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☆ Exclusive: Qatar prime minister, Taliban chief hold secret Afghan talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs. The Taliban in March 2022 barred girls from high schools and extended the ban to universities in December. ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CRISISSheikh Mohammed and Haibatullah also discussed efforts to remedy Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, the source said. The U.S. and its allies say the Taliban harbor members of al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as Qatar's foreign minister, met publicly in Kandahar with Mullah Hassan Akhund, the Taliban prime minister, on the same day he met the supreme leader.

Persons: Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Akhunzada, Joe Biden's, Sheikh Mohammed, Haibatullah, al, Mullah Hassan Akhund, Jonathan Landay, Don Durfee, Deepa Babington Organizations: Qatari, Qatar, United, The State Department, Human Rights, United Nations, Islamic, Haibatullah, Thomson Locations: Afghan, Kandahar, Thani, Kabul, United States, Washington, Qatar, U.S, Geneva, Islamic State, Afghanistan, The U.S, al Qaeda, Doha

☆ Taiwan is at the 'top of the agenda' for Biden's administration, says professor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTaiwan is at the 'top of the agenda' for Biden's administration, says professorStephen Nagy of the International Christian University says U.S. President Joe Biden's priority is "China, then Russia, and ensuring that the Indo-Pacific region … is peaceful and stable."

☆ The White House does not 'have a plan B' if lawmakers fail to raise the debt ceiling — and Biden will not solve the crisis without Congress, the Deputy Treasury Secretary says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The White House doesn't have a backup plan if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. He added that Biden will not consider using the 14th Amendment to address the crisis. Still, Democrats want Biden to prepare to go that route with a default possible in as soon as six days. "The 14th Amendment can't solve our challenges," Adeyemo said on CNN on Friday morning. And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently told Politico that the 14th Amendment is an option where "the president should absolutely have this on the table."

"Unfortunately, the White House moved backwards," McCarthy said, adding that the "socialist wing" of the Democratic Party appeared to be in control. McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the White House statement. Democratic President Biden’s proposed 2024 budget and Republicans’ ‘Limit, Save, Grow’ Act will both generate budget savings over a decade, but how they will do so is starkly different. The source also said House Republicans want to extend tax cuts passed under former President Donald Trump, which would add $3.5 trillion to the federal debt. Congressional Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling three times, with no budget cut pre-conditions, when Republican President Donald Trump was in the White House.

☆ Spain has produced enough renewable energy to power its entire country for a 9-hour work day
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

For nine hours on Tuesday, Spain was able to power itself entirely with renewable energy. Wind, solar, and water energy powered mainland Spain from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. one day last week. The record shows the expanding use of renewable energy. Renewable energy has grown in the past few years, according to Scientific American. The shift to green energy not only helps address the climate crisis by reducing emissions, it is also profitable and reduces costs.

[1/2] An American Airlines Airbus A321-200 plane takes off from Los Angeles International airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 28, 2018. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin said the partnership "substantially diminishes competition in the domestic market for air travel." Garland said the Justice Department will continue to protect competition and enforce U.S. antitrust laws across industries, including the airline industry. The judge gave the airlines 30 days to end the alliance. TD Cowen analyst Helane Becker said she believes the American JetBlue ruling "has negative implications for the JetBlue/Spirit merger."

☆ 'War is not an option', Taiwan president says amid China tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, May 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Saturday to maintain the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait amid high tensions with China, which has stepped up military pressure on the democratically governed island. Taiwan will not provoke and will not bow to Chinese pressure, Tsai said in a speech in the presidential office in Taipei marking the seventh anniversary of her governance. Neither side can unilaterally change the status quo with non-peaceful means," Tsai said. "Maintaining the status quo of peace and stability is the consensus for both the world and Taiwan." Taiwan is gearing up for a key presidential election in mid-January, with China tensions set to top the campaign agenda.

☆ The Pentagon made a $3 billion accounting blunder that could mean the US can send more arms to Ukraine, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Pentagon overvalued the cost of weapons sent to Ukraine by $3 billion, Reuters reported. Biden's administration could now send more weapons without having to get budget approval from Congress. The error was caused by the Pentagon using replacement costs to value the arms. The accounting error could enable the Department of Defense to send more weapons to Ukraine without the Biden administration needing to get budget approval from Congress, Reuters reported. Of this, just over 43 billion euros, or around $46.5 billion, was for military support.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin said the partnership "substantially diminishes competition in the domestic market for air travel." American is the largest U.S. airline by fleet size and low-cost carrier JetBlue is the sixth-largest. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The judge gave the airlines 30 days to end the alliance. TD Cowen analyst Helane Becker said she believes the American JetBlue ruling "has negative implications for the JetBlue/Spirit merger."

☆ Oil slips as debt talks pause, Fed warns of high inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. Brent and U.S. crude nonetheless notched their first weekly gains in a month, with the both benchmarks rising about 2%. "It doesn't look they are going to get the debt deal done today... the chance of a 25 basis point (rate) increase in the June meeting is rising by the day... Following reports of the paused debt ceiling negotiations and Powell's comments, U.S. stocks, Treasury yields and the dollar all moved lower. Chinese refiners maintained high runs to meet recovering domestic fuel demand and build stockpiles ahead of the summer travel season.

☆ Oil edges lower as debt talks pause, Fed warns of high inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. The less active U.S. crude contract for May , due to expire on Monday, eased 46 cents, or 0.6%, to $71.4. "It doesn't look they are going to get the debt deal done today.., the chances of a 25 basis point (rate hike) increase in the June meeting is rising by the day... Following reports of the debt ceiling negotiations and Powell's comments, U.S. stocks, Treasury yields and the dollar all moved lower. Chinese refiners maintained high runs to meet recovering domestic fuel demand and build stockpiles ahead of the summer travel season.

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told bank CEOs on Thursday that more mergers may be necessary after a series of bank failures, CNN reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The Treasury readout did not mention bank mergers, but CNN quoted sources as saying that consolidation was discussed. Yellen told Reuters in an interview in Japan last week that pressures on U.S. regional bank earnings may lead to more concentration in the sector and regulators will likely be open to such mergers. But the report that she gave a similar message directly to bank CEOs, alongside news that talks over the U.S. debt ceiling were at an impasse, had a significant impact on markets on Friday. Two-year Treasury yields initially dropped by some 11 basis points on Friday after the report, while benchmark 10-year yields fell by about five basis points.

☆ FBI misused intelligence database in 278,000 searches, court says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Zeba Siddiqui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. court found that the FBI improperly searched for information in a U.S. database of foreign intelligence 278,000 times over several years, including on Americans suspected of crimes, according to a ruling released on Friday. The decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The intelligence database stores digital and other information on individuals. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows the FBI to search without a warrant communications of foreigners abroad including their conversations with Americans. The court ruling found the FBI violated rules around the use of the database, created under Section 702 of the FISA Act with its searches.

☆ A lawsuit against DoorDash alleges what some users have long suspected: the company charges Apple users more than Android owners
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Alex Bitter | Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A proposed class-action lawsuit claims that DoorDash charges iPhone users more than Android owners. Building this trust is essential, and it's why the majority of delivery orders on our platform are placed by return customers. According to the lawsuit, "DoorDash charges the expanded range fee on iPhone users more often than Android users and charges iPhone users more for 'delivering' (likely because studies reveal iPhone users earn more)." Ross Hecox, Reid Hecox, US District Court for the District of MarylandIn other cases, iPhone users were charged a slightly higher delivery fee, according to the lawsuit. Others balked at the suit's claim that iPhone users were in a higher-income bracket and thus being charged higher fees.

☆ In New Mexico, an unlikely wildfire thinning alliance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Andrew Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Near Taos in northern New Mexico, Vicente Fernandez, a mayordomo, or forest caretaker, cut saplings and seedlings crowding a mature fir tree. In an about-face, the Forest Service is now paying local woodcutters or leñeros $300 an acre to cut these trees for personal use or sale. Some environmentalists oppose Taos County's so called Mayordomo Program, and other thinning, saying it is a waste of time, harms forests and is often a guise for logging. "The Forest Service believes in helping communities to wisely use the forests," the agency said in a statement. "We cannot fireproof forests, we can fireproof communities," said Horning, who has lived in northern New Mexico for 30 years.

☆ TikTok creators just filed a lawsuit to fight Montana's ban on the app. They say it tramples their rights.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A group of TikTok creators have filed the first lawsuit against Montana's ban on the app. — Five TikTok content creators have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Montana's first-in-the-nation ban on the video sharing app, arguing the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights. Opponents say Montana residents could easily circumvent the ban by using a virtual private network. President Joe Biden's administration initially shelved those plans, but more recently threatened to ban the app if the company's Chinese owners don't sell their stakes. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has also released another so-called "sister app" to TikTok across the globe as talks of bans have mounted, called Lemon8.

☆ Ukraine needs American-made F-16s if it's going to stop Russia's invasion once and for all, a defense expert says. NATO now seems to be giving in.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine could finally get the F-16 fighter jets it's been begging for. Still, the jets are vital for Ukraine's war efforts, defense experts told Insider, giving Kyiv the firepower it needs to bolster its current and future fleets. Ukraine sees the fighter jets as indispensable, Jones said, and it is thinking on a longer-term basis than friendly nations in the West. "The sooner we get fighters into the hands of Ukraine's combat-experienced fighter pilots, the greater Ukraine's chances of success," Deptula said. Matthew LotzThe debate over whether to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine has lasted months.

The justices in a second ruling shielded Twitter Inc from litigation seeking to apply a federal law called the Anti-Terrorism Act. This case marked the first time the Supreme Court had examined Section 230's reach. Many conservatives have said voices on the right are censored by social media companies under the guise of content moderation. Gonzalez's family argued that YouTube provided unlawful assistance to the Islamic State by recommending the militant group's content to users. In the Twitter case, the 9th Circuit did not consider whether Section 230 barred the family's lawsuit.

The court in a separate case involving Google LLC sidestepped a bid to weaken legal protections for internet firms. In the Twitter case, the 9th Circuit did not consider whether Section 230 barred the family's lawsuit. Islamic State called the Istanbul attack revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. Twitter in court papers has said that it has terminated more than 1.7 million accounts for violating rules against "threatening or promoting terrorism." The family had argued that YouTube provided unlawful assistance to the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack, by recommending the militant group's content to users.

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) in its bid to revive patents on its cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha over a legal challenge by French rival Sanofi SA (SASY.PA). Amgen sought to patent a group of antibodies that help reduce so-called "bad" cholesterol. In 2014, Amgen sued Sanofi and Regeneron for patent infringement over their rival drug Praluent, which works by a similar mechanism as Repatha. The justices said that Supreme Court precedent weighed against Amgen. President Joe Biden's administration, arguing in support of Sanofi, told the justices that Amgen had not disclosed the information needed to make to make its patents valid.

That case involved a lawsuit by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old college student from California who was fatally shot in an Islamic State attack in Paris in 2015, of a lower court's decision to throw out their lawsuit. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021 allowed it to proceed, concluding that Twitter had refused to take "meaningful steps" to prevent Islamic State's use of the platform. In the Twitter case, the 9th Circuit did not consider whether Section 230 barred the family's lawsuit. Islamic State called the Istanbul attack revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. Twitter in court papers has said that it has terminated more than 1.7 million accounts for violating rules against "threatening or promoting terrorism."

☆ Here's every country that has banned TikTok as the US threatens a nationwide ban. Montana is the first state to pass a total ban.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden's administration has supported bills introduced in Congress that would give the president greater authority to ban apps like TikTok. Last month, Montana became the first state where lawmakers approved a bill banning the app. TikTok previously pledged to challenge it if it was enacted into law, and has called the bill "censorship" and a violation of the First Amendment. The current plan is to fine app store owners like Apple and Google, along with TikTok itself, $10,000 per day the app can be accessed by users in the state. TikTok users in the state will not be punished under the current plan.

The majority of those bills specifically affect transgender people, touching on nearly every aspect of a transgender person's public life. And the vulnerability of most Republican state legislators right now is in the primary, if at all," Allen said. The bill he signed on Wednesday also adds obstacles for transgender adults and grants courts jurisdiction in child custody battles in some cases involving gender-affirming care. Demonstrators swarmed the Texas House, leading lawmakers to send a bill banning gender-affirming care back to committee. In Montana, protests contributed to the censure of transgender state Representative Zooey Zephyr, who was banned from the state House floor by Republican legislators.

[1/2] A patient prepares to take Mifepristone, the first medication in a medical abortion, at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File PhotoMay 17 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in New Orleans will hear arguments on Wednesday in a closely watched case brought by anti-abortion activists seeking to ban the abortion pill mifepristone, with potentially far-reaching impact on abortion access across the United States. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn last month's unprecedented ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas suspending mifepristone's FDA approval. Mifepristone remains available for now, following an emergency order from the U.S. Supreme Court putting Kacsmaryk's order on hold during the appeal. Whichever way the 5th Circuit panel rules, the decision is sure to be appealed, first to the full court and then to the U.S. Supreme Court.

☆ US House Republicans blast EPA refusal to appear at EV hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Republican majority said "the EPA’s excuse for not appearing before this week’s subcommittee hearing is devoid of logic" noting EPA Administrator Michael Regan's recent testimony. Last month, the EPA proposed sharp emissions cuts that it estimates would result in 60% of new vehicles by 2030 being electric and 67% by 2032. EPA said the requested witnesses had previously scheduled meetings with lawmakers and others Wednesday preventing their participation and because the proposed rules "are currently open for public comment." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not yet new proposed fuel economy standards. Last week, an auto trade group warned the EPA proposal may rely on a too rapid transition to EVs and poses significant challenges.

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