North America

United Nations, Feb 24 (AP) Ukraine's ambassador at the United Nations has told the Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared war on Ukraine .

He also pressed his Russian counterpart to state that Russia will not shell and bomb Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Wednesday night that if Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia was not in a position to give a positive answer, he should relinquish the presidency of the Security Council, which Russia holds this month.

HAVANA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Cuba, a close ally of Russia, has sharply criticized the United States for imposing "the progressive expansion of NATO towards the borders of the Russian Federation" and called for a diplomatic solution to preserve international peace.

One of the worst crises in Europe in decades is unfolding as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine after recognizing them as independent, prompting fresh sanctions from Western nations including the United States.

MEXICO CITY, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday snapped back at U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken after he expressed concern over a spate of journalist killings in Mexico, saying he was misinformed.

"What he's saying is not true. Of course, it's very unfortunate that there are murders of journalists ... In all cases we're doing something about it, there is no impunity, these are not state crimes," Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed on Tuesday that the world body will never give up on finding a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis.

"We must rally and meet this challenge together for peace, and to save the people of Ukraine and beyond from the scourge of war," the UN chief told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

"It is high time to return to the path of dialogue and negotiations," he said, adding that he is "fully committed to" all efforts to resolve this crisis "without further bloodshed."

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A warming planet and changes to land use patterns mean more wildfires will scorch large parts of the globe in coming decades, causing spikes in unhealthy smoke pollution and other problems that governments are ill prepared to confront, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland take immediate action to reform the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons in response to Associated Press investigations that exposed widespread problems there, serious misconduct involving correctional officers and rampant sexual abuse at a California women’s prison.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Nearly two years after Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by police, the only Kentucky officer facing criminal charges in the botched raid will stand trial Wednesday for shooting into Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment.

Brett Hankison, now a former officer, fired 10 shots near a side door during the raid, but none hit Taylor. Prosecutors say the bullets endangered Taylor’s neighbors — a couple and their infant child.

Washington, Feb 23 (PTI) US Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Tuesday cancelled his scheduled meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov later this week in protest against what he said was the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who jointly addressed a news conference with Blinken at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, said that the world must respond with all its economic might to punish Russia for the crimes it has already committed and ahead of the crimes it plans to commit.

NEW YORK, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hawaii is the lone remaining U.S. state sticking with indoor mask mandate as U.S. COVID-19 cases drop, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Hawaii, which has had the country's fewest cases per capita over the course of the pandemic, has seen its daily average of new cases plummet about 70 percent over the past two weeks, the report said.

"I am working with the Department of Health to determine when the time is right for Hawaii to lift the indoor mask mandate," Governor David Ige told a local TV news station.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For more than a year, the Food and Drug Administration lacked a permanent head when the agency was central in the battle against COVID-19. Once President Joe Biden nominated Dr. Robert Califf to head the agency, it took the Senate three months to confirm him.

The political battles over Califf’s nomination highlight the difficulties that Biden faces in filling key positions throughout his administration.