Tag: United States News

Pakistani Girl Falls in Love With Uttar Pradesh Boy While Playing Ludo Game, Crosses Border To Meet Him – Kashmir News

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Ludo Game Affair: Pakistani Girl Falls in Love With Uttar Pradesh Boy While Playing Board Game Online, Crosses Border To Meet Him; Both Arrested
In a bizarre incident, a Pakistani girl fell in love with a boy from Uttar Pradesh while playing online Ludo game.
According to reports, the girl violated border rules and came to India via Nepal in order to meet her boyfriend. Later, both were arrested from Bengaluru.
As per a report in Aaj Tak, after meeting each other, the duo got married and started living together in Bengaluru. However, they ran out of luck when the police arrested the girl for illegally entering India and staying in the country by procuring fake documents. The police also arrested the boy in connection with the forgery case.
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ALSO READ: India: Bride Calls Off Wedding as Groom Fails to Count Currency Notes
POLICE STATEMENT
According to the police, 26-year-old mulayam singh yadav is originally from Uttar Pradesh. He works as a security guard in HSR Layout, a private company in Bangalore. Mulayam was fond of playing Ludo online, it was through this game that he came in contact with a 19-year-old girl, Iqra Jeevani, living in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Both started living in a labor quarter in the Bellandur police station limits of Bangalore. However, somehow the police got information about the whole matter. The police arrested both of them.
Case Against Landlord

Both the lovers were living in a labor quarter in the Bellandur police station area. The DCP said that as soon as information was received about the two, the police took action and handed over the girl to the FRRO (Foreigner Regional Registration Office). At the same time, after registering a case against the boy, he has been arrested.
The police have also registered a case against the owner of the house where the couple was staying. An FIR has been registered under Section 7 against the owner of the house, Govinda Reddy. It is alleged that he did not inform the police about the foreign girl living illegally in his house. At the same time, Mulayam Singh has been booked under sections 420 (cheating), 495 (concealment of marriage), 468 (forgery) and 471 (forgery document) of IPC.
(Agencies)
ALSO READ: Most Popular Saudi Youtuber Aziz Al Ahmed aka Dwarf Died at the Age of 27

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( With inputs from : kashmirnews.in )

January 24, 2023
Dems concerned over handling of Biden documents

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Senate Democrats returned on Monday after a long recess — and after the Justice Department found additional classified documents during a 13-hour search of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del. The discovery of those documents, on top of classified materials found in November and December, has created a political headache after Democrats sought to hammer Trump for his handling of classified material.
The issue is also an unwelcome one for the party, as Democrats have sought to focus their attention on House Republicans’ chaotic start to the 118th Congress. What’s more, classified documents could animate the presidential campaign if Biden runs for a second term, as is expected.
“I hope they found them all,” Durbin said of the Biden administration’s hunt for more documents. As for the president, Durbin observed: “He has done well by cooperating every step of the way, unlike Trump, but he still has documents that I don’t understand why he’d have in his personal possession.”
When asked about the criticism from Democratic senators, White House spokesperson Ian Sams told reporters on Monday that Durbin had also emphasized that Biden was “handling this in the right way” and that “full cooperation is the right way that this should be handled.”
It’s also not a full-on rebellion. Democrats reject comparisons with Trump, who is under investigation for retaining highly sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — and for allegedly obstructing investigators seeking to recover them. They argue that unlike Trump, Biden’s legal team turned over the documents upon their discovery and invited the Justice Department to search for more.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), however, said the discovery of the Biden documents “neutralizes the issue” politically.
“They’re trying to attack former President Trump. Biden was chair of the Foreign Relations Committee” when he was in the Senate, Thune said. “He should have known better. And they were trying to claim the high ground on this issue when the shoe was on the other foot. And I think it’s a very tough issue for them to have to navigate right now.”
Other Democratic senators defended Biden and are still highlighting a contrast with Trump. Retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the No. 3 Democratic leader, said Biden was “doing exactly the right thing,” adding: “I wish former President Trump had done that rather than arguing they were his papers.”

Still, not every Democrat wants to make the comparison with Trump. Kelly suggested that the distinction between Biden and Trump’s situations was “up to somebody who actually does an investigation.”
And he said it was an issue he was paying close attention to: “I spent 25 years in the United States Navy. I take this stuff very seriously, personally. … Folks, you know, shouldn’t be taking classified documents out of federal government buildings and out of classified settings.”
Many Democrats are not eager to opine on the Biden documents, and several said they would withhold judgment and wait until the results of special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation. (The Justice Department previously appointed a different special counsel to investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents.)
“You have to get the answers to the questions before you reach a judgment,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who is running for reelection in 2024. “If it’s a handful of documents and they’re not very serious, and maybe they were once classified but they’re not anymore, and there’s a good explanation for why he had them — but you don’t know the answer to those questions.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who is also up for reelection in a purple state, said Biden was “cooperating thoroughly and proactively.”
Some Democratic committee chairs, while declining to criticize Biden, have said they want to look at the handling of classified documents broadly. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) earlier this month called for a briefing related to both the Biden and Trump documents. He told reporters on Monday that he hoped for an update soon.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said his panel was also looking broadly at the retention of records. Peters, who also runs Democrats’ campaign arm, said he wanted to deal with the issue “for presidencies in general. And we’re going to try to do that in a nonpoliticized way.”
Jordain Carney and Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
Saudi Arabia: Up to SR100,000 Health Insurance Coverage for Umrah Pilgrims – Kashmir News

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Saudi Arabia: Up to SR100,000 Health Insurance Coverage for Umrah Pilgrims
Saudi Arabia: Umrah pilgrims can now enjoy a number of privileges during their stay in Saudi Arabia, including a maximum health insurance coverage of SR100,000, according to local media.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah recently authorized the Umrah pilgrims’ health insurance policy, which lists 11 health insurance benefits available to pilgrims throughout their stay in the Kingdom.
The benefits also include the following cases: There will be maximum coverage for daily accommodation in hospital and subsistence of the patient, including the cost of the bed, nursing care, medical visits, and medical supervision.
The accommodation services also include the cost of medicines and medical supplies that are given according to doctor’s prescription, with a shared room, costing a maximum of SR600.
The daily accommodation and subsistence limit for the patient’s companion under the policy is a shared room with a maximum daily cost of SR150.
The health insurance benefits also cover pregnancy and emergency birthing expenditures up to a limit of SR5,000 during the policy period.
The travel expenses for a first-degree relative of the patient with a maximum amount of SR 5,000 during the policy period.

The expenses for emergency dental treatment cases with a maximum amount of SR500 during the policy period.
The treatment of premature newborns and this is without exceeding the maximum limit of the mother’s policy.
The injuries resulting from traffic accidents, with a coverage of the maximum limit.
The xpenses for dialysis in emergency cases with a coverage of the maximum limit; and medical evacuation within and outside the Kingdom with a coverage of the maximum limit of the policy.
The policy also covers the expense of returning pilgrims’ bodies to their native homes, up to a maximum of SR10,000.
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( With inputs from : kashmirnews.in )

January 24, 2023
California lawmakers face Supreme Court limits as they weigh response to Lunar New Year shooting

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“California is going to have a tough time in the coming years maintaining its current gun laws, much less enacting and defending new ones,” said Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor specializing in gun policy.
The new framework established by the Supreme Court stands in the way of significant actions that lawmakers may want to pursue after a gunman opened fire with an assault weapon during a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park on Saturday night, killing 11 people and wounding nine.
It was the largest mass shooting in Los Angeles County and many questions, including a motive and whether the weapon or magazine violated state laws, were still unanswered.
That didn’t stop calls for more restrictions on guns, in California and other states, amid the outpouring of grief and shock in Monterey Park, where a makeshift memorial of flowers and candles was expanding outside the dance hall in the majority Asian-American suburb.
“Even here in California where we have been pushing for aggressive gun laws, we know that it’s not enough,” said Dave Min, a Democratic candidate for Congress in neighboring Orange County. “Guns come in from other states. They can be illegally procured as apparently happened here.”
Democratic lawmakers aren’t letting the prospect of conservative judges deter them from passing more laws, said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills), who chairs the body’s Gun Violence Prevention Working Group.
Among the newly-proposed bills this year is another run at an excise tax on ammunition, which failed to get enough votes last year, even in a Democratic supermajority.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently filed a brief backing the New York statute, arguing states must retain the authority to set their own gun laws.

“If there’s going to be litigation, which is likely, we have a lot of faith and confidence in our attorney general,” Bonta said.
In a 6-3 ruling, the conservative majority Supreme Court opinion established a new constitutional standard for gun restrictions — and reset disputes over California laws. Measures that had previously passed legal muster were sent back to lower courts. The California Department of Justice is now defending them under a different set of rules.
“Bruen has created ongoing work for the state of California to prevent others from dismantling the strongest-in-the nation gun safety laws,” said Ari Freilich, the state policy director for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “The Supreme Court’s Bruen standard has in some concrete ways basically started the clock over again.”
California’s ban on assault weapons is entangled in a court fight. So are state laws banning high-capacity magazines, regulating ammunition purchases, and barring 18-to-20-year-olds from buying semi automatic weapons.
State officials are no stranger to legal challenges, but the new precedent set by the court dramatically changes the landscape — and gun advocates know it, Winkler said.
Second Amendment groups are seizing the moment, filing lawsuits in the hopes that restrictions get tossed out by the high court. And they very well could.
The restrictions have not eradicated gun violence from California streets. Past and present lawmakers put the blame in part on relatively lax federal laws and in other states.
“While California has strong gun laws that prohibit the purchase of assault weapons and extended magazines, the gun industry is all too ready to flood neighboring states with the weapons — highlighting the need for accountability of the firearms industry at a national level,” said Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group, in a statement.
Following the shooting in Monterey Park, Gov. Gavin Newsom indicated the problem transcended state policy.
“No other country in the world is terrorized by this constant stream of gun violence,” Newsom said on Twitter. “We need real gun reform at a national level.”
But with Republicans holding the House, Winkler said there’s “virtually no chance” of gun control legislation out of Congress.
Democratic lawmakers in California say they are not giving up, but crafting legislation with an eye to the courts. Gabriel has introduced a bill to impose new excise taxes on the sale of guns and ammunition, which he says will fund school safety measures and expand violence prevention programs.
“We’re not going to sit on our hands,” he said.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
McCarthy hands detractors critical posts to influence legislation

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Both Roy and Massie have a track record of holding up major spending legislation, emergency disaster aid and forcing votes on divisive amendments against the wishes of GOP leadership. Importantly, if Roy, Norman or Massie hang together they can effectively block legislation, including bills that McCarthy supports, from getting to the floor, as minority party members usually vote no on the 9-4 split panel.
That is likely to shift much of the GOP’s floor drama to the Rules Committee, which could now serve as a microcosm of the broader policy fights within the conference by requiring conservative buy-in before legislation can advance.
“Didn’t ask for it. But you can’t push for change [and] not saddle up if asked,” Roy, who helped negotiate a deal that helped flip several McCarthy “no” votes, said about his elevation to the committee.
McCarthy had pledged as part of negotiations over his speaker bid to elevate different factions within his conference, including the House Freedom Caucus, to plumb positions. Under the deal, members of the group were expected to get two seats while a third seat was expected to go to a conservative. Those same conservatives had also pushed for more amendment votes on bills that come to the floor. It could portend difficulty ahead for the Rules Committee, which will now need their backing to get legislation up for a vote.
Other members of the panel include Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a McCarthy ally, and GOP Reps. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) and Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), as well as first-term Reps. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) and Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.)
McCarthy, in announcing his picks, tried to draw a distinction with Democrats, who he accused of using committee positions to “reward their allies.”
“The Members on these committees will work to shift power back to the American people by providing oversight, transparency, and will stay laser-focused on getting ahead of our national threats,” McCarthy said in a statement.
But the decision is likely to draw scrutiny from Democrats, who are warning that McCarthy is enabling the conservatives in his caucus to potentially wreak havoc on his legislative agenda.

“He’s allowing the Freedom Caucus to pack the Rules Committee to give them the power of what comes to the floor and what it looks like,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) told POLITICO in a recent interview.
“These are the same people who voted to overturn the last election, who cheered on the insurrection. To put a mask on this as if it’s somehow democracy in action — this is a power grab,” he added.
Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
Senate GOP to McCarthy: Debt fight is all yours

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“What matters is really what the House can create,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a frequent cross-aisle negotiator. “They’re in a position, they have the gavels. We have to see what sort of strategy they think works to a successful outcome.”
After two years of bipartisan progress on issues Washington once only dreamed of tackling, from gun safety to infrastructure, the current dynamic means the Senate Republican minority is effectively handing the keys to McCarthy to cut a deal with Biden. Senate Democrats had hoped to clear a clean debt ceiling bill early this year to demonstrate to the House they could get a filibuster-proof majority well ahead of the impending spring deadline, but their Republican colleagues say that’s not happening right now.
That’s in part because Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his lieutenants spent much of their political capital in December, aggressively moving to pass a government funding bill that had McCarthy complaining loudly and often. Many GOP senators feared that kicking the spending measure to this year could risk a shutdown.
And now some Republicans doubt McConnell could muster the nine votes needed to break a filibuster on a debt limit increase, even if he wanted to. On Monday, all McConnell would say was: “We won’t default.”
“I don’t think he could get it, personally, right now. I think he squeezed all that he could to get the omnibus done, as well as it went,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), referring to the spending bills passed late last year.
Cramer added: “I don’t want to say hard feelings, but people feel the cost of that. And I don’t think they’re going to be ready to take another bullet, if you will.”
With the government funded until the end of September, many Republicans believe it’s McCarthy’s turn to make the tough calls during the new era of split government. Take Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who’s about as amenable to lifting the debt ceiling as any Republican you’ll find in the Capitol.
At the moment, she said, her “preference would be for the president to sit down with Speaker McCarthy, listen to one another and work out an agreement.” She said she did not know whether a so-called clean debt ceiling increase could even pass the Senate.

McCarthy’s challenge isn’t just to pass a bill lifting the debt ceiling, it’s to assuage his conservatives who are eager for draconian fiscal cuts in return — while eventually reaching an agreement with some House Democratic support to show momentum in the Senate. Those competing agendas could be difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile by the time the Treasury Department is finished using what are known as extraordinary measures to maximize the country’s remaining borrowing authority.
“If it’s purely a party-line vote there [in the House], it probably won’t get 60 votes here,” Tillis said, outlining the at-odds nature of the House and Senate imperatives. “And so that’s why we’ve got to look and see what they can put down that would actually garner at least some number of Democrat votes.”
Of course, it’s still early in what could be a long and bruising fight. Back in 2021, as the only bulwark against unified Democratic control in the last Congress, Senate Republicans took a hard line on the debt ceiling only to bend when the deadline neared. A handful of them voted for a two-month debt ceiling patch in the fall, then again to neutralize a filibuster for a larger debt ceiling increase.
It was a difficult moment within the GOP; McConnell relied on his leadership team, moderates and retiring GOP senators to push those through.
Some senators who supported that approach are now gone, however. And others aren’t in a mood to fold.
“We need to have a serious discussion about our long-term debt,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who supported both the debt ceiling solutions two years ago. “It’s early. I know the drumbeats have already started. But, you know, it’ll be at least June before we do it. The irresponsible position is to say ‘we’re not going to negotiate.’”
Yet that’s Democrats’ opening salvo, with several of the party’s senators reiterating their long-running stance that the debt ceiling is not negotiable. They believe negotiating on broader fiscal concessions in 2011 was a tactical mistake that led to a U.S. credit downgrade and emboldened a hardline GOP approach during the Obama administration.
Furthermore, those dug-in Senate Democrats see a GOP that only cares about the debt ceiling when a Democratic president is in office, citing the ballooning debt and deficit under former President Donald Trump.
“While President Trump was in office and Republicans had the House and Senate, Democrats voted to raise the debt ceiling,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor on Monday. “Both parties should work together to ensure we can continue to pay our debt on time, and we Democrats are ready to move quickly in order to make that happen.”
Ultimately, the Senate GOP may be in a position to break the impasse and help find a solution that can satisfy all parties: Senate Democrats, House Republicans and the president. By virtue of the design of the Senate and its legislative filibuster, its Republicans are more used to bipartisan cooperation than some of their House counterparts.
But it may be months before any bailout like that occurs. For now, it’s the McCarthy and Biden show.
“In the end it’s going to have to be something that House Republicans and the president agree on. Let’s see what they can figure out,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). “That’s the best strategy, for us.”
Caitlin Emma contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
4 more Oath Keepers found guilty of seditious conspiracy tied to Jan. 6 attack

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Seditious conspiracy, which requires prosecutors to prove that defendants planned to forcibly prevent the execution of a U.S. law, is the gravest charge to emerge from the Jan. 6 attack. The government has secured 10 convictions for seditious conspiracy since last year, including three other Oath Keepers and a member of the far-right Proud Boys who pleaded guilty to the charge. Five Proud Boys leaders, including the group’s national chair Enrique Tarrio, are currently on trial on seditious conspiracy charges, as well.
Prosecutors say the Oath Keepers began planning to derail the transfer of power shortly after Biden was projected to be the winner of the 2020 election. Though Rhodes and other members of the group said they merely came to Washington to act as security details for speakers at Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, members of the group later joined the mob breaching the Capitol building.
Nearly two dozen Oath Keepers entered the Capitol through the Columbus Doors near the rotunda before splitting into two groups and heading toward the House and Senate chambers.
The Oath Keepers also organized a large stockpile of firearms and other weaponry at a hotel in Arlington, Va., which they intended for use if the violence escalated even further. Vallejo remained stationed at the hotel, prepared to shuttle the weapons to D.C. if the group called on him, but it never did.
Members of the group remained stoic as the verdict was read aloud. Seated in a row of the public gallery were Tarrio’s mother; the mother of Ashli Babbitt, a Jan. 6 rioter who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer while trying to breach the House chamber; and Nicole Reffitt, whose husband is serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for obstruction of Congress’ Jan. 6 proceedings. They were also present earlier in the day when Jan. 6 defendant Richard Barnett — who is featured in famous images with his feet on a desk in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office suite — was found guilty on eight charges related to the breach of the Capitol.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
Garland defends handling of Biden, Trump classified document probes

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Earlier this month, Garland appointed a special counsel to determine whether laws were broken in connection with the presence of the apparently-classified records at the Penn Biden Center in Washington and later at Biden’s Delaware home.
Asked if he had any regrets about the way the matters had been handled thus far, Garland called the law enforcement decisions “appropriate” and unaffected by politics.
“That is what we’ve done and that is what we will continue to do,” Garland said, flanked by a Justice Department task force handling fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn the federal constitutional right to abortion.
While Garland said Monday that the Justice Department has pursued the Trump- and Biden-related cases “without regard to who the subjects are,” there remain special protections for a sitting president under longstanding Justice Department legal opinions. Those opinions preclude criminal charges against a president while he remains in office, but they do not rule out the possibility of such charges once a president leaves office.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
‘This is not a moment to slow down:’ U.S. says Ukraine making new gains

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The gains come as the U.S. and Western allies drastically ramp up support for Kyiv ahead of the expected spring counteroffensive. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin alluded to the upcoming operation last week after a meeting of defense ministers at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, noting that now is the time for the West to provide additional arms and training Ukraine needs to smash through Russian lines.
“We have a window of opportunity here, you know, between now and the spring when they commence their operation, their counteroffensive,” Austin said Friday after announcing a $2.5 billion package of aid that includes additional armored vehicles and artillery. “That’s not a long time, and we have to pull together the right capabilities.”
The new package included 59 Bradley Fighting Vehicles — in addition to the 50 provided in a previous tranche — 90 Stryker armored combat vehicles, 53 mine-resistant vehicles, 350 Humvees, as well as additional air defenses, missiles and artillery.
At the same time, the Pentagon has begun large-scale training of Ukrainian forces on advanced tactics at a U.S. base in Germany. The training will enhance their fighting skills as the war enters a new phase, officials say.
“This is not a moment to slow down when it comes to supporting Ukraine in their defense,” the senior military official said.
The gains near Kreminna also come as Ukrainian officials sound the alarm about Russia laying the groundwork for a massive new campaign in the spring. The Ukrainian military has recently reported seeing increased Russian movement of troops, military equipment and ammunition in the Luhansk area.
Kreminna is one of the towns along Russia’s Svatove-Kreminna defensive line, said Michael Kofman, research program director at CNA’s Russian Studies Program. Taking Kreminna would be an important step for any further advances into Luhansk, he said.
“Seizing Kreminna would put Ukrainian forces on a path towards threatening Rubizhne, and provide one of the potential axes of advance towards Starobilsk, an important Russian logistics hub,” he told POLITICO.

The fighting around Kreminna is a continuation of Ukraine’s counteroffensive that began in the fall, when Kyiv’s forces swept through the country’s northeastern Kharkiv region. Now, Ukrainian soldiers have turned south to focus on Luhansk, but are meeting stiff resistance as Russian forces dig in there.
Moscow has in recent weeks sent in tens of thousands of replacement troops to bolster their front lines after suffering heavy casualties, particularly in the area around the city of Bakhmut in the central Donetsk region, the official said.
The new troops are not necessarily arriving in organized units, but are “filling in gaps” where Russia needs replacements and reinforcements, the official said, noting that they are “ill-equipped, ill-trained, rushed to the battlefield.”
“A key aspect is despite these increased numbers, in terms of replacements, reinforcements, not a significant enhancement in terms of the training of those forces,” the official said.
In Kreminna, Kyiv is looking to “exploit opportunities along the Russian defensive lines,” the official continued.
Top Pentagon officials have said Ukraine is unlikely to push Russia out of the country altogether this year. But Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley suggested on Friday that Kyiv could reclaim significant territory, depending on the new equipment and training Ukrainians receive in the coming months.
The equipment in the new U.S. aid package, combined with the previous one, includes capabilities equivalent to at least two combined arms maneuver brigades or six mechanized infantry battalions, 10 motorized infantry battalions, and four artillery battalions, Milley said.
“Depending on the delivery and training of all of this equipment, I do think it’s very, very possible for the Ukrainians to run a significant tactical- or even operational-level offensive operation to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible,” Milley said. “Then we’ll see where it goes.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023
DeSantis defends banning African American studies course as Black leaders call for action

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“When I heard it didn’t meet the standards, I figured, yeah, they may be doing CRT,” DeSantis told reporters at an event in Jacksonville. “It’s way more than that.”
In Florida’s latest crackdown on how race is taught in schools, state education officials earlier this month rejected the African American studies course from being implemented. The move drew swift backlash in the state and beyond, racking up criticism from by academics, advocacy groups and liberal policymakers including the Biden administration, which on Friday said that blocking the course was “incomprehensible.”
A coalition of Black faith leaders is now pushing to meet with the DeSantis administration over its decision to block students from taking the course and is planning a march on the capitol in Tallahassee next month. They join a chorus of Black state lawmakers who have denounced the move by the Florida Department of Education, claiming it is an attempt to whitewash history.
“When you devalue my history, and say it lacks educational merit, that is demeaning to us,” Rev. R. B. Holmes, Jr., pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, told reporters Monday. “And it may be a problem in messaging, maybe they didn’t mean it that way. It already has national attention.”
Florida’s move to block the course follows a concerted effort by state republicans to restrict how race is taught in local classrooms. Under DeSantis, the state Education Department has rejected math textbooks over “impermissible” content, including teachings on critical race theory — something that Florida banned in education, along with the 1619 Project, through official action by its Board of education.
After the decision came to light last week, Florida’s education agency elaborated on rejecting the course in a tweet spelling out concerns with its lessons. The state took issue with several pieces of the College Board’s syllabus, such as parts on “Black Queer Studies,” advocacy for reparations, activism and intersectionality, which is a piece critical race theory, according to state’s education department.
Yet the agency’s defense did little to stem the criticism. Vice President Kamala Harris, who visited Tallahassee on Sunday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, criticized “extremist so-called leaders” who block history classes and prevent teachers from discussing “who they are and who they love” — a reference to the state’s controversial law banning educations from leading classroom discussions on sexual orientation or gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade.
“Every student in our nation should be able to learn about the culture, contributions, and experiences of all Americans — including Black Americans — who shaped our history,” Harris said.

Florida’s GOP-controlled statehouse in 2022 passed legislation to expand state anti-discrimination laws and prohibit schools and companies from leveling guilt or blame to students and employees based on race or sex. Dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act” by DeSantis, it created new protections for students and workers, including that a person should not be instructed to “feel guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” due to their race, color, sex or national origin.
Florida law requires public schools to teach students about the history of African Americans, including the “enslavement experience,” and steer them to develop an “understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping on individual freedoms.” But the College Board lessons, according to DeSantis, are “pushing an agenda” on students.
“That’s the wrong side of the line for Florida standards. We believe in teaching kids facts and how to think, but we don’t believe they should have an agenda imposed on them,” DeSantis said Monday. “When you try to use Black history to shoehorn in queer theory, you are clearly trying to use that for political purposes.”

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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 24, 2023