North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Straining to stave off threatened U.S. tariffs, Mexican and American officials claimed progress in White House talks late Wednesday, but President Donald Trump declared it was “not nearly enough” to halt the import taxes he is holding out as a way to force Mexico to stanch the flow of illegal migrants at America’s southern border.

Talks were to resume Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it had officially concluded its reviews of a 2017 ambush that left four U.S. soldiers dead in the African nation of Niger, and said it has found the discipline it meted out to be adequate.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Police responding to the deadly mass shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building were unable to confront the gunman at one point because they didn’t have the key cards needed to open doors on the second floor.

Over the radio, they desperately pleaded for the electronic cards and talked of bringing in a sledgehammer, an explosive charge or other means of breaking down the doors.

PHOENIX (AP) — The federal government has stopped paying for English-language courses and legal services at facilities that hold immigrant children around the country, imposing budget cuts it says are necessary at a time when record numbers of unaccompanied children are arriving at the border.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Wednesday that it is ending medical research by government scientists that uses human fetal tissue,.

The Health and Human Services Department said in a statement that government-funded research by universities that involves fetal tissue can continue for now, subject to additional scrutiny — although it also ended one major university project that used the tissue to test HIV treatments. That school — University of California, San Francisco — called the decision “politically motivated.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Straining to stave off threatened U.S. tariffs, Mexican and American officials claimed progress in White House talks late Wednesday, but President Donald Trump declared it was “not nearly enough” to halt the import taxes he is holding out as a way to force Mexico to stanch the flow of Central American migrants flooding America’s southern border.

Talks continued into the night at the State Department and were to resume Thursday.

WASHINGTON, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde warned in a blog post Wednesday of "growing concerns" over the impact of current trade tensions on global growth, urging the removal of existing trade barriers and restraint in erecting new ones.

In an article titled "How to Help, Not Hinder Global Growth," Lagarde highlighted the current global trade tensions, which she said "are looming larger."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats are banding together to try and stop the Trump administration’s sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and others are introducing 22 Senate resolutions to halt the sales. The move threatens to tangle up the Senate in a series of votes this summer.

It’s unclear whether the resolutions will pass, but the support of Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Ran Paul underscores the breadth of bipartisan opposition to the administration’s policy.

NEW YORK (AP) — Half of U.S. adults consider fake news a major problem, and they mostly blame politicians and activists for it, according to a new survey.

A majority also believe journalists have the responsibility for fixing it. Differences in political affiliation are a major factor in how people think about fake news, as Republicans are more likely than Democrats to also blame journalists for the problem.

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. farmer sentiment in May dropped to its lowest level since October 2016 amid the U.S.-initiated trade disputes with China, a survey showed Tuesday.

The Ag Economy Barometer, which measures U.S. agricultural producer sentiment, dropped to 101 points in May, 14 points lower than that in April, said the survey by Purdue University and CME Group.

The results "erased all of the large improvement in farmer sentiment" that took place following U.S. President Donald Trump's election in November 2016, said the survey.