Category Archives: Joe Biden

Netanyahu defies Biden, insisting there’s ‘no space’ for Palestinian state

Posted on by

The Israeli leader is under pressure over course of the Gaza war but is doubling down on opposition to a two-state solution

Defiant Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on opposition to Palestinian statehood, deepening the divide with Israel’s closest international allies, as cracks in his wartime “unity” government became increasingly evident.

Anger with Netanyahu is also increasingly visible on the streets, even though there is broad public support for the war. On Saturday, protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Caesarea and Kfar Saba, some calling for bolder action to secure the release of hostages, and others demanding the prime minister step down.

Continue reading...

Strike on Syrian capital kills fifth Iran Revolutionary Guards member – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed. See all our Middle East crisis coverage

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza “remains dire”, with people returning to “primitive methods for food preparation and general hygiene”. It also said the situation had been “exacerbated by the continuous Israeli blockade hindering aid delivery”.

In a post on X, the PRCS quoted Mohammed Abu Msbeh, its director of ambulances and emergency centres in the Gaza Strip, as saying:

People have returned to primitive methods for food preparation and general hygiene, to make bread.

The daily struggle for water is a daily torment for Gaza residents to secure life-sustaining droplets, who stand in large crowds for hours with containers.

Continue reading...

Biden says two-state solution still possible after call with Netanyahu

Posted on by

US president says Israeli PM not opposed to all two-state solutions after pair talk for first time in nearly a month

Joe Biden has said the creation of an independent state for Palestinians was still possible while Benjamin Netanyahu was still in office, following a call with the Israeli prime minister on Friday.

The US president spoke to Netanyahu for the first time in nearly a month about differences over a future Palestinian state, as well as Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, where the Palestinian death toll is approaching 25,000, according to local health authorities.

Continue reading...

Biden signs measure to avert shutdown but Ukraine aid remains frozen

Posted on by

Hard-right Republicans ensure chances of more money and weapons for Kyiv hinge on immigration reform negotiations

Joe Biden signed a measure to keep the US government funded on Friday but as Washington shivered under its second major snowfall in a week, the bill did not unfreeze funding for Ukraine.

Hard-right House Republicans, led by the speaker, Mike Johnson, are ensuring the chances of more money and weapons for Kyiv in its fight with Moscow hinge on negotiations for immigration reform.

Continue reading...

Hunter Biden to appear before House Republicans for private deposition

Posted on by

Agreement ends months of defiance from president’s son, who had insisted on testifying publicly

Hunter Biden has agreed to appear before House Republicans for a private deposition next month, ending months of defiance from the president’s son, who had insisted on testifying publicly.

The House oversight committee announced on Thursday that the two parties have come to an agreement for Hunter Biden to sit for a deposition on 28 February.

Continue reading...

US carries out fifth strike against Houthis as Biden admits bombing isn’t stopping attacks

Posted on by

Defiant Houthi leader mocks US president and calls for boycott of Israeli goods as Biden tells reporters attacks are ‘going to continue’

The US has carried out a fifth strike against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, even as Joe Biden acknowledged that bombing the rebels has yet to stop their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

Late on Thursday US warplanes targeted anti-ship missiles that “were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch,” according to US Central Command.

Continue reading...

Democrats seize on Iowa results to campaign on threats posed by Trump

Posted on by

Kamala Harris reminds voters of Trump’s role in overturning Roe v Wade as unstated core of campaign is Biden can beat him again

Top Democrats did not react to Donald Trump’s crushing win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday with the dismay that might have been expected. Instead, the victory of the twice-impeached, 91-times criminally charged former president was heralded as an early beginning to the battle for the White House itself.

Called early, Trump’s victory came by 30 points over the hard-right Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who edged the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for second. Only one of 99 Iowa counties did not go for Trump: Johnson county, which includes the University of Iowa, was won by Haley, the relative moderate left in the race – by a single vote.

Continue reading...

White House targeted in ‘swatting’ attack while Joe Biden is away

Posted on by

Multiple emergency personnel sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue following hoax call at 7.03am on Monday

The White House on Monday became the latest victim of a growing US problem of “swatting”: the summoning of large numbers of law enforcement personnel and other first responders to a hoax emergency incident.

Multiple Washington DC fire and ambulance crews rushed to the White House following an emergency call that was received at 7.03am, a spokesperson for District of Columbia fire and emergency medical services said. Joe Biden was not at the residence, and the call was later traced to a fake number.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: Protesters in Washington call on Biden administration for a Gaza ceasefire

Posted on by

Thousands of demonstrators gather at Freedom Plaza for the march on Washington for Gaza

US strikes in Yemen, including the latest one on a military base in Sana’a, had no significant impact on Houthis’ capabilities to continue preventing Israel-affiliated vessels from passing through the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, Yemen’s Houthis’ spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters.

Houthi Ansarullah official Nasruldeen Amer speaking to Al Jazeera, said that there were no injuries in the latest US strike in Yemen and vowed a “strong and effective response”. “There were no injuries, no material nor human losses,” he said.

Continue reading...

John Kerry to leave White House to assist Biden re-election campaign

Posted on by

Kerry’s office announced the news on Saturday after he had informed his staff and spoken with Biden earlier in the week

John Kerry, the United States’ special climate envoy and former secretary of state and presidential contender, plans to leave the Biden administration later this winter and switch to helping Joe Biden campaign to be re-elected to the White House, Kerry’s office said.

Kerry informed his staff earlier on Saturday after speaking with Biden this week, a spokesperson for Kerry told Reuters.

Continue reading...

Biden sent private message to Tehran amid airstrikes: ‘We’re well-prepared’

Posted on by

After second night of US-UK strikes in Yemen against Iran-backed Houthis, fears of wider regional conflict grow

Joe Biden said on Saturday that the United States has sent a private message to Tehran that “we’re confident we’re well-prepared”, following a second night of US and British strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn on Saturday morning, on his way from Washington to Camp David in Maryland, the US president declined to go into further detail and switched to answering questions about the Taiwan election.

Continue reading...

‘Unacceptable’: Biden denounced for bypassing Congress over Yemen strikes

Posted on by

Critics on left and right furious that president failed to seek congressional approval for strikes against Houthi militants

A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers assailed Joe Biden for failing to seek congressional approval before authorizing military strikes against targets in Yemen controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi militants, reigniting a long-simmering debate over who has the power to declare war in America.

The US president announced on Thursday night that the US and the UK, with support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Bahrain, had launched a series of air and naval strikes on more than a dozen sites in Yemen. The retaliatory action was in response to relentless Houthi attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Strikes on Houthis could bring Biden closer to the regional war he sought to avoid

Posted on by

The strikes by the US, UK and their allies came after continued Houthis attacks on Red Sea shipping

When Joe Biden gave the order for airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, he was taking a step that now imperils one of the primary aims of his own Middle East policy – to prevent a regional war.

US and allied officials argue he had little choice. Diplomacy, back-door channels, signalling and threats had failed to halt relentless Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which the Iranian-backed group has claimed are being carried out in solidarity with Gaza.

Continue reading...

Will hard-right Republicans derail the fragile US spending deal?

Posted on by

Mike Johnson and Chuck Schumer say they have a deal to avert a shutdown – but a divided Congress could yet stall its progress

Congressional leaders reached an agreement on overall spending levels to fund the federal government in 2024, a significant step toward averting a shutdown later this month. But political divisions on immigration and other domestic priorities could stall its progress.

The deal is separate from bipartisan Senate negotiations that would pair new border security measures with additional funding for Israel and Ukraine. That proposal is expected to be released sometime this week.

Continue reading...

Ex-White House interns urge Biden to support immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Posted on by

A group comprising 2022 and 2023 interns signed a letter accusing the president of having ‘betrayed’ his promise by supporting Israel

A group of former White House interns signed an open letter to Joe Biden imploring his administration to support an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.

The signatories, which include interns who worked in the White House and executive office of the president during 2022 and the summer of 2023, accuse the president of having “betrayed” his promise to pursue equality and justice by supporting Israel’s bombardment in Gaza.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump did not sign Illinois pledge not to overthrow government

Posted on by

Former president sidestepped signing state’s loyalty oath, which opponents Nikki Haley and Chris Christie also have not signed

Joe Biden’s 2024 election campaign has lambasted former president and most likely Republican opponent Donald Trump for failing to sign a loyalty oath in the state of Illinois, in which candidates pledge against advocating for an overthrow of the government.

The Biden campaign was responding to an investigation by Illinois news outlets WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, which reported that Trump sidestepped signing the McCarthy era voluntary pledge that is part of the midwestern state’s package of ballot-access paperwork submitted by 2024 electoral candidates last week.

Continue reading...

US defense secretary says he takes ‘full responsibility’ for secret hospitalisation

Posted on by

Lloyd Austin apologises for lack of disclosure but questions about medical procedure and the secrecy surrounding it remain unanswered

US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has said he takes “full responsibility” for secrecy surrounding an ongoing, week-long hospitalisation for a still-unspecified medical condition.

Austin, who is 70, was admitted on New Year’s Day to Walter Reed national military medical center for what the Pentagon has said were “complications following a recent elective medical procedure”, a fact the defence department kept under wraps for five days.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report

Continue reading...

Trump avoids mention of US Capitol attack on 6 January anniversary

Posted on by

Three years after insurrection, Trump was in Newton, Iowa, currying support before the 15 January Republican caucus

Donald Trump largely ducked speaking about the January 6 attack on the US Capitol during a campaign speech Saturday, which he delivered on the third anniversary of the insurrection, reflecting the degree to which Republican voters have absolved the former president of responsibility for that day’s deadly consequences.

Trump’s remarks came a day after Joe Biden appeared in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and spoke about how his presidential predecessor had urged his supporters to “fight like hell” shortly before they staged the Capitol attack.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting

Continue reading...

Fired-up Biden shows gloves are off in January 6 anniversary speech

Posted on by

In address near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, US president tore into Donald Trump like never before, including calling him a ‘loser’

This time it’s personal. On Friday Joe Biden tore into his predecessor Donald Trump as never before. He brimmed with anger, disdain and contempt. He apparently had to stop himself from swearing. So much for “when they go low, we go high” – and plenty of Democrats will be just fine with that.

If Biden was seeking to jolt his half-conscious 2024 re-election campaign into life, this may have done the trick. The palpable loathing of Trump took a good 10 or 20 years off him. Keep hating like this and he might do a Benjamin Button all the way to election day.

Continue reading...

Biden accuses Trump of ‘assault on democracy’ and says ‘it’s what he’s promising for the future’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. For our latest reporting on Biden, read our most recent:

We are going to hear a lot about January 6 at 3.15pm today, when Joe Biden marks the third anniversary of the deadly attack on the Capitol with a speech that doubles as the start of his presidential campaigning in 2024.

Republican presidential contenders, by contrast, tend to have little to say about the insurrection, even when asked directly. A questioner at CNN’s town hall in Iowa last night asked Ron DeSantis for his views on the attack, and the Florida governor responded with a brief condemnation, then changed the subject. Here’s the moment:

Continue reading...