USA

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Navy said Monday that it is currently operating two carrier strike groups in the Mediterranean Sea, in a rare flex of muscle unseen since 2016.

"The John C. Stennis CSG joined the Abraham Lincoln CSG in the Mediterranean, providing a unique opportunity for two strike groups to work together alongside key allies and partners in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations," the U.S. Navy said in a statement.

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Heads of three UN agencies helping nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh will go to Dhaka this week to meet senior officials, then visit crowded Cox's Bazar to meet refugees, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has decided not to reissue the sanctions waivers allowing major importers to continue buying Iran's oil when they expire in early May, the White House said Monday.

"This decision is intended to bring Iran's oil exports to zero," denying the Iranian government "its principal source of revenue," said the White House in a statement

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters later in the day that the U.S. sanctions will be reimposed on all countries that import oil from Iran since May 2

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has suffered a serious setback in its effort to launch NASA astronauts into orbit this year, with the fiery loss of its first crew capsule during testing.

Over the weekend, the company’s recently flown Dragon crew capsule was engulfed in smoke and flames on an engine test stand at Cape Canaveral. SpaceX was testing the Dragon’s abort thrusters when Saturday’s accident occurred.

The company said the test area was clear and no one was injured.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington appears set to become the first state to allow a burial alternative known as “natural organic reduction” — an accelerated decomposition process that turns bodies into soil within weeks.

The bill legalizing the process, sometimes referred to as “human composting,” has passed the Legislature and is headed to the desk of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The financial condition of the government’s bedrock retirement programs for middle- and working-class Americans remains shaky, with Medicare pointed toward insolvency by 2026, according to a report Monday by the government’s overseers of Medicare and Social Security.

It paints a sobering picture of the programs, though it’s relatively unchanged from last year’s update. Social Security would become insolvent in 2035, one year later than previously estimated.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is considering suspending or limiting entry to the U.S. for individuals from countries with high rates of short-term visa overstays — a proposal vaguely reminiscent of the controversial travel bans President Donald Trump pursued during his first year in office.

In a memo signed Monday, Trump directs officials to examine new ways to minimize the number of people overstaying their business and tourist visas as part of a renewed focus on immigration as the 2020 campaign kicks into high gear.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj) says President Donald Trump has “made it pretty clear that he deserves impeachment,” but he will “leave it to the House and Senate to figure that out.”

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate was asked about the call from some people in his party for Trump’s impeachment following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted report looking into connections between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign as well as obstruction of justice.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over the Trump administration’s plan to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census, a question that could affect how many seats states have in the House of Representatives and their share of federal dollars over the next 10 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House chairman subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn as Democratic leaders moved to deepen their investigation of President Donald Trump while bottling up talk among their rank-and-file of impeaching him.

Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler was one of six powerful committee leaders making their case on a conference call Monday with other House Democrats late in the day that they are effectively investigating Trump-related matters ranging from potential obstruction to his personal and business taxes.