The White House has announced sanctions against 38 Russian individuals and companies, saying the United States is standing up to ongoing "malign activity" by the Russian government against Western democracies and around the world. At Friday's White House briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. still wants to work with Russia. "Again, what we would like to see is the totality of the Russian behavior change. We want to continue having conversations and work forward to building a better relationship," Sanders said. The sanctions will be imposed on seven Russian oligarchs including Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and 12 companies they own or control. Seventeen senior Russian government officials, as well as a state-owned Russian weapons trading company and its subsidiary, a Russian bank, also will be targeted. The group includes key members of Putin's inner circle. Those sanctioned will have their assets blocked in the U.S. and people in the U.S. are barred from doing business with them. Friday, a number of U.S. lawmakers and foreign policy experts welcomed the measure, saying the sanctions are overdue. Representative Adam Schiff of California, ranking Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the move is the strongest action taken by the Trump administration to date for Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and "its murder of dissidents at home and abroad." "The sanctioning of oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska, who is linked to Paul Manafort, Alexander Torshin and Putin's son-in-law, will send a strong message to the Kremlin," Schiff said in a statement. Florida's Marco Rubio, a Republican senator and former presidential candidate, also welcomed Friday's announcement. "These new sanctions send a clear message to Vladimir Putin that the illegal occupation of Ukraine, support for war crimes [under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime], efforts to undermine Western democracies, and... According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: What is probably true about Russia? Options: - not enough information - They like the U.S. - They earned the sanctions. - They have done nothing to earn sanctions.
They earned the sanctions.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump will mark the first anniversary of his inauguration as the 45th president, the day on the steps of the U.S. Capitol he promised to put "America first." Trump's tumultuous first year was unlike that of any other president in recent U.S. history, and 2018 could offer more of the same. The president had his share of victories and setbacks amid a backdrop of Twitter storms and, at times, raging rhetoric. Trump's political base seems pleased with his first year in office, touting his efforts to cut Obama-era regulations, install Justice Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, and roll back Islamic State forces in the Middle East. "We were kind of thinking we were going to relax and put Trump behind us and just watch all the great promises that he gave us, and watch him make America great again," said Michigan Trump supporter Meshawn Maddock. "But what happened immediately is that we felt he was under attack from day one." The president's biggest legislative victory came just last month, a sweeping tax cut bill that had been a Republican priority for years. "We are very proud of it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he signed it. "It is going to be a tremendous thing for the American people. It is going to be fantastic for the economy." In fact, there are plenty of signs of a surging economy, and public opinion polls show growing support for Trump's handling of it and even a bump up in support for the tax bill, which many voters saw initially as too favorable to the wealthy. The tax victory also seems to be helping Trump galvanize the Republican Party behind him, even those who in the past have been cool to his leadership. "This president hasn't even been in office for a year, and look at all the things he has been able to get done, by sheer will in many ways," said Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who also announced recently he would not run for re-election this year. According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: Who announced they would not run for re-election this year? Options: - President Donald Trump - not enough information - Senator Orrin Hatch - Justice Neil Gorsuch
Senator Orrin Hatch

SEOUL Arms control experts estimate that the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program could take a decade to complete, and cost $20 billion, if a nuclear agreement is reached between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when they meet in Singapore on June 12. "The hard work has not yet begun, and it is gong to take sustained energy on the part of the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and North Korea. It's going to be a multiyear long process," said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. President Trump has said he expects a "very positive result" from the North Korea nuclear summit, but he also said it will likely be the beginning of a process to resolve differences over the extent of the North's denuclearization, and the specifics regarding what sanctions relief, economic aid and security guarantees would be offered in return. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday that North Korea would only receive sanctions relief after it takes "verifiable and irreversible steps to denuclearization." This position aligns closer to the Kim government's stance that denuclearization measures and concessions be matched action for action. And it backs away from demands made by some in the president's national security team that Pyongyang quickly and unilaterally dismantle all its weapons of mass destruction before any concessions would be offered. North Korea is estimated to have 20 to 80 nuclear warheads, both known and covert nuclear research and processing sites, and thousands of ballistic missiles that can be launched from mobile vehicles, and submarine based launchers have been tested in recent years. With such an extensive nuclear arsenal it could cost $20 billion to achieve the U.S. goal of complete, irreversible, and verifiable nuclear dismantlement (CVID), according to a recent study conducted by Kwon Hyuk-chul, a Kookmin University professor of security strategy. Kwon based his assessment in part on past nuclear deals... According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: After the end of the story, Trump is: Options: - Hopeful to obtain 20 to 80 nuclear warheads. - not enough information - Hopeful he and Kim Jong Un will be friends. - Hopeful North Korea will denuclearize.
Hopeful North Korea will denuclearize.