North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s deal to avert his threatened tariffs on Mexico includes few new solutions to swiftly stem the surge of Central American migrants flowing over America’s southern border.

But it delivers enough for Trump to claim a political win.

8 June 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump will host Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the White House next month, the executive mansion announced Friday, Anadolu Agency reported.

The July 9 meeting will allow Trump and al-Thani to “build on the longstanding partnership between the United States and Qatar and further strengthen our already substantial economic and security ties,” spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

8 June 2019; MEMO: When US President Donald Trump went around Congress last month to approve a multibillion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, he also allowed the Kingdom to develop complex precision-bomb parts, according to a report Friday, Anadolu Agency has reported.

8 June 2019; AFP: Against the backdrop of worsening trade conflicts, US job creation slowed sharply in May, adding to evidence the economy is weakening and raising expectations the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates soon.

Hiring dried up in major industries and wage growth stagnated, and because job growth was worse than previously reported in March and April, hiring was essentially flat last month, the Labor Department reported Friday.

8 June 2019; AFP: The United States is open to further negotiations with China on their ongoing trade battle but any potential deal will wait until the two leaders meet at the end of the month, Washington's top finance official said Saturday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned that Washington would press on with tariffs if a deal could not be reached.

8 June 2019; DW: Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Friday wrote to his Turkish counterpart, warning him of the consequences Ankara would face if it did not step back from a deal to buy a Russian air defense system. 

The US considers the S-400 air defense system a threat to NATO's F-35 fighter jet program.

What Shanahan's letter says

United Nations, Jun 7 (PTI) India, which is owed USD 38 million by the United Nations for peacekeeping operations, has called for a comprehensive solution to address the "real" financial crisis facing the world body, saying countries that owe arrears are "insured" from the impact of their inaction.

WASHINGTON, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States will launch a formal diplomatic protest to Russia over a naval encounter in western Pacific, said acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Friday.

"We'll have military-to-military conversations," Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon.

Russian anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Vinogradov managed to avoid a collision with U.S. guided-missile cruiser Chancellorsville in the East China Sea on Friday, with the latter conducting a dangerous maneuver, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

WASHINGTON, June 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury announced on Friday that it has imposed sanctions on Iran's petrochemical industry, including its largest petrochemical holding group, accusing them of supporting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) financially.

The new sanctions blacklisted Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) and its big network of 39 subsidiary petrochemical companies and foreign-based sales agents, said the Treasury in a statement.

WASHINGTON, June 8. /TASS/: A federal public defender will represent Russian citizen Maria Butina during court hearings into her appeal against the 18-month prison sentence, according to a document uploaded to the database of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

"Appellant has been allowed by the district court to prosecute the appeal without prepayment of costs, and appellant is being represented on appeal by the Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia," the court order says.