Briefly

UNITED STATES

Biden withdraws budget chief pick

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday abandoned a plan for Neera Tanden to be his White House budget director after pushback from key senators. The nomination collapsed when centrists on both sides of the political aisle made clear they were not going to vote for Tanden because of past tweets in which she disparaged lawmakers, including some who would have been charged with voting on her confirmation. Tanden, 50, who currently heads a progressive think tank, did not have enough support in the evenly divided Senate.

IRAQ

Rockets hit air base hosting US troops

At least 10 rockets on Wednesday targeted a military base in western Iraq that hosts US-led coalition troops, the coalition and the Iraqi military said. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties. The rockets struck Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar Province, spokesman Wayne Marotto said. Later, the Iraqi military released a statement saying the attack did not cause significant losses and that security forces had found the launchpad used for the missiles.

Agencies via Xinhua