USA

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy-setting body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Saturday called on countries to resolve trade tensions and support the necessary reform of the World Trade Organization.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida Rep. Francis Rooney, one of the few Republicans openly weighing whether to impeach President Donald Trump, said Saturday he will not run for reelection.

Asked if he needed or hoped for a third term in 2020, he told Fox News, “I don’t really think I do and I don’t think I really want one.” He later confirmed to The Associated Press that he will not run again, thereby adding his name to an already extensive list of GOP retirements.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to examine a report that found dozens of baby food products contaminated with lead and other metals.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says Sunday the FDA must take more action to regulate the baby food industry. A study by Healthy Babies Bright Futures found the presence of heavy metals in 95% of the 168 baby foods that were tested.

The study found 95% of the food tested contained lead, arsenic, mercury or cadmium. It found one in four baby foods that were tested contained all four metals.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Nestor raced across Georgia as a post-tropical cyclone late Saturday, hours after the former tropical storm spawned a tornado that damaged homes and a school in central Florida while sparing areas of the Florida Panhandle devastated one year earlier by Hurricane Michael.

The storm made landfall Saturday on St. Vincent Island, a nature preserve off Florida’s northern Gulf Coast in a lightly populated area of the state, the National Hurricane Center said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long after more flamboyant colleagues flamed out of President Donald Trump’s favor amid ethics scandals, low-profile and folksy Rick Perry survived in the Cabinet in part by steering clear of controversy.

Until now.

The former Texas governor said Thursday he was quitting as energy secretary by year’s end. The announcement came as the House impeachment investigation highlighted his work in Ukraine, where he promoted U.S. natural gas and where Trump hoped to find dirt on Democratic rival Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump describes it, the U.S. swooped into an intractable situation in the Middle East, achieved an agreement within hours that had eluded the world for years and delivered a “great day for civilization.”

It was a mission-accomplished moment that other Republican leaders, Democrats and much of the world found unconvincing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Responding to stinging criticism, President Donald Trump has abruptly reversed his plan to hold the next Group of Seven world leaders’ meeting at his Doral, Florida, golf resort next year.

Trump announced a rare backtrack Saturday night after facing accusations that he was using the presidency to enrich himself by hosting the international summit at a private resort owned by his family.

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (AP) — Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that under the current plan all U.S. troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq and the military will continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State group to prevent its resurgence.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him to the Middle East, Esper did not rule out the idea that U.S. forces would conduct counterterrorism missions from Iraq into Syria. But he said those details will be worked out over time.

Washington, Oct 18 (PTI) Ahead of the next week's Congressional hearing on human rights situation in South Asia, Kashmiri Pandits residing in various parts of the US held a briefing for US lawmakers and their aides on ground realties in the Valley and violations of their rights for the past several decades.

Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna, Congressmen Mike Thompson, Zoe Lofgren, Mark Desaulneir and Doris Matsui along with Chairman of House of Foreign Relation Committee, Elliot Engel, attended the congressional briefing at Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his “gratitude and admiration” for Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s outgoing ambassador to the UN, during her farewell call on him, and he went on to say that she did her country proud, according to informed sources.

The UN chief, accompanied by his Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, came into the waiting room to walk the Pakistan envoy to his 38th-floor office, the sources said. Ambassador Lodhi was accompanied by Tipu Usman, a political counsellor at the Pakistan Mission.