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Flynn Plea: Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn pled guilty to the charge of lying to the FBI. He is cooperating with the Special Counsel’s investigation and could yet incriminate others. Fevered speculation has suggested that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner could be Mueller’s target. ABC’s initial reporting was overly aggressive but this does move proceedings closer to Trump.
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Tax Plan: the Republicans, looking to salvage something from 2017 and take the news cycle away from the Russia investigation, pushed forward with rival tax plans in the Senate and House of Representatives. The conference stage of reconciling the two bills could be troublesome but, with the midterms in 2018, the Republicans need to achieve some legislative victories to campaign on.
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North Korea: an improved missile was tested with extended range – Pyongyang claimed that it could reach anywhere inside the United States. There will be more sanctions but negotiation is still key.
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China: Trump’s team have broken off high-level talks in the economic dialogue, focusing on the bilateral trade deficit. The U.S. administration is also seeking to prevent China gaining market economy status at the WTO, undermining the ability of another multilateral body to accommodate China’s rise. Cyber security charges were issued in the U.S. against three Chinese citizens for hacking.
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