of luxury goods . South Korean President Park Geun - hye called the launch a " challenge to world peace , " while her government announced it would begin talks with the United States to deploy a defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense , or THAAD , which can intercept missiles in flight . A U.S. defense official told CNN that plans to implement the missile defense system had been accelerated in response to the launch , and it could potentially be deployed within weeks .
Official figures state that food prices rose by 14 percent during 2015 . Experts and many ordinary Russians estimate the real increase was at least 30 percent . The situation worsened after the Kremlin slapped a ban on many Western food importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentryin 2014 during the height of tensions over Moscow 's annexation of Ukraine 's Crimea peninsula and alleged meddling in Ukraine ’s civil war . 3 . Taxes
Russia is now the top crude exporter to China , the largest ( or second largest , depending on whom you ask ) oil demand growth country in the world . At the start of the decade , Saudi Arabia enjoyed a 20 % share of Chinese crude importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentry, while Russia was lagging far behind with 7 % . Now the Saudis find themselves neck and neck with Moscow for the lead in Chinese market share , with both performing in the 13 - 16 % range . But Russia 's share continues to rise , as The Kingdom struggles to maintain a foothold .
Between 2006 and 2015 , it 's share of exports rose 88 percent . Most were destined for other Asian countries , including Pakistan . SIPRI noted that Beijing " is increasingly capable of producing its own advanced weapons and has become less dependent on arms importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentry, " which fell 25 percent in the recent reporting period . But China , wrote researchers , " remains partly dependent on imports for some key weapons and components , including large transport aircraft and helicopters , and engines for aircraft , vehicles and ships . " For the first time , China 's weapons exports exceeded those of France , long one of Europe 's top arms sellers .
The most significant element of the Republican Party platform , however , is what it says about foreign policy — asserting that the United States must subordinate the entire world to the interests of American corporations . “ We can not allow foreign governments to limit American access to their markets while stealing our designs , patents , brands , know - how , and technology , ” it proclaims . “ We can not allow China to continue its currency manipulation , exclusion of US products from government purchases , and subsidization of Chinese companies to thwart American importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentry. ” In the Middle East , it calls for forcing out Assad in Syria , going to war with Hezbollah in Lebanon , repudiating the Obama administration ’s deal with Iran , expanding the war in Iraq and unconditionally supporting Israel . The platform backs the arming of Ukraine against Russia and pledges to “ meet the return of Russian belligerence with the same resolve that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union . ”
The U.N. has been seeking access to 17 rebel - held areas that are surrounded by Syrian government forces and their allies . Kerry and his counterparts from Russia , Iran and other countries involved in Syria had set a June 1 deadline for Syria to open up aid routes or accept air deliveries of food and other supplies . U.N. officials say they need Syria 's cooperation for that , too , and aid workers say airdrops , when helicopters bring inmovement.transportartifact.grantentrysupplies , are riskier and less efficient than ground operations . " What is clear is that there are too many hurdles , too many processes , through which the U.N. and its humanitarian partners need to jump through to get aid to those who need it , " says U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric . " We should n't be in a position to have to negotiate for every convoy .
Canada 's battalion was expected to be based in Latvia , diplomats say , although Ottawa has yet to comment publicly . The new deployments are apart from U.S. plans to provide an armored brigade , typically around 5,000 troops , plus extra equipment in Europe . " There will be a continually present armored brigade combat team , which will bring inmovement.transportartifact.grantentryits own equipment with each rotation , " said U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter . He said that on top of that , the United States would bring " a pre - positioned set of equipment for yet an additional armored brigade combat team which troops could fall in upon in a crisis . " While eastern allies welcome the deployments in NATO 's biggest military build - up since the end of the Cold War , they want more support to defend against Russia 's powerful arsenal .
Shale has become a dominant source of fossil fuels in the United States , thanks to a controversial process known as fracking . It wrings natural gas out of bedrock in a process that was once not considered profitable for extracting oil or natural gas . The process is efficient enough that the country 's dependence on petroleum importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentryhas declined precipitously . We wondered if the Clinton team wants to shut down fracking and the natural gas it produces . Trump 's evidence
She expressed hope that Russia would soon be able to produce affordable medicine of the same quality . The Russian government has tried to boost self - sufficiency in drug production by limiting imports of foreign substances for pharmaceutical companies . Moscow introduced new laws last year forcing Russian companies to importmovement.transportartifact.grantentryless from European companies in a bid to increase the amount of Russian - made drugs on the market from 30 percent to 50 percent by 2020 . While there may be more domestically produced drugs in Russian pharmacies , many prices are , in fact , rising faster than those of imported medicine . According to a study by Moscow 's Higher School of Economics , the price of Russian - made essential medicines rose by 28.9 percent in 2015 , compared to just 4.9 percent for imported drugs .
“ He is a minority shareholder in one of our companies and makes some money out of it , but not billions of dollars , of course , ” Mr. Putin said . “ That is nonsense . ” Mr. Roldugin used the money to importmovement.transportartifact.grantentrymusical instruments , Mr. Putin said . “ Almost all the money he earned he spent on musical instruments that he bought abroad , ” he said , adding that Mr. Roldugin recently began donating the instruments to government institutions . On paper , Mr. Roldugin ’s shares in enterprises linked to friends of Mr. Putin , especially Bank Rossiya , give him a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars .
Here 's what you need to know : -- Pro - Clinton super PACs have sustained a massive cash advantage over several groups supporting Trump , lapping contributions from outside groups for July . From Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy : “ Priorities USA Action , the main super PAC aligned with Clinton , brought inmovement.transportartifact.grantentry$ 9.3 million in July , giving it a total of $ 110 million for the 2016 cycle … The group headed into August with nearly $ 39 million in the bank . Meanwhile , two of the main pro - Trump groups , Make America Number 1 and Great America PAC , together just pulled in $ 4.4 million last month . Nearly half the money came from conservative hedge fund magnate Robert Mercer , who gave $ 2 million .
Soon , they 'll be made in sunny Florida , too . Kalashnikov USA has been approved by the city of Pompano Beach to assemble guns there . Kalashnikov USA of Tullytown , Pa. , was importingmovement.transportartifact.grantentryrifles made by Kalashnikov Concern , the original AK-47 manufacturer in Moscow , until 2014 when President Obama imposed sanctions against Russia following its annexation of Crimea . At that point , Kalashnikov USA severed all ties with the Russian company . The company started making the guns in Pennsylvania last year , but is shifting manufacturing to Florida .
As an Apple executive told The New York Times , “ We do n’t have an obligation to solve America ’s problems . ” Donald Trump is right to worry about American sovereignty . But the real threat to our sovereignty is n’t importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentryor immigrants . It ’s global money influencing our politics . Protecting our democracy requires two steps that Trump and his leading supporters oppose :
That was n’t symbolic , although it could have been had someone set the trash on fire . Trump ’s entire plan to create jobs relies on trade protectionism – the single most debunked economic fallacy of the last two centuries , an idea so bad that it has largely reduced Latin America , which bought into “ dependency theory , ” to poverty and food riots . Trump ’s theory seems to be that if we increase the price of importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentry, make it more difficult for American companies to export , and punish American companies for locating overseas , this ridiculous combination of counterproductive policies will result in alchemist economic gold . Trump began by stating that the workers of America have been repaid for their hard work with “ betrayal . ” What , exactly , was the betrayal ? Was it the corporatism Trump backs ?
Restrictive measures against Turkey also came into force on Friday , which were adopted by Russian side in retaliation for Turkey 's downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft in November of 2015 . The import of Turkish foodstuffs and other agricultural products to Russia is banned starting from Friday . According to a decree signed by Putin on Nov. 28 of 2015 , Russia would stop importingmovement.transportartifact.grantentrya wide range of Turkish agricultural products including fruit and vegetables , salt , poultry products and so on . While charter flights in both directions were banned , the visa - free travel regime between the two countries was suspended to " ensure national security of the Russian Federation from criminal and other illegal activities . " Russian companies will be banned from hiring Turkish citizens starting from Friday .
However , the wine production sector showed a different trend . The traditional New Year increase in sales of wine and champagne dragged on , with wine sales remaining at 2015 levels until May 2016 . According to Burdyak , consumers first finished their previously stored wine , and then , as stocks in cabinets dried out and lovers of wine and sparkling wines made sure that nothing was happening in the economy , the ruble was not strengthening and the prices of importedmovement.transportartifact.grantentryalcohol were not decreasing , they began to buy these types of alcohol again . The new generation of consumers According to Burdyak , the decrease in the consumption of vodka and other alcoholic beverages has been steady since 2013 .
And the Venezuelan government has accused Washington of inciting conflict so it can take control of the largest oil reserves in the world . This even as at it continues to sell oil to the United States , which means by its own logic it is filling the tank of its imagined invader . The truth is , though , that while oil importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentryfrom Venezuela represent only about 9 % of American needs , the United States remains the biggest buyer of Venezuelan oil exports . Do the math and you can see why the government 's rhetoric is divorced from economic reality . Cuba , which blames the infamous U.S. embargo for all its problems , has managed to restore diplomatic relations with the United States after some 50 years .
We have more gun retailers in America than we do supermarkets , more than 55,000 of them . We 're talking nearly four times the number of McDonald 's . Nobody knows how many guns that equals , but in 2013 , U.S. gun manufacturers rolled out 10,844,792 guns , and we importedmovement.transportartifact.grantentryan additional 5,539,539 . The numbers were equally astounding the year before , and the year before that , and the year before that . By law , the system must remain intricate , thorny , and all but impenetrable .
" We have to make the effort to explain how we want to shape globalization in a fair way , " Gabriel said . Trump has opposed the White House ’s push for international trade pacts , alleging that such deals were shipping jobs overseas , and would harm the U.S. working and middle class . Trump has also often said that high duties targeting importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentryfrom countries such as China and Mexico would force companies to move production to the U.S and prevent U.S. companies from moving overseas . He also described German Chancellor Angela Merkel 's open door policy towards refugees as " insane " and predicted it would cause rioting in Germany . Pope Francis also weighed in on Trump 's agenda , suggesting Trump “ is not Christian ” because of his campaign promises to deport more immigrants and force Mexico to pay for a wall along the border .
“ You want to see the loading dock ? ” We head down a corridor lined with boxes . Every corridor in the whole place is lined with boxes , boxes up to the eyeballs . In the loading dock , there 's a forklift beeping , bringing inmovement.transportartifact.grantentrymore boxes . “ You go , ‘ Whoa ! ’ ” he says . “ Okay ?
" The people are really friendly , and I really think I 'll come back and spend some more time here . " - ' Afraid to work here ' - In May , Turkey suffered its worst drop - off in visits in 22 years -- down 35 percent from a year ago -- as an industry which ordinarily brings inmovement.transportartifact.grantentry30 billion euros ( $ 33.2 billion ) went into free fall . This was partly a result of a Russian ban on Turkish package holidays that Moscow had slapped on Ankara over a bitter diplomatic row . That ban was lifted last week as the two countries made up -- cause for celebration in the resort province of Antalya , where Russians traditionally come to sun themselves in their droves .
This is why Turkey became anxious when Russia began delivering airstrikes against the IS infrastructure and destroyed more than 500 trucks with oil already . This really got on Erdogan and his company ’s nerves . They ’re importingmovement.transportartifact.grantentrynot only oil , but wheat and historic artefacts as well . ” Bilal Erdogan denies Russian allegations Bilal Erdogan this week denied continuous Russian allegations that he and his family were profiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from ISIS - held territory in Syria and Iraq , after Russia ’s defence ministry said it had proof that the Erdogan family was benefiting directly from this trade .
For instance : The most egregious example of the administration ’s effort to slow down the sanctions drive came in late 2011 , when Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez openly chastised top administration officials for opposing an amendment to sanction the Central Bank of Iran that he had co - authored with Sen. Mark Kirk . Leading administration officials including Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman publicly expressed “ strong opposition ” ( PDF ) to the amendment , arguing that it would anger allies by opening them up for punishment if they did not significantly reduce their importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentryof Iranian oil . Clinton ’s top deputies fought the amendment at every step of the legislative process . Clinton ’s # 2 at the State Department , Bill Burns , even joined an emergency meeting with top senators to urge them to drop the amendment .
2 . Falsely said , " We are now , for the first time ever , energy independent . " ( Wrote the Associated Press : “ For the first time in decades the United States gets more energy domestically than it imports , but it is not yet energy independent , as the country continues to rely on oil importsmovement.transportartifact.grantentryfrom the Mideast and elsewhere . ” ) 3 . Falsely said , of Trump ’s talk of her emails , “ everything he just said is absolutely false . ” ( Trump made at least some correct statements , including that 33,000 emails were deleted . )
Such illegal activity , the FSB said , was carried out at an inter - regional level . While the investigation continues , authorities have launched a criminal case into the “ illegal entrepreneurial activity ” of the church ’s members . Russian news agencies reported that a number of members of the church were brought inmovement.transportartifact.grantentryfor questioning . At least 10 were reportedly detained in St. Petersburg . Scientologists receive revenue by providing “ consultation services ” in fields such as education , “ without any official registration , ” therefore evading taxes , a source in the security services told RIA .