Category Archives: Politics

News: Top 5 Stories For April 23, 2021 (Reuters)

Five stories to know for April 23: Biden hosts climate change summit, Senate passes bill to fight anti-Asian hate crimes, Daunte Wright funeral, Biden’s tax plan and India’s COVID surge.

1. The United States and other countries hiked their targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions at a global climate change summit hosted by President Joe Biden, an event meant to resurrect U.S. leadership in the fight against global warming.

2. A hate crimes bill to combat violence against Asian Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic passed the Senate overwhelmingly, a rare bipartisan vote in the evenly divided chamber. The bill passed 94-1, with Missouri Senator Josh Hawley the only no vote. It must pass the House of Representatives, where Democrats hold a clear majority. President Joe Biden has called for passage.

3. Hundreds of mourners filled a Minneapolis church for the funeral of Daunte Wright.

4. Biden will roll out a plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, including the largest-ever increase in levies on investment gains, sources say.

5. A police convoy escorting a tanker carrying oxygen reached a hospital in India’s capital just in time, to the huge relief of doctors and relatives of COVID-19 patients counting on the supply. India reported the world’s highest daily tally of coronavirus infections for a second day on Friday, surpassing 330,000 new cases, as it struggles with a health system overwhelmed by patients and plagued by accidents.

Morning News Podcast: U.S. Climate Summit, Online Meetings & Award Shows

President Joe Biden laid out ambitious emissions targets yesterday, but in order to be taken seriously on climate change, America has some reputation rebuilding to do.

Researchers are starting to understand why online meetings are so exhausting—and are pinpointing the up sides of work lives lived increasingly online. And the waning influence of awards shows such as this Sunday’s Oscars.

Morning News Podcast: India’s Covid-19 Surge, Chad President’s Death

Mass gatherings and in-person voting continue, even as new case numbers smash records and fatalities spiral in public view. We ask how a seeming pandemic success has turned so suddenly tragic.

Chad’s president of three decades has been killed; that has implications for regional violence far beyond the country’s borders. And a deep dive on the international sea-cucumber trade.

Documentary: What Is The Future For Algeria (Video)

Since February 2019, millions of Algerians have demonstrated against the government. They first took to the streets to demand more democracy and protest the renewed candidacy of former authoritarian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The COVID-19 pandemic may have brought the Algerian protest movement “Hirak” to a premature end in March 2020, and even though Bouteflika withdrew his candidacy, its demands are still far from being met. Opponents of the government still say their country is a long way from genuine democracy and is at the same time plagued by corruption, economic mismanagement and military interference in politics.

This documentary follows five young Algerians who are all taking part in the protests. They tell viewers why they are challenging Algeria’s powerful elites and describe what they want for their country. Their stories are about hope and resignation, as well as the open question of their futures in Algeria.

Morning News Podcast: George Floyd Murder Guilty Verdict, Vaccines

A.M. Edition for April 21. WSJ reporters discuss reactions as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is found guilty in the death of George Floyd. 

 WSJ’s Sabrina Siddiqui on vaccination challenges in the U.S. And, a soccer league meltdown in Europe. Marc Stewart hosts.

Morning News Podcast: Chauvin Jury Deliberates, European Soccer Wars

The jury is deliberating whether or not to convict former Minneapolis police Derek Chavin over the death of George Floyd.

Presiding Judge Peter Cahill will allow the jury to deliberate every day until 7pm, and if they reach a decision after sunset, the decision will be read the following morning.

  • Plus, a strong start to earnings season.
  • And, European soccer goes to war.

Guests: Axios’ Nick Halter, Aja Whitaker-Moore and Kendall Baker.

Politics Monday: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On Infrastructure Plan (PBS)

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Lisa Desjardins to discuss the latest political news, including the Biden infrastructure plan, fundraising efforts inside the Republican Party, and how Americans perceive the government.

News: Five Top Stories For April 19, 2021 (Reuters)

Five stories to know for April 19: Shooting in Louisiana, Shooting in Austin, Texas, Derek Chauvin trial, Alexei Navalny and UEFA statement on the breakaway Super League.

1. Five people were hospitalized after being shot and injured in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the third multiple shooting reported in the United States with 24 hours.

2. After an Austin, Texas shooting, police searched for a former deputy sheriff believed to be the suspected gunman. Three people died.

3. Derek Chauvin trial: jurors will hear closing arguments before they begin deliberating on whether the way former Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of a dying George Floyd in last year’s arrest was second-degree murder.

4. An ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said she was braced for bad news on the health of the hunger-striking opposition politician when his lawyers see him again, after they were kept away over the weekend.

5. European soccer’s governing body UEFA will hold a crisis meeting, hours after 12 of the continent’s leading clubs shocked the football world by announcing the formation of a breakaway Super League.

Morning News Podcast: George Floyd Trial, J&J Vaccine, Infrastructure

Closing arguments set for Monday in Derek Chauvin’s trial, five hurdles Democrats face to pass an infrastructure bill, and comfort dogs find bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.