Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
James Risch questioned the secretary of state about an official supposedly able to mute the president – ‘Who is that person?’
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, fought back laughter on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as the Republican senator James Risch relentlessly questioned him about a rumor that someone on the White House staff “pushes the button and cuts [Joe Biden] off mid-sentence” with a wireless device.
“Somebody in the White House has authority to press the button and cut off the president’s speaking ability and sound. Who is that person?” asked Risch, who was also former lieutenant governor of Idaho.
Facebook has kept internal research secret for two years that suggests its Instagram app makes body image issues worse for teenage girls, according to a leak from the tech firm.
Joe Biden will reportedly propose a target for 70% of the world’s population to be vaccinated within the next year at a global vaccines summit he intends to convene alongside the UN general assembly in New York this month.
The US president’s target, reported by the New York Times, is in line with ambitions set jointly by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the WTO and the World Health Organization (WHO) but is more ambitious than current performance and the targets set at the G7 meeting in Cornwall chaired by the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson. The G7 agreed to donate 870m doses of Covid-19 vaccines directly, with an aim to deliver at least half by the end of 2021.
Biden administration’s options are limited and filibuster poses roadblock to federal legislation
Joe Biden and top Democrats are scrambling for a strategy to counter Republican restrictions on women’s reproductive rights amid the fallout from a Texas statute that has banned abortions in the state from as early as six weeks into pregnancy – but the options available to the administration are thin.
The conservative-dominated supreme court in a night-time ruling refused an emergency request to block the Texas law from taking effect, in a decision that amounted to a crushing defeat for reproductive rights and threatened major ramifications in other states nationwide.
Joe Biden held a virtual meeting today with business, university and healthcare leaders to discuss strategies to get more Americans vaccinated against coronavirus.
The meeting included the CEOs of Kaiser Permanente, United Airlines and DESA, Inc., as well as the president of Howard University. All four have already announced vaccine requirements for their employees or students.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention said on Wednesday that pregnant women should get vaccinated after an analysis of data that showed no increased risk of miscarriage among women who received it.
The advice comes as hospitals in hot spots around the US are see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated mothers-to-be seriously ill with the virus, the Associated Press reports.
The $1tn infrastructure bill that passed the Senate takes some steps toward addressing the climate crisis and building resiliency – through environmental activists and progressive Democrats say it falls short. In California, where global heating has helped fuel extreme wildfires, Dani Anguiano reports on the devastation of the Dixie fire:
After weeks of fire, smoke and warnings, Kimberly Price’s beloved hometown had run out of time.
With wind driving the Dixie fire directly into Greenville, Price’s longtime partner, John Hunter, told her she needed to leave. Price, 58, had spent most of her life in the close-knit Sierra Nevada community. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving, but the flames were everywhere.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified the president’s earlier comments praising Andrew Cuomo’s legacy as governor.
Earlier, a reporter had asked Joe Biden to assess Cuomo’s decade-long career as governor. “I thought he’s done a hell of a job – and both on everything from access to voting to infrastructure to a whole range of things. That’s why it’s so sad,” Biden responded.
@potus responded to a specific question today about @NYGovCuomo work on infrastructure. He also made clear it was right for @NYGovCuomo to step down, reiterated his support for women who come forward, and made clear you can’t separate personal behavior from other work.
Joe Biden applauded defense secretary Lloyd Austin for taking steps to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for members of the US military starting next month.
“I strongly support Secretary Austin’s message to the Force today on the Department of Defense’s plan to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required vaccinations for our service members not later than mid-September,” the president said in a new statement.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin is seeking the president’s approval to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for all members of the US military by next month.
In a message to service members today, Austin noted that Joe Biden had asked him to consider how and when coronavirus vaccines might be added to the military’s list of mandatory vaccinations. The defense secretary has since been consulting with senior Pentagon leaders and health experts about the best timeline for the new policy.
The truth of how the bill – which is not yet finished – has come to be is a little more self-interest than national interest
The Biden administration’s infrastructure proposal is still making its way through the congressional sausage-making process but it has already been lauded as a rare victory for bipartisanship in a divided America.
Pledging to unify America after his 2020 election win, Biden and his top supporters see the roughly $1tn package not just as a chance to repair America’s tattered and torn infrastructure but also as a model for reaching across the US’s political divide and getting things done.
Trump says it ‘will be very hard for me to endorse anyone foolish enough to vote in favor of this deal’ as session to resume at noon
Senators resumed a weekend session toward passage of a $1tn bipartisan infrastructure package on Sunday amid threats from former president Donald Trump who raged against any Republicans who support the measure.
Majority leader Chuck Schumer stressed to colleagues that they could proceed the “easy way or the hard way”, while a few Republican senators appeared determined to run out the clock for days. “We’ll keep proceeding until we get this bill done,” Schumer said.
Chuck Schumer warned that coming to a bipartisan compromise could be 'hard' as Republicans joined Democrats to advance a $1tn infrastructure bill in the US Senate, remaining in session over the weekend.
The bill represents the biggest spending in decades on American infrastructure including roads, bridges, airports and waterways, in what Joe Biden has called a 'historic investment' in public works.
Members vote 67-27 to move the biggest investment in US roads, bridges, airports and waterways in decades to next stage
The US Senate voted on Saturday to advance to the next step of a $1tn infrastructure package, an important procedural stage towards passing the key legislation after months of negotiations between Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators.
In a 67-27 vote demonstrating broad support, senators agreed to limit debate on the legislation, which represents the biggest investment in decades in America’s roads, bridges, airports and waterways.
The Senate convened for a rare weekend session on Saturday with the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, encouraging the authors of a bipartisan infrastructure plan to finish writing their bill.
The speaker of the US House, Nancy Pelosi, intends to appoint a second anti-Trump Republican to the select committee which will investigate the deadly 6 January assault on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.
Covid cases likely to accelerate through summer, new forecasts say
CDC director warns Americans in ‘another pivotal moment’ in pandemic
As the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony comes to an end, First Lady Jill Biden cheers from the stands. On Saturday, she is expected to attend the USA v France women’s 3x3 basketball game and the USA v Nw Zealand women’s soccer game.
First Lady @DrBiden will attend the following Olympic events in Tokyo on Saturday, per the White House:
- USA v France women's 3x3 basketball game - Various swimming races - USA v New Zealand women's soccer game
The bust of a man who was a Confederate general, Ku Klux Klan leader and slave trader was removed from the Tennessee state capitol this morning, a year after the governor said it was high time it was gone.
Nathan Bedford Forrest had been immortalized at the Tennessee capitol in Nashville since the late 1970s.
HAPPENING NOW: Crews are starting the process of removing the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the capitol. @WKRN#GMNpic.twitter.com/8HwOG3zsoY
The State Building Commission on Thursday gave approval for the relocation of the Forrest bust to the Tennessee State Museum, a final step in a process that has taken more than a year since Gov. Bill Lee first said it was time for the statue to be moved.
“It’s been a year long journey, and this is an appropriate step in that process,” Lee said prior to the Building Commission meeting Thursday morning. “It’s most important to me that we followed the process. We talked about that from the very beginning.”
The bust of Confederate Gen. and KKK leader Nathan Bedford Forrest is off its pedestal and being wheeled out of the Tennessee Capitol. pic.twitter.com/dgAg4isvxw
The president’s speech in Philadelphia decried Republicans’ assault on voting rights but critics say it offered few answers, especially on Senate rules that let the minority to block reform
Few in the audience applauding Joe Biden could have questioned the sincerity of his warning about a momentous threat to American democracy.
But they may have walked away with lingering doubts about his ability to meet the moment or answer fears that even the office of the presidency will be found politically impotent in the face of the challenge.
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was one of nine people arrested during a voting rights protest at the US Capitol on Thursday. Beatty was participating in a protest
calling for the Senate to pass a
sweeping election reform bill. The bill passed the House in March
but is being held up in the Senate
because of a Republican filibuster. Beatty and others were arrested
by Capitol police for 'demonstrating
in a prohibited area on Capitol grounds', said police
Beatty, who serves as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, shared a photo on Twitter of US Capitol police (USCP)officers putting a zip-tie on her and escorting her out of the building.
President condemns Trump’s ‘big lie’ about a stolen election but fails to mention filibuster in 20-minute Philadelphia speech
Joe Biden has made an impassioned attack on racist voting laws sweeping America, warning that “the 21st-century Jim Crow assault is real” and demanding of Republicans: “Have you no shame?”
The mayor of Miami-Dade county said there were no new fatalities confirmed today, as search-and-rescue efforts continue at the site of the Surfside condo collapse.
The mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, added that each of the families of the 11 confirmed victims have been notified.
Miami-Dade County mayor updates on building collapse:
- No new fatalities confirmed since last briefing - Families of all 11 deceased victims have been notified - 210 people working on mound - Pres. Biden to meet with families, first respondershttps://t.co/lHgwAdKz7Zpic.twitter.com/qC3naJmNti