North America

05 Feb 2022; MEMO: The administration of US president Joe Biden has waived sanctions on Iran's nuclear capabilities, in an attempt to open up the possibility of a settlement on the nuclear deal.

According to media reports, the waiver was revealed by an unnamed State Department official who stressed that it was a necessity for the success of the ongoing nuclear talks in the Austrian capital Vienna.

MIAMI (AP) — A court in Venezuela has upheld long prison sentences for six American oil executives detained in the South American country on corruption charges for more than four years.

Venezuela’s supreme court announced the ruling late Friday, disappointing family members who had hoped the surprise decision last fall to hear the appeal, and a recent jailhouse visit by a top State Department official, signified President Nicolás Maduro’s government was looking to release the men as part of a gesture to engage the Biden administration in talks over U.S. sanctions.

BROWN DEER, Wis. (AP) — A man fatally shot two people at an apartment complex in a Milwaukee suburb and later died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Three people, including the suspect, were killed and one other person was injured in Saturday morning’s shooting, which authorities believe began as a “domestic dispute,” Brown Deer Police Chief Peter Nimmer said.

He said the 26-year-old suspect shot himself and was taken to a hospital, where he died.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has dropped a lawsuit against the Defense Department in which he claimed that material was being improperly withheld from his use as he wrote a memoir about his tenure in the Trump administration.

Esper’s lawyer, Mark S. Zaid, said in a statement on Friday that the Pentagon had reversed its stance on “the overwhelming majority” of material that officials had deemed classified and thus not for publication. What remained in dispute over its classification wasn’t central to Esper’s book, Zaid said.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Ricans will vote for a new president Sunday in elections that have yet to see a clear favorite emerge among the 25 candidates and will be held amid fears of a low turnout because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Costa Ricans will also choose a new National Assembly in the elections, which take place days after the country’s top prosecutor filed papers seeking to lift outgoing President Carlos Alvarado’s immunity so he can face charges related to the collection of personal information on citizens. He is not eligible to run again.

TORONTO (AP) — A former U.S. ambassador to Canada said groups in the U.S. need to cease interfering in what many call an occupation in Canada’s capital as protesters opposed to vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions held rallies in cities across the country in a show of solidarity with a week-long demonstration in Ottawa.

“Under no circumstances should any group in the USA fund disruptive activities in Canada. Period. Full stop,” Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador under President Barack Obama, tweeted late Saturday.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs including its capability to produce nuclear fissile materials in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, U.N. experts said in a new report.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In 2016, Donald Trump overtook the Republican National Committee through a shock and awe campaign that stunned party leaders. In 2020, the party was obligated to support him as the sitting Republican president.

Heading into 2024, however, the Republican Party has a choice.

The RNC, which controls the party’s rules and infrastructure, is under no obligation to support Trump again. In fact, the GOP’s bylaws specifically require neutrality should more than one candidate seek the party’s presidential nomination.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by mid-month to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials say.

The officials, who discussed internal assessments of the Russian buildup on condition they not be identified, sketched out a series of indicators suggesting Putin intends an invasion in coming weeks, although the size and scale are unclear. They stressed that a diplomatic solution appears to remain possible.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday, announced the appointment of Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro Saenz of Spain, as head of mission and force commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said his press office.

Lazaro Saenz succeeds Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col of Italy, who will shortly complete his assignment.