USA

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans on Saturday were set to approve redrawn U.S. House maps that would shore up their eroding dominance as voters peel away from the GOP in the state’s booming suburbs.

After passage in the Texas House, the maps will go to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign them into law.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A group of 17 U.S. missionaries including children were kidnapped by a gang in Haiti on Saturday, according to a voice message sent to various religious missions by an organization with direct knowledge of the incident.

The missionaries were on their way home from building an orphanage, according to a message from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries.

“This is a special prayer alert,” the one-minute message said. “Pray that the gang members would come to repentance.”

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (APP): For the first time in two decades, extreme poverty is on the rise, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said in a sharp message released on the eve of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Describing current levels of poverty as “a moral indictment of our times”, the UN chief said that the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on economies and societies around the world, with some 120 million more people falling into poverty last year.

WASHINGTON, October 16. /TASS/: Trade turnover between Russia and the United States may hit a record this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk told reporters following his visit to Washington.

"Trade turnover amounted to $19.8 bln from January to July, which is a record figure. We can hit a record in terms of trade turnover by the yearend, which is very positive," he said, mentioning "cars, aircraft, electronic products, machines" among goods supplied to Russia. "Russian exports are metals, primary commodities," Overchuk added.

WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The intelligence chiefs of the United States, South Korea and Japan are expected to meet in Seoul early next week for closed-door discussions about North Korea, among other issues, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a government source.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines will meet with Park Jie-won, head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) and Hiroaki Takizawa, Japan's cabinet intelligence director, Yonhap said, marking the first meeting of the three since May.

Oct 15 (Reuters) - The Pentagon has offered unspecified condolence payments to the family of 10 civilians who were killed in a botched U.S. drone attack in Afghanistan in August during the final days before American troops withdrew from the country.

The U.S. Defense Department said it made a commitment that included offering "ex-gratia condolence payments", in addition to working with the U.S. State Department in support of the family members who were interested in relocation to the United States.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a year out of the White House, Donald Trump continues to circle the Republican Party, commanding attention and influence as he ponders another run for the presidency.

And still circling Trump is Rep. Adam Schiff.

Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman who rose to national prominence probing Russian election interference and leading the first Trump impeachment, says there’s nothing less than democracy at stake with the former president’s continued presence on the national political stage.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — More than 4,000 people outraged over ongoing power outages in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico marched Friday to decry how the lack of electricity has affected their health, work and children’s schooling.

Many of them demanded the ouster of Luma, a private company that took over the island’s transmission and distribution of power on June 1. Some also are angry at Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority, which owns and operates generation units that have been breaking down in recent weeks largely due to a lack of maintenance and repair.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is defending her authority to decide how the state will spend more than $1 billion federal pandemic aid — without the approval of the Legislature.

In a written court briefing Friday, Lujan Grisham said a state Supreme Court decision nearly 50 years ago upheld the governor’s discretion over federal funding at universities and should hold true today more broadly regarding federal pandemic relief funds.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Defense Department said Friday that it is committed to offering condolence payments to relatives of the 10 people who were killed in an errant U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that the Defense Department was also working with the State Department to help surviving family members relocate to the United States.