(LONDON) — Armed bandits in Nigeria have kidnapped over 100 school children in Kuriga, north-western Nigeria, oaccording to officials.
The bandits are reported to have stormed into the LEA Primary School in Kuriga town, Kaduna state, on Thursday seizing scores of pupils before marching them into the forest.
The incident is reported to have happened at around 8 a.m. on Thursday shortly after the morning assembly. The headmaster of the school along with some other members of staff are reportedly among the victims.
“With pain in my heart, I visited Kuriga, Chikun Local Government, where bandits kidnapped primary and secondary school pupils and students,” wrote Senator Uba Sani, Governor of Kaduna State, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Proactive measures need to be taken to safeguard our schools against terrorists.”
Residents told ABC News that most of the pupils ran out of their classes when they sighted the bandits on the school premises. The armed gunmen are reported to have driven into the school grounds on motorcycles.
The mass abduction is the latest in a string of abductions in schools in northern Nigeria, the incidents becoming an increasing point of concern in the country.
As of Friday no group has yet claimed responsibility for the mass abduction.
In 2014, the infamous kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls in Borno State’s Chibok village by Boko Haram militants.
“Hope is risen that we can have some of them back again,” a parent of one of the kidnapped Chibok school girls told ABC News in 2021 anxiously awaiting the girls’ arrival, dozens of whom still remain in captivity.
According to the International Centre for Counterterrorism, women and children are increasingly the victims of kidnappings and forced abductions.
Sani, on Friday, pledged to get back all the abducted students as government officials worked with the school’s management to confirm the headcount of those missing.
In a statement, Sani said the incident has emphasized the need for state police.
“Proactive measures need to be taken to safeguard our schools against terrorists,” said Sani. “With State Police, there will be a standing Police Force in Kuriga drawn from members of the community who understand the terrain, the people and the issues at play. They can gather intelligence with ease. They will also be constitutionally empowered to bear arms, including sophisticated ones. This is important because vigilante groups are not allowed to carry arms.”
A US Air Force (USAF) Bell-Boeing CV-22B Osprey tiltrotor military aircraft takes off at HeliOperations base, on March 30, 2022 in Portland, United Kingdom. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The US military has lifted its flight ban on V-22 Osprey aircraft after a deadly crash in Japan killed eight service members last fall, paving the way for the tilt rotorcraft to fly again for the first time in three months.
The decision comes even as the investigation into that crash and a separate deadly accident in Australia are still under way.
“I have high confidence that the protocols we’re putting in place will avoid a catastrophic event like this happening again in the future,” said Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, whose members died in the crash.
Bauernfeind and other senior military officials told reporters this week that the November crash in Japan was caused by a “materiel failure” that they believe can be addressed with additional training and maintenance requirements.
No hardware changes are being made to the platform.
But officials acknowledged that they still don’t know why the failure happened, in part because the wreckage was submerged under water for a month following the crash, causing severe corrosion.
Officials declined to provide precise details on which components failed and how it would be fixed, citing security concerns.
“We have high confidence that we understand what component failed and how it failed,” said Marine Col. Brian Taylor, program manager for the V-22 joint program at US Naval Air Command, which made the decision to ground the Ospreys across all services.
“I think what we are still working on is the why, and so that is still in the hands of the investigation,” Taylor said.
The decision is unlikely to be the final word in the case of the V-22, which is linked to 20 service member deaths in the past two years.
A top House Republican said his panel still hasn’t been given the information it’s requested and that its independent investigation into the November crash and other mishaps will continue.
“We will continue to rigorously investigate the DoD’s Osprey program to attain answers to our questions on behalf of American taxpayers and protect U.S. service members defending our nation,” said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
In addition to the Nov. 29 crash in Japan last year, a V-22 went down in August 2023 during a training exercise off the northern coast of Australia, killing three Marines. That investigation continues.
Officials told reporters this week that the Australia crash involving the V-22 was considered a separate matter, although they did not provide further details.
There were two other deadly mishaps in 2022 – one later attributed to pilot error in severe weather, the other to a clutch problem.
The Pentagon has been eager to return the V-22 to flight because of its unique ability to conduct missions in far-flung parts of the globe, including the Pacific.
The Osprey can take off and land like a helicopter and depart from Navy ships and land on islands without runways. Because its propellers can tilt forward, the aircraft can fly faster than helicopters, making it easier to ferry troops and equipment to remote bases.
Investigators had long suspected that the November 2023 crash in Japan was caused by a materiel failure with the aircraft, not human error or bad weather. The Dec. 6 order issued by US Naval Air Command grounded all versions of the Osprey flown by the Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy.
It’s unlikely V-22s will return to the air right away, with the services noting they will need to enact additional training and maintenance requirements.
Brig. Gen. Richard D. Joyce, the Marine Corps’ assistant deputy commandant for aviation, said his crews are already flying on simulators to get used to the new protocols.
When asked how families of service members should feel about the V-22 flying again with the final investigation still under way, officials said they were as confident as they could be it won’t happen again.
NAVAIR’s Taylor compared the situation to someone who is wet and needs to towel off. You might not know why exactly that person is wet – maybe they got stuck in the rain, or they went swimming — but you can be confident the problem is fixed by handing them a towel.
Added Bauernfeind: “There are good estimations and good analytical reasoning of why we think it failed, and there will be follow-on testing to get that 100% confirmation.”
A United Airlines flight that lost a portion of its landing gear tire is diverted to Los Angeles International Airport, March 7, 2024. — KABC
(SAN FRANCISCO) — A United Airlines flight lost one of its tires during takeoff from San Francisco on Thursday, causing the Japan-bound plane to be diverted to Los Angeles, the airline said.
United Flight 35 landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport at 1:30 p.m. ET, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The flight lost a portion of the landing gear tire during takeoff at approximately 11:35 a.m. PT, according to the San Francisco International Airport. Footage from Cali Planes shows the tire falling off seconds after takeoff.
The tire debris landed in an employee parking lot at the airport. No one was injured and the runway was briefly closed to clear debris, the airport said. At least one car in the parking lot appeared to be damaged following the incident, footage shows.
“We’re grateful to our pilots and flight attendants for their professionalism in managing this situation,” United said in a statement. “We’re also grateful to our teams on the ground who were waiting with a tug to move the aircraft soon after it landed and to our teams in the airport who assisted customers upon their arrival.”
United said it will work with the owners of the damaged vehicles at the San Francisco International Airport “to ensure their needs are addressed.”
The tire was one of 12 on the Boeing 777-200’s two main landing gear struts, according to United.
“The aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires,” United said.
The FAA said it will investigate the incident.
The flight was bound for Osaka. United said it arranged for a new aircraft to continue the trip for the passengers Thursday evening.
There were 235 customers, 10 flight attendants and four pilots on board at the time of the incident, United said.
(WASHINGTON) — Enthusiasm about the U.S. economy has soared in recent months but polls indicate most consumers still bemoan inflation. More than 60% of adults say recent price increases have caused financial hardship for their family, a Gallup poll in January found.
Prices, in turn, have taken on outsized importance on the brink of a presidential election that may hinge on bread-and-butter concerns.
In recent months, the White House has announced a raft of measures aimed at lowering onerous fees faced by consumers when they miss a credit card payment, overdraft a bank account or book a hotel room.
The initiatives tackle costs borne by a large swathe of Americans, delivering potential savings while signaling the Biden administration’s desire to protect consumers from corporate practices that it deems predatory, some experts told ABC News.
However, they added, the message may not register with most Americans, since the hidden fees often remain out of sight, leaving them less influential than expenses like gas and grocery prices.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule on Tuesday that will cut the typical credit card late fee to $8 from $32, saving U.S. consumers an estimated $10 billion per year. Late credit card payments have reached their highest level since 2011, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation found in a report released on Thursday.
The White House policy came roughly two months after the CFPB introduced a rule that would slash the fee charged by banks when customers overdraft an account.
Since last year, the White House has undertaken a separate campaign to reduce “junk fees,” such as hidden costs added toward the end of a purchase involving concert or airline tickets.
“Fighting hidden junk fees is part of the President’s broader agenda to lower costs for Americans. The President thinks about these issues from the perspective of families sitting around the kitchen table working through their bills and balancing their budgets every month. While these fees might not mean much for the wealthy, they add up for middle-class families,” Jon Donenberg, deputy director at the National Economic Council, a Biden administration group that advises the president, told ABC News.
The Biden campaign did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog at nonprofit advocacy U.S. PIRG Education Fund, praised the measures as a much-needed assault on unfair costs, especially when price increases burden many households.
“It’s important to have transparency and fairness no matter how good or how bad the economy is – no matter how high inflation is,” Murray told ABC News. “But at a time when a lot of folks are dealing with inflation and high food prices, then every dollar does count.”
The rules may not only lower costs for some Americans but also send a message that the Biden administration understands the challenges posed by high costs and aims to address them, Jon Krosnick, a professor of political science at Stanford University who studies how prices affect perceptions of the economy, told ABC News.
The goodwill toward Biden could extend well beyond those directly impacted, Krosnick said, since decades of research show that voters approach economic news through a wide lens that considers the implications for society at large.
“People ask ‘Is this good for the country as a whole?’ rather than ‘Is this good for me personally?'” Krosnick said.
However, many voters may not become aware of the initiatives in the first place because the measures lower hidden fees that consumers often lose sight of anyway, some experts said.
“Perceived price changes in very salient cases — such as groceries and other everyday goods — are a very crucial determinant of household beliefs about the economy,” Francesco D’Acunto, a Georgetown University finance professor who studies how people understand economic news, told ABC News.
The Biden administration, by contrast, is “targeting potentially important costs households face but ones that are less salient. So it would probably be less effective,” D’Acunto added.
Utpal Dholakia, a marketing professor at Rice University, echoed the point, noting that many of the fees occur less frequently than common household expenses.
“Most of us don’t stay in hotels 20 nights a month — most of us stay occasionally,” Dholakia said. “It’s not something that most people are concerned about on a day-to-day basis.”
For those who do hear about the initiatives, Dholakia added, the response may be determined by partisan affiliation instead of financial relief.
“To the extent that you’re politically engaged and a Democrat, you’ll obviously look at these actions in a positive light,” Dholakia said. “If you’re a Republican or independent, your reaction will be more muted.”
Polling data shows broad support across both major parties for the efforts to address fees, a White House official said. A survey in December from Data for Progress, a left-leaning polling firm, found that a Biden proposal to address junk fees was backed by 81% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans.
The U.S. economy performs well on just about every measure of economic health. Inflation is falling, job growth is surging, and gross domestic product is proving much more resilient than expected in the aftermath of near-historic interest rate hikes.
Attitudes about the economy have improved in recent months, data shows. Consumer sentiment inched lower in February but preserved much of the large gains achieved in previous months. The index, however, remains well below pre-pandemic levels, a University of Michigan survey found.
Despite making up a small share of consumers’ overall expenses, the fees tackled by Biden could draw more attention than some might expect, Amit Bhattacharjee, a marketing professor at the University of Colorado, told ABC News.
“These fees aren’t necessarily a significant component of prices but they feel annoying,” Bhattacharjee said.
Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks with people in Malawi. — Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
(NEW YORK) — Each day, almost 800 women around the world die due to preventable pregnancy and childbirth-related causes, according to the World Health Organization.
Using artificial intelligence, or AI, to provide maternal health care to women, especially those in rural and low-income areas, could be a “game-changer” in saving the lives of pregnant women, Melinda Gates, chairperson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton.
Gates highlighted a specific tool, AI-enabled ultrasound, that is revolutionizing pregnant women’s access to ultrasounds, or sonograms, a prenatal test that uses sound waves to check a baby’s development during pregnancy, and check for pregnancy complications.
Ultrasounds are a routine part of prenatal care to which two-thirds of pregnant women around the world do not have access, according to the Gates Foundation.
“If you’re a mom, let’s say in the United States, when you go in and you get an ultrasound, it’s quite a large machine. You go into a special room to have it done,” Gates told Ashton, a board-certified OB-GYN and obesity medicine physician, in an interview to mark International Women’s Day, March 8. “We were able, with our partners, to come up with a very small AI-assisted ultrasound that literally can plug into your phone or plug into a tablet.”
The portable ultrasound device, which typically weighs less than a pound, can display the ultrasound images on the smartphone or tablet, so health care professionals — whether nurses, doctors or midwives — can read the ultrasound instantly, allowing for faster diagnoses and faster treatment.
“In these low-resource settings, [pregnant] women often … can’t get into a community health clinic. The lines are long. They don’t have the bus fare. They might walk. It might be shut down or not open at the right time of day,” Gates said. “A community health worker goes out to these women so she can have an AI-enabled ultrasound and, literally with a few scans of that mom’s belly, be able to see, is the child growing properly? Is the mom’s health OK in terms of what you can see in the ultrasound?”
Gates continued, “It’s a game-changer … it’s a pretty simple device, but again, it really can make a difference in terms of the mom and the baby.”
Gates said now that the technology exists, the Gates Foundation is working with partners to try to lower the price of the devices and get more health care workers trained so they can go to more underserved communities.
The AI ultrasound technology is one of several advancements that Gates said she sees as transformative for women’s health care, which has historically been underfunded and under-researched on a global level, data shows.
“We know that women can’t do well unless they are well, so you first have to start and be healthy to then be able to get an education and to work productively in society,” Gates said. “So when you think about how little funding is going into actually saving women’s lives, from diseases that are specific to women, to childbirth, which is very specific to women, that just shouldn’t be.”
Any advancements being made for women’s health — like a one-dose HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and a drape that can reduce a woman’s chance of dying from postpartum hemorrhaging by 60% — can only make a difference, Gates noted, if they reach the women who need them.
The HPV vaccine, for example, was approved in the United States in 2006 by the Food and Drug Administration but is just now reaching millions of women in need in Africa as a one-dose vaccine. HPV is a common sexually transmitted infection that, if left untreated, can invade the cervical cells of the uterus and cause cancer.
In 2022, cervical cancer led to 350,000 deaths globally, with the highest rates of mortality in low and middle-income countries, according to the WHO.
Gates said for more than a decade, female leaders in Africa have asked her for the vaccine on her trips to the continent.
“They’re saying, ‘We have full communities where we see aunts, sisters dying of cervical cancer. You have this vaccine in the United States, when are we going to get it?'” Gates recalled. “And the issue has been it’s an expensive vaccine and it’s two doses.”
With the lower-priced one-dose vaccine now available, Gates said the HPV vaccine can be distributed in places like schools and community clinics.
“We can give it out in places where they gather,” Gates said. “So often a young girl never makes it into the clinic. She may not ever make it in clinic at all until after she’s had a child, or she might make it in at the time of birth, and that’s too late.”
Another women’s health advancement, longer-lasting and injectable contraceptives, have the potential to not only transform women’s health, but all aspects of their lives, including their economic well-being. According to the Gates Foundation, over 250 million women and girls globally who do not want to get pregnant are still not using modern contraceptive methods.
Gates said if she could make one change to women’s health, she would focus solely on contraceptives.
“It would be that every single girl and women on this planet who wants to have access to a contraceptive can have access,” Gates said. “We know that when women can time and space the birth of their children, women are healthier. The children are healthier. The family is wealthier.”
She continued, “So I would make sure every single woman had access to contraceptives so she could decide when and whether to have a child.”
How being a mom, grandmother motivates her work for women’s health
Gates, who lives in Seattle, is a mom of three, who became a first-time grandmother last year when her eldest daughter Jenn Gates Nassar gave birth to a daughter.
Gates said she was with her daughter while she was in labor, which made her reflect on the care her daughter received in the U.S., versus what she would have been able to receive if she delivered in a lower-income country.
“I could sit there … and think about all the places I’ve been in the developing world where I’ve been in the delivery room and think, ‘Oh my gosh, if my daughter didn’t have somebody here taking her blood pressure,’ or, ‘I know what hemorrhage looks like. I know what the pain of childbirth is like in these settings,'” Gates said. “So, to see that my daughter was getting good care, and still you’re concerned at the time of the birth of a baby, it’s a bit scary until that baby comes healthy, I could think about all those things.”
Even in the U.S., with its advanced health care, the state of maternal and infant health is dire, data shows.
Last year, the March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the health of pregnant people and babies, named the U.S. one of the “most dangerous developed nations” for childbirth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. could have been prevented.
Gates said she believes “no mom” should die in childbirth anywhere in the world.
“Now having two healthy daughters and a healthy granddaughter, it makes me all the more passionate about let’s make sure no mom dies in childbirth,” she said. “That just shouldn’t happen in this day and age.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris, from left, President Joe Biden, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, during a State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. — Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden delivered his third State of the Union address in the House chamber Thursday night, making a number of key proposals, from taxes for the wealthy to mortgage relief and abortion rights.
The speech also reiterated a commitment to a two-state solution for Israel, restoring Roe v. Wade, expanding border security and taxing billionaires living in the U.S.
Israel-Hamas war
With family members of American hostages being held by Hamas sitting in the chamber, Biden pledged to the families, “We will not rest until we bring their loved ones home.”
Biden addressed the “gut-wrenching” months since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel and expressed sympathy for the Israelis, Palestinians and Americans affected by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Biden called for a two-state solution — as he has in the past — and said it was the only “real resolution” to guarantee Israel’s security and democracy.
During his speech, Biden said he directed the U.S. military to lead “an emergency mission” to establish a temporary pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip that “can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.”
The pier would enable a massive increase in humanitarian assistance, the president said, signaling to Israel that humanitarian aid cannot be a “secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.”
Roe v. Wade and in vitro fertilization
Biden also highlighted abortion in his speech. Without naming former President Trump, Biden said his predecessor came into office wanting to see Roe v. Wade overturned, saying, “In fact, he brags about it.”
Biden vowed if he were to take office again, he would restore Roe v. Wade as the “law of the land.”
He called on Congress to pass a bill that would legalize abortion services nationwide, as he has for nearly two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and called Republicans out for blocking a vote that would’ve implemented national protections for IVF.
“To my friends across the aisle, don’t keep this waiting any longer. Guarantee the right to IVF! Guarantee it nationwide,” Biden said.
Cost of housing, taxes and inflation
While outlining his plan for economic growth and tax policy goals for his second term, President Biden called out the tax breaks the wealthy and corporations received under the prior administration.
He vowed to tax American billionaires 25%, claiming it would “raise $500 billion over the next 10 years.” And he vowed to raise the corporate tax rate to 21%.
Under his proposal, he claimed that any American making under $400,000 will not pay any new federal taxes.
Biden also proposed a tax credit to give some Americans $400 a month to put toward their mortgage for two years. The credit would apply to those buying their first homes and those who “trade up for a little more space.”
He also said his administration was working to eliminate title insurance fees for federally backed mortgages.
Border security
Biden used his speech to call on Congress to send him the border bill that has been stalled, “We can fight about the border, or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it.”
The bill would allow 1,500 border security agents and officers to be hired as well as 4,300 asylum officers.
The legislation, he said, would allow asylum cases to be resolved within six months instead of six years.
Under the bill, Biden said he could stem the tide of fentanyl by deploying 100 high-tech drug detection machines to increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles.
President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber in Washington, Mar. 7, 2024. — Shawn Thew/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden delivered an alternately fiery and forceful State of the Union address on Thursday night under what may have been the brightest spotlight of the year so far — just as he gears up for a general election campaign against former President Donald Trump.
Biden, whose time in office has been increasingly clouded by public concerns over his age and fitness, offered a vociferous defense of his record and a new spin on the value of his 81 years.
He also took congressional Republicans and Trump — though, in the latter’s case, conspicuously not by name — to task over their opposition to his administration and their own policies on abortion, the border, democracy, taxes and more.
Biden specifically hit on several foreign policy flashpoints, including Israel’s war with Hamas and Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion, while pushing for action on domestic issues like reproductive health care and high immigration.
“Above all, I see a future for all Americans,” he said. “I see a country for all Americans.”
Meanwhile, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, a rising GOP star, gave the Republican response to Biden’s address, which was dismissed by House Speaker Mike Johnson as “a campaign speech — and a pretty vitriolic one.”
Here are seven takeaways from Thursday night’s remarks:
Biden seemed eager to tangle with Republicans
Thursday’s State of the Union was the source of much anticipation — and Democratic hand-wringing — as polling shows that even many Democrats think that Biden is not up for four more years in the White House.
The president’s speech sought to put those worries to bed.
Across roughly 70 minutes before Congress, Biden kept his well-known habit for verbal stumbles to a minimum while at times virtually shouting, despite Republicans’ attacks painting him as a “diminished” leader.
Biden also goaded conservatives in the crowd and appeared ready to parry boos from the rowdy members of the other party.
After drawing outcry for claiming Republicans would “gut” Social Security and cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy, Biden, in a flashback from the 2023 State of the Union said, “Oh, no? You guys don’t want another $2 trillion tax cut? I kinda thought that’s what your plan was. You’re not gonna cut another $2 trillion for the super wealthy? Well, that’s good to hear.”
He also engaged with Republicans in the crowd when he lambasted them for tanking a bill that would have combined aid to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine with an overhaul of border reforms that was stricter than Democrats have previously backed.
“Oh, you don’t like that bill, huh, that conservatives got together and said was a good bill?” he said when lawmakers booed. “I’ll be darned, that’s amazing.”
Toward the end of his speech, Biden also directly addressed his age to cast himself as wise.
“I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while,” he joked. “And when you get to my age, certain things become clearer than ever before.”
“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy,” he said. “A future based on the core values that have defined America: Honesty. Decency. Dignity. Equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.”
The performance soon had some Democrats jubilant ahead of an election that is likely to be in part determined by perceptions of Biden’s stamina and fitness compared to Trump, with Tim Lim, a Biden fundraiser, telling ABC News it “should calm down the anxious chattering class.”
“Republicans made the floor for this speech so low, but Joe Biden showed up dancing on the ceiling,” said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist working with pro-Biden outside groups this election cycle.
Biden touts his own agenda — with little push for bipartisanship
Biden also rolled out a full-throated defense of his own agenda that left little room for cooperation with Republicans — leaving behind a hallmark of bipartisanship that he frequently promised during his 2020 campaign.
Speaker Johnson, reacting later Thursday, criticized that.
“The country needs to be united. This commander in chief is unwilling or incapable of doing that. And I think that’s what the American people saw tonight,” Johnson told reporters. “And, you know, it was unfortunate, I really regretted the way they went down.”
But rather than pitch areas of future compromise, the president touted how his administration has focused on kitchen-table issues, including tackling so-called consumer junk fees, protecting and expanding the Affordable Care Act and focusing on middle-class jobs and investment.
Gone were the pronouncements of lawmakers working together on Capitol Hill, replaced instead with election-year suggestions that Republicans would roll back progress on many issues dear to Americans.
“Folks, Obamacare, known as the Affordable Care Act is still a very big deal. Over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. But my predecessor and many in this chamber want to take that protection away by repealing the Affordable Care Act. I won’t let that happen. We stopped you 50 times before and we will stop you again,” he said.
Beyond parrying Republicans’ boos on policy, the president also went straight back at the GOP on an issue that is sure to animate his campaign: democracy itself.
“My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of Jan. 6. I will not do that,” he said, in one of the repeated instances in which he cited Trump without naming him. “This is a moment to speak the truth and bury the lies. And here’s the simplest truth: You can’t love your country only when you win.”
Democratic observers relished that approach.
“Biden did exactly what he needed to do, it was a great speech, and he delivered it with force and compassion,” said Karen Finney, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. “He also made it clear he is not going to shrink from tough fights, either political or policy. And honestly his realistic optimism is such a strong contrast with Trump. Also, framing the GOP agenda as old ideas is very effective.”
Ukraine a top priority
Biden started his speech by drawing parallels to then-President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union, delivered less than a year before the U.S. entered World War II.
The comparison was clear, in Biden’s words: U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, under current funding, is nearly at an end amid Republican skepticism of its importance and without more help, Kyiv’s defenses against Russia could crumble.
“President Roosevelt’s purpose was to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary moment. Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world,” Biden said.
He warned of issues both at home and abroad.
“Overseas, [President Vladimir] Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond,” he went on to say. “But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself. That is all Ukraine is asking … But now assistance for Ukraine is being blocked by those who want us to walk away from our leadership in the world.”
He also posed a stark contrast to his response to the war with that of Trump, who recently floated that he would not come to NATO allies’ defense if they too were invaded, citing frustrations with their contributions to shared defense.
“My message to President Putin … is simple: We will not walk away. We will not bow down!” Biden said. “I will not bow down!”
Biden tries to walk the line on Israel, Gaza
Biden walked a narrower tightrope on Israel, as he looked to voice support for Jerusalem while urging it to provide more aid for Palestinians civilians caught in the middle of fighting with Hamas in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed, according to Hamas health authorities.
The president promoted himself as a “lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime” while insisting that the country has “has a right to go after Hamas.”
However, he noted that Israel “also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,” urging leaders there to not view humanitarian aid to Gaza as a “secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.”
Putting a finer point on that argument, Biden announced an emergency mission to build a port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to get aid to civilians — a significant escalation of America’s humanitarian contributions that also brings the military closer but not directly involved in the conflict.
“This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day. But Israel must also do its part,” he said.
The push came as liberal and pro-Palestinian critics of his response to the war have made their voices heard with protest votes in some early Democratic primary states, chiefly in Michigan, where more than 100,000 people who voted in the nominating race there backed “uncommitted.”
Reproductive rights still a top issue for Democrats
Reproductive rights have been a top issue for Democrats since the U.S. Supreme Court scraped constitutional protections for abortion in 2022 — and Thursday’s speech indicated that dynamic won’t change before November.
Biden took Republicans to task for not codifying abortion protections or access to in vitro fertilization into federal law after Alabama’s Supreme Court threw that procedure into jeopardy in the state by ruling that embryos are children.
The point was also made in a White House guest list that included Kate Cox, a Texas woman who had to go to New Mexico for an abortion to end what she called a life-threatening pregnancy, and Latorya Beasley, a social worker from Birmingham, Alabama, trying to have a second child via IVF.
“What her family has gone through should never have happened as well. But it is happening to so many others. There are state laws banning the right to choose, criminalizing doctors and forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states as well to get the care they need,” Biden said, referencing Cox’s story.
“Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. My God, what freedoms will you take away next?” he said.
Biden mixes it up with Republicans on immigration
Beyond Biden’s age, immigration is one of the top issues Republicans are looking to tie around the president’s neck this year — as polls also show it is a major problem for him — and they came in on the offensive Thursday night.
Many GOP lawmakers had pins honoring Laken Riley, the nursing student who was killed in Georgia last month, allegedly by an immigrant who entered the U.S. illegally. Some conservatives have blamed Biden’s policies for her death.
When heckled by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to say Riley’s name during his speech, Biden picked up one of the buttons, calling her an “innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal” (a remark that drew its own criticsim from Democrats).
He then looked to her parents, saying, “My heart goes out to you having lost children myself.”
Biden used the opportunity to pivot to the bipartisan bill combining foreign aid and border restrictions, saying the legislation would curtail the incentives for people to illegally cross the border.
Britt paints dark picture of the country
Britt, who first won her seat in 2022 as the youngest Republican woman elected to the Senate, used the Republicans’ official response to the Statue of the Union to paint a bleak picture of the country under Biden.
“Right now, the American dream has turned into a nightmare for so many,” she said.
“Tonight, the American family needs to have a tough conversation because the truth is we are all worried about the future of our nation. The country we know and love seems to be slipping away, and it feels like the next generation will have fewer opportunities and less freedoms then we did,” she said. “I worry my own children may not even get a shot at living their American dream.”
Despite Biden’s animated speech, Britt raised worries over the president’s fitness and jabbed at him as “not in command.”
“The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader. America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets and a strong defense are the cornerstones of a great nation,” she said.
Addressing “moms and dads” who were watching, Britt said, “You are why I believe with every fiber of my being that despite the current state of our union our best days are still ahead.”
Other Republicans also cast the speech as one of hope, noting that voters will be presented with a choice this November.
“While Biden ignored his role in rising crime, the border crisis, and Bidenflation, Senator Britt delivered a message to American families that was full of hope, reminding a new generation of Americans that our country can be saved with commonsense, conservative leadership,” said outgoing Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.
In this screen grab from a U.S. Army video, Sgt. Korbein Schultz is shown. — U.S. Army
(NASHVILLE) — A U.S. Army intelligence analyst allegedly gave national defense documents, writings, plans, maps, notes and photographs for cash, according to charges unsealed by federal prosecutors in Nashville.
Korbein Schultz was frequently asked by an unindicted co-conspirator to get sensitive documents, including information related to a variety of U.S. military weapons systems, classified information and information related to the United States’ potential plans in the event that Taiwan came under military attack, according to the Department of Justice. It is unclear if he gave over the plans to the unindicted co-conspirator.
Schultz was allegedly paid $42,000 for handing over the documents and the only known information that is mentioned about the co-conspirator is that the person allegedly lived in Hong Kong and worked for a geopolitical consulting firm based overseas.
“As set out in the indictment, however, the defendant is charged with entering into a multiyear conspiracy to illegally exploit his access to National Defense information for his own financial benefit. He traded our National Defense information for cash,” Henry C. Leventis, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said at a press conference on Thursday.
“This included documents and information related to advanced fighter aircraft, advanced military helicopters, intercontinental ballistic missiles, high mobility artillery, rocket systems, defensive missile systems and Chinese military tactics. The defendant and his coconspirator also discussed recruiting another member of the US military, to join their conspiracy and to provide additional National Defense information,” Leventis said.
The alleged scheme began in June of 2022, according to the DOJ, and continued up until Schultz’s arrest.
Schultz was arrested at Fort Campbell in Tennessee on Thursday, according to the DOJ.
The three documents he allegedly provided included an Air Force Tactics Techniques and Procedures manual for the HH-60W helicopter, an Air Force Tactics Techniques and Procedures manual for the F22-A fighter aircraft and an Air Force Tactics Techniques and Procedures manual for intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to the indictment.
“Today, Sgt. Korbein Schultz was arrested for conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, export of technical data related to defense articles without a license, conspiracy to export defense articles without a license and bribery of a public official,” a post on X (formally known as Twitter) from the Army Counterintelligence Command (ACIC), said.
Court documents say that by disclosing this information, Schultz’s actions “could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the national security of the United States.”
The more classified markings that were on a document, the more Schultz was paid by the co-conspirator, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said in one message to the co-conspirator, Schultz allegedly said he wanted to be the fictional character Jason Bourne, and that he would consider working for the co-conspirator in person in Hong Kong.
Attempts by ABC News to reach an attorney for Schultz or Schultz himself were unsuccessful.
(WASHINGTON) — A week after Hunter Biden testified in closed-door proceeding before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has invited the president’s son to return to Capitol Hill later this month, fulfilling Comer’s pledge to have him testify in public as the next phase of his impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
On Wednesday, Comer called on Hunter Biden to appear for a public hearing on March 20 alongside three of his former business associates who expressed varying degrees of contempt for the first family in recent closed-door depositions before the committee.
Referring to Hunter Biden’s overseas business pursuits, Comer said in a statement Wednesday, “During our deposition and interview phase of the investigation, Hunter Biden confirmed evidence about Joe Biden’s involvement, yet his testimony conflicts with other witnesses’ testimonies.”
In his closed-door deposition last week, Hunter Biden acknowledged making mistakes in his personal and professional life and spoke openly about his years’ of addiction, but vehemently and repeatedly denied that his father had any involvement in his business life.
Comer added that “given the president son’s repeated calls for a public hearing,” he “fully expects” him to attend.
A representative from Hunter Biden’s legal team told ABC News Wednesday that they had “received Rep. Comer’s letter late Thursday and will respond in writing.” Prior to his closed-door appearance, the younger Biden had expressed a willingness to testify in public.
Republicans also suffered an embarrassing setback with the indictment of ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, after prosecutors allege that his bribery allegation against Joe and Hunter Biden, which had served as a central tenet of House Republicans’ claims of impropriety, was a lie.
Comer’s overture comes at a turbulent time for Republicans as their faltering impeachment inquiry into the president faces renewed criticism. After more than a year of investigation, Comer and his colleagues have yet to uncover firm evidence to substantiate claims that the president behaved improperly or illegally to benefit his family’s business endeavors. Republicans also suffered an embarrassing setback with the indictment of ex-FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, after prosecutors allege that his bribery allegation against Joe and Hunter Biden, which had served as a central tenet of House Republicans’ claims of impropriety, was a lie.
As part of the committee’s planned March 20 hearing, which Comer has dubbed “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office,” Republicans invited former Hunter Biden business associates Devon Archer, Jason Galanis, and Tony Bobulinski — each of whom has since turned into a critic of Hunter Biden and the Biden family.
Matthew Schwartz, an attorney for Archer — who is preparing to report to prison for defrauding a Native American tribe — said that, “If and when representatives of the committee contact Mr. Archer, we will be happy to discuss the parameters of his continued cooperation.”
Mark Paoletta, an attorney for Galanis — who is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence in Alabama for securities fraud — said his client “is willing to testify at this hearing to provide his firsthand knowledge of then-Vice President Joe Biden helping his son Hunter Biden in his business dealings.”
A representative for Bobulinski did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Sweden’s arduous path to joining the NATO alliance came to a successful close Thursday, as the Swedish prime minister and foreign minister deposited the country’s “instrument of accession” at the State Department in Washington.
In a lighthearted ceremony, Secretary of State Antony Blinken posed for photos with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, with the two holding a blue folder containing the document. Blinken quipped, “Well, good things come to those who wait.”
“With receipt of this instrument of accession, let me be the very first to welcome Sweden as a party to the Washington Treaty and the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” Blinken continued.
Blinken remarked on Sweden’s longstanding military neutrality, and how the country was moved to end its tradition after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. Sweden was called to defend democracy and recognized the existential threat Russia’s aggression presented to European nations, he said.
“None of this was easy, none of this was obvious,” Blinken said, adding it had taken “nearly two years of tireless diplomacy” to add Sweden to the alliance.
“Sweden is now a NATO member,” Kristersson said on X earlier. “Thank you all Allies for welcoming us as the 32nd member. We will strive for unity, solidarity and burden-sharing, and will fully adhere to the Washington Treaty values: freedom, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Stronger together.”
Sweden’s membership had been slowed by objections from Turkey and Hungary. The U.S. was able to eventually incentivize Turkey by approving the sale of fighter jets to the country, and Hungary signed off on Sweden’s addition this week.
“This is a historic day,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. “Sweden will now take its rightful place at NATO’s table, with an equal say in shaping NATO policies and decisions. After over 200 years of non-alignment Sweden now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, the ultimate guarantee of Allies’ freedom and security. Sweden brings with it capable armed forces and a first-class defense industry.”
Sweden’s flag will be raised alongside those of the other 31 Allies in a ceremony at NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 11 and simultaneously at NATO commands across Europe and North America, NATO said.
