TRUMP FREEZES VENEZUELA GOV’T ASSETS

The Trump administration froze all Venezuelan government assets Monday in a dramatic ratcheting up of tensions with Nicolás Maduro that places his socialist administration on a short list of adversaries from Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Iran that haven been targeted by such aggressive U.S. actions.

The ban blocking Americans from doing business with Maduro’s government, which takes effect immediately, is the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere in over three decades, following an asset freeze against Gen. Manuel Noriega’s government in Panama and a trade embargo on the Sandinista leadership in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

The executive order signed by President Donald Trump justified the move by citing Maduro’s “continued usurpation of power” and human rights abuses by security forces loyal to him.

While the order falls short of an outright trade embargo, it represents the most sweeping U.S. action to remove Maduro since the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful leader in January.

Car bomb collides with vehicles in Egypt capital, killing 20.

CAIRO» A car packed with explosives being driven to carry out an attack collided with other vehicles and exploded in central Cairo, killing at least 20 people, the Interior Ministry said Monday, the deadliest attack in the Egyptian capital in over two years.

The blast went off Sunday night on the busy Corniche boulevard along the Nile River, setting other cars on fire and injuring at least 47. It damaged Egypt’s main cancer hospital nearby, forcing the evacuation of dozens of patients.

Afghan policeman opens fire on colleagues, kills 7.

KABUL,

An Afghan policeman in the southern province of Kandahar opened fire on his colleagues, killing seven other policemen before fleeing the scene, a provincial official said Monday. The Taliban claimed the attack, saying the policeman had joined their ranks.

Last week, two American soldiers were shot and killed by an Afghan soldier in the same Kandahar district. The attacker, who was wounded and taken into custody, was dubbed a “hero” by the Taliban, though the insurgents did not claim the assault.

China vows countermeasures if U.S. deploys missiles in Asia.

BEIJING» China said Tuesday it “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if the U.S. deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region, which it plans to do within months.

The statement from the director of the foreign ministry’s Arms Control Department, Fu Cong, follows the U.S.’s withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a move Fu said would have a “direct negative impact on the global strategic stability” as well as security in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Fu said China was particularly concerned about announced plans to develop and test a landbased intermediate-range missile in the Asia-Pacific “sooner rather than later,” in the words of one U.S. official.

Putin urges arms talks with U.S. after nuclear pact demise.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia would only deploy new intermediate-range missiles if the United States does and called for urgent arms control talks to prevent a chaotic arms race following the demise of a key nuclear pact.

4 believed to be on plane in deadly crash in Alaska.

Four people are believed to have been aboard a plane that crashed in Alaska with no survivors.

National Transportation Safety Board Alaska chief Clint Johnson says reports indicate four people were aboard when the Piper PA-22 crashed Sunday outside Girdwood.