USA

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- New Chinese ambassador to the United States Qin Gang has called on the two countries to join hands to combat the still-spreading COVID-19 pandemic.

"How about our two countries working together on solutions, e.g. more effective vaccines & helping other countries?" Qin tweeted on Friday.

The diplomat arrived in Washington in late July and is in a 14-day self-quarantine in his residence.

He said he is "fine in quarantine," but the rampant spread of the Delta variant is "concerning."

DENVER (AP) — When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donated $400 million to help fund election offices as they scrambled to deal with the coronavirus pandemic late last summer, he said he hoped he would never have to do it again.

Republican legislatures are granting him that wish.

08 Aug 2021; MEMO: The vote to approve the annual US Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Funding Bill, which amongst other things green-lights Washington's yearly $3.3 billion unconditional aid to Israel, threw a major surprise this year.

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — After four years of homelessness, Kesia Studebaker thought she finally landed on her feet when she found a job cooking in a diner and moved into a house in the small community of Greenville.

She had been renting for three months and hoped the stability would help her win back custody of her 14-year-old daughter. But in just one night, a raging wildfire tore through the mountain town and “took it all away,” she said.

DENVER (AP) — When the delta variant started spreading, Gina Welch decided not to take any chances: She got a third, booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by going to a clinic and telling them it was her first shot.

The U.S. government has not approved booster shots against the virus, saying it has yet to see evidence they are necessary. But Welch and an untold number of other Americans have managed to get them by taking advantage of the nation’s vaccine surplus and loose tracking of those who have been fully vaccinated.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators will resume a weekend session toward passage of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package after running into opposition from a few Republicans who want to drag out final votes on one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities.

WASHINGTON, August 7. /TASS/: Western countries are waging a ‘targeted campaign’ against the use of Russian medical preparations, including the vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov stated.

Antonov was asked by journalists to comment on the US approach regarding the use of Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine against the ongoing global COVID-19 spread.

UNITED NATIONS, August 6. /TASS/: The discussion of withdrawal of sanctions against DPRK is currently not on the UN Security Council’s agenda, a UN source told TASS Friday.

"No meetings on this matter are currently scheduled in the work program," the source said.

WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US military’s Central Command has announced the results of its forensic investigation into last week’s fatal drone attack on a merchant tanker off Oman.

It says explosives experts concluded that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was produced in Iran.

The evidence has been shared with explosives experts in Britain and Israel who concurred with the findings.

The attack on the Israeli-operated MT Mercer Street killed two people.

Washington, Aug 7 (PTI) Lamenting that the US has allocated only 7.5 million doses of Covid vaccines to India, a top Indian-American Congressman has urged the Biden administration to do more by expanding its global vaccine aid programme to it at a time when the world faces the threat of new, vaccine-resistant coronavirus variants.