USA

MIAMI (AP) — A little-noticed federal appeals court ruling this year threatens a key weapon in the United States’ war on drugs: A decades-old law that gives the U.S. broad authority to make high-seas arrests anywhere in the world, even if the drugs aren’t bound for American shores.

It’s a law that’s used to round up and imprison hundreds of foreigners every year, mostly poor, semi-literate fishermen from Central and South America who make up the drug trade’s lowest rungs.

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid the push to get U.S. boardrooms to look more like companies’ customers and employees, advocates are finally seeing just how steep the task will be.

Boards of directors at publicly traded U.S. companies are much more white and much less diverse than the overall population, often starkly so. Just 2.7% of directors at the start of the year were Hispanic, for example. That would need to soar to 18.5% to mirror the U.S. population.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — One contender thinks West Virginia voters will see the value of federal spending on badly needed infrastructure in one of the nation’s poorest regions. The other is betting that loyalty to former President Donald Trump will matter more.

The May 10 primary in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District between Republican Reps. Alex Mooney and David McKinley will be a barometer of Trump’s clout in a state that wholeheartedly embraced him in two presidential elections.

DUBLIN, Calif. (AP) — For months, inmates and staff say, their calls for help were ignored. And in this aging prison of deep despair — a place where sexual abuse has been rampant, authorities acted with utter indifference and the workforce was deeply demoralized — the cries for help had been many and varied.

UNITED NATIONS, May 04 (APP): Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, has called on the United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) to fight the proliferating ‘fake news’ and disinformation on social media platforms, and pay greater attention to the promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in the coronavirus and conflict-hit countries.

UNITED NATIONS, May 04 (APP): A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed disquiet over the Hindu-Muslim clashes in Indian city of Jodhpur that coincided with Eid-ul-Fitre.

WASHINGTON, May 4. /TASS/: The US administration is open to considering the idea of imposing additional sanctions against Russia, the country will consult on the issue with partners in the Group of Seven advanced economies, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, responding to reporters’ question at the White House about the EU's intention to apply a sixth package of restrictive measures against Russia.

"With regard to additional sanctions, we’re always open to additional sanctions," the American leader stressed.

LOS ANGELES, May 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Almost 13 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19, since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Over 149,000 of these cases were added in the past four weeks. Over five million reported cases were added in 2022, according to the report published late Monday.

Children represented 19 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the country, the report showed.

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (NNN-ANA) – The UN Security Council yesterday condemned “in the strongest terms” the continued heinous terrorist attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan.

The council issued a press statement to condemn the terrorist attacks, including the attack against the Mawlawi Sekander mosque in Kunduz, on Apr 22, which killed more than 25 people, and the attack against the Khalifa Sahib mosque in Kabul, on Apr 29, which early reports said at least 30 people were killed and many others were injured.

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Private companies in the United States added 247,000 jobs in April, indicating slower job growth in a tight labor market, payroll data company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported Wednesday.

"In April, the labor market recovery showed signs of slowing as the economy approaches full employment," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.