North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia’s war on Ukraine has most Americans at least somewhat worried that the U.S. will be drawn directly into the conflict and could be targeted with nuclear weapons, with a new poll reflecting a level of anxiety that has echoes of the Cold War era.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 27 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced attacks on civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reports of ongoing airstrikes
in Hudaydah city and the targeting of Hudaydah’s ports, which provide a critical humanitarian lifeline for the Yemeni population,” the UN chief’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said a statement issued on Saturday in New York.

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry announced on Saturday that he will resign from office, two days after being convicted of three felonies.

Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican who has served in Congress since 2005, said that his last day as a federal legislator will be March 31, according to a letter he sent to his House colleagues.

"Due to the difficulties of my current circumstances, I can no longer effectively serve," he wrote.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Authorities issued an evacuation order for 19,400 people Saturday near a fast-moving Colorado wildfire in rolling hills south of the college town of Boulder, not far from the site of a destructive 2021 blaze that leveled more than 1,000 homes.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 26 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Saturday called for making “peace with nature” in his message for Earth Hour, commemorated annually on the last Saturday of March.

“Without nature’s help, we cannot thrive or even survive on this planet Earth”, the UN chief said, noting that climate disruption, biodiversity loss and pollution threaten lives, jobs and health the world over.

“It’s time to re-evaluate and reset our relationship with nature,” he said, describing 2022 as “a year to change course.”

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 26 (APP): Around 13 million people in Ukraine are unable to flee hostilities due to blockades and damaged roads while the high number of civilian casualties and destruction of infrastructure points to possible war crimes in the ongoing Russian military offensive, United Nations agencies have warned.

The conflict in Ukraine has so far displaced at least 10 million people, over 3.7 million of whom have sought refuge abroad, according to the UN.

NEW YORK, March 26. /TASS/: The United States is set to impose sanctions against Russian companies who provide goods and services to the Russian military and intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the paper’s sources, the new sanctions may be announced early next week.

Among the companies that may be affected are equipment makers Sertal and Serniya Engineering. The US authorities also mull sanctions against microelectronics company NII Vektor, chipmaker JSC Mikron and supercomputer company T-Platforms.

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken flies on Saturday to Israel, where he will attend an Israeli-Arab summit during a visit also likely to be dominated by discussions about the Iran nuclear talks and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken will meet Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said. Bennett has been trying to mediate an end to the month-old Ukraine-Russia conflict.

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approved a 44-billion-U.S. dollar loan for Argentina to help the South American country tackle high inflation, ease the debt burden and promote economic growth.

The Washington-based lender approved a 30-month extended fund facility, allowing for the immediate disbursement of 9.7 billion dollars, a statement said.

NEW YORK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve officials' hint of a more aggressive hike of the benchmark interest rate in recent days pushed up key Treasury yields and concerns over a possible economic recession in 2023 or later.

John C. Williams, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, on Friday joined a chorus of a number of other central bankers saying he is open to raising interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) at some point.