USA

25 October 2022; MEMO: American bankers are said to have defied the White House to attend the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, which opens today. The Chief Executive of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon; Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman; and David Solomon, the head of Goldman Sachs, are among a host of western executives scheduled to speak at the annual event dubbed "Davos in the Desert".

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Thirty liberal U.S. congressional Democrats urged President Joe Biden on Monday to shift his strategy for the Russia-Ukraine war by pursuing a negotiated settlement along with his current provision of military and economic support to Kyiv.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The United States is considering sending older HAWK air defense equipment from storage to Ukraine to help it defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

The HAWK interceptor missiles would be an upgrade to the Stinger missile systems - a smaller, shorter range air defense system - that the United States has already sent to blunt Russia's invasion.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Clashes on two eastern fronts between Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) forces and rebel militias have killed civilians and uprooted thousands more, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

The UN peacekeeping mission, known as MONUSCO, reported that the most recent fighting erupted late last week and intensified over the weekend between government troops and the M23 militia in North Kivu province, said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for the UN secretary-general.

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Thus far in 2022, reported hate crimes are on the rise in Chicago, the third largest city of the United States, particularly those based on race and religion with Blacks at 50 percent and Jews 75 percent, according to official data.

"The fear runs deep through some of Chicago's most prominent communities: Black, Asian, LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), and Jewish," said ABC7 in its report of the data from the city's Commission on Human Relations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The outsider brought in to reform the ailing federal Bureau of Prisons pledged Monday to hold accountable any employees who sexually assault inmates, reform archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency to an agency that has long been a haven of secrecy and coverups.

Colette Peters detailed her vision in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, her first since becoming director nearly three months ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is seeking to again question an associate of Donald Trump who was seen on security camera footage moving boxes of classified records at the former president’s Florida estate, according to a person familiar with the matter.

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AP) — The U.S. military said Monday it’s ready to begin draining 1 million gallons (3.79 million liters) of fuel from three pipelines as part of an initial step toward closing a World War II-era fuel storage facility that leaked petroleum into Pearl Harbor’s tap water last year.

The pipelines run about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in the mountains above Pearl Harbor down to the military base.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Stephanie Terrell bought a used Nissan Leaf this fall and was excited to join the wave of drivers adopting electric vehicles to save on gas money and reduce her carbon footprint.

But Terrell quickly encountered a bump in the road on her journey to clean driving: As a renter, she doesn’t have a private garage where she can power up overnight, and the public charging stations near her are often in use, with long wait times. On a recent day, the 23-year-old nearly ran out of power on the freeway because a public charging station she was counting on was busy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the federal government is not doing enough to fight climate change, according to a new poll that shows limited public awareness about a sweeping new law that commits the U.S. to its largest ever investment to combat global warming.

Democrats in Congress approved the Inflation Reduction Act in August, handing President Joe Biden a hard-fought triumph on priorities that his party hopes will bolster prospects for keeping their House and Senate majorities in November’s elections.