North America

UNITED NATIONS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday asked relevant parties to the biological security issue in Ukraine to respond to newly discovered documents and offer clarifications to remove the doubts of the international community.

China was once a victim of chemical and biological weapons. China believes that any information and lead on biological military activities should trigger heightened concern and attention of the international community to avoid irreparable harm, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court is likely to face questioning at her Senate hearing that would have been familiar to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man who served on the high court.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination has come before the Senate during what Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has called a national crime wave.

“Amid all this, the soft-on-crime brigade is squarely in Judge Jackson’s corner,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.

EASTLAND, Texas (AP) — Fire crews in Texas hope to make progress Saturday against a massive complex of wildfires that have killed one person and burned at least 50 homes, officials said.

Winds were expected to diminish on Saturday, raising hopes for the attack on the flames, said Angel Lopez, a spokesman for the task force attacking the wildfire complex near Eastland, about 120 miles west of Dallas.

However, gusty winds were expected to return Sunday, again raising the wildfire threat to critical levels in western and central Texas, he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Face to face by video, President Joe Biden laid out to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday the stiff consequences the Chinese would face from the U.S. if they provide military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

There was no indication he got any assurance in return.

In fact, Xi blamed the U.S. for the crisis and insisted with a Chinese proverb that the next move was up to Biden:

“He who tied the bell to the tiger must take it off,” Xi said, according to a Chinese government readout.

WASHINGTON (AP) — 99-0. That was the tally, unimaginable in today’s hyperpolarized environment, by which the Senate made Sandra Day O’Connor the first woman on the Supreme Court.

Such a lopsided result is certainly not in the cards for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court if she wins Senate confirmation after hearings that begin Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee will face sharp questions from Republican lawmakers this coming week about the work she did as a public defender representing four Guantanamo Bay detainees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The signs are abundant of how Ukraine frustrated Vladimir Putin’s hopes for a swift victory, and how Russia’s military proved far from ready for the fight.

A truck carrying Russian troops crashes, its doors blown open by a rocket-propelled grenade. Foreign-supplied drones target Russian command posts. Orthodox priests in trailing vestments parade Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag in defiance of their Russian captors in the occupied city of Berdyansk.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The signs are abundant of how Ukraine frustrated Vladimir Putin’s hopes for a swift victory, and how Russia’s military proved far from ready for the fight.

A truck carrying Russian troops crashes, its doors blown open by a rocket-propelled grenade. Foreign-supplied drones target Russian command posts. Orthodox priests in trailing vestments parade Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag in defiance of their Russian captors in the occupied city of Berdyansk.

Washington, Mar 19 (PTI) US President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Indian-American diplomat Puneet Talwar as the country's ambassador to Morocco.

Talwar, who is currently a Senior Advisor at the State Department, has held senior national security and foreign policy positions in the State Department, the White House and the Senate, the White House said as it announced several other senior administration positions.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 18 (APP): Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life across all societies, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday at a dedicated meeting against what he referred to as a catalyst that “normalizes hate, denies dignity, and spurs violence”.

“It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality…to deny people their fundamental human rights”, he said in an address to the General Assembly, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.