USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman, announced Friday that he was ending his Democratic presidential campaign, which failed to recapture the enthusiasm, interest and fundraising prowess of his 2018 Senate bid.

Addressing supporters in Iowa, O’Rourke said he made the decision “reluctantly” and vowed to stay active in the fight to defeat President Donald Trump. “I will be part of this and so will you,” he said.

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out Friday at Democrats for a vote this week formalizing the House impeachment inquiry as he urged rallygoers in Mississippi to send a message to Washington by voting Republican in the state’s upcoming gubernatorial race.

Democrats are “disgracing themselves and bringing shame upon the House of Representatives,” Trump charged. “They’ve been plotting to overthrow the election since the moment I won.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump a Florida man? Not so fast.

Despite a stinging “good riddance” tweet from New York’s governor, the president’s home state may not let him go to Florida without a fight.

Trump’s plan to shift his permanent residence to Palm Beach will likely be heavily scrutinized by New York state officials, who are notorious for auditing wealthy residents seeking to flee to lower-tax states to make sure such moves are real and not just on paper. Those cases can go on for years.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his concern over the grave situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir after India’s formally annexed the disputed state Thursday amid a harsh security lockdown and widespread international censure.

1 Nov 2019; MEMO: The United States said on Thursday it had imposed sanctions on the Iranian construction sector and trade in four materials used in its military or nuclear programs, even as it waived sanctions to let foreign firms continue non-proliferation work in Iran, Reuters reports.

1 Nov 2019; MEMO: The United States administration’s Middle East peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt said that this is not the right time to reveal details of America’s plan to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict known as the “deal of the century”.

Washington, Nov 1 (AFP/PTI) The US Department of the Interior has grounded its fleet of Chinese-made drones as it conducts a review of the programme.

Nick Goodwin, an Interior Department spokesman, did not provide a reason for the decision but it comes amid US security concerns over Chinese electronics.

Goodwin said the review had been ordered by Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A judge is expected on Friday to consider whether an associate of U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, should remain under house arrest while he awaits trial on charges of illegally funneling money to a pro-Trump election committee and other politicians.

A lawyer for Igor Fruman, a Belarus-born businessman, is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan to argue that his client should be allowed to move more freely. Fruman, who lives in Florida, is not expected to appear.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The initial “phase one” trade pact with China appears to be in good shape and is likely to be signed around mid-November, although a finite date is still in question, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday.

“We’re pretty comfortable that the phase one is in good shape,” he told Fox Business Network in an interview.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Department announced Thursday that it has imposed sanctions on Iran's construction sector and the transfer of four materials related to the country's nuclear or military programs.

The State Department said in a statement that Iran's construction sector was blacklisted as it is "controlled directly or indirectly" by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), which was designated by America as a terrorist organization in April.