USA

17 May 2022; MEMO: US President Joe Biden has authorised the redeployment of fewer than 500 American troops into Somalia, US officials said on Monday, after Donald Trump ordered their withdrawal during his presidency, Reuters reports.

Prior to Trump's withdrawal, the United States had about 700 troops in Somalia focused on helping local forces defeat the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab insurgency.

SAN JOSE, May 16 (Reuters) - The number of Costa Rican institutions hit in a wave of cyber attacks in the past month has grown to 27, President Rodrigo Chaves said on Monday, in one of the earliest challenges to face the new leader during his first month in office.

He added that nine of the institutions struck, mostly government agencies, are considered "very affected."

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. president and first lady will travel to New York on Tuesday to grieve with the community that lost 10 people in a "racist" mass shooting, a move that hardly suffices to relieve the great sorrow of the recently bereaved families or to take the hate crime-ridden country one step forward to end racism and gun violence.

In the wake of several deadly mass shootings, the United States once again found itself plunged into sorrow and outrage.

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a plan to redeploy U.S. troops to the eastern African country of Somalia to counter the extremist group al-Shabab, the White House said on Monday.

Drawn from forces already deployed in Africa, less than 500 U.S. troops will be repositioned to Somalia to constitute "a small, persistent U.S. military presence" in the country, a senior administration official said during a briefing with reporters, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Opening statements are set for Tuesday in the trial of a lawyer for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign who is accused of lying to the FBI as it investigated potential ties between Donald Trump and Russia in 2016.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the case of Michael Sussmann spent all day Monday picking a jury for the trial, the first arising from special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it will expand flights to Cuba, take steps to loosen restrictions on U.S. travelers to the island, and lift Trump-era restrictions on remittances that immigrants can send to people on the island.

The State Department said in a statement Monday that it will remove the current $1,000-per-quarter limit on family remittances and will allow non-family remittance, which will support independent Cuban entrepreneurs. The U.S. will also allow scheduled and charter flights to locations beyond Havana, according to the State Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Joe Biden talks about his decision to run against President Donald Trump in 2020, the story always starts with Charlottesville. He says it was the men with torches shouting bigoted slogans that drove him to join what he calls the “battle for the soul of America.”

Now Biden is facing the latest deadly manifestation of hatred after a white supremacist targeted Black people with an assault rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and left 10 people dead, the most lethal racist attack since he took office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Signs of Republican resistance are mounting over a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine, a reemergence of the Trump-led isolationist wing of the GOP that’s coming at a crucial moment as the war against the Russian invasion deepens.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of irking his colleagues, a longtime moderate Democratic congressman faces his stiffest primary challenge yet in Oregon.

In North Carolina, a rising Republican star beset by personal and professional scandals is looking to eke out a win in his GOP-leaning district.

And across the U.S., an exodus of House Democrats has put a half dozen congressional seats up for grabs.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican Gov. Brad Little is fighting back a primary challenge on Tuesday from his lieutenant governor, Janice McGeachin, a Donald Trump-backed candidate who twice attempted a power grab last year when Little was out of state on business.

The intraparty contest between Little and McGeachin is an extreme example of the choice GOP voters face nationwide as Idaho’s ascendant far-right tries to take the state’s highest post and expand legislative gains.