North America

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN peacekeeping chief on Thursday underscored the need for stronger, more consistent and unified support from member states for the world body to fulfill its key peacekeeping goals.

Growing divisions among member states, combined with the increased complexity of today's conflicts, pose a formidable challenge to peacekeeping and the broader task of maintaining peace and security, said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN undersecretary-general for peace operations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump White House official Peter Navarro was found guilty Thursday of contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The verdict came after a short trial for Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The founder of North Korea’s ruling dynasty, an isolationist totalitarian leader named Kim Il Sung, was still building some of the country’s first nuclear facilities when Syd Seiler arrived on the Korean Peninsula as a young U.S. military intelligence officer.

Over the four decades since, Seiler has watched closely as Kim, his son and now his grandson have clung to their nuclear program and developed the potential to lob nuclear warheads at the U.S. and its allies if they choose.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As his rivals hold town halls and meet-and-greets in early voting states, Donald Trump will head to South Dakota Friday for a party fundraiser that will double as an opportunity for the state’s governor, Kristi Noem, to showcase herself as a potential vice presidential pick.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito on Friday rejected demands from Senate Democrats that he step aside from an upcoming Supreme Court case because of his interactions with one of the lawyers, in a fresh demonstration of tensions over ethical issues.

Alito attached an unusual statement to an otherwise routine list of orders from the court. “There is no valid reason for my recusal in this case,” Alito wrote in a four-page statement.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Lee charged through warm Atlantic waters on Friday and threatened to unleash heavy swells across the northeast Caribbean. It became the season’s first Category 5 storm before weakening slightly.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered that incarcerated youths be removed from a temporary lockup at a former death row building in Louisiana’s adult maximum-security prison by Sept. 15 after critics argued the youths are kept in unsafe conditions and don’t receive adequate schooling or mental health services.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network to recruit Cuban nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

The head of criminal investigations for Cuba’s Interior Ministry, César Rodríguez, said late Thursday on state media that at least three of the 17 arrested are part of recruitment efforts inside the island country.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX must take a series of steps before it can launch its mega rocket again after its debut ended in an explosion, federal regulators said Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it closed its investigation into SpaceX’s failed debut of Starship, the world’s biggest rocket. The agency is requiring SpaceX to take 63 corrective actions and to apply for a modified FAA license before launching again.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said that with a boost in federal funding and the help of artificial intelligence tools, the agency has new means of targeting wealthy people who have “cut corners” on their taxes.