USA

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - Three Nobel laureates and dozens of civil society, climate change and philanthropic leaders on Thursday endorsed U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the World Bank, ex-Mastercard (MA.N) Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga.

Joseph Stiglitz, who won the Nobel prize for economics in 2001, New America Foundation President Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, were among the 53 people who signed a declaration backing Banga.

March 9 (Reuters) - Three Los Angeles police officers were shot and wounded on Wednesday evening but were in stable condition while the suspect "was pronounced deceased", the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said.

During a search for the suspect, a parolee at large, officers discovered that he was unresponsive, LAPD said in a post on Twitter.

"LA Fire personnel responded and provided treatment, however the suspect was pronounced deceased at scene," the department said. It did not say how the suspect died.

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to the swing state of Pennsylvania on Thursday to unveil a federal budget plan laden with spending proposals and higher taxes on the wealthy that will form a blueprint for his expected 2024 re-election bid.

Biden's proposal faces stiff opposition in Congress this year after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections and large parts of it are unlikely ever to be enacted.

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, one of the most influential figures in Washington, has been hospitalized after tripping and falling at a hotel in the U.S. capital on Wednesday, his spokesperson said.

McConnell, who is 81 and was first elected to the Senate in 1984, "tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment," his spokesperson said in a statement early on Thursday, giving no further details.

March 9 (Reuters) - Layoffs by U.S. companies over January and February touched the highest since 2009, with the tech sector accounting for more than a third of the over 180,000 job cuts announced, a report showed on Thursday.

In February alone, layoffs in the United States stood at 77,770, more than five times higher than the 15,245 job cuts announced a year earlier, according to the report from employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

HOUSTON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The year 2022 was one of both "transformation" and "confirmation" for gas, said policymakers, industry leaders and company executives here at the ongoing annual CERAWeek global energy forum.

"2022 has been a transformational year for our company," Jack Fusco, president and CEO of Cheniere Energy, the largest U.S. gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, said during the forum organized by S&P Global and scheduled for March 6-10.

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. (AP) — After a blizzard swept through Southern California mountains, 79-year-old Alan Zagorsky found himself shut inside his home with snow blocking the door and stairways leading out.

NEW YORK (AP) — In May 2018, the nation’s top Republicans needed help. So they called on the founder of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch.

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were trying to stop West Virginia Republicans from nominating Don Blankenship, who had been convicted of violating mine safety standards during a lethal accident in one of his coal mines, to challenge the state’s incumbent senator, Democrat Joe Manchin.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was hospitalized after tripping at a local hotel, a spokesman for the senator said.

The Kentucky senator, who’s 81, was attending a private dinner in Washington on Wednesday when he tripped. He was admitted to a hospital for treatment, spokesman Doug Andres said.

McConnell’s office did not provide additional detail on his condition or how long he may be absent from the Senate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the government at risk of defaulting, President Joe Biden on Thursday will make his opening offer in a high-stakes debate over federal finances as he proposes a federal budget that would cut deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade.