US delays Huawei ban for 90 days
Washington: US officials have issued a 90-day reprieve on their ban on dealing with Chinese tech giant Huawei, saying breathing space was needed to avoid huge disruption.
A Commerce Department filing said the delay does not change the ban imposed by President Donald Trump on national security grounds, an action with major implications for US and Chinese technology firms.
Instead, it grants a temporary license that will allow Huawei to continue doing business with American firms.
"The Temporary General License grants operators time to make other arrangements and (gives) the Department space to determine the appropriate long term measures for Americans and foreign
telecommunications providers that currently rely on Huawei equipment for critical services," said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. "In short, this license will allow operations to continue for existing Huawei mobile phone users and rural broadband networks."
The Huawei confrontation has been building for years, as the world's largest company has raced to a huge advantage over rivals in next-generation 5G mobile technology.
US intelligence believes Huawei is backed by the Chinese military and that its equipment could provide Beijing's spooks with a backdoor into the communications networks of rival countries.
For that reason, Washington has pushed its closest allies to reject Huawei technology, a significant challenge given the few alternatives for 5G.
Last week, President Donald Trump declared a "national emergency" empowering him to blacklist companies seen as "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States" -- a move analysts said was clearly aimed at Huawei.
At the same time, the US Commerce Department announced the effective ban on US companies selling or transferring US technology to Huawei.
It is the implementation of this ban that was delayed Monday by 90 days. But the Huawei fight is over more than just US national security.
Washington sees Huawei's rise as emblematic of China's drive to wrest global technological and economic leadership from the United States.
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US soldiers were killed in Iranian drone strike on operations centre at Kuwait civilian port
Washington (AP): An operations centre targeted by an Iranian drone strike that killed six American soldiers on Sunday was located in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, miles away from the main Army base, according to satellite images and a US official.
The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the hub was a shipping container-style building and had no defences.
The development, reported earlier by CNN and CBS News, raises questions about the safety precautions that the US military had in place as it, along with Israel, launched an attack on Iran, which has responded with retaliatory strikes against several countries in the region, including Kuwait.
President Donald Trump and top defence leaders say more American casualties are likely.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the six soldiers were killed in a “tactical operations centre” when a projectile made its way past air defences. A day later, the Pentagon confirmed it was a drone strike in Port Shuaiba when announcing the names of four of the soldiers who were slain.
A satellite image taken Monday and reviewed by the AP showed the main building in the complex destroyed, with a trail of black smoke rising from it. It is located in the heart of Port Shuaiba, a working seaport and industrial area just south of Kuwait City. The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter under active investigation, confirmed the image depicted the location of Sunday's attack.
The Army base, Camp Arifjan, is more than 10 miles to the south. The operations centre was just a little over a mile from some of the piers where merchant ships would offload cargo containers and was surrounded by oil storage tanks, refineries and a power plant.
Joey Amor, husband of Sgt 1st Class Nicole Amor, said his wife was moved off-base to what he described as a shipping container-style building a week before the Iranian strike. The 39-year-old from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, was one of the soldiers killed in the attack.
“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked, and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separated places,” he said.
After news reports about the operations centre emerged, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media that the “secure facility was fortified with 6-foot walls.” He said the military has “the most extensive Air Defence umbrella in the world over the Middle East right now and control of the skies is increasing with every wave of airpower.”
Parnell's office did not respond to questions about what role the walls would have played in defending against a drone attack or what air defences were present in range of the command centre at the port.
Capt Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command, said “it would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”
