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Pelosi expects ‘robust, bipartisan vote’ on Ukraine assist
Nancy Pelosi stated she anticipated a “robust, bipartisan vote” within the Home to approve the subsequent Ukraine assist invoice, which Joe Biden has requested.
“The help appropriated by Congress has made a major distinction for Ukraine, however way more is required to battle again in opposition to Putin’s brutal aggression,” the Democratic Home speaker stated in a press release.
“The forthcoming supplemental package deal will ship essential funding together with for extra defensive programs and weaponry, help for Ukraine’s power and healthcare infrastructure, and meals help to handle a rising starvation disaster across the globe stemming from this battle.”
Biden has requested Congress to approve one other $33bn in help to Ukraine, together with $20bn in army funding and $3bn in humanitarian reduction.
“The price of this battle shouldn’t be low-cost, however caving to aggression goes to be extra expensive if we enable it to occur,” Biden stated on the White Home earlier right now.
Joe Biden reiterated his message that Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine, even because the Kremlin tries to villainize the West over its efforts to assist Ukraine.
“Regardless of the disturbing rhetoric popping out of the Kremlin, the info are plain for all to see: We’re not attacking Russia,” Biden stated on Twitter.
“We’re serving to Ukraine defend itself in opposition to Russian aggression. And simply as Putin selected to launch this brutal invasion, he may make the selection to finish it.”
Earlier right now, Biden requested Congress to approve one other $33bn in assist to Ukraine, together with $20bn in army funding. Russia has warned the US to cease offering arms to Ukraine, however the White Home has remained agency in its dedication to serving to its ally.
US FDA strikes ahead with proposal to ban menthol cigarettes
The Meals and Drug Administration on Thursday issued a long-awaited proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
The transfer is a serious victory for anti-smoking advocates however one that would dent gross sales at tobacco corporations.
The proposal, which comes a 12 months after the company introduced the plan, nonetheless must be finalized and may take years to implement as it’s prone to face stiff opposition from the tobacco business. “The proposed guidelines would assist stop kids from changing into the subsequent era of people who smoke and assist grownup people who smoke give up,” stated the well being and human providers secretary, Xavier Becerra, Reuters reported.
For many years, menthol cigarettes have been within the crosshairs of anti-smoking teams who’ve argued that they contribute to disproportionate well being burdens on Black communities and play a task in luring younger individuals into smoking.
‘I hope we’ll get via this’: the Ukrainian refugees arriving in Tijuana
In current weeks Mexico has been the second-to-last cease on a journey to a semblance of regular life for some Ukrainian households hoping to get to security in the US. The Guardian has revealed a dispatch from Tijuana by Jo Napolitano who writes:
Simply over the zigzag pathway of the Tijuana border crossing, a mile or so from the taco and churros stands that feed locals and vacationers alike, rests a pop-up encampment for Ukrainian and Russian refugees fleeing an invasion they might neither endure nor help.
Tijuana has been a two- or three-day respite on their journey earlier than attempting to enter the US. There, these displaced households – a flight away from Washington state or Illinois or South Carolina – are fanning out throughout the nation, staying with buddies and family members, making use of for meals stamps and social safety playing cards and enrolling their kids in class. Whereas they’re far additional of their relocation than the Mexican, Central American and Haitian asylum seekers ready years for that very same alternative, these newcomers nonetheless face many hurdles.
“All the things is so completely different right here within the US,” stated Anastasiia Puzhalina, a Ukrainian refugee who arrived within the States in early April together with her household. “We should study a lot. I hope we’ll get via this.”
The piece is revealed in partnership with the the 74, a non-profit, non-partisan information web site protecting schooling in America.
Mark Oliver
NAACP calls on Biden to cancel all scholar debt
“President Biden, we agree that we shouldn’t cancel $50,000 in scholar mortgage debt. We must always cancel all of it,” the Nationwide Affiliation for the Development of Coloured Folks (NAACP) stated in a press release on Thursday.
The assertion got here after the president instructed reporters he was open to cancelling some debt however poured chilly water on the $50,000 quantity. “$50,000 was simply the underside line. For the Black neighborhood, who’ve accrued debt over generations of oppression, something much less is unacceptable,” the NAACP stated.
The NAACP has a petition calling on Biden to take motion to cancel scholar debt, which it says would :
- Present Black debtors with alternatives to pursue homeownership
- Develop economy-boosting discretionary revenue
- Gasoline upward mobility within the Black neighborhood and equitable efforts to shut the racial wealth hole
Right this moment thus far
Right here’s the place the day stands thus far:
- Joe Biden requested Congress to supply Ukraine with one other $33bn in funding to help its battle in opposition to Russian aggression. The request consists of one other $20bn in army assist, in addition to $8.5bn in financial assist to Kyiv and $3bn in humanitarian reduction. “The price of this battle shouldn’t be low-cost, however caving to aggression goes to be extra expensive if we enable it to occur,” Biden stated on the White Home right now.
- Biden emphasised America’s ongoing help to Ukraine shouldn’t be taken as an assault on Russia. “We’re not attacking Russia. We’re serving to Ukraine defend itself in opposition to Russian aggression,” Biden stated. “Russia is the aggressor — no ifs, ands or buts about it.” Russia has warned the US in opposition to offering Ukraine with extra weaponry, however the White Home has insisted it’ll proceed to assist its ally.
- The US economic system shrank within the first three months of the 12 months, contracting by -0.4% within the first quarter, marking its weakest efficiency for the reason that early days of the pandemic. Biden blamed the contraction on “technical elements” brought on by the continuing pandemic and the struggle in Ukraine.
The weblog can have extra arising, so keep tuned.
Unrelated to the struggle in Ukraine, Joe Biden was requested whether or not he plans to cancel extra scholar mortgage debt by way of govt order within the coming weeks.
Senate majority chief Chuck Schumer stated yesterday that the White Home is “extra open to it now than ever earlier than” in relation to canceling scholar mortgage debt.
“There’s nothing achieved but, however I’m actually hopeful that the aim that now we have had, $50,000 of scholar loans canceled, is getting increasingly probably,” Schumer stated, per NBC Information.
Biden threw chilly water on that concept right now, telling reporters that he’s not snug with the $50,000 quantity however is open to some debt cancelation.
“I’m not contemplating $50,000 debt discount, however I’m within the technique of taking a tough take a look at whether or not or not there can be extra debt forgiveness,” Biden stated. “And I’ll have a solution on that within the subsequent couple weeks.”
Biden has beforehand expressed openness to the thought of canceling as much as $10,000 in scholar debt per borrower, however many progressives have criticized that proposal as inadequate.
After ending his ready remarks, Joe Biden took a number of questions from reporters about his request to Congress for extra Ukraine assist and different legislative issues.
Requested for his message to Ukrainian refugees who’re ready on the southern border to enter the US, Biden stated they’re being allowed to come back immediately into the nation.
“We’ve stated there’s no must go to the southern border,” Biden stated. “Fly on to United States. We arrange a mechanism whereby they will come immediately with a visa.”
One other reporter requested Biden about how the US will reply if Russia begins escalating its aggression towards Ukraine’s allies in response to their ongoing help to the nation.
“We’re ready for no matter they do,” Biden stated.
As he requested for extra funding to help Ukraine, Joe Biden additionally emphasised the significance of Congress appropriating extra money for America’s pandemic response efforts.
“That’s why I’m once more urging Congress to behave on our request for $22.5bn in emergency assets so the American individuals can proceed to guard themselves from Covid-19,” Biden stated.
The president stated the federal authorities would solely be capable to put together extra vaccine doses to assist defend in opposition to future variants if Congress approves extra money to preorder remedies.
Noting that the US has additionally donated vaccine doses to different international locations, Biden stated, “With out extra funding, the US gained’t be capable to assist cease the unfold world wide.”
After concluding his ready remarks, a reporter requested Biden whether or not he believed the Ukraine help and pandemic funding needs to be tied collectively in a single invoice, which lawmakers are at the moment at odds over.
“I don’t care how they do it. I’m sending them each up,” Biden stated. “They’ll do it individually or collectively, however we’d like them each.”
Joe Biden can be taking steps to make sure the cash raised from belongings seized from sanctioned allies of Vladimir Putin immediately aids Ukraine.
In response to a White Home truth sheet about Biden’s new assist request, the administration is “proposing laws to streamline the method to recoup proceeds from seized and forfeited belongings and use them to remediate the hurt prompted in Ukraine”.
Quite a lot of Russian oligarchs have been sanctioned for the reason that invasion of Ukraine, and a few lawmakers have been working to make sure that the funds accrued from these measures profit the Ukrainian individuals.
“We’re going to grab their yachts, their luxurious houses and different ill-begotten positive factors,” Biden stated.
‘We’re not attacking Russia,’ Biden says as he requires extra Ukraine funding
Joe Biden emphasised that his new request for $33bn in help to Ukraine shouldn’t be taken as an assault on Russia.
“We’re not attacking Russia. We’re serving to Ukraine defend itself in opposition to Russian aggression,” Biden stated on the White Home. “Russia is the aggressor — no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
Russia has warned the US in opposition to offering Ukraine with extra weaponry, however Biden administration officers have made it clear that they won’t be intimidated out of serving to Ukraine.
Joe Biden is now delivering remarks on the White Home, confirming that he has requested Congress to approve $33bn in funding to assist Ukraine’s battle in opposition to Russia.
The US president argued that extra funding for arms and humanitarian help was “essential” for serving to Ukraine fight Russian assaults.
“The price of this battle shouldn’t be low-cost, however caving to aggression goes to be extra expensive if we enable it to occur,” Biden stated.
“We both again the Ukrainian individuals as they defend their nation, or we stand by because the Russians proceed their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.”
Biden asks Congress to approve one other $20bn in Ukraine army assist
The Guardian’s Julian Borger and Jon Henley report:
Joe Biden has requested Congress to approve one other $20bn in army assist to Ukraine, considerably ramping up the US contribution to the battle in opposition to Russian occupation.
Biden may even ask for $8.5bn in financial assist to Kyiv and $3bn in humanitarian reduction, in addition to funds to assist enhance US manufacturing of meals crops and strategic minerals to offset the impression of the struggle in Ukraine on world provides.
The full request for supplemental spending involves $33bn. The final supplemental request authorized by Congress in March was $13.6bn. Russia has warned that elevated western weapons provides to Ukraine would endanger European safety.
In a letter to the Home speaker, Nancy Pelosi, Biden stated: “What I wish to clarify to the Congress and the American individuals is that this: the price of failing to face as much as violent aggression in Europe has all the time been greater than the price of standing agency in opposition to such assaults.”
Joe Biden blamed the US economic system’s contraction within the first quarter of 2022 on “technical elements” brought on by the continuing pandemic and the struggle in Ukraine.
“The American economic system — powered by working households — continues to be resilient within the face of historic challenges,” Biden stated in a press release.
“Whereas final quarter’s development estimate was affected by technical elements, the US confronts the challenges of COVID-19 world wide, Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and world inflation from a place of energy.”
The president once more known as on Congress to go a invoice to assist households take care of the excessive prices of healthcare and utilities, whereas condemning one Republican plan to develop revenue taxes.
“We have to hold making progress — slicing prices for working households, making extra in America, and creating good-paying jobs you’ll be able to increase a middle-class household on,” Biden stated. “That’s how we develop our economic system and strengthen the center class.”
US economic system noticed ‘unexpectedly extreme’ drop in first quarter
Dominic Rushe
The US economic system shrank within the first three months of the 12 months, contracting by -0.4% within the first quarter, or -1.4% on an annualized foundation, its weakest quarter for the reason that early days of the pandemic.
Financial development slowed markedly at first of the 12 months. Within the final three months of 2021 US gross home product (GDP) – a broad measure of the economic system – grew by 1.7% or 6.9% on an annualized foundation.
The Commerce Division stated the slowdown was brought on by a drop in personal stock funding, exports, federal authorities spending, and state and native authorities spending.
Client spending, the biggest element of the US economic system, grew 0.7% within the first quarter regardless of the impression of the Omicron wave of the coronavirus.
The newest report was worse than economists had anticipated and was compiled earlier than the struggle in Ukraine triggered oil value rises and China imposed new coronavirus lockdowns which will worsen provide chain points.
Joe Biden will ship his remarks about the necessity to present extra help to Ukraine on the White Home in about 45 minutes.
After his speech, Biden will meet with small enterprise homeowners to “talk about the small companies growth beneath his management,” in keeping with his official schedule.
Later right now, the president and the primary girl may even host their first official movie screening on the White Home. The Bidens will play “The Survivor,” a movie a couple of Jewish boxer pressured to battle his fellow inmates at a Nazi focus camp, in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is right now.
Jon Henley
The UN secretary common has described the struggle in Ukraine as “an absurdity” within the twenty first century on a go to to the scene of civilian killings outdoors Kyiv, as Russia warned the west that growing arms provides to Ukraine would endanger European safety.
António Guterres was touring Borodianka on Thursday, the place Russian forces are accused of massacring civilians earlier than their withdrawal, on his first go to to Ukraine for the reason that begin of the invasion on 24 February, earlier than talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“I think about my household in a kind of homes that’s now destroyed and black,” stated the UN secretary common, who has been criticised for visiting Ukraine solely after having first met Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow.
“I see my granddaughters operating away in panic,” Guterres stated. “The struggle is an absurdity within the twenty first century. The struggle is evil. There isn’t any approach a struggle may be acceptable within the twenty first century.”
At her every day briefing yesterday, White Home press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that Joe Biden would submit his request for one more Ukraine assist package deal this week.
Psaki wouldn’t present any particulars on the topline price of the help package deal, however it’s anticipated to be important.
“There may be plans for this to be a proposal to undergo the fiscal 12 months,” Psaki instructed reporters.
“And it’ll embrace, as our previous packages have included, safety or army help, humanitarian, financial help, given these, in our view, will assist deal with a spread of the wants the Ukrainians have.”
Biden will most likely present extra particulars on the help request when he delivers remarks on the scenario in Ukraine at 10.45am ET.
Biden to handle Ukraine help amid talks over assist package deal
Greetings from Washington, stay weblog readers.
Joe Biden will ship remarks this morning on “help for Ukrainians defending their nation and their freedom in opposition to Russia’s brutal struggle,” in keeping with the president’s official schedule.
NBC Information studies that Biden will use his speech to ask Congress to approve one other assist package deal for Ukraine, because the struggle there has now stretched on for greater than two months.
NBC studies:
The additional funding is meant to final for the subsequent 5 months, via the top of the fiscal 12 months, [two] sources stated.
Administration officers earlier described the quantity of the request as ‘huge’ however wouldn’t present a particular greenback quantity. Some particulars have been nonetheless not finalized, the officers stated.
The quantity, nevertheless, is meant to fund U.S. army, financial and humanitarian help to Ukraine via Sept. 30, the officers stated. The brand new fiscal 12 months begins Oct. 1.
Senate majority chief Chuck Schumer stated earlier this week that he anticipated “swift, bipartisan cooperation” to make sure the passage of one other assist package deal.
“We should proceed serving to the individuals of Ukraine of their battle in opposition to Russian aggression,” Schumer stated.
The weblog can have extra arising, so keep tuned.
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