Friday, April 30, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 30, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American politician and businessman serving as the junior United States Senator for South Carolina since 2013. A Republican, Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor Nikki Haley in 2013. He retained his seat after winning a special election in 2014 and was elected to a full term in 2016.
In 2010, Scott was elected to the United States House of Representatives for South Carolina's 1st congressional district, where he served from 2011 to 2013.[1] Scott served one term (from 2009 to 2011) in the South Carolina General Assembly and served on the Charleston County council from 1996 to 2008.[2][3]
Since January 2017, Scott has been one of eleven African-Americans to have served in the U.S. Senate, and the first to serve in both chambers of Congress.[4] He is the seventh African-American to have been elected to the Senate and the fourth from the Republican Party. He is the first African-American senator from South Carolina, the first African-American senator to be elected from the southern United States since 1881 (four years after the end of the Reconstruction era), and the first African-American Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate since Edward Brooke departed in 1979.     from Wikipedia
美舰驶入黑海 俄巡洋舰试射导弹 普京号令预备役集结 20210429 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 30, 2021
Where the syndrome first emerged: The US embassy in Havana, Cuba.
White House aware of reported mystery illness ‘attacks’


Apr. 30 - Aboard Air Force One: The White House is aware of a media report about potential incidents in the United States in 2019 and 2020 that appear similar to previous suspected “directed” radio frequency attacks that caused a mysterious illness, but could not provide or confirm any details.
The White House was working closely with various US departments and agencies and was still evaluating the situation, which included one attack near the White House, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.


CNN earlier on Thursday (Friday AEST) reported that American agencies were investigating two possible incidents that appeared similar to a mysterious illness known as “Havana syndrome” that impacted diplomats in Cuba and elsewhere.

One last year occurred near the White House, it said, while another one, previously reported by GQ magazine, sickened a White House official in a nearby Virginia suburb in 2019.

“The health and well being of American public services is a paramount priority for the Biden administration,” Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We cannot provide or confirm specific details.”

More than 40 diplomats and spies as far back as 2016 have reported nausea, headache, dizziness and other unexplained symptoms, triggering intense speculation.

The most probable cause was “directed” radio-frequency energy, a type of radiation that includes microwaves, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded in a report last year.


In February, the US State Department said an investigation was still ongoing.     source from
One of the images leaked from the Pentagon report appears to be a pyramid-shaped object (pictured) hovering over the USS Russell 
Out of this world: UFOs buzzing US warships have been sent by PUTIN and there's 'no question about it' former senator claims
  • Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid pointed the finger at Russia over unidentified flying objects spotted by US warships
  • The UFOs were seen in images and footage leaked from a Pentagon investigation 
  • Reid has called on for a permanent UFO programme to be established following the sightings  

Apr. 30 - A former senator has blamed UFOs filmed buzzing US warships on Vladimir Putin, saying there was 'no question' that Russia was involved. 

Harry Reid has called for the US to establish a permanent UFO program following Pentagon confirmation of the authenticity of a set of images and videos showing unidentified flying objects over Navy warships off the coast of California in 2019. 

In an interview with Mysterywire.com, Reid discussed the potential origin of the mysterious flying objects, with the interviewer suggesting they may be Chinese.

'Always remember, Russia, the former Soviet Union, is run by a man who ran the KGB. They had as many as 30,000 agents at one time, KGB agents. So, Russia's involved in this, no question about it,' Reid said.
The former Senate majority leader said UFOS were 'something that cannot be ignored' and that President Joe Biden should be briefed on the matter. 

'I believe that there should be an ongoing entity, within the Pentagon would be the best place for it, whose sole job is to stay on top of the issue of UFOs,' Reid said. 

Reid's comments came after the leak of photos from a Pentagon investigation of UFOs by the UAP Task Force, which has been gathering evidence for a report for Congress that's due in June, according to Mystery Wire.  

The images, which were obtained by filmmaker Jeremy Corbell, show unidentified objects flying above four US destroyers, including the USS Kidd Navy destroyer, in 2019. 

One of the images appears to be a pyramid-shaped object while others were thought to be drones or balloons; however, the Navy has listed them as unknowns. 

​In a statement, a Pentagon spokesperson told Mystery Wire: 'I can confirm that the referenced photos and videos were taken by Navy personnel. The UAPTF has included these incidents in their ongoing examinations'...     more  
In this Oct. 1, 2019, file photo spectators wave Chinese flags as military vehicles carrying DF-41 ballistic missiles roll during a parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of Communist China in Beijing.
China nuclear buildup faster than expected, U.S. now believes

Apr. 30 - China’s military is advancing its nuclear arsenal and delivery systems so fast the Defense Intelligence Agency has had to move up its estimate of when Beijing will double its warhead stockpile, the general in charge of military intelligence told Congress on Thursday.

In wide-ranging testimony, DIA Director Army Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on global threats that China and Russia are actively using information warfare surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic to undermine Western governments.

The three-star general said the DIA last year estimated the People’s Liberation Army would double its stockpile of nuclear warheads, which the agency has said was in the “low 200s,” by the year 2030.

“Since then, Beijing has accelerated its nuclear expansion and is on track to exceed our previous projection,” he said. “PLA nuclear forces are expected to continue to grow with their nuclear stockpile likely to at least double in size over this decade and increase the threat to the U.S. homeland.” No new estimate of the number of warheads was made public.

Gen. Berrier said the nuclear buildup is part of a “massive military modernization” by Beijing and is being “accelerated as a deterrent,” he added.     more

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Thursday, April 29, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 29, 2021

 

2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

Joe Biden peppered his first address before Congress with policies so popular they're hard to oppose
​Bidenism’s One-Two Punch

The president’s case for his program rests on egalitarian nationalism and the value of democracy. That’s a more potent case than the Democrats have had in decades.

Apr. 29 - Perhaps because he was compelled to wait longer than any presidential aspirant in American history before actually winning the White House, Joe Biden understands timing. Not just the need to move quickly on his far-reaching agenda, but also the order in which he presents its components. If Biden has made one thing clear in his first 100 days as president, it’s that he understands, and is a master of, sequencing.

In his first address to Congress, as in his first 100 days, he led with proposals for fundamental change, but particularly with proposals so popular that they’re hard to oppose. In the Republican response to Biden’s speech, South Carolina Sen. Tm Scott skipped lightly and quickly through his critique of Biden’s proposals for infrastructure, family assistance and access to health care, and he was in such a rush because Republicans know that Biden’s case is compelling. Like his fellow GOPers, Scott spent much more time on racial, religious and cultural wedge issues, proclaiming that America is not a racist nation, but rather one with Christianity and opposition to abortion at its core. This came after Biden had just presented the closest thing to a social democratic manifesto that any American president has ever delivered. But it’s precisely the social democratic aspects of Biden’s agenda that win the greatest popular support, including a quarter to a third of rank-and-file Republicans.

​So long as the debate focuses on the lived experience of the American people, Republicans don’t have much to say...     more

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Delivers Emergency COVID-19 Assistance for India

APRIL 28, 2021
Reflecting the United States’ solidarity with India as it battles a new wave of COVID-19 cases, the United States is delivering supplies worth more than $100 million in the coming days to provide urgent relief to our partners in India.  In addition, U.S. state governments, private companies, non-government organizations, and thousands of Americans from across the country have mobilized to deliver vital oxygen, related equipment, and essential supplies for Indian hospitals to support frontline health care workers and the people of India most affected during the current outbreak.  U.S. Government assistance flights will start arriving in India on Thursday, April 29 and will continue into next week.

​Just as India sent assistance to the United States when our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need.

Immediate U.S. Emergency COVID-19 Assistance

The United States is providing: 
英航母率9艘舰艇首航亚太 域外国家扎堆来搅局?20210428 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 29, 2021
Photo: Joe Biden speaking with attendees at the 2019 Iowa Federation of Labor Convention hosted by the AFL-CIO at the Prairie Meadows Hotel in Altoona, Iowa.
Biden calls North Korean nukes a ‘serious threat’ in first speech to Congress


The U.S. president said he’ll address DPRK issues with “diplomacy” and “stern deterrence”

Apr. 29 - U.S. President Joe Biden called North Korea’s nuclear program a “serious threat” to global security on Wednesday, vowing to leverage both diplomacy and his relationship with American allies to solve the problem.

“On Iran and North Korea, nuclear programs present serious threats to American security and the security of the world,” Biden said during a wide-ranging speech that also covered climate change, gun control and COVID-19. “We are going to be working closely with our allies to address the threats posed by both of these countries through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence.”

The statement came as Washington weighs its upcoming North Korea policy review, which could reveal how the Biden administration is planning to handle DPRK issues after former President Donald Trump’s unconventional, summit-driven approach.

[What Biden said] is not so different from what’s been said so far,” said Sang-sin Lee, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU). “From Seoul’s perspective, Biden’s mention of the word ‘diplomacy’ could be seen as a win.”
Earlier this month, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan consulted with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts to discuss the administration’s North Korea policy. The White House also said that the U.S. president will meet the South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the second half of May, though the exact dates have not yet been announced.     more

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 28, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

6天单日新增超30万 “海啸式”疫情撼动印度 20210427 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 28, 2021

China offered Covid aid to India while US dragged its feet, but Delhi isn't that keen

Apr. 28 - Hong Kong (CNN)When India asked the United States this month to lift a ban on exporting vaccine raw materials to help with the South Asian country's Covid crisis, Washington appeared to drag its feet, citing the need to "vaccinate the American people" first.

This tepid response disappointed and angered many in India, which is grappling with the world's worst outbreak: daily infection numbers are hitting new records, hospitals and cremation sites are overflowing and patients are dying due to shortage in medical supplies.

​A backlash at home, as well as widespread international criticism, quickly led the US to reverse course, promising to provide aid to India.Outside of India itself, the loudest and harshest critic was China: over the past week, state media has published a flurry of articles lashing out at Washington, claiming the initial response "fully exposed its selfishness" and accusing it of "obstructing global efforts" to distribute vaccines to developing countries in dire need.Since containing its own domestic coronavirus outbreak, Beijing has positioned itself as a global leader in fighting the pandemic, often contrasting its eagerness to help other countries with the "America first" approach of the US under former President Donald Trump.


​And as the crisis has rapidly spiraled out of control in India, Chinese leaders have repeatedly expressed a desire to help, pledging to "offer support and assistance to the best of our capability if the Indian side informs us of its specific needs."
New Delhi, however, has so far not taken Beijing up on this offer, symptomatic perhaps of what has become a deep and oftentimes mutual distrust between the two Asian powers.​..     more
Sherrod Campbell Brown (/ˈʃɛrəd/,[2] born November 9, 1952) is an American politician, educator, and academic serving as the senior United States Senator from Ohio, a seat to which he was first elected in 2006. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007 and the 47th Secretary of State of Ohio from 1983 to 1991. He started his political career in 1975 as an Ohio State Representative.

Brown defeated two-term Republican incumbent Mike DeWine in the 2006 U.S. Senate election and was reelected in 2012, defeating state Treasurer Josh Mandel, and in 2018, defeating U.S. Representative Jim Renacci. In the Senate, he was chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms and the Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy, and is also a member of the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Select Committee on Ethics. At the start of the 114th Congress in January 2015, Brown became the Ranking Democratic Member on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.[3] In January 2021, Brown became chair of the committee and initiated an inquiry into the implosion of Archegos Capital Management, an investment firm that was accused of fraud and insider trading and lost billions of dollars.[4]


Brown became the state's senior U.S. Senator after the retirement of George Voinovich in 2011. Since then, Brown has been the only Democratic statewide elected official in Ohio, although some statewide-elected Ohio Supreme Court justices are members of the Democratic Party but elected in nonpartisan races.     from Wikipedia


Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is among those pushing for a permanent child tax credit expansion. 
White House readies $1.8 trillion family aid plan, tax increases

Proposal would raise revenue from wealthier households to pay for child care, preschool, paid leave and other initiatives

Apr. 28 - The Biden administration will unveil a sweeping initiative Wednesday designed to reduce child poverty, help women return to the workforce, and accelerate an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposal, estimated to cost $1.8 trillion over a decade, would provide for universal pre-kindergarten, two years of tuition-free community college, more affordable child care, paid family and medical leave for workers, and an extension of an expanded child tax credit, among other things.

​Financing for the plan would come from tax increases on upper-income households and increased IRS enforcement of tax compliance. The top marginal income tax rate would increase from 37 percent to 39.6 percent — the rate that existed before the Republican tax cuts of 2017. The capital gains tax rate paid by millionaires would increase from 20 percent to 39.6 percent, matching the rate to be paid on ordinary income...     continue to read

Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on National Security and Foreign Policy in President Biden’s First 100 Days

APRIL 27, 2021

...Our view is that we don’t have that luxury to choose between those challenges.  It was clear from the first 100 days that we faced an increasingly assertive China and disruptive Russia.  At the same time, we face challenges that don’t respect borders, including climate change, COVID-19, and a technological revolution that’s reshaping nearly every aspect of our lives.

Yet, the United States also has a tremendous opportunity to shape this world and to lead collective action to address these challenges. 

In everything he does, President Biden is committed to ensuring the security and prosperity of the American people today and in the future.  That means orienting our foreign policy to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

​And with this in mind, the President’s strategy calls for investing in America’s enduring advantages.  That starts with a phrase we say probably more often than you all like: “building back better here at home.”  This means taking steps to recover from COVID and the economic crisis in a way that is truly equitable.  It means making investments in priority areas like clean energy and science and technology, and recommitting ourselves to American ideals and values...    
  quoted from

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Apr. 27, 2021

 2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

In an April 2, 2021, photo released by the U.S. Navy, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel cuts in front of the U.S. Coast Guard ship USCGC Wrangell in the Persian Gulf. American and Iranian warships had a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf earlier this month, the first such incident in about a year amid wider turmoil in the region over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday, April 27, 2021. 
Iran, US warships in first tense Mideast encounter in a year

Apr. 27 - American and Iranian warships had a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf earlier this month, the first such incident in about a year amid wider turmoil in the region over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.

Footage released by the Navy showed a ship commanded by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard cut in front of the USCGC Monomoy, causing the Coast Guard vessel to come to an abrupt stop with its engine smoking on April 2.

The Guard also did the same with another Coast Guard vessel, the USCGC Wrangell, said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet. Such close passes risk the ships colliding at sea.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the incident in the southern reaches of the Persian Gulf, which resulted in no injuries or damage.

​"The U.S. crews issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, five short blasts from the ships’ horns, and while the (Iranian) Harth 55 responded to the bridge-to-bridge radio queries, they continued the unsafe maneuvers," Rebarich said. “After approximately three hour of the U.S. issuing warning and conducting defensive maneuvers, the (Iranian) vessels maneuvered away from the U.S. ships and opened distance between them"...     more 
连续日增30万+ 印度疫情面临失控 疫苗生产大国为何步履维艰?20210425 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 26, 2021

USAIC applauded AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax for working to get their vaccines available in India.
COVID-19: White House, Congress urged to deploy all resources to save lives in India


India's unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases, which has surpassed all global records, needs immediate help from the western countries.


Apr. 27 - ...Young India has also shared this document with progressive diaspora organisations to help them shape their own advocacy with their contacts in these branches of government. In its policy paper, it urged the Biden administration to provide liquified oxygen stocks, oxygen concentrators, cryogenic tanks, refillable oxygen cylinders with 10 litres and 45 litres LMO capacity, and in situ oxygen manufacturing plants for hospitals.
Seeking the release of a substantive portion of the AstraZeneca vaccine from American stockpile, the paper urged the United States to ease restrictions on exporting critical raw materials needed for manufacture of vaccines, imposed under the Defense Production Act (DPA). Products like bags and filters, cell culture media, single-use tubing assemblies and other such specialty raw materials needed for vaccines and COVID-19 therapeutics face a supply crunch, which can be alleviated by relaxing export restrictions under the DPA, it said.

Noting that less than one per cent of the infections are currently being genome sequenced, it said providing aid to improve India’s sequencing capabilities will help identify reasons behind the recent surge and guide a targeted response that will also be needed as the virulent strains from India spread globally...    quoted from
日强化与美欧多国军事互动 “炒热”钓鱼岛威胁地区安全 20210426 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
Apr 27, 2021

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Mischief Reef |Mar. 25

  WH keeping public in dark on what Biden demanded of China’s Xi over arming Putin​ Mar. 18 - The White House was tight-lipped Friday about ...