USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s plan for a massive expansion of social programs is being framed by supporters as such a high-stakes endeavor that it’s “too big to fail.” It also may be too big to describe.

That’s a particular challenge as the White House struggles to sell the public on a wide range of initiatives packaged under the imprecise slogan of “Build Back Better.”

29 Sep 2021; MEMO: Invitations have been issued for a sixth meeting of the committee charged with producing a new constitution for war-torn Syria, United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said yesterday.

"We should all now expect the Constitutional Committee to begin to work seriously on a process of drafting – not just preparing – a constitutional reform," Pedersen told the Security Council.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s spending proposals will address long-overdue U.S. infrastructure needs and prepare the country to meet future challenges.

In remarks before the National Association for Business Economists, Yellen called on Congress to support the Biden administration’s $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better” initiative that would expand the social safety net and attack climate change. She also urged support for a $1 trillion bipartisan bill to address more traditional infrastructure, such as roads and bridges .

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military officer told Congress that he knew former President Donald Trump wasn’t planning to attack China and that it was his job to reassure the Chinese of this in the phone calls that have triggered outrage from some lawmakers.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a vehement defense of two calls he made to his Chinese counterpart, saying he was responding to a “significant degree of intelligence” that China was worried about a U.S. attack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer has submitted research to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children but the shots may not be available until November.

The company said Tuesday it provided health regulators with data from a recent study of its vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old. Officials had said previously they would file an application with the FDA to authorize use in the coming weeks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military officer called the 20-year war in Afghanistan a “strategic failure” and acknowledged to Congress on Tuesday that he had favored keeping several thousand troops in the country to prevent a collapse of the U.S.-supported Kabul government and a rapid takeover by the Taliban.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is caught between a hard place and an even harder one when it comes to immigration.

Biden embraced major progressive policy goals on the issue after he won the Democratic nomination, and he has begun enacting some. But his administration has been forced to confront unusually high numbers of migrants trying to enter the country along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the federal response has inflamed both critics and allies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressure mounting but with signs of progress, President Joe Biden will hunker down at the White House to try to strike a deal and win over two holdout Democratic senators whose support is needed for his potentially historic $3.5 trillion government overhaul.

With Republicans solidly opposed and no Democratic votes to spare, Biden canceled a Wednesday trip to Chicago that was to focus on COVID-19 vaccinations so he could dig in for another day of intense negotiations with lawmakers ahead of crucial votes.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 28 (APP): Pakistan Monday underscored the need for establishing a balance between freedom of expression and preventing disinformation, saying the international community must come together to build mechanisms to counter fake news.

“Pakistan is committed to counter disinformation,” Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister, Fawad Chaudhry told a side-event on ‘Promoting Transparency to Counter Disinformation and Build Trust’, held on the margins of the 76th session of United Nations General Assembly in New York.

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress on Tuesday that the Afghan army's sudden collapse caught the Pentagon off-guard as he acknowledged miscalculations in America's longest war including corruption and damaged morale in Afghan ranks.

"The fact that the Afghan army we and our partners trained simply melted away – in many cases without firing a shot – took us all by surprise," Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"It would be dishonest to claim otherwise."