DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Israeli Weapon Damaged Iranian Air Defenses Without Being Detected, Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | Ronen Bergman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

Some Democrats are fine sending defensive weapons to Israel, but want to see some limits on offensive weapons, which could be used against civilians in Gaza. But progressive Democrats estimated that 40 to 60 members of their party may oppose it on the House floor on Saturday. The legislation would allocate $5 billion to Israel’s defense capabilities and $9 billion for “worldwide humanitarian aid,” including for civilians in Gaza. “To give Netanyahu more offensive weapons at this stage, I believe, is to condone the destruction of Gaza that we’ve seen in the last six months. But they see a “no” vote as part of a strategy to pressure Mr. Biden to condition aid and halt future offensive weapons transfers.

Persons: Biden, ’, Pramila Jayapal, Joaquin Castro, We’re, Mr, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, ”, Ro Khanna, Netanyahu, Nancy Pelosi, Mike Johnson, —, Becca Balint, “, it’s, Lloyd Doggett, Doggett, Ms, Balint, Dan Kildee, Greg Casar Organizations: Democrats, Democratic, “, Congressional Progressive Caucus, ”, Democrat, Israel, Democratic Party, Republican, Republicans, Texas Democrat, White House, Michigan Democrat Locations: Israel, Gaza, Iraq, Washington, Texas, Ukraine, Taiwan, United States, Rafah, Iran, California, Yemen, Louisiana, Vermont, U.S, American

☆ Live Updates: Muted Reactions to Israeli Strikes on Iran Hint at De-Escalation
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

☆ Bill in Congress Would Force Action on U.S. Troops’ Blast Exposure
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lawmakers from both parties plan to introduce a sweeping bill in Congress on Wednesday that would force the military for the first time to track and limit troops’ exposure to damaging shock waves from firing their own weapons. The bill, known as the Blast Overpressure Safety Act, would order the military to begin recording troops’ individual blast exposures in training and regularly give exposed troops neurocognitive tests to check for signs of possible injuries. It would also require military medical personnel to be trained in recognizing injuries from repeated blast exposure, which are currently often misdiagnosed as behavioral health issues, if they are diagnosed at all. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, plan to introduce the bill in the Senate on Wednesday. Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, plans to introduce a similar bill in the House.

Persons: Senators Elizabeth Warren, Joni Ernst, Ro Khanna Organizations: Senators, Republican Locations: Massachusetts, Iowa, California

☆ Khanna Explains Opposition to TikTok Bill While Senators Signal Openness
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Minho Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Representative Ro Khanna, the California Democrat representing Silicon Valley, laid out his case against a sweeping ban of the social media platform TikTok on Sunday after opposing legislation that overwhelmingly passed the House last week, saying the bill would be ineffective. The legislation passed the House, 352 to 65, on Wednesday, with Mr. Khanna among 50 Democrats, mostly from the progressive wing, who voted against it. He said the focus should be on enhancing data privacy laws rather than banning a social media platform. Those laws would also cover data brokers which are selling data to Chinese companies. This bill is not actually addressing that issue.”Those who opposed the bill also cited concerns about violating Americans’ right to free speech and hurting small-business owners who rely on TikTok for their marketing and sales.

Persons: Ro Khanna, Khanna, ” Locations: California, Silicon Valley

☆ Providing Both Bombs and Food, Biden Puts Himself in the Middle of Gaza’s War
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Peter Baker | Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

From the skies over Gaza these days fall American bombs and American food pallets, delivering death and life at the same time and illustrating President Biden’s elusive effort to find balance in an unbalanced Middle East war. The United States finds itself on both sides of the war in a way, arming the Israelis while trying to care for those hurt as a result. But Mr. Biden remains opposed to cutting off munitions or leveraging them to influence the fighting. “You can’t have a policy of giving aid and giving Israel the weapons to bomb the food trucks at the same time,” Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, said in an interview the day after the speech. And I think the administration needs to match the genuine empathy and moral concern that came out last night for Palestinian civilian lives with real accountability for Netanyahu and the extreme right-wing government there.”

Persons: Biden’s, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Ro Khanna, Netanyahu, ” Organizations: United, ” Locations: Gaza, United States, Israel, California

☆ A Biden Ally Wades Into the Divide Over Gaza and Emerges With a Warning
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In the run-up to Michigan’s presidential primary on Tuesday, President Biden has stayed out of the state, where he is facing a campaign from liberal activists frustrated with his enduring support for Israel in the war in Gaza. But another Democrat jumped into the contentious debate tearing at the seams of the party’s coalition. Representative Ro Khanna of California last week assumed the unofficial role as mediator between Democrats disaffected by Mr. Biden’s Middle East policies and Biden allies like himself. He met with students, Arab American leaders and progressive voters, many of whom said they were, at least for now, withholding their support from Mr. Biden. “We cannot win Michigan with status quo policy,” Mr. Khanna, who has pushed for a cease-fire, said in an interview, adding that a shift should come in “a matter of weeks, not months.”

Persons: Biden, Representative Ro Khanna, Mr, Khanna, ” Organizations: Israel, Representative Locations: Gaza, California, Biden’s, Michigan

“Why would Biden say what a good deal it is before the vote?” he asked reporters at one point, referring to himself in the third person. From the start of the clash with Mr. McCarthy’s Republicans, Mr. Biden has followed the instincts he has developed through long, hard and sometimes painful experience. The agreement crafted by Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy in the end was a whittled-down version of the original proposals on the table. Image The agreement crafted by Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy in the end was a whittled-down version of the original proposals on the table. Even as his allies and even his own White House issued incendiary statements, Mr. Biden acted like the person who has been there before.

Persons: Biden, ”, reticence, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, McCarthy’s, Mr, Jamaal Bowman, Kenny Holston, Biden’s, Ro Khanna, shrugged, —, “, Doug Mills, “ I’ve Organizations: Capitol, White, Democratic, McCarthy’s Republicans, Republicans, Republican Party, ”, New York Times, Congressional, Internal, Service, Twitter Locations: Washington, New York, reining, California

If Biden and McCarthy reach a deal, possibly as soon as Sunday, Congress could struggle to get enough votes for passage ahead of a June. Liberal Democrats, including Senator Raphael Warnock and Representative Ro Khanna, put Biden on notice that they do not support more stringent requirements to existing law. Republicans have called for saving $120 billion by expanding work requirements to qualify for food aid, monetary help for poor families and other assistance. Warnock accused Republicans of "using poor people as pawns" in negotiations, saying their proposal "presupposes that poor people are in some way morally deficient. The Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee describes the steps as "common-sense work requirements to help lift families out of poverty and revitalize the American workforce."

This is an important moment not to cede leadership in any emerging technologies," Panchanathan said. The NSF is a federal agency that funds a big portion of science and engineering, including research at universities. TIP is the agency's first new directorate in more than 30 years and would help identify research, a lot of it already funded by the NSF, that can become technology products, he said. The directorate would help build up an ecosystem of academics, corporates, venture capitalists, and others to help researchers and startups get off the ground. Panchanathan and Khanna met nearly two dozen venture capitalists, startup CEOs, and some big tech firm executives in Santa Clara, California to discuss the CHIPS and Science Act.

☆ Debt ceiling fight shows stakes of Feinstein's Senate absence, Klobuchar says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - The standoff over raising the U.S. federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling illustrates the stakes of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein's lengthy absence from Washington, fellow Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said on Sunday. We have things like the debt ceiling coming up," Klobuchar said in an interview on ABC's "This Week" program. President Joe Biden's Democrats insist on a "clean" debt ceiling bill unaccompanied by cuts. "I have a lot of respect for Senator Feinstein, but she's missed 75% of votes this year.

☆ US Senator Feinstein will step down temporarily from Judiciary Committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Feinstein, recuperating from a bout of shingles and facing calls from fellow Democrats to resign, said on Wednesday her return to the Senate has been delayed and she would temporarily step down from the Judiciary Committee. “I intend to return as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel," Feinstein said. She said "my absence could delay the important work of the Judiciary Committee" and has asked to step down until she is able to resume work. U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer will grant Feinstein's request and ask the Senate next week to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve on the committee, a Schumer spokesperson said in a statement. Feinstein, who will not run when up for reelection in 2024, is currently the oldest serving U.S. senator.

☆ US lawmakers met Fed, FDIC to discuss Silicon Valley Bank's collapse - Coindesk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers met with the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Friday to discuss the collapse of SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O), Coindesk reported on Saturday citing a source. Democratic U.S. Representative Maxine Waters held briefings with officials from the two regulators and the Treasury Department, hours after the startup-focused SVB's collapse, the report said. Separately, Representative Ro Khanna said in a tweet on Friday that he reached out to both the White House and the Treasury Department to discuss the situation with the bank. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday met with banking regulators on the collapse of SVB, as she and the White House expressed confidence in their abilities to respond to the bank failure. Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taiwan is bolstering military exchanges with U.S., President Tsai says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Sarah Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meets U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), a member of the U.S. House China Select Committee, and other members of the U.S. delegation at the presidential office in Taipei, Taiwan, in this handout photo released February 21, 2023. TAIPEI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Taiwan is bolstering its military ties with the United States and will cooperate even more closely with it and other friendly nations to deal with "authoritarian expansionism", President Tsai Ing-wen told visiting U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. While the United States no longer maintains military bases in Taiwan, the two have a good military relationship that has become closer as China steps up pressure to try and force Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty. "Taiwan and the United States continue to bolster military exchanges, and going forward Taiwan will cooperate even more actively with the United States and other democratic partners to confront such global challenges as authoritarian expansionism and climate change," Tsai told the lawmakers at her office in Taipei. In August, China staged military exercises near Taiwan to express anger at then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei.

☆ Pentagon's top China official travels to Taiwan, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. Speaking earlier, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said he was "not very certain" about a report that the trip would take place. Chase would be the most senior U.S. defence official known to have visited the island since 2019. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly demanded that foreign officials not visit the democratically governed island. In 2020, a two-star Navy admiral overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region made an unannounced visit to Taiwan.

The last time the House failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot was in 1923, during a contest that took nine ballots to resolve. Possibilities include number two House Republican Steve Scalise and Representative Jim Jordan - who received 20 votes when nominated on Tuesday. But House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that Republicans have not reached out to discuss that option. Well, I am not going to surrender," Republican Representative Trent Kelly said at a news conference on Wednesday evening. Wednesday's three failed votes - following three failed votes on Tuesday - also served as a rebuke to Trump, who had urged Republicans to unite behind McCarthy.

After oil prices soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, European governments already have imposed windfall taxes on their oil industries. But most U.S. lawmakers show little appetite to reverse that trend after oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp <CVX.N. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Ro Khanna, both Democrats, are among legislators who have already introduced bills to tax excess oil company profits. Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona and Joe Manchin from West Virginia would likely oppose a windfall profits tax, dimming its prospects, congressional sources and research groups said. Administration officials conceded privately that it may be difficult to enact a federal windfall profits tax, and said no deadline has been set for a next step.

Search resuls for: "Representative Ro Khanna"

16 mentions found