The Trump administration is pushing security ties between the United States, India, Japan and Australia, but the revival of the Asian &quot;Quad&quot; must overcome lingering mistrust in New Delhi towards its allies that hampers genuine military cooperation.

Joint naval drills have been at the heart of a relationship that analysts saw as a move to counterbalance China&#39;s rising power by binding the region&#39;s leading democracies more closely together.

But while the navies of the United States, Japan, and Australia can easily operate together -- based on common US&nbsp;designed combat systems and data links -- India is the outlier.

Not only are most of its ships and warplanes Russian-made, its government and military remain deeply reluctant to share data and open up sensitive military communications systems.

The United States has carried out more naval exercises with India than any other nation. But naval sources and experts say these are more about &quot;cultural familiarisation&quot; than drills for joint combat.

Because India will not sign an agreement on sharing data, naval exercises are conducted through voice and text commands with rudimentary SMS-style data exchange, Indian and Japanese military sources said.

&quot;Think of it as directing your friend to your house in the 1980s. Your left may be his right, neither of you have situational awareness,&quot; said Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, a senior fellow at New Delhi&#39;s Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies who has tracked the military exercises.

&quot;What the Americans want is 2017 - drop a pin on Google maps and hit share. You know where your friend is and he knows where your house is and how to get to it.&quot;

The Indian defense ministry did not respond to a request for a comment. 
&nbsp;

Annual drills

The so-called Quad to discuss and cooperate on security emerged briefly as an initiative a decade ago - much to the annoyance of China - and was revived recently, with an officials-level meeting this month on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Manila.

The Trump administration has talked up cooperation with India as part of efforts for a &quot;free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific&quot;.

Describing the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a &quot;single strategic arena&quot;, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described India and the United States as regional &quot;bookends&quot;.

&quot;In concrete terms, it will lead to great coordination between the Indian, Japanese and American militaries including maritime domain awareness, anti-submarine warfare, amphibious warfare, and humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and search and rescue,&quot; he said.

To be sure, India and the United States have steadily been bringing more powerful ships into their annual &quot;Malabar&quot; drills that have been expanded to include Japan in recent years.

This year the USS Nimitz carrier group was deployed for the maneuvers off India&#39;s eastern coast, along with an aircraft carrier from India and a helicopter carrier from Japan.

But a Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces official said when Japan conducts drills with the Indian navy, communication is done mostly through voice transmission. There is no satellite link that would allow the two navies to access information and share monitor displays in onboard command centers.

Communication is usually the most difficult aspect of any joint drill, he said.

Building Blocks

The exercises are meant to lay the ground for joint patrols that the U.S. eventually wants to conduct with India and its allies across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.

U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said better interoperability was a goal of the exercises and noted that India&#39;s enhanced role as a major U.S. defense partner would help boost the relationship.

&quot;The designation of India as a major defense partner is significant and is intended to elevate defense trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of our closest allies and partners,&quot; he said.

&quot;As this relationship matures so will the level of interoperability.&quot;

Last year, India signed a military logistics pact with the United States after a decade of wrangling, but two other agreements are stuck.

The United States says the Communication and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) would allow it to supply India with encrypted communications equipment and systems. The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement is the other pact that would set a framework through which the United States could share sensitive data to aid targeting and navigation with India.

India is concerned that agreeing to the CISMOA would open up its military communications to the United States, and even allow it to listen in on operations where Indian and U.S. interests may not coincide - such as against arch-rival Pakistan, military officials in New Delhi say.

&nbsp;Radars Turned Off

Captain Gurpreet Khurana, executive director at the government-funded National Maritime Foundation, said India&#39;s underlying concern was having its autonomy constrained by binding its military into U.S. codes and operating procedures.

Once, the Americans proposed a portable &quot;suitcase&quot; communications system called the CENTRIXS which could transmit full situational awareness data to Indian ships while the two navies practiced together. India refused to allow it to be plugged in for the duration of the exercise, citing operational security, according to an Indian source briefed on the planning of the exercises.

Even the joint air exercises that the two countries are conducting as a follow-on to Malabar are severely restricted, the source said.

India sends its Russian-acquired Sukhoi jets to the drills, but their radars and jammers are turned off.

David Shear, who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia under President Barack Obama, said U.S. forces, particularly the Navy, were well aware of the interoperability constraints to interacting with India.

&quot;They understand what the obstacles are and that this is going to be a long-term project,&quot; he said.

The Trump administration is pushing security ties between the United States, India, Japan and Australia

The Trump administration is pushing security ties between the United States, India, Japan and Australia, but the revival of the Asian "Quad" must overcome lingering mistrust in New Delhi towards its allies that hampers genuine military cooperation. Joint naval drills have been at the heart of a relationship that analysts saw as a move to counterbalance China's rising power by binding the region's leading democracies more closely together. But while the navies of the United States, Japan, and Australia can easily operate together -- based on common US designed combat systems and data links -- India is the outlier. Not only are most of its ships and warplanes Russian-made, its government and military remain deeply reluctant to share data and open up sensitive military communications systems. The United States has carried out more naval exercises with India than any other nation. But naval sources and experts say these are more about "cultural familiarisation" than drills for joint combat. Because India will not sign an agreement on sharing data, naval exercises are conducted through voice and text commands with rudimentary SMS-style data exchange, Indian and Japanese military sources said. "Think of it as directing your friend to your house in the 1980s. Your left may be his right, neither of you have situational awareness," said Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, a senior fellow at New Delhi's Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies who has tracked the military exercises. "What the Americans want is 2017 - drop a pin on Google maps and hit share. You know where your friend is and he knows where your house is and how to get to it." The Indian defense ministry did not respond to a request for a comment. Annual drills The so-called Quad to discuss and cooperate on security emerged briefly as an initiative a decade ago - much to the annoyance of China - and was revived recently, with an officials-level meeting this month on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Manila. The Trump administration has talked up cooperation with India as part of efforts for a "free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific". Describing the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a "single strategic arena", U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described India and the United States as regional "bookends". "In concrete terms, it will lead to great coordination between the Indian, Japanese and American militaries including maritime domain awareness, anti-submarine warfare, amphibious warfare, and humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and search and rescue," he said. To be sure, India and the United States have steadily been bringing more powerful ships into their annual "Malabar" drills that have been expanded to include Japan in recent years. This year the USS Nimitz carrier group was deployed for the maneuvers off India's eastern coast, along with an aircraft carrier from India and a helicopter carrier from Japan. But a Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces official said when Japan conducts drills with the Indian navy, communication is done mostly through voice transmission. There is no satellite link that would allow the two navies to access information and share monitor displays in onboard command centers. Communication is usually the most difficult aspect of any joint drill, he said. Building Blocks The exercises are meant to lay the ground for joint patrols that the U.S. eventually wants to conduct with India and its allies across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said better interoperability was a goal of the exercises and noted that India's enhanced role as a major U.S. defense partner would help boost the relationship. "The designation of India as a major defense partner is significant and is intended to elevate defense trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of our closest allies and partners," he said. "As this relationship matures so will the level of interoperability." Last year, India signed a military logistics pact with the United States after a decade of wrangling, but two other agreements are stuck. The United States says the Communication and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) would allow it to supply India with encrypted communications equipment and systems. The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement is the other pact that would set a framework through which the United States could share sensitive data to aid targeting and navigation with India. India is concerned that agreeing to the CISMOA would open up its military communications to the United States, and even allow it to listen in on operations where Indian and U.S. interests may not coincide - such as against arch-rival Pakistan, military officials in New Delhi say. Radars Turned Off Captain Gurpreet Khurana, executive director at the government-funded National Maritime Foundation, said India's underlying concern was having its autonomy constrained by binding its military into U.S. codes and operating procedures. Once, the Americans proposed a portable "suitcase" communications system called the CENTRIXS which could transmit full situational awareness data to Indian ships while the two navies practiced together. India refused to allow it to be plugged in for the duration of the exercise, citing operational security, according to an Indian source briefed on the planning of the exercises. Even the joint air exercises that the two countries are conducting as a follow-on to Malabar are severely restricted, the source said. India sends its Russian-acquired Sukhoi jets to the drills, but their radars and jammers are turned off. David Shear, who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia under President Barack Obama, said U.S. forces, particularly the Navy, were well aware of the interoperability constraints to interacting with India. "They understand what the obstacles are and that this is going to be a long-term project," he said.

Indian navy the odd man out in Asia's 'Quad' alliance

Around 59,000 Haitians, living under the Temporary Residency Permit, have been directed to leave the United States within 18 months, the Trump administration announced on Monday.&nbsp;

The decision was taken by the Homeland Security Department, after stating that the &#39;extraordinary conditions&#39; in Haiti have improved to a large extent, giving them until July 2019 to prepare their return, following the 2010 earthquake which leads severe damage in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, reported by The Washington Post.&nbsp;

The Haitian government officials had permitted the individuals to remain in the US due to the poor economic and political conditions and well as the widespread cholera epidemic. Moreover, damages caused by three hurricanes since 2016 exacerbate the difficulty of returning Haitians. 
&nbsp; 
However, Trump administration officials have stated that the permit was temporary and by no means a way for people to become long-term residents.&nbsp;

Last month, the United Nations closed a peacekeeping mission in Haiti which included over 10,000 troops. The new mission will consist of around 1,300 international officers and 350 civilians who will help reform the current conditions in the country, reports said.

The Homeland Security Department announced the decision 60 days before the current TPS expires. The agency, in May, had extended the program for just six months instead of eighteen and demanded Haitians to prepare to go home.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Haiti is not ready to take 58,000,&rdquo; said Marleine Bastien, a South Florida Haitian activist who had requested for at least an 18-month extension of TPS. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be tough for the families in the US&nbsp;and a disaster for Haiti. It is clear that they are making decisions on the basis of politics and not&nbsp;considering the facts. This is purely unacceptable.&rdquo; as reported by Miami Herald.

Bill Nelson, a Democrat, said that the decisions were&nbsp;&#39;unacceptable&#39; and pushed the administration to rethink the decision. While members of Congress from South Florida acted in alarm.&nbsp;

The temporary status covers around 435,000 people from nine countries who fled to the US, legally or otherwise, after being hit by powerful natural disasters.&nbsp;

Since taking office, Trump has directed to end the temporary permit program for Sudan and Nicaragua and has also claimed to take a decision on 86,000 Honduras, living in the country, until July 2018.

Days after the Haiti earthquake, former President Barack Obama had granted an eighteen-month protection status for the citizens of Haiti and renewed it everytime it expired.

A senior official on Monday said that 18 months is a long time to allow families with US-born children to make decisions about their future.

Around 59,000 Haitians, living under the Temporary Residency Permit, have been directed to leave the United States within 18 months, the Trump administration announced on Monday. The decision was taken by the Homeland Security Department, after stating that the 'extraordinary conditions' in Haiti have improved to a large extent, giving them until July 2019 to prepare their return, following the 2010 earthquake which leads severe damage in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, reported by The Washington Post. The Haitian government officials had permitted the individuals to remain in the US due to the poor economic and political conditions and well as the widespread cholera epidemic. Moreover, damages caused by three hurricanes since 2016 exacerbate the difficulty of returning Haitians. However, Trump administration officials have stated that the permit was temporary and by no means a way for people to become long-term residents. Last month, the United Nations closed a peacekeeping mission in Haiti which included over 10,000 troops. The new mission will consist of around 1,300 international officers and 350 civilians who will help reform the current conditions in the country, reports said. The Homeland Security Department announced the decision 60 days before the current TPS expires. The agency, in May, had extended the program for just six months instead of eighteen and demanded Haitians to prepare to go home. “Haiti is not ready to take 58,000,” said Marleine Bastien, a South Florida Haitian activist who had requested for at least an 18-month extension of TPS. “It’s going to be tough for the families in the US and a disaster for Haiti. It is clear that they are making decisions on the basis of politics and not considering the facts. This is purely unacceptable.” as reported by Miami Herald. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, said that the decisions were 'unacceptable' and pushed the administration to rethink the decision. While members of Congress from South Florida acted in alarm. The temporary status covers around 435,000 people from nine countries who fled to the US, legally or otherwise, after being hit by powerful natural disasters. Since taking office, Trump has directed to end the temporary permit program for Sudan and Nicaragua and has also claimed to take a decision on 86,000 Honduras, living in the country, until July 2018. Days after the Haiti earthquake, former President Barack Obama had granted an eighteen-month protection status for the citizens of Haiti and renewed it everytime it expired.

Haitians directed to leave US within 18 months

Taking a significant step in the field of healthcare and technology, United States has given approval for a &quot;digital pill&quot;.

The pill, with an embedded sensor, will track patients timings in while taking medicines.

Before this&nbsp;Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd&#39;s established drug Abilify, equipped with sensors was given approval in 2012.&nbsp;

The new drug contains a tracking device developed by Proteus Digital Health.&nbsp;

Proteus was working on the pill for many years.&nbsp;The drug will help doctors in monitoring if their patients are taking their medicines on time.&nbsp;

The system sends a message from the pill&#39;s sensor to a wearable patch.

The message then transmits the information to a mobile application following which injestion&nbsp;of the medication is tracked on smartphones.&nbsp;

The sensor, which is about the size of a grain of salt, gets activated when it gets wet from stomach juices. It has a coating of copper and magnesium on either side which generates a tiny electric charge.&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The system sends a message from the pill's sensor to a wearable patch. The message then transmits the information to a mobile application following which ingestion of medicines is tracked on smartphones

Taking a significant step in the field of healthcare and technology, United States has given approval for a "digital pill". The pill, with an embedded sensor, will track patients timings in while taking medicines. Before this Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd's established drug Abilify, equipped with sensors was given approval in 2012. The new drug contains a tracking device developed by Proteus Digital Health. Proteus was working on the pill for many years. The drug will help doctors in monitoring if their patients are taking their medicines on time. The system sends a message from the pill's sensor to a wearable patch. The message then transmits the information to a mobile application following which injestion of the medication is tracked on smartphones. The sensor, which is about the size of a grain of salt, gets activated when it gets wet from stomach juices. It has a coating of copper and magnesium on either side which generates a tiny electric charge.

US gives green signal to 'sensor' pill to track patient's medication

The relationship between India and the US goes beyond mutual interest and can be beneficial for Asia and the humanity at large, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today told President Donald Trump who described him as a &quot;friend&quot; who is &quot;doing a great job&quot;.

Modi&#39;s comments came ahead of his bilateral talks with Trump on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit here during which the two leaders discussed a range of key issues including defence and security.

&quot;The relations between India and the US are growing... and I also feel that the relationship between India and the US is not only of mutual interest. It goes beyond that. We are working together for the interest, for the future of Asia and for the humanity as a whole in the world,&quot; Modi said.

&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Donald Trump in Manila, holds bilateral talks <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Philippines?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Philippines</a> <a href="https://t.co/aW6dlkgfwe">pic.twitter.com/aW6dlkgfwe</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/929996864681754625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Modi also thanked Trump for praising India whenever he got an opportunity to speak about the country during his Asia tour.

&quot;...In the few days wherever president Trump has travelled and whenever the opportunity arose to talk about India, he has expressed very high opinion about India,&quot; Modi said.

&quot;I would like to assure you whatever the expectations are of the world, of the US from India, India has always made efforts to fulfil those expectations and we will continue to do so in the future too,&quot; Modi said.

Trump on his part described Modi as a friend and a great gentleman.

&quot;PM Narendra Modi is here we had met at the White House before. He has become a friend of ours. He&#39;s doing a great job. A lot of things were solved and we will continue to work together,&quot; Trump said.

&nbsp;

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&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/929995379914899456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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He said Modi was doing a &quot;fantastic job by bringing lots of factions in India together that is what I hear and is a good news and lot of good reports are coming out of India.&quot;

The two leaders are understood to have discussed the security scenario in the region besides several other issues of mutual interests, including ways to further boost bilateral trade.

The move to set up the quadrilateral alliance comes in the backdrop of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea. The US has been favouring a larger role for India in the strategically&nbsp;important Indo-Pacific region.

The use of the term &quot;Indo-Pacific&quot; by President Trump has led to speculation that it may have something to do with Washington preparing the ground for a revival of the so called quadrilateral strategic alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India to counter China&#39;s rise.

Trump on Saturday praised India&#39;s &quot;astounding&quot; growth after it opened up its economy and also lauded Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together. 
Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, President Trump had cited India as one of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region making strides.

He praised India as a sovereign democracy with a population of over 1 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world.

&nbsp;

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Manila

The relationship between India and the US goes beyond mutual interest and can be beneficial for Asia and the humanity at large, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today told President Donald Trump who described him as a "friend" who is "doing a great job". Modi's comments came ahead of his bilateral talks with Trump on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit here during which the two leaders discussed a range of key issues including defence and security. "The relations between India and the US are growing... and I also feel that the relationship between India and the US is not only of mutual interest. It goes beyond that. We are working together for the interest, for the future of Asia and for the humanity as a whole in the world," Modi said. #WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Donald Trump in Manila, holds bilateral talks #Philippines pic.twitter.com/aW6dlkgfwe — ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2017 × Modi also thanked Trump for praising India whenever he got an opportunity to speak about the country during his Asia tour. "...In the few days wherever president Trump has travelled and whenever the opportunity arose to talk about India, he has expressed very high opinion about India," Modi said. "I would like to assure you whatever the expectations are of the world, of the US from India, India has always made efforts to fulfil those expectations and we will continue to do so in the future too," Modi said. Trump on his part described Modi as a friend and a great gentleman. "PM Narendra Modi is here we had met at the White House before. He has become a friend of ours. He's doing a great job. A lot of things were solved and we will continue to work together," Trump said. More visuals of bilateral talks between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump, in Manila #Philippines pic.twitter.com/7S0nF4oGoK — ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2017 × He said Modi was doing a "fantastic job by bringing lots of factions in India together that is what I hear and is a good news and lot of good reports are coming out of India." The two leaders are understood to have discussed the security scenario in the region besides several other issues of mutual interests, including ways to further boost bilateral trade. The move to set up the quadrilateral alliance comes in the backdrop of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea. The US has been favouring a larger role for India in the strategically important Indo-Pacific region. The use of the term "Indo-Pacific" by President Trump has led to speculation that it may have something to do with Washington preparing the ground for a revival of the so called quadrilateral strategic alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and India to counter China's rise. Trump on Saturday praised India's "astounding" growth after it opened up its economy and also lauded Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together. Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang, President Trump had cited India as one of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region making strides. He praised India as a sovereign democracy with a population of over 1 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world.

WATCH: India-US relationship goes beyond mutual interest, says Modi in meeting with Trump

US President Donald Trump raised North Korea&#39;s missile tests during talks on Monday with the prime ministers of Japan and Australia.

He&nbsp;said, &quot;a lot&quot; of progress had been made in negotiations on trade.

On the sidelines of a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/asean-summit-begins-in-manila-amid-tensions-in-north-korea-south-china-sea-issue-24062" target="_blank">summit of East and Southeast Asian leaders in Manila</a>, Trump met Japan&#39;s Shinzo Abe and Australia&#39;s Malcolm Turnbull and said discussions at the meeting would include tensions on the Korean Peninsula and trade.

In brief remarks prior to media being ushered out of the meeting, Turnbull said North Korea&#39;s &quot;recklessness&quot; needed to be stopped, while Abe said the most immediate challenge was to ensure regional peace and stability.

&nbsp;

On the sidelines of a summit of East and Southeast Asian leaders in Manila, Trump met Japan's Shinzo Abe and Australia's Malcolm Turnbull and said discussions at the meeting would include tensions on the Korean Peninsula and trade

US President Donald Trump raised North Korea's missile tests during talks on Monday with the prime ministers of Japan and Australia. He said, "a lot" of progress had been made in negotiations on trade. On the sidelines of a summit of East and Southeast Asian leaders in Manila, Trump met Japan's Shinzo Abe and Australia's Malcolm Turnbull and said discussions at the meeting would include tensions on the Korean Peninsula and trade. In brief remarks prior to media being ushered out of the meeting, Turnbull said North Korea's "recklessness" needed to be stopped, while Abe said the most immediate challenge was to ensure regional peace and stability.

ASEAN: Trump meets Japan, Australia leaders; discusses trade, North Korea threat

In the face of widespread &quot;atrocities&quot; against ethnic Rohingya people in Myanmar, the United States has been cautiously stepping up pressure on that country&#39;s army, while taking care to avoid endangering the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

As the US takes a more active role in the region-several American delegations have passed through in recent weeks-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to travel to Myanmar on Wednesday to meet Suu Kyi, the nation&#39;s leader, as well as army chief General Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar is the country formerly known as Burma.

Tillerson is expected to adopt a firm tone with military leaders there, whom he has deemed &quot;responsible&quot; for the crisis facing the Rohingya, an embattled Muslim minority that has seen more than 600,000 of its members flee to neighboring Bangladesh in two and a half months.

In the name of putting down a supposed Rohingya rebellion, the army has since late August waged a sweeping military campaign in the western state of Rakhine, burning villages and sending thousands into what has become the largest exodus in today&#39;s world.

The United Nations has denounced the campaign, including allegations of killings and mass rape, as &quot;ethnic cleansing.&quot;

Recently returned from Myanmar and the overflowing refugee camps in Bangladesh, Simon Henshaw, the State Department official responsible for refugee and migration issues, said the scene in the camps was &quot;shocking.&quot;

&quot;The scale of the refugee crisis is immense,&quot; he said, adding: &quot;The conditions are tough. People are suffering.&quot;

&quot;Many refugees told us, through tears, accounts of seeing their villages burned, their relatives killed in front of them,&quot; Henshaw said.

&quot;The world can&#39;t just stand by and be witness to the atrocities that are being reported in that area,&quot; Tillerson said last month.

But it is unclear what steps the United States might take. Up to now, the State Department has merely strengthened a few punitive measures aimed at Myanmar&#39;s army.

The initial condemnations were &quot;important,&quot; Sarah Margon of the organisation Human Rights Watch told AFP, &quot;but they stopped and there has been very little concrete action since then.&quot;

She called for targeted economic sanctions meant to bring an end to &quot;some of the most brutal and horrific atrocities that have been seen in years.&quot;

In the absence of more determined action from the White House or State Department, several members of the US Congress are calling for sanctions to limit military cooperation with Myanmar and ban its army members from US soil. A draft bill would also ban the importation of rubies or jade from the country.

&quot;The bill is an important, although belated, first step in pushing the Myanmar military to end the violence in Rakhine state,&quot; said Joshua Kurlantzick of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Now, he said, other parts of the government &quot;should take action as well.&quot;

The State Department has not ruled out supporting further sanctions.

But the United States has been careful not to place blame on Aung San Suu Kyi, drawing a line between the military and the civilian government led by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to travel to Myanmar on Wednesday to meet Suu Kyi. He is expected to adopt a firm tone with military leaders there, whom he has deemed 'responsible' for the crisis facing the Rohingya

In the face of widespread "atrocities" against ethnic Rohingya people in Myanmar, the United States has been cautiously stepping up pressure on that country's army, while taking care to avoid endangering the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi. As the US takes a more active role in the region-several American delegations have passed through in recent weeks-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to travel to Myanmar on Wednesday to meet Suu Kyi, the nation's leader, as well as army chief General Min Aung Hlaing. Myanmar is the country formerly known as Burma. Tillerson is expected to adopt a firm tone with military leaders there, whom he has deemed "responsible" for the crisis facing the Rohingya, an embattled Muslim minority that has seen more than 600,000 of its members flee to neighboring Bangladesh in two and a half months. In the name of putting down a supposed Rohingya rebellion, the army has since late August waged a sweeping military campaign in the western state of Rakhine, burning villages and sending thousands into what has become the largest exodus in today's world. The United Nations has denounced the campaign, including allegations of killings and mass rape, as "ethnic cleansing." Recently returned from Myanmar and the overflowing refugee camps in Bangladesh, Simon Henshaw, the State Department official responsible for refugee and migration issues, said the scene in the camps was "shocking." "The scale of the refugee crisis is immense," he said, adding: "The conditions are tough. People are suffering." "Many refugees told us, through tears, accounts of seeing their villages burned, their relatives killed in front of them," Henshaw said. "The world can't just stand by and be witness to the atrocities that are being reported in that area," Tillerson said last month. But it is unclear what steps the United States might take. Up to now, the State Department has merely strengthened a few punitive measures aimed at Myanmar's army. The initial condemnations were "important," Sarah Margon of the organisation Human Rights Watch told AFP, "but they stopped and there has been very little concrete action since then." She called for targeted economic sanctions meant to bring an end to "some of the most brutal and horrific atrocities that have been seen in years." In the absence of more determined action from the White House or State Department, several members of the US Congress are calling for sanctions to limit military cooperation with Myanmar and ban its army members from US soil. A draft bill would also ban the importation of rubies or jade from the country. "The bill is an important, although belated, first step in pushing the Myanmar military to end the violence in Rakhine state," said Joshua Kurlantzick of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. Now, he said, other parts of the government "should take action as well." The State Department has not ruled out supporting further sanctions. But the United States has been careful not to place blame on Aung San Suu Kyi, drawing a line between the military and the civilian government led by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Tillerson to deliver warning in Myanmar over Rohingya crisis

Afghanistan&#39;s Air Force is expected to receive 58 armed UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the United States.

This would be a part of the USD 1 billion deal to provide 159 helicopters to the Afghan forces until 2024.

The new choppers are being upgraded to a UH-60A+ variant with more powerful engines, the Khaama Press quoted an American military newspaper as saying.

58 of the aircraft will be fitted with additional rocket pods and machine guns like the Mi-17s, it added.

According to the report, Army Maj. Alexmi Lugo, a program manager with NATO&#39;s Train, Advise, Assist Command-Air unit, has said that the pilots of the Afghan Air Force are being trained for the new helicopters.

Meanwhile, the US&nbsp;administration is reportedly allowing the American troops in Afghanistan to participate in joint operations with Afghan forces and to call in air strikes when needed.

This would be a part of the USD 1 billion deal to provide 159 helicopters to the Afghan forces until 2024.

Afghanistan's Air Force is expected to receive 58 armed UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the United States. This would be a part of the USD 1 billion deal to provide 159 helicopters to the Afghan forces until 2024. The new choppers are being upgraded to a UH-60A+ variant with more powerful engines, the Khaama Press quoted an American military newspaper as saying. 58 of the aircraft will be fitted with additional rocket pods and machine guns like the Mi-17s, it added. According to the report, Army Maj. Alexmi Lugo, a program manager with NATO's Train, Advise, Assist Command-Air unit, has said that the pilots of the Afghan Air Force are being trained for the new helicopters. Meanwhile, the US administration is reportedly allowing the American troops in Afghanistan to participate in joint operations with Afghan forces and to call in air strikes when needed.

Afghan Air Force to get 58 Black Hawk helicopters from US

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Friday, the 10th of November, that he was &quot;reasonably confident&quot; a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be reached without the United States.

Trade ministers from the TPP countries met on Thursday, November 9th, but their meetings ended without making headway. It was unclear whether leaders of TPP countries would meet on Friday.

The TPP aims to eliminate tariffs on industrial and farm products across a bloc whose trade totalled $356 billion last year. It also has provisions for protecting everything from labour rights to the environment to intellectual property - one of the main sticking points.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership has provisions for protecting everything from labour rights to the environment to intellectual property - one of the main sticking points

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Friday, the 10th of November, that he was "reasonably confident" a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be reached without the United States. Trade ministers from the TPP countries met on Thursday, November 9th, but their meetings ended without making headway. It was unclear whether leaders of TPP countries would meet on Friday. The TPP aims to eliminate tariffs on industrial and farm products across a bloc whose trade totalled $356 billion last year. It also has provisions for protecting everything from labour rights to the environment to intellectual property - one of the main sticking points.

TPP trade deal can be reached without US: Malaysia

Former US President Barack Obama was summoned for jury duty on Wednesday -- he went -- but the Chicago court dismissed him soon after.&nbsp;

Obama was the only potential juror to arrive by motorcade, with tight security.&nbsp;

Several news media and court staff tried to get a picture with him.

&quot;He gorgeous!&quot; one court clerk exclaimed upon spotting the former president, the Chicago Tribune reported.&nbsp;

Potential juror Kelly Bulik told the newspaper she felt like a &quot;piece of melting butter&quot; as she shook his hand.

&quot;Thanks everybody for serving on the jury. Or, at least being willing to,&quot; Obama said. Apparently&nbsp;everybody laughed.&nbsp;

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/photos/a-sneak-peek-into-obamas-presidency-539#photo-28352" target="_blank">A sneak-peek into Obama&#39;s presidency</a>

Obama is not the first former US president to be summoned for jury duty, AFP reported.&nbsp;

George W Bush was also summoned in 2015 but like Obama,&nbsp;he too was dismissed.

Oprah Winfrey though served as a juror on a three-day murder trial ending in a conviction in 2004, again in Chicago.&nbsp;

Jury duty&nbsp;is not really thought of as something desirable in the US. 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

'He gorgeous!' one court clerk exclaimed upon spotting the former president

Former US President Barack Obama was summoned for jury duty on Wednesday -- he went -- but the Chicago court dismissed him soon after. Obama was the only potential juror to arrive by motorcade, with tight security. Several news media and court staff tried to get a picture with him. "He gorgeous!" one court clerk exclaimed upon spotting the former president, the Chicago Tribune reported. Potential juror Kelly Bulik told the newspaper she felt like a "piece of melting butter" as she shook his hand. "Thanks everybody for serving on the jury. Or, at least being willing to," Obama said. Apparently everybody laughed. Also read: A sneak-peek into Obama's presidency Obama is not the first former US president to be summoned for jury duty, AFP reported. George W Bush was also summoned in 2015 but like Obama, he too was dismissed. Oprah Winfrey though served as a juror on a three-day murder trial ending in a conviction in 2004, again in Chicago. Jury duty is not really thought of as something desirable in the US.

Barack Obama appears for jury duty but court says no thanks

The United States was in mourning Monday after a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/texas-shooting-leaves-at-least-26-dead-officials-23554" target="_blank">gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire with an assault rifle on the congregation of a small-town Texas church</a>, killing 26 people and wounding 20 more in the nation&#39;s latest shooting massacre.

President Donald Trump said the nation was living through &quot;dark times&quot; but guns were not to blame for Sunday&#39;s carnage, which came just five weeks after the worst mass shooting in modern US history.

&quot;I think that mental health is your problem here,&quot; said the US president, speaking in Tokyo as part of his&nbsp;Asia tour. &quot;This was a very, based on preliminary reports,a very deranged individual.&quot;

&quot;This isn&#39;t a guns situation,&quot; Trump insisted, calling it &quot;a mental health problem at the highest level.&quot;

The victims, who ranged in age from five to 72, were gunned down at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a rural community of some 400 people 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio.

The gunman, widely identified as Devin Kelley, 26, was described by authorities as a young white male who was found dead in his vehicle after being confronted by a local resident.

The Air Force said Kelley served at a base in New Mexico starting in 2010 before being court-martialed in 2012 for allegedly assaulting his wife and child.

He was sentenced to 12 months in confinement and received a &quot;bad conduct&quot; discharge, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told AFP. He was discharged in 2014

Dressed all in black, Kelley fired outside the church before entering the building and continuing to spray bullets, said Freeman Martin, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

&quot;As he exited the church, a local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect. The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle, and fled from the church. Our local citizen pursued the suspect at that time,&quot; Martin said.

Law enforcement later found Kelley dead in his car, which had crashed on the Wilson-Guadalupe county line. It was not clear if he had killed himself or was shot by the resident who had confronted him.

Multiple weapons

Multiple weapons were found in the car, which was processed by bomb technicians.

&quot;We have multiple, multiple crime scenes. We have the church, outside the church. We have where the suspect&#39;s vehicle was located,&quot; said Martin.

&quot;We have been following up on the suspect and where he&#39;s from. We have Texas Rangers at all the hospitals locating those and interviewing those who were injured.&quot;

&quot;There&#39;s so many families who have lost family members. Fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters,&quot; Governor Greg Abbott said, warning the toll could rise.

&quot;The tragedy, of course, is worsened by the fact that it occurred in a church, a place of worship, where these people were innocently gunned down. We mourn their loss, but we support their family members.&quot;

The wounded had been transported to various hospitals with &quot;injuries that vary from minor to very severe,&quot; Martin said.&nbsp; 
The dead included the 14-year-old daughter of pastor Frank Pomeroy, the church leader told ABC News.

Annabelle Renee Pomeroy &quot;was one very beautiful, special child,&quot; her father said.

Frank Pomeroy had been in the neighboring state of Oklahoma at the time of the shooting, and was driving back to Texas after the tragedy.

Other victims, some of whom were evacuated by helicopter, included a six-year-old boy named Rylan who was in surgery after being shot four times, his uncle told CBS News. A two-year-old was also shot and wounded, The Dallas Morning News reported.

A spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Center in nearby Floresville said the hospital received eight patients with gunshot wounds. Four were transferred to San Antonio.

Trump vows &#39;full support&#39;

Police formed a perimeter around the area while tearful relatives and neighbors stood outside, nervously awaiting news from inside the traditional white-frame church.

Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were headed to Sutherland Springs, the agencies said.

Trump called the &quot;horrific shooting&quot; an &quot;act of evil,&quot; ordering flags be flown half-staff at the White House and federal buildings.

&quot;Our hearts are broken but in dark times -- and these are dark times -- such as these, Americans do what they do best: we pull together,&quot; he said.

Though he said &quot;it&#39;s a little bit soon to go into it&quot; regarding renewed calls for gun control, the president promised his administration&#39;s &quot;full support&quot; for the investigation. 
As with many other previous shootings, Democrats pointed to the latest tragedy to highlight the need for gun control, a hot-button issue in a country that holds the right to bear arms as almost sacred.

In denouncing the &quot;act of hatred,&quot; Trump&#39;s predecessor Barack Obama said: &quot;May God also grant all of us the wisdom to ask what concrete steps we can take to reduce the violence and weaponry in our midst.&quot;

The shooting comes just over a month after a gunman in Las Vegas fired down from a hotel room on to an outdoor concert, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

A little more than two years ago, white supremacist Dylann Roof entered a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot nine people to death.

President Donald Trump said the nation was living through 'dark times' but guns were not to blame for Sunday's carnage, which came just five weeks after the worst mass shooting in modern US history

The United States was in mourning Monday after a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire with an assault rifle on the congregation of a small-town Texas church, killing 26 people and wounding 20 more in the nation's latest shooting massacre. President Donald Trump said the nation was living through "dark times" but guns were not to blame for Sunday's carnage, which came just five weeks after the worst mass shooting in modern US history. "I think that mental health is your problem here," said the US president, speaking in Tokyo as part of his Asia tour. "This was a very, based on preliminary reports,a very deranged individual." "This isn't a guns situation," Trump insisted, calling it "a mental health problem at the highest level." The victims, who ranged in age from five to 72, were gunned down at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a rural community of some 400 people 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio. The gunman, widely identified as Devin Kelley, 26, was described by authorities as a young white male who was found dead in his vehicle after being confronted by a local resident. The Air Force said Kelley served at a base in New Mexico starting in 2010 before being court-martialed in 2012 for allegedly assaulting his wife and child. He was sentenced to 12 months in confinement and received a "bad conduct" discharge, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told AFP. He was discharged in 2014 Dressed all in black, Kelley fired outside the church before entering the building and continuing to spray bullets, said Freeman Martin, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. "As he exited the church, a local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged that suspect. The suspect dropped his rifle, which was a Ruger AR assault-type rifle, and fled from the church. Our local citizen pursued the suspect at that time," Martin said. Law enforcement later found Kelley dead in his car, which had crashed on the Wilson-Guadalupe county line. It was not clear if he had killed himself or was shot by the resident who had confronted him. Multiple weapons Multiple weapons were found in the car, which was processed by bomb technicians. "We have multiple, multiple crime scenes. We have the church, outside the church. We have where the suspect's vehicle was located," said Martin. "We have been following up on the suspect and where he's from. We have Texas Rangers at all the hospitals locating those and interviewing those who were injured." "There's so many families who have lost family members. Fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters," Governor Greg Abbott said, warning the toll could rise. "The tragedy, of course, is worsened by the fact that it occurred in a church, a place of worship, where these people were innocently gunned down. We mourn their loss, but we support their family members." The wounded had been transported to various hospitals with "injuries that vary from minor to very severe," Martin said. The dead included the 14-year-old daughter of pastor Frank Pomeroy, the church leader told ABC News. Annabelle Renee Pomeroy "was one very beautiful, special child," her father said. Frank Pomeroy had been in the neighboring state of Oklahoma at the time of the shooting, and was driving back to Texas after the tragedy. Other victims, some of whom were evacuated by helicopter, included a six-year-old boy named Rylan who was in surgery after being shot four times, his uncle told CBS News. A two-year-old was also shot and wounded, The Dallas Morning News reported. A spokeswoman for Connally Memorial Medical Center in nearby Floresville said the hospital received eight patients with gunshot wounds. Four were transferred to San Antonio. Trump vows 'full support' Police formed a perimeter around the area while tearful relatives and neighbors stood outside, nervously awaiting news from inside the traditional white-frame church. Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were headed to Sutherland Springs, the agencies said. Trump called the "horrific shooting" an "act of evil," ordering flags be flown half-staff at the White House and federal buildings. "Our hearts are broken but in dark times -- and these are dark times -- such as these, Americans do what they do best: we pull together," he said. Though he said "it's a little bit soon to go into it" regarding renewed calls for gun control, the president promised his administration's "full support" for the investigation. As with many other previous shootings, Democrats pointed to the latest tragedy to highlight the need for gun control, a hot-button issue in a country that holds the right to bear arms as almost sacred. In denouncing the "act of hatred," Trump's predecessor Barack Obama said: "May God also grant all of us the wisdom to ask what concrete steps we can take to reduce the violence and weaponry in our midst." The shooting comes just over a month after a gunman in Las Vegas fired down from a hotel room on to an outdoor concert, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. A little more than two years ago, white supremacist Dylann Roof entered a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot nine people to death.

Texas mass shooting leaves US mourning, Trump says guns not to blame

The United States is Iran&#39;s &#39;number one enemy&#39;&nbsp;and Tehran will never succumb to Washington&#39;s pressure over a multinational nuclear deal, Iran&#39;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech on Thursday.

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump broke ranks with other major powers last month by refusing to formally certify Iran&#39;s compliance with the nuclear deal.

Under that deal, most sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear work.

&quot;The American president&#39;s foolish remarks against our people show the depth of America&#39;s hostility towards the entire Iranian nation,&quot; Iran&#39;s top authority Khamenei told a group of students.&nbsp;

&quot;America is the number one enemy of our nation.&quot;&nbsp;

Since the deal was reached in 2015, Khamenei has continued to denounce the United States publicly, suggesting that antagonism between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran would not abate because of the accord.&nbsp;

Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties shortly after the revolution, when hardline students took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Iran will mark the anniversary of the American embassy seizure on Saturday.&nbsp;

Trump has called the nuclear agreement, which was reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, &#39;the worst deal ever negotiated&#39;&nbsp;and has adopted a harsh approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.&nbsp;

Washington has imposed new sanctions on Iran over its missile activity, calling on Tehran not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Iran says it has no such plans and its missile programme is solely for defence purposes.

The deal`s other signatories, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, and the European Union say Washington cannot unilaterally cancel an international accord enshrined by a UN&nbsp;resolution.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran would stick to the nuclear accord as long as the other signatories respected it. But it has warned about the consequences if the deal falls apart.&nbsp;

&quot;We will never accept their bullying over the nuclear deal. Americans are using all the wickedness to damage the result of the nuclear talks,&quot; Khamenei said to chants of &#39;Death to America&#39;&nbsp;by students.&nbsp;

&quot;Any retreat by Iran will make America more blatant and impudent. Resistance is the only option.&quot;

Trump also accuses Iran of supporting terrorism in the Middle East. Iran rejects that and in turn blames the growth of militant groups such as Islamic State on the policies of the United States and its regional allies.&nbsp;

Shi&#39;ite-dominated Iran and its regional arch-rival, US backed Sunni Saudi Arabia, are involved in proxy wars across the region, backing opposite sides in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.

U.S. President Donald Trump broke ranks with other major powers last month by refusing to formally certify Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal.

The United States is Iran's 'number one enemy' and Tehran will never succumb to Washington's pressure over a multinational nuclear deal, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech on Thursday. US President Donald Trump broke ranks with other major powers last month by refusing to formally certify Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal. Under that deal, most sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear work. "The American president's foolish remarks against our people show the depth of America's hostility towards the entire Iranian nation," Iran's top authority Khamenei told a group of students. "America is the number one enemy of our nation." Since the deal was reached in 2015, Khamenei has continued to denounce the United States publicly, suggesting that antagonism between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran would not abate because of the accord. Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties shortly after the revolution, when hardline students took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Iran will mark the anniversary of the American embassy seizure on Saturday. Trump has called the nuclear agreement, which was reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, 'the worst deal ever negotiated' and has adopted a harsh approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Washington has imposed new sanctions on Iran over its missile activity, calling on Tehran not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Iran says it has no such plans and its missile programme is solely for defence purposes. The deal`s other signatories, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, and the European Union say Washington cannot unilaterally cancel an international accord enshrined by a UN resolution. Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran would stick to the nuclear accord as long as the other signatories respected it. But it has warned about the consequences if the deal falls apart. "We will never accept their bullying over the nuclear deal. Americans are using all the wickedness to damage the result of the nuclear talks," Khamenei said to chants of 'Death to America' by students. "Any retreat by Iran will make America more blatant and impudent. Resistance is the only option." Trump also accuses Iran of supporting terrorism in the Middle East. Iran rejects that and in turn blames the growth of militant groups such as Islamic State on the policies of the United States and its regional allies. Shi'ite-dominated Iran and its regional arch-rival, US backed Sunni Saudi Arabia, are involved in proxy wars across the region, backing opposite sides in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.

Supreme Leader Khamenei says US is Iran's 'number one enemy'

The&nbsp;Syrian&nbsp;government&nbsp;of Bashar al-Assad is to&nbsp;blame&nbsp;for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun&nbsp;that killed dozens of people last April, according to a&nbsp;report&nbsp;sent to the&nbsp;United Nations Security Council on Thursday.

&quot;The&nbsp;Syrian&nbsp;Arab Republic is responsible for the release of&nbsp;sarin&nbsp;at Khan Sheikhoun&nbsp;on 4&nbsp;April 2017,&quot; the&nbsp;report&nbsp;from the UN&nbsp;and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons&#39; Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) said.

The attack prompted a US&nbsp;missile strike against a&nbsp;Syrian&nbsp;air base which Washington said was used to launch the strike.

&quot;Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime,&quot; Nikki Haley, the&nbsp;United States&#39; UN&nbsp;ambassador, said in a statement.

&quot;The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators.&quot;

The&nbsp;report&nbsp;also said ISIS was to&nbsp;blame&nbsp;for the use of sulphur mustard in the&nbsp;Syrian&nbsp;town of Umm Hawsh on Sept. 15 and 16, 2016.

The JIM was&nbsp;unanimously created by the 15-member UN&nbsp;Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in mid-November, and Russia on Tuesday vetoed a proposal to further extend its mandate.

Russian ambassador to the UN&nbsp;Vassily Nebenzia said earlier this week Russia would consider revisiting the mandate extension after Thursday&#39;s&nbsp;report&nbsp;is discussed.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China hopes that the conclusions of any investigation have a basis inconclusive proof and are professional, objective and fair.

&quot;The continuing use of chemical weapons, including by non-State actors, is deeply disturbing,&quot; said the&nbsp;report.

&quot;If such use, in spite of the prohibition by the international community, is not stopped now, a lack of consequences will surely encourage others to follow.&quot;

The JIM has already found&nbsp;Syrian&nbsp;government&nbsp;forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013&nbsp;under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. The&nbsp;Syrian&nbsp;government&nbsp;has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons during the country&#39;s more than six-year civil war.

The?Syrian?government?of Bashar al-Assad is to?blame?for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun?that killed dozens of people, the UN report said

The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad is to blame for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people last April, according to a report sent to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday. "The Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017," the report from the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) said. The attack prompted a US missile strike against a Syrian air base which Washington said was used to launch the strike. "Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime," Nikki Haley, the United States' UN ambassador, said in a statement. "The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators." The report also said ISIS was to blame for the use of sulphur mustard in the Syrian town of Umm Hawsh on Sept. 15 and 16, 2016. The JIM was unanimously created by the 15-member UN Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in mid-November, and Russia on Tuesday vetoed a proposal to further extend its mandate. Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said earlier this week Russia would consider revisiting the mandate extension after Thursday's report is discussed. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China hopes that the conclusions of any investigation have a basis inconclusive proof and are professional, objective and fair. "The continuing use of chemical weapons, including by non-State actors, is deeply disturbing," said the report. "If such use, in spite of the prohibition by the international community, is not stopped now, a lack of consequences will surely encourage others to follow." The JIM has already found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015. Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons during the country's more than six-year civil war.

Syrian government to blame for April Sarin attack: UN report

President Donald Trump would reaffirm the American leadership in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region during his maiden trip to Asia next month, the White House has said.

Ten months into the world&#39;s most powerful executive office, the US president would embark on a two-week-long trip to Asia.

&quot;The president&#39;s travel is going to underscore his commitment to longstanding United States alliances and partnerships and reaffirm the United States leadership in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific,&quot; a senior administration official told reporters in a preview of the trip.

Trump himself told reporters in a joint media appearance with the visiting Prime Minister of Singapore that he is looking forward to his trip to Asia from November 3 to 14.

&quot;This trip will be the president&#39;s longest to date, underscoring the importance that he places on the Indo-Pacific region,&quot; the senior administration official said.

While his visits to Japan, South Korea, and China, are bilateral one, during his stops in Vietnam and the Philippines, Trump will be participating in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and the US ASEAN Summit. 
In Vietnam and Philippines, Trump also plans to hold bilateral and tri-lateral meetings with other world leaders, details of which are still being worked out.

Trump would embark on his Indo-Pacific sojourn on November 3 via Hawaii wherein he will receive a briefing from the US Pacific Command. He will also visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial.

The president will officially commence his visit to Asia beginning with Japan on November 5.

In Japan, &quot;he is going to affirm the US-Japan Alliance as the cornerstone for regional peace and security,&quot; the official said adding that he will focus on ways for the US and Japan to work together to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific Region.

During his state visit to South Korea on November 7, Trump will participate in bilateral meetings with President Moon Jae-in and also visit American and South Korean service members.

The next day, he will speak at the National Assembly in Korea, where he will celebrate the enduring alliance and friendship between the United States and the Republic of Korea and call on the international community to join together in maximising pressure on North Korea.

Trump is likely to highlight the enduring strength of the US-South Korea alliance, which is stronger than ever in the face of North Korean aggression, the official said.

Trump would fly to Beijing the next day for a series of bilateral, commercial and cultural events including meetings with President Xi Jinping.

&quot;I anticipate that the president will seek to secure China&#39;s commitments to exert more pressure on North Korea and to rebalance our economic relations.The visit will send a clear message that for bilateral economic relations to be sustainable over the long term, China must provide fair and reciprocal treatment to US firms and cease predatory trade and investment practices,&quot; the official said.

The president will then travel to Da Nang in Vietnam on November 10, where he will participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC, economic leaders meeting and deliver a speech at the APEC CEO Summit.

&quot;In the speech, Trump will present the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and underscore the important role the region plays in advancing America&#39;s economic prosperity,&quot; the official said adding that Trump&#39;s engagements at APEC will reinforce the US commitment to an equitable, sustainable and rules-based international economic system based on market principles.

On November 11, Trump will travel to Hanoi, where he&#39;s going to have an official visit and bilateral engagements with President Tran Dai Quang and other senior Vietnamese leaders.

President Trump will arrive in Manila in the Philippines on November 12, to participate in special gala celebration dinner for the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The next day on November 13, the president will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the US-ASEAN relations at the US-ASEAN Summit and will participate in bilateral meetings with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.

&quot;The president&#39;s participation in ASEAN events will advance US leadership, promoting Indo-Pacific trade and security architecture that&#39;s based on freedom and openness and adherence to the rule of law,&quot; the official said.

President Donald Trump will embark on two-week-long trip to Japan, South Korea, China next month.

President Donald Trump would reaffirm the American leadership in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region during his maiden trip to Asia next month, the White House has said. Ten months into the world's most powerful executive office, the US president would embark on a two-week-long trip to Asia. "The president's travel is going to underscore his commitment to longstanding United States alliances and partnerships and reaffirm the United States leadership in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific," a senior administration official told reporters in a preview of the trip. Trump himself told reporters in a joint media appearance with the visiting Prime Minister of Singapore that he is looking forward to his trip to Asia from November 3 to 14. "This trip will be the president's longest to date, underscoring the importance that he places on the Indo-Pacific region," the senior administration official said. While his visits to Japan, South Korea, and China, are bilateral one, during his stops in Vietnam and the Philippines, Trump will be participating in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and the US ASEAN Summit. In Vietnam and Philippines, Trump also plans to hold bilateral and tri-lateral meetings with other world leaders, details of which are still being worked out. Trump would embark on his Indo-Pacific sojourn on November 3 via Hawaii wherein he will receive a briefing from the US Pacific Command. He will also visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. The president will officially commence his visit to Asia beginning with Japan on November 5. In Japan, "he is going to affirm the US-Japan Alliance as the cornerstone for regional peace and security," the official said adding that he will focus on ways for the US and Japan to work together to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific Region. During his state visit to South Korea on November 7, Trump will participate in bilateral meetings with President Moon Jae-in and also visit American and South Korean service members. The next day, he will speak at the National Assembly in Korea, where he will celebrate the enduring alliance and friendship between the United States and the Republic of Korea and call on the international community to join together in maximising pressure on North Korea. Trump is likely to highlight the enduring strength of the US-South Korea alliance, which is stronger than ever in the face of North Korean aggression, the official said. Trump would fly to Beijing the next day for a series of bilateral, commercial and cultural events including meetings with President Xi Jinping. "I anticipate that the president will seek to secure China's commitments to exert more pressure on North Korea and to rebalance our economic relations.The visit will send a clear message that for bilateral economic relations to be sustainable over the long term, China must provide fair and reciprocal treatment to US firms and cease predatory trade and investment practices," the official said. The president will then travel to Da Nang in Vietnam on November 10, where he will participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC, economic leaders meeting and deliver a speech at the APEC CEO Summit. "In the speech, Trump will present the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and underscore the important role the region plays in advancing America's economic prosperity," the official said adding that Trump's engagements at APEC will reinforce the US commitment to an equitable, sustainable and rules-based international economic system based on market principles. On November 11, Trump will travel to Hanoi, where he's going to have an official visit and bilateral engagements with President Tran Dai Quang and other senior Vietnamese leaders. President Trump will arrive in Manila in the Philippines on November 12, to participate in special gala celebration dinner for the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The next day on November 13, the president will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the US-ASEAN relations at the US-ASEAN Summit and will participate in bilateral meetings with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. "The president's participation in ASEAN events will advance US leadership, promoting Indo-Pacific trade and security architecture that's based on freedom and openness and adherence to the rule of law," the official said.

Trump to promote free and open Indo-Pacific region during Asia trip: White House

US&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-says-he-brilliantly-used-us-tax-laws-to-his-advantage-7085" target="_blank">President Donald Trump</a> urged House Republicans to move swiftly on passing a budget bill during a conference call, clearing the way for what he described as historic tax cuts.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both joined the House GOP call on Sunday in which Trump called on members to adopt the budget passed by the Senate this week so that they can move on to passing his tax reform plan.

Trump told the members they were on the verge of doing something historic, according to one Republican official, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss publicly what was intended as a private update for members.

Another GOP aide familiar with the conversation said that Trump told the members again and again that the party would have a steep price to pay in next year&#39;s midterm elections if they failed to pass his plan, which would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent and double the standard deduction used by most average Americans. The president also said multiple times that, beyond the looming elections, his plan was the right thing to do for the country, the person said.

The Senate last week passed a budget that includes rules that will allow Republicans to get tax legislation through the Senate without Democratic votes and without fear of a Democratic filibuster. The House had passed a different budget, but House Republicans signalled Friday they would simply accept the Senate plan to avoid any potential delay on the tax measure.

Republicans are desperate to rack up a legislative win after a series of embarrassing failures that have come despite the fact that the party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House. At the top of the list: their stalled attempts to pass legislation repealing and replacing &quot;Obamacare.&quot; If tax reform doesn&#39;t pass, many in the party fear an all-out revolt in 2018.

On the call, House Speaker Paul Ryan told members he hoped to pass a revised Senate budget bill this week to increase the chances that tax reform can be enacted by the end of the year.

The leaders emphasised the need for the House to pass the Senate budget to avoid negotiations between the two chambers that could slow the process, said two lawmakers on the call, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. They said the goal is for House passage of the budget this week, putting the House on track to approve a tax bill by Thanksgiving.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, had told Fox News earlier yesterday that the House was working &quot;very quickly to accept the Senate amendments,&quot; and said the plan &quot;may save as many as 10 or 12 legislative days, which is a big deal.&quot;

Trump, who spent much of the weekend at his gold course in Virginia, will also work to rally support for the plan on the Hill Tuesday at a lunch with Senate Republicans. But as the focus turns to taxes, Congress continues to struggle with health care legislation.

Trump told the members again and again that the party would have a steep price to pay in next year's mid-term elections if they failed to pass his plan, which would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent and double the standard deduction used by most average Americans

US President Donald Trump urged House Republicans to move swiftly on passing a budget bill during a conference call, clearing the way for what he described as historic tax cuts. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both joined the House GOP call on Sunday in which Trump called on members to adopt the budget passed by the Senate this week so that they can move on to passing his tax reform plan. Trump told the members they were on the verge of doing something historic, according to one Republican official, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss publicly what was intended as a private update for members. Another GOP aide familiar with the conversation said that Trump told the members again and again that the party would have a steep price to pay in next year's midterm elections if they failed to pass his plan, which would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent and double the standard deduction used by most average Americans. The president also said multiple times that, beyond the looming elections, his plan was the right thing to do for the country, the person said. The Senate last week passed a budget that includes rules that will allow Republicans to get tax legislation through the Senate without Democratic votes and without fear of a Democratic filibuster. The House had passed a different budget, but House Republicans signalled Friday they would simply accept the Senate plan to avoid any potential delay on the tax measure. Republicans are desperate to rack up a legislative win after a series of embarrassing failures that have come despite the fact that the party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House. At the top of the list: their stalled attempts to pass legislation repealing and replacing "Obamacare." If tax reform doesn't pass, many in the party fear an all-out revolt in 2018. On the call, House Speaker Paul Ryan told members he hoped to pass a revised Senate budget bill this week to increase the chances that tax reform can be enacted by the end of the year. The leaders emphasised the need for the House to pass the Senate budget to avoid negotiations between the two chambers that could slow the process, said two lawmakers on the call, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. They said the goal is for House passage of the budget this week, putting the House on track to approve a tax bill by Thanksgiving. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, had told Fox News earlier yesterday that the House was working "very quickly to accept the Senate amendments," and said the plan "may save as many as 10 or 12 legislative days, which is a big deal." Trump, who spent much of the weekend at his gold course in Virginia, will also work to rally support for the plan on the Hill Tuesday at a lunch with Senate Republicans. But as the focus turns to taxes, Congress continues to struggle with health care legislation.

Trump urges House GOP to move quickly on budget, tax cuts

The United States should assume<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-warns-threats-a-big-miscalculation-in-letter-to-australia-lawmakers-22635" target="_blank"> Kim Jong-Un</a>&#39;s regime is &quot;on the cusp&quot; of getting a nuclear missile capable of striking US targets and work to prevent this, the head of the CIA said Thursday.

CIA director Mike Pompeo said President Donald Trump is determined to prevent <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/nuclear-war-may-break-out-at-any-time-warns-north-korea-22539" target="_blank">North Korea</a> from making the breakthrough &quot;whether it happens on Tuesday or a month from Tuesday.&quot;

Both Pompeo and US National Security Adviser HR McMaster said Trump would still prefer to use sanctions and diplomacy to force Kim to come to the table to discuss disarmament.

But, speaking to a Washington policy forum, both also warned that the use of US military force remains an option to prevent Pyongyang from acquiring a long-range nuclear missile.

&quot;They are close enough now in their capabilities that from a US policy perspective we ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective,&quot; Pompeo said.

Pompeo said US intelligence had kept close tabs on the North Korean program in the past, but that its missile expertise is now growing too quickly to be sure when it will succeed.

&quot;But when you&#39;re now talking about months our capacity to understand that at a detailed level is in some sense irrelevant,&quot; he said.

&quot;The president&#39;s made it very clear,&quot; he added.

&quot;He&#39;s prepared to ensure that Kim Jong-Un doesn&#39;t have the capacity to hold America at risk. By military force if necessary.&quot;

This week, North Korea&#39;s deputy UN ambassador declared that Pyongyang would not put its nuclear arsenal nor ballistic missile program on the table unless Washington drops its &quot;hostile&quot; stance.

And Kim&#39;s regime has made no secret of its efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting US mainland cities or bases in the Pacific, conducting regular tests. 
 
McMaster told the conference, organised by the Federation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), that the regime would not be allowed to develop arms that would threaten the United States.

&quot;We are not out of time but we are running out of time,&quot; Trump&#39;s top security adviser said.

&quot;The president has been very clear. He&#39;s not going to accept this regime threatening the United States with nuclear weapons,&quot; he warned.&nbsp;

&quot;There are those that say, &#39;accept and deter&#39;. Well, &#39;accept and deter&#39; is unacceptable.&quot;

CIA director Mike Pompeo said President Donald Trump is determined to prevent North Korea from making the breakthrough 'whether it happens on Tuesday or a month from Tuesday.'

The United States should assume Kim Jong-Un's regime is "on the cusp" of getting a nuclear missile capable of striking US targets and work to prevent this, the head of the CIA said Thursday. CIA director Mike Pompeo said President Donald Trump is determined to prevent North Korea from making the breakthrough "whether it happens on Tuesday or a month from Tuesday." Both Pompeo and US National Security Adviser HR McMaster said Trump would still prefer to use sanctions and diplomacy to force Kim to come to the table to discuss disarmament. But, speaking to a Washington policy forum, both also warned that the use of US military force remains an option to prevent Pyongyang from acquiring a long-range nuclear missile. "They are close enough now in their capabilities that from a US policy perspective we ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective," Pompeo said. Pompeo said US intelligence had kept close tabs on the North Korean program in the past, but that its missile expertise is now growing too quickly to be sure when it will succeed. "But when you're now talking about months our capacity to understand that at a detailed level is in some sense irrelevant," he said. "The president's made it very clear," he added. "He's prepared to ensure that Kim Jong-Un doesn't have the capacity to hold America at risk. By military force if necessary." This week, North Korea's deputy UN ambassador declared that Pyongyang would not put its nuclear arsenal nor ballistic missile program on the table unless Washington drops its "hostile" stance. And Kim's regime has made no secret of its efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting US mainland cities or bases in the Pacific, conducting regular tests. McMaster told the conference, organised by the Federation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), that the regime would not be allowed to develop arms that would threaten the United States. "We are not out of time but we are running out of time," Trump's top security adviser said. "The president has been very clear. He's not going to accept this regime threatening the United States with nuclear weapons," he warned. "There are those that say, 'accept and deter'. Well, 'accept and deter' is unacceptable."

North Korea 'on the cusp of' nuke that could hit US: CIA chief

North Korea has sent a letter to Australia&#39;s parliament, warning it is a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/nuclear-war-may-break-out-at-any-time-warns-north-korea-22539" target="_blank">nuclear power and will not be cowed by US President Donald Trump&#39;s threats to destroy it</a>, according to a copy of the letter published in an Australian newspaper on Friday.

&quot;If Trump thinks that he would bring the DPRK, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance,&quot; said a facsimile of the letter, published by the Sydney Morning Herald and verified by Australia&#39;s foreign ministry.

&quot;Trump threatened to totally destroy the DPRK ... it is an extreme act of threatening to totally destroy the whole world.&quot;

A spokeswoman for Australia&#39;s Foreign Minister told Reuters the Herald report was accurate and the paper&#39;s copy of the letter, dated September 28, was genuine.

Titled &quot;Open Letter to Parliaments of Different Countries,&quot; the note said it was sent from North Korea&#39;s Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Australia&#39;s Embassy in the same city, as well as to other countries, without naming them.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People&#39;s Republic of Korea, North Korea&#39;s official name.

Tension has soared on the peninsula following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/absurd-us-on-north-koreas-allegations-of-trump-declaring-war-20652" target="_blank">Trump, in a speech last month at the United Nations, threatened to &quot;totally destroy&quot; North Korea</a> if necessary to defend itself and allies and called the North&#39;s leader Kim Jong Un a &quot;rocket man&quot; on a suicide mission.

The letter calls for &quot;countries loving independence, peace and justice&quot; to discharge their duty and keep &quot;sharp vigilance against the heinous and reckless moves of the Trump administration trying to drive the world into a horrible nuclear disaster.&quot;

At a press conference in Sydney, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the note was an &quot;unprecedented&quot; communication.

&quot;It is not the way they usually publish their global messages. The collective strategy of imposing maximum diplomatic and economic pressure through sanctions on North Korea is working. This is a response to the pressure.&quot;

Titled 'Open Letter to Parliaments of Different Countries,' the note says North Korea is a nuclear power and will not be cowed by US President Donald Trump's threats to destroy it

North Korea has sent a letter to Australia's parliament, warning it is a nuclear power and will not be cowed by US President Donald Trump's threats to destroy it, according to a copy of the letter published in an Australian newspaper on Friday. "If Trump thinks that he would bring the DPRK, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance," said a facsimile of the letter, published by the Sydney Morning Herald and verified by Australia's foreign ministry. "Trump threatened to totally destroy the DPRK ... it is an extreme act of threatening to totally destroy the whole world." A spokeswoman for Australia's Foreign Minister told Reuters the Herald report was accurate and the paper's copy of the letter, dated September 28, was genuine. Titled "Open Letter to Parliaments of Different Countries," the note said it was sent from North Korea's Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Australia's Embassy in the same city, as well as to other countries, without naming them. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. Tension has soared on the peninsula following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump, in a speech last month at the United Nations, threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if necessary to defend itself and allies and called the North's leader Kim Jong Un a "rocket man" on a suicide mission. The letter calls for "countries loving independence, peace and justice" to discharge their duty and keep "sharp vigilance against the heinous and reckless moves of the Trump administration trying to drive the world into a horrible nuclear disaster." At a press conference in Sydney, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the note was an "unprecedented" communication. "It is not the way they usually publish their global messages. The collective strategy of imposing maximum diplomatic and economic pressure through sanctions on North Korea is working. This is a response to the pressure."

North Korea warns threats a 'big miscalculation' in letter to Australia lawmakers

Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that &quot;cavalier&quot; threats to start a war on the Korean peninsula are &quot;dangerous and short-sighted&quot;, urging the United States to get all parties to the negotiating table.

Clinton also called on China to take a &quot;more out front role&quot; in enforcing sanctions against North Korea aimed at curbing its missile and nuclear development.

&quot;There is no need for us to be bellicose and aggressive (over North Korea),&quot; said Clinton at a forum in the South Korean capital Seoul, stressing the need for greater pressure on North Korea and diplomacy to bring Pyongyang to talks.

Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have soared following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

&quot;Picking fights with Kim Jong Un puts a smile on his face,&quot; Clinton said, without mentioning Trump by name.

Clinton also indirectly referred to Trump&#39;s comments towards North Korea on social media, saying &quot;the insults on Twitter have benefited North Korea, I don&#39;t think they&#39;ve benefited the United States&quot;.

The war of words has seen Trump call the North Korean leader &quot;little rocket man&quot; on a suicide mission, and vowed to destroy North Korea if it threatens the United States or its allies. North Korea has in turn called Trump &quot;mentally deranged&quot; and a &quot;mad dog&quot;.

Talks between the adversaries have long been urged by China in particular, but Washington and its ally Japan have been reluctant to sit down at the table while Pyongyang continues to pursue a goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.

On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said the United States didn&#39;t rule out the eventual possibility of direct talks with North Korea.

North Korea&rsquo;s Deputy UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong told a UN General Assembly committee on Monday that the situation on the Korean peninsula was now touch-and-go point &quot;and a nuclear war may break out any moment&quot;.

China pressure&nbsp;

Clinton, a former US secretary of state, said Washington&#39;s allies have increasingly been expressing concerns over the reliability of the United States, advising Washington to avoid becoming distracted with North Korean threats and be &quot;as forcefully patient&quot; as possible.

Regarding China&#39;s role in reining in North Korea, Clinton said Beijing would be better off trying to &quot;tighten and absolutely enforce sanctions&quot; against North Korea.

North Korea&#39;s relationship with its main ally and trading partner China have been strained by the rapid pursuit of its weapons programmes, with many of Pyongyang&#39;s recent tests coinciding with major Chinese events.

There had been fears that North Korea would conduct another test to coincide with the start of China&#39;s five-yearly party congress on Wednesday. Instead, Pyongyang sent Beijing a congratulatory message.

The central committee of the North&#39;s ruling Workers&#39; Party of Korea said China had made &quot;great progress in accomplishing the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics&quot; under the guidance of the Communist Party of China.

&quot;We are greatly pleased over this,&quot; the party central committee said in the message carried by the official KCNA news agency, adding that it &quot;sincerely wished&quot; the China congress &quot;satisfactory success.&quot;

Can&#39;t have it both ways

Clinton said China&#39;s retaliatory actions against South Korean companies doing business in China following the deployment of a US anti-missile system in South Korea would be unnecessary had Beijing done a better job containing and deterring North Korea.

China has been curbing South Korean businesses there since Seoul decided to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, saying its powerful radar could be used to pierce its territory. South Korea and the United States have repeatedly told China that THAAD aims only to defend against North Korea&#39;s missile threats.

&quot;The Chinese can&#39;t have it both ways. They can&#39;t do less than they could to tighten economic pressures on North Korea and same time discount the real threat South Korea and its citizens face,&quot; she said.

Clinton also called on China to take a "more out front role" in enforcing sanctions against North Korea aimed at curbing its missile and nuclear development

Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that "cavalier" threats to start a war on the Korean peninsula are "dangerous and short-sighted", urging the United States to get all parties to the negotiating table. Clinton also called on China to take a "more out front role" in enforcing sanctions against North Korea aimed at curbing its missile and nuclear development. "There is no need for us to be bellicose and aggressive (over North Korea)," said Clinton at a forum in the South Korean capital Seoul, stressing the need for greater pressure on North Korea and diplomacy to bring Pyongyang to talks. Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have soared following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "Picking fights with Kim Jong Un puts a smile on his face," Clinton said, without mentioning Trump by name. Clinton also indirectly referred to Trump's comments towards North Korea on social media, saying "the insults on Twitter have benefited North Korea, I don't think they've benefited the United States". The war of words has seen Trump call the North Korean leader "little rocket man" on a suicide mission, and vowed to destroy North Korea if it threatens the United States or its allies. North Korea has in turn called Trump "mentally deranged" and a "mad dog". Talks between the adversaries have long been urged by China in particular, but Washington and its ally Japan have been reluctant to sit down at the table while Pyongyang continues to pursue a goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States. On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said the United States didn't rule out the eventual possibility of direct talks with North Korea. North Korea’s Deputy UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong told a UN General Assembly committee on Monday that the situation on the Korean peninsula was now touch-and-go point "and a nuclear war may break out any moment". China pressure Clinton, a former US secretary of state, said Washington's allies have increasingly been expressing concerns over the reliability of the United States, advising Washington to avoid becoming distracted with North Korean threats and be "as forcefully patient" as possible. Regarding China's role in reining in North Korea, Clinton said Beijing would be better off trying to "tighten and absolutely enforce sanctions" against North Korea. North Korea's relationship with its main ally and trading partner China have been strained by the rapid pursuit of its weapons programmes, with many of Pyongyang's recent tests coinciding with major Chinese events. There had been fears that North Korea would conduct another test to coincide with the start of China's five-yearly party congress on Wednesday. Instead, Pyongyang sent Beijing a congratulatory message. The central committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea said China had made "great progress in accomplishing the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics" under the guidance of the Communist Party of China. "We are greatly pleased over this," the party central committee said in the message carried by the official KCNA news agency, adding that it "sincerely wished" the China congress "satisfactory success." Can't have it both ways Clinton said China's retaliatory actions against South Korean companies doing business in China following the deployment of a US anti-missile system in South Korea would be unnecessary had Beijing done a better job containing and deterring North Korea. China has been curbing South Korean businesses there since Seoul decided to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, saying its powerful radar could be used to pierce its territory. South Korea and the United States have repeatedly told China that THAAD aims only to defend against North Korea's missile threats. "The Chinese can't have it both ways. They can't do less than they could to tighten economic pressures on North Korea and same time discount the real threat South Korea and its citizens face," she said.

Hillary Clinton says US threats of war with N.Korea 'dangerous, short-sighted'

US President Donald Trump celebrated Diwali in the Oval Office of the White House along with senior Indian-American members of the administration, including Nikki Haley, Seema Verma and community leaders.

Cabinet ranking Haley is US Ambassador to the UN and Seema Verma is the administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Ajit Pai, Chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission and Raj Shah his Principal Deputy Press Secretary were among those from his administration.

Trump&#39;s daughter Ivanka also joined the President in the Diwali celebrations.

Last year&nbsp;Ivanka, who is now a presidential advisor, had visited Hindu temples in Virginia and Florida as part of Diwali.

Trump, then&nbsp;the Republican presidential nominee, had addressed the Indian-American community from a public meeting in New Jersey wherein he lit the traditional diya&nbsp;(lamp).

The tradition of Diwali celebrations was first started by former President George Bush.

During his term, it was celebrated mostly in the India Treaty Room of the adjacent executive office building, which is part of the White House Complex.

President Bush never personally participated in the White House Diwali celebrations.

In the first year of his presidency, his successor Barack Obama&nbsp;lit the ceremonial diya in the East Rook of the White House. Thereafter he made it a point to celebrate the festival of lights in one way or the other.

The tradition of Diwali celebrations was first started by former President George Bush

US President Donald Trump celebrated Diwali in the Oval Office of the White House along with senior Indian-American members of the administration, including Nikki Haley, Seema Verma and community leaders. Cabinet ranking Haley is US Ambassador to the UN and Seema Verma is the administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Ajit Pai, Chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission and Raj Shah his Principal Deputy Press Secretary were among those from his administration. Trump's daughter Ivanka also joined the President in the Diwali celebrations. Last year Ivanka, who is now a presidential advisor, had visited Hindu temples in Virginia and Florida as part of Diwali. Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, had addressed the Indian-American community from a public meeting in New Jersey wherein he lit the traditional diya (lamp). The tradition of Diwali celebrations was first started by former President George Bush. During his term, it was celebrated mostly in the India Treaty Room of the adjacent executive office building, which is part of the White House Complex. President Bush never personally participated in the White House Diwali celebrations. In the first year of his presidency, his successor Barack Obama lit the ceremonial diya in the East Rook of the White House. Thereafter he made it a point to celebrate the festival of lights in one way or the other.

Trump celebrates Diwali in Oval office

Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua said on Wednesday (October 18) that he is in no rush to fight in the United States as he prepares to take on Frenchman Carlos Takam in Cardiff.

The British fighter defends his IBF world title against Takam on October 28 after Bulgaria&#39;s Kubrat Pulev withdrew due to a shoulder injury.

The fight will be 28-year-old Joshua&#39;s first since defeating Wladimir Klitschko to win the WBA title in April at Wembley Stadium.

Takam is ranked third in the IBF rankings and Joshua said will face a tough challenge against the 36-year-old due to the different style and height of his new opponent.

Joshua is undefeated in 19 fights since turning professional in 2013 and will face Cuban Luis Ortiz, the mandatory challenger for his WBA title, after the Takam fight.

Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defends his IBF world title against Takam on October 28

Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua said on Wednesday (October 18) that he is in no rush to fight in the United States as he prepares to take on Frenchman Carlos Takam in Cardiff. The British fighter defends his IBF world title against Takam on October 28 after Bulgaria's Kubrat Pulev withdrew due to a shoulder injury. The fight will be 28-year-old Joshua's first since defeating Wladimir Klitschko to win the WBA title in April at Wembley Stadium. Takam is ranked third in the IBF rankings and Joshua said will face a tough challenge against the 36-year-old due to the different style and height of his new opponent. Joshua is undefeated in 19 fights since turning professional in 2013 and will face Cuban Luis Ortiz, the mandatory challenger for his WBA title, after the Takam fight.

Joshua says he is in no rush to fight in the U.S

Propaganda fliers presumed to be&nbsp;from&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;and calling US&nbsp;President Donald Trump a &quot;mad dog&quot; have&nbsp;turned&nbsp;up&nbsp;across central&nbsp;Seoul, including near the presidential Blue House, according to posts on social media and people who found them.

&quot;Death to old lunatic Trump!&quot; reads one poster, with a&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean soldier with rifle in hand, crushing what looks to be Trump&#39;s head with his tongue dangling out of his mouth. Near the soldier&#39;s head is the line: &quot;Complete obliteration.&quot;

Another poster shows Trump with the body of a dog being decapitated by an axe. Blood is shown splattered on the axe in the poster, which states: &quot;Let&#39;s behead mad dog Trump for the future of a peaceful and warless world and mankind!&quot;

Both were in colour.

It is not difficult to find&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean propaganda posters in South&nbsp;Korea, usually flown by balloon over the highly fortified demilitarized zone. Military images and anti-US threats are common in North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;propaganda as Pyongyang demands the United States cease what it says is its preparations for an invasion.

But the new series of fliers posted recently on Twitter and other social media target Trump specifically.

Trump last month, in a speech to the United Nations, threatened to &quot;totally destroy&quot;&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;if needed to defend itself and allies and called the&nbsp;North&#39;s leader Kim Jong Un a &quot;rocket man&quot; on a suicide mission.

&quot;I am pretty sure it came&nbsp;from&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;by balloon, since the prevailing winds during October have been&nbsp;from&nbsp;north&nbsp;to south and we&#39;ve been getting reports of others finding them throughout Seoul,&quot; said Chad O&#39;Carroll, managing director of NK News, a&nbsp;Seoul-based news subscription service, who found the&nbsp;leaflets&nbsp;while jogging in central&nbsp;Seoul.

In an apparent jab at Trump&#39;s UN&nbsp;speech, one of the propaganda posters featured Trump standing behind a podium with a rocket in his mouth painted with the words &quot;totally destroy&nbsp;North Korea&quot;.

Again, Trump is depicted as a dog with a human face and labelled as &quot;mad dog Trump&quot;.

Men in suits with surprised looks on their faces are shown in the poster saying &quot;He&#39;s gone completely insane&quot; and &quot;If we let him be, there will be war&quot;.

Reclusive&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea, which has carried out a series of nuclear and missile tests in defiance of UN&nbsp;sanctions, and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

The&nbsp;North&nbsp;regularly threatens to destroy the South and its main ally, the United States.

Propaganda fliers presumed to be?from?North?Korea?and calling US?President Donald Trump a "mad dog" have?turned?up?across central?Seoul, including near the presidential Blue House

Propaganda fliers presumed to be from North Korea and calling US President Donald Trump a "mad dog" have turned up across central Seoul, including near the presidential Blue House, according to posts on social media and people who found them. "Death to old lunatic Trump!" reads one poster, with a North Korean soldier with rifle in hand, crushing what looks to be Trump's head with his tongue dangling out of his mouth. Near the soldier's head is the line: "Complete obliteration." Another poster shows Trump with the body of a dog being decapitated by an axe. Blood is shown splattered on the axe in the poster, which states: "Let's behead mad dog Trump for the future of a peaceful and warless world and mankind!" Both were in colour. It is not difficult to find North Korean propaganda posters in South Korea, usually flown by balloon over the highly fortified demilitarized zone. Military images and anti-US threats are common in North Korea propaganda as Pyongyang demands the United States cease what it says is its preparations for an invasion. But the new series of fliers posted recently on Twitter and other social media target Trump specifically. Trump last month, in a speech to the United Nations, threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if needed to defend itself and allies and called the North's leader Kim Jong Un a "rocket man" on a suicide mission. "I am pretty sure it came from North Korea by balloon, since the prevailing winds during October have been from north to south and we've been getting reports of others finding them throughout Seoul," said Chad O'Carroll, managing director of NK News, a Seoul-based news subscription service, who found the leaflets while jogging in central Seoul. In an apparent jab at Trump's UN speech, one of the propaganda posters featured Trump standing behind a podium with a rocket in his mouth painted with the words "totally destroy North Korea". Again, Trump is depicted as a dog with a human face and labelled as "mad dog Trump". Men in suits with surprised looks on their faces are shown in the poster saying "He's gone completely insane" and "If we let him be, there will be war". Reclusive North Korea, which has carried out a series of nuclear and missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions, and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North regularly threatens to destroy the South and its main ally, the United States.

'Mad dog' anti-Trump leaflets, suspected floated in from North Korea, turn up in Seoul

The&nbsp;European Union vowed on Monday (October 16) to defend 2015 nuclear&nbsp;deal between&nbsp;Iran&nbsp;and world powers and urged US&nbsp;lawmakers not to reimpose sanctions after President Donald Trump chose not to certify Tehran&#39;s compliance with the accord.

Germany and France led a chorus of warnings to the United States, normally the&nbsp;EU&#39;s closest foreign policy ally, that any weakening of the agreement to prevent&nbsp;Iran&nbsp;obtaining nuclear weapons could have serious consequences for peace.

EU&nbsp;foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who chaired the final phase of the 2015 negotiations, held closed-door talks on how the 28-nation bloc should proceed and ministers were also set to discuss how to tackle&nbsp;Iran&#39;s ballistic missile programme.

But while several&nbsp;EU&nbsp;governments, including the Netherlands and Britain, said&nbsp;Iran&#39;s ballistic missiles and Tehran&#39;s interventions in Syria and Yemen were a concern, ministers said the immediate focus had to be saving the 2015&nbsp;deal.

Negotiated after 12 years of talks that&nbsp;EU&nbsp;diplomats helped to initiate and carry through, the accord with&nbsp;Iran&nbsp;is the most significant diplomatic success for the bloc in several decades.

At their meeting in Luxembourg, the&nbsp;EU&#39;s foreign ministers are also due to approve a new round of economic sanctions on&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;after Pyongyang&#39;s nuclear test last month. Many governments still hold out hope of repeating the&nbsp;Iran&nbsp;deal&nbsp;with&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea.

Germany and France led a chorus of warnings to the United States, normally the?EU's closest foreign policy ally, that any weakening of the agreement to prevent?Iran?obtaining nuclear weapons could have serious consequences for peace

The European Union vowed on Monday (October 16) to defend 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and urged US lawmakers not to reimpose sanctions after President Donald Trump chose not to certify Tehran's compliance with the accord. Germany and France led a chorus of warnings to the United States, normally the EU's closest foreign policy ally, that any weakening of the agreement to prevent Iran obtaining nuclear weapons could have serious consequences for peace. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who chaired the final phase of the 2015 negotiations, held closed-door talks on how the 28-nation bloc should proceed and ministers were also set to discuss how to tackle Iran's ballistic missile programme. But while several EU governments, including the Netherlands and Britain, said Iran's ballistic missiles and Tehran's interventions in Syria and Yemen were a concern, ministers said the immediate focus had to be saving the 2015 deal. Negotiated after 12 years of talks that EU diplomats helped to initiate and carry through, the accord with Iran is the most significant diplomatic success for the bloc in several decades. At their meeting in Luxembourg, the EU's foreign ministers are also due to approve a new round of economic sanctions on North Korea after Pyongyang's nuclear test last month. Many governments still hold out hope of repeating the Iran deal with North Korea.

EU vows to save Iran nuclear deal

The United States announced on Thursday<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-officially-withdraws-from-punishing-paris-climate-pact-16340"> that it is withdrawing from the United Nations Scientific </a>and Cultural Organization UNESCO, accusing the body of &quot;anti-Israel bias.&quot;

&quot;The United States would be withdrawing from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-believes-the-climate-is-changing-says-un-ambassador-nikki-haley-16401">UN&#39;s cultural and educational agency, effective</a> December 31,&quot; State Department said in a statement.

&quot;This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,&quot; the State Department said.

&quot;The United States would seek to &quot;remain engaged ...as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise,&quot; the statement added.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an &quot;observer mission&quot; to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

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??OFFICIAL: UNESCO Director-General expresses profound regret at US decision to withdraw from UNESCO. <a href="https://t.co/KoOMd3Kl9H">https://t.co/KoOMd3Kl9H</a> <a href="https://t.co/Mj1BZXIOAF">https://t.co/Mj1BZXIOAF</a>
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The UNESCO chief&nbsp;expressed &#39;profound regret&rsquo; over US&#39; withdrawal.

&quot;I deeply regret the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO,&quot; Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO said.

&quot;In 2011, when payment of membership contributions was suspended at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, I said I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO,&quot; UNESCO Director-General said in a statement.

&quot;Despite the withholding of funding, since 2011, we have deepened the partnership between the United States and UNESCO, which has never been so meaningful,&quot; Bokova said.

Paris-based UNESCO, which began work in 1946, is known for designating World Heritage sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park.

The United States had cancelled its substantial budget contribution to 58-member UNESCO in 2011 in protest at a decision to grant the Palestinians full membership.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

The United States announced on Thursday that it is withdrawing from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, accusing the body of "anti-Israel bias." "The United States would be withdrawing from UN's cultural and educational agency, effective December 31," State Department said in a statement. "This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," the State Department said. "The United States would seek to "remain engaged ...as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise," the statement added. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency. ??OFFICIAL: UNESCO Director-General expresses profound regret at US decision to withdraw from UNESCO. https://t.co/KoOMd3Kl9H https://t.co/Mj1BZXIOAF — UNESCO (@UNESCO) October 12, 2017 × The UNESCO chief expressed 'profound regret’ over US' withdrawal. "I deeply regret the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO," Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO said. "In 2011, when payment of membership contributions was suspended at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, I said I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO," UNESCO Director-General said in a statement. "Despite the withholding of funding, since 2011, we have deepened the partnership between the United States and UNESCO, which has never been so meaningful," Bokova said. Paris-based UNESCO, which began work in 1946, is known for designating World Heritage sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park. The United States had cancelled its substantial budget contribution to 58-member UNESCO in 2011 in protest at a decision to grant the Palestinians full membership.

US withdraws from UNESCO over 'anti-Israel bias'

In one of the biggest upsets of this qualifying cycle, the United States failed to reach the&nbsp;World&nbsp;Cup&nbsp;for the first time in more than 30 years and now&nbsp;face&nbsp;some&nbsp;major&nbsp;questions&nbsp;over the progress of the sport in the country.

A 2-1 defeat to an already eliminated Trinidad and Tobago meant the US&nbsp;finished an embarrassing fifth out of six teams in their CONCACAF qualifying group.

Mexico topped the standings with Costa Rica in second place while the third automatic spot went to Panama.

The Central American nation reached the&nbsp;World&nbsp;Cup&nbsp;for the first time in their history thanks to a last-gasp 2-1 win over Costa Rica, while Honduras ended fourth and will play Australia over two legs for a place in Russia next year.

The impact of the US&#39;s absence will be felt at broadcasters Fox, who takes over coverage of the World&nbsp;Cup&nbsp;from ESPN starting with the 2018 tournament and a host of sponsors, such as Nike, who had been hoping for plenty of&nbsp;World&nbsp;Cup&nbsp;exposure.

But on a deeper level, the outcome raises a host of&nbsp;questions&nbsp;about whether American soccer truly is progressing.

The country did not feature in any&nbsp;World&nbsp;Cup&nbsp;from 1954 to 1986, but&nbsp;after&nbsp;making it to Italia 90 and then hosting the tournament themselves in 1994, the game appeared to be on the rise.

The US reached the quarter-finals in 2002 and more recently impressed in Brazil four years ago by reaching the second round, finishing above Portugal in their group.

On the domestic front,&nbsp;Major&nbsp;League Soccer, which began in 1996, has produced a stable league for the first time in North America and has grown to 22 teams, many playing in new soccer-specific stadiums.

NO EXCUSES

&quot;This is an utter embarrassment, with the amount of money that is in&nbsp;Major&nbsp;League Soccer and in this sport, you can&#39;t get a draw against Trinidad? You don&#39;t deserve to go the&nbsp;World&nbsp;Cup&quot; said former US striker Taylor Twellman, now a television pundit for ESPN.

&quot;If this failure does not wake up everyone from US Soccer (Federation) to&nbsp;Major&nbsp;League Soccer to &#39;pay to play&#39; (youth soccer), to broadcasters, everything, then we are all insane.&quot;

&quot;That should never have happened with the billion dollars plus&nbsp;that is going into MLS and youth soccer development but it did and every single person should look themselves in the mirror,&quot; he added.

But in the immediate&nbsp;aftermath of the defeated coach Bruce Arena, who was brought back in November last year following the firing of German Juergen Klinsmann, rejected the idea that major&nbsp;change was needed.

&quot;There&#39;s nothing wrong with what we&#39;re doing,&quot; Arena was quoted as saying by Sports Illustrated (www.si.com). &quot;Certainly, I think if our league continues to grow it benefits the national team program. We have some good players coming up. Nothing has to change.

&quot;To make any kind of crazy changes I think would be foolish. We&#39;re building a consistent professional league. We have players playing abroad of a certain quality. There&#39;s enough there. There are no excuses for&nbsp;us&nbsp;to not qualify for the&nbsp;World&nbsp;Cup.&quot;

US&nbsp;Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who is expected to&nbsp;face&nbsp;a challenge to his leadership with two potential candidates have expressed an interest in standing against him in the next elections, also questioned the need for change.

&quot;You don&#39;t make wholesale changes based on the ball being two inches wide or two inches in. We&#39;ll look at everything, obviously, and all our programs, both the national team and all the development stuff,&quot; he said.

&quot;But we&#39;ve got a lot of pieces in place that we think are very good and have been coming along. Tonight obviously wasn&#39;t what we hoped for.&quot;

A 2-1 defeat to an already eliminated Trinidad and Tobago meant the US finished an embarrassing fifth out of six teams in their CONCACAF qualifying group

In one of the biggest upsets of this qualifying cycle, the United States failed to reach the World Cup for the first time in more than 30 years and now face some major questions over the progress of the sport in the country. A 2-1 defeat to an already eliminated Trinidad and Tobago meant the US finished an embarrassing fifth out of six teams in their CONCACAF qualifying group. Mexico topped the standings with Costa Rica in second place while the third automatic spot went to Panama. The Central American nation reached the World Cup for the first time in their history thanks to a last-gasp 2-1 win over Costa Rica, while Honduras ended fourth and will play Australia over two legs for a place in Russia next year. The impact of the US's absence will be felt at broadcasters Fox, who takes over coverage of the World Cup from ESPN starting with the 2018 tournament and a host of sponsors, such as Nike, who had been hoping for plenty of World Cup exposure. But on a deeper level, the outcome raises a host of questions about whether American soccer truly is progressing. The country did not feature in any World Cup from 1954 to 1986, but after making it to Italia 90 and then hosting the tournament themselves in 1994, the game appeared to be on the rise. The US reached the quarter-finals in 2002 and more recently impressed in Brazil four years ago by reaching the second round, finishing above Portugal in their group. On the domestic front, Major League Soccer, which began in 1996, has produced a stable league for the first time in North America and has grown to 22 teams, many playing in new soccer-specific stadiums. NO EXCUSES "This is an utter embarrassment, with the amount of money that is in Major League Soccer and in this sport, you can't get a draw against Trinidad? You don't deserve to go the World Cup" said former US striker Taylor Twellman, now a television pundit for ESPN. "If this failure does not wake up everyone from US Soccer (Federation) to Major League Soccer to 'pay to play' (youth soccer), to broadcasters, everything, then we are all insane." "That should never have happened with the billion dollars plus that is going into MLS and youth soccer development but it did and every single person should look themselves in the mirror," he added. But in the immediate aftermath of the defeated coach Bruce Arena, who was brought back in November last year following the firing of German Juergen Klinsmann, rejected the idea that major change was needed. "There's nothing wrong with what we're doing," Arena was quoted as saying by Sports Illustrated (www.si.com). "Certainly, I think if our league continues to grow it benefits the national team program. We have some good players coming up. Nothing has to change. "To make any kind of crazy changes I think would be foolish. We're building a consistent professional league. We have players playing abroad of a certain quality. There's enough there. There are no excuses for us to not qualify for the World Cup." US Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who is expected to face a challenge to his leadership with two potential candidates have expressed an interest in standing against him in the next elections, also questioned the need for change. "You don't make wholesale changes based on the ball being two inches wide or two inches in. We'll look at everything, obviously, and all our programs, both the national team and all the development stuff," he said. "But we've got a lot of pieces in place that we think are very good and have been coming along. Tonight obviously wasn't what we hoped for."

Stunned US face major questions after World Cup debacle

President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday Russia was giving 5,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles to the Philippines in what is believed to be the first ever shipment of Russian weapons to the US ally.

Duterte, who briefly visited Moscow in May as part of a pivot away from Washington, said the arms would soon arrive by ship.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The United States has traditionally been the main supplier of arms to the former American colony.

But the Philippine armed forces, who have been battling both communist insurgents in rural areas and Muslim extremists in the troubled south, remain among the weakest in the region.

&quot;As part of what I got from Russia when we were there for almost 24 hours, we will have the Kalashnikovs,&quot; Duterte told a gathering of soldiers and police near Manila.

The Russian embassy declined to comment on Duterte&#39;s announcement.

Duterte did not say which types of rifles from the Russian manufacturer are being shipped to Manila.

&quot;As far as I can remember, the Russians have never supplied us with any form of mat&eacute;riel in the past,&quot; defence department spokesman Arsenio Andolong told AFP.

Duterte, who took office last year, has shaken the Philippines&#39; 70-year-old alliance with the US as he moves to strengthen ties with China and Russia.

The firebrand leader has sought out other sources of weapons as he angrily rejected US criticism of his deadly war on drugs that has left thousands dead.

China this year donated about 6,000 rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition to Manila.

The United States has traditionally been the main supplier of arms to the former American colony

President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday Russia was giving 5,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles to the Philippines in what is believed to be the first ever shipment of Russian weapons to the US ally. Duterte, who briefly visited Moscow in May as part of a pivot away from Washington, said the arms would soon arrive by ship. The United States has traditionally been the main supplier of arms to the former American colony. But the Philippine armed forces, who have been battling both communist insurgents in rural areas and Muslim extremists in the troubled south, remain among the weakest in the region. "As part of what I got from Russia when we were there for almost 24 hours, we will have the Kalashnikovs," Duterte told a gathering of soldiers and police near Manila. The Russian embassy declined to comment on Duterte's announcement. Duterte did not say which types of rifles from the Russian manufacturer are being shipped to Manila. "As far as I can remember, the Russians have never supplied us with any form of matériel in the past," defence department spokesman Arsenio Andolong told AFP. Duterte, who took office last year, has shaken the Philippines' 70-year-old alliance with the US as he moves to strengthen ties with China and Russia. The firebrand leader has sought out other sources of weapons as he angrily rejected US criticism of his deadly war on drugs that has left thousands dead. China this year donated about 6,000 rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition to Manila.

Russia to send 'Kalashnikov' guns to Philippines: Duterte

Facebook on Monday said it will hire more than 1,000 people to thwart deceptive ads crafted to knock elections off course.

The announcement came as the leading social network turned over to Congress some 3,000 Russia-linked ads that appeared to use hot-button issues to turn people against one another ahead of last year&#39;s US election.

&quot;Today we are delivering those ads to congressional investigators,&quot; Facebook vice president of global policy Joel Kaplan said in an online post.

&quot;Many appear to amplify racial and social divisions.&quot;

The ads appeared to be linked to a Russian entity known as the Internet Research Agency, and violated Facebook policies because they came from inauthentic accounts, according to Kaplan.

&quot;Aggressive steps&quot; by Facebook will include hiring more than 1,000 people to bolster its global ads review teams in the coming year, Kaplan said.

Facebook also planned to ramp up investment in machine learning to identify and take down ads violating the social network&#39;s policies.

&quot;Enforcement is never perfect, but we will get better at finding and removing improper ads,&quot; Kaplan said.

Facebook will require those interested in running ads related to US elections to confirm businesses or organizations they represent.

- Asking forgiveness -

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg last month announced a crackdown on efforts to use the leading social network to meddle with elections.

Zuckerberg outlined a series of steps that would help prevent the manipulation of the social network, including more transparency on political ads appearing on Facebook.

Facebook last month agreed to hand over information about the ads from the Internet Research Agency to special counsel Robert Mueller&#39;s investigation of the 2016 election.

An internal Facebook review showed that Russia-linked fake accounts were used to buy ads aimed at exacerbating political clashes ahead of and following the 2016 US presidential election.

Some 470 accounts spent a total of approximately $100,000 between June 2015 to May 2017 on ads that touted fake or misleading news or drove traffic to pages with such messages, a Facebook official said.

While the amount of money involved was relatively small, enough to buy roughly 3,000 ads, the accounts or pages violated Facebook policies and were shut down, according to Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos.

Zuckerberg over the weekend posted a message marking the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, or day of atonement, asking forgiveness &quot;for the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together.&quot;

- Free speech vs abuse -

Facebook vice president of communications Elliot Schrage on Monday posted answers to &quot;hard questions&quot; prompted by the Russia ads.

The social network estimated that 10 million people in the US saw the ads, some 44 percent of those views happening before the November election and the rest afterwards.

Many of the ads did not violate Facebook rules regarding banned content but instead broke a policy barring accounts from hiding who is really running them, according to the social network.

&quot;That means that for most of (the ads) if they had been run by authentic individuals, anywhere, they could have remained on the platform,&quot; Schrage said.

&quot;This is an issue we have debated a great deal.&quot;

Facebook has become an important platform for debate on political and social issues and faces the challenge of protecting free speech while guarding against malicious interference in elections.

&quot;We are dedicated to being an open platform for all ideas, and that may sometimes mean allowing people to express views we &mdash; or others &mdash; find objectionable,&quot; Schrage said.

&quot;This has been the longstanding challenge for all democracies: how to foster honest and authentic political speech while protecting civic discourse from manipulation and abuse.&quot;

The announcement came as the leading social network turned over to Congress some 3,000 Russia-linked ads that appeared to use hot-button issues to turn people against one another ahead of last year's US election

Facebook on Monday said it will hire more than 1,000 people to thwart deceptive ads crafted to knock elections off course. The announcement came as the leading social network turned over to Congress some 3,000 Russia-linked ads that appeared to use hot-button issues to turn people against one another ahead of last year's US election. "Today we are delivering those ads to congressional investigators," Facebook vice president of global policy Joel Kaplan said in an online post. "Many appear to amplify racial and social divisions." The ads appeared to be linked to a Russian entity known as the Internet Research Agency, and violated Facebook policies because they came from inauthentic accounts, according to Kaplan. "Aggressive steps" by Facebook will include hiring more than 1,000 people to bolster its global ads review teams in the coming year, Kaplan said. Facebook also planned to ramp up investment in machine learning to identify and take down ads violating the social network's policies. "Enforcement is never perfect, but we will get better at finding and removing improper ads," Kaplan said. Facebook will require those interested in running ads related to US elections to confirm businesses or organizations they represent. - Asking forgiveness - Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg last month announced a crackdown on efforts to use the leading social network to meddle with elections. Zuckerberg outlined a series of steps that would help prevent the manipulation of the social network, including more transparency on political ads appearing on Facebook. Facebook last month agreed to hand over information about the ads from the Internet Research Agency to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the 2016 election. An internal Facebook review showed that Russia-linked fake accounts were used to buy ads aimed at exacerbating political clashes ahead of and following the 2016 US presidential election. Some 470 accounts spent a total of approximately $100,000 between June 2015 to May 2017 on ads that touted fake or misleading news or drove traffic to pages with such messages, a Facebook official said. While the amount of money involved was relatively small, enough to buy roughly 3,000 ads, the accounts or pages violated Facebook policies and were shut down, according to Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos. Zuckerberg over the weekend posted a message marking the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, or day of atonement, asking forgiveness "for the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together." - Free speech vs abuse - Facebook vice president of communications Elliot Schrage on Monday posted answers to "hard questions" prompted by the Russia ads. The social network estimated that 10 million people in the US saw the ads, some 44 percent of those views happening before the November election and the rest afterwards. Many of the ads did not violate Facebook rules regarding banned content but instead broke a policy barring accounts from hiding who is really running them, according to the social network. "That means that for most of (the ads) if they had been run by authentic individuals, anywhere, they could have remained on the platform," Schrage said. "This is an issue we have debated a great deal." Facebook has become an important platform for debate on political and social issues and faces the challenge of protecting free speech while guarding against malicious interference in elections. "We are dedicated to being an open platform for all ideas, and that may sometimes mean allowing people to express views we — or others — find objectionable," Schrage said. "This has been the longstanding challenge for all democracies: how to foster honest and authentic political speech while protecting civic discourse from manipulation and abuse."

Facebook beefing up team to thwart election manipulation

As news broke that Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy, had died aged 91, many instantly pointed out to the complicated legacy of both the magazine and the man behind it. Widely portrayed as one with a bevy of young lovers and infamous parties at the Playboy mansion, it would be easy to dismiss Hefner as merely an enduring barrier to the fight for gender equality. Yet to do so would to overlook the significant cultural impact of both Hefner and Playboy, particularly during the 1950s under the shroud of Cold War anxieties.

Born April 9, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, Hefner&rsquo;s entry into the world of journalism came as a teenager writing for a military magazine during World War II. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he began working as a copy-editor for men&rsquo;s magazine Esquire, before a pay dispute motivated him to leave the magazine in 1952.

He took out a mortgage and borrowed money from his mother to launch Playboy in 1953. The first issue, which famously featured Marilyn Monroe in the centrefold, indicated the magazine&rsquo;s explicit engagement with matters of sex, fun, and consumerism. In doing so, it challenged the idea of masculinity that had evolved around the nuclear family, and that held particular purchase in the early years of Cold War America.

A new man

The nuclear family - a mum, dad, and kids - was seen as an important barrier to communism in the years after World War II. This relied on specific roles for men and women to uphold the strength of the family and, by extension, the security of the nation.

<figure class="align-right zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/187951/area14mp/file-20170928-1476-1kibkhs.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/187951/width237/file-20170928-1476-1kibkhs.jpg" /></a>

<figcaption>
The first cover of Playboy magazine in 1953. <a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy">Wikimedia</a>

For American men who had returned from war, being a &ldquo;proper&rdquo; man meant marriage, procreation, and breadwinning. Women were in control of the domestic space. To fall short of this was, as the scholar <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Hearts_of_Men.html?id=3SBFAAAAYAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y">Barbara Ehrenreich</a> notes, to be &ldquo;less than grown up &hellip; the man who willingly deviated was judged to be somehow &lsquo;less than a man&rsquo;.&rdquo;
</figcaption>
</figure>

Playboy dared to go beyond these expectations. Rather than restricting masculinity to the suburban malaise of postwar America, Playboy offered a model of manhood that was intelligent, fun, and sexy and, crucially, set in opposition to marriage.

Such a model was surely inspired by Hefner&rsquo;s own restlessness. Married to Mildred &ldquo;Millie&rdquo; Williams in 1949, he was already feeling the monotony of suburban life. The conventional markers of masculine success &ndash; a beautiful wife, a successful job, and an impressive home &ndash; left him, points our Hefner&#39;s biographer Russell Miller, &ldquo;bored beyond belief&rdquo;. They divorced in 1959.

Hefner, through his life and Playboy, turned the home from a woman&rsquo;s domain to an expression of a man&rsquo;s sophistication and &ldquo;urbane personality&rdquo;. This man could be interested in art, foreign films and literature (the magazine is famously remembered for publishing the works of authors like Ray Bradbury and Jack Kerouac), and took pleasure in bachelorhood, eagerly eschewing marriage and family.

In contrast, the mid-century Australian periodical Man magazine, was a place for men to dream of a life outside marriage, but ultimately accept their fate. Playboy rejected these notions.

Hefner and women

Of course, Playboy&rsquo;s attitude towards women is rightly remembered as problematic at best. The early years of the magazine portrayed American women as emasculating, money-hungry and obsessed with tricking a man into marriage. Such representations are surely offensive, but they speak to an uncertainty and tension that was circulating in the cultural landscape of the postwar US.

As the historian Carrie Pitzulo notes, to say that Playboy is sexist is nothing new. Indeed in his later years, surrounded by a throng of young, attractive women, Hefner seemed to embrace the lifestyle that Playboy advocated to an almost parodic extent. More recently, Playboy&rsquo;s attitude to women has been demonstrated by its on-off association with nudity.

<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84841/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" />However, we might look at Playboy&rsquo;s early years as evidence that masculinity in the 1950s was more complex than popular memories acknowledge, and of the cultural upheaval that Hefner and his iconic publication produced.

&nbsp;

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" nofollow="" rel="">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/hugh-hefner-playboy-and-being-a-man-during-the-cold-war-84841" nofollow="" rel="">original article</a>.

&nbsp;

Playboy?s early years is evidence that masculinity is more complex than popular memories acknowledge, and of the cultural upheaval that Hefner and his iconic publication produced.

As news broke that Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy, had died aged 91, many instantly pointed out to the complicated legacy of both the magazine and the man behind it. Widely portrayed as one with a bevy of young lovers and infamous parties at the Playboy mansion, it would be easy to dismiss Hefner as merely an enduring barrier to the fight for gender equality. Yet to do so would to overlook the significant cultural impact of both Hefner and Playboy, particularly during the 1950s under the shroud of Cold War anxieties. Born April 9, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, Hefner’s entry into the world of journalism came as a teenager writing for a military magazine during World War II. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he began working as a copy-editor for men’s magazine Esquire, before a pay dispute motivated him to leave the magazine in 1952. He took out a mortgage and borrowed money from his mother to launch Playboy in 1953. The first issue, which famously featured Marilyn Monroe in the centrefold, indicated the magazine’s explicit engagement with matters of sex, fun, and consumerism. In doing so, it challenged the idea of masculinity that had evolved around the nuclear family, and that held particular purchase in the early years of Cold War America. A new man The nuclear family - a mum, dad, and kids - was seen as an important barrier to communism in the years after World War II. This relied on specific roles for men and women to uphold the strength of the family and, by extension, the security of the nation. The first cover of Playboy magazine in 1953. Wikimedia For American men who had returned from war, being a “proper” man meant marriage, procreation, and breadwinning. Women were in control of the domestic space. To fall short of this was, as the scholar Barbara Ehrenreich notes, to be “less than grown up … the man who willingly deviated was judged to be somehow ‘less than a man’.” Playboy dared to go beyond these expectations. Rather than restricting masculinity to the suburban malaise of postwar America, Playboy offered a model of manhood that was intelligent, fun, and sexy and, crucially, set in opposition to marriage. Such a model was surely inspired by Hefner’s own restlessness. Married to Mildred “Millie” Williams in 1949, he was already feeling the monotony of suburban life. The conventional markers of masculine success – a beautiful wife, a successful job, and an impressive home – left him, points our Hefner's biographer Russell Miller, “bored beyond belief”. They divorced in 1959. Hefner, through his life and Playboy, turned the home from a woman’s domain to an expression of a man’s sophistication and “urbane personality”. This man could be interested in art, foreign films and literature (the magazine is famously remembered for publishing the works of authors like Ray Bradbury and Jack Kerouac), and took pleasure in bachelorhood, eagerly eschewing marriage and family. In contrast, the mid-century Australian periodical Man magazine, was a place for men to dream of a life outside marriage, but ultimately accept their fate. Playboy rejected these notions. Hefner and women Of course, Playboy’s attitude towards women is rightly remembered as problematic at best. The early years of the magazine portrayed American women as emasculating, money-hungry and obsessed with tricking a man into marriage. Such representations are surely offensive, but they speak to an uncertainty and tension that was circulating in the cultural landscape of the postwar US. As the historian Carrie Pitzulo notes, to say that Playboy is sexist is nothing new. Indeed in his later years, surrounded by a throng of young, attractive women, Hefner seemed to embrace the lifestyle that Playboy advocated to an almost parodic extent. More recently, Playboy’s attitude to women has been demonstrated by its on-off association with nudity. However, we might look at Playboy’s early years as evidence that masculinity in the 1950s was more complex than popular memories acknowledge, and of the cultural upheaval that Hefner and his iconic publication produced. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Hefner's Playboy: Being a man during the Cold War

UN chief Antonio Guterres exhorted Myanmar&#39;s leaders to end the &quot;nightmare&quot; faced by Rohingya refugees fleeing an army campaign, after at least 19 people drowned with scores more feared dead when a boat carrying Rohingya families capsized off Bangladesh.&nbsp;

More than half a million Rohingya Muslims have poured into Bangladesh in the last month, fleeing a vicious Myanmar military crackdown on Rohingya rebels that has gutted villages across northern Rakhine state.

Scores have drowned while trying to cross waters separating the two countries, while those who survive face new dangers as they cram into squalid refugee settlements where food and clean water are in short supply.

The billowing humanitarian crisis prompted the UN Security Council to hold its first meeting on Myanmar in eight years, though the member countries failed to arrive at a joint resolution.&nbsp;

The US slammed the army for trying &quot;to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority&quot;, while Beijing and Moscow offered support to Myanmar authorities who have vehemently rebuffed allegations that ethnic cleansing is underway.

Speaking to the 15-member council, Guterres urged Myanmar to halt military operations and open humanitarian access to the conflict-wracked western region.

&quot;The situation has spiralled into the world&#39;s fastest developing refugee emergency, a humanitarian and human rights nightmare,&quot; he said while calling for those displaced by the conflict to be allowed to return home.

The UN chief noted that the &quot;systemic violence&quot; could cause unrest to spill south to the central part of Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state, threatening 250,000 Muslims with displacement.&nbsp;

Some of the strongest criticism came from US envoy Nikki Haley, who accused Myanmar authorities of waging a &quot;brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority&quot;.

&quot;It should shame senior Burmese leaders who have sacrificed so much for an open, democratic Myanmar,&quot; she added, in what appeared to be a rebuke to the country&#39;s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose reputation as a human rights champion has been battered by the crisis.

But Myanmar received strong backing from Russia and China, a close ally and key trade partner.&nbsp;

&quot;The international community must be aware of the difficulties faced by the Burmese government, be patient and provide its assistance,&quot; Chinese envoy Wu Haitao said.&nbsp;

&quot;We must be very careful when we talk about ethnic cleansing and genocide,&quot; added Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, taking the Myanmar government line as he blamed Rohingya militants for &quot;burning villages&quot;.

Fires have razed hundreds of communities in northern Rakhine over the past month, in what rights groups say is an army-led effort to drive out the stateless minority that has faced decades of persecution.&nbsp;

Myanmar, a mainly Buddhist country, has denied the allegation and defended its operations as a proportionate crackdown on the Rohingya militants whose deadly raids on police posts on August 25 sparked the military backlash.&nbsp;

Authorities have restricted access to the epicentre of the violence but agreed this week to allow a UN visit to the conflict zone.&nbsp;

The trip has been postponed to October 2 due to bad weather, state media reported Friday.&nbsp;

Boat tragedy&nbsp;

The drowning tragedy is the latest in a series of deadly accidents as desperate refugees surge into Bangladesh, where they are penned into ramshackle tent cities amid dire shortages of nearly all forms of aid.

Witnesses and survivors said the vessel that overturned Thursday was just metres from the coast in rough waters after it was lashed by torrential rain and high winds.

There are fears the death toll could rise sharply with the International Organization for Migration saying about 100 people, mainly children, were believed aboard the downed vessel.

The bodies of 16 people, mostly children, were found Thursday and brought to a local school, said coastguard commander Nasir Uddin.

Two more bodies of young boys were retrieved Friday morning, he added, while another woman was washed ashore in a separate location.

&quot;They drowned before our eyes. Minutes later, the waves washed the bodies to the beach,&quot; said Mohammad Sohel, a local shopkeeper.

One distraught survivor said&nbsp;that his wife and one of their children had been killed when the ship sank.

&quot;The boat hit something underground as it came close to the beach. Then it overturned,&quot; said Nurus Salam, who had set off for Bangladesh from a coastal village in Myanmar late Wednesday with his family.

More than half a million Rohingya Muslims have poured into Bangladesh in the last month, fleeing a vicious Myanmar military crackdown on Rohingya rebels that has gutted villages across northern Rakhine state

UN chief Antonio Guterres exhorted Myanmar's leaders to end the "nightmare" faced by Rohingya refugees fleeing an army campaign, after at least 19 people drowned with scores more feared dead when a boat carrying Rohingya families capsized off Bangladesh. More than half a million Rohingya Muslims have poured into Bangladesh in the last month, fleeing a vicious Myanmar military crackdown on Rohingya rebels that has gutted villages across northern Rakhine state. Scores have drowned while trying to cross waters separating the two countries, while those who survive face new dangers as they cram into squalid refugee settlements where food and clean water are in short supply. The billowing humanitarian crisis prompted the UN Security Council to hold its first meeting on Myanmar in eight years, though the member countries failed to arrive at a joint resolution. The US slammed the army for trying "to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority", while Beijing and Moscow offered support to Myanmar authorities who have vehemently rebuffed allegations that ethnic cleansing is underway. Speaking to the 15-member council, Guterres urged Myanmar to halt military operations and open humanitarian access to the conflict-wracked western region. "The situation has spiralled into the world's fastest developing refugee emergency, a humanitarian and human rights nightmare," he said while calling for those displaced by the conflict to be allowed to return home. The UN chief noted that the "systemic violence" could cause unrest to spill south to the central part of Myanmar's Rakhine state, threatening 250,000 Muslims with displacement. Some of the strongest criticism came from US envoy Nikki Haley, who accused Myanmar authorities of waging a "brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority". "It should shame senior Burmese leaders who have sacrificed so much for an open, democratic Myanmar," she added, in what appeared to be a rebuke to the country's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose reputation as a human rights champion has been battered by the crisis. But Myanmar received strong backing from Russia and China, a close ally and key trade partner. "The international community must be aware of the difficulties faced by the Burmese government, be patient and provide its assistance," Chinese envoy Wu Haitao said. "We must be very careful when we talk about ethnic cleansing and genocide," added Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, taking the Myanmar government line as he blamed Rohingya militants for "burning villages". Fires have razed hundreds of communities in northern Rakhine over the past month, in what rights groups say is an army-led effort to drive out the stateless minority that has faced decades of persecution. Myanmar, a mainly Buddhist country, has denied the allegation and defended its operations as a proportionate crackdown on the Rohingya militants whose deadly raids on police posts on August 25 sparked the military backlash. Authorities have restricted access to the epicentre of the violence but agreed this week to allow a UN visit to the conflict zone. The trip has been postponed to October 2 due to bad weather, state media reported Friday. Boat tragedy The drowning tragedy is the latest in a series of deadly accidents as desperate refugees surge into Bangladesh, where they are penned into ramshackle tent cities amid dire shortages of nearly all forms of aid. Witnesses and survivors said the vessel that overturned Thursday was just metres from the coast in rough waters after it was lashed by torrential rain and high winds. There are fears the death toll could rise sharply with the International Organization for Migration saying about 100 people, mainly children, were believed aboard the downed vessel. The bodies of 16 people, mostly children, were found Thursday and brought to a local school, said coastguard commander Nasir Uddin. Two more bodies of young boys were retrieved Friday morning, he added, while another woman was washed ashore in a separate location. "They drowned before our eyes. Minutes later, the waves washed the bodies to the beach," said Mohammad Sohel, a local shopkeeper. One distraught survivor said that his wife and one of their children had been killed when the ship sank. "The boat hit something underground as it came close to the beach. Then it overturned," said Nurus Salam, who had set off for Bangladesh from a coastal village in Myanmar late Wednesday with his family.

UN chief tells Myanmar to end 'nightmare' as 19 drown in Rohingya boat capsize

The US Senate on Thursday&nbsp;confirmed&nbsp;businessman, a veteran diplomat and former presidential candidate Jon&nbsp;Huntsman&nbsp;as&nbsp;ambassador&nbsp;to&nbsp;Russia, filling a crucial post as a probe of Moscow&#39;s influence on the American election widens.

The 57-year-old&nbsp;Huntsman, who served as governor of Utah, has worked in numerous US administrations, notably as&nbsp;ambassador&nbsp;to China under Democrat Barack Obama, before running unsuccessfully for president as a Republican in 2012.

Huntsman, who was&nbsp;confirmed&nbsp;by voice vote, said during his confirmation hearing that there is &quot;no question&quot;&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;interfered in the US presidential race and that Moscow continues to &quot;threaten stability&quot; in Europe.

Jon Huntsman, who served as governor of Utah, has worked in numerous US administrations

The US Senate on Thursday confirmed businessman, a veteran diplomat and former presidential candidate Jon Huntsman as ambassador to Russia, filling a crucial post as a probe of Moscow's influence on the American election widens. The 57-year-old Huntsman, who served as governor of Utah, has worked in numerous US administrations, notably as ambassador to China under Democrat Barack Obama, before running unsuccessfully for president as a Republican in 2012. Huntsman, who was confirmed by voice vote, said during his confirmation hearing that there is "no question" Russia interfered in the US presidential race and that Moscow continues to "threaten stability" in Europe.

Jon Huntsman confirmed as US ambassador to Russia

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-signs-order-to-build-wall-along-mexico-border-11693" target="_blank">President Donald Trump&#39;s border&nbsp;wall&nbsp;with&nbsp;Mexico</a>&nbsp;came a&nbsp;step closer to reality on September 26 as construction and testing of prototype structures that will influence the design of the divisive project began.

&quot;Today marks a significant milestone in the implementation of the President&#39;s executive order on border security and immigration improvement,&quot; said acting chief border patrol agent Roy Villareal at the construction site.

&quot;Construction of the eight&nbsp;wall&nbsp;prototypes began today here in San Diego,&quot; he said, adding that four of the structures will be made of concrete and four others will be comprised of other materials he didn&#39;t name.

Trump has insisted&nbsp;Mexico should pay for building the&nbsp;wall, which experts said could cost about $22 billion and take more than three years to complete. With<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-border-wall-decision-hacks-off-mexicans-11700" target="_blank">&nbsp;Mexico&nbsp;refusing to pay,</a> Trump has said since taking office in January that the&nbsp;wall&nbsp;will initially need US funding but that he will find a way to make&nbsp;Mexico&nbsp;ultimately pay for it.

Last month the Trump administration said it had selected four construction companies to build concrete prototypes for a&nbsp;wall, which will be&nbsp;30 feet (9 meters) tall and about 30 feet wide and will be tested in San Diego.

Also Read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/tens-of-thousands-protest-against-trump-in-mexico-12325" target="_blank">Tens of thousands protest against Trump in Mexico</a>)

Villareal said the prototype phase is expected to last 30 days and that he expects protests at the site during that time.

&quot;We expect that there may be protesting and we are going to do everything to make sure that we provide that opportunity and we maintain civility and lawfulness along the border,&quot; he said.

President Donald Trump's border?wall?with?Mexico?came on step closer to reality on September 26 as construction and testing of prototype structures that will influence the design of the divisive project began

President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico came a step closer to reality on September 26 as construction and testing of prototype structures that will influence the design of the divisive project began. "Today marks a significant milestone in the implementation of the President's executive order on border security and immigration improvement," said acting chief border patrol agent Roy Villareal at the construction site. "Construction of the eight wall prototypes began today here in San Diego," he said, adding that four of the structures will be made of concrete and four others will be comprised of other materials he didn't name. Trump has insisted Mexico should pay for building the wall, which experts said could cost about $22 billion and take more than three years to complete. With Mexico refusing to pay, Trump has said since taking office in January that the wall will initially need US funding but that he will find a way to make Mexico ultimately pay for it. Last month the Trump administration said it had selected four construction companies to build concrete prototypes for a wall, which will be 30 feet (9 meters) tall and about 30 feet wide and will be tested in San Diego. Also Read: Tens of thousands protest against Trump in Mexico) Villareal said the prototype phase is expected to last 30 days and that he expects protests at the site during that time. "We expect that there may be protesting and we are going to do everything to make sure that we provide that opportunity and we maintain civility and lawfulness along the border," he said.

Trump's Mexico border wall goes into prototype phase

Former U.S. Representative&nbsp;Anthony&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Monday for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl, setting off a scandal that played a role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Weiner, 53, started to cry as soon as the sentence was announced by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan. His wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was not in the courtroom and has filed for divorce.

He pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene material to a minor and agreed he would not appeal any sentence of 27 months or less.

&quot;I was a very sick man for a very long time, but I&#39;m also responsible for the damage I have done,&quot; Weiner&nbsp;read from a statement in court before he was sentenced. He said he was being treated, and asked Cote to spare him prison and sentence him to probation so he could continue treatment.

Weiner&#39;s lawyer, Arlo Devlin-Brown, said that while&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;exchanged sexually explicit messages with many women, all of the others were adults.

Cote said she believed&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;was suffering from an addiction and was serious about being treated. However, she said it was important to deter others from committing similar crimes.

&quot;There is the opportunity to make a statement that could protect other minors,&quot; she said.

&quot;We are of course disappointed that&nbsp;Anthony&nbsp;was sentenced to prison, particularly so given that Judge Cote found that the treatment programme&nbsp;Anthony&nbsp;had engaged in for the past year was showing great promise and should be continued,&quot;&nbsp;Weiner&#39;s lawyer, Devlin-Brown, said in a statement Monday afternoon.

Weiner&nbsp;declined to speak to reporters as he left the courtroom. He was ordered to surrender by Nov. 6.

The investigation into&nbsp;Weiner&rsquo;s exchanges with a North Carolina high school student roiled the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in its final days when authorities found emails on&nbsp;Weiner&rsquo;s laptop from his wife.

Weiner, who wore his wedding band at the sentencing, and Abedin have a son, Jordan, who is 5 years old.

The discovery of the emails prompted James Comey, then director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to announce in late October that the agency was reopening its investigation into Clinton&rsquo;s use of a private email server while she was U.S. secretary of state.

Clinton has said the announcement contributed to her upset loss to Republican Donald Trump, who had accused her of endangering national security by using the private server.

President Trump fired Comey in May amid the FBI&rsquo;s probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Clinton, a claim the president has denied.

Weiner&nbsp;represented parts of New York City in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years before resigning in 2011, after it emerged that he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with adult women.

In 2013,&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;ran for New York City mayor but dropped out of the race when more lewd messages became public.

Weiner, 53, started to cry as soon as the sentence was announced by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan. His wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was not in the courtroom and has filed for divorce.

Former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Monday for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl, setting off a scandal that played a role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Weiner, 53, started to cry as soon as the sentence was announced by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan. His wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was not in the courtroom and has filed for divorce. He pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene material to a minor and agreed he would not appeal any sentence of 27 months or less. "I was a very sick man for a very long time, but I'm also responsible for the damage I have done," Weiner read from a statement in court before he was sentenced. He said he was being treated, and asked Cote to spare him prison and sentence him to probation so he could continue treatment. Weiner's lawyer, Arlo Devlin-Brown, said that while Weiner exchanged sexually explicit messages with many women, all of the others were adults. Cote said she believed Weiner was suffering from an addiction and was serious about being treated. However, she said it was important to deter others from committing similar crimes. "There is the opportunity to make a statement that could protect other minors," she said. "We are of course disappointed that Anthony was sentenced to prison, particularly so given that Judge Cote found that the treatment programme Anthony had engaged in for the past year was showing great promise and should be continued," Weiner's lawyer, Devlin-Brown, said in a statement Monday afternoon. Weiner declined to speak to reporters as he left the courtroom. He was ordered to surrender by Nov. 6. The investigation into Weiner’s exchanges with a North Carolina high school student roiled the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in its final days when authorities found emails on Weiner’s laptop from his wife. Weiner, who wore his wedding band at the sentencing, and Abedin have a son, Jordan, who is 5 years old. The discovery of the emails prompted James Comey, then director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to announce in late October that the agency was reopening its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was U.S. secretary of state. Clinton has said the announcement contributed to her upset loss to Republican Donald Trump, who had accused her of endangering national security by using the private server. President Trump fired Comey in May amid the FBI’s probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Clinton, a claim the president has denied. Weiner represented parts of New York City in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years before resigning in 2011, after it emerged that he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with adult women. In 2013, Weiner ran for New York City mayor but dropped out of the race when more lewd messages became public.

Ex-U.S. Rep. Weiner sentenced to 21 months in teen 'sexting' case

Former US President&nbsp;Barack Obama&nbsp;personally urged Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to counter the rise of fake news on the social network during a meeting held shortly after last year&#39;s election, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

The encounter reportedly took place on the sidelines of a meeting of global leaders in Lima, Peru on November 19, two months before Trump&#39;s inauguration and days after Zuckerberg had dismissed as &quot;crazy&quot; the idea that misleading stories driven by Russian operatives had made a major impact on the outcome of the vote.

&quot;Zuckerberg acknowledged the problem posed by fake news. But he told&nbsp;Obama&nbsp;that those messages weren&#39;t widespread on Facebook and that there was no easy remedy,&quot; the newspaper said, quoting people it said had knowledge of the exchange.

The report comes days after Facebook announced it would be handing over to Congress advertisements it discovered were bought by Russia-linked fake accounts, aimed at inflaming political tensions ahead of and following the election.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement.

Zuckerberg had acknowledged the problem posed by fake news, the report in Washington Post said

Former US President Barack Obama personally urged Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to counter the rise of fake news on the social network during a meeting held shortly after last year's election, the Washington Post reported Sunday. The encounter reportedly took place on the sidelines of a meeting of global leaders in Lima, Peru on November 19, two months before Trump's inauguration and days after Zuckerberg had dismissed as "crazy" the idea that misleading stories driven by Russian operatives had made a major impact on the outcome of the vote. "Zuckerberg acknowledged the problem posed by fake news. But he told Obama that those messages weren't widespread on Facebook and that there was no easy remedy," the newspaper said, quoting people it said had knowledge of the exchange. The report comes days after Facebook announced it would be handing over to Congress advertisements it discovered were bought by Russia-linked fake accounts, aimed at inflaming political tensions ahead of and following the election. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.

Obama warned Zuckerberg over fake news: Report

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