North America

20 Nov 2022; MEMO: The UN and European Union on Sunday expressed their disappointment over the final declaration of the UN Climate Change Conference or COP27 on reducing emissions, Anadolu reports.

"Our planet is still in the emergency room. We need to drastically reduce emissions now, and this is an issue this COP did not address," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

He described the decisions made by COP27, hosted by Egypt, as "clearly not enough" to cut emissions.

20 Nov 2022; MEMO: A former senior Canadian intelligence officer has called for the UK to repatriate Shamima Begum due to the role of her former agency in the girl's trafficking to Syria seven years ago.

Huda Mukbil, formerly a senior officer at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) says the agency's operatives broke their own rules as it handled a covert source who served as a trafficker for Begum and her friends in 2015.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 19 (APP): Pakistan has called for steps to end the deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, saying that the country’s economy should be revived as a matter of priority.

“Our priority, first and foremost, is an end to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan,” Ambassador Munir Akram told the United Nations Security Council “Arria-Fomula” meeting, while asserting that peace and stability in that neighbouring country was of “vital concern” to Pakistan.

MEXICO CITY, Nov 19 (NNN-TELESUR) — The Mexican government calls on France to stop the auction of “Mexican archaeological monuments” scheduled for Nov 22, at the Binoche et de Giquello house in Paris.

There are 62 pieces that, according to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), are “Mexican archaeological monuments, defined and protected by the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments and Zones,” as determined by the archaeological opinion.

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - China on Friday pushed back on claims it was operating 'police stations' on U.S. soil, calling the sites volunteer-run, after the FBI director said he was "very concerned" about unauthorized stations that have been linked to Beijing's influence operations.

Safeguard Defenders, a Europe-based human rights organization, published a report in September revealing the presence of dozens of Chinese police "service stations" in major cities around the world, including New York.

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday identified 42 employees from Democratic President Joe Biden's White House and administration, who they expect to testify next year after their party takes control of the chamber.

In Nov. 18 letters to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and other top administration officials, 19 Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee said they need testimony on issues including border security, school board threats and claims of bias within the FBI and Justice Department.

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Russia's surge in missile strikes in Ukraine is partly designed to exhaust Kyiv's supplies of air defenses and finally achieve dominance of the skies above the country, a senior Pentagon official said on Saturday.

Russia has been hammering cities across Ukraine with missile strikes over the past week, in one of the heaviest waves of missile attacks since Moscow began its invasion nearly nine months ago.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Moderate to severe drought extended from the U.S. West Coast to the Rocky Mountains with large areas of extreme and pockets of exceptional drought, the latest monthly drought report from the National Centers for Environmental Information said, while many residents in the West got much more nervous than those cold words.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland named a special counsel on Friday to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The year was 2010 and the Justice Department’s prestigious public integrity section was still recovering from a costly debacle over the withholding of exculpatory evidence in a case against Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

The crisis had caused then-Attorney General Eric Holder, in a remarkable move, to ask a judge to throw out all convictions against the Republican lawmaker.