The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Republicans close to the White House whisper about a possible joint campaign by Haley and Pence in 2020.

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Rumours of a possible Haley-Pence ticket in the 2020 US Presidential polls also made the rounds after reports surfaced suggesting that Haley was not communicated about White House's change in course on Russia sanctions.

US ambassador to UN Nikki Haley recently shut down Trump administration over calling her "confused". US President Donald Trump was infuriated over Haley's remarks stating that Trump would call for fresh sanctions on Russia while he wasn't planning anything on those lines.

National Economics Adviser, Larry Kudlow called Haley's statement an outcome of her "confusion" to which she responded saying that, "With all due respect, I don't get confused".

While the incident made front-page headlines across the world, experts and political analysts got busy anticipating a possible rift between Trump and Haley.&nbsp;

Trump has already confirmed running for a second term in 2020. Haley's role at the United Nations, which initially raised eyebrows among diplomats, has been widely appreciated. She is often acknowledged for her political skills while her ambitions for a higher office is also speculated.

However, Haley on Wednesday smoothened-out speculations over her sour relationship with the US President calling it "perfect".&nbsp;

A senior administration official said that Haley had not been "freelancing" when she spoke about new Russian sanctions on Sunday. "The president just wanted to slow down the process after she spoke," the official said.

When asked on Wednesday if Trump should be worried about a Pence/Haley campaign, Haley smiled, shook her head and said: "No."

Pence's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Haley is often acknowledged for her political skills while her ambitions for a higher office is also speculated.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Republicans close to the White House whisper about a possible joint campaign by Haley and Pence in 2020. × Rumours of a possible Haley-Pence ticket in the 2020 US Presidential polls also made the rounds after reports surfaced suggesting that Haley was not communicated about White House's change in course on Russia sanctions. US ambassador to UN Nikki Haley recently shut down Trump administration over calling her "confused". US President Donald Trump was infuriated over Haley's remarks stating that Trump would call for fresh sanctions on Russia while he wasn't planning anything on those lines. National Economics Adviser, Larry Kudlow called Haley's statement an outcome of her "confusion" to which she responded saying that, "With all due respect, I don't get confused". While the incident made front-page headlines across the world, experts and political analysts got busy anticipating a possible rift between Trump and Haley. Trump has already confirmed running for a second term in 2020. Haley's role at the United Nations, which initially raised eyebrows among diplomats, has been widely appreciated. She is often acknowledged for her political skills while her ambitions for a higher office is also speculated. However, Haley on Wednesday smoothened-out speculations over her sour relationship with the US President calling it "perfect". A senior administration official said that Haley had not been "freelancing" when she spoke about new Russian sanctions on Sunday. "The president just wanted to slow down the process after she spoke," the official said. When asked on Wednesday if Trump should be worried about a Pence/Haley campaign, Haley smiled, shook her head and said: "No." Pence's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (With inputs from Reuters)

Haley for President in 2020? Trump, White House see red

North Korea has expressed its commitment to "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula and is not seeking conditions, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday, as the United States vowed to maintain "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang.

Moon said big-picture agreements about denuclearisation, establishing a peace regime and normalisation of relations between the two Koreas and the United States should not be difficult to reach through summits between the North and South, and between the North and the United States.

"I don't think denuclearisation has different meanings for South and North Korea. The North is expressing a will for a complete denuclearization," Moon said during a lunch with chief executives of Korean media companies.&nbsp;

"They have not attached any conditions that the US&nbsp;cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea. All they are talking about is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security."

North Korea has defended its nuclear and missile programmes, which it pursues in defiance of UN&nbsp;Security Council resolutions, as a necessary deterrent against perceived US&nbsp;hostility. The United States stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea has said over the years that it could consider giving up its nuclear arsenal if the United States removed its troops from South Korea and withdrew its so-called nuclear umbrella of deterrence from South Korea and Japan.

South Korea announced on Wednesday that it is considering how to change a decades-old armistice with North Korea into a peace agreement as it prepares for the North-South summit this month.&nbsp;

Reclusive North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.&nbsp;

Moon said he saw the possibility of a peace agreement, or even international aid for the North's economy, if it denuclearises.&nbsp;

But he also said the inter-Korean summit had "a lot of constraints", in that the two Koreas could not make progress separate from the North Korea-United States summit, and could not reach an agreement that transcends international sanctions.

"So first, the South-North Korean summit must make a good beginning, and the dialogue between the two Koreas likely must continue after we see the results of the North Korea-United States summit," Moon said.

US&nbsp;CIA Director Mike Pompeo visited North Korea last week and met leader Kim Jong Un with whom he formed a "good relationship", US&nbsp;President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, ahead of a summit planned for May or June.

Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the summit would be successful, but warned he would call it off if he did not think it would produce results.

Trump told a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that his campaign of "maximum pressure" on North Korea would continue until Pyongyang gave up its nuclear weapons.

"The United States remains committed to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearsisation of North Korea," US&nbsp;Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood told a news conference in Geneva on Thursday ahead of a two-week conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"In terms of the pressure campaign, things we are very interested in are maintaining the pressure, meaning enforcing sanctions, ensuring that the North is not able to get access to funds that help further his nuclear and ballistic missile programmes."

China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing in Beijing that China supported ending the state of war on the Korean peninsula.

"China supports ending the war state on the peninsula at an early date," she said. "As a party involved in the peninsula issue, China is willing to play an active role."

Ahead of next week's summit, Seoul and Pyongyang will also complete the instalment of a telephone hotline between the two leaders on Friday, directly connecting the South's presidential Blue House and the North's State Affairs Commission, the South's presidential spokesman said.&nbsp;

Six top South Korean officials will accompany Moon to the summit, including his chief of staff, spy chief, national security adviser and unification, defence and foreign ministers, the spokesman said.

North Korea meanwhile will hold a plenary meeting of its ruling party's central committee on Friday, state media KCNA said on Thursday.&nbsp;

The meeting was convened to discuss and decide "policy issues of a new stage" to meet the demands of the current "important historic period", KCNA said.&nbsp;

Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the summit would be successful, but warned he would call it off if he did not think it would produce results

North Korea has expressed its commitment to "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula and is not seeking conditions, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday, as the United States vowed to maintain "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang. Moon said big-picture agreements about denuclearisation, establishing a peace regime and normalisation of relations between the two Koreas and the United States should not be difficult to reach through summits between the North and South, and between the North and the United States. "I don't think denuclearisation has different meanings for South and North Korea. The North is expressing a will for a complete denuclearization," Moon said during a lunch with chief executives of Korean media companies. "They have not attached any conditions that the US cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea. All they are talking about is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security." North Korea has defended its nuclear and missile programmes, which it pursues in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, as a necessary deterrent against perceived US hostility. The United States stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea has said over the years that it could consider giving up its nuclear arsenal if the United States removed its troops from South Korea and withdrew its so-called nuclear umbrella of deterrence from South Korea and Japan. South Korea announced on Wednesday that it is considering how to change a decades-old armistice with North Korea into a peace agreement as it prepares for the North-South summit this month. Reclusive North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Moon said he saw the possibility of a peace agreement, or even international aid for the North's economy, if it denuclearises. But he also said the inter-Korean summit had "a lot of constraints", in that the two Koreas could not make progress separate from the North Korea-United States summit, and could not reach an agreement that transcends international sanctions. "So first, the South-North Korean summit must make a good beginning, and the dialogue between the two Koreas likely must continue after we see the results of the North Korea-United States summit," Moon said. US CIA Director Mike Pompeo visited North Korea last week and met leader Kim Jong Un with whom he formed a "good relationship", US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, ahead of a summit planned for May or June. Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the summit would be successful, but warned he would call it off if he did not think it would produce results. Trump told a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that his campaign of "maximum pressure" on North Korea would continue until Pyongyang gave up its nuclear weapons. "The United States remains committed to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearsisation of North Korea," US Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood told a news conference in Geneva on Thursday ahead of a two-week conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "In terms of the pressure campaign, things we are very interested in are maintaining the pressure, meaning enforcing sanctions, ensuring that the North is not able to get access to funds that help further his nuclear and ballistic missile programmes." China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing in Beijing that China supported ending the state of war on the Korean peninsula. "China supports ending the war state on the peninsula at an early date," she said. "As a party involved in the peninsula issue, China is willing to play an active role." Ahead of next week's summit, Seoul and Pyongyang will also complete the instalment of a telephone hotline between the two leaders on Friday, directly connecting the South's presidential Blue House and the North's State Affairs Commission, the South's presidential spokesman said. Six top South Korean officials will accompany Moon to the summit, including his chief of staff, spy chief, national security adviser and unification, defence and foreign ministers, the spokesman said. North Korea meanwhile will hold a plenary meeting of its ruling party's central committee on Friday, state media KCNA said on Thursday. The meeting was convened to discuss and decide "policy issues of a new stage" to meet the demands of the current "important historic period", KCNA said.

North Korea seeks 'complete denuclearisation', US vows continued pressure

U.S. Secretary of State nominee and CIA Director Mike Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea over the Easter weekend and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss a planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

Pompeo's trip made him the most senior U.S. official ever known to have met with Kim and provided the strongest sign yet to Trump's willingness to become the first serving U.S. president ever to meet a North Korean leader.

Pompeo's conversations fueled Trump’s belief that productive negotiations were possible with North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, but far from guaranteed, according to a U.S. senior official briefed on the trip.

The visit, a second U.S. official said, was arranged by South Korean intelligence chief Suh Hoon with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong Chol, and was intended to assess whether Kim was prepared to hold serious talks.&nbsp;

Pompeo, one of Trump's most trusted advisers, returned to report that it was worth continuing to pursue the possibility of a summit, but added that no site had been selected from lists of options, and consequently no logistical arrangements had been made so far, the second official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump said earlier on Tuesday the United States was engaged in direct talks at "extremely high levels" with North Korea to try to set up a summit between him and Kim.

He sowed some confusion by suggesting he had been speaking to Kim directly, but later clarified by saying: "Let's leave it a little bit short of the highest level."

Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders added: "The president said the administration has had talks at the highest levels and added that they were not with him directly.”

Asked about Pompeo, she said: “The administration does not comment on the CIA director’s travel.”

Pompeo told his Senate confirmation hearing for the post of secretary of state this week he was optimistic a course could be set at a Trump-Kim summit for a diplomatic outcome with North Korea, but added that no one was under any illusion that a comprehensive deal could be reached at that meeting.

Pompeo said the aim of the summit would be “an agreement ... such that the North Korean leadership will step away from its efforts to hold America at risk with nuclear weapons” and that Pyongyang should not expect rewards until it takes irreversible steps.

Pompeo's trip made him the most senior U.S. official to visit North Korea since then-intelligence chief James Clapper in 2014.

The news came after Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened two days of talks at the president's Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump said he believed there was a lot of goodwill in the diplomatic push with North Korea, but added it was possible the summit - first proposed in March and which the president said could take place in late May or early June - may not happen.

Efforts to arrange the unprecedented meeting have helped ease tensions over Pyongyang's development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States. Kim has agreed to discuss denuclearization, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.

"I really believe there’s a lot of goodwill a lot of good things are happening," Trump told reporters.

"As I always say, we’ll see what happens, because ultimately it’s the end result that matters, not the fact that we’re thinking about having a meeting or having a meeting."

MEETING SITE?

Trump, who has exchanged bellicose threats with Kim in the past year, said U.S. officials were looking at five locations for a meeting. Asked if any of those were in the United States, Trump replied: "No."

A U.S. official said sites in Southeast Asia and Europe were among those under discussion. Kim has rarely left North Korea.

Speculation has centered on a range of sites including Pyongyang, the demilitarized zone between the Koreas, Stockholm, Geneva and Mongolia.

Talks between Trump and Abe are largely focused on the prospective summit as Japan seeks a U.S. commitment that any denuclearization deal with Kim will include not just long-range missiles but those that could be aimed at Japan.

Reflecting the closeness of their ties, the Trump-Abe meetings included a walk around the carefully manicured grounds of the beachfront club and dinner on the patio with their wives. A round of golf was planned for Wednesday.

"For the North Korean issue, I’d like to underscore the importance of achieving the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization, as well as the abandonment of missile programs of North Korea," Abe told Trump.

Abe also obtained an agreement from Trump to bring up the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, a highly emotive issue for the Japanese.

'IT'S POSSIBLE THINGS WON'T GO WELL'

Trump stressed that he and Abe were united.

"Japan and ourselves are locked, and we are very unified on the subject of North Korea," he said.

Trump said it was possible diplomatic efforts to arrange a Kim summit would fall short and if it did not happen, the United States and its allies would maintain pressure on Pyongyang through sanctions.

"It’s possible things won’t go well and we won’t have the meetings and we’ll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken," he said.

Trump also backed efforts between South Korea and the North aimed at ending a state of war that has existed between the two countries since 1953.

"People don’t realize the Korean War has not ended. It’s going on right now. And they are discussing an end to the war. Subject to a deal, they have my blessing and they do have my blessing to discuss that," he said.

TRADE AGENDA

Trump and Abe could use a successful summit to give themselves a political boost at home. Trump has been hounded by controversies linked to an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, and Abe is struggling with declining popularity because of scandals over suspected cronyism.

Trump has forged close ties with Abe during his 15 months in power and the two have bonded over rounds of golf during Abe's last visit to Florida more than a year ago and Trump's visit to Tokyo last November.

Japan fears Trump will try to link vital security matters with touchy trade topics. Tokyo is eager to avoid being pushed into talks on a two-way free trade agreement aimed not only at market access but at currency policies, something South Korea recently accepted when it renegotiated a trade deal with the United States.

Another irritant on trade is that Japan has not been given an exemption to tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the United States, unlike the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

Pompeo travelled over the Easter weekend to discuss a planned summit with US President Donald Trump, who had said earlier that the US was talking to North Korea at 'extremely high levels'

U.S. Secretary of State nominee and CIA Director Mike Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea over the Easter weekend and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss a planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Pompeo's trip made him the most senior U.S. official ever known to have met with Kim and provided the strongest sign yet to Trump's willingness to become the first serving U.S. president ever to meet a North Korean leader. Pompeo's conversations fueled Trump’s belief that productive negotiations were possible with North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, but far from guaranteed, according to a U.S. senior official briefed on the trip. The visit, a second U.S. official said, was arranged by South Korean intelligence chief Suh Hoon with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong Chol, and was intended to assess whether Kim was prepared to hold serious talks. Pompeo, one of Trump's most trusted advisers, returned to report that it was worth continuing to pursue the possibility of a summit, but added that no site had been selected from lists of options, and consequently no logistical arrangements had been made so far, the second official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump said earlier on Tuesday the United States was engaged in direct talks at "extremely high levels" with North Korea to try to set up a summit between him and Kim. He sowed some confusion by suggesting he had been speaking to Kim directly, but later clarified by saying: "Let's leave it a little bit short of the highest level." Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders added: "The president said the administration has had talks at the highest levels and added that they were not with him directly.” Asked about Pompeo, she said: “The administration does not comment on the CIA director’s travel.” Pompeo told his Senate confirmation hearing for the post of secretary of state this week he was optimistic a course could be set at a Trump-Kim summit for a diplomatic outcome with North Korea, but added that no one was under any illusion that a comprehensive deal could be reached at that meeting. Pompeo said the aim of the summit would be “an agreement ... such that the North Korean leadership will step away from its efforts to hold America at risk with nuclear weapons” and that Pyongyang should not expect rewards until it takes irreversible steps. Pompeo's trip made him the most senior U.S. official to visit North Korea since then-intelligence chief James Clapper in 2014. The news came after Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened two days of talks at the president's Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump said he believed there was a lot of goodwill in the diplomatic push with North Korea, but added it was possible the summit - first proposed in March and which the president said could take place in late May or early June - may not happen. Efforts to arrange the unprecedented meeting have helped ease tensions over Pyongyang's development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States. Kim has agreed to discuss denuclearization, according to U.S. and South Korean officials. "I really believe there’s a lot of goodwill a lot of good things are happening," Trump told reporters. "As I always say, we’ll see what happens, because ultimately it’s the end result that matters, not the fact that we’re thinking about having a meeting or having a meeting." MEETING SITE? Trump, who has exchanged bellicose threats with Kim in the past year, said U.S. officials were looking at five locations for a meeting. Asked if any of those were in the United States, Trump replied: "No." A U.S. official said sites in Southeast Asia and Europe were among those under discussion. Kim has rarely left North Korea. Speculation has centered on a range of sites including Pyongyang, the demilitarized zone between the Koreas, Stockholm, Geneva and Mongolia. Talks between Trump and Abe are largely focused on the prospective summit as Japan seeks a U.S. commitment that any denuclearization deal with Kim will include not just long-range missiles but those that could be aimed at Japan. Reflecting the closeness of their ties, the Trump-Abe meetings included a walk around the carefully manicured grounds of the beachfront club and dinner on the patio with their wives. A round of golf was planned for Wednesday. "For the North Korean issue, I’d like to underscore the importance of achieving the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization, as well as the abandonment of missile programs of North Korea," Abe told Trump. Abe also obtained an agreement from Trump to bring up the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, a highly emotive issue for the Japanese. 'IT'S POSSIBLE THINGS WON'T GO WELL' Trump stressed that he and Abe were united. "Japan and ourselves are locked, and we are very unified on the subject of North Korea," he said. Trump said it was possible diplomatic efforts to arrange a Kim summit would fall short and if it did not happen, the United States and its allies would maintain pressure on Pyongyang through sanctions. "It’s possible things won’t go well and we won’t have the meetings and we’ll just continue to go on this very strong path we have taken," he said. Trump also backed efforts between South Korea and the North aimed at ending a state of war that has existed between the two countries since 1953. "People don’t realize the Korean War has not ended. It’s going on right now. And they are discussing an end to the war. Subject to a deal, they have my blessing and they do have my blessing to discuss that," he said. TRADE AGENDA Trump and Abe could use a successful summit to give themselves a political boost at home. Trump has been hounded by controversies linked to an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, and Abe is struggling with declining popularity because of scandals over suspected cronyism. Trump has forged close ties with Abe during his 15 months in power and the two have bonded over rounds of golf during Abe's last visit to Florida more than a year ago and Trump's visit to Tokyo last November. Japan fears Trump will try to link vital security matters with touchy trade topics. Tokyo is eager to avoid being pushed into talks on a two-way free trade agreement aimed not only at market access but at currency policies, something South Korea recently accepted when it renegotiated a trade deal with the United States. Another irritant on trade is that Japan has not been given an exemption to tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the United States, unlike the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

CIA chief made secret visit to North Korea and met Kim Jong-Un: US officials

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels on Tuesday released a sketch of a man she said warned her in 2011 to stop discussing her claims she had a sexual encounter with US&nbspPresident Donald Trump, while her lawyer offered a $100,000 reward for information about the man.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is fighting a 2016 non-disclosure agreement arranged by Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which she got $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim that she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, something the US&nbsppresident has denied.

During an appearance on the daytime ABC television talk show "The View" she was asked why she was speaking out.

"I'm tired of being threatened," Daniels responded. "I'm done. I'm sorry, I'm done being bullied."

Daniels repeated her story, first related on CBS' "60 Minutes" last month, that she was on her way to a fitness class with her child when an unknown man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011. He warned her to "leave Trump alone. Forget the story", she said in that interview.

On Tuesday, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, asked the public for help identifying the man and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his identification.

The picture they released shows a lightly bearded man in his 20s or 30s with backswept hair and wearing a hoodie. Daniels said she thought he looked like somebody's husband and described him as "sort of handsome."

She said she did not tell police about the threat at the time because she was afraid and did not want to reveal the alleged encounter with Trump.

"I didn't tell my husband at the time, I was embarrassed," she said. "I didn't want him to think I was a bad mom or that I put my daughter in danger."

Trump's lawyers are seeking at least $20 million in damages from Daniels for multiple violations of a nondisclosure agreement.

Daniels appearance on the ABC show came a day after she attended a hearing in Manhattan federal court where Cohen sought to limit the ability of federal prosecutors to review the documents seized in April 9 raids on his home, office and hotel room.

The raids stem in part from a separate probe into possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. A source familiar with the raids said the FBI agents were also looking for information on payments to Daniels among materials related to Cohen's other business dealings.

Daniels acknowledged the publicity the whole episode has brought her and said that, while she was making more money, her expenses were climbing as well. She has had to retain a team of bodyguards, as well as a tutor for her daughter.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is fighting a 2016 non-disclosure agreement arranged by Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which she got $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim that she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, something the US president has denied.

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels on Tuesday released a sketch of a man she said warned her in 2011 to stop discussing her claims she had a sexual encounter with US&nbspPresident Donald Trump, while her lawyer offered a $100,000 reward for information about the man. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is fighting a 2016 non-disclosure agreement arranged by Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which she got $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim that she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, something the US&nbsppresident has denied. During an appearance on the daytime ABC television talk show "The View" she was asked why she was speaking out. "I'm tired of being threatened," Daniels responded. "I'm done. I'm sorry, I'm done being bullied." Daniels repeated her story, first related on CBS' "60 Minutes" last month, that she was on her way to a fitness class with her child when an unknown man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011. He warned her to "leave Trump alone. Forget the story", she said in that interview. On Tuesday, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, asked the public for help identifying the man and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his identification. The picture they released shows a lightly bearded man in his 20s or 30s with backswept hair and wearing a hoodie. Daniels said she thought he looked like somebody's husband and described him as "sort of handsome." She said she did not tell police about the threat at the time because she was afraid and did not want to reveal the alleged encounter with Trump. "I didn't tell my husband at the time, I was embarrassed," she said. "I didn't want him to think I was a bad mom or that I put my daughter in danger." Trump's lawyers are seeking at least $20 million in damages from Daniels for multiple violations of a nondisclosure agreement. Daniels appearance on the ABC show came a day after she attended a hearing in Manhattan federal court where Cohen sought to limit the ability of federal prosecutors to review the documents seized in April 9 raids on his home, office and hotel room. The raids stem in part from a separate probe into possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. A source familiar with the raids said the FBI agents were also looking for information on payments to Daniels among materials related to Cohen's other business dealings. Daniels acknowledged the publicity the whole episode has brought her and said that, while she was making more money, her expenses were climbing as well. She has had to retain a team of bodyguards, as well as a tutor for her daughter.

Stormy Daniels' lawyer offers $100,000 to identify man she says threatened her

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels revealed a sketch of a man she said threatened her to keep quiet about a relationship she alleges she had with U.S. President Donald Trump, while her lawyer offered a $100,000 reward for information about the man.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is fighting a 2016 non-disclosure agreement arranged by Trump`s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which she got $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, something the US president has denied.

During an appearance on the daytime ABC television talk show "The View" she was asked on Tuesday why she was speaking out.&nbsp

"I`m tired of being threatened," Daniels responded. "I`m done. I`m sorry, I`m done being bullied."

Daniels repeated her story, first related on CBS` "60 Minutes" last month, that she was on her way to a fitness class with her child when an unknown man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011. He warned her to "leave Trump alone. Forget the story", she said in that interview.

On Tuesday, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, asked the public for help identifying the man and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his identification.

The picture shows a lightly-bearded man in his 20s or 30s with backswept hair and wearing a hoodie. Daniels said she thought he looked like somebody`s husband and described him as "sort of handsome."

Trump`s lawyers are seeking at least $20 million in damages from Daniels for multiple violations of a nondisclosure agreement.

Daniels appearance on the ABC show came a day after she attended a hearing in Manhattan federal court where Cohen sought to limit the ability of federal prosecutors to review the documents seized in April 9 raids on his home, office and hotel room.

The raids stem in part from a separate probe into possible collusion between Trump`s presidential campaign and Russia. A source familiar with the raids said the FBI agents were also looking for information on payments to Daniels among materials related to Cohen`s other business dealings.

Daniels acknowledged the publicity the case has brought her and said that, while she was making more money, her expenses were climbing as well. She has had to retain a team of bodyguards, as well as a tutor for her daughter.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is fighting a 2016 non-disclosure agreement arranged by Trump`s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which she got $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, something the US president has denied

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels revealed a sketch of a man she said threatened her to keep quiet about a relationship she alleges she had with U.S. President Donald Trump, while her lawyer offered a $100,000 reward for information about the man. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is fighting a 2016 non-disclosure agreement arranged by Trump`s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which she got $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, something the US president has denied. During an appearance on the daytime ABC television talk show "The View" she was asked on Tuesday why she was speaking out. "I`m tired of being threatened," Daniels responded. "I`m done. I`m sorry, I`m done being bullied." Daniels repeated her story, first related on CBS` "60 Minutes" last month, that she was on her way to a fitness class with her child when an unknown man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011. He warned her to "leave Trump alone. Forget the story", she said in that interview. On Tuesday, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, asked the public for help identifying the man and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his identification. The picture shows a lightly-bearded man in his 20s or 30s with backswept hair and wearing a hoodie. Daniels said she thought he looked like somebody`s husband and described him as "sort of handsome." Trump`s lawyers are seeking at least $20 million in damages from Daniels for multiple violations of a nondisclosure agreement. Daniels appearance on the ABC show came a day after she attended a hearing in Manhattan federal court where Cohen sought to limit the ability of federal prosecutors to review the documents seized in April 9 raids on his home, office and hotel room. The raids stem in part from a separate probe into possible collusion between Trump`s presidential campaign and Russia. A source familiar with the raids said the FBI agents were also looking for information on payments to Daniels among materials related to Cohen`s other business dealings. Daniels acknowledged the publicity the case has brought her and said that, while she was making more money, her expenses were climbing as well. She has had to retain a team of bodyguards, as well as a tutor for her daughter.

Stormy Daniels' lawyer offers $100,000 for info on man who threatened her

You must have heard what Donald Trump has been doing over the past few weeks or from the time he became US President i.e. taking crazy decisions in the name of 'Let's make America great again'. We understand that he wants to help the steel and aluminum industry, and therefore he's announced plans for protective tariffs, claiming that "Trade wars are good and easy to win". He is also correct when he says that this has been a problem for decades.

However, while he has the right intentions and he took the decision which also looks right as well, yet he made the mistake which most of us do by 'thinking only at the first level'.

First level thinking talks about not diving deeper into the issues and not understanding the implications of our actions but taking the decisions on their face value. We will talk more about first order thinking, but let's first talk about 'US's tryst with Protectionism'.

Let's go back to the Second World War. During that era the US used to produce three-fourth of the steel worldwide and it was felt that the same situation will continue for a long time. However, after the World War, the US kept working with its old technologies and Europe & other countries moved to newer technologies which were 50 per cent cheaper than that employed by the US.

In 1959, the Congress felt that the US is losing its dominance and called for a meeting of all the big steel barons who said, "We have examined the production capabilities of other countries though they don't match up with the capabilities of the US firm."

In 1960s they finally realised their mistake, but were too late as the countries from Europe and other parts of the world had started dominating the steel space. But, there is a twist in the story. In the 1960s, a man named Ken Iverson started a steel business that became Nucor. Iverson started making steel using the electric arc process, building the first American facility in 1969. It began growing at an exponential rate, competing rather effectively with foreign producers, to say nothing of other American producers.

As other steel producers begged for protectionist policy, Iverson mocked the idea. In an interview in 1986, Iverson noted that protectionist measures already instituted hadn't had the desired effect. "As soon as prices began to rise and the steel companies began to be profitable, they stopped modernising," he said. "It's only under intense competitive pressure - both internally from the mini-mills, and externally from the Japanese and the Koreans - that the big steel companies have been forced to modernise."

Nucor has since become the nation's largest domestic steel producer. Yet, it has started to act like the Big Old Steel boys of US. After Trump announced the tariff, Nucor's CEO vigorously applauded the move, claiming it was long overdue.

But before Nucor joins the protectionist parade, it might want to recall the words of Iverson, who died in 2002, when his company was on the way to the top: "Unless you're under intense competitive pressure and it becomes a question of the survival of the business to do it, you're just going to lapse back into your old ways. There's no other answer."

The moral of the story is that if Trump had gone a bit deeper into the issue and looked at the trade restrictions imposed by his predecessors George W Bush and Barack Obama, he would have realised that trade restrictions end up doing more harm than good. Lightly informed economic adventurism by the US President is not good for the US and it is not good for the world.

Coming back to the second-order thinking, Howard Marks explains the concept as "First-level thinking is simplistic and superficial, and just about everyone can do it (a bad sign for anything involving an attempt at superiority). All the first-level thinker needs is an opinion about the future, as in 'The outlook for the company is favourable, meaning the stock will go up'. Second-level thinking is deep, complex and convoluted."

Second-order thinkers take into account a lot of what we put into our decision journals. Things like what are the key variables and how do they interact? Where is the leverage? And if I take this action, what happens next?

First-order thinkers look for things that are simple, easy, and defendable. They fail to realise that they are dealing with complex systems, or if they do realise it, they mistake cause-and-effect relationships. They are incapable of thinking in terms of second and subsequent steps. And, more fundamentally, they are generally unaware of the need to think in terms of second steps.

Second-order thinkers, on the other hand, think in terms of interactions, time, and system dynamics. They are aware of iatrogenics (when a treatment causes more harm than benefit) and our bias toward intervention.

First-level thinkers all look alike. They think the same way other first-level thinkers do, and they usually reach the same conclusions. This is where things get interesting. Extraordinary performance comes from being different. It must be that way. Of course, below average performance comes from being different, too - on the downside. But the road to out-thinking people can't come from first-order thinking. It must come from second-order thinking.

So next time you need to think about something, do one of two things: First, start digging below the surface of people's opinions and ask them why they think what they think. And second, ask them to take the other side of the argument.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

First-level thinkers all look alike. They think the same way other first-level thinkers do, and they usually reach the same conclusions.

You must have heard what Donald Trump has been doing over the past few weeks or from the time he became US President i.e. taking crazy decisions in the name of 'Let's make America great again'. We understand that he wants to help the steel and aluminum industry, and therefore he's announced plans for protective tariffs, claiming that "Trade wars are good and easy to win". He is also correct when he says that this has been a problem for decades. However, while he has the right intentions and he took the decision which also looks right as well, yet he made the mistake which most of us do by 'thinking only at the first level'. First level thinking talks about not diving deeper into the issues and not understanding the implications of our actions but taking the decisions on their face value. We will talk more about first order thinking, but let's first talk about 'US's tryst with Protectionism'. Let's go back to the Second World War. During that era the US used to produce three-fourth of the steel worldwide and it was felt that the same situation will continue for a long time. However, after the World War, the US kept working with its old technologies and Europe & other countries moved to newer technologies which were 50 per cent cheaper than that employed by the US. In 1959, the Congress felt that the US is losing its dominance and called for a meeting of all the big steel barons who said, "We have examined the production capabilities of other countries though they don't match up with the capabilities of the US firm." In 1960s they finally realised their mistake, but were too late as the countries from Europe and other parts of the world had started dominating the steel space. But, there is a twist in the story. In the 1960s, a man named Ken Iverson started a steel business that became Nucor. Iverson started making steel using the electric arc process, building the first American facility in 1969. It began growing at an exponential rate, competing rather effectively with foreign producers, to say nothing of other American producers. As other steel producers begged for protectionist policy, Iverson mocked the idea. In an interview in 1986, Iverson noted that protectionist measures already instituted hadn't had the desired effect. "As soon as prices began to rise and the steel companies began to be profitable, they stopped modernising," he said. "It's only under intense competitive pressure - both internally from the mini-mills, and externally from the Japanese and the Koreans - that the big steel companies have been forced to modernise." Nucor has since become the nation's largest domestic steel producer. Yet, it has started to act like the Big Old Steel boys of US. After Trump announced the tariff, Nucor's CEO vigorously applauded the move, claiming it was long overdue. But before Nucor joins the protectionist parade, it might want to recall the words of Iverson, who died in 2002, when his company was on the way to the top: "Unless you're under intense competitive pressure and it becomes a question of the survival of the business to do it, you're just going to lapse back into your old ways. There's no other answer." The moral of the story is that if Trump had gone a bit deeper into the issue and looked at the trade restrictions imposed by his predecessors George W Bush and Barack Obama, he would have realised that trade restrictions end up doing more harm than good. Lightly informed economic adventurism by the US President is not good for the US and it is not good for the world. Coming back to the second-order thinking, Howard Marks explains the concept as "First-level thinking is simplistic and superficial, and just about everyone can do it (a bad sign for anything involving an attempt at superiority). All the first-level thinker needs is an opinion about the future, as in 'The outlook for the company is favourable, meaning the stock will go up'. Second-level thinking is deep, complex and convoluted." Second-order thinkers take into account a lot of what we put into our decision journals. Things like what are the key variables and how do they interact? Where is the leverage? And if I take this action, what happens next? First-order thinkers look for things that are simple, easy, and defendable. They fail to realise that they are dealing with complex systems, or if they do realise it, they mistake cause-and-effect relationships. They are incapable of thinking in terms of second and subsequent steps. And, more fundamentally, they are generally unaware of the need to think in terms of second steps. Second-order thinkers, on the other hand, think in terms of interactions, time, and system dynamics. They are aware of iatrogenics (when a treatment causes more harm than benefit) and our bias toward intervention. First-level thinkers all look alike. They think the same way other first-level thinkers do, and they usually reach the same conclusions. This is where things get interesting. Extraordinary performance comes from being different. It must be that way. Of course, below average performance comes from being different, too - on the downside. But the road to out-thinking people can't come from first-order thinking. It must come from second-order thinking. So next time you need to think about something, do one of two things: First, start digging below the surface of people's opinions and ask them why they think what they think. And second, ask them to take the other side of the argument. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Donald Trump and the second order thinking

US President Donald Trump defended his "mission accomplished" statement earlier today. Trump, on Saturday, took to Twitter and praised Western air strikes against the Syrian government as "perfectly executed", and added "Mission Accomplished".

"A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!" read Trump's tweet.

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The Syrian raid was so perfectly carried out, with such precision, that the only way the Fake News Media could demean was by my use of the term “Mission Accomplished.” I knew they would seize on this but felt it is such a great Military term, it should be brought back. Use often!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/985492862958698497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The US President today clarified saying, "I knew they would seize on this but felt it is such a great Military term, it should be brought back. Use often!"

"The Syrian raid was so perfectly carried out, with such precision, that the only way the Fake News Media could demean was by my use of the term 'Mission Accomplished'" Trump said on Twitter.

The phrase is associated with President George W. Bush, who used it in 2003 during the Iraq war but which dogged him for the rest of his presidency.

(With inputs from Reuters)&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

The phrase is associated with President George W. Bush, who used it in 2003 during the Iraq war

US President Donald Trump defended his "mission accomplished" statement earlier today. Trump, on Saturday, took to Twitter and praised Western air strikes against the Syrian government as "perfectly executed", and added "Mission Accomplished". "A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!" read Trump's tweet. The Syrian raid was so perfectly carried out, with such precision, that the only way the Fake News Media could demean was by my use of the term “Mission Accomplished.” I knew they would seize on this but felt it is such a great Military term, it should be brought back. Use often! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2018 × The US President today clarified saying, "I knew they would seize on this but felt it is such a great Military term, it should be brought back. Use often!" "The Syrian raid was so perfectly carried out, with such precision, that the only way the Fake News Media could demean was by my use of the term 'Mission Accomplished'" Trump said on Twitter. The phrase is associated with President George W. Bush, who used it in 2003 during the Iraq war but which dogged him for the rest of his presidency. (With inputs from Reuters)

Syria strikes: Trump defends 'mission accomplished' statement, says 'great military term'

US&nbspPresident Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer whose offices and home were raided last week will ask a judge to limit federal prosecutors'&nbspability to review seized documents at a hearing which adult film star Stormy Daniels is expected to attend.

Michael Cohen, who prosecutors revealed last week is under criminal investigation, has asked the court to give his own lawyers the first look at the seized materials so they can identify documents that are protected by attorney-client privilege.&nbsp

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, plans to attend Monday's hearing, her lawyer Michael Avenatti, said on Sunday. She is engaged in a legal battle with Cohen over a $130,000 agreement for her to keep quiet about a 2006 sexual encounter she says she had with Trump.

In a court filing Sunday night, lawyers for Trump asked to be allowed to review documents that in any way relate to the president.&nbsp

Lawyers for Cohen appeared without their client at a hearing Friday before US&nbspDistrict Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan federal court. The judge ordered that Cohen himself be present Monday so that he could answer questions about his clients.

In a court filing Monday morning, Cohen's lawyers argued that Cohen should not be required to turn over the names. They said that Cohen had at least 10 clients in 2017 and 2018, and that he did "traditional legal tasks" for three of them, including

Trump, Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy and a third who asked not to be named.

Cohen arranged a $1.6-million payment to secure the silence of a former Playboy model who said she became pregnant by Broidy, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

Cohen did not respond to a request for comment.&nbsp

Last week's raids came after a "months-long" investigation of possible crimes related largely to Cohen`s business dealings, rather than his work as a lawyer, prosecutors said in a court filing on Friday.

A source familiar with the raids said last week that the information FBI agents were seeking included information about payments to Daniels.&nbsp

The raids were based partly on a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller who is investigating possible collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, according to court filings.

Trump has called Mueller's probe a "witch hunt" and denied any collusion.

Todd Harrison, a lawyer for Cohen, said at Friday`s hearing that "thousands" of documents seized were likely privileged, and that many related to clients other than Trump.

Prosecutors have asked that the seized documents be reviewed for attorney-client privilege by a "filter team" of lawyers within their own office, who would be walled off from the main prosecution team. The use of filter teams is standard in federal criminal investigations.

Wood ordered Cohen`s lawyers to be ready with a list of Cohen`s clients on Monday to support their argument.

Wood is also expected to hear from a lawyer representing Trump. Joanna Hendon appeared for the president at Friday`s hearing, telling Wood that Trump had "an acute interest" in the handling of the seized materials. She argued in Sunday`s court filing that a Chinese wall in the prosecutor`s office was not enough in the "highly politicized, even fevered, atmosphere" around the probe.

Avenatti, Daniels'&nbsplawyer, said at Friday`s hearing that he had "every reason to believe" that some documents seized from Cohen related to his client. Cohen has acknowledged paying Daniels $130,000 in 2016.&nbsp

Michael Cohen, who prosecutors revealed last week is under criminal investigation, has asked the court to give his own lawyers the first look at the seized materials so they can identify documents that are protected by attorney-client privilege

US&nbspPresident Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer whose offices and home were raided last week will ask a judge to limit federal prosecutors'&nbspability to review seized documents at a hearing which adult film star Stormy Daniels is expected to attend. Michael Cohen, who prosecutors revealed last week is under criminal investigation, has asked the court to give his own lawyers the first look at the seized materials so they can identify documents that are protected by attorney-client privilege. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, plans to attend Monday's hearing, her lawyer Michael Avenatti, said on Sunday. She is engaged in a legal battle with Cohen over a $130,000 agreement for her to keep quiet about a 2006 sexual encounter she says she had with Trump. In a court filing Sunday night, lawyers for Trump asked to be allowed to review documents that in any way relate to the president. Lawyers for Cohen appeared without their client at a hearing Friday before US&nbspDistrict Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan federal court. The judge ordered that Cohen himself be present Monday so that he could answer questions about his clients. In a court filing Monday morning, Cohen's lawyers argued that Cohen should not be required to turn over the names. They said that Cohen had at least 10 clients in 2017 and 2018, and that he did "traditional legal tasks" for three of them, including Trump, Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy and a third who asked not to be named. Cohen arranged a $1.6-million payment to secure the silence of a former Playboy model who said she became pregnant by Broidy, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. Cohen did not respond to a request for comment. Last week's raids came after a "months-long" investigation of possible crimes related largely to Cohen`s business dealings, rather than his work as a lawyer, prosecutors said in a court filing on Friday. A source familiar with the raids said last week that the information FBI agents were seeking included information about payments to Daniels. The raids were based partly on a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller who is investigating possible collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, according to court filings. Trump has called Mueller's probe a "witch hunt" and denied any collusion. Todd Harrison, a lawyer for Cohen, said at Friday`s hearing that "thousands" of documents seized were likely privileged, and that many related to clients other than Trump. Prosecutors have asked that the seized documents be reviewed for attorney-client privilege by a "filter team" of lawyers within their own office, who would be walled off from the main prosecution team. The use of filter teams is standard in federal criminal investigations. Wood ordered Cohen`s lawyers to be ready with a list of Cohen`s clients on Monday to support their argument. Wood is also expected to hear from a lawyer representing Trump. Joanna Hendon appeared for the president at Friday`s hearing, telling Wood that Trump had "an acute interest" in the handling of the seized materials. She argued in Sunday`s court filing that a Chinese wall in the prosecutor`s office was not enough in the "highly politicized, even fevered, atmosphere" around the probe. Avenatti, Daniels'&nbsplawyer, said at Friday`s hearing that he had "every reason to believe" that some documents seized from Cohen related to his client. Cohen has acknowledged paying Daniels $130,000 in 2016.

Trump lawyer Cohen expected at court hearing, Stormy Daniels to attend

Former FBI director James Comey said in an ABC News interview on Sunday that US&nbsp;President Donald Trump is a dangerous, "morally unfit" leader doing "tremendous damage" to institutional norms.

Comey, fired by Trump in May last year, was worried the president may be open to blackmail by Russia given claims he was present when prostitutes urinated on each other during a 2013 Moscow visit.

Comey's firing came as the Federal Bureau of Investigation was probing possible connections between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia's meddling in the American elections.

Russia has denied interfering in the election and Trump has denied any collusion or improper activity.

Comey said in the exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, which aired at 10 p.m. on Sunday (0200 GMT on Monday), that it is "possible, but I don't know" whether Russia has evidence to back up the allegations about Trump's Moscow trip.

"A person ... who talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person's not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds. And that's not a policy statement," Comey said.

"He is morally unfit to be president," he added.

Comey has a tell-all book, "Higher Loyalty," due out on Tuesday.

The book's imminent release - and the slated ABC News interview - prompted Trump to hurl a new set of insults at Comey earlier on Sunday, challenging accusations made in the book, and insisting that he never pressed Comey to be loyal to him.

"Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!" Trump wrote early on Sunday in one of five Twitter posts aimed directly at Comey.

Reuters and other news outlets have obtained copies of Comey's book before its formal release. In it, Comey wrote that Trump, in a private meeting, pressed the then-FBI director for his loyalty.

Comey told ABC News that the title of the book came from a "bizarre conversation" he had with Trump at the White House in January 2017 shortly after his inauguration.

"He asked for my loyalty personally as the FBI. director. My loyalty's supposed to be to the American people and to the institution," Comey said in the interview.

The FBI has long tried to operate as an independent law enforcement agency.

"I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His "memos" are self serving and FAKE!" Trump said on Twitter.

US&nbsp;House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press," expressed qualified support for Comey. Asked whether Comey was a man of integrity, the Republican speaker said: "As far as I know," but added that he did not know him well.

Asked about Trump's use last week of the words "slime ball" to describe Comey, Ryan said: "I don't use words like that."

Comey, fired by Trump in May last year, was worried the president may be open to blackmail by Russia given claims he was present when prostitutes urinated on each other during a 2013 Moscow visit

Former FBI director James Comey said in an ABC News interview on Sunday that US President Donald Trump is a dangerous, "morally unfit" leader doing "tremendous damage" to institutional norms. Comey, fired by Trump in May last year, was worried the president may be open to blackmail by Russia given claims he was present when prostitutes urinated on each other during a 2013 Moscow visit. Comey's firing came as the Federal Bureau of Investigation was probing possible connections between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia's meddling in the American elections. Russia has denied interfering in the election and Trump has denied any collusion or improper activity. Comey said in the exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, which aired at 10 p.m. on Sunday (0200 GMT on Monday), that it is "possible, but I don't know" whether Russia has evidence to back up the allegations about Trump's Moscow trip. "A person ... who talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person's not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds. And that's not a policy statement," Comey said. "He is morally unfit to be president," he added. Comey has a tell-all book, "Higher Loyalty," due out on Tuesday. The book's imminent release - and the slated ABC News interview - prompted Trump to hurl a new set of insults at Comey earlier on Sunday, challenging accusations made in the book, and insisting that he never pressed Comey to be loyal to him. "Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!" Trump wrote early on Sunday in one of five Twitter posts aimed directly at Comey. Reuters and other news outlets have obtained copies of Comey's book before its formal release. In it, Comey wrote that Trump, in a private meeting, pressed the then-FBI director for his loyalty. Comey told ABC News that the title of the book came from a "bizarre conversation" he had with Trump at the White House in January 2017 shortly after his inauguration. "He asked for my loyalty personally as the FBI. director. My loyalty's supposed to be to the American people and to the institution," Comey said in the interview. The FBI has long tried to operate as an independent law enforcement agency. "I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty. I hardly even knew this guy. Just another of his many lies. His "memos" are self serving and FAKE!" Trump said on Twitter. US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press," expressed qualified support for Comey. Asked whether Comey was a man of integrity, the Republican speaker said: "As far as I know," but added that he did not know him well. Asked about Trump's use last week of the words "slime ball" to describe Comey, Ryan said: "I don't use words like that."

Trump 'morally unfit', doing 'tremendous damage', fired FBI director Comey says in much-awaited interview

*by&nbsp;Mehmet Ozalp

A head-spinning series of events in the past few weeks have taken us from the United States pulling out of Syria, to analysts predicting the beginning of a third world war.

What has really happened in Syria, what are the ramifications of the joint strike from the US, France and Britain, and what can we expect from the key players?

Certainly, the mess in Syria and heightened tensions in the Middle East make us all fear an impending world war, especially when both the Russian and US presidents engage in a round of chest-thumping. Despite this, there is no certainty that a world war will be triggered from the Syrian conflict.

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So proud of our great Military which will soon be, after the spending of billions of fully approved dollars, the finest that our Country has ever had. There won’t be anything, or anyone, even close!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/985133017256660995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The latest chemical attack, allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian government, followed by the US, British, French retaliation, is really about aligning an unpredictable Trump with the Syria policy of the state and military establishment in Washington.

Why the strikes?

A world power like the US is seldom reactive. It often uses events as key moments to implement new policies or shift policies. An apparent correlation of events with policy implementation justifies the policy in the eyes of internal constituents and the wider international community.

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Russia has followed an open and consistent policy: declare Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime the legitimate government of Syria, always support his regime to ensure it doesn’t collapse, and morally justify its involvement as a struggle against terrorism. The unspoken policy is to build up a challenge to Western dominance over not only the Middle East but geopolitical world order.

Yet, the US, and by extension, Western policy on Syria, was tentative, unclear and seemed to change course over the seven-year conflict.

Under Barack Obama’s administration, the US consistently stayed out of direct involvement in the Syrian conflict. Busy with the Iraq exit, Obama missed the window of diplomatic opportunity in the crucial early months of the Syrian uprising in 2011. When violence started, Obama elected to provide limited military support to opposition groups, hoping they could muster enough power to dismantle Assad.

The Obama administration shifted its policy after a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 prompted it to push for a United Nations resolution demanding the destruction of chemical stockpiles. This, in turn, gave impetus to peace talks in Geneva. Apparently, the stockpiles were not destroyed, as we have seen more chemical attacks.

Obama admitted his strategy failed, as the "US was muscled out of Syria” by an increasingly bold Russian President Vladimir Putin. His support allowed Assad to gain the upper hand in Syria with the fall of Aleppo in December 2016. Efforts to make progress in the Geneva talks were continually stalled. The parties failed to make any meaningful progress even as late as 2017.

In the early months of his presidency, the expectation was that Trump would change the US policy on Syria. It was uncertain what trajectory it would take, and when it would come to pass.

Not much happened until yet another chemical-gas attack by Assad in April 2017. The US responded with a massive missile attack, taking out 20% of Assad’s air force. The result was that the Trump administration committed to a more active involvement in Syria and the complete dismantling of the Islamic State presence in the country, but not necessarily the removal of Assad.

It is now apparent there was a fundamental difference between Trump and the key people in his administration in their understanding of the US’ Syria policy.

For Trump, it was always about eliminating IS. On April 3, he announced that the US’ primary mission in Syria was “getting rid of ISIS”. Since this had now been completed, he could bring the troops home.

Yet, in December 2017, Defence Secretary James Mattis said the US would continue its presence in Syria as a “stabilising force” beyond IS.

In January 2018, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed the US would stay in Syria beyond IS, adding that the continued US presence aimed to prevent Iranian and Assad forces regaining territory “liberated with help from the United States”.

So, Trump’s withdrawal intentions, or rather the public announcement, came as a surprise to his own administration as well as the international community. In response, the US special envoy for the global coalition against IS, Brett McGurk, said: "We are in Syria to fight ISIS. That is our mission, and our mission isn’t over, and we are going to complete that mission."

Other officials from the US administration and military made conflicting statements.

Trump’s withdrawal announcement opened the ground for other players to assert their plans. On April 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey held a summit in Turkey, at which Putin announced: "We have agreed to expand the entire range of our trilateral cooperation in Syria."

The trio’s plan included an intensified Turkish operation in northern Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed “to clear all terror groups from the Syrian border, including the YPG,” the Kurdish military force that was backed by the US in its bid to eradicate IS from Syria.

It seemed Syria would be left to Russia, Iran, Turkey and Assad. Until, of course, the most recent chemical attack in Douma, a suburb near Damascus, on April 7. The attack was blamed on the Assad government even though it vehemently denied it, and there were allegations of rebel involvement.

Importantly, the chemical attack conveniently served the faction in the US administration advocating for a greater involvement in Syria. Their arguments pushed Trump towards retaliation. In a matter of days, Trump went from vowing withdrawal from Syria to saying they have a “big price to pay”.

A military response in the form of a missile attack was inevitable, and so it took place on April 13, when the US and its allies, Britain and France, made “precision missile strikes against the Syrian government”. The six-day delay was really to gain international support for the attack so that it did not appear to be a showdown between Russia and the US.

Where to from here?

The most recent events in Syria were really about aligning Trump’s understanding of Syrian policy with that of the state and military establishment. The policy is to stay in Syria beyond IS, preventing its revival and preventing Iranian and Assad forces from regaining territory.

It is unlikely there will be any other military strikes by the US and its allies anytime soon. There are two possible wild cards though – Trump’s unpredictability and a possible Russian retaliation.

Elements within the US administration in favour of continued US involvement in Syria will have to keep Trump calm – give him reasons why he should continue committing to Syria while preventing a direct Russian-US confrontation. Building a coalition with France and Britain prior to the missile retaliation served this purpose. It gave Russia the impression that the matter was a concern with the international community, rather than just the US.

Trump’s exaggerating nature and bombastic language in his tweets run the risk of escalating the situation. But they also help contain Russia, which is always unsure what Trump may say and do next.

A Russian response beyond condemnation is unlikely. Putin recently won a landslide victory in the March presidential elections. He is in no hurry to thump his chest into an all-out brawl with the US due to internal politics.

Furthermore, Russia is already in a diplomatic crisis over the assassination attempt of a former spy and his daughter with a nerve agent in London.

The US, Britain and more than a dozen European countries expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation. Putin is already quite vulnerable in the international scene. He will not enter a fight he is not certain to win.

While the US and its allies may feel morally justified in attacking the Assad government targets, any such intervention is unlikely to help the people of Syria. They will continue to be collateral damage caught in the crossfire of geopolitics.

*Mehmet Ozalp, Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University

(This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/further-strikes-on-syria-unlikely-but-trump-is-always-the-wild-card-94814">original article</a>.)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

A head-spinning series of events in the past few weeks have taken us from the United States pulling out of Syria, to analysts predicting the beginning of a third world war

*by Mehmet Ozalp A head-spinning series of events in the past few weeks have taken us from the United States pulling out of Syria, to analysts predicting the beginning of a third world war. What has really happened in Syria, what are the ramifications of the joint strike from the US, France and Britain, and what can we expect from the key players? Certainly, the mess in Syria and heightened tensions in the Middle East make us all fear an impending world war, especially when both the Russian and US presidents engage in a round of chest-thumping. Despite this, there is no certainty that a world war will be triggered from the Syrian conflict. So proud of our great Military which will soon be, after the spending of billions of fully approved dollars, the finest that our Country has ever had. There won’t be anything, or anyone, even close! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2018 × The latest chemical attack, allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian government, followed by the US, British, French retaliation, is really about aligning an unpredictable Trump with the Syria policy of the state and military establishment in Washington. Why the strikes? A world power like the US is seldom reactive. It often uses events as key moments to implement new policies or shift policies. An apparent correlation of events with policy implementation justifies the policy in the eyes of internal constituents and the wider international community. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Russia has followed an open and consistent policy: declare Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime the legitimate government of Syria, always support his regime to ensure it doesn’t collapse, and morally justify its involvement as a struggle against terrorism. The unspoken policy is to build up a challenge to Western dominance over not only the Middle East but geopolitical world order. Yet, the US, and by extension, Western policy on Syria, was tentative, unclear and seemed to change course over the seven-year conflict. Under Barack Obama’s administration, the US consistently stayed out of direct involvement in the Syrian conflict. Busy with the Iraq exit, Obama missed the window of diplomatic opportunity in the crucial early months of the Syrian uprising in 2011. When violence started, Obama elected to provide limited military support to opposition groups, hoping they could muster enough power to dismantle Assad. The Obama administration shifted its policy after a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 prompted it to push for a United Nations resolution demanding the destruction of chemical stockpiles. This, in turn, gave impetus to peace talks in Geneva. Apparently, the stockpiles were not destroyed, as we have seen more chemical attacks. Obama admitted his strategy failed, as the "US was muscled out of Syria” by an increasingly bold Russian President Vladimir Putin. His support allowed Assad to gain the upper hand in Syria with the fall of Aleppo in December 2016. Efforts to make progress in the Geneva talks were continually stalled. The parties failed to make any meaningful progress even as late as 2017. In the early months of his presidency, the expectation was that Trump would change the US policy on Syria. It was uncertain what trajectory it would take, and when it would come to pass. Not much happened until yet another chemical-gas attack by Assad in April 2017. The US responded with a massive missile attack, taking out 20% of Assad’s air force. The result was that the Trump administration committed to a more active involvement in Syria and the complete dismantling of the Islamic State presence in the country, but not necessarily the removal of Assad. It is now apparent there was a fundamental difference between Trump and the key people in his administration in their understanding of the US’ Syria policy. For Trump, it was always about eliminating IS. On April 3, he announced that the US’ primary mission in Syria was “getting rid of ISIS”. Since this had now been completed, he could bring the troops home. Yet, in December 2017, Defence Secretary James Mattis said the US would continue its presence in Syria as a “stabilising force” beyond IS. In January 2018, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed the US would stay in Syria beyond IS, adding that the continued US presence aimed to prevent Iranian and Assad forces regaining territory “liberated with help from the United States”. So, Trump’s withdrawal intentions, or rather the public announcement, came as a surprise to his own administration as well as the international community. In response, the US special envoy for the global coalition against IS, Brett McGurk, said: "We are in Syria to fight ISIS. That is our mission, and our mission isn’t over, and we are going to complete that mission." Other officials from the US administration and military made conflicting statements. Trump’s withdrawal announcement opened the ground for other players to assert their plans. On April 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey held a summit in Turkey, at which Putin announced: "We have agreed to expand the entire range of our trilateral cooperation in Syria." The trio’s plan included an intensified Turkish operation in northern Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed “to clear all terror groups from the Syrian border, including the YPG,” the Kurdish military force that was backed by the US in its bid to eradicate IS from Syria. It seemed Syria would be left to Russia, Iran, Turkey and Assad. Until, of course, the most recent chemical attack in Douma, a suburb near Damascus, on April 7. The attack was blamed on the Assad government even though it vehemently denied it, and there were allegations of rebel involvement. Importantly, the chemical attack conveniently served the faction in the US administration advocating for a greater involvement in Syria. Their arguments pushed Trump towards retaliation. In a matter of days, Trump went from vowing withdrawal from Syria to saying they have a “big price to pay”. A military response in the form of a missile attack was inevitable, and so it took place on April 13, when the US and its allies, Britain and France, made “precision missile strikes against the Syrian government”. The six-day delay was really to gain international support for the attack so that it did not appear to be a showdown between Russia and the US. Where to from here? The most recent events in Syria were really about aligning Trump’s understanding of Syrian policy with that of the state and military establishment. The policy is to stay in Syria beyond IS, preventing its revival and preventing Iranian and Assad forces from regaining territory. It is unlikely there will be any other military strikes by the US and its allies anytime soon. There are two possible wild cards though – Trump’s unpredictability and a possible Russian retaliation. Elements within the US administration in favour of continued US involvement in Syria will have to keep Trump calm – give him reasons why he should continue committing to Syria while preventing a direct Russian-US confrontation. Building a coalition with France and Britain prior to the missile retaliation served this purpose. It gave Russia the impression that the matter was a concern with the international community, rather than just the US. Trump’s exaggerating nature and bombastic language in his tweets run the risk of escalating the situation. But they also help contain Russia, which is always unsure what Trump may say and do next. A Russian response beyond condemnation is unlikely. Putin recently won a landslide victory in the March presidential elections. He is in no hurry to thump his chest into an all-out brawl with the US due to internal politics. Furthermore, Russia is already in a diplomatic crisis over the assassination attempt of a former spy and his daughter with a nerve agent in London. The US, Britain and more than a dozen European countries expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation. Putin is already quite vulnerable in the international scene. He will not enter a fight he is not certain to win. While the US and its allies may feel morally justified in attacking the Assad government targets, any such intervention is unlikely to help the people of Syria. They will continue to be collateral damage caught in the crossfire of geopolitics. *Mehmet Ozalp, Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Further strikes on Syria unlikely - but Trump is always the wild card

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump on Twitter praised Western air strikes against the Syrian government on Saturday as "perfectly executed", and added "Mission Accomplished".

"A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!" Trump said in a Twitter post.

Trump's message echoed the words of a banner that hung behind former President George W. Bush when he gave a speech in 2003 from the USS Abraham Lincoln, during the Iraq War.

That visual dogged Bush's presidency as the war dragged out, with worsening American casualties, for the remainder of his two terms in office.&nbsp;

<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FLYWyMHuSD8" width="560"></iframe>

'A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!' Trump said on Twitter

US President Donald Trump on Twitter praised Western air strikes against the Syrian government on Saturday as "perfectly executed", and added "Mission Accomplished". "A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!" Trump said in a Twitter post. Trump's message echoed the words of a banner that hung behind former President George W. Bush when he gave a speech in 2003 from the USS Abraham Lincoln, during the Iraq War. That visual dogged Bush's presidency as the war dragged out, with worsening American casualties, for the remainder of his two terms in office.

'Mission accomplished', tweets Trump. Says Syria strikes 'perfectly executed'

President Trump on Friday announced that he has approved military strikes in Syria against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The announcement follows a suspected chemical gas attack from the Assad regime on a rebel-held town near the Syrian capital last weekend.

Trump said a combined operation with France and Britain was underway and that they were prepared to sustain the response until Syria stopped its use of chemical weapons.

“A short time ago, I ordered the United States Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Trump said in a televised address from the White House.

A US official said the strikes were aimed at multiple targets and involved Tomahawk cruise missiles.

“These are not the actions of a man. They are crimes of a monster instead,” Trump said referring to Assad and his suspected role in the chemical weapons attacks.

“The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons,” Trump said.

The US president had sharply critical words for both Russia and Iran, which have backed Assad’s government.

“To Iran and to Russia, I ask, what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?” Trump said.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she had authorized British armed forces “to conduct co-ordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capability.”

The military action is not about intervening in Syria’s civil war or changing its government, she said.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Trump said a combined operation with France and Britain was underway.

President Trump on Friday announced that he has approved military strikes in Syria against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The announcement follows a suspected chemical gas attack from the Assad regime on a rebel-held town near the Syrian capital last weekend. Trump said a combined operation with France and Britain was underway and that they were prepared to sustain the response until Syria stopped its use of chemical weapons. “A short time ago, I ordered the United States Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Trump said in a televised address from the White House. A US official said the strikes were aimed at multiple targets and involved Tomahawk cruise missiles. “These are not the actions of a man. They are crimes of a monster instead,” Trump said referring to Assad and his suspected role in the chemical weapons attacks. “The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons,” Trump said. The US president had sharply critical words for both Russia and Iran, which have backed Assad’s government. “To Iran and to Russia, I ask, what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?” Trump said. British Prime Minister Theresa May said she had authorized British armed forces “to conduct co-ordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capability.” The military action is not about intervening in Syria’s civil war or changing its government, she said. (With inputs from Reuters)

US, UK and France launch combined strikes on Syria chemical sites

Trump said the purpose of a campaign of airstrikes in Syria is to "establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons."

Watch: US president Donald Trump orders strike on Syria in response to alleged chemical attack

Latin American leaders arrived in Lima on Friday for a summit that U.S. President Donald Trump decided not to attend, even though Washington hopes to use the gathering to counter China's rising influence in the region.

The official theme of this year's Summit of the Americas in the Peruvian capital, where heads of state from across the Western Hemisphere will meet through Saturday, is corruption. Several countries attending also plan to condemn Venezuela's planned presidential election next month.

But a heated trade dispute between the United States and China looms over the event.

Late on Thursday, US&nbspCommerce Secretary Wilbur Ross took aim at Beijing's growing trade ties with the region, saying Latin America benefited more from value-added exports to the United States than rising sales of raw materials to China.

Ross told a regional gathering of business leaders in Lima that Washington had no intention of ceding leadership in Latin America to "authoritarian states."

But leaders from Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and other countries will meet in Peru without Trump, after the White House said he decided to skip his first visit as president to Latin America to focus instead on the crisis in Syria.

In the opening speech at a joint business summit in Lima, Bolivia's left-leaning President Evo Morales said the days when foreign powers could dictate terms to Latin America were over.

"Many developing countries and transnational companies think the only thing that matters is making money," Morales said, calling instead for action on climate change. "The structural crisis of capitalism is threatening the survival of humanity itself."

Morales was the sole leftist Latin American president at the summit. Cuban President Raul Castro did not show up and host Peru uninvited Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro last month to pressure him to enact democratic reforms.

But even in the largely US-friendly and pro-business crowd in Lima, many criticized Trump's approach to foreign policy and trade.

"Trump's plan seems to be to ensure the U.S. is no longer the world's leader," Gustavo Grobocopatel, chief executive of Argentine agricultural group Grupo Los Grobo S.A., told Reuters.

Ross said on Thursday it was too early to write off Trump. "This is an administration you should judge by its end results, not by theories about what may be the results," he told reporters.

In his speech, Ross urged Latin American countries to do more to reduce tariffs and red tape, saying regional economies would benefit by exporting more manufactured goods to the United States.

In the past week, Trump has threatened to slap more tariffs on Chinese goods, said he was in no hurry to reach a deal on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and ordered his advisors to study rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Trump withdrew the United States from the TPP in one of his first acts as president. Former President Barack Obama had pitched the agreement as a way to give the United States an edge over China in a fast-growing region that includes large swaths of Latin America.

So far, it has been unclear what might replace it.

On Thursday, Trump's top trade official Robert Lighthizer also cancelled his trip to Peru. US&nbspVice President Mike Pence, who will stand in for Trump at the summit, scheduled meetings that did not include a one-on-one with Mexico's president, dimming hopes progress might be made on NAFTA.

"No one wants to do bilateral trade deals with the United States, and Trump had no Plan B," said Robert Manning, an Asia expert and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Vizcarra will meet one-on-one with Pence on Friday.

In a diplomatic blunder for the Trump administration, the White House initially said Pence would be dining with Peru's disgraced former leader, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, instead of current President Martin Vizcarra.

The White House corrected the error on Friday.

The official theme of this year's Summit of the Americas in the Peruvian capital is corruption.

Latin American leaders arrived in Lima on Friday for a summit that U.S. President Donald Trump decided not to attend, even though Washington hopes to use the gathering to counter China's rising influence in the region. The official theme of this year's Summit of the Americas in the Peruvian capital, where heads of state from across the Western Hemisphere will meet through Saturday, is corruption. Several countries attending also plan to condemn Venezuela's planned presidential election next month. But a heated trade dispute between the United States and China looms over the event. Late on Thursday, US&nbspCommerce Secretary Wilbur Ross took aim at Beijing's growing trade ties with the region, saying Latin America benefited more from value-added exports to the United States than rising sales of raw materials to China. Ross told a regional gathering of business leaders in Lima that Washington had no intention of ceding leadership in Latin America to "authoritarian states." But leaders from Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and other countries will meet in Peru without Trump, after the White House said he decided to skip his first visit as president to Latin America to focus instead on the crisis in Syria. In the opening speech at a joint business summit in Lima, Bolivia's left-leaning President Evo Morales said the days when foreign powers could dictate terms to Latin America were over. "Many developing countries and transnational companies think the only thing that matters is making money," Morales said, calling instead for action on climate change. "The structural crisis of capitalism is threatening the survival of humanity itself." Morales was the sole leftist Latin American president at the summit. Cuban President Raul Castro did not show up and host Peru uninvited Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro last month to pressure him to enact democratic reforms. But even in the largely US-friendly and pro-business crowd in Lima, many criticized Trump's approach to foreign policy and trade. "Trump's plan seems to be to ensure the U.S. is no longer the world's leader," Gustavo Grobocopatel, chief executive of Argentine agricultural group Grupo Los Grobo S.A., told Reuters. Ross said on Thursday it was too early to write off Trump. "This is an administration you should judge by its end results, not by theories about what may be the results," he told reporters. In his speech, Ross urged Latin American countries to do more to reduce tariffs and red tape, saying regional economies would benefit by exporting more manufactured goods to the United States. In the past week, Trump has threatened to slap more tariffs on Chinese goods, said he was in no hurry to reach a deal on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and ordered his advisors to study rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trump withdrew the United States from the TPP in one of his first acts as president. Former President Barack Obama had pitched the agreement as a way to give the United States an edge over China in a fast-growing region that includes large swaths of Latin America. So far, it has been unclear what might replace it. On Thursday, Trump's top trade official Robert Lighthizer also cancelled his trip to Peru. US&nbspVice President Mike Pence, who will stand in for Trump at the summit, scheduled meetings that did not include a one-on-one with Mexico's president, dimming hopes progress might be made on NAFTA. "No one wants to do bilateral trade deals with the United States, and Trump had no Plan B," said Robert Manning, an Asia expert and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Vizcarra will meet one-on-one with Pence on Friday. In a diplomatic blunder for the Trump administration, the White House initially said Pence would be dining with Peru's disgraced former leader, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, instead of current President Martin Vizcarra. The White House corrected the error on Friday.

US seeks to outshine China at Latam summit, without Trump

The United States President Donald Trump blasted former FBI director James Comey after the latter called him ''mob boss' in his forthcoming memoir <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/in-book-comey-compares-president-trump-to-mob-boss-report-130212">&nbsp;"A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies & Leadership"</a>.

The book that paints an unflattering portrait of Donald Trump is expected to be released by Comey next week.

Trump launched a Twitter attack after Washington Post and The Guardian published excerpts from the book.&nbsp;

In a tweet, Trump called Comey a proven LEAKER & LIAR. &nbsp;

''James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....,'' Trump tweeted.

In another tweet, he said ''....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!.''&nbsp;

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James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984763579210633216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984767560494313472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

The book that paints an unflattering portrait of Donald Trump is expected to be released by Comey next week

The United States President Donald Trump blasted former FBI director James Comey after the latter called him ''mob boss' in his forthcoming memoir "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies & Leadership". The book that paints an unflattering portrait of Donald Trump is expected to be released by Comey next week. Trump launched a Twitter attack after Washington Post and The Guardian published excerpts from the book. In a tweet, Trump called Comey a proven LEAKER & LIAR. ''James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....,'' Trump tweeted. In another tweet, he said ''....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!.'' James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2018 × ....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2018 ×

Trump blasts 'slimeball' Comey for calling him mob boss in new book

US&nbspPresident Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is seeking a temporary restraining order regarding searches of Cohen's home and office by FBI agents on Monday, a Justice Department spokesman said on Friday.

Such an order would be sought to stop the government from using seized materials, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

A hearing on the searches has been set for 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) in a Manhattan federal court, the courthouse said.

The raids followed a referral by US&nbspSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections, a probe that has expanded to include looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.

Monday's raid infuriated Trump, who has called the special counsel investigation a "witch hunt." After the searches, he stepped up attacks against Mueller's probe before saying on Thursday that he was cooperating with the authorities.

Both Trump and Moscow deny any wrongdoing.

When reached by phone, a lawyer for Cohen was not immediately available for a request to comment.

A hearing on the searches has been set for 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) in a Manhattan federal court, the courthouse said.

US&nbspPresident Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is seeking a temporary restraining order regarding searches of Cohen's home and office by FBI agents on Monday, a Justice Department spokesman said on Friday. Such an order would be sought to stop the government from using seized materials, according to a person familiar with the investigation. A hearing on the searches has been set for 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) in a Manhattan federal court, the courthouse said. The raids followed a referral by US&nbspSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections, a probe that has expanded to include looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow. Monday's raid infuriated Trump, who has called the special counsel investigation a "witch hunt." After the searches, he stepped up attacks against Mueller's probe before saying on Thursday that he was cooperating with the authorities. Both Trump and Moscow deny any wrongdoing. When reached by phone, a lawyer for Cohen was not immediately available for a request to comment.

Trump lawyer tries to prevent use of materials found in FBI raid

HEARING BEFORE THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE

April 11, 2018

Testimony of Mark Zuckerberg

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Facebook

I. INTRODUCTION 
&nbsp

Chairman Walden, Ranking Member Pallone, and Members of the Committee,

We face a number of important issues around privacy, safety, and democracy, and you will rightfully have some hard questions for me to answer. Before I talk about the steps we’re taking to address them, I want to talk about how we got here. Facebook is an idealistic and optimistic company. For most of our existence, we focused on all the good that connecting people can bring. As Facebook has grown, people everywhere have gotten a powerful new tool to stay connected to the people they love, make their voices heard, and build communities and businesses. Just recently, we’ve seen the #metoo movement and the March for Our Lives, organized, at least in part, on Facebook. After Hurricane Harvey, people raised more than $20 million for relief. And more than 70 million small businesses now use Facebook to grow and create jobs. But it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.

So now we have to go through every part of our relationship with people and make sure we’re taking a broad enough view of our responsibility. It’s not enough to just connect people, we have to make sure those connections are positive. It’s not enough to just give people a voice, we have to make sure people aren’t using it to hurt people or spread misinformation. It’s not enough to give people control of their information, we have to make sure developers they’ve given it to are protecting it too. Across the board, we have a responsibility to not just build tools, but to make sure those tools are used for good. It will take some time to work through all of the changes we need to make, but I’m committed to 
getting it right. That includes improving the way we protect people’s information and safeguard elections around the world. Here are a few key things we’re doing:

II. CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working to understand exactly what happened with Cambridge Analytica and taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We took important actions to prevent this from happening again today four years ago, but we also made 
mistakes, there’s more to do, and we need to step up and do it.

A. What Happened

In 2007, we launched the Facebook Platform with the vision that more apps should be social. Your calendar should be able to show your friends’ birthdays, your maps should show where your friends live, and your address book should show their pictures. To do this, we enabled 
people to log into apps and share who their friends were and some information about them In 2013, a Cambridge University researcher named Aleksandr Kogan created a personality quiz app. It was installed by around 300,000 people who agreed to share some of their Facebook 
information as well as some information from their friends whose privacy settings allowed it. Given the way our platform worked at the time this meant Kogan was able to access some information about tens of millions of their friends.

In 2014, to prevent abusive apps, we announced that we were changing the entire platform to dramatically limit the Facebook information apps could access. Most importantly, apps like Kogan’s could no longer ask for information about a person’s friends unless their friends had 
also authorized the app. We also required developers to get approval from Facebook before they could request any data beyond a user’s public profile, friend list, and email address. These actions would prevent any app like Kogan’s from being able to access as much Facebook data today.

In 2015, we learned from journalists at The Guardian that Kogan had shared data from his app with Cambridge Analytica. It is against our policies for developers to share data without people’s consent, so we immediately banned Kogan’s app from our platform, and demanded that Kogan and other entities he gave the data to, including Cambridge Analytica, formally certify that they had deleted all improperly acquired data — which they ultimately did. Last month, we learned from The Guardian, The New York Times and Channel 4 that Cambridge Analytica may not have deleted the data as they had certified. We immediately banned them from using any of our services. Cambridge Analytica claims they have already deleted the data and has agreed to a forensic audit by a firm we hired to investigate this. We’re also working with 
the UK&nbspInformation Commissioner’s Office, which has jurisdiction over Cambridge Analytica, as it completes its investigation into what happened.

B. What We Are Doing

We have a responsibility to make sure what happened with Kogan and Cambridge Analytica doesn’t happen again. Here are some of the steps we’re taking:

<ul>
	<li>Safeguarding our platform. We need to make sure that developers like Kogan who got access to a lot of information in the past can’t get access to as much information going forward.We made some big changes to the Facebook platform in 2014 to dramatically restrict the amount of data that developers can access and to proactively review the apps on our platform. This makes it so a developer today can’t do what Kogan did years ago.</li>
	<li>But there’s more we can do here to limit the information developers can access. and put more safeguards in place to prevent abuse.</li>
</ul>

We’re removing developers’ access to your data if you haven’t used their app in three months.

We’re reducing the data you give an app when you approve it to only your name, profile photo, and email address. That’s a lot less than apps can get on any other major app platform.

We’re requiring developers to not only get approval but also to sign a contract that imposes strict requirements in order to ask anyone for access to their posts or other private data.

We’re restricting more APIs like groups and events. You should be able to sign into apps and share your public information easily, but anything that might also share other people’s information — like other posts in groups you’re in or other people going to events you’re going to — will be much more restricted. Two weeks ago, we found out that a feature that lets you look someone up by their phone number and email was abused. This feature is useful in cases where people have the same name, but it was abused to link people’s public Facebook information to a phone number they already had. When we found out about the abuse, we shut this feature down.

<ul>
	<li>Investigating other apps. We’re in the process of investigating every app that had access to a large amount of information before we locked down our platform in 2014. If we detect suspicious activity, we’ll do a full forensic audit. And if we find that someone is improperly using data, we’ll ban them and tell everyone affected.</li>
</ul>

&nbsp

<ul>
	<li>Building better controls. Finally, we’re making it easier to understand which apps you’ve allowed to access your data. This week we started showing everyone a list of the apps you’ve used and an easy way to revoke their permissions to your data. You can already do this in your privacy settings, but we’re going to put it at the top of News Feed to make sure everyone sees it. And we also told everyone whose Facebook information may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica. Beyond the steps we had already taken in 2014, I believe these are the next steps we must take to continue to secure our platform.</li>
</ul>

 
III. RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE

Facebook’s mission is about giving people a voice and bringing people closer together. Those are deeply democratic values and we’re proud of them. I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. That’s not what we stand for. We were too slow to spot and respond to Russian interference, and we’re working hard to get better. Our sophistication in handling these threats is growing and improving quickly. We will continue working with the government to understand the full extent of Russian interference, and we will do our part not only to ensure the integrity of free and fair elections around the world, but also to give everyone a voice and to be a force for good in democracy everywhere.

A. What Happened

Elections have always been especially sensitive times for our security team, and the 2016 US&nbsppresidential election was no exception. Our security team has been aware of traditional Russian cyber threats — like hacking and malware — for years. Leading up to Election Day in November 2016, we detected and dealt with several threats with ties to Russia. This included activity by a group called APT28, that the US government has publicly linked to Russian military intelligence services. But while our primary focus was on traditional threats, we also saw some new behavior in the summer of 2016 when APT28-related accounts, under the banner of DC Leaks, created fake personas that were used to seed stolen information to journalists. We shut these accounts down for violating our policies.

After the election, we continued to investigate and learn more about these new threats. What we found was that bad actors had used coordinated networks of fake accounts to interfere in the election: promoting or attacking specific candidates and causes, creating distrust in political institutions, or simply spreading confusion. Some of these bad actors also used our ads tools. We also learned about a disinformation campaign run by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) — a Russian agency that has repeatedly acted deceptively and tried to manipulate people in the US, Europe, and Russia. We found about 470 accounts and pages linked to the IRA, which generated around 80,000 Facebook posts over about a two-year period. Our best estimate is that approximately 126 million people may have been served content from a Facebook Page associated with the IRA at some point during that period. On Instagram, where our data on reach is not as complete, we found about 120,000 pieces of content, and estimate that an additional 20 million people were likely served it. Over the same period, the IRA also spent approximately $100,000 on more than 3,000 ads on&nbspFacebook and Instagram, which were seen by an estimated 11 million people in the United States. We shut down these IRA accounts in August 2017.

B. What We Are Doing 
&nbsp

There’s no question that we should have spotted Russian interference earlier, and we’re working hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Our actions include: 
&nbsp

<ul>
	<li>Building new technology to prevent abuse. Since 2016, we have improved our techniques to prevent nation states from interfering in foreign elections, and we’ve built more advanced AI tools to remove fake accounts more generally. There have been a number of important elections since then where these new tools have been successfully deployed.</li>
</ul>

For example:

In France, leading up to the presidential election in 2017, we found and took down 30,000 fake accounts.

In Germany, before the 2017 elections, we worked directly with the election commission to learn from them about the threats they saw and to share information.

In the US&nbspSenate Alabama special election last year, we deployed new AI tools that proactively detected and removed fake accounts from Macedonia trying to spread misinformation.

We have disabled thousands of accounts tied to organized, financially motivated fake news spammers. These investigations have been used to improve our automated systems that find fake accounts.

Last week, we took down more than 270 additional pages and accounts operated by the IRA and used to target people in Russia and Russian speakers in countries like Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Some of the pages we removed belong to Russian news organizations that we determined were controlled by the IRA. 
&nbsp

<ul>
	<li>Significantly increasing our investment in security. We now have about 15,000 people working on security and content review. We’ll have more than 20,000 by the end of this year.</li>
</ul>

I’ve directed our teams to invest so much in security — on top of the other investments we’re making — that it will significantly impact our profitability going forward. But I want to be clear about what our priority is: protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits.

<ul>
	<li>Strengthening our advertising policies. We know some Members of Congress are exploring ways to increase transparency around political or issue advertising, and we’re happy to keep working with Congress on that. But we aren’t waiting for legislation to act.&nbsp</li>
</ul>

From now on, every advertiser who wants to run political or issue ads will need to be authorized. To get authorized, advertisers will need to confirm their identity and location. Any advertiser who doesn’t pass will be prohibited from running political or issue ads. We will also label them and advertisers will have to show you who paid for them. We’re starting this in the US&nbspand expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months.

For even greater political ads transparency, we have also built a tool that lets anyone see all of the ads a page is running. We’re testing this in Canada now and we’ll launch it globally this summer. We’re also creating a searchable archive of past political ads.

We will also require people who manage large pages to be verified as well. This will make it much harder for people to run pages using fake accounts, or to grow virally and spread misinformation or divisive content that way.

In order to require verification for all of these pages and advertisers, we will hire thousands of more people. We’re committed to getting this done in time for the critical months before the 2018 elections in the US&nbspas well as elections in Mexico, Brazil, India, Pakistan and elsewhere in the next year.

These steps by themselves won’t stop all people trying to game the system. But they will make it a lot harder for anyone to do what the Russians did during the 2016 election and use fake accounts and pages to run ads. Election interference is a problem that’s bigger than any one platform, and that’s why we support the

Honest Ads Act. This will help raise the bar for all political advertising online.

<ul>
	<li>Sharing information. We’ve been working with other technology companies to share information about threats, and we’re also cooperating with the US&nbspand foreign governments on election integrity. At the same time, it’s also important not to lose sight of the more straightforward and larger ways Facebook plays a role in elections. In 2016, people had billions of interactions and open discussions on Facebook that may never have happened offline. Candidates had direct channels to communicate with tens of millions of citizens. Campaigns spent tens of millions of dollars organizing and advertising online to get their messages out further. And we organized “get out the vote” efforts that helped more than 2 million people register to vote who might not have voted otherwise. Security — including around elections — isn’t a problem you ever fully solve. Organizations like the IRA are sophisticated adversaries who are constantly evolving, but we’ll keep improving our techniques to stay ahead. And we’ll also keep building tools to help more people make their voices heard in the democratic process.</li>
</ul>

 
IV. CONCLUSION 
&nbsp

My top priority has always been our social mission of connecting people, building community and bringing the world closer together. Advertisers and developers will never take priority over that as long as I’m running Facebook. I started Facebook when I was in college. We’ve come a long way since then. We now serve more than 2 billion people around the world, and every day, people use our services to stay connected with the people that matter to them most. I believe deeply in what we’re doing. And when we address these challenges, I know we’ll look back and view helping people connect and giving more people a voice as a positive force in the world. I realize the issues we’re talking about today aren’t just issues for Facebook and our community — they’re challenges for all of us as Americans. Thank you for having me here 
today, and I’m ready to take your questions.

A full transcript of Mark Zuckerberg's testimony hearing before the United States of Representatives over Facebook data breach row

HEARING BEFORE THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE April 11, 2018 Testimony of Mark Zuckerberg Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Facebook I. INTRODUCTION Chairman Walden, Ranking Member Pallone, and Members of the Committee, We face a number of important issues around privacy, safety, and democracy, and you will rightfully have some hard questions for me to answer. Before I talk about the steps we’re taking to address them, I want to talk about how we got here. Facebook is an idealistic and optimistic company. For most of our existence, we focused on all the good that connecting people can bring. As Facebook has grown, people everywhere have gotten a powerful new tool to stay connected to the people they love, make their voices heard, and build communities and businesses. Just recently, we’ve seen the #metoo movement and the March for Our Lives, organized, at least in part, on Facebook. After Hurricane Harvey, people raised more than $20 million for relief. And more than 70 million small businesses now use Facebook to grow and create jobs. But it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here. So now we have to go through every part of our relationship with people and make sure we’re taking a broad enough view of our responsibility. It’s not enough to just connect people, we have to make sure those connections are positive. It’s not enough to just give people a voice, we have to make sure people aren’t using it to hurt people or spread misinformation. It’s not enough to give people control of their information, we have to make sure developers they’ve given it to are protecting it too. Across the board, we have a responsibility to not just build tools, but to make sure those tools are used for good. It will take some time to work through all of the changes we need to make, but I’m committed to getting it right. That includes improving the way we protect people’s information and safeguard elections around the world. Here are a few key things we’re doing: II. CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working to understand exactly what happened with Cambridge Analytica and taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We took important actions to prevent this from happening again today four years ago, but we also made mistakes, there’s more to do, and we need to step up and do it. A. What Happened In 2007, we launched the Facebook Platform with the vision that more apps should be social. Your calendar should be able to show your friends’ birthdays, your maps should show where your friends live, and your address book should show their pictures. To do this, we enabled people to log into apps and share who their friends were and some information about them In 2013, a Cambridge University researcher named Aleksandr Kogan created a personality quiz app. It was installed by around 300,000 people who agreed to share some of their Facebook information as well as some information from their friends whose privacy settings allowed it. Given the way our platform worked at the time this meant Kogan was able to access some information about tens of millions of their friends. In 2014, to prevent abusive apps, we announced that we were changing the entire platform to dramatically limit the Facebook information apps could access. Most importantly, apps like Kogan’s could no longer ask for information about a person’s friends unless their friends had also authorized the app. We also required developers to get approval from Facebook before they could request any data beyond a user’s public profile, friend list, and email address. These actions would prevent any app like Kogan’s from being able to access as much Facebook data today. In 2015, we learned from journalists at The Guardian that Kogan had shared data from his app with Cambridge Analytica. It is against our policies for developers to share data without people’s consent, so we immediately banned Kogan’s app from our platform, and demanded that Kogan and other entities he gave the data to, including Cambridge Analytica, formally certify that they had deleted all improperly acquired data — which they ultimately did. Last month, we learned from The Guardian, The New York Times and Channel 4 that Cambridge Analytica may not have deleted the data as they had certified. We immediately banned them from using any of our services. Cambridge Analytica claims they have already deleted the data and has agreed to a forensic audit by a firm we hired to investigate this. We’re also working with the UK&nbspInformation Commissioner’s Office, which has jurisdiction over Cambridge Analytica, as it completes its investigation into what happened. B. What We Are Doing We have a responsibility to make sure what happened with Kogan and Cambridge Analytica doesn’t happen again. Here are some of the steps we’re taking: Safeguarding our platform. We need to make sure that developers like Kogan who got access to a lot of information in the past can’t get access to as much information going forward.We made some big changes to the Facebook platform in 2014 to dramatically restrict the amount of data that developers can access and to proactively review the apps on our platform. This makes it so a developer today can’t do what Kogan did years ago. But there’s more we can do here to limit the information developers can access. and put more safeguards in place to prevent abuse. We’re removing developers’ access to your data if you haven’t used their app in three months. We’re reducing the data you give an app when you approve it to only your name, profile photo, and email address. That’s a lot less than apps can get on any other major app platform. We’re requiring developers to not only get approval but also to sign a contract that imposes strict requirements in order to ask anyone for access to their posts or other private data. We’re restricting more APIs like groups and events. You should be able to sign into apps and share your public information easily, but anything that might also share other people’s information — like other posts in groups you’re in or other people going to events you’re going to — will be much more restricted. Two weeks ago, we found out that a feature that lets you look someone up by their phone number and email was abused. This feature is useful in cases where people have the same name, but it was abused to link people’s public Facebook information to a phone number they already had. When we found out about the abuse, we shut this feature down. Investigating other apps. We’re in the process of investigating every app that had access to a large amount of information before we locked down our platform in 2014. If we detect suspicious activity, we’ll do a full forensic audit. And if we find that someone is improperly using data, we’ll ban them and tell everyone affected. Building better controls. Finally, we’re making it easier to understand which apps you’ve allowed to access your data. This week we started showing everyone a list of the apps you’ve used and an easy way to revoke their permissions to your data. You can already do this in your privacy settings, but we’re going to put it at the top of News Feed to make sure everyone sees it. And we also told everyone whose Facebook information may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica. Beyond the steps we had already taken in 2014, I believe these are the next steps we must take to continue to secure our platform. III. RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE Facebook’s mission is about giving people a voice and bringing people closer together. Those are deeply democratic values and we’re proud of them. I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. That’s not what we stand for. We were too slow to spot and respond to Russian interference, and we’re working hard to get better. Our sophistication in handling these threats is growing and improving quickly. We will continue working with the government to understand the full extent of Russian interference, and we will do our part not only to ensure the integrity of free and fair elections around the world, but also to give everyone a voice and to be a force for good in democracy everywhere. A. What Happened Elections have always been especially sensitive times for our security team, and the 2016 US&nbsppresidential election was no exception. Our security team has been aware of traditional Russian cyber threats — like hacking and malware — for years. Leading up to Election Day in November 2016, we detected and dealt with several threats with ties to Russia. This included activity by a group called APT28, that the US government has publicly linked to Russian military intelligence services. But while our primary focus was on traditional threats, we also saw some new behavior in the summer of 2016 when APT28-related accounts, under the banner of DC Leaks, created fake personas that were used to seed stolen information to journalists. We shut these accounts down for violating our policies. After the election, we continued to investigate and learn more about these new threats. What we found was that bad actors had used coordinated networks of fake accounts to interfere in the election: promoting or attacking specific candidates and causes, creating distrust in political institutions, or simply spreading confusion. Some of these bad actors also used our ads tools. We also learned about a disinformation campaign run by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) — a Russian agency that has repeatedly acted deceptively and tried to manipulate people in the US, Europe, and Russia. We found about 470 accounts and pages linked to the IRA, which generated around 80,000 Facebook posts over about a two-year period. Our best estimate is that approximately 126 million people may have been served content from a Facebook Page associated with the IRA at some point during that period. On Instagram, where our data on reach is not as complete, we found about 120,000 pieces of content, and estimate that an additional 20 million people were likely served it. Over the same period, the IRA also spent approximately $100,000 on more than 3,000 ads on&nbspFacebook and Instagram, which were seen by an estimated 11 million people in the United States. We shut down these IRA accounts in August 2017. B. What We Are Doing There’s no question that we should have spotted Russian interference earlier, and we’re working hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Our actions include: Building new technology to prevent abuse. Since 2016, we have improved our techniques to prevent nation states from interfering in foreign elections, and we’ve built more advanced AI tools to remove fake accounts more generally. There have been a number of important elections since then where these new tools have been successfully deployed. For example: In France, leading up to the presidential election in 2017, we found and took down 30,000 fake accounts. In Germany, before the 2017 elections, we worked directly with the election commission to learn from them about the threats they saw and to share information. In the US&nbspSenate Alabama special election last year, we deployed new AI tools that proactively detected and removed fake accounts from Macedonia trying to spread misinformation. We have disabled thousands of accounts tied to organized, financially motivated fake news spammers. These investigations have been used to improve our automated systems that find fake accounts. Last week, we took down more than 270 additional pages and accounts operated by the IRA and used to target people in Russia and Russian speakers in countries like Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Some of the pages we removed belong to Russian news organizations that we determined were controlled by the IRA. Significantly increasing our investment in security. We now have about 15,000 people working on security and content review. We’ll have more than 20,000 by the end of this year. I’ve directed our teams to invest so much in security — on top of the other investments we’re making — that it will significantly impact our profitability going forward. But I want to be clear about what our priority is: protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits. Strengthening our advertising policies. We know some Members of Congress are exploring ways to increase transparency around political or issue advertising, and we’re happy to keep working with Congress on that. But we aren’t waiting for legislation to act. From now on, every advertiser who wants to run political or issue ads will need to be authorized. To get authorized, advertisers will need to confirm their identity and location. Any advertiser who doesn’t pass will be prohibited from running political or issue ads. We will also label them and advertisers will have to show you who paid for them. We’re starting this in the US&nbspand expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months. For even greater political ads transparency, we have also built a tool that lets anyone see all of the ads a page is running. We’re testing this in Canada now and we’ll launch it globally this summer. We’re also creating a searchable archive of past political ads. We will also require people who manage large pages to be verified as well. This will make it much harder for people to run pages using fake accounts, or to grow virally and spread misinformation or divisive content that way. In order to require verification for all of these pages and advertisers, we will hire thousands of more people. We’re committed to getting this done in time for the critical months before the 2018 elections in the US&nbspas well as elections in Mexico, Brazil, India, Pakistan and elsewhere in the next year. These steps by themselves won’t stop all people trying to game the system. But they will make it a lot harder for anyone to do what the Russians did during the 2016 election and use fake accounts and pages to run ads. Election interference is a problem that’s bigger than any one platform, and that’s why we support the Honest Ads Act. This will help raise the bar for all political advertising online. Sharing information. We’ve been working with other technology companies to share information about threats, and we’re also cooperating with the US&nbspand foreign governments on election integrity. At the same time, it’s also important not to lose sight of the more straightforward and larger ways Facebook plays a role in elections. In 2016, people had billions of interactions and open discussions on Facebook that may never have happened offline. Candidates had direct channels to communicate with tens of millions of citizens. Campaigns spent tens of millions of dollars organizing and advertising online to get their messages out further. And we organized “get out the vote” efforts that helped more than 2 million people register to vote who might not have voted otherwise. Security — including around elections — isn’t a problem you ever fully solve. Organizations like the IRA are sophisticated adversaries who are constantly evolving, but we’ll keep improving our techniques to stay ahead. And we’ll also keep building tools to help more people make their voices heard in the democratic process. IV. CONCLUSION My top priority has always been our social mission of connecting people, building community and bringing the world closer together. Advertisers and developers will never take priority over that as long as I’m running Facebook. I started Facebook when I was in college. We’ve come a long way since then. We now serve more than 2 billion people around the world, and every day, people use our services to stay connected with the people that matter to them most. I believe deeply in what we’re doing. And when we address these challenges, I know we’ll look back and view helping people connect and giving more people a voice as a positive force in the world. I realize the issues we’re talking about today aren’t just issues for Facebook and our community — they’re challenges for all of us as Americans. Thank you for having me here today, and I’m ready to take your questions.

Mark Zuckerberg testimony before US Congress: Read full text of day 2

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump praised China on Thursday for its help with North Korea and said meetings were being set up between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"They have really been a great help to us at the border with North Korea," Trump said of China. "They've been really terrific at helping us get to some kind of settlement.

"Meetings are being set up right now between myself and Kim Jong Un. I think it will be terrific. I think we'll go in with a lot of respect and we'll see what happens."

Trump also said that trade "negotiations" between Washington and Beijing were going well, conflicting with Chinese official statements on the dispute, which has fed fears on financial markets of an all-out trade war.

“We are getting along very well, think we're going to do some great things," Trump said, adding that getting rid of nuclear weapons was "very good for them, good for everybody."

Trump said on Monday he planned to meet Kim in May or early June and hoped the discussions would ultimately lead to an end of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, which Washington sees as its most pressing security threat.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo told his confirmation hearing for the post of secretary of state that he was optimistic conditions could be set at that meeting for a diplomatic outcome to the crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States.

Pompeo brushed aside concerns that the administration's moves to modify a nuclear deal with Iran could make reaching an agreement with North Korea more difficult. He argued that Kim would be looking to his own interests, including his country's economy and the "sustainment of his regime," rather than other historical agreements.

Pompeo stressed that the aim of a Trump-Kim summit was to get North Korea to “step away.” Under questioning, he would not take any option off the table, including military ones.

At the same time, he said he was not advocating regime change for North Korea and had never done so.

Last year, North Korea accused Pompeo of favouring such a policy after the CIA director told a forum in July that it was important to separate the country's nuclear weapons from the "character who holds the control over them."

Last May, North Korea accused the CIA and South Korea's intelligence service of a failed plot to assassinate Kim at a military parade in Pyongyang.

At a separate congressional hearing, US&nbsp;Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the aim was for a negotiated solution to the North Korean crisis.

"We're all cautiously optimistic that we may be on the right path for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he told the House Armed Services Committee.

"Meetings are being set up right now between myself and Kim Jong Un. I think it will be terrific. I think we'll go in with a lot of respect and we'll see what happens," Trump said

US President Donald Trump praised China on Thursday for its help with North Korea and said meetings were being set up between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "They have really been a great help to us at the border with North Korea," Trump said of China. "They've been really terrific at helping us get to some kind of settlement. "Meetings are being set up right now between myself and Kim Jong Un. I think it will be terrific. I think we'll go in with a lot of respect and we'll see what happens." Trump also said that trade "negotiations" between Washington and Beijing were going well, conflicting with Chinese official statements on the dispute, which has fed fears on financial markets of an all-out trade war. “We are getting along very well, think we're going to do some great things," Trump said, adding that getting rid of nuclear weapons was "very good for them, good for everybody." Trump said on Monday he planned to meet Kim in May or early June and hoped the discussions would ultimately lead to an end of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, which Washington sees as its most pressing security threat. CIA Director Mike Pompeo told his confirmation hearing for the post of secretary of state that he was optimistic conditions could be set at that meeting for a diplomatic outcome to the crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States. Pompeo brushed aside concerns that the administration's moves to modify a nuclear deal with Iran could make reaching an agreement with North Korea more difficult. He argued that Kim would be looking to his own interests, including his country's economy and the "sustainment of his regime," rather than other historical agreements. Pompeo stressed that the aim of a Trump-Kim summit was to get North Korea to “step away.” Under questioning, he would not take any option off the table, including military ones. At the same time, he said he was not advocating regime change for North Korea and had never done so. Last year, North Korea accused Pompeo of favouring such a policy after the CIA director told a forum in July that it was important to separate the country's nuclear weapons from the "character who holds the control over them." Last May, North Korea accused the CIA and South Korea's intelligence service of a failed plot to assassinate Kim at a military parade in Pyongyang. At a separate congressional hearing, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the aim was for a negotiated solution to the North Korean crisis. "We're all cautiously optimistic that we may be on the right path for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he told the House Armed Services Committee.

Trump says meetings being set up with North Korea's Kim

US President Donald Trump amended on Thursday an earlier warning of a swift military strike against Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack on civilians, saying it "could be very soon or not so soon at all".

"Never said when an attack on Syria would take place," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump had vowed to take swift and decisive action against Syria since reports of a suspected poison gas attack that killed dozens of people. Damascus has denied responsibility for the incident that has widened a rift between the West and Moscow, which backs Syria's government.

On Wednesday, even though Trump had previously said he would not "broadcast" his moves in Syria, he said in a post on Twitter that missiles "will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!'"

However, US Defense Secretary James Mattis struck a more cautious tone later on Wednesday, saying that Washington was still assessing intelligence on the suspected toxic gas attack.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984374422587965440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp

'Never said when an attack on Syria would take place,'Trump wrote on Twitter

US President Donald Trump amended on Thursday an earlier warning of a swift military strike against Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack on civilians, saying it "could be very soon or not so soon at all". "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place," Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump had vowed to take swift and decisive action against Syria since reports of a suspected poison gas attack that killed dozens of people. Damascus has denied responsibility for the incident that has widened a rift between the West and Moscow, which backs Syria's government. On Wednesday, even though Trump had previously said he would not "broadcast" his moves in Syria, he said in a post on Twitter that missiles "will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!'" However, US Defense Secretary James Mattis struck a more cautious tone later on Wednesday, saying that Washington was still assessing intelligence on the suspected toxic gas attack. Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?” — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018 ×

Trump says Syria attack 'could be very soon or not so soon at all'

The Trump administration is warning Pakistan it could lose U.S. civilian aid worth tens of millions of dollars this year if Washington finds that the South Asian nation has not done enough to combat human trafficking, U.S. officials said.

An aid cutback would deal a fresh blow to US-Pakistan relations following President Donald Trump’s suspension in January of some $2 billion in US&nbspsecurity assistance over what Trump said was Islamabad's failure to crack down on Afghan insurgent sanctuaries used for attacks into Afghanistan.

A large portion of US&nbspcivilian aid - $265 million in 2017, according to a source at the US&nbspEmbassy in Islamabad – could be withheld if the State Department puts Pakistan on a list of worst global offenders in human trafficking in an annual report due out in June.

The funding is relatively modest for the size of Pakistan's economy. But Islamabad could suffer a heavier jolt if Washington also decides to oppose new assistance from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

These are all sanctions that the United States, under federal law, can impose on any country receiving the lowest grade on human trafficking unless Trump issues a full or partial waiver. He did so for most countries on last year's blacklist, following a pattern set by recent predecessors who were especially lenient on U.S. allies and partners.

By making good on its threat against Pakistan, the Trump administration would raise questions about whether it was using the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report to pressure Islamabad to do more on counter-terrorism.

The report is not supposed to be influenced by other geopolitical considerations, but human rights groups accused the Trump administration last year, and the Obama administration before it, of sometimes prioritizing economic and security interests over human trafficking concerns.

Pakistani Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal told Reuters the country has "taken very stringent steps" against human trafficking and the issue "should not be used for political means to pressurize countries."

A senior Trump administration official said no decision on the ranking has been made, but that Pakistan, long an uneasy US&nbspally, has been told it can avoid a lower ranking - and a possible aid cut - only “if we see them making sincere efforts to address the problems that have been raised."

The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied any link between Pakistan’s cooperation with Trump’s strategy to force the Afghan Taliban into peace talks and the possible loss of U.S. civilian assistance, stressing that any TIP decision would be based solely on Islamabad’s human trafficking record.

The State Department declined to comment, except to cite the penalties available under the US&nbspanti-human trafficking law.

Pakistan has long rejected U.S. accusations that it provides Afghan Taliban and allied Haqqani network militants with sanctuaries from which they attack the Kabul government and U.S.-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.

CIVILIAN AID HANGS IN BALANCE

Future civilian aid hinges on Pakistan's rating in the State Department’s 2018 TIP report, an assessment of how more than 180 countries and territories are fighting human smuggling, modern slavery and related issues like child soldiers.

Pakistan has been on the report’s Tier 2 "Watch List" for four years, the limit a country can remain at the second-to-worst ranking. Unless it is upgraded, Pakistan will drop to Tier 3, the lowest rung, alongside Iran, North Korea and Syria, among others.

This would trigger the suspension of civilian assistance, except for humanitarian and trade-related aid, unless Trump, who has been stridently critical of Pakistan, waives the penalties. A Tier 3 rating assesses that a country does not comply with minimum U.S. standards against human trafficking.

Pakistan has struggled to eradicate bonded labour practices, especially in dirty brick kilns where children often work.

Iqbal said Pakistan would soon enact tougher laws. He did not confirm, however, that Washington had warned his government about potential aid cuts related to human trafficking.

“This cause is much more valuable than billions of dollars in aid because this is about human dignity," he told Reuters. "There has to be more understanding of the efforts that countries like us are doing."

Pakistani officials dismissed the impact of a loss of US&nbspcivilian aid, most of which flows through non-governmental organizations, on the country's growing economy of nearly $300 billion.

Still, they have expressed concern that Washington wants international bodies to punish Pakistan for not heeding Trump's South Asia security agenda.

&nbspIn February, urged by the United States and European powers, the Financial Action Task Force, a global money-laundering watchdog, placed Pakistan on a terrorist financing watchlist.

Pakistan fears Washington could use its vote in the IMF, to which the United States is the largest contributor, to oppose new loans to Islamabad. Pakistan's economic growth has surged to above 5 percent, but many analysts expect Pakistan to seek a new IMF bailout this year due to a ballooning current account deficit and dwindling foreign currency reserves.

An aid cutback would deal a fresh blow to US-Pakistan relations following President Donald Trump’s suspension in January of some $2 billion in U.S. security assistance

The Trump administration is warning Pakistan it could lose U.S. civilian aid worth tens of millions of dollars this year if Washington finds that the South Asian nation has not done enough to combat human trafficking, U.S. officials said. An aid cutback would deal a fresh blow to US-Pakistan relations following President Donald Trump’s suspension in January of some $2 billion in US&nbspsecurity assistance over what Trump said was Islamabad's failure to crack down on Afghan insurgent sanctuaries used for attacks into Afghanistan. A large portion of US&nbspcivilian aid - $265 million in 2017, according to a source at the US&nbspEmbassy in Islamabad – could be withheld if the State Department puts Pakistan on a list of worst global offenders in human trafficking in an annual report due out in June. The funding is relatively modest for the size of Pakistan's economy. But Islamabad could suffer a heavier jolt if Washington also decides to oppose new assistance from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. These are all sanctions that the United States, under federal law, can impose on any country receiving the lowest grade on human trafficking unless Trump issues a full or partial waiver. He did so for most countries on last year's blacklist, following a pattern set by recent predecessors who were especially lenient on U.S. allies and partners. By making good on its threat against Pakistan, the Trump administration would raise questions about whether it was using the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report to pressure Islamabad to do more on counter-terrorism. The report is not supposed to be influenced by other geopolitical considerations, but human rights groups accused the Trump administration last year, and the Obama administration before it, of sometimes prioritizing economic and security interests over human trafficking concerns. Pakistani Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal told Reuters the country has "taken very stringent steps" against human trafficking and the issue "should not be used for political means to pressurize countries." A senior Trump administration official said no decision on the ranking has been made, but that Pakistan, long an uneasy US&nbspally, has been told it can avoid a lower ranking - and a possible aid cut - only “if we see them making sincere efforts to address the problems that have been raised." The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied any link between Pakistan’s cooperation with Trump’s strategy to force the Afghan Taliban into peace talks and the possible loss of U.S. civilian assistance, stressing that any TIP decision would be based solely on Islamabad’s human trafficking record. The State Department declined to comment, except to cite the penalties available under the US&nbspanti-human trafficking law. Pakistan has long rejected U.S. accusations that it provides Afghan Taliban and allied Haqqani network militants with sanctuaries from which they attack the Kabul government and U.S.-led foreign forces in Afghanistan. CIVILIAN AID HANGS IN BALANCE Future civilian aid hinges on Pakistan's rating in the State Department’s 2018 TIP report, an assessment of how more than 180 countries and territories are fighting human smuggling, modern slavery and related issues like child soldiers. Pakistan has been on the report’s Tier 2 "Watch List" for four years, the limit a country can remain at the second-to-worst ranking. Unless it is upgraded, Pakistan will drop to Tier 3, the lowest rung, alongside Iran, North Korea and Syria, among others. This would trigger the suspension of civilian assistance, except for humanitarian and trade-related aid, unless Trump, who has been stridently critical of Pakistan, waives the penalties. A Tier 3 rating assesses that a country does not comply with minimum U.S. standards against human trafficking. Pakistan has struggled to eradicate bonded labour practices, especially in dirty brick kilns where children often work. Iqbal said Pakistan would soon enact tougher laws. He did not confirm, however, that Washington had warned his government about potential aid cuts related to human trafficking. “This cause is much more valuable than billions of dollars in aid because this is about human dignity," he told Reuters. "There has to be more understanding of the efforts that countries like us are doing." Pakistani officials dismissed the impact of a loss of US&nbspcivilian aid, most of which flows through non-governmental organizations, on the country's growing economy of nearly $300 billion. Still, they have expressed concern that Washington wants international bodies to punish Pakistan for not heeding Trump's South Asia security agenda. &nbspIn February, urged by the United States and European powers, the Financial Action Task Force, a global money-laundering watchdog, placed Pakistan on a terrorist financing watchlist. Pakistan fears Washington could use its vote in the IMF, to which the United States is the largest contributor, to oppose new loans to Islamabad. Pakistan's economic growth has surged to above 5 percent, but many analysts expect Pakistan to seek a new IMF bailout this year due to a ballooning current account deficit and dwindling foreign currency reserves.

Pakistan could face US aid cuts over human trafficking: Sources

Wearing a floral dress and no hat, Queen Elizabeth strolls in dappled sunlight through the garden at Buckingham Palace with an old acquaintance, making quips and even mentioning the prospect of her own demise in a light-hearted way.

The scene, filmed last summer for a documentary due to be broadcast in Britain next week, offers an unusually informal glimpse of the 91-year-old monarch, who has given very little away of her inner self during her 66-year reign.

She is seen walking and chatting with David Attenborough, also 91, a much-loved naturalist and broadcaster known for lavish series like "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet".

The pair discuss a conservation project to create a network of native forests across all 53 Commonwealth countries -- the subject of the new documentary -- and muse about how there might be many new trees in Buckingham Palace garden in 50 years.

"Might easily be, yes," the queen says. Then, after a pause, she adds with a smile: "I won't be here though".

Attenborough chuckles but does not dwell on the remark, instead commenting on a nearby sundial positioned in the shade of a tree, rendering it useless.

"Isn't it good, yes," the queen says, before flashing a wide grin at a person standing off camera. "Had we thought of that, that it was planted in the shade?" she asks with a chuckle, adding: "It wasn't in the shade originally, I'm sure."

The queen then suggests the sundial could be moved, to which Attenborough responds that it depends whether she wishes to know the time or not.

The documentary, "The Queen's Green Planet", is scheduled for broadcast on ITV on Monday. It also features other members of the royal family as well as the actress and campaigner Angelina Jolie, who has taken part in the environmental project and is shown describing the queen as "a lovely lady".

Sounds like President Trump

In a separate excerpt from the queen's walk with Attenborough, released by ITV ahead of broadcast, the quiet of the palace garden is broken by the noise of a helicopter hovering overhead.

"Why do they always go round and round when you want to talk?" the queen asks, adding: "Sounds like President Trump, or President Obama", apparently referring to the aircraft used by the US&nbsppresidents during visits to her.

During another light-hearted moment, the monarch spots a sapling bent over at an alarming angle, remarking: "Somebody sat on it I think, at the garden party".

The queen and Attenborough have known each other for many years as the broadcaster, who has been making nature programmes since the 1950s and continues to draw millions of viewers with every new one, has received a series of royal honours over the years.

The two nonagenarians appear relaxed together, with little of the formality and rigid deference often seen in people addressing the monarch.

The pair look at trees planted in the palace garden to mark the birth of the queen's children, and Attenborough is seen squatting down to read the plaques as they try and work out which tree corresponds to which prince or princess.

The queen, who routinely receives gifts from visitors from every corner of the planet, comments that the garden has benefitted from many gifts of roses and other plants.

"You know, I've been quite difficult to give presents to, so," she says, drawing laughter from Attenborough. "Of course they've said 'Oh well, let's give her a plant ... or a tree or something.' Which is very nice to have."

The scene, filmed last summer for a documentary due to be broadcast in Britain next week, offers an unusually informal glimpse of the 91-year-old monarch, who has given very little away of her inner self during her 66-year reign

Wearing a floral dress and no hat, Queen Elizabeth strolls in dappled sunlight through the garden at Buckingham Palace with an old acquaintance, making quips and even mentioning the prospect of her own demise in a light-hearted way. The scene, filmed last summer for a documentary due to be broadcast in Britain next week, offers an unusually informal glimpse of the 91-year-old monarch, who has given very little away of her inner self during her 66-year reign. She is seen walking and chatting with David Attenborough, also 91, a much-loved naturalist and broadcaster known for lavish series like "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet". The pair discuss a conservation project to create a network of native forests across all 53 Commonwealth countries -- the subject of the new documentary -- and muse about how there might be many new trees in Buckingham Palace garden in 50 years. "Might easily be, yes," the queen says. Then, after a pause, she adds with a smile: "I won't be here though". Attenborough chuckles but does not dwell on the remark, instead commenting on a nearby sundial positioned in the shade of a tree, rendering it useless. "Isn't it good, yes," the queen says, before flashing a wide grin at a person standing off camera. "Had we thought of that, that it was planted in the shade?" she asks with a chuckle, adding: "It wasn't in the shade originally, I'm sure." The queen then suggests the sundial could be moved, to which Attenborough responds that it depends whether she wishes to know the time or not. The documentary, "The Queen's Green Planet", is scheduled for broadcast on ITV on Monday. It also features other members of the royal family as well as the actress and campaigner Angelina Jolie, who has taken part in the environmental project and is shown describing the queen as "a lovely lady". Sounds like President Trump In a separate excerpt from the queen's walk with Attenborough, released by ITV ahead of broadcast, the quiet of the palace garden is broken by the noise of a helicopter hovering overhead. "Why do they always go round and round when you want to talk?" the queen asks, adding: "Sounds like President Trump, or President Obama", apparently referring to the aircraft used by the US&nbsppresidents during visits to her. During another light-hearted moment, the monarch spots a sapling bent over at an alarming angle, remarking: "Somebody sat on it I think, at the garden party". The queen and Attenborough have known each other for many years as the broadcaster, who has been making nature programmes since the 1950s and continues to draw millions of viewers with every new one, has received a series of royal honours over the years. The two nonagenarians appear relaxed together, with little of the formality and rigid deference often seen in people addressing the monarch. The pair look at trees planted in the palace garden to mark the birth of the queen's children, and Attenborough is seen squatting down to read the plaques as they try and work out which tree corresponds to which prince or princess. The queen, who routinely receives gifts from visitors from every corner of the planet, comments that the garden has benefitted from many gifts of roses and other plants. "You know, I've been quite difficult to give presents to, so," she says, drawing laughter from Attenborough. "Of course they've said 'Oh well, let's give her a plant ... or a tree or something.' Which is very nice to have."

Queen Elizabeth takes dig at Trump, Obama in Attenborough's TV show

China said on Wednesday it would allow foreign investors greater access to its stock markets and promised that other previously announced financial reforms would come into effect within months in its latest conciliatory signals amid US trade tensions.

China`s securities regulator said foreign investors would be allowed to trade a greater volume of shares on Chinese stock markets through existing programmes linking Hong Kong`s bourse with mainland exchanges, and also will "strive" to establish a similar link between Shanghai and London this year.

Central Bank Governor Yi Gang also said China would move ahead with plans to remove limits on foreign shareholdings in Chinese financial institutions.

Foreign firms will be allowed to own as much as 51 per cent of joint ventures in the securities, funds and futures industries, up from the current 49 percent, Yi told the Boao Forum for Asia in southern China.

All limits are to be removed in three years, the government had said previously.

Foreign ownership restrictions in Chinese banks and financial asset management firms also will be removed.

The foreign-ownership reforms were first announced in November during a state visit by US President Donald Trump, but the latest announcements appeared to set a firmer timetable for implementation, with Yi quoted saying they would commence "in the coming months".&nbsp

The latest promises came a day after President Xi Jinping pledged at the same forum that China would lower car tariffs this year and take other steps to open the world`s number two economy "wider and wider".

His comments addressed major US complaints in a simmering trade row that has seen both sides threaten retaliatory measures.

Both Yi and the China Securities Regulatory Commission said the allowable daily two-way trading volume between Hong Kong and mainland China's two exchanges would each be increased fourfold to 94 billion yuan ($15 billion), effective May 1.

A Hong Kong-Shanghai trading connection was established in 2014, and a similar one between Hong Kong and China`s second exchange in Shenzhen two years later, giving foreigners greater access to Chinese stocks via Hong Kong, and vice versa.

A proposed London-Shanghai link was first disclosed in 2015 but no firm timetable had been set.

The US and European Union have long complained about market access in a host of industries, with foreign firms unable to take controlling stakes in Chinese firms.

In the tightly controlled banking sector, for example, overseas companies currently cannot hold more than 25 per cent of a lender's capital, making it difficult for them to play a major role in the domestic market.

Analysts have previously downplayed such reform promises, saying they are being made now that Chinese enterprises have a firm hold on domestic markets.

Trump, however, on Tuesday praised Xi`s "kind words" on reform and pledged to cooperate with China toward "great progress" in resolving trade differences.

Yi also said China would not devalue its currency as a weapon in a trade war, state television said.

China said on Wednesday it would allow foreign investors greater access to its stock markets and promised that other previously announced financial reforms would come into effect within months in its latest conciliatory signals amid US trade tensions

China said on Wednesday it would allow foreign investors greater access to its stock markets and promised that other previously announced financial reforms would come into effect within months in its latest conciliatory signals amid US trade tensions. China`s securities regulator said foreign investors would be allowed to trade a greater volume of shares on Chinese stock markets through existing programmes linking Hong Kong`s bourse with mainland exchanges, and also will "strive" to establish a similar link between Shanghai and London this year. Central Bank Governor Yi Gang also said China would move ahead with plans to remove limits on foreign shareholdings in Chinese financial institutions. Foreign firms will be allowed to own as much as 51 per cent of joint ventures in the securities, funds and futures industries, up from the current 49 percent, Yi told the Boao Forum for Asia in southern China. All limits are to be removed in three years, the government had said previously. Foreign ownership restrictions in Chinese banks and financial asset management firms also will be removed. The foreign-ownership reforms were first announced in November during a state visit by US President Donald Trump, but the latest announcements appeared to set a firmer timetable for implementation, with Yi quoted saying they would commence "in the coming months". The latest promises came a day after President Xi Jinping pledged at the same forum that China would lower car tariffs this year and take other steps to open the world`s number two economy "wider and wider". His comments addressed major US complaints in a simmering trade row that has seen both sides threaten retaliatory measures. Both Yi and the China Securities Regulatory Commission said the allowable daily two-way trading volume between Hong Kong and mainland China's two exchanges would each be increased fourfold to 94 billion yuan ($15 billion), effective May 1. A Hong Kong-Shanghai trading connection was established in 2014, and a similar one between Hong Kong and China`s second exchange in Shenzhen two years later, giving foreigners greater access to Chinese stocks via Hong Kong, and vice versa. A proposed London-Shanghai link was first disclosed in 2015 but no firm timetable had been set. The US and European Union have long complained about market access in a host of industries, with foreign firms unable to take controlling stakes in Chinese firms. In the tightly controlled banking sector, for example, overseas companies currently cannot hold more than 25 per cent of a lender's capital, making it difficult for them to play a major role in the domestic market. Analysts have previously downplayed such reform promises, saying they are being made now that Chinese enterprises have a firm hold on domestic markets. Trump, however, on Tuesday praised Xi`s "kind words" on reform and pledged to cooperate with China toward "great progress" in resolving trade differences. Yi also said China would not devalue its currency as a weapon in a trade war, state television said.

China vows wider access to financial markets amid trade row

Facebook is committed to ensure the integrity of key elections across the world, including in India, its founder Mark Zuckerberg said as he testified before the US Congress over the massive Cambridge Analytica scandal that has shaken the social media giant.

Zuckerberg's testimony came after it was revealed in March that British firm Cambridge Analytica tied to US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign improperly collected profile data of up to 87 million Facebook users.

The scandal shook confidence in Facebook, leading some people to go as far as abandoning the social media site altogether&nbspa revolt called the hashtag #DeleteFacebook.

Zuckerberg, who is also the CEO of Facebook, said data privacy and foreign interference in elections were topics that they have discussed at the Facebook board meeting.

"These are some of the biggest issues that the company has faced, and we feel a huge responsibility to get these right," Zuckerberg told lawmakers during the Congressional hearing, adding that "this is one of my top priorities in 2018".

He said Facebook was taking steps to ensure the integrity of elections in countries like the United States, India, Brazil, and Pakistan.

"2018 is is an incredibly important year for elections. Not just in the US mid-terms, but, around the world, there are important elections -- in India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, and Hungary -- and we want to make sure we do everything we can to protect the integrity of these elections," he said.

Zuckerberg organisation faces charges of failing to prevent Cambridge Analytica from gathering personal information of Facebook users to try to influence an election.

Zuckerberg said his one of the greatest regrets was that Facebook has been slow in identifying the Russian information operations in 2016.

"We expected them to do a number of more traditional cyber attacks, which we did identify and notify the campaigns that they were trying to hack into them," he said.

The Facebook CEO said he was now more confident as his company has set the things right. Since the 2016 election, there have been several important elections around the world where it has had a better record, he said.

There was the French presidential election. There was the German election. There was the US Senate Alabama special election last year," Zuckerberg added.

He said Facebook has deployed new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that better identify fake accounts, trying to interfere in elections or spread misinformation.

"Between those three elections, we were able to proactively remove tens of thousands of accounts before they could do significant harm," he said.

"And the nature of these attacks, though, is that there are people in Russia whose job is to try to exploit our systems and other internet systems, and other systems, as well. So this is an arms race, right? I mean, they're going to keep on getting better at this, and we need to invest in keeping on getting better at this, too, which is why one of the things I mentioned before is we're going to have more than 20,000 people, by the end of this year, working on security and content review across the company," he said.

Zuckerberg said they had developed tools which identify people when they try to create fake accounts.

Your content has to be authentic. So we build technical tools to try to identify when people are creating fake accounts, especially large networks of fake accounts, like the Russians have in order to remove all of that content," he said.

Zuckerberg said after the US 2016 election, Facebook's top priority was to protect the integrity of other elections around the world.

"What we're going to do is to ask a valid government identity and we're going to verify the location. We are going to do that so that someone sitting in Russia, for example, couldn't say that they're in America and, therefore, able to run an election ad," he said.

Mark Zuckerberg's testimony came after it was revealed in March that British firm Cambridge Analytica tied to US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign improperly collected profile data of up to 87 million Facebook users

Facebook is committed to ensure the integrity of key elections across the world, including in India, its founder Mark Zuckerberg said as he testified before the US Congress over the massive Cambridge Analytica scandal that has shaken the social media giant. Zuckerberg's testimony came after it was revealed in March that British firm Cambridge Analytica tied to US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign improperly collected profile data of up to 87 million Facebook users. The scandal shook confidence in Facebook, leading some people to go as far as abandoning the social media site altogether&nbspa revolt called the hashtag #DeleteFacebook. Zuckerberg, who is also the CEO of Facebook, said data privacy and foreign interference in elections were topics that they have discussed at the Facebook board meeting. "These are some of the biggest issues that the company has faced, and we feel a huge responsibility to get these right," Zuckerberg told lawmakers during the Congressional hearing, adding that "this is one of my top priorities in 2018". He said Facebook was taking steps to ensure the integrity of elections in countries like the United States, India, Brazil, and Pakistan. "2018 is is an incredibly important year for elections. Not just in the US mid-terms, but, around the world, there are important elections -- in India, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, and Hungary -- and we want to make sure we do everything we can to protect the integrity of these elections," he said. Zuckerberg organisation faces charges of failing to prevent Cambridge Analytica from gathering personal information of Facebook users to try to influence an election. Zuckerberg said his one of the greatest regrets was that Facebook has been slow in identifying the Russian information operations in 2016. "We expected them to do a number of more traditional cyber attacks, which we did identify and notify the campaigns that they were trying to hack into them," he said. The Facebook CEO said he was now more confident as his company has set the things right. Since the 2016 election, there have been several important elections around the world where it has had a better record, he said. There was the French presidential election. There was the German election. There was the US Senate Alabama special election last year," Zuckerberg added. He said Facebook has deployed new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that better identify fake accounts, trying to interfere in elections or spread misinformation. "Between those three elections, we were able to proactively remove tens of thousands of accounts before they could do significant harm," he said. "And the nature of these attacks, though, is that there are people in Russia whose job is to try to exploit our systems and other internet systems, and other systems, as well. So this is an arms race, right? I mean, they're going to keep on getting better at this, and we need to invest in keeping on getting better at this, too, which is why one of the things I mentioned before is we're going to have more than 20,000 people, by the end of this year, working on security and content review across the company," he said. Zuckerberg said they had developed tools which identify people when they try to create fake accounts. Your content has to be authentic. So we build technical tools to try to identify when people are creating fake accounts, especially large networks of fake accounts, like the Russians have in order to remove all of that content," he said. Zuckerberg said after the US 2016 election, Facebook's top priority was to protect the integrity of other elections around the world. "What we're going to do is to ask a valid government identity and we're going to verify the location. We are going to do that so that someone sitting in Russia, for example, couldn't say that they're in America and, therefore, able to run an election ad," he said.

Facebook committed to ensure integrity of elections in India, other countries: Zuckerberg

U.S. President Donald Trump, his predecessor Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Theresa May have not been invited to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19, royal and British government sources said on Tuesday. 
Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and younger brother of Prince William, will marry Markle, an American actress best known for her role in the TV series "Suits", at St George`s Chapel in Windsor Castle. 
 
"It has been decided that an official list of political leaders – both UK and international - is not required for Prince Harry and Ms. Markle`s wedding," said a spokesman for Kensington Palace, the official residence of William and Harry. 
 
"Her Majesty`s Government was consulted on this decision, which was taken by The Royal Household," the spokesman said. "Her Majesty`s Government" is the official name of the British government. 
 
A Kensington Palace source confirmed the Obamas would not be attending and said the wedding guests would be people who have an existing direct relationship with the groom or the bride or with both. That excludes Trump. 
 
There had been some speculation that the Obamas might be invited due to the personal rapport between the former president and Harry, but it would have been diplomatically awkward to invite the Obamas and not the Trumps. 
 
Although the royal family is expected to steer well clear of politics, Britain`s delicate constitutional balance means that its members have to consult discreetly with the government to ensure their public actions comply with foreign policy. 
 
A British government source confirmed May would not be attending and said there had been no expectation that she would. 
 
The government source noted that the wedding venue was significantly smaller than Westminster Abbey, where Harry`s older brother William wed Kate Middleton in 2011 in the presence of then Prime Minister David Cameron and other politicians and diplomats. 
 
Obama, who was then in office, was not invited to that wedding and the United States was represented by its ambassador to the United Kingdom. 
 
Kensington Palace on Tuesday named some of the 1,200 people, chosen because of their strong leadership and community service, who have been invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle on the wedding day to join the celebrations. 
 
The list included people who ran a wide variety of charity organisations as well as veterans from the armed forces who have suffered life-changing injuries.

"It has been decided that an official list of political leaders is not required for Prince Harry and Ms. Markle`s wedding," said a spokesman.

U.S. President Donald Trump, his predecessor Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Theresa May have not been invited to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19, royal and British government sources said on Tuesday. Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and younger brother of Prince William, will marry Markle, an American actress best known for her role in the TV series "Suits", at St George`s Chapel in Windsor Castle. "It has been decided that an official list of political leaders – both UK and international - is not required for Prince Harry and Ms. Markle`s wedding," said a spokesman for Kensington Palace, the official residence of William and Harry. "Her Majesty`s Government was consulted on this decision, which was taken by The Royal Household," the spokesman said. "Her Majesty`s Government" is the official name of the British government. A Kensington Palace source confirmed the Obamas would not be attending and said the wedding guests would be people who have an existing direct relationship with the groom or the bride or with both. That excludes Trump. There had been some speculation that the Obamas might be invited due to the personal rapport between the former president and Harry, but it would have been diplomatically awkward to invite the Obamas and not the Trumps. Although the royal family is expected to steer well clear of politics, Britain`s delicate constitutional balance means that its members have to consult discreetly with the government to ensure their public actions comply with foreign policy. A British government source confirmed May would not be attending and said there had been no expectation that she would. The government source noted that the wedding venue was significantly smaller than Westminster Abbey, where Harry`s older brother William wed Kate Middleton in 2011 in the presence of then Prime Minister David Cameron and other politicians and diplomats. Obama, who was then in office, was not invited to that wedding and the United States was represented by its ambassador to the United Kingdom. Kensington Palace on Tuesday named some of the 1,200 people, chosen because of their strong leadership and community service, who have been invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle on the wedding day to join the celebrations. The list included people who ran a wide variety of charity organisations as well as veterans from the armed forces who have suffered life-changing injuries.

Trumps, Obamas not invited to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding

The White House insisted Tuesday that Donald Trump has the power to fire special prosecutor Robert Mueller, stoking fears that the president may try to kill an investigation inching ever-closer to the Oval Office.

After months of denying Mueller's removal is under consideration, the change in tone came as Trump reacted furiously to an FBI raid of his private lawyer's offices on Monday.

Special counsel Mueller was appointed in May to investigate Russian efforts to tip the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor.

Over the last year, he has increasingly dug into evidence of alleged money laundering, fraud and obstruction of justice inside Trump's inner circle.

Four Trump aides -- including his 2016 campaign chair Paul Manafort and former national security advisor Michael Flynn -- have already been indicted or pleaded guilty.

Now, Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen -- who holds secrets about many of the president's personal and financial dealings -- is in the crosshairs.

"We have been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said of the possibility to remove Mueller.

"I think that the president has been clear that he thinks that this has gone too far."

Trump hunkered down at the White House, canceling a first trip to Latin America that was due to start Friday and stewing on a move that could throw America into a constitutional crisis.

At the same time, Trump faced a momentous decision about whether to carry out military strikes in Syria.

Total witch hunt

Trump has pledged to decide by the end of Tuesday how to respond to a suspected chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, blamed on the Syrian regime and its allies.

But while much of his national security team debated whether strikes would be effective in deterring future chemical attacks, and how to limit the risk of escalation, Trump met his lawyers Jay Sekulow and Ty Cobb to discuss the Cohen raid.&nbsp

His anger showed no signs of abating.

"A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!" the president blasted on Twitter amid news that FBI agents had seized documents pertaining to his dealings with Cohen. "Attorney–client privilege is dead!"

In a phone call with CNN, Cohen admitted the raid was "upsetting to say the least."

Asked if he was worried, Cohen said: "I would be lying to you if I told that I am not. Do I need this in my life? No. Do I want to be involved in this? No."

On Capitol Hill, Republican and Democratic lawmakers urged Trump to allow Mueller to do his work.

Democrats wanted to go one step further and pass legislation protecting the Republican former FBI director.

"If the president is thinking of using this raid to fire Special Counsel Mueller or otherwise interfere with the chain of command in the Russia probe, we Democrats have one simple message for him: don't," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said.

"The investigation is critical to the health of our democracy, and must be allowed to continue."

Trump's fellow Republicans said that would not be necessary, with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley stating it would be "suicide" for the president to fire Mueller.

The raid on Cohen's offices came amid allegations he paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 shortly before the election to keep a tryst with Trump quiet.

After months of silence, Trump last week offered a flat "no" when asked if he knew about the payment.

Plans dashed

Trump's decision to scrap his trip to Colombia and Peru surprised even some White House staff.

"The president will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world," Sanders said.

Trump had already cut the visit short -- from five days, to three and, finally, to none.&nbsp

The combative US president had been expected in Peru for the Summit of the Americas, where he was likely to face protests and awkward meetings with leaders who have bristled at his repeated portrayal of Latino immigrants as rapists and thugs.

Vice President Mike Pence will represent the United States in Lima instead, his aide Jarrod Agen said, adding that he would also meet Venezuelan dissidents. &nbsp

Trump is still expected to travel to his Mar-a-Lago holiday home in Florida on Monday, where a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will go ahead.

&nbsp

'We have been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said of the possibility to remove Mueller

The White House insisted Tuesday that Donald Trump has the power to fire special prosecutor Robert Mueller, stoking fears that the president may try to kill an investigation inching ever-closer to the Oval Office. After months of denying Mueller's removal is under consideration, the change in tone came as Trump reacted furiously to an FBI raid of his private lawyer's offices on Monday. Special counsel Mueller was appointed in May to investigate Russian efforts to tip the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor. Over the last year, he has increasingly dug into evidence of alleged money laundering, fraud and obstruction of justice inside Trump's inner circle. Four Trump aides -- including his 2016 campaign chair Paul Manafort and former national security advisor Michael Flynn -- have already been indicted or pleaded guilty. Now, Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen -- who holds secrets about many of the president's personal and financial dealings -- is in the crosshairs. "We have been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said of the possibility to remove Mueller. "I think that the president has been clear that he thinks that this has gone too far." Trump hunkered down at the White House, canceling a first trip to Latin America that was due to start Friday and stewing on a move that could throw America into a constitutional crisis. At the same time, Trump faced a momentous decision about whether to carry out military strikes in Syria. Total witch hunt Trump has pledged to decide by the end of Tuesday how to respond to a suspected chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, blamed on the Syrian regime and its allies. But while much of his national security team debated whether strikes would be effective in deterring future chemical attacks, and how to limit the risk of escalation, Trump met his lawyers Jay Sekulow and Ty Cobb to discuss the Cohen raid. His anger showed no signs of abating. "A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!" the president blasted on Twitter amid news that FBI agents had seized documents pertaining to his dealings with Cohen. "Attorney–client privilege is dead!" In a phone call with CNN, Cohen admitted the raid was "upsetting to say the least." Asked if he was worried, Cohen said: "I would be lying to you if I told that I am not. Do I need this in my life? No. Do I want to be involved in this? No." On Capitol Hill, Republican and Democratic lawmakers urged Trump to allow Mueller to do his work. Democrats wanted to go one step further and pass legislation protecting the Republican former FBI director. "If the president is thinking of using this raid to fire Special Counsel Mueller or otherwise interfere with the chain of command in the Russia probe, we Democrats have one simple message for him: don't," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said. "The investigation is critical to the health of our democracy, and must be allowed to continue." Trump's fellow Republicans said that would not be necessary, with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley stating it would be "suicide" for the president to fire Mueller. The raid on Cohen's offices came amid allegations he paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 shortly before the election to keep a tryst with Trump quiet. After months of silence, Trump last week offered a flat "no" when asked if he knew about the payment. Plans dashed Trump's decision to scrap his trip to Colombia and Peru surprised even some White House staff. "The president will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world," Sanders said. Trump had already cut the visit short -- from five days, to three and, finally, to none. The combative US president had been expected in Peru for the Summit of the Americas, where he was likely to face protests and awkward meetings with leaders who have bristled at his repeated portrayal of Latino immigrants as rapists and thugs. Vice President Mike Pence will represent the United States in Lima instead, his aide Jarrod Agen said, adding that he would also meet Venezuelan dissidents. Trump is still expected to travel to his Mar-a-Lago holiday home in Florida on Monday, where a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will go ahead.

Trump can fire Russia prosecutor Mueller, says White House

Japan's foreign minister was in South Korea for a rare visit Wednesday, armed with a list of issues Tokyo wants to push onto the agenda of a looming summit between North and South Korea.

The first such visit in more than two years comes at a time of frenetic diplomatic activity in Northeast Asia, ahead of the North's planned summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.&nbsp

North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un met Chinese President Xi Jinping in his first overseas trip last month.

Japan has largely remained on the sidelines, with suggestions last month of the third summit between Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe quickly petering out.

Instead, Tokyo has found itself forced to rely on the US and South Korea to tackle its concerns regarding the North, which last year test-fired several missiles that flew over Japan, sparking security concerns.

Tokyo's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said "it is extremely important that Japan, the US, and South Korea share information and coordinate closely" ahead of the two summits.

Foreign minister Taro Kono will meet with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha on Wednesday morning.&nbsp

As well as Pyongyang's "nuclear and missile issues", Kono has said he will try to ensure that "the abduction issue will be talked about in the North-South summit".

He was referring to Japanese citizens abducted by the North's agents in the 1970s and 80s in a bid to train spies in Japanese language and customs before overseas missions.

The North regularly excoriates Japan over its brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.

But ties between the South and Japan have also remained sour for years due to the controversy over historical issues left unresolved -- including Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II.

Seoul has urged Tokyo to take legal and moral responsibility, while Japan says that the issue was resolved when the two nations reached a controversial deal in 2015 to offer compensations to the victims.&nbsp

Suga said Japan's foreign minister would seek to boost a "forward-looking" bilateral relationship despite the row.

Kim is set to meet Moon on April 27 for a third-ever summit between the two neighbours, and is expected to talk with Trump in May or early June.

Japan -- a key Asian ally of the US and host of 50,000 American troops -- had long supported Trump's hardline position to press Pyongyang to abandon its widely-condemned nuclear and missile weapons programmes.

But Trump's sudden decision to open dialogue with Kim reportedly stoked concerns over whether Japan was being ignored in the regional push to engage the unpredictable North.

The first such visit in more than two years comes at a time of frenetic diplomatic activity in Northeast Asia, ahead of the North's planned summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump

Japan's foreign minister was in South Korea for a rare visit Wednesday, armed with a list of issues Tokyo wants to push onto the agenda of a looming summit between North and South Korea. The first such visit in more than two years comes at a time of frenetic diplomatic activity in Northeast Asia, ahead of the North's planned summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un met Chinese President Xi Jinping in his first overseas trip last month. Japan has largely remained on the sidelines, with suggestions last month of the third summit between Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe quickly petering out. Instead, Tokyo has found itself forced to rely on the US and South Korea to tackle its concerns regarding the North, which last year test-fired several missiles that flew over Japan, sparking security concerns. Tokyo's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said "it is extremely important that Japan, the US, and South Korea share information and coordinate closely" ahead of the two summits. Foreign minister Taro Kono will meet with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha on Wednesday morning. As well as Pyongyang's "nuclear and missile issues", Kono has said he will try to ensure that "the abduction issue will be talked about in the North-South summit". He was referring to Japanese citizens abducted by the North's agents in the 1970s and 80s in a bid to train spies in Japanese language and customs before overseas missions. The North regularly excoriates Japan over its brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. But ties between the South and Japan have also remained sour for years due to the controversy over historical issues left unresolved -- including Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II. Seoul has urged Tokyo to take legal and moral responsibility, while Japan says that the issue was resolved when the two nations reached a controversial deal in 2015 to offer compensations to the victims. Suga said Japan's foreign minister would seek to boost a "forward-looking" bilateral relationship despite the row. Kim is set to meet Moon on April 27 for a third-ever summit between the two neighbours, and is expected to talk with Trump in May or early June. Japan -- a key Asian ally of the US and host of 50,000 American troops -- had long supported Trump's hardline position to press Pyongyang to abandon its widely-condemned nuclear and missile weapons programmes. But Trump's sudden decision to open dialogue with Kim reportedly stoked concerns over whether Japan was being ignored in the regional push to engage the unpredictable North.

Japan Finance Minister to voice North Korea concerns in rare Seoul visit

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that U.S. "smart missiles" should be aimed at terrorists, and not at the Syrian government, as it commented on U.S. President Donald Trump`s warning of a missile strike in Syria.&nbsp;

"Smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, and not towards the lawful government which has been fighting international terrorism on its territory for several years," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, wrote on Facebook.&nbsp;

Trump on Wednesday warned of a forthcoming response to suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, declaring that "smart" missiles will be coming and blasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Zakharova said that a possible U.S. missile strike could be an attempt to destroy evidence of an alleged chemical weapon attack in the Syrian town of Douma.&nbsp;

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Russia of a forthcoming response to suspected chemical attack in Syria, declaring that missiles "will be coming" and blasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!' You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

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Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984022625440747520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
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In another tweet, Trump said that the US relationship with Russia is worse than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War.&nbsp;

Russian lawmakers have warned the United States that Moscow would view an airstrike on Syria as a war crime, saying it could trigger a direct military clash, reports said.

Russian lawmakers have warned the United States that Moscow would view an airstrike on Syria as a war crime

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that U.S. "smart missiles" should be aimed at terrorists, and not at the Syrian government, as it commented on U.S. President Donald Trump`s warning of a missile strike in Syria. "Smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, and not towards the lawful government which has been fighting international terrorism on its territory for several years," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, wrote on Facebook. Trump on Wednesday warned of a forthcoming response to suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, declaring that "smart" missiles will be coming and blasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Zakharova said that a possible U.S. missile strike could be an attempt to destroy evidence of an alleged chemical weapon attack in the Syrian town of Douma. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Russia of a forthcoming response to suspected chemical attack in Syria, declaring that missiles "will be coming" and blasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar Assad. "Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!' You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter. Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 × In another tweet, Trump said that the US relationship with Russia is worse than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. Russian lawmakers have warned the United States that Moscow would view an airstrike on Syria as a war crime, saying it could trigger a direct military clash, reports said.

US 'smart missiles' should target 'terrorists', not 'legitimate' Syrian government: Russia

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Russia of a forthcoming response to suspected chemical attack in Syria, declaring that missiles "will be coming" and blasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984022625440747520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
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"Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!' You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

In another tweet, Trump said that the US relationship with Russia is worse than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984032798821568513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
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Russian lawmakers have warned the United States that Moscow would view an airstrike on Syria as a war crime, saying it could trigger a direct military clash, reports said.

Trump didn’t say whether he was referring to a U.S. military strike. But he has threatened military action in response to Syria’s suspected chemical attack, which activists and rescuers say killed at least 40 people. The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied that such an attack ever happened

'Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!' You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!' Trump wrote on Twitter

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Russia of a forthcoming response to suspected chemical attack in Syria, declaring that missiles "will be coming" and blasting Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 × "Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!' You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter. In another tweet, Trump said that the US relationship with Russia is worse than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 × Russian lawmakers have warned the United States that Moscow would view an airstrike on Syria as a war crime, saying it could trigger a direct military clash, reports said. Trump didn’t say whether he was referring to a U.S. military strike. But he has threatened military action in response to Syria’s suspected chemical attack, which activists and rescuers say killed at least 40 people. The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied that such an attack ever happened

Missiles 'will be coming' at Syria: Trump warns Russia

The leaders of Britain and the United States vowed Tuesday to end chemical weapon attacks in Syria, drawing a red line ahead of possible military action.

"The president and prime minister agreed not to allow the use of chemical weapons to continue," the White House said in a statement after a call between Donald Trump and Theresa May.

The leaders of Britain and the United States vowed Tuesday to end chemical weapon attacks in Syria, drawing a red line ahead of possible military action

The leaders of Britain and the United States vowed Tuesday to end chemical weapon attacks in Syria, drawing a red line ahead of possible military action. "The president and prime minister agreed not to allow the use of chemical weapons to continue," the White House said in a statement after a call between Donald Trump and Theresa May.

Trump, May will 'not allow' Syria chemical attacks to continue: White House

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Taiwan's business community on Tuesday to shun any idea of independence for their island and to promote peace and stable ties with the mainland, state media reported.

Ties between Beijing and self-ruled Taiwan have been frosty since the independence-leaning Diplomatic Progressive Party (DPP) won a Taiwan election in 2016, defeating the nationalist Kuomintang party.

Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control.

"Friends in the island's business community should take a stand and firmly maintain the '1992 consensus', oppose 'Taiwan independence' and firmly promote the peace and stability of cross-straits relations," Xi told the chairman of a foundation that promotes trade between China and Taiwan.

The "1992 consensus" refers to an agreement reached that year that both sides are part of "one China", a cherished principle in Beijing.

Xi made the remarks to Vincent Siew, a former vice-president of the Kuomintang and head of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, on the sidelines of the Chinese Boao Forum for Asia on Hainan island.

"The Taiwan problem is of great concern for the basic interests of the Chinese nation," Xi told Siew, according to a report of their talk from the official People's Daily newspaper.

"We hope that compatriots across the straights can together shoulder the virtuous cause of the nation and push for the peaceful reunification of the motherland."

Xi said in a speech to China's annual meeting of parliament in March that Taiwan would face the "punishment of history" for any attempts at separatism, his strongest on the issue warning yet.

China fears DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen wants will push for formal independence, though Tsai says she wants to maintain the status quo and is committed to peace.

Overtures by the administration of US President Donald Trump towards strengthening ties with the island have ratcheted up the tension.

China repeatedly says that the US acceptance that Taiwan and China are one country is the political bedrock for healthy ties between them.&nbsp

China opposes any semblance of formal military or diplomatic ties between the United States and Taiwan.

China said on Monday it opposed the United States selling weapons to Taiwan, after the Trump administration approved the marketing licence required for US manufacturers to sell technology to Taiwan that would allow for building submarines. 
&nbsp

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Taiwan's business community on Tuesday to shun any idea of independence for their island and to promote peace and stable ties with the mainland, state media reported

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Taiwan's business community on Tuesday to shun any idea of independence for their island and to promote peace and stable ties with the mainland, state media reported. Ties between Beijing and self-ruled Taiwan have been frosty since the independence-leaning Diplomatic Progressive Party (DPP) won a Taiwan election in 2016, defeating the nationalist Kuomintang party. Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control. "Friends in the island's business community should take a stand and firmly maintain the '1992 consensus', oppose 'Taiwan independence' and firmly promote the peace and stability of cross-straits relations," Xi told the chairman of a foundation that promotes trade between China and Taiwan. The "1992 consensus" refers to an agreement reached that year that both sides are part of "one China", a cherished principle in Beijing. Xi made the remarks to Vincent Siew, a former vice-president of the Kuomintang and head of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, on the sidelines of the Chinese Boao Forum for Asia on Hainan island. "The Taiwan problem is of great concern for the basic interests of the Chinese nation," Xi told Siew, according to a report of their talk from the official People's Daily newspaper. "We hope that compatriots across the straights can together shoulder the virtuous cause of the nation and push for the peaceful reunification of the motherland." Xi said in a speech to China's annual meeting of parliament in March that Taiwan would face the "punishment of history" for any attempts at separatism, his strongest on the issue warning yet. China fears DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen wants will push for formal independence, though Tsai says she wants to maintain the status quo and is committed to peace. Overtures by the administration of US President Donald Trump towards strengthening ties with the island have ratcheted up the tension. China repeatedly says that the US acceptance that Taiwan and China are one country is the political bedrock for healthy ties between them. China opposes any semblance of formal military or diplomatic ties between the United States and Taiwan. China said on Monday it opposed the United States selling weapons to Taiwan, after the Trump administration approved the marketing licence required for US manufacturers to sell technology to Taiwan that would allow for building submarines.

XI Jinping urges Taiwan business community to oppose independence

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/fbi-raid-on-michael-cohens-office-an-attack-on-our-country-trump-129466">FBI raid on Michael Cohen's office an attack on our country: Trump</a>

The Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) today raided the New York offices of US President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/himachal-bus-accident-10-year-old-makes-miraculous-escape-pm-modi-anguished-129477">Himachal bus accident: 10-year-old makes </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/himachal-bus-accident-10-year-old-makes-miraculous-escape-pm-modi-anguished-129477">miraculous</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/himachal-bus-accident-10-year-old-makes-miraculous-escape-pm-modi-anguished-129477"> escape PM Modi anguished</a>

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday condemned the bus accident in Himachal Pradesh which led to loss of lives of 30 people including 27 children.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/security-beefed-up-across-nation-following-anti-quota-bandh--129468">SC/ST Act strike: Home ministry issues </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/security-beefed-up-across-nation-following-anti-quota-bandh--129468">advisory</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/security-beefed-up-across-nation-following-anti-quota-bandh--129468">, security forces on alert nationwide</a>

The Home Ministry has directed a nationwide advisory to make sure that sufficient security is deployed to ensure that things don't go out of control during the strike-call today against the policy of caste-based reservation in education and jobs.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/raazi-trailer-alia-bhatts-spy-act-looks-intriguing--129483">Raazi trailer: Alia Bhatt's spy act looks intriguing</a>&nbsp;

Alia Bhatt surely knows how to choose her films. Her last release- Badrinath Ki Dulhania- was a complete commercial film. Her latest, Meghna Gulzar's Raazi presents Alia in a very different role. The actress plays an Indian spy in the thriller which is based on a real-life story.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-rajasthans-roi-on-ben-stokes-against-hyderabad-was-rs-1785714-129472">IPL: Rajasthan's ROI on Ben Stokes against Hyderabad was Rs 1,785,714 per ball</a>

Rajasthan marked a return to the IPL after serving a two-year ban but failed to light up the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League as they lost the opening match against Hyderabad.

FBI raid on Michael Cohen's office an attack on our country: Trump The Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) today raided the New York offices of US President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen. Himachal bus accident: 10-year-old makes miraculous escape PM Modi anguished Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday condemned the bus accident in Himachal Pradesh which led to loss of lives of 30 people including 27 children. SC/ST Act strike: Home ministry issues advisory, security forces on alert nationwide The Home Ministry has directed a nationwide advisory to make sure that sufficient security is deployed to ensure that things don't go out of control during the strike-call today against the policy of caste-based reservation in education and jobs. Raazi trailer: Alia Bhatt's spy act looks intriguing Alia Bhatt surely knows how to choose her films. Her last release- Badrinath Ki Dulhania- was a complete commercial film. Her latest, Meghna Gulzar's Raazi presents Alia in a very different role. The actress plays an Indian spy in the thriller which is based on a real-life story. IPL: Rajasthan's ROI on Ben Stokes against Hyderabad was Rs 1,785,714 per ball Rajasthan marked a return to the IPL after serving a two-year ban but failed to light up the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League as they lost the opening match against Hyderabad.

WION Morning news brief, April 10, 2018

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