USA

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse was set to open Monday with the challenging task of seating jurors who haven’t already made up their minds about the young aspiring police officer who shot two people to death and wounded a third during a violent night of anti-racism protests last year.

(AP) --- The global death toll from COVID-19 topped 5 million on Monday, less than two years into a crisis that has not only devastated poor countries but also humbled wealthy ones with first-rate health care systems.

Together, the United States, the European Union, Britain and Brazil — all upper-middle- or high-income countries — account for one-eighth of the world’s population but nearly half of all reported deaths. The U.S. alone has recorded over 745,000 lives lost, more than any other nation.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — People questioned during jury selection about the killing of Ahmaud Arbery have said he was “racially profiled” by the white men who chased and shot him, singled out “due to his color” and targeted for being “a Black person who was thought to have been stealing things.”

The statements came in response to blunt questions about race from prosecutors and defense attorneys who are trying to seat an impartial jury for the trial over Arbery’s death in the coastal Georgia city of Brunswick. The inquiries elicited some pointed responses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — China’s growing military muscle and its drive to end America predominance in the Asia-Pacific is rattling the U.S. defense establishment. American officials see trouble quickly accumulating on multiple fronts — Beijing’s expanding nuclear arsenal, its advances in space, cyber and missile technologies, and threats to Taiwan.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin raced to fire up their party’s base voters in opposite ends of Virginia on Sunday as they worked to drive up turnout in a deadlocked and bitter contest for governor that will be scrutinized as a bellwether ahead of next year’s midterms elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday she has contracted COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.

Psaki, 42, said she was last in contact with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, when she met him in the White House, where they were more than 6 feet apart and wearing masks. Biden, who is tested frequently, last tested negative on Saturday, according to the White House.

Psaki did not accompany Biden on his trip abroad to Rome this weekend for the Group of 20 summit and Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday for a U.N. climate summit.

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The United States is delivering an additional 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan, a senior U.S. administration official told Reuters, increasing to 4 million the total number of shots donated by Washington to the self-ruled island, which is under increasing pressure from China.

The new delivery of Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) doses will depart from Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday aboard a flight belonging to Taiwan's China Airlines, the official said.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Friday spoke to the press on the recent erroneous statements by the U.S. government in support of Taiwan's "meaningful participation" in the United Nations.

There is only one China in the world, said Zhang, adding that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is preparing to hear a gun rights case that could lead to more guns on the streets of New York and Los Angeles and threaten restrictions on guns in subways, airports, bars, churches, schools and other places where people gather.

31 Oct 2021; MEMO: The US is unlikely to pressure the Sudanese military regime to normalise ties with Israel, The Times of Israel reported a senior US official statement on Friday.

General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan was part of the decision to normalise relations with Israel, the US official said, but the US did not see that the current situation was encouraging enough to move ahead.