North America

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday took shots at his likely 2024 rival, Donald Trump, in a Labor Day speech aimed at shoring up support in Pennsylvania, a state he needs to win next year to retain the White House.

A self-described champion of labor unions, Biden addressed union workers in Philadelphia as he sought to explain his economic policies to a public worried about the economy, despite easing inflation and low unemployment levels.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Floridians are struggling to recover from Category 3 Hurricane Idalia and the following floods as tension spirals over U.S. President Joe Biden's survey of the damage in Florida, without meeting the state's Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of his 2024 presidential rivals.

On Saturday, Biden and his wife toured areas damaged by the storm in Live Oak, met residents, and thanked emergency responders.

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) — A microphone in hand, Sen. Tim Scott left the podium at a recent barbecue event in South Carolina and made his way through tables draped in red, white and blue as attendees finished plates of pulled pork and baked beans.

As he talked about his campaign, Scott passed Casey DeSantis, the first lady of Florida, who looked ahead at the empty stage from which she would soon speak. She was there in place of her husband, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was overseeing the response to Hurricane Idalia.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will deepen her outreach to Southeast Asia this week at an international summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she’ll try to erase doubts about U.S. commitment to the region stirred by President Joe Biden’s absence.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A longtime aide to President Joe Biden who is a senior adviser in Vice President Kamala Harris’ office is Biden’s choice to represent the United States at the United Nations agency devoted to education, science and culture.

The U.S. recently rejoined the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after a five-year hiatus initiated by Biden’s immediate predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump.

DETROIT (AP) — A 46% pay raise. A 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay. A restoration of traditional pensions.

The demands that a more combative United Auto Workers union has pressed on General Motors, Stellantis and Ford — demands that even the UAW’s own president calls “audacious” — are edging it closer to a strike when its contract ends Sept. 14.

BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev. (AP) — Tens of thousands of partygoers stranded at the Burning Man counterculture festival by a late summer storm hoped muddy roads would reopen Monday and allow them to begin their exodus from the northern Nevada desert.

Event organizers said in the morning that it was still too wet for a safe mass departure of RVs and other vehicles but hoped traffic could begin flowing later in the day with the help of sunny and mostly clear skies — even as they asked revelers to delay their exit to ease traffic on the main road.

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that he was disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping was not attending the summit of G20 leaders in India, but added that he was going to "get to see him."

"I am disappointed ... but I am going to get to see him," Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, without elaborating.

Biden will visit India from Sept. 7-10 for a summit of the Group of 20 nations, followed by a trip to Vietnam as his administration seeks to strengthen U.S. relations in Asia.

WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warned China in interviews broadcast on Sunday that the patience of U.S. business was "wearing thin," saying American companies deserved a "predictable environment and a level playing field."

The two biggest economies in the world used to be each other's largest trade partners, but Washington now trades more with neighboring Canada and Mexico, while Beijing trades more with Southeast Asia.

LIVE OAK, Fla. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Saturday saw from the sky Hurricane Idalia’s impact across a swath of Florida before he set out on a walking tour of a city recovering from the storm. Notably absent was Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate who declined to join Biden after he suggested that the Democrat’s presence could hinder disaster response efforts.

Biden, when asked about his rival’s absence, said he was not disappointed by the turn of events, but welcomed the presence of Rick Scott, one of the state’s two Republican U.S. senators.