USA

WASHINGTON, March  30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Joe Biden promised nearly $700 million to support a global “turning point” toward democracy, painting a portrait of progress at a summit despite the growing assertiveness of China and Russia and concern elsewhere over backsliding.

Biden invited 121 leaders for his second, largely virtual “Summit for Democracy,” where he also announced an alliance by like-minded countries on rules for surveillance technology — seen as a growing tool by China as its technology advances.

UNITED NATIONS, March 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN General Assembly took a major step towards urgent global climate action Wednesday as members adopted a resolution calling for the world body’s top court to outline nations’ legal obligations related to curbing warming.

Cheers rang out as the measure — hailed as a victory for the climate justice movement which hopes it will increase pressure on polluting countries failing to address the global warming emergency — was greenlighted by consensus.

LOS ANGELES, March 29 (Xinhua) -- NASA released its climate strategy on Wednesday in an effort to expand agency-wide efforts to counter climate challenges.

The strategy assesses NASA's climate portfolio across the agency for the first time, extending beyond science and exploration efforts to include every mission directorate and NASA facility.

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Fighting in two provinces of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has disrupted the education of some 750,000 children, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

New figures released by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) showed that between January 2022 and the present, in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri at least 2,100 schools were forced to close because of a worsening security situation, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

UNITED NATIONS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Wednesday to seek opinion of the world body's principal judicial organ on countries' obligations to address climate change.

The resolution, put forward by Vanuatu and adopted by consensus, requests for non-binding advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of states in respect of climate change.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter says it has removed thousands of tweets showing a poster promoting a “trans day of vengeance” protest in support of transgender rights in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of Trust and Safety, said in a tweet Wednesday that the company automatically removed more than 5,000 tweets and retweets of a poster promoting the event.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Hundreds gathered Wednesday at a candlelight vigil in Nashville to honor and mourn the three children and three adults who were killed in a shooting at a Christian school this week.

The downtown ceremony for the victims of the shooting at The Covenant School was somber and at times tearful, as speaker after speaker read the names of the victims and offered condolences to their loved ones. The family of Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian who was among those killed, was in attendance, including his seven children.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two Army helicopters crashed Wednesday night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission, causing “several” casualties, military officials said.

The two HH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday in Trigg County, Kentucky, according to a statement from Fort Campbell.

The 101st Airborne confirmed the crash, saying on Twitter it resulted in “several casualties” but did not specify whether those were injuries or deaths.

WASHINGTON, March 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated plan to deploy nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, branding it “dangerous” talk.

“This is dangerous kind of talk and it’s worrisome,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

The Kremlin leader announced on Saturday that he was ordering the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, run by fellow authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko as one of Russia’s closest allies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is opening his second Summit for Democracy with a pledge for the U.S. to spend $690 million bolstering democracy programs around the globe.

The Biden administration wants to use the two-day summit that begins Wednesday to zero in on making “technology work for and not against democracy,” according to a senior administration official. Some 120 global leaders have been invited to participate.