The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is warning the State Department will face a subpoena if it fails to deliver on repeated document requests related to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent Monday, McCaul set a deadline of Wednesday evening for the…
Author: Laura Kelly
ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over alleged war crime of ‘unlawful’ deportation of Ukrainian children
The International Criminal Court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and another Russian official involving allegations of war crimes around the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. The arrest warrant likely marks one of the first charges against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine, part of a global…
Senators temper outrage over Russian jet provocations to avoid escalation
Lawmakers are outraged over the aerial harassment by Russian jets that led to the downing of a $32 million American drone, but are expressing extreme caution to avoid escalating a conflict between the U.S. and Russia. Senators told The Hill they expect to be briefed by the Department of Defense on the circumstances surrounding the…
Murphy and Lee look to pressure Saudi Arabia on human rights, Yemen war
A bipartisan pair of Senators are laying the groundwork to check U.S. assistance to Saudi Arabia over criticisms of its oppression of human rights at home and alleged atrocities stemming from its military operations in Yemen. Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced on Wednesday a privileged resolution to require the State Department…
Why Saudi snub of Biden on China-Iran deal may help US relations
Saudi Arabia’s embrace of Chinese diplomacy with Iran is being viewed as yet another snub by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against President Biden, however, the deal may ultimately help the United States’ strategy in the Middle East. While experts see a risk of further damage to Washington’s relations with Riyadh, and the deal perhaps…
Congress wants to label Wagner group as a terrorist organization. Why is Biden opposed?
A fight is brewing between Congress and President Biden over whether to designate as a terrorist organization the private Russian military company Wagner, which is on the front lines of aggression against Ukraine and accused of heinous atrocities there and across the world. While the Biden administration has sanctioned the Wagner group as a global…
White House: Russia working to overthrow Moldovan government, but no immediate military threat
The Biden administration is warning that Russia is sowing the seeds to overthrow the Moldovan government, but added the U.S. does not see an immediate military threat against the small, Eastern European country that sits on the border of Ukraine. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the U.S. has intelligence…
Netanyahu’s judicial reforms have US lawmakers worried about Israeli democracy
President Biden and members of Congress are watching with deep concern how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves forward with so-called judicial reforms that have drawn unprecedented opposition on the Israeli street. The reforms have been criticized by opponents as stripping Israel’s Supreme Court of its independence — an issue central to the nation’s democratic…
China ranks atop worldwide threats, US intelligence chiefs tell lawmakers
China’s power and ambitions for influence are bleeding into nearly every threat that U.S. intelligence agencies are tracking, and the Chinese Communist Party remains America’s top concern, the five directors of the most senior intelligence agencies told lawmakers on Wednesday. Leaders of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, FBI, the Defense…
House panel lays out ‘existential struggle’ with China in primetime debut
Anti-war protesters. Audiovisuals. Tough talk on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party. The House Select Committee on China kicked off its first hearing Tuesday evening with fireworks as it laid out the challenge facing the U.S. in catching up and confronting an aggressive foe in Beijing. “We may call this a ‘strategic competition,’ but…