Top News Stories for Today – Feb 15, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – Feb 15, 2019
Xi meets with US trade delegation
Chinese President Xi Jinping met Friday with members of the US trade delegation in Beijing where China and the US are attempting to hammer out a trade deal. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin posted on Twitter Friday that he and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had “productive meetings with China’s Vice Premier Liu He.”
Another round of negotiations between the two countries will continue next week in Washington, Chinese state media reported. Earlier, a top White House economic adviser expressed confidence in the US – China trade negotiations in Beijing. VOA
Trump to declare national emergency
President Donald Trump plans to declare a national emergency after Congress passed a government spending deal that provides further funding for border security, the White House announced Thursday. A Trump administration official confirmed Thursday night that the president will announce around $8 billion for a border wall under executive actions, part of which will be the emergency declaration. Trump will hold an event in the Rose Garden about the border at 10 a.m. Friday, the White House said.
Senior Democrats accused the president of a “gross abuse of power” and a “lawless act”. Several Republicans also voiced concern at the plan. Building a border wall was a key campaign pledge of Trump’s campaign. NBC , BBC
Amazon drops New York HQ2 plan
Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from lawmakers, progressive activists and union leaders, who contended that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives.
The decision was an abrupt turnabout by Amazon after a much-publicized search for a second headquarters, which had ended with its announcement in November that it would open two new sites — one in Queens, with more than 25,000 jobs, and another in Virginia. The New York Times
William Barr sworn in as attorney general
William Barr was sworn in on Thursday as attorney general, following his confirmation by the Senate. Barr was nominated to the position by President Trump in December, and he now takes over for Matthew Whitaker, who served as acting attorney general for three months following the departure of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Barr, who previously served as attorney general under former President George H.W. Bush, said in his January confirmation hearing that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will be allowed to finish his investigation. “If confirmed, I will not permit partisan politics, personal interests, or any other improper consideration to interfere with this or any other investigation,” Barr said. The New York Times and CNN via The Week
Venezuela FM held secret talks with US
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza held secret talks in New York with the US special envoy to Venezuela, President Nicloas Maduro revealed. Maduro told the Associated Press that Arreaza invited special envoy Elliot Abrams to Caracas “privately, publicly or secretly.” A senior Venezuelan official said Abrams and Arreaza met twice in New York. There has been no comment so far from US officials. Just last week, Abrams said, “The time for dialogue with Maduro had long passed.”
The United States was the first of about 50 countries to recognize opposition leader and National Assembly head Juan Guaido as Venezuelan president, not Maduro, whose re-election last year has been dismissed by the US and the opposition as a sham. Arreaza said Thursday he is forming a coalition of diplomats who believe the US and others are violating the U.N. charter against non-interference in member states. Arreaza was surrounded by diplomats from 16 other countries, including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba, when he met with reporters at the United Nations. These countries continue to back Maduro. VOA
IS has tons of gold in Syria
As Islamic State faces pressure in its final stronghold in Syria’s Deir el-Zour province, the group could be hiding a mountain of gold it smuggled out of other Syrian provinces and neighboring Iraq, a rights group told VOA on Wednesday.
Rami Abdulrahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), told VOA that it had confirmation from the ground that IS was holding 40 tons of gold bars in Syria. “These quantities of gold were held by the IS group since late 2017, specifically in its eastern Syrian pocket” of control, he added. Rami said his organization’s “confirmed reports” indicated the gold, along with millions of dollars, was stockpiled in Deir el-Zour province. VOA