North America

USA: Ex-Minneapolis officer who killed 911 caller to be released

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home is scheduled to be released from prison next week, months after his murder conviction was overturned and he was resentenced on a lesser charge.

Mohamed Noor, 36, is scheduled to be released from custody Monday, 18 days shy of the fifth anniversary of the July 15, 2017, fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual U.S.-Australian citizen and yoga teacher who was engaged to be married.

USA: Last Nevada county approves primary results after hand count

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Counties across Nevada on Friday certified the last outstanding results of the state’s June 14 primary election after critics questioned the tallies by recounting their own experiences at the polls and repeating conspiracy theories that nearly derailed certification in New Mexico last week.

Esmeralda County, Nevada’s smallest, became the last to certify its countywide results Friday night less than two hours before a midnight deadline.

USA: Army Guard troops risk dismissal as vaccine deadline looms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 40,000 Army National Guard soldiers across the country — or about 13% of the force — have not yet gotten the mandated COVID-19 vaccine, and as the deadline for shots looms, at least 14,000 of them have flatly refused and could be forced out of the service.

Guard soldiers have until Thursday to get the vaccine. And according to data obtained by The Associated Press, between 20% to 30% of the Guard soldiers in six states are not vaccinated, and more than 10% in 43 other states still need shots.

USA: Congress sends landmark gun violence compromise to Biden

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House sent President Joe Biden the widest ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades Friday, a measured compromise that at once illustrates progress on the long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists.

The Democratic-led chamber approved the election-year legislation on a mostly party-line 234-193 vote, capping a spurt of action prompted by voters’ revulsion over last month’s mass shootings in New York and Texas. The Senate approved the measure late Thursday by a bipartisan 65-33 margin.

UN chief opposes Russia's exclusion from UN Ocean Conference — agency

NEW YORK, June 24, /TASS/: Russia should not be excluded from the UN Ocean Conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with the Portuguese news agency Lusa on Friday.

The Secretary-General explained that the exclusion of a country from the list of participants at the conference does not make sense to him, as the upcoming meeting is aimed at changing the climate policy of absolutely all countries.

UN chief calls for sustainable funding for Palestine refugees agency

UNITED NATIONS, June 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for sustainable funding for the UN agency for Palestine refugees.

The agency, officially known as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), suffers from chronic underfunding. In the last 10 years, the needs of Palestine refugees have increased, while funds have stagnated, Guterres told a UN pledging event for the agency.

A new leader in the Philippines, and a family’s old wounds

BOSTON (AP) — He was the uncle I never met. But in my family’s origin story, Emmanuel “Manny” Yap always loomed large.

The life of great potential cut short. The cautionary tale. But also the reminder of doing what was right, no matter the cost.

A rising leader in the youth-led opposition to President Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, Manny Yap joined his parents and siblings for lunch at his mother’s favorite Chinese restaurant in their hometown of Quezon City.

USA: States brace for fight over gun laws after high court ruling

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Supreme Court’s decision overturning a gun-permitting law in New York has states with robust firearms restrictions scrambling to respond on two fronts — to figure out what concealed-carry measures they might be allowed to impose while also preparing to defend a wide range of other gun control policies.

The language in the court’s majority opinion heightened concern that other state laws, from setting an age limit on gun purchases to banning high-capacity ammunition magazines, may now be in jeopardy.

USA: Setting gridlock aside, Congress set to OK gun violence bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan gun violence bill that seemed unimaginable a month ago is on the verge of winning final congressional approval, a vote that will produce lawmakers’ most sweeping answer in decades to brutal mass shootings that have come to shock yet not surprise Americans.

The House was set to vote on the $13 billion package Friday, exactly one month after a gunman massacred 19 students and two teachers at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school. Just days before that, a white man motivated by racism allegedly killed 10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo, New York.

USA: Setting gridlock aside, Congress set to OK gun violence bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan gun violence bill that seemed unimaginable a month ago is on the verge of winning final congressional approval, a vote that will produce lawmakers’ most sweeping answer in decades to brutal mass shootings that have come to shock yet not surprise Americans.

The House was set to vote on the $13 billion package Friday, exactly one month after a gunman massacred 19 students and two teachers at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school. Just days before that, a white man motivated by racism allegedly killed 10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo, New York.

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