USA

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 20 (APP): Billions of people are facing the greatest cost of living crisis in a generation due to rising food and energy prices amid rapid inflation and increasing debt, leaving the most vulnerable consumers in a dire situation, according to the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD.

UNCTAD’s analysis shows that a 10 per cent increase in food prices will trigger a five per cent decrease in the incomes of the poorest families, roughly equivalent to the amount those families would normally spend on healthcare.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 20 (APP): The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in a new report released on Wednesday, highlighted human rights abuses since the Taliban takeover of the country in August last year, pointing out they bear responsibility for extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and violations of fundamental freedoms.

WASHINGTON, July 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Overdose deaths increased 44 percent for Black people and 39 percent for American Indians in 2020 compared to 2019, as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted access to care and exacerbated racial inequality, an official report showed.

“Racism, a root cause of health disparities, continues to be a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans,” US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acting principal deputy director Debra Houry said in a briefing.

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine's eastern Donbas region has not yet been lost to the Russians, a top U.S. general said on Wednesday.

"No, it's not lost yet," U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said in a press briefing when asked by a reporter if the region was lost.

Moscow's military "tasks" in Ukraine now go beyond the eastern Donbas region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - The United States will send four more high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday, in the latest military package to bolster Kyiv as it confronts heavy pounding by Russian forces.

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier this week ordered generals to prioritize destroying Ukraine's long-range missile and artillery weapons after Western-supplied weapons were used to strike Russian supply lines.

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The current painful U.S. inflation and its broader economic consequences directly result from bad Democratic policies, The Hill reported on Monday.

The report listed four factors that have led the country deep into the mire of high prices.

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Facing massive public pressure, Uvalde’s top school official has recommended the firing of the school district police chief who was central to the botched law enforcement response to the elementary school shooting nearly two months ago that killed two teachers and 19 students.

The South Texas city’s school board announced Wednesday that it will consider firing Chief Pete Arredondo at a special meeting Saturday. Arredondo has been accused by state officials of making several critical mistakes during the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

(AP) --- Trump officials tried to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census in a move experts said would benefit Republicans despite initial doubts among some in the administration that it was legal, according to an investigative report released Wednesday by a congressional oversight committee.

The report offers a smoking gun of sorts — a secret memo the committee obtained after a two-year legal battle showing that a top Trump appointee in the Commerce Department explored apportionment as a reason to include the question.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence is becoming increasingly brazen in his willingness to counter former President Donald Trump.

The two will hold dueling rallies in Arizona on Friday as they stump for rival candidates who offer dramatically different visions of the Republican Party in a critical battleground state. Days later, they will once again cross paths as they deliver major speeches on the same day in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reps. Elaine Luria and Adam Kinzinger, who will lead questioning in the closing summer hearing of the Jan. 6 committee on Thursday night, are from different parties but agree emphatically on one thing: The investigation into the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is worth sacrificing their political careers.