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Category: United States
United States news. The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives, a lower house based on population; and the Senate, an upper house based on equal representation for each state
US Urges North Korea to Halt Provocations, Return to Diplomacy
state department — The United States has called on North Korea to refrain from further destabilizing actions and to return to diplomatic engagement following North Korea’s firing of several cruise missiles into the waters off its western coast earlier on Wednesday.
“We find [the actions] incredibly dangerous,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told VOA during a briefing on Wednesday, while declining to provide the U.S. assessment of North Korea’s intentions.
This latest missile launch occurred just days after Pyongyang tested a solid-fuel intermediate-range missile, equipped with a hypersonic warhead, into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
“We harbor no hostile intent toward the DPRK and continue to be open to diplomacy without preconditions,” Patel added. He was referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is North Korea’s official name.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sharply criticized South Korea, describing inter-Korean relations as a relationship between “two states hostile to each other.”
A major monument in Pyongyang symbolizing the goal of reconciliation with South Korea has been demolished, according to news reports citing satellite imagery.
Earlier this month, Kim labeled South Korea as a “primary foe and invariable principal enemy,” stating that unification with South Korea was no longer possible.
This stance is viewed by some analysts as a departure from North Korea’s longstanding objective of reunifying the Korean Peninsula under its control.
Pyongyang also continues to ignore Washington’s offers for dialogue and remains averse to negotiating with Seoul.
U.S. officials have said they are disappointed by North Korea’s continued rejection of dialogue and the escalation of its hostile rhetoric toward South Korea. The United States said inter-Korean cooperation is vital to achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“We are eager to engage in substantive discussions on identifying ways to not just manage military risk but create lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, as well as our continued stated goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Patel said Wednesday.
At the Pentagon, Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters on Tuesday that Washington has been very public in its commitment to working with allies and partners “to deter and help stabilize the security of the region.”
The U.S., Japan and South Korea have reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK, in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. The three countries also urge the DPRK to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
North Korea last launched cruise missiles in September 2023. Two cruise missiles carrying mock nuclear warheads were fired toward the Yellow Sea at that time.
The two Koreas have been divided since the Korean War ended in 1953. They remain technically at war as the Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.
Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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Can the US Do More to Help Ukraine?
washington — As Ukrainian forces struggle to fend off Russia’s invasion with dwindling supplies of rockets and other munitions, some supporters are arguing that there is more the Biden administration could do to re-arm them without waiting for long-delayed congressional approval.
The administration’s request for $61.4 billion in new military assistance is tied up in a partisan battle in Congress, where Republicans have linked it to demands for a package of tough new restrictions on migrants and asylum-seekers at America’s southern border.
But some Ukraine advocates point out that the administration still has previously approved authority to ship $4.2 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine from its own stockpiles.
The catch: Without a new bill passing Congress, there is no money to replenish the American stockpile, leaving questions about U.S. military readiness and the country’s ability to respond to a crisis somewhere else, such as Taiwan.
“There is no statutory requirement to replace equipment sent to allies” under the Presidential Drawdown Authority approved by Congress in December 2022, Mark Cancian, a former Office of Management and Budget defense specialist, told Bloomberg.
He suggested that in theory, the Department of Defense can send weapons and munitions to Ukraine without replenishment funds.
Money better spent in US, say critics
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said the U.S. military understands the severity of Ukraine’s needs, and that’s why it is working with Congress to win approval for the supplemental funding.
“While we do have that $4.2 billion in authority, we don’t have the funds available to replenish those stocks should we expend that,” he explained at a briefing this month. “And with no timeline in sight, we have to make those hard decisions.”
Critics of President Joe Biden’s $61.4 billion supplemental funding request, which would also include aid for Israel and Taiwan, have argued that the money could be better spent at home and that the administration’s first priority should be securing the border with Mexico, where record numbers of asylum-seekers have been crossing illegally into the United States.
They have also called for greater transparency and accountability concerning the $111 billion in weapons, equipment, humanitarian assistance and other aid that has already been sent to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost two years ago.
Reducing US supply worth it, say some
Some Ukraine supporters, however, argue that the risks of allowing Russia to gain ground on the battlefield because of Ukrainian supply shortages outweigh the risks of allowing the U.S. stockpile to be temporarily reduced.
“Certainly at the moment, it would seem to be that the greatest risk is one of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin gaining some battlefield successes, certainly killing more Ukrainian civilians, if not gaining advantage on the front lines,” said Scott Cullinane, director of government relations at Razom, a U.S.-based Ukrainian diaspora organization.
Cullinane told VOA Ukrainian he believes withholding military aid sends a message of American weakness.
“It creates doubts in the minds of our Ukrainian partners that the U.S. is willing to stand with them and makes an opening for Putin to think he can outweigh us by simply extending the war,” he said.
Alexander Vindman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who was the director for European affairs at the National Security Council, also believes the risk of reducing the U.S. weapons stockpile is overstated.
“The reality … is that the traditional Republican hawks will continue investing in the U.S. defense,” the Ukrainian-born Vindman said in an interview.
“They’re not going to take risks to the U.S. defense, especially when it undermines this almost antiquated perception that the Republican Party is good for defense, is good for the defense industry and is supportive of the military.”
Vindman added that even if the administration did send the $4.2 billion of weapons to Ukraine immediately, it would cover that country’s battlefield needs for no more than several weeks.
Michael Allen, a former special assistant to the president and senior director at the National Security Council, argued that by not using its remaining authority to help Ukraine, the Biden administration is maintaining pressure on Congress to approve the full $61.4 billion request.
“We want them to look at the funds that have been appropriated and conclude that the Department of Defense is correct,” he told VOA Ukrainian. “We need this urgently, so it’s good that the administration is very clear about where they are.”
VOA’s Iuliia Iarmolenko and Ostap Yarysh contributed to this article.
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US Says It Is Looking Forward to Turkey Finalizing Sweden’s NATO Process
Washington — The United States on Wednesday welcomed the Turkish parliament’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership bid this week and urged Ankara to formally finalize the process.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a briefing that Washington was looking forward to Hungary, which has yet to approve Sweden’s NATO bid, moving along in the process.
“We look forward to (Turkish) President (Tayyip) Erdogan taking…steps he needs to within that system to formally finalize that process as well as we look forward to receiving Turkey’s instrument of ratification … in Washington,” Patel said.
“And we look forward to our Hungarian partners also moving along on this process also.”
Turkey’s parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay, leaving Hungary as the only NATO member yet to ratify the accession.
All NATO members need to approve applications from countries seeking to join the alliance. When Sweden and Finland asked to join in 2022, Turkey raised objections over what it said was the two countries’ protection of groups it deems terrorists.
It endorsed Finland’s membership in April last year but, along with Hungary, had kept Sweden waiting.
Erdogan is expected to sign the legislation within days.
Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO bid and the U.S. sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey have become linked over the past years. The Biden administration has said it supports the sale but kept urging Ankara to approve Sweden’s NATO bid saying Congress might be connecting the two issues.
When asked on Wednesday if the State Department would send the formal notification for the jets once Sweden’s NATO process is fully formalized, Patel did not commit to a timeline.
“President Biden, Secretary Blinken have been very clear of our support for modernizing Turkey’s F-16 fleet, which we view as a key investment in NATO interoperability. But beyond that, we also recognize that Congress has a key role in reviewing arms sales, but I’m just not going to confirm or get ahead of proposed defense sales or transfers until they are formally notified to Congress.”
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Proud Boys Member Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Capitol Riot Role After Berating Judge
WASHINGTON — A man who stormed the U.S. Capitol with fellow Proud Boys extremist group members was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in prison after he berated and insulted the judge who punished him.
Marc Bru repeatedly interrupted Chief Judge James Boasberg before he handed down the sentence, calling him a “clown” and a “fraud” presiding over a “kangaroo court.” The judge warned Bru that he could be kicked out of the courtroom if he continued to disrupt the proceedings.
“You can give me 100 years and I’d do it all over again,” said Bru, who was handcuffed and shackled.
“That’s the definition of no remorse in my book,” the judge said.
Prosecutors described Bru as one of the least remorseful rioters who assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They say Bru planned for an armed insurrection — a “January 6 2.0” attack — to take over the government in Portland, Oregon, several weeks after the deadly riot in Washington, D.C.
“He wanted a repeat of January 6, only he implied this time would be more violent,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing ahead of his sentencing.
Bru has been representing himself with an attorney on standby. He has spewed anti-government rhetoric that appears to be inspired by the sovereign citizen movement. At the start of the hearing, Bru demanded that the judge and a prosecutor turn over five years of their financial records.
The judge gave him a 10-minute break to confer with his standby lawyer before the hearing resumed with more interruptions.
“I don’t accept any of your terms and conditions,” Bru said. “You’re a clown and not a judge.”
Prosecutors had warned the court that Bru intended to disrupt his sentencing. On Tuesday, he called in to a nightly vigil outside the jail where he and other rioters are being held. He told supporters of the detained Jan. 6 defendants that he would “try to put on a good show” at his sentencing.
Boasberg convicted Bru of seven charges, including two felonies, after hearing trial testimony without a jury in October.
Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of seven years and three months for Bru, a resident of Washington state.
“Bru appears to have envisioned and been planning for a true armed insurrection, and from his post-conviction comments, he appears only to have become further radicalized and angry since then,” they wrote.
Bru absconded before his trial, skipped two court hearings and “defiantly boasted via Twitter that the government would have to come get him if it wanted him.”
“Approximately a month later, it did,” prosecutors added.
Bru represented himself at his bench trial but didn’t present a defense. Instead, he repeatedly proclaimed that he refused to “consent” to the trial and “showed nothing but contempt for the Court and the government,” prosecutors wrote.
Bru flew from Portland, Oregon to Washington a day before then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. Before Trump’s speech, he joined dozens of other Proud Boys in marching to the Capitol and was one of the first rioters to breach a restricted area near Peace Circle.
Bru grabbed a barricade and shoved it against police officers. He later joined other rioters inside the Capitol and entered the Senate gallery, where he flashed a hand gesture associated with the Proud Boys as he posed for selfie photos. He spent roughly 13 minutes inside the building.
Several weeks after the riot, Bru exchanged text messages with a friend about buying gas masks in bulk. He also texted a Proud Boys recruit and indicated that he wanted to “repeat the violence and lawlessness of January 6 in Portland in order to take over the local government,” prosecutors said.
“In fact, those text messages indicate that Bru’s chief takeaway from January 6 is that it was not violent enough or not sufficiently dedicated to overthrowing the government,” prosecutors wrote. “In other words, in the aftermath of January 6, Bru was plotting an armed insurrection, not feeling remorseful.”
The FBI initially arrested Bru in March 2021 in Vancouver, Washington. After his pretrial release, Bru was charged with separate drunken driving-related offenses in Idaho and Montana.
In July, Bru was secretly living in Montana when a drunken driver hit his car. Police officers who responded to the collision arrested Bru on a warrant stemming from his failure to appear in court before trial. He has “continued to spew disinformation” from jail since his re-arrest and trial, prosecutors said.
“If anything, he appears to be growing more defiant and radicalized,” they wrote.
More than 1,200 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. About 900 have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials. Over 750 have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving some term of imprisonment, according to data compiled by The Associated Press.
your ad hereNew Hampshire Moves Trump Closer to GOP Nomination
Nashua, New Hampshire — Michael Suarez’ girlfriend thought he was nuts for going to the event. But when the prized invitation appeared in his email, the Merrimack, New Hampshire, voter knew he couldn’t miss the post-election party for Donald Trump.
“In this world, we need a tough guy,” Suarez said, referring to what he sees as the need for a president to interact with dictators like North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, “a macho guy who doesn’t pull punches.”
Minutes later, he cheered along with several hundred volunteers and supporters as his candidate took the stage in a Nashua, New Hampshire, hotel ballroom. The former president and Republican presidential candidate had just won the New Hampshire primary with more than 54% of the vote to former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s 43%, based on 91% of votes counted.
Setting records
The results made history in several ways. It is Trump’s third time to best his competitors in the New Hampshire primary over three presidential cycles and his second campaign win in two weeks. By winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Trump becomes the first non-incumbent Republican in 40 years to win both contests.
“We set a record,” exclaimed the Republican candidate, pointing to his 30-point win in the Iowa caucuses. “It was the best in the history of the caucus.”
The New Hampshire primary narrowed to two candidates when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race on Sunday and threw his support behind Trump. On the eve of the election, the former president was joined at a rally by three other presidential campaign competitors-turned-supporters: South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burnam.
Come together
Haley narrowed the gap with Trump, coming in a strong second, much stronger than polls indicated.
“At one point in this campaign, there were 14 of us running,” Haley said at her post-election rally. “And we were at 2% in the polls. Well, I’m a fighter. And, I’m scrappy. And now we are the last one standing next to Donald Trump.”
Haley also benefitted from the endorsement of New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and the votes of independents who chose her on a Republican ballot, like Peggi Sawiki from Pelham, New Hampshire. “She’s going to bring people together,” the schoolteacher said, “and that’s what we need in this country right now.”
Write-in scores
President Joe Biden was not on the ballot, yet he easily won the Democratic primary, albeit with a little help from some friends. Last year, the Democratic National Committee demoted New Hampshire from its historic spot as the first state primary in favor of South Carolina’s more diverse voters. New Hampshire party officials angrily forged ahead with the primary and supporters launched a write-in campaign.
Heading south
The next primary is in February in South Carolina where Trump and Haley will do battle again. Haley is a former governor of the state, while Trump has been collecting endorsements from state officials. Trump predicts he will “win easily.” Haley seemed to welcome the challenge, joyously announcing at her Tuesday night rally, “Thank you for the love, New Hampshire, we’re goin’ home to South Carolina!”
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Annual Count of Homeless Residents Begins in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County’s annual count of homeless residents began Tuesday night — a crucial part of the region’s efforts to confront the crisis of tens of thousands of people living on the streets.
Up to 6,000 volunteers with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority fanned out for the effort’s main component, the unsheltered street tally.
The so-called “point-in-time” count will take place over three days and aims to estimate how many people are unhoused and what services they may require, such as mental health or drug addiction treatment.
LA County’s undertaking is the largest among similar tallies in major cities nationwide. The tally, which also makes use of demographic surveys and shelter counts, is mandated by the federal government for cities to receive certain kinds of funding.
The count this year comes amid increasing public outrage over the perceived failure — despite costly efforts — to reduce the surging population of people living in cars, tents and makeshift street shelters.
The 2023 effort reported more than 75,500 people were homeless on any given night in LA County, a 9% rise from a year earlier. About 46,200 were within the city of Los Angeles, where public frustration has grown as tents have proliferated on sidewalks and in parks and other locations.
Since 2015, homelessness has increased by 70% in the county and 80% in the city.
Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, joined city and county officials to kick off the count Tuesday night in the North Hollywood neighborhood of LA’s San Fernando Valley.
The count “is an important tool to confront the homelessness crisis,” Bass said in a statement. “Homelessness is an emergency, and it will take all of us working together to confront this emergency.”
On her first day in office in December 2022, Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness. One year into her term, the mayor, a Democrat, announced that over 21,000 unhoused people were moved into leased hotels or other temporary shelter during 2023, a 28% increase from the prior year. Dozens of drug-plagued street encampments were cleared, and housing projects are in the pipeline, she said last month.
City Hall, the City Council and the LA County Board of Supervisors have said they intend to work together to tackle the crisis. Progress hasn’t always been apparent despite billions spent on programs to curb homelessness.
Homelessness remains hugely visible throughout California with people living in tents and cars and sleeping outdoors on sidewalks and under highway overpasses.
The results of the LA County homeless count are expected to be released in late spring or early summer.
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Oregon Jury Awards $85 Million to 9 Victims of Deadly 2020 Wildfires
PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon jury awarded $85 million Tuesday to nine victims of wildfires that ravaged the state in 2020, the latest verdict in a series of legal proceedings that are expected to put the utility PacifiCorp on the hook for billions of dollars over its liability for the deadly blazes.
“We are so proud of the strength and resilience of our clients, and thankful to the jury for holding PacifiCorp accountable for what happened on Labor Day 2020 — something it will never do itself,” Nick Rosinia, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said in a statement.
PacifiCorp expects post-verdict rulings and insurance payments to bring its share of the verdict to just under $80 million, the company said in a statement.
“The 2020 wildfires were undeniably tragic,” it said. “PacifiCorp has settled and will continue to settle all reasonable claims for actual damages under Oregon law. … The growing threat of wildfires to communities and businesses is bigger than any one company or industry.”
The fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history, killing nine people, burning more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) and destroying upward of 5,000 homes and other structures.
Last June a jury found PacifiCorp liable for damages for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials, saying its power lines were responsible for multiple blazes. PacifCorp has appealed.
That jury awarded around $90 million to 17 homeowners named as plaintiffs in the case, with damages to be determined later for a broader class that could include the owners of about 2,500 properties, as estimated by plaintiffs’ attorneys.
The damages awarded Tuesday were the first in cases brought by that broader class, with additional trials expected in February and April.
PacifiCorp also agreed last month to pay $299 million to settle a lawsuit brought by 463 plaintiffs who were harmed by separate devastating wildfires in southern Oregon over Labor Day 2020.
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Netflix Gains Subscribers Despite Price Hikes
San Francisco — Netflix added 13 million subscribers in the final three months of last year, the company said on Tuesday, despite price hikes at the leading streaming service.
Netflix finished 2023 with slightly more than 260 million subscribers worldwide, with a profit of $938 million in the final quarter versus just $55 million in the same period a year earlier.
“We believe there is plenty of room for growth ahead as streaming expands,” the U.S. company said in an earnings letter.
Netflix shares were up more than 8% to $532.75 in after-market trades that followed the release of the earnings figures.
“Netflix sticks out as the clear front-runner in the streaming wars,” said Insider Intelligence principal analyst Ross Benes.
The streaming pioneer said that despite last year’s strikes by Hollywood actors and writers, the company has a “big, bold” slate of content for release this year.
The company touted coming content including a sequel to the hit Squid Game series out of South Korea and a brand new “3 Body Problem” show based on a bestselling novel by the same name.
“Choice and control are the price of entry in modern entertainment, and that is streaming,” Netflix said in the letter. “It’s what consumers want, and we believe it’s the best way for our industry to stay relevant and growing.”
The earnings news came the same day that Netflix sealed a long-term broadcast deal with the WWE professional wrestling juggernaut, as it pushes further into sporting events.
Beginning in the United States in 2025, Netflix will become the exclusive new home of “Raw,” the WWE’s flagship program that has been broadcasting on television since 1993.
The agreement will also see WWE shows and live events streamed across the globe as their rights become available.
With an initial 10-year term for $5 billion, the deal has an option for Netflix to extend the deal for an additional 10 years or opt out after the first five years.
“We expect our industry to remain highly competitive,” Netflix said, citing heavy investment by rivals including Amazon, Apple and YouTube. “It’s why continuing to improve our entertainment offering is so important.”
Netflix late last year increased the price of its basic plan in the United States to $11.99 monthly and its premium plan to $22.99, with similar price increases seen in Britain and France.
After a period of rocky earnings, earlier in 2022, the Silicon Valley giant expanded its crackdown on users sharing passwords with people beyond their immediate family.
In a separate bid for revenue, Netflix launched an ad-subsidized offering around the same time as the crackdown.
The ad-supported tier is priced at $7 monthly and is growing fast but has yet to become a main driver of overall revenue, according to Netflix.
As the ad-tiers gain momentum, the company said on Tuesday that it would retire the lowest cost ad-free plan, starting with Canada and the UK in the second quarter of this year.
The company said earlier this month it has 23 million subscribers using the ad-supported tier, which accounts for 40% of new sign-ups.
Netflix Co-Chief Executive Greg Peters said during an earnings call that the company is continuing to expand its lineup of more than 80 mobile games that subscribers can play, having recently added the blockbuster “Grand Theft Auto.”
“We’re stoked by the performance of GTA,” said Peters, noting that the Netflix mobile game exceeded even the company’s high hopes for it.
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US Strikes Back at Iran-Supported Militants in Iraq
pentagon — United States military aircraft hit Iranian-backed proxies in Iraq in response to a series of attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in recent days.
U.S. officials said the airstrikes, launched in the early morning hours (12:15 a.m.) Wednesday local time, targeted three facilities in western Iraq used by Kataib Hezbollah and other Iranian proxy groups.
“These strikes targeted KH [Kataib Hezbollah] headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missile, and one-way attack UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] capabilities,” according to a statement from U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the region.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned, separately, that Washington is not ruling out additional strikes, if necessary.
“We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region,” Austin said in a statement, adding, “We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities.”
“We call on these groups and their Iranian sponsors to immediately cease these attacks,” he said.
The new U.S. strikes came shortly after Iranian-backed militants attacked Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq with one-way attack drones.
The base was also targeted on Saturday by a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from inside Iraq. While most of the missiles were shot down, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said those that landed on base caused traumatic brain injuries in four U.S. personnel.
More than 150 attacks on US forces
There have been more than 150 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the October 7 Hamas terror attack against Israel, injuring at least 83 Americans in Iraq and Syria, a U.S. defense official told VOA. All but two have returned to duty.
Earlier Tuesday, the United States military stuck an anti-ship missile in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen that was prepared to launch and posed an imminent threat to maritime vessels, according to Ryder.
The attack followed a series of strikes into Yemen by U.S. and British warplanes, backed by surface ships and submarines, that aimed at further degrading the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militants who have sought to carry out attacks against key shipping lanes in the Middle East.
U.S. defense officials said the strikes hit multiple targets across eight locations, including an underground storage facility as well as missile launch sites and other locations linked to Houthi surveillance capabilities.
The strike locations were intentionally selected to target weapons systems, not to amass casualties, a senior military official told reporters. The official assessed the underground storage facility had “more advanced conventional weaponry” in it than sites hit in the first round of strikes on January 11.
UN leader urges ‘all parties to step back’
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged “all parties to step back from the brink and to consider the horrendous human cost of a regional conflict.”
Ryder told reporters in response to a question from VOA that the U.S. was “not at war” in the Middle East.
“Our goal here is to ensure the Red Sea is safe and secure for international shipping. That is our only goal,” he added.
The Red Sea route carries about 15% of the world’s maritime traffic. Major shipping companies have responded to the attacks by rerouting vessels on the longer and more expensive route around Africa.
A U.S. defense official said Monday the decline in the number and the ferocity of the Houthis’ maritime attacks was directly attributed to the reduction in their capabilities.
“That does not mean they have no more capability, but we definitely believe that has had an impact,” another U.S. official said.
Since mid-November, the Houthis have launched 33 attacks on international shipping lanes, according to the Pentagon. The Houthis say their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza under attack from Israel.
Many of the Houthi attacks have targeted ships that are not associated with Israel.
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Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Bid to Reconsider Gag Order in Election Interference Case
washington — Washington’s federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s request to reconsider a gag order restricting the former president’s speech in the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
Lawyers for the Republican presidential front-runner had asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to examine the gag order after a three-judge panel upheld but narrowed the restrictions on his speech. Trump can now appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
An attorney for Trump did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The gag order was imposed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in October in response to concerns from special counsel Jack Smith’s team that Trump’s pattern of incendiary comments could taint the proceedings, intimidate witnesses and influence jurors.
The three-judge panel that upheld the gag order last month modified it in important ways, freeing Trump to publicly criticize Smith. The special counsel has been a frequent target of Trump’s ire since being appointed by the Justice Department in November 2022 to lead investigations into the former president.
The panel said that though Trump could make general comments about known or foreseeable witnesses, he could not directly attack them over their involvement in the case or about the content of their expected testimony.
Trump’s lawyers argued the panel’s decision contradicted Supreme Court precedent and rulings from other appeals courts. They said a fresh evaluation was needed “both to secure uniformity of this Court’s decisions and because of the question’s exceptional importance.”
A different three-judge panel of the appeals court in Washington is separately weighing Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution in the case, which accuses him of plotting with his Republican allies to subvert the will of voters in a bid to stay in power. Chutkan, who rejected Trump’s immunity claim, has put the case on hold while he pursues his appeal.
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United Questions Future Boeing 737 Orders After Groundings
New York — United Airlines cast doubt Tuesday on future orders and deliveries of Boeing 737s after it was forced to ground dozens of planes following the dramatic Alaska Airlines incident earlier this month.
The U.S. airline grounded its fleet of 79 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft on January 6, a day after a panel blew off the Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight, leaving a hole in the fuselage and forcing an emergency landing.
Although there were no fatalities or serious injuries in the January 5 incident, U.S. regulators grounded 171 jets from the 737 Max 9 fleet with the same configuration as the plane involved in that drama.
United announced Monday that it predicts the aircraft will remain out of action through the end of January, leading to losses in the first quarter of 2024.
In a conference call Tuesday, United’s chief financial officer Michael Leskinen said 31 out of the 107 aircraft United expects to take delivery of this year are Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.
“It is unrealistic at this time to believe all of those aircraft will deliver as currently planned,” he said.
Alongside its Max 9 orders, United also has 277 as-yet-uncertified Boeing 737 Max 10 aircraft on order through the rest of the 2020s, and options to purchase 200 further aircraft, Leskinen told the conference call.
“We also expect a reduction in orders and deliveries from Boeing in 2025,” he said, noting that orders of 737 Max 10s would also likely be affected.
The Max grounding was “kind of straw that broke the camel’s back with believing that the Max 10 will deliver on the schedule we had hoped for,” he said.
“So we are working through an alternate plan,” he added.
United’s shares were up almost seven percent in mid-day trading, following the release of strong fourth-quarter results after the market closed Monday, while Boeing’s shares slipped by around 0.7 percent.
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US Defense Secretary Makes First Public Appearance, Virtually, Since Hospitalization
WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday made his first public appearance, virtually and from home, since his secret hospitalization, during a meeting on Ukraine’s military needs.
He skipped over prepared remarks that would have addressed his health.
Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on December 22 to treat prostate cancer. He returned to the hospital on January 1 due to complications, including a urinary tract infection. His hospitalization was not revealed until four days later, and the Pentagon did not specify why he was being treated until January 9.
Austin’s failure to tell President Joe Biden he was hospitalized drew criticism from lawmakers and caught the White House by surprise.
Austin appeared on the livestream for a few minutes as he made his opening remarks. He was sitting in front of a white wall with what appeared to be a security system keypad on his left and a Department of Defense seal on the right, with small U.S. and Ukrainian flags on top of a printer next to it.
While there was a slight break in the livestream, Austin did not address his health, even though the topic was in his prepared remarks.
He is not expected to take part in a joint press conference with the top U.S. general after the meeting, something that has become routine after such gatherings.
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Blinken Expresses US Commitment to Boosting Africa Partnerships
State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the United States is committed to growing its partnerships across the African continent and increasingly sees African countries “leading on issues of global consequence.”
Speaking to reporters alongside Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara after talks in Abidjan, Blinken said the discussion included growing commercial ties to create jobs and growth in both the U.S. and Ivory Coast, as well as investing in public health initiatives and addressing regional security challenges.
Blinken said the United States and Ivory Coast “have a strong and growing bond.”
Blinken’s visit to Ivory Coast is seen as reflecting U.S. interests in the country’s stability and its preparations for the 2025 presidential election.
The U.S. and international community are concerned about stability in the Sahel sub-region of West Africa following several coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger since 2020.
Ivory Coast borders three countries that have experienced coups in recent years: Guinea in September 2021; Mali in both August 2020 and May 2021; and Burkina Faso in January and September of 2022.
The United States announced $45 million in new funding to aid Ivory Coast and its neighbors in preventing conflict and promoting stability amid regional threats. This contribution brings the total U.S. stability-focused assistance in Coastal West Africa to nearly $300 million since 2022.
From Ivory Coast, Blinken is traveling Tuesday to Nigeria where he is set to hold talks with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar in Abuja.
Regional security talks in Nigeria
Nigeria shares a border with Niger, where the military ousted its elected leader, Mohamed Bazoum, on July 26, 2023, and subsequently scrapped defense agreements with France, its traditional security partner.
In Abuja, Blinken is anticipated to discuss the military coup in Niger. The meeting comes just days after the country’s military junta agreed to enhance relations with Russia.
American officials have stated that while the U.S. is open to countries diversifying their partnerships, aligning with nations like Russia could be problematic. They point to the situation in Mali, where rising civilian casualties and security issues have followed Russian paramilitary Wagner Group’s involvement and France’s withdrawal.
The French military withdrawal from the Sahel and the end of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali in December have heightened concerns over regional security.
Nigeria is the largest country by population and economy in sub-Saharan Africa, and the dominant political, economic, and military power in the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS.
The United States is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria, and the U.S. maintains a significant security partnership with Nigeria in its counterterrorism operations against both Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa.
Cabo Verde
Blinken’s fourth African trip began Monday in Cape Verde and is scheduled to close in Angola. State Department officials said key priorities included bolstering security partnerships and enhancing health and economic development in the region.
In Cape Verde’s capital, Praia, Blinken held talks Monday with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva and visited the city’s port, Porto da Praia, which received funding for modernization efforts from the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation.
“It is extraordinary that Cabo Verde is the first country to complete two Millennium Challenge Corporation compacts, and now you’re starting to build a third one,” said Blinken.
He also congratulated Cabo Verde’s malaria-free certification by the World Health Organization.
Millennium Challenge Compacts are grant agreements designed to fund specific programs that support economic growth.
Silva said Cabo Verde shares values of democracy and good governance with the U.S. in its foreign policy.
“We strongly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we condemned the terrorist act of Hamas in Israel, and we defend solutions that make the two states of Israel and Palestine viable,” he said. “We condemn coup d’etat and changes to constitutional term limits for presidents of the republic that have occurred in Africa.”
Cabo Verde is a small island nation that has a large diaspora in the United States.
The U.S. and Cabo Verde signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation in December 2022, focusing on maritime security.
Angola and Luanda Process
In a Monday call, Blinken spoke to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Félix Tshisekedi and discussed the concerns of election observers as well as the need to enhance democratic confidence moving forward.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that they also discussed the crisis in eastern DRC and potential diplomatic solutions.
Following a contentious December election, Tshisekedi, sworn in Saturday for a second term, pledged to unify the country and address conflicts in the east.
The worsening conflicts in eastern Congo have prompted countries in the region to broker two peace initiatives: the so-called Luanda Process and the Nairobi Process, according to Molly Phee, assistant secretary of state for African Affairs.
Increasing tensions between Rwanda and the DRC have led to several alleged attacks by Congolese and Rwandan forces on each other’s territory.
Angola leads the Luanda Process, where Blinken plans to hold talks with Angolan President João Lourenço and Foreign Minister Téte António.
Last week, Blinken met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he reiterated the need for all actors to take concrete steps to ease tensions.
Last November, Avril Haines, the director of U.S. national intelligence, traveled to both Kinshasa and Kigali, meeting with leaders from the two neighboring countries to secure a commitment to de-escalate tensions in eastern DRC.
“We were able to institute a process of weekly check-ins that we undertook through the end of calendar year 2023,” Phee told reporters during a Thursday briefing.
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Families of Israeli Hostages Demand They Not Be Forgotten
Israeli officials say Hamas is still holding 136 Israelis who were taken hostage Oct. 7, the start of the war in Gaza. Families of some of those hostages are in the United States to raise awareness about an issue they fear has been fading since the collapse of a November cease-fire. VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya has our story.
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Abortion on Ballot in 2024, Biden Says; Harris on Swing Through Key States
Abortion is on the ballot in 2024, the White House says, with Vice President Kamala Harris crisscrossing the country to equate the Biden campaign with protection and expansion of reproductive rights, and Republican candidates speaking of possible federal abortion bans. This leaves the ultimate choice on this sensitive issue to American voters. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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US Supreme Court Lets Border Patrol Cut Razor Wire Installed in Texas
washington — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border, while a lawsuit over the wire continues.
The justices, by a 5-4 vote, granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, which has been in an escalating standoff at the border with Texas and had objected to an appellate ruling in favor of the state.
The concertina wire along roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) of the Rio Grande near the border city of Eagle Pass is part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s broader fight with the administration over immigration enforcement.
Abbott also has authorized installing floating barriers in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and allowed troopers to arrest and jail thousands of migrants on trespassing charges. The administration also is challenging those actions in federal court.
A federal appeals court last month forced federal agents to stop cutting the concertina wire. Large numbers of migrants have crossed the border at Eagle Pass in recent months.
In court papers, the administration said the wire impedes Border Patrol agents from reaching migrants as they cross the river and that, in any case, federal immigration law trumps Texas’ own efforts to stem the flow of migrants into the country.
Texas officials have argued that federal agents cut the wire to help groups crossing illegally through the river before taking them in for processing.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor sided with the administration. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas voted with Texas.
No one provided any explanation for their vote.
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Iran ‘Directly Involved’ in Yemen Houthi Rebel Ship Attacks, US Navy Official Says
Jerusalem — Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks that Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out during Israel’s war against Hamas, the U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander told The Associated Press on Monday.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
However, Cooper acknowledged that attacks associated with Iran have expanded from previously threatening just the Persian Gulf and its Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East.
“Clearly, the Houthi actions, probably in terms of their attacks on merchant shipping, are the most significant that we’ve seen in two generations,” he told the AP in a telephone interview. “The facts simply are that they’re attacking the international community; thus, the international response I think you’ve seen.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations and the Houthi leadership in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, did not respond to a request for comment. However, the Houthis later claimed to have attacked a U.S.-flagged vessel, something that the 5th Fleet dismissed as “patently false.”
Since November, the Iranian-backed Houthis have launched at least 34 attacks on shipping through the waterways leading up to Egypt’s Suez Canal, a vital route for energy and cargo coming from Asia and the Middle East onward to Europe.
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group that’s held Sanaa since 2014 and been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government since 2015, link their attacks to the Israel-Hamas war. However, the ships they’ve targeted increasingly have tenuous links to Israel — or none at all.
In recent days, the U.S. has launched seven rounds of airstrikes on Houthi military sites, targeting air bases under the rebels’ control and suspected missile launch sites.
However, risks for the global economy remain as many ships continue to bypass that route for a longer trip around Africa’s southern tip. That means lower revenue for Egypt through the Suez Canal, a vital source of hard currency for the country’s troubled economy, as well as higher costs for shipping that could push up global inflation.
As Cooper took command of the 5th Fleet in 2021, the threat to shipping focused primarily around the Persian Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. A series of attacks blamed on Iran and ship seizures by Tehran followed the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
In his interview with the AP, the Navy commander acknowledged the threat from Iran’s proxies and that its distribution of weapons extended from the Red Sea out to the far reaches of the Indian Ocean. The U.S. has blamed Iran for recent drone attacks on shipping, and a U.S.-owned cargo vessel came under attack from the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden last week.
So far, Iran hasn’t become directly involved in fighting either Israel or the U.S. since the war in Gaza began on October 7. However, Cooper maintained Iran had been directly fueling the Houthi attacks on shipping.
“What I’ll say is Iran is clearly funding, they’re resourcing, they are supplying and they’re providing training,” Cooper said. “They’re obviously very directly involved. There’s no secret there.”
Cooper described the ship attacks striking the Mideast as the worst since the so-called Tanker War of the 1980s. It culminated in a one-day naval battle between Washington and Tehran, and also saw the U.S. Navy accidentally shoot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290 people in 1988.
Back then, American naval ships escorted reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the strait after Iranian mines damaged vessels in the region. Cooper said authorities had no current plans to reflag ships and escort them past Yemen.
Instead, the U.S. and its allies employ a “zone defense, and every once and a while we shift to a one-on-one,” he said.
Cooper’s reference to the tensions from more than three decades ago underlines just how precarious the situation in the wider Mideast has become as worries of a regional conflict over the Israel-Hamas war grow.
Monday night, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree, in a recorded address, claimed an attack in the Gulf of Aden on the Ocean Jazz, a U.S.-flagged ship managed by Seabulk, a company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The firm declined to comment when reached by the AP. The Ocean Jazz had been in the Red Sea heading south four days ago, according to tracking data.
The 5th Fleet issued an online statement dismissing the Houthi claim.
“The Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists’ report of an alleged successful attack on M/V Ocean Jazz is patently false,” it said. The 5th Fleet “has maintained constant communications with M/V Ocean Jazz throughout its safe transit.”
Cooper spoke to the AP from the sidelines of a drone conference in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Under his command of the 5th Fleet, the naval force has created Task Force 59, a drone fleet to bolster its patrol of waterways in the region.
Today, a variety of drones provide the 5th Fleet coverage across about 10,000 square miles (25,900 square kilometers) of Mideast waters that the Navy otherwise wouldn’t have eyes on, Cooper said. That helps its efforts to interdict suspected drug and weapons shipments.
U.S. forces seized Iranian-made missile parts and other weaponry this month from a ship bound for the Houthis in a raid that saw two Navy SEALs go missing. The U.S. military’s Central Command said Sunday it now believes the SEALs are dead.
While not directly saying his fleet’s drones played a part in the seizure, Cooper hinted at it.
“They are specifically designed to conduct interdiction operations,” he said. He added: “There’s no squeaking anything by it.”
Cooper’s command is set to end in February with the upcoming arrival of Rear Adm. George Wikoff in Bahrain. He noted that the Navy and merchant shippers still face a serious threat from the Houthis as he prepares to leave.
“What we need is a Houthi decision to stop attacking international merchant ships. Period,” Cooper said.
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US Supreme Court to Hear Oklahoma Man’s Death Row Appeal
Washington — The US Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear the case of an Oklahoma man convicted of murder, whose story has sparked appeals for clemency from Pope Francis and Hollywood stars.
Richard Glossip, 60, had been scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on May 18, but the nation’s highest court put his execution on hold.
The stay came after the Oklahoma attorney general, a Republican, asked the court, in an unusual move, to halt the execution, citing questions about the fairness of his trial.
Following the Supreme Court’s Monday announcement that it would hear Glossip’s appeal, his lawyer John Mills said his team was “grateful” and emphasized that Glossip had “maintained his innocence throughout a quarter century.”
“Mr. Glossip has faced execution nine times, even though the state knew full well that the evidence used to convict him and sentence him to death was false,” Mills said.
Glossip was convicted of the 1997 fatal beating of an Oklahoma City motel owner, but has steadfastly maintained his innocence.
Glossip, who worked at the motel, was found guilty of hiring another motel employee, maintenance man Justin Sneed, who was 19 at the time, to carry out the actual murder.
Glossip was convicted based on the testimony of Sneed, who pleaded guilty and was able to negotiate a life sentence, claiming that his co-worker had masterminded the plot.
Actors Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon and British billionaire Richard Branson have been among the celebrities advocating for Glossip’s life to be spared.
In 2015, when Glossip’s execution also appeared imminent, the representative of Pope Francis in the United States sent a letter on behalf of the pontiff to the then governor of Oklahoma asking that the execution be called off.
His case has also been the subject of a four-episode documentary series titled “Killing Richard Glossip.”
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New Hampshire Voters May Surprise in Tuesday’s Primary
The small northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire holds its presidential primary Tuesday. The state, which prides itself on independence and creating havoc, takes on added interest with Sunday’s news that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his campaign, making it a two-person Republican contest. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti is there and explains how the Granite State could turn politics upside-down on Tuesday. VOA footage and video editing by Adam Greenbaum.
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