US would ‘absolutely’ welcome Australian naval operations in South China Sea, general says

The United States has told Australia in the clearest terms yet that it would like Australia to participate in naval and air shows of strength that challenge China's claim over artificial islands. The commander of US Marines in the Pacific, Lieutenant General David Berger, said during a visit to Canberra on Friday that each country had to make its own decisions but the US would "absolutely" welcome Australia taking part in so-called freedom-of-navigation operations.

U.S. Evacuates Multiple Employees From Chinese Consulate Over Mysterious Illness

The U.S. State Department has sent "a number of individuals" from the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China back to the U.S. after screenings showed they may have been affected by mysterious health problems similar to what diplomats experienced in Cuba. Two weeks ago, the agency said one government employee in Guangzhou experienced "vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure," similar to the unexplained incidents - sometimes described as "sonic attacks" - that recently sickened staffers in Cuba.

Native Americans cheer chance of Congress milestone as first woman advances in primary

Deb Haaland, a Democratic candidate for Congress for central New Mexico's open seat and a tribal member of the Laguna Pueblo, speaks at her Albuquerque home on Wednesday. New Mexico, a state with deep historical ties to Native Americans, moved closer this week to electing the nation's first Native American woman to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Nation’s 1st Somali-American lawmaker eyes seat in Congress Source: AP

Ilhan Omar escaped her war-torn homeland of Somalia as a child and grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp before immigrating to the United States as a preteen. She learned English by watching American television.

Primaries in 8 States on Tuesday: 6 Things to Keep in Mind

Eight states are casting midterm primary ballots on Tuesday, with outcomes that could help determine control of the U.S. House and Senate and decide several governor's races. Here are six things to keep in mind as primaries are being held in Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota: 1. California is a jungle: There are no party primaries in California, with voters instead choosing among all candidates on one ballot, with the top two vote-getters advancing to November regardless of party.

Gerald Ford: The accidental president who wore power lightly

Within 17 days in the autumn of 1975 - first in Sacramento, then in San Francisco - two separate handgun-wielding women attempted to assassinate the president. Had either succeeded, and each was close enough to have done so, the nation would have had a third president in 14 months, and a second consecutive one who had never been on a national ticket.

Navajos commemorate anniversary of 1868 treaty

In this May 12, 2015, file photo, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, right, and vice president Jonathan Nez receive blessings during their inauguration ceremony at Fighting Scouts Events Center in Fort Defiance, Ariz. The Navajo leaders and others on Friday, June 1, 2018, commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Navajo Treaty of 1868, which allowed for the Navajo people to return to their the homeland in the Four Corners region of the Southwest after being held for years by the United States in eastern New Mexico.

Trump’s trade agenda hits reality check

President Donald Trump's hard-line views on trade, a staple of his message long before he entered politics, are beginning to collide with the cold realities of global geopolitics. Trade talks on China and the North American Free Trade Agreement have hit stumbling blocks, posing a challenge for a president who vowed to make trade deals more equitable for the United States during his 2016 campaign and who famously tweeted that trade wars are "easy to win."

Trump’s trade agenda runs into reality of global geopolitics

President Donald Trump's hard-line views on trade, a staple of his message long before he entered politics, are beginning to collide with the cold realities of global geopolitics. Trade talks on China and the North American Free Trade Agreement have hit stumbling blocks, posing a challenge for a president who vowed to make trade deals more equitable for the United States during his 2016 campaign and who famously tweeted that trade wars are "easy to win."

James Clapper: Kim Jong Un ‘May Have Met His Match’ With ‘Unconventional’ Trump

State of the Union and said he supports President Donald Trump 's cancellation of his summit with Kim Jong Un - adding that the North Korean leader may have "met his match" in the U.S. president. In an interview with Dana Bash , Clapper spoke on the letter Trump sent to Kim declaring the cancellation of a planned summit between the two leaders, originally slated for June 12. Nonetheless, Trump said on Sunday that the meeting could be back on.

The Latest: So far, lava has destroyed 82 Hawaii structures

In this May 24, 2018 photo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, lava erupts from a fissure in the Leilani Estates neighborhood near Pahoa on the island of Hawaii. Three lava flows from eruptions of Kilauea volcano are now flowing into the ocean off Hawaii's Big Island.

Hawaii helicopter evacuation readied as new lava stream hits ocean

A third lava flow from Hawaii's erupting Kilauea volcano streamed into the ocean on Thursday as U.S. Marines Corps helicopters stood by to evacuate a Big Island community should molten rock or huge cracks block its final escape route. Six huge fissures sent rivers of molten rock through a blackened, volcanic wilderness that was once jungle, farmland and rural homes.

Analysis: Trump misses NAFTA deadline, brags about negotiating skills

President Donald Trump on Thursday missed House Speaker Paul Ryan's deadline for a new North American trade deal, cast doubt on prospects for averting a trade war with China hours before meeting a top Chinese official, and bragged about his negotiating skills. All in all, it was just another day in the president's ongoing effort to remake U.S. trade policy.

A Cartoonist Captures Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Very Royal Wedding

If you were watching the royal wedding on Saturday, you weren't alone-funnily enough, millions of others around the world were also watching. Isn't it amazing what cameras and TV and the Internet can do? Will McPhail , a cartoonist for The New Yorker , was using some of the aforementioned technologies to watch, too, and all the while live-drawing wonderful scenes from the whole affair.

Expanding the market region

The Petersen-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System tracker has a really interesting graphic on the average price paid for full knee replacements in metropolitan statistical areas in 2016 by large group insurers. There is wild variation: One of the first things I think about here is the possibility of regional trade.

Exploring the Chinese Exclusion Act, a racist stain on the American dream

More than a century before US President Donald Trump began blocking arrivals from the Middle East and Africa, the American immigration debate was already being forged in the crucible of Chinese exclusion. On May 6, 1882 - the eve of the greatest wave of immigration in US history - president Chester A. Arthur signed a history-making yet little-known piece of legislation called the Chinese Exclusion Act.