North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force has filed criminal charges against an airman in connection with an April explosion that injured U.S. troops at a base in eastern Syria.

Tech. Sgt. David D. Dezwaan Jr. is facing several charges including dereliction of duty, destroying military property, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault in the blast that injured four service members. He has been held in confinement by the Air Force since June.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez was arrested Thursday on bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign, marking the first time that a former leader of the island faces federal charges.

Two other unidentified people were arrested along with her, said an official, who was not authorized to talk about the federal case.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — For years, bombastic far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ranted to his millions of followers that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, that children weren’t killed and that parents were crisis actors in an elaborate ruse to force gun control.

Under oath and facing a jury that could hit him with $150 million or more in damages for his false claims, Jones said Wednesday he now realizes that was irresponsible and believes that what happened in the deadliest school shooting in American history was “100% real.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for jobless benefits last week as the number of unemployed continues to rise modestly, though the labor market remains one of the strongest parts of the U.S. economy.

Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 30 rose by 6,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s 254,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs.

The four-week average for claims, which evens out the weekly ups and downs, also rose from the previous week, to 254,750.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Jurors in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz were taken to see the still blood-spattered rooms of a three-story building at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday, an extremely rare visit to a crime scene sealed off since he murdered 14 students and three staff members four years ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights threatens to upend firearms restrictions across the country as activists wage court battles over everything from bans on AR-15-style guns to age limits.

The decision handed down in June already has led one judge to temporarily block a Colorado town from enforcing a ban on the sale and possession of certain semi-automatic weapons.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — As Wisconsin’s longest-serving Assembly speaker, Republican Robin Vos has presided over efforts to restrict abortions, weaken unions, expand gun rights and push back against COVID-19 mandates. Despite that, he’s facing a primary challenger who claims he’s not conservative enough.

The challenger’s argument: Vos should do more to respond to former President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

04 August 2022; MEMO: Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has secured a comfortable victory in Michigan's 12th Congressional District Democratic primary elections which have been dominated by the "dark money" funnelled by the influential pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 03 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged governments on Wednesday to tax huge oil and gas profits to support the most vulnerable people, as the world grapples with energy, food and finance crises, resulting in part by the war in Ukraine.

“It is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the backs of the poorest people and communities,” Guterres told a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The conflict in Ukraine does not warrant Russia's use of nuclear weapons, but Moscow could decide to use its nuclear arsenal in response to "direct aggression" by NATO countries over the invasion, Russia said on Tuesday at the United Nations.

At a nuclear nonproliferation conference, Russian diplomat Alexander Trofimov rejected "utterly unfounded, detached from reality and unacceptable speculations that Russia allegedly threatens to use nuclear weapons, particularly in Ukraine."