North America

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations held ceremonies at its headquarters in New York on Thursday, to honor the memory of the peacekeepers who have sacrificed their lives while serving under the UN flag.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial in honor of the more than 4,200 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.

NEW YORK, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Death rates from gunshots among young people were 11 times higher in "socially vulnerable" communities compared to those in low-risk areas, according to research published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Guns are the leading cause of death for U.S. children, accounting for one in five child and teen fatalities, with most classified as violent assaults. Accidents account for about a third of gun deaths among small children, according to the research.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, expressed concern Thursday about policies of each other’s governments following Chinese raids on consulting firms and U.S. curbs on exports of semiconductor technology, their governments said.

The two sides announced no progress in disputes over technology and security but said Raimondo and Wang promised to strengthen exchanges on trade issues.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced what he said is the most ambitious and comprehensive undertaking by the U.S. government to fight hate, bias and violence against Jews, outlining more than 100 steps the administration and its partners can take to combat an alarming rise in antisemitism.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The training program for Navy SEALs is plagued by widespread failures in medical care, poor oversight and the use of performance-enhancing drugs that have increased the risk of injury and death to those seeking to become elite commandos, according to an investigation triggered by the death of a sailor last year.

Medical oversight and care were “poorly organized, poorly integrated and poorly led and put candidates at significant risk,” the nearly 200-page report compiled by the Naval Education and Training Command concluded.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Following years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations, Texas’s Republican Attorney General, Ken Paxton, finds himself on the brink of impeachment, and a GOP-led panel is heading the charge.

In an unanimous decision, a Republican-led House investigative committee that spent months quietly looking into Paxton recommended impeaching the state’s top lawyer Thursday on 20 articles, including bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust.

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 10% of people appear to suffer long COVID after an omicron infection, a lower estimate than earlier in the pandemic, according to a study of nearly 10,000 Americans that aims to help unravel the mysterious condition.

Early findings from the National Institutes of Health’s study highlight a dozen symptoms that most distinguish long COVID, the catchall term for the sometimes debilitating health problems that can last for months or years after even a mild case of COVID-19.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Days from a deadline, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are narrowing in on a two-year budget deal aiming to curb federal deficits in exchange for lifting the nation’s debt ceiling and staving off an economically devastating government default.

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and top Republican lawmaker Kevin McCarthy are edging close to a deal on the U.S. debt ceiling, with the parties just $70 billion apart on discretionary spending, according to a person familiar with the talks.

What is likely to emerge will not be a hundreds-page long bill, something that could take lawmakers days to write, read and vote on, but a slimmed-down agreement with a few key numbers, this source and another person briefed on negotiations said.

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Thursday appeared to be nearing a deal to cut spending and raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, with little time to spare to head off the risk of default.