USA

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 27 (APP): With climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution exacting a devastating toll on the world’s ocean — critical to food security, economic growth and the environment — the 2022 UN Ocean Conference opened in Lisbon, Portugal, Monday with a call for action driven by science, technology and innovation.

“Sadly, we have taken the ocean for granted, and today we face what I would call an ‘Ocean Emergency’,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told delegates at the opening of the Conference.

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The United States is likely to announce this week the purchase of an advanced medium to long range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. Washington is also expected to announce other security assistance for Ukraine, including additional artillery ammunition and counter-battery radars to address needs expressed by the Ukrainian military, the source added.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruling to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision is unpopular with a majority of Americans — but did that matter?

The relationship between the public and the judiciary has been studied and debated by legal and political scholars. The short answer: it’s complicated. There’s evidence that the public has an indirect role in the judiciary, but that might be changing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A political shift is beginning to take hold across the U.S. as tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party’s gains in recent years are becoming Republicans.

NEW YORK (AP) — As television programming goes, expectations were widespread that the Jan. 6 committee hearings would essentially be reruns. Instead, they have been much more.

The five sessions have revealed a storyteller’s eye, with focus, clarity, an understanding of how news is digested in modern media, and strong character development — even if former President Donald Trump’s allies suggest there aren’t enough actors.

The hearings are pausing for a break until next month, leaving Americans much to digest.

 WASHINGTON, June 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US economy is likely to slow in 2022 and 2023 but will “narrowly avoid a recession” as the Federal Reserve implements its rate-tightening plan to curb inflation, the International Monetary Fund said.

“The policy priority now must be to expeditiously slow wage and price growth without precipitating a recession” the IMF said in a statement. “This will be a tricky task,” as global supply constraints and domestic labor shortages are likely to persist, and the war in Ukraine creates additional uncertainties, it said.

WASHINGTON, June 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law what has been described as a gun safety bill as shootings continue to take a toll on the nation.

The legislation, signed on Saturday morning, takes effect a month after a gunman broke into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers in a rampage that has triggered nationwide demonstrations against gun violence and political inaction.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden rarely mentions his predecessor by name. But as he spoke to a nation processing a seismic shift in the rights of women, he couldn’t ignore Donald Trump’s legacy.

25 June 2022; MEMO: The US has confirmed that it would not support the rehabilitation of the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar Al-Assad, in any way.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ambassador Barbara Leaf conveyed that the US will not support efforts to normalise or rehabilitate Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief said Friday that there is "a narrowing path" to avoiding a U.S. recession, highlighting "significant downside risks" this year and especially next year.

"Based on the policy path outlined at the June FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting, and an expected reduction in the fiscal deficit, we expected the U.S. economy will slow," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at a virtual press conference on the annual Article IV consultation to review the U.S. economy.