| North Korea China called on all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and "stop irritating each other" a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war. When Kim Jong Un sent Lunar New Year greetings this year, the first card went to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of leaders from China and other allies, according to its official news agency. If China, which accounts for about 90 percent of North Korea's trade, steps up sanctions against the isolated country as part of moves to deter its nuclear and missile programs, some academics who study the North argue Kim could be looking for Russia to ease any pain. North Korea said an American man it had detained in late April, the third U.S. citizen being held by the isolated country, was intercepted because he was attempting to commit "hostile acts."
Washington The NSA collected more than 151 million records of Americans' phone calls last year, even after Congress limited its ability to collect bulk phone records, according to an annual report.
President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday that maybe a government shutdown would not be so bad and that Republicans should consider changing Senate rules to make it easier to pass spending and other bills without any Democratic support. "Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!" he wrote. Some of his fellow Republicans in Congress chafed at the suggestion that the White House could dictate Senate rules, or send a message that a shutdown, which costs the economy millions, was desirable.
National security adviser H.R. McMaster described his boss’s foreign policy approach as "disruptive" on the eve of Trump’s first White House meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying his unconventional ways could create an opportunity to ultimately help stabilize the Middle East.
Airlines An American has been detained in Tokyo for allegedly assaulting an airline employee after a fight on a plane bound for Los Angeles, police said on Wednesday, in the latest bout of plane rage to go viral on social media. Legislators threatened United Airlines and other carriers with legislation aimed at improving customer service after a passenger was hauled down the aisle of a plane last month.
Afghanistan Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday that killed eight civilians in an attack on a convoy of NATO armored personnel vehicles.
Syria President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone for the first time since U.S. airstrikes on a Syrian airfield, expressing a desire for a Syrian ceasefire and safe zones for the civil war's refugees. They also set the foundation for what could be their first face-to-face meeting in July.
Venezuela
 Demonstrators clash with a riot police armored car during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela May 1, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins An influential group of Republican and Democratic U.S. senators will file sweeping legislation to address the crisis in Venezuela. The bill would provide $10 million in humanitarian aid to the struggling country, require the State Department to coordinate a regional effort to ease the crisis, and ask U.S. intelligence to report on the involvement of Venezuelan government officials in corruption and the drug trade, according to a copy seen by Reuters.
Business Apple reported a surprise fall in iPhone sales for its second quarter, indicating that customers may have held back purchases in anticipation of the 10th-anniversary edition phone later this year. Uber goes before a U.S. judge today to fight for the right to continue work on its self-driving car program, the latest phase in a courtroom battle over trade secrets that threatens to topple a central pillar of Uber's growth strategy.
As the United States adapts to the presidency of Donald Trump and faces rising tensions abroad, Berkshire Hathaway shareholders will descend on Omaha, Nebraska this weekend seeking reassurance, from Warren Buffett. China's plan to blast open more of the Mekong River for bigger cargo ships could founder on a remote outcrop of half-submerged rocks that Thai protesters have vowed to protect against Beijing's economic expansion in Southeast Asia. | 
