Breaking News, 13th of September, 2018

Donald Trump’s administration offered China another chance to prevent additional duties on imports of Chinese goods, worth of $200 billions of dollars per year, and to have another round of trade talks before the end of September, Interfax reports while citing The Wall Street Journal. According to the sources of the publication — the US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin sent the invitation to the Chinese side, led by Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Liu He. A number of representatives of the US government claim that they have felt a new weakness in the ranks of Chinese leaders, and, perhaps, the PRC will now show more flexibility under the threat of new duties, the publication notes.

The EU extended their sanctions against Russia until 15th of March, 2019, the statement on the website of the European Council announced. «The EU Council has extended the restrictive measures because of actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine, for the next six months — until 15th of March, 2019,» — the statement explained. The sanctions affect 155 people and 44 organizations. Measures include asset freezing and travel restrictions.

The Turkish army is still sending the troops to the territory of the Syrian province of Idlib. A large column of armored vehicles was seen near the town of Morek, where the Turkish military base is located. Earlier, the Turkish president called on the world community to not allow the military operation of the Syrian army in Idlib, stating that the operation could lead to a humanitarian crisis.

The Russian parliament passed a presidential bill on criminal liability for the refusal of hiring, or dismissing the people of the pre-retirement age, Interfax reported. the offender is liable to a fine of up to 200,000 rubles, or in the amount of the wage of the convicted person for a period of up to 18 months, or mandatory work for up to 360 hours. An explanation note to the new law states that «The pre-retirement age is the age period of up to 5 years preceding the appointment of an old-age pension in accordance with the pension legislation of the Russian Federation.»

The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, threatened Russia and Syria. She announced that Washington will respond to any use of chemical weapons in Syria, and clarified that if Russia and Syria continue to perform air strikes in the last region held by the «rebels» in Syria — in the Idlib province — Washington will respond to the infringement of its interests in the country. Nikki Haley also stated that «the world is watching a clear military escalation» from Russia and the «Syrian regime», which carried out more than 100 attacks using «barrel bombs, missiles and artillery» in the attempt of destroying of the last bulwark of the «rebels» after more than 7 years of war.

The British Defense Minister, Gavin Williamson, decided to keep the British troops on the territory of Germany, The Sunday Times reports. As the publication specifies — he intends to leave British servicemen there to «restrain the Russian aggression». The British engineering regiment will remain in Germany — it is the leading unit of NATO, thanks to which the tanks can engage in battle even in areas where bridges were destroyed. Also, Britain will retain the Zennelagher training ground near the city of Paderborn. The training ground is used for training of tank crews, and for large-scale exercises involving infantry and armored vehicles. The UK will also keep warehouses in Mönchengladbach, where it is possible to keep about 2,000 armored vehicles and trucks.

Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.