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The former acting F.B.I. director, Andrew G. McCabe, wrote a confidential memo last spring recounting a conversation that offered significant behind-the-scenes details on the firing of Mr. McCabe’s predecessor, James B. Comey, according to several people familiar with the discussion.Mr. Comey’s firing is a central focus of the special counsel’s investigation into whether President Trump tried to obstruct the investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia. Mr. McCabe has turned over his memo to the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III In the document, whose contents have not been previously reported, Mr. McCabe described a conversation at the Justice Department with the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, in the chaotic days last May after Mr. Comey’s abrupt firing. Mr. Rosenstein played a key role in the dismissal, writing a memo that rebuked Mr. Comey over his handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton. But in the meeting at the Justice Department, Mr. Rosenstein added a new detail: He said the president had originally asked him to reference Russia in his memo, the people familiar with the conversation said. Mr. Rosenstein did not elaborate on what Mr. Trump had wanted him to say. To Mr. McCabe, that seemed like possible evidence that Mr. Comey’s firing was actually related to the F.B.I.’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, and that Mr. Rosenstein helped provide a cover story by writing about the Clinton investigation. One person who was briefed on Mr. Rosenstein’s conversation with the president said Mr. Trump had simply wanted Mr. Rosenstein to mention that he was not personally under investigation in the Russia inquiry. Mr. Rosenstein said it was unnecessary and did not include such a reference. Mr. Trump ultimately said it himself when announcing the firing Mr. McCabe’s memo, one of several that he wrote, highlights the conflicting roles that Mr. Rosenstein plays in the case. He supervises the special counsel investigation and has told colleagues that protecting it is among his highest priorities. But many current and former law enforcement officials are suspicious of some of his other actions, including allowing some of Mr. Trump’s congressional allies to view crucial documents from the investigation In conversations with prosecutors, Mr. Trump’s lawyers have cited Mr. Rosenstein’s involvement in the firing of Mr. Comey as proof that it was not an effort to obstruct justice, according to people familiar with the president’s legal strategy. That argument has only made Mr. Rosenstein’s position even more peculiar: He oversees an investigation into the president, who points to Mr. Rosenstein’s own actions as evidence that he is innocent. And Mr. Rosenstein could have the final say on whether that argument has merit. The people who discussed the meeting and the memo did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matters. A spokeswoman for Mr. McCabe declined to comment. Mr. McCabe was fired in March after a finding that he was not candid in an internal investigation. Mr. McCabe has said the firing was a politically motivated effort to discredit him as a witness in the special counsel investigation. A Justice Department spokeswoman also declined to comment. Mr. Rosenstein has consulted departmental ethics advisers about whether to recuse himself from the Russia investigation and has not done so “I’ve talked with Director Mueller about this,” Mr. Rosenstein told The Associated Press last year. “He’s going to make the appropriate decisions, and if anything that I did winds up being relevant to his investigation then, as Director Mueller and I discussed, if there’s a need from me to recuse, I will Removing Mr. Rosenstein from the investigation, though, would only add uncertainty to the process. He is regarded, even among his critics, as a bulwark against an effort by Mr. Trump to fire Mr. Mueller and shut down the investigation. Mr. Trump has openly mused about doing so, and has considered firing Mr. Rosenstein, too Mr. McCabe’s memo reflects the F.B.I.’s early efforts to discern Mr. Trump’s intentions in firing Mr. Comey, an effort that continues today. Mr. Trump and his advisers have issued conflicting and changing explanations for the termination At first, they pointed to Mr. Rosenstein’s reasoning, which criticized Mr. Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation. He was unusually public about the inquiry in ways that Democrats say contributed to Mrs. Clinton’s defeat But Mr. Trump quickly undercut that statement, telling NBC News that he had planned to fire Mr. Comey even before receiving Mr. Rosenstein’s memo. “And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,’” Mr. Trump said. “It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.”Mr. Trump also told Russian diplomats in the Oval Office that firing Mr. Comey had relieved “great pressure” that he had faced because of Russia.Mr. Rosenstein’s comments to Mr. McCabe were made against a backdrop of those shifting explanations. After their meeting, Mr. Rosenstein gave Mr. McCabe a copy of a draft firing letter that Mr. Trump had written, according to two people familiar with the conversation. Mr. McCabe later gave that letter, and his memos, to Mr. Mueller. Mr. McCabe’s memo reflects the anxiety of the early months of the Trump administration and presaged a relationship with law enforcement that has only grown more strained. Just as Mr. Comey kept memos on interactions with Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Mr. McCabe documented his own conversations with the president and others Mr. Trump has injected himself into Justice Department operations in ways that have little precedent. While most presidents who have faced federal investigations have assiduously avoided discussing them for fear of being seen as trying to influence them, Mr. Trump has shown no hesitation. He has called the investigation a “witch hunt,” declared that a “deep state” was trying to undermine his presidency, and encouraged the Justice Department to provide sensitive details about the special counsel inquiry to Congress Most recently, Mr. Trump has publicly demanded that the Justice Department investigate the Russia investigation itself In response, Mr. Rosenstein has walked a perilous line. Faced with threats on his job, he told Republicans in Congress that he would not be “extorted.” But he has also relented to pressure in some instances, providing information to Congress that would not normally be shared amid an investigation And in response to the president’s calls for an investigation into whether the F.B.I. used informants to infiltrate his campaign — a charge for which there is no public evidence — Mr. Rosenstein referred the matter to the inspector general and issued a public statement that some current and former officials said was too tepid. If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action,” Mr. Rosenstein said Mr. Rosenstein has said little about his strategy for dealing with the political crosswinds. But he has defended his memo about Mr. Comey. “I wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it,” he said in a statement last year. He added that it was never intended to “justify a for-cause termination Recently, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, added a new explanation for Mr. Comey’s firing. He said Mr. Trump was upset that Mr. Comey would not publicly clear him in the Russia investigation He fired Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation,” Mr. Giuliani said.

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Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un President Trump on Thursday canceled a planned summit next month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, citing “tremendous anger and open hostility” from the rogue nation in a letter explaining his abrupt decision. “I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump said to Kim in a letter released by the White House on Thursday morning. The summit — which had the potential to be a major diplomatic victory for Trump — had been planned for June 12 in Singapore. South Korea’s government seemed blindsided by Trump’s announcement. “We are attempting to make sense of what, precisely, President Trump means,” said government spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom. Shortly before midnight in Seoul, South Korea’s president called an emergency meeting to discuss Trump’s decision, summoning his chief of staff, national security adviser, foreign minister, unification minister and intelligence chief to the presidential Blue House.In his letter, Trump held open the possibility that the two leaders could meet at a later date to discuss denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, which Trump has been pushing. The decision came amid hostile warnings from North Korea in recent days that it was reconsidering participation, including a statement that the United States must decide whether to “meet us in a meeting room or encounter us at [a] nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.” A close aide to Kim unleashed a torrent of invective against the Trump administration Thursday morning, calling Vice President Pence a “political dummy” for remarks he made Monday in a television interview that made reference to the downfall of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. North Korea has bristled at Trump administration suggestions that it follow the “Libyan model” to abandon its nuclear efforts. Gaddafi was killed in 2011 during anti-government chaos. “I was very much looking forward to being there with you,” Trump said in his letter to Kim. “The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth.” White House aides had grown concerned because North Korea had not responded to planning requests on the summit and had canceled a logistics meeting, said a senior White House official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive issue. Many details needed to be settled within days for the summit to happen, this official said, adding that the White House did not want an embarrassing situation of “losing the upper hand.” U.S. officials had begun signaling to other countries late last week that the summit could be postponed, and they appeared concerned that the meeting would not yield a clear result, said a foreign diplomat familiar with preparations. A former senior U.S. official familiar with aspects of the planning said the two sides had not yet agreed on a draft communique, the usually bland statement issued at the close of diplomatic summits. The statement is typically worked out far in advance, and the absence of that draft had been a red flag to diplomats over the past week, the official said. The dramatic announcement immediately reverberated on Capitol Hill. At the outset of a budget hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo read Trump’s letter. In reaction to the cancelled summit, Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the committee, admonished the Trump administration for a “lack of deep preparation.” “It’s pretty amazing that the administration might be shocked that North Korea is acting as North Korea might normally act,” he said. Menendez also questioned why U.S. officials repeatedly raised the prospect of the “Libya model” as a roadmap for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. “I’m not sure that constantly quoting the Libya model is the diplomatic way to try to get to the results that we try to seek in North Korea,” he said. Pompeo objected to Menendez’s characterization of a lack of planning, saying the U.S. negotiation team was “fully prepared.” “We were fully engaged over the past weeks to prepare for this meeting,” he said. In explaining the summit’s demise, Pompeo noted that in recent days, there was a breakdown in communication between the U.S. and North Korean preparation teams. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that North Koreans missed a scheduled meeting in Singapore last week between the preparation teams. Pompeo said he hopes to restart conversations with the North Koreans and get the talks “back on track.” He expressed hope that Congress and the executive branch would work together to ramp up economic pressure on the isolated regime.Republicans on the committee defended the Trump administration’s decision to walk out. Trump had his “eyes wide open throughout the process,” said Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.). “He made the right choice” because Kim walked away from his commitment to denuclearize, Gardner said. In a statement after Trump’s announcement, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said it was important for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea through economic sanctions. “We must continue to work with our allies toward a peaceful resolution, but that will require a much greater degree of seriousness from the Kim regime,” Ryan said. “At the same time, Congress has provided significant tools to hold North Korea accountable, and it is important that the United States not relent in this maximum pressure campaign.” Even amid the heightened rhetoric, there were signs Thursday that North Korea continued to be interested in a summit. North Korea claimed to have destroyed its nuclear testing site Thursday, setting off a series of explosions to collapse a network of underground tunnels where it had detonated six increasingly large bombs over 11 years. The North set off a series of made-for-TV blasts that were reported by journalists brought to the site. But the Kim regime did not allow any experts to observe the events, making it difficult to assess what exactly they had done. Most analysts remain highly doubtful that North Korea is actually prepared to give up its nuclear program. In his letter, Trump also referenced what was widely interpreted at the time as another positive gesture from Kim: the release of three American prisoners into the custody of Pompeo during his visit to North Korea earlier this month. “Someday, I look very much forward to meeting you,” Trump wrote. “In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated.” As recently as Wednesday, Trump did not tip his hand that he intended to cancel the meeting with Kim. During a television interview that was taped Wednesday and aired Thursday morning, he said he might accept a “phase-in” of North Korea’s denuclearization. “We’re going to see. I’d like to have it done immediately,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends” on Fox News. “But, you know, physically, a phase-in may be a little bit necessary, we will have to do a rapid phase-in, but I’d like to see it done at one time.” Trump had sounded cautionary notes about the prospect that the summit would be delayed or canceled. But he had also heralded the possibility for it leading to lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and embraced suggestions — made by South Korea President Moon Jae In and others — that he would be worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. Asked about that prospect by a reporter just two weeks ago, Trump responded: “Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it.” “You know what I want to do?” Trump added. “I want to get it finished. The prize I want is victory for the world — not for even here — I want victory for the world. Because that’s what we’re talking about, so that’s the only prize I want.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a steep list of demands Monday that he said should be included in a nuclear treaty with Iran to replace the Obama-era deal, threatening "the strongest sanctions in history" if Iran doesn't change course. Following President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the deal, the United States will ensure "Iran has no possible path to a nuclear weapon — ever," Pompeo said. As he called for a better agreement to constrain Iran's activities, he said the U.S. would "apply unprecedented financial pressure" to bring Tehran back to the table. These will end up being the strongest sanctions in history by the time we are complete," Pompeo said in a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation, his first major policy speech since taking over as top diplomat. Pompeo's list of 12 requirements included many that Iran is highly unlikely to consider He said Iran must "stop enrichment" of uranium, which was allowed within strict limitations under the 2015 deal. Iran must also allow nuclear "unqualified access to all sites throughout the country," Pompeo said, alluding to military sites that were off-limits under the 2015 deal except under specific circumstances. To that end, he also said Iran must declare all previous efforts to build a nuclear weapon, reopening an issue that the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency has already deemed a closed matter Pompeo also demanded that Iran cease from a range of activities throughout the Middle East that have long drawn the ire of the U.S. and its allies. He said Iran must end support for Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, "withdraw all forces" from Syria, halt support for its ally Hezbollah and stop threatening Israel. Iran must also "release all U.S. citizens" missing in Iran or being held on "spurious charges," he said. At the same time, Pompeo offered Iran a series of dramatic potential U.S. concessions if it agrees to make "major changes." Under a new agreement, the U.S. would be willing to lift all sanctions, restore full diplomatic and commercial ties with Iran, and even support the modernization of its economy, Pompeo said. "It is America's hope that our labors toward peace and security will bear fruit for the long-suffering people of Iran," Pompeo said. Pompeo's speech came after Trump earlier this month infuriated U.S. allies in Europe by withdrawing from the 2015 deal brokered by President Barack Obama, Iran and world powers. Europeans allies had pleaded with Trump not to scuttle that deal and are now scrambling to keep the deal alive even without the U.S. But the Trump administration has held out hope that those same allies will put aside that frustration and work with the U.S. to ramp pressure back up on Iran through sanctions in a bid to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table for a stronger deal. Pompeo said he understood that Trump's decision "will pose financial and economic difficulties for a number of our friends." But he warned them that the U.S. planned to follow through with threats to punish European companies that continue doing business with Iran that is allowed under the deal but will violate reimposed U.S. sanctions. "I know our allies in Europe may try to keep the old nuclear deal going with Tehran. That is their decision to make," Pompeo said. "They know where we stand."

Special counsel Robert Mueller wants to interview President Trump - but how far is he willing to go to get the president's testimony? Some legal experts believe Mueller might have gathered sufficient evidence for indictments even without a Trump interview. They say Mueller could be reluctant to get bogged down in the months-long legal battle that would ensue were the president to resist a subpoena."Originally my thought was, 'Without question, Mueller will subpoena him given how he has handled this case.' I'm not so completely sure of that anymore. I think Mueller could say, 'We've tried to accommodate them, we're moving ahead,'" said Solomon Wisenberg, a Washington attorney who served as independent counsel Kenneth Starr's deputy during investigations into President Clinton.Wisenberg still said a subpoena was more likely than not, however. And he noted that negotiations between the Mueller team and Trump's lawyers could yet reach an agreement on the conditions for an interview.Katy Harriger, a Wake Forest professor and the author of several books about special prosecutors and constitutional law, also raised the possibility that Mueller might already have gathered enough ammunition for prosecutions.What we don't know is what they have. For the people they've indicted so far, they clearly didn't need the president's testimony," she said.By contrast, Harriger noted, "If this subpoena is issued, and if the president refuses to comply, you likely have a court battle which would raise the stakes and put everything on hold while it plays out. The question of whether Trump will consent to an interview is still wide open. The president and his allies have struck different stances on the question, often within minutes. Speaking to CNN's "New Day" on Friday, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said that Mueller's team had agreed to narrow the number of topics of a potential interview from five to two. But Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, also contended that one of Mueller's chief aims was "trapping people into perjury." Trump said earlier this month, "I would love to speak. ... Nobody wants to speak more than me," before insisting that he would only do so if he were treated "fairly" - and condemning the Mueller probe as "a pure witch hunt." In a Thursday interview with The Hill, Giuliani contended that it was not the president but "the investigation and the investigators who need to be put under scrutiny." Yet, he insisted, he and his colleagues "still have an open mind" about a Trump interview. In the wider Trump orbit, there are many people who are skeptical that Trump will ever consent to an interview. Outside supporters often lash Mueller and other figures associated with the investigation. "Under no circumstance should the president agree to an interview with Mueller," said Joe diGenova, who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia during President Reagan's administration. DiGenova, who at one point was slated to join the president's legal team and remains vigorously supportive of him added, "He is under no obligation to do so and, given the indications of bad faith by the Mueller group ... it would be a mistake to believe a thing they would offer by way of assurances." To Trump skeptics, of course, the assaults on Mueller are unjustified. They see such attacks as a method of muddying the waters around the probe so as to make it easier to refuse an interview - and to push back on any adverse findings for Trump that might eventually emerge. Some Department of Justice veterans note that the offer of an interview with a defendant is something an innocent party can be eager to accept - especially if they think they can show they had no intent to obstruct justice, for example. Obstruction of justice is one of the potential crimes for which Trump is being investigated, according to multiple reports. "In some ways, it is a courtesy you extend to a defendant: the opportunity to talk to prosecutors, especially on a crime so heavily dependent upon intent," said Joyce White Vance, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the northern district of Alabama during President Obama's administration. "Although this has been portrayed as a perjury trap or aggressive prosecution tactics, for an innocent person this is an opportunity to short-circuit this. But that is not the way the Trump camp has viewed this," Vance added. Other legal figures, including some critical of Trump, argue that it is still likely Mueller would seek testimony from the president, even if he has to issue a subpoena to get it. "You would always want, if you're able to, to get an interview, because it is difficult to prove crimes beyond a reasonable doubt - much more difficult than most laypeople realize" said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor. Mariotti asserted that Mueller would only be causing himself trouble if he did not interview Trump given the inherent seriousness of "looking at potential crimes committed by the president." Joyce Vance argued, however, that on this issue as in so much else, Trump is a case apart. She said that Trump's tweets and public statements in media interviews have already given Mueller "an abundant body of information."The same was true, she added, of the public discussion of an interview among Trump and his lawyers."In many ways, Mueller benefits from this very public conversation that the president and his lawyers are having," she said. "It's stunning. Very few defense lawyers would have this running conversation that prosecutors can observe every nuance of."

The only three survivors of a plane crash in Cuba remained in grave condition Saturday as investigators tried to determine why an aging Boeing 737 carrying 110 people went down and erupted in flames shortly after takeoff in Havana. It was Cuba's worst aviation disaster in three decades and its third major air accident since 2010. Skies were overcast and rainy at the airport at the time of Friday's disaster and Cuban state television said the 39-year-old jet veered sharply to the right after departing on a domestic flight to the eastern city of Holguin. The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed," Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena told The Associated Press at the airport.Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said a special commission had been formed to find the cause of the crash. The plane had 104 mainly Cuban passengers and six crew members. "Things have been organized, the fire has been put out, and the remains are being identified," he said. State airline Cubana, which operated the flight, has had a generally good safety record but is notorious for delays and cancellations and has taken many of its planes out of service because of maintenance problems in recent months, prompting it to hire charter aircraft from other companies. Mexican officials said the Boeing 737-201 was built in 1979 and rented by Cubana from Aerolineas Damojh, a small charter company that also goes by the name Global Air. Cubana Flight 972 went down just after noon a short distance from the end of the runway at Jose Marti International Airport. Firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames that engulfed the debris left where the jet hit the ground in a cassava field. Four crash survivors were taken to a Havana hospital, and three remained alive as of late Friday. State media reports stopped short of openly declaring that the rest on board were dead, but there was no word of other survivors by Friday night. Relatives of those aboard were ushered into a private area at the terminal to await word on their loved ones. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on the plane. A statement from Mexico's Transportation Department identified the pilot and co-pilot as Capt. Jorge Luis Nunez Santos and first officer Miguel Angel Arreola Ramirez. It said the flight attendants were Maria Daniela Rios, Abigail Hernandez Garcia and Beatriz Limon. Global Air said maintenance worker Marco Antonio Lopez Perez was also aboard. Outside the company's Mexico City offices, former Global Air flight attendant Ana Marlen Covarrubias said she had worked for the company for over seven years and knows nearly all the crew members. "I don't have the words. I'm very sad. We're in mourning," she said in tears. "It was something really, really, really terrible; a tragedy for us." In addition to the Mexican crew, Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that the passengers were mostly Cubans plus five foreigners from countries it did not identify. Argentina's Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had died in the crash. In November 2010 a Global Air flight originating in Mexico City made an emergency landing in Puerto Vallarta because its front landing gear did not deploy. The fire was quickly extinguished, and none of the 104 people aboard were injured. That plane was a 737 first put into service in 1975. Mexican aviation authorities said a team of experts would fly to Cuba on Saturday to take part in the investigation. First Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa had met with Cubana officials on Thursday to discuss improvements to its service. The airline blames its spotty record on a lack of parts and airplanes because of the U.S. trade embargo against the communist-run country. Last year a Cuban military plane crashed into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers. In 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather, killing all 68 people on board, including 28 foreigners, in what was the country's worst air disaster in more than two decades. The last deadly accident involving a Cubana-operated plane was in 1989, when a charter flight from Havana to Milan, Italy, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board and at least two dozen on the ground.

China has offered President Donald Trump a $200 billion reduction in its annual trade surplus with the U.S. by increasing imports of American products and other steps, said a Trump administration officialThe offer was made during talks in Washington this week as Vice Premier Liu He visited to try to resolve a trade dispute, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Liu met with Trump Thursday afternoon at the White House. The official didn’t describe the U.S. response.U.S. officials conveyed the president’s goal for a fair trading relationship with China and the two sides agreed to continue the discussions on Friday, the White House said in a statement. China’s Ministry of Commerce and the State Council Information Office didn’t initially respond to requests for comment.China announced Friday that it would end its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into imports of U.S. sorghum, citing “public interest.” That move, coupled with steps in recent days including restarting a review of Qualcomm Inc’s application to acquire NXP Semiconductors NV, signal a conciliatory stance as talks with the U.S. intensify.A deal to cut the deficit, if confirmed, "is good news for market sentiment," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior emerging-market strategist at Credit Agricole SA in Hong Kong. "That said, China would suffer pressure on GDP growth as a result and would need to boost domestic demand and debt in the economy through monetary easing and allowing more credit." The yuan could weaken on the news given expectations for a deterioration of China’s balance of payments, while Chinese government bond yields may come under downward pressure, said Kowalczyk. The news produced little immediate reaction in Asian markets early Friday. Japanese and Korean shares rose, Chinese and Hong Kong equities fluctuated while Australian stocks declined. List of Demands A $200 billion reduction in the U.S. trade gap with China by 2020 was on a list of demands the Trump administration made earlier this month as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin led a delegation to Beijing. The U.S. merchandise trade deficit with China hit a record $375 billion last year. The U.S. had earlier made additional demands, including a halt to subsidies and other government support for the Made in China 2025 plan that targets strategic industries from robotics to new-energy vehicles. China had made its own demands, including giving equal treatment to its investment, and warned U.S. companies may be excluded from measures to open its economy. The Trump administration has threatened to impose tariffs on as much as $150 billion of Chinese imports to the U.S. as tensions over trade have escalated. Trump expressed doubt before his meeting with Liu that China and the U.S. would come to an agreement to avoid a damaging trade war.Will that be successful? I tend to doubt it,” Trump said during a press briefing on Thursday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “The reason I doubt it is because China’s become very spoiled.” ‘Positive Sign’ Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. in Sydney, said the Chinese proposal is “a positive sign that a full on trade war may be averted.” “By making a significant offer to the U.S. it indicates that China is taking the negotiations very seriously,” Oliver said. “Much will depend on the details and time period and later in terms of the implementation.” Reuters reported China’s trade deficit reduction offer earlier. The U.S. and China were expected to exchange new trade proposals during the Washington talks, Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow said earlier Thursday. Mnuchin is leading the talks with Liu, along with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, according to the White House. Victor Shih, a professor at the University of California in San Diego who studies China’s politics and finance, said he finds an agreement to cut the U.S. deficit by $200 billion "difficult to contemplate."Even with a drastic reallocation of Chinese imports of energy, raw materials and airplanes in favor of the U.S., the bilateral trade deficit may reduce by $100 billion," he said. "A $200 billion reduction would mean a drastic reduction in Chinese exports to the U.S. and a dramatic restructuring of the supply chain." Market Access Kudlow said the U.S. focus is on China opening market access to American companies by lowering their trading barriers and addressing U.S. concerns over the theft of intellectual property. “American ownership of its own companies in China must be permitted,” Kudlow said. “We are going to have serious talks dealing with a difficult trade situation that needs to be fixed.” Trump also said on Thursday that his decision to order a review of U.S. penalties on China’s ZTE Corp. came directly at the request of Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The president of China, President Xi, asked me to look at it. I said I would look at it,” Trump said, adding “But anything we do with ZTE is always -- it’s just a small component of the overall deal.n a surprise move, Trump on Sunday said that the U.S. was considering ways to help get ZTE ‘’back in business fast,” fueling speculation of a softening of his get-tough position on China. The Commerce Department blocked ZTE’s access to U.S. suppliers last month, saying the company had violated a 2017 sanctions settlement related to trading with Iran and North Korea and then lied about the violations.

Marseille

Welcome, President Trump, to the infuriating, indecipherable game of North Korean nuclear diplomacy An unexpected series of threats from the enclosed Stalinist state threatened to nix next month's planned summit in Singapore between Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and sink White House hopes of a spectacular foreign policy success. The warning delivered a jolt of reality, underscoring that despite weeks of positive steps by North Korea and Trump's gusher of praise for Kim, the process of negotiating with the inscrutable state remains as treacherous as ever. First, North Korea shocked Washington by lashing out at US-South Korea military drills, saying they could lead to the summit being scrapped. Then in a more ominous development, it warned that if the White House required the dismantling of its nuclear arsenal up front, there was little point in talking. "If the Trump Administration is genuinely committed to improving NK-US relations and come out to the NK-US summit, they will receive a deserving response," Kim Kye-gwan, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency. "But if they try to push us into the corner and force only unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in that kind of talks and will have to reconsider whether we will accept the upcoming NK-US summit." The comments appeared to be a direct repudiation of statements by top Trump administration officials that North Korea must accept the total and irrevocable elimination of its nuclear arsenal before it could accept tangible benefits from the US as part of any peace drive. Kim was clearly signaling he's not done yet with the classic North Korean strategy of provocations and demands. And the President and supporters might want to put that talk about the Nobel Peace Prize on ice, at least for now. On the other hand, as strong as they were, Kim's protests came on paper, and not in the form of missile launches or a nuclear test -- a potential sign of progress in that he registered anger but did not take a step that would immediately sink the summit. The North's sharp messages came just a week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo returned home from a friendly meeting with Kim with three US prisoners, prompting Trump to stage a middle-of-the-night welcoming ceremony. It left the White House scrambling to decipher Pyongyang's motives and analysts handicapping the prospects for the summit. "I have to say, this is a little bit out of the blue," said Harry Kazianis, a Korea expert at the Center for the National Interest."The North Korean pattern is to do provocations whether it is tests of missiles or nukes, ask for negotiations then string us along for months and years," he said. "But this time, they are not even getting to that point, they are already causing problems before we have the negotiation." North Korea's motives. North Korea's closed political system and the difficulty of getting reliable intelligence from inside Kim's inner circle mean that explaining Tuesday's bombshell is guesswork. It's possible Kim wanted to send a shot across America's bow, and feels he has not got much in return for meeting South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, agreeing to see Trump, sending US prisoners home and offering to dismantle a nuclear test site. He may also be balking at emerging details of America's goal for the summit -- an agreement for full and irreversible denuclearization by North Korea in return for security guarantees and the promise of future investment by US firms in the impoverished nation. Trump's national security adviser John Bolton -- a skeptic who would have been unsurprised by Kim's Tuesday broadside -- told CNN's Jake Tapper over the weekend, "I wouldn't look for economic aid from us," and said the Singapore summit would test whether Kim had made a strategic decision to get rid of his nuclear arsenal. The KCNA dispatch took direct aim at Bolton and rejected his view that North Korea should follow Libya's model and unilaterally give up all its nuclear weapons. The statement may also indicate that the ambition and speed of the US approach -- which implies invasive inspections of the North's nuclear, missile and chemical and biological weapons programs and confiscation of its arsenals -- has spooked Kim. Pompeo has said Washington would not follow its traditional and failed strategy of offering the North concessions like the lifting of sanctions and financial aid in return for proportional steps by Pyongyang to decommission its weapons. "We're hoping this will be bigger, different, faster," Pompeo told CBS "Face the Nation." Last week, Chinese state media reported that Kim wanted "phased and synchronous measures" to defuse the nuclear showdown, a possible sign of dissent with the US approach. Head to head. Given that the summit will likely hinge on a mano-a-mano test of wills, Kim may also have been trying to demonstrate his own personal leverage over Trump. After all, Kim is not the first to threaten not to show up -- Trump has done so repeatedly. "If I think that it is a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we are not going to go," Trump said on April 18. Some experts speculated whether the North Korean statement, which also suspended planned high-level talks with South Korea due to begin Wednesday, could be a sign of internal political pressure on Kim. It's not out of the question that he was signaling to military officers worried that he may be about to overturn decades of political dogma by dealing with the US. Such is the opacity of his regime, no will ever know for sure. Kim may also be testing just how much Trump wants the summit -- given his predictions of success -- and whether that will make him more likely to offer Pyongyang a good deal. Or he may be laying groundwork for a face-saving exit if Trump comes in too hard. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said that he hoped that Kim's threat was just a manifestation of his long-held resentment over US-South Korean military exercises, even though the South Koreans had told Washington he was now unperturbed by such drills. "Overall, I am still optimistic," Paul said on "The Situation Room" on CNN. "There is a great deal of hope and optimism that with this high-level meeting with Kim Jong Un and the President that we will find peace. The North Korean curveball left the White House with a dilemma about how to respond.White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a noncommittal statement pledging to coordinate with allies.As Washington tries to work out what is going on, the contacts and goodwill built up in Pyongyang by Pompeo during two recent trips into reclusive North Korea will be crucial.The blip in the run-up to the summit will also test Trump's restraint, at a time when a misfired Twitter blast aimed at "Little Rocket Man" could exacerbate tensions and threaten the meeting further.On Tuesday night, he stonewalled reporters shouting questions on the South Lawn of the White House. Possibly, now that he has got the prisoners home, and Pyongyang remains under stringent "maximum pressure" sanctions, Trump has the luxury of time. He could wait it out and see whether North Korea is really ready to pass up the chance for a summit that offers Kim the long-sought legitimacy of standing side-by-side with the US President. On the other hand, Tuesday's developments make the face-to-face summit more crucial than ever -- as it will give the President the chance to size up Kim's sincerity. In that sense, Trump can claim validation for his shock decision to meet Kim, even though it turned diplomatic conventions upside down and led some experts to worry he was offering too many concessions too early. Dampened expectations might be a good thing. North Korea's warning might also be valuable in another way if it tones down the crescendo of expectations in Washington about the summit.Trump has fired off a string of tweets in recent weeks touting progress, and supporters at a recent political rally chanted "Nobel, Nobel" at the President.Last week, as he welcomed the prisoners back to Joint Base Andrews, Trump said Kim had been "excellent" to the three men, despite imprisoning them and the fact he has one of the world's worst human rights records.

North Korea will join international efforts to ban nuclear tests, its ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, told the Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday. North Korea, which is believed to have tested six nuclear weapons, has said it will dismantle its only known nuclear test site this month ahead of a meeting on June 12 between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "Discontinuation of nuclear tests and follow up measures are an important process for global disarmament and DPRK will join international disarmament efforts for a total ban on nuclear tests," Han told the disarmament forum, using his country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Han did not explicitly mention the Comprehensive nuclear Test-Ban Treaty aimed at introducing that total ban. North Korea is one of the so-called Annex 2 states that must ratify that treaty for it to come into force. The United States is another, though Washington has signed the treaty, which Pyongyang has not. "DPRK will further make peace efforts to achieve the development of inter-Korean relations, defuse acute military tensions and substantially remove the danger of war on the Korean

Another day of protests is expected at the Gaza border Tuesday as international condemnation poured in over Israel's use of force against unarmed Palestinian protesters this week. At least 58 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops during protests over the Trump administration's controversial opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the deadliest day in Gaza since the 2014 Israeli invasion. Doctors Without Borders called on the Israeli army to stop using deadly force against demonstrators, saying their actions were "unacceptable and inhuman." This bloodbath is the continuation of the Israeli army's policy during the last seven weeks: shooting with live ammunition at demonstrators, on the assumption that anyone approaching the separation fence is a legitimate target," Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, the group's representative in Gaza, said in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned "the violence of the Israeli forces against protesters," in a statement, while Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called on Israel to be "proportionate in its response and refrain from excessive use of force." In a phone call with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "condemned the attacks and wished Allah's mercy to all martyrs," according to the official Anadolu news agency. Turkey is recalling its ambassadors to Washington and Tel Aviv for consultations, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was "profoundly alarmed" by the violence in Gaza and urged Israeli forces to "exercise maximum restraint in the use of live fire," his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. A proposed UN Security Council press statement, put forward by Kuwait, was blocked by the US, according to a UN diplomat. The draft statement, which was provided to CNN by a UN diplomat, included language expressing "outrage and sorrow at the killing of Palestinian civilians exercising their right to peaceful protest." It also reaffirmed UN resolutions on the status of Jerusalem, saying that recent events had "no legal effect" under international law. The statement was not passed by the Security Council, after being withdrawn once the US blocked it, according to a UN diplomat. Another day of protests is expected at the Gaza border Tuesday as international condemnation poured in over Israel's use of force against unarmed Palestinian protesters this week. At least 58 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops during protests over the Trump administration's controversial opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the deadliest day in Gaza since the 2014 Israeli invasion. Doctors Without Borders called on the Israeli army to stop using deadly force against demonstrators, saying their actions were "unacceptable and inhuman." This bloodbath is the continuation of the Israeli army's policy during the last seven weeks: shooting with live ammunition at demonstrators, on the assumption that anyone approaching the separation fence is a legitimate target," Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, the group's representative in Gaza, said in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned "the violence of the Israeli forces against protesters," in a statement, while Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called on Israel to be "proportionate in its response and refrain from excessive use of force." In a phone call with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "condemned the attacks and wished Allah's mercy to all martyrs," according to the official Anadolu news agency. Turkey is recalling its ambassadors to Washington and Tel Aviv for consultations, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was "profoundly alarmed" by the violence in Gaza and urged Israeli forces to "exercise maximum restraint in the use of live fire," his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. A proposed UN Security Council press statement, put forward by Kuwait, was blocked by the US, according to a UN diplomat. The draft statement, which was provided to CNN by a UN diplomat, included language expressing "outrage and sorrow at the killing of Palestinian civilians exercising their right to peaceful protest." It also reaffirmed UN resolutions on the status of Jerusalem, saying that recent events had "no legal effect" under international law. The statement was not passed by the Security Council, after being withdrawn once the US blocked it, according to a UN diplomat. Violent response Around 35,000 protesters gathered at the border of Gaza and Israeli territory Monday to object to the embassy move, continuing the "Great March of Return" demonstrations which have been ongoing since March in the run up to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel and expulsion of thousands of Palestinians. Israeli troops used tear gas and live ammunition to try and disperse the crowd, killing at least 58 and injuring as many as 2,700, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Most of the dead were killed by Israeli fire near the border. CNN journalists heard gunshots in spurts and saw a tank moving toward the fence in the border area of Malaka. Israeli drones also dropped tear gas in an effort to disperse protesters. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, of "leading a terrorist operation" and inciting the protesters, who had assembled in numerous locations along the border fence, to conduct what Israel described as terror attacks. The military alleged some protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, and burned tires. The IDF also claimed to have foiled an attack by three armed Palestinians near Rafah, close to the border with Egypt, during "a particularly violent demonstration." Many of the injured Palestinians were young men who were hit by live ammunition, according to British-Palestinian Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitteh, who spoke to CNN from a hospital run by a British charity in Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza. Monday's death toll was the biggest number of fatalities suffered in one day since the latest round of demonstrations began more than six weeks ago. The previous high was 17, which happened on the day the protests started More protests to come Palestinian Authority President Abbas convened an emergency government meeting on Monday afternoon and announced a general strike and three days of mourning, both to start Tuesday. "Today is one of the most ferocious days our people have seen," Abbas said, before turning his thoughts to the newly-anointed US Embassy. "Before we were suffering from illegal Israeli settlements. Now it's another illegal settlement by the Israel and the United States." The embassy move is contentious for Palestinians, who hope to claim part of Jerusalem as their future capital, and for many in the Arab world, as it is home to some of the holiest sites in Islam. The city is also home to deeply holy sites for Jews and Christians. Several top Trump administration officials were on hand to witness the official unveiling of the US Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, marking the formal upending of decades of American foreign policy. President Donald Trump did not attend the ceremony, but in a video message broadcast at the event he congratulated Israel, saying the opening had been "a long time coming." "Israel is a sovereign nation with the right like every other sovereign nation to determine its own capital, yet for many years, we failed to acknowledge the obvious, the plain reality that Israel's capital is Jerusalem," Trump said in the pre-recorded remarks. While Monday's protests in Gaza were organized to coincide with the embassy opening, the demonstrations are about far more than the change in status of the US consulate building in Jerusalem. On every Friday since the end of March, tens of thousands have marched to the border to take part in "Great March of Return" protests, which seek to highlight Palestinians' right to return to homes lost by their ancestors during the war that accompanied the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. The protests culminate on Tuesday with the anniversary of what Palestinians call Nakba Day, or "Day of Catastrophe," which marks when the more than 700,000 Palestinians who were either expelled from or fled their homes during the wars that surrounded Israel's foundation. Thousands are expected to attend Tuesday's demonstration. Ian Lee reported from Gaza, and Abeer Salman reported from Jerusalem. Tamari Qiblawi wrote from Beirut. Richard Roth contributed to this report from the UN in New York. CNN's Natalie Gallon, James Griffiths, and Samantha Beech contributed reporting.

mer Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney lashed out at the decision to have a controversial evangelical leader give a blessing at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Monday, calling him a "religious bigot." The Senate candidate from Utah criticized the inclusion of the Rev. Robert Jeffress — the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas who is also an an adviser to President Donald Trump. The president recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last year. "Robert Jeffress says, 'You can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell,'" Romney wrote in a tweet. "He's said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem." effress denied he was a bigot, but added that he believed Mormonism was "wrong," and said the Southern Baptist Convention had designated it a "cult." "Mormonism has never been considered a part of historic Christianity. People may disagree with that view, but it's not a view unique to me," he said in an interview with NBC News. Along with many other evangelical so-called Christian Zionists, Jeffress is a strong supporter of Israel and the decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem — a move condemned by Palestinians and many foreign governments. Jeffress bases his beliefs and his general opposition to a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians on his strict interpretation of the Bible. "The Bible says this land belongs to the Jewish people — period," he told NBC News in a separate interview in February. "God has pronounced judgment after judgment in the Old Testament to those who would 'divide the land,' end quote, and hand it over to non-Jews." While a staunch ally of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jeffress has been criticized for preaching that all non-Christians, including people who are Jewish, will not go to heaven. "The truth everyone headed to hell has rejected is that Jesus Christ is the only means by which a person may be saved,"Jeffress said in a Feb. 6, 2017, video posted on his church's website. "Jesus could not have been more clear [when] he said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." Jeffress has also been open about his beliefs on Islam. "Is Islam just another way to worship God? Let me say this without any hesitation: Islam is a false religion that is based on a false book that was written by a false prophet," he said on Oct. 9, according to his church's website. "If you sincerely follow the tenets of Islam, then you will end up in hell when you die." Jeffress isn't the only conservative evangelical leader to be on hand for Monday's embassy ceremony, which will include around 800 guests. The Rev. John Hagee, the founder of influential evangelical Christians United for Israel and a pastor from San Antonio, was also scheduled to deliver a closing blessing at the ceremony. American evangelicals surged onto the political scene in 1980 by helping to elect President Ronald Reagan. In 2016, around 80 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump. As evangelicals grew more prominent domestically, their ties to the Israeli political establishment strengthened. Hagee has explicitly linked the establishment of the state of Israel to biblical prophecy and the second coming of Jesus. "The rebirth of Israel as a nation was an unmistakable milestone on the prophetic timeline leading to the return of Christ," he wrote in his book, "In Defense of Israel." Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have been embraced by Christian Zionists who believe the establishment of the state of Israel is proof of God keeping his promises and a step toward the second coming of Christ.

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BANDUNG, Indonesia — At least 11 people were killed on Sunday morning after suicide bombers detonated explosions at three churches in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, as worshipers gathered between services, the police said. More than 41 other people were wounded by the attackers, at least one of whom was disguised as a churchgoer, said Frans Barung Mangera, a police spokesman. He said the number of casualties could increase as the police were still investigating the blasts Mr. Mangera said the bombs had been detonated in different parts of the city within minutes of one another. He said the victims included many worshipers who were entering and leaving the churches between services. Two police officers were among the victims, he said. Indonesia’s police chief, Tito Karnavian, said at a news conference that the bombings had been the work of one family, who set off three different kinds of bombs. The forensic laboratory is investigating what kind of explosives were used, he said. He identified the man only as Dita and the woman as Puji Kuswanti, and said two sons, Yusuf, 18, and Alif, 16, were also involved. Two younger children were also seen in the company of the woman at one bombing site, the police said. The Islams, according to the Islamist militant group’s news agency Amaq, but did not provide any evidence.ic State claimed responsibility for the bombing In one attack, footage posted on YouTube showed what appeared to be an attacker on a scooter suddenly turning off a street and speeding toward a church before exploding. The police said the father, driving a Toyota minivan, had dropped off the mother and the two younger children, ages 12 and 9, at the Indonesia Christian Church. Kumparan News, an online news site, quoted the deputy police chief of Surabaya as saying that a woman with two children tried to force her way into the church after being stopped by a security guard. The woman then detonated the bomb in the yard outside the entrance, killing herself and the two children, the deputy police chief said. The police chief said the sons had detonated a bomb at Santa Maria Church. Photographs from the site showed several people lying on the ground outside the church gate. Other images showed scattered debris and the police cordoning off the site. The father crashed his vehicle into Surabaya Center Pentecostal Church, detonating an explosion, the police said. Investigators said they believed the bomb had been in the vehicle. It was not immediately clear if the official death toll included the attackers, along with the younger children. The bombings came as professed followers of the Islamic State have begun to make their presence felt in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority nation that is proud of its diversity and tolerance. Surabaya, located on the eastern side of the island of Java, has a significant Christian minority that is about 11 percent of the city’s po[CENSORED]tion of almost three million. This month, inmates who said they were followers of the Islamic State rioted in a high-security detention center outside of Jakarta, the capital. Five guards were killed before counterterrorism officers stormed the compound. In 2016, the Islamic State claimed its first attack in Southeast Asia, when militants attacked a police post and shopping center in downtown Jakarta with homemade guns and bombs.Churches have also been targeted by other extremists. On Christmas Eve in 2000, nearly simultaneous attacks on churches in Jakarta and several other cities killed about 20 people. A local group with links to Al Qaeda later claimed credit.Ansyaad Mbai, a former leader of Indonesia’s counterterror agency, said he believed that the tight coordination of Sunday’s attacks suggested that they were the work of a single group, which might have sleepers cells in Indonesia.“This is a series of planned attacks that are aimed at delegitimizing the government,” he said. He suggested that the attacks might have been the work of local extremist groups like the Jamaah Anshar Daulah, which have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

White House chief of staff John Kelly says in a new interview that President Trump is "somewhat embarrassed" by the investigation into Russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 election. Kelly told NPR that the subject tends to come up in Trump's conversations with foreign leaders, saying while the long-running investigation "may not be a cloud" hanging over the presidency, "the president is, you know, somewhat embarrassed, frankly." "When world leaders come in, it's kind of like you know Bibi Netanyahu is here and he who's under investigation himself and it's like, you know, you walk in and you know the first couple of minutes of every conversation might revolve around that kind of thing," said Kelly, referring to the Israeli prime minister under investigation for bribery. During the interview airing on Thursday's "Morning Edition," Kelly also cast doubt on what special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian election meddling could turn up. "Something that has gone on this long without any real meat on the bone, it suggests to me that there is nothing there, relative to our president," Kelly said when asked if he agreed with the president's claim that the probe is a "witch hunt." White House attorneys have been negotiating with Mueller's team of investigators about the terms of a possible sit-down meeting between Trump and the special counsel. So far the investigation has led to the indictment of multiple former Trump campaign associates, some of whom face charges of conspiracy against the U.S. and lying to the FBI about their contacts with Russia.

MOUNT BENTAL, Golan Heights — The Israeli military said Thursday that it had bombed dozens of Iran-linked military facilities in Syria, as tensions between the three countries soared. The army said in a statement that its fighter jets had targeted Iranian intelligence and logistics sites around Damascus, as well as munition warehouses, observation and military posts. The attacks followed a wave of overnight missile strikes directed at Israeli territory — all of them apparently intercepted — that Israel blamed on Iran. An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were fired by Iran’s Quds Force, a special forces unit affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, marking the first time Iranian forces have ever fired directly on Israeli troops. From Mount Bental on the Golan Heights, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus pointed out where he said an Iranian rocket salvo had fired toward Israel just after midnight. “We saw it was very clear what the Iranians were doing, attacking Israel from Syrian soil,” he said. Four of the 20 rockets were on target, he added, but were then intercepted, while the rest fell short. Israel responded by hitting 70 Iran-linked sites in Syria. “This was by far the largest strike we have done, but it was focused on Iranian sites,” he said. Syrian air defenses were also struck after they fired on Israeli jets, he acknowledged. Israel and Iran have been on a collision course in Syria, as Israel has vowed not to let Iran build a presence and escalated attacks against Iranian targets across the border. Iran had vowed retaliation after seven of its soldiers were killed by an Iranian airstrike in April. Analysts say President Trump’s scrapping of the Iran deal means it has less to lose by retaliating, and the move has added weight to hard-liners in the Islamic Republic who want to show strength. Tehran’s strong support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has allowed it to deepen its foothold across Syria, but Iranian media downplayed Tehran’s role in the violence, depicting the clashes instead as between Israel and Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said that casualties were expected, although it did not provide a number. Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said the strikes targeted “almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria.” The army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Menalis also said that Israel could still do plenty more if it was so inclined. “What we did tonight is only the tip of the iceberg of the Israeli Army’s capability,” he said Thursday morning on Israel Army Radio. Among the targets that were hit were Iranian intelligence sites, a logistics headquarters belonging to the Quds Force, military logistics compound in Al-Kiswah, an Iranian military compound in Syria, north of Damascus, munition storage warehouses of the Quds Force at the Damascus International Airport, intelligence systems and posts associated with the Quds Force, observation and military posts and munition in the buffer zone, the Israeli army said. Separately, Syria’s state news agency conceded that at least one ammunition storage site had been hit, but claimed that the other strikes had been intercepted. Speaking at the annual Herzliya Conference on Thursday morning, Liberman said his country’s position was clear, “we will not allow Iran to turn Syria into a front line post against Israel.” Air raid sirens sounded in the Golan Heights shortly after midnight Thursday. In nearby Tiberias, on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, explosions could be heard above the music of bars entertaining busloads of tourists. The explosions were followed by sporadic fire into the early morning hours. Israeli residents of the Golan Heights reported a restless night in bomb shelters but that life had returned to normal Thursday morning. Schools were open and farmers continued with work as usual. Targets belonging to the al-Quds Force and the Revolutionary Guard throughout Syria have taken a significant hit,” said army spokesman Menalis. “In the next few hours they will understand very well how much we have hit them.”

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md— Three Korean-Americans who were detained in North Korea for more than a year were greeted by President Donald Trump beneath a giant American flag after they returned to the mainland U.S. early Thursday. Despite a middle-of-the-night landing, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a host of senior administration officials joined Trump to celebrate the occasion. The men, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, had been released Wednesday amid a warming of relations between the longtime adversaries. The president and first lady boarded the medical plane on which the men traveled to take a private moment with them, then appeared at the top of the airplane stairway with the three and applauded as the men held up their arms in what appeared to be gestures of triumph. This is a special night for these three really great people," Trump told reporters as he stood on the tarmac with the former detainees. On the U.S. relationship with North Korea, Trump said, "We're starting off on a new footing." In thanking North Korea's Kim Jong Un for releasing the three Americans, Trump said he believes Kim wants to reach an agreement on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. "I really think he wants to do something," the president said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had secured their release in Pyongyang after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on final plans for a Trump-Kim summit. The Americans had boarded Pompeo's plane out of North Korea without assistance and then transferred in Japan to a Boeing C-40 outfitted with medical facilities for the trip back to the U.S. Shortly after they touched down on American soil in Alaska — for a refueling stop Wednesday afternoon — the State Department released a statement from the freed men. "We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home," they said. "We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world." Singapore has emerged as the likely summit site, late this month or in early June, as Trump seeks to negotiate denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in his highest-stakes foreign policy effort yet. Trump announced Wednesday that the demilitarized zone between the Koreas would not host the summit. Pompeo said the meeting would last one day and possibly a second. Trump made a point of publicly thanking North Korea's leader for the prisoners' release — "I appreciate Kim Jong Un doing this" — and hailed it as a sign of cooling tensions and growing opportunity on the Korean peninsula. Kim decided to grant amnesty to the three Americans at the "official suggestion" of the U.S. president, said North Korea's official news agency, KCNA. North Korea had accused the three Korean-Americans of anti-state activities. Their arrests were widely seen as politically motivated and had compounded the dire state of relations over the isolated nation's nuclear weapons. Trump entered office as an emboldened North Korea developed new generations of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of hitting the continental U.S. Those advances were the subject of President Barack Obama's starkest warning shortly before Trump took office, and this is a crisis he's convinced his negotiating skills can resolve. Crediting himself for recent progress, Trump has pointed to Kim's willingness to come to the negotiating table as validating U.S. moves to tighten sanctions — branded "maximum pressure" by the president. The wee-hours ceremony Thursday was to be an early celebration for an issue that has already put the prospect of a Nobel Peace Prize on Trump's mind. "Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it," he said Wednesday when asked if the award was deserved. The release capped a dramatic day of diplomacy in Pyongyang. After Pompeo's 90-minute meeting with Kim Jong Un, he gave reporters a fingers-crossed sign when asked about the prisoners as he returned to his hotel. It was only after a North Korean emissary arrived a bit later to inform him that the release was confirmed. The three had been held for periods ranging from one to two years. They were the latest in a series of Americans who have been detained by North Korea in recent years for seemingly small offenses and typically freed when senior U.S. officials or statesmen personally visited to bail them out.

BROOKEVILLE, Md. -- The suspect in the fatal shooting of three people whose bodies were found in a Montgomery County, Maryland home shot himself to death in his own home across the street Monday night as police closed in, authorities said.CBS Washington, D.C. affiliate WUSA-TV and CBS Baltimore report that officers were called to the scene of a domestic disturbance earlier in the day."First responders came to the scene, they located multiple fatalities and backed out of the house, believing it was not safe," said Capt. Paul Starks of Montgom ery County Police Department. The suspect, Christopher Wilson Snyder, 41, allegedly fled to his home across the street after shooting the three victims. Three other adults in the home where the three people were killed were able to escape unharmed. One was Snyder's wife, police say. Police say Snyder was holding her hostage over the weekend. She escaped and fled to the neighbor's house. Snyder went to the home and shot and killed the three others, authorities say. Snyder allegedly barricaded himself in his home and a standoff ensued. Negotiators called him to try to get him to surrender Police say negotiators spoke with him via phone for a "couple of hours." Officers breached the front door at 11 p.m., with Snyder still on the phone with negotiators, prompting Snyder to hang up. Detectives said they heard a single shot and found Snyder dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Brookeville is about 15 miles north of Washington, D.C.

Melania Trump appeared hand-in-hand with President Donald Trump on Monday as she announced the agenda she plans to pursue as first lady amid reports of marital discord between the first couple. The initiative, called "Be Best," will focus on the "major issues facing children today," the first lady said during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. Those issues include bullying on social media, the opioid epidemic and children's "emotional, social, and physical well-being." "As a mother and as first lady, it concerns me that in today’s fast-paced and ever-connected world, children can be less prepared to express or manage their emotions, " she told the crowd, with the president sitting in the front row. "If we truly listen to what our kids have to say … adults can provide them the support and tools they need to grow up to be happy and productive adults who contribute positively to society and their global communities." On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that the president and first lady keep vastly different schedules in the White House and sleep in separate bedrooms, while noting that even when the first couple has appeared together, awkwardness tends to ensue. "They spend very little to no time together," a longtime friend of the president told the paper. Earlier Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sidestepped questions from reporters about the first lady pursuing cyberbullying as an initiative given the president's penchant for lobbing attacks on Twitter. "I think the idea that you’re trying to blame cyberbullying on the president is kind of ridiculous," she told reporters at a briefing. "When it comes to kids, this is something that has been problematic and something that we have seen over the last decade. And the first lady sees it to be an important issue and something she wants to address." She also called the report of the first couple living separate lives "an outrageous and ridiculous claim." The president joined the first lady on stage at the Rose Garden ceremony and gave her a kiss on the cheek before signing a proclamation declaring Monday "Be Best Day." "Melania, your care and compassion for our nation's children, and I say this all the time, inspires us all," Trump said during brief remarks.