International
Biden: “Our commitment to Israel’s security is armored”

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, said on Wednesday that his country’s commitment to Israel’s security in the face of Iran’s threats “is armored.”
“As I have told Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against the threats of Iran and its allied groups is armored,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“I say it again: armored. We are going to do everything we can to protect Israel’s security,” he added, referring to the threats made by Iran after Israel bombed its embassy in Damascus.
Biden and Kishida spoke at a meeting about the security of Israel but also about the war in the Gaza Strip, where both support the proposal for a truce that will alleviate the humanitarian crisis and the release of hostages from Hamas.
In addition, the US president again referred to the possibility of the United States changing its position regarding that conflict, just as Biden warned Netanyahu that it could happen if Israel continued with its current strategy.
“We will see what (Netanyahu) does in terms of fulfilling the commitments he made with me,” Biden said.
For his part, moments earlier, former US president and Republican pre-candidate Donald Trump (2017-2021) affirmed that Joe Biden has “totally” lost control of the Israeli situation.
“He has abandoned Israel, he has totally abandoned Israel,” he told the press upon his arrival in Atlanta (Georgia), where he is planning a fundraising act.
Trump considered that Biden “has no idea where he is or who he supports,” he considered that he is a person “with little intellectual capacity” and maintained that “any Jew who votes for a Democrat or votes for Biden should have his head examined.”
This same Wednesday, in the White House, Biden said that he is still negotiating a possible ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas.
The day before, in an interview with Univision, the US president criticized the way of acting of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Gaza in response to the attacks in Hamas on October 7, which has led to the occupation by force of almost the entire enclave, the destruction of homes and the death of more than 33,400 civilians.
“I think what you’re doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his way of doing things,” he told the Latin American media.
Biden said in that intervention that what he requested “simply” is a ceasefire, that the Israelis allow access for the next six or eight weeks of food and medicine.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide

COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
“This is the most comprehensive analysis to date, based on global data and fewer assumptions about the evolution of the pandemic,” explained Boccia and researcher Angelo Maria Pezzullo.
International
Trump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump criticized a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that reinstated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, stressing that the immigration program was never intended to serve as a “de facto asylum system.”
On Thursday, Judge Trina Thompson extended protections for about 7,000 Nepalese immigrants, whose TPS was set to expire on August 5. The ruling also impacts roughly 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans, whose TPS protections were scheduled to end on September 8.
Immigrants covered by TPS had sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alleging that the program’s termination was driven by “racial animus” and stripped them of protection from deportation.
DHS Deputy Undersecretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement saying the decision to end TPS was part of a mandate to “restore the integrity” of the immigration system and return the program to its original purpose.
“TPS was never conceived as a de facto asylum system; however, that is how previous administrations have used it for decades,” McLaughlin emphasized.
She also criticized Judge Thompson, calling the ruling “another example” of judges “stirring up claims of racism to distract from the facts.”
McLaughlin added that DHS would appeal the decision and take the legal battle to higher courts.
The Trump administration has also terminated TPS protections for approximately 160,000 Ukrainians, 350,000 Venezuelans, and at least half a million Haitians, among other immigrant groups.
International
Trump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028

The U.S. government under President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it will begin construction in September on a new 8,000-square-meter ballroom at the White House.
The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
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