The Trump administration moved Thursday to make permanent a new questionnaire that asks some U.S. visa applicants to provide their social media handles and detailed biographical and travel history, according to a public notice. The questionnaire was rolled out in May as part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the United States, and asks for all prior passport numbers, five years’ worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers and 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history. A State Department official declined to provide data on how many times the form had been used or which nationalities had been asked to fill it out since May, only stating that it estimates 65,000 visa applicants per year “will present a threat profile” that warrants the extra screening. Campaign pledge President Donald Trump ran for office in 2016 pledging to crack down …

Attorney General Jeff Sessions took new steps Thursday to punish cities he believes are not cooperating with federal immigration agents in a move that was met with bewilderment by local officials who said they did not know why they were being singled out. The Justice Department sent letters to four cities struggling with gun violence, telling them they would not be eligible for a program that provides money to combat drug trafficking and gang crime unless they give federal immigration authorities access to jails and notify agents before releasing inmates wanted on immigration violations. Latest threat Baltimore, Albuquerque, and Stockton and San Bernardino in California all expressed interest in the Justice Department’s Public Safety Partnership, which enlists federal agents, analysts and technology to help communities find solutions to crime. “By taking simple, commonsense considerations into account, we are encouraging every jurisdiction in this country to cooperate with federal law enforcement,” …

A Senate committee approved legislation Thursday that would suspend U.S. financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends what lawmakers said is a long-standing practice of rewarding Palestinians who kill Americans and Israelis.   Members of the Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-4 to pass the measure, sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and the committee chairman, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.   Corker said the Palestinian Authority has “enshrined in law” a system that creates a monetary incentive for acts of terrorism by paying monthly stipends of as much as $3,500 to Palestinians who commit acts of violence and to their families. The amount of the payment depends on the length of the jail sentence they receive for the crime, he said.   “This is sick,” Corker said.   Husam Zomlot, chief representative of the Palestinian General Delegation to the U.S., called the legislation “misinformed and counterproductive.” He …

The Trump administration has approved a $600 million sale of high-technology attack planes and equipment to Nigeria despite ongoing human rights concerns. The Pentagon said Thursday that the State Department had approved the sale and notified Congress, which has 30 days give its go-ahead. The deal includes 12 A-29 Super Tucano planes, which are described as light attack planes. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the aircraft would support Nigerian military operations against Boko Haram and Islamic State terrorists and monitor drug, weapons and human trafficking. “Nigeria is an important partner in the U.S. national security goal to defeat ISIS, including its branches in Africa, and this sale is part of the U.S. commitment to help Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin countries in that fight,” an agency statement said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. In the final days of his administration, former President Barack Obama …

Developments in Washington, D.C., on Thursday include President Donald Trump tweeting that the U.S.-Russia relationship is at a distinct low point, suggesting he may pressure China over trade and North Korea, the leaking of transcripts of contentious phone calls from January between the president and the leaders of Mexico and Australia, as well as a report that says Trump wants to fire U.S. general heading Afghanistan fight. Trump, Russia Agree: Relationship at Distinct Low Point — Trump blamed Congress Thursday for creating new tensions with Russia by approving sanctions against Moscow, and the Kremlin agreed the penalties would thwart improved relations. “Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low,” Trump said on his Twitter account, overlooking the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis a half century ago that brought the world to the brink of nuclear warfare. “You can thank Congress,” he said. In his …

U.S. President Donald Trump sparred with the leaders of Mexico and Australia in contentious phone calls shortly after he assumed power in January, newly leaked transcripts show. According to the documents, Trump demanded that Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto stop saying that Mexico would not pay for a wall that Trump wants built along the U.S.-Mexico border to thwart illegal immigration into the United States. During his months-long run for the White House, Trump vowed that he would make Mexico foot the bill. In a transcript of the January 27 call, published Thursday by The Washington Post, Trump told Peña Nieto, “If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.” At one point, Trump said, “I have to have Mexico pay for the wall — I …

Watching over his kids at a water fountain in Warren, Detroit’s largest suburb, Republican Jason Marchand says he approves of Trump — a president who has done things “that should have been done a long time ago” — and credits him for improvements in the auto industry. But he acknowledges that their views differ on the role of immigrants. “Everybody deserves to have a change of life and populate [the city of Detroit, Michigan] more. It wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Marchand told VOA. Yet Marchand, who is a mechanic, is just the kind of American worker – and voter – targeted by a new Senate bill. Rolled out at the White House, Wednesday, by President Donald Trump, the RAISE Act would cut legal immigration by 50%, part of Trump’s campaign promise to put America first. The measure, which was first introduced in February, would establish a point system for …

The current U.S. Congress is the most racially and ethnically diverse in history.  Nineteen percent of its members are racial minorities, according to the Pew Research Center, but only two Native Americans have seats in the House of Representatives. Republicans Thomas Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, and Markwayne Mullin, a member of the Cherokee Nation, are from Oklahoma and serve in the House. They are among eight Native Americans who ran in the November 2016 election. Native Americans and Alaska Natives account for two percent of the total U.S. population, but many analysts believe their representation should be greater, given that the federal government recognizes more than 560 tribes as separate and sovereign governments. History of exclusion “Part of the problem is that Native Americans were not granted citizenship until 1924, and it was left to individual states to decide whether “Indians” could vote or not,” said Walter …

U.S. President Donald Trump may soon attempt to increase pressure on China to change its trade practices and do more to stop North Korea’s weapons programs.   Reports in the financial press say President Trump may sign an order as soon as Friday to start an investigation of Chinese demands that foreign companies share technology secrets in exchange for access to the massive Chinese market.  That investigation could, eventually, lead to higher tariffs on Chinese-made products headed for the U.S. market, which is the world’s largest. Trade experts warn the action might violate U.S. commitments under the World Trade Organization.   U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recently wrote that China’s trade practices, including forced technology transfer, are unfair, hurt U.S. exports, and contribute to a $347 billion deficit in the trade in goods between the United States and China. As a presidential candidate, Trump harshly criticized China approach to commerce.  …

U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Congress Thursday for creating new tensions with Russia by approving sanctions against Moscow, and the Kremlin agreed the penalties would thwart improved relations. “Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low,” Trump said on his Twitter account, overlooking the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis a half century ago that brought the world to the brink of nuclear warfare. “You can thank Congress,” he said, describing lawmakers as “the same people that can’t even give us HCare!”, referring to the Senate’s failure last week to support his effort to dismantle the country’s health care law championed by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. Congress overwhelmingly voted for the sanctions and Trump, unwilling to risk having lawmakers override a veto, signed the legislation on Wednesday. It punishes Moscow for its interference in the 2016 U.S. election aimed at helping Trump win …

Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel that reaches homes through underground pipes. Unfortunately, older pipes often leak, wasting fuel and releasing unburned methane, a potent greenhouse gas. To find and measure leaks, Colorado scientists teamed up with the Environmental Defense Fund and Google Street View Cars to make “methane maps.” From Fort Collins, Colorado, Shelley Schlender reports. …

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission says its Induced Seismicity Department and the Oklahoma Geological Survey are investigating several earthquakes in the central part of the state. At least six quakes of magnitude 3.0 or stronger have struck since Tuesday in an area about 4 miles (6 kilometers) northeast of Edmond – about 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City.   The strongest was a magnitude 4.2 quake Wednesday night. It knocked out two electric substations, leaving about 1,900 customers without power for about an hour.   No injuries or significant damage are reported.   The injection of wastewater from oil and gas production into disposal wells has been linked to an uptick in earthquakes, but the commission said Thursday no disposal wells are in the area. A known fault is in the vicinity. …

President Donald Trump’s endorsement of legislation to restrict and reshape legal immigration is based on some shaky assumptions, such as the idea that low-wage green-card holders are flooding in to take jobs from Americans. Trump swung behind a bill from Republican Sens. David Purdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, calling it “the most significant reform to our immigration system in half a century” if made law.   A look at statements about the bill Wednesday: Trump: “The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers and puts great pressure on our taxpayers.” The Facts: That doesn’t reflect the weight of recent economic research.   Many economists dispute a major study, cited by the White House, that claims low-skilled immigrants hurt wages. Harvard economist George Borjas said the arrival of thousands of Cuban refugees in Miami in 1980 led to lower wages for existing low-skilled workers, but red …

Chinese and U.S. Naval ships are working together in the South China Sea, in a search and rescue mission for a missing American sailor, the military said in a statement Thursday. The sailor, whose name is being withheld, was reported missing from the USS Stethem destroyer around 9:00am local time Tuesday. The ship was “conducting routine operations” in the South China Sea at the time, according to a Navy statement. The Chinese Navy said it was joining American and Japanese search and rescue efforts “in the spirit of humanitarianism”. This is the Navy’s second effort to find a missing sailor in the Asia-Pacific region within the last two months. In June, a sailor on the guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh was reported missing off Okinawa, and a 50-hour search ensued. The sailor was discover days later hiding in one of the ship’s engineering spaces. Beijing claims most of the South China …

It’s going to be long week for the thousands of households in the U.S. Pacific Northwest without air-conditioning, as temperatures are expected to soar to record levels. Excessive heat warnings blanket the western third of Northern California, Oregon and Washington state. High temperatures just inland from coastal locations are forecast to soar to between 37 and 43 degrees Celsius. The National Weather Service slightly dialed back its forecast for Portland to match or break its record high of 41.7 degrees Celsius. Meteorologist David Bishop said the city is now looking at 40 degrees Celsius or 40.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and Thursday. Smoke from Canadian wildfires cut the heat but caused a thin haze in the morning sky.   “With little to no cloud cover at night, the higher temperatures kind of hang around a little bit,” Bishop said. That creates a cycle in which “the next day is going …

U.S. senators urging new congressional authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) in the Middle East and elsewhere made little headway convincing a skeptical Trump administration during closed-door discussions Wednesday, participants said. “There’s an unbridgeable difference between the administration and many members of this committee,” Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters as he emerged from a classified briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “They don’t believe they need an authorization. Many of us believe they do,” Murphy added. The U.S. campaign against Islamic State, begun under former President Barack Obama and intensified by President Donald Trump, is one of several that rely on Congress’ open-ended 2001 authorization to hunt down terrorists after the 9/11 attacks on the East Coast. Further use Over the last 16 years, that AUMF has been used as the legal basis for …

New U.S. public-opinion surveys show that President Donald Trump’s approval ratings, already the lowest ever for an American president early in his White House tenure, are continuing to fall. Quinnipiac University said Wednesday that Americans, by a 61-to-33 percent margin, disapprove of Trump’s performance six months into his four-year term in the White House. Gallup, with its three-day tracking average, said its latest surveys show the real estate mogul turned Republican politician has a 60-to-36 negative standing. Trump’s latest Quinnipiac approval rating is worse than the 55-to-40 percent disapproval mark recorded in its last survey in late June. The pollster said that Americans by a 54-to-26 percent margin said they are embarrassed rather than proud to have Trump as president. Nearly three out of five voters said they think Trump is abusing the powers of his office; asked if they believe the president thinks his authority supersedes U.S. law, they …