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CNN —Talks on a hostage and ceasefire deal for Gaza appear to be at an impasse. During the process, Israeli troops would gradually withdraw from Gaza, hostages would be released and Palestinian prisoners in Israel – including those serving life sentences – would be freed. The Israeli leader has repeatedly said that the war in Gaza will continue until Israel destroys Hamas’ leadership and rescues the hostages. Even as talks continue in Cairo, the Israeli military has been conducting operations in Gaza designed to hunt down top Hamas figures. The Israeli prime minister on Wednesday said that Hamas must change its negotiating position before talks can continue in Cairo.

Persons: CNN —, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bill Burns, David Barnea, Israel –, Said Khatib, ”, ’, –, Netanyahu, “, Matthew Miller, Ronen Zvulun, Shin Bet, Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu –, ” Netanyahu, Antony Blinken, “ We’re, we’re, Joe Biden, ” Miller Organizations: CNN, Hamas, CIA, Israeli, Getty, “, US State Department, ’, IDF, State Department, The Washington Post Locations: Gaza, Cairo, Israel, Rafah, Paris, AFP, Qatar, “ Qatar, Doha, Aqsa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, “, Egypt, Albania, The Washington, Palestinian, United States

☆ A Blinken Visit Puts U.S.-Israeli Tensions on Full Display
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But just hours after speaking to Mr. Blinken, Mr. Netanyahu appeared more intent on delivering a fiery message aimed at his domestic audience. Meeting on his own with reporters, he denounced the very proposal the Americans saw as a potential opening to a negotiated solution. “Surrender to the ludicrous demands of Hamas — which we’ve just heard — won’t lead to the liberation of the hostages, and it will only invite another massacre,” Mr. Netanyahu said. On Thursday, as Mr. Blinken ended his fifth visit to the Middle East in the four months since the war in Gaza began, it was clear that relations between the Biden administration and Mr. Netanyahu have become increasingly fraught. That raised questions about how drawn out the process might be to reach an agreement to end the conflict.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, we’ve, —, ” Mr, Biden Locations: Israel, Gaza, Jerusalem

☆ Gaza Ceasefire Hopes Alive With More Talks Planned
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"Continued military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of the hostages," Netanyahu said. Israel began its military offensive after Hamas militants from Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Netanyahu rejects a Palestinian state, which Saudi Arabia says is a requirement for the kingdom to normalise relations with Israel. But last week Israel said it would expand its campaign into Rafah, where about half the enclave's 2.3 million people are penned against the border with Egypt. On the ground in southern Gaza, residents said Israel stepped up its assault on Rafah in the early hours of Thursday.

Persons: Nidal, Humeyra Pamuk, Antony Blinken, Khalil Al, Hayya, Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken, Netanyahu, Yahya Sinwar, Israel, Washington, Khan Younis, Nidal al, Andrew Mills, Bassam Massoud, Cynthia Osterman, Howard Goller Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Israeli, Hamas, NBC News, Israel Democracy Institute, Nakhoul Locations: Humeyra Pamuk DOHA, TEL AVIV, U.S, Qatar, Egypt, Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Saudi Arabia, ISRAEL, RAFAH Israel, Gaza's, Rafah, Tel Al, Doha

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is trying to enlist school leaders to help spread the word about the importance of safely storing firearms to protect children. Also participating will be Stefanie Feldman, who runs the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. "We know safe storage of firearms can save lives, especially by reducing suicide by firearms and school shootings," Feldman told reporters. Guns are the leading cause of death for American children, and most guns used in school shootings are taken from the shooter’s home. There's no federal law requiring gun owners to lock up their firearms, although the White House has encouraged such rules to be implemented at the state level.

Persons: Jill Biden, Miguel Cardona, Stefanie Feldman, Feldman, “, ” Feldman Organizations: WASHINGTON, Education, White, Justice Department, Education Department Locations: Congress

Linking Ukraine’s military assistance to U.S. border security interjects one of the most divisive domestic political issues — immigration and border crossings — into the middle of an intensifying debate over wartime foreign policy. Failure risks delaying U.S. military aid to Kyiv and Israel, along with humanitarian assistance for Gaza, in the midst of two wars, potentially undermining America's global standing. Rather than approve Biden’s request, which includes $61 billion for Ukraine, Republicans are demanding something in return. Democrats call these essentially nonstarters, and the border security talks are going slowly. Other Republicans, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a Donald Trump ally, have drawn an even deeper line against Ukraine aid.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Joe Biden’s, ”, Luke Coffey, Andriy Yermak, Coffey, Vladimir Putin’s, Mitch McConnell, It’s, “, Sen, Chris Murphy, Conn, Biden, Tom Cotton, McConnell, Sabrina Singh, Democratic Sen, Jack Reed, Mike Garcia of, Garcia, Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump, Lolita C, Baldor, Ellen Knickmeyer, Stephen Groves Organizations: WASHINGTON, Hudson Institute, Republican, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Biden, Republicans, Democrats, Senate, The Defense Department, Defense Department, Congressional Research Service, World Bank . National, Democratic, Senate Armed Services Committee, Russia, Kyiv, Navy, Rep Locations: Washington, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Mexico, U.S, Kyiv, Gaza, Ukrainian, United States, Kentucky, Russian, Rhode Island, ”, Mike Garcia of California, Iraq, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia

The House is set to vote on a stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown on Tuesday. But days ahead of the deadline, GOP infighting has reared its head, as a group of conservatives threatened to oppose the measure, placing the legislation’s fate once again in Democrats’ hands. Democrats are widely expected to back the bill, though leadership has yet to endorse it publicly, as they look to avoid a shutdown. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took a similar route in September when conservatives threatened to block the continuing resolution’s path forward. Johnson called the CR’s two-step process an “important innovation,” while noting that he’s “done with short-term CRs” and “the House Republican conference is committed to never being in this situation again.”“It took decades to get into this mess, right.

Persons: ’, Johnson, Chuck Schumer, “, –, Kevin McCarthy, Chip Roy, Johnson –, ” Roy, I’ve, ” Johnson, ” Organizations: GOP, Caucus, Former, Texas Republican, Republican, House Republican, Washington Locations: Texas, Washington

☆ Another Day of G.O.P. Chaos Winds Up With Speaker Nominee No. 4
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, lasted only about four hours on Tuesday as the party’s third speaker designate. After winning the nomination in a morning session, he was quickly brought down by conservatives questioning his right-wing credentials. Mr. Emmer was last seen fleeing the Longworth House Office Building with nary a word after he unceremoniously dropped out of the race. There was a momentary boomlet for Mr. Emmer as he emerged victorious from an internal party nominating contest with a narrow win.

Persons: Tom Emmer, Donald J, Trump, Emmer, ”, Steve Womack, Jim Jordan of Organizations: Republican, Republicans, House Locations: Minnesota, New York, Longworth, Arkansas, Jim Jordan of Ohio

Passage of the full-year appropriations bills themselves, chock-full of conservative priorities and spending cuts that are nonstarters in the Senate, would not avert a shutdown this week. The Senate’s continuing resolution would keep funding at current levels until Nov. 17, along with appropriating around $6 billion in aid to Ukraine and $6 billion for domestic disaster relief. “By constantly adhering to what the hard-right wants, you’re aiming for a shutdown,” the New York Democrat said. Moreso, the legislation, despite having backing from a number of Senate Republicans, may face headwinds in the House. And whether House leadership even moves to bring the bill to the House floor should it pass the Senate remains an open question.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, –, Marjorie Taylor Greene, McCarthy, it’s, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Sen, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Joe Biden, Biden, “, ” McCarthy Organizations: GOP, Democrat, California Republican, New York Democrat, ”, Kentucky Republican, Ukraine, Moreso, Republicans Locations: California, Ukraine

☆ Right-Wing House Republicans Derail Pentagon G.O.P. Bill, Rebuking McCarthy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Deep Republican divisions erupted onto the House floor on Tuesday as a handful of far-right conservatives blocked a Pentagon spending bill from coming up for debate, dealing an embarrassing setback to Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he struggled to round up votes to prevent a government shutdown in less than two weeks. It left the chamber paralyzed for the moment, with little time before a Sept. 30 deadline to avert a government closure. Even if it could make it through the House, the temporary spending measure stood little chance in the Democratic-led Senate, where its combination of deep spending cuts and stringent border policies were seen as nonstarters. But the House’s inability to move on a stopgap plan further delayed any negotiations on Capitol Hill toward a bipartisan spending compromise. With none of the 12 annual spending bills passed, such a temporary bill will be needed to keep the government funded after next Friday.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy Organizations: Democratic

☆ Debt Deal Behind Them, Lawmakers Plunge Into Bitter Spending Fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After narrowly avoiding a federal default, the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-led Senate are now on a collision course over spending that could result in a government shutdown this year and automatic spending cuts in early 2025 with severe consequences for the Pentagon and an array of domestic programs. Far-right Republicans whose votes will be needed to keep the government funded are demanding cuts that go far deeper than what President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to in the bipartisan compromise they reached last month to suspend the debt ceiling, but such reductions are all but certain to be nonstarters in the Senate. The looming stalemate threatens to further complicate a process that was already going to be extraordinarily difficult, as top members of Congress try for the first time in years to pass individual spending bills to fund all parts of the government in an orderly fashion and avoid the usual year-end pileup. If they cannot, under the terms of the debt limit deal, across-the-board spending cuts will kick in in 2025, a worst-case scenario that lawmakers in both parties want to avoid. The clashes began this week, when House appropriators began considering their spending bills and, working to appease their ultraconservative wing, said they intended to fund federal agencies at below the levels that Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy had agreed to.

Persons: Biden, Kevin McCarthy, appropriators, McCarthy Organizations: Republican, Democratic, Pentagon, Senate

☆ Inside a debt ceiling standoff ‘far more dangerous than people will recognize’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jeremy Diamond Lauren Fox Melanie Zanona Phil Mattingly Arlette Saenz Kevin Liptak | Jeremy Diamond | Lauren Fox | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

“She’s well respected by both sides,” McCarthy said of the former longtime House Appropriations Committee staffer, according to White House officials. “Asking me about the communication (with the White House) implies there was communication,” one House Democrat said. For the White House negotiators, that meant late nights and early mornings. The White House negotiators left Capitol Hill abruptly and for hours, it was unclear when the conversations would resume. Quietly, White House negotiators had never actually stopped talking to their Republican counterparts.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, “, “ You’ve, ” Rep, Patrick McHenry, Biden, Steve Ricchetti, Shalanda Young, Louisa Terrell, ” McCarthy, James S, Alex Wong, Young, Garret Graves, ” Graves, Graves, Tom Cole of, ” Cole, White, Jeff Zients, McHenry, ‘, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Ricchetti, ”, ” Terrell, Dan Meyer, –, apprised, decamping, ’, Anna Moneymaker, nonstarters, ” McHenry, McHenry –, —, Susan Walsh, businesslike, Biden’s, Eisenhower, Zients, Jose Luis Magana, Young –, Louisianans –, Jim Clyburn, Clyburn, Annie Kuster, ” Kuster, wasn’t, ” Young Organizations: CNN, White, ”, Republican, Legislative, Young, Management, Brady, Capitol, White House, GOP, McCarthy’s, Pennsylvania, Capitol Hill, U.S, Biden, Democrat, Democratic, Republicans, Building, Air Force, West Executive, LSU Tigers, South Carolina Democrat, New Democrat Coalition, Democrats Locations: Irish, Washington , DC, Louisiana, Tom Cole of Oklahoma, McHenry, Hiroshima, Japan, Washington

Gail Collins: Well, Bret it looks like Joe Biden will be announcing his re-election bid this week. Gail: I know you disagree with him on many issues, particularly relating to the economy. But given the likely Republican presidential candidates, any chance you’ll actually be able to avoid voting for him? It says something about the state of the Republican Party that the two current front-runners — let’s call them Don Caligula and Ron Torquemada — are nonstarters for a voter like me. And I’m a guy who believes in low taxes, a strong military, broken-windows policing, entitlement reform, a border wall and school choice.

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