North America

UNITED NATIONS, May 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The world is failing to protect civilians as the number of people caught up in conflicts and their humanitarian aftershocks skyrocketed last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday.
 
   In 2022, the United Nations tallied a 53 percent increase in civilian deaths compared to the year prior, with nearly 17,000 civilian deaths recorded across 12 conflicts.
 

WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - Jabari Wamble, U.S. President Joe Biden's pick for a federal judgeship in Kansas, asked on Tuesday to have his nomination withdrawn from consideration in the Senate, a letter obtained by Reuters showed.

He became the second Biden judicial nominee to drop out in as many weeks. Michael Delaney, a former New Hampshire attorney general selected by Biden for a spot on the Boston-based 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, last week asked to withdraw amid bipartisan criticism in the Senate.

WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy's negotiators held what the White House called productive talks on Wednesday to try to close a deal to raise the United States' $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default.

Time is running short, as the Treasury Department has warned the federal government could be unable to pay all its bills by as soon as June 1 - just eight days away - and it will take several days to pass legislation through the narrowly divided Congress.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States announced at a U.N. conference on Wednesday nearly $524 million in additional humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa that aims to put a spotlight on the extreme effects of climate change and the worst drought in the region in 40 years — and the need for more than $5 billion.

Near the start of the conference, Germany announced a pledge of 210 million euros ($226 million) and the United Kingdom pledged $119 million for Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Like the blue and yellow flags that popped up around the U.S. when Russia invaded Ukraine 15 months ago, U.S. popular support for Washington’s backing of Ukraine has faded a little but remains widespread, a survey by the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and NORC shows.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state audit released Wednesday faults the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for how it awarded grants and ventilators to health care providers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency’s leader, in her response, defended the awards, emphasizing that the money and ventilators were handed out during a public health emergency with the goal of keeping health care providers open and able to provide care to patients.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A student was taken into custody in the shooting death of another student early Wednesday just outside a school in Pittsburgh shortly before classes were due to start, police said.

Police said the shooting happened just before 7:30 a.m. by the front steps of Oliver Citywide Academy. Officers found the victim with gunshot wounds in front of the school and gave first aid, Major Crimes Commander Richard Ford told reporters at the scene.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday he was sending Republican negotiators to the White House to finish out debt limit talks, but warned that the two sides are “still far apart” as they try to reach a budget deal with President Joe Biden.

McCarthy said he remained optimistic they could make progress in hopes of an agreement before a deadline as soon as next week, when the Treasury Department could run out of cash to pay its bills. “We’re not going to default,” said McCarthy, R-Calif.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump on Tuesday asked for a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland as a Justice Department investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents shows signs of winding down.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump on Tuesday asked for a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland as a Justice Department investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents shows signs of winding down.