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According to Israeli officials, about 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza. Qatar and Egypt have been acting as intermediaries between Israel and Hamas, which do not negotiate directly. The talks had appeared to stall last week, after discussions held in Cairo failed to reach a breakthrough. Mr. Kirby said Mr. McGurk intended to press the Israeli war cabinet for its plans for its military operation in Rafah. Israeli and U.S. officials have argued that an immediate cease-fire would allow Hamas to regroup and fortify in Gaza, and reduce the pressure for making a deal to release hostages held in the territory.

Persons: Biden’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, David Barnea, William Burns, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, Abbas Kamel, Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Israel’s, Netanyahu, Benny Gantz, Brett McGurk, Yoav Gallant, “, Brett, ”, John Kirby, McGurk, Mr, ” Mr, Kirby, Gallant, Adam Sella, Cassandra Vinograd Organizations: Qatari, White, Mr, National Security Council, United, Security Locations: U.S, Paris, Gaza, Israel, Thani, Qatar, Egypt, Cairo, Gaza’s, Rafah, Tel Aviv, United States

“Christians, they can’t afford to sit on the sidelines in this fight,” Mr. Trump said. During his third run for office, Mr. Trump has often cast himself as a staunch defender of the Christian right. Mr. Trump has often appeared uncomfortable or unwilling to discuss abortion at length on the campaign trail. Evangelical voters have remained loyal to Mr. Trump. During his speech, Mr. Trump referred to the singers as “the J6 hostages,” a term he has repeatedly used to describe those serving sentences in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, —, ” Mr, “, ”, Roe, Wade, — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett —, Biden, Ron DeSantis, Taylor Baucom, Banner ” Organizations: National Religious Broadcasters, Mr, Gov, Republican, New York Times, Department, Trump —, Evangelical, Trump, Trump . Credit, The New York Times, J6 Locations: Nashville, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Trump .

At one point, Mr. DeSantis lacerated Mr. Trump’s record as president, saying he had failed to deliver on many campaign promises. “I was in Congress the first two years when Trump was president,” Mr. DeSantis said. One supporter asked Mr. DeSantis if he was afraid of being marginalized by Mr. Trump. Mr. DeSantis urged caution on such news reports but appeared to address years-old bad blood between him and one of Mr. Trump’s top aides, Susie Wiles, who had once worked for Mr. DeSantis. Mr. DeSantis sounded very much like a politician still eyeing his political future, including as he talked about pressing for term limits and other national concerns.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Donald J, Trump’s, ”, Trump, ” Mr, DeSantis, Biden, “, Mr, Donald Trump’s, Susie Wiles, he’s, Chris LaCivita Organizations: Mr, Trump, New York Times, The New York, “ Locations: Florida

☆ Biden Called Putin a ‘Crazy S.O.B.’ The Kremlin Called Biden a ‘Cowboy.’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | More About Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a television interview, Mr. Putin said he thought he knew why Mr. Biden had lashed out. Mr. Putin said he believed Mr. Biden’s remark was a result of that endorsement. “If I stood here 10 to 15 years ago and said all this, you’d all think I should be committed,” Mr. Biden said. He added that Mr. Trump has been terrible for the Republican Party. That seems to be lost with some of the things this fellow has been saying,” Mr. Biden said of Mr. Trump.

Persons: Putin, Mr, Biden, Biden’s, “, ” Mr, Vladimir, Donald J, Trump, Aleksei A, they’ve Organizations: Republican Party, Mr Locations: U.S, In California, Russian, American

☆ Biden Cancels $1.2 Billion in Student Loan Debt for 150,000 Borrowers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | More About Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden announced the cancellation of an additional $1.2 billion in student loan debt for about 153,000 borrowers on Wednesday, his latest effort at student debt relief after the Supreme Court blocked a more sprawling plan last year. Mr. Biden has now canceled $138 billion of student debt for almost 3.9 million borrowers through about two dozen executive actions, according to the White House. Wednesday’s action comes as some Democrats have pleaded for Mr. Biden to highlight his success in relieving debt to galvanize crucial constituencies, including young voters and Black borrowers who disproportionately shoulder student loan debt. Since the Supreme Court blocked Mr. Biden’s ambitious plan to cancel $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million borrowers, the White House has tapped into various smaller programs to forgive debt for specific groups. The administration is making efforts to ensure Mr. Biden receives credit for the cancellation, with the affected borrowers set to receive an email from Mr. Biden on Wednesday informing them that their debt will be erased this week.

Persons: Biden, Mr Organizations: White

President Biden is considering executive action that could prevent people who cross illegally into the United States from claiming asylum, several people with knowledge of the proposal said Wednesday. The move would suspend longtime guarantees that give anyone who steps onto U.S. soil the right to ask for safe haven. The order would put into effect a key policy in a bipartisan bill that Republicans thwarted earlier this month, even though it had some of the most significant border security restrictions Congress has contemplated in years. The action under consideration by the White House would have a similar trigger for blocking asylum to new entrants, the people with knowledge of the proposal say. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Republicans Locations: United States

☆ Biden Heads to California to Add to His $42 Million Haul in January
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Michael D. Shear | Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden is headed to California on Tuesday for a series of campaign fund-raisers in some of the wealthiest parts of the country as he seeks to add to the $42 million he raised for his re-election campaign in January. Mr. Biden’s ability to raise cash — his campaign reported having $130 million in the bank over the weekend — has been a bright spot amid bleak polling numbers that show his popularity has sunk to near the lowest point in his presidency. Campaign advisers say the numbers will rebound once the president’s team has had the opportunity to contrast his record with that of former President Donald J. Trump, who is widely expected to be the Republican nominee. The campaign’s success in raising money will determine how effectively the president can deliver that message to voters. In a statement released over the weekend, a spokesman for the Biden campaign said that more than 422,000 donors gave money in January, and that nearly 97 percent of the donations since Mr. Biden announced his candidacy had been under $200 each.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Mr, Republican Locations: California

☆ Biden Cautions Netanyahu on Ground Offensive in Southern Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday that a ground offensive in southern Gaza should not proceed without a plan to protect the more than 1.4 million Palestinians clustered there, the latest sign of frustration by the White House over rising civilian deaths from Israel’s military assault. During the call on Sunday, according to a description from the White House, the two leaders also discussed ongoing negotiations with Hamas to release Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for a cease-fire and the release of Palestinians being held in Israeli jails. Last week, Mr. Netanyahu bluntly rejected as “ludicrous” a response from Hamas in the negotiations that called for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of more than 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza. But both American and Israeli officials have said subsequently that there is still room for compromise in the negotiations. A senior administration official who spoke about Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu’s call on the condition of anonymity expressed optimism about the state of the talks, adding that they would continue over the next week to address “significant gaps” between the two sides.

Persons: Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s Organizations: Israel, White Locations: Gaza

☆ Special Counsel Report ‘Went Off the Rails,’ Biden’s Lawyer Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

White House officials and Democrats fanned out to defend President Biden’s mental fitness on Sunday, reflecting the rising anxiety in the president’s administration over a special counsel report that fueled concern about his age. “This is a report that went off the rails,” Bob Bauer, Mr. Biden’s personal lawyer, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “A shabby work product.”The report, released on Thursday, cleared Mr. Biden of criminal wrongdoing in his handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency. But the special counsel in the case, Robert K. Hur, characterized Mr. Biden, 81, as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who had “diminished faculties in advancing age.”Democrats have gone on the offensive to discredit what they say is a partisan hit that potentially violated Justice Department policy, specifically taking issue with the descriptions questioning Mr. Biden’s memory.

Persons: Bob Bauer, ”, Biden, Robert K, Hur, Mr Organizations: White, Mr, Democrats, Department

☆ Harris Calls Special Counsel Report on Biden ‘Clearly Politically Motivated’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | More About Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Vice President Kamala Harris pushed back forcefully on Friday against a special counsel report that questioned President Biden’s memory, describing it as “politically motivated.”“The way the president’s demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated,” Ms. Harris said in response to questions from reporters at the White House. She also said Mr. Biden had sat down for in-person interviews with the special counsel’s office just a day after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. “It was an intense moment for the commander in chief of the United States of America,” Ms. Harris said. “He was in front of it all, coordinating and directing leaders who are in charge of America’s national security.”

Persons: Kamala Harris, ”, Ms, Harris, Biden, “ Organizations: White Locations: Israel, United States of America

☆ 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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, dashing hopes that a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip might be close, on Wednesday spurned a proposal from Hamas and said that Israel had directed its forces to prepare to operate in a Gazan city that has become a refuge for more than one million Palestinians. His comments came a day after Hamas delivered a plan to mediators that called for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, abide by a long-term cease-fire and free Palestinians held in Israeli jails in exchange for the release of Israelis being held hostage in Gaza. “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 at a news conference in Jerusalem. Word that Israel was preparing a possible expansion of its operation came as American officials said they had killed a senior leader of an Iraqi-based militia they blame for recent attacks on American military personnel. The Pentagon said that a strike in Iraq had killed a commander of Kata’ib Hezbollah, the militia they say was responsible for a drone attack in Jordan last month that killed three American service members and injured more than 40.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, we’ve, —, ” Mr, Netanyahu, Antony J, Blinken, Kata’ib Organizations: Hamas, Mr, Pentagon, Kata’ib Hezbollah Locations: Gaza, Israel, Jerusalem, ”, Rafah, Egypt, Iraqi, Iraq, Jordan

We don’t have enough judges,” Mr. Biden said on Monday. “Why won’t they give me the help?”A Senate bill introduced over the weekend tries to do just that. But Mr. Biden lifted Title 42 after the pandemic receded, and the legal pathway for using it again would be uncertain without an ongoing public health crisis. Immigration experts said that Mr. Biden probably could have taken some steps without the legislation. Mr. Biden could have done that without the legislation.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, ” Mr, ”, Ben Johnson, John Moore, Mike Johnson, Mr, Johnson, Biden’s, Trump’s Organizations: House Republicans, United, American Immigration Lawyers Association, “, Migrants, El Paso . Credit Locations: United States, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, El Paso .

☆ Mideast Crisis Blinken Takes Bid to Avoid Wider War to Qatar and Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | Erin Mendell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

At the U.N. Security Council on Monday, China’s ambassador, Zhang Jun, broadly accused the United States of using excessive force around the world and manipulating public opinion about its intentions. The Security Council has frequently been a platform for U.S. and Russia’s spats over Ukraine, Syria and, most recently, the war in Gaza. “Iran has never sought to bring its dispute with the United States into Iraq’s territory,” Mr. Iravani told the Council, reiterating Iran’s stance that it does not seek a war with the United States. Algeria, the only Arab member of the Council, has drafted a new resolution calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. The attacks killed 1,200 people and led to the abduction to Gaza of 240 others, Israeli officials said.

Persons: Zhang Jun, Vladimir V, Putin, Russia’s, Vasily Nebenzya, Biden, Nebenzya, “, ” Robert Wood, Mr . Wood, ”, Saeid Iravani, Mr, Iravani, Rosemary DiCarlo Organizations: . Security, United Nations Security, Security, Pentagon, Israel Locations: United States, Russia, China, Iraq, Syria, East, U.S, Ukraine, Gaza . China, Iran, The U.S, Israel, Gaza, Jordan, Middle East, America, Red, Tehran, Algeria

But no deal has been struck, and it is not clear how Israel will respond to Hamas’s counterproposal. “The reply includes some comments, but in general it is positive,” he said. He declined to offer further details, but said the counteroffer had been delivered to Israeli officials. “We are optimistic,” Sheikh Mohammed said. Mr. Blinken said that he planned to discuss Hamas’s response with Israeli leaders on Wednesday.

Persons: Hamas’s, Israel, Antony J, Blinken, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, ”, ” Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, Abdel Fattah el Locations: Gaza, U.S, Israel, Rafah, Egypt, Doha, Thani, Qatar, Cairo

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken began a diplomatic push in the Middle East on Monday for a deal that would pause the war in the Gaza Strip and release the hostages there, even as a drone struck a military base used by American troops and allied forces in eastern Syria. Mr. Blinken, making his fifth trip to the region since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, met in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the first stop on a trip that will also include meetings in Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank. Speaking with the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Mr. Blinken “underscored the importance of addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza and preventing further spread of the conflict,” the State Department said. It added that they discussed “an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza that provides lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Mohammed bin Salman, Blinken “, ” Organizations: West Bank, State Department Locations: Gaza, Syria, Israel, Riyadh, Saudi, Egypt, Qatar

On President Biden’s first day in office, he paused nearly all deportations. He vowed to end the harsh practices of the Trump administration, show compassion toward those wishing to come to the United States and secure the southern border. He wanted to show the world that the United States was a humane nation, while also demonstrating to his fellow citizens that government could work again. But those early promises have largely been set aside as chaos engulfs the border and imperils Mr. Biden’s re-election hopes. The number of people crossing into the United States has reached record levels, more than double than in the Trump years.

Persons: Biden’s, Trump, Biden Organizations: Trump Locations: United States

☆ In South Carolina, Biden Tries to Persuade Black Voters to Reject Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hoping to revitalize the momentum that propelled him to the White House, President Biden told a largely Black audience on Saturday night that “you’re the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former president,” in what was effectively his first appearance related to the Democratic primaries. Mr. Biden made clear in his remarks at a South Carolina Democratic Party dinner in Columbia, S.C., that he viewed the forthcoming week as not just a contest but a pivotal moment to energize a frustrated base of Black voters across the nation. And in the run-up to the state’s Feb. 3 Democratic presidential primary, which the party’s national committee selected last year to be the first in the nation, Democrats believe they have entered an opportune time. “He has made it known what he’s going to do if he gets back into office,” Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, said of Mr. Trump in an interview. “And to see that blooming as a possibility and see him running as well as he is in the polls, I’m concerned about it.”

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Donald J, Biden’s, James E, Clyburn, Trump, I’m, ” Organizations: White, Democratic, South Carolina Democratic Party, Trump, New, Republican, Democrat, Mr Locations: Columbia, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina

The soaring number of people crossing into the United States from Mexico has been a political vulnerability for President Biden for the past three years, chipping away at his approval rating and opening him up to political attacks. But now, the crisis is threatening to upend America’s support for the war in Ukraine, throwing the centerpiece of Mr. Biden’s foreign policy into jeopardy. After a meeting with Mr. Biden at the White House on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson insisted that the Republican-led House would not pass legislation to send aid to Ukraine unless Democrats agreed to sweeping new restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border. And even if the two sides do come to some sort of agreement, many Republicans, especially in the House, would be loath to give an election-year win to Mr. Biden on an issue that has given them a powerful line of criticism toward the White House. The issue is also at the center of the candidacy of Mr. Biden’s likely opponent this fall, former President Donald J. Trump.

Persons: Biden, Mike Johnson, Biden’s, Donald J, Trump Organizations: White, Republican, Mr Locations: United States, Mexico, Ukraine, U.S

Below the shattered windows of the high-rise hotels in downtown Acapulco, people walk alongside towering hills of garbage bags filled with rotting food and debris, from mattresses to Christmas decorations. Volunteer firefighters from distant states clear the waste, wiping away swarms of cockroaches from their arms. Miles from the coastal beachside resorts, Elizabeth Del Valle, 43, listened as her teenage daughter Constanza Sotelo, described the “mountains of trash” still blocking many streets surrounding their home. “We have no way to find face masks to keep ourselves healthy,” said Ms. Del Valle. “We expect that we’re going to get an infection from the smell, from the garbage.”Weeks after Hurricane Otis shocked forecasters and government officials by intensifying rapidly into the strongest storm to hit Mexico’s Pacific Coast and devastate much of Acapulco, residents say they now face an unfolding public health disaster.

Persons: Miles, Elizabeth Del Valle, Constanza Sotelo, ”, Del, “, Hurricane Otis Locations: Acapulco, Del Valle, Coast

☆ Las tripulaciones de los yates de Acapulco se hundieron con sus barcos
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | Emiliano Rodríguez Mega | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Damaged boats washed onto the shore this month in Acapulco, Mexico. Credit... Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters

Persons: Jose Luis Gonzalez Organizations: Reuters Locations: Acapulco, Mexico

On the night Hurricane Otis barreled into Acapulco, Mexico, Saúl Parra Morales received a video that only hours before would have seemed unbelievable. For days, forecasters had predicted little more than a tropical storm. But Mr. Parra Morales watched in horror as his brother filmed the deafening gusts of wind and waves cracking against the deck of the Litos, the yacht where he worked and that proved no match for what became the most powerful storm to hit Mexico’s Pacific Coast. “This is getting more intense,” Mr. Parra Morales’s brother, Fernando Esteban Parra Morales, said in the video. “We are nervous, but we are safe.”

Persons: Saúl Parra Morales, Parra Morales, Mr, Parra Morales’s, Fernando Esteban Parra Morales Locations: Acapulco, Mexico, Coast

Miranda Villasmil guided her daughter and son past hundreds of huddled migrants, many still muddied and swollen from their trek here to Costa Rica from South America. The family of three carried just two grocery bags of their belongings from their past lives in Venezuela. When they reached the row of shuttle buses that would carry them to the Nicaraguan border, Ms. Villasmil was so overwhelmed with relief that she texted her relatives back home who were also considering fleeing. The Costa Rican government, she wrote them, was willing to provide “safe passage.”“We move forward,” Ms. Villasmil told her family in Venezuela. Ms. Villasmil is one of thousands of migrants taking advantage of new busing programs adopted by Costa Rica and other Central American countries trying to contend with a historic tide of migration passing through their borders.

Persons: Miranda Villasmil, Villasmil, ”, Ms Organizations: Costa, Central Locations: Costa Rica, South America, Venezuela, Nicaraguan, Costa Rican, Panama, Costa Rica’s

The tourists were bused out of Acapulco to find relief as far away as Mexico’s capital. But thousands of residents were left behind to deal with the chaos and destruction of Hurricane Otis, which had turned their paradise into a wasteland. Three days after the Category 5 storm came ashore in Mexico, residents on Saturday were navigating streets coated in broken glass, uprooted trees and fallen telephone poles. People throughout Acapulco were searching ransacked stores for water and other sustenance. Others were using amateur radio to try to find loved ones.

Persons: Hurricane Otis, “, ”, Roberto Alvarado Locations: Acapulco, Hurricane, Mexico

☆ After Hurricane Otis, Mexican Officials Race to Assess the Damage
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Zolan Kanno-Youngs | More About Zolan Kanno-Youngs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mexican officials have been working since Wednesday to restore communication and power to the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca after Otis, which made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, cut off power for more than half a million residents, battered hotels and ripped the roofs from buildings. Authorities were particularly concerned about Acapulco, a Pacific Coast port city of more than 852,000 people that was in the direct path of Otis. The city, in Guerrero State, was hosting an international mining industry convention when the storm hit; additionally, many hotels were packed with tourists. People stuck there posted videos on social media showing ravaged hotel rooms, doors ripped from hinges and collapsed ceilings. With the region effectively cut off from the outside world, the extent of possible injuries and deaths was still unclear.

Persons: Otis Organizations: Otis Locations: Mexico, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Acapulco, Pacific Coast, Guerrero State

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