Trump’s Asia trip presents a crucial international test

Trump’s Asia trip presents a crucial international test

HONOLULU

On his most grueling and consequential trip abroad, President Donald Trump stands ready to exhort Asian allies and rivals on the need to counter the dangers posed by North Korea’s nuclear threat.

The 12-day, five-country trip, the longest Far East itinerary for a president in a generation, comes at a precarious moment for Trump. Just days ago, his former campaign chairman was indicted and another adviser pleaded guilty as part of an investigation into possible collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russian officials.

With Trump in Japan, the trip presents a crucial international test for a president looking to reassure Asian allies worried that his inward-looking “America First” agenda could cede power in the region to China. They also are rattled by his bellicose rhetoric about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The North’s growing missile arsenal threatens the capitals Trump will visit.

“The trip comes, I would argue, at a very inopportune time for the president. He is under growing domestic vulnerabilities that we all know about, hour to hour,” said Jonathan Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Trump’s spontaneous, and at time reckless, style flies in the face of the generations-old traditions and protocol that govern diplomatic exchanges in Asia. The grand receptions expected for him in Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and beyond are sure to be lavish attempts to impress the president, who raved about the extravagances shown him on earlier visits to Saudi Arabia and France.

Police: Sen. Paul suffers minor injury in assault at home

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.

A man has been arrested and charged with assaulting and injuring U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Kentucky State Police said in a news release Saturday that Paul suffered a minor injury when 59-year-old Rene Boucher assaulted him at his Warren County home Friday afternoon.

The release did not provide details of the assault or the nature of Paul’s injury. In a statement, Paul spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper said the Republican senator is “fine.” The statement said Paul was “blindsided” by the assault, but she did not provide further details.

Boucher, of Bowling Green, is charged with fourth-degree assault with a minor injury. He is being held at Warren County’s jail on $5,000 bond. An automated phone system at the jail did not provide access to lawyer information for Boucher.

China border traders losing money amid N. Korea sanctions

BEIJING

For Yu Kaiguang, harsh new United Nations sanctions on North Korea are a disaster.

The trader in the Chinese border city of Dandong has seen business all but dry up, and he spends his days scrambling to obtain payment from the suddenly broke North Korean state companies to whom he sold on credit.

“They have no money to pay us in cash, and the worst is that because of sanctions they can’t settle the bill with goods such as coal, as they did in the past,” said Yu, reached by telephone at the offices of his Dandong Gaoli Trading Company.

Yu said he’s owed about $1 million in all for deliveries of toothpaste, instant noodles and other household items. He’s trying to avoid laying off staff by continuing to export foodstuffs such as pine nuts and red beans. “If they become unemployed, it would be bad for both the state and society,” he said.

Latest JFK files say no evidence found of CIA link to Oswald

WASHINGTON

Newly released government documents regarding John F. Kennedy’s assassination say allegations that Lee Harvey Oswald was connected to the CIA were “totally unfounded.”

A 1975 CIA memo says a thorough search of agency records in and outside the United States was conducted to determine whether Oswald had been used by the agency or connected with it in “any conceivable way.”

The memo said the search came up empty. The memo also said there was also no indication that any other U.S. agency used Oswald as a source or for recruitment.

The National Archives on Friday released another 676 government documents related to the assassination – the third public release so far this year. Under law, all the documents were to be disclosed to the public last week.

Sprint, T-Mobile end merger talks

NEW YORK

Wireless carriers Sprint and T-Mobile called off a potential merger, saying the companies couldn’t come to an agreement that would benefit customers and shareholders.

The two companies have been dancing around a possible merger for years, and were again in the news in recent weeks with talks of the two companies coming together after all. But in a joint statement Saturday, Sprint and T-Mobile said they are calling off merger negotiations for the foreseeable future.

“The prospect of combining with Sprint has been compelling for a variety of reasons, including the potential to create significant benefits for consumers and value for shareholders. However, we have been clear all along that a deal with anyone will have to result in superior long-term value for T-Mobile’s shareholders compared to our outstanding stand-alone performance and track record,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile US, in a prepared statement.

T-Mobile and Sprint are the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers in the U.S., respectively, but they are significantly smaller than AT&T and Verizon, which effectively have a duopoly over U.S. wireless service.

Saudi Arabia intercepts missile targeting airport

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia said its forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired Saturday from Yemen toward one of the kingdom’s major international airports on the outskirts of the capital, Riyadh.

The missile was fired across Saudi Arabia’s southern border by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to several Houthi-owned media outlets, including Al-Masirah and SABA. The rebels are at war with the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia said the missile was shot down by its air-defense forces, with fragments of the missile landing in an uninhabited area north of the capital. Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority said the missile did not cause any damage to the King Khalid International Airport and that flights were not disrupted.

Associated Press