US President Joe Biden’s administration will launch a new program to resettle certain Afghans as refugees in the US, an administration official and two knowledgeable sources said on Sunday. The US State Department was expected to announce the setting-up of the so-called Priority Two refugee program on Monday, the three …
Read More »US COVID-19 eviction ban expires, leaving renters at risk
A pandemic-related U.S. government ban on residential evictions expired at midnight on Saturday, putting millions of American renters at risk of being forced from their homes. The expiration was a blow to President Joe Biden, who on Thursday made a last-ditch request to Congress to extend the moratorium, citing the …
Read More »WSJ: US plans sanctions campaign on Iran’s drones, guided missiles programs
The United States is reportedly planning a sanctions campaign against Iran’s defensive drones and guided missiles program, six months after the administration of Joe Biden, who had promised to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal and remove anti-Iran sanctions, assumed office. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials, said the …
Read More »First evacuation flight of Afghans lands in US: Biden
Some 200 Afghans were set to begin new lives in the United States on Friday as an airlift got underway for translators and others who risk Taliban retaliation because they worked for the US government during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, US officials said. The operation to evacuate US-affiliated Afghans …
Read More »US, Russia hold ‘professional’ arms talks despite tensions
Senior diplomats from the United States and Russia held what the State Department described as “substantive and professional” talks on arms control and other strategic issues on Wednesday despite myriad other differences that have sent relations into a tailspin. The State Department said the discussions in Geneva produced no breakthroughs …
Read More »Al-Kadhimi, Biden, agrees to end US combat mission in Iraq
US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday sealed an agreement formally ending the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021, more than 18 years after U.S. troops were sent to the country. Coupled with Biden’s withdrawal of the last American forces in …
Read More »Pentagon chief heads to Southeast Asia to rally allies against China
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is heading to Southeast Asia to “strengthen relationships” with allies as the Biden administration intensifies efforts to counter China. Austin will become the first cabinet secretary to visit Southeast Asia this week since President Joe Biden took office six months ago. “You’ll hear me talk …
Read More »Biden ‘Kept Private Email Accounts’ as VP Under Fake Names ‘Robin Ware’ & ‘Robert L. Peters’: Report
US President Joe Biden is battling accusations that he used his vice presidential position in Barack Obama’s administration to meddle into his son Hunter Biden’s business deals while the latter was a board member of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Joe Biden is being accused of using several private e-mail …
Read More »Iraqi PM Mustafa Al-Kadhimi heads to the US
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi headed to the United States accompanied by a government delegation today. A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Media Office that the visit will last for several days, during which the two parties will discuss Iraqi-American relations and issues of mutual interest. The statement quoted Al-Kadhimi …
Read More »Biden approves $100m emergency funds to resettle Afghan refugees
The US is preparing to evacuate thousands of Afghan special visa applicants who are at risk from the Taliban. US President Joe Biden has authorized up to $100m from an emergency fund to meet “unexpected urgent” refugee needs stemming from the situation in Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration visa …
Read More »US transfers Guantanamo inmate to Morocco; first under Biden
The Biden administration has transferred its first detainee out of the notorious military prison at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said. Abdul Latif Nasir, 56, will be repatriated to his home country Morocco from the offshore detention facility. Nasir had been cleared for release in 2016 after a review board determined …
Read More »Fauci: Smallpox would have there with today’s ‘false information’
US President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, has said that he thinks smallpox and polio would still be spreading in the United States if today’s “false information” was there then. “If you look at the extraordinary historic success in eradicating smallpox and eliminating polio from most of the …
Read More »Biden: American social media platforms ‘killing people’
US President Joe Biden has said that American social media companies, such as Facebook, that allow coronavirus misinformation to spread on their platforms are “killing people.” On Friday afternoon, Biden was asked during a press conference at the White House what his message is to social media platforms on the …
Read More »Biden to host Iraq’s prime minister at White House on July 26
U.S. President Joe Biden will host Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House on the 26th of July. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the visit will highlight the partnership between the two countries and advance bilateral cooperation under a 2008 agreement that governed the withdrawal of …
Read More »US to sanction Chinese officials and warn companies over Hong Kong -sources
The United States is preparing to impose sanctions on Friday on a number of Chinese officials over alleged Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, and warn international businesses operating there about deteriorating conditions, two people with knowledge of the situation said. The sources said the financial sanctions would target …
Read More »Republicans warn Biden against ending Trump-era border restriction
US Republican senators have urged President Joe Biden to keep a Trump-era border policy that allows border agents to expel migrants, without even permitting them to claim asylum, after they crossed into the country from Mexico, As the White House considers ending the restriction, known as Title 42, before the …
Read More »McConnell calls Biden voting rights speech ‘utter nonsense’
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has called US President Joe Biden’s voting rights speech as “nonsense.” “What utter nonsense. It would be laugh-out-loud funny if it wasn’t so completely and totally irresponsible,” the Kentucky Republican said on Wednesday. “This is our new president who promised to lower the temperature, bring …
Read More »Biden lambastes Trump’s ‘big lie’ in defense of voting rights
US President Joe Biden has condemned a wave of Republican-backed legislation fuelled by his predecessor Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. In a speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Biden lambasted efforts by Trump and others to sow doubt about the election months after it concluded, which have prompted GOP-led …
Read More »Pressured by allies, Biden escalates fight for voting rights
US President Joe Biden, under pressure from U.S. civil rights leaders, said on Tuesday it is a “national imperative” to pass sweeping voting rights legislation that has stalled in Congress amid Republican opposition. Numerous Republican-controlled states have approved laws that either restrict voting or change election rules following Republican former …
Read More »Aging population to hit US economy like a ‘ton of bricks’ -US commerce secretary
US President Joe Biden does not yet have enough support from fellow Democrats to secure $400 billion in spending for at-home care for the elderly and disabled that the economy desperately needs, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Monday. Raimondo, who is paying for round-the-clock care for her own 90-year-old …
Read More »