White House aims to stop China, Russia from using chip funding
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commerce Department released proposed guidelines Tuesday to prevent China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from benefiting from $52 billion in federal funding for semiconductor chip production.
Companies receiving a portion of the funding won’t be allowed to use the funds for projects outside of the United States. Recipients will also be barred from building or significantly expanding semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the “foreign entities of concern” for the next 10 years, even with their own capital.
The Commerce Department also plans to designate certain types of chips, including those used for quantum computing, in “radiation-intensive environments” and for other military use, as “critical to national security.” Funded companies will be restricted from conducting joint research or licensing technology from the foreign entities of concern.
If a company violates the rules, the federal government can take back all CHIPS funding doled out to the company.
The CHIPS and Science Act passed last year approved $39 billion in direct grants for semiconductor chip production, the tiny components that are crucial for computers and electronics, modern appliances and vehicles.
—The Detroit News
Nikki Haley breaks silence to denounce Trump hush money probe
Nikki Haley has broken her silence to join fellow Republicans in denouncing the hush money investigation of former President Donald Trump.
After keeping quiet for days, the only major announced presidential rival to Trump accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of using the probe to score “political points.”
”When you get into political prosecutions like this, it’s more about revenge than it is about justice,” Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, said late Monday on Fox News.
Haley spoke out a day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another putative GOP White House candidate, also denounced Bragg for targeting Trump.
Both leaders had come under attack by Trump supporters for being reluctant to defend the former president after Trump said he expected to be indicted in the Bragg probe.
DeSantis made a point of also dinging Trump for getting himself into the R-rated mess in the first place, spurring Trump to warn his potential rival that he too could find himself dealing with smears.
Haley insisted she isn’t going to get involved in that frat house food fight between the two presidential rivals.
—New York Daily News
Fort Bragg soldier charged with murder in serviceman’s death
RALEIGH, N.C. — A soldier was found shot to death, and now a fellow soldier is charged with murder in North Carolina, officials told news outlets.
Brandon Allen Amos-Dixon, who was stationed at the Fort Bragg military base, is also accused of trying to kill his fiancee and her child the same day the soldier’s body was found in January.
Now, about two months after Amos-Dixon was suspected of attempted murder, he faces an additional first-degree murder charge. The Hoke County Sheriff’s Office didn’t list attorney information for him in a March 20 news release.
The case dates to Jan. 18, when deputies were called to Hammock Lane in the Raeford area. At the scene, first responders reported finding an unresponsive 24-year-old man who couldn’t be saved.
The deceased man was identified as Staff Sgt. Jimmy Lee Smith III, a Fort Bragg soldier who had been in the military since 2016. He served as a “culinary specialist in the 3rd Special Forces Group’s Support Battalion,” The Fayetteville Observer reported.
Smith was from Fayetteville, roughly 60 miles south of Raleigh. The sheriff’s office in its news release didn’t list a motive.
Amos-Dixon, the man accused in his death, was 25 and serving in the U.S. Army at the time.
—The News & Observer
Erdogan submits reelection bid, reigniting term limit debate
ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party and its nationalist allies have submitted the incumbent’s bid for reelection in the May 14 polls to the Supreme Election Board.
The move revived heated discussions over whether Erdogan is constitutionally allowed to run for a third term.
“It is legally impossible for Erdogan to be a candidate again,” opposition politician İdris Şahin said on Tuesday, adding his DEVA Party will appeal Erdogan’s candidacy.
According to the Turkish Constitution, a presidential term runs for five years and a president can be elected for a maximum of two terms.
Erdogan was first elected president in 2014; he was reelected in 2018. He argues his candidacy is legal as the two-term rule was introduced in 2017 — so his first term does not count.
Erdogan’s key rival is main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who, backed by five other opposition parties and potentially a pro-Kurdish party, has renewed hopes of ousting Erdogan.
—dpa
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