DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

[1/3] A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet ( C foreground) is seen between U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jets at Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, December 11, 2015. "Now what's important is how does Erdogan want to move into the future with Turkey. NATO member Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy $20 billion of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes. President Joe Biden's administration has said it supports the sale and has been in touch for months with Congress to win its approval. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Turkey on Tuesday to immediately finalize Sweden's accession to NATO, and rejected the suggestion that the Biden administration is linking Turkey's approval of Sweden's NATO accession to the F-16 sale.

Persons: Bektas, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, he's, Bob Menendez, we've, I've, Menendez, Joe Biden's, Biden, Washington, Sweden's, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Patricia Zengerle, Stephen Coates Organizations: Turkish Air Force, . Air Force, REUTERS, NATO, Senate Foreign Relations, Turkey, Lockheed Martin Corp, House Foreign, Thomson Locations: Adana, Turkey, Bektas WASHINGTON, Turkish, Sweden, Ankara

☆ Biden, while defending a presidential reelection bid in his 80s, says he's 'acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom' and knows 'more than the vast majority of people'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Biden defended his 2024 reelection bid during an interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle. "I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people," he said. Biden, who's now 80, would be 82 at the start of a second presidential term in 2025. Ruhle asked: "Why would a 82-year-old Joe Biden be the right person for the most important job in the world?" "I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people," he told Ruhle.

CNN —The violence that has exploded in Sudan as the country’s two top generals grapple for power has unfolded at a terrifying, breakneck speed. Hemedti uses this discourse as a bloody shirt to maintain his influence and military forces for future use,” Fareid said. Marwan Ali/APFrom a subclan of the Mahariya Rizeigat tribe, nomadic people that herded camels in Darfur, Hemedti got his start as a commander of the Janjaweed. Unlike Sudan’s former dictator, Hemedti has not faced charges from the International Criminal Court. The general’s shared sense of impunity was underlined in October 2021, when they staged a coup, arresting Hamdok and his cabinet.

☆ The Long Career Arc of Joe Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Maggie Astor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Biden was deeply involved in negotiations to authorize the invasion of Iraq. He later said he had been wrong to think President George W. Bush “would use the authority we gave him properly.”

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - British pop star Elton John urged U.S. senators on Wednesday not to ease up on the fight against HIV and AIDS, as Congress faces a September deadline for reauthorizing the multi-billion-dollar U.S. program to fight the disease. Congress must reauthorize PEPFAR for another five years before Sept. 30. REUTERS/Anna GordonA set amount has not been set for the reauthorization, but Congress typically has approved $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion for PEPFAR each year. Global AIDS Coordinator John Nkengasong told the committee PEPFAR has saved 25 million lives and created health networks that have helped fight outbreaks of Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic. "I urge my colleagues to join me in working to reauthorize PEPFAR without delay and without new mandates and directives," said Senator Jim Risch, the panel's top Republican.

☆ US to advance small F-16 equipment sale to Turkey -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. State Department could send the formal notification for the smaller sale, which includes radars and avionics, as early as Monday, the sources said. If it is cleared by Congress during the formal approval process, the package would be the first major military sale to Turkey that Congress has approved for years. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees, who have cleared the modernization package during the informal review, declined comment. The package is separate from the proposed $20 billion sale of new Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits that Turkey requested in October 2021. Such conditions are likely to anger Turkey, which has said the United States had "endless" demands relating to the sale of F-16s and that Washington's behavior wasn't fair.

☆ Biden Must Tread Rocky Path in Belfast Before Tending His Irish Roots
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Though Mr. Biden deplored I.R.A. The events became one of the most infamous episodes of the Troubles, known as Bloody Sunday. Mr. Powell said Mr. Biden had made his own contribution later on by pressing the British government to break an impasse with the European Union over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland. In doing so, he fulfilled a promise he made to Mr. Biden when the two met last fall at a summit in Indonesia, during which the prime minister vowed to resolve the issue. “It is possible that Biden could be seen as adding more pressure on the unionists,” said Katy Hayward, a professor of politics at Queen’s University in Belfast.

[1/2] Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget at the Capitol in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2022. The bill is led by Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. Under U.S. law, the chair and ranking member of the Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs committees review major weapons transfers. They often take human rights into account and at times seek to delay or block planned sales. For example, Menendez opposes the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft to Turkey for reasons including its record on human rights.

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Monday to advance legislation to repeal two decades-old authorizations for past wars in Iraq, as Congress pushed to reassert its role over deciding whether to send troops into combat. Under the Constitution, Congress, not the president, has the right to declare war. Proponents of the current bill call the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, or AUMFs, against Iraq "zombie" authorizations. They say they are outdated and inappropriate, given that the wars are long over and Iraq is now a U.S. partner. This month marked the 20th anniversary of the start of the 2003 Iraq war.

☆ 'Hotel Rwanda' figure Rusesabagina to be freed from prison -Rwanda government
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Philbert Girinema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The announcement of his release follows intense diplomacy by the United States, where Rusesabagina has permanent residency rights. "This is the result of a shared desire to reset US-Rwanda relationship," Stephanie Nyombayire, spokesperson of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, wrote on Twitter. Rusesabagina was sentenced in Sept. 2021 over his ties to an organization opposed to Kagame's rule. "If any individual benefiting from early release repeats offences of a similar nature, the commutation can be revoked and the remainder of the prison sentence will be served," Rwanda's justice ministry said. In a handwritten letter to Kagame released by the justice ministry, Nsabimana said he had apologised to all Rwandans and especially those affected by attacks by FLN fighters.

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - China is "very carefully" watching how Washington and the world respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but has not yet crossed the line of providing lethal aid to Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. "The stakes in Ukraine go well beyond Ukraine. However, he said he did not believe that China has been providing lethal aid to Moscow. "As we speak today, we have not seen them cross that line," Blinken told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, the first of four times he will testify to congressional committees this week. "The post-Cold War world is over, and there is an intense competition under way to determine what comes next," Blinken said.

☆ Republican lawmakers press Biden to send cluster bombs to Ukraine -letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Four Republican members of Congress urged U.S. President Joe Biden to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, alleging in a Tuesday letter to the White House that the administration fears doing so would be seen as an escalation by Russia. Kyiv had urged members of Congress to press the White House to approve sending the weapons. The letter criticized Biden for "reluctance to provide Ukraine the right type and amount of long-range fires and maneuver capability to create" a breakthrough against Russian forces. It urged Biden to send the Dual-Purpose Conventional Improved Munitions (DPICM) found in several types of U.S. munitions, including 155 millimeter artillery, GMLRS and ATACMS. Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians.

☆ No White House visit for Israel's Netanyahu as US concern rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - Eleven weeks into his third stint as Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to be received at the White House, signaling apparent U.S. unhappiness over the policies of his right-wing government. The White House declined to confirm Netanyahu has yet to be invited. A State Department spokesperson referred Reuters to the Israeli government for information about the prime minister's travel plans. The United States has long been Israel’s main benefactor, sending more than $3 billion each year in military assistance. Baker later banned Netanyahu, at the time a deputy minister of foreign affairs, from the State Department after he criticized U.S. policy toward Israel.

☆ Dozens of Senate Republicans oppose overturning the law that made the disastrous 2003 Iraq invasion possible
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Bryan Metzger | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Senate began the process on Thursday to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Iraq War AUMFs. "It should be easy to remove," quipped Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a supporter of repeal. "I don't want to do anything that reduces the President's ability to kill somebody like Soleimani," said Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. For Sen. Paul, repealing the Iraq War AUMFs — which he called "symbolic" — isn't going far enough. The 2001 AUMF opened the door for the invasion of Afghanistan, launching the longest war in US history.

[1/2] Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends an Arab summit with U.S. President Joe Biden (not seen), in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 16, 2022. If the resolution passes, the administration must submit the report within 30 days, or all security assistance to the country automatically stops. After the report is received, the act stipulates that Congress may adopt a joint resolution terminating, restricting or continuing security assistance to that country. Aides said it was too soon to assess how the resolution would be received, but they hoped it would trigger a broader conversation about human rights. Murphy, long a vocal critic of the conflict in Yemen and Riyadh's record on human rights, praised Biden for being willing to reassess ties.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Forty of the 100 U.S. senators co-sponsored a resolution on Wednesday urging a strong U.S. government response to any Chinese efforts to clamp down on dissent in Hong Kong, including the use of sanctions and other tools. The resolution is non-binding, but is intended to convey a strong sense that lawmakers are closely watching events in China and will respond. China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 outlawing acts including subversion with up to life in prison. The law has been criticized by some Western governments as a tool to crush dissent, but the Chinese and Hong Kong governments say it has restored stability to the city after protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019. Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US would handle an extradition request for Brazil's Bolsonaro 'expeditiously' - official
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official declined on Wednesday at a Senate hearing to comment on the status in the United States of former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, but said any such request from Brazil would be handled "expeditiously." Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the future of relations with Brazil, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said: "We would handle any request from the Brazilian government expeditiously." Committee Chairman Robert Menendez said Bolsonaro "continues to spew disinformation about Brazil's election" from Florida. The United States is expected to join the multilateral Amazon Fund to help sustainability projects in the Amazon. Following Lula's visit to Washington, the U.S government plans to make an initial donation of $50 million to the fund.

☆ Senate panel advances Eric Garcetti's nomination for ambassador to India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Sahil Kapur | Frank Thorp V | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks during a news conference with fellow mayors and members of Congress outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Wednesday to advance the nomination of Eric Garcetti to be U.S. ambassador to India, sending it to the full chamber for approval. It is not clear when the full Senate will vote on his nomination; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday he hoped to bring it up "soon." The Foreign Relations Committee approved Garcetti's nomination in January 2022, but he never got a full Senate vote due to opposition from several senators, including some Democrats. Biden re-nominated Garcetti to the position earlier this year after it lapsed at the close of the last Congress.

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the full Senate could vote on the legislation in the next few weeks. That would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the March 19, 2003, invasion of Iraq. For example, Republican then-President Donald Trump said the 2002 AUMF provided legal authority for the 2020 killing in Iraq of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Despite support from members of both parties in both the Senate and House of Representatives, there is also significant opposition. "Piecemeal repeal of those Iraq authorities is not a serious contribution to war powers reform," McCaul said in a statement.

☆ US Senate moves toward ending 'forever war' authorizations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Journalist With More Than Two Decades Of Experience Covering International News | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, or AUMFs, Schumer said, paving the way for a possible vote in the full Senate before members leave for the April recess, Schumer said. "We need to put the Iraq war squarely behind us once and for all, and doing that means we should extinguish the legal authority that initiated the war to begin with," Schumer said. Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives introduced legislation to repeal the two longstanding AUMFs in early February. Under the Constitution, Congress, not the president, has the right to declare war. Previous repeal efforts have not succeeded, although some have made it through committees or been passed by one chamber of Congress.

☆ A Senate hearing on drug trafficking shows how meaningless the world 'cartel' has become
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Steven Dudley | Insight Crime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

During a recent Senate hearing on fentanyl trafficking, lawmakers and officials used the word "cartel" 90 times. InSight Crime analysisA Sinaloa Cartel leadership chart from November 2015 with "El Chapo" Guzmán and two of his sons, Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo. The Sinaloa Cartel, for instance, has at least three major poles of power, each of which is controlled by different leaders. Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman arrives in New York after his extradition in January 2017. Milgram, for instance, pointed to the DEA's laser focus on the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG as the path to success.

☆ A growing group of lawmakers think TikTok is 'digital fentanyl' and want to ban it. Many others remain skeptical.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Some members of Congress have begun pushing to ban TikTok in the US. "I'm a little less enthusiastic about an all-out ban of it," said Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. "I'm an incrementalist on a lot of things, and I would be on this as well," said Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on social media and the internet's impact on children. Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, another committee member, said she's most concerned about how social media platforms are impacting kids.

☆ U.S. weapons sales to get stricter human rights review under Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"We are looking at a policy of prevention when there is a risk of violation of human rights," one official said. Biden's administration was criticized last year for approving the potential sale of radars and aircraft to Egypt despite what Human Rights Watch called Egypt's "atrocious human rights record." Reuters reported in 2021 that the Biden administration was considering a CAT policy shift to emphasize human rights. For example, Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, opposes the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft to Turkey for reasons including disregard for human rights. He rolled out a CAT policy in 2018 that gave commercial concerns as much weight as human rights in deciding whether to approve weapons sales.

☆ Senators urge halt to Chinese carriers overflying Russia on U.S. flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoFeb 23 (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the committee's top Republican urged the Biden administration to halt Chinese airlines and other non-American carriers from flying over Russia on U.S. routes. U.S. airlines and other foreign carriers are barred from flying over Russia. Russia banned airlines from the United States from overflights after the U.S. barred Russia flights in March 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. air carriers currently serve Shanghai from the United States through a stop in Incheon, South Korea, while Chinese carriers serve the United States directly, flying through Russian airspace. The senators want the Biden administration to prohibit U.S. government personnel on official travel from taking flights known to use Russian airspace.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. to vet human rights more closely before approving arms deals, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Defense companies and activists scrutinize such policies for insight into the administration's posture as it balances commercial interests of exporters like Lockheed Martin Co (LMT.N) and Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) against the country's stated commitment to human rights. One change is how the CAT policy addresses the possibility that arms from the United States could be used for major human rights violations, the officials said. Previous CAT policy had said such transfers would not be authorized only when Washington had "actual knowledge" that the arms would be used in such actions. "We are looking at a policy of prevention when there is a risk of violation of human rights," one of the officials said. For example, Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, opposes the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft to Turkey for reasons including disregard for human rights.

Search resuls for: "Senate Foreign Relations"

25 mentions found