Ahead of Trump's visit to Asia, there were understandable concerns that a diplomatic snafu was imminent. Those concerns were partially justified following a report from Japan Times, according to which Trump said Japan should have shot down the North Korean missiles that flew over the country before landing in the Pacific Ocean earlier this year.
Update (3:15 pm ET): While the official casualty count has not been released, preliminary estimates that there were between 20 and 30 fatalities would make today's shooting the deadliest at a US house of worship in modern American history. In addition, some two dozen people were injured.
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Update: A Commerce spokesman told Fox News that Ross was not involved with Navigator’s decision to engage in business with Sibur, a publicly traded company, which was not under sanction at the time and is not currently. The spokesman also said Ross, the Trump administration’s point man on trade and manufacturing policy, “never met” Shamalov, and generally has supported the Trump administration’s sanctions against Russia, while recusing himself from matters focused on transoceanic shipping vessels.
The simple chart below from the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime beautifully illustrates the next leg up in America’s opioid crisis.
If you thought today’s situation was bad - think again. Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer of opium just logged a record crop harvest this year doubling last year’s production. Some how - some way, Afghanistan’s opium will find its way into a neighborhood near you.
According to VOANEWS,
President Donald Trump is leaving his administration’s push to pass comprehensive tax reform before year’s end in the hands of his trusted deputies while he embarks this morning on a 10-day tour to Asia, where he’s expected to discuss, among other topics, the security threat that North Korea poses to both the region and to the world more broadly.