USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sheltered in a downtown D.C. hotel, the Democratic lawmakers who left Texas to block a restrictive voting bill are living a life of stress and scrutiny.

After bolting the state Monday in order to sabotage the bill by denying a quorum in the Texas House of Representatives, the more than 50 state legislators find themselves balancing a punishing schedule of political lobbying, outside work and family obligations, all under a national spotlight.

NEW YORK, Jul 15 (APP): Over India’s strong objections, a Non-Aligned Movement’s ministerial conference has commended the role of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and four other leaders for their full support to the Palestinians cause, according to conference sources.

15 July 2021; MEMO: The US announced on Wednesday that it would allow Iran to use frozen funds to pay off its debts to South Korea and Japan.

The move comes in light of the ongoing talks to save the 2015 international nuclear agreement, which has lifted long-imposed US sanctions on Tehran.

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - Iran is not prepared to resume negotiations on coming back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal until Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi's administration has begun, a diplomatic source said on Wednesday.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iran had conveyed this to European officials acting as interlocutors in the indirect U.S.-Iranian negotiations and that the current thinking is the Vienna talks will not resume before mid-August.

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the U.S. economy is "still a ways off" from the progress that the Fed wants to see before tapering asset purchases, while the central bank is monitoring inflation very carefully.

"At our June meeting, the (Federal Open Market) Committee discussed the economy's progress toward our goals since we adopted our asset purchase guidance last December," Powell said at a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee.

PULGA, Calif. (AP) — A blaze that erupted near the flashpoint of the deadliest wildfire in recent U.S. history was heading away from homes on Thursday but survivors of the 2018 blaze in the town of Paradise worried that history could repeat itself.

The Dixie Fire had burned a couple of square miles of brush and timber near the Feather River Canyon area of Butte County and moved into national forest land in neighboring Plumas County.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House for what is likely to be her last official visit and one to which she’s bringing a bag full of issues and an overarching message for Berlin’s close ally: You’ve got a friend.

The veteran German leader is expected Thursday to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, the rise of China and a Russian gas pipeline that Washington opposes. She will meet with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other senior U.S. officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden made a quick foray to the Capitol on Wednesday hunting support for his multitrillion-dollar agenda of infrastructure, health care and other programs, a potential landmark achievement that would require near-unanimous backing from fractious Democrats.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI made “fundamental” errors in investigating sexual abuse allegations against former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar and did not treat the case with the “utmost seriousness,” the Justice Department’s inspector general said Wednesday. More athletes said they were molested before the the FBI swung into action.

The FBI acknowledged conduct that was “inexcusable and a discredit” to America’s premier law enforcement agency and all.

(AP) --- COVID-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally in a dispiriting setback that is triggering another round of restrictions and dampening hopes for a return to normal life.

The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a 3% increase from the week before.

Cases rose 10% last week to nearly 3 million, with the highest numbers recorded in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain, WHO said.