North America

NEW YORK, Sep 08 (APP): A prominent Kashmiri leader has called for the dispatch of a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Indian Occupied Kashmir, which is under a repressive lockdown for over a month now, with a mandate to produce a quick report on the situation in the disputed state.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks on bringing peace to Afghanistan are on hold and the United States will keep pressuring Taliban militants while providing military support to Afghan troops until it sees significant Taliban commitments, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.

U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced on Saturday that he had canceled peace talks with the Taliban’s “major leaders” at the Camp David, Maryland, presidential compound after the group claimed responsibility for a Kabul attack last week that killed a U.S. soldier and 11 other people.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, criticized for an unorthodox impeachment probe of President Donald Trump, is poised to vote next week on a resolution to formalize the investigation, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

The panel has rebranded what was originally an oversight probe of Trump’s presidency as an “impeachment” investigation, with the aim of deciding by the end of the year on whether to recommend articles of impeachment to the full House.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — When Joe Biden took the stage in New Hampshire, he was greeted with the respect that comes with being a former vice president.

Some of his closest rivals were greeted more like rock stars.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former top officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are assailing the agency for undermining its weather forecasters as it defends President Donald Trump’s statement from days ago that Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama.

They say NOAA’s action risks the credibility of the nation’s weather and science agency and may even risk lives.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Western Kansas’ congressman launched a Senate campaign on Saturday, pitching himself to fellow Republicans as a pragmatic conservative who can keep the seat in GOP hands by thwarting immigration hardliner Kris Kobach’s bid for the party’s nomination.

Two-term Rep. Roger Marshall entered the race facing some skepticism from the right despite his anti-abortion and gun-rights views and a consistent record of voting with President Donald Trump. Marshall ended June with $1.4 million in campaign funds, giving him a jump on fundraising.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Several Democratic presidential candidates urged voters in New Hampshire on Saturday to not play it safe in the 2020 election, leveling an implicit critique of front-runner Joe Biden.

Biden has centered his campaign on his years of experience in Washington and a perceived ability to steal the support of white, working-class voters away from President Donald Trump. Speaking at the New Hampshire Democrats’ state convention, Biden’s rivals told voters to aim for more.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Science took a beating in the political arena this past week as President Donald Trump sowed confusion about Hurricane Dorian’s path and Democratic presidential candidates rang false alarms about the air we breathe.

Trump found himself contradicted by his government’s own meteorologists when he warned of danger to Alabama, then spent days defending his outlier forecast. By week’s end, curiosity over who had drawn a loop on a weather map played out alongside life-shaping questions about who should, and shouldn’t, flee the storm.

TEXAS (AP) —  Most mass shooters in the U.S. acquired the weapons they used legally because there was nothing in their backgrounds to disqualify them, according to James Alan Fox, a criminologist with Northeastern University who has studied mass shootings for decades.

But in several attacks in recent years gunmen acquired weapons as a result of mistakes, lack of follow-through or gaps in federal and state law.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican leaders in Nevada, South Carolina and Kansas have voted to scrap their presidential nominating contests in 2020, erecting more hurdles for the long-shot candidates challenging President Donald Trump.

“What is Donald Trump afraid of?” asked one of those rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.

Canceling primaries, caucuses and other voting is not unusual for the party of the White House incumbent seeking a second term. Doing so allows Trump to try to consolidate his support as Democrats work to winnow their large field of candidates.