North America

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president has begun exploring plans to sidestep congress to hand formal control of the National Guard to the army, a move that could extend the military’s control over policing in a country with high levels of violence.

That has raised concerns because President Andrés Manuel López Obrador won approval for creating the force in 2019 by pledging in the constitution that it would be under nominal civilian control and that the army would be off the streets by 2024.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A defense mental health expert in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz can pinpoint when he realized the 23-year-old mass murderer still has “irrational thoughts” — the two were making small talk when Cruz began describing plans for an eventual life outside prison.

ATLANTA (AP) — In the state investigation spurred by then-President Donald Trump’s call to Georgia’s top election official, people who have been called to testify — or who might be — about potential interference in the 2020 presidential contest are turning to high-profile lawyers.

MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie is “on the road to recovery,” his agent confirmed Sunday, two days after the author of “The Satanic Verses” suffered serious injuries in a stabbing at a lecture in upstate New York.

(AP) --- Facing prison time and dire personal consequences for storming the U.S. Capitol, some Jan. 6 defendants are trying to profit from their participation in the deadly riot, using it as a platform to drum up cash, promote business endeavors and boost social media profiles.

14 August 2022; MEMO: The United States and the administration of President Joe Biden have insisted that the country and its presence in the Middle East "is not going anywhere," countering claims that China is replacing it as the hegemon in the region.

Speaking to the American news channel CNBC, the US's special envoy for Yemen – Tim Lenderking – commented on the reported visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia next week, saying that diplomatic visits by other world powers are to be expected.

NEW YORK, Aug 13 (APP): Pakistan’s green-crescent-and star was raised for the first time today to mark the country’s 75th Independence Day at Bowling Green, a historic spot in New York City where the British colonial flag was lowered and America’s Stars and Stripes raised in 1783.

Slogans of “Pakistan Zinda Bad” rang out as New York City Mayor Eric Adams personally raised the Pakistan flag, alongside with the US flag, on the mast. National Anthems of the two countries were played.

NEW YORK, August 13. /TASS/: Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger believes that Washington is currently on the brink of war with Moscow and Beijing, he said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

"We are at the edge of war with Russia and China on issues which we partly created, without any concept of how this is going to end or what it’s supposed to lead to," he said.

Aug 12 (Reuters) - The United States is concerned by reports that British, Swedish and Croatian nationals were being charged by "illegitimate authorities in eastern Ukraine", Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

"Russia and its proxies have an obligation to respect international humanitarian law, including the rights & protections afforded to prisoners of war," Blinken wrote on Twitter.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed the Democratic spending bill on tax policy, health care and climate change, a few days after the Senate approval.

The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, is scaled down from the massive "Build Back Better" package President Joe Biden and many Democrats envisioned last year.