A look at Alaska's Russian past as Trump and Putin prepare to meet
Russian influence still endures in parts of the remote state on the northwest edge of the North American continent, which extends just several kilometres from Russia.
When Danish explorer Vitus Bering first sailed through the narrow strait that separates Asia and the Americas in 1728, it was on an expedition for Tsarist Russia.
The discovery of what is now known as the Bering Strait revealed the existence of Alaska to the West - however Indigenous people had been living there for thousands of years.
The Saint Sophia Orthodox Church in Bethel, Alaska. File photo: AFP
Bering's expedition kicked off a century of Russian seal hunting, with the first colony set up on the southern Kodiak island.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
13 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump extends US tariff truce with China, CNBC reports
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending by 90 days the tariff truce with China, CNBC reported on Monday, removing the risk of an immediate escalation hours before the fragile ceasefire was set to expire, but leaving trade relations fragile. The decision, which CNBC said was confirmed by a White House official, follows two weeks of speculation and mixed signals from Washington, after negotiators from China and the US concluded trade talks in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 29. After the talks, Chinese negotiators declared a consensus for an extension of the pause on tariff increases, while the American side insisted that no deal would be final without Trump's explicit approval Just ahead of the tariff-truce deadline, Trump urged China to quadruple its purchases of American soybeans – a major export to China. 'China is worried about its shortage of soybeans. Our great farmers produce the most robust soybeans,' he said in a social media post late on Sunday. 'I hope China will quickly quadruple its soybean orders. This is also a way of substantially reducing China's Trade Deficit with the USA. Rapid service will be provided. Thank you President XI,' Trump added.
South China Morning Post
13 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Gold will not face tariffs after customs confusion, Trump says
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that gold imports will not face additional tariffs, days after confusion flared on whether recent rises applied to certain gold bars – threatening to upend global trade of the precious metal. Advertisement Trump's comments came after US customs authorities made public a letter saying that gold bars at two standard weights – one kilogram and 100 ounces (2.8 kilos) – should be classified as subject to duties. 'Gold will not be Tariffed!' Trump said on his Truth Social platform, without providing further details. The letter, which was made public last week and dated July 31, was first reported on by the Financial Times, sending the price of gold on the US futures market to a record high. But a White House official told Agence France-Presse on Friday that the Trump administration plans to 'issue an executive order in the near future clarifying misinformation about the tariffing of gold bars and other speciality products'. Advertisement On Friday, gold for December delivery hit a record high on the Comex, the world's biggest futures market.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Ukraine, Russia will have to swap some land for peace, Trump says
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that both Ukraine and Russia would have to cede land to each other to end the war and that his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be aimed at taking the temperature on a possible deal. Trump told a White House press conference that his talks on Friday with Putin in Alaska would be a 'feel-out meeting' to determine whether Putin was willing to make a deal. He said he could know within two minutes whether progress was possible. 'So I'm going in to speak to Vladimir Putin, and I'm going to be telling him, you've got to end this war. You've got to end it,' Trump told reporters. Trump also said a future meeting could include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and could end up being a three-way session including himself and Putin . He said he would speak to European leaders soon after his talks with Putin and that his goal was a speedy ceasefire in the bloody conflict. Trump has in the past talked about land swaps but neither Russia nor Ukraine have been interested in ceding land to each other as part of a peace deal. Europeans worry that major concessions to Russia could create security problems for the West in the future. Ukraine has sought to push back Russian invaders ever since the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War Two began in February 2022.
