IN BRIEF (Page 12)

United States

White House shelves visit plan

A tentative plan for US President Donald Trump to host his Mexican counterpart in Washington has been put on hold, the White House confirmed on Saturday. Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto have agreed that now is not the right time for Pena Nieto to make his first visit since Trump took office more than a year ago, according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. US and Mexican officials will continue to talk and work together, the official said.

Tornado watch expanded

A tornado watch on Saturday has been expanded to include five additional states in the central United States as a strong storm system moved from the Plains states and across the Mid-South. The latest watch adds northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, northwestern Mississippi, western Tennessee, western Kentucky and southern Illinois. The National Weather Service said the system was also capable of producing wind gusts of up to 120 kph and hail up to 5 centimeters in diameter, or about the size of an egg.

France

Macron confronted by angry farmers

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday faced heckles and whistles from French farmers angry with reforms to their sector, as he arrived for France's annual agricultural fair. For over 12 hours, Macron listened and responded to critics' rebukes and questions. "I saw people 500 meters away, whistling at me," Macron said, referring to a group of cereal growers protesting against a planned EU free trade pact with a South American bloc, and against the clampdown on weed-killer glyphosate.

Hungary

Govt sends protest letter to EU

Hungary has protested in a letter sent to European Union foreign affairs and security chief Federica Mogherini over the "joint EU position" in talks on the United Nations Global Compact on Migration, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said. The Hungarian minister said there were no consensus among the 28 member states, and asked for an explanation from the Mogherini as to how this situation could have happened in the first place.

(China Daily 02/26/2018 page12)