USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce Friday that, along with the European Union and the Group of Seven countries, the U.S. will move to revoke “most favored nation” trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS said Thursday it plans to hire 10,000 new workers to help reduce a massive backlog that the government says will make this tax season the most challenging in history.

The agency released a plan to work down the tens of millions of filings that includes speeding up the traditionally slow hiring process, relying more on automated processes and bringing on more contract workers to help with mailroom and paper processing.

Getting it done will be the big challenge, tax experts say.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A $13.6 billion emergency package of military and humanitarian aid for besieged Ukraine and its European allies easily won final congressional approval Thursday, hitching a ride on a government-wide spending bill that’s five months late but loaded with political prizes for both parties.

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge sentenced Jussie Smollett to 150 days in jail Thursday, branding the Black and gay actor a narcissistic charlatan for staging a hate crime against himself to grab the limelight while the nation struggled with wrenching issues of racial injustice. Smollett responded by defiantly maintaining his innocence and suggesting he could be killed in jail.

The sentence and Smollett’s post-hearing outburst capped an hourslong hearing and more than three years of legal drama following Smollett’s claim that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (APP): The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), a UN-backed body, has called on governments to do more to regulate social media platforms that glamourize drug-related negative behaviour and boost sales of controlled substances.

In its annual report, released on Thursday, the INCB notes increasing evidence of a link between exposure to social media and drug use, which disproportionately affects young people, the main users of social media platforms, and an age group with relatively high rates of drug abuse.

WASHINGTON, March 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Saudi man accused of being the “20th hijacker” in the 9/11 attacks has been released from detention at Guantanamo Bay, the US defence department says.

Mohammed al-Qahtani, 46, was repatriated to Saudi Arabia after a review board determined that he no longer posed a “significant threat”.

The board noted his “significantly compromised mental health condition”.

Qahtani was tortured so badly by US interrogators after his detention in 2001 that he could not be put on trial.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Wednesday slammed the door on a Polish proposal for providing Ukraine with MiG fighter jets, saying allied efforts against the Russian invasion should be focused on more useful weaponry and the MiG transfer with a U.S. and NATO connection would run a “high risk” of escalating the war.

DENVER (AP) — A grand jury in Colorado has indicted a county election clerk who sowed doubt about the 2020 presidential election, alleging she was part of a “deceptive scheme” to breach voting system technology that is used across the country, according to the indictment made public Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House overwhelmingly approved legislation Wednesday night that would ban Russian oil imports to the United States, an effort to put into law the restrictions announced by President Joe Biden in response to the escalating war in Ukraine.

Going further than Biden’s import ban on Russian oil, the bill making its way through Congress would also encourage a review of Russia’s status in the World Trade Organization and signal U.S. support for sanctions on Russian officials over human rights violations, as the U.S. works to economically isolate the regime.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House approved a massive spending bill Wednesday night that would rush $13.6 billion in U.S. aid to battered Ukraine and its European allies, after top Democrats were forced to abruptly drop their plan to include fresh funds to battle COVID-19.