USA

WASHINGTON, June 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is strong amid robust consumer spending but some areas are slowing down, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday, adding that she expects continued progress in bringing inflation down over the next two years with a strong labor market.

Yellen, in a CNBC interview, also said that while banks may struggle with commercial real estate and face some consolidation, there is ample liquidity in the system and banks should generally be able to withstand any strain.

UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday voiced grave concern over the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in southern Ukraine.

The protection of civilians and critical civilian facilities in armed conflict is an important principle enshrined in international humanitarian law, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff’s deputy at the scene of the Parkland school shooting is on trial over whether he failed to take action and prevent the deaths of six of the 17 people killed in the 2018 massacre.

In opening statements Wednesday, a prosecutor told the jury that Scot Peterson, a former Broward County Deputy, took cover instead of charging inside a building to confront shooter Nikolas Cruz as he carried out his six-minute attack.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state legislators who change party registrations midterm could be subject to an early election to keep the seat, according to a bill filed Tuesday by Senate Democrats in response to Rep. Tricia Cotham’s switch to the GOP two months ago.

ATLANTA (AP) — Activists announced an effort Wednesday to force a referendum that would allow Atlanta voters to decide whether the construction of a proposed police and firefighter training center should proceed, in a potential last-ditch effort to halt the project that its opponents refer to as “Cop City.”

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Seven people were shot, two fatally, when gunfire rang out Tuesday outside a downtown theater in Richmond, Virginia, where a high school graduation ceremony had just ended, causing hundreds of attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their children, authorities and witnesses said.

A 19-year-old suspect tried to escape on foot but was arrested and will be charged with two counts of second-degree murder, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said during a nighttime news conference at which he confirmed the two fatalities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House conservatives staged a mini-revolt Tuesday in retaliation for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership on last week’s vote to raise the debt ceiling, the right wing banding together to block progress on a mixture of bills and vent their frustration.

Led by outspoken members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of 11 Republicans broke with their party on an otherwise routine procedural vote that threw the day’s schedule — and the rest of the week — into disarray. It’s the first such procedural rule vote to fail in nearly two decades.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Licht is out after a year as chief executive at CNN, following a series of missteps and plunging ratings.

David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, announced the leadership change on CNN’s morning editorial call on Wednesday.

Zaslav appointed a four-person leadership team to lead the network in the interim.

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman accused of fatally shooting her neighbor last week in the violent culmination of what the sheriff described as a 2½-year feud was arrested Tuesday, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.

Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, who is white, was arrested on charges of manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault in the death of Ajike Owens, a Black mother of four, Sheriff Billy Woods said in a statement.

June 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

The 11-4 ruling from the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest defeat for gun control laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide.