USA

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress Tuesday in a testimony that the central bank will be "taking a patient approach" in determining future changes in monetary policy.

The central bank, Powell said, will be "taking a patient approach with regard to future policy changes." He said policy decisions "will continue to be data dependent and will take into account new information as economic conditions and the outlook evolve."

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Tuesday that China opposes military intervention in Venezuela.

"China maintains that all countries should abide by the basic principles of international law and international relations, opposes foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela, and opposes military intervention in Venezuela," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the UN, said at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Venezuela.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A 24-year-old man is guilty of trying to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van outside an Oklahoma City bank, a federal jury ruled Monday.

Jurors convicted Jerry Drake Varnell, of Sayre, of attempting to use an explosive device to damage a building and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Prosecutors alleged that Varnell planned to detonate what he thought was a half-ton (450-kilogram) vehicle bomb on Aug. 12, 2017.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday pledged to “sooner than later” make public 10 years of his tax returns and vowed to support the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, saying he held no grudges against the Democratic National Committee over his unsuccessful 2016 campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are moving quickly to try to roll back President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to siphon billions of dollars from the military to fund construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Tuesday’s vote in the Democratic-controlled House comes on legislation to revoke Trump’s executive order from earlier this month and would send it to the Republican-held Senate, where it would take only a handful of GOP defections to pass it.

26 Feb 2019; AFP: US President Donald Trump said Monday he expects to hold a "signing summit" with China's President Xi Jinping to seal a trade deal, since as discussions are in the "advanced stages."

The comments cheered global stock markets, since they confirmed the dispute will not ratchet up immediately, averting an even bigger impact on the global economy.

GENEVA, February 25. /TASS/. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Moscow and Washington to preserve the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and agree on the extension of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, known as the New START Treaty.

UNITED NATIONS, February 25. /TASS/. The UN Security Council will hold a public meeting on the situation in Venezuela on Tuesday, February 26, at the United States' request, a diplomatic source in the organization informed TASS on Monday.

"The Security Council’s public briefing will be held tomorrow at the request of the United States," he said. According to the source, it is unclear at the moment whether or not the US will submit its draft resolution on Venezuela to the Security Council.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The White House said Monday two bills that enhance background check for gun purchases would be vetoed if passed by congress.

"If H.R. 8, or H.R. 1112, are presented to the president, his advisors would recommend he veto the bill," it said in a statement, referring to the bills by their house resolution numbers.

H.R. 8, also known as Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, would require that certain transfers, loans, gifts, and sales of firearms be processed by a federally licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called on the UN Security Council to review sanctions against Sudan in accordance with the latest situation and eventually lift the sanctions.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting on Sudan and South Sudan, Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that the security situation in Sudan's Darfur region remains generally stable after the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) gradually handed over responsibility for security to the government of Sudan last year.