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A $50 million push hopes to make child care a top issue in the midterm elections
National News
AP Wire

A $50 million push hopes to make child care a top issue in the midterm elections

  • By MORIAH BALINGIT - AP Education Writer
  • Updated

An advocacy group is providing support to candidates who want to expand support for child and elder care in the midterm elections. The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy plans to spend $50 million to back Democrats in congressional races. The announcement comes as the cost of child care continues to rise and as waiting lists for federal child care subsidies continue to grow. American families face a slew of costs, including surging gasoline prices driven by a war in the Middle East that is unpopular with many voters. Republicans have begun to back child care as an issue crucial to growing the workforce, but their proposals tend to be less dramatic than those offered by Democrats.

National News
AP

China positions itself as force for global stability at its annual Congress

  • By KEN MORITSUGU - Associated Press
  • Updated

China is signaling it will stay focused on technology and economic growth, even as U.S. tensions with Iran rise. On Thursday, China’s parliament approved a new five-year plan that puts advances in technology at the center. The plan backs big spending on areas like artificial intelligence and robotics. It gives less emphasis to quick consumer stimulus, and economists expect any shift in that direction to happen slowly. The plan sets a cautious climate goal tied to the size of the economy, not total emissions. Lawmakers also passed an ethnic minorities law that critics say cement a push toward assimilation.