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Monday, March 3, 2025

Trump Orders Plans Drawn Up For Russia Sanctions Relief

The Trump administration is drawing up plans to drop some sanctions on Russia and Kremlin officials, Reuters reports Monday, offering some fresh details on what this easing of restrictions might look like.

The White House has over at least the past week teased this possibility to the media, as it engaged in two sessions of bilateral dialogue with Russian representatives in Riyadh and Istanbul, but this is the first known time specific plans have been ordered to be drawn up.

"The White House has asked the State and Treasury departments to draft a list of sanctions that could be eased for US officials to discuss with Russian representatives in the coming days as part of the administration's broad talks with Moscow on improving diplomatic and economic relations, the sources said," according to the report.

"The sanctions offices are now drawing up a proposal for lifting sanctions on select entities and individuals, including some Russian oligarchs, according to the sources," Reuters continues. And more:

"So-called options papers are often drafted by officials working on sanctions, but the White House's specific request for one in recent days underscores Trump and his advisers' willingness to ease Russian sanctions as part of a potential deal with Moscow."

The fresh development of potentially moving forward with the sanctions-easing comes within hours after headlines saying preparations for a summit between Presidents Trump and Putin are being fast-tracked and accelerated. This in the wake of the explosive row with Zelensky, which saw him booted from the White House before a planned lunch was to take place Friday.

CNN said in the Monday report, "Whether it was orchestrated or not, Moscow – which reacted with glee to the White House slanging match – is now anticipating talks aimed at rebuilding the US-Russia relationship will continue, even accelerate, in the weeks ahead."

Washington has hopefully perceived by now that its anti-Russian sanctions have by and large not worked, or backfired. In many ways they have only strengthened Moscow's relations and trade with leading BRICS nations like China and India, as well as Iran.

Despite the prior Trump campaign rhetoric of a speedy negotiation track which will reach a permanent truce soon after he enters office, Trump's team has since acknowledge that talks are likely to take much longer. A face-to-face Trump-Putin meeting could possibly be just days away, or within a couple of weeks.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-orders-plans-drawn-russia-sanctions-relief

Taiwan will keep most advanced chip technology at home, presidential office says

Taiwan government will assist TSMC with its future investments in the United States while ensuring that the most advanced semiconductor technology will stay at home, the presidential office said in a statement on Tuesday.

TSMC plans to make a fresh $100 billion investment in the United States that would involve building five additional chip facilities in the country in the coming years, its CEO announced with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

https://www.usnews.com/news/technology/articles/2025-03-04/taiwan-will-keep-most-advanced-chip-technology-at-home-presidential-office-says

China to publish policy to boost RISC-V chip use nationwide - sources

China plans to issue guidance to encourage the use of open-source RISC-V chips nationwide for the first time, two sources briefed on the matter said, as Beijing accelerates efforts to curb the country's dependence on Western-owned technology.

The policy guidance on boosting the use of RISC-V chips could be released as soon as this month, although the final date could change, the sources said.

It is being drafted jointly by eight government bodies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration, they added.

The sources declined to be named as the policy discussions were still under way. The four ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

RISC-V is a open-source technology that is used to design a range of less-sophisticated chips, from those in smartphones to CPUs for artificial intelligence servers.

It competes globally with proprietary and more commonly used chip architecture technology including x86, dominated by U.S. firms Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and Arm, developed by SoftBank Group-owned Arm Holdings.

In China, state entities and research institutes have eagerly embraced RISC-V in recent years, seeing it as geopolitically neutral. Chinese chip designers are attracted by its lower costs, but the government has yet to mention it in policy.

Its widening use in the country has been greeted warily in the United States, as friction between Washington and Beijing grow - especially over technology.

In 2023, Reuters reported that some U.S. lawmakers were putting pressure on the Biden administration to restrict American companies from working on the technology over concerns that Beijing was exploiting its open-source nature to advance its own semiconductor industry.

China's largest for-profit RISC-V intellectual property providers include Alibaba's XuanTie and startup Nuclei System Technology, which sell commercial RISC-V processors to chip designers.

Industry executives at a event focused on RISC-V that was organised by XuanTie last week said the popularity of DeepSeek could also boost adoption of RISC-V, as the Chinese AI startup's models run efficiently on less-powerful chips.

Smaller companies that want to use AI and DeepSeek could turn to chips designed with RISC-V's architecture, said Sun Haitao, a manager at China Mobile System Integration, an ICT equipment provider during the event.

"Even if a RISC-V solution priced at 10 million yuan might only reach about 30% of the level of NVIDIA or Huawei, buying three sets means the overall cost might still be lower," he said. "I think this is a breakthrough point."

https://www.aol.com/news/exclusive-china-publish-policy-boost-035222988.html

Head Of NY FBI Office Forced To Resign Amid Epstein File Controversy

Days after Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that FBI agents out of the New York Field Office withheld thousands of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case - after an utterly botched rollout of the "Epstein Files," the head of the NY Field Office, James Dennehy, was 'forced to resign' - and says he wasn't given any explanation for the decision from Washington.

"Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did. I was not given a reason for this decision," wrote Dennehy, a US Marine Corps veteran, in a missive obtained by the NY Post. According to Dennehy, who apologized for the abruptness of his resignation (firing). Dennehy had also told staffers to "dig in" after officials who investigated the Jan. 6 riots at the US capitol were forced out of their roles.

"Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy," read that email.

Epstein Files

Following the lame Thursday rollout of the so-called Epstein files which contained nothing new of import, Bondi asked the FBI to release all the withheld files by Friday morning without omissions - asking Director Kash Patel to also investigate why thousands of Epstein documents were withheld by the agency.

"Late yesterday, l learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein," Bondi wrote in the letter. "Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of the files."

Bondi then wrote to Patel: "You will deliver to me a comprehensive report of your findings and proposed personnel action within 14 days."

Patel, in response, wrote on X that the FBI was "entering a new era—one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice," adding "There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned."

The disappointing release drew response from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who leads a House Republican task force on government transparency.

"I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today," Luna posted on X in response to the lame Thursday Epstein files release. "This is not what we or the American people asked for and a complete disappointment."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/head-ny-fbi-office-forced-resign-amid-epstein-file-controversy

China Puts Tariffs on US Soybean, Corn, Agricultural Commodities

Beijing will impose tariffs on a slew of US farm products, as part of its countermeasures against Washington, further ratcheting up tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-04/china-puts-tariffs-on-us-soybean-corn-agricultural-commodities

China bans imports of Illumina's gene sequencers

China announced a ban on Tuesday on imports of genetic sequencers from U.S. medical equipment maker Illumina, just minutes after U.S. President Donald Trump's China tariff announcement.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/ILLUMINA-INC-9659/news/China-bans-imports-of-Illumina-s-gene-sequencers-49224209/

Head of New York’s FBI field office James Dennehy forced to resign

The top FBI agent in New York was ousted Monday, saying he wasn’t given any explanation for the decision from Washington.

James Dennehy, a US Marine Corps veteran who joined the bureau after the Sept. 11 attacks, announced his forced resignation in a letter to staffers at the FBI’s New York Field Office.

“Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did. I was not given a reason for this decision,” he wrote in the missive, obtained by The Post.

Dennehy apologized for the abruptness of his resignation in the letter, in which he called his colleagues “an office of professionals who will always do the right thing for the right reasons.”

His departure marks the latest in a recent exodus from the bureau under the Trump administration.

Dennehy had a high-profile battle with acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove last month, penning a defiant email to staffers urging them to “dig in” after officials tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the US Capitol were forced out of their roles.

“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy,” the email read in part.

Dennehy joined the FBI as a special agent in 2002, where he was assigned to counterintelligence cases in the NY field office. Over his storied career, he received numerous promotions, including in 2018 when he was named chief of staff to the executive assistant director of the National Security Branch at FBI headquarters.

There, he was charged with overseeing counterterrorism, counterintelligence and weapons of mass destruction.

In 2022, he was appointed Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office, where his priorities included cybercrime, health care fraud, civil rights violations, cybercrime and reducing shootings in coordination with law enforcement.

“I’ve been told many times in my life, ‘When you find yourself in a hole, sometimes it’s best to quit digging.’ Screw that. I will never stop defending this joint. I’ll just do it willingly and proudly from outside the wire,” his resignation letter to staff concluded.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/03/us-news/head-of-new-yorks-fbi-field-office-james-dennehy-forced-to-resign-in-trump-admin-shakeup/

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Monday, March 3, 2025

Epstein Files