia. In fact, that may not be incorrect, certainly from the perception of the monarchy and its ruling family.

Saudi Arabia dazzles with the billions of dollars gained from oil exports that it is able to invest overseas and the investment opportunities it creates in the kingdom itself. But the truth of the matter is that long-term Saudi Arabia’s future is not that of a regional hegemon.

Saudi regional leadership, even if it has been tarnished in Yemen in military and reputational terms, amounts to exploitation of a window of opportunity rather than reliance on the assets and power needed to sustain it. Saudi Arabia’s interest is to extend its window of opportunity for as long as possible. That window of opportunity exists as long as the obvious regional powers – Iran, Turkey and Egypt – are in various degrees of disrepair. For now, punitive economic sanctions and international isolation take care of Iran.

And that is what bites. Iran may not be Arab and maintains a sense of Persian superiority, but it has like Turkey and Egypt assets Saudi Arabia lacks: a large population base, an industrial base, a huge domestic market, a battle-hardened military, a deep-rooted culture, a history of empire and geography that makes it a crossroads. Mecca and money will not be able to compete.

Add to all of these two factors. The Islamic regime came to power in a revolution that preceded the 2011 Arab revolts by 32 years. Moreover, the Iranian revolution toppled a monarch, not a president and an icon of US power in the Middle East.

Perhaps, more importantly, if one disregards the sanctioning of Iran, it is Iran rather than Saudi Arabia that is likely to shape the future energy architecture of Eurasia. Oil, in terms of demand, is a diminishing commodity. If the long-term future is renewables, the medium term will be shaped by gas. Iran has gas, Saudi Arabia does not, at least not the kind of gas it can export. In fact, Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserves. Again, disregarding the sanctions, Iran would have in the next five years 24.6 billion cubic metres available for annual piped exports beyond its current supply commitments.

If, indeed, Iran poses an existential threat to the rule of the Al Saud family that it cannot eliminate and at best contain with the support of the United States, the question is what Saudi Arabia’s goal in Yemen is as well as in its broader rivalry with Iran. There are those who coherently argue that Saudi Arabia’s goal in Yemen may have initially been the roll-back of Houthi advances with their occupation of the Yemeni capital Sana’s and large parts of Yemen, destruction of Houthi power and forcing them into a situation in which they would have had to accept a Saudi-dictated end to the war.

Four years into the war, that is not a realistic goal. Short of that, the question is how sincere Saudi and for that matter, UAE interest is in finding a way out of the war. It is conceivable that short of outright victory, Saudi Arabia would want to keep Yemen weak and the Houthis militarily on the defensive. That is at best only sustainable in the short term. The fact of the matter is that the reputational damage Saudi Arabia has suffered is starting to hurt witness measures taken by the US Congress and Germany’s decision to halt arms sales to the kingdom. Conflicts are only ended, if not resolved if the pain of continuing the conflict is greater than the pain of ending it. In Yemen, Saudi Arabia could well be nearing the inflection point.

The problem is that even if the United Nations-mediated peace talks ultimately produce an end to the war, Yemen, if anything, will pose in the post-war era an even greater and more real threat. Yemen for much of post-World War two history has been an afterthought in the international community if it sparked a thought at all. Yet, what a post-war Yemen will represent is a devastated country that largely needs to be rebuilt from scratch, a country whose traumatised population has suffered one the world’s worst humanitarian disasters and will need all the after-care that goes with that.

Beyond the taking care of the most immediate humanitarian issues, there is little reason to believe that investors and governments with massive aid packages and offers of reconstruction will be knocking on Yemen’s doors. Like in Syria and Libya, the risk is of the emergence of a generation that has nothing to look forward to and nothing to lose. In Yemen, that generation is likely to deeply resent what it perceives Saudi Arabia has done to their country. If Saudi Arabia, long saw Yemen as the Gulf’s most populous nation with a battle-hardened military that needed to be managed, that new generation is likely to put flesh on the skeleton.

It's not a pretty picture to look forward to. And it is one in which the damage has already been done. Having said that, its never too late to try to limit the damage, if not reverse affairs. That, however, would take the kind of courage and vision that Prince Mohammed and others in power elsewhere in the Middle East have yet to demonstrate. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

These are tough times for Saudi Arabia. The drama enveloping the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the brutal way in which it was carried out has captured public attention.

These are tough times for Saudi Arabia. The drama enveloping the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the brutal way in which it was carried out has captured public attention. In reality, however, Saudi Arabia’s real problems began earlier as a result of its conduct of the Yemen War. Saudi interference in Yemen that culminated in military intervention predates the four-year-old war. Yemen has long been perceived by Saudi Arabia as a threat. That threat went far beyond current Iranian support for the Houthis. In fact, it was Saudi divide-and-rule tactics in Yemen, changing Saudi attitudes towards the Houthis and Saudi Arabia’s global campaign to promote anti-Shiite, anti-Iranian strands of ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam that helped pave the way for the current Yemen crisis. It is only half a century ago that the Houthis were part of a Saudi effort to confront Arab nationalism. As an aside, Saudis and Israelis cooperated already then with Israeli military aircraft dropping weapons for the Saudi-backed rebels that included the Houthis. The deterioration in Saudi-Houthi relations accelerated just after the turn to this century when the Saudis funded the opening of a Salafi centre on the outskirts of the Houthi capital of Saada. The centre constituted not only a challenge to the Houthis but also to the power of the Houthi leadership. It successfully appealed to the socially disadvantaged as well as youth who were attracted by Salafism’s egalitarianism, resented the power of the older generation and saw puritan Islam as a vehicle to challenge the traditional hierarchy. Fear of the Wahhabi/Salafi encroachment fuelled the Houthi’s armed fight against the government of the then President Ali Abdullah Saleh, his Saudi-backed successor Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and ultimately the Saudis themselves, which led to the kingdom’s military intervention in Yemen in March 2015. To initially counter the threat, the leadership of the Houthis, Zaidis who are Shiites with practices more akin to Sunni Muslim ritual, turned to Iran for support in religious education, a development that further angered the kingdom, and laid the groundwork for a war that has devastated a country that already ranked as one of the world’s poorest. The Saudi intervention was, however, about more than just confronting an Iranian proxy on its doorstep. For one, if anything, it was the intervention that really drove the Houthis and Iranians closer to one another. Even so, the Houthis remain an opportunity in a far broader Saudi-Iranian rivalry rather than a strategic target for the Iranians. The Salmans, the king and his son, have since coming to office and despite the emergence of Donald Trump, taken to new heights a far more assertive foreign and military policy that was initially crafted by their predecessors in response to the popular Arab revolts in 2011. Make however no mistake, Saudi Arabia’s new assertiveness is not a declaration of independence from the United States even if the kingdom is expanding its international relations as is evident in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s recent tour of Asia. On the contrary, Prince Mohammed made that very clear in multiple interviews. His goal was to force the United States to reengage in the Middle East as the best guarantor for regional stability. The Saudis appear to be operating on the basis of Karl Marx’s Verelendungs theory: things have to get worse to get better. That is the part of the backdrop of the stalled military intervention in Yemen. Dangling Iran as the real threat emanating from Yemen serves the Saudis’ purpose. In doing so Saudi Arabia has proven to be driven. It is a drive that is fuelled by a perception that Iran poses an existential threat to Saudi Arabia. In fact, that may not be incorrect, certainly from the perception of the monarchy and its ruling family. Saudi Arabia dazzles with the billions of dollars gained from oil exports that it is able to invest overseas and the investment opportunities it creates in the kingdom itself. But the truth of the matter is that long-term Saudi Arabia’s future is not that of a regional hegemon. Saudi regional leadership, even if it has been tarnished in Yemen in military and reputational terms, amounts to exploitation of a window of opportunity rather than reliance on the assets and power needed to sustain it. Saudi Arabia’s interest is to extend its window of opportunity for as long as possible. That window of opportunity exists as long as the obvious regional powers – Iran, Turkey and Egypt – are in various degrees of disrepair. For now, punitive economic sanctions and international isolation take care of Iran. And that is what bites. Iran may not be Arab and maintains a sense of Persian superiority, but it has like Turkey and Egypt assets Saudi Arabia lacks: a large population base, an industrial base, a huge domestic market, a battle-hardened military, a deep-rooted culture, a history of empire and geography that makes it a crossroads. Mecca and money will not be able to compete. Add to all of these two factors. The Islamic regime came to power in a revolution that preceded the 2011 Arab revolts by 32 years. Moreover, the Iranian revolution toppled a monarch, not a president and an icon of US power in the Middle East. Perhaps, more importantly, if one disregards the sanctioning of Iran, it is Iran rather than Saudi Arabia that is likely to shape the future energy architecture of Eurasia. Oil, in terms of demand, is a diminishing commodity. If the long-term future is renewables, the medium term will be shaped by gas. Iran has gas, Saudi Arabia does not, at least not the kind of gas it can export. In fact, Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserves. Again, disregarding the sanctions, Iran would have in the next five years 24.6 billion cubic metres available for annual piped exports beyond its current supply commitments. If, indeed, Iran poses an existential threat to the rule of the Al Saud family that it cannot eliminate and at best contain with the support of the United States, the question is what Saudi Arabia’s goal in Yemen is as well as in its broader rivalry with Iran. There are those who coherently argue that Saudi Arabia’s goal in Yemen may have initially been the roll-back of Houthi advances with their occupation of the Yemeni capital Sana’s and large parts of Yemen, destruction of Houthi power and forcing them into a situation in which they would have had to accept a Saudi-dictated end to the war. Four years into the war, that is not a realistic goal. Short of that, the question is how sincere Saudi and for that matter, UAE interest is in finding a way out of the war. It is conceivable that short of outright victory, Saudi Arabia would want to keep Yemen weak and the Houthis militarily on the defensive. That is at best only sustainable in the short term. The fact of the matter is that the reputational damage Saudi Arabia has suffered is starting to hurt witness measures taken by the US Congress and Germany’s decision to halt arms sales to the kingdom. Conflicts are only ended, if not resolved if the pain of continuing the conflict is greater than the pain of ending it. In Yemen, Saudi Arabia could well be nearing the inflection point. The problem is that even if the United Nations-mediated peace talks ultimately produce an end to the war, Yemen, if anything, will pose in the post-war era an even greater and more real threat. Yemen for much of post-World War two history has been an afterthought in the international community if it sparked a thought at all. Yet, what a post-war Yemen will represent is a devastated country that largely needs to be rebuilt from scratch, a country whose traumatised population has suffered one the world’s worst humanitarian disasters and will need all the after-care that goes with that. Beyond the taking care of the most immediate humanitarian issues, there is little reason to believe that investors and governments with massive aid packages and offers of reconstruction will be knocking on Yemen’s doors. Like in Syria and Libya, the risk is of the emergence of a generation that has nothing to look forward to and nothing to lose. In Yemen, that generation is likely to deeply resent what it perceives Saudi Arabia has done to their country. If Saudi Arabia, long saw Yemen as the Gulf’s most populous nation with a battle-hardened military that needed to be managed, that new generation is likely to put flesh on the skeleton. It's not a pretty picture to look forward to. And it is one in which the damage has already been done. Having said that, its never too late to try to limit the damage, if not reverse affairs. That, however, would take the kind of courage and vision that Prince Mohammed and others in power elsewhere in the Middle East have yet to demonstrate. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

In Yemen, Saudi Arabia could be nearing the inflection point

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office said in a sentencing memo released Saturday that President <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/paul-manafort-allegedly-lied-about-giving-polling-data-to-russian-report-189113">Donald Trump's former campaign director Paul Manafort was a "bold" criminal</a> who "repeatedly and brazenly" broke the law.&nbsp;

Manafort, 69, who pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges, faces sentencing on March 13. The memo addressed to the judge in charge of his case did not recommend a specific sentence -- but outlined the gravity of his crimes.

It said he violated the law for years and his sentence "must take into account the gravity of this conduct," to deter both Manafort and anyone who would commit similar crimes.

Manafort is one of six former Trump associates and senior aides who have been charged by Mueller's team, which is believed to be nearing the end of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

"Manafort committed an array of felonies for over a decade, up through the fall of 2018," the memo said, naming crimes including tax fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, bank fraud and violating a law related to lobbying.

"His criminal actions were bold," it continued, pointing out that they continued after he was charged, including attempting to tamper with witnesses, and lying to the FBI, government agencies and even his own lawyer.

Mueller's office last week said it agreed with a Justice Department calculation that Manafort should face up to 24 years in prison, after he was found to have violated a plea deal which agreed to a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Earlier this month, District Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed with prosecutors that Manafort had "intentionally" lied to investigators about his contacts with a suspected Russian operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, in 2016 and 2017 -- despite having pledged to cooperate as part of his September plea agreement.&nbsp;

Jackson also ruled that Manafort had lied about a secretive payment he made to a law firm, and lied on another occasion when investigators queried him about a separate, still secret investigation related to the Mueller probe.

Dated Friday, the memo was expected to be made public on Friday evening -- but was not released until Saturday, with several passages redacted.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office said in a sentencing memo released Saturday that President Donald Trump's former campaign director Paul Manafort was a "bold" criminal who "repeatedly and brazenly" broke the law.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office said in a sentencing memo released Saturday that President Donald Trump's former campaign director Paul Manafort was a "bold" criminal who "repeatedly and brazenly" broke the law. Manafort, 69, who pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges, faces sentencing on March 13. The memo addressed to the judge in charge of his case did not recommend a specific sentence -- but outlined the gravity of his crimes. It said he violated the law for years and his sentence "must take into account the gravity of this conduct," to deter both Manafort and anyone who would commit similar crimes. Manafort is one of six former Trump associates and senior aides who have been charged by Mueller's team, which is believed to be nearing the end of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. "Manafort committed an array of felonies for over a decade, up through the fall of 2018," the memo said, naming crimes including tax fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, bank fraud and violating a law related to lobbying. "His criminal actions were bold," it continued, pointing out that they continued after he was charged, including attempting to tamper with witnesses, and lying to the FBI, government agencies and even his own lawyer. Mueller's office last week said it agreed with a Justice Department calculation that Manafort should face up to 24 years in prison, after he was found to have violated a plea deal which agreed to a maximum sentence of 10 years. Earlier this month, District Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed with prosecutors that Manafort had "intentionally" lied to investigators about his contacts with a suspected Russian operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, in 2016 and 2017 -- despite having pledged to cooperate as part of his September plea agreement. Jackson also ruled that Manafort had lied about a secretive payment he made to a law firm, and lied on another occasion when investigators queried him about a separate, still secret investigation related to the Mueller probe. Dated Friday, the memo was expected to be made public on Friday evening -- but was not released until Saturday, with several passages redacted.

Robert Mueller: Former Trump campaign manager broke law 'repeatedly and brazenly'

Their first meeting in Singapore was a blockbuster piece of diplomatic theatre criticised as light on substance.&nbsp;

For the sequel, set in Hanoi this week, US President Donald Trump and <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-koreas-kim-sets-off-by-train-to-vietnam-for-summit-with-trump-report-199156">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un</a> will have to contend with harder questions.

Here is a look at what was exactly agreed in Singapore last year and what has transpired since then.

What did the Singapore statement say?

The inaugural summit between the leaders of two countries that never signed a peace treaty after the 1950-53 Korean War was brief -- from 9 am to 2 pm.

In a short pronouncement, they pledged to seek a "lasting and stable peace regime", with Kim committing "to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".

There were no specific details, and disagreement over its interpretation has caused follow-up negotiations to stall.

Even South Korea's dovish President Moon Jae-in, who seized on last year's Winter Olympics to broker talks between rivals who had been trading personal insults and threats of war, has since described the text as "somewhat vague".

What does Washington say?

In the months since Singapore, Washington has pushed to maintain sanctions against the North until it's "final, fully verified denuclearisation" and has repeatedly referred to "the denuclearisation of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim".

But that is not what the words in the statement say, and throughout the process with Trump Pyongyang has never made a public commitment to give up its weapons, rather than denuclearising the peninsula as a whole.

Diplomats say Washington's phrasing could be a negotiating ploy by the Trump administration, effectively daring Pyongyang to come out and deny it.

At the same time, Trump said last week: "I'm in no rush. There's no testing. As long as there's not testing, I'm in no rush."

What is Pyongyang's view?

The North has condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's insistence on its nuclear disarmament as "gangster-like".

It has long understood the denuclearisation of "the peninsula" as taking in issues such as the US military presence in South Korea and Washington's nuclear umbrella over Seoul, and a lengthy commentary carried by the official KCNA news agency in December urged the US to "study geography".

"When we talk about the Korean Peninsula, it includes the territory of our republic and also the entire region of (South Korea) where the United States has placed its invasive force," it said.

Pyongyang says it has already taken substantive measures by stopping missile and nuclear testing and the time has come for the US to respond with moves of its own, such as lifting sanctions.

And in his New Year's Speech, North Korean leader Kim said Pyongyang is committed to denuclearisation of the peninsula - but only if Washington drops economic sanctions.

Is there a way through?

Stephen Biegun, the US Special Representative for North Korea, has stressed that Washington has no intention of easing its US or United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang.

But, he has said, "we are prepared to explore (a) number of other things that could build trust".

Earlier this month he told a Stanford University audience: "I have this perfect outcome moment where the last nuclear weapon leaves North Korea, the sanctions are lifted, the flag goes up in the embassy and the treaty is signed in the same hour.

"Now that's an ideal, I know, and these things are going to move haltingly along different courses."

How do Trump and Kim get on?

In 2017, as missiles flew and North Korean ground shook to the blast of a nuclear test, they called each other "dotard" and "Rocket Man".

But the Singapore meeting began with a one-on-one meeting, with only their translators present.

Trump has since hailed his "great chemistry" with Kim and says he has "gotten to know him &amp; fully understand how capable he is", dangling the prospect of the impoverished, sanctions-hit North becoming a "great Economic Powerhouse" under Kim.

"He wrote me beautiful letters," the US president told a rally in October. "And they're great letters. We fell in love."

Their first meeting in Singapore was a blockbuster piece of diplomatic theatre criticised as light on substance. For the sequel, set in Hanoi this week, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have to contend with harder questions.

Their first meeting in Singapore was a blockbuster piece of diplomatic theatre criticised as light on substance. For the sequel, set in Hanoi this week, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have to contend with harder questions. Here is a look at what was exactly agreed in Singapore last year and what has transpired since then. What did the Singapore statement say? The inaugural summit between the leaders of two countries that never signed a peace treaty after the 1950-53 Korean War was brief -- from 9 am to 2 pm. In a short pronouncement, they pledged to seek a "lasting and stable peace regime", with Kim committing "to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula". There were no specific details, and disagreement over its interpretation has caused follow-up negotiations to stall. Even South Korea's dovish President Moon Jae-in, who seized on last year's Winter Olympics to broker talks between rivals who had been trading personal insults and threats of war, has since described the text as "somewhat vague". What does Washington say? In the months since Singapore, Washington has pushed to maintain sanctions against the North until it's "final, fully verified denuclearisation" and has repeatedly referred to "the denuclearisation of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim". But that is not what the words in the statement say, and throughout the process with Trump Pyongyang has never made a public commitment to give up its weapons, rather than denuclearising the peninsula as a whole. Diplomats say Washington's phrasing could be a negotiating ploy by the Trump administration, effectively daring Pyongyang to come out and deny it. At the same time, Trump said last week: "I'm in no rush. There's no testing. As long as there's not testing, I'm in no rush." What is Pyongyang's view? The North has condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's insistence on its nuclear disarmament as "gangster-like". It has long understood the denuclearisation of "the peninsula" as taking in issues such as the US military presence in South Korea and Washington's nuclear umbrella over Seoul, and a lengthy commentary carried by the official KCNA news agency in December urged the US to "study geography". "When we talk about the Korean Peninsula, it includes the territory of our republic and also the entire region of (South Korea) where the United States has placed its invasive force," it said. Pyongyang says it has already taken substantive measures by stopping missile and nuclear testing and the time has come for the US to respond with moves of its own, such as lifting sanctions. And in his New Year's Speech, North Korean leader Kim said Pyongyang is committed to denuclearisation of the peninsula - but only if Washington drops economic sanctions. Is there a way through? Stephen Biegun, the US Special Representative for North Korea, has stressed that Washington has no intention of easing its US or United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang. But, he has said, "we are prepared to explore (a) number of other things that could build trust". Earlier this month he told a Stanford University audience: "I have this perfect outcome moment where the last nuclear weapon leaves North Korea, the sanctions are lifted, the flag goes up in the embassy and the treaty is signed in the same hour. "Now that's an ideal, I know, and these things are going to move haltingly along different courses." How do Trump and Kim get on? In 2017, as missiles flew and North Korean ground shook to the blast of a nuclear test, they called each other "dotard" and "Rocket Man". But the Singapore meeting began with a one-on-one meeting, with only their translators present. Trump has since hailed his "great chemistry" with Kim and says he has "gotten to know him & fully understand how capable he is", dangling the prospect of the impoverished, sanctions-hit North becoming a "great Economic Powerhouse" under Kim. "He wrote me beautiful letters," the US president told a rally in October. "And they're great letters. We fell in love."

Trump-Kim II: The summit, the script, and the sequel

Any safe zone along Turkey's border with Syria must be under Turkish control, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday in an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk.

He was speaking after a senior US administration official said on Friday Washington would leave about 400 US troops in Syria, a reversal by President Donald Trump that could pave the way for US allies to keep troops there.

"If there is to be a safe zone along our border then it must be under our control. Because that is my border," Erdogan said.

Trump ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 US troops from Syria in December after saying they had defeated Islamic State, a decision criticised by allies and US lawmakers.

He was persuaded on Thursday that about 200 US troops should join what is expected to be a total commitment of some 800 to 1,500 troops from European allies to set up a safe zone in northeastern Syria, a US administration official said.

Ankara regards the Kurdish YPG militia, which controls that region and has been a key US ally against Islamic State, as a terrorist group. Turkey has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily against the YPG east of the Euphrates river where the safe zone is planned.

Any safe zone along Turkey's border with Syria must be under Turkish control, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday in an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk.

Any safe zone along Turkey's border with Syria must be under Turkish control, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday in an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk. He was speaking after a senior US administration official said on Friday Washington would leave about 400 US troops in Syria, a reversal by President Donald Trump that could pave the way for US allies to keep troops there. "If there is to be a safe zone along our border then it must be under our control. Because that is my border," Erdogan said. Trump ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 US troops from Syria in December after saying they had defeated Islamic State, a decision criticised by allies and US lawmakers. He was persuaded on Thursday that about 200 US troops should join what is expected to be a total commitment of some 800 to 1,500 troops from European allies to set up a safe zone in northeastern Syria, a US administration official said. Ankara regards the Kurdish YPG militia, which controls that region and has been a key US ally against Islamic State, as a terrorist group. Turkey has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily against the YPG east of the Euphrates river where the safe zone is planned.

Erdogan says safe zone on Syria border must be under Turkey's control

Cubans began voting in a referendum on a new constitution Sunday with the backdrop of mounting pressure from the United States and continued support for the socialist regime of Venezuela.

"We Cubans are voting for our new constitution, we're voting for Latin America and the Caribbean," said President Miguel Diaz-Canel said when placing his vote.

"We're also voting for Venezuela, we're defending Venezuela because in Venezuela the continent's dignity is in play."

More than eight million Cubans are registered to vote in a referendum the government has turned into a plebiscite on the "irrevocable" role of socialism in the island nation.

Some 25,000 electoral colleges opened their doors at 7:00 am on a calm day. Results are expected on Monday afternoon.

Diaz-Canel hit out at the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay for joining Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido Saturday when he led an attempt to force humanitarian aid across the Colombian border into Venezuela.

"A group of presidents on the Colombian border, they look like clowns," said Diaz-Canel.

Cuba has been trying to galvanize international support for its ally and against "United States military aggression."

Maduro claims the humanitarian aid, mostly supplied by Washington, is a smokescreen for a US invasion.

"Today we're going to have a victory that is ours, that is Latin America's and Caribbean's and also a victory for Venezuela, important support for Venezuela," said Diaz-Canel.

Cuba's vote comes after the latest attack on socialism by US President Donald Trump, who last week said socialist ideology is "dying."

But analyst Carlos Alzugaray told AFP that Trump's words served only to boost those voting in favour of the new constitution, which reiterates the central role of socialism and communism in the country.

"Many people, seeing his quotes, will vote yes because they want to defend their independence against the US threat," said Alzugaray.

The new constitution, replacing the 1976 version, recognizes a limited role for the free market and private investment, but only under the control of the Communist Party.

It enshrines socialism as the country's only ideology, something that has been criticized by the Catholic church.

Cuba's banned opposition, which normally calls for the abstention at elections or spoiling of ballot sheets, has this time campaigned for a no vote.

"It is obvious that this goes beyond a no to a constitution, it's a no to a regime which aims to perpetuate itself in power," dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer told AFP.

The referendum contains only two options: yes or no to the new constitution.

"Two options, one which favours the regime and the other which represents the only opportunity the people have had in years to say no," added Ferrer.

Cubans began voting in a referendum on a new constitution Sunday with the backdrop of mounting pressure from the United States and continued support for the socialist regime of Venezuela.

Cubans began voting in a referendum on a new constitution Sunday with the backdrop of mounting pressure from the United States and continued support for the socialist regime of Venezuela. "We Cubans are voting for our new constitution, we're voting for Latin America and the Caribbean," said President Miguel Diaz-Canel said when placing his vote. "We're also voting for Venezuela, we're defending Venezuela because in Venezuela the continent's dignity is in play." More than eight million Cubans are registered to vote in a referendum the government has turned into a plebiscite on the "irrevocable" role of socialism in the island nation. Some 25,000 electoral colleges opened their doors at 7:00 am on a calm day. Results are expected on Monday afternoon. Diaz-Canel hit out at the presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay for joining Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido Saturday when he led an attempt to force humanitarian aid across the Colombian border into Venezuela. "A group of presidents on the Colombian border, they look like clowns," said Diaz-Canel. Cuba has been trying to galvanize international support for its ally and against "United States military aggression." Maduro claims the humanitarian aid, mostly supplied by Washington, is a smokescreen for a US invasion. "Today we're going to have a victory that is ours, that is Latin America's and Caribbean's and also a victory for Venezuela, important support for Venezuela," said Diaz-Canel. Cuba's vote comes after the latest attack on socialism by US President Donald Trump, who last week said socialist ideology is "dying." But analyst Carlos Alzugaray told AFP that Trump's words served only to boost those voting in favour of the new constitution, which reiterates the central role of socialism and communism in the country. "Many people, seeing his quotes, will vote yes because they want to defend their independence against the US threat," said Alzugaray. The new constitution, replacing the 1976 version, recognizes a limited role for the free market and private investment, but only under the control of the Communist Party. It enshrines socialism as the country's only ideology, something that has been criticized by the Catholic church. Cuba's banned opposition, which normally calls for the abstention at elections or spoiling of ballot sheets, has this time campaigned for a no vote. "It is obvious that this goes beyond a no to a constitution, it's a no to a regime which aims to perpetuate itself in power," dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer told AFP. The referendum contains only two options: yes or no to the new constitution. "Two options, one which favours the regime and the other which represents the only opportunity the people have had in years to say no," added Ferrer.

Cuba votes in referendum on new constitution

US President Donald Trump on Sunday raised hopes that the United States and China would settle their trade dispute ahead of a March 1 deadline as negotiators met to wrap up the latest round of talks.

The US president said in a tweet that the trade talks on Saturday were "very productive."

Talks were extended through the weekend in a bid to iron out differences on changes to China's treatment of state-owned enterprises, subsidies, forced technology transfers and cyber theft.

The two sides have had no agreement on an enforcement mechanism. Washington wanted a strong mechanism to ensure that Chinese reform commitments were followed through to completion, while Beijing insisted upon what it called a "fair and objective" process.

On Sunday, top officials including US&nbsp;Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrived for talks at the Winder Building, which houses the headquarters of the United States Trade Representative, an hour later than usual.

Both Mnuchin and Liu went inside without commenting, with Liu smiling when asked if the two sides would have a deal by the end of the day.

Trump said on Friday there was a "good chance" a deal would emerge, and that he might extend the March 1 deadline and move forward with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Extending the deadline would mean putting on hold a scheduled increase in tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the United States.

An extension would hold off a worsening of the trade war that has already disrupted commerce worth hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, slowed global economic growth and roiled financial markets.

On Friday, Trump and Mnuchin said US and Chinese officials had reached an agreement on currency issues, but did not give details. US officials have long argued that China's yuan is undervalued, giving it a trade advantage and partly offsetting US tariffs.

China has committed to buying an additional 10 million metric tonnes of US soybeans.

Reuters reported exclusively on Wednesday that both sides were drafting memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade, including subsidies.

But Trump said he did not like MOUs because they are short-term, and he wanted a long-term deal.

Trump said the biggest decisions could be reached when he meets with Xi, probably in Florida next month, and that their talks may extend beyond trade to encompass Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday raised hopes that the United States and China would settle their trade dispute ahead of a March 1 deadline as negotiators met to wrap up the latest round of talks.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday raised hopes that the United States and China would settle their trade dispute ahead of a March 1 deadline as negotiators met to wrap up the latest round of talks. The US president said in a tweet that the trade talks on Saturday were "very productive." Talks were extended through the weekend in a bid to iron out differences on changes to China's treatment of state-owned enterprises, subsidies, forced technology transfers and cyber theft. The two sides have had no agreement on an enforcement mechanism. Washington wanted a strong mechanism to ensure that Chinese reform commitments were followed through to completion, while Beijing insisted upon what it called a "fair and objective" process. On Sunday, top officials including US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrived for talks at the Winder Building, which houses the headquarters of the United States Trade Representative, an hour later than usual. Both Mnuchin and Liu went inside without commenting, with Liu smiling when asked if the two sides would have a deal by the end of the day. Trump said on Friday there was a "good chance" a deal would emerge, and that he might extend the March 1 deadline and move forward with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Extending the deadline would mean putting on hold a scheduled increase in tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports into the United States. An extension would hold off a worsening of the trade war that has already disrupted commerce worth hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, slowed global economic growth and roiled financial markets. On Friday, Trump and Mnuchin said US and Chinese officials had reached an agreement on currency issues, but did not give details. US officials have long argued that China's yuan is undervalued, giving it a trade advantage and partly offsetting US tariffs. China has committed to buying an additional 10 million metric tonnes of US soybeans. Reuters reported exclusively on Wednesday that both sides were drafting memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, agriculture and non-tariff barriers to trade, including subsidies. But Trump said he did not like MOUs because they are short-term, and he wanted a long-term deal. Trump said the biggest decisions could be reached when he meets with Xi, probably in Florida next month, and that their talks may extend beyond trade to encompass Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp.

Trump raises hopes of trade deal on final day of US-China talks

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said North Korea could become one of the world's "great economic powers" if it relinquished its nuclear arsenal, ahead of his summit with Kim Jong Un.

In a series of tweets on the eve of his departure for this week's summit in Hanoi, Trump also praised China and Russia for enforcing sanctions on North Korea while insisting he had a "great relationship with Chairman Kim."

"Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" he wrote.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1099660044004704260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Trump said he and Kim "both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearisation?"

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Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1099654763531055104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Their groundbreaking summit in June produced only a vague statement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Kim is demanding the lifting of punishing sanctions while Washington insists that the measures must remain in place until North Korea gives up its nuclear arsenal.

In his tweets, Trump spoke highly of China's President Xi Jinping, saying he had been "very helpful" in his support for the summit.

"The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful."

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful. Great relationship with Chairman Kim!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1099656646840778752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said North Korea could become one of the world's "great economic powers" if it relinquished its nuclear arsenal, ahead of his summit with Kim Jong Un.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said North Korea could become one of the world's "great economic powers" if it relinquished its nuclear arsenal, ahead of his summit with Kim Jong Un. In a series of tweets on the eve of his departure for this week's summit in Hanoi, Trump also praised China and Russia for enforcing sanctions on North Korea while insisting he had a "great relationship with Chairman Kim." "Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!" he wrote. Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 × Trump said he and Kim "both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearisation?" Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 × Their groundbreaking summit in June produced only a vague statement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Kim is demanding the lifting of punishing sanctions while Washington insists that the measures must remain in place until North Korea gives up its nuclear arsenal. In his tweets, Trump spoke highly of China's President Xi Jinping, saying he had been "very helpful" in his support for the summit. "The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful." President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful. Great relationship with Chairman Kim! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019 ×

North Korea could become 'great economic power' without nukes: Trump

North Korea warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to listen to US critics who were disrupting efforts to improve ties, as its leader, Kim Jong Un, made his way across China by train to a second summit with Trump in Vietnam.

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

But their vaguely worded agreement has produced few results and US Democratic senators and US security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

The North's KCNA state news agency said such opposition was aimed at derailing the talks.

"If the present US administration reads others' faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity," the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up its nuclear weapons programme, which, combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions.

But a week before his second summit with Kim, Trump signalled a possible softening of that stance, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there was meaningful progress on denuclearisation.

Trump also said he was in no rush and had no pressing schedule for North Korea's denuclearisation, hinting at a more gradual, reciprocal approach, long favoured by Pyongyang.

The North also wants security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty.

In a letter to Trump last week, three Democratic chairmen of key House committees accused the administration of withholding information on the negotiations with North Korea.

"There are ample reasons to be sceptical that Chairman Kim is committed to a nuclear-free North Korea," the lawmakers wrote.

US intelligence officials recently testified to Congress that North Korea was unlikely to ever give up its entire nuclear arsenal.

KCNA, referring to US fears of the North's weapons, said if this week's talks ended without results, "the US people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic".

Red carpet send-off

Few details of Kim's trip to Vietnam had been announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong.

In rare, revealing coverage of Kim's travel, the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper featured photographs of him getting a red-carpet send-off on Saturday afternoon and waving from a train door while holding a cigarette.

He was joined by top officials also involved in the Singapore summit, including Kim Yong Chol, former spy chief and Kim's top envoy in negotiations with the United States, as well as senior party aide Ri Su Yong, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and defence chief No Kwang Chol.

Other senior officials, such as his de facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, and Kim Hyok Chol, negotiations counterpart to US envoy Stephen Biegun, were already in Hanoi to prepare for the summit.

Both sides are under pressure to forge more specific agreements than were reached in Singapore.

The two leaders are likely to try to build on their personal connection to push things forward in Hanoi, even if only incrementally, analysts said.

"They will not make an agreement which breaks up the current flow of diplomacy. (President Trump) has mentioned that they'll meet again; even if there is a low-level agreement, they will seek to keep things moving," said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Train spotting

Few details of summit arrangements have been released.

Some lamp posts on Hanoi's tree-lined streets are decked with North Korean, US&nbsp;and Vietnamese flags fluttering above a handshake design, and security has been stepped up at locations that could be the summit venue, or where the leaders might stay.

It could take Kim at least 2-1/2 days to travel to Vietnam by train.

Some carriages of a green train were spotted at Beijing's station on Sunday, but it was not confirmed it was Kim's.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim's train had passed through a station in China's port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, at around 1 pm (0500 GMT).

China has given no details of his trip. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

North Korea warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to listen to US critics who were disrupting efforts to improve ties, as its leader, Kim Jong Un, made his way across China by train to a second summit with Trump in Vietnam.

North Korea warned President Donald Trump on Sunday not to listen to US critics who were disrupting efforts to improve ties, as its leader, Kim Jong Un, made his way across China by train to a second summit with Trump in Vietnam. The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But their vaguely worded agreement has produced few results and US Democratic senators and US security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The North's KCNA state news agency said such opposition was aimed at derailing the talks. "If the present US administration reads others' faces, lending an ear to others, it may face the shattered dream of the improvement of the relations with the DPRK and world peace and miss the rare historic opportunity," the news agency said in a commentary, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up its nuclear weapons programme, which, combined with its missile capabilities, pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions. But a week before his second summit with Kim, Trump signalled a possible softening of that stance, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there was meaningful progress on denuclearisation. Trump also said he was in no rush and had no pressing schedule for North Korea's denuclearisation, hinting at a more gradual, reciprocal approach, long favoured by Pyongyang. The North also wants security guarantees and a formal end of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a treaty. In a letter to Trump last week, three Democratic chairmen of key House committees accused the administration of withholding information on the negotiations with North Korea. "There are ample reasons to be sceptical that Chairman Kim is committed to a nuclear-free North Korea," the lawmakers wrote. US intelligence officials recently testified to Congress that North Korea was unlikely to ever give up its entire nuclear arsenal. KCNA, referring to US fears of the North's weapons, said if this week's talks ended without results, "the US people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic". Red carpet send-off Few details of Kim's trip to Vietnam had been announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong. In rare, revealing coverage of Kim's travel, the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper featured photographs of him getting a red-carpet send-off on Saturday afternoon and waving from a train door while holding a cigarette. He was joined by top officials also involved in the Singapore summit, including Kim Yong Chol, former spy chief and Kim's top envoy in negotiations with the United States, as well as senior party aide Ri Su Yong, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and defence chief No Kwang Chol. Other senior officials, such as his de facto chief of staff, Kim Chang Son, and Kim Hyok Chol, negotiations counterpart to US envoy Stephen Biegun, were already in Hanoi to prepare for the summit. Both sides are under pressure to forge more specific agreements than were reached in Singapore. The two leaders are likely to try to build on their personal connection to push things forward in Hanoi, even if only incrementally, analysts said. "They will not make an agreement which breaks up the current flow of diplomacy. (President Trump) has mentioned that they'll meet again; even if there is a low-level agreement, they will seek to keep things moving," said Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Train spotting Few details of summit arrangements have been released. Some lamp posts on Hanoi's tree-lined streets are decked with North Korean, US and Vietnamese flags fluttering above a handshake design, and security has been stepped up at locations that could be the summit venue, or where the leaders might stay. It could take Kim at least 2-1/2 days to travel to Vietnam by train. Some carriages of a green train were spotted at Beijing's station on Sunday, but it was not confirmed it was Kim's. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim's train had passed through a station in China's port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, at around 1 pm (0500 GMT). China has given no details of his trip. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

North Korea warns US sceptics as Kim heads for Vietnam for summit with Trump

The Venezuelan Congress with its opposition majority reported this Saturday that by 4:00 pm, four people had been slain while more than 20 suffered bullet wounds on Venezuela's border with Brazil, as the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/two-killed-as-venezuela-aid-showdown-turns-violent-199226">arrival of truckloads of humanitarian aid</a>, forbidden to enter the country by the Maduro government, stirred up conflict there.

"What happened on the border with Brazil wasn't ordinary repression...what occurred in the Venezuelan town of Santa Elena de Uairen was a massacre of the indigenous Pemon people, in which we know of four people killed and more than 20 with bullet wounds," lawmaker Juan Andres Mejia told a press conference.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/venezuela-crisis-us-will-take-action-says-mike-pompeo-199230">US 'will take action', says Mike Pompeo</a>

This came soon after the speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, who a month ago proclaimed himself interim president of the country, said that the first of two truckloads of humanitarian aid from Brazil had entered Venezuelan territory, despite the Nicolas Maduro government's order to close the border.

The triumph proved to be short-lived, however, when around 50 anti-Chavista demonstrators on the border began throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at a checkpoint of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), Venezuela's militarized police. Considering the conflict, the two trucks loaded with humanitarian aid retreated some distance back into Brazil.

As for Colombia, the other nation preparing to send humanitarian aid to the beleaguered Caribbean country, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Saturday that he is breaking off all political and diplomatic ties with the Colombian government, and gave Colombian officials 24 hours to get out of the country.

"My patience is exhausted, I can no longer bear it that the territory of Colombia lends itself to aggression against Venezuela, so I have decided to break off all political and diplomatic relations with the fascist government of Colombia," Maduro told the hundreds of his supporters who were out marching "in defense of the revolution."

He cried out that Colombian "ambassadors and consuls must leave Venezuela within 24 hours," and added, "oligarchy, get out...enough is enough." 
Though Maduro has closed the borders with Brazil and Colombia to keep out the humanitarian aid, not all members of the Bolivarian National Guard and police forces can be relied on to do his bidding.

"Today more than 60 unarmed members of the military, including several officers, have sought refuge in Colombia, showing the loss of confidence in Maduro's usurper regime," Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told a press conference in Cucuta.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Juan Guaido expressed his gratitude this Saturday for the "backing of the international community" after two trucks loaded with humanitarian aid were set on fire on the Colombian border, and noted that this was a "crime against humanity."

Those two trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, ordered by the opposition, were burned Saturday by the Bolivarian National Police on the Venezuelan side of the Francisco de Paula Santander Bridge, which connects the country with Colombia, Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Gaby Arellano reported earlier.

In response, Guaido posted on his Twitter account that "we continue to receive the support of the international community, which has seen with its own eyes how the usurper regime violates the Geneva Convention, which clearly states that destroying humanitarian aid is a crime against humanity."

Guaido has been accepted as interim president by 50 nations including the United States and Brazil.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said this Saturday in a statement to EFE that Maduro "has no real power...nor has he any moral power, the only power he has is brute force."

On Friday the "Venezuela Aid Live" concert was held in Cucuta with the participation of 30 local and international artists to hail the arrival of humanitarian aid, and at which Guaido made a key appearance a month after proclaiming himself the interim president of Venezuela.

The Venezuelan Congress with its opposition majority reported this Saturday that by 4:00 pm, four people had been slain while more than 20 suffered bullet wounds on Venezuela's border with Brazil, as the arrival of truckloads of humanitarian aid, forbidden to enter the country by the Maduro government, stirred up conflict there.

The Venezuelan Congress with its opposition majority reported this Saturday that by 4:00 pm, four people had been slain while more than 20 suffered bullet wounds on Venezuela's border with Brazil, as the arrival of truckloads of humanitarian aid, forbidden to enter the country by the Maduro government, stirred up conflict there. "What happened on the border with Brazil wasn't ordinary repression...what occurred in the Venezuelan town of Santa Elena de Uairen was a massacre of the indigenous Pemon people, in which we know of four people killed and more than 20 with bullet wounds," lawmaker Juan Andres Mejia told a press conference. Also read: US 'will take action', says Mike Pompeo This came soon after the speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, who a month ago proclaimed himself interim president of the country, said that the first of two truckloads of humanitarian aid from Brazil had entered Venezuelan territory, despite the Nicolas Maduro government's order to close the border. The triumph proved to be short-lived, however, when around 50 anti-Chavista demonstrators on the border began throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at a checkpoint of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), Venezuela's militarized police. Considering the conflict, the two trucks loaded with humanitarian aid retreated some distance back into Brazil. As for Colombia, the other nation preparing to send humanitarian aid to the beleaguered Caribbean country, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Saturday that he is breaking off all political and diplomatic ties with the Colombian government, and gave Colombian officials 24 hours to get out of the country. "My patience is exhausted, I can no longer bear it that the territory of Colombia lends itself to aggression against Venezuela, so I have decided to break off all political and diplomatic relations with the fascist government of Colombia," Maduro told the hundreds of his supporters who were out marching "in defense of the revolution." He cried out that Colombian "ambassadors and consuls must leave Venezuela within 24 hours," and added, "oligarchy, get out...enough is enough." Though Maduro has closed the borders with Brazil and Colombia to keep out the humanitarian aid, not all members of the Bolivarian National Guard and police forces can be relied on to do his bidding. "Today more than 60 unarmed members of the military, including several officers, have sought refuge in Colombia, showing the loss of confidence in Maduro's usurper regime," Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told a press conference in Cucuta. Meanwhile, opposition leader Juan Guaido expressed his gratitude this Saturday for the "backing of the international community" after two trucks loaded with humanitarian aid were set on fire on the Colombian border, and noted that this was a "crime against humanity." Those two trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, ordered by the opposition, were burned Saturday by the Bolivarian National Police on the Venezuelan side of the Francisco de Paula Santander Bridge, which connects the country with Colombia, Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Gaby Arellano reported earlier. In response, Guaido posted on his Twitter account that "we continue to receive the support of the international community, which has seen with its own eyes how the usurper regime violates the Geneva Convention, which clearly states that destroying humanitarian aid is a crime against humanity." Guaido has been accepted as interim president by 50 nations including the United States and Brazil. Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said this Saturday in a statement to EFE that Maduro "has no real power...nor has he any moral power, the only power he has is brute force." On Friday the "Venezuela Aid Live" concert was held in Cucuta with the participation of 30 local and international artists to hail the arrival of humanitarian aid, and at which Guaido made a key appearance a month after proclaiming himself the interim president of Venezuela.

4 People reported slain on Venezuela-Brazil border

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