USA

WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The US will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian tanker from delivering oil to Syria in contravention of US sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Tuesday.

“We have made clear that anyone who touches it, anyone who supports it, anyone who allows a ship to dock is at risk of receiving sanctions from the United States,” Mr Pompeo said.

“If that ship again heads to Syria we will take every action we can consistent with those sanctions to prevent that.”

Newark, Aug 21 (AP) A young girl discovered something slithery at a New Jersey airport security checkpoint: a 15-inch-long snake.

Transportation Security Administration officials at Newark Liberty International Airport said in a release that it appears the thin, black snake with a yellow ring around its neck was forgotten by a traveller Monday night.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- While the 15th California Wine Month highlighting the state's 250-year-plus winemaking history will kick off from Sept. 1, the industry is worried about losing its fastest-growing export market due to the trade war ignited by the White House last year.

NEW YORK, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The police, a symbol of law, are the defenders of our society, and should never be treated as enemies, said Hugh H. Mo, a former deputy police commissioner of New York City Police Department (NYPD), in a Tuesday interview with Xinhua.

Talking about the protests in Hong Kong, Mo said the situation is very peculiar for police forces in this Chinese port city, when friendly ties between the police and civilians seem to come to an unexpected challenge.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- A UN humanitarian official said Tuesday that many aid programs in Yemen are closing down due to the slow fulfillment of funding pledges for the conflict-torn country.

Ursula Mueller, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council that "only 34 percent of plan requirements have been met," while "at this time last year, the plan was 65 percent funded."

At a UN conference in February, donors pledged 2.6 billion U.S. dollars for Yemen humanitarian aid, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The highly publicized arrest of a man in the killing of a Utah college student this summer prompted a woman to come forward and report that he had sexually abused her during a dinner date at his home in 2018, authorities said Tuesday.

Ayoola Ajayi is charged in a new court filing with assaulting the woman he met on a dating app. The woman reported the crime after Ajayi was charged in June with murder and kidnapping in the death of 23-year-old Mackenzie Lueck, said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday his government is talking to “various representatives” of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who also confirmed that “secret” discussions had been taking place.

In a nationally broadcast appearance hours after Trump spoke, Maduro said that talks had long been underway between high officials in his government and the U.S. administration.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump has been on a tear about Google that traces back to a series of unfounded claims about the technology giant circulating among conservatives. Among those claims: that Google interferes with U.S. elections, is biased against conservatives and prefers working with the Chinese military over the Pentagon.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that greater cooperation and “fresh thinking to solve old problems” are needed in the Middle East — but he also condemned Iran and its proxies for continuing “to foment terror and unrest” in the region.

NEW YORK (AP) — When Donald Trump assumed the presidency, conservative religious leaders drew up “wish lists’ of steps they hoped he’d take to oppose abortion and rein in the LGBTQ-rights movement. With a flurry of recent actions, Trump’s administration is now winning their praise for aggressively fulfilling many of their goals.

Mat Staver, president of the legal advocacy organization Liberty Counsel, said Trump has fulfilled about 90% of the goals on a list that Staver and other conservative leaders compiled.