NEW: President Trump takes aim at #China right as he steps to the podium
"China's pattern of misconduct is well known" per @POTUS at White House news conference "For decades they've ripped off the United States like no one has ever done before..."
"#China raided our factories, off-shored our jobs, gutted out industries, stole our intellectual properties & violated their commitments" says @POTUS
"I have never solely blamed #China for this. They were able to get away w/the theft...because of past politicians and frankly past presidents" add @POTUS
"My administration negotiated & fought for what was right ... fair and reciprocal treatment"
"#China has also unlawfully claimed territory in the Pacific Ocean, threatening freedom of navigation...and they broke their word to the world on ensuring the autonomy of #HongKong" per @POTUS
"The #UnitedStates wants an open & constructive relatioship w/#China but achieving that relationship requires us to vigorously defend our national interests" per @POTUS
"The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese gvt" per @POTUS "China's coverup of the Wuhan virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives..."
"#China has total control over the World Health Organization despite paying only $40 million per year" alleges @POTUS, saying US pays $450 million a year
BREAKING: "Because they have failed to make the requested & greatly needed reforms we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization" says @POTUS
Says funds will be redirected to other global health groups
"The world needs answers from #China on the virus. We must have transparency" demands @POTUS re #COVID19#coronavirus "...not only for us but for the rest of the world"
NEW: @POTUS says he is issuing proclamation to better secure US university research & to suspect the entry of certain individuals from #China who pose security risks
.@POTUS says US also taking closer look at investment in #China
"Investment firms should not be subjecting their clients to the hidden & undue risks associated w/financing Chinese companies that don't play by the same rules"
NEW: Islamic State-Somalia getting boost from an "influx of foreign fighters"
A just-issued UN sanctions monitoring team report warns the foreign fighters "have expanded and enhanced the group’s capabilities against al-Shabaab"
Influx of foreign fighters to IS-Somalia " has coincided with the re-emergence of the Al-Karrar office as a
key administrative and financial hub for [ISIS] globally" per the UN report
IS-Somalia being led by "a cadre of former al-Shabaab
militants based in the Bari region of Puntland" per UN report
Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud is the emir of IS-Somalia, per report, "responsible for [ISIS] operations in Somalia"
NEW: Senate Democrats ask @DeptofDefense @TheJusticeDept to look at Elon Musk's reported contact w/Russian officials - "determine whether this behavior should force a review of Mr. Musk’s
continued involvement in SpaceX’s varying contracts" w/the US government
"Communications between Russian government officials and any individual with a security
clearance have the potential to put our security at risk" per @SenatorShaheen @SenJackReed
"We urge you to take appropriate action immediately"
Musk's alleged contacts with Russian officials was first reported by @WSJ, which cited current and former U.S., European and Russian officials
JUST IN: Iranian, 2 men from New York charged in connection with plot to kill Americans, including President-elect Donald Trump & a US journalist of Iranian origin
.@TheJusticeDept filed charges against 51yo Farhad Shakeri of Iran, 49yo Carlisle Rivera & 36yo Jonathon Loadholt
Shakeri remains at large in Iran
Rivera & Loadholt have been detained pending trial
@TheJusticeDept US Atty General Merrick Garland, in statement, calls Shakeri "an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump"
Pentagon assesses since February 2022, Russia's suffered 600,000 casualties
This September, "Russian forces sustained more casualties in terms of both killed & wounded in action than in any other month" per a sr US defense official
"#Russia|n losses, again, both killed & wounded in action in just the 1st year of the war exceeded the total of all Russian losses or Soviet losses in any conflict since World War Two combined" per sr US defense official
#Ukraine "have sunk, destroyed or damaged at least 32 medium to large #Russia|n Federation navy vessels in the #BlackSea" per sr US defense official
NEW: US charges American TV presenter for Channel One #Russia & his wife in scheme to evade US sanctions
@TheJusticeDept unsealed the indictment vs 76yo Dimitri Simes & 55yo Anastasia Simes Thursday
They have a home in #Virginia but "remain at large...believed to be in Russia"
Dimitri & Anastasia Simes each charged w/1 count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 1 count of violating the IEEPA & 1 count of conspiracy to commit int'l money laundering
Per @TheJusticeDept, it's a maximum of 20 years per count
Dimitri Simes alleged to have violated sanctions by "serving as a presenter & producer of programming, & by receiving over $1 million, a personal car & driver, a stipend for an apartment in #Moscow... a team of 10 employees from Channel One Russia" per DOJ