With 9 December deadline fast approaching, business groups also push US government to intervene in labor dispute before holidays
Joe Biden called on Congress to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks, saying a strike would “devastate our economy”.
Biden’s move comes as business groups have warned that the looming strike would hit just before the holiday season and worsen the US’s inflation problems.
Continue reading...Fauci and Jha comments come amid campaign to encourage public to get the new coronavirus boosters as well as flu shots
White House public health officials offered cautious optimism that Americans could begin to move on from coronavirus, but cautioned that keeping immunity vaccination up-to-date and combating scientific disinformation remained key for the country to successfully emerge from the three-year Covid-19 pandemic.
“If you look at where we were a year ago at this time, when [coronavirus variant] Omicron started to surge, we were having 800,000 to 900,000 infections and 3,000 to 4,000 deaths [a day]. Today, we had less than 300 deaths. Yesterday, we had 350 deaths, and…anywhere from 27,000 to 45,000 cases” Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the US president, said.
Continue reading...Dinner highlights long-standing ties between the US and France and honors President Macron
Musician Jon Batiste is on tap to perform at Joe Biden’s first White House state dinner, this Thursday, highlighting long-standing ties between the US and France and honoring President Emmanuel Macron.
“An artist who transcends generations, Jon Batiste’s music inspires and brings people together,” said Vanessa Valdivia, a spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden, whose office is overseeing dinner preparations.
Continue reading...Bar on telecommunications products from firms including ZTE, Dahua and Hikvision are part of latest crackdown on Chinese tech giants amid spying fears
The Biden administration has banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they pose “an unacceptable risk” to US national security.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Friday it had adopted the final rules, which also bar the sale or import of equipment made by Chinese surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology, video surveillance firm Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and telecoms firm Hytera Communications Corp.
Continue reading...Hady Amr, held in high regard by Israeli and Palestinian diplomats, appointed to Washington-based role
Joe Biden has appointed a new special representative for Palestinian affairs, a significant upgrade in relations with Ramallah despite the fact the American diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, closed by Donald Trump in 2019, is yet to reopen.
The White House informed Congress on Tuesday that it had promoted Hady Amr, previously the deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, to the newly created, Washington-based role, Axios and the Times of Israel reported.
Continue reading...Legal experts raise questions about run-up to granting immunity in civil case involving murder of journalist
When the Biden administration filed a legal brief last week calling for the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to be granted sovereign immunity in a civil case involving the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it said it was strictly a legal determination that did not reflect its views on the “heinous” killing.
“In every case, we simply follow the law. And that’s what we did,” Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, later said.
Continue reading...Biden administration approved the conditional funding to keep Diablo Canyon facility online beyond it’s scheduled 2025 shutdown
California’s last nuclear plant could get a new lease on life after the Biden administration announced the approval of up to $1.1bn in conditional funding on Monday. The grant funds may offer a path to keeping the aging facility known as Diablo Canyon online beyond its scheduled shut down in 2025.
Tucked against picturesque bluffs along California’s central coast, the plant has faced a spate of controversies over the decades, for its impact on underwater ecosystems, the production of toxic waste and its proximity to earthquake fault lines. It’s planned closure by 2025 seemed an all-but-certain step in California’s ambitious journey toward a greener future.
Continue reading...Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer hail achievement after Nevada victory, while Georgia Senate heads to runoff
Analysts say victory by Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, which secured her party’s control of the Senate for two more years, will be of massive importance to Joe Biden’s plans for filling judicial vacancies.
Retaining the majority in the chamber gives the president the opportunity to keep getting his picks confirmed, something for which the incumbent senator was a key ally even before the midterms.
Continue reading...The R&B superstar, who has lost numerous family members to the disease, appeared with first lady Jill Biden to announce program
The Biden administration’s initiative to spur the prevention and treatment of cancer got a dose of celebrity support on Monday when singer Mary J Blige joined Jill Biden and the American Cancer Society (ACA) to announce national meetings on breast and cervical cancer.
The ACA pledged to convene the events after US president Joe Biden and the first lady resurrected the “cancer moonshot” initiative this year. The program provides more money for research to, as Jill Biden said, “Help us end cancer as we know it. For good.”
Continue reading...Federal appeals court temporarily halts Biden’s cancellation of student debt after motion brought by six Republican-led states
The Biden administration is urging student loan borrowers to continue applying for debt relief despite a federal appeals court order late on Friday that temporarily halted this program.
“[This] temporary order does not prevent borrowers from applying for student debt relief,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement following the eighth circuit court of appeals’ temporary stay.
Continue reading...Program has been paused as the court considers a motion filed by six Republican-led states
Joe Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in federal student loans has been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court as it considers a motion from six Republican-led states to block the program.
The eighth circuit court of appeals issued the temporary stay on Friday, ordering the Biden administration not to act on the program while it considers the appeal.
Continue reading...President announces release of 15m barrels of oil from strategic reserve as he fights to keep gas prices in check before midterms
Joe Biden has called on oil companies to pass on their massive profits to consumers as he announced the release of 15m barrels of oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve.
Biden is fighting to keep gas prices in check ahead of November’s midterms. He blamed Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for the global spike in oil prices and said his administration was doing all it could to keep prices in check.
Continue reading...The bipartisan group of House lawmakers investigating the January 6 insurrection has started what is expected to be its last public hearing, where lawmakers are set to focus on Donald Trump’s actions during the attack.
Follow this blog for coverage of the hearing as it happens. A live video feed of the session will be embedded above.
The United States and Saudi Arabia are waging a war of words over the Opec+ oil production cut and Washington’s claim Riyadh has aligned itself with Russia.
The New York attorney general has warned Trump and his business are taking steps to undermine her lawsuit against them, and asked a judge to step in.
Social security recipients are getting a big increase in monthly payments – but only because inflation is so high.
Continue reading...FBI has surveillance footage confirming testimony of employee who spoke to investigators, Washington Post and CNN say
Donald Trump asked for boxes of records at Mar-a-Lago to be moved after receiving a government subpoena to return them, an employee of the former president reportedly told the FBI.
The Mar-a-Lago employee is cooperating with the US Department of Justice and has been interviewed multiple times by federal agents, the Washington Post said.
Continue reading...New national security strategy warns of Russia as more immediate threat and China as long-term competitor
Within a decade, the US will need to deter two major nuclear weapons powers for the first time, the Biden administration has warned, pointing to the Russian arsenal that is increasingly being brandished by Moscow and an expanding Chinese stockpile.
The president’s new national security strategy (NSS) depicts China as the most capable long-term competitor, but Russia as the more immediate, disruptive threat, pointing to its nuclear posturing over Ukraine. It warns that threat could grow as Russian forces continue to suffer defeats on the battlefield.
Continue reading...Court filing addresses ex-president’s bid to return 103 documents with classification markings to special master for review
The US justice department has asked the US supreme court to reject Donald Trump’s attempt to re-include 103 documents with classification markings in the special master review that is examining whether materials the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort are protected by privilege.
The justice department argued in a 34-page brief that the supreme court should reject the former president’s motion and keep the 103 documents out of the special master’s purview since Trump did not show he was being irreparably harmed and that his arguments about jurisdiction lacked merit.
Continue reading...Cartel curbs production by 2m barrels a day despite strong US pressure, further squeezing supplies
The Opec oil cartel and its allies have agreed to a bigger than expected cut in oil production targets despite significant pressure from the US.
The Opec+ group of oil-producing nations signed up to a cut in output of 2m barrels a day, surpassing predictions earlier in the week of cuts of 1m to 1.5m barrels, squeezing supplies in a tight market.
Continue reading...States have plans to ban gas-powered cars and the White House wants chargers along highways, but implementation is a challenge
Speaking in front of a line of the latest electric vehicles (EVs) at this month’s North American International Auto Show, President Joe Biden declared: “The great American road trip is going to be fully electrified.”
Most vehicles on the road are still gas guzzlers, but Washington is betting big on change, hoping that major federal investment will help reach a target set by the White House for 50% of new cars to be electric by 2030. But there are roadblocks – specifically when it comes to charging them all. “Range anxiety,” or how far one can travel before needing to charge, is still cited as a major deterrent for potential EV buyers.
Continue reading...Representatives seek delay in court proceeding over Khashoggi murder after news crown prince has been named prime minister
The Biden administration is seeking a 45-day delay in a court proceeding in which it has been asked by a US judge whether it believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be granted sovereign immunity in a case involving the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Representatives from the US justice department said in a legal notice filed on Friday that the department was seeking the extension after Saudi Arabia announced in a press release last week that Prince Mohammed had been named prime minister.
Continue reading...US national security adviser says: ‘Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia’
America and its allies will act “decisively” if Russia uses a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, reaffirming the Joe Biden White House’s previous response to mounting concerns that Vladimir Putin’s threats are in increased danger of being realized.
“We have communicated directly, privately and at very high levels to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia, that the US and our allies will respond decisively, and we have been clear and specific about what that will entail,” Sullivan told CBS’s Face The Nation.
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