Category Archives: Joe Biden

Biden signs $95bn foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

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President says legislation is ‘going to make the world safer’ after months of congressional gridlock threatened support for Kyiv

Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that rushes $95bn in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, a bipartisan legislative victory he hailed as a “good day for world peace” after months of congressional gridlock threatened Washington’s support for Kyiv in its fight to repel Russia’s invasion.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure in a 79 -18 vote late on Tuesday night, after the package won similarly lopsided approval in the Republican controlled House, despite months of resistance from an isolationist bloc of hardline conservatives opposed to helping Ukraine.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Russia warns Nato drills at Finland border ‘risk possible military incidents’

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Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Nato military exercises near the Russian borders are “provocative in nature”. The warning came as the US Senate approved wartime aid for Ukraine

Here are some of the latest images on the newswires:

Ukraine’s SBU security service drones struck two Rosneft-owned oil depots in Russia’s Smolensk region in an overnight attack, according to a source in Ukrainian intelligence reports Reuters.

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Biden and Trump clinch Pennsylvania primaries shortly after polls close

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State’s voters still had options in presidential contests, with tallies to provide window into how state will swing in November

Joe Biden and Donald Trump both won their primaries in Pennsylvania shortly after polls closed.

Pennsylvanians had gone to the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots in the state’s primary races – the results provide a window into where voters in the crucial battleground stand roughly six months out from the general election.

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‘Lost for words’: Joe Biden’s tale about cannibals bemuses Papua New Guinea residents

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President’s suggestion that his ‘Uncle Bosie’ was eaten by cannibals harms US efforts to build Pacific ties, say local experts

Joe Biden’s suggestion that his uncle may have been eaten by cannibals in Papua New Guinea during world war two has been met with a mixture of bemusement and criticism in the country.

Biden spoke about his uncle, 2nd Lt Ambrose J Finnegan Jr, while campaigning in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, describing how “Uncle Bosie” had flown single engine planes as reconnaissance flights during the war. Biden said he “got shot down in New Guinea”, adding “they never found the body because there used to be a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea.”

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US resumes deportation flights to Haiti despite continuing bloodshed

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Critics condemn ‘reckless and cruel’ expulsions and say deportees likely to be targeted by armed gangs who control much of country

More than 70 Haitians expelled from the United States have been flown back to Haiti on the first deportation flight since heavily armed gangs launched a bloody insurrection which has paralysed the capital and forced the prime minister from office.

The flight, which landed in the port city of Cap-Haïtien early on Thursday, was described as “inhumane” by human rights activists who warned that deportees would likely be targeted by the criminal factions who control most of the country.

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All 12 jurors seated for Trump’s historic criminal trial – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Trump’s criminal trial, read our full report:

Judge Merchan, in directing the press not to use physical descriptors to describe jurors, complained specifically about mentioning one of the jurors had an Irish accent.

“We just lost” what would have been a good juror for the case, Merchan said, after one of the jurors was excused after she told the court that she had concerns about her ability to be impartial. Merchan added:

She said she was afraid and intimidated by the press, all the press.

I would recommend the press simply apply common sense and refrain from anything that has to do, for example, with physical descriptions. It’s just not necessary, it serves no purpose.

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Kennedy family members endorse Biden in stinging rebuke to RFK Jr

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Siblings appear on stage with president at campaign event in Philadelphia and offer full-throated support of White House run

Prominent members of the Kennedy political dynasty delivered a full-throated endorsement of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign on Thursday, a pointed message that was in equal measure a stinging repudiation of their relative Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is making an independent run for the White House.

Kerry Kennedy, one of six siblings of the controversial candidate on stage at a Biden campaign event in Philadelphia, called the US president “my hero” as she celebrated a litany of his achievements she said would have pleased her father, the late former US attorney general Robert F Kennedy and late uncle and president John F Kennedy.

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US accused of failing to act on reports of abuse by Israeli forces

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Panel urged denial of Israel funds because of serious human rights violations but state department has not yet acted, report says

The US state department has failed to act on internal reports of human rights abuses by Israeli army and police units, according to a new report, raising new questions over whether Washington’s continued supply of arms to Israel is breaking US law.

The ProPublica investigative journalism site quoted officials as saying that a special panel set up by the Biden administration had recommended that multiple Israeli military and police units be denied US funding because of serious human rights abuses. But the state department has yet to act on the recommendations.

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Senators kill first article of impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Mayorkas impeachment, read our story here.

Chuck Schumer has released a lengthy statement about the commencement (and presumably very swift termination) of the impeachment trial of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this afternoon.

It is the “least legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized impeachment trial in the history of the United States,” the Democratic Senate majority leader said, encapsulating remarks he made in the chamber just now and posted to Facebook:

The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.

For the sake of the Senate’s integrity, and to protect impeachment for those rare cases we truly need it, Senators should dismiss today’s charges.

It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly partisan exercise.

Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements. That would set a disastrous precedent for the Congress and could throw our system of checks and balances into endless cycles of chaos.

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France joins western allies in calling for Israel to avoid escalation after Iran attack – as it happened

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Emmanuel Macron says Iran should face international isolation and reasserts his country’s support for Israel

It’s being reported that Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials say that Iran gave wide notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel – but US officials are disputing that line and say Tehran was aiming to cause significant damage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Sunday that Iran gave neighbouring countries and the United States 72 hours’ notice it would launch the strikes, according to the Reuters news agency.

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Biden’s renewed embrace of Israel threatens to deepen Democratic divide

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Iran’s attack may give the president a reason to return to his default position of ‘ironclad’ Israeli support – could that hurt him in November?

“Ironclad,” said Joe Biden. “Ironclad,” said Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary. “Ironclad,” said the Senate leader Chuck Schumer, the House leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

In the wake of Saturday’s attack by Iran, Democrats united around a single word in expressing their commitment to Israel’s security. It was a sentiment that papered over, at least for now, cracks in the party over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

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Biden closes gap on Trump but third-party candidates pose danger, polls show

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Robert Kennedy Jr, Cornel West and Jill Stein likely to take votes from Biden in November election, research suggests

Multiple new polls show Joe Biden strengthening slightly in the US presidential election, but suggest third-party candidates could present a risk to his chance of carrying the White House in November.

According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Saturday, Biden has whittled down the four-point lead Donald Trump held in February, with Trump leading Biden 46% to 45% among registered voters.

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US news organizations urge Biden and Trump to agree to TV election debates

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CNN, NBC and Fox News among outlets to make plea as Trump campaign calls for earlier debates and Biden remains uncommitted

Twelve US news organizations are urging Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to TV debates ahead of the November presidential vote, a typical feature of an election year and one that can sometimes play a crucial role.

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, PBS, NBC, NPR and the Associated Press said in a statement.

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G7 releases statement condemning Iran retaliatory attacks on Israel – as it happened

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Jordan declared a state of emergency amid Iran’s drone attack on Israel, Reuters reported, citing state media.

Two regional security sources told Reuters that the country’s air defenses are prepared to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones that enter its air space.

In accordance with the situational assessment and in light of the security situation, the Home Front Command is issuing updates and adjustments to the defensive guidelines at this time – starting tomorrow morning and over the coming days, educational establishments, day camps and planned trips will not take place.

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Iran warns it will strike again with greater force if Israel or US retaliate

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Tehran said it informed regional neighbours of strike several days before firing over 300 drones and missiles at Israel

Tehran has warned it will strike again with greater force if Israel or the US retaliate for the Iranian strike on Israel that used more than 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night.

The air raids, the country’s first ever direct attack on the Israeli state, brought a years-long shadow war into the open and threatened to draw the region into a broader conflagration as Israel said it was considering its response.

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Iranian attack on Israel expected ‘sooner rather than later’, says Joe Biden

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President said US are ‘devoted to the defence of Israel’ as he urged Tehran to show restraint

Joe Biden has said he expects an Iranian attack on Israel “sooner rather than later” and issued a last-ditch message to Tehran: “Don’t.”

“We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden told reporters on Friday.

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Kamala Harris calls Trump ‘architect of healthcare crisis’ in Arizona abortion speech – as it happened

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A vote to amend Fisa’s section 702 to prohibit warrantless surveillance in the House has failed.

The amendment, introduced by Arizona Republican representative Andy Biggs, failed after the yays and nays votes tied at 212-212.

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US seeking to deter Iran from strike on Israel, officials say

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US declaring commitment to Israeli security while also working to prevent regional war, say officials

The US is seeking to deter Iran from carrying out a retaliatory strike against Israel with concerted declarations of commitment to Israeli security, while at the same time trying to prevent the outbreak of a major regional war, officials in Washington have said.

US officials still believe that a direct Iranian missile or drone strike is possible within the next few days, in retaliation for the Israeli bombing of an Iranian consular building in Damascus on 1 April, which killed a top Islamic Revolutionary Guards general and six other Guard officers.

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Tim Kaine: Biden knows Netanyahu ‘played’ him in early months of Gaza war

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Senator and leading foreign policy voice in Democratic party tells the Guardian Biden has come to realise the limits of his influence

Senator Tim Kaine, a former vice-presidential nominee and leading foreign policy voice in the Democratic party, has said Joe Biden now understands that Benjamin Netanyahu “played” him during the early months of the war in Gaza but “that ain’t going to happen any more”.

In an interview with the Guardian on Tuesday, Kaine accused the prime minister of making Israel “dramatically less safe” and hurting its longstanding relationship with the US, and said the US president had come to realise the limits of his influence.

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Biden races to commit billions to climate action as election looms

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Biden administration hopes funding will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions no matter who is in White House

Amid rising global temperatures and a looming election against an opponent who has indicated he will gut his climate policies, Joe Biden’s administration is shoveling billions of dollars into efforts it hopes will spur enduring cuts to planet-heating emissions, no matter the occupant of the White House.

In recent weeks, large tracts of funding has been announced by the administration to help overcome some of the thorniest and esoteric challenges the world faces in driving down carbon pollution, seeding the promise of everything from the advent of zero-emissions concrete to low-pollution food production, including mac and cheese and ice-cream, to driving the uptake of solar panels and electric stoves in low-income households.

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