Patricia Zengerle News

U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to build a floating U.S. military port to speed up aid to Gaza could take up to 60 days to become a reality and involve more than 1,000 American troops, the Pentagon said on Friday.The Pentagon offered the timeline a day after Biden announced the initiative in his State of the Union speech, as he seeks to cool anger in his Democratic Party over his staunch support for Israel's offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7.The United Nations has warned that widespread famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable" without urgent action.

Several Democratic U.S. senators said late on Monday, after meeting with Biden administration officials, that they believe sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline backed by Republican Senator Ted Cruz could harm relations with Germany.Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and President Joe Biden's global energy security adviser Amos Hochstein met on Monday behind closed doors with about 10 Democratic senators who have been undecided on the Cruz bill.The legislation is expected to get a Senate vote this week after both parties struck a deal last month…

A group of U.S. Senate Republicans said on Monday they had introduced legislation that would impose mandatory sanctions on Nord Stream 2, a Russian-backed natural gas pipeline that opponents believe would be harmful to U.S. allies in Europe.The six lawmakers, led by Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offered the measure as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, a sweeping defense policy bill that is one of…

The Biden administration on Friday identified a Russian ship and a company it believes are helping to build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but the entities had already been sanctioned by the Trump administration and the project's opponents in Congress said the move would do little to halt work on it.The State Department said in a report to Congress that the Russian ship, the Fortuna, and its owner, KVT-RUS, had been designated, a process that starts new sanctions, two lawmakers said.Both entities had been sanctioned by former President Donald Trump on his last full day in office last month for helping to build the natural gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe via Germany."Simply put…

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a ship involved in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to take Russian natural gas to Europe, as the Trump administration sought to raise pressure on the project on its last full day in office.The U.S. Treasury Department said it imposed the sanctions on the Russian pipe-laying ship "Fortuna" and its owner, KVT-RUS, under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).Nord Stream 2, designed to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline, would take gas to Europe via Germany, bypassing Ukraine, which would deprive Kiev of lucrative transit fees.The project is a rising point of contention between Moscow and Washington.

Sanctions that could hinder one of Moscow's most important projects in Europe, the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, have been included in the annual U.S. defense policy bill, two congressional aides said on Wednesday.The sanctions in the compromise National Defense Authorization Act between lawmakers in the House and Senate would penalize companies facilitating the construction of the pipeline, including ships helping operations to lay pipelines or moving rock formations on the sea bed.The sanctions also target companies providing insurance or secondary insurance for its construction and certification for the pipeline in Denmark.

The Trump administration is considering sanctioning a Venezuelan military-run oil services company and restricting insurance coverage for Venezuelan oil shipments to ratchet up pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro, a U.S. official said. With Maduro running for another term in an April election that Washington and its allies oppose as a sham, the United States is weighing sanctions that would target Venezuela’s vital oil sector beyond what has been done before, the official told Reuters on Wednesday. Some measures could come before the vote and others could be imposed afterwards.

U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to China took a tough line on Tuesday on China's development of "artificial islands" in the South China Sea. "China cannot be allowed to use its artificial islands to coerce its neighbors or limit freedom of navigation or overflight," Iowa's Republican Gov. Terry Branstad said at his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing.   (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle)

The U.S. government has approved the sale to the government of the Philippines of two Sea Giraffe radars and related equipment, support and training for about $25 million, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Wednesday. The Philippines requested the sale to improve monitoring of its territorial waters. The radars will be installed on two Philippines Navy ships and the principle contractors will be VSE Corp and Saab. The radar sale will allow the Philippines to beef up its maritime security and helps reinforce an important U.S. regional security relationship at a time when Washington is concerned about what it sees as China's overreaching claims in the South China Sea. The Philippines has for decades been one of the closest U.S.

The White House is drafting sweeping regulations to further weaken the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba that would ease restrictions on U.S. companies and make it safer for Americans to travel there, U.S. government sources said on Thursday. The regulations could be announced as soon as Friday. U.S. companies would be allowed to establish offices in Cuba for the first time in more than half a century, according to a draft of the new rules seen by Reuters. The regulations make it easier for airlines and cruise ships to import parts and technology to improve safety in Cuba; loosen restrictions on software exports; and allow authorized companies to establish subsidiaries with Cuba, possibly via joint ventures with Cuban firms such as state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa.

U.S. Senate panel passes amendment to end restrictions on travel to Cuba   The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee voted 18-12 on Thursday to end restrictions on Americans travel to Cuba, a committee spokesman said.   Four committee Republicans joined 14 Democrats to back the amendment.   It became the first legislation to make it through any congressional committee to facilitate President Barack Obama's push to normalize relations with Cuba.     (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Trott)

Republican and Democratic U.S. senators will introduce amendments to a Senate bill on Thursday that would end some major U.S. restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba, according to documents seen by Reuters. The measures being put forward at the Senate Appropriations Committee, if approved, would be the first legislation to make it through any congressional committee to facilitate President Barack Obama's push to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba. (Reporting and writing by Patricia Zengerle)

Republicans take full control of the U.S. Congress this week with an agenda of trying to force approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and push back on President Barack Obama's sweeping policy shifts on Cuba and immigration. After years of battles over the budget and other issues, further clashes loom as Republicans who already control the House of Representatives take over the Senate majority on Tuesday after wins against Obama's Democrats in November's midterm elections. Angry over the president's moves last year to bypass Congress on issues such as immigration, Republicans have promised to fight him on a range of issues. Obama has vowed to use his veto pen if Republicans pass legislation he opposes…

Six U.S. senators urged their colleagues on Friday to support legislation reaffirming U.S. support for freedom of navigation, saying they consider China's recent actions in the South China Sea troubling. China this week accused Vietnam of intentionally colliding with its ships in the South China Sea after Vietnam asserted that Chinese vessels used water cannon and rammed eight of its vessels during the weekend near an oil rig China deployed in a disputed area. "These actions threaten the free flow of global commerce in a vital region," Democratic Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republicans Marco Rubio of Florida, Jim Risch ofIdaho and John McCain of Arizona said in a joint statement.