North America

NEW YORK (AP) — The top strategist for the embattled super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ' campaign for the White House resigned Saturday night in the latest sign of trouble for the GOP hopeful less than one month before voting begins with Iowa’s kickoff caucuses.

Jeff Roe, the top adviser to Never Back Down, is the latest senior staffer to exit Never Back Down, which has been the largest outside group supporting DeSantis’ candidacy.

MIAMI (AP) — Salsa music blares from the food court in a rundown Miami shopping center as Latinos head to a kiosk and an office showing signs for “ Obamacare,” where they hope to renew their health coverage plans before the year ends.

It’s areas near this mall where former Democratic President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is more popular than anywhere in the country, according to federal data. The region has also shifted away from Democrats to Republicans in recent years, with Donald Trump hosting several rallies here as part of his outreach to Latino voters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Prominent Latinos in Congress looked on quietly, at first, privately raising concerns with the Biden administration over the direction of border security talks.

Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was on the phone constantly with administration officials questioning why the Senate negotiations did not include any meaningful consideration of providing pathways to citizenship for longtime immigrants lacking the proper legal documents.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top two U.S. military leaders are traveling to Tel Aviv to advise the Israeli government on how to transition from major combat operations against Hamas in Gaza to a more limited campaign and prevent a wider regional war. Their trip comes as Iranian-backed militants on Saturday launched a wave of attack drones against ships in the Red Sea and said they would continue until Israel’s “aggression” ends.

DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — Donald Trump asked New Hampshire voters on Saturday to help him secure the Republican presidential nomination before any rivals find their footing with the 2024 campaign’s opening contest just weeks away.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 16 (APP): Pakistan, on behalf of a group of 14 countries, on Friday again pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza, while underscoring the need for an international mechanism to protect Palestinian civilians from Israel’s bombing, and intensified efforts towards peacefully resolving the Middle East conflict.

“The Israeli killing machine must be stopped in Gaza and the West Bank,” Ambassador Munir Akram told the UN General Assembly which met to hear the remaining speakers of its Dec. 12 emergency session, when he made Pakistan’s national statement.

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on Friday he had started talks with Beijing on renewing a landmark scientific cooperation agreement, and while the deal needed to be modernized, prospects for a new one were uncertain.

Controversy over the renewal of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) - the first accord between the two countries signed in 1979 after the official establishment of diplomatic ties - has grown amid U.S. accusations of China's theft of U.S. scientific and commercial achievements.

OTTAWA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Firearms Act received royal assent on Friday, immediately bringing into force a series of measures to combat gun crime.

According to a news release issued by Public Safety Canada, these measures include a national handgun freeze, emergency weapons prohibition orders, and increased penalties for firearms smuggling and trafficking.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Michigan man described by prosecutors as a self-professed militia leader was sentenced on Friday to more than four years in prison for attacking law enforcement officers with a stolen police baton during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Matthew Thomas Krol, 65, of Linden, Michigan, assaulted at least three officers, injuring one of them, with the baton that he took from police. A prosecutor said Krol was one of the worst instigators of violence that ultimately forced officers to retreat from the mob of rioters who stormed the Capitol’s West Plaza.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has been increasingly pressuring Congress to pass stalled legislation to support Ukraine’s war against Russia, saying that funding has run out.

On Tuesday, however, President Joe Biden touted a new military aid package worth $200 million for Ukraine.

Money is dwindling. But the announcement of more weapons being sent to Kyiv just underscores the complexity of the funding. So has the money run out? Or are there still a few billion dollars floating around?

It’s complicated.