International
Biden’s inner circle, key in the political future of the Democrats
In the midst of the political crisis unleashed by the poor performance of President Joe Biden in last week’s presidential debate, Washington’s attention is focused on the president’s inner circle, which can push the president to withdraw or an uncertain recovery towards electoral victory.
A handful of advisers and relatives are the people who have the most access to the president and to whom the 81-year-old president truly listens, according to US media.
The president’s wife, one of his sisters and his son are the members of the Biden family on whom the Democrat relies the most. The first lady, according to sources consulted by EFE, has reinforced her role as an “anchor” of the president, encouring him to continue his re-election campaign despite criticism for his performance in the debate.
Despite the voices of the Democratic Party and the media asking her to retire, Jill is “fully convinced” that her husband can beat Trump and, in fact, if she couldn’t, she would be the first to tell her, sources close to the campaign told EFE.
According to Jill herself at a fundraising event the day after the debate, Biden approached him after concluding the meeting with Trump to confess that “he didn’t feel well,” to which she replied she replied “we are not going to allow 90 minutes to define the four years in which you have been president.”
The president’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens, is the one who has led most of his campaigns since he began his political career in 1970 until he decided to run for president in 2020.
On a personal level, she supported Biden when his wife and daughter died in a car accident in 1972, helping him raise his children.
According to the Political portal, Valerie has also defended her brother’s permanence in the presidential race, but has expressed concern about the impact it could have on her brother’s health and his legacy.
For his part, his son Hunter, a controversial figure over the trials against him for illegal possession of weapons and his fight for drug addiction, has redoubled his presence in the president’s life since the presidential debate.
Biden’s son has been present even at White House meetings, and along with Jill, he fervently supports his father’s decision to stay in the presidential race.
The president’s main political adviser and one of his closest allies. He was part of his team in Biden’s campaign for the Senate in 1972 and, since then, he has become a key piece in the Democratic environment.
Kaufman, 85, replaced Biden in his Senate post with the state of Delaware when the president assumed the position of vice president in 2008.
Biden’s sister, Valerie, describes it in her autobiographical book as the president’s “compass”: “Joe has said for a long time that Ted Kaufman is the wisest man he knows.”
He was chief of staff of the White House until February 2023 and currently works as legal director of the technology company Airbnb.
He has known Biden since the Democrat was in the Senate and was part of his first presidential campaign in 1987. He has an extensive career as an advisor to figures of the “blue” party, he worked as a counselor for Al Gore in 2000 and also for Hilary Clinton’s campaign in 2015.
She was one of the people, along with the current presidential counselor Anita Dunn and political strategist Mike Donilon, who helped prepare Biden for the debate.
He is a lawyer and one of Biden’s closest political advisors and strategists. He has worked for the president since 1982, when he was in the Senate, going through the position of number 2 in the Obama administration and during the 2020 presidential campaign.
He is one of the people in charge of the president’s public speeches and deveived the political message of the first race against Trump, focused on the defense of democracy.
According to The New York Times, almost “all” the important decisions of the White House go through Donilon’s filter and together with Dunn and Kaufam, he prepared the president for days in his residence in Camp David for the debate.
International
Police investigate deaths of Rob Reiner and wife as apparent homicide
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reinerand his wife as an “apparent homicide,” amid a wave of tributes to the director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally.
According to U.S. media reports on Sunday, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles mansion with what appeared to be stab wounds.
Several political figures shared messages of condolence following the reported deaths of the director of A Few Good Menand his wife.
While the LAPD did not officially confirm the identities of the victims, it stated that homicide detectives were dispatched to the Reiner residence.
“At this time, no additional details are available and the investigation into an apparent homicide is ongoing,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that no arrests have been made and that no individuals are currently being questioned as suspects.
“I’m not going to confirm whether anyone is being questioned at this moment or not. We are going to try to speak with as many family members as we can,” Hamilton said.
CNN reported that a family spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Reiner and his wife.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harrisissued statements expressing their condolences.
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.
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