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[1/2] The White House is seen from the top of the Washington Monument April 3, 2003. REUTERS/Molly RileyWASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The White House made an emotional plea on Wednesday for Republican action to curb mass shootings, criticizing conservative lawmakers for saying nothing can be done after the nation's latest high-profile mass shooting at a school in Tennessee this week. "It's unacceptable that Republicans are saying there is nothing that we can do," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday. He told reporters this week he has done what he could through executive action but needs Congress to step up. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who has often been a harsh critic of his administration, according to the White House.

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden would veto a Republican energy legislation package if it were to pass Congress, citing cost increases that the legislation could lead to, the White House said on Monday. 1 (Lower Energy Costs Act) would double the cost of energy efficiency upgrades that families need to reduce household bills and would repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will cut energy costs and boost economic development in rural and urban communities across the country," the White House said. Republicans plan to bring the legislation to the floor of the House of Representatives, where they hold a slim majority, for a vote this week, Representative Elise Stefanik, who chairs the House Republican Conference, said on Monday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the House bill is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. But many senators want more moderate permitting legislation to expand the electricity transmission system and rapid build out of renewable power.

☆ Biden invokes Defense Production Act for printed circuit board production
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday invoked the Defense Production Act to spend $50 million on domestic and Canadian production of printed circuit boards, citing the technology's importance to national defense. Printed circuit boards are incorporated into missiles and radars, as well as electronics used for energy and healthcare. "I find that action to expand the domestic production capability for printed circuit boards and advanced packaging is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability," Biden said. Industry groups had called for such a move by Washington last year, saying there was not enough domestic production needed to support the U.S. electronics manufacturing industry. The Defense Production Act ruling also calls for more "advanced packaging" that allows multiple devices to be packaged and mounted on a single electronic device shrinking them and making power use more efficient.

☆ Biden says US to likely invest billions in semiconductor packaging in Canada
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

OTTAWA, March 24 (Reuters) - The United States will probably be investing billions of dollars in packaging semiconductors in Canada, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday during a news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday rejected a Republican proposal to prevent pension fund managers from basing investment decisions on factors like climate change, in the first veto of his presidency. "I just signed this veto because the legislation passed by the Congress would put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country," Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. Two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, voted with Republicans. Manchin countered that it was the Biden administration that was pushing its "radical policy agenda" on this issue. "Despite a clear and bipartisan rejection of the rule from Congress, President Biden is choosing to put his administration’s progressive agenda above the well-being of the American people," Manchin said in a statement.

[1/5] Guo Wengui (also known as Miles Kwok) holds a news conference with Steve Bannon in New York, New York, U.S., November 20, 2018. Guo, 52, was charged with 11 criminal counts including securities fraud, wire fraud and concealment of money laundering, after "lining his pockets with the money he stole," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan said in a statement. They will propose a "robust bail package," according to Tamara Giwa, a federal public defender who represented Guo at Wednesday's hearing. Bannon is not accused of wrongdoing in Guo's criminal case. It said it also seized assets purchased with proceeds from Guo's alleged fraud, including a Lamborghini Aventador, and wants Guo to forfeit the yacht.

☆ Wearable Clothes at Last? The Top Trends From the Fall 2023 Fashion Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Katharine K. Zarrella | Lizzy Wholley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

LOW-KEY LUXURY At the fall fashion shows, many designers proposed quiet, classic clothes rife with sophistication. From left: fall looks from Fendi, the Row and Loro Piana. This season put an end to that. Perhaps inspired by political and economic uncertainty, or maybe by the fact that women exist in the tangible world again, not just behind filtered screens, brands including Saint Laurent, the Row, Bottega Veneta and Fendi turned out exquisitely wearable, sometimes understated clothes. The shift in tone resonated with guests, some of whom are cautiously optimistic it might last beyond this crucial season for the brand.

☆ Reaction to Biden's 2024 budget proposal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday delivered a budget proposal that includes a robust spending agenda, higher taxes on the wealthy and plans to reduce the deficit, a document that forms the blueprint for his expected 2024 re-election bid. Here is reaction to Biden's budget proposal to Congress for the 2024 fiscal year:HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIR JODEY ARRINGTON, A REPUBLICAN FROM TEXAS:"His policies have led to 40-year record inflation, soaring interest rates, and the prospect of a sustained economic recession. Unfortunately, Biden’s latest budget is more of the same bloated bureaucracy at the expense of working families, while sticking our grandchildren with the bill." HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES, ON TWITTER:"The Biden budget plan protects Social Security, strengthens Medicare and invests in our children. SENATOR CHUCK GRASSLEY:"Even with near-record revenues, President Biden wants to raise taxes on every segment of America.

☆ US Senator Schumer condemns Speaker McCarthy for supplying Jan.6 videos to Fox
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On Monday, Fox's right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson used some of the security videos, showing protesters walking through the Capitol, to argue that they were merely "sightseers". In a Senate speech, Schumer condemned the broadcast and urged the cable network to cancel any follow-up segment. He added that McCarthy was "every bit as culpable as Mr. Carlson" for providing the footage. "To say January 6 was not violent, is a lie, a lie, pure and simple," Schumer said. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment on McCarthy's decision to supply the videos.

☆ Biden budget would cut deficit by nearly $3 trillion, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's budget proposal will aim to cut U.S. budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over 10 years, the White House said on Wednesday, far more than the $2 trillion Biden had said he would aim for earlier. "That’s nearly a $6 trillion difference between the president’s budget and Congressional Republicans' agenda,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, saying the opposition’s plans would add $3 trillion to the debt. Biden, who intends to unveil his budget plan on Thursday, had floated the $2 trillion deficit reduction figure during his State of the Union address in February. "We see this as a value statement" about the future of the country, Karine Jean-Pierre said. Ultimately, it will be up to Congress, where Republicans control the House of Representatives, to write related budget legislation.

☆ Biden pick for FCC withdraws, says agency will 'remain sidelined'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sohn had been a senior aide to Tom Wheeler when he was the FCC chair under President Barack Obama. The open internet laws seek to bar internet service providers from blocking or slowing traffic or offering paid fast lanes. "The FCC deadlock, now over two years long, will remain so for a long time," Sohn said in a statement. Many Democrats said Republicans were doing the bidding of powerful telecom companies that did not want to face regulation from the FCC. In July 2021, Biden signed an executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the open internet net neutrality rules.

☆ Biden U.S. FCC pick in jeopardy after Democrat Manchin opposes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks to reporters following the weekly Democratic caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 29, 2022. Senator Joe Manchin said on Tuesday he will vote against confirming Gigi Sohn as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), potentially imperiling her nomination by President Joe Biden. The open internet laws seek to bar internet service providers from blocking or slowing traffic or offering paid fast lanes. In July 2021, Biden signed an executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the open internet net neutrality rules. Reporting by David Shepardson and Katharine Jackson; writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Senator Schumer condemns Speaker McCarthy for supplying Jan.6 videos to Fox
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to the news media after attending a closed Senate Democratic Caucus lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday accused House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy of helping Fox News stoke conspiracy theories by providing videos that were used by the cable network to portray the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters as peaceful. On Monday, Fox's right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson used some of the security videos, showing protesters walking through the Capitol, to argue that they were merely "sightseers." In a Senate speech, Schumer condemned the broadcast and urged the cable network to cancel any follow-up segment. No such fraud has been documented and Trump, who is running for president in 2024, continues to falsely repeat the charge.

☆ Washington, D.C., council pulls crime bill that Senate is poised to block
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The Democratic-controlled Washington city council on Monday withdrew a bill aimed at overhauling the city's criminal code, which Congress had been set to overturn in a move that President Joe Biden had vowed not to block. "The bill has been pulled back from Congress," council chair Phil Mendelson said at a news conference, adding that he had sent a letter to the U.S. Senate advising that the bill had been withdrawn. Biden said last week he would not veto Congress' move if the Senate approved overturning the city bill. "If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did, I'll sign it." Congressional oversight of Washington, D.C., is written in to the U.S. Constitution, and the city's 700,000 residents do not have voting representation in Congress.

☆ US sanctions three people for abuse of Russian opposition politician
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on three Russians it accused of serious human rights abuses against Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was arrested last year after speaking out against the war in Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions target Elena Anatolievna Lenskaya, Andrei Andreevich Zadachin and Danila Yurievich Mikheev for abuses under the Global Magnitsky Act. Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship and was a pallbearer at the 2018 funeral of U.S. Senator John McCain, was a close aide to opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead in central Moscow in 2015. Kara-Murza has pushed for the U.S., Canada, European Union and Britain to use Magnitsky-style sanctions to target human rights abusers and corrupt actors in Russia, the Treasury Department said.

☆ Judge nixes Nike's attempt to close the courtroom as key details are discussed in lawsuit filed by former NFL player Odell Beckham Jr.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The judge declined Nike's request. After the judge declined Nike's request to close the courtroom, attorneys for Nike and Beckham argued for roughly 90 minutes about the motion to dismiss. In the lawsuit, Beckham claims damages of $20.6 million. NikeBroadly, Suh argued that Beckham breached the contract by, among other things, wearing custom Nike cleats that weren't available for purchase. "Mr. Beckham personally undertook to obtain customized Nike cleats that would not clash with the Rams uniforms," his attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

☆ McConnell calls for higher US defense spending over the next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called on Congress on Tuesday to increase defense spending in the coming year to confront what he termed growing threats from Russia and China. "In this environment, we need to continue to plus up defense," McConnell told reporters, adding that other NATO countries also need to increase their emphasis on defense. His remarks could put him at odds with Republicans in the House of Representatives who are considering proposals to keep defense spending at current levels in fiscal year 2024, which begins on Oct. 1, while cutting about $150 billion mainly from nondefense discretionary spending. "Our allies around the world are seriously focused now on having defense spending fit the need, and the need obviously by any estimation is going up." The military aid came on top of a record $858 billion in U.S. defense spending for the current fiscal year, which marked an increase from $740 billion and exceeded a request from Biden.

☆ Democratic congresswoman Slotkin announces run for open Michigan Senate seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan on Monday said she will run for the Senate seat being left open by Debbie Stabenow in 2024. Stabenow, 72, a Democrat serving a fourth term in the U.S. Senate, said in January she would not seek re-election. Keeping the seat in Democrats' hands could be vital for the party to maintain control of the Senate in 2025. No widely known Republicans have entered the race for Stabenow's seat so far. Michigan Republicans earlier in February selected Trump loyalist Kristina Karamo to be their next state chair, elevating an election denier as far-right members gain clout in the battleground state.

☆ Should You Beat Up Your Birkin? Why Worn-In Luxury Bags Are Selling Fast
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Katharine K. Zarrella | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

ABOUT 20 YEARS ago, while dining in San Francisco, Lisa Unger Sandman was nearly startled out of her seat. That should never be on the floor!” shrieked a woman at a nearby table, pointing to Ms. Unger Sandman’s black Hermès Kelly bag. Chastened, Ms. Unger Sandman, now a retired banker in Raleigh, N.C., snatched up her purse which, in the current market, often costs at least five figures. Today, Ms. Unger Sandman, 60, would ignore such a reprimand and isn’t so worried if her Kelly risks bodily harm. In its 2023 luxury consignment report, resale site the RealReal noted higher demand than ever for bags in “fair” (i.e., heavily worn) condition.

"There is no, again, no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "We have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at a news briefing. At Friday's White House briefing, Kirby said: "There is no U.S. surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace. I'm not aware of any other craft that we're flying over into Chinese airspace." "This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control," Adrienne Watson, another White House national security spokesperson, said in a statement.

☆ Debt talks can include everything but cuts to Social Security and Medicare, Republicans say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Republicans say they would not cut Social Security and Medicare programs but "everything else is on the table" in talks over raising U.S. government borrowing limits, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said on Sunday. But at the end of the day, those programs are going to be off the table with respect to cuts, but everything else is on the table," Comer said in an interview on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." But as that deadline looms, Republican lawmakers and President Joe Biden are locked in a disagreement over the path to raising the borrowing limit. Biden says he would not negotiate over raising it, while Republicans say they would not agree to raise it without spending concessions. Reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Teams are searching for Yukon UFO debris, Trudeau says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media before discussing healthcare with Provincial and Territorial premiers in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 7, 2023. REUTERS/Blair GableOTTAWA/WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday that investigators are hunting for wreckage of the mysterious flying object shot down by a U.S. fighter jet over Yukon territory the day before. "Recovery teams are on the ground, looking to find and analyze the object," Trudeau told reporters before departing for a previously scheduled fund-raising event in Yukon. Schumer said American officials were "focused like a laser" on figuring out what the objects were and what if any threat they posed. "They do appear somewhat trigger-happy," Turner told CNN on Sunday.

☆ Yellen: 'You don't have a recession' when U.S. unemployment at 53-year low
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"You don't have a recession when you have 500,000 jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in more than 50 years," Yellen told ABC's Good Morning America program. "What I see is a path in which inflation is declining significantly and the economy is remaining strong." Yellen told ABC that reducing inflation remained Biden's top priority, but the U.S. economy was proving "strong and resilient." Yellen called on Congress to raise the U.S. debt limit, warning that failure to do so would produce "an economic and financial catastrophe." Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Toby Chopra and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ McCarthy says he will meet Biden again on U.S. debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"We're going to meet again about the debt ceiling and ways that we can find ways for savings and put ourselves on a path to balance." The U.S. government neared its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling earlier this month, prompting the Treasury to warn that it may not be able to stave off default past early June. Biden and the White House had refused to negotiate with Republicans over the debt spending, saying it was the responsibility of Congress to address the issue. On Thursday, McCarthy stressed that a debt ceiling solution would need to include spending reforms. "You do not lift the debt ceiling without changing your behavior."

☆ NFL quarterback Tom Brady says he is retiring 'for good'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - National Football League quarterback Tom Brady, who won seven Super Bowls and is considered one of the game's all-time greats, said on Wednesday that he was retiring, a year after he made the same announcement only to change his mind weeks later. "I am retiring for good," Brady said in a 53-second video message that he posted on Twitter. The 45-year-old Brady spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots before relocating to Florida and leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl championship in 2021. He retired for a short time after last season but reversed course and led Tampa Bay to the playoffs again in the current season before the team was eliminated. The Northern California native is widely regarded as the best quarterback in league history and exits the game with five Super Bowl MVP awards and three league MVP awards.

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