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USA: Some immigrants, hard hit by economic fallout, lose homes

NEW YORK (AP) — Sotero Cirilo sleeps in a small blue tent under a train track bridge in Elmhurst, Queens.

The 55-year-old immigrant from Mexico used to make $800 per week at two Manhattan restaurants, which closed when the COVID-19 pandemic started. A few months later, he couldn’t afford the rent of his Bronx room, and afterward, of another room in Queens he moved into.

“I never thought I would end up like this, like I am today,” he said in Spanish, his eyes filling up with tears.

USA: San Diego boat wreck kills 3, shows risks of ocean smuggling

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A tractor-trailer slams into an SUV at an intersection on a remote California desert highway, killing 13 of 25 people crammed inside the late model Ford Expedition.

A man dangles a toddler over a border wall near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, allowing her to fall on her face before he disappears into Mexico.

A 40-foot (12.2-meter) cabin cruiser overloaded with 32 people capsizes just off the San Diego coast, killing three and critically injuring another person. The others aboard survived, with one in critical condition.

USA: Treasury announces plans to borrow $463 billion this quarter

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department says it expects to borrow $463 billion in the current April-June quarter and $2.28 trillion for the full budget year, as the government finances continued pandemic relief measures.

Treasury officials announced Monday that the $463 billion in borrowing for the current quarter represented a significant jump from a borrowing estimate for the current quarter of $95 billion made in February.

China’s UN envoy: Myanmar violence could lead to civil war

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China’s U.N. ambassador on Monday urged stronger diplomatic efforts to resolve the confrontation in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 military coup, warning that further violence could lead to a chaotic situation “and even a civil war.”

Zhang Jun also warned that “any wrong handling” might lead to further tension in Myanmar.

USA: Marine inspector general suspended amid tank sinking probe

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) — The Marine Corps inspector general, Major General Robert Castellvi, has been suspended amid the ongoing probes into last summer’s fatal sinking of a seafaring tank off the Southern California coast, a newspaper reported Monday.

Nine men died in the accident involving an amphibious assault vehicle July 30 near San Clemente Island.

Restrictions easing in US and Europe amid disaster in India

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Air travel in the U.S. hit its highest mark since COVID-19 took hold more than 13 months ago, while European Union officials are proposing to ease restrictions on visitors to the continent as the vaccine sends new cases and deaths tumbling in more affluent countries.

The improving picture in many places contrasts with the worsening disaster in India.

China: US should push North Korea diplomacy, not pressure

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China’s U.N. ambassador expressed hope Monday that President Joe Biden’s policy toward North Korea will give more importance to diplomacy and dialogue instead of “extreme pressure” to try to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear program and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Zhang Jun said China also hopes the review of U.S. policy will give equal emphasis to both the nuclear issue and the peace and security issue.

USA: Biden quadruples Trump refugee cap after delay backlash

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden formally raised the nation’s cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling set by former President Donald Trump.

Refugee resettlement agencies have waited for Biden to quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year since Feb. 12, when a presidential proposal was submitted to Congress saying he planned to do so.

USA: Flurry of diplomatic contacts fuel Iran deal speculation

WASHINGTON (AP) — A flurry of diplomatic contacts and reports of major progress suggest that indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran may be nearing an agreement. That’s despite efforts by U.S. officials to play down chances of an imminent deal that would bring Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.

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