Page 27 - Joe Biden

Biden restarts immigration programme with more vetting for sponsors

The Biden administration is restarting an immigration programme that allows migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the United States, and it is including additional vetting of their US-based financial sponsors following fraud concerns. The Department of Homeland Security had suspended the programme earlier this month to investigate the concerns but indicated that an internal review found no widespread fraud among sponsors. Together with our existing rigorous vetting of potential beneficiaries seeking to travel to the United States, these new procedures for supporters have strengthened the integrity of these processes and will help protect against exploitation of beneficiaries, the agency said. The programme launched in January 2023 and is a major piece of the Biden administration's immigration policies that create or expand pathways for legal entry while restricting asylum for those who cross the border illegally. The policy is aimed at countries that send la

President Xi urges top US official to adopt 'rational' China policy

Sullivan reaffirmed President Joe Biden's commitment to prevent competition "from veering into conflict or confrontation," adding that the two nations should aim to work together

US NSA Sullivan hold talks with top Chinese military official in Beijing

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was meeting Thursday morning with a top Chinese defence official as the two countries try to strengthen communication to prevent differences over Taiwan and the South China Sea from spiralling into conflict. The meeting came one day after the White House said that a phone conversation would be arranged between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in the coming weeks. Your request to meet with me shows the value you attach to military security and the relationship between our militaries, Zhang Youxia, the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, told Sullivan in opening remarks. Sullivan noted that it is rare we have the opportunity to have this kind of exchange and underlined the need for us to responsibly manage the US-China relationship. Sullivan is on the final day of a three-day trip to China, his first as national security adviser and one aimed at keeping high-level communications open and stabilising ...

China, US to plan Biden-Xi call in coming weeks, says White House

Beijing and Washington will plan for a phone call in the coming weeks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, the White House said Wednesday after National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Sullivan's first trip to China as national security adviser was aimed at keeping high-level communications open and stabilising bilateral relations to avoid conflict. The White House statement said both sides would keep lines of communication open, including planning for a leader-level call" in the coming weeks. There was no indication the two leaders might meet in person before Biden leaves the Oval Office. The White House said the two sides also planned to hold a military theater commander telephone call in the near future. China has rapidly expanded its military, and there are concerns that Taiwan and the South China Sea are becoming flashpoints. Wang told Sullivan that Taiwan's independence poses the greatest threat to

SC denies Biden's plea to restore multibillion-dollar student debt plan

The Supreme Court on Wednesday kept on hold the latest multibillion-dollar student debt relief plan from the Biden administration, while multiple lawsuits make their way through lower courts. The justices rejected an administration request to put most of it back into effect. It was blocked by 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals. In an unsigned order, the court said it expects the appeals court to issue a fuller decision on the plan with appropriate dispatch. The Education Department is seeking to provide a faster path to loan cancellation, and reduce monthly income-based repayments from 10 per cent to 5 per cent of a borrower's discretionary income. The plan also wouldn't require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225 per cent of the federal poverty line USD 32,800 a year for a single person. Last year, the Supreme Court's conservative majority rejected an earlier plan that would have wiped away more than USD 400 billion in student loan debt. Cost estimates of the new

Harris' election would defy history. Only 1 VP been elected prez since 1836

As Vice President Kamala Harris begins her fall campaign for the White House, she can look to history and hope for better luck than others in her position who have tried the same. Since 1836, only one sitting vice president, George H.W. Bush in 1988, has been elected to the White House. Among those who tried and failed were Richard Nixon in 1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and Al Gore in 2000. All three lost in narrow elections shaped by issues ranging from war and scandal to crime and the subtleties of televised debates. But two other factors proved crucial for each vice president: whether the incumbent president was well-liked and whether the president and vice president enjoyed a productive relationship. You really do want those elements to come together, says Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. If the person the vice president is working for is popular, that means people like what he's doing and you can gain from that. And you need to .

Ukraine wants less US caution on weapons amid escalating fight with Russia

Ukraine's daring ground offensive has taken the fight to Russia, but not nearly as much as its leaders would like because, they say, the United States won't let them. The U.S. restricts the use of long-range ballistic missiles it provides to Ukraine, which wants to aim them at military targets inside Russia. Ukraine's offensive, along with a barrage of drones and missiles that Moscow launched this week, has intensified pressure on the Biden administration to ease its cautious approach to the use of Western weapons in escalating Ukrainian attacks. The Biden administration says its careful deliberations, including which advanced weapons it supplies to Ukraine and when, are necessary to avoid provoking retaliation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some analysts agree Putin would take a Ukrainian strike by an American long-range ballistic missile within Russia as an attack by the U.S. itself. But many other American and European supporters of Ukraine say the White House should see

China holds 2nd day of talks on Taiwan, fentanyl with Biden aide Sullivan

Sullivan, China's top diplomat Wang Yi and others are meeting for talks from Tuesday to Thursday as the two countries are at odds over the Middle East and Ukraine

Harris to sit down with CNN for first interview since launching prez bid

Vice President Kamala Harris is sitting down with CNN this week for her first interview since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid. The Democratic presidential nominee will be joined by her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in an interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash in Savannah, Georgia. The interview will air on Thursday. Harris' lack of access has become one of Republicans' key lines of attacks against her as she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket after Biden's July 21 announcement. The CNN interview may be an opportunity for Harris to quell criticism that she is unprepared for uncontrolled environments, but it may also carry risks as her team tries to build on momentum from the ticket shakeup and Democratic National Convention. During her three-plus years as vice president, she has done on-camera and print interviews with The Associated Press and many other outlets, often at a pace more frequent than Biden. The Trump campaign has kept a tally of the days sh

Biden pushed Gaza pier over warnings it would undercut other aid routes

President Joe Biden ordered the construction of a temporary pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza earlier this year even as some staffers for the U.S. Agency for International Development expressed concerns that the effort would be difficult to pull off and undercut the effort to persuade Israel to open more efficient land crossings to get food into the territory, according to a USAID inspector general report published Tuesday. Biden announced plans to use the temporary pier in his State of the Union address in March to hasten the delivery of aid to the Palestinian territory besieged by war between Israel and Hamas. But the $230 million military-run project known as the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system, or JLOTS, would only operate for about 20 days. Aid groups pulled out of the project by July, ending a mission plagued by repeated weather and security problems that limited how much food and other emergency supplies could get to starving Palestinians. Multiple USAID staff ..

Biden adviser meets Qatari leaders to discuss Israel-Hamas negotiations

President Joe Biden's top Middle East adviser on Tuesday held talks in Doha with senior Qatari leaders on the efforts to complete a cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas as well as Qatar's prime minister meeting this week with Iran's president, according to a US official. White House senior adviser Brett McGurk's talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani come after the prime minister's Monday visit to Tehran to meet with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian. The talks also come as cease-fire talks aimed at winning at least a pause in the war between Israel and Hamas are shifting to Doha this week after several days of intense negotiations in Cairo. A round of high-level talks ended Sunday without a final agreement. But talks continued at lower levels Monday in an effort to bridge remaining gaps. Those working-group level talks are now expected to resume Wednesday in Doha. It was not

Feds file new indictment in Trump Jan 6 case, keeping charges intact

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment Tuesday against Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election that keeps the same criminal charges but narrows the allegations against him following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents. The new indictment removes a section of the indictment that had accused Trump of trying to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to overturn his election loss, an area of conduct for which the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion last month, said that Trump was absolutely immune from prosecution. The stripped-down criminal case represents a first effort by prosecutors to comply with a Supreme Court opinion likely to result in a significant revision of the allegations against Trump over his efforts to block the peaceful transfer of power. It was filed three days ahead of a deadline for prosecutors and defense lawyers to tell the judge in the case how they wanted to proceed in ..

After Joe Biden, his Russian foe Putin-PM Modi discuss his Ukraine trip

Last Friday, PM Modi visited Ukraine after concluding his visit to Poland. He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and invited Zelensky to visit India during their talks

Democrats sue to block Georgia rules delaying election results finalisation

Georgia's Democratic Party sued Monday to block two recent rules adopted by the State Election Board that could be used by county officials who want to refuse to certify an election, potentially causing delays in finalizing the state's results. The lawsuit, filed before a state judge in Atlanta, argues the rules violate a state law that makes certification a mandatory duty. The suit asks the judge to find the rules are invalid because the State Election Board, now dominated by allies of former President Donald Trump, is exceeding its legal authority. The actions of the board alarm Democrats and voting rights activists, playing out against Georgia's background of partisan struggle over voting procedures that predates even the 2020 presidential election. It's a battle in yet another state over what had long been an administrative afterthought, state and local boards certifying results. The lawsuit says the rules invite post-election chaos, that the board is defying state law that says

Former Democratic nominee, Gabbard endorses Trump against former foe Harris

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has endorsed Donald Trump's presidential bid, furthering her shift away from the party she sought to represent four years ago and linking herself to the GOP nominee's critiques of Vice President Kamala Harris and the chaotic Afghanistan War withdrawal. Appearing Monday with Trump in Detroit, Gabbard, a National Guard veteran who served two tours of duty in the Middle East, said that the GOP nominee understands the grave responsibility that a president and commander in chief bears for every single one of our lives. The pair appeared at the National Guard Association of the United States on the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 US service members and more than 100 Afghans. Gabbard accompanied Trump earlier Monday to Arlington National Cemetery, where the former president laid wreaths in honor of three of the slain service members Sgt. Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover a

Biden-Harris pressured Meta to censor Covid content, says Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg recalled another episode in the letter, in which he alleged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned Meta about a potential Russian disinformation operation

Biden lauds PM Modi for message of peace, humanitarian aid for Ukraine

In a phone conversation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday briefed US President Joe Biden on his visit to Ukraine and reiterated India's full support for the early return of peace and stability in the eastern European country. The two leaders also discussed the ongoing situation in Bangladesh and stressed the need for early restoration of normalcy and ensuring the safety and security of minorities, especially Hindus. "We had a detailed exchange of views on various regional and global issues, including the situation in Ukraine. I reiterated India's full support for early return of peace and stability," Modi said on 'X'. "We also discussed the situation in Bangladesh and stressed on the need for early restoration of normalcy, and ensuring the safety and security of minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh," he said. An official readout said Modi briefed Biden on his recent visit to Ukraine. In the phone conversation, Prime Minister Modi and Biden reiterated their commitment

US industry looks for easing of steep Biden-Harris China tariff hikes

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with Wang in a visit aimed at keeping U.S.-China tensions in check with the November U.S. election fast approaching

US still hunts attackers who killed Americans during Afghanistan exit

President Joe Biden promised the day of the attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport that we will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay.

Iranian hackers targeted WhatsApp of staffers in Biden, Trump admins: Meta

The same Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, tried to go after the WhatsApp accounts of staffers in the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Meta Platforms said Friday. Meta said it discovered the network of hackers, who posed as tech support agents for companies including Microsoft and Google, after individuals who received the suspicious WhatsApp messages reported them. Meta's investigators linked the activity to the same network blamed for the hacking incident reported by Trump's campaign. The FBI this week said a hack by Iran of the Trump campaign and an attempted breach of the Biden-Harris campaign was part of a broader Iranian effort to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. A statement Friday from Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, said that the hackers had tried to target the WhatsApp account of individuals in the Middle East, the United States and the