Tag: Region US

BEIJING: China’s special Mideast envoy pinned the cause of the Israel-Gaza crisis on the lack of guarantees for Palestinian rights and urged greater coordination with Moscow in a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Qatar, a key go-between in the conflict. In the first leg of his tour in the region, China’s envoy for Middle East issues Zhai Jun landed in Qatar on Thursday where he reaffirmed with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Bogdanov Beijing’s alignment with Moscow in their efforts…

U.S. President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in two unpredictable foreign conflicts as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries. If international aggression is allowed to continue, Biden said in a rare Oval Office address, “conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world.” “Hamas and Putin represent…

NEW YORK – Gemini Trust and GIC-backed Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG) were sued by New York’s top law-enforcement officer for allegedly defrauding customers of US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion), escalating legal woes for two companies hit hard by last year’s plunge in cryptocurrency markets. The lawsuit filed on Thursday by New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Gemini, which operated a crypto exchange, and DCG’s Genesis Global Capital unit of failing to disclose to investors the risks of a…

Amir Weitmann of Israel’s ruling Likud Party threatened Russia that Israel will come after them once their war with Gaza is over for supporting Hamas “Nazis” who “beheaded babies” and “raped” women. Weitmann claimed everyone has seen such atrocities with their own eyes. Amir Weitmann, of Israel’s ruling Likud Party, promises revenge on Russia for insufficient support of Israel: “Russia is supporting Nazis who want to commit genocide against us. Russia will pay the price!” pic.twitter.com/L3XqsVe0SM — Shadow of Ezra…

In the summer of 2021, Insider has learned, [Peter] Thiel began providing information as a “confidential human source,” or CHS, to Johnathan Buma, a Los Angeles-based FBI agent who specializes in investigating political corruption and foreign-influence campaigns. Charles Johnson, a longtime associate of Thiel’s and a notorious figure in the far-right movement that Thiel has subsidized for a decade, told Insider in a statement that he helped recruit the billionaire as an informant by introducing him to Buma. A source…

Al Jazeera, whose footage was cited by Israel to claim a failed rocket launch by Gaza fighters caused the al-Ahli Baptist hospital explosion, did their own investigation into Israel’s claims and found they were without merit. An Al Jazeera digital investigation found no grounds for the Israeli army’s claim that the strike on the al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza was caused by a failed rocket launch. pic.twitter.com/DQsrBXfwmL — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 19, 2023 Key points: – They discovered…

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in response to a deal reached between the government and opposition parties for the 2024 election – the most extensive rollback of Trump-era restrictions on Caracas. A new general license issued by the U.S. Treasury Department authorized OPEC member Venezuela, which had been under crushing sanctions since 2019, to produce and export oil to its chosen markets for the next six months without limitation. U.S. Secretary…

BENGALURU – Grand Centrex Limited (GCL) said on Wednesday that it will list in the US by merging with a blank-cheque firm in a deal that values the Singapore-based video game distributor at US$1.2 billion (S$1.65 billion). Special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs) have largely fallen out of favour following a bumper 2020, after they drew intense scrutiny from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The poor stock performance of some companies that went public via a Spac merger have…

SANTIAGO, Chile — The Israeli government has suspended all sales and supplies of defense and security hardware and related services to Colombia. The move followed a heated exchange on X, formerly known as Twitter, between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Israeli Ambassador in Bogota Gali Dagan about the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. Petro had refused to condemn the Hamas raid. When Dagan urged Petro to speak about the attack on Israel, Colombia’s president replied with a message that…

U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and make clear Israel has the right to defend itself, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday. Blinken said after lengthy talks with Netanyahu that Biden will reaffirm solidarity with Israel, which has widely been expected to launch a ground assault in Gaza. Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules Gaza after fighters burst into Israel on Oct 7,…

U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Florida FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 12, 2023  BEAUMONT, Texas – A Houston man who served as a production manager in a counterfeit drug trafficking scheme has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking and money laundering violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs today. Willis Reed, 61, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia…

Jewish communities in North America are ramping up security in the face of rising emotions over the massacre of Jews in Israel and the imminent invasion of Gaza, with pro- and anti-Israel rallies being held daily in cities across the United States. Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told VOA that the communities are prepared and have built “comprehensive security programs.” But, he said, last Saturday’s Hamas attack against Israel and its aftermath has brought the…

  NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks closed higher on Wednesday as traders await key US consumer inflation data, while shrugging off hotter-than-expected wholesale price increases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.2 per cent up at 33,804.87. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 4,376.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7 per cent to 13,659.68. Recent Federal Reserve officials’ comments “had two hawks dial down the immediate need for further tightening,” noted Mr Edward Moya,…

Boeing has begun delivering smart munitions to Israel as the country intensifies retaliation in the wake of Hamas’ large-scale surprise attack. An Israeli Air Force transport aircraft recently flew with the 250-pound (113 kilogram) Small Diameter Bombs from the US to Israel, Bloomberg revealed citing a US official. Israel bought 1,000 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) in 2021 for $735 million.  Precision Munition The air-launched guided SDB can strike a target 40 miles (64 kilometers) away, providing “the means to…

  PARIS — Germany will send about €1 billion (U.S. $1.1 billion) worth of air defense systems to Ukraine as part of a second “winter package” for the embattled country, the German Defence Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The support will include a Patriot air defense system and two IRIS-T surface-to-air systems, as well as 10 more Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks, three Gepard anti-aircraft guns, armored trucks and ambulances, in addition to more than €20 million in…

  The US Army has announced the successful trial of a military version of Elon Musk’s “Starlink” communications network. Called the “Starshield,” the technology utilizes low Earth orbit satellites to create a more secure network for soldiers. It will serve as a “redundant” or backup system in case the service’s main communications system gets jammed by enemies. “We’ve done some testing with it at home station, and all of our systems worked flawlessly over the backbones that it provides,” 5th…