ANKARA (AA) – Total global military spending rose 0.7% to $2.1 trillion in 2021, with the US, China, India, UK and Russia making up 65% of this, according to data released Tuesday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). US expenditures fell 1.4% to $801 billion in 2021 compared to the previous year, but […...
Advocates and Democrats who support sweeping student debt cancellation welcomed reporting Tuesday that President Joe Biden is exploring options for loan forgiveness after extending a pandemic-related pause on payments earlier this month. Multiple outlets, including CBS News and The Washington Post, reported that during a Monday meeting with me...
Hundreds of faith-based and civil rights groups and leaders across the United States on Tuesday called on members of Congress to “fiercely reject” a “dangerous” bill that would codify a rule used to deport more than 1.7 million asylum-seekers under the pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a letter to congressional lawma...
Advocacy groups on Tuesday blasted new efforts by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin to strike a deal with the GOP on climate legislation after months of the West Virginia Democrat preventing the House-approved Build Back Better Act from reaching President Joe Biden’s desk. Manchin and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) organized a Monday night meeting t...
After U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday used his clemency powers for the first time—well over a year into his presidency—criminal justice reform advocates called on him to go even further to tackle mass incarceration. Biden announced in a statement that he was pardoning three people and commuting the sentences of 75 others with nonviolent dr...
A coalition of more than 70 groups representing patients, healthcare workers, unions, and others launched a new campaign Tuesday aimed at pressuring the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate to finally approve legislation to bring down out-of-control prescription drug costs and rein in the pricing power of Big Pharma. Joined by Sens. Amy Klobuchar...
WASHINGTON (AA) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to defend on Tuesday ongoing negotiations with Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the top diplomat emphasized that former US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” and decision to unilate...
Condemning the Biden administration’s seizure of U.S.-held Afghanistan Central Bank funds as “a deep and grave injustice” that will worsen the humanitarian crisis already being suffered by millions of Afghans, several civil society groups have filed official statements in federal court demanding President Joe Biden’s ex...
Research out Monday reveals that CEOs from 28 of the top oil and gas companies enjoyed a combined $394 million in total compensation in 2021, including “eye-popping” bonuses that together topped $31 million. The analysis from Accountable.US, first reported by The Guardian, comes as inflation-hit consumers see gas prices soaring whi...
Nearly nine in 10 young Americans want the government to address the student loan debt crisis, with a plurality—but an overall minority—supporting full cancelation, according to the results of a national survey published Monday. The survey, conducted by Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics (IOP), found that 85% of respondents u...
