Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has suggested that United States forces “need to align” with non-European countries including Russia to enhance global security, a remark that comes amid the Biden administration’s approval for millions more in military aid to assist Ukraine in fending off Russia’s invasion. Haley's response came Wednesday to a question from a WMUR-TV reporter on regions of the world to which she felt the U.S. could pay more attention. A campaign spokesman said Haley misspoke. The U.S. has been upping its military aid to Ukraine as Russia’s invasion enters its 16th month. In late May, President Joe Biden approved a new aid package that totals up to $300 million.
The Associated Press has obtained more than 4,000 pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide from the federal Bureau of Prisons under the Freedom of Information Act. They include a detailed psychological reconstruction of the events leading to Epstein’s suicide, as well as his health history, internal agency reports, emails and memos and other records. The documents obtained Thursday provide the most complete accounting of Epstein’s detention and death, and its chaotic aftermath. The records help to dispel the many conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s suicide, underscoring how fundamental failings at the Bureau of Prisons including severe staffing shortages and employees cutting corners contributed to Epstein’s death.
An internal investigation finds that Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of an 8-year-old girl with a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder before died on her ninth day in custody. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said the Panamanian child’s parents shared the medical history with authorities after being taken into her custody. But CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility says in a statement released Thursday that a nurse practitioner declined to review documents about the girl the day she died and denied requests for an ambulance.
A federal judge overseeing the First Amendment lawsuit that Walt Disney Parks filed against Gov. Ron DeSantis and others is disqualifying himself, but not because of bias claims made by the Florida governor. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said in a court filing Thursday that it was because a relative owns 30 shares of Disney stock. Walker described the person as “a third-degree relative,” which typically means a cousin, a great-aunt or great-uncle, or a great-niece or great-nephew. Disney filed the First Amendment lawsuit against the Florida governor and a DeSantis-appointed board in federal court in Tallahassee after they took over Disney World's governing board.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is nothing if not a political survivor. Underestimated from the start, the Republican was never taken too seriously by the Washington establishment. But with House passage of the debt ceiling and budget deal he negotiated with President Joe Biden, the emergent speaker proved the naysayers otherwise. McCarthy pushed a reluctant White House to the negotiating table and delivered the votes from his balky House GOP majority to seal the deal. While hard-right conservatives are still reviving calls for McCarthy’s ouster, complaining the deal he struck did not go far enough to cut spending, they are lacking the numbers, at least for now, to remove him from office.