USA

WASHINGTON, August 27. /TASS/. The United States’ sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s alleged involvement in poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia come into effect on Monday.

The US State Department claimed that by using lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals Russia had violated the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991.

WASHINGTON, August 27. /TASS/. Washington’s new sanctions against Moscow bring the US closer to the point of no return in resolving current international issues with Russia. Besides, such measures are fruitless and futile, the message published on Monday by the Russian Embassy in Washington states.

Despite a strong economy, about 40 percent of American families struggled to meet at least one of their basic needs last year, including paying for food, health care, housing or utilities.

That’s according to an Urban Institute survey of nearly 7,600 adults that found that the difficulties were most prevalent among adults with lower incomes or health issues. But it also revealed that people from all walks of life were running into similar hardships.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Police in the Florida city of Jacksonville said Sunday a mass shooting has led to multiple fatalities, and the lone shooter is dead at the scene.

"Multiple fatalities at the scene, many transported," the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said on twitter, following up on earlier reports of the shooting in Jacksonville Landing, a downtown market place.

The police said that one suspect, a white male, has been killed, and that after thorough search of the shooting scene it was determined that the shooter acted alone.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior U.S. Navy official said Friday that the U.S. 2nd Fleet will expand its operation space past the Arctic Circle and reach close to Russia.

"A new 2nd Fleet increases our strategic flexibility to respond - from the Eastern Seaboard to the Barents Sea," Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson said aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush, which is currently at Norfolk in the U.S. state of Virginia.

Washington, Aug 24 (AP) US and Chinese negotiators ended two days of meetings without breaking a deadlock over trade that has unnerved financial markets and disrupted global commerce.

The delegations "exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance and reciprocity in the economic relationship," Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement. She did not mention further talks.

A Chinese Commerce Ministry statement said the talks were "constructive and frank" but gave no details. It said the two sides would "maintain contact."

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The 67th United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference kicked off Wednesday, bringing together some 2,000 representatives from over 300 non-governmental organizations to discuss issues of global concern.

Alison Smale, under secretary-general for global communications, UN Department of Public Information, said stronger links to civil society provide the greatest chance for dealing with global problems that no country can solve alone.

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON; 22 Aug 2018; AA: Inmates in at least 17 U.S. states on Tuesday began one of the largest prison strikes in U.S. history.

The strike, which is scheduled to last until Sept. 9, is being led by inmates of the legal group Jailhouse Lawyers Speak.

The group said prisoners will take part in work strikes, sit-ins, and hunger strikes.

On the eve of renewing talks to try to defuse the spiraling trade dispute with China, the US Commerce Department hit the country with import duties of 132 percent on metal pipe.

Commerce said China was selling the large diameter welded pipe used in the oil and gas industry far below the fair price, and that dumping harms US industry, according to the preliminary decision.

US imports of the pipe from China last year totaled $180 million.

22 Aug 2018; AFP: Donald Trump stood accused of conspiring to commit campaign finance fraud and two of his closest aides faced jail time Tuesday, after court proceedings delivered a legal and political one-two punch to his embattled presidency.

In a drama that played out simultaneously across two US cities, a court found one former aide guilty of eight charges -- and the other pleaded guilty to another eight -- stemming from the federal investigation into the 2016 presidential election.