VOA News for Thursday, April 8th, 2021

VOA News for Thursday, April 8th, 2021
Thanks to gandalf.ddo.jp/ for transcribing
This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
President Joe Biden touted his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan Wednesday, hoping to summon public support to push past the Republicans lining up against the massive effort. AP's Ben Thomas reports.
"...inaction simply is not an option.”
Speaking at the White House, the president says that's because the U.S. has fallen behind other countries.
"America is no longer the leader of the world because we're not investing.”
Noting infrastructure evolves, Biden says things such as high speed Internet have become just as essential as roads and bridges.
"We need to start seeing infrastructures through its effect on the lives of working people in America.”
As for funding it through an increase in the corporate tax rate, Biden says he is not looking to punish anybody.
"... but damn it - maybe it's because I come from a middle-class neighborhood - I'm sick and tired of ordinary people being fleeced.”
Again the president says he is open to ideas but "I will not impose any tax increases on people making less than $400,000 a year.”
Ben Thomas, Washington.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo pledged Wednesday to continue the Trump administration's aggressive trade war with China, saying she will work "as aggressively as possible to protect American workers and businesses from unfair Chinese practices.”
Speaking during a White House press briefing, Raimondo said tariffs imposed during the Trump presidency and widely decried by Democrats at the time "have in fact helped save American jobs in steel and aluminum industries.”
Overall, the United States is maintaining tariffs on 66 percent of Chinese exports. Raimondo said those import taxes are needed to level the playing field for international trade.
A Pew Research Center survey taken last year found that nearly nine out of 10 American adults consider China a competitor or an enemy, rather than a partner.
This is VOA news.
The EU's drug regulator said Wednesday it had found a possible link between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and a rare clotting disorder but recommended the vaccine's continued use.
Emer Cooke is the executive director of the European Medicines Agency.
"A plausible explanation for these rare side events is that, is an immune response to the vaccine, leading to a condition similar to one seen sometimes in patients treated with heparin. It's called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.”
Most of the cases reported have occurred in women under 60 within 2 weeks of vaccination. But based on the currently available evidence, the EMA was not able to identify specific risk factors.
Experts reviewed several dozen cases that came mainly from Europe and the United Kingdom, where around 25 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Authorities said Wednesday golfer Tiger Woods was speeding when he crashed an SUV in southern California less than two months ago, leaving the superstar seriously injured. AP's Ed Donahue reports.
The speed limit of the scene of the crash outside Los Angeles is 45 miles per hour.
"Estimated speeds at the first area of impact were 84 to 87 mph. In the final estimated speed when the vehicle struck the tree was 75 mph.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva blames the crash solely on excessive speed and Woods' loss of control behind the wheel.
"There were no citations issued ....”
The sheriff says Tiger Woods did not get special treatment.
"There was no signs of impairment. Our primary concern once we obviously at the scene of the collision was his safety.”
Tiger Woods broke bones in his right leg and is in Florida recovering from multiple surgeries I'm Ed Donahue.
A lawyer for imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny says doctors have found he is suffering from two spinal hernias.
Vadim Kobzev has told the Interfax news agency Wednesday that Navalny also has a spinal protrusion and is beginning to lose sensation in his hands.
Navalny went on a hunger strike last week to protest what he called poor medical care in a Russian prison.
The 44-year-old Navalny is President Vladimir Putin's harshest critic. He was arrested in January after returning from Germany, where he was undergoing treatment for a nerve agent poisoning, which he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have denied the accusation.
The countdown to the Tokyo Olympic Games continued as the Mie prefecture leg of the torch relay began on Wednesday. The delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics are scheduled to officially open July 23rd.
Visit voanews.com for more. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news.