USA

UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The China-brokered agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the restoration of diplomatic relations represents an opportunity for the resolution of the conflict in Yemen, said a UN spokesman on Wednesday.

Asked how optimistic UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is about the possibility of the Saudi-Iran agreement leading to a breakthrough in Yemen, Stephane Dujarric, his spokesman, said the agreement "is clearly an opportunity."

15 Mar 2023; MEMO: US senators have introduced a bipartisan resolution that could force the President to make a report on Saudi Arabia's human rights record, providing a new strategy to potentially cause the government to reassess its security assistance to its Gulf ally.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Trips to Mar-a-Lago. Glowing speeches. Front-row seats at major events.

The first Republican presidential primaries are nearly a year away and the candidate field is unsettled. But already, a shadow contest of another sort is underway with several Republicans openly jockeying to position themselves as potential running mates to Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the nomination.

“A lot of people are right now auditioning,” Trump boasted to supporters in Florida last month.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration’s approval this week of the biggest oil drilling project in Alaska in decades promises to widen a rift among Alaska Natives, with some saying that oil money can’t counter the damages caused by climate change and others defending the project as economically vital.

Two lawsuits filed almost immediately by environmentalists and one Alaska Native group are likely to exacerbate tensions that have built up over years of debate about ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Willow project.

WASHINGTON (AP) — TikTok was dismissive Wednesday of reports that the Biden administration was calling for its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the popular video-sharing app, saying such a move wouldn’t help protect national security.

The company was responding to a report in The Wall Street Journal that said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., part of the Treasury Department, was threatening a U.S. ban on the app unless its owners, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., divested.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a matter of days, Saudi Arabia carried out blockbuster agreements with the world’s two leading powers — China and the United States.

Riyadh signed a Chinese-facilitated deal aimed at restoring diplomatic ties with its arch-nemesis Iran and then announced a massive contract to buy commercial planes from U.S. manufacturer Boeing.

LAS VEGAS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- North America's largest construction trade show opened on Tuesday in Las Vegas, showcasing the world's most advanced technologies and products in machinery and construction.

The show, named CONEXPO-CON/AGG, drew over 1,800 equipment manufacturers representing products in asphalt, aggregates, concrete, earth digging equipment, lifting, mining and many others, according the organizer.

More than 175 education sessions will be held during the show which runs through Saturday.

15 Mar 2023; MEMO: The White House, on Tuesday, welcomed the "landmark" deal between Saudi Arabia and the Boeing Company, saying it will support US jobs and marked a milestone in cooperation between Saudi Arabia and American industry, Reuters reports.

Two Saudi airlines agreed to buy 78 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and took options to buy another 43.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A newly formed and now Republican-majority North Carolina Supreme Court listened on Tuesday to arguments that could determine the extent to which state legislators can create electoral districts that could help lock in their political power.

The new 5-2 GOP majority allowed a rare “rehearing” of the case last month. The redistricting litigation was ruled on just three months ago, when Democrats held a 4-3 seat advantage. That edition of the court threw out out a state Senate map the legislature drew and upheld congressional boundaries drawn by trial judges.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A day after the Biden administration approved a major Alaska oil project, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland waded into another thorny battle in the state — a long-simmering dispute over building a road through a national wildlife refuge to provide health care access for a remote, and largely Indigenous, community.