North America

NEW YORK, April 8(Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) banker Roger Ng was convicted by a U.S. jury on Friday of corruption charges related to his role in helping loot hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB development fund.

The charges stemmed from one of the biggest financial scandals in history. Prosecutors charged Ng, Goldman's former top investment banker for Malaysia, for conspiring to violate an anti-corruption law and launder money.

Washington, Apr 8 (PTI) Two US lawmakers have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that aims at granting an automatic right to H-4 visa holders to work in the country, a move which will benefit the spouses of thousands of foreigners, including Indians, and also address the labour shortage affecting American businesses.

Rome, Apr 8 (AP) The United Nations says prices for world food commodities like grains and vegetable oils reached their highest levels ever last month due to fallout from the war in Ukraine.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday its Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices for a basket of commodities, recorded a double-digit percentage-point increase in March from the record level already set the previous month.

08 April 2022; MEMO: The Biden administration has stated in congressional correspondence that the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkiye would serve US interests and bolster NATO unity, according to a report published on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday that allows the assembly to suspend the Russian Federation's membership in the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

The draft resolution, "Suspension of the rights of membership of the Russian Federation in the Human Rights Council," obtained 93 "yes" votes and 24 "no" votes from the 193-member General Assembly. A total of 58 countries abstained. Eighteen countries did not participate in the voting.

China voted against the move pushed by the United States.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rejecting suggestions he has lost interest in going after Donald Trump, the Manhattan district attorney said Thursday a criminal investigation into the former president and his business practices is continuing “without fear or favor” despite a recent shakeup in the probe’s leadership.

In a rare public statement, Alvin Bragg denied the three-year-old investigation was winding down or that a grand jury term expiring this month would impede his office’s ability to bring charges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy faces plenty of threats: War in Ukraine, high grocery bills, spiking gasoline prices, splintered supply chains, the lingering pandemic and rising interest rates that slow growth.

The Biden White House is betting the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand these threats, but there are growing fears of a coming economic slump among voters and some Wall Street analysts.

BOSTON (AP) — When she was elected mayor of Boston in November, Michelle Wu transformed the image of the city’s chief executive — up until then the sole domain of white men, many of Irish descent.

Now in office, the Chicago-born daughter of Taiwanese immigrants is facing a raft of challenges, including making good on key campaign promises like creating a fare-free public transit system and blunting the city’s skyrocketing housing costs.

Wu, 37 and the mother of two, has also grappled with early morning protests outside her home and racist online taunts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will join a Supreme Court that is both more diverse than ever and more conservative than it’s been since the 1930s.

She’s likely to be on the losing end of a bunch of important cases, including examinations of the role of race in college admissions and voting rights that the high court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, will take up next term.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 07 (APP): On the eve of United Nations General Assembly’s scheduled vote Thursday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, Moscow has warned member states that a yes vote or abstention on a US-backed resolution to that effect will be viewed as an “unfriendly gesture”, according to a note sent by the Russian mission to some missions.