Latest news with #Washington
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Equities Rise Intraday as US, China Confirm Trade Deal Details; Nike Jumps
US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday as Washington and China confirmed details of a trad
Fox News
42 minutes ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Oversight chair demands Jean-Pierre, other former WH staff testify on alleged Biden mental decline coverup
An influential House committee is demanding that former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and three other former top White House staffers appear before Congress to testify about the alleged cover-up of former President Joe Biden's mental decline. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has been on the hunt for who was making decisions in Biden's inner circle during the president's apparent mental decline. On Friday, he sent letters to Karine-Pierre and former White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, former senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and former special assistant to the president Ian Sams, demanding they present themselves for transcribed interviews with the oversight committee. The letters are part of the committee's ongoing investigation into the alleged attempted cover-up of Biden's decline and the potentially unauthorized issuance of sweeping pardons and other executive actions by senior White House officials usurping Biden's presidential authority. In his letters, Comer says the committee believes that the four top Biden staffers have "critical" information on "who made key decisions and exercised the powers of the executive branch during the previous administration, possibly without former President Biden's consent." The letter to Jean-Pierre stated that as White House press secretary and a top Biden confidante, "you were not only near the president daily, but you were 'alongside the ranks of the president's top confidantes.'" "Your assertion, on multiple occasions, that President Biden's decline was attributable to such tactics as 'cheap fakes' or 'misinformation' cannot go without investigation," wrote Comer. He said that "if White House staff carried out a strategy lasting months or even years to hide the chief executive's condition — or to perform his duties — Congress may need to consider a legislative response." Comer set interview dates in late August and early September and gave the four senior officials until July 4 to confirm they would comply with the demands voluntarily or if they will "require a subpoena to compel your attendance for a deposition." Jean-Pierre, Zients, Bates and Sams are the latest former Biden senior officials to receive a congressional summons from Comer as part of the Oversight Committee's investigation into the alleged cover-up. The chairman also issued subpoenas to Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Biden's physician, and Anthony Bernal, former assistant to the president and senior advisor to the first lady, after they refused to appear before the committee voluntarily. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Comer said that "as part of our aggressive investigation into the cover-up of his cognitive decline and potentially unauthorized executive actions, we must hear from those who aided and abetted this farce." "President Biden's inner circle repeatedly told the American people that he was 'sharp as ever,' dismissing any commentary about his obvious mental decline as 'gratuitous,'" he said. "They fed these false talking points to progressive allies and the media, who helped perpetuate that President Biden was fit to serve." Jean-Pierre, Zients, Bates and Sams did not reply to Fox News Digital's request for comment before publication.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Business
- Reuters
Democrat Wyden presses Bessent to commit to US sanctions on Russia
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - The top Senate Finance Committee Democrat pressed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to commit to enforcing Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia and to clarify comments about Russia rejoining an international bank payments network. In a letter to Bessent, Senator Ron Wyden also sought answers on how the U.S.-Ukraine critical minerals deal and investment agreement would help improve Ukraine's post-war security and not benefit any entity or country that aided Russia's war effort. Wyden cited Bessent's comments during his confirmation hearing that he was prepared to strengthen Russian sanctions, including on oil majors, if Trump requested this to help end the Ukraine war, which Bessent called "one of the greatest tragedies of my adult life." "I ask that you reaffirm your commitment to stringently enforce these sanctions and answer questions about how you envision other measures pursued by this administration, including agreements with Ukraine, potentially working in conjunction with these sanctions," Wyden wrote. The Oregon Democrat, who has opposed most of Trump's trade and tax agenda advanced by Bessent, asked the Treasury chief to explain comments he made to Fox News Channel in which he did not rule out bringing Russia back into the SWIFT international banking network. Russia was expelled from the payments messaging system after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "Would Treasury allow Russian banks to rejoin SWIFT absent a comprehensive peace agreement with Ukraine that fully addresses Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine?" Wyden asked in a series of questions for Bessent to answer. Wyden also asked whether Bessent would continue the U.S. Treasury's implementation of commitments by G7 leaders to curtail Russia's use of the international financial system to support its war against Ukraine. A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wyden's letter.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Rwanda, Congo sign peace deal in US to end fighting, attract investment
WASHINGTON/PARIS/KINSHASA: Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday, raising hopes for an end to fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more this year. The agreement marks a breakthrough in talks held by US President Donald Trump's administration and aims to attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. At a ceremony with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, the two African countries' foreign ministers signed the agreement pledging to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days, according to a copy seen by Reuters. Kinshasa and Kigali will also launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days, the agreement said. 'They were going at it for many years, and with machetes — it is one of the worst, one of the worst wars that anyone has ever seen. And I just happened to have somebody that was able to get it settled,' Trump said on Friday, ahead of the signing of the deal in Washington. 'We're getting, for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo as part of it. They're so honored to be here. They never thought they'd be coming.' Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe called the agreement a turning point. Congo Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said it must be followed by disengagement. Trump later met both officials in the Oval Office, where he presented them with letters inviting Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to Washington to sign a package of agreements that Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, dubbed the 'Washington Accord.' Nduhungirehe told Trump that past deals had not been implemented and urged Trump to stay engaged. Trump warned of 'very severe penalties, financial and otherwise,' if the agreement is violated. Rwanda has sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border, according to analysts and diplomats, in support of the M23 rebels, who seized eastern Congo's two largest cities and lucrative mining areas in a lightning advance earlier this year. The gains by M23, the latest cycle in a decades-old conflict with roots in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, sparked fears that a wider war could draw in Congo's neighbors. Economic deals Boulos told Reuters in May that Washington wanted the peace agreement and accompanying minerals deals to be signed simultaneously this summer. Rubio said on Friday that heads of state would be 'here in Washington in a few weeks to finalize the complete protocol and agreement.' However, the agreement signed on Friday gives Congo and Rwanda three months to launch a framework 'to expand foreign trade and investment derived from regional critical mineral supply chains.' A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that another agreement on the framework would be signed by the heads of state at a separate White House event at an unspecified time. There is an understanding that progress in ongoing talks in Doha — a separate but parallel mediation effort with delegations from the Congolese government and M23 — is essential before the signing of the economic framework, the source said. The agreement signed on Friday voiced 'full support' for the Qatar-hosted talks. It also says Congo and Rwanda will form a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days and implement a plan agreed last year to monitor and verify the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers within three months. Congolese military operations targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda's former army and militias that carried out the 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe. Reuters reported on Thursday that Congolese negotiators had dropped an earlier demand that Rwandan troops immediately leave eastern Congo, paving the way for the signing ceremony on Friday. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defense against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, including the FDLR. 'This is the best chance we have at a peace process for the moment despite all the challenges and flaws,' said Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada who specializes in Africa's Great Lakes region. Similar formulas have been attempted before, Stearns added, and 'it will be up to the US, as they are the godfather of this deal, to make sure both sides abide by the terms.' The agreement signed on Friday says Rwanda and Congo will de-risk mineral supply chains and establish value chains 'that link both countries, in partnership, as appropriate, with the US and US investors.' The terms carry 'a strategic message: securing the east also means securing investments,' said Tresor Kibangula, a political analyst at Congo's Ebuteli research institute. 'It remains to be seen whether this economic logic will suffice' to end the fighting, he added.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Business
- Arab News
Tech firms warn ‘Scattered Spider' hacks are targeting aviation sector
WASHINGTON: Tech companies Google and Palo Alto Networks are sounding the alarm over the 'Scattered Spider' hacking group's interest in the aviation sector. In a statement posted on LinkedIn on Friday, Sam Rubin, an executive at Palo Alto's cybersecurity-focused Unit 42, said his company had 'observed Muddled Libra (also known as Scattered Spider) targeting the aviation industry.' In a similar statement, Charles Carmakal, an executive with Alphabet-owned Google's cybersecurity-focused Mandiant unit, said his company was 'aware of multiple incidents in the airline and transportation sector which resemble the operations of UNC3944 or Scattered Spider.' Neither executive identified which specific companies had been targeted, but Alaska Air Group-owned Hawaiian Airlines and Canada's WestJet have both recently reported being struck by unspecified cyber incidents. Neither company has gone into detail about the intrusions or commented on any potential links between the incidents and Scattered Spider. The loose-knit but aggressive hacking group, alleged to at least in part comprise youngsters operating in Western countries, has been blamed for some of the most disruptive hacks to hit the United States and Europe in recent memory. In 2023, hackers tied to the group broke into gaming companies MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, partially paralyzing casinos and knocking slot machines out of commission. Earlier this year, the group wreaked havoc at British retailers. More recent targets include the US insurance industry.
