USA

(AP) --- It had only been hinted at in previous public examinations of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection: Scores of rioters attacked police officers not just with makeshift weapons, stun guns and fists, but with racist slurs and accusations of treason.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 27 (APP): Three UN human rights experts have called on the Palestinian Authority and Israel, the occupying power, to reschedule elections for the Palestinian presidency, legislature, and municipalities within a reasonable time to ensure “free, fair, democratic, peaceful, and credible” polls.

The Palestinian parliamentary elections had been scheduled for May and the presidential polls for July, but were postponed indefinitely on April 29 by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas due to concerns about Palestinians’ ability to vote in East Jerusalem.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday raised its travel warning level for Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, Anadolu news agency reported.

The CDC said it was concerned about the rising number of coronavirus cases in Israel, the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza, raising its travel health notice to "Level 3: High".

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- President Joe Biden said on Monday the U.S. military will end its combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year.

"Our role in Iraq will be to ... continue to train, to assist, to help and to deal with ISIS (Islamic State) as it arises, but we're not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission," Biden said at the Oval Office with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

"Our counter-terrorism cooperation will continue even as we shift to this new phase," he said.

Washington, Jul 27 (AP-PTI) President Joe Biden said Monday the U.S. combat mission in Iraq will conclude by the end of the year, an announcement that reflects the reality on the ground more than a major shift in U.S. policy.

Even before Biden took office, the main U.S. focus has been assisting Iraqi forces, not fighting on their behalf. And Biden did not say if he planned to reduce the number of troops in Iraq, now about 2,500.

NEW YORK (AP) — Mandating either COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing for the virus should give vaccine-hesitant New York City employees a strong incentive to get inoculated, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

“I want to emphasize that that either-or really creates a positive pressure for vaccination because it will be the responsibility of the employee to get tested on a regular basis, and that comes with its own challenges,” de Blasio said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators and the White House are locked in intense negotiations to salvage a bipartisan infrastructure deal, with pressure mounting on all sides to wrap up talks and show progress on President Joe Biden’s top priority.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are launching their investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection Tuesday with a focus on the law enforcement officers who were attacked and beaten as the rioters broke into the building — an effort to put a human face on the violence of the day.

WASHINGTON, July 26. /TASS/: Newly appointed US Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins is committed to limiting Russian and Chinese "nuclear expansion," according to a statement posted on Twitter.

"I'm eager to get to work. You’ll hear more from me shortly on arms control and strategic stability," the statement reads. "I am committed to reduce the risk of nuclear war by effective arms control, limit Russian and PRC nuclear expansion, strengthen biosecurity, and pursue accountability for the use of chemical weapons," Jenkins noted.

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of the United States and 20 other countries on Monday condemned mass arrests in Cuba and called for full restoration of Internet access in the island nation that has recently been rocked by political unrest.

The joint statement was issued by the governments of Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Guatemala, Greece, Honduras, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Korea, and Ukraine, alongside the United States.