USA

04 August 2022; MEMO: Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has secured a comfortable victory in Michigan's 12th Congressional District Democratic primary elections which have been dominated by the "dark money" funnelled by the influential pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 03 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged governments on Wednesday to tax huge oil and gas profits to support the most vulnerable people, as the world grapples with energy, food and finance crises, resulting in part by the war in Ukraine.

“It is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the backs of the poorest people and communities,” Guterres told a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The conflict in Ukraine does not warrant Russia's use of nuclear weapons, but Moscow could decide to use its nuclear arsenal in response to "direct aggression" by NATO countries over the invasion, Russia said on Tuesday at the United Nations.

At a nuclear nonproliferation conference, Russian diplomat Alexander Trofimov rejected "utterly unfounded, detached from reality and unacceptable speculations that Russia allegedly threatens to use nuclear weapons, particularly in Ukraine."

WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Two Hellfire missiles fired from a drone killed the leader of al Qaeda, causing surprisingly little damage beyond the target, suggesting they may be a version of the missile shrouded in secrecy and used by the United States to avoid non-combatant casualties.

Officials said the missiles killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri while he stood on a balcony at his home in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, over the weekend in the biggest blow to the militants since Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. 

KLAMATH RIVER, Calif. (AP) — Two more bodies were found within the burn zone of a huge Northern California wildfire, raising the death toll to four in the state’s largest blaze of the year, authorities said Tuesday.

Search teams discovered the additional bodies Monday at separate residences along State Route 96, one of the only roads in and out of the remote region near the state line with Oregon, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

PHOENIX (AP) — Republican Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers lost his bid for a state Senate seat after refusing then-President Donald Trump’s pleas to help overturn the 2020 election results and testifying before Congress about the efforts.

Bowers tried to move to the state Senate because of term limits. He lost to former state Sen. David Farnsworth, who criticized him for refusing to help Trump or go along with a contentious 2021 “audit” that Republican leaders in the Senate commissioned.

NEW YORK (AP) — Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Meijer was trailing a primary challenger backed by former President Donald Trump as he and two other Republican U.S. House members who voted to impeach Trump fought to hang onto their seats.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday proposed a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies, the latest attempt by Congress to formulate ideas on how to oversee a multibillion-dollar industry that has been racked by collapsing prices and lenders halting operations.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is moving higher before the opening bell on Wednesday ahead of more corporate earnings and new jobs data.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.4%, as did futures for the S&P 500. Oil prices ticked up ahead of Wednesday’s OPEC+ meeting. Global markets were mixed.

NEW YORK (AP) — To understand the impact of surging inflation on this year’s back-to-school spending, look no further than children’s rain boots with motifs like frogs and ladybugs made by Washington Shoe Co.