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☆ US House Speaker McCarthy plans to meet Taiwan's president in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Michael Martina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to meet Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in the U.S. in coming weeks, two sources told Reuters on Monday, a move that could replace the Republican Speaker's anticipated but sensitive trip to the democratically governed island claimed by China. One of the sources said should the U.S. meeting go forward - likely in April - it did not necessarily rule out McCarthy visiting Taiwan in the future. During a CNBC interview earlier on Monday, McCarthy declined to answer whether he would visit Taiwan, saying he would announce any travel plans when he had them. Since then, Taiwan has welcomed a wave of U.S. lawmakers, and speculation has swirled around whether McCarthy would travel there this year. McCarthy last year expressed interest in visiting Taiwan if he became speaker, a role he assumed in January after Republicans took control of the House in November's midterm elections.

☆ White House: Unacceptable for states to target access to federally approved abortion pills
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday that it was "dangerous and unacceptable" for elected officials to target women's access to federally approved medication abortion pills. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisWalgreens announced on Thursday it would not dispense abortion pills in the 20 states where attorneys general have told the pharmacy chain it risked breaking the law should it provide them through the mail. "Elected officials targeting pharmacies and their ability to provide women with access to safe, effective and FDA-approved medication is dangerous and just unacceptable," Karine Jean-Pierre, press secretary for the White House, said when asked about the pharmacy's announcement. Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Tim AhmannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden says other companies will slash insulin prices after Eli Lilly move
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BALTIMORE, March 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that other pharmaceutical companies will have to lower their insulin prices in the wake of Eli Lilly's decision to slash its prices for the popular diabetes treatment. Eli Lilly (LLY.N) said on Wednesday it will cut list prices by 70% for its most commonly prescribed insulin products, Humalog and Humulin, beginning from the fourth quarter of this year. U.S. President Joe Biden discusses health care costs and access to affordable health care during an event in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis"Guess what that means?," Biden told Democrats gathered in Baltimore for an annual retreat. Biden’s signature legislative achievement, the Inflation Reduction Act, has capped insulin prices for Medicare recipients at $35 per month but the law does not extend to patients with private insurance or without insurance from higher prices.

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks about the student loan forgiveness program from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, U.S., October 17, 2022. The program fulfilled Biden's 2020 campaign promise to cancel a portion of the nation's $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt but was criticized by Republicans and others as an overreach of his authority. Biden's administration has said the plan is authorized under a 2003 federal law called the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or HEROES Act, that allows student loan debt relief during wartime or national emergencies. Beginning in 2020, the administrations of President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Biden, a Democrat, repeatedly paused federal student loan payments and halted interest from accruing, relying upon the HEROES Act. Missouri-based U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey found the states - Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina lacked the legal standing to sue.

☆ A year after Russia’s invasion: How Ukraine endured
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +21 min

REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoIn the early hours of Feb. 24, 2022, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers entered Ukraine. By seizing the city of three million people, and capturing or killing Zelenskiy, Russia’s hope appeared to be that Ukraine would quickly surrender. By March 23, Russia’s advance had captured regions of Ukraine along the Belarus border but Ukraine’s forces had begun reclaiming territory near Kyiv. Satellite imagery of Russia’s military convoy near Invankiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022. The two sit on a bed, with a radio and teddy bears nearby., image Ukrainian civilians have endured The will of the people of Ukraine continues to be that they remain free.

House Freedom Caucus members, who want to shrink the role of government, are demanding reductions in government spending. The Freedom Caucus members also raised significant sums from larger donors and traditional political fundraising committees. Unlike other congressional caucuses, the House Freedom Caucus doesn't disclose its membership, a practice that began in 2015. While McCarthy has pledged that the government won't default, the Republicans' narrow 222-212 majority has given outsized power to the Freedom Caucus. 'I AIN'T LISTENING'Freedom Caucus members are among the most conservative members of Congress, according to their voting records.

[1/2] Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2022. Pence was issued a subpoena by special counsel Jack Smith, though the nature of the request was not immediately known, ABC News reported, citing sources. The first probe involves Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. Last month, Garland named a separate special counsel, Robert Hur, to probe the improper storage of classified documents at President Biden's home and former office. In late January, Pence said he was not aware though he takes "full responsibility" after classified documents were found at his Indiana home.

☆ Republicans meet Biden's calls for unity with partisan broadside
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A day after Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on Biden to work together toward compromise on the debt and spending, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered a partisan broadside during the party's official rebuttal to Biden's speech. Biden did pledge to work with Republicans, as during the last Congress when both chambers were controlled by Democrats. Republicans hope to exact spending cuts from Biden in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. He drew boos and shouts of "liar" by asserting that some Republicans would like to "sunset" Social Security and Medicare. The former president, facing several investigations from federal and state prosecutors, also described himself as "a victim" of Biden's Justice Department.

☆ In the audience at the State of the Union
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Rodney Wells and RowVaughn Wells, the stepfather and mother of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died after being beaten by Memphis police following a traffic stop, talk with Bono, the lead singer of U2, as they arrive to take their seats in the...moreRodney Wells and RowVaughn Wells, the stepfather and mother of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died after being beaten by Memphis police following a traffic stop, talk with Bono, the lead singer of U2, as they arrive to take their seats in the first lady's box. REUTERS/Leah MillisClose

[1/3] U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., January 31, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meet on Wednesday to discuss the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling, a first test of how the two leaders will work together, or not, in a divided Washington. House Republicans want to use the debt ceiling as leverage to exact cuts in spending by the federal government, though they have yet to unite around any specific plan. The White House says it will discuss future federal spending cuts with Republicans, but only after the debt ceiling is lifted. The 2011 crisis was resolved with a bipartisan deal that cut spending and raised the debt limit but left Obama administration officials smarting.

☆ Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling talks to set tone for divided Washington rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., January 31, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are set to discuss the nation's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on Wednesday, a meeting that will give a first sign of how the two will work together, or fail to, in a divided Washington. House Republicans want to use the debt ceiling as leverage to exact cuts in spending by the federal government, though they have not united around any specific plan to do so. McCarthy, 58, leads a fractious House Republican caucus with a narrow 222-212 majority that has given a small group of hardline conservatives outsized influence. The 2011 crisis was resolved with a bipartisan deal that cut spending and raised the debt limit but left Obama administration officials smarting.

Video recordings from police body-worn cameras and a camera mounted on a utility pole showed Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, repeatedly calling "Mom!" as officers kicked, punched and struck him with a baton in his mother's neighborhood after a Jan. 7 traffic stop. The release of the clips on Friday sparked protests in Memphis and elsewhere and prompted numerous cities to prepare for additional demonstrations on Saturday. Nichols' family and officials, including President Joe Biden, have expressed outrage and sorrow but have urged protesters to remain peaceful. The initial traffic stop was for reckless driving, though the police chief has said the cause for the stop has not been substantiated.

☆ Exclusive: Biden to court wealthy donors as he preps 2024 campaign in coming weeks - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Biden and the Democratic National Committee will host fundraisers in New York and Philadelphia next week that coincide with official presidential visits touting legislative successes. Then, the pace and volume of the fundraisers are expected to accelerate in March, the three sources said. Biden's campaign in 2020 was the first presidential candidate in history to raise over $1 billion, as he battled Republican Donald Trump. In 2020, the COVID pandemic forced Biden to stay off the campaign trail and raise money through virtual fundraisers. This time around, Biden will be forced to run a more traditional campaign that includes a mix of official presidential duties, campaign stops and fundraising events.

☆ Blinken to visit Middle East amid heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks during a visit to NASA headquarters with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other U.S. and Japanese officials (not pictured) in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank from Sunday to Tuesday to discuss heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians as well as the war in Ukraine with regional leaders, the State Department said. The decades-old status quo allows only Muslim worship at the compound, a site also revered by Jews. While Israel has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has limited its assistance to Kyiv to humanitarian aid and protective gear. Reporting by Simon Lewis; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The decisions by Washington and Berlin come as the Western allies help Ukraine prepare for a possible spring counter-offensive to try to drive Russia out of territory it has seized. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any Abrams shipments would be a waste of money as they "burn" like other tanks in Ukraine. The total cost of a single Abrams tanks can vary, and can be over $10 million per tanks when including training and sustainment. "I am certain that many experts understand the absurdity of this idea," the Kremlin's Peskov said about the Abrams tanks. "The United States was willing to make a significant commitment to assist them in making theirs," the source said.

☆ Germany U-turns over battle tanks, saying it will send Leopard 2s to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday that Germany will provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks out of its own Bundeswehr (German armed forces) stocks. Germany said its goal was to "quickly assemble two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine. As a first step, Germany will supply a company with 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks. Reports emerged late Tuesday that Chancellor Scholz was ready to agree to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, while the Biden administration was potentially prepared to provide a couple dozen M1 Abrams tanks. Warsaw on Tuesday sent a request to Berlin, asking permission to re-export 14 of its own Leopard tanks to Kyiv.

☆ 'Doomsday Clock' moves to 90 seconds to midnight as nuclear threat rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The clock's hands are moved closer to or further away from midnight based on scientists' reading of existential threats at a particular time. The new time reflects a world in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revived fears of nuclear war. "Russia's thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention or miscalculation is a terrible risk. The clock had been set to 100 seconds to midnight since 2020, which was already the closest it had ever come to midnight. At 17 minutes to midnight, the clock was furthest from "doomsday" in 1991, as the Cold War ended and the United States and Soviet Union signed a treaty that substantially reduced both countries' nuclear weapons arsenals.

The previous classified documents were found in the home's garage and in a nearby storage space. The search shows federal investigators are swiftly moving forward with the probe into classified documents found in Biden's possession. Republicans have compared the investigation to the ongoing probe into how former President Donald Trump handled classified documents after his presidency. Since the discovery of Biden's documents, Trump has complained that Justice Department investigators were treating his successor differently. going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?"

☆ Biden: We're going to have a discussion about U.S. debt with House leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Jeff Mason | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to "have a discussion" with House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on U.S. debt amid a looming debate about raising the debt ceiling. "The debt we're paying on, and we're gonna have a little discussion about that with the new majority leader of the House, has accumulated over 200 years," Biden said, not citing McCarthy by name. Biden is hosting Democratic congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday. A White House official said no date had been set for a McCarthy visit. The White House has said repeatedly it will not negotiate over raising the debt ceiling and has used some Republican proposals for spending cuts to draw a contrast with Democratic priorities.

☆ Biden: We're going to have discussion about US debt with House leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Friday that "we're going to have a discussion" with House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy about the U.S. debt ceiling. At an event with city mayors, Biden said a U.S. debt default would be a calamity unlike anything ever seen in the United States financially. "The debt we're paying on, and we're gonna have a little discussion about that with the new majority leader of the House, has accumulated over 200 years," Biden said, not naming McCarthy by name. The White House has said it will not negotiate with Republicans about raising the debt ceiling. Biden is hosting Democratic congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday.

[1/3] The sun sets on the U.S. Supreme Court building after a stormy day in Washington, U.S., November 11, 2022. Solicitor General's input on a lower court decision that prevented Apple and Broadcom from arguing the patents were invalid at trial. Apple and Broadcom also told the Federal Circuit that they should have been allowed to challenge the patents' validity at trial. The companies appealed that decision to the Supreme Court last September. The case is Apple Inc v. California Institute of Technology, U.S. Supreme Court, No.

☆ Russian ex-President Medvedev says Japanese PM should disembowel himself
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Leah MillisJan 14 (Reuters) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday of shameful subservience to the United States and suggested he should ritually disembowel himself. Medvedev is a prominent ally of President Vladimir Putin who serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and of a body overseeing the defence industry. Rather than demanding U.S. repentance for this, Kishida had shown he was "just a service attendant for the Americans". Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Medvedev has warned repeatedly that Western meddling in the crisis could lead to nuclear war, and has referred to Ukrainians as "cockroaches" in language Kyiv says is openly genocidal. Putin has said that the risk of a nuclear war is rising but insisted Russia has not "gone mad" and that it sees its own nuclear arsenal as a purely defensive deterrent.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to members of the news media outside of a Steering Committee meeting at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., January 11, 2023. Leah Millis | ReutersHouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday said he would not urge embattled Republican Rep. George Santos to resign from Congress, hours after local GOP officials tore into the New York legislator and pushed him to step down. "Look, the voters decide," McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters on Capitol Hill when asked whether he would welcome Santos' resignation if it was offered, according to NBC News. "That's what his decision is to make," McCarthy said, adding, "The voters elected him to serve. The GOP lawmaker has apologized for embellishing pieces of his resume but has said he did not commit any crimes.

☆ Biden signs $1.66 trillion FY 2023 government funding bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a Christmas speech at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 22, 2022. REUTERS/Leah MillisCHRISTIANSTED, St. Croix, Dec 29 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a $1.66 trillion bill funding the U.S. government for fiscal year 2023, the White House said in a statement. Biden signed the bill, which passed Congress last week, while vacationing on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. The 4,000-plus page bill passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 68-29, with the support of 18 of the 50 Senate Republicans. Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Leslie Adler and Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The U.S. passed a historic climate deal this year — here's a recap of what's in the bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

The IRA's provisions have major implications for clean energy and manufacturing businesses, climate startups and consumers in the coming years. As 2022 comes to a close, here's a look back at the key elements in the legislation that climate and clean energy advocates will be monitoring in 2023. Taking aim at methane gas emissionsSome pumpjacks operate while others stand idle in the Belridge oil field near McKittrick, California. Mario Tama | Getty ImagesThe package imposes a tax on energy producers that exceed a certain level of methane gas emissions. And the bill has a hydrogen production tax credit, which provides hydrogen producers with a credit based on the climate attributes of their production methods.

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