NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers voted Monday to temporarily silence a Democratic member of the so-called Tennessee Three during an already tense House floor session after determining the young Black member violated newly enacted rules designed to punish disruptive members.

The move directed at Rep. Justin Jones prohibited him from speaking on and debating bills for the remainder of the day, which came a week into a special session that Republican Gov. Bill Lee called in reaction to a deadly shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville in March.

29 August 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering bids from China, France and Russia for its ambitious nuclear power project, as part of a larger strategy to influence the US over a high-stakes security agreement. Even as the world’s top oil exporter, the kingdom has expressed deep interest in developing a civil nuclear energy programme. 

27 August 2023; MEMO: Russia on Sunday confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary Wagner Group, was among the 10 deaths in a plane crash last week, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, Russia’s Investigative Committee said that it completed genetic identification of those who died in the private jet that crashed in the northwestern Tver region.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Police were searching for both the weapon and the motive in a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that left one faculty member dead and prompted an hourslong lockdown amid a search for the suspect.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani appeals court on Tuesday suspended the corruption conviction and three-year prison term of Imran Khan in a legal victory for the hugely popular embattled former prime minister, his lawyers and court officials said.

Although he will face a retrial in due course, the ruling will enable Khan, 70, to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections. Khan has denied the charges, insisting he did not violate any rules.

NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Rising air pollution can cut life expectancy by more than five years per person in South Asia, one of the world's most polluted regions, according to a report published on Tuesday which flagged the growing burden of hazardous air on health.

The region, which includes the world's most polluted countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, accounts for more than half of the total life years lost globally to pollution, the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) said in its latest Air Quality Life Index.

TAIPEI, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry warned on Tuesday of a possible "sharp increase" in military tensions after reporting renewed Chinese military activity including fighter jets crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for three years of increased military pressure from Beijing, mostly in the form of China's air force flying near the island.

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The funeral of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash last week, was held privately at a cemetery on the outskirts of his hometown St Petersburg, his press service said on Tuesday.

"The farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich took place in a closed format. Those who wish to say goodbye may visit Porokhovskoye cemetery," it said in a short post on Telegram, accompanied by a photo of Prigozhin.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The conservative chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday told the new liberal majority in a scathing email that they had staged a “coup” and conducted an “illegal experiment” when they voted to weaken her powers and fire the director of state courts.

Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, in two emails obtained by The Associated Press, said that firing and hiring a new state court director was illegal and ordered interim state court director Audrey Skwierawski to stop signing orders without her knowledge or approval.

BEIJING, Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will visit China this week, Beijing’s foreign ministry said.

During the Wednesday visit, “the two sides will have in-depth communication on China-UK relations and on international and regional issues of shared concern”, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.

“It is hoped that the UK side will work alongside China in upholding a spirit of mutual respect, conduct in-depth exchanges, enhance understanding, and promote the stable development of China-UK relations,” he added.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A Pakistani high court on Tuesday suspended jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's sentence on corruption charges, but he will remain behind bars as a judge had already ordered his detention in another case.

The 70-year-old former cricket star has been at the centre of a political crisis since he was ousted in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022. The worst economic conditions in Pakistan in decades have compounded the crisis.

TOKYO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Japan threatened on Tuesday to take China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to seek a reversal of Beijing's ban on all of its seafood imports after the release of treated radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan would take "necessary action (on China's aquatic product ban) under various routes including the WTO framework".