USA

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida sued federal health officials on Wednesday, accusing them of stalling the state’s plan to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administration at a news conference.

SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — A judge rejected a plea agreement that would have meant no prison time for the operator of a limousine company involved in a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York. Wednesday’s turnabout drew applause and tears from victims’ relatives and plunged limo company boss Nauman Hussain into legal uncertainty.

State Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch, who was not presiding over the case when the deal was reached a year ago in Hussain’s case, called the agreement “fundamentally flawed.”

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It’s been quiet — too quiet — this Atlantic hurricane season, meteorologists and residents of storm-prone areas whisper almost as if not to tempt fate.

A record-tying inactive August is drawing to a close and no storms have formed, even though it is peak hurricane season and all experts’ pre-season forecasts warned of an above normal season. Nearly all the factors that meteorologists look for in a busy season are there.

Warm ocean water for fuel? Check.

Not a lot of wind shear that decapitates storms? Check.

(AP) --- A 19-year-old man was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in a series of apparently random shootings over roughly two hours last weekend in Detroit that left three people dead and a fourth wounded.

Dontae Ramon Smith was expected to be arraigned later in the day in 36th District Court on the three murder counts as well as other charges, including assault and firearms charges, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said. It wasn’t immediately known if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday authorized its first update to COVID-19 vaccines, booster doses that target today’s most common omicron strain. Shots could begin within days.

The move by the Food and Drug Administration tweaks the recipe of shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna that already have saved millions of lives. The hope is that the modified boosters will blunt yet another winter surge — and help tamp down the BA.5 omicron relative that continues to spread widely.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says classified documents were “likely concealed and removed” from a storage room at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate as part of an effort to obstruct the federal investigation into the discovery of the government records.

30 August 2022; MEMO: Accusations of anti-Semitism has become an arsenal to crackdown on critics of Israel, prominent American Jewish commentator, Peter Beinart, has argued in an article in the New York Times.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit flood-battered Pakistan next week to see for himself the “tragic situation facing millions of men, women and children” in the worst impacted areas of the country, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram, who met the UN chief yesterday, and Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, the Foreign Office spokesman, welcomed the UN chief’s move, saying they look forward to his visit which begins with his arrival in Islamabad on Friday, September 9.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 (NNN-UNNS) — A peacekeeper from Burkina Faso serving in Mali has been honoured for her work to boost trust between the authorities and local communities, including survivors of gender-based violence.

Chief Warrant Officer Alizeta Kabore Kinda is the recipient of the 2022 United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year Award, announced on Monday.

The Award was established in 2011 to recognize the exceptional contributions of women police officers to UN peace operations and to promote women’s empowerment.

WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Russia has faced "numerous failures" with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine, according to a senior U.S. administration official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States assesses Russia has received the delivery of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over several days this month. The official said it is likely part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of such vehicles.