Articles by Focus Washington

The chief medical officer of BioNTech told CNBC on Wednesday that people will likely need a third shot of its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine as immunity against the virus wanes, agreeing with previous comments made by […]

17 State Treasurers Urge Congress To Include Federal Paid Family Leave In Biden’s American Families Plan

State treasurers from 17 states sent an open letter to Congress on Wednesday urging lawmakers to pass federal paid family leave and medical leave as proposed in President Joe Biden’s soon-to-be released American Families Plan, […]

UAE Floats Movement Restrictions on Unvaccinated People

The United Arab Emirates will consider “strict measures” to limit the movement of people unvaccinated against the coronavirus, as it seeks to ramp up a national inoculation campaign that has already administered more than 9.9 […]

U.S. Inflation Could Hit 3% Or 4% By the Middle of 2022

Speculation over the direction inflation will take continues to dog markets, but there is a growing body of strategists that believe investors are underestimating the outlook for consumer prices, CNBC reported. David Roche, president of […]

First Batch of COVID Vaccines Lands in Opposition-Held Syria

Syria’s last rebel-held enclave received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, with a refrigerated truck offloading over 50,000 of United Nations-secured jabs in the overcrowded province, The Associated Press reported. The AstraZeneca vaccines […]

Biden Says America ‘Can’t Stop Here’ After Floyd Verdict

President Joe Biden said the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism. But […]

Russia’s Putin To Address Nation as Mass Navalny Protests Are Planned

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to address the nation on Wednesday in his annual “State of the Nation” address, a speech that will take place amid growing tensions with Ukraine and a hunger strike […]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk Responds to Texas Crash In Investigation Into Two Deaths

Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk spoke out Monday after authorities said “no one was driving” one of the company’s cars when it crashed into a tree in Texas over the weekend, killing two passengers, […]

Chinese President Xi To Attend Biden’s Climate Change Summit

China’s President Xi Jinping will attend a U.S.-led climate change summit on Thursday at the invitation of President Joe Biden, in the first meeting between the two leaders since the advent of the new U.S. […]

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.

Derek Chauvin Guilty Of Murder in George Floyd’s Death

Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts Tuesday for causing George Floyd’s death, a verdict that could send the disgraced former Minneapolis police officer to prison for the rest of his life, NBC News […]

Congressional Investigation Launched Into Emergent BioSolutions’ Federal Vaccine Contracts

Top House Democrats have launched an investigation into whether Emergent Biosolutions, which recently botched 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, won the federal contract to make the shots based on its cozy relationship with a […]

Bitcoin Rally This Year Is the Start of Going Mainstream, Investors Claim

Longtime value investor Bill Miller told CNBC on Tuesday he believes bitcoin is firmly entering into the mainstream, contending the cryptocurrency’s rally in recent months is significantly different from its 2017 ascension and subsequent plunge. […]

Joe Biden seeks to resume student loan payments

Biden’s Recovery Plan For Families Set to Cost More Than $1 Trillion

President Joe Biden’s next economic recovery package will cost at least $1 trillion and extend the beefed-up child tax credit, a source familiar with the proposal confirmed Tuesday, CNBC reported. Biden is set to follow […]

Amnesty International Has Culture of White Privilege, Report Finds

Amnesty International has a culture of white privilege with incidents of overt racism including senior staff using the N-word and micro-aggressive behaviour such as the touching of black colleagues’ hair, according to an internal review […]

Senate GOP Faces Post-Trump Spending Brawl

Republicans are bracing for a fierce fight over spending as the party tries to figure out its post-Trump identity, The Hill reports. GOP senators this week will wade into two major sources of division in […]

Trump Offers Cover to 78-Year-Old Biden from Ageist Attacks: He’s ‘Not Old’

Former President Donald Trump dismissed the idea that President Joe Biden is an “old” guy, according to Washington Examiner. During an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity that aired on Monday, Trump was asked how […]

European States Slip in Media Freedom Rankings Amid Rising Violence

While EU leaders often pledge their support for press freedom, the on-the-ground realities for European journalists are getting more grim, according to the latest World Press Freedom Index from the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, […]

State Department to Designate Most Countries with ‘Do Not Travel’ Advisory

The State Department said Monday that it would start updating its travel advisories this week to drastically increase the number of countries that get the “Level 4: Do Not Travel” designation, The Washington Post reports. […]

Minneapolis Braces for Derek Chauvin Verdict and Potential Unrest

Julia Hinton walked along downtown’s Nicollet Mall on Monday morning, watching as a man installed plywood over the doors and windows of 801 Chophouse on 8th Street and Nicollet Avenue. Armed troops and military vehicles […]

Wall Street Banks Brace for Digital Dollars as the Next Big Disruptive Force

Wall Street is warming up to the idea that the next big disruptive force on the horizon is central bank digital currencies, even though the Federal Reserve likely remains a few years away from developing […]

CDC Says Fewer Than 6,000 Americans Have Contracted COVID After Being Fully Vaccinated

U.S. health officials have confirmed fewer than 6,000 cases of Covid-19 in fully vaccinated Americans, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday, CNBC writes. That represents just 0.007% of the […]

Senate to Vote on Bill to Combat Anti-Asian American Hate Crimes

The Senate will vote Wednesday on legislation to address a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday, CNBC reported. The bill, put forward by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, […]

Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Corruption Authority Initiates a Number of Criminal Cases

Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-corruption Authority (Nazaha) said on Sunday it had initiated a number of criminal cases and legal procedures, Arab News reported. Among the most prominent cases, a retired major general and two […]

Austin Police Identify Former Sheriff’s Detective Accused of Rape as Suspect Behind Massacre

A massive multi-agency manhunt including the FBI and U.S. Marshals continued Monday morning stemming from a shooting on Sunday in Austin and an armed former sheriff’s detective is wanted for killing at least three people […]

As Biden's one-year anniversary in office draws to a conclusion on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden is sure to face a long list of questions

Biden to Hold Second Meeting with Bipartisan Lawmakers on Infrastructure

President Biden is scheduled to meet Monday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, all of whom are former governors or mayors, to discuss his $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal, according to The Hill. The group, which […]

Half of U.S. Adults Now Have Received at Least 1 Covid Shot

Half of all adults in the U.S. have received at least one Covid-19 shot, the government announced Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation’s largest-ever vaccination campaign but leaving more work to do to convince […]

Graham: ‘I Could Not Disagree More’ with Trump Support of Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday pushed back on former President Trump’s support for removing all troops from Afghanistan, writing on Twitter that he “could not disagree more with former President Trump regarding his support […]

NY State Adds New COVID Vaccine Rules for Nursing Homes as Workers Decline Jab

Nearly half of New York’s nursing home workers haven’t gotten the COVID-19 vaccine — so the state Department of Health is now putting more pressure on the facilities to bridge the gap, The Post has […]

Trump Calls Afghanistan Withdrawal ‘Wonderful and Positive Thing to Do,’ Criticizes Biden’s Timeline

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday praised withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, while knocking his successor’s timeline for doing so, CNN reports. Though the former President offered his support of President Joe Biden’s plans to […]

April 18, 2021 Focus Washington

Pentagon Confirms New Photos and Videos of UFOs are Real

The leaked photos and video of “unidentified aerial phenomena” taken in 2019 are indeed images of unexplained objects, Defense Department confirmed last week. According to CNN, Pentagon spokeswoman Susan Gough said that the photos and […]