International
The US Congress forces Biden to send a shipment of weapons to Israel
The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Thursday a bill that forces the White House to send to Israel the shipment of weapons that Joe Biden’s government paralyzed last week.
The bill was approved with 224 votes in favor and 187 against. Sixteen Democratic congressmen supported the bill that seeks to override Biden’s criteria despite the fact that the party’s leadership had promoted the contrary vote.
Biden has already announced that in the event that the text goes beyond the legislative procedure – which also requires the approval of the Senate, with a Democratic majority – he will use his veto power to stop it.
“We strongly oppose attempts to restrict the president’s ability to deploy U.S. security assistance in accordance with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives,” the White House said.
It is most likely that Biden will not have to use that power since the leader of the majority in the Senate, Democrat Chuck Schumer, said that he has no intention of submitting the text to a vote.
In a press conference before the vote, the president of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, said that “it is clear that Biden and Schumer have turned their backs on Israel.”
“We want the president to hear this loud and clear: This is a catastrophic decision with global implications. Obviously, it is being done by political calculations,” Johnson said, accusing Biden of “defying the will of Congress.”
The Republicans, who control the Lower House, presented this project after it was known last week that the White House had stopped a shipment of weapons to Israel in order to avoid a military incursion into the enclave of Rafah.
The retained shipment consists of 3,500 bombs, mostly 2,000 pounds (907 kilos) and great destructive power. In an interview after the announcement, Biden admitted that civilians have died in Gaza as a result of the use of American weapons.
The measure was highly criticized by Republicans, questioning Biden’s commitment to Israel, but also by sectors of the Democratic Party aligned with the Israeli state.
In addition to forcing the Government to “promptly” deliver the weapons to Israel, the bill approved in the Lower House also provides for freezing the budgets of the Pentagon, the State Department or the National Security Council until the shipment becomes effective.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
International
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
The Colombian government stated on Thursday that it would have no reason to reject a potential asylum request from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should he leave office, as regional tensions persist over the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean since August.
“In the current climate of tension, negotiations are necessary, and if the United States demands a transition or political change, that is something to be assessed. If such a transition results in him (Maduro) needing to live elsewhere or seek protection, Colombia would have no reason to deny it,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio in an interview with Caracol Radio.
However, Villavicencio noted that it is unlikely Maduro would choose Colombia as a refuge. “I believe he would opt for someplace more distant and calmer,” she added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also commented on Venezuela’s situation on Wednesday, arguing that the country needs a “democratic revolution” rather than “inefficient repression.” His remarks followed the recent detention and passport cancellation of Cardinal Baltazar Porras at the Caracas airport.
“The Maduro government must understand that responding to external aggression requires more than military preparations; it requires a democratic revolution. A country is defended with more democracy, not more inefficient repression,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), in a rare public criticism of the Venezuelan leader.
Petro also called for a general amnesty for political opponents and reiterated his call for forming a broad transitional government to address Venezuela’s prolonged crisis.
Since September, U.S. military forces have destroyed more than 20 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela and Colombia, resulting in over 80 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that attacks “inside Venezuela” will begin “soon,” while Maduro has urged Venezuelans to prepare for what he describes as an impending external aggression.
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U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
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