FILE – This frame grab from video, provided by the Mexican government, shows Ovidio Guzman Lopez being detained in Culiacan, Mexico, Oct. 17, 2019. Mexico extradited Guzman Lopez, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, to the United States on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, to face drug trafficking charges, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. (CEPROPIE via AP File)
Mexico extradited Ovidio Guzmán López, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, to the United States on Friday to face drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“This action is the most recent step in the Justice Department’s effort to attack every aspect of the cartel’s operations,” Garland said.
The Mexican government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mexican security forces captured Guzmán López, alias “the Mouse,” in January in Culiacan, capital of Sinaloa state, the cartel’s namesake.
Three years earlier, the government had tried to capture him, but aborted the operation after his cartel allies set off a wave of violence in Culiacan.
January’s arrest set off similar violence that killed 30 people in Culiacan, including 10 military personnel. The army used Black Hawk helicopter gunships against the cartel’s truck-mounted .50-caliber machine guns. Cartel gunmen hit two military aircraft forcing them to land and sent gunmen to the city’s airport where military and civilian aircraft were hit by gunfire.
The capture came just days before U.S. President Joe Biden visited Mexico for bilateral talks followed by the North American Leaders’ Summit.
On Friday, Garland recognized the law enforcement and military members who had given their lives in the U.S. and Mexico. “The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable those responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic that has devastated too many communities across the country.”
G20 Summit in Delhi hailed as a success by US (AP)
G20 Leaders’ Summit wrapped up with enthusiasm in Delhi under India’s presidency, the United States lauded it as an ‘absolute success.’
In a briefing on September 11, the US State Department’s official spokesperson, Matthew Miller, told reporters, “We absolutely believe it was a success. The G20 is a big organisation. Russia is a member of the G20. China is a member of the G20.”
The “use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible,” the G20 nations stated on September 9 in a New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration in the context of the Ukraine war.
The New Delhi Declaration reaffirmed that the G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation, and the member countries acknowledged that the G20 is not the platform for geopolitical and security issues, although these issues can have consequences for the global economy.
The G20 member countries called on all nations to respect core principles of international law. These principles include upholding territorial integrity, sovereignty, following international humanitarian laws, and supporting the multilateral system that helps maintain global peace and stability.
A recent study is revealing the dire state of public health in the United States. In comparison to other wealthy nations, the U.S. death rate far outpaces America’s peers — leading researchers to say that the country is actually “experiencing a crisis of early death.”
Researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) found that more than one million U.S. deaths a year — including many young and working-age adults — could be avoided if the country had mortality rates similar to other high-income nations.
In 2021, 1.1 million deaths would have been averted if the U.S. had mortality rates similar to other wealthy nations. The study refers to these excess deaths as “Missing Americans,” because these deaths reflect people who would still be alive if the U.S. death rate was equal to its peer countries.
“The number of Missing Americans in recent years is unprecedented in modern times,” says Dr. Jacob Bor, the study’s lead and corresponding author and associate professor of global health and epidemiology at BUSPH, in a media release.
Nearly 50 percent of all Missing Americans died before age 65 in 2020 and 2021. The study found that the level of excess mortality among working-age adults is particularly stark.
“Think of people you know who have passed away before reaching age 65. Statistically, half of them would still be alive if the U.S. had the mortality rates of our peers,” Dr. Bor said. “The U.S. is experiencing a crisis of early death that is unique among wealthy nations.”
The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a sharp spike in mortality in the U.S. — more so than in other countries — but the new findings show that the number of excess U.S. deaths has been accelerating over the last four decades. Dr. Bor and the team analyzed trends in U.S. deaths from 1933 to 2021, including the impact of COVID-19, and then compared these trends with age-specific mortality rates in Canada, Japan, Australia, and 18 European nations.
An extreme heatwave peaked in the western United States on Sunday, with temperatures reaching 128 Fahrenheit (53 Celsius) in the California desert, while flash flooding continued to menace the Northeast, killing at least five people.
Nearly a quarter of the U.S. population fell under extreme heat advisories, partly due to a stubborn heat dome that has been parked over western states. While baking parts of the country, the heat dome has also helped generate heavy rains in the Northeast, a pattern expected to continue for days if not weeks, according to the National Weather Service.
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, downpours and flash flooding over the weekend killed at least five people. Nearly 7 inches (17 cm) of rain fell on the area in 45 minutes late Saturday, Upper Makefield Township Fire Chief Tim Brewer told a press conference, claiming five lives as vehicles were swept away. Two children, one aged 2 and the other 9 months, remained missing.
“We continue to look for the two children,” Brewer said. “We are not going to give up regardless. The weather is a factor but at this point we are going to continue the operations and have already set things in motion for tomorrow as well.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday urged residents in her state to avoid travel until the rain passes, saying that “your car can go from a place of safety to a place of death” if swept up in a flash flood.
The rains were expected to ease on Monday but nonetheless created havoc throughout much of the Northeast in recent days, with Vermont in particular reporting catastrophic flooding in its capital Montpelier.
The heat warnings spread from the Pacific Northwest, down through California, through the Southwest and into the Deep South and Florida.
Death Valley, California, officially reached 128 F (53 C) on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, although the famed temperature display sign outside the Furnace Creek Visitors Center showed 133 F (56 C).
[1/11] The skyline of downtown Houston is seen during excessive heat warnings for Southeast Texas, in Houston, Texas, U.S. July 16, 2023. REUTERS/Go NakamuraFurnace Creek in Death Valley recorded the hottest recognized temperature ever on Earth at 134 F (56.7 C) in July 1913, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Expecting to see history made, about two dozen tourists gathered around the sign and cheered on Sunday when the digital display of 132 ticked up to 133. People snapped pictures while U.S. National Park rangers stood by in case anyone succumbed to the heat.
“It’s my first time being here so I feel it would be really cool to be here for the hottest day ever on Earth for my first time,” said Kayla Hill, 24, of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Phoenix marked its 17th consecutive day over 110 F (43 C), reaching a high of 115 F, and is forecast to tie the June 1974 record of 18 straight days over 110 F on Monday and extend the record for at least another week.
The National Weather Service said widespread record-breaking high temperatures are likely to be recorded across the Southwest, in the western Gulf Coast and also in south Florida.
Temperatures between 100 F and 110 F are forecast for portions of the Pacific Northwest. That could be particularly dangerous for an area unaccustomed to excessive heat, as many homes do not have central air conditioning. Meanwhile southern Europe is enduring a punishing heatwave.
Scientists say fossil fuel-driven climate change is heralding more extreme weather like that seen in the U.S. in recent days, warning that the world needs to drastically cut carbon emissions to prevent its catastrophic effects.
[1/5] People attend a mass rally denouncing the U.S. in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 25, 2023 in this photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)North Korea held mass rallies in Pyongyang where people shouted slogans vowing a “war of revenge” to destroy the United States, as it marked the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, state media reported on Monday.
About 120,000 working people and students took part in the rallies held across the capital on Sunday, state news agency KCNA reported.
Photos released by state media showed a stadium crowded with people holding placards reading “The whole U.S. mainland is within our shooting range” and “The imperialist U.S. is the destroyer of peace.”
Sunday’s anniversary came amid concerns Pyongyang could soon conduct another launch of its first military spy satellite to boost monitoring of U.S. military activities after its first attempt ended in failure on May 31.
North Korea now had “the strongest absolute weapon to punish the U.S. imperialists” and the “avengers on this land are burning with the indomitable will to revenge the enemy,” KCNA said.
Nuclear-armed North Korea has been testing various weapons including its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile, ramping up tension with the South and the South’s main ally, the United States.
In a separate foreign ministry report, North Korea said the U.S. was “making desperate efforts to ignite a nuclear war,” accusing Washington of sending strategic assets to the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a large gathering of the Indian diaspora at the Ronald Reagan Centre in Washington early on Friday (Indian time), marking the conclusion of his US State visit. At the address, the PM said, “Today’s transformed India will surprise you, adding that the country has witnessed an unprecedented digital revolution.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Indian community in the United States on the final day of his three-day visit (Photo: Twitter)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday applauded the role of the Indian diaspora in the United States and credited them for strengthening the partnership between India and the US, during his address at the Ronald Reagan Centre.
Thanking the community for turning up in large numbers, PM Modi said, “In a way, you have charted out the full map of India in this hall. I can see people from all corners of India here. It seems that a mini India has turned up.”
#WATCH | “In a way, you have charted out the full map of India in this hall. I can see people from all corners of India here. It seems that a mini India has turned up,” PM Narendra Modi addresses members of the Indian diaspora in Washington, DC pic.twitter.com/iUmBcTHy3n
During his address, the prime minister emphasised how India has witnessed an unprecedented digital revolution, adding that companies like Micron, Google and Applied Material have declared big investments in India.
He has now left for Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
A stunning new ABC News/Washington Post poll out Sunday contains nothing but bad news for President Joe Biden, and good news for his potential 2024 opponent Donald Trump.
According to the survey, the president trails his predecessor by 7 points in a hypothetical 2024 general election matchup. Respondents were asked whether they would “definitely” vote for Trump or Biden, “probably” vote for Trump or Biden, or vote for someone else or not vote at all. Among those who “definitely” prefer one candidate over the other, Trump leads Biden 36-32. But when those “probably” voting are added to the tally, Trump’s margin balloons to 7 points — as he holds a 45-38 advantage over Biden.
The poll found Biden would fare only slightly better if the Republican nominee were Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). The president is tied with DeSantis 32-32 among those “definitely” backing a particular candidate. But when the “probably” category is added, DeSantis pulls ahead 42-37.
President Biden’s approval numbers, according to the new ABC/Washington Post poll, are nothing short of dismal. Only 36 percent of voters approve of the job the president is doing, compared to 56 percent who do not. The approval number is down 6 points from February, the last time ABC and the Washington Post released a poll, and represents an all-time low for him in that particular survey.
Ominously for Biden, Trump holds a commanding lead on one major issue — the economy. When voters were asked “Who do you think did a better job handling the economy – Donald Trump when he was president, or Joe Biden during his presidency so far?” 54 percent chose Trump, compared to 36 percent who picked Biden.
As oil markets remain jittery, the cargo seizure is the latest escalation between Washington and Tehran after years of sanctions pressure by the U.S. over Iran’s nuclear program.
The US confiscated Iranian oil on a tanker at sea in recent days in a sanctions enforcement operation.
Washington: The U.S. confiscated Iranian oil on a tanker at sea in recent days in a sanctions enforcement operation, three sources said, and days later Iran seized another oil-laden tanker in retaliation, according to a maritime security firm.
As oil markets remain jittery, the cargo seizure is the latest escalation between Washington and Tehran after years of sanctions pressure by the U.S. over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran does not recognise the sanctions, and its oil exports have been rising.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes while Washington suspects Iran wants to develop a nuclear bomb.
Maritime security company Ambrey said the U.S. confiscation took place at least five days before Iran’s action on Thursday. “Ambrey has assessed the seizure by the Iranian Navy to be in response to the U.S. action,” it said in an advisory to clients.
“Both tankers were Suezmax-sized. Iran has previously responded tit-for-tat following seizures of Iranian oil cargo.”
The sources familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, said Washington took control of the oil cargo aboard the Marshall Islands tanker Suez Rajan after securing an earlier court order. The tanker’s last reported position was near southern Africa on April 22, ship tracking data showed.
The vessel’s Greece-based manager, Empire Navigation, and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Navy said Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, the latest seizure or attack by Tehran on commercial vessels in sensitive Gulf waters.
Iranian state TV said on Friday the tanker ignored radio calls for eight hours following a collision with an Iranian boat, which left several crewmen injured and three missing. “Before using force, we tried to call the vessel …to stop but they did not cooperate,” Iranian deputy navy commander Rear Admiral Mostafa Tajodini told the broadcaster.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was aware of the Gulf of Oman seizure and reaffirmed support for international maritime law, a U.N. spokesperson said on Friday.
Last year the U.S. tried to confiscate a cargo of Iranian oil near Greece, which prompted Tehran to seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf. Greece’s supreme court ordered the cargo returned to Iran. The two Greek tankers were later released.
In a step likely to exacerbate tensions, 12 U.S. senatorson Thursday urged President Joe Biden to remove Treasury Department policy hurdles that have prevented the Department of Homeland Security from seizing Iranian oil shipments for more than a year.
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends an interview with Reuters at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo/File Photo
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol set off on Monday for the United States and a summit with President Joe Biden at a time of rare questioning in South Korea of an alliance that has guaranteed its security for decades.
Yoon’s April 24-29 trip is the first state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader in 12 years and will mark the 70th anniversary of a partnership that has helped anchor U.S. strategy in Asia and provided a foundation for South Korea’s emergence as an economic powerhouse.
But as North Korea races ahead with the development of nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them, there are growing questions in South Korea about the relying on “extended deterrence”, in essence the American nuclear umbrella, and calls, even from some senior members of Yoon’s party, for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons.
A recent poll by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies showed that more than 54% of respondents believed the U.S. would not risk its safety to protect its Asian ally.
More than 64% supported South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons, with about 33% opposed.
Yoon has been pushing to boost South Korea’s say in operating the U.S. extended deterrence but exactly what that might entail has not been spelt out.
Yoon’s deputy national security adviser said both sides had been working on measures to operate the extended deterrence in a more concrete manner, hopefully with progress to be a revealed in a joint statement after the summit.
“What I can tell you now is that people’s interest in and expectations for extended deterrence have been great, and there are several things that have been carried out over the past year in terms of information sharing, planning and execution,” the adviser, Kim Tae-hyo, told reporters.
“We need to take steps to organise these things so that it can be easily understood to anyone in one big picture, how this is implemented and developed.”
A senior U.S. official said on Friday that Biden, during the summit with Yoon, would pledge “substantial” steps to underscore U.S. commitments to deter a North Korean nuclear attack.
HELP FOR UKRAINE
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which some in South Korea feel is distracting the United States from dangers in Asia, has also led to some rare friction between Seoul and Washington.
Leaked U.S. documents recently highlighted South Korean difficulties in dealing with pressure from its ally to help with the supply of military aid to Ukraine.
South Korea, a major producer of artillery shells, says it has not provided lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing its relations with Russia. It has limited its support to humanitarian aid.
South Korea tries to avoid antagonising Russia, due chiefly to business interests and Russian influence over North Korea.
Suggestions reported in media that the United States had been spying on South Korean deliberations about its support to Ukraine have raised hackles in South Korea, though both sides have played the down the issue.
One of the stars that aligned when Tony Blair felt the hand of history on his shoulder 25 years ago was the changing politics of the Irish lobby in the US. For years, American money had been funnelled to the IRA through an organisation called Noraid.
When I worked for the BBC in the early 1990s, I interviewed Irish Americans at a St Patrick’s Day fundraiser in New York who thought they were supporting freedom fighters against English colonial oppressors. They did not know that most people in Northern Ireland wanted to be part of the UK.
An aerial view of the Pentagon (lower left), Potomac River (C) and Washington Monument in Washington August 31, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed
Classified documents that appeared online, with details ranging from Ukraine’s air defenses to Israel’s Mossad spy agency, have U.S. officials scrambling to identify the leak’s source, with some experts saying it could be an American.
Officials say the breadth of topics addressed in the documents, which touch on the war in Ukraine, China, the Middle East and Africa, suggest they may have been leaked by an American rather than an ally.
“The focus now is on this being a U.S. leak, as many of the documents were only in U.S. hands,” Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official, told Reuters in an interview.
U.S. officials said the investigation is in its early stages and those running it have not ruled out the possibility that pro-Russian elements were behind the leak, which is seen as one of the most serious security breaches since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2013.
The Russian embassy in Washington and the Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment.
Following disclosure of the leak, Reuters has reviewed more than 50 documents labeled “Secret” and “Top Secret” that first appeared last month on social media websites, beginning with Discord and 4Chan. While some of the documents were posted weeks ago, their existence was first reported on Friday by the New York Times.
Reuters has not independently verified the authenticity of the documents. Some giving battlefield casualty estimates from Ukraine appeared to have been altered to minimize Russian losses. It is not clear why at least one is marked unclassified but includes top secret information. Some documents are marked “NOFORN,” meaning they cannot be released to foreign nationals.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday that they have not ruled out that the documents may have been doctored to mislead investigators as to their origin or to disseminate false information that may harm U.S. security interests.
The White House referred questions to the Pentagon.
In a statement on Sunday, the Pentagon said it was reviewing the validity of the photographed documents that “appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material.”
The Pentagon has referred the issue to the Department of Justice, which has opened a criminal investigation.
One of the documents, dated Feb. 23 and marked “Secret,” outlines in detail how Ukraine’s S-300 air defense systems would be depleted by May 2 at the current usage rate.
Such closely-guarded information could be of great use to Russian forces, and Ukraine said its president and top security officials met on Friday to discuss ways to prevent leaks.
WATCHING ALLIES
Another document, marked “Top Secret” and from a CIA Intel update from March 1, says the Mossad intelligence agency was encouraging protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court.
The document said the U.S. learned this through signals intelligence, suggesting the United States had been spying on one of its most important allies in the Middle East.
In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office described the assertion as “mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever.”
Another document gave details of internal discussions among senior South Korean officials about U.S. pressure on Seoul to help supply weapons to Ukraine, and its policy of not doing so.
A South Korean presidential official said on Sunday the country was aware of news reports about the leaked documents and it plans to discuss “issues raised” with Washington.
South Korea’s opposition lawmakers expressed “strong regret” over the spying allegations, calling them a clear violation of the country’s sovereignty and a major security failure of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
“We strongly demand a thorough investigation and urge that similar incidents do not occur,” the lawmakers of the Democratic Party said in a joint statement.
The Pentagon has not addressed the contents of any specific documents, including the apparent surveillance of allies.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while there was concern about the leak at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, the documents showed a snapshot in time from more than a month ago, rather than more recent assessments.
NEW video shows two murder suspects, one only 12 years old, after they were arrested in a series of killings that left three teens dead.
Cops are searching for a third teen suspect after Layla Silvernail and Camille Quarles, both 16, and an unnamed 17-year-old male were killed in Ocklawaha, Florida, between March 30 and April 1.
Layla Silvernail, 16, was the first victim discovered by police on March 30Credit: gofundmeCamille Quarles, 16, was found inside Silvernail’s partially submerged car on April 1Credit: GoFundMeThe Marion County Sheriff’s Office shared footage of one suspect, 12-year-old Christopher Atkins, being escorted by cops after his arrestRobert Robinson, 17, is also in custody and Sheriff Billy Woods said all three suspects were members of a ‘wannabe’ gang that’s committed other crimes in the areaCredit: Marion County Sheriff’s Office
More information has been released about two suspects – Christopher Atkins, 12, and Robert Robinson, 17, – who were arrested by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday night.
A third suspect, 16-year-old Tahj Brewton, remains at large and police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
After Atkins was taken into custody, police shared a video of the shirtless 12-year-old being escorted out of a building and into a squad car as he looked straight ahead.
The clip also shows Robinson, who appeared stoic and disheveled, being walked out of the building after his arrest.
“Each and every one of them in some shape way or form was associated with a gang,” Sheriff Billy Woods said at a press conference.
“There is no honor among thieves, and at some point, these three individuals turned on our three victims and murdered them.”
The suspects left behind significant evidence, Woods said, and were all members of a larger “wannabe gang” that has committed other crimes in the rural county between Orlando and Gainesville.
Investigators have yet to provide any other details about what led up to the killings, which sparked rumors of a serial killer in the small Florida town.
[1/6] A Chinese warship sails during a military drill near Fuzhou, Fujian Province, near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands that are close to the Chinese coast, China, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas PeterChina began three days of military exercises around Taiwan on Saturday to express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, as the island’s defence ministry said it would respond calmly.
The drills, announced the day after Tsai returned from the United States, had been widely expected after China condemned the meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan’s government strongly objects to China’s claims.
Beijing’s announcement also came just hours after China hosted a visit by senior European leaders.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said it had started the combat readiness patrols and “Joint Sword” exercises around Taiwan, having said earlier it would be holding them in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of Taiwan “as planned”.
“This is a serious warning to the Taiwan independence separatist forces and external forces’ collusion and provocation, and it is a necessary action to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said in a short statement.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it was monitoring the situation, maintaining a high degree of vigilance and would respond appropriately to defend the island’s security.
China was using Tsai’s U.S. visit “as an excuse to carry out military exercises, which has seriously damaged regional peace, stability and security”, the ministry said in a statement.
“The military will respond with a calm, rational and serious attitude, and will stand guard and monitor in accordance with the principles of ‘not escalating nor disputes’ to defend national sovereignty and national security.”
The ministry said earlier on Saturday that in the previous 24 hours it had spotted four Chinese aircraft in Taiwan’s air defence zone, not an unusual number.
Reuters reporters in a seaside area near Fuzhou, which sits opposite the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, saw a Chinese warship firing shells onto a drill area on China’s coast, part of drills announced by China late on Friday.
Tsai will meet visiting U.S. lawmaker delegation, led by Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, later on Saturday.
DIPLOMACY AND DRILLS
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said in a commentary on Saturday that the government has “a strong ability to thwart any form of Taiwan independence secession”.
“All countermeasures taken by the Chinese government belong to China’s legitimate and legal right to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said.
Tsai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed as the government views her as a separatist. She says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
China had threatened unspecified retaliation if the meeting with McCarthy – second in line to succeed the U.S. president, after the vice president – were to take place. Beijing staged war games around Taiwan, including live-fire missile launches, in August after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.
However, unlike in August, China has yet to announce whether it will also stage missile drills. In the previous instance, China published a map at the time it announced the drills, showing which maritime areas near Taiwan it would be firing into.
Taiwanese officials had expected a less severe reaction to the McCarthy meeting, given it took place in the United States, but they had said they could not rule out the possibility of China staging more drills.
China’s announcement came hours after French President Emmanuel Macron left China, where he met President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders. Macron urged Beijing to talk sense to Russia over the war in Ukraine.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, also in China this week to meet Xi, said stability in the Taiwan Strait was of paramount importance.
Used boxes of Mifepristone pills, the first drug used in a medical abortion, fill a trash at Alamo Women’s Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S., January 11, 2023. REUTERS/Evleyn Hockstein
A U.S. judge in Texas on Friday suspended the two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone while a legal challenge proceeds, dealing another setback to abortion rights in the United States.
Adding to the volatile legal landscape around abortion, a federal judge in Washington state on Friday issued a seemingly conflicting injunction that prevented federal regulators from altering access to the same abortion drug.
The 67-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, will not take effect for one week, in order to give the Biden administration a chance to file an emergency appeal, which the U.S. Department of Justice said it will do.
Kacsmaryk’s ruling is a preliminary injunction that would essentially ban sales of mifepristone while the case by anti-abortion groups before him continues. The judge, who was appointed to the bench by Republican President Donald Trump, has not yet made a final ruling on the merits of the challenge.
However, in his ruling he found that the lawsuit is substantially likely to succeed. He said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had ignored risks in approving the drug.
“The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly,” he wrote. “But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns – in violation of its statutory duty – based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.”
The case was brought by four anti-abortion groups headed by the recently formed Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four anti-abortion doctors who sued the FDA in November. They contend the agency used an improper process when it approved mifepristone in 2000 and did not adequately consider the drug’s safety when used by girls under age 18 to terminate a pregnancy.
“By illegally approving dangerous chemical abortion drugs, the FDA put women and girls in harm’s way, and it’s high time the agency is held accountable for its reckless actions,” said Erik Baptist of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed the case.
‘EXTREME ANTI-CHOICE AGENDA’
The ruling will likely inflame the fraught U.S. politics of abortion, which have divided the country since last year’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned a women’s constitutional right to the procedure.
“Democrats will do everything in our power to fight back to ensure access to safe and legal abortion is protected, and voters will hold every last Republican accountable for an extreme anti-choice agenda,” said Jaime Harrison, the chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Since the Supreme Court ruled, 12 of the 50 states now ban abortion outright while many others prohibit it after a certain length of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.
Mifepristone is part of a two-drug regimen, administered in combination with misprostol, for medication abortions in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The drugs account for more than half of all abortions in the country.
Some abortion providers have said that if mifepristone is unavailable, they would switch to a misoprostol-only regimen for a medication abortion, which is not as effective. It is not yet clear how widely available it would be.
