North America

USA: Dems’ climate, energy, tax bill clears initial Senate hurdle

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed their election-year economic bill toward Senate approval early Sunday, starting the sprawling collection of President Joe Biden’s priorities on climate, energy, health and taxes on a pathway that the party hopes will end in final congressional passage by the end of this week.

USA: Florida prosecutor vows to fight Gov. DeSantis suspension

ST. PETERSURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida prosecutor vowed Sunday to fight his suspension from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis over his promise not to enforce the state’s 15-week abortion ban and support for gender transition treatments for minors.

Andrew Warren, a Democrat suspended last week from his twice-elected post as state attorney in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, said in a Facebook video message and news release Sunday he plans a “vigorous defense” by his legal team but did not give specifics.

USA: GOP seeking power over elections in Wisconsin, Minnesota

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s secretary of state has no role in elections, but that could change if Republicans are able to flip the seat this year and pass a law that would empower the office with far more responsibilities.

All three GOP candidates competing for the nomination in Tuesday’s primary support the shift and echo former President Donald Trump’s false claims that fraud cost him the 2020 election.

USA: Parkland terrorist’s prosecutor had bloody facts on his side

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The prosecutor seeking to sentence Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz to death let the facts speak for themselves as he presented his case: terrifying witness accounts; heartrending statements from parents and spouses; chilling surveillance videos; gruesome autopsy and crime scene photos; and, as a capstone, Thursday’s jury walk-through of the three-story building where it happened, bloodstains and Valentine’s Day cards still clinging to the floors.

Firefighters battle big blaze at Cuba tank farm for 2nd day

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban firefighters were joined by special teams sent by Mexico and Venezuela on Sunday as they battled for a second day to control a fire blazing at a big oil tank farm in the western province of Matanzas.

The blaze began Friday night when lightning struck a storage tank during a thunder storm, and the fire spread to a second tank early Saturday, triggering a series of explosions, officials have said.

USA: Dems push Biden climate, health priorities toward Senate OK

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats drove their election-year economic package toward Senate approval early Sunday, debating a measure with less ambition than President Joe Biden’s original domestic vision but that touches deep-rooted party dreams of slowing global warming, moderating pharmaceutical costs and taxing immense corporations.

US, Australia, Japan urge China to immediately cease military exercises

Washington, Aug 7 (PTI) The United States, Australia and Japan have urged China to immediately cease its military exercises and reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

A joint statement was issued by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa after their in-person meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

UN chief slams nuclear weapons as ‘nonsense’ at Hiroshima’s 77th anniversary of world’s first A-bombing

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 06 (APP): “Nuclear weapons are nonsense,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Saturday at the 77th anniversary of world’s first atomic bombing over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Guterres joined the thousands packed into the Peace Park in the centre of Hiroshima to mark the anniversary of the bombing that killed 140,000 before the end of 1945, only the second time a U.N. chief has taken part in the annual ceremony, according to media reports.

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