USA

UNITED NATIONS, July 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said he regretted Russia's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"I deeply regret the decision by the Russian Federation to terminate the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, including the withdrawal of Russian security guarantees for navigation in the northwestern part of the Black Sea," Guterres said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited a natural gas drilling site in northeast Ohio to promote House Republicans’ plan to sharply increase domestic production of energy from fossil fuels last month, the signs of rising global temperatures could not be ignored. Smoke from Canadian wildfires hung in the air.

When the speaker was asked about climate change and forest fires, he was ready with a response: Plant a trillion trees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday is hosting Israel’s figurehead president Isaac Herzog at the White House, as they seek to sustain ties despite U.S. concerns over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial plans to overhaul his country’s judicial system and ongoing settlement construction in the West Bank.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After having just four official staffers on the payroll last quarter, President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign on Monday announced that former White House aide and congressman Cedric Richmond is joining as co-chair and that two veteran Democratic fundraisers are signing on to lead outreach to donors.

MIAMI (AP) — Several civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging Florida’s new immigration law.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice and the American Immigration Council filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Statewide Prosecutor Nicholas B. Cox on behalf of the Farmworker Association of Florida and others, according to court records.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge who issued a court ruling last year that critics said was unduly favorable to Donald Trump is set to preside Tuesday over the first pretrial conference in his landmark criminal case concerning the mishandling of classified documents.

UN, July 17. /TASS/: Moscow’s decision to quit the grain deal also means termination of Russia’s commitments on the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations to the agreement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - Senior U.S. chip company executives are holding meetings with Biden administration officials on Monday to discuss China policy as the U.S. considers new restrictions, a source told Reuters.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, National Economic Council director Lael Brainard and National Security Council director Jake Sullivan on Monday are among government officials who are holding the meetings with Intel (INTC.O), Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O), the source said.

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - Maverick Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on Monday is set to address a bipartisan group in New Hampshire, a critical early-voting state in the 2024 presidential primary elections, feeding speculation that he could be weighing a third-party candidacy.

The former West Virginia governor, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, will speak to the "No Labels" organization promoting the possibility of backing a third-party candidate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — When Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds seized the spotlight from a half dozen Republican presidential contenders on Friday by signing a restrictive abortion measure into law at an event meant to showcase the candidates, she embraced her front-and-center role in the 2024 presidential election.

The standing ovation she received from some 2,000 conservative Christians gathered in Des Moines only reinforced the influence she wields, not just in Iowa but increasingly on a national stage.