North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — State-level law enforcement units created after the 2020 presidential election to investigate voter fraud are looking into scattered complaints more than two weeks after the midterms but have provided no indication of systemic problems.

That’s just what election experts had expected and led critics to suggest that the new units were more about politics than rooting out widespread abuses. Most election-related fraud cases already are investigated and prosecuted at the local level.

PANAMA CITY (AP) — An international wildlife conference moved to enact some of the most significant protection for shark species targeted in the fin trade and scores of turtles, lizards and frogs whose numbers are being decimated by the pet trade.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known by its initials as CITES, ended Friday in Panama. Along with protections for over 500 species, delegates at the United Nations wildlife conference rejected a proposal to reopen the ivory trade. An ivory ban was enacted in 1989.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 25 (APP): At least 50,000 migrants died while undertaking risking journeys in search of a “better life” across the world since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a Geneva-based UN agency.

The tragic milestone was confirmed in a new IMO report on Missing Migrants Project, which also maintains that little action had been taken by any country of origin, transit or arrival.

WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (NNN-XINHUA) – U.S. President, Joe Biden, yesterday, renewed his call to ban assault weapons.

“I’m going to try to get rid of assault weapons,” Biden told reporters, during a visit to firefighters in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The remarks came, on the heels of a pair of high-profile mass shootings, in just a few days.

In the shooting, at a Colorado Springs nightclub, over the weekend, a gunman wielded an AR-15 style rifle, killing five people, while injuring 19 others.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United States stayed alert on Thursday in the wake of recent mass shootings, while Americans gathered together for Thanksgiving amid high inflation and resurging COVID-19 and other viruses.

GUN VIOLENCE ERUPTS

The New York City Police Department beefed up security around this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which kicked off on Thursday morning with giant balloons, celebrity performers and festive floats.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The co-owner of the Colorado Springs gay nightclub where a shooter turned a drag queen’s birthday celebration into a massacre said he thinks the shooting that killed five people and injured 17 others is a reflection of anti-LGBTQ sentiment that has evolved from prejudice to incitement.

NEW YORK (AP) — Black Friday marks a return to familiar holiday shopping patterns, but inflation is weighing on consumers.

Elevated prices for food, rent, gasoline and other household costs have taken a toll on shoppers. As a result, many are reluctant to spend unless there is a big sale and are being more selective with what they will buy — in many cases, trading down to cheaper stuff and less expensive stores.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — The Walmart supervisor who shot and killed six co-workers in Virginia seemed to target people and fired at some victims after they were already hit and appeared to be dead, said a witness who was present when the shooting started.

Jessica Wilczewski said workers were gathered in a store break room to begin their overnight shift late Tuesday when team leader Andre Bing entered and opened fire with a handgun. While another witness has described Bing as shooting wildly, Wilczewski said she observed him target certain people.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 24 (APP): Pakistan and Bangladesh will each be sending an armed helicopter unit to the UN peacekeeping operations in Mali, which faces serious problems as several countries have withdrawn or announced plans to pull out their personnel, a UN spokesperson said Wednesday.

Spokesman Farhan Haq said that India will supply a utility helicopter unit to the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, and all three are expected to be deployed by March next year.

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and Democratic Representative Mary Peltola of Alaska both won reelection against opponents backed by Donald Trump on Wednesday, the latest high-profile defeats of candidates supported by the former president.

Peltola and Murkowski came out on top after Alaska officials finished tabulating all ballots from the Nov. 8 election using the state's new "ranked choice" system, which allows voters to list candidates in order of preference.