Focus Washington by Focus Washington

U.S. Envoy Kerry Heads to India to Try and Lift ‘Climate Ambition’

April 1, 2021 Focus Washington

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry will hold talks with Indian leaders during an Asian tour starting on Thursday in an effort to narrow differences on climate change goals to slow global warming, Reuters writes. Prime […]

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Stocks Edge up as Biden Spending Plan Boosts U.S. Outlook

April 1, 2021 Focus Washington

Stocks crept higher on Thursday following their weakest quarter in a year, while higher Treasury yields supported the dollar, as investors parsed the details of a $2 trillion U.S. government spending plan and hoped for […]

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Congress Embarks on Epic Battle over Biden Infrastructure Plan

April 1, 2021 Focus Washington

The U.S. Congress is poised for a long battle over President Joe Biden’s infrastructure investment plan as Democrats argue with Republicans and among themselves over the $2 trillion cost and how the money should be […]

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Biden Kicks off Effort to Reshape U.S. Economy with Infrastructure Package

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

President Joe Biden on Wednesday will call for a dramatic and more permanent shift in the direction of the U.S. economy with a roughly $2 trillion package to invest in traditional projects like roads and […]

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Jailed Kremlin Critic Navalny Launches Hunger Strike in Bid for Medical Care

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny went on hunger strike on Wednesday in an attempt to force the prison holding him outside Moscow to provide him with proper medical care for what he said was acute […]

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Huawei’s Growth Slowed Dramatically in 2020 as U.S. Sanctions Take Their Toll

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

Huawei’s revenue growth slowed dramatically last year as the impact of U.S. sanctions and the economic fallout from the coronavirus weighed on the Chinese technology giant, CNBC reported. Revenue for 2020 totaled 891.4 billion yuan […]

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Critics Slam the Fed as Home Prices Rise at a Historic Rate

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

Home price gains are accelerating at an alarming pace, fueled by Covid pandemic-related inflation, which some claim is not getting enough attention from the Federal Reserve, CNBC informed. Home prices nationally in January rose 11.2% […]

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OPEC+ Panel Says Uncertainties May Impact Oil Demand Recovery

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

OPEC+ has raised concerns that uncertainties may impact the recovery in oil demand due to rising numbers of virus infections globally and lockdown measures, according to a report from the group’s experts panel meeting seen […]

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SpaceX Starship SN11 Rocket Fails to Land Safely After Test Launch in Texas

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

An uncrewed SpaceX Starship prototype rocket failed to land safely on Tuesday after a test launch from Boca Chica, Texas, and engineers were investigating, SpaceX said, Reuters writes. “We do appear to have lost all […]

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Investigation Begins into How Ship Got Stuck on Suez Canal

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

Formal investigations into how the giant container ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal, shutting down shipping in the major global waterway for almost a week, begin on Wednesday, a canal official told […]

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Global Shares Struggle as U.S. Bond Yields March Higher

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

Global stocks wavered on Wednesday while the safe-haven dollar held near five-month highs as Treasury yields resumed their upward march before U.S. President Joe Biden announces a multitrillion-dollar plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure, Reuters reported. […]

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China State Media Outlet Warns against ‘Crude’ Efforts to Get People Vaccinated

March 31, 2021 Focus Washington

Some local authorities in China have resorted to “simple and crude” measures to push people into getting COVID-19 vaccines, a state media outlet said on Wednesday, warning against such behaviour as China ramps up its […]

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U.S. Lawmakers Press Big Tech for Internal Research on Kids’ Mental Health

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

Four Republican U.S. lawmakers requested on Tuesday that Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google turn over any studies they have done on how their services affect children’s mental health, Reuters reported. The request […]

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U.S. Consumer Confidence Hits One-Year High; House Prices Soar

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

U.S. consumer confidence raced in March to its highest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting views that economic growth will accelerate in the coming months, driven by more fiscal stimulus and an […]

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CDC Chief Warns U.S. Headed for ‘Impending Doom’ as COVID Cases Rise Again

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

The U.S. is facing “impending doom” as daily Covid-19 cases begin to rebound once again, threatening to send more people to the hospital even as vaccinations accelerate nationwide, the head of the Centers for Disease […]

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protection against coronavirus infection

Global Leaders Call for a Pandemic Treaty, Saying Another Outbreak Is ‘Only a Matter of Time’

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

Global leaders jointly called for a pandemic treaty Tuesday, arguing that the Covid-19 crisis had posed the “greatest challenge for the global community since the late 1940s.” CNBC informed. The joint letter, published in newspapers […]

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Murkowski Faces New Republican Challenger after Drawing Trump’s Ire

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowksi of Alaska, who drew former President Donald Trump’s enmity after backing his impeachment last month in the U.S. Senate, picked up a new Republican challenge for the 2022 election on Monday […]

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Traffic in Suez Canal Resumes after Stranded Ship Refloated

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

Shipping was on the move again late on Monday in Egypt’s Suez Canal after tugs refloated a giant container ship which had been blocking the channel for almost a week, causing a huge build-up of […]

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UK Wants to Vaccinate All Adults before Sharing Vaccine with Other Countries

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

Britain will focus on vaccinating the whole of its adult population before it can to provide any surplus shots to other countries such as its close neighbour Ireland, British business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on […]

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Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines Highly Effective after First Shot in Real-World Use, U.S. Study Shows

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc with BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc reduced risk of infection by 80% two weeks or more after the first of two shots, according to data from a real-world U.S. […]

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Stocks Climb as Investors Look past U.S. Hedge Fund Default

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

Global stock markets rose on Tuesday as investors shook off worries about a hedge fund default that hit international banking stocks overnight and remained focused on the global COVID-19 vaccination programme, Reuters informs. European stocks […]

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Iran Rejects Ending 20% Enrichment before U.S. Lifts Sanctions

March 30, 2021 Focus Washington

Iran will not stop its 20% uranium enrichment before the United States lifts all sanctions, Iranian state TV quoted an unnamed official as saying on Tuesday, after a U.S. media report said Washington would offer […]

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The footage showing Derek Chauvin kneeling on the restrained Floyd's neck for over eight minutes while the officers were making the arrest sparked worldwide anger and the greatest popular uprising witnessed in the United States in decades.

A ‘Grinding and Crushing’ Knee on George Floyd: Opening Statements Begin in Ex-Officer’s Trial

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd while joining other officers in arresting him last May, a prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement at Chauvin’s murder trial in a […]

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AP: Global Banks Warn of Possible Losses from Hedge Fund Default

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

Swiss bank Credit Suisse said Monday it may have suffered a “highly significant” loss from a default by a U.S.-based hedge fund on margin calls that it and other banks made last week, while Japan’s […]

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Fauci: Rising COVID Cases Can’t Be Blamed on Variants Alone as Travel Resumes, States Lift Restrictions

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

The latest rise in new Covid-19 infections can’t be pinned on highly transmissible variants alone as more Americans travel for spring break and states lift restrictions, including mask mandates, intended to slow the virus’ spread, […]

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Biden to Push Infrastructure before Health and Family Care in Next Phase of Economic Plan

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

President Joe Biden will separate his sprawling plan to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure into two separate pieces that he will unveil weeks apart, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday, CNBC reports. Psaki […]

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Saudi Arabia Starts Winning over Firms in Regional Race

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

When CSG opted to shift its regional headquarters this year from Dubai to Riyadh, it marked an early win for Saudi Arabia and proved a surprisingly easy move for the U.S. technology firm: the new […]

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Oil Falls on Hopes That Suez Canal Blockage Might End Soon

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

Oil fell on Monday as a container ship blocking Suez Canal for nearly a week was partially refloated raising hopes the busy waterway would soon be reopened and as fuel demand in Europe stayed weak, […]

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China Warns Firms Not to Engage in Politics over Xinjiang

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

Chinese officials on Monday said Sweden’s H&M and other foreign companies should not make rash moves or step into politics after the companies raised concerns about forced labour in Xinjiang, sparking a furious online backlash […]

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Pelosi Picks First Black American to Lead U.S. House Security

March 29, 2021 Focus Washington

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi nominated a Washington military commander to serve as chamber’s top law enforcement officer, who would be the first Black American to hold that role, Reuters writes. The commander, […]

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