UNITED NATIONS, Jun 30 (APP): Following days of riots and protests across France over the police shooting of a teenager of Algerian and Moroccan descent, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said in Geneva that it was time for the country to reckon with its history of racism in policing.

In a statement released in Geneva on Friday, OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani expressed concern over the death of 17-year-old Nahel, on Tuesday, after he was shot dead driving away from a traffic stop in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre.

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Thursday Putin has been "somewhat weakened" by an aborted mutiny and that now is the time for the United States to try to broker a negotiated peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine.

"I want people to stop dying over this ridiculous war," Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States flew nuclear-capable bombers to the Korean Peninsula on Friday in its latest show of force against North Korea, days after the North staged massive anti-U.S. rallies in its capital.

The long-range B-52 bombers took part in joint aerial drills with other U.S. and South Korean fighter jets over the peninsula, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The bombers’ flyover is the latest in a series of temporary U.S. deployments of strategic assets in South Korea in response to North Korea’s push to expand its nuclear arsenal.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in Europe slid again in June but fell too slowly to offer much relief to shoppers grumbling over price tags or to stop more interest rate hikes that will raise the cost of borrowing across the economy.

The annual rate of 5.5% was down from 6.1% in May in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Friday.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, are scheduled to speak Friday at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a group that has fiercely opposed instruction related to race and gender identity in the nation’s classroom.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation index that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve tumbled last month to its lowest level since April 2021, pulled down by lower gas prices and slower-rising food costs.

At the same time, consumers barely increased their spending last month, boosting it just 0.1%, after a solid 0.6% gain in April.

The inflation index showed that prices rose 3.8% in May from 12 months earlier, down sharply from a 4.4% year-over-year surge in April. And from April to May, prices ticked up just 0.1%.

NEW YORK, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The United States has witnessed five mass shootings each Independence Day on average over the past decade - more than on any other day of the year, reported USA Today on Thursday.

In that time, there have been more than 50 shootings in which four or more people were hit by gunfire on July Fourth, according to an analysis of Gun Violence Archive data by researcher James Alan Fox of Northeastern University in Boston.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United Nations’ scientific, educational and cultural organization has agreed to readmit the United States as a member.

UNESCO’s governing board voted 132-10 on Friday to accept the U.S. proposal to rejoin the Paris-based agency. America’s membership will become official once Secretary of State Antony Blinken or a designee formally accepts the invitation, according to Biden administration officials.

PHILADELPHIA, June 30 (Reuters) - Moms for Liberty, a conservative parents-rights advocacy group that has rapidly expanded since its founding little more than two years ago, flexed its political muscles on Friday as top rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination addressed its national conference in Philadelphia.

"2024 is going to be the year when the parents across this country finally fight back," said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the closest challenger to front-runner Donald Trump, told the hotel ballroom crowd.

SINGAPORE, June 30 (Reuters) - The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) is moving out of reach, climate experts say, with nations failing to set more ambitious goals despite months of record-breaking heat on land and sea.

As envoys gathered in Bonn in early June to prepare for this year's annual climate talks in November, average global surface air temperatures were more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for several days, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.

BAGHDAD, Jun 30 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi Foreign Ministry, yesterday summoned the Swedish ambassador, over the burning of the Muslim holy Quran, as Muslims worldwide marked the festival of Eid al-Adha.

The ministry voiced its strong protest against the Swedish government’s permission, for an extremist, to burn a copy of the Quran in the the Swedish capital, Stockholm, the ministry said, in a statement.

The ministry also called on the Swedish government to take necessary measures, to stop the repeated insults to the Quran, the statement added.

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A Tajikistan national who was denied entry into Moldova at its main international airport grabbed a guard’s weapon and fatally shot two security officers Friday, officials said. One traveler also was wounded.

The suspect was being escorted by officials at Chisinau International Airport when he “took the gun of a border guard” and opened fire, authorities said. The individual was then neutralized and handcuffed by special forces who intervened. All passengers were evacuated from the airport.