U.S. lawmakers grilled Trump administration officials Tuesday about the war in Afghanistan, saying the new White House strategy was inconsistent and was not producing results. The comments made at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing reflected growing frustration in Congress about the U.S.-led war, which is entering its 17th year. As recently as November, General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, acknowledged that the conflict remained a stalemate. Since then, a wave of high-profile insurgent attacks have rocked the capital, Kabul. The Taliban now controls or contests almost half the country, according to latest U.S. estimates. Despite the setbacks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who is helping oversee the new White House strategy, gave a positive assessment of the conflict. "The president's South Asia strategy is showing some signs of progress," Sullivan said. "On the battlefield, we are seeing the Taliban's momentum begin to slow." But lawmakers from both parties expressed skepticism. "Something is clearly not working," said Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat and longtime Afghan war critic. "By any standard, the current security situation is grim." Some lawmakers took aim at President Donald Trump, who last week said he didn't want to talk with the Taliban a statement that seemingly contradicted his own strategy. After Sullivan and a top Pentagon official told the lawmakers that the U.S. was in fact still open to negotiations with the Taliban, lawmakers pressed for more details. "You can see that the world and those involved in the peace process may be pretty confused about what the U.S. position is. What is it?" asked Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. Sullivan said he thought Trump was expressing a reaction to last month's terrorist attacks, and was pointing out that "significant elements of the Taliban are not prepared to negotiate." "And it may take a long time before they are willing to negotiate," he added. But many in the Senate appear... What is likely true about Trump? Pick the correct answer from the following options: A. he's willing to work with his generals. B. his strategy for peace is effective. C. he doesn't like Afghanistan. D. not enough information
C

Two signatures. That's all that's needed to force a wide-ranging House debate and votes on border security and the immigration status of 700,000 undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children. Since moderate Republicans opposed House leadership two weeks ago with a rare discharge petition to force a so-called "queen of the hill" debate (House rule based on the most votes) on immigration, the measure has steadily accumulated support within their own party. The petition needs 218 signatures to start that debate and with the assumption that all 193 House Democrats will sign on Republicans need just two more signatures. But that effort now goes on hold as Congress leaves town for an 11-day holiday recess, giving all sides breathing room to figure out what comes next. Many of the 23 Republican signers of the petition face tough re-election races in their districts this November. The debate over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients has challenged lawmakers since last September, when U.S. President Donald Trump ended the program, calling on Congress to find a permanent legislative solution. Lawmakers will return to Washington facing an immediate deadline. Representative Jeff Denham, a California Republican who is one of the leaders of the petition effort, told reporters that June 7 would be the absolute last moment to allow the petition to mature before lawmakers run up against a seven-week summer recess. Denham said talks with House leadership and the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative voting bloc seeking significant security concessions in return for a citizenship path for DACA recipients, have been productive. "We've had an agreement in principle," Denham said of a deal that would provide a 12-year path to citizenship for DACA recipients, known colloquially as Dreamers. "Now it's trying to put that information on paper. So, assuming we can continue to move forward, that is something we would bring to our conference on the 7th when we have our two-hour immigration meeting,... Whose party has slowly gained support for the measure? Pick the correct answer from the following options: A. Republicans B. Democrats C. Independents D. not enough information
A

SEOUL The head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on Tuesday said the North Korean leadership is hopeful that following a possible denuclearization deal, the international community will increase humanitarian aid for millions of people in the country who are living in poverty and suffering from malnutrition. "There is a tremendous sense of optimism by the leadership, by the people I met with, in the hopes that they will be turning a new chapter in their history, a new page," said David Beasley, the Executive Director of the WFP during a briefing in Seoul. The WFP director visited North Korea for four days last week, spending two days in Pyongyang and two visiting rural areas outside the capital. Beasley said he was given "remarkable" access during his visit to the restrictive state where contact with foreigners is tightly controlled. Government minders also accompanied him during his visit. Beasley, a former governor of the U.S. state of South Carolina, was nominated to head the WFP last year by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, who is also a former South Carolina governor. With the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un now scheduled to be held in Singapore on June 12, there are increased expectations that an agreement will be reached to dismantle the North's nuclear, missile and chemical weapons programs that threaten the U.S. and its allies. Details over the scope and timing of the denuclearization process must still be worked out, but the North Korean leader has indicated he wants to resolve the dispute to focus on improving the economic conditions of the country. Ending the severe U.S. led sanctions banning 90% of North Korean trade that were imposed for the North's repeated nuclear and missile tests, would open the door to increased economic investment and cooperation. Humanitarian assistance has been exempted from the economic sanctions, but Beasely said import restrictions has made it more complicated to bring in aid, and made... Why does Kim Jung Un want to meet with Trump? Pick the correct answer from the following options: A. not enough information B. To improve their burgeoning friendship. C. To see about lifting sanctions. D. He wants to improve conditions in North Korea.
C