North America

WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A defective drone in Iraq may have helped keep America from being dragged deeper into a widening Middle East conflict.

The drone, which was launched at the Erbil air base by an Iranian-backed militia before sunrise on Oct. 26, penetrated U.S. air defenses and crashed into the second floor of the barracks housing American troops at about 5 a.m, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The poverty rate in Palestine will soar by 34 percent, thrusting nearly half a million additional people into poverty, if the war in Gaza continues for a second month, warns a UN report.

In such a scenario, Palestine's gross domestic product (GDP) will plummet by 8.4 percent -- a loss of 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, according to initial estimates by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Thursday that they released 25 million U.S. dollars to jumpstart relief from the once-in-a-century flooding in Somalia that has already affected nearly 1.2 million people.

The United Nations and its partners estimate that 1.6 million people could be affected by flooding in the current rainy season from October to December, with 1.5 million hectares of farmland potentially being destroyed, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Wednesday for a united and Palestinian-led government for Gaza and the West Bank after the war ends, as a step toward Palestinian statehood. That vision sharpens U.S. differences with ally Israel on what the future should look like for the Palestinian territories once Israel’s military campaign against Hamas winds down.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Eight people died Wednesday when the driver of a car suspected of carrying smuggled migrants fled police and smashed into an oncoming vehicle on a South Texas highway.

The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. when the driver of a 2009 Honda Civic tried to outrun deputies from the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office and attempted to pass a semi truck, the state Department of Public Safety said. The Civic collided with a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox, which caught fire.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers made a longshot bid Thursday to immediately end to the New York civil fraud trial that threatens his real estate empire, arguing that state lawyers had failed to prove that the former president intended to dupe banks, insurers and others by inflating his wealth on financial statements.

Trump’s lawyers sought a directed verdict, asking Judge Arthur Engoron to clear the 2024 Republican front-runner, his namesake company and other defendants of wrongdoing at the halfway point in the trial of state Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden went to Chicago on June 28 to give a landmark speech on “Bidenomics,” only to learn in private during the trip about a soon-to-close auto factory, news that was a challenge to his vision for the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities on Thursday were trying to determine who sent letters filled with fentanyl or other substances to local election offices, an attack that appears to have targeted multiple states in the latest instance of threats faced by election workers around the country.

Among the offices that may have been targeted was Fulton County in Georgia, which includes Atlanta and is the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important presidential swing states.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After seven months of hosting Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds said it “feels good to get in the game” with her endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But the popular Iowa governor declined to say whether other candidates should concede and throw their support behind him as well, even as she acknowledged that a wider field could advantage former President Donald Trump.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will stay on the Minnesota primary ballot after the state supreme court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking end his candidacy under a rarely-used constitutional provision that forbids those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.