US Anti-Hate Crime Law Provides New Enforcement Tools, but Will It Work?

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A bill that President Joe Biden signed into law Thursday gives local and federal officials new tools and resources to combat hate crimes, while putting the spotlight on a surge in anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impetus for the new law, known as the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, was a dramatic increase in attacks on Asian Americans since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan, China, more than a year ago. Dramatic surge  Anti-Asian hate crimes in major U.S. cities and counties spiked by about 150% last year over the year before and 194% during the first quarter of 2021more

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Biden Signs Hate Crimes Measure Into Law 

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Hailing it as a rare contemporary example of bipartisan cooperation in Washington, President Joe Biden on Thursday signed legislation intended to fight anti-Asian hate crimes, which have escalated in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic.Hate and racism are “the ugly poison that has long haunted and plagued our nation,” the president said before signing the bill in the White House East Room.The law establishes a new Justice Department position to expedite the review of COVID-19-related hate crimes and provide support for local law enforcement agencies to respond to such violence. It also is intended to improve hate crime datamore

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Proposed Funding Targets US Community College Upgrades

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President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, released last month, includes $12 billion for community colleges to address technological needs, help protect the health and safety of students and faculty, and narrow funding inequities.It also calls for two years of free tuition at community colleges, one of many parts of First lady Jill Biden, third from left, speaks during a visit with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, left, to Sauk Valley Community College, in Dixon, Ill., April 19, 2021.Brown said the current infrastructure proposal would benefit community colleges that have aging buildings.“Many of them have been built in the ’60s ormore

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US Justice Department Ramps Up Investigations of Police

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In the wake of George Floyd’s death last May beneath the knee of then-police officer Derek Chauvin, Black Lives Matter protesters demanded that the Justice Department investigate the Minneapolis police department for civil rights violations.   FILE – People hold up signs, including one with an image of George Floyd, outside the courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 20, 2021, after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the death of Floyd.Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department investigated two dozen police agencies for evidence of misconduct and gross violations of Black Americans’ rights, eventually entering into court-approved agreementsmore

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Top US, Russian Diplomats Meet in Iceland to Cooperate on ‘Intersecting Interests’

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The United States says it is ready to work with Russia to advance areas where the two nations have “intersecting interests,” while continuing to defend U.S. interests and respond if Moscow acts aggressively against Washington and its allies.”There are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests — whether it is dealing with COVID-19 and the pandemic, climate change, the nuclear programs” in Iran and North Korea, or the peace process in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov metmore

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