Новости за 17.11.2021

Beto O’Rourke maintains this time is completely different. This time, the former congressman is running for governor in Texas, challenging Republican incumbent Greg Abbott. The circumstances are dramatically changed from 2018, when he last ran for statewide office, he said in an interview with The New Republic on Tuesday. Covid-19 is still rampant, voting rights are more urgently in need of protecting, and Abbott’s governance has created an opening for the former congressman.

In the summer of 2020, as countries around the world struggled to survive the early surge of the pandemic, battling both economic and public health crises, a number of nations had to face the compounding effects of devastating sanctions imposed by the United States. In Syria, doctors were unable to rebuild hospitals or import medical goods. And in Iran, the Brookings Institute estimated that between May and September, there were about 13,000 additional deaths as a result of U.S. sanctions. Although... Читать дальше...

It’s a jolt, facing up to the casual pitilessness that can, at times, characterize the work of a book reviewer in the grip of an ideological passion. These days, thanks to the publication of Cathy Curtis’s new biography, A Splendid Intelligence: The Life of Elizabeth Hardwick, I’m feeling that jolt.

Steve Bannon, the far-right Trump adviser who briefly served in the White House, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury for defying a subpoena by the House January 6 committee. The case is the first criminal contempt proceeding brought as part of the congressional panel’s inquiry into the attack on Congress 10 months ago. Given the stonewalling by other key witnesses, it may not be the last.

Much like a red wheelbarrow, so much depends on a little-known government agency responsible for determining the costs of legislation. The Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, a nonpartisan agency under congressional control, is set to reveal its full cost estimate for Democrats’ massive social spending bill by Friday. Lawmakers are bracing for a set of numbers that may differ from the figures the White House had previously touted, giving rise to concerns that the bill may not be fully paid for, as some Democrats have stipulated it must. Читать дальше...