The Roundup with Avi Shah: Volume 1, Issue 6
Chinese Spy Balloon Invades American Air Space
On Tuesday, January 31st, American military officials received intelligence that there was a Chinese surveillance balloon floating over Montana. Biden’s immediate orders were to shoot it down, but after a briefing that the debris might impact people on the ground, he held back. After floating around American for the better part of a week, it was finally shot down on the Atlantic coast on Saturday, February 4th. Biden received backlash from two groups over his response, House Republicans and the Chinese Communist Party. Republicans were upset over Biden’s weak response. They believe that the balloon should have been shot down immediately. The CCP was upset over Biden’s rash response. They repeatedly have stated that the craft was simply used for meteorological research, and that the US overreacted.
7.8 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Turkey and Syria
On Monday, February 6th, a magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale earthquake struck Turkey and parts of Syria. This was one of the biggest earthquakes in the last 2 years, and its impacts were magnified by the freezing cold in Turkey and Syria. Over 8,000 people have died and the brutal conditions are expected to magnify that number up to 20,000. Help is on the way, however, as the UN, EU, US, and other international organizations have pledged aid to both Turkey and Syria. Some countries, the US included, have frosty relations with the Syrian government. Historical crackdowns on free speech have made diplomatic relations between the countries and Syria sparse, but aid is still being sent.
George Santos Under Investigation by House Ethics Committee
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy confirmed that New York Rep. George Santos is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. In the past few months, it has been revealed that George Santos has fabricated nearly every element of his life, from his college, to his career, and more. The only element that seems to be truthful is his birthplace, New York City. McCarthy is pledging to stand behind Santos, unless the Ethics Committee definitively finds something illegal that he has done.
State of the Union Address 2/7
Biden is delivering his 2nd State of the Union Address tonight, February 7th. He is expected to tackle topics about emerging issues, such as economic uncertainty over the debt ceiling, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, tensions with China, and more. He delivers the speech to a divided house, one that has recently shifted from Democratic to Republican control. He has supposedly made concessions to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy that he won’t use disrespectful language in his speech like, “extreme MAGA republicans”. In response, McCarthy pledged to be equally respectful of Biden’s speech.
Escalation in Ukraine?
The head of the United Nations has expressed concern over the risk of the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalating to a wider war. As he delivered a speech to the UN general assembly, which also noted the risks of climate change and poverty, he stated that the chance of peace grows smaller as the war progresses. He asked for the countries in the UN to recommit to the charter of the UN, which calls for peaceful resolution of conflicts. Most importantly, he wanted countries to commit to a No First Use policy of Tactical Nuclear Weapons, likely in response to Putin’s recent declaration that nuclear weapons could be used in Ukraine.
