The congressional panel investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 of last year is wrapping up its public hearings Thursday, pledging to present new evidence to show the scope of former president Donald Trump’s connection to the violence that day as he tried to upend his 2020 election defeat and stay in…
read moreThe Biden administration and U.S. lawmakers are pushing this week for longtime ally Saudi Arabia to face consequences for agreeing to reduce oil production. OPEC+, which includes Saudi Arabia, the 12 other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 10 other oil-exporting nations, announced last week that it would cut its oil production…
read moreThe congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is set to hold what will likely be its final public hearing on Thursday, with members pledging new revelations about former President Donald Trump’s role in the events that led up to the attack. The televised hearing, House of Representatives committee members…
read moreCarrying on a long-established tradition, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) plans to deploy teams of federal observers around the country on Election Day next month while requiring the FBI to receive high-level approval for politically sensitive investigations that might call into question the integrity of the election. At stake in the Nov. 8 congressional races…
read moreWhen voters in Jefferson County, Colorado, cast their ballots in the Nov. 8 midterm election, they will see security guards stationed outside the busiest polling centers. At an election office in Flagstaff, Arizona, voters will encounter bulletproof glass and need to press a buzzer to enter. In Tallahassee, Florida, election workers will count ballots in…
read moreA North Carolina man pleaded guilty Thursday of plotting with other members of the far-right Proud Boys to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, making him the first member of the extremist group to plead guilty to a seditious conspiracy charge. Jeremy Joseph Bertino, 43, has agreed to cooperate with…
read moreThe Supreme Court is taking up an Alabama redistricting case that could have far-reaching effects on minority voting power across the United States. The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in the latest high-court showdown over the federal Voting Rights Act, lawsuits seeking to force Alabama to create a second Black majority congressional district. About 27%…
read moreDemocratic lawmakers have unveiled a stopgap spending measure to finance the federal government through December 16, provide additional support to Ukraine and help communities respond to recent natural disasters. Both chambers of Congress must approve legislation by Friday, which is the end of the fiscal year, to prevent a partial government shutdown. It represents the…
read moreTwo Republican senators have expressed concern to the Biden administration at the growing cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang over Russia’s war in Ukraine. “We are troubled by news reports that Russia and North Korea are strengthening their relationship, which will aid [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s unjust and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Hagerty…
read moreArizona Democrats vowed Saturday to fight for women’s rights after a court reinstated a law first enacted during the Civil War that bans abortion in nearly all circumstances, looking to capitalize on an issue they hope will have a major impact on the midterm elections. Republican candidates were silent a day after the ruling, which…
read moreKey U.S. lawmakers are rebuking Iran for its human rights record in the aftermath of the death of a young woman while held in captivity by the country’s morality police for failing to properly cover her hair with a hijab. The lawmakers rebuffed claims by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in his speech Wednesday at the…
read moreSouth African President Cyril Ramaphosa made his first visit to the White House on Friday, where he and US President Joe Biden discussed global security, climate change, trade, food security and health — and African nations’ reluctance to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House. Video editor: Kim Weeks…
read moreNewly released information from the unsealed portions of the legal documents the FBI submitted justifying its reasons to secure a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate shows the Justice Department on June 24 subpoenaed the Trump Organization, demanding video from surveillance cameras located near the estate’s storage room where dozens of boxes…
read moreThe National Archives is still not certain that it has custody of all former President Donald Trump’s presidential records even after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago club, a congressional committee said in a letter Tuesday. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform revealed that staff at the National Archives on an August 24 call…
read moreOn the eve of her first day in Congress, Mary Peltola stood outside what was once the office of the late Alaska Representative Don Young, swarmed by the local and national press, and marveled at the moment. “I really hope that Don is getting a kick out of this,” Peltola told The Associated Press in…
read moreHere is a look at Native American-related news around the U.S. this week: Homeland Security Department Establishes Tribal Advisory Council The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is creating an advisory council to collaborate on homeland security matters relating to tribal nations and Indigenous communities including emergency management, law enforcement, cybersecurity, domestic terrorism, targeted violence, and…
read moreTwo months before midterm elections, U.S. President Joe Biden and other Democrats are coalescing on a strategy they hope will help them maintain their slim majority in Congress: spotlighting legislative accomplishments while politically singling out loyalists of former President Donald Trump. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports. …
read moreU.S. lawmakers are getting back to work after a monthlong summer recess as the Senate returns this week and the House of Representatives comes back into session next week. With narrow control of both chambers and some significant items already checked off President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda, Democrats are aiming to pass several key new…
read moreUS President Joe Biden used the word “democracy” dozens of times in an impassioned speech on what he sees as the dangerous junction the US faces because of Trump-backed Republicans who he says pose a threat to American democracy. And Biden made clear who he sees as responsible. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. Video…
read moreThe United States is at a dangerous junction in its battle to maintain democracy, President Joe Biden believes — and in a rousing speech from Philadelphia on Thursday night, he laid the blame at the feet of one man. “There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump…
read moreA House committee seeking financial records from former President Donald Trump has reached an agreement that ends litigation on the matter and requires an accounting firm to turn over some of the material, the panel’s leader announced Thursday. The long-running case began in April 2019, when the House Committee on Oversight and Reform subpoenaed a…
read moreA federal judge on Thursday deferred a ruling on former President Donald Trump’s request for an independent review of records seized from his Florida home by the FBI during a search last month. Trump’s lawyers last week asked U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida to appoint a special…
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