Politics
Published Sat Jan 01 2000 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Policies, politicians and people impacted
High court: Rhode Island mail-in voters don't need witnesses
The U.S. Supreme Court is leaving in place an agreement that allows Rhode Island residents to vote by mail in two upcoming elections without signing their ballots in the presence of two witnesses or a notary. State officials had agreed to suspend the normal requirement because of the coronavirus pandemic. They have said that fulfilling the requirement results in close contact between voters and others, which could expose voters to the virus. The high court on Thursday rejected an effort by the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Rhode Island to put the agreement on hold, noting that “no state official has expressed opposition.”
Professor, NASA researcher accused of concealing China ties
A NASA researcher and Texas A&M University professor has been charged with accepting federal grant money while hiding work he was doing for a university established by the Chinese government as well as his affiliation with Chinese-owned companies. A criminal complaint released by the Justice Department on Monday says Zhengdong Cheng faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and false statements. Cheng’s voicemail box at the university was full and could not accept messages, and it was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer. An email to the university seeking comment was not immediately returned.
US accuses Chinese hackers in targeting of COVID-19 research
The Justice Department has accused two Chinese hackers of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars of trade secrets from companies across the world and more recently targeting firms developing a vaccine for the coronavirus. Officials expected to discuss the indictment at a news conference Tuesday. It says the hackers in recent months had researched vulnerabilities in the computer networks of companies publicly known for their work in developing vaccines and treatments.
Q&A: What would a US ban on Chinese-owned app TikTok mean?
President Donald Trump says he wants to take action as soon as Saturday to ban the popular Chinese-owned video app, TikTok, which has been a source of national security and censorship concerns. The threat comes as Microsoft Corp. is in advanced talks to buy the Chinese app, owned by Bytedance Ltd. That's according to a person familiar with the discussions who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity to the negotiations. Microsoft has declined to comment. It’s not clear whether Trump would accept a divestment as a concession.
USAID official fired after anti-LGBTQ social media posts
The deputy White House liaison for the U.S. Agency for International Development has been fired for posting a series of anti-LGBTQ tweets and complaining of anti-Christian bias by her now former colleagues. Officials say Merritt Corrigan was fired Monday just hours after sending the torrent of tweets that also accused Democratic lawmakers of a “corrupt campaign” to oust her from her job. A USAID spokeswoman confirmed that Corrigan was no longer employed by the agency. On Monday, Corrigan took to Twitter to say that “gay marriage isn't marriage" and accuse the media of attacking her for her Christian beliefs.
Trump's Ukraine envoy pick says he'll flag election meddling
President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Ukraine says that if he's confirmed, he won’t meet Americans with overtly partisan political agendas, Retired Army Gen. Keith Dayton says he'll report any attempt to interfere in November’s election. He tells senators he'd look into any requests for meetings and wouldn't accept any if he believed they were intended to influence the election or other domestic political issues. He wouldn't commit to refusing a meeting with Trump backer Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani was at the forefront of a campaign to remove Marie Yovanovitch as the U.S. ambassador in Ukraine. That effort played a key role in Trump’s impeachment.
Justice Dept: North Korean hackers stole virtual currency
A Justice Department civil forfeiture complaint accuses North Korean hackers of stealing millions of dollars from virtual currency accounts and of laundering the stolen funds in hopes of making the crime untraceable. The complaint was filed in Washington's federal court. It comes months after Justice Department officials accused hackers from North Korea of stealing nearly $250 million worth of virtual currency, and charged two Chinese hackers with laundering more than $100 million from the hack.
Unemployed Rhode Islanders face uncertain future as federal benefit expires
With Congress deadlocked over a new aid package, the weekly $600 federal unemployment benefit expires today. Many jobless Rhode Islanders are now wondering how they're going to survive financially.
Trump Jr. expresses opposition to Alaska mine project
President Donald Trump’s eldest son has agreed with calls to block a proposed copper and gold mine near the headwaters of a major U.S. salmon fishery in southwest Alaska. Donald Trump Jr. responded Tuesday to a tweet by a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence that expressed hope the president would direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to block the proposed Pebble Mine. Trump Jr. tweeted in response that he agreed. This comes as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers weighs a key permitting decision for the project. The developer, the Pebble Limited Partnership, is owned by Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
McSally, Kelly move on to set up hot Arizona Senate race
Republican Sen. Martha McSally and Democratic astronaut Mark Kelly have secured their parties’ nominations in the Arizona race to finish the late John McCain’s U.S. Senate term. It sets up a heated contest between two former combat pilots for an expensive and spirited Senate races of 2020. The race will test Democrats’ growing strength in sprawling Sun Belt suburbs and Republican efforts to blame China for the coronavirus outbreak. Kelly faced only a write-in opponent for the Democratic nomination. McSally had a large lead over conservative businessman Daniel McCarthy.