USA

WASHINGTON, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 1,000 rallied Saturday in Washington in support of Palestinians and calling for an end to US aid to Israel.

The demonstration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial came as a ceasefire that ended 11 days of intense fighting between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip has so far held.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, on Saturday paid tribute to UN peacekeepers and reiterated China's commitment to UN peacekeeping.

In a video message for the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, which falls on May 29, Zhang extended his deepest respect and appreciation to all the peacekeepers deployed around the world. He paid the highest tribute to more than 4,000 UN peacekeepers who gave their lives to the cause of peace.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Biden administration is urging a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit that could stand in the way of Florida and other states importing prescription drugs from Canada.

In a legal brief filed Friday, the White House argues that the lawsuit filed last year on behalf of U.S. pharmaceutical companies was premature because the federal government has yet to approve any importation programs.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A special congressional election is checking the political pulse of politics across the Albuquerque metro area and a few outlying rural communities in one of the few House campaigns since President Joe Biden took office.

Four names are on the ballot in Tuesday’s election to succeed Deb Haaland in Congress after her confirmation as secretary of the U.S. Interior Department. After weeks of early voting, polling locations are closed on Sunday and Monday before reopening on Election Day with allowances for same-day registration.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans dug in Saturday for a final weekend vote on some of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S., putting the last touches on a sweeping bill that would eliminate drive-thru voting, empower partisan poll watchers and limit voting on Sundays, when many Black churchgoers head to the polls.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — There’s been undeniable progress in the relationship between the Tulsa police and the city’s Black community in the past 100 years. Then again, it’s hard to imagine it could have gotten worse.

Complaints about police bias and a lack of enough minority officers remain. But the police chief is now a Black man from north Tulsa, the area that includes what once was America’s wealthiest Black business district.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Falsehoods about the election helped bring insurrectionists to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and now some who are facing criminal charges for their actions during the riot hope their gullibility might save them or at least engender some sympathy.

WASHINGTON, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States said it is seriously considering creating a vaccine passport for Americans traveling abroad.

“We’re taking a very close look at that,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said of the idea of special documentation for vaccinated Americans who want to travel overseas, as inoculation drives allow Europe and other regions of the world to start opening up from pandemic restrictions.

MIAMI, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Coast Guard was searching for 10 people missing off Florida after a migrant vessel with 20 Cubans capsized.

Authorities reported they had recovered two bodies near the Florida Keys and pulled eight people alive from the ocean.

The Coast Guard said on Twitter that “multiple air & surface assets” searched through the night would continue all day.

A Coast Guard crew was on a routine patrol when it spotted people in the water.

(Reuters) --- Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday the United States and India are united in trying to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic together and Washington is determined to help India with its coronavirus crisis.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who has spent the past week in the United States seeking help amid a devastating second wave of infections at home, told reporters while standing with Blinken at a State Department meetingthat India is grateful to Washington for strong support and solidarity.