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☆ 'Reality' recreates fateful day for U.S. whistleblower in Berlinale premiere
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Cast members Marchant Davis, Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton and Director Tina Satter attend a photo call to promote the movie 'Reality' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 18, 2023. Director Tina Satter aims to change that with the movie "Reality," a 85-minute re-enactment of the day FBI agents came to Winner's house based off the transcript of the audio they recorded which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday. Winner's sister and mother also attended the premiere, prompting a burst of applause from the crowded theatre. "After spending time speaking with her, I wanted to make sure that I captured her as much as possible," said Sweeney. "I hope that they see this moment in a woman's life, that it was a really hard decision to make, and to not reduce Reality to just a headline," she added.

☆ France's Macron signals electric car subsidy concern on agenda with Harris
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with French President Emmanuel Macron at the bilateral meeting at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany February 17, 2023. Michael Probst/Pool via REUTERSMUNICH, Feb 17 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron signaled on Friday that he would discuss concerns about U.S. electrical vehicle subsidies with Vice President Kamala Harris as they met during the Munich Security Conference. "We are working hard," on the issue, Macron said before their meeting. But a solution from Washington that would be acceptable to France has not been forthcoming in the months since. Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Most of Ukraine has power despite Russian attacks, says Zelenskiy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Most of Ukraine has power despite a series of major Russian attacks on the generating system, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday, praising the work done by repair crews. Most of our people have electricity," Zelenskiy said in a video address. "This is yet another confirmation of our resilience, the strength of Ukraine, the colossal work that was and is being done by many people," he said, specifically mentioning power industry workers. The one major exception is the southern port city of Odesa, where protective outages are still in force to help protect generating facilities harmed by earlier attacks. In a statement, it said protective outages were also possible in the Kyiv region.

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday proposed a $175,000 civil penalty against SpaceX for failing to submit some safety data to the agency prior to an August 2022 launch of Starlink satellites. The FAA said SpaceX was required to submit the information, known as launch collision analysis trajectory data, directly to the agency at least seven days prior to an attempted launch. The data is used to assess the probability of the launch vehicle colliding with one of the thousands of tracked objects orbiting the Earth. SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA after receiving the penalty notice. In 2021, the FAA revised SpaceX commercial launch requirements to mandate that an FAA safety inspector be present for every flight at its Boca Chica launch facility after the FAA said the company violated license requirements for a Starship launch.

☆ White House: Wagner Group has suffered over 30,000 casualties in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Russian mercenary company Wagner Group has suffered more than 30,000 casualties since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, with about 9,000 of those fighters killed in action, the White House said on Friday. The United States estimates that 90% of Wagner group soldiers killed in Ukraine since December were convicts, White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a regular briefing. Half of the overall deaths occurred since mid-December, as fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut intensified, an NSC spokesperson said, citing newly downgraded intelligence. Kirby told reporters that Wagner continued to rely heavily on convicts, who were sent to war with no training or equipment, despite recent comments from Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin that he had stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine. Reporting by Andrea Shalal, writing by Paul Grant; Editing by Kanishka Singh and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ California farm worker pleads not guilty to 7 murder counts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The next hearing in the case was set for May 3, the district attorney, Steve Wagstaffe, confirmed to Reuters. Zhao is charged with seven counts of premeditated murder and a single count of attempted murder in a criminal complaint that also cites "special circumstance" allegations accusing him of "personally and intentionally" shooting to kill. read moreUnder California law, defendants convicted of murder with "special circumstances" are eligible for the death penalty, though Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019 declared a moratorium on executions. Authorities said the Monterey Park assailant, Huu Can Tran, 72, shot himself to death the next day as police closed to make an arrest. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles Editing by Alistair Bell and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden takes aim at Republican spending cuts plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At issue is Republicans' refusal to raise the statutory $31.4 trillion U.S. debt limit unless Biden agrees to spending cuts. The White House has said such measures will only be discussed after the debt ceiling is lifted. In a speech at a union hall in suburban Maryland, Biden accused Republicans, who now control the House of Representatives, of pushing him to agree to spending cuts, while their own plans would add $3 trillion to the debt. Republicans argue that federal spending is too high and will fuel inflation while raising the U.S. debt level. They also plan a separate news conference on Wednesday aimed at highlighting House Republicans' planned budget cuts.

☆ Serb nationalists pledge riots if Belgrade tries to improve ties with Kosovo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Police block Serbian right-wing protesters who attempted to storm the New Palace, the seat of President of Serbia, during a protest against the Serbian authorities and French-German plan for the resolution of Kosovo in Belgrade, Serbia, February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Zorana JevticBELGRADE, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Hundreds of hardline Serb nationalists and pro-Russia activists rallied in downtown Belgrade, threatening riots if Serbia accepts a Western-backed plan aimed at mending ties with Kosovo, its former mainly Albanian southern province. Pro-Russian sentiment is running high in Serbia which regards Russia, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council, as a main ally in its opposition to the 15-year-old independence of Kosovo. Protesters, carrying posters reading "Kosovo-No Surrender", cheered "Serbia-Russia" when ultranationalist Damjan Knezevic called for rioting if Belgrade seeks to improve ties with Kosovo. Knezevic admits ties with Russia's Wagner mercenary group which is fighting in Ukraine.

☆ What's up there? Possible explanations for mystery objects downed by U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Military officials say that until they are able to recover the debris, they are unlikely to know for sure what the objects were. Scientists use balloons to study wind patterns, air quality, and other aspects of Earth's atmosphere. STILL UNEXPLAINEDThe object downed over Canada on Saturday was described by Canada's defense minister as resembling a balloon. Senator Marco Rubio, leaving a classified briefing on the objects on Tuesday, told reporters that they are no different than the hundreds of benign objects cited in past intelligence reports. "We've never shot down anything in over 65 years of NORAD, and in one week they shot down three things," he said.

☆ Colombia's central bank may need more rate hikes depending on inflation - IMF
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Colombia's central bank may need to consider additional hikes to its benchmark interest rate, depending on how inflation in Latin America's fourth-largest economy behaves, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a statement on Tuesday. The board of Colombia's central bank has raised borrowing costs by a total of 1,100 points to 12.75%, its highest rate since 1999, since launching into an upward monetary cycle in September 2021. "Additional increases in the monetary policy rate could be necessary depending on the evolution of inflation, inflation expectations, and conditions of demand, among other factors," the IMF said. Last week central bank board chief Leonardo Villar warned that inflation in the Andean country had yet to top out, which will likely lead to a more restrictive monetary policy than expected. That sentiment was echoed by the IMF, which said Colombia's central bank will have to maintain a restrictive monetary police until after 2023.

☆ Longtime U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein announces she will not seek re-election
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Dianne Feinstein announced on Tuesday that she will not seek re-election at the end of her term in 2024, clearing the path for a hotly contested race among California Democrats for her seat. Feinstein, who was first elected in 1992, has faced years of pressure to resign given that she is the oldest member of Congress at 89. However she declined to seek election for the position, months after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow Democrat, declined to say whether he had confidence in her ability to serve. Several Democrats had already announced or hinted at runs even before her announcement, including Representatives Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. Feinstein is a trailblazer in U.S. politics: the first woman to serve as mayor of San Francisco, first woman to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee and now the longest-serving female senator.

☆ In the Philippines, animal lovers book Valentine's dates with shelter dogs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jay Ereno | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Philippine government worker Mary Grace Burgos, 24, had several cute dates lined up for on Valentine's Day with one thing in common: they were all dogs up for adoption. Burgos was among a dozen of people who chose to spend their Valentine's Day at an animal shelter in the Philippine capital. The shelter, run by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), charged guests 500 to 1,000 pesos ($9.12 - $18.24) to spend half an hour with a furry date. The entry fee will go toward running the shelter, which cares for over 240 dogs and cats. Animal cruelty is a crime in the Philippines but many cases go unreported, PAWS said.

The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before President Joe Biden ordered it shot on Feb. 4. China says the balloon shot down on Feb. 4 was a civilian weather-monitoring aircraft. It has accused Washington of sending its own balloons into Chinese airspace, an allegation Beijing reiterated on Tuesday. 'COMMERCIAL OR BENIGN PURPOSE'The U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon as well as large sections of the vessel itself. But it has not yet recovered debris from the most recent three objects shot down, with tough weather conditions making recovery operations difficult.

[1/6] Rescue workers try to rescue a 15-year-old girl trapped under the rubble, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 10, 2023. The death toll exceeded 24,150 across southern Turkey and northwest Syria a day after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said authorities should have reacted faster to Monday's huge earthquake. Earlier, the World Food Programme said it was running out of stocks in rebel-held northwest Syria as the state of war complicated relief efforts. A similarly powerful earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999 killed more than 17,000 killed in 1999. In the Samandag district of Turkey, rescuers crouched under concrete slabs and whispered "Inshallah" - "God willing" - as they carefully reached into the rubble and plucked out a 10-day-old newborn.

☆ U.S. House votes 419-0 to condemn 'brazen' Chinese spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously backed a resolution condemning the incursion of a Chinese spy balloon into U.S. airspace last week as "a brazen violation of United States sovereignty." The House voted 419-0 for the resolution, five days after the U.S. Air Force shot down the device over the Atlantic Ocean. Biden administration officials also held classified briefings on Thursday for members of the House and Senate. China's foreign ministry has said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course and accused the United States of overreacting. The resolution also denounces the Chinese Communist Party's "efforts to deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns."

☆ Analysis: Biden team shrugs off polls, targets key voters ahead of 2024 run
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Recent polls show aging leaders are a concern for Americans in general, and Biden's age in particular worries Democratic voters. Biden's public approval rating was just 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that closed on Sunday. They're targeting key subsets of voters, such as those who flipped from supporting Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020. Overall, Biden's approval rating among the group rose from 31% to 52% during the speech, and six in ten liked the speech. Attacking Republicans for threatening Social Security and Medicare is expected to be particularly salient in competitive states like New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Florida with large proportions of elderly voters.

☆ Factbox: Who was freed in Nicaragua's surprise political prisoners release?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Cristiana Chamorro and Pedro Joaquin ChamorroCristiana Chamorro was placed under house arrest in 2021, just as she was leading Ortega in polls to unseat him as president at elections. Her brother Pedro Joaquin Chamorro was also arrested and jailed the same month, according to newspaper La Prensa. Arturo CruzAn academic who was Nicaragua's ambassador to the United States between 2007 and 2009, Cruz was arrested in 2021 after returning to Managua from Washington. Like Mairena, he was arrested in 2021 over accusations of crimes during the 2018 protests. On Thursday, he declined to board the plane to Washington, preferring to stay home instead, one of only two prisoners to do so.

☆ Over 200 Nicaraguan prisoners, including top Ortega critics, freed and sent to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANAGUA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - More than 200 political prisoners in Nicaragua were released and flown to the United States on Thursday, including leading critics of President Daniel Ortega, in what Washington described as a "constructive step" towards improving human rights. The mass release "opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. A Nicaraguan judge denounced the 222 prisoners as "traitors" in a televised statement, and said they had been "deported." The released prisoners will go through the humanitarian parole process, the Biden administration said in a note to Congress. It added that the Nicaraguan government had made "its own decision" to release the prisoners, and urged further steps to ensure human rights in Nicaragua.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden pledged to work with the opposition party on Tuesday in a State of the Union speech that served as an olive branch to skeptical Republicans and a blueprint for his 2024 re-election bid. The White House has said Biden will not negotiate over that necessity; Republicans want spending cuts in exchange for their support. McCarthy said earlier on Tuesday that he would not rip up Biden's speech, referencing the actions of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi after Trump's 2020 State of the Union address. He said he urged Biden not to use the phrase "extreme MAGA Republicans" in his speech, a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Some House Republican lawmakers have questioned Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential race against Trump, vowing to investigate his Cabinet and family.

"To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress," Biden, a Democrat, will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House before the speech scheduled for 9 p.m. One test of that challenge will be the White House push to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, which must be lifted in the coming months to avoid a default. The White House has said Biden will not negotiate over that necessity; Republicans want spending cuts in exchange for their support. He said he urged Biden not to use the phrase "extreme MAGA Republicans" in his speech, a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Some House Republican lawmakers have questioned Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential race against Trump, vowing to investigate his Cabinet and family.

Biden will deliver his second State of the Union address at about 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday). It will be broadcast live on major U.S. broadcast television networks and online by the White House and the House of Representatives. The speech could deliver Biden his largest television audience of the year. The White House has also invited Brandon Tsay, who disarmed a gunman responsible for a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California. Republicans have picked Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary under Donald Trump, to deliver their response.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will declare U.S democracy is bruised but "unbowed and unbroken" on Tuesday in a State of the Union speech that will serve as an olive branch to skeptical Republicans and a blueprint for his 2024 re-election bid. "To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress," Biden, a Democrat, will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by the White House ahead of the speech scheduled for 9 p.m. Biden's public approval rating edged one percentage point higher to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that closed on Sunday. McCarthy said on Tuesday that he would not rip up Biden's speech, referencing to the actions of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi after former President Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union address. He said he urged Biden not to use the phrase "extreme MAGA Republicans" in his speech, a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

Biden's public approval rating edged one percentage point higher to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Sunday. In the speech, Biden will hail the resilience and strength of the U.S. economy, which saw unemployment drop to a nearly 54-year low in January, while pledging continued efforts to lower inflation and protect Social Security and other benefits. [1/3] The U.S. Capitol building is seen on the day of U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2023. He will push Congress to require background checks for all gun sales and ban assault weapons, the White House said, although the prospects for passage remain slim. McCarthy said on Tuesday that he won't rip up Biden's speech, referencing the actions of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi after former President Trump's 2020 State of the Union address.

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will face Republicans who question his legitimacy and a public concerned about the country's direction in Tuesday's State of the Union speech that is expected to serve as a blueprint for a 2024 re-election bid. Biden's public approval rating edged one percentage point higher to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Sunday. Reforms in policing will loom large in Biden's speech after the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man fatally beaten by officers in Memphis, Tennessee last month, with his mother and stepfather to be guests of first lady Jill Biden. He will also run through a wish list of economic proposals, many of which are unlikely to be passed through Congress, the White House said. [1/3] The U.S. Capitol building is seen on the day of U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2023.

REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzWASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will face Republicans who question his legitimacy and a public concerned about the country's direction in Tuesday's State of the Union speech that is expected to serve as a blueprint for a 2024 re-election bid. Biden would urge lawmakers to "build on these historic bipartisan achievements" to improve the lives of Americans, Christen Linke Young, deputy assistant to Biden for health and veterans affairs, told reporters. He will also run through a wish list of economic proposals, many of which are unlikely to be passed through Congress, the White House said. They include a minimum tax for billionaires, and a quadrupling of the tax on corporate stock buybacks. Speaker Kevin McCarthy will sit behind Biden for the address for the first time.

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