USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has plenty of options to make good on its pledge to hit Russia financially if President Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine, from sanctions targeting Putin’s associates to cutting Russia off from the financial system that sends money flowing around the world.

WASHINGTON, December 3. /TASS/: Russia is inviting the United States to reset to zero all restrictions on the operation of diplomatic offices and will be prepared to reciprocate, Russia’s ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov told the media on Friday.

WASHINGTON, December 4. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a secure video call on Tuesday, December 7, Reuters reported on Saturday citing a White House official.

Biden is reported to discuss Ukraine and a wide range of other topics with Putin. In particular, the US president plans to voice his concern about Russia’s alleged military activity at the border with Ukraine.

The White House has not yet responded to TASS’s request to confirm or deny it.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged authorities in Sudan to respect freedom of expression and the press, calling the coup-stricken country hostile to journalists in a report submitted Friday to the Security Council.

   Hundreds of political activists, journalists, protesters and bystanders watching anti-coup rallies were arrested following the country’s latest upheaval on Oct 25.

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Apple Inc iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The hacks, which took place in the last several months, hit U.S. officials either based in Uganda or focused on matters concerning the East African country, two of the sources said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States is the world's "top generator of plastic waste" in 2016, exceeded that of all European nations combined, The Hill reported recently.

An article, entitled "U.S. must cut plastic production to save oceans," was published on Wednesday, citing a new study by the National Academy of Sciences.

With a population of about 330 million, accounting for only 4.3 percent of earth's population, the United States generates a total of 42 million metric tons of such waste in 2016, the report said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lowering tariffs imposed by the former Trump administration on Chinese goods could help ease some inflationary pressures, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said.

Yellen made the remarks Thursday at Reuters Next, a virtual global conference held from Wednesday to Friday, during which she said the tariffs of up to 25 percent on hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars worth of annual imports from China "do contribute to the higher prices in the United States."

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang on Thursday night said China will work with the U.S. side to implement the spirit of the meeting between the presidents and inject more positive energy into relations between the two countries.

Qin made the remarks at the annual gala of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) in Washington, D.C.

DENVER (AP) — A judge ruled Friday that a man charged with killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket earlier this year is mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to be treated at the state mental hospital to see if he can be made well enough to face prosecution.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, is accused of opening fire at a busy King Soopers in the college town of Boulder in March, killing a police officer, shoppers and several store employees.

ATLANTA (AP) — Stacey Abrams announced a long-awaited second run for Georgia governor this week, but with Democrats facing a sour national environment and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp facing challenges within his own party, the 2022 campaign will look different from 2018.

Abrams’ narrow loss, highlighted by her claims that Kemp used his prior post as secretary of state to unfairly push voters away, vaulted her to national stardom in a year when Democrats nationwide capitalized on then-President Donald Trump’s unpopularity.