USA

NEW YORK, March 2 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 jolted 80 km WSW of Port Olry, Vanuatu at 18:04:30 GMT on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 15.2929 degrees south latitude and 166.3657 degrees east longitude.

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations spokesman on Thursday said the world body is joining hands with Costa Rica to fight hate speech using artificial intelligence (AI) and also develop the first national AI strategy in the Central American region.

UN team continues to support the country's efforts to combat hate speech through AI, leading Costa Rica to launch the region's first national plan to combat hate speech, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Switching political parties to be able to choose the primary in which a voter wants to cast a ballot is an old Wyoming tradition, one that has faced growing scrutiny as the state’s Democrats increasingly struggle to field strong candidates and Republican primaries often all but decide who eventually wins office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Daniel Ellsberg, who copied and leaked documents that revealed secret details of U.S. strategy in the Vietnam War and became known as the Pentagon Papers, said he has terminal cancer and months to live.

Ellsberg posted on his Facebook page Thursday that doctors diagnosed the 91-year-old with inoperable pancreatic cancer on Feb. 17 following medical scans.

Doctors have given him between three and six months to live, he said.

Ellsberg said he has opted not to undergo chemotherapy and plans to accept hospice care when needed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump can be sued by injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said Thursday in a federal court case testing Trump’s legal vulnerability for his speech before the riot.

The Justice Department told a Washington federal appeals court in a legal filing that it should allow the lawsuits to move forward, rejecting Trump’s argument that he is immune from the claims.

WASHINGTON (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting the White House on Friday for a private meeting with President Joe Biden as both allies become increasingly vocal about their concerns that China may step off the sidelines and supply weapons to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Such a step could dramatically change the war’s trajectory by allowing Moscow to replenish its depleted stockpiles.

2 Mar 2023; MEMO: The US has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials in the occupation state to condemn publicly the statements made by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to "wipe out" the Palestinian village of Huwara.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden exudes confidence as the next race for the White House approaches.

During last month’s State of the Union address, he lured unruly Republicans into agreeing with him that federal entitlements should be protected. He’s intensified travel outside Washington, trumpeting job-creation in Wisconsin and steep federal health care spending to Florida seniors while touting a trillion-dollar public works package that he says can do everything from revitalize Baltimore’s port to easing train tunnel congestion under the Hudson River.

WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in a case that chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of two counts of murder at the end of a six-week trial that pulled back the curtain on the once-prominent lawyer’s fall from grace.

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged countries to agree a “robust and ambitious” treaty to protect the high seas, as time starts to run out for negotiators.

After 15 years of formal and informal talks, delegates have been meeting in New York since Feb 20 to discuss a text that aims to protect nearly half the planet.

It is the third “final” negotiating round in less than a year and is due to end Friday.