USA

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly wrapped up its chief work session for the year on Friday by finalizing proposed state budget adjustments for the new fiscal year, crossing off other must-do legislation but leaving some big policy matters unresolved or thwarted.

The Republican-penned spending measure, which alters the second year of a two-year budget plan enacted last November, received strong bipartisan support again, like it did while securing initial House and Senate approval on Thursday.

HONOLULU (AP) — Lauren Wright continues to be leery of the water coming out of the taps in her family’s U.S. Navy home in Hawaii, saying she doesn’t trust that it’s safe.

Wright, her sailor husband and their three children ages 8 to 17 were among the thousands of people who were sickened late last year after fuel from military storage tanks leaked into Pearl Harbor’s tap water.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers approved a sweeping overhaul Friday of the state’s handgun licensing rules, seeking to preserve some limits on firearms after the Supreme Court ruled that most people have a right to carry a handgun for personal protection.

The measure, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul after passing both chambers by wide margins, is almost sure to draw more legal challenges from gun rights advocates who say the state is still putting too many restrictions on who can get guns and where they can carry them.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion, guns and religion — a major change in the law in any one of these areas would have made for a fateful Supreme Court term. In its first full term together, the court’s conservative majority ruled in all three and issued other significant decisions limiting the government’s regulatory powers.

And it has signaled no plans to slow down.

With three appointees of former President Donald Trump in their 50s, the six-justice conservative majority seems poised to keep control of the court for years to come, if not decades.

01 July 2022; MEMO: Calling for an "early and positive outcome" in ongoing talks on the Iran nuclear deal, China has urged the US to "abandon double standards" on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 01 (APP): Road traffic accidents claim nearly 1.3 million lives each year, cost some countries up to 3 per cent of their annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and are the biggest killer of five to 29-year olds globally, the UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid has said.

“Today’s meeting…is a key opportunity and platform for us to make the changes needed: To strengthen political will, scale up investment, and draw on lessons learned,” he told a High-level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- A shooting in the northeastern U.S. city of Newark has left nine people injured, multiple media outlets reported.

The shooting on Thursday happened on the 200 block of Clinton Place at around 6:20 p.m. (2220 GMT), according to the reports, citing police.

The victims, including a juvenile, were transported to hospital to treat gunshot wounds. All of them are reportedly in stable condition.

The incident is under investigation by the Newark Police Department. No further details were given.

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Thursday renewed the sanctions imposed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Adopting resolution 2641 by a vote of 10 in favor to none against with five abstentions, the council renewed its arms embargo measures, travel ban and asset freezes until July 1, 2023.

China, Russian, Ghana, Gabon and Kenya voted in abstention.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell threatened Thursday to derail a bill designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States if Democrats revive their stalled package of energy and economic initiatives.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court handed Republicans their newest weapon to weaken any Democratic governors in the battleground state, ruling this week that political appointees don’t have to leave their posts until the Senate confirms their successor.