USA

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — Dangerous, gusty winds were expected to continue Monday across northeast New Mexico, complicating the fight against wildfires that threaten thousands of homes in mountainous rural communities.

The region’s largest city — Las Vegas, New Mexico, home to 13,000 people — was largely safe from danger after firefighters mostly stopped a blaze there from moving east. But the northern and southern flanks of the wildfire proved trickier to contain as wind gusts topped 50 mph (80 kph).

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. markets were poised to open sharply lower on Monday as interest rate hikes and a slowing Chinese economy weigh on investor sentiment.

Dow Jones Industrial futures declined 1.6% and the S&P 500 fell 2%. European shares dipped in midday trading and Asian benchmarks finished lower.

A turbulent week on Wall Street ended Friday with more losses and the stock market’s fifth straight weekly decline. The pullback came as investors balanced a strong U.S. jobs report against worries the Federal Reserve may cause a recession in its drive to halt inflation.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The Biden administration announced on Monday that 20 internet companies have agreed to provide discounted service to people with low incomes, a program that could effectively make tens of millions of households eligible for free service through an already existing federal subsidy.

The $1 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress last year included $14.2 billion funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides $30 monthly subsidies ($75 in tribal areas) on internet service for millions of lower-income households.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection has interviewed nearly 1,000 people. But the nine-member panel has yet to talk to the two most prominent players in that day’s events — former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday told CBS that Congress needs to pass by the end of the month a bill that would give Ukraine $33 billion in military and humanitarian aid.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. top diplomat to Ukraine Kristina Kvien and her team arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, officials said, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised on a visit last month to reopen the U.S. embassy in the Ukrainian capital soon.

The move is the latest step toward the resumption of a full U.S. presence in Kyiv after diplomats began returning to the western city of Lviv last month, having left the country ahead of Russia's Feb. 24 invasion out of security concerns.

WILMINGTON, Del., May 8 (Reuters) - The United States on Sunday unveiled sanctions against three Russian television stations, banned Americans from providing accounting and consulting services to Russians, and sanctioned executives from Gazprombank to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The new sanctions are the latest effort by the United States to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after his country's assault on Ukraine and came as President Joe Biden met virtually with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss the war. 

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - The Group of Seven leaders said in a joint statement on Sunday that they will reinforce Russia's economic isolation and "elevate" a campaign against Russian elites who support President Vladimir Putin.

After meeting virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the leaders said they would cut off key services on which Russia depends, reinforcing the isolation of Russia "across all sectors of its economy."

They also committed to phasing out dependency on Russian energy, including by banning imports of Russian oil.

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States is set to mark a grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus-related deaths but the COVID-19 pandemic is not done yet, said a report of American media outlet ABC6.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to see COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths increase as cases are once again on the rise, said the report.

"We all may be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us," Dr. Darren Mareiniss of Einstein Medical Center was quoted as saying.

WASHINGTON 05 May 2022; AA: Lawmakers pivotal to Turkiye's purchase of dozens of F-16 fighter jets have indicated they are receptive to the sale, according to a report published on Thursday.

The matter has been complicated by Ankara's purchase of the advanced Russian S-400 anti-air system, which has led to an ongoing row with Washington that resulted in sanctions and Turkiye's expulsion from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.