North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Monday rebuffed efforts to make public the affidavit supporting the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida, saying the investigation “implicates highly classified material” and the document contains sensitive information about witnesses.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. government on Tuesday is expected to announce water cuts to states that rely on the Colorado River as drought and climate change leave less water flowing through the river and deplete the reservoirs that store it.

Farmers in central Arizona will largely shoulder the cuts, as they did this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Americans will be able to buy hearing aids without a prescription later this fall, under a long-awaited rule finalized Tuesday.

The Food and Drug Administration said the new regulation cuts red tape by creating a new class of hearing aids that don’t require a medical exam, a prescription and other specialty evaluations. The devices will be sold online or over-the-counter at pharmacies and other retail stores.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a leader in the Republican resistance to former President Donald Trump, is fighting to save her seat in the U.S. House on Tuesday as voters weigh in on the direction of the GOP.

Cheney’s team is bracing for a loss against a Trump-backed challenger in the state in which he won by the largest of margins during the 2020 campaign.

15 August 2022; MEMO: The Turkish government will be hosting a panel of experts from 12 countries which will discuss the urgent need to reform the United Nations' Security Council (UNSC), based on Turkiye's long-held view that the current system is flawed and unequal.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — After four inconclusive sessions, UN member states on Monday resume talks aimed at finally completing a treaty to protect the world’s high seas, a vital yet fragile resource that covers nearly half the planet.

A host of NGOs and affected countries say the pact is urgently needed to improve environmental stewardship over the vast, yet largely unregulated, area as it faces growing challenges.

WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on three Liberian government officials, including President George Weah's chief of staff, for what it says is their ongoing involvement in public corruption, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday.

The sanctions target Weah's Chief of Staff Nathaniel McGill, Liberia's Chief Prosecutor Sayma Syrenius Cephus and Bill Twehway, the managing director of the National Port Authority.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- A man drove his car into a vehicle barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. early Sunday morning and fired gunshots before killing himself.

The incident occurred at East Capitol Street and Second Street just after 4:00 a.m. (0800 GMT), according to a press release from the Capitol Police.

The car "became engulfed in flames" while the man was getting out of it. Then he "fired several shots into the air" along East Capitol Street.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Global warming has significantly increased the risk of "mega-flooding" in California and the Western United States, a UCLA study published in the journal of Science Advances on Friday said.

(AP) --- The top executive at Pfizer, a leading producer of COVID-19 vaccines, has tested positive for the virus and says he is experiencing very mild symptoms.

Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said Monday that he started taking Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill treatment and is isolating while he recovers.

Bourla has received four shots of Comirnaty, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the New York drugmaker along with BioNTech. He said in a brief statement issued by the company that he is confident of a quick recovery.