Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Tuesday the United States will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian tanker from delivering oil to Syria in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Speaking at the U.N. Security Council Tuesday, Pompeo said the United States will keep the pressure on [Iraq] Iran despite what he called Tehran's "extortiondiplomacy."
"... the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies continue to foment terror and unrest in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen with devastating humanitarian consequences."
Maritime trackers believe the ship now Christened the Adrian Darya is headed to the Greek port of Kalamata and is expected to arrive there on Sunday. However, Athens says it has not received any request for the tanker to dock.
President Donald Trump says he is considering some tax cut proposals but not in response to a potential recession.
We get more from AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani.
More economists now say they fear a recession's coming in the next two years or so. A strong economy's key to the president's reelection bids so the White House has tried to shout down those concerns.
"I think the word recession is a word that's inappropriate."
He acknowledges he's considering cuts to capital gains and payroll taxes but says he does that all the time and has nothing to do with a potential recession.
His big concern now is the Federal Reserve, which the president says must lower interest rates.
"... if the Fed would do its job, I think we'd have a tremendous spurt of growth."
Sagar Meghani, at the White House.
A down day on Wall Street Tuesday, with all three major indices closing in negative territory. The Dow dropped by two-thirds of one percent. The S&P fell 0.79 percent. The Nasdaq lost 0.68 percent.
This is VOA news.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and said he will begin consultations with party leaders Wednesday to seek a solution to Italy's political crisis.
As Reuters Lauren Anthony reports, Conte announced his resignation Tuesday after a heated feud with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
Giuseppe Conte accused Matteo Salvini of destroying the ruling coalition and putting the economy at risk for his own political and personal gain.
Italy's parliament was recalled from its summer recess to decide the future of the barely year-old government, where Conte accused the League party chief of seeking to cash in on his rising popularity.
He told a packed Senate that Salvini's decisions pose "serious risks for this country" and warned of "political uncertainty and financial instability."
Conte doesn't belong to either of the disrupted coalition's two parties - Salvini's League and Luigi Di Maio's 5-Star.
His resignation will prompt formal consultations to see if a new coalition can be formed. If that plan fails, President Sergio Mattarella will dissolve parliament.
Lauren Anthony of Reuters.
Vice President Mike Pence led the sixth meeting of the National Space Council Tuesday and praised America's great progress toward returning to space.
Pence said under President Donald Trump's administration, the United States has renewed its commitment to human space exploration and is vowing to "go further into space, farther and faster than ever before."
"Using what we learn on the moon will bring us closer to the day, as the president said, that 'American astronauts will plant the Stars and Stripes on the surface of Mars.'"
Pence reiterated the Trump administration policy to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024.
He said, "before the year is out, the United States will once again send American astronauts into space on American rockets from American soil."
Last month marked the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 the first manned moon landing.
A ransomware attack hit more than 20 local governments in the state of Texas.
AP's Mike Gracia has details.
Texas state officials say a ransomware attack targeted 22 local governments last Friday.
In Keene, Texas, about 45 miles southwest of Dallas, city staff noticed server problems early Friday. In the Panhandle city of Borger, an attack on its computers prevented access to vital records and acceptance of payments.
Ransomware attacks often spread through emails containing malicious links or attachments.
The FBI says more than 1,400 ransomware attacks were reported last year.
Baltimore, Atlanta, and Newark, New Jersey, are some of the U.S. cities previously targeted in ransomware attacks.
I'm Mike Gracia.
For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, be sure to visit our website voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.
