USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas — nearly half the planet’s surface — concluding two weeks of talks in New York.

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force in 1994, before marine biodiversity was a well-established concept.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Child protective services had opened an investigation of a Utah man over alleged child abuse and threats to his family just weeks before he killed seven of his family members and then himself, new documents reveal.

Caseworkers were at the Haight house in the small town of Enoch on Dec. 19, two weeks before Michael Haight fatally shot his wife, their five children and his wife’s mother before killing himself, show the Utah Division of Child and Family Services case documents obtained by the Deseret News through a public records request.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico bill that would make it a crime to store firearms in places that children could access cleared a major hurdle with the endorsement of the state Senate on Friday.

New Mexico is among the top 10 states for firearms deaths per capita. Earlier this year, a 6-year-old student in Virginia shot his teacher, which renewed debates across the country about gun control and school safety.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas was facing a rare potential censure Saturday by his state party over votes that included supporting new gun safety laws after the Uvalde school shooting that was in his district.

A censure by the Republican Party of Texas would underline how the two-term congressman’s willingness to break with conservatives on key issues during his short time in office has caused GOP activists and some colleagues alike to bristle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Sherrod Brown has survived a decade of statewide Democratic losses in Ohio by building a reputation as the rare person in his party who can still connect with the white working-class voters who have increasingly shifted to Republicans.

3 Mar 2023; MEMO: Hamas' Basim Naim said the United Nations Security Council's failure to issue a statement condemning Israeli settlers' "terrorist attack" against Palestinians in Huwara, south of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, "reinforces the law of the jungle and chaos", Quds Press reported yesterday.

WASHINGTION, Mar 03 (APP):A State Department spokesman Thursday sidestepped a question about arrest warrants issued against PTI chief Imran Khan, saying the U.S. supported peaceful upholding of democratic, constitutional, and legal principles in Pakistan.

“These are questions for the Pakistani people, not for the United States,” Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters when the correspondent of a private Pakistani tv channel asked him about an Islamabad court’s order for Khan’s arrest after he skipped a hearing on charges of selling state gifts and concealing his assets.

UNITED NATIONS, March 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Leaders across the UN system have called for bolder action and more effective partnerships to protect endangered animals and plants, ahead of World Wildlife Day on Friday.

“One million species teeter on the brink of extinction, due to habitat destruction, fossil fuel pollution and the worsening climate crisis. We must end this war on nature,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in his message for the Day. 

MIAMI, March 3 (Reuters) - Companies may face steeper penalties for misconduct if they lack policies around employees' use of personal cell phones and messaging apps, a top U.S. Justice Department official said on Friday.

March 3 (Reuters) - A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) after a brief delay early on Friday, carrying two U.S. astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut on a six-month science mission.

The autonomously flying spacecraft dubbed Endeavour docked with the space station shortly after 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, about 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.