North America

(AP) --- President Joe Biden is committing to reduce the cancer death rate by 50% — a new goal for the “moonshot” initiative against the disease that was announced in 2016 when he was vice president.

Biden has set a 25-year timeline for achieving that goal, part of his broader effort to end cancer as we know it, according to senior administration officials who previewed Wednesday’s announcement on the condition of anonymity.

The issue is deeply personal for Biden: He lost his elder son, Beau, to brain cancer in 2015.

CHICAGO (AP) — A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the middle section of the United States on Wednesday as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, governors urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses.

The blast of frigid weather, which began arriving Tuesday night, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings and watches. On Wednesday morning, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw freezing rain, sleet and snow.

HOUSTON, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- A 4.5-magnitude earthquake hit the U.S. state of Oklahoma on Monday, local media reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey said it recorded the earthquake around 11:10 a.m. local time (1910 GMT). The epicenter is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northwest of Medford, a city with a population of about 1,000 in northern Oklahoma.

Following the earthquake, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission shut down three oil and gas wastewater disposal wells within 6 miles (9.6 km) of the epicenter.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo on Monday called for dialogue to defuse the current tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

01 Feb 2022; MEMO: Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live safely and securely, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday.

Blinken spoke to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on the phone, a statement said, and discussed "the importance of strengthening the US relationship with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people."

Blinken also discussed with Abbas "the need to improve quality of life for Palestinians in tangible ways."

Washington, Feb 1 (AP) President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated Qatar a major non-NATO ally, a largely symbolic honour but one that was meant to convey his administration's gratitude for the tiny Persian Gulf nation's assistance with evacuations from Afghanistan and in ending last year's Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators on Monday granted full approval to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, a shot that’s already been given to tens of millions of Americans since its emergency authorization over a year ago.

The action by the Food and Drug Administration means the agency has completed the same rigorous, time-consuming review of Moderna’s shot as dozens of other long-established vaccines.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The threat to the West from the Chinese government is “more brazen” and damaging than ever before, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Monday night in accusing Beijing of stealing American ideas and innovation and launching massive hacking operations.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The chief medical examiner who ruled George Floyd’s death a homicide will return to the stand Tuesday at the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating Floyd’s civil rights.

TORONTO (AP) — The leader of Canada’s Conservative party is facing a revolt by his party’s lawmakers and could be ousted as soon as Wednesday.

If successful, he would be the third main political rival Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has helped bring down.

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who angered some by trying to move the party more toward the center, said late Monday that lawmakers of his party have a choice between extremism or inclusion that better reflects the Canada of 2022.