USA

03 August 2019; AFP: A new round of sanctions were imposed on Moscow Saturday by the United States over the 2018 poisoning of former double-agent Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.

Russian spies have been blamed for the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury in March last year using the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok.

03 August 2019; AFP: A judge on Friday blocked a move by US President Donald Trump's administration to stop migrants from claiming asylum unless they had entered the country at an official border crossing, news outlets reported.

The policy, enacted by Trump last year, is among a host of measures his government has taken against the movement of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Central America and elsewhere who have recently tried to cross into the US from Mexico and request asylum.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia will take "clear and constructive" approach to find the best tailor-made solution to end and prevent grave violations against children in each conflict situation, a diplomat from the country said on Friday.

WASHINGTON, August 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States will fully develop ground-launched conventional missiles after withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday.

"Now that we have withdrawn, the Department of Defense will fully pursue the development of these ground-launched conventional missiles," Esper said, pointing to the move as a "prudent response to Russia's actions."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump celebrated a new agreement Friday that is projected to increase beef exports to the European Union by more than $270 million a year once it is fully in place.

Trump portrayed the agreement as standing up for farmers and ranchers. Producers have been hurt by retaliatory tariffs that China imposed after Trump imposed 25% tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese products.

NEW YORK (AP) — In a reckoning five years in the making, an administrative judge on Friday recommended firing a New York City police officer over the 2014 chokehold death of an unarmed black man whose dying cries of “I can’t breathe” fueled a national debate over policing, race and the use of force.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of House Democrats support launching an impeachment inquiry, according to a tally by The Associated Press — a strong signal of ongoing liberal frustration with President Donald Trump but a milestone that seems unlikely to move House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Rep. Salud Carbajal of California said Friday that he would support such an inquiry — the beginning of proceedings that could lead up to an impeachment vote — tipping the tally to 118, or a majority of the 235 House Democrats.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gunman who opened fire on a California food festival killed himself after officers shot him multiple times, officials said Friday, correcting previous police accounts that the officers fired the fatal bullet.

Police gave the update soon after the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office said 19-year-old Santino William Legan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resigned Friday as promised, clearing the way for veteran politician Pedro Pierluisi to be sworn in as his replacement, a move that threw the U.S. territory into a period of fresh political uncertainty.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Elijah Cummings says he scared off an intruder at his Baltimore home last weekend, providing details for the first time after President Donald Trump tweeted Friday about the break-in.

In a statement Friday, the Maryland Democrat said someone “attempted to gain entry into my residence at approximately 3:40 a.m. on Saturday, July 27.”