Trump ratings highest in 11 months with 42% approval rate: CNN Poll

US President Donald Trump's approval rating has rebounded to its highest level since the 100-day mark of his presidency, even as his approval ratings for handling major issues remain largely negative, according to a new CNN poll.

Overall, 42 per cent approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency, 54 per cent disapprove, the poll revealed on Monday.

Approval is up seven points overall since February, including six point increases among Republicans (from 80 to 86 per cent now) and independents (from 35 to 41 per cent now).

However, Trump's approval rating still remains below that of all of his modern-era predecessors at this stage in their first term after being elected, though Trump only trails Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama by a narrow four points at this point in their first terms.

Trump's approval ratings have seesawed over the last four CNN polls -- from 35 per cent in December up to 40 per cent in January, down to 35 per cent in February and back up to 42 per cent now.

US VP Mike Pence avoids Olympics encounter with North Korean official

US Vice-President Mike Pence on Friday skipped a dinner hosted by South Korean President Moon Jae-in at which he was due to share a table with North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam ahead of the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Pence briefly encountered Kim but they tried to avoid directly facing each other, with Pence leaving the venue only after a five-minute stay, reported Yonhap news agency.

The top US official was originally scheduled to sit at the head table with the South Korean host and North Korea's chief delegate to the Winter Games.

Pence has brought Fred Warmbier, the father of a young American who died after being released from prison in North Korea, as a guest to South Korea.

Donald Trump may name Jerome Powell as next Fed Chair: Bloomberg

US President Donald Trump is leaning toward nominating Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the next leader of the central bank, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Citing three people familiar with the matter, Xinhua reported that the decision isn't final and Trump could change his mind at any time.

Trump has recently finished interviews of five candidates for the next Fed Chair, including Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and current Fed Chair Janet Yellen, whose term expires next February.

Trump said on Monday that he was "very, very close" to making a decision on who is going to lead the central bank.

Trump's advisors have been steering him toward choosing either Powell or Taylor for the job. Powell is favoured by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, while Taylor is favoured by Vice President Mike Pence.

While Powell and Taylor are both Republicans, they would have much different approaches to running monetary policy at the central bank.

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Workers' lives be damned as Trump seeks to milk Papua New Guinea gold mines

The Grasberg Mine is a massive scar 14,000 feet atop West Papua’s part of New Guinea’s Central Cordillera. It’s is the world’s biggest, most profitable gold mine and the world’s third biggest copper mine, with estimated reserves of $100 billion.

Some 20,000 people work there, making it the largest employer on the divided island and the largest source of revenue in all of Indonesia. Many of those engaged in the dangerous work of mining come from the 40,000-year-old indigenous community of New Guinea, a people the Indonesian authorities are slowly pushing into non-existence.

In 1962, the Indonesians, with the connivance of the US, grabbed the western half of New Guinea. Since then, the destruction of the environment and the local communities has advanced as Indonesians displace the indigenous population and scramble over valuable resources. Although Indonesia has barred a full accounting, there have been hundreds of thousands of deaths—many in the most brutal and deliberate fashion.

Responsibility for the destruction and slow genocide now rests securely with the Indonesian government. But the US continues to defer to its ally in the same way it does to, say, Saudi Arabia: in short, weak complaints and no action.

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Foxconn to set up $10-bn manufacturing unit in US to create 3k jobs: Trump

United States (US) President Donald Trump has said that Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn will setup a manufacturing unit in Wisconsin with an investment of $10 billion, which will create over 3,000 jobs for Americans.

The company is the largest manufacturer of iPhones for Apple.

"I'm pleased to announce that Foxconn, a world leader in manufacturing for computers, communications and consumer electronics... Will build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the production of LCD panel products in Wisconsin, investing many, many billions of dollars right here in America and creating thousands of jobs, and I mean American jobs," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

He was accompanied by Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou, Vice-President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

He called Gou "one of the great businessmen anywhere in the world".

"I would see Terry, and I would say Terry, you have to give us one of these massive places you do great work with," he added.

The president said that Foxconn's initial investment of more than $10 billion will create 3,000 jobs at a minimum, with the potential for up to 13,000 jobs in the very near future.
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