USA

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Two Denver-area paramedics were convicted Friday for giving a fatal overdose of the sedative ketamine to Elijah McClain in 2019 — a jury verdict that experts said could have a chilling effect on first responders around the country.

The case involving the 23-year-old Black man’s death was the first among several recent criminal prosecutions against medical first responders to reach trial, potentially setting the bar for prosecutors for future cases.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Friday it will not immediately take up a plea by special counsel Jack Smith to rule on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted for his actions to overturn the 2020 election results.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As children around the world eagerly await Santa’s arrival on Christmas, the military is ready to track him and see if he’s using any new technology.

Armed with radars, sensors and aircraft, the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado keeps a close watch on Santa and his sleigh from the moment he leaves the North Pole. And it once again will share all those details so everyone can follow along as Santa travels the globe beginning Christmas Eve.

WASHINGTON, December 22. /TASS/: Russia is capable of continuing the special operation in Ukraine for a long time, while Western countries and Ukraine have overestimated their forces in the conflict, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told Politico.

"Russia has the capability and the ability to go on with this [special military operation] for years," he said. "Many are overestimating that the West is winning this, that Ukraine is winning."

WASHINGTON, December 22. /TASS/: The US Treasury Department introduces a ban on imports of Russian salmon, cod, pollock and crab, and products made during their processing.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday approved a toned-down bid to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps "to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities" after a week of vote delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter of 2023 was revised down to an annual rate of 4.9 percent in its third and final estimate, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday.

In the "advance" estimate, U.S. GDP in the third quarter grew by an annual rate of 4.9 percent, and the figure was revised up to 5.2 percent in the second estimate.

The update primarily reflected a downward revision to consumer spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Thursday again delayed a vote on a watered-down resolution to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza — a revision backed by the United States, while other countries support a stronger text that would include the now eliminated call for the urgent suspension of hostilities between Israel and Hamas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, in the first of what officials said will be renewed talks between the two nation’s senior military leaders, as the Biden administration works to thaw relations with Beijing.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, acknowledging severe financial strain exacerbated by his pursuit of Donald Trump false 2020 election claims and a jury’s award of $148 million to two former Georgia election workers he defamed.

The former New York City mayor listed nearly $153 million in existing or potential debts, including almost $1 million in tax liabilities, money he owes lawyers and many millions of dollars in potential legal judgments in lawsuits against him. He estimated he had assets in the range of $1 million to $10 million.