North America

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republicans in some heavily conservative states won their campaigns for secretary of state last year after claiming they would make sweeping changes aimed at keeping fraud out of elections.

So far, their efforts to make good on their promises are mixed, in some cases because their rhetoric has bumped up against skepticism from members of their own party.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — The downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon just off South Carolina’s coast created a spectacle over one of the state’s tourism hubs and drew crowds reacting with a mixture of bewildered gazing, distress and cheering.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions.

Havana, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said that US policy of bullying other countries and imposing sanctions on them is doomed to fail.

Amirabdollahian made the comments early on Sunday in a meeting in Havana with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla

In their meeting, the two top diplomats discussed latest developments in bilateral relations between Iran and Cuba.

05 Feb 2023; MEMO: The US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday which had been spotted above US airspace off the coast of South Carolina, Anadolu reports.

An operation is underway to recover debris from the balloon in the Atlantic Ocean.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the decision was made at the direction of US President Biden.

WASHINGTON, February 4. /TASS/: The United States will ‘take care’ of the situation with the Chinese meteorological balloon flying in US airspace, President Joe Biden said on Saturday.

At the Hancock airbase, New York, reporters asked the president to comment on the situation with the Chinese balloon.

"We’re going to take care of it," the White House pool quoted Biden as saying. He did not clarify his words.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 4 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Seven gang members were killed amid clashes with Haitian Police (PNH) after Operation Tornado 1 being announced to curb national insecurity.    

A week after law enforcement officers started off their operations, one assault rifle and four pistols were seized, and police were able to recover a truckload of merchandise confiscated by criminal groups.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 4 (NNN-NINA) – UN special envoy for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called on Iraq’s political class to take advantage of the present climate to end chronic cycles of instability.

Following a year of tensions and political discord, Hennis-Plasschaert expressed hope that the confirmation of the new government will provide a chance to structurally address the country’s pressing issues.

GRAYSON, Calif., Feb 4 (Reuters) - When devastating floods swept California last month, the community of Grayson - a town of 1,300 people tucked between almond orchards and dairy farms where the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers converge - survived without major damage.

In the minds of some townspeople and experts, that was thanks partly to the 2,100 acres (850 hectares) of former farmland just across the San Joaquin that have been largely restored to a natural floodplain.

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The political uproar over a suspected Chinese spy balloon drifting over the United States did not just derail a planned visit to Beijing by the top U.S. diplomat, it also threatens to upset attempts by both countries to steady an increasingly rocky relationship.