US Senate Republicans Block Democrats’ Voting Rights Bill

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A bill aimed at thwarting restrictive new voting laws enacted in Republican-led states failed to advance in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, as Republican lawmakers blocked a Democratic effort to begin debating the measure. It was the third time this year Senate Democrats tried to advance a voting rights bill in reaction to new state balloting restrictions that were fueled by Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. Enough of the chamber’s 50 Republicans had voted to block the measure from advancing, a move that could bring new pressure on Democrats to change the Senate’s filibuster rule that requiresmore

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Caste System Seen as Diversity Issue on US Campuses

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Colby College is banning discrimination based on caste, a system of inherited social class, becoming one of the nation’s earliest colleges to do so. The private liberal arts college revised its nondiscrimination policy to add caste to its list of protections for the campus community. The efforts were led by a professor who took an interest in caste discrimination across the country and realized the college needed to recognize it as a form of discrimination, the Bangor Daily News reported. “You have to first name what it is to say: This exists, we name it, we stand against it,” saidmore

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Poll: US Global Standing Rebounds Under Biden

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Approval of U.S. leadership around the world rebounded during the first six months of President Joe Biden’s term, after a record low in the last year of President Donald Trump’s administration. This according to a new Gallup survey of people in nearly 50 countries. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report. Produced by: Barry Unger …

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Biden, Democrats Aim for Deal on Spending Package in Coming Days 

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U.S. President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers are edging toward a deal on the scope of their cornerstone economic revival package and hope to reach a compromise as soon as this week, people briefed on the negotiations said Tuesday.  Scrambling to broker an agreement, Biden met with 19 lawmakers on Tuesday in an unusually busy day of legislative negotiations. He aimed to secure what may be the signature effort of his administration, a multitrillion-dollar, two-bill legislative package that expands social safety net programs and infrastructure spending.  One source said a deal could be announced midweek if things go well; twomore

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Indictment Accuses US Congressman of Lying to FBI

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A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, accusing him of lying to the FBI and concealing information from federal agents who were investigating campaign contributions funneled to him from a Nigerian billionaire.  The U.S. attorney’s office announced that the grand jury in Los Angeles had indicted the nine-term Republican on one charge of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators. Fortenberry is expected to appear for an arraignment Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Los Angeles.  The indictment stems from an FBI investigation intomore

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