Developments in Washington, D.C., on Monday include President Donald Trump sending out a series of tweets regarding his Muslim travel ban and his desire for a quick ruling on it by the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House saying Trump won't prevent fired FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress on Thursday, his proposal for privatizing the air traffic control system, U.S.-Asia discussions, and Tuesday's Afghan peace conference.
— The White House is intending this to be "Infrastructure Week," focusing on its trillion-dollar plan to improve America's outdated transportation system. But that itinerary seemed to be quickly derailed, just hours into the new week, as President Donald Trump himself detoured from the plan with a series of fresh provocative tweets. In a three-hour period on Monday morning, the president took aim at the Democrats for not approving his nominees; criticized U.S. courts for suspending his travel ban, and denounced the mayor of London, mischaracterizing Sadiq Khan's "no reason to be alarmed" quote in the wake of the London attacks.
— U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he wants a quick Supreme Court ruling to reinstate his ban on travel to the United States from six majority-Muslim countries where terrorist attacks have occurred. In a string of comments on his Twitter account, Trump attacked his own Justice Department for submitting a "watered down, politically correct" version of the ban to the Supreme Court review that would affect travel from Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. He said the agency should have stayed with an appeal of an earlier ban that also included Iraq.
— U.S. President Donald Trump has no intention of blocking former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress later this week about key conversations they had earlier this year before Trump fired him, the White House said Monday. Trump had been considering whether to invoke executive privilege on his White House conversations with Comey and keep him from testifying Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that “in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of facts,” Trump would not try to halt the Comey testimony.
— Trump on Monday proposed privatizing the nation's air traffic control system, saying reforms are needed to cut air travel times and fuel costs and curb annoying delays for travelers.
— The Trump administration is considering letting companies use seismic air guns to look for oil and gas deposits below the Atlantic Ocean, outraging environmentalists and coastal towns and resorts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it has gotten five separate requests to carry out the operations. The air guns use incredibly powerful blasts of air to look for oil and gas deep under the ocean floor.
— Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Maldives cut diplomatic ties Monday with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar's Foreign Affairs Ministry said the measures are "unjustified and are based on baseless and unfounded allegations." U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he does not expect Monday's actions to have an impact on the fight against terrorism in the region or globally. He urged all of the parties to address their disagreements.
— On paper, all of the world’s seven richest nations warned last month against militarization of the contested South China Sea, where Beijing is building up small islets for combat aircraft and radar systems. But analysts believe it was Japan that pushed the Group of Seven nations for the warning as it vies with China for political influence around Asia.
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— Southeast Asia faces far reaching challenges in ensuring regional cooperation in dealing with climate change after the decision by the United States to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement. The move, announced last week by Trump, is seen as a further step away from a higher profile U.S. role in the region after Washington backed away from the 12 nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) regional trade pact earlier this year.
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