Year: 2019

President Donald Trump sent out tweets warning several American adversaries not to kill innocent civilians in the northwestern region of Syria amid violence with government forces, Newsweek reported. “Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or […]

Philippines Bans Two U.S. Senators, Considers New Visa Rules for U.S. Citizens

The Philippines has banned two U.S. lawmakers from visiting and will introduce tighter entry restrictions for U.S. citizens should Washington enforce sanctions over the detention of a top government critic, the President’s spokesman said on […]

Netanyahu Wins Party Vote Ahead of Israeli Elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu easily won a vote to keep the Likud party helm, the party said on Friday, in a boost ahead of what is likely to be a hard-fought general election in […]

Tesla to Begin Deliveries of China-made Model 3 Cars

Electric vehicle maker Tesla will begin delivering Model 3 vehicles built at its Shanghai factory on Monday, a company representative told Reuters. The first 15 customers to get the cars on December 30 are Tesla […]

Japan Approves Plan to Send Naval Troops to Middle East

Japan approved a contentious plan to send its naval troops to the Middle East to ensure the safety of Japanese ships transporting oil to the energy-poor country that heavily depends on imports from the region, […]

AP: Wall Street Rises Amid Trade Optimism

Global stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street rose amid optimism that U.S.-Chinese trade relations are improving. Frankfurt, Paris and Hong Kong gained in early trading. London and Shanghai were unchanged and Tokyo declined, The […]

Trump Pushes Mexican Cartel Policy Disregarding Cabinet Remarks

President Donald Trump carried on with his intent to appropriate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations disregarding the pushback from several cabinet members, as well as top aides, Reuters reported, citing five people knowledgeable about […]

GOP Senator ‘Disturbed’ by McConnell’s Unconditional Support for Trump on Impeachment

Republican Senator of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski stated that she was disturbed from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comments that he will work in “total coordination” with the White House during the impeachment trial. “When I […]

Tesla Reaches Elon Musk’s Magic Number, 420

Elon Musk lost his position as Tesla Chairman after posting a notorious tweet in August last year that he was “considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured”. Over a year later, Tesla stock briefly […]

Alaska Senator ‘Disturbed’ by McConnell’s Coordination with White House

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said that she was “disturbed” by the way Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was coordinated with the White House over the impeachment trial at the Senate. Leaders at the Senate […]

Trump Snaps at Pelosi on Christmas over “Scam Impeachment”

President Donald Trump snapped on Twitter on Christmas night, lashing out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling the impeachment inquiry a “Scam Impeachment,” The Hill reported. “Why should Crazy Nancy Pelosi, just because she has a […]

American Jews Call Giuliani Anti-Semite over Soros Comments

A number of American-Jewish groups slammed Trump’s private attorney Rudy Giuliani and called him an “anti-Semite” after he said several times that he’s “more of a Jew” than George Soros, a Holocaust survivor, and a […]

Halkbank Fails to Halt U.S. Prosecution for Aiding Iran

A federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday rejected a request by Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank to put on hold a federal prosecution accusing it of helping Iran evade U.S. economic sanctions, Reuters informed. U.S. District Judge […]

Tesla Releases Update for Full Self-Driving and Much More

Electric vehicle maker Tesla has started rolling out holiday updates, including a “full self-driving sneak preview”, teased by CEO Elon Musk last week. The holiday update included long-awaited features, like reading text messages aloud via […]

Washington Ready to Deal With Any North Korean ‘Christmas Gift’

President Donald Trump on Tuesday brushed off North Korea’s warning of a “Christmas gift,” saying the United States would “deal with it very successfully,” amid U.S. concerns that Pyongyang might be preparing a long-range missile […]

Bloomberg Says White House Campaign Unknowingly Used Prison Labor

Billionaire U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday said his campaign had unknowingly used prison workers to make telephone calls on his behalf, Reuters writes. Bloomberg, who last month entered the Democratic Party race to […]

China, Russia, Iran to Hold Joint Naval Drills

China, Iran and Russia will hold joint naval drills starting on Friday in the Indian Ocean and Sea of Oman, China’s defense ministry said on Thursday, amid heightened tension in the region between Iran and […]

Relief Group Says 216,000 Have Fled Northwest Syria

More than 200,000 men, women, and children fled their homes in northwest Syria in buses, trucks, and cars in recent weeks, amid intense air and ground bombardment by government forces, a Syrian relief group said […]

Afghan Officials Claim Taliban Abducted 26 Peace Activists

The Taliban ambushed a peace convoy in western Afghanistan and abducted 26 activists, members of a peace movement, a police spokesman said Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. The insurgents staged the ambush in the district […]

Oil Rise, Lifted by U.S.-China Trade Deal Hopes, OPEC Cuts

Oil prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by a potential breakthrough in the Chinese-U.S. trade war and OPEC-led efforts to constrain supply, although trading was quiet as many markets were in holiday mode, Reuters informed. Brent […]

Russiа, Turkey Extend Talks on Syria-Libya in Quest for Compromise

Talks in Moscow between a Turkish government delegation and Russian diplomats lasted for three days, much longer than expected, as the two sides tried to find compromises on Syria and Libya, the Vedomosti daily reported […]

Pope Calls for Peace in Christmas Message

Pope Francis urged the world to let the light of Christmas pierce the “darkness in human hearts” that leads to religious persecution, social injustice, armed conflicts and fear of migrants, Reuters writes. In his “Urbi […]

Gaza Rocket Sends Netanyahu to Shelter During Campaign Rally

A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at a southern Israeli city on Wednesday as it hosted a campaign rally by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prompted him to take shelter briefly before resuming the event, […]

Record Online Sales Give U.S. Holiday Shopping Season a Boost

U.S. shoppers spent more online than in retail stores during the shortest winter shopping season in the past six years, with online sales hitting a record high, a report by Mastercard showed, Reuters informs. The […]

Goldman Could Stabilize Saudi Aramco Shares Following IPO

Saudi Aramco said that Goldman Sachs may stabilize its shares after a record initial public offering earlier this month. Stabilization agents support the share price by purchasing additional shares on the market, Reuters writes. The […]

Former Trump Campaign Staffer Sues Over Pregnancy Discrimination

A staff member of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign is suing the campaign for pregnancy discrimination, alleging she was stripped of job responsibilities after being impregnated by her supervisor, Reuters informed. In court papers filed […]

Mitch McConnell Flexing $1B Gift for Kentucky

Mitch McConnell has announced to deliver over $1bn worth of tax breaks and federal spending to his Kentucky constituents, prior to a possibly tough reelection campaign. McConnell’s biggest obstacle to getting the deal done was […]

Ex-Rep. Trott Calls Trump ‘Intellectually, Emotionally’ Unfit for Office

A former GOP congressman slammed President Trump, calling him “intellectually, and emotionally” unfit for the office. Ex-Michigan Rep. David Trott wrote a letter to The Atlantic saying “high unemployment” and a “stagnating economy” under a Democratic presidency […]

Cuomo Vetoes Bill Allowing Judges to Grant Marriage Licenses

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo slapped a veto on a bipartisan effort by lawmakers that are allowing federal judges in the state of NY to issue marriage licenses. Cuomo vetoed the bill on Friday, which […]

December 24, 2019 Focus Washington

SpaceX Aces Final Parachute Test Before Launching Astronauts

SpaceX has successfully conducted its 10th parachute test indicating the safety of the astronauts is their priority. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is closing the year with a tenth consecutive successful parachute test for a crewed mission […]