USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. for the first time Friday said it will give Ukraine Scan Eagle surveillance drones, mine-resistant vehicles, anti-armor rounds and howitzer weapons to help Ukrainian forces regain territory and mount a counteroffensive against Russian invaders.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — British national El Shafee Elsheikh was sentenced to life in prison Friday for his role in an Islamic State scheme that took roughly two dozen Westerners hostage a decade ago.

Elsheikh’s hostages gave him a somewhat whimsical nickname — he was dubbed a “Beatle” along with other English-accented captors — but the moniker belied the viciousness of his conduct.

(AP) --- The Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr improperly withheld portions of an internal memorandum Barr cited in publicly announcing that then-President Donald Trump had not obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, a federal appeals panel said Friday.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Local authorities in Yemen reported 77 people killed, including children, in flooding, from mid-Jul to mid-Aug, that affected more than 200,000 people, UN humanitarians said yesterday.

Heavy rainfall triggered flooding across 16 of the 20 governorates in the country, particularly impacting sites of displaced people, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Israel has said it will provide additional information to the United States on the basis for the closure of Palestinian nongovernmental organizations on Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said while expressing concern over the closures of civil society groups.

Washington contacted Israeli officials, including at high levels, for more information, Price said at a regular press briefing, after security forces raided the offices of seven groups in the Israeli-occupied West Bank it accuses of channeling aid to militant groups. 

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Congresswoman Liz Cheney said Wednesday that she will mull over a White House run, one day after she lost in the Wyoming Republican primary.

"That's a decision that I'm going to make in the coming months," Cheney said in an interview on NBC's "TODAY" show.

Cheney has been projected by several U.S. media outlets to be defeated in the primary by Harriet Hageman, an attorney endorsed by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

With 99 percent of the vote counted on Wednesday, Hageman led Cheney by about 37 percentage points.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his allies hope big recent wins on climate, health care and more will at least temporarily tamp down questions among top Democrats about whether he will run for reelection.

That optimism may be short lived, at risk if and when former President Donald Trump announces another White House campaign. But for now, the “Will he or won’t he” Washington parlor game appears to be on hold.

“I think the naysayers are pretty quiet right now,” said former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. “I think they’ve seen reality.”

ATLANTA (AP) — Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that he had “satisfied his obligation” after facing hours of questioning Wednesday before a special grand jury in Atlanta as a target of an investigation into attempts by former President Donald Trump and others to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Giuliani said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ended his appearance by saying he had “satisfied his obligation under the subpoena.”

“So I was very happy that I satisfied my obligation,” he said.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for many of the nation’s largest media companies will try to persuade a federal magistrate judge on Thursday afternoon to make public the affidavit supporting the warrant that allowed FBI agents to search former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate last week.

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Thundering gas-powered muscle cars, for decades a fixture of American culture, will be closing in on their final Saturday-night cruises in the coming years as automakers begin replacing them with super-fast cars that run on batteries.

Stellantis’ Dodge brand, long the performance flag-bearer of the company formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, is officially moving toward electricity. On Wednesday night, Dodge unveiled a battery-powered Charger Daytona SRT concept car, which is close to one that will be produced in 2024 as the sun sets on some petroleum models.