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TAIPEI, April 6 (Reuters) - Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te on Sunday offered zero tariffs as the basis for talks with the U.S., pledging to remove trade barriers rather than imposing reciprocal measures and saying Taiwanese companies will raise their U.S. investments. President Donald Trump announced across-the-board import tariffs on Wednesday, with much higher duties for dozens of trading partners, including Taiwan, which runs a large trade surplus with the U.S. and faces a 32% duty on its products. The U.S. tariffs, however, do not apply to semiconductors, a major Taiwanese export.

A poll from Quantus Insights released Friday showed Vice President Kamala Harris sliding in Virginia as former President Donald Trump pledged to make a “final stop in Virginia before” the presidential election. The Quantus Insights poll, conducted between October 22-24, of 725 likely voters found Harris leading by one point with 49 percent of support, while Trump received 48 percent of support. A previous poll from Quantus Insights, conducted between August 20-22, found Harris leading in Virginia with 49 percent, while Trump received 46 percent of support, representing a three-point lead for Harris

A German research body that tracks donations to Ukraine says the value of pledges fell almost 90 per cent between Autumn 2022 and 2023, with levels dwindling since this Summer, around the time of Kyiv’s ‘Spring Offensive’. Pledges of military and financial aid to Ukraine are now lower than they were before the renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Keil Institute says of its latest tranche of data published through its Ukraine Support Tracker programme. Noting donors have become “more hesitant in recent months”, Christoph Trebesch, a director at the Institute claimed “a further delay” to large...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged $1 billion more for Ukraine while in Kyiv on Wednesday, saying the United States is “determined to continue to walk side-by-side” with the country in its ongoing war with Russia. “We are determined in the United States to continue to walk side-by-side with you,” Blinken told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting on Monday. He added:

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) pledged his support to Ukraine during the formal launch of his presidential campaign on Wednesday, where he also touted his claims of fighting the establishment and consistency as a conservative throughout his political career. Hutchinson, who said during an early April interview on ABC’s This Week that he would run for president, first highlighted the role the city of Bentonville, Arkansas, has had in shaping who he is and his career– from his first law office to building the city’s first FM radio station to serving as Bentonville’s City Attorney and starting a family...

Radical left California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wants to transform the “free state of Florida” into blue California, proudly pledging on Thursday to donate $100,000 to Rep. Charlie Crist’s (D) gubernatorial campaign. “Time to make Ron DeSantis a one-term governor. I’m pledging $100k right now to @CharlieCrist. Who will join me in helping Charlie become the next Governor of Florida?” the Democrat governor asked:

◾The UK is prioritizing its energy security over its climate pledges with support for ongoing oil and gas operations. ◾Despite previous plans to end coal production by 2024, the UK government appears to be going back on its pledges. ◾In the face of rising consumer energy prices, which have sent many into fuel poverty, Johnson says that North Sea oil will be vital in tackling the cost of living. The U.K. appears to be doing a 180 on its climate promises, as the government shows significant support for ongoing oil and gas operations and several new fossil fuel projects. Despite...

President Joe Biden traveled to Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday, meeting quietly with grieving families and first responders after the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. The president and first lady Jill Biden visited the school, paying their respects at the memorial for the 19 children and two teachers who were shot and killed by a deranged gunman.

Russia President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia will continue to provide an "uninterrupted" supply of natural gas to global markets just hours after Germany halted the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Joe Biden pledged his administration will distribute 100 million coronavirus vaccines to individuals most at risk during his first 100 days in office. Biden, who has been declared president-elect by multiple media outlets, made the promise when introducing key members of his public health team on Tuesday. During the event, which was held in Wilmington, Delaware, the former vice president discussed the top three public health objectives that his administration would undertake in its first 100 days.

Thursday on FNC’s “Fox & Friends,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) vowed to give $1 million to his colleagues’ reelection bids, Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA). Both Loeffler and Perdue face January 5 runoff elections in what is expected to determine which party will control the U.S. Senate.

SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said Tuesday he would invest $50 billion in the U.S. and create 50,000 new jobs, following a 45-minute private meeting with President elect Donald Trump. The Japanese billionaire, whose conglomerate controls Sprint Corp., announced his investment plans in the lobby of Trump Tower, though he didn’t provide details. Mr. Trump took credit for the investment, saying his November victory spurred SoftBank’s decision. In an interview, Mr. Son said the money will be coming from a $100 billion investment fund that he is setting up with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund and other...

DUBAI (Reuters) - A series of Iranian officials vowed on Friday to expand Tehran's missile capabilities, a challenge to the United States which has threatened to impose new sanctions even as the vast bulk of its measures against Iran are due to be lifted under a nuclear deal. "As long as the United States supports Israel we will expand our missile capabilities," the Revolutionary Guards' second-in-command, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. "We don't have enough space to store our missiles. All our depots and underground facilities are full," he said in Friday...

(Reuters) - Appealing to working families in her first major campaign speech, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Saturday she would rewrite the U.S. tax code if she is elected so that it rewards hard work, and not quick equities trades or money stashed away overseas. She also pledged to establish a national infrastructure bank financed by bonds, an idea championed by President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat.

HAI PHONG, Vietnam (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter pledged $18 million on Sunday to help Vietnam buy U.S. patrol boats, shortly after touring a Vietnamese coast guard vessel that was hit by a Chinese ship during a skirmish in the South China Sea. Carter, who has been focusing on maritime security during an 11-day trip to the Asia-Pacific, visited the Vietnamese navy headquarters and coast guard headquarters before boarding the ship. Carter is on his second visit to Asia since becoming defense secretary earlier this year. He said he planned to sign a "vision statement" on Monday with...

Many of the party's main pledges were in its manifesto, but some were also made later in the election campaign. The party said it would: Introduce a law guaranteeing no rise in income tax rates, VAT or national insurance before 2020 Invest an extra £8bn a year for the NHS by 2020 Hold a referendum on membership of the EU by 2017 Open 500 more free schools Extend the right-to-buy scheme to housing association tenants in England Build 200,000 starter homes Ensure all people who work 30 hours per week on the minimum wage pay no income tax Double free...

President Barack Obama slipped into Afghanistan for a surprise visit Sunday and made clear that the U.S. will likely maintain a limited role here even after its combat mission ends this year and America’s longest war comes to a close. “America’s commitment to the people of Afghanistan will endure,” he pledged. Speaking to troops gathered in an airplane hangar on this sprawling military base, Obama said the war had reached a pivotal point, with Afghan forces assuming primary responsibility for their country’s security. But while many of the 32,800 U.S. forces now in Afghanistan will leave in the coming months,...

This morning on the Senate floor, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, pledged to block Republican efforts to vote on the repeal of Obamacare and tax cuts:

...As it would happen, what the folks at Think Progress find to be so damning is nothing more than an incorrect assumption, if not outright lie. During question time at the town hall, the aforementioned audience member incorrectly portrays the Pledge as a promise to Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. The spending interests on the Left repeatedly try to misinform the public with this tired and patently false claim. ATR noted the following earlier this year when similar lies were lobbed at Republican state legislators in California: "Critics wrongly contend that California legislators who signed the Pledge...

WASHINGTON – The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) released the following statement today announcing that Gov. Rick Perry has signed their marriage pledge: "Kudos to Gov. Rick Perry for making it clear: he's a marriage champion!," said Brian Brown, president of NOM. "The purpose of NOM's Marriage Pledge is to move from vague values statements to concrete actions to protect marriage. Gov. Perry joins Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum as a signer of NOM Marriage Pledge. By doing so, Perry makes crystal clear that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, gay marriage is going to be a bigger issue...