After Abductions, Nigerian Students Seek Overseas Education

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Emmanuel Benson was planning to get his diploma in horticulture and landscaping from Nigeria’s Federal College of Forestry Mechanization next year. Now, he’s not willing to risk the return to school, after he was kidnapped by bandits with dozens of others earlier this year.   “Our lives are at risk — Nigerian students, especially in Kaduna state where we are,” the 24-year-old said. As much as he wanted to complete his studies “the kidnapping and everything that is going on haven’t stopped yet … staying here anymore doesn’t benefit anybody.” Benson is among a growing group of Nigerian students seekingmore

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House Panel OKs Democrats’ $3.5T Budget Bill 

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Democrats pushed a $3.5 trillion, 10-year bill strengthening social safety net and climate programs through the House Budget Committee on Saturday, but one Democrat opposed the measure in an illustration of the challenges party leaders face in winning the near unanimity they’ll need to carry the sprawling package through Congress.  The Democratic-dominated panel, meeting virtually, approved the measure on a near party-line vote, 20-17. Passage marked a necessary but minor step for Democrats by edging the bill closer to debate by the full House. Under budget rules, the committee wasn’t allowed to significantly amend the 2,465-page measure, the product ofmore

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Republican Review Finds No Proof Arizona Election Stolen from Trump

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A Republican-backed review of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona’s largest county ended Friday without producing proof to support former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. After six months of searching for evidence of fraud, the firm hired by Republican lawmakers issued a report that experts described as riddled with errors, bias and flawed methodology. Still, even that partisan review came up with a vote tally that would not have altered the outcome, finding that Biden won by 360 more votes than the official results certified last year. The finding was an embarrassing end to a widelymore

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Experts: Biden Foreign Policy Troubles Linked to Domestic Focus

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is defending President Joe Biden’s foreign policy record as the administration faces pressure over its handling of Haitian migrants on the U.S. border, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and a nuclear submarine deal with Australia that angered France. VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine has more.  Produced by: Kim Weeks …

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Biden Won’t Shield Trump Records From House’s January 6 Inquiry

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President Joe Biden will not invoke executive privilege to shield former President Donald Trump’s records in relation to an investigation into the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.  “The president has already concluded that it would not be appropriate to assert executive privilege,” Psaki said. “And so, we will respond promptly to these questions as they arise.”  The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the deadly January 6 riot at the Capitol has subpoenaed four former members of Donald Trump’s administration, including Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon,more

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Arizona County says Cyber Ninjas Election Review Shows Biden Win

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Arizona’s most populous county has confirmed that a draft report of a partisan audit of its vote count in the 2020 presidential election declares Joe Biden as the winner. The report by Cyber Ninjas, a little known Florida-based cybersecurity company, shows Maricopa County’s result in November was correct, the county tweeted late Thursday. “The #azaudit draft report from Cyber Ninjas confirms the county’s canvass of the 2020 General Election was accurate and the candidates certified as the winners did, in fact, win,” it wrote. The conclusion, which is expected to be released publicly Friday, effectively ends the discredited Republican-led bidmore

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Democrats See Tax ‘Framework’ to Pay for Huge $3.5 Trillion Package

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The White House and congressional Democrats have agreed to a framework of options to pay for their huge emerging social and environment bill, top Democrats said Thursday. Now they face the daunting task of narrowing the menu to tax possibilities they can pass to fund President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion plan.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced the progress as Biden administration officials and Democratic congressional leaders negotiated behind the scenes. The package aims to rewrite tax and spending priorities to expand programs for Americans of all ages while uppingmore

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US House Backs Bill to Provide $1B for Israel Missile-Defense System

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for legislation to provide $1 billion to Israel to replenish its “Iron Dome” missile-defense system, just two days after the funding was removed from a broader spending bill.    The measure passed by 420 to 9, with two members voting present.    Some of the most liberal House Democrats had objected to the provision and said they would vote against the broad spending bill if it was included. That threatened the bill’s passage, with Democrats only narrowly controlling the House, because Republicans have opposed the plan to fund the federal governmentmore

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Bipartisan Police Reform Talks Collapse in US Senate

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Bipartisan talks in the U.S. Senate to reform policing that began after a spate of police killings of unarmed Black citizens in 2020 have collapsed, dealing at least a temporary setback to President Joe Biden’s vow to address police brutality.   The negotiations started nine months ago following the high-profile police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and the deaths of other Blacks that drew less attention.     Floyd was pinned under a white police officer’s knee for more than nine minutes in an incident captured on cellphone video by a bystander.more

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Disagreement Over Debts, Spending Plunge Washington Into Crisis Mode 

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The Biden administration and congressional Democrats are facing what may be the most politically fraught moment since they took unified control of Washington in January. Lawmakers are battling to avoid a potential government shutdown and a default on the national debt at the same time that Democratic infighting is endangering two pieces of legislation meant to further the party’s key priorities. The stakes, for both the U.S. economy and President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, could scarcely be higher. A combination of a few missteps or delays in passing a budget resolution and raising the amount of money that the Treasurymore

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Lawmakers Urge Justice Department to Act Against Rising Hate Crimes in US

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Two members of the U.S. Congress instrumental in the passage of anti-hate crime legislation this year are pressing the Department of Justice to step up enforcement of the measure, warning that reinstatement of pandemic-related restrictions is likely to provoke more attacks — particularly on Asian Americans.  The new law seeks to accelerate the Justice Department’s reviews of alleged hate crimes reported to federal authorities.  “As the pandemic wears on and COVID-19 variants cause states, localities, or private entities to reinstate restrictions or public safety mandates, frustration with the virus will undoubtedly resurface,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat of Hawaii, andmore

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House OKs Debt and Funding Plan, Inviting Clash With Republicans

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The U.S. House voted Tuesday night to fund the government into early December, suspend the federal debt limit, and provide disaster and refugee aid, setting up a high-stakes showdown with Republicans who oppose the package despite the prospects of a looming fiscal crisis. The Democratic-led House passed the measure by a vote of 220-211, strictly along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to falter because of overwhelming GOP opposition. The federal government faces a shutdown if funding stops on Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, midnight next Thursday. Additionally, at somemore

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Study Confirms Political Influence on Preventing COVID Spread

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People who feel strongly connected to their country are more likely to practice social distancing and mask wearing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research that looked at nearly 70 nations worldwide.  “In pretty much every country we examined around the world, people who were strongly identified [with their country] were more willing to make personal sacrifices to promote public health,” lead researcher Jay Van Bavel told VOA.  However, there’s a catch: The research also found that in the United States, someone’s political party or philosophy can affect their compliance with public health initiatives. “For example, one study that usedmore

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Senate Parliamentarian Deals Blow to Dems’ Immigration Push

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Democrats can’t use their $3.5 trillion package bolstering social and climate programs to give millions of immigrants a chance to become citizens, the Senate’s parliamentarian said late Sunday, a crushing blow to what was the party’s clearest pathway in years to attaining that long-sought goal.  The decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s nonpartisan interpreter of its rules, is a setback for President Joe Biden, congressional Democrats and their allies in the pro-immigration and progressive communities. It badly damages Democrats’ hopes of enacting — over Republican opposition — changes letting several categories of immigrants gain permanent residence and possibly citizenship.   MacDonough’s decision wasmore

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US Debt Limit Struggle Raises Specter of Catastrophic Default

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Unless Congress votes to increase the amount of money the U.S. Treasury is allowed to borrow above its current debt of $28.5 trillion, the United States will default on its financial obligations sometime in the next several weeks, experts warn. Few experts consider that likely to happen, but if it did, it could trigger an economic catastrophe with effects far beyond America’s shores. In a letter to members of Congress last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of the damage that would result if the U.S. is unable, even for a short time, to pay its bills. “A delay thatmore

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Republican Who Voted to Impeach Trump Exits 2022 Race

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Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, one of 10 US House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump in January, said Thursday he would not seek reelection, citing the “toxic” atmosphere in a party that remains enthralled by the former president. The two-term back-bencher from Ohio stressed that family considerations played a substantial role in his decision, but he acknowledged the difficult political scenario, one in which he would have had to face a Trump-endorsed primary challenger next year. “While my desire to build a fuller family life is at the heart of my decision, it is also true that the current statemore

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Biden Slams Opponents of Vaccine Mandate

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A growing number of Republicans, including state governors, have vowed to mount legal challenges against President Joe Biden’s sweeping measures to compel workers and federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has the story. …

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Lawyer Charged in Probe of Trump-Russia Investigation 

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The prosecutor tasked with examining the U.S. government’s investigation into Russian election interference charged a prominent cybersecurity lawyer on Thursday with making a false statement to the FBI.  The case against the attorney, Michael Sussmann, is just the second prosecution brought by special counsel John Durham in 2½ years of work. Yet neither case brought by Durham undoes the core finding of an earlier investigation by Robert Mueller that Russia had interfered in sweeping fashion on behalf of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and that the Trump campaign welcomed that aid. It lays bare the wide-ranging and evolving nature ofmore

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China Imposes Local Lockdowns as COVID-19 Cases Surge  

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China tightened lockdowns and increased orders for mass testing in cities along its coast Wednesday amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.Checks have been set up in toll stations around the city of Putian in Fujian province, with a dozen of them closed entirely. The nearby cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou have also restricted travel as the delta variant spreads through the region.The National Health Commission on Wednesday said an additional 50 cases had been diagnosed in various parts of Fujian, most of them in the Putian region.Since the start of the pandemic, first detected in late 2019 in themore

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California Governor Beats Back Recall Challenge

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California voters have rejected a move to unseat their governor in a recall election, a rarely used provision of direct democracy in some 20 U.S. states. Mike O’Sullivan reports that Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, faced down 46 challengers in an election where Donald Trump became an unseen player. Camera: Roy Kim     …

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Largest US Colleges Push Student Vaccines With Mandates, Prizes 

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As a new semester begins amid a resurgence of the coronavirus, 26 of the 50 largest public university campuses in the U.S. are not mandating that students be vaccinated, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.Approaches on enforcement vary widely, even among universities that do have vaccine mandates, with some offering leniency for students who opt out and others expelling those who do not comply.Administrators are emphasizing high student vaccination numbers as key to bringing some normalcy back to campus and keeping instruction in classrooms rather than online. Where mandates face political opposition, schools are relying on incentives andmore

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California Governor Newsom Beats Back Recall Challenge

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California voters have rejected a move to unseat their governor in a recall election, a rarely used provision of direct democracy in some 20 U.S. states.As the ballot count continued Wednesday, nearly two-thirds of voters had rejected the recall effort, and Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, turned back 46 challengers in an election where former President Donald Trump was an unseen player.Democrats urged a “No” vote on the recall, but Newsom said Tuesday night at a victory celebration that the result was an affirmation of his and his party’s values.“We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. Wemore

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White House Defends Top General Who Voiced Trump Concerns

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The White House on Wednesday defended the top U.S. military commander, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, against calls for his resignation following disclosures in a new book by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.  According to the book, titled “Peril,” Milley told senior military officials that any attack orders coming from former President Donald Trump in the waning days of his presidency must be cleared with him. The book also disclosed that Milley twice called China to assure Beijing that no U.S. attack was imminent. Under U.S. law, the president is the commander in chief and there ismore

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2 Women of Color to Face Off in Boston Mayoral Race

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A preliminary runoff election in the northeastern U.S. city of Boston has narrowed the field of mayoral candidates to two women of color, ensuring the city’s next elected mayor will be someone other than a white man for the first time in about 200 years. Two city councilors, Michelle Wu, who is of Taiwanese descent, and Annissa Essaibi George, a self-described Arab Polish American, won Tuesday’s runoff, defeating three other candidates that included acting Mayor Kim Janey. Wu and Essaibi George will face off in November.  Janey was the first woman and Black city resident to hold the position of actingmore

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