International
On key anniversary, Biden urges support for abortion rights
AFP
President Joe Biden marked the 49th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling establishing abortion rights in the United States by again urging that those rights be enshrined in federal law.
“The constitutional right established in Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years ago today is under assault as never before,” Biden said in a statement on Saturday in which he was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It is a right we believe should be codified into law, and we pledge to defend it with every tool we possess.”
The constitutional right laid out in the 1973 high court ruling has come under steady attack as laws in a number of Republican-led states have made it increasingly difficult for women to obtain abortions.
“In recent years, we have seen efforts to restrict access to reproductive health care increase at an alarming rate,” the Biden-Harris statement said, citing recent laws in Texas, Mississippi and other states.
Abortion rights advocates fear that the current Supreme Court, including three conservative justices named by former president Donald Trump, will excoriate — or eliminate — that right.
In Washington on Friday, thousands of anti-abortion activists attended an annual rally on the National Mall with their hopes raised that the conservative-majority court will do exactly that.
“In the coming months we anticipate a monumental decision from the Supreme Court,” said Julia Letlow, a Republican congresswoman from Louisiana.
A president’s ability to affect the law is limited, but Congress has the power to pass laws providing some protection to abortion rights.
“The Biden-Harris Administration strongly supports efforts to codify Roe, and we will continue to work with Congress” on such legislation, the White House statement said.
It added: “We must ensure that our daughters and granddaughters have the same fundamental rights that their mothers and grandmothers fought for and won on this day, 49 years ago.”
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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