Alln Japan s ruling LDP Split over Calls to Reform Its Factions; Party Faces Hard Sailing toward Funds Transparency

WASHINGTON AP 鈥?President Joe Biden said Thursday the American people are really, really down after a tumultuous two ye stanley mugs ars with the聽coronavirus pandemic, volatility in聽the economy聽and now surging聽gasoline prices聽that are slamming family budgets. But he stressed that a recession was not inevitable and held out hope of giving the country a greater sense of confidence.Speaking to The Associated Press in a 30-minute Oval Office interview, the president emphasized the battered economy that he inherited and the lingering psychological scars caused by a pandemic that disrupted peoples sense of identity. He bristled at claims by Republican lawmakers that last years COVID- stanley italy 19 aid plan was fully to blame for inflation reaching a 40-year high, calling that argument bizarre. As for the overall American mindset, Biden said, People are really, really down. The need for mental health in America, it has skyrocketed, because people have seen everything upset, Biden said. Everything theyve counted on upset. But most of its the consequence of whats happened, what happened as a consequence of the COVID crisis. That pessimism has carried o stanley cup ver into the economy as record prices at the pump and persistent inflation have jeopardized Democrats ability to hold on to the House and Senate in the midterm elections. Biden addressed the warnings by economists that fighting inflation could tip United States into recession. First of all, its not inevitable, he said. Secondly, were in a stronger po Yacg Biden announces new $150 million weapons package for Ukraine

REUTERS/Amira KaraoudPeople line up outside a newly reopened career center for in-person appointments in Louisville, U.S., April 15, 2021.Reuters12:49 JST,ensp;January 31, 2023WASHINGTON Reuters The U.S. government likely awarded about $5.4 billion in COVID-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers, a federal watchdog said in a report released on Monday.The watchdog, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee PRAC , said it identified 69,323 questionable Social Security Numbers SSNs used to obtain $5.4 billion from the Small Business Administration SBA COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan COVID-19 EIDL program and Paycheck Protection Program PPP .The loans were disbursed between April 2020 and October 2022, the watchdog said in its report, which comes ahead of a scheduled Wednesday hearing by the Republican-led House of Representatives Oversight Committee on fraud in stanley termos pandemic spending.About 57,500 Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans worth $3.6 billion were disburse gourde stanley d by August 20 stanley germany 20, the report added.The United States is probing many fraud cases pegged to U.S. government assistance programs, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, unemployment insurance and Medicare. In May 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland launched a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force.Last year, the U.S. Justice Department tapped federal prosecutor Kevin Chambers to lead its efforts to investigate fraudsters who used the pandemic