North America

2 Mar 2023; MEMO: The US has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials in the occupation state to condemn publicly the statements made by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to "wipe out" the Palestinian village of Huwara.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden exudes confidence as the next race for the White House approaches.

During last month’s State of the Union address, he lured unruly Republicans into agreeing with him that federal entitlements should be protected. He’s intensified travel outside Washington, trumpeting job-creation in Wisconsin and steep federal health care spending to Florida seniors while touting a trillion-dollar public works package that he says can do everything from revitalize Baltimore’s port to easing train tunnel congestion under the Hudson River.

WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in a case that chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Murdaugh guilty of two counts of murder at the end of a six-week trial that pulled back the curtain on the once-prominent lawyer’s fall from grace.

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged countries to agree a “robust and ambitious” treaty to protect the high seas, as time starts to run out for negotiators.

After 15 years of formal and informal talks, delegates have been meeting in New York since Feb 20 to discuss a text that aims to protect nearly half the planet.

It is the third “final” negotiating round in less than a year and is due to end Friday.

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The Biden administration said on Thursday it is offering a fresh round of $1.2 billion in aid to extend the life of distressed nuclear power plants which, for the first time, could offer funding to a plant that has recently closed.

President Joe Biden's climate team believes nuclear power is a crucial source of virtually carbon-free electricity needed to be maintained and expanded to reach his pledge of what it calls 100% clean electricity by 2035.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay.

The Falcon rocket bolted from Kennedy Space Center shortly after midnight, illuminating the night sky as it headed up the East Coast.

Nearly 80 spectators from the United Arab Emirates watched from the launch site as astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi — only the second Emirati to fly to space — blasted off on his six-month mission.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing the possibility that the Supreme Court will reject President Joe Biden’s plan for student loan forgiveness, the White House is aiming to turn the political heat toward Republicans while deflecting criticism from disappointed borrowers.

At stake is the loyalty of young, college-educated voters who are a critical part of the Democratic coalition that Biden is counting on to return him to the White House for a second term. And plenty of people are making sure he doesn’t forget.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 01 (APP): The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, Tuesday asked all nations to work harder towards abolishing the death penalty, an ongoing practice in 79 countries.

He was speaking at the Geneva-based Human Rights Council which held its biennial high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty. The theme of this year’s panel was “Human rights violations relating to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to limiting the death penalty to the most serious crimes”.

HAVANA, NARCH 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Cuba´s Foreign Ministry (MINREX) strongly condemned granted political asylum in the United States to Cuban citizen Ruben Martinez after hijacking an aircraft in October 2022.    

In a statement, MINREX said that Cuba´s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez on Monday called US Chargé d’Affaires Benjamin Ziff to formally convey Cuba´s demand.

SAN SALVADOR, March 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Thousands of alleged gang members in El Salvador, 60 percent of nearly 65,000, will never return to the streets, the Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro said.    

Sixty percent of those arrested under the exception regime will be sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), the minister reported, who said that they will ensure that those who arrive at these facilities will not leave again.