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US Domestic News Roundup: Biden pleased with election turnout, says reflects quality of party’s candidates; Exclusive: As split Congress odds increase, Yellen warns of need to lift debt ceiling and more | Politics
Following is a abstract of present US home information briefs.
Biden happy with election turnout, says displays high quality of occasion’s candidates
Joe Biden mentioned on Sunday he was “extremely happy” with the turnout within the U.S. election after Democrats clinched management of the Senate, a significant victory for the president as he appears to his subsequent two years in workplace. Chatting with reporters in Cambodia forward of an East Asia Summit, Biden mentioned the turnout was a mirrored image of the standard of candidates his occasion was fielding, after Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was projected to win re-election in Nevada, narrowly beating Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.
Unique: As cut up Congress odds enhance, Yellen warns of have to elevate debt ceiling
With odds of a cut up U.S. Congress rising, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that lawmakers’ failure to lift the statutory restrict on U.S. debt posed a “enormous risk” to America’s credit standing and functioning of U.S. monetary markets. Yellen instructed Reuters in an interview in New Delhi on Friday that cooperation continues to be doable with Republicans on some points, however lifting the debt ceiling is a non-negotiable merchandise.
U.S. COVID public well being emergency to remain in place
The US will maintain in place the general public well being emergency standing of the COVID-19 pandemic, permitting thousands and thousands of People to nonetheless obtain free assessments, vaccines and coverings, two Biden administration officers mentioned on Friday. The opportunity of a winter surge in COVID instances and the necessity for extra time to transition out of the general public well being emergency to a personal market had been two components that contributed to the choice to not finish the emergency standing in January, one of many officers mentioned.
Breakdancing holds agency to its roots however readies for Paris Olympic stage
Breakdancing is able to embrace the Olympic highlight with its Video games debut lower than two years away, because the pillar of hip-hop tradition returned to its roots in New York this weekend. The Netherlands’ India Sardjoe and United States’ Victor Montalvo had been topped the Purple Bull BC One World Ultimate champions on Saturday in a celebration of breaking – as members choose to name it – in its New York dwelling, as opponents flip their focus towards Olympic qualifying in 2023.
Biden accepts resignation of prime U.S. border official Magnus
President Joe Biden has accepted the resignation of U.S. Customs and Border Safety Commissioner Christopher Magnus, the White Home mentioned in an announcement on Saturday. The assertion comes a day after U.S. media mentioned Magnus had been requested to resign or was fired in an indication of rigidity inside Biden’s administration over a file variety of migrant crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Yellen says U.S. debt ceiling hike by lame-duck Congress can be ‘nice’
The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday mentioned that the Democrats’ clinching of U.S. Senate management makes issues simpler for the Biden administration, however she would nonetheless prefer to see a debt ceiling enhance accepted earlier than year-end in Congress’s post-election “lame duck” session. Yellen instructed reporters on the sidelines of G20 summit conferences in Bali that Senate management by Democrats would ease the trail for approving nominations and different legislative actions.
U.S. seeks 15 years for Elizabeth Holmes over Theranos fraud
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes ought to spend 15 years in jail and pay $800 million in restitution to buyers defrauded within the blood testing start-up, U.S. prosecutors really useful late on Friday. The Division of Justice suggestion, made in a court docket submitting, got here as Holmes prepares to be sentenced subsequent week.
Democrats maintain management of U.S. Senate, crush Republican ‘purple wave’ hopes
Democrats held onto management of the U.S. Senate, handing a significant victory to President Joe Biden and extinguishing hopes of the “purple wave” that Republicans had anticipated main into the midterm elections. Biden – who struggled with low approval rankings forward of Tuesday’s elections, partly because of public frustration over inflation – mentioned the late Saturday final result made him sit up for the rest of his time period in workplace.
U.S. choose rejects Biden administration’s LGBT well being protections
A federal choose in Texas dominated on Friday that President Joe Biden’s administration had wrongly interpreted an Obamacare provision as barring healthcare suppliers from discriminating towards homosexual and transgender individuals. U.S. District Decide Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo dominated {that a} landmark U.S. Supreme Court docket resolution in 2020 holding {that a} legislation barring office discrimination protects homosexual and transgender workers didn’t apply to the healthcare legislation.
Election denier loses secretary of state race in Nevada
Jim Marchant, a former Nevada state assemblyman who opposed the certification of President Joe Biden’s election win within the state in 2020, was defeated in his race to turn out to be Nevada’s secretary of state, Edison Analysis projected on Saturday. Democrat Cisco Aguilar gained the secretary of state race in Nevada, defeating Marchant, in line with Edison Analysis.
(With inputs from businesses.)
World
Biden says he’s leaving Trump ‘strong hand to play,' defends his record on Afghanistan
President Biden on Monday spoke for the last time from the State Department on the state of American foreign policy and national security following his four-year term set to conclude in one week when President-elect Donald Trump will once again take up the top job.
Biden did not specifically address or name the inbound president, but he referenced the prior, and incoming, Trump administration and touted that he is leaving a “strong hand to play.”
BIDEN CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE IN CALL WITH ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU
The president listed off a number of major nations of top geopolitical importance to U.S. national security, but he also referenced the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan – which has been among the president’s most heavily criticized policy decisions and which resulted in the death of 13 American service members and roughly 140 Afghan civilians ISIS-K launched an attack on those evacuating at Abbey Gate.
“[I am] the first president in decades who’s not leaving a war in Afghanistan to his successor,” Biden said.
The president pointed to the 2011 assassination of 9/11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden, during the Obama administration and said he assessed that large numbers of American forces were no longer needed when he took up office.
“So when I took office, I had a choice – only I saw no reason to keep thousands of servicemen in Afghanistan,” he added. “In my view, it was time to end the war and bring our troops home, and we did.”
This is a developing story.
World
Boosting NATO's defence capabilities means going beyond 3% target, says Rutte
The 32 NATO allies will likely decide to increase the defence spending benchmark from the current 2% of GDP during a summit in The Hague in June.
NATO member states will have to find ways to increase joint purchases and use existing infrastructure, or face a rise in defence spending of up to 3.7%. The transatlantic military alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, told the European Parliament on Monday.
“If you do joint buying and use the NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) and everything else within NATO and the EU, then you can deduct joint buying, you can deduct innovation (from the overall 3.7% estimate),” Rutte told MEPs in Brussels.
For example, the former Dutch prime minister cited the Ukrainians, who are experimenting with new, cheaper radar systems to detect enemy missiles, as an example of how some overall defence costs could be reduced.
NATO’s 32 allies have pledged to meet the target of spending 2% of their GDP on defence, but so far, only 23 NATO members meet the threshold. Rutte has already stated that 2% will not be sufficient to ensure the alliance’s security in five years’ time.
“To be honest, 2% is not nearly enough to stay safe in the years to come. As parliamentarians, you know well that security does not come for free,” Rutte told MEPs in Brussels.
The head of the military alliance avoided referring to the 5% target that US President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for but stressed that, based on the capability requirements emerging from NATO’s internal planning process, the new target will have to be above 3%.
US President-elect Donald Trump reiterated last week that members of the military alliance should spend 5% of gross domestic product on defence – and some EU countries, such as Germany, have already rejected the call as too expensive.
“That would only be possible with massive tax increases or massive cuts to many things that are important to us,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at an election rally in the German city of Bielefeld earlier on Monday.
Last December, Rutte called on EU and Canadian citizens to make sacrifices, such as cuts to their pensions, health, and security systems, in order to boost defence spending and ensure long-term security in Europe. However, the 5% target would require hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funding, and some of the bloc’s largest economies, such as Spain, Belgium, and Italy, do not even meet the 2% target.
NATO allies are likely to decide on the new defence spending target at a summit in The Hague in June, driven by Trump’s calls for increased defence spending and fears that Russia could attack an EU member state.
World
Jackie Farry, Nirvana Associate, Veteran Tour Manager and Frances Bean Cobain’s Former Nanny, Dies at 58
Jackie Farry, an industry veteran who worked closely with Nirvana — becoming Frances Bean Cobain’s first nanny — and then was tour manager for Elliott Smith, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Lemonheads and others, died Sunday of complications from a lung disease. Farry, who had battled cancer for more than 20 years, was 58.
Farry’s industry career began at Homestead Records, where she was a receptionist for the influential indie label that was a precursor to Matador Records. She moved quickly into radio-promotion roles at Atlantic and Epic, but she quickly became a familiar and popular presence on the New York music scene and a friend to many of the bands of the era. After working with Nirvana until Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, she was briefly host of a short-lived MTV show called “Super Rock” that was intended to replace the metal show “Headbangers’ Ball.” Later in the ’90s, Farry became a tour manager for bands like the Lemonheads, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Elliott Smith, Quasi, Stereolab and Quintron.
A native of New York, Farry was raised in the controversial Synanon community before relocating to Long Island. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and her friends in the music industry rallied for her, with benefits headlined by such artists as the Breeders, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Liars and Guided by Voices.
Her longtime friend and associate Janet Billig Rich told the Hollywood Reporter, “Jackie’s love for music was matched only by her sharp wit, humor, and magnetic personality. She was a beacon for friends and strangers alike, drawing people in with her infectious energy.”
Donations in her honor can be made to LovePaws, Farry’s charity of choice.
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