USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing a drilling program approved by the Trump administration and reviving a political fight over a remote region that is home to polar bears and other wildlife — and a rich reserve of oil.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will take part in a remembrance of one of the nation’s darkest — and largely forgotten — moments of racial violence when he helps commemorate the 100th anniversary of the destruction of a thriving Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Biden’s visit Tuesday, in which he will grieve for the hundreds of Black people killed by a white mob a century ago, comes amid a national reckoning on racial justice. And it will stand in stark contrast to the most recent visit to Tulsa by a president, which took place last year.

FALLON, Nev. (AP) — Pick-up truck drivers motor up to a white trailer in a parking lot on Fallon Paiute-Shoshone land in Nevada’s high desert and within a few moments they’re handed forms to sign, jabbed with coronavirus vaccine and sent on their way.

The pop-up clinic 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Reno is one of 28 locations in the state where the Federal Emergency Management Agency has dispatched mobile vaccination units to ensure people in far-flung rural areas and one stop-light towns can get inoculated.

NEW YORK, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China has sped up its vaccination drive since the start of this year, which could "accelerate" Asia's recovery from COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal recently wrote.

China's vaccination campaign is "roaring into action," comprising roughly half of the doses being distributed daily around the world, according to the Journal.

"Faster Chinese vaccination could accelerate the return of sorely needed tourism to the battered economies of Southeast Asia," such as Thailand, which relies largely on Chinese tourists, said the article.

ATLANTA (AP) — Jennifer McClellan remembers her parents’ recounting life as Black Virginians enduring segregation and the trauma and triumph of the civil rights movement.

It showed her that government can be “a powerful force for improving people’s lives” but also one “that oppresses some, ignores others.”

A generation later, despite her interest in public office, there was no obvious pathway for someone like her.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Johnson & Johnson is asking for Supreme Court review of a $2 billion verdict in favor of women who claim they developed ovarian cancer from using the company’s talc products.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats pulled off a dramatic, last-ditch walkout in the state House of Representatives on Sunday night to block passage of one of the most restrictive voting bills in the U.S., leaving Republicans with no choice but to abandon a midnight deadline and declare the legislative session essentially over.

The revolt is one of Democrats’ biggest protests to date against GOP efforts nationwide to impose stricter election laws, and they used the spotlight to urge President Joe Biden to act on voting rights.

NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden marked his first Memorial Day weekend as commander in chief by honoring the nation’s sacrifices in a deeply personal manner as he paid tribute Sunday to those lost while remembering his late son Beau, a veteran who died six years ago to the day.

As a cold rain fell, Biden made his annual appearance at the commemoration in New Castle, not far from his Wilmington home, a day before he planned to do the same at Arlington National Cemetery on the official observance.

UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (APP): UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on governments to embrace together the goals of phasing out coal, enhancing climate commitments, and investing in the international development goals so as to rise to ‘the biggest challenge of our lives’.

The world needs a global partnership to beat COVID-19, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and address climate change, the UN chief said n a video message to a key international partnerships summit — the 2021 P4G — in Seoul, South Korea.

TASS, May 30: Three gunmen opened fire on a crowd of people in Miami, Florida, killing at least two and wounding about 20 others, ABC TV channel reported citing local police on Sunday.

"I am at the scene of another targeted and cowardly act of gun violence, where over 20 victims were shot and two have sadly died," Miami-Dade police director Alfredo Ramirez III wrote on his Twitter account. "These are cold blooded murderers that shot indiscriminately into a crowd and we will seek justice. My deepest condolences to the family of the victims."