North America

WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A communications line created between the militaries of the United States and Russia at the start of Moscow's war against Ukraine has been used only once so far, a U.S. official told Reuters.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the United States initiated a call through the "deconfliction" line to communicate its concerns about Russian military operations near critical infrastructure in Ukraine.

Reuters is the first to report on the use of the deconfliction line, beyond regular testing.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for action in three areas to prevent the disaster of biological weapons.

Guterres made the appeal in a video message to participants of the Ninth Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference in Geneva.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded guilty Monday to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges, guaranteeing he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Payton Gendron, 19, entered the plea Monday in a courthouse roughly two miles from the grocery store where he used a semiautomatic rifle and body armor to carry out a racist assault he hoped would help preserve white power in the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up a dispute over a blocked Biden administration policy that would prioritize deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk.

Republican-led states sued and won a nationwide court order that is meant to limit immigration officers’ discretion in deciding whom to deport. The justices are hearing arguments in the case Tuesday.

It’s the latest example of a Republican litigation strategy that has succeeded in slowing Biden administration initiatives by going to GOP-friendly courts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are promising aggressive oversight of the Biden administration once they assume the majority next year, with a particular focus on the business dealings of presidential son Hunter Biden, illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and the originations of COVID-19.

Republicans won’t have enough votes to advance key legislative priorities if there is no Democratic buy-in, but their oversight of government agencies could put Democrats on the defensive and dampen support for the Biden administration going into the 2024 presidential elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is headed to Washington for the first state visit of Joe Biden’s presidency — a revival of diplomatic pageantry that had been put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biden-Macron relationship had a choppy start. Macron briefly recalled France’s ambassador to the United States last year after the White House announced a deal to sell nuclear submarines to Australia, undermining a contract for France to sell diesel-powered submarines.

29 Nov 2022; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates told the UN Security Council yesterday that it is necessary to resume talks about resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"There is an urgent need to de-escalate and prevent tensions from rising to an irreversible point," said the UAE representative to the UN Security Council, Mohamed Issa Aboushahab. He stressed that diplomacy and dialogue are "the only way" to end the conflict.

WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - More than 400 groups on Monday called on Congress to intervene in an ongoing railroad labor standoff that threatens to idle shipments of food and fuel and strand rail travelers while inflicting billions of dollars of economic damage.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation, American Petroleum Institute, National Restaurant Association, American Trucking Associations, American Farm Bureau Federation and other groups warned impacts of a potential strike could be felt as soon as Dec. 5.

Nov 28 - As Arizona counties face a Monday deadline to certify their midterm election results, Republican candidates and activists promoting false theories of voter fraud are refusing to back down.

State Senator-elect Jake Hoffman, head of Arizona’s Freedom Caucus, a group of largely pro-Trump Republican state lawmakers, told Reuters he will lead an investigation into the state’s election when the legislature reconvenes in January.

Nov 28 (Reuters) - An eruption began in the summit caldera of Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, on Sunday night, the U.S. Geological Service's (USGS) volcanic activity service said.

"At this time, lava flows are contained within the summit area and are not threatening downslope communities," the notification said.

However, the notification warned, based on previous events, that the early eruption stages of this volcano can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.