USA

Pakistan urges UNSC to hold India accountable for war crimes in Kashmir

UNITED NATIONS, May 28 (APP): Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council to intervene and hold India accountable for its grave breaches of international humanitarian law and war crimes in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and to take steps to settle the decades-old dispute.

“Inaction by the Security Council in cases of foreign aggression and occupation comes at a high human cost,” Ambassador Munir Akram warned the 15-member body, which held a virtual meeting on the ‘Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’ on Wednesday.

USA: SpaceX, NASA delay milestone mission over lightning fears

28 May 2020; AFP: After a day of suspense, SpaceX's landmark launch to the International Space Station -- the first crewed mission to blast off from US soil in almost a decade -- was scrubbed Wednesday due to fears of a lightning strike.

With NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley strapped into the Crew Dragon capsule, the launch pad platform retracted and rocket fueling underway, SpaceX made the call to abort.

American Airlines says to cut management and support staff by 30%

(Reuters) - American Airlines Group Inc must reduce its management and support staff by about 30% and may have to cut frontline employees as it downsizes due to the coronavirus outbreak, showed a letter to employees made public on Wednesday.

All major U.S. airlines have said they will need to shrink in the fall, once U.S. government payroll aid that bans involuntary job cuts expires on Sept. 30.

Competitor United Airlines Holdings Inc has also said it will need to reduce its management and administrative staff by about 30%.

Claims of China "covering up" coronavirus inaccurate: U.S. media

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The narrative that "China covered up the coronavirus" is inaccurate and so are the claims supporting the narrative, said an opinion piece published recently in U.S. magazine The National Interest.

The article, written by Mitchell Blatt, an editorial assistant at The National Interest, was entitled "Don't Listen to the 'China Covered Up the Coronavirus' Narrative".

US states, cities cry out for federal aid amid corona pandemic

WASHINGTON, May 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — In the decentralized American system, the COVID-19 pandemic is draining public finances in many cities and states, and without help from the federal government, experts say the consequences will be lasting and the recovery slower.

“There cannot be a national recovery if the state and local governments are not funded,” New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.

UN concerned by US claims Russia sent jets to Libya

UNITED NATIONS, May 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN said it was “following with great concern” claims that Russia recently sent fighter jets to Libya to support Russian mercenaries fighting for strongman Khalifa Haftar in the long-running conflict.

On Tuesday, the US military command for Africa (Africom) accused Moscow of deploying several MiG-29 Fulcrum jets and Su-35 Flankers in support of Haftar, who has been fighting to seize Tripoli from the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) since April 2019.

Trump continues to claim broad powers he doesn’t have

WASHINGTON (AP) — Threatening to shut down Twitter for flagging false content. Claiming he can “override” governors who dare to keep churches closed to congregants. Asserting the “absolute authority” to force states to reopen, even when local leaders say it’s too soon.

As he battles the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has been claiming extraordinarily sweeping powers that legal scholars say the president simply doesn’t have. And he has repeatedly refusing to spell out the legal basis for those powers.

Corona pandemic puts up to 86 million children at risk of poverty

UNITED NATIONS, May 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic could push as many as 86 million more children into poverty by the end of 2020, a joint study by Save the Children and UNICEF showed.

That would bring the total number of children affected by poverty worldwide to 672 million, an increase of 15 percent over last year, the two aid agencies said in a statement.

Nearly two-thirds of those children overall live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Violence again rocks Minneapolis after man’s death; 1 killed

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man was shot to death as violent protests over the death of a black man in police custody rocked Minneapolis for a second straight night Wednesday, with protesters looting stores near a police precinct and setting fires.

Police said they were investigating the death as a homicide and had a suspect in custody, but were still investigating what led to the shooting.

Subscribe to USA