USA

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The prosecutor seeking to sentence Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz to death let the facts speak for themselves as he presented his case: terrifying witness accounts; heartrending statements from parents and spouses; chilling surveillance videos; gruesome autopsy and crime scene photos; and, as a capstone, Thursday’s jury walk-through of the three-story building where it happened, bloodstains and Valentine’s Day cards still clinging to the floors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over five decades in Washington, Joe Biden knew that the way to influence was to be in the room where it happens. But in the second year of his presidency, some of Biden’s most striking, legacy-defining legislative victories came about by staying out of it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats drove their election-year economic package toward Senate approval early Sunday, debating a measure with less ambition than President Joe Biden’s original domestic vision but that touches deep-rooted party dreams of slowing global warming, moderating pharmaceutical costs and taxing immense corporations.

Washington, Aug 7 (PTI) The United States, Australia and Japan have urged China to immediately cease its military exercises and reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

A joint statement was issued by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa after their in-person meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 06 (APP): “Nuclear weapons are nonsense,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Saturday at the 77th anniversary of world’s first atomic bombing over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Guterres joined the thousands packed into the Peace Park in the centre of Hiroshima to mark the anniversary of the bombing that killed 140,000 before the end of 1945, only the second time a U.N. chief has taken part in the annual ceremony, according to media reports.

WASHINGTON, August 6. /TASS/: Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov slammed as absurd Washington’s attempts to shift responsibility for the global food crisis to Russia.

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The Biden administration's next security assistance package for Ukraine is expected to be $1 billion, one of the largest so far, and include munitions for long-range weapons and armored medical transport vehicles, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

The package is expected to be announced as early as Monday and would add to about $8.8 billion in aid the United States has given Ukraine since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. federal reports on long COVID released Wednesday fail to address the needs of patients, NBC reported on Thursday.

The reports neglected to include many of the recommendations of doctors and advocacy groups for how to address the long COVID crisis, the report said.

It also said the reports commit to establishing a long COVID office within the Department of Health and Human Services, but offer no details on how such an office would be funded and staffed, nor do they offer any timeline for the setup.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday but will continue to isolate at the White House until a second negative test, his doctor said.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor wrote in his latest daily update that the president, “in an abundance of caution,” will abide by the “strict isolation measures” in place since his “rebound” infection was detected July 30, pending a follow-up negative result.

(AP) --- Elon Musk said Saturday his planned $44 billion takeover of Twitter should move forward if the company can confirm some details about how it measures whether user accounts are ‘spam bots’ or real people.

The billionaire and Tesla CEO has been trying to back out of his April agreement to buy the social media company, leading Twitter to sue him last month to complete the acquisition. Musk countersued, accusing Twitter of misleading his team about the true size of its user base and other problems he said amounted to fraud and breach of contract.