USA

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is slowing due to the spread of the Delta variant and a sizable segment of unvaccinated people, Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at accounting and consulting firm RSM US LLP, said on Tuesday.

"In the United States, infections have increased to a rate of 157,000 per day, with each loss of life and the use of medical resources and foregone activity taking their toll on economic progress," Brusuelas said in a blog post, adding that's a significant increase from 12,000 COVID-19 cases per day in June.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Tuesday afternoon off the coast of San Diego, California, prompting search and rescue operations by sea and air, according to the U.S. Navy's 3rd Fleet.

"An MH-60S helicopter embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) crashed into the sea while conducting routine flight operations approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego at 4:30 p.m. PST, Aug. 31," the fleet's commander said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States "should not go for misunderstanding, misjudgment, conflict or confrontation," and the wrong beliefs on China-U.S. relations were absurd and dangerous, said Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang on Tuesday.

"We should not miss historical opportunities. More importantly, we should not make historical mistakes," Qin said in his speech at the Welcome Event by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) Board of Directors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House officials are outlining plans to build and restore more than 2 million homes, a response to the volcanic rise in housing prices over the past year.

Millions of Americans are getting priced out of ownership or stuck spending the bulk of their income on rent. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index climbed a record 19.1% in June from a year ago, as too few homes are available to buy and low interest rates have enabled affluent buyers and real estate investors to pay more for homes.

31 Aug 2021; MEMO: A former US ambassador to Israel has joined President Joe Biden's team working on Iran, exposing Israel's very deep influence in Washington. Dan Shapiro served as ambassador under the administration of former President Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Ukrainian leader who found himself ensnarled in Donald Trump’s first impeachment comes to Washington on Wednesday to see a new U.S. president, seeking increased military aid and backing for his country’s bid for NATO membership.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Flames raced across treetops and through drought-stricken vegetation as firefighters scrambled Wednesday to keep a growing California wildfire from reaching a resort city at the southern tip of Lake Tahoe after evacuation orders were expanded to neighboring Nevada.

Thick smoke from the Caldor Fire enveloped the city of South Lake Tahoe, which was all but deserted during a summer week usually bustling with tourists.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana residents still reeling from flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Ida scrambled for food, gas, water and relief from the sweltering heat as thousands of line workers toiled to restore electricity and officials vowed to set up more sites where people could get free meals and cool off.

Power and water outages affected hundreds of thousands of people, many of them with no way to get immediate relief.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A defensive President Joe Biden called the U.S. airlift to extract more than 120,000 Americans, Afghans and other allies from Afghanistan to end a 20-year war an “extraordinary success,” though more than 100 Americans and thousands of others were left behind.

Twenty-four hours after the last American C-17 cargo plane roared off from Kabul, Biden spoke to the nation and vigorously defended his decision to end America’s longest war and withdraw all U.S. troops ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline.

WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, has urged the international community to facilitate the Taliban and other Afghan parties to come to a common understanding and form an inclusive government in a bid to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan.