News in Brief
MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that actions by the United States and the transatlantic NATO alliance in Europe were contributing to an increased military threat, the Interfax news agency reported. Frictions around Russia’s border with Ukraine have eased in recent days after Moscow ordered a withdrawal of some troops last week. Shoigu said that Russia would act as it saw fit to ensure security at its borders, Interfax reported. The Kremlin said Monday President Vladimir Putin has accepted President Joe Biden’s invitation to meet sometime this summer after weeks of near unprecedented tensions. Biden during a telephone call on April 13 proposed that the meeting take place in a European country at some point in the coming months, shortly before the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia for a widespread hack into federal servers. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not confirm dates or a specific location, saying "many different factors have yet to be analyzed in order to come to some final agreements,” according to a translation of his remarks to reporters.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A U.S. legislative proposal to allocate $112 billion for basic and advanced technology research and science in the face of rising competitive pressure from China will be delayed by at least two weeks, U.S. Senate Republicans and staffers said. The bipartisan "Endless Frontier” measure was scheduled to be debated by the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, having been formally introduced on April 21. But with more than 230 amendments filed for consideration, Senate Republicans said the markup would not go forward until after a one-week Senate recess than ends May 10. Republican Representative Mike Gallagher said U.S. superiority in science and technology "is at risk”, adding the Chinese Communist Party has closed the "technological gap in a way that threatens not only our economic security, but also our way of life.” Schumer said separately last week he will push for "emergency spending” to implement semiconductor manufacturing provisions in last year’s defense bill.
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- EU lawmakers kicked off a last debate on Tuesday on the post-Brexit trade agreement between the European Union and Britain, ahead of a vote that is expected to give the accord overwhelming approval. That vote will be the final step towards ratification of the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, struck in December after more than four years of acrimonious negotiations and lingering mistrust as Britain ended 47 years of EU membership. "This is a divorce. It is a warning, Brexit. It’s a failure of the European Union and we have to learn lessons from it... Why did 52% of the British vote against Europe?... Our duty is to listen and understand the feelings of the people,” the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told lawmakers, who gave him a standing ovation for his work. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the trade agreement gave each side tools - dispute settlement and the potential imposition of tariffs - to ensure compliance with the accord and the Brexit divorce deal. "Let me be clear: we do not want to have to use these tools. But we will not hesitate to use them if necessary,” she said at the start of the debate.
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BEIJING (Reuters) -- China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said it had lodged solemn representations to Japan over its annual diplomacy report which expressed grave concerns on China’s military capabilities and maritime activities. China urged Japan to redress its mistake, and build stable relations between the two countries with concrete actions, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — With lowered flags and somber ceremonies, Alabama paused Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary of a horrific tornado outbreak that killed more than 250 people statewide, caused billions in damage and reshaped entire communities. Tornadoes plowed across the Eastern U.S. over four days, killing more than 320 people in six states and causing an estimated $12 billion in damage. Thousands were injured in hardest-hit Alabama, and thousands of homes, businesses, churches and other structures were destroyed. Cleanup costs exceeded $100 million in Tuscaloosa alone. To help document the 2011 outbreak, the National Weather Service created an extensive online archive with details about the more than 60 twisters that hit Alabama, which was hardest-hit among the states. In northeast Alabama’s DeKalb County, where nearly three dozen people died, a community service was held Saturday in Rainsville to remember the outbreak.
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MOGADISHU (Reuters) -- Residents of the Somali capital Mogadishu fled neighborhoods on Tuesday fearing renewed clashes between rival factions in the security forces, who have split in a dispute over an extension to the president’s term. Government forces also raided an independent radio station and confiscated equipment. Forces loyal to the opposition hold parts of the city and the two sides clashed over the weekend, raising fears that Al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents could exploit a security vacuum as state forces turn on each other. Earlier this month, Somalia’s lower house of parliament voted to extend President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s four-year term in office but the Senate rejected the move, provoking the crisis.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A U.S. legislative proposal to allocate $112 billion for basic and advanced technology research and science in the face of rising competitive pressure from China will be delayed by at least two weeks, U.S. Senate Republicans and staffers said. The bipartisan "Endless Frontier” measure was scheduled to be debated by the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, having been formally introduced on April 21. But with more than 230 amendments filed for consideration, Senate Republicans said the markup would not go forward until after a one-week Senate recess than ends May 10. Republican Representative Mike Gallagher said U.S. superiority in science and technology "is at risk”, adding the Chinese Communist Party has closed the "technological gap in a way that threatens not only our economic security, but also our way of life.” Schumer said separately last week he will push for "emergency spending” to implement semiconductor manufacturing provisions in last year’s defense bill.
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- EU lawmakers kicked off a last debate on Tuesday on the post-Brexit trade agreement between the European Union and Britain, ahead of a vote that is expected to give the accord overwhelming approval. That vote will be the final step towards ratification of the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, struck in December after more than four years of acrimonious negotiations and lingering mistrust as Britain ended 47 years of EU membership. "This is a divorce. It is a warning, Brexit. It’s a failure of the European Union and we have to learn lessons from it... Why did 52% of the British vote against Europe?... Our duty is to listen and understand the feelings of the people,” the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told lawmakers, who gave him a standing ovation for his work. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the trade agreement gave each side tools - dispute settlement and the potential imposition of tariffs - to ensure compliance with the accord and the Brexit divorce deal. "Let me be clear: we do not want to have to use these tools. But we will not hesitate to use them if necessary,” she said at the start of the debate.
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BEIJING (Reuters) -- China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said it had lodged solemn representations to Japan over its annual diplomacy report which expressed grave concerns on China’s military capabilities and maritime activities. China urged Japan to redress its mistake, and build stable relations between the two countries with concrete actions, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — With lowered flags and somber ceremonies, Alabama paused Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary of a horrific tornado outbreak that killed more than 250 people statewide, caused billions in damage and reshaped entire communities. Tornadoes plowed across the Eastern U.S. over four days, killing more than 320 people in six states and causing an estimated $12 billion in damage. Thousands were injured in hardest-hit Alabama, and thousands of homes, businesses, churches and other structures were destroyed. Cleanup costs exceeded $100 million in Tuscaloosa alone. To help document the 2011 outbreak, the National Weather Service created an extensive online archive with details about the more than 60 twisters that hit Alabama, which was hardest-hit among the states. In northeast Alabama’s DeKalb County, where nearly three dozen people died, a community service was held Saturday in Rainsville to remember the outbreak.
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MOGADISHU (Reuters) -- Residents of the Somali capital Mogadishu fled neighborhoods on Tuesday fearing renewed clashes between rival factions in the security forces, who have split in a dispute over an extension to the president’s term. Government forces also raided an independent radio station and confiscated equipment. Forces loyal to the opposition hold parts of the city and the two sides clashed over the weekend, raising fears that Al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents could exploit a security vacuum as state forces turn on each other. Earlier this month, Somalia’s lower house of parliament voted to extend President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s four-year term in office but the Senate rejected the move, provoking the crisis.