North America

17 Jan 2019; AFP: Thousands more children were forcibly separated from their parents after illegally crossing the US-Mexico border from 2017-2018 than originally admitted by President Donald Trump's administration, an official report said Thursday.

The inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which was given responsibility for the children, said the total number separated under the administration's "zero-tolerance policy" toward illegal immigrants remains unknown.

18 Jan 2019; DW: Four German managers at carmaker Audi were the latest to be charged in the United States as part of a diesel emissions cheating scandal. The company has already paid an €800 million fine as part of a case in Germany.

A US grand jury in Detroit has indicted four Audi engineering managers from Germany on counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and violations of the Clean Air Act.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday asked the Security Council to review the sanctions against Sudan given the improvement of the situation in its Darfur region.

"The Security Council should review the sanctions on Sudan in a timely manner and make adjustments in the light of the latest developments with a view of eventually lifting the sanctions," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

HAVANA, JAN. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Thursday rejected what he called the latest "provocation" by the United States, which aims to bolster legal action against Cuban nationalization of property.

"We vehemently reject this new interventionist provocation which violates international law. The U.S. government is showing its contempt for the rest of the world," Diaz-Canel said via Twitter.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that it was recalling the furloughed employees back to work next week with pay despite a partial government shutdown.

"The Department expects to be able to resume most personnel operations and fund most salaries," said Bill Todd, the department's deputy under secretary for management, in a statement posted on its website.

According to the statement, most employees will resume work on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will roll out a new strategy Thursday for a more aggressive space-based missile defense system to protect against existing threats from North Korea and Iran and counter advanced weapon systems being developed by Russia and China.

Details about the administration’s Missile Defense Review — the first compiled since 2010 — are expected to be released during President Donald Trump’s visit to the Pentagon with top members of his administration.

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia man accused of plotting to use an anti-tank rocket to storm into the White House was arrested in a sting Wednesday after he traded his car for guns and explosives, authorities said.

Hasher Jallal Taheb, 21, of Cumming was arrested Wednesday and is charged with attempting to damage or destroy a building owned by the United States using fire or an explosive, U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Taheb had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran kept up its criticism Thursday of the FBI’s apparent arrest of an American anchorwoman from Iran’s state-run English-language TV channel, with its foreign minister saying “she’s done nothing but journalism.”

The hard-line Vatan-e Emrooz paper criticized the detention of Press TV’s Marzieh Hashemi as “Saudi-style behavior with a critical journalist.” That’s a reference to the Oct. 2 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

United Nations, Jan 16 (PTI) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the "historic leadership" of Palestine which assumed the chairmanship of G77, the global body's largest intergovernmental organisation of developing countries including India.

Egypt was the previous Chair of the Group of 77 (G77), a coalition of 134 members, along with China which aligns itself with the bloc.

16 Uan 2019; AP: The Internal Revenue Service is recalling about 46,000 of its employees furloughed by the partial government shutdown to handle tax returns and pay out refunds. For now, they’ll have to work without pay.

The White House tried to bypass House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in shutdown negotiations, but rank-and-file House Democrats declined an invitation to lunch Tuesday with President Donald Trump.

Some federal workers are taking on odd jobs to make ends meet. They have more options than in past shutdowns.