USA

31 August 2023; MEMO: Kurdish-American Jasmin Moghbeli arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday heading a NASA mission from the Kennedy Space Centre.

Her team, Crew-7, is expected to spend six months at the ISS, joining Expedition 69 members including UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi to collect data.

31 August 2023; MEMO: The UN Security Council overwhelmingly voted, Thursday, to renew a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for another year after a one-day delay in the vote.

The vote was initially to take place Wednesday but was pulled back to allow the French and US missions to negotiate language about peacekeepers’ freedom of movement. The Council voted 13-0 to reauthorise the mission, with permanent members Russia and China abstaining.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 31 (APP): Some of the world’s most iconic natural and cultural sites are also a haven for thousands of endangered species, the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the world body’s Paris-based agency, said Thursday.

Although properties protected under the World Heritage Convention make up less than one per cent of the Earth’s surface, they harbour more than 20 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity, new research by UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has revealed.

UNITED NATIONS, August 31. /TASS/: There is no sign of the Ukrainian conflict ending currently in sight, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

"Hope never ends, but I would of course be lying if I would say that I believe we are seeing in the immediate horizon a possibility of peace in Ukraine," he noted.

WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted flights by private jet last year and cited security concerns around the court's controversial abortion decision to justify some of the private travel, according to a disclosure form released on Thursday.

Thomas listed 2022 private jet trips provided by Texas businessman Harlan Crow to or from Dallas, Texas, for conferences in February and May, and to a property in upstate New York's Adirondack Mountains in July, the delayed filing showed.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk said Thursday that his social network X, formerly known as Twitter, will give users the ability to make voice and video calls on the platform. Musk, who has a history of making proclamations about coming features and policies that have not always come to fruition, did not say when the features would be available to users.

The company also updated its privacy policies that will allow for the collection of biometric data and employment history, among other information.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump defended his real estate empire and his presidency in a face-to-face clash with the New York attorney general suing him for fraud, testifying at a closed-door grilling in April that his company is flush with cash — and claiming he saved “millions of lives” by deterring nuclear war when he was president.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would require thousands more firearms dealers to run background checks, in an effort to combat rising gun violence nationwide.

The proposal comes after a mandate from President Joe Biden to find ways to strengthen background checks following the passage of bipartisan legislation on guns last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday that Congress should pass a short-term funding measure to ensure the government keeps operating after the current budget year ends Sept. 30.

An official with the Office of Management and Budget said lawmakers would very likely need to pass a temporary spending measure in September to prevent a potential partial shutdown. The official was not authorized to discuss the administration’s plans and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday and sought to sever his case from other defendants who are accused along with him of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set arraignment hearings for Trump and the 18 others charged in the case for Sept. 6. A court filing waiving arraignment means Trump won’t have to show up for that.