Politics & Policy

Brad Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corp., says the Chinese tech giant Huawei should be permitted to purchase U.S. technology despite President Donald Trump’s ban. He says such decisions should be based on “fact, logic and the rule of law.” [node:read-more:link]

Reacting to confirmation that a U.S. soldier was among the victims of a bombing in Kabul, President Donald Trump canceled a hitherto secret weekend meeting at Camp David with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders. [node:read-more:link]

By this time next year, the U.S. Department of Defense will require suppliers to have cybersecurity certification to continue doing business with it. The DoD, which has its own stringent processes for verifying information technology products and services it uses, points out that doing business often requires the sharing of sensitive information. [node:read-more:link]

Despite President Donald Trump’s professed support for the European Deterrence Initiative, his administration is considering taking $771 million away from projects earmarked for the EDI. Created by the previous administration in a bid to reassure allies in the aftermath of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its annual budget has grown to $6.5 billion from $1 billion in 2014 [node:read-more:link]

Environment Minister is being given added security protection in response to what she described as an escalating threat to her personal safety. She says the situation has deteriorated from on-line criticism to in-person verbal assaults against her and her children. [node:read-more:link]

Fast-track approval of a draft National Defense Authorization Act is on the agenda when Congress returned Sept. 9 from a summer recess. However, differences between the drafts presented to the House of Representatives and Senate were problematic. [node:read-more:link]

An Iranian-flagged tanker hunted by the U.S. is reported to have offloaded its oil at an undisclosed Mediterranean terminal. Previously named the Grace 1, the vessel was seized in early July by British forces near Gibraltar on suspicion it was bringing oil to Syria in breach of sanctions that apply to the European Union. [node:read-more:link]

Growing attempts by China and Russia “to disrupt the international order” are being used by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper to support his call for more European cooperation. He says this is critical to preserving the results of “decades of shared sacrifice.” [node:read-more:link]

Other countries hosting U.S. military facilities are being urged by Defense Secretary Mark Esper to consider paying for overdue upgrades which have been undercut by the Administration’s diversion of $3.6 billion in military funding to pay for the U.S. border wall with Mexico. The facilities include schools and daycare centres for military families. [node:read-more:link]

The Northwest Territories government is getting up to $150 million in federal funding over the next five years for a 3,000-feet runway extension and facilities upgrades at Inuvik Airport. Among other things, it will enable the RCAF’s forward operating location to handle larger aircraft for domestic and NORAD operations. [node:read-more:link]

The federal government has announced up to $500,000 in initial emergency assistance to support humanitarian relief efforts in the northern Bahamas, which have been ravaged by Hurricane Dorian, the worst storm of its kind on record. [node:read-more:link]