USA

WASHINGTON, November 6. /TASS/: A meeting of the representatives of the US Department of State and Russia’s Foreign Ministry to discuss irritants in bilateral relations as well as the visa issue is planned for the next few days, Russia’s Charge d’Affaires in the United States Sergey Koshelev told the RTVI channel on Friday.

NEW YORK, November 6. /TASS/: CIA director William Burns visited Moscow in order to let Russia know that the US was closely monitoring the alleged buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. As CNN reported on Friday, citing its sources, the US intelligence chief was supposed to determine what was motivating Russia’s actions.

According to CNN, during meetings in Moscow, the CIA’s chief tried to warn Russia against any plans for an offensive, stressing that the US closely monitors all the movements of Russian troops.

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US State Department announced the approval Thursday of the sale of $650 million worth of air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia to help the country protect itself from drone attacks.

  The approval will allow the Saudis to buy up to 280 of the AIM-120C advanced medium-range missiles and related equipment, replenishing an existing supply of the missiles, the department said.

HOUSTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people died and scores of others were injured at the Astroworld music festival in the U.S. city of Houston on Friday night, officials said.

"The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage and that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries," Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena told a press briefing outside NRG Park early Saturday morning.

"We had at least eight confirmed fatalities tonight and scores of individuals that were injured," Pena said.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the U.N. body investigating the most serious crimes in Myanmar said that preliminary evidence collected since the military seized power on Feb. 1 shows a widespread and systematic attack on civilians “amounting to crimes against humanity.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy was supposed to help President Joe Biden and Democrats, but as of late it’s been hurting them with voters.

Biden on Friday praised the U.S. economy for performing better than the rest of the world, saying it’s largely because of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and plans for additional spending of roughly $2.75 trillion on infrastructure, families, schools, health care and climate change.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council called for an end to the intensifying and expanding conflict in Ethiopia on Friday, and for unhindered access for humanitarian aid to tackle the world’s worst hunger crisis in a decade in the war-torn Tigray region.

The U.N.’s most powerful body expressed serious concern about the impact of the conflict on “the stability of the country and the wider region,” and called on all parties to refrain “from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness.”

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A prosecutor investigating accusations that former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo groped a woman asked a judge for more time to evaluate the evidence, saying the criminal complaint filed last week by the local sheriff was “potentially defective,” according to a letter released Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joined the race for an easy-to-use medication to treat the coronavirus.

Currently most COVID-19 treatments require an IV or injection. Competitor Merck’s COVID-19 pill is already under review at the Food and Drug Administration after showing strong initial results, and on Thursday the United Kingdom became the first country to OK it.

NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) — The Democrats of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, felt the red wave building over the summer when frustrated parents filled school board meetings to complain about masking requirements and an academic theory on systemic racism that wasn’t even taught in local schools.