USA

Washington, Feb 8 (PTI) The US has called for tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime following the reported second failed space launch by Tehran in defiance to the international community and the Security Council resolutions.

Images released by the Colorado-based company DigitalGlobe have showed a rocket at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province on Tuesday.

Industry experts have suggested the launch failed just after liftoff.

08 Feb 2019; AFP: US lawmakers threatened Thursday to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi amid a new revelation that the kingdom's powerful crown prince spoke of going after him with a "bullet."

08 Feb 2019; DW: The United States sharply criticized Germany on Thursday for deporting a convicted terrorist to Turkey despite an extradition request for him to stand trial in a New York court.

Adem Yilmaz was deported on Tuesday to his native Turkey after serving an 11-year prison sentence in Germany for planning a 2007 bomb plot to attack American citizens and facilities in Germany as part of an Islamist extremist cell.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Matthew Whitaker, acting U.S. attorney general, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday as scheduled after a showdown with congressional Democrats over the hearing.

House Democrats had threatened to subpoena Whitaker over his oversight of the ongoing Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, his contacts with White House related to the probe and the firing of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A UN envoy said Thursday that the atmosphere for resuming the dialogue on Kosovo has been exacerbated over the past few months.

Zahir Tanin, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Kosovo, told the Security Council of "a tendency to disrupt rather than de-escalate" the tension between Serbia and Kosovo.

"Recent developments in the relations between Pristina and Belgrade have complicated efforts to create an atmosphere conducive to dialogue and good-faith compromise," he said.

SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The announcement of schedule for the joint springtime military drill between South Korea and the United States would be delayed until after the upcoming second summit between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Friday.

An unidentified South Korean government source was quoted by Yonhap as saying plans for the joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises in the first half of this year would be announced after the second DPRK-U.S. summit.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States space agency NASA has released its first look of China's Chang'e-4 Lunar Landing Site.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) approached the Von Karman crater on which the the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 4 landed, nearly four weeks after its landing.

On Jan. 30, the LRO rolled 70 degrees to the west to snap a spectacular view looking across the floor toward the west wall, according to NASA.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council Thursday adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Sudan Sanctions Committee until March 12, 2020.

According to the resolution 2455, the council recalled the final report of the Sudan Panel of Experts and found that challenges remain in the implementation of the sanctions regime.

The 15-member body determined that "the situation in Sudan continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region."

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday lashed out at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who has announced the panel will look into the president's dealings with Russia.

Schiff "is going to be looking at every aspect of my life, both financial and personal, even though there is no reason to be doing so," Trump tweeted Thursday morning. "Never happened before! Unlimited Presidential Harassment."

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A 17-year police veteran was shot and killed as he served a warrant on Milwaukee’s south side Wednesday, becoming the city’s third officer to be killed in the line of duty in eight months, authorities said.

Officer Matthew Rittner was a tenured member of the Milwaukee Police Department’s Tactical Enforcement Unit, which was conducting a search warrant on someone wanted for illegally selling firearms and drugs, Sgt. Sheronda Grant said in a news release Wednesday night. She said officers announced themselves as police and that the suspect fired several rounds.