North America

18 Jan 2023; MEMO: An Israeli man fled to Israel in 2021 after being charged in the US for defrauding investors of a total sum of at least $47 million, reported The Times of Israel.

The indictment from earlier this month, filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says Yossi Engel, 35, used his company, iWitness Tech, to draw investors from Orthodox Jewish communities in Los Angeles and New Jersey.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Senior UN officials have arrived in Kabul for talks as the United Nations chief voiced concern over the Taliban’s creation of “gender-based apartheid,” a UN spokesman said.

Since returning to power 17 months ago, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women, keeping them out of government jobs, banning them from secondary schools and universities, and prohibiting them from visiting parks.

BOSTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The husband of a Massachusetts woman who has been missing since New Year's Day was charged on Tuesday with her murder after authorities earlier said they had found a knife and blood in the basement of their home, a prosecutor said on Tuesday.

Brian Walshe, 47, was already being held on $500,000 bail after being arrested on Jan. 8 on a charge of misleading a police investigation into the disappearance of Ana Walshe in a case that has garnered national headlines.

OTTAWA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Canada will donate 200 Senator Armoured Personnel Carriers to Ukraine as a new package of military assistance, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Wednesday.

According to a press release issued by the Defence Ministry, Anand made the announcement during her visit to Kyiv and these vehicles, which are being purchased from Roshel, a Canadian company based in Ontario, are valued at over 90 million Canadian dollars (72 million U.S. dollars).

WASHINGTON (AP) — Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday that his country plans to “join” the U.S. and Germany’s efforts to train and arm Ukraine with advanced Patriot defense systems.

Rutte signaled the Netherlands’ intentions at the start of a White House meeting with President Joe Biden. The Dutch defense ministry said that Rutte’s announcement came after Ukraine had asked the Netherlands to provide “Patriot capacity.”

WALES, Alaska (AP) — A polar bear has attacked and killed two people in a remote village in western Alaska, according to state troopers.

Alaska State Troopers said they received the report of the attack at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Wales, on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula, KTUU reported.

“Initial reports indicate that a polar bear had entered the community and had chased multiple residents,” troopers wrote. “The bear fatally attacked an adult female and juvenile male.”

The bear was shot and killed by a local resident as it attacked the pair, troopers said.

Microsoft is cutting 10,000 workers, almost 5% of its workforce, in response to what it described as “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”

The company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that had just notified employees of the layoffs, some of which will begin immediately.

The company said it will also be making changes to its hardware portfolio and consolidating its leased office locations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States rose 6.2% in December from a year earlier, a sixth straight slowdown and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures will continue to cool.

The latest year-over-year figure was down from 7.3% in November and from a recent peak of 11.7% in March. On a monthly basis, the government said Wednesday that its producer price index, which measures costs before they reach consumers, dropped 0.5% from November to December.

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Six people including a six-month-old baby cradled in the arms of her 17-year-old mother were shot dead at a home in California's main agricultural valley on Monday in what authorities called a targeted attack and "horrific massacre."

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux linked the killings to the illegal drug trade, saying deputies had conducted a drug-related search warrant at the same home last week.

"We believe this was a message being sent," Boudreaux told reporters at the scene. "We believe that this was a targeted family."

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's warring parties should take advantage of the current absence of major fighting to advance peace talks, the top UN official in Yemen told the Security Council on Monday.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg reported via video link on his ongoing mediation efforts with the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels, also known as Ansar Allah, following their failure last October to extend a landmark truce that lasted six months.