USA

WASHIGNTON, April 9. /TASS/: US President Joe Biden signed bills, passed by the Congress earlier, on suspension of normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, as well as on prohibition of energy import from Russia over the situation in Ukraine, the White House press office said Friday.

According to the press office, Biden signed both papers; previously, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced his intent to do so.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 9 (NNN-XINHUA) – Funding and timely action are critical, to prevent a major oil spill from a decaying tanker, anchored near Yemen’s coastline, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly said, in New York yesterday.

Gressly described the FSO Safer, off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, as “a time bomb,” posing a threat.

The 45-year-old floating storage and offloading facility, holds 1.1 million barrels of oil, or four times the amount of the Exxon Valdez – the tanker that caused one of the greatest environmental disasters in U.S. history.

WASHINGTON, April 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States insisted on keeping the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps on its designated list of terror groups, as Washington pushes on with negotiations to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley, had told a congressional hearing on Thursday that in his “personal opinion” the Quds Force should not be dropped from the terror list, which has been one of Tehran’s conditions to renew the deal.

LOS ANGELES, April 8 (Xinhua) -- NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX launched a first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station on Friday.

The four-person multinational crew is composed of Commander Michael López-Alegría and Pilot Larry Connor of the United States, Mission Specialist Eytan Stibbe of Israel, and Mission Specialist Mark Pathy of Canada.

The mission, codenamed Ax-1, was launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 11:17 a.m. Eastern Time from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

NEW YORK, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rose on Friday, but suffered a fall for the week.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery added 2.23 U.S. dollars, or 2.3 percent, to settle at 98.26 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery increased 2.2 dollars, or 2.2 percent, to close at 102.78 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

For the week, the WTI and Brent drop 1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, based on the front-month contracts.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When Ted Budd won a surprise endorsement from former President Donald Trump last year, he was a little-known congressman running for a Senate seat in North Carolina against some of the state’s most recognizable Republicans, including a former governor.

As he enters the final stretch before the state’s May 17 primary, Budd is again hoping for a boost, banking on the power of Trump’s endorsement to put him on top of a field that includes a dozen other Republicans.

BOSTON (AP) — The credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded its assessment of Russia’s ability to repay foreign debt, signaling rising prospects that Moscow will soon default on external loans for the first time in more than a century.

S&P Global Ratings issued the downgrade to “selective default” late Friday after Russia arranged to make foreign bond payments in rubles on Monday when they were due in dollars. It said it didn’t expect Russia to be able to convert the rubles into dollars within the 30-day grace period allowed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog has found a “substantial likelihood” the federal Bureau of Prisons committed wrongdoing when it ignored complaints and failed to address asbestos and mold contamination at a federal women’s prison in California that has already been under scrutiny for rampant sexual abuse of inmates.

GRANTVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Police are searching for at least one armed suspect in connection with the killing of the owner of a gun range in Georgia and his wife and grandson, authorities said Saturday.

The Grantville Police Department said via Facebook that the robbery occurred Friday evening. When officers arrived at the scene around 8 p.m., they discovered the owner of Lock Stock & Barrel Shooting Range had been killed, along with his wife and grandson.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A milestone Supreme Court confirmation that endured a flawed process. The collapse of a bipartisan compromise for more pandemic funds. The departure of a stalwart of the dwindling band of moderate House Republicans.

Party-line fights on Capitol Hill are as old as the republic, and they routinely escalate as elections approach. Yet three events from a notable week illustrate how Congress’ near- and long-term paths point toward intensifying partisanship.

THE SENATE’S SUPREME COURT BATTLE