Xi Jinping Orders Full Rescue After Shanxi Coal Mine Gas Explosion Kills Eight 
Iran Pushes Nationalist Propaganda as Economic Crisis and War Deepen 
Iran-U.S. Talks Continue as Strait of Hormuz and Uranium Dispute Stall Peace Efforts 
Trump Sends 5,000 Additional U.S. Troops to Poland Ahead of NATO Talks on Iran War 
Trump-Lai Call Remains Uncertain as U.S.-China Tensions Over Taiwan Intensify 
Israeli Airstrike in Gaza Refugee Camp Kills Infant and Parents Amid Fragile Ceasefire 
Rubio Says NATO Must Benefit All Members Ahead of Sweden Meeting 
Trump Signals Tough Stance on Iran Uranium Stockpile as Nuclear Talks Show Limited Progress 
World Bank Emergency Funding Demand Surges as 27 Countries Seek Crisis Support Amid Iran Conflict 
Rubio, Jaishankar Discuss Iran Crisis, Trade, and Energy Security During Key U.S.-India Talks 
Trump’s White House Ballroom Project Draws Criticism Amid Rising Gas Prices 
House Republicans Delay Vote on Iran War Powers Resolution Amid Growing Congressional Debate 
Russia Launches Massive Missile and Drone Strike on Kyiv Amid Oreshnik Threat 
Taiwan Says No Notice of U.S. Arms Sales Pause Amid Iran Conflict Concerns 
China Coal Mine Explosion Death Toll Revised to 82 in Shanxi 
Marco Rubio Visits India to Rebuild U.S.-India Ties Amid Trade and Geopolitical Tensions 
One of the concerns Republican lawmakers have expressed towards Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan was the rise in corporate taxes and its economic effects. However, Biden maintained that there has been no evidence that an increase in corporate taxes would prove to harm the economy and drive businesses overseas.
Speaking to the press upon returning from the Camp David presidential retreat over the weekend, Biden defended his proposal to raise corporate taxes back to 28 percent.
Biden noted that there are 50-51 corporations on the Fortune 500 list that did not pay taxes for the past three years and said that it was time that they pay their share. When pressed regarding the claim that the corporate tax increase would drive away corporations to go overseas, Biden said there is no proof of such a scenario happening so far.
Back in 2017, Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Trump also kept insisting that his administration would work on improving the country’s infrastructure, but no plans have been proposed or implemented.
Aside from Republicans, Biden’s proposal has also drawn the ire of West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, whose support is crucial in an evenly-divided Senate despite Democratic control.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told the press that Biden was open to discussions with lawmakers from both parties on how to fund the investments. Manchin has said he would accept 25 percent being the highest the corporate tax rate would get, and when pressed regarding the rate, Psaki noted that the 28 percent would already be lower than it was at any time since World War II.
In other news, State Department spokesman Ned Price suggested the possibility that the United States and its allies would boycott the 2022 Olympics that are scheduled to be held in Beijing. The boycott would be due to the country’s human rights violations. Price said that a coordinated boycott is something the administration would hope to discuss, noting the sanctions the US, Canada, the UK, and the European Union placed upon China for its human rights violations in Xinjiang.
