Two Democrats on the US House Judiciary Committee, including the panel`s chairman, asked the National Archives on Tuesday for records from Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh`s service in the White House under former President George W. Bush.

In a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration, Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Representative Hank Johnson said they were seeking records from 2001 to 2006 that include documents unavailable during Kavanaugh`s 2018 Senate confirmation, which was dominated by allegations of sexual misconduct.

The lawmakers said the committee is considering legislative proposals to create a "code of conduct for Supreme Court justices" involving the transparency of court proceedings, the adequacy of justices` financial disclosures and circumstances in which justices or judges must disqualify themselves from cases.

"The court`s fidelity to the principles of equal and impartial justice, as well as the public`s faith in the integrity of the judiciary, are foundational to maintaining the rule of law," they wrote.&nbsp;

Officials at the Supreme Court were not immediately available for comment. The National Archives had no immediate comment.&nbsp;

The Republican-led Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Kavanaugh to the high court last year after hearings dominated by accusations that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982. Kavanaugh, who had served on the special counsel team that investigated Democratic President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, forcefully denied the allegations.

Nadler and Johnson said the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to recommend Kavanaugh`s confirmation to the full Senate after reviewing only a fraction of his White House records. Kavanaugh was nominated to the high court by President Donald Trump.&nbsp;

Representative Doug Collins, the top Republican on Nadler`s committee, in a statement denounced the records request as "harassment" and accused Democrats of pursuing a "smear" campaign against a sitting Supreme Court justice.&nbsp;

In their letter, Nadler and Johnson said they wanted records from Kavanaugh`s service in the White House counsel`s office from 2001 to 2003 and as White House staff secretary from 2003 to 2006. The list includes Kavanaugh`s emails and office file textual records from his stint as staff secretary.&nbsp;

Johnson chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, which held a hearing in June on promoting ethics, accountability and transparency in the federal courts.&nbsp;

Two Democrats on the US House Judiciary Committee, including the panel`s chairman, asked the National Archives on Tuesday for records from Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh`s service in the White House under former President George W.

Two Democrats on the US House Judiciary Committee, including the panel`s chairman, asked the National Archives on Tuesday for records from Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh`s service in the White House under former President George W. Bush. In a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration, Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Representative Hank Johnson said they were seeking records from 2001 to 2006 that include documents unavailable during Kavanaugh`s 2018 Senate confirmation, which was dominated by allegations of sexual misconduct. The lawmakers said the committee is considering legislative proposals to create a "code of conduct for Supreme Court justices" involving the transparency of court proceedings, the adequacy of justices` financial disclosures and circumstances in which justices or judges must disqualify themselves from cases. "The court`s fidelity to the principles of equal and impartial justice, as well as the public`s faith in the integrity of the judiciary, are foundational to maintaining the rule of law," they wrote. Officials at the Supreme Court were not immediately available for comment. The National Archives had no immediate comment. The Republican-led Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Kavanaugh to the high court last year after hearings dominated by accusations that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982. Kavanaugh, who had served on the special counsel team that investigated Democratic President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, forcefully denied the allegations. Nadler and Johnson said the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to recommend Kavanaugh`s confirmation to the full Senate after reviewing only a fraction of his White House records. Kavanaugh was nominated to the high court by President Donald Trump. Representative Doug Collins, the top Republican on Nadler`s committee, in a statement denounced the records request as "harassment" and accused Democrats of pursuing a "smear" campaign against a sitting Supreme Court justice. In their letter, Nadler and Johnson said they wanted records from Kavanaugh`s service in the White House counsel`s office from 2001 to 2003 and as White House staff secretary from 2003 to 2006. The list includes Kavanaugh`s emails and office file textual records from his stint as staff secretary. Johnson chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, which held a hearing in June on promoting ethics, accountability and transparency in the federal courts.

US House Democrats seek Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh's records

The US and the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghanistans-taliban-movement-240573">Taliban</a> have made "excellent progress" in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/fresh-round-of-us-taliban-talks-in-doha-hope-for-peace-deal-rise-240401">latest round of talks in Doha </a>to craft a peace deal, Washington's&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;envoy said on Monday.

The foes have been meeting in Qatar since Saturday for an eighth round of talks to thrash out a historic accord that would slash the US military presence in&nbsp;Afghanistan.

In return, the United States is demanding that the Taliban prevent the country from being used as a safe haven for jihadist groups including Al-Qaeda.

"Building on excellent progress in Kabul last week, I've spent the last few days in Doha, focused on the remaining issues in completing a potential deal with the Taliban," tweeted US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.

The conclusion of a deal "would allow for a conditions-based troop withdrawal," he wrote adding that "we have made excellent progress."

The Taliban did not immediately respond to requests to comment on the talks' progress.

Watch: 8th round of US-Taliban peace talks

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/8th-round-of-us-taliban-peace-talks-240523/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

Khalilzad said that he was flying to New Delhi "for pre-scheduled meetings to further build international consensus in support of the Afghan Peace Process".

A deal between the two sides could pave the way for direct talks between the government of President Ashraf Ghani, although the insurgents view his administration as illegitimate.

"My team and Taliban representatives will continue to discuss technical details as well as steps and mechanisms required for a succesful implementation of the four-part agreement we've been working toward since my appointment," Khalilzad tweeted.&nbsp;

"Agreement on these details is essential," the US envoy added.

The four pillars of any deal would be a US withdrawal from&nbsp;Afghanistan, a commitment by the militants not to shelter jihadists, intra-Afghan dialogue, and a ceasefire.

'We're talking'

The US invaded&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;in 2001 and toppled the Taliban, accusing it of harbouring Al-Qaeda jihadists who claimed the September 11 attacks against the US that killed almost 3,000 people.

But despite a rapid conclusion to the conventional phase of the war, the Taliban has waged a formidable insurgency, bogging down US troops for years.

Washington wants to strike a peace deal with the Taliban by the end of this month -- ahead of&nbsp;Afghanistan's presidential election that is slated for September 28.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House last week that "we've made a lot of progress. We're talking".

However, even if the US and the Taliban come to an agreement, massive questions remain over what would follow an accord.

The US has said any withdrawal of its troops would be "conditions-based", whereas the Taliban is insisting on a full pullout of foreign forces before making commitments of its own.&nbsp;

Washington sees an agreement with the Taliban as a precursor to the insurgents then striking a peace deal with&nbsp;Afghanistan's government.

The Afghan government has formed a negotiating team for talks with the insurgents that diplomats hope could be held later this month.

The United Nations has said that civilian casualty rates in&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;jumped back to record levels last month, after a dip earlier in the year.

More than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded in the conflict in July, the highest monthly toll so far in 2019 and the deadliest single month since May 2017.

The US and the Taliban have made "excellent progress" in the latest round of talks in Doha to craft a peace deal, Washington's Afghanistan envoy said on Monday. The foes have been meeting in Qatar since Saturday for an eighth round of talks to thrash out a historic accord that would slash the US military presence in Afghanistan.

The US and the Taliban have made "excellent progress" in the latest round of talks in Doha to craft a peace deal, Washington's Afghanistan envoy said on Monday. The foes have been meeting in Qatar since Saturday for an eighth round of talks to thrash out a historic accord that would slash the US military presence in Afghanistan. In return, the United States is demanding that the Taliban prevent the country from being used as a safe haven for jihadist groups including Al-Qaeda. "Building on excellent progress in Kabul last week, I've spent the last few days in Doha, focused on the remaining issues in completing a potential deal with the Taliban," tweeted US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. The conclusion of a deal "would allow for a conditions-based troop withdrawal," he wrote adding that "we have made excellent progress." The Taliban did not immediately respond to requests to comment on the talks' progress. Watch: 8th round of US-Taliban peace talks × Khalilzad said that he was flying to New Delhi "for pre-scheduled meetings to further build international consensus in support of the Afghan Peace Process". A deal between the two sides could pave the way for direct talks between the government of President Ashraf Ghani, although the insurgents view his administration as illegitimate. "My team and Taliban representatives will continue to discuss technical details as well as steps and mechanisms required for a succesful implementation of the four-part agreement we've been working toward since my appointment," Khalilzad tweeted. "Agreement on these details is essential," the US envoy added. The four pillars of any deal would be a US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a commitment by the militants not to shelter jihadists, intra-Afghan dialogue, and a ceasefire. 'We're talking' The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and toppled the Taliban, accusing it of harbouring Al-Qaeda jihadists who claimed the September 11 attacks against the US that killed almost 3,000 people. But despite a rapid conclusion to the conventional phase of the war, the Taliban has waged a formidable insurgency, bogging down US troops for years. Washington wants to strike a peace deal with the Taliban by the end of this month -- ahead of Afghanistan's presidential election that is slated for September 28. US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House last week that "we've made a lot of progress. We're talking". However, even if the US and the Taliban come to an agreement, massive questions remain over what would follow an accord. The US has said any withdrawal of its troops would be "conditions-based", whereas the Taliban is insisting on a full pullout of foreign forces before making commitments of its own. Washington sees an agreement with the Taliban as a precursor to the insurgents then striking a peace deal with Afghanistan's government. The Afghan government has formed a negotiating team for talks with the insurgents that diplomats hope could be held later this month. The United Nations has said that civilian casualty rates in Afghanistan jumped back to record levels last month, after a dip earlier in the year. More than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded in the conflict in July, the highest monthly toll so far in 2019 and the deadliest single month since May 2017.

US Afghan envoy praises 'excellent progress' in Taliban talks

Those in the U.S. that constantly flip flop on trade talks with China need to abandon their outdated zero sum thinking, said a China Media Group (CMG) commentary on Sunday.

U.S.'s zero sum thinking detrimental to all

The Trump administration froze all Venezuelan government assets in US. Watch video to know more.

Donald Trump freezes all Venezulean govt assests in US

Washington on Monday revoked visa-free entry rights to the United States for foreigners who have visited North Korea in the past eight years, potentially dealing a new blow to the isolated country's nascent tourist industry.

The US allows citizens of 38 countries -- including South Korea, Japan and France -- to enter for up to 90 days without a visa under a waiver programme.

Also read--<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/the-us-north-korea-in-regular-communication-for-the-resumption-of-denuclearisation-talks-official-240377">US, North Korea in regular communication for resumption of denuclearisation talks: Official</a>

But visitors who have travelled to eight countries including North Korea since March 1, 2011 are "no longer eligible", details posted Monday on the US Customs and Border Protection website showed, and they will have to apply for tourist or business visas.

The other seven countries -- most of them in the Middle East -- were already on the exclusion list. &nbsp;

The change will affect tens of thousands of people from visa waiver countries who have gone to the North as tourists or for other purposes in recent years.

It will also put a damper on South Korean President Moon Jae-in's hopes of promoting cross-border tourism projects for his citizens to visit their nuclear-armed neighbour.

South Korean media put the spotlight on top business leaders including Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong who were part of Moon's delegation to Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in September.

A Samsung spokesperson declined to comment.

US citizens have been banned from visiting North Korea since 2017, a measure introduced after an American student detained in Pyongyang was released in a coma and died a few days later.

Washington on Monday revoked visa-free entry rights to the United States for foreigners who have visited North Korea in the past eight years, potentially dealing a new blow to the isolated country's nascent tourist industry.

Washington on Monday revoked visa-free entry rights to the United States for foreigners who have visited North Korea in the past eight years, potentially dealing a new blow to the isolated country's nascent tourist industry. The US allows citizens of 38 countries -- including South Korea, Japan and France -- to enter for up to 90 days without a visa under a waiver programme. Also read--US, North Korea in regular communication for resumption of denuclearisation talks: Official But visitors who have travelled to eight countries including North Korea since March 1, 2011 are "no longer eligible", details posted Monday on the US Customs and Border Protection website showed, and they will have to apply for tourist or business visas. The other seven countries -- most of them in the Middle East -- were already on the exclusion list. The change will affect tens of thousands of people from visa waiver countries who have gone to the North as tourists or for other purposes in recent years. It will also put a damper on South Korean President Moon Jae-in's hopes of promoting cross-border tourism projects for his citizens to visit their nuclear-armed neighbour. South Korean media put the spotlight on top business leaders including Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong who were part of Moon's delegation to Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in September. A Samsung spokesperson declined to comment. US citizens have been banned from visiting North Korea since 2017, a measure introduced after an American student detained in Pyongyang was released in a coma and died a few days later.

US ends visa-free entry for visitors to North Korea

President Donald Trump is set to visit El Paso on Wednesday, but some leaders are urging him to stay away from the city that is still grieving after a domestic terror attack at a Walmart store over the weekend left 22 people dead.

Donald Trump to visit El Paso town

China on Tuesday announced that its firms have suspended purchases of US agricultural products nearly a week after President Donald Trump announced his decision to slap <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/chinas-new-un-envoy-beijing-ready-to-fight-us-on-trade-240448">additional tariffs on Chinese exports</a>.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-designates-china-a-currency-manipulator-as-yuan-hits-record-low-240948">US designates China a currency manipulator as yuan hits record low</a>

China "has not ruled out import tariffs on US agricultural products purchased after August 3, and related Chinese companies have suspended purchasing US agricultural products," South China Morning Post reported quoting state-run Xinhua News Agency."

It is hoped that the US will conscientiously implement the consensus reached at the meeting between the heads of state of China and the US, and have the confidence to implement the commitments to create the necessary conditions for cooperation in the agricultural fields between the two countries," the Xinhua report said.

On August 1, Trump had announced that he would impose a 10 per cent tariff on the remaining US $300 billion worth of untaxed imports from China, which came after trade talks between the two sides were held in Shanghai. &nbsp;

This means everything that China sells to the US, including clothes and iPhones to chemicals and construction equipment, will have levies of between 10 and 25 per cent on them starting in September, escalating the trade tensions between the two countries.

Calling the US` decision a "serious violation" of the consensus reached by the two sides at the G20 summit in Osaka, Beijing said the move deviated from the right course and will in no way help to end the protracted trade war between the two world`s largest economies.

Following the US` announcement, China allowed the Yuan to fall to its lowest level in more than a decade. The Yuan traded above 7 per US dollar.

China on Tuesday announced that its firms have suspended purchases of US agricultural products nearly a week after President Donald Trump announced his decision to slap additional tariffs on Chinese exports.

China on Tuesday announced that its firms have suspended purchases of US agricultural products nearly a week after President Donald Trump announced his decision to slap additional tariffs on Chinese exports. Also read: US designates China a currency manipulator as yuan hits record low China "has not ruled out import tariffs on US agricultural products purchased after August 3, and related Chinese companies have suspended purchasing US agricultural products," South China Morning Post reported quoting state-run Xinhua News Agency." It is hoped that the US will conscientiously implement the consensus reached at the meeting between the heads of state of China and the US, and have the confidence to implement the commitments to create the necessary conditions for cooperation in the agricultural fields between the two countries," the Xinhua report said. On August 1, Trump had announced that he would impose a 10 per cent tariff on the remaining US $300 billion worth of untaxed imports from China, which came after trade talks between the two sides were held in Shanghai. This means everything that China sells to the US, including clothes and iPhones to chemicals and construction equipment, will have levies of between 10 and 25 per cent on them starting in September, escalating the trade tensions between the two countries. Calling the US` decision a "serious violation" of the consensus reached by the two sides at the G20 summit in Osaka, Beijing said the move deviated from the right course and will in no way help to end the protracted trade war between the two world`s largest economies. Following the US` announcement, China allowed the Yuan to fall to its lowest level in more than a decade. The Yuan traded above 7 per US dollar.

China suspends purchase of US farm products after Trump's tariffs

Hiroshima marks 74th anniversary of bloody atomic bombing

US-China trade war in 10 dates

North Korea on Tuesday said US-South Korean war games are a "flagrant violation" of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula and reflect a lack of "political will" to improve relations.

The comments by an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman, carried by state news agency KCNA, came as Pyongyang fired two "unidentified projectiles" off its eastern coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

There were no further details but the reported firing came after three earlier weapons tests over eight days.

"Despite our repeated warnings, the United States and South Korean authorities have finally started the joint military exercise targeting the DPRK," the foreign ministry spokesman for the nuclear-armed North said, according to KCNA.

"This is an undisguised denial and a flagrant violation of June 12 DPRK-US Joint Statement, Panmunjom Declaration and September Pyongyang Joint Declaration, all of which are agreements to establish new DPRK-US relations and build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula," the spokesman said, referring to the annual joint military exercises that began Monday.

After a year of mutual threats and mounting tension, US President Donald Trump and the North's Kim Jong Un held a historic summit in Singapore last year, where both leaders signed a vague pledge to work towards "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

A second summit in Hanoi in February broke up amid disagreements over sanctions relief and concessions from the North.

Trump and Kim agreed to resume nuclear talks during an impromptu June meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, but that working-level dialogue has yet to begin.

Pyongyang warned last week that further nuclear talks could be derailed if Seoul and Washington pushed ahead with the manoeuvres.

The North's spokesman on Monday also accused the US, apart from holding the exercises, of "deploying a large amount of latest offensive military equipment" in the South.

"All the above facts prove that the US and South Korean authorities do not have the political will at all to implement the joint statements whereby they committed to improving the DPRK-US relations and the inter-Korean relations and that they remain unchanged in their position to continue to face us as an enemy," the spokesman said.

He added that Pyongyang remains "unchanged in our stand to resolve the issues through dialogue," but warned that it was becoming more difficult.

"The prevailing situation is dramatically dampening down our desire for implementing the DPRK-US agreements and the inter-Korean agreements, which also affects the prospect of future dialogue," he said.

Pyongyang may have to seek "a new road," but if the US and South Korea continue to disregard the North's warnings, "we will make them pay a heavy price," the North's spokesman said.

North Korea on Tuesday said US-South Korean war games are a "flagrant violation" of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula and reflect a lack of "political will" to improve relations.

North Korea on Tuesday said US-South Korean war games are a "flagrant violation" of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula and reflect a lack of "political will" to improve relations. The comments by an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman, carried by state news agency KCNA, came as Pyongyang fired two "unidentified projectiles" off its eastern coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. There were no further details but the reported firing came after three earlier weapons tests over eight days. "Despite our repeated warnings, the United States and South Korean authorities have finally started the joint military exercise targeting the DPRK," the foreign ministry spokesman for the nuclear-armed North said, according to KCNA. "This is an undisguised denial and a flagrant violation of June 12 DPRK-US Joint Statement, Panmunjom Declaration and September Pyongyang Joint Declaration, all of which are agreements to establish new DPRK-US relations and build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula," the spokesman said, referring to the annual joint military exercises that began Monday. After a year of mutual threats and mounting tension, US President Donald Trump and the North's Kim Jong Un held a historic summit in Singapore last year, where both leaders signed a vague pledge to work towards "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula". A second summit in Hanoi in February broke up amid disagreements over sanctions relief and concessions from the North. Trump and Kim agreed to resume nuclear talks during an impromptu June meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, but that working-level dialogue has yet to begin. Pyongyang warned last week that further nuclear talks could be derailed if Seoul and Washington pushed ahead with the manoeuvres. The North's spokesman on Monday also accused the US, apart from holding the exercises, of "deploying a large amount of latest offensive military equipment" in the South. "All the above facts prove that the US and South Korean authorities do not have the political will at all to implement the joint statements whereby they committed to improving the DPRK-US relations and the inter-Korean relations and that they remain unchanged in their position to continue to face us as an enemy," the spokesman said. He added that Pyongyang remains "unchanged in our stand to resolve the issues through dialogue," but warned that it was becoming more difficult. "The prevailing situation is dramatically dampening down our desire for implementing the DPRK-US agreements and the inter-Korean agreements, which also affects the prospect of future dialogue," he said. Pyongyang may have to seek "a new road," but if the US and South Korea continue to disregard the North's warnings, "we will make them pay a heavy price," the North's spokesman said.

US, South Korea lack 'political will'on peace talks: North Korea

US President Donald Trump will visit El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday following a mass shooting in the southern border town that killed 22 people, the local mayor said.

"President Trump called me yesterday. He was very gracious in the call... (and) offered to help in any way he could," Dee Margo told a news conference on Monday.

"He is coming out here on Wednesday."

Trump has been accused by his opponents of helping to stir up resentment against ethnic minority groups with his divisive rhetoric, and some locals in El Paso- which has a mainly Hispanic population- have said that the president would not be welcome.

But Margo, who is a member of Trump's Republican party and has been a vocal supporter of the president, defended the prospect of his visit.

"This is the office of the mayor of El Paso in an official capacity welcoming the office of the president of United States, which I consider is my formal duty," he told reporters.

"I will ask President Trump to support our efforts with any and all federal resources that are available."

US President Donald Trump will visit El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday following a mass shooting in the southern border town that killed 22 people, the local mayor said.

US President Donald Trump will visit El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday following a mass shooting in the southern border town that killed 22 people, the local mayor said. "President Trump called me yesterday. He was very gracious in the call... (and) offered to help in any way he could," Dee Margo told a news conference on Monday. "He is coming out here on Wednesday." Trump has been accused by his opponents of helping to stir up resentment against ethnic minority groups with his divisive rhetoric, and some locals in El Paso- which has a mainly Hispanic population- have said that the president would not be welcome. But Margo, who is a member of Trump's Republican party and has been a vocal supporter of the president, defended the prospect of his visit. "This is the office of the mayor of El Paso in an official capacity welcoming the office of the president of United States, which I consider is my formal duty," he told reporters. "I will ask President Trump to support our efforts with any and all federal resources that are available."

Donald Trump to visit El Paso tomorrow following mass shooting: Mayor

China warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

The comments come days after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia.

"China will not stand idly by and will be forced to take countermeasures should the US deploy intermediate-range ground-based missiles in this part of the world," said Fu Cong, the director of arms control at the Chinese foreign ministry.

"And we also call on our neighbours, our neighbouring countries, to exercise prudence and not to allow a US deployment of its intermediate-range missiles on (their) territory," he added, naming Australia, Japan and South Korea.

"That would not serve the national security interest of these countries," he said.

Australia on Monday ruled out the possibility of the missiles being deployed on its soil, saying Canberra had not even been asked to host them.

The INF treaty was considered a cornerstone of the global arms control architecture but the United States said the bilateral pact had given other countries -namely China- &nbsp;free rein to develop their own long-range missiles.

Esper, the new Pentagon chief, said Saturday that Washington would like to deploy the missiles "sooner rather than later," speaking to reporters on a plane to Sydney at the start of a week-long tour of Asia.

"I would prefer the months.. But these things tend to take longer than you expect."

The announcement was the latest US plan to irk China, which is vying with Washington for influence in the region, but Esper said Beijing should not be surprised.

The rise of a militarily more assertive China in the region has worried traditional US allies such as Australia and New Zealand, and Beijing's actions in the South China Sea have alarmed neighbours with competing for territorial claims to the strategic waterway.

Esper did not specify where the US intended to deploy the weapons but experts say the most likely location for deployment is the island of Guam, which hosts significant US military facilities.

Washington withdrew from the INF treaty on Friday after accusing Russia of violating it for years.

Under the pact signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington and Moscow agreed to limit the use of conventional and nuclear missiles with a range of 500-5,000 kilometres (300-3,000 miles).

But its unravelling had been on the cards for months amid worsening ties between Russia and the US.

China warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

China warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. The comments come days after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia. "China will not stand idly by and will be forced to take countermeasures should the US deploy intermediate-range ground-based missiles in this part of the world," said Fu Cong, the director of arms control at the Chinese foreign ministry. "And we also call on our neighbours, our neighbouring countries, to exercise prudence and not to allow a US deployment of its intermediate-range missiles on (their) territory," he added, naming Australia, Japan and South Korea. "That would not serve the national security interest of these countries," he said. Australia on Monday ruled out the possibility of the missiles being deployed on its soil, saying Canberra had not even been asked to host them. The INF treaty was considered a cornerstone of the global arms control architecture but the United States said the bilateral pact had given other countries -namely China- free rein to develop their own long-range missiles. Esper, the new Pentagon chief, said Saturday that Washington would like to deploy the missiles "sooner rather than later," speaking to reporters on a plane to Sydney at the start of a week-long tour of Asia. "I would prefer the months.. But these things tend to take longer than you expect." The announcement was the latest US plan to irk China, which is vying with Washington for influence in the region, but Esper said Beijing should not be surprised. The rise of a militarily more assertive China in the region has worried traditional US allies such as Australia and New Zealand, and Beijing's actions in the South China Sea have alarmed neighbours with competing for territorial claims to the strategic waterway. Esper did not specify where the US intended to deploy the weapons but experts say the most likely location for deployment is the island of Guam, which hosts significant US military facilities. Washington withdrew from the INF treaty on Friday after accusing Russia of violating it for years. Under the pact signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington and Moscow agreed to limit the use of conventional and nuclear missiles with a range of 500-5,000 kilometres (300-3,000 miles). But its unravelling had been on the cards for months amid worsening ties between Russia and the US.

China warns of countermeasures over US missile plans in Asia-Pacific

US President Donald Trump will visit El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday following a mass shooting in the southern border town that killed 22 people, the local mayor said.

"President Trump called me yesterday. He was very gracious in the call... (and) offered to help in any way he could," Dee Margo told a news conference on Monday.

"He is coming out here on Wednesday."

Trump has been accused by his opponents of helping to stir up resentment against ethnic minority groups with his divisive rhetoric, and some locals in El Paso -which has a mainly Hispanic population-&nbsp;have said that the president would not be welcome.

But Margo, who is a member of Trump's Republican party and has been a vocal supporter of the president, defended the prospect of his visit.

"This is the office of the mayor of El Paso in an official capacity welcoming the office of the president of United States, which I consider is my formal duty," he told reporters.

"I will ask President Trump to support our efforts with any and all federal resources that are available."

US President Donald Trump will visit El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday following a mass shooting in the southern border town that killed 22 people, the local mayor said. "President Trump called me yesterday. He was very gracious in the call... (and) offered to help in any way he could," Dee Margo told a news conference on Monday. "He is coming out here on Wednesday." Trump has been accused by his opponents of helping to stir up resentment against ethnic minority groups with his divisive rhetoric, and some locals in El Paso -which has a mainly Hispanic population- have said that the president would not be welcome. But Margo, who is a member of Trump's Republican party and has been a vocal supporter of the president, defended the prospect of his visit. "This is the office of the mayor of El Paso in an official capacity welcoming the office of the president of United States, which I consider is my formal duty," he told reporters. "I will ask President Trump to support our efforts with any and all federal resources that are available."

Donald Trump To Visit El Paso Tomorrow Following Mass Shooting: Mayor

North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;on Tuesday said US-South Korean war games are a "flagrant violation" of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula and reflect a lack of "political will" to improve relations.

The comments by an unnamed&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean foreign ministry spokesman, carried by state news agency KCNA, came as Pyongyang fired two "unidentified projectiles" off its eastern coast, South&nbsp;Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

There were no further details but the reported firing came after three earlier weapons tests over eight days.

"Despite our repeated warnings, the United States and South Korean authorities have finally started the joint military exercise targeting the DPRK," the foreign ministry spokesman for the nuclear-armed&nbsp;North&nbsp;said, according to KCNA.

"This is an undisguised denial and a flagrant violation of June 12 DPRK-US Joint Statement, Panmunjom Declaration and September Pyongyang Joint Declaration, all of which are agreements to establish new DPRK-US relations and build a lasting and&nbsp;stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula," the spokesman said, referring to the annual joint military exercises that began Monday.

After a year of mutual threats and mounting tension, US President Donald Trump and the&nbsp;North's Kim Jong Un held a historic summit in Singapore last year, where both leaders signed a vague pledge to work towards "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

A second summit in Hanoi in February broke up amid disagreements over sanctions&nbsp;relief and concessions from the&nbsp;North.

Trump and Kim agreed to resume nuclear talks during an impromptu June meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, but that working-level dialogue has yet to begin.

Pyongyang warned last week that further nuclear talks could be derailed if Seoul and Washington pushed ahead with the manoeuvres.

The&nbsp;North's spokesman on Monday also&nbsp;accused the US, apart from holding the exercises, of "deploying a large amount of latest offensive military equipment" in the&nbsp;

South.

"All the above facts prove that the US and South Korean authorities do not have the political will at all to implement the joint statements whereby they committed to improving the DPRK-US relations and the inter-Korean relations and that they remain unchanged in their position to continue to face us as an enemy," the spokesman said.

He added that Pyongyang remains "unchanged in our stand to resolve the issues through dialogue," but warned that it was becoming more difficult.

"The prevailing situation is dramatically dampening down our desire for implementing the DPRK-US agreements and the inter-Korean agreements, which also affects the prospect of future dialogue," he said.

Pyongyang may have to seek "a new road," but if the US and South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;continue to disregard the&nbsp;North's warnings, "we will make them pay a heavy price," the&nbsp;North's spokesman said.

US, South Korea Lack 'Political Will' On Peace Talks: North Korea

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iran-says-missile-tests-defensive-needs-no-ones-permission-238915">Iran unveiled three precision-guided missiles</a> on Tuesday, with the defence minister saying they show the country is ready to defend itself in the face of US 'viciousness and conspiracies'.

The new line-up of air-to-air missiles dubbed the 'Yasin', 'Balaban' and a new series of the 'Ghaem' were developed jointly by the ministry and Sa Iran, also known as Iran Electronics Industries.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/its-normal-for-iran-to-test-missiles-iranian-defence-minister-amir-hatami-239724">Defence Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami</a> hailed their launch as 'another significant achievement of power and dignity for the Islamic Republic of Iran'.

'It shows that despite the viciousness and conspiracies of the Great Satan America and its mercenaries, the defence ministry will not hesitate for a moment to defend the Islamic republic and to expand security,' he said, quoted by Fars news agency.

The Yasin was a smart, guided-missile with folding wings that can be fired from a range of 50 kilometres (30 miles) of its target from manned or unmanned aircraft, Fars reported.

The Balaban was guided by GPS and sensors, equipped with folding wings and could be mounted under aircraft, while the Ghaem was a heat-seeking missile that could hit within 50 centimetres of a target.

They were unveiled amid tensions between Iran and the US and its allies in the Strait of Hormuz a vital corridor linking oil-producing countries in the Middle East to markets in Asia, Europe, and North America.

The tensions arose after the US withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers last year and began stepping up a campaign of 'maximum pressure' on the Islamic republic.

Since May this year, ships have been targeted in mysterious attacks, drones have been downed and oil tankers seized in the strategic waters.

 
&nbsp;

Iran unveiled three precision-guided missiles on Tuesday, with the defence minister saying they show the country is ready to defend itself in the face of US 'viciousness and conspiracies'.

Iran unveiled three precision-guided missiles on Tuesday, with the defence minister saying they show the country is ready to defend itself in the face of US 'viciousness and conspiracies'. The new line-up of air-to-air missiles dubbed the 'Yasin', 'Balaban' and a new series of the 'Ghaem' were developed jointly by the ministry and Sa Iran, also known as Iran Electronics Industries. Defence Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami hailed their launch as 'another significant achievement of power and dignity for the Islamic Republic of Iran'. 'It shows that despite the viciousness and conspiracies of the Great Satan America and its mercenaries, the defence ministry will not hesitate for a moment to defend the Islamic republic and to expand security,' he said, quoted by Fars news agency. The Yasin was a smart, guided-missile with folding wings that can be fired from a range of 50 kilometres (30 miles) of its target from manned or unmanned aircraft, Fars reported. The Balaban was guided by GPS and sensors, equipped with folding wings and could be mounted under aircraft, while the Ghaem was a heat-seeking missile that could hit within 50 centimetres of a target. They were unveiled amid tensions between Iran and the US and its allies in the Strait of Hormuz a vital corridor linking oil-producing countries in the Middle East to markets in Asia, Europe, and North America. The tensions arose after the US withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers last year and began stepping up a campaign of 'maximum pressure' on the Islamic republic. Since May this year, ships have been targeted in mysterious attacks, drones have been downed and oil tankers seized in the strategic waters.

Iran unveils three new precision-guided missiles

Nations must work together to stop lone wolf attackers, who take inspiration from each other, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/nato-blames-russia-for-inf-pact-demise-vows-measured-response-240181&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjb3cb2gO7jAhVp_XMBHWeKDz0QFjAAegQIABAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw18_4lWqQw3eB7zT4p4f_vq">North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO)</a> secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, during a visit to a mosque in New Zealand where a gunman killed dozens of people in March.

His comments came as the United States reels from two mass shootings at the weekend that killed 29 people and injured dozens in Texas and Ohio, provoking calls for tighter gun controls and prompting worries over a resurgence of white nationalism and xenophobic politics. 
&nbsp; 
Stoltenberg, making a two-day trip to New Zealand, visited Christchurch, where 51 Muslim worshippers were killed in the attacks on two mosques by a suspected white supremacist.

"These attacks are committed by lone wolves but they are at the same time connected because they use each other as inspiration and they refer to each other in the different manifestos," Stoltenberg told state broadcaster TVNZ.

"It highlights that we have to fight terrorism in many different ways, with many different tools."

The Texas shooter who killed 20 people at a Walmart store expressed support for the Christchurch gunman in his manifesto.

New Zealand authorities have charged Australian Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, with murder following the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Society has to stand up for values of freedom, openness and tolerance, Stoltenberg said.

"We see that many of the terrorists are one of us," he said. "They are home-grown, they are coming from our own societies. So this is very much also about addressing the root causes."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is due to meet Stoltenberg on Tuesday, said New Zealand would only want to be remembered for the way it rejected the act of violence and hatred.

"This is a global challenge," she told a news conference later in the day.

"Of course we can do what we can to defeat acts of hatred, violence and racism in our own domestic areas. But, as an international community, we should also be united against acts of hatred, violence and terrorism."

Nations must work together to stop lone wolf attackers, who take inspiration from each other, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, during a visit to a mosque in New Zealand where a gunman killed dozens of people in March.

Nations must work together to stop lone wolf attackers, who take inspiration from each other, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, during a visit to a mosque in New Zealand where a gunman killed dozens of people in March. His comments came as the United States reels from two mass shootings at the weekend that killed 29 people and injured dozens in Texas and Ohio, provoking calls for tighter gun controls and prompting worries over a resurgence of white nationalism and xenophobic politics. Stoltenberg, making a two-day trip to New Zealand, visited Christchurch, where 51 Muslim worshippers were killed in the attacks on two mosques by a suspected white supremacist. "These attacks are committed by lone wolves but they are at the same time connected because they use each other as inspiration and they refer to each other in the different manifestos," Stoltenberg told state broadcaster TVNZ. "It highlights that we have to fight terrorism in many different ways, with many different tools." The Texas shooter who killed 20 people at a Walmart store expressed support for the Christchurch gunman in his manifesto. New Zealand authorities have charged Australian Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, with murder following the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Society has to stand up for values of freedom, openness and tolerance, Stoltenberg said. "We see that many of the terrorists are one of us," he said. "They are home-grown, they are coming from our own societies. So this is very much also about addressing the root causes." Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is due to meet Stoltenberg on Tuesday, said New Zealand would only want to be remembered for the way it rejected the act of violence and hatred. "This is a global challenge," she told a news conference later in the day. "Of course we can do what we can to defeat acts of hatred, violence and racism in our own domestic areas. But, as an international community, we should also be united against acts of hatred, violence and terrorism."

In order to stop lone wolf attackers, nations must unite:NATO chief

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/communist-party-has-full-confidence-in-hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-china-240981">China's central government</a> on Tuesday warned <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/over-100-flights-cancelled-as-hong-kong-protesters-launch-city-wide-strike-240696">Hong Kong protesters</a> that they should not underestimate "the immense strength of the central government".

At a press briefing in Beijing, Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, also said "those who play with fire will perish by it".&nbsp;

The remark has come a day after a series of rallies&nbsp;that included bloody clashes between protesters and pro-government men brandishing poles.

The demonstrations were triggered by opposition to a planned law that would have allowed extraditions of criminals to mainland China.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/china-warns-hong-kong-protesters-not-to-mistake-restraint-for-weakness-241090/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

They evolved into a wider movement for democratic reform and a halt to eroding freedoms, with protesters' anger fuelled by Lam's refusal to publicly acknowledge their grievances.

The semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has been wracked by two months of protests and clashes between police and increasingly hardcore demonstrators in the biggest threat to Beijing's rule since its 1997 handover from Britain.

In a press conference, Lam on Monday warned the city was nearing a "very dangerous situation" as she framed the protests as a challenge to China's sovereignty.

Under the terms of the 1997 handover deal with Britain, Hong Kong has rights and liberties unseen on the Chinese mainland, including an independent judiciary and freedom of speech.&nbsp;

But many say those rights are being curtailed.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of city leader Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested, a permanent withdrawal of a reviled extradition bill, and the right to elect their leaders.

China's central government on Tuesday warned Hong Kong protesters that they should not underestimate "the immense strength of the central government". At a press briefing in Beijing, Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, also said "those who play with fire will perish by it".

China's central government on Tuesday warned Hong Kong protesters that they should not underestimate "the immense strength of the central government". At a press briefing in Beijing, Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, also said "those who play with fire will perish by it". The remark has come a day after a series of rallies that included bloody clashes between protesters and pro-government men brandishing poles. The demonstrations were triggered by opposition to a planned law that would have allowed extraditions of criminals to mainland China. × They evolved into a wider movement for democratic reform and a halt to eroding freedoms, with protesters' anger fuelled by Lam's refusal to publicly acknowledge their grievances. The semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has been wracked by two months of protests and clashes between police and increasingly hardcore demonstrators in the biggest threat to Beijing's rule since its 1997 handover from Britain. In a press conference, Lam on Monday warned the city was nearing a "very dangerous situation" as she framed the protests as a challenge to China's sovereignty. Under the terms of the 1997 handover deal with Britain, Hong Kong has rights and liberties unseen on the Chinese mainland, including an independent judiciary and freedom of speech. But many say those rights are being curtailed. Protesters are demanding the resignation of city leader Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested, a permanent withdrawal of a reviled extradition bill, and the right to elect their leaders.

Central government has immense strength, those who play with fire will perish: China to Hong Kong protesters

China&nbsp;warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

The comments come days after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Washington was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia.

"China&nbsp;will not stand idly by and will be forced to take countermeasures should the US deploy intermediate-range ground-based missiles in this part of the world," said Fu Cong, the director of arms control at the Chinese foreign ministry.

"And we also call on our neighbours, our neighbouring countries, to exercise prudence and not to allow a US&nbsp;deployment of its intermediate-range missiles on (their) territory," he added, naming Australia, Japan and South Korea.

"That would not serve the national security interest of these countries."

Fu said it was important to recognise that the US is proposing to install the weapons at&nbsp;China's "doorstep".

"Especially for a country that has experienced the Cuban missile crisis, I think the American people should understand&nbsp;China's feelings."

Australia on Monday ruled out the possibility of the missiles being deployed on its soil,&nbsp;saying Canberra had not even been asked to host them.

South Korea's defence ministry said it had not had any discussions with the US about the deployment of intermediate missiles.

"We have also not internally reviewed the issue and have no plan to do so," ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo told reporters.

The INF treaty was considered a cornerstone of the global arms control architecture but the United States said the bilateral pact had given other countries -- namely&nbsp;China-&nbsp;free rein to develop their own long-range missiles.

Esper, the new Pentagon chief, said Saturday that Washington would like to deploy the missiles "sooner rather than later", speaking to reporters on a plane to Sydney at the&nbsp;start of a week-long tour of Asia.

"I would prefer the months... But these things tend to take longer than you expect."

The announcement was the latest US plan to irk&nbsp;China, which is vying with Washington for influence in the region, but Esper said Beijing should not be surprised.

The rise of a militarily more assertive&nbsp;China&nbsp;has worried traditional US allies such as Australia and New Zealand, and Beijing's actions in the South China Sea have alarmed neighbours with competing for territorial claims to the strategic waterway.

Esper did not specify where the US intended to deploy the weapons but experts say the most likely location is the island of Guam, which hosts significant US military facilities.

Fu said that any deployment in Guam -- around 3,000 kilometres from Shanghai on&nbsp;China's east coast -- would be viewed as "a very provocative action on the part of the US and it can be very dangerous".

Washington withdrew from the INF treaty on Friday after accusing Russia of violating it for years.

Under the pact signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington and Moscow agreed to limit the use of conventional&nbsp;and nuclear missiles with a range of 500-5,000 kilometres (300-3,000 miles).

But its unravelling had been on the cards for months amid worsening ties between Russia and the US.

Fu said the United States talking about any Chinese and Russian violations was "pure pretext".

"The real purpose of the US withdrawal, as many of the experts have said, is to free its hand and to develop missile capabilities," he said.

&nbsp;

China warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

China warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. The comments come days after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Washington was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia. "China will not stand idly by and will be forced to take countermeasures should the US deploy intermediate-range ground-based missiles in this part of the world," said Fu Cong, the director of arms control at the Chinese foreign ministry. "And we also call on our neighbours, our neighbouring countries, to exercise prudence and not to allow a US deployment of its intermediate-range missiles on (their) territory," he added, naming Australia, Japan and South Korea. "That would not serve the national security interest of these countries." Fu said it was important to recognise that the US is proposing to install the weapons at China's "doorstep". "Especially for a country that has experienced the Cuban missile crisis, I think the American people should understand China's feelings." Australia on Monday ruled out the possibility of the missiles being deployed on its soil, saying Canberra had not even been asked to host them. South Korea's defence ministry said it had not had any discussions with the US about the deployment of intermediate missiles. "We have also not internally reviewed the issue and have no plan to do so," ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo told reporters. The INF treaty was considered a cornerstone of the global arms control architecture but the United States said the bilateral pact had given other countries -- namely China- free rein to develop their own long-range missiles. Esper, the new Pentagon chief, said Saturday that Washington would like to deploy the missiles "sooner rather than later", speaking to reporters on a plane to Sydney at the start of a week-long tour of Asia. "I would prefer the months... But these things tend to take longer than you expect." The announcement was the latest US plan to irk China, which is vying with Washington for influence in the region, but Esper said Beijing should not be surprised. The rise of a militarily more assertive China has worried traditional US allies such as Australia and New Zealand, and Beijing's actions in the South China Sea have alarmed neighbours with competing for territorial claims to the strategic waterway. Esper did not specify where the US intended to deploy the weapons but experts say the most likely location is the island of Guam, which hosts significant US military facilities. Fu said that any deployment in Guam -- around 3,000 kilometres from Shanghai on China's east coast -- would be viewed as "a very provocative action on the part of the US and it can be very dangerous". Washington withdrew from the INF treaty on Friday after accusing Russia of violating it for years. Under the pact signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington and Moscow agreed to limit the use of conventional and nuclear missiles with a range of 500-5,000 kilometres (300-3,000 miles). But its unravelling had been on the cards for months amid worsening ties between Russia and the US. Fu said the United States talking about any Chinese and Russian violations was "pure pretext". "The real purpose of the US withdrawal, as many of the experts have said, is to free its hand and to develop missile capabilities," he said.

China Warns Of Countermeasures Over US Missile Plans In Asia-Pacific

US President Donald Trump has been widely criticised for mentioning the wrong Ohio city in his tweet. Dayton, where mass shooting takes place earlier this week where 9 people were reported dead.

Trump mentions wrong Ohio city as shooting site

The children crammed into the bus and sat in two neat lines, poring over notebooks at desks where once there had been passenger seats.&nbsp;

From the overhead baggage bins, a teacher hung their exploits: coloured alphabet letters, watercolour paintings.

In the border city of Tijuana just miles<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/over-900-children-separated-at-us-border-since-policy-halted-aclu-239605"> from the US border</a>, in a dirt parking lot adjoining <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-says-migrant-numbers-at-us-border-down-40-since-may-239609">a migrant shelter</a>, that bus is offering a rare chance at school to Central American and Mexican children.

For most of the several dozen who have passed through the program since it began in mid-July, education was a distant dream in the weeks or months since their parents decided to uproot and head north to seek refuge or a better life.

Estefania Rebellon, director of the program called Yes We Can, said it offers specialised bilingual education for children who tend to have low literacy and struggle with social skills. Providing care and security is important too.&nbsp;

"These are children from very dangerous areas, where they have very big issues with trust," she said.&nbsp;

Despite shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend that left 22 people dead, including eight Mexicans, she said the violence they saw in their home countries was likely worse.

Police say the gunman posted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto before the shooting.

She said it was upsetting that vulnerable people could not count on finding safety in the United States, even to run basic errands such as back-to-school shopping.

"It's atrocious that there's the amount of hate in this country that's been converted into mass shootings. It's taken innocent lives," she said.&nbsp;

Rebellon, who also works as an actress in Los Angeles, said she knows what it is like to feel lost as a migrant child.

When she was 10 years old, she moved to Miami from Colombia, where her parents had received death threats.&nbsp;

The school became her refuge. 
&nbsp; 
When she saw large groups of Central American migrants arriving in Tijuana late last year, she launched a school program for children in tents at a large shelter.&nbsp;

The "tiny home movement" - an eponymous social movement that advocates for smaller homes - inspired her to try the same concept in an old bus.

Rebellon's bus used to have a capacity for 55 people - but with the old interior torn out, it can now seat 80 children.&nbsp;

The bus has welcomed aboard 37 students ages 5 to 12 since opening and will take in another 20 children in the coming weeks.&nbsp;

Yes, We Can also launch a program for teenagers in tents outside, Rebellon said.&nbsp;

The three teachers, accredited in Mexico, have experience working with displaced children in Latin America.&nbsp;

Yes, We Can is working to bring on a fourth teacher who speaks two indigenous languages, in addition to Spanish and English.&nbsp;

Most of the children are from families that are stuck in limbo in Tijuana for weeks or months as they inch higher on a long waitlist to apply for asylum in the United States.&nbsp;

They come from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala as well as Mexican cities in states including Guerrero and Michoacan, where locals often fear getting caught in the crossfire of warring drug gangs.&nbsp;

Rebellon said parents from those cities have told her that teachers often refuse to show up at school for fear of getting killed or kidnapped, and some children had missed school for several months.

If the program can secure enough funding, Rebellon said she would like to expand to Ciudad Juarez and Mexicali, other border cities with surging migrant populations.

"We can be on a bus, in a house, in a boat," she said. "It's more about what we teach the children."

 
&nbsp;

The children crammed into the bus and sat in two neat lines, poring over notebooks at desks where once there had been passenger seats. From the overhead baggage bins, a teacher hung their exploits: coloured alphabet letters, watercolour paintings.

The children crammed into the bus and sat in two neat lines, poring over notebooks at desks where once there had been passenger seats. From the overhead baggage bins, a teacher hung their exploits: coloured alphabet letters, watercolour paintings. In the border city of Tijuana just miles from the US border, in a dirt parking lot adjoining a migrant shelter, that bus is offering a rare chance at school to Central American and Mexican children. For most of the several dozen who have passed through the program since it began in mid-July, education was a distant dream in the weeks or months since their parents decided to uproot and head north to seek refuge or a better life. Estefania Rebellon, director of the program called Yes We Can, said it offers specialised bilingual education for children who tend to have low literacy and struggle with social skills. Providing care and security is important too. "These are children from very dangerous areas, where they have very big issues with trust," she said. Despite shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend that left 22 people dead, including eight Mexicans, she said the violence they saw in their home countries was likely worse. Police say the gunman posted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto before the shooting. She said it was upsetting that vulnerable people could not count on finding safety in the United States, even to run basic errands such as back-to-school shopping. "It's atrocious that there's the amount of hate in this country that's been converted into mass shootings. It's taken innocent lives," she said. Rebellon, who also works as an actress in Los Angeles, said she knows what it is like to feel lost as a migrant child. When she was 10 years old, she moved to Miami from Colombia, where her parents had received death threats. The school became her refuge. When she saw large groups of Central American migrants arriving in Tijuana late last year, she launched a school program for children in tents at a large shelter. The "tiny home movement" - an eponymous social movement that advocates for smaller homes - inspired her to try the same concept in an old bus. Rebellon's bus used to have a capacity for 55 people - but with the old interior torn out, it can now seat 80 children. The bus has welcomed aboard 37 students ages 5 to 12 since opening and will take in another 20 children in the coming weeks. Yes, We Can also launch a program for teenagers in tents outside, Rebellon said. The three teachers, accredited in Mexico, have experience working with displaced children in Latin America. Yes, We Can is working to bring on a fourth teacher who speaks two indigenous languages, in addition to Spanish and English. Most of the children are from families that are stuck in limbo in Tijuana for weeks or months as they inch higher on a long waitlist to apply for asylum in the United States. They come from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala as well as Mexican cities in states including Guerrero and Michoacan, where locals often fear getting caught in the crossfire of warring drug gangs. Rebellon said parents from those cities have told her that teachers often refuse to show up at school for fear of getting killed or kidnapped, and some children had missed school for several months. If the program can secure enough funding, Rebellon said she would like to expand to Ciudad Juarez and Mexicali, other border cities with surging migrant populations. "We can be on a bus, in a house, in a boat," she said. "It's more about what we teach the children."

At US-Mexico border, a bus becomes a school for migrant children in limbo

Former President Barack Obama responded to the weekend mass shootings in Ohio and Texas on Monday with a plea to Americans to reject the language of hatred, fear and intolerance from any of their leaders.

"We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalises racist sentiments," Obama said in a statement posted on Twitter that did not refer to President Donald Trump by name.

The shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed 31 people.

A 21-year-old white man has been charged with capital murder in Saturday`s shooting spree in Texas. Police in El Paso cited a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect.

Democrats said Trump was indirectly to blame for the attack in Texas, with some drawing connections between his rhetoric to a resurgence in nationalism and xenophobic sentiment.

Trump on Monday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to mass shootings.

Trump did not address accusations that his own anti-immigrant and racially charged comments have contributed to a rise in race tensions, nor did he call for broad gun control measures.

Former President Barack Obama responded to the weekend mass shootings in Ohio and Texas on Monday with a plea to Americans to reject the language of hatred, fear and intolerance from any of their leaders.

Former President Barack Obama responded to the weekend mass shootings in Ohio and Texas on Monday with a plea to Americans to reject the language of hatred, fear and intolerance from any of their leaders. "We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalises racist sentiments," Obama said in a statement posted on Twitter that did not refer to President Donald Trump by name. The shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed 31 people. A 21-year-old white man has been charged with capital murder in Saturday`s shooting spree in Texas. Police in El Paso cited a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect. Democrats said Trump was indirectly to blame for the attack in Texas, with some drawing connections between his rhetoric to a resurgence in nationalism and xenophobic sentiment. Trump on Monday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to mass shootings. Trump did not address accusations that his own anti-immigrant and racially charged comments have contributed to a rise in race tensions, nor did he call for broad gun control measures.

Reject language from leaders that 'normalises racist sentiments': Barack Obama

Iran's President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/rouhani-says-childish-of-us-to-sanction-iran-foreign-minister-zarif-239925">Hassan Rouhani</a> said on Tuesday that Tehran favours talks with Washington but the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-struggles-to-build-willing-coalition-amid-hormuz-tensions-240671">United States</a> must first lift sanctions it imposed on the Islamic republic.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran favours<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ready-for-negotiations-but-will-not-surrender-rouhani-on-standoff-with-us-238156"> talks and negotiations </a>and, if the US really wants to talk, before anything else it should lift all sanctions," Rouhani said in a&nbsp;televised speech.

Rouhani, speaking at the foreign ministry after meeting with his top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Iran was ready for talks regardless of whether or not the US was party to a landmark nuclear deal.

"Whether they want to come into the JCPOA or not, it’s up to them," said Rouhani, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

He also added, " Peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars".

The Iranian foreign minister on Monday confirmed reports that he had turned down an offer from a US senator to meet President Donald Trump at the White House.

Tehran and Washington have been locked in a battle of nerves since May 2018 when Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark 2015 deal placing limits on Iran's nuclear programme and began reimposing sanctions.

Tensions have soared since the Trump administration began stepping up a US campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, with drones downed and tankers mysteriously attacked in Gulf waters.

At the height of the crisis, Trump called off airstrikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic's forces shot down a US drone.

Iran said on Sunday its forces seized a "foreign" tanker carrying smuggled fuel in what would be the third such seizure in less than a month in Gulf waters - a conduit for much of the world's crude oil.

On July 18, the Guards said they had detained the Panama-flagged MT Riah for alleged fuel smuggling. A day later, they announced they had impounded the British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for breaking "international maritime rules".

In response to such incidents, the United States has been seeking to form a coalition whose mission - dubbed Operation Sentinel - it says is to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Gulf.

However, it has been struggling to build such a coalition, with European countries reticent and believed to be concerned about being dragged into a possible conflict.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Tehran favours talks with Washington but the United States must first lift sanctions it imposed on the Islamic republic.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Tehran favours talks with Washington but the United States must first lift sanctions it imposed on the Islamic republic. "The Islamic Republic of Iran favours talks and negotiations and, if the US really wants to talk, before anything else it should lift all sanctions," Rouhani said in a televised speech. Rouhani, speaking at the foreign ministry after meeting with his top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Iran was ready for talks regardless of whether or not the US was party to a landmark nuclear deal. "Whether they want to come into the JCPOA or not, it’s up to them," said Rouhani, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He also added, " Peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars". The Iranian foreign minister on Monday confirmed reports that he had turned down an offer from a US senator to meet President Donald Trump at the White House. Tehran and Washington have been locked in a battle of nerves since May 2018 when Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark 2015 deal placing limits on Iran's nuclear programme and began reimposing sanctions. Tensions have soared since the Trump administration began stepping up a US campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, with drones downed and tankers mysteriously attacked in Gulf waters. At the height of the crisis, Trump called off airstrikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic's forces shot down a US drone. Iran said on Sunday its forces seized a "foreign" tanker carrying smuggled fuel in what would be the third such seizure in less than a month in Gulf waters - a conduit for much of the world's crude oil. On July 18, the Guards said they had detained the Panama-flagged MT Riah for alleged fuel smuggling. A day later, they announced they had impounded the British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for breaking "international maritime rules". In response to such incidents, the United States has been seeking to form a coalition whose mission - dubbed Operation Sentinel - it says is to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Gulf. However, it has been struggling to build such a coalition, with European countries reticent and believed to be concerned about being dragged into a possible conflict.

Iran favours talks but US must lift sanctions: Hassan Rouhani

US President Donald Trump will address the nation on Monday after two shootings left 29 people dead and sparked accusations that his rhetoric was part of the problem.

The rampages turned innocent snippets of everyday life into nightmares of bloodshed: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/walmart-to-keep-selling-guns-despite-recent-shootings-at-its-stores-in-el-paso-240710">20 people were shot dead while shopping at a crowded Walmart</a> in El Paso, Texas on Saturday morning, and nine more outside a bar in a popular nightlife district in Dayton, Ohio just 13 hours later.

Trump will again find himself in the role of consoler-in-chief after a tragedy which he has struggled with in the past when he speaks at 10:00 am (1400 GMT).

Following the shootings, Trump said "hate has no place in our country," but he also blamed mental illness for the violence.

"These are real people that are very, very seriously mentally ill," he said, despite the fact that police have not confirmed this to be the case.

"We have to get it stopped. This has been going on for years... and years in our country," he said.

In Texas, 26 people were wounded, and 27 in Ohio, where the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/sister-of-gunman-among-nine-dead-in-ohio-mass-shooting-240691">shooter was killed in roughly 30 seconds</a> by police who were patrolling nearby.

100 round drum magazine

Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl told a news conference that the quick police response was "crucial," preventing the shooter from entering a bar where "there would have been... catastrophic injury and loss of life."

Biehl said the shooter wore a mask and a bullet-proof vest and was armed with an assault rifle fitted with a 100 round drum magazine.

Police named the gunman as a 24-year-old white man called Connor Betts and said his sister was among those killed. She had gone with him to the scene of the shootings.

Six of the nine people shot dead were black, but Biehl said Betts' motive was still unclear.

In Texas, police said the suspect surrendered on a sidewalk near the scene of the massacre. He was described in media reports as a 21-year-old white man named Patrick Crusius.

He was believed to have posted online a manifesto denouncing a "Hispanic invasion" of Texas. El Paso, on the border with Mexico, is majority Latino.

'Amplifying and condoning' hate

Seven of the 20 people killed in the El Paso shooting were Mexican, the country's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said Sunday.

The manifesto posted shortly before the shooting also praises the killing of 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March.

Police said the suspected shooter has been charged with murder offences that can carry the death penalty, and a federal official said investigators are treating the El Paso shooting as a case of domestic terrorism.

At the Walmart in El Paso, terrified shoppers cowered in aisles or ran out of the store as gunfire echoed.

Most of the victims were inside the store but some were also in the parking lot outside, police said.

"Shooting kids and women and men, to him it mostly mattered that they were Hispanic," said Manuel Sanchez, a resident of the city.

These were the 250th and 251st mass shootings this year in the US, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an NGO that defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are wounded or killed.

Despite a string of horrific mass shootings in the US, where gun culture is deep-rooted, efforts to strengthen firearms regulations remain divisive.

The latest two shootings ended a particularly tragic week for gun violence in America: three people died in a shooting at a food festival last Sunday in California, and two more Tuesday in a shooting in a Walmart in Mississippi.

On Twitter, Trump described the El Paso attack as "an act of cowardice."

But critics said the president's habit of speaking in derogatory terms about immigrants is pushing hatred of foreigners into the political mainstream and encouraging white supremacism.

"To pretend that his administration and the hateful rhetoric it spreads doesn't play a role in the kind of violence that we saw yesterday in El Paso is ignorant at best and irresponsible at worst," said the Southern Poverty Law Center, a major civil rights group.

It cited Trump actions like calling Mexican migrants rapists and drug dealers and doing nothing when a crowd at a Trump rally chanted "send her back" about a Somali-born congresswoman.

The Republican mayor of El Paso, Dee Margo, seemed to discount any race element to the Texas shooting, telling Fox News the gunman was "deranged."

But multiple Democratic presidential hopefuls said Trump bears some of the blame for the violence.

"Our president isn't just failing to confront and disarm these domestic terrorists, he is amplifying and condoning their hate," Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted.

"Mr President: stop your racist, hateful and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Your language creates a climate which emboldens violent extremists," Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on Twitter.

US President Donald Trump will address the nation on Monday after two shootings left 29 people dead and sparked accusations that his rhetoric was part of the problem.

US President Donald Trump will address the nation on Monday after two shootings left 29 people dead and sparked accusations that his rhetoric was part of the problem. The rampages turned innocent snippets of everyday life into nightmares of bloodshed: 20 people were shot dead while shopping at a crowded Walmart in El Paso, Texas on Saturday morning, and nine more outside a bar in a popular nightlife district in Dayton, Ohio just 13 hours later. Trump will again find himself in the role of consoler-in-chief after a tragedy which he has struggled with in the past when he speaks at 10:00 am (1400 GMT). Following the shootings, Trump said "hate has no place in our country," but he also blamed mental illness for the violence. "These are real people that are very, very seriously mentally ill," he said, despite the fact that police have not confirmed this to be the case. "We have to get it stopped. This has been going on for years... and years in our country," he said. In Texas, 26 people were wounded, and 27 in Ohio, where the shooter was killed in roughly 30 seconds by police who were patrolling nearby. 100 round drum magazine Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl told a news conference that the quick police response was "crucial," preventing the shooter from entering a bar where "there would have been... catastrophic injury and loss of life." Biehl said the shooter wore a mask and a bullet-proof vest and was armed with an assault rifle fitted with a 100 round drum magazine. Police named the gunman as a 24-year-old white man called Connor Betts and said his sister was among those killed. She had gone with him to the scene of the shootings. Six of the nine people shot dead were black, but Biehl said Betts' motive was still unclear. In Texas, police said the suspect surrendered on a sidewalk near the scene of the massacre. He was described in media reports as a 21-year-old white man named Patrick Crusius. He was believed to have posted online a manifesto denouncing a "Hispanic invasion" of Texas. El Paso, on the border with Mexico, is majority Latino. 'Amplifying and condoning' hate Seven of the 20 people killed in the El Paso shooting were Mexican, the country's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said Sunday. The manifesto posted shortly before the shooting also praises the killing of 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March. Police said the suspected shooter has been charged with murder offences that can carry the death penalty, and a federal official said investigators are treating the El Paso shooting as a case of domestic terrorism. At the Walmart in El Paso, terrified shoppers cowered in aisles or ran out of the store as gunfire echoed. Most of the victims were inside the store but some were also in the parking lot outside, police said. "Shooting kids and women and men, to him it mostly mattered that they were Hispanic," said Manuel Sanchez, a resident of the city. These were the 250th and 251st mass shootings this year in the US, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an NGO that defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are wounded or killed. Despite a string of horrific mass shootings in the US, where gun culture is deep-rooted, efforts to strengthen firearms regulations remain divisive. The latest two shootings ended a particularly tragic week for gun violence in America: three people died in a shooting at a food festival last Sunday in California, and two more Tuesday in a shooting in a Walmart in Mississippi. On Twitter, Trump described the El Paso attack as "an act of cowardice." But critics said the president's habit of speaking in derogatory terms about immigrants is pushing hatred of foreigners into the political mainstream and encouraging white supremacism. "To pretend that his administration and the hateful rhetoric it spreads doesn't play a role in the kind of violence that we saw yesterday in El Paso is ignorant at best and irresponsible at worst," said the Southern Poverty Law Center, a major civil rights group. It cited Trump actions like calling Mexican migrants rapists and drug dealers and doing nothing when a crowd at a Trump rally chanted "send her back" about a Somali-born congresswoman. The Republican mayor of El Paso, Dee Margo, seemed to discount any race element to the Texas shooting, telling Fox News the gunman was "deranged." But multiple Democratic presidential hopefuls said Trump bears some of the blame for the violence. "Our president isn't just failing to confront and disarm these domestic terrorists, he is amplifying and condoning their hate," Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted. "Mr President: stop your racist, hateful and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Your language creates a climate which emboldens violent extremists," Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on Twitter.

Donald Trump to address the nation after US shootings leave 29 dead

This segment of WION brings to you top stories of the morning from across the globe. Watch this video to get updated with the latest information.

WION Speed News: Watch top national and international news of the morning - August 5th, 2019

Thai security forces are hunting more than 10 suspects in connection with<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bombs-rattle-bangkok-during-asean-summit-two-suspects-held-240189"> a series of bomb attacks in Bangkok</a> last week, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said on Monday.

Six bombs exploded in the Thai capital on Friday as the city`s hosted a meeting of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-has-taken-advantage-of-trade-time-for-it-to-stop-pompeo-at-foreign-ministers-meeting-in-bangkok-240069">Southeast Asian foreign ministers</a>, which was also attended by top diplomats from the United States, China, and other world powers.

Authorities now say that six other firebombs also went off on Friday in central Bangkok, including two that caused fires an in shopping malls in a central shopping district popular with tourists.

On Saturday, three more bombs also went off at three ATM machines in southern Pattani province on Saturday, no one was hurt or claimed responsibility for the attack.

"There are more than 10 people involved that need to be arrested, charged, and investigated for the cause (of the attack)," Prayuth said.

"We could not say at the moment who is behind the attack but they are heartless and mean with the aim to create chaos for the country at a time when things are proceeding under a democratic government," he said.

Two men have been detained since Friday, accused of planting two bombs, which authorities earlier had said were fake, in front of the police headquarters in central Bangkok a day earlier.

The two suspects are from Narathiwat, one of the largely Malay-Muslim provinces in Thailand`s deep south where more than a decade long insurgency has left nearly 7,000 people dead since 2004.&nbsp;

They are being held in Yala, another southern province.

The violence has largely been confined to that region, although Muslim militants have been blamed for bomb attacks in the capital in the past.

Reuters could not immediately reach the two suspects or their lawyers for comment. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Thai security forces are hunting more than 10 suspects in connection with a series of bomb attacks in Bangkok last week, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said on Monday.

Thai security forces are hunting more than 10 suspects in connection with a series of bomb attacks in Bangkok last week, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said on Monday. Six bombs exploded in the Thai capital on Friday as the city`s hosted a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers, which was also attended by top diplomats from the United States, China, and other world powers. Authorities now say that six other firebombs also went off on Friday in central Bangkok, including two that caused fires an in shopping malls in a central shopping district popular with tourists. On Saturday, three more bombs also went off at three ATM machines in southern Pattani province on Saturday, no one was hurt or claimed responsibility for the attack. "There are more than 10 people involved that need to be arrested, charged, and investigated for the cause (of the attack)," Prayuth said. "We could not say at the moment who is behind the attack but they are heartless and mean with the aim to create chaos for the country at a time when things are proceeding under a democratic government," he said. Two men have been detained since Friday, accused of planting two bombs, which authorities earlier had said were fake, in front of the police headquarters in central Bangkok a day earlier. The two suspects are from Narathiwat, one of the largely Malay-Muslim provinces in Thailand`s deep south where more than a decade long insurgency has left nearly 7,000 people dead since 2004. They are being held in Yala, another southern province. The violence has largely been confined to that region, although Muslim militants have been blamed for bomb attacks in the capital in the past. Reuters could not immediately reach the two suspects or their lawyers for comment. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Thailand seeks more than 10 suspects for a series of bombs in Bangkok

The "militarisation" of the&nbsp;South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea&nbsp;is threatening peace in the contested waterway, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-urges-eu-to-reflect-political-reality-on-brexit-240580&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwivx_-EvuvjAhWlguYKHeKICEkQFjAEegQIBRAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw1PAaakwrM63BR3VlOdjNlx">European Union</a>'s top diplomat said Monday in Hanoi, echoing warnings from the US as pressure mounts against Beijing's ambitions in the region.

China&nbsp;has been accused of deploying warships, arming outposts and ramming fishing vessels in the resource-rich&nbsp;sea, sparking ire from other claimants.

On Monday, the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc was concerned over "increasing tension" in the area.

"We believe that this tension, this&nbsp;militarisation, is definitely not conducive to a peaceful environment," she added.&nbsp;

Beijing says it has sovereignty over the majority of the&nbsp;sea-based on the so-called nine-dash line it uses to back its claims.

The long-running spat was centre stage at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers last week, where US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged countries to push back against Chinese "coercion" in the&nbsp;sea.

Hanoi has emerged as one of Beijing's most vocal critics in the waterway, a key global shipping route believed to hold vast oil and gas reserves.

Tensions between the communist neighbours have soared after a Chinese geological survey vessel entered waters around the Spratly Islands claimed by Hanoi in early July.

Vietnam has repeatedly called for the ship to leave, while Beijing has refused to confirm the vessel's presence.&nbsp;

It is not clear if the ship remains in Vietnam-claimed waters, and the foreign ministry did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

The US,&nbsp;EU&nbsp;and Australia have all called for freedom of navigation in the&nbsp;South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea, which is also contested by Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

The "militarisation" of the South China Sea is threatening peace in the contested waterway, the European Union's top diplomat said Monday in Hanoi, echoing warnings from the US as pressure mounts against Beijing's ambitions in the region.

The "militarisation" of the South China Sea is threatening peace in the contested waterway, the European Union's top diplomat said Monday in Hanoi, echoing warnings from the US as pressure mounts against Beijing's ambitions in the region. China has been accused of deploying warships, arming outposts and ramming fishing vessels in the resource-rich sea, sparking ire from other claimants. On Monday, the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc was concerned over "increasing tension" in the area. "We believe that this tension, this militarisation, is definitely not conducive to a peaceful environment," she added. Beijing says it has sovereignty over the majority of the sea-based on the so-called nine-dash line it uses to back its claims. The long-running spat was centre stage at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers last week, where US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged countries to push back against Chinese "coercion" in the sea. Hanoi has emerged as one of Beijing's most vocal critics in the waterway, a key global shipping route believed to hold vast oil and gas reserves. Tensions between the communist neighbours have soared after a Chinese geological survey vessel entered waters around the Spratly Islands claimed by Hanoi in early July. Vietnam has repeatedly called for the ship to leave, while Beijing has refused to confirm the vessel's presence. It is not clear if the ship remains in Vietnam-claimed waters, and the foreign ministry did not respond to AFP's request for comment. The US, EU and Australia have all called for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which is also contested by Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

European Union criticises 'militarisation' of South China Sea

Seoul and Washington began annual joint military exercises on Monday, defying warnings from Pyongyang that the war games will jeopardise nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea.

Seoul and Washington began annual joint military exercises on Monday, defying warnings from Pyongyang that the war games will jeopardise nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea. The drills come after Pyongyang tested a series of short-range projectiles in recent days, calling one of them a "solemn warning" to Seoul against pursuing the mainly computer-simulated drills with Washington. South Korean defence minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told parliament that the joint exercise began Monday, adding that Seoul was "clearly maintaining its readiness posture against any military action by North Korea". Details about the training have not been disclosed, but a ministry official in Seoul said this year's exercise will include verifying South Korea's abilities to take operational control in wartime. Under the US-South Korea security treaty, an American general will take command of their combined forces in the event of armed conflict, but Seoul has long sought to reverse the position. Analysts say the military activities by both sides could delay talks on the North's weapons programmes - which have seen it subjected to multiple sets of UN Security Council sanctions - until later this year. After a year of mutual threats and mounting tensions, US President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un held a historic meeting in Singapore last year, when Kim signed a vague pledge to work towards "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula". A second summit in Hanoi in February broke up amid disagreement on sanctions relief and what the North might be willing to give up in return. Trump and Kim agreed to resume nuclear talks during their impromptu June meeting in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, but that working-level dialogue has yet to begin. The nuclear-armed North - which attacked its neighbour in 1950, triggering the Korean War - has always been infuriated by military exercises between the US and the South, decrying them as rehearsals for invasion. After the Singapore summit, Trump made a shock announcement halting joint drills, adopting Pyongyang's description of them as "provocative" at an extraordinary, freewheeling press conference. War games known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) and scheduled for August last year were subsequently suspended. And the allies' biggest annual drills, Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, which took place every spring and involved tens of thousands of troops, were replaced with a shorter "Dong Maeng" or "Alliance" exercise in March. Changing stance The August drills were scaled down earlier this year, Yonhap news agency reported, and have not been named, with an official from Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) telling AFP that they "cannot comment any further" on their designation. South Korean media have dubbed the command post exercise "19-2 Dong Maeng", indicating the second Dong Maeng exercise of 2019. Pyongyang warned last week that further nuclear talks could be derailed if Seoul and Washington push ahead with the manoeuvres. And on Friday, North Korea carried out its third weapons test in the space of eight days, firing what it called a new "large calibre multiple launch guided rocket system". Seoul's presidential office said it was highly likely to be "a new type of short-range ballistic missile". Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and researcher in Seoul, told AFP: "Drills might not have taken place today if there had been some concrete progress with the nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington, considering UFG was suspended last year." The North's recent launches also affected the allies' decision, he added. "This also signals Seoul's changing stance on Pyongyang." Trump has brushed off the North's tests, saying Kim will not want to "disappoint" him because he has "far too much to lose". "He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!" he said. There are 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea to protect it against its neighbour, many of them based south of Seoul at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek - Washington's biggest overseas military facility.

US, South Korea defy North's warnings, start joint drills

The United States is acting alone against Tehran and its allies are too "ashamed" to join its forces in the Gulf, Iran's top diplomat said Monday, dismissing its calls for talks as a sham.

The United States is acting alone against Tehran and its allies are too "ashamed" to join its forces in the Gulf, Iran's top diplomat said Monday, dismissing its calls for talks as a sham. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also confirmed he turned down an offer to meet President Donald Trump last month despite the threat of US sanctions against him. "Today the United States in alone in the world and cannot create a coalition. Countries that are its friends are too ashamed of being in a coalition with them," Zarif told a news conference in Tehran. "They brought this situation upon themselves, with lawbreaking, by creating tensions and crises." Tehran and Washington have been locked in a battle of nerves since May 2018 when Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark 2015 deal placing limits on Iran's nuclear programme and began reimposing sanctions. Tensions have soared since the Trump administration began stepping up a US campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, with drones downed and tankers mysteriously attacked in Gulf waters. At the height of the crisis, Trump called off airstrikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic's forces shot down a US drone. Iran said on Sunday its forces seized a "foreign" tanker carrying smuggled fuel in what would be the third such seizure in less than a month in Gulf waters - a conduit for much of the world's crude oil. On July 18, the Guards said they had detained the Panama-flagged MT Riah for alleged fuel smuggling. A day later, they announced they had impounded the British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for breaking "international maritime rules". In response to such incidents, the United States has been seeking to form a coalition whose mission - dubbed Operation Sentinel - it says is to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Gulf. However, it has been struggling to build such a coalition, with European countries reticent and believed to be concerned about being dragged into a possible conflict. Arsonist cannot be fireman "An arsonist cannot be a fireman," said Zarif, adding that since the Americans had come to the Gulf there was nothing but "violence, war and slaughter". Asked about reports he had been invited to meet Trump in the White House, Zarif said he had turned it down despite the threat of sanctions against him. "I was told in New York I would be sanctioned in two weeks unless I accepted that offer, which fortunately I did not," Iran's top diplomat said. The New Yorker magazine reported on Friday that Senator Rand Paul met Zarif in the US on July 15 and had Trump's blessing when he extended an invitation to the Iranian minister to go to the White House. The United States imposed sanctions against Zarif on Wednesday, targeting any assets he has in America and squeezing his ability to function as a globe-trotting diplomat. The designation of Zarif under the same sanctions already applied to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the latest in a series of US moves against Iran. Zarif dismissed as disingenuous US "claims" that it wants to engage in dialogue with Iran. "They were the ones who left the table, sanctioned the foreign minister of Iran, sanctioned the highest authority of the Islamic republic. Who do they want to negotiate with?" he said. "The US only wants to impose its will on the Islamic republic. "They should not expect us to negotiate as long as they engage in economic terrorism." But Zarif did not rule out talks in the future. "In my view negotiations and diplomacy will never end. Negotiation has always been and will always be on my agenda. Even in times of war negotiations will exist." Zarif said he did not believe Trump would go to war with Iran unless hawks around him like his national security adviser John Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had their way. "I believe Mr Trump does not seek war. But Mr Bolton and Netanyahu have always sought war," he said. "They're willing to fight their wars till the last American soldier."

Iran says US acting alone as allies 'ashamed'

By Lacey Wallace

Americans own nearly half of the world’s guns, with approximately 120 firearms for every 100 US residents.

Gun control policies may someday restrict new gun sales. But what impact can they have when Americans already own millions of guns?

Some have pointed to gun buybacks as a potential solution to this problem.

I have spent years studying American attitudes toward guns and gun policies, including smart guns and open carry. I know that gun owners feel strongly about their identities as gun owners, making it difficult to create a strategy for taking guns off the streets.

US Gun Stock

The sheer number of guns is part of the challenge. The United States has the largest civilian-owned stock of guns in the world. At the end of 2017, the Small Arms Survey reported that there were an estimated 393 million firearms in the United States – and that’s not even counting guns owned by the police and military. That represents 45.8 per cent of the world’s civilian-owned guns.

Yemen has the second-highest rate of gun ownership per person in the world, with just 52.8 firearms per 100 residents.

More than 40 per cent of US adults live in a household with at least one gun. About half of all civilian-owned guns in the US are owned by just 3 per cent of US adults. These gun owners have an average of 17 guns each. Most other gun owners average about three guns at home.

Reducing Numbers

Gun buyback programs are designed to reduce the number of firearms by purchasing guns from private owners, and typically destroying them.

Gun buyback programs are not new.

Following a mass shooting in 1996, Australia banned automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns and instituted a national gun buyback program.

In a year, Australia purchased about 650,000 firearms from private residents, estimated to represent about 20 per cent of the country’s privately owned guns. Research evaluating the effects of the buyback found a 42 per cent decrease in homicide rates and a 57 per cent decrease in suicide rates in the seven years after the legislation passed. But some researchers are still uncertain whether this decrease was due to the buyback, or whether it was simply part of an existing downward trend.

US&nbsp;cities have experimented with buybacks on a much smaller scale, even though the Pew Research Center reports that more than 70 per cent of gun owners say they could never imagine themselves not owning some sort of firearm.

One of the earliest examples occurred in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1974, Baltimore police paid residents US$50 per firearm, collecting roughly 13,500 over a two-month period. Rather than reduce crime, homicides and assaults spiked during the buyback. It is unclear why, but two months is a short time period for a clear pattern to emerge and crime rates in cities across the country were increasing through much of the 1970s.

Baltimore is not unique. A 2008 review of the existing research by Matthew Makarios and Travis Pratt in the journal Crime &amp; Delinquency found that gun buyback programs have generally been ineffective in reducing crime in the US Challenges include the types of guns purchased, the involvement of law enforcement, and the costs involved.

Types of Guns Purchased

Gun buyback programs often place no restrictions on the types of guns that can be purchased. Civilians frequently bring in old firearms, guns in disrepair, rifles, or shotguns. Sacramento, California, implemented a gun buyback program in 1993. Nearly a quarter of all guns submitted were not in working order.

The Boston Police Department also attempted a gun buyback program in 1993 without a restriction for weapon type. Only about half of the submitted firearms were handguns. That’s significant because we know from existing crime data that although some mass shooters use more powerful weapons, handguns are the type of firearm most often used in violent crime and in youth violence. If the goal is to reduce crime, getting shotguns or broken firearms off the street will likely have little effect.

Guns obtained through a 1994 to 1996 buyback in Milwaukee also differed from those typically used in suicide and homicide.

The Boston Police Department tried again in 2006. Learning from their past mistakes, the police offered a $200 gift card for each handgun – but no cash or gift card for rifles or shotguns. At the conclusion of the program, the Boston Police Department reported that more than 85% of submitted firearms were handguns, closely matching the types of guns used in crime.

The number of shootings decreased by 14 per cent&nbsp;in Boston in the year after the buyback and continued to decrease through 2010.

Other jurisdictions followed Boston’s example. In 2015, 13 police departments in Massachusetts instituted a buyback program with higher amounts paid for types of firearms more frequently used in crime. As a result, they were able to collect more handguns. But three out of five people who sold their guns said they still had one or more guns at home.

Cost and Profit 
 
Experience shows that some people will attempt to profit from gun buybacks by submitting inexpensive or broken firearms worth less than the cash incentive offered through the buyback.

In Baltimore, one buyback participant claimed she was going to use the buyback money to purchase a larger weapon.

In Oregon, private citizens waited outside the gun buyback locations to purchase firearms and ammunition from owners before they could go inside to submit them to law enforcement.

Gun buybacks are financed by taxpayer dollars and are generally paid for by local agencies rather than through state or federal funding. A local jurisdiction’s budget will limit the amount of firearms it can purchase and destroy, reducing the likelihood that a gun buyback will have an observable impact on local crime rates.

Law Enforcement Involvement 
 
Typically, gun buyback programs are run by law enforcement. Understandably, criminal offenders may be hesitant to come to the local police station or interact with law enforcement – even if they are promised exemption from prosecution for weapon possession.

Boston attempted to address this concern in 2006 by designating sites like churches as drop-off locations. Other jurisdictions have held gun buybacks run by nonprofit groups, but law enforcement officials are frequently on-hand as security, or to help take the guns to be destroyed after the buyback.

So far, gun buybacks in the United States have been a community-based, grassroots endeavor with limited impact. Their feasibility on a state or nationwide scale is unclear.

Cost alone may be a prohibiting factor. Assuming a $50 per firearm incentive, reducing the US gun stock by 1 per cent&nbsp;would cost $196.5 million. Inevitably, only some of the guns purchased would have been used in future crimes.&nbsp;

(Lacey Wallace is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Pennsylvania State University)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-a-national-buyback-program-reduce-gun-violence-in-america-120060">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) 
&nbsp;

By Lacey Wallace Americans own nearly half of the world’s guns, with approximately 120 firearms for every 100 US residents. Gun control policies may someday restrict new gun sales.

By Lacey Wallace Americans own nearly half of the world’s guns, with approximately 120 firearms for every 100 US residents. Gun control policies may someday restrict new gun sales. But what impact can they have when Americans already own millions of guns? Some have pointed to gun buybacks as a potential solution to this problem. I have spent years studying American attitudes toward guns and gun policies, including smart guns and open carry. I know that gun owners feel strongly about their identities as gun owners, making it difficult to create a strategy for taking guns off the streets. US Gun Stock The sheer number of guns is part of the challenge. The United States has the largest civilian-owned stock of guns in the world. At the end of 2017, the Small Arms Survey reported that there were an estimated 393 million firearms in the United States – and that’s not even counting guns owned by the police and military. That represents 45.8 per cent of the world’s civilian-owned guns. Yemen has the second-highest rate of gun ownership per person in the world, with just 52.8 firearms per 100 residents. More than 40 per cent of US adults live in a household with at least one gun. About half of all civilian-owned guns in the US are owned by just 3 per cent of US adults. These gun owners have an average of 17 guns each. Most other gun owners average about three guns at home. Reducing Numbers Gun buyback programs are designed to reduce the number of firearms by purchasing guns from private owners, and typically destroying them. Gun buyback programs are not new. Following a mass shooting in 1996, Australia banned automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns and instituted a national gun buyback program. In a year, Australia purchased about 650,000 firearms from private residents, estimated to represent about 20 per cent of the country’s privately owned guns. Research evaluating the effects of the buyback found a 42 per cent decrease in homicide rates and a 57 per cent decrease in suicide rates in the seven years after the legislation passed. But some researchers are still uncertain whether this decrease was due to the buyback, or whether it was simply part of an existing downward trend. US cities have experimented with buybacks on a much smaller scale, even though the Pew Research Center reports that more than 70 per cent of gun owners say they could never imagine themselves not owning some sort of firearm. One of the earliest examples occurred in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1974, Baltimore police paid residents US$50 per firearm, collecting roughly 13,500 over a two-month period. Rather than reduce crime, homicides and assaults spiked during the buyback. It is unclear why, but two months is a short time period for a clear pattern to emerge and crime rates in cities across the country were increasing through much of the 1970s. Baltimore is not unique. A 2008 review of the existing research by Matthew Makarios and Travis Pratt in the journal Crime & Delinquency found that gun buyback programs have generally been ineffective in reducing crime in the US Challenges include the types of guns purchased, the involvement of law enforcement, and the costs involved. Types of Guns Purchased Gun buyback programs often place no restrictions on the types of guns that can be purchased. Civilians frequently bring in old firearms, guns in disrepair, rifles, or shotguns. Sacramento, California, implemented a gun buyback program in 1993. Nearly a quarter of all guns submitted were not in working order. The Boston Police Department also attempted a gun buyback program in 1993 without a restriction for weapon type. Only about half of the submitted firearms were handguns. That’s significant because we know from existing crime data that although some mass shooters use more powerful weapons, handguns are the type of firearm most often used in violent crime and in youth violence. If the goal is to reduce crime, getting shotguns or broken firearms off the street will likely have little effect. Guns obtained through a 1994 to 1996 buyback in Milwaukee also differed from those typically used in suicide and homicide. The Boston Police Department tried again in 2006. Learning from their past mistakes, the police offered a $200 gift card for each handgun – but no cash or gift card for rifles or shotguns. At the conclusion of the program, the Boston Police Department reported that more than 85% of submitted firearms were handguns, closely matching the types of guns used in crime. The number of shootings decreased by 14 per cent in Boston in the year after the buyback and continued to decrease through 2010. Other jurisdictions followed Boston’s example. In 2015, 13 police departments in Massachusetts instituted a buyback program with higher amounts paid for types of firearms more frequently used in crime. As a result, they were able to collect more handguns. But three out of five people who sold their guns said they still had one or more guns at home. Cost and Profit Experience shows that some people will attempt to profit from gun buybacks by submitting inexpensive or broken firearms worth less than the cash incentive offered through the buyback. In Baltimore, one buyback participant claimed she was going to use the buyback money to purchase a larger weapon. In Oregon, private citizens waited outside the gun buyback locations to purchase firearms and ammunition from owners before they could go inside to submit them to law enforcement. Gun buybacks are financed by taxpayer dollars and are generally paid for by local agencies rather than through state or federal funding. A local jurisdiction’s budget will limit the amount of firearms it can purchase and destroy, reducing the likelihood that a gun buyback will have an observable impact on local crime rates. Law Enforcement Involvement Typically, gun buyback programs are run by law enforcement. Understandably, criminal offenders may be hesitant to come to the local police station or interact with law enforcement – even if they are promised exemption from prosecution for weapon possession. Boston attempted to address this concern in 2006 by designating sites like churches as drop-off locations. Other jurisdictions have held gun buybacks run by nonprofit groups, but law enforcement officials are frequently on-hand as security, or to help take the guns to be destroyed after the buyback. So far, gun buybacks in the United States have been a community-based, grassroots endeavor with limited impact. Their feasibility on a state or nationwide scale is unclear. Cost alone may be a prohibiting factor. Assuming a $50 per firearm incentive, reducing the US gun stock by 1 per cent would cost $196.5 million. Inevitably, only some of the guns purchased would have been used in future crimes. (Lacey Wallace is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Pennsylvania State University) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Could a national buyback program reduce gun violence in America?

Gold&nbsp;prices jumped more than 1per cent to their highest in more than six years on Monday, as the escalating trade war between the United States and China along with global growth worries drove investors towards safe haven assets. 
&nbsp; 
Spot gold was up 1.1per cent at $1,456.51 per ounce as of 0725 GMT,&nbsp;after hitting its highest since May 2013 at $1,459.47 earlier in the session. 
&nbsp; 
US gold&nbsp;futures rose 0.8 per cent to $1,468.50 an ounce. 
&nbsp; 
"Gold&nbsp;is certainly benefiting from the global concerns about the outlook for growth, and central banks are likely to maintain their accommodative stance, so safe havens like&nbsp;gold&nbsp;are in demand," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist, CMC Markets. 
&nbsp; 
"<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/hong-kong-stocks-fall-amid-us-china-trade-tensions-protests-in-city-239117">Trade tensions between the US and China</a> are an important factor, the potential for escalation is very high ... we might not get what markets are fearing, but it is all adding to the real concerns about the outlook for growth assets." 
&nbsp; 
On Friday, China said it will fight back against US President Donald Trump's decision to impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. 
&nbsp; 
The tariffs may force<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/nasdaq-ends-at-record-high-dollar-falls-as-us-fed-signals-possible-rate-cut-234814"> the Federal Reserve </a>to cut interest rates more than it had hoped was necessary to protect the US&nbsp;economy from trade policy risks. 
&nbsp; 
Meanwhile, recent economic readings from the US cemented expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates again in September after it delivered its first rate reduction in more than a decade last month. 
&nbsp; 
Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding on yielding bullion and weigh on the dollar. 
&nbsp; 
Helping the bullion's appeal, the dollar index touched a one week low, making&nbsp;gold&nbsp;cheaper for investors holding other currencies. 
&nbsp; 
Adding to the global economic gloom, China's services sector expanded at the slowest pace in five months in July despite a sharp upturn of new export orders, a private survey showed on Monday. 
&nbsp; 
"Near-term outlook for&nbsp;gold&nbsp;looks positive. All this volatility, growth fears, persistent weakness in economic data will be good enough for risk off environment," said Benjamin Lu, an analyst at Phillip Futures. 
&nbsp; 
Further helping&nbsp;gold's allure, Asian shares slid to 6 1/2 month lows on Monday. 
&nbsp; 
On the technical front, spot&nbsp;gold&nbsp;may climb to a range of $1,461 $1,474 per ounce, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. 
&nbsp; 
Holdings of SPDR&nbsp;Gold&nbsp;Trust, the world's largest&nbsp;gold backed exchange traded fund, rose 0.36per cent to 830.76 tonnes on Friday from Thursday. 
&nbsp; 
Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish stance in COMEX&nbsp;gold&nbsp;and silver contracts in the week to July 30, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. 
&nbsp; 
Elsewhere, silver gained 1.9 per cent to $16.51 per ounce and platinum climbed 1.4per cent to $854.33. 
&nbsp; 
Palladium rose 1per cent to $1,420.60 an ounce.

Gold prices jumped more than 1per cent to their highest in more than six years on Monday, as the escalating trade war between the United States and China along with global growth worries drove investors towards safe haven assets.

Gold prices jumped more than 1per cent to their highest in more than six years on Monday, as the escalating trade war between the United States and China along with global growth worries drove investors towards safe haven assets. Spot gold was up 1.1per cent at $1,456.51 per ounce as of 0725 GMT, after hitting its highest since May 2013 at $1,459.47 earlier in the session. US gold futures rose 0.8 per cent to $1,468.50 an ounce. "Gold is certainly benefiting from the global concerns about the outlook for growth, and central banks are likely to maintain their accommodative stance, so safe havens like gold are in demand," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist, CMC Markets. "Trade tensions between the US and China are an important factor, the potential for escalation is very high ... we might not get what markets are fearing, but it is all adding to the real concerns about the outlook for growth assets." On Friday, China said it will fight back against US President Donald Trump's decision to impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. The tariffs may force the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates more than it had hoped was necessary to protect the US economy from trade policy risks. Meanwhile, recent economic readings from the US cemented expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates again in September after it delivered its first rate reduction in more than a decade last month. Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding on yielding bullion and weigh on the dollar. Helping the bullion's appeal, the dollar index touched a one week low, making gold cheaper for investors holding other currencies. Adding to the global economic gloom, China's services sector expanded at the slowest pace in five months in July despite a sharp upturn of new export orders, a private survey showed on Monday. "Near-term outlook for gold looks positive. All this volatility, growth fears, persistent weakness in economic data will be good enough for risk off environment," said Benjamin Lu, an analyst at Phillip Futures. Further helping gold's allure, Asian shares slid to 6 1/2 month lows on Monday. On the technical front, spot gold may climb to a range of $1,461 $1,474 per ounce, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold backed exchange traded fund, rose 0.36per cent to 830.76 tonnes on Friday from Thursday. Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish stance in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to July 30, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. Elsewhere, silver gained 1.9 per cent to $16.51 per ounce and platinum climbed 1.4per cent to $854.33. Palladium rose 1per cent to $1,420.60 an ounce.

Gold  hits six year high as trade, growth concerns boost demand

Japan&nbsp;and the United States have agreed to target a broad deal on bilateral trade by September, seeking to bridge differences of opinion over tariffs on beef and the automobile sector, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

As part of a drive to rectify what he claims are unfair global trade imbalances, US&nbsp;President Donald Trump has been urging Tokyo to accelerate <a href="https://www.wionews.com/.../us-japan-trade-agreement-will-be-model-for- indo-pacific-pence-177013">trade talks</a> that would open up Japan's politically sensitive agriculture sector, as well as curbing&nbsp;Japan's US-bound auto exports.

The agreement to target a deal by September was reached during a meeting between&nbsp;Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US&nbsp;Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington DC, the Nikkei said, citing unidentified negotiating sources.

The paper said both sides hope to have a broad trade deal in place by the time&nbsp;Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets US&nbsp;President Donald Trump on the sidelines of United Nations' general assembly scheduled for later in September in New York.

On Friday, Motegi told reporters after meeting Lighthizer that the two sides made "significant progress" in narrowing their differences on trade and agreed to hold another ministerial-level meeting later this month.

Washington seeks the early opening of&nbsp;Japan's agriculture sector including reductions in 38.5% tariffs on US&nbsp;beef imports, while&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;calls for the abolition of US&nbsp;tariffs on&nbsp;Japan's industrial goods such as car parts.

Trump and Abe could also look at producing some kind of trade accord later this month when they may meet on the sidelines of Group of Seven leaders' summit, the Nikkei added.

Japan and the United States have agreed to target a broad deal on bilateral trade by September, seeking to bridge differences of opinion over tariffs on beef and the automobile sector, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

Japan and the United States have agreed to target a broad deal on bilateral trade by September, seeking to bridge differences of opinion over tariffs on beef and the automobile sector, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday. As part of a drive to rectify what he claims are unfair global trade imbalances, US President Donald Trump has been urging Tokyo to accelerate trade talks that would open up Japan's politically sensitive agriculture sector, as well as curbing Japan's US-bound auto exports. The agreement to target a deal by September was reached during a meeting between Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington DC, the Nikkei said, citing unidentified negotiating sources. The paper said both sides hope to have a broad trade deal in place by the time Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of United Nations' general assembly scheduled for later in September in New York. On Friday, Motegi told reporters after meeting Lighthizer that the two sides made "significant progress" in narrowing their differences on trade and agreed to hold another ministerial-level meeting later this month. Washington seeks the early opening of Japan's agriculture sector including reductions in 38.5% tariffs on US beef imports, while Japan calls for the abolition of US tariffs on Japan's industrial goods such as car parts. Trump and Abe could also look at producing some kind of trade accord later this month when they may meet on the sidelines of Group of Seven leaders' summit, the Nikkei added.

Japan, US target broad bilateral trade deal by September: Report

us-1

Us, News on Us, stories on Us, articles on Us, Us stories at Wion, Us news, Us latest news

us 1