USA

06 August 2023; AA: A man from the US state of Missouri was sentenced to 16 years in prison after he confessed to setting fire to an Islamic Center, according to the Justice Department.

John Proffitt tried to set fire to the Cape Girardeau Islamic Center on the first day of Ramadan in 2020, according to the statement Wednesday. The fire resulted in substantial harm to the front entrance and second floor of the facility.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 05 (APP): The United Nations has unveiled a policy brief on transforming education, which lays out a set of proposals to create inclusive and truly learning societies, and to understand education as a global public good.

The brief recognizes that education faces both a crisis of access as well as a crisis of quality and relevance, Leonardo Garnier, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Transforming Education Summit, said at a press briefing in New York.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. bank JPMorgan (JPM.N) this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia said on Friday, as it demanded action, not promises, from Washington to help Russian grain and fertilizer reach global markets.

JPMorgan had handled some Russian grain export payments for the past few months with reassurances from Washington. However, that cooperation stopped this week, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The United States has declined so far to classify Army Private Travis King as a prisoner of war, despite his being taken into North Korean custody after he crossed into the country last month, four U.S. officials told Reuters.

The decision, which could mean King is not covered by the protections entitled to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, is highly sensitive for the U.S. military given its commitment to leave no soldier behind enemy lines.

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis' presidential bid, told Reuters on Friday he will not donate more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.

The comments by Bigelow, who gave $20 million to the pro-DeSantis "Never Back Down" super PAC in March, underscore donor concerns about the Florida governor's struggling campaign, which has been unable to make a dent in former President Donald Trump's huge lead for the 2024 Republican nomination.

NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Kai Cenat, a popular livestreamer on the American online streaming platform Twitch, will face multiple charges after a giveaway event he hosted Friday in New York City's Manhattan erupted into chaos, said local police.

Cenat will be charged with multiple counts of inciting a riot, unlawful assembly and possibly other crimes, New York City Police Department chief Jeffrey Maddrey said at a Friday night news conference.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft was back chatting it up Friday after flight controllers corrected a mistake that had led to weeks of silence.

Hurtling ever deeper into interstellar space billions of miles away, Voyager 2 stopped communicating two weeks ago. Controllers sent the wrong command to the 46-year-old spacecraft and tilted its antenna away from Earth.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market has cooled over the summer. But it’s still strong enough to defy predictions that higher interest rates would tip the United States into recession.

U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected. But the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% in a sign that the job market remains resilient.

Hiring was up from 185,000 in June, a figure that the Labor Department revised down from an originally reported 209,000. Economists had expected to see 200,000 new jobs in July.

NEW YORK (AP) — As Donald Trump was being arraigned in Washington on yet another round of criminal charges, his running mate-turned-rival Mike Pence hurried to capitalize on the news.

Pence’s campaign unveiled new T-shirts and baseball caps for sale featuring the phrase “Too Honest” in big red letters — a reference to an episode in the indictment in which the former president called Pence to berate him over his refusal to go along with Trump’s scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army’s chief stepped down Friday, leaving the military’s two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history.

Speaking during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Austin said the Senate’s failure to confirm the services’ new leaders is disruptive to the force and could impact relationships with allies and partners around the globe.