US

American Foreign Minister Pompeo Starts Visit to the Middle East
24Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
News, Middle East, US

American Foreign Minister Pompeo Starts Visit to the Middle East

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Israel at the start of a five-day tour of the region.   He consults with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others, about Iran and about further expansion of Israel's relations with other countries in the Middle East. Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) first established diplomatic relations with Israel. In the Arab world, only Egypt and Jordan had diplomatic relations with Israel, recognizing Israel. Many other Arab countries demand that there be a Palestinian state first and that Israel return the occupied territories, including Arab East Jerusalem, for that purpose. The UAE dropped that line and entered into relations. Pompeo will go to Sudan and Bahrain after he visits Israel. He hopes that those countrie...
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Wildfires in the US State of California Have Put Thousands of People to Flight
20Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
US, News

Wildfires in the US State of California Have Put Thousands of People to Flight

Wildfires in the US state of California have put thousands of people to flight. Nearly 7,000 firefighters have been deployed against the fires, which ravage both the north and south of the state.   The extreme heat in the western United States is exacerbating the situation, Gavin Newsom warns. Newsom has asked other states also to send firefighters and equipment to California. He says there are 23 major fires. In total, there have been more than 360 wildfires in recent days, many of which were caused by lightning strikes. A fire service spokesperson says most small fires could be extinguished quickly. He called on residents of the threatened regions to immediately comply with evacuation orders. On Tuesday, Governor Newsom already declared a state of emergency in his state. This a...
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Tensions Between the US and China Over Tech Companies Caused Reticence Among Investors
7Aug By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Business, China, News, US

Tensions Between the US and China Over Tech Companies Caused Reticence Among Investors

The mounting tensions between the United States and China over Chinese tech companies caused some reticence among investors.   Tech investor Prosus was therefore under pressure on the Damrak. Better-than-expected export figures from China and Germany kept losses limited. The essential American jobs report, which will be released later today, was also awaited. The AEX index on Beursplein 5 recorded 0.3 percent in the negative at 556.63 points around noon. The MidKap lost 0.7 percent to 782.10 points. The stock exchanges in Frankfurt and London fell to 0.4 percent. Paris fell 0.7 percent. Prosus (minus 4.8 percent) was the most significant drop in the AEX. US President Donald Trump has signed a presidential decree banning US companies' transactions with ByteDance, the Chinese compa...
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China Orders Closure of US Consulate in Chengdu
24Jul By Alan LorenzNo Comments
News, China, US

China Orders Closure of US Consulate in Chengdu

The Chinese government has ordered the closure of the US Consulate in Chengdu. It is, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, "a legal and necessary response to unjustified US action,"   The South China Morning Post reported. Beijing responds to the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston. Washington decided to do this because hackers, with support from the People's Republic, would gather confidential information from companies in the US, among others. The countermeasure, according to Beijing, is "following international law, customs in international relations and diplomatic practice". US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeated the allegations in a speech Thursday, saying the Houston consulate is a hub of espionage and "theft of intellectual property." The consulate is du...
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A Rare Pokémon Card Raised $ 90,000 At An Online Auction in the United States
10Jul By Alan LorenzNo Comments
US, News

A Rare Pokémon Card Raised $ 90,000 At An Online Auction in the United States

A rare Pokémon card raised $ 90,000 at an online auction in the United States.   According to the auction house Heritage Auction, a collector paid that amount for a so-called Trainer card that gave access to a secret tournament in 1999. That special ticket was the top prize in regional qualifying events. Since there were seven there at the time, Heritage assumes the same number of this type of map exists. The auctioned copy is in a protective case and is in excellent condition. The name of the buyer has not been disclosed. The trading card game Pokémon was introduced at the end of the last century and became extremely popular in a short time. As a rule, rarer and more expensive cards offer more significant winning opportunities. A digital version of the game was also released in...
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Mexicans Block Border Post With the US for Fear of Coronavirus
8Jul By Alan LorenzNo Comments
Mexico, News, US

Mexicans Block Border Post With the US for Fear of Coronavirus

Residents of some Mexican border towns have blocked roads and transitions to the United States with their cars in recent days.   They fear that American visitors will spread the coronavirus in Mexico. Today, the presidents of the two countries, Donald Trump and Lopez Obrador, meet in Washington. "We are asking that US tourists not visit Mexico now. We are doing that to protect the health of our community as the coronavirus spreads rapidly in the neighbouring US states," said José Ramos Arzate, the mayor of the Mexican border town of Sonoyta. The British newspaper "The Guardian". The mayor is thus in favour of residents of his city who blocked the border crossing with the US state of Arizona last weekend. This was also the case in other Mexican border cities, including Texas. In A...
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President Trump Humiliated British Ex-Prime Minister May
30Jun By Alan LorenzNo Comments
News, UK, US

President Trump Humiliated British Ex-Prime Minister May

US President Trump bullied and humiliated then-British Prime Minister Theresa May during their phone calls. He would have called her "weak" and blamed her for "lack of courage."   Trump is also said to have called German Chancellor Angela Merkel "stupid". Details of the talks were published by American journalist Carl Bernstein, one of the two ex-reporters for the Washington Post newspaper which revealed the Watergate scandal surrounding President Nixon in the early 1970s. He spoke to White House sources and intelligence officials who are aware of the content of the calls and who are concerned. Trump is said to pose a threat to the national security of the United States, reports the US news channel CNN. Bernstein sources say Trump is "insufficiently prepared" for con...
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New York Paints Black Lives Matter on Trump Tower Street
26Jun By Alan LorenzNo Comments
US, News

New York Paints Black Lives Matter on Trump Tower Street

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered the words 'Black Lives Matter' to be painted in large, yellow letters on the street in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan.   Black Lives Matter is a group that fights against police brutality and racism in the United States. For years, the words have also been a cry for protesters, for example in the past few weeks during protests after the death of George Floyd. "He Can't Run Away." The painting is a direct message to Donald Trump, owner of the building where he lived before his presidency. "He's a disgrace to the values we cherish in New York," said a De Blasio spokesperson. "He can't run away from reality, and every time he comes to his hometown, he will be reminded that black lives matter." Trump responded to the city's plans on Twitt...
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Former US Marine Does Not Appeal Against 16 Years in Prison in Moscow
23Jun By Alan LorenzNo Comments
US, News

Former US Marine Does Not Appeal Against 16 Years in Prison in Moscow

Former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for espionage by a Moscow court last week, will not appeal his sentence.   The Russian news agency Interfax reported this Tuesday, referring to Whelan's lawyer. Lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov said that Whelan, who holds the US, British, Canadian and Irish passports, hopes to be exchanged in a prisoner exchange with the United States shortly. Russia says Whelan, who was arrested in December 2018, was caught with a USB flash drive containing secret information. He denies the charges and says he has been tricked. Whelan, 50, says he was in Russia for a wedding and got a USB stick from an acquaintance who believed it contained vacation photos.
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Talks Between the US and Russia on Arms Control in Vienna Started
22Jun By Alan LorenzNo Comments
News, Russia, US

Talks Between the US and Russia on Arms Control in Vienna Started

Talks on arms control between the United States and Russia started in Vienna on Monday. The talks last two days.   Officially, little has been said about the negotiations. Still, the US envoy has made it clear that the talks are about nuclear weapons, including replacing the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires in February. That treaty is intended to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. "We'll see," Marshall Billingslea, the United States special envoy for arms control, told Reuters news agency when asked what he expected from the talks. He declined to elaborate on their content. His Russian interlocutor, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, was a little careful and told reporters shortly afterwards, "Let's see, let's see. We always have a lot of hope." ...
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