North America

USA: Justice Department will make prosecutor in Hunter Biden case available to testify before Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — The lead prosecutor in the case against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter says he is willing to testify publicly this fall, setting up a clash with House Republicans who have demanded he come in soon for a closed-door interview.

In a two-page letter to Rep. Jim Jordan on Monday, the Justice Department offered to make U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware available before the House Judiciary Committee for a public hearing after the August break as Republicans continue to escalate their ongoing investigation into his handling of the probe into Hunter Biden.

USA: Ramaswamy slated to headline South Carolina county GOP fundraiser in return to early voting state

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Biotech entrepreneur and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is slated to headline a GOP fundraiser in South Carolina as he returns to campaigning in the first-in-the-South primary state.

Ramaswamy will be the featured speaker at the third annual Dorchester County GOP’s Faith, Family & Freedom Dinner, scheduled for Aug. 19 in Summerville at the Dorchester Shrine Club, county party Chair Steven Wright told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

USA: IRS is ending unannounced visits to taxpayers to protect worker safety and combat scammers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service said Monday it is ending its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits, in an effort to help keep its workers safe and to combat scammers who pose as IRS agents.

Effective immediately, revenue agents will no longer make unplanned visits to taxpayers’ homes and businesses “except in a few unique circumstances,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. The agency will instead mail letters to people to schedule meetings.

USA: Officer who put woman in police car hit by train didn’t know it was on the tracks, defense says

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer accused of putting a handcuffed woman in a parked police car that was hit by a freight train did not know the car was parked on the tracks, the officer’s lawyer said in court Monday.

US should end aid to Israel, say former ambassadors

24 July 2023; MEMO: Two former US ambassadors to Israel have called for an end to Washington's aid to the occupation state. Speaking to New York Times columnist Nick Kristof, one of the more influential in liberal circles, former ambassadors Dan Kurtzer and Martin Indyk said that it is time to end the $3.8 billion given every year to Israel because it longer serves US interests.

USA: Arizona woman’s heat death after her power was cut off spurred changes, but advocates want more

PHOENIX (AP) — Stephanie Pullman died on a sweltering Arizona day after her electricity was cut off because of a $51 debt.

Five years later, the 72-year-old’s story remains at the heart of efforts to prevent others in Arizona from having their power cut off, leaving them without life-saving air conditioning in temperatures that have topped 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) on every day this month.

USA: Democratic governor pushes back against transgender-related attacks by GOP in Kentucky campaign

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is pushing back hard against Republican efforts to cast him as an advocate of gender reassignment surgery for minors, saying his detractors have misrepresented his position and invoking his Christian faith and support for parental rights to explain why he vetoed a measure that banned gender-affirming care for children.

Prominent Dalit activist dies of heart attack during a city council hearing in California

Washington, Jul 24 (PTI) A prominent Indian-American Dalit activist fighting against the recent caste discrimination bill in California Assembly died of a heart attack as he passionately spoke against it at a city council meeting in Cupertino, sending shock waves amongst the Hindu American community in the country.

Milind Makwana, according to his close friends and family, spoke at the City Council meeting on July 18 against SB403, the anti-caste discrimination bill in California State Assembly.

US in no hurry to provide Ukraine with ATACMS missiles — newspaper

WASHINGTON, July 23. /TASS/. Washington so far has no plans to provide Ukraine with Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), The Washington Post reported, citing US officials.

According to the officials, "the Biden administration is holding firm, for now at least, on its refusal to send long-range Army missiles to Ukraine despite mounting pressure from US lawmakers and pleas from the government" in Kiev.

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