TheNewsGuru

Tag: U.S.

  • US blacklists Sugon, four other Chinese tech firms

    US blacklists Sugon, four other Chinese tech firms

    The US Commerce Department blacklisted five Chinese tech entities Friday in a new move against Beijing’s super computing industry.

    The move is likely to raise tensions ahead of a meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping next week in Japan.

    The notice targets Sugon — a prominent Chinese supercomputer manufacturer — along with three of its microchip subsidiaries and a computing institute owned by the People’s Liberation Army.

    All of the entities will be effectively barred from obtaining US technology after the government determined they were “acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.”

    Trade tensions between the world’s top two economies have spilled over into the tech sector in recent months, with Trump’s administration moving to essentially ban Chinese tech firm Huawei from the huge US market on security grounds.

    In May, it added Huawei to an “entity list” of companies barred from receiving US-made components without permission from Washington, though the company was granted a 90-day reprieve.

    Facebook and Google have since both announced they will move to cut off Huawei in order to comply with the US sanctions, further isolating the Chinese tech giant.

    Beijing has responded with threats to release its own blacklist of “unreliable” foreign companies and individuals that appears aimed at pressuring foreign companies to maintain commercial relations with Huawei.

    Earlier this month, Beijing summoned executives from American firms Dell and Microsoft and South Korea’s Samsung, among others, to warn them that any moves to ramp down their businesses in China may lead to retaliation, The New York Times reported.

    Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi are set to meet next week on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan.

  • U.S. warns citizens of ‘impending attacks’ in Uganda, Tanzania

    The United States embassies in Uganda and Tanzania have issued warnings about “rumours of impending attacks” in areas frequented by foreigners.

    According to the embassy in Kampala, “There are rumours of impending attacks in areas frequented by expats within East Africa, including Uganda.’’

    The warning was issued on Thursday, a day after the embassy in Dar es Salaam issued a similar security alert.

    Both alerts said the embassies had “no substantiating evidence of the threat or information on the timing,” but said people should avoid crowds and stay alert.

    While Uganda and Tanzania do not suffer regular attacks like Kenya, which is often subjected to deadly attacks by Somalia based militant group al-Shabaab because they have not been immune.

    “In 2010 there were bomb attacks in Kampala at venues screening the World Cup final killing over 70 people and injuring many more. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility and threatened further attacks in the region,” Britain says on its official travel advice page.

    Britain says that “terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks,” on Tanzania, but adds that Tanzania hasn’t suffered a major terrorist incident since the bombing of the US embassy in 1998, dpa reports.

  • We are ready to resolve trade issues with US – China

    We are ready to resolve trade issues with US – China

    The Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Thursday said that it was prepared to resolve, through dialogue, its lingering trade disputes with the United States.

    The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China said in a statement that China was committed to resolving issues with the U.S. with patience and sincerity.

    “It is only natural for China and the U.S., the two largest economies and trading nations in the world, to experience some differences over trade and economic cooperation.

    “What truly matters is how to enhance trust, promote cooperation and manage the differences.

    “China remains committed to resolving issues through dialogue and consultation, responding to US concerns with the greatest patience and sincerity, properly handling differences, while seeking common grounds, and overcoming obstacles to practical solutions.

    “The Chinese Government believes that economic and trade consultation is an effective way to solving issues. Negotiation will get nowhere if one side tries to coerce the other or if only one party will benefit from the outcomes,’’ it said.

    The Chinese Government also said that it would act rationally in the interest of the Chinese people, the American people,and other peoples around the world, adding that China was open to negotiations.

    According to it, striking a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement serves the interests of China and the US, as well as meet the expectations of the world.

    “As to where the China-US economic and trade consultations are heading, China is looking forward, not backward.

    “It is hoped that the US can pull in the same direction with China and, in a spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, manage economic and trade differences, strengthen trade and economic cooperation,’’ it said.

    US and China will resume trade talks ahead of a meeting between their leaders at a G20 summit next week, US President Donald Trump has said.

    Mr Trump said on Twitter he had a “very good” call with Chinese President Xi Jinping and their teams would start talks before they met in Japan.

    The US escalated tensions with tariff hikes in May, derailing months of talks between the economic powerhouses.

    The two countries have been fighting a damaging trade war over the past year.

    The Chinese president said he was prepared to meet with Mr Trump at the G20 meeting next week, according to state media Xinhua.

    Mr Trump said he would have an “extended meeting” with his Chinese counterpart at the summit in Japan.

  • U.S. now demands social media handles from visa applicants

    U.S. now demands social media handles from visa applicants

    Nearly all applicants for United States visas will have to submit their social media details under newly adopted rules.

    The State Department regulations say people will have to submit social media names and five years’ worth of email addresses and phone numbers.

    When proposed last year, authorities estimated the proposal would affect 14.7 million people annually. Certain diplomatic and official visa applicants will be exempt from the stringent new measures. However, people travelling to the US to work or to study will have to hand over their information.

    “We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect US citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States,” the Department reportedly said.

    Previously, only applicants who needed additional vetting – such as people who had been to parts of the world controlled by terrorist groups – would need to hand over this data.

    But now applicants will have to give up their account names on a list of social media platforms, and also volunteer the details of their accounts on any sites not listed.

    Anyone who lies about their social media use could face “serious immigration consequences”, according to an official who spoke to The Hill.

    The Trump administration first proposed the rules in March 2018. At the time, the American Civil Liberties Union – a civil rights group – said there is “no evidence that such social media monitoring is effective or fair”, and said it would cause people to self-censor themselves online.

    Recall that Trump made cracking down on immigration a key plank of his election campaign in 2016. He called for “extreme vetting” of immigrants before and during his time in office.

    On Friday Trump vowed to impose gradually rising tariffs on Mexico unless the country curbed illegal immigration at the US southern border.


    BBC.

  • U.S. honours Nigerian Muslim cleric for rescuing 200 Christians

    The U.S. Mission in Nigeria has honoured Chief Imam of Nghar Village, Abdullahi Abubakar who protected 200 villagers during attacks on Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau in June 2018.

    The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington awarded the Chief Imam with Ambassador’s Peacemaker Award for Heroism at an interfaith dialogue organised by the embassy on Friday in Abuja.

    Symington urged the world to emulate Abubakar’s act of brotherliness which he described as a virtue of kindness to promote global peace.

    The ambassador also advised mankind to love each other and let the idea of one family take the centre stage.

    “Abubakar’s act of brotherliness raised hope of a cohesive society in the face of growing mistrust.

    “Today, there is only one word that matters and that is perhaps, love. Or perhaps, one more word, family.

    “With the lesson of this Imam, Chief Imam, this Village Head, this Deputy Imam, and all of those who brought you this story, is a lesson not just for Nigeria, but for all mankind – one family, one race, one love,” Symington stated.

    He said that coming together to invest in each other was one of the best ways to end recurrent violence in the country.

    “It (violence) will end when all come together and invest in each other and when individuals find the path forward, for not just for their own daughters and sons, but for the daughters and sons of every Nigerian,” he said.

    Abubakar said God, who created mankind, had a reason for creating mankind in different forms and brought mankind together and gave a command to mankind not to harm each other.

    “God has created us as diverse people. Some black, some white, some tall, some short. God has a reason. He is the only One who knows why he created us that way.

    “It is unfortunate what happened in my community which led to the demise of some in the community and by Allah’s grace, some have survived to tell the story,” Imam Abubakar said.

    June 23rd, 2018 remained indelible in the minds of indigenes of Nghar Community and the whole of Barkin Ladin Local Government when over 400 hoodlums on motorcycles and armed with sophisticated weapons invaded the area.

    They went from community to community on a killing spree and the gruesome attack left 84 people dead.

    However, the swift action taken by the chief imam of the community who hid some Christians helped in reducing the number of causalities.

  • U.S. arrests nine Nigerians for alleged multi-million dollar fraud [Names attached]

    Nine Nigerians have been arrested in the United States of America for defrauding businesses and individuals of more than $3.5 million.

    The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey S. Berman, and Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) Special Agent-in-Charge of the Tampa, Florida, Field Office of U.S., James C. Spero, announced on Thursday that the suspects committed the fraud through business email compromises, a Russian oil scam, and a romance scam.

    Named among the suspects are Oluwaseun Adelekan a.k.a. Sean Adelekan, Olalekan Daramola, Solomon Aburekhanlen, Gbenga Oyeneyin,Abiola Olajumoke, Temitope Omotayo, Bryan Eadie, Albert Lucas and Ademola Adebogun.

    Each of the suspects faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.

    U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, these defendants deployed three different email schemes to defraud their victims.

    “The common denominator in all three schemes was the defendants’ alleged fleecing of their victims through fictitious online identities.

    “The schemes allegedly earned the defendants $3.5 million – and also arrests on federal felony charges.”

    HSI Special Agent-in-Charge James C. Spero said: “A transnational criminal organisation allegedly conducting illicit domestic and international wire fraud has been dismantled thanks to the hard work of HSI Tampa and Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

    “This case illustrates the unique investigative authority and international reach of HSI.”

    As alleged in their indictment, from at least in or about July 2016, up to and including the present, the defendants participated in a scheme to defraud businesses and individuals through several categories of false and misleading representations, including but not limited to:

    • Sending victims email messages that appeared to be, but were not, from legitimate business counterparties that included instructions to the victims to wire payment to those seemingly legitimate business counterparties into bank accounts that were actually under the control of, and/or maintained by, Adelekan, Daramola, Aburekhanlen, Oyeneyin, Olajumoke, Omotayo, Eadie, Lucas, and Adebogun (the “Business Email Compromise Scam”);
    • Sending email messages and text messages to at least one victim offering an opportunity to invest in oil stored in Russian oil tank farms conditioned on that victim wiring upfront payments into bank accounts purportedly affiliated with the purported oil investment but actually opened by and under the control of Aburekhanlen, Olajumoke, and Oyeneyin (the “Russian Oil Scam”); and
    • Sending email messages and text messages to at least one victim from an individual (or individuals) purporting to be a female with romantic intentions toward the victim requesting, further to establishing a romantic relationship, the wiring of payment into a bank account under the control of Omotayo (the “Romance Scam”).
  • U.S. revokes ICC chief prosecutor’s visa

    U.S. revokes ICC chief prosecutor’s visa

    The U.S. has revoked an entry visa for Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor.

    The office of the prosecutor confirmed the information to dpa on Friday.

    The U.S. wants to prevent the court from opening an investigation into alleged crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

    Bensouda can still travel to New York when she has to report to the United Nations Security Council, the spokesperson said, adding that the prosecutor’s work will continue despite the visa issue.

    Bensouda had requested judicial approval for an official investigation, saying there is sufficient evidence of war crimes and proof that U.S. soldiers and CIA employees tortured or brutally handled prisoners in 2003 and 2004.

    U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had already threatened to revoke entry visas for employees of the court.

    The U.S. is not a signatory to the statute governing the International Criminal Court and has rejected the judicial body’s legitimacy for years.

    The International Criminal Court prosecutes war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    It is based on the Rome Statute, which entered into force in 2002.

    A total of 122 countries signed the statue, including all EU member states.

  • Nigeria ranks top in Africa with number of foreign students in U.S. – Official

    Nigeria ranked the top with the highest of students from Africa studying in the U.S, Rachel Canty, Deputy Director, Student and Exchange Visitor Programme, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has said.

    Speaking at the Foreign Press Centre International Reporting Tour: U.S. Community Colleges and Workforce Development, programme in Washington D.C, Canty said Nigeria has 16,039 students in the U.S.

    The tour was organised by the Foreign Press Centre, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S Department of State to provide foreign journalists with information on opportunity available to foreign students in community college in U.S.

    `Nigeria has continued to retain its top ranking as the number one source of African students studying in the U. S. with over 16000 students as at March pursuing their educational goals

    “There are over 36,000 students from Sub Saharan Africa studying in the U.S.

    “As of March 2019, there are 16,039 students from Nigeria studying in the United States with 54 per cent male and 46 per cent female students.

    “This is an increase of 3,342 students over 12,693 students recorded in November 2018,” she stated,

    She said that undergraduate students constituted 34 per cent, Masters students was, 36 per cent, as Doctorate formed 12 per cent, while Associate 12 per cent, non-degree and others formed 5 per cent

    According to her, the top five states for Nigerian students in U.S include Texas with 2,713, California, 856 students, Maryland, 827 students, New York, 818 students and Florida 753 students.

    Students from Nigeria attended about 800 institutions in each of America’s 50 states. The most popular state is Texas, with 2,713 students, while the most popular college/university is Houston Community College, with 220 students.

    Mathew Washburn, Programme Officer, EducationUSA, U.S. Department of State explained that the number of international students in the U.S surpassed one million for the third consecutive year,

    The number he said increased by 1.5 per cent to reach a new high of 1,094,792 million, in 2018 adding that U.S remains the top host of international students globally.

    “International students made a significant financial impact on the United States in 2017, contributing 42.4 billion dollars to the U.S. economy through tuition, room and board, and other expenses,” he said,

    According to him, 450,000 U.S jobs are supported by hosting international students on U.S. campuses

  • U.S. announces new restrictions on foreign aid for abortions

    The U.S. will further clamp down on the use of foreign aid for non-governmental organisations that support abortions or work with groups that help women access the medical service, an official said.

    The U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Tuesday said this as he announced new limitations on the use of federal government funds in Washington.

    “We can continue to meet our critical global health goals… while refusing to subsidize the killing of unborn babies,” Pompeo said.

    He said the new measures would include “strict prohibition on back door schemes” meant to help funnel money to organisations working on women’s health and that support abortions.

    Pompeo is a Christian conservative and has been facing lobbying by right-wing groups on the abortion issue in Latin America.

    U.S. President Donald Trump, upon taking office, reversed regulations that were in place during the Obama administration to reimpose the so-called Mexico City Policy, which prohibits organisations receiving U.S. money from even using non-U.S. funding for abortions.

    Critics call the policy the “global gag rule’’ as it not only limits what organisations can do with their own money, but also places restrictions on the types of conversations health care providers can have with patients.

    Human Rights Watch, a lobby group, warned already in 2018 that Trump was applying the rule not only to the tens of millions of dollars the U.S. gives to family planning programmes but to the more than 8 billion dollars the U.S. donates to global health issues.

    Trump has further been criticised at the UN for supporting conservative, non-democratic states, who oppose using the international organisation for gay rights and key women’s health issues.

  • U.S. expresses ‘disappointment’ over irregularities in Nigeria’s general elections

    The United States government says it is disappointed by the scale of irregularities in the Nigerian 2019 general elections.

    The U.S. government said from the reports it garnered from observers groups; voter intimidation, vote buying, interference by security forces, and violence marred the electoral process in parts of the country.

    It said this in a statement released on Thursday evening.

    It, however, urged stakeholders and security services to ensure a free, fair, credible, transparent, and peaceful election process ahead of the Saturday supplementary governorship election and in future elections.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 12 announced supplementary governorship elections in states where it declared the polls inconclusive.

    The states include Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau, and Sokoto. But the supplementary governorship polls will hold in only five states on Saturday due to judicial interventions.

    Also in the statement, the U.S government extended its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives during the election process, adding that it would continue to support the national democratic process.

    ”As noted by many observer groups in their preliminary reports, we too were disappointed by the low voter turnout as well as credible reports of voter intimidation, vote buying, interference by security forces, and violence in some locations.

    ”As the 2019 electoral cycle comes to an end, we urge all stakeholders to work towards a free, fair, credible, transparent, and peaceful process, especially for the many Nigerians across the country who again will go to polls on Saturday.

    ”We encourage all stakeholders, including INEC, political parties, and the security services, to continue to improve the electoral process for future elections.

    ”We are saddened by those acts of violence and extend our deepest sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives, including those who worked for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security services.”

    The statement stressed that the United States has no preferred candidates in the election, adding that it would remain committed to working together to achieve a mutual goal for both countries.

    ”The United States supports a democratic process where the will of the Nigerian people is reflected in the results. As long-time friends of Nigeria, we continue to follow closely the still ongoing elections. We do not have a preferred party or candidate.

    ”We look to Nigeria as an important leader on the African continent. As a democratic partner of Nigeria, the United States remains committed to working together to achieve our mutual goals of peace and prosperity for the citizens of both our countries.”