WORLD BRIEFING: March 8, 2024
President Biden used his State of the Union address on Thursday to launch a series of fiery attacks against former President Donald Trump, a competitor whom he did not mention by name but made clear was a dire threat to American democracy and stability in the world. In a televised speech to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Biden brought the energy his allies and aides had hoped he would display to warn of what could happen should Ukraine continue to lose ground to Russia. Invoking an overseas war at the top of his address was an unusual introduction to a speech that was in many ways a political argument for his re-election. “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today,” Mr. Biden said, raising his voice to a shout. “What makes our moment rare is the freedom of democracy, under attack both at home and overseas.” Mr. Biden’s speech had to accomplish several goals at once, including taking credit for an economy that has outperformed expectations but whose effects many Americans say they cannot feel. In a speech that ran for an over hour, he ran through a lengthy list of issues, including immigration, abortion, prescription drug costs and the war in Gaza - NYT
Biden started his State of the Union speech with a strident demand for the House to lift its hold on his $60 billion arms package for Ukraine, which Trump opposes, portraying it as vital to continued American strength in the world. He contrasted Trump with former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s thundering call on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall. “My predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, ‘Do whatever the Hell you want,’” Biden said, drawing boos from Democrats on the House floor. “That’s a quote. A former president actually said that bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it’s outrageous, it’s dangerous and it’s unacceptable.” “We will not bow down. I will not bow down,” Biden said. “History is watching.” Biden also accused Trump of going soft on President Xi Jinping’s China, saying he had taken steps to bolster regional alliances to meet its threat and to protect US technology from being used in the country. “For all his tough talk on China, it never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that.” - CNN
President Volodymyr Zelensky had appointed Valery Zaluzhny as his new ambassador to Britain, just a month after he removed him from his post as the country’s top general amid tensions between the military and civilian leadership. “Gen. Valery Zaluzhny told me that this is the direction he would like to take — diplomacy,” Mr. Zelensky said in a video statement, adding that Ukraine’s “alliance with Britain should only get stronger” with this appointment. Thursday’s announcement ended weeks of speculation about the fate of General Zaluzhny, whose relationship with Mr. Zelensky had become strained. His dismissal from the army command was seen as the result of Mr. Zelensky’s frustration at the failure of Ukraine’s counteroffensive last summer, but also possibly the product of his fears that the general, a very popular figure in Ukraine, might become a political opponent in the future. In Britain, General Zaluzhny will occupy an influential position that has been vacant since the summer, but one distant from Ukraine’s military and political decision-making. One of his missions will be to shore up support for the Ukrainian war effort among European countries as sustained American military aid is in doubt. Though General Zaluzhny has never publicly expressed a desire to enter politics, political analysts on Thursday interpreted his new appointment as a possible maneuver by Mr. Zelensky to distance him from domestic affairs. “That’s a political move,” said Mykola Davydiuk, a Ukrainian political analyst. “For Zelensky, the motivation is to block him in the media, that he disappears from here, that he’s no longer active.” - NYT
President Emmanuel Macron said France would not rule out any option to support Ukraine two years into Russia's invasion, according to the leaders of several major French political parties. Speaking after the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, the party chiefs said the talks with Macron left them concerned. Some accused him of using the conflict to boost his coalition's standing ahead of crucial European elections this summer. The president last week stunned many in Europe by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine, pointing to Russia's hardening stance. Earlier this week Macron urged Ukraine's allies not to be "cowards" in supporting the ex-Soviet country to fight off the Russian invasion. Some party leaders on Thursday said Macron advocated a "no limits" approach to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin. Weighing in from Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Macron "continues to raise the level of France's direct involvement" in the Ukraine war - France 24
The planet has experienced its ninth consecutive month of record-breaking warmth, with a simmering February rounding out the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest meteorological winter on record, international climate officials announced this week. The global surface temperature in February was 56.4 degrees — about 0.2 degrees warmer than the previous February record set in 2016, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. “February joins the long streak of records of the last few months,” read a statement from Carlo Buontempo, the agency’s director. “As remarkable as this might appear, it is not really surprising as the continuous warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes.” - LA Times
A Hamas delegation has left Cairo after days of talks, with no obvious breakthrough in negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire in exchange for hostage releases. A deal appears unlikely to happen by the start of Ramadan, which the Biden administration had been aiming for, according to sources. Meanwhile, at least 20 people, including children, have died in Gaza due to malnutrition and dehydration since the war began, according to the health ministry in the strip. Gazans told CNN their children are starving to death and mothers cannot breastfeed their babies - CNN
Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy and delivered a stern warning for Washington to stay out of Russia's internal affairs ahead of a presidential election widely expected to hand incumbent Vladimir Putin another term in office given the absence of opposition candidates on the ballot. The ministry informed Tracy on March 7 that three U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) -- American Councils for International Education, Cultural Perspectives, and the Institute of International Education -- had been labeled "undesirable organizations" and demanded the embassy "stop any collaboration" with them. The ministry accused the NGOs of running "anti-Russian programs and projects aimed at recruiting 'agents of influence' under the guise of educational and cultural exchanges" and any further cooperation with the embassy "would be considered a violation of Russian law." - RFE/RL
China and the Philippines will remain at loggerheads over the disputed South China Sea as both sides double down on their positions in the strategically important waterway, observers have said. But they also expect China to play the long game, to wear out Manila as Beijing seeks to avoid a wider regional conflict that might draw in the US, a Philippine treaty ally. Beijing has warned against escalations in the South China Sea, where a collision between Chinese and Philippine coastguard vessels has triggered fears that any misstep could spark a wider crisis. China will “legitimately defend” its rights in the South China Sea, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual National People’s Congress legislative meetings on Thursday. “Abusing good faith should not be allowed. Distorting maritime laws cannot be accepted in the face of deliberate infringements,” he said. “We will take justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law in face of unwarranted provocation; we will respond with prompt and legitimate countermeasures.” He also took a swipe at the Philippines and the United States for the spike in tensions over maritime disputes. “We also urge certain countries outside the region not to make provocations, pick sides or stir up troubles and problems in the South China Sea,” Wang said - SCMP
The US government is spending nearly $1 million a month to maintain a luxury superyacht seized from a sanctioned Russian oligarch as part of the Justice Department’s effort to put pressure on the Kremlin. The 348-foot Amadea was one of the first trophies prosecutors claimed as part of a task force effort to hold Russians friendly to the Kremlin accountable. The superyacht was seized while docked in a port in Fiji in 2022 by local law enforcement officials and the FBI. US prosecutors allege its owner, Suleiman Kerimov, who made his fortune in gold, violated US sanctions by using the US banking system to cover expenses for the vessel. The yacht has been docked in San Diego. Now, federal prosecutors have asked a judge for permission to sell the vessel saying its expenses are excessive and has cost the government about $20 million, according to recent court filings. A recent appraisal values it at $230 million, according to the US Marshals Service - CNN
