USA

WASHINGTON, July 24. /TASS/: The US authorities condemn the attack on the port of Odessa, holding Russia responsible for it and argue that Russia allegedly violated its obligations under the agreements on the export of Ukrainian grain. This is according to a statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, released on Saturday.

WASHINGTON, July 24. /TASS/: Two Americans, a Canadian and a Swedish citizen who fought in Donbass on the side of Kiev, were killed this week, the Politico newspaper reported on Saturday.

The newspaper cites Ruslan Miroshnichenko, the foreign fighters’ commander, who said on Saturday that "the Americans killed were Luke "Skywalker" Lucyszyn and Bryan Young. He said they were killed alongside Emile-Antoine Roy-Sirois of Canada and Edvard Selander Patrignani of Sweden on July 18."

WASHINGTON, July 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Authorities in the US seized more than 20,000 pounds of the narcotic plant khat, Customs and Border Protection announced in a statement.

More than ten tons of the dried plant disguised as tea with an estimated street value of $3.6 million were confiscated from a shipment originating in Kenya and destined for the US.

It was intercepted in the Puget Sound area, near Seattle on the country’s west coast, and was reportedly the largest such seizure in the region.

WAWONA, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving brush fire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size Saturday into one of California’s largest wildfires of the year, prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people and shutting off power to more than 2,000 homes and businesses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to boost semiconductor production in the United States has managed to do nearly the unthinkable — unite the democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and the fiscally conservative right.

The bill making its way through the Senate is a top priority of the Biden administration. It would add about $79 billion to the deficit over 10 years, mostly as a result of new grants and tax breaks that would subsidize the cost that computer chip manufacturers incur when building or expanding chip plants in the United States.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is feeling “much, much better” after testing positive for the coronavirus, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator said Sunday, confirming that the 79-year-old U.S. leader was infected with a highly contagious variant spreading throughout the country.

``It is the BA.5 variant ... but thank goodness our vaccines and therapeutics work well against it, which is why I think the president’s doing well,” Dr. Ashish Jha told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Soon after taking office, President Joe Biden went to State Department headquarters to tell the rest of the world that the United States could be counted on again after four years of Donald Trump’s bull-in-the-china-shop foreign policy.

“America is back,” Biden said, in what has become a mantra.

NEW YORK (AP) — As he campaigns for a Manhattan congressional seat against fellow Democrats twice his age, 38-year-old Suraj Patel harnesses the frustration of his generation toward those who have held office for decades.

In his telling, Reps. Jerry Nadler, 75, and Carolyn Maloney, 76, are part of a crop of Democrats who rose to power in the 1990s only to fail on issues ranging from guns to climate change and abortion. The redistricting process that merged their congressional districts offers a chance for new leadership, Patel says.

WASHINGTON, July 23. /TASS/: The US administration expects the implementation of the agreement on Black Sea grain transportation to proceed without a hitch, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday.

"The world’s hungry cannot wait, and we expect the implementation of today’s deal to commence swiftly and proceed without interruption or interference," he said.

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - (This July 22 story corrects first paragraph to show war about to enter sixth, not fifth, month)

The United States is exploring whether it can send U.S.-made fighter jets to Ukraine, a White House spokesman told reporters on Friday, as the conflict with Russia is about to enter its sixth month and fighting rages in eastern Ukraine.