North America

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 20 (NNN-XINHUA) — The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution to extend the ban on the illicit export of petroleum, including crude oil and refined petroleum products, from Libya.

Resolution 2701, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, extends the ban for 15 months, till Feb. 1, 2025.

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Astronomers have detected an intense flash of radio waves coming from what looks like a merger of galaxies dating to about 8 billion years ago - the oldest-known instance of a phenomenon called a fast radio burst that continues to defy explanation.

OTTAWA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday the Indian government's crackdown on Canadian diplomats was making normal life difficult for millions of people in both countries.

Trudeau spoke a day after Canada said it had withdrawn 41 diplomats following an Indian threat to unilaterally revoke their status. New Delhi is angry that Trudeau last month suggested Indian agents might have been involved in the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.

Oct 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has charged Private Travis King with crimes ranging from desertion for running into North Korea in July to assault against fellow soldiers and solicitation of child pornography, according to documents obtained by Reuters.

The Army's case against King, which has not been previously reported, includes eight distinct charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, setting up a substantial legal battle for the 23-year-old soldier after his release from North Korean custody in September.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, inciting wide criticism amid mounting global concern over the escalating crisis there.

The Brazil-drafted proposal, if adopted, would have condemned all violence and hostilities against civilians and all acts of terrorism, and called for protecting all medical, humanitarian personnel, and medical facilities, in accordance with international humanitarian law.

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Norma weakened slightly but remained a major storm Friday as it took aim at the twin resorts of Los Cabos at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula in the Pacific.

In the Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Tammy had grown into a hurricane, with winds of 75 mph (120 kph). Hurricane warnings were issued for the islands of Guadeloupe, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifty years after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and push prices higher. But don’t expect a repeat of the catastrophic price hikes and long lines at the gasoline pump, experts say.

The Israel-Hamas war is “definitely not good news” for oil markets already stretched by cutbacks in oil production from Saudi Arabia and Russia and expected stronger demand from China, the head of the International Energy Agency said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Saddled with a dysfunctional Congress, President Joe Biden has the task of assuring European Union leaders on Friday that the United States can nonetheless deliver on promises to send tens of billions of dollars’ worth of aid to wartime Ukraine and Israel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The special counsel overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation is expected to testify before a Congressional committee behind closed doors as a GOP probe into the Justice Department’s handling of the case continues to unfold.

In a rare step, David Weiss is set to appear for a transcribed interview before members of the House Judiciary Committee on Nov. 7, sources told The Associated Press Friday on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door appearance.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were discovered this month appears to have fabricated cremation records and may have given families fake ashes, according to information gathered by The Associated Press from customers and crematories.

The families that did business with Return to Nature Funeral Home fear their loved ones weren’t cremated at all and instead could be among the yet unidentified corpses authorities discovered after responding to a report of an “ abhorrent smell.”