TEL AVIV — As Israel outpaces Western nations in its Covid-19 vaccination effort, it has become a role model for a world aching to return to life as it once was. The country has inoculated a third of its population of 9 million in little more than a month, and […]
Biden vows to ‘act fast’ on another round of Covid relief, $1,400 checks
WASHINGTON — Democrats, in control of the presidency and Congress, pushed forward Friday with efforts to approve a sweeping Covid-19 relief package that will include $1,400 checks, boosted jobless benefits and money to help vaccine distribution. “I know some in Congress think we’ve already done enough to deal with the […]
House votes to remove GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees
WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., from the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee after her social media posts revealed her spreading dangerous and racist conspiracy theories. The House voted 230-199, largely along party lines, though 11 Republicans joined every Democrat […]
‘We need to act fast’: Biden, Democrats move to speed up Covid relief
WASHINGTON — The push to pass a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package through Congress escalated Wednesday as President Joe Biden made clear to Democrats that the need for aid is urgent and lawmakers prepared to use a special budget process to allow the Senate to advance the measure with only […]
Three reasons Biden might not want to go it alone on stimulus package
WASHINGTON — Most Democrats have a simple answer for Republicans who don’t want to go along with President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan: Screw ’em. But the substance, process and politics of legislating aren’t that simple. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, articulated the heavy-handed view in a tweet over […]
SpaceX announces first mission to space with all-civilian crew
SpaceX announced plans Monday for the first all-civilian mission to space, a major milestone for private spaceflight and the nascent space tourism industry. The mission aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will feature a four-person crew led by Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a Pennsylvania-based payment processing company. […]
Pence plans to form fundraising group as he moves beyond Trump, Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence is beginning to build a political future without Donald Trump, including making plans to form a policy-focused fundraising committee that would help him maintain a relationship with donors, according to multiple sources familiar with his plans. Pence, who left Washington and took a […]
Biden signals a tougher line with the Taliban
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is signaling a tougher line with the Taliban than his predecessor, with top officials warning that a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in May could be delayed if the insurgents fail to live up to their promises. A flurry of statements and comments from […]
Biden poised to wind down executive actions next week to focus on Covid relief
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is planning to wind down his initial burst of executive actions by the middle of next week and shift his focus to getting key parts of his legislative agenda passed, with the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package as the top priority, according to three administration […]
Online brokers restrict GameStop trading to protect users, but instead prompt fury
The video game retailer GameStop’s stock saw more extreme volatility Thursday after the popular trading app Robinhood restricted transactions for it and other hot stocks whose values were boosted by a mob of online traders. In a day of wild trading, GameStop’s stock opened at $350, shot to $469, plunged […]