USA

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the administration is discussing whether to drop the additional tariffs on Chinese imports imposed during the Trump administration, while noting that no decision has been made.

"We're discussing that right now. We're looking at what would have the most positive impact," Biden said in response to a question after making remarks on inflation at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House emphatically approved a fresh $40 billion Ukraine aid package Tuesday as lawmakers beefed up President Joe Biden’s initial request, signaling a magnified, bipartisan commitment to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody three-month-old invasion.

(AP) --- On Tuesday, Elon Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s ban of former President Donald Trump, who was booted in January 2021 for inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol, should he succeed in acquiring the social platform for $44 billion.

But the day before, the Tesla CEO also said he agrees with the European Union’s new Digital Services Act, a law that will require big tech companies like Twitter, Google and Facebook parent Meta to police their platforms more strictly for illegal or harmful content such as hate speech and disinformation.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — In an early victory for a Donald Trump-endorsed candidate at the start of midterm season, Rep. Alex Mooney on Tuesday beat fellow incumbent Rep. David McKinley in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.

“Donald Trump loves West Virginia, and West Virginia loves Donald Trump,” Mooney said in his victory speech.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats’ abortion legislation is “very simple,” as it would enshrine into federal law the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Senate Democrats are moving quickly to try to codify the 50-year-old ruling after a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion suggesting the court is poised to overturn the case was leaked last week. But they don’t have enough votes, and Republicans are expected to block the bill in a test vote Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was about three hours after sheriff’s officials in Alabama realized a capital murder suspect and a senior jail official who had taken him for a mental health evaluation had disappeared when Sheriff Rick Singleton called in the U.S. marshals.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Republicans worked through a crowded primary for governor on Tuesday in a race upended in recent weeks by groping allegations lodged against a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

The winner of the race will emerge as a strong favorite against state Sen. Carol Blood, who won the Democratic nomination for governor. The incumbent, Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, is prohibited by term limit laws from running again.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An interminable and unwinnable war in Europe? That’s what NATO leaders fear and are bracing for as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds into its third month with little sign of a decisive military victory for either side and no resolution in sight.

The possibility of a stalemate is fueling concerns that Ukraine may remain a deadly European battlefield and a source of continental and global instability for months, or even years, to come.

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly elected the Czech Republic to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Tuesday to replace Russia, which was suspended last month over its invasion of Ukraine and then immediately quit the 47-member body.

Russia had been in its second year of a three-year term. The Czech Republic will complete that term on the council, which cannot make legally binding decisions. Its decisions carry political weight, however, and it can authorize investigations.

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - China would prefer to take over neighboring Taiwan without military action but is working to get to a position where its military could prevail even if the United States intervenes, U.S. intelligence chiefs said on Tuesday.

China views Taiwan, a democratically governed island, as its "sacred" territory and has never renounced the possible use of force to ensure eventual unification.