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USA: Stock market today: Tech leads more gains on Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks powered solid gains for Wall Street on Friday after another chipmaker reported strong demand related to artificial intelligence.

The upbeat finish to the week for major indexes comes amid lingering anxiety over persistently high inflation, the risk of a U.S. debt default and broadly weak corporate earnings.

The S&P 500 rose, 54.17 points, or 1.3% to close at 4,205.45. It notched a small gain for the week and is in the green as May nears its close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 328.69 points, or 1%, to 33,093.34.

USA: Reform-minded prosecutors in northern Virginia face primary challenges

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — In the four years since progressive reform prosecutors swept into office across northern Virginia, they have faced constant criticism, ranging from conservatives who deride them as bleeding-heart “ Soros prosecutors ” to judges who claim they abuse their discretion.

Now, as these prosecutors are up for reelection in Virginia’s off-off year elections, the challengers in next month’s Democratic primaries aren’t challenging the reform agenda. Instead, they too are casting themselves as reformers.

US: Chinese agents paid bribes in plot to disrupt anti-communist Falun Gong movement

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. authorities have arrested two suspected Chinese government agents in connection with an alleged plot by Beijing to disrupt and ultimately topple the exiled anti-communist Falun Gong spiritual movement.

John Chen and Lin Feng were charged in an indictment unsealed Friday with scheming to revoke a New York-based Falun Gong organization’s tax-exempt status and paying bribes to a undercover officer posing as a U.S. tax agent.

USA: New Mexico shooting victims mourned by their children, 64 grandchildren

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Gwendolyn Dean Schofield hoped to live to 100, and she was nearly there.

But on May 15, in what appeared to be a final act of kindness, Schofield and her daughter pulled over on a residential street in the northwestern New Mexico city of Farmington to help a woman who was shot at random, and they, too, were hit by gunfire and died.

“I guarantee they would have stopped in that situation 10 out of 10 times,” said Dallin Dean, Schofield’s grandson.

USA: Biden says debt deal ‘very close’ even as two sides far apart on work requirements

WASHINGTON (AP) — Work requirements for federal food aid recipients have emerged as a final sticking point in negotiations over the looming debt crisis, even as President Joe Biden said Friday that a deal is “very close.”

At UN, Pakistan urges legal instrument to combat cyber threats to world peace

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (APP): A legally-binding instrument that addresses the interests of all states would be the best option to deal with increasing cyber threats to international peace and security, Pakistan has told a UN Security Council’s “Arria-Formula” meeting.

“Cyber attacks are taking place with an increased intensity across the entire spectrum of our social, economic and political domains, with devastating impact on critical infrastructure and societies,” Ambassador Aamir Khan, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said on Thursday.

Oath Keeper gets 8 1/2 years in prison over US Capitol attack

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - A member of the far-right Oath Keepers on Friday was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for her role in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump who tried to overturn his presidential election defeat.

Jessica Watkins was convicted in November by a federal jury in Washington of obstruction of an official proceeding for her role in the storming of the Capitol, which saw rioters battle police, smash windows and send lawmakers running for their lives.

USA: Florida Governor DeSantis launches 2024 presidential bid

WASHINGTON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced his entry into the 2024 U.S. presidential race, vowing to lead a "Great American Comeback."

DeSantis made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter. "We need the courage to lead and the strength to win," DeSantis said. "I'm Ron DeSantis, and I'm running for president to lead our great American comeback."

His campaign filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring his candidacy earlier Wednesday.

UN honors fallen peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations held ceremonies at its headquarters in New York on Thursday, to honor the memory of the peacekeepers who have sacrificed their lives while serving under the UN flag.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial in honor of the more than 4,200 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.

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