US House to Vote on Higher Pandemic Relief Payments

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Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are planning to vote Monday on higher pandemic relief payments to Americans, after President Donald Trump backed down from his fight with lawmakers over the payments and signed a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package.On Sunday Trump signed the spending package, which includes $600 in stimulus payments for struggling Americans, after previously calling the bill “a disgrace.”Trump called for the stimulus payments to be boosted to $2,000 while also criticizing funding for multiple government programs in the spending bill such as foreign aid and scientific research.Trump Signs Spending Bill, Pandemic Aid PackageThemore

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US Actress Lori Loughlin Released After Prison Term in College Scam

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“Full House” actor Lori Loughlin was released from prison Monday after spending two months behind bars for paying half a million dollars in bribes to get her two daughters into college.  Loughlin was released from the federal lockup in Dublin, California, where she had been serving her sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scheme, the federal Bureau of Prisons said. Her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is serving his five-month sentence at a prison in Lompoc near Santa Barbara, California.  Loughlin and Giannulli were both initially supposed to report to prison on Nov. 19, but prosecutors andmore

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Trump Signs Spending Bill, Pandemic Aid Package

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With the clock ticking toward a potential U.S. government shutdown, President Donald Trump on Sunday signed a $2.3 trillion spending legislation, which includes $900 billion for coronavirus relief and the remainder for government spending through next September.     The president had called the bill “a disgrace” after it had been passed in the House and Senate, capping months of negotiations in which Trump was little involved.The bill was flown from Washington to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to be available if Trump decided to sign it into law.      The stand-off appeared to break when Trump hinted inmore

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Benefits for Millions Expire as Trump Fails to Sign Pandemic Aid Bill

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U.S. President Donald Trump failed to sign a critical pandemic relief and government funding package before midnight, meaning increased unemployment benefits and eviction protections expired at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.    Trump had sharply criticized the legislation earlier this week and on Saturday indicated his continued objections to it.    Trump tweeted, “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork.’”  I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop themore

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Benefits Expire as Trump Does Not Sign Pandemic Aid Bill

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U.S. President Donald Trump did not sign a critical pandemic relief and government funding package before midnight, allowing increased unemployment benefits and eviction protections to expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.Trump had sharply criticized the legislation earlier this week and indicated Saturday his continued objections to it.Trump tweeted early Saturday, “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork’.”I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billionsmore

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Trump Again Signals Objections to Pandemic Aid Bill 

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U.S. President Donald Trump indicated Saturday his continued objections to a pandemic relief and government funding package that he sharply criticized earlier this week.Trump tweeted early Saturday:I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in “pork”. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) President-elect Joe Biden leaves St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church, Dec. 26, 2020, in Greenville, Del.President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill.”This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. … This bill is critical. It needs tomore

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US Spending Bill Awaits Trump’s Decision

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U.S. President Donald Trump is spending the holiday weekend at his Florida resort as both Democrats and Republicans wait to see whether he will sign a critical pandemic relief and government funding package that he sharply criticized earlier this week.The $2.3 trillion spending legislation, which includes $892 billion for coronavirus relief, has been flown from Washington to his Mar-a-Lago club to be available for him to sign into law. Trump has not specifically threatened to veto the bill, but he surprised lawmakers in both parties by labeling the legislation as a “disgrace” after it had been passed in the Housemore

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Judge Delays Execution of Only Woman on US Death Row

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A federal judge said the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only woman on federal death row, potentially setting up the Trump administration to schedule the execution after president-elect Joe Biden takes office.U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss also vacated an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons that had set Lisa Montgomery’s execution date for Jan. 12. Montgomery had previously been scheduled to be put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, this month, but Moss delayed the execution after her attorneys contracted coronavirus visiting their client and asked him tomore

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Duty-Free King Quietly Gives Away $8 Billion

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Among the celebrity philanthropists who donate extreme amounts of money to education and lifting others, Chuck Feeney’s name is not as well-known as Bloomberg, Gates or Buffett.Those billionaires — Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett — are highly recognizable names of great wealth, and their efforts are well-known.But Feeney, 89, has donated more than $8 billion in the past 38 years more quietly, espousing the slogan “Giving While Living” through his Men look at cosmetic products in a Duty Free store at the Fraport airport in Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 14, 2012.Numerous educational programs have benefited from Atlantic Philanthropies, butmore

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Republican Lawmakers Block Effort to Pass Trump’s Stimulus Demands

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Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives blocked a Democratic attempt Thursday to pass President Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 stimulus payments to millions of Americans who have been hard hit by the U.S. coronavirus pandemic.Late Tuesday, the outgoing president demanded an increase in direct payments from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples, despite broad opposition within the Republican Party.Thursday House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer sought the unanimous approval of Trump’s proposal from House members but House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy denied the approval, ending an unusual 12-minute pro forma session.Trump Vetoes Defense Spending BillBoth the Housemore

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Trump Pardons Manafort, Stone, Charles Kushner

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted full pardons to former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, sweeping away the most important convictions made under the long-running Russia election probe.Trump also issued a full pardon for Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.It was the second wave of pardons Trump has issued in two days. The announcement came just after Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season, with Jared Kushner on the Air Force One flight with him.In total, Trump issued on Wednesday full pardons to 26more

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Trump Pardons Former Campaign Chairman Manafort, Associate Roger Stone

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted full pardons to former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, sweeping away the most important convictions made under the long-running Russia election probe.Trump also issued a full pardon for Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.It was the second wave of pardons Trump has issued in two days. The announcement came just after Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season, with Jared Kushner on the Air Force One flight with him.In total, Trump issued on Wednesday full pardons to 26more

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US Immigration Changes Won’t Happen Overnight, Biden Advisers Say 

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President-elect Joe Biden’s top advisers say the incoming administration will “need time” to undo what they regard as damaging U.S. immigration and border enforcement policies implemented under President Donald Trump.In an interview with Spanish wire service EFE this week, Susan Rice, Biden’s incoming domestic policy adviser, and Jake Sullivan, his pick for national security adviser, said U.S. border policies the Trump administration put in place to deter mass migration will not disappear overnight. “We will be able to take some steps to change policies right away. Others will take time to put in place, and the situation at the border willmore

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Major Defense Bill, Strongly Backed in Congress, Draws Trump’s Veto

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U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed a $740 billion bill setting policy for the Department of Defense on Wednesday, despite its strong support in Congress, raising the possibility that the measure will fail to become law for the first time in 60 years.Trump said he vetoed the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, because it “fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions.””It is a ‘gift’ to China and Russia,” hemore

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Biden Introduces Connecticut Educator as his Education Secretary

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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden introduced Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona as his education secretary nominee on Wednesday, touting him as a strong advocate of public schools who can lead the agency through struggles to educate students safely during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.   “We can do it if we give school districts, communities and states the clear guidance and resources that aren’t already in their tight budgets,” Biden said Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware.     Biden said educating students safely “requires someone who understands the need to prevent the pandemic from further exacerbating the inequities in our education system.”  more

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For South Korea’s Graduating High Schoolers, Entrance Exam Results Bring Relief

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Twelve years of study boiled down into one eight-hour test for graduating high-school seniors — the suneung, South Korea’s college entrance exam, announced results on Wednesday.“I’m pretty satisfied with my results. I think I got what I worked for,” said Gi Tae Kim, a student who studied the liberal arts track at Daedong Taxation High School in Seoul. “Overall, I thought it was a bit easier than past tests.”Like U.S. students, many take annual aptitude and entrance exams more than once to improve their scores.“I thought that the Korean language section was alright. English was easy. The math and sciencemore

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For South Korea’s Graduating High Schoolers, Entrance Exam Results Brings Relief

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Twelve years of study boiled down into one eight-hour test for graduating high-school seniors — the suneung, South Korea’s college entrance exam, announced results on Wednesday.“I’m pretty satisfied with my results. I think I got what I worked for,” said Gi Tae Kim, a student who studied the liberal arts track at Daedong Taxation High School in Seoul. “Overall, I thought it was a bit easier than past tests.”Like U.S. students, many take annual aptitude and entrance exams more than once to improve their scores.“I thought that the Korean language section was alright. English was easy. The math and sciencemore

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Limited Funds or No English? No Problem at Community Colleges

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Community colleges — sometimes seen as a lesser alternative for college students — can get many students started on a more flexible and less costly path toward a degree.These schools offer an associate’s degree in two years that is transferable to many four-year institutions for a bachelor’s degree. Once called junior colleges, they popped up in the U.S. around the turn of the 1900s.The biggest draw of community colleges is their affordability.While the average tuition at public four-year schools for the 2017-2018 academic school year was $26,261, and $46,014 at private institutions, according to the National Center for Education Statistics,more

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Trump Threatens Not to Sign COVID-19 Aid Package, Government Funding Bill

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President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday not to sign a massive year-end bill passed by lawmakers that includes a $900 billion coronavirus aid package and $1.4 trillion in annual government funding. Trump said in a video that was tweeted out Tuesday night that the bill didn’t deliver enough aid to Americans. The bill provides for a $600 payment to most Americans. The president said he is asking Congress to “increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. I am also asking Congress to get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me amore

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Trump Pardons 15, Including Republican Allies

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.Trump also commuted the sentences of five people. While it is not unusual for presidents to grant clemency on their way out the door, Trump has made clear that he has no qualms about intervening in the cases of friends and allies whom he believes have been treated unfairly. Despite speculation, though, not on the list were members of Trump’s own family, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and the presidentmore

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Major COVID-19 and Defense Spending Bills Target USAGM Powers

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Two bills approved by Congress awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature would limit the powers of Michael Pack, the president’s pick to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and four other international media organizations.    A massive spending measure for COVID-19 relief and U.S. government operations approved late Monday by Congress and a previously approved National Defense Authorization Act both include changes limiting the powers of the USAGM and its chief executive, but in different ways.  The two bills taken together could restrict Pack’s actions between now and January 20, when Democratic President-elect Joe Bidenmore

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Biden: Reversing Trump Immigration Policies Will Take Months

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President-elect Joe Biden says it will take months to roll back some of President Donald Trump’s actions on immigration, offering a slower timeline than he promised on the campaign trail and one that may rile advocates pushing for speedy action on the issue.His Tuesday comments echo those made by two of his top foreign policy advisers in an interview with Spanish wire service EFE on Monday, hitting the brakes on rolling back Trump’s restrictive asylum policies. Susan Rice, Biden’s incoming domestic policy adviser, and Jake Sullivan, his pick for national security adviser, as well as Biden himself, warned that movingmore

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Biden Addresses COVID-19 Bill, Holiday Pandemic Precautions

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President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed empathy with struggling families and applauded Congress for passing the coronavirus relief bill as the nation deals with a COVID-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday. He called out to frontline workers, scientists, researchers, clinical trial participants and those with deployed family members during the holiday season. “Our hearts are always with you — keep the faith,” he said in a year-end address from Wilmington, Delaware. Noting the ways that the pandemic has altered his own holiday celebrations, which typically include up to two dozen relatives, Biden said, “not this year.” “This season of reflectionmore

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