WASHINGTON: The U.S. government has cut aid to Central American countries including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for sending migrants to the US.
A surge of asylum seekers from these countries have sought to enter the US across the southern border in recent times.
Trump, on Friday, accused these nations of having “set up” migrant caravans and sent them to the Unites States.
The President also said there was a good likelihood that he would close the border this week if Mexico failed to stop immigrants from reaching the United States. (Agencies)
WASHINGTON: On the day that their talks in Hanoi collapsed last month, US President Donald Trump handed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a piece of paper that included a blunt call for the transfer of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States, according to the document seen by Reuters.
Trump gave Kim both Korean and English-language versions of the US position at Hanoi’s Metropole hotel on February 28, according to a source familiar with the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was the first time that Trump himself had explicitly defined what he meant by denuclearization directly to Kim, the source said.
A lunch between the two leaders was canceled the same day. While neither side has presented a complete account of why the summit collapsed, the document may help explain it.
The document’s existence was first mentioned by White House national security adviser John Bolton in television interviews he gave after the two-day summit. Bolton did not disclose in those interviews the pivotal US expectation contained in the document that North Korea should transfer its nuclear weapons and fissile material to the United States.
The document appeared to represent Bolton’s long-held and hardline “Libya model” of denuclearization that North Korea has rejected repeatedly. It probably would have been seen by Kim as insulting and provocative, analysts said.
Trump had previously distanced himself in public comments from Bolton’s approach and said a “Libya model” would be employed only if a deal could not be reached.
(Agencies)
WASHINGTON: US Attorney General William Barr said he will make public a redacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly 400-page investigative report into Russian interference in the 2016 election by mid-April.
In a letter to the lawyers of both the Democratic and Republican parties, Bar said, “Everyone will soon be able to read it on their own,”
On March 22, Mueller completed his 22-month probe and Barr on Sunday sent a four-page letter to Congress, outlining the main findings.
Barr told lawmakers that the investigation did not establish that members of the election campaign of President Donald Trump conspired with Russia.
(Agencies)
MICHIGAN: US President Donald Trump railed against the political opponents and said that the report was a “total exoneration”.
At a rally since the Mueller report was submitted, Trump told a cheering crowd that after three years of lies, smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead, media report said.
He said that the collusion delusion is over now.
The report against him found no evidence of Russian collusion. President Trump used crude language to deride the two-year investigation during the rally.
Mueller’s report was submitted on a week ago to the US Attorney General William Barr. (Agencies)
SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump for a summit on North Korean nuclear diplomacy in United States (US).
South Korean President’s office said Friday that Moon will visit the United States on April 10-11 and meet with Trump.
It says the two leaders will discuss how to achieve North Korea’s complete denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
U.S.-led diplomacy on ridding North Korea of its nuclear program remain stalled since Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam last month ended without any deal.
North Korea later threatened to quit the nuclear diplomacy, citing a lack of U.S. steps to match disarmament measures it took last year.
WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Adam Schiff, House intelligence panel chairman to resign.
Trump made the urge after Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation failed to establish evidence of collusion between the 2016 election campaign and Russia.
US President Trump tweeted: “Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!”.
Authorities have not accused Schiff of leaking classified information.
Schiff’s spokesman, however, did not comment. (Agencies)
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry approved six secret authorizations to sell nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia, media reports said.
According to a copy of a document, the Trump administration quietly pursued a deal on sharing U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia.
The deal aims to build at least two nuclear power plants. Countries such as the United States, South Korea and Russia are in competition for the deal. The winners are expected to be announced later by Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.
The US approvals, dubbed as Part 810 authorizations, allow companies to do preliminary work on nuclear power ahead of any deal. (Agencies)
NEW YORK: Despite report findings, almost half of American think that President Donald Trump worked with Russia to interfere in the 2016 Presidential elections.
According to a national opinion poll released on Tuesday, 43 percent of Americans think Trump worked in cahoots with Russia to influence the presidential elections while 53 percent believe that Trump tried to stop investigations into Russian influence on his administration.
Special Council Rubert Mueller, a former FBI director, submitted his report after 22-month investigation on March 22, exonerating Trump from charges of election-related allegations.
However, U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s investigation did little to quench the public’s appetite to learn more about the president’s alleged ties to Russia.
Public opinion was split sharply along party lines, with Democrats much more likely than Republicans to believe that Trump colluded with Russia and obstructed justice.
The public opinion is based on the national poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos after Special Counsel Mueller cleared Trump of that allegation.
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon chief said the Department of Defense shifted US$1 billion to build a 57-mile section of “pedestrian fencing”, lighting and road along United States and Mexico border.
The Pentagon, last week, gave Congress a list, which included $12.8 billion of construction projects for the construction along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in a bid to provide funding to build a border wall without congressional approval. (Agencies)
WASHINGTON: Chandrayaan 2, India’s second moon mission scheduled to be launched in April, would be carrying a NASA science probe, media reports said.
The Chandrayaan 2 will carry NASA-owned laser retro-reflector arrays, which allows scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon, according to the US space agency officials.
Science instruments will also be flying to the Moon aboard the Israeli lander Beresheet, due to touch down April 11, Besides Chandrayaan 2, reports said.