USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney was clinging to her post as party leaders lined up behind an heir apparent, signaling that fallout over her clashes with former President Donald Trump was becoming too much for her to overcome.

Unbowed, Cheney on Wednesday implored her GOP colleagues to pry themselves from a Trump “cult of personality,” declaring that the party and even American democracy were at stake. “History is watching,” she said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said it pained her to vote against the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan.”

But in the weeks that followed, the first-term Republican issued a news release celebrating more than $3.7 million from the package that went to community health centers in her district as one of her “achievements.” She said she prided herself on “bringing federal funding to the district and back into the pockets of taxpayers.”

Malliotakis is far from alone.

NEW YORK (AP) — Teams of experts are projecting COVID-19′s toll on the U.S. will fall sharply by the end of July, according to research released by the government Wednesday.

But they also warn that a “substantial increase” in hospitalizations and deaths is possible if unvaccinated people do not follow basic precautions such as wearing a mask and keeping their distance from others.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Wednesday joined calls for more sharing of the technology behind COVID-19 vaccines to help speed the end of the pandemic, a shift that puts the U.S. alongside many in the developing world who want rich countries to do more to get doses to the needy.

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the government’s position, amid World Trade Organization talks about a possible temporary waiver of its protections that would allow more manufacturers to produce the life-saving vaccines.

UNITED NATIONS, May 05 (APP): The UN General Assembly President, Volkan Bozkir, will be visiting Pakistan and Bangladesh during a trip to South Asia “later this month” at the invitation of the two governments.

Addressing a press conference at UN Headquarters the other day confirming his visit, Volkan Bozkir said that he was also scheduled to visit India during the upcoming trip but had to postpone the trip because of the serious situation created by the coronavirus pandemic.

NEW YORK, May 05 (APP): Pakistani-Americans Wednesday enthusiastically welcomed Pakistan government’s move to award voting rights to overseas Pakistanis in the next general elections, saying it was a “momentous moment.”

The news about the grant to Pakistani expatriates of the right to franchise spread fast among the community members soon after Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain announced it in Islamabad. The decision was taken at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, which was presided over by the Prime Minister Imran Khan.

WASHINGTON, May 5. /TSS/: The United States believes that Russian military’s operations in northeastern Syria constitute a breach of the de-confliction mechanism but pose no threat to the US-led international coalition in the country, according to a US military report.

WASHINGTON, May 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States has completed two to six percent of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, with the equivalent of 60 cargo planes of material so far removed ahead of the September deadline, officials said Tuesday.

US Central Command said 1,300 pieces of equipment had been sent for destruction and one facility in the southern province of Helmand had been transfered to the Afghan army since President Joe Biden’s April 14 announcement of the pullout.

(Reuters) --- The European Union will allow the United States, Norway and Canada to join a project to overcome delays in moving troops across Europe, diplomats said on Wednesday, which NATO sees as vital in the event of a conflict with Russia.

While NATO has spearheaded efforts to reduce conflicting regulations across 27 EU countries for transfers of U.S. troops, the EU has a budget to back the reconstruction of bridges too weak for tanks and has more power over changing bloc-wide rules.

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he expects to hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to Europe in June.

"That is my hope and expectation. We are working on it," Biden told reporters when asked if he plans to meet Putin during his upcoming trip to Europe, the first overseas visit since he took office in January.