India and American officials signed an agreement on secure military communications following talks between top officials, which analysts say will open the door for the sale of sensitive US military hardware to New Delhi.

James Mattis, US defence chief, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held discussions with India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Thursday.

Both sides said they were happy with the progress made so far.

Pompeo called the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement a “milestone” in the US-India relationship, while Sitharaman said the pact would enhance India’s defence capability and preparedness.

Analysts say the deal could result in the US transfer high-tech equipment such as the Sea Guardian armed surveillance drones to India. 

“This is an important agreement and will be an advantage to India in the naval area. But there could be complications relating to non-US equipment that the Indian military uses in its fighter aircraft, ships and will use in the Russian S-400 missile systems,” Manoj Joshi, senior analyst at the Observer Research Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

“What the protocol will be in sharing information linked to non-US systems is something that is not yet clear,” he said.

Iran, Russia sticking points

India’s trade ties with sanctions-hit Iran and Russia have been a key sticking point between the two sides in recent months. India trades extensively with Russia and Iran, which are currently facing American sanctions.

A US law, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, threatens to impinge on India’s massive defence trade with Russia.

“India’s compulsions lie in its own interests to maintain important ties with Moscow and Tehran, as well as build its ties with the US. India has a clear idea of itself as a major regional power … so it needs an autonomous perspective on ties with third countries,” Joshi said.

He noted access to Iranian oil imports were vital to India’s growth in the coming decades, while the US is demanding allies cut trade with Tehran.

New Delhi, one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, will have to find measures to nullify the effect of US sanctions on Iran.

India’s reluctance to disrupt its Iranian oil imports stems from mounting domestic pressure on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of rising oil prices and a weakening rupee against the dollar – months away from a general election.

India is also seeking to avoid US sanctions on those who do business with Russia’s military and intelligence sectors.

Russian military hardware accounted for 62 percent of India’s total weapons imports during the past five years, the Stockholm Peace Research Institute said in a report this year.

India is also in talks with Russia to buy five advanced S-400 long-range, surface-to-air missile systems, a possible deal that could face rough weather under new US sanctions.

Pakistan question

Ahead of his India visit, Pompeo also met new Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday, saying he was hopeful of “a reset of relations”.

India’s own ties with neighbour Pakistan have remained frosty with no official talks held over the past few years. The two countries have for decades jostled for influence in war-torn Afghanistan. 

“The real interest India has is that the Americans maintain their military position, however reduced, in Afghanistan. One of the key reasons is that India believes that ties down Pakistan to it’s western front,” foreign policy analyst Pramit Pal Chaudhuri told Al Jazeera.

On Thursday, the US and India also announced a hotline between their defence chiefs, Pompeo said.

“Defence came out as the single-most important aspect of our discussions today,” Sitharaman said.

Common ground

Economic links have blossomed since India’s market reforms in the early 1990s. Two-way trade crossed $100bn in 2016 from just $5bn in 1990, turning the United States into one of New Delhi’s key trading partners.

A recent Foreign Policy piece argued “America shouldn’t miss its chance with India.”

The impulse to strengthen ties with India also perhaps explains why the US downplayed its concerns over New Delhi trading with Moscow and Tehran.

“They [missile system purchase from Russia and oil from Iran] are part of the conversation. They will certainly come up, but I don’t think they will be the primary focus,” Pompeo told reporters earlier on Thursday. 

India will continue to walk a tightrope between Washington and its traditional allies.

“India has been doing so till now, and it will manage similarly in the future,” Joshi said.

The contentious personal relationship between Fox Sports Detroit’s top two Detroit Tigers broadcasters, Mario Impemba and Rod Allen, has boiled over.

The pair was involved in a physical altercation immediately following Tuesday night’s game against the White Sox, according to multiple persons with direct knowledge of the situation.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the incident, which was described as “severe” by one person who was present. Katie Strang of The Athletic was first to report the news.

When asked about the incident, Fox Sports Detroit general manager Greg Hammeran referred questions to Courtney Welch, the station’s director of social media and communications. 

“We’re addressing an internal matter and will not have any further comment at this time,” Welch said.

It is unclear what led to the incident. Both Impemba and Allen did not respond to comment when contacted late Wednesday night.

In their place, Matt Shepard and Kirk Gibson called the series finale against the White Sox on Wednesday.

Impemba, 55, and Allen, 58, traveled back to Detroit separately, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, and are scheduled to meet with Fox Sports Detroit executives on Thursday to determine the next course of action.

The pair is in its 17th season broadcasting Tigers games together for the station. Though their on-air relationship has remained cordial, off the air, they are not considered friends.

“I don’t think it was a secret,” one Fox Sports Detroit employee said.

Hammaran did not specify whether Impemba or Allen were suspended, but Allen is not scheduled to work the next six games. It also wasn’t immediately clear whether a police report was filed after the incident. 

Impemba is Fox Sports Detroit’s play-by-play broadcaster, while Allen serves as the color analyst for the bulk of the games, sharing duties with Gibson.

The Tigers are off on Thursday but open a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park on Friday. The team is scheduled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 World Series champions during the series.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech. Free Press sports writer Kirkland Crawford contributed to this report. Download our Tigers Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!

 

 

WASHINGTON – Following the publication of a scathingly critical essay from an anonymous senior administration official, President Donald Trump used a series of morning tweets to defend his leadership, citing strong economic data and praise from North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

“The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy – & they don’t know what to do,” Trump tweeted. “The Economy is booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption. Wow!”

The New York Times on Wednesday published an op-ed from an unnamed senior official who described the president as erratic and amoral and said staff were working to thwart “misguided” decisions they fear would be detrimental to the country.

In the hours after the Times posted the story Wednesday afternoon, an angry Trump criticized the newspaper for not identifying the author. He demanded that the Times out him or her and suggested that the person should be investigated.

More: Mike Pence denies writing critical NYT essay about Trump amid ‘lodestar’ speculation

On Thursday, Trump devoted Twitter time to other issues, including reports that North Korea’s Kim has re-committed to efforts to remove nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

“Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims ‘unwavering faith in President Trump,’” the U.S. president tweeted. “Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!”

 

In a third post, Trump returned to the economy, proclaiming “consumer confidence highest in 18 years, Atlanta Fed forecasts 4.7 GDP, manufacturing jobs highest in many years.”

 

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Wales v Republic of Ireland live in Uefa Nations League – Live – BBC Sport

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WASHINGTON – House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday he doesn’t see a role for Congress in investigating the identity of the author of a New York Times op-ed blasting President Donald Trump as amoral, despite outrage from the president and his allies over the essay.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, replied, “Not that I know of,” when asked by a reporter if Congress should try to identify the anonymous author of the essay, who was described by The New York Times as a senior administration official.

However, Ryan said the author was “living in dishonesty” and should consider whether they want to stay in their role. “That doesn’t help the president. So if you’re not interested in helping the president, you shouldn’t work for the president, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

The official described a “resistance” inside the administration and said aides were working to thwart the president’s decisions when they deemed them misguided or potentially harmful to the nation.

“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t,” the unnamed official wrote.

Trump responded Wednesday evening with a one-word tweet that said: “TREASON?”

Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and a strong ally of Trump’s, told USA TODAY on Thursday he thought Congress should consider getting involved.

“We’re looking right now at what’s the appropriate action from a legislative standpoint to review what’s happened. It is alarming when you have people…that would suggest resistance to the president that they’re serving, especially in light of discussion that may go into the national security realm.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how much support Meadows would get from his GOP colleagues.

More: Anonymous senior Trump official blasts president as erratic and amoral: ‘I am part of the resistance’

 

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WASHINGTON – Sen. Cory Booker challenged his colleagues to try to expel him for breaking rules he opposes Thursday after promising to release an email including comments by Judge Brett Kavanaugh about racial profiling that has been deemed confidential.

“I’m going to release the email about racial profiling,” Booker said at the start of the third day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I understand the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate.”

Questioning Kavanaugh on Wednesday night, Booker quoted from a 2002 document that he said showed Kavanaugh as an aide to President George W. Bush entertaining the use of racial profiling to combat terrorism after 9/11. 

Kavanaugh asked to see the email, but Booker said he wanted to focus on Kavanaugh’s views about profiling today, not then. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, then objected, saying Booker was citing an email that had been deemed confidential by the committee and it was unfair to question a witness about a document he could not see.

Booker said there was no reason for the email to be deemed confidential because it did not involve national security.

The story continues below the gallery.

The cache of emails released by Booker’s office includes several with the subject line “racial profiling” and many date to January 2002 as the Bush Administration struggled to define exactly how and who could be subjected to searches at airports in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

At the time, Kavanaugh was part of the team of Bush lawyers working with the Justice Department on the legality of those searches. In some of the documents released by Booker, the lawyers are questioning whether they should create a “race-neutral system at all” or use race in some circumstances as a factor to decide who gets searched.

Kavanaugh writes in one email that he and others favor “effective security measures that are race neutral” but need to decide how to deal with such measures while searches are being conducted before comprehensive standards are determined.

As the committee resumed hearings on Thursday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said his staff had been working until 3 a.m. with the Justice Department to get documents senators wanted to use at the hearing cleared for public release.

He said he had urged senators to request documents in August to have time to go through the process.

Booker countered that the process Grassley was citing — of producing documents for the hearing — was a sham, and he would have his staff release the letter anyway, knowing it violated Senate rules.

“As I’ve been saying from the beginning, this process has been a sham,” Booker said in a statement released by his office as the hearing continued. “The fact that tens of thousands of documents revealing a Supreme Court nominee’s views on key issues were deemed committee confidential and not available to the public reflects the absurdity of this process. The public has a right to access documents about a Supreme Court nominee’s views on issues that are profoundly important, such as race and the law. This process has demonstrated an unprecedented level of secrecy and opaqueness that undermines the Senate’s constitutional duty to advice and consent.”

In response to Booker in the hearing, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said making the emails public was akin to a senator releasing classified information because the senator disagreed with the classification.

“No senator deserves to sit on this committee or in the Senate itself if they decide to be the law unto themselves,” Cornyn said. “Running for president is no excuse for violating the rules of the Senate.”

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Confirmation hearing: Cory Booker grills Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh

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Read: Confidential Brett Kavanaugh ‘racial profiling’ email Cory Booker released

Democrats on the committee then spoke out against the classification process. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, urged fellow Democrats to join Booker.

“If there’s going to be some retribution against the senator from New Jersey, count me in,” Durbin said.

Booker later challenged Cornyn to seek to punish him.

“If he feels that I and now my fellow colleagues violated the rules, then bring the charges,” Booker said. “I’m ready to accept full responsibility for what I’ve done … and stand by public’s right to have access to this document.”

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Paul Pogba says he “still has a contract” at Manchester United but did not commit his long-term future to the Premier League club.

The 25-year-old midfielder fell out of favour last season and was linked with a move to La Liga champions Barcelona in the summer.

Manager Jose Mourinho said last month he “couldn’t be happier” with Pogba.

The France World Cup winner told Sky Germany: “My future is currently in Manchester.”

Speaking before the Uefa Nations League match against Germany, Pogba added: “I still have a contract, I am playing there at the moment, but who knows what will happen in the next few months.”

Former Juventus midfielder Pogba was dropped to the bench by Mourinho for both legs of United’s Champions League last-16 defeat by Sevilla last term.

But he was made captain for the opening two games of the Premier League season in the absence of Antonio Valencia and has scored twice so far.

Reports on Thursday said Pogba will not agitate for a move away from United in January and will remain at the club until at least next summer.

Asked about his relationship with Mourinho, Pogba replied: “We have a pure coach-player relationship, that’s right.

“One thing I can assure you, I will always give 100%, no matter which coach I always give everything for United – I can not say more.”