USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of fits, starts and delays, the Senate is on track to give final approval to the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, with a growing coalition of Democrats and Republicans prepared to lift the first phase of President Joe Biden’s rebuilding agenda to passage.

Final Senate votes are expected around 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, and the bill would then go to the House.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 09 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reaffirmed UN’s full support to amplifying the powerful testimony of the survivors of the atomic bomb that was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, 76 years ago, which has helped build a “powerful global movement against nuclear arms”.

In his message to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial on the August 9 anniversary, the UN Secretary-General said he continued to be humbled by the “selfless acts of the hibakusha, the name given to the 1945 survivors, who continue to bear witness.

WASHINGTON, August 9. /TASS/: Russia’s Pulsar Scientific and Production Enterprise, Charter Green Light Moscow and Asia-Invest have been sanctioned by the US administration as Washington deems that they violate the US national legislation that bans proliferation of WMDs in relation to Iraq, North Korea and Syria, the US State Department published the notice on Monday in the Federal Register.

The document shows that the decision was made on July 29.

WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order imposing new measures aimed at punishing Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko as the United States steps up pressure against his government in coordinated action with the United Kingdom and Canada.

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out bullying in the South China Sea on Monday and warned the U.N. Security Council that a conflict "would have serious global consequences for security and for commerce," sparking a strong rebuke from China.

The South China Sea has become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between China and the United States, with Washington rejecting what it calls unlawful territorial claims by Beijing in the resource-rich waters.

09 Aug 2021; MEMO: The United States has put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett not to change the rules of confrontation with the Iran-allied Lebanese Hezbollah movement as a new round of nuclear talks between Tehran and the world powers are set to begin in September, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres repeated his call on Sunday for calm on the Lebanon-Israel border.

"The secretary-general expresses his deep concern about the recent escalation between Lebanon and Israel across the Blue Line, including rocket fire into Israel and return airstrikes and artillery fire into Lebanon," said Guterres' press office in a note to correspondents.

The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations in 2000.

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Sunday night granted Norwegian Cruise Line’s request to temporarily block a Florida law banning cruise companies from asking passengers for proof of coronavirus vaccination before they board a ship.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams granted the preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging the state’s “vaccine passport” ban, which was signed into law in May by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Often elusive, the political center is holding steady in the Senate as a coalition of Democratic and Republican senators brushes off critics to push the $1 trillion infrastructure package toward final passage.

On the left, the Democrats have withstood the complaints of liberals who say the proposal falls short of what’s needed to provide a down payment on one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 community transmission is substantial or high in most of the United States, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a weekly report on Friday.

Most U.S. states and jurisdictions are experiencing substantial or high levels of community transmission of COVID-19 driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, said the report updated by CDC on its website.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to increase, especially in communities with lower vaccination coverage, said the report.