North America

WASHINGTON, May 4. /TASS/: The US administration is open to considering the idea of imposing additional sanctions against Russia, the country will consult on the issue with partners in the Group of Seven advanced economies, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, responding to reporters’ question at the White House about the EU's intention to apply a sixth package of restrictive measures against Russia.

"With regard to additional sanctions, we’re always open to additional sanctions," the American leader stressed.

LOS ANGELES, May 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Almost 13 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19, since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Over 149,000 of these cases were added in the past four weeks. Over five million reported cases were added in 2022, according to the report published late Monday.

Children represented 19 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the country, the report showed.

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (NNN-ANA) – The UN Security Council yesterday condemned “in the strongest terms” the continued heinous terrorist attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan.

The council issued a press statement to condemn the terrorist attacks, including the attack against the Mawlawi Sekander mosque in Kunduz, on Apr 22, which killed more than 25 people, and the attack against the Khalifa Sahib mosque in Kabul, on Apr 29, which early reports said at least 30 people were killed and many others were injured.

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Private companies in the United States added 247,000 jobs in April, indicating slower job growth in a tight labor market, payroll data company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported Wednesday.

"In April, the labor market recovery showed signs of slowing as the economy approaches full employment," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP.

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in the United States on Tuesday rebuked the U.S. State Department's recent false claims that Chinese officials and media "routinely amplify Kremlin's propaganda, conspiracy theories, and disinformation" on the Ukraine issue.

Asked by the press to comment on a statement posted Monday on the U.S. State Department's website, the embassy's spokesperson said "China's position on the Ukraine issue is impartial, objective and beyond reproach."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House will hold a conference on hunger, nutrition and health in September to notch progress on the Biden administration’s goals of ending hunger, improving nutrition and physical activity and reducing diet-related diseases.

The gathering will be the first of its kind by the White House since 1969. The White House described that gathering as a “pivotal event” that influenced the U.S. food policy agenda for the next 50 years and said President Joe Biden “sets out to do the same with this year’s conference.”

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The first overseas deployment of the Vermont Air National Guard’s F-35 fighter jets will have the pilots and their aircraft patrolling the skies of Europe during one of the most tense periods in recent history.

More than 200 Vermont air guard personnel, their equipment and eight F-35s are now in Europe, where the pilots will fly what are called enhanced air policing missions along NATO’s eastern flank to monitor the area for intrusions by Russian aircraft.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to highlight deficit reduction in remarks Wednesday at the White House, noting that the government will pay down the national debt this quarter for the first time in six years.

Biden will emphasize how strong job gains have increased total incomes and led to additional tax revenues that have improved the government’s balance sheet, said a White House official who previewed the speech on condition of anonymity.

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — Martina Gonzales and her grandson watched from their front yard as aircraft disappeared into a giant plume of smoke to fight a growing wildfire that has burned hundreds of square miles, destroyed about 170 homes and threatens more destruction if weekend winds whip, as predicted, through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

“My grandson has actually, um, been a little bit scared, nervous,” Gonzales said Tuesday — the day New Mexico’s governor asked President Joe Biden to declare a disaster so federal aid can come for the largest blaze burning in the U.S.

UNITED NATIONS, May 04: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for respecting the rights and protecting journalists and media workers who he said are facing “increasing politicization” of their work and growing threats to their freedom to simply do their jobs.

Marking World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday, he said that the day shines a spotlight on the essential work they do, bringing those in power to account, with transparency, “often at great person risk”.