North America

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. diplomats warned Saturday that commercial airliners flying over the wider Persian Gulf faced a risk of being “misidentified” amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

The warning relayed by U.S. diplomatic posts from the Federal Aviation Administration underlined the risks the current tensions pose to a region crucial to global air travel. It also came as Lloyd’s of London warned of increasing risks to maritime shipping in the region.

MEXICO, May 18. /TASS/: A delegation from Russia headed by Security Council Deputy Secretary Oleg Khramov will arrive in Guatemala at the end of May to participate in a cybersecurity forum, spokesman for the Russian diplomatic mission in the country Arseny Rebrov told TASS.

"On 28 and 29 May, the first Central American forum will be held in Guatemala on the issues of cybercrimes and global information security," he said. "Russia will be presented by an extended high-level delegation," the spokesman added.

UNITED NATIONS, May 18 (APP): Pakistan has called for “more coherent” collaboration at the national and the international levels to prevent and counter illicit financial flows (IFFs) the illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another.

NEW YORK, May 17 (APP): US President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to avoid a military confrontation with Iran, the New York Times reported Friday.

The Times said that Trump, during a Wednesday morning meeting in the White House Situation Room, sent a message to his hawkish aides that he does not want the US pressure campaign against Iran to explode into an open conflict.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with U.S. rival China, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with America’s allies — lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe.

By removing the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump cleared a key roadblock to a North American trade pact his team negotiated last year. As part of Friday’s arrangement, the Canadians and Mexicans agreed to scrap retaliatory tariffs they had imposed on U.S. goods.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua): U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday that he will not comply with a congressional subpoena to turn over President Donald Trump's federal tax returns in six years, likely to trigger a court battle with Congress.

In a letter sent to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, Mnuchin said that the request "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose" and that he would not authorize the release of Trump's personal and business tax returns to Congress.

UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua): The United Nations on Friday called for an immediate de-escalation of violence in greater Idlib, Syria.

"Let us unite today for the first step - to support an immediate de-escalation of the violence in greater Idlib and work towards a political solution that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people," UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told a Security Council meeting on Syria.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua): U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday delayed slapping additional tariffs on imported autos and auto parts for 180 days, saying in a proclamation carried by the White House's website that he has ordered further negotiations to "address the national security threat."

"President Trump today issued a proclamation directing the United States Trade Representative to negotiate agreements to address the national security threat, which is causing harm to the American automobile industry," the White House statement said.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was ordered back to jail Thursday for refusing to testify to a grand jury, even after telling a judge she’d rather “starve to death” than cooperate with prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered her to remain incarcerated at the Alexandria jail either until she agrees to testify or until the grand jury’s term expires in 18 months. He also imposed fines that will kick in at $500 a day after 30 days and $1,000 a day after 60 days.

Washington, May 16; AFP/GANASHAKTI: US police on Thursday evicted the last of a group of protestors who have been occupying the Venezuelan embassy in Washington in support of President Nicolas Maduro, ending a weeks-long standoff.

"The liberation of our embassy came about thanks to the struggle of the Venezuelan diaspora," said Carlos Vecchio, envoy for opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president earlier this year in a power play against Maduro.

"With sacrifice they held the grounds against all adversity," said Vecchio on Twitter.