USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she will seek reelection to Congress in 2024 as Democrats try to win back the majority.

Pelosi, 83, made the announcement before volunteers and labor allies in the San Francisco area district she has represented for more than 35 years.

ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury that investigated efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results recommended indictments against twice as many people as the 19 ultimately charged by prosecutors, leaving South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham among those not indicted.

The grand jurors’ report released Friday showed they recommended charges against 39 people, including Graham, former U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.

NEW YORK, September 7. /TASS/: The Pentagon has decided to scrap a test of the US Army’s first hypersonic weapon, the Defense Department told Bloomberg.

"The department planned to conduct a flight test at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida to inform our hypersonic technology development but as a result of pre-flight checks the test did not occur," the Pentagon said in a statement.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 07 (APP): Marking the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a clarion call for increased international cooperation to address the “global emergency” of worsening air pollution.

Airborne contaminants are one of the most significant environmental health risks, he said. According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), 99 per cent of the world’s population breathes polluted air, with the exposure significantly worse in low and middle-income countries.

Sept 6 (Reuters) - Moderna (MRNA.O) and rival Pfizer (PFE.N) on Wednesday said their updated COVID-19 vaccines generated strong responses in testing against the highly mutated BA.2.86 subvariant of the coronavirus that has raised fears of a resurgence of infections.

WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at this weekend's Group of 20 (G20) meeting in India with an offer for the "Global South": whatever happens to China's economy, the United States can help fund your development.

Armed with cash for the World Bank and promises of sustained U.S. engagement, Biden hopes to persuade fast-growing economies in Africa, Latin America and Asia that there is an alternative to China's Belt and Road project, which has funneled billions of dollars to developing countries but left many deeply in debt.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Department of State announced 1 billion U.S. dollars in new aid for Ukraine on Wednesday while Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kiev to show support.

The State Department said in a fact sheet that the new package includes an additional drawdown of up to 175 million dollars worth of weapons and equipment from the Department of Defense's inventories.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An extramarital affair Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had with a donor’s employee helped connect the dots about why the Republican was using his power in ways that are now at the center of his impeachment trial on accusations of corruption, a former top aide testified Wednesday.

“It answered that ‘why’ question,” said Jeff Mateer, who was Paxton’s second-in-command at the Texas attorney general’s office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Concern for U.S. democracy amid deep national polarization has prompted the entities supporting 13 presidential libraries dating back to Herbert Hoover to call for a recommitment to the country’s bedrock principles, including the rule of law and respecting a diversity of beliefs.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A battleground House race in Michigan that national Democrats are keying in on to help them flip the chamber in 2024 is growing increasingly crowded with an announcement Thursday by Carl Marlinga that he’ll again challenge Republican U.S. Rep. John James for the seat.

Marlinga’s 2024 campaign in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, which was announced in a news release provided to The Associated Press, comes after the Democrat lost last year by half a percentage point to James, who had a significant fundraising advantage.