News published on Federal Newswire in June 2021

News Release: An Indiana man was sentenced Friday in federal court for making racially motivated threats to intimidate and interfere with his neighbor, who is Black, in violation of the criminal provision of the Fair Housing Act, and for unlawfully possessing firearms.

Naturalized U.S. Citizen from Ethiopia Arrested on Charge of Fraudulently Obtaining Citizenship

News Release: A Georgia man has been arrested on criminal charges related to allegations that he lied to obtain U.S. citizenship.

Five Charged in Scheme to Export Thermal Imaging Scopes and Night Vision Goggles to Russia, in Violation of Arms Export Control Act

News Release: A federal grand jury in Los Angeles unsealed an indictment Thursday that accuses five defendants of conspiring to unlawfully export defense articles to Russia. Specifically, the defendants allegedly exported thermal imaging riflescopes and night-vision goggles without a license, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

Former Deutsche Bank Commodities Trader Sentenced to Prison for Fraud Scheme

News Release: A former commodities trader was sentenced today in the Northern District of Illinois to 12 months and a day in prison for a scheme to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution.

Turkish Businessman Arrested in Austria on Charges that He Allegedly Laundered Over $133 Million in Fraud Proceeds

News Release: A Turkish businessman was arrested in Austria on June 19, at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. This arrest followed a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Apr. 28, which was unsealed today. The superseding indictment charged Sezgin Baran Korkmaz ...

Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS

News Release: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will join Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio in co-hosting a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS on June 28 to discuss efforts in the campaign to achieve the enduring defeat of ISIS.

Joint Statement on Belarus

News Release: The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom, and the European External Action Service.

Holding the Lukashenka Regime and Its Enablers to Account

News Release: The United States has taken action against dozens of Belarusian individuals and entities in response to last month’s forced diversion of a commercial Ryanair flight between two European Union member states and the politically motivated arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich and Sofiya Sapega. These steps ...

Deputy Secretary Sherman’s Meeting with Sierra Leonean Foreign Minister Francis

News Release: The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman met today with Sierra Leonean Foreign Minister David Francis in Washington, D.C. During their discussion, Deputy Secretary Sherman and Foreign Minister Francis emphasized the strength of U.S-Sierra Leone relations ...

Secretary Antony J. Blinken At the Atlantic Council’s Front Page Pride Edition Virtual Conversation with Jonathan Capehart on “Pressing for Equality: Engaging on LGBTQI Issues Around the World”

News Release: MR CAPEHART: Hello and welcome to this special edition of AC Front Page, the Atlantic Council’s premier live ideas platform for global leaders. I’m Jonathan Capehart, a journalist with The Washington Post and MSNBC. Thank you for joining us today.

Briefing on Secretary Blinken’s Upcoming Travel to Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Matera

News Release: MR PRICE: Thanks very much, and thanks, everyone, for joining the call. We will be previewing Secretary Blinken’s trip to Germany, France, and Italy. We officially announced that last Friday. We’ll be departing for the trip tomorrow afternoon. Just a reminder, this call is on the record, but it is embargoed until the call’s completed, and we’ll focus on answering questions related to this trip. As always, we’ll have a transcript available after the fact posted on state.gov.

Armenia’s Parliamentary Elections

News Release: The United States congratulates the people of Armenia on their June 20 parliamentary elections. We welcome the overall positive assessment by the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission. We are pleased that ODIHR’s preliminary conclusions noted voters’ human rights and fundamental freedoms were generally ...

US Department of Labor awards more than $85.5M to improve employment outcomes for people now or once involved in criminal justice system

News Release: WASHINGTON, DC – With the belief that a second chance can change a person’s life, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $85.5 million in grants to assist individuals now or once involved in the criminal justice system to secure employment in their communities.

US Department of Labor announces proposed rulemaking to protect tipped workers; clarify use of the tip credit

News Release: WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to limit the amount of non-tip producing work that a tipped employee can perform when an employer is taking a tip credit. The proposed rule clarifies when an employee is working in a tipped occupation and when a worker has performed such a substantial amount of non-tipped labor that an employer can no longer take a tip credit and must pay the full federal minimum wage to the worker.

US Department of Labor awards more than $85.5M to improve employment outcomes for people now or once involved in criminal justice system

News Release: WASHINGTON, DC – With the belief that a second chance can change a person’s life, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $85.5 million in grants to assist individuals now or once involved in the criminal justice system to secure employment in their communities.

US Department of Labor announces Request for Information regarding reporting on pharmacy benefits, prescription drug costs

News Release: WASHINGTON, DC– The U.S. Department of Labor along with the Department of the Treasury, Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Personnel Management today announced a Request for Information seeking public input on the implementation of a new law requiring the collection and publication of data on pharmacy benefits and prescription drug costs, including input on the data elements to be collected and the associated impact on health plans and issuers.

US Department of Labor announces proposed rulemaking to protect tipped workers; clarify use of the tip credit

News Release: WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to limit the amount of non-tip producing work that a tipped employee can perform when an employer is taking a tip credit. The proposed rule clarifies when an employee is working in a tipped occupation and when a worker has performed such a substantial amount of non-tipped labor that an employer can no longer take a tip credit and must pay the full federal minimum wage to the worker.

US Department of Labor announces Request for Information regarding reporting on pharmacy benefits, prescription drug costs