North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Edging toward a vote, senators are convening for a rare weekend session on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which could wrap up swiftly with passage of the $1 trillion package or drag out for days by opponents trying to slow President Joe Biden’s big priority.

The president nudged senators along from the White House, praising their work so far as a potentially “historic investment” — on par with the building of the transcontinental railroad or interstate highway system — that will bring jobs and modernization to millions of Americans.

(AP) --- The U.S. is now averaging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections a day, returning to a milestone last seen during the winter surge in yet another bleak reminder of how quickly the delta variant has spread through the country.

The U.S. was averaging about 11,000 cases a day in late June. Now the number is 107,143.

NEW YORK, Aug 06 (APP): Pakistan will never relinquish its “principled support” for the Kashmir cause in the face of any pressure, including Indian-sponsored terrorism and threats of use of force, Ambassador Munir Akram said Thursday.

WASHINGTON, Aug 06 (APP): In a memorandum to the Indian Ambassador to the United States, Kashmiri-Americans of diverse backgrounds Thursday called for reversing the changes brought in Jammu and Kashmir since August 5, 2019, the day New Delhi locked down the disputed territory.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain will raise a deadly tanker attack off the coast of Oman during a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday (Aug 6), diplomats said, but the 15-member body is not expected to take any action.

Britain told the Security Council on Tuesday it was “highly likely” that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the tanker attack last week, which killed two crew members – a Briton and a Romanian.

MEXICO CITY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The flow of high-caliber arms smuggled across the porous U.S. border has alarmed Mexican officials and few weapons are as powerful as the U.S.-made M82 semi-automatic rifle increasingly favored by the powerful drug cartels.

NEW YORK, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Across the United States, state governments and businesses are starting to shift from the carrot to the stick to boost coronavirus vaccinations, as daily new cases remain above 100,000 for days and deaths over 400, reported The Washington Post on Friday.

"Cities and states -- many of which have previously focused on incentives for shots ranging from free beer to scholarships and multimillion-dollar lotteries -- are now boosting requirements or threatening consequences," said the report.

05 Aug 2021; MEMO: Britain will discuss a deadly tanker attack off the coast of Oman during a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday, diplomats said, but the 15-member body is not expected to take any action, reports Reuters.

Britain told the Security Council on Tuesday it was "highly likely" that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the tanker attack last week, which killed two crew members – a Briton and a Romanian.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Since President Joe Biden asked the Pentagon last week to look at adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the military’s mandatory shots, former Army lawyer Greg T. Rinckey has fielded a deluge of calls.

His firm, Tully Rinckey, has heard from hundreds of soldiers, Marines and sailors wanting to know their rights and whether they could take any legal action if ordered to get inoculated for the coronavirus.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite an uptick in COVID-19 cases and a shortage of available workers, the U.S. economy likely enjoyed a burst of job growth last month as it bounced back with surprising vigor from last year’s coronavirus shutdown.

The Labor Department’s July jobs report Friday is expected to show that the United States added more than 860,000 jobs last month, topping June’s 850,000, according to a survey of economists by the data firm FactSet.