USA

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man should be put to death for killing and dismembering his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter as part of a rape-murder fantasy he and the teen’s mother shared, a prosecutor declared Friday as he described how the victim fought for her life.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese bombers. Chinese hypersonic missiles. Chinese cyberattacks. Chinese anti-satellite weapons.

To a remarkable degree, the 2020 Pentagon budget proposal is shaped by national security threats that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has summarized in three words: “China, China, China.”

15 Mar 2019; AFP: The United States announced on Friday it would deny visas to members of the International Criminal Court involved in investigating the actions of US troops in Afghanistan or other countries.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was prepared to take further steps, including economic sanctions, if the war crimes court goes ahead with any probes of US or allied personnel.

15 Mar 2019; DW: US President Donald Trump signed his first veto on Friday, overruling a resolution the US Congress passed in order to end his emergency declaration at the US border with Mexico.

"Today I am vetoing this resolution," Trump said at the White House. "Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution and I have the duty to veto it."

He added that the congressional resolution to end the emergency declaration was "dangerous" and "reckless."

UNITED NATIONS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday criticized remarks made by a U.S. representative against the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as "contrary to the facts and fraught with prejudice."

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) failed to agree on a regular renewal of the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), while agreeing to adopt "a technical roll-over" of the mandate on Friday, due to differences over the BRI, mention of which had been in previous Afghanistan resolutions.

WASHINGTON, March 15. /TASS/. The United States has launched the production of components to support developmental testing of conventional, ground launched missiles, Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza told TASS on Friday.

14 Mar 2019; DW: International donors are on track to raise close to €6.2 billion ($7 billion) in aid for Syria and those fleeing the eight-year conflict in 2019, exceeding expectations, according to the United Nations.

More than half of that money is earmarked for refugees languishing in neighboring countries while the conflict continues and Europe remains divided on contributing to reconstruction.

Pledges beat expectations

Washington, Mar 15; PTI: In a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump, a dozen Republican senators broke party ranks and sided with Democrats to terminate the US President's declaration of a national emergency on America's border with Mexico.

In a 59-41 vote, 12 Republicans joined every Senate Democrat on Thursday in a rare move to block the president's effort to divert billions in funding to build his long-promised border wall without congressional approval.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last month backed the measure.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday dangled the prospect of walking away from a new trade deal with China if it’s not to his liking, just as he cut short his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un when the two sides failed to reach an agreement.

Trump spoke on the state of negotiations with China shortly before meeting with Republican senators on trade issues. He spoke optimistically of the U.S. and China being able to reach an agreement, declaring that “China has not been doing well. We’ve been doing unbelievably well.”

13 Mar 2019; AFP: President Donald Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort, already facing 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud, was sentenced to an additional 43 months in prison Wednesday on conspiracy charges.

"The defendant is not public enemy number one," US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in delivering the sentence in a hushed Washington courtroom.