U.S. House

The International Monetary Fund is facing pressure to reevaluate how it imposes fees on loans it disperses to needy countries like war-torn Ukraine which is one of the fund's biggest borrowers.

The move comes as more countries will need to turn to the IMF, as food prices and inflation internationally continues to rise.

Taipei announced that it was not true that Chinese forces had approached the islands, reports Reuters.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, conducted military exercises around the island earlier this month following a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Chinese air force is sending fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military on Sunday.

The training will include air support, strikes on ground targets and small- and large-scale troop deployment, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

China said Aug. 8 it was extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict in a region crucial to global trade.

The ministry assesses that China's military exercises are extremely provocative, "whether it launches ballistic missiles or deliberately crosses the center line of the strait," reports Reuters. Some world media reports that Chinese forces have encircled Taiwan.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan has sparked a major controversy between Washington and Beijing.
China has already closed airspace in the area and ordered military exercises near Taiwan, promising serious consequences.
According to Sputnik International, Pelosi is leaving Taiwan to continue her Asia tour, as she is expected to visit South Korea and Japan.

President Joe Biden has tapped former Senator Jeff Flake to be the U.S.'s next ambassador to Turkey, the White House announced on July 13. 

President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time, charged with "incitement of insurrection" over the deadly mob siege of the U.S. Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office.

The U.S. House on Jan. 15 defied President Barack Obama by adopting Republican measures blocking his controversial immigration reform efforts, but the bill is unlikely to survive in its current form.

Lawmakers voted 236 to 191 to fund the Department of Homeland Security through September 30, the end of fiscal year 2015.