North America

SAN DIEGO, the United States, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Anti-war organizations held rallies in Los Angeles and San Diego on Saturday in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which started on March 20, 2003.

The gathering came amid nationwide anti-war rallies organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER Coalition), a U.S.-based protest umbrella group consisting of many anti-war and civil rights organizations.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s Legislature passed a $1.1 billion tax relief package Saturday at the close of its annual session as lawmakers tapped a financial windfall from oil production in efforts to break through entrenched cycles of poverty with tax refunds to working families with children, reduced tax rates and increased incentives for private industry.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held a massive rally in Mexico City’s main plaza attended by tens of thousands of people Saturday.

Though it was called to commemorate Mexico’s 1938 expropriation of the oil industry, many of those attending the rally Saturday agreed that it was the de-facto opening salvo to the 2024 elections that will choose the president’s successor.

In the hours after some of Silicon Valley Bank’s biggest customers started pulling out their money, a WhatsApp group of startup founders who are immigrants of color ballooned to more than 1,000 members.

Questions flowed as the bank’s financial status worsened. Some desperately sought advice: Could they open an account at a larger bank without a Social Security Number? Others questioned whether they had to physically be at a bank to open an account, because they’re visiting parents overseas.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that his arrest is imminent and issued an extraordinary call for his supporters to protest as a New York grand jury investigates hush money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president.

Even as Trump’s lawyer and spokesperson said there had been no communication from prosecutors, Trump declared in a post on his social media platform that he expects to be taken into custody on Tuesday.

CHICAGO (AP) — Before they were rivals to be Chicago’s next mayor, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson both worked in education, though their career paths — like their views on the city’s future — were very different.

Vallas was CEO of Chicago Public Schools, appointed by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley after Illinois lawmakers in the 1990s gave control of the troubled district to City Hall. Vallas came to be known as a turnaround expert in Chicago and in other U.S. school districts, supporting charter schools and voucher programs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon study has found high rates of cancer among military pilots and for the first time has shown that ground crews who fuel, maintain and launch those aircraft are also getting sick.

The data had long been sought by retired military aviators who have raised alarms for years about the number of air and ground crew members they knew who had cancer. They were told that earlier military studies had found they were not at greater risk than the general U.S. population.

18 Mar 2023; MEMO: Panamanian authorities on Thursday evening detained President of the Brazil-Palestine Institute (IBRASPAL) Ahmed Shehada at Tocumen International Airport and withdrew his Brazilian passport, Quds Press reported.

Shehada was travelling to Colombia to participate in the second conference for the Palestinian Union in Latin America, taking place between 17 and 19 March in Barranquilla.

18 Mar 2023; AA: Former US President Donald Trump and his family failed to report foreign gifts worth nearly $300,000 during his presidency, according to a report by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released on Friday.

More than 100 unreported foreign gifts include items from Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other foreign government officials.

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - A Republican proposal to cancel unspent COVID-19 relief money could undercut healthcare for military veterans and pensions for blue-collar workers while doing little to improve the U.S. fiscal picture, a Reuters review of federal spending figures found.