North America

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 9 (NNN-XINHUA) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday urged the international community to make every possible effort, to bring an end to the suffering of the people in Gaza.

“The people of Gaza are looking into the abyss. The international community must do everything possible to end their ordeal,” the UN chief told the Security Council’s emergency meeting, on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

TORONTO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The dream of making it big in Canada is turning into a battle for survival for many immigrants due to the high cost of living and rental shortages, as rising emigration numbers hints to newcomers being forced to turn their back on a country that they chose to make their adopted home.

Trudeau has made immigration his main weapon to blunt Canada's big challenge of an aging and slowing population, and it has also helped fuel economic growth. That drove Canada's population up at its fastest clip in more than six decades this year, Statistics Canada said.

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has used an emergency authority to allow the sale of about 14,000 tank shells to Israel without congressional review, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

The State Department on Friday used an Arms Export Control Act emergency declaration for the tank rounds worth $106.5 million for immediate delivery to Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The resolution, drafted by the United Arab Emirates and backed by more than 100 countries, gained support from 13 of the 15 Security Council members, with Britain abstaining.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter to urge the organization's most powerful body to call for a ceasefire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden has been hit with new criminal charges in California accusing him of scheming to avoid paying his taxes while spending lavishly on everything from luxury hotels to escorts to exotic cars.

The president’s son is also facing separate firearm charges in Delaware, raising the possibility he could be headed toward trial in two different cases as his father, President Joe Biden, campaigns for re-election.

HOUSTON (AP) — Two of Houston’s most powerful and longest serving political titans are facing off in a mayoral runoff election Saturday to see who will lead the nation’s fourth largest city, a young and diverse metro area facing challenges including crime, crumbling infrastructure and potential budget shortfalls.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Sen. John Whitmire, both Democrats, made it to Saturday’s runoff after breezing past a crowded field of nearly 20 candidates in the Nov. 7 general election.

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidates are crossing paths again in Iowa just days after a fractious debate and with the leadoff caucuses about a month away.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy are aiming to make the campaign case Saturday — this time without the others interrupting — in northwest Iowa, a more rural, conservative corner of the state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist on pairing the aid with changes to America’s immigration and border policies.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution Friday backed by almost all other Security Council members and dozens of other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. Supporters called it a terrible day and warned of more civilian deaths and destruction as the war goes into its third month.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is distancing him from efforts by allies and former aides to sketch out his plans for a possible second term, including who might fill his administration and what policies he might pursue.

In a memo Friday from senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, the campaign said messages about a potential Trump government that come from anyone but the Republican or his team should not be considered official and are “an unwelcomed distraction.”