川普放宽执行对宗教团体从事政治活动的禁令
美国总统川普放宽了政府对禁止免税宗教团体参与政治活动的规定的执法力度。
星期四，川普签署了一道行政命令，给予美国国税局在审查有关禁令的执行情况时以“最高的执法斟酌权”，这个禁令本来就很少执行。
川普的行政命令还允许反对前总统奥巴马健保改革相关条款的保守宗教团体免受健保法令的约束。相关条款要求这些宗教团体为计划生育等他们认为违反其宗教信仰的健康保险买单。
在被确定为全国祈祷日的这一天，川普在白宫接见了基督教保守派人士，并签署了这道涉及宗教自由的行政命令。
Trump Relaxes Enforcement of Ban on Religious Groups' Political Activity
President Donald Trump has loosened the government's enforcement of a rule that bars tax-exempt churches from participating in political activity.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday that gives "maximum enforcement discretion" to the country's tax agency, the Internal Revenue Service, in tracking the ban on political activity by religious groups, an edict that already is rarely enforced.
Trump's order also gives "regulatory relief" to conservative religious groups that object to provisions of the national health care reforms advocated by former President Barack Obama that required them to pay for health insurance plans that cover birth control and other measures that they feel go against their religious beliefs.
Trump signed the order on religious liberties as he greeted Christian conservatives at the White House on what was designated as the National Day of Prayer.
蒂勒森要求东盟降低和朝鲜的外交关系
美国争取东南亚国家的支持来推动解决朝鲜的威胁并维护包括南中国海航行自由在内的原则。星期四在和东盟十国官员的首次会晤中，美国国务卿蒂勒森要求东盟各国在解决朝鲜核项目和导弹扩散的问题上统一立场。
国务院负责东南亚事务的副助理国务卿帕特里克·墨菲星期四在电话记者会上说：“非常具体地说，美国要求其他国家，包括我们的合作伙伴东盟成员国，努力切断朝鲜在这个地区的收入来源，降低和他们的外交关系，使朝鲜无法从外交渠道为其核项目和导弹项目获得好处。”
东盟所有国家都同朝鲜有外交关系，其中8个国家设有朝鲜大使馆，5个国家在朝鲜设有大使馆。
美国说，东盟国家都担心，朝鲜的挑衅正威胁到亚太乃至全球的稳定与和平。
副助理国务卿帕特里克·墨菲说，一些国家已经告诉美国，他们”将采取措施和步骤，重新审视朝鲜在驻在国使团的规模、活动以及打着外交旗号进行的商业交易。
在南中国海问题上，蒂勒森向东盟国家外长发出呼吁说，在谈判进行期间，所有各方都应“停止在南中国海地区进行军事化、建筑活动和填海造岛”。
Tillerson Asks ASEAN to Minimize Diplomatic Relations with North Korea
The United States is rallying Southeast Asian countries to advance Washington’s approach to address North Korea’s threats and to uphold principles including freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in his first meeting with all members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday, asked the bloc to speak in one voice to tackle North Korea’s nuclear and missile proliferation.
“Very specifically, the U.S. is asking countries, including our partners in ASEAN, to take efforts to deny the revenue streams that North Korea has enjoyed around the region, and to take a look at the diplomatic relations to minimize them,” Patrick Murphy, deputy assistant secretary of state for Southeast Asia, said in a telephone briefing on Thursday. “So that North Korea does not gain benefit from its diplomatic channels for its nuclear and missile aspirations,” Murphy added.
All ASEAN members have diplomatic relations with North Korea. Eight of them host North Korean embassies and five have embassies in Pyongyang.
Washington said there was a shared concern among the Southeast Asian bloc that North Korea’s provocation has threatened the stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe.
Some countries have told the U.S. they “are taking measures and steps, relooking (at) the size of North Korea’s diplomatic presence in individual countries, their activities, their commercial transactions that are conducted under diplomatic cover in the light,” Murphy said.
On the South China Sea, Secretary Tillerson made a particular appeal to his counterparts that all parties involved to “stop militarization, construction and reclamation of land in the South China Sea area” while talks are going on.