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Biden plans fundraisers in San Francisco as he revs up his 2024 campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ramps up his reelection effort this week with four fundraisers in the San Francisco area, as his campaign builds up its coffers and lays strategic foundations for 2024. In the back half of June, Biden’s campaign will have more than 20 fundraisers involving the president, Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, according to a person involved in Biden’s travel plans who insisted on anonymity to discuss the schedule. More than half of the fundraisers are with the Democratic president, who will ...

New Chinese premier makes first foreign trip to Europe

BERLIN (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang has started a visit to Germany and France that comes as Europe seeks to balance concerns over economic dependence on China and about its stance toward Ukraine and Taiwan with a desire to engage Beijing on issues such as climate change. Li, on his first trip abroad since taking office, was received by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday. He and a large delegation of Chinese ministers will meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and their German counterparts on Tuesday, the seventh time the two countries have held such government ...

Amazon, Marriott vow to hire thousands of refugees

LONDON (AP) — Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe. Just ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday, more than 40 corporations say they will hire, connect to work or train a total of 250,000 refugees, with 13,680 of them getting jobs directly in those companies. “Every number is a story of an individual family who left everything, seeking safety, seeking protection and wanting to be able to rebuild as quickly as ...

King-Barr Funeral Home expands to second location

REEDSVILLE – The King-Barr Funeral Home is expanding to Reedsville. The Mifflin County business will be opening a second location at 47 Carriage House in Reedsville in early July. “Since purchasing the Barr Funeral Home in 2020, opening a second location and helping more families has ...

Pakistan proposes national budget

The Associated Press ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s cash-strapped government on Friday presented its draft for the national budget, allocating funds to fight climate change despite staggering $30 billion in losses from last summer’s devastating floods. Lawmakers are expected to approve the proposal by the end of the month, after a clause-by-clause discussion. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s government, which succeeded that of former Premier Imran Khan, has struggled with an unprecedented economic downturn since taking over last year. Meanwhile, talks with the International Monetary ...

Wis. Republicans vote to end child care program funding

The Associated Press MADISON, Wis. — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature voted early Friday to end funding for a pandemic-era child care subsidy program over the objections of Democrats and child care providers who argued that the move would be devastating for needy families and the state’s economy. The GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee, which writes the state budget, voted to kill funding around 2:30 a.m. after the start of its meeting was delayed more than 10 hours. The Child Care Counts program handed out nearly $600 million to more than 4,900 child care ...