North America

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (APP): The World Food Programme (WFP), a Rome-based UN agency, said Monday it is supporting Pakistan as the country takes stock of floods which have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced some 33 million.

Through its National Disaster Management Authority, the Pakistani Government – which has declared a national emergency – is leading the response in coordinating assessments and directing humanitarian relief to affected people.

WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around the Ukrainian nuclear plant that has become a dangerous frontline in the ongoing war.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the Biden administration supports a visit led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on the Dnipro river in southern central Ukraine.

A controlled shutdown of the plant would be the safest option, he said. 

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on the world to bring into force a treaty to ban all nuclear tests.

Guterres made the appeal in his message to mark International Day against Nuclear Tests, which falls on Monday.

Nuclear testing has long poisoned the planet's natural environment and the species and people who call it home, the UN chief said, noting that the International Day against Nuclear Tests represents "an alarm bell for the world to finally put in place a legally binding prohibition on all nuclear tests."

ATLANTA (AP) — A judge ruled Monday that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp must testify before a special grand jury that’s investigating possible illegal attempts by then-President Donald Trump and others to influence the 2020 election in the state — but not until after the November midterm election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on climate change could have implications for a range of other issues, including a case involving nuclear waste storage and a proposal requiring companies to disclose how climate risk affects their businesses, advocates across the political spectrum say.

MIAMI (AP) — One Cuban man endured a trek through eight countries that lasted more than a month. Another man paid a small fortune for a furtive speedboat trip. A third decided to risk a perilous passage aboard a homemade raft rather than stay a moment longer on the island.

Cubans are fleeing their country in the largest numbers in more than four decades, choosing to stake their lives and futures on a dangerous journey to the United States by air, land and sea to escape economic and political woes.

(AP) --- Stocks fell in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday, as investors remain unnerved by the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates high as long as it takes to tame inflation.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 2:27 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index fell 3.4% Friday, its biggest single-day drop since mid-June.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70 points, or 0.2% to 32,212, following Friday’s 1,008 point decline. The Nasdaq fell 0.6%.

Technology stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Apple slipped 1.1%.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA called off the launch of its mighty new moon rocket on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard Monday after a last-minute cascade of problems culminating in unexplained trouble related to an engine.

The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest and could be delayed until mid-September or later.

The mission will be the first flight in NASA’s Artemis project, a quest to put astronauts back on the moon for the first time since the Apollo program ended 50 years ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has completed its review of potentially privileged documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate this month and has identified “a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information,” according to a court filing Monday.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 28 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has highlighted the need for dialogue to reduce the nuclear threat after countries failed to reach consensus at a conference to review the landmark Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), according to his Spokesperson.

Following four weeks of intense discussions at UN Headquarters in New York, the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT ended late on Friday night without an outcome document because Russia objected to text about its control over Ukrainian nuclear facilities.