USA

WASHINGTON D.C, May 12 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob met senior officials of major American companies here on Thursday (Friday in Malaysia).

The companies included Microsoft, Google, Tesla, Boeing, IBM, Texas Instruments, GE Aviation, Conoco Phillips, Ford, National Instruments, Infineon, Micron, and Insulet.

Ismail Sabri engaged with them during the meet and greet business session at a hotel here.

The premier, who arrived here on Wednesday, is on a four-day working visit to the United States.

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Commemorating 1 million American lives lost to COVID-19, the highest in the world, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday described the number as "a tragic milestone."

In a White House statement issued early in the morning, Biden said "Each an irreplaceable loss."

"Each leaving behind a family, a community, and a nation forever changed because of this pandemic," Biden said, urging the United States not to grow numb to such sorrow but to "remain vigilant against this pandemic."

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. public views inflation as the top problem facing the nation, with 70 percent of Americans viewing inflation as a "very big problem," according to a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday.

Republicans and Democrats differ over what they see as major national problems.

Inflation is the "top concern among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents," with 84 percent calling it a very big problem. A narrower majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners (57 percent) view inflation the same way.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, giving bipartisan backing to Powell’s high-stakes efforts to curb the highest inflation in four decades.

The 80-19 vote reflected broad support in Congress for the Fed’s drive to combat surging prices through a series of sharp interest rate hikes that could extend well into next year. The Fed’s goal is to slow borrowing and spending enough to ease the inflation pressures.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom will likely announce another record-breaking budget surplus on Friday, giving him and state lawmakers lots of money to spend in a year the governor is expected to cruise to reelection for a second term.

The surplus in California’s general fund could be as high as $68 billion, up from the initial $29.6 billion surplus Newsom announced in January.

“Our revenues are up significantly above January,” said Keely Martin Bosler, director of the California Department of Finance.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge hears arguments Friday on whether the Biden administration can lift pandemic-related restrictions on immigrants requesting asylum later this month.

Migrants have been expelled more than 1.8 million times since March 2020 under federal Title 42 authority, which has denied migrants a chance to request asylum under U.S. law and international treaty on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel issued subpoenas Thursday to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is looking to nudge southeast Asian leaders to be more outspoken about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the issue continues to be a delicate one for many members of the region’s 10-country alliance with deep ties to Moscow.

Biden welcomed leaders from Association of Southeast Asian Nations to White House on Thursday night for an intimate dinner to kick off the two-day summit, the first meeting of the group to be held in Washington in its 45-year history.

12 May 2022; MEMO: The United States' government under the Administration of President Joe Biden has reportedly asked Congress to approve the sale of advanced weapons and military equipment to Turkey, after years of marginalising Ankara and its defence interests.

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (APP): The United Nations has received $33 million in new pledges towards a $144 million operation to avoid an oil spill from a tanker stranded off the coast of Yemen, which threatens a major environmental disaster.

The FSO Safer, which is holding more than a million barrels of oil, has been described as a “time bomb” because it is at risk of causing a major spill, either from leaking, breaking apart or exploding.