North America

Canada wildfires are leading to air-quality alerts in US. Here’s how to stay safe

(AP) --- Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside.

The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec could be felt as far away as New York City and New England, blotting out skylines and irritating throats.

U.S. authorities issued air quality alerts. Hazy conditions and smoke from the wildfires were reported across the Great Lakes region from Cleveland to Buffalo.

USA: CNN head Chris Licht is out at the global news network after a brief, tumultuous tenure

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Licht is out after a year as chief executive at CNN, following a series of missteps and plunging ratings.

David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, announced the leadership change on CNN’s morning editorial call on Wednesday.

Zaslav appointed a four-person leadership team to lead the network in the interim.

USA: White woman who fatally shot Black neighbor is arrested in Florida

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman accused of fatally shooting her neighbor last week in the violent culmination of what the sheriff described as a 2½-year feud was arrested Tuesday, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.

Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, who is white, was arrested on charges of manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault in the death of Ajike Owens, a Black mother of four, Sheriff Billy Woods said in a statement.

Cuba willing to expand health relations with Türkiye

HAVANA, June 6 (NNN-ACN) — Cuban Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda ratified in Türkiye his country’s willingness to share expertise and values characterizing the island’s health professionals.

Portal Miranda was part of a Cuban delegation at a meeting with Turkish entrepreneurs which considered opportunities for exchange in different economic sectors, according to a news release by the Cuban Health Ministry.

Canada: Smoke from Canadian wildfires sets off health alerts in New York, Ottawa

OTTAWA, June 6 (Reuters) - Authorities in New York, Toronto and Ottawa on Tuesday warned residents about the health risks from air polluted by smoke from unprecedented early summer wildfires in eastern Canada.

An unusually early and intense start to wildfire season has set Canada on track for its worst-ever year as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist for months.

There are blazes in nearly all of Canada's 10 provinces and territories, with Quebec the worst impacted due to multiple fires caused by lightning.

US cannot disarm people convicted of non-violent crimes -appeals court

June 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

The 11-4 ruling from the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest defeat for gun control laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide.

Five nations elected to U.N. Security Council, but Belarus denied

UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly elected Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and South Korea to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday for two-year terms starting on Jan. 1, 2024, while Belarus - allied with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine - was denied a spot.

US had intelligence of Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream project -Washington Post

WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - The United States learned of a Ukrainian plan to attack the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines three months before they were damaged last September by underwater explosions, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing leaked information posted online.

The CIA learned last June, through a European spy agency, that a six-person team of Ukrainian special operations forces intended to blow up the Russia-to-Germany project, the newspaper reported.

EU member Slovenia overwhelmingly defeats Moscow ally Belarus for a seat on the UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In an election reflecting opposition to Russia’s war against Ukraine, European Union member Slovenia overwhelmingly defeated Moscow’s close ally Belarus on Tuesday for a seat on the U.N. Security Council starting in January.

The race between the two members of the U.N.’s East European group was the only contested election for five seats on the U.N.’s most powerful body, and was closely watched because of the two countries’ opposing views on Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

El Salvador prosecutors said ex-president approved 1989 massacre of Jesuits

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Prosecutors in El Salvador say they have evidence that former President Alfredo Cristiani was present at a meeting that approved the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests and two others by soldiers.

Prosecutors who announced the case against Cristiani last year presented formal charges against the former president at an arraignment hearing late Monday, saying the plot to kill the Jesuits during the country’s 1980-1992 civil war went all the way to the top.

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