Il climber olandese Jorg Verhoeven ha ripetuto in libera The Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite, USA.

Jorg Verhoeven ha ripetuto in libera una delle più belle e famose vie d’arrampicata del mondo, The Nose su El Capitan in Yosemite. Attualmente non ci sono molti dettagli, ma come avevamo riportato due settimane fa, il climber olandese aveva “lavorato” la via all’inizio di questo autunno, per poi trovare un compagno di salita, attendere che passasse il brutto tempo ed iniziare la salita questa settimana.

Verhoeven ha salito la via in tre giorni e ha chiuso uno dei due tiri più difficili, il Great Roof, al primo colpo durante il secondo giorno, mentre il tiro successivo, Changing Corners, l’ha salito rotpunkt dopo due cadute la mattina seguente. Dopo la sua salita Verhoeven ha commentato: “Sono incredibilmente felice di esserci riuscito. Ho grandissimo rispetto per Lynn Hill che ha salito questa via in libera 20 anni fa! Almeno le statistiche maschio / femmina sono pari ora! Sento che si è chiuso un grande capitolo. VAI!”

La gioia di Verhoeven è comprensibile. Salita per la prima volta in cinque settimane nel 1958 da Warren Harding, Wayne Merry e George Whitmore, The Nose si è trasformato in una delle vie più importanti del mondo. Fu salita in libera per la prima volta nel 1993 da Lynn Hill. La sua salita aveva colpito profondamente “l’establishment” dell’epoca e viene ancora oggi considerata una delle salite in libera più importanti di sempre. Un anno dopo Hill è tornata per spingere le cose ulteriormente in avanti, salendo la via in giornata. Mentre nel 1998 lo statunitense Scott Burke è stato costretto a salire The Great Roof con la corda dall’alto perché in quel momento il tiro era bagnato. Nel 2005 Tommy Caldwell e Beth Rodden hanno ripetuto la via, entrambi salendo tutti i tiri in libera ma alternandosi da capocordata. Una settimana più tardi Caldwell è tornato e ha salito tutti i tiri da primo, per poi salire The Nose e Freerider in meno di 24 ore.

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L’olandese Jorg Verhoeven, vincitore della Coppa del Mondo Lead nel 2008, è solo la terza persona ad aver salito tutti i tiri in libera e da capocordata ma, dettagli e statistiche a parte, a livello personale questa sarà senza dubbio una delle salite più importanti per Verhoeven. Come, in assoluto, continuerà a brillare incancellabile quella incredibile prima salita in libera e poi quella libera in giornata di Lynn Hill di due decenni fa!

02/10/2002 – Lynn Hill e The Nose
Intervista a Lynn Hill, un simbolo del movimento dell’arrampicata sportiva mondiale. L’impossibile The Nose nello Yosemite e il mondo verticale visto direttamente da Lynn.

Il filmato del ski base jump dall’ Eiger di JT Holmes, effettuato dallo statunitense nell’aprile del 2015.

Dopo due anni di meticolosa pianificazione, nell’aprile 2015 lo statunitense JT Holmes ha effettuato un salto a dir poco sbalorditivo lungo la parete nord dell’Eiger. Partendo dalla cima di questa leggendaria montagna, il 35-enne è primo sceso con una speed wing, una vela particolarmente veloce e manovrabile, volando sopra le rocce per atterrare, mollare il parapendio circa 300m prima del bordo, continuare con gli sci ed infine saltare nel vuoto. Una volta in aria, ha eseguito un doppio backflip per stabilizzarsi, ha tolto gli sci ed è volato in caduta libera per alcune centinaia di metri prima di aprire il paracadute ed atterrare sulle piste da sci sottostanti l’Eiger…

Ivo Ninov, che si è allenato con Holmes per questo salto, ha spiegato che “era volato giù dal Pilastro dei Ginevrini. La parte più strapiombante dell’ Eiger, dove Dean Potter aveva effettuato la salita freebase di Deep Blue Sea nel mese di agosto 2008.”

Va da sé che è difficile immaginare un’impresa più pericolosa, e il trionfo si è quasi trasformato in tragedia quando Holmes ha deciso di riprovarla quello stesso giorno. Durante il secondo salto, il secondo sci non si è staccato correttamente e per interminabili secondi Holmes ha lottato con l’attacco prima di aprirlo e volare giù a valle.

The number of cyber incidents targeting federal agencies dropped last year, according to a new report released by the Trump administration.

The congressionally mandated report released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) found more than 31,000 cyberattacks against federal agencies in fiscal 2018, a nearly 12 percent drop from the previous year.

Officials said 2018 also marked the first recorded year with no reported cyber incident that could be considered a “major incident” — one that could result in significant harm to national security, foreign relations or the economy.

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OMB noted that federal agencies still face the risk of attacks such as email phishing, with the number of cyber incidents involving emails totaling almost 7,000 last year. 

The findings focus solely on cyber threats against federal agencies and not toward any U.S. election systems, something officials raised alarms about during the 2018 midterm elections and since, heading into the 2020 election.

Officials said that other causes of cyber incidents reported by federal agencies last year included improper use of systems by authorized users, loss or theft of equipment and attacks from a website or web-based application.

Around 8,200 of the incidents were caused by “unknown” attack methods, a finding that OMB noted “suggests that the government must take additional steps to help agencies identify the sources and vectors of these incidents.”

Cybersecurity was also an issue prioritized by agencies in their fiscal 2018 budgets, with federal agencies spending a combined $14.9 billion. 

The Department of Defense accounted for more than half of these funds, spending over $8 billion on cybersecurity, with the second-highest amount spent by the Department of Homeland Security, at $1.8 billion. 

OMB emphasized that despite these improvements, more needs to be done to secure agencies against cyberattacks, stating that “the Federal Government must continue to act to reduce the impact that cybersecurity incidents have on the Federal enterprise.”

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The Trump administration on Tuesday formally notified Congress of a potential $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, a deal that China fiercely opposes.

Details of the sale, posted to the website of the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, includes 66 F-16C/D aircraft, spares and related equipment.

The administration’s decision to move ahead with the sale is likely to infuriate China at a time when President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: ‘Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list’ Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE is hoping to secure a trade agreement with Beijing.

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Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of China — objecting to past U.S. arms sales to the island state — though Taiwan is largely self-governing.

Secretary of State Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoCotton warns China: Crackdown on Hong Kong would be ‘grave miscalculation’ Pompeo expresses concern over North Korea missile tests Pompeo acknowledges ‘places where ISIS is more powerful today’ MORE on Monday seemed to downplay the sale, saying that it is “deeply consistent with the arrangements, the historical relationship between the United States and China.”

“Our actions are consistent with past U.S. policy. We are simply following through on the commitments we’ve made to all of the parties,” he said during a Fox News interview.

The deal still must be approved by Congress, though there is unlikely to be any pushback. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been pushing Trump to approve the sale, worrying that it was being delayed as a bargaining chip in the president’s trade negotiations with China.

“These fighters are critical to improving Taiwan’s ability to defend its sovereign airspace, which is under increasing pressure from the People’s Republic of China,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim RischJames (Jim) Elroy RischTrump moves forward with F-16 sale to Taiwan opposed by China Overnight Defense: US exits landmark arms control treaty with Russia | Pentagon vows to ‘fully pursue’ once-banned missiles | Ratcliffe out as intel pick | Trump signs budget deal that boosts defense | Trump defends North Korea’s Kim as ‘friend’ The 23 Republicans who opposed Trump-backed budget deal MORE (R-Idaho) said in a statement Friday.

And House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot EngelEliot Lance EngelPelosi warns Mnuchin to stop ‘illegal’ .3B cut to foreign aid Democrats slam alleged politicization of Trump State Department after IG report Trump moves forward with F-16 sale to Taiwan opposed by China MORE (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Michael McCaulMichael Thomas McCaulPelosi warns Mnuchin to stop ‘illegal’ .3B cut to foreign aid Trump moves forward with F-16 sale to Taiwan opposed by China Top Foreign Affairs Republican: ‘It would benefit all of us’ for Omar, Tlaib to visit Israel MORE (R-Texas) said in a joint statement that the sale will send a “strong message about the U.S. commitment to security and democracy in the Indo-Pacific.”

The U.S. government has not sold new fighter jets to Taiwan since the George H.W. Bush administration.

The Obama administration avoided approving the request for new F-16s, instead opting to upgrade existing Taiwanese aircraft, as selling the island state new aircraft is seen as particularly infuriating to China.

But the Trump administration, eager to boost U.S. foreign military sales, has hoped to increase its deals and last month approved a $2 billion sale to the island for 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks and other equipment.

That deal prompted China’s foreign ministry to warn that the U.S. was “playing with fire.”

Fishing magnate Carlos Rafael will be barred from U.S. commercial fisheries under the terms of a settlement with the federal government announced Monday, according to The Associated Press.

Under the settlement, the New Bedford, Mass.-based Rafael, known as “the Codfather,” must pay more than $3 million in civil penalties and give up his seafood dealer permit. He was sentenced in 2017 to four years in prison on charges of evading fishing quotas and smuggling profits overseas, according to the AP.

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“Mr. Rafael’s forced divestiture and permanent ban from commercial fishing is a fitting end to this case, on top of the criminal sentence he is already serving,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver said Monday, according to the news service.

The settlement “accomplishes NOAA’s chief objective of permanently removing Mr. Rafael from participation in federal fisheries,” Oliver added.

Rafael owned one of the nation’s largest commercial fishing operations and had previously boasted of his grip on the market in New Bedford, a crucial hub for the fishing industry in the U.S. He has pleaded guilty to false labeling following charges from the federal government that his boats evaded quotas on certain fish by mislabeling them as haddock or pollock.

The settlement also penalizes 17 former captains of Rafael’s vessels, including suspensions from boarding federally permitted vessels while they are at sea or offloading, which range from 20 to 200 days, according to the AP. The settlement “enables the Port of New Bedford to turn the page on the Carlos Rafael saga,” New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell (D) said Monday.

Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill’s newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you don’t already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter with this LINK.

Welcome! Follow the cyber team, Olivia Beavers (@olivia_beavers) and Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and the tech team, Harper Neidig (@hneidig) and Emily Birnbaum (@birnbaum_e).

 

BIAS AUDIT: Facebook on Tuesday released the findings of a long-awaited audit exploring conservatives’ suspicions that the platform is biased against right-wing voices, with the company vowing to make changes to advertising policies that affected anti-abortion rights messaging.

The study, conducted by lobbyist and former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), surveyed more than a hundred conservative figures and organizations about their views on Facebook. It found that many are concerned about the social network’s efforts to crack down on hate speech and worry that its content policies are being applied unevenly.

The takeaway: Kyl’s report does not conclude one way or the other whether Facebook is censoring conservatives, as President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: ‘Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list’ Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE and other GOP leaders allege and as Facebook has adamantly denied.

Criticism rolls in: The allegations, which are unproven, have prompted some eye-rolling from Democrats and other tech critics.

Rashad Robinson, the president of the civil rights group Color of Change, said on Tuesday that if Facebook were to change its platform to accommodate the conservative suspicions, it would hamper the site’s ability to crack down on hate speech and other problems.

“Claims of anti-conservative bias are simply an attempt to distract users and the media from the conservative movement’s attacks against Black communities and other marginalized groups,” Robinson said in a statement.

And Republican Sen. Josh HawleyJoshua (Josh) David HawleyRecessions happen when presidents overlook key problems Government regulation of social media would kill the internet — and free speech Juan Williams: We need a backlash against Big Tech MORE (Mo.), an outspoken Facebook critic, questioned the usefulness of the report.

What Facebook’s doing: The report touts some of the changes Facebook has made in an attempt to increase transparency and improve oversight of its content moderation.

“We know we need to take these concerns seriously and adjust course if our policies are in fact limiting expression in an unintended way,” Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post.

In one change announced Tuesday, Facebook said it would relax a ban on advertisements featuring images of medical patients with tubes attached to them, a policy that conservatives said was being used disproportionately to target messages against abortion.

Read more on the report here.

 

 

SCRATCH THAT: Facebook on Tuesday launched a new tool that will allow users to prevent the powerful social media platform from tracking them across the web.

The company’s new “Off-Facebook Activity” tool will allow people to access a list of the companies sharing information about their online activity with Facebook and offer users the opportunity to opt out of that tracking.

While the tool is aimed at allowing users to prevent Facebook from tracking their activity across the web, it does not affect third-party companies’ ability to still collect data on those users.

“Off-Facebook Activity lets you see a summary of the apps and websites that send us information about your activity, and clear this information from your account if you want to,” Facebook officials said in a blog post.

Importantly, Facebook will still collect data from other websites, though it will be anonymous. If users say they do not want companies to share their data anymore, Facebook will disassociate that information from their user profile.

For now, the tool will only be available in Ireland, South Korea and Spain, and it will be rolled out to other locations in the coming months.

Read more here.

 

FIGHT OR FLIGHT KICKS IN: The founder of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei said Tuesday that his company is in a “live or die moment” amid threats of penalties from the U.S.

In a memo obtained by Reuters, Ren Zhengfei told staff to work aggressively toward sales targets as the firm goes into “battle mode” ahead of the U.S. adding Huawei to the “entity list,” which is seen as a death sentence for included groups as U.S. companies are banned from doing business with them.

“The company is facing a live-or-die moment,” Ren, a former Chinese army officer, said in the memo that was verified by Huawei.

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“If you cannot do the job, then make way for our tank to roll; And if you want to come on the battlefield, you can tie a rope around the ‘tank’ to pull it along, everyone needs this sort of determination!”

The U.S. on Monday granted Huawei a second 90-day “temporary general license,” allowing the Chinese firm to continue doing business with American companies.

Read more on the memo here.

 

FACEBOOK PULLS TRUMP AD: Facebook has pulled an ad for President Trump’s reelection campaign after it violated the platform’s advertising policies. 

Popular Info reported Monday that Facebook pulled the Trump ad because it violated a policy that prohibits ads targeting “personal attributes.”

The ad in question featured a crowd of women with the caption, “The Women for Trump Coalition needs the support of strong women like you!”

“We’ve notified the campaign that the ads violate policy. They cannot continue to run unless fixed,” a Facebook spokesperson told The Hill in a statement.

Facebook’s ad policy prohibits “content that asserts or implies personal attributes,” including, among other things, “direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s … gender identity.”

Facebook reportedly pulled the ad following an inquiry from Popular Info.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

Read more here. 

 

OMG OMB: The number of cyber incidents targeting federal agencies dropped last year, according to a new report released by the Trump administration.

The congressionally mandated report released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) found more than 31,000 cyberattacks against federal agencies in fiscal 2018, a nearly 12 percent drop from the previous year.

Officials said 2018 also marked the first recorded year with no reported cyber incident that could be considered a “major incident” — one that could result in significant harm to national security, foreign relations or the economy.

OMB noted that federal agencies still face the risk of attacks such as email phishing, with the number of cyber incidents involving emails totaling almost 7,000 last year. 

Officials said that other causes of cyber incidents reported by federal agencies last year included improper use of systems by authorized users, loss or theft of equipment and attacks from a website or web-based application.

Around 8,200 of the incidents were caused by “unknown” attack methods, a finding that OMB noted “suggests that the government must take additional steps to help agencies identify the sources and vectors of these incidents.”

OMB emphasized that despite these improvements, more needs to be done to secure agencies against cyberattacks, stating that “the Federal Government must continue to act to reduce the impact that cybersecurity incidents have on the Federal enterprise.”

Read more on the cyberattacks here.

 

 

LIGHTER CLICK: Seeing double? You’re not the only one.

 

AN OP-ED TO CHEW ON: Sharing spectrum will close the rural digital divide.

 

NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Algorithms are increasingly grading national tests like GRE despite mixed performance reviews. (Motherboard)

YouTube to end ads targeting kids as part of effort to comply with FTC. (Bloomberg)

Research team reveals how porn site Luscious left exposed more than 1 million users’ personal data. (ZDNet)

Examining Trump’s use of The Epoch Times and its rise via Facebook. (NBC News) 

Two federal bank regulators voted Tuesday to approve a significant rollback of a controversial ban on risky trades passed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Tuesday adopted a weakened version of the so-called “Volcker Rule,” which bans banks from making high-risk bets with their own assets.

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While the OCC and FDIC are but two of five agencies that must sign off on the new Volcker Rule, their approval of the proposal is the first step in a massive lobbying victory for some of the largest U.S. banks.

The Volcker Rule was one of several provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law designed to ban risky and overly complex investments that helped crash the global financial system in 2008. 

While advocates for banks have fought to loosen several aspects of Dodd-Frank in the nine years since its passage, firms with mammoth trading desks such as Goldman Sachs have paid particular attention to the Volcker Rule.

Named after its chief advocate, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, the rule bans banks from certain “proprietary” trades, or investments using the bank’s own capital. Industry advocates insisted that while banks supported stricter limits on risk, the Volcker Rule was too complex and burdensome to be effective.

“The new Volcker Rule finalized today is recognition that the original rule was overly complex and unworkable,” said Greg Baer, president and CEO of the Bank Policy Institute, a research and advocacy group representing 17 of the largest banks and financial firms.

“The changes in the new rule will help reduce the incidental damage the original rule has done to responsible banking activity and legitimate market making activity, and the massive and needless compliance costs it imposed.”

But advocates for strict bank regulations said the Volcker rewrite effectively guts the rule and does nothing to prevent the build-up of risk that led to the 2008 financial crisis.

“As the threats from leveraged lending and global uncertainty increase, greedy Wall Street banks and Trump regulators are determined to put the financial system and working families in danger,” said Sen. Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownDayton mayor assigned extra security following verbal spat with Trump The Hill’s Campaign Report: Battle for Senate begins to take shape Dayton Democrat launches challenge to longtime GOP rep MORE (D-Ohio), ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.

“Trump regulators continue to open a Pandora’s box of risky trading and speculation at the expense of American taxpayers”

Rep. Maxine WatersMaxine Moore WatersF-bombs away: Why lawmakers are cursing now more than ever Banks give Congress, New York AG documents related to Russians who may have dealt with Trump: report Maxine Waters: Force us to ban assault weapons ‘or kick our a— out of Congress!’ MORE (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the revisions “will not only put the U.S. economy at risk of another devastating financial crisis, but it could potentially leave taxpayers at risk of having to once again foot the bill for unnecessary and burdensome bank bailouts.”

Financial regulators offered a variety of delays and exemptions from the Volcker Rule as banks pressed for broader changes, but the industry had all but given up on major fixes until Trump’s 2016 election.

Trump has since stocked bank regulators with predominantly Republican appointees, who have advanced several proposals to tailor financial rules defended by their Obama-era counterparts.

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The new rule would scrap a requirement for banks to prove that trades enacted to make markets for clients’ speculative investments and efforts underwrite stock offerings comply with regulation as long as the firms follow certain risk mitigation requirements.

The revision would also exempt banks below certain asset thresholds from the rule, create three levels of increasing compliance requirements for banks based on size and complexity, and allows banks to use a looser standard to calculate risk for certain investments. 

Regulators and industry advocates supporting the Volcker rollback called the revision a moderate tailoring of the rule designed to provide clearer, more effective standards for banks.

FDIC Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams, who was appointed by Trump, said the new rule “will provide more clarity, certainty, and objectivity around the Volcker Rule, while tailoring the requirements to focus on those banks that conduct the overwhelming majority of trades.”

House Democrats are looking to speed up their lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS over their refusal to turn over President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: ‘Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list’ Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE‘s tax returns.

The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday filed a motion in federal court in Washington, D.C., for summary judgment, asking Judge Trevor McFadden to direct Treasury and the IRS to comply with the committee’s requests and subpoenas for six years of the president’s federal tax returns. 

The committee also asked McFadden, a Trump appointee, to consider the case on an expedited basis, proposing a schedule under which briefs on relevant issues would be filed by Oct. 25 with oral arguments taking place “as soon as practicable” after that.

In its own court filing Tuesday, Treasury and the IRS asked that the committee’s summary judgment motion be put on hold until after McFadden resolves the administration’s own forthcoming motion to dismiss the House lawsuit.

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The Ways and Means Committee filed the lawsuit in July, after Treasury Secretary Steven MnuchinSteven Terner MnuchinFive key players in Trump’s trade battles Pelosi warns Mnuchin to stop ‘illegal’ .3B cut to foreign aid Trump phoned bank CEOs as stock market plunged Wednesday: report MORE and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig rejected the requests and subpoenas for Trump’s tax returns.

In arguing on Tuesday that the judge should direct the administration to provide the tax returns, the committee said that the “defendants’ defiance is an extraordinary departure from established principles of law.” 

The committee said that its subpoenas are valid, and that the section of the tax code under which it requested Trump’s tax returns doesn’t give Treasury and the IRS any discretion.

Treasury has said that it thinks the committee’s requests and subpoenas for Trump’s tax returns lack a “legitimate legislative purpose,” and that Democrats’ real purpose for seeking the documents is to expose the tax information of a political rival. 

But the committee argues its requests and subpoenas do have a legitimate legislative purpose, because the panel is conducting oversight and considering legislative proposals relating to how the IRS enforces tax laws against a president.

The committee revealed in its new court filings that on July 29, it received an unsolicited communication from a federal employee it claims made credible allegations of possibly inappropriate efforts to influence the IRS’s mandatory audit program of presidents. 

Committee Chairman Richard NealRichard Edmund NealTrump argues NY tax return case should take place in DC NY files motion to keep Trump tax returns lawsuit out of DC court Democrats give cold shoulder to Warren wealth tax MORE (D-Mass.) wrote to Mnuchin earlier this month, asking for records relating to those concerns. Mnuchin replied that the Treasury didn’t have any records that were covered under the tax code section under which Neal made his request. Mnuchin also said that Neal should raise his concerns with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The administration argued that it plans to file a motion to dismiss the case that will raise issues about “whether political conflicts between the elected Branches fall within the sphere of authority that the Constitution assigns to the Federal courts.” It asked McFadden to stay the committee’s motion until the judge rules on its motion to dismiss.

The administration argued that its motion and the committee’s motion will require the court to consider different issues. The administration is proposing a schedule under which oral arguments on its motion to dismiss would be held the week of Oct. 16 or soon after that.

But the committee, which argued that it has standing to sue, thinks that the judge should consider the administration’s expected motion to dismiss and the panel’s summary judgment motion concurrently, arguing the motions are likely to raise overlapping issues.

The House panel argued that “time is of the essence” in resolving the case, since the current Congress will end in January 2021. 

“The Committee must obtain a prompt resolution of the issues in this case if it is to have enough time to investigate the tax issues implicated by President Trump’s tax returns and return information and propose and pass any legislation that it may deem appropriate in response,” the panel argued.

The administration, however, said that the committee’s concern about the speed of the case “rings hollow,” since Neal didn’t request Trump’s tax returns until several months after he became chairman, and the lawsuit wasn’t filed until weeks after Treasury and the IRS rejected Neal’s subpoenas.

Trump and several of his business entities also are being heard in the case as defendant-intervenors. They argued on Tuesday that the committee’s motion for summary judgment should be postponed until after they can request information about Democrats’ true motives for requesting Trump’s tax returns.

Updated at 6 p.m.

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Australia announced Wednesday morning local time that it will join the U.S.-led mission to police the Strait of Hormuz to ensure freedom of navigation for international vessels.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country would deploy a maritime surveillance aircraft to the region by the end of the year, an frigate in January for six months and military personnel to the International Maritime Security Construct headquarters in Bahrain.

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The move will aid the U.S.-launched the campaign, dubbed Operation Sentinel, which seeks to ensure ships can sail through the strategic strait freely after a series of Iranian seizures of oil tankers.

“The Government has been concerned with incidents involving shipping in the Strait of Hormuz over the past few months,” Morrison said in a statement. “This destabilising behaviour is a threat to Australian interests in the region.”

“Freedom of navigation through international waters is a fundamental right of all states under international law. All states have a right to expect safe passage of their maritime trade consistent with international law. It is in Australia’s interest to work with international partners to uphold these rights,” he added.

The seizures in the Strait of Hormuz, through which passes about a third of all oil traded by sea, have emerged as a key concern for Washington and ratcheted up already high tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Australia joins the United Kingdom, which announced earlier this month it was joining the campaign. The U.S. is seeking to attract other allies to join the coalition, though Germany has already declined.

Iran, which oversees security in the strategic waterway, has hinted it will not back down in the face of the operation, saying it will no longer tolerate maritime offenses in the region.

“Iran used to forgo some maritime offenses in … [the] Gulf but will never close [its] eyes anymore,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a televised news conference this month.

Besides the tanker seizures, tensions have skyrocketed in the region over Iran’s declaration that it has exceeded the limits placed on its uranium enrichment by an Obama-era nuclear pact, leading European leaders to scramble to persuade Tehran to curtail its nuclear production.

President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: ‘Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list’ Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE withdrew the U.S. from the deal last year, though international observers say Iran had remained within the agreement’s limits until recently.

President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: ‘Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list’ Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE on Tuesday revived his idea that Russia should be reinstated into the Group of Seven (G-7) major economies, arguing that it is “much more appropriate to have Russia in.”

Trump made the remarks to reporters while meeting in the Oval Office with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday afternoon.

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“We talk about Russia because I’ve been to numerous G-7 meetings,” Trump said. “I think it’s much more appropriate to have Russia in.”

Trump said he would support adding Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich PutinThe Hill’s Morning Report – Trump on defense over economic jitters Can we do business with Kim Jong Un? Leadership analysis might give clues Russian defense minister: ‘We won’t do anything’ in Europe unless US places missiles there MORE to the G-7 economic talks, and he blamed former President Obama for ousting Russia after Putin “outsmarted him.”

“I guess President Obama, because Putin outsmarted him, President Obama thought it was not a good idea to have Russia in,” Trump told reporters, adding later, “That’s not the way it should work.”

Trump’s remarks come days before he is set to travel to France for the annual G-7 meeting, which will also include leaders from France, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.

Trump’s comments could stoke tensions ahead of the summit and provoke accusations from his critics that he’s been too soft on Russia after Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Russia was ousted from what was then the G-8 over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Trump made similar remarks before the last G-7 summit, telling reporters last June that Russia should be part of the talks even while claiming he has been Russia’s “worst nightmare.”

“Whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run,” Trump said then. “And in the G-7, which used be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.” 

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