USA

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday extending its mission to monitor Colombia’s peace process until the end of October, and to broaden its mandate.

The decision will strengthen the Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP), a tribunal that was created in 2017 to try the worst crimes committed by combatants during more than six decades of armed conflict, after the UN expressed concern in February about attacks by pro-government forces against the court.

12 May 2021; MEMO: As Israel continues to bombard Gaza following days of violent clampdown against Muslim worshippers in the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, a top UN envoy has warned of an eruption of a "full-scale war."

ATLANTA (AP) — A man accused of killing eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in shootings at three Atlanta-area massage businesses was indicted Tuesday on murder charges by two separate grand juries, and one prosecutor filed notice that she’ll also seek hate crime charges and the death penalty.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senior Trump administration officials plan to defend their actions during the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol when they appear before Congress, with former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller standing behind every decision he made that day.

Miller will tell the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that he was concerned before the insurrection that sending troops to the building could fan fears of a military coup and cause a repeat of the deadly Kent State shootings, according to a copy of prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in the U.S. Senate mounted an aggressive case against Democrats’ sweeping election and voter-access legislation, pushing to roll back proposals for automatic registration, 24-hour ballot drop boxes and other changes in an increasingly charged national debate.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations on Tuesday responded to the rebounding Chinese and U.S. economies by revising its global economic forecast upward to 5.4% growth for 2021, but it warned that surging COVID-19 cases and inadequate availability of vaccines in many countries threaten a broad-based recovery.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Attorneys for a white father and son charged with chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery are asking a judge to allow evidence of the slain Black man’s past problems to be presented when their clients stand trial for murder.

Prosecutors are fighting to keep Arbery’s criminal record and other prior problems out of the trial, while seeking the judge’s permission to introduce unflattering evidence about the defendants — namely text messages that contain racist slurs and social media posts with racist themes.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The number of unaccompanied children encountered on the U.S. border with Mexico in April eased from an all-time high a month earlier, while more adults were found coming without families, authorities said Tuesday.

Authorities encountered 17,171 children traveling alone, down 9% from 18,960 in March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but still well above the previous high of 11,475 reported in May 2019 by the Border Patrol, which began publishing numbers in 2009.

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Parents, schools and vaccine clinics rushed to begin inoculating younger adolescents Tuesday after U.S. regulators endorsed Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as 12, a decision seen as a breakthrough in allowing classroom instruction to resume safely around the country.

CHAMBLEE, Ga. (AP) — More than 1,000 gas stations in the Southeast reported running out of fuel, primarily because of what analysts say is unwarranted panic-buying among drivers, as the shutdown of a major pipeline by a gang of hackers entered its fifth day Tuesday.

Government officials acted swiftly to waive safety and environmental rules to speed the delivery of fuel by truck, ship or rail to motorists and airports, even as they sought to assure the public that there was no cause for alarm.