North America

This time it’s for real.

Many of Twitter’s high-profile users are losing the blue checks that helped verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — When a fire broke out at a Mexican immigration detention facility last month, dramatically different reactions by guards in the men’s and women’s sections appeared to make a difference in who lived and died, according to previously unreported surveillance videos and witness statements viewed by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Only about half of Democrats think President Joe Biden should run again in 2024, a new poll shows, but a large majority say they’d be likely to support him if he became the nominee.

The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 26% of Americans overall want to see Biden run again — a slight recovery from the 22% who said that in January. Forty-seven percent of Democrats say they want him to run, also up slightly from only 37% who said that in January.

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional war game simulating a Chinese invasion of Taiwan showed the need to arm the island "to the teeth," the chair of a committee on China said on Thursday, after the exercise indicated the U.S. must boost production of long-range missiles and businesses must brace for economic fallout.

UNITED NATIONS, April 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to attend a virtual meeting on Sudan on Thursday, a UN spokesman said.

The meeting will bring together the chairperson of the African Union, the secretary-general of the Arab League, the executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and other relevant organizations, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for Guterres, told reporters on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Wednesday announced an additional package of weapons for Ukraine worth 325 million U.S. dollars.

According to a list from the Department of Defense (DoD), the new tranche of security assistance included additional ammunition for the U.S.-provided HIMARS, artillery rounds, anti-armor systems, over 9 million rounds of small arms ammunition, four logistics support vehicles, among other items.

20 Apr 2023; MEMO: Credit rating agency, Moody's, downgraded Israel's economic outlook from positive on Friday, citing the "deterioration of Israel's governance". The move comes despite efforts by Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, and Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to persuade the New York based agency not to lower Israel's credit rating. Both are said to have held unsuccessful talks with senior Moody's executives.

20 Apr 2023; MEMO: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the nephew of former US President, John F. Kennedy who was assassinated, officially launched his bid, Wednesday, for the White House in 2024, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"I've come here today to announce my candidacy for Democratic nomination for President of the United States," Kennedy said at a campaign launch in Boston.

Kennedy filed paperwork 6 April with the Federal Election Commission to run for president.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The new chair of Disney World’s revamped governing body said Wednesday that new supervisors had good intentions about collaborating with the company after they were appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, so it was “shameful” when Disney signed agreements with their predecessors stripping them of most of their authority.

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — A man confessed to killing four people, including his parents, and then firing on motorists on a busy interstate highway, just days after being released from prison, police said Wednesday.

Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety, called the shootings of four people at a home in Bowdoin and then three more people on Interstate 295 to the south in Yarmouth “an attack on the soul of our state” that shook neighbors, law enforcement and the state at large.