BREAKING NEWS
How Chinese retailers can offer Americans steep bargains on clothes and why that could change
Read full article: How Chinese retailers can offer Americans steep bargains on clothes and why that could changeThe flow of millions of small parcels into the U.S. from China thanks to the explosive growth of online shopping has caught the attention of Congress.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer from Oregon says he won't run for reelection next year
Read full article: Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer from Oregon says he won't run for reelection next yearOregon's Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer has announced that he won't be running for reelection next year.
Pressure mounts over Oregon primary ballot fiasco
Read full article: Pressure mounts over Oregon primary ballot fiascoA state lawmaker in Oregon is calling for a formal investigation into a ballot-printing fiasco that will delay results from Tuesday's primary by weeks in the state's third-largest county, with a key U.S. House race hanging in the balance.
Double dealing: Legal, illicit blur in California pot market
Read full article: Double dealing: Legal, illicit blur in California pot marketAs California enters its fifth year of broad legal marijuana sales, industry insiders say the practice of working simultaneously in the legal and illicit markets is all too commonplace in the struggling pot economy.
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez seek 'climate emergency' declaration
Read full article: Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez seek 'climate emergency' declarationA week after President Joe Biden signed executive orders intended to combat the worst effects of global warming, Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and other lawmakers urged him to go even further and declare a national emergency on climate change. “If there ever was an emergency, climate is one,'' the New York Democrat told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow last week, adding that an emergency declaration would give Biden “more flexibility.'' The sweeping plan is aimed at staving off the worst of global warming caused by burning fossil fuels. Sanders said the climate emergency has long been clear. But Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, said declaring a climate emergency would effectively “muzzle Congress.''
House approves second bill aimed at forced labor in China
Read full article: House approves second bill aimed at forced labor in ChinaFILE - In this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, people line up at the Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center at the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China's Xinjiang region. The Associated Press has found that the Chinese government is carrying out a birth control program aimed at Uighurs, Kazakhs and other largely Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Chinas repression in Tibet, the status of the exiled Dali Lama, and its treatment of ethnic minorities spurred violent protests ahead of Beijings 2008 Olympics. China is host to the 2022 Winter Olympics with rumblings of a boycott and calls to remove the games from Beijing because of widespread human rights violations. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
House approves second bill aimed at forced labor in China
Read full article: House approves second bill aimed at forced labor in China(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)WASHINGTON – For the second time in two weeks, the House on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at cracking down on U.S. imports of goods made with the forced labor of detained ethnic minorities in China. Its passage follows approval last week of a bill aimed at barring U.S. imports of goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China on the presumption that they were likely made with forced labor. “If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interest, we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights anywhere in the world,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a floor speech last week. While the U.S. has long banned imports made with forced labor, traditional human rights monitoring efforts are thwarted in tightly controlled regions such as in northwestern China, Wexton and other lawmakers said. It calls the camps vocational training centers and denies allegations by U.S. officials and human rights groups that the camps amount to modern slavery.
Congress seeks to block goods from China over forced labor
Read full article: Congress seeks to block goods from China over forced laborWASHINGTON – A bipartisan bill aimed at keeping goods out of the U.S. that are made with the forced labor of detained ethnic minorities in China passed overwhelmingly Tuesday in the House of Representatives despite concerns about the potential effects on global commerce. The House voted 406-3 to declare that any goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China are presumptively made with the forced labor of detained Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, and therefore banned from being imported to the U.S. Imports made with forced labor have been banned since 1930 to ensure fair trade. The bill passed Tuesday would go further, shifting the burden to any company that operates in Xinjiang or buys goods from there to prove their goods are not tainted. Republicans and Democrats have been vocal in their condemnation of China over the treatment of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.
Tear gas at Portland protests raises concern about pollution
Read full article: Tear gas at Portland protests raises concern about pollutionFILE - In this July 25, 2020, file photo, a protester carries an umbrella as federal police officers deploy tear gas during a protest at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. “There is no American city, that I am aware of, that has endured the level of tear gas,” agency spokeswoman Diane Dulken said. The protests over racist policing often ended with a fog of tear gas as federal agents tried to disperse the crowd. “I really think that the federal government and also local health departments have really neglected their duty to reinvestigate the safety of tear gas," Jordt said. Dulken said Portland has worked to be proactive about stopping pollutants from reaching the river, including any tear gas residue.
Lack of study and oversight raises concerns about tear gas
Read full article: Lack of study and oversight raises concerns about tear gasFILE - In this July 26, 2020, file photo, federal officers launch tear gas at demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore. The Associated Press found that there is no government oversight of the manufacture and use of tear gas. Instead, the industry is left to regulate itself. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
Lack of study and oversight raises concerns about tear gas
Read full article: Lack of study and oversight raises concerns about tear gasThe Associated Press found that there is no government oversight of the manufacture and use of tear gas. Eells has taught tear gas use with a Colorado police department and with Defense Technology, a tear gas manufacturer. They tried to run through the clouds of tear gas, which is actually a powder that hangs in the air. Thirteen U.S. senators, concerned about federal officers using tear gas, rubber bullets, and other so-called less-lethal weapons, have called on the Government Accountability Office to study the use and safety of tear gas. “We’re trapped in tear gas.”After the incident, the Charlotte City Council banned the purchase of tear gas for a year.
Fires set, fences moved: Police call Portland protest a riot
Read full article: Fires set, fences moved: Police call Portland protest a riotProtesters relocate a fence in front of the Justice Center, Saturday, July 18, 2020, during another night of protests in Portland, Ore. (Mark Graves/The Oregonian via AP)
House leaders 'alarmed' federal officers policing protests
Read full article: House leaders 'alarmed' federal officers policing protestsSpeaking on CNN's ‘State of the Union,’ Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler said federal officers “are not wanted here. “As the crowd was dispersed, several people in the crowd were arrested and officers were able to extinguish the fire. But Wheeler said the federal presence in the city is now exacerbating a tense situation. "What we're seeing is a blatant abuse of police tactics by the federal government, Wheeler said Sunday. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued Homeland Security and the Marshals Service in federal court late Friday.
Democrats agree to North America trade pact: What's in it?
Read full article: Democrats agree to North America trade pact: What's in it?WASHINGTON, DC – After months of political wrangling, House Democrats agreed Tuesday to President Donald Trump’s revamped version of a 25-year-old North American free trade agreement. The pact is Trump’s replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 1994. NAFTA slashed tariffs and tore down most trade barriers between the United States, Canada and Mexico, unleashing a burst of trade between the three countries. Trump’s version mostly continues to allow the free flow of trade across North American borders of the three countries. Trade is a relatively small part of the U.S. economy and trade with Mexico and Canada is smaller still.