USA

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 16 (APP): U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on all parties in conflict to observe the Olympic Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which begin in Tokyo later this month.

In a video message released on Thursday, the UN chief said, “In a few days, athletes from around the world will come together in Japan for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. They have had to overcome enormous obstacles to participate in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

LOS ANGELES, July 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — A riot in a Los Angeles prison left possibly 30 prisoners and two prison personnel injured Thursday afternoon, local media reported.

Castaic’s Pitchess Detention Center, commonly referred to as the Wayside jail, is located in Santa Clarita city 63 km northeast of Los Angeles downtown and operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. It was designed to house approximately 8,600 male inmates in its four separate facilities.

WASHINGTON, July 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — About 20,000 Afghans who worked as interpreters for the United States during its war in Afghanistan and now fear retribution from Taliban insurgents have applied for evacuation, the White House said.
 
  “There are approximately 20,000 Afghans who have applied,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
 
  Psaki said those are all former translators for the military or other entities, whom the Taliban have targeted.
 

United Nations, Jul 16 (AP-PTI) The UN humanitarian chief in Afghanistan appealed for 850 million Thursday to help the war-torn country cope with the impact of the Taliban offensive, protracted malnutrition for a third of the country, a severe drought, and the return of 627,000 Afghans this year, most of them deported from neighbouring Iran.

Washington, Jul 16 (PTI) Seeking to strengthen America's ties with Quad nations -- India, Australia and Japan and countries in Southeast Asia, a key US Congressional committee has passed a legislation aimed at addressing the challenges posed by China.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement or EAGLE Act at its meeting here on Thursday.

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - The United States is preparing to impose sanctions on Friday on a number of Chinese officials over Beijing's crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, and warn international businesses operating there about deteriorating conditions, two people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The sources said the financial sanctions would target seven officials from China's Hong Kong liaison office, the official platform which projects Beijing's influence into the Chinese territory.

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday raised his concerns to German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, warning Russia not to weaponize the energy.

The 1,230-km gas pipeline, which is expected to be completed next month, would bring natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Firefighters scrambled on Friday to control a raging inferno in southeastern Oregon that’s spreading miles a day in windy conditions, one of numerous conflagrations across the U.S. West that are straining resources.

Authorities ordered a new round of evacuations Thursday amid worries the Bootleg Fire, which has already destroyed 21 homes, could merge with another blaze that also grew explosively amid dry and blustery conditions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pressuring lawmakers to reach agreement by next week on a pair of massive domestic spending measures, signaling Democrats’ desire to push ahead aggressively on President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar agenda.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. will bolster security at its embassy in Haiti following last week’s assassination of that country’s president, but sending American troops to stabilize the country was “not on the agenda.”

Haiti’s interim government last week asked the U.S. and the United Nations to deploy troops to protect key infrastructure following President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination. Biden signaled he was not open to the request, which comes as he is drawing down U.S. forces in Afghanistan this summer.