Page 27 - White House

White House, Google launch new virtual tour with Spanish translation

Can't come to Washington? Couldn't get a ticket to tour the White House? Don't worry. The White House, Google Maps and Google Arts & Culture launched a new virtual tour of the famous mansion on Friday, which is also National Civics Day. With a computer or smartphone, users will be able to see all of the rooms that they would have seen had they been able to go on a public tour of the building. The updated virtual tour is part of a mission by first lady Jill Biden to make the White House accessible to as many people as possible. Biden, a longtime community college professor, hopes teachers will use it to educate students about the White House and its history, said Elizabeth Alexander, her spokesperson. Not everyone can make the trip to Washington, D.C., to tour the White House, so she's bringing the White House to them, Alexander said. The tour is the first Google virtual tour of the White House to include audio captions for people with disabilities. The captions are narrated by ...

Israel has right, responsibility to go after Hamas: White House on war

Kirby added that President Biden has never stopped affirming the need for a two-state solution since assuming office. Calling it a lofty goal, he noted that the US has been working hard on that

Biden meets with new US Speaker Johnson, discusses aid for Israel, Ukraine

President Joe Biden met with the new House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House on Thursday to discuss his request for nearly $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other national security needs. Johnson, a staunch conservative allied with Donald Trump, has shown little interest in providing additional money from Congress to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden met with Johnson and Jeffries before a classified briefing for them and other congressional leaders on the assistance package, according to a White House official. Johnson, who inherited many of the same political problems that tormented past GOP leaders and challenged their tenure as speaker, had a busy first full day in office. He planned to met later with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Earlier, Johnson said prayer is appropriate as a response to the mass shootings in Maine. This is a dark time in America, Johnson said at the Capitol. He added: "Prayer is appropriat

Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for US House speaker after Emmer

House Republicans chose Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest nominee for House speaker, hours after an earlier pick, Rep. Tom Emmer, abruptly withdrew in the face of opposition from Donald Trump and hardline GOP lawmakers. Johnson of Louisiana is member of House GOP leadership, a lawyer specializing in constitutional issues who had rallied Republicans around Trump's legal effort to overturn the 2020 election results. Republicans are meeting late into the evening behind closed doors, desperate to find a way out of the chaos they created by ousting Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.

Emmer withdraws bid for US House speaker hours after winning GOP nomination

Republican Tom Emmer abruptly abandoned his bid to become House speaker Tuesday, withdrawing hours after winning the internal party nomination once it became clear he would not have enough support from GOP colleagues for the gavel. The House GOP whip, Emmer reversed course after Donald Trump objected to his nomination and hardliners in the House denied the party leader the votes he would need for the gavel. That's according to Republican sources familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. He is the third Republican to fall short, leaving the Republicans no closer to resolving the chaos they have created since ousting Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month. Emmer briskly left the building where he had been meeting privately with Republicans, and hopped into a waiting SUV. He said nothing in response to shouted questions as they drove off from the Capitol complex. Dejected Republicans retreated behind closed doors, desperately searching for a way out of the cha

US govt's assessment shows Israel not responsible for Gaza blast: WH

The United States assessed that Israel was not responsible for the attack on a Gaza hospital a day earlier, the White House said on Wednesday. The US government assesses that Israel was not responsible for an explosion that killed hundreds of civilians yesterday at the Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip, White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, overhead imagery, and open source video and images of the incident, she said. Citing intelligence reports, Watson said some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). As the President said earlier today, the explosion appears to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza -- and we are continuing to work to corroborate whether it was a failed PIJ rocke

Prez Biden's visit to focus on preventing escalation: White House

President Biden has ordered the National Security team to investigate the attack and find out who was responsible

US has no plans to send troops to Israel following attack: White House

The US has no plans to send troops to Israel, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. There is no intention, no plan, and frankly, no desire by the Israelis, he said. Kirby also said there have been ongoing conversations with Israel about the continued need for continued flow of humanitarian assistance" into Gaza. He said establishing corridors to provide safe passage out of Gaza for civilians is the right thing to do for innocent victims who are actually being held hostage as well by Hamas.

No specific information on role of Iran in latest Hamas attack: White House

The White House said Tuesday that there is no specific information about the role of Iran in the latest terrorist attack against Israel by Hamas, but it is complicit in a broad sense for funding the military wing of the militant group. We have said since the beginning that Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense because they have provided the lion's share of the funding for the military wing of Hamas. They have provided training.They have provided capabilities. They have provided support and they have had engagement and contact with Hamas over years and years, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday. All of that has played a role in contributing to what we have seen. Now, as to the question of whether Iran knew about this attack in advance or helped plan or direct this attack, we do not, as of this moment I'm standing here at the podium, have confirmation of that. We are talking to our Israeli counterparts on a daily basis about this question, he .

Biden interviewed by Special Counsel over classified documents case: WH

US President Joe Biden has been interviewed by a Special Counsel as part of a probe into classified documents found at his residence, the White House said Monday. The interview was conducted at the White House over two days on Sunday and Monday, said Ian Sams, the spokesperson of White House Counsel's Office. The President has been interviewed as part of the investigation being led by Special Counsel Robert Hur. The voluntary interview was conducted at the White House over two days, Sunday and Monday, and concluded Monday, Sams said. As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation, Sams said. He refrained from providing any other further details.

Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy: White House

The Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy, the White House has said. We've not recognised them as a governing power in Afghanistan. They want that. They want legitimacy. Then they need to meet their commitments, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday. I mean, how can you effectively govern, how can you effectively have a useful economy when basically half your workforce, all women, are prohibited from being a part of that process? So, we're going to keep holding them accountable for their commitments, he said in response to a question. Asked if this means that the US will not have any conversation with the Taliban, he replied, Of course not. We're still working to try to get our allies and partners in Afghanistan out. That takes conversation. It takes dialogue. But it's important to the United States to keep meeting our word to the people who hel

Biden hosts Zelenskyy, announces new military aid package for Ukraine

The United States will give USD 325 million in new security assistance to Ukraine, President Joe Biden has announced as he hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House and vowed to defend the war-struck country from Russian aggression. The White House meeting on Thursday was the sixth in-person meeting between the two leaders. "Mr. President, the brave people of Ukraine -- and that's not hyperbole; the people of Ukraine have shown enormous bravery and have inspired the world with their determination to defend these principles," Biden told Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House. "Together with our partners and allies, the American people are determined to see to it that we do all we can to ensure the world stands with you, and that is our overwhelming objective right now," he said, welcoming the Ukrainian leader for the third time at the White House this year. "Our regular dialogue has proved that our countries are really, truly allies and strateg

WH to announce first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention: Report

President Joe Biden is creating the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention, according to two people familiar with the plans. The office will coordinate efforts across the federal government and will offer help and guidance to states struggling with increasing gun violence, while taking the lead on implementation of the bipartisan gun legislation signed into law last year. Biden tentatively plans to announce the new effort with an event Friday at the White House, said the people, who had direct knowledge of the plans and who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. The office fulfils a key demand of gun safety activists who banded together as a coalition to endorse Biden for president in 2024, and is an effort by the White House to keep the issue front-and-centre as the president pushes for a ban on so-called "assault weapons" and urges Congress to act. "The creation of an Office of Gun Violence Preventi

We're all grateful to PM Modi for India's presidency of G20: White House

The US is grateful to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the G20 presidency and President Joe Biden returned from the leaders' summit in Delhi feeling "very positive and optimistic", a senior White House official said. Biden "came away from the G20 feeling very positive and optimistic about the direction. I mean, there was an awful lot of great work done at the G20 and we're all grateful to Prime Minister Modi for his presidency, for India's presidency of it, but also for the way the agenda was executed," National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said at a press briefing in response to a question by PTI. "It was a very, very productive couple of days," Kirby said, referring to the G20 Leaders' Summit held in Delhi on September 9 and 10 under the Indian presidency of the grouping of the world's biggest economies. Kirby addressed reporters at the New York Foreign Press Center here Monday on US priorities for the high-level 78th session

Google's Sundar Pichai joins CEOs in White House meeting on immigration

President Joe Biden's administration has requested $600 million from Congress for housing, and said it will work with cities to facilitate work permits for eligible asylum seekers

China's Apple iPhone ban appears to be retaliation, says US White House

The situation grew more muddled Wednesday, when Beijing contradicted reports about iPhone restrictions while also raising concerns about security problems with the device

Biden WH strategy for impeachment inquiry: Dismiss. Compartmentalize. Scold

On Capitol Hill, House Republicans were all-in Wednesday on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's announcement of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Down Pennsylvania Avenue, the president was holding forth at the White House on the importance of bipartisanship in fighting cancer and ignoring shouted questions about impeachment. It was a clear sign of Biden's broader reelection pitch: the idea that if he simply does his job and governs, Americans will see the results and reward him with four more years. Never mind all that pesky impeachment talk across town. Just an hour earlier, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had dismissed the inquiry as a political stunt and deflected questions about the details to the White House Counsel's Office. House Republicans? We think they should work with us on legitimate issues things that actually matter to the American people," she said. The we're-all-better-than-this attitude is central to the White House strategy for counter

Biden's team says India has not allowed media questions after meet: Cong

The Congress on Friday alleged that US President Joe Biden's team has said that despite multiple requests India has not allowed media to ask questions of him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their bilateral meeting here. President Biden is in Delhi to attend the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10. "President Biden's team says despite multiple requests India has not allowed media to ask questions of him and Prime Minister Modi after their bilateral meeting," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X. "President Biden will now take questions in Vietnam on Sept 11th from the media accompanying him. Not surprising at all. This is how democracy is done Modi-style," Ramesh said. Soon after his arrival this evening, Biden held a bilateral meeting with PM Modi at his residence. Biden and many other dignitaries from across the world are in New Delhi for the G20 Summit. India currently holds the presidency of G20.

Trump WH official Navarro convicted of contempt for defying Jan. 6 subpoena

Trump White House official Peter Navarro was convicted Thursday of contempt of Congress charges filed after he was accused of refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The verdict came after a short trial for Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican's baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost. Navarro was the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress charges after former White House adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon was convicted of two counts and was sentenced to four months behind bars, though he has been free pending appeal. Prosecutors said Navarro acted as if he were above the law when he defied a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. He was charged with two misdemeanour counts of contempt of Congress, both punishable by up to a year behind bars. A defense attorney argued Navarro didn'

Top headlines: Delhi gears up for G20 Summit, Biden set to travel India

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