United States

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping spent more than two hours Thursday talking through the future of their complicated relationship, with the flashpoint of Taiwan once again emerging as a key point of tension. According to a description of the call released by Beijing, Xi emphasized China’s claim over the island, which has governed itself …

The Guardian reports: The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday. In a sharp reversal of previous policy, Blinken also said he expects to speak with his Kremlin counterpart for the first time since …

Reuters reports: China’s government warned on Tuesday it would take “forceful measures” if U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, after the Financial Times said she would go to the Chinese-claimed island next month. Pelosi and her delegation will also visit Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, and spend time in Hawaii at the headquarters of U.S. Indo-Pacific command, …

Bloomberg News reports: The euro has suffered a swift and brutal slump this year, and now it’s crossed a major threshold for the first time in more than two decades: parity with the dollar. The 12% decline is the result of multiple pressures, from the war in Ukraine to an energy crisis and the growing risk that Russia cuts off …

The New York Daily News reports: Nearly 17 million doses of monkeypox vaccine are collecting dust at a manufacturing plant in Denmark instead of being shipped to the U.S. due to a bureaucratic delay, White House officials confirmed Friday, as New Yorkers lined up in droves to get ahold of a shot from the city’s short supply. About 6,000 monkeypox …

CBS News reports: President Biden is presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom Thursday to 17 Americans, including Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington and soccer star Megan Rapinoe. The late Sen. John McCain and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs are among those receiving the award posthumously. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the country’s highest civilian honor, intended for people …

The Hill reports: The U.K. Embassy in Washington, D.C., shared a playlist to commemorate the United States’s Independence Day on Monday, including only one song on repeat by the band Player: “Baby Come Back.” “Baby come back, any kind of fool could see/There was something in everything about you/Baby come back, you can blame it all on me/I was wrong …

Axios reports: The FBI has offered a $100,000 reward in its search for Ruja Ignatova, the so-called “Cryptoqueen” who allegedly helped defraud investors out of $4 billion with a cryptocurrency scam. Ignatova was added to the FBI’s list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives this week. The FBI is asking for any information about the alleged fraudster, who disappeared in 2017. …

Via press release from the White House: Today, President Biden named seventeen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors. President Biden …

Via press release from the US Census Bureau: The last two decades have seen the country grow continuously older. Since 2000, the national median age – the point at which one-half the population is older and one-half younger – has increased by 3.4 years, with the largest single-year gain of 0.3 years coming in 2021, bringing it to 38.8 years, …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Joe Biden pledged more American troops, warplanes and warships for Europe on Wednesday as NATO agreed the biggest strengthening of its deterrents since the Cold War in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden’s commitment at the Madrid summit “to defend every inch of allied territory” came as the U.S.-led military alliance also set in motion …

Vice News reports: Canadian government officials have agreed to share information about UFOs with the U.S. Those contacts were revealed in a pair of letters posted online this week from Canada’s Natural Resources department and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), a federal regulator. The U.S. Department of Energy has long been suspected of playing a role in the government’s …

The Wall Street Journal reports: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can now be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges after British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the order. The decision, which Mr. Assange has said he would appeal, is the latest step in a long-running legal saga. A London court authorized Mr. Assange’s extradition in April, …

CNN reports: The Biden administration is expected to announce Friday that the CDC will lift its requirement for travelers to test negative for Covid-19 before entering the US, according to a senior administration official. The move, which CNN was first to report, will go into effect for US-bound air travelers at midnight on Sunday. The CDC is lifting the restriction …

Star & Stripes reports: A nuclear test by North Korea will prompt a “swift and forceful response,” a senior U.S. diplomat said in Seoul on Tuesday, according to the Yonhap News Agency. North Korea would face unified action by several countries should it detonate a nuclear device in violation of existing U.N. Security Council resolutions, Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States would intervene militarily if China attempts to take Taiwan by force, a warning that appeared to deviate from the deliberate ambiguity traditionally held by Washington. During a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, Biden was asked if the US would be willing to go …

The Washington Post reports: The Senate voted Thursday to deliver more than $40 billion in new military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, sending the measure to President Biden after a week-long delay sparked by a lone senator’s objection. The vote was 86-to-11 with all opposition to the package coming from Republicans. The bill provides a combined $20.1 billion in military …

The Week reports: The U.S. has reopened its embassy in Kyiv after having closed it three months ago, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday. “Today we are officially resuming operations at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. The Ukrainian people, with our security assistance, have defended their homeland in the face of …

Gallup reports: The steady increase in COVID-19 cases this past month is not disconcerting to Americans, as they are less worried now about the coronavirus than they were at the start of the year, and fewer are social distancing. Fewer than one in three U.S. adults (31%) say they are “very” or “somewhat worried” about getting COVID-19, statistically similar to …

CBS News reports: The House on Tuesday night approved $39.8 billion in aid to Ukraine, with just days to go before President Biden says his authority to fund military supplies to help fend off Russian aggression runs dry. The bill passed 368 to 57. It will now go to the Senate and then to Mr. Biden’s desk. Senate Majority Leader …