North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday delayed a nationwide immigration sweep to deport people living the United States illegally, including families, saying he would give lawmakers two weeks to work out solutions for the southern border.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems on Thursday as President Donald Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, U.S. officials said Saturday.

Two officials told The Associated Press that the strikes were conducted with approval from Trump. A third official confirmed the broad outlines of the strike. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the operation.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A floating device designed to catch plastic waste has been redeployed in second attempt to clean up a huge island of trash swirling in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.

Boyan Slat, creator of The Ocean Cleanup project, announced on Twitter that a 2,000-foot (600-meter) long floating boom that broke apart late last year was sent back to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this week after four months of repair.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that military action against Iran was still an option for its downing of an unmanned U.S. military aircraft, but amid heightened tensions he dangled the prospect of eventually becoming an unlikely “best friend” of America’s longtime Middle Eastern adversary.

Trump also said “we very much appreciate” that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard chose not to target a U.S. spy plane carrying more than 30 people.

22 June 2019; AFP: The United States and Canada on Friday slapped new sanctions on Nicaraguan officials close to President Daniel Ortega, saying they persecuted dissidents and the press, enacted repressive laws, and denied people medical care.

The punishments freeze any assets these officials have in both countries and bar them from the international monetary system.

22 June 2019; AFP: The US Commerce Department blacklisted five Chinese tech entities Friday in a new move against Beijing's supercomputing industry likely to raise tensions ahead of a meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping next week.

The notice targets Sugon -- a prominent Chinese supercomputer manufacturer -- along with three of its microchip subsidiaries and a computing institute owned by the People's Liberation Army.

22 June 2019; DW: US President Donald Trump on Friday denied an accusation by E. Jean Carroll, an advice columnist for Elle fashion magazine, that he raped her in a department store in the 1990s.

Washington, Jun 22 (PTI) Ahead of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to India next week, an influential American lawmaker has asked him to take up the issue of increased tariff on almonds during his meeting with Prime Minster Narendra Modi.

India has announced a hike in customs duties on as many as 28 US products, including almond, apple, pulses and walnut, in response to higher tariffs imposed by Washington on Indian products like steel and aluminium.

Washington, Jun 22 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has nominated Mark Esper, an Army veteran, to be the next defence secretary, as the Pentagon faces a leadership vacuum amid a mounting confrontation with Iran.

The decision comes as lawmakers increasingly pressure the president to bring stable civilian leadership to the Pentagon after Jim Mattis abruptly resigned as defence secretary late last year.

Washington, Jun 22 (PTI) The US has asked Pakistan to release more than 40 members of the religious minorities facing blasphemy charges and also to appoint an envoy to address the various religious freedom concerns in the country.

Speaking at the release of the annual report on the International Religious Freedom of the State Department for the year 2018, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted how the Pakistan's Supreme Court acquitted Asia Bibi, a Catholic, of blasphemy, sparing her the death penalty after she spent nearly a decade in prison.