President Joe Biden has said that he knows how the US will react to a drone attack that killed three American soldiers in Jordan last weekend.
As he was leaving the White House to go to fundraisers in Florida, Mr. Biden said, “I don’t think we should have a bigger war in the Middle East. ”
A group supported by Iran has said they did the attack at a US military base.
Many more people got hurt in the attack on Sunday near the border of Syria.
Mr Biden didn’t say exactly what the United States will do, but the White House promised a strong reaction on Monday.
This was the first time US soldiers were killed by the enemy in that area since the Israel Gaza war started on October 7th.
Iran said they did not do the attack.
But on Tuesday morning, Mr. Biden said, “I do blame Iran because they are giving weapons to the people who did it. ”
The attack happened at night on a US military base called Tower 22 in northeastern Jordan.
Around 350 US soldiers are located at the base. Their main goal is to help the coalition in fighting against the Islamic State. This information comes from US Central Command.
The enemy’s drone attacked when an American drone was coming back to base after a mission.
Officials say the base’s automatic air defense system was turned off to avoid shooting down the US drone.
However, because of that, the troops who were still in their beds were not given a warning.
Lately, some groups from Iran have been attacking US bases in the Middle East.
President Biden can choose to respond to the attack by making strikes on bases and commanders in Iran that are allied with the attackers.
The US might also go after top leaders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in Iraq or Syria. But this could make the conflict worse.
Tag: US
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US will respond to attack on Jordan – Biden
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US imposes further sanctions on Venezuela
The United States has put back some punishments on Venezuela. This happened a few days after the top court in the South American country said no to the main person running against the current leader, MarÃa Corina Machado.
She won the primary election by a lot and now she is the main candidate for the opposition to run for president in 2024.
However, on Friday, Venezuela’s highest court agreed to prevent Ms. Machado from running for public office for 15 years.
MsMachado said she will keep running for president even though she was banned.
In October, the US made its sanctions on Venezuela less strict after President Nicolás Maduro’s government and the opposition agreed to hold fair elections in 2024.
As agreed, the Maduro government, which was re-elected in 2018 in an election that many people didn’t think was fair, said it would let other countries watch the next election.
The “Barbados deal” allows opposition candidates who were not allowed to run for office to now appeal against the bans. This agreement was made in Barbados, where both sides met.
In return, the US, which supported the Barbados agreement, reduced some of its punishments on Venezuela.
However, on Friday, the Supreme Court rejected the appeals filed by Ms Machado and another well-known opposition leader, Henrique Capriles. The court allowed some unknown politicians to participate again.
The US government said they were very worried about the decision to not let MarÃa Corina Machado participate.
It said it went against what Maduro and his representatives agreed to in the Barbados electoral roadmap. They promised to let all parties choose their candidates for the presidential election.
On Monday, the sanctions on Venezuela’s mining sector started again.
The US government said to American companies that they need to stop doing business with a Venezuelan mining company called Minerven by February 13th.
Minerven has been punished by the US before. In 2019, Ofac said Maduro and his government were using a gold mining company called Minerven to make themselves rich and hurt the people of Venezuela.
The US government put sanctions back on the mining industry, but hasn’t put them back on Venezuela’s oil industry yet. This shows that they are taking their time and may put more sanctions on later if they don’t like what’s happening.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for national security at the White House, said on Monday that the Maduro government has until “spring” to keep their promises. “They have to make choices before we decide what choices we will make. ”
Ms Machado promised that she will stay strong and stick to her beliefs. She said she was chosen in the primary election and she will do what she promised. She also said that she is confident they will win and their opponents should be ready to lose. “They can’t have elections unless I’m there. ”
Jorge Rodríguez, a friend of Mr. Maduro who spoke for the government at the talks in Barbados, said that the government did what it promised. He said, “Those who wanted to appeal did, and promised to accept the decision. “ -
US arms sales overseas reaches historic high of $238 billion in 2023
The amount of weapons that the US sold to other countries went up a lot last year. It reached a record of $238 billion because Russia invaded Ukraine and caused more countries to want to buy weapons.
The US government made deals to sell $81 billion worth of stuff, which is 56% more than last year, according to the state department.
Other sales were made by US defense companies directly to other countries.
Poland, which is next to Ukraine, is buying a lot of new military equipment.
Poland spent $12 billion on Apache helicopters, $10 billion on High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and $3. 75 billion on M1A1 Abrams tanks, according to a report for the US government’s fiscal year that ended in October.
It also used $4 billion on a system for controlling battles against air and missile attacks.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised to keep upgrading Poland’s military, as the previous government planned to make it the strongest in Europe.
Can Himars missiles help Ukraine win against Russia.
Meanwhile, Germany spent $8. 5 billion on Chinook helicopters. Bulgaria spent $1. 5bn on Stryker armored vehicles and Norway purchased $1bn worth of multi-purpose helicopters.
The Czech Republic spent $5. 6 billion to purchase F-35 jets and weapons.
The state department said that selling weapons and trading in defense equipment are important tools for US foreign policy. These actions could have big effects on security in different parts of the world for a long time.
Sales increased because countries are buying fewer weapons from Russia, which used to be the second biggest seller of weapons after the US for many years. This information was shared by the person in charge of the department’s arms transfers office.
Mira Resnick from Politico said that the Russian defense industry is not doing well and it is not getting the money it needs from selling weapons to other countries.
President Joe Biden’s team says that helping Ukraine can make money for America by selling weapons there. However, American politicians are becoming more likely to stop giving direct help to Ukraine. Many Republicans want to make aid to Ukraine depend on changing the US immigration laws.
On Wednesday, the Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will go to a Lockheed Martin missile facility in Alabama to show how important the US defence industry is to the alliance.
Outside Europe, the report said that South Korea spent $5 billion on F-35 jets and Australia spent $6. 3 billion on C130J-30 Super Hercules planes. Japan made a deal to buy an E-2D Hawkeye surveillance plane for $1 billion. -
US soldier death increases pressure on Biden
The killing of three American soldiers and hurting many more makes the situation worse in a region where tensions are already high. It also adds to the pressure on President Joe Biden.
This is the first time that American soldiers have been killed by enemy fire since the Israel-Gaza war started.
This is the first time that Washington has to make a difficult decision during the crisis. They need to decide where and how to attack Iran.
Washington will want to send a very clear message to Tehran because it thinks Tehran is responsible for the fires in many countries, like Lebanon and Yemen. However, it will also try to prevent making the situation worse by starting a cycle of attacks and counterattacks.
This moment feels like it was bound to happen. From middle of October, US army bases in Iraq and Syria keep getting attacked by groups supported by Iran. More and more US soldiers are getting hurt. The US has struck back at least eight times by attacking places in both countries. It was just a matter of time before American people died in this risky battlefield.
In his first reply, President Biden clearly stated who is responsible this time. The drone attack on Tower 22, a small post near Jordan’s border with Syria, was done by “extreme groups supported by Iran, who are active in Syria and Iraq. ”
Iran says it did not do it. The foreign ministry spokesman said that the groups Iran supports do not follow Iran’s orders when they make decisions about helping Palestine.
Iran’s friends in this area have all learned and been given weapons by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) or been told how to get weapons for themselves.
In recent years, a group of radical organizations in the “axis of resistance” have become closer, and the Israel-Gaza conflict has made this group stronger.
But every actor has its own power and ability to act, and its own goals and desires. In Iraq, a lot of the attacks seem to have been done by a group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Counterattacks are made harder because some of the people involved are also in Iraq’s military.
In the last few months, the US has attacked Iranian buildings in the area, like a training base in Syria and a place where they keep weapons.
This time, the goal is to target something that will hurt Iran a lot, to show that the US is strong in this area and at home.
During an election year, President Biden’s opponents are using this crisis to say he is not strong against Iran.
“It’s very hard and complicated,” said Fawaz Gerges, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, when talking to the BBC. “Every situation has results. ”
Out of all the options, attacking Iran directly is the most dangerous choice. This would be the first time Iran was attacked since a failed attempt in 1980 to rescue American hostages taken during the Iranian revolution.
The US last did something very serious against Iran four years ago. They used a drone to attack and kill top IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. He was said to have planned to kill American diplomats and soldiers in the region and was an important leader in creating this “axis of resistance”.
Joel Rayburn, a former US Special Envoy to Syria, said on the BBC’s Newshour programme that there needs to be something that will stop people from doing bad things, like the attack on Soleimani. If the person behind the attacks in Iran is not punished, the attacks will continue.
Iran has not attacked Israeli or American sites in response to the killing of its senior military leaders. They blame Israel for the assassinations. Iran is also facing pressure at home.
Earlier this month, for the first time, it attacked a place in Iraqi Kurdistan that it said was a base for Israel’s Mossad agency.
The US understands that it needs to show that it is taking action, and even more importantly, it needs to show that it is successful in its efforts.
Washington and its friends are in a difficult situation as the long and destructive war between Israel and Gaza continues, harming many innocent people and causing a lot of pain. Iran’s friends say they will keep fighting until there’s peace in Gaza, but Israel is still at war and won’t stop until Hamas is defeated and hostages are released.
Ain Al Asad air base is a military base for airplanes. Picture of something that was taken before.
Problems in the important shipping areas of the Red Sea are a warning sign. The US, with support from the UK and other countries, is leading a military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen. However, the Houthis are still attacking ships in a very important sea passage for global trade.
It has made the Houthi rebels more determined and brought them to the focus of the whole world.
A new report from Western intelligence says that the Houthi group has lost about 30% of their weapons. However, the Houthis, who are very good at unconventional warfare and have been able to survive nearly 10 years of airstrikes led by Saudi Arabia, think that they are winning more than they are losing.
The Houthis and their Iran-backed friends are using this crisis to make themselves look good by supporting the Palestinians in their fight against Israel. The US is trying hard to put out many problems at the same time while there is fighting in Gaza. -
Iran disputes any role in strike that claimed US military troops
Iran has refuted claims of carrying out a drone strike on a US base near Jordan’s border with Syria, which resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers.
The US said that “extreme Iranian-supported militant groups” were responsible for the attack that hurt many people.
The US President Joe Biden promised to get back at the people who did something bad and said, “We will take action. ”
This is the first time that US soldiers have been killed in the area since the war in Gaza started because of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th.
Other US bases in the area have been attacked before, but no one had died until Sunday, as per the US military.
The group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq says they were responsible for the attack.
The umbrella group started in late 2023 and is made up of a few Iran-related armed groups working in Iraq. It said it did other attacks on US soldiers recently.
The group said it attacked three US bases in Syria and Jordan: Shaddadi, Rukban, and Tanf, and an Israeli oil facility in the Mediterranean.
The Iraqi government has criticized the attack and asked for the violence in the Middle East to stop.
Bassem al-Awadi, a spokesperson for the government of Iraq, said they are open to working together to make basic rules to stop more problems in the area and lessen fighting.
Mr Biden said the US will make sure that anyone who is responsible will be held accountable, in a way and time that we decide.
Iran said it did not support the militant groups accused of the strike, despite what the US and Britain said.
Nasser Kanaani, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, said that Iran doesn’t make the decisions for groups that fight for Palestinians or their own countries.
The White House told Mr. Biden about the attack on Sunday morning. The news was given by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and other officials.
MrBiden said that Jill and I are sad with the families and friends of our fallen soldiers and all Americans for the loss of these warriors in a terrible and completely unfair attack.
Officials are still telling the families of the servicemen who were hurt or killed, so we don’t know their names yet.
During a trip to South Carolina, Mr. Biden said that things were difficult in the Middle East the previous night. “We lost three brave people. ”
US officials said that 34 soldiers are being checked for possible brain injuries. Some of them were taken to a hospital for more treatment.
They also said that the drone hit the place where people live at the base. If this is true, it could explain why so many people were hurt.
US Central Command and President Biden stated that the attack happened on a base in Rukban, northeastern Jordan, close to the border with Syria. US officials later called it Tower 22.
In December, people in charge of the United States said that military bases in Iraq and Syria were attacked 97 times since October 17th.
In the past month, the US did attacks on groups connected to Iran after three US soldiers got hurt, one very badly, in a drone attack on a base in northern Iraq.
In January, a US attack in Baghdad killed a militia leader who was accused of attacking American soldiers.
During an interview on ABC News that was shown on Sunday, Gen CQ Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that America’s goal in the region is to prevent the conflict from getting worse.
“We want to stop them from causing trouble, and we don’t want the situation to become even more serious and lead to a bigger fight in the area. ”
American and other allied soldiers are now in the Red Sea because the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, have been attacking ships there. The group from Yemen is attacking ships in the area to help Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is fighting against Hamas.
The US military said that these wrong actions are not related to the fighting in Gaza.
“The Houthis have shot at the Red Sea without caring who they hit, affecting over 40 countries’ ships,” according to US Central Command.
Two Navy Seals are believed to have died after they disappeared in January while on a mission near Somalia to take Iranian weapons headed for Houthis in Yemen. -
Biden threatens to “shut down” border if Congress approves deal
US President Joe Biden supports a Senate agreement that allows him to close the southern border if it gets too crowded.
“He said on Friday that if I have the power, I will use it as soon as I sign the bill into law. ”
Mr Biden told the lawmakers to approve the deal. He said it was the strictest and most fair changes so far.
The border deal is being challenged by people on both the right and the left.
Former President Donald Trump tried to stop the deal. He told Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to only agree to it if it’s perfect for the border.
There has been a lot of pressure on President Biden to do something about the border between the US and Mexico as he tries to win a second term as president. He will probably compete against Mr. Trump again in the next election.
Immigration is a big topic in the election. People in Iowa and New Hampshire helped Mr. Trump win because they are worried about the border.
In December, over 9,500 people a day crossed the US-Mexico border, according to the US government.
Furthermore, some Republicans are saying that they will only give more aid to Ukraine if there is a deal made for border security. A border agreement is necessary for more money for Israel and Taiwan. Republicans in the House won’t support extra funding without it.
Mr Biden said something new and Senate leaders are trying to make some House members agree with a border deal that some of them want to cancel.
Leading Senate Republicans, such as Mitch McConnell, have encouraged them to approve it.
Mr Mc Connell said it was a special chance to get things done with a government that has different opinions, which wouldn’t happen if everyone agreed.
Mr Johnson has not indicated that he and his colleagues will agree to the deal. Earlier today, Mr. Johnson told reporters that the deal is not going to be accepted in its current form. -
Statue of famous baseball player in US, Jackie Robinson stolen
The statue of famous baseball player Jackie Robinson was taken from a park in Kansas, according to the police.
The bronze statue in a park in Wichita was cut at the ankles and taken away in a truck.
“Our community is very upset,” said the Wichita Police in a statement about the theft that occurred on Thursday night.
The police will give money to anyone who helps them find the statue.
Wichita’s police chief Joe Sullivan said at a news conference on Friday that he was upset that someone took the statue from a park that children and families often visit.
“Mr Sullivan said this should make us all upset. ”
The statue was in McAdams Park, which is the home of League 42, a youth baseball league named after Robinson’s jersey number.
The park is famous for honoring important African Americans. It is named after a previous black city official, and its community center was renamed in recent years after the city’s first elected black mayor.
Robinson was the first black player in Major League Baseball. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and made it possible for many African American players to follow in his footsteps.
“Even if they had their reasons, they were not just taking from the community, they were also taking from the hard work of League 42 members,” explained Brandon Johnson, a member of the Wichita city council.
“Most importantly, they’re taking from the children. ”
Authorities are willing to give $2,500 for a helpful tip that leads to an arrest, and an extra $5,000 for information on where the statue is located.
City officials said the stolen statue is worth over $75,000, but they also said that the overall loss is even greater.
The value is a lot bigger. This is Jackie Robinson. Troy Houtman, the person in charge of parks and recreation in Wichita, said he will stop there. -
UN offers assistance after employees accused of attacking Israel
The leader of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has called on countries that have ceased funding to reconsider their “unexpected” actions.
More than two million people in the Gaza Strip rely on it to survive, according to Philippe Lazzarini.
Eight countries, including the UK, took action because Israel said some UNRWA staff were involved in the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October.
The agency is looking into it and has already fired those workers.
Israel has been saying for a long time that some parts of the UN, like UNRWA, are not fair and may even be against Jewish people.
Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US have stopped giving money to UNRWA.
Established in 1949, UNRWA is the largest United Nations agency working in Gaza. It gives medical care, schooling, and other help to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It gives jobs to about 13,000 people in Gaza.
Since Israel started fighting back against Hamas, UNRWA has been using its buildings in Gaza to protect many people who had to leave their homes.
On Saturday, Mr. Lazzarini said it was surprising that funds were stopped because of allegations against a few staff members. UNRWA took quick action by firing them and asking for an independent investigation.
“It would be very wrong to punish an agency and a whole community because of allegations of crimes by some people, especially during a war, when people are being forced to leave their homes, and there are political problems in the area. ”
“UNRWA gives a list of all its workers to the countries they work in every year, even Israel. ” The agency did not get any complaints about particular staff members.
Mr Lazzarini said that a UN office is going to look into the terrible accusations and find out what really happened.
An adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the media on Friday that the Hamas attacks on 7 October involved people who are getting paid by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Mark Regev said they had evidence that teachers at UNRWA schools had openly rejoiced about the attacks. Hamas fighters killed about 1,300 people, mostly innocent civilians, and took 250 more as hostages.
Mr Regev also mentioned an Israeli hostage who said she was kept in the home of someone who worked for UNRWA after she was released.
“They have a group that is controlled by Hamas and I think it’s about time for the UN to look into the connections between UNRWA and Hamas,” he said.
The claims made the big donors react.
The UK government is very upset that UNRWA staff may have been part of the attack on Israel on 7 October. They have condemned this terrorist act many times.
“The UK is stopping giving money to UNRWA for now while we look into these worrying claims,” they said.
Before, the US government said it would stop giving more money to the UN agency because it was really worried about the accusations.
The EU will decide what to do next after looking at the results of the investigation.
The US, Germany, and EU give a lot of money to UNRWA.
The UN leader, António Guterres, said he was very shocked by this news.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, wants to shut down UNRWA’s operations in Gaza after the war.
However, the Palestinian Authority’s minister for civilian affairs, Hussein Al-Sheikh, said that countries stopping support for the important UN agency could cause significant political and humanitarian problems.
The attacks on October 7th caused Israel to strike back hard on Hamas in Gaza. They used airstrikes and shelling that resulted in the deaths of over 26,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry run by Hamas in that area.
UNRWA is having a hard time getting help to many of the 1. 7 million people who had to leave their homes because of 12 weeks of fighting. -
US suspends funding to Israel over alleged attack on UNRWA employees
The United States is worried about accusations that 12 UNRWA workers may have been part of the October incident. Hamas attacked Israel and the State Department said they temporarily stopped giving them money.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Department of State has stopped giving more money to UNRWA for now. They want to check the claims and see what the United Nations is doing about them. -
Brave Trump assumes legal risk by testifying in defamation trial in New York
Donald Trump made an appearance in court to address a legal dispute. The court time was short.
The civil trial is about mean things Mr. Trump said about Ms. Carroll in 2019 when he was in the White House.
He was caught for sexually attacking Ms. Carroll in the 1990s, but he still says he didn’t do it.
However, the court had to spend a lot of time discussing the extent of his testimony on Thursday for this reason.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is in charge of the case, said the former US president can only talk about certain things in court because he was found responsible for sexually assaulting Ms Carroll in a different trial.
This caused the judge and lawyers to argue for a long time about what Mr. Trump could talk about, which was much longer than his four minutes of testimony.
Judge Kaplan said the first trial proved what happened and now the only thing left to decide is how much money Mr Trump has to give Ms Carroll, if any.
He didn’t give the current top Republican candidate any chance to speak beyond what was agreed. This made it impossible for the candidate to talk a lot or promote their campaign while testifying.
Maybe this is something Mr. Trump has learned from his other legal fights. In a trial for fraud in New York, Mr. Trump was first told he could not give his final statement. The judge in that case wanted to know if Mr. Trump would be brief and only talk about the important parts of the case.
Mr Trump talked for six minutes and said that he feels unfairly treated by politics.
The old person didn’t have as much freedom during the defamation trial on Thursday.
When he was asked if he still agreed with what he said before, Mr. Trump said, “Yes, absolutely. ”
His lawyer, Alina Habba, then asked if he said he didn’t do what Ms Carroll said he did. “He said, ‘Yes, that’s correct, I did. ‘”
He said “She said something that I thought was a lie – completely untrue”.
However, Judge Kaplan quickly stopped Mr. Trump and told the jury to pay no attention to his last statement.
Finally, Ms Habba asked if her client told anyone to hurt Ms Carroll. Mr Trump said, “No, I just wanted to protect myself, my family and the presidency. ” The judge again removed the last part from the record.
And that’s the end of the testimony. A WCBS reporter heard Mr. Trump say, as he left the courtroom, that it’s not the America he knows. This is not the United States.
Earlier today, Judge Kaplan told him to not talk loudly and interrupt the proceedings. He was overheard quietly saying that he had never met Ms Carroll.
It feels like we’ve seen this before when watching one of Mr. Trump’s trials In court, he has often pushed the boundaries and taken big legal risks.
If Trump had given evidence that went beyond what the judge allowed on Thursday, he could have been fined a lot of money or even sent to jail for lying.
However, Trump’s followers are staying interested and paying attention to his legal issues because he is doing things his own way.
And most importantly, it’s getting a lot of attention from the media at a very important time for the politician. After winning in New Hampshire, the former real estate businessman from New York is likely to be the Republican candidate for president.
Ronnell Andersen Jones, who teaches law at the University of Utah, said to media that this case demonstrates the big difference between Mr Trump’s legal tactics and his actions during the election.
The ex-president and his lawyers are trying to tell the jury that his words in the White House were not bad enough to deserve punishment, but it’s hard to believe that considering what he did.
“Ms Jones said it will be difficult because the jury keeps hearing new evidence that the defendant is still spreading lies outside the courtroom. ”
The trial for slander will start again on Friday at 09:30 ET (14:30 GMT) with final statements from both sides. We don’t know yet if Mr. Trump will go. -
Ex-Trump advisor found guilty of contempt of Congress
Peter Navarro, who used to give advice to Donald Trump about trading, has been punished with four months in jail for disrespecting Congress.
Navarro was found guilty in September for not following a subpoena from a House committee that was looking into claims of trying to change the 2020 election results.
Federal prosecutors said he picked Trump over the law. They said he should get a “harsh punishment”.
Navarro, who is 74 years old, could have gone to prison for up to one year for each of the two charges of disobeying the court.
In a letter last month, prosecutors said that Navarro, “like the people who rioted at the Capitol, cared more about politics than the country, and refused to help Congress investigate. ”
In February 2022, a committee from the US House of Representatives gave him a subpoena.
But he did not give any of the asked for emails or papers or show up to answer questions in front of the Democratic-led group.
He was proven to be guilty by the 12 people on the jury after they talked about it for four hours. This happened after a trial in Washington DC that lasted two days.
Navarro’s lawyers have asked the judge to change his guilty verdict. They say he was not part of the group that attacked the government building, and should only have to do six months of probation.
His lawyers asked for a new trial because they said the jurors left the courthouse and saw protestors while they were making their decision.
However, Judge Amit Mehta refused to grant a new trial request last week.
In his book from 2021, called In Trump Time, Navarro said he was the person who came up with a plan to question the 2020 election results. He believed there was a lot of cheating in the voting process.
The Republicans in Congress wanted to wait before confirming that President Joe Biden won the election.
Navarro named this plan the Green Bay Sweep, referencing a play in American football.
The House committee said Navarro’s claims of a lot of ballot cheating were proven to be untrue by state and local officials.
When the committee asked Navarro, he said that Mr. Trump told him to use executive privilege. This is a rule that lets some White House messages be kept secret.
The judge said there was no proof that Mr. Trump asked for it, or that he could use his power to let Navarro ignore the committee’s orders.
His situation is similar to another Trump associate who was found guilty of disobeying the 6 January committee.
Steve Bannon, who used to work for Donald Trump’s election campaign, was found guilty of not obeying a legal order from the House committee in July 2022.
Bannon was given a four-month jail sentence, but he is still out of jail while his lawyers appeal the decision. -
US economy growing at a remarkably high rate
The economy in the US grew faster than expected at the end of last year because people and the government spent a lot of money.
The biggest economy in the world grew by 3. 3% from October to December, according to the Commerce Department.
That was a lot quicker than the 2% that many analysts thought would happen, but it was lower than the 4. 9% from the previous quarter.
In 2023, the economy got bigger by 2. 5% each year, compared to 1. 9% in 2022
The numbers show that the economy did better than expected this year, even though the US central bank raised interest rates and inflation slowed down. -
Ghanaian man and son charged with defrauding hundreds of immigrants in US
A Ghanaian lawyer, Kofi Amankwaa, based in the United States, along with his son, Kofi Amankwaa Jr., has been arrested and charged with orchestrating a seven-year immigration scheme that defrauded hundreds of immigrants, leading to some being deported.
The allegations involve advising clients to submit fraudulent petitions under the Violence Against Women Act, falsely claiming abuse by their American citizen children to facilitate green card applications.
The applications were often found to be fraudulent, resulting in denials and deportations.
The charges against the Amankwaas include conspiracy to defraud the United States and immigration fraud, each carrying maximum sentences of five and ten years, respectively. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, has filed a lawsuit seeking restitution and damages against the accused.
Kofi Amankwaa had been licensed to practice law in New York since 1996, but his license was suspended in November after complaints were received about misconduct. The younger Mr. Amankwaa provided legal advice to clients even though he was not licensed to practice law in New York.
One client, Ricardo Velazquez, was advised by Mr. Amankwaa to leave the country and re-enter to continue his green card application, claiming abuse by his son.
However, Mr. Velazquez was detained and eventually deported when he tried to return from Mexico.
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US prisoner who lost last-minute appeals faces his first nitrogen execution
A person in Alabama who has been sentenced to death is likely to be the first in the US to be executed using nitrogen gas, even though they tried to appeal their sentence.
The highest court in the US and another lower court decided not to stop a punishment that Kenneth Eugene Smith‘s lawyers said was too harsh.
Some people argue that using nitrogen could make others suffer and a leak could hurt people in the room.
Smith, who is 58 years old, was found guilty in 1989 of killing Elizabeth Sennett.
Alabama has until Thursday at 0600 GMT (0100 ET) to execute someone by pumping nitrogen gas through a mask for 30 hours.
Earlier this week, he told the BBC that waiting felt really awful.
Smith will be the first person to be killed using this method in the US and in the whole world.
The prisoner’s lawyers, who have been representing him since 1996, told the media on Wednesday that they were making a new request to the highest court in the country in the hope of stopping the execution at the last moment.
Inhaling only nitrogen without oxygen can make cells break and leads to dying. Alabama said in a court document that they think he will pass out very quickly and die shortly after.
However, some doctors say it is not safe and could cause serious problems like seizures or being in a coma.
Alabama and two other states in the US have said it’s okay to use nitrogen hypoxia instead of lethal injections when executing people. This is because it’s getting harder to find the drugs needed for lethal injections.
Two years ago, Alabama tried to execute Smith by injecting a deadly drug, but they couldn’t find a vein before the time to kill him expired.
Smith was found guilty of killing Sennett for money in March 1988.
She was hit with a tool from the fireplace, and stabbed in the chest and neck. Her death was made to look like someone broke into her home and stole things.
Her husband, who owed a lot of money, had planned the scheme to get insurance money. He took his own life when the police were about to catch him.
Smith’s friend who also kills people for money, John Forrest Parker, was put to death in 2010.
At the trial, Smith said he was there when the victim was killed, but he didn’t actually join in the attack.
The UN’s top human rights official said that using gas on Smith could be considered torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and called for it to stop.
Smith’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to stop multiple execution attempts because they believe it is cruel and against the Constitution.
On Wednesday, the judges said no to his request to stop the execution. No one spoke out against the decision in public.
Smith also went to another court to challenge the legality of Alabama’s nitrogen gas protocol.
However, the court denied the prisoner’s request for a temporary order in a decision on Wednesday night.
Smith’s legal team said they will ask the Supreme Court to review the case again.
His lawyers say that the nitrogen gas method is new and not proven. They worry that he could choke on his own vomit.
State lawyer Steve Marshall said it was possibly the kindest way to carry out an execution.
Smith’s religious counselor, Reverend Jeff Hood, will be in the room when the execution takes place. He thinks he could be in trouble if the nitrogen leaks, but he would rather risk his life than give up his job.
Alabama executes a lot of people compared to other states in the US. Right now, there are 165 people waiting to be executed in Alabama.
Since 2018, the state has tried three times to give lethal injection to prisoners, but it didn’t work and the prisoners didn’t die.
The mistakes made by the prisoners caused the authorities to review the situation and mostly blame the prisoners. -
US strikes an Iraqi militia supported by Iran
The US has used its military to attack three places in Iraq where an Iran-supported group was operating.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the attacks targeted the Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other groups affiliated with Iran.
He said the accurate attacks were a direct response to the attacks on US and coalition allies in Iraq and Syria.
However, a high-ranking Iraqi official said that they were a clear breach of Iraq’s independence.
Iraq’s top security official, Qassem al-Aaraji, said that the US attacks did not make the situation peaceful.
He wrote on X, previously known as Twitter, that the US should push for a stop to the Israeli attacks in Gaza instead of bombing the bases of an Iraqi national group.
He was talking about the group of former fighters supported by Iran called the Popular Mobilisation force, which is now part of the regular military.
Last week, some US soldiers got hurt in a missile attack on an airbase in western Iraq.
US officials said they are getting checked for head injuries.
The US military’s CentCom said that a group supported by Iran attacked the Al Asad airbase, where American troops are stationed, using missiles and rockets.
A group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it was responsible for the attack.
The group started in late 2023 and is made up of a few armed groups connected to Iran that are working in Iraq. It has said it did other attacks on US soldiers in the last few weeks.
In a statement, Mr Austin said he was impressed by the professionalism of the US military in carrying out the recent attacks in Iraq as part of the ongoing effort to weaken ISIS.
Mr Austin said that he and President Biden will do what is needed to protect America’s interests.
We don’t want to make the problems in the area worse. We are ready to do whatever it takes to keep our people and buildings safe. “We ask these groups and their Iranian supporters to stop these attacks right away,” he said.
In another announcement, CentCom said the attacks happened at 00:15 local time (21:15 GMT Tuesday). This was a response to the attack on the Al Asad airbase in western Iraq on 20 January, among other attacks.
“The strikes hit Kataib Hezbollah’s headquarters, where they keep their rockets, missiles, and drones for attacks,” said CentCom.
Kataib Hezbollah is a strong group of fighters in Iraq who follow the Shia Islamic religion. They get money and weapons from Iran.
It is thought to have close connections with Iran’s Quds Force, the branch of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps that operates outside the country.
Since 2009, the US has said the group is a terrorist organization. They say the group has attacked US and Iraqi forces in Iraq for Iran and has made Iraq less peaceful and stable.
The US military didn’t say where they attacked Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq.
The attack on Al Asad airbase happened on Saturday after a US drone strike in Baghdad earlier this month that killed a leader of a pro-Iran militia.
American soldiers in Iraq and Syria have been attacked many times by groups supported by Iran since the conflict between Israel and Gaza began in October.
The US military and its friends, like the UK, have stepped in to stop Houthi missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The governments of Washington and London have bombed the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen that is supported by Iran.
On Wednesday, CentCom said the US military attacked two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed at the southern Red Sea and ready to be launched.
“American soldiers found missiles in parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthi group. They decided that the missiles were a serious danger to ships that carry goods and to American warships in that area. ” The US military destroyed the missiles to protect themselves.
The Iranian army launched several missile attacks in the past week in Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan.
On Saturday, Iran said Israel bombed a place in Syria’s capital city, Damascus. The bombing killed five important members of Iran’s security forces. -
J&J strikes agreement with US states over claims pertaining to baby powder
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has agreed with more than 40 US states on a possible deal regarding their investigation into how they advertised their talc-based baby powder and other products.
The big healthcare company said it planned to pay $700 million, which confirms the amount that was reported before.
The agreement would be a piece of a larger deal the company is trying to make to settle claims about the safety of its products.
J&J says their products are okay for people to use.
However, it is dealing with over 50,000 lawsuits from people who say that using its talc-based baby powder gave them cancer. Some of them also say that the product had asbestos, which can cause cancer.
The company made a new company to handle the lawsuits in court in order to settle them.
Last year, it offered to pay almost $9 billion to settle the claims, even though it thought the claims were not valid. It just wanted to put the issue behind them.
However, the judges stopped the plans because they decided that the company’s subsidiary was not struggling financially and couldn’t use bankruptcy to deal with the lawsuits.
State officials did not say anything about the possible agreement.
Erik Haas, who is a high-ranking employee at Johnson & Johnson, said that the company is still working on finding a solution to a big problem.
The company is still trying different ways to solve the talc lawsuit once and for all. Last week, it was revealed that the company made progress by reaching an initial agreement with a group of 43 state attorneys general to settle their claims about talc.
“We will work on resolving the concerns of people who do not want to agree to our bankruptcy plan by going to court or reaching an agreement. ”
Johnson & Johnson has mostly won the lawsuits about its talc products and says the products didn’t have asbestos and didn’t cause cancer.
However, it has suffered from some large losses, including one case where 22 women were given a court order of over $2 billion.
Experts predict that the company will end up paying over $10 billion to settle the legal disputes.
A lawyer who helps people who used to be customers said this month that it was good for his clients that the state matters were resolved because it got rid of things that were bothering them.
“We need” can be changed to “We require. ” The main goal is to reach an agreement about talc powder all over the world by 2024. “This is helpful,” Ronald Miller said in a statement.
In 2020, Johnson & Johnson stopped selling its talc-based baby powder in the US because they said people were getting the wrong information about it and not buying it. The powder is used to prevent nappy rash and as a dry shampoo. It later said it would stop selling its products all over the world.
The company had been selling the baby powder for almost 130 years before they made that decision. It still sells a product with corn-starch. -
Mexico’s $10 billion case against gun manufacturers revived by US appeals court
A court in the US said Mexico can continue with a $10 billion lawsuit against American gun makers. This starts the legal fight again after it has been going on for a long time.
The Mexican government says that a lot of illegal guns come into the country from the US because American gunmakers are purposefully selling them.
In late 2022, a lower court threw out the case, so the Mexican government appealed.
The group that represents gun makers says it did not do anything wrong.
The lawsuit includes companies like Smith & Wesson, Glock, Beretta, Barrett, Sturm, and Ruger.
Mexican officials say that many guns made in the US are brought into Mexico illegally every year. This gives drug gangs lots of weapons to use in their fights with each other and with the government. Some people think there are more than 500,000 weapons made every year.
Last year, over 30,000 people were killed in Mexico, even though the country has very strict rules about owning guns. The only place in the country where guns are sold is in a military complex in Mexico City.
The lawsuit was filed in 2021 in a court in Massachusetts. It claimed that the gun companies knew their guns were being sold to criminals and causing violence in the country.
In 2022, a judge in the United States decided that the gun companies couldn’t be sued for the case because of a law from 2005 called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The law protects gunmakers from being sued if their guns are used in a criminal or unlawful way.
The government of Mexico quickly asked for a review of the law, saying it only applies to injuries in the US and doesn’t protect the seven manufacturers and one distributor from being held responsible.
On Monday, a US appeals court said that the Mexican lawsuit makes a believable argument that is exempt from the law that only applies to legal gun sales.
People in Mexico and people who want stricter gun laws in the US said the decision was a win. The Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Bárcena, called it “great news” on X, which used to be called Twitter.
Jon Lowy, the president of Global Action on Gun Violence, said that the ruling is a big step toward making the gun industry take responsibility for the violence caused by guns and stopping the flow of illegal guns to the cartels.
“The Court agreed that another country has the right to sue the U. S” “Gun companies can no longer hide behind the legal protection they have had since 2005,” he said.
Larry Keane, who is a leader at a group that represents the US gun industry, supported the companies that make guns.
Mexico needs to focus on making sure its laws are followed and punishing its own criminals in its own courts. They shouldn’t blame the gun industry for their failure to keep their citizens safe. -
US and UK initiate new attacks on Houthis
The US and UK worked together to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen.
The Pentagon said that on Monday, the attacks hit eight places, including a place where weapons are kept underground and a place where Houthi group’s missiles and surveillance equipment are kept.
The Houthis, who are supported by Iran, have been attacking ships that they believe are connected to Israel and the West as they pass through the important Red Sea trade route.
The US and UK said they were trying to keep trade moving freely.
The Pentagon said they did more attacks on the Houthis that were fair and needed.
We want to reduce tensions and make the Red Sea calm again. But we want to tell the Houthi leaders that we will protect people and keep trade moving in the Red Sea. It’s an important waterway and we won’t ignore any threats.
The US has attacked Houthi targets in Yemen for the eighth time. This is the second time the UK and another country have worked together on a military operation, after they joined forces for strikes on 11 January.
The UK’s foreign secretary, Lord David Cameron, said that they have sent a strong message and will keep making it difficult for the Houthis to carry out attacks.
When asked if the attacks could make things worse in the Middle East, Lord Cameron said that it was the Houthis who were making things worse and he believed the previous attacks worked well.
He said the story the Houthis told about the attacks being connected to the war between Israel and Hamas should not be believed. The UK wants the fighting in Gaza to stop quickly.
Lord Cameron said the UK asked for a quick break from fighting to help people in need, and they hope it leads to a long-lasting and stable stop to the fighting. He said he will suggest a plan when he goes to the region this week.
The statement said that Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands supported the strikes.
The UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will speak in the House of Commons today about the decision to do more strikes. Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition, did not know about the strikes before they happened. But this morning, he was seen going to the Cabinet Office for a private meeting.
Fighter planes from the USS Eisenhower attacked on Monday.
Four RAF Typhoon planes, along with two Voyager tankers, teamed up with the US forces, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced.
“We used special bombs to hit many targets at two military sites near Sanaa airfield with our airplane. ” The MoD said that these places were being used to keep attacking ships in the Red Sea.
“Like the UK usually does, we carefully planned the strikes to make sure no civilians would get hurt. We also made sure to bomb at night to lower the risk even more,” the statement said.
Government minister Huw Merriman said to Sky News that the airstrikes will happen again if the Houthis keep attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The UK’s Defense Secretary, Grant Shapps, said that the strikes were done to protect themselves from the Houthis’ unacceptable attacks on ships.
“This action will make it harder for the Houthi group to cause problems and will weaken their ability to impact global trade,” he wrote on X.
Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey said his party is worried about the attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea. They believe that limited strikes may be necessary, but it’s very important for Parliament to discuss and vote on the matter.
Houthi-controlled Al Masirah TV said that there were attacks in Sanaa, Taiz, and Bayda provinces in Yemen, including the al-Dailami air base near the capital Sanaa.
Ten days after the US and UK bombed the Houthis, they are still standing strong.
They keep shooting different things at ships near Yemen, and they accidentally hit a ship carrying Russian oil.
Under a new operation called Poseidon Archer, the US has attacked more targets after already attacking Houthi sites.
The Pentagon says that the missiles were destroyed right before they were going to be launched. Western intelligence recently said they think that about 30% of the Houthi’s missiles were damaged or destroyed.
The Houthis, who get help from Iran, want to keep attacking ships they think are connected to Israel, the US, or the UK.
These actions have made them very well-liked in their country, where many people have been suffering under their harsh rule.
Many people in the Arab world like the Houthis because they say they support Hamas and are against Israel with help from Iran.
Mr Sunak talked with US President Joe Biden earlier on Monday.
The White House said Mr. Biden and Mr. Sunak talked about attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea. The White House said they promise to protect ships, trade, and sailors from unfair attacks, and to allow ships to travel freely.
It said: “The president and prime minister talked about giving more help to the people in Gaza and keeping them safe. They also talked about getting back the people who are kept as prisoners by Hamas. ”The Houthis started attacking ships that carry goods in November. They said they were doing this because of Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
Since that time, the group has carried out many attacks on commercial ships that go through the Red Sea, which is one of the busiest routes for ships in the world.
The US and UK started bombing many Houthi targets on January 11th.
The strikes, which were also backed by Australia, Bahrain, the Netherlands, and Canada, started because Houthi forces didn’t stop attacking the area even after being warned. -
Over 90 people killed following severe winter storms in the US
Over 90 people have died because of bad weather in the US. Winter storms have been hitting the country hard for the past week.
At least 25 people died in Tennessee and 16 people died in Oregon after severe ice storms. Oregon is still under a state of emergency.
Many people in large areas of the country are still without electricity.
The cold and icy weather should get better in a few days.
According to CBS, 92 people have died because of the weather in the past week.
Many people have died in Tennessee and Oregon, but also in places like Mississippi, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, Kentucky, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, and other areas.
Last Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, three people died from electric shock when strong winds knocked down a power line and it hit the car they were in. The baby in the car lived.
Other deaths are still being looked into, including the death of a person in a five-car crash in Kentucky and four in Illinois.
Five people, most likely without a home, died in Seattle in just four days, says the Associated Press.
The weather in Mississippi has caused officials to tell drivers to only drive if they really need to and to be careful of ice on the roads. The colleges and universities in the state have made students come back later from winter break because of the weather.
The number of people who have died in the state went up to 11 after three more deaths were reported on Sunday.
Mississippi officials are looking into whether people were told there might not be enough water because of the storm, and that’s why they put water in their bathtubs. The change made the water pressure go down for a little while and many people in Jackson couldn’t get water from their faucets. This city has had water problems for a long time.
Water problems are still happening in Tennessee. About 400,000 people have to boil their water because of broken pipes in Memphis. This is happening in almost 30 other areas too. The local utility fixed 41 big water pipes and over 4,000 smaller ones because of the cold weather.
The company said to use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and preparing food until they say it’s okay to use tap water again. “It’s safe to use tap water for bathing and showering, just don’t drink it. ”
Restaurants and bars in the southern city of the US used bottled water to serve customers on Sunday. Some had to close or change their menus.
Many places in the US have their electricity back after the winter storm, but many people still don’t have power.
On Sunday evening, 45,000 people in Oregon didn’t have electricity. More power cuts happened in Pennsylvania, California, New Mexico and Indiana.
The National Weather Service says there will be an ice storm on Monday in some parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Driving will be very dangerous in many areas of the country on Monday.
Later, the snow will melt, and some weather experts say that warm air and rain might make some areas in the Midwest and north-eastern US flood.
By the end of the week, it may be hotter than usual in some eastern parts of the country. -
Scott Peterson: Famous US murder case taken on by Los Angeles Innocence Project
The Los Angeles Innocence Project is helping Scott Peterson, who was found guilty in 2004 of killing his pregnant wife.
The non-profit organization helps people who were accused of a crime they didn’t do. They are looking for new evidence to prove their innocence from their first trial.
It said in legal papers that it is “looking into his claim that he didn’t do the crime”.
Laci Peterson was going to have a baby soon when she disappeared on Christmas Eve 22 years ago.
“We are really happy that the lawyers from the LA Innocence Project are going to help prove that Scott is innocent,” said Pat Harris, who is Scott Peterson’s lawyer. This was reported by CBS, the BBC’s partner in the US.
In April, Peterson’s lawyers asked the court to investigate the jury for not following the rules at his trial. They also said they had new evidence that showed Peterson is not guilty. This information was in court documents filed on Wednesday.
The lawyers said Peterson murdered Laci and threw her body into the ocean on Christmas Eve 2002. Then he tried to make it look like she was missing to cover up the crime.
Four months later, they found her body when it came up on the shore.
During the trial, Peterson’s lawyers said that a burglar was the one who killed his wife.
The jury said he did a bad thing and he was given the punishment of death a year later.
In 2020, the California Supreme Court cancelled his death sentence because the judge in the first trial had sent away some jurors unfairly.
The next year, he was given a life in prison sentence with no chance of getting out. -
US strikes have not halted Houthi Red Sea attack – Biden
Houthi fighters fired another missile at a ship owned by the US on Thursday, even though President Joe Biden had previously stated that US attacks had not stopped the group’s attacks in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon said that no one was hurt and the ship was not damaged when the Houthis shot two missiles at the MV Chem Ranger.
The attack happened after the US bombed Yemen for the fifth time on Thursday.
The White House said that American forces stopped a bunch of Houthi missiles from being launched into the Red Sea.
After the US attacks, reporters in Washington DC asked Mr. Biden if the hits on Houthi targets were having an effect.
“He said they’re not stopping the Houthis when they say they’re working. ”
“Will they keep going. Yes”
The US military in charge of the Middle East said it attacked two Houthi missiles in the Southern Red Sea that were going to be launched.
The US military found the missiles in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi group. They found them around 3:40pm local time and said they were a threat to ships in the area.
“The US military later attacked and destroyed the missiles to protect themselves. ”
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said to reporters: “We do not want war. ”
We are not fighting the Houthis. We are doing things to defend ourselves.
Centcom also said that there was a try to attack the MV Chem Ranger. Authorities reported that two missiles designed to attack ships were launched at a ship owned by the US and flagged by the Marshall Islands, but neither of them hit the ship.
The military spokesperson of Yemen said that the ship was hit directly.
A ship owned by the US was hit on Wednesday, shortly after the US labeled the Houthis as a terrorist group.
On Thursday, the leader of the Houthis said it was a great honor to directly confront Israel, the US, and the UK. He spoke with a lot of energy.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that the attack on our people is a violation of our country’s rights and a direct attack on our people.
The Houthis started attacking ships in November because they said it was in response to Israel’s military action in Gaza. Since then, the group has carried out many attacks on large ships traveling through the Red Sea, which is a very busy route for ships.
The US and UK attacked many Houthi targets with air strikes on January 11th. The attacks started because Houthi forces did not stop attacking despite being warned to stop by Australia, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Canada. -
Netanyahu openly opposes US efforts to establish Palestinian state
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he told the United States that he doesn’t want a Palestinian state to be created after the fighting in Gaza stops.
At a press conference, Mr. Netanyahu said he will continue the attack in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed and the Israeli hostages are released. He also said this could take several months.
With nearly 25,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza and 85% of the Strip’s people forced to leave their homes, Israel is facing strong pressure to stop its attack and have important discussions to bring an end to the war.
Many countries that support Israel, like the US, and even some that don’t, want the idea of creating two separate countries, Israel and Palestine, to be brought back to life. This would mean that a future Palestinian country would exist alongside Israel.
Many people hope that the crisis will make the fighting groups start talking to each other instead of keep fighting. They think that talking is the only way to stop the fighting from going on and on. But it seems that Mr. Netanyahu actually has the opposite intention based on his comments.
Speaking to reporters after Mr. Netanyahu’s recent comments, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby admitted that the US and Israel have different views on the issue.
On Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel needs to have security control over all the land on the western side of the River Jordan, even the territory that might be given to a future Palestinian state.
“This is something that must happen, but it goes against the idea of Palestinian control. ” What should I do. I told our American friends the truth and I stopped the attempt to force a false reality on us that would hurt Israel’s safety,” he said.
Mr Netanyahu has spent a long time in politics and has always been against the idea of Palestine becoming its own country. Just last month, he said he was happy to have stopped it from happening. So, his recent comments are not unexpected.
However, the open disagreement with Washington’s diplomatic efforts, and the decision to continue the current military strategy, indicate that the divide is growing between Israel and its western supporters.
Since the attacks on October 7th, the US has supported Israel’s right to defend itself. This attack was the worst in Israel’s history, with 1,300 people killed and 240 taken hostage by Hamas gunmen.
As more people have died in Gaza and there have been many horrible scenes, Western governments are asking Israel to be careful and not use too much force.
The White House keeps trying to tell Israel what to do with its military. They want Israel to use more precise weapons instead of bombing everything. They also don’t want Israel to send troops into the area. And they think there should be two separate states, one for Israelis and one for Palestinians, with the Palestinian Authority involved in making peace in Gaza after the fighting.
MrKirby said the US has been very clear about what it wants Gaza to look like after the war.
“He said that the people of Gaza should have a say in their government, and it should not be taken over by another country. ”
Many people have not listened to Washington’s advice, and some have even rejected it, especially when the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits.
This has made some Americans very frustrated with the Biden administration because they seem to strongly support Israel without any conditions on the aid they give to their ally in the Middle East.
The prime minister of Israel said something that will make his small group of supporters and the very conservative ministers in his government happy.
However, this war will upset people at home and in other countries who are increasingly shocked by the number of people being harmed. Recent surveys indicate that most Israelis want him to focus on bringing the remaining hostages home instead of trying to destroy Hamas, which may be very difficult. -
US hits Houthi targets in Yemen for the fourth time
The US bombed the Houthis in Yemen for the fourth time, according to Pentagon officials on Wednesday night.
A few missiles were launched by the Houthi group, and the US stopped them. The US thinks the missiles were meant to attack ships in the Red Sea.
The US Middle East command, called Centcom, said that the sites were hit by Tomahawk missiles fired from US Navy ships.
The strikes happened after the US labeled the Houthis as “global terrorists”.
Jake Sullivan, who is in charge of keeping the US safe, said that the decision to cancel the removal of the militants’ designation was because they keep attacking ships in the area.
The Houthis started attacking ships that were carrying goods in November because they said it was in response to Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Since then, the group has attacked many commercial ships in the Red Sea, which is a very busy shipping route.
In reply, the US and UK attacked many Houthi targets with air strikes on January 11th. The attacks started because Houthi forces did not stop their attacks even after they were told to. Australia, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Canada supported the strikes.
Wednesday’s attacks on Houthi targets came after more attacks on commercial ships. A few hours before, the group attacked a boat owned and run by the US for the second time in the past week.
The rebels used a one-way drone to attack the M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden, according to Centcom. The ship was hurt, but no one on the crew got hurt during the attack.
On Monday, the Houthis launched a missile at a US ship. It was the first time they successfully attacked an American ship since their campaign started.
US officials said that the strikes on Wednesday were done to stop an attack before it happened. They destroyed weapons that the militants were going to use very soon.
“The missiles on launch rails posed a serious danger to merchant ships and US Navy boats in the area. They could have been fired at any moment, so US forces had to defend themselves,” said Centcom in a statement.
These attacks, plus other things we have done, will weaken the Houthi’s ability to keep carrying out dangerous attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden, the statement said.
The UK’s military department said to the BBC that it didn’t take part in the recent attacks.
Gen Micheal Kurilla, who is in charge of Centcom, said that the US will keep fighting the Houthis because they are putting international sailors in danger and causing problems for shipping in the Southern Red Sea and nearby areas.
Yemen has been greatly damaged by a civil war that started in 2015. The Houthis took over parts of the country from the official government and a coalition led by Saudi Arabia got involved to try to take back control.
The fighting has caused over 160,000 people to die and has led to a major humanitarian crisis. About 21 million people, which is two thirds of the population, need help in some way. -
Iran’s’ reckless’ assault on Iraq denounced by US
The US criticized Iran for shooting missiles near Irbil in Iraq, calling it a dangerous and not accurate set of attacks.
The Revolutionary Guards of Iran said they attacked what they said were places where Israeli spies were working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council said four people died and six were hurt in Monday’s attack.
Iraq expressed disapproval of the attacks, saying they broke its rules.
The Israeli government has not said anything about the claims from Iran.
In another news, Kurdistan officials said they had used guns to bring down three drones with weapons, that were flying over Irbil airport where US and international forces are stationed, Reuters reported. Officials did not tell us about any harm or injuries.
The Iranian attacks happened when things were already tense in the region because of the war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, which is supported by Iran. The war started on 7 October in the Gaza Strip.
The fighting is spreading to include groups that are supported by Iran in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
“We will keep checking the situation, but it looks like these strikes were reckless and not accurate,” said Adrienne Watson, who speaks for the White House National Security Council.
“She said the United States is on Iraq’s side and wants them to be free and safe. No US people or buildings were attacked. ”
The Revolutionary Guards of Iran said that they destroyed a main spying base of Mossad in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq using ballistic missiles.
A comment was made in reaction to the recent terrible actions of the Zionist government.Iran has launched missile attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan, aiming at places where they believe Iranian separatist groups and Israeli agents are located.
The leader of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, criticized the recent attack on Irbil as a “bad thing for the Kurdish people”.
A well-known businessman named Peshraw Dizayee was one of four civilians who were killed, according to Mr. Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party.
The Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Islamic State (IS) group areas in Syria on Monday night.
Loud blasts were heard in the city of Aleppo and the surrounding area in north-western Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least four missiles came from the Mediterranean Sea and landed there.
The Revolutionary Guards attacked in Syria because of a suicide bombing that happened this month. It was done in revenge for the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by the US.
The attack in Kerman, in southern Iran, killed at least 94 people and hurt many others. -
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin discharged from hospital
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is out of the hospital and will work from home while he gets better from treatment for prostate cancer.
His choice to wait before telling his co-workers and the White House about his sickness made people upset and led to three investigations.
The 70-year-old had to go to the intensive care unit on 1 January because of problems after a surgery in December.
His doctors said he should get better soon and be back to normal.
Doctors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said that Secretary Austin is doing well and getting stronger.
They said his prostate cancer was treated early and worked well. They also said his chances of getting better are really good and he doesn’t need any more treatment.
The defense secretary is an important person in the US military and is right under the president in the chain of command.
In December, Mr. Austin had a small surgery to treat his prostate cancer. He went back to the hospital on New Year’s Day because the procedure had caused problems.
High-ranking military officials and the White House did not find out that Mr. Austin was very sick until three days after he was readmitted.
The fact that it was kept secret raised worries about security and transparency. As a result, three investigations have been started to look into how his health crisis was managed.
President Joe Biden said he still trusts his secretary to lead, but he wishes the secretary had been more honest about how sick he was.
Mr Austin said sorry for not telling people the right information.
He continued to work in his job while he was getting better. Last week, Mr. Austin gave permission for many attacks on Houthi fighters in Yemen from his hospital bed in the Red Sea.
On Monday, he said thank you to the doctors and nurses who took care of him.
“Now, as I keep getting better and working from home, I really want to get better soon and go back to the Pentagon,” he said.
The Pentagon said he can use secure communication to work from home. -
US intercepts missile launched at warship from Yemen
The US military has stopped a missile from hitting one of its ships that was fired from the Houthi area of Yemen.
The missile that was shot at the USS Laboon in the Red Sea was destroyed by a US fighter plane near the coast of Hudaydah.
No one got hurt or things broken in the accident on Sunday afternoon.
After the US and UK attacked the Houthis to weaken their military power because they have been attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The US and UK attacked almost 30 places in Yemen on Friday. They targeted places where weapons are stored, places where supplies are kept, and defense systems.
On Saturday, the US attacked a Houthi radar site again.
President Joe Biden said he will not hesitate to take more steps to protect our people and the flow of international trade if needed.
Likewise, the UK is ready to take more steps against the Houthis.
Hussain Al-Bukhaiti, a strong supporter of the Houthi group, told the BBC that fighters will attack US and UK warships if the airstrikes on Yemen keep happening.
The Houthis are a powerful group that controls a big area of Yemen, including the main city. They are important friends of Hamas and are believed to get weapons from Iran, which is Israel’s biggest enemy.
Since November 19th, they have attacked cargo ships in the Red Sea at least 27 times. The Red Sea is a very important route for ships that travel around the world.
The group said they were aiming at ships going to Israel or owned by Israel, to show support for the people of Gaza. However, some of the ships they have attacked are not clearly linked to Israel.
The attacks made big shipping companies change the path of their ships so they don’t go through the Red Sea. Instead, they take a longer way around the southern tip of Africa.
This has affected the world economy already, with the big shipping company Maersk saying it’s being felt by the people who buy the products.
Tesla and Volvo have stopped making some cars, Tesco said some prices might go up, and Ikea said there could be fewer supplies.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the Houthi attacks are causing big problems for an important trade route and making things more expensive.
The group’s attacks, along with the UK-US strikes in Yemen, are making people worry that the conflict in Gaza is spreading to the rest of the Middle East. -
US-UK strikes on Houthis were “enough” – Shapps says
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps talked about the US and UK attacking the Houthis in Yemen. He said they did this to stop more attacks on ships in the Red Sea because they had enough of it.
The US and UK attacks were trying to weaken the Houthis’ military power because they have been attacking cargo ships since November.
The Houthis are a group that runs a big part of Yemen and are friends with Hamas in Gaza.
Shapps said on BBC that they took quiet and fair actions to stop more violent behavior in the area.
The US military stopped an anti-ship missile from hitting one of its warships. The missile was sent from an area controlled by the Houthi group in Yemen.
There were no injuries or damage in the incident that happened on Sunday afternoon. It was not reported until last night.
PM Rishi Sunak is going to talk to MPs about the US-UK strikes. It will be his first time talking about it in the Commons.
More update on this story soon.
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US launches second attack against Yemeni Houthis
The US says it launched another attack on a Houthi target in Yemen on Saturday, which is the second attack on the group in two days.
The US said they did another action to target a Houthi radar site.
The Houthis promised to retaliate strongly to the attacks, and said no one was hurt.
The strikes happened because the Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea for weeks.
The UK and US worked together to bomb almost 30 Houthi locations with help from countries like Australia and Canada.
The US Central Command used missiles to attack a Houthi radar site in Yemen. The attack happened one day ago.
It was a military strike that happened in Yemen at 03:45 local time.
The strikes were meant to weaken the Houthi’s ability to attack ships at sea.
The Houthi spokesman told Al Jazeera that they will respond strongly to the new attack, and it didn’t cause any injuries or damage.
Another Houthi representative, Mohammed Abdulsalam, told Reuters that the attacks didn’t really affect their ability to stop ships from Israel in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
Since November 19th, the US Central Command said the group tried to attack and bother boats in the Red Sea and the gulf of Aden 28 times.
Many people came together in Saana on Friday to protest against the US-UK strikes and show support for Palestine. They chanted slogans against the US and in favor of Palestine.
Tensions have increased because people are worried that attacks in Yemen could make the Middle East more unstable.
Both the UK and US say they are protecting shipping routes and not involved in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The White House says that 15% of the world’s trade that goes by sea goes through the Red Sea. This means China has 8% of the world’s grain, 12% of the oil that is transported by sea, and 8% of the world’s liquified natural gas.
The Houthis are causing a big problem for shipping companies, so some of them have stopped working in that area. The cost of insurance has also gone up a lot since December.
London and Washington supported Israel after the 7th October attacks by Hamas. Around 1,300 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage.
Israel has been attacking Hamas in Gaza with air strikes and ground operations. According to the health ministry in Gaza, around 23,843 Palestinians have been killed, and many more are believed to be dead under the rubble.
In reaction to the war, the Houthis said they were on the side of Hamas and started attacking ships they claimed were going to Israel or had connections with Israel.
The Houthis are a group of fighters from a smaller part of the Muslim religion in Yemen called Zaidis. They are named after the person who started the movement, Hussein al-Houthi.
The main government in Yemen is led by the Presidential Leadership Council. President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi gave his powers to this council in April 2022. It is located in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Mr. Hadi fled to in 2015.
Most people in Yemen live in places ruled by the Houthi group. The Houthis also rule the Red Sea coast, in addition to Sanaa and northern Yemen. -
US targets Houthis in Yemen as Gaza conflict rages on
The Houthis are attacking ships in the Red Sea that belong to Israel or are going to Israel, to show they support Hamas in Gaza. Hamas, just like the Houthis, have support from Iran.
In Gaza, Palestinians were attacked again by Israel last night. There were reports of bombs being dropped all over the area.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed a tunnel with explosives in it and killed some “terrorists” in Khan Younis in the morning.The Palestinian news agency Wafa said that there were attacks on Gaza City in the north, and 20 people were reported to have been killed.
Many people were said to have been killed in the Al-Dawa neighborhood in Gaza. The IDF found and destroyed two places where rockets are shot in central Gaza.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israel in the West Bank. Israel says they were terrorists who attacked an Israeli settlement.
Friday night, rockets were shot into the southern part of Israel from Gaza.Israeli army says there was shooting at the border with Lebanon on Saturday morning. The Israeli air force destroyed buildings and equipment used by terrorists.
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US will retaliate if Houthis keep attacking – Biden
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, warns the Houthis that there will be more punishment if they keep acting badly.
The US and UK did a lot of airstrikes on Friday. They targeted nearly 30 Houthi positions because the Houthis attacked ships in the Red Sea.
Five people were killed, and the group said they will take revenge.
Mr Biden said the attacks went well and he believes the Houthis are a “terrorist” group.
The Houthis said that 73 missiles were fired at Yemen during the attack. They said that the attack meant that UK and US interests are now okay to be targeted.
“The US and UK did something very stupid by attacking us,” said Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam.
John Kirby, a person who works in the White House, said that we don’t want to have a war with Yemen.
However, he said that Mr. Biden will not hesitate to take more action to protect our soldiers, buildings, and trade with other countries.
The attacks on Friday were supported by the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
The Pentagon says the group might not be able to fight back with a big army right now.
“The Director of Operations, Lt Gen Douglas A Sims ll, said today that we saw a missile being fired, but it didn’t hit any ships. ”
Before, a UK maritime security group said that someone shot a missile at a boat near the south coast of Yemen, but no one got hurt and nothing was damaged.
The company Ambrey, which protects ships at sea, said that the Houthis made a mistake by attacking a tanker that was carrying Russian oil. They thought the ship was connected to the UK, but it wasn’t.
However, the US is saying they think Iran is helping the Houthi group with the resources to carry out the Red Sea attacks.
Tehran criticized the attacks on Yemen and said they broke international laws.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the strikes on Friday were not too much, but Turkey said Britain and the US are trying to make the Red Sea very dangerous.
BothSunak and Mr. Biden were criticized because they did not consult fully with their legislatures before launching the attacks.
The UK and US want to make it clear that the strikes were meant to protect shipping routes and were not related to the Israel-Gaza conflict, which they worry could cause more problems in the Middle East.
Many countries supported Israel after the Hamas attacks on 7 October. Around 1,300 people died and about 240 were taken hostage.
The Houthis are helping Hamas, a group in Gaza that Israel is attacking. So far, 23,350 people have died in the attacks, according to the health ministry in Gaza run by Hamas.
When the war started, the Houthis began attacking ships that they believed were going to Israel or had connections to Israel. They said these ships were fair game to attack.
So far, the Pentagon says that 27 ships have been attacked in the Red Sea. But it seems that many of the ships that were attacked are not military ships.
The Houthis are a big danger and now big ships are not going there and it costs 10 times more to insure them since December.
In the city of Sanaa in Yemen, which is controlled by the Houthi group, many people protested against the airstrikes by the US and UK.
“This rally is the first to speak out against the attack on Yemen last night,” one man told the Reuters news agency.
“This is also a message to Britain and the United States of America that they will suffer consequences for this attack. ”
Since October, there have been big rallies in Yemen to support the Palestinians and Gaza. This Friday’s rallies were even bigger than usual.
The Houthis are a group of fighters from a smaller group of Shia Muslims in Yemen called the Zaidis. They say they are part of the Iranian-led “axis of resistance” with Hamas and Hezbollah. They are against Israel, the US, and the wider West.
They have taken over a big part of north-western Yemen, including the biggest city, Sana’a, and are now the main government there since taking control in 2014. -
Colombian dating apps connected to eight US deaths
American travelers going to Colombia have been told not to use dating apps there because eight American tourists have died under strange circumstances in the past two months.
The US embassy in Bogota said that some people were given drugs and robbed after meeting others on these apps.
Things happened a lot in cities like Medellin, Cartagena, and Bogota where more American tourists are visiting.
Travellers should stay away from places that are remote and alone, like hotel rooms.
The embassy warned that criminals use apps to trick people into meeting them in public places like restaurants and bars. Then they hurt, steal from, and even kill their victims, sometimes the person they met.
In the last three months of 2023, the number of robberies of foreign visitors went up by 200% and deaths by 29%. Eight Americans also died between November 1st and December 31st.
One of the people hurt was Tou Ger Xiong, a 50-year-old comedian and activist from Minnesota who is Asian-American.
He went on a trip to Colombia at the end of November. While he was there, he met a woman online and went on a date with her. Unfortunately, he was then kidnapped and killed.
Xiong was kidnapped and stabbed to death more than twelve times by a group of men.
The actual number of people from other countries who were hurt by these crimes may be more than what the numbers show.
The embassy said that these crimes often don’t get reported because the victims feel ashamed and don’t want to go through with the legal process.
Those who try to stop a robbery are more likely to be killed, the warning said. -
Trump’s trial for civil fraud resumes
It’s 8:00 AM here on the east coast of the US, and we’re getting ready for a busy day reporting on Donald Trump in court.
Today, he is almost finished with his trial for lying about how much money he has to get bigger loans. He’s being accused of civil fraud. A judge has said he did trickery with business, but hasn’t decided on the punishment yet.
The trial began in October, and today we are listening to the final arguments from both sides. Trump says he didn’t do anything wrong.
My friends are at a trial in New York City. We will give you the newest news from the trial, which begins at 10. 00 We’re also keeping an eye out for the first sighting of Trump, who is supposed to be there. Here is some more information on what we can expect. -
Antony Blinken on US mission to stop Gaza igniting wider war
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants to talk about the most important message during his fourth visit to the Middle East in three months.
His main goal on this trip is to make sure that the fighting between Israel and Gaza does not spread to other countries nearby.
He is traveling to many places in southwest Asia like Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. There is a lot of evidence that the tension in the region is getting worse.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen keep firing missiles and drones at civilian ships in the Red Sea. This has caused a lot of ships to stop using the Red Sea.
The US said it will protect the things that are important to them. If the rebels keep causing problems for global trade, the US might have to use its military to stop them. This would worry some important Arab allies of the US.
“We don’t see using the military as a solution,” said the leader of Qatar during a press conference with Mr. Blinken in Doha on Sunday. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said he is very worried that taking such action will make the situation never-ending and create a lot of tension in the whole region.
On Saturday, the group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon shot a lot of rockets at northern Israel as revenge for what seemed to be a bomb attack planned by Israel that killed an important leader of Hamas in Beirut. Israel bombed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon with their airplanes.
Later in the day, Mr. Blinken said that the situation was getting worse and it was a serious problem. He asked Iran and Turkey to use their influence to control Hezbollah.
That might be hard. The Washington Post said American officials are worried that Israel might be planning a big attack on Hezbollah.
“We want to solve things through talking, but if we can’t, we might have to take action,” said Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday.
At the same time, US military bases in Iraq and Syria were attacked by rockets and drones from militants. There are over 3,000 American soldiers in these areas. In the end of October, a drone entered US defenses and hit a building but did not explode, according to a report from Reuters. This avoided potentially causing serious harm to American soldiers.
The US took military action by bombing Baghdad last week and killing Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, who led a militia supported by Iran.
Each of these events could cause problems for the surrounding area. When you look at everything together, it seems like the Middle East is on the edge of a big war.
In Qatar, Mr. Blinken said the US has a plan to make things more stable. This plan depends on ending the fighting between the Israeli military and Gaza. The US wants to work with Arab countries and Israel to create a lasting peace for the Palestinians.
“He said the United States has a plan to make Israel safe and create a country for the Palestinian people. ” “And what I’ve learned from our talks up til now is. ” “Do our partners want to talk about tough things and make difficult choices. ”
That’s the problem. After talking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, Mr. Blinken said that all the leaders he has talked to seem ready to help make Gaza stable and strong again after the war. However, the US needs to convince Israel to agree.Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Friday that they would like to settle things peacefully through discussion, but they are getting close to a point where they might have to take action.
At the same time, militants in Iraq and Syria have attacked US military bases with rockets and drones. There are more than 3,000 American soldiers in these places. In October, a drone got past US defenses and hit a building but didn’t explode, said a Reuters report. This narrowly avoided causing a lot of American injuries.
The US used the military to attack and killed Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, a leader of an Iran-backed militia, in Baghdad last week.
Each of these episodes is a danger to the peace of the area. When you look at everything together, it seems like the Middle East is close to starting a big war.
In Qatar, Mr. Blinken said the US has a plan to deal with the growing problems in the region. The plan relies on ending the Israeli military operation in Gaza and collaborating with Arab nations and Israelis to create a lasting peace for the Palestinians.
“The United States has a plan to make Israel secure and give the Palestinian people their own state,” he said. “And what I got from the talks until now . Can our partners talk about hard things and make tough choices.
That’s the problem. After talking with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, Mr. Blinken said that he sees a desire to help make post-war Gaza stable and strong from all the leaders he has talked to. The US needs to convince Israel to agree.
Mr Blinken’s trip to the Middle East might tell us about the plan the US has for its recent diplomacy efforts. He visited Turkey and Arab countries, and then he went to Israel two days later. This helped him to understand the feelings and opinions of the people in the region before meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli War Cabinet.
Now it’s up to Israel to make a decision.
“On Monday, he said he will get to tell Israeli leaders everything he’s learned on this trip. ” “I believe there is a way to bring long-lasting peace and security to Israel in the future. ”
The American hope is that ending the Gaza War will reduce tensions in the region. It is a guess that the small problems in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria have not gotten worse on their own.
The Qatari prime minister said on Sunday that there can’t be peace in the area without a real and peaceful solution to the Palestinian conflict. Will there be peace if this is decided.
During his trip to the Middle East in November, Mr. Blinken said that countries in the area don’t want war and are trying to stop it from spreading. He said this in Turkey.
The US secretary said that just because something bad did not happen, it doesn’t always show that progress has been made, but it does.
Since then, there has been a lot of evidence that shows the chances of a bigger war happening have gone up, even though Mr. Blinken and the Americans say they don’t want it. -
Ecuador declares war on gangs in wake of TV incident
Ecuador’s president wants to stop criminal gangs after a lot of violence and an attack on a TV studio.
Armed people wearing masks entered TC public TV channel’s live studio while it was on air, and made the staff lie down on the floor.
The police arrested 13 people after the attack and two workers got hurt.
At least 10 people died since a state of emergency started in Ecuador on Monday.
An emergency was announced because a dangerous criminal escaped from his prison cell. It’s not clear if the incident at the TV studio in Guayaquil is connected to the disappearance of Adolfo Macías Villamar, also known as Fito, the Choneros gang boss, from a prison in the same city.
On Tuesday, President Noboa said that there is a war happening inside the country. He is sending the military to stop crime and terrorism.
The government of Peru sent police to the border quickly to stop any trouble from coming into the country.
The US is against the bold attacks in Ecuador. They are working closely with President Daniel Noboa and his government and are ready to help.
Ecuador sends out lots of bananas to other countries. They also sell oil, coffee, cocoa, shrimps, and fish products to other places. An increase in fighting and violence in the Andean country, both in and outside of its prisons, is because of battles between drug gangs from different countries and local ones. They are fighting to control the routes for bringing cocaine to the US and Europe.
On Tuesday, during the attack at the TV station, a person with a shotgun pointed it at the head of one of the captives. The captive was also threatened with a revolver.
According to the AFP news agency, a woman was begging not to be shot, and someone else was heard screaming in pain.
A TC employee sent a message on WhatsApp saying that someone came in to hurt us. “Please, God, don’t let this happen. ” The criminals are on the run.
A cameraman got shot in the leg, and another one broke his arm in the attack, according to the deputy news director.
“Producers told us through our earpieces to be careful because someone was trying to enter, steal and mug us,” said Jorge Rendon to Reuters news agency.
“The doors in the studio are really thick, almost like they can stop bullets. They were trying to get in because they wanted to enter the studio and make us say whatever they wanted us to say,” he explained.
The police said that they arrested the suspects and posted a video of them and their weapons on social media. They also said that the suspects would be punished for their terrorist acts.
Emergency situation
President Noboa made a decision to declare a state of emergency in response to a series of riots and escapes from prisons, as well as other violent activities that were caused by criminal gangs.
He made a law that included the Choneros and 21 other gangs. The Choneros are named after the town of Chone in Manabi Province.
The order was made because of a state of emergency and it means there will be a curfew at night to stop the violence after Fito’s escape. The police are working to calm down the situation in six jails where there were fights on Monday.On Tuesday, in Guayaquil, eight people were killed and three were hurt in attacks by criminal gangs. In the nearby town of Nobol, two police officers were also killed by armed criminals.
In Riobamba, a city in Ecuador, about 40 prisoners, including a drug lord, escaped from jail.
At least seven police officers were taken by force and there is a video going around on social media that shows three of the kidnapped officers sitting on the ground with a gun pointed at them. In the video, one of the officers is being made to read a statement directed to President Noboa, according to AFP.
The officer said, “If you start a war, you’ll have to deal with a war. ” You said there is an emergency. We say that police, civilians, and soldiers are the things that are taken as a result of war.
The police told everyone to leave the government building in Quito because they are worried about safety.
People in Quito told Reuters that the city was very chaotic after they heard about the attack at the TV station in Guayaquil.
Mario Urena said there are too many people feeling nervous in the city. “People are leaving work earlier. ” All the people are going away, there is a lot of traffic and alarms all around. There is a lot of confusion.
Some people in Cuenca were surprised when they saw the TV station taken over. They told AFP about their shock.
Francisco Rosas said that in Ecuador, they have never seen something like a channel being taken over and a show starting with shootings and kidnappings. “How safe are we right now. If a TV station can be robbed, then restaurants and shops are also at risk. ”
In the last few years, the prisons in the country have had a lot of fighting between gangs. This has led to many prisoners being killed in gang fights.
The Choneros are a tough gang in prison that is believed to be responsible for a lot of the violent fights and riots in Ecuador’s jails.
Fito is believed to have run away just hours before he was supposed to move. Two prison guards have been arrested for possibly helping him to get away.
His getting away also hurts the government of President Noboa. He became president in November after winning an election that was affected by the killing of presidential candidate and journalist Fernando Villavicencio.
Before he was killed while leaving a campaign event in Quito, Villavicencio had told people that he was getting death threats from Fito.More update on this story soon.
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Violent storms cause tornadoes, snowfall, and flooding in the United States
Three people died and more than 500,000 homes don’t have power after strong winter storms hit the eastern US and Canada.
Powerful winds blew cars and caused damage to homes in Florida. There were also reports of multiple tornadoes in the area.
On Tuesday, over 1,300 flights were cancelled going to or from the US, according to FlightAware.
Kamala Harris’ plane had to change course because of bad weather.
Mrs Harris’ spokesperson said bad weather made her plane land in Virginia instead of Maryland on the way back to Washington DC from Atlanta.
By Tuesday evening, over 630,000 homes in the eastern US, from Florida to New York State, had no power.
Many counties in Florida have said there is a big problem, because strong winds from storms have taken off the roofs of houses and knocked down power lines.
Early on Tuesday, there were twelve tornadoes in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. They caused a lot of damage and in some places, people had to be rescued.
In Houston County, Alabama, a tornado destroyed mobile homes and RVs and an 81-year-old woman died.
A storm hit a mobile home park in Claremont, North Carolina and one person died.
In Clayton County, Georgia, a driver died when a tree fell on their car while they were driving.
A person who lives in Panama City, Florida, said that when the wind toppled the home across from theirs, it sounded very loud and strong, like a freight train hitting a brick wall.
“He said it was very loud,” he told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
The storms in Panama City made roads impossible to travel on, damaged buildings by tearing off roofs, and brought hail as big as baseballs.
A curfew is in place for the downtown area of the city until 6:00AM EST (11:00AM GMT) on Wednesday morning.
“Don’t go to this area at night,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said that stronger storms are expected to happen in the east of the US.
Some areas in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina might have more powerful tornadoes that can cause strong winds and hail.
Strong winds of up to 50 mph and heavy rain in the eastern US could cause flooding from Florida to southern Maine.
In South Carolina, heavy rain caused flooding in some areas as four to five inches of rain fell before sunset on Tuesday.
Over 1 foot of snow fell in the middle of the US, leaving drivers stuck and stopping presidential campaigning in Iowa.
A big snowstorm is expected in Canada from southern Ontario to central Quebec. Over 1 foot of snow is predicted.
A strong and rare blizzard in the Pacific Northwest knocked down trees and caused power outages for over 25,000 customers in Washington state. It also affected thousands of people in Canada’s British Columbia province. Snow and strong winds made mountain roads and ferries close. People were warned about possible avalanches.
There is a warning for possible flooding along the coast of New Jersey until Wednesday.
The governor of the state, Phil Murphy, said there is a big storm coming and told people to take it seriously.
In New York State, Governor Kathy Hochul said the storm could be very dangerous. She especially warned that the heavy rain and snow together could cause flash floods, which could be life threatening.
About 2,000 people who left their home country and now live in a tent shelter in Brooklyn were moved to high school gymnasiums because of the storms.
There was a brief stop of planes coming in and out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport because of too much snow and ice, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A warning for a tornado was issued at Tampa International Airport in Florida, so they had to stop flights.
Severe weather has also caused problems for people traveling on the roads in Nebraska and Kansas. The state patrol has had to deal with lots of weather-related issues.
“Please don’t go out,” a Kansas state trooper wrote on the internet. “We might not be able to help you if you get stuck because it’s hard for us to move around. ”
The NWS said the very bad weather will start to get a little better on Wednesday, but there could still be some snow in the areas that have already been hit hard in the central US and the northeast. -
US Defence Secretary underwent surgery for prostate cancer
The White House said that President Joe Biden only found out on Tuesday that the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has cancer and is receiving treatment.
Mr Austin, who is 70 years old, went to the hospital on January 1st. After having surgery in December, he had some problems and had to go to the intensive care unit.
He got in trouble for not telling the higher-ups about it for a few days.
He said sorry for not making sure the public got the right information.
The delay in telling the White House about something important could be a problem for national security and causes questions about how open the Biden administration is being.
The defense secretary is an important person in the US military and works closely with the president.
The Pentagon said that Mr. Austin was still in the hospital on Tuesday. A person speaking for the hospital didn’t say when the patient would be able to leave.
“Secretary Austin is doing well and is in good spirits. He is in touch with his senior staff and has access to the necessary secure communication technology. He is also keeping an eye on day to day operations at the Department of Defense worldwide,” the spokesperson said.
The doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center found prostate cancer during Mr. Austin’s check-up in December 2023, and he needs treatment for it.
Mr Austin had a small surgery in the hospital on December 22nd to remove the cancer. He was put to sleep with medicine for this procedure.
He went back to Walter Reed on 1 January 2024 because he had some problems, and the doctors found out he had a urinary tract infection. The next day, he was moved to the intensive care unit for more treatment because he had abdominal fluid that was affecting his small intestines.
He never passed out or went under deep sleep for surgery. Mr Austin’s infection is gone and he is getting better. We expect him to fully recover, but it might take some time.
The doctors said that they found the cancer early and think he will get better.
On Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that President Biden was told that he has prostate cancer.
“He said no one at the White House knew Secretary Austin had prostate cancer until this morning. ”
He said the president was worried about the secretary’s health at first, but admitted that the way it was communicated wasn’t great.
“Mr Kirby said things are not going as planned. ”
Mr Biden and Sec Austin haven’t talked since the weekend, based on what Mr.
Kathleen Hicks, the person who helps Mr. Austin, didn’t know he was in the hospital even though she was supposed to do some of his work.
During a meeting on Tuesday, the Pentagon’s spokesperson, Air Force Maj Gen Pat Ryder, did not say why Mr. Austin didn’t talk about his condition earlier.
“I don’t have that exactly,” he said, but mentioned that being diagnosed with prostate cancer is very personal. The Pentagon said that a important person was sick with the flu which caused the failure.
Mr Ryder said they are looking at how they let people know about hospital stays to try to do a better job next time.
On Tuesday, the boss at the White House told the president’s helpers to let him know if they can’t do their jobs. -
Kim Jong Un allegedly turns forty
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might be turning 40, but some people are not sure.
The leader of North Korea has never told anyone his birthday, so no one knows when it is.
If what people are saying is true, he turned the milestone age on Monday. On that day, official pictures of him and his daughter visiting a chicken farm were also released.
The quiet day is very different from the days of the people who came before him.
Actually, the birthdays of his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung – big, national celebrations when they were in charge – are still celebrated as holidays today.
It is not known why the suggested date of 8 January is a secret. Before, North Korean officials said thank you to Donald Trump for his birthday wishes in January 2020, but they didn’t say which day.
More proof of the date came out six years ago. Dennis Rodman, a US basketball player, sang happy birthday to Kim Jong Un in front of a big crowd.
Gilsup Kwak, the leader of One Korea Center, a website that focuses on North Korea, thinks there are several reasons why there is no information about his mother Ko Yong Hui. One reason is that she was supposedly born in Japan.
Many people in North Korea still don’t trust Japan, which ruled the region from 1910 to 1945. This could hurt Kim Jong Un‘s claims about his family. So, people haven’t talked about it much. Making a big deal about his birthday might lead to getting attention he doesn’t want.
“Mr Kwak said that the truth about Kim Jong Un’s birth is something that could make him vulnerable. ”
But there are many other reasons, he says, such as thinking that honoring his ancestors and family is sufficient, and wanting to show himself as a down-to-earth leader.
Some people think that his age is the issue. Experts say that older leaders in North Korea think that their ruler is still too young, even though they made his father’s birthday an official holiday when he turned 40. -
Trump’s claims of immunity to be examined by US appeal court
A very important court case is happening in Washington to decide if Donald Trump can be charged with a crime or not.
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is thinking about whether Trump can use presidential immunity to protect himself from being accused of 2020 election fraud.
Trump said he will go to court to listen to arguments in a case that might reach the Supreme Court.
Jack Smith, a special lawyer, has accused Trump of trying to change the result of the 2020 election and of lying to stay as president.
Trump claims that he was doing his job as president on Jan 6 and in the weeks before it, so he can’t be charged with a crime.
You can hear the meeting at 09:30 ET (14:30 GMT) by clicking the play button at the top of the page.
More update on this story soon.
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Blinken in Middle East for difficult conversations
The US is Israel‘s best friend, but today they will have difficult discussions.
For weeks, Washington has been asking Israel to stop their attack on Hamas in Gaza. The attack has killed many civilians and caused a lot of damage and a big problem for people’s well-being.
Israel’s military is trying to focus more on specific targets in its attacks, but many people have still been killed in its recent bombing of central and southern Gaza.
In answer to some ministers saying Palestinians should go somewhere else, Blinken will say that people from Gaza who had to leave should be able to go back to their homes.
However, there are reports that Israel may connect this to a new agreement to free its hostages who are being held by Hamas.
Blinken will also push for a clear plan for what should happen after the war in Gaza, and for more work to stop the war from spreading.
Yesterday, Israel reportedly killed a high-ranking commander of the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon, showing that the conflict is spreading. -
Hezbollah provides Nasrallah and Soleimani with photos of deceased commander
Hezbollah has shared a bunch of pictures on Telegram.
Wissam Tawil, a high-ranking leader in the special Radwan force of the group, was killed today.
The picture shows Tawil and Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, shaking hands.
Someone took a picture of him sitting next to Qasem Soleimani, who was the leader of the Quds Force in Iran and was killed by US forces in 2020. -
Apple settles lawsuits alleging it purposefully slowed down iPhones
Apple has started paying money for a lawsuit about slowing down some iPhones in the US.
People who made complaints will get a share of a $500 million (£394 million) agreement, which comes out to about $92 per claim.
In 2020, Apple agreed to end the lawsuit. They said they didn’t do anything wrong but they didn’t want to keep spending money on the court case.
In the UK, there is another case trying to get £1. 6bn in money as compensation.
In December 2017, Apple admitted that they intentionally made some iPhones run slower as they got older, which confirmed what many people had suspected for a long time.
It was mentioned that as batteries got older, they didn’t work as well, which made the phones last longer.
However, Apple was accused of slowing down the performance of some iPhones without informing its customers. This caused a lot of anger, so Apple offered a discounted battery replacement to solve the problem.
It caused the US to take legal action. At first, they thought people might get $25 each, but now it looks like they might get about $100 each.
Apple tried to stop a big lawsuit in the UK last November, but they did not win.
Justin Gutmann brought a case in June 2022 that involves about 24 million people who use iPhones.
Apple said the lawsuit is not true and they would never do anything to purposely make their products stop working or give a bad experience to customers just to make them buy new products.
Unlike the US agreement, which only covered iPhone 6 and 7, the UK lawsuit also includes people who had iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X and is asking for money for them. -
Supreme Court to decide whether Trump may contest for presidency
The highest court in the United States will decide if Donald Trump can run for president. This is an important and historic case.
The judges decided to hear Mr. Trump’s appeal because Colorado wouldn’t let him be on the 2024 ballot there.
The court will decide the case in February and the decision will affect the whole country.
Lawsuits in many states are trying to remove Mr. Trump from his position. They say he was part of a riot at the US Capitol three years ago.
The legal problems depend on whether a constitutional amendment from the Civil War time means Mr. Trump can’t run for president.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear Mr. Trump’s appeal after 27 state attorneys general asked them to reject Colorado’s decision.
They say that taking Mr. Trump off the ballot would cause a lot of problems.
“The submission says that it is causing confusion in the upcoming election. ”
Moreover, it disrupts the specific duties of the Congress, the States, and the courts.
The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution says that people who have rebelled against the government can’t hold federal office. However, the former president’s lawyers say this rule doesn’t apply to the president.
His lawyers say that if the Colorado Supreme Court decision is followed, it would unlawfully prevent many voters in Colorado from voting and could also be used as an example to prevent many more voters across the country from voting.
Mr Trump is fighting against a decision made by voting officials in Maine to take his name off the ballot.
After the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold confirmed that the state’s ballots for the next presidential primary elections have been approved and that Mr. Trump’s name will be on them.
The votes in each state will decide which people can run for president in the November election.
Colorado is scheduled for the start of March, shortly after the Supreme Court makes a decision on Mr.
Ms Griswold said that the Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to hear the case, and because of this, Donald Trump will be listed as a candidate on the ballot.
Last month, the Colorado high court made a decision with 4 judges in favor and 3 against. It’s the first time in US history that the 14th Amendment has been used to reject a candidate from running for president.
This is the first time the Supreme Court will think about what the clause means.
Mr Trump is the top Republican candidate to compete against President Joe Biden, who is a Democrat, in the upcoming November election.
Courts in Minnesota and Michigan have rejected attempts to remove Mr. Trump from his position. Other cases in Oregon are waiting for a decision.
The US Supreme Court mainly has conservative judges, and three of them were chosen by Mr. Trump when he was president.
However, they mostly decided he lost his lawsuits against Mr. Biden in the 2020 election.
The court will hear the case quickly and will have a debate about it on 8 February.
Mr Trump’s lawyers have to submit their first written arguments by January 18th.
The people who want Mr. Trump to be disqualified have to give their reasons by January 31st.
The top US court getting involved reminds people of the 2000 election between George Bush and Al Gore, which also went to the Supreme Court.
The court with mostly conservative judges stopped the vote recount in Florida, which helped Mr. Bush win the election.
Professor Cart Tobias from the University of Richmond says that the “very fast” process was expected and needed because there are more and more cases being filed in different states across the country.
With the state primary elections coming up soon, election officials in many states need to get ready and plan for smooth voting processes on short notice.
Cases at the Supreme Court usually take between four and 12 months, which is much longer than the few weeks currently set for justices.
The court will probably make a decision before the Super Tuesday election in March, when Colorado and other states will choose who they want to run for president.
On the day of the riot at the US Capitol, people who support Mr. Trump went into Congress while the lawmakers were officially declaring Mr. Biden as the winner of the election.
On that day, the former president spoke at a gathering outside the White House. He said things that were not true about the election and told the crowd to “fight like hell”, but also to walk “peacefully” to the Capitol.
People who disagree with Mr. Trump say he shouldn’t be allowed to be president because of what he did during the riot and because he tried to change the election result in states that he lost.
Mr Trump is being tried in federal court and state court in Georgia for trying to change the 2020 election result. But he has not been charged with inciting a riot in either case. -
Window bursts in midair as US plane lands
A plane lost part of its body while flying and had to land in Oregon because of it.
The Alaska Airlines plane had to come back to Portland 35 minutes after it took off for California because a part of the plane, including a window, fell off.
Alaska said 177 people were on the plane and they landed safely.
The airline said it will temporarily stop flying all 65 of its 737 Max 9 planes to check them.
Alaska Airlines’ CEO Ben Minicucci said, “We will only bring back each plane after checking it completely for maintenance and safety. ”
Mr Minicucci said the six crew members did a great job on the flight. The plane was at 16,000ft when it started to descend in an emergency. This information comes from flight tracking data.
Pictures sent to news sources show the nighttime sky through a hole in the aircraft’s body, with insulation and other materials visible.
Other photos show the seat nearest to the part that was broken, an empty window seat leaning forward without its cushion.
“I feel for the people who were on this flight. I am really sorry for what you went through,” Mr.
“I am very thankful for how our pilots and flight attendants have been responsive. ”
The oxygen masks came down when the problem started at 16,000 feet soon after the plane took off.
Based on a photo on social media, the back of the plane, behind the wing and engines, was damaged.
The part of the plane’s body that’s involved seems like it could be an extra emergency exit for some airlines, but not for Alaska.
The US Federal Aviation Agency said the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 came back to the airport without any problems and everyone is safe. After the team said there was a problem with keeping the air pressure stable,
Boeing knew about the incident and is trying to find out more information.
“A group of Boeing experts is ready to help with the investigation,” it said.
The NTSB is looking into the incident.
The Boeing 737 Max is being watched very closely because of safety problems and investigations.
The Max airplanes were not allowed to fly for a year and a half starting in March 2019 because two of them crashed the same way and people died.
Each Max plane got changed a lot to be able to fly again. But you wouldn’t be able to see the changes from the outside, and passengers wouldn’t notice anything different.
Boeing will now deliver 737 Max planes faster because they fixed a supply problem that made them have to inspect the planes for a long time.
Boeing has given about 1,300 737 Max airplanes to customers.
The FAA told airlines to check the Max airplanes for a loose bolt in the rudder control system. -
North Korean missiles allegedly being used by Russia in Ukraine
The US says that Russia used North Korea’s ballistic missiles and launchers in its war with Ukraine.
John Kirby, who works for the National Security Council, said that Pyongyang’s support for Russia is a big problem and it worries them.
He said that the US would talk about this at the UN Security Council and put more penalties on people who are helping to move weapons.
Moscow said they did not work together in any way.
Hours after the White House accused North Korea, Kim Jong Un said he wants to make more missile launch vehicles in the country.
The leader of North Korea went to Russia in September to talk about working together on military stuff.
The US has accused Pyongyang of giving Russia weapons before, but now they are sharing information about ballistic missiles, which are rockets that can fly by themselves and go up to 900km (500 miles) to hit a target.
During a meeting at the White House, Mr. Kirby said that Russia buying ballistic missiles from North Korea breaks many UN Security Council rules.
“He said we will make sure Russia is held responsible for breaking its promises to other countries again. ”
He also said that the US thinks Russia might buy short-range missiles from Iran, but they haven’t done it yet.
The UK said it really disapproves of Russia using ballistic missiles from North Korea in Ukraine.
“North Korea is facing strong punishments, and we will keep working with other countries to make sure North Korea faces consequences for helping Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine,” said a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Mr Kirby asked the US Congress to quickly approve more money for Ukraine.
“He said the best way to stop Russia from hurting Ukraine is to give Ukraine important tools for defending themselves, like air defense and other military equipment. ”
Iran and North Korea are supporting Russia. Ukrainian people should know that the American government and its people will always support them.
The White House approved a $250 million aid package for Ukraine on December 27th.
Negotiations for more money in Congress are stuck because Republicans want stricter border security to be included in the aid deal.
Ukraine said that if they don’t get more help from the West soon, it will be hard for them to keep fighting in the war and manage their money. -
US high school shooting leaves “multiple victims” – Police
A lot of people were hurt after a shooting at a high school in Iowa, USA.
The shooting at Perry High School happened at 7:37 in the morning before most students got to school.
The local police have not said how many people were hurt or how badly. The police know who the shooter is and the public is safe.
The shooting happened on the first day of school after winter vacation.
Perry High School is located 40 miles (64km) to the northwest of Des Moines, the capital of Iowa.
More update on this story soon
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Man attacks judge by jumping over bench in US courtroom
Video recording shows a person running towards a judge in a Nevada courtroom.
Judge Mary Kay Holthus got hurt when she fell back from her seat.
A person who helps in a court was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Deobra Delone Redden was being punished for hurting someone in a serious way. He has been accused of more things.More update onthis story soon
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AU and US call for respect for Somalia’s sovereignty amidst disagreement
The African Union and US want people to respect Somalia’s boundaries and land, after Ethiopia made a deal with Somaliland for access to the sea.
Somalia is upset about the deal and says it’s aggressive and is against their rights. They plan to fight it in court.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991, but other countries don’t officially accept it as a separate country.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller from the US Department of State said that the United States respects Somalia’s land and borders.
The leader of the African Union asked for Somalia and Ethiopia’s unity, territorial integrity, and full sovereignty to be respected.
The US and AU want the people involved to talk and solve the problem peacefully. They are worried that the deal could make things worse in the Horn of Africa. -
Trump requests Supreme Court reverse the Colorado ban
Donald Trump wants the US Supreme Court to change a decision made in Colorado that said he couldn’t run for president there.
Colorado’s highest court said last month that Mr. Trump could not run in the primary election because he was involved in the riot at the US Capitol.
He asked for the decision to be reviewed one day after challenging a similar decision in Maine.
Many lawsuits have been filed in different states trying to prevent Mr. Trump from being on the November 2024 ballot.
Courts in Minnesota and Michigan have rejected efforts to disqualify the former US president and leading Republican candidate, while other cases are still pending. “Cases, including those in Oregon, are still waiting to be resolved. ”
Mr Trump is asking the highest court in the country to decide if he can run for federal office in Colorado. The nine Supreme Court judges will have to make a very important decision.
The Republican elections in Colorado and Maine are happening on March 5th, which is called Super Tuesday. It’s when a lot of states have their votes to pick their party candidates. Postal votes must be sent out early, so the Supreme Court is being urged to make a decision soon.
The Supreme Court decision about whether Mr. Trump can run for president because of a Civil War law would apply to everyone in the country.
The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution stops people who have rebelled against the government from holding federal jobs. But the ex-president’s lawyers say this rule doesn’t apply to the president.
The Trump campaign said that the Colorado Supreme Court and President Biden are trying to stop American voters from voting for President Trump.
“This is an act of interference in the election that goes against what America stands for and is against the rules of our government,” said Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the campaign.
“We want the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to be rejected and we want a fair election in November. ”
The Colorado Supreme Court made a close decision, with four judges supporting it and three judges opposing it. All seven judges were chosen by leaders who are Democrats.
It was expected that Mr. Trump would ask the Supreme Court for help. They have to wait to decide if he will be taken off the ballot in Colorado and Maine because there are legal problems that need to be fixed first.
The highest court has more conservative judges, and three of them were picked by Donald Trump when he was president.
However, during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said that the ex-president was worried that the Supreme Court, which mostly leans conservative, might make a decision against him because they don’t want to support Trump.
“He has told me and everyone else publicly about his concern, not privately,” she said. “And I can say that he has a good reason to be concerned. ”
The Colorado case is the first time in the history of the United States that the 14th Amendment has been used to remove a presidential candidate from the election.
Mr Trump is being investigated for trying to change the election results, but he has not been accused of starting a riot in either court case.
Legal experts explained that the Colorado case caused a lot of disagreement in politics, and it made the Supreme Court’s job very challenging.
“The Supreme Court is being asked to decide what democracy can and cannot do,” said Samuel Issacharoff, a professor of law at New York University.
Prof Issacharoff said that the former president has a lot of people who really like him, but also a lot of people who really don’t like him.On Tuesday, David Janovksy, who works at a group that watches over the government, said it’s good that the Supreme Court is looking at the issue. He thinks it’s the best way to solve the issue for the whole country.
“He said that because Colorado and Maine have made this decision, while other states have not, this could be a good reason for the Supreme Court to make a decision about it. ”
“Time is very important. “ -
India court dismisses defence from accused US murder plot
India’s highest court has decided not to get involved in the case of an Indian man accused of planning to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States.
US government lawyers have accused Nikhil Gupta of trying to pay someone to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Mr Gupta is in prison in Prague, and his lawyer said that they have started the process to send him to the US.
The Supreme Court said that the Indian government must do something about it, and they denied the request.
A family member of Mr. Gupta filed a request with the Indian Supreme Court to help him get out of jail and have a fair trial. His lawyer said that Mr Gupta was kept in custody unfairly.
“Judge Sanjay Khanna, one of the two judges on the bench, said that based on the rules of international law and the authority and respect between courts, we do not believe any of the requests can be approved. This is a delicate matter. ” A duplicate of the order will be available on Thursday.
The Czech Republic’s ministry of justice said that Indian courts didn’t have the authority to handle Mr.
Mr Gupta was in the news in November because American authorities accused him of planning to kill at least four Sikh separatists in North America, including Mr Pannun.
They said Mr Gupta promised to pay $100,000 in cash to someone to kill Mr Pannun, who is both a US and Canadian citizen, in New York. The assassin turned out to be a secret police officer, according to the prosecutors.
Mr Gupta was supposedly told what to do by an Indian government official, but the official was not named or accused in the legal document.
Mr Gupta could go to prison for up to 20 years if he is found guilty.
India has accused Mr. Pannun of being a terrorist, but he says he is not and actually supports the Khalistan movement for a separate Sikh homeland.
The petition in India said Mr. Gupta was arrested by people who say they are US federal agents and has not had a fair trial yet. It was also said that he was kept alone in a small room and was made to eat beef and pork, even though it was against his religious beliefs.
The judges of the highest court said that according to the laws of other countries, Mr. Gupta can get help from the Indian government. The lawyer for Mr Gupta’s relative said that they only got to talk to their relative before he was ordered to be sent to another country. But now, they need help from the Indian government to cooperate.
The court said that he could ask the Indian government for help.
Mr Gupta was accused of something months after Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were believable claims connecting Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia. India said the accusations are silly and untrue.
India said it will check any evidence about its alleged connection to the plot to kill someone in the US.
“If one of our citizens does something good or bad, we will investigate it. ” “We promise to follow the rules of the law,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview with the Financial Times last month. -
Residents report attacks overnight in southern Gaza
Gaza residents said Israeli planes and tanks continued to attack the south of the enclave overnight, a day after Israel announced it would begin withdrawing some troops.
Israeli ministers say the war in Gaza will continue for several months, but the partial withdrawal signals a new phase in the offensive, with one official saying Israel will shift its strategy to operations.
The US said this signals a gradual shift to lower intensity activities in the northern lands.
More update on this story soon