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TOP STORIES
White House says 'powerful' sanctions to remain on North Korea
WASHINGTON - The White House says its policy of tough sanctions on North Korea has not changed, days after U.S. President Donald Trump says he no longer wants to use the phrase "maximum pressure" to describe the campaign to press the North to give up its nuclear weapons. (NORTHKOREA-USA/SUMMIT (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved, 430 words)
+ See also:
- NORTHKOREA-USA/GURKHAS (PIX), moved, by Greg Torode and Dewey Sim, 703 words
- NORTHKOREA-USA/CONGRESS (UPDATE 2), moved, by Patricia Zengerle, 420 words
Mexico set to impose 20 pct tariff on U.S. pork legs -sources
MEXICO CITY - Mexico will impose a 20 percent tariff on U.S. pork imports, say two industry officials with direct knowledge of the plan, for the first time providing details of retaliatory measures against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium. (USA-TRADE/MEXICO-PORK (UPDATE 1, EXCLUSIVE, PIX), moved, by David Alire Garcia, 500 words)
+ See also:
- USA-TRADE/MEXICO (PIX), moved, by Anthony Esposito and Sharay Angulo, 500 words
- USA-TRADE/CANADA-STEEL (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by David Ljunggren, 440 words)
- USA-TRADE/MAPLESYRUP (PIX), moved, by Allison Martell, 490 words
- USA-TRADE/KOCH (PIX), moved, by Doina Chiacu and Caren Bohan, 510 words
Trump says has power to pardon himself; critics disagree
NEW YORK - U.S. President Donald Trump says he has committed no wrongdoing but has the "absolute" power to pardon himself, echoing sweeping arguments made by his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. (USA-TRUMP/RUSSIA (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Karen Freifeld, 750 words)
+ See also:
- USA-TRUMP/RUSSIA-MANAFORT (UPDATE 2), moved, 300 words
At delicate moment, U.S. weighs warship passage through Taiwan Strait
WASHINGTON - The United States is considering sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait, U.S. officials say, in a move that could provoke a sharp reaction from Beijing at a time when Sino-U.S. ties are under pressure from trade disputes and the North Korean nuclear crisis. (USA-TAIWAN/MILITARY (EXCLUSIVE), moved, by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali, 660 words)
ASIA
Australia criticises China pressure for Qantas to change website on Taiwan
SYDNEY - Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop criticises China for pressuring airline Qantas to change its website to refer to Taiwan as a Chinese territory, in comments likely to ramp up tension between the two countries. (AUSTRALIA-CHINA/QANTAS (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, by Colin Packham, 442 words)
Heir to Bhutto dynasty seeking revival in Pakistan's election
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's only major left-leaning political party is fighting for its electoral relevance and to preserve the legacy of the country's best-known political dynasty weeks before general elections. (PAKISTAN-ELECTION/PPP (PIX), moved, by Saad Sayeed, 962 words)
UNITED STATES
U.S. Supreme Court backs Christian baker who rebuffed gay couple
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court hands a victory on narrow grounds to a Colorado baker who refused based on his Christian beliefs to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, stopping short of setting a major precedent allowing people to claim religious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. (USA-COURT/BAKER (UPDATE 5, PIX), moved, by Lawrence Hurley, 990 words)
+ See also:
- FOOTBALL-NFL/ANTHEM-TRUMP (UPDATE 4), moved, 509 words
- USA-TRUMP/TWITTER/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by David Shepardson, 411 words
- USA-COURT/BAKER-POLL (POLL), moved, by Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley, 320 words
- USA-COURT/BAKER-ADOPTION (PIX), moved, by Lawrence Hurley, 750 words)
Property losses mount on Hawaii's Big Island as lava flow spreads
PAHOA, Hawaii - A river of lava spewing from the foot of Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano swallowed about three dozen more homes on the Big Island during a weekend of destruction that brought to nearly 120 the number of dwellings devoured since last month, officials say. (HAWAII-VOLCANO/ (PIX), moved, by Terray Sylvester, 550 words)
AMERICAS
Guatemalan families continue search for victims after volcano eruption
EL RODEO - The death toll from a volcanic eruption in Guatemala rises to 69 as families desperately searched for the missing in makeshift morgues and on streets blanketed with ash. (GUATEMALA-VOLCANO/ (UPDATE 4, PIX, TV), moved, by Luis Echeverria and Sofia Menchu, 620 words)
Pence to visit Brazil, Ecuador to discuss Venezuela crisis
WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Brazil and Ecuador at the end of June in an effort to strengthen trade and security ties with countries grappling with growing numbers of refugees fleeing Venezuela's economic crisis, his spokeswoman says. (VENEZUELA-POLITICS/PENCE (UPDATE 1, EXCLUSIVE), moved, by Roberta Rampton, 370 words)
Trade war turns Canada's G7 summit into six-plus-Trump
OTTAWA/WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plays host this week to a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations with six of seven members outraged at the United States over a slew of recent moves by President Donald Trump. (G7-SUMMIT/ (PREVIEW, PIX), moved, by David Ljunggren and Roberta Rampton, 610 words)
EUROPE
U.S. envoy's unorthodox diplomacy stirs stiff response in Berlin
BERLIN - Germany asks the U.S. government to clarify remarks by President Donald Trump's new ambassador to Berlin after he tells a right-wing website he wants to empower "other conservatives" in Europe. (GERMANY-USA/ (UPDATE 2, PIX), moved, by Andreas Rinke, 520 words)
MIDDLE EAST
Jordan's king replaces prime minister to subdue protests
AMMAN/DUBAI - Jordan's King Abdullah replaces his prime minister in a move to defuse the biggest protests in years, over IMF-backed reforms that have hit the poor. (JORDAN-PROTESTS/KING (UPDATE 9, PIX, TV), moved, by Ellen Francis and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, 800 words)
Iran to inform IAEA of start of process to boost uranium enrichment capacity -report
ANKARA - Iran will inform the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna on Tuesday over its start of a process to increase the country's uranium enrichment capacity, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi tells the ISNA news agency. (IRAN-NUCLEAR/ (UPDATE 2), by Parisa Hafezi, 334 words)
Aid groups want Macron's assurances on Yemen meet co-chaired by Saudis
PARIS - Almost 30 aid groups write to French President Emmanuel Macron threatening to shun a conference on Yemen co-chaired by Saudi Arabia, one of the warring parties, unless France as host ensures its aims were purely humanitarian, not political. (YEMEN-SECURITY/FRANCE, moved, by John Irish, 400 words)