US states, Caribbean nations back Mexico's appeal in arms lawsuit

OTTAWA, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S.
President Joe Biden on Friday said the United States is prepared to "act forcefully" to protect Americans, commenting after the U.S. military carried out air strikes against Iran-backed forces in retaliation for an attack that killed an American contractor and wounded five U.S.

South Carolina, which was 27-28 and four games under .500 in SEC play last season, is 23-2 and 6-0 after sweeping Missouri. First-year Washington coach Jason Kelly picked up his biggest series win so far when the Huskies won two of three on the road against a top 10-ranked UCLA.

"The theater forces will maintain a high state of alert at all times and take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security and peace and stability in the South China Sea," said Tian Junli, a spokesman for China's Southern Theatre Command.



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; writing by Jasper Ward; editing by Tim Ahmann) seek conflict with Iran, but be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people," Biden told reporters during an official visit to Canada. "Make no mistake: the United States does not ...

The brief from the Caribbean governments, which was joined by a network of non-governmental organizations, follows a summit among regional leaders last month held in the Bahamas, where arms trafficking was a key topic.

The United States has been shoring up alliances in the Asia-Pacific seeking to counter China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing seeks to advance its territorial claims.



The states filing the brief were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Biden's Fiscal Year 2024 budget would bump ATF funding by 7.4 percent with a total $1.9 billion with the goal of tightening gun laws.
The money would be used, in part, to seek stricter rules and legislation related to firearms registration as Biden continues to make part of his priorities combating gun violence in the U.S.



The drug, Evkeeza, was approved in February 2021 as an additional treatment with other lipid-lowering therapies for patients aged 12 years and above with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

WARSAW, March 27 (Reuters) - Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from the 2024 Olympics in Paris unless Moscow pulls its forces out of Ukraine, according to Poland, Britain and the Baltic states, despite the IOC saying it plans to let them compete as neutrals.

March 22 (Reuters) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration had approved the expanded use of its drug in children aged 5 to 11 years to treat an ultra-rare disease that causes high cholesterol.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned Russia and Belarus after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but is now reluctant to exclude their athletes from the Olympics entirely for fear of a return to the boycotts of the Cold War era.

"While the IOC has made no final decisions yet, we strongly urge it to reconsider its plans and return to the original well-proven stance supported by the international community," the Polish statement said.

"We strongly believe that now is not the time to consider the opening up of a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to the Olympic Games in any status," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement issued jointly with Britain, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Accused by Trump and the former president's allies in the House of Representatives of a political "witch hunt," prosecutor Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat, has hit back at Republican "interference" in the investigation.