News in Brief
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. President Donald Trump late Friday declined to issue quotas for domestic uranium production but instead ordered a new 90-day review by a group of federal agencies.
Trump said in a written memorandum he did not concur with a U.S. Commerce Department investigation that found uranium imports threaten to impair U.S. national security.
Trump wrote that while findings "raise significant concerns” he was ordering a deeper review. "A fuller analysis of national security considerations with respect to the entire nuclear fuel supply chain is necessary at this time.”
The United States sourced just 7% of its uranium domestically in 2017, with most of the rest coming from Canada, Australia and Russia, according to the Energy Information Administration.
U.S. uranium mining firms, as well as more than two dozen western state lawmakers, have argued that nuclear generators rely heavily on countries such as Russia, China and Kazakhstan for uranium supply from their state-owned companies, who flood the market.
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LONDON (Reuters) -- Senior British politicians, including both contenders to be the next prime minister, joined journalists in criticizing police for warning media not to publish leaked government documents, saying it was a "dangerous road to tread”.
Last week, a Sunday newspaper published leaked memos from Britain’s Washington ambassador that provoked a serious diplomatic spat with U.S. President Donald Trump and ultimately led to the envoy announcing his resignation.
Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, Neil Bas, said on Friday police would investigate who was responsible but also warned journalists and publishers they too could be in breach of the law if further documents were leaked.
"I would advise all owners, editors and publishers of social and mainstream media not to publish leaked government documents that may already be in their possession, or which may be offered to them, and to turn them over to the police or give them back to their rightful owner, Her Majesty’s Government,” Bas said.
His comments provoked anger and criticism from journalists, editors and politicians who said it risked infringing the freedom of the press
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KIEV (Reuters) -- Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday they were investigating an attack on a Kiev television station owned by an opposition election candidate, which caused damage but injured no one.
An unknown assailant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the 112 TV channel building in western Kiev at 0340 a.m. (0040 GMT), police said in a statement, adding the incident was being investigated as "an act of terrorism”.
"Policemen are looking for the attacker...There were no injured,” the statement said.
112 TV aired footage of the damaged front building banner, a broken window and crumbling plaster inside.
Former supporters of pro-Moscow ex-president Viktor Yanukovich, who oppose Ukraine’s integration with the West, often appear as speakers on 112 TV. Yanukovich fled to Russia in 2014 following street protests against his rule.
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MANILA (Reuters) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took a swipe at Iceland on Friday for spearheading a UN resolution to investigate his bloody war on drugs, saying it was a nation made entirely of ice, with no understanding of his country’s problems.
"What is the problem of Iceland? - Ice only. That is your problem. You have too much ice and there is no clear day and night there,” he said in a rambling speech to corrections department officials.
"So you can understand why there is no crime, no policeman either, and they just go about eating ice.
"They don’t understand the social, economic, political problems of the Philippines.”
The resolution on the Philippines, led by Iceland, was adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday by a vote of 18 countries in favor and 14 against, with 15 abstentions.
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MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Police on Saturday labeled New Zealand’s first firearms buy-back event a success, after 169 individuals handed in 224 prohibited firearms in the city of Christchurch.
It comes four months after the country’s worst peacetime mass shooting, which killed 51 people and injured dozens in attacks on two mosques in the city.
The event was the first of 258 planned until the end of the year, to compensate owners of powerful, but newly banned, semi-automatic weapons following the attacks.
The attitude of firearm owners who participated was "outstanding,” police official Mike Johnson said in a statement.
"They have really engaged in the process here today and we have had positive feedback,” he added.
One gun owner, who sought anonymity, told the New Zealand Herald newspaper he was happy with the NZ$13,000 ($8,697) he received for his semi-automatic hunting firearm, despite initial doubts.
***
HONG KONG (Reuters) -- Hong Kong police appealed to protesters on Saturday to refrain from violence and leave the area after scuffles in the town of Sheung Shui, where thousands of demonstrators had converged earlier in the day to protest against mainland Chinese traders.
The police made the announcement in a post on their website and in a message read out on television.
The protest in Sheung Shui, not far from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, started peacefully but devolved into skirmishes, with demonstrators throwing umbrellas and hard hats at police who retaliated by swinging batons and firing pepper spray.
Trump said in a written memorandum he did not concur with a U.S. Commerce Department investigation that found uranium imports threaten to impair U.S. national security.
Trump wrote that while findings "raise significant concerns” he was ordering a deeper review. "A fuller analysis of national security considerations with respect to the entire nuclear fuel supply chain is necessary at this time.”
The United States sourced just 7% of its uranium domestically in 2017, with most of the rest coming from Canada, Australia and Russia, according to the Energy Information Administration.
U.S. uranium mining firms, as well as more than two dozen western state lawmakers, have argued that nuclear generators rely heavily on countries such as Russia, China and Kazakhstan for uranium supply from their state-owned companies, who flood the market.
***
LONDON (Reuters) -- Senior British politicians, including both contenders to be the next prime minister, joined journalists in criticizing police for warning media not to publish leaked government documents, saying it was a "dangerous road to tread”.
Last week, a Sunday newspaper published leaked memos from Britain’s Washington ambassador that provoked a serious diplomatic spat with U.S. President Donald Trump and ultimately led to the envoy announcing his resignation.
Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, Neil Bas, said on Friday police would investigate who was responsible but also warned journalists and publishers they too could be in breach of the law if further documents were leaked.
"I would advise all owners, editors and publishers of social and mainstream media not to publish leaked government documents that may already be in their possession, or which may be offered to them, and to turn them over to the police or give them back to their rightful owner, Her Majesty’s Government,” Bas said.
His comments provoked anger and criticism from journalists, editors and politicians who said it risked infringing the freedom of the press
***
KIEV (Reuters) -- Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday they were investigating an attack on a Kiev television station owned by an opposition election candidate, which caused damage but injured no one.
An unknown assailant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the 112 TV channel building in western Kiev at 0340 a.m. (0040 GMT), police said in a statement, adding the incident was being investigated as "an act of terrorism”.
"Policemen are looking for the attacker...There were no injured,” the statement said.
112 TV aired footage of the damaged front building banner, a broken window and crumbling plaster inside.
Former supporters of pro-Moscow ex-president Viktor Yanukovich, who oppose Ukraine’s integration with the West, often appear as speakers on 112 TV. Yanukovich fled to Russia in 2014 following street protests against his rule.
***
MANILA (Reuters) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took a swipe at Iceland on Friday for spearheading a UN resolution to investigate his bloody war on drugs, saying it was a nation made entirely of ice, with no understanding of his country’s problems.
"What is the problem of Iceland? - Ice only. That is your problem. You have too much ice and there is no clear day and night there,” he said in a rambling speech to corrections department officials.
"So you can understand why there is no crime, no policeman either, and they just go about eating ice.
"They don’t understand the social, economic, political problems of the Philippines.”
The resolution on the Philippines, led by Iceland, was adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday by a vote of 18 countries in favor and 14 against, with 15 abstentions.
***
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Police on Saturday labeled New Zealand’s first firearms buy-back event a success, after 169 individuals handed in 224 prohibited firearms in the city of Christchurch.
It comes four months after the country’s worst peacetime mass shooting, which killed 51 people and injured dozens in attacks on two mosques in the city.
The event was the first of 258 planned until the end of the year, to compensate owners of powerful, but newly banned, semi-automatic weapons following the attacks.
The attitude of firearm owners who participated was "outstanding,” police official Mike Johnson said in a statement.
"They have really engaged in the process here today and we have had positive feedback,” he added.
One gun owner, who sought anonymity, told the New Zealand Herald newspaper he was happy with the NZ$13,000 ($8,697) he received for his semi-automatic hunting firearm, despite initial doubts.
***
HONG KONG (Reuters) -- Hong Kong police appealed to protesters on Saturday to refrain from violence and leave the area after scuffles in the town of Sheung Shui, where thousands of demonstrators had converged earlier in the day to protest against mainland Chinese traders.
The police made the announcement in a post on their website and in a message read out on television.
The protest in Sheung Shui, not far from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, started peacefully but devolved into skirmishes, with demonstrators throwing umbrellas and hard hats at police who retaliated by swinging batons and firing pepper spray.