Madison, Wisconsin:

In his first television interview since the CNN debate with Donald Trump, President Joe Biden candidly addressed his performance, describing it as a “bad episode” and taking full responsibility for what transpired.

ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos interviewed Biden in Madison, Wisconsin, following a rally with Democratic supporters where Biden reiterated his commitment to staying in the race.

Stephanopoulos didn’t waste time delving into the debate, acknowledging Biden’s team’s characterisation of it as a “bad night.” Biden concurred, straightforwardly admitting, “Sure did.”

The conversation then turned to remarks made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who queried whether the debate was indicative of a more serious underlying issue. “It was a bad episode,” Biden clarified. “No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night.”

Regarding his preparation leading up to the debate, which followed his international trip to France for the D-Day anniversary and subsequent rest at Camp David, the anchor asked why the recovery time wasn’t sufficient. Biden explained, “Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible.” He disclosed that medical tests ruled out COVID-19 but confirmed he had been battling a severe cold.

The anchor inquired if Biden had watched the debate footage afterward. Biden admitted, “I don’t think I did, no.”

Pressed on whether he realised how poorly it was going while on stage, Biden acknowledged, “Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine.”

He reflected on his preparation style and how he adapted it inappropriately for the debate setting, saying, “I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realised– partway through that, you know, all– I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is that what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t– I mean, the way the debate ran, not– my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault.”

“But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“Well, I just had a bad night,” Biden said.

Just days after being sworn in for a record third time, Prime Minister Modi was in top gear at the recently concluded G7 summit. Modi, who was at the centre of the G7 family picture, made the best use of the opportunity for a ‘pull-aside’ with US President Joe Biden. The move was significant since the two leaders didn’t have a scheduled bilateral; and with a busy domestic calendar for Biden, it’s unlikely the two leaders may meet soon. For PM Modi, it presented an opportunity to address some irritants in an otherwise strong and stable bilateral relationship.

Over the years, India and the US have forged deep ties. For the US, India checks several key boxes- common democratic values, the only counter to an ever-aggressive China in Asia and an economy poised to grow the fastest in the world. For India, closer ties with America translate into deeper partnerships in technology and defence; besides a recognition of New Delhi’s position as the leader of the Global South.

Irritants like allegations related to any possibility of India’s involvement in an alleged attempt to commit an extrajudicial killing on American soil have caused minor friction between the two countries. India has officially denied any culpability in the matter. While a single such instance will not be the defining aspect of a strong and growing bilateral partnership, the pull-aside will smoothen any fraught nerves in the Biden administration in an election year.

It was not just Biden, with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau too, PM Modi did a quick on-the-spot reach out. Canada and India have witnessed a certain sliding of their ties. New Delhi has raised concerns related to the presence of anti-India elements that it feels have been harboured by the Canadian government. Trudeau’s allegation regarding India’s involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh NIjjar led to strong diplomatic backlash from India. Though the quick chat with Trudeau is unlikely to address the underlying issues between Ottawa and New Delhi, India’s message at the world’s biggest stage is that it is willing to resolve tensions. It’s now up to the Trudeau government to respond to the olive branch.

As PM Modi made the most of being the focal point of the picture, the decision by the host- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was a carefully thought one. Meloni, who came to the G7 bolstered by a better-than-expected performance in the EU elections, projected a power image against other G7 European leaders, all of whom faced drubbing at the polls. Meloni, who is now looking to have a larger play at the European Commission and the policies it will now take, positioned herself as the only G7 leader championing the cause of the Global South. This explains her outreach to the tallest leader of the Global South- PM Modi. 

Meloni and Modi are not a geopolitical power couple, but the two Prime Ministers are now geopolitical heavyweights and the G7 summit reflected just that. 

(Gauri Dwivedi is Executive Editor, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

entrance to F.E. Warren Air Force Base is pictured May 24, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyo. President Joe Biden on May 13, 2024, issued an order blocking a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining firm from owning land near the Wyoming nuclear missile base.
| Photo Credit: AP

President Joe Biden on May 13 issued an order blocking a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining firm from owning land near a Wyoming nuclear missile base, calling its proximity to the base a “national security risk.”

The order forces the divestment of property operated as a crypto mining facility near the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base. MineOne Partners Ltd., a firm partly backed by Chinese nationals, and its affiliates are also required to remove certain equipment on the site.

This comes as the U.S. is slated on May 14 to issue major new tariffs on electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies imported from China, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the plan.

And with election season in full swing, both Mr. Biden and his presumptive Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, have told voters that they’ll be tough on China, the world’s second-largest economy after the United States and an emerging geopolitical rival.

The May 13 divestment order was made in coordination with the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States — a little-known but powerful government committee tasked with investigating corporate deals for national security concerns that holds power to force companies to change ownership structures or divest completely from the U.S.

A 2018 law granted CFIUS the authority to review real estate transactions near sensitive sites across the U.S., including F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

MineOne purchased the land that is within one mile of the Air Force base in Cheyenne in 2022, and according to CFIUS, the purchase was not reported to the committee as required until after the panel received a public tip.

The order was vague about the specific national security concerns, with the Treasury Department saying only that there were issues with “specialized and foreign-sourced equipment potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities” that “presented a significant national security risk.”

A representative from the firm did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who serves as the chairperson of CFIUS, said the role of the committee is “to ensure that foreign investment does not undermine our national security, particularly as it relates to transactions that present risk to sensitive U.S. military installations as well as those involving specialized equipment and technologies.”

The committee is made up of members from the State, Justice, Energy and Commerce Departments among others, which investigates national security risks from foreign investments in American firms.

CFIUS directed the sale of the property within 120 days, and that within 90 days the company remove all structures and equipment on the site.

First let’s tell you where the US election campaign is-

We are about 2 months from the Republican National Convention- despite cases against him, Mr. Trump seems set to be the candidate

About 3 months from the Democratic Convention- where despite concerns about his age and health, Mr. Biden is the confirmed candidate

And about 6 months to go to voting day on November 5- which appears to be a rematch of the election in 2020

However, what is different at this point in the campaign is that Foreign policy issues are also dominating the discourse- 3 in particular

1. Israel’s war in Gaza is front and centre – with protests on campus against US support to Israel and the government’s reaction to them becoming the major issue.

-The US’s unconditional support to Israel is of course the bedrock of US Foreign policy and unlikely to change.

– This includes military transfers during the conflict

– US vetoes of any UNSC resolution criticising Israel

The difference between Trump and Biden on this is not much, as one of the protestors I spoke to said

2. Russia-Ukraine war is the next big issue, where there is some difference between the two candidates as President Biden has just pushed through a 95 Billion $ support package for Ukraine, where Trump has said on many occasions that US financial support would come with conditions and that he would end the war as soon as possible, and has in the past praised the Russian President.

3. Immigration is the third issue, which was also an issue in 2020- both are now quite tough and have put new restrictions on illegal immigrants, increased deportations and decreased visas. But Trump is likely to be more vocal, may bring back some version of immigrant ban, the muslim ban and the wall with Mexico which Biden defunded. And Mr. Biden even had a dig at India when it came to taking in immigrants

So in a nutshell, here’s how the situation in the US affects India:

Government has often objected when western countries criticise crackdowns on protestors in India. So while the MEA took the chance to take a dig at the US crackdown on its student protestors, it also made it clear that Indian students should not participate in the protest.

1. In every democracy, there has to be the right balance between freedom of expression, sense of responsibility and public safety and order. Democracies in particular should display this understanding in regard to other fellow democracies. After all, we are all judged by what we do at home and not what we say abroad. And as far as your question regarding Indian students is concerned, we are always in touch with Indian students. And as and when there are issues which have to be resolved, we’ll look into it.

More broadly, India’s position on Israel has been closer to the US than in the past when it comes to the terror attacks on October 7, but India has criticised the Israel bombardment of Gaza, voted for a ceasefire and also spoken up for the need for a lasting 2-state resolution for Palestinians

2. On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has had a decidedly divergent position from the US- while the Biden administration has accepted India’s continued ties with Russia, import of oil, it remains to be seen what a Trump administration would accept…remember in 2018, India accepted the Trump deadline to zero out on oil imports from Iran and Venezuela

3. On Immigration, India may face more pushback from the US- Indians make up an estimated 725000 illegal immigrants in the US, the third largest group, and a number that has been increasing. If the US starts deporting them, it would lead to further joblessness within the country.

WV Take:

The US’s one-sided support for Israel during the bombardment of civilians, and the crackdown on students has taken away from its credibility in demanding for accountability for Russia, and for democratic freedoms in other countries. However, given that these policies are bipartisan and the outcome of the US election is unlikely to depend on foreign policy- the results may depend more on the turnout of Biden and Trump voters later this year than on their positions per se.

Script and Presentation: Suhasini Haidar

Production: Gayatri Menon and Shibu Narayan

President Joe Biden called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain the four countries’ economic circumstances and contrasted them with the U.S. on immigration at a campaign fundraiser on May 2 evening at the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States is a country of immigrants, the White House has said, defending President Joe Biden’s remarks calling two of his QUAD partners— India and Japan— as well as Russia and China “xenophobic” nations, asserting that none of these countries, unlike the U.S., welcome immigrants.

Responding to a question about the remarks made by Mr. Biden at an election fundraiser on May 2, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the president was making a “broader point”.

“He was making a broader point. Our allies and partners know very well that — how much this president respects them,” Ms. Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.

“As you know, in regard to Japan, they were just here for the state visit. The U.S.-Japan relationship is an important relationship. It’s a deep, enduring alliance,” she said.

“He (Mr. Biden) was making a more broad comment, speaking about this country and speaking about how important it is to be a country of immigrants and how it makes our country stronger. And so, that’s what he was talking about,” she said.

“It relates to our relationship with our allies, that continues. We have a strong relationship with India (and) with Japan. And the President, if you just look at the last three years, has certainly focused on those diplomatic relationships,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“He was talking about who we are as a country. He was talking about the importance of being in a country of immigrants, especially as you see the attacks that we have seen very recently, in the last couple of years, those attacks on immigrants, in particular,” the White House Press Secretary said, defending the president.

“The President is always going to be really clear on speaking to issues that matter to the American people. We are a country of immigrants. That matters. And we’ve seen these attacks. And so, the President is never going to shy away from that,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“It is important for us to remember that we are a country of immigrants. I’m explaining what he was talking about and what he was focusing on in those comments: a country of immigrants makes us stronger. It is important to be very clear about that,” she said.

While addressing his supporters at the Democratic Party fundraiser here on May 2 evening, Mr. Biden said, “This election is about freedom, America and democracy. That’s why I badly need you. You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants.” “We look to — the reason — look, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants,” Mr. Biden, the presumptive candidate of the Democratic Party, said.

India and Japan are members of QUAD— a four-member strategic security dialogue that includes the U.S. and Australia.

Mr. Biden hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a State Visit last year, while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the White House in April for an official visit.

Mr. Biden has been under attack from his opponents and the Republican Party for his immigration policies, as hundreds and thousands of illegal immigrants enter the United States every month.

Immigration is a hot topic in the November 5 presidential election in which Mr. Biden will face former President Donald Trump, the presumptive candidate from the Republican Party.

Former President Donald Trump met on April 18 in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda, the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second Trump term.

The presumptive Republican nominee hosted Mr. Duda at Trump Tower, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine and Mr. Duda’s push to boost NATO members’ defence spending, according to a readout from Mr. Trump’s campaign. Mr. Duda, who has long expressed admiration for Mr. Trump, is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and has encouraged Washington to provide more aid to Kyiv amid Russian’s ongoing invasion. That funding has been held up by Mr. Trump allies in Congress.

As he arrived, Mr. Trump praised the Polish president, saying, “He’s done a fantastic job and he’s my friend. We had four great years together,” Mr. Trump added. “We’re behind Poland all the way.” Mr. Duda is the latest foreign leader to meet with Mr. Trump in the weeks since he locked up the Republican nomination. U.S. allies across the world were caught off guard by Mr. Trump’s surprise 2016 win, forcing them to scramble to build relationships with a President who often attacked longstanding treaties and alliances they valued. Setting up meetings with him during the 2024 campaign suggests they don’t want to be behind again.

Even as he goes on trial for one of the four criminal indictments against him, Mr. Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden are locked in a rematch that most observers expect will be exceedingly close in November.

“Former President Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour”

While some in Poland worried the visit might damage the country’s relationship with Mr. Biden, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a Biden ally and a major voice in his party on foreign affairs, said such meetings make sense.

“The polls are close,” he said. “If I were a foreign leader — and there’s a precedent attached to meeting with candidates who are nominated or on the path to being nominated — I’d probably do it too.” Mr. Murphy noted that former President Barack Obama did a lengthy international tour and met with foreign leaders when he first ran for the White House. So did Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, who challenged Obama in 2012 and whose trip included a stop in Poland’s capital, Warsaw.

Mr. Duda’s visit comes a week after Mr. Trump met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, another NATO member and key proponent of supporting Ukraine, at the former President’s Florida estate.

And last month, Mr. Trump hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an autocrat who has maintained the closest relationship with Russia among European Union countries. Mr. Orban shared a montage of footage of the visit on his Instagram feed, with included an image of him and his staff meeting with Mr. Trump and the former President’s aides in a scene that looked like an official bilateral meeting.

Mr. Trump also met briefly in February with Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist President of Argentina who ran a campaign inspired by Mr. Trump, complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats. Milei gave Mr. Trump an excited hug backstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, according to video posted by a Trump campaign aide.

Biden administration officials have been careful not to weigh in publicly on foreign leaders’ meetings with Mr. Trump, acknowledging he has a real chance of winning the race.

While some officials have privately expressed frustration with such meetings, they are mindful that any criticism would open the U.S. to charges of hypocrisy because senior American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meet frequently with foreign opposition figures at various forums in the United States and abroad.

Security and policy officials monitor the travel plans of foreign officials visiting the U.S., but generally don’t have a say in where they go or with whom they meet, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss protocol.

Mr. Trump has been back in his hometown this week for the start of his criminal hush money trial, which has dramatically limited his ability to travel and campaign. While in town, aides have been planning a series of events that began on Tuesday evening when Mr. Trump, after court adjourned, stopped by a Harlem bodega where a man was killed to rail against crime and blast the district attorney who made him the first former president in U.S. history to stand criminal trial.

Mr. Duda describes friendly relationship with Donald Trump

Mr. Duda, a right-wing populist who once proposed naming a military base in his country “Fort Trump,” described the dinner on Wednesday as a private get-together between friends at Mr. Trump’s former residence while he is in town for meetings at the United Nations.

“I have been invited by Mr. Donald Trump to his private apartment,” Mr. Duda told reporters, saying it was “a normal practice when one country has good relations with another country” to want those relations to be as strong as “possible with the representatives of various sides of the political stage.” He described a friendly relationship with Mr. Trump built over years of working together.

“We know each other as people. Like two, I can say in some way, friends,” said Mr. Duda, whose term ends in 2025.

Mr. Duda’s visit comes as House Republicans wrangle over a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would provide new funding to Ukraine, including money for the U.S. military to replace depleting weapon supplies.

Many Trump allies in the House are fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, even as the country warns that it is struggling amid a fresh Russian offensive. Mr. Trump has said he might be open to aid in the form of a loan.

Like Mr. Cameron, Mr. Duda’s efforts to push the U.S. to approve additional aid put him in common cause with Mr. Biden, who has struggled for six months to unlock additional funding.

One area where Mr. Trump and Mr. Duda agree when it comes to the conflict is a desire to push NATO members to increase their defense spending. Mr. Duda has called on fellow members of the alliance to raise their spending to 3% of gross domestic product as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. That would represent a significant increase from the current commitment of 2% by 2024.

Mr. Trump, in a stunning break from U.S. precedent, has long been critical of the Western alliance and has threatened not to defend member nations that do not hit that spending goal. That threat strikes at the heart of the alliance’s Article 5, which states that any attack against one NATO member will be considered an attack against all.

In February, Mr. Trump went even further, recounting that he’d once told leaders that he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to members that are — in his words — “delinquent.” Mr. Trump’s campaign said the two discussed the NATO proposal during the meeting, which lasted two-and-a-half hours.

“I have never talked with President Donald Trump about my proposal of raising the spending on defense of NATO countries from 2% to 3% of GDP, but I think that his approach to it will be positive,” Mr. Duda had said before they met.

The two also discussed Israel and the Middle East, Mr. Trump’s 2017 trip to Warsaw, “and many other topics having to do with getting to world peace,” the campaign said in its readout, which described the men as “great friends.”

The visit was met with mixed reaction in Poland, where fears of Russia run high and Mr. Duda’s friendly relationship with Mr. Trump has been a source of controversy.

Poland’s centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Mr. Duda, was critical of the dinner but expressed hope that Mr. Duda would use it as an opportunity “to raise the issue of clearly siding with the Western world, democracy and Europe in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict.” Mr. Duda, for his part, said he wasn’t worried since Presidents regularly meet with various politicians during foreign trips. “This is regular practice,” he said. “There is nothing extraordinary here.”

Washington:

US President Joe Biden on Friday asked Egyptian and Qatari leaders for help in getting Hamas to agree to a deal with Israel, an American official said, ahead of negotiations in Cairo.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held Israeli jails.

The White House said earlier on Friday that negotiations would occur over the weekend in Cairo, but would not confirm US media reports that CIA Director Bill Burns would be attending along with Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

Biden, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, “made clear that everything must be done to secure the release of hostages, including American citizens, now held by Hamas terrorists for nearly six months,” a senior Biden administration official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official said that Biden on Friday “wrote letters to the President of Egypt and the Emir of Qatar on the state of the talks and he urged them to secure commitments from Hamas to agree to and abide by a deal.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had earlier told reporters that Biden’s call with Netanyahu included discussions on “getting a hostage deal done, empowering his negotiators to come to (a) conclusion on this.”

“This basic fact remains true: There would be a ceasefire in Gaza today had Hamas simply agreed to release this vulnerable category of hostages — the sick, wounded, elderly, and young women,” the US official said Friday evening.

Hamas launched a shock attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Palestinian operatives also took around 250 hostages, about 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 whom the Israeli army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed over 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

President Joe Biden took an aerial tour on Friday of the collapsed Baltimore bridge that is blocking a key East Coast shipping lane, and he pledged federal help in rebuilding the span, an idea some Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have resisted.

A cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, sending it splashing into the harbor and killing six people. Work to clear the wreckage and restore traffic through the Mid-Atlantic state’s shipping channel is ongoing.

Aboard his Marine One helicopter, Biden flew over the scene of the disaster to get an aerial view. He met local officials for a briefing on the economic impact to the Baltimore port, an important shipping destination for ships to offload automobiles.

Speaking with the fallen bridge behind him as an imposing backdrop, Biden vowed, “We will not rest” until the bridge is rebuilt and the area is back to normal.

He called on Congress to approve funding for the new bridge as soon as possible.

“I’m here to say your nation has your back and I mean it,” Biden said. “We’re going to get this paid for.”

He also vowed that the parties responsible for the bridge collapse will help pay to repair the damage and “be held accountable to the fullest extent the law will allow.”

Biden later met the families of the six people killed in the accident. The victims were all immigrants from Mexico and Central America, who were fixing potholes on the road surface of the bridge when it collapsed.

Shortly before the president’s flyover, dive teams recovered the body of one of the missing highway repair workers, Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38, of Honduras, officials said. Three other bodies remain trapped beneath the underwater debris. Two others were previously recovered.

Biden’s meeting with the families of these immigrant workers came as his rival Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has ramped up anti-immigrant rhetoric and cast migrants as dangerous criminals “poisoning the blood” of America.

State and federal officials have raised alarms over the hardships the port’s closure could impose on the regional economy with thousands of port workers already idled.

The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the U.S. for volume of autos and light trucks and farm and construction machinery handled, according to the state of Maryland. Most of that traffic has been suspended since the accident, though some terminal operations outside the affected area have resumed.

The White House’s Office of Management & Budget (OMB), in a letter to Congress on Friday, asked the federal government to cover the bridge replacement, which federal officials say could cost at least $2 billion.

Some Republican hardliners in the U.S. House of Representatives oppose using new federal dollars to fund the bridge’s reconstruction. Such a request could probably pass the Senate, controlled by Biden’s fellow Democrats, but may run into trouble in the narrowly divided House.

The House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of roughly three dozen hardline Republicans who can wield outsized influence over House Speaker Mike Johnson, on Friday issued a series of demands in exchange for their cooperation.

FUNDING FOR THE BRIDGE

Hours after the bridge collapse, Biden said the U.S. government would “pay the entire cost” of reconstruction and his administration announced $60 million in emergency relief last week.

The administration will pursue all avenues to recover costs and “ensure that any compensation for damages or insurance proceeds collected will reduce costs for the American people,” Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young wrote on Friday.

White House officials have held talks in recent weeks with Johnson’s office over billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel as well as money for the collapsed bridge, according to two officials familiar with conversations who asked not to be named.

The spending measures separately have bipartisan support, but the White House is aware that Johnson must satisfy his hardline colleagues, which means many spending proposals will be tethered together in order to pass, the officials said.

The Freedom Caucus, whose members helped oust Johnson’s predecessor last year, said Congress should seek “maximum liability” from foreign shipping companies.

It also demanded that any aid be fully offset with spending cuts and that the Endangered Species Act and other regulations are waived to avoid delays.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard was being transported to Baltimore so crews on March 29 can begin removing the wreckage of a collapsed highway bridge that has halted a search for four workers still missing days after the disaster and blocked the city’s vital port from operating.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the crane, which was arriving by barge and can lift up to 1,000 tons, will be one of at least two used to clear the channel of the twisted metal and concrete remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the cargo ship that hit it this week.

“The best minds in the world” are working on the plans for removal, Moore said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Baltimore District told the governor that it and the Navy were mobilizing major resources from around the country at record speed to clear the channel.

“This is not just about Maryland,” Mr. Moore said. “This is about the nation’s economy. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in America.”

Mr. Moore warned of a “very long road ahead” to recover from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as the Biden administration approved $60 million in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse.

“Meanwhile the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was moving the largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard to help remove the wreckage of the bridge,” Mr. Moore said, so work to clear the channel and reopen the key shipping route can begin. The machine, which can lift up to 1,000 tonnes, was expected to arrive on Thursday evening, and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said a second crane with a 400-tonne capacity could arrive on Saturday.

“The State is “deeply grateful” for the federal funds and support,” Mr. Moore said at an evening news conference.

Mr. Moore promised on Thursday that “the best minds in the world” were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead and investigate what went wrong.

“Government is working hand in hand with industry to investigate the area, including the wreck, and remove the ship,” said Mr. Moore, a Democrat, who said the quick aid is needed to “lay the foundation for a rapid recovery.” President Joe Biden has pledged the federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.

“This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks,” Mr. Moore said. “We have a very long road ahead of us.”

Van Hollen said 32 members of the Army Corps of Engineers are surveying the scene of the collapse and 38 Navy contractors are working on the salvage operation.

The devastation left behind after the powerless cargo ship struck a support pillar on Tuesday is extensive. Divers recovered the bodies of two men from a pickup truck in the Patapsco River near the bridge’s middle span on Wednesday, but officials said they have to start clearing the wreckage before anyone could reach the bodies of four other missing workers.

Crew of cargo ship that lost power and collided with bridge in Baltimore, U.S. are all Indian

State police have said that based on sonar scans, the vehicles appear to be encased in a “superstructure” of concrete and other debris.

National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded the ship, the Dali, to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to interview the captain and crew members. Investigators shared a preliminary timeline of events before the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.

“The best minds in the world are coming together to collect the information that we need to move forward with speed and safety in our response to this collapse,” Mr. Moore said on March 28.

Of the 21 crew members on the ship, 20 are from India, Randhir Jaiswal, the nation’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters. One was slightly injured and needed stitches, but “all are in good shape and good health,” Mr. Jaiswal said.

“The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador,” he said. “At least eight people initially went into the water when the ship struck the bridge column, and two of them were rescued Tuesday,” officials said.

The crash caused the bridge to break and fall into the water within seconds. Authorities had just enough time to stop vehicle traffic, but didn’t get a chance to alert the construction crew.

During the Baltimore Orioles’ opening day game on Thursday, Sgt. Paul Pastorek, Cpl. Jeremy Herbert and Officer Garry Kirts of the Maryland Transportation Authority were honoured for their actions in halting bridge traffic and preventing further loss of life.

The three said in a statement that they were “proud to carry out our duties as officers of this state to save the lives that we could.”

The Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, was headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Limited and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk. Synergy extended sympathies to the victims’ families in a statement on Thursday.

“We deeply regret this incident and the problems it has caused for the people of Baltimore and the region’s economy that relies on this vitally important port,” Synergy said, noting that it would continue to cooperate with investigators.

Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, said the union is scrambling to help its roughly 2,400 members whose jobs are at risk of drying up until shipping can resume in the Port of Baltimore. “If there’s no ships, there’s no work,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can.”

“The huge vessel, nearly as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall, was carrying nearly 4,700 shipping containers, 56 of them with hazardous materials inside. Fourteen of those were destroyed,” officials said. However, industrial hygienists who evaluated the contents identified them as perfumes and soaps, according to the Key Bridge Joint Information Center.

“There was no immediate threat to the environment,” the centre said. About 21 gallons (80 litres) of oil from a bow thruster on the ship is believed to have caused a sheen in the waterway, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said on Thursday.

Booms were placed to prevent any spreading, and state environmental officials were sampling the water. At the moment there are also cargo containers hanging dangerously off the side of the ship, Gilreath said, adding, “We’re trying to keep our first responders … as safe as possible.”

Divers sent to work beneath the bridge debris and container ship will encounter challenging conditions, including limited visibility and moving currents, according to officials and expert observers.

“Debris can be dangerous, especially when you can’t see what’s right in front of you,” said Donald Gibbons, an instructor with the Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Technical Centers.

The sudden loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.

The governors of New York and New Jersey offered to take on cargo shipments that have been disrupted, to try to minimise supply chain problems.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who met on Thursday with supply chain officials, has said the Biden administration was focussed on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, but he did not put a timeline on those efforts. From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, according to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.

Washington:

Joe Biden said Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in an interview aired Saturday, as the US leader’s impatience with his Israeli counterpart grows increasingly visible.

With Gaza’s humanitarian crisis growing more dire and Biden’s left flank in uproar, the US president made contradictory remarks as to the question of a “red line” over Israel’s threatened offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza.

Netanyahu “has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Biden said, but added that “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

“In my view he is hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” he said.

As to Israel’s potential invasion of Rafah, where some 1.5 million of the territory’s 2.4 million residents are now crammed, Biden was ambiguous.

“It is a red line,” the 81-year-old Democrat said, immediately adding: “I am never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical.

“There is no red line (in which) I want to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome (air defense system) to protect them.”

He then once again countered that there were in fact “red lines… You cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.”

After Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday, he was caught on a hot mic stating that he’d told Netanyahu they would need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting, an American expression that refers to a dramatic realization that one must correct course.

Despite Biden’s shift in tone, his administration has given short shrift to activist calls to cut the billions of dollars in military aid the United States sends to Israel.

Gaza has faced relentless bombardment by Israel since Hamas launched a shocking cross-border attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to official figures.

Hamas also seized about 250 hostages, 99 of whom are believed by Israel to remain alive in Gaza.

Israel’s retaliatory operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza have killed more than 30,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Biden was evasive Saturday on the possibility of a new trip to Israel, which he visited in October shortly after the deadly Hamas attack, and which included a speech to lawmakers.

Asked if it was something he would do again, Biden responded “yes” but declined to say whether he was invited.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)