TodayPrice

Category: Internatiomal

  • Trump orders firing of all ‘Biden-era’ US attorneys

    Trump orders firing of all ‘Biden-era’ US attorneys

    President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has ordered the firing of all remaining US attorneys nominated by his predecessor Joe Biden.

    “Over the past four years, the Department of Justice has been politicized like never before,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

    “Therefore, I have instructed the termination of ALL remaining ‘Biden Era’ U.S. Attorneys,” he said.

    “We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence,” Trump added. “America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY!”

    It is standard practice for an incoming president to replace the federal prosecutors, known as US attorneys, nominated by their predecessor.

    There are 93 US attorneys, one for each of the 94 federal court districts in the country. Two districts share a US attorney.

    US attorneys are the top federal law enforcement officer in each district.

    A number of US attorneys nominated by Democrat Biden resigned following Trump’s November election victory in anticipation of being replaced.

    The Justice Department, which Trump has accused of unjustly prosecuting him, has been the target of a sweeping shakeup since the Republican took office and a number of high-ranking officials have been fired, demoted or reassigned.

    Among those sacked were members of the office of special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two now-abandoned criminal cases against Trump.

    The acting US attorney for the powerful Southern District of New York, a Trump appointee, resigned last week after being asked by the Justice Department to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

  • Trump bashes Zelensky, ‘confident’ on Ukraine deal

    Trump bashes Zelensky, ‘confident’ on Ukraine deal

    President Donald Trump sniped at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday and effectively blamed him for Moscow’s invasion — even as he said he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks.

    Trump increased pressure on Zelensky to hold elections — echoing one of Moscow’s key demands — and chided the Ukrainian for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia.

    The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance towards Russia in a shift that has alarmed European leaders.

    “I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.

    “Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.

    Zelensky had earlier Tuesday criticised the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries, while postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.

    The Ukrainian leader’s comments appeared to incense Trump, who proceeded to launch a series of attacks on Zelensky, who has led Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

    Asked whether the United States would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelensky to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticising what he said were the Ukrainian’s approval ratings.

    “They want a seat at the table, but you could say… wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” said Trump.

    “That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries.”

    Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained in office as Ukraine is still under martial law.

    – ‘Power to end this war’ –

    European leaders are increasingly fearful that Trump is giving too many concessions to Russia in his pursuit of the Ukraine deal that he promised to seal even before taking office.

    But Trump insisted that his only goal was “peace” to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.

    Trump said he was “much more confident” of a deal after the talks, adding: “They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”

    “I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump said.

    The US leader added that he was “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine if he can strike a deal to end the war.

    “If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it,” he said.

    “I know France was willing to do that, and I thought that was a beautiful gesture,” added Trump, saying that Britain had made a similar offer.

    The United States would not have to contribute “because, you know, we’re very far away.”

    Trump stunned the world when he announced last week that he had spoken to Putin, and that the two leaders had agreed to start peace talks and to travel to meet each other in Moscow and Washington.

    The US president then said they would hold a first meeting, most likely also in Saudi Arabia.

    Although no date has been announced, when asked if he would met Putin before the end of the month, Trump said “probably.”

  • Trump outlines Musk’s role as enforcer-in-chief

    Trump outlines Musk’s role as enforcer-in-chief

    US President Donald Trump painted Elon Musk as his enforcer-in-chief Tuesday, hailing the tech billionaire’s zeal in implementing the blizzard of executive orders the president has issued since returning to office.

    In a joint interview broadcast on Fox News, the two men spent substantial time singing the other’s praises and dismissing concerns that Trump is overstepping his executive powers.

    Trump has signed scores of executive directives in the past three weeks, many of which have been challenged in the courts as potentially unconstitutional.

    Billionaire Musk, who was Trump’s top donor during his 2024 presidential campaign, was tasked with leading the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with the declared goal of rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” in federal spending.

    “One of the biggest functions of the DOGE team is just making sure that the presidential executive orders are actually carried out,” Musk told Fox News.

    In the interview, Trump insisted his policies — including a wholesale onslaught on federal institutions — should be implemented without delay and said Musk was instrumental in pushing them forward.

    “You write an executive order and you think it’s done, you send it out, it doesn’t get done. It doesn’t get implemented,” Trump said.

    He added that Musk and the DOGE team have now become an enforcement mechanism within the federal bureaucracy to enact his administration’s agenda without anyone standing in their way — or else risk losing their jobs.

    “And some guy that maybe didn’t want to do it, all of a sudden, he’s signing it,” Trump said.

    – ‘The will of the people’ –

    The Fox interview was broadcast just hours after Trump signed a sweeping executive order that sought to extend and consolidate direct White House control over federal regulatory agencies.

    The order, which is likely to face legal challenges, would force agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to submit regulatory proposals to the White House for review.

    “For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President,” the executive order states.

    Musk found humor in his role as Trump’s executor, describing himself as a “technologist” and donning a T-shirt that read “Tech Support” for the interview.

    Musk waved off criticism that he was acting as if he were the US president, saying none of Trump’s cabinet members were elected and that he views his role as facilitating Trump’s agenda.

    “The president is the elected representative of the people, so it’s representing the will of the people,” Musk explained.

    “And if the bureaucracy is fighting the will of the people and preventing the president from implementing what the people want, then what we live in is a bureaucracy and not a democracy.”

    – President Elon? –

    Musk’s prominent role in the Trump administration has led to public questioning of who is really in charge at the White House, though the Republican leader was quick to dismiss rumors of bad blood between the two.

    “Actually, Elon called me,” Trump said. “He said, ‘You know, they’re trying to drive us apart.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’”

    But Trump expressed confidence that Americans will not be fooled by alleged efforts to strain ties between him and Musk.

    “I used to think they were good at it,” Trump said, referring to the media. “They’re actually bad at it, because if they were good at it, I’d never be president.”

    “The people are smart,” he went on. “They get it.”

  • Israel pulls out of Lebanon villages, but holds five positions

    Israel pulls out of Lebanon villages, but holds five positions

    Israel’s army has pulled out of southern Lebanese villages but remains in five positions, as a delayed withdrawal deadline expired Tuesday under a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

    The ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group has been in effect since November 27, following more than a year of hostilities, including two months of all-out war in which Israel launched ground operations.

    Israel had announced hours before the pullout deadline that it would keep troops in “five strategic points” near the border, and on Tuesday its defence minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the deployment and vowed action against any “violation” by Hezbollah.

    A Lebanese security source earlier told AFP that “the Israeli army has withdrawn from all border villages except for five points.”

    Lebanon’s army announced it had deployed in southern border villages and areas from which Israeli troops have pulled.

    Hezbollah strongholds in south and east Lebanon as well as Beirut suffered heavy destruction during the of cross-border hostilities.

    Hezbollah launched the attacks in support of ally Hamas, at war with Israel in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack.

    The Israel-Hezbollah conflict killed thousands in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, displaced tens of thousands on both sides and decimated the armed movement’s leadership.

    In Lebanon, the cost of reconstruction is expected to reach more than $10 billion, while more than 100,000 people remain displaced, according to the United Nations.

    Despite the devastation, thousands of those uprooted by the conflict have been waiting to return home, inspect their properties and in some cases search for the remains of loved ones.

    “I miss sitting in front of my house, near my roses and having a morning cup of coffee,” said Fatima Shukeir, in her 60s, who planned to return to her border village after more than a year and a half of displacement.

    Related News

    “I miss everything in Mais al-Jabal, I miss my neighbours. We were separated and I don’t know where they went,” Shukeir said.

    Several border towns and villages, including Mais al-Jabal’s municipality, have called on displaced residents to wait for the Lebanese army to deploy there before coming back, so as to guarantee their “safe” return.

    Lebanese television channel LBCI reported Tuesday that the country’s army had moved overnight into Mais al-Jabal, Blida, Yaroun, Maroun and Mahbib.

    – ‘Lost young people’ –

    Under the ceasefire, brokered by Washington and Paris, Lebanon’s military was to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period that was extended to February 18.

    Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle remaining military infrastructure there.

    Israel’s military said late Monday it would remain temporarily “in five strategic points” dotted along the length of the shared border in order to “continue to defend our residents and to make sure there’s no immediate threat”.

    Lebanese authorities have rejected any further extension of the withdrawal period, urging sponsors of the deal to pressure Israel to pull out.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would do what it has to in order to “enforce” the ceasefire.

    “Hezbollah must be disarmed,” he added.

    Despite the destruction in the border area, Shukeir said she was eager to return home.

    “We’ll go to our town and be happy (again), despite the fact that our homes have been destroyed and we lost young people,” she said.

    On Monday, Ramzi Kaiss from Human Rights Watch said “Israel’s deliberate demolition of civilian homes and infrastructure” was making it “impossible for many residents to return”.

    Since the cross-border hostilities began in October 2023, more than 4,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the health ministry.

    On the Israeli side of the border, 78 people including soldiers have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on official figures, with an additional 56 troops dead in southern Lebanon during the ground offensive.

    Around 60 people have reportedly been killed since the truce began, two dozen of them on January 26 as residents tried to return to border towns on the initial withdrawal deadline.

    On Monday, Lebanon’s government said the state should be the sole bearer of arms, in a thinly veiled message on Hezbollah’s arsenal.

    Calls for the Iran-backed group’s disarmament have multiplied since the end of the war that has weakened the group.

  • Musk’s DOGE seeks access to US tax system – Reports

    Musk’s DOGE seeks access to US tax system – Reports

    Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has sparked alarm by seeking access to a system with the US tax office that has detailed financial data about millions of Americans, US media reported.

    Spearheaded by Musk, the world’s richest man, US President Donald Trump has embarked on a campaign to slash public spending deemed wasteful or contrary to his policies.

    The Washington Post and others reported that the latest request is for DOGE officials to have broad access to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) systems, property and datasets.

    This includes the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), access to which is usually extremely limited and which offers “instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts”, according to the IRS.

    As of Sunday evening, the request had not been granted, the reports said.

    But it has sparked alarm within the government and among privacy experts who say granting Musk access to private taxpayer data could be extraordinarily dangerous, according to TodayPriceNG News.

    “People who share their most sensitive information with the federal government do so under the understanding that not only will it be used legally, but also handled securely and in ways that minimize risks like identity theft and personal invasion, which this reporting brings into serious question,” Elizabeth Laird, a former state privacy officer now with the Center for Democracy and Technology, told TodayPriceNG

    “Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said when asked about the employee’s potential access to the sensitive system, TodayPriceNG News reported.

    “It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.

    “DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on,” Fields added.

  • At least 20 hurt after car crashes into crowd in Germany

    At least 20 people were hurt after a car crashed into a crowd in the German city of Munich on Thursday, emergency services said, a day before the city hosts a high-profile security conference.

    The incident also came 10 days before Germans head to the polls in a key election on February 23.

    “At the moment there are 20 injured, several of them seriously and some of them in a life-threatening condition,” fire service spokesman Bernhard Peschke told AFP.

    Local media reported that the car, a Mini Cooper, drove into a group of striking workers from the Verdi union and that ambulances had rushed to the scene.

    An AFP reporter at the scene saw one person wearing a high-visibility jacket on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.

    The Munich police department said on X that “the driver of the vehicle has been detained and does not present a danger”.

    The ground at the scene close to the city’s historic centre was littered with items including glasses, shoes, thermal blankets and a pushchair.

    Munich police spokesman Thomas Schelshorn told reporters at the scene that “the circumstances around the incident and how it happened are still being investigated”.

    An eyewitness who was among the striking workers told the local BR42 website that he “saw a person lying under the car” after it drove into the crowd.

    He said the police then came and shot at the car window.

    Other eyewitnesses told the site that a man had been shot at and taken away by police.
    The incident comes a day before the city is due to host the high-profile Munich Security Conference.

    US Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are among those expected to attend the two-day security meet.

    Germany holds parliamentary elections on February 23.

  • US Senate to OK vaccine critic Kennedy as health secretary

    US Senate to OK vaccine critic Kennedy as health secretary

    The Republican-controlled US Senate was expected Thursday to approve vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, despite major concerns from both political parties and many in the medical and scientific communities.

    Kennedy squeaked through a crucial preliminary vote last week by the Senate Finance Committee, setting up the vote by the full upper chamber, which is controlled by US President Trump’s Republicans.

    The 71-year-old nephew of the assassinated president John F. Kennedy is expected to win approval as Republicans yet again back Trump and his latest cabinet pick.

    The vote is expected around 10:30 am (1530 GMT).

    An environmental lawyer by trade with no medical background, Kennedy has spent years professing conspiracy theories linking vaccines and autism, and most recently spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

    His nomination has faced vocal opposition from both parties, with Republicans particularly eying his past support for abortion, his record suing big business and his 2023 run for president as a Democrat.

    Nine months ago, Trump was calling Kennedy “one of the most Liberal Lunatics ever to run for office.”

    Beyond vaccines, Democrats point mainly to sexual misconduct allegations, Kennedy’s suggestion that Covid-19 was designed to spare Jews, his linking of school shootings to anti-depressants and bizarre incidents involving dead animals.

    Last year 77 Nobel prize winners sent an open letter to the Senate opposing his nomination and warning he could place the public’s health “in jeopardy.”

    “He’s a frightening man, (a) dangerous man, and I think he’ll do harm,” said Paul Offit, head of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

    Critics accuse Republicans of being negligent.

    Related News
    Tax Reform Bill: Why I raised concern over some Issues – Rep Jaha
    Give Nigeria permanent seat at UN Security Council, Kalu urges world powers
    Experts urge sustenance of introduced capacity in CBN

    “They are looking the other way. They are choosing to pretend like it is in any way believable that RFK Jr. won’t use his new power to do exactly the thing he has been trying to do for decades — undermine vaccines,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray.

    The Republican-controlled Senate has so far approved all of Trump’s cabinet nominations over howls of protest from Democrats who have attacked the candidates’ lack of experience and, in some cases, questioned their patriotism.

    On Wednesday it gave the green light to Tulsi Gabbard as Trump’s choice to lead the intelligence services, despite criticism over her inexperience and past support for US adversaries Russia and Syria.

    Gabbard’s success was seen as another powerful demonstration of Trump’s iron grip on his party, after he pushed through a slate of some of the most contentious cabinet nominees in modern history.

    The president proposed a defense secretary accused of sexual assault, an attorney general suspected of trafficking a minor for sex, and an FBI chief alleged to be motivated by political revenge. All were also widely criticized for their lack of experience.

    Only the suspected sex trafficker — former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz — has so far been rejected by the Senate.

    TodayPriceNG>

  • Trump peace push ‘not a betrayal’ of Ukraine – US defence secretary

    Trump peace push ‘not a betrayal’ of Ukraine – US defence secretary

    US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s efforts to seek an end to the Ukraine war with Russian leader Vladimir Putin were “certainly not a betrayal” of Kyiv.

    European powers insisted that Kyiv and other countries on the continent must have a seat at the table of any future negotiations.

    “There is no betrayal there. There is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace,” Hegseth said ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers.

    “That will require both sides recognising things they don’t want to.”

    Trump on Wednesday blindsided Ukraine and Washington’s European allies by agreeing to launch peace talks in his first publicly announced phone call with Putin since returning to power.

    Hegseth has laid out a string of expectations from Washington to halt the conflict, saying it was not realistic for Ukraine to regain all its land or become a member of NATO.

    He has also said that Europe must now start providing the “overwhelming share” of aid to Ukraine and that the United States would not deploy troops as a security guarantee under any deal.

    Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, hit back that it was “regrettable” that Washington had made “concessions” to Russia before peace talks had even started.

    “In my view it would have been better to speak about a possible NATO membership for Ukraine or possible losses of territory at the negotiating table,” Pistorius said.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of key European powers including Germany, France, Poland and Britain said “Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations.”

    Throughout Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine since 2022 it has been a mantra for Western powers that there should be no decisions taken on Ukraine’s future without Kyiv.

    Related News
    Passengers aboard Air Peace arrested for unruly behaviour
    Nigerian newspapers review: NLC fumes, gives March 1 alert to shut telecoms services
    UK economy picks up, boosting govt amid US tariffs

    NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday said that it was crucial Kyiv is “closely involved” in any talks about what is happening in Ukraine.

    Britain’s defence secretary, John Healey, echoed that message, warning “there can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.”

    Rutte insisted that any potential peace deal had to be “enduring”, pointing to similar comments made earlier by Hegseth.

    Kyiv’s European backers are terrified that Trump could force Ukraine into a bad peace deal that will leave them facing an emboldened Putin.

    “Europe has to be part of these negotiations. It’s not a question at all,” said Estonian defence minister Hanno Pevkur.

    “Europe is investing in Ukrainian defence, and Europe is rebuilding Ukraine with European Union money, with our bilateral aid — so we have to be there.”

  • World leaders seek elusive AI common ground at Paris summit

    World leaders seek elusive AI common ground at Paris summit

    World leaders were set to hold formal talks in Paris on Tuesday on artificial intelligence (AI), seeking elusive common ground on a technology subject to a global race for promised economic benefits.

    Hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the gathering comes hours after Elon Musk reportedly put in a bid for star developer OpenAI, underscoring AI’s potential to gather power into a single pair of hands.

    Attempts to reach global agreement may also frustrate major powers such as the United States and China, which have their own geopolitical tech priorities.

    Media reports suggest that neither Britain nor the US — two leading countries for AI development — will sign a planned joint declaration as it stands.

    “Good AI governance” requires “clear rules that foster the acceptance of AI technologies”, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was to tell counterparts, according to a draft of his speech seen by AFP.

    Tech and political leaders will give speeches in a plenary session starting at 10:00 am (0900 GMT).

    Among them will be US Vice President JD Vance, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

    Outside observers criticised an alleged leaked draft of the joint statement for failing to mention AI’s suspected threat to humanity’s future as a species.

    The supposed draft “fails to even mention these risks” said Max Tegmark, head of the US-based Future of Life Institute, which has warned of AI’s “existential risk”.

    – ‘Plug, baby, plug!’ –

    In recent weeks, the United States’ $500 billion “Stargate” programme led by ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and the emergence of the high-performing, low-cost Chinese start-up DeepSeek, have brought into focus the technical challenges and price of entry for nations hoping to keep abreast of AI developments.

    Meanwhile, the Musk-led $97.4-billion bid for OpenAI reported by the Wall Street Journal would compound the tech influence of the world’s richest man, already boss of X, Tesla, SpaceX and his own AI developer xAI as well as a confidant of US President Donald Trump.

    Sam Altman, the OpenAI chief set to speak in Paris later Tuesday, responded to the reported offer with a dry “no thank you” on X.

    For France, Macron vowed Monday to blast through red tape to build AI infrastructure in his bid to keep Europe competitive.

    “We will adopt the Notre Dame de Paris strategy” of streamlined procedures that saw France rebuild the landmark cathedral within five years of its devastation in a 2019 fire, he said.

    Macron’s push to highlight French competitiveness saw him repeatedly trumpet 109 billion euros ($113 billion) to be invested in French AI in the coming years.

    He has also hailed France’s extensive fleet of nuclear plants as a key advantage providing clean, scalable energy supply for AI’s vast processing needs.

    “I have a good friend in the other part of the ocean saying ‘drill, baby, drill’,” Macron said in a reference to Trump’s pro-fossil fuels policy.

    “Here there is no need to drill, it’s plug, baby, plug!” he said.

    EU Commission chief von der Leyen is expected to make further announcements on the bloc’s competitiveness on Tuesday.

    “It’s important for Europe to choose a third path on AI” that is “more ethical and responsible” than in the US or China, Maya Noel, head of startup association France Digitale, told broadcaster Radio Classique on Monday.

    – Gender pay gap –

    Away from the political pageantry, OpenAI’s Altman was to address business leaders later Tuesday at the Station F tech campus in southeast Paris, founded by French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel.

    Altman mused in a blog post Monday that with ever more powerful AI systems on the horizon, “it does seem like the balance of power between capital and labour could easily get messed up” in the near future.

    On Monday, high-profile summit attendees had warned against squandering the technology’s economic promise in the shorter term.

    World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said “near universal adoption of AI… could increase trade by up to 14 percentage points” from its current trend.

    But global “fragmentation” of regulations on the technology and data flows could see both trade and output contract, she said.

    In the workplace, AI is mostly replacing humans in clerical jobs disproportionately held by women, International Labour Organization head Gilbert Houngbo said.

    That risks widening the gender pay gap even though more jobs are being created than destroyed by AI on current evidence, he added.

  • ‘Excessive regulation’ could ‘kill’ AI sector – US Vice President Vance

    ‘Excessive regulation’ could ‘kill’ AI sector – US Vice President Vance

    US Vice President JD Vance on Monday warned against “excessive regulation” of artificial intelligence at a Paris summit on the technology, warning both European allies and rivals like China against tightening governments’ grip.

    “Excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative sector just as it’s taking off,” Vance told global leaders and tech industry chiefs in the opulent surroundings of the French capital’s Grand Palais.

    He singled out the European Union’s Digital Services Act by name for criticism over “massive regulations it created about taking down content and policing so-called misinformation” that he said placed an unfair burden on American tech giants.

    Vance also jabbed at China as one of several “authoritarian regimes” he said were looking to use AI for increased control of citizens at home and other countries abroad.

    “Partnering with them means chaining your nation to an authoritarian master that seeks to infiltrate, dig in and seize your information infrastructure,” Vance said.

    He pointed to “cheap tech… heavily subsidised and exported by authoritarian regimes”, referring to surveillance cameras and 5G mobile internet equipment widely sold abroad by China.