USA

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 15 (APP): A database of 112 businesses connected to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory has been hailed by a United Nations human rights expert as”an important initial step towards accountability and the end to impunity”.

15 Feb 2020; MEMO: Global ecommerce company Amazon has been accused of discriminating against Palestinians by offering free shipping to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank but not to Palestinians living in the same area.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic presidential race on Friday, the Sanders campaign said.

De Blasio, a liberal who dropped out of the Democratic contest in September, will travel with Sanders on Sunday and Monday to Nevada, which holds its caucuses on Feb. 22, a campaign announcement said.

Washington, Feb 15 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has said it is a great honour that Facebook has ranked him number one and Prime Minister Narendra Modi number two on their popularity on the social networking site, ahead of his maiden visit to India.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will pay a state visit to India on February 24 and 25 at the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, it was announced this week.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and helping Iran track protesters in its latest indictment against the Chinese company, escalating the U.S. battle with the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker.

In the indictment, which supersedes one unsealed last year in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, Huawei Technologies Co was charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets from six U.S. technology companies and to violate a racketeering law typically used to combat organized crime.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of more than 150 industry associations, has urged the Trump administration to remove all additional tariffs, as the China-U.S. phase-one economic and trade agreement takes effect on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States said it would refuse entry to Sri Lanka’s army chief over what it called credible evidence of human rights violations in the 2009 finale to the civil war.

Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, whose appointment last year drew widespread international criticism, will be ineligible to visit the United States, as will his immediate family, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States renewed pressure on China to join nuclear arms control talks with Washington and Moscow, seeking to overcome Beijing’s long-standing opposition to entering such a dialogue.

“China has long said it will never enter into an arms race and does not seek numeric parity with the U.S and Russia. Now is the time for China to put its money where its mouth is, and prove that it is a responsible international actor,” said a senior Trump administration official.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has not made a decision about whether to extend the only treaty that constrains U.S. and Russian nuclear forces because administration officials want more time to coax China into a three-way arms control pact.

CHICAGO (AP) — United Airlines and American Airlines said Friday they are removing the grounded Boeing 737 Max from their schedules longer than previously planned, which means thousands more flights will be canceled during the peak summer travel season.

The reduction in flights could mean slightly higher fares.