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Trump tweets, stays out of sight for hours after shootings

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — As the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than a day, President Donald Trump spent the first hours after the tragedies out of sight at his New Jersey golf course, sending out tweets of support awkwardly mixed in with those promoting a celebrity fight and attacking his political foes.

Global warming brings wildfire risk to rainy US Northwest

ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) — Nestled in the foothills of Washington’s Cascade Mountains, the bustling Seattle suburb of Issaquah seems an unlikely candidate for anxiety over wildfires.

The region, famous for its rainfall, has long escaped major burns even as global warming has driven an increase in the size and number of wildfires elsewhere in the American West.

Trump defends China trade policy

04 August 2019; AFP: US President Donald Trump defended Saturday his hardline trade policy against China, arguing that the tariffs he imposed are bringing in "billions" from the Beijing government.

"Things are going along very well with China. They are paying us Tens of Billions of Dollars, made possible by their monetary devaluations and pumping in massive amounts of cash to keep their system going," Trump wrote on Twitter.

US welcomes conditional truce in Syria's Idlib region

04 August 2019; AFP: The United States Sunday welcomed a ceasefire in Syria's northwestern Idlib region after months of deadly government bombardments but insisted attacks against civilians must stop.

Air strikes on Idlib province halted on Friday after the Syrian regime agreed to a truce on the condition that rebel backer Turkey implements a buffer zone in the area.

U.S. Prevents UNSC From Holding Israel Accountable For “Crimes”

RAMALLAH, Palestine, Aug 4 (NNN-WAFA) – A Palestinian diplomat, accused the United States of preventing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), from holding Israel accountable, and prosecuting it, for the crimes it committed against the Palestinians.

Reyad Mansour, the permanent ambassador of Palestine at the UN, told Voice of Palestine Radio that, “holding Israel accountable is absent, because the U.S. vetoes any resolution that holds Israel guilty.”

Trump warns China of substantial increase in import tariffs

Washington, Aug 3 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has warned of imposing substantial tariffs on imports from China if the trade negotiations did not go well.

"China has to do a lot of things to turn it around. But you'll be seeing. They've got to do a lot of things. It (tariff increase) goes on September 1," Trump said on Friday, a day after he announced to impose 10 per cent tariff on Chinese products worth nearly USD 300 billion.

This is in addition to the 25 per cent import tariff on Chinese products worth USD 250 billion.

US exempts aviation, space exports from new Russia sanctions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has decided to exempt aviation safety and space exploration technology from new sanctions it has levied against Russia in connection with the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The State Department said late Friday that products related to those sectors will not be automatically subjected to an export ban that was announced by President Donald Trump this week. The sanctions do include a presumption of denial for export licenses for items that could be used in the production of chemical and biological weapons.

Trump administration pushes to speed up migrant family cases

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rosita Lopez said armed gang members demanded money from her and her partner at their small grocery store on the Guatemalan coast and threatened to kill them when they couldn’t pay. When her partner was shot soon afterward, they sold everything and fled north.

Lopez was eight months pregnant when the couple arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border last year with their 1-year-old daughter. Just over a year later, an immigration judge in Los Angeles heard her case, denied her asylum and ordered her deported.

“I’m afraid of going back there,” she told the judge.

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