North America

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the U.N. body investigating the most serious crimes in Myanmar said that preliminary evidence collected since the military seized power on Feb. 1 shows a widespread and systematic attack on civilians “amounting to crimes against humanity.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy was supposed to help President Joe Biden and Democrats, but as of late it’s been hurting them with voters.

Biden on Friday praised the U.S. economy for performing better than the rest of the world, saying it’s largely because of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and plans for additional spending of roughly $2.75 trillion on infrastructure, families, schools, health care and climate change.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council called for an end to the intensifying and expanding conflict in Ethiopia on Friday, and for unhindered access for humanitarian aid to tackle the world’s worst hunger crisis in a decade in the war-torn Tigray region.

The U.N.’s most powerful body expressed serious concern about the impact of the conflict on “the stability of the country and the wider region,” and called on all parties to refrain “from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness.”

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A prosecutor investigating accusations that former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo groped a woman asked a judge for more time to evaluate the evidence, saying the criminal complaint filed last week by the local sheriff was “potentially defective,” according to a letter released Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joined the race for an easy-to-use medication to treat the coronavirus.

Currently most COVID-19 treatments require an IV or injection. Competitor Merck’s COVID-19 pill is already under review at the Food and Drug Administration after showing strong initial results, and on Thursday the United Kingdom became the first country to OK it.

NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) — The Democrats of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, felt the red wave building over the summer when frustrated parents filled school board meetings to complain about masking requirements and an academic theory on systemic racism that wasn’t even taught in local schools.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House approved a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects late Friday after Democrats resolved a months-long standoff between progressives and moderates, notching a victory that President Joe Biden and his party had become increasingly anxious to claim.

WASHINGTON, Nov 05 (APP): Speakers at a special event organized by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington to mark the ‘Kashmir Black Day’ reaffirmed their solidarity with the Kashmiri people and called on India to end its gross human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

They also condemned India’s unilateral and illegal actions of August 5, 2019, to annex the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and its security lockdown and communications blackout in the disputed territory.

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Navy has fired the commanding officer, executive officer and top enlisted sailor of a nuclear-powered submarine that crashed into an underwater mountain on Oct 2, saying the accident was preventable.

Commander Cameron Aljilani and two others were removed from their positions on Thursday following an investigation into the crash in the disputed South China Sea.

The USS Connecticut was forced to sail on the surface for a week to reach Guam.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday strongly condemned the attack by members of the presidential guard of the Central African Republic (CAR) which wounded 10 peacekeepers.

Through a statement attributable to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief "emphasizes that attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime. He calls on the Central African authorities to spare no effort in investigating and promptly holding accountable the perpetrators of this unacceptable attack."