Summit in Mexico: President Biden, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are meeting today in Mexico City to discuss trade, foreign aid, immigration and other issues. The summit is seen as a way to patch up relations between the three countries that soured during the Trump Administration. When Biden and Obrador met one-on-one yesterday, their talks were described as being confrontational.
Rains continue:Â Torrential rain continued in parts of California today with up to 14 inches reported to have fallen in some places yesterday. At least 14 deaths have been blamed on the storms. About 200,000 customers were without power this morning.
IRS defunding bill:Â The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has passed a bill to defund law enforcement, in this case cutting extra appropriations for the Internal Revenue Service. On vote of 221 to 210, the Republicans cut funding that had been passed by the last Congress for the IRS to hire agents to replace those who are retiring and add new agents to expand enforcement of the tax laws. The bill to cut the spending is considered dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Bolsonaro in U.S. hospital: Ousted Brazilian strongman Bolsonaro is in a U.S. hospital in Orlando being treated for an intestinal blockage. He had fled Brazil for the U.S., and questions are being raised whether he entered the U.S. properly on a diplomatic visa. An estimated 1,500 of Bolsonaro’s supporters are being held in jail in Brazil after trying to violently overthrow government and restore him to power.
Covid:Â The Washington Post reports this morning that satellite photos show increased activity at funeral homes in China even though the Chinese government has been downplaying the number of Covid deaths in the country. A Chinese official said that in one province with a population of just over 99 million, more than 88 million have been infected with Covid. China’s official position has been that the current virus outbreak peaked in mid-December and there have only been about 5,200 deaths.
Classified documents:Â The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch, who was nominated to the post by Donald Trump, has been assigned to investigate the circumstances of classified documents being found in an office used by President Biden after he left office as vice president and before he became president. Ten classified documents were turned over to the National Archives by Biden’s attorneys after having been discovered in a locked closet in the office at the Biden Penn Center in Washington.
Cover photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons
