Oct 13, 2019

Lindsey Graham threatens Turkey with "most crippling sanctions" since Iran

Photo: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday condemned Turkey for its "outrageous assault" on U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, which followed President Trump's decision to withdraw troops from the area.

Turkey's day of reckoning is coming for their outrageous assault on Kurdish Syrians. I’m leading the effort in Congress to work with the President on the most crippling sanctions since the Iran sanctions. Turkeys misadventure in Syria, if left unchecked, will destabilize the Middle East as much as Iran -- to the detriment of the United States and our allies.

The big picture: Though he's continued to fight back against criticism from Graham and other Republican allies for his Syria decision, Trump has endorsed the idea of sanctioning Turkey for its attack on the primarily-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, which allied with the U.S. in the fight against ISIS.

On ABC's "This Week," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. is "ready to go at a moment's notice to put on sanctions," and that "they could be maximum pressure, which would destroy the Turkish economy."
In April, the IMF predicted that sanctions stemming from the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal would cause the Iranian economy to contract by 6% in 2019.

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Rebecca Falconer

Updated 3 mins ago - World

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong in June. Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been arrested for "collusion with foreign powers" and the offices of his newspaper raided, said Mark Simon, an executive at the tycoon's media firm Next Digital on Monday.

Why it matters: He was arrested under the new national security law that gives Beijing more powers over the former British colony. Lai is the most prominent person arrested under the law — which prompted the U.S. to sanction Chinese officials, including Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, over Beijing's efforts to strip the territory of its autonomy.

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Axios

Updated 13 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 19,861,683 — Total deaths: 731,326 — Total recoveries — 12,115,825 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 5,044,864 — Total deaths: 162,938 — Total recoveries: 1,656,864 — Total tests: 61,792,571 — Map.
Politics: Pelosi says states don't have the funds to comply with Trump's executive order on unemployment — Mnuchin says Trump executive orders were cleared by Justice Department.
States: New York reports lowest rate of positive coronavirus test results since pandemic began
Public health: Ex-FDA head: U.S. will "definitely" see 200,000 to 300,000 virus deaths by end of 2020.
Schools: 97,000 children test positive for coronavirus in two weeks — Nine test positive at Georgia school where photo showing packed hallway went viral .

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Rebecca Falconer

2 hours ago - Health

97,000 children test positive for coronavirus in two weeks

A boy has his temperature checked as he receives a free COVID-19 test in South Los Angeles in July. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

At least 97,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 in the final two weeks of July and there's been an estimated 338,000 cases involving kids in the U.S. since the pandemic began, a new report finds.

Why it matters: The findings in the report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association comes as schools and day cares look to reopen in the U.S., with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announcing Friday that school districts in the state can reopen in the fall amid lower coronavirus transmission rates.