USA

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an outspoken cultural conservative long seen as Donald Trump’s leading rival for the Republican nomination, is set to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old Republican governor plans to announce his decision in an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the announcement publicly.

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Typhoon Mawar inched over Guam as a powerful Category 4 storm on Thursday, relentlessly lashing the U.S. Pacific island territory with heavy rain, powerful winds, and a dangerous storm surge and knocking out power to many communities where frightened residents hunkered down for the night in homes and shelters.

23 May 2023; MEMO: Iran is building a new underground nuclear facility in defiance of Western sanctions, as talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers remain stalled. According to Associated Press, the facility is being built so deep in the earth that it is likely to be beyond the range of the latest US "bunker buster" weapon designed to destroy such sites.

UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (APP): Eight Pakistanis are among 103 United Nations peacekeepers from around the world who will be honoured posthumously on May 25 at a special ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping, it was officially announced Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Extreme weather has caused the deaths of 2 million people and $4.3 trillion in economic damage over the past half a century, a report by the United Nations finds.

According to the new figures published on Monday from the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 11,778 weather-related disasters have occurred from 1970 to 2021, and they have surged over that period.

The report found that more than 90 percent of deaths reported worldwide due to these disasters took place in developing countries.

WASHINGTON, May 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The White House on Tuesday welcomed Bahrain’s decision to restore diplomatic ties with Lebanon after Manama severed relations with Beirut over comments by the country’s then-information minister.

Over the weekend, Bahrain said it would restore full diplomatic relations with Lebanon after cutting off ties due to the minister’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate's top Democrat said on Tuesday he and President Joe Biden's administration were engaging allies and businesses to address China's ban on sales of memory chips made by U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc (MU.O).

The restrictions this week by China's cyberspace regulator against Micron, the biggest U.S. memory chipmaker, were the latest in a widening trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.

May 22 (Reuters) - Seven U.S. states that depend on the overused Colorado River on Monday reached agreement to cut consumption and help save a river that provides drinking water for 40 million people and irrigation for some of the country's most bountiful farmland.

Arizona, California and Nevada will reduce intake by 3 million acre-feet (3.7 billion cubic meters) through the end of 2026, an amount equal to 13% of their river allotment, under a deal brokered and announced by the Biden administration.

NEW YORK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States is "highly likely" to default on government obligations by early June and potentially as early as June 1 if the Congress fails to raise or suspend the debt limit, said U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in an update letter to congressional leaders on Monday.

Yellen gave a similar estimate in another letter one week ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — On President Joe Biden ’s first day in office, he handed Congress a legislative plan to modernize the nation’s immigration system.

It went nowhere, just like so many past overhaul attempts.