USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have secured their majority in the Senate for the next two years. But holding on to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s seat in Georgia’s runoff next month could be crucial to their success.

If Warnock wins the runoff against Republican Herschel Walker, Democrats will have 51 seats. That would make legislating a lot easier than it is in the current 50-50 Senate, the narrowest possible balance of power. For the last two years, Democrats have had to rely on Vice President Kamala Harris — she is the president of the Senate — to break ties.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — When army veteran Rich Fierro realized a gunman was spraying bullets inside the club where he had gathered with friends and family, instincts from his military training immediately kicked in.

First he ducked to avoid any potential incoming fire, then moved to try to disarm the shooter.

“It’s the reflex. Go! Go to the fire. Stop the action. Stop the activity. Don’t let no one get hurt. I tried to bring everybody back,” he said Monday outside his home.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 20 (APP): Pakistan’s UN Ambassador, Munir Akram, described as “momentous win” for Pakistan and the developing countries
Sunday’s agreement at COP27 Climate Summit in Egypt to establish Loss and Damage fund to help poor nations being battered by climate disasters.

“A momentous win for Pakistan and the developing countries,” Ambassador Akram said, when asked for comments by APP correspondent.

He called the agreement the “fruits of political clarity, unity, and perseverance.”

Nov 19 (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Saturday said he had no interest in returning to Twitter even as a slim majority voted in favor of reinstating the former U.S. president, who was banned from the social media service for inciting violence, in a poll organized by new owner Elon Musk.

Slightly over 15 million Twitter users voted in the poll with 51.8% voting in favor of reinstatement.

"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk tweeted.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that "yet another community in America has been torn apart by gun violence" in the wake of the Colorado Springs attack.

At least five people were killed and 18 others injured in a shooting late Saturday at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado, according to police.

"Gun violence continues to have a devastating and particular impact on LGBTQI+ communities across our nation and threats of violence are increasing," Biden said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trailing badly in his Arizona Senate race as votes poured in, Republican Blake Masters went on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program and assigned blame to one person: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“You know what else is incompetent, Tucker? The establishment. The people who control the purse strings,” Masters said before accusing the long-serving GOP leader and the super PAC aligned with him of not spending enough on TV advertising. “Had he chosen to spend money in Arizona, this race would be over. We’d be celebrating a Senate majority right now.”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — As bullets tore through a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and wounding many more, one patron who’d been partying moments before rushed into action, grabbing a handgun from the suspect, hitting him with it and pinning him down until police arrived just minutes later.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — Four people died Friday after a small plane appeared to have broken up in midair before striking the ground east of Harvey Field Airport in Snohomish County, US state of Washington, investigators announced on Saturday.

The accident happened about an hour after the Cessna 208B plane took off from Renton.

On Saturday morning, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that all the four people aboard the plane had died.

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Sunday he would form a select committee on China if he is elected speaker of the chamber, accusing the Biden administration of not standing up to Beijing.

"China is the No. 1 country when it comes to intellectual property theft," he told Fox News in an interview.

"We will put a stop to this and no longer allow the administration to sit back and let China do what they are doing to America."

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A New York Times report of a former anti-abortion leader's claim that he was told in advance about the outcome of a major 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case involving contraceptives triggered calls on Saturday for an investigation of a court still reeling from the leak of a landmark abortion rights ruling.

Rev. Rob Schenck was quoted by The Times as saying he was informed weeks before the public announcement of the 2014 ruling shortly after two conservative allies had dinner at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife.