News Headlines - 19 February 2018
▽Australia mulls rival to China's 'belt and road' with US, Japan, India | afr.com
Australia is discussing with the United States, India and Japan the establishment of a joint regional infrastructure scheme to rival China's multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to counter Beijing's spreading influence.
▽Where is the Tea Party when you need it?
The Tea Party is dead. Donald Trump just staged the funeral rites. The rebellion against public spending lasted less than a decade. Having repeatedly threatened a US default during Barack Obama’s presidency, Republican hawks have meekly switched to the “deficits don’t matter” school. Democrats lack any such stomach for brinkmanship. They are too ambivalent to stand in the way of Mr Trump’s bonanza. What would liberals call their fiscal rebellion? The soya latte with a dusting of hazelnut party?
▽Former U.S. presidential candidate Romney announces Utah Senate bid
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, announced on Friday he would run for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, confirming months of speculation about a return to national politics.
In Burma, two journalists from the Reuters news agency have entered their third month in jail. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on December 12 and charged with violating Burma’s Official Secrets Act. They have been denied bail and face up to 14 years in jail. At the time of their arrest, they were investigating a massacre committed by the Burmese military targeting Rohingya Muslims in the village of Inn Din in September.
▽Russian curler fails Winter Olympics drug test | The Guardian
A Russian athlete who won bronze in the mixed curling at the Winter Olympics has failed a preliminary drug test, putting his medal into jeopardy and throwing the spotlight on the decision to welcome 168 Russian athletes to Pyeongchang after the country was nominally banned for state-sponsored doping in Sochi four years ago.
The athlete has not been officially named but sources have confirmed reports in Russia that it is Alexander Krushelnytsky, who was found to have meldonium in his urine after playing in the mixed-curling tournament as a member of the Olympic Athletes from Russia team alongside his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova.
