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USA: Biden gets low ratings on economy, guns, immigration in AP-NORC Poll

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden embarks on his reelection campaign, just 33% of American adults say they approve of his handling of the economy and only 24% say national economic conditions are in good shape, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Over 100,000 Americans Died From Drug Overdoses Last Year

WASHINGTON, May 20 (NNN-XINHUA) – More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2022, according to data released this week, from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The year 2022 was the deadliest on record, for drug overdoses, which claimed the lives of an estimated 109,680 people, according to numbers posted Wednesday, by the CDC.

Overdose deaths in the United States surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The death number rose from 71,000 in 2019, to over 90,000 in 2020, and surpassed 100,000 in 2021, for the first time.

USA: Tensions in heavily GOP Tenn. county after conservative takeover reflect wider battle over elections

GALLATIN, Tenn. (AP) — Shortly after being sworn in last fall, the new majority of the Sumner County Commission in Tennessee acted to update one of its official documents. The new version said county operations would not only be orderly and efficient, but “most importantly reflective of the Judeo-Christian values inherent in the nation’s founding.”

Warring factions in Sudan agree to temporary ceasefire, say US-Saudi mediators

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sudan’s warring factions have agreed to a new short-term ceasefire, U.S. and Saudi mediators announced on Saturday, after several previous attempts to broker a truce that holds have failed.

Meeting in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces signed off on a seven-day ceasefire that is due to take effect on Monday 9:45 p.m. local time in Sudan, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement. The ceasefire could be extended if both sides agree.

USA: Lawyer who quit Trump legal team cites disagreements with Trump adviser as basis for departure

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer who quit Donald Trump’s legal team this past week attributed his decision Saturday to strategy disagreements with a close adviser to the former president.

Timothy Parlatore, who had been a key lawyer for Trump in a Justice Department special counsel investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents at his Florida estate, told CNN in an interview on Saturday that there were “certain individuals that made defending the president much harder than it needed to be.”

USA: Washington quiet as debt ceiling deadline inches closer

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - White House and Republican congressional negotiators on raising the federal $31.4 trillion debt ceiling were not expected to meet on Saturday after talks on Friday failed and as the country inched closer to the debt ceiling deadline on June 1.

U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican negotiator, said no meetings were scheduled for Saturday. Republicans leaders were "going to huddle as a team and assess" where things stood," McHenry said at the U.S. Capitol. He did not comment whether there would be more talks on Sunday.

Every U.S. president since Reagan has mishandled classified documents: report

NEW YORK, May 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump are just the latest in a four-decade-long chain of recent presidents who have mishandled classified documents during their tenure, New York Post has reported.

Every U.S. administration since President Ronald Reagan has in some form fumbled federal procedure when managing top-secret records, the report said on Wednesday, citing the testimony of National Archives officials in a closed-door hearing before a congressional committee in March.

USA: UN envoy reportedly meeting Russian official accused of war crimes for deporting Ukrainian children

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. envoy charged with trying to protect children caught in conflicts is in Moscow, where she is reported to be meeting Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, who is charged with war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine.

Human Rights Watch strongly criticized Virginia Gamba’s reported meeting with Maria Lvova-Belova, saying the Russian commissioner should be behind bars and not meeting with senior U.N. representatives.

USA: 19 inmates hurt when car hits bus in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — At least 19 inmates were left with minor injuries after a car ran a red light and crashed into a bus Friday morning in downtown Sacramento, authorities said.

The car crashed a few blocks away from Sacramento County Main Jail, the Sacramento Fire Department said in a tweet showing damage to a white bus.

Fire officials said there were 23 inmates on board and three were taken to the hospital, KCRA-TV reported. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening, officials said.

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