Americans Divided Over Whether to Continue Investigating Jan. 6 Riot or Turn the Page

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Harvey Wasserman is a resident of Florida and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He voted for Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections but watched in horror as hundreds of supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol Building January 6.  “My stomach was in knots,” he told VOA. “The sheer ignorance of those so-called Trump supporters was doing nothing more than showing the world the dark side of the Republican Party. It made me feel a little embarrassed to have voted for him.” More than 800 people are believed to have entered the building, temporarily halting Congress’ attempt to certify the Electoral College votes and formalize Democratmore

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Vote on Texas Bill to Make Voting Tougher Blocked by No Quorum

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Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives boycotted a legislative session late Sunday, blocking a vote on an election reform bill critics say would make it harder for Blacks and Hispanics to vote. With just over an hour before a midnight deadline to pass the measure, Republican members of the House said that Democrats had walked out to deny the House a quorum for a vote. The Texas House went into recess until 10 a.m. local time on Monday – beyond the midnight Sunday deadline to pass legislation in this session. A vote on the measure is certain to pass the Republican-dominated house. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who strongly supports the bill,more

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Texas Legislature Advances Voting Restrictions

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Majority Republicans in the Texas Senate on Sunday approved one of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S. after rushing the bill to the floor in the middle of the night.The sweeping measure, known as Senate Bill 7, passed along party lines around 6 a.m. after eight hours of questioning by Democrats, who have virtually no path to stop it from becoming law. But the bill must still clear a final vote in the Texas House in order to reach Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it.“I have grave concerns about a bill that wasmore

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US Says Iranians Should be Free to Choose Own Leaders

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The Biden administration has responded to Iran’s mass disqualification of candidates for its upcoming presidential election by saying Iranians should be free to choose their own leaders.The White House statement coincides with sharp criticism of Iran’s electoral system from Iranian rights activists and U.S. conservatives as neither free nor fair.Iran’s Guardian Council, which vets election candidates, on Tuesday approved a final list of seven contenders for the June 18 vote to replace outgoing two-term President Hassan Rouhani. The 12-member council of jurists and clerics overseen by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei disqualified 583 other people who applied to runmore

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Biden Budget Substantially Boosts Foreign Aid, Diplomacy, but Raises Defense by 1.7%

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U.S. President Joe Biden sent his first formal budget request to Congress on Friday afternoon, detailing a proposal to spend nearly $6 trillion in 2022 that includes significant increases in funding for foreign aid, diplomacy and climate change while providing a modest increase in Defense Department spending.The U.S. will still have the largest military budget in the world under the proposed $715 billion Pentagon request for 2022, but the relatively small 1.7% increase drew immediate opposition from Republican defense hawks in Congress, who called the proposal “wholly inadequate.”In a meeting with reporters Friday afternoon, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H.more

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US Senate Votes to Block Panel to Probe Capitol Riot

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Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked legislation Friday that called for the creation of a bipartisan panel to investigate the deadly January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump to prevent the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory.As expected, Republicans used a procedural tactic known as a filibuster to block the bill, which would have launched a bipartisan investigation into the insurrection. It was the first successful use of a filibuster during the Biden presidency to stop Senate legislative action.The 54-35 vote was shy of the 60 votes need to advance the measure.Because themore

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Republicans Block Senate Vote on Panel to Probe Capitol Riot

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Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked legislation Friday calling for the creation of a panel to investigate the deadly January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol aimed at preventing the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory over incumbent Donald Trump. As expected, Republicans used a procedural tactic known as a filibuster to block the bill, which would have launched a bipartisan investigation into the insurrection. It was the first successful use of a filibuster during the Biden presidency to stop Senate legislative action.The 54-35 vote was shy of the 60 votes need to advance the measure.Because the 100-member Senate is equally divided, Democrats needed 10 Republicans to vote in favor of the bill.FILE – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks onmore

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US Senate to Vote on Panel to Probe Capitol Riot

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Republicans in the U.S. Senate are expected to block legislation calling for the creation of a panel to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol aimed at preventing the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Donald Trump.A vote on the measure had been expected Thursday but was delayed by lengthy consideration of another bill.Trump implored thousands of supporters who had come to Washington for a protest rally “to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat shortly before the riot that left five people dead, including a federal police officer.Republicans are expected to use a proceduralmore

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US Tells Russia It Won’t Rejoin Open Skies Arms Control Pact

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The Biden administration informed Russia on Thursday that it will not rejoin a key arms control pact, even as the two sides prepare for a summit next month between their leaders, the State Department said.U.S. officials said Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Russians that the administration had decided not to reenter the Open Skies Treaty, which had allowed surveillance flights over military facilities in both countries before President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact. As a presidential candidate, Biden had criticized Trump’s withdrawal as “short-sighted.”Thursday’s decision means only one major arms control treaty between the nuclear powersmore

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Biden to GOP: ‘Don’t Get in the Way’ of Infrastructure Plan

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President Joe Biden on Thursday warned naysayers in Congress not to “get in the way” of his big infrastructure plans as the White House panned a counteroffer from Republican senators to tap unused COVID-19 relief for a more modest investment in roads, highways and other traditional public works projects.After touring a manufacturing technology center at a community college in Cleveland, Biden held up a card with the names of Republican lawmakers who had rejected his coronavirus aid bill in Washington but later promoted its assistance when they were back home in front of voters. He warned them not to playmore

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Biden Budget to Propose $6 Trillion in 2022 Spending

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U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday will ask Congress for the authority to spend nearly $6 trillion in 2022, which would give him the resources to begin implementing an ambitious agenda of infrastructure investment and expanded social programs. However, the blueprint would also increase federal spending to a nearly unprecedented share of the U.S. economy and drive the national debt to new highs. The budget request will forecast continued increases in federal spending over the next decade, eventually rising to $8.2 trillion in 2031, according to The New York Times. Much of that increase reflects the $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan andmore

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Microsoft, Mastercard Sign on to VP Harris’ Central America Strategy

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Twelve companies and groups including Microsoft, Mastercard and Nestle’s Nespresso said Thursday that they would commit to making investments in Central America, a win for Vice President Kamala Harris as she aims to lower migration from the region into the United States. President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with leading U.S. efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Since then, Harris has taken a series of steps aimed at improving conditions and lowering migration from the region. Harris, who met with officials from these companies and groups Thursday, said economic opportunities in the region could bemore

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Palestinian Students Recount Feelings of ‘Survivor’s Guilt’

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Young Palestinians living and studying abroad say they are tied to social media with a sense of helplessness as they follow the repercussions from the most recent violence back home.“You kind of get, like, survivor’s guilt. You know, like, ‘Why is it not me that that’s happening to?’ and ‘What, like, what can I do to help these people?’ ” described Mona Salah, a law student at Bristol University in the United Kingdom.Protests broke out in early May after the Israeli Supreme Court sanctioned the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with reporters in Amman, Jordan, May 26, 2021.FILEmore

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US Senate Republicans Set to Block Capitol Riot Inquiry Panel

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Senate Republicans are ready to deploy the filibuster to block a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, shattering hopes for a bipartisan probe of the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol and reviving pressure on Democrats to do away with the procedural tactic that critics say has lost its purpose.The vote Thursday would be the first successful use of a filibuster this year to halt Senate legislative action. Most Republicans oppose the bill, which would establish a commission to investigate the attack by Donald Trump supporters over the election.  “We have a mob overtake the Capitol, and we can’t getmore

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Howard University Names College of Fine Arts for Chadwick Boseman

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While studying at Howard University, young Chadwick Boseman helped lead a student protest against plans to merge his beloved College of Fine Arts into the College of Arts and Sciences.   He failed in that goal, but 20 years later, the acclaimed actor is being posthumously honored as the namesake of Howard’s newly re-established Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.   Boseman, who graduated in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in directing, died in August at 43 of colon cancer. He rose to prominence playing a succession of Black icons in biographical films: Jackie Robinson, singer James Brown andmore

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For Native Americans, Harvard and Other Colleges Fall Short

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When Samantha Maltais steps onto Harvard’s campus this fall, she’ll become the first member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe to attend its prestigious law school. It’s a “full-circle moment” for the university and the Martha’s Vineyard tribe, she says.More than 350 years ago, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, became the first Native American to graduate from the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university — the product of its 1650 charter calling for the education of “English and Indian youth of this country.””Coming from a tribal community in its backyard, I’m hyper aware of Harvard’s impact,” said Maltais, the 24-year-old daughter of hermore

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Blinken Works to Build More Lasting Bridges as Israeli Palestinian Cease-fire Takes Hold

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Antony Blinken has wrapped up his first visit as U.S. secretary of state to the Middle East, where he aimed to shore up the Gaza cease-fire. He also sought to cement relationships and ensure the delivery of aid after a violent flare-up between Israel and Hamas that killed more than 250 people, most of them Palestinians. For VOA, Irris Makler reports from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen …

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First Openly Gay Black Woman Delivers White House Briefing 

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Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefed reporters at the White House Wednesday, only the second Black woman to do so and the first openly gay one.   “It’s a real honor to be standing here today,” said Jean-Pierre from the White House podium, adding that she appreciates “the historic nature” of the occasion. “Being behind this podium, being in this room, being in this building, is not about one person, it’s about what we do on behalf of the American people,” she added. Jean-Pierre has briefed reporters in press gaggles aboard Air Force One when accompanying President Joe Biden on his travels, butmore

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Republicans Denounce Congresswoman Taylor Greene’s Holocaust Remarks

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U.S. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy denounced fellow Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday for likening COVID-19 masks to the badges the Nazis forced Jews to wear in the Holocaust, but did not suggest any disciplinary action against the firebrand ally to former President Donald Trump.”Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling. The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in history. The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling,” House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement.”Let me be clear: the House Republicanmore

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Lithuanian University Student Detained with Belarusian Blogger

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A law student from European Humanities University (EHU) was detained along with a Belarusian blogger after Belarus forced their commercial flight to land in Minsk rather than Lithuania.  “As a result of a cover operation by the Belarusian authorities,” student Sofia Sapega “was detained by the administration of the Investigative Committee for the city of Minsk on groundless and made-up conditions,” according to the university website.  “Sapega is a Russian citizen studying International Law and European Union Law program at EHU,” the university wrote on its website. “While returning with boyfriend [Raman Pratasevich] from vacation, Sofia was getting prepared formore

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Key Impeachment Witness Sues Pompeo Over $1.8M in Legal Fees

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Gordon Sondland, the Trump administration’s ambassador to the European Union and a pivotal witness in 2019 impeachment proceedings, sued former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday in an effort to recoup $1.8 million he racked up in legal expenses. Sondland alleges in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, that Pompeo had committed to reimburse his legal expenses after he was subpoenaed by House Democrats to testify in an impeachment case that accused then-President Donald Trump of withholding military aid from Ukraine while demanding an investigation into political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Instead, Sondland says,more

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Biden Announces US-South Korea Vaccine Partnership

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COVID-19, climate change and cooperation in high-tech industries were the focus of a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House Friday. While the leaders also discussed North Korea, prospects for a breakthrough on denuclearization appear dim. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report. …

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