USA

30 Aug 2019; MEMO: The United States (US) has warned firms and businesses who participate in the annual Damascus International Fair could risk having sanctions placed on them.

30 August 2019; AFP: Donald Trump's personal assistant Madeleine Westerhout resigned on Thursday after she shared information about the president's family with journalists, US media reported.

Westerhout's unexpected departure came after Trump learned that she had talked about his family and White House matters with reporters at an off-the-record session during the president's recent working vacation in New Jersey, The New York Times reported citing unnamed sources.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Governors of U.S. states of Florida and Georgia declared state of emergency in their respective states Thursday as the powerful Hurricane Dorian is expected to hit the region in the days ahead.

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida expanded the state of emergency declaration he issued for 26 counties Wednesday to one that covers all of the 67 counties in the state "due to Hurricane Dorian's uncertain projected path."

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government announced on Thursday to establish the U.S. Space Command to defend its interests in space.

"This is a landmark day, one that recognizes the centrality of space to America's security and defense," President Donald Trump said in a White House ceremony joined by John Raymond, the first commander of U.S. Space Command.

Trump ordered the establishment of Space Command late last year, making it the 11th unified combatant command of the U.S. Department of Defense.

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (NNN-UPI) — US President Donald Trump announced plans Thursday to maintain a presence of 8,600 troops in Afghanistan in the midst of a large scale withdrawal from the country.

Speaking during an interview on Fox News Radio, Trump said the United States would decrease its presence to 8,600 troops and then make a determination as to what further steps to take.

“We’re not fighting a war over there — we’re just policemen,” Trump said.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN Security Council on Thursday voted to renew its long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for a year, warning of a “new conflict” with neighboring Israel.

The draft resolution, written by France and approved unanimously, would allow for the approximately 10,000 members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) — which was created in March 1978 — to stay in place.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey apologized Thursday for wearing blackface decades ago, becoming the latest politician to face scrutiny over racially insensitive photos and actions from their university days.

Ivey, 74, issued the apology after a 1967 radio interview surfaced in which her now-ex-husband describes her actions at Auburn University, where she was vice president of the student government association.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Six UN Security Council members blocked a move to include Somali group Al-Shabaab on a list of organizations such as Al-Qaeda that are under international sanctions, diplomatic sources said.

Several NGOs and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently stepped in to oppose the classification, which would have effectively kept humanitarian aid away from millions of Somalis living in Al-Shabaab-controlled areas.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday defended his faulty description of a tale of military heroism and his interactions with the service members who carried it out.

The “essence” of his recollection is correct, the former vice president told a South Carolina newspaper Thursday after a Washington Post story detailed how an emotional anecdote Biden told recently while campaigning in New Hampshire contained inaccuracies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a consequential week played out in world affairs and economic anxieties grew, exclamation points kept sprouting on President Donald Trump’s tweets. But they were about other things. Like bedbugs.