Australian PM Albanese arrives at White House to start day of meetings and celebrations of alliance with US
The state visit, only the fourth since Biden took office, is a reminder of how he’s pursuing long-term plans to counter China’s influence
International terror defendants face longer prison terms than domestic counterparts, new study finds
AP|
Federal prosecutors have even taken the rare step of appealing the sentences of some Jan. 6 defendants, including leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys
Jenna Ellis becomes latest Trump lawyer to plead guilty over efforts to overturn Georgia’s election
Three high-profile people responsible for pushing baseless legal challenges to Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory have agreed to accept responsibility for their roles rather than take their chances before a jury
Turkey’s president submits protocol for Sweden’s admission into NATO to parliament for ratification
All 31 NATO allies must endorse Sweden’s membership. Turkey and Hungary are the only two allies that have yet to ratify it
Biden names technology hubs for 32 states and Puerto Rico to help the industry and create jobs
The $500 million in grants came from last year’s CHIPS and Science Act to stimulate investments in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotech
Battle to elect a House speaker back to square one amid death threats and back-stabbing
Nine lawmakers are aspiring to the position amid the division and chaos of the Republican Party
Turnover has plagued local election offices since 2020. One swing state county is trying to recover
AP|
Election offices have been understaffed for years. But 2020 was a tipping point, with all the pandemic-related challenges before the presidential vote and the hostility afterward stemming from false claims of a stolen election
Biden walks tightrope with support for Israel as allies and the left push for restraint
AP|
The president finds himself facing the difficult balancing act of demonstrating full-throated support for America’s closest ally in the Middle East while trying to also press the Israelis to act with enough restraint to keep the war from spreading into a broader conflagration
The White House asks Congress for more than $100 billion for Ukraine, Israel and the Mexico border
The proposal faces a tough path to approval: the Republican-led House of Representatives, which must agree to it, remains paralyzed and without a speaker
Central America scrambles as the international community fails to find solution to record migration
Regional leaders are more concerned with lessening the impact on their own nations than complying with pressure from the Biden administration to keep migration levels in check
China and Russia plan to work together for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians
Beijing sent a special envoy to the Middle East to push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the latest sign of its ambition to play a larger role in the region
House Republicans vote to drop Jim Jordan as speaker nominee after his third defeat
The chamber remained deadlocked as the GOP scrambled to find a replacement for Kevin McCarthy
Long lines at gas pump unlikely, but Middle East crisis could disrupt oil supplies, raise prices
Oil markets are already stretched by cutbacks in oil production from Saudi Arabia and Russia and expected stronger demand from China, the head of the International Energy Agency said
Rashid Khalidi: ‘Destroying Hamas as a political institution, as an idea, is impossible’
The historian says that an Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip would only incite more resistance
Egypt and Jordan reject the forced displacement into their territories of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza
Cairo is preparing to open the Rafah border with the Strip to allow the passage of humanitarian aid after 14 days of war
Washington deploys carriers, Marines and combat aircraft to prevent escalation of Israel-Hamas conflict
The Pentagon has stressed that the arrival of warships in the region is not designed to engage in military action together with Israel: ‘There is no intention to put US boots on the ground in combat’
Joe Biden, on Ukraine and the Middle East: ‘We’re facing an inflection point in history’
The U.S. president delivered a prime-time televised speech to defend the need for aid to Kyiv and Israel
Sidney Powell pleads guilty in case over efforts to overturn Trump’s Georgia loss and gets probation
Powell, who was charged alongside Trump and 17 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law, entered the plea just a day before jury selection was set to start in her trial
Civic group launches $4M campaign to boost embattled San Francisco ahead of global trade summit
President Joe Biden and other heads of state, hundreds of foreign journalists and more than 1,000 business executives from around the globe are expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit
Revenge is not a strategy
Netanyahu is the person most responsible for the destruction of the Oslo Accords and for the death — already declared by many — of the two-state project
Biden fails in his efforts to appear as mediator between Arabs and Israelis amid deepening crisis
Washington’s unwavering support for Israel, its assessment that the attack on the Gaza hospital came from the Palestinian side and the cancellation of the summit in Jordan threatens to fuel unrest in Arab countries
A massacre without a clear perpetrator: What the world knows (and what it doesn’t) about the attack on the Gaza hospital
Joe Biden accepts Israel’s accusation against Islamic Jihad for launching a failed rocket that hit the al-Ahli hospital while Gazan authorities blame Israel for the tragedy
Biden will facilitate immigration for Ecuadorians with relatives in the US to stop illegal crossings
The administration announces a family reunification parole process aimed at children, siblings or partners of people already living lawfully in America
US imposes more Iran drone sanctions as UN rules set to expire
President Joe Biden’s administration maintains that Iran is providing Russia with drones and materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow
Jim Jordan loses second vote for House speaker, as moderate Republicans refuse to rally behind Trump’s pick
The House is considering granting limited powers to Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry to overcome the legislative impasse caused by the speakership debacle
The US and Israel announce agreement to allow food and medicine from Egypt into Gaza
President Joe Biden defended Israel’s version about an errant Palestinian rocket having accidentally caused the massacre at a hospital in the Strip
Republicans and Democrats agree that the Afghanistan war wasn’t worth it, an AP-NORC poll shows
The withdrawal, seen by many as chaotic and ill-planned, may have been a turning point for President Joe Biden’s approval ratings, which started a downward slide around that time and have not recovered since
_
_