North America

NEW YORK, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices declined on Thursday, notching a three-day losing streak, as traders focused on recession risks.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery dropped 94 cents, or 1.23 percent, to settle at 75.72 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery lost 1.07 dollars, or 1.29 percent, to close at 81.59 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The above market reactions came after data showed U.S. initial jobless claims came in higher than expected for the week ending March 4.

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Xinhua) -- NASA has been tracking a new asteroid named 2023 DW that has a "very small chance" of impacting Earth in 2046.

"Often when new objects are first discovered, it takes several weeks of data to reduce the uncertainties and adequately predict their orbits years into the future," NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office tweeted.

Orbit analysts will continue to monitor asteroid 2023 DW and update predictions as more data comes in, according to NASA.

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The chief executive of U.S. transportation company Norfolk Southern said on Thursday that he's "deeply sorry" for the impact of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in early February. Local residents, meanwhile, are demanding more action.

At a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said the railroad "will clean the site safely, thoroughly, and with urgency," noting that the company has committed to reimbursements and investments of more than 20 million U.S. dollars in order to address the impact of the derailment.

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — A letter claiming to be from the Mexican drug cartel blamed for abducting four Americans and killing two of them condemned the violence and said the gang turned over to authorities its own members who were responsible.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press through a Tamaulipas state law enforcement official, the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel apologized to the residents of Matamoros where the Americans were kidnapped, the Mexican woman who died in the cartel shootout, and the four Americans and their families.

9 Mar 2023; MEMO: A resolution to withdraw US forces from Syria throughout this year was defeated in the House of Representatives yesterday, with the vast majority voting to keep troops in the north-east of the embattled country to prevent a revival of Daesh.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — When U.S. officials at the U.S.-Mexico border stamped the Ukrainian passports of Mariia and her daughter last April and gave them permission to stay for a year, she figured she would return home within months.

Now with that year almost up and the war that caused them to flee still raging, their permission to stay in the U.S. — known as humanitarian parole — is set to expire April 23.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has been invited to testify before a New York grand jury that has been investigating hush money payments made on his behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign, according to one of his lawyers.

Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina confirmed Thursday that the Manhattan district attorney’s office has invited the former president to testify next week as prosecutors near a decision on whether to proceed with what could be the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Joe Biden, his federal budget is a statement of values — the dollars and cents of a governing philosophy that believes the wealthy and large corporations should pay more taxes to help stem deficits and lift Americans toward middle class stability

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 09 (APP): Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday met the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi, ahead of Friday’s high-level meeting to commemorate the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

Co-convened by the General Assembly president and the Pakistani foreign minister, the meeting will discuss ways and means to deal with growing Islamophobia, as highlighted in the 2020 Assembly resolution designating March 15 as an international day to combat the phenomenon.

WASHINGTON, Mar 9 (NNN-XINHUA) – A CSX freight train, derailed yesterday, after it struck a rockslide in the U.S. state of West Virginia, injuring three crew members.

All four of the train’s locomotives and nine empty coal cars derailed, CSX Transportation, a freight railroad company, said in a press release.

According to the release, the locomotive caught fire, but all three crew members were safe and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.