North America

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence told South Carolina conservatives Monday night that another four years for the Trump administration is a far better choice than anything the Democratic Party might offer from its nomination race.

“Have faith in the American people,” Pence told about 3,000 people attending a fundraising barbecue in the town of Anderson. “When the American people are given a choice between more freedom and more government, they’ll choose freedom every time.”

MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump was in full sales mode Monday, doing everything but pass out brochures as he touted the features that would make the Doral golf resort the ideal place for the next G-7 Summit — close to the airport, plenty of hotel rooms, separate buildings for every delegation, even top facilities for the media.

There’s just one detail he left out: He owns the place.

NEW YORK (AP) — Up to 30 women were expected to take a judge up on his invitation to speak at a hearing after financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself before facing sex trafficking charges.

The hearing Tuesday morning was scheduled last week by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, who presided over the case prosecutors brought against Epstein after the 66-year-old convicted felon was arrested July 6 after he arrived at a New Jersey airport from Paris.

A New York City coroner has formally classified the death a suicide. He died Aug. 10.

WASHINGTON (AP) — “Never Trump” Republicans are eager to see the president confront a credible primary adversary. But the party will likely erect structural barriers that make that kind of challenge exceedingly difficult.

And for good reason: Every incumbent president for four-plus decades who has faced a serious primary opponent was weakened enough to ultimately lose reelection.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are going up. Wait, President Donald Trump says he’s having second thoughts. No, no, Trump may actually raise tariffs even higher. He’s also demanding that U.S. companies leave China. Well, maybe not.

The communications on China from Trump and his administration since late last week — erratic, sometimes contradictory — are complicating their high-stakes talks with Beijing and elevating the risks to the fragile global economy.

26 Aug 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump will face a primary challenge ahead of the fall 2020 elections from a former one-term congressman, the ex-lawmaker announced on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

Making the announcement on U.S. television network ABC, Joe Walsh, former Republican congressman for the Midwestern state of Illinois, accused Trump of incompetence, adding that he “lies virtually every time he opens his mouth” and “stokes bigotry.”

Washington, Aug 26 (AFP) President Donald Trump suggested dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes before they made landfall in the United States, Axios reported Sunday.

During a hurricane briefing, Trump asked if it were possible to disrupt hurricanes forming off the coast of Africa by dropping a nuclear bomb in the eye of the storm, Axios wrote.

According to an anonymous source, meeting attendees left the briefing thinking, "What do we do with this?" Axios did not say when this conversation took place.

DENVER, the United States, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Washington's trade policy has no direction and risks triggering the exact recession the U.S. administration fears most, said a renowned U.S. economist.

"Pure economic folly," said Vincent Smith, a visiting scholar at the esteemed conservative think tank of American Enterprise Institute, of the protracted trade war between the world's two largest economies.

"It is a trade policy with no direction, and a trade war that has no winners," the nationally renowned conservative economist told Xinhua.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles County deputy lied when he said he was shot in the shoulder while standing in a sheriff’s station parking lot last week and will face a criminal investigation, authorities said.

“The reported sniper assault was fabricated” by Deputy Angel Reinosa, Assistant Sheriff Robin Limon said at a news conference late Saturday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Sunday branded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as an obstructionist for blocking Democratic efforts to reduce gun violence, bolster election security and raise the federal minimum wage.