News of the World

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Biden to ‘Engage with China,’ Seeks Meeting with Xi on Chinese Spy Balloon

U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking a meeting with Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping to discuss developments related to the United States’ shooting down a Chinese spy balloon earlier this month, and to pursue regular relations with China.
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“I expect to be speaking with President Xi, and I hope we are going to get to the bottom of this,” Biden said during a Feb. 16 press conference.

“But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.”
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“This episode underscores the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between our diplomats and our military professionals,” Biden said.

“Our diplomats will be engaging further, and I will remain in communication with President Xi.”

To that end, Biden said that the United States was continuing with efforts to engage China and seek normal relations between the two countries.

Thus far, the Biden administration has adopted a relatively mild response for the violation of U.S. airspace, opting to sanction six entities related to China’s military spy balloon program.

China, likewise, has issued largely symbolic sanctions on the United States’ two largest defense manufacturers, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
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Despite this, Biden underscored, the administration still does not believe it is in a cold war with the CCP.

 Why do I get the feeling that the very first thing Biden will do is to apologize for shooting down the spy balloon near the coast of North Carolina?

Air India’s Purchase of 200 Boeings Will Create Over a Million US Jobs: Biden

Air India has struck a deal with Boeing to purchase 200 aircraft. The purchase is expected to support more than a million jobs across 44 states and strengthen U.S.–India relations, according to President Joe Biden.

“The United States can and will lead the world in manufacturing,” said Biden in a statement on Feb. 14. The first of the new aircraft is expected to enter service by the end of this year, while the bulk of the order will arrive from mid-2025 onwards, according to an Air India press release (pdf).

Biden said many of the jobs created will not require a four-year college degree. He expressed pride in the deal, which he said reflects the strength of the U.S.–India economic partnership.

“Together with Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi, I look forward to deepening our partnership even further as we continue to confront shared global challenges—creating a more secure and prosperous future for all of our citizens,” the President said.

Modi’s office described the deal as a “shining example of mutually beneficial cooperation” that will help create new employment opportunities in India as well.

Sanders to Introduce Legislation Mandating Minimum $60K Pay for Teachers

Amid controversy over woke agendas and declining test scores, a call for higher salaries for America’s public school teachers has gained bipartisan support.

In revisiting an idea first introduced last year by Democrats, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has re-proposed tripling federal funding of teachers’ paychecks that would guarantee them a minimum annual salary of $60,000.

Sanders, who recently assumed command over the influential Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, wants to secure the increased funding under legislation called the Teacher Pay Act that he says he intends to introduce.

He proposes raising the funds for the guaranteed wage threshold by increasing the estate tax on America’s wealthiest taxpayers.
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Sanders, who introduced the idea back in 2019, resurrected it following President Joe Biden’s call for higher teacher wages in his Feb. 7 State of the Union Address.

While Republicans have been reluctant to support federal legislation to set minimum salary standards for teachers, at the state level GOP governors have already enacted similar policies to the one proposed by Sanders.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves are among several Republican state leaders who have already signed into law minimum starting pay for teachers after Biden’s union address.

 You know, the wealthiest guys aren't gonna pay those taxes. Politicians will make sure the average joe does instead.

Nikki Haley Announces 2024 Presidential Bid

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday issued a video statement in which she officially threw her hat in the ring for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, becoming the first major challenger to former President Donald Trump.

“I’m Nikki Haley and I’m running for president,” Haley said in the video, which she shared on social media and on her newly launched campaign page.

Haley, who served as Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, plans to lay out her campaign plans in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday.
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“China and Russia are on the march. They all think we can be bullied, kicked. You should know this about me: I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels,” she said.

“In China, they commit genocide,” she said, while in Iran “they murder their own people for challenging the government.”

“It puts things into perspective,” she continued. “Even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.”

Haley in May 2022 said that the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council must investigate the Chinese “genocide” of minorities, otherwise a planned visit by the U.N. Human Rights commissioner to the country would be just “one more Chinese publicity stunt.”

The Chinese regime has been accused of committing atrocities in Xinjiang.

EPA Chief: Norfolk Southern Will ‘Absolutely’ Be Held Accountable for Ohio Chemical Spill

Nearly two weeks after the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, leaked hazardous chemicals into the surrounding city, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan promised residents that the railway company would “absolutely” be held accountable.
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“We will be here as long as it takes to ensure the health and safety of the community,” he added.

In the wake of the Feb. 3 derailment, many East Palestine residents—of which there are more than 4,700—have reported mysterious animal illnesses and deaths and strange weather phenomena, including an “acid mist.”

On Tuesday, Tiffani Kavalec, chief of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Division of Surface Water, confirmed that a “plume” of chemicals was also moving downstream in the Ohio River.

Authorities in the area have received backlash for their decision to burn off the leaked chemicals—which included highly toxic vinyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, and other hazardous materials—in a controlled burn that released thick, black clouds into the air.

But despite community members’ concerns about potential health impacts, Regan said Thursday that testing had revealed the air was safe to breathe.
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Adding that air monitoring would continue around the clock, Regan said the results from the state’s water testing were still pending and advised residents to use bottled water for the time being.

Ford Halts Production and Shipment of Electric F-150 Lightning Pickup Due to Battery Failure

The news of the suspension in deliveries of the automaker’s electric vehicle (EV) version of its classic pickup truck was first announced on Feb. 14 by Motor Authority.

“During a standard Lightning pre-delivery quality inspection, one vehicle displayed a battery issue,” Ford spokesperson Emma Bergg told The Epoch Times in an email. “We believe we have identified the root cause of this issue.”

“We are not aware of any incidents of this issue in the field and do not believe F-150 Lightnings already in customers’ hands are affected by this issue,” she added.

Bergg said that suspension of production at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will last through at least to the end of next week when “we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck’s battery production process; this could take a few weeks.”
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Ford has yet to provide a timeline for a production restart and when it will lift the in-transit stop-ship order.
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It is unknown if the pause had to do with batteries purchased from suppliers, battery pack defects, or a software issue regarding battery management, which is common on all EVs.
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Earlier this month, Ford posted poor fourth-quarter results and a loss of $2 billion for 2022 due to uncertainty over its semiconductor chip supply.

Ford CEO Jim Farley blamed systemic shortcomings around costs and systems that put the brakes on his plan to transform the company.

FBI Searches, Retrieves Materials from Biden Document Stashes at University of Delaware

The FBI twice searched the University of Delaware in recent weeks for classified documents stashed by President Joe Biden and retrieved materials from two separate locations, according to a report Wednesday evening.

Though the material retrieved by the FBI reportedly did not have classified documents, the agency reportedly did take certain materials with them. “Investigators retrieved materials from two university locations on two different days. The material did not appear to have classified markings, according to the source, but they are now being reviewed by the FBI,” CNN reported.

That the FBI searched the University of Delaware is notable. According to a Government Accountability Institute analysis, the University of Delaware received more than $6.7 million from anonymous donors from China. The donors include direct funds from the Chinese government.

The university is the second academic institution where searches have occurred for stashes of Biden’s classified documents. Classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center housed by the University of Pennsylvania, which has also received millions in anonymous donations from China. That trove was found on November 2.
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At least 25 classified documents have been found — some of which are classified as secret. Others reportedly pertain to Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom.