USA

WASHINGTON, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Joe Biden will host Southeast Asian leaders in Washington this week, seeking to show his administration remains focused on the Indo-Pacific and the long-term challenge of China despite the Ukraine crisis.

A two-day summit with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) begins with a White House dinner on Thursday before talks at the State Department on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was appalled by the killing of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank, said his deputy spokesman on Wednesday.

"The secretary-general is appalled by the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American reporter for Al-Jazeera TV, who was shot dead earlier today while covering an operation by Israeli security forces in Jenin in the occupied West Bank," said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman, in a statement.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — For more than two decades, California’s Orange County has debated whether to build a seaside plant to convert the Pacific Ocean’s salt water into drinking water in hopes of buffering against droughts like the one now gripping the nation’s most populous state.

Now, the $1.4 billion proposal by Poseidon Water faces a critical review Thursday by the California Coastal Commission, which is tasked with protecting California’s scenic shores.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is hosting leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as his administration makes an extended effort to demonstrate that the United States hasn’t lost focus on the Pacific even while dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden will begin his talks over dinner Thursday evening with leaders from the eight ASEAN nations attending the two-day summit. It will be the group’s first meeting at the White House. Leaders will take part in more formal talks at the State Department on Friday.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Army is poised to revamp its forces in Alaska to better prepare for future cold-weather conflicts, and it is expected to replace the larger, heavily equipped Stryker Brigade in the state with a more mobile, infantry unit better suited for the frigid fight, according to Army leaders.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said she expects to make a final decision soon about the Alaska troop change, saying she will likely convert the Stryker unit, which uses heavy, eight-wheeled vehicles, to an infantry brigade.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will appeal for a renewed international commitment to attacking COVID-19 as he convenes the second global COVID-19 summit at a time when faltering resolve at home jeopardizes that global response.

Eight months after he used the first such summit to announce an ambitious pledge to donate 1.2 billion vaccine doses to the world, the urgency of the U.S. and other nations to respond has waned.

WASHINGTON DC, May 11 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia is expected to garner RM14.62 billion in new investments from the United States (US) following the Trade and Investment Mission (TIM) led by Senior Minister and International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Azmin said many US-based companies had expressed their commitments to expand their operations and footprint in Malaysia during his 10-day US TIM which began on May 8.

UNITED NATIONS, May 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — The United Nations and the Netherlands will co-host a pledging conference to help prevent an oil spill from the derelict tanker Safer anchored off Yemen, a UN spokesman said.

The conference in The Hague opens on Wednesday, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The United States does not believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to militarily take on the NATO alliance, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday, as Moscow struggles to achieve its goals in Ukraine three months into its invasion.

"As you look at Putin's calculus, my view - and I'm sure the chairman has his own view - but my view is that Russia doesn't want to take on the NATO alliance," Austin said during a congressional hearing.

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The United States is seeking early engagement with the newly elected administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Philippines, although historical considerations mean there will probably be some initial challenges, the chief U.S. policy maker for Asia said on Wednesday.

"Time will tell, but our desire will be to get off to a good start," Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific said of Marcos's decisive victory on Monday in the Philippines' presidential election.