North America

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York attorney general’s lawsuit against the National Rifle Association is no mere “witch hunt,” a New York judge ruled Friday in dismissing the gun rights advocacy group’s claims that the case is a political vendetta.

Manhattan Judge Joel M. Cohen’s decision means the nearly 2-year-long legal fight can continue.

The ruling comes after mass shootings last month in New York and Texas reanimated debate over U.S. gun policy and refocused attention on the NRA.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protestors are expected to rally in Washington, D.C., Saturday and in separate demonstrations around the country as part of a renewed push for nationwide gun control. Motivated by a fresh surge in mass shootings, from Uvalde, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, protestors say lawmakers must take note of shifting public opinion and finally enact sweeping reforms.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man armed with a machete once broke into Stephen Breyer’s vacation home in the Caribbean and took $1,000. Ruth Bader Ginsburg had her purse snatched on a Washington street. David Souter was assaulted by several men while jogging.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 10 (APP): Pakistan, speaking on behalf of Group of 77 (developing countries) and China, has called for boosting efforts for sustainable recovery in the coronavirus-hit countries and to accomplish U.N.’s 2030 agenda aimed at ending poverty in all its forms.

“We must accelerate our efforts to reach the furthest behind first,” Ambassador Aamir Khan, acting permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the annual session of the executive boards of three UN funds and programmes.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 10 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Navid Hanif of Pakistan to the high post of Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN announced on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (Reuters) - China's U.N. envoy said on Thursday that Beijing does not want to see North Korea carry out a new nuclear test, which is partly why China vetoed a U.S.-led bid to impose new U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang over renewed ballistic missiles launches.

But Ambassador Zhang Jun warned against making presumptions on how Beijing might react at the United Nations if North Korea goes ahead with its first nuclear test since 2017. Washington has warned such a test could happen at "any time" and it would again push for more U.N. sanctions. 

WASHINGTON, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House select committee investigating the Capital Hill insurrection on Jan. 6 of 2021 held its first public hearing on Thursday night.

Two panel members delivered opening remarks while presenting the findings of its year-long investigation, including previously unseen material documenting the event.

The panel, which includes seven House Democrats and two Republicans, also called two witnesses, including a Capitol police officer who was injured that day.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The costs of gas, food and other necessities jumped in May, raising inflation to a new four-decade high and giving American households no respite from rising costs.

Consumer prices surged 8.6% last month from 12 months earlier, faster than April’s year-over-year surge of 8.3%, the Labor Department said Friday.

On a month-to-month basis, prices jumped 1% from April to May, a steep rise from the 0.3% increase from March to April. Much higher gas prices were to blame for most of that increase.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A prosecutor filed a second-degree murder charge Thursday against the Michigan police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head following a traffic stop captured on a bystander’s phone.

Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker announced his decision against Grand Rapids Officer Christopher Schurr, who killed Lyoya minutes after a traffic stop on April 4. Video from a passenger in the car captured the final chilling moments.