USA

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - U.S. senators are very close to reaching a deal on legislation to sanction Russia over its actions on Ukraine, including some measures that may take effect before any invasion, two leading senators said on Sunday.

Senators Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and James Risch, its top Republican, hoped to move forward on the bill this week.

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A U.N. report seen by Reuters says the Taliban and its allies are believed to have killed scores of former Afghan officials, security force members and people who worked with the international military contingent since the U.S.-led pullout.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ report to the U.N. Security Council paints a picture of worsening living conditions for Afghanistan’s 39 million people despite an end of combat with the Taliban's takeover in August.

"An entire complex social and economic system is shutting down," Guterres said.

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Winter storm Kenan is bringing heavy snow and wind gusts to New York City and surrounding areas on Saturday.

New York City is expected to receive 8 to 12 inches of total snowfall from Friday evening to early Sunday, according to a forecast issued by the National Weather Service on early Saturday.

Suffolk and Nassau counties are being hit hardest with 7 to 11 inches of snowfall as of 9:30 a.m. and another 5 to 12 inches expected, said New York Governor Kathy Hochul at a press briefing near noon on Saturday.

CONROE, Texas (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is dangling the prospect of pardons for supporters who participated in the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol if he returns to the White House.

“If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6th fairly,” Trump said Saturday night during a rally in Conroe, Texas. “And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.”

BOSTON (AP) — Gusty winds and falling temperatures plunged the East Coast into a deep freeze Sunday as people started digging out after a powerful nor’easter dumped mounds of snow, flooded coastlines and knocked out power to tens of thousands.

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal trial against three former Minneapolis police officers seeks to hold them responsible for not stopping George Floyd’s murder — and perhaps strike a blow against long-standing police culture that breeds reluctance to rein in fellow officers.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — At President Joe Biden’s lowest moment in the 2020 campaign, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn came to him with a suggestion: He should pledge to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

After some cajoling, Biden made the promise at a Democratic debate, a move Clyburn credits with turning out the Black support that helped Biden score a resounding victory in the South Carolina primary and ultimately win the White House.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — The UN Security Council renewed the mandate for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until July 31, 2022, but expressed serious concern about several issues, including the continued violations of the military status quo along the ceasefire lines.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2618, the council called on the leaders of the two Cypriot communities and all involved parties to refrain from any actions and rhetoric that might damage the settlement process and that could raise tensions on the island.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The United Nations yesterday, released 20 million U.S. dollars in emergency funds for 270,000 people in Yemen, including those newly displaced by airstrikes, a UN spokesman said.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, allocated the money from the Central Emergency Response Fund, to support the humanitarian relief for people in Marib, al-Jawf and Hadramout, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of officers who were killed in 2021 in the United States is the highest on record in the past 20 years, U.S. media outlet Fox News has reported.

This figure includes unprovoked confrontations and premeditated ambushes, said Fox News on Friday, citing data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The trend shows no signs of letting up this year, with six police officers the victims of gun violence over the past two days alone, said the report.