US Bank Freezes Accounts of Afghanistan’s US Embassy

On

Diplomats of the former Afghan government who have held on to their jobs in the U.S. are grappling with a new problem: their official bank accounts have been suspended.  Two senior Afghan diplomats, who did not want to be named because the issue is under discussion with U.S. officials, confirmed to VOA that the Citibank accounts of the embassy in Washington and two Afghan consulates in the U.S. have been suspended for more than a month.  The Afghan mission in Washington does not receive funds from Kabul, because the Afghan capital now under the control of the Taliban, and itmore

Leave a comment

Biden Calls Fox News Reporter at White House a Stupid SOB

On

President Joe Biden responded to a question about inflation by calling a Fox News reporter a vulgarity.  The president was in the East Room of the White House on Monday for a meeting of his Competition Council, which is focused on changing regulations and enforcing laws to help consumers deal with high prices. Reporters in the room shouted questions after Biden’s remarks.  Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Biden about inflation, which is at a nearly 40-year high and has hurt the president’s public approval. Doocy’s network has been relentlessly critical of Biden.  Doocy called out, “Do you think inflation ismore

Leave a comment

Judges Approve Special Grand Jury in Georgia Election Probe

On

Judges have approved a request for a special grand jury by the Georgia prosecutor who’s investigating whether former President Donald Trump and others broke the law by trying to pressure Georgia officials to throw out Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.  Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last week sent a letter to county superior court Chief Judge Christopher Brasher asking him to impanel a special grand jury. Brasher issued an order Monday saying the request was considered and approved by a majority of the superior court judges.  The special grand jury is to be seated May 2 for a periodmore

Leave a comment

US Supreme Court to Hear Challenges to Race-Based College Admissions 

On

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear two cases that could determine if race can be used as a factor for college admission.  The cases, brought by the conservative group Students for Fair Admissions, targets Harvard, the country’s oldest private school, and the University of North Carolina, one of the nation’s oldest public schools.  The group maintains Harvard discriminates by using a quota-like system that disproportionately rejects qualified Asian applicants thus violating their civil rights.  “Harvard’s mistreatment of Asian-American applicants is appalling,” the plaintiffs wrote in their brief in the Harvard case. “That Harvard engages in racialmore

Leave a comment

Afghan Students in the US Face Uncertain Future

On

Afghan students studying at universities in the U.S. through scholarship programs face a more uncertain future since the Taliban took over and many say they cannot return to their home country because of concerns for their safety.   More than 100 Afghan students came to the United States through the Fulbright program last academic year, some of them only days before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan and the U.S. embassy in Kabul was abruptly shut.   Under the terms of the Fulbright scholarship program, recipients are required to return to their home countries at the end of their academicmore

Leave a comment

Arkansas Professor Pleads Guilty to Lying About China Patents

On

A University of Arkansas professor pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about patents he had for inventions in mainland China. Simon Saw-Teong Ang pleaded guilty in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to one count from a 58-count federal indictment. Prosecutors say that 24 patents bearing Ang’s name were filed with the Beijing government but that he failed to report the patents to the university and denied having them when questioned by the FBI. The university requires disclosure of all faculty patents, which the university would own. The plea deal calls for a one-year prison sentence, but the crimemore

Leave a comment

Biden Admin Unveils Changes to Attract Foreign STEM Students

On

The Biden administration on Friday announced policy changes to attract international students specializing in science, technology, engineering and math — part of the broader effort to make the U.S. economy more competitive. The State Department will let eligible visiting students in those fields, known as STEM, complete up to 36 months of academic training, according to senior administration officials. There will also be a new initiative to connect these students with U.S. businesses. The officials insisted on anonymity to discuss the changes before their official announcement. Homeland Security will add 22 new fields of study — including cloud computing, datamore

Leave a comment

Senate Panel Moves Forward With Bill Targeting Big Tech

On

Legislation that would bar technology companies from favoring their own products in a way that undermines competitiveness moved forward Thursday after a Senate panel voted to move the bill to the Senate floor.  The American Innovation and Choice Online Act received bipartisan support in a 16-6 vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The bill targets Amazon; Alphabet, the parent company of Google; Apple; and Meta, which was formerly called Facebook.  The companies had worked strenuously to sink the bill, arguing it could disrupt their services.  Smaller tech companies that supported the bill argued it will benefit consumers through adding competition. more

Leave a comment

US Drops Case Against MIT Professor Accused of Ties to China

On

The Justice Department dropped charges Thursday against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor accused of concealing ties to the Chinese government, a further setback to a federal initiative that was set up to prevent economic espionage and theft by Beijing of trade secrets and academic research. The department revealed its decision in the case against Gang Chen in a filing in federal court in Boston, saying it could no longer meet its burden of proof. U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, said the move was “in the interests of justice” and was the result of newmore

Leave a comment

US Capitol Riot Probe Seeks Ivanka Trump’s Cooperation

On

The congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday asked former President Donald Trump’s daughter to voluntarily cooperate with its probe.  In a letter to Ivanka Trump, committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said the panel wants her to tell them what she knows about her father’s efforts to thwart congressional certification that he lost the November 2020 election. They also want to know what he was doing as his supporters rampaged through the Capitol while lawmakers were in the initial stages of certifying Democrat Joe Biden as the new president. It was not immediately knownmore

Leave a comment

Biden Draws Lines With Russian Leader Over Ukraine Moves

On

President Joe Biden ends his first year in office as tensions with Russia hit a fever pitch. He warned his Russian counterpart to choose a diplomatic resolution and to not invade neighboring Ukraine — a message his secretary of state also is pushing in Kyiv this week. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. Producer: Kimberlyn Weeks …

Leave a comment

Republican Filibuster Blocks US Voting Bill

On

Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights groups argued is vital for protecting democracy was blocked Wednesday by a Republican filibuster, a setback for President Joe Biden and his party after a raw, emotional debate. Democrats were poised to immediately pivot to voting on a Senate rules change as a way to overcome the filibuster and approve the bill with a simple majority. But the rules change was also headed toward defeat, as Biden has been unable to persuade two holdout senators in his own party, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, to change the Senatemore

Leave a comment

Biden Sums Up First Year; Ukraine Is Among Prime Topics 

On

During his first press conference of the year, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke candidly at the White House on Wednesday about the possibility of a Russian invasion in Ukraine. “My guess is he will move in — he has to do something,” Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He warned that such an invasion would be met with the harshest measures. “He has never seen sanctions like the ones I promise will be imposed if he moves,” Biden said. “What I’m concerned about is this could get out of hand,” he said on the potential confrontation between Moscow andmore

Leave a comment

Trump’s Legal Troubles Expand in Jan. 6 Probe and in New York State

On

Former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles intensified Wednesday, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he cannot use executive privilege to shield hundreds of pages of documents related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from a congressional committee empaneled to investigate its causes. The ruling, which was released by the court early Wednesday evening, came less than a day after the New York attorney general moved to compel Trump and two of his children to testify and produce documents in a fraud investigation. The ruling by the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that deniedmore

Leave a comment

Biden: Federal Reserve Should ‘Recalibrate’ Policy as Prices Rise 

On

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said it was appropriate for the Federal Reserve to recalibrate the support it provides to the U.S. economy, in light of fast-rising prices and the strength of recovery.  “Given the strength of our economy and recent price increases, it’s appropriate, as … Fed Chairman [Jerome] Powell has indicated, to recalibrate the support that is now necessary,” Biden told a news conference.  “The critical job of making sure that the elevated prices don’t become entrenched rests with the Federal Reserve, which has a dual mandate: full employment and stable prices,” the president said.  At themore

Leave a comment

Biden Confirms Harris Would Be Running Mate in 2024 

On

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris would be his running mate in the 2024 presidential election if he stood for office again. “She’s going to be my running mate,” Biden said of Harris during a press conference held to mark the first year of his presidency. In mid-December, Harris said she and Biden had not yet discussed the 2024 election, amid speculation she might not be in the running for the White House if Biden chose not to stand again. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, when asked about the possibility ofmore

Leave a comment

Biden: ‘Not There Yet’ on Easing of Tariffs on Chinese Goods 

On

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that it was too soon to make commitments on lifting U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, but that his chief trade negotiator, Katherine Tai, was working on the issue.  “I’d like to be able to be in a position where I could say they’re meeting their commitments, or more of their commitments, and be able to lift some of them, but we’re not there yet,” Biden told a news conference at the White House.  He was referring to China’s commitments under a Phase 1 trade deal signed by his predecessor, Donald Trump.  China has fallen farmore

Leave a comment

Biden Will Try to Pass ‘Build Back Better’ Elements Piecemeal

On

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he would need to shed some key elements of his signature $1.8 trillion Build Back Better legislation to get support from U.S. Senator Joe Manchin.  Biden made a big push in December to win passage in Congress of the spending bill. It would provide billions of dollars to tackle climate change along with money for universal preschool, paid family leave and other social safety nets.  However, Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia, pulled his support after citing concerns about the deficit and inflation.  “I think we can break the package up,more

Leave a comment

US Democrats’ Push for Voting Law Changes Likely to Fail

On

U.S. Democrats’ yearlong effort to overhaul the country’s voting rules comes to a head Wednesday night in the Senate, but indications are their quest likely will fail. As debate began in the politically divided 100-member chamber, there was no sign that any Republicans would support the plan, which would allow for national oversight of elections to override new voting rules enacted by 19 Republican-controlled state legislatures.  There also was no indication that two key centrist Democrats — Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin — would drop their opposition to altering the Senate legislative rules so the election law legislation could bemore

Leave a comment

Bills Target Insider Trading by Members of US Congress

On

An effort to bar members of Congress from buying and selling stock in public companies is gaining momentum in Washington after a series of revelations that dozens of lawmakers violated financial disclosure requirements, often in ways that suggested they were profiting from advance knowledge of issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.   Last week, Georgia Senator John Ossoff and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, both Democrats, introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, a proposal that would require members of Congress and their immediate families to place any stock they own into a blind trust, making it impossible for them tomore

Leave a comment

US Senators to Discuss Russia-Ukraine Tensions

On

A group of Republican U.S. senators is due to speak to reporters Wednesday in Washington about U.S. concerns of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.  The group includes Republicans from the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.  Three of those members — Senators Kevin Cramer, Roger Wicker and Rob Portman — were part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that met with Ukrainian officials this week to reinforce U.S. support for Ukraine and its defensive needs.  Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who was also on the trip, told reporters Monday after the lawmakers met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that themore

Leave a comment

Harris Still Struggling to Define Herself 1 Year Into Vice President’s Job

On

President Joe Biden put the full weight of his presidency behind voting rights action last week, heading to Capitol Hill to push Democrats to change Senate rules to pass legislation.  Vice President Kamala Harris — whom Biden tapped to take the lead on passing voting rights legislation in June — wasn’t there.  Both White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Harris aides had no clear answer when asked why the vice president hadn’t joined Biden in the meeting.  It was yet another example of the difficulty Harris has faced throughout her first year in office, as she’s struggled to definemore

Leave a comment

Rudy Giuliani Among Trump Allies Subpoenaed By Jan. 6 Panel

On

The House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas Tuesday to Rudy Giuliani and other members of Donald Trump’s post-election legal team who filed multiple lawsuits claiming election fraud that were roundly rejected by the courts but gave rise to the lie that Trump did not really lose the 2020 presidential contest.  The committee is continuing to widen its scope into Trump’s orbit, this time demanding information and testimony from Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Boris Epshteyn. All four publicly defended the president and his baseless voter fraud claims in the months after the election.   “The four individuals we’vemore

Leave a comment

Biden Faces Tepid Approval at Start of Year 2, Pandemic Year 3

On

U.S. President Joe Biden began his term under the long shadow of the January 6 Capitol riot, a grinding pandemic and an increasingly divided America. As he now rounds the one-year mark, he faces many of those same challenges – all as he tries to push through a sweeping and expensive legislative agenda. The difficulty of governing through the triple threat of a seemingly never-ending pandemic, increasing consumer prices and political polarization from Congress to city halls across America is neatly reflected in Biden’s approval ratings, which hover around 45%. Since he took office on January 20, his approval ratingsmore

Leave a comment