USA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It took little more than 48 hours from the moment a major oil spill was discovered off Southern California until the first lawsuit was filed against the Houston company that owns and operates the ruptured pipeline.

Finding the cause, who is to blame and if they will be held accountable will take much longer.

Several federal and state agencies are investigating in parallel as they seek the cause of the pipe rupture, how quickly pipeline operators responded and determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the House are scrambling back to Washington Tuesday to approve a short-term lift of the nation’s debt limit and ensure the federal government can continue fully paying its bills into December.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday made an urgent appeal to the international community to inject cash into Afghanistan’s economy to avoid collapse, warning that the world will pay a heavy price if timely action is not taken.

Speaking to reporters, he said the Afghan economy was breaking down, with assets frozen and development aid paused compounded by closing of banks and essential services, such as healthcare, suspended in many places.

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States and Britain warned their citizens on Monday to avoid hotels in Afghanistan, days after dozens were killed at a mosque in an attack claimed by the Daesh group.

  The Taliban, which seized power in August and declared an Islamic emirate, are seeking international recognition and assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster and ease Afghanistan’s economic crisis.

WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The World Bank hopes to raise $100 billion in donations for the International Development Association fund for poorer countries to address "tragic reversals in development" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, its president David Malpass said on Monday.

The multilateral development bank is forecasting global growth of 5.7% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022, but Malpass said disparities between advanced economies and developing countries were worsening and had set back efforts to reduce extreme poverty by year, and in some cases decades.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Three men have been arrested in connection with an early Sunday morning shootout at a bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, that left one woman dead and 14 people injured.

"Three men have been arrested in connection to this morning's shootings and the tragic death of a woman in her 20s. The suspects are currently in the hospital being treated for injuries," tweeted St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell, updating the homicide investigation.

This is the 32nd homicide of the year in the midwestern state capital.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that she hoped U.S. Congress would approve a key pillar of the global corporate tax deal agreed by some 136 countries and jurisdictions.

"I am confident that what we need to do to come into compliance with the minimum tax will be included in a reconciliation package," Yellen said on ABC's "This Week," referring to a spending package being negotiated by the White House and Democratic lawmakers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vladimir Putin paid scant attention to Fiona Hill, a preeminent U.S. expert on Russia, when she was seated next to him at dinners. Putin’s people placed her there by design, choosing a “nondescript woman,” as she put it, so the Russian president would have no competition for attention.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Most Americans across party lines have serious concerns about cyberattacks on U.S. computer systems and view China and Russia as major threats, according to a new poll.

The poll by The Pearson Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that about 9 in 10 Americans are at least somewhat concerned about hacking that involves their personal information, financial institutions, government agencies or certain utilities. About two-thirds say they are very or extremely concerned.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Year-end pileups of crucial legislation and the brinkmanship that goes with them are normal behavior for Congress. This autumn, lawmakers are barreling toward battles that are striking for the risks they pose to both parties and their leaders.