North America

ATLANTA (AP) — Nearly a year after eight people were killed in a mass shooting at three Atlanta-area spas, many of them women of Asian descent, community members came together Saturday to remember the victims at a memorial tribute.

More than 150 people gathered at a park to listen to family members of victims and members of Atlanta’s Asian American community speak about the shootings and their impact on their lives, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man stabbed two employees inside the Museum of Modern Art in New York on Saturday afternoon, leaping over a reception desk to attack them after he was denied entrance for previous incidents of disorderly conduct, authorities said.

Police said the two employees were stabbed multiple times and both were in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital later Saturday. People posting accounts to social media said museumgoers ran for the exits in confusion and chaos after the stabbing.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia Legislature’s Republican supermajority failed to pass a controversial bill restricting how race is taught in public schools because they missed a midnight deadline in the final moments of the 2022 session, a state Senate spokesperson confirmed early Sunday.

WASHINGTON, March 12. /TASS/: The US Treasury Department has set a deadline for completing transactions for imports of seafood, alcoholic beverages and non-industrial diamonds from Russia by March 25, according to the General License issued on Saturday.

NEW YORK, March 12. /TASS/: Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has confirmed that it will be blocked in Russia on March 14, according to his Twitter page.

"On Monday, Instagram will be blocked in Russia," Mosseri stated, castigating this decision as wrong. "This decision will cut 80 mln in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as about 80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country," the head of Instagram emphasized.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday called for a ceasefire in Syria, in a statement marking 11 years of “brutal fighting” in the conflict-torn nation.

“We cannot fail the Syrian people. The conflict must cease. International humanitarian law must be respected,” said the UN chief.

“I call on all parties to meaningfully engage in the UN-facilitated political process, and appeal for further support to scale up the humanitarian response. We must choose peace,” the secretary-general added.

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - Ukraine was ready to negotiate to end the war started by Russia's invasion more than two weeks ago, but would not surrender or accept any ultimatums, the country's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday.

Speaking at a virtual event organized by the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Renew Democracy Initiative, Kuleba said civilian lives would be saved if Ukraine had fighter jets and more attack planes to destroy large military columns.

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized $200 million in weapons and other assistance for Ukraine, the White House said, as Ukrainian officials said heavy shelling by Russian forces were endangering attempted evacuations.

The decision brings total U.S. security aid provided to Ukraine over the past year to $1.2 billion, a senior administration official said.

In a memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden directed that up to $200 million allocated through the Foreign Assistance Act be designated for Ukraine's defense.

UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A high-ranking UN official on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine to cease the ongoing conflict through dialogue and diplomacy at a Security Council meeting called by Russia to discuss the United States' alleged military biological research in Ukraine.

ATLANTA (AP) — Unaccompanied child migrants trying to enter the United States will no longer be denied a chance to seek asylum under new guidance announced by U.S. health authorities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in announcing the change late Friday night, said “that expulsion of unaccompanied noncitizen children is not warranted to protect the public health.”