Factbox: Latest on the spread of coronavirus around the world

Reuters) – The alarm over the coronavirus intensified and governments from Ireland to Italy unveiled measures to try to slow the spread of a disease that has infected more than 134,500 people worldwide.

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: )

DEATHS/INFECTIONS

– More than 134,500 people have been infected globally and over 4,900 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.

– Mainland China had eight new cases on Thursday, down from 15 new cases a day earlier. That brings the total number of infections in mainland China to 80,813. The death toll touched 3,176, up by seven from the previous day.

EUROPE

– Poland has reported its first death from coronavirus. So far, 47 cases have been confirmed in the country.

– Greece reported its first fatality, a 66-year-old man who had returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt at the end of February.

– Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus epidemic shot past 1,000 as the economic impact worsened. The total number of infections rose to 15,113.

– The number of confirmed cases across Britain rose to 590. Ten people have died.

– France will close all nurseries, schools and universities from Monday. The death toll rose to 61.

– A second patient has been diagnosed with coronavirus in Turkey, its Health Minister said on Friday.

– The Bulgarian parliament voted unanimously on Friday to declare a state of emergency until April 13 as the number of confirmed cases in the country more than tripled to 23.

AMERICAS

– U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday morning that coronavirus testing in the United States will soon be carried out on a large scale.

– Trump ordered the suspension of European travel to the United States for 30 days to help curb the spread of a coronavirus pandemic.

– Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will self-isolate for two weeks after his wife, Sophie, tested positive on Thursday. Canada reported 145 new cases of the virus, a threefold gain from a week ago. There has been one death.

– Costa Rica, which has reported 22 cases, has ordered all university classes suspended.

ASIA

– Kazakhstan confirmed first coronavirus cases.

– South Korea reported more recoveries than new infections on Friday for the first time since its outbreak emerged in January. The country recorded 110 new cases, compared with 114 a day earlier, taking the national tally to 7,979, with the death toll rising by five to 72 as of late Friday.

– A female diplomat from the Philippines mission to the United Nations tested positive on Thursday, according to a note sent to U.N. missions.

– An 80-year-old man became the fourth patient in Hong Kong to die from coronavirus.

– Total infections in Japan rose to 1,380.

– Thailand reported five new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 75.

– Vietnam’s coronavirus cases rose to 44 on Thursday, the Ministry of Health said. There have been no fatalities.

– China’s Wuhan city reported five new cases on Friday, the second day in a row the new tally has been less than 10, while no locally transmitted infections were reported in the rest of the country.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

– Kenya confirmed East Africa’s first case of coronavirus, a woman who had returned to the capital Nairobi from the United States.

– Ethiopia has confirmed its first case.

– Saudi Arabia detected 17 new cases, 11 of whom were Egyptians.

– In Iran the total number of deaths from the outbreak has risen by 85 to 514, a Health Ministry official said on state TV on Friday, while total infections had increased by more than 1,000 in the past 24 hours to 11,364.

– Gabon and Ghana confirmed their first coronavirus cases on Thursday, becoming the ninth and 10th countries in sub-Saharan Africa to register positive cases.

AUSTRALIA

– The Australian government said it would pump A$17.6 billion ($11.4 billion) into the economy to prevent the outbreak from pushing the country into its first recession for nearly 30 years.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

– The Indonesian government has prepared a 120-trillion-rupiah ($8.1 billion) stimulus package to support its economy as the spread of coronavirus disrupts global activities.

– Spain placed four towns under quarantine and announced measures to tackle the economic impact.

– Japan’s government is expected to cut its assessment of the economy in a monthly report due later this month.

– Norway’s central bank said on Friday it had offered the first in a series of extraordinary loans to the banking industry, along with a surprise half-point cut in its key policy interest rate.

– France will help all companies in which the French state has a stake to weather the coronavirus crisis, its finance minister said on Friday, putting the growing cost of measures to soften the economic fallout at “dozens of billions”.

– Germany’s KfW state development bank has roughly half a trillion euros in support available to help support Europe’s largest economy, which risks being stricken by the coronavirus epidemic, the Economy Minister said on Friday.

– Sweden’s central bank said on Friday it would lend up to 500 billion crowns ($51 billion) to Swedish companies via banks

– China’s central bank cut the cash that banks must hold as reserves on Friday for the second time this year, releasing 550 billion yuan ($79 billion) to help its coronavirus-hit economy.

– Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered his government on Friday to allocate 300 billion tenge ($740 million) towards measures to boost employment through infrastructure maintenance projects.

MARKETS

– World stocks bounced off their lows on Friday on hopes of more central bank stimulus and government spending, but were still set for their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis, with coronavirus panic-selling hitting nearly every asset class. [MKTS/GLOB]

EVENTS CANCELED, POSTPONED, PARED BACK

– Top Japanese government officials said they were determined to hold a “safe and secure” Olympics on schedule, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tokyo should consider delaying them for a year because of the pandemic.

– Walt Disney Co will close its theme parks in California and Florida and its resort in Paris from this weekend through the end of the month, the company said on Thursday.

– The impact of the coronavirus on sport swept into the southern hemisphere, with the cancellation of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix adding to an unprecedented shutdown of elite events and competitions around the globe. [

– The World Trade Organization’s major biennial meeting, due to be held in Kazakhstan in June, was canceled, setting back its efforts to update the global rules of commerce.

– Bob Dylan’s upcoming concerts in Japan have been canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak, the tour organizer said.

– The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch was lit behind closed doors in ancient Olympia.

– India ordered upcoming international cricket matches to be played in empty stadiums.

– The World Endurance Championship (WEC) has canceled the Sebring 1,000 Miles race in Florida.

– Nepal has closed all of its Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest this climbing season because of fears of coronavirus contagion.

– France’s rugby federation said on Friday it was suspending all its competitions due to the coronavirus outbreak.

– All elite soccer matches in England, including the Premier League, were suspended until April 4 on Friday due to the coronavirus, English soccer’s governing bodies said in a joint statement.

(Compiled by Tommy Lund, Jagoda Darlak, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Uttaresh.V; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Arun Koyyur, and Anil D’Silva/Mark Heinrich)

Too early for accurate figures on coronavirus impact on global growth: IMF

RABAT (Reuters) – It is premature to give precise projections of economic growth in China and the World in 2020 following the outbreak of coronavirus, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

The IMF is still reviewing its projections for growth in China while looking at the impact of the epidemic on the global economy, Georgieva told a news conference in Morocco’s capital Rabat, where she discussed preparations for IMF and World Bank Group meetings to be held in October 2021 in Marrakech.

The IMF said last month global growth is projected to rise from an estimated 2.9% in 2019 to 3.3% in 2020 and 3.4% in 2021.

“We are still hoping that the impact will be a V shaped curve” with a sharp decline in China and sharp rebound after the containment of the virus, she said. “But we are not excluding that it might turn to be a different scenario like a U curve where the impact is somewhat longer.”

The IMF chief also said Argentina’s debt was unsustainable and that she would meet Argentinian Economy Minister Martin Guzman in two days to discuss “how the IMF can be of help”.

The IMF is willing to help Argentina stabilize its economy, support its most vulnerable people and address poverty “in a responsible manner”, Georgieva added.

The Buenos Aires government must carry out negotiations with creditors, she said, adding, “The government already announced its commitment to a collaborative process with its creditors”.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Rising homelessness to ageing population: Five challenges facing cities in 2020

By Zoe Tabary

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The world is seeing the biggest wave of urban growth in history with the United Nations expecting almost 70% of people globally to be living in urban areas by 2050, up from 56% today.

The shift is creating significant challenges for cities around the world, from tackling worsening air pollution in New Delhi to keeping women safe on public transport in Harare.

Here are five modern-day pressures cities will face in 2020:

1. HOMELESSNESS IN LONDON – From London to San Francisco, rising rents and a shortage of affordable housing have fuelled the number of homeless people living on city streets.

In London alone, rough sleeping rose by 18% over the last year, hitting a decade high of 8,855 people – the majority of whom were new to bedding down in parks or doorways, according to official data released in June.

The government has pledged to deliver an additional 250,000 affordable homes by March 2022, while in December a global charity appeal saw more than 2,000 people sleep out on London’s iconic Trafalgar square to raise awareness of the problem.

2. SINGAPORE’S AGEING POPULATION – As people live longer, the World Health Organization predicts that one in five – 2 billion people – will be aged 60 or older by 2050, double that of 2015.

Singapore, the world’s second-fastest ageing society after South Korea, according to the United Nations (U.N.), is being seen as a test case on how to help greying citizens live well.

Through better urban design and friendlier public spaces – like allotment garden schemes – it aims to rekindle a sense of community and boost mental health.

3. WOMEN’S SAFETY ON TRANSPORT IN HARARE – Across Zimbabwe, rapid population growth has led to rising demand for public transport but that has come at the cost of women increasingly being harassed on buses and unlicensed taxis, according to police officials.

Many women do not report such incidents for fear of not being taken seriously, campaigners say.

A 2018 Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of 1,000 women in five of the world’s biggest commuter cities – London, New York, Mexico City, Tokyo and Cairo – found 52% cited safety as their top concern while using transport.

In other African cities like Nairobi, women are setting up female taxi companies to ferry women safely around the city and avoid harassment on others forms of transport.

4. AIR POLLUTION IN NEW DELHI – New Delhi and other nearby cities in north India have been struggling with some of the worst air pollution levels on earth, prompting local governments to shut schools and declare health emergencies in November.

Emissions from power plants are one of the biggest causes of the chronic smog now seen in New Delhi and some other Indian cities.

Last month India’s federal pollution regulator warned local coal-fired plants that they could be shut down for failing to comply with deadlines to meet emissions standards.

5. FLOODING IN NEW ORLEANS – By 2050, more than 570 low-lying coastal cities will face projected sea level rises of at least 0.5 metres which could put over 800 million people at risk from storm surges and other impacts, the C40 Cities network estimates.

For example, the Louisiana city of New Orleans loses the equivalent of a football field to rising sea level every 100 minutes, according to its mayor LaToya Cantrell.

A project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Wetlands aims to build up buffers such as wetlands near the city, to reduce the energy and surges of powerful storms like Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the area in 2005.

(Writing by Zoe Tabary @zoetabary, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; lease credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Focused look at human trafficking could reveal better data, top US official says

A victim of forced labor speaks during a Reuters interview in a village at Buthidaung township in northern Rakhine state June 10, 2015. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Focused look at human trafficking could reveal better data, top US official says
By Ellen Wulfhorst

WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The United States could fight human trafficking effectively with more refined measuring tools which could distinguish young victims from old, or those trapped in domestic jobs from forced farm work, its top anti-trafficking official said on Tuesday.

Ambassador-at-Large John Richmond, speaking after a top-level government anti-trafficking commission meeting, said targeted questions investigating slavery could expose detailed – and possibly more useful – results.

Some 24.9 million people around the world are estimated to be victims of forced labor, working in factories or on building sites, farms and fishing boats, according to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization.

The ILO has called the estimate conservative.

Counting and classifying people trapped in slavery in a targeted “industry-specific and geographically restricted” way could refine results, such as distinguishing boys trafficked for sex from adults trafficked into farming, Richmond explained.

“Instead of measuring how much trafficking is there in Kenya, ask the question ‘How much forced labor victims are in the domestic workers’ industry in metropolitan Nairobi?'” he said by way of example.

Diverse methods of measuring slavery would turn up “a different set of questions, a different set of traffickers, a different set of victims, a different set of coercive means,” Richmond said.

“I think we have some room to grow in terms of our ability, in terms of developing good methodologies around how to measure the prevalence of trafficking.”

“It would be really helpful as we move forward to figure out … what programs are actually having an impact.”

Richmond, who took up his post at the end of 2018, serves as Ambassador-at-Large and leads the State Department’s anti-trafficking office.

He spoke to reporters following a meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, a cabinet-level group started in 2000.

Top government officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported on progress and plans their departments and agencies have to fight human trafficking.

Many detailed outreach and training efforts, plans to weed out forced labor in supply chains and support programs for survivors.

The U.S. Congress approved an anti-trafficking program in 2017 which it has funded with $75 million so far, with the aim of measuring the prevalence of trafficking, Richmond said.

“My hope is just that more people would do studies and try different methodologies and test them against each other,” he said. “I think there are ways that we can improve and work in this area.”

An estimated 400,000 people are believed to be trapped in modern slavery in the United States, according to the Global Slavery Index which is published by the human rights group Walk Free Foundation.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Chris Michaud ((Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

President Donald Trump Accomplishments

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order on education as he participates in a federalism event with Governors at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Kami Klein

When President Donald Trump was elected, those that voted for him expected results.  It has been 3 years since Donald Trump took his Presidential oath and despite consistent political turmoil he has set about working towards keeping his promises to the American people.

The following is a list of accomplishments that can be found in the Washington Post as well as from the White House website. The list is extraordinary and quite long.  If you wish to see more facts and achievements broken down by year please visit the Promises Kept website. 

President Trump has taken unprecedented steps to protect the health and safety of Americans during the COVID-19 crisis. This pandemic came suddenly, reaching around the globe.  The President continued to stay on top of constantly changing facts, attempting to keep Americans informed.  Please click here for a list of actions taken by President Trump during this crisis.   

The President has not accomplished these monumental tasks alone.  We ask that you continue to keep him, our  Lawmakers, Senators, World Leaders, as well as community leaders in your prayers.  

May God’s blessings be upon this Nation! 

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

  • Since President Trump’s election, more than 7 million jobs have been added to the economy.
  • For the first time on record, there are more job openings than unemployed Americans.
    • There are more than 7 million job openings, outnumbering job seekers by more than 1 million.
    • Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job, empowering more Americans with rewarding careers.
  • This year, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in half a century.
    • The unemployment rate has remained at or below 4 percent for the past 21 months.
    • The unemployment rate for women reached its lowest rate in 65 years under President Trump.
  • Under President Trump, jobless claims hit their lowest level in half a century.
  • The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record.
  • American workers of all backgrounds are thriving
    • The unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
  • The booming economy is putting more money in Americans’ pockets.
    • Wages are growing at their fastest rate in a decade, with year-over-year wage gains exceeding 3 percent for the first time since 2009.
    • November 2019 marked the 16th consecutive month that wages rose at an annual rate of at or over 3 percent.
    • Median household income surpassed $63,000 in 2018 – the highest level on record.
  • President Trump’s policies are helping forgotten Americans across the country prosper, driving down income inequality.
    • Wages are rising fastest for low-income workers.
    • Middle-class and low-income workers are enjoying faster wage growth than high-earners.
    • When measured as the share of income earned by the top 20 percent, income inequality fell in 2018 by the largest amount in over a decade.
  • Americans are being lifted out of poverty as a result of today’s booming economy.
    • Since President Trump took office, over 2.4 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.
    • Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans have reached record lows.
    • Since President Trump’s election, nearly 7 million Americans have been lifted off of food stamps.
  • Americans are coming off the sidelines and back into the workforce.
    • The prime-age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
    • In the third quarter of 2019, 73.7 percent of workers entering employment came from out of the labor force rather than from unemployment, the highest share since the series began in 1990.
  • President Trump’s pro-growth policies are helping businesses of all sizes thrive like never before.
    • Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018 and remains historically high.
    • The DOW, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all repeatedly notched record highs under President Trump.
  • President Trump is following through on his promise to revitalize American manufacturing, with more than a half-million manufacturing jobs added since the election.
  • President Trump has prioritized workforce development to ensure American workers are prepared to fill high-quality jobs.
    • The President has worked to expand apprenticeship programs, helping Americans gain hands-on training and experience with no student debt.
    • Since President Trump took office, over 660,000 apprentices have been hired across the country.
    • President Trump established the National Council for the American Worker, tasked with developing a workforce strategy for the jobs of the future.
    • Over 370 companies have signed the President’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” pledging to provide more than 14.4 million employment and training opportunities.
    • President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing Cyber Workforce Development to ensure that we have the most skilled cyber workforce of the 21st century.
  • President Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in 2017 – the largest tax reform package in history.
    • More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
    • $1 trillion has poured back into the country from overseas since the President’s tax cuts.
  • President Trump is revitalizing distressed communities through Opportunity Zones, which encourage investment and growth in underserved communities.
    • More than 8,760 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
    • The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council has taken more than 175 actions to encourage investment and promote growth within Opportunity Zones.
    • The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in using the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
  • The President is ensuring that America is prepared to lead the world in the industries of the future, by promoting American leadership in emerging technologies like 5G and AI.
    • The Administration named artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G, among other emerging technologies, as national research and development priorities.
    • President Trump launched the American AI Initiative to invest in AI research, unleash innovation, and build the American workforce of the future.
    • President Trump signed an Executive Order that established a new advisory committee of industry and academic leaders to advise the government on its quantum activities.
  • President Trump has made supporting working families a priority of his Administration.
    • President Trump signed legislation securing historic levels of funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, helping low-income families access child care.
    • During his Joint Address to Congress and each State of the Union Address, the President called on Congress to pass a nationwide paid family leave plan.
    • The President signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.
    • President Trump’s tax reforms provided a new tax credit to incentivize businesses to offer paid family leave to their employees.
    • The President’s historic tax reforms doubled the child tax credit, benefitting nearly 40 million American families with an average of over $2,200 dollars in 2019.

LIFTING THE BURDEN OF OVER REGULATION: President Trump’s historic deregulation efforts are driving economic growth, cutting unnecessary costs, and increasing transparency.

  • President Trump has delivered on, and far exceeded, his promise to slash two existing regulations for every new regulation.
    • Since taking office, President Trump has rolled back nearly 8 regulations for every new significant one.
  • The Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts have slashed regulatory costs by more than $50 billion.
  • In the coming years, the average American household is projected to see an income gain of $3,100 per year thanks to President Trump’s historic regulatory reform.
  • Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
  • President Trump signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that are expected to result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes.
  • President Trump established the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation.
    • This initiative is working to reduce outdated regulations at the State, local, and tribal levels, advance occupational licensing reform, and align Federal and State regulation.
  • The President signed legislation eliminating regulatory barriers that made offering retirement benefits difficult for small businesses.
  • The President took action to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans from administrative abuse.
    • This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to guard against secretive or unlawful interpretations of rules and prevent Americans from being hit with unfair and unexpected penalties.
  • President Trump has followed through on his promise to repeal the Obama-era Waters of the United States Rule, lifting a burden off American farmers.
  • President Trump ended the previous Administration’s war on coal.
    • President Trump signed legislation repealing the harmful Obama-era Stream Protection Rule.
    • President Trump replaced the overreaching Obama-era Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which respects States’ rights and promotes economic growth while lowering power-sector CO2 emissions.
  • In 2017, the President announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, which would have killed millions of American jobs.
  • The Administration has worked to undo the Obama-era fuel economy regulations by proposing the SAFE Vehicles Rule to lower the cost of new and safer cars.
  • President Trump helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.
  • President Trump established the White House Council on Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Development to bring down the costs of housing across the country.
  • The President’s deregulatory actions are removing government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.
  • In 2017, President Trump corrected Obama Administration overreach by right-sizing Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

FIGHTING FOR FAIRER TRADE: President Trump is negotiating better trade deals for the American people after years of our country being taken advantage of.

  • President Trump negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) to replace the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
    • USMCA includes tremendous wins for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, generating over $68 billion in economic activity and creating 176,000 new jobs.
  • President Trump negotiated two tremendous deals with Japan to boost America’s agricultural and digital trade with the world’s third largest economy.
    • Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, Japan will open its market to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural exports.
    • The President’s negotiations will boost the already approximately $40 billion worth of digital trade between our two countries.
  • President Trump fulfilled his promise to renegotiate the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, providing a boost to American auto exports.
    • These efforts doubled the number of American autos that can be exported to South Korea using United States safety standards.
  • President Trump reached a historic phase one trade agreement with China that will begin rebalancing our two countries’ trade relationship.
  • As a result of President Trump’s leadership, China has agreed to structural reforms in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.
  • China will be making substantial purchases of American agricultural products, marking a monumental win for American farmers.
  • President Trump fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
  • President Trump achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union to work together towards zero tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies on certain goods.
  • President Trump has worked to prepare for post-Brexit trade and made Congress aware of his intent to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK).
  • President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
  • President Trump imposed tariffs to protect American-made washing machines and solar products that were hurt by import surges.
  • The United States scored a historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union (UPU), whose outdated policies were undermining American interests and workers.
  • President Trump has expanded markets for American farmers to export their goods worldwide, for example:
    • The European Union has opened up to more American beef and increased imports of American soybeans.
    • China lifted its ban on American poultry and opened up to American beef.
    • South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs and agreed to provide market access for the greatest, guaranteed volume of American rice.
  • The Trump Administration has authorized a total of $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices.

SECURING THE BORDER: President Trump has taken historic steps to confront the crisis on our Nation’s borders and protect American communities.

  • President Trump is following through on his promise to build a wall on our southern border.
    • The Administration expects to have approximately 450 miles of new border wall by the end of 2020.
  • The President struck new agreements with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to help stop the flood of illegal immigration.
    • The President worked with Mexico to ensure they would improve their border security.
    • The United States is working with Mexico and others in the region to dismantle human smuggling networks that profit from human misery and fuel the border crisis by exploiting vulnerable populations.
    • The Administration negotiated agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to stem the surge of aliens arriving at our border.
    • President Trump negotiated the Migrant Protection Protocols, requiring certain migrants to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings instead of allowing them to disappear into our country.
  • Thanks to the President’s swift action, border apprehensions fell by more than 70 percent from May – the peak of the crisis – to November.
  • The Trump Administration is stopping deadly drugs and violent criminals from flowing across our borders and into our communities.
    • Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized more than 163,000 pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl at the southern border in FY 2019.
    • The United States Coast Guard seized more than 458,000 pounds of cocaine at sea in FY 2019 and referred nearly 400 suspected drug smugglers for prosecution.
    •  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized over 1.4 million pounds of narcotics and made more than 12,000 narcotic-related arrests in FY 2019.
    • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 50,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 2,700 kilograms of fentanyl in FY 2019.
    • CBP apprehended 976 alien gang members in FY 2019, including 464 aliens affiliated with MS-13.
    • ICE HSI made over 4,000 arrests of gang members in FY 2019, including over 450 arrests of MS-13 members.

RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW: President Trump is upholding the rule of law, restoring integrity to our asylum system, and promoting immigrant self-sufficiency.

  • President Trump released an immigration plan to fully secure our border, modernize our laws, and promote an immigration system based on merit.
  • President Trump is working to combat the abuse of our asylum system that drives illegal immigration.
    • The Administration took action to close the Flores Settlement Agreement loophole and ensure alien families can be kept together through their proceedings.
    • The President released an order that makes aliens ineligible for asylum if they passed through another country in transit to our border and did not apply for asylum in that country first.
  • Since taking office, President Trump has stepped up enforcement to ensure there are consequences for breaking our laws.
    • In FY 2019, the Department of Justice prosecuted a record-breaking number of immigration-related crimes.
    • ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 143,099 aliens in FY 2019, 86 percent of whom had criminal records.
    • ICE ERO removed more than 267,000 illegal aliens from the United States in FY 2019.
  • The Trump Administration is cracking down on sanctuary cities and increasing cooperation at the local level on immigration enforcement.
    • The Administration has more than doubled the number of jurisdictions participating in the 287(g) program, enhancing local cooperation on immigration enforcement.
  • The Administration took action to protect taxpayers by ensuring that aliens wishing to enter or remain in our country are able to support themselves and not rely on public benefits.
  • The President issued a proclamation to ensure immigrants admitted to America do not burden our healthcare system.
  • The President has taken action to reduce nonimmigrant visa overstays, a problem that undermines the rule of law, impacts public safety, and strains resources needed for the border.
  • President Trump made our country safer by ordering the enhanced vetting of individuals attempting to come to America from countries that do not meet our security standards.
  • The President is taking a responsible approach to refugee admissions, prioritizing refugee resettlement in jurisdictions where both State and local governments consent to receive them.
    • This order is designed to ensure that refugees are placed in an environment where they will have the best opportunity to succeed in their new homes.

CREATING SAFER COMMUNITIES: President Trump’s policies are supporting our brave law enforcement officers and making America’s communities safer.

  • Violent crime fell in 2017 and 2018, after rising during each of the two years prior to President Trump taking office.
    • Since 2016, the violent crime rate in America has fallen nearly 5 percent and the murder rate has decreased by over 7 percent.
  • President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, making our criminal justice system fairer for all while making our communities safer.
  • President Trump has promoted second-chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment, all while making our communities safer.
    • The Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows individuals in Federal and State prisons to receive Pell Grants to better prepare themselves for the workforce.
    • The Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work” Initiative to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.
    • The Department of Labor awarded $2.2 million to states to expand the use of fidelity bonds, which underwrite companies that hire former prisoners.
  • President Trump has revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods, bringing together Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to develop solutions to violent crime.
  • The President is standing up for our Nation’s law enforcement officers, ensuring they have the support they need to keep our communities safe.
    • The President established a new commission to evaluate best practices for recruiting, training, and supporting law enforcement officers.
    • The Administration has made available hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement.
    • President Trump has signed an Executive Order to help prevent violence against law enforcement officers.
    • The President also signed legislation permanently funding the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, aiding our Nation’s brave first responders.
  • The President has taken action to combat the scourge of hate crimes and anti-Semitism rising in America.
    • President Trump signed an Executive Order making it clear that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism.
    • The Administration launched a centralized website to educate the public about hate crimes and encourage reporting.
    • Since January 2017, the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ has obtained 14 convictions in cases involving attacks or threats against places of worship.
  • The President signed the Fix NICS Act to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
  • President Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act and created a Commission on School Safety to examine ways to make our schools safer.
  • The Trump Administration is fighting to end the egregious crime of human trafficking.
    • In FY 2019, ICE HSI arrested 2,197 criminals associated with human trafficking and identified 428 victims.
    • The President signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which tightened criteria for whether countries are meeting standards for eliminating trafficking.
  • President Trump established a task force to help combat the tragedy of missing or murdered Native American women and girls.

ADVANCING AMERICA’S INTERESTS ABROAD: President Trump is putting America first and advancing our interests across the world.

  • President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is countering Iran’s influence and pressuring the corrupt regime to abandon its malign activities.
    • The President removed the United States from the horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed all sanctions that were lifted by the deal.
    • In response to Iran’s aggression and gross human rights violations, the President authorized crippling sanctions on the regime’s leadership, including the Supreme Leader.
    • President Trump is working to vigorously enforce all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue.
  • President Trump has held two historic summits with North Korea and earlier this year became the first President to cross the DMZ into North Korea.
    • The Administration has maintained tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiations have taken place.
  • Since taking office, President Trump has taken historic steps to support and defend our cherished ally Israel.
    • This year, President Trump acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law.
    • The President made good on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and move the United States Embassy there.
    • The President removed the United States from the United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias.
  • President Trump has successfully urged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members to increase their defense spending and to focus on modern priorities.
    • NATO Allies will increase defense spending by $130 billion by the end of next year.
  • The Administration has worked to reform and streamline the U.N., cutting spending and making the organization more efficient.
  • Earlier this year, the President took action to protect our Second Amendment rights by announcing the United States will not join the misguided Arms Trade Treaty.
  • President Trump has promoted democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere and imposed heavy sanctions on the regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
  • The President reversed the previous Administration’s disastrous Cuba policy.
    • President Trump has enacted a new policy aimed at stopping any revenues from reaching the Cuban military or intelligence services, imposed stricter travel restrictions, and reaffirmed the focus ensuring the Cuban regime does not profit from U.S. dollars.
    • Earlier this year, the Trump Administration put a cap on remittances to Cuba.
    • President Trump is enabling Americans to file lawsuits against persons and entities that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban regime, the first time that these kinds of claims have been available for Americans under the Helms-Burton Act.
  • President Trump has stood with the democratically elected National Assembly and the Venezuelan people and worked to cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime.
    • President Trump recognized Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and rallied an international coalition of 58 countries to support him.
    • Earlier this year, President Trump blocked all property of the Venezuelan Government in the jurisdiction of the United States.
    • President Trump has sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime, including the oil and gold sectors.
    • The Administration sanctioned Maduro’s key financial lifelines, including the Venezuelan Central Bank, the Venezuelan Development Bank, and Petroleos de Venezuela.
  • The Trump Administration has secured the release of Americans unjustly imprisoned abroad, including Kevin King, Xiyue Wang, Danny Burch, and more.
  • The President and his Administration have worked to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, promoting new investments and expanding American partnerships.
  • The President negotiated the return from Finland of approximately 600 tribal ancestral remains and other sacred objects for the American Indian and Pueblo communities from which they came.
  • The Trump Administration released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through private investment.
  • The President created the first-ever whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment through his Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
  • In June of 2019, the President released the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, which focuses on increasing women’s participation to prevent and resolve conflicts.

REBUILDING OUR NATION’S DEFENSE: President Trump is investing in our military and ensuring our forces are able to defend against any and all threats.

  • President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2020, authorizing a historic $738 billion in defense spending.
    • President Trump continued to invest in rebuilding our military, after signing legislation to provide for $700 billion in defense spending in FY18 and $716 billion in FY19.
  • President Trump signed a 3.1% pay raise for our troops, the largest increase in a decade.
  • The President signed legislation establishing the Space Force as a new branch of the Armed Forces, the first new branch since 1947.
  • The United States Space Command was relaunched in August 2019.
  • The President is modernizing and recapitalizing our nuclear forces and missile defenses to ensure they continue to serve as a strong deterrent.
  • The President upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command and reducing burdensome procedural restrictions on cyber operations.
  • President Trump is protecting America’s defense-industrial base, directing the first whole-of-government assessment of our manufacturing and defense supply chains since the 1950s.
  • Under the President’s leadership, the United States is taking the fight to terrorists all around the globe.
    • ISIS’ territorial caliphate has been defeated and all territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria.
    • The United States has brought Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS, to justice.
  • The President has taken decisive military action to punish the Assad regime in Syria for the barbaric use of chemical weapons on its own people.
    • The President also authorized sanctions against those tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.

HONORING OUR VETERANS: President Trump is standing up for America’s veterans by ensuring they receive the proper care and support they deserve.

  • President Trump signed the VA MISSION Act, revolutionizing the VA system, increasing choice, and providing quality care for our veterans.
    • This legislation reformed and expanded many of the existing programs to give veterans improved access to healthcare providers and offered entirely new options such as allowing veterans to get urgent care in their local communities.
    • The VA MISSION Act put veterans at the center of their healthcare decisions, not bureaucracy.
  • The Trump Administration has expanded veterans’ ability to access telehealth services, including through the “Anywhere to Anywhere” VA health care initiative.
  • President Trump has brought accountability to the VA, as promised.
    • President Trump signed the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to ensure VA employees are held responsible for poor performance.
    • Over 8,000 VA employees have been relieved of their duties at the VA since the beginning of the Administration.
  • Veterans are seeing an improvement in the quality of care under President Trump.
    • In the last year, the VA saw its highest patient experience ratings in history.
    • The Veterans of Foreign Wars found in its annual survey that more than 90 percent of respondents would recommend VA care to other veterans.
  • President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 to expedite the veteran appeals process.
  • The Administration is working to seamlessly align the VA and DoD’s electronic health records.
    • This new electronic health record system is on pace to launch next year in select areas.
  • Under President Trump, the VA launched a new tool that provides veterans with online access to average wait times and quality-of-care data.
  • Just as he promised, President Trump opened up a 24/7 White House VA Hotline to provide veterans access to help at all times.
  • President Trump has committed his Administration to addressing the horrible tragedy of veteran suicide.
    • President Trump signed the PREVENTS Initiative, which created a task force to develop a revolutionary roadmap to tackle the problem of veteran suicide.
    • President Trump signed an executive order to improve access to suicide prevention resources for veterans.
  • President Trump is expanding educational resources, promoting economic opportunity, and making sure our veterans have the support they need when they return home.
    • This year, the veteran unemployment rate reached its lowest level since 2000.
    • President Trump signed an executive order that paves the way for veterans to more easily join the Merchant Marine, providing quality job opportunities.
    • President Trump signed the Forever GI Bill, allowing veterans to use their educational benefits at any point in their lives.
    • President Trump expedited the process of discharging Federal student loan debt for our Nation’s totally and permanently disabled veterans.
    • President Trump signed the HAVEN Act to ensure that veterans who’ve declared bankruptcy don’t lose their disability payments.
  • President Trump signed legislation providing a pathway for Alaska Natives who served in Vietnam to receive the land allotments to which they are legally entitled.

COMBATING THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Trump has made battling the opioid crisis a top priority for his Administration, and the results couldn’t be clearer.

  • President Trump brought attention to the opioid crisis by declaring it a nationwide public health emergency.
  • To address the many factors fueling the drug crisis, President Trump launched an Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand.
  • Thanks to the President’s efforts, landmark new Federal funding and resources have been dedicated to help end this crisis.
  • President Trump signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest and most comprehensive piece of legislation to combat the opioid crisis in history.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nearly $9 billion over 2016 to 2019 in grants to address the opioid crisis and improve access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services in partnership with State and local officials.
  • Nearly $1 billion in grants were recently awarded for the HEAL Initiative to support the development of scientific solutions to help prevent and treat addiction.
  • President Trump announced a Safer Prescriber Plan that seeks to decrease the amount of opioids prescription fills by one third within three years.
    • From January 2017 to September 2019, the total amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America dropped by 31%.
  • This year, the President launched FindTreatment.gov, a newly designed website that makes it easier to find substance abuse treatment locations.
  • The President implemented new efforts to educate Americans about the dangers of opioid misuse.
    • These efforts include an ad campaign on youth opioid abuse that reached 58 percent of young adults in America.
  • President Trump and his Administration aggressively worked to cut off the flow of deadly drugs into our communities.
    • In FY 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 35% from FY 2018.
    • The Administration shut down the country’s biggest Darknet distributor of drugs, seizing enough fentanyl to kill 105,000 Americans in the process.
    • Under President Trump, a DOJ strike force charged more than 65 defendants collectively responsible for distributing over 45 million opioid pills.
    • The Administration has brought kingpin designations against traffickers operating in China, India, Mexico and more who have played a role in the epidemic in America.
    • The Administration secured the first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl traffickers.
    • This year, President Trump convinced China to enact strict regulations to control the production and sale of all types of fentanyl.
  • Evidence suggests that President Trump’s efforts are making a real difference across the Nation.
    • Preliminary data shows overdose deaths fell nationwide in 2018 for the first time in decades.
    • Many of the hardest hit states – including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia – saw drug overdose deaths drop in 2018.
    • Since 2016, there has been a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of Americans receiving medication-assisted treatment.

PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST: President Trump is working hard to give Americans better quality care at a lower cost.

  • The Administration is delivering quality healthcare and promoting innovative treatment options for American patients.
    • Earlier this year, President Trump signed an order to protect and improve Medicare for our seniors, encouraging even more competition and promoting innovative benefits.
    • President Trump signed and implemented the Right to Try Act, which has expanded treatment options for terminally ill patients.
    • The President has taken action to combat childhood cancer, initiating an effort to provide $500 million over the next decade to improve pediatric cancer research.
    • The President signed legislation providing an additional $1 billion in Alzheimer’s disease research funding.
    • The Administration launched a plan to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America in the next decade.
    • President Trump took action to increase the availability of organs for patients in need of transplants and provide more treatment options and improve care for patients suffering from kidney disease.
    • The President signed an order to modernize the influenza vaccine.
  • The Administration is making healthcare more affordable and transparent.
    • The Administration is requiring hospitals to make their prices negotiated with insurers publicly and easily available online.
    • The President is working to expand Association Health Plans, which would make it easier for employers to join together and offer more affordable health coverage to their employees.
    • President Trump extended access to short-term, limited-duration health plans, giving Americans more flexibility to choose plans that suit their needs.
    • The Administration expanded the use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Now, HRAs allow employers to help their employees pay for the cost of insurance that they select in the individual market.
    • The Administration has successfully worked to reduce Medicare Advantage and Part D premiums to their lowest in years.
    • The Administration has improved access to health savings accounts for individuals with chronic conditions.
    • The President has worked to reduce the burden felt by Americans due to Obamacare and eliminated Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty.
    • President Trump released legislative principles to end surprise medical billing and is working with Congress to give patients the control they deserve.
  • President Trump is following through on his pledge to combat high drug prices.
    • President Trump released a blueprint to reduce drug prices and expand affordability for American patients.
    • The Administration’s efforts to lower drug prices led to the largest year-over-year decrease in drug prices ever recorded.
    • The President has advanced efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada in partnership with several states, including Florida and Colorado.
    • The President launched an initiative to stop global freeloading in the drug market, proposing a new way for Medicare to pay for certain drugs based on prices other developed nations pay.
    • The President signed legislation to end pharmacy gag clauses, which prevented pharmacists from letting patients know when it would be cheaper to buy drugs without their insurance.

SAFEGUARDING LIFE AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: President Trump has made it a priority of his Administration to uphold the sanctity of life and safeguard religious liberty for all.

  • President Trump is unequivocally committed to protecting the sanctity of every human life.
    • The Administration issued a rule preventing Title X family planning funds from supporting the abortion industry.
    • President Trump has called on Congress to end late-term abortions.
    • The Trump Administration cut all funding to the U.N. population fund, due to the fund’s support for coercive abortion and forced sterilization.
    • HHS rescinded an Obama-era guidance that prevented states from taking certain actions against abortion providers.
    • President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy in 2017, ensuring that taxpayer money is not used to fund abortion globally.
    • The President has taken action to end federal research using fetal tissue from abortions.
  • President Trump is protecting healthcare entities and individuals’ conscience rights—ensuring that no medical professional is forced to participate in an abortion in violation of their beliefs.
  • The Administration provided relief to American employers like Little Sisters of the Poor, protecting them from being forced to provide coverage that violates their conscience.
  • President Trump has taken unprecedented action to support the fundamental right to religious freedom.
    • In 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.
    • In 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order upholding religious liberty and the right to engage in religious speech.
    • The Department of Justice created a Religious Liberty Task Force in 2018.
    • The Trump Administration continues to vigorously defend religious liberty in the courts at every opportunity.
    • President Trump reversed the Obama-era policy that prevented the government from providing disaster relief to religious organizations.
    • The Administration is preserving a space for faith-based adoption and foster care providers to continue to serve their communities consistent with their beliefs.
    • The Administration reduced burdensome barriers to Native Americans being able to keep spiritually and culturally significant eagle feathers found on their tribal lands.
    • The Administration has allowed greater flexibility for Federal employees to take time off work for religious reasons.
  • The Trump Administration has stood up for religious liberty around the world.
    • The Administration has partnered with local and faith-based organizations to provide assistance to religious minorities persecuted in Iraq.
    • President Trump hosted the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom at the 2019 U.N. General Assembly, calling on global and business leaders to bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.
    • The Administration dedicated $25 million to protect religious freedom, religious sites and relics.
    • The State Department has hosted two Religious Freedom Ministerials, with the 2019 Ministerial becoming the largest religious freedom event of its kind in the world.
    • In 2019, the Administration imposed restrictions on certain Chinese officials, internal security units, and companies for their complicity in the persecution of Uighur Muslims and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

TRANSFORMING THE COURTS: President Trump is transforming the Federal judiciary by appointing a historic number of Federal judges who will interpret the Constitution as written.

  • Working with the Senate, President Trump has now had 187 judicial nominees confirmed to the Federal bench.
    • President Trump’s remaking of the judiciary is only accelerating with 103 Federal judges confirmed in 2019, more than 2017 and 2018 combined.
  • The President named Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, fulfilling his promise to appoint justices who will uphold the constitution as written.
  • President Trump has appointed 50 Circuit Court judges – more than any other President at this point in their Administrations.
    • More than a quarter of all active Circuit Court judges were appointed by President Trump.
    • The average age of Trump-appointed circuit judges is less than 50 years old, ensuring that these qualified jurists will continue to have an impact for decades to come.
  • President Trump has flipped the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits from Democrat-appointed majorities to Republican-appointed majorities.

USHERING IN AN ERA OF ENERGY DOMINANCE: President Trump’s policies are ushering in a new era of American energy dominance.

  • President Trump has rolled back the burdensome regulations of the past Administration and implemented policies that are unleashing American energy.
  • The United States is the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world.
  • American oil production reached its highest level in history in 2019.
    • The United States became a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products in September 2019, the first time this has occurred since records began in 1973.
  • Natural gas production is projected to set a record high in 2019, marking the third consecutive year of record production.
  • President Trump is opening up more access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to promote energy independence.
    • Department of the Interior energy revenues soared in fiscal year FY 2019, nearly doubling since FY 2016 to $12 billion.
    • Applications to drill on public lands have increased by 300 percent since FY 2016, and the time it takes to complete these permits has dropped by half.
    • President Trump signed legislation to open up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
  • President Trump is promoting energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.
    • This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to streamline processes holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure, like pipelines.
    • In 2017, the Administration took action to approve the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline.
    • The Administration issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will export American petroleum products to Mexico.
    • The Administration has streamlined Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal permitting.
    • In 2019, the Department of Energy granted 11 new long-term LNG export approvals.
  • American energy exports have reached historic highs.
    • LNG exports have increased by 247% since 2017, hitting record highs in 2019 and are projected to continue increasing next year.
    • In 2017, the United States became a net natural gas exporter for the first time in 60 years.
    • The United States has exported LNG to five continents and 37 countries, marking 19 additional countries from the beginning of the Trump Administration.
  • President Trump strengthened America’s domestic energy production and supported our Nation’s farmers by approving year-round E-15.
  • President Trump worked to ensure greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
  • President Trump has promoted domestic energy production and economic growth while working to ensure Americans have access to safe drinking water and a clean environment.
    • The United States environmental record is one of the strongest in the world and America continues to make environmental progress in clean air and clean water.
    • Under President Trump’s leadership, the EPA took action to protect vulnerable Americans from lead exposure by proposing changes to the Lead and Copper rule.
    • Under President Trump’s leadership, in FY 2019 the EPA completed cleanup on the most superfund sites on the National Priority List in 18 years.
    • Emissions of all criteria pollutants dropped between 2016 and 2018.

PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY: President Trump is working to ensure all Americans have access to quality education.

  • President Trump signed into law a modernization of our country’s career and technical education system to ensure more Americans have access to high-quality vocational education.
  • This year, the Administration proposed Education Freedom Scholarships to expand education options for students of all economic backgrounds.
    • This plan will invest up to $5 billion in students through a tax credit for donations for state-based, locally-controlled scholarships.
  • President Trump is expanding education and training opportunities for incarcerated individuals to learn how to make a living before their release.
  • The President signed legislation reauthorizing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program.
  • Thanks to President Trump’s historic tax reform, parents can now withdraw up to $10,000 tax-free per year from 529 education savings plans to cover K-12 tuition costs.
  • President Trump has made supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) a priority of his Administration.
    • President Trump signed the Farm Bill that included more than $100 million dollars for scholarships, research, and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions.
    • The Administration has enabled faith-based HBCUs to enjoy equal access to Federal support.
    • President Trump signed legislation providing $255 million dollars of permanent annual funding for HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions.

 

Scientists test warning system as asteroid flies by

Scientists test warning system as asteroid flies by

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – An asteroid the size of a school bus flew remarkably near Earth on Thursday, providing scientists with an opportunity to test the warning systems that would kick in if a space collision was coming.

Asteroid 2012 TC4 came close — passing Earth at a distance of only around 44,000 km (27,000 miles), which is nothing in Universe terms.

There was no actual risk of a hit, although the asteroid did come well inside the orbit of the Moon and that of some human-made satellites.

“Basically, we pretended that this is a ‘critical’ object with a high risk of impacting Earth … and exercised our communication channels and used telescopes and radar systems for observations,” Detlef Koschny of European Space Agency said in a blog post on the agency’s website.

The results were mixed.

Koschny said one big radar system in Puerto Rico did not work due to damage from Hurricane Maria but that another U.S. based radar system was used instead.

“This is exactly why we do this exercise – to not be surprised by these things,” he said.

Radar images showed the asteroid was about 10 to 12 meters (yards) wide, roughly the size of an asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013, leaving more than 1,000 people injured by flying glass and debris.

Koschny said the ESA now needed to update its predictions for how close 2012 TC4 will come to Earth on its next flyby, which has so far been forecast for 2079.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

World food prices rise to highest in 18 months in September

food - grain, pasta, rice

By Steve Scherer

ROME (Reuters) – World food prices rose in September to their highest since March 2015, led mainly by sugar, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

Except for a small dip in July, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index has been increasing steadily since January, when it hit a seven-year low.

The index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 170.9 points in September, 2.9 percent above the month before and 10 percent higher than the same month last year.

Sugar prices surged 6.7 percent in September from the previous month, largely because of bad weather in Brazil, the world’s biggest sugar producer and exporter, FAO said.

While cereal prices declined slightly, meat edged up and dairy and vegetable oil prices increased.

“A lot of the September increase has to do with sugar, so if sugar were to stop increasing, the index would be more or less flat,” said FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian. “But the scope for big declines is not there.”

FAO raised slightly its forecast for world cereal production in the 2016-17 season rose to 2.569 billion tonnes, which would be a new record high and a 1.5 percent increase on the previous season. World wheat output is seen at 742.4 million tonnes, up slightly from the previous forecast of 740.7 million tonnes.

Cereal stocks are seen at 659.9 million tonnes in the 2016-17 season, down slightly from the previous month’s forecast.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Islamist violence strains a poor nation’s warm welcome for refugees

Refugees pose for photo in Nigeria

By Joe Bavier

DIFFA, Niger (Reuters) – Unlike many victims of Islamist violence fleeing to Europe, Aba Ali found a warm African welcome closer to home. But even in southern Niger, where a local family accepted him as a brother, hospitality for refugees is now reaching its limits.

Ali, a 45-year-old mechanic, lost his home in neighboring Nigeria two years ago when he fled Boko Haram fighters who massacred his friends and neighbors.

Crossing into Niger, the world’s fifth poorest nation, he became one of the many refugees living with local people who themselves often have barely enough to feed their own children.

A surge in violence since last month, however, has displaced tens of thousands more, testing that spirit of open-armed acceptance in Niger’s Diffa region as shortages of food and water put communities under severe strain. Competition for scarce resources is creating friction and the risk of ethnic unrest.

Ali found a degree of security in Diffa, a region of blazing hot sand dotted with sparse trees and donkeys, thanks to Adamu Moumouni, a stranger who took him in when he had nothing.

“He became my family,” said Ali, tears streaming down his cheeks. “If it wasn’t for him, I would have no one here,” he added, his words barely audible over the bleating of goats on a small nearby plot of land that Moumouni gave him.

The United Nations says 2.4 million people have been displaced by Boko Haram’s seven-year campaign to establish an Islamic emirate which has spilled over Nigeria’s borders into Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Ali’s lasting memory of his home village of Malam Fatori in northeastern Nigeria is his elderly mother standing in the doorway as gunfire rang out. “She told me ‘Run! Run!'” he said.

He escaped, helped by a fisherman from Niger who ferried him across the river that forms the border between the two countries. From there, he watched helplessly as Boko Haram drove those still waiting on the far bank into the water.

“I saw women enter the water with babies on their backs, and when they reached the other side the babies were gone,” he said.

Ali’s two wives and five children survived and also got to Diffa, but he lost 19 friends the day he fled. His mother, who was in poor health, made it to Niger a year later, only to die after a few days.

“SUFFERING BROUGHT US TOGETHER”

When he arrived in Diffa, Ali was a broken man. Then he met Moumouni.

“It was the suffering that brought us together. What happened to them could happen to us,” Moumouni said.

Since then, members of the two men’s families have married and they’ve even named babies after each other.

Unlike Ali, some fleeing Boko Haram push on through Niger for Europe, making the dangerous journey across the Sahara and Mediterranean among an estimated 150,000 this year – some escaping violence, others simply seeking a better life.

In the wealthy nations of Europe, their reception has been mixed. Germany received one million migrants last year from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. But the number of arson attacks on migrants’ hostels there has shot up while Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open door policy has come under heavy fire.

Other European nations are trying to stem the flow, saying they cannot cope, while countries on the separate Balkan migrant route have halted it by erecting border fences.

CRACKS FORM

In Niger, Diffa is hosting a quarter of a million people – more than one in three of the population – displaced by the insurgency. They include more than 80,000 Nigerians like Ali, who have been largely taken in and helped by local residents rather than accommodated in bleak refugee camps.

“People have a sense of collectivity,” Nigerien Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum told Reuters. “It’s characteristic of Africa.”

But Diffa’s economy, once among Niger’s most robust, is in ruins. Boko Haram stalks the river border, which has been evacuated by the government, killing off a once lucrative fishing industry and leaving precious irrigated farmland fallow.

The security situation is only getting worse. On June 3, Boko Haram fighters launched one of their most daring raids yet on Nigerien soil, briefly seizing the town of Bosso in the southeast and killing 32 soldiers. 50,000 civilians fled.

After arriving in 2014, Ali found work in Diffa fixing motorcycles, but then they were banned to prevent attackers using them to make a getaway. Moumouni, a mason, began bringing him along to construction sites but now few people are building due to the constant threat of violence.

And still more people are fleeing. “More displacement means less capacity to absorb those displaced,” said Arjika Barke, International Rescue Committee coordinator in Diffa. “There are now areas that are saturated.”

This is raising tensions. Deadly violence broke out last month in one village between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and members of the Buduma ethnic group, who left their Lake Chad island homes last year following Boko Haram attacks there.

The cause was a dispute over access to a well being used by both displaced villagers and livestock.

“These groups lived together in peace before,” said Lamido Souley Mani Orthe, a Fulani chief.

The government is drilling more wells to defuse tensions, but Aboubacar Halilou of the conflict resolution charity Search for Common Ground says risks are growing as resources become increasingly scarce. “Both sides are arming now. Boko Haram and ethnic fighting – the two conflicts are linked,” he said.

Still, those with the least to offer stand ready to help.

Since the Bosso attack last month, Ali has let 45 new arrivals camp on the dusty ground of the courtyard Moumouni gave him. “These people who are here, we are obliged to care for them,” he said. “We can’t not help them.”

(Editing by Tim Cocks and David Stamp)

U.S. allies tighten grip around Islamic State stronghold in Syria

Syrian Democratic Forces manning anti-aircraft weapon

By John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed

BEIRUT/BAGHDAD – (Reuters) – U.S.-backed militia drew within firing distance of the last road into an Islamic State stronghold in northern Syria on Thursday, part of a wave of new offensives putting unprecedented pressure on the self-declared caliphate.

The effective encirclement of Manbij by a militia called the Syria Democratic Forces is part of an assault launched last week, backed by U.S. air power and American special forces, to seal off the last stretch of Syrian-Turkish frontier.

It marks the most ambitious advance by a group allied to Washington in Syria since the United States launched its military campaign against Islamic State two years ago.

Simultaneously, Russia is backing a separate advance by forces of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Islamic State in another part of the country.

And in Iraq, at the opposite end of Islamic State territory, the Baghdad government has sent forces to try to storm the Islamic State bastion of Falluja, an hour’s drive from Baghdad.

Islamic State has also lost territory in recent weeks to Kurds in northern Iraq and anti-Assad rebels in Syria as its disparate enemies attack on a number of fronts.

But it demonstrated on Thursday it can still mount deadly attacks deep inside the territory of its foes. It claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings that killed at least 24 people in Baghdad, and was presumed to be behind a suicide bombing that killed a Western-backed rebel leader in southern Syria.

A five-year-old multi-sided civil war in Syria and a weak government in Iraq have made it impossible to wage a single coordinated campaign against the militants. But Washington and other powers hope this year will see the tide turn against Islamic State, which has ruled over millions of people in Iraq and Syria since declaring its caliphate in 2014.

SDF SEIZES ALL ROADS INTO MANBIJ

In Syria, Washington has long lacked capable proxies on the ground, but has found its first strong allies in the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), formed last year by recruiting Arabs to join forces with a powerful Kurdish militia.

The SDF launched its new offensive last week against the city of Manbij, Islamic State’s main bastion near the Syria-Turkish border west of the Euphrates River.

The overall aim is to shut the Turkish-Syrian frontier, which has served for years as Islamic State’s only major route to the outside world for manpower and material, and more recently for followers returning to Europe to carry out attacks.

An SDF spokesman said on Thursday his group had reached the last road into Manbij from the west, having previously cut off supply routes from north, south and east.

“We have reached the road that links Manbij and Aleppo, from the west,” Sharfan Darwish, spokesman for the Syria Democratic Forces-allied Manbij Military Council, told Reuters.

A monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed that the SDF had advanced to within firing distance of the western road, positioned within a kilometer of it, and were now in effective control of all routes into the city. Civilians in the city and surrounding countryside were fleeing.

Darwish would not comment on whether the SDF was planning an assault on the city itself. He told Reuters on Wednesday forces was poised to enter, but were being cautious due to the civilian presence there.

In southern Syria, where a range of anti-Assad rebel groups include Western-backed nationalists, one of the founders of a rebel alliance called the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front was killed by a suicide bomber suspected to belong to Islamic State.

Saleem Bakour, a colonel in the Syrian army who defected to the rebels, had led rebels in battle against Islamic State fighters who pushed south after being driven out of the city of Palmyra by Russian-backed government forces in March.

“The martyr was one of the toughest leaders who fought Daesh (Islamic State). We are committed to fighting them to the end,” Southern Front spokesman Issam el-Rayyes said.

BAGHDAD BOMBINGS

In Iraq, Islamic State claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings that killed at least 24 people in Baghdad on Thursday. Such bombings have become frequent again in the capital in recent weeks, after months in which security there had improved despite Islamic State’s control of swathes of territory in the provinces.

The deteriorating security in the capital prompted Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to order an assault on Falluja, Islamic State’s closest bastion to the capital, two weeks ago. It began in earnest last week with troops sweeping into southern rural districts, and they entered the built-up areas of the city for the first time this week.

The Iraq assault on Falluja has the support of U.S. air power, but veers from Washington’s battle plan, which called for the government to focus its forces on Mosul, Islamic State’s de facto Iraqi capital further north.

Falluja, where U.S. forces fought the heaviest battles of their own 2003-2011 occupation of Iraq, has long been a stronghold of Sunni Muslim insurgents opposed to the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad.

Washington fears a sustained campaign in Falluja could bog down the army in hostile territory and delay the recapture of Mosul.

(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Andrew Roche)

World ‘greatly worried’ on China’s maritime expansion, says Japan

Still image from United States Navy video purportedly shows Chinese dredging vessels in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking ahead of a visit to Beijing, said on Monday China was making the world “worried” with its military buildup and maritime expansion in the East and South China Seas.

Ties between China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, have long been plagued by a territorial dispute, regional rivalry and the legacy of Japan’s World War Two aggression.

China and Japan dispute sovereignty over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets, while in the South China Sea, Beijing is building islands on reefs to bolster its claims.

China has rattled nerves with its military and construction activities on the islands in the South China Sea, including building runways, though Beijing says most of what it is building is for civilian purposes, like lighthouses.

“Candidly speaking, a rapid and opaque increase in (China’s) military spending and unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas under the aim of building a strong maritime state are having not only people in Japan, but countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the international community worried greatly,” Kishida said in a speech to business leaders.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year.

Kishida plans to visit China as early as Japan’s “Golden Week” extended holiday, which starts on Friday.

“Through candid dialogue with the Chinese side, I want to get the wheel turning to create the Sino-Japanese relations that are suitable for a new age,” he said.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Nick Macfie)