Washington DC

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States criminalized transactions with Venezuelan flag carrier Conviasa, saying it wanted to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to cede power.

Under the new sanctions, anyone in the United States will be banned from any transactions with Conviasa, which stands for Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronauticas y Servicios.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said that African nations should be free to cooperate with both the United States and China, warning that foreign powers were exacerbating the continent’s divisions.

Kenyatta was speaking on a visit to Washington, where speculation has built that the United States will seek to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Kenya, in what would be a first with an African nation.

06 Feb 2020; MEMO: US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib wore Palestinian traditional dress to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress, published a photo of herself dressed in a white thobe before entering the Congress Hall on Tuesday.

“There is no right or wrong way to protest,” she tweeted, adding: “I’m joining my sisters in Congress in wearing white-my white #PalestinianThobe–to #SOTU.”

Washington, Feb 6 (PTI) The US has expressed concern over the current situation of religious freedom in India and raised the issue with Indian officials, a senior State Department official has said.

The remarks came in the wake of widespread protests held across India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The senior State Department official, on condition of anonymity, said that he has met with officials in India about what is taking place in the nation and expressed concern.

05 Feb 2020; MEMO: A draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Tuesday condemned an Israeli plan to annex its settlements in the West Bank in a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel 'peace proposal', Reuters reports.

The draft text, circulated to council members by Tunisia and Indonesia, would seemingly face a US veto, but nonetheless offered some members’ dim view of the peace plan that Trump rolled out last week with great fanfare.

03 Feb 2020; MEMO: The United States has granted political asylum to Saudi dissident, Abdulrahman Almutairi, after discovering that the Saudi embassy had attempted to return him to the kingdom following his criticism of Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Washington, Feb 2 (AFP/PTI) The United States military will provide accommodation for 1,000 people if they need to be quarantined because of the deadly novel coronavirus, the Department of Defense said.

Several facilities each capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms will be made available until February 29, the department said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China has been more transparent about the coronavirus than it has been in previous crises but Beijing has not yet accepted a US offer of help to contain the epidemic, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said.

“So far the Chinese have been more transparent certainly than in past crises and we appreciate that,” O’Brien said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Washington, Feb 1 (AFP/PTI) The US said Friday it was declaring a public health emergency and temporarily banning the entry of foreign nationals who had traveled to China over the past two weeks to contain the spread of a deadly new virus.

Sweeping new restrictions will also be imposed on American citizens, with those returning from the province at the disease's epicenter placed in facilities for mandatory 14-day quarantines, said Health Secretary Alex Azar.

Des Moines (US), Feb 1 (AP) Billionaire Michael Bloomberg spent roughly USD 180 million in the month after his late entry into the Democratic presidential primary, a staggering sum that's drastically more than all other leading contenders spent during much of the past year combined.