US President Donald Trump's arms deals benefiting Saudi Arabia will face their first test in Congress, world leaders seem to be trying to facilitate talks between the US and Iran, and is National Security Advisor John Bolton expected to resign? The House Foreign Affairs Committee split along partisan lines Wednesday over how sharply to criticize the State Department for finalizing 22 arms sales despite congressional objections, as Democrats accused the Trump administration of creating a "phony" emergency to funnel weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
A federal court jury can't reach a verdict in the case of an Arizona aid worker accused of human smuggling. The judge declared a mistrial Tuesday after jurors in Tucson said they were deadlocked, with four voting to convict and eight voting to acquit Scott Warren of the charges of harboring undocumented immigrants and conspiracy to transport them. Warren, 36, is an instructor at Arizona State University and volunteers with the Arizona-based humanitarian aid group No More Deaths. He was arrested and charged after US Border Patrol agents saw him giving directions to two undocumented immigrants who'd taken refuge at a No More Deaths shelter in January of last year. He was charged with harboring the Central American men at the shelter.
The bill to permanently extend funding for the 9/11 Victims Compensation fund is moving forward in Congress. The House Judiciary Committee unanimously voted Wednesday on the measure. The bill will need to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office before it can get a full vote in the House, but it is expected to pass. The Senate is working on a similar measure. Wednesday's vote comes a day after comedian and advocate Jon Stewart blasted some members of a Judiciary subcommittee for not being present for testimony from 9/11 first responders.
Trump is thinking about sending 2,000 US troops to Poland. During a meeting with the president of Poland at the White House Wednesday, Trump said the US forces would likely be pulled from Germany. He declined to say whether the US would be keeping a permanent military presence in Poland, which has long hoped for a US military base as a deterrent against Russian adventurism. Meantime, Poland has agreed to buy more than 30 US F-35 fighter jets.
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Maru Mora-Villalpando — Nationally known immigrant-rights activist, co-founder of the Latinx organization Mijente and community organizer with Northwest Detention Center Resistance.
André Vltchek — USSR-born American political analyst, investigative journalist and filmmaker.
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