Donald Trump handily won the state of Texas and its 38 electoral votes on 3 November, gathering about 631,000 more votes than his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Trump, who trails Biden 232 electoral votes to 306 (with 270 needed to win) refuses to concede the race, claiming widespread fraud involving mail-in ballots across multiple states. […]

Multi-billion-euro gas pipeline project Nord Stream 2 was put on pause last year after the United States imposed sanctions against firms involved in its construction. The project’s operator said on Saturday that it was planning to resume “the pipe-laying work” this year. American sanctions will not stop the Nord Stream 2 project from being completed, […]

The global death toll from the coronavirus is now over 1.5 million, while the overall tally is more than 65 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The spike in the number of infections caused several countries to impose quarantines in November, however, most are expected to end their lockdowns this month, before Christmas. Among the […]

The Microsoft cofounder has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into coronavirus vaccine research using the Gates Foundation, including the vaccine by AstraZeneca, and has urged governments and corporations around the world to create enough vaccines for every person on the planet. Bill Gates doesn’t expect the US to receive a government-approved coronavirus vaccine until […]

The Chang’e-5 spacecraft has accomplished a number of firsts for Beijing, including the first extraterrestrial takeoff and first independent placement of a Chinese flag on an extraterrestrial body. When its samples return to Earth, they’ll be the first brought back from the moon in 44 years. China’s Chang’e-5 lunar probe has finished its primary mission […]

The Trump administration has long been critical of the EU, especially Germany, over their support for the transnational pipeline project, which will boost the capacity of Russia to sell natural gas to Europe. Washington insists that the EU must instead buy more expensive LNG from the US or other countries. The European Commission has condemned […]

By limiting access to China’s AI and rare earth metals, Beijing is responding to President Trump’s endless stream of sanctions. But this latest move is set to cause big problems for the companies that work with the US military. China’s announcement of new laws controlling the exports of ‘sensitive items’ in a way that mirrors the […]

Edward Snowden took to Twitter on Thursday to urge President Donald Trump to grant clemency to Julian Assange, prioritizing the WikiLeaks co-founder’s case over even his own quest for a pardon on espionage charges. “Mr. President, if you grant only one act of clemency during your time in office, please: Free Julian Assange,” Snowden tweeted. […]

Just how smart do you have to be to win an American presidential election? Well, it helps if you have some brains to work with, as all of these 43 presidents have exceptionally high IQs – well over the U.S. average of 98. We know this because professor Dean Simonton, a psychologist from the University […]

Debates in Congress over a new COVID-19 relief bill have dragged on for months, even as new coronavirus cases have hit record highs. A slew of federal programs designed to alleviate the economic impacts of pandemic shutdowns will expire in weeks, setting the stage for a series of crises that could leave millions more in […]

Stephen Vizinczey says all a great power has to do to destroy itself is persist in doing the impossible… Like bankruptcy, societies and complex systems collapse slowly then all at once. The cycles that civilisations go through are well documented and whilst in hindsight it’s glaringly obvious to understand what drove the breakdown, in real […]

In a freshly-published book, Maria Butina has documented her time inside the American prison system, where she spent more than a year after being dubbed a foreign agent acting on behalf of Moscow’s ‘influence campaign.’ The book ‘#Prison diary’ is based on the journal Butina kept chronicling her experiences behind bars, including the time she spent […]

The sale comes amid tighter restrictions from the United States in May, which blocked the Chinese tech giant’s access to software and semiconductors made with US technologies. Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei Technologies, said he hoped Honor would become a strong competitor in the smartphone market and even surpass his company in the future, the […]

The continuing surge of coronavirus cases across the US along with the inevitable restrictions that are employed to stave off the spread of the pandemic are forecast to weigh heavily on economic recovery. The US economy is predicted as heading towards a potential contraction in economic growth early next year, marking the first “double dip” […]

The United States and Eritrea are the only countries in the world to tax based on citizenship. If you’re a US citizen living outside the United States, you still have yearly IRS tax filing obligations. These tax filing obligations can be an expensive annual hassle (even if you owe no tax). They may even result […]