government bodies
Biden Shifts Focus Back to U.S. Alliances in Japan, South Korea
SEOUL—To see the Biden administration’s balancing act with the U.S.’s two most important Asian allies, just look at suit lapels. During the first leg of a multicity trip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sported blue pins while in Tokyo—a show of solidarity with Japanese abducted by North Korea. But on …
House Passes Gun-Control Measure Expanding Background Checks on Sales
WASHINGTON—The House passed the first of a pair of gun-control bills, a priority for Democratic leaders impatient over years of little success on the issue amid broad Republican opposition. The vote was 227 to 203 on a measure to expand background checks to nearly all gun sales. Eight Republicans supported the bill, while one Democrat …
U.S. to Impose Sweeping Rule Aimed at China Technology Threats
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration plans to allow a sweeping Trump-era rule aimed at combating Chinese technology threats to take effect next month, over objections from U.S. businesses, according to people familiar with the matter. The rule, initially proposed in November, enables the Commerce Department to ban technology-related business transactions that it determines pose a national security …
Dominion Sues MyPillow, CEO Mike Lindell Over Election Claims
WASHINGTON—One of the largest makers of voting machines in the U.S. on Monday sued a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump, alleging that the businessman had defamed the company with false accusations that it had rigged the 2020 election for President Biden. Dominion Voting Systems sued Mike Lindell, chief executive of Minnesota-based MyPillow Inc., …
Voting-technology company Dominion seeks $1.3 billion in defamation suit against pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against lawyer Sidney Powell on Friday, seeking at least $1.3 billion for Powell’s “wild accusations” that the company rigged the presidential election for Joe Biden. “Dominion brings this action to set the record straight,” the company said in the suit filed in federal court in …
Trump Pursues Appointing Special Counsel to Probe Election, Hunter Biden
President Trump has expressed interest in pursuing the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations of fraud in the November elections and issues related to Hunter Biden, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent days, the president has directed advisers to look for people who could serve in such a position, one …
BlackRock Emerges as Wall Street Player in Biden Administration
Wall Street bankers, and in particular those from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., have long held senior positions in the White House. Under President-elect Joe Biden, such roles are going to executives of BlackRock Inc. A former Goldman executive held the Treasury secretary post in three of the last four administrations, but the firm is absent …
Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google
The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Google engaged in anticompetitive conduct to preserve monopolies in search and search advertising that form the cornerstones of its vast conglomerate. The long-anticipated case, filed in a Washington, D.C., federal court, marks the most aggressive U.S. legal challenge to a company’s dominance in the tech …
‘Too Complex to Break Up’ Is the New ‘Too Big to Fail’
Days before, Facebook Inc. produced its own document contending that breaking it up would be a “nonstarter” for a number of reasons, including that the company’s constituent parts are already too complicated and interconnected for any of them—Instagram, WhatsApp, its ad business—to be spun off as individual companies or walled off as separate divisions. “After …
Trump Remains Hospitalized as Doctors Offer Mixed Signals on Health
WASHINGTON—President Trump remained hospitalized with Covid-19 on Monday after seeking to project confidence and vigor over the weekend, as his doctors offered conflicting signals about how he is faring with the unpredictable illness. The president’s physicians are expected to deliver another update on his condition on Monday. Doctors said Sunday that the president’s vital signs …
