USA

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- For many Americans, testing for COVID-19 means long waits that bring more risks or spending extra money, The New York Times reported Monday.

Many Americans have been waiting in long lines at free testing sites since before the Christmas and New Year's holiday rush.

Some went to crowded emergency rooms in hopes of getting tested, inviting more risks to themselves and others, and potentially delaying emergency care for the ill and injured, the report said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Russia was working to subvert U.S. elections and sow discord among Americans, Congress directed the creation of an intelligence center to lead efforts to stop interference by foreign adversaries. But two years later, that center still is not close to opening.

WASHINGTON (AP) — High inflation is taking a toll on American families, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged in remarks to be delivered at a Tuesday congressional hearing, where he is sure to face tough questions on the subject.

“We know that high inflation exacts a toll, particularly for those less able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation,” Powell said in prepared testimony.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Tuesday announced $308 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, offering new aid to the country as it edges toward a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban takeover nearly five months ago.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government will agree to drop pending perjury charges against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell if her sex trafficking case goes to sentencing later this year, prosecutors said.

The offer was made in a letter to a judge filed jointly late Monday by the prosecutors and Maxwell’s attorneys in federal court in Manhattan. The defense countered by asking that questions about the perjury charges be put off until the judge rules on its request for a new trial.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Tuesday will start debating whether to create the nation’s first universal health care system, a key measure of whether the proposal has the support to pass this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the 30-year-old Honduran woman, the worst seemed to be over. She’s been reunited with her son who, as a 6-year-old, was separated from her under the Trump administration. She’s working construction in North Carolina. And attorneys were negotiating a payment for families like hers that endured separations.

But reports about those negotiations have created a new worry: extortion attempts stemming from the mistaken belief that she received a huge payout. Her family has already received demands for $5,000 a month.

NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators sought answers Monday for why safety doors failed to close when fire broke out in a New York high-rise, allowing thick smoke to rise through the tower and kill 17 people, including eight children, in the city’s deadliest blaze in more than three decades.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use a speech in Georgia to endorse changing Senate filibuster rules that have stalled voting rights legislation, saying it’s time to choose “democracy over autocracy.” But some civil rights groups won’t be there, in protest of what they say is administration inaction.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations Women have set the theme for International Women’s Day, as “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow,” which will be marked by a high-level virtual event on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, the Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Executive Director of UN Women as well as gender equality and climate change activists and celebrities will participate.